Topher Lydon

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: THE EDGE OF THE BLADE Location: Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio. Time: January 28, 2024. 19:30 EST. Status: The U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Men’s Free Skate. The ice was not merely a surface. It was a geography of consequence, a sacrificial plane frozen at twenty-four degrees Fahrenheit, waiting to be inscribed with triumph or failure. Under the pitiless glare of television lights, its whiteness held a surgical quality, promising a magnified, high-definition a

Ms Patel will see action tomorrow, I have added a scene to explain what she is doing.

While it is damning evidence on it's own, it is not a silver bullet. Waiting until the Gala, like they plan, is their best play.

I can assure, Tarquin has NO idea who Uncle Andrew is. Technically Finn doesn't either, that comes later

Peter has always been described as short, blonde with stunning blue eyes just a size too big. he a also been written as having an ageless look to him, somewhere caught in that perpetual lucky spot some guys fall into where they just don't seem to age. Devastating because as Peter gets older he grows more beautiful... not hot, not handsome... some people just hold a true beauty to them. It's hidden beneath cardigans, a mop of blonde hair, and a scowl for anyone that gets in his way... but he's always had that appeal. West strongly believes he is a lucky, lucky man... and resilient to all that poking. Peter can be incandescent with rage at points. And we all joke, but that boy is Loyal as hell to his West. I don't know who to worry about more, the man who touches Peter, or the man who touches West... cause Peter maybe about as tactically formidable as a kitten wearing mittens... but I am sure you'd wake up to find him over you with your dangly bits in his hand, and a wicked smile "See, didn't need to punch ya, just needed to wait"

Eyes on the prize for our boy

Trust me, Patel is hard at work I will inculde a tip to her in the next chapter... just to settle the people who want to know what she is up to. :: eyes protecting Orel ::

Lydia just needs to readjust now she's got a new player to contend with. And we all know how she hates betrayal. :: sounds of Kyle whimpering in the background::

Lydia is moving, in the background. I haven't forgotten her, and she is AT WAR. I think it is chapter 15 that you finally see what she's been doing behind the scenes. So there is payoff for her being off screen. Remember our Lids is a shadow player, she needs to gather resources, find pressure points and exploit weakness when her enemy thinks he is at his strongest. Nothing sweeter than cutting the legs out from underneath arrogant Merricks who think they're on top.

I am writing Tarquin as the text book Gaslighting Narcissist, the one who plays his marionettes as he twists everything. His torture of Orel and Finn in the barn is a good example of this, "I did it to cure him, to make him a man" he thinks he was saving Orel from the punishments that he and Oliver endured from the old monster. By being a little less of a monster than their father would have been, it's that kind of twisted logic that only Narcissists can come up with. he blames Finn, Finn is the corrupter, did it to Orel, now he's done it to Oliver. Only Tarquin can see the face of this threat to his family. The thought that he's the problem, he's the monster doesn't occour to him. Having grown up under one of these... I hesitate to use the word people, you all know my views on my father, I can see Tarquin's pattern and his delusional belief that he's the good one.

I just pushed the wrong button on my keyboard and found "READER VIEW" press F9, it's REALLY COOL!

Ollie has discretionary funds and the household money is under his purview. While Tarquin is broke, Ollie is very much liquid. In fact out of the three, at *this* moment he's probably has the most liquidity of the three. That and Ollie withheld his own money from the household funds at the same time as he did Orel's. So his stipend is still there, I am presuming they all disburse at the same time. :: shrugs:: not an expert on family trusts, but shaping this story as best I can.

Tarquin's evil superpower, he's a politician for a reason, he can read people and use it. He's not good with money, but finding weakness and exploiting it, that's him.

Not done, not by a long shot. Tarquin in control

CHAPTER ELEVEN: THE INVOICE OF LONGING Part 1: The Surveillance 10:45 AM. A beige Toyota Corolla with tinted windows and a cracked rear bumper sat three spaces down from the Vickers Supply & Haulage loading bay. Inside, a man named Vic drank lukewarm coffee from a thermos and watched the garage across the street through a long lens. He’d been hired for discretion, not flair. His instructions were clear: Document the subject’s movements, interactions, and emotional state. Th

Rafik, the little rat bastard, as well. Jennifer's "Friend" from Winterfest... deserves his wife.

Operation @makethebastardpay is well under way:

This arc extends from this book through the next and into Fortress. Andrew loses, retreats, then fights back... eventually Recourse is the book where Andrew and Will figure it out. But Andrew is never far away. It's a lot about Will and his growth getting from this book, his lowest point, to eventually healing. I think you will like Marc-Andre, Will's second boyfriend and a dedicated man who helps him grow, but Andrew can't and won't let go. If you find you struggle, jump to the next book in the series. Far stronger narratively. I know this one is difficult going. Or if you want a spiritual sequel to the last book, try Capt. vs Goofball, which very much has the soul of the last one. I just worry when people hit this one, as you can tell, this book always makes me nervous

This book is the first I ever wrote, at times segments of it were written when I was 14. The original draft didn't have Peter, mention of West, or EVEN ANDREW in it. It was written, adapted, readapted, re-written... till it eventually sat for a decade of shame. I picked it up last year and rewrote great sections of it, I am still not happy with it, there are inconsistencies, it's messy, but it was a learning process for me. I keep the book up because it is important, but one day I might finally get it right. Thank you for reading this and bearing with my... young and immature voice. 14... I was so young and didn't know how the world worked.

Peter and West get there, one of the Tightest, and most loyal couples in the series. Peter never waivers, and always points Due West. West always finds his way back to Peter, through war, desert, darkness and near misses, ALWAYS back to Peter.

I know. I understand. look after yourself.

Will is in for the dirtiest, knock down, street fight of an election he's ever encountered. American politics, at that level, is a beast on a whole different level. And Will is up against a titanic wall of money of eye watering proportions. And that's where Will is weakest, he doesn't have the backing the other two parties have. Well that and no third party candidate has even come close unless you count the mess that gave the world Woodrow Wilson and ... yikes we're still paying for what he did to the world.

Peter isn't a morsel to chew on, and Graves is going to need to avoid choking on .... wait that went far more sexual that I intended... There that's more like how a date with Peter will go for Graves