C James

I haven't seen anyone mention this yet, so I will: Davey revealed that he plans to become a pro baseball player! That should prove very interesting indeed, and be a great contrast to his career as seen in DO.

I'm very sorry to hear about your daughter. I've spent time in Switzerland, and it is indeed very tolerant and friendly. A wonderful place, from which we could learn a great deal.

I don't know quite what to make of Kyle's Dad. He seems strict (not necessarily bad in and of itself under the circumstances), and there seems to be a bad dynamic at work (Didn't consult his wife before bringing Cameron home) and there is the apparent homophobia. So, did Cameron just find a home, or did he go from the frying pan into the fire? Speculation, anyone?

I guess I am going to have to stop calling you "Little Beelzebub Taiwan", because this chapter was great! On a more serious note, I was dreading that it would be a detailed account of Connor's continuing ordeal at the hands of the rapist. Had it been so, it would not have spoiled the story for me, but I'd have almost certainly skipped over those parts. I was delighted to see the jump ahead in time. I really, really liked the Vipaka received by a certain parent... :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: (yep, "seeking Nirvana" inspired me to do some research!)

I say that, and worse, about my SOB boss... The slave-driving, penny-pinching bastard. The only problem is that most of the people who hear me say these things also know that I'm self-employed, so they just look at me funny... Oh, and to LBTW: If chapter 12 is anything like chapter 11, I'm thinking it's time that you changed your screename just a bit: Little Beelzebub Taiwan. Truth in advertising, ya know...

New chapter!!! New chapter!!! New chapter!!! (to quote a certain someone in another forum...) And a Ps. to Brax: Would a costume rental store work??

I just had a very, very nasty thought... What if Ryan does get there, BUT, with Connor under the influence of drugs, mistakenly thinks that it's consensual? Ryan then storms off, leaving Connor to his fate, AND turning against him as well. Surely, though, LBTW couldn't be THAT evil.. could he? Definitely the mother of all cliffhangers... Yipes!!!!!!!!!!! I doubt that DKstories will actually go to Taiwan, because the last I heard, he was busy finding a friend of his tickets to Taiwan... The Friend's name was Jarrod, as I recall...

I am appalled by the lukewarm response that this story received. I'm not usually fond of short stories of any kind, and I knew nothing of Buddhism, so if anyone wouldn't have liked this story I'd have thought it would be me. Instead, I absolutely loved it, and I learned a lot too!!! Hmmm... If you do the tartaric sex sequel, how about "Finding Nirvana" as the title?

ACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Poor Connor!!! And what an evil cliff-hanger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll say this: I think Connor's Mom is NOT my favorite person!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a $$*! I sort of doubt that she's got any shot at the Mother of the Year award!!!

Wow, LBTW is a fast learner! He hasn't been a hosted author long, and already he's torturing his readers like the seasoned pros! I think he's been influenced by evil... (DKstories... )

I'm glad he's doing it per his own choice, so, as much as I hate to see it end, I'll just look foward to new chapters of DOT and whatever else he writes.

I sure saw red, too. IMHO one of the best ways for a writer to develop writer's block is to not follow their own preferences, be it DIR or whatever else Dan has in the works. BTW, good for you regarding the dinner! Be glad you don't have my temper: A cousin tried a similar stunt on me a few years ago, at my own birthday (And I was stuck doing all the cooking). He didn't like either of the two types of gravy I'd made, and was nagging me to make him some (instead of eating my own dinner!). I solved the problem by informing him that if he mentioned it again, he would be wearing the gravy. I'm very interested to see where the argument with Papa goes. Papa, after all, knows both Davey and Sean's secret. I liked the way his friend's forgave him but in a way that clearly conveyed their continuing displeasure. I second that! BTW, Brax, do you have access to a baseball uniform? And a camera? Perhaps Dan is bribable?

My two cent's worth: I loved it! IMHO it was a wonderful insight into Buddhism, and a really great story too. It's my favorite of your stories (And I'm not trying to knock SOOTB!) and thank you very much for writing and posting it.

I could not agree more! A writer should IMHO write what they feel like. If Dan had said *he* feels the story should be truncated, then fine, that's his preference, and I'd try to keep my big mouth shut, but that isn't the case here. On a more selfish note, I am steamed that a few anonymous critics (who apparently don't even care enough to participate in the forums) are depriving the rest of us of character development, insights, etc, that make this story so special. To me, the best analogy for what I see happening here is being invited to a home cooked dinner, and then bitching about the food. Ghstwolf, thank you for bringing this up. I'm delighted to see that I'm not the only one concerned about this.

I liked it a lot except for one ominous thing: things all seem to be going very well, which is usually a harbinger of impending trouble. I'll comment more on the chapter tomorrow (It was posted late Friday, so lot of people haven't read it yet). I did find out one thing that had been perplexing me (though it has nothing to do with this chapter): How the Chinese got ahold of Brian in Timeline 2. Now that Dan's blog is back at GA, it also has all the old blog posts and comments. It seems this question has come up before, and the answer is that Brian was in transit and changing planes when the Chinese war broke out, and they nabbed him. BTW, I most highly recommend reading Dan's blog right from the beginning. It shows just how much of the DO series is based on Dan's life, and it also shows that Dan when through utter hell (IMHO) fairly recently with his family. The blog even has pictures of Dan. (Dan, prepare for the blond jokes... )

Pssst, Xandra, just a reminder: Sean doesn't remember timeline 3... Just kidding! So, any predictions on what will happen in chapter 8? I'm wondering if Davey and Sean will work through some of the hard feelings they evidently still have...

ROFL! I see you have the same problem I do, figuring out how to differentiate between the Seans. I think you are right: This Sean did just see Brandon die, only a couple of days before, by his frame of reference, and that will probably cause him some major issues. My hunch, though, is that he will see this Brandon as being very similar to "his" Brandon, and that is what will win out in the end. Unfortunately, though, I'm still reluctantly predicting that Sean dies sometime soon. My reasoning is this: It's rumored that there won't be a sequel, so no more Time travel. Sean, and now Sean alone, knows enough to build a new time machine. Therefor, I suspect that he's at the top of a certain Writer's hit list... I might well be wrong (my predictions are almost always wrong). I do after all recall hearing that there would be no sequel to Do Over Redux, and then I recall hearing that Doing It Right would max out at about ten chapters, so I can sure see the door being left open (at least a tiny bit) for a sequel.

Ratatosk, you raise some darn good points! Davey knew the day and date of "his" Sean's impending demise, so shouldn't the biggest consideration be what is best for Sean? Surely he was happier not knowing, and had Davey told his friends, I'd bet Sean would have figured out something was up (he did anyway, just with Davey). If I recall correctly (always doubtful ) Sean thought Brandon was a homophobic bully in the last timeline, so had much better reasons for being reluctant. Sean also has no memories of that timeline. He also seemed, initially, pleased that he had Brandon back. He's sure still got some issues with Davey, though! He also picked Davey to die, which is still (understandably) a sore point with Davey. I think you have a great point in the anger of the other three proving to Sean how much they valued him. On the other hand, the three did just walk AWAY from BOTH him and Davey. What a complex and intricate structure we have here! I'm usually not impatient for new chapters of anything, but this story has me on the edge of my seat!

Whoa, that's an angle that never occurred to me!! Minor spoilers below... Trevor, Brandon, and Brian were sure pissed off, so, as Brax suggests, Trevor just might spill the beans, either in anger, or just asking his father some theoretical questions about time travel, or by revealing that he knows the dead scientist was working on time travel. I'd expected Brandon to be pissed off, but Brian and Trevor surprised me. It shouldn't have though, as their reactions were quite understandable. I was amazed that Davey didn't defend himself by saying that he didn't want Sean to know of his impending demise. It's IMHO his best defence. But, maybe he has his reasons, or he was feeling so bad he didn't want to defend his actions. I liked the way this chapter cleared up many (for me) lingering questions about the timelines. I'm still not too clear how Brian came to be in Chinese hands and at the time machine facility, or why. It certainly cleared up a great deal about the Taiwan Straits naval battle, too. Chapter 8 will sure be interesting, and probably critical. I predict that there will be some heavy repercussions from this shoe dropping. If the news goes beyond the five friends, then it could be a huge problem. What if it's revealed to the government that Sean is another time traveler, AND knows how to build a time machine? I'm also really wondering how Brandon and Sean will do, even without outside disclosures. Brandon's Sean is dead, so how will he take to the "new" Sean who has just arrived? Sure, Sean has feelings for him, but will it bother him that it's not the Sean he knew? That's a recipe for some major psychological hangups!

It's up!!! And it's a major one... I didn't expect this today, as it's so soon after Ch. 6... Great chapter, and a must read! I'll save my comments and spoilers for later in the thread, after everyone has had a chance to read it.

TheDaniel, Ikaika, Ibsu: Thanks for the comments. So far, it looks like the commentators are unanimous, even if the vote isn't. Yeah, so what makes you think that you get to have an opinion??? Erk... Uhoh... Ummmm, how, exactly, do you mean "better"??? Better, as in MORE heartbreaking? Uhoh........ :wacko:

You raise some darn good points... I especially loved your Heisenberg reference. There's just something about Heisenberg that leaves me uncertain... Hmmmm... I just thought of the perfect pet for Davey! A cat.. Formerly owned by a Mr. Schrodinger...

I think Ch. 7 will be VERY interesting... and I sure agree about the storm clouds! It's likely to be Chapter 7 where Davey tells his friends about what he is. I think this will be very interesting. The first time he did it, he hadn't changed the timeline, AND hadn't known Brian, Trevor, or Brandon well for long, so he could spout off personal info about his friends as "proof". In Timeline three he had the official backing of the government for his claims, so was even more believable. But this time? He's got Sean to back him up, but what else? I can't wait to see how this is handled. Anyone care to speculate?

I read "Seeking Nirvana", and just left a comment in the discussion in the Cafe. I loved it. Just a thought, but have you compared the responses you get on weekends with the amount you get on weekdays? I have no idea regarding GA traffic, but I do know that most blogs (not the ones here) have a big decrease in traffic on the weekends. Perhaps Monday will surprise you. Sorry to hear about all the hoops you need to jump through for your degree.

This was an awesome story! One of the best short stories I've ever read, along with being IMHO a great insight into Buddhist philosophy for those (like myself) who have no knowledge of it. My only real dislike was that it lacked three crucial words at the end: "To be continued". (which is my way of saying that I really, really liked it!) Thank you for a really great story!!