Thirdly

On 4/17/2026 at 10:51 AM, Jason Rimbaud said:

You me phonetically?  

Worse, my version of phonetically always defaults to the Spanish vowels, so it's less "rome-sarah-silly" to me and more "rohn-sahra-sea-lee" in my head. But that happens to me with everything I read. 

On 4/16/2026 at 5:40 PM, Jeff Burton said:

I mean obviously we know what color the humans shoot but what about these guys? Is it green? Blue? Pink?

Dagnabbit, Jeff. That's a darn good question. 😂

This is one of my ultimate favorite chapters @CassieQ wrote of the whole series, and I'm glad everyone else finally got to read it so that I have the relief of not spoiling anything that went down in it. 

11 hours ago, centexhairysub said:

Just way to many things going on in this one, had to read it about four times before I was sure I got it all.  

You just can't trust Apophis.  

These couplings are going to get complicated.  And let's hope their phones don't have roaming charges, leaving the country is bad enough, but communicating over dimensions will be expensive.  

It will make more sense in the next one. Well, except Kimton’s choice of a mate. 🤣

8 hours ago, chris191070 said:

I dont like Apophis, he's a snake who is gonna cause trouble 

Agreed.

3 minutes ago, drsawzall said:

Apophis is quite the backstabbing snake…

Among other things. 😂 

I had to do a double and triple check cause I could have sworn I read this one (unless I did read it but didn't leave a comment, in which case, what the heck happened?).

Anyway, on with the story:

Brad was fifteen years older than Wes, but he worked out regularly and had a killer body. Fortunately, he had all his hair, which he dyed a beautiful chestnut color. - Wait, I definitely remember this line because I was sitting there contemplating dying my own hair chestnut brown for a second. 

“I’m leaving you,” he said. “I’ve met a new associate at work, and we’re moving in together in the city.” He said it so matter-of-factly, without any emotion, that Brad knew there was to be no arguing. - tpioawerj (unintelligible grumbling)!

He decided to sell the house, and move to the city. At least, there was some action there. He reckoned that at fifty, his life was far from over, and he should enjoy what was left. - Damn straight... bent... dagnabbit, you know what I mean!

Carl Green’s mother was slowly dying of brain cancer. - tpaijwer (more unintelligible grumbling)!

I don’t know. I’m a forty-two year old virgin. - My friend, have a little walk with me. You see, being experienced is overrated, and...

“Yes, and when the time comes, you’ll swallow all of mine.” - I mean, it might take a few tries...

He prayed every day that when Carl was ready to pull back and settle down, it would be with him. There was no guarantee, of course, but he just had to be patient and trust in providence. - Fingers crossed, my friend, fingers crossed.

I loved it!
 

Hot damn. This had so many layers. Well done. 

I am a self, ingrained, born as I was, and not as chosen - But, in my next life I'm going to be a saxophonist in a touring Salsa band, and in the life after that, I wouldn't mind being one of those mergansers you were talking about.

Weird. My original comment refuses to go through. Guess you'll be getting a message soon (either that or 5 copies of my babblings)

Oblivious and blind until we feel the shift in the ground below - Or, in my case, bust a ligament, back, or neck by moving too fast.

Every deletion asks Who are you without this? Erasing is not forgetting Ghosts linger in the lines - Wait, are we talking about deleting words on paper here or troubling memories/past encounters? BOTH?

As for The Garlic Question, the whole thing was presented in such an entertaining way that I couldn't even choose a favorite line. The whole thing was favored. I loved it.

We can't control someone else's moods. Try as we might to lift their spirits, remind them that they're loved and missed by others, thay they are a beacon and refuge for at the very least one other person... but, sometimes, no amount of support cuts through, neither words, touch, gifts, or presence. Then, we're the ones trying to lift our spirits off the ground.

I could picture them all in my head except that last one, that one was more like a comment about the article. Brave indeed. 

17 minutes ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

I awoke from a short little nap. Okay it was four hours, and I have more notifications than I ever had before. Over half of them on a story no ones read in nearly a year. 

*points to @Davide & @BendtedWreath* They started it. 

3 hours ago, BendtedWreath said:

Whether it was my ADHD, being distracted with events and fun collaborations, or severe lack of the passage of time of anything outside of my work calendar... I lost track of not just this story, but a lot of other multi-chaptered work from other writers. 

Not gonna lie. I sat here laughing for a full minute up until I realized that I hadn't actually finished book 1, I only THOUGHT I did.

Yeah, I'mma get on that soon. 

1 hour ago, VBlew said:

How does Alonso keep finding them. Is Rhys somehow connected to this?

All will be explained soon. 

9 minutes ago, chris191070 said:

Awesome chapter 

Success. 

“You know the names of your host family. Good.” - Yeah, I'm pretty impressed Malik gleaned this from his interactions. His observation skills are one of his strengths. I'd mention more of his skills, but I have to watch my mouth for spoilers. 🤐

15 hours ago, drsawzall said:

Well it’s not exactly a seance and what could possibly go wrong?

Exactly. Are they really worrying about what they need to be worrying about?

15 minutes ago, chris191070 said:

Things are gonna go wrong.

12 minutes ago, centexhairysub said:

Angelo is being overwhelmed.  If they can't get him calmed down, there is no way this is going to work.

Right? 

12 minutes ago, centexhairysub said:

Never fool the gods, just not a smart thing to do.  

🤣Except by characters like Honey, those gods just get no respect. 

12 minutes ago, centexhairysub said:

Let's hope all of this works out, although makes me wonder what is so important that so many senior gods/goddesses are off having to handle it.

All I can say about that is that what is happening in this story is sorta-kinda related to what those guys are doing.  

I was just thinking what to do first as a mage: revenge myself on those who have offended my dignity over the years or use my powers to have the most wonderful orgy ever held here in my parents’ home. - Be careful what you wish for indeed.

That robe is almost see-through. - Sheech. He'd be giving an interesting show indeed just walking with a pole. 🤣

I want to be the Sun God, I want to be the new Tezcatlipoca! - Oh dear. 

“Hello Jaime, do you recognise me? What did I tell you? Be careful what you wish for.” - 🤯

The Coven - Oh boy. What am I getting into?

He glanced to one side. Yes, the walls were made of timber. Did he even want to be seen in such a place?  - Haha! What's so bad about timber? 

Pushing the door open he found his way blocked by a scruffy “velvet” curtain - HAHAHA! I love how he immediately doubted that the curtain was REAL velvet. 

entered what seemed to be a pastiche cavern from a B grade horror film. - I'm dying. 

Although physically inside the club, he felt he was outside still, observing himself and asking what he was going to do. - Nice detail.

Something about Dave made him feel comfortable, or at least the stress was leaving him with every sip of an extremely strong vodka. - Hahaha!

He turned and, to his horror, saw a guy from his college, Tim, as flamboyant a creature as he was a renowned and feared gossip. - Uh-oh. Not Mr. Chisme. 

“Hi Tim, good to see you”, he lied. “Don’t start building up a huge story. I’m here with a friend who was too shy to come on his own. I’m his moral support.” ‘God forgive me, if there is one’, he added mentally. - My boy, Jack! Nice quick thinking there. 

And with that Dave grabbed his arm and steered him towards the velvet curtain. - 👀

Jack started to remember more and more details: entering the club, spilling a drink over this hunk, getting a stiff vodka (ah, the source of the headache this morning, he felt ruefully), dancing, meeting the awful Tim, a nightmare in itself - LMAO!

Impulsively, he grabbed the pen and wrote: Sorry for running away. You are such a great guy. THANKS  - WHEW! At least he did that much. Thank goodness.

As he got back to his bedsit, he unlocked the door and locked it behind him, a prisoner, he thought, who locks the cell door himself. No jailor needed. - Oof. 

What would he say if he bumped into Dave there, after cowardly sneaking off. Damnation! - Uh, how about starting with "Hey there, handsome?"

All eyes were on him at the table. Tim was clearly getting the instruments of torture ready for an unpleasant session of let’s examine Jack’s secrets. - I don't know, bud. He at least dragged you back to Dave. 

I loved this one lots!
 

As long as the flare ups aren’t too bad, the large amounts of blood you have been losing should disappear. - DUDE. This consultant needs a class on how to treat others like himself. How would HE like it if he started bleeding out from his butt? Patients are people. 

He lied weekly to his parents insisting that the maintenance pills were doing their stuff, that he had gained weight, a lie, and that his friends were very supportive, another lie. He just felt utterly ashamed, embarrassed and useless. - I just want to hug him. Poor thing. Very relatable to pretend everything is alright to not worry about those he loves. But, not cool to keep suffering in silence at the same time. 

Breathing more calmly now, he stood up, looked down to see if there was any more blood. - Yeah, at that point I'd have been stuffing so much toilet paper between my buttcheeks no matter who sees me walking weirdly.

“He’s been in there nearly half an hour, and he doesn’t look disabled to me. He should have waited his turn.” He paused, looked at the student and continued, “and he’s been here before, I swear it. He’s up to no good." - Oof. Presumptions. Presumptions everywhere. 

“I have a medical condition, Ulcerative Colitis, and I’m having a bad flare up. This card was given to me to show in shops and other places to help me get access to toilets otherwise not available. I can’t believe that this attendant has been so aggressive, especially as if he cares to read over there" - You tell them!

He shivered and pushed himself back in his chair, his head hitting the concrete wall behind him. “Actually, first, I need to tell you something important that happened to me today.” - Yep, better to tell the truth and show your card. Poor kid.