tesao

Don’s intellectual and emotional intelligence levels are certainly consistent with the ultra right wing, homophobic, Mr. Symmonds-infested religious groups of the world. Planting cocaine? Seriously? Considering how Don is totally fodido, it’s amazing that his kids are basically decent. I agree with others that Don is probably into blow and, given the vehemence of his homophobia, coke is probably not the only kind. Mr. Symmonds and Don?! Eeeeeewwwwwwwwww. I shudder to think what might have become of Robbie if he hadn’t already started seeing Jo. Amazing and compelling chapter!

But it does, Sr. Seismic Seco! I’m painfully aware of life’s disabilities and injuries, which is probably why I turn to Gay Authors for escape. I mean, otherwise I’d spend my free time reading Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and Danielle Steel. 😉

Oh no...Ian and Cam - here we go again! While I think we could all see this coming, I just hope his recovery is shorter and less complicated... and I’m already contemplating appropriate punishments for the perp. Loved the chapter, up to the ambush. Then again, stories are boring without drama. Just please don’t make his injuries permanent. Already looking forward to graphic convalescent scenes with Matty playing nurse!

I just KNEW it! I knew you couldn’t avoid drama. You just can’t help yourself. 😉 Truth be told, conflict makes a story zing; a little drama also makes the sweet passages more credible and enjoyable (while avoiding sugar overload). It will be even sweeter when the bully gets his in the end (which may or may not be intended literally). Considering the close correlation between extreme homophobia and repressed homosexuality, Ms. Coco Peru’s maxim may be applicable: “guys who make fun of boys who suck dick, suck dick”. I can just imagine Donald Harper finally coming out...and hooking up with Jax. I just hope Eric isn’t the one to get stuck with Mr. Harper; I have a soft spot for musical theater pianists. 😉

Well, you could have at least queued up John William’s Imperial March (Darth Vader theme) before springing the antichrist on us like that! 😉 No wonder Sue is in a funk. It’s amazing how a really good therapist can get to the heart of the problem that quickly. What a relief. It was also touching to see Nathan reach out to Robbie on such a difficult anniversary. So now Robbie has been told what we have long suspected: Tom is not straight. I’d like to think this is a foreshadowing of an eventual reunion and relationship. [indulging in dreams]

Yay!

I feel such a sense of relief after reading that chapter. @Dodger, you’ve created an artfully-crafted description of the therapy experience; you really captured It. Kudos for that. While I want Robbie to have a happy outcome and conclusion, I also don’t want the story to end.

Oh we get it, and I was teasing, anyway. We all committed lots of sins at 17. 😉

My mother was dreadful in the kitchen (she was a journalist, bless her), which is exactly why I became a serious cook - out of desperation! I knew good food existed, just not at home - unless my dad cooked. Then I had a food epiphany in Italy and France, and learned to cook Italian from Marcella Hazan. Changed everything.

Ha, I had the same reaction to the canned pasta sauce! It would have been so easy - and much better - to use good canned tomatoes and do it right but, then I remembered: they’re in the south. I’ve only heard rumors, but I think strange things happen there. (I don’t count New Orleans-which has fabulous food.)

I had put my reading of this story on hiatus, waiting for it to conclude. (I confess to being impatient with chapter updates.) It also gave me the perfect excuse to binge read it from the beginning, and what a treat!! I loved this tale of romance, connections, and the redemptive power of love. Adding all the kids to the mix gave it extra heart. Thank you. Such a great story. I’d love to read a spin-off featuring Michael and Paco, by the way.

Wow...that brought me to tears, too - for all the kids out there who have desperately needed a mother like that. Very sensitively written. The scene between the boys was adorable, and definitely got the blood flowing. So sweet. This story is just what the doctor ordered. Sorry to hear that life has gone a bit sideways for you. Wishing you a happy resolution. We’ll be here patiently awaiting the next chapters of this charming story.

Thank goddess Robbie is finally getting serious professional help, but what a twist of fate! Joe’s close semblance with Robbie’s mother could really cut both ways, but I love her refreshing, no B.S. style. While it’s probably not, nor should it be, Robbie’s prime concern at this point, I do hope he gets sufficient help in time to allow him to pursue a possible relationship with Connor. I think we could all use some happiness at this point.

Drama, abuse, violent homophobia, the ER, an erotic shower scene, fevered confessions of love for one’s best friend...a first kiss - with the rentals gone for a few hours...and this is only the second chapter! I also hope these two have a real chance. Of course there will have to be some obstacles just to keep it compelling...but, still. Great beginning.

Um, I also instantly recognized the video. <blush>

OK, you have me hooked. This is kind of cool: a story venue I don’t know. Now I can let with my imagination run wild and create a fictional mental place - which may include all of the Southern stereotypes at my whim. 😈 Poor PKs. I should know; I was one (of a well-known P), except in the church from which I recovered the Ps are all “volunteer” (they’re actually selected and then seriously pressured) and have regular professions and jobs the rest of the week. Even still, it was 24/7. When I came out, I had to leave town. God, I was also one of those suffix kids. Way to trigger your readers nightmares, @FlyOnTheWall. 😉 I hope things are easier for Eddie. His dad certainly seems more woke. I feel so badly for Matt. He’s lucky to have such a loyal friend.

I just discovered these stories this week (no idea how I missed them) , and binge read through all three. What incredibly drawn, rich characters you’ve created! I have found myself thoroughly engrossed and invested in these people and can hardly wait for the next book!

Yeah, I had a similar reaction and had to remind myself that the arts often require the suspension of disbelief. Besides, they have trust funds - which are almost required for Bay Area real estate. Here in the Silicon Valley, it’s so dire that a chunk of the student population at San Jose State University is actually homeless. I was heartbroken when I read that.

Loved it. A very satisfying conclusion for my three favorite characters in all the Barnstable stories. Well done! i’m lookIng forward to the next series, and hoping it is set in an escapist location. I wonder what you’ll come up with.😉

That was a great chapter, and I loved the Moonstruck moment! (I can still hear Cher delivering that iconic line.) You found the perfect application for it and, I agree, Eric is the hero of this chapter. I have mixed feelings about the final chapter: I’m so looking forward to it, and yet I’m so sad that this series is ending. It’s been an amazing journey that has captured a lot of my imagination.

Never, Sr. Seismic Seco. You’re the sage voice of reason in a tortured culture. 😉 Or is it the tortured voice...no, that can’t be it.

How funny that we both had similar thoughts simultaneously, and without seeing the other’s comment!

PS...and don’t even THINK of incorporating those last hair-brained ideas into the final chapter via a nightmare sequence. (No Bobby Ewing coming out of the shower!) I can see it now. The detail is very graphic and quite erotic, but so wrong. Charlie and Eric are going at it... suddenly Charlie wakes up in a cold sweat and realizes how wrong he was in the way he treated David. Only problem is, he has no way to communicate with David who was last seen running toward Ina’s place for brunch way over in East Hampton, where a newly-single Parker is also an invited guest and, well...

No, @FlyOnTheWall, you should have ignored my admittedly dark and twisted plot musings. I never expected you to actually adopt them! 😉 Superficially, Charlie’s reaction seems very incongruous with who we think he is. However, if we dig deeper, this suggests a troubling character flaw that perhaps was floating beneath the surface: Charlie jealously guards Noah and his relationship with him almost as though he were a possession, and is loath to let anyone else fully inside that bubble. Charlie’s statement that Noah’s heart was Charlie’s to give away is very telling, and so wrong-headed. Noah’s heart is his OWN to give away. I’m starting to think I may have been too hard on Jacob Anderson; no wonder he never felt like he could forge a real relationship with Noah. I also wonder if Charlie doesn’t still harbor some resentment toward David because of the break-up, followed by five necessary years in Russia. Your stories usually feature achingly noble, less flawed main characters, so this plot twist (more of a random I.E.D. than a torpedo) seems out of left field. Next thing we know, you’ll have an angry Charlie in bed with Eric, and Noah discovering David and Parker having sex. Fortunately, with only one chapter left, you really don’t have time to explore that. Whew! Besides, times are tough and we’re stressed and anxious. We need our HEA.

Really sweet chapter but, as for torpedoes, I’m kind of into disarmament these days. If @FlyOnTheWall were a cruel author, he’d allow David and Noah to closely bond only to have the David and Charlie relationship suddenly implode after Parker shows up and seduces David, only to be discovered by Charlie. No...even worse...to be discovered by Noah. I’m confident, however, that Señor Fly is not a sadistic sort, and now that I have voiced that doomsday scenario, there’s no way it would appear in the story. 😉 He is, however, a wildly optimistic guy. $8.5 M for that mega townhouse on the Upper East Side?! Maybe in 2002.