Jeff Burton

I just got done rereading the @dkstories for probably the third or fourth time, I highly recommend it. Test's of Blood by him is probably one of the best Valdemar fanfic's I've ever read and I'm pretty particular about those (hence why I've never tried to write one. Although part of me really wants to do a story of Valdemar mage type magic running amok in a modern earth setting lol) I've never really done fanfic myself but I remember when Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince came out (the book not the movie) I was disappointed with it. I almost wrote my 'Harry Potter and the Prince's Pawn.' but I could never get it out of my head and by the time I thought it seemed like it was too late. Great dive @Myr! Plenty here to build my 'to-read' list.

That's actually pretty cool Topher. I'm in the process of starting over from scratch in reading the series again, and it's been a long time since I've done so, I can't wait to see what you come up with once I make it that far.

Wow, way to make me feel old lmao.

I find it moronically funny, but I've got a sentimental attachment to it, so no need to go out of your way on that one. Funny off topic story, I had to live with my cousin for a while at the start of the 2010's, and his two kids loved watching that movie. So much in fact they'd watch it repeatedly over and over again until I couldn't take it anymore. When I finally snapped I grabbed the DVD out of the player, put it in it's case and put that on top of a book shelf that was mostly built into the wall, out of sight out of mind, because they where under 10 years old at the time they weren't big enough to get it. What I didn't realize was, that simple act became a tradition until the day they moved out. That movie sat on top of the book case collecting dust, my cousin and his wife never seeing the need to bring it down. The kids eventually got big enough to pull it down and they did. Except they'd wait till nobody was home, they'd pull down the movie, watch it, put it back in it's case and put it on top of the book case. They sold that house when the oldest graduated high school, and when they where packing they waited until almost everything was packed before the 'Spaceballs The DVD' was finally removed from it's place of reverence for good, and packed away. I had no idea that the kids had decided to just keep it up there, or that I'd unintentionally spark that tiny tradition they held on to from childhood to graduation.

You are far from predictable lmao. Those tarot cards in my head just shuffled the right way for once. Yes 2 Classic authors coming back to the roost is friggen amazing, and I'm glad that they are back. I spend a lot of time reading the old stuff purposefully and we've got so much content that needs to be brought back to the surface that the newer members I'm absolutely sure would enjoy. And that does include Carter's Army which I'm bumping to the top of my reread list. lol

I was mortally wounded at " got pectoral bitch-slapped so hard I briefly left my body and communed with my ancestors." then fucking died at "my unresolved daddy issues." This made me laugh so damn hard I think I coughed up that gum I swallowed when I was 12. If I laughed any harder it would have expelled the tar from that cigerette I smoked when I was 18. Holy fuck that was good lmao.

I'm not saying I have the powers of premonition or anything but I had a feeling this particular series was going to come up somehow, somewhere. It's just something that clicked when I saw the other posts about Topher's return. Good job on that Cia. I'm going to have to re-read this again, it's been a while. Welcome back Topher!

There's some juicy stuff in that. So I won't confirm nor deny that stock pile of weapons and munitions in the basement.

I'm using this post to point out a failing I'm always going to have in the stuff I write. I don't know if I can accurately write teens of today (trust me it's not from a lack of familiarization), the generational gap from what I remember to what we have today is crazy. I'm not sure I can write characters that may or may not lack intuition, common sense, respect and basic courtesy from those that was zombified by "screen time." I know it's a sin to use broad generalizations, and not all of them are like that, but I think you guys get what I mean. Most of my teen characters, young adults and their family dynamics would fit in more through the late 80's through to about 2005 for the most part. Mainly because I stopped paying attention in 2009 lol. Either way it's a fault your going to see over and over again in my work because my brain can't comprehend how it actually can be in todays society sometimes.

Hahaha, next few chapters are in progress, I usually write in bulk then slam post you guys. As of this chapter I'm not 3 ahead anymore. Dweeb, I mean Reed was always intended to be an asshole. It's going to be fun.

Thanks! Trust me it's coming soon. I've just been rage banging on this one because it's easier, now that they are close to being equal in chapter numbers I'm going to try to split the time.

I am going to dedicate at least half a chapter to Josh dealing with the placement testing at St Augustine's. I think the staff is going to love him, the students.... well we'll see.

We shall see! Obviously they aren't that bad because Dan and Claire did get married and she didn't get cut off, it's entirely possible they're worse than the Hastings though lmao.

I dunno dude, the thought of that AI sending out hit squads makes my dick twitch.

Some of us have longer attention spans, we could handle it. 😏 But if it saves you some trouble, we can adapt.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. It's been a battle to not give away the farm because I tend to be pretty direct with my plot points, this has truly been a lesson of patience with myself. I do have the problem of "so much plot to convey" but a lack of in story "time" to do it in. I can't keep the feds in the dark forever despite the Cerberus work around they were going to implement in Chapter 5. Five Chapters later we're only a handful of days past that and soon they're going to be desperate for a resolution. Yeah, it seems like the Hastings are oblivious to things that should offend them, just like the Kincaids are so down to earth despite their situation. Oh and St Augustine's is going to be fuuun.

So i think thus far theres been mystery, medical drama, coming out, young adult, suspense thriller, potential espionage now i'm adding, high-school, general romance, rich boy, rivalry angst, oh and I had a social worker who wasn't evil. Still collecting GA genre's and crazy story tropes lmao. I swear to god i'm going to end up writing something like "IM GAY - A Nifty Story" to satire every single thing I've ever read online like the movies "Airplane" or "Spaceballs"

Inner passenger fits. lol

Yeah this is going to be interesting. Will Josh make Reed soft? Or will they beat the hell out of each other and the winner gets to be the top. Who knows.

Oof looks like I've made people suspicious of every thing which is good lol. I actually do like the Hastings (the elders) when I picture them in my mind it's like "they mean well except they have no idea how to mean well" Yeah Josh did good on that one, he kinda needed that point in his favor. James is sweet but I had to set the boundary in their relationship before people got the wrong idea. Josh in this new world needed something to ground him as he settled into it and even though James will be going back to school after the holidays are over his efforts are going to help Josh in the long run. Plus I enjoy platonic bro love. As for Claire's parents, probably a lot of sarcasm and philosophical land mines lol

That's actually a hard question to answer. It's like one of those 'two can play at this game' moments and Reed didn't like it one bit. But he kinda deserved it.

Thanks, I really had to get Josh settled before I could interrupt with the stuff happening in the background that Josh isn't aware of. The Kincaid's play the part but they're sarcastic about it, that's probably why their children aren't snobs lol.

I'm sorry for the essay, but I had to get it out of me. I keep coming back to this story for some reason. I read the comments, and I can't help but feel a lot of them just feel ... wrong. Some of my anchors in what I write deals a lot in forgiveness and I have personal reasons to believe that way. I'm team Jack and I'll tell you why. Simply put, Jack's actions due to his decisions are not irredeemable. Everyone elses however are unforgivable. Jack tried to reach on multiple occasions to verify his thoughts. Alyssa was a bad choice, she was whispering poison into his mind from the get go. And just like Sampson from the bible, Jack didn't realize what Delilah was up too until it was too late and cut his hair. Alyssa cut Sampson's hair the night that Damon got kicked out. That pretty much cemented the path Jack was on and there was no way to go back after that decision point. Jack didn't have a choice when you think about it. When Damon got kicked out even if Jack had let Damon spend the night it still could have ended in disaster for him. The house did NOT belong to Jack, it belonged to his parents. While Jack didn't know for sure how his parents would have reacted had Damon stayed, and they found out about Damon's sexual preference until after the fact it still would have been bad for Jack. Damon's attitude towards Jack's choice in my opinion is unjustified if you remove the emotional aspect from it. Jack's options were truly restricted. Jack tried to call Damon after the fact but as the story said, Damon was blocking calls or lost his mobile account. One thing Jack did do right was get rid of Alyssa. For all the preaching she did, she did the devil's work more effective then the devil himself. Here is the thing that really makes Damon totally unforgivable in my eyes, now and forever. A person's sexuality is a very personal thing, just like faith can be. People can talk to us about it, people can preach to us about it but the one thing that both faith and sexuality have in common is they are things that you have to find acceptance for in your own self to be comfortable with either. It's more than obvious that Jack's sexuality whether it be bi-sexual or gay were latent, hidden. It was the secret inside of him that was not safe to explore due to his environment. Yes Jack make mistakes, yes Jack made some bad decisions. But even if you tally up each and every one of them none of it adds up a sum that justifies what was done to him. No matter what someone has done to you, you never, ever have the right to force someone to "come out" or put them into a position where that secret truth is free to the world to see. Your own sexuality, and everyone else's sexuality is nobodies business but yours and theirs and nobody has the right to interfere in that process. If you do, then you are unforgiveable. It's right up there with murder, and rape in my eyes because it's such a personal thing to ones self and has the ability to totally destroy their sense of being. It's your choice, nobody else's. It might be only my opinion but everyone involved in what happened to Jack are truly the people who fell from grace, including his parents. I totally get why Damon was upset. He felt as if his best friend for over a decade and a half didn't support him when he needed it the most, and that probably felt like the biggest slap in the face one could receive. I know it hurt. But Damon made the choice to openly voice his sexuality, to 'come out' and inevitably when you make that choice, it's up to you to face the consequences whatever they may be, of that choice, and nobody is obligated to save you from the outcome of your decision. To seek revenge, and to force someone out in the open, just because you didn't like what happened to you is terrible. If I was Will I'd have strong moral reasons to rethink my relationship with Damon, because what Damon did placed a poison in his soul that will taint him forever. @CassieQ this is an incredible story, and one that's stuck with me for a while now. It makes me wonder about Jack's story after the fact and one day once some of my projects clear I may write about someone in the same exact position as Jack because it's compelling, because how do you pick up the pieces when someone else falls from grace and almost drowns you in the process.

The first glimpse of St. Augustine’s Academy was enough to make me forget, for a moment, about the tight knot still lingering in my chest. It rose out of the trees like something out of time, ivy-clad stone and soaring archways, bell towers reaching toward the cloudy Virginia sky. Light spilled from tall windows, catching the frost on the hedges that lined the drive. For a heartbeat, I could almost hear the footsteps of a century’s worth of polished shoes echoing down the walk. I didn’

This family is nuts, yeah I may have gone over the top a little. I mean they almost need a story just in themselves. You'll see what I mean in the next chapter lol.