Shadow086

My point was that the greater community will come to realise that, in hindsight, the signs of Jack fathering a child out of wedlock were kind of obvious. Especially now that said child is grown up and looks so much like his male relatives.

Joey, apparently.

The signs were there, if anyone cared to see them. But, people turn a blind eye and don't see the signs because it doesn't fit their perception of the McKenzie family. I feel like a lot of people in town are going to go "How did I not see this, it was right in front of my eyes!" when the truth comes out.

I just had the stupidest idea about the coin box, but I'm not telling.

A kid who moved in from out of state and whose mother is being treated as a close friend by an influential family from the area, who just happened to be out of state about a year before the kid was born? Maybe, if they paid any attention.

What a way to go. Poor Theo... I knew he'd get killed eventually, but I didn't expect it to be so soon, or like this. I feel bad for Theo, he didn't deserve to die like this. Interesting events involving Lady Shiba, but my focus is almost entirely on Torsten at the moment. Torsten just did something really stupid, but he was right to do it and I don't blame him one bit. So now it looks like he gave Araziah to the bad guys, though I somehow doubt he'll agree with them either. But Torsten should know that there are other ways to coerce someone. Maybe Araziah can't do anything to Torsten, but ha can hurt his mom, or Lucy, or any of his other friends and relatives. I don't think this is really Torsten's last chance, if Araziah needs him to ensure his future. However, this was probably his last chance to go along peacefully, without any harm coming to his friends. Unless his job was to send Araziah over to the Conclave, which I doubt it was. And now, the torture begins, as we patiently wait for the next chapter in this amazing story.

Jack always struck me as the type who likes to be in control. As such, it makes sense that he'd want the truth to come out on his terms, especially if he knows the jig is almost up. I feel like the hospital room was his last chance to do that. I don't think he's aware that both his sons probably already know, and that Joey's getting desperate enough to spill the beans without caring about the consequences. I can see Jack becoming an unlikely ally if/when his marriage falls apart. For the record, I think it's going to come from either Joey, or Billy caving in when the two brothers team up and put pressure on him. The chances of Billy blurting it out to Paula during one of their arguments have been drastically reduced.

Well, if you're going to go there...

But then, why give Billy a way out? To spare Joey? To give himself a way out? That was the moment to tell Brett the truth, and all three of them chickened out. So Jack, for all his big talk, can be as much of a coward as Billy is. Then again, it could also be Jack realising that Billy is an important part of his son's life and wanting to give him an opportunity to succeed. There's also that this is coming from Dr. Reilly, and I still don't trust her to have been completely honest about things. I think there's still more to be learned about Jack's situation, and my guess is it's come from either Joey or Jack himself.

I don't know. It feels to me like he'd be showering Joey with love and praise, while acting cold towards Brett and keeping him away. The last thing Jack should want is for Brett and Joey to spend time together, since his wife would notice the resemblance. But there he is, pushing his tow sons to be together all the time and acting all parent-like towards a friend's child. Jack can be almost as bad as Billy's glass closet sometimes. And can Joey really be a make-up baby when Jen found out she was pregnant after Heather was? I can see that it was make-up sex, though. I just find it weird that Jack's thought process was "Sleeping with my girlfriend/wife's best friend was a huge mistake, so I'm going to favour the mistake son over the legitimate one."

How could it not, when Billy "Last Word" Roberts is involved?

Consider the chapter as enjoyed by me! Whenever Jeff starts responding to comments, it gets me thinking about a lot of things, so... Wild theory time! So now we know that George was smart, but had to drop out of school. We also know that Paula gave up her social standing to marry him. So... What if Jack McKenzie was in love with Paula and couldn't get over her choosing a bum over a boy from a well-respected family, and that's why he doesn't like Billy. Then he passed that on to his son Joey, who resents Billy the same way Jack resented George. Then Jack turns around and sees Joey becoming more like George, and Billy becoming more like a respectable member of the community. That's when Jack starts calling Joey a disappointment and a failure. Obviously, I'm doing this for fun and it shouldn't be taken seriously, but I do think there could be a history between Jack's and Paula's families since they both were part of the same social circles.

Maybe, but what I do know is that I want to see the two of them get married!

We don't know how Jack felt about his brother's sexuality, but from what Jen said he was very supportive, so that would explain his trying to distance himself from Carl. But we didn't really see his overprotective behaviour until recently, so I don't know. Part of me is starting to feel like Jack expressed his overprotectiveness through Joey's hostility towards Billy. We don't know how his brother got HIV, so maybe he was trying to push Billy away to save Brett from what happened to his brother. Okay, none of that made any sense . I feel like Jack's being overprotective of Brett to make up for what he feels is failing his brother in some way. What I'm curious about is why Jack acts in a completely opposite way when it comes to Joey. I get why he treats Brett the way he does, but why does he seem to hate Joey so much? By all means, it should be the other way around. I think there's another untold secret behind Joey's birth.

Begin? I thought they've been falling for a while now.

Great chapter as always, Com! I'm sorry but, Mack Franks? What kind of silly name is that? And it was funny to see Billy wanting to 'cockblock' his mother. Okay, this Jimmy LaPlane thing has got to stop! I guess Sam's too busy having sex with what's-her-name to take care of Jimmy like he said he would. I loved the way Brandon calmed Billy down, though, hehehe! I wonder what Jimmy will do next, hopefully he ends up getting therapy or something, because he needs it. I'm a bit worried about Brandon forgetting his phone in the car. Hopefully it doesn't lead to his dad seeing things he shouldn't.

So do I, but there are probably things that he didn't know. Like how Billy knew and let himself be bribed into keeping quiet. I can't imagine that going over well with him.

Looks like Billy earned a trip to Brett's ass! The minute the conversation turned to Jack, my first thought was that Brett wasn't asleep. And it's still not clear if he was asleep, when he woke up, and how much he heard, if he heard anything. That could get interesting later. I guess having a gay brother explains why Jack is so protective of Brett. But he doesn't care enough to tell him the truth. I wonder if he sees his brother in Brett somehow. "I think people will respect you more if you tell the truth. We all fuck up and hurt people we love. It’s what we do after we fuck up that defines us." That is very mature and wise, coming from Billy. And of course, she dismisses it. The return of the mysterious coin box! Does Brett really just want to look at them, or is there something more to it that Billy didn't see? You just know that something's going to happen to that coin collection, and Billy will be pissed off about it. It was nice to finally see Paula come around. Hopefully it'll last and Pastor Carl will lose his influence on her. I think Dave has a lot to do with her change in attitude too, since he seems to have a lot less respect for our good pastor. The April Fool: I'm 99.9% sure this is a Dustin chapter. I think it's going to be Sweet Little Dusty's birthday party, but I think his relationship with Emily needs to be explored as well.

This is just making me hungry...

Yep, that's Bobby Rush, alright!

How about a WAR Snark-O-Meter, with every instance of a snarky comment made by one of the characters?

The comedy is what makes it worthwhile for me. There are so many stories with the same subject matter that are all serious and dark and dramatic, and these stories don't usually hold my interest for very long. It's so emotionally draining to read a story where everything's going wrong and there isn't that small piece of positivity, it's not really entertaining for me. But WAR isn't like that, and that's what I like about it. It's not meant to be comedy, but sometimes the boys will find (or put) themselves in a comically ridiculous situation, and their reactions make them more human. We've all said strange things and wondered why we said them, just like Billy did. Sometimes life gives us these funny moments, and we just have to deal with it, and it's good to see that reflected in WAR.

From what he said in chapter 3, I didn't think he'd ever play again. It was, but you'd think Jack would jump at the chance to ship him off to military school and be done with him. And Dustin? Well, despite what he keeps saying, I don't think he's over Billy yet. I don't think he'll cause any real trouble, though.

I think that was one of the best lines in the entire series. It's such a 'Billy' thing to say.

"The only thing you've earned is a trip to my ass!" Billy just has the best comebacks. Brett's going to have a field day with that one. Dustin picked up baseball again? Interesting. He must be recovering a lot better than I thought. Joey: I'm surprised he even got to come back to school, I thought Jack would ship him off somewhere to avoid further embarrassment from his failure of a son. He deserved everything he got, but it always makes me sad to see a young man's life ruined by drugs. I'm also surprised he was still in the running, considering all the drugs he was taking. Sarah: the biggest fish in a tiny pond. Maybe Billy should give her the title and be left alone, but he had to screw that up and make it personal with her. And that comeback. That scene with Brett and Dustin was just great. I really hope Em can be Dustin's special someone. But it looks like part of him really wants what Sarah earned. The meeting is off to a rocky start, but it looks like Aiden is another Billy in the making. That school better watch out.