Jjeffalch

Indeed. Bit it does make one wonder why everyone else apparently has just stood aside and let Diana abuse the poor kid. The abuse doesn't seem to have been a secret.

Marcus seems an otherwise self assured man. An arrogant stud walks in and unfurls some pheromones and this self-assured man instantly melts down into a puddle of hormones ready to cheat on his spouse? REALLY? Well, I hope Ryan finds out quickly what has happened between the two of them and quickly concludes that Marcus isn't worth his attention.

I disagree that Ryder's mere presence "will allow Owen to make a choice". Rather the contrary, the whole point of this maneuver is to force Owen's hand, to force him, not allow him, to destroy the plan that he and Margot have crafted, and to do so on Ryder's schedule. All this potential mayhem based on three weeks of acquaintance! There is something pathological, something sinister, about Ryder being so hell-bent on dragging Owen under his control so rapidly. This whole business about setting up house together in Youngstown...no matter how infatuated with Ryder he may be, surely that strikes Owen as weirdly rushed...but who am I kidding, Owen has steadfastly ignored all the other dire red warning flags that Ryder keeps dropping on him, and he has made a lifelong habit of refusing to ever tyink for himself, so why should he begin to actually think at this stage?

Righteous words !!!!!

WARNING! WARNING! Sensors detect incoming catastrophe!! TAKE EVASIVE ACTION IMMEDIATELY!!!!!! This isn't a red flag, this is the warning shot across the bow, and this is where Owen has to open his eyes and take a long sober look at this Ryder. “I’m saying maybe you don’t go to Ohio State.” The sentence sat between us. The most direct challenge to my life plan anyone had ever issued out loud, and it was coming from a guy in a black t-shirt who’d known me for two and a half weeks." Yes, Owen, the sense of unease you made clear in that thought is right on. This asshole is a bully, a Dom seeking his sub. You put in with him, and you give up any hope of making your own decisions. He will tell you what underwear to put on in the morning, and you'd better jump to it. And he doesnt give a damn about YOUR life plan or anything else that you want. Ryde r hets or takes what Ryder wants. Case in point... When the check came he grabbed it before I could. “Ryder.” “Don’t argue with me.” “You drove just as far as I did to get here. At least let me split it.” “Don’t argue with me, Owen.” I let him pay. Here's another point to consider. From what I remember, Owen is feeling boxed in by the weight of his family's expectations. I don't recall him ever saying anything about his parents actually telling him he had to take over the business or else suffer the consequences, or, for that matter, him telling his parents that taking over the family business was not what he wants to do with his life. And Owen is so passive, so "go with the flow"-ish that he has probably never actually asked questions that might have helped him decide if there was any chance they could be understanding if he said he didn't want to be a mortician. I'm pretty sure every mortician is well aware that most people are not cut out to do what they do. It might not be the "painful-surprise-and-feeling-betrayed-and-we-will-never-forgive-you-for-your-lack-of-gratitude" reaction. And after all, there is the enthusiastic Cousin Eric who will make sure the business stays in the family. They might actually react quite well if Owen speaks his mind--disappointed, sure, but maybe no more than that. Their reactions to him being gay are more likely to be what Owen should really worry about, The thing is, Owen does not know for sure. And he admits it...My dad is what? Going to disown me? Going to never speak to me again? Going to throw me out the way Ryder’s family had thrown him out at fifteen? I didn’t know what my dad would do. That was the problem. I didn’t know him well enough to predict it. Margot doesn't know for sure. And "Self-Righteous Ryder" sure as hell doesn't know for sure. But he's apparently willing to encourage Owen to throw over everything based on his, Ryder's, say so. And then, to crown it all off, the threat to storm the engagement party and destroy it all himself! If he doesn't get what he wants, he's going to burn it all down, leaving scorched earth behind him, and Owen trying to salvage some vestiges of a future from the wreckage. My God, @mastershakeme, you're brilliant! Five key paragraphs and you paint a very compelling and utterly convincing picture of the nature of this guy, and it is NOT GOOD.! And just look how worked up you've already made me get this early in the morning and I haven't even had my coffee yet! I'm going to get a cup right now in the hope that it will CALM ME DOWN!!😉 That's some fine writing right there, because usually I can barely put together a coherent sentence before coffe number 3! Owen, dear sweet overthinking child, consider that last thought you had about Margot's reaction...Couldn’t bring myself to call her. Couldn’t tell her what Ryder had said. She would lose her mind. She would call Jules. She would draft contingency plans. She would not understand because she was in the same trap I was in and she’d been planning her way around it for three years and Ryder threatening to show up was the worst-case scenario she’d been trying to prevent her entire life. That applies not just to Margot, its also YOUR escape that he is threatening. Then consider your own reaction, once you'd got over the physical reaction to the goodbye kiss..He was going to do it. I could feel it in my bones the way I’d felt the wind on the motorcycle last night. He wasn’t bluffing. He was a guy who didn’t bluff. He’d been built by a life where bluffing got you killed and now he just said what he meant and meant what he said, and what he’d said was that he was tired of being the secret. Then think of your reaction to the kiss itself ...He stepped close again. Put both hands on my face. Kissed me. Hard. Not romantic this time. Possessive. The kind of kiss that said you’re mine and the kind of kiss that said don’t forget it and the kind of kiss that said I’m not going to wait forever, Owen, you need to figure your shit out before I have to do it for you. He's "tired of being the secret", is he? Ryder is not a secret, he has NO STANDING in your life, Owen, beyond insisting on paying for your fries at the diner, and, you have to admit, he wasn't very nice about it, and that, too, is a warning sign. Listen, Owen, you can already feel that this shithead is poison for you. Pull the plug and back away before this utterly self-absorbed loose cannon lays waste to absolutely everything in your life. He doesn't have anything to lose. You do! Like Ryder himself said, "Ohio State’s a big school. Lot of guys. Lot of options." Once, you're there, you can figure things out with more freedom and flexibility---what you want to study, and whom you want to date. Ryder fascinates you because he is the very first guy to pay you attention. And that's all it is for now. Don't lose sight of that.

Let me add arrogance to the list of things about Ryder that I don't like. Let's listen to him for a moment: You’re letting other people decide who you are because it’s easier than deciding for yourself. And then he says This summer. You’re gonna figure your shit out, Owen. You don’t want to work in a funeral home. You don’t want to marry your best friend. You want me. You want those kids at VBS. I know you do. I’ve heard you talk about them. Your whole voice changes when you talk about those kids. That’s who you are. And I’m not gonna sit here and watch you bury that for your dad’s business and a ring that belongs to somebody else.” I see a bit of inconsistency here. He seems to saying to Owen "here are your instructions, Owen. Don't do what your parents tell you to, do what I tell you to do. I, who got kicked out into the street at the age of fifteen because I was found out as gay; I who because of my desperation fell in with the wrong guy and ended up in jail; I who know nothing about your situation beyond the little you have told me over the last 12 days, mostly in short text messages; THAT I am telling you to give up the plan to get to college and get the kind of education that can help you find a job and support yourself if, as you so evidently fear, your parents disown you when they find out you're gay. Because i know what us best for you." Thus spake Ryder in full expectation that thus it should be. Here is Ryder, the kid with all the wisdom derived from a life of rich and varied experience (hah!), giving his advice and determining when it is appropriate for someone he has known for 12 days, to come out. How is that any better for Owen than following the instructions of Margot, who is certainly selfish, but at least does knows what Owen is dealing with given his parents? To me, that sounds like someone settings conditions that he expects Owen to meet in order to benefit from the grace of Ryder's attention. In all honesty, I prefer Cole 's approach.

With all the vituperation against Margot, her selfishness, her manipulation of Owen, we seem to be forgetting that Owen has been an active and willing participant in the whole thing. He is as terrified as she is at the prospect of the parents finding out the truth.The plan benefits not only Margot, please let us not forget this. Owen is passive and apathetic, Margot is the opposite. Of course she's going to do all the planning. The only real reason to be mad at her is when she forges ahead without informing Owen, like with the whole 'engagement' saga. And we're getting even more upset because she sees Ryder as a danger not only to their overall plan, but more importantly, to their ability to determine the timing if their coming out. With what right does Ryder presume to have the right to 'force' their schedule? Ruder does not know them. He has no idea what Owen's family life is like. He has no sense of what is at stake, what Owen stands to lose, and he has NEVER ONCE actually asked Owen how he feels about all this. NOT ONCE! He needs to back off and leave a little bit of room for the possible, the potential relationship to grow, and in that relationship he might just earn the right to have an opinion about Owen's and Margot's plan. And while he's making room, he might consider doing what he demands of Owen, and start talking a little more about himself. We were all disappointed in Cole, whom was clear and compassionate. He told Owen he was not prepared to be with someone still in the closet. He did that gently and upfront. He did not judge Owen, because he understands how difficult and wrenching coming out can be, and he was entirely open about his reasons for refusing to go back into the closet. I far prefer that approach.

He's big on honesty from Owen. He had a chance of their telephone calls after the 'reconciliation' --during the first call he actually admitted that he had not shared with Owen anything about his past.he could have said something then or the next time. He didn't. Was having too much fun "guilting" poor passive Owen.

I am really keen to see how thenext conversati9n between Owen and Ryder goes. Margot was sharp enough to pin him down into an admission I don't think he would have offered to Owen voluntarily. Let's see if he foll I was up or goes on the iffene8ve and tries to guilt-trip Owen into submission.

I may have missed it, but what makes Ryder think he has a commitment from Owen? He is sitting there in whatever situation he is in--probably without any family constraints, oh but wait, nobody knows anything about Ryder's situation, do they, because of course, Ryder gets to decide what he reveals and when--and he is claiming rights over Owen that simply don't exist yet because he hasn't earned them. Of the 11 days they've known each other, he has spent five of the last six sulking like an 11-year old. Instead of showing support, he acts like an insulted prima donna. Showing up like that, at the fair, as if he has right of first refusal over Owen's time off and weekend activities, is for me an act of emotional manipulation that should be a huge flaming red flag to Owen, and if only he were a bit less sheltered and cowed, Owen might recognize this. All of us readers are overtly outraged at Margot. She at least has been around Owen for ever. Ryder has NO STANDING WHATSOEVER in Owen's life. My most fervent wish is that Owen realizes that Ryder is purely selfish, that Margot is purely selfish, and that he then decides to get a little selfish too. That may mean sticking to the plan with Margot and getting away to university safely. Who cares if Margot is acting in her own self-interest? If that also serves Owen well, more power to them both. What does Ryder have to offer to balance his pursuit of his own self-interest? Maybe Owen should just wait for Theo to grow up--his luck on Ember has been piss-poor.

I don't know how you do it, @CasualWanderer82, but this was sublime. The whole story seems to move forward with a certain inevitability, starting with that vague and strengthening sense of foreboding as the boys accepted Mister D's offer and got on that plane to Italy, rising to a clear feeling of alarm as Luka's disquiet deepened in the villa. And then the finality of his sacrifice, and the way the story resumes five years later, and the way you lead it to this wondrous conclusion. I do know that I will come back to this story again and again through the rest of my time to re-read it, not the whole thing, but the passages between The Maker and Mister D. That whole interplay was profound, deeply unsettling, but it also gave me a feeling of optimism, because for all their power, it seems that both The Maker and Mister D are neither omniscient nor omnipotent--there is still room for human agency, choice, love. “I knew what I was doing, more or less. But that… what that boy did… I didn't make that. I made things that could do it. And then I stood back, the way I always stand back, and every so often, very rarely, one of them does, and it breaks the world open a little, and lets in something that wasn't there before." He smiled, faintly, at the dark tree. "And I have never once been able to see it coming" That's my favorite piece of this whole magnificent tale. It makes me hope that what you said there is true. Thank you for this.

You're right on both counts, @pvtguy. Owen is entirely and totally passive. "My phone was in the cup holder. Dark. Quiet. No messages from Ryder". And it never occurs to him to send a text to Ryder and at least try to explain, to salvage something that he and Ryder could possibly build on. And I do hope that Ryder does realize that he too hasn't been entirely forthcoming to Owen, is guilty in some respects of the very thing he is so judgementally accusing Owen of. And he'll have to admit, at least, that Owen hasn't bored him. That should count for something!

Two humble suggestions. - more Gremlin, and more Carter!

Well, good ole Ryder got pretty judgemental there. But when I think back over their conversations, I can remember not a single thing that Ryder has told Owen about his own background. What he's doing now as a job, sure, the intricate dilemma about lunchmeats, sure. But nothing to his background, his family, his wishes and aspirations, his fears. And no sign that he understands or has any patience for the utter and absolute fear that makes Owen maintain the elaborate pretense of straightness and compliance with his parents' demands and his familyobligations. In fact, I rather suspect that that Ryder has no family, because he was somehow outed there and kicked out. Maybe he has no sympathy for someone in the closet because his was violently torn away. Unlike Cole, who set out clearly but kindly that he couldn't being a relationship with someone still in the closet, while understanding why Owen might not yet be ready to leave his. Not a healthy foundation for Owen's first relationship.

I knew Jed would end up being hurt but I thought emotionally, I didn't anticipate this horror. The poor boy--he was trying so hard to atone. This end he did not deserve. It's going to fall to Alvarez to eliminate that psychopath. Hopefully Ephraim will take down Acosta on the way.

Will is setting things up so he can have his cake and eat it too. Austin has clearly explained why he can't stay detached. Will just overrides that and essentially 'manipulates ' Austin to give in against his better judgement, although he knows how much more painful the breakup will be when Will inevitably goes back to Travis. And yet, kniwingbbeyond any doubt that pursuing their relationship on these terms will devastate Austin when Will ends it, Will just goes ahead anyway. SELFISH AND SELF-ABSORBED behavior. But quite predictable, after four full-length novels about Will.

But Alvarez was reacting to what he saw, and that was pretty darn clear. Devon goes from a weird public lunch with Alvarez to an intimate sexual encounter with Jed, and he makes THAT fact just as public with their disheveled appearance on the landing in front of the whole saloon. Maybe he thinks he's just dating the two of them and is free to dangle the possibility of a relationship in front of Alvarez while he enjoys himself physically with Jed, whose guilt will make him agree to absolutely any condition that Devon sets. But that doesn't apply to Alvarez. Alvarez may have too much pride and may be hiding his insecurities behind his blustering facade. But for all the silly head-butting that he and Devon have done, Alvarez has never deliberately done anything to hurt Devon. He has done nothing to deserve being treated this way by Devon. That public humiliation - his pride can't accept this. I'm not going to blame him for this. "He pulled the farm boy close, leaning in until their noses were almost brushing, weaponizing the genuine intimacy they had just shared into a calculated, ruthless strike against Alvarez's pride." With all sympathy for what Devon went through, at tge hands of JD, no less, Devon is not the injured party here. What worries me is that Jed, for all his past transgressions, is being instrumentalized by Devon in his emotional war with Alvarez. Jed. will.get.hurt.

I may be the only one who does not sympathize with Devon in this "tale of two beaux" . Devon reacts poorly to the "colddismissal" he sees in Alvarez' eyes.

In the time I was typing this comment, two others picked up on the Vega Vixen link. Bravo!!

"Across from them a small family was bickering and trying to stop a four-armed alien from eating all the pudding. Their kid laughing and saying something about them not painting space ships yellow. His father gesturing wildly, and grinning at the man who was obviously his long suffering husband sipping a cup of tea." It seems I'm the first to pick up on the MOST IMPORTANT THREE SENTENCES IN THE WHOLE CHAPTER...Do you not see it? It's the CREW of the Vega Vixen, with GREMLIN!!!!!!!!!!!! I've been thinking for MONTHS , it feels like, in a grumbling sort of way, that I need more Gremlin in my life. My dear @Topher Lydon, it seems you agree, because this wee little cameo feels like the intro to the re-intro of Gremlin. My dear fellow readers, if we all join in a concerted chorus demanding this, perhaps we can hurry the re-intro process along (hint, hint). Of course, I've been thinking for EVEN MORE MONTHS, and this definitely in a grumbling sort of way, that I need more Carter in my life. Now, of course, re-introducing Carter won't be easily accomplished in this futuristic context (at least, not without a time machine and that wouldn't really feel right), but, my dear @Topher Lydon, I'm hopeful that you are feeling the same compulsion, for how else can one explain the similarities of slogan and personality of Tripp the Dictator with "Him-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named"? Tye narrative bridge is almost there, I'm hoping. This not to say that I/we, your loyal reader(s), are not hugely enjoying the diverse adventures of Darien and Wylan and Ser Val, and especially Ashot: and the Vega Vixen crew, and especially Gremlin, and now Flynn, and especially Poitr, but....

This was your best yet, @Tony S.. There were times when I truly feared that Kent would not beat his demons. He struggled, and it sometimes felt that it would prove too much for him. But although Kent didn't really want to and his instincts were telling him to flee, he didn't, he stayed. He found the people whom he needed to help him stay--Marvin, Pete, Dr. Ratchanon, and Devon--and he let them help him to learn how to stay, maybe without really realizing the role they were playing. The whole story flowed toward this wonderful, quite perfect ending. It was masterful, emotionally compelling, and deeply, unexpectedly deeply, satisfying. It wasn't easy to read the first five chapters, but this ending has made it all worthwhile. Tham you for sharing this disturbing but beautiful story, and your skill and talent, with us. Please do it again soon!!!

It is now beyond doubt. EVERYONE NEEDS A GREMLIN!!

What an unexpected twist! This is a doozy of a cliffhanger. I hope the next book is well underway. No pressure of course!😉

Maybe this is Will's way of punishing Travis for his neglect leading up to the Xmas holidays. It really is a shame that Travis needs Will so much more than Will seems to need Travis, and that his father-induced insecurities won't allow him to just tell Will to enjoy his time in Australia while Travis enjoys his time in LA and they'll both decide where things stand when he gets back.

I may be missing something--- 😕 Will figure that Travis getting with Kendo would damage their relationship, maybe permanently, and he is insisting that Travis not get intimate with him. Travis feels pretty much the same about Austin getting closer to Will, Austin who has just shed the boyfriend who was holding him back from getting involved with Will. How are these two situations different? Will is heading off on a "honeymoon"- like trip to Australia with the one person whom Travis really feels threatened by, and Will feels justified in telling Travis "you know where I stand on this, and if you fuck him, you’re no longer the cloud hovering over my boxes. It’s just that simple,”. Sorry, that is glaringly one-sided, and almost guaranteed to send Travis into Kendo's bed, the next time he flirts him up. It's strange and actually sad, but every time it seems as if Will is maturing away from being a very self-absorbed and self-righteous person, something happens to weaken the facade and his inner asshole comes roaring out, proclaiming "I'M STILL HERE!!!!"