Jjeffalch

Does anyone still see Tyler as part of the narrative? The two most 'normal' of the erstwhile kitchen brigade, Chloe and Tyler, both find themselves pursuing mundane normal activities at some considerable distance from the Hartley kitchen. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, dramas unfold, legalistic demons parade through and have their equanimity shaken in its foundations, the kitchen's denizens learn to excel at fire prevention, and the undead evolve into new (dare one actually say it?) "life forms". What possible role remains for Tyler? Even his tea-making has been usurped by Gregory, who through osmosis, apparently, has realized that the waves of tea somehow have to be organized into batches of seventeen pots (there is surely some diabolic, soon to be unveiled significance to the number seventeen as it relates to pots of tea). I confess, I miss Tyler.

Don't know how Tyler is supposed to compete against that. This might be the end of his relationship with Taine, who was deeply conflicted about it all at the best of times. It's a shame you wrote sTyler as such an amiable lovable character without flaw.

Well, Daniel has finally 'found' Malik, and it was clearly preordained to be thus--finding the "real" Malik will hopefully force him to recognize that the imaginary Malik he'd fixated on could not be part of his future and would never want to be. Maybe this inadvertent realization is just what he needs to give himself entirely i to hus new life, with Max, and to lay t he ghost of Malik to rest.

I agree, and I keep hoping the story line will shift back to Travis, though I'm thinking there will be some unraveling on his part...

I understand that Kitt is not ready to return to his parents--he may never be. BUT, having met with Matt, having learned that Matt never gave up searching for him, that Matt is waiting for him, what could it possibly hurt to call Matt regularly, to rekindle their relationship from a distance, to validate Matt's love and commitment? There are somebody rides rings at play here, Kitt, it is not just about you. I have long been frustrated at Kitt's refusal to even send a sign if life to Matt. But now that they have been reunited in spirit, Kitt's continued willingness to string Matthew along is beyond frustrating. It is selfish, self-centered behavior, and he need to stop it now. Because Matt knows where he is, and that there is nothing preventing him from staying in regular contact with Matt, even if he doesnt want to re-engage with his parents. And Matt bears no responsibility at all for the situation Kitt is in. So why does Kitt persist in treating Mattvto the same silence as his parents, even now? It would not surprise me at all to see the joy that Matt feels now at seeing his unwavering hope that Kitt is okay validated turn into frustration at Kitt's behavior. From there, it is but a small step to resentment, to Matt asking himself why, after a whole YEAR of waiting and hoping and praying, he should still be waiting and hoping and praying--but this time, for Kitt to finally get over himself. I have run out of patience with Kitt's dithering. I have no more sympathy for his 'situation'. I hope he doesn't persist with this attitude to the point where Matt, too, starts to run out of patience.

Here's hoping that finding himself in that "room that had finally been furnished with the people it was built for" will finally help Daniel exorcize the ghost of Malik. And kudos to Margot. That exchange with Nora has humanized her. No longer a calculating, manipulative ice queen impervious to emorion but a victim of her status bereft of the tools to embrace her emotions.

This, @Cane23, is the most compelling and insightful comment I have ever read. Malik is indeed "not the destination", and, I think, would not want to be. On that fateful birthday night, everything Malik said and did, to Nora and to Daniel, revealed a man in complete control, who gave Nora what she wanted, and Daniel what he unconsciously needed, but entirely on his own terms, shaping each of them to the narrative he brought into the penthouse with himself. Malik revealed himself very clearly to Nora in their closing exchange as he left the penthouse, having utterly destroyed Daniel's sense of himself, because he could. That Malik handled Daniel as a somewhat unexpected but fully exploited part of a prearranged transaction, because he could. He had no interest whatsoever in nurturing Daniel in his emotional upheaval. I don't know what could break Daniel out of this misguided fixation on Malik and allow him to grow into this new realization of his changed identity. Maybe he does need to see Malik again and to be again totally dominated physically, so that he recognizes the nature of the change within himself. Then maybe he'll recognize that Malik isn't the answer he is seeking.

I think Daniel is tying to much of his new sense of self to Malik, who had made it quite clear that the birthday evening was a one-off event. As per Nox rules. Daniel has the resources to try to find Malik but the question for me is, what does Daniel do if Malik does not want to be found ?

Sorry to hear about your surgery. That's never fun. Finger crossed that it all goes well.

Finally, they're actually taking the initiative instead of reacting dumbly to a script that was always a step or two ahead of them. The storyline has become a bit disjointed, though. In their 'helpless victim' stage, they were planning out all their steps, of course, stupidly, in full view of the Archivists, and thus to zero effect. Now everything they do seems to be happening in full view of everybody, including the paying, braying audience, but when did they hash out their plans? I feel like we the 'reading audience' have been relegated to a 'viewing audience' status.

Does Malik want to be found?

I'm sure how exactly Kitt thinks his father will be able to hurt Matt.. maybe he should give that some serious thought. He might just realize that sending a note to Matt, saying to him that he, Kitt, is alive, and asking him not to waltz next door to tell Stwphen that he's heard from Kitt, should be enough to avoid that scenario.

I agree entirely with the first part of this post. Kitt knows that Matt hasn't given up on him, hasn't stopped looking for him, is suffering and he STILL refuses to even let Matt know that he is alive. Self-centered and cruel. And @Jonathan Perkins is right that in this Kitt is no better than his father. For the goodness sake, if it's October already, it's been almost a year and Kitt has survived. It's past time that he starts living his own life and ceases to exist in the limbo his father imposed by kicking him out. Tom's suggestion about the GED is a good first step for Kitt to restart his life. But now Tom, and especially Mateo, need to stop treating him with kid gloves as if he were still as fragile as a year ago, and tell him he is wrong in his attitude, that he is causing Matt unnecessary pain, and that he cannot possibly move forward with the rest of his life until he stops giving his father that power to intimidate him, even in his absence.

It's sad, painful and frustrating to see all these kids unable to draw lessons from what they are going through

He knew Matt had not forgotten. Not even close. And the knowledge didn’t set him free. It made everything harder. This is what I was afraid of--it's what kept him from contacting Matt all these months. Tom, Mateo--you're up. You have save Kitt from himself, right now before he does something even more stupid, like run away again, this time from Matt.

Actually, I would love to see "Daddy Dearest" try to cause trouble for Kitt as a minor whom he threw out in the middle of winter. There are laws to protect minor children - surely some of them could be brought to bear to punish Stephen for his abandonment of his son. Kitt has lost too much time st school to be able to graduate with Matt. I hope Tom can find a way to take an emancipated Kitt in and let him finish highschool, perhaps winning that swimming scholarship so he can join Matt at university. As things begin to resolve themselves, I hope that Matt does move to Riverbend to go to university and that Kitt can forgive himself enough to let Matt into the new life he has been building for himself there. I do rather suspect that Kitt will have a hellishly hard time dealing with the recognition of all the months of unnecessary pain and anguish he put Matt through, however much one might understand and sympathize with his misguided reasoning. I hope that happens so that Kitt can break all remaining ties to Lakehurst and move on with his new life together with Matt. There should be no reconciliation with his sperm-donor--that one needs to spend the rest of his miserable existence festering alone in his self-righteousness, without the comfort of his religion which he has so totally warped to fit his prejudices, and with his sullen and silent wife at his side. She deserves no better--she couldn't bring herself even to file a runaway minor or missing person report, far less try to find him herself. Her fate should be to spend the rest of her days feeding the bigot who threw away her child. I truly hope there is a special place in hell reserved for such 'parents'.

Justin saw Sam unraveling, sounded the alarm to the others, AND THEN LEFT SAM ALONE??????? WHAT THE ACTUAL F☆☆K!!!!!!!!!. I'm done with that asshole. The Game must end and Players go to jail, but not before they bring whatever the end game is down on Justin's head, for he bears full and final responsibility for allowing Sam to attempt, or God forbid, actually commit suicide.

This was a beautiful, superbly balanced story, @Mikiesboy. You got it perfectly, achingly, inspiringly right. I hope I am never in the situation of Lonnie. Or even more, of Leo, now that I think that over a bit. But if fate should deal me that harsh a hand, I would hope that, in my grief, I nonetheless recall this story and read it again. It would console me, show me the light at the end of the tunnel, inspire me to get up and get on with my life. And I will recommend it to anyone I know who finds themself in Lonnie's shoes. Bravo!

It's amazing to me that Hunter was able to so completely mask his true nature that Marcus never had an inkling. Okay, so now he's in a place where he won't let Hunter have any more power over him. To my mind, that remise Marcus to move back to Vancouver to be with his family and finally build the relationship with James that's been on hold for so long.

Exactly! Kitt's mother should have done that TWO DAYS after her self-righteous husband threw her son out into the cold. She has made no effort at all to find her missing child. But Matt could have done it. Matt's parents could have done it. Kitt just disappears from school and nobody there questions huscabsence? Have I missed something in one of the chapters-- how was that explained? And for the sake of all that is holy, can Kitt not send a card to Matt saying that he is alright? I understand he doesn't want to suck Matt down into his mess, but that shouldn't prevent him from letting Matt know that he's alive and (relatively) safe.

And why if she doesn't agree with or support her hus and,has Kitr's mother other alerted the police to a missing runaway minor? She accuses her husband of driving her child away into the cold. Why has she not lifted a finger to look for him?

Pastor Greene's truly 'Christian' counseling of Stephen made it clear that Stephen's extreme bigotry and toxic self-righteousness does not come from the church he attends. It has another source. I would love to see the good Pastor cloned 500 000 times and dispatched to every church in America, to underscore to every congregation that this kind of hatred DOE NOT come from the Word of God, and that the Scriptures are being misused to "God"- wash something that is nothing more than baseless, and utterly non-Christian hatred of that which is different and that which the haters do not understand.

I agree-i understand Tim's paralyzing terror of his father But, does his mother share his sperm donor's bigotry or is she totally subjugated and traumatized. Tim's grandparents? If not, if he can count on his mom, or grandparents, or some uncle or aunt to take him in, then he should just tell the Gamers to take a hike and throw the whole bag of shit in his father's face---"look at the shit I had to go through because of how you have terrorized and intimidated me my whole life. Well, Im done being terrorized by you". Justin was afraid of how his team would react to seeing that unguarded photo. And then he is PUBLICLY with Tim and doesn't get ostracized. The idiot needs is to wake up and realize he is inflicting the Gamers' torture ON HIMSELF. Like Weinerdog says, put everything out there. There is no way their life in school can get any worse, and with the threats about planting the weed and other contraband in the kid's locker me memorialized in dated texts the will predate the discovery ,there is plausible deniability. Blackmail only can work when the blackmail victim is trying to keep some secret hidden. At thuis stage, what else does any if our victims have to lose (maybe Tim excepted)?

"Father's like Kitts dad justify kicking their gay son out based on religious beliefs. If they thought about just for a minute to consider what they might have to do to survive and then ask themselves "Would God approve of this?"" Unfortunately, "Their" God likely would approve, at least that's what Kit's father and his like would tell themselves deep in their shriveled bitter souls.

I agree--I can understand why he ran away without telling Matt, and without his phone, contacting him is harder. But he DOES know Matt's address. Drop him a card Kitt, to let him know you're OK. Let's hope the Professor learns his story and encourage shim to reach out to Matt.