Jjeffalch

I don't understand something. The wireless broadcast drew outside attention to Vane's inhuman abuses and brought Cameron on deck. Did no-one set parameters for the treatment of the boys after Vane? Or are they all complicit, willing to accept a new, equally abusive but more surreptitious approach, anything that could banish the spectre of gayness? What about Lord Miller, who had apparently been threatening the Prime Minister because of the mistreatment of his son?

This chapter was perfect, because Lucien was perfect in it. He made clear to Sadie, and far more importantly, to Eli himself, how utterly absolute his commitment to Eli is. Eli is Lucien's only way out of his entrapment, but what binds them together goes way beyond that. Eli can hold onto that through the tough decisions and actions that lie ahead.

We readers are all relieved that Troy has moved on. But it wasn't easy...as I read the quote below, Troy suffered through a Miles-induced period of about a year, before he could even consider being part of a relationship again. "We had met at a party at the end of my sophomore year. Owen was a friend of a friend that Dutch introduced me to. We had hit it off pretty well that night. I was still reluctant to move forward, part of me wanting Miles to stroll back into my life. Up until then, I didn’t want any part of a relationship. Instead, I spent the months after his departure pity-fucking my way through the Grindr app. Hook-ups had been my coping mechanism until Owen came along." But the first six months were obviously a struggle until Erik finally told Troy that he'd been in touch with Miles and about his job on the boat-clearly Miles wasnt coming back... I feel that that news triggered the actual letting-go process that Troy needed. None of this changes my opinion that somewhere in that period, Miles should have sent an apology to Troy. It might have taken a few months til he himself had settled down after the upheaval. But, not even a one line text message in all that time? I agree with @jaysalmn, logically, that at this point I'm hoping Mike's does not come back. But, I re-read chapter 13. In that whole chapter, Miles' pov, the are two references to Troy--first, when he reveals that he made Erik promise not to say anything to Troy: then in the last sentence, "I felt his absence like the searing pain of a phantom limb." Nowhere any sign that he understands and regrets what he did to Troy, although it probably was unavoidable. Troy by contrast, six months into dealing with Miles' abandonment, reacted positively when his dad, finally, told him what had become of Miles. He smiled and "felt relieved that Miles had found something that would let him travel". That sentiment, that Miles had found something good for himself, enabled Troy to start letting go. The difference in the two mindsets is profound. Troy all along seemed to understand why Miles left and, instead of wallowing in bitterness, deep down wished him well. Miles by contrast, seems still entirely absorbed by his own pain-no thought fir the pain he caused to stroy and to everyone on the ranch. I get that it was probably too soon for him when he started the sailing trip. Maybe in one of the next chapters we'll see how his healing has gone. I hope that he's gets a safe enough mental space that he can finally examine the consequences of his actions, not just for himself, but for the love he left behind. So maybe they should meet up again, in say three more years, so that he can apologize to Troy, then get back on his ship and sail away again.

I get the sense that Daniel is developing feelings for Julian that the latter seems unaware of. If so, I hope it does not lead to tension when Sam arrives.

That makes sense. In the moment of his decision to leave. Did it still makes sense after six months? Could he not have just sent a message to Troy after some of that time had past, saying, " I'm sorry, I left because I couldn't find a way to stay and not hurt you. It's not your fault." ? Instead, he just disappearsand leaves Troy possibly agonizing over what he himself did to drive Miles away.

Miles isn't abusing Troy. He chose to leave because he knew if he didn't they would be in an even worse place (that's the only hint you guys get). For me, the unforgiveable part is not that Miles decided he had to leave, or even that he left abruptly. It is that for six plus months, he maintains silence towards Troy, who bears ZERO responsibility for Miles' mental and emotional problems. Yet he talks to Erik. I can't quite reconcile that in my mind. Is Mikes choosing to selectively maintain only certain parts of his recent past and his new discarded family? If so, that might actually be even worse.

I agree wholeheartedly. The trauma of being so abruptly and totally abandoned by Miles, on top of the trauma of his brother's death--Troy has definitely suffered too. I'm sure Erik has stepped in and tried to cushion some of Troy's pain, and Erik will encourage him to seek counselling, if needed. But Miles has wreaked too much damage, not just abandoning Troy, but putting everyone on the ranch, including Erik, in an unsustainably difficult position between the two boys--because everyone there had taken Miles in as one of their own. I hope, though, that Troy has enough resilience to not sit apathetically in his apartment waiting for Miles to decide to perhaps contact him. I hope he gets out with his friends on campus and builds up a life that does not involve Miles or his memory at all. And I hope that literally years pass before Miles tries to reach out to Troy again. That Troy has enough time to build his life and a great relationship without Miles. Maybe it would be best if their next encounter is accidental and NOT on the Ranch, with Miles bumping into Troy in the company of his better half (to whom Troy has long ago told the whole sad sorry) and their two energetic, mischievous, and torally adorable young sons. You can all probably tell I have, shall we say, no sympathy at all for young Miles. I would (or at least could) have had some if he hadn't stayed in touch with Erik. That Miles does talk to Erik without himself sending even an indirect sign of life to Troy over a period of more than six months, well, that's too much for me to stomach. I wish Miles well in overcoming his demons -- may he do so well away from Troy, and the Ranch.

A compelling start, for sure. Wayne comes across as quite obsessive, and a step away from slipping too deep into his fantasy. Nothing we've seen of Raymond thus far augur well for Wayne if he shows his feelings. I hope we gets some insights into Raymond through his own pov.

This is compelling and fascinating as a premise . I'm really looking forward to following his this tale evolves.

Only wish the trouble idea had come from some else. Brant's reaction after the meeting was entirely understandable and that's wherethe problems start--one of the two will get jealous, and it might not necessarily be Brant.

Mistype-- In the first paragraph I should have said "the same cocktail of pills that he gave to TRAVIS", not "Will".

I honestly did not expect that degree of callousness and manipulation from Kendo. He deserves everything that happens to him. Whoever takes responsibility for his 'punishment' could perhaps consider paying him back in like coin--abducting him somewhere safe and undisturbed, forcibly getting him all hooked on the same cocktail of pills that he gave to Will, then putting him through repeated cycles of withdrawal. Kendo will know what awaits and get to experience first-hand the torture of withdrawal. But, of course, in the meantime Kendo will spare no effort to get his compliant cash cow Travis back 'on the system' so he doesn't crash and ruin everything. So Monday, doped-up Travis will appear for work, just as last week. The real question is what will Travis do when he's again capable of functioning. I just do not see him as strong enough to recognize that he can't deal with this by himself and check himself into some kind of rehab--and that would be hard to manage with his filming schedule in any case. So Will is going to have to intervene. Maybe his own experience using the G with Jeff will give him insight into how easily Travis was exploited by Kendo. Maybe he will then seek the help of his family to get Travis into rehab and oversee his recovery--Will himself has to get back to Harvard . But maybe Travis is like a reincarnation of the compulsively self-destructive Jeff from the ancient archives of the CAP who could not save himself despite all the help at hand. Or like Robbie who seemingly couldn't help making the lives of the loved ones around him as miserable as his own was until 9-11 put an abrupt end to it all. Maybe there is no happy end to this TRAVISTY.

I'm not sure that the two proposed options for what to do with the pics are the only two. There is a third--do nothing. Travis made his choice, and his actions over the past three chapters show no consideration for Will--at the beginning of this chapter, he was thinking fondly about having dinner with Ramon, Maria and Kendo as being like having dinner in the family. No room for Will around that dinner table. Will is not liked to help him escape the drugs, but he may decide to do so. If Travis accepts that Will would support him in that effort, then clearly ztravisneedsto get rid of KendoWill shouldn't have time use the pictures as leverage to get Travis away from Kendo. If he does have to do so. He really shouldn't be wasting his time with Travis. But, honestly, this is abit of payback for how Will handled Austin at the time when Travis was all uncomfortable about that. I still can't rea,KY feel entirely sorry for Will about how Travis has treated him.

I do wonder whythere was apparently so little contact between Travis and Will 's family over the months. Specifically, with Big Brother Jake.

Marcus had just asked Ryan if they were good, and here he is making dawned sure they aren't.

What perfect revenge! And what a gripping dénouement! It was past fitting that Merrick should understand completely that it was Andrew who destroyed him so thoroughly. But it is a shame that Andrew probably will feel that he cannot tell Will about it. We'll, with any luck, maybe Avery will tell Will. He needs to know--it would finally explain to him so much of Andrew's distance.

Thanks for this, @Topher Lydon. I've a lot of intercontinental travel looming and planned to read the whole series again. Now I know what order to follow!

Ben needs to call his family together and lay it out for them. Julian is someone he is not going to compromise on--if any of them stirs up trouble through a complaint and Ben loses Julian, then they lose him. Definitively. He works from home-he can do that from anywhere. He can move to another city and get a new phone number, and his family will suddenly find that their service provider has disappeared. Ben will miss his nieces, but if that is the only way to break out of their clutches and claim his independence, so be it.

But what does Esca really want? Control over Andy? With the resources available to him, Esca could have had Andy captured and spirited away, like he just did, but from the moment he found Andy. Why stir up resistance from the werewolves?

"Some guys tasted good, but his cum was a little tart. That was probably something I’d get used to over time." This sounds like their oral bout wasn't something they just slipped into, but more like the first sortie of a campaign that is still in planning, but clearly intended to be a longer term engagement. I am surprised that Kendo doesn't come across here as purely "manipulative" and of evil intent. I am not at all bothered to find Travis being so deliberate about this--after all, Will does this all the time and expects Travis to roll with it. What was truly "manipulative" in my eyes was the way Will engineered the threesome with Travis and Austin to keep Austin on the hook while disarming Travis' discomfort with the whole Austin-Will relationship. I just hope Travis can stay aware in his increasing drug use, but I doubt it. It's going to overtake him and drive him to the brink of catastrophe, in his career and in his relationship with Will (that part has already started, witness the tone of recent telephone calls). The real question is whether he will fall over that brink into the abyss.

It is sad to see someone who seems so self-assured and self-confident otherwise turn into such a blithering fool everytime the hunk shows up! He does not like Cameron's personality but apparently has no defense against his pheromones. Another guy consumed by his sex drive about to throw away what could develop into a positive relationship because his choices are driven by his urges.

Is that all? Doesn't seem to be...we have Lucas actively coaching Declan on how to seduce Andy. Lucas seems to want to pass Andupy off to Declan. It doesn't seem to be primarily Andy's initiative, trying to protect Lucas from drawing Esca's attention to himself. Andy is 'willing' to share Lucas because the little shit left him no choice! It seems to me to be more of Lucas' increasingly self-absorbed and deeply shitty 'playa ' persona. Lucas was funny before his turn to a werewolf, as counterpoint to Andy's seriousness. But now he has become just plain insufferable and a potential liability to Andy as he attempts to extricate himself from his Sire's control. Look at how flippantly he destroyed Andy's sweet manoevre with the Boy Scouts! I hope that whatever transpires as the story unfolds further, it wouldn't involve Andy again getting dragged along in Lucas' chaotic wake as if Andy has surrendered every last vestige of the self-confidence and sense of self-preservation that kept him alive for so long.

Lucas' ridiculous Alpha pretentious are no longer just puerile and annoying, they directly undermine Andy's resistance to Esca and put him in danger. Lucas won't take Andy 's admonitions seriously; Marty is a bro, not an Alpha pack leader exerting absolute authority; and Lucas has so thoroughly dominated the unfortunate Ronan that the Dravens now can say nothing. Lucas needs to be confronted with the pure evil that is Esca to be shocked of his stupid "Alpha-playa" fantasy and get with the program. It's going to take a tightly coordinated effort to drag Andy out from under Esca's thumb, and there is no room left for Lucas' by now unfunny shenanigans.

And the slide downhill begins. Differently than I'd expected though. I thought Travis would end up opening himself to Kendo-the logical consequence of how well Kendo has created this chemical dependence--and that there would be a big confrontation with Will over Kendo, with Travis pushing Will away because of his own guilt. But instead, all on his own, Travis is transferring his feelings of guilt onto Will, convincing himself that Will is being 'unreasonable' and totally denying the nature of his own problem. I can only hope the denouement comes quickly and Travis unravels soon. It would be too painful to have to watch him destroy himself inch by inch over another 25 chapters.

And that fluffy pseudo-Alpha, without any filters or self-control, is going to attract the attention of the corporate bounty hunters by boasting loudly and in the wrong place about his "supernatural harem" with "the ten-million-dollar sugar daddy, and.. the flannel-wearing side piece boyfriend". The werewolves will be inevitably drawn in and it will get ugly. What was once Lucas' exuberant, irreversible cheerfulness is becoming decidely unpleasant and dangerous with his 'Alpha-posturing', and the fallout could get deadly.