BigBen

I read this! It's a fanfic from AO3 in the Check, Please Webcomic universe, obviously tidied up for publication. Not a bad story; I quite enjoyed it. Kent—sorry, Alex—starts by trying to convince Eli he's not a jerk, and things develop from there. I enjoyed the AO3 version; I should probably give this a go, if only to see how it's been unlinked from the fandom it started in. And also, how much impact the story can keep when divorced from the familiar and beloved characters of the comic it sprang from. Would Kirk/Spock be as meaningful if it weren't set in the Star Trek universe? P.S.—For those who love hockey stories, Gee Whillickers' short story, "Out of My League," is available on Nifty and AwesomeDude. A very poignant yet ultimately hopeful story of a pair of young players who fall in love at the Mac's Midget Minors in Calgary. Well worth a read.

Your queen is an admirable woman, brilliant and talented. I'm sorry her celebration has had to be toned down. I'm not a fan of royals in general, but I am a fan of Queen Margrethe's. Since she ascended the throne at a later age than Elizabeth did, her chances of surpassing Elizabeth's record are unfortunately slim. My condolences to the peoples of the various nations where Queen Elizabeth was sovereign. She was another admirable lady and will be greatly missed. I must say that King Charles has been handling the loss very well, from what I've seen. No matter how well-prepared one thinks oneself, the moment of loss always comes as a shock. It's a toss-up whether the press of duties is a valuable distraction or a hindrance to dealing with grief.

Orlinski has a wonderful voice and impeccable musicality. I watched a masterclass he did with Joyce Didonato at Juilliard a few years ago, and all she could do was say, "Keep on doing what you're doing." Alas, however, he plays soccer for the other team. (sob!) Now, Jaroussky, on the other hand, is definitely well-acquainted with Dorothy, lol! Meanwhile, this just appeared in my YouTube recommendations. Not quite sure what to make of it, but it's pretty, and the performers are good.

At least we are seeing some progress, but I agree with the other commenters that keeping secrets often causes more harm than good. Even the rule about not outing people only applies when dealing with heterosexuals, not among the friends of Dorothy. And don't get me started on parents who say, "It wasn't my place to help you figure out and deal with your sexual orientation," as if there were some virtue in making the poor kid quake in fear for years, from not knowing what their reaction would be when they found out. Anyway, enough ranting. I'm glad that Rory and Eddie are starting to talk. And Dr. Jase obviously scored some points, too, by treating Rory's injuries. But of course, if we don't want the story to come to an all-too-sudden end, they can't all end up communicating too quickly, lol! Oh, and Rory has to learn that Aaron really is bad news, before he will be able to find permanent love with Luke. So we have those chapters to look forward too, as well. Yum!

Boy, our Rory is certainly one for making assumptions and then refusing to check them against reality, isn't he? But it hasn't helped that Eddie lied to him about his relationship with Jase, either. I'm surprised that Jase, the psychiatrist, hasn't yet put his foot down and insisted on better communication all round. This story has interesting resemblances to—and differences from—Aceinthehole's story, The Golden City, which is another meditation on real fatherhood and chosen versus blood family. It's clear how things are going to have to end up, given the demands of the genre, but as with all journeys, half the pleasure lies in the route we take to get there, and I'm looking forward to all the delightful detours and complications subsequent chapters are sure to bring us.

He may be waiting for her to come first, no?

When my ex and I lived in London, I used to insist on washing the dishes with Fairy Liquid. It might not have been the best dish soap available, but it did an okay job, and the name was just too camp for words. "Is there a Fairy in your house?"

Leopard Spots is the continuation of Leopardskin Cover, which really must be read first. The first novel focused on the team and the club, which is rebuilding after a difficult year, dealing with money problems, and coping with the revelation that one of their teammates is gay. This story broadens the focus, and we begin to see the effects that the example of an openly gay athlete can have on the culture at large, quite apart from and in addition to the team's general impact on the surrounding community. In the first volume, it is the club treasurer who articulates the idea that the Leopards are not just a team, they are a family. In this volume, everyone, club staff, players, and even supporters, grows into the implications of this insight. This second volume continues the exploration of the differences between blood family and chosen family, as the players take responsibility for a young man who fears for his life if his parents were to learn he is gay. The extended Leopards family learns how to work as a team, even as the players learn how to become a family. We also continue to learn about the workings of the VFL, and what it takes to move up from there into the AFL. Since the Leopards are a non-affiliated team, aspirants have to work hard to attract the attention of AFL scouts, and we learn something of how that process looks from the professional teams' side, as well as from the aspiring players' side. Fans of the first volume will see how their favorite characters continue to grow and develop to meet the challenges thrown their way. So many themes enter into the story that one might expect the narrative to lose focus, but as he did in the first volume, the author continues to deftly weave the threads into a coherent whole. But now the team enters the regular season, and the pressure to make it to the finals begins in earnest. The Leopards have begun to pull together, but can they lift one another up enough to make it to the championship? If you thought the first volume was exciting, well . . . !

That scene with Jim and Ty in the car park always gets to me every time I read it; and the later scene between Ty and Peter, as well. That line about Jim as Ty's chosen father is very poignant. I also love Anne Flintlock. She isn't in the forefront, but she's a wise presence who gives crucial nudges in the right direction. The other characters are blessed to have her around. I'm usually too engrossed in the story to leave comments on my way through, but I wanted to be sure this time to leave my thanks for a highly pleasurable read.

A gripping story, deftly told, with memorable, well-drawn characters. We meet the players and staff of a semi-professional Aussie rules football club. (The Lilydale Leopards are a team in the Victorian Football League, just one step below the Australian Football League.) The players are ready to play their hearts out, but can they pull together as a team? What are their chances of making the playoffs? The players and the coaches are all under pressure to perform, and the administration is struggling to keep the club financially viable. To further add to the tension, a newly-hired gay employee meets and recognizes one of the players at a local gay club. They hit it off, but the player is deeply in the closet, fearing for the consequences to his career and his dream of being drafted into the major league. The outlook for romance seems grim. The author deftly weaves the story, combining scenes from the players' personal lives, the coaches' concerns, the administrators' efforts behind the scenes, and the game-by-game play that is going to either make or break the Leopards. Several players yearn to be drafted by the AFL, but do they have what it takes to compete in the major league? The author deserves high praise for making the details of the AFL's draft rules and of club administration just as fascinating as the lives of the various characters. The attraction between the two gay protagonists gives the author an opportunity to discuss the precarious situation of elite gay athletes, and the gay player's identity is deftly withheld until just the right moment in the plot. With all the various details about the lives of the various players, the story could have devolved into a soap opera, but instead we are given a realistic novel that holds our interest until the final paragraph. This story and its sequels are well worth reading and re-reading.

I'm not familiar with any of the author's other stories, but this one is certainly suitable for GA. Unlike many of Nifty's adult-youth stories, this one does not portray a sexual relationship between the protagonists, being instead an extended meditation on the nature and responsibilities of fatherhood and the differences between blood family and chosen family. I did read one other story by Scribe1971, come to think of it, which I believe is called "My Dad Comes Home Today." The narrator's father was a Canadian soldier who fell in Afghanistan. A very moving short story.

I believe you are thinking of Substitute Dad, by Scribe1971 (I believe that's the right name). It's available on Nifty and at least one other site. It might also be here on GA, I don't remember.

Though apparently there was a quite valid concern back then, about whether people could even survive traveling at the excessive speed of thirty miles an hour. No one actually knew, until it was tried.

Very reminiscent of David Brin's novel, Earth, which is well worth the read.

For me, it was The Enchanted Egg. Although the Babar books came a close second.

Alexander Malofeev, a young man to keep your eye on, playing the Third Piano Concerto by Rachmaninoff, one of my favorite pieces. He doesn't doesn't grab me quite as much as Argerich or Janis, but he's young. Give him time.

Refers to an incident where Jesus heals two possessed men outside the town of Gadara by casting their demons (at the demons' request) into a herd of swine, which the demons then cause to rush over a cliff and drown. Not surprisingly, when the swineherds tell the story to the townsfolk, Jesus is asked to leave the area. I've always wondered how the Gadarenes felt about being known only for something their pigs did. In some manuscripts the name of the town is given as Gerasa or Gergasa.

In honor of the day:

Shifts in the point of view of third-person narration aren't particularly jarring, if handled well. Emma Darwin has some valuable tips on how to execute such shifts so that the readers won't even notice. However, when I encounter a shift from first-person narration to third-person in the middle of a story, I always wonder how the main character is supposed to have known what happened outside his sight and hearing. That question usually jars me out of the flow and immediacy of the first-person story-telling, especially when the third-person material appears to be a scene that the author felt a need to work out, but intended to omit from the finished work. Yesterday, I was flummoxed by a story I was reading on Nifty, in which the "I" telling the story became a different character from one paragraph to the next. This was in mid-chapter, and the switch came without warning. In fact, I had to read the new paragraph three or four times before it began to make sense, but sad to say, by that point I had lost interest in finishing the story. I once encountered a story (also on Nifty, I believe) where, I kid you not, in the middle of a chapter and with no warning, "I" shifted to a different character three times in the space of two paragraphs, and one of those shifts actually occurred in the middle of a sentence. As you may guess, that story had plenty of other problems that eventually rendered it unreadable. A shame, too, because the premise was intriguing and the plot, imaginative. It would have been a good read, if the writing hadn't been quite so unpolished. I hope the writer got himself sorted out in his later work, because he showed promise.

I'm so glad to see more chapters! Both to see Ronnie and Taran come more into their own, and also to see that Warren is capable of loving his son, regardless. And now, with the discovery of the shadowghast, the plot thickens. Or, given the connection with the Black Death, should that be "the plot sickens . . ." ?? 🤣😂😋

Glad to hear the problem has been resolved, whatever caused it, and however it got fixed!

I'm sorry, but I'm old enough that the notion of people going around with sheets with holes in them brings up some pretty horrific memories.

I'm so glad to see more chapters! Yay! Taran and Ronnie are definitely favorite characters. Can't wait to see how things work out for them.

Sometimes problems like this result from outdated firmware in the router. A call to your ISP's service department should resolve the issue. But be prepared to wait some time for the firmware update to finish. I once had this problem at home, and later at my mother's house. The idea of updating the router never occurred to me, either time.

Two of my favorite phenomena: Joyce Didonato and a countertenor: