Mattyboy

As awful as all of that was, it's excellent that it's all out in the open and that Nick wasn't the agent of any of that. Nick, as Mom said, was there for him and helped him, but no confidences were broken, and the "Jack needs therapy" thing just moved up to the top of everybody's to-do lists. (also very good with Tommy, but discussion has veered away from that sub-plot)

I'm really enjoying the mashup of "the whole Mexican James Bond thing” and the Merrickville mayhem crew.

no edit: sorry Scrubber, it's a no, even if she titles it "The Dumbest Year"

Hopefully Trace and Celia are told by Gavin before dinner today. Celia needs to tell Mrs Reynart that surprise "This Is Your Life" appearances from Temptonians aren't fun for him (and might be actively dangerous). And maybe something can be done about therapist appts.

Lorianne seems to be a pretty alright person to eat lunch with. Joel may not know what team he wants to bat for, but it feels unlikely he'd harass Rissa in a way that would annoy her. Might make a nice little friend group, actually.

Re privacy - I don't think we know much about how Alex's pad may be monitored by El Coyote, and may be surveilled by Agridyne soon. Alex may need to do a lot to maintain cover. Kyle was a fucking dope to dump his cinnamon-roll Giraffe Daddy, so there's no telling at this point how many cards were left on that table, but possibly a lot. (Well, perhaps Topher will tell us, but us peanut-gallery-grade readers don't have anything to go on).

Tommy has been accepting and is bumping up on active curiosity. "Your school is gay-friendly?" and happily stripping down to CK briefs for the night. We wrapped up some issues and so I guess it's narratively time for a new source of conflict, but perhaps the boys' experience will see them through this one

Joel's bio-mom really did a number on him, and he's trapped by his fears and trauma and can't begin to figure out what he wants, even able to guess at a want. Grady Roy Mason hasn't done anything at all bad on stage, and seems friendly and prepared to be accepting. Lorianne seems pretty alright. The first person PoV and all the introspective analysis of the situations is a jarring contrast with Joel's actions. Maybe Davin could have done a bit more prep with Joel about meeting the team, but ugh. That random flailing at going hardline at being #17 was a weird thing to do right before panicking and running off because the team looked liked they were enjoying their new kit (and away from Davin who I presume is his ride). This is a panic/trauma response, but for an introspective kid who's been conditioned to go with the flow, it seems more dumb than anything else.

And very well deserved for Brian, who got dumped by Kyle for having ambition and making too many cookies. Karma has delivered him a (rather weird) new boyfriend with a cool car. 🏎️🦒🦒🥮

What a contrast between Brian and Alex, and yet they also each have a lot to offer each other (which Alex is just starting to figure out). Fun and fresh variation on the old "opposites attract" story.

🦒🦒🥮

hehe, how's it going over on Reddit?

The disposability of the wet nap is haunted by the non-ferrous im/permanence of the spork (ephemeral at the meal, but eternal in the landfill). You'll have to discuss it with Inkognito, that's a whole 'nother place-setting.

Marty had been very interested in the pics of Aunt Hanna before, and had some sort of fragmentary memory of that New York restaurant Claire took them too. I'd been wondering if There was some Marty-Hanna connection, but maybe not.

Where's that new fancy hearing aid from the sponsor? Feels like it might be waterproof.