Mattyboy

And stop trying to break me and Rusty up.

“Mom!” Matty protested. “He doesn’t even know he’s my boyfriend.” Now that just came out wrong. “I mean, we are just getting to know each other, and I like him very much.” Technically true, and a pretty good call on the state of affairs 15 chapters ago.

Hmm, maybe. Yes, there's a lot of history structuring those choices, alright. Rusty's relationship with Roy is strained, but is within rather broad bounds of normal (and Rusty wants to keep a line in to his brother as well). August has been read-in on this nonsense (a little, it seems), and Rusty's right about her capacity for emotional support (and smarts to recognize the situation). Bringing Maddox would have turned this into a visit-with-the-Kingsley's which wasn't the main point. Rusty is also choosing not to expose Matty to toxic behavior. Rusty's mother didn't say anything really awful on that front, but Rusty might have intuited that bringing Matty would have been a coming-out moment and might have triggered a gusher of narcissitic venom. August is a shield from that, but not exposing Matty to that is the right thing to do. Sure, it's also a ruse, but his mother isn't entitled to know if she's going immediately weaponize it.

This is excellent progress. The "are-we-doing-this?" shenanigans have been excellent, but it is time for Matty to say "I want this." Also, this seems like an excellent night for a stray cat strut for Slicky

oh absolutely. @The_Jordanator wrote something cool and fun, and doesn't owe anybody anything. I just got here. But if you're open to DMing me the plot line you had in mind, I'd be fascinated to see it.

"The blocks he’d placed in Travis’s mind were weakening, and eventually, Pro wouldn’t be able to contain those memories" So, at some point, Travis is going to be sitting around some middle school classroom and he'll remember he's the champ at Booker's on the east side? He should be able to handle that, no problem. Although the 12k oughta come in handy.

I really want to give Oblivion the benefit of the doubt, because he makes some good points and Prometheus is kind of a dick. But the "skin made of writhing souls" is a bit of a red flag.

The puppies-and-collars theme got an excellent workout today . 🐕🦮🐕‍🦺

Stacy is absolute fountain of chaos, but perhaps a bit beyond even Mrs. Reinhart's skills and Marie's formidable aunting. Not many of Blake's problems are really Stacy's fault, but most everyone else's are.

@Ronyx channeling the apocalyptic chaos in three lines: Seth: "the curtain had been pulled back, and the real Craig had been revealed. I’m not sure he’s strong enough to survive that." Blake giggled and said, “This is kind of fucked up.” Craig: “We should have sex" Marie is a very fine aunt, but this figures to reduce the chaos. I was okay with another loop or two.

Over the hump? into the hump? I generally don't trust Prometheus, but he seems to be a git'er done kinda guy.

In the end, we all self-medicate. Pepto-Bismol comes in bottles, too, remember. All sorts of things could go wrong at a sleepover, but maybe something can go right. I'm almost hoping for a Prometheus takeover to get Travis over the hump.

Didn't Travis have healing powers as a little kid? Is that locked up somewhere, or somehow not applicable to this? You'd think someone who can teleport could get rid of some lung-crud.

It is always thus

They seem extraordinarily useless in general (and in this particular case, it doesn't seem like they could have anything to offer).

Well done, JJ. Flawed, but working with a high degree of difficulty.

hehe “Hey, your mom started it.” Dr Dull is writing a pretty big cheque when he keeps saying he'll be responsible for Travigiovanni fallout.

Just from the neighborhood he seems to live in (and that frosty-tentacle business) it seems sensible to be wary of Oblivion. But Prometheus definitely has some coming clean to do.

Prometheus had bird trouble, but not with a phoenix.

Poor JJ. "Hell is other people."

Only you would know

mm, more you could develop the thought. He's proud of how he did at 112 as a freshman, but how about at 150 as a sophomore? 112 is a small 14 yr old, and 185 is a big 17 yr old. 113lbs is the second smallest (to 106) weight class in WV HS, and 190 is the third biggest (215 &285). (They change the classes often enough this doesn't even count as an anachronism, it was 182 and 195 in 2021). Lots of boys have teen growth spurts. 6" - 70 lbs in 3 years is a big one, but its no rarer than green eyes, and it's your character. But as a wrestler, he's been through nine weight classes in three years. It's something he'd mention (and you touch on it, Greg says he wants to stay at 185). And yup on the bullies - if you're telling us he's smart enough to know it's not safe for him to be out (and he seems pretty together) then I'll take it that he knows his school.

Yep, interesting start. State wrestling champ at 185 and worried about bullies is a bit odd. Not that jerks couldn't attack him, but good wrestlers usually have a LOT of body confidence. 112 to 185 is a huge jump. People grow a lot in high school alright, but wow!

Well, Sam should do that then! I see you've been off working on other fun and fabulous ideas (which is great, too), but these characters deserve an ending! Glad that they got Glen out, though.