Mattyboy

That interesting about the ghost's interest in the old graveyard. Maybe there's names there he knows! I don't read a lot of ghost stories, but this mystery seems fun and fresh to me. The stereotype is that ghosts are sort of obsessive bores about their old identities. But having worked in an archives, there's so many unremembered people and unknown names and stories from the past. 👻

I kinda like the chapter sizes. They're like snacks! But keep 'em coming!

Well this is fun! It almost feels complete as is, but I take it from "Part One" that's there's more? 🪦 💍 👻 🎃🎃🎃

Ooh great chapter! I really liked the introspective lines from Parker in the "where do we go from here?" conversation. It was great in the earlier episodes that you were showing us that Parker hadn't thought too much about this stuff, as many people don't, but he has to be up to speed by now. And a fun fresh thing that two teenagers getting called by Dad right after their first time is very likely politics/business and not the terribly awkward "that" conversation. But maybe it will be a fun bit of both !

Congratulations on starting your new studies! Hope it's a great time and you get what you're going for. This story started with angsty fun, but it's becoming something quite deep. Looking forward to reading about Nik and Jake's future at whatever speed it arrives. Glad to hear you have lots or arc left to unroll for us.

Woo, now we're cooking! That went moderately well with Samwell, considering the circumstances. Nic brought a lot of chaos-energy to this party.🎉🤪🎉 Wasn't the point of all this was to "help" Jake with the Meg situation? Nic has been undecided about committing to Jake, but he's showing (and telling) Jake he's got competition. I'm guessing that's sort of a power-move on Nic's part to show Jake he has options, and maybe see if he can get him to snarl at Arnie or Kenzo? It's pretty crazyass on Nic's part ... Friday at school will be a lively day!

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Excellent progress. As big a shock to the system as this call with Dad is likely to be, I'm fairly certain it will be a very good thing for Alec in the long run.

That was a weird twist with Connor's posse. But an interesting scene, and maybe the start of some fun new plot-lines. And some many possibilities for Thanksgiving drama. And I'm getting into the what's-up-with-Rusty intrigue!

"I have brats" Yes, Finn, yes, you do.

Yeah. This issue just keeps bubbling back up- I think in part because Don naming the boat Elizabeth's Legacy is a weirdness that hasn't really been sorted out. If it was Memories of Elizabeth or something, it could be chalked up to nostalgia and Don being sad his sister died an ocean away, and he hadn't done much about getting to know his nephew until it became an emergency. But Legacy seems to point to either Robbie himself (who Don is sort-of at war with at the moment), or her estate. Don naming the boat (obliquely) after Robbie doesn't seem plausible, so what seems to be left is the other side of that. It seems like impossible-to-believe hubris that Don would embezzle from the estate (which I guess the value of is mostly in the flat in London), and then announce that by buying a boat with the money and naming it "stolen goods." But here we are.

Just checked through. Salander has been building this scene up for quite some time now (from the first section of chapter 1). Samwell's on-stage debut will be (presumably) the next Jake / Ellie scene. He's been getting extended in California since school started. Early-episode Jake was annoyed at the parenting-emails, but they were kinda standard absent-Dad stuff. Ellie calls him "Dad" in conversation, but Jake usually uses "Samwell," for what that's worth. Jake reveals in Chapter 16 that Ellie's car was an expensive 16th gift from Samwell, and he did make the glass-half-full effort about watching the feed to the rugby game in 11. So quite a bit of pent-up potential energy available for this upcoming scene!

Not all that much, on Samwell. I think there have been phone calls but not much "actually-present" at all. Jake seems to enjoy the freedom of him being away a lot, but missed him at his game. I read the "oh, shit" comment as more an unexpected event, in a day that didn't really need extra for Jake and Ellie, rather than impending doom. What teenager likes explaining to their parents why their car is wrecked? But I guess we'll see. Maybe even soon?

Kenji has been good for Alec, which is a bit of a surprise, but he's been useful. And of course, he's gotta get this sorted out if he wants River's full (possibly bratty) attention. Hope all's well, @Demiurge.

Ooh, Crystal Amos is Nic's-stepdad-Amos, right? Jake and Nic will have lots to talk about! This is fun!

That's some very fine angst, indeed. Even by your usual high standards. And quite the cliffhanger at the end. I'm not sure that's a plane ticket he's buying. Considering that Alec is more-or-less totally out of his mind at the moment, this "plan" could be . . . anything!

Hehe. I'd been wondering if Tyler "taking care" of Ariel was going to tamp down Ariel's kinetic-chaos anxiety-field. But, um, not so much, eh? It feels like something in that school is going to implode into little shards today. Ooh, maybe Sean will be involved! or Hailey! or Sean and Hailey! This is going to be fun!

Outstanding! Now we're cooking!

Well done, River! 😉 This is an exciting plot twist. I'm glad you moved away from cycling through the internal mess of Alec-wants-to-be-with-Finn-but-can't-stand-the-idea-of-trying again. You did a fantastic job of depicting that, and certainly people do get trapped in those cycles, but as far as the story-telling goes, we're there. I now need to backcheck, but didn't Person A think B didn't want more than hookups, but now B has feelings? And then Seattle Ken turned up in Iowa! He took a flight to have a "talk" with River? 🤨 Wait, is River "person A"? 🤪 Back in episode14 that was all off in hypothetical-land and it never got cleared up for sure!

Hurray! Good for Dad trying to do the right thing.

Hehe, I think you underestimate @Demiurge's capacity to string out a tantalizing storyline, especially after the commentariat has latched on to the issue. Yeah, the massage angle is a good one. It would be rude to not help Finn with his homework, right?

Woo, that's a relief that "Person A" is "Ken," and not Alec or, worse, Finn. And hehe, the "who's-Gracies-Dad?" issue lasts another week! That's good news about Finn and the PT and "working-on-it-since-forever," but it doesn't sound like university-right-after-high-school worked out for him. Which I guess you told us was going to happen re: Milo's injuries and rehab, but it didn't seem to be locked down that it definitely happened. So Milo has always been nice, plus he owes Finn for that. Milo is a positive force that Alec's demons don't seem to be able to get a grip on.

The rugby subplot gives this all a faint Heartstopper vibe sometimes. But yeah, that's not really Nic's jam. Unless Aunt April makes him clean up and spend some more time with Luke's nice friend Jake, who could be a good influence and role model.

"it felt like we were back to what we were in that snow covered field last Christmas." What a great moment and memory that made. That's a lot of episodes back, isn't it? "Knowing he was just over there, had been there my entire life and I only just took advantage of that fact." Ooh Jack's been thinking again! And nice to see the team turn out for some fun! Great episode!

Well, that would be cool too. And it's up to you!