Mattyboy

This is a very sad chapter. The revelations we've had about Aunt Rosemary and Gene's family and maybe Father Marlen being understanding seemed to be inching towards maybe the boys could be honest with their Moms and come out, but that seems to be fully nixed. Argh, more turmoil ! What is the meaning of this chaos?

What a story; so much trauma and trouble through the middle, and those awful twists where everything changed, but so much warmth and love at the end. After reading that Steinbeck epigraph through all these episodes I'm so pleased that virtue and love and understanding got their moment in the sun at the end.

Heartbreaker? nose-breaker? it's hard to say. Fun stuff! Can't wait for more!

WL, thanks for all of this series- I might give this one a try. The depth of your reviews is really helpful. You say enough about the books that I've identified some as things you liked that aren't my cup of tea, or that peeve you in a way that I'm willing to forgive (or actually like). And thanks also for the notes about how much trauma and pain is in the books; you've identified a couple that are great writing but likely too strong a dose for me. I also appreciate the notes about how long things are on Audible- 20hrs is more than I'm willing to commit, much of the time, but I might pick this for a there-and-back long drive or something.

Very beautiful and touching. Thank you

Wow, I was about to say it's a cliffhanger but I'm not even sure what's happening! It's a hanger! When the next episode? How long are you going to leave us like this?

Yay! I hope Matt keeps enough of the money to take care of future-Matt. Matt's instinct that Hayden's parents weren't going to be alright was correct. This has been a rollercoaster of a story-arc, but it seems to be coming in for a soft landing! Thanks for sharing this with us

Wow, they've come so far. I pitched you before on stretching this out, but now it feels like we're coming to a natural conclusion. It's fine if you surprise me, of course, but this felt very cathartic. Thank you for the ride.

That two-part scene in the art room with Peter is really powerful and beautiful, although I guess it marks the beginning of the end of the "hilarious romantic comedy" phase of this story.

Wow, Maddox has got it bad! Poignant and also hilarious. And ooh boy, that bad something in Jonathan's past must be a doozie. Great chapter!

Well, and in this case Trent is redeemed since we know from Matt's POV it's pretty clear that he's been hoping for Trent and has been too beaten down to even dare thinking of a genuinely happy life. So Trent has to take the lead, and he and Trent seem extremely well suited to each other. So it's great that they're getting together! That's why I phrased it as "just a shadow." They're adults so they ought to be able to try for what they want. But the rules-for-working-with-vulnerable-people exist for good reasons, too. (And the pandemic has changed me from mild introvert to can't-handle-extroverts-in-public. I'm working on myself but currently a bit hair-trigger on that kinda stuff)

They do seem nice. I haven't been able to help seeing a shadow of a predatory behavior in Trent. Trent ought to know that Matt doesn't have any emotional or material resources. He saw him in tears after his rescue of Evan. He knows that Matt doesn't have any money- he's been working at the Center but he hasn't been paid yet. Matt doesn't really have a place to go other than the Center or Trent's house. He doesn't have any other friends who could help him. He's been shot recently. Trent flat out lied to Matt in response to "She knows about me?," in order to get Matt to go to the dinner. After Matt was visibly upset at dinner and Trent asked his mother to stop, his father laughed at him. Trent's family is nice, but Matt literally can't say no to any of this without fearing he'll lose his bed and his job (which is enormously better than what he's had for the last while). I get that this is being written as Matt overcoming his fears and anxieties, but Trent's not being professional here.

It caused a lot of trouble in the beginning, but it's helping at this stage that it's clear that Seth isn't a gold-digger chasing Noah for his money. What a wonderful feeling this evokes

There's only one demiurge for this reality, as it should be. I hope Caroline gets a chance to do something positive, last time we saw her it sounded like she wanted to.

Hmm, yes, that's been pretty clear. In the little reality I've made for myself over here, Caroline pitched it to him as an emergency fund for taking care of Lilith, that made her feel better about her earlier omissions in mothering. I guess we don't know how big a bank-balance Noah thinks is "healthy," but it struck me as more than you might get for a short story. And Caroline did say she wanted to spend some of her husband's money, in a mildly retaliatory way. And I got a "wow," which could be either I'm onto something, or "wow- what a crazy take"

I was guessing maybe Caroline or Grandpa Crane for this. Caroline seemed to think Seth was alright, and might have been aware that a solid subset of Seth's problems could be fixed by shoveling some money onto them. A fun mystery, anyhow!

I don't want you to rush the ending either. Yellow! Yellow!

But I love how Noah's worked out a practical relationship strategy! Seth's a long way from letting Noah or Caroline pay for a better sofa, but maybe not too far over the horizon!

"An entire two weeks had gone by without anything going wrong. " Am I in the wrong place? It feels like I'm in the wrong place.

I found the scene with Marie left me cringing. Love the story over all, but it was either dumb or cruel for Trent to bring him there without firm expectations of better boundaries with Marie. I see the other commenters didn't read it that way, so maybe it's just me.

yay! Some hard sledding there, but it feels like there's traction now instead of wheel-spinning. I'm impressed with how you've written these. The baseline dynamic between Seth and Noah is a source of enormous tension, and there's so many mood-variations as you dial the hope levels up and down. (I'm enjoying the story, as well, but I feel like I'm getting a story-telling workshop along with the story, which is awesome)

I really liked the real-ness of this day at the swim club. Youth sports these days isn't just that one day when you win the championship, there's those days too when you have to sling chairs and tables out for whatever events been planned. Nice authentic moment. And also with Scott as a recruiter- seems he does like Jackson, but he does have to be prudent with his offers. Fun stuff!

And the Dejection and Hope theme music plays again.

Well, maybe experiment a little to see how long you can get away with it.

I feel you could be true to both your muse and my narrative expectations, if you tacked on an arbitrarily large number of chapters at the end where Seth and Noah ramp up the kink in increasingly improbable but nevertheless hopeful ways.