Cane23

It looks to me that Ishan’s weakness isn’t the strength of the magic - it’s his loneliness.

Seems sex is an answer to everything... They live a teenage dream! 😁

I suppose it’s a Thai - Japanese (U.S.) marriage, since it’s mentioned that Kent is going to Bangkok for the reading of his grandfather’s will.

That’s just a woman speaking from Ser Val… Just let boys be boys - and let them play with their toys! 😁

Duh, this one was easy… find me a non-demonic lawyer!!! Now that’s a challenge!

“agreed, they aren’t quiet.” How to be quiet with 'sword' between your legs?! If you two would stop listening to us when we do this, we’d not have to!” How can you not listen someone having sex in the same tent?!

Sharing war wounds can turn hostility into friendship, and friendships forged in service together often last a lifetime.

Charlie is in “deep” self-discovery. Teenage boys should try everything before they decide they like only one dish! 😉 (Though for zombie Charlie, veganism seems to be the only option.)

In a sense, Daniel’s marriage to Nora is the first silent echo of the eventual liberation he experiences with Malik. Nora fits in socially enough to be tolerated, but she’s not fully aligned with the family’s expectations. So, it’s his first small refusal of architecture, but unlike with Malik, it’s still constrained by the world around him - he’s testing the limits of the walls without yet breaking them entirely.

That's a... perfect boyfriend!

When I think about it… you’re right. If he can go from a puffy boy to a hot surfer, then adjusting a part of the body should be a minor change! 😁

What does that even mean? You’re frightening me! 😱

Daddy being daddy...and saving the world! I like it...

...and experience! Reding the chapter and comments again...and cannot stop thinking - Daniel is one lucky bastard! 😁 If you strip everything down, Daniel is incredibly lucky. He has something most people in stories like this don’t - a network that doesn’t abandon him. Nora stays. Alec stays (in his own flawed way). Even figures like Max and his brother orbit him with a kind of reluctant loyalty. That’s rare. In many narratives, a character who spirals the way Daniel does would be socially “cleansed” by the plot - isolated, punished, cut off. But here’s the twist - that luck almost becomes part of the tragedy, because Daniel doesn’t experience it as luck. He’s surrounded by people who are willing to love him as he is becoming, not just as he was - but he’s still chasing something that exists outside that circle. What he tasted with Malik isn’t just desire or connection; it’s something closer to a myth of transformation. And once someone internalizes that kind of experience, ordinary (even deep, real) love can start to feel… insufficient. So, externally, he’s a “lucky bastard.” ...internally, though, he’s in a much harsher position. He has love but can’t fully receive it; he is seen but doesn’t feel recognized in the way he now craves, and he is supported but still orbits an absence! His biggest enemy isn’t just himself - it’s the standard he now measures reality against. And that standard was created in a moment that can’t be repeated, which makes his situation almost cruel in a quiet way - he’s not deprived...he’s misaligned with what he already has. So, instead of seeing one lucky person, we see what happens to a person who already has enough - but no longer feels like it is?

Sounds like Monty Python! 😁

A 'huge' sacrifice for Julian! 😁

And the perfect STD protection! 😜

Faster fingers! 😁

(To be concluded…) 😉

Daniel’s journey isn’t just about breaking out of control - it’s about learning where his freedom ends and someone else’s begins. Everything we’ve seen about Malik points to a very specific kind of exit - he controlled the encounter from the beginning; he gave Daniel an experience (not a relationship) and then he closed the door himself. That last part matters most because this wasn’t “I’ll be here if you find me.” ... it was closer to “This happened. That’s all.” So, if Daniel actively seeks him out, he’s not just revisiting his past - he’s potentially violating a boundary Malik made very clear.

Well… yes. Going off script would be Malik calling Daniel for coffee the next morning!

Wow, I knew the Crusades would either make them stronger or break them, but… Lloyd exceeded my expectations so early in the story. Throwing himself in front of danger to protect his king - an absolutely well-deserved knighthood!

Luckily, they have Simon and his highly analytical mind - someone who can actually keep track of who’s whose boyfriend, ex, or lover, who’s in which body, and what everyone’s current status is. 😜

Yes, the whole situation looks bizarre. For a moment, I found myself wondering - what exactly is the issue here? It comes across more like a lovers’ quarrel than a case of harassment.

Max with deep, shaking thrusts, each one accompanied by a sound that came from the unlocked room inside him, the room Philip had described and Malik had found and Max had furnished with laughter and paint and stubborn, reckless conviction. Daniel laughed. The laugh was short and warm and arrived from the room that had been growing inside him for a year, the room that Max had opened and Alec had furnished and Nora had given permission to exist. The room was bigger now. It held more people. Alec and Max are furnishing different dimensions of the same space. Max furnishes: eros + joy + artistic perception. The fusion of language and body; the feeling of being seen as a whole, alive being. With Max, the room becomes alive, expressive, expansive...he brings color, movement, laughter and intensity that doesn’t destroy. Alec furnishes: stability + presence + emotional safety. The ability to stay - the quiet, non-performative intimacy. With Alec, the room becomes grounded, livable, sustainable...he brings weight, stillness, continuity and care without spectacle. What we see is the difference between construction and residence. Malik breaks the wall; Max opens the door and fills the space with life; Alec makes it stable enough to stay; Nora says, “you’re allowed to live here”. But ultimately - the room is Daniel’s, the others are architects, catalysts and co-inhabitants (temporarily or differently). There's one thing with Max that, on a first glance, looks inconsistent...Daniel says “I love you” to Nora, he says it to Alec...he doesn’t say it to Max. So, the question becomes - why is he most verbally silent with the person he seems most aligned with? Not all “I love you" mean the same thing. Daniel’s “I love you” to Nora is mature, grateful...recognizing a shared life. But it is not a claim of romantic future - it’s a release wrapped in love; it’s the kind of “I love you” you can say because the stakes are resolved. With Alec, the “I love you” is rooted in safety and presence; tied to care, intimacy, and grounding and... almost… discovering a new emotional language. It’s easier because Alec doesn’t destabilize Daniel - he holds him! With Max, everything is intensified - Max sees him completely, he names love openly (“ti amo”) ...Max is tied to Daniel’s truest, most unfiltered self. So, why doesn’t Daniel say it back? Because with Max, saying “I love you” is not expression, it’s commitment to a self he is still becoming. Max doesn’t collapse when Daniel doesn’t say it back; instead, he says “either you didn’t hear me, or you did”. Max knows - Daniel heard, Daniel felt but, Daniel just isn’t ready to verbalize at the same speed. The fact that Daniel doesn’t say “I love you” to Max makes that relationship more real, not less...because it’s not rehearsed, inherited or safe. It’s still forming in real time!