Cane23

Wow, just brilliant. I’ve spent the last two days thinking about the last chapter, everything that was said, and especially everything that wasn’t. This memory chapter is confusing if you read it on its own, but that’s exactly the point. We see everything through Lyn’s eyes, slow and fumbling, while the tension between Brad and Alexander is building like a pressure cooker ready to blow. And poor Lyn… he’s still slowly cooking like the proverbial frog, completely unaware of what’s really going on beneath the surface. The way @Laura S. Fox layers perspective, hidden motives, and rising tension is just masterful. We've now arrived at the place where the past and present chapters lock into each other. In the present chapter, we (readers) and Lyn initially understand revelation as - Alexander manipulated Brad by telling him Lyn was “too straight.” At the moment, it might look like - sexual jealousy, territorial control, interference between Brad and Lyn. But when we place that scene beside the memory chapter, something far more unsettling emerges, because Brad’s grievance is not “You lied about Lyn’s sexuality”, it is “You refused to help me.” Brad did something very specific...he went to Alexander as an intermediary. That means he wanted Alexander to assess the risk, interpret Lyn and advocate on Brad’s behalf. Brad wanted him to play matchmaker, a Cupid...play gatekeeper in reverse. You were easy to convince.” Alexander did not invent Brad’s hesitation; he gave Brad the excuse Brad wanted. Alexander did not intervene with Lyn, did not reveal Brad’s feelings and did not play Cupid. He said no. “Brad is a brat,” Alexander replied. “He doesn’t understand or, better said, doesn’t want to understand the meaning of the word ‘no’.” That “no” is the same “no” Brad has been fighting since college. After all, this is not a coming-out story - it’s a delegated desire story. Brad wanted permission, not truth. “Don’t tell me you guys are fighting. That’s not nice.” This is Lyn at his most revealing, he infantilizes the conflict, reframes intensity as impropriety. Lyn prioritizes harmony over truth - his smile and mock surrender are not neutral - they are tools of containment. Lyn doesn’t ask why they’re fighting; he asks them to stop. “Was it a girl they both wanted to date?” This is almost painful...Lyn reaches for the safest heteronormative explanation and ends on “He’d get to the bottom of it, eventually.” He won’t. Not then... and the cost of that delay is the entire novel. And of course - “You don’t know Alexander” - the truth Lyn cannot hear! This is a direct challenge to Lyn’s self-image as the emotional center of the trio. Lyn’s response is philosophical deflection “No one ever truly knows anyone.” This is Lyn’s shield - he universalizes to avoid specificity. He abstracts to avoid implication. It’s a beautiful sentence and a perfect evasion. The deeper truth is mutual - Lyn doesn’t know Alexander, his boundaries, his ethical rigor, his hidden care. Also, Lyn doesn’t know Brad, his vulnerabilities, his desires, his indirect ways of seeking connection. And crucially, neither Alexander nor Brad fully exposes themselves to Lyn- so his perception is always partial, filtered, and sometimes mistaken. Finally, I think I’m starting to get a sense of what’s going on with Brad and the whole “moral absolutism” discussion… but I’ll leave it to @Laura S. Fox to give us the full explanation. 😉

Exactly - I noticed the same thing and kept thinking, what was this all about? But I think that’s exactly how @Laura S. Fox wanted us to feel. That sense of confusion is central to Lyn’s POV... he’s so 'misaligned' and oblivious to the widening crack between his friends. Here is the hint of the revelation we discovered in the previous chapter: “Fuck me sideways. You really got your panties in a twist over what I told you, didn’t you? You just can’t stand that I might have a chance--”

With my level of English, I’ve been struggling with all the technical aspects in this chapter. Did I understand correctly that those guys turned a kid into some kind of walking “Enigma”?

A Leo and a Taurus as lovers? Strong attraction, lots of passion, but it takes maturity and compromise to work. 🔥🔥

What a powerful opening. Awakening with the debt of a Bible- absolutely stunning. You left me speechless @Jeff Burton! This is the kind of writing that makes me stop and think, I wish I knew how to write like this.

It’s so absurd it feels like a gay parody comedy - a queer version of The Naked Gun. 😂🤣😂

I suppose you meant ballad - a ballet might be a bit much for these country boys 😄

I think we’ve reached the moment where the story almost demands a conversation between Lyn and Alexander. The previous chapter ends with Luke’s shocking admission...that revelation matters, of course, and hearing Brad’s side still carries weight. But emotionally and structurally, the pressure has shifted. What’s missing now is truth inside the relationship Lyn is actually in. This feels like the time for the boyfriends to talk - not evasively, not defensively, but honestly. Alexander’s long-standing feelings for Lyn, his quiet intervention in the house purchase, the failed marriage... The years of choosing restraint over disclosure. Until these things are spoken, Lyn is still operating with a partial map of reality. And without that truth, even the most “right” choices remain misaligned.

Lorainne?!? Colt & Lorainne?!? 😮 Well, if Colt keeps thinking there’s something going on between Lorraine and Davin, it makes sense that he hasn’t made any move on her.

I've enjoyed this discussion, thank you!

I think it was me who used the word “unhealthy” codependence. I deliberately avoided the word “toxic,” as I find it inappropriate. Unhealthy in the sense of the consequences it had on them personally and on their relationship. That said, I do understand that loneliness is a nasty thing (it certainly helps explain Brad’s first unannounced visit to Lyn’s house). By the end of the story, all three of them will be naked, like the king in the fable, and it definitely won’t be a hot scene 😉

It’s high time they aligned their translator.

Absolutely - after all, we still have to discover why Lyn was invited to the wedding in the first place. Because we all know the answer is not Brad’s “it doesn’t matter.”

To quote @Laura S. Fox - her answer to my comment on previous chapter: Also, there's a codependency here; I won't call it unhealthy, it's not my place, and when people insist too much on this by naming it that, I think they don't understand what loneliness can do to a person.

👏👏👏 Wow - your reading of Lyn is just wow!!! Honestly, even better than MRI 🙂 I find it interesting how the two of us focused on different sides of the same coin in our comments - Brad and Lyn (though Alexander is the biggest revelation in this chapter). It feels as if they were speaking entirely different languages… and who knows, maybe they actually were.

Was it? I agree that this chapter finally cracks Alexander’s aura of infallibility - and that’s a good thing. But I’m not sure “Machiavellian” is the right word. Machiavellianism implies self-interest and gains at any cost, and Alexander’s motives cut the other way. He intervened knowing he might never “win” Lyn and was prepared to sacrifice his own happiness if it meant protecting Lyn from a choice he believed could destroy him. That doesn’t make his actions clean but it does make them fundamentally different in intent. He wasn’t playing to conquer; he was choosing to carry the moral burden himself. In that sense, the demon needs his inquisitor - and neither comes out unscarred.

Yes, it was. And now we finally understand why Alexander was so suspiciously calm about Lyn’s moral dilemma. He had already intervened once before. What makes this so unsettling is the brutal symmetry - Alexander did exactly what Lyn is now being accused of doing to Bella...protecting someone by stripping them of their agency. It raises an uncomfortable question - what would the consequences have been if Alexander had acted differently? Can we really be certain that a younger Lyn would have chosen wisely? It’s easy for adult Lyn to protest the loss of choice, but the choices available to his younger self could have led to long-term, even devastating damage. Seen from that angle, Alexander does begin to resemble an (anti)hero. His actions were manipulative, yes - but they may also have spared both himself and Lyn from far greater harm. Is adult Lyn “right” to resent being denied choice? Emotionally - absolutely, but ethically, well...it's more difficult. Adult Lyn speaks from a position of safety, knowledge, and hindsight, young Lyn didn’t have. Alexander’s intervention robbed Lyn of agency - but it may also have prevented a collapse young Lyn could not have survived intact. That doesn’t make it right but makes it tragically defensible (hope this sounds understandable - I was looking for a right definition). Misaligned isn’t asking “Who was right?” - it’s asking, “Who was willing to live with the consequences?”. Alexander chose control and lives with being morally compromised. Sometimes the choice that causes the least damage is still wrong, and sometimes the right choice causes damage you cannot ethically accept. That’s not a failure of character, that’s adulthood. Aleksander and Lyn are variations of the same moral temperament, tested at different points in life - hope Lyn will see it sooner than later.

You've offered amazing subtitle: Misaligned - a tragicomedy of errors and assumptions!

What strikes me in this chapter is Brad’s deliberate avoidance of the word “love.” He avoids it because love is the one word that would force him into responsibility. Why Alexander’s feelings become “obsession"? Well, if Alexander is obsessed, then Brad is merely reacting - it flips the power dynamic, so Brad isn’t the one who failed to act. “Love” implies vulnerability and legitimacy, “obsession” implies pathology and excess - Brad can tolerate being outplayed, he cannot tolerate being out-loved. If Alexander loved Lyn, then Brad’s hesitation mattered, if Alexander was obsessed, then Brad’s loss was inevitable, and not his fault. Brad cannot say “I loved you” because love, for him, is not an emotion, it is a contract. To Brad, love means choosing openly, risking loss, standing in consequence and Brad has never done that. Instead, he says “I might like you more than a friend… I knew you might say yes.” This is desire without exposure, hope without commitment and possibility without accountability. Brad’s version of “more than like” is conditional love, not because he didn’t feel deeply, but because he couldn’t tolerate the stakes. Brad doesn’t love by choosing, he loves by being chosen - that’s why Lyn was perfect and why Bella works now. Seems to me, Brad loved Lyn only in the version of the world where he never had to act, but the moment love demanded declaration or sacrifice, Brad stepped back. All in all, this chapter reveals that - Alexander loved Lyn actively (even manipulatively), Lyn loved Brad faithfully, Brad loved Lyn passively - passive love is the only one that survives without scars...until it doesn’t. Brad avoids the word “love” because if he ever says it, he would have to face the fact that he had it - and squandered it. Brad and Lyn's communication was some sort of pact of avoidance. They didn’t fail to communicate because they lacked word, but because they never tested the boundary of disagreement. Lyn never challenged Brad in a way that risked the bond and Brad never showed Lyn what resistance would look like. That’s not communication... that’s containment. “What happened to the guy who thought I could do no wrong?” Brad is confused because Lyn has always been the safe witness, the moral anchor who nonetheless stood on his side...the one person whose loyalty was unconditional. So, when Lyn confronts him now, Brad experiences it as betrayal, not critique. Brad's response isn't cruelty, it's panic. Lyn’s shock mirrors Brad’s, but in the opposite direction. He believed that Brad was fundamentally good, his charm was harmless, and his moral lapses were superficial What Lyn never saw (because he never forced it to appear) was Brad’s defensive aggression. Brad’s brutality with words isn’t new, it’s reactive and it only emerges when his self-image is threatened. Lyn had never threatened it before. This scene hurts because both men are right about the other, but too late. Brad realizes that Lyn’s loyalty was not unconditional and that Lyn has values that outrank him. Lyn realizes that Brad’s goodness was contingent and... Brad can be cruel when cornered. Neither had ever seen the other clearly before. The tragedy that this didn’t have to be violent — but it had to be painful. If they had learned to communicate earlier the triangle might have resolved without damage, but because they didn’t, the first real honesty between them is explosive. That’s why it feels so brutal, they didn’t just misunderstand each other - they never allowed the conditions under which understanding could form. I trusted Alexander to tell me the truth. Not to lie to my face, and then use fucking everything he had, his money, his connections, his fucking family to get ahead, to be your fucking hero when I couldn’t!” What a childish reaction... Brad isn’t angry that Alexander helped Lyn, he is angry that Alexander loved Lyn in a way Brad never dared to and still won. Calling that “cheating” is easier than calling it cowardice on his own part. This is the moment we see that Brad never grew out of the role Lyn protected him in, and Lyn finally stops protecting it. Brad correctly senses that Alexander showed up where it mattered, not where it felt nice. Of course, that doesn’t mean Alexander was morally clean but, it means Brad is comparing effort to intention and... losing. “Does he really need us for this?” Lyn asked in a low voice, as he followed Alexander closely. “He wants our opinion. It’s tradition. Probably,” Alexander suggested, turning his head. Oh Brad...he doesn’t believe time heals wounds - he believes time deletes evidence. Brad’s rule is if it isn’t spoken, it isn’t real. He operates on a single, rigid principle - unacknowledged damage does not count. So, no apology is required, no explanation is necessary, no repair is owed...because repair would mean admission, and admission would fracture the identity he’s carefully maintained - the good guy everyone loves. Bradley genuinely believes that if everyone plays along, the story can resume. Therefore, the wedding isn’t just a life event - it’s a narrative eraser, because at a wedding, you don’t confront...you smile, support... so, Brad is using the occasion to trap Lyn inside politeness. The same happens in fitting room - sudden 'amnesia'! "How do I look?” - this is not asking for an opinion, he’s demanding confirmation of continuity. Brad’s strategy collapses because it requires collaborators, when erasure fails, Brad has no backup system. So, he lashes out physically and verbally...not to punish others, but to restore the old order by force. Violence is the last refuge of someone whose story has stopped working. Sad thing is - Brad isn’t incapable of change, but he’s incapable of pausing because change requires stopping, looking back, and integrating pain. Brad only knows how to keep moving and hope no one notices the bodies left behind. This chapter doesn’t show Brad as evil - it shows him as a man whose entire emotional architecture depends on pretending nothing ever broke. And now - everything has.

I found the coin in the bread!

Rightfulness and truth are often inseparable from cruelty. The Great Inquisitor Gui, after all, is remembered less for his principles than for his cruelty.

This blog has been incredibly helpful, I always thought of myself as primarily a romance reader, but after seeing all the stories I've read (and those I plan to read) I can now conclude that I've actually been more of a thriller reader recently. I’m really glad to see @empath and @CasualWanderer82 on this list because some of their stories really marked the past year for me. @CasualWanderer82's A Bad Education inspired me to revisit some of the Jungian concepts I had read a long time ago. Empath’s Lincoln series has been an incredible breath of fresh air on the site. Reading it was an inexplicably emotional journey for me. @Wayne Gray's Curing Humanity was a surprising blend of sci-fi, utopian, medical, and military thriller, and I really enjoyed the adventure. @Lee Wilson and @Topher Lydon have been incredibly prolific these past few months, leaving me with some serious reading homework. I also read @Jeff Burton's amazing Black Sun, which tackles heavy topics like drug abuse and addiction, but Encrypted has been on my list for a while now, and I’m looking forward to diving into it. It’s great to see some stories and authors become GA classics - @kbois with Shadow Effect definitely stands out, and I’m not alone in considering it the best of the Sentinel trilogy. I’m happy that Special Circumstances by @lawfulneutralmage remains a popular story (still hoping for a sequel). I also hope that after this amazing romance we’re reading now The Longest Third Date, @LJCC will return to Mr. & Mister Danvers. My three months of Premium membership gave me the chance to read some stories I hadn’t gotten to before, like @dkstories's Dreams of Humanity - a must-read for any sci-fi lover! It’s also nice to see that stories from deceased or long-inactive authors still maintain popularity and are still making it to the lists. Finally, I highly recommend @JJQuinn's There's no Such Place as Neverland to fans of psychological thrillers and detective stories with a touch of the supernatural. It’s a shame it didn’t reach more readers, because for true lovers of the genre, it’s an absolute must-read.

Puritanism has a long history in the United States, but recent developments aren't something I would blame on women. Beyond 'modesty,' a much larger issue is the 'insecurity' fueled by the intense body image culture pushed by mass media and the widespread availability of pornography. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, as long as we can distinguish between what's normal and what's fantasy. The bigger problem is that many young people develop inferiority complexes at an early age because they're constantly confronted with unrealistic standards of masculinity. For instance, I was reading an erotic story (not on this site), mostly just smut, but I was really surprised when the protagonist said, 'I was nothing special, just an average 7 inches.' If a teenager thinks that 7 inches is the 'average,' it can create serious issues with self-esteem. The pressure to live up to these unrealistic standards can be harmful to mental health, especially when young people are still figuring out their own identities.