Cane23

I make it without oil and lemon, but I add salt. No grated cucumber but cut in a small piece. It's because we are not making it as a sauce but as a salad and eat it with a spoon. I know that Greeks add dill, but we don't like it.

Mmmm, Greek dinner... I make tzatziki too, how you do it?

Thanx, but it's not because of me, it's because of the chapter! Although, my favorite scene yet is Lyn ironing Alexander's shirt! 🙂 From time to time, I go back there and reread it again...

Cal is also maturing. Sad, he seems a glue for bastards!

Sorry, but I had to check the 'other kind'... It was not so long time ago... NATIONAL DAY OF ROCK 'N' ROLL | July 7 - National Day Calendar

It's not a song - it's a bloody soap opera! 🤣

Btw, guys and @Laura S. Fox, I'm off to Greece for two weeks since Monday, so, if I find decent wi-fi, I'll read new chapters and leave some short comments. I cannot write analyses on the phone because it's a hell of a job and beautiful Mediterranean inspires only for brain rest! Cheers!

Amazing chapter... Oh yes, Lyn baby, this is some 'new' Alexander... Or maybe, the nicely tuned old one... Now seriously... The expected roles are inverted: the one who is “gay” (Lyn) is cautious, skeptical, afraid of exposure - while the one who is “straight” (Alexander) moves with eerie calm, absolute self-possession, and emotional clarity. Lyn may be openly gay, but he’s still closeted emotionally. Everything he does - from jokes to vulgarity, from teasing to dominance is about not being vulnerable. Even his openness about sex comes with strict rules (he tops, he chooses the type, he never kisses too deeply, he doesn't let anyone get too close). He doesn’t trust emotional intimacy. To Lyn, emotional closeness is more dangerous than sex. That’s why the smallest gestures as being held, being called “Lyn,” hearing Alexander breathe beside him, feel more threatening than Alexander going down on him. So yes: Lyn is still convincing himself that Alexander is straight because if he admits otherwise, he’ll have to face the possibility that this what they’re doing, might actually mean something. 😉 But Alexander...omg, he shows no fear. He doesn’t flinch. He doesn’t second-guess. He doesn’t joke or try to deflect what he feels. He says what he wants: “I want to taste your cum.”; “Come to sleep. I’ll hold you."; "I might keep you awake thinking about you blowing me.”; “As much as shock value has its perks, your nudity is off-limits for anyone else.” He means all of it. No fear. No bravado. No performance. Alexander doesn’t act like a man experimenting with gay sex. He acts like a man falling for someone and completely accepting of that. Which is extraordinary, given how the usual gay/straight dynamic tends to play out in fiction. There’s also no trace of internalized homophobia in him. No “this is wrong.” No “what does this make me.” Instead, he focuses on Lyn’s body, Lyn’s comfort, Lyn’s pleasure. Not for dominance. But for closeness. Alexander is not trying to win a game - he’s just being emotionally present. He doesn’t demand reciprocity. He’s not keeping score. When Lyn offers to return the favor, then withdraws it, Alexander just says: “That’s okay. We have all the time in the world.” That’s why he feels so unnerving to Lyn: Alexander has no defenses, and Lyn only has defenses. What is really interesting - Alexander would absolutely bottom for Lyn, but not as an act of submission. It would be about mutual trust. It’s not “I give in to you” but “I let you in.” That’s a different kind of surrender. A profound one. And that’s a core theme emerging between them: intimacy through vulnerability, not dominance. Alexander isn’t trying to prove he’s gay. He’s trying to be close to Lyn in the only language Lyn seems to understand - sex, teasing, physicality. But through it, Alexander is quietly pushing toward something far more intimate. He would Let Lyn fuck him without making it a test of power and let Lyn see him exposed, not to be conquered, but to be known. And poor Lyn… isn’t ready for that yet. But he feels it coming. That’s why he recoils after the blowjob, says “this is too intimate,” refuses to sleep next to him, then reacts so strongly to hearing his name said softly. Alexander is “out” in every way that counts. Not in terms of sexual orientation, but in self-possession, acceptance, and willingness to feel. Lyn, despite all his openness and experience, is in emotional lockdown. Finally, my overall impression of this chapter could be described with one word - tenderness. It doesn’t speak loudly, but it’s there, thrumming beneath every sarcastic remark, every mock challenge, every sexually charged dare. That’s what gives the scene its emotional gravity and keeps it from tipping into pure erotic performance or emotional detachment. The chapter is about two emotionally stunted men fumbling toward real connection, using sex as a proxy for feelings neither of them can name. They’re not in love, not yet actually, but they’re touching the outline of something like love, or at least something unbearably close to it.

C'mon Chris, I'm the naughty one!!! 😉

Ahahahah, well, I'm sure that if his mighty 'Valiant Edge' king issue an order, poor Ewan might do even that...but I'm not so sure that queen would approve!

😂🤣😂

My thoughts exactly...who is going to do what? 😜

Why do I have feeling that Garran is going to pay a royal visit to temple and penetrate some common sense into the priest boy?! Or they are going to discuss some religious topics... 😜

Two weeks holiday in Greece, starting Monday! Hopefully, with some decent wi-fi, I'll try to read the Secret Author competition stories and, eventually, leave some illiterate comments with many typos...😜

Their personal and professional histories are so knotted together that it makes this case even more complicated. People with emotional ties are easier to be manipulated, and Alexis knows it. I guess, Griffin will find rather hostile environment in FBI...I even suspect Alexis might have her insiders there too ... This might be a darker story, but it is a hell of a psychological thriller! Suspense is killing me, cannot wait the next chapter!

Oh, @JJQuinn, so you can write a dark humor too!!! So many hidden talents!!! I'm going back to my second read so, I'll give my full report later!

Naughty Cane is here, and shame on me - I find a kinky foursome very, very HOT! 🔥 My corrupted mind suspected threesome with Garran (and who knows, maybe they'll have to reward mighty Fae general somehow) nevertheless, I don't mind if you keep it in the family! 😜 If you could only write them all verse @mastershakeme, my fantasies would be fulfilled, alas...you cannot please everyone! 😁 Anyway, sex aside, I like @VBlew's explanation of bonding and magic...it makes it very logical. Generally, very entertaining chapter...oh, I was laughing at Ewan's worshiping of Kieran, crowned by bizarre mural of the 'Valiant Edge' and hymn to the hero king! 🤣 What a way to impress your 'foster son'!

'Analytical maestro' 🤣 spends hot weekends on the countryside without laptop. Phone is not suitable for analyses! Cheers, Cane

(R)evolution without weapon, war, destruction and guillotine! Suspense and tension built without violence. Transformation that comes from inside and changes the complete humanity. There is a global transformation but, then again, we see the individuals, making the new bonds and taking care of each other. Beautiful story @Wayne Gray!

parasite - noun 1. an organism living in, on, or with another organism in order to obtain nutrients, grow, or multiply often in a state that directly or indirectly harms the host. 2. someone or something that resembles a biological parasite in living off of, being dependent on, or exploiting another while giving little or nothing in return Merriam-Webster Dictionary This is definition but, what if...? What if parasite and host make symbioses that makes humanity striving for empathy, love and peace? What if parasite is that small trigger that has made such a fundamental change in human mentality, a final step of evolution from a beast to noble, supreme being... A statement from a certain politician that too much empathy is dangerous, inspired @Wayne Gray to write this dystopian and utopian sci-fi story, to prove that empathy can make this world a better place. This story is @Wayne Gray's prose version of Lennon's song Imagine, and that makes it so wonderful and unique... You may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you'll join us And the world will be as one

I share the feeling of my fellow readers - with every new flashback chapter, I'm hurting again - not because of any big betrayal or abuse, but because of the slow, accumulating ache of being Lyn. To read through his eyes is to live in a mind that is constantly negotiating shame, longing, and invisibility - while putting on a brave face. Lyn is never allowed to simply feel; he always has to perform his feelings, calculate his reactions, protect himself from exposure. He lies about Christmas plans, hoping someone will rescue him from loneliness. He gets called out for being poor and can’t even defend himself without playing a role. He accepts help from Alexander, who offers it with a disturbing blend of kindness and dominance. And when he finally returns to the warmth of Brad's embrace, thinking maybe now he’s close - he finds out he’s not special. Brad kisses Alexander too. He’s not chosen. He’s just... there. Brad is, as always, warm and physically affectionate. His reaction when confronted with Lyn’s lie is generous and sweet, but Brad’s final comment brings a cold shower! “...for tonight’s later celebrations, you, my man, are going to get the booze.” This seemingly harmless request slams Lyn back into his material limitations. The warmth Brad gave is quickly complicated by the social gap between them: Brad doesn’t even realize what he’s asking because he doesn’t have to worry about money, logistics, or risk. Alexander as always, the most intriguing character. “I don’t like you... if it weren’t for Bradley, we wouldn’t be close at all.” That line from Alexander is strategically cruel and deeply revealing. It may be technically true on the surface, but it’s also a shield. If Alexander truly didn’t care for Lyn, he wouldn't know about Lyn’s family situation so intimately, track his financial state with precision, invite and offer him a 'shelter' for the entire winter break, physically hold him, steady him, and walk close beside him like a guardian shadow. People don’t do all of that for someone they “don’t like.” He says he’s doing it “because of Bradley,” but that’s a convenient smokescreen. If anything, Brad is the excuse, not the reason.

Bella and Lyn as Black and White Queen... 😉

Prompt #293 reminds me of Aesop's Fable The Tortoise And the Hare! 🙂

Beautiful, optimistic...you've given humanity the hope with this story. Whether it is God or power of nature...or some cosmic force, the final truth is that it is not the punishment and diseases that will chang the people - the infection of good will do it!