Mark Ponyboy Peters

How about all of the above???

Hmmm . . . maybe I should just put ya'll out of your misery and explain some of this background stuff?!?! Although I do enjoy your speculation! MP

-- Chapter 18 -- By the beginning of July, Levi had been living in Thompsonville for three months. How time flies, huh? One Monday morning he found himself standing in the kitchen, wearing only his boxer briefs and an old t-shirt – his usual sleepwear – while staring at the calendar on the wall; and at one date in particular. July 19th. It wasn’t marked or anything. No scribbles in red to say anything was happening, or that it was an important date in any way. Just a blank square displ

Oh, there is a "good" Thompson in Thompsonville ... but you guys haven't met him yet. I'm still working on him for you all! 😁

Hmmmm....... lol

@Summerabbacat they're Thompsons! WTF do you expect? lol Rest assured, Casey will be showing his true colours soon enough.....

-- Chapter 17 -- The freedom felt incredible. Levi pedalled along Beachside Lane, the morning sun warm on his back and the wind whipping through his hair. Matt had given him the green light the night before – he could ride to school as long as he was careful and promised to call if he needed picking up. For the first time since arriving in Thompsonville, Levi was beginning to feel a real sense of independence. He cruised through town, down Main Street and out over the weir, then up

Nah ... we prefer Au Naturale! It's cheaper that way too! lol When we did try AI it cost us thousands and still didn't end up with a foal. We did get one but lost him at about 12 months. And another one died after a couple of days ... so I've sworn off AI now. Can't bloody afford it!!!

Nah. He bought a few coloured ones along the way, but only ever bred one himself ... by helping himself to the use of one of my stallions. lol I still have that one at home ... she's about 18 now I think. 🙂

No effing idea! LOL He was a fat bugger that was blind in one eye ... but he was a great pony. My sister ended up on him after I graduated to a prick of a horse called Trinity, who was a grey, part-Arab, buck jumping arsehole. He didn't last long at our place (even though dad bred him). LOL

@Summerabbacat haha ... no, not as short as a Shetland. Maybe a Welsh Mountain Pony. Back in the day I graduated from a pinto Shetty named Star, to a grey WMP named Thunder. Ahhh the memories!!!

-- Chapter 16 -- After leaving the milk bar, Levi and Jimmy crossed Main Street, then followed a well-worn path through the dunes and onto Main Beach. The late afternoon sun was still warm. Waves rolled gently onto the shore, and the ocean stretched out forever, glittering under the clear sky. Both boys kicked off their shoes and socks, and walked along the water’s edge, in the direction of Lighthouse Point, letting the cool waves wash over their feet as they went. For the first time al

@KKirk I think most of us have had a dabble with AI with writing in mind. I see it as a tool that can help us with background stuff when developing our stories, but not as a replacement for the writer. It's a here to stay, the question is, who and how many of us will be willing to let it do ALL the work. I know of some who are, and the results are similar to the chapter you have posted. For me, any story still needs the human touch, even if AI was used at some point.

@MastaMak yep. I've used ChatGPT and Grok so far, to generate html code, and some database stuff for a project I had in mind. The programmers I work with (I'm not one myself) have started using AI to help them (Claude and Cursor mainly I think) and it has actually shaved MONTHS of the development time for some of their projects.

@Simon41 thanks for your comment. The answer is yes, we will be catching up with the other characters ... after all they live just down the road from Matt and Luke's place ... but it will mostly be in the third arc of the story (first arc was about Levi losing his mother and finding Matt, second arc will be about Levi spreading his wings and testing his newfound freedoms, then the third arc will wrap things up --- no spoilers coming though! lol)

@Summerabbacat well, you've certainly gone in deep on that response! Thank you! I will say this ... yes, kids can certainly be cruel. Seen it. Experienced it. Somehow survived it. Some don't though, and that's the tragedy of it all. And that's also why people need to write about it, so that everyone who reads, whether a victim or a perpetrator, needs to know the shape of it, and also know the consequences of these actions. Different areas, different schools, they all have different habits, different sayings, priorities or whatever. Going to a Catholic school we didn't really cop much of the religious crap, at least not until we mixed with some of the other schools ... but us Catholics still managed to pick on our own if any of us were different. Just goes to show that no matter where you go, or what part of the community you belong, there's always someone willing to take the Mickey or put crap on us. Sadly, it's just fact of life!!!

@Ivor Slipper he's just 'wingin' it' LOL He even had me starting to look back to see if I had used them!

@dboggs9700 @Philippe oh, absolutely!

-- Chapter 15 -- He stood in front of the mirror in his bedroom, adjusting his plain, pale-blue, button-up shirt and grey pants for the third time. This uniform wasn’t that different to what he’d had to wear back home – there the shirt had been a boring beige, or cream – so pretty much the same thing. ‘You ready, Levi?’ Matt called from the kitchen. ‘About as ready as I’ll ever be,’ Levi muttered, more to himself than as an answer for his father, who miraculously appeared at the do

Thank you @Carl Accolla, and as the story progresses you will see that struggle continue. Apart from settling in a new town and living with people who were, up until quite recently, complete strangers, young Levi has a great deal of stuff to contend with: his teachings, his feelings, his attractions, and of course those annoying hormones that we all had to contend with at that age. I hope you enjoy the ride!

@weinerdog there was mention made somewhere that when they were cleaning out the old house, he had "pulled his childhood posters off the wall" (or something like that.

@Summerabbacat and everyone else . . . there will certainly be a lot of soul-searching needed for Levi as he adjusts to life in T'ville. I hope you enjoy where it goes. There will definitely be a few twists and turns along the way!

Hmmm . . . not one I'm familiar with! Thank you!

-- Chapter 14 -- ‘Hey, you made good time,’ Luke said, pulling Matt into a quick hug before turning to Levi. ‘How was the drive, mate?’ ‘Long,’ Levi replied, while managing a small smile. ‘But okay . . . if you don’t count his singing!’ ‘Yeah, tell me about it! So, how about we get your gear unpacked and stowed away before it gets too late?’ Luke suggested, then turning to Matt he said, ‘I thought we could drop it all into one of the guest rooms and he can sort out what he wants to

Curiouser and curiouser