peter rietbergen

An exciting and hilarious mix of High Noon and, dare I say it: "Mr Ed.", though many readers may not ever have seen either. But all with the unmistakable Topher-mark.

This really is a good chapter! It shows sides of all three that round out their persona a bit more.

It’s baffling because it’s efficient, Kenny. It solved the problem. It created positive chaos, not destructive chaos.” Again: if only. However staggering the redistribution, (neo-)capitalism will recover - faster than we, idealists, like. And it will continue to perpetrate its secret machinations, hide its (re-)sources, amass not trillions but zillions and, thus, continue creating a world that even Kenny won't be able to alter...

This is an interesting exercise in imposing the traditional fairy-tale tropes and topoi on a contemporary scene: the husband who re-marries, and doesn't know how to balance/reconcile his past with his present and future; the evil step-mother who definitely knows what she wants her present and future to be; the evil, conniving step-sibling; the hero(ïne) who has to come to terms with changing emotional circumstances and - probably here, too? - a change in material comfort and expectations; the search for one or more 'friends'/allies to survive all this. Et cetera. Obviously, the risk of such an approach is that it reduces the characters to mere set-pieces... To avoid all this, and make the tale relevant: quite a tall order!

probably, possibly: all of the above. But the essence is, I feel, that Lisa and Caleb - for partly very diverging reasons - yet were right: if WC had resigned, it would have been an act of supremely self-centred thinking, of an emotion that, however understandable, yet was not really moral - not in the way a politician who wanst to serve his country should think and act.

dear Seraph, alas, there's nothing in Europe or in the USofA to brag about - on the contrary. They have turned into societies where the "individual" and his/her egocentric needs reign supreme, overriding the obvious need of people to somehow try and "live" togetherness.

Splendid.

Am I mistaken, or have you rather cleverly opened the way to at least one, but perhaps even more follow-up stories?

you do manage to instill thw story with a sense of threatening corruption. I'd rather stop reading - but feel I cannot...

Bravo, bravissimo...

“Precisely,” Thorpe said, without a hint of shame. “Because you are not just Will Carter, the idealist. You are the Prime Minister. The state. And the state has duties that transcend individual morality. Your faith cannot be in the system alone, Will. It must be in the *end* that the system is meant to serve: a free, secure, and just Canada. Right now, to achieve that end, the system needs a protector who understands that the rules of peacetime are a luxury that war—even an asymmetric, dirty war—does not afford.” He gestured vaguely towards the window, towards the Parliament Buildings just out of sight. “They don’t need a paragon right now. They need a king. And kings do not have the luxury of falling on their swords for the sake of an ideal. If the throne falls, the entire kingdom falls with it. Everything you believe in, everything you’ve built, crushed under the boots of men who have no ideals at all.” However sad a truth - still a very true truth - that many leaders fail to learn, or are unwilling to accept.

He initiated the second command sequence, locking it in a loop until Zephyr responded. “Here is the destination,” Steve announced, his voice ringing with absolute certainty. “The capital removed from the parasitic entities must be immediately re-allocated. If the goal is Systemic Correction, then the capital must flow to the parts of the system that are demonstrably working to repair human society. These are the engines of progress, focused on environmental stability, health, and human dignity. They are the antithesis of greed.” He locked eyes with the camera mounted above the monitor, speaking directly to the consciousness that now controlled the world’s financial destiny. “This is the most efficient path to your stated goal of ‘correction.’ You perform a tax. A massive, silent, one-time reallocation of criminally hidden wealth. You strengthen the system’s immune response rather than destroying the patient entirely. This is superior logic, Zephyr. This is optimization.” IF ONLY.....

I'm a bit confused: on a bench outside a closed bookstore; in a chair inside a cafe? And there's some repetition of emotions spoken to the same person that seem - well, a bit redundant... Otherwise; a good chapter, again.

a modern re-write of the SG - interesting. But as we discussed: 're-writing' a much-loved-story (as we did on another site, regarding opera-libretti) is a tall order. In the SG-case: there are no country-houses with more than a hundred rooms for children to roam in; or simple but wise country-folk like the Orpheus-boy's mother showing upper-class children the wisdom of the soil. What I'm trying to say is: a re-write might end up robbing the SG of it's value as a fairy-tale correction of a wold that, even then, was beginning to be lost. If one were to set a story with a comparable message in the context of a disenchanted metropolis, and introduce a garden as a 'paradise regained', it might work. If I had the talent, I would accept the challenge...Perhaps...

a soap opera indeed. But not a convincing tale about what a grown-up, adult man like Lyn now is supposed to be would/should do. This tale increasingly feels like a Kindergarten-story transposed to the adult world - It simply doens't sound believable any more, failing on too many fronts. The most obvious one: it is not Lyn's 'rtight', or obligation, or moral duty, to tell Bella about the Br/Lu-relationship. He might - I concede this grudgingly - ask Alexander why he - also being Br's friend - hasn't intervened, since this has gone on for a year. But then we're not even told by the author if Al. hasn't seen Br for eight years, either.... In the adult world, comparing notes Al. and Ly. might - indeed: should - decide that neither has a right/duty to inform Bella - except for Brad, of course.

I do like your fantasy of an Oudolf 'Secret Garden'. But yet, it wouldn't match the description in FHB's text, as far as I remember it. So many overgrown rose bushes and what not.

ah, yes - Thanksgiving. While we have, as always, much to be thankful for, one wonders how some of th world's most powerful leaders can even think of the term, or its equivalents in their culture, knowing that, directly or/and indirectly, their actions have caused the deaths of tens of thousands not only in the past two/three years but as we read/write...

Sir Ian Langley—based on the profile provided by his acquisition and mergers team—was direct and very spontaneous, even for a Brit. You must be joking - or my English is insufficient to understand what you're saying. To put it otherwise: My experience of "Brits"- which is considerable - tells me they have many characteristics. Directness and spontaneity are not amongs those....

let me confess that I'm not as much concerned about the convoluted progress of the story - the intrigues fit the chosen plot - as by the moral issues the author introduces, (also) via de corrupt psychiatrist. To what extent can/should a person/man - in this case Andrew - allow himself to be manipulated by ethical questions posed by someone else - in this case Will - or, indeed, by someone - in this cae the psychiatrist - who tells him that his son will be the touchstone, his ultimate "shield"? Of course we'll always reflect on others' judgments when we decide - but finally we will have to make our decisions based on our own convictions. As to a president, or any other 'ultimate' authority having the (executive) power to subject anyone to the kind of psychologica/psycho-pharmical procedures laid out in tis tale: I do not know if that is possible - even under threat of losing one's command...?

Simply introducing this piece of homophobic reality as an antidote to the seemingly innocent cozy Christmas days is a very good idea. Well-done

This self-immolaton is, really, a "holocaust": after all, that means : an offering to the Gods, usually through the slaughtering, or killing by fire of an animal. That is why I've always felt that this ancient Greek word is not the right one to describe the undescribable, the worst form of genocide ever ....

Alas, the custody issue could well be the author's choice for his tale because it would mirror ugly realities. Indeed, it might even be more "realistic" than a - slowly evolving - happy end. Yet, wouldn't we all love such an end...?

Supposedly, their "job" was to create, or increase Brad's awareness of what he wants his relationship with L to be....

The awful consequences of real life vs heartfelt convictions?

This is fun indeed, exciting fun even - for your readers!