Mark Arbour

November 22, 2001 Thanksgiving Day Claremont, OH There were times in my childhood, and since then, when Thanksgiving in Claremont had hosted some horrible weather. Snow was not unusual, and neither were frigid temperatures. But this year, as if to ease our burden slightly, nature had sent us a beautiful day. I walked out onto the patio, wearing only a light shirt, reveling in temperatures that must be approaching 60 degrees. Inside, everyone was watching football, or nibb

Yeah, well Lugh was putting the poetry anthology together, and I wanted to be supportive. In my own way. ;-)

I agree with you, but I'm going to go back to Tetrefine's original post on that: I think that's the key: research.

Thanks! Well, you're right about leaving loose ends for the next book, but that's inevitable. I'll try to tie things up a bit, though.

I could see her doing that too. Just because it's a non-profit doesn't mean it's benevolent.

Thanks for posting that. It was interesting, and a bit depressing. I found the whole show to be a bit unrepresentative of past Olympic sites. Many of the photos were of Sarajevo, and it is reasonable to assume that the horrible civil war that gripped that nation would have had a more deleterious effect on the Olympic sites than those in other countries. The other Olympic site pictured, Calgary, also showed serious dilapidation. Calgary suffered no similar civil war that I'm aware of. The photos of Murmansk did not, IMHO, belong in this show, since they were a training facility, and not an Olympic site.

This is a timely question, since in two days, I will have been a member at GA for 9 years. Wow. I was so much younger and hotter back then. I came here following/stalking Domluka when he made the move to GA. And because Sharon and Vic told me to.

Hopefully I didn't lure you onto the rocks! :-) Just because Elizabeth knows what she has to do for redemption doesn't mean she'll do it.

Thanks for the review, and the kind words. I think the capacity to change is greater the younger one is, but that's just my opinion. Zach, as he matures, has been able to become a pretty nice guy, and not the sociopath we thought he was. Elizabeth's habits are probably too ingrained for true reform. Then again, there are exceptions to every generality. The last chapter is just as you guessed.

Some of the reviewers raised issues with condom use in this scene: They wisely noted that it was unlikely that a plane owned by Stef or Brad would be devoid of condoms. I thought I'd mention the issue here, and clarify my thinking on this. As I noted in my response to the reviews, it was quite likely that there were condoms on the plane, but in this situation, Will and Gathan opted not to use one. I cited two reasons for this scene: 1. It showed these guys solidifying their friendships in a physical way, and it was a very tangible way for Will to show Gathan that he trusted him. 2. It introduced us to Zach's kinky side.

You make some good points, especially about characters moving on. Wade is a more permanent fixture, at least right now, because he has very strong relationships with multiple family members, especially with JP, Brad, and Will. He's also tied to Tiffany via Riley, and she's tied back to the family via Maddy. I think if it was just a connection with JP you'd have a point, but Wade is too intertwined now for me to consign him to the fringes.

I'm used to a tough crowd. :-) Sometimes I like it rough. I rambled about the condom issue earlier, so I'll leave that alone here, especially since you and I are pretty much tracking on that issue. There wasn't explicit straight sex. What did you do, surrender your bi credentials? :-) Ethan may or may not become a more central character. I can see it happening, but from an author's perspective, he's a little young to bring into an already crowded high school scene. And you know me well enough to know that all of those characters you mention may be resurrected at any given time.

Well put. Wade wears power well.

All those things are true. :-)

The sex scene served two major purposes: 1. It showed these guys solidifying their friendships in a physical way (as you noted). 2. It introduced us to Zach's kinky side. I really think that Will deserves some major plaudits for handling that so well. As Dan Savage would say, he was GGG.

Well, you're both wrong. :-) Gathan went to a football game to watch his brother, and he's flying home for Thanksgiving. I think it's reasonable to think he wouldn't have a condom in his pocket, and since he was ambushed, that's where it would have to be. Will and/or Zach may have had an extra one, and there were probably extras in the plane (it is Brad's plane, after all), but I think Will wanted Gathan to bareback him, and that was a convenient excuse. It was a way to cement the trust issue between them. Further, Zach is into barebacking, and we now get a picture of him as someone who probably has a bit of a cum fetish. It was his idea to have a threesome with Will, so there's really no credible reason for him to be opposed to it.

Thanks for another great review. You make a good point about laying the ground work for the next story...which I'm doing. I love your points on Wade and Will heading into fun relationships issues, but I don't think they've cut themselves off from support networks. I think you're spot on about Wade's emotional inversion. The negativity around their breakup is probably subdued because Wade is a very private person, and because Matt has withdrawn into a shell. They probably are only talking to a few selected and trusted friends, and those friends are keeping their mouths shut.

What do you mean? It says sectionals. Are you blind? Note: this comment ignores that some edits were made to the chapter. ;-)

I don't think that's how the scene played out. ;-) Gathan said he didn't have a condom, not that there weren't any on the plane.

A sibling for Riley? We'll have to see. ;-) Emeline wasn't really trying to cause problems with Ethan, she was just trying to piss Elizabeth off. Wade did a good job of taking charge; not easy to do when you're 22, and still a college senior. There will be loose ends...it's inevitable. I can't close them all down like I did when the stories were far apart, and to be honest, you really don't want me to. ;-)

Thanks for that, and for posting an update in the forum. I need to rack up his count! LOL.

November 22, 2001 Goodwell, VA “When is everyone getting in?” I asked Nana, as I ate breakfast. “Around four o’clock,” she said. “I take it Ethan isn’t up yet?” I asked. He was a typical teenager, and rarely got up before noon unless he had to. “We’ll be lucky if he wakes up in time for dinner,” she said with a rueful grin. Not even Nana had been able to cure him of that habit. “I’ll make sure he’s up, and I’ll protect him from

I'll use this as a springboard to talk about Zach and football. I think that Zach has to make a sincere effort to look straight to the outside world, but I think that within his private circle, he can be relatively gay. As has been noted, there have been gay football players in the NFL, but they've been heavily closeted. It seems to me that if people 'suspect' they may be gay, that's not a big deal, as long as they don't 'know' they are. A fine line, to be sure, but I think that Will and Zach can walk it. I think the risk of outing Zach is a lot less than the stress on their relationship because of Zach being locked in the closet.

You should never be afraid to say what you think, especially in my forums. If they're a little rough and tumble, well, that can be fun sometimes. I think the deal with forums is that you get to choose how far to push things. You make your point, and then you can leave it at that, or you can keep arguing about it. People seem to forget that saying the same thing over and over again doesn't mean you have a different point, it just means you're stubborn. Some people strive for victory, which they define as having the last word. News flash: that's not victory in a forum. In forums, I'll watch some people beat a dead horse, but the big indicator is how many other people 'like' their comments. If no one does, then they're just talking to a void. Most figure it out in the end.

I'm so glad you did! I'm working on the next one, but these do take some time.