Mark Arbour

Thanks! Snowflakes landing on the ground, and figure skating on television (Olympics), makes me think of JJ and smile. Especially when I think of all the evil things I can do to him. (LOL).

Thank you for such a nice review!!! I'm glad you have enjoyed the series, and I'm glad you are tolerant when things don't go like you hoped they would. Happy endings are nice, even in a story like this, but all endings can't be happy. In other words, there are bound to be characters whose lives don't conveniently settle out happily at the same time that a story closes. So while I used to try to make universal happy endings, that isn't really possible all the time, so I'm going for mostly happy endings. ;-)

Thanks Sammy. We'll actually have a guest narrator appearance by JJ coming up, so that may be fun. I think that he and Will (and Darius) have a very tight bond, but one that doesn't require that they constantly feed it by being around each other. I think that 9-11, even as it seems to have torn Matt and Wade apart, has brought those three brothers closer.

You're welcome! :-)

November 9, 2001 Escorial I’d gotten up early with a specific task in mind, but even as I stood in front of the door and knocked, I felt nervous about disturbing people so early in the morning. I was a bit relieved when Frank opened the door to their bedroom and was obviously awake and fully dressed. He was normally an early riser, but you never knew. He was pretty surprised to see me there. “You wanted something?” he asked gruffly. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Thanks for that Jeremy. If a review pisses me off, I generally try to avoid responding until I am a bit calmer. As I've noted in the past, I can sometimes replicate Brad with my temper. ;-) In the end, it generally comes down to one of four things: 1. The reviewer had a point, in which case I need to evaluate my story direction. 2. The reviewer was having a bad day, and I was the bearer of their ire. 3. The reviewer is a complete idiot (I usually think this for a while, if for no other reason than ego defense...SMILE) 4. The reviewer was really upset about the direction of the story, and that is a sign of how invested they were/are in the story (as Jack noted in his review).

Thanks Dave. The involvement is flattering, and it is the reason why I keep writing. Well, one of them.

Thanks for your awesome review Jack! There are a few of us academics around here, so what a thrill to hear from a colleague! Sometimes these forums and review boards can be more brutal than peer review, and a bit demoralizing, but then reviews like this come along and really pump me up. Thanks again. But just like peer review, I do listen to all of them, and just like with peer review, I sometimes find myself grumbling under my breath.

Thanks for all your feedback. There is a difference between constructive criticism and an insult: the former are useful, the latter piss me off. I generally enjoy people venting their spleens about the characters, even when they are persistently wrong. And this forum usually operates in a relatively pleasant manner. Those are not issues for me, and I have not found comments here to be disturbing in the least. I put 9-11 on hold on Friday because I got feedback suggesting that Wade and Matt (and others) were acting out of character. I tend to discount whining that a story went in a direction a reader didn't like (See Sharon's earlier post), but I thought that those critiques, coming from readers whom I've known and respected for a while, warranted some introspection on my part. These characters, when I'm writing them, seem to live in my mind, but it's possible that with so many actors, my mind confuses them. Even schizophrenic people can confuse the various people living in their heads. So I've been doing that with the remaining chapters of 9-11, and I haven't discerned anything to validate that assertion. The characters seem to be doing just what they probably would do, giving the stresses put upon them. I have the final six chapters in final edit/beta read mode, and I see no reason to delay posting at this point, so I'm changing the status back to "in process." I do not think that Wade, Matt, or Will are acting 'out of character' under the circumstances. I think that it's impossible, as I've said in response to reviews, to adequately predict the impact of a tragedy like 9-11. And that really has been what this story is all about. I also understand that the break-up of a tight relationship like Matt and Wade had is a wrenching event for readers who are attached to them, and would suggest that has more influence on 'out of character' comments than any actual change in how these people would function. I can understand and relate to that. But let us also acknowledge that traumatic events like this can, and often do, tear relationships (and families) apart.

These people lost key loved ones, and didn't deal with this tragedy at nearly the level the rest of us did. It's frustrating, because if I wrote them as just their normal selves, I'd hear a cacophony of feedback that said they were abnormally fine. Sigh. Maybe it's just time for a vacation.

A cheap Spanish novella is a little harsh. I'm sorry that you don't think the characters are acting true to form, but I would ask you to consider that these people are less than two months away from the 9-11 attacks and crisis. Ponder that Matt is trying to distance himself from his family, and from everyone. How are their reactions to that kind of action unjustified? Ponder that Wade, who is normally so stoic and calm, is having a tough time maintaining that same glacial attitude, which is not unusual when he deals with Matt. Matt has consistently been the one person who has the ability to make Wade act emotionally. So that's out of character? And you are perhaps suggesting that this is the first time that a crisis of massive proportions has caused relationships to fray and break apart? That is also unrealistic?

Matt's POV? It's just a story away. ;-) The question is, seeing things from his POV, will you like him any better?

I think you're blind to the passive-aggressive nature that Matt has adopted. He didn't throw Wade out of their room, but he drove him out by his actions. But I'm willing to nod to the "neglecting Matt" bandwagon, even though I think to a degree he is reaping what he's sown. Will is completely justified in being furious with both Matt and Tony. There really is no reason for him to talk to Tony, and by moving in with Tony, Matt is simply prying open the wound with Will further. But I think that, even if you discount that, his outburst at dinner was much more controlled than it could have been a CAP year earlier, and that is despite the trauma that he's dealing with. I think a formal Matt-Brad relationship would be really tough, as you noted.

I think you may be right, and I really like your shoutout to Robbie and his empathy. If you notice, this group does not do well with people who reject them, and that's what Matt is doing. The loyalty to the family (even if you're railing against it) is a paramount factor.

Discussions do not always have to have a purpose.

Well that's just excellent, but now I have a question burning in my brain: Who turned down the marquessate of Preston, and why?

Mark is dealing with the same shitty weather you are. Ugh. I think that Klip's motives are actually much more admirable than that. He and Wade have been good friends, and he's perceptive enough (we assume) to sense Wade's turmoil at what happened. I'm guessing that Klip is with Wade not because he's suddenly discovered that men really do it for him, I suspect he's with Wade because he knows that's what Wade needs.

Here's an interesting piece on how men deal with grief. Matt is clearly alienating everyone close to him, and he's probably doing it subconsciously, but he's clearly motivated to drive away the people who love him. Instead, he's settling in with Tony, a low-intensity guy that he can be around with no deep conversations, and occasionally get off with. In essence, Matt is creating his own "safe" space to grieve.

Ah, that's why this is called fiction.

I could throw out a spoiler here, but I won't. I think, though, that both Brad and Wade would be scared shitless about getting involved with each other, especially after what happened the last time.

I don't know if Matt's hit bottom yet, but his mode seems to be that he'll just wallow in a dissolute undergraduate lifestyle. That has to just bug the shit out of Wade.

Now Kitt, keeping bowel movements regular is a key focus of all the CAP characters. ;-) I really like the points you made in this review: 1. Matt is nosediving. 2. Frank sees that, and is trying to balance his utter frustration with Matt with his worry over Matt's psyche. I think his comments to Wade were really a plea for help from Wade. 3. Will was a lot more balanced than he has been, which is a good sign. I personally laughed at my own writing when I reread Marie's line to him. 4. I'm willing to bet that Klip is realizing that Wade, for all his vaunted strength, is in crisis mode himself, and he's using his dick to help Wade get through this. I think that would have worked for me. ;-)

Good guess. :-)

Actually, this chapter was all about Matt. Will's issues with Matt merely highlight Matt's estrangement from the family in a way that would otherwise be difficult to illustrate.

You raise an interesting issue (well, a couple, but I'll focus on one), and that's the interoffice relationship. They're not unusual, they're not banned, but they can be dangerous. I don't see a problem with Brad, in his position, having a relationship with Chris, as long as they're both upfront about things.Chris has a reputation as a player, and that makes it tougher for him to go after Brad. Plus, I think Brad is smart enough to avoid stupid mistakes with this guy.