Mark Arbour

Thanks for the review. I don't really understand your point when it comes to Will and his immaturity or lack of logic. I'm not seeing anything in this chapter that suggests that, nor do I think that JP would disapprove of Will's actions in this chapter.

I think Will understands what Zach can and can't give him, at least for right now. Unfortunately, if he develops stronger feelings for Zach, that nice logical approach may not work.

October 27, 2001 New Jersey Zach and I were lying in bed, panting after fucking yet again, when the phone rang. “Hello,” I said, trying to hide the fact that I was damn near hyperventilating. “You sound out of breath,” Dad teased. “Is it your mission in life to be a buzz-kill, or did you call for a reason?” I asked, annoyed at him for giving me shit about it. Zach was pretty paranoid about people knowing we fucked, and he hadn’t said anything about my dad, but l

December 20, 1798 St. James Palace, London Granger shared so much with his wife, just with their eyes, but this was not the place for the kind of personal conversation he so desperately wanted to have with Caroline. That would have to wait. He became conscious of the room around him, of the brilliantly lit chandeliers, with the candlelight flickering through the prisms of the crystal. He smiled as they refracted through the big diamond earrings Caroline wore, the ones he’d

Sounds like he's a work in progress.

That Fatboy Slim song...that reminds me of going to hockey games in the early 2000's. Great pick!

Actually, reader feedback does have an impact on the story. Those readers who understand the characters, and are able to identify when they're acting out of character, are like an automatic correction mechanism for me. Those readers who want me to build the characters and the stories to suit their own views, or what they want, usually end up disappointed.

Good point. Will is very mature for his age, but he does have fits and starts along the way. I think it's important to add into the mix the grief he's suffering.

Thanks. I think that Robbie was a more "in the background" person for Will, and I think you're right that only now Will is seeing how important he was in his life. Will's focus on his father, combined with Brad's strong personality, explains a lot of that.

Zach is no saint: that's a great observation. Will gets that, and he doesn't want a saint, he just wants someone who will be honest with him, and he really needs people he can trust to prop him up right now.

Jason, Clearly you have imbibed too much, or not enough, eggnog, and it has indeed fueled your cynicism. :-) I think that Will and Zach are at one of those wonderful places where they need each other. Whether that need will bond them together enough to survive as friends, or more than friends, once their dependence is removed (if it is), remains to be seen. And it will indeed be fueled by the Karmic wheel of the CAP universe.

As I mentioned in my response to your review, you and I have a fundamental disagreement over the rights and obligations of parents in this situation, and we've discussed that in the past, so I'm going to pretty much avoid diving back into that discussion again. Wally is the kind of father who runs a pretty tight ship, based on a very hierarchical/authoritarian model. That he's done well with the kids they've raised so far is still up for debate, as we haven't seen any of them but Gathan get on a really solid track. That he stepped in to raise the sons (and daughter) of his brothers gets him major kudos. But the dynamic between Wally and Clara and their own kids (Zach and Zeke) and the others is different, as we saw in Poor Man's Son. And there are a lot more to their dynamics than we're probably seeing here. Based on the interaction between Will and Wally, I doubt that anything Will would have done regarding the car would have changed their minds, or made them even consider that Zach deserved one. If I were Zach, I would interpret their actions in the same way, as Wally and Clara not having any confidence in me, and not recognizing any of my achievements. You see Will as a disrespectful brat (which may be true), but he was also calling Wally on slicing Zach off at the knees, and at having a blatant double-standard when it comes to Zach and Gathan. That has to absolutely burn in Zach's psyche. And if Wally and Clara were going to win the parent of the year award, they would know all those things Will called them on, simply because Zach isn't living with them. He's living with a host family, and that means they trusted this family with their son (whom they don't seem to trust at all). They should be very involved in making sure he's happy there, he likes his host family and his school, etc. I've actually done this (been a host parent) and I've seen what kind of crap these kids have to put up with. Some are lucky, others aren't. But if you're doing your job as a parent, that's one thing you're on top of. And they should have taken some of Robbie's money and gone out to visit him long before this, to make sure he was OK.

I think that at that age (lets call it high school), relationships and friendships can sprout up and get pretty intense, pretty fast. They aren't as cynical as those of us who have been around as long.

You're welcome! Glad I could make your day a little more pleasant! You and I have a fundamental disagreement over the rights and obligations of parents in this situation, and we've discussed that in the past, so I'm going to pretty much avoid diving back into that discussion again. But there is one issue that I think you need to revisit, and that is on Wally's lack of knowledge about Zach's likes and dislikes. Under normal circumstances, that's a fair assessment (Zach probably wouldn't tell Wally, and Wally probably wouldn't ask), but in this situation, Zach is living with a host family, and those things are very important. If they are as good of parents as you suggest they are, then they would be very focused on how well-adjusted Zach was in this new world, with his new 'parents'. One more point, for accuracy: Wally and Clara actually only raised two of their own kids. The other four were kids from Wally's brothers.

Thanks for the review! There is a lot going on, and a lot of people who aren't at their peak levels because of the grief. I'm not sure if Zach will be the one to help Frank out, and I'm even less optimistic that anything Will said will resonate with Wally.

You're welcome! I'm glad you liked the chapter, and thank you for the review. You're right, in that it may not be Will's place to say that shit to Wally, but then again, if he didn't, who would? The adults are all too polite to do it, and Wally's own kids are probably not going to do it. Will was right: Robbie was probably the only one who could have had an impact. Or maybe Frank could.

I think that Will's one of those guys who (like his father) will be an amazing friend to have, as long as you don't dick him over.

Those are some good points, Jeremy. And isn't that true in a relationship: flaws can be tolerated if there's honesty about them. It's also appropriate for a Schluter to be buying Dodges. (SMILE)

LOL. You know, the relationships between brothers is rarely as clear cut and obvious as it seems. And I'll bet that Gathan is absolutely clueless that his own drive to take a leadership role with his brothers has alienated Zach.

October 26, 2001 Claremont, Ohio The plane landed gently and taxied over to the fixed base operator. I sat in the chair next to my father, acting pretty calmly, and to be honest, I actually was pretty relaxed. There were only two things about this trip that made me nervous, and I’d resolved not to let either one of them bother me. The first was obvious: Wally and Clara Hayes. I figured that if they wanted to give me shit for getting Zach a car, they could, but I was only going t

Here's a link to the rating system. You'll find a table for the ratings in place during the Napoleonic Wars. Posting to a ship that was "rated" was what entailed promotion to Post Rank. Thus, when Granger was promoted to command Belvidera, as a rated vessel, he was promoted to a captain or "post captain".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK!

I thought I'd give you guys an update on what I'm doing (or not doing) with Odyssey. Basically, now that Granger is home, what I have to do is go back and tie all the loose ends together, and that means that I have to deal with all the things that happened on his trek around the world. While pretty much everything has been revealed at home (through his reports), Granger still has to deal with explaining them, and he has to deal with the changes that have happened. That means that I have to go back through the story and re-read it, and decide how all of those events are going to impact Granger on his return. That takes time, and that's what's caused the delay. I wanted to get us to a good stopping point in the story, so I could take my time and do just that. I think we're there, and in fact, some readers even thought Odyssey was over. So when I get a chance, I'll dive into it again and tie things up, but in the interim, I'm a bit too busy for that kind of a project.

You didn't offend me. Readers have different perspectives, and that's what these reviews and forums are here for. I don't agree with you on Will being immature at dinner, but that's just my read on it. Your mileage may vary. Interesting thought about the solutions part, and I try to work some of that in, but it's hard to do, because, to be honest, for most people that kind of intense grieving is a long, arduous process to overcome. The first few months tend to be the toughest. Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year to you as well!

I think it's a bit off to judge Will for being immature for making a rather comical reference to torching Matt's GMC when Matt was provoking him by threatening to sleep with Tony. Will usually is not a provocateur, but he will respond if poked. Matt poked him.