Mark Arbour

Thanks for those, Jeremy. I love Linkin Park, and Crystal Blue Persuasion was my favorite Tommy James song.

First of all, thanks for the compliment! I think that Will would probably subconsciously avoid finding a soul mate at this point. He's at the point where he knows how impractical that was, but he's emotional enough to realize that if he did find that person, he'd probably fall hook, line, and sinker.

That's an interesting viewpoint, but you could draw an even closer comparison by looking at JP, who embodies much more of that old money philosophy (as does his daughter) than Stef or Brad.

Not only that, but Dom is/was a really nice guy. But the stories he has posted here are some of the best around, and they're the reason I ended up here at GA. I highly recommend that any of you who haven't read his stories, take a break and do so. My personal favorite is The Ordinary Us, because I love his quirky characters, but the others are great as well.

There's an idea. Only Bacchante probably won't be in the Mediterranean (with xebecs).

I think that the Danfields fly on private planes whenever they can, but their concern with flying on them wouldn't stem from financial pressures, it would stem from political pressures. It's not good to be seen as an elitist when you have constituents to answer to. A personal anecdote: I was once flying home and then-Senator Paul Simon was on my flight. I chatted with him at the gate, and since at that time I had scads of upgrades, offered to get him bumped up to first class. He declined, saying that he only flew coach. Now granted, Simon was a Democrat (smiles at Tim), but I think those perception issues can be important. His constituents on the plane saw him hanging out in the cheap seats with them.

And probably not the only one, either.

You're Brad! You hate secrets, you love drama, and you get all excited about juicy gossip. :-)

You're welcome! And thanks for saying that!

I wrote that scene with the two e-mails, laughing at myself and how many times I'd sent off a scathing response to someone only to regret it a few hours later! I can see how Kai sort of stumbled into a bad reputation. He hangs out (and is good friends with) a known hustler, and then he's spotted with a rich dude as his boy toy. People will add those together and come to what they think is a logical conclusion. In fact, the kid was probably just naive. Tony has a long way to go, and you're right, he does need counseling. If you look at his e-mails, you can probably tell that Will cares about him a lot more than he's willing to admit.

You know Stef is having a field day with this house. :-) I think that Will and Brad are going to have a volatile relationship because of their alpha tendencies, until they both mature enough to put their relationship first and their issues second, and no the other way around.

DaddyDavek described Will as being 'tantalized', which I think contrasts starkly with his father, who would be obsessed. Will is probably going to take a much healthier view of this, while Brad would have Kai trailed.

Tantalizing is a good word to describe it. I'll use that when I respond to the review above.

Well, Will definitely has a temper. :-) He committed the sin so many of us have committed; of sending off an email when we were all pissed off instead of calming down first.

July 23, 2001 I went out to the gazebo and looked out at the ocean. There was almost no moon at all but the lights from Kahului left a slight glow in the tropical haze. I listened to the waves more than watched them as they crashed against the reef, or the rocks. It was such a tranquil place, I felt so centered. I thought about this deal with Kai, and it kind of bothered me, but I knew the only reason for that was that I liked him. It wasn’t that I was head over heels in love wi

I'm not aware of a way to enter the military as an officer without having completed an undergraduate degree, but I'm no expert on the subject.

Miles, you really do need to post faster. I get what you're saying. Don't worry about it.

I think Miles' point, which I got, was that unless Darius were actively involved with organizations that were religious (Muslim), he's likely to fly under the radar of all but the most idiotic of Americans. Unfortunately, as you and I both know, that cadre encompasses a large number of people.

Thanks big guy!

Why thank you! I'll have to ponder what my own favorite chapters are. Interesting.

I think that Granger will have to really ponder whether he wants Jardines' banishment to be lifted. I think much of that will depend on what he finds when he returns to London. If Arthur is happy and content with Holmquist, Granger would be reluctant to drag Jardines back and potentially foul up the mix, especially since, as you noted, Jardines seems to be a total top, and so does Holmquist. But I can certainly see Granger arranging for Jardines to be posted elsewhere. Jardines isn't an opium addict, at least not in modern terms. I think it would be more appropriate to say he was an opium user, and the drug helped dull the emotional pain inside of him. This is not unlike modern drug addicts, and like them, once the internal pain is removed or abated, so too should the drug use abate. The other thing to keep in mind is that opium, as Jardines was doing it, is considerably less potent and addictive than it's derivative: heroin. I did a bit of research on this (as I do with most of this stuff...good thing I like it) and found the overall effects to be considerably more manageable when smoking opium as opposed to shooting up heroin.

I am so inherently evil, I am more likely to be the one installing the demons than the one removing them. :-) I appreciate your comment though. It was very flattering.

Would that not be the ultimate agony for George, to be stuck in Egypt, say in Cairo, as a prisoner, while Nelson all but destroyed the French Mediterranean fleet? It's tempting.

I'll try to accommodate you by posting on a regular basis, at least for the time being. I've gotten 54 chapters penned out (so there's four more in the mill).

George is basically a very considerate person, and that is where I think his basic manners and breeding dominate his life. The only time we see him being selfish and unreasonable is when he's in love, and his emotions overrule his inherent courtesy.