Mark Arbour

December 30, 2000 Escorial, CA Will I knelt on the mat next to Jeff, totally annoyed with him and with Matt for fighting in the first place. I mean, it’s not like I’d never gotten into fights, but here, at Escorial? Seriously? If Grand found out about this, he’d go nuts. Still, I understood the code, and I understood why Wade let them do it. I went along with it too. Sometimes, emotions ran too high, and you had to work things out with your bodies. But in the end, seeing Jeff be

LOL. That would probably have Robbie in weekly therapy sessions.

Kody, I hope you did well on your papers. I feel your pain: I have to grade those damn things. I'm guessing that JP didn't invite Ace and clan because they're not living at Escorial anymore, and because it doesn't seem like Ace is all that involved in JJ's life. I can't see him getting all excited about figure skating.

You're an awesome guy, and you deserve an awesome birthday! Hope you get it!

I'm not sure I see Wade coming forward to that extent. He's loyal, and has a strong sense of duty, but that's going to work against disclosure. If he tells JJ about his father, and JJ gets into a bitchy snit and reveals what Wade said, Senator Danfield's career is over. And Wade will have to bear the stigma of what happened to him as a public badge, because it will be out there. In this case, I think he'd see his duty and loyalty demanding that he keep his mouth shut and not say anything about it. Now, if JJ shows Wade that he's trustworthy, then Wade may consider it, but I don't think JJ is in a position, nor does he have the maturity, to convince Wade that he's reliable enough to trust with confidential secrets.

You state this as if it's a fact. I liked Gathan's character. I liked "Poor Man's Son." I wasn't as fond of "A Summer Love," but that had less to do with Marcel than with the story (there were parts I liked, and parts I wish I would have written differently). Just because you didn't like either one of those guys doesn't prove they were bad narrators. It just means you're wrong. It's not easy to write what you don't know, so you're right, capturing a blue-collar family and their daily struggles just to make ends meet probably isn't my forte. Definitely something to avoid, the repetition, and something you do a great job of helping me with. You're telling me I should give a shit about a guy who stopped reading my stories because he was worried about what I might do? Seriously? Here's a secret: I don't. I write because it's fun. If people want to come along for the ride, that's great. If they don't, and no one reads what I'm writing, then it's probably a good time to retire. But at the same time, I'm not going to let anecdotal evidence influence me. I have some bitchy queens here who don't like me, and as soon as they see me post a chapter, they run and rate it with one star. That's the guy you talked to. But the other readers chime in, and chapters end up with 4-5 stars. That's more reflective of what the sample population thinks. (See: Grad School: Research Methods).

Sometimes the obvious isn't really that obvious. Wade and JJ may have common ground, but only Wade knows that. As far as we know, the only people who know about Wade's abuse by his father are Matt, Brad, JP, Stef, and Robbie. (If I missed someone, let me know). I don't think Wade's told Will about it, and he hasn't told Nana either. In order for Wade to come forward and share his story with JJ, and reach out to him, he has to reveal that he was abused. (Duh). I don't know that Wade feels comfortable enough to trust JJ with that. My guess would be that he doesn't.

Blending into a different socio-economic group is usually a big challenge. I can see where Matt would be uncomfortable at the Mission, probably for the same reasons Jeff cited: that he won the adoption lottery.

I think you nailed what's going on in Wade's mind. I really don't think this has anything to do with his abuse. Rather, I think his need to sub in the bedroom is much as David noted: his need to give up control.

Jeff real parentage is a mystery, even to me, but I love hearing these theories. Sometimes I steal them. ;-)

I thought Tiffany was really an unsung hero in this whole thing. Here she is, watching out for Maddy as if she were her own daughter (we assume), on pins and needles wondering when her former partner is going to come back and rip Maddy away. And she's got to feel tremendous guilt for hooking JJ up with his coach in the first place. Yet she stepped up strongly to help out.

Aw. We're not done yet. We're within 5 chapters, but we're not done yet.

Wade is probably looking at JJ with a whole lot of apprehension, since as far as Wade's concerned, JJ's been a bitchy little dude. So I'm sure he feels some sympathy, but he's probably not all that keen on getting involved with JJ.

Tim also said he liked it. It's entirely possible that Jeff is related to the Hayes family. Then again, I already did that once.

I tend to look at it this way. If someone posts a review of one of my chapters, they're having a conversation primarily with me. That means that they'll get a response from me, but it's also limited, in that they can say one thing, I can respond once, and then we're done. There's also no editing function, so if you screw up, it's out there. If someone posts in my forum, they're starting a conversation with me and other readers. I may or may not get involved in the discussion, but I do find it interesting. Both have their place; they're just different.

That's a really good point. I think that Will ending their discussion probably cut the topic short, but that's a good point. I can see Matt and Jeff having that kind of discussion later, when they've both had time to cool off and think about things. Plus, as pissed off as Matt is at Jeff right now, I can't see him opening up to him and sharing his outing experience.

Having the confrontation with Gathan doesn't make sense, since he was 'adopted' by other family members, so there really wasn't any luck (or lack of luck) involved. Matt, on the other hand, was. I think you're right about Tiffany. I think that Tiffany is much more confident and grounded than Jeanine was, and I think that she wants more from life than to just stay at home and raise kids for some gay guys. You hear that when she talks about her "gilded cage."

You clearly don't understand the whole submissive-dominant psychological structure. Dominant in the bedroom does not mean dominant in the relationship, and it has absolutely nothing to do with fidelity in a relationship.

December 30, 2000 Escorial, CA Wade “Look what we got,” Matt said. There was an envelope on the floor that had evidently been slid under our door. It was addressed to Matt Carrswold and Wade Danfield. “What do you think it is?” “Open it up,” I said. There was no point in making idle speculations when the answer was a torn-open envelope away. He obliged me and opened it up. “JP Crampton requests our presence at dinner tonight at 7:00pm.” “A formal invitation to d

I'm so glad you liked it!

Two frigates taking on a ship of the line is indeed a tall order. Probably the best example of that would have been when Pellew drove the Droits de l'homme aground off Brest.

You live in a world of stereotypes.

October, 1797 As tired as Granger was, especially after consuming a lot of food and wine at supper, he needed to find out what happened to Humphreys. “Mr. Humphreys, perhaps you can remain behind after these gentlemen leave,” he said, a clear signal that he was dismissing the others. Granger was too tired to worry that he may have been abrupt, and rude, but the reaction of Weston and Eastwyck seemed to indicate they took no offense. “I will help Mr

I keep agreeing with you. If visions of Mitt Romney start popping into my head while I'm masturbating, it's gone too far, and I'm joining a support group.

I got what you were saying.