Former Member

You know who surprised me in this chapter? Jesse. He really came through for Stefan. He's not as self-absorbed as I thought he was. I think with the support system Stefan has, hopefully, one day he will find the strength to leave Chris. I know it's easier said than done, but not impossible. Outside of a few spankings with a peach tree branch, my mom was not physically violent towards me, but she verbally abused me to the point of no return. I still hear echoes of the emotional abuse she put me through. This was an excellent chapter.

My favourite Rod Stewart track. Based on a real person that he knew, but in the song he wasn't killed for being gay, just a mugging that goes wrong. I love Rod Stewart. He is one of my all time favorite 'blue-eyed' soul brothers from across the ocean. I know Georgie was a friend of Rod Stewart's, as well as a friend to other members of The Faces. Maybe I should not have said the young men were homophobic. I have a tendency to read between the lines, especially in older songs, considering artists found ways to be creative when leaving hidden messages for their listeners to prevent being censored. Thanks for your response, and for the video of 'Love Is Blindness.'

This is a quirky story which features a village-sized kingdom. I’m not sure how a single village can support the castle, but it does explain why everybody (other than the king) knows everybody else’s business. ;-) A fun story with interesting characters and situations. A nice, light tale. An enjoyable read. ;-)

"Creating’s an elixir that’s always sung in my blood." I love this particular line, because it reminds me that dreams of my youth may be far gone, but my need to create is still just as strong as it was then. Maybe even more. Beautifully done, Gary.

So is it denial or bisexuality? Clearly Cam is somewhere in the middle of the Kinsey Scale even if he thought he was a Kinsey Zero before. I’m sure my body would have reacted to Ian just like Cam did (when I was their age). ;-)

Yes, but who wants to do what their therapist suggests? I know I don’t! The ideas are always things that would be difficult, uncomfortable, or impossible to do! ;-)

This sounds like something @Timothy M. once said in response to a picture of “Jazz” that I had just sent him. ;-) Isn’t it a little early to be planning Jake & Andy’s wedding? ;-)

Billy & Brett have certainly been busy burning bridges left and right. But Billy was extremely naïve to think he was smarter than Jack or Carl.They were both unexpectedly vicious and vindictive. Now I’m sure I’m going to feel incredibly dumb (as usual), but who is David?

‘Doctor Millie’ must be an honorary title, much like Dr Phil or Dr Laura. She clearly does not have the necessary training to provide psychological assistance to hospital patients. Did she wander out of the mental health unit or something? If I were in the hospital administration, I’d be doing a more thorough check of her references and qualifications. If she’s claiming some sort of degree, it must be an online university or one of those sketchy off-shore colleges that aren’t accredited by US officials. I’m betting they’re all forged at best…

What are they teaching you kids these days? Were Simon & Garfunkel so long ago that no one remembers them anymore? Paul Simon wrote the song and it was recorded by S&G in 1964. It was remixed and released in 1965. Disturbed was not the first and certainly not the last to cover the tune. It was included on the soundtrack for The Graduate.

Right?

Is there a problem? He's just your average soft spoken, caring, naked...uh...okay he's a creep.

What a way to burst Bryan’s bubble! ;-) Of course Pauline knew! Your coworkers see you in lots of unguarded moments. Sometimes, you spend more time with them than your own family! ;-) They see who you react to – and how you react. They see you interact with your other coworkers. They also see how your coworkers react to you when you’re not paying attention! ;-) Pauline will be less surprised than most when Bryan and Rob finally deal with their issues and start dating… ;-) Oh, and a link to a series of photographs showing what people looked like when they were drinking heavily and what they look like now that they’ve quit.

As always, it was a pleasure to (re)read one of your stories! I knew Troy would end up with Jayden, but Id forgotten how they got there. I’m typing with tears in my eyes – good thing I don’t wear mascara like the scary clown (based on the avatar Mr 8890 is currently using) above me! ;-) I’m thinking that a few dogs must have instinctively guided their masters and been noticed. I cannot imagine that there wasn’t existing behavior that inspired the training of guide dogs. It’s like the now-derided sea mammal (and penguin) shows where they took existing behaviors and wove them into shows. ;-) They use that song at AIDS Walks too, for a similar reason. ;-)

Not Joshua Speed, David Derickson, or William Herndon? ;-)

We all at least attempt to speak the same way our peers do. It’s difficult socially and unusual to do otherwise. In some subcultures, speaking Standard US English can even cause you to be ostracized for trying to ‘talk white.’ But two of my friends, a former-Texan and a former-Wisconsinite, deliberately dropped their accents when they moved here to California. When the Wisconsinite is very tired, his accent comes back – it’s somewhere between Chicagoan and Fargo-style Upper Midwest. There are stereotypes about Texans that my other friend wanted to avoid.

Oh moggy, you are not alone honey.

If the Black Eagles are an intelligence agency, then I can see Marcus being used by Evan. This is really getting deep and I'm enjoying every moment of it. Another great chapter BH.

"Quafe. The soft drink that prevented all out war!"

I'm not really a sci-fi kind of gal, but since reading HALO novels, I've become immersed in the lore. lol I am not familiar with the game EVE, but I don't think I have to be in order to enjoy this fantastic tale.

Eventually I have to get over my intimidation over its more than 100 chapter length and read Tooey… This story was another reminder of why I miss reading about Andy, Zander, and their family and friends. But Andy and Zander will probably be sighted by a couple birdwatchers before we get a dedicated story about A & Z again. Hopefully, they won’t get bumped by another major story (as much as I’ve enjoyed Predator and Aquinas) first! ;-)

How did Will and Ian know which restaurant Adam would take Ian to? And that they’d be in the parking lot kissing? Or was it Seb and Beau? ;-) Ian and Adam just can’t catch a break! ;-) But Ian is lucky Sasha was able to pull something together for him out of his closet! While I’m not as bad as The Big Bang Theory’s Leonard when Penny wants him to throw away most of the clothes in his closet early in the series*, I don’t really have a very wide variety of clothing. Certainly no leather jacket or anything else that’s fancy like that. ;-) * It’s an episode where he has to wear a suit. He’s proud of the corduroy jacket he kept – as well as the paisley shirt to go with it. He also has a reversible tie that she doesn’t like. She tells him to throw the clothes away because it wouldn’t be a favor to donate them to the poor!