centexhairysub

Loved, Loved, Loved, this latest chapter. I really thought the scene with Winkler and Jacobs was so sweet; after the initial upset. I am glad that Jacobs was able to explain the situation and glad that Winkler decided to remain calm enough to let him. I have to admit that I think Winkler and Jacobs make a good pair. I like Winkler and Jeffries but never thought they quite fit. I am glad that Weston understands about Gatling and I hope that Gatling and Calvert have a long and happy relationship. Calvert handled the interview with Earl St Vincent as well as could be expected. I was glad to hear that they ended up with Baron Kingsdale, Andrews, and the others. I expect that Lt Eastwyck will met up with Granger in Paris...

I fully expect Granger to be back in America during the War of 1812....

I know it is a really horrible thing to admit; but one of the first things that I thought of after a day or so of bawling was with Robbie dead would Matt and Brad give in to all the sexual heat that has always been between them and do something about it... Still not sure how I really feel about it but it was one of my first thoughts...

I was amazed at how well Nana and JP moved everyone from no way to their first group therapy session. I have a feeling that if the two of them joined forced; peace in the Middle East might be achievable... I think that Wade is going to have a really tough time for the next bit. He is going to have to deal with his father's death, the death of his partner's father, his family grieving, his extended family grieving, and battling his mother. I have to wonder if the truce with Elizabeth will really hold until the funeral. While I do think that Nana and JP and a few others will do what they can to back him up; Wade really is a solitary person in many ways. I think he will really benefit from some therapy. Tim made a comment in the review section that I thought was spot on... Elizabeth can have loved the Senator but still be evil. You can love and be loved and still be evil. I think Elizabeth probably did love the Senator in some way and probably even loves her mother and children in her own fashion but Elizabeth loves herself and power most of all. She is evil, not because of this but because she is willing to do anything and give up anything to achieve it. Matt is going to need Wade and his extended family to come to terms with Robbie's death. I think it would help him to also have some help from his adoptive family. The Carrswolds will be able to help him as well. He was on a much better place with them when we last saw them together.... I thought the scene with Darius was perfect. I really liked how he explained the situation with Ella and then his belief that since he was straight, some of his exploits and feelings were not really validated by the family. I thought the way JP, Will, and JJ responded to him was great... I could really see Darius, Will, and JJ coming out of this with a stronger more unified bond. They will always be there own person but they may end up with a better understanding of how each of the other's fit in their life. Okay, we are going to have a member of the family be actually bisexual and it is going to be JJ, WOW... I just would never have seen this coming... It will give him a few great storylines in the future. I still am not sure that this will not be the moment that JJ walks away from skating. He realizes how much he has given up and lost to it and decides it just isn't worth it. This would keep Mark from having to explain why someone so talented did not do well at the major competitions in a few years... LOL... A special note, those of you that have not been following the music recommendations by JJ's namesake need to do so. There have been just some truly amazing song choices over the last few chapters...

Anything by Queen would be great but I guess it really does fit for La Danfield...

Grief can take many forms and everyone passes through the stages on their own timetable; but with this family, I think it is probably a good idea to get a jump on dealing with it. I loved Darius's outburst. It was so well written and the feeling behind it was so heartfelt. I really think the comments by Darius, Will, and JJ were just so honest. I can see the three of them coming out of this with a stronger and maybe more uniformed bond. It was sort of remarkable to see how Nana and JP just moved everyone past the I don't want to stage to their first group session. This is not going to be a quick fix but something they can start working on and then continue as each person moves back into their own life. Tim was right in his comment above, you can be someone that loves and is even loved and still be a completely evil bitch... Elizabeth probably did love the Senator and she may even in her own fashion love her mother and her children but she is still evil. I think that maybe Nana could use some help from JP in removing her from all of their lives....

I really appreciate this story now, the second time I read it more than the first. It was so great to see what formed some of the people in the story now; how the past made them into what they are today. It brought Tonto, Steven, Aaron, and even JP more into full beings. It gave us touchstones to what they were in the past. A really great job on this one, Mark...

WOW, I am really shocked. I guess I did not really thing that Aaron might really be alive but WOW. I am glad that Stef found out that Steven and his mother were not just a one time encounter that lead to a pregnancy. They really cared about each other and would have probably been together if Steven had not died. You have to wonder what might have been...

Hell, I am starting to get an idea of what happened and I am really freaking out. I wonder if it is possible that Aaron survived. We know that Steven did not because of how he dies and the funeral and stuff afterward but did Aaron live???

I am sitting here crying. I don't know why this upsets me so but it does. I think it was just really sweet for the most part but I guess since we know that Steven doesn't make it back that it is just really hard.. Tonto was the best even then. I have to think that the issue with JP and Stef when Stef cam over was more the age difference than anything else...

Damn, so Nathan topped Aaron. I would not have believed it. I guess I would have thought it was Aaron on top. While I don't approve of the incest, per se, I won't really be freaked out about it. I actually think it happens more between brothers than most people realize. Not to that extent but mutual masturbation and oral...

Damn, so Steven has slept with Aaron and now Nathan. I wonder who else before he gets out of Claremont...

I keep trying to remembe exactly how much younger JP was then Steven. I want to say that Steven was about ten years older. I am starting to wonder if something happened between the two of them. I don't mean actual sex but something. It has been a long time since we saw JP this rattled about something. There just seems to be something about this diary that really is upsetting JP.

It is so strange to look back and see how different everyone was that far in the past; or maybe it was just that we are looking at them with different eyes but I don't think so. The Hayes seem to be a kind but loving family, this is a total 180 from how they are portrayed later. Jim seems to be a total ass, this really doesn't fit him all that much. At least not until his father dies and he sleeps with Bitty. I guess it is just strange to see the total change in everyone... JP was really neat as a child. I would sort of like to see a story of JP when he was in his early to late teens maybe... I do wonder what he is so worried about. You can really tell he is freaking out some about this diary...

It is hard to think of old man Hayes in the way being described; they seem to be in shock that he had gone to the tavern and gotten drunk. He must have really changed... I think it is really noble in some way how Aaron wants to go off and fight; but I don't think it is going to end well for anyone...

If history has shown us anything, it is that the very young and the very old are who fight, suffer, and die in wars.... I guess because when I was in my late teens and early 20's there was just nothing military going on with the US; and no, you can't count Grenada, so I never really saw the military as something really special or even useful...

I just have to say what a great job you have done with the music pics over the last few chapters... I love how you have pulled some of them from the past to compliment what is happening now. The Bette Midler and the Procol Harum songs were just perfect at those two moments.

You can just see all the storm clouds gathering. I have a feeling by the time this is over, it is gonna be one depressing story in this saga... I think Aaron is acutally more in love with Steven than Steven is with him. I think the problem is that Aaron is much more tied up in what others think and that freaks him out a lot more than Steven.

I really do think that was the issue with Marie. Everytime that her husband was an ass or undercut her with Jim, she had sex with someone. I will not even say an affair because often it appears to have been just sex. I think that striking back at him on top of being sort of all alone in that she was from France and so different from everyone else made her lonely....

Well, I knew the women with Tonto was going to be Marie. I am suprised about the young men though. I remember the conversation that JP and she had about Andre. I guess, I can see Stef's point though. She was probably not really going to be all upfront about her sex life with JP. I wonder if JP picked up the trick about the emotional wall from watching Steven. I have a feeling that even at a young age, JP was more observant that most people realized.

Damn, there does seem to be quite a few children born without the benefit of their parents being married in these stories. I never really thought about it before now. I guess that Jim is like a lot of men. They are not really free to be themselves until their own father is gone. I have to wonder why that is? It is strange to think about how far back the Hayes family as sort of been in and out of the families of each of the three main Claremont families.

It is so strange to read about something that damn near repeated itsef twenty years apart. You almost wonder if there is a genetic proponent but it is more just fate, I think. I love how JP can read Stef and vice versa. They just make the cutest couple.

That was so sad. Steven reached out to Aaron but while not be rejected, he certainly wasn't taken in with open arms... I am not sure where this is going but can't wait to see what happens next. I think it is great that we are getting to see JP and even Billy at such a young age...

Well, if you think about it; there is really only one woman that Tonto could have been with and that is her sister in law, Marie, JP's mother... I will just about beat anything that it was her. I can imagine how scary it would be to both Steven and Aaron to have the situation they were in starting up.

Getting to see Tonto in action was just great. I really like how she stood up to Barry about getting Steven a car. I can just see her in action on anything that she thought was important. Steven seems like a really great guy. I can't wait to see what is secret really is...