Hermetically Sealed

Well, at least when the story gets to 2010, the protagonists will likely be able to get married (assuming this ruling doesn't get overruled by the higher courts).

Yeah, the whole timing of it has been pretty odd. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of the info hasn't been leaked unintentionally through Robbie to Carson in some manner.

That's hawt!

::Raises hand:: but I'm kind of a "you never know when you might need this" personality. It has led to a very full garage, unfortunately.

Cliffhanger! Boo! At any rate, it will be interesting to see who Robbie suggests.

I am glad that Brad is taking the time to show just what he has over Carson. I can also see that in-spite of his insecurities, Robbie does still want to be with Brad, he just feels he's not worth it. Carson won't last, at any rate. He and Robbie are in two completely different stages in life. One or both are bound to realize the discrepancies in the relationship. As for the corporate side of the story, I'm happy for it to take it's time. Things like that rarely are quickly solved.

I can tell you first hand that rich people do have distorted perceptions when it comes to money. I've made dog pillows out of silk fabric with silk roses hand stitched to the fabric ($300 a yard at cost), had clients want a new duvet cover made after buying a $600 set instead of just buying the $100 filler, and have done full bedroom sets (comforters, skirts, pillows, valances and drapes) for the grown chldren's rooms in summer homes (of which said children never visit). Most people with money don't think about it, surprisingly, even those who came from lower income childhoods.

I can see where Matt is coming from. Here he comes into their lives, seeing Brad and Robbie as a loving devoted couple, then all of a sudden his own father pulls the rug out from his perceptions. He's probably as hurt over this as Brad because he holds them in such high regard. Look at how most kids act when they find out their parent has cheated; even if they loved them and idolized them before, they often become very bitter after the fact. However, that said, I really do hope they fix things, as they have been one of the very few gay couples that have lasted for so long in the series. I really don't want to see Robbie go the route of Jeff/Sam/Jake/Greg.

Yeah, I'm thinking Lark, too. He had Max's parents backing him the last we saw, and we know Janet has an ax to grind with the family. Or maybe Doug?

I guess we know probably why Aaron's dad started beating his mom; I'm sure he blamed her for his son dying. Sad to see how one event destroys their whole family for generations.

This. Completely, and utterly this.

You know, I never understood the way people blamed JP for acting the way he did in 1968. I guess it stems from the fact that I watched my sister do the same thing as Jeff for the last 30 years of her life. Not only did she ruin her own life, she ruined the childhoods of her three boys. She has been in rehab several times, some by her own choice, others because she was threatened with jail. It is extremely taxing on everyone involved in that person's life. The stealing, the lying, the extreme mood changes, violent outbursts and general unpredictable behavior, it all eats away at the feeling you have for them. And the sad fact is, they won't get better unless they want to, and sometimes, even not then. There is a point when you have to say, enough is enough. Sometimes not for their benefit, but for your own. I honestly sympathized wholeheartedly with JP in that story because I have seen for myself what he went through with Jeff. I love my sister but if she were to die tomorrow, I wouldn't question it, nor would I be sad. I'd be relieved, as would everyone else in the family, including her own children. I'm not happy about that, and I'm not proud. It's merely the truth.

Naw, I think JP is pretty close. I'm pretty straight laced in most things; very Obsessive-compulsive, very neat and a bit of a pedagogue. And I can certainly relate to his demand for timeliness. lol

LoL, possibly. I'm a top for sure, but I wouldn't mind trying out the other with some (read lots) prep time.

Hmm, yeah. He's definitely the Stefan of the two, which fits, as he's younger and far more sexualized than I. lol

LoL, okay, but understand I am really paring this down a bit. I have been in a sorta on and off again relationship with someone for the last 14 years, but we've never been formally in a relationship. It's mainly friends with benefits; though, we have both wanted to get together at times, it's just never been at the same time. I want to be together and he's not ready or dating someone, or he's ready and I don't want to be tied up with someone. Things seem to be moving to a place where we both actually want to be together at the same time, but who knows.

What's your favorite color? Toss up between Rosewood and Teal What's your pet's name? Got me three cats: Magus, Sorsha, and Skint Are you single? Sorta . . . It's complicated lol Do you like goats? Kinda indifferent What really pisses you off? A lot of things. People who don't consider what is going on around them. People that try to force their opinions on others on matters that don't affect them, or that are pretty much proven to be wrong or harmful. People that obsess over little things to the point of neurosis. Children. The color pink. Rich housewives with nothing better to do with their time than to bitch that their drapes don't hang perfectly flat, with razorsharp edges at the pleats, because we all know that cotton hangs like plastic . . . err. Yeah. Anyways . . . . lots of stuff.

I thought about it at first, but then realized how I talked with my friends when I was that age. I would never have talked with my family, or in polite society with the same voice that I did with my friends. I was also far more likely to be vulgar if I thought no one was looking/listening. Hell, upper class men have always gone "slumming" so that they could be more uninhibited, so I doubt it would be unlikely that a teenage boy would be so in the privacy of his journal. As it is I think the dichotomy of social life verses inner life are shown just fine. Now if he talked the way he did in the journal to his girlfriend, and even to Aaron, I might agree about the ill fit. Personally, people tend to build up the fantasy about the upper class and their life, forgetting that they are people. I've dealt with enough multimillionaires in my job over the last 15 years to know that, while they behave around each other in public, get them alone, or in a lower brow audience and they blend in fairly well.

So Roberts is back, eh? Interesting way of handling Merrick. lol

Wow, Enric, you really are an overachiever when it comes to being a self indulgent ass. I mean, talk about an elitist and belligerent mentality. Any value you might have added to this conversation was completely undone by that post. You do realize that you are the only one who seems to have a problem with the story, right? You act as though Mark's stories have violated some sanctified code of historical fiction, and yet you are the lone voice crying foul. Everyone else appears to be enjoying it just fine. Indeed, no-one has mentioned a disruption of their "reader's trance" except for you. Perhaps the problem lies strictly with you and your irrational expectations. You are correct that I have not been published widespread, though I have been published and well received by the company as well as the readers, no matter how minor a feat I considered it. I somewhat doubt you have, however. Nor does that seem to mean anything when the greatest producer of historical fiction tends to be women's romance novels, whose publishers routinely reject manuscripts for being "too complex for our readers interests." You seem to overstate the importance of minute and what you determine to be plausible. The actual market of literature just does not support your statements. As it is, I was happy to leave this kind of petulant behavior behind me in high school. I have no interest in indulging yours any further.

Part of the thing with all fiction is that it requires a certain amount of disbelief. Nothing, and I mean nothing, that Mark has written is all that implausible. Unlikely, sure, but this is fiction, a story designed to entertain and not exemplify the mundane. As for unlikely births? I have seen just about everything. One friend had 3 babies in 10 months (twin boys, then a girl 9 months right after). I've seen many people having "twins" from two different men. It's not usual, sure, but hardly unheard of. Hell, My aunt and I are less than 10 months apart, and were raised as siblings (and fyi, my grandfather was in his 60's). My youngest nephew and her oldest girl were born within months of each other. All this hangup on statistics and minute is getting a bit obtuse. If you want reality, and strict adherence to the most probable and average, read nonfiction or biography. Fiction is almost always the province of the improbable. Just enjoy the story for what it is.

Iono, I'm wondering if Tonto's secret doesn't have something to do with all the work she did for civil rights. Maybe even something to do with Sammy and his family. Probably wrong, but seems to be a thought.

Iono, I could easily see Frank falling into the Tonto spot. He says what's on his mind and is grumpy, but there's love underneath.

I would also say that Wade is a little more open. JP really likes to be in completely control, emotions and all. Wade doesn't mind letting loose in front of strangers, or acquaintances. But then, we never got a chance to see JP as a student.

I think you are mixing up Robbie and Max. Max was the one that got involved with Lark. As for Robbie's parents, they are divorced. His father, Frank is with Isidore now, while his mother I assume is with the pastor? Can't remember if they married or were merely hanging out together.