All Comments on 'Profiles in Narcissism - Vol. 01'

Wow. Excellent. That is pretty much the way I would have expected it to go. 5 stars!

Good stuff, looking forward to the next in this roundup of usual suspects.

Narcissism and simple self-absorption aren't quite the same. Linda was self-absorbed. An example of a narcissist would be the ex-pres. D

Extremely well written, of course. Even in the silly story I wrote I had Jim stay with Linda "for the kid's sake," but that was wrong. Jim was abused by all of his so-called friends and his wife. He needed a clean break from them all with court-ordered visitation rights that afforded him the chance to avoid Linda as much as possible.

Your portrayal of Linda and her true attitude toward Jim and her life, in general, was spot on. She is one fucked up bitch. Thanks for sharing, CWG.

Great effort at mirroring the story from Linda's perspective. One small blip for me is the need to have every cheating wife "give their ass" to their paramour. Really that does not need to be used to make the reader understand that the wife is willing to do so much more for her lover than her husband. The ass thing becomes an unnecessary cliche. The rest of your story, in my mind, is right on cue. Whether self absorbed or a classic narcissist, Linda was someone who only dealth with family and relationships on a level that is totally unacceptable as a man's soul mate and wife.

What a great way to look at Linda, and by extension, others to be examined in your upcoming chapters. Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks.

You made Linda look worse than GA did.

I have read all the sequels and spin offs.

GA's masterpiece stands the test of time.

GodivaFan, Blackheart, Other2other1 & Johnadp wrote the best ones in my opinion.

Anyway, well written & look forward to the others

I liked this treatment of Linda, and it was an interesting view of her mindset which explains a lot. She should have just dumped Jim.

Holy Moly! WOW, I love these "Feb Sucks" different endings. This is such a traumatic wound to the Husband Jim, and Linda Never Ever seems to get a handle on "WHY" she did what she did, or why Jim reacted like he did. In some ways, I can understand, why she felt she could have her one night with the famous athlete, and still come home like nothing happened to change her. But How could Jim, ever get over the pain of betrayal from Linda? I would have divorced her immediately. But why? Why couldn't a normal guy "get over" his 10 yr married wife leaving for sex with another man? Qhy? I know it just seems like a waste! Why do people cheat and have sex with others outside their marriage? Why do people get upset and get divorced if 'no harm' was done? Interesting questions. I don't know the answers. 5 stars for a great ending. What a fantastic tale of heartache and betrayal. No Redemtion. Just Divorce. This happens so frequently anymore. So said. Great Writing, Great Story. Great Effort Thanks Buster2U

Good story, but a very different Linda than in GA's original. One part that bothered me was the first letter. Linda explained that "the layout was for me to create maximum confusion. I wanted to intersperse my love for Jim, with my joy at having Marc. That was the 'off balance' part Dee spoke of." That rationalization seems to have come from nowhere and makes no sense. No rational being would consider it helpful to tell your husband that sex with another man was the most wonderful experience of her life. Yet, that letter was the driving force that ultimately ended the marriage.

excellent follow up. Fact is GeorgeAnderson is simply a fool to believe those 2 could have reconciled

Possibly the best character study a clueless Linda among all the addons. Placing Linda as the sole voice enables you as author to really dig into the sociopathic narcissist core of the Linda character. I thoroughly enjoyed your take on this.

5 stars

Thanks for sharing...

Bravo! A very refreshing interpretation, with a good dose of the human condition prevalent well done!

The story was fine. Prefacing it with a JV-level Catonic rant about language changing over time and words growing to have colloquial meanings that differ from their technical meanings - a phenomenon at least as old as written language and probably older - was obnoxious.

"That was when my depression started. I'd thrown away a chance at a long, wonderful life for one night of mind-blowing sex""

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- Really that Linda is still delusional till the end. What did she meant one night? SHE HAD dalliances with men even AFTER that one night with Marc. Darned this Linda is far worse than the Linda in GA's story.

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-even though I somehow think Linda deserved the ending but mostly the story just didn't make anything better for GA's original story in fact this just made it far far worse.

- In my opinion I think this is the worst alternative story I've ever read so far -- regardless of how much I liked the ending. This I think is by far the worse for me from @cookingwithgas That part with the old man LW about masturbation and the subsequent reveal of Linda's further infidelity was baloney.

I was hoping to never see another Feb Sucks story. Please stop. This isn't any better than the others.

Ummm. I think maybe this story has just been flogged to death. This one is just eh. There's a lot of what my stupid ass calls bullshit incidents. Like LW. Now after all this time he turns into a dbag and tells linda he wants sex??? The parents reaction was non existent as well.

Really good story. You are very talented. The story got me from start to finish, it really gave some depth to the original story.

Great advertisement to never get married. Well written.

Your story just makes me hate her all the more. Never one word about helping Jim, or her kids, or seeing the evil she perpetrated on her family. The title was wrong, it should have been, "me, me, me." You certainly described a narcissist perfectly. Even fucking around to satisfy herself, after she destroyed her husband was what skank sluts who love only themselves do. This is why the BTB re-writes are the best. She deserves nothing but pain and humiliation.

"There was nothing left for me to say that wouldn't be redundant."

This whole non story is REDUNDANT!!!!!! There is nothing new, changing the name and changing it to suit your story doesn't change the fact its the same damn non story over and over!

You approached things from a slightly different angle. BUT... Jim was still written as a weak and pathetic simp kind of husband. Still allowing not just Linda but also that two-timing arsehole LW to manipulate him at every turn. A "normal" guy, when presented with the info about his wife receiving flowers from her AP, would have arranged for her to be watched, knowing that the AP wouldn't given up easily. Not doing anything when LW revealed he had arrange the "escort", was a telling point. Frankly Jim almost deserved to be cheated on by being so shallow and weak. If he had any balls or backbone at all he would have taken up the offer from the escort for a wild night, if only to knock it to Linda. But no, Saint Jim the Pathetic, stayed true to nature.

Plus, Jim should not have accepted all those stories presented by Linda. However, the cuck still did nothing except sulk and pout, then resume relations (of a sort) with his cheating slut wife. Vomit inducing. Did Jim ever discover what LW had done with Linda? Still, he probably wouldn't have done anything there either.

Good for you as you made a potential clinical story entertaining and enlightening. I also look forward to reading more of your works.

Nothing new or simply interesting !

“Staying together until the kids grow up” is such a terrible, terrible thing to do to your children. It’s the second-worst cliche in cheating wife stories (after “alienation of affection” lawsuits).

Children are FAR better off with parents who are divorced, than living in a home with parents in a loveless marriage, filled with an undercurrent of anger, resentment, and contempt. And it’s impossible to hide how you really feel about your spouse from your kids. Kids are smart and perceptive.

I really don't think that in our old age, we think of a night of sex, however good it may be.

On the other hand, pure moments of love, such as meeting your partners, the birth of your children or some of their achievements, interactions with certain relatives or very close friends.

But not a simple night of sex, even with the best stud.

Personally, I don't have any particular memories, because time erases feelings.

Anyway, the best sex is the next one to come.

Difficult to read from Linda's perspective. Can't imagine how hard it must have been to write it.

Good writing but hard to slog thru all that first person singular viewpoint

I like your writing but I don't like the February Sucks aspect of it. Maybe it's a knee jerk reaction. If I understand what you said, you plan to examine female narcissists on this site. Maybe that will include The Troubadour's story from 2005, I believe that the G.A. story is basically a re-hash of that story. Good luck.

4 (knee-jerk reaction)

Good story. My only issue was Jim's decision to stay because of the kids. First of all, living in a loveless marriage is a horrible example to set for kids. Most studies point to strong and happy marriages are the foundation for a strong and happy family which usually translates to happy and well adjusted kids. The opposite is also true but more so. Children of divorced parents, especially if those parents move on to happy healthy relationships, and remain in their kids lives, fare better than those who are subject to miserable parents.

Also, if he was going to stay because of the kids, then stay til they move out. Divorcing whe the kids are teenagers and still in the house is far more traumatic than splitting up when they're young.

This is one of the top 5 of these stories.

Pretty good views on her narcissism and funny how if the roles were reversed there'd be no coming back. But she expects him to

very well done sir

I enjoyed this story 5 stars.

That was a good, deep-dive into Linda. More so than the others have done. It’s a strong effort and it works.

More of a Linda's view of a previous sequel. Did nothing for me despite being well written. The plot lines added nothing to the original story or any of the sequels, so I was left flat emotionally throughout. 2.8*

Interesting and refreshing take on the famous February Sucks story. Well written and continued improvement in your writing - keep going! 5 Stars

Quite good.

This was a really interesting take on "February Sucks." A good read.

Hooked

From a writing/storytelling view this is above average. The characters as written here are not interesting, just pathetic. I guess your feelings were hurt when your original sequel wasn't well received and this is the outcome? I don't doubt it was a difficult task to immerse yourself into what you believe to be the mind of a narcissistic personality. That would explain the very lengthy first-person narrative as opposed to actual dialogue between the two main characters?IMHO, "February Suck"s and so do the sequels so I won't score this as it wouldn't be fair to the effort and work involved.

"Always willing to linger his gaze over Jane and me a little longer than appropriate, but a real stickler when it came to his wife's fidelity." - A "lingering gaze" isn't the same thing as infidelity.

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"He took the bait, just like I did." - Yes, but would he have taken the bait if she hadn't done it first?

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"I'll be admitting that I set the two of you up with Ellen." - I don't think Jim knowing that Linda was a set-up will make things any better, it'll probably make things worse.

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"She saw him as overly playing the victim" - He WAS the fucking victim! If Dave or Jim and gone off with a hot woman they would have been divorced as soon as they could find lawyers.

Solid story, 4 stars, I like these different takes on the story.

Could somebody shoot me if someone writes another story about this bitch?

@demander, are you conceding that ex-president Obama was a true narcissist on top of being a racist? Lol.

I saw CWG, Demander, JustWords, and DG Hear all posted stories so I went to bed looking forward to reading them. What could go wrong? Or so I thought. Well, something did, because all four stories seemed like they’d been written by some amateur. Not the effort I’ve come to expect from these authors, but there’s always next time!

Author made it easy for the readers to not to hate Linda, but to accept her as a self centred, narcissistic and self absorbed person. You really can't change these people, rather to move away from them. Good work.

Great story, l look forward to the others in this series. My God, this could be huge, give the number of cheating wive stories u can pick from

I look forward to your next story

Scores 5/5, well deserved too.

She is not narcissist. You said itn in preamble that words are not used correctly and then you used it incorrectly.

Another fairly recent contributor to these fora like CWG, NoTalentHack, nailed it when he appended his take on the Feb Sucks story with his explanation for how or why the hell Linda could do that:

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“So I wanted to find a reason that all of those things could at least conceivably happen in a realistic way. And the answer to that, the one I came up with, was simple: 90% of the things in the story happen because one pivotal character is a delusional narcissist.”

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NTH hit the nail on the head: being a delusional narcissist is really the only explanation for Linda’s behavior. And in fact, as this author is suggesting with what seems to be an intriguing start to a series of stories trying to explain a few “famous” LW females, narcissism —- often enhanced by sucking on the business end of a Martian Slut Ray—- is the only reason many stories that have entertained us over the years can possibly work.

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I thought CWG’s effort here was commendable. Taking on Linda from Feb Sucks was, as he noted, probably the most obvious first choice. I did enjoy it. But I was disappointed that at the end, Linda and Beth weren’t living with a dozen cats 😎

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4 ****

narcissists

Synonyms of narcissist

: an individual showing symptoms of or affected by narcissism: such as

a

: an extremely self-centered person who has an exaggerated sense of self-importance

@demander, yeah actually narcissist and self-centered are basically the same. you say which includes ex-pres, while true, also includes current pres and just about every other pres, every politician, every company big wig.

Linda proved it by this versions view that she couldn't understand why she couldn't have her disrespectful stunt without consequences. Even when she said if it was a normal guy it would not have made her friends jealous. That is exactly being a narcissist.

Wow! Thanks, everyone for the great comments and interest. I was going to respond privately to Boyd Percy, but thought why not toss it in here? If you have a favorite LW story, where the narcissist went way over the top, put it in the comments and I'll consider it for an upcoming volume.

Yes, The Troubador's Susan from "How High a Price" is one. "Another Love," and "Just Once... if You Don't Mind," are two others. "Law of the Heart," was there but that one seems finished to me and the other authors who wrote alt endings, covered it pretty well.

LenardSpencer hit it dead on in his comment. Jim was weak, indecisive, and in slang terms, yes, a wimp. These are the kind of men that narcissistic women would be naturally attracted to in the first place, and of course, it's why some of the great stories rip at the readers' hearts. Most don't score well, like GA's version of February, also for that reason. The actions of the characters seem so far removed from reality. Oh, for your information, BuzzCzar, out of 114 alt endings to February, mine "February... Gone Girl" is in the top 12 by rating, so no, my feelings are definitely not hurt in the slightest. It was the second story I posted, so I couldn't have been happier with the scoring and the popularity.

Post your favorite LW and I'll give it a look. Thanks for all of your support!!!

"I'm not ashamed to say I had two dalliances". That's not altogether surprising given that this dreadful woman has already shown herself to be incapable of feeling shame about any thing she does. Of all the 'famous' or infamous wives in LW Linda is the one that spikes my blood pressure the most.

This is a very well written tale about a truly atrocious person and it's very much to CWG's credit that I was able to stay with it to the end yet not blow a gasket. Five stars.

Irinmike nailed it with his comment, especially the part about her 'giving her ass'. I've seen too many otherwise good stories spoiled by this juvenile fixation with anal sex and portrayal of it as some sort of sexual holy grail that all men are devastated to be denied. Am I the only man on the planet who has no wish to coat my penis with faecal matter?

You made Linda look honest. She was such a horrible and entitled wife, just lurking behind that perfect exterior. The only versions of Linda being genuinely good involved Marc spiking her drinks with extasy. This is the Linda we see in most of these stories. And you did an amazing job of fleshing out how selfish she truly is. She's not someone I'd trust, but this versi9n makes her self aware. And that makes her a tiny bit more likable. Just a little.

Very good story of Linda’s point of view. Very well written. I enjoyed how Jim moved on with his life while still being married. Plus Linda never got it! Thanks for writing…..

The "stay for the children " trope is both false and overdone. A husband would have to be an Oscar worthy method actor 24/7 for 6 years to conceal the toxicity of the marriage relationship. IRL, the children are harmed far more by living in a completely dysfunctional marriage than they would be by a divorce, after which the parents would more easily be able to be civil and relatively amicable. Unless an author is a closeted cuck, I don't believe, if the author is being honest, that he would do any thing but immediately divorce his wife if she did what Linda did. Sometimes the healthiest thing is just to Lance the boil.

Three-four stars. I finally settlled on three. It was an unremarkable story, and the dalliance with LW was unnecessary, and detracted from the tale, more than adding to it. His videoing also added nothing, no matter his purpose. Very little respect throughout the story. I get your intent with narcissism, but for me it didn't work all that well.

JPB

Linda spent most of her life chasing rainbows, the “perfect” lover, when she had the best lover, friend greatest companion, her husband! She was a total fool letting herself be influenced by her stupid girl friend. I think she ended up exactly where stupid, foolish, rainbow chasing idiots end up all alone.

The ending was a bit better than the original, but for the most part is was a steaming pile of crap. Of course, since you picked up the story at the point where the original devolved into a steaming pile of crap, that's not really surprising.

All-in-all, it was a waste of time and electrons.

Just another "February Sucks" POS. It's been done to death and there's nothing original or good about any of the seemingly endless versions.

Certainly a different view of this well worn tale and it's a good read. 4

LIT should have “February Sucks” set as a separate genre to make it easier to continue flogging this subject.

CWG did as good a job as could be done with this well pounded piece of meat. As with the LW category, it takes quite a bit of imagination to post something original. .

The best of the sequels. I'm looking forward to more.

You are a favorite writer of mine, and after reading your preamble, I loved the concept. However, while well written, it seemed to lack something. Perhaps the marriage lasted too long. Still, I gave it four stars and do look forward to the rest of the series.

Enjoyed this very much. I don't know that we had to have the L.W. side trip. Please keep up the series.

Sorry, the story fell apart about midway through the second page. The author tried to cloak the fact that this was just another attempt at rewriting another author’s work because he didn’t like the ending that GA wrote. CWG mislead the readers by offering this work as an examination of narcissism. Of course it wasn’t. There is a difference between being a narcissist and displaying narcissistic behavior. Linda showed narcissistic behavior because as detailed in the original she was desperate to right a wrong she finally understood. The true narcissists were Marc and Dee. And, CWG turned LW into an unnecessary caricature. 2*

I couldn’t disagree more with the anon who said that parents staying together is the worst idea ever. That person either never had children, or rationalized their abandonment of their children. In some cases that is true, but study after study indicates children tend to do better in a two aren’t household. Of course anon is right if there is emotional and/or physical abuse occurring in the home. Typically young children do better in divorce scenarios, but teens do poorly. There isn’t enough time and space to examine the issue here, but to make a blanket statement like anon did on the subject is asinine.

WOW .. one of your better stories and one of the better FB sequels.

the whole old man LW sex thing was well nasty and not needed.

I've mentioned this point before. ....when Linda comes home and says

"it's the same old me".... what she is really saying is that I am back to being Same old LINDA that is good enough for YOU.

Four for the quality of the writing. The "narcissistic viewpoint" of Linda's behavior was mildly interesting but not convincing. Thanks for the effort.

MLJ

“THIS”! ….

“Staying together until the kids grow up” is such a terrible, terrible thing to do to your children. It’s the second-worst cliche in cheating wife stories (after “alienation of affection” lawsuits).

Children are FAR better off with parents who are divorced, than living in a home with parents in a loveless marriage, filled with an undercurrent of anger, resentment, and contempt. And it’s impossible to hide how you really feel about your spouse from your kids. Kids are smart and perceptive.

A very interesting story.

Excellent!!! Your best yet.

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One thing to consider-- You and most other LW writers have trouble incorporating a third-party's quotes into internal dialogue. Here, Linda is thinking and recalls Jim saying he couldn't stand to look at her. You quote it as "couldn't stand to look at me"... The tense and person are wrong in the quote-- when Jim said it, he uttered it in the present tense and in the second person-- "can't stand to look at you." You could write it accurately as: **He would then leave since he said, "I can't stand to look at you." While he was gone, Jim expected me to...**. That's an easy fix.

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Hopefully, this is the definitive nail in the F.S. coffin, but like Terminator 1.0, it keeps 'a comin' back, again and again and again... Five star effort without a doubt!!

Rgds -- TJY

Hopefully you will stop the series here. Total waste of time. Write something new even if it's been done a thousand times and leave these old stories in the dumpster where they belong.

Both author’s stories indicate that both parents are loving towards and dedicated to giving their children a good upbringing. So commenters saying divorce is better option for children is flat wrong in this case

Yeah, it was OK. She was a guiltless entitled soulless bitch, but that's what she was when the dumb shit married her. He got what he married, so he got what he deserved. So did she. Her remorse and regret are just beginning, and will get worse. His recovery and reestablished life with a new woman, a real woman, will eventually bring him to realize Marc did him a favor. Marc pulled the scab off the infected personality that was Linda, revealing the puss and the stench. Jim will end his life with a whole healthy marriage and family. Linda will end her life bitter and alone. Whoever meets her in her later life will be laughing behind her back. Twenty to thirty years of an embarrassed empty life, in exchange for one night of some exceptional cock with a screaming self serving asshole who can't even remember his night with her. Fail. Serves Linda right. I wonder what the conversations will be like when (if) her kids come to visit her in Hospice, eventually. I wonder if she'll realize she's been dying a slow death since the day she came back home and declared herself to be the same old her. It was, and its smelled like death since that day. She's not even worth the dirt they'll throw on top of her worthless ass. Good riddance.

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Well written.

If I’d have known it was another attempted ending of Jim, Linda and Marc I would have skipped it. I think this dead horse has been beaten enough. Maybe you said something in the set-up, but I never read those because I don’t want to be influenced with preconceived notions. I like coming into a story fresh and ready to experience the wonderment of the author. 2 because it nothing new.

Well that was a long and winding road. Like you borrowed a little from every other version plus a bit from you and stirred it together.

Well written but emotionally flat. You did manage to include most of the commonly used tropes of the LW genre: once a cheater always a cheater, the cheated on husband will never trust and never forget, the marriage will creak along lovelessly for a while for the sake of the children, the man isn't too old to get and stay in shape long enough to score an upgraded replacement wife, and the cheating wife sleeps around but finally ends up alone, a frustrated old woman. Even though you use language well the storyline is unfortunately no more than a pastiche of plot elements whose repeated use have made them become wearisome. You have the technical side of writing down well, a bit more creativity with plotting should move you into the top ranks of Lit. writers. 4 stars.

Yeah, it's official. I still despise Linda. It would take a narcissistic wife to meet some dufus celebrity point blank, and then within a half hour leave her husband to spend the night having sex with the gold plated predator. Only a narcissist could put herself ahead of her children, husband and parents. Linda destroyed more than a marriage. All of the potential to build a lifetime of family bonds was eradicated in one instant.

Well written and interesting, as usual. One of the few sequels that show that Jim lost his love for Linda after that night. So many stories speak of 'love taking a long time to die, if ever'- nonsense. Coming to grips with her open and unveiled selfishness and willingness to hurt him, would have killed any love no matter how strong it was. My complaint with this story is that he still had sex with her, even if only using her. Methinks a separate bedroom is the only way to go, and yes, staying for the kids sake is the right thing to do.

If it has happened before in one of the many sequels, I’ve forgotten, but Jim needs to go with Ellen and have a star spangled night. Make him realize how plain Linda is. Then he can think with a clear mind whether to stay with her or not.

I am tired of the 'February Sucks' take-offs, but I credit you with making Linda nearly a believable character.

And, even though Marc remembered her as "just one of those women", she STILL didn't understand how her lust had betrayed her!

Terrible Tale and pathetically written.

The one constant in all the February Sucks lore is that Linda and Dee really are horrendous pieces of shit.

Enjoyable, intriguing story. I particularly enjoyed reading about Linda’s eventual, growing understanding of how she lost her marriage. It Four stars ⭐️ for this one.

This author always add unnecessary plot that went nowhere in their 'fix'.

What's the point of of L.W doing things with Linda? And then it just ends with nothing for betraying a 'family friend'.

Good man, keep the faith for the young kids

A past coworker caught his wife cheating and it was two different times and he asked the popular questions but one he asked caught her off guard. Did she do things with him she never did with him . She hesitated and he had his answer. That ultimately was the mail in the coffin. He for revenge fixed her sister and her best friend. The day the final papers came in he said at least your sister and friend let me have their ass

Another interesting continuation of the February Sucks theme. LW was a real piece of work, wasn't he?

Two stars. Wasn't bad, just a walk over ground covered about a zillion times.

I'm thinking, if a true Narcissist, Linda would be upset that people were being so mean to her. While capable of acting contrite, that is what it would be, an act.

I have read so many feb sucks variations I have lost track of the numbers, and in virtually every one my main grievance was the lack of insight into Lind's thinking. I believe this has come far closer to a possible reality than any thus far, though vile as she is, I still think it is a more multi hybrid of mental issues to be completely covered by nars . Well done you both satisfying and disgusting, well written and a unique voice ,but, an exploring that mind was like padding a pond of putrid poison.

Nice take on the Feb saga. Glad she will die miserable, and alone...

Manipulation. Perversity. Stupidity.

Nicely written with an engaging plot. Linda was not narcissistic because she married him and had his children. A narcissist would not have spent that amount of time in a marriage and loved their children so much. Yes, she was overwhelmed by Marc and had the sex of her life. That doesn't make her a narcissist, but rather a woman who made a poor decision. I would have behaved as Jim did. A good insightful story

Well done veg. You’ve put together yet another well crafted sequel to GA’s never ending story. You had me worried that we had another RAAC, but instead came through with a good, plausible ending. Even with Jim cutting her loose, it still took rejection by Marc to shock her into some semblance of reality. In the end, Jim won the war.

good one

5 stars

I like your concept for this series and what you did with Linda. I can’t wait for what you do with Tracy and with Pauline French.

Not too bad, I liked it.