All Comments on 'Therapy, She Thought it Would Help'

Excellent. Again. You're a master of characterization. Love reading your work.

A diatribe on all the things wrong with being a man. Not really much of a loving wives tale. It would have been better if it turned out Kushla (weird name) was cheating and he had to divorce her, sue the stupid tree huggers and their baloney, just to get out. Maybe throw in the twins not being his just to hit all the bases. You figure Kushla would have known more about him before she married him. (What color were his eyes?). That way she wouldn't have been so surprised that he wasn't a good communicator. Her plea for more wouldn't have fallen on a stinky good old boy. Cause that's what you made him out to be - a Neanderthal.

Fantastic story. You were able to bring out a lot of emotions in your characters. 5stars

your best

By the end of page one, and page two was just like it, I recognized Marcus. He really should just go gay, because he much prefers the company of men, and sees women as people you have for sex and cooking your meals, but that’s it. If he could just learn to like sucking dick, he could have the perfect life.

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And guys like him wonder why their wives cheat on them!

Enjoyable story, and well written as always. I think this was your first story in a while where a sense of place didn't permeate the whole thing. A bitnof a change, that.

It seemed to end abruptly. I don't think there's any more plot to go, or anything, it just seemed abrupt to me.

Marcus strikes me as the final stage of your recent male leads - well meaning, but extraordinarily and self-detrementally rigid. Kush didn't have any discernible flaws. There was no way that marriage between him and Kush could have been saved.

Great story, well written. Interesting shift in perspective.

He was an ass and earned everything he got, almost. I would have died inside to have my children call another man daddy and the wife should have put a stop to that.

Good story l liked it

Scores 4/5

I guess we all grow at different speeds!

5

I loved this one.

No usual infidelity stuff.

Very real, very Sad.

5/5

As always your storytelling is great, and I enjoyed the pace. However (and I am sure this was on purpose) I felt really awkward throughout the entire tale. It was a sad tale of a love lost, but it also felt disappointing on behalf of the MC, he wallowed a lot in what happened to him and just took it lying down for most of the tale. It also felt like his ex just wanted out of the marriage and never regretted it, her comment at the end that they talk more now than married might be true but made me feel real ... awkward.

I'm torn reading this one, I didn't feel a sense of closure, but the story did feel finished.

As always, thank you very much for taking the time to put the story together!

What a sad story.

Kushia had a husband who loved her, was great in bed, and a great provider... and she sabotaged their marriage over absolutely nothing. She knew he liked to keep their privacy and that he'd hate a weekend of being in touch with his feelings and sharing with a bunch of hippies, but still forced him to go anyway. She had zero empathy and showed no consideration at all for her husband. The way she joined the others in ostracizing him was absolutely unforgivable.

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I'm glad Marcus escaped from all her emotional abuse and manipulation, and managed to end up with someone who wasn't such a self-centred harpy. It was just a shame that he had to still keep in contact with the narcissistic bitch.

I can’t imagine tolerating group marriage counseling - no way I’m letting a stranger into the intimate mechanics of me and my family. That weekend didn’t break their marriage, but it certainly was the coup de grace.

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Beautifully written family drama with no real villains, save Violet’s ex. Well rendered sympathetic characters. Nicely done. Thanks much.

Surprising turnabout in the way Marcus opened up in his relationship with Violet, maturing and realizing his need to discuss the more intimate details of his life and relationship proves he feels he can trust Violet and she has made him feel secure to offer his vulnerabilities to her and trusts her not to rip a hole in his heart !

You wrote him as a dick and you achieved your goal. Was it the trauma of divorce that changed him? Who knows? 4 stars

Ok I've given this a 4.

That Marcus was an asshole the whole half of the story.

Marcus was fortunate to find another woman that is loyal and loves him.

I would have said he deserved being lonely coz he is truly and asshole.

Now my question is: what happened to Ray? He seemed to have disappeared from the story.

Or I guess my skimming some paragraphs made me miss it.

/

As usual, Cargivagurl is one talented writer.

Though not really a fan of Cargivagurl coz sometimes the husbands' characters of her stories are wimpy.

This one was well-written. I just skimmed some topics coz I don't like Marcus' asshole character.

Psychologists and psychoanalysts, in my mind, are just slimy money sucking fucking parasites.

This I definately agree…but without them how would every cheating spouse be able to justify why she or he did what they did??? And not feel blame?

Nice work! I could see Marcus being an anon LW reader.

Typical of today's logic.

She wants him on somebody else's terms.

And loses it because he wants her on his terms.

Was he perfect?

No.

But she was selfish in the extreme.

Put him in an essentially public situation and expect him to perform?

She blew the marriage up with the aid of professionals.

Stupid that women expect a female level of whatever from a male.

By forcing the issue she destroyed a family.

There were other ways available to move forward.

But who gets it????

I agree with the commenter who said Melody was a hack and the retreat was bogus. What happened there? The men’s wrong answers were ridiculed and they were belittled for them. Whose listening ability was tested? The men’s. Never a consideration that maybe the female side of the couple had an issue with listening. When it came time to relax and massage your partner, who gave (served) and who received? Yeah, the deck was stacked at that place from the get go - the men were at fault for being men and needed to change and become more like women.

I’m not sure I agree with the commenter who said it was the usual man hating diatribe. It is Cagivagirl though. For all the obvious writing talent, the author absolutely refuses to know or understand men. The authors stories always fall short because the author has not the first clue about men.

Can you please fix the plot holes in "Best Friends"?

TIA

Not very good. Your writing seems to be diminishing and not improving. I was once excited to see your next work, now I skip over most of them, because of shitty stories like this. It isn't worth more than a 2.

Liked it. Maybe not as much as some others. Still good. I thought the MC was somewhat of a straw man. Then, like in the movie, he turned real. D

Its always a pleasure reading what youve come up with and again it didn't disappoint. Another brilliant story

A good grownup tale, no ultra good or bad guys, just like life. This is why l always look forward to your stuff...nice one.

Surprising. Based on your previous stories I just knew that couples retreat was going to turn out to be a swingers weekend that Kush didn't tell Marcus about before they got there.

Nice to see a story in this category that didn't involve a woman betraying her marriage vows.

OK story, but nothing to get excited about. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, but just got five pages of the same. In the end I was thinking how Violet needed to run as far away from this arsehole as possible. The author tried to make it appear that Marcus had changed, maybe temporarily, but it never lasts, it's just human nature. The fact that he claimed that his only fault was working too hard proved what a complete twat the guy is, let's face it: he plays golf! I know many guys who indulge in this hobby - I refuse to describe it as a sport - and basically as soon as they mention golf I see everybody's eyes glass over, when they start to talk about it, golfers become the most boring people in the world.

Overall not a bad story, just not enough to make it a good one.

a very good story.

You are particularly hard on your character.

He doesn't care about anything, nothing touches him, nothing disturbs him despite the seriousness of the situation, and the many times he has been warned.

Everything is absolutely wrong! First of all, after the divorce, Marcus had to go after Melody and destroy her marriage. Then drive this asshole Ray away and continue fucking his ex-wife in any way. Periodically thrusting his penis into random young girlfriends. Then, in parallel, start fucking Violet. If it's "joy", so for everyone around!

And what did Kushla do that evening, after the dance? Why did her emotional state change so dramatically? She definitely fucked some dancer. And with such understanding and advanced couples, it could be a lot of partners! It's right that he left that bitch. And judging by how quickly she and Ray sniffed, she had been cheating on her husband behind his back for a long time. Woe to the dirty whores!

I saw Marcus as a stereotypical example of what some men think they should be. Maybe from cultural values, social norms, or from observation of family members, some men think this is how they are supposed to be. The stoic rock, nothing fazes them and expressed emotion is seen as weakness. Sadly, it’s something that most men have to work hard at to overcome. My only critique is that I didn’t see Marcus undergo the shift into a better person. Between the time his first marriage failed and when he connects with Violet, he seems to be of the same mindset. Or did I miss it?

Anyway, thank you for your work and your sharing

We tend to think adultery being the be all and end all of marriages. Yet irreconcilable differences is the reason on most divorce application.

"I mean, I've had enough. If you won't take me seriously and listen to my concerns, I'm not sure there's a future for us."

Did Kush take Marcus seriously and listen to his concerns? Kush was all about HER feelings and wasn't really interested in Marcus's feelings. She just wanted validation of her own feelings.

Marcus told Kush on numerous occasions what he thought and wanted and she just dismissed what ever he said and accused him of being a smart-ass. Everything she accused Marcus of she did the exact same thing to him.

One reason many men are reluctant to express their feelings is that they're taught indirectly and directly that their feelings don't matter in the grand scheme of things. Men are told to "suck it up" when things get tough. When upset, men are told to get over it, put some dirt on it and quit crying. In the rare times they do express their feelings they're ridiculed by both female and males alike and told to "man up" and get over themselves.

The retreat Kush forced and badgered Marcus into attending was not run by profession psychologists which specialized in relationship counseling. As Marcus noted, they were just another bunch of people selling relationship advice based upon they're own opinions and looking to make a buck while doing it. Nothing altruistic about it.

At best Kush and Marcus were mismatched in their relationship. Kush was the one to decide to opt out of the marriage. Statically, 50% of all marriages end in divorce and 80% of those divorces are initiated by women.

You write some great stories but this one not so much. This genre is about cheating wives-who cheated?

She is unhappy and gets divorced---soooooo who cares. She didn't cheat she asked for a divorce-who cares.

A very good story about a very unlikable protagonist. 5 stars

It's obvious that the male character husband and the story is a classic transporter.. Stupid arrogant uneducated uneducated with absolutely no critical thinking skills do you have any kind and no personal insight

Kushla?

Well, first of all, there's some truth to his view. Women read and listen to shit to find out they are unhappy and unfulfilled. Apparently they didn't know beforehand. It's a western women thing. Bottom line, he wasn't cheating on her or beating on her and the bitch broke her vows. Same thing as cheating. Some women want to be married to a man who has the brain and feelings of a woman. Someone ought to write a book and have weekend retreats about that shit.

Having said that, he should have been glad there wasn't some sort of spiritual meditation BS going on that weekend. Wife and I went to something like they went to early in the marriage. I played along, and we are still married forty something years later. Given a little maturity they tend to get over that shit. Things that used to upset them, just roll off their back now. It ain't that hard guys. It's only a weekend. A few weeks later, all that will be forgotten. You might even understand women just a LITTLE better.

Sounds to me like if she had it to do over again, she might have kept him.

Reed,

Projection much? Anything you want to share as long as we are all sitting cross legged on our yoga mats? 🤣

Another great outing by you and handling a pretty sensitive topic for this site, the male ego. LOL! The only small complaint I had was you never showed us Marcus' revelation he had it all wrong. As recently as his fiancé cheating on him and suggesting counseling, he still didn't get it (separate from her cheating didn't leave much for him, or any man, to discuss). I definitely bought into his journey, so again, kudos for a well written piece. 5*

Very repetitive and dragged out. Endless repetition of every MCP stereotype. Your readers aren’t stupid. We got it after a couple of paragraphs. Show some mercy please. All in all though a good read, but could have been handled with half the words w/o negatively impacting the message of the story.

I’m a frequent complainer of Cagivagurl improper presentation of perspective. I though this extremely well done. Great presentation and bringing out human emotions of his loss and the cause. Great presentation of a marriage failing because of the guy without making us feel defensive. (I often wonder how much women must hate most of these stores.). Felt his loss but it ended with a hope for the future from lessons learned. Well done!

The most remarkable thing about this story is that this dude, as he exists in the first half of this story, appears in many dozens of other LW stories as *the hero*….the one person in the story that the author shows sympathy or respect for.

Which I suspect is why so few of those authors are capable of writing a female character.

Well done.

Life lessons learned too late, but at least they were learned. Great story of love and men being men, yes we are selfish, small minded, jealous, oversized children at times. but we can love with the intensity of the son until she decides wha needs more, lol. ok im not over it! nice read and thank you for it.

Sorry, not my favorite. MOST Men and women process things differently. It's genetics and upbringing. Kush was complaining that Marcus should be more like a woman. She wanted a Beta male. If she had been more understanding of the differences between men and women she could have appreciated what she had and found a much better approach to getting Marcus to communicate more. It wasn't that Marcus was hiding his emotions, as she and the "coach" was insisting, he just didn't have them. Instead, like most men, he was focused on providing for his family and solving specific problems, like keeping the car running, painting the house, fixing the furnace, etc. Instead Kush was trying to fundamentally change Marcus. Most people strongly resist that. At one point, Marcus states it succinctly, "Yep, there it was again: the moaning, nitpicking, quibbling. It seemed lately that's all I heard from her, this is wrong, you work too long, you need to be home earlier, what... you're not going golfing with your buddies again, are you? Don't you like spending time with me and the girls? Yep, lately all I heard from her was cranky, bitchy complaining. It was driving me nuts. Then she booked this fucking thing, and it just aggravated the shit out of me.". ALL his upset "feelings" are that his wife is trying to force him into being something else, more feminine. OF COURSE he resists and it is hard to be open to some things that he could have been OK with while she is ASSAULTING him.

At the end, he offers that he wasn't mature enough. Maybe so. But what he wasn't mature enough for was to deal with a nagging wife. Kush sees the changes in him and appreciates them. Any changes were because he now has a loving wife who appreciates him and lets HIM decide if he wants to change something about himself.

I enjoyed the story and the two embedded limericks, Sorry if that qualifies me as a 'Marcus' in some commenters' views. I am male and we often appreciate such stuff. I am, however, happily married for these past 48 years after encountering a cheating wife on my first attempt which lasted less than year and prompted my emigration which began my real life. I routinely talk to the love of my life and do all the special things Marcus didn't do with Kushla. Kushla reacted to her dissatisfaction badly with a stick instead of a carrot. Kushla is a female version of Marcus. Marriage is a partnership and direct communication is vital. Beating your partner up, with either cynicism or psychobabble is a recipe for failure The 'retreat' was the last straw whereas a trip to a cosy hideaway with a sexy hot tub, an ocean view and no 'counsellors' or golf course would have achieved a far better result. I hope the author, and any partner never make the same tragic error. This was a5***** story, Thank You.

Simply more childish New Age misandry and other nonsense delivered by cardboard caricatures as characters. BTW, I had no idea that so much casual vulgarity is part of the ordinary speech of at least somewhat educated people in NZ, or is it just in the author's circles? In any event, as a far more interesting character than those in the story might say, this is a "bald and unconvincing narrative.", and in this case he would certainly be right.

Something I forgot to mention in my other comment was that Kush had spoken with Melody about Marcus and their relationship for some time before going to the retreat. Melody had to know that Marcus refused opening up with Kushla in a home setting. Why would she try to do it in this open setting. Other people will and do judge each other even if it is not said out loud. In Kush’s situation where she is grouped with the wives, I imagine that they are telling her to divorce him and run while silently saying that their own marriages are perfect in comparison. But as to Melody’s guidance, she should have been aware that Marcus, even if he was able to open up, would only be able to do so in a private setting. It may have been better to have a go between for Marcus and Kush to open up to, then give each an individual counseling session before seeing if they could then discuss it with each other. But this particular way of addressing relationship issues is the exact opposite of what someone like Marcus is equipped to handle…..which I’m sure was the point to drive the story.

Kush is like many modern women … never content with what they have and looking for someone or something to make her happy. I wouldn’t have tolerated that bullshit couples therapy weekend either.

In the end it all worked out … Kush got the wimp she wanted and Marcus got a grown up for a life partner.

3/5

There's NO way he could have gotten them ALL wrong!

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The thing I love most about my partner is? There's no right or wrong answer here.

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What colour are your partner's eyes? MAYBE get wrong, but unlikely.

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What is your partner's birthday? No fucking way he gets that wrong unless on purpose!

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What is the date of your anniversary? No fucking way he gets that wrong unless on purpose!

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My partner will say that I do (or do not) get along with my mother-in-law? Unlikely to get wrong, though they might simply have a different opinion.

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If your partner could have a new car, which model would they choose? Maybe, depends on whether they've ever talked about it.

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What colour is your partner's favourite robe? Who talks about that, assuming she even has more than one!

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When did you last give or receive flowers? I think he would know that.

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What is one thing your partner has too much of? That's a matter of opinion, his opinion might simply be different from hers, doesn't make it "wrong."

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Where was your first date? Maybe. Depends on how long ago it was, how special it was, and he might simply recall differently than she does. Maybe SHE has it wrong!

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"That is the first time anyone has got absolutely every answer wrong." - I was going to say that he HAD to get some right, until he said he got them wong on purpose.

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"Damn it, honey, it's embarrassing." - What did she expect? He didn't want to come in the first place.

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"He is so repressed emotionally, and so scared about what people think he just locks everything away." - No, he just doesn't give a fuck about what people think.

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"She was obviously upset but seemed unprepared to discuss it." - She wants to talk, here's her chance.

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If she gets the house, why does she get half the savings, especially where he now has his own housing expenses?

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"You know, if you had shown me this side of you, we would still be together." - Fuck blaming him. She should have known what he was like before they got married.

~~~

They could have simply gone to regular couples counseling instead of the new agey retreat.

A wonderful contribution for feminists ! Too cartoonish to deserve more than 3*

I'll venture a guess that the emotionally stunted Marcus Kush was so frustrated with when she dragged him to that retreat was the exact same Marcus she originally walked down the aisle with. Marcus in turn was the old-fashioned kind of husband and father many of our fathers and grandfathers were, who expressed his devotion to his family by working his ass off, and he should have married someone who was able to appreciate him for what he was. They both chose badly from the start.

And yes, Melody was a hack. If she had been a competent counselor she would have recognized early on that her methods were just driving the couple further apart.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Nice change of pace from all of the wronged husband and burn the bitch stories. That alone is worth 5 stars.

I liked it. I hope that you were trying to make your main character the biggest asshole in history before he met Violet; if that was your plan, you succeeded in spades. I don't judge stories on how much I like or dislike the MC, and this story was unique; 5* from me.

That was either a very funny entertaining story or you wanted to make it clear to us that you know idiots like your protagonist in real life? Sorry, I'm very old, but in my whole life I've never met a man who is as off track as your protagonist. I assume you wanted to exaggerate to get your point across. Yes, communication at eye level is the be-all and end-all of a good partnership! 5* !!!

Good story, well, until the last part. If you'd stopped it before introducing Violet and the last part with Kush, it would have been great. Why? Because there was no real process of change, to justify the last page.

5 Stars

Loved it.

-26thNC Approved

****

Nicely written story, but

"Perhaps that was all we should have been."

I was puzzled by this last sentence.

As always, just excellent writing skills!

.

By end of page 2, I was wishing I could appear in tne story just so I could beat tne ever loving shit out of Marcus 🤗. What a complete tool! He never emotionally got out of Middle School. The jerk of the decade. And frankly, even at the end, the guy was still a tool. Kush was so smart and correct to dump that juvenile ass when she did. Glad she landed on her feet.

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For giving us a deep dive into tne mind of a 30 year old child….4 ****

A really good thoughtful story. It happens all of the time.

However, I’m going to refrain from voting because of the “Thank you, kind sir” which passes me off badly. I absolutely hate that phrase and it put me off.

Very well told. Only reservation is that it’s not quite clear what turns him from the world’s most insensitive jerk to a mature human being.

Cagivagurl, you set a great stage as you often do, but wow, did this wind up falling short. As frequently happens, you started spinning your wheels after just half a page of scene-setting and "characterization", the latter of which really didn't happen - it was more like caracturization, especially in Marcus's case, he was paper thin. Then, as is often the case, you went into repeat mode, with virtually nothing happening except a loop of "Please work with me here, our marriage is in danger." "No, this is a bunch of new age crap" ad naseum, followed by the exchanges with Melody which were essentially the same. Really, what was the purpose after you cycled through the identical exchanges for the nth time? You could have cut page 2 entirely without affecting the story.

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You had a chance to turn it around, though. After Kush revealed Marcus's inner fear, why didn't you do something with it? This was your chance to make this a STORY. *Why* was he the way he was? Was there a way to address it, turn it around? But no . . . nothing but moving on to the n+1th repetition of "Our marriage is in danger" . . . . etc. etc. etc.

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Then, wave a magic deus ex machina wand, and post-divorce he "misses the conversations". Ah, what conversations? Was there ever a time in their marriage when they were close in that way? If so, you'd never know if from your narrative. Just "poof" and he's Mr. Sensitive. At least in this story you had one of your characters evolve, but c'mon - show us the arc, give the reasons, let us share the evolution, don't just take us to the end of the rainbow.

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You have potential, and you've written some good stories. This story, however, demonstrates the ongoing reasons why your batting average just isn't very high.

You are such a narrow minded bigot that I should have known better.

There is nothing you wrote that implies he is a bigot. Not a thing.

Kush appears to have a bad case of "Princess Syndrome." The Princess” is a type of woman that want to marry a “perfect man” in shining armor. They want to be waited upon and admired. The Princess is a high maintenance woman. A high maintenance woman is like a ravenous beast, always wanting more of everything. She will find faults in all your best efforts.

Not sure if this was satire. The guy was obviously a complete douche

I really enjoyed this story maybe bc I can relate to it. My first wife dragged me to a weekend retreat described just like this one, and I made fun of it just like Marcus did...we ended up divorced but for a number of reasons. I couldn't believe the parallels! Marcus was immature, however it seemed like nobody tried to figure out why he wouldn't open up. Yep, the kids lose out, but shit happens. 5*

Humorous early, then you got down to it. You showed character evolution with great touch. Another 5-star winner.

Hooked

He was a young idiot, but he didn't turn into an old idiot. He matured nicely. A good, 5* story.

Only the two new spouses come out of this with any credit. Everyone else seems deeply unlikeable, albeit for different reasons.

The MC is...not a likeable person. Sad thing, I know personally a few men just like him. All "confirmed" bachelors who are seriously narcissists. Well written and thought provoking. Keep up with the good work, please.

And that boys and girls is what happens to slug partners. Because there are some wives who are slugs as well.

Good story

very well done, dang, what a great writer.

Same old feminist liberal horse shit about bad men and never do no wrong women!

Spot on portrayal of one of those fragile toxic masculinity types. Emotionally fragile, narrow minded, lacking self esteem and the need to act/sound/behave like the nonexistent alpha male. Its worse when they feel the need to appease their circle of friends as they dare not see or believe things differently than the others, its a desperate need for acceptance.

Well done, very well done.

Maybe she should not have sand-bagged him with that 'Therapy' weekend

Oh m'gosh, He's a character. With character. He both loved, and was loved. Quite a life for someone to have lived. LP

Another fine story by Cagivagurl. Thank you very much for the story. Wonderful character development. Taking Marcus from a juvenile raging asshole to an adult and good man. Well done, you. Can't wait for your next.

Should the readers wish to read another Cagivagurl story, please tune in on March 17 for her take on the "Money Honey" theme. There will be a host of other fine writers, as well. See the promotion for the list. Thanks again, Cagivagurl. Randi.

Goes to show how important it is to see something through to the end; to listen throughout rather than rush to judgement. My first impression of your story was same old LW theme: “The last thing I want to do is spend the weekend with a bunch of liberal goody two shoes tree hugging dipshits." Or: “She clapped her hands like a performing seal.” Yes, started to out in sadly conventional way, but reading on I came to appreciate the storyline you created and the believable characters you painted. Much of what is posted in the LW category plays well to the “burn the bitches” crowd. This piece was well written and thought provoking. Nice.

Of course you made the husband an over the top asshole, so much so that it was silly that this couple ever got married. So their divorce seemed more like restorative therapy rather than a tragedy. Then with their bounce back spouses and families being just perfect, it was all a very neat tidy package. There, just perfect.

But I think this approach is very novel and original in the LW category. Unrealistic as hell, but novel. But I can handle unrealistic harmony and reconciliation, especially since the children seem to be so well cared for and adjusted. People change, situations change, why not have everyone be better and happier? Thanks for the effort.

....... it's a 5-star winner!!!!

Main character was way too over the top with the alpha male stuff. Complete disregard for any of your partners concerns, especially when they clearly state your relationship is in trouble and especially given the way this character's wife was acting was extreme in my opinion. But then I read some of the comments here.... Some people were actually ok with how Marcus acted during that retreat. They come off as delusional as he was portrayed to be. So I guess all in all good work by the writer here

The husband was painted in a very bad light throughout until the last few paragraphs. The story is more sad than anything to me. 5 kids suffering. You talked about how the kids got over everything but in real life it is completely different. Broken homes still produce broken kids.

Three stars.

Rather one sided on the "blame" for why the marriage failed. Or rather why she dumped him.

Actually strikes me that if she is that emotionally needy, it is more likely than not that Ray would fail too.

We thought it is basically a good well well written story, but……

The whole story made us feel uncomfortable and disillusioned with the “couple”! Talk about a total lack of communication and sharing of hearts and souls! Pushing to rush off to a long weekend seminar with a totally non-participant husband????? Complete wrong choice and bad timing. So many steps and doors to open before jamming the seminar down your spouses throat.

Yes, a serious wake up confrontation might be required, but it was already known openness was not going to happen in front of others! Very poor choice as she obviously didn’t know him as well as she believed!!!!!!

Terrible end result that should never have been allowed to happen. Ignorant stupidity!

Great. I love how you described how the guy matured, although it was much too late to save their marriage. As always, I enjoyed your writing and I'm looking forward to the next one.

You are the best writer on this site at the moment. Maybe it's time to write something bigger. 5.

Not your usual. Perhaps your best (for the same reason).

I liked it. Didn't at first, wondered where this was going. Glad i saw it through (helped no doubt since other new submissions were utter crap).

You are once again a favorite. You are often exasperating, seem to have an agenda, but are literate, innovative and never boring.

The stereotypical Neanderthal MC puts the author's hatred of and disdain for men front and center. This is the first story I have read by this author, and it will be the last. The writing was actually quite good, but her hatred of men makes her male characters totally unbelieveable. Pity the talent is wasted on someone so hate driven.

Through out the story Kush keeps stating that they as a couple a serious issues but a no time does she articulate what exactly those issues are other than Marcus doesn't listen to her nor respect her feelings.

What important subjects are we talking about that she claims Marcus doesn't listen to nor respect her feelings about? World Peace, Climate Change, Religious or Spiritual Matters, Money, ie not enough money or too much money or what their money is spent on, Sex (again not enough or too much), Having more children or not having any more children. Work, ie she wants to work or she hates her current work or she think Marcus works too much, Chores around the house, leaving the toilet seat up or not putting the toilet seat down. At no point in the story are the important subjects behind their so-called serious marriages issues are they articulated other than her general displeasure in Marcus and just about everything he does or doesn't do.

Kush has all the symptoms of a drama queen who deliberately over exaggerates unimportant, small and uninteresting incidents to bring attention to themselves. These creatures struggle with functioning on an even keel, always having to create an overblown situation out of literally.....nothing. They do these things because they either :

1) Want to seek attention

2) Have some emotional dysfunction and it's their duty to make life harder for everyone around them

3) Just simply can't get over it

4) Extremely miserable and insecure

5) All of the above

Criticizing comes second nature to these types of people. Nothing is good enough for them and they act like the authoritative voice on whatever subject comes up. Your views and ideas are irrelevant. They are the expert, they know perfection when they see it.

Halfway through I wasn't sure but the author managed to turn it around and have a nice finish.

5*.

jasonnh,

Well said.

It's the old saying, men marry a woman hoping she never changes. Women marry a man planning to change him.

Perhaps some psych student could use the comments on this story as the basis for a master's thesis. 🤣

Bottom line, good chance he acted that way from being constantly aggravated. He didn't cheat on her. He didn't raise his hand to her. He just busted his ass for her, brought a paycheck home and slept in HER bed every night. Oh the horror! 😢 What an asshole! He could go on blossoms.com right now and find a LOT of beautiful young women who would think they were the luckiest girls in the world.

OTOH guys, as I said before, assuming there isn't eastern mysticism or raging feminism involved, it ain't that hard to play along. Give the best answers you can. You may suck at it but all the women, including yours, will be twitterpated because they see your caveman self trying. It's graded on a curve. Then, within a few weeks, your life will go back to normal. Especially if you mix in a little of their patter from time to time. Within a few years, all that BS will be forgotten. IME, it's a young wife thing. If not, at least the kids will be out of the house by then.

If there is eastern mysticism or raging feminism involved, you fucked up. You married her. Tell her you would be happy to go to a couples retreat with her as long as it doesn't involve eastern mysticism, feminism or the like. If that's not good enough, start over quickly and resign yourself to the likelihood your current children will grow up useless.

It would have been nice if he had matured enough to their marriage. Your a very good writer. I felt sorry for both, I know the hurt.

At first this story had me thinking the author was going for the HDK sense of humor, but the lack of actual funny bits made me realize that it was just an attempt to show what a sarcastic smart-ass the MC was. I thought the overall arc of growing up the MC went through was well done and believable. The self-centered clowning at the beginning was overplayed, probably intentionally, to make the point of how messed up he was before he clued in.

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This story of mistakes made and eventual growth from those mistakes has probably played out in real life, for more than a few spouses. A sense of humor is huge in a marriage, because it can often defuse situations that are set to go nuclear. Even the best sense of humor, though, doesn't trump honest communication, something you must have to make a relationship last.

I'm sorry, she dragged him to a retreat that he didn't want to go to, and was upset that he wouldn't play along?

~~~

I'd have more sympathy for her if the went to a regular marriage counselor, where they could have dealt with their issues privately.

Huh...interesting. I liked the main character. A good dude. But boy did Kush mess up with this couples retreat! I laughed through most of it. It had some positive points what Melody was saying but nothing in there communicates well to the typical male. Totally the wrong venue. Also the obvious man hating dogma she was spitting was pretty rough for someone who was a therapist. Maybe she thought that would get him to open up? Who knows....

In the end though it was funny, thought provoking and shows how even people who love each other can be totally wrong for each other. I will say that Kush calling her husband a bigot was surprising. I went back and was looking for examples of bigotry and didnt really find it.

All in all Cagi? You did a great job and I look forward to your next one. Your writing keeps improving all the time and each story your skill increases.

Sincerely

Payenbrant

Very good story! Well-developed characters who are allowed to make mistakes and grow up.

Observations:

If you can make a woman feel listened to and valued, you can have everything she has to offer. Seducers know this well.

Kushla isn't the first woman who doesn't know her husband as well as she thinks she does. The weekend was a bad choice and predictable failure.

We knew there was hope for Marcus: a man who can love twins at the Terrible Twos age has a lot of potential.

Why do Marcus' conversations with Melody remind me of Caufield and Mrs. Olson the teacher?

Thanks for the story, and I look forward to more of your work!

1 star - the wife was 100% wrong for dragging her reluctant husband to a couples retreat without discussing the situation first as well as prepaying for it - just to force his agreement to attend. That was the end of the story for me. It was going straight to divorce ASAP. The rest of the story did not need to be there - it was over in 2 pages.

My husband insisted we go to counseling with a sex therapist. My appetite dwarfed his, and he wanted to find ways to satisfy my lustful cravings. Fast forward a year and I am now married to the therapist, and he is a tireless freak in bed. Counseling forever changed my life for the better.