Date: Jan 14, 2022 10:21 pm Title: Chapter 18
Oh yeah, I agree, times have changed a lot. As I said, from the age of 16 I was also away every Friday and Saturday and we drank a lot (and did other things). And I completely agree with you, these days my weekends have to be as quiet as possible, with a few exceptions a year, and I don't need this hungover anymore. As you said, in contrast to my parents, I think I know better what young people do. Just yesterday I had a conversation with my 14 year old son. We watched music videos and unfortunately he likes a terrible gangster rap, it's not my thing at all, it's about the usual things - against police, it's about drugs, alcohol etc. I then played him a song by Slime ("Polizei SA/SS)... haha :-) ... Jeez, I still listen to a lot of punk music, Bad Religion, NOFX... such stuff but yeah, views are changing here too. Today I have not always, but more often pity and respect for the police, especially at the moment with the numerous Corona demonstrations. Then we talked about alcohol, about drugs... Well, I just had the feeling I saw myself sitting there and I'm glad we can talk about it. I couldn't do that with my parents.
So, this chapter - thank you very much! Again, great written and a perfect conversation. It's kind of sad to see how deep Brian's demons sat, how he still shows so much insecurity in such situations despite therapy. Fortunately, he can now express his fears or thoughts... otherwise he would have ended up in the guest room, Justin would have interpreted something else into it and so on... But fortunately they are able to open up and talk nowadays, and are good with each other! I totally agree with Justin, they need each other in this situation. And I'm still really excited to see how Gus will behave towards Brian! Stay healthy and warmest regards!
Author's Response:
I know exactly what you mean. In my family, we didn't have a lot of "talks" that I would have with my children now, if I had any... Some things were just not talked about, you know? And my parents definitely never understood my taste in music or TV shows or movies lol.
I was a teenager during the heyday of boybands, so fell really hard for boybands in my teens. I don't blame my parents for not supporting that ;) After my favourite boyband (Caught in the Act - now that I look back to their music, I realise myself how bad they were) broke up, I moved on to more adult music. I was a huge fan of Die Toten Hosen und Ärzte for a long time. Nowadays, I mostly listen to old stuff. I absolutely love The Beatles and Queen. Freddie Mercury will always be a god to me. As far as newer music is concerned, if it's not Ed Sheeran, Robbie Williams (leftover from my boyband days) or Mumford & Sons, I most likely won't have listened to it. God, my taste in music is sooooo bad ;)
A friend of mine works as a journalist for a local newspaper in the Bremen area and she had to cover an anti-Corona protest yesterday and some of the things she said... God, I really don't envy her or any law enforcement that has to deal with those idiots :(
I am glad that you liked the chapter. I wondered for a long time how to portray Brian in this and yes, while he has gone to therapy for a long time, it didn't make all the demons and guilt and pain disappear, but it helped him to better learn how to express his feelings to the people around him, so they can help. In the end, that really became the focus of this chapter for me. No, Brian isn't all "healed" and "better" now, but he has learned how to deal with these moments of self-doubt and guilt and has learned to let Justin in to help him.
And thankfully, Justin knows his man and knows how to help. They just fit together so well <3
The next couple of chapters will be rather slow moving with more conversations, but we will see Gus and Brian interact and will also hear from Luke soon.
As always, thanks for commenting - it's much appreciated :) More will be up tomorrow!