BigMan7307

As a matter of personal opinion, getting back to the entire theme.... they aren't you, their decisions are theirs, based on their own choices of what is best for them, not what someone else decides for them. Lack of foresight, or planning isn't always a mark of maturity. Was I personally disappointed when even Amy was brought in with Max and Emma? Damn right I was. Did I wonder how things would go? Yup. Was I one of the ones saying that Becca needed to distance from Max and Emma? Yes, yes I was, but, only after Emma had confessed how much she loved Becca. What needs to be understood as well is Loving someone is different from Being in love with someone, yes, Amy has that maturity, Emma has lacked it, she equates love as an all equal, Amy knows the difference. What Amy does lack is someone flat out telling her no and putting her in her place in regards to their personal space, she feels that if they're in the house, or in the family, they're fair game, regardless of how they feel personally. Would Max and Emma work out if he actually told her that it was just the two of them, and no more sleeping with anyone else? Who knows, I have a feeling she would resent it now. Max would always have been happy with Emma, and Emma alone, even she admitted to wanting to be able to play the field, at least with the other girls in the house. Max could easily decide to keep everything platonic with everyone but Emma, I'm not so sure that she could do the same, not without some hurt feelings for sure. What I wonder is if she would feel guilty if Max said he only wanted her, and not do anything with anyone else, would it be enough to kind of force her to make the choice between the free for all, or only Max. Emma is Max's "one", is Max Emma's "one"? Keep in mind, when they met, Max was almost 13, but a pretty mature 13, Emma was a typical 12 year old, still unsure about who she is or wants to be. Amy when she was 10, was still confident in who she was, not yet at that awkward early teen stage of uncertainty. When you're 10, everything is still pretty certain, hormones haven't screwed your head up yet. When you're 12, the hormones change how you think about things, making you uncertain again. The reason Tali and Jazz act so much like Amy is mainly because the hormones haven't hit them to take a lot of self definition away from them yet. 12-15 for girls is hell, for both the girl and their parents, anyone with a teen daughter in those ages knows what I mean when I say that. More girls in that age bracket are diagnosed as bi-polar or autistic than other age groups, one huge factor in that is the new hormones that they haven't adjusted to. Boys in that age range..... a board with a knot hole isn't safe, a girl, emotions go nuts, big time. I won't/can't say that polygamy/polyamory can't work, it can, there are examples of it all over. Is it for me? No. If it works for them, I'm all for it, their own personal happiness is what matters, not what someone else may think.

If you follow quantum physics... what can happen does happen. Every decision you make actually takes place, and every subsequent decision as well, just in a paralell universe, different but similar to where you are currently. We just lack the capability to go and observe in those universes and see how it unfolds.

When I screwed up as a kid.... I got my ass whooped, I learned real quick the consequences of messing up. Not abused, disciplined, huge difference. In this day and age, sadly, if you look at your kid cross-eyed they can turn you in for abuse. What's worse, most of the ones writing these inane laws probably got spanked as kids, and learned from it. Not saying there aren't parents that don't go overboard, but, 99.9% of kids would be a lot better off if parents were allowed to actually be the guiding force in their life instead of t.v., video games, and sure as hell, the government. Spare the rod, spoil the child. Spend time with your kids, learn about them, most of them feel like they're alone and no one understands them. News flash kids, chances are, what you're going through, your parents did, maybe not exactly, but similar enough to empathize as well as help. Don't discount that times are different, yes, technology has changed some things, but, a bully is a bully whether online or in person.

If you had undone those, and became more than friends, would you be where you are now? Or would, possibly, fate have put you back on the path where you are now, it just took you longer to get there?

Gorgeous Black Lab Magus.... Sorry I've been so philosophic lately, sometimes depth eludes me.... It took me a couple days to catch up on some that i've been reading, sorry guys, was neck deep in a story I couldn't pull away from. If I can, I'd like to open a small discussion.... If you can change one simple thing from your past, what would it be, and how would your life be different from how it is? No major decision, maybe something as simple as having toast with jelly instead of with your traditional butter.... how could that affect where you are now? I'm not, nor ever will be smart enough to actually figure out quantum physics, I just wonder, how much difference one minor decision can make.

Physical age is relative, it's the maturity that really matters. While Emma and Max have matured, Amy is still stuck on the immaturity. Max may appear 16ish, the crap he's dealt with makes him mid 30's on maturity. Amy never got out of the "cutesy" stage. While Max has matured way beyond his physical years, and Emma has almost kept up, the others rate of maturity shows how uninvolved they really have been. Max, even at 12 was due for college, he had the maturity, and discipline even at that young age to hunker down and just do what needed to be done. Emma coddled and did mature faster because she was always making sure Amy was taken care of, she matured faster, but never at the rate that Max had. Amy, spoiled as she was, hasn't matured at all, she's still the 12/13 year old trapped in an older body, no one forced her to grow up so she hasn't. In all tho, she is really the ying to Max and Emma's yang, she can inflect the humor sometimes needed. Amy does show some signs of underlying maturity, and able to adapt to situations by being somewhat empathic, she just lacks the real or tangible maturity or Emma or Max. How bad was Max hurt when he came home expecting some celebration and everyone but Marge all but ignored him? A good, tight family would smother his ass, then slowly filter out. An extreme high of support and love, followed by quality, personal time with someone he adores. How much damage have they unknowingly done to him themselves? He walked in that night and went "awww fuck, not a damn one of them even cares if i'm alive or dead"..... they can heal him, yes, they can hurt him a hell of a lot more. There should have been every person he has ever rescued welcoming him home.... every single one of them, instead he walked into an almost empty place. It's like a band selling out every ticket and one person shows up opening night.......... huge ass let down

The hardest part about society as a whole anymore is they try to protect or prevent them from being able to make those very mistakes. By telling kids they can't do something, kids, being kids..... are going to do them, probably moreso than if the permission was already given..... kids are rebellious. Instead of regulating or telling them they can't, give them the freedom to decide for themselves, yeah, most will experiment, and decide if they like it or not, after a spike things will normalize, probably at a lower rate than if they're told not to. Teen pregnancy happens anyways, regardless of rules telling them they aren't supposed to. Kids for thousands of years have played "I'll show you mine if you show me yours" it's not something new, and it sure isn't going to go away any time soon. Trying to regulate natural curiosity will just lead to resentment and usually bigger problems. Humanity is littered with people that have gone against convention, if Columbus had listened to what everyone else told him.... well, you try to figure out where everyone would be living. Curiosity has risk, it also has benefits, too many focus on the risk and not the benefits. If abortion is outlawed again, it's still going to happen, and probably in a lot less safe ways than it is happening now, force something underground and the risk becomes higher.

I'm glad, for the most part, the mission was a success, try to not concentrate on the ones you couldn't, rejoice on the ones you did. Funny thing about Legion being sentient.... He/they, have the capability to make their own decision regarding that. We can teach our kids not to do something, but, they always have the choice to listen or not to listen. Could Charles and Sarah see that as somewhat of a terrist option, yes, but, they could always weigh that against the further culling of the traffickers. Sometimes, vigilante justice is better off in the long run than trying to let the inherently corrupt justice system, the proof of how corrupt it is in the story is the number of politicos, clergy, and police entangled in the web. The only ones that Max can truly trust, are the ones he has closest to him, anyone else his trust can be easily betrayed with underlying corruption. Max has already been kind of burned on that one with Mike and Volstock, lets hope that he's not further betrayed by anyone close to him.

For once, maybe no outside attempted seduction of Stacy and Kara by Amy and the rest of the girls. Kara is just starting to come to grips with herself, and her new found love with Stacy, others trying to tempt them may undermine that. The fact that Kara shot Alice down shows how dedicated to Stacy she really is, the bad part is that Amy tends to just ignore other's boundaries and go full steam ahead with what she wants regardless of how others feel, the best example of that was her kissing the boy and hurting Alice, Amy's lack of concern for others feelings or wishes does show her lack of maturity, her not learning from it, or respecting other's boundaries may ultimately wind up hurting someone else's relationship. They all can support Kara and Stacy without trying to get into their pants, caring doesn't always mean screwing. If the scene is what I think it may be Magus, keep in mind, Max has always had an aversion to receiving. Remember the van scene with Becca, Emma, and him. Granted, he kind of relaxed after the jail part, but, he was luckily unconscious during the worst of that. Going after Kara's dad, I could almost see Max having him in the Virtual world, and playing the videos and stills that they got from the first group. Similar to that part in Willy Wonka when they're on the boat with the images flickering by. Or, have Legion go in and do a little brainwashing like what they had done with Hans. While it may help Kara to be involved, you have to wonder how much extra damage it could cause too, sometimes re-living bad memories cements them instead of releasing them. If it was me, with Mr. Turner, I would wipe any and all memories that he has of Kara, her brother, hell, his entire family, and dump him on some little desserted island with no hope of escape. Or, copy Kara's memories of all of the pain and input them in his mind and make him live through everything that he put her through.

No matter how you look at it.... genetic diversity is a complete impossibility... if you believe what we've been taught in Sunday school. All human life comes from one person, and only one person. Some may argue two people, but, keep in mind, according to the Bible, Eve was created using Adam's own rib, therefore, she was a genetic clone, not a different set of genes. The "over 18" argument is actually a new one. Many years ago, girls as young as 10 were legally married to men much older than them, granted, many were arranged marriages, but, quite a few were mutual. Legislating morality gets you nowhere. I know, and have known a good number of people of that age bracket that have been having sex, either in a commited relationship, or casually, a lot with people outside of their own age group. An age of consent needs to be set on an individual basis, not on some certain number, maturity, not a number should decide that. I have known a lot of 18 year olds that are a lot less mature than some 10 year olds, so a number isn't an accurate basis for decision. That is not to say that adult guys go out and hunt for 10 year old girls, that means that what happens between two consenting people is their business, regardless of a number. No other person in the world can tell me what is right or wrong for me, they aren't me and haven't lived my life, they can judge me based on their own standards but, that actually means little to nothing, again, they aren't me and have no real basis to decide what's best for me. I was, according to the laws, old enough to enlist in the military at 18, however, while serving, couldn't have a beer while supporting the troops fighting for freedoms. Many countries have no minimum drinking age, and actually, their alcoholism and alcohol related deaths are much lower than here in the states where the age is regulated. The only way to be mature about use of alcohol is to actually experience it, not by being told that "ok, you're 21, you're now mature enough, you can drink". That goes back to just a numbers game, some legislator, that is at least three generations removed are making decisions affecting people that they know little to nothing about in honesty, most of whom, were probably doing exactly what they're regulating against, (drinking young, smoking, using marijuana). The older generation decided that they had done that, so they should keep the younger generation away from what they had done themselves, ironically, most are from the '60's generation of free love, casual sex, and recreational drug use, and they enjoyed every second of it, I have little doubt that many of them still enjoy all of that in private now because they outlawed the very things they enjoyed and enjoy.

Exactly, for punishment, you deny what they crave.... Masochists that truly get off/enjoy the pain, to punish, even actually need it for the release, the ultimate punishment is that denial Keep in mind too, When Kara was in the Virtual World, it's not an actual representation of their appearance (Mia still saw herself as a puppy and Amy didn't change when she was in there) A lot of the scars that Alice saw in there may have been some of the ones that Kara had put on herself too. She had been told she was ugly for so long, she only saw the flaws, not the person inside. We never see ourselves how others see us, we see the flaws that others omit, looking at ourselves in the mirror and seeing what others see is almost impossible, we always tend to undervalue ourselves.

As twisted as Magus is, every time we think we got him figured out, he manages to mess with our heads. Kara going after at least dad for sure, and who's to say that mom wasn't forced into helping, obviously she's been subject to the same abuse that the kids have been. The reason he wanted the building Max wants for the school was most likely to start an orphanage there, to start his own little either holding area for the "import" kids, or training similar to what Volstock had going on. There should probably be a little inspection of the other properties that dear old dad owns, just to see how really bad he is. No one knew what was happening to Kara, so my guess any scars, or bruises are going to be on places not normally visible (covered with clothes), the hardest part for Kara is during Gym class when the girls are all changing, The worst part for her aren't the physical scars she has, or may have, sadly, her mind is probably almost as trashed as Max or the twins'. Keep in mind, it's been going on for almost 10 years for her, therefore it's almost become "normal" for her to have that happen. "Normal" is relative.... what is normal for one person, may be extreme to someone else's sensibilities. Tali, Jazz, and the orphans, pain, suffering, beatings, all of that became normal for them, love, caring, tenderness were foreign concepts to them. For some people, having a beer at 8am is normal, for others, that would be seen as a problem. Not understanding other's circumstances tends to lead people to judge based on their own sensibilities. That is the biggest hurdle for Max so far, for the twins, "playing" was normal for them, to Max, it offended everything he had been taught as a "taboo". Sometimes, society tries telling people that as a blanket rule, something isn't right, where for individuals it's their normal. Max, loving Petra, and Emma similar is a social taboo, to them, it's perfectly normal and natural. Sorry, don't mean to ramble but, it almost begs to be said.... Don't judge others, you haven't lived their life.

I think it's safe to assume that Jack and Kayla didn't go to Jessica's place for her little party. I'm actually glad for that, I also kind of wonder what Nick and Jessica had been plotting that last day when he was all over Kayla. He definitely didn't have any qualms messing with Kayla with Jack right there. Sam could also be a bit of an issue too, Kayla not having much going on over the summer I have a feeling that she may wind up spending time at certain baseball games while Jack may be out of town for conventions, or even while he's stuck at work. So many things that could get in the way, with luck, and probably a few plot twists, who knows where this will all end up. Eagerly, but as always patiently await the future installments, amazing job as always Joe.

Thank You Sniper, best of Easter wishes to you and your family as well

Amy hell bent on revenge...... enough said. Knowing how Amy can be (convoluted plans) I have a feeling more than just Kara will be going down.

Where's your next chapter?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOo, your head is far too scary to be in. Yay for the plot twists that you'll drop on us, it keeps us guessing. When monkey starts beating you at candy crush, it's time to give it up, js. Max always knew that some of them would wind up finding someone, I'm glad it's some of the new rescues and not the core. I have a feeling that if Amy, or Alice found some other guy they liked, it would probably mess him and the whole dynamic up. How did the sub get home after their little Italy trip... Max, Hans, and the girls flew. Did he program it before they left or is it still sitting in the harbor waiting for someone to come take a peek inside?

Interesting turn in class, but, knowing how protective of the group that Alice is, I'm sure that she heard that little whisper in the back of the classroom, Max did install some really good "Mommy ears". I'm betting by the end of the day, she will have found everything there is to know about the two and will use it to find a way to grind them into dust. The family forgets she's a robot.... the school never knew that to begin with. I loved the fact that there actually wasn't sex, the story can go along pretty good without it for the most part. Can't wait to see how it all plays out, and find out how corrupt the School Board is, I'm sure there will be a little arguing over the fact that they will lose a lot of funding by losing students as well as having to find replacment teachers for the ones that Amy has kind of adopted. Loved it, keep them coming!!!!!!!

sometimes it's good having a little one around, it brings out the kid in the rest. I can only imagine some of the things she can come up with. She already knows you're wrapped around her little finger and you have to admit, it was fun as hell doing something that an adult normally wouldn't do. Thank god you have the option of your older one around to distract her, that could have been even more interesting. Enjoy her when she's young and free, responsibility sucks.

One could only imagine the result of that one. Hopefully, monkey wasn't in the room while she was reading it.

You should have seen me try to come up with the tags for it, even I got confused. I wanted to try for a little different than the casual "wham, bam, thank ya ma'am", it was kind of an artsy take on it. I figured I'd try something new for me. Don't blame me if the girls kinda read it and rape you tho.

Ok guys, I didn't add to the Privateer one, but, maybe I came up with a decent enough replacement. Ok, not a replacement, more of a one shot, hail mary type thing. I hope you enjoy the new one, and please, feel free to let me know if you did or didn't. Not much of a deep plot, but, you'll get to use your imagination a little bit.

You've spent way too much time thinking about the twins attacking max. You would have to shoot her down gently tho, gotta have that repeat business, make her kind of think that there might be an eventual possibility. I'm sure the girls understand it's part of the job, but, jealousy has a way of creeping in, remind them over and over and over.

i missed that whole section apparently, damn. i won't even wonder where my mind was at that point. just don't do anything stupid like, umm, call your wife by the contract's name or something, i could see shark bait happening then.

And you thought you'd be safer not jumping out of planes. At least then, you were a ways away and didn't have much direct contact, now, you're standing right there with them. The client may not be that dangerous, one slip and the girls will have you hanging by certain appendages and i'm sure a cattle prod or whips may be involved. Keep the client happy, and yourself safe, who knows, if your chapters are nice and sweet, your welcome home may emulate them when you get back.