Taking Chances, by E. L. Van Hine and L.H. Nicoll

[souxi]

Ellooooooooooo peeps.Mornin twin. lol. Well I feel better now than I did earlier. I had a blinder of a headache I did.
A nice cup of hot choccy and a couple of pills has worked its wonders on it though. So, are we going to get some hot Jeremy and Nick action today then? To say nothing of Lance and Jeeves. wooweeee. As for our boys, well I suppose they,ll have to make do with lots of cuddles over the next few days, to say nothing of cold showers lol. Nothing wrong with cuddles from a gorgeous man, I have to say, especially if they are called Hugh or Heath lol. And after heavy rain and gales first thing it,s bright and sunny now, which always makes me feel better.

[louisev]

Well folks... I am relieved to say that if Ritecounter statistics are any measure of popularity, Dupree and the Red Stallion crowd are running a very close second to Ennis and Ellery on their Proposal day.

Yesterday we had 286 hosts, and on Proposal Day we had 302, and yesterday we had 1610 hits, as compared with 3015 hits for Proposal Day.  Okay, E & E really took the lead with hits, but that could be because all the Leslies read chapter 98 10 times each.

At any rate:  traffic is up as we approach the finale of The Red Stallion.  And at least for a few men at the Red Stallion, the finale promises to be - orgasmic.

[Bigheart]

I wish I could opt not to speculate, I'm just too thick to figure out what's going on. 

La la la...

I'm with you Lucise - I love surprises.

Karen

Yep ~ right with you gals too. And too thick to figure it out as well!  

[souxi]

Well folks... I am relieved to say that if Ritecounter statistics are any measure of popularity, Dupree and the Red Stallion crowd are running a very close second to Ennis and Ellery on their Proposal day.

Yesterday we had 286 hosts, and on Proposal Day we had 302, and yesterday we had 1610 hits, as compared with 3015 hits for Proposal Day.  Okay, E & E really took the lead with hits, but that could be because all the Leslies read chapter 98 10 times each.

At any rate:  traffic is up as we approach the finale of The Red Stallion.  And at least for a few men at the Red Stallion, the finale promises to be - orgasmic.

Orgasmic? Wooooweee we like the sound of that VERY much lol.

[RonitR]

Yep ~ right with you gals too. And too thick to figure it out as well!  

Me too, me too.

But I'm keeping my fingures crossed for the outcome.

And its damn hard to type with crossed fingers, let me tell you...

[RonitR]

...
Has anyone here fallen in love overnight?  *raises hand*  I did, and the man whose biography I used as a partial model in "Taking Chances" did as well, even in the midst of grieving the tragic death of his childhood sweetheart.  Those people who say that this could not be "the Ennis we love" because he fell in love overnight, and because he changed and grew, and came out - invalidates all of those (all of us) who have had these experiences, and whose love blossomed and bore fruit...

If I may offer my 2 cents -

I never thought that Ennis fell in love with Ellery over-night.
There was a strong mutual attraction, which led to them getting to know each-other pretty well (remember Ellery asking Ennis about the "little book" on their first night), which led to a deepening intimacy, which in turn blossomed into love.

That sounds extremely normal, to me.

Can't for the life of me understand what is "implausible" about that...

[belbbmfan]

Ennis coming out vs the "Ennis we love"

Who is this Ennis? Ennis came alive with Jack for sure and that is the Ennis we love most! But the “Ennis we love” was also a sad, conflicted, ungiving and lonely man. A solitary, perpetually fearful man. A homophobe in denial. A loving yet repressed man. A passionate, loyal man who tries to do the right thing but failed everyone around him. Is that who we want to hold on to as well?

It may not be realised by some that Ennis was already on the path of change before the end of BBM when Jack died. The Ennis who greeted Jack with that passionate kiss is not the Ennis of the mountain. Post-divorce Ennis is not the man who married Alma. The man playing with his apple pie is not the man who dated Cassie. Nor is the Ennis who pressed the shirts to his lips the one who threatened to kill Jack by the lake. Ennis himself tried to stop time and change by attempting to relive that magic time spent with Jack on BBM every time they met up. Like many people want to hold on to "Ennis with Jack", he wanted to hold on to the comfort of the familiar and to repeat it over and over. But Jack changed, times changed and then he had to change too.

The Ennis we love in the film is an evolving individual. To keep “the Ennis we love” we either have to keep hold of the “Jack we love” or keep Ennis frozen in time in that trailer or similar environment. Why would he stop developing and changing just at that point? The alternative is to explore how he might expand his horizons driven by the factors discussed above? As the model demonstrates, the pathway Ennis takes in The Laramie Saga conforms in a general sense with a well beaten path. It was a lonelier path to be sure in that time and place without all the counselling and other supports now available in urban areas. Nevertheless there is recogniseable pattern to Ennis’ actions and his evolution both as a man and as a gay man in this story.

Seriously Jo, what would we do without you and your ever insightful words?
Thanks for sharing that essay here with us, you make very excellent points.

Thanks Jo!  

~M

what would we do indeed. Thank you Jo! 

[louisev]

Did you get my very PUBLIC thank-you, Fabienne?  I got your lovely package and thank you card, and I was warmed to the heart by it.

[Bigheart]

Orgasmic? Wooooweee we like the sound of that VERY much lol.

Yep we do!  dear twin of mine!  Happy to hear you're feeling better!

[Bigheart]

what would we do indeed. Thank you Jo! 

I'd like to second this 

Thank you from me too, Jo