No, Ethan isn't a man-child, and I don't want you to think of him that way. What I said a couple of posts back may have come out the wrong way, and perhaps I'm biased because he's my character, but there's a lot about Ethan's past that you don't know, and there's some very, very good reasons that he's desperately afraid of tying himself to anything, of having anyone fully understand what he can do. Ethan doesn't fully realize it, but since a very early age he's had to protect himself from... everyone. From his parents, from his friends, from people who'd do anything to take advantage of him. Everything has to be about him or by now he'd be dead, or maybe even locked up in some underground lab from which even he couldn't escape, while scientists tried to find a way to duplicate his ability. Ethan's life is extravagant because it hides him from his own fear and depression. That's why he never stays still for very long, and why he so willingly killed Victor at the beginning of the story, even if it punched a gaping hole in his heart.

I was imagining that the letter demanding his suicide would have been delivered with the tape of his daughter, and he wouldn't have shown it to anyone because he didn't want his wife or the police to try and stop him if it got to that point.

Ahhhh... I see! Well surely you can't expect me to know things you don't tell me, or misread what you do? Bree's personality has pretty much been out there on her sleeve all this time - you probably could have seen her furious blow up coming from a mile away, I imagine. But I honestly have zero idea how draw anything of Ethan's out in the open or start to develop a relationship of any kind between them, particularly after he rebuffed all her approaches - humorous or serious or anywhere in between - when they finally spoke on the riverbank.

But that's really no matter. The way I wrote Bree, of course there is more depth to Ethan than the surface selfishness. And the demand for the suicide sounds just fine with me. I imagine that this note is something that only Ethan will inevitably be able to determine?

I really shouldn't, but I kinda do. :) Hey, that's why I explained it. Ethan's a... slow-building character. His changes take a long time. But he'll change. I promise. And you'll probably like him a lot better once he does.

Yeah, he'll figure it out in a couple of days. That's what is finally going to push him to go find Bree, because he's going to realize... something. I haven't exactly figured it out yet, but I'm sure it will come to me while I'm writing.

I'm... not going to say anything about how long of a wait you should expect. Because I'll inevitably be wrong. :)

No hurry on a post Jiskastya, I'm not the kind to rush anything. Oh, and I'm also not psychic either no matter the expectations, so no, not mind-reading you there about Ethan, but I'll take your word for it! *grins*

And for what it's worth, if Ethan comes to find her in a few days? Bree will already be in the Boston area with her people, likely including Tanner, with some BS story about a hunch, branching the search out toward the headquarters itself, etc. This might actually turn out to be a rather convenient plot point as well, but ymmv.

Hello. I'm alive. Frustrated, but alive.

Hopefully I'll have the inspiration for a post... soon.

... There. That took a lot of effort to write. I really hope you like it, despite all the insults to Bree.

God. Some day, someone is going to make Ethan very, very mad, for a very, very good reason. I'm honestly scared of what the results are going to be.

It was just fine, and of course I don't mind the insults to Bree! She did kinda relentlessly rip him a new one there, now didn't she? Psh... Big girl with big girl pants on didn't get her iddy biddy feewings hurt, promise *grins*

Oh, and I imagine gruesome death may be the result.

The only question I have, were you going to take him up north to outside the Boston area in a few days, as we mentioned before?

I am, but I kind of figured it wouldn't hurt to let Bree finish up her day and figure out how she wants to report this "tip" to her superiors, and actually get the FBI canvasing the area.

Ethan's got a rather long thought process coming, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to make it a unique post.

All righty then, I'll go ahead and put a time jump in of, say, 3 or 4 days in my next post? I'll just write a past narrative of what Bree has done and what she will be doing at the time, while Ethan processes.

Four days is probably about right. He needs a day to cool, a day to try and forget, and then a couple of days to put together some of the tidbits.

Heya. No rush, just dropping in a check in. :)

Hello there *waves* I wasn't entirely sure you were still wanting to play after the 2 week hiatus, but now I know, so I'll have something up tomorrow-ish or so, moving things along. Tonight I just need to finish some studying, and all will be well

Nah, it is my turn to be a bit busy with school work.

I waited six months for you to come back, and then chased you all the way to RPG. I'm not letting you go until you run away kicking and screaming.

Yay! Thank you. I'll definitely get you a reply quicker this time, although I've got a lot of strategic thinking to do right now about Ethan. Ugh. This was much easier when I was just having him run around. Ah, well. I'm sure it is good for me.

I do find it a little funny that Ethan never actually said no, though. All he said was that there was no way for him to help Bree and maintain the false identity he had established. Hmm... I think I might have to use that as a step in his thinking process.

But there was something I wanted to talk about... Something...

Oh, yeah. I'm a little bit concerned about making the head of this mob a group of families, rather than a single person. If it is a group, I can't see any way to take it down, because someone else can always step in. Even if someone else gets arrested. If you have an idea, of course, it's great, but I'm drawing a blank.

That's a good question, and I'm not the least wedded to the idea of a three family triumvirate. Change away, and let me know what would work best for you!

I think a single individual would be best. A charismatic leader who draws people to him, young enough to be bold (and, more importantly, have no heirs) old enough to have tactical sense. Mid thirties, perhaps? It would make sense if he was a second, or even third, generation leader, because that would give a reason for it to be such a large, resourceful organization when he is so young.

Like I said, fine with me, however you like! Give me a name, and all else can be wrapped in.

Uhhh... namenamenamenamenamename....

Creativity sucks. Let's call him Morgan.

HA! If you only knew, how utterly inappropriate in my world that name is for a ruthless, child-murdering gangster - sure, let's roll with it!

... Tell me more?