Love and Marriage Go Together Like a Horse-Drawn Carriage

Again, normally telling or summarizing when you should be showing would be a bad thing, but it's more bearable in this series, because it's less stuff for me to suffer through. It is kind of impossible to snark, so I'll just summarize: Vicki leads the seven former militia members in The Prayer. And yes, it is the same exact prayer. The thing works like the Bloody Mary chant: as long as you don't say it, you're not an RTC. When you do, you instantly become one and enter into the hive mind that all RTCs share.

Lionel talks to Foreign McForeign about how Judd feels obligated to stay. Foreign McForeign acknowledges that maybe he's struggling with his own issues related to his son's death. He decides he doesn't want Judd staying out of guilt and promises to go talk to him.

Vicki's section begins, again, with a lot of summarizing. I'll sum it up for you: the new believers are oohing and aahing as Vicki and the others walk them through the prophecies. I would give my right boob to see a character, in response to the walkthrough, go, "Hey wait a minute, you go to this verse in I Thessalonians while ignoring all the other verses in the chapter then jump to Daniel than back to another...how is this a straightforward reading of the Bible?" But something tells me that will never happen so I guess I can give up on my dreams of being an Amazon.

Vicki launched into lessons correcting Cyrus’s teaching about the end of the world. The people were glad they could read the passages themselves rather than being told what to believe.

That sound you hear is me headdesking. Thing is, the militia heretics may have left Cyrus's teachings behind, but they've only traded one cruel interpretation of God for another. Like I've said before, Ellanjay keep insisting that Cyrus's militia is totally wrong but frankly, with the exception of their Hindu beliefs, they're basically RTCianity scrubbed with a dirty sponge.

But in the midst of all this, Vicki receives a phone call from Judd. Again, more attempts to pair them together even though they haven't been on the same continent for several books and only recently have they given more than a passing thought to each other. But fear not, fellow readers, we don't have to suffer through pages of characters confessing their love for one another: that would actually develop character in a more subtle approach than their usual sledgehammer approach. Instead we get, everybody say it together, Exposition!

I'll take you through this as quickly as I can. Judd asks that they pray for Chang. I wonder if Vicki knows anything about Chang. Again, I'm forced to conclude that RTCs share a hive mind like the Borg. Chang's worried about his parents because the GC are rounding up all the Jews and Unmarked.

Vicki talks about how she's been thinking about leaving the hideout she's currently in and going to the other Wisconsin hideout. Judd says she's should come to France. Vicki's like "I promised Cheryl I'd be there when she had her baby," which makes me raise an eyebrow. Just how much time has passed in the LB-verse? Because it seems not too long ago she was only three months along. But I'm not going to waste too many brain cells on this question. Let's move on.

Maybe the writers anticipated my critique about how this conversation is entirely exposition and very little character development, because it ends with Judd professing his love for Vicki. Vicki hangs up and calls the other Wisconsin hideout, which is in Avery, and asks if she could come stay with them. But as they talk, Vicki hears a rumbling sound and the windows shake. She looks out to see a mushroom cloud and turns on the television to hear that Chicago has been nuked. Me, I'm like, hello, they've already nuked Chicago in one of the single digit books and it didn't affect anything so why is everyone so shocked?

The chapter ends with Vicki receiving a phone call from Chloe.

The bulk of the next chapter is taken up with the conversation between Vicki and Chloe. I swear Ellanjay must get a hard-on whenever they hear a phone ring. And now I've filled your heads with that imagery, let's move on.

Chloe basically says that the tribbles made it out of Chicago safe and sound, which isn't surprising: RTCs aren't allowed to die by nukes or radiation poisoning, only in manly martyrdom scenes that give them a chance to grandstand before getting killed. Steve Plank is dead, but given that he's an adult character who never appeared or was mentioned before this point, I ask why did the writers put that in? The readers have no reason to care. I know, aunursa, he matters more in the adult books, but I'm a firm believer in the fact that a good series stands on its own. If you have to read a whole bunch of supplementary material in order to understand what's going on (like say the sixteen book adult series) then your series sucks. Of course, the fact that both series (16 adult books, 40 kids) are so damn long speaks either to Ellanjay's incompetence as writers or their avarice or both.

Chloe talks about how angels blinded the GC so they couldn't see them take off. Again, for all their boasting, RTCs are sure terrified of death even though by their own philosophy they have no reason to be. If the GC shot their planes out of the sky, they'd all go to heaven and get the Super Special Awesome Upgraded bodies, right? The angels should be out there witnessing and performing miracles for the undecided.

They talk some more about Our Buck's brother, a passage I'm going to ignore since I've forgotten much of the stuff with his brother. I'll sum it up: Buck's brother is dead.

Then Vicki asks a surprising question, saying, "Is it wrong to start a family during the tribulation?" I say this is a surprising question, because it's the first instance of any RTC considering that the End of Days may not be an ideal time to raise a child. I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, why didn't Zod just make everyone sterile during this seven-year window? The only thing I can conclude is because he likes killing children in horrific ways but heaven forbid you suggest any of the characters get an abortion. Zod can kill any number of sentient beings he likes but humans are forbidden from aborting the unborn, even though by their own theology, don't the RTCs believe that no sin is a deal-breaker so long as you confess and ask for forgiveness? Therefore, theoretically the characters could have abortions, confess, and remain free and clear in Zod's eyes, right?

Sorry to go so long on the same point, but stuff needed to be said. Anyway, here's Chloe's response.

Chloe laughed. “I suppose there were people who thought the times were too tough for romance. And some said it was foolish to bring up a child at this time. Tsion quoted a famous author who said, ‘A baby is God’s way of saying he wants the world to go on.’ I’ll admit I wasn’t ready for marriage at the time of the disappearances, but believing in Christ changed me. It made me more mature.”

First of all, that Tsion quote might apply if YOU WEREN'T LIVING IN THE FREAKING END OF DAYS! THE WORLD ISN'T GOING TO GO ON! IT HAS LESS THAN THREE YEARS LEFT TO LIVE!

Secondly, yeah, I've seen selections from the adult books, I know about the "more mature" Chloe. She goes from being a Stanford grad who somehow made her way across more than half the US during the Rapture, when the roads were filled with wrecked cars and planes, to being a whiny brat who throws flowers in trash and sulks and snipes at her love interest rather than confront him when she thinks he's cheating on her.

Vicki's like, "So you don't have any regrets?" Chloe's response:

“About marriage? None. Things are hard at times. Buck and I butt heads, and it would be easier to make decisions on my own instead of being accountable to another person, but I can’t imagine life without him. We’re a team. Why do you ask?”

When exactly have she and Buck butted heads post-marriage? From what I can tell, following marriage, she becomes a proper submissive Stepford wife, just like Mrs. LaHaye, who believes so strongly that women shouldn't have careers and should be devoted solely to their husbands that she moved a thousand miles away from her husband. Then again, if I was married to Tim LaHaye, I'd do the same.

Vicki brings up Judd and is like, "What if this distracts me from serving God?" Chloe says, "If God's calling you to be together, it could make you both even more effective." Vicki then asks about all those verses about staying single, but Chloe quotes Proverbs and says that marriage is set up by God and if he means for it to happen with you and Judd, it will."

We then end this long conversation about marriage and get into more exposition. Vicki tells her that Judd's stuck in France. Chloe tells her that she might be able to get a flight out to him, but said flight will take him to Petra then to the US via South Carolina.

Judd has apparently decided that he'll go back to the US with Westin and Lionel. That is all that happens in his section.

The chapter and this snark ends with Vicki and her crew noticing armed figures approaching their hideout. I'm going to assume this is Cyrus and his band of merry men. If you don't mind spoilers, I've already peeked ahead: Cyrus dies unsaved so we're spared yet another conversion scene. Wanna bet that once he's dead, his children, Ty and Tanya, don't give a single passing thought to the fact that he's in Hell? Just like any compassionate RTC...

Poor Evangelical Tools

So Cyrus and his loyal rednecks are storming the hole-in-the-ground where Vicki and her friends are hiding out. Whatever will they do?!

Vicki's genius plan is to go to Cyrus's hideout and witness to the others there, while Cyrus and his band of mooks have their attention focused on Vicki's hideout. I know there are probably tons of holes in this scheme but given how rare we ever see any kind of strategic thinking in these books...I'm going to let it slide. Besides given that, to paraphrase a commentator, modern militia movements are heavy on the Red Dawn and light on the Che Guevera, it's possible this strategy would work.

While this is going on, Judd decides to talk to Lionel about whether he should stay in France or go back to America. Lionel is not pleased at the possibility of Judd staying and because I like to add more slash to the LB-verse, I'm going to assume it's because he wants to know Judd in the biblical sense and doesn't like the idea of competing with Foreign McForeign for the privilege.

Judd is like "Perryn's death really affected me and I feel like I owe his dad" and I'm like really? You saw Perryn for all of five minutes before he was murdered. You two never exchanged a word of conversation with each other. All you know about him is what other people have told you. So what the Hell, Judd?

Judd gets all emo and wonders just what they accomplished in Israel. I'm wondering the same thing, but then again these are the Heroes who Don't Do Anything. He talks about how they rescued Z-Van from the rubble of the earthquake, but that led to Z-Van taking the Mark and becoming one of the Legion of the Damned. I am like o_O at this statement. Is Judd saying the Christian thing to do would have been to let Z-Van die slowly from being crushed by rubble? But Lionel's like, "If we hadn't rescued Z-Van, Westin wouldn't have become a believer."

Judd then asks, "So why did God send us here?" Lionel says "For our protection," though given that all these disasters are affecting the entire Earth, I don't see how they're safer in France than they are anywhere else. Lionel stands by his decision to GTFO back to the states as soon as possible. Judd asks about bringing the French believers and Lionel, in a rare show of intelligence, is like "Which is easier, smuggling three people back to the states or a crowd?"

The section at long last ends with Judd wondering what he's going to do. Now, we cut back to Vicki.

What we have is an action sequence. I'm going to fast-forward through most of it, because like I said before, action scenes in these books are dull as hell because nothing ever happens. I know RTCs blanche at the thought of anyone's kids reading Harry Potter, but at least JK Rowling knows there has to be a chance of lasting physical and/or psychological harm coming to her characters. That's why her action scenes work whereas Ellanjay's can DIAF.

Vicki and the others are trying to get into Cyrus's hideout, when Tanya hears her father over the radio, causing her to pause. The others work at trying to break the prisoners out of the underground base while Tanya talks with her father over the radio.

I'll admit I don't like Cyrus as much as I used to, ever since he went into melt-down mode. But given how utterly unlikeable the protagonists are and how unlikeable their beliefs are, the reader is forced to side with anyone who doesn't immediately kowtow to the Tribbles simply because that's their only option. Granted what will happen to Cyrus is either he'll convert and lose what little shading his character has or he'll be punted into hell, after which Tanya won't give a lick about him, even though he's her father.

Tanya, following the RTC standard of aiming for emotional wounds, decides to talk about her slaughtered raptured mother. Cyrus mentions that her mother had some crazy beliefs and wanted to share them with her children, but he refused to let her tell them, and she being a good RTC wife obeyed him, writing them down in a letter. Tanya's like "A letter?" and Cyrus wins a few character points by giving a fairly accurate summation of RTC beliefs.

“Yeah. Doesn’t make much sense. Just a string of verses and some gibberish she copied from the radio. I do think God will accept her, even if she wasn’t thinking clearly.”

I like that last line. When a gun-toting redneck shows more compassion than your protagonists, something is wrong.

The chapter ends with Tanya going, "I have to find that letter."

The second chapter...more action scenes for me to fast-forward through.

Tanya and Vicki and the others are trying to get into to Cyrus's hideout and bust out the seven people he's imprisoned for being rebellious. Frankly I think it's rather kind of Cyrus to imprison rebels rather than doing what most militias would probably do which is shoot them. Again, they're a paranoid group of Christian/Hindu Survivalists; they probably believe mercy is one of those effete European possibly homosexual ideals.

I'll sum it up. Cyrus is storming Vicki's hideout but Vicki makes it out of his hideout with not only the seven rebels but the all important letter.

Once Vicki and the group of new recruits are safely back at their hole-in-the-ground, we get Exciting!TV!Watching!Action. What's on the news, you ask? Well, it's a discussion with a director, Lars Rahlmost (giving us the chance to play "Guess the Ethnicity!"), discussing his documentary on Nicky's resurrection.

The documentary also has a clip where an RTC preaches about how Nicky's the anti-Christ before being hauled off and killed on camera. I'm assuming Lars Rahlmost is supposed to be the GC's Michael Moore so I gotta wonder why was this footage included? If Satan's trying to recruit as many people as he can for the battle against God, he probably wouldn't want his propagandist sharing the sacred truth for the entire world to hear.

The chapter ends with Tanya reading her mother's letter and crying. If you're wondering, the letter's the standard altar-call kind of witness we get in every book, even though you'd think if her mother really wanted to influence her children, she'd cite Zod saving Israel from being nuked miracle or even just make a list saying, "Here's what's going to happen." Like I've said before, while these books are supposed to help young believers evangelize, they do a piss-poor job of it because the deck is stacked; unlike the readers, the characters of these books have seen incontrovertible proof of the existence of God. The readers will probably go their entire lives without seeing God swat aside nukes, so this fails as a tool of evangelism.

Dredging up Forgotten Characters

So Judd is a little shaken by Foreign McForeign's offer. So shaken that he makes a very contradictory statement that makes me go "What?!" in confusion.

Judd had known this man less than twenty-four hours, but he already felt like the father Judd no longer had.

Again, they've barely had any screen time together yet Judd is already thinking about how Foreign McForeign is like his father. I suppose it could work, if it was established that Judd was seriously traumatized by all the disasters he'd been through and therefore would latch onto any older male as a father figure, but Judd doesn't act the least bit traumatized. The End of Days seem about as dramatic as banging your elbow on the table.

Of course, part of me wonders if Foreign McForeign just wants a replacement for his dead son. Judd, word of advice: if he starts dressing you in his son's clothes and calling you by his name, run. Forget honor, forget dignity, time for some good old-fashioned GTFO.

At least that's what would happen if trauma actually affected people in these books. But apparently, Foreign McForeign desires neither a replacement son or Judd's nubile flesh.

“With your contacts in the States and around the world, you could be an asset to our group,” Jacques said.

I can't be the only one going, "Uh, what contacts?" But then I remember: even though they haven't been seen or mentioned for many pages, Judd is tangentially connected to Our Buck and St. Rayford. Everyone, good or bad in these books, recognizes the awesomeness of Ellanjay's self-inserts.

Foreign McForeign asks him to pray, saying that Lionel mentioned there was someone special waiting for Judd. Oh boy, more ham-fisted attempts to pair up Judd and Vicki even though they haven't been on the same continent for several books now. I think Nada had more screen time and more flirting with Judd, but since she's dead, that ship's sunk.

Judd shows a picture of Vicki and we can add another mention of Ryan to our counter. Once again, I ask myself why didn't I start a count after his death just so I can prove how little Ryan, aka the kids' series Butt Monkey, matters to his friends. But I'm too lazy to scroll through God-only-knows how many posts/books.

But Judd admits that the last time they were together, he was a real jerk towards Vicki. But then again, all the male characters in the kids' version seem to volley between either being a total jerk or being a non-entity with few if any discernible personality traits.

Foreign McForeign says that if she's said she's willing to forgive you, she must have feelings for you. Judd asks whether Foreign McForeign and his wife fought. Foreign McForeign says they did at first but the process of getting together knocks a lot of the rough edges away.

I suppose there are some disgusting sexual politics to take apart here, but compared with the adult books (for example, St. Rayford's treatment of Hattie), these are mild infractions. Plus, like I've said before, I like these rare moments where they try to develop character and not shove another disaster or sermon onstage.

Vicki has decided to leave and take Tanya with her. Mark is on board with it, but the rest aren't. Finally, Vicki decides she'll meet up with Chloe.

Vicki thought of several people she would like to talk with. Judd. Ryan. Bruce. Two of them were dead, and Judd was halfway around the world. A face flashed in her mind, and she turned to Becky. “Chloe Williams. She really seemed interested in me when we talked a long time ago.”

First of all, yet another mention of Ryan! Secondly, as I recall, but am too lazy to scroll through old posts to do so, wasn't the last time Chloe and Vicki were onstage some time in the single-digit books? I recall Chloe talking about how being separated from Our Buck made her love him more; as I recall, it was before they were married, so yeah. Word of advice, Ellanajay, stop doing the cute little trick where you dredge up characters the reader's long forgotten about because there's only so much space in your memory and no one has any discernible traits to make it worth remembering them. In fact, since Chloe runs the Magical Co-op that everyone must shop at, because of The Mark, we should have had more mention of her sooner. But I'm guessing that they think running a Co-op during the End of Days is light work compared with the work of manly men like Rayford and Buck who do, what exactly?

We get a brief interlude with Chang. Nicky's planning to nuke Chicago. That might be shocking if he hadn't already nuked nine cities in one of the single-digit books. Not to mention that said nuking of nine cities didn't affect anything, so neither will nuking one work.

Sam types up something for his blog, "The Petra Diaries." Needless to say, it's not going to upset Porn as the most studied thing on the Internet. But here's a small sampling.

Ben-Judah stood and spoke to us. Following is what he said in my own words. Dr. Ben-Judah asked us to think about the five most important events of history. See if you agree with him. The first event was God’s creation of the world. Second came the worldwide flood of Noah’s day. Third, the birth of Jesus Christ.

Uh, there's nothing in there about the Babylonian Captivity. It's a pretty important event in Jewish history; much of the Old Testament deals with the ramifications of it. I suppose you can argue it's not really world history given that it mostly involves the Jewish people and not the whole world, but given how The Old Testament shaped the New and how the Bible in general, whether you like it or not, has shaped world history, I still think leaving it out is a grievous error.

If you're wondering, the other two events of history are The Rapture and the Glorious Appearing three years later when TurboJesus returns, this time packing heat.

He talks about how after TurboJesus triumphs over every foe, they'll be peace on Earth, and more babble about how all this horrific suffering is our loving father trying to get your attention, even though He's proven he can witness to his people without killing them. There's really not much more to go into with Sam's message, just more talk about the 144,000 non-virginal evangelists. It ends with an altar call.

The chapter ends with Vicki observing the Mountain Militia approaching Colin's underground hideout. And I've decided to end my snark on one chapter for this week. I didn't know it would get so long when I sat down to write it, honest! Sorry about the post title: couldn't think of a decent one for this week.

The Deus ex Machina is Strong with this One

So Judd's still hanging with the French Believers and while he does, he decides to browse through Foreign McForeign's photo album. Because peeking at someone's personal memories is A-Okay. There really isn't much to go into with this section, just that John 10:10 is mentioned. Once again, they neglect to mention that in that section, which is about The Good Shepherd, Jesus doesn't also say, "And if the sheep reject their shepherd, I will turn them over to the wolves to tear apart forever and ever."

Next section, all that happens is Sam decides to start a blog called "The Petra Diaries." I'm serious; that's all that happens.

Mark and the others are futzing around with night vision goggles when Colin essentially tells them to go to bed. Mark complains about being treated like a child, but hello, they are children. Still standard teenage gripe, so points for realism. The section ends with this little bit, which I'm quoting because I found it interesting.

Mark put his head back and pretended to sleep, but thoughts raced through his mind. Maybe it was time for him to leave, perhaps go to the other Wisconsin hideout or join a band of believers in the commodity co-op. There were a lot of ways to fight the enemy besides hiding below ground.

As he started out of the house, Shelly put an arm on Mark’s shoulder. “We’ll be praying for you.”

As I recall but am too lazy to scroll through old posts, Mark was the one who wanted to join a militia group earlier on in the series, so props for consistency. When Shelly says "We'll be praying for you," I'm going to assume she'll be praying for Mark to see the light and accept the Tribbles' ethos of doing nothing.

Again, I know according to Ellanjay the prophecies are immutable (i.e. can't be changed) but as many more eloquent have pointed out, that doesn't necessarily mean the characters can't be doing stuff, like trying to feed, shelter, and clothed those who have suffered as a result of the myriad disasters. But like I said, the Tribbles don't even bother to do that.

Okay, I admit I've been ignoring Vicki because not much has been happening (she tries to escape but fails is basically all that happens), but now I think we might be getting somewhere. Don't hold your breath though. Excitement must have done something terrible to Ellanjay when they were kids because they sure hate it.

The Survivalists are sitting down to eat, when Ty basically says he's starting to wonder if Vicki's right. Others pipe in and Cyrus goes into full meltdown mood, firing a shotgun and dragging Vicki off.

The next chapter begins with Cyrus dragging Vicki away. Several of his cult confront him, saying that he's crossed the line. Naturally Cyrus doesn't listen. His cult members try to shoot him but Cyrus made sure their guns only had blanks in them.

But just as one of the protagonists is under the threat of lasting harm, Ty leaps on his father, allowing Vicki to escape and meet up with her friends.

Judd, meanwhile, feels a little guilt over the death of Perryn, Foreign McForeign's son.

Judd nodded. “I can’t help but think that your helping us kept you from your son.”
Jacques pursed his lips. “I admit I have thought the same thing, but my wife brought up a good point. Perhaps my helping you was God’s way of sparing my life. If I had waded into that group, my son and I would both have died.”

:grinds teeth: If you had waded into that group, to use your words, you, just like your son, would be in Heaven. You guys should be doing what Perryn did: seizing every waking moment to win converts to your side. At least that's what you would do if you had actual courage as opposed to alpha male posturing.

So other French RTCs talk about their memories of Perryn and I have to admit, it's not a bad scene. Like I've said before it's nice when the writers ease of the expository gas and allow the characters time to react and feel something about the latest events. More and more, I like Perryn and wish to add him, posthumously, to my list of favorite characters. While he's not as awesome as Taylor or Hasina, he's still pretty cool in that he did what the RTC characters in these books only occasionally think about doing.

Perryn's mother (who hasn't been given a name because she's one of those silly womenfolk) reads Perryn's favorite passage. For those wondering, it's part of 2 Corinthians, chapter four. I'll spare you and not do a bigass quote, but I will note just how Ellanjay completely miss the point because that's what I do.

Judd wiped away a tear and wrote the reference down on a scrap of paper. Those verses perfectly described how every believer had to live at this time in history. He couldn’t wait to send the passage to the others in the Young Trib Force.

So apparently Paul's second letter to the Corinthians wasn't meant for them; he, like every writer in the Bible, was writing about some indeterminate point in the future. Thank goodness, Darby and Scofield came along to set everyone straight. :eyeroll:

The chapter ends with Vicki at the hideout. But uh-oh, Mark's pissed.

“That doesn’t excuse what you did. I can’t go on without saying or doing something, and that’s led me to a hard decision.”
“Which is?” Vicki said.
“We can’t stay together and not be accountable.” Mark looked at the others. “And it’s clear I’m the one who has the problem with this.” He took a deep breath. “Either I need to leave or Vicki needs to go.”

Frankly, I can see Mark's point: Vicki did endanger their entire group with her "Witness to the Crazy Survivalists" plan. Then again, witnessing is what they're supposed to do. But don't worry, Vicki. Mark will eventually realize you're a main character and therefore he will back down.

Again, snark is skimpy. I don't know if or when I'll stop doing three-chapter snarks but here we are.

The chapter begins with Sam walking around. He talks to Naomi and we get more exposition. Apparently Token Jew is going to show up and deliver another message. I'm guessing in another chapter because I flipped ahead and didn't see him in this one. So we have that to look forward to.

Judd talks to Chang. Apparently the Greek Believers managed to escape a trap thanks to Deus ex Machina. But then again, the Deus ex Machina basically drives this entire plot. If your wondering, the archangel Michael blinded the GC plane so they couldn't stop the Believers from taking off.

Judd turns on the news and we get more from Leon and Nicky. Leon does the standard "Bwaaah! Bwaah! Those Jewishy Jews will suffer!" speech which I'm assuming Ellanjay put in there to diffuse accusations that they are anti-Semitic. "How can we be when the only characters wanting the extinction of the Jewish people are bad guys!" Nicky, if you're wondering, plans on laying siege and starving the people of Petra out rather than further attacks. Not a bad idea but given that the Deus ex Machina is strong with this story, Nicky will be as weak and ineffectual as a paper parasol umbrella is in a hurricane.

Vicki mopes and decides that Mark is right that she should leave. Cue dramatic prairie dog. I still say this will, like everything else, come to nothing.

The chapter ends with the French Believers holding a memorial service for Perryn. For those wondering, here's the passage that closes out the chapter and this week's snark.

“Do not blame yourself, Judd. God is never surprised at our suffering or at death. He knows the end from the beginning, and though I don’t understand, I do trust him.”
Judd nodded and leaned against the building.
“I want to ask you a question. Think about your answer. Your presence here is not by mistake. And I sense in you—and in your friends—the same spirit in my son. A desire to follow God wholeheartedly and tell others of him.”
Jacques took hold of Judd’s shoulders. “Perhaps you were sent here by God to finish the work Perryn began. Would you consider staying until his vision is complete?”

I can't be the only one who thinks this passage between Foreign McForeign and Judd reeks of Ho Yay. Again, why is it that RTCs are some of the best creators of Ho Yay around?