What is it about Simon/Ryan that brings out the Cake? I mean, it's not like just throwing in Rymon on the side, they just make for this great contrast of what their life would be like if Chris actually did get fed into the machine as a straight guy and female fantasy with fake girlfriends. I'm fascinated by that whole line between the ones who are in it for the fame and the other ones who are more...just slightly something different, just liking the music and getting out of it what they want to get out of it.

This chapter's kind of scary, actually, because even though Chris and Blake are still going strong it's just *so easy* to see the pressures that would come if this all happened and how things would change and how sad it would inevitably all get. And the way you wrote it I feel like I got that without it even happening. Go you!