Davide

I'll be serious for a moment, sorry about that. I get why when I'm the new person in a group where everyone what knows each other, although a lot less so online than in person. I felt like that on GA when I moved from only commenting on stories to posting on the forums, which has since completely oassed. But something about your personality made you the first person here that made me feel comfortable without second guessing a lot of what I said.

I remember, you said Matt is the only reliable one. You're exactly right about jumping to assumptions. But what I'm saying is Brandon's reaction tells me Tyler's assumption is very likely wrong.

True, a fatal car accident with the other driver being at fault would make sense and it would be a lot less dramatic than intentional murder.

A focus on Art and Seth, interesting. But it makes sense, Sam and Virgil's story was essentially wrapped up. And they're actually boyfriends now. Being naked around family isn't my thing, but it is for Art and his father, so it makes sense that Seth would try it too. And he knows Art's dads always put him and his friends at ease, otherwise he'd probably be too nervous to do it. The boner was too much for him, but that feels like a natural reaction, and maybe he'll get used to it eventually. A trip to Italy is really cool for Seth, who never flew before, which also means it will be his first time in Europe. Plus first class is fancy as hell, especially on a long flight. But Winston's parents were killed, Jesus! That's a heavy story, one I'm curious to read about.

When I saw that they didn't wake up Malik at the usual time, I worried they could be having a family meeting about him. But, thankfully, it was some kind of religious holiday. In the bath scene, maybe that other guy thought he was going to kidnap Naivres. But his reasons to think that would be descrimination based on his being a different species. Rhaelce diffused the situation, but he also said to what must have been deeply moving for Malik, being referred to as family. I have no idea what to speculate about the scene with the fire and Malik going full Daenerys with the fire, actually further because he was holding a freaking fireball in his hand. But Lyria saw it, she was obviously scared of him being able to do that. If she tells the rest of the family, I wonder if anything will change about the way they see him. Still during the fire scene, Malik thinks he may have found a way home and he's very excited about it, but he's starting to have the seed of a doubt. On one hand, "Malik felt overcome by a sense of wild exultation" but, on the other hand, "Tinged with that revelation were faint notes of sadness". Obviously, going back home means getting reunited with his friends, having access to all the technology that doesn't exist here and everything he's ever known. But it would also involves enduring his father and, more difficult, probably never seeing the new family he made here. At home, Malik's family life sucks. But here, with the notable exception of Nyrra, he's accepted and liked. The kids imitate him and learn English words from him, Rhaelce practices fighting with him and stands up to Nyrra on his behalf. And, in a big development, Rhaelce even wants to help him with romsarasily, after waiting for confirmation that Malik wants it. For now, his desire to go home was a lot stronger than the sadness of leaving. But, if things with Rhaelce continue to develop, that may tip the scale further towards him being unsure of whether he wants it.

It's too early to really tell because it's still early days, but they're trying and it's going very well for now. Evan seem to know what he did wrong before and how to change that. Part of it is just about being more organized. He's very busy and it seems that time with his boyfriend used to slip by in the lack of time that school left him with. But now he's dealing with that by scheduling that time in advance, to guarantee he doesn't let other things occupy it. The "I love you" meant a lot to James and that's natural, but I think the small things he remembers and small gestures he makes tell me more about Evan genuinely wanting to be better.

Yeah, not everything needs to happen on screen. Especially therapist stuff, that wouldn't exactly be an exciting plot. The difference in the reactions of each boy were the important thing for you show. And particularly Sam's indifference.

It's good that the trial is over, letting the family move on from dealing with and thinking about Phil and what he did. He definitely deserved to be locked up for a long time, but I'm still sad to see him kill himself. However, what he described other prisoners were doing to him in jail is horrible and, to be honest, I think death is a better outcome than that continuing. I understand the guilt Steven felt because his father killed himself shortly after his harsh words. It's not his fault, but that's a natural reaction and I'm glad he talked about it to a therapist. Bobby only being a bit sad and not grieving also makes sense, given the circumstances, but it's important to deal with that and I'm glad he also went to a therapist. Sam reacted to the news in the same way you might react to someone saying it's going to rain tomorrow, which is a bit concerning. He doesn't have to be sad about it, but everyone feels some kind of emotion towards news like this drop and he should have gone to a therapist. But, since you said the remaining few chapters were originally a sequel, I'd expect that, if anything like this happens, it would be off screen.

Of course the Italian father is a good cook, that seems to almost be a requirement. I like to see parents who are willing to joke around with their kids and friends, I think it shows they don't see themselves as being superior just because they're adults. Seth talking to Art in advance was a good call, and Art's replies were very good, they really calmed him down. It ended up not being necessary because everyone was so nice, but it was good to have that settled in case it had been. Seth got what's effective a sex education lesson from his friends, who actually did a good job of explaining it. And, despite his earlier apprehensions, the group was so nice that he was willing to participate in the practice lesson. All in all, a happy chapter for everyone.

It turns out I didn't comment on a couple chapters, so I'm here to fix that. I also don't know what's reasonable for a sentence, but Phil deserves to be locked up for a long time. As for it happening through a plea agreement, I get that you couldn't have it go to trial, it would take too long for the rest of the story. Things went well being Seth and the friend group, I'm glad for that because he needed friends. I enjoyed the group's banter, that's how you know they work well together. I understand why his parents are protective, but thankfully things went well. Them being a bit worried about Art having gay dads is unfortunately somewhat common, but they're not bad, since they were fine with it at the end.

Good thing Leon met Terry, that made things easier. He would have stood up to Gavin, regardless, but there's no guarantee it would have ended well. Terry's plan of pretending to have a gun was vicious, but it was necessary because that's what you need to get a bully like Gavin. Making him think he was going to force him to suck Ted's dick, but not actually following through was good, he scared him without actually going too far. If Gavin was smart, he would stop after this, but I know he's not because I can read the next chapter's title. Gavin doesn't seem to have any actual friends, considering Ted was only with him because he was scared and, at lunch, he "sat with a couple other kids that didn't look like they wanted him there either, but apparently had no choice". Maybe that will make him think bullying is his only option and that's why he'll continue and probably get himself into bigger trouble. Leon showed his maturity in this chapter. First, in reassuring Tedin that he'll still be his friend if he turns out to be gay. I'm particularly referring to him thinking to do this in advance, because he may be gay, so that he doesn't have to worry about coming out if he is gay. Second, in realising Ted wasn't a bully by choice, he was only doing it because he afraid of not doing what Gavin said. That plus his reaction to this being forgetting all that and befriending Ted.

I people already theorised that the dead guy is Tyler's biological father back when this story was first posted, but I still want to list what I think are evidences it's not Tyson. I don't see any evidence that the dead guy is the biological father, but it's just the logical guess, since it seems to not be Tyson nor Matt and he's the only other guy of an appropriate age we've heard about. I want to say that, outside of story quotes, I will still refer to Tyson as Tyler's father because he was the one who raised him, the potential other guy is just his biological father. Obviously, the main evidence is Tyson saying “You’ve always been like your father”, which is a weird way to say it, unless that's not himself. This lead to rethinking other things that were said. When Tyler says Tyson created Senior Table War, Matt's reaction is “Is that what he said?”, which seems to suggest it's not true. That's probably because his mom said Tyler's father created it and that's not Tyson. Matt probably realised that when Tyler explained what his mom said and that's why he gave a non-answer. Matt says "I can see the resemblance" between Tyler and Tyson, which comes back twice. First, Tyler and Brandon disagree, which would make sense if he's not actually Tyson's son. But the more interesting one is that, when Tyler tells Tyson that Matt said "I look just like you", his reply is “Tell me exactly what he said, the words he used.” Tyson probably thinks he can't have said that because Matt knows he's not Tyler's biological father. Tyler doesn't actually remember the words correctly, "I can see the resemblance" doesn't actually have to be about looks. Matt probably meant they have similar personalities, which makes sense since Tyson raised Tyler. I already wrote a lot, but I still need to get to Brandon. We saw that, when they had sex, he thought that might be their last time, plus, further back, he said he doesn't date straight guys, not even confused ones. So I think he's pushing back to protect himself, he think Tyler may wake up one day realising he's straight, after all, and Brandon doesn't want to get too attached in case that happens. He also seemed hurt about Tyler talking about him giving the other guy a blowjob behind the school, so now I think nothing sexual happened and he doesn't like that Tyler jumped to assumptions. Tyler shouldn't assumed Brandon was giving a blowjob behind the building and what Brandon said was because this made him angry, but dismissing his sex with Tyler as if it were almost meaningless sex was is too harsh of a thing to say about someone losing his virginity, considering it's not true. Tyler pushed Brandon away, by dropping him home and leaving, because of that interaction on the junkyard and Devin pushed Tyler away for yet unknown reasons, although he did still want to guarantee a seat next to Tyler. Those are currently two most important people in his life, so I imagine things won't be easy for him, until one of the three decides to actually talk about things, resolving one of those issues.

Well, what I think is any theories presented by the author aren't the correct answer because he wouldn't want to give it away.

I did notice the football team was going for the same table, but that doesn't explain why they targeted Tyler so much more than Devin. Tyler talking shit about them is a valid point that could be a factor. But you having a character point it made it sound like there's an additional reason and you confirmed that. But it doesn't have to be a grudge, maybe the football team thought Tyler was the biggest threat on the other group. I'll wait to find out the reason.

What a stupid tradition. I wouldn't have participated, thinking of the risk of getting injured or breaking my glasses. And I couldn't do it without glasses, I don't see remotely well enough to be able to run without them without crashing into things. I'd understand Devin being upset over Tyler not going to his grandmother's birthday and not even replying to tell him that. But I agree with Tyler that this reaction is too strong to be just that, but I don't know what else it could be. Even if he knows about Brandon, like someone suggested, I don't think he's homophobic. The way he talked when Tyler was unsure about blowjob bet very much didn't give me that impression. And I agree with Christine that a lot of people seemed to want to go after Tyler. Tyler took a path that a lot less people took, but he was tackled a lot more than Devin that went where a lot of people were going. Or maybe I'm reading too much into it and that happened for dramatic effect because you needed Devin to already be on the table and almost falling off when Tyler arrived. In the previous chapter, Brandon had a thought that this might be his last time having sex with Tyler, the guy he's been attracted to since forever. He appears to have done something sexual with that one guy today, maybe it was a way of trying to forget how much it will hurt if Tyler doesn't want to be together with him. Hmm, I wonder if Tyler's choice of a blue outfit was subconsciously caused by him thinking of Brandon's blue hair, even thought he thought about Devin while he was doing it.

That's one way to identify a good writer, the ability to notice the characters want to go in a direction different than the writer expected. It's not the only way, I'm not saying people who haven't done this are all bad writers. But it's one factor among others. And I do like flips in the traditional dynamics, so such as this twink top and jock bottom one.

That was hot, especially for what I saw you say was the first time (of many) you wrote a sex scene. I was going to read this a couple days ago, but I was in public and decided against it when I saw the title. I made the right decision, lol. Someone pointed out Brandon acted differently towards Tyler in this chapter than in the first time they reconnected, I have a theory as to why. We know Brandon has been attracted to Tyler since he was 11, but he didn't think anything would ever happen. I think, at first, Brandon was afraid of letting himself get too attached because he thought Tyler wasn't interested in him. And so the closer he got, the harder it would be when Tyler moved on to doing stuff that don't involve sharing a bed with him. But now he knows Tyler is attracted to him too and, although his confusion about his sexuality means there's some risk, there's a reasonably chance of them being together and Brandon is going to do whatever he can to grab it. We see how much Tyler is attracted to Brandon in that he ignores his best friend to be with him, which he shouldn't have done. Also because wants to bottom for the first time, despite the lack of lube and, at the end, even goes for a kink he's not interested in for Brandon's benefit. Similarly, we see how much Brandon is attracted to Tyler that, despite getting to fuck Tyler being a dream he never thought he'd get to leave, he still offers to stop because it would hurt Tyler to do it without lube. Also because, as he thinks before rimming Tyler, he wants it to be something neither of them will ever forget, and because he makes sure to double check Tyler won't regret where he shoots. This is just great advice from Brandon that everyone should follow: “That doesn’t matter to me. You should never feel like you have to do anything you aren’t willing to do. Not just for me, but for anyone. Never compromise your limits or lines to make someone else happy.”

The exchanges between Martin and Nathan were sweet. They're both unsure of their sexualities, but they also clearly love each other. All they need now is to realise they don't have to label themselves, it's enough to just go with the love they feel. It's good that they know where each other stands, it helps avoid insecurities. Natasha is as evil as expected, her being homophobic is extremely unsurprising. The law seems to be on the side of Benjamin being allowed to stay with Martin if he wants to, which he does. Natasha's threats were probably done with the expectation of not having to follow up on them, thinking the intimidation would be enough to stop Benjamin. I actually hope she goes to court because she was stupid enough to leave threats in writing. Whatever's contained in those text messages, which were described as abusive, won't make things pleasant for her in court. Knowing now that Natasha found out Benjamin is gay, it's a relief that Martin found out first. If that hadn't happened accidentally, Benjamin probably wouldn't tell him out of fear of a second parent freaking out. And he'd live miserably very limited contact with his boyfriend, only being able to see him when he could be certain his Natasha wouldn't know. I'm not too lazy to research it, Benjamin is the twin. And Noah is younger, but I couldn't find his age.

Gavin is a full on villain, he's at least racist and homophobic. Like a few people said, I get the impression Ted is not a dick like Having, and he only hangs out with him because he's afraid Gavin's bullying would turn against him if he didn't. We'll see if Leon notices this and is able to turn him. It's a shame that Jeff got himself in trouble again, I thought he had a change of turning himself around and acting positively towards Michael and Stephen. I was initially surprised he got bail, because I'm used to hard ass judges on stories, but it makes sense with the worst charges being dubious. Fingers crossed his father manages to get him a not too bad sentence. We knew Leon is protective of Stephen, but now we see that extends to other kids who get bullied. I think growing up with seeing how much it hurts his brother has made him want to be there for others too. It's sad to see Mrs. Baxter initially sceptical reaction at Leon because it means he's faced people pretending to be nice before, only to turn to be bullies.

This was a great chapter. Nothing flashy happened, but good stories aren't just made of that. Malik learning a bit of the aliens' language, the differences in the personalities across the family, learning their fighting and teaching his own, and wondering about one difference in their body are all part of an important and interesting process. Nyrra's reactions towards Malik aren't caused by prejudice against him being from a different species, they come from a place of wanting to protect her family in a world where I can guess they learned that trusting the unknown can be dangerous. That's why she didn't want to each food he was involved in preparing, she was probably worried he might poison them. And it's why she wouldn't have liked to learn Rhaelce was teaching him how to fight with the staff, she'd probably worry Malik would use that to kill them. We learned from Rhaelce's point of view in a previous chapter that he's also distrusting of Malik, although less than Nyrra. But Malik found a way to connect with him through their mutual interest in fighting. Rhaelce wanted to learn a new style from Malik and making a mutual exchange was beneficial to both and let them bond a bit. I wonder if Rhaelce distrusts Malik less now because someone willing to teach him a new fighting style is unlikely to want to attack them, it wouldn't have been smart of Malik to teach him if he wanted to attack them. The funny misunderstanding while dealing with a new language is classic. I'm sure it happened to me, but I don't remember right now. So, instead of that, I'll give a general example I've heard happens to Portuguese people. The Portuguese and Spanish languages are similar enough that we can bullshit our way around mostly guessing how to say things in Spanish enough to be able to function as tourists in Spain. But, sometimes, that fails and a classic pitfall is a Portuguese woman trying to say she's embarrassed in Spanish may accidentally say she's pregnant. The Portuguese word for "embarrassed" is "embaraçada" (if said by a woman, "embaraçado" if said by a man) and the Spanish word for "pregnant" is "embarazada", with the bolded letter in each word being the only difference.

Oh, god! The most embarrassing thing that can happen in a teenager's life, knowing one of their parents heard them moan. It was good of Leon Sr. to warn them, it's better for boys to have one of their fathers notice than one of their mothers. Then there was the conversation with the other Leon, I'm glad he told Stephen and Michael about it. Michael was quick to piece it together and realising he should avoid saying his uncle's name for Leon's sake. Later, Leon was thoughtful to ask what he didn't know about Michael being blind in a respectful way. Jeff, on the other hand, was a dick to Pete in revealing the story was on GA. Okay, the site isn't named, but you know it's not Nifty because it only had one section about gay boys, instead of a ton of sex. Meanwhile, Jeff is a complete idiot who just ruined his own life. He knew he had to be on his best behaviour after his case was settled, but he did the complete opposite. Ah, I'm finally caught up on commenting on chapters I read a couple days ago, after not having time to do it yesterday.

That's very often, although not always, the case with this kind of crime. I imagine they're going to be pissed at Leon now and they may get physical.

I like them listening to the website about coming out, both because I think it's a good idea and because it's sweet of Stephen to do it that way with Michael, instead of just reading it, which Michael can't. The bathroom scene is also sweet, until they get caught. Stephen being there allowed Michael to do something he can't do alone, and he obviously wouldn't ask anyone else to hold his penis. Leon freaks out at seeing Stephen and Michael naked with boners and we soon learn why. We had seen him be a bit hesitant about Stephen being gay, without going full on homophobic, and now we know why. He was eight when his uncle molested him, he probably hadn't even heard of gay people before that. So it's not surprising that he would form a negative opinion to some extent. Now the uncle will be released and he's certainly going to show up at some point, that will be bad. At the end, Leon thankfully sees the guys picking on Stephen in time and we see his protective side in action. He gets there in no time and doesn't hesitate to attack, even as one against two. He stroke hard against one of them, but it was self defense, and he couldn't exactly be careful about the strength he used when he needed to be fast and use the element of surprise to counterbalance them being two. So I don't think he'll be in trouble.

GA, let me react to post with any emoji so that I can react to this one with 👴.

@Davide shields his eyes from the comment section as he realizes he hasn't yet read the chapter he was tagged in. But he also feels an urge to clarify he isn't complaining as he doesn't mind this, he just needs to be careful. As he's walking away, he briefly wonders why is he narrating his thoughts in the third person.