Israfil

I know it’s horrible but part of me wants Dylan and Liam to get together - albeit with a fuck ton of individual and couples therapy.

This might also go some ways to explaining Jessica’s homophobia - it’s less common among young people barring religious influence and she doesn’t strike me as the god-fearing type. But if her brother was murdered by his boyfriend? Hearing that as a young kid would possibly have an effect. And she sounds like the type to take a very…absolutist view.

I got real Smaug’l and Bilbo vibes from this conversation. Not sure which is which though haha

Ah the tension with Rory. I can relate way too well. Then trying to be “the right kind of friend” to quash your feelings and not rock the boat. The hot tub fantasy “how did he get in here?” made me laugh.

Yay for grandma. Sounds like she had a pretty good idea already. Or at least knew enough to not add her surprise to an already stressful situation. In that context, read her “let the boy go” as a sort of trying to spare her daughter from hearing something she didn’t want to. Parents never truly stop parenting - for better or for worse.

So we all thought Stacy was an imbecile and it turns out to be literally true. 🤣 Well, my initial thought had been that if Seth was being set up to be her caretaker, he could threaten to have her put in a psych ward or group home after the mum passes - now it looks like that could be an legitimate option down the line. His mother clearly didn’t consider this possibility or she’d have been a bit nicer to him, but this lady doesn’t seem to be all about thinking ahead…

Suspense! Regarding David, I get that he's hurting. A lot. But the way he was talking, it sounded like he didn't remember that he betrayed Corbin too. He let himself be manipulated by Lee.

Okay I’ll bite. How is Seth being narcissistic? Poor judgment sure but he hasn’t really done anything bad. Aside from hooking up with his sister’s boyfriend but who cares about her 🤣

Fair. Yours was just the most recent of them voicing a similar sentiment. My choice was fairly arbitrary haha

Or maybe you’re a one of the lucky few. I said “most of us” after all I won’t deny I partially speak from personal experience I’ve spoke to enough people to know I’m hardly unique.

Everyone seems to forget the experience of being alone and gay in high school. You crave validation and romantic connection with someone while all your peers are exploring this. I know it’s tempting to believe we’d all be smarter than that but if an attractive person, let alone your fantasy guy, suddenly started showing intense interest in you at that age, I suspect most of us would ignore any number of red flags.

You underestimate the power of teenage hormones. Hell, sex appeal can take the edge of very problematic qualities at any age. It’s always a danger.

I feel like Seth took after his mum in the intelligence department, judging from her job. However, she may not have had the best high school experience and is excited to see her daughter getting that - so maybe a bit of vicariousness there - and is protective of making sure her daughter gets to be a "proper" teenager and do all the things she couldn't as a kid. Also, if Stacy is getting Cs and Ds, it's possible their mother feels like her daughter isn't going to really get anywhere when she grows up so why not let her do what she wants now (at Seth's expense), since Seth will almost certainly have a better life down the road. She may also be trying to get Seth in the habit of taking care of his sister since she doesn't see much future for her - which would imply some internalized misogyny as well.

Awesome - bracing for the final hurdle though! 😅 So was Toby legitimately angry at Luke or just giving him a hard time and took it too far? Couldn’t quite tell - he sounded pretty calm/jokey at the table but pretty unbothered when Luke gets up and leaves. Got to say, this story has made me remember a few things about high school that I didn’t absolutely hate.

*reads last sentence* Dun dun dunnn…?