Israfil

Dun dun dunnnn.....?

The skipping classes thing was a good reminder that Jonah is still a kid, despite how mature he's acted. At first I was like "how did he not connect those dots?" before I remembered he's 15-16 and all the obvious things I didn't realize at that age *winces internally*

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…?

So I was a little nonplussed at Cindy’s vitriolic vendetta against Jackson for a while - harassing him at the swim meet was crossing a line but also the sniping in this chapter. It seemed to go beyond the simple “I don’t like you hanging out with my son” issue and is downright childish. Then it occurred to me - it’s not just Luke, but Jackson’s mum. In Cindy’s mind, Jackson not only fractured her relationship with her son, but her best friend too. Of course, it’s totally skewed since she brought that on herself but to her, Jackson upended two big parts of her life. To a lesser extent her husband who thinks Jackson’s a good kid. Things are changing and we know enough of her character that change is not something she’s good at…

Life happened >_>

It occurred to me - Corbin is called “self-serving” multiple times in this chapter - but I have to ask - aren’t fraternity dudes like the very image of self-serving? None of them are what you would call nice people. Only a fool would assume none of these other guys are not looking out for number one. Clearly the hypocrisy doesn’t bother them at all, but is it more that Corbin doesn’t hide it as well as they believe he should? As someone who has had these same words thrown at me in the last few days, at least in my case it was by actually good people. Here….they’re basically the same as him. Perhaps that’s what bothers them…

The last few chapters have hammered in the fact that I really need to re-read this story from the beginning. I’ve found myself asking a lot questions of why a situation is the way it is and I suspect the answer is in those chapters I read so many years ago…. The conversation with Hutch really had me thinking I was missing some context haha. Speaking of which, how the hell did it sound like Hutch seemed to have the moral high ground at the end? And what was he expecting or hoping for regarding Corbin’s answer on wanting to stay? It seemed just fine to me. That being said - what did he mean about leaving? That he knew Corbin had overall good intentions and was willing to risk his leaving or that he thought Corbin would drop the frat in his quest for bigger and better things? I just can’t seem to get a read on Hutch - another reason to go back older chapters I suppose. The dean was always going to be a powerful ally that Corbin cultivated, in spite of the moralizing. Her comment on “letting these guys who care about you help you” just sounded asinine given the situation. Lady, they’re trying to kick him out - clearly they don’t care all that much. At the end of the day, I suspect a part of this is homophobia- even if they don’t realize it. A straight guy doing what Corbin does would just be considered shrewd and a force to be reckoned with, while Corbin is labeled a self-serving social climber (Plus, aren’t we all social climbers? Trying to better ourselves?) Not saying he’s a paragon of virtue (cause what would be the fun in that) but the double standard is real. The straight, primarily white boys coming from privilege feel threatened because it challenges their view of the world. Again, this could be unconscious bias for some, though I’m willing to bet it’s not for others. All that being said, I was hoping Corbin would make someone tear up again like in the previous chapters - I just love it when he does that to these douchebags. Fuck all of them - it’s past time someone made them cry. Corbins way better with this than I would have been - sure he hurts people sometimes but it’s never serious and he’s trying to help both himself and the frat. Many others - self included - wouldn’t bother. I would be in it for me and only me and the pain I inflicted along the way would be simply for the fact that I wanted to and I thought they deserved it. I raise up those close to me sure but helping others like these pricks in a larger group is an afterthought. If that.

Maybe not fully intentionally but they’re certainly doubling down haha

Not to be a downer but Ash’s family is extremely lucky that he is so clearly into Cove. For all they know, the two could have grown apart and their not respecting Ash’s wishes would have been just…meh. I mean, obviously Ash in his heart wants this but I guess I’m a little stuck on how pushy both his family and Cove are being. But hey, there’s more to this story clearly. Great work!

Ok…inviting your son’s ex and their child without consulting anyone, let alone the son in question… Anyone else find the dad’s actions ridiculously inappropriate? I mean, I’m excited for the drama as much as anyone but still….

Wow. I feel slightly ill. Testament to your story telling. I hope the seniors don’t screw over Mike for spite though. They must have had to haul ass to get him there when Corbin pushed for an immediate trial. That being said, Corbin is banking a lot on the benefit of the doubt. It’s possible that even if the frat thinks it’s a plot to oust him by the seniors, they might think that Dom and Hutch must have good reasons and go with it /eye roll