Graeme

I found it interesting that Jack accepts that he's gay, he just doesn't want to accept the possible consequences of that acknowledgement. Now, I'm sure many people will say that if his friends leave him when he comes out, they're not real friends in the first place, but for a teenager, social isolation is a real fear. I know, I went through the same fear as a teenager. So, Jack is thinking carefully about what to do. He's worried, legitimately, but he hasn't caved in. He's ashamed of his action at school, but that's because he didn't stand up for Tracy. He didn't go the other way and join in on the abuse, and at the end he stood up against three of his friends. Passive support for Tracy is all he appears capable of doing at the moment, but he's doing that and I'm proud of him. Not everyone has the strength to provide active support, even if that's what many people will want.

This chapter has Gabe at his most annoying. He's the one who convinced RIchie to go with them, and then he ends up abandoning Richie at the park by taking Freddy away with him. Yes, it meant that Richie could spend time with Andrew, but it also made Richie responsible for both small boys. That doesn't allow Richie to spend quality time with his brother. So, rightly, some of Richie's anger is redirected at Gabe. I'm sure Gabe is puzzled by why Richie gave him the cold shoulder at the end; Gabe doesn't strike me as the type with a lot of intuition.

I have a different perspective... Andrew saved Richie's life once by showing up when Richie was preparing to kill himself. Now, Andrew is doing it again by saving Richie from pushing everyone away. Richie admitted it himself -- he's isolating himself from everyone apart from Gabe, and even there it isn't like it used to be. Andrew, simply by being Richie's baby brother, is making Richie come out of his shell and helping him interact with others. Richie's not going to get off the hamster wheel of emotions by himself. Andrew's there to show him a way off that wheel....

Oh, Richie's father has more than a few flaws. As a father, he's pretty much a failure from what we've seen so far. But he's still Richie's father and Richie can still remember some good times they've had together. I'm still not impressed by his father, but I can see enough hints that he's not a total bastard. His major problem, as @droughtquake indicated before, is that he's impulsive and doesn't appear to think before acting. Not a good thing in a policeman, let alone a parent...

Ignore Richie's father and a discussion on his motives for a moment, the theme I picked up throughout this chapter was Richie's healing. He's finally getting past his anger and a bit of his grief. He's letting Gabe back into his life, and he's even half-admitted to himself that he still has some love for his dad. They're all positive steps. As for his father, I didn't realise it at the time, but in retrospect that phone call Richie didn't take was probably to invite him to go with them to the cemetery. The money that Gabe brought over wasn't a great idea -- as others have said, it looks too much like his father is trying to buy Richie's affection -- but even Richie is confused about the way his father paid for Wade's funeral. On that topic, Richie's thoughts about that funeral have help bring into relief his feelings about his father. He's a bit upset that his father didn't offer him any comfort, but if his father had tried at the time, would he have accepted it? I sincerely doubt he would've. His father appears to recognise that Richie needs some space, and that space is doing some good by allowing other things to weaken the dominance Richie's anger had on his mind. Overall, I found this a very positive chapter.

I don't think there's much more that I can add to what's already been said. I'm so glad that Andrew appeared when he did, and that Richie came to realise what his death would've done to his brother and sister. Another emotion-filled chapter where we really feel Richie's despair. As others have said, I hope his uncle's talk has helped him so he can start to move ahead. One small point that no one else has mentioned: it was Freddy who set up Richie's new room for him. To make it look so much like his old room, Freddy must've memorised what was there before he moved in. That's an attention to detail that's not common. It's also interesting that few, if any, of the things that had previously been in Richie's room had been thrown away. They had to have been put into storage somewhere; even his posters.

The first scene, while tragic, also shows Richie's naivety. He seemed to believe Wade's story that the house was his brother's, when in all probability it was some stranger's. But again, the mixed-up Wade did what he did for Richie. I noticed it was Wade who made the comment about their lunch feeling like a first date, and that's what solidified my view that Wade, in his own strange way, really did feel for Richie. Sadly, because of what happened next, we don't get to find out if that's the true Wade, or if he was just a manipulative bastard. The next few scenes were done well. It wasn't as strong as the first chapter, but we could certainly feel Richie's despair mixed with his general anger at life. At least that male doctor was aware enough to let Richie do what he wanted before returning him to bed and re-inserting the IV. Richie didn't need a confrontation at that point in time. But the way Richie feigned sleep to avoid his aunt and uncle -- the two people he recognises as caring for him -- is a potent reminder of Richie's abnormal mental state. And the final scene, where Richie tries to destroy himself and his father... He probably didn't think he had much to lose, since everyone at school believes he's gay, but he was still very blunt. It was as if he wanted everyone to know if it would take down his father at the same time. But even Richie recognised at the end that something was wrong.

Despite his obvious flaws, I can't help think that Wade honestly cares for Richie. I don't think Wade is mature enough for a long-term relationship, but he wants to make Richie happy...and that's not a bad thing. It was also good to see Gabe and Richie reconnect. There is still tension in a few areas -- Wade being the obvious one, but Freddy is still a sensitive point, too -- but Gabe has made the first move, and Richie hasn't rejected him. That's good, though there's still a long way to go. As for Richie's father, he's gone backwards again. It seems that when it comes to his son, he can't control his emotions. That's surprising, given his occupation, but it's not unusual. Most people have weak points in their mental walls, and Richie is clearly someone who can get into his father's head and mess with it. To be honest, in that exchange between them, in response to the comment about being irresponsible after being bought a phone, I expected Richie to respond with something like "I never asked you to buy me a phone in the first place!" An interesting point in the struggles between Richie and his father is how Gabe got the computer keyboard back. I wonder if Richie's father was simply waiting to be asked; that he was using it as a way to make Richie make the first move. If so, he must've decided that having Gabe ask was a good-enough first step. Either that, or it was Linda who Gabe asked and she returned the keyboard without Richie's father being aware of it. 😉

One of the things that has me wondering is exactly did Stephen do? Somehow, he's managed to get a large number of people to believe him when he's said Richie's gay, and I would've expected one or two to have questioned that. My best guess is that since he's Becky's brother, he told her, and she believed him. I think others would believe Richie's 'girlfriend' if she tells them he's gay, especially since she's previously been very clingy and passionate about him. The other thing I'm having trouble understanding is why none of the adults are putting together Richie's obvious mourning for his mother with his current behaviour? Yes, he's hated his father for a couple of years, but the loss of his mother has raised that hatred to an almost pathological level...and that's very concerning. Hating someone is not exceptional. Hating someone so much that they're destroying their own lives is something that needs attention.

Richie's father appears to be trying to mend fences, but he's a little inept at doing so. Yelling at Richie for not being there for dinner isn't a good way to start. However, it's interesting that he had the phone ready, as that implies he bought it for Richie before Richie failed to show up for dinner. Gabe is also putting his foot in it. I can appreciate that he thinks he's helping by warning Richie about Wade (who apparently doesn't have a good reputation at school), but he's pushing, rather than leading. If he really wants to help Richie, he needs to guide him, not force him. Unfortunately, that level of social skill is not common in fifteen-year-olds. As for Wade, he may not be the best person for Richie given his criminal activities, but all the signs are there that he cares for Richie, and that's exactly what Richie needs at the moment. Now, it could be that Wade is just using Richie for sex and money, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt...for now.

Thanks, Tim. I think it's fair to say that Eve was flustered. The fact that she was showing a negative attitude to homosexuality -- one of the two areas who father is negative on -- is a sign. Given how she's standing up against her father on the religion stance, you may have expected her to be more positive. She certainly didn't show any strong anti-gay opinions at the airport when she and Andrew met Jim, so her attitude in this chapter would seem a little incongruous. She might have a 'live-and-let-live' attitude to homosexuality in general, but she found herself challenged when it became a specific situation involving her younger brother. Neil spent five years keeping an eye out for bullies. While that was when he knew who the main bullies were, there would have been others that may have picked on him to win favour with the main bullies. So, he's had experience in being cautious. Unfortunately, because of the misconception as to the motive and target, he probably won't think to deliberately inform the Leopards. After all, they're only in Sydney for the weekend, and he doesn't expect anything to happen at that time -- it's at or going to/from the university that he believes Daphne, and maybe Mason and Liam, would be at risk. At the football to watch Deon play, or at the parade...he would probably consider those times to be safe. Thank you! Things are good, but busy. So, unfortunately, it'll be a while before the next chapter is posted. But I'll repeat my promise: I will finish this story. Neil has his moments. He's much more confident when he knows Liam's there to back him up. But even without Liam, he's gaining confidence in himself. Unfortunately, most of the Leopards won't be attending the afterparty. It's pretty much for gays, lesbians, and bisexual participants, and from what I've read, it can become pretty uninhibited. There will probably be some straights there, but they'll be a distinct minority.

Oliver smirked as Ben entered the kitchen for breakfast. “You’re looking better than you did yesterday afternoon.” Ben winced. “Please…don’t remind me. My dad rang me late last night when they finally arrived back home in Sydney to yell at me again.” Oliver’s expression softened. “He still wants you to make your sister and her boyfriend break up?” He rose and headed to the stove. “I’m making an omelette. Would you like one?” “Thanks.” Ben dropped into the nearest chair and rest

This reminds me of the reactions and feedback I received from my very first novel. It was written from the point of view of a homophobic teenager...and I was amazed when I had readers supporting him over the gay teenager. It was a good reminder to myself that things generally look reasonable and justifiable from one point of view, but shift that point of view to someone else and you can get a completely different picture. That's what I was alluding to when I said that Richie's father was saying the right words, but doing the wrong actions. We're not seeing things from his perspective, not seeing what he's thinking or feeling, and so we don't get a complete picture on why he's acting that way. He's still a bad parent (at least so far to Richie), but there may be some justification (even it's poor like he's had a really bad day at work) for his actions. We don't know.

One thing I found interesting is the disconnect between what Richie's father said and what he did. The words were correct, but his actions didn't align with the sentiment of the words. Yes, Richard was angry and frustrated, and I know how fear for Richie being missing can quickly turn to anger for causing that fear, but as a police detective, Richard should be in more control of his emotions. If I were feeling generous, I would say that Richard had the right thoughts but he expressed them poorly...but I'm not feeling generous. There's been too many examples of his controlling and dictatorial attitude for me to accept him. 😛 As for Gabe, again his heart was in the right place but he's inexperienced in managing what's going on. Despite the best intentions, he's said the wrong thing to Richie and just widened the gap between the. At least Richie is softening towards Freddy. While Richie is going to keep him at arms length, his defenses have a small hole in that area at the moment.

Please join the Author Promotion Team in congratulating Parker Owens as GA's newest Signature Author! Parker has been a member of GA for almost four years and was first promoted to Promising in September of 2017. Since joining, Parker has written several short stories, a couple of great novels, and a multitude of poetry. If you want to check out Parker's stories and poetry, you can visit his author page. It's definitely worth a visit! Please join us in congratulating Parker on his well deserved promotion.

Yeah, and what you've quoted @Timothy M. is why I think my guess is probably wrong...

Unless someone is playing games, they're not British. They used the American spelling for "recognize" instead of the British spelling "recognise". That could be deliberate, though, to put people off the scent. However, they know British actors (the Peter Cook reference), so they're probably someone who's spent time in Britain, or maybe an older Australian. I'm going to guess tallguyct, based on the clues of mainly writing historical fiction and not writing poetry or science fiction.

This chapter shows how emotionally unstable Richie is. The keying of his father's car was impulsive but not surprising, given his emotional state. Then there's Wade... Despite his initial reaction of rejection, Wade wore him down simply by being there for him. Richie needs emotional support, and for some reason he can't get it from Gabe (his usual support). I suspect it was allure of illegality that first had him smoke -- another way of thumbing his nose at his father, though I don't think he consciously thought that. Then, despite Wade's obvious criminal activities, Richie stayed with Wade because Wade was, in his own way, trying to be caring and supportive. Their common background of lost parents just serves to bind them closer together. Richie knows what he's doing isn't what his mother would've wanted, but he's having trouble stopping. Emotionally, he's all confused between his mourning for his mother and his hatred of his father. His father isn't helping either by keeping Richie away from Gabe and his aunt -- the two people who could help Richie re-establish his emotional footing. So, Richie has ended up with Wade, instead. Not the ideal person, but Richie needs someone, and his father has been closing off the other options.

Mary/Gary Sue characters are fine if you're not aiming for believability. Superman is an interesting character (though, as @Comicality said, I'd hate to write stories with him as the main character), but he's not particularly believable. Conan's another one where it could be argued he's a Gary Sue because he always wins (he's not universally popular, but he always seems to have the ability to solve any problem), but the stories are still interesting. However, I would personally argue that he's not a Gary Sue because he has too many flaws. Those flaws don't stop him from being successful, but he's more a talented protagonist that's not perfect. He wins, but he doesn't always win 100%. He might get the girl or the treasure, but he doesn't always get both... I can still remember one gay Gary Sue story I read at Nifty about a character who was a star athelete in three sports as a high school student/college freshman (two of them at the International level -- he played in the USA Olympic basketball team as a high schooler). He was also a talented musician, and had dreamt the winning numbers of the lottery when he was young so was also a multi-millionaire. I think that qualifies as a Gary Sue . Yes, he had flaws, being emotionally underdeveloped because of his experiences growing up in an orphanage, but they didn't appear very often. The story was set in his college freshman year and described his time as a fraterntity pledge, and how he fell in love. It was fun, it was interesting, but despite the main character being unbelievable, the story was memorable and enjoyable. Equally, I've read other stories with a gay Gary Sue, and I gave up on them. If I can't relate to the main character because he's so unbelievable, I need the other characters and the story itself to carry me along. Too many times that doesn't happen. In short, a story is more than the sum of all its parts. A Mary/Gary Sue character is okay, but it can be a negative to the story if they dominate too much. There needs to be a balance with enough of the focus being off that character to make the story interesting. I like tension, drama, conflict, doubt...and a story that revolves around a character's perfect life doesn't fit that equation.

Well, Richie did want his father to hate him... Hitting Richie was wrong in so many ways, but his father did try to apologise. However, it's clear that Richard is not cut out to be a father. You think he would've had to courtesy to inform Richie he would be sharing a bedroom, rather than present it as a fait accompli. I'd be upset, too, if someone did that to me. The only defence I can make for him is that he was intending to tell Richie that day (like he did with Andrew), but Richie went to school instead. But he still could've told him the day before. I understand that Richie thinks that reporting his father would be a waste of time because his father is a cop, but I don't understand why he lied to Gabe's family about it. I suspect that was just an instinctive reaction, rather than a considered response. Partly wanting to fix things himself, and partly not wanting to get Gabe's family involved. On other topics, I found Richie's wild mood swings very believable. He's struggling with the death of his mother, and that's being mixed with hatred for his father. He goes from depression to mania as the two conflicting emotions take successive control. He's coming over as a very human teenager...

Chapter 1 made it clear that Richie's parents separated while her cancer was in remission. So, his dad didn't leave while she was sick, but he equally didn't return when the cancer reappeared...

One of the things I love about this story is the complexity of the interactions. Richie's emotions are not one-dimensional. Yes, he hates his father and that colours everything when they interact, but his interactions with Linda and Freddy are more shaded. He wants to hate them, but he doesn't know them. He may call Linda names when he's talking about her, but his interaction with her was much more polite, though still aimed to thumb his nose at his father. He's got nothing against her personally, apart from the fact that his father left his mother to sleep with her. As for Freddy, Richie decided he's innocent in the matter and was civil to him. Oh, and I love the hair cutting incident A typical impulsive action that he soon regretted, but he laughed about it (and I suspect he was desperately in need of a laugh at that time). And Gabe was wonderful in finishing off the episode by using his experience at cutting his dog's hair to fix Richie's. Regarding the will, if Richard contested it (like he's threatened to do), a court would probably grant him custody of Andrew and Melinda because of their age since he's their father. After all, he has only been separated from his wife for a couple of years, so he was an active parent for most of their lives. Richie would probably be asked about his preference because he's older, but that would put him in the difficult position of whether he wanted to be separated from his siblings. The most likely reason the courts wouldn't grant custody was if there was reason to believe the children were at risk staying with him. That would be hard to prove, especially as he has a 'respectable' job. Yes, Richie's Aunt and Uncle could win in court, but can they afford the cost of fighting Richard? He says he's prepared to spend the money; do they have the money to spend to fight him?

That sounds plausible, but doesn't explain Tracy's comment about Jack not wanting a friend like him. It would've been more "I don't want a friend like you." There's something that is causing Tracy to feel he's bad news as a friend. Exactly what, we still don't know, though I think we can be pretty confident it has something to do with what happened at his last school. Maybe he had a closeted friend who he accidentally outed, with disastrous (and possibly tragic) consequences? That would explain why he's comfortable with an openly gay friend, but not a closeted one. One other thing, which I alluded to above: I'm not convinced Tracy is gay. I know the story description talks about whether Jack can be friends with an openly gay boy, but maybe that's talking about Jeff? The way Tracy said “You don’t like watching a gay boy dance?” may have him being sarcastic, though it's unclear in the text. I'm remembering the show Billy Elliot where a friend of Billy thought he must be gay because he's a male dancer, but Billy was straight. I'm wondering if the same is true here.

The story sounds familiar. It may be something that @Cia wrote. I'm fairly confident if it's the story I remember that it's here at GA because I haven't read much gay SF at other sites.

I'm still not sure about Tracy. Is he gay, bi, or straight-and-gay-friendly? He pushes away Jack, but he's friendly with Jeff. If Jack doesn't need a friend like him, why is it okay for Jeff? Is it because Jeff's been ostracised already, and being friends with a male dancer won't hurt him, but Jack would get a negative reaction from his friends if he did the same? As for Jimmy, I'm beginning to think he protesteth to much Again, he's happy ignoring Jeff, but he's become very defensive about Tracy. Maybe he's noticed Jack's attention being on Tracy and not himself... As for Jack's parents, they've really put their foot in it. None of it was malicious, but it hurt anyway. It's similar to what I call casual-homophobia. They didn't even realise they were being insulting and hurtful when they said what they said. It was what they considered to be the cultural norm, with no malicious intent. That didn't stop it from hurting Tracy and his parents, and making Jack wonder if he'll be able to come out to his parents.