peter rietbergen

I'm not normally given to moist eyes, but was after reading this. And no, I do not - do not at all - agree with those who blame the three family members. Eric was more than wonderful. He doesn't condemn. He sees. He accepts. Were the parents coldhearted? No they weren't. The father - what did we expect, what could w expect, the more so since we also know he will definitely try. And the mother? She was as wonderful as she could be, given her character, her marriage, her pre-determined roles in life and society.

A hugely enjoyable chapter! If Neil gets more Roses, he'll thrive.

Funny? Yes. But otherwise! In real life, who is going to teach a boy like Max some manners, if not the likes of Gabriel, or the teacher, or the headmaster, or his mother. In the end he will remain insufferable.

A masterfully contrived scene. Not Margot's Perfect Plan, but the chaos that reflects the emotions everyone present is somehow experiencing. Bravo.

Well, it is your privilege as an author to introduce as many twists and turns as you like. It is our privilege to like them - or not....😔

Harry dieys need therapy - and/but I am not sure Lewis is going to heal him. The way you sketch James he could not become Harry's golden retriever - that would be cheating on your readers....

And now for something completely different in the Topherverse...Admittedly not my kind of story, BUT: very well done.

And, by the way: is Max going to be a younger version of Ben in one of your earlier stories?

At my school, the headmaster wouldn't have tolerated bullying, or, for that matter, everything this boy does. But then in my country parents cannot decide what a school will tolerate or not....

All nicely wrapped-up and shipshape....

And I forget one important point: of course AI gets more creative when it is fed with more detailed, creative prompts. I've experimented with it, not in GA- like stories but in historical romance. It can, e.g., create quite convincing, personalised dialogues...

Actually, I disagree with many of you, in the sense that a considerable number of stories on GA are grammatically and otherwise stylistically quite a bit less competent than this one is. Moreover, all of it is of course simply distilled from - let's be honest - text databases as are, precisely, GA and such. As to the sex scenes: Of all the stories I follow on GA, very few succeed in surprising or excite me. Most are boringky formulaic. With Accolla I agree: The best ones are those that describe the least....

However much this is not what your readers want, it is, given the way you've created Owen, entirely convincing. Strangely, of course O's decision not to enter the Admissions' Building mirrors R's decision not to start on a course - no pun intended - to alter his own life at least a bit...

Let Neil visit the Art Nouveau furniture in the Musee d'Orsay. Far easier than Nancy....

So the non-consummation offers the protagonists , or rather the author and his story an escape route....