Hermetically Sealed

I don't think Richard's personality is so flip flopping, as Richie's perceptions. Remember, nearly the entire story is purely Richie's opinion of what is going on. He is the one who prescribed motives, and interpreted events. As he's learned more about past events, his views (and the telling of the story) have shifted along side them.

Well, technically Freddie and Harley are nothing to Andrew. They're just baggage that came with the new bitch that sperm donor has been playing house with. Umm, technically they are his step brothers. You are basically demanding that Andrew and Richie punish them for something their parents did. Like it or not, they are step brothers now. The two younger boys don't get the nuances of the situation, and punishing them for something they had no say in is wrong. This vitriol towards both Harley and Freddie is fairly unwarranted.

I think people need to keep some perspective on what Richie is dealing with. To start off, lets remember he is 15 and was about 12-13 years old when his father walked out. His first time meeting his "step family" was by accident when he saw his father with (what Richie most likely felt) was his family's replacement. At that same age, he was having to take care of his younger two siblings and his dying mother. That is a tremendous amount to place on anyone, much less someone barely a teen. Two years of carrying that burden nearly alone, and his father suddenly decides he's going to be in their lives again, goes against his mother's wishes and moves the "replacement" family into Richie's home and forces the children to stay with him, rather than their aunt and uncle. He does this fully expecting everyone to act as if nothing had happened, then gets angry and physical when Richie fails to just play along. Yeah, it isn't surprising Richie has made many objectively bad choices. But, he was also dealing with inordinate stresses, while not getting the mental health support he needed. Add on the situation with Wade's death, literally weeks after his mother died and his father decided to bully his way into Richie's life, things cannot rationally be expected to go well. Keep in mind, this entire story from his mom's funeral to now has only been maybe a month, month and half. In a perfect setting, yes, Richie is being an ass. In context of what he has been dealing with, and the age at which he has had to, I cannot in good faith make that same determination.

. . . . . i like Writing for Joe . . . .

Probably because like many victims of rape, he blames himself for what happened. It is not uncommon for rape victims to feel they brought it on themselves, that if they tell others will blame them, discard them, be ashamed of them. His reaction is actually pretty textbook.

You might go back a reread the beginning of the story. the whole back and forth in the beginning, jerking Noah around emotionally, jumping in to date his best firend in an attempt to kind of prove himself, then dumping her so he could date Noah. He was not over Noah when he started to date Brody, hasn't exactly been honest about it, and as soon as he saw Noah started basically trying to work getting Noah closer. I think this constant anti-Noah rhetoric tends to ignore Jordan's own problematic issues. If anything, the revised version has kinda made Jordan less of a using jerk than he was in the original, but he's still kinda is. Frankly, I find both of their flaws make them kind of better characters. They're young, they're naive, and they are both making horrible mistakes, but at the heart of it the are neither bad people. They just don't have the luxury of witnessing their actions from a safe spot outside.

Oh, snap!

One of the nice things about having read the previous version is getting to see the changes. I appreciate the expansion on the home scene. Can't wait to see what you do with the rest. ^^

It's always easy to judge others from the outside. Everyone thinks they are better, that they would be different. In the actuality, however, every situation is different. We are not all the same, we do not all handle situations perfectly, nor are we all given the benefit of ideal situations in which to learn to make those "correct" decisions. I think it would also be good to consider that Noah has been raised in an emotionally abusive household. Deviating was punished not just through passive aggressive anger, but also withholding of affection until he complied. Noah was conditioned to be dependent, and to crave that approval from his parents. For someone in that situation, breaking away is a very frightening concept, even if they understand that the relationship is toxic.

I had read the original version a while back over on Nifty, but I have to say, the changes flow much better. Can't wait to see how it goes from here. ^^ I can sympathize with Noah. When you are raised by strict, dominate parents, and are not yourself a forceful person, it can make it very difficult to untangle yourself from their sphere of influence. It's a conditioning thing. It takes a lot of emotional effort to get away.

Never underestimate the annoyance assumed by the many who would much rather their precious status quo be left undisturbed. It's not that they support the abusers, it's just they feel unduly inconvenienced. There's also a pretty healthy dose of "why am I being punished for something I didn't even do?" lurking in their self imagined inconvenience.

My two cents is that Alex came off as trying to get something going between Aron and Carter, as from his point of view Carter's issue seems to hinge on Alex cheating with Simon. If Aron cheats with Carter, then obviously his cheating with Simon wouldn't be a big deal. Not saying that was the case, but Alex was certainly going out of his way to make sure Aron got a good look at Carter.

I have a feeling much of Sebastian's interest is due to his competitive nature. he sees getting Noah as a "win" over Jordan.

It would seem odd if Carter pushed Alex, yet got hurt worse. Seems to me it is more likely that (assuming Carter did push Alex) Carter was trying to knock him out of the way, and ended up getting the brunt of the truck.

I agree with others saying that Tom and Robbie are misinterpreting the call with Alex.