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Post by PaulR5 on Jun 7, 2021 2:04:57 GMT -5
Dave, this is one of your best SS stories yet.
And you even managed to get Nate in there.
The four of them -- Grayson, Foster, Seth, and Logan, have some interesting times ahead.
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Post by Dabeagle on Jun 7, 2021 8:47:45 GMT -5
Thank you, Paul. It was written with Cynus's blessing as he has no further plans in this universe. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
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Post by baddius on Jun 28, 2021 16:18:19 GMT -5
Love it!
I must say, I never liked Foster. I don't like casual drug or alcohol usage of ANY kind. Call me a prude, but I have personal reasons for this.
In hindsight, Foster was self-medicating (I assume) when we first met him under Cynus. It's understandable that he was coping using a crutch, given his circumstances. Given the fact that it's a prescription now, I'm glad to see him getting help. Prescriptions are preferable to self-administered marijuana usage, since the effects are being monitored.
Anyways, I immediately recognized Foster as having a panic attack, being very familiar with them myself.
I am glad to see that Foster is developing a network of friends.
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Post by Dabeagle on Jun 28, 2021 17:01:53 GMT -5
You're right, when we first meet Foster he's in a bad place - has been through things that we may not understand. Feeling trapped, as some who fall down the path of addiction do, he sought to stop the pain.
His arc isn't unique in terms of using any kind of substance to achieve a high or lubricate social interaction. These days kids are after vaping in addition to marijuana and alcohol, with which I've had do deal with my own children. However I do think it's a common item in teenagedom, I certainly know it was in my own youth. I have mostly used that feature as a negative, but it can also be used in storytelling as a neutral. I can't think of a situation in which I'd use it as a positive.
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Post by baddius on Jun 28, 2021 18:45:27 GMT -5
Of course no one can understand him. He's a teenager and, as such, perceives emotion 5x stronger than adults. Its unimaginable what he went through with his brother and compounded by the fact that he feels he cannot admit it to anyone. His parents, judging from how they blamed Griffin for Royce's suicide, would tell him to stop dragging his brother's good name through the mud. Society in general would dismiss it because "boys can't be raped!" At best, many people would take it as proof he was "turned" gay and, at worst, would assume he enjoyed it, since he is gay and it would have otherwise turned him away (because "being gay is a choice"). Not even sure if he could safely discuss it with his therapist without it getting back to his parents (pretty sure juvenile therapists are mandated reporters).
Foster is going through hell.
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Post by Dabeagle on Jun 30, 2021 20:38:57 GMT -5
Of course no one can understand him. He's a teenager and, as such, perceives emotion 5x stronger than adults. Its unimaginable what he went through with his brother and compounded by the fact that he feels he cannot admit it to anyone. His parents, judging from how they blamed Griffin for Royce's suicide, would tell him to stop dragging his brother's good name through the mud. Society in general would dismiss it because "boys can't be raped!" At best, many people would take it as proof he was "turned" gay and, at worst, would assume he enjoyed it, since he is gay and it would have otherwise turned him away (because "being gay is a choice"). Not even sure if he could safely discuss it with his therapist without it getting back to his parents (pretty sure juvenile therapists are mandated reporters). Foster is going through hell. I'm sorry, I think I may have given you the wrong idea from my comments - poorly phrased. I think it's hard to understand the allure of and why people fall for things like drugs and alcohol. Sometimes the slide is slow and unintended, and other times it becomes the goal - to get wasted at every opportunity. At this stage, Foster has gone to counseling, his parents know, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have scars. It's much easier in any circumstance to say what a person should do than it is to actually follow through and do a thing. Foster has demons that haunt him, demons I will never (thankfully) fully understand. Foster is hard to like because he's prickly, untrusting and it doens't matter to many that he has reason - because we only see the surface. I think that's true for most people. We are a visual species and we make judgments on appearance all the time, for instance trusting someone because of their level of grooming or because they wear something we are generally coded to trust such as a uniform. Foster's world has shrunk to the point that he's barely holding himself together some days, and he loathes himself for feeling that way. His issues will likely follow him his entire life. I hope he grows more likeable as time goes on, but most of the time I just feel sorry for him. |
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