Bugger. I DIDN'T comment yesterday (I downloaded the story onto my iPhone at home and then read it on the bus, but that's neither here nor there; I OUGHT to have gone straight to the computer to comment when I got home!).
ANYWAY. I had strange urges to steal the art for this, really -- the picture of Teddy on the cottage floor, particularly.
And I can totally see Harry as the "I am going to be tolerant if it kills me" kind of god/father, and thinking that by not spewing homophobic vitriol, he's being "supportive." I love how the rest of the family sees right through this--that Ginny's not making excuses, that Lily's like, "ARE YOU BLIND??". And also, I thought that it was plenty realistic for a dad to freak out when he comes upon his post-adolescent son getting buggered by his six-years-older godson.
Poor Teddy. You really got the sense of alienation down really well. I just want to cuddle him and make it all better. Even though I really can't. And I wonder whether maybe Finland weren't a better place for him.
And JAMES. Holy shit. I can so very much relate to James's reluctance to come out to his parents even though EVERYBODY ELSE KNOWS. Parents are the hardest to tell, IMO, because (for most of us), we are the proof of their heterosexuality, and it's so hard, especially for oldest children, to say, "Mum and Dad, I'm not the same as you." (My own dad's apparent attitude towards gay people was not unlike Harry's in the years before I came out, though he didn't react nearly as badly when I finally told him). James reacts just as I would expect him to react, and I love how he leaves home and searches for Teddy, and knows that he can't really escape the watchful eyes of his parents' friends, but can't be arsed to care too much.
I thought you told this story really, really sensitively, bb. It's one of my favourites of yours yet.
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ANYWAY. I had strange urges to steal the art for this, really -- the picture of Teddy on the cottage floor, particularly.
And I can totally see Harry as the "I am going to be tolerant if it kills me" kind of god/father, and thinking that by not spewing homophobic vitriol, he's being "supportive." I love how the rest of the family sees right through this--that Ginny's not making excuses, that Lily's like, "ARE YOU BLIND??". And also, I thought that it was plenty realistic for a dad to freak out when he comes upon his post-adolescent son getting buggered by his six-years-older godson.
Poor Teddy. You really got the sense of alienation down really well. I just want to cuddle him and make it all better. Even though I really can't. And I wonder whether maybe Finland weren't a better place for him.
And JAMES. Holy shit. I can so very much relate to James's reluctance to come out to his parents even though EVERYBODY ELSE KNOWS. Parents are the hardest to tell, IMO, because (for most of us), we are the proof of their heterosexuality, and it's so hard, especially for oldest children, to say, "Mum and Dad, I'm not the same as you." (My own dad's apparent attitude towards gay people was not unlike Harry's in the years before I came out, though he didn't react nearly as badly when I finally told him). James reacts just as I would expect him to react, and I love how he leaves home and searches for Teddy, and knows that he can't really escape the watchful eyes of his parents' friends, but can't be arsed to care too much.
I thought you told this story really, really sensitively, bb. It's one of my favourites of yours yet.