[Report This]Date: May 15 2025 10:26 PM Title: Chapter 2 - Family Matters
What I lovable family!
Maggie had a little light teasing for Benjamin when she found out about his new job, but she seemed legitimately touched that he wanted to do his part too and was even willing to do something brave and maybe even a little degrading for the sake of the family. It actually made me smile when she said "Respect, bro," maybe a sign that your immersive second person voodoo is working!
Maria being concerned but also grateful and supportive was a good balance for her! It makes sense that they wouldn't know much about the shrinking tech, as it seems like that is more for the wealthy, and it's only natural that this would make her worry for her son's safety. I really feel for her, too. That line, "You shouldn't have to worry about these things," was really powerful coming from a parent. A single mom with two high schoolers at age 39? It sounds like she's had a hard life, but, despite that, she comes off as incredibly sweet and caring!
And, of course, Benjamin's dedication to his family is so endearing. Despite the situation they're in, he's not bitter at all. It would be really easy to just be angry that his family is struggling and repeat "It's not fair" over and over again. But he's accepted their situation and wants to do what he can to improve it. He doesn't want his family to have to shoulder all the burden on their own, even though they clearly didn't expect him to help out financially. And there's just the calm about him throughout it all; he doesn't even seem nervous or worried in the least. He's just happy to help his mother and sister. You've really done an excellent job in making a likable main character!
So yeah, this was a great little set-up chapter. And now that we have a clearer understanding of Benjamin's situation, I'm only more eager to see how this new job is going to go for him!
Author's Response:
Actually funny you should mention it now that he's calm and doesn't seem nervous or worried at all, since this next chapter I had lined up went into detail about his fears concerning this job (and I have a couple of chapters done already)
Would've been easy to just skip ahead to the job and get to the 'good stuff' and as much as I would like to, that's not how I roll!