Insightful stuff about nerds usually means Paul Graham =)
The line seems to reflect something c!Stephen picked up, rather than something he was explicitly told. Still, it's not a good atmosphere for a kid to grow up in. And c!Stephen seems to have internalized a sense of responsibility for his mother; l!Stephen, meanwhile, has internalized a sense of responsibility for everyone in the world.
This Stephen also has a tendency to give unusually extravagant presents, and go out of his way to be giving even to people he doesn't know very well. So the gift basket isn't necessarily a sign that he considers Jon special, because he would make the same gesture for almost anyone. On the other hand, there aren't going to be a lot of such signs in the first place: l!Stephen also goes out of his way not to treat anyone with what he thinks of as "favoritism."
I've definitely written some Stephens that are too far over the edge to get anything good from Jon ^_^; But this version is well on the way to "long-term monogamous relationship, with manageable levels of dysfunction" status. (Which is a long-winded way of saying: a happy ending.)
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The line seems to reflect something c!Stephen picked up, rather than something he was explicitly told. Still, it's not a good atmosphere for a kid to grow up in. And c!Stephen seems to have internalized a sense of responsibility for his mother; l!Stephen, meanwhile, has internalized a sense of responsibility for everyone in the world.
This Stephen also has a tendency to give unusually extravagant presents, and go out of his way to be giving even to people he doesn't know very well. So the gift basket isn't necessarily a sign that he considers Jon special, because he would make the same gesture for almost anyone. On the other hand, there aren't going to be a lot of such signs in the first place: l!Stephen also goes out of his way not to treat anyone with what he thinks of as "favoritism."
I've definitely written some Stephens that are too far over the edge to get anything good from Jon ^_^; But this version is well on the way to "long-term monogamous relationship, with manageable levels of dysfunction" status. (Which is a long-winded way of saying: a happy ending.)
♥