When she calls Erasmo red flags should be going up,lol.

This is the deus ex machina explanation that editors really want novelists to avoid.  What we look for is a flawed character who does battle with his demons, and wins the day with his own grit and determination. Fetish porn lies on one side of this divide, Clearly, there is a substantial audience for this sort of thing on this site.  On the other side lie works of fiction that, from a professional point of view, can be very polished but not fare well because the demographic being chased on this site is small.  Over time, we have lost some talented writers because their work was not being well received.  It is always my hope that their talent is being recognized elsewhere.    

I've known since childhood that of me and my siblings, I was the hardest to get potty trained.  And in discussions with Mom once a medical issue hit, that I was still in diapers on my 4th birthday.  I was out by my fifth birthday, but don't remember the process or timing.... The "baby book" which allowed parents to note development during the first 5 years of life, had a place for potty training under 2 years of age, which my parents left blank.

I can't argue with your wisdom.   Don't get me wrong, I know that the theme is common in this genre and I don't fault Les Lea for it, rather I praise the work as a whole.  Speaking for my own comments, I was only alluding to the feelings I get while reading it.  You're absolutely right that is up to Jason to help himself in this scenario.  It doesn't seem like he has any desire or ability to.  He seems a naive boy who only knows how to react and not so much to plan or problem solve, so I'm not sure (based on the direction that this seems to be taking) that will happen.   Again, the story is top notch, I just have a preference for stories where the character DOES fight back.  Say Diane breaks him...  then what?  He's gonna be a 15 year old baby and that's it.  Now, if he still has school, a life, vacations, etc and some sort of manhood to fight for, that makes for an exciting battle with step mom. Unless it's a red herring...  MAYBE Les Lea wants us all to think that this was just too easy for Diane.  There was a clue dropped a few comments back about Daddy possibly coming to the rescue.    While I agree that Jason seems like a lost cause, there's a chance that there's more story left to tell than we realize.  Maybe the "whipped" father will see that Jason is actually going the wrong way and will show him just enough of the love and support (that he hasn't been) to convince him to fight back.  All speculation, but fun.

Furry