User blog comment:Chesha/Hello everybody!/@comment-4059927-20120623190026/@comment-4369319-20120627003030

I think Gary, as an antagonist, is great in the idea-- a manipulative and silver-tongued kid who tries to win over you by playing politics? GRRRREAT!

You do raise some interesting points, Hua, but I think the reason why kids listened to him is because he's probably observed them long enough to figure out what makes them tick. Russell doesn't like mom being talked about, Tad gets sensitive about his brother, etc. Most of the time the kids throw around 'sociopath' rather loosely, Algie's probably the only one who used it in the right context XD; No doubt he's crazy, but he's also got a way with words.