In many ways, your stepchild reminds me of myself growing up.

I had a very active fantasy world when I was 13, only mine involved Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, etc. I had detailed theories about Dragons, the Aliens from the Alien franchise, and every other fandom that I got into.

This made me a popular kid in creative writing. Not so much elsewhere. But I survived and I grew up and I'm a fairly functioning adult now. So while I know you posted this a while ago, (On my 31st birthday coincidentally) I hope this can still be of some help to you.

This I would address pretty quickly because these are serious threats and those kids need to learn that in this day and age, such comments cannot be allowed to slide. Even if you can't get the school on board, a report to the police department might be a good idea so that you have something on record. This is only case something does happen.

You may not be able to change how he reacts to their words and actions. The good news is he is sticking up for himself, just not in the way you would like, which I can understand. I was never very physical either.

Every situation is different. I think what helped me was that I did have some very minor support from my family. At the very least, my mother never tried to force me to be anything I wasn't. She let me be an individual and figure things out for myself. I'm not saying you don't respect your child's individuality, I'm just saying that for the time being, it might be a good idea to focus on the positive aspects of his personality.

Does he get into trouble with the law? Is he on drugs? He likes Minecraft and Lego? Perfect. There's a Lego store in many malls that he could get a job in. He might be perfect for it.

If he likes the idea that he could turn his passions into a career, that could be a good starting point in trying to help him with interpersonal relationships.

I hope that's helpful in someway. Like I said, your son is basically me at 13, so I can empathize greatly.