huh?

Chase, your response is unusually blunt--even for you. Your recent writing is nervy, gritty, and very active, but if you want a good example of something approaching the status of 'masterpiece', start reading Mark's C.A.P. series, from beginning to end is recommended. As he says, you'll fall in love with some characters, cry over others and even hate more, still. However, the entire series taken together is truly a wonderully shining example of what a masterpiece should start out as.

If you don't like what I write, James, then don't read it dipshit.

I was saying "huh" because I have no idea what this all is. Why not elaborate and I might be interested in reading aforementioned "masterpiece".

Chase, he happens to be right. And why do you feel the need to name call anyway? It really isn't necessary.

As for the CAP series, it is in fact one of the best series I've came across on GA. He's right up there with Dom in my opinion. The stories take place in the past and cover major events in history, ones that often affect the characters in many ways. You should read it starting with Chronicles of an Academic Predator. This is only a suggestion though.

He happens to be right about what?

He's right that your responses to this post is remarkably blunt and make you seem unintelligent. Mark is talking about writing. He's talking about his own writing, specifically his Chronicles of an Academic Predator. Mark says as much in the opening sentence of the post. It is not an advertisement of said series, merely a way of letting his readership know his thoughts regarding the latest set of stories within the series, of which he posted the final chapter yesterday.

"Huh?" is, to put it mildly, a disrespectful response to such an offering. If you don't read his work, he's not talking to you. That you needed this explained to you makes me want to retract the word "seem" in the first sentence of this follow-up comment.

Enough of that.

As I think about my reactions to C.A.P., I was honestly surprised when you wrote here "I'm a great believer in giving people second chances," because, especially in "Be-Rad," and less so in "Man In Motion," and "Summer of Love," that did not seem to be the case. I came across a trope yesterday called "Ron As a Death Eater" that I felt fit those books fairly well. Once a person goes to the bad at all, that's it, they get written off completely. Any redeeming characteristics they may have once had either disappear or they become warped to the point that, for example a tendency to be boisterous becomes a tendency to become physically abusive. The clearest examples of this in your own work are how Brad views Billy and Jake. While it can be said that this is less your views speaking and more the fact that Brad is self-righteous my-doesn't-stink prick, often when a character falls out of favor with the main character of a book, circumstances keep any redemption from being not just likely, but possible at all. Billy dies shortly after his fight with Brad, and Jake is sent away to boarding school.

These are not the only examples, of course. I honestly wondered if Marcel was going to suffer the same mischief as Bitty. And it is these characters that made me realize that, in fact, your writing does offer second chances to its characters. Marcel took his, grabbed it with both hands, and was better of. As did Louis. However, once they blow that second chance, they're toast, as in the case of Bitty, Jake, Bruno, Sam, Jeff, and so forth.

I still hold Billy and Lark against you. That you turned these likable characters into a corpse and a user so that Brad and Marcel could grow as characters irks me.

Oh, yeah. I hold Armand against you too. Bastard.

Chase, Chase, Chase....when I say "nervy, gritty and very active" I mean that in a good way. Active writing is so much easier to read...did I say your story was poorly done?

No.

If you ever have doubts about what I'm saying, ask me for clarification.

On the contrary, I have PM'd you and told you it was good, before I even saw this blog comment...I was merely commenting on your style, and suggesting that you read Mark's voluminous work, as it is--as many others will also back up--very well done.

I'll ignore your calling me a "dipshit" since you're only freshly dipped here yourself.

That you turned these likable characters into a corpse and a user so that Brad and Marcel could grow as characters irks me.

Now be patient, I've got another story or two to write. Maybe Lark turns out alright in the end, who knows? And Billy, well, I haven't done a resurrection yet.

Resurrecting Billy? Sure... Now, Mark, I know you're like, 2nd in line to the throne for "King of Cliffhangers", but even I don't think you can pull a rabbit that big out of your proverbial hat.

You did surprise me, and a good few others, with more proof of Bill Hendrickson's rather unusual proclivity for getting "a little on the side"...as it were. Finding Jeff's kid in France was a big surprise (even a bigger surprise to find 'only one'), as it was to find the other french bastards. So--to be fair--I suppose you'll just have Billy walk back in to Escorial one day for dinner, out of the blue, and that it was a friend of his in the car, or someone else, and he had gotten pantsed or something to where is ID went with those in the car...

Speaking of the past catching up, we haven't heard mention in the two recent stories of the sculpture that Brad and Mouse did of JP and Jeff for JPs birthday...only of the large statue of Andre. Speaking of that, we haven't heard of any visits to the graves of Roger and Mouse, or the parents and Tonto back in Claremont, either. Sounds like it's almost time for another "obligatory" visit back to Claremont, OH, for the whole clan.

The only way, and this is quite a stretch is if it turned out that Billy faked his own death, but to do so, he would need yet another look alike, kill him, and let them think it's him. Considering the complexity of it, that's pretty far-fetched that a teen could do something like that. Plus, it would mean that he's, quite frankly, a monster.

Yeah, I know, I was joking. Resurrection is too reminiscent of organized religion, which I detest more than Dick Cheney. Maybe reincarnation? There's a thought. Have some young woman show up with Billy's soul?

OK, maybe that won't work either.

Shit.

Alright, you'll just have to be pissed at me about Billy.

I like reading what other people write about their own writing. Heh.

I've only read the first two stories. I didn't hate JP at the end of it -- I was just surprised that the other characters were so morally complicit (or immorally?). I didn't find that particularly believable. Howeeeever it was still a really good read, I'll probably read more when I've more time, and apparently you've addressed some of that in the later stories.

And -- hi Chase.

I'll give you Lark, because I think Lark in "A Summer Love" didn't match at all the Lark we had gotten to know in "Be Rad". I couldn't buy what Lark had turned into- we were never given any indication in "Be Rad" that Lark was a user, and what happened to him didn't make sense.

However, as early as "The Land Whore", we were given indication that Billy was a follower who didn't have a mind of his own, and throughout "Be Rad" we kept getting hints of that- that Billy was easily influenced by his asshole friends and didn't care enough about other people to stand up for them. How he treated Mouse wasn't surprising- that he had this little guy to pick on and sate his urges, and could use his physical strength to get him to do it. And what happened to Billy was sadly realistic- he rode with his friends who were driving drunk, and that is all too common with high schoolers and college kids.

Billy wasn't a horrible person- he was just a shallow 15-year old boy who was given an easy life and a great bod and took it all for granted. Most of us are not our best at 15. I'm sure that if Billy had been able to grow up, he would have been fine. But he never got that chance. I actually liked that Mark incorporated MADD into the story- the 1980's really seemed to be the decade where awareness about teen drunk driving deaths really went up.

It's interesting though that the Hayes are looking to pretty much fade out- Robbie didn't have a biological kid, and Marcel doesn't seem interested in having kids, either...so...it kinda makes me sad that there won't be a Gen 3 of Hayes along with the Gen 3 of the Schluters and the Cramptons.

As for what's next, I like the idea of 1997. 1999 would be good, too. I just feel like there needs to be at least one more story before we stop at 9/11.

One thing that I like is how Mark is developing the next generation of CAP with Darius, Will, and JJ. The custody fight storyline in "If It Fits" was a great way of letting us get to know the new kids, without letting it overtake what was going on with the story in general. Darius seems to be like Ace, but with a better control on his temper. Will is like Brad, and JJ seems to be someone who marches to the beat of his own drummer, and is never serious, and happy to try new things even if he sucks at them. That could be interesting- pitting a future Golden Boy like Will against an off-beat charmer like JJ. That could be very interesting for Mark to write.

Oh, and if he does 1999, Darius's college search will be pretty fun and interesting to read, I think.