MIllennium

[gjtravel2a]

A truly amazing chapter that answers so many questions in well-developed and believable fashion while moving the story forward in a rather exciting manner. It is good to see 'our guys' beginning to go on a logical business offensive and not having to be as reactive. There are no easy answers for Brad & Robbie, but they are taking the time now to explore themselves and their future both together and as individuals. Just a thought, could the 'connection' be Brian yet again mucking things up?

 

Thanks for taking us on this journey Mark, it is a great ride! gj

 

 

[Mark Arbour]

A truly amazing chapter that answers so many questions in well-developed and believable fashion while moving the story forward in a rather exciting manner. It is good to see 'our guys' beginning to go on a logical business offensive and not having to be as reactive. There are no easy answers for Brad & Robbie, but they are taking the time now to explore themselves and their future both together and as individuals. Just a thought, could the 'connection' be Brian yet again mucking things up?

 

Thanks for taking us on this journey Mark, it is a great ride! gj

 

 

 

I'm glad you liked this one. I did too! My favorite is still a couple of chapters away.

[centexhairysub]

Well, damn, chapter 34 was a doozy..... I was glad that Robbie was there for Brad, and I think no matter what they will always be friends if nothing else. I had figured the Keving being the cousin thing out long ago but had no idea that the person behind Omega would be his biological father's wife... Yikes, talk about a woman scorned. For her to spend this many years obsessed about this shows real mental instability, should she be running a major defense contractor??? LOL...

 

Well it appears we have another mole in some shape or another, afterall, someone had to be the one to finally tell her who Brad was, is this Brian coming back into play? I wonder if the old family secrets had been spilled to him before he was banished from the family? Oh and we are gonna get Brad some half brothers; one a navy man, even if he doesn't play, maybe some hot SEAL friends, and another that is already gay...

 

Damn, can't wait for the next chapter, keep up the good work.....

[rjo]

Again another amazing chapter. I thought that the mastermind was a woman. I think Stef is right about how to handle the situation. Brad should met Captain Mike first. It could be a good beginning. I think I understand the purpose of the story. All this has happened even the evil parts for good. After this maybe Brad will be healed from all his childhood trama. A happier more settled person hopefully with Robbie his soul mate at his side. That would truly be a happy ending.

 

Who is the evil person who told Aunt Alex about Brad? Could it be Brian would he have known about Brad's history?

[gjtravel2a]

I wonder if 1/2 bro Capt Mike is brought to us in prep for 9/11.....A family member who can also be the sacraficial lamb to the coming horror?

[Conner]

I wonder if 1/2 bro Capt Mike is brought to us in prep for 9/11.....A family member who can also be the sacraficial lamb to the coming horror?

 

So, do you get these thoughts a lot?

 

We haven't even met this dude and you got the bugler playing taps!!!

 

Maybe you were a Boy Scout and just like to be prepared???

[Caedus]

Nah, it wouldn't make sense to bring him in to just kill him off.

 

Wade however could easily be in DC or in NY on 9/11....

[gjtravel2a]

So, do you get these thoughts a lot?

 

We haven't even met this dude and you got the bugler playing taps!!!

 

Maybe you were a Boy Scout and just like to be prepared???

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

lol, well, never a boy scout and yes, I do get these thoughts a lot!!

 

Guess I am hoping for a secondary player to experience this disaster through. Though we all know it is coming and that Mark will handle it in his usual excellent fashion with undoubtably a surprise or three, I am personally finding a sense of dread thinking about it. (I don't obsess, really!). It will be the first 'fictionalized' account I will have read and am now exploring why I dread the thought so. Good writing does take us on an internal journey and for whatever reasons, this one is potentially painful for us all on some level, eh?

[rjo]

I'm hoping Brian is in the WTC. Some of the others could be just in NYC during it but not in the building. I felt the horror even on TV. Being there must have been worse. It would be hard to lose any of the major characters. They are like friends. I am wondering if Max and Father Tim are going away.

 

Back to the Millennium storyline: I think that Brad's half brother Mike the one in the Navy will react positive to Brad. Maybe just maybe Mike and Brad along with Kevin can work on Aunt Alex. If I remember right, JP invited Matt's parents to stay over so that they could get to know the family and look how that worked out. It didn't work with Robbie's mother however. It's a gamble but so is life.

 

I am wondering if we have met Aunt Alex could she be the one who picked up Brandon after he was let go?

 

Mark is writing a mystery and slowly we are getting some of the pieces. Both Millennium and the Box were, however in the Box we were mostly sure Steven died. This story is totally open almost anything could happen. We are looking for clues along the way. I guess that is the reason I check back for a new chapter twice a day.

[gjtravel2a]

I concur with your idea about Brian and the WTC!

 

I also wonder if Auntie Alex runs a public company and if some of that load of cash Brad/Stef have could be re-directed to that industry. Once the deals Auntie's group funded help tank their stock in late spring, it would be ripe for the picking and sweet revenge!

Edited September 27, 2010 by gjtravel2a

[Tiger]

Now, now. Brian can be redeemed! There's no need for him to die.

 

That was a good chapter. Brad's aunt sounds like a horrible woman. Maybe JP needs to have her taken care of. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Hermetically Sealed]

I'm glad you liked this one. I did too! My favorite is still a couple of chapters away.../../public/style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif

 

You could always go ahead and post them so that we can see how great they are too. Just a suggestion . . .

[methodwriter85]

Nah, it wouldn't make sense to bring him in to just kill him off.

 

Wade however could easily be in DC or in NY on 9/11....

 

Aside from that...he's in the Navy Base in Southern California. Did the Navy even fight much or at all during the Iraq War? Were he a firemen for New York City, I'd be worried. The only way for him to die is if he somehow gets transferred to work in the Pentagon, but he seems high-ranking enough that it feels unlikely he'd get switched like that.

 

I'm kinda surprised that Mark resisted the temptation to send Darius to college in New York City, but I do agree with him that UC Berkely or UCLA seems like more of a fit with him. I'm sure Mark will find another way to have Darius in NYC- the drama of looking Arabic in NYC on 9/11 is just too much to resist.

 

And then there's Wade. Really, thinking of the massive amount of connections this guy has- there's no way 9/11 won't hit him in some way. He has to know way too much of the DC/NYC crowd for him to be unaffected by 9/11.

 

But I'm betting there will be some 9/11 connections that will completely surprise us- which is how it all worked. I remember a story of a guy who rescued a woman who later died from her burn wounds, only to discover later that his sister and 4-year old niece died in the flight that was supposed to go to California for their trip to Disneyland.

 

As for Brian...I'm getting the feeling that if it is him behind everything, Brian likely won't live to see 2001. He's going to get whacked before that. But even then- I don't know- if Mark's going to kill characters off in 9/11, it would seem way too easy for him to only kill off the villains.

Edited September 28, 2010 by methodwriter85

[Canuk]

at the rate lovers turn into relatives, Mark is going to have to whack a few friends as well as villains otherwise we are going to have a cast of thousands all interelated and all sleeping with their cousin/uncle/step-relation (which could be between one and three people)

 

either way I am sure i will be fun - Mark's not bad at a decent whacking!!

[mmike1969]

yes the navy did a LOT during the Gulf War... Tomahawk missles, kept the Gulf clear of enemy ships, pirates, transported Marines... Things like that.

 

And I agree with Conner! Why are we already killing off characters we have not met???

[gjtravel2a]

yes the navy did a LOT during the Gulf War... Tomahawk missles, kept the Gulf clear of enemy ships, pirates, transported Marines... Things like that.

 

And I agree with Conner! Why are we already killing off characters we have not met???

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

From my perspective, for precisely the reason you stated. Tis easier to send the faceless to meet their death than those we hold and hold dear....

[methodwriter85]

yes the navy did a LOT during the Gulf War... Tomahawk missles, kept the Gulf clear of enemy ships, pirates, transported Marines... Things like that.

 

And I agree with Conner! Why are we already killing off characters we have not met???

 

I don't mean the Persian Gulf War, which is "seven years ago" for our characters. I meant the Iraq War, which is a little over three years away. It might be interesting to kill off Brad's half-brother in Iraq...but...Mark's already brought Brad to the place of losing his brother, and he's already brought Brad to the place of losing a soldier relative. I don't think Mark really wants to repeat himself here by having Brad deal with losing his soldier relative yet again. And I thought Iraq War was more about the Marines and Army, not so much about the Navy.

 

I kinda don't think there's much a point in doing 9/11 story where Mark only kills off people who the characters don't actually care about. He might wind up not killing anyone off at all, but I don't think there's much a point in having the characters lose people in 9/11 if they didn't actually care about them. The Brian solution of him being at WTC just seems way too much like the easy way out for Mark.

[B1ue]

Every branch of the military contributed to the Iraqi conflict, though you are correct in that it was mainly Marines and Army, along with as the Coast Guard.

 

Personally, I don't see much point in doing a 9/11 story at all. Acknowledge that it happened, let it affect the characters, as several other historical events have been allowed to influence the story, but it doesn't necessarily have to be about that event. As you've implied, we on the West Coast had a bit of distance to that event. The anger, fear, sorrow, and fierce pride were ours as much as any Americans, but not many had a personal stake in it as far as I could see. One way I could see it affecting the story would be if Darius chooses to enlist or seek officer canidicy, as a hell of a lot of people his age and mine did (if I'm figuring right, I'm one year younger than Darius, class of 2002), but we've been there done that and Brad/JP would kill him himself.

[methodwriter85]

As you've implied, we on the West Coast had a bit of distance to that event. The anger, fear, sorrow, and fierce pride were ours as much as any Americans, but not many had a personal stake in it as far as I could see.

Right, and that was my original thought, but then Mark added in the Danfields of D.C. Mark added in a tie to the East Coast that the story didn't really have before Bloodlines. (Well, aside from a lot of the characters attending college there.) The Danfields being from Washington, D.C. and being a very powerful and connected East Coast family- that changed my original thought that no one is going to be all that connected to the shock and hysteria of 9/11. And now Brad's got family that lives in Connecticut "just outside of New York City". It's like Mark has been slowly and organically giving the Cramptons and Schluters reasons for being on the East Coast at the time of 9/11.

 

The other thing that I thought about- Matt's good friend/former hook-up buddy from Bloodlines,John Carullo, is from North New Jersey. That area got hit pretty hard by 9/11. Was John Carullo a freshmen in Bloodlines like Matt was, or was he older? Could it be possible that by the time of 9/11 John Carullo's already done with college and back home in North New Jersey, maybe working in New York City like a lot of people from that area do? Maybe Matt panics and tries to call John but sees that the cell phones are blocked? That could be a great way for Mark to show the kinds of things that happened that day.

 

One way I could see it affecting the story would be if Darius chooses to enlist or seek officer canidicy, as a hell of a lot of people his age and mine did (if I'm figuring right, I'm one year younger than Darius, class of 2002), but we've been there done that and Brad/JP would kill him himself.

What I see happening would be JJ or Will having friends who went to Iraq or Aghanistan. It's right for their age group to have at least one friend in Iraq.

Edited September 29, 2010 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

I guess it'll depend on the narrator of the moment. If it's still Brad, he'll be shaken, especially if his new-found family is there, but his world won't be. Kevin, of course, would have a different perspective. If we've returned to Matt or moved to one of the other kids, it'll be a bit larger, as that was really the first big world event for our age group, unless our parent's were unlucky enough to loss big in the tech crash or were affected by the various bombings in the nineties. We were too young to really get the Cold War ending, and spent our childhood as members of the premier and sole world power. 9/11 was a shock to the system beyond the scope of the disaster itself, but I think most everyone older than us remembered well enough the eighties, when children said what they'd be <i>if</i> they grew up, or Vietnam, or nuclear emergency drills.

 

What I see happening would be JJ or Will having friends who went to Iraq or Afghanistan. It's right for their age group to have at least one friend in Iraq.

 

Darius is still the better candidate for that. Not only would his friends be there right from the start, but as you said, Will and JJ would have at least one friend in Iraq. Out of my close friends from high school, I'm the only guy that didn't enlist, and that was because I'm asthmatic and couldn't. And, admittedly, because my mother would have killed me herself.

 

Edited to add: While I doubt Darius will have as high a percentage as I did, I have not doubt it will be high. My reading of him is that he's the type that, if he feels compelled to go to college or trade school, it's because that's what's expected rather than out of some true desire or need. And, probably, not all of his friends even go to school, many jump right into a career, or decided to put it off for one reason or another. These are the people that were most likely to enlist as an immediate response to 9/11, even if they dropped out of school to do it.

[gjtravel2a]

Y'know, it is kinda funny concentrating on the potential for 911 when we have a great story that is still unfolding. It was interesting when pointed out that the 911 story might be the first, in effect, 'real-time' story for many of the readers. However, there are those of us (at least me! ) who are old enough to have lived through other aspects of these stories. Heck, I still remember second grade bringing home a slip of paper for my parents to sign about what to do if the Cuban Missle Crisis turned to thermonuclear war:nuke: .

 

The current tale takes place smack dab in the middle of my 'middle career'. I was deeply involved in the tech industry in the areas being written about and find it less a story and more a memory or visitation! Perhaps that is also why I am personally enjoying the discussion threads so much for it seems the fan base is across a wide variety of ages and experiences. Thanks Mark for providing a product and a forum to bring a diverse together with such rabid loyalty:worship: .

[methodwriter85]

We were too young to really get the Cold War ending, and spent our childhood as members of the premier and sole world power. 9/11 was a shock to the system beyond the scope of the disaster itself, but I think most everyone older than us remembered well enough the eighties, when children said what they'd be <i>if</i> they grew up, or Vietnam, or nuclear emergency drills.

Interesting. And you're right about that- our generation spent our childhood in what had been the generally stable era of the 1990's- the Cold War was over and the Economy was booming. I think Columbine High School was almost like a dress rehearsal for our generation in terms of how shocking and dumbfounded a lot of us were at the time. High school shootings after that seemed almost rountine until Virginia Tech came along and moved the threat into the college setting, which I think shocked me and my friends that it could happen in college as well.

 

Darius is still the better candidate for that. Not only would his friends be there right from the start, but as you said, Will and JJ would have at least one friend in Iraq. Out of my close friends from high school, I'm the only guy that didn't enlist, and that was because I'm asthmatic and couldn't.

 

Darius will see his friends in Aghanistan at the start, while I think Will and JJ will see friends who wind up in Iraq since their friends won't be old enough to join the military until about 2004-2005. My cross-country team captain decided to go the military route instead of college and wound up in Iraq. He's still alive, thank god, although he's now missing part of pinkie finger.

 

I like your analysis of why you could see a big chunk of Darius's friends joining the military. I'm betting Darius and his friends aren't really the "Ivy League" college-bound type, and I don't see Darius as the type of guy to only stick to the rich kids. Matt seems least likely to have friends that will wind up in Iraq/Aghanistan, since it seems like he runs with the Yuppies like Brad did in his youth. I'm thinking Matt's circa 2006 life is more likely living in a refurbished loft in Greenwhich while working at a mid-town office in NYC, and occasionally going down to D.C. to visit Wade, who's working as a lobbyist and nobly living in a one-bedroom apartment because he won't touch a dime of his parent's money.

 

Matt, Darius, JJ, and Will are coming-of-age in one hell of a turbulent decade, and it's kinda interesting to see the innocence of these kids at the end of the 90's, knowing what the '00s are going to bring.

[Canuk]

 

What I see happening would be JJ or Will having friends who went to Iraq or Aghanistan. It's right for their age group to have at least one friend in Iraq.

 

Slightly off-topic, but I just want to ask about M'dwriter85's comment. Have so many people enlisted in the US that everyone in that age group is likely to know someone who has enlisted? I am not doubting it, I am just amazed that that many people have enlisted!

 

in comparison, during the last of my ~10 years in Canada I did actually meet someone who had enlisted, but he was the first, and I have to admit here i Australia I do not know anyone in the armed forces. so methodwqriter85's comment that the enlistment levels in the US are that high I found almost shocking. it must have huge effects on the future of the US.....

[Ivy]

Canuk-responding to your question about people enlisting....when I graduated from a high school just outside of Dallas Texas in 1987 there were three guys in my class who joined military, not so many. Now it is extremely common to see guys home on leave with their Army or Marine t-shirts worn proudly in the grocery store, at the gas station, or out runnining early in the morning. Our post office has a 'wall of fame' that shows pictures and articles about local soldiers. Many of these guys and girls have been in the forces for over 10 years from what I can see posted there. Before 9/11 the military presence in our town was almost non existent, mostly WWII vets that would ride in the parades. Now it seems like there is a family on every street that has a son or daughter in some branch. They even have an ROTC group at the high school now that was started in '04 or '05. So only speaking from my limited experience, I think the number of people knowing someone that has enlisted during that time frame would be close to what methodwriter is saying.

 

 

[Conner]

....

either way I am sure i will be fun - Mark's not bad at a decent whacking!!

 

I suspected as much!!