Poor Man's Son

[centexhairysub]

Well, what to say about the latest chapter of PMS???? LOVED IT!!!!!

 

I always knew that Will was gonna turn out to be more of a top than a bottom, I am not sure that he is gonna even be as versatie as his father. I think if Will wasn't as into Roberto as he is that he wouldn't be bottoming at all after the first time. I think that Will was showing his age a little bit with the issue of the clothing. That is the first time in a long time in this story that I remembered that Will was only 13. I sort of liked JP's reaction to the the clothes, and I think the picture is sort of like one where the baby is on a bear skin rug naked; it is that picture to embaress the kid in a few years...

 

Like the last poster, I too wondered if Kristin has been molested by her father or what is going on. When she was talking to Gathan, she hinted that there was more to the story of her accusation but I don't think Gathan really caught what she was saying. I wonder how Claire would feel about a second houseguest in Palo Alto this fall???

[PrivateTim]

There was an interesting bit of character development that hasn't been touched on- Will saying that he thought about competitive surfing, but decided against it because it would take the fun out of being a sufer. So it looks like Will is not going to join a competitive sport in high school, which goes so far with how he's been characterized as generally laidback and not a particularly agressive person. Most of the jocks I knew in high school had agressive tendencies that they were channeling into their sports, and Will doesn't seem to have that trait. Maybe Will's extracurricular can be Environmental Club? That could be fun for him. I could see him being articulate enough to do Newspaper, but I'm thinking Environmental isses could be interesting. I can't see Will in Mock Trial. Definitely not Yearbook or Drama. He's already got his community service covered, but now he needs an extracurricular.

 

I think you knew the wrong athletes then in high school. Maybe some football players where channeling aggression, but is there any one more laid back than a long distance runner? The cross country guys were so mellow you had to check for a pulse twice a day. Swimming was a lot of guys who were pretty laid back too as were the golf, sailing, tennis and surf teams. Water polo and volleyball were a bit more intense, but they were sports guys did because they loved them and a lot of boys tend to be competitive, but not necessarily aggressive.

 

Maybe east coast sports like lacrosse and hockey attract a certain personality type, but I can't see any parallel sports in the west, even though lacrosse is becoming more common.

 

As to Will, I think you are underestimating the lure of the water to a water rat like Will.

[B1ue]

Tim, most track guys I knew were pretty aggressive, if for no other reason than they weren't primarilly track, just Soccer or Basketball guys keeping shape in the off-season. Soccer players are some angry little peanuts, if, fortunately, they are less able to inflict mayhem than football players on account of all their running..

[PrivateTim]

Tim, most track guys I knew were pretty aggressive, if for no other reason than they weren't primarilly track, just Soccer or Basketball guys keeping shape in the off-season. Soccer players are some angry little peanuts, if, fortunately, they are less able to inflict mayhem than football players on account of all their running..

 

Well do you mean track or cross country? My high school had a pretty elite cross country program so non serious runners, i.e. wrestlers, basketball players, etc. didn't go out for cross country, but track was different because you had football players as sprinters and shot putters, basketball players as high jumpers and hurdlers, and the like.

[B1ue]

Track. I ran cross and played soccer, but I was about the only one, since they happened at the same time. And my high school didn't have a formal cc team anyays, so it wasn't like I stepped on anyone's toes. Besides, my dad and older sister both ran cross country, and I lived in an area where I could practice every day just getting the mail (a two mile run, one-way, a full five mile jog if I came back the long way).

 

I agree with you on golfers, but as I didn't consider them athletes anyways, they don't count. Didn't meet too many tennis players, but the few girls I did know were absolutly fierce on the court. It was that or go home. Same with the gymnasts, and a surprising number of cheerleaders, the ones that treated cheerleading as a sport and not a way to meet guys, anyways. Almost every surfer I've ever met, including my own mother, was a stoner, so of course they're mellow.

 

I didn't even know there was such a thing as sailing teams. I'd lump them with the golfers, except they have to be awake a bit more, I think.

[methodwriter85]

I think he meant track.

 

See, it's funny- all the soccer kids I knew from high school were the happy stoner types that meshed well with track/cross-country types. The only douchebags were the baseball guys and the lacrosse guys. Football players tended to be the friendliest.

 

Anyway, it's more than just Will not being aggressive- it's that he doesn't seem to have a need for the thrill of competing. He'll be more the type to join a club or pick-up games, but not someone who wants to win the big trophy

.

On the other side I don't understand this situation with Will's clubwear. Why did JP take the picture of Will? It seems out of character for him. What is going on? What would Brad think about it?

Will had that reaction because he doesn't' wear tight pants. Look at high school yearbooks from that era. Hell, look at the videos of people from Harvard-Westlake and Malibu High. Every guy is wearing baggy jeans or cargo shorts with oversized shirts. At the very least, it's loose-fitting, even the preppy guys. American guys during this time gravitated towards wearing looser pants, likely because of the influence of hip-hop.. Wearing baggy pants sagged down your hips to show off your boxer's brand was considered very sexy at the time, especially if you wore a wife beater on top. It's de rigeur until about 2006-2007, when tighter fitting jeans start coming back in. It's a complete 180 from when JP and Stefan were young and very tight pants were "in". I've heard more than one older gay guy bitch about the baggy pants trend because it makes it harder to ogle the young guys wearing them. LOL. I remember one friend in high school getting teased for wearing pants that *fit*- not that they were tight, but because they actually fit him.

 

I've never met a surfer who was into wearing tight stuff either, with the exception of the wetsuit. Board shorts with baggy long-sleeved "(Name of Beach Town) Lifeguard" shirts ruled the day. Ooh, also hemp bracelets and pucca shell necklaces. I think Brad will laugh his ass off when he sees the pucca shell necklaces that he wore in junior high making their big comeback.

Edited July 21, 2011 by methodwriter85

[rjo]

Working with men clothing I encounter a group of Italian men in the 20's they wanted their pants very tight also skin tight shirts nothing was left to the imagination.

[Mark Arbour]

Some thoughts on your thoughts:

 

On Kristin's Dad molesting her: I have no intention of setting that up as a storyline. I have a hard time seeing Kristin submitting to anything, much less that. I think that's why her threat was so potent: her parents were willing to pull out all the stops and totally disregard the law to cause problems, and she's telling them she can play that game too.

 

On Will's clothes: As Jeremy noted, Will wouldn't wear those kinds of clothes. He'd either wear baggy casual stuff, or a suit when the occasion called for it, but not the skin-tight club clothes. I see that picture that JP took showing up in his high school year book, or some other embarrassing place.

 

On Athletes and stereotypes: I think this is almost impossible to do, because they're so different from school to school. I've really only run into one stereotype that seems to hold true: hockey goalies are all weird f**kers.

 

On Will and sports: I think Will's found what he likes (surfing) and he's incorporated it into his life. I think what Jeremy is saying is that he's content with that, and doesn't need to go out and "win" something. He's not like Matt and Wade, or even Gathan, (and definitely not like JJ) where victory is everything. I don't sense a strong competitive trait in him, but that could evolve. Maybe when it comes to men....

[methodwriter85]

Working with men clothing I encounter a group of Italian men in the 20's they wanted their pants very tight also skin tight shirts nothing was left to the imagination.

 

 

Right. Italian men. Not American guys. Seriously, just sit around an American college campus and note what the guys are wearing. Most of them are going to be in looser-fitting pants. The silhouette for this decade is baggier pants with tighter tops. It's the reverse of the 1980's, when it was about wearing looser tops with really tight pants.

 

There's currently this incredibly conflicting trend of guys wearing skinny jeans that are still somehow baggy and sagged down. And bright, neon sneakers with deep v-neck shirts. But skinny jeans and girlcut jeans don't come into style until about 2005-2007, and the guys wearing them are usually skinny emo and hipster kids that don't have much off a rear end to show off anyway. LOL.

 

Kristin's parents are mad crazy.

Edited July 21, 2011 by methodwriter85

[centexhairysub]

Right. Italian men. Not American guys. Seriously, just sit around an American college campus and note what the guys are wearing. Most of them are going to be in looser-fitting pants. The silhouette for this decade is baggier pants with tighter tops. It's the reverse of the 1980's, when it was about wearing looser tops with really tight pants.

 

There's currently this incredibly conflicting trend of guys wearing skinny jeans that are still somehow baggy and sagged down. And bright, neon sneakers with deep v-neck shirts. But skinny jeans and girlcut jeans don't come into style until about 2005-2007, and the guys wearing them are usually skinny emo and hipster kids that don't have much off a rear end to show off anyway. LOL.

 

 

Hmmm, well you obviously haven't been to a campus in Texas recently... Not sure if we are alone with the trend or what, but every other guy here is back in skin tight Wrangler or Levi jeans; and I don't mean the relax fit I mean the tight fit... I started noticing it here about a year ago and it seems to be getting more prevelant. Of course, Texas does follow the beat to it's own drummer...

[methodwriter85]

Yeah. It's starting to swing back the other way, but in 2000 it's de riguer to wear baggy pants. Plus again, most of the surfers I've met like baggier shorts and the like.

[Matthew k]

Hmmm, well you obviously haven't been to a campus in Texas recently... Not sure if we are alone with the trend or what, but every other guy here is back in skin tight Wrangler or Levi jeans; and I don't mean the relax fit I mean the tight fit... I started noticing it here about a year ago and it seems to be getting more prevelant. Of course, Texas does follow the beat to it's own drummer...

 

Ha, I was just going to say that. Not only are they going to tighter jeans, but actual "skinny jeans" and every time I see them, I think, "why in the world do they want everyone to know they have no muscle in their legs??

 

 

I also thought someone raised a great point in a review of the last chapter, why did the Hendricks let Kirstin go to Paris with Gathan, but get all hyper when she went to stay with him? In fact I don't quite the anger at Gathan, afterall, he did stop Kristin from getting on the plane that crashed....

[methodwriter85]

Ha, I was just going to say that. Not only are they going to tighter jeans, but actual "skinny jeans" and every time I see them, I think, "why in the world do they want everyone to know they have no muscle in their legs??

 

 

 

The unfortunate thing is that the guys who are wearing the tight pants now are usually the guys who *shouldn't* because it's usually the dudes with chicken legs and flat behinds. The guys with great legs and badonkadonks are still wearing the looser fit jeans, with the exception of the extremely preppy guys who are wearing the kinds of shorts paired with boat shoes that Brad would have worn in 1980.

 

Skinny jeans are not a good look on guys. Especially paired with those bright neon 80's throwbacks and deep v-neck shirts. Ugh.

 

It's funny watching 80's movies and t.v. shows and seeing how extremely tight jeans and pants were at the time, and usually on the studly guys. So different from the carpenter pants and wifebeater look that I grew up with:

 

 

God, "Zach" is hot. When you look that good, you can get away with being a total psycho. LOL.

[Mark Arbour]

I also thought someone raised a great point in a review of the last chapter, why did the Hendricks let Kirstin go to Paris with Gathan, but get all hyper when she went to stay with him? In fact I don't quite the anger at Gathan, afterall, he did stop Kristin from getting on the plane that crashed....

 

But he was also the reason she almost got on the plane in the first place.

[Matthew k]

But he was also the reason she almost got on the plane in the first place.

 

But he stopped her.

[B1ue]

There's a Martina McBride song out now that probably captures well Stef's feelings. "Remember when we used to be/everything they'd ever need, we had them believing we were cool. It's like it happened overnight/we're always wrong; they're always right. We used to be the ones breaking the rules. Now we're just mothers, we're just fathers/of teenage daughters."

 

And I think, in his shoes, I'd have been a bit more appalled at Will's behavoir.

[KYE]

Chapter 29 would have been a really, really Fun Chapter to read if Will would have been a few years older. But due to the character's age always being in the back of my mind, the Chapter was a little uncomfortable. With the things this "kid" is doing now at age 13/14, what will he be like in High School or College?

 

In the next Chapter will we find out if Will's morning after reaction to being very drunk, be the same as his father's?

Edited July 24, 2011 by KYE

[Caedus]

Morals aside, this story is set in the early days of the Internet, so while in Stef's day he could get away doing stuff like this in relative obscurity, Will risks this coming back to bite him in the ass when he's older, especially since he comes from such a prominent family. I guess he's fine if he doesn't end up in a high profile career.

[centexhairysub]

I miss Tonto........ :(

Edited July 24, 2011 by centexhairysub

[centexhairysub]

God, I miss Tonto.... :(

 

I really did enjoy the latest chapter but was having a little trouble with the idea of any thirteen year old stripping in public like that. I know that in Europe the age issue is a little more flexible, and Will does look older, at least the way I picture him but still. I am not sure I like the idea of a thirteen year old being such a sexual public figure. The idea of a thirteen year old having sex with someone one on one doesn't bother me that much but such a public display just seems a little icky...

[methodwriter85]

It's icky, but I have to remind myself in the long run it'll be good for Will to get all of this out of his system when he's a young teenager rather than saving this stuff for his 20's, when there are more consequences. I can tell you from experience that the people who wait until they're college-aged to go wild and crazy tend to do it in a much more idiotic way. JJ, when he cuts loose in 2006 at the age of 20, is probably going to be a lot more screwed over in the end than Will, who by college prolly isn't even going to be that interested in raging.

[Mark Arbour]

What happens to a guy who is almost 14, but has the body of a 16/17 year old? Is he supposed to just climb under a rock? You guys seem to have this idea that teenagers are these wonderful beings that do what they're supposed to do, never have sex with anyone, and do what? Sit around and read 18th Century English novels? Really? You guys sound like a bunch of Midwestern parents at a PTA meeting. Kids do stupid ass things and get in trouble. They push boundaries and go beyond them when they shouldn't. And for a guy who matures early, that's going to happen earlier.

 

Yes I know that in the perfect world we set up for children, things don't happen that way. They all go through puberty between 13-15 years old, they jack off privately until they're 16 or 17 then maybe try it with a friend. Then they have some groping with said friend, maybe even a blow job, but then, that's better saved for college. Then in college, probably toward the end of Sophomore year/beginning of Junior year, they f**k someone, or let someone f**k them. There's this standard procedure that they're supposed to follow. Why is Will deviating from this? What the f**k am I doing having him actually violate this sacrosanct process? How horrible this is. Well folks, this isn't a perfect world, and there are a whole lot of guys who have entirely different development cycles and sexual experimentation experiences. It seems that it's wrong to write about that possibility. But what I love most is the irony (I'm not going to say hypocrisy, but I'm thinking it) of those who bitch about it, but then evaluate their own experiences and find that they were doing things well outside the normally accepted age cycle themselves. It's kind of like the GA website, where you have explicit stories about butt sex but you can't type the word f**k because it might offend someone.

 

 

Personally, when I wrote the scene, I was laughing my ass off. I had this vision of a very well-developed teen exercising some typical teenage rebellion and doing something that he really shouldn't have been doing. Then, at the climax of the, uh, crime, he looks off into the audience and sees his grandfather. How busted are you when that happens? How do you talk your way out of it? And even if you can get Stef to not be pissed off, how do you get your parents not to come down on you like a ton of bricks.

[Mark Arbour]

Morals aside, this story is set in the early days of the Internet, so while in Stef's day he could get away doing stuff like this in relative obscurity, Will risks this coming back to bite him in the ass when he's older, especially since he comes from such a prominent family. I guess he's fine if he doesn't end up in a high profile career.

 

Expect that issue to come up.

 

I had a student who came from a very prominent, well-known family. His challenge was trying to enjoy college life while also worrying about who was going to tape whatever he was doing. Not an easy thing, especially nowadays, when an I phone makes a pretty good video recorder.

 

I've already written the chapter where the issue is raised, so it's a done deal. Anyone want to guess who brings it up?

[methodwriter85]

I cannot believe I got a negative point for my post. Exactly what was offensive about what I was saying? I thought I gave a balanced viewpoint- admitting that I'm not comfortable with this scenes, but also admitting that life experience has shown me that the kids who get into the crazy stuff early tend to be more settled and self-assured than the kids who waited until college to cut loose, and in the end it should work out fine for Will. At the same time, I was wondering what will happen to Late Bloomer JJ, who WON'T have this worked out of his system early because of the constraints that are put on him for maintaining a family-friendly image at all times. Repression can lead to some very unhealthy acting out, which I think is in JJ's future, especially when he's set loose among the Torino Olympic Village away from the watchful eyes of the U.S.

 

As for Mark's quandry, I'm guessing Wade Danfield will bring it up. He's well-versed on P.R. As for the future. I can't really see Will as being someone who even wants to have a profile career, so it should be okay.

Edited July 24, 2011 by methodwriter85

[Matthew k]

It's icky, but I have to remind myself in the long run it'll be good for Will to get all of this out of his system when he's a young teenager rather than saving this stuff for his 20's, when there are more consequences. I can tell you from experience that the people who wait until they're college-aged to go wild and crazy tend to do it in a much more idiotic way. JJ, when he cuts loose in 2006 at the age of 20, is probably going to be a lot more screwed over in the end than Will, who by college prolly isn't even going to be that interested in raging.

 

I've never seen it work that way, or hardly ever. A super sexualized 13/14 year old isn't like to calm down when he gets older, older meaning 18, 19, 20 etc, but to get wilder in college. Maybe in their 30's they slow down, but a lot of the damage is already done.