Paternity

[centexhairysub]

Yea, a new chapter is up and what can I say, I just love Wade... I really enjoyed all the give and take of this chapter between Wade and Matt and then Wade and David. I have never had therapy, yeah yeah, I know, I should be seeing one now; that being said, I can't say how accurate the give and take between David and Wade is but it comes across as really believable.

 

I really do believe that Wade and Matt are destined to be together in some capacity for the rest of their lives. I can really see them bringing a third person into their relationship and having a true polyamourus relationship or just keeping themselves fully committed and having people on the sides, I think that adding a third person would be really interesting... I see this dominating FBI agent that is assigned to a case they become involved in... LOL....

 

I know Wade and his sister really aren't close but damn, you don't hit a man's sister and get away with it....

[Daddydavek]

I know Wade and his sister really aren't close but damn, you don't hit a man's sister and get away with it....

 

What's worse is that Wade provided the spark that probably provoked that outcome and realized it and felt horrible....

[Mark Arbour]

What's worse is that Wade provided the spark that probably provoked that outcome and realized it and felt horrible....

 

Wade merely passed on the truth. If it is indeed Mary Ellen who was beaten up, it is her owm scheming that caused it. Of course, the real blame must fall on Elizabeth Danfield.

[methodwriter85]

Does this mean we're finally going to see Beau again? I liked the kid- he should be a senior this year, and likely have all this interesting stuff going on. It'd be cool if being an uncle bonds Beau and Wade into being closer again. I could see Riley as the impetus for the Danfield family to try and get together more often.

Edited May 28, 2012 by methodwriter85

[PrivateTim]

Does this mean we're finally going to see Beau again? I liked the kid- he should be a senior this year, and likely have all this interesting stuff going on. It'd be cool if being an uncle bonds Beau and Wade into being closer again. I could see Riley as the impetus for the Danfield family to try and get together more often.

 

Maybe Beau will be Will's soul mate and we could see Brad and Elizabeth as in-laws.

[methodwriter85]

I didn't get a gay/bi vibe from Beau- I feel like if Beau was gay or bi Wade would have known that by now.

 

You really just don't want Will winding up with Tony, do you? I actually like Tony a lot, but I'm not sure I see them working out well together. But we'll see what happens. Tony does have four years in California- a lot can happen between 2000 and graduation in 2004. (Not to say he doesn't wind up settling in CA, but it's not a given- all depends on where Tony gets a job after graduation. He does seem like he's pretty tight with his family, so that might be a deciding factor.)

 

I'm just glad Mark isn't pushing the whole "soulmates" deal with Will yet and getting him settled into a deep relationship. He did that with Brad/Robbie, and he's doing that with Matt/Wade. Aside from Will only being 14, having someone wind up his "soulmate" and getting into a permanent relationship with said guy can be problematic for the kind of series that this is. Happily ever after is sweet and nice, but it's not compelling soap. It's why long-running soap supercouples have to constantly break up and then get back together again. Hence, after Brad and Robbie got their "happily ever after" with MiM, we didn't see Brad again as protagonist until their relationship got into some trouble. We also didn't see Wade again as a protagonist until his relationship got into trouble, but now that they're in sync with each other....as Tim noticed, Wade's chapters don't seem to be as popular as Will's. I'm kind of wondering if that might have something to do with it.

 

Now that Mark's covering every year instead of skipping a few years here or there, that means we need a lot more stories. It's better, story-wise, to have things wide open with Will instead of having him tied into any one character. The same would go for JJ and John, if they wind up as narrators.

 

I would love to see Gathan narrate another story, but I'm not sure that's a popular viewpoint.

Edited May 28, 2012 by methodwriter85

[Canuk]

Wade merely passed on the truth. If it is indeed Mary Ellen who was beaten up, it is her owm scheming that caused it. Of course, the real blame must fall on Elizabeth Danfield.

 

nope, no matter how much schemeing the little bitch (or big bitch for that matter) has done, no one deserves to be beaten. Ignored, dumped, sent to some hole like florida for a "holiday", whatever, but not beaten.

[methodwriter85]

nope, no matter how much schemeing the little bitch (or big bitch for that matter) has done, no one deserves to be beaten. Ignored, dumped, sent to some hole like florida for a "holiday", whatever, but not beaten.

 

 

Word.

[Mark Arbour]

nope, no matter how much schemeing the little bitch (or big bitch for that matter) has done, no one deserves to be beaten. Ignored, dumped, sent to some hole like florida for a "holiday", whatever, but not beaten.

 

True, but that's not the issue. The issue is who is at fault. Wade didn't plan for her to get beaten up. Where is his guilt in this?

[Daddydavek]

True, but that's not the issue. The issue is who is at fault. Wade didn't plan for her to get beaten up. Where is his guilt in this?

 

 

IMHO Wade is the super responsible type. So even if he didn't directly cause his sister to be beaten, he is definitely going to feel like he lit the fuse. That's why he was horrified. A rather specific reaction.

[Mari]

totally off the topic of Wade's ho of a sis, but I was curious to know if anyone thinks Raine is pregnant? I can see that as a compelling storyline. 14 year old daddy with loads of money, still goes to school, doesn't have to work etc.

[GLH]

That's a question that's always been in the back of my mind ever since Will and Raine's little encounter. A pregnancy seems to fit with Will's luck at the moment.

[centexhairysub]

I wouldn't think that Raine was pregnate but even if she was, I don't see her having the baby... At that age and with the support they would have, I would think an abortion would be much more likely. In the first place, the daddy is gay; I just can't see her parents being that happy that she was having a gay boy/man's baby and basically becoming a single mom at 14. Yes, I know it happens, but rarely in that social setting. That might be just a little to much drama even for a Mark Arbour storyline.

 

I can see Wade being upset that his sister was beaten but I don't think he would feel guilty at all; he better than most would realize that his mother was the primarly person responsible and would deal with that accordingly. I also agree with methodwriter that Beau in what little we saw him, never gave off the gay/bi vibe at all. He didn't seem to have an issue with Wade being gay but there was nothing to indicate that he leaned that way at all; plus, I am sorry, not everyone can be gay.

 

I know I am going to get into trouble with this, I did last time but I really would like to see Claire as a narrator. She now has Ella, who is seeing Darius; a son, John, who has a girlfriend but seems to sleep with his openly gay cousin quite often; a daughter that we don't really know much about but maybe we can have our first really out lesbian born into the family; and lastly because the next story is really going to be sad and traumatic and who handles that better than a mother, no matter who is hurt or injured. Claire has in some ways always been the strongest of JP's children and in the next story we are going to need all that strength to survive.

[methodwriter85]

I hope not. Claire's teenaged pregnancy storyline was pretty touching, because she and Jack really cared about each other and they COULD have raised the baby if they had decided to keep it. Claire was also a pretty naive Daddy's girl who didn't seem to see much beyond Stanford Shopping Center- having an abortion and then losing her twin brother was all the more poignant because of that. I'd hate to see a watered-down repeat between two people who didn't even make love. They just had sex. And Raine doesn't seem like a naive little girl who doesn't know what her options are- she comes off as a lot more savvy than Claire did. Which is true of the generation- it's much more sexualized and knowledgeable than Brad's generation was. Lewinskygate happened when they were 12.

 

I get the feeling that, going by what Harvard-Westlake seems like, they'd force Raine to leave the school as soon as she started showing because "pregnant teenager" does not seem to jibe with the image of the school. Correct me if I'm wrong. Although if she does get an abortion, man...the drama would be intense, because this is 2000 and the anti-choice advocates were really rearing up. A girl could get a discreet abortion like Claire did in 1980. In 2000, it's entirely possible she could be faced with a picket line.

 

It'd be cool to see a female narrator, but I can't see that ever happening. We tried going with a semi-straight male narrator and that didn't even work.

 

Anyway, I do really hope we see Beau at some point. Wade does seem to miss the guy, to the point that some of his bond with Will is based in part on the fact that he needs to fill the little brother void that Beau kind of left.

Edited May 29, 2012 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

I was just thinking about that today, Centex. A problem I can see with that is, for a Soap Opera or a character driven narrative (however you choose to classify Mark's stories), the setting and familial relationships are not quite even a start. The real start is that you take that background, use it to pick the absolute worst thing that could happen to them, and then do it. For Claire though, we've covered much of the possible territory. Break-ups, make-ups, and catfights are very much the province of the males in this family, so I can't really see a midlife crisis. Death of a parent, while poingant and will eventually happen again, has been done through JP's eyes. Death of a spouse would be more earth-shaking to Claire, I think, but we saw that with Stef. We've even had a death of a child.

 

Actually, it suddenly occurs to me we haven't had that yet. Yes, Billy died, but that was in Brad's story, filtered through his emotions. Same with Armand, Mouse, and Jake. For someone built up to be a great and superior mother, losing either her actual or adopted children would be hell.

 

But, I think the next narrator is Gathan, JJ, or Zach. For those who can remember September 11, it defined the decade. For those of us, like those three, who were just ending our adolescence when the towers fell, it has defined our entire adulthood. Although JJ isn't ending his adolescence, of course. He's barely beginning it, so may be even more deeply affected.

 

On a tangent, I don't think Beau is necessarily all that close to Wade anymore. They're still brothers of course, maybe even as close as distance allows, but all of Wade's relationships have been redefined in terms of Matt. And that's not a slam, it's inevitbale, but there are consequences. Do you think the Beau/Will comparison may be coming up because, with Will, he can have the relationship he remembers having with Beau, rather than the one he may not even realize he currently has? That Beau may not be terribly interested in being close to Wade, knowing that Matt, and now Riley, would come first?

Edited May 29, 2012 by B1ue

[methodwriter85]

Actually, it suddenly occurs to me we haven't had that yet. Yes, Billy died, but that was in Brad's story, filtered through his emotions. Same with Armand, Mouse, and Jake. For someone built up to be a great and superior mother, losing either her actual or adopted children would be hell.

On the other hand, losing a legacy character for the drama of having Claire go through losing a child could be pretty short-sighted. Legacy characters, and legacy characters that actually got to grow up on canvas instead of being introduced as long-lost as a teenager, tend to be hard to come by. We've got Will, Darius, JJ, John, and Marie. Courtney also counts, but she's mentioned very, very sparingly. We need this generation to drive the next wave of stories, so killing them off might not be a good idea. That was one of the (many) mistakes that General Hospital made- they kept having legacy characters like Georgie Jones die off and you lost the continuity of generations that used to characterize soaps. Of course, Mark could always come up with long-lost sons like he did with Matt to replace whatever gets lost(Marcel replacing Billy as Jeff's living son is the most glaring example), but killing off legacy characters should never be taken lightly. Especially since, barring Aaron Hayes, dead characters do not come back.

 

But, I think the next narrator is Gathan, JJ, or Zach. For those who can remember September 11, it defined the decade. For those of us, like those three, who were just ending our adolescence when the towers fell, it has defined our entire adulthood. Although JJ isn't ending his adolescence, of course. He's barely beginning it, so may be even more deeply affected.

I could see Mark narrating the story from different points of view- from the parents to the kids. And I was 15 when 9/11 happened, and it really did effect the hell out of me. The moment I remember so clearly about that day was this look a guy gave me when I asked him if any people survived the plane crash into the Tower. I just couldn't comprehend it.

 

In terms of actual character effects...JJ might be in Bulgaria, and 9/11 affected junior figure skaters because they couldn't participate in the Junior Grand Prix per decision of the United States Figure Skating Association. And there's no conceivable way that Zach and Gathan wouldn't know people that join in on the War on Terror. Gathan's Claremont friends are practically screaming future veterans.

 

On a tangent, I don't think Beau is necessarily all that close to Wade anymore. They're still brothers of course, maybe even as close as distance allows, but all of Wade's relationships have been redefined in terms of Matt. And that's not a slam, it's inevitbale, but there are consequences. Do you think the Beau/Will comparison may be coming up because, with Will, he can have the relationship he remembers having with Beau, rather than the one he may not even realize he currently has? That Beau may not be terribly interested in being close to Wade, knowing that Matt, and now Riley, would come first?

 

Right, Wade said at the beginning that Beau isn't as close to him anymore because he's caught up into the senior year deal. That's why I'm wondering if Riley might serve to bring the family closer together, because that can happen when you add in a new grandkid/nephew, because the family starts getting together more often to get to know the new blood. Not so sure with the Danfields, but I really just can't see Beau as he came off in Bloodlines being totally disinterested in getting to know his nephew, stress over college aps or no. MaryEllen is a completely different ballgame, however- I'm pretty sure she's thinking in terms of how the inheritances are getting divided up because of the new addition, from a brother she probably assumed wasn't going to have kids anyway.

 

A Danfield Family Christmas would probably be even more explosive than the last one we saw with them.

Edited May 29, 2012 by methodwriter85

[centexhairysub]

Although if she does get an abortion, man...the drama would be intense, because this is 2000 and the anti-choice advocates were really rearing up. A girl could get a discreet abortion like Claire did in 1980. In 2000, it's entirely possible she could be faced with a picket line.

 

No, I had to help a niece through this in 2001 and I can promise you even in Texas if you have the money and position, you don't go through a picket line...

 

I could see Mark narrating the story from different points of view- from the parents to the kids. And I was 15 when 9/11 happened, and it really did effect the hell out of me. The moment I remember so clearly about that day was this look a guy gave me when I asked him if any people survived the plane crash into the Tower. I just couldn't comprehend it.

 

This is why I don't think that the next narrator will be any of the younger generation. Even Gathan, who is the oldest of the three previously mentioned is really too young to fully understand the implications of what happened that horrible day. I really believe because of the magnitude of what happened, the main narrator will be one of the older generations; either JP, Stef, Claire, Brad or Robbie... I have always advocated that no one in the familes sphere had to be killed or hurt in the events of that day but I do think that Mark A. will have someone perish. I also don't think it will be a peripheral figure like Carullo, or some of the others previously suggested; I think, but hope I am wrong, that it will be a central figure. I also don't think it will be one of the kids that perish, the exception might be JJ, this would explain how someone so brilliant at skating never made the Olympics, Worlds, etc... Mark has never been shy about killing off a major person to further the storyline, remember how 1968 ended, I am still pissed off about that. I think we may see glimpses of how the events affected Gathan, Zack, JJ, Will, Darius, etc... but I think the central theme will be handled by someone older and with more perspective. I knew so many younger family members and friends that were even into their 20's that really couldn't comprehend what the events where that occured for a long time afterward. It just didn't seem real but even after the shock wore off and you realized it was, so many of the younger generation just didn't really understand the totality of what occured. Many of them had viseral reactions that shaped their behaviour and continues to do so for some; but the impact and the full effect didn't sink in for them for years to come.

 

I don't think Claire would have to lose one of her children to be the one that most of the others turned to in a time of need. Claire is already the one that the others listen to in a crisis or fight, even Brad. When you see drama at the family gathering and someone has to step in and keep it on an even keel, most often that is Claire. To some extent JP, Stef, and Isidore are all getting up in years and while there wisdom and knowledge is needed, I think most would turn to someone like Claire that would be able to take on all of the necessary burdens of tragedy without the issues of age and health being called into play like it would with JP, Stef, or Isidore. And no, I don't think that any of them are too old to deal with the issues, but they would all have a harder time of it than someone of Claire's generation. Because of the events that will take place in the next story, I don't think you need a narrator that is having problems with their relationship/work/family/etc; the events that unfold will be all the drama that the next story will need....

[methodwriter85]

I also don't think it will be one of the kids that perish, the exception might be JJ, this would explain how someone so brilliant at skating never made the Olympics, Worlds, etc...

 

Mark is re-writing figure skating history somewhat to accommodate for JJ, just not in terms of who gets Olympic Gold in '06 and '10. At least, that's what I'm assuming. Mark will bend things a little bit in order to fit the fictional characters into real-life events, but he won't change major things like the fact that Evengi Plushenko won gold in '06 and Evan Lysacek got the gold in '10. Which makes it all the more interesting- we KNOW going into JJ's career that he'll never reach the pinnacle. How he deals with that will be something to see.

 

I agree that the 9/11 story doesn't for the protagonist to be going through some major stuff- there's enough drama without needing to pile stuff on.

[PrivateTim]

I get the feeling that, going by what Harvard-Westlake seems like, they'd force Raine to leave the school as soon as she started showing because "pregnant teenager" does not seem to jibe with the image of the school. Correct me if I'm wrong. Although if she does get an abortion, man...the drama would be intense, because this is 2000 and the anti-choice advocates were really rearing up. A girl could get a discreet abortion like Claire did in 1980. In 2000, it's entirely possible she could be faced with a picket line.

 

No, H-W would not force Raine to do anything and I am not sure they could if they wanted to, CA has very strict, complicated laws in that area.

 

And there were very, very few protests going on at clinics in CA and then it was at CLINICS, not the kind of place a H-W student would go, they'd be at Cedars-Sinai or UCLA and no one would ever know.

 

It is one thing for the anti-abortion crowd in a place where there are few clinics to protest and even then it is seldom an every day thing, it is usually for a short time for the cameras. But in CA there are so many options, so many places and clinics, any protest would be short and merely symbolic. It isn't much of an issue in CA, especially So Cal. CA had laws allowing abortion before the Roe decision.

Edited May 30, 2012 by PrivateTim

[methodwriter85]

Well, that's good to know. Thanks for the illumination.

[sat8997]

JP is the only narrator that makes sense for 9/11.

[Daddydavek]

JP is the only narrator that makes sense for 9/11.

 

That makes a lot of sense to me!

[Mark Arbour]

I'm thinking that for the 9-11 story, I may break from tradition and write it in 3rd person.

[MJ85]

OK...really?? One causes problems in the relationship by deciding that they want to play the field, then they kind of reconcile, then the other one decides that he's gonna go play the field.

 

Gee Mark...where have we seen that before??

 

With regards to 9/11...this is probably going to sound shocking to some people, but probably the underlying thing that I picked up from 9/11 was this: Life goes on. Seriously...granted, I can still remember how that day went for me, and it was very obviously not the typical day. But all in all...I was in my second hour class for the day when the announcement came over the PA, the rest of that class was watching things unfold on the TV in the classroom, the next two classes didn't really do much, then came lunchtime. After that, classes seemed to get back to normal. Hell, I was on student council in HS, and the meeting we were supposed to have later on after school...still went on, as planned.

 

In otherwords: The world didn't completely shut down for it. Not where I was, anyway. I mean, I get that its effects would be felt differently from place to place, but it had no real great effect on me at all. I didn't know anyone personally who died then, and for what it's worth, the first time I ever flew on a plane was in 2009 (right around this time that year, actually).

[Westie]

I'm thinking that for the 9-11 story, I may break from tradition and write it in 3rd person.

 

or given the nature of that story, you could do a "desperate housewives" type "mary alice young" narration (i.e. a dead person) and have Tonto do it