Paternity

[Gene Splicer PHD]

Yeah, I'm along for the ride too. Occasionally I'll pop up with an opinion, but I just think Mark's writing is really good and the stories are really fun to read.

 

I still think the Bacchante should show up and shell the beach house into gravel.

[samjones1]

Yeah, sorry, that's not happening. I've a long term family friend who works for the FAA, high up enough to count. She was at one of the mid-west hubs that day. The FAA was told to put every plane on the ground - now - and did just that. About five thousand planes in an hour and a half. She said it was extremely intense. Her friend at LAX said his view from the control tower showed plane after plane parked anywhere they could put them with their wings practically stacked on top of each other.

 

 

I don't think Will's done until he's had a semi-normal talk with his mother. They don't have to fix everything, just make a start.

 

I was thinking more about refusing to not fly after 9/11. Clearly, I understand that failing to follow FAA instructions leads to bad things. I think Brad isn't one to "let the terrorists win"...that's what I had in mind.

Edited October 26, 2012 by samjones1

[sat8997]

I was thinking more about refusing to not fly after 9/11. Clearly, I understand that failing to follow FAA instructions leads to bad things. I think Brad isn't one to "let the terrorists win"...that's what I had in mind.

 

Okie-dokie. That works.

[Mark Arbour]

Yeah, sorry, that's not happening. I've a long term family friend who works for the FAA, high up enough to count. She was at one of the mid-west hubs that day. The FAA was told to put every plane on the ground - now - and did just that. About five thousand planes in an hour and a half. She said it was extremely intense. Her friend at LAX said his view from the control tower showed plane after plane parked anywhere they could put them with their wings practically stacked on top of each other.

 

 

I don't think Will's done until he's had a semi-normal talk with his mother. They don't have to fix everything, just make a start.

 

Unless you're a Saudi prince. Then you were allowed to fly.

[Daddydavek]

Poor Jeanine, suffering from mental illness and part of her family acts so dependent on her that they have to pile on and give her more to be upset about while still not in a stable place.

 

The fact that Will has thought things through more than his brothers or Robbie speaks volumes.

[centexhairysub]

Completely enjoyed the latest chapter of Paternity; I just love this whole series so much...

 

I have to say that Will seems to understand what is going on with Jeanine and how the actions of others contribute to her problems much more than some of the adults in her life. Of course, we don't see anything from the therapist point of view but I would have to question the decision of putting a patient with significant issues in the middle of one of the most traumatic events all year; Thanksgiving dinner with the family... At least looking in from the outside, it appears that Robbie and JJ are doing more damage to Jeanine than helping her.

 

Ella, John, and several others are going to have to accept the fact that Will is in most aspects now an adult. As several others have mentioned, I don't think Will is going to have the same issues that many of his peers are going to have. Will is probably not going to care so much about how he dresses; what is cool; or how popular the people he hangs out with are in other peoples minds. Will has never been one to follow the path set by others and I don't see a move to a new school or area changing that. Will appears to be the kind of person that will find friends that have intrest similar to his own and will not make friends based on a predetermined group of people just because they have money or status bestowed by others.

[methodwriter85]

From reviews:

Having a good brotherly relationship could be a good thing for them. JJ the drama queen will probably find a way to sabotage it or possibly let it go, but I don't see the latter happening.

I gotta disagree. Yes, JJ is a bitch- but active sabotage isn't his style. His style is more along the lines of whining to his mother to get what he wants, or passive agressive bullshit. He doesn't actively try to tear people down just for the hell of it- JJ's just incredibly self-absorbed and growing up in an environment that doesn't allow him to build close friendships the way most of his peers can. Therefore, it's just harder for JJ to emphasize with other people, because he's missed out on so much important socialization. He's pissed at Will and blames him for Jeanine's breakdown, but he wouldn't try to break up Darius's bond to Will. Deep down he loves Will but its covered under all these layers of misplaced anger and resentment.

 

 

At least looking in from the outside, it appears that Robbie and JJ are doing more damage to Jeanine than helping her.

I'm going to guess that Robbie's reaction is his own way of transferring his own guilt at never working things out with his mother.

 

As several others have mentioned, I don't think Will is going to have the same issues that many of his peers are going to have. Will is probably not going to care so much about how he dresses; what is cool; or how popular the people he hangs out with are in other peoples minds. Will has never been one to follow the path set by others and I don't see a move to a new school or area changing that. Will appears to be the kind of person that will find friends that have intrest similar to his own and will not make friends based on a predetermined group of people just because they have money or status bestowed by others.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much how I see Will. Have you ever noticed that back during Be Rad and Man In Motion, Brad was constantly mentioning the expensive brands that he was wearing and we've gotten almost none of that for Will in both Poor Man's Son and Paternity? It's just not something he cares about. I loved the end of this chapter, with Will checking himself out in the mirror and deciding that he was fine dressed the way he was.

 

It was a nice contrast to how Brad pretty much let Claire dress him like her preppy 1980 Ken Doll, because Brad cared about the power that popularity afforded him and needed to be King of the uber-popular crowd. Will, on the other hand, rejected Ella's crowd, or at least rejected playing things on their terms.

Edited October 27, 2012 by methodwriter85

[Mark Arbour]

Great comments on this latest chapter. By the way, I'm not as bitchy as I was a few days ago. Sorry about that.

[MJ85]

Thoughts:

 

I'm getting a vibe that Ella seems to have traded the idea of having a loving boyfriend in for being the resident Social Queen, basically caring about nothing else. Her anger with Will over the fight is basically because the fight is a black mark on that status. Guilt over getting touchy-feely with Carter? It's not yet been established that she even feels any.

 

From the chapter:

The weed helped relax me after the tense encounter with Robbie tonight. I didn’t get him; I didn’t get how he could have such a shitty relationship with his own mother and then turn around and expect me to jump through hoops for mine.

 

I don't totally get him either, honestly. It's like he has some kind of "DON'T YOU TELL ME HOW I SHOULD ACT, HOW I SHOULD FEEL!!!!" complex going (it might make more sense if you imagine someone saying that in an uber-nasally voice, lol) when it comes to anything Will. It's like he's bent to oppose Will, consequences be damned. Is that something that's reversible? I'm not convinced that it is.

 

Will and Tony get closer and closer, every time they hook up. I get the feeling that they'd be true boyfriends by now if they were able to be.

 

From the chapter:

It occurred to me that as hard as I tried to do what he wanted during sex (not that it wasn’t fun, or a lot of effort, but I did try to make him happy), so he was trying now, after we were done, to make me feel satisfied.

 

This, ah...sentence, reads sort of like word vomit. Sharon...?

 

I get the feeling that things are just going to keep deteriorating between Will and JJ until they end up having a full-on fight. I mean the kind where each other's goal will be to hurt the other as badly as possible. It may be Will who ultimately starts the brawl, but this just doesn't seem like something where even the most vicious argument would be enough for a climax.

 

Lastly, it seems pointedly clear that Will's story wasn't even that close to over just yet, not as long as Jeanine is around. Probably the only way to finish it is to just give her the final Exit, Stage Left - no matter how long it takes. Sorry, but she's just completely beyond repair.

[methodwriter85]

I'm getting a vibe that Ella seems to have traded the idea of having a loving boyfriend in for being the resident Social Queen, basically caring about nothing else. Her anger with Will over the fight is basically because the fight is a black mark on that status. Guilt over getting touchy-feely with Carter? It's not yet been established that she even feels any.

What I wonder is if Ella is actually a lot like Zach in not really caring about other people, and she was just better at hiding that. I mean, think about it- we only really saw Ella through Gathan's eyes, and it's been established that Gathan is a really shitty people-reader.

 

Will and Tony get closer and closer, every time they hook up. I get the feeling that they'd be true boyfriends by now if they were able to be.

This is the post Meghan's Law Era, where if Tony got caught having sex with Will he'd become a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. Forget being a professor- Tony would be lucky to get a job bagging groceries. I do think Mark's reflected the reality of the times somewhat- when Stefan was fooling around with JP in CAP they weren't doing much to hide it...same goes for Jake and Sam in Be Rad, because this was before they started cracking down hard on minor sex. In here, both Tony and Jeff try to be pretty discreet and no one really talks about it because no one wants to see either of them end up registered sex offenders.

 

I get the feeling that things are just going to keep deteriorating between Will and JJ until they end up having a full-on fight. I mean the kind where each other's goal will be to hurt the other as badly as possible. It may be Will who ultimately starts the brawl, but this just doesn't seem like something where even the most vicious argument would be enough for a climax.

There's a major potential flashpoint with JJ's upcoming 15th birthday on December 7th. Unless they've fixed things by then(which seems incredibly unlikely), Will's going to be faced with either not showing up for JJ's birthday dinner because Jeanine will be there, or going to his birthday and risking Jeanine's wrath.

 

I do think for JJ, if Tiffany starts resuming her chaperone status for him, he's got some great distractions coming up with a Junior Grand Prix in Scotland in December and the US Figure Skating Nationals in Boston in January. That's going to be some good breathing room for him, I believe.

 

Sorry, but she's just completely beyond repair.

 

I kind of feel like for Jeanine, the best thing for her might be to go back to some relatives in New Jersey and start over fresh with Maddy. I really don't get the feeling that Cody would give a shit if Jeanine bailed for the right coast with Maddy.

[Mark Arbour]

I think it's possible that Ella has mirroring issues; she doesn't see what she's doing with Carter.

[MJ85]

This is the post Meghan's Law Era, where if Tony got caught having sex with Will he'd become a registered sex offender for the rest of his life. Forget being a professor- Tony would be lucky to get a job bagging groceries. I do think Mark's reflected the reality of the times somewhat- when Stefan was fooling around with JP in CAP they weren't doing much to hide it...same goes for Jake and Sam in Be Rad, because this was before they started cracking down hard on minor sex. In here, both Tony and Jeff try to be pretty discreet and no one really talks about it because no one wants to see either of them end up registered sex offenders.

 

This is particularly true for Jeff, even though...it was what, only the few times that they've even hooked up? Whereas, with Tony, it's somewhat easier to be discreet anyway seeing as he's in college and Will's in high school, and each has the different day-to-day to deal with. But seeing as you bring it up, it seems like that's where the stronger feelings for each other might come into play there, though.

[methodwriter85]

You kinda wonder if the whole "this is illicit" deal comes to play in terms of Will and Tony's arrangment, and if they'd actually work as a day-to-day real couple. Although really, that can't happen until about 2004, if that happens at all. Part of what drives the heat between them, I think, is the fact that they only see each other sporadically. It'll be interesting to see what happens if Will tries to hang out with Tony more, and if Tony would try to work Will more into his life at Stanford. I'm not sure he would, though. It's harder to do that when we're talking a freshman as opposed to someone in 11th or 12th grade.

 

As for Ella and her Social Queen deal...you can kinda see where it'd all go to her head to suddenly be popular and rich at a school where no one knows that she's the garbage man daughter, but adult perspective would say, "You're a senior. You're graduating in about six months. None of these people are going to give a rip about you once the graduation keggars are done, and you're thowing over actual relationships with life-long potential for them? Seriously?" But of course, most people don't know that at 17.

 

In any event, I do appreciate that Darius wasn't given some perfect, Mary Sue girlfriend. I like Ella being flawed so much better than when Ella seemed like this bland sweetheart.

Edited October 28, 2012 by methodwriter85

[sat8997]

From the chapter:

 

Quote

 

It occurred to me that as hard as I tried to do what he wanted during sex (not that it wasn’t fun, or a lot of effort, but I did try to make him happy), so he was trying now, after we were done, to make me feel satisfied.

 

 

This, ah...sentence, reads sort of like word vomit. Sharon...?

 

My first thought was 'What's he talking about? This makes perfect sense', and then it occured to me that I've been with his nibs so long that I automatically understand his phrasing. I read that sentence and my brain sees this:

 

It occurred to me that as hard as I tried to do what he wanted during sex (verbally stroke his ego {Oh baby, big bick, yada yada} and, not that it wasn’t fun to do that, or a lot of effort to do that, but I did try to make him happy by doing what he likes), so he was trying now, after we were done, to make me feel satisfied by using tender gestures and not throwing his clothes on and running out of the room.

 

You don't see the red bits in your head, too? My bad.

 

Good point.

[Mark Arbour]

My first thought was 'What's he talking about? This makes perfect sense', and then it occured to me that I've been with his nibs so long that I automatically understand his phrasing. I read that sentence and my brain sees this:

 

It occurred to me that as hard as I tried to do what he wanted during sex (verbally stroke his ego {Oh baby, big bick, yada yada} and, not that it wasn’t fun to do that, or a lot of effort to do that, but I did try to make him happy by doing what he likes), so he was trying now, after we were done, to make me feel satisfied by using tender gestures and not throwing his clothes on and running out of the room.

 

You don't see the red bits in your head, too? My bad.

 

Good point.

 

You know, when I reread that sentence each time it made me pause. Usually that's good for a rewrite but I didn't do it that time. Should have.

[Daddydavek]

The discussion and point made just above is a good example of constructive criticism. Even elite authors can get into a zone where they know what they want to say and think they have, but it doesn't quite make it. Editors too apparently get so inside their author's head that stuff like this gets by them. That's why the site recommends editors and beta readers and even so; sentences can get garbled.

 

In Mark's defense, his legion of faithful fans are usually also quite in tune with what he thinks and most just passed that example by without any notice. And IMHO, understood it nearly as well as Sharon.

[George Richard]

My first thought was 'What's he talking about? This makes perfect sense', and then it occured to me that I've been with his nibs so long that I automatically understand his phrasing. I read that sentence and my brain sees this:

 

It occurred to me that as hard as I tried to do what he wanted during sex (verbally stroke his ego {Oh baby, big bick, yada yada} and, not that it wasn’t fun to do that, or a lot of effort to do that, but I did try to make him happy by doing what he likes), so he was trying now, after we were done, to make me feel satisfied by using tender gestures and not throwing his clothes on and running out of the room.

 

You don't see the red bits in your head, too? My bad.

 

Good point.

 

That's exactly how I read it.

[Mark Arbour]

Chapter 68 is up a day later than I wanted. I'm having some computer issues, and we all got a little slammed by Hurricane Sandy. Next weekend is the election, but I'm going to try to stick as close to my chapter-a-week goal as I can.

 

Thanks to all of you who post reviews and comments. That's more motivating than you know. In the end, even the ones that annoy me usually have a positive effect. It would suck to write this in a void.

[davewri]

Is Elizabeth Danfield so evil that she would do something to her own mother? “We need to get Mrs. Garrett to her room,” one of her nurses said. “She has to take her medication.”

[chrisg02]

Is Elizabeth Danfield so evil that she would do something to her own mother? “We need to get Mrs. Garrett to her room,” one of her nurses said. “She has to take her medication.”

 

Hmm, it surely looks suspiciously like elder abuse, and ED is probably the most likely candidate for culprit, but I guess we have to wait and see how Mark unfolds the drama. Now that child abuse is more recognized, elder abuse by family and other 'carers' must be one of the biggest remaining hidden family horrors still looking to gain appreciable recognition from hypocritical society. It's seems just right that such a piece of reality makes an appearance in the CAP/'Paternity' saga. Great chapter, Mark.

[PrivateTim]

I don't think it is elder abuse in the neglect/abuse area, she just keeps the old dear medicated up so she can use the family fortune as she sees fit.

 

It will be interesting if any of the characters from this chapter, Travis, Trevor or Beau have significance in future books.

[chrisg02]

I don't think it is elder abuse in the neglect/abuse area, she just keeps the old dear medicated up so she can use the family fortune as she sees fit.

 

And that isn't a form of elder abuse?

[Daddydavek]

Whether elder abuse could be legally proven is irrevelent; the clear implication from the story is that Elizabeth keeps her mother over medicated and in a nursing home so that the estate can be controlled. Wade's handling of that along with the shennagins his mother plans to use on him about the land deal should be interesting. It would be satisfying to not only see him turn her riposte aside but for him to counter, wresting control of his grandmother's estate from his mother. Just speculating.....

[chrisg02]

Whether elder abuse could be legally proven is irrevelent; the clear implication from the story is that Elizabeth keeps her mother over medicated and in a nursing home so that the estate can be controlled. . . .

 

I'm not familiar with any legal definition of elder abuse. But the idea that there might be kinds of actual abuse of elders (such as the situation portrayed or suspected here) that somehow do not count 'legally' as elder abuse . . . well, that's just horribly fascinating in a sense that would have been understood by the George Orwell of "1984" and (I don't doubt) by Mark as well.

[centexhairysub]

That BITCH... I just know that Elizabeth has been keeping dear old mom all drugged up so that she can keep control of the family fortune but I bet in a year from now or even less; that control won't be so solid or even there... I can't wait to see Wade and Elizabeth slug it out toe to toe and face to face.

 

I think that PrivateTim has a good question as well; we have seen Trevor and Beau from time to time and now have Travis as well; have to wonder if they will be getting more expanded roles down the line.

 

I think everyone is missing a big upcoming event, the visit and discussion between Wade and his father next week... I realize that with the latest revelation about the evils of Elizabeth, it is easy to overlook but this is the second or third chapter that has casually mentioned this upcoming visit... I have a feeling that this is gonna be an interesting meeting....