PrivateTim Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 This financial concern thing is all well and good, but it's plainly obvious in this case that it was nothing but a smokescreen for Stef to target Robbie over Will. And I am not convinced that we'll ever see Ryan again. Or, if we do, it won't be of any great consequence. Because if Ryan was really meant to have a future importance to Will, there'd be a way to sort of "keep him on the shelf" with Will re-locating, as opposed to Will basically writing him off as not important. We have no idea how long Will will stay at Menlo, nor where Ryan might wind up..... if his mother remarried Nor do we know where Ryan might wind up for college or hell..... we don't even know where he might be by the end of this story or in the next that only moves ahead a number of months. 2 Link to comment
sat8997 Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 There are probably fewer than ten of us who find that stuff interesting. Way, way fewer...seriously. 2 Link to comment
methodwriter85 Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 (edited) We have no idea how long Will will stay at Menlo, nor where Ryan might wind up..... if his mother remarried Nor do we know where Ryan might wind up for college or hell..... we don't even know where he might be by the end of this story or in the next that only moves ahead a number of months. You're right about that. We don't. Life is so strange..when you don't know...how can you tell where you're going to...you can't be sure of any situation...Something could change..and then you won't know... (God, wasn't 1982 an awesome year for music? Long live New Wave.) Edited January 6, 2013 by methodwriter85 Link to comment
Mark Arbour Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 We have no idea how long Will will stay at Menlo, nor where Ryan might wind up..... if his mother remarried Nor do we know where Ryan might wind up for college or hell..... we don't even know where he might be by the end of this story or in the next that only moves ahead a number of months. An excellent point. It's a bit premature to write Ryan off at the ripe old age of 14. 1 Link to comment
MJ85 Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 Are the entire lot of you plotting his eventual return to the story or something??? Sheeeeeeeeeeeeesh, Louise. Why would Will be essentially keeping him at arms length if he still considered him so much of a friend? Link to comment
Westie Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 An excellent point. It's a bit premature to write Ryan off at the ripe old age of 14. Lark 2.0 (.... if I were to continue to make parallels with Be Rad.... which I'm not.... much) Link to comment
PrivateTim Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 Why would Will be essentially keeping him at arms length if he still considered him so much of a friend? Will didn't keep him at an arms length. When they hung out, something Will was looking forward to, there was an awkwardness and from the one sentence about their time we don't really know the cause of the awkwardness. And yes, it was Lark I was thinking of, but couldn't come up with his name. Link to comment
Mark Arbour Posted January 6, 2013 Author Share Posted January 6, 2013 I think that it's pretty natural for a guy who's 14-17 to have a 'best friend' or at least a couple of really good friends. That means that any parallel to Be Rad is inevitable. Whether that friend is bisexual, gay, or straight, or whether that guy is involved with Will in a relationship, remains to be seen. Link to comment
MJ85 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 One word to describe the end of this chapter: Peachy! It does seem like it's been too long since you've graced us with a true cliffhanger, though. Brad mentioned how Wade likes to be in control...yet why is it that Wade ends up as the Bottom Boy with basically every guy he's hooked up with besides Matt? (The only other one I can think of that he's even topped is Jeff, and even that was after the fact.) Sigh...my first inclination is to think that Robbie's...dinner...is proof contributing to him and Brad headed for Splitsville and him being on the train headed for Exit, Stage Left. But, we don't know anything beyond the snippet that introduces Wade's part of the chapter yet. 1 Link to comment
Mark Arbour Posted January 8, 2013 Author Share Posted January 8, 2013 One word to describe the end of this chapter: Peachy! It does seem like it's been too long since you've graced us with a true cliffhanger, though. Brad mentioned how Wade likes to be in control...yet why is it that Wade ends up as the Bottom Boy with basically every guy he's hooked up with besides Matt? (The only other one I can think of that he's even topped is Jeff, and even that was after the fact.) Sigh...my first inclination is to think that Robbie's...dinner...is proof contributing to him and Brad headed for Splitsville and him being on the train headed for Exit, Stage Left. But, we don't know anything beyond the snippet that introduces Wade's part of the chapter yet. One of the more interesting things I've learned here at GA (and perhaps in real life) is that just because a guy is on the bottom doesn't mean he's not in control. 1 Link to comment
MJ85 Posted January 8, 2013 Share Posted January 8, 2013 More often than not I don't find "power"/"dominant" bottoms to be all that hot to read about. But that's just me. Until this story, though, I would've thought of Wade as versatile. But now in this story, it would be like a race between him and Will for the most frequent bottom, if not for the fact that Will hardly ever seems to top at all. I guess if anything...I wonder where Wade's desire to be the guy who's spreading his legs, is coming from. Link to comment
methodwriter85 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) I'm not sure if that's a function of Will being a total bottom, or a function of the fact that Will's usually the younger guy or he's the gay guy hooking up with a "straight" guy and topping is more acceptable in the mind of a guy who's "straight" but hooking up with another guy. Lark 2.0 (.... if I were to continue to make parallels with Be Rad.... which I'm not.... much) See, I haven't really seen much of this being like Be Rad 2.0. Brad at the start of Be Rad was mainly concerned with three things- sex, weed, and his social standing/power at Gunn High School. Will's into smoking and sex like his dad was, but he seems to be more into helping people, as well as what's right and wrong, than Brad was. 17-year old Brad felt way more shallow than Will does. And Will's story arc is more about taking control of his life than the trauma of coming out and finding true love. Brad was also wayyyy more into preppie culture than Will is, although that's likely more a function of the fact that preppie wasn't exactly cool in 2000 like it was in 1980/1981. Will's generation was highly influenced by hip-hop, as opposed to how whitebread Brad's generation was. As Adam Phillips (who's Matt's age), everybody wanted to be black. Tommy Hilfiger was really popular at the time and that was totally influenced by baggier hip-hop styles.The closet we had to prep was Abercrombie and Fitch, but even that wasn't really the kind of prep that Brad would have grown up with in the early 80's. It was more like laidback surfer prep. Edited January 9, 2013 by methodwriter85 Link to comment
Mark Arbour Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 If I had to label them, I'd peg Will as versatile, leaning bottom; and I'd peg Wade as versatile. I agree with Jeremy, too, in that with guys like that who are versatile, how they have sex is going to depend a lot on the other guy's preference. So when Wade is with Brad, who is a versatile top, he'll grab his ankles. When he's with a guy like Kevin, he'll top. Link to comment
methodwriter85 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 (edited) I always thought it was kind of funny that macho, masculine guys like nearly every Hayes guy could be total bottoms, and effeminate guys could wind up as tops. I like Noah being Will's friend. Even though I'm sure they're going to have sex, I also think Noah has the makings of being a good friend. I liked Ryan as Will's friend as well, but he reads as that friend in high school who becomes totally into their significant other to the detriment of their friendships. I also really like Noah being from a poor background, and not being given a trust fund from the Cramptons/Schluters to be made rich like Gathan was. One thing a good soap usually has is class tension, and I feel like that's been missing for the most part ever since this soap left Claremont. It's nice to have that back again. Edited January 9, 2013 by methodwriter85 Link to comment
Daddydavek Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Will is younger and has the big dick and while he does top, I think he feels less threatening when he bottoms. Face it, even size queens get a little bit intimidated when confronted by a really big dick. And Will always seem to have fun and is not afraid of his sexuality as his repartee with Tony's "catholic girl" clearly showed. 1 Link to comment
centexhairysub Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Okay, I have had more time to think but still have to start out with what I said in the reviews, Magnificent... I really like how Will is handling the situation with Tony. Will has taken time to really analyze the situation and seems to understand where Tony is right now. Will may not fully understand why but he is willing to so along and not rock the boat with Tony and let him deal with the issues at his own pace. Will has grown so much even from just the last story to this one. I thought Will handled both the situation with Dana and Gathan perfectly. He let Dana make all the moves and just countered what she did but by staying cool, he comes out on top while she looks bitchy... Will read the situation with Gathan and realized he was about to blow up about Darius and Ella and got him out just in time. He also gave Gathan a great ego boost, which led to some good sex... OMG... I just did not see the hook up with Brad and Wade coming at all. I loved it though. It wasn't a trashy tawdry exercise in sex but a really cementing of true friendship between them. Wade realized that Brad needed someone and was there for him when he really needed someone to be, plus he can let Matt live vicariously through his encounter with Brad... Now, we just have to see where the encounter in the hallway leads...... Bravo.... 3 Link to comment
Westie Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Effeminate or macho is no link between top and bottom... And you might find that the proclivities of the main characters in this series are more a reflection of the authors preferences (to read/write/fantasise about) than anything else 2 Link to comment
Mark Arbour Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 Effeminate or macho is no link between top and bottom... And you might find that the proclivities of the main characters in this series are more a reflection of the authors preferences (to read/write/fantasise about) than anything else But I've written about damn near everything. Almost. I guess that means I have a vivid imagination. If only my real life were that exciting. 3 Link to comment
MJ85 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 If I had to label them, I'd peg Will as versatile, leaning bottom; and I'd peg Wade as versatile. I agree with Jeremy, too, in that with guys like that who are versatile, how they have sex is going to depend a lot on the other guy's preference. So when Wade is with Brad, who is a versatile top, he'll grab his ankles. When he's with a guy like Kevin, he'll top. I'm thinking the same way - both with Brad and in general. But, for Wade it seems like it's been lopsided lately with him being the guy grabbing his ankles no matter who he's with, which did put a bit of a damper on what's otherwise a good fantasy coming true. (And no, I'm not suggesting it would have been better going the other way with Brad - that wouldn't really have made sense.) With Will, I get the vibe that he's more of a bottom, period. If anything, I get the vibe that maybe that could be contributing to why he seeks out these "straight"/older guys. 2 Link to comment
Daddydavek Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 But I've written about damn near everything. Almost. I guess that means I have a vivid imagination. If only my real life were that exciting. If your real life were that exciting you wouldn't have the time to write all that you've written. So I guess that means your readers are the winners...... 3 Link to comment
Mark Arbour Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 I posted this on my Yahoo group...thought I'd share it here too. The last chapter segued into this one, which can probably be called the eye of the hurricane. With the next one, the winds pick up again. :-) In the mean time, we got some views of Will's tight relationship with Brad and Wade, his developing friendship with Noah, and his attitudes about infidelity. In essence, Will has developed that quintessential California attitude: Live and Let Live. I thought the most important line was this one from Will: “You’re in control of your life, and I’m in control of mine,” I summarized. “Works better that way.” 1 Link to comment
Westie Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 The last chapter was an interesting one more for what it set up to happen next than anything else.... I think over the next week (in story time) JJ is going to be reined in a little, and it will be make or break for Robbie and Brad... 1 Link to comment
MJ85 Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I am decidedly less optimistic about JJ being reined in so easily... 1 Link to comment
Westie Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 I didn't say it would be easy.... I suspect it's gonna be a bloodbath. Maybe JJ will file for emancipation too.... and get shot down in flames.... Link to comment
Mark Arbour Posted January 12, 2013 Author Share Posted January 12, 2013 I didn't say it would be easy.... I suspect it's gonna be a bloodbath. Maybe JJ will file for emancipation too.... and get shot down in flames.... JJ really can't do that. Jeremy has pointed out to us that JJ has to live in something of a bubble, to cut that wholesome, post-Tonya Harding image skating demands. Emancipation would not work for him. I can't see his skating career surviving that. He really has more restraints on him because of that, and it gives Brad a lot more leverage over JJ than he had over Will. To JJ, his skating career is everything. And Brad has the ability to destroy that career. Link to comment
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