[Jwolf] The English Year

[MJ85]

Wouldn't that at least sometimes be outright interfering in your dating life?

 

Something that does make me go, "hmmmmm..." is Mike's comment that Roberto's hostility is in fact jealousy instead.

[methodwriter85]

Hey, Blue, I'm glad to see you over here. Have you been following this all along, or did my plug successfully at Arbour's board get you over here?

[Jwolf]

Hey folks! Here's the next chapter, hot off the presses. I hope you enjoy it. Also, I like to let the conversations here in the forum play out without too much interference from me, but if you have a question you'd like me to answer specifically, let me know! Thanks again for all of the support

[methodwriter85]

     Have you hear of dagers? Basically, day+rager= dagers. The term wasn't around when I was in school, but apparently the UD kids use that term now. I thought of that when I read about lawn parties. We had day parties as well- I just remember you had to be careful not to step on the sidewalk with your drink or else you'd be considered a public intoxication by the cops. But the cops couldn't do anything if you were on a porch drinking.

 

     UD kids were pretty big on basement parties because it was the best way to make sure you didn't get caught. I remember one house that blocked the front door of the house with a couch and made everyone go through the back, so that it didn't look like a party from the front. You so accurately described what basement parties are like.

 

     I thought Corbin could have handled it better, but he needed to say that to the Brit. He's right- why should he act like he cares if it's all just platonic?

Edited January 26, 2013 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

You'd be arrested just for drinking in public? Man, your cops were harsh. Ours didn't care unless you were creating some kind of disturbance, such as stumbling aroudn or peeing on somehting.

 

Granted, I went to a massive party school. If they arrested us just for having a drink, they'd never have time for anything else.

 

My junior year, my block and a couple blocks around us had a power outtage that lasted most of the day. It was a sunny Saturday, so it wound up turning into a huge spontaneous block party until our power got restored. A couple kids got a bit wild, but no one had to be brought in, and we all had a good time. But man, there was alcohol, and thus cops checking IDs, everywhere.

[methodwriter85]

You'd be arrested just for drinking in public? Man, your cops were harsh. Ours didn't care unless you were creating some kind of disturbance, such as stumbling aroudn or peeing on somehting..

 

I attended University of Delaware during the late 2000's. I think back in the 1990's, the school pretty much didn't care and UD was a big party school. But when UD decided they wanted to turn themselves into a respectable school, and the surrounding city wanted to be more kid-friendly, they went full-hog on doing what they could to stem drinking. I don't think it really got kids to stop drinking- people just got more inventive and underground.

 

I mean, we still had great parties and lots of fun, but you had to be really careful. I heard it's gotten even worse, where they have cops checking I.D.'s at Homecoming tailgates. Not surprisingly, tailgates at UD aren't nearly so popular anymore.

 

This was "my" college deal, so to speak. It was a fundraiser called Skidfest. Imagine 2,000 college people crammed in a tiny backyard for a bunch of row houses colloquially called Skid Rowe. For 20 years the city was pretty willing to let it happen, but in 2010 the University of Delaware built a Barnes and Nobles next door, and so this charity fundraiser event was no more.

 

 

I think my favorite memory of this event was this time I was hanging out with my friend Dan. We were in the living room of one the houses. We found a baggie of sage and a bowl, and decided to smoke it to see what would happen. It was a pretty funny night.

 

 I'm still pretty angry the school crushed this event, because it was something that really did help people and wasn't just a drunken fest, but I also kind of figure that schools change. And something like this will probably happen again, just in a different form.

[Jwolf]

Y'all, the next chapter is up and available here. Thanks for following the story. A pretty subdued chapter compared to what's coming up next I hope you enjoy.

[Maximoff]

This was subdued? The whole chapter kept me reading and on the edge all the time. 

Great chapter Jwolf. I'm a big fan of your narratives. 

 

I don't know how Corbin's chemistry lectures got into string theory though... 

[methodwriter85]

    It was surreal reading about Mike and Pete somehow getting into some kind of pissing contest about Corbin, especially when Pete realized that Corbin got his "killer" slang bit from Mike.

 

     The bit about crew made me think of Armie Hammer as the Winklevoss twins in the Social Network. Yum.

 

[vinnyvin]

    It was surreal reading about Mike and Pete somehow getting into some kind of pissing contest about Corbin, especially when Pete realized that Corbin got his "killer" slang bit from Mike.

 

     The bit about crew made me think of Armie Hammer as the Winklevoss twins in the Social Network. Yum.

 

 

Oh, if Pete looked like Armie Hammer... *swoons*. Have you seen the Simpson's spoof of the twins? 

 

But anyways, it was so much fun watching the two love interests interact! So many feelings! I still just want to push Pete and Corbs together and say, "Now kiss"! XD

[Jwolf]

This was subdued? The whole chapter kept me reading and on the edge all the time. 

Great chapter Jwolf. I'm a big fan of your narratives. 

 

I don't know how Corbin's chemistry lectures got into string theory though... 

 

Subdued in comparison to the chapters that sandwich it. And I asked myself the very same thing going to chem lectures every day...

[Jwolf]

Method, I know your wet weak spot for Armmie Hammer! Now that I think of it, he'd make a good candidate to play Pete... at least him younger and leaner. Anyway... I'm still curious about everyone's casting thoughts on some of the main characters.

[methodwriter85]

     I think Channing Tatum circa his modeling days in the early 00's is how I picture Mike the Cadet. I can see why people don't find him hot because his face isn't exactly perfect, but his body was beyond dispute back then. Mike's face can't be all that gorgeous, but his body has to be.

 

 

 

[methodwriter85]

And this is how I picture Corbin:

 

 

I picture Corbin as having a cute, sweet boy next door look...which alllows him to manipulate the hell out of people. For some reason I also think he has curly hair that he drowns in product.

[vinnyvin]

And this is how I picture Corbin:

 

 

I picture Corbin as having a cute, sweet boy next door look...which alllows him to manipulate the hell out of people. For some reason I also think he has curly hair that he drowns in product.

 

Oh, this Corbin looks like he's made of sugar and spice and everything nice! (It slightly worries me to know that behind a disarming, cherubic appearance lies such a proclivity and aptitude for manipulation. Good thing Corbin has a good heart, or this story could take quite a dark turn!) 

 

PS. More pictures please! 

[Jwolf]

Yes, more pictures please! In the meantime, the next chapter is available here! I hope you enjoy.

[methodwriter85]

That would be kind of the point of my Corbin pick- I think Corbin's cute in a very sweet-looking way, which disarms people. I don't think Corbin's manipulatons would work if he looked like a young Ian Somerhalder or something.

Edited February 8, 2013 by methodwriter85

[methodwriter85]

    I get that he's only 20 or 21, but god, Corbin's attitude pissed me off so much. That is exactly why so many guys who have "complicated" sexuality can wind up struggling so much, because as soon as they so much as have sex with another guy, they have people insisting that they must be gay. I keep wanting to point them toward's Adam Phillip's story, Cross-Currents.

[Mark Arbour]

    I get that he's only 20 or 21, but god, Corbin's attitude pissed me off so much. That is exactly why so many guys who have "complicated" sexuality can wind up struggling so much, because as soon as they so much as have sex with another guy, they have people insisting that they must be gay. I keep wanting to point them toward's Adam Phillip's story, Cross-Currents.

 

That's a good point.  But this isn't just some quick hookup.  These guys were having a relationship, and Mike took it to a whole new level of intimacy.  Yeah, Corbin's being a drama queen, but this isn't a casual drunken hookup between friends. 

[MJ85]

That's a good point. And to be fair, how much are you willing to bet that Mr. Wants-The-Wife-And-Picket-Fence he wouldn't just deny being anything other than completely straight, regardless?

 

From the chapter:.

 

What was with guys getting drunk and taking their clothes off?

There was a Cracked.com list that I read some weeks back that talked about things that happen when people get drunk - one of these mentioned that alcohol raises our body temperature. Then toss in things like the dancing and other crazy antics that usually go along with getting drunk, and...yeah.

 

I have to believe that this is the beginning of the end for Mike in this story. The only question now is, will he just gradually fade into the background, or will he end up totally outed? Whether he likes it or not, he's gay now (or at least not totally straight) as far as Bryant is concerned (regardless of what he said).

 

Not gonna lie, when Corbin said he was tired of being a magnet for guys with barriers, I totally expected somebody (most likely Roberto) to tell him to stop falling for guys with barriers.

[methodwriter85]

That's a good point.  But this isn't just some quick hookup.  These guys were having a relationship, and Mike took it to a whole new level of intimacy.  Yeah, Corbin's being a drama queen, but this isn't a casual drunken hookup between friends. 

 

What makes it interesting is that neither of the guys will admit that they are in some kind of relationship- Mike would just say they're just "hanging out", and Corbin would just say it's some friends-with-benefits situation, because he knows that the "r" word would have Mike running fast.

 

Corbin is trying so hard to convince himself that he's okay with the situation being what it is, but at the same time his frustration with it really came to light in this chapter. Corbin wants badly to really believe that his thing with Mike is fun and uncomplicated because it's just hooking up, but because Mike let things get more intimate- and not just in terms of sex. Corbin can't just see him as a friend-with-benefits now.

 

I do think that guys can have sex with one another without getting attached, but when it becomes a series of encounters where you like the person you're hooking up with, I think it can become almost impossible not to get feelings for them. (At least, that's what I think. I've only ever had one-off hook-ups.)

Edited February 11, 2013 by methodwriter85

[Jwolf]

Hey folks! The next chapter is up and published here. Sorry it was a day tardy... if it's any excuse, I had a finger injury that prevented me from working earlier this week. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. Please read the chapter, come back here and pick up the discussion where it's left off!

[methodwriter85]

    At your school fraternity pledging lasted for a whole year? Geez. I thought that Greek made that bit up. It was always a one-semester deal over here.

[Jwolf]

We had rush all fall semester and then pledge ship for eight weeks in the spring. Occasionally, there'd be a fall pledge, but they were all sophomores who had deferred for whatever reason. So Greek sort of had it wrong. No one pledges for an entire year.

[methodwriter85]

See, that makes more sense.

 

The Mike and Pete stuff was pretty intense. It's almost comical that when Mike finally wants to admit something to Corbin, Corbin couldn't care less because he's so worked up over Pete.

 

 

  “I mean, I think it’s best that you were honest with her. She has a decision to make. Can she live with the fact that you’re bisexual?”

 

                “I hope so. I love her,” he said. I thought it was really cute that this barely legal child was declaring love so definitively. It was almost like he meant it.

 

I really loved that exchange. When you're 20/21, you look at people who are 18/19 like they're so much younger than you are. Corbin thinks of himself as worldly and experienced, and he can't even legally drink yet. Now that I'm 27, I tend to look at that whole 18-22 range of people as basically being kids, and myself as that kindly old sage willing to dispense advice to the young people.

 

  As for the final scene...that felt like something straight out of CAP. It kinda made me laugh. There is something pretty hot about calling a guy a bitch during sex and slamming him up against a wall.

Edited February 17, 2013 by methodwriter85