Black Widow (Story Discussion)

[impunity]

There are a lot of things Mark is willing to do, but killing off children is not one of them. The closest he got were Billy Crampton and Shane something-or-other, and they were already 15. Maddy just shy of 3 years old in any event.

 

Young man, you need to work on your joke-recognition skills.

[Northern Dutch Guy]

Chapter 30 ended with a nice cliffhanger. Hmm Brad seems missing.

Could it be,
- he is on his way to speak with Mike Carmichael and did keep it secret exept for Stef and maybe Buzz. Buzz being dead makes Brad meeting Mike a bit more interesting or scary. It may be a setup from Lizzy. Stef cannot tell Will for he promissed Brad to keep it secret.
- he is/was captured by people from Brad's past (like from Milenium and Buzz was involved). So if that is the case probably Lizzy put them on track of Brad. And Buzz and the crew now are conveniently death means less witnesses.

[PrivateTim]

Come now, Maddy isn't being whiny, she's being bratty

 

Tuh-may-toe, Tuh-maw-toe.

[methodwriter85]

Might be nice for the kid to finish high school befor embarking on a new high profile career.

 

JJ is going to St. Anne's in New York City to finish out high school. He's going to be classmates with Lena Dunham. I can already see him finding her annoying. LOL.

 

I think it's ultimately a good thing that JJ and Will didn't go through high school together. They would have killed each other. LOL.

 

Anyway, St. Anne's is one of those independent study, no letter grades type of school. Which seems like a good kind of school for someone like JJ, who hasn't really made getting straight A's a big priority in his life. So far he hasn't really seemed to think about college at all, but he's going to have to, because I can't see this family letting him not go, especially because he's no longer skating.

 

I could see him taking a gap year that gets a little bit longer than a year, though.

 

One really interesting thing about St. Anne's is that the high school students basically attend some kind of seminar where they have to discuss a variety of topics, in intense depth. That's pretty cool, and very much something that JJ doesn't really seem to do, and something he needs to do if he wants to get into that college mindset. I really hope we see him engage his intellect a little more than we've seen him do. Right now, he comes off as a former child star who didn't go to school.

Edited April 29, 2016 by methodwriter85

[B1ue]

Might be nice for the kid to finish high school befor embarking on a new high profile career.

I don't think this family comes with that setting.

[methodwriter85]

I don't think this family comes with that setting.

 

I mean, if you think about it, only JJ, Will, and Zach have done that. Darius Marie, and John had/have relatively normal high school experiences.

[impunity]

I mean, if you think about it, only JJ, Will, and Zach have done that. Darius Marie, and John had/have relatively normal high school experiences.

Armand! It always bothered me that no one even tried to get him to finish school.

[methodwriter85]

Armand! It always bothered me that no one even tried to get him to finish school.

 

It was the 1970's. It was a thing back then for people to do their own thing and go against the establishment.

 

I mean, the thing is, Armand was taken in as a ward, but he wasn't actually JP's or Stefan kid. I'm sure they probably brought it up, but I'm also sure that Armand shot them down, and they decided not to press him on it.

 

However, with their grandchildren, I'm sure they'd threaten to pull their trust funds if they tried pulling not going to school. I remembered suggesting that JJ should get a GED when he turned 16, and Blue just went off on how that JJ's family would never allow that.

 

I do think if JJ's going to be among snobby East Coast prep school elites, he's really going to have to up his educational game or else he's going to look stupid when he's not talking about art or classical music. He doesn't come off as very well-rounded in the learning department.

[B1ue]

I didn't go off, Mark did. Or possibly Tim. What the hell do I know about upper class people?

 

I did agree though, and contribute that a GED is a less than optimal route for Californians.

 

I mean, if you think about it, only JJ, Will, and Zach have done that. Darius Marie, and John had/have relatively normal high school experiences.

I could have been talking about Brad's kids. I.E., the one who got into Annapolis, the world class figure skater, and Will, who refuses categorization. And needs to spend time with kids.

 

Hey, maybe if like you keep pushing and he does go into charity in a big way, he can volunteer at a daycare.

Edited May 3, 2016 by B1ue

[methodwriter85]

I didn't go off, Mark did. Or possibly Tim. What the hell do I know about upper class people?

 

I did agree though, and contribute that a GED is a less than optimal route for Californians.

 

I could have been talking about Brad's kids. I.E., the one who got into Annapolis, the world class figure skater, and Will, who refuses categorization. And needs to spend time with kids.

 

Hey, maybe if like you keep pushing and he does go into charity in a big way, he can volunteer at a daycare.

 

I think Claire's kids are supposed to represent more ordinary (if still rich) teenagers- still having fun without having an eye on a dedicated future career just yet.

 

It is kind of funny though when you think about how JJ, Will, and Zach were all prodigies in some way, and JJ/Will's reaction to John's totally lame but totally normal high school band.

 

I still lean towards the idea that Will should end up a marine biology professor some day. JP would LOVE it.

Edited May 3, 2016 by methodwriter85

[Mark Arbour]

I didn't go off, Mark did. Or possibly Tim. What the hell do I know about upper class people?

 

I did agree though, and contribute that a GED is a less than optimal route for Californians.

 

I could have been talking about Brad's kids. I.E., the one who got into Annapolis, the world class figure skater, and Will, who refuses categorization. And needs to spend time with kids.

 

Hey, maybe if like you keep pushing and he does go into charity in a big way, he can volunteer at a daycare.

 

Who went off about what?  I'm lost. 

[methodwriter85]

Who went off about what?  I'm lost. 

 

When JJ turned 16 in the story, I was saying something about how JJ should get his GED because it would free up his time from home schooling, and I think you or Blue said something about how it'd be completely unacceptable for his family, and either you or Blue agreed about that.

 

That's all kind of a moot point now that JJ retired and he's actually going back to high school. Again, I really like the St. Anne's choice- it really does sound like a perfect place for him. And I love that he apparently has to do a seminar- it'd be a great way for him to engage his intellect on a deeper level than we usually see from him.

 

I kind of wish we had done more with the school side of the character lives. Menlo really encourages study abroad, which would have been interesting to see Marie and Will do. Some of these places are places we haven't seen characters in, like Guatemala and India.

[mmike1969]

This is a dumb question but why is Brad (and everyone else) is accepting AC's word so easily?

 

2) re JJ and a GED: I know I said the family would find it unacceptable for JJ to get a GED. Not sure if I went off though.

[Headstall]

I think it's her son's word Brad( and we) is accepting. I'm not saying it's smart, though... if her clue turns out to be helpful it will be a good indication she's genuine ... I think

 

And yeah, it's pretty sad when you don't know whether you went off... where's the fun in that?

[methodwriter85]

Well, it's all a moot point now. It's got to be weird for JJ to be going back to school, after dropping out in 9th grade.

Edited May 6, 2016 by methodwriter85

[impunity]

I meant to put this in my review but forgot. When did Will get Dally's phone number? It struck me while reading the latest chapter as a bit odd that he'd have had it. I looked back through the chapters with him and Buzz but couldn't find the circumstances where he got it.

[impunity]

I was starting to get used to the Thursday chapters.

[Headstall]

I was starting to get used to the Thursday chapters.

Mark is keeping us on our toes ... unpredictable is sexy...

[impunity]

Mark is keeping us on our toes ... unpredictable is sexy...

I would never want to imply that Mark isn't sexy.

[Headstall]

I would never want to imply that Mark isn't sexy.

No, because you'd be wrong... he's hella sexy...

[impunity]

No, because you'd be wrong... he's hella sexy...

I think we all have secret crushes on him.

[Headstall]

I think we all have secret crushes on him.

It's not a secret anymore

[impunity]

It's not a secret anymore

Oops.

[mmike1969]

I would never want to imply that Mark isn't sexy.

But you did

[Headstall]

But you did

It was temporary insanity on her part... withdrawal symptoms from the disappointment of no Thursday posting... she's fine now