PrivateTim

Two words, polyisoprene condoms.

Will's a dick™ I have now trademarked this phrase along with Will's a douche™, Will's an asshole™, Will's arrogant™, Will's a hypocrite™, Will's immature™, Will's petulant™ and Will's a spoiled brat™ Anyone wishing to use these phrases will have to pay me 25 cents for each usage or 6 uses for a dollar. JJ's problem is the same as everyone else's in this story. The first time after he and John hooked up they needed to communicate about expectations. To be fair, miscommunication is the key to every opera ever written, most of Shakespeare and the great literature of the world.

“Well then the next time someone needs to call him out for being such an ass, instead of coddling him, why don’t you go do it yourself,” I snapped at him. Will "Black Pot" Schluter calling out everyone on Jeremy "Black Kettle" Schluter is hilarious. Will the most coddled ass in this series. “So much that she let him take her back to his room,” I said to Stef. His eyes got wide in surprise. Will "Don't Get Into My Private Life" Schluter gets into the private life of Darius by announcing to the whole family who he slept with. How hypocritical can Will be? I almost moaned in annoyance at how that would trash yet another weekend, and at how I so did not want to immerse myself in all of this conflict, Shoot! Will, at 16, can't get drunk, smoke out and do X! “Will, look, it’s just this one other dude. He’s pretty cool. You’ll like him once you get to know him.” He was whining and that bugged the shit out of me. - “Later,” I said, and hung up the phone, even as the tears began to all but cascade out of my eyes. He’d found someone else to help him out, to fuck him, and now that he had Joe, he didn’t need me. He only ever needed you when he wanted to or needed something. But will you learn your lesson? Nah.

I think John Carullo is one of the truly great, genuine people in this story that I would like to see married into the Schluter-Crampton clan. Others are Cam Heely, Alister, Mason Hardcastle, and Kai, if we can get him to the mainland to go to school at Cal, UCLA, Pepperdine (😲) or some such place. I loved the scenes with JJ and John, not just the sex, but the subway, Belvedere Castle, etc. JJ intellectually understands that he uses the Maybach to be an elitist snob, but part of him thinks that's okay. Today may dig a bit deeper into his psyche.

Is JJ in this story? I hadn't noticed.......

I got that John C was just asking JJ out in general, not to a gay bar and now I think JJ should take John out to a nice dinner. Not necessarily Alain Ducasse at Essex House or Per Se, but just a nice place John might not have gone, maybe Monte's Trattoria or a place like that. People act as if John is some big lumpy plumber or someone with no sophistication. Four years at Stanford and exposure to all the things that Stanford exposes their athletes to, John would be pretty worldly and sophisticated. Usually when talking about Stanfurd I have to throw in all the obligatory barbs expected of a Cal grad, but I actually recognize what a great job Stanford does for their athletes, during and after school. Is it wrong that I like Elizabeth Danfield and Mary Ellen?

I really enjoyed this chapter with Will and Darius entering JJ's world. I especially enjoyed Darius's interactions with Bellona because it showed while Darius is a wolf, when he is with a woman he treats them well and knows how to make them feel good about themselves. What I didn't realize was how truly brilliant this writing was until I got the comments and saw how these fictional characters generated so much passion in people. I have fun getting fired up to bitch about Tony and Will, but it is fun and every time I want to bitch slap Will or drop a boulder on Tony ala Roadrunner, I say to myself, it isn't Will's fault he said/did that. it's what Arbour made him do because he is The Creator. And that is okay because it is his world we get to walk in and use to pleasure ourselves (metaphorically speaking of course). JJ has been JJ for years, a bitchy, whiney, self absorbed, narcissistic, elitist prig. His deal with Carullo was just the last straw. I could create a similar list for the things JJ has done that are worthy of a good bitch slapping. I think you could ask a lot of the characters in this story if they think Will acts superior to them and if he lacks kindness and you get a resounding 'yes'. Wally and Clara leap to mind, but a whole host of others. Below is a piece I had to memorize in college and still take very seriously: The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others rather than his own; and who appears well in any company, a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe. - John Walter Wayland It is a list of old fashioned values, but I believe in them all. Will would do well to memorize it and take it to heart, and JJ too. I am going to guess JJ will be fine, he will start being nicer to John C. and be a bit more altruistic. This isn't a case study in a psychology text book or a paper submitted to the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology or the Journal of Youth and Adolescence, but a sweet little soap opera designed to amuse and entertain. Sure there are life lessons to be learned and points to ponder, but mostly it is just enjoyment. Even at that however, psychology is not an exact science and theories change all the time. It is not a hard science like physics and as Sheldon Cooper once observed, "...psychology has once again proved itself the doofus of the sciences".

More proof that Zach is a bad man, a very bad man.

I think they need to "Epstein" Alexandra. I DO NOT get why Will wants to go to Colorado to see Zach, who just continues to use Will.

I wouldn't call what Zach and Will had over two years and three different high schools, "that high school relationship", especially since most of it was behind closed doors.

I think while Buck might initially be annoyed by Will, I think ultimately he'd be impressed by Will's horsemanship.

Lark's beating points back to Alexandra. Just like too many people know Zach and Will are boyfriends, too many knew Scott is Lark.

“If they’re focused on our needs, I hope you hired the pilots,” Will said in a slutty way. Stef got mildly annoyed, while Will just smiled at him. He’d been testing Stef, to see if he was making any progress, and he’d gotten the answer he expected. "Testing Stef" is Will playing bullshit games. I don't like bullshit games. If Will wants to be this mature, 25 year old guy, he needs to end childish foolishness. I am not sure Elizabeth was raped. Is it possible she obtained sperm from one of the Schluters/Cramptons? There was a Law & Order episode like that. Brad is already being double crossed in the deal with Alexandra. I think Buzz was killed by his ex, because I bet the pre-nup is null and void if Buzz dies. Somehow it was snuck into the Texas care package is my guess.

I agree in a way, but as I said several chapters ago, Brad needs to make crystal clear with Curtis that if anything happens to Will or Travis, not only will Buck die, but die a slow, painful death.

“I really don’t think he gives a shit, and I really don’t think it matters all that much to Grandmaman or Stef either. I didn’t come in here to get you to jump on my bandwagon so I could convince them, because they’d have to care for that to be an issue.” Poor widdle Will whining again, "wah, why doesn't everyone, especially Tim, love me." After all Stef has done for him and all the support, especially in his battle with Brad, how Will can doubt their love, let alone that they care speaks to Will's immaturity. “I think that you should enjoy your break from school, but I am confident that when you start at Harvard in the fall, you’ll focus on your work there just as you have at Menlo and at Harvard-Westlake.” Will burned out on both H-W and The Menlo School, he'll do the same at Harvard.

It had been this way my entire life, where I’d always been a little too old for my crowd. I thought about our party and the people there, and I really didn’t want to go back and hang out with them. I didn’t want to listen to John’s awful band, I didn’t want to flirt with 16-year-old guys. This is what is wrong, in my estimation, with not just promiscuity, but age inappropriate promiscuity. Because Will has been with so many people, especially ones older, Buzz being the most extreme one, he cannot enjoy an actual peer.

Working to support his friends (Travis in this case) would be being open with Travis and let him know what Brad and Stef were trying to do, even if it didn't succeed. Part II of the equation is, if Brad interfered with Will's life like Will has with Travis.... well let's just say I'd see Brad needing new shoes, car, etc. The big problem is lack of communication and dialogue, which is Will's big complaint with Brad, and other family members.

Still hate teen drinking and drugs and pressuring people to drink or do drugs.

One thing that occurred to me a couple of chapters ago is that Wade needs to spell out very clearly who would control Riley's trusts, should anything happen to him, I don't know if that is Sean, Matt, Nana, Tiffany or someone else, but it needs to be clear it ain't Grandmama Lizzie.

A great way to spend a Friday night with a new chapter of The Gap Year. Thanks Mark and team for this epic. How can anyone say Will is mature, let alone mature beyond his years? He is a complete douchebag with anger/rage issues. A mature individual would have simply waited for Travis to vent his anger and waited with crossed arms while Travis ranted. Eventually Travis would have burned out and been wondering why Will was just smiling. We are four years past Will's Malibu Meltdown and his anger/rage issues have barely moved.

Why is Will and Zach drifting apart sad? Zach is poison. Has been since he was first introduced in the series. Barring a Road to Damascus event, Zach will always be a snake, out only for Zach.

So Will is a worse control freak than Brad? Will is the one who hates it when people get into his business, but he has no problem getting into everyone else's. He had no right to talk about Buzz's encounters with the other family members. He violated Buzz's privacy and theirs. He really had no business outting JJ's encounter with Buzz at a family dinner. He should have told Brad and JP/Stef privately if he felt JJ was in danger of self harm again. This idea that he found out about JJ's encounter from someone else, not JJ, and therefore he is free to use that information as he sees fit, doesn't hold water with me. And why is a 16 year old dictating to the adults how this should be handled and who should be told what?

He is in Honolulu of course and Stef was one of the two people allowed to know. We now get why Mike Carmichael wanted it hush hush and not to use his cell phone once he'd left for Oahu.

The chimes on the grandfather clock began sounding out the seven bells, telling everyone it was dinnertime. It is time to class up Escorial. They need a staff member walking through the house to announce dinner, playing All Right Now on a chime.