PrivateTim

Who can't fault Will? He is still a self righteous, immature asshole, who thinks no one can give him advice, ask him questions about his, let alone tell him what to do, while at the same time, dispensing vast amounts of advice on things that are none of his business, question everyone else, and tell others what to do and then pitch a hissy fit when they don't. I am not sure what Brad was supposed to learn from the emancipation, other than Will didn't want a father-son relationship from him. Kids who get emancipated rarely have relationships with their parents. The writing on the wall has always been there. Zach is incapable of loving anyone but himself. Will is a fuck buddy. When Will becomes more of a liability, we will see Zach's true colors. Like some others. I still think Will is an immature asshole who wants to hold others to behaviors and norms he will not adhere to. I don't see any maturity Will and won't until he learns how to talk to people to resolve or forestall issues. It is appropriate he sat with toddlers at the wedding. For the record, I don't like Marc, never have and I think he is bad for Brad, and Will's bad advice about taking Marc to Australia was a disaster for Brad, but Will will never admit it.

The Will Schluter is a Curious Lad: If you offer him pheasant he would rather have grouse. If you put him in a house he would much prefer a pad, If you put him in a pad then he'd rather have a house. If you set him on a mouse then he only wants a rat, If you set him on a rat then he'd rather chase a mouse. Yes the Will Schluter is a Curious Lad-- And there isn't any call for me to shout it: For he will do As he do do And there's no doing anything about it! The Will Schluter is a terrible bore: When you let him in, then he wants to be out; He's always on the wrong side of every door, And as soon as he's at home, then he'd like to get about. He likes to lie in the bureau drawer, But he makes such a fuss if he can't get out. Yes the Will Schluter is a Curious Lad-- And there isn't any use for you to doubt it: For he will do As he do do And there's no doing anything about it! The Will Schluter is a is a curious beast: His disobliging ways are a matter of habit. If you offer him fish then he always wants a feast; When there isn't any fish then he won't eat rabbit. If you offer him cream then he sniffs and sneers, For he only likes what he finds for himself; I am sure that is how T.S. Elliott would have written the poem had he read CAP. Will is the most obnoxious, hypocritical, contrarian, 'my way or the highway' character. Brad is the one who is supposed to be infamous for control issues, but he is a rank amateur compared to Will. Will thinks telling Brad to invite Marc to Australia was a positive. It was not. It was none of Will's business. He sabotaged Matt's time with Brad and pushed Brad towards commitment faster than Brad needed to be pushed, and it isn't Will's place to involve himself in his father's life given his insistent demands that no one involve themselves in his. His passive-aggressive game playing (transponder, mattress, etc) should earn him a timeout at Escorial. Maybe JP should suggest Will stay off property for awhile while he figures out his level of authority at Escorial. It is no business if his father buys a condo in the City and no business of Will's if Marc and Brad don't wish to entertain visitors. Will fired his parents. He doesn't get to pick and choose when he wants his father around. He certainly has no rights to make demands of him and the other adults, JP, Stef, Claire, et al, need to make him aware of the position he willingly chose to place himself.

This was a timely reminder that there are so many other things Mark could be doing with his time other than hunched over his IBM Selectric banging out chapters for us. It is more than the physical time writing, but the mental time as well. I bet Mark spends 30 minutes thinking about the story for every 1 minute he physically writes it. Thank you once again Mark for giving so much of yourself for your wonderful series. You give more than any of us has a right to expect or ask for.

I did just reread this story in June, but now I am jumping back and forth between it and Black Widow, to remind myself of certain issues. But I thought the above comment was particularly insightful 🤣🤣 The thing that continually strikes mw about the Will character, is that he went through all this drama to rid himself of his parents and any other adult controlling him, but he gets pissed off at his father for not spending enough time with him and he spends an inordinate amount of time telling others what to do, butting into their business, and all while acting his his excrement is scent free.

We got to Malibu and fucked like bunnies all night

Despite some of my observations throughout this, my first reread of 9-11, I am still eternally grateful for the monumental accomplishment this book is. It had to be emotionally draining to research and write and kill off a popular character. I thought JP's speech/toast before dinner was a terrific ending to a hard story.

“Matt is miserable without Wade,” she said. “It is hard to see him in so much pain.” It would have been so easy to make a nasty comment that Matt should have considered that before, when he was kicking Wade to the curb, but I resisted that temptation. But Matt didn't kick Wade to the curb, he is having his own PTSD reaction to 9-11, which i different from other people's. JP sees that and I think Wade would too. “Will is smart enough to read him. That’s why he doesn’t want to deal with Matt now. He’s not willing to help Matt through these struggles, but he will listen to Matt when he has completed them.” I think that is pretty shitty. Will had plenty of people help him through struggles, tolerate his rages, which are worse than Matt dipping his wick, but he is unwilling to be tolerant and give back.

What evs.

So almost 10 years later and my first reread of 9-11, here are the things I picked up on this time. “I grew up, and he didn’t,” I said to her simply. Wade was 35 years old when he entered Stanford and he's leaving at 50 years old. “We did, but when he completely ignores me, and pays attention to every one else, it gets a little ridiculous. It was obvious that he didn’t really want to be with me, so I just solved the problem for him,” I said. This is one of those spots where Wade isn't acting like Wade. He makes a decision based on assumptions and that is very un-Wade like. The Wade of previous chapters would have recognized something was up with Matt, sat him down and talked to him. That is the rational, JP-like thing I think he would have done. “You told him you didn’t love him?” she asked, as if that was an extreme reaction to his behavior. She paused when saw my frustration. “Look Wade, it doesn’t sound like that’s enough, him ignoring you for a month, to make you not love him. I’m not trying to pry, but it doesn’t add up.” No, it doesn't add-up, didn't add up. “I came home a couple of weeks ago to find Matt packing up the GMC. Didn’t tell me he was moving out, he was just going to leave. If I wouldn’t have come home in the middle of the day, I would have completely missed him,” I said bitterly. Wade conveniently leaves out that he had moved out of his and Matt's room two weeks before that. Wade was the one making things irrationally obvious. and then when he intentionally went after Tony despite Will asking him not to, Will did not "ask" Matt to not sleep with Tony, Will delivered his usual ukase. It rubbed Matt's fur the wrong way to be told who he could and could not sleep with. Just like Will does not like being told what to do. then went in to check on Tiffany and the kids. “Doing alright?” I asked Tiffany. Why is Tiffany always with the kids? She has nurses and nannies, why isn't she hanging with the adults?

JJ is way too prissy for crap like that. I bet his his cum rag is Louis Vuitton. I can't see JJ becoming less bitchy. Ever. 😉 I can if he gets a down to earth partner who won't let him be bitchy. Had a certain someone not gotten someone else preggers, I think JJ would have changed. I think some characters out there can still do that for him. As to Wally and Zach, and now Frank. Frank was a much better football player than Wally. Wally imagines/remembers his achievements differetly from what they actually were. One of my best friends was the star quarterback in high school and went on to play at the University of Arizona. We'd been friends our whole life, our grandparents had met in college and the two families stayed tight. We still are. Point is, despite Richie's obvious talents and accolades, just like Wally, Richie's dad would rip him a new one after games. The difference is, Richie knew he was full of crap. He'd heard from my parents, his grandparents and mine (usually at a pre-game party at USC) about how bad Richard Sr. was. They'd tell stories about Richard Sr., who never got past the high school level. Frank is the beginning of that for Zach. The realization that there is no need to listen to Wally.

Because then there would be no drama, duh. Travis could have gone to Croatia, a lovely place in April, with no U.S. extradition treaty in 2004 and spent a month in a villa on the coast, but where is the fun in that.

An interesting observation. While I do have a cousin who is a SEAL officer, I don't know any of them, but I do know a lot of Naval Aviators as both my father and grandfather are former Navy pilots, specifically carrier pilots. Top Gun was damn near a documentary when it came to portraying the pilots at the Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program as sophomoric adolescents flying $65 million pieces of machinery. I was a serious college athlete, and as I've said before, these club hockey guys are not serious college athletes. They are one step above a pick-up basketball game. But no one will because they are afraid Will is going to put them in the cornfield. Nothing has changed my opinion on this. For the last several chapters Matt has been reaching out to Wade, only to have Wade rebuff him. Wade didn't discuss his plans to move out of his and Matt's room, but he expects Matt to talk with him about moving out? Wade seems to have been pretty explicit about not wanting Matt around these last few chapters. Even when Matt came to Wade's new room to apologize, Wade was rude, indifferent and threw Matt out. Then he was indignant that Matt left. Will wouldn't listen to Matt when Matt was trying to apologize, so why should Matt now care what Will thinks and listen to him? Just yuck to Brad and Wade, that is damn near incestuous.

“Everyone in this family knows that there are two people you don’t poke unless you want a good fight on your hands: Dad and Will. It is interesting that this quote from Darius jumped out at me this time as it had the previous time. If Will cannot handle criticism in a civil manner, maybe he should eat at the children's table. It isn't Will's plane to decide who can and cannot ride in it. Oh I know if Stef offered to go pick up Wally and Clara, Will would do his, "if they are on the plane I am not routine", which is the kind of bullshit little kids pull. I am also shocked that JP allows his grandsons to be so rude at the dinner table. Will was all aghast at how Austin perceived his treatment to be, but apparently has no problem making family members unwelcome when it suits him. “I would like you to consider the benefits of trying to help Wally and Clara be more accepting of Zach’s friendship with Will,” Stef said to Frank acidly. What is with everyone speaking "acidly" all of a sudden. First Wade, now Stef. Maybe, just maybe, Wally and Clara would be more understanding of Zach and Will's "friendship" if they understood it was more than a friendship. Where has Will "Honest John" Schluter gone? He is the one who thinks the truth is the most important thing and that secrets are bad. Why doesn't he make Zach tell his parents the nature of their relationship? “It’s really none of his business,” I said firmly. Or yours, I could have added. I don't care if your son is 13 or 30, it will always be your business if he is having casual, unprotected sex.

No one has ever said, "Matt is mature". No one ever defends Matt's immaturity. People DO say, "Will is mature beyond his years". They do defend Will as being more mature than the adults he is interacting. There isn't a single adult in the story that Will hasn't been obnoxiously rude to when they dare displease him. I feel this more strongly now than I did ten years ago. Wade was completely out of character this chapter. Will "infecting" Wade is figurative, not literal. I wish Jason hadn't been a Guest Reviewer, but a regular. I thought his comments were very well placed. Will acts like a 7 year old half the time, "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you, I'm going to hold my breath until you do what I want." Matt is acting about like half the fraternity boys I knew. Usually by your senior year you were over the games and hijinks of lower classmen, but not every guy was like that. I've made fun of the club sports, especially the club ice hockey team, because no one cares about club sports on campus. They are so far under the radar, it is ridiculous Frank was spot on with his comments the last chapter. I think Frank would have convinced Matt to drop the team in their weekend away. And so was Matt's. I won't repeat my comments from above, but I think everyone would be cutting some slack for others around them, as each deals with their grief in their own way. Not "more reasonable", reasonable at all. Wade was mad at Matt the whole weekend and mad with Matt at the airport. Wade made a less than zero effort to hear what Matt was saying. He threw up roadblocks and tossed in hand grenades. What has Wade done to console and help Matt? How does he not recognize Matt's self destructive behavior? What credit does Wade get for doing nothing? Matt is the one who rescued Wade from his father, and help support him in his battles with his mother. What has Wade done for Matt?

“How did you know that you’d fallen in love with Matt?” he asked. I smiled, remembering those good times. “When he was all I thought about. When I couldn’t wait to be with him. When I told him things that I wouldn’t tell anyone else. And when I was away from him, the agony of being separated was so real, it was like a physical pain. And when I thought about being with another guy instead, I usually decided that I’d rather just jack-off thinking about him.” That isn't love. Especially not in the first month of dating someone. That is still the infatuation, 'I think I am in love' stage. If you feel that way 5 years, 10 years later, then maybe it is love. Love is simply willing the good of the other. When you are wiling to sacrifice for the other person, put their needs ahead of your own, that is love. A passage from the Bible, often read at weddings, states: Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Does any of that sound like Will? “You know, I spent this whole weekend working things out, and I’m here, ready to grovel and apologize, and he won’t even hear me out,” he bitched. “You hurt him, so now he has to be on your time schedule to repair things?” I asked acidly. Now funny, I seem to recall an incredibly butt-hurt Will when he went down to Robbie's office to apologize for drugging him, severely damaging his $400,000 car, ruining his bedroom and ruining $500,000 worth of his clothes and Robbie wouldn't talk to him. Seems to me in that instance, no one said acidly to Will, “You hurt him, so now he has to be on your time schedule to repair things?” In fact I recall everyone telling Robbie what an asshole he was for not letting Will apologize. I said in my review 10 years ago that Wade was acting way out of character, and I feel that even stronger in this reading. Wade is a very smart guy, with a very calm demeanor. I think Wade is smart enough to know that everyone handles grief in different ways. If he isn't, his psychologist would be tell him that. I think Wade would have gone with Matt to some of his counseling, or Matt would have gone with Wade, or both. I think Wade would take Matt away for a weekend and talk things out. That is what I'd expect from the Wade character based on previous actions.

Will should have gone to see a therapist immediately and for some time after not just Paris, but Rome as well. Well yeah... but Wade only thinks what Mark tells him to think. We find out, don't we? But it doesn't quite turn out that way, does it?

I ran my fingers through his thick blond hair and smiled at him. “Good.” Quick, name the best blonde running back in the NFL. I'll wait. “One of my sons is out there, fighting to deal with all this shit, really struggling, and instead of helping him out, like a brother would, or in Tony’s case, like a friend should, they fucked him over instead.” So Matt, who is suffering as well, should have to consider Will's psychic make-up in this whole deal, but Will isn't obligated to figure out Matt's? Matt's psyche is contrarian and competitive. If Will had done what he, Brad and Wade are expecting Matt to have done (consider Will's psychic make-up), thought about Matt's psychic make-up, he would have sat down with him and explained why it was really important to him, and why he was making the request of Matt. He didn't. He did typical Will bullshit command and threats. “We’re going to do the hop-on, hop-off tour of New York.” It wasn't until I was in my 30's that I took the Circle Line Tour of Manhattan Island. Despite the fact that I'd been going to NYC my whole life for Broadway, The Met, etc., I'd never done the Circle Line, because only tourists from Missouri did that. It was the absolutely coolest thing ever. “Here, take my bus pass,” his mother said. “I’m too full to climb up those damn stairs.” Oh no... no tickets on the HoHo Bus (very appropriate name considering the four men in this group), it is a big round stick on circle, usually in a florescent color that screams, 'I'm from Hicksville'.

Except the point is moot now. Curtis Buck wanted Travis's money to save his company, but he has already lost it. If he were to harm Travis now it would be pure spite and/or hate. He has already lost Buck Industries.

But..... I almost found Zach likable this chapter. Unfortunately I can't forget what Zach has done in his past and I can't unknow what I know about the Zach of the future, through The Gap Year so far. It isn't fair, but it is what it is. I wish the world were a better place, but it isn't.

But.... the point you seem to miss is that the Willophiles act as if, not only is he as smart as the 40, 50 and 60 year olds, but he is smarter than them and he is right in everything he says. Virtually every adult in his life is wrong when their views do not sufficiently align with his. I got good grades; I wasn’t outrageous, so all he could do is point to stupid ass stuff. Yes, there was nothing outrageous about a 13 year old getting naked in a gay bar in Rome, dancing on stage and ejaculating; nothing outrageous about a 14 year old going to a college party and getting trashed; nothing outrageous about a 14 year old having sex with legal adults, nothing outrageous about a 14 year old drinking and smoking pot on a school trip......

Will is the biggest hypocrite in this entire series of stories, and that is saying something. Will doesn't want anyone to tell him what he can and cannot do, but he gets to tell his father and Wade that they cannot even refer to Matt as his brother, which he is, every bit as much JJ and Darius are. There is zero parallel between Sam & Jake and Matt & Tony. Sam was an adult and JP's long term partner, Jake was a 16 year old, and in the beginnings of a relationship with Brad. Matt and Tony are peers. Matt is in a relationship with Wade, but that isn't Will's business and Will isn't in a relationship with Tony. He has no right to tell Tony he can't sleep with Matt and he can't tell Matt that either. I wish Will would move out of Escorial and get a taste of real life. “My shrink says that’s normal, for me to try and figure out who I can trust. But when Matt and Tony did that, it was like both of these guys I’d relied on to be there for me, just said ‘fuck you’ to me and laughed in my face.” Maybe if Will wasn't such a nasty asshole when he deals with Matt, and to a lesser extent Tony, he could have explained in a calm, rational manner where he was and then ask Matt and Tony, especially Matt, where their head was. Will is not the only one hurting, but apparently he thinks he is. A wise beyond his years, mature teen would approach people differently, not like a petulant, self-absorbed, self-obsessed, indulged brat.

I've reread most of the CAP series, except for Black Widow, because it is so recent. I put off rereading 9-11 until now because I remembered how painful the chapters were. But in rereading 9-11, I've come to regard it as probably the best of all the CAP books. The middle chapters where we are actually in the towers, starting with getting ready for Hank and Jeanine's ceremony, are the very finest chapters of CAP. The writing is exquisite, gripping, poignant and almost could have been no fiction. This chapter was as fine as any in this book and in the whole series.

It's Mark's story. He gets to do as he pleases.

If Tony and Will were dating, it would be reasonable for Matt to not hook up with him and a reasonable request from Will. But Will and Tony are NOT dating, so fornicate Will and the horse he rode in on. He went ape shit on everyone who tried to tell to be careful around Zach, not even you CAN'T go there, like he did with Matt. He has no right to tell Tony or Matt who to hook up with. I WOULDN'T have if I was Matt, but for reasons of my own, not because the Golden Child so proclaimeth. I think that under extreme duress like this, it is possible for Matt to lose perspective like Robbie, but I think Matt learns and adapts from his mistakes better than Robbie did. Matt had a MUCH happier, much better life than Robbie ever could have dreamed of. I think if I were Will, I'd be so tempted to just say "fuck it" and move to Maui, go to school there, and forget about all these other people. Only that's not his way, because his sense of family is much too strong for that. Meh, he has no problem being disrespectful and petulant with anyone in his family who dares irritate him, including John Paul. So Will is an immature teen? You don't get it. These people are wildly rich, Crazy Rich Caucasians, they can buy new cars like you buy tennis shoes. It is nice seeing Nana spend time with Ethan. I think Ethan is responding positively to Nana not just because she is scary, but because despite others feeling differently, children do like and respond well (generally) to structure and boundaries. Ethan has an adult relative focused on him, providing things he's been missing for awhile.

Ryan comes back into the story in a big way, and I am hopeful Alistair will too. He will certainly be at Harvard in the Fall. Cue Andy Williams. Where do I begin To tell the story of how great a love can be The sweet love story that is older than the sea The simple truth about the love he brings to me Where do I start Doh! I was so with you until that last paragraph. There may be some level where Zach actually does love Will, as much as Zach is capable of loving anyone besides himself, but Will has only liked Zach for about 30 days now and one day Will will discover that Zach really is evil, and selfish, and an asshole.