PrivateTim

I think Stuart Wells was cuter.

IF Stef were hiding Travis on the yacht, he would be absolutely justified in keeping it from Will as Will is completely incapable of keeping his mouth shut, as we have just seen. Will should NOT have said ANYTHING about his and Travis's relationship. It is not Will's place to out Travis to his mother, even if she seems to suspect it. It is still Travis's prerogative to come out or not and to expose relationships or not. As I remember some chapters back there was some kind of a morals clause in Travis's inheritance whereby Travis being gay might be enough to derail the inheritance. Will "Wise Beyond His Years" Schluter would just have to deal with it. He cannot control his temper or his togue. Have we forgotten Connie so quickly? And Travis?

I said some chapters ago that Wade is who I relate to the most of all the CAP characters, because he is the one most like me. His advice to Will was sound, but I think he should have talked to Brad as well. Brad is the one who is expected to come around, because he is the adult.

I think Will handled the situation badly.... even for an angsty teen, but Brad handled it even worse and so did Robbie. Brad is supposed to be the mature adult, more experienced, etc. He should have talked to Will about the allegations from the beginning. But Will has to understand too that anyone accused of a crime against a child wouldn't be allowed to any other children while the accusations were pending. Brad should have found Will a new bodyguard/driver immediately; Stef should have insisted on that. And as I said before, Brad and Robbie need to put their travel plans on ice until their kids are squared away.

I guess I am confused, because the quote from Sir Walter Scott in Marmion is: O, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to deceive! The context doesn't quite fit with Elizabeth because she is deliberately weaving a web. The context we use it in now is someone who lies and has to lie again to cover the first lies and the lies get more complicated as more need to be told to cover the other ones.

I didn't think I'd reread Paternity this soon again. After being gone from GA for awhile, I reread it the first time to remind me about Will and his meltdown so I could put Gap Year in perspective, then I decided to reread the entire CAP series starting with Book One, Chronicles Of An Academic Predator. It seemed funny to me that I'd forgotten what John Paul was like as a young man since he is so different in later books as he ages and matures and the younger generations start carrying the story. Wade is possibly, probably, my favorite character in the story since in so many ways he is very much like me. But even so, I never had the kind of drama he does in his life. He is dealing with fatherhood with a lesbian, who isn't quite a partner, a boyfriend who isn't quite a partner, classes at Stanford where he needs to perform well enough to get into Harvard Law or Boalt Hall, a molester for a father, an evil schemer for a mother, a $600,000,000+ trust to manage (while his evil schemer of a mother tries to mess with him), a guy who likes him and would be the kind of partner Wade wishes the man/boy he loves would be and now his sister involved with the brother of the man messing with his relationship with Matt. It would be easy to crack from any one of these. So let me pause and praise the masterpiece this story is and the Talent that produced it.

I still can see Wade falling for Sean and vice versa, but not anytime soon. Not to give the author any evil ideas, but if Matt dies 10-12 years from now, I can see Wade returning to SF as a CEO for a tech company, Sean has just been abandoned by his boyfriend of 8 years and he and Wade find each other to console each other. Now isn't right because they aren't equals, but 12 years from now they will be.

Surely there must be some kind of a Writer's Guild Disciplinary Board I can turn Arbour into for making Brad so stupid this chapter. I mean making a character a little stupid is fine, but to give your character next level, out of this world stupidity must violate some kind of rule? Doesn't Brad speak to Stef often enough that Stef asks what is up with his grandkids? Your kid is competing in major national and international competitions and you are unaware of it? Naw.... it's Arbour's fault....... Brad CAN'T be that stupid.

“Did you read that in some book?” I asked, giving him shit. “I think what he’s calling you on is that you weren’t any better as a kid, and you probably would have reacted the same way or worse.” But isn't that the point of being a parent? You try to help your kid based on the mistakes you made. Maybe handle it a bit differently, but Brad is not being unreasonable about his 14 year old son not going to college parties and getting drunk. Maybe a better approach is to sit down with Will and talk about what the consequences of getting drunk and teen drinking are. Point all the things that can happen when you get drunk and have impaired judgment, talk about how alcohol and teen drinking led directly to Billy's death; maybe even tell Will to talk to Claire about how Billy's death effected her. I can tell you from experience, losing a sibling, and a especially a twin, as a teen never leaves you. You think about it everyday and maybe multiple times a day. It never leaves you alone. No one in real life should ever say teen drinking is okay, few ever would.

If Will had started puberty at 8 years old he wouldn't have been the shy, sweet kid he was at 12. He'd have been undergoing the emotional whiplash that comes with puberty. Just because you have a big dick at 12 or 13 doesn't mean you started puberty early.

That Carl knew about Wade's gay uncle (who I believe was in the U.S. Army) and it wasn't Matt who told him says that someone is pulling Carl's strings and his thing with Matt isn't by chance. The question is who and why?

No, I respond to the "Will is wise beyond his years" that I've been hearing since he was 13, which means for 12 years now 🤣

Matt is the classic one step forward, two steps back.

Here is a fun project for your team.... in all the chapters of CAP (1,500? 1,800?), in how many chapters do characters puke (500? 800?)?

In California they are boys because they have not yet reached their majority. In CA, even though he is an emancipated minor, he is legally still a minor.

I think this chapter more than any other reveals what Will is..... he is a 17 year old boy. He has all the immaturity, emotionalism, angst and hormonal dissonance that goes with being a boy. He has no idea what Travis wants in terms of, would he let the Schluters bail out Curtis and his company if it meant Travis would be safe. Whether or not Curtis could be trusted to keep his end of the bargain is a different discussion. That Will would make a snap judgment without pausing to even consider options belies the "wise beyond his years" mythology that some cling to with Will.

Ryan doesn't have "gay urges", he is a 14 year old boy, which means he is hornier than the off-spring of a rhinoceros and a unicorn. A very old study showed that more than 40% of men had a same sex experience by age 21. I'd guess that number is much higher now.

If the book were 25 chapters, I'd say "anytime now", but at 100 chapters long..... plan your bathroom breaks and don't forget to eat. We are going to be here awhile.

John Paul is so different from the JP of Chronicles Of An Academic Predator. It demonstrates a theme I return to often, that with age comes maturity and wisdom. No, it isn't automatic, but with age come more and more experiences and those allow you to grow. JP is a great influence for Wade. The brilliance of the writing in this chapter is we get to see what Wade sees in Carl.

Oh damn, why can't I rep myself. 😂 This spot right now, this is where..... Matt convinced me he was a clueless douche.

I get that this book would only be about 12 chapters long if Brad and Robbie didn't have their heads buried deep in their asses and actually took some time to talk to Will and find out what was wrong. It would also be a great time to convince Will that he'd get a better response from them if he didn't get all nasty and smarmy, but acted like a mature person, not an angsty teen.

PS I'm gonna go with Mr. Grafton as Travis's father.

Each rereading different things pop up. First is what a fucking pussy Gathan is. Dude, sac up, it's just a chick. I'm not cutting Matt any slack, he is still a moron if he thinks there is anything out there better than Wade.

Or the author's need for drah-maw! 🤣

I thought about Australia, but it is only one country with limited ways out and limited places to go. Much easier to get lost in Europe or a U.S. big city. Heck, Travis could probably hide in Tim's mission.