PrivateTim

Hun, the first thing you learn in scriptwriting is never let the facts get in the way of a good story..... And a guy named Jeremy obsessed with something? Who'd a-thunk it

I don't give a crap how much figure skating gets rewritten, CAP is much more important than who placed 4th in the U.S. Men's Nationals in 2002. Quick!, Who was it? If you said Michael Savoie or if you have a clue who Ryan Jahnke or Scott Smith are, you really need a life

Ewww, JJ & Gathan, what a revoltin' thought that is! I don't see JJ falling for a muscle head, more a Shane Jackson, Alistair, John kind of guy. Someone lithe like himself. Nice chapter in starting to tie up the pain of 9-11 as we all did in our own way and time.

Wow, a new AP story! Hope you finish in less than three years this time! Just kiddin' It is a promising beginning.

Cheap Spanish novella? Oh hell no! if you tweaked the characters to make them straight instead of gay Crónicas De Un Depredador Académico would be a multi-million dollar, long running TV series on Telemundo with Ricardo Montalbán as JP

I think sometimes Jeremy you generalize your preferences and assume everyone feels the same. I think a lot of people would prefer their high school years over their college years. To me that is one reason the writings of Dom Luka were so popular as he concentrated more on the high school years. High school seems a more innocent time than college. I didn't see any less drama or BS in college than I did in high school and college drama and BS seemed more serious as the stakes were higher. I really enjoy the pace of the story. I am guessing that the next story may have Wade as one narrator going to the U of Chicago so he can have the Bamster as a law prof, but I hope we stick with Will too as a narrator, his shenanigans are never boring and I want to see how long this long distance relationship can work or how long Will needs it. He is Kevin Reynolds from Team Canada and surprisingly, 23 years old.

Me either. I think Will's been a whiny, crazy bitch for three stories now! But watching figure skating today I thought, OMG, it's JJ! I see JJ a bit cuter, less goofy, but I thought the hair, body and costume was so JJ.

Matt does not think of himself as a Hayes, because he was raised by the Carswells thinks of them has his parents and Matt never knew he was a Hayes until very late in his life. Robbie was a sperm donor turned father only very recently. Frank? The guy who was a basket case until a few days ago? That was the answer to Matt's mental health? That and "go get counseling" constitutes support? Where was Will for Matt in those days and weeks after 9-11, before Tony-gate? Where was Brad? Darius & JJ? The rest of the Schluter clan? I think the observation on lack of support is pretty astute. As to this last chapter, I continue to be perplexed as to where things are heading and based on most of the reviews, wonder if I am reading the same story as some of the reviewers. Matt didn't move out of his and Wade's quarters, Wade did and did so very publicly. Wade is the one who didn't call Matt back while he was on the Georgetown trip, Wade is the one who rebuffed Matt's attempts to talk to him on the ride back from the airport. What is Matt supposed to do? Yes you can point to Matt's ignoring of Wade in the days after 9-11, but when Matt started to come around, Wade shot him down and moved out of their room. Why should he be surprised or offended that Matt is moving out of a room he no longer lives in? As to Will's reaction, it is typically over the top. He is done with Tony and has been treating Matt like shit (before he just sort of tolerated Matt, never, ever treated him as a brother) so what right does he have to have any say in who Tony has a roommate? He won't even return Tony's phone call and screamed "fuck off:" in his ear? What gives him standing to be pissed off at either person? I am also perplexed by the "Wade & Brad would be a good couple" crowd? Wade and Brad as in such different stages of life. Maybe they had good sex a couple of times, but that isn't a great foundation to build a relationship on. Looking forward to the next book and hope it doesn't hop too far forward and sticks with the multi-narrator format.

Wow, they say short term memory is the second thing to go!

I continue to be perplexed as to where things are heading and based on most of the reviews, wonder if we are reading the same story. Matt didn't move out of his and Wade's quarters, Wade did and did so very publicly. Wade is the one who didn't call Matt back while he was on the Georgetown trip, Wade is the one who rebuffed Matt's attempts to talk to him on the ride back from the airport. What is Matt supposed to do? And Will's reaction is typically over the top. He is done with Tony and has been treating Matt like shit (whereas before he just sort of tolerated Matt, never, ever treated him as a brother) so what right does he have to have any say in who Tony has a roommate? He won't even return Tony's phone call and screamed "fuck off:" in his ear? What gives him standing to be pissed off at either person? I am also perplexed by the "Wade & Brad would be a good couple" crowd? Wade and Brad as in such different stages of life. Maybe they had good sex a couple of times, but that isn't a great foundation to build a relationship on.

From my Chapter 71 Review: (Chapter 71 Review)Two lines in this chapter bother me greatly, as I think both illustrate something about Will I've been saying for a long while: “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. (from DariusO That got him an angry look, enough to make him recoil (Will talking with Stef) So everyone in the family knows Will is a psycho bitch and it is best not to cross him? Why should the rest of the family walk on egg shells worrying about how Will is going to react. The second one, Will giving a look to his grandfather, who has been nothing but supportive of him from his Roman holiday pole dance, through his running away, etc, bad enough to make him recoil says a lot about how completely out of control Will's emotions are and why he is deeply in need of real therapy. Sexual healing only works for Marvin Gaye. Reply from Mark Arbour (author) There are some people who pride themselves on not taking a lot of shit from other people, and Will's definitely in that category. It's not about him being scary or unpredictable, it's knowing that if you go after him, he's going to fight. That's his reaction. Some people flee, some people surrender, but Will (and Brad) don't do that. We can contrast this with JJ, who when embattled, will ultimately get bitchy, or pout. That's a lot different than how Will handles things. As for the dour look, it wasn't an "I hate you" malicious look, it was a "you need to stay out of my business" look. A warning look, if you will. Very common in my family, and it usually registers and the topic is changed. So here are my thoughts on Mark's reply. Will goes far beyond "not taking shit" and fighting back, he lashes out, he is vicious and then he flees. As to the interaction with Stef, it wasn't a dour look, it was an "angry look" that made him "recoil"; a recoil is a jump back in fear or horror. Dour looks don't make people recoil. It may seem picayune, but I think there is a big difference between angry (and the reaction it caused) and dour (and whatever reaction it would have engendered). As to what is going to happen when Zach has to distance himself from his cousin, surely by now tongues have to be wagging at Don Bosco given the amount of time Zach has spent with Will over the last few weeks. If Will is aware that Zach can not be out given that Zach hasn't admitted anything about his sexuality yet, he out to be coming up with a contingency plan where Zach can either disown him publicly as a "dirty little fag" (or whatever epithet he chooses) or they can have their denial stories straight (unless another Schluter forgets to lock a door). It is better to plan for denials then to have to come up with them on the fly.

Two lines in this chapter bother me greatly, as I think both illustrate something about Will I've been saying for a long while: “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. (from DariusO That got him an angry look, enough to make him recoil (Will talking with Stef) So everyone in the family knows Will is a psycho bitch and it is best not to cross him? Why should the rest of the family walk on egg shells worrying about how Will is going to react. The second one, Will giving a look to his grandfather, who has been nothing but supportive of him from his Roman holiday pole dance, through his running away, etc, bad enough to make him recoil says a lot about how completely out of control Will's emotions are and why he is deeply in need of real therapy. Sexual healing only works for Marvin Gaye.

Didn't really leave it out but I thought at one time there was a discussion about Chicago being too conservative for Wade because of the Federalist Society ties.

I think you misunderstand, "top tier B-school" is top tier Business school; Matt is going to graduate business school and he can get into top tier business schools like UCLA, USC, Haas, Kellogg, etc. The only ones he might not get into are Harvard, Stanford, Sloan, maybe Wharton, but even at a couple of those schools Brad or Stef might be able to call in enough favors to get help.

I guess I don't understand the question. The only plans made so far have been the general plans to do graduate school in the same area and that was a mutually understood plan, even if it wasn't much of a plan it was something they both understood. It wasn't Matt's plans, it was both of their plan. Matt being openly gay now would not preclude him joining the military. That was the whole point of DADT. The military was specifically barred from asking about sexual orientation. It would mean that Matt could not be openly gay once he joined, that is the don't tell part. But as long as he didn't tell and wasn't outrageous in his behavior he'd get along like all the other gays in the military. I have yet to see a U.S. Navy or Marine Corps base that didn't have a gay bar within easy reach of the main gate. Gays didn't start joining the military in 1994, they started in 1775 and have been there ever since. As to planning, yes you can blame Wade for making a clear cut decision if he didn't talk to Matt about it first. If it was only Matt who was bringing up "vague plans" about grad school together then when Matt brought up the vague plans, if Wade had different thoughts, it was up to him to voice those different thoughts and discuss them. That is what partners do. Senior year is when you make the decision as to where you are going, but you settle on your list well before that, usually not later than March in the year before you intend to start law school. So in Wade's case in March of 2001 would have been when he was making some decisions, like which law schools to have his LSAT results sent to for law school admission in the fall of 2002. He would want to take the LSAT in June 2001 so he has an opportunity to retake the test in Oct or Dec if he has(d) to, hence the March date to register for the June test. And who is talking about a B-tier law school (called Tier 2 actually)? Michigan, Boalt Hall, UVA, Chicago, etc are not Tier 2 schools, they are all Tier 1. Georgetown Law is rated below all these schools and barely above USC and UCLA. Wade doesn't have to compromise a single thing when choosing a law school since as long as Matt knows where Wade is applying, Matt can find an MBA program in the same area. It doesn't need to be the same school. And since Matt would have had to take the GMAT, probably not too different a process than the LSAT one, he'd have to have an idea where he was applying to already too.

You sure seem to have a hard time comprehending my points. My point is not about an aborted conversation, it is about the many, many opportunities for conversations, even before 9-11, to talk about the future that Wade never initiated. Wade is the one with family responsibilities (Reilly and Ethan), Wade is the one with more options and Wade is supposed to be "the mature one". There have been many general conversations since Bloodlines about going to grad school in the same area, but no specific discussion around GPAs and LSAT/GMAT scores. While I think it is understood that Matt's GPA isn't as high as Wade's, I think it is also pretty well understood that he good enough grades for a top tier B-school, maybe note Harvard or Yale, but certainly good enough for Boston College & UConn. And they could both probably get into USC/UCLA and that would be advantageous for family obligations. Since Wade is the one considering disrupting the general plans, it would have been up to him to broach the topic and not in anger or as part of a lashing out, but as an adult conversation. On the same line, since there were not a lot of rules in who Matt & Wade could bed, if Wade wants to change the rules, he needs to broach that topic too. You can't be mad at someone for doing something wrong, if they don't understand it is wrong.

I don't remember anyone saying Wade was being self centered for not considering Matt when it comes to his grad school. I also don't remember Matt & Wade having a conversation (recently) about which specific law schools Wade should apply to so Matt could go to graduate business school nearby, Here is what Wade thought in chapter 70: “I’m not sure I can get into their MBA program,” he said, broaching the issue we needed to talk about, but that I was dreading. So Wade was aware of the issue, he too had been avoiding it, but has already made the decision as he says later. “I’m going to go to the best law school I can get into. I’m going to make that decision based on my future, and my career. Whether you decide to join me depends on two things. First, it depends on whether you like the choice I made. And second, it depends on whether you can grow the fuck up, and quit acting like a fucking frat boy. So again, Wade was aware of the need to talk to Matt, but never broached the topic because he was dreading the conversation, but now he has made the unilateral decision and has said in so many words that he doesn't really care about what Matt's needs are. If Wade has never had the grad school talk with Matt specifically (about where each should apply) and they've never talked about what each other wants and expects in the relationship going forward, then centexhairysub is right, it IS Wade who is to blame for an ensuing break-up. Matt was making an effort in the car and Wade kept shooting him down. The Wade of previous chapters might have delayed the talk and not made rash statements and taken rash actions, but the Wade who is channeling Will's petulance didn't do that. Wade is being somewhat disingenuous with his "best for my career and future" speech. Wade has no worry for his future, he has enough money that he could make a full time career out of managing the money he already has and pay himself a salary double what any law firm could offer him to do it. Wade hasn't really laid out why he wants to law school other than vague notions that he ought to. He hasn't exhibited any passion for a business where the law degree is a plus, he hasn't exhibited a passion for the law to want to be judge and he's vaguely referenced politics. My law school classmates went to law school for four reasons and you could almost predict who was going where; group one wanted to go into law to get rich, group two had an existing passion that they wanted to pursue with a law degree, group three loved the law itself and group four was already laying out their political future. So some people may have changed directions after law school as they matured and found different interests, but by and large they all had distinct motives going in. I don't see distinct motives in Wade. As someone pointed out, Wade hasn't even considered his new little brother yet in his graduate school plans and and he indicates he has thought about Reilly, but apparently he hasn't had that conversation with Tiffany either about what her plans might be and where does she want to live. So while I don't recall anyone calling Wade self centered, maybe he is being self centered and for no good reason. My problem With Wade in this last chapter is that he is mad at Matt over a conversation they haven't had yet and he is equally responsible for that conversation taking place. Or not. No is it a direct way of saying he is spot on in his observations this time, he is just wrong usually

Really scary when centexsub and I are on the same wave length

I think Will is infecting Wade. Wade was uncharacteristically emotional and impulsive with Matt. Not once did he stop to listen to Matt or consider the effort Matt was making. He'd made up his mind and shut down on hearing what Matt was saying, which isn't how Wade has been. Wade is partially responsible for the structure of the relationship. If he wanted an exclusive relationship with Matt he should have said so a long time ago and if he knew Matt couldn't handle exclusivity that should have been a clue a long time ago that Matt wasn't the right partner. I thought JP didn't allow drama at the dinner table?

Dude, effin' A, it ain't like programming a VCR, the things are pretty self explanatory....

I came to GA because I discovered Dom Luka. I knew of Mark Arbour from having read On the Mark someplace else (still my all time favorite MA story), but avoided CAP because I was put off by the title "academic predator" because it made me think the story was going to be about something else other than what it turned out to be. I actually started reading the Odyssey series first until I finally gave CAP a try and then I started at Book 1 and read through chronologically. I actually put Odyssey aside while I read CAP because I had a hard time remembering which characters were which stories. I have no idea how Mr. Arbour keeps them straight in his own head.

It is usually required in high school to take foreign language, but the country is so big compared to countries in Europe the need to use other languages is minimal so you lose whatever language skills you had if you don't get a chance to use them. For example, driving 1300km, from say Amsterdam to Milan could take you through 5 countries and at least 5, maybe 6 different languages so it becomes more important to know another language. English became somewhat the defacto common language of Europe. Some countries in Europe even have multiple official languages. That doesn't mean a lot of Americans are not multilingual. In CA for example where the CAP families live the official ballots for elections come in seven different languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog and Vietnamese) and in neighborhoods of So Cal you can go places where you can hear Russian, Armenian, Thai, Hindi, Arabic and more languages spoken as the common daily language. Those people typically all speak English as well, but among their friends and families they revert to their native language, even generations later sometimes. Then their are pockets in the U.S. where a language like Creole or Cajun French has been spoken for hundreds of years and still remain and of course the myriad of Native American languages, so it is actually rather complicated.

Reminds me of the blonde haired, blue eyed swimmer I dated early in college, who looked liked he belonged on a Joseph Goebbels' recruiting poster, but in fact had two parents who were Cuban born refugees. He spoke Spanish like a native of Cuba despite being U.S. born and would shock the crap out of Mexican bus boys and waiters when we ate out. Don't these people watch Univision?

Man it bugs me you can't like reviews because that is pretty much how I feel about the Will/Zach and Will/Family thing. As I said in my review, Zach has gone from trouble maker extraordinaire, to super supportive non-boyfriend boyfriend extraordinaire pretty quickly. Which Zach will appear when his "friendship" with Will threatens his football future?

Hunh..... you'd have thought there would be a lot more sex in a chapter numbered "69" Zach has gone from trouble maker extraordinaire, to super supportive non-boyfriend boyfriend extraordinaire pretty quickly. Which Zach will appear when his "friendship" with Will threatens his football future?