B1ue

Oh my no, by no means. But it seems like a lot of the appeal of Zach to Will is that he is playing with fire.

This chapter reminded me of how the adults on my dad's side used to talk in Spanish when they didn't want to kids to understand them. Except, we all took Spanish in elementary and high school, and by the time we were out of our teens we all understood enough to follow conversations, if not quite enough to participate in them. Not that we drew any attention to that detail for quite some time.

'sall good. I am from the US, and I don't even know the rules for football. Neither my high school nor college had a team, my town was too small for kid's league, and television just doesn't hold my attention very well. I'll go out with my friends to some bar during playoffs, and be reading a book on my phone as they watch. I feel everyone wins that way.

Northern and Southern California have widely divergent cultures, racial mix, language mix, political mindsets, historical population trends, industry, and economic priorities. And even *that* is a super over-generalization Northern California. The rivalry you're talking about is relatively young; LA was relatively undeveloped at the time San Francisco was the anchor for the entire Western North America. The much bigger divide within the state is between the more rural Northern and Central California against the combined coastal urban areas. *That* is a powderkeg waiting to be lit. San Francisco vs LA; I think we just like rubbing it in that they aren't top dog anymore, and they refuse to admit that might possibly be the case. I have honestly never heard of a California vs Florida rivalry. Maybe Florida feels there's one? If approached by someone with that attitude, I don't think I could stop myself from patting them gently on the head and saying "Aren't you just precious." Unless you're talking about Disney franchises. They certainly are winning on that score.

Does classy mean "wears a jacket or sweater?" because you're right, y'all do that a lot more often than we do.

As to liquefaction, San Francisco is better off than you may think. Even the building built on the landfill area have some interesting characteristics. For instance, the Pyramid building goes as far down into the ground as it goes up in the air over 50 ft. down as well as all those stories up in order for it to be anchored on actual bedrock. There's some really neat stuff they did in that city. But, still. LA does it better Also, I highly recommend watching Volcano. My family was tickled by it; we're strangely amused by any movie that involves large swaths of destruction to our hometown. That movie will guarantee you'll never want to ride on the subway in LA ever. Granted, we only have a very short line, and it's not exactly the safest hang out in the first place, so you're possibly better off avoiding it regardless. Edit: upon waking up, I went fact-checking to see if I remembered that stuff correctly. Turns out, not quite.

I was still living in the forest at that time, sorry. The internet was still new and exciting to me about then. EditL And, er... my memories of the times I went off the hill to go party are somewhat spotty. For various reasons. And did not involve a lot of *talking* either way.

Personally, I studied the Northridge earthquake to the full extent I was able when I was a teenager, as I was looking towards an engineering degree for college, and earthquake resilience is a primary concern in California, particularly in the City of Los Angeles. I'm not sure if it's still true, but at the time our structures had the highest earthquake tolerance in the world, and our building code (in terms of resilience) was the strictest. The Northridge earthquake is often used as a case study for that field, as it is readily able to be compared to the Kobe earthquake approximately one year later. Similar magnitude, centered on a similarly dense population, but the Kobe (also called the Kyoto 1995 earthquake) earthquake was far worse in terms of damage caused, and orders of magnitude worse in terms of lives lost. It is also compared to the San Fernando earthquake of 1971, which was also similar in magnitude and centered on almost the same spot. Ah, but you asked for memories. Sorry to disappoint, but I had already left Los Angeles. Though only my youngest sister and I were out of the city; my elder sisters and dad still lived in LA (school and work), and my mom had been down that weekend to visit. Her original plan had been to leave early that morning, but my dad insisted she leave the night before. So my sister and I woke up, saw the news, and freaked the hell out until my mom came strolling into our house.

Not quite, though I did like it. For dancing though, I prefer something a bit harder, and with more lyrics. My favorite song from that time period would probably have been: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS-AMJeLROk It's actually a bit older than that, but that's about when I heard it for the first time.

It doesn't seem like Will fully trusts Zach. Defending him yes, and trusting him within certain given parameters, but even as he falls in love with him, he's assuming that the lit stick of dynamite he's holding on to will explode at some point. It's possible to not care about being screwed over, for me at least. A similar fatalistic attitude regarding his love life seems to be a natural progression for Will's character development. Like he wants a relationship where he can't trust his partner completely, because he just doesn't want to deal with that after Tony. Depending on how sincere Zach is, he may actually be the more emotionally vulnerable of the two. Even if he is pulling a con, he's still trusting Will to be the more decent person, and trusting his entire planned career on that decency. It could be interesting if, assuming I'm correct, he figures out that while he's been giving everything he's capable of giving, Will has been holding back because Zach is just flat not worthy of being fully invested in.

That's pretty hilarious, and quite true for most of the cast.

Not sure where you see Matt's behavior being defended. I think Tim was saying that Will is trying to act like a moral compass, when the morality he's demanding isn't even something he can live up to himself. It's more Will's reaction being analyzed rather than Matt's behavior being defended. Or, to put it more simply, they're both being idiots, but only one of them is being called on it.

This. I disagree with this. And quite possibly, we're operating under different definitions of family. I think people too often use it to mean, "closer than a friend." I am trying not to give offense, and not judge what I have no business judging, but this kind of working definition basically offends everything I believe in, so it's a bit of a struggle.

I have to disagree strongly with this. And in terms of this story, I'm not certain all the characters would see it that way. Clearly, Will does, which has in many ways poisoned the well for me. I don't think JP does. Even when Brian represented a clear danger to the rest of the family, I doubt he ever stopped seeing him as a brother. That wouldn't have prevented him from having him killed; if anything, it made it his duty to do so, and passing that duty on to Brad must have about killed him. I think Wade feels mostly along JP's lines. Tonto as well. Probably Claire and Jack, possibly Ace as well. Brad less so. I would hope that JP would have been able to temper his mother's influence, but apparently not.

Um, sort of. I was glad to be done with classes, never cared about the party scene, but I wasn't yet ready to let my relatives take control of my life, which is what moving to Los Angeles would have meant. So I split the difference, hung out in Ventura for a year gaining job experience and popping back to Santa Barbara on the weekends to see this guy I was dating at the time, who didn't graduate until that spring. It all worked out, but I was spinning my wheels for a while, since I didn't have a firm track on what I wanted to do (asthma sidelining me from my actual aspirations). So it wasn't so much that I really liked college life, it was I knew I didn't like being managed by my elder females, but couldn't come up with an alternate plan. I am mostly satisfied with the latest chapter. Not totally, only JP telling Will that Tony is family too despite how pissed off they all are, would do that. But I'll give partial satisfaction for the diffusion over Matt. I also liked how JP highlighted the different ways Matt and Will viewed the current kerfuffle. I liked this distinction being made, and hope someone points this out to both characters. Although, probably not soon. I also liked that JP didn't really get into the morality of sleeping with someone else's partner, let alone ex-partner (glass houses and stones might have to be brought up if he did), but focused more on the aftereffects as they related to the family. It's the course I would have taken, and also how I would expect his character to view it. As I said, I do think what Matt did was stupid, and it was personally satisfying to me that JP pointed out that, no matter the right or wrong of his actions, Matt was acting like an idiot.

This is the problem. The narrative treats Will and Matt as if they were equals, and often as if they were exactly the same age. I am actually playing by Mark's rules here by attempting to hold both of them to the same standard, and that standard is "don't demand what you can't give." Also, I'm not sure how Matt and Wade's current relationship issues factor into my disagreement with Will's characterizations, except in how they highlight were talking about two totally different issues. Are you saying that Matt did wrong by cheating on Wade? By breaking a promise to Will? Both? Are these separate issues? Because I see them as such. And how Matt actually cheated on Wade when they have a more or less open relationship and Matt has specific permission to sleep with other guys, except when Wade, not Will, tells him he has a problem with it. I actually disagree with Tim on his point about being in a relationship or sleeping around being an either/or thing; if both parties can make it work, I don't really see how it's my business. Is it because Matt stopped coming home to Wade every night? Because that seemed to start when Wade began judging Matt for pretty much being Matt. Their relationship seemed to be imploding just fine on its own well before Tony got dragged in. Since you raised this point, I was quite specifically not talking about you, since as far as this discussion went, you didn't state categorically, "a sibling would never do that." Also, your point about the sexual poaching of other people's guests being a family tradition is quite correct. That's part of what's so bewildering about it being a big deal in this instance. Was there this much drama about JP's mother sleeping with basically everyone? Or JP doing the same?

I have never heard anyone say that in any context. I am certainly not looking forward to doing my full routine without paying for it for the rest of the day. I'm not even as physically capable now as I want to be, and I'm not quite thirty. When I went to London this last summer, I wound up limping by the second day, and forced to use handicapped conveniences by the fourth. I couldn't walk up and down stairs without it hurting, and all I did was walk during that trip. And it's all downhill from here. Note, I could give a damn about *looking* older. It's feeling older that I object to. No, Will being emancipated has nothing to do with Tim's, or mine, objections to his behavior. It's that he's expected to be treated as an adult, but doesn't acknowledge his own obligations. It's about Will demanding a standard of behavior from others that he cannot live up to himself. It's about Will deciding that he's the most important member of the family, that he can decide who exactly is family, and other members of the family supporting him in those decisions. Those are the problems I have with the way Will has been characterized. I am also seeing a lot of absolutes being thrown around about how "family" and, specifically, "brothers" always act towards one another, and I am curious if the people doing so actually have siblings. For my siblings, just because I love them doesn't mean I trust them, particularly with other attractive people I like. This is because, at a fundamental level, I don't actually believe I own the people I am attracted to, the way Will seems to feel he should own Tony's sex life even after they're no longer together. Edit: The more I think about it, the more this is crystalizing as the actual problem I had with the last chapter. I really, truly, dislike Will's reaction, and I wonder if torching the GMC wouldn't have been kinder. To quote Robert Frost, family by my definition is, "when you have to go there, they have to take you in." Liking them, approving them, or trusting them is not required, ties of obligations that theoretically go both ways are. Accepting them as family, despite their faults and failures, is part of what makes people family. And the real bitch of it is that I'm certain Matt would have taken Will in, had Will found himself in need. He'd have bitched, whined, and certainly have called JP and Brad, but he'd have done it. I don't think Will is willing to do the same.

I may have been unclear. I was speculating if it was the very lack of unresolved sexual tension that was putting Matt off. And, ironically, I think it's because on Matt's end he sees Will as a brother by virtue of being Robbie's son, in a way he didn't see Brad as being a step-father despite being Robbie's partner. But that's just a guess. It's more likely he simply sees Will as his chronological age, unlike everyone else. To build on this point, speaking for myself, there are two reasons I feel less inclined to challenge Matt's behavior. One, I flat don't think he did anything wrong. He did something stupid, because there's no way he can contain the consequences, but that's not quite the same thing. I realize I am in the minority on that opinion, but whatever. Maybe it wouldn't have bothered Will as much if he'd more completely ended the sexual side of their relationship. He's acting, and most are reacting, as if Tony and he were actively dating. I saw the situation, and Matt was acting, as if they were broken up. I imagine that discrepancy is fueling a lot of the angst. As an aside, I don't have to guess what it'd be like if a sibling slept with someone I was also sleeping with (an aside to the aside, I found Rjo's comment that "brothers would never do something like this, because in my experience they absolutely would). I got over it. Pretty fast too. Primarily because, like Will, I decided that I was no longer in being in that kind of relationship with that person. Unlike Will, I did not declare them persona non grata, and I wouldn't have even if I could have. I just don't function like that. The second reason I don't feel inclined to challenge Matt is that the narrative is doing a good job of doing it for me. With the exceptions of Tony and Matt themselves, everyone thinks Matt wronged Will. I'm not certain in Matt's case, if it is guilt that made him try and hide his indiscretion, or a desire to evade the consequences because he knows any little thing will set Will off. In contrast, no one is challenging Will's victimhood, so I feel more of a need to ask questions and provoke insight into the character's actions. I do have a question. Rjo stated, and others have declined to challenge that statement, that JJ would not sleep with someone Will was interested in. Jeremy gave an editorial response reflecting Mark's intentions (which while very useful, is only as accurate as long as Mark doesn't change his mind), and so I buy that, but I am curious why others are so sure of JJ's character. I will agree that Will won't, assuming that he continues to think of it in those terms and doesn't find a way to justify it to himself like he did at the ice skating competition or with Alastair or Ethan's friend, but I just don't know for JJ. He's a bit of an enigma, despite the amount of time we spend analyzing his character, we've had little on-page insight into the way his mind works. In fact, what we do know about him, that he has a tendency to bottle things and slap on either a happy face or mask of disdain, that his mental climate does not necessarily affect his outward actions (although it does sometimes leak), makes it less easy to figure out how he'd jump given temptation. I am not saying Rjo is incorrect in his analysis; I am wondering aloud what is driving the surety behind the analysis. When it comes to characters, I am absolutely a sadist. It makes me happy to see characters go through the wringer, when it's done well.

I wonder if part of Matt's problem with Will is that Will doesn't seem to want to sleep with him? Not that either would ever go for it, but knowing guys think he's hot seems important to Matt's ego. I don't think this is the case, but it is something I am curious about. I kind of got annoyed at Will this chapter. On one hand, he's at least trying to act calmly. But the crap with Tony was exactly what everyone warned him would happen, and that he was supposed to not let splash anyone else. Just, gah. Also, JJ doesn't like Matt because he's a bad judge of character. He likes him because he's always taken an at least distant interest on him, even when the rest of the family ranged from bored to annoyed with his interests. But it's typical of Will to not count that, and interesting for Mark to have highlighted that contrast. I was also curious what would happen when Zach inevitably sleeps with someone else, especially if that someone else turns out to be JJ, whom Will specifically said would not do that. I often think Will doesn't live on the same planet as JJ, so I want to see those planets collide.

Well, I do. More when typing than talking. I can't be bothered to type the full word out most of the time, and I really can't be bothered to make sure I put all the letters in the correct order that time. As to the rest of your points, I think when Jeremy meant JJ isn't a typical "Cali" guy, he's talking about what non-Californians think about in terms of our state, that is, a typical white-surfer-as-depicted-on-the-OC kind of guy. Actually, a fair number of people from California (Southern California especially) would describe that as typical Californian, even if the picture is about thirty years out of date. People like that do exist; in fact, based on the statements you've made about your childhood and teenage years, I've more or less assumed you were one once upon a time, In any case, Will is probably going to be one, even if he fails the attitude aptitude. JJ, he's going to be the kind of person that when asked what it was like growing up in Malibu, he's going to say, "It was awful. The sun was out, people smiled too much and wore WAY too much pink." Which I've noticed is a fairly typical response out of a native Californian right now, interestingly enough. Not me though. I like the beach, and our weather. https://twitter.com/shinguardian/status/421035317005520896/photo/1

You know, I wonder how Tony and Zach would interact at this point. In both of their opinions, they have legitimate claims to Will's affection, and would probably not react well to the other guy's presence.

This dream-story was pretty obviously inspired by American Horror Story: Coven. The characters looked different, mostly, although sometimes not (it being a dream). Strangely, one person in the dream version looked like Jensen Ackles. I don't exactly disapprove, but I watch nothing he's on, and I wonder how he wandered on set, as it were. Another influence would have been Tanya Huff's Gale Girls novels. There was one line of dialogue that I remembered that I unfortunately had to leave out, because they reason I remembered it in the morning was because it was nearly a direct quote from Enchantment Emporium: "Glancing down at a tanned forearm that screamed don't even fucking think about it to anyone with the sight...." There was also slightly more to it than what I have written here, but this is the part that made enough sense to be written down the next day. Graduation Scarlet pushed my door open, gently knocking as she did. “Rafael. Will, and his family, are here to see you.” There were quite a few things Scarlet could have had to speak to me. Even two-thirds drained, my magic was needed. There were too few of us left, and I’d proven myself trustworthy to her and the other leaders. There was even talk of admitting me to their number, despite my lack of magic and age. I doubted anything would come of that, but Scarlet popped in often to ask for my thoughts on our current rebuilding efforts. So, as I said, there were several things I expected her to say, but that wasn’t one of them. “I have nothing to say to him.” She smiled. “Right. But, as I said, his family is with him. I don’t know if you’ve met his parents, but Angela is here. Do you want to turn them away too?” “Hell,” I said. I looked down, running a hand through my hair to avoid her eyes. “Do you know what they want?” “I am guessing they want to say goodbye. Will and Angela, I mean. All four of them are moving to Virginia later this week. His mom put it for a transfer to ship duty, and it looks like someone got it fast-tracked.” It was remarkable that she in no way betrayed the smugness I knew she had to be feeling. “They thought the change of location might be best for all of us.” “Yeah, I can see that.” I eventually looked back up to say, “I guess I can do that.” “I think you should,” she admitted. “It’ll be better for you later, I think. See me after though. You might need that, too.” I nodded, getting to my feet. As I passed her on the way out, I gently squeezed her shoulder. “Thanks, Scarlet,” not being specific on what I was thanking her for. “Anytime.” When I entered this little academy, we had been under a siege. A group of hunters, led by a fully trained mage had decided we needed to die. Aided by a traitor within, Scarlet’s husband and fellow teacher, in fact, they were picking us off one by one, students and staff alike. And at that, it was still safer for me inside than out, because initiates outside the house were being killed or enslaved by our enemy at an even faster rate. In an effort to protect himself, Will had used a rare talent of his to drain magic on one of his fellow students. Unfortunately, he had not used it well, and had accidentally killed her. That added a new dimension to the threat, and everyone increased their guard. The danger was still there, so Will had to pick his next target carefully, and finally picked the newest student, so new to magic that he didn’t even know what it was supposed to feel like, let alone see it. Me. Of course, getting to know me well enough to place a draining mark on me had consequences he didn’t foresee, but that was later, after he’d already raped my magic. But that change in feeling was enough to make him step up to the mob, leading us students to hold them off during their final attack as the teachers dealt with both traitor and the hunter’s leader. Thanks to him, we survived. Most of us anyways. But he’d almost drained me dry to do it, and it was obvious during the aftermath what he’d done to me. So instead of the acclimation of a hero, or the death sentence of a murderer, the council split the difference, declared him graduated from the school, and told him to get the hell out of town, or else. It seemed his family had believed them. I actually had met Will’s parents before, a couple of times. His mom, Camilla, who everybody addressed as “Chief” instead of “Ma’am,” was a well-built tall woman, who did not smile often but did not go out of her way to be intimidating. His mother Mika was much more delicate and fine-boned, with the gift for smoothing awkward moments away. It was pretty clear which woman had birthed which child, Angela was taller than all of them and verged on burly, while Will was deceptively nearly as delicate as his mother. The way they all acted though, it was never a question that they saw themselves as a family, and both parents had been kind to me. I would miss them. “Rafael,” Chief said, nodding a greeting. “Chief, Ms. Wu,” I replied back, with my own nod to each. “Angela,” she got smile, and she pulled me into a brief but bruising hug. “Will,” I said at last to the last. I gave myself points for keeping my tone even. He took both of my hands in his. “Rafa.” He looked like he wanted to say more. So did I, I would imagine. Neither of us spoke. Chief eventually spoke up, “I’m sure Ms. Florentine already told you, but we’re moving out of state on Friday. I put in for ship duty, now that we’re free to move around, and Mika and the kids decided to follow me.” “They were making us move anyways,” Angela explained, “to free up our house for the new chief that was taking Mom’s slot here. Since we’re moving at all, may as well move to her new homeport.” “It’s the way it goes when you marry into the fleet,” Mika said. “At least she was able to avoid ship duty while the kids were young. They’re both old enough to decide their own minds.” They faltered. It wasn’t like they could say, “Keep in touch,” or “don’t be a stranger, we’re keeping our cell phone numbers,” because I wouldn’t keep in touch and wouldn’t keep their numbers, whatever they said, and they knew it. And the reason for that was still holding my hands, trying to lock his gaze with mine. “Can we talk, Rafa? Just the two of us.” I pulled my hands away from him. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Somewhere, Scarlet was probably annoyed at me, but I really didn’t think it was a good idea. Just the two of us, out of range of any help… it wasn’t happening. I genuinely believed him when he said he regretted his actions, but I was not sure that regret would stop him from finishing the job. Nor would the threat of Scarlet’s vengeance deter him from draining me fully dry; it never had before. He seemed to realize my distrust. “Rafa, I don’t know how to say how sorry I am.” “I get it. I do,” I said. “You were doing what you had to do. It didn’t look like any of us would survive, and what did you owe me? Or Shannon? And, ultimately, using up my power in ways I flat didn’t have the knowledge to use it myself is what saved the day. But Shannon is still dead. And you nearly killed me. I can understand what you did and why you did it, but I don’t know if I can forgive it.” Emotion was creeping in, finally, as I looked him straight in the eye. I don’t know why he needed privacy, in that moment no one else existed anyways. “I will never forget it, either.” There wasn’t much to say after that. We talked a bit anyways, Mika saying she would try to find a teaching position out there. “Maybe even on base; they hire civilians when they need them.” Angela looked forward to dominating a whole new volleyball team, and did not think it would hurt her chances of a scholarship. I nodded along and murmured some polite words, but spoke as little as I could, and said nothing about my new duties. Will said nothing at all. After about ten minutes, the Chief made a show of looking at her watch, and suggested, “We should probably get moving.” They all stood and began to walk away. I kept motionless watch from the porch. But halfway down the path, Will suddenly spun back around and swooped in to try and capture my lips with his. But I turned my face away, and he got my cheek instead. “I love you, Rafael.” “I would have loved you too,” I said. He closed his eyes, in pain or ecstasy, I refused to guess, and he went to catch up to his family. Scarlet was waiting for me just inside, sitting by the window with a clear view of the porch. She clearly felt no need to pretend she hadn’t heard the whole thing, not that I was surprised. “You okay?” She said. “I will be. After you remove the marks he put on me.” She raised an eyebrow. “One on the back of each of my hands,” I said, rubbing the spots in question. “And one on my face,” I pointed to where he had kissed me. “I can feel them now. I must be getting better at this, because I couldn’t feel them even last week. They just felt like a part of me.” “I can do that,” she said, still obviously concerned, and enunciating carefully to show it. “But are you sure you want me to?” “Of course I do!” I shook my head, letting the small pull of hair tossing around help keep me focused. “Whatever my feelings about him, I can’t trust him again. His magic on mine makes my skin crawl, now that I know what he’s capable of doing.” “I can understand that. Does that mean you want me to remove the rest of the marks he placed on you?” “Rest? I thought you all removed them already.” “No, only the ones he used to drain you. Most of them we left alone.” She let her expression relax into a searching look. “I know you can’t see magic like I can, but you really can’t even feel the others?” “Just these new ones.” “Rafa, Will practically has you covered in his marks. Low powered ones, things he didn’t need to drain you or anyone else to pull off, but dozens of them all over your body, enough that they almost looks like clothing to me. He must have been applying them any time he touched your skin.” I thought through the implications of what she was saying. “So, if you can see them, and the other teachers can see magic too…?” She rolled her eyes. “Yes, it was immediately obvious when you two started sleeping together. That great big mark saying ‘Piss off,’ to anything with the sight made that pretty clear.” “I am never going to be able to look Mrs. Featherstone in the eye again.” Scarlet laughed. “Oh, but it’s cute. He’s hardly the first to do that, you know.” Her smile slipped away. “He’s hardly the first to do any of what he did.” My expression must have looked thunderous, because she made me take her seat as she stood. “Will was wrong. He did a terrible thing to you and Shannon, and it got Shannon killed. But in the end, he chose to save you before himself.” “Even if it half killed me to ‘save’ me.” “I didn’t tell you to forgive him. But remember this. There are reasons, good reasons sometimes, for the wrong things we do. You don’t need to forget the wrongs, but also remember the reasons.” “Fuck his reasons.” Scarlet knelt down, and took my hands just like Will had. “Don’t make the same mistakes I made. Remember the reasons, because if you assume evil is going to be obviously evil, you won’t recognize it when it’s in your arms at night. We both missed it,” she admitted. “Let’s not miss it in the future.

This runs up against the characterization that Will is mature for his age, expects to be treated as if he's mature for his age, but constantly fails to prove it. Part of the issue is that, while actually having responsibility is the best way to learn how to have it responsibly, Will doesn't seem to be doing too hot. His clashes with his parents, and now other people's parents seem to be increasing since his emancipation, not abating. That's a fairly annoying character trait to have at any age. There's some genuine grief issues, but his larger problem seems to be that he's still living in a situation where his worldview isn't taken as serious as he'd prefer. Maybe he'd be happier if he moved entirely out of everyone's home? In Hawaii, on his own territory that was unquestionably his own territory, he seemed to be less generally angry. Still, he's actually punching all the proper tickets. He's getting good grades with what I would term a minimum of conflict with his teachers, but I understand others would not agree. He's staying on his assumed life plan of high school - > College - > some kind of career, although he's hazy on the details. He makes it to dinner on time, doesn't party constantly, and seems to be learning from his own relationship mistakes. I wonder what kind of character he'll become if his abrasiveness becomes a habit (meaning it becomes a habit for Mark to write him that way), but other than his inability to not call bullshit when he smells it, and the more annoying inability to not see himself making the same mistakes he's accusing others of, he's an alright person.

Sorry, but I have not the slightest idea. I didn't even know what it was, although it's vaguely how I get my own hair cut. So, um, 2006 or so? Probably earlier, but that's when I started, and I started based on a look I saw in a barbershop. It stood out, because it is one of the few styles that compliments hair as thick as mine. I'm actually due for a hair cut, so if I remember I'll post a pic later this week with it.

Same for me, except it was other kids in my case. Of course, being me, I learned to switch handedness in the middle of a meal simply to drive everyone else crazy, but I used both hands politely.