MJ85

This financial concern thing is all well and good, but it's plainly obvious in this case that it was nothing but a smokescreen for Stef to target Robbie over Will. And I am not convinced that we'll ever see Ryan again. Or, if we do, it won't be of any great consequence. Because if Ryan was really meant to have a future importance to Will, there'd be a way to sort of "keep him on the shelf" with Will re-locating, as opposed to Will basically writing him off as not important.

Maybe it's just me...but it seems like New Year's Resolutions are a lot like wishes. They're alike in the sense that whenever you go telling everyone about the New Year's resolution that you've set for yourself for the coming year...that's it, your resolution is now doomed to fail! What do you think - am I blowing smoke on this one, or is there perhaps some truth to it? Discuss. Mike (Who is NOT revealing his New Year's Resolution for 2013 to anyone - just in case. )

From the chapter: Oh yes. I'd be very hard-pressed to not believe that Stef's goal was in fact to yank the company out from under Robbie. It only occurred to me in this chapter that we didn't get to see what's likely Will's final interactions with Ryan, and it seems kind of lame that it was completely skipped over. Also: How odd would it be if in fact this were to be abnormal? I'm not sure that the Tony interaction is really worth talking about quite yet, if only because we'll see the larger picture unfold next chapter.

Yay! I do love a good happy story as you might have guessed by now. I do have but one question about this one though: Why the jump right into their 40s, as opposed to stopping in their young adult years first? Reason I ask this is that one would think that Luke would have broached this issue before he and Blake had gone on the way they did for that long. (Silly Blake... ) It also makes the jump seem that much more abrupt by going right from their initial teenage discoveries of each other, up to the "trouble in paradise" next, without much inbetween. One other observation that I will make is that this story sort of has a feel of something that could have gone into an anthology, because of its self-contained, "complete" nature. It's also very...specific, such that it could fit right in under one of many potential themes. All in all, a nice story. Feels like there could have been a bit more put in, but it's still a nice work.

Come that time in July, what will be the difference between here and there, save for maybe a few degrees? Especially if this July is anything like last year's was, with the damn near 100-degree days...

To tell you the truth though, I almost expect it to eventually be revealed that all along, there has been something far more sinister going on involving Robbie, JJ, and Jeanine. Their characterizations keep getting dragged towards the point of purely outright evil.

The only reason I'd disagree with you on that, is that after this chapter, I don't expect him to even make it to 9/11, not unless he gets completely exiled from the family and they end up finding out from a distance or something. Yeah...this chapter only confirms what I've been suspecting: He's dug himself in so far, that he could throw everything away, even die, as long as it means never having come around. If he is to come around, it needs to start now somehow - or sorry Mark, but it's just not going to be believable.

And the Packers go down to Minnesota as well, which lets the Vikings in at the last spot. That's the good news for them. The bad news: They have to do it all over again next week in order to go any farther. As for Green Bay: Despite losing, the game was 37-34 and hard-fought till the end - i.e. it's not a "Houston"-type loss. But as they're not the team I was predicting to go all the way to the end anyway, this really changes nothing. San Fran may have the second first-round bye now, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do the same thing they did last year, and that's go down in the NFC final.

Well...the #1 AFC seed was Houston's to lose - and they proceeded to do just that, along with losing a first-round bye altogether! Let the collapse continue. Having said that, I still see them blowing Cincy away in the first round.

Sharon: Why would you aggravate Mark's first mistake with your titillating tease of chapter 91? Unless it's your payback for the flood he unleashed on your inbox...

He even liked my post too! That's what shocks me. In any case, on to this chapter. I think it's all but clear that Robbie is now past the point of no return. There really is nothing anyone can do about him now except stand by helplessly and watch, even if it's watching him go over the proverbial cliff. He'll just fight back against anyone who tries to intervene, and even if Brad were to completely walk out on him, he'd just react like a petulant brat. The entire family could turn against him (other than JJ), and he'd embrace his new-found "island". I don't even think a supposed "apology" from Will would do anything - not that I'd expect that to even happen now. I get the vibe that "Mr. Pulling-The-Strings" JJ is in firm control of Robbie now, and an "apology" from Will would simply get a reaction from JJ of: "Will gave an inch...now's our turn to take a mile!" (metaphorically speaking) Or...is it Jeanine, who's really been pulling the strings all along, with something that we don't even know about yet? As for Noah: No way would he be a good fit for Will. Three words: Too Much Baggage. There's something lingering there from that guy at the party. Could they still be seeing each other on the low, even? Because that's all Will really needs to deal with at this point...just another Tony! What I can't help but notice, though, is...when has Will ever really been in a solid position to even just make friends with a guy? Either he ends up fooling around with the guy, or the "so-called" friend turns out to be...well...just that. And all things considered, 2000 has been more about drama than not about drama for him.

You say that as if it would make even a lick of difference.

Why is it that I keep mentioning other guys telling Will "no", rather than Will saying "no", only to be met with Will having to be turned into a prude in order to accomplish that????? :P It's not that it needs to be that Will changes his hook-up attitude at all!! My thought is more along the lines of what centex said: Am I really that crazy for thinking that Will continuing to have his hook-ups so easily is losing its...ah, losing its luster? Other than the frat party thing, though, I'm not going to knock on his previous hook-ups. But I will say that it is now getting to be routine. These new hook-ups don't add anything more to the story than previous ones did. But if having his hook-ups cool off isn't the answer, then...what is, Mark? If they are to continue......then......how can they be improved? This is very interesting in that it highlights the two different meanings of what "family" can be. Based on this scheme of things, JP's "branch" and Jim's "branch" could each be considered two separate "families" in the sense of who each interacts with on more of the day-to-day basis. But, in the other sense, it's still all one large family, based purely on things like blood relation, or legal adoption, or the like. You seem to be putting a lot of emphasis on family position, and a continued rigid family structure. Since when does this family do "rigid"? (That said, if Stef were to move into the center where JP is now, I'd imagine that it would be more of an "interim" or temporary thing - either as a transition to better prepare whoever comes next if the family does go that route, or because depending on when/how it happens, Stef may be even more aged by then, and not live terribly long past JP as the center influence. But, it's Stef that I think of both out of the influence he already wields now, and out of continued deference to JP, seeing as Stef is JP's "de facto" husband.)

I dunno if I get the "bi-coastal" vibe as much as I notice that they're now settling into multiple points on the California coast, with enough of a distance between the two that it is a trip. But even with it that way, I still get a "multiple bases of power" vibe. I'm also not sure if I see Claremont as much of a "base" anymore, the way we continue to hear less and less about over there. Wade hasn't been in the picture long enough for D.C. to be another base of power within the same umbrella, but hmmmm...that could get there with time.

"Locked up"...not the way I'd look at it with one week to go, and as many as three, four teams still fighting for one last playoff spot there. I have more to say, but...at this point, here's the way I'd look at the full playoff picture: AFC Houston: As I said already, I see them as playoff chokers, for the reasons I stated above. Denver: This is the team I like for going to the Super Bowl on this side. Yeah, they lost to Houston and New England, but I don't see them meeting Houston in the playoffs, and they were in New England for that loss. A re-match could be on their own turf - and that's a game that I think they could win. New England: I am not betting on these guys this year, not after last year. Baltimore: Sorry Adam, but like the Packers, it seems like these guys are a bit weaker than they were last year. Indianapolis: With a guy that likes to get picked off as much as Andrew Luck does...no. Cincinatti: Ummmmmmmmmmmmm... No. NFC Atlanta: A bit stronger than Houston, but they haven't quite convinced me that they're the team that's going to go all the way, or one step away from that. Green Bay: See my earlier post above. San Francisco: Well, let's see. They just lost to Seattle, hard, and this is also the same team that failed to beat St. Louis this year - twice. Washington: This is where I would agree with you Adam...this is the team I like as this year's "dark horse" team. I say "dark horse" in light of their 9-6 record going into the final game, and their still having to fight for the Divisional playoff spot in that game. That said, they are on a roll as of late, having won their last six. Seattle: They're stronger than they usually are...but I don't think they're strong enough. Minnesota/Chicago/NY Giants/whomever this spot goes to: I'm thinking this will either be Minnesota or the Giants, with a slight edge to Minnesota. But the Vikings I don't see as strong enough to get past the first playoff game, and the Giants are not the team they were last year. I wouldn't be a betting man for this, but it's Denver and Washington that I like for the Super Bowl for now.

I think, where I really started to get annoyed with Will being able to just hook up with any guy he wants, just because he can, was when the "frat party" happened, just one week ago. I was really turned off by the whole entire thing, as I felt - and still do - that that was where this whole "Will hooking up left and right" thing is starting to get excessive. The reason I don't - and still don't - feel this way, say, about the whole "pole dancing" thing from Poor Man's Son, is that that can easily be seen as Will blowing off steam after what had happened in Paris...and considering they're across the pond anyway, almost anything that happens there can go along with their entire stay being an out-of-the-norm occasion. But the frat party...what's his excuse there? He's 14, and horny? Things like that come across as steps being taken towards being nothing more than a total "party boy" slut. His hooking up again, and again, and again...and again, without anyone, ever, saying no...is starting to get excessive. It's also starting to get stale, and therefore, it's also losing its "erotic"......charm, for lack of a better word. It was suggested earlier that being rejected would merely lead to Will pursuing harder and being even more of a player...I don't necessarily agree. Will's been depicted as not the total "chess" and "people" player that Brad is, and pursuing harder after being rejected...wouldn't such pursuits only turn him into that "chess" player, even if only on the sexual level? One other point that was brought up earlier: See...I cannot disagree any more strongly than I do right now, with the notion that Claire will be the "successor" to JP. Reason: We simply do not see her at enough of the forefront of dealing with issues head-on at times when JP and/or Stef are there. In otherwords, she's largely...untested, as far as being the pillar of support in a family crisis situation. This would, however gradually, have to change over time, or else I would see Stef as a "successor" first, assuming he doesn't die first. Actually...what I would imagine as more likely to happen is that the family dynamic will permanently change upon JP's death (or if not upon JP's death, then definitely upon both JP's and Stef's deaths), to the point where there would not be one person at the center - more likely, it would be more than one, whereby there'd be one person that so much of the family turn to in crisis, and a second person to cover the rest of the family. As it stands, the family currently lives among two homes now - so in theory, what's to say that under the new dynamic, one "head-of-household" couldn't/wouldn't contact the other "head" when faced with a crisis that they can't handle on their own?

Not only is that an extreme example, it completely discounts any elements of realism that do exist now in this story, as well as those from previous stories. And that much speaks for itself. And so too does the fact that you appear to have ignored what I said when I said that I was not suggesting that Will become the awkward coming of age character, because here you've went and raised the coming of age issue, again. The only more I will say about it now is that when I'd imagine Will being told "no", it wouldn't be about "coming of age" at all, but instead about, yes, him not being every guy's "type". But for what it's worth, I'd imagine the series is somewhere in the middle, between complete real life and complete soap opera, with elements of both, and not absolutely one or the other. And it certainly wouldn't be in a rigid, categorical, box, either. P.S. Sean Faris? Mmmmmmm...I'd say "nope" to him. Not with that mug.

Sigh...that is not what you're conveying at all. Not even close. Because I'm not suggesting that Will should turn into that character at all. What I am saying is that it would not be this horrible, awful thing for a guy he encounters to say "no", even just once. Is that such a ridiculous thing?

You're talking about a team that have lost two of their last three, had no business winning that Thanksgiving game against Detroit, and needed overtime to once beat one of this year's lowest of the low in the form of Jacksonville. Pardon me if I'm not firmly convinced.

Here's the thing. If this keeps up without anyone ever saying "no"...then what will Will's storyline eventually become, other than a glorified Nifty story? For no one to ever say "no"...that would make Will the "perfect" erotic character. And once it's been established that no one will ever say no, ever - well, it will soon get quite old to have a never-ending string of Faceless Dicks On Two Legs popping in and out just for the Obligatory Chapter Hook-Up. For that matter...there's nothing erotic about a hook-up that's obligated to happen.

We've got just touches of snow on the ground here...enough that you know it's there, but there is plenty of grass showing through. I call it a "minty" Christmas - but compared to last year, our first non-white Christmas in years, I'll take it.

So that means that anytime Will comes in contact with a guy he's even remotely attracted to...he's guaranteed to hook up with him. Rinse, lather, repeat. Rinse...lather...repeat. That gets so repetitive and so boring after a while.

Sorry Bill, but I see them as playoff chokers. Them and Houston, for that matter.

I won't argue that - in fact, I've been thinking that he needs to hit an unexpected roadblock at some point. Heck, even just being told "no" and having it stick, if only because the other guy just isn't interested in Will, would do it. That said...so "he looks 18" isn't an affirmative defense. While that would matter in court, how many of the guys Will has hooked up with would you expect to be thinking of that very often, if at all?

Will is supposed to have the body of an 18 year old or enough of one that he could pass for 18 - right? I'm willing to bet that the number of guys who flat out knew he is only 14 from the start...is a number that can be counted on one hand. That, and the ones that already know, are also the ones that people in the family know about Will hooking up with - i.e. it's no secret that Will's hooked up with Jeff and Tony, but so many of the others are still secrets.