samjones1

I wouldn’t think you’d see things the same way as me as regards Will. After all, you’re the author. 😂 Your reply leaves me thinking “why does everyone else get to impose their will and plans on others? Why is it all on their terms and timetable? And why is Will the one inserting himself into this situation at all…he’s not JJ’s parent? If it’s so important to have JJ on board with a plan, why not have Brad or Stefan or JP intercede? That is if you can’t trust JJ to be included in the plan.” The only reason the chapter ended this way is because Will, as always, is a smarmy prick.

Indeed. Wandering in to taunt JJ with hidden knowledge…Will couldn’t wait to go in and bust up JJ’s good time. Everyone else seems to see “JJ bad” in that final scene, whereas I see a smarmy prick intentionally attacking JJ’s cool in a vulnerable moment. And doing so after acknowledging that JJ has made an attempt to be flexible and accommodating (however poorly he masks his actual discomfort or petty anger). However much people dislike JJ, it’s worth considering Will’s classic bullying behaviors here.

Being a grandparent (or uncle or any other family member) is very different than being the parent. It’s not unreasonable to expect that JP would prefer those grandchildren who engage with him. JJ’s interests couldn’t be further from JP’s, so it’s natural that JJ would be closer to Stefan than JP. Will, by contrast, is more cerebral and has interests more aligned with JP. That they spend more time together is also natural. None of that means JP doesn’t love JJ. JJ’s family always seems to have his back when he asks for help (or when the issues become too big to ignore as with his breakdown). I agree about his family not being kind, by the way. Brad’s only interest in JJ seems to using coercive control to enforce compliance. We saw a lot of that when JJ was competing. JJ’s brothers also seem to forget how messed up he was by his mother (both by her behavior when coaching JJ and by her death…the rest of them weren’t as close to her by the end despite them trying to rebuild things with her prior to 9/11). Add his myriad mental health issues and you have a much less stable personality than the other main characters in this series. I get not wanting to tolerate someone you consider to be prissy and rude, but why not help teach him differently. My older brother helped me in that way. With all this supposedly wonderful men in the family, wasn’t there anyone who could have helped socialize JJ properly? I’ll go further and claim that JJ suffers from an almost complete lack of effective parenting. Nearly every time you see the older generation interact with him, it’s either indulging his materialism (I.e. spoiling him) or scolding him for being spoiled (i.e. punishing him for following their bad example). For example, JJ uses money and things as a way to buy love and friendship (see Carrullo 2001-2003 for reference). He’s doing it now with Kris as well, though I’d submit he has no idea that is what he’s doing. JP or Stefan or Brad seemed to notice every time Will “selflessly” bought things for other people and praised him for doing it. It’s telling that none of the older folks seemed to have noticed JJ doing it or inquired as to what was happening? Janine was supposed to be the actual parent in JJ’s youth (literally the nanny), but she didn’t do a good job with the only child who accepted her parenting due to her own mental health issues. He doesn’t have the same sort of independence that Darius and Will have, so it’s not like he has really branched out personality-wise. His socialization consists of competing against other spoiled athletes as an ice skater and interacting with fashionistas around the world. There never seems to be any patient attempt to instruct JJ in appropriate social behavior…his mask gets him far in his chosen field, so he sticks with it. Christ, you’d think a wealthy family would have sent him for deportment lessons given how brittle the kid was. There’s only so much of Aunt Claire’s elegance and charm that can be expected to rub off on JJ through osmosis. None of the people in JJ’s life (including Kris) really seem to understand the depths of insecurity his petulant behavior is masking. His therapist seems to be helping JJ alter his inner monologue somewhat so that he now has moments of questioning the negative self-talk he’s indulged for most of his life. I’m sure that will pay some dividends over time. ::obligatory paragraph demonstrating how much of a smarmy prick Will is:: Perhaps I’m way off base, though…it’s not like I’ve read each of these stories multiple times and edited out a reference to JP’s parenting of Billy from this reply.

Or perhaps you just made it more overt to drive home the point to your the reader. “I asked rudely” is a bit more on the nose than your usual writing. 🧐 I also wonder why Will would lie about JJ having asked him what the information they have about Kris is. I mean…JJ “asked rudely”, Will blew him off, and then Will tells Travis JJ didn’t ask at all? Smarmy prick. (I feel compelled here to state that I love you and your writing matter how my comments make it sound)

Oh Brad…your Machiavellian schemes are thwarted again! The internal monologue here is quite interesting…getting a true sense that he cares about protecting JJ, his most vulnerable child, rather than merely trying to grasp at power as Will often perceived him to be doing. Brad is my favorite character of yours (aside from George Granger) for exactly this reason…he’s thoughtful but ruthless when necessary. Will could learn from him if he weren’t such a smarmy prick.

I like this Kris fellow…he’s a good egg!

I’m glad I made some sense rather than just appearing to be ranting uncontrollably. Reading it back, I sound a bit unhinged over a fun story from my favorite online author. 🥴

Who the hell is Will to be the arbiter of what is good and bad behavior? I get that this isn’t a real person, but if he was he’d be exhausting. He doesn’t accept people as they are, instead seeking to impose his values and behaviors on them and his environment. Who needs that? Let’s look at this chapter through the lens of a reasonable person. Will essentially provides little notice before showing up, announces his time of arrival without saying what he had planned and…what? Expected JJ to just be there waiting for commands like a servant or concierge? JJ is supposed to just take that without question? Is he not also a person with agency? From my perspective, lashing out by being late is just a passive aggressive way to remind Will that he isn’t JJ’s boss…it’s what Will would do if anyone deigned to do the same to him. Then Will pulls a full-on bitch fit by taking his ball and going home. Just to embarrass JJ back. He could have knocked, explained the situation…literally anything else. The fact here is that JJ would probably have just conformed and been on time if Will had been human at any point, respected what he knows about JJ and his desire for a calm and orderly life, and said “hey, I want to take you to a cool place to see my boyfriend perform.” Is that so hard? Clearly it is for the smarmiest prick I’ve ever read about…which, in case anyone forgot, is Will. He’s the absolute worst!

It’s interesting that most of the comments condemn JJ while I tend to side with him when it comes to Brad and Will. They poke and prod at JJ, not fully recognizing the depths of his neuroticism and mental health issues. And Brad especially seems to try and control JJ in a way he’d never get away with doing with Will…Will, the smarmiest prick I’ve ever encountered in a story. Will is trying to do better, and JJ is trying to do the same…it’s not surprising that it doesn’t take on the first try.

At least the Esterhazy had Haydn in their swampy abode for some period of time. 🤷‍♂️

A quiet and wonderful way to end this book. I’m already anticipating the next one!

True story: I worked at a pen shop around this time period and legitimately sold a lapis lazuli Ramses II to a wealthy CEO alongside a pair of less opulent Mont Blanc pens for a merger signing. Seeing them referenced here brought back some nice memories!

I’ve been checking your page multiple times a day for the last two weeks for this update…like a drug addict, but with historical erotica. I especially enjoyed William turning out to be such a card! Glad to see things are progressing with Lord Brentwood and his family.

It’s amazing to see just how far Caroline has fallen. Based on her rantings in the letter to George, Caroline has clearly shown herself incapable of fully appreciating her situation and how she arrived there. Let’s hope she sees sense soon, for everyone’s sake. Btw, the story is marked as being on temporary hold. Is that what we should expect going forward, or is that leftover from the summer?

I enjoy the image of poor Granger wandering around town wearing u fashionable clothing and perfume…classic! Privy Councilor Granger will be interesting to see in action, especially when it comes time for him to go back out to sea.

See…I always hedge because I often miss obvious things! 😂

We already know what the conflict is, where St. Vincent sent him a letter excoriating Granger for leaving his ship during the trek to Russia. Or am I not understanding your point? 😊

I got my prediction of an advancement in the peerage on record after the last chapter, so I hope that’s what is about to happen. Great to have another chapter from the Granger family.

After all these years, I’ve come to recognize “thanks for explaining it to me” as the quintessential Mark Arbour line. It always makes me smile to read it, especially this late at night! Looking forward to more mayhem soon.

That caught me completely by surprise! Good for Travis, standing up for himself and getting back at Zach for his antics.

I wonder how a 19th-century British aristocrat like Freddie becomes so boorish? At least the Duke is relatively smooth about his greed…Freddie is just baffling. Meanwhile, I’m getting the distinct impression that George will be advanced in the peerage soon. I just have to calculate when he was created Viscount to see how reasonable that might be. Being created an Earl would be a great way for the King to signal his approval of his separation, to reward George for solving the problem with Caroline’s family, and to also acknowledge the Russian successes and his increased wealth and status.

What an interesting view of a family foundation board meeting. Claire’s recognition of the reality if things for Craig was surprising, but hopefully it means she’s turned a mental corner on things and is ready to move forward properly with her family life. Looking forward to the next chapter!

I love when these errant handsome visitors wander into Granger’s life. So much possibility!

That last sentence was surprising enough to make me leave my first comment on one of your stories, Mark! I can’t wait to see where this ends up.

Welcome to the PhD club, Dr. Arbour. Send me some of your academic writing so I can give you a proper hazing as a welcome. 😛