samjones1

A person responding to a study between the ages of 30-44 in 2005 (I'll assume they all responded in that date in order to err on the side of finding results) would have been 14 between the years 1975 and 1989. I can't imagine that you are suggesting that the life experience of someone growing up during that time frame would at all compare to the experience of someone who was 14 in 2000. Between the rise of internet porn and the hypersexualization of everything on TV, Will would have a much more sexual existence than any of the people within the category you cite. 2000 is the year Queer as Folk started on Showtime...my mother, who was 45 at the time, didn't even know that gay people could have missionary sex. She thought they all did it doggie style. SMH!! Consider also that gay people had significantly more outlets to find "boyfriends" (i.e. FB's) than in prior years due to the rise of the internet, especially chat rooms. Clearly that is not how Will is finding his guys...it is how I and all my friends found ours, however. A bit of poetic license in the hook-up process, however, would seem to be more than acceptable. I can understand the desire to try to compare Will's life to our own. Will, however, isn't lilving in the time of "Oooh, let's go find Dad's Playboy (or Mom's Playgirl)". I am 6 years older than WIll would be today and I just got out of a relationship with someone who would be his age. I feel like he is a realistic portrayal of someone my ex's age, only he has had just a bit more sex than my ex had had by that time (8 vs. 11). I had had more sex than him (19 vs. 11), despite being older. However you feel about Will as a person (I think he's fine, but not as cool as Wade), the depiction is one that I recognize in people that I know and love. With that said, it is unsettling for one to be reading the inner dialogue of people to whom one cannot relate. This does not mean that those people do not exist, however. Shaking one's fist at those people from one's porch and yelling "Get off my lawn, you little bastard" hardly seems productive.

One would think, based on readings of the forum posts and chapter reviews, that the key question of our day is whether Will or Wade is the better narrator. However, I've realized, just this morning, that I've been reading this story for nearly a year and I still have no idea what Elizabeth Danfield is truly up to. Every time I think I do, she turns out to be even more crappy than I had previously considered her to be. That I find myself loving her antics is beside the point. :-P I think, therefore, we must conclude that the key question here is how do you, Mark, keep me coming back for more every few days? Because I do come back for more...like everyone else, I frantically click refresh on the story page around the time that my clairvoyence determines you're going to post. I think it's a genius combination of characters, plot, skilled prose, plot, sex, and...plot. I'm sure somebody will have a witty retort to my conclusions...that's ok, though, because I know that I'm correct in this! So, in conclusion, great work Dr. Arbour (yes, now you get to be a Dr...Dr. of Plot!).

I have pondered that maybe Will isn't right. On the one hand, he clearly has a good point in insisting that his family take steps to protect him from a clearly deranged mother and her sidekick (i.e. Michael). On the other hand, he's using blackmail to make his point. He's also biting the proverbial hand by continually lashing out at Stef, one of his biggest supporters in all these problems. I think, in this case, that Will is overplaying his hand. Has he considered the implications of reporting his family to CPS (the acronym we us out where I live)? Is he considering that all the wonderful benefits he gets from being a member of a rich and powerful family come with strings attached, and that all could be lost through his truculence? I don't think he's thinking of anything but himself...something which is at once the beauty and the scourge of youth. At a certain point, people can and will stop feeling bad about their wrongs because you're also wrong. I think he'll look back, later in life, on these times of severe self-absorption and feel a certain sense of shame, even if he can convince himself of his "rightness"...being "right" doesn't mean that you can't be so for the wrong reasons. I'm reminded of JP and his lecturing of Stef about the duties of the wealthy and their obligations to society and their family. I think this is one of those situations where JP needs to swoop in, instruct Brad and Stef in the error of their ways, and the explain the realities of life...the wealthy life...to Will.

Reading that message on the computer screen was awful...just awful. I hope he chooses Palo Alto and leaves Brad and Robbie to live with the guilt for the rest of their lives. That's all I have to say about that. Thanks for the quick chapter, Mark! I'll look forward to the next chapter as usual.

Reading this chapter was difficult for me, as I totally understand and can relate to (from memory, now that I'm older) that feeling of losing control of one's emotions and feeling totally unloved. It's a terrible place to be for a young man like Will who really just wants love and attention. I must admit that I thought his response was fairly tame and indicative of both how he views Brad and Robbie and of the priveleged life he and his family live. Personally, when he seemed to have an epiphany before going to the acid, I totally thought he was going to forward those pictures to the papers and try to lash out at Brad and Robbie by humiliating and shaming them publically. That would have done the absolute most damage imaginable. Destroying their toys, however, should be a message to everyone just how shallow he views his "dads" as being. To date, Will has been one of my least favorite characters (right next to Robbie, who I think is a whiny pain in the butt). Now, he's shot right to the front of the line with JP and Stefan! I cannot wait to see what happens next. As ungrateful as I feel for even saying it, I'm with the reviewer who wants daily chapters until we see Brad and Robbie flayed alive by Stefan. I bet you'd get a good response to a collection for prompt delivery! ^__^

Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I can very much see how this sort of behavior is consistent with both Brad and Robbie's personalities. Robbie has consistently shown a propensity for being...well, for lack of a better word, twatty when faced with periods of crisis. Think about how feisty he got when Brad was upset with him back in Millenium.. Brad, meanwhile, is just starting to mature out of the shadow of Stefan into his own persona as a successful businessman. While Stefan is still a big part of his success as the Board Chairman, he is now in a significantly more powerful state than we've seen him previously. I can absolutely see how having that power has "gone to his head". It wouldn't surprise me if we see another Battle Royale in JP's study, with everyone ganging up on Brad telling intervention-style telling him what a jackass he's become since taking on new responsibilities. I have zero doubt about Will's ability to successfully win this battle, since the family will have his back against his Dad's. Meanwhile, I just love this story...all of it! I feel like I was Will back in the day, at least mentally (he's clearly much more attractive than me :-P ), fighting with my parents for the respect I felt I deserved. The wild mood swings and dramatic persona is so typical teenager I almost cringe remembering my own similar swings. I love Wade too...that's my kind of man!! I check in all the time to see when you post and appreciate all your hard work, Mark! This story is bound to win you some more awards next year.

To use a word that Will used in this chapter, the whole situation is tpp raw. After seeing how close Will and Brad were in the past, I feel a bit heartbroken over their recent troubles. Brad and Robbie's newfound obliviousness to their Will and JJ's state of mind isn't endearing either...especially after I rooted for them so hard back in Millenium! :-P The only good thing to come from this is the closer relationship between Will and JJ. I can't help but think, however, that it's only a temporary truce...especially with the scene Will is likely to create next time he sees Michael. Another great chapter as always, Mark. I hang on your every written word!