Mark Arbour

First, I have to say that I love it when you post. It gives me almost as much pleasure as thinking about Tim's reaction when I write Tony into a chapter. I respect your willingness to seek out compromise. That generates better solutions and happier people. But that's not one of Will's fortes. I think that you really did hit the nail on the head when you talked about his basic distrust of those over 20, which I'll define more clearly to be parental types. The scenario you described would probably be the preferred way to approach it, but I can't see Will doing that. I think he'd almost feel like he was conspiring with the enemy, since he can view those parental types as a conflict waiting to happen. We don't really know what Zach said to his parents prior to this, but we do know that he talked about it quite a bit, since Gathan bitched about it when he was arguing with Will. I suspect he made the points you mentioned, perhaps not as eloquently, but then again, he was talking to Wally and Clara. I think its also important to look at what we know about Wally and Clara's basic values/motives. They seem to have a "money is the root of all evil" theme going (you'd think Tim would hate them, not Tony ), and much of their fears for their kids revolve around them having access to lots of money and doing stupid things with it. That's going to fall pretty flat when spieled out to an opportunist like Zach, or to someone like Will, who views money as, among other things, a source of freedom.

Some of you are arguing that Will doesn't respect Wally and Clara's parental authority, and that he's wrong for buying Zach a car without even talking to them about it. Some of you are arguing that for Will, a car is so much chump change, with the implication that there's a huge chasm here between his perception of the car (someone from one of the wealthiest families in the country) and Wally and Clara (a blue-collar guy and his wife). I think you're all right, but none of that explains why Will did what he did. Will saw Zach struggling against parents who were being irrationally restrictive, and that's something that resonates with Will. He sees it as a charitable act, not because he's giving Zach a car, but because he's helping Zach get the same kind of control he fought so hard for: he sees Zach as a kindred spirit. And he's completely willing to get in Gathan's face about this because Gathan is part of the team holding Zach down, as Will sees it. I don't think that Will is overly concerned with what Wally and Clara think, because I think if we were to dive into his mind and dice through his prejudices, he'd see them as incredibly provincial, uneducated people, and he'd have a hard time respecting their intellectual acumen and their ability to figure the situation with Zach out. He probably mirrors what JJ thinks of them, only JJ would think it and laugh at them behind their backs with no pangs of conscience about being a total snob; while Will would be upset to discover he really feels that way.

November 14, 1798 Chateau de Marly Granger collapsed on top of Eastwyck, panting and smiling after his third orgasm of the night, or morning as it was now. Or maybe it was his fourth: he’d lost count. He let his body slide forward so he was breathing against Eastwyck’s neck, right behind his ear. “That was spectacular!” “I thought so too,” Eastwyck said, and pulled Granger up so he could kiss him. “More fun than Madame Bonaparte?” Granger aske

Thanks for the review! So glad you caught up! Your wait ends in about five minutes. :-)

That's a good point, and a good strategy in battle, but not if you really want to communicate. And Will does seem to view this latest confrontation as a battle, and adopted almost a military strategy to eliminating his opponents. Actually, the only way the trust can be changed after it's set up is if the trust allows someone to change it, so presumably Brad is the one who is allowed to make those changes. And unless the trust gave Gathan the right to make changes, which it wouldn't, you're right, his acquiescence isn't needed. But it is symbolic, and since this is a family, harmony counts for something.

Tony's problem (at least as he's explained) is that he thought of guys in terms of people you hook up with, not someone you fall in love with and have a relationship with. So I think that in that situation, he didn't really give Will "girlfriend" status, which he should have. That he loves Will, and has intense feelings for him, but still fucks around with Rick also dovetails into that classic closet scenario, where he probably convinced himself that blowing another guy wasn't really cheating, so messing around with Rick wasn't a big deal. LMAO

Well, I think that's a pretty good description of where you should be. ;-)!!!

It probably would have been wiser to put Wally and Clara on as successor trustees, which tells us something about Brad's true opinion about them. It has to be really tough for Tony to embrace a lifestyle that he probably interprets as killing his father. Thanks for the review!

Thanks Six. You know, up until now, we've largely seen Zach through Gathan's eyes. Now that we're getting Zach's perspective (indirectly), there seems to be a lot of sibling rivalry there. It's hard to know whether Zach is evil, or if he's just been in a Herculean struggle with Gathan for most of their lives. Good luck with grading. I'm procrastinating. :-)

Is it so wrong for me to get sadistic pleasure in writing a chapter with Tony in it, knowing how much it will annoy you? ;-)

Thanks Kitt. You posted a very apt review. I'm not sure that I'll throw you too many curveballs, but we'll have to see. ;-)

LMAO. My big party days are over. That's my story. :-)

I'm glad you liked the chapter! I think we see signs of Will growing up a bit, and of Brad doing a better job of dealing with him.

Thank you! I think Brad and Will are both doing better with each other. That's a good thing. Tony's starting to get his head sorted. I don't think this will be easy for him.

Thanks for the review Jason. But look at you stereotyping. Will doesn't necessarily need a top to put him in his place and be in charge. You've never heard of a dominant bottom? I don't think position has all that much to do with control in a relationship.

Will's thought process is shifting from that of bratty adolescent to an adult, so we see these moments of clear thoughts and positive actions. I think Tony's journey will be long and arduous.

I think that Will almost had to hook up with Tony to seal up their problems and put them in the past, more or less. Besides, I think that Tony is one of those guys who just pushes all of Will's sexual buttons. It would be hard for him to jettison the guy.

I think Gathan will be fine. Zach is clearly a touchy issue for him, and he probably doesn't deal with it as well as he normally would have.

October 2, 2001 Palo Alto, CA ”Oh no you don’t,” Dad said, stopping me. “You at least owe it to us to stay here and talk about this.” I turned and looked at him, and was about to tell him I didn’t owe him a fucking thing, when all of a sudden my anger at him vanished. Here was this man who I loved, who was hurting, and I didn’t want to fight with him, especially about this. I sighed. This was so much easier back in the old days, when I could be a dick. But no

Big news, and big excitement here in the Show-Me State! If you've never been to Columbia, MO, home of the University of Missouri (known colloquially as Mizzou), make a point to go there. It's really a great college city, one of the best in the country. MIZ!

The car purchase was subtle, happening in the background. Will teased it out to us as he worked through his day, dropping hints as he went.

Thank you for the awesome review! Your last line, about how stories like this helped you out, makes this all worthwhile. I've got a huge smile on my face. Thanks. This saga has contained many themes, and most of them have multiple angles, so it's quite easy to develop an affinity for one side or another. But one of the overall themes has been JP's evolution as a character, from the mean and rather selfish person we first met in 1962 to the patriarch that he is now. I think he'd be an amazing person to talk to for an hour, or a day. And I think JP's development tends to be reflected in his choice of partner. When he was younger (and meaner), I think Jeff was an ideal choice, but I don't think he would be for the JP we have before us in 2001. Will and Brad (and their conflict) have been very polarizing for readers, but most are willing to overlook their annoyance with whichever character they don't agree with. I based their storyline on my own struggles with raising a teenager, so while I like Will the character, and by writing him, I end up being somewhat sypathetic to his issues; there's a certain satisfaction I get by hearing those people clamoring to slap Will down, since that tends to validate my own struggles IRL.

I'm not sure if it's just the Schluter gene. JP bought Sam a Camaro.

I considered De La Salle, but I wanted Zach on the East Coast.

Some clarifications: 1. I don't necessarily want Zach to go to a private school, but I think it's important that he goes to a school with a good football program. That could very well be a public university. You're very correct, though, that with a top-rated football program like Don Bosco was fielding in the early 2000's, it definitely sets Zach up for a lot more visibility, and a lot more options. 2. I don't think I ever wrote that Robbie got a scholarship to Princeton, and I'm thinking that if he did, it was negligible. Paying for school wasn't something he had to worry about.