You make some very good points. Brad has some character flaws. In addition to being a control freak, he has a tendency to let his romantic life dominate everything. (think back to Millennium, and how he re-absorbed himself in Robbie) Most of the family members are pretty indulgent when he does this, but Will is less forgiving because he needs that connection with Brad more than Darius, Matt, or JJ.
December, 1799
Palermo, Sicily
Granger had little enough time to contemplate what this new young midshipman would do to morale aboard his ship, as the Elgins arrived. Granger watched, amused, as Lady Elgin was introduced to Lady Hamilton. Lady Hamilton was her normal, effusively polite self, while Lady Elgin behaved in character as well; showing herself to be the shrew Granger had come to know.
“We had best be off if we are to be on time,” Sir William announce
Great review, but you raised an issue that intrigues me...I wonder if it is just this generation who likes the "Shiny and New"? I think we all do, although not everyone keeps up with the styles. ;-)
I can't see JJ beating Mary Ellen, because while he's bitchy, she's vicious.
Great review, and I'm so glad you raised the issue of Brad's reference to JP and Isidore. I experimented with that a little bit, and found that when Brad referred to JP as "Dad" it could be a bit confusing, especially when we consider that his relationship with Stef is probably even tighter than his relationship with JP. So Brad is humoring the author to avoid confusion, not showing a general lack of affinity. :-)
Great review Rachel! I think Will was thinking that if there wasn't some dramatic event, that it would be difficult to bring Kevin back into the fold. He's relying on the shock factor to help lube the moment, and Will knows all about lube. ;-)
Thanks Kevin! I think that Wally and Clara are going to tread very carefully, regardless of what they really think. Things are going well with Zach, and the last thing they need it to spark a conflict with him over Will.
Jason,
Astute observations as always. I think that Zach and Will are both enjoying their relationship and not thinking about the consequences, as you've laid out. They're both very organized, future-oriented people, so the fact that they haven't worked this out suggests the train wreck you prescribe may very well happen. Someday. Maybe.
What's really funny is that all of Wade/Brad/Stef's whining at Will about grey areas hasn't really changed him at all. He really see's things clearly (in his own mind). I'm not sure that's a bad thing.
December 22, 2002
Escorial
Brad
Marc and I walked up to the dining room, to what would undoubtedly be a well-attended meal, and probably an important one. This was the first time I could remember that we were this close to Christmas and our plans for that holiday weren’t finalized, at least in my mind. I knew that Will had been working to make this a really special holiday for Zach and his family, and they’d been here and seemed pretty euphoric, but I had my own plan
I meant to post an author's note about this on Chapter 43, so I'll edit the chapter to do that. The movie/book you're referring to is "When the Game Stands Tall", which has been an amazing reference for me on this story. The book is adequately written, but the movie is horrific. Watch at your own risk.
The actual championship game was played by these two teams two weeks before I'm showing it here, but there was no way to make the actual timeline work with my fictional timeline, so I took some liberties and arbitrarily extended the football season.
JJ is such a bitchy little thing, it's sometimes difficult to write his character. I have to get myself in the mood, usually by causing some unsuspecting mortal untold pain. ;-)