methodwriter85

Chapter 49 -When we learn the back story of Veronica Fletcher, a woman from Cuba who bore Senator Danfield a son, and got her ass deported back to Cuba in 1993. "Come Undone" by Duran Duran -When Wade and Matt imagine Wade's half-brother as having a loveless, orphan-like upbringing. "Where Is Love?" from Oliver -When Will and Tony have sex, and Will realizes that it's not what it used to be. "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia I was pretty obsessed with this song back in 1998. Mainly because of the lead guy in the video. Hottie Australian type, yay! (Check out his late 90's/early 00's chords.) I also remember thinking at 12 how much I liked how the deconstructing of the video set was such a great metaphor for the young woman's idealized image of her ex-boyfriend unraveling as she faces the truth about who he is.

*calling Private Tim, calling Private Tim* So if Mark doesn't go for my idea of having Ethan being a former St. Catherine's Military School guy, do you know of other private schools in California that board elementary school students? (Because Webb is a high school-only boarding school, he had to have gone somewhere else for 3rd grade through 8th grade.)

Well, I did a little research on Webb, and it's only a high school boarding school, so I fanwanked that Ethan was dropped off at St. Catherine's Military School for Boys, which is K-8, before going to nearby Webb. It doesn't seem like there are a lot of boarding schools that board elementary school students. Thinking about it, a Catholic military school would actually make a lot of sense- the Senator would probably like the order and the discipline of one, and with Ethan and his mother being Cuban, they're likely Catholic as well. Ethan being from a military boarding school background would likely given him a really different kind of bearing. So maybe Ethan will be a cute Cuban guy with a military air going on...nice. Now that I think of it...we haven't seen much in terms of military guys being hot sex symbols, have we? I can't even remember if Matt or Wade have fooled around with one. Will hasn't. Yet. (I think this needs to be rectified, Mark. ) That's actually kind of weird- isn't the hot military guy right up there with the masculine college jock in terms of gay male fantasies?

Well, I did research into Webb, and it's only a high school boarding school, so I'm guessing that Ethan went to St. Catherine's Military School for Boys (which is K-8) first. It was EXTREMELY hard to find a private boarding schools that still board the elementary school aged-kids in the area. It would actually fit pretty well that the Senator would decide on a military Catholic school, because being Cuban Ethan's mother would likely be Catholic, and the Senator probably was good friends with a lot of people in the military. If Ethan did indeed grow up in a military boy's academy, that could give him a really interesting bearing, and something that this story doesn't really have, especially in Will's age-set. (Hell, even Wade and Matt haven't messed around with military guys, have they?)

I think it's interesting what naming trends seem to say about their time period. Jennifer was apparently launched into the stratosphere because of the 1970 film, Love Story. You could hazard a guess that the 1970's to early 1980's dominance of Jennifer possibly could have made people more willing to branch out, because the map is pretty diverse for the 2000's (when the Jennifer Generation are in their prime child-bearing years) especially in 2007. The Addison craze was pretty funny, and so short-lived. And come on, you KNOW the domination of Isabella in 2010 has to do with Twilight. And it's kinda funny my peers just missed the Jennifer thing, though- like, I knew a couple of Jennifers including my 1977-born sister, but it wasn't nearly as pervasive as Jessica and Ashley were. Had I been just a couple years older, like Blue's age, I probably would have known a lot more Jennifer's. The burn-out must have settled in by the mid/late 1980's. It's also interesting how old-fashioned, traditional names like Sophia, Emma, Ava, Olivia, and Isabella make a huge comeback. Stark contrast to my generation, when Jessica and Ashley ruled. I remember my teacher once went on this rant about how awful trendy names like Tiffany, Amber, and Crystal are. LOL. I can't even imagine what she thinks about Addison and Madison, or on the boy side, Jaden, Aiden,and Cayden. My guess for the next big girl's name will be Hazel, in keeping with the "old is new again" theme that seems to have taken hold.

This was actually pretty cool to look at- it's a listing of the most popular names for girls by state, starting with 1960 and ending with 2012. One of the things Mark tries to do is reflect the time period by having characters with period-correct names...it's why he picked Madison, because Maddy is a cute nickname and it really was a popular name at the start of the 2000's. If our CAP female characters were named the most popular name for their states in the year they were born, we'd have: 1963: Jeanine would be Lisa 1964: Claire would be Lisa 1976: Tiffany would be Jennifer 1983: Ella would be Jennifer 1986: Marie would be Jessica 1995: Courtney would be Jessica 2000: Madison would be Emily *We don't have a birth year for Elizabeth Danfield...I always kind of assumed that she and Jeff were probably born in the late 1940's/early 1950's, because Brad and Robbie were on the young side to have college-aged kids especially with their socioeconomic status. Wade's parents don't seem like they'd still be in their 30's or even their early 40's. In any event, I think it's interesting what naming trends seem to say about their time period. Jennifer was apparently launched into the stratosphere because of the 1970 film, Love Story. You could hazard a guess that the 1970's to early 1980's dominance of Jennifer possibly could have made people more willing to branch out, because the map is pretty diverse for the 2000's (when the Jennifer Generation are in their prime child-bearing years) especially in 2007. The Addison craze was pretty funny, and so short-lived. And come on, you KNOW the domination of Isabella in 2010 has to do with Twilight. And it's kinda funny my peers just missed the Jennifer thing, though- like, I knew a couple of Jennifers including my 1977-born sister, but it wasn't nearly as pervasive as Jessica and Ashley were. Had I been just a couple years older, like Blue's age, I probably would have known a lot more Jennifer's. The burn-out must have settled in by the mid/late 1980's. It's also interesting how old-fashioned, traditional names like Sophia, Emma, Ava, Olivia, and Isabella make a huge comeback. Stark contrast to my generation, when Jessica and Ashley ruled. I remember my teacher once went on this rant about how awful trendy names like Tiffany, Amber, and Crystal are. LOL. I can't even imagine what she thinks about Addison and Madison, or on the boy side, Jaden, Aiden,and Cayden. To bring it back to CAP...I really liked the Ethan name choice. It wasn't a super-popular name in 1986, but it was around. (Actors Ethan Embry and Ethan Peck spring to mind.) And then a decade later, the name gets popular, and then by the time Ethan is 20, he'll see a lot of little toddlers running around with his name. That's gotta be a trip. (I'm the reverse of that- I've only met a Jeremy younger than my peer group once, because most Jeremy's are in their 30's/40's by now.) It's like what Westie said about how these characters should have names that reflect "forward thinking"- Ethan's a name that's becoming huge at this time period, but our character will have had a 15-year head start on that.

This was actually pretty cool to look at- it's a listing of the most popular names for girls by state, starting with 1960 and ending with 2012. Lisa dominated the 1960's, Jennifer dominated the 1970's to the mid-80's, Jessica and Ashley seem to duke it out for the second half of the 1980's and first half of the 1990's, and then names start to get more creative until everybody starts naming their daughter Isabella, Sophia, or Emma by the late 2000's. One of my nieces was named Sophia in 2011, which corresponds to being the number 1 name. It's kinda funny- for that niece, Sophia, Olivia, and Emma will be to her what Jessica, Ashley, and Brittany were to me. (Amanda and Sarah were also pretty popular.)

Do any of you Californians remember the Los Angeles Bling Ring? I saw the movie, and I thought it seemed pretty incredible in a sense- that these teenaged kids set up multi-million dollar crime ring: The movie made Calabasas look like Valley Girl on steroids.

Alright, I see your point. So I did a little googling, and apparently the difference between a bisexual and a pansexual is that a bisexual is attracted to the two accepted genders. A pansexual, however, is attracted to the two genders, as well as people who fall outside of the gender binary, like genderqueers, intersexed people, and transexuals. Interesting. I have this bisexual friend, and I remember him saying once that he's attracted to the masculine qualities of a man, as well as the feminine qualities of a woman. So maybe the bisexual is attracted to the gender binary, while the pansexual feels its irrelevant. That's a really interesting reaction there. Most people I've known who've read the story said the story was a lovely picture of devoted friendship. How did the main character come off like a stalker to you?

The problem in going by clothes is that Glee's gay male aesthetic is that of tight, tailored clothes with some flare and splashes of color, not the International Male 2001 Catalog look that I think Ferris would rock. In any event, I just find Grant Gustin pretty hot and since his role on Glee is that of the bitchy gay guy I thought it might work. Oh, well. Matthew Lewis from Harry Potter as Benjamin Whist? I have Whist pictured as a tall, lanky, good-looking guy with some quirks to his face- like a former ugly ducking nerd who just grew into his looks. Matthew Lewis is 24, but let's face it, the guy could easily pass for 35. (In a good way.) And he just LOOKS like an academic. My final comment on Matthew Lewis is...wow, orthodontia and puberty were incredibly, incredibly kind to him.

1. Okay, true. Although I'm not sure what you mean with JJ- Will's joking with the flirting stuff. There was the masturbation scene, but it wasn't a "come on"- just Will showing JJ how it works. The two wouldn't actually have sex. There's actually this really great theory that when you get two kids who are not related and have them spend a lot of time together before the age of 6, like siblings, they'll become desensitized sexually to each other. It's called the Westermarck Effect. Interesting enough, when you think about how Brad had a crush on Ace and they fooled around with each other, they also weren't raised as brothers until Brad was pretty close to turning 6. As opposed to Will and JJ, who have been raised as brothers as brothers since Will came along when JJ was 9 months old. 2. That's an interesting interpretation of the term pan-sexual. I kind of felt like that was what Mark was showing with Gathan- Gathan was one of those guys who just did not factor gender in his attractions to people and didn't try and put a label on it. I'd suggest that you read Cross-Currents by Adam Phillips...I think it's a really interesting look at how sometimes labels are irrelevant.

Grant Gustin from Glee as Ferris, the bitchy gay guy from Menlo? (He's only a junior, so I figure we'll see more of the guy.)

It was so depressing. I actually used to follow Tom Bridgegroom's YouTube channel and his Twitter...I was smitten with him back around 2007 because of this commercial: I was rooting for the guy to make it big and wondered why he didn't seem to update anymore, then I found out what happened. God, so depressing.

You're forgetting that he's not a Hayes, though. From what we've seen of the Danfields, the gay gene isn't that strong- just Wade, his uncle(was he actually a Danfield or was that Amanda's brother?, and straight cousins that will mess around with a guy. But I agree with the second one. As for the third, well, we didn't make jokes about Sallies boys for nothing. As for the 4th, it depends on what Ethan looks like- he's probably good-looking, but he might be a 15-year old that actually looks 15, as opposed to a 15-year old that looks 18. Remember that Will generally leans towards guys that are college-aged, or at least look college aged. Finally...maybe there is no answer. Maybe Mark's speaking to that generation of guys who refuse to place labels on themselves, which Cross-Currents author Adam Phillips has talked about often. That would actually be pretty cool. Ethan could go all Bradley/Chelsea Manning on us. THEN John could fall for her, leading to Jack's parents going postal. My high school had a drag queen who was voted Homecoming Queen, though that was before my time. During my time, we had a drag queen named Pedro/Patrice, but he/she wasn't a very attractive draq queen. It was pretty hilarious- people ragged him not because he was a drag queen, but because he wasn't a pretty one. LOL. But in any event, going with the usual CAP M.O., Ethan will probably be a hot jock (or a hot quiet nerd type ala Alistair), and he'll fall for Will at first sight because Will is our Gary Stu and everyone must be into him.

Well, Ethan and Marie, but then again, we haven't even met the kid yet. LOL. I wonder if he'll be some rigid, color-inside-the-lines type like Wade times 10 because of his boading school upbringing, or some rebellious type. I gotta admit, I really wish I could've gone to boarding school. It just seems so cool- you make a group of really close friends, and have a caring house mother, and lots of whacky adventures. Or you can get that one avant-garde teacher who bucks against the norm and really inspires you to make a difference. Or your private school could be built on a mysterious piece of land, leading to lots of mysterious adventures.

It's be funny for Ethan to turn out to be a flaming figure skating fan type. Although I'm not sure John's going to fall in love with a guy- then again, Matt Price was also straight in Cross-Currents, and he fell in love with his best friend Andy Sharpe and became gay lovers with him. (Although really, who wouldn't fall deeply and madly in love with Andy Sharpe? He's like love catnip.) Maybe it could be Marie instead.

Two things come into play here- it was 1986, when things like this were becoming less of a taboo. If this were 1956, things were have been very different. Secondly, Brad being not that interested in having a wife, he knew that this would be his chance to have a kid, so he went with it. I think Brad envisioned himself and Jeanine becoming friends while raising kids, similar to JP and Isidore without the marriage. Finally, since Brad himself was a bastard, I just can't see it as being something that would have been a big deal. I do think that if Jack had gotten Jeanine pregnant in 1986, there's no doubt that the scenario would have played out exactly as you said, but that's because Jack comes from a conventional rich family. You did point something very interesting out- we haven't met the kids of the Help since probably the time Brad and Co. were teenagers. I wonder if that's because of how elite the Cramptons/Schluters have become, or if Rafel/Anna etc etc aren't live-ins, so we don't really see their kids. Maybe they commute from like Santa Monica or Anaheim, thus that's where their kids go to school instead of Malibu High, thus we've never met them.

Chapter 48 -When they hold the state funeral viewing for Senator Danfield in the Capitol rotunda. "God Bless America" by Celine Dion (From the Music and Heroes Tribute that aired 9/21/01) -When JP holds a dinner, and Wade sees his friends from college are there. "Seasons of Love" from Rent God, this was so cliche, but I couldn't think of anything that fit better. -When Wade gives a speech. "Finale B" from Rent I've been looking up musicals from the time period, and nothing really stands out as much as Rent did. I don't think anything has made close to as much impact as Rent did until around the time that Spring Awakening came out...it seems like the late 90's and early 2000's Broadway were mainly about revivals, light-hearted fare like the Producers or Thoroughly Modern Millie, or Disney Musicals.There was Urinetown, but that doesn't seem to have any kind of staying impact. Rent is so over-used, but it really is that "once in a generation" piece of work. -When the Danfield family has their funeral service for the Senator. "Suo Gan" from Empire of the Sun This was a special request from Mark. -When the full realization of Wade's father being gone hits him. "Danny Boy" by Andy Williams

Mark used this rule for chapter 48 of 9.11. I think this was his official welcome of the Danfields by giving them a long-lost relative. Although let's be honest...the Danfields were tobacco planters. I'm sure there are black families out there who have Jeff and Wade's blue eyes.

If there was any doubt that Mark was writing the Danfields in as a core CAP family, I think he dispelled that by giving them a long-lost relative. And a relative conveniently aged to Will/JJ/Marie/John.

Well, Robbie's birthday has to be March.I'm not sure I'd want Tony's birthday to be March, as March is pretty loaded with CAP birthdays. I'm not fond of having Cody's birthday being in September, either, as that's also a pretty loaded month, but then again, after you turn 21 birthdays are pretty optional. I spent my 26th birthday pulling an all-nighter in grad school, giving a presentation that morning, putting in a 12-4 shift at work, then crashing in my bed until 10 p.m. I did go over to a dorm and have a beer with my friend who's birthday was December 8th. Damn it, you're right. You have no idea how much that annoys me. LOL. JJ reminds me of this e-friend I had once (I'm going to with the idea that he was truthful but everything comes with a grain of salt)...he was a rich frat kid with a well-used Amex. There was this guy he was hooking up with in college...for his birthday, he wanted to buy the guy cufflinks. Seriously, cufflinks. And I'm thinking he wasn't eyeing 30 dollar sterling silving cufflinks from Macy's, either. Luckily, Eric didn't do it, as Eric found out he was getting strung along by the guy, but in general, Eric was a pretty insecure guy who tried to buy friends and relationships. I see JJ being the same way. If he does indeed get fame and the ensuing entourage, I predict some pretty shady folks trying to get in with JJ. If Zach were smart, he'd start cozying up to JJ once Zach winds up in California for college. (You're a good-looking guy with no problem using your looks to get ahead that has a standing invitation to have your college covered by rich and famous relatives who live in California with connections to academia AND in the movie industry. You sure as hell wouldn't go to Ohio State.) I think the only births with normal births with normal backstories have been Marie and Courtney; every other CAP birth we've seen had some kind of soapy twist. Although the fact that these are gay men trying to procreate does kind of force it to happen that way, unless Mark starts having these characters procreate using IVF and surrogates and the like. Although by the early 2000's, it probably wasn't THAT out of the ordinary for two gay men to procreate with a lesbian. What makes it different with Tiffany/Matt/Wade was that they did it the old-fashioned way instead of sperm donation. So Riley's conception comes close to normal. In terms of the births that happened on-page, I'd say JJ's was the soapiest- 6 weeks early and born to a crackwhore who was prostituting herself to the most respected man in town. In terms of births that happened off-page, nothing can beat the fact that Billy and Claire were twins who were concieved using two different fathers. People didn't even know that was possible until recent years. You're really into the idea that Disney Type Virginal people like Tim Tebow are hiding secret depravity, aren't you? LOL. Although in JJ's case, I can see that being the case. He's a biological Crampton. Eventually the slut gene with present itself. I think it's hilarious that JJ isn't even the only bastard that Jim has- JJ actually has a brother or sister out there who's older than Stefan. I wonder how many bastard kids Jim and his legitimate son Rich have between them- it's at least 3. (Too bad Rich doesn't have a legitimate brother that can add to the numbers- Vanessa probably can't do much to hide any bastard kids unless she "went away to visit some relatives" like Matt's biological mother did.)

Elizabeth Gillies (from Nickelodeon's Victorious) as Young Bitty? Mark described Bitty as having dark hair and blue eyes, and god this face looks like Evil Bitch incarnate. Liz Gillies might be a sweet girl in real life, but she's got one hell of a perma-bitchface going on. My other idea is Zoey Deschanel for Bitty: I'm not sure she looks bitchy enough though. Unless Bitty was supposed to be sweet-faced hiding her really bitchy interior. My general take on Bitty is that she's dark-haired with big eyes, porcelain skin, and a doll-like kind of prettiness.

I agree I might have been reaching with that one. I do think more than anything, it'd be JJ's blue-blood elitist attitude that'd keep him from being attracted to someone like Cody. And I do think there's something to be said about how the type of guys that you grow up with tend to be "imprinted on you", i.e. track guys finding other track guys hot, football guys having a thing for other football types. I think JJ would find himself into other lithe figure skater types. And my main deal is that I don't see JJ being that easy- I think he'd be pretty picky about the types of people he'd fool around with, because he's a snob and because he's got to be super-discrete. The fact that Cody has served as the family mattress would be a major turn-off for him, if you think in terms of the fact that JJ does look down on Will's sluttiness, and he does try to keep certain things separate from his family so no one could comment or judge him. Hooking up with the guy that EVERYONE in his family would therefore run pretty counter to that, wouldn't it? I mean seriously though, he's already kind of the family odd-ball on pretty much everything, so why not have him be the family oddball in terms of not wanting to carry on the family tradition of sleeping with Cody? We already know that it's inevitably going to happen with Will, so that generation is covered. LOL. And that's the rub with JJ. He's such an elitist snob, but by certain circles he'd be considered the illegitimate bastard of a philanderer and his crackwhore. I think JJ knows that he's adopted and that Bitty was messed up, but I'm not sure he understands the full exent of his paternity, and when he does I think it's going to hit him hard.

Right. Duly noted and corrected. Corrected, of course. But I gotta disagree hard with you on this one. You're thinking like an indiscriminating slut ala Will. JJ isn't like that. JJ is an elitist, as you've pointed out, and I don't think he'd find Cody attractive. I think JJ would be turned off and stick his nose up at Cody's sluttiness, his partying ways, and just the general thinking that he doesn't come from an impressive family name. Remember JJ's condescending attitude about how Will being a sucker for any handsome guy that acts like he wants to play around? I think he'd having similiar feelings about Cody. I also get the strong feeling that JJ will lean towards lanky brunettes ala Evan Lyscek and guys with that Nicholas Hoult kind of look, for his gay side. (Grant Gustin is another kind of guy I could see turning JJ's crank.) I don't see him into the beefy blond jock look, at all, being that he's growing up in a world where that look isn't surrounding him- it's the lithe little twinks that are. And on some level, I don't think JJ would like being the small little runt with a big beefy dude, because being the runt has always been a bit of a thorn on his side. Being with a huge guy would emphasize that.

Marcel, on paper, should've been a really interesting, crazy character considering his pedigree. But I think character-wise, he was too opaque to really work as a lead.