methodwriter85

Maybe seeing his bio mom "die of an overdose" when he was 9 years old gave JJ this sense of "Don't mess with drugs, they will hook you." It's probably reasonable for him to be worried about having any genetic dispositions towards drugs.

Hey, Private Tim, glad to have you back! I could see that happening. I think JJ's general life plan is to enjoy his "mailbox money" (as a trust fund kid on the tv series Southern Charm calls it), and maybe open a business or two to keep himself amused. Mostly he'll just go from function to function, hanging out with liberal New York elite types. (I'm kind of surprised he hasn't tried worming his way into the New York debutante crowd.) Regarding volunteer work, I will say that Mark seems to really like forcing JJ out of his comfort zone so anything's possible. Hell, when I was 25 I spent one week working with Habitat for Habitat painting the bathroom of a Florida woman who's husband died in his 40's while they were trying to build their dream house. Habitat sent people in to finish the house- no clue what happened to the lady though, and they couldn't put photos of the finished house on the website because they didn't want to give people the wrong impression of what a Habitat home looks like. It was a pretty rewarding experience overall although I learned I really didn't like painting walls. lol

If we're being the most realistic, JJ would probably get sent to some well-ness retreat to Carmel, California where he can drop some acid and get in touch with his feelings.

A couple more fancasts that Mark and I are aligned on: Booboo Stewart as Kai, Will's Hawaii buddy. Booboo was a Disney star about 10-15 years ago. This is him when he was around 17. Football player Jimmy Garoppolo as John Carullo, the well-loved friend of the family. (Jimmy's career definitely seems to be winding down but if he isn't the textbook example of a beautiful Italian American guy, I don't know what is.) This isn't my fancast but Mark has Elizabeth Danfield as Meryl Streep in Devil Wears Prada.

I definitely remember people talking about how Nicholas Galitzine is a real life Russian prince. Dude has even spoken Russian. This makes him even more perfect for Kris. LOL

Cody is one of the ones that has never really been set in stone. My fancast for him has been a former Abercrombie model and current Hallmark actor named Trevor Donovan, but your mileage may vary. Drew Starkey's actually the Big fancast, Travis's asshole brother. I love that Drew Starkey is on the verge of hitting it big, because he's really good on Outer Banks. Yeah, I used to love getting drunk and going online when I was in my early/mid-20's. There was time I made the mistake of drinking 4Loko and I was Yahoo messenging with Iowa Alan, and wrote a bunch of things that pissed him off because 4Loko REALLY fucked with me. You pretty much grow out of this though. I save drunken sloppiness for like Halloween and New Year's now. LOL

Yeah, I just consume a shit ton of pop culture, especially when we first started. That means I stay pretty well-versed on who the current pretty boys are. lol Like my current actor eye candy is Nicholas Galitizine, who I had in mind for Wade but Mark likes him for Kris instead. Chapter 29 -When the gang celebrates Will's 18th birthday. "In Da Club" by 50 Cent -When the gang rides back to campus using the Segway. "Forever Young" by Alpahaville

Mark started that with the original CAP story. JP is described as looking like Rickey Nelson, but short and blond with green eyes. Robbie Hayes (and basically the original line of Hayes men) are supposed to be Tony Dow from Leave It To Beaver, but bigger and taller. Andre is supposed to look like Bernardo from the 1961 movie West Side Story. When Mark re-edited Cap, Stefan was described as looking like a tall blond Montgomery Cliff. Crazy Neal from Man In Motion is supposed to look like a 1985 Rob Lowe. (Which would explain so much about how Neal was able to get away with so much crap. LOL) We also used "future" celebrities for character models which means it can't be referenced in the story, or sometimes it's not really set in stone. (I kind of think of Brad, Will, Cody, Roger, Wade, and Matt being up for grabs.) John Hobart (and I guess that means Jack also) is supposed to look like Colton Haynes from Teen Wolf. Zach Hayes is supposed to look like Liam Hemsworth. MaryEllen is supposed to be Miss Barbie herself Margot Robbie. Alex is supposed to be Mr. ex-Taylor Swift Joe Alwyn. Ryan is supposed to look like Hunter Parrish from Weeds. Marie Hobart is supposed to be Taissa Farmiga when she did the first season of American Horror Story. So I kind of wonder if that means Claire is supposed to look like Taissa Farmiga's very beautiful older sister Vera Farmiga from the Conjuring franchise? Personally I could see Rosamund Pike from Saltburn and Gone Girl as Claire because she's got that haughty WASP blonde beauty thing down pat. I've also pictured Julia from Nip/Tuck, which would actually be a contemporary reference as Nip/Tuck is a currently airing show in the CAP timeline. (I would totalllllllyyyy see Nip/Tuck being a show that Stefan would be tivo-ing.) Mark really liked the very hot Taylor Zakhar Perez for Darius. Oh, and I forgot- JJ/Jays/Jeremy/Remy/Rey/Ryry is Dylan Sprouse, who is someone that Mark could actually reference in the current CAP timeline but it'd have to be in terms of JJ/Jays/Jeremy/Remy/Rey/Ryry looking like an 18-year old version of as Dylan Sprouse is currently 12. I've always gotten a kick out of the thought that JJ tries to intimidate people with his face, but he looks like a cute Disney kid. LOL Yeah, this is the Dylan Sprouse photo that I posted where Mark officially signed off on that fancast.

No, the whole thing is that Travis is training on the New York City soap opera so that he can be ready for a teen soap opera they're developing that's supposed to be a rip-off of The O.C. This gig is supposed to last until the beginning of the year, at which point Travis supposed to do a small part in a horror film. The teen soap opera will start filming around March '05.

I really like Cooper Koch as a Wade Danfield fancast. He's got that stuffy prettiness that I picture Wade having. He's currently playing "Erik Menendez" in a new Netflix series called Monsters.

Chapter 28 -When JJ ruminates about life while checking out the New York City skyline, and feeling mellow despite his memories of John Carullo. "A Lack of Color" by Death Cab for Cutie -When JJ reads Kris's letter trying to convince him to get back together. "Against All Odds" by Postal Service https://youtu.be/Pf7ob01yNwA?si=WOrk-TmrWgqIfe_4 -When Kris makes the romantic gesture to Jeremy, who is touched. "Brighter Than Sunshine" by Aqualung

I don't think they were hiding it from JJ so much as a "well, this really isn't important since Jim Crampton isn't going to come back and try to get custody now that Bitty is dead." Speaking of, I have finally figured my Bitty fancast- 1970's through 1990's Mackenzie Phillips! It's practically meta. It would just be JJ's luck that he has a tall mom but still winds up short.

There's actually ironic tourism now of really bad cruises where people go specifically because it's supposed to be really shitty so they get content for their social media. I'm kind of tempted to go one of those bad cruises just for the hell of it.

I still lean towards thinking 2008 should be the next book if we want to do a Matt/Wade story. There are so many interesting things that happen that year.

Will making fun of the guy for rocking the "too lazy to shave" look made me laugh because that's going to be very, very, very in by the end of the decade/start of the 2010's. LOL Especially when No Shave November becomes a thing with young men.

No, but I loved that name in 1996 because of Jasper Jax on General Hospital. LOL

Oh, okay. That gives JJ another tie he probably doesn't like having. LOL I think his next name should be Jasper. Or he could go by Jamie, but styled like Ja'meh. In any event, Jim's shocked face was priceless.

Ella was created by Rich Crampton having an affair with Zach Hayes' mother.

Chapter 26 -When Jays shows up to Claremont. "This Is Hell" by Elvis Costello -When Jays destroys the model park. "Bad Reputation" by Joan Jett I never thought I'd ever dedicate that song to someone as uptight as JJ, but here we are. Mark really is taking him places we wouldn't normally see him go. LOL -When Jays returns to New York, deflated and ready to seek help. "Vienna" by Billy Joel -When Brad and Claire talk about the end of her marriage to Jack, and Claire finally feeling accepting of it all. "Coming Around Again" by Carly Simon

I was watching the trailer for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and thought that the "Erik" (Cooper Koch) would make a a pretty good Wade Danfield. He's got that uptight, prissy vibe down pat. Also, Nicholas Alexander Chavez (the "Lyle") is so damn hot. LOL

Oh shit, you're right. I never even realized it but you're right that Will and Kris are a lot like each other. (And probably why they wouldn't have hit it off in a real relationship, because they would have killed each other.) The main difference is that Will doesn't have Kris's ambition.

Chapter 25 -When Kris reaches his limits and leaves JJ in New York. "Alone Again" by Gilbert O'Sullivan -When Claire decides that her 24-year relationship with Jack is over. "The Winner Takes It All" by Abba Yeah, I busted out the big boy for this one. The look on that poor woman's face at the end of this video. Geez.

It's weird how random it can be. Abe Lincoln had 4 sons, only 1 survived to adulthood, and he managed to have direct living descendants until 1985. Meanwhile, Zachary Tyler has a living grandson that is 96 years old.

This has been rough for me as well because there's a lot of my younger self that I can see in JJ, and a lot of my current self that I can see with Will in what it's like dealing with a difficult sibling. I do think the one thing that could help JJ a lot is if he's brought back down to earth in a really hard, rough way. Maybe Mark can write a fairy godmother that temporarily turns JJ into a poor guy like the 1987 romantic comedy Maid To Order?

Chapter 24 -When Will punches the ever-loving lights out of Jays. "One Step Closer" by Linkin Park Mark, you're making me feel like I'm viewing the Jeremy/Adam Anger Show from a safe distance, and my god, I want to punch that dick. LMAO I'm really hoping that my namesake eventually comes to some really hard realizations that I had to come to as well when I entered and went through my 20's. *For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, Mark and I were part of Adam Phillips Yahoo discussion groups when he was still writing his Crosscurrents story. Let's just say that early 20-something me was really good at pressing Adam's buttons, and when I realized that, I got a kick out of doing it and things could get pretty ugly. Mark used to call me Adam's whipping boy because of the mean things that Adam would write towards me. LMAO By my mid-20's we mostly calmed down and got along okay until Adam decided to drop online writing circa 2016-2017. I cannot believe that was all over 15 years ago. Jesus christ. In any event Adam's best friend Sean told me that I was lucky I didn't live anywhere near Dallas because I probably would have been punched in the face at some point. LOL -When Darius comforts Will. "I'll Stand By You" by The Pretenders