methodwriter85

Hey, thanks for the illumination. Like this is a level of a wealth I don't understand- I've been around people who are merely affluent like the Carrswolds (nothing more fun than being a poor kid listening to his high school/college friends talk about their trips to Europe and the great private schools they attend), but 500 million dollar trust funds are beyond my frame of reference. As for the bit before...go to any frat party in the 2000's. Odds on chance you'll see girls making out. Mean Girls even parodied that trend in a party scene. They say Girls Gone Wild videos had a hand in that.

So, here's what I'm curious about- exactly how wealthy are the Danfields supposed to be? If they've got 500 million dollar trust funds per child, they've got to be hugely wealthy. The Cramptons and the Schluters are supposed to be billionaries, but the Danfields have to be billionaires with a capital B. Of course, the Danfield wealth is also a lot more concentrated than the Crampton/Schluter wealth because the CAPers give out 5 million dollar trust funds to people they even just care about(not to mention all the damn children), but the implication has been throughout that the Danfields are actually on a higher level than even the Cramptons/Schluters are. That's gotta be like oil, Bush-family level wealth. I love that Mark set up the rival family as being this internationally influential family that is even more powerful than the Cramptons/Schluters are, but of course much, much more dysfunctional. Finally, I loved the dinner talk, with one of the cousins talking about how hot it would be for MaryEllen to be with another woman. That's a great example of the generation divide. I remember back when Mark was writing Be Rad, I asked him why there weren't girls kissing each other in the party scenes to turn on guys, and he replied that girls didn't make out with each other at parties in 1980. But that's completely a different story by the time you get to the early 2000's, when attitudes were more relaxed about that kind of thing. Adam Phillips(of Cross-Currents fames), who's contemporaries with Wade and Matt, confirmed that girls were doing that at parties to get the guys going back in the late '90s. Around the mid-2000's, it became a thing for emo guys to make out with each other at parties and then post videos of it on YouTube, but we're getting ahead of ourselves here.

Chapter 69 -When Matt and Wade have a little fun with Father Paul. 1987 was a good year for music. Really great pop like George Michael, really good rock like U2, great arena rock with Bon Jovi, great adult contemporary in Peter Gabriel and the Bangles, great teen pop in Debbie Gibson/Tiffany, and great alternative stuff like The Cure. It's crazy to believe '87 was 25 years ago...man, time flies. It feels like just yesterday acid-washed pegged jeans and Hypercolor t-shirts were in.

If that did happen, it would be hilarious if Nana turned out to be as evil as her daughter is- but just much better at hiding it. I mean, Elizabeth did have to get it from somewhere.

Yeah, that was fun. Man, I miss Doritos 3'ds. I also made the unfortunate mistake of getting a Moto Razer. Ashi, I think this is mostly aimed at people who were born from about the early 1980's to the early 1990's.

From the same people who brought you Friday...this is...It's Thanksgiving. Remember the raging Thanksgiving dinner parties you threw at 13? LOL. There's something sad about society that parents are letting child make asses out of themselves in order to get their 15 minutes of fame. Or, more appropriately, four minutes of fame.

Hey, Mark....I think there's something you need to do over at Adam's group.... To be honest, I don't think it's THAT out of question for there to be an asshole in water polo. There's always a bad guy in every sport, right? I was in cross-country, which couldn't be more "laidback, chill people" if they tried, and there were a couple of jerky guys on there, too. Just have the suggestion that Carter's behavior is more of a exception the rule, he's two-faced with the coach, and I think it would work. Speaking of California culture, though...here's an audition of a band called Emblem 3 for the show X-Factor. It's 2012, so it's more contemporary, but I thought I'd post this because these guys encapsulate a lot of current trends I see on teenaged/college-aged guys right now. And they're from Huntington Beach, so that makes them prime SoCal specimens. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXiczowhdB8 I mean, these guys would be more Courtney's generation than Will's, but given that you like to introduce new protagonists, I wouldn't be shocked if there were future protagonist who would have been born somewhere around the early/mid-90's like these guys were. Noted the gauged ears, their sneakers, the skinny jeans that still somehow managed to be baggy, the tank tops, the flannel, and the hairstyles on the two brunets. It'd be funny if Stefan went on a rant in a circa 2010 story about all the young cute guys ruining their looks with gauged ears like Dan Savage did. LOL. Seriously though, there are a LOT of guys in the under 25 group going crazy on the tattoos and piercings right now, and not just punk/biker types. Frat boys are looking this now, too. It should have interesting ramifications on the white collar workplace.

It was a great show, Tim. Nice and wholesome clean 80's childhood fun, except every episode came with a lesson about things such as child prostitution, child pornography, teen suicide, eating disorders, being used as a tax shelter for your daddy,.etc etc. What do you think of my Maman and Brenda, Mark?

So, there's this film coming out in February that's an adaption of a book I really enjoyed, called Warm Bodies. Warm Bodies is the story of R, a young man going through an existential crisis- he's dead, and it's stuck him in a major rut. When R consumes the brain of one of the remaining humans, he finds himself falling for the guy's girlfriend, Julie. He saves her from a zombie attack, and the two form a friendship as they struggle to survive. This then leads to all sorts of complications, as one would imagine. The trailer came out: I like the sardonic comedy/satire edge to it. I'm a little wary about this being rated PG-13, because I think the source material really called for an R, but meh. Nicholas Hoult is a pretty damn good actor. You need someone in this part that can act without saying anything, and Hoult's great at that. Also, his voiceover/narration work here has just the right kind of wry sense of humor for this to not turn into Twilight: Zombie Edition. I'm pretty hopeful that this won't be anything like that. It's definitely a different kind of take on the zombie genre, in any event.

I see present-day Lisa Whelchel (The Facts of Life) and think, "Brenda Hayes." Man, did she age well or what? I guess being a bat-shit crazy clean-living Christian fundie can really pay off sometimes.

wrong thread, please delete this post

Nah, part of the fun in what Mark does is the attention that goes into recreating the mindset of an actual time and place. The Harvard-Westlake research was so much fun. Anyway, since we're talking Will's homeroom, I thought I'd share Will's academic schedule. It's as close to his HW schedule as I could get it, but I had to change some things according to the differences in curriculum at Menlo. *English 1 *World Religions (Will could make some comment about having to be forced to take a class about religion, but I'm not sure if he's as atheist as Brad is) *Honors Analytic Geometry and Algebra (we know Will's strong in math) *Physics (that'll be a big difference from taking Honors Bio, but he should be fine) *Art (Will could also take moviemaking, which I could see him being interested in) *French II(I think that was what Will was already taking at HW) There's also this really cool program, called the Knight School , where the academic schedule is suspended for one week each year so that students can take part in a week-long intensive hands-on learning in an area of their choice. There's even a service trip to Botswanna, which could be really cool for Will and open his eyes up about what actual poverty looks like. But my guess would be that's an upperclassman trip, but I could be wrong. How cool would it be for Will to travel to Africa? I think that's one place that we've never seen in CAP. *Okay, so the reason why I set up a schedule for Will is that I'm a stickler for continuity, and also- does anyone remember the show Gilmore Girls? People bitched so much about how they were never consistant about what classes Rory was taking at Chilton.So I thought it would be fun, and helpful to Mark, if we had that all settled out with a little research work.

Marion Cotillard (The Dark Knight Rises, Midnight in Paris) as Young Marie Crampton/Maman

Honestly, Will does strike me as someone that would get his GED and then go to college early. But Mark chose to send Will off to Menlo, so eh. I don't think you can test for a GED until you're at least 15, so that would mean Will would have to at least stay in high school until sophomore year. Of course, Mark might hold off on using Will as a protagonist again until Will's in college circa 2004, but I wouldn't count on that. I'm getting the strong feeling we're going to see the bulk of this generation's high school years(as opposed to only seeing Brad's and Matt's senior year of high school), unless there are some time jumps/other protagonists in the works here.

Hey, over in the CA Culture thread, we're discussing whether or not Mark is getting the social environment of Menlo School right. I thought Tim made some interesting points: You got any thoughts about this, Mark? As for Carter, maybe it's more of what he's like when he's drunk, as opposed to what he's like when he's actually leading the team. People can be pretty two-faced, especially in high school. I've met people who can be so nice and then flip at the turn of a dime into a total asshole. There was this feel of "Mean Boys" that didn't seem to jibe with what I've read and heard about the school- there are cliques like there are at every school, but downright nastiness doesn't seem to be a characteristic at the real Menlo. They base their curriculum around small, group-based discussions like a college seminar, which means that it's a lot harder to hide nasty, bullying behavior than it would be at a normal public school. But then again, we haven't actually hit the Menlo part of the story, just met a few kids who go there that might not be necessarily what the school is actually like. We had a group of bitchy junior girls at my school that were basically like the Plastics, but in general my school was pretty laidback. As for sports, the school that I played for didn't have water polo...we had lacrosse players, who generally tended to be the snobs. Football players were actually the nicest guys I knew; baseball and wrestlers were just weird, and the soccer/track/cross-country people tended to be the laidback, chill guys.

Thanks for the feedback. I would assume that Carter's more of an undercover ass You got any thoughts about this, Mark? As for Carter, maybe it's more of what he's like when he's drunk, as opposed to what he's like when he's actually leading the team. People can be pretty two-faced, especially in high school. I've met people who can be so nice and then flip at the turn of a dime into a total asshole. There was this feel of "Mean Boys" that didn't seem to jibe with what I've read and heard about the school- there are cliques like there are at every school, but downright nastiness doesn't seem to be a characteristic at the real Menlo. They base their curriculum around small, group-based discussions like a college seminar, which means that it's a lot harder to hide nasty, bullying behavior than it would be at a normal public school. But we haven't actually hit the Menlo part of the story, just met a few kids who go there that might not be necessarily what the school is actually like.

Thanks for the videos, Tim. Mark really does listen to your input, as well as other people who are familiar with the CA prep school scene. The initial Harvard-Westlake chapter of Poor Man's Son had a much bigger emphasis on Will standing up to the bullies for JJ, until Mark realized that he was playing the school more like a public school where the bullies can run amock, and not like a private school that has such a strong committment to fostering a sense of civic committment in their students. (I went to public school, but it was small and the teachers knew all of us, making bullying less of a concern there.) Mark made some changes and with that we got Alisdair telling Will and the bullies about HW's zero tolerance rule, which was awesome. I was kind of surprised with the character of Carter, as written, being this homophobic racist, because Menlo doesn't seem like the kind of school that would foster those kind of values. I've seen vids- it's not like an all-white Catholic school or something, so that bit was surprising. Then again, there's always an outlier when it comes to school.

I became a beta reader for Mark in August of 2008, and it's been a blast ever since.

Murder doesn't seem like Elizabeth's style- blackmail and the threat of ruination is more how she controls people. I thought ABC was supposed to be a contrast to Elizabeth in Millenium- both are evil, but Alexandra was on a level of evil that even Elizabeth wouldn't go to. I'd doubt that Alexandra would think twice about killing either of her two sons if she thought it would serve as a means to an end. Elizabeth is a narcissist, while I would imagine Alexandra is a sociopath. Some points that Mark's made in reviews: It's like the Gone With the Wind deal, where Scarlett's dad tells her that the land is a part of her and she is a part of a land. It's not something Wade can ever really escape- that Virginia soil runs deep in his veins. There's been a parallel to that with JP and Stefan's plans to save Claremont- even though both really have no reason to ever come back, they can't really stay away from the place forever because that town and the heritage the town represents is a huge part of who they are. Same goes with Gathan Hayes. Not so sure yet about the others in Will's generation, although if JJ's smart he could totally play up the humble Ohio roots in his Olympic profile to appeal to Middle America. I was a military brat who was then raised in the souless suburbs of "Corporations Rule!" Delaware, so that's pretty cool to me- land here is pretty much only sacred until someone decides it's time to build the latest shopping center or cookie-cutter housing development. Agreed. I kind of like that about Will and Jeff- they're friends with benefits who just have fun, sans the major teen angst that Will really indulged in during PMS. Kids are a lot of work, and although there's three parents, two of those parents are in college. Plus, both Matt and Wade came from the kind of background where fathers didn't do things like change diapers- I'd be shocked if Matt didn't have a nanny where he was a kid, too. I think Tiffany would have a more modern, involved view of parenthood, but right now she's just trying to get Riley through his first year. I also think that because it's been heavily hinted that Tiffany has her own money and isn't dependent like Jeanine was, it won't be so easy to bulldoze over her and treat her like glorfied help the way Brad did to Jeanine. So I'm sure Tiffany will eventually lay down the law with Matt and Wade in regards to her expectations for them as fathers; now's just not the time to do that.

Interesting to know that. East Coast private schools always tend to have unifroms, although the non-parochial ones tend to lean towards the khaki pants-and-polo variety. Hey, Tim, I haven't really said this before, but I really do admire the enthusiasm and expertise of California culture that you bring to the table in our discussions here on Mark Arbour's board. You have a very unique and experienced viewpoint, and I'm honored by your willingess to share so much of what you've observed and learned over your 35 years of being a Californian. You never fail to offer your insight about a myriad of aspects pertaining to life in the Golden State, and for that I'm eternally grateful.This infinite Californian wisdom of yours has been quite an asset to Mark and myself in understanding cultures that are foreign to us- in Mark's case because he's lived in the mid-West since the 1980's, and in my case because I've never been west of Texas in my entire life. Plus, you've got about a decade's worth of life experiences and insight on me, which you've used on more than one occasion to illuminate me on a subject or opnion in which I was wrong about. So thank you, Tim, for adding so much to the discussion here over the years.

I wish that Tonto could have caught Darius during one of his mirror pep talks. You know for damn sure that Darius's viewpoint that he can get into any kind of trouble that he wants and his family would bail him out would NOT sit well with her. I'm hoping that was mainly just teenage bravado and he doesn't really think like that, but damn- it doesn't seem like the Crampton/Schluter mode of social responsibility and noblesse oblige has resonated with Darius yet. You could make the argument that with Anapolis stuff, but as Tim said, I think that was more to do with wanting to stay around with Ella than actual generousity. As for the Danfield stuff, I really enjoyed getting to know his creepy Southern Gothic family. I'm hoping we'll meet Beau's black girlfriend and see all the barely veiled racist comments she'll get from the lovely Aunt Emmeline. And, of course, Nana= Doris Duke. I kind of figure that the Danfields are supposed to be a stand-in for the Duke's. It'd be funny if there was a "Danfield University" somewhere in CAP-world, where the hijinks of their lacrosse players get the school into trouble regularly. I can't see Beau ever having that much of a significance because he's been written as being totally straight (and therefore not lilkely to end up with a male member of CAP), but you never know with Travis and Trevor. I figure at the very least Will is probably going to hook up with Travis and Trevor because we all know how our little piece of jailbait likes his inapropriately-aged mancandy. As for Beau, his main function seems to be serving as the Golden Son that somehow manages to stay out of the evil doings of his family because he's like a docile golden retriever. I think it works well, and it kind of reminds me of what my sister said about how you need to have at least 3 children- because one sibling will always function as the peacekeeper whenever the other two siblings are warring with each other. Beau serves as the peacekeeper between Wade and MaryEllen. In any event, I like the rise of the Danfields in CAP- because a good soap opera always needs a rival family. The Hendricksons don't exactly work anymore because they're generally stuck in Ohio and the profiles of the Cramptons/Schluters have raised so much that they need a continential, hugely powerful rival. The Danfields serve that function well.

I'm not thinking all that hard on this one, but...Carter, the racist Menlo bully? Of course, this guy is 25, but I've been desensitized to 25-year old men playing 16-year old boys. (Hello, Cory Montieth and Mark Salling!) He's got the asshole WASP look in spades. And the actor got his bachelor's from Princeton and a MFA from USC, so he's definitely got the right kind of pedigree.

Nothing bothered me more when I was a kid than the thought of school uniforms. I was an intensely individual kid who marched to the beat of his own drum(I still like to think I do), and school uniforms were such an anathema to that. I even have this 7th grade essay I wrote somewhere where I rant about school uniforms...I just never believed the optmistic "it'll make kids nicer to each other and stop fights!" deals that people started touting in the 1990's. But back to NorCal culture...Mark, I might suggest adding in references to people wearing NorthFace fleece jackets. I spotted Menlo kids wearing them in the videos I've looked up. It's a decade off, but I'm betting NorCal kids were wearing them in the early 2000's as well like their East Coast counterparts. I think NorthFace jackets have become like the standby wardrobe piece of the affluent teenager who live in places with incremental weather.

Delaware dodged a major bullet. The Jersey Shore wasn't quite so lucky.

I think my favorite cliche stereotype in Nifty has to be the "evil" jock villain, who will do everything possible to keep Studly Jock Hero from having a happy ending with Shy But Hot Nerd, including having sex with said Shy But Hot Nerd for some weird reason. I mean, it's a fantasy, but really- jocks pretty much only end up with other jocks. If you're an artsy nerd who doesn't have any interest in sports, you're really not going to have much to say with the studly jock hero in real life. I absolutely loved Yankee by the Zot for completely upending the "nerdy outcast and studly jock" trope. It's a great story- I know it's on here. Although in my case, I'm more interested in 20-something/30-something angst stories as opposed to high school/college stuff.