methodwriter85

I was, too. The summer I was 14, I bleached my hair and dyed it a shimmery blue color. Manic Panic was my friend from about 13 to 16. There was one hideous time where I had shaved off all my hair except my bangs, bleached them and dyed it red, and then spiked them. The thing about dating- I remember that in Be Rad, Brad really wanted to have a relationship like the one Stefan and Greg had- they were like his role models for a gay partnership. By the time Will was growing up, he didn't quite have that role model. Brad and Robbie's relationship blew apart when Will was 13, and while Will was obsessed with having a partner in Poor Man's Son I don't think it was necessarily about wanting to have something like what Brad and Robbie had. I wouldn't be surprised if Will had something of a Gay Man's Nifty Cinderella Effect, as in Will had read too many Gay Nifty Stories and believed in the Happily Ever After. But when John, Italian Boy, and Tony blew apart that illusion, Will got embarrassed and didn't want to get carried away again like that. So he put a wall up and switched to 'hook-up only mode', and hasn't looked back. It works better this way, because while 'happily ever after' works if you're only having a protagonist do 2 or 3 stories, it won't work over a lot of stories. From a soap opera standpoint, it keeps things more wide open if Will doesn't get settled down into something serious like Brad did with Robbie in Be Rad, or Matt did with Wade in Bloodlines.

My guess as to why Will hasn't had more 15 or 16-year old school love interests is because Harvard-Westlake's 9th grade is still part of the junior high, so he's only around guys who are 12 to 14 at school. I'm assuming that if/when Will goes to Menlo School, he'll meet sophomores, juniors, and seniors that he'll probably try to date. Most 14-year old guys aren't like Will- most are still pretty awkward physically so it makes sense that Will would be into older guys. It was like the 8th/9th grade girls I knew that would date juniors/seniors- 'cause junior year is usually when everyone's past their awkward stage and looking their best. I know junior year for me was when my skin cleared up and my voice finally stopped sounding like a girl's. The other thing is that by the time someone's 18 and in college, they're usually past the "puppy dog" love deal, and they're much more okay with hooking up and not settling down into relationship, as opposed to the intense "we'll be together forever" love that people have in middle school and high school. Since Will no longer wants that, it makes more sense he's chasing after college-aged guys, because you're more tuned into the hook-up mindset in college.

For me, it's not an easy read because the last time I saw my dad was when I was 9 years old in 1995 and he hasn't tried to contact us since even though we know he's alive, so anything about being a father can hit at some pretty deep parts within my psyche. Anyway, back to the other post- it was kind of funny the bit about private school, gay fathers, and lesbians having children being part of the weirdness that is Will's life. In Delaware, private schools are pretty big- it's not even a rich person thing- people who are just middle class tend to send their kids to private school, or charter/magnet schools. It's a function of having a pretty bad public school system, which never recovered from the forced busing desegregation plan that was implemented from 1978 to 1995. The public school system got gutted, and as a result almost anyone who had the means to send their kids to private, with charters/magnets as the back-up. In 8th grade, picking out where you're going to high school is like a practice run of the college application process. The best option is private, second-best would be charter/magnet, third would be choicing into a decent district if your own district sucks, and the worst is having to go to your crappy feeder pattern traditional public school. I lucked into getting into a performing arts magnet school instead of having to go to my feeder pattern school. As a result of my experience, I'm a firm believer in getting rid of traditional public schools and see charter schools/magnet schools as the wave of the future. Over at my high school, we had openly gay teachers who were raising kids with their partners, and an openly lesbian principal who had used a sperm donor to become pregnant. We saw her wife a couple times around the school. Delaware has second-parent adoption laws that makes it easier for gay couples to raise families, which is probably why I've had a fair amount of role models in that regard. (If I were so inclined to do so, which right now I'm not.) So yeah, Tim, Delaware's not the redneck backwater you seem to think it is.;-) (Well, the Northern part above the canal, anyway.)

Happy birthday!

And you gotta remember that CAP is first and foremost a soap opera with erotic situations. It's like Queer as Folk meets Dallas meets The O.C. It's expected that if someone is a protagonist, they're going to have lots of sex, because that's what Mark wants to write- an erotic soap opera about a very slutty and rich family who dabble in politics and civic life on the side. That's what it's been since Chapter 1 of CAP, and that's what it'll remain unless Mark decides to change the tone of it.

No, but I knew a girl in 8th grade who had gotten an abortion and was pregnant again; I knew lots of kids who were having sex in 7th and 8th grade, and I knew it didn't seem like a big deal to be 13 and not a virgin when I was 13. The girls who were early bloomers were often hooking up with high school guys- there was a girl in my 8th grade class who had gotten into a relationship with a 10th grade guy. After they had broken up, he came to our school and yelled at her while she went on the bus. That's why puberty plays such a big role in what happens when you're in the junior high range- the physically mature people often got involved with sex, drugs, and partying in 7th/8th grade, and those lagging behind usually don't until they finally mature by 11th/12th grade, sometimes not even until college. I'm not going to say that it doesn't bother me, but while Will's situations are a lot more amped up, they're not so out of the ordinary that I can't believe it. Some kids are hyper-sexual bunnies like Will who 'eff everything in sight at 13/14 until they finally feel ready to settle down. Some kids are more innocent and take longer to get around to having sex, like JJ. That's realistic, and being sexually active at 13/14 doesn't make Will a bad or immature person- he's just not at the point where he wants to build something deeper when he has sex and just wants to have fun.

I can't agree with that idea. Bad teenage behavior doesn't just come out of nowhere- I had friends in high school that were the "bad kids", and they had a long history of acting out that got progressively worse. Billy was already 15 years old- I think at that point, bad behavior problems should have been known and corrected, but JP, Isidore, and Sam engaged in overly permissive parenting. For some kids, it works out fine. But for others, never being taught the word "no" can and does take kids over the edge, and the problem is that if you try to discipline the kid the kid will resent you for it because you can't just suddenly switch gears on them. I thought that the point that's been reiterated over and over again with Will is that he's essentially a 17/18 year old guy with a 1986 birth year instead of 1982/1983 one. So it's basically like Will is the same age that Brad was in Be Rad. It does happen- I had a friend named Sean in 9th grade who was 6 foot tall and pretty much looked and acted like an adult, so the Will stuff isn't as weird to me. I also like that JJ is balancing that out by being the late bloomer- my voice didn't drop until I was 17 and I was constantly told I looked 12 until I was 16, so I relate to JJ's childlike innocence a lot. When I was around the kids who just seemed so much older even though they were either my age or younger, it was like we were on two levels- I was still a little boy and they were pretty much men. Physical maturity plays into so much how the ages of 12-15 play out, (by 16 and 17 guys start to even out) so I like how Mark's reflected that- some guys are still little boys, like I was at JJ's current age, and some guys are men, like Will is. I've done basically everything in my power to delay adulthood for as long as necessary (5th year of college, grad school) that the idea that someone would want to rush into adulthood at the age of 14 is pretty foreign to me, but to each his own. It's not like Will has to worry about paying for bills and the like- the only negative about this would be that he could be tried as an adult if he ever got arrested, but I don't see that in his future. He can't really be the carefree teenager that Brad was at the start of Be Rad, which is interesting.

A Love Letter from Waiters to the City of Los Angeles The first guy is sooooo hot. I bet Stefan would leave a big tip for him if he ran across him as his waiter. Well, as long as he bagged the attitude.

*think unsexy thoughts, think unsexy thoughts*

So, another thought- now that Jeanine is officially around the bend again, do you think Cody will try and step it up as a dad, or will Tiffany continue having to care for Madison? And if Cody doesn't step up as a dad, do you think that would impact his relationship with the family? I can't see the family holding such a high regard for Cody if he completely shirked his parental obligations to Madison, but I'm basing that on how JP, Stefan, and Brad have reacted to Jim Crampton's treatment of JJ, which isn't exactly the same. Jim completely pretends that JJ doesn't exist, while Cody acknowledges Maddy- he's just not an active parent. So I'm torn on whether or not I think they'd get all self-righteous with Cody in regards to him not stepping up as a dad to his daughter, or if they'd be more accepting of that because Cody pretty much thought of himself as just a sperm donor to Jeanine and Tiffany for a kid they were going to raise. I do think their opinion of Cody would probably lessen a bit, but that depends on each individual. Thoughts?

Great start. I think your biggest strength is the realism of your dialogue- they sound like what actual college kids talk like. I was surprised to learn that you went to Old Dominion. I was University of Delaware-we play you guys in football. There's a "Beat Old Dominion" pin at the Five and Dime.

JJ probably gets the hypocrisy, but he also gets that if you put on a show and pretend to be what they want you to be, you'll be rewarded like Evan Lysacek. If you don't, you'll end up like Tiffany. And in the real world example, Johnny Weir getting banned from Stars on Ice for not being "family-friendly" enough.That's what interesting about it- how does a guy from a such a slutty family maintain a pristine, Disney-friendly image? It's easy now, because JJ's not as sexual as Will is yet, but when JJ gets to about 17-18 and puberty's really kicking in, it won't be. In any event, I don't think JJ is like Will in the fact that he'll stand up for what's right and fight against injustice and hypocrisy at every turn. That's just not who he is- more than anything JJ will go along with the flow than try to fight it. I could see your theory- it would make sense that JJ would be flattered by it and would have encouraged the interest, but then completely deny, deny, and deny that it ever happened.

Here's a 2003 fluff piece with Evan Lysacek, at the Junior Worlds. I thought Daisy would get a kick out of this. This is obviously before they taught him to act straight out of a response to Johnny Weir's flamboyant manner. LOL.

Over in Reviews: See, this I can't agree with. JJ's brand of bitch is very much like Blair Warner on the Facts of Life- he's prissy, blithely self-involved and truly believes he's the best thing around, but at the same time there's a heart beneath all of it. Matt and Tiffany wouldn't genuninely love him if it wasn't there. Mary Ellen's brand of bitch is like s- a non-violent sociopath who really doesn't care about anyone, and likes to tear people down just for the fun of it. There isn't any kind of heart there. And I don't think JJ is apathetic- he just wants the whole thing to go away and pretend it never happened, because to admit this happened he would have to admit that he masturbates, and good little figure skaters wouldn't even think of sex, even with themselves.

This week marks the 4th anniversary of when Mark started posting CAP. I was but a wee lad of 22, and the whole historical soap opera deal, along with the period music recs, pretty much captured me from the get-go. Congrats on four years, Mark! This one's for you... "Never Ending Story" by Limahl http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vf2sDgeu7k God, I would love to back to 1984...what a great year.

American figure skaters can't even appear like they think about sex, let alone engage in sexual activities. If it got out that JJ was photographed masturbating, his career would be over. It doesn't matter that it was in private- JJ's got this pristine image to protect and that would kill it.

See, something nagged me about Will filing for emancipation. I wasn't entirely sure why. Then it kind of hit on me. Usually, someone files for emancipation because they've either been subjected to long and continuous abuse and neglect from their parents, or because they've got acting careers and it makes it easier for them to pursue. In Will's case, he comes off more like an overreacting little boy who isn't actually going to take care of himself, considering that he's going to live at Grand's and live off his trust fund, which doesn't exactly scream "adult status needed" to me. Emancipated minors usually, you know, have jobs and take care of themselves. It's kind of funny though- Brad and Robbie are basically empty-nesters now. Darius is gone, Will is about to go, and JJ doesn't even really live in their house. He's being raised by his coaches more than anything else. That might be an interesting idea to explore for a future story- how Brad and Robbie relate to each now that they're finished raising kids. Over in reviews: I don't think so, either. JJ's brand of bitch is generally all self-involved bark and no real bite, like Blair Warner on the Facts of Life. Somewhere, behind his levels of self-involved bitchiness, there's a heart there, like there was with Blair. Mary Ellen's brand of bitch is more about destroying people just for the fun of it, like Kathryn Meteuil in Cruel Intenions. There is no heart there at all. I think that's something you've set up as an established character trait with JJ- he tends to stick his fingers in his ears and go "La la la la la" when it comes to things happening that he doesn't like. He was in total denial about his mother's illness until he couldn't ignore it anymore. And here, it makes sense- what's the point in getting angry and trying to get justice? If it got out that he was photographed masturbating, his career would be done. Absolutely done. "Getting photographed masturbating" doesn't exactly scream "Disney-Friendly Figure Skater", does it? All JJ can do is just shrug his shoulders and try to pretend it didn't happen, and be more careful that no one can see him when he's doing sexual stuff so he can protect his pristine image.

You've got a very nice set of eyes on you, Robbie. Very nice. Are they green or blue? I can't quite tell.

I just like that body hair on him. Hairy forearms turn me on. Ipsen's blond hair constrasted against McCrory's dark. God.

Well, they mentioned his fiancee with a female name, so I'm assuming no. Troy Dumais gives off way more of a vibe. Nick McCrory. Hottie. Dark hair and a tan with blue eyes will get me any time.

There's being proud of your alma mater, and then there's what Tim does.... Anyway, congrats to the Germans for taking the pole vault silver and bronze. I thought Bjorn Otto was a pretty hot older dude. There's something about 35-year olds, man... they've got more experience and lines etched in their face than a 19-year old, but often they still have a youthful vigor to them that I find pretty sexy.

I would seriously love to see video of you guys meeting, and then debating the direction of Mark Arbour's CAP saga. LOL.

I don't think nothing will go wrong, because it often does- but I do think in the end things work themselves out, and you wind up where you were supposed to be. Life has a way of throwing some major curveballs at you that eventually turn out to be something you really needed.

I hate it when I'm driving 70 miles per hour in the slow lane of a 55-mph road, and people go around me, meaning they've got to be going at least 80 to 85. I mean, seriously?

People really will pick on you for anything, and it doesn't matter if you're a gorgeous or rich person. Check out Armie Hammer of The Social Network talking about his own experience with bullying in junior high: It's really amazing to think that someone like this guy, who looks like a Live-Action Disney Prince and comes from a really rich family, could have ever been bullied, but he was. Which just proves your point- if people want to pick on you, they will, and it doesn't matter if you're gorgeous or rich or really cool. Bullies get off on tearing people down, and physically changing yourself doesn't really stop them if they're targeting you. The only thing you can do is to ignore it, and not get angry, because that's what they want.