methodwriter85

Well, it's true. Think about it- aside from Brad's uptight straight brother Nick, has there ever been a Schluter who wasn't described as a hot slut?

Well, I think Will kinda realizes that JJ isn't ready for that kind of stuff yet, and as such he didn't think he should try and force JJ to get into it. I do think it has been pretty realistic the way you've portrayed this- when people get hit by puberty has suuuuuccchhhh an influence on how 7th though 10th grade play out. By 11th grade people tend to even out, but in the few years before that, people have such varying rates of growth. When I was in 9th grade, I knew kids who were going off to raves and were having sex and the like. I also knew kids who wanted to sit around and giggle while they read a sex scene aloud in some book at the library. Things really did vary. I do appreciate that you've allowed JJ to stay innocent for a few more years before turning him into a Schluter sexpot. Thanks for that, Mark. You have the precocious wunderkid with Will, and you have the late bloomer with JJ. Nice use of contrast, and a nice way to create some inherent angst and drama. JJ and Will really are just developing at different rates and into different directions, which makes having them be close more of a challenge.

Were Diesel jeans already popular at the NorCal area in 2000? I know for sure the first time I heard of Diesel was around 2001-2002, so my guess would be that they had already hit California, but I wanted to be sure.There was something kind of cool about people paying 200 dollars for distressed jeans. Also, I'm kind of curious- Nikes- popular or not? I just remember around the early 2000's Adidas throwback sneakers and Pumas were coming back in, and New Balance hit really hard then. Nikes weren't really that cool. I'm not sure if that's true for California.

Chapter 33 -When the family deals with the consequences of Will running away.

My take is that Will felt guilty when JJ had his little breakdown. Rather than entertain the thought that maybe he might have left behind his brother in the dust when the puberty fairy gave him the body of a hot 17-year old and lots of ensuing male attention while JJ stayed the pre-pubescent boy no one's interested in, Will decided to project those feelings onto Brad and Robbie and identify himself with JJ's sense of abandonment. Instead of Brad and Robbie having been neglectful of JJ, Will decided in his mind that they had been neglectful of JJ AND himself. Thus, allowing for Will to believe in himself as someone sympathetic, and not someone who was too busy chasing after tail and making new friends to realize that JJ was breaking down. I remember that Mark wrote that both Will and Darius were pretty protective of JJ at the time of Bloodlines, but I think things changed in the ensuing two years as JJ got into figure skating, Darius graduated from Malibu, and Will got into partying and sex. Will, remembering that he once used to see it his duty to protect JJ, has gone overboard for compensation because of his internal guilt about not seeing how bad off JJ was. Although the fact that Will didn't spend all that much time with JJ at the float trip does suggest a bit of hypocrisy on Will's part. To be fair to Will, he knew that he and his friends were going to drink and get high, and he knew that JJ can't do any of that stuff, so that's why he didn't ask. I did think that Will and JJ bonding was going to happen on this float trip, so I was kind of disappointed that it didn't. We get Wade *saying* how close Will and JJ have become, but other than Will going off to JJ's skating practices and meets, it doesn't really seem like that way. And it can't really be that way, because JJ's free time is pretty much always going to be consumed with figure skating and the like. That doesn't really leave room for him to have this tight "let's spend all of time together" bond, like what Ace and Brad had when they were teenager. JJ really is sacrificing his entire childhood on this dream.

He's pulling down a 4.0 GPA average? I'm assuming that his grades are part of why HW didn't just expel his ass. I'm sure they would have if the pot had been found- not only is Will rich, but he's apparently becoming an academic powerhouse. Actually, about that- does HW do a weighted GPA? Because a lot of kids do get weighted GPA if they're taking A.P., but I don't have Will taking A.P. yet. Just honors biology and geometry honors. I think somewhere, deep down, JJ's glad that he was never Robbie or Brad's favorite, just looking at how effed up Will got. Not that Jeanine was especially a prize as a parent, but she encouraged him to find out what made him tick until he finally found it at the age of 12, and he's involved in a sport that kinda keeps him in check. I think when it comes to how JJ views Brad and Robbie, he'll take any kind of praise they give him, but if they ever try to act all parental with him, he'll walk off in a huff and ice them out. He needs his mom and Tiffany way more than he needs Brad and Robbie, whereas with Will, Will needs Brad and Robbie so much that the strained relationship is killing him. I think the contrast is pretty interesting- for JJ, his "paternal figure" is actually a woman.

Baby Boomers and their overly-indulged off-spring...*shakes head*

Yeah. People around here out East actually wear mocs to walk around school. I tried to do that in Western PA, but given the amount of rain and snow, it just didn't work. Uggs. Hit in '02, went away for a bit, and have been back ever since. Although they're mainly the thing for sorority girls- I haven't seen them on guys since about 2006-ish. I really do hope we'll see Stefan and Claire's horrifed reactions to things that become popular, like trucker hats and the "I paid 100 dollars for jeans put through a shredder" look. Any input on the "not gonna lie" and "hot mess" question? I tend to think that Delaware is on about a two-to-three year delay when it comes to slang- it has to work its way down from New York City, then to Jersey, then to us. The first time I heard "not gonna lie" was in 2005, which means I think it had to have been around at least by 2002, but likely earlier.

When did people start saying "not gonna lie" and "hot mess" in CA? I feel like that came in around Delaware sometime in the '03-05 era, which means it should likely already be getting used in CA. Another favorite slang phrase of mine from the time: "Are you on crack?"= question asked if someone says something so outlandish that you believe they must be smoking da crack. Also, did mocassins hit Cali kids, or was that purely an East Coast thing? It became really trendy circa mid/late-2000's to wear mocassins at UD, but I talked to a Minnesota guy who had never heard of the trend, which makes me wonder if that was just an East Coast thing. Same question for Northface jackets and Birkenstocks, which were really popular here on the East Coast circa the early/mid-2000's. They were part of the preppy revival of circa 2003. (Northface still is popular, but I haven't seen people wearing Birks since about 2006 or so. Blue?

Jeff's internal response: Oh, right. They're rich and good-looking, and they're a sure "in" to primo weed and hot dudes. If I get them to like me enough, I'll get a 50k car out of it!

Honestly, I think Jeanine would only go into mother bear mode with JJ, maybe Madison. It's been telegraphed that since Day 1 Jeanine was protective of JJ, and it's possible that because Will was pretty much always Brad's child and that she never really got any say in how Will was raised, she didn't develop that kind of protective bond with Will that she developed with JJ when he was a preemie in intensive care. Which is interesting, because Will is her actual biological child while JJ isn't, but as we've learned in CAP, it's less about blood and more about who raises you. As for Tim's point, I gotta agree with him on that. I was hoping that Brad and Robbie would have gotten the message over what kind of situations can be created with overly permissive parenting due to what happened to Billy and would have taught their own kids what the word "no" meant, but I guess not. It's been weird. Will actually has been, for the most part, immensely likeable to me ever since the start of the Tony storyline in PMS where we got to see him as marine biology nerd instead of just seeing the overly precocious sexpot. Mark's done a good job of making it so that there are a lot of simliarities between Brad and Will that you can say the apple didn't fall far from the tree, but I haven't felt like Will is a rip-off of Brad. I like that he seems a bit more down-to-Earth than Brad did, and that he's not about trying to be the powerful social leader at school the way Brad did. I remember reading the start of Be Rad, and to be honest, Brad didn't seem to have as much insight as Will does- Brad came off as much more superficial and about appearances than Will does.

Chapter 32 -When they survey Will's handiwork.

I could see this being JJ's theme song, if/when he gets fame and doesn't handle it well. I seriously wonder what's going to happen to these guys when they get into their late teens/early 20's. Those can be some crazy-ass years, especially if you're someone who lived a repressed adolescence like JJ where you didn't get a chance to go crazy that much.

Dear god, I'm glad I'm not part of that. I just seem to get along better with straight guys.

Thanks. I was heavily influenced by shows like Quantum Leap and the Wonder Years, which had such amazing soundtracks. Cold Case as well, though to a lesser extent. It's such a shame that copyright laws have screwed over all three of them. This scene right here...such a perfect blending of acting, imagery, and music:

And to think, people wanted Brad and Robbie to become daddies again.

That's neat. I absolutely adore Armie Hammer...that voice alone... It's kind of amazing to think that someone like Armie Hammer could have gotten bullied. The people who bullied him must be kicking themselves now.

Right. Well, I wasn't going literal. It's more about the anger and feeling backed into a corner so that you're lashing out. It's in the same emotional vien, and it's period. So, yeah.

I could see Will hanging out with the latter type- he doesn't seem like one who would hang out with lazy rich snobs. JJ, on the other hand, I could see hanging around that crowd. He's somewhat stuck-up in a way that I can see turning him into a total monster by his 20's, especially if/when he becomes famous. I can see him being someone who'd drop money on people to get them to be his friends. Is there any chance you know anything about Armie Hammer and the Hammer family? He's another Los Angeles contemporary, and god, I've been in lust with that guy since The Social Network.

So is this what contemporary rich kids are like, Tim? I don't have friends that are legitimately rich, just upper middle class at most, so I'm interested in your opinion here. "Maybe you should go back on meds." I do think there's a surprising lack of meds for these people- I know Will's got access to Adderall, but I'm kind of surprised that kids aren't dropping references to being on Lexapro or the like at school. That was part of casual conversation. Or maybe the whole "drug out our kids" deal is more of an East Coast thing.

I'm going to fanwank that in 3rd grade, JJ whined about how much he wanted to play piano, and Jeanine used her Mommy Allowance to pay for it. He took lessons for a week, got bored with it, and the piano has been sitting in the corner since 1995. It's an established character trait that JJ will take up things and often get bored with it- figure skating's the only thing he's actually stuck with. I could totally see him having an array of past childhood interests around the house.

Chapter 31 -When Will goes on his teenaged rampage. I'm going to be honest, I NEVER thought Last Resort would ever apply to a spoiled rotten Golden Boy like Will. Color me shocked, Mark. -When Will sits on his veranda, and ponders what he did. Linkin Park moment. Finally.

Right. I wasn't sure what you meant. Will COULD have been a surf star, apparently, but the idea didn't appeal to him. I kind of like that- it's less a sport and more of an art form for him. As for JJ, I think he imagines himself as a major star. People just haven't recognized Jeremy James yet.

Can you clarify what you mean there? Potential star as in JJ's career is about to take off, or what?

I was kind of thinking that Alisdair would have a big influence on him, but it'll be interesting to see if JJ decides he wants to balance a tough school like HW with the demands of figure skating, or if he decides to give up school for figure skating. Which will make it all the more angsty when he DOESN'T win the gold in '06 or '10.