methodwriter85

Remember when CAP was going to be a stand-alone story? Here we are, three years and ten sequels later. LOL. Of course, it helps that Mark had 38 years and hundreds of characters to work with. I'm not sure Stefan and JP as characters by themselves could have warranted 10 sequels. It does keep things fresh having new characters and new situations and generations to work on.

You decided to cram two stories within the year 2000, that's how it worked out. LOL. (That's for another thread, though.) As for a conclusion on the horizon, I do think the 2000's are going to provide a helluva of a lot of fodder for CAP. I can see Mark going for at least another four stories before a conclusion is reached. (9/11, Iraq, The '06 Olympics, and the general craziness of 2008 seem like a given.) In any event, we're now on three years of CAP! Mark officially started posting the story this week over at his Yahoo group. Three years. Man. I was but a wee lad of 22 when I got involved with your writing team. It's been a blast all the way through.

Actually, John had his 13th birthday on July 21st. See, my mind is already in 2003, so I think of John as being sixteen. In any event, both he and Will are supposed to look older than they are anyway. It's been repeatedly said that Will looks like a seventeen-year old. The only one who still looks like a little kid is JJ: What Mark's been getting right is the way in which the younger-looking guys tend to get ignored while the guys who got hit by puberty and look hot at 13/14 get hit on pretty hard.

Coincidentally, that happened at University of Delaware in 1996, with Amy Grossberg and Brian Peterson. Keep in mind that it's only early August in the story so far. Are we really expecting a massive amount of growth and maturity from Gathan when only a month has passed from the start of the story?

Arby's isn't that bad in terms of fast food, but I'd ditch the White Castle burgers. Switch to Panera. High in carbs but generally pretty healthy.

Will moping around about another love interest. Again. Not that I fault him. God, being in 9th grade sucked. I remember I used to sit around and moon over this online friend I had a crush on from Utah. LMAO. Thank god JJ isn't moony over love interests- he's nicely focused with his eyes on the prize and little interest in the wonders of dating. I like that a lot. The contrast works well.

You're forgotting that Gathan's going to be hockey teamates with a guy who lives and breathes politics. I think Wade will be a good mentor for Gathan as he learns about political science.

Eh, my favorite scene is the one where JJ goes on a 3-day bender in New York City for his 25th birthday, still haunted by the disapointments of Torino and Vancouver. Then gets picked up by the cops when he's found wandering around Battery Park completely incoherent while hopped up on painkillers and vodka. This basically scores it.

And Ace, in the scene where he's naked with Bianca in bed with him while Brad teases him, in Man In Motion. Brandon Stoughton is freaking hot as hell. Stefan's pre-AIDS Hollywood orgy parties. God, I wish I had been around in the late 70's. Just seemed like one very hedonistic time where anything went.

Since Blue, Matt, Tommmy, and Tim seem to be really interested in posting music picks, I thought I'd bring this one back up for them to post more picks in. So, come on guys! I fully expect you guys to post in this fan thread instead of the official one for fun! The rule that the music must be from the era is redacted. More fun this way. For Brad and Robbie during "Millenium". LOL. God, I had a crush on Eric Lively back around 1999-2000. Such a cute guy back then. For Will and John. God, it'll be fun when we get to 2003 and I can use that one. I'm sure, given the way these people bedhop, it'll be appropriate.

Matt, I see what you're saying, and believe that I will use some oldies, but this is mainly about re-creating the mindset and feel of a given era. Music is a big part of that. The era is now the late 90's/beginning of the 2000's, and I do what I can to try and reflect what was the popular music at the time, and also what some of the more obscure stuff was at the time. I'm trying to use my music picks to reflect the popular culture of pre-9/11 America, when Britney Spears was in her prime and boybands dancing in synch got people really going, and the outsider kids rebelled by listening to poppy punk like Blink 182 or real punk like NoFx. This was a United States that almost feels foreign today- a United States still riding off the high of the 90's economic boom fostered by an administration that actually created a governmental surplus, and had no idea the horrible decade that was awaiting it. The feel of the music picks often ties into the story itself. When I did picks for A Summer Love, set in 1991, I used a LOT of happy tail-end 80's pop tunes at the beginning of Marcel and JP's relationship, then switched over into bummer alternative rock like the Pixies and eventually Nirvana as Marcel broke up with JP and he(and us) moved into the 1990's. That said, I have been using a lot of older stuff because of the fact that 1.) Mark doing four stories set from 1998 to 2000 means I can't just focus on music from one area because I've basically exhausted late '90's music, and 2.) 70's nostalgia was still around in 2000, and 80's nostalgia was beginning at this point, and 3.) There have been a lot of call-backs to Man In Motion, which I've reflected in using some circa 1985 tunes. Was the scene with Berto and Will walking down the beach in Malibu something I missed? Also have you somehow forgotten that I've used Beach Boys before?

I have to agree with you on this one, Hermectically Seal. No amount of manners was going to change the Hendrickson's mind. I like Kristin a whole lot. She's one of the more interesting female characters we've had in awhile. I never really warmed up all that much to Tiffany or Ella, honestly. It helps a lot that I keep picturing Kristin as Ashley Benson/Hannah from Pretty Little Liars, who I enjoy very much as an actress/character. I just have Kristin pictured as the Rich Bitch with a heart of Gold, and I'm generally always enjoyed Poor Little Rich Girls, going all the way back to Kelly Taylor on the original 90210.

Chapter 33 -When Gathan and Kristin talk on the cliff. Naked. "Meet Virgina" by Train - When Will goes into a teenage angst mope session. "Misery" by The Moffats -When Gathan and Kristin have an incredibly awkward family dinner. "Anthem Part 1" by Blink 182

You had a friend who killed hiimself at 25? I think the issues must have been deeper.

Blue and gold. Nice. That should set off John's blue-green eyes perfectly. Canuck, I do agree the uniforms could be sexier, but I think lacrosse players have bangin' bodies. Mixes the best of soccer players and football players, I think.

It's fine. Let's just take another moment to drool over Colton Haynes aka John Hobart. It really is funny that Colton is actually playing a lacrosse player on Teen Wolf now. Man, talk about an appropriate pick. LOL. I guess just imagine the jersey saying "Menlo" instead. LOL. What are the school colors there anyway, Tommy?

Anne Hathaway Is Fearless About Aging You go, Anne. I'm not approaching 30 quite yet, but I really admired Anne's attitude about it. I met a guy once who started getting collagen injections at 24-25 to hide wrinkles, and liked to tell people he was 19, and I don't know- why not get credit for the years you've lived? It's still kinda weird to think that Mia Thermopolis is getting ready to turn 30 in November 2012, or that Jessica Alba is now playing the mom in the next Spy Kids movie. Time really does march on fast.

Yeah, but, Stefan doesn't seem like a tennis person, and this family in general seems to prefer big metro cities(usually Europe) when it comes to vacations, or the beach. Wouldn't they be more likely to have a vacation home not just in Colorado for sking, but a place in Australia and or some other place that doesn't have winter at the same time California does? My guess would be St. Bart's, because that's Mark's favorite vacation spot. What's the point in being warm and dry in some otherwise unappealing place(remember, Mark doesn't like Palm Springs therefore Stefan doesn't like it) in Southern California if you've got the ability to jet off to other places to escape the rainy Los Angeles winters? Clothing optional resorts seem like about the only thing there that I can see appealing to Stefan. I still think Mark, and likely Stefan, would take jetting off to St. Barts in January over taking a drive out to Palm Springs. Just pretend that that Stefan and Greg used to have a spot in Palm Springs and Stefan sold it after he died. I wonder if Harvard-Westlake is relaxed enough that they'd be willing to let JJ take a three-week leave of absence from 10th grade to attend the Salt Lake City Games with Stefan and JP. I could just see JJ there on the sidelines, looking at Sara Hughes and fuming inwardly about how if he had only started skating a few years earlier than at 12, he might have had a shot at the '02 Olympics. I think not getting in the Olympics for '02 will be a nice hard reality check and a much-needed bitchslap for JJ. LOL. Although, I don't know- I think 2002 will be a generally good year for Mark and the CAP saga to skip over. We don't have to cover every year of the 2000's, and I think 2003 will be a better year to start with after Mark gets done with 9/11. Plus it'd be good to let the family have a "quiet" year in which nothing really happens, which they haven't had since 1997. I nominate 2002 for that, and picking up with the family again in 2003. Lots more interesting things that year, including the music. *looks at Mark with a pleading, puppy dog face*

And thus, Stefan isn't. It's likely the same reason why no one's an Oakland Raiders fan. I do like that Mark let Robbie be a Phillies fan. I hope this means that Darius is also a Phillies fan over being a Dodgers fan, especially since they had a pretty strong run when he was about 10 in the early '90s, and being close to Robbie means that they might have gone to baseball a lot. Of course the Phillies are going through an awful period right now, but true fanhood sustains all that, right? I wonder if that means that Robbie is also an Eagles fan. I kinda figure they'd be the type of people who weren't doggedly loyal to one team and one city, like the Pittsburgh people. Dear god. Pittsburgh fans. Anyway, I could see Robbie as a Phillies fan at heart but enjoying the Dogers, being an Eagles fan at heart but liking the St. Louis Rams because Brad is a fan. I think they'd all rally around the Lakers, though- Southern California seems to be more about basketball than it is about football, barring USC. Of course Los Angeles not having had a decent football team since 1989 would be a high factor in that, I bet. (I'm just estimating there- the Wiki page says that the Rams started faltering in the early '90's, and that the L.A. Raiders basically sucked through the late 80's.Then they were both gone in 1995, leaving Los Angeles without a team.) Anyway, given how Stefan really seems to like playing hosts to the kids, I think he'd take that into consideration when choosing vacation homes. Ski house in Colorado I can see for winters, not a place to play golf. I can't see Palm Springs as being that appealing to a young kid, barring that episode of the O.C. where Oliver Trask tried to worm his way into Marissa Cooper's life. Although you never know. 1975 to 1979, then 1982 to 1984, 1987 to 1990, 1992 to 1994- all of these were years that the CAPverse didn't cover, and Stefan and Greg could have very well had a house in Palm Springs. Stefan probably would have been pissed at all the golf that Greg was playing instead of paying attention to him, and then sold the house after one particularly bad argument in which Stefan broke Greg's golf clubs. LOL. To make it more "Stefan", he would have sold the house just before the real estate bust of the late '80s, making a profit while he still could.

So I guess ROTC at Santa Clara it is. 2004 is still pretty early enough in the Iraq War- when Darius graduates, they'll only be a year in. I gotta say, I like that you're NOT going the happy frat boy route with Darius that you did with Ace. (I don't know if it was explicitly stated that Ace was a frat boy, but god he screamed it.) JJ's the question mark on this, though. I could very easily see him, after high school, either forgoing college entirely or just going part time for the 2004-2005 school year at a college with a coach that he wants to use. Then dropping out of school for what would have been his sophomore year to focus on the Olmpics. I think in his case, the family wouldn't mind so much because they kinda figure that college is always there, but JJ's prime is not. Which could be interesting- JJ giving up college and at the same time seeing his brother Will and cousin John off to it. Would there be regrets? Or no? Aside from living in Palo Alto, think about Stefan. He detests the idea of getting older, and for that principle I cannot see Stefan ever getting a place which is known as retirement central.

Mark was saying that he didn't see Darius as enlisted guy because he's from a rich family, but I gotta say, I disagree with that. Pat Tillman springs to mind. They had the storyline with Stephen in the Box becoming an officer with just a high school degree because the family pulled strings, but that was World War II. With the way in which specialization has occurred over the past 60 years since World War II, I have a hard time believing even Stefan Schluter and Brad's half-brother could pull enough strings to get Darius in as an actual officer with just his Malibu High degree. In any event, could you just IMAGINE the p.r. nightmare it'd be for Brad and Stefan if it got out they used their powerful D.C. connections to get Darius a plum post that he didn't actually have the merit for? I think they'd be getting skewered by CNN, and met with protestors holdings signs that say, "Let him enlist like anyone else!" But in much more graphic language. So he would have to go through the entire ROTC program at Santa Clara to become an officer, right? Or he'd have to enlist if he doesn't want to wait until 2004. Yeah. Gathan's brother Brent, and his friend Chord are just SCREAMING future Iraq War Veterans. I think a lot of Claremont blue-collar youth are headed there. See, this is why I really like that Will so far isn't defined by who he's dating. And if JJ does get his own story, that won't be the case for him, either, because his number 1 priority is his figure skating career. Although I think JJ is most likely going to be run down by a Greyhound. Then he'll become Will and Darius's teen angel, learning some valuable truths along the way that go beyond the merit of a Louis Vuitton handbag. JJ can be like Frankie Avalon with a much better wardrobe: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRVAT2QSpmo&feature=related

Mark was thinking he'd be an officer like Stephen was when we get to the War on Terror. How would they swing that? Was connections a strong enough pull in 2000 that you could get a guy like Darius as an officer? What's the route for getting Darius into the War on Terror? Personally, I thought USC seemed like the best fit for Darius, but Mark does not seem to be going with the "happy frat boy" route for Darius.

Chapter 32 -When Will meets his new bodyguard, Pat, and tests him to see how far he can go. -When Will and Robbie talk, who talks to him about how messed up he was at 22. And that Will very likely wouldn't have been born if Robbie hadn't been arrested. "Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister -When the guys drive out to Bakersfield, blasting Darius' totally beast sound system. "Still Dre" by Dr. Dre(featuring Snoop Dog) -When Darius tells them why he's going to Santa Clara University. "Put A Little Love In Your Heart" by Jackie DeShannon

Does it really matter where Darius goes to school? We all know he's going to drop out sophomore year to join the military after 9/11 hits...I like the line about Darius wanting to be a hero. With the military being in his blood, it just seems inevitable. I guess he can join the ROTC or something? I really liked this chapter. Here, it becomes clear that Darius is the glue for Generation 4- he's the only guy that can get along with everyone here. I've been wanting a chapter with a scene between the three Schluter brothers for a long time, and I'm glad we finally got it. Will and JJ are kind of just drifting off into two entirely different directions, but Darius can get them together. If/when Darius goes off to war, it'll be interesting to see how the brothers maintain their bonds with Will going off to college and JJ going off to Torino. Jeanine's from an Italian-Catholic family, right? It's not like Catholic doctrine is going to be completely foreign to Darius.

I like that Will, even though he hates shopping, wants Pat to get a makeover. I'm thinking Diesel jeans and crew-neck t-shirts.