methodwriter85

Jerry Falwell died last year, Mark.

More men in the Newark area have reported their shoes and pictures of themselves being stolen. Some even lost boxers. More Newark Men Report Missing Shoes Man. He stole from Kappa Sigmas? Talk about bad taste. If you're going to steal shoes from any house, it should be those Sig Ep hotties. I think the best comment I've read about this is, "Do the Marcos have a son?" LOL.* * For all you youngin' out there, Imelda Marcos was the wife of a Phillipine president, who got ousted in 1985 or 1986. She was noted for having 3,000 pairs of shoes. As the wife of a president in a very poor country, that was seen as very extravegent.

Chapter 52 -When the family celebrates Matt's 19th birthday. "What's My Age Again?" by Blink 182 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCjbphQH2iE -When Wade talks to his father on the phone. "One" by Aimee Mann http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFAEDvvSkLU -When Wade talks to his therapist. "Sullen Girl" by Fiona Apple -When Wade and JP talk in the medieval room at Escorial. "I Don't Want to Wait" by Paula Cole http://vodpod.com/watch/852844-paula-cole-i-dont-want-to-wait -When Matt and Wade get to Cleveland, talk about their issues, and make love in Matt's childhood room. "Sometimes" by Britney Spears Damn. Britney Spears always has had the HOTTEST guys in her videos. Remember when guys used to wear white shirts and cargo pants? -When Matt's parents takes the boys to the country club, no longer ashamed of Matt's homosexuality. "Dreams" by Gabrielle

Cody, you might also want to take into consideration that Mark's stories are historical. The two stories that deal the most with religion- Be Rad and Bloodlines- take place in 1980 and 1998, respectively. It was an entirely different world just 12 years ago, let alone 30 years ago. Even as recently as 1998, there were many people who were not yet out of the closet, and they didn't have resources like Gay Author's message boards to help them come to terms with being gay. Since religions weren't yet being called on the fact that they weren't as inclusive of GLBT people because many people were still hiding, they weren't really forced to make a decision on whether or not to be inclusive. And as for 1980's Be Rad, Mark is reflecting a reactive society that was going conservative as a reaction to the social upheaval of the 1960's and the 1970's. Evangelical christianity was on the rise at the time, and the upcoming AIDS crisis of the 1980's would unfortunately be spouted as some sort of "punishment" for the gay community. Recently, religions have become more accepting, but that honestly was not the case 10, 30 years ago.

In my home state of Delaware, there's been a rash of burglaries at student houses around the U of D. area. But here's the catch- instead of wanting actual valuables, the thief is stealing men's shoes- and photos of the men wearing them. Burglar Gets Kicks From Stealing the Shoes of Men Weird, weird story. Mark Arbour, I think you've got a new fetish to write about!

Jack McPhee on Dawson's Creek. For that season, he joined the football team, and there was a funny episode where the guys wore make-up in support of Jack because the opposing team were planning on "bashing" the gay football dude. It was actually a very well done storyline that started in February of 1999 with Jack McPhee's coming-out due to an erotic poem about another man he wrote in a class, to joining the football team, and then finally getting his first gay kiss that spring. When his kiss doesn't go as planned, his once-homophobic father comforts his gay son about the heartbreaks of dating. I was in 6th grade when Columbine happened, and having seen the bullying that goes on so rampantly at middle school, it really did make sense. Not that I would have done it, but I could have seen how a person could go off the deep end like that. The rest of that year, I remember how rumors about bomb threats and hit lists written by students were really causing tension at my school, not to mention several forced evacuations to a church next door. The craziest thing was that on the month anniversary of Columbine, they actually had cops at our school, because people were worried that someone would try to do another shooting for the anniversary. It was April 2007, and it was at Virginia Tech University. You weren't even close to the locale, bud. It was pretty interesting- that shooting hit me almost as much as Columbine did, despite the fact that several school shootings had occured in between the two. I think it was the fact that it was set at a college that bugged me a lot- I couldn't see how anybody, even people who were outcasts in high school, could somehow remain on the fringes and remain bullied in college. It just didn't make any sense- in college, a person is accepted for who they are, and are able to make friends that share their interests. No one gets bullied in college. (Well, unless you're pledging a sorority or fraternity.) I remember people called it "The College Columbine". I went to a candlelight vigil held on a lawn at my school for that one. As for who to kill off...well, in terms of natural deaths, Jim Crampton was born in 1926. He'll be 84 this year. I'm sure he's most likely towards the end of his life, as the average life expectancy for men is around 79 years old. Finally...Wade and his father. You know, I really do think that part of why his father had sex with him is because of the fact that Wade looks like him, and he wanted to re-live being young and hot through Wade. It's definitely an interesting relationship, in any event.

It's pretty funny Mark. After Jeff and Billy, people are so scared that you will kill off another Hayes. I get the feeling though that Frank won't live to see this new decade- I see him dying of a heart attack somewhere before the end of his 60's, as many guys from his generation did.

I'm going with Consequences. A story about high school jocks learning to be more sensitive to outcasts because of a tragic injury has been done to death.

Hah. It's true though- gay storylines were definitely ahead in Europe. Although quite hypocritically, in the United States, there were lesbian kisses on tv shows- usually between straight woman, though, during the mid/late 1990's. They were usually ratings stunts. You did not see the first romantic gay male kiss on a prime-time U.S. t.v. show until the spring of 2000, when gay character Jack on teen soap opera Dawson's Creek kissed another guy. Although I'm pretty sure that on H.B.O. show "Oz", which I think began in 1998 or 1999, that had gay male kisses. And in 2001, "Six Feet Under" had the first real, romantic relationship depicted on a tv show. But yeah, it's usually been cable that's broken that ground. Network tv is almost always behind on the times. No wonder why people are finding it quaint and dated. Anyways, no one mentioned the Colombine stuff- I thought Mark did a good job of depicting the mood that school kids felt after the Colombine shootings. There really was this fear of, "Could this happen here?" I felt for my generation, at least, it was almost like a dress-rehearsal for the shock we would feel for the 9/11 attacks. Before the spate of late 90's high school shootings, people really only thought that shootings were something that happened at inner-city high schools with black kids. The fact that those shootings happened at an affluent suburban high school was pretty shocking at the time.

It would have to be Will. JJ would never have the kind of grades that would enable him to get accepted as an international student at a good European university.

Chapter 51 -When Professor Whist's plan to declare the election null and void blows up in his face, with him stepping down and J.P. taking over as faculty advisor and Wade rightfully instated as president of the GLBT club for the 1999-2000 school year. "Anthem for the Year 2000" by Silverchair -When Wade ruminates over the somber mood cast upon Stanford due to a shooting at a high school in Colorado, killing 13 people and injuring many more, include the stepbrother of Cole's girlfriend Allison. "Big White World" by Marilyn Manson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqnN0tob7w0 Before I go to the next one, I've gotta say you nailed the mood of people after Colombine- the next day at my middle school we were shocked and very afraid that it could happen at our school. I remember having to evacuate to a church next to our school several times for the rest of that year because someone called in a bomb threat. -When Wade opens up the door to find his father's face(which looks so much like his own) staring back at him. "Freak On A Leash" by Korn -At Escorial, where Senator Danfield explains why he did what he did to Wade, and promises that the cycle of abuse has ended. "Wise Up" by Aimee Mann

Just don't make Stefan a March birthday. We've already got Ace, Robbie, Marcel, and John as March babies.

Right. I forgot that. Of course Isidore is French. So there's no specific date for Tonto's death- just it was somewhere around the first half of the 90's. Robbie doesn't have a birthday. He mentioned in Be Rad that he would turn eighteen the following March of '81, which would mean his birthday is March 1963. There also isn't a specific birthday for Stefan- just a 1945 birth year. It's kinda funny that he's narrated two stories so far and we've never seen him celebrate his birthday, LOL.

Which story did she die in? It's not Man in Motion.

A lot of writers will make a so-called "timeline" for their story, because it's a handy way to keep from messing up continuity, and it's fun little trivia for fans of a series. I thought I would go ahead and make one for Mark. It'll be refined and updated as I go back and read the stories to get a better picture, but...here are important dates and events in the CAP universe. And I'd like to ask for help as well- if you find a specific date for an event and think it's important for the timeline, let me know, and if I think it's important enough, I'll edit to include it! CAP TIMELINE 1903: Tonto is born. April 1925: Jim Crampton is born. May 27, 1925: Steven Schluter is born. 1936: Billy Schluter is born. June 20, 1936: J.P. Crampton is born, the result of an affair between Marie Crampton and Bill Hendrickson. December 17,1944: Steven Schluter dies in World War II. July 14, 1945: Stefan Schluter, the son of Steven Schluter, is born. November 12, 1945: Jeff Hayes is born. 1962-1963 School Year: J.P. Crampton begins teaching at Northwestern University. October 4, 1962: Brad Schluter is born. He is the adoptive son of Billy Schluter, and the biological son of Kevin Carmicheal. December 1962: Andre, JP's partner, is killed in action in Vietnam. March 6, 1963: Ace is born to Isidore, having been fathered by J.P.'s lover Andre. March 1963: Robbie Hayes is born, the youngest of three children. He is the son of Frank and Brenda Hayes. April 10, 1963: Billy Schulter dies at sea on USS Thresher October 27, 1964: Clare and Billy Crampton are born. Clare is JP's biological daughter, and Billy is Jeff Hayes's biological son. 1968: J.P. Crampton begins teaching at Stanford. July 13, 1968: Jeff Hayes dies of an heroin overdose. March 8, 1969: Marcel is born. He is the biological son of Jeff Hayes, but is raised in France. April 24, 1980: Matt Carrswold is born. He is the biological son of Robbie Hayes, but is adopted by the Carrswolds and grows up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. May 15, 1980: Wade Danfield is born. He becomes Matt Carrswold's boyfriend after meeting him on the hockey team at Stanford during the 1998-1999 school year. October 19, 1980: Billy dies in a car accident on the night of a party at Escorial. January 19, 1982: Darius Schluter is born. He is the son of Bitty Schluter and a random Iranian man, but is raised by Brad, Robbie, and Jeanine. He has one biological half-brother, JJ, and one adopted brother, Will Schluter. July 25, 1982: Gathan Hayes is born. He was raised in Claremont, Ohio by his uncle and aunt, Wally and Clara Hayes. February 1983: Kristin Hendrickson is born. August 26, 1983: Ella Hayes, daughter of Richard Crampton, is born. May 30, 1985: Zach Hayes is born. 1985: J.P.'s lover Roger, and one-time lover Sam, both die of AIDS that year. December 7, 1985: Jeremy Schluter, aka J.J., is born. He is the biological son of Jim Crampton and Bitty Schluter, and has been raised in Malibu, CA with Brad, Robbie, and Jeanine. February 19, 1986: Marie Crampton, aka Maman, dies of natural causes. April 18, 1986: Marie Hobart, daughter of Jack and Clare Hobart, is born. April 20, 1986: Travis Buck is born. September 14, 1986: Will Schluter, son of Brad and Jeanine, is born. July 21, 1987: John Hobart, son of Jack and Clare Hobart, is born. Between 1991 to 1995: Tonto Schluter dies an old woman, warm in her bed surrounded by grandchildren and great-grandchildren. A death we should all hope to have. March 28, 1995: Greg, Stefan's long-time companion, dies of a heart attack. September 4, 1995: Ace's daughter, Courtney, is born. August 7, 1998: Robbie Hayes reunites with his long-lost son, Matt Carrswold. September 13, 2000: Madison Graves is born. September 14, 2000: Riley van den Boss Danfield is born. March 24, 2003: Bobby Carrswold is born.

I gotta agree with Mark. Worst idea. Ever. Anyways, I've enjoyed how Jack and Clare represent the people who were high school sweethearts, continued to be college sweethearts, and then got married. Every school had one of those couples. Clare will be like Tonto, but she's only 34 years old in April 1999. It's gonna take awhile. And you can't really replace someone like Tonto anyway- a woman of independent means who was born at the start of the 20th century and asserted her own free will while chafing against conventional societal prejudices as she navigated the highs of the 1920's, the lows of the 1930's, and the turmoil of the 1940's. Clare can never be totally like Tonto because Clare was born in 1964, and came of age in the early 80's, as the first generation of women who really were able to advance in society and take advantage of the feminist revolution. She didn't have to fight against the blatant sexism and discrimination that women Tonto's age had to face. So Wade is like JP with a soul. Matt is a mx of Robbie's cuddly ways and Brad's hot-headedness, as well as business acumen. I think JJ reminds me a lot of Stefan, only not as flamboyant. Still full of a zest for life and eagerness for new things to try and to have, though. Will is supposed to be like Brad's quiet, methodical side. We haven't really gotten to know Marie Hobart, John Hobart or Courtney Crampton, so I can't say yet who they're like. I guess for now, they default into being like Claire, Jack, and Ace. And Darius is like Ace, only better at controlling his temper.

Right. I don't expect you to switch to focusing on JJ and Will when they're in 9th grade for '01-'02. Because frankly, high school is absolutely boring until the upperclassmen years. Darius is going to be a senior/college freshman for the year 2000, but I don't think we're going to get a straight narrator. So Generation 3 is still somewhat on the sides, waiting in the wings. Although I suppose technically Matt is Gen 3, but we never saw him as a little kid the way we saw Darius as a three-year old in summer 1985, JJ as a preemie in December '85, or Will as a newborn in September '86. And Matt's a college freshman, which is a helluva lot more interesting than the middle school years that JJ and Will are going through, LOL. Matt's senior year of college coincides with September 11th. Just a thought.

I just spent the day at my alma matter- we had an Alumni Lunch, catered by Capriottis. (It's a chain sub shop with really good sandwhiches.) It was pretty fun- reliving the good ol' days when I was just a kid and my biggest worries were whether or not I could get away with sneaking out of the boring assemblies without getting caught. After the luncheon I just sorta hung out with a few fellow alumni in the front lobby of the school, singing songs and laughing as we reminisced about times gone by and looking at those high school kids, realizing just how long it's been since we were them. Five years. Five freakin' years. (Okay, four and a half, really, but still.) Still can't believe how fast all those years went by- from auditioning to get into that high school all the way back in January '01 as an 8th grader who just fell in love with that school, to those four precious years of high school that went by much too fast, and all those enusing years since I stepped off of the stage as a newly crowned alumni, 19 years old and thinking that nineteen would be forever. Five years now separate me from that boy. Crazy to think that. Last year, I remarked to one of the teachers, "Did I get old, or are these high school kids getting younger?" She replied, "You got old. That's how it always works." And she's right- it seems every year, those 16-year olds just look more and more like babies to me. But I guess it's just me being a decade away from sixteen. Oh, well. I still have those precious memories of youth, and what it feel like to be a kid with his whole life ahead of him where everything was just full of possiblilites and new experiences. And it's not like it's bad being older- I can legally drink now, my mother can't order me to a curfew, and I don't have those vacilitating, turmultuous moods that come with being an angsty teenager. Still, there's just something about growing up...that isn't half as fun as growing up. Anyways, here's a song for the mood I am in. (The rumination of this post completely justifes me breaking the Monday music rules, I think.) "These are the best days of our lives"...man. In a way, it is true. Because your heart is on your sleeve when you are young...the joys and the triumphs and the laughs...they're all felt so much more deeply, because your emotions are closer to the surface as a teenager. Not that you can't feel joy and all that as you get older...but...it's just not quite the same, I think. That's why I think so many authors write about coming-of-age, because that universial experience that we all go through offer such a rich treasure trove of emotions that can really fuel a story. Is anyone hitting up a reunion anytime soon?

Chapter 50 -When Jerry and Wade give their campaign speeches. -You Get What You Give by New Radicals -When Wade and Matt get back to Escorial, decide to have Wade move in with him for awhile, and have passionate sex. "Because Of You" by 98 Degrees http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY-0rosQQqk -When Wade realizes that Benjamin Whist is stacking the deck in favor of Jerry, calls him on it, and then gets moral support from his adopted family as they go to vote. "Steal My Sunshine" by Len http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GivXzk_sHxc

At some point I'm sure Mark will write a story set circa 2004-2005, because JJ and Will, along with their cousin John Hobart, will be seniors in high school for the 2004-2005 school year. Mark likes to write about high school seniors, plus '04-'05 had a lot of interesting events that are too good to pass up. Gay marriage in Massachusetts, the election, the Indian Ocean tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, as well as the swell in the housing boom, where a three bedroom house in a just-okay part of Southern California could run for something like 800 k. Stefan is in real estate, so the 2004-2006 housing boom has to affect him.

I am offended that you think its not the same to adopt or use a surrogate. That is a slap to the face of parents who adopted their children, or people who had to use surrogates. I have met quite a few gay and lesbian couples who have achieved families through sperm donors, adoption, or surrogates, and I don't think they feel its "not the same" as having the kids through a heterosexual marriage, or see those kids as being somehow less because they didn't spring out of hetero union. You should talk to adopted kids and their parents, as well as meet gay and lesbian couples who are raising children.

Thanks for the defense, Tiger. No, I don't consider myself one. First of all, I don't have kids. Secondly, I am only 24 years old...for me to have had a kid who is old enough for college, I would have had to concieve the kid at the age of 5 or so. The point I was making is that helicopter parents are a significance presence among the present-day twentysomething crowd. Speaking of present-day twentysomethings...how do you guys think JJ and Will are going to turn out? In present-day, JJ and Will are 24 and 23 years old, respectively. I personally see Will ending up at M.I.T.- I see the guy becoming an engineer- he comes off as a very intelligent, highly shy person. JJ, I think, would go to some state party school because while he's intelligent, he's not about doing homework, so he's only got so-so grades. And I think he would want to go to a party school, because JJ SCREAMS future party kid. So I think he'd want a school that had a great party scene as opposed to really caring about their academic programs. Maybe Penn State? Or Arizona State?

I feel like some of this is just wishful thinking. I don't think Elvis was bi in any way. Call it a hunch.

His characters from Saturday Night Fever and Grease were pretty hot, though. Anyways, Jeff Conaway was a very good-lucking guy before the drugs ruined him...kinda sad. Luckily, your other two crushes from that era, Robbie Benson and Matt Dillion, aged quite nicely. I bet the '80 movie Little Darlings must have been quite the masturbatory film for teenaged you, Mark....not only did it have Matt, but also teenaged Tatum O'Neal and Kristy McNichol, who were apparently very popular with teenaged boys who liked tomboys.

Mark, you forgot Tony Dow being listed, as well as Fabian. Tony Dow serves as the physical model for Jeff, Frank, Robbie, Billy, and Marcel. Fabian is the physical model for Brad. I think maybe you had a sixth sense going on.