methodwriter85

Eh. I like to think I've mellowed out with age. Although that comment does remind me of Mean Girls. Maybe JJ can try to become Queen Bee at his new high school, and enrages the current one, leading to an all-out Bitch War? Alright, I am kidding about that one. The school he's going to doesn't sound like it would foster that kind of "mean girl" environment. Anyway, I don't know. I do get your point about JJ being out of line. However, Darius really just sounds like he couldn't give a shit about JJ at this point and he's only doing this out of family obligation, rather than having any kind of actual concern about JJ. I think that's the part that might be why people have had a negative reaction to this plot. Ostensibly, it's a tough love approach to JJ. But I can't think of any recent character interaction that JJ has had with Darius that would show that Darius even gives a shit about him, as opposed to Will and JJ. Say what you will about Will, but he and JJ have had some lovely brotherly moments together. Darius on the other hand, just kind of seems like he became really cold after 9/11 and his break-up with Ella. Which is understandable, but I can see why JJ doesn't feel like taking any kind of brotherly advice from Darius. Darius is doing the "tough" part, but he's not really doing the "love" part. Although come to think of it, JJ's never had that kind of big brother worship for Darius. I think the only one he's ever had that for is Matt. So yeah, I can see where it just rings as kind of false and hollow for Darius to try and pull some tough love "let's teach my brother a lesson he needs" moment, because he really just hasn't been involved enough in JJ's life to really warrant having that much say in it. Will has, and Stefan has, but not Darius.

I've been Mark's beta reader for 9 years now. (Holy shit, am I really not 22 anymore? Geez.) We've had some pretty big disagreements and a couple of times I came close to no longer being on Mark's team because of said disagreements. Sharon (the editor) told me once, "You need to step back a little and remember that this is a fictional soap opera, and that this is all supposed to be fun." So I did eventually learn to step back a little, and I've enjoyed the story a lot more since. Hell, some things I vehemently disagreed with turned out to be some of the best storylines Mark has done. I thought it would be a lame rerun of Brad/Robbie to have Will fall in love with a Hayes football player from Claremont, and I couldn't have possibly been wrong. The Zach/Will coupling has been one of my favorite storylines. JJ's had some pretty dark things happen to him, but I haven't seen JJ's current character arc as being dark. He's just being a spoiled little rich boy trying to make himself feared and admired in a big little pond like New York City, and his family is trying to "check" him, so to speak Basically, he's like a character in teen comedy coming-of-age film who is sure that they have everything all figured out, and they need a wake-up call that they don't, a la Clueless/Emma. Calling what they did as being "cruel" seems a bit much. They know that JJ's weakness is being the forgotten middle brother and they used that here. Was it a bit bitchy? Sure. Did it make a point? Also sure. Cruel would have been one of them throwing back JJ's old cutting habit back into his face, or what Johnny Weir said to JJ about the Twin Towers. It was under the belt but not that far below.

You and I have definitely had our disagreements in the past 9 years when it comes to CAP, but I've been pretty much on the same page with you when it comes to JJ's character development. (Okay, I wasn't happy about JJ dropping skating given that I had planned JJ's career out to the 2006 Olympics and I really thought JJ was going to get his GED so he could focus on skating full-time, but whatever.) The general theme to JJ's character development seems to be about breaking him out of whatever cocoon he builds for himself. The first was his skating life with an increasingly erratic mother, which distracted from the family's disintegrating relationships back in 2000. Then he had to face the reality of his coach molesting him. And then in 9/11, he lost his mother altogether, who was the person he could pretty much always hide behind.The second was his Streak era in 2002- early 2003, when he was riding high in his Boston days and loving life as Alex's "princess." It was all fine and dandy, but it was never going to last and Alex may have been pretty but he is never going to be the type of love interest that challenges someone and makes them grow as people. Now, JJ has built up this New York City fashion world for himself as some kind of tame Sex in the City where people are cast in his mind as certain character parts. John Carullo is like his rowdy roommate who belongs on Queer As Folk, with Bellona Carter as his stern mentor, and Patrick Christian as his Mr. Big. JJ seems to be thinking of himself as pretty hot shit who can do no wrong. (You KNOW JJ pictures himself as the Carrie Bradshaw in all this.) This is where Will and Darius's plan to knock him down a peg seems to come from. Like, "Yo, you ain't no Carrie Bradshaw. You're the fucking Charlotte. I'm the Carrie, and Darius is the Samantha! FACE!" Okay, not that Will and Darius watch Sex and The City or would have an idea what any of that means, but come on. JJ probably has like every season of that show on his TiVo, if not DVD box sets. Anyway, there does seem to be a reason to all of this. JJ's ice princess persona is fun, but there is a real person under there, and we do get glimpses of him, but we have to get through his layers. And you can see the character growth pretty clearly, even when he's back to being a brat. 15-year old JJ told the entire family that there wasn't any point of him going to school, because he was going to be on a Wheaties box by the time he was 20. 17-year old JJ decided, after long consideration, that he was going to take his National Championship title and walk away from that world, because the fiasco with Alex made him realize what price he was going to have to play to keep playing the game. In other words, when JJ gets comfortable and settles himself down into a role/world that he doesn't want to leave even though it's based on sand, Mark has a tendency to come up with ways for JJ to be zapped out of his contentment. And it's often pretty needed. For a 17-year old guy who has traveled the world, JJ seems really uninterested in life's adventures. Most recent example was the black out- instead of having fun and enjoying the big party that happened like his grandfather's did, JJ just bitched and seemed miserable. He has a pretty narrow set of the kind of people he wants to associate with and the kinds of things he wants to do with the people he associates with. JJ will miss out on a whole hell of a lot of interesting stuff if he's always like that. Hell, when I was JJ's age, I once walked into a room with group of people who were doing a live-action roleplay of vampires because their sign said they were doing comedy improv. Can't get much more interesting than that! I kind of always take what Mark does to JJ as JJ being nudged out of that shell, in a relatively realistic way.

I found this Buzzfeed video that basically rips off Bang for Your Buck, where people look at houses at different price points in a given area. This one looks at current Los Angeles real estate: I'd be totally down for that cute little house in Alhambra. 568k for a 895 square foot house seems like a lot, but it's nicely updated. (Quartz seems to have replaced the granite countertop craze of the 2000's.) I used to be a HUUUGGGGGEEEE fan of House Hunters and Flip That House back in that mid/late 2000's era, which often featured California real estate. Definitely taught me that unless you're living in the Inland Empire, you're pretty much paying a lot. Also, that Californians pay pretty premium money in order to live either by the ocean or by the hills.

I think we're supposed to take it for granted that JJ is in therapy. JJ mentions when 9/11 hits that he's on some kind of anti-anxiety medication.

Re: Will. See, the funny thing about Will is that he's pretty quick to call out JJ's snobbery, but doesn't recognize his own. (Man, I wish Private Tim was still here.) As for the plan, I think the idea is to show JJ that this bubble he's put himself in where he's the most important thing around isn't real. He's not as important or as special as he thinks he is, and he can't use the perks of his family and at the same time be nasty to them. By having Darius and Will take up all the attention at what was in JJ's mind supposed to be his starring event, it is supposed to put him back in his place.

Chapter 48 -When Operation "Stop JJ From Being A Bitch" starts. "Blue Monday 88" by New Order -When Darius flirts with Bellona for real. "Does Your Mother Know?' from Mama Mia The Musical -When JJ is left to ruminate by himself. "All By Myself" by Jamie O'Neal from Bridget Jones's Diary soundtrack This moment feels very Cher from Clueless. -When Bellona goes "What the hell" and decides to sleep with Darius. "Mrs. Robinson" by Simon and Garfunkel

A random aside- I've learned today that there are ardent Disneyland fans that can get really, really touchy when people say that Disney World is better.

Chapter 47 -When Will and Zach have some nookie at the hotel. "Urgent" by Foreigner -When Will and Zach end up in a threesome with an assistant coach. "The Stroke" by Billy Squier I'm on some early 80's kick right now for some reason. Eh. Whatever.

And all before his 17th birthday! I asked this e-friend once, who was kind of a manslut before finally settling down for good when he was 21, if he reached the tripe digits, and he had to think for a bit because he wasn't sure. The funny thing is that he actually wrote a fictionalized version of his youth, and he actually toned things down rather than having to make up sexual encounters to keep things interesting. Let's be honest though- if you're a good-looking guy with a decent social skill game, over 6 feet tall, and not particularly attached to anyone, and you've got decent equipment, you're going to have plenty of opportunities for sex whether you're straight or gay. It's just the way things are. Mark said at the beginning that Will is meant to represent the guy you knew in junior high who was fully grown at the age of 13 and could actually do something with the libido they had, because they were physically 17. JJ's been kind of the reverse, although his libido seems to have kicked into gear at 16.

I'm watching The Defenders right. Watching Sigorney Weaver made me think...Alexander Billings Carmichael? I don't think Mark's ever said her age but she would have to be at a minimum in her 60's. Probably not a 50-something the way Elizabeth Danfeld and Stefan are. Mark's already said that Elizabeth Danfield is Meryl Streep circa The Devil Wear Prada. I figured her rival would be someone that has an elder, stately matron vibe- still attractive but someone not still trying to be a Cougar like Elizabeth Danfield.

Brad and Will really do seem to differ in terms of the type of men they're drawn towards. Brad likes a challenge, which is why it never worked with people like Max, Father Tim, and Marc. Will doesn't really need a challenge, but what he really values is honesty. Tony is a two-faced guy who pretends he's full of integrity when he's really not, which is why it never worked him. Zach never pretended to be anything but a mercenary guy with a lazer-beam focus on getting to the NFL, and I think Will was attracted to the fact that Zach was both honest about his faults and pretty capable of stepping up as an emotional support when he needed one

Chapter 46 -When Brad describes how he likes a challenging lover to Jake. "Hurt So Good" by John Mellencamp -When the surgeon describes the surgery that had to be done on Scott's face. "Eyes Without A Face" by Billy Idol I really got into this song because it was on Nip/Tuck. I loved the first two seasons of that show. (I would later learn that Ryan Murphy shows are usually only good for the first couple of seasons- he's lucky Popular only lasted two years.) Stefan would so Tivo that show. (It premiered on July 23rd, apparently.)

On Monday, August 21st I got to see the solar eclipse. In my area, it was about 77 percent coverage, so just a partial one, but still incredible to watch. I got off work around 1:17, and drove over to the Glasgow County Park on Route 40. There's a little running hill where I went to the top and watched it with about 20 or so people. It was pretty cool- absolutely amazing to watch the sun turn into a little tangerine slice. Definitely won't forget it, for sure.

I was originally going to use "Your Body Is A Wonderland" by John Mayer yet again to evoke the fact that the song was EVERYWHERE back in 2002-2004 but I decided to go retro for that one. Honestly, I'm kind of tired with 2002-2003 music by now. LOL. Luckily I have decades of other music before then that i can work with.

I get a kick out of how much JJ is fighting his lust for Carullo. It's like a Sam and Diane thing.

Chapter 44 -As Dally and Will are hooking up in the water. "Crimson and Clover" by Tommy James and the Shondells -When JJ gets an unpleasant morning surprise. "Angel of the Morning" by Juice Newton I love that Deadpool revived this song.

I honestly can't tell if you're being for real or snarky. I did read somewhere that upper-middle class WASP's do like clothes that last a long, long time.

Mark, I now have the mental image of you owning a pair of vintage Sperry size 12 topsiders from 1981 that have been lovingly maintained since you bought them as a cute 18-year old preppie. (I never owned boat Sperry or a cheaper knock-off...purely a flip-flop guy when I wasn't wearing New Balance sneakers or my lambskin mocks.) I wonder if Private Tim still posts to this board? I saw Spiderman and thought about how Tom Holland is totally his type- that cute but nerdy twink with a nice bod on him. And Peter Parker did look pretty cute in his relaxed version of the prep look.

I feel like Allistair will play a role again eventually. One thing that Mark has done, and what makes this story feel real, is that some of the supporting characters drop in and out and then back into the lives of the main characters. That's pretty much like real life- everybody has people that drop in and drop back out of their lives.

I've spent a lot of time looking at yearbooks from the early 1980's, and it's made me think a little bit about Be Rad. The notable thing about that time period is that it was very conservative prep, for the most part- the 80's as we think of them really don't show up until the mid-1980's. And the "hideous" 80's period is really about 1987 to 1992. Those of you who like the early 1980's time setting should watch Everybody Wants Some and Stranger Things- EWS is about tail end of the 70's with some hints of the 80's coming in, while Stranger Things is set at the end of the early 80's when the trends of that time period are firmly in place. I actually really like that preppy early 80's fashion look. They put an updated version of it on Tom Holland in Spiderman and he looked great in it. Transition years are always kind of interesting to me, at least in terms of evaluating trends. I loved Mark using his own memories in terms of filling out the period detail in this particular piece. (He also did it to a greater extent in Man in Motion.) If we were really being true to 1980 though, Brad should have worn chords and spent a lot more time with a blowdryer. LOL.

Daddy's back!

Those are actually falling out of favor with young guys. Shorts are now falling at the knee instead, and they tend to be a straighter, tighter fit. If you're preppie they might actually go above the knee. I get kick out of how much you tend to hate how young guys dress these days. You don't seem to be a big fan of this look, either:

We've got a new thing coming this summer...rompers for men! Men of this board...would you wear one? Pretty much, I think to pull this off, you need to have a flat stomach and nice, long legs with thick calves.

"Americana" by Hampton Sides. It's a series of writings that travel writer Hampton Sides wrote about various subcultures/events in modern America. Pretty interesting stuff with a wide range of interests and topics.