methodwriter85

I'm going to admit that I didn't get my Facebook account until 2007, and I didn't get my Myspace until 2006. I didn't go to college until fall 2005, and I didn't have a digital camera or a cell phone camera, so I didn't create a social media account for myself until probably the end of my freshmen year. So I'm pretty hazy about those days, and again, I didn't do Facebook until '07. The restriction was still there, but not for that much longer- I think it was gone by '08. (Weirdly enough, I was a pretty early youth adopter of Twitter- I got on in 2009 before it really exploded, and I started using YouTube around January 2006.) Mainly, Facebook and Myspace was pretty much just for checking out pictures of guys in my classes that I thought were hot. LOL. (God, a polo shirt and a leather hemp choker on a cute guy can still get me going.) Whatever Buzz is doing, it's probably not in the best interest of the family. LOL. As for JJ, I kind of have to agree with you. I don't think JJ is like Will, who basically had to be beaten over the head several times with how horrible a boyfriend Tony really was until he finally got it. JJ really got it when Alex threw him to the wolves for MaryEllen's plot. So now the stars are out of his eyes, and Alex is now just a hot ex he can hook up with.

This was Mark from his replies to Chapter 28 reviews: I always pictured JJ as eventually ending up as a cool and calm, collected socialite making witty, funny remarks as he observes society around him while he sips his favorite martini, a la Truman Capote. (But much, much prettier.) He just needs to work through his teen angst bullshit first. I always thought that it was interesting that, as self-absorbed as JJ is, he tends to be pretty on-the-money when he makes observations about people, brutally so. It's in stark contrast to Will, who pretty much always wants to believe the best of everybody he meets. (He's not naive, but he's not always that sharp when it comes to judging people.)

Chapter 29 -After the party, where Will, Darius, and Ryan decide to blow off some steam and toke up, and just the breeze. "Beast of Burden" by The Rolling Stone -When Will calls up Zach, who's at a party having a blast and seems rather uninterested in Will. "Shout!" from Animal House That has to be one of the most universal college songs I've ever heard. No matter the era, it just resonates with anybody who went to college. -When Will hooks up with Buzz. "Take Me Home Tonight" by Eddie Money I will forever associate this song with Phi Kapps parties. -When JJ hooks up with Alex after a rotten morning. "You Get Me" by Michelle Branch

It's really great to see long-time fans of CAP. I've been a part of Mark's team since pretty much the beginning(along with our lovely Sharon), and it's been a pretty fun ride. Eight years this August!

I'd find a lot of obscure indie movies as a result of going to Hollywood Video, and later on, Family Video. (I googled the one I went to back in 2010-2012, and it's still around!)

Chapter 28 -JJ makes his decision. "Freedom 90" by George Michael -JJ has some fun with Buzz. "So Alive" by Love and Rocketts -John's band do terrible covers: "Lose Yourself" by Eminem "Shake Ya Tailfeather" by Nelly -John's band does one decent cover: "Your Body is Wonderland" by John Mayer

Well, damn. There went my timeline for JJ's career up to 2006. Oh, well. Seriously, it made sense. I believed it. And I always got the feeling that you were a little annoyed that we had to work his career in hence always forcing us to change the timeline, and we also had to have him maintain his Disney virginal image. I get why you did away with those restrictions, and it really doesn't feel like it came out of nowhere. Skating really stopped being JJ's entire life during the Streak.

Will seems barely invested in pop culture. Do you really see him getting into memes? I picture him as the guy who's the last one to get on Facebook or find YouTube. He IM's and emails because it's a convenient communication tool, but I can't see him being *into* internet culture. As for the other stuff, it gets annoying when people give me this shocked look when I tell them I'm 30, and I just want to roll my eyes so hard every time I'm carded. (Which is basically any time I'm at a bar where I haven't become regular.) But eh, in JJ's case, I can see him as a Botox junkie before age 25. I think that's just his way- he wants to look immaculate, and I can picture him being one of those types to get pre-emptive botox. As for this chapter, I'm a little bit pissed at JJ's decision, because Daisy and I had basically planned JJ's career out to the 2005-2006 season, but whatever. JJ's reasoning for leaving now was pretty sound, and honestly, it was A LOT of work to research and get things right when it came to JJ's career. It also kept JJ pretty isolated, and Mark was constantly having us change the timeline that we set up because he needed JJ to be there for whatever reason. I just think Mark got sick of doing it, and honestly I felt like this decision was pretty "earned"- it doesn't feel abrupt or coming out of nowhere. I also remember thinking when I was reading The Streak that JJ didn't really seem to LOVE figure skating. He loved the competition, and he loved that he was good, but he honestly didn't seem to love the sport itself all that much. There was never really that much passion in his performances other than making sure he was better than the other people. I also think that Mark just wasn't going to keep Disney JJ going for much longer. He's still there, but not in full-force like before. I still can't see him becoming wild, but as Blue said once, a pure virginal character just isn't going to cut it for a saga like CAP. Therefore, Mark needed to get rid of the reasons for JJ holding himself back from behaving like a normal horny teenaged guy. Finally,teen guys haaaattttteeeedddd John Mayer. They like seriously hated him. That made the ending of the chapter so much fun.

Parameters which definite the search. I'm with you that it should stick to characters that Mark created, not real people who's deaths Mark incorporated into the story like Matthew Shepherd.

I'm totally picturing Buzz's wife as Anne Hathaway's character in Brokeback Mountain: Some brassy, tough-as-nails broad with a feathered 80's blonde hairdo fried to perfection, who knew exactly what her husband was getting into. Honestly, that whole clip is a masterclass in acting. Sometimes less is more, and Anne just perfectly nailed it- Lurlene getting that "I know you were screwing my husband and I'm going to be nice to you because you meant something to him even though I really, really want to rip you a new one" vibe across so damn well.

I don't think anybody died in Flux, either, except for Aaron, who died of natural old age. (That was the story his death was announced in, right?) Is Jim Crampton still kicking around? He should be in his late 70's by 2003. I wonder if Mark ever plans on having JJ deal with his paternity, or if it's just going to remain a (barely) kept family secret that no one really talks about. We know he was alive at least up to 2000.

I'm tempted not to count any of the deaths in The Box, because it's a prequel, which would also make that zero. But yeah, this is all a moot point until Mark outlines a list of what he's considering the "official death" count.

Mark, you're a professor. Give us a list of rules here about what people are counting.

Ooh, that's a good point. I think you're right. Which would also play into the Columbine shooting question, as well as the victims of the Concorde crash. He has taken real events and had people die in them, like the maritime accident that killed Andre and Brad's adopted father, and of course 9/11. So I would say the fictional characters he's chose to kill off would count, but not actual people who died in the actual events that Mark decided to include.

Don't forget Matthew Shepherd. We did have Matt actually interact with him. But I won't count the Columbine shooting because we didn't actually meet the people involved. And of course, we're not counting the total 9/11 death count. It needs to be name characters(or real people) we actually interacted with.

I thought with the start of baseball season going, the baseball fans here might get a kick out of an article that Detroit Tigers player Daniel Norris wrote, about what the sport means to him. He's best known as the guy who lives in his van during his off-season. "More Than Just the Man in the Van" by Daniel Norris I'm a sucker for free spirits who don't really go for the conventional life, and I really like this guy. I'm not a baseball fan, but he's a pretty cool guy. And so self-assured at 22! I hope he keeps marching to the beat of his own drum.

Buzzfeed did a video on him: As a guy who grew up during the hey-day of Abercrombie and Fitch, it really is great to see a guy who shows that other kinds of guys can be beautiful, too.

JJ is 30. He's ancient in terms of the figure skating world. I can't see him putting himself where he's around a bunch of 19-year old twinks, and reminded of his own lost youth. It'd be enough to send him to the doctor for yet another botox injection while drinking his favorite green apple martini. Anyway, I love love love the whole background plot of JP deciding that he wants to be involved with turning Claremont Tech into a viable university. It works on a lot of levels- JP's commitment to improving the fortunes of Claremont, and the 1990's/2000's college construction boom in general. With the Millennials hitting college in droves, people were expanding schools to take advantage of that.

Are JP's father(s) still alive? Pa Crampton and Bill Hendrickson? I would assume they aren't, because they would have to be 100 years old at least at this point, but I don't remember how they died. I'm assuming just old age. That's why I'm kind of with Mark that we should stick to in-print death mentions.

Marie Crampton died in print during Man In Motion of cancer. There should be a big death count for Man In Motion because of the AIDS epidemic- Mark wanted to mimic what people said about how the deaths seemed to crest in 1985-1986. Tonto died off print, sometime between A Summer Love and If It Fits, as by that point she was edging toward her 90's. Not sure what happened to the rest of the JP parental generation, or Gen 1. (If you consider JP Gen 2.) I'm assuming they all lived out their lives naturally. Mouse died off-print somewhere between Man In Motion and A Summer Love. Poor guy.

Maybe Terry Serpico? (Frank Sherwood on Lifetime's Army Wives.) I mean, I'm honestly not thinking too hard on this kind of stuff anymore like I used to so it's whatever. Especially since the way you described Buzz doesn't really fit a lot of actors that are in the movies/t.v. right now. He sounds like someone that should have been on a circa 1981 soap opera. Although I still don't get how you've never warmed up to Trevor Donovan as Cody. Eh, oh well. In any event, I still get a kick out of how Anthony Michael Hall went from skinny high school nerd to beefy daddy type.

This one escaped my mind until I saw him doing an AT&T commercial, but former Brat Packer Anthony Michael Hall as Buzz? I have Buzz pictured as a beefy blond with a rugged, kind face and big blue eyes. Not really model looking, but hot in a daddy kind of way.

*Deep sign* Anything for my faaannnans. *said in a Joan Crawford from Mommy Dearest voice* Chapter 27 -When Brad has an awkward encounter with his ex in Chicago. "We Used to Be Friends" by the Dandy Warhols I'm so fucking excited this song exists in CAP-world now. God, I love it. -When Will shows off JP's Stanford retirement Ferrari. This is the Stanford fight song. Pretty cool. They clearly love their classic rock there. -When Will gets a leadership role in the family. "No Such Thing" by John Mayer The John Mayer thing was such a slow burning thing. I remember hearing about him in 2001, and then this one album stayed on the radar for three years. -When JJ fumes about how nobody takes him seriously. "I'm Just A Kid" by Simple Plan This video makes me wish I could still pull off a ringer t-shirt. You know that you're getting old when fashions from when you were a teenager start looking really, really dated.

Wow, this guy managed to find a surviving Blockbuster store and got to tour it! It's pretty cool and very nostalgic! I used to go to a Family Video in Western P.A. in 2012. No pizza though. I do really miss the whole act of going to the store and seeing the aisles, and checking out movies I wouldn't have otherwise looked at. When I was a young teenager in the very early 2000's, I would often go to Hollywood Video, and that's where I'd find gay-themed movies like Get Real or Johns or Trick. (HAAAAAATTTTTTED The Broken Hearts Club though.) That was always kind of my ritual as a kid with little to no social life- go to a video store on a Friday night, rent something, and get some popcorn. I tried really hard to get a job with Hollywood video, but I'm guessing I failed the "personality" test you had to take to work there. Were rental video stores a big part of your own childhood?

Chapter 27 -When Will shows off JP's Stanford retirement Ferrari. "All Right Now" by Free This is the Stanford fight song. Pretty cool. They clearly love their classic rock there.