methodwriter85

In this episode of Teens React, the teens try on some 1980's clothing and laughter is had by all. I'm a HUGGGGGEEEEEEE fan of 80's nostalgia, so I totally wish I could've been there, trying on neon sweatbands and the like. I actually even bought a vintage 1980's blue Members Only jacket once. I tried to find a fanny pack for a tourist Halloween costume, but I couldn't find it. It's fun to see how things that were considered really stylish at one time become hilariously bad after twenty or thirty years. Like nowadays, grunge fashion is getting laughed at. I'm pretty sure in another ten years, the stuff from my time will be laughed at. For those of you old enough to have partaken in 80's fashion, are there any hilariously bad trends you want to admit wearing?

Chapter 17 -When JJ and Alex have some nice early morning fun. "Down 4 U" by Ja Rule ft. Ashanti Ashanti was like everywhere in 2002. -When Brad and Cam have their own fun. "Oops, Oh My" by Tweet There's absolutely no shortage of sexual R&B/hip-hop tunes from the early 2000's.

Yeah. It's good shit. Although I had to take out some big ol' emo tunes out because I thought about the fact that you're just not going to get people to dance to "Screaming Infidelities" by Dashboard Confessional.

I just got a FB message from a former classmate, who wanted me to pick up to 20 songs that make me feel nostalgic for high school. So, here are my picks: 1.) " 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) 8.) " 9.) 11.) 12.) 13.) 14.) 15.) 16.) "" 17.) " 18.) 19.) 20.) Damn, this was hard to limit to 20 songs. There were some picks I had in there that I had to take out because there were a little too dark or they were kind of just too obscure. But yeah...'05 forever!

Damn, your nephew had to have been pretty hot if he was getting screentested for it. Pictures or it didn't happen.

See, I thought she did a great song in making it sound like it belonged in the 60's. I didn't even realize that was the cover- I thought it WAS Dusty Springfield. That was such an awesome movie opening, in any event.

I think it's safe to say that JJ won't be having kids for a long, long time, if he does at all. He seems like he can barely stand to be in the same room with kids. Hell, I can see JJ deciding to get a vasectomy in his 20's just to make sure he doesn't spawn them. LOL. Darius and Will, definitely will...Darius especially. Remember how he was kind of disappointed that Ella's pregnancy scare wasn't real? (Although he's gotta be glad now, considering what Ella turned out to be like.) I wouldn't be surprised if Darius was a husband and father before the age of 25. Although...I mean, Brad seems to consider Matt a son, Matt considers Riley his son, so Brad's already kind of a grandfather. I don't know if Brad actually has referred to Riley as a grandson, though. He'll definitely do that with the upcoming kid, though. It's rooted in the fact that JJ was born 6 weeks premature (he was actually due in February 1986), and Will was always bigger and taller than him. Jeanine was especially protective of JJ because of how small he was, and Will wasn't given the "baby" treatment because Will wasn't that small. JJ really is a relatively a "good kid" compared to his brothers, despite his bitchy attitude. He may lash out and say shit, but ultimately he falls in line with what people expect of him.

I think what I'm saying is that it'd be impossible to replicate a Will-kind of rebellion against Brad with JJ, not just because JJ's a different person, but because JJ didn't grow up as being incredibly close to Brad and seeing himself as Brad's best friend. Will did, and the fact that Will went from being upset that Brad didn't make him his best man at his commitment ceremony to fling for emancipation in the span of about eight CAP months was what drove so much of the emotions there. And as they pointed out to Brad, JJ's rage burns cold. It's not like he'd blow up, work through it, and then come back to Brad when he's over being pissed. He very much could sever all ties with Brad and not look back, kind of similar to what Zach's doing here with his parents because they're getting in the way of what he wants. Will at his core lives and breathes family, and though he may have huffed and puffed and acted out, I don't think he could have ever totally severed things with his parents. JJ could, and Zach has. That's what I like about the story here- you've got two athletes, in very different sports, who are nonetheless capable of being utterly ruthless when it comes to getting what they want. It's very different from when we followed Matt and Wade's experiences in sports. I've been working out JJ's career timeline with someone who knows a lot about the sport. We based JJ's advancement roughly on Johnny Weir, who started skating at around 12. By the time Johnny Weir was 16, he won the Junior World Championship. So JJ advancing from skating first at age 12 and then becoming in contention for senior competition titles by 16 is pretty rare, but not impossible. 2001-2002 was JJ's first senior season, and this one is his second senior-level season. I'm hoping like hell we see them at the U.S. "Disaster" championship of January 2003, where Johnny Weir was leading but then completely choked, and the men's free program then saw a lot of that. Alex is about 22 at most, while JJ is nearly 17. There's maybe a 6-year gap at the most. JJ's coach was 45 when he was molesting JJ, who was 14/15 and an immature 15 at that. It's not really comparable. It'd be a lot harder for them to make Alex disappear. Alex is British nobility, remember? If he disappeared, people would miss him. Alex seems to be an only child, so it doesn't seem like his family would have a spare, either. And if you think about it, the Cramptons/Schluters don't really seem to mess with the people who are on their level socially, or even higher up. I think that's the reason why Elizabeth Danfield is still breathing- she's on a higher level socially than the Cramptons/Schluters are. What they could do is financially ruin the family.

I'm glad that Mark spared us a JJ meltdown. It just would have been too much of a redux of the Brad/Will rebellion stuff, which spanned over three stories. And in all honesty, Brad just did not earn the right to play "protective dad" now, when JJ's almost 17, after the many years that JJ was just an afterthought to Brad, who was almost always focused on Will. That's why I don't think that kind of story would have worked for them, because Brad/JJ don't have the baggage of having once been extremely close and best buddies, which is what drove so much of the Brad/Will drama. I really liked JJ wondering if and when he's going to tell Alex about his molestation. I also liked that Brad pointed out how limited the future is with JJ and Alex, which JJ didn't really want to hear but knows that he's right.

Chapter 16 -When Brad and JJ come to some sort of understanding. "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" by Britney Spears The song title still makes me laugh all these years later. After that though, it really does fit if you think about it. JJ's on his way to becoming a man, but he's still very much a boy in many ways, and these are his "in-between days." And Britney Spears was the ultimate in the whole "Look at me, I'm a good girl who just can't help acting bad sometimes!" act. -When JJ and Alex continue their courtship. "Wishin' & Hopin'" by Ani DiFranco The throwbacks just feel really appropriate for them. -When Brad gets called by NYC Hook-up, and has some fun. "Hey, Baby" by No Doubt

Yeah. The thing is, JJ can't have sex with people that he can't trust. He just can't. There's a lot riding on his image. I really did like how that sexual encounter developed. It wasn't just oral sex, but some actual character development. JJ's playing a role, but it's mainly the truth, one that works for what Alex wants. That Zach speech was just classic CAP. And the best part, it's all true- Will IS a hero, and a brave guy who faced down some very scary moments.

It's not even the original sign, LOL. Those letters are from the restoration of 1978. They're not even older than Private Tim. In 1993, UCLA frat boys changed the sign to say 'Go, UCLA', which prompted the installation of a 100k security system in 1994. I wonder if people have still gotten around that. Me? I just remember the 1993 class of West Beverly Hills getting commemorated with the sign: (Does anyone know if they really did that, or was that faked?)

I really do love how you're developing JJ's sex life. It feels right and very "him", so to speak, rather than just a typical horny CAP sex encounter. He doesn't have free abandon when it comes to sex like a normal attractive teenage guy would because of the massive expectations on him, not to mention his issues. It doesn't just feel like you're throwing in sex encounters just for the fun of it, here. There's some genuine character development going on in that scene.

Chapter 15 -When Zach gets finished with his speech, and everyone is in awe of what a hero Will Schluter is. "Hero" by Chad Kroeger It is still insane to me that they did a Spiderman reboot just 5 years after Spiderman 3. I loved Andrew Garfield in it, but I can see why it's not really setting the domestic U.S. box office on fire. -When JJ and Alex talk about the family drama, and JJ assures Alex he's in this. "Dilemma" by Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland My god, this song was EVERYWHERE that year. Ugh. -When JJ and Alex get hot. (Well, for JJ.) "Touch-a, Touch-a Me" from the Rocky Horror Picture Show As soon as I read that chapter, I knew this was the tune. Come on, it's dead-on, no-brainer for that moment. That song is basically JJ's theme for this entire story. I'm not a full-on Rocky Horror groupie, but my sister was really into it back in the early 90's, so I know the movie pretty well. I've know it since I was about 7 or so.

I gotta correct you a bit on the "raised by a drug addict" mother- JJ never really knew Bitty except for the brief time when she tried to take custody of JJ and Darius in 1995. (And then conveniently died of a drug overdose.) He was pretty much claimed by Jeanine as her son from birth, because Bitty pretty much went back to the crackhouses as soon as she gave birth to JJ at the end of 1985. But other than that, I agree. JJ aspires to purity even though he's certainly not innocent. Aside from it being what's he's expected to do, I think JJ needs a way to stand apart from his brothers, and not being a manwhore is one way to do it. He might have sex with Alex at some point (I mean, come on, this IS Mark Arbour writing and I'm not sure he'd let JJ keep his virginity through this entire story), but he's pretty vice-free compared to his brothers. He doesn't drink, he doesn't do drugs, and he doesn't slut around even though he probably could if he really wanted to. JJ does excess in other ways (I bet his closet is the size of a normal-szied bedroom), but he keeps himself relatively reigned in compared to his family. I think Mark's hinted that JJ is actually pretty good at reading people. When he tries to go for the obvious manipulation, he'll get called on it, but we've seen that JJ is actually quite astute when it comes to how other people act.

From JJ's point of view, the idea that ANY of these people think they've earned the right to talk about how to maintain long-term relationships is pretty laughable. I also liked how Will pointed out how different JJ is. He won't blow up, and then cool down and forgive. His rage is cold, and it lasts for a very long time. I don't think JJ's even forgiven his mother at this point. And he's still rather chilly to Madison because of how she represents his mother's breakdown to him.

I can see Coachella being right up their Alley. The vibe I get is that it's a big ol' Bro fest with their sorority girls wearing flower headbands. John Hobart especially seems like he'd be a target guy for that.

Here's another view of the skyline, similar to the last but from the view of the new boardwalk they put in on the east bank of the Schuylkill River.

I read about Burning Man on Wikipedia, and I'm still confused as fuck about what exactly it is. I thought it might be a music festival, but it seems like some kind of festival where people just groove on different vibes and try and accomplish a variety of different socially-conscious things while burning an effigy and trippin' on a myriad of substances in the California desert. I honestly can't see either Wade or Matt doing something like that. Matt is the overgrown frat boy and Wade is the prepster. I think the only person I can *maybe* see doing something so off-beat and weird would be Marie. If Mouse had lived to the 1990's, I think he might have gotten into it. (Mouse was an abused outcast that Brad befriended in high school who eventually got AIDS in 1985, became J.P.'s lover, but then died somewhere before 1991.) From what I read, the event got too popular for it's own good and it seems to be coming with increasing restrictions as a result. Bummer. I would give anything for Firefly Music Festival to go back to the small, 30k festival it was in 2012, but it seems like its founders are determined to hit that 100k mark in less than half-a-decade.

I'm not sure Mark's taking Alex and JJ to an X-rating, but I'm sure they'll be at least a solid PG-13, which can still be pretty hot indeed.

I don't know, girl figure skaters are even more repressed than the male ones are. In either case, they're not really allowed to act like they know what pre-marital sex is. On the other hand, being short wouldn't have been an hindrance to getting sex if JJ were a girl. It doesn't really seem like anybody's been allowed to keep their virginity past the age of about 12 or 13, at least with this generation. (Marie MIGHT have kept it up to about 15- but I'm not sure that Abercrombie Shirt Guy was her first time.) I think the only reason JJ hasn't gone past making out with people is because of his trauma from his abuse...the fact that he's almost 17 and still considered a virgin makes him really outlie the current teen CAP standards Mark's set for CAP. By the CAP standards Mark's set, neither Riley or Maddie would be virgins in September 2014, as they'd be 14. I would seriously love to see a 26-year old Will have the sex talk with a 12-year old Maddie in 2012. LOL. Courtney at the age of 19 in 2014 would probably long have made Ace want to rip his hair out. It'd be fucking hilarious if former womanizer Ace was gifted with a daughter that was something like Karen Owen. Well, given that JJ's training at an elite level, he probably does have a lot of self-control. He can't just do anything he wants to do, whether it's drugs, promiscuity, or eating a bowl of ice cream. That's where JJ is very different from Will, where Will pretty much does whatever he wants to do because he can and because he doesn't think about what people think. Although the other thing is...JJ's much pickier than Will would ever be. That's another thing that would keep him from racking up the kind of numbers Will has. Included in someone's hotness level for JJ isn't just the physical, like it would be for Will. There's also their pedigree. For example, JJ would have NEVER hit on and had sex with a taxicab driver like Will did, no matter how hot they were. That's why, even though JJ's libido is heating up and he does indeed having the slutty genes running through him, he's still able to maintain self-control here with Alex. Alex is like the top prize here because of who he is, more so than because he's hot. JJ's not going to risk losing his chance at the prize. This is being written by Mark Arbour. I really wouldn't expect something THAT chaste. I don't foresee orgies or stripping in Euro clubs any time soon, but I can't see Mark bothering with the story of JJ's sexual awakening with Alex if that's all that was going to happen. I asked if he'd consider having a supporting character or two that reflected the whole "Abstinence pledge" deal that was going on during this decade and he pretty much said no way in hell. LOL. I remember in high school, we were visited by a group that tried to convince us to be abstinent. I think pretty much the only people that actually did it were the Mormons. I wonder if we'll meet any Mormons in CAP. The Mormons really seemed to expand in the national consciousness during the 2000's, probably because of their aggressive proselytizing.

Brian Parnell, born 1973, died 2000. He was JP's half-brother, who was conceived by Bill Hendrickson (JP's biological father), and turned up in If It Fits, which was set in 1995. He was a dead-ringer for JP, and that's when they realized he was JP's brother. Took part in a crazy plot against the family during the story Millennium, which was set in late 1999 - early 2000. He crossed a line, and the family ordered a hit out on him. Brian was killed during sex by their hit men, I believe somewhere around March 2000 while he was hiding out somewhere in Washington, P.A.

Chapter 13 -When Zach finally gets fed up with Wally. "Perfect" by Simple Plan Simple Plan. God, long live the emo period of the early/mid-'00's. I'm kinda fudging on this tune, because the album this song was on was indeed out, but the actual song wasn't released as a single until much later. Eh. Whatever. It fits, so it's in. -When JJ goes to the Boston Symphony with Alex. "Bolero" -When JJ shares a passionate kiss with Alex. Well, passionate for them. "Paint the Silence" by South I'm excited to think that The O.C. is only a year away in CAP-land! So exciting. That show, at least during the first year it was on, really did cause an explosion of new trends in both fashion and music. - When Zach plays being injured and causes all kind of shit. "Fat Lip" by Sum 41 I have visions of Hot Topic-clad people in black outfits with red plaid accents, safety pins, and Manic Panic hairdye. Ugh.

The Coachella team has paired up with the Firefly team, with massive expansion plans for Firefly including a possible 2-weekend plan. 2-week Firefly Fest Possibility; Firefly Partners Up With Coachella I feel really ambivalent about this. Obviously Coachella seems like a legendary music festival, but that's something that got built up over a decade. Firefly trying to match its size by Year 4 or Year 5 just feels ridiculous. I knew that the small, 30k festival of Year 1 was long gone, but trying to add like another 20,000 fans or so to the 80,000 that came for Year 3 just seems like a recipe for disaster. I'm also really not sure that the people who live around the area are going to be cool with this. It's not like it's a completely isolated field- there are housing developments and residential roads on the periphery. On the other hand...in 2010, I never could've imagined that there would be a massive 80k music festival where I could have watched people crowdsurf during Weezer and Third Eye Blind, as well as see bands like The Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters play without having to go to Philadelphia, so that's pretty cool. I'm leaning towards just doing one year for Year 4, though. I kind of feel obligated to go every year since I'm now officially a Firefly veteran, but eh.

I immediately thought of this tune from my childhood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhrBDcQq2DM