methodwriter85

Well, true, but in terms of JJ's p.r. (where interest in his image is probably going to start picking up if his season continues going this way), it works. It's not that you can't be gay, or in JJ's case, not-straight. You just can't be OPENLY that way. It seriously boggles my mind that Rudy Galindo became the first openly gay American elite figure skater in 1996, and NOBODY followed him. Johnny Weir is essentially retired, and Evan Lysacek has kept his mouth shut and hid behind Vera Wang. All of the openly gay figure skaters I can think of came out after they stopped competing, especially the ones that were on the international elite level. Here's a 2002 article with Rudy: So, They're all gay, right? It's an interesting read- especially since it's contemporary to JJ's era of figure skating. In any event, JJ can get away with playing the coy game, especially because American figure skaters are expected to be perfect little sexless Disney figurines, anyway. That's contrasted with Zach, who basically had to either be a manwhore thinking of guys when he fucked groupies, or play the Christian card, because that football jock world is so over-sexed that you can't really play the coy game there. There has to be a reason why you're not taking advantage of the women throwing themselves at you. JJ doesn't really have to come up with a reason, because he's expected to be a good little boy who wouldn't even think of engaging in pre-marital sex. Which again...wow, JJ really is perfect for Alex, isn't he? He very much knows how to play the Virgin because he has to for his public image. On another note, it makes me wonder how JJ views the Russians- this was a pretty dominant era for male figure skaters from Russia, with Alexei and of course, Plushenko. He probably worships them. Although hopefully not to the point that Johnny Weir did/does. (Seriously, the guy has like a Russian fetish.) Does JJ get all fanboy over any other figure skaters, or no? I can't actually remember him gushing over the figure skaters he looks up to. Anyway, in terms of slanguage...it looks like Will's an early adopter of saying "fail." It was to the point where I wondered if that was anachronistic, but I found this post from Urban Dictionary dated 2003: I can buy Will picking up a lot of newer, obscure slang being that he's a worldly kid from California, and 2003 is very close to 2002, so eh, I didn't ding that one. It'd be different if, for example, Will said something like he "Facebooked" or "Tweeted" someone, which are very tied into 2003-2004 and 2007-2008, respectively. "Googled" should be one new term that should be picking up steam right about now in the final quarter of 2002. Overall, I liked that the 9/11 Memorial was there, but it wasn't a big focus, because they're moving on with their lives.

I'm not saying he's going to pretend he's not one of them. I'm saying that he's going to keep that on the DL, to use an emerging slang word of the early 2000's. He sure as hell isn't going to introduce his dad and his dad's latest lover on their family jet for some puff piece about his life. As for JJ's sexuality, I think he'll probably keep to the company line of, "Oh, I'm just too busy to even think about settling down with the right girl!" He's lucky that at this point, he's not under intense scrutiny, which will probably change if he stays elite going up to 2006.

Not so much "interfering", but getting himself overly involved. Probably more on Will's side than Robbie's side, but in any event, when Brad really loves you, he tries to control you.

Right, but I doubt JJ's future puff pieces are going to mention Brad or show him on the family jet. I don't think JJ will exactly flaunt who his dad is, and I don't think JJ will want people digging into his family history and then hit upon the story of exactly how he was conceived. I think it'd be understood who his family is and what kind of wealth he comes from, but something that's kept kind of mum in favor of showing JJ going on cookie factory dates with an USFSA-Approved Sweetheart. (This really happened with Evan Lysacek, who was packaged as the All-American Sweetheart to contrast with Johnny Weir when it became clear that Evan was the only American who could beat Johnny.) But yeah, in any event, I think JJ probably doesn't want Brad interfering in his life, after seeing what it was like for Robbie and then Will.

I don't know if those posts got deleted, but I didn't even see the political posts in the future thread. Hmm. Oh, well. There are ways around it, like if you're on a subforum dedicated to a story that has political overtones to it.

On the other hand, I don't think JJ would want Brad anywhere near his career. JJ's probably not exactly shouting it from the rooftops that he's from an incredibly rich family with a powerful openly gay dad. Not exactly the Disney-friendly image JJ is expected to project. As JJ put it, to have Brad really love you, there's a big price you pay for it, and it's not really one JJ wants to pay. I think he prefers Brad as the general hands-off father he normally is.

Chapter 5 -When JJ scopes out his competitors, and figures out that it's a do-or-die performance. "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor Yay for the 80's revival going on now in CAP-time! -When JJ does his performance. "Fascination" *Shrugs* I picked this song because it was the standard that Luke and Laura danced to at that department store in 1980. Seriously, soaps were so much more romantic back then. -When JJ places second in the Nebelhorn Trophy, but is even happier knowing that Alex is there. "Everywhere" by Michelle Branch -When Brad's at the club with Cam. "Flight 643" by DJ Tiesto

Yeah, I don't really see how Will's been that major of a narrator so far. He's not- compare this story to the plot of 9/11, where Will started off the major family conflict, or Paternity, where Will dragged the entire family into a major conflict. Will's issues and problems are largely settled at this point for now- he's fixed his relationships with his father, got rid of his cancerous relationship with Tony, and is settled into a good relationship with Zach. (Although that has its problems as well.) That might be the source of some conflict, but the real conflict here is pretty much all about Zach and his need to get himself through to a big career while staying firmly locked in the closet. As for Brad, I thought it was funny that someone thought he was Cam's dad. Hasn't it been like a running thread in CAP ever since Brad's kids grew up that Brad could still pass for like 27 or something? He's supposed to have aged in like Rob Lowe years. Maybe it was the way Brad was carrying himself, instead of his actual face, because Brad supposedly has nary a grey hair nor wrinkle in sight. Unless the stress of losing Robbie aged him a little bit from the days when people were marveling at how young and ageless Brad was back in 1999/2000, and Brad looks closer to his actual age. I've always looked really young for my age, but recently my real age has started to reflect in the mirror. I kind of chalk that up to the stress of grad school, because after grad school, I didn't get the "you still look 16!" comments anymore. Now the youngest I can pass for might be 24 or so, especially when I don't shave. I still get carded everywhere which is annoying but I figure that'll stop in a few years. So it makes me wonder if Brad's age is starting to creep into his looks, just a little bit. Maybe it's just that because Brad doesn't look 22 anymore, and looks more like he's in his early 30's, he looks "old" to the guy and therefore "old guy with young guy" = parent. I once asked this guy if he was my friend's father (I think he was an uncle in his early/mid-30's) and he freaked out. Although in his case he looked like a very hard-lived 35. Anyway, back over to JJ...I think this counts as JJ's first big podium finish for an international senior competition, and it starts off his 2002-2003 season pretty damn well. I thought Mark did a great job of writing in the tension and feel of that. I also like the foreshadowing here, about how JJ's a headcase who chokes when he's not focused, which means that he'll probably hit a major blunder ala Jeremy Abbott when his deal with Alex inevitably falls apart.

No, I mean a 90210: Behind the Scenes t.v. movie, not a remake of the series.

Fellow Millennials who grew up watching Saturday morning t.v. in the early 1990's, Lifetime is airing a Saved by the Bell biopic on September 1st! I'm so down. Oh my god. It looks trashy, embellished, and casted with people that seem completely wrong for the parts- absolutely perfect for "so bad it's good" t.v. watching. I'm really hoping that if this is successful, they'll get an idea to do one on Beverly Hills, 90210. The Shannen Doherty stuff alone would be great...

Well, to be honest, I thought Brad was going to be pretty central by nature of the fact that he's still recovering from 9/11 and he's going through the dating scene. Brad remains Mark's avatar for the things (and men) that he wishes he could do. As for Will...eh. Mark clearly loves writing for Will but it's not really his conflicts that are carrying this particular story forward. The last time we had a story that wasn't an ensemble piece was Millennium...ever since then, it's basically been either a dual-narrator, or an ensemble piece. Poor Man's Son really signaled that shift- we were set up with the idea that it was Gathan's story and he was the title character, and then Will basically went from being the supporting character to the dual character and then basically the lead character while Gathan got demoted to supporting. So after that experience, I don't really expect anyone to "really" be the star even if the title would indicate that they were. As for why we haven't seen that much of Zach and JJ as the marquee and title would indicate, you gotta remember that Zach and JJ's seasons are just getting started.

Well, it kind of makes sense that we're hearing a lot from Brad and Will, because we're hitting both the 1-year anniversary of 9/11, and Will's 16th birthday.

I just think it's funny that 20 years ago, Brooklyn and the outerboroughs were places you escaped FROM to move to Manhattan, and nowadays people are moving there from Manhattan, especially Brooklyn. They're even building skyscrapers in Brooklyn now. It's funny to think that in maybe 10 or so years, Queens or Staten Island will be some kind of happening, hip hotspot. LOL. In 10 years, I hope they will have FINALLY done something with The Gallery at Market East Mall in Philadelphia. That place was a dump in 2004 long before any kind of Great Recession, and from what I've heard, it's still a shithole. They've had plans for years but nothing ever seems to pan out. I'm not sure I can agree with the idea that Philly is going to become like D.C. or Boston, though- not unless they somehow get a large influx of white-collar jobs, and I'm not sure how likely that really is. Also in 15 years, I predict colleges will be scrambling from declining enrollments, because the Great Recession put a damper on birthrates. The percentage of foreign students at colleges will be pretty high by then, I bet.

Brooklyn will have a lot more skyscapers, and the people priced out of Manhattan and Brooklyn will start gentrifying Staten Island or Queens.

Chapter 4 -When JJ narrates the opening of the 2002 Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany, and gets into bitchy competition mode. "Murder on the Dancefloor" by Sophie Ellis-Bextor This is more Europop than American pop, which at the time was waning in favor of hip-hop. In any event, it's a funny video, and it makes me wonder what JJ would be willing to do in order to win.

Tiffany seems like she's a lesbian who will occasionally have sex with men, but wouldn't actually get into a relationship with one. (I was actually hoping she'd be more on the bisexual side, but that doesn't seem to be where Mark has gone with her because we only see her considering female love interests.) I'm not sure a Tiffany/JJ/Alex triangle could happen, especially considering that she's JJ's lone mother figure now. I also cannot see Tiffany willing to play the beard for anybody, given her own experience of getting crucified by the sport for refusing to play straight like Nicole Bobek did. I looked up the guy, Craig Buntin. Not bad at all. Too bad JJ has his policy about not mixing with other skaters (although Evan seems like an exception), but it's probably smart to avoid that. I really like how many layers there are to JJ- he's so hard to read because he's so enigmatic. He wants to exercise utter control over his emotions, but he can't, and I like how that paragraph was juxtaposed with him talking to his infatuation, Alex. The other thing I thought was interesting is JJ responding to being looked at, in that way. He's used to being the little 12-year old looking shrimp that no one ever gives an appreciative once-over at, while they lust over Darius and Will. It'll be interesting to see how he handles that kind of attention, which will probably start increasing the further along he gets into his career. When we met Will at 13, he was already pretty developed in terms of his sexual interactions with people...with JJ, we're getting more of a neophyte who, aside from his abusive coach, has only ever really made out with people. It'll be interesting to see how JJ handles becoming sexual, especially considering that he's expected to hide that sexuality in order to be the perfect virginal asexual figure skater.

Adam, you rock! Happy birthday.

There's this storyline on the Young and the Restless where a woman who looks like this guy's dead daughter is scheming to seduce him. Not that he fell for it, but it made me think about Blue saying how creepy it was that J.P. slept with a guy who looked like a copy of his dead son who died at 15. Although Mark has really backed off on the idea that the Hayes men look exactly alike, starting with Matt's generation. I wonder if part of that was to avoid situations involving the weirdness of sleeping with people who look so much like another loved one. How weird would it have been if Zach had looked exactly like Robbie and Will still slept with him?

I mean, really, they got 1.3 million views. That's not a bad haul at all, and I'm sure that they'll at least get some curious people from near the area to go. All free publicity there, except for the 200 dollars they probably spent paying the high school kid to shoot and edit the ad on his IPhone. It's like those it's so bad it's good deals, and it's not like professional people haven't come up with anything that bad and cheap-looking: You realize how many millions of dollars were spent to air this ad for the SuperBowl circa 2004? Also random...anyone ever shop at Rue 21? It's a good cheap clothing store. I have a polo I got from there like four years ago that I still like wearing.

Some mall in Missouri decided to put out a jingle for back-to-school shopping, and...well... Something tells me that Mark Arbour despite being from the state has never set foot inside that mall.

Chapter 3 -When Brad and Cam start talking to each at the club. "Hey Ma" by Cam'Ron I remember being intensely anti-hip-hop by about 2002 because it was EVERYWHERE and you were forced to listen to it all the time, but I don't know, I can enjoy this 2002 hip-hop stuff now. I had buried my head into Blink 182 and Good Charlotte poppy punk sand, but this stuff isn't so bad to listen, either. It was featured in a pretty sweet scene from End of Watch.

Mark, you tagged the Streak as 20th century. Shouldn't that be 21st century? Anyway.... The same kind of father who basically dumped raising him to Jeanine for 14 years so that he could focus on being besties with his biological son? I wonder if Brad even realizes that JJ basically considers himself lucky that they aren't very close because as JJ put it, being Brad's favorite comes with a pretty heavy price, one that both Will and Robbie had to experience.

Hey guys, I talked to Tim Saturday and he's doing as well as can be expected. He lucked out and was able to get the charges reduced to a misdemeanor after some cops were talked down. (It's good to know some cops, I guess.) He has a hearing to try and get his car back, and he'll have his hearing October 1st, but things are looking good for him, thank god. He'll just have to pay a shitload of court costs and the like. He'll be alright, I think. Tim told me he went back on Prozac and is seeing a therapist again, so I think he'll be fine. I'm just glad that the whole felony thing won't happen...having a misdemeanor conviction is one thing, but a felony is a whole 'nother thing. As for the saying goodbye bit...I won't lie, I've been down for the past week. And it does bother me that I missed the actual service. At the same time though...I thought a lot about how much Steve HATED ceremonial/formal stuff. It just wasn't his thing at all. He bounced from Delaware as soon as he was done with finals instead of staying around for graduation. We had our real goodbye to college right before we both headed off to our respective grad schools, when we hung out at Brett and Tim's junior year house. So there's something that kind of feels right about the fact that I missed the ceremony, but I was there for the informal lunch where we sat around, ate, looked at photos, and talked about the guy that we all loved and now miss. That was definitely something I needed to do, be around people who don't just dismiss Steve as some junkie that brought his death on himself, so I feel grateful that I got to do it. Some people were talking about having some informal memorials for Steve down the line, which I really hope happens.

So I was checking out Mark's replies to the reviews... And I really, really like that you're going this way with Zach. I love that he's not having some kind of epiphany about how much team work really matters and yada yada yada. It's a great departure from Wade and Matt, who dearly loved their teammates and made really close friends with them. He's a lone wolf, with a few people he lets in, much in the way JJ is. Although with JJ's case, he pretty much latches on to one person and makes them his entire world. I don't think Zach does that, but he does appreciate having Will as an anchor. As for the Streak description...I kinda like that you went succinct there, as opposed to the long, drawn out description we usually get that directs people to the other stories that they've been in. I mean, at 15 stories...

I just think it's funny that the one and only time we've seen someone get arrested for statutory rape in CAP was Gathan in a case that wasn't even statutory as Kristin was 17 and legal in Ohio at the time. As compared to the many, many incidents of actual statutory rape that has happened in CAP, especially since Will became our main oversexed Lolita protagonist. At this point with him being close to 16 it doesn't really bother me anymore...although to be honest, when I was 14, I knew kids in my 8th grade class were having sex and it didn't bother me at all. Although if you think about it, Will's sister Maddy would be close to 14 right now in August 2014. I wonder what his reaction would be if she even came close to the amount of sexual hijnks that Will did when he was 13/nearly 14, particularly if she decided to do a striptease at a European club. LOL. It'll be interesting to see what Riley and Maddy are like as teenagers, and whether or not they'll see themselves as siblings, or...what I'm hoping, engaging in a cute love story that will make La Danfield's head explode. It's kind of blurred there. Particularly when we're talking about guys in their 20's who are basically out for a good time. You think you're invincible at that age. Well, most of them do.