Black Widow (Story Discussion)

[Mark Arbour]

The latest installment in the CAP Series, Black Widow, has officially been launched.  You'll find the prologue and the first chapter here.

 

By the way, to get updates on this story, follow the link above, and simply click on "follow this story" in the upper right part of the blurb.  If you follow all of my stories, you can actually get updates on everything, by going here and clicking on "follow this author."

 

An FYI...I had planned to write a number of chapters of this story and publish them a bit later than this, to maintain a more regular posting pace, but the US Supreme Court decision spurred me to go ahead and launch the story now.  

[Kitt]

Welcome Back. I know you were not really gone but we missed you and the Crampton-Schulter family.

[Timothy M.]

Good to get some Will Drama   and nice to see those three very different brothers being there for each other.

Shame Mary Ellen didn't die giving birth.   But then I guess we wouldn't get as much drama and intrigue...

I'm worried about Stef and JP. I hope they get over whatever is wrong.

[mmike1969]

Chapter 1)

 

Gods, everyone is bitchy today. Must be the food. Maybe the staff at Escorial needs to switch to decaf, gluten free, high fiber, non-GMO, locally grown, organic and all natural food. These people can afford it.

 

Unless all these people spent all the $$$ already and everyone is broke. Free spending on Stef's billions DOES have a limit at some point.

 

Or someone is dying. (That's my guess). We haven't had a good death in TWO whole stories!

[methodwriter85]

Alright...I'll do what I always do and update the ages of the characters at the start of a new story....character ages as of July 12th, 2003:

 

JP- 67

Stefan- 58 on July 14th

Brad- 40

Ace- 40

Jack- 39 or 40

Claire- 38

Marcel and Lou- 34

Cody- 33

Tiffany- 27

Matt- 23

Wade- 23

MaryEllen- About 22

Darius- 21

Beau- 20

Zach- 18

JJ- 17

Ethan- 17

Marie- 17

Will- 16

John- Turning 16 on July 21st

Courtney- 7

Maddy- 34 months

Riley- 34 months

Bobby- Newborn

Ricky- Newborn

 

The core teenaged group is all at least 16 now. Good. Now I can stop feeling weird about all the sex scenes. (16-year olds having sex doesn't bother me as much as when it's 14/15-year olds. I guess because they can drive?) I think JJ is the ONLY one in that group who stayed a virgin until he was 16. LOL

 

The next baby born needs to be a girl. There's a gender imbalance with this new age cohort Mark is building. I guess MaryEllen and Alex can have Irish twins as baby-making is pretty much all MaryEllen is expected to do now. When they have their daughter circa September 2004, I'm voting for the name Isabella. Mainly because in about four years, it's going to be a very hot name.

 

Also, poor Courtney...too young for Will's age cohort, too old for Riley's cohort.

Edited June 27, 2015 by methodwriter85

[mmike1969]

Jack twice? I think you mean John.

[methodwriter85]

Jack twice? I think you mean John.

 

Corrected.

 

I swear to god, I feel like I've been stuck watching Thirteen on Endless Repeat because of all the underaged sexploits with the Will generation. Thank god they're inching towards legality now.

 

Darius is 21 now...god, that was a crazy/fun/awful age. Although in Darius's case, it doesn't really mean much because like Will, he probably had a great fake. (We were the last generation that could really do fakes, just before scanning became a thing. I feel sorry for the 20-year olds born in 1994/1995 who have to try and get fakes now.. Although again...not like that really matters for rich and famous kids.)

 

I do think it's funny that JJ's 17 and he couldn't care less about getting a license. Honestly, if I could afford it, I'd get a driver, too.

Edited June 27, 2015 by methodwriter85

[mmike1969]

Because of "certain circumstances", I was unable to get auto insurance until I was 18. So I didn't bother getting a license.

 

Something about a year of auto insurance for me was $5,000 in 1986-87. So yeah, I DID hire chauffeur driven cars once and a while as it WAS cheaper for me

 

I only wish I thought of Uber back then!

Edited June 27, 2015 by mmike1969

[impunity]

Hey hon, you need to add Alex.

[methodwriter85]

I don't think Alex has a specific age...just somewhere in his early/mid-20's. I would probably guess about 23.

 

We usually don't get a real specific age unless somebody celebrates a birthday, or we see them born onscreen. Tiffany and Cody's birthdays, for example, haven't been specified, but we went with the idea that Tiffany was 22 when we first met her in Bloodlines, and Mark made a reference to Cody being 25 in If It Fits, which was set in 1995, therefore Cody was born in either 1969 or 1970.

 

And sometimes ages are completely vague- I don't think Mark ever described how old Wade's parents are. I don't think they're as old as Matt's (late 50's), but I don't think they would be as young as the Be Rad Generation. Well, Elizabeth, anyway, as Jeff is no longer aging.

 

I don't really consider them relevant characters anymore, but Gathan and Tony should be 21, while Ella should be 20.

Edited June 28, 2015 by methodwriter85

[impunity]

I don't think Alex has a specific age...just somewhere in his early/mid-20's. I would probably guess about 23.

 

We don't have a specific age for Mary Ellen either, but she is on the chart. Of course, it is your chart so you can decide who is on it. But I'd include Alex with his approximate age given his relevance to this story.

[Daddydavek]

I'm still trying to guess where Mark is heading with his intriguing title and my best guess is that it will have multiple meanings for several of his characters.  But it certainly seems to point to the relationship between Stef and JP as a starting point.   Will it have some resonance for Will and Zach, or Matt and Wade, or JJ and Alex, or Alex and ME, or Brad and Marc, or all of them?  Or perhaps even more?

Edited June 28, 2015 by Daddydavek

[impunity]

I'm still trying to guess where Mark is heading with his intriguing title and my best guesses is that it will have multiple meanings for several of his characters. But it certainly seems to point to the relationship between Stef and JP as a starting point. Will it have some resonance for Will and Zach, or Matt and Watt, or JJ and Alex, or Alex and ME, or Brad and Marc, or all of them? Or perhaps even more?

I'm voting for ME (the term seems tailor-made for her) and maybe Marc. I'm still not sure I trust him, and Brad has gotten awfully isolated from the rest of the family (although maybe that's just because he's being a self-absorbed arse).

 

Also, has anyone else noticed that Thomas Hartford hasn't had a single mention since Will's little surprise "reunion" dinner? I can't imagine Mark went to all that trouble to reintroduce him just to drop him again. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that he has something to do with whatever is bugging Stef.

Edited June 28, 2015 by impunity

[methodwriter85]

We don't have a specific age for Mary Ellen either, but she is on the chart. Of course, it is your chart so you can decide who is on it. But I'd include Alex with his approximate age given his relevance to this story.

 

I think it's been said that she's about a year younger than Wade. Beau was specifically described as being 15 in Bloodlines, which would make him 20 now, as 5 years have passed since Bloodlines. But sure...

 

JP- 67

Stefan- 58 on July 14th

Brad- 40

Ace- 40

Jack- 39 or 40

Claire- 38

Marcel and Lou- 34

Cody- 33

Tiffany- 27

Matt- 23

Wade- 23

Alex- About 23

MaryEllen- About 22

Darius- 21

Beau- 20

Zach- 18

JJ- 17

Ethan- 17

Marie- 17

Will- 16

John- Turning 16 on July 21st

Courtney- 7

Maddy- 34 months

Riley- 34 months

Bobby- Newborn

Ricky- Newborn

 

I think it's kind of funny we still have no clue how old Elizabeth Danfield is, or even really what she looks like. She's just ageless and timeless.

Edited June 28, 2015 by methodwriter85

[impunity]

I think it's been said that she's about a year younger than Wade. Beau was specifically described as being 15 in Bloodlines, which would make him 20 now, as 5 years have passed since Bloodlines. (Their time- it's actually been six years since Mark wrote the story!) Thank god it seems like the timeline is starting to move a little faster now- 2000 seemed to take the longest freakin' time.

 

I once had hope that JJ and I would be in our 20's at the same time, but Mark has quashed those hopes as I'm turning 30 in six months and JJ is still freakin' 17.

 

You really don't want Alex on the chart, do you? 

Edit: Maybe Mark should write in a birthday party for him.

Ah, I see you just added him. Thanks.

 

I think the age I'm having the hardest time believing is Beau's. Maybe it's because we never see him, but he seems like he should be younger. Then again, I say the same thing about my nieces and nephews who all live in other states. Haha.

Edited June 28, 2015 by impunity

[methodwriter85]

You really don't want Alex on the chart, do you? 

Edit: Maybe Mark should write in a birthday party for him.

Ah, I see you just added him. Thanks.

 

I think the age I'm having the hardest time believing is Beau's. Maybe it's because we never see him, but he seems like he should be younger. Then again, I say the same thing about my nieces and nephews who all live in other states. Haha.

 

It's right, though. Beau was 15 in 1998...it's now 2003, so he should be 20, or getting ready to turn it.

 

Robbie's birthday was never actually specified until the last story. There was just a reference in Be Rad that Robbie's 18th birthday was going to be March, 1981.

 

I actually went through stories and found that March is a month that usually doesn't see a lot of action in CAP-world- the only two stories that did have a lot happen in March were If It Fits and Millennium.

 

Anyway, I bitched to Mark that I thought Bobby was a really old-fashioned name for a little boy in the 2000's, but he swears its not. I don't know though- my one sister had kids and has ton of friends with kids- and they were running around with names like Aiden, Jayden, Avery, etc etc.

 

Then again it's supposed to be a tribute to Robbie, so it's okay.

 

I still get such a kick out of how much JJ can't stand kids. LOL. I like that JJ's going the Marcel route. Leave the breeding for this generation to Darius and Will.

 

Although that could actually be for an interesting story down the road- what happens if JJ's with a partner who wants to raise a family, and realizes that JJ would be rather be dragged through a mud pit set in the middle of a Wal-Mart while wearing polyester clothing than become a father? That is actually a deal-breaker for most people, it seems like. I mean, it's different with Alex because Alex isn't really asking him to become a father figure to the kid, and it's doubtful that Alex is really going to be a gung-ho, active parent. It's just not the way those kids are brought up.

Edited June 28, 2015 by methodwriter85

[Kitt]

I am thinking that Wade and his siblings spent a fair amount of time with a nanny or whatever Virginia blue bloods call them. Alex and M.E. leaving Ricky to be essentially raised by the help is probably a forgone conclusion.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Kitt

[mmike1969]

I just noticed something disturbing or exciting, depending on your point of view.

 

Notice our favorite author never bothered with birth dates with characters he ended up killing later in the series?

[methodwriter85]

I just noticed something disturbing or exciting, depending on your point of view.

 

Notice our favorite author never bothered with birth dates with characters he ended up killing later in the series?

 

Billy got a birthdate (October 27, 1964) and Mark still killed him off. Just about a week shy of his 16th birthday, no less.

 

I don't think Ricky got an actual birthdate, did he?

 

Fully disclosure: My middle name is Richard. I have on occasion told people to call me Ricky or Rick when I didn't feel like giving them my first name. My family also calls me J.R. It's a really funny parallel to JJ. I still think R.C. would be a cool nickname for Bobby but we'll see on that. LOL.

 

Anyway, the thing is, like in real life- people aren't really that gung-ho about birthdays once they get past the age of 21, with the exception of landmark birthdays like 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, etc. They stop really having much meaning. And when Mark introduces people, sometimes it's hard to know whether or not they'll be a long-term character or not. Max was originally intended to be a much bigger character than he wound up being, while Wade was originally just going to be a teammate that Matt messed around with. (And now his family has basically become a core CAP family.) Given the sheer volume of characters that Mark introduces, it would be silly to give every single one a birthdate and a full back-story...usually an approximate age will suffice.

 

Of course, if the age has a plot point, we see them born or celebrating a birthdate, or they're narrating...then yeah, of course they can get a birthdate.

[Mark Arbour]

I just noticed something disturbing or exciting, depending on your point of view.

 

Notice our favorite author never bothered with birth dates with characters he ended up killing later in the series?

 

The author feels free to murder at will, regardless of birthdate. 

[methodwriter85]

The author feels free to murder at will, regardless of birthdate. 

 

Again, see: Billy Crampton. Also, I'm pretty sure Jeff Hayes celebrated his birthday in the original CAP story. Dear god, I hope the Hayes curse is finally over. LOL.

 

Anyway, did anyone else catch that Lou is reporting in Iraq? That's pretty cool. I guess he's going to become a hunky version of Anderson Cooper. LOL.

 

I also liked the bit about China- China's economic boom was in full-throttle in 2003, wasn't it? If the 80's were Japan's decade, it feels like the 2000's was China's.

 

I kind of thought we missed an opportunity for JJ to note that he has a massive following in China. That would have been hilarious. I feel like he should have gone there at least once- for sure he's been to Japan. There are a lot of international skating events in Japan.

 

Anyway, I just realized something bugging me- Darius, JJ, and Will calling Robbie "Robbie", and not "Pop". I thought he was Pop to them? Damn, I wish I had caught that earlier. Oh, well.

[mmike1969]

It's NOT that difficult to figure out Billy's birthdate. He did have a twin after all

[impunity]

The author feels free to murder at will, regardless of birthdate. 

 

As long as you don't screw up and accidentally murder Will...

[Headstall]

As long as you don't screw up and accidentally murder Will...

I don't think Mark would do that, but given a chance, some of the readers might ... not me though... I love Will

[mmike1969]

I don't think Mark would do that, but given a chance, some of the readers might ... not me though... I love Will

Now you are just kissing ass Headstall