Canuk

Yep, looks like it is "goin' great", but.... who does Connor Joel* keep texting? Or am i being just a tad neurotic? *Oops.... sorry for the confusion! Again, I need to remind myself "Do Not Type Before Coffee!"

There's a build-up to something happening here and I have no idea what! I get the feeling not everything is going to go Frankies way..... almost Tibet is seemingly like a possible refuge...

The Krims Kwins are a problem... but how does one separeate those that belive they have found "the one" and who is to judge who is being used by whom? Naked wrestling: now there is a spectator sport! 😍 Another point about changing times: To most people it means either a queer, hip-swaying, limp-wristed, eyelash-fluttering, screaming feminine wannabe, or a greasy creep who gives boys sweets and then feels them up and fucks them up the arse. I suspect this is a very generational attitude. Back in the historical past when we were young, I think this was dead true, however it is interesting that evidence would suggest that it is changing. When my son came home from school and casually included in the conversation that the captain of the school rugby team was gay, I couldn't help but be impressed at both the school admin and the students (all male) just accepted this. Yes I suppose I have generally be surrounded by wishy washy liberals (small l, for Australian readers!), so perhaps thats the explanation, but since then I have been impressed at the lack of labels my sons and their generation apply to others. (Btw my sons are now in early 30s - what can I say, I was a child when I fathered them😇)

‘She wants to get married. I said I’d slit my veins first. She took it as an insult. Another great line! I do like Frankies common sense (well his common sense about everything except "almost tibet, I still cant get over that!). When asked about hunting naked, he points out that its 12 degrees! Nb re"europhile", you are right (of course) i did misread your comment think that you were calling me a europhile. Which I sort of am. My one trip to Canada resulted in me picking up a bloke. 20 years on and I still havent shaken him off! I should have stuck to europe!

Slovenia is not exactly "the wilds" , like most of the rest of europe you oh so casually dismiss, it is an amazing place built by the passion and faith of people long gone. Bled is just perfection plus, particularly after getting through the mountains from Vienna. Yes, europhile, but then also a "phile" of most "civilised"( yes, i know ill get a flogging for that) bits of the world. My visiting or not visiting these places does not add or subtract from the pleasure or suffering of the builders. The same as my wandering in the wilderness of Healesville or Grose Vale doesnt add or subtract from the wonders of nature. Given Frankie is fictional, even I am limited in suggesting the benefits I (and it would seem others) think that he would benefit from what the collective produced eleswhere. I just hope that he gets similar benefits from almost-tibet. Tho, as you say, the europhile in me suggests not! I can't work out if this is banter or a rant. I'll let you decide!😆

Despite the ultimately hideous place he has ended up in, it would seem that Dad is actually seeing just a little clearer his sons situation. Now he just needs to sort out his other children, his drinking and his finances! Poor bugger!

You do make life so very hard for your characters!as that o so great PM of Australia once said Life wasnt meant to easy, but jeez mate, sending Frankie off to an almost-in-tibet monastery that chrges $5k? As Timothy M suggested, backpacking around europe would be way more enlightening! I am amazed Frankie allowed himself to be photographed; the first piece of sloppiness we have seen in our hero. I do hope he learned from that error. , ‘Karmai has a platitude for every occasion.’ Great line! i look forward to Frankie's contact with "uncivilisation" in almost-tibet!

Good result for Frankie, but somewhat of a stressful journey to get there! It does raise the question of when we, and I am not just talking Australia here, will actually start planning for the effects of climate change. Moving a large chunk of melbournes population to Ballarat, Bendigo, Seymour, Shepperton, albury/wodonga would seem to be simple compared to getting sydney ro move over the blue mountains!

Yes! Sorry, after 2.5 very long years here, I have fallen into their shorthand...

Nope, in NA one roots anything, in Australia we tend to have to like the person, even vaguely, first!

Does that really sound like a @Rigby Taylor plot?

the old "fail to plan; plan to fail" I don't think was meant to be interpreted as "have a 100 plans and one will surely work"! This is about as nightmare-ish situation as they have been in. the cavity search precludes the old knife-in-the-bum trick, and I just can't believe the "overpower the victim" thing will work either.... very intrigued to see how this goes..... As soon as he said "Anne Thrope" I groaned- I just knew she was Miss Anne Thrope.... and then just to make sure he said it! You must have a book of appropriately suggestive names!

I did think that peace and tranquility was not going to last... NSW property sharks are definitely people you need to keep at a distance. An ex's father was hounded over property he owned in Grose Vale,(which must be somewhere near Frankies place?). Frankies development and his understanding of that development was heartwarming. Not sure if everyone has that self awareness moment. I recall mine vividly! Thank you for your kind comments. You write well; i try and make sure my comments reflect that.😃

Very pleasant surprise! Daventry's news and they way he presented it to Granger was most intimate and charming. If the Russian ships are made of soft wood, going to be hard to get them all the way back to England as prizes. The main benefit is that Grainger has announced his presence and rescuing 200 ships while knocking out two Russians, should make their arrival in StPetersburg, if not more welcome, at least with more respect! Wonderful read. Thanks

Wonderful. Truly great wringing where the scene becomes so vivid! There is something perverse in enjoying watching or being watched having sex (without it porn would be pointless). I dont know of anyone who gets excited about watching people eat, or brush their hair, or even someone cutting someone elses toe nails, but sex... One minor point; revolutions don't start at the bottom; they start in the middle. As long as the middle feels they get more by sticking with the top, there wil be no revolution. As soon as the middle feels they are entitled to more, they get the bottom to join them to overthrow the top. Really enjoying your writing. You really have created a new style: rational sexy polemic.😉😆😍

Frankie the revolutionary! The test will come when they confront the powerbrokers of the status quo. Not all teachers, (probably very few) are good enough to direct independent minnded students. That takes a lot of skill. Hence most schools are run along the lines of amy camps with rules about sock height and hair length. Very enjoyable. I am suprised that no one has died....😆🤗😍

That sounds like a fantasy.... but if it helps 😀

"Timorous hope"; very timorous, Id suggest! Mind you at the rate they are going they will clean up the underworld one pair of cons at a time! V enjoyable!

this is one train wreck of a family. and no one is getting any help whatsoever. Jon is typical for his age, a bigot about everything and a bloated idea of his importance to the world, Suzanne is possibly the most normal, Simon is in a nightmare situation of trying to sort his own sexuality, having a friend that helped him through his mothers death and his family, and finally Jeff with post war/battlefield stresses, losing a wife, bring up three children without any idea how and verging on alcoholic. This is going to take some sorting! They are going to need some outside support, and I don't see where this is going to come from, at this stage. Great read, amazing characters that its possible to feel real empathy with.

However good the teachers are their inability to understand their students and see what is in front of them is alarming. The girls in the school are in for a shock when real life is not like this at all; while they wont be raped or abused their whims and fantasies won't be tolerated at all.

Interesting discourse on relationships. The comments on the differences between hetro and ss relationships spot on. Good idea not to make people dependent on Frankie by giving them $5m. I think it adds to cohesiveness if you have people who want to be there rather than have to. They need a scapegoat for the deaths..... i have this idea they my find one, just to make the police job a little easier!😆

I think someone just made their point, subtly, and not so anyone would notice, but yes, just a hint....

Well, theres the upside to offline, back on line is twice the pleasure! Perfect new chapter. The actions of the police are sadly not complete fiction. How do we move beyond that? The gap between people who feel they own the law and those who feel frightened by the law enforcers is a very sad endightment of the the law and its enforcers. Unless people trust the law is fair to all and that law is enforced based on facts and evidence and not prejudice and parochialism, we cannot survive as a society.

Jeez, you go off line for a few hours and everyone who is anyone posts..., some twice! 😆 Yes, great chapter. Nice to see plans moving forward (wish I could say mine were...) Love the house. Bit too close to Sydney for my liking. Glad Sylvan has escaped and found refuge. Still worried about the dead... they do talk, sadly. Now I'll read the next chapter!😍

Great story! Snake sounds quite a character. Little concerned that despite the act in the bar, the lack of bodies is going make people suspicious where the thugs disappeared to.... and presumably their families/business colleagues knew where they were going and why. I love the description of the house. Sounds almost like it could have been Lachlan Macquaries architect, whose name escapes me at the moment...😆 I spent a brief part of my youth on a property like that. They resumed it to incorporate into a state park, whereupon they chopped down a whole lot of trees to "improve the view". Even back then we thought it strange!