James Carnarvon

Being lonely around lots of other people is an interesting idea and one that is touched on in an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, albeit from a rather different angle: I'm lucky enough to not be totally lonely, but if I were... I think I would feel it more profoundly in a busy place surrounded by other people than I would somewhere quiet and remote on my own.

Snow on Christmas day in Ravello is vanishingly unlikely almost to the point of divine intervention, but these struggling parents needed a break! Artistic license - it's a Christmas story, so of course there's snow. 😅 Did you get the joke about Tiziana's name, then? A little understanding of Italian pronunciation and British slang is all you need. I tried to explain, once, why she doesn't like to be called "Tiz", but it tripped GA's content filter and my comment was auto-moderated... 🤣 (.)(.)

I'm so glad you caught that about Giaco! It's highly relevant to what follows in the next story... Speaking of which, The Summer of the Selfless is careening rapidly towards its conclusion. It's such a big story, I don't think you're quite going to catch up before I'm done posting. Sorry!

Let's hope not! 😢

Welcome to the final act! Contrary to my earlier comments I've decided to give you this chapter a day early, for various reasons. There will be further daily posts for the remaining two chapters, as they all run together.

Giacomo had asked for some time, and that was what Daniele meant to give him. He refused to give up hope, but there was nothing to be gained by crowding the other boy. Faced with another spell of enforced separation, Daniele turned to his other friends. By now, they all knew, one way or another, how things had gone between them, and he was able to relax a bit, knowing that he had little to hide. Although he found precious little joy in the passing days, it still raised his spirits to spend

I see we're branching out into album titles as well as songs now... I'm not sure this sort of behaviour will actually make sense to the other commenters, whether they be New York City boys, ordinary folk from suburbia or even the king of Rome. You might as well claim that one and one make five. To face the truth, I must be losing my mind if I decide to join in (or at least there might be some speculation as to my sanity, but I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world). Nervously, for a moment there I was struggling to think of a single additional example of their hit music. Maybe it was just jealousy at your wordplay, which is truly one in a million. Do I have to include multiple song titles as an integral part of each sentence or is it OK to keep it minimal? Okay, some of these sentences were pretty shameless, and anyone who doesn't know we're the Pet Shop Boys' biggest fans will probably finish this comment feeling pretty numb. We must be looking at twenty-something off-topic posts by now. Was it worth it? I'm forced to conclude yes. (And don't even get me started on what you said to me in private...) 😉

Do you seriously imagine I haven't already seen that video many times? Including the DVD audio commentary with the Boys themselves. 🤣

Oh God, please save me! You’re absolutely (fabulously) right though.

I don’t want to picture the Pet Shop Boys with exposed skin 😨. That’s not what they’re about. However, they turned Go West into something truly epic and uplifting.

I have underlined the song titles for the heathens among us.

Please, no! We're talking the Pet Shop Boys here...

Well, you know what comes after that. 😆 At least you didn’t say “How can you expect to be taken seriously?”

Not at all. It's just that every chapter I publish contains such a depth of nuanced character observation that it would take a superhuman to catch it all. ...right? 🤣

Hmm, yes, I bet Gianni thought he had resolved all his past traumas... until now...

Time will tell...!

I think Otto was enjoying the freedom of a no-consequences opportunity with Reza after, presumably, dealing with a few ups and downs at home as you have intimated. I'm glad you seem to have enjoyed this silly story! Now, back to more 'serious' drama...

In my head, Reza and Tania had only made it to the kissing stage, which would make this Reza's first time of all time...

I'm speaking only in Giaco's terms here, and it's not how I would put it, but I'd argue that he was fairly 'destroyed' until Dani reached out to him and began the healing process in Lanterns in the Dark. So, if I understand you correctly, Giaco has remained a mystery until this story, but now you like what you're starting to see? Well, that's sort of what I was going for! I tried to expose some of his self-doubt a little in The Star in my Eye by seeing him through a different character's perspective, laying the groundwork for this story. A rare occasion where I wrote a story with the specific intention to write a follow-up as well... Giaco's comment also suggests an unusual level of self-reflection for him, perhaps prompted by trying to work out why Dani didn't trust him. I don't see it as cold calculation so much as a subconscious way of being. I've seen it before in children who haven't felt safe due to abuse, neglect or whatever - a tendency to charm strangers and present an upbeat and friendly image as a survival strategy. Of course, Giaco isn't a neglected child thanks to Elena, but he has still had to live with that sense of abandonment. To answer your second point, Elena is without any self-confidence and lives in a permanent state of anxiety. That's what Giaco meant by 'destroyed'. On the empathy point in relation to Marco, I'm not sure it's so unusual for a young teen, especially as Giaco will have felt betrayed by Marco's initial hostility towards his friendship with Dani and, since then, has had to contend with Marco as a love rival. Not every teen can be as empathic as Dani; but that doesn't mean there's no goodness in Giaco. The simplest explanation would seem to be that they're in love with each other and Dani's kiss with Marco is a betrayal of that love. No, it wouldn't. He was hurt and lashed out... Cosmo just happened to be there. Haha, well, coming from you that's still significant! A little more than friends, perhaps: there's the matter of the bracelet, and Giaco's choice of words when he said "if we broke up again, right now?" ...but it's ambiguous, and no doubt Dani will suffer for it after the way they parted. Thank you!😊

You raise a fair point. Abandonment can lead to greater self-sufficiency as a survival strategy, which doesn't necessarily beget empathy. But, in Giaco's terms, maybe Marco allowed it to 'destroy' him and therein lies the difference?

We will soon be entering the final act, with daily chapter posts planned for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday to finish the story. I'm curious to know what readers thought of the account Giacomo gives of his past behaviour in this chapter. Does it address the questions about his character that have lingered ever since his first appearance? Of course, there has always been an intentional ambiguity about Giaco, but... is it more of a 'confession' than was ever justified? As a writer, it's hard not to be influenced by comments from readers who are very engaged with my stories and characters. As I mentioned back at the beginning of this tale, the storyline was partly inspired by those very same reader reactions to Lanterns in the Dark.

He’s learned some at school. There’s a brief passage in Firefly where he speaks English to Gianni - plus, Gianni has had a year to teach him more.

That night brought a rare thundery shower that passed slowly along the coast. As he admired the arcs of lightning that flashed over the sea and the mountains and drowned in the terrific rolls of thunder, Daniele felt small and insignificant before their raw power. For a while, it helped to put his problems into perspective, but he was still unhappy. The summer had seemed to promise so much… but now, his prospects felt empty and devoid of meaning. The passing storm left a welcome freshness i

I can tell you only one thing… don’t over-think this silly, speed-written story. 😆

Thanks again! I’m glad you’re enjoying them so much! It really does feel as if you’re almost caught up, now. Both the next two stories are on the short side. As to Dani and co, their storyline runs in the background of The Star in my Eye, but it’s in my current story, The Summer of the Selfless, that it really kicks off again and we address all the issues left unresolved at the end of this one. As I write, I’m at ch.10/11, and some of the characters’ choices are getting a rough ride. 😅 …and, yes, I’ve written the latest story as if it’s the last one, just like I did for this one!