Summerabbacat

Anton von Strassberg. Another nazi in Lawrence's book of suspects. Anton with a severely bloated opinion of his intelligence and importance, buoyed by the sycophantic Ableard, a "fluffer" for all Anton's needs. Apart from Bastien, the only other member of the Golden Circle who has shown any degree of pleasantry is Felix, Ali's alleged twin. The rest appear to be in awe of Bastien, perhaps threatened by his wealth and apparent beauty, and intimidated by Anton's cold, supercilious manner. Even if he is not the murderer, Anton needs to be brought down a peg or two as he is an arrogant sonofabitch.

Never be concerned about any similarities in your creations @Robert Hugill as most are so very likeable. Even the horrid ones such as Venetia and Deirdre provide entertainment value because we can enjoy detesting them. I think of all your creations the only ones who were truly loathsome and without any redeeming features at all were Nathan, Jasper, Jackie, Norman and Sheila, and Rory's father Lachlan.

Mary, Raelene and Sharon, the bogans known as Maz, Raz and Shaz are striking out left, right and centre. So far all the men they have lusted after and/or hit on have been gay. They have been gracious in defeat though, with none of them spouting the oft said "what a waste". They may have thought it, but not said it, at least not "on screen". A "Gran-free" chapter @Wombat Bill did not have anywhere near the usual humour, but was very enjoyable nevertheless. She really is quite a feisty woman, with a renewed zest for life due to her Sonny boy. I would like to see her come up against the odious Rani, Rajani's bitch of a sister. Gran would tear strips off the nasty little spoilt princess.

Although the music, opera etc is all a bit high brow for a pop philistine like myself, I am enjoying the characters and storylines you are developing as is always the case with your works @Robert Hugill. Neil is one of your more "challenging" characters, quite a mystery thus far. Shy, very private and often apologising for his behaviour, a little like young Matt from Not Just Another Summer.

I am somewhat facetiously referring to him as Boris. He, Boris, is 58 years of age now, but looks much older. He has been married three times and has a number of children by wives/girlfriends/one night stands and has been in jail too. When a popular tennis player he seemed so wholesome, but seemingly he was either a good actor or he made too much many and succumbed to too many temptations.

Maybe they could reclaim the word poofter and be the Port Mac Poofters. Or one especially for you, Friends Of Kylie.

Now I see. When @Mark Ponyboy Peters mentioned Babe Ruth above I thought it must have had something to do with baseball (I have heard of him), but failed to make a connection between baseball and a candy bar. In Australia we would not refer to it as a candy bar either, it would be referred to by its name and classified as a chocolate.

Wow! It is a tough call as to who is the bigger drama queen. Carmen or Leo. Carmen is loud, loquacious and unnaturally effervescent, especially at 8.00am. She is best taken in small doses, preferably whilst wearing noise-cancelling headphones. Leo is unrealistic, demanding and behaving like an entitled millennial princess. He revealed to Noah he has been attracted to him for sometime, whereas for Noah his attraction to Leo is brand new. Leo has demanded they announce their "new" relationship to friends and family alike forthwith, a very selfish demand I think. Firstly, we do not know in which nation Leo and Noah live. It may be all sunny and pleasant weather wise, but what are its laws as they relate to LGBTQI citizens? Are its citizens conservative by nature, brainwashed by religious dogma and/or violent towards anyone different? Secondly, Leo and Noah have only kissed to date (or have I forgotten sexual activity between the two). If and when they have sex, one or the other or both may not enjoy it and realise they wish to remain just friends. If they declare their "new" relationship and then it goes nowhere, both will look like fools. Leo needs to calm down so he and Noah can explore a relationship without being pressured by anyone other than themselves. Having said all this, I do like Leo and Noah may need a little push, but not straight away. As for Noah's father, he is like a broken record. You should be more ambitious to make more money which is the ultimate goal in life, or at least should be. Oh just fuck off Peter. A very enjoyable story thus far @ObicanDecko.

Caleb's naïveté surprised me somewhat given his significant involvement at school in the identification of the online grooming of a younger student. Furthermore, he recognised Olivia was interested in him for something more than friendship, but not Kevin who was far more blatant than Olivia. Kevin surprised me somewhat with his rash behaviour. I suspect he must have slipped a roofie into Caleb's glass of "rehydrating" water for Caleb to have been affected so quickly. In an enclosed environment like a cruise ship, particularly after having been hit on by Maz and disclosed he was not Caleb' father, Kevin's behaviour was incredibly stupid. Maz is to be congratulated for her quick thinking in this situation, the outcome of which could have been so much worse for Caleb. In one respect it is beneficial the incident occurred as it did. If Kevin had behaved in the same manner in the world at large, Caleb would likely have been in far greater danger than he was in the enclosed environ of the cruise ship. I imagine Caleb will be far more wary from now on. I would not like to be in Kevin's shoes if Gran gets a hold of him. He may find himself gelded. Kevin is an idiot and Olivia is a rather spoilt and self-centred princess @Wombat Bill. I am not fond of either.

I still don't get it. A possible pregnancy did not occur to me because in the previous chapter Kevin stated ‘I’ve been seeing this girl, on and off, for a while now. Her name is Ruth. Nothing too serious, we’ve fooled around a little . . . haven’t actually had sex . . . but we’re still in touch." Kevin has no reason to lie about this, so a pregnancy is very unlikely, at least one where he is the father. My immediate thought was Ruth has somehow discovered Kevin may be bisexual, but then dismissed this as very unlikely. My next thought, which is still my current thought, is Ruth has met someone else and/or has realised she is a dyke. Jack's appearance in this story surprised me somewhat @Mark Ponyboy Peters. I assumed, quite wrongly it would seem, that Something In The Water was set some time in the past, but it appears to be current. I have to wonder if that story was a segue into The Third Generation i.e. Kieran, Charlie and now possibly Kevin, becoming part of a larger gay group including The Second Generation i.e. Luke, Matt, Tim, Guy, Scott Justin, Tony and Aaron, linked by Jack's "connection" to Tony. I shall have to hold my horses and see if this transpires. If it does, Tropical Fruits has already been taken as a possible "group name". Perhaps Mac Harbour Marys, although the boys may be a little too young for this moniker.

Apisai may have been the first born in his family, but Gran wasn't born yesterday. She quickly cottoned on to the fact Apisai was taking them on a shopping tour of Lautoka, and the shops he was recommending as having the best of this and that were owned by family members. The gratis he collected from the shopkeepers for his deceit were the only "tips" he got; his plan backfired when Gran's tip was something other than monetary. LOL. The beach as pictured above proved to be a disappointment, more like something one might see in the UK. Very bleak looking, not at all conducive to a beach walk or swimming. The teaser for the next chapter indicates Gran is going to be pissed off again. Acid Alice may emerge again. LOL.

Methinks Olivia will be disappointed when she learns Caleb is gay, although if my reading of the teaser for the next chapter is correct, they may form a friendship, even if it is one for the duration of the cruise only. As for the other part of next chapter's teaser, I hazard a guess Gran is going to encounter a taxi driver in Fiji who will either try to rip her off, or who will treat her like an idiot because of her age and/or gender. If so, he will rue the day he messed with Alice. “That’s Olivia coming over now in the red bikini” “Umph, I don’t suppose I can compete with that in my beige one-piece, even if it covers my stretch marks….That is unless you’d prefer experience over youth” “I’m not sure I’m looking for either” “Well, if that’s how you feel, I’ll leave you to your teenybopper” “And besides, I’m gay” Maz was laughing raucously when Olivia arrived, but that was extinguished rapidly when Olivia asked “Is this your mother” “Well, I never” Maz exclaimed “Good luck bedding this one girlie”. This scene was the highlight of the chapter, very amusing. I assume Olivia was being deliberately bitchy, if not she is not the smartest of girls. If Maz is Caleb's mother why would he be in foster care with Craig and Justin. And speaking of Caleb being in foster care with Craig, Rodney did not bat an eyelid when Gran revealed this. I suppose he may think Craig's partner is a woman, but he may also not. Most amusing chapter @Wombat Bill. I am intrigued as to where Gran and Nigel had their farm. I am thinking somewhere between Taree and Coffs Harbour as Gran mentioned catching the train to Sydney and going through Taree and Gloucester. I daresay it is a town or near a town I have been through on many occasions as a younger lad. The XPT still stops at Eungai, Macksville and Nambucca Heads, but I don't think it stops anymore at Urunga and Nana Glen.

I don't think you did need to give us more of Claude's history @Lee Wilson. Even if only one parent was a bigot, especially akin to Phil Lassiter or Rodney Quincy Sr, it would likely have been enough to influence Francois and consequently Claude. The latter certainly influenced Rodney Quincy Jr who was intelligent, so what hope did Claude have as I don't think he was particularly bright.

Claude was 5 years old when he started bullying Myron, Callum and Ed. His brother Francois was 8 or 9 years of age and already homophobic. Where did Francois learn the word "fag" and what "fags" are? I would say more than likely from his parents, unless they had an older sibling. Although Claude was to some extent a victim himself I found I had no sympathy for him when Ed murdered him. Like the obnoxious Marie Louise, Claude had no redeeming features.

Our emotional responses are sometimes unpredictable @Lee Wilson. I am very often moved by tragedy, especially if non-human animals are involved, but I shed no tears over the death of James' father. Good riddance I say. I felt a sense of relief for James that one substantial negative has been removed from his life, a negative which would have continued to upset and drain him whilst ever his father remained living. The sense of relief is tempered by a sense of foreboding though, as his father's death has left James in a precarious position in relation to his mother. Her statement “Don’t leave me alone in this, James,” she said softly. “Please.” has me concerned she will be like a noose around James' neck, at least until the funeral is over, the will, assuming there is one, read and the estate finalised. After that she may have no further use for James, unless she is skint. The revelation Sam was retrenched rather than being promoted as he stated to his parents has forced his mother to face some home truths. If she tries to make an excuse for him that it must be a misunderstanding on either James' part or her own part, James should remove himself from the family immediately. He won't of course, he will be there to offer assistance to his mother, particularly when the wolf known as Sam starts to circle for his share of the estate. I will not be surprised if James has been excluded from his father's estate, that his estate has been left entirely to his wife. If this occurs I can see Sam turning very nasty, which is what the story's synopsis appears to indicate. Evan's continuing support for James is paramount as I believe Sam's true colours will be shown for all to see, especially once he knows his lies regarding his "promotion" have been uncovered.