Summerabbacat

As a joke @weinerdog I checked if stipid is a real word as it looked to me as if it might be a "real" word in a language spoken in some Eastern European nation. According to the urban dictionary, stipid is the superior or more intense form of stupid e.g. you're so stupid you're not even stupid you're stipid. In this case, stipid is the appropriate "misspelling" @Lee Wilson. Whatever the spelling, Jeff is well and truly fecked, which is Irish for fucked according to Mrs Brown aka Brendan O'Carroll. Brilliant @weinerdog. LOL. I don't know why Michael's mother is so concerned about him having a sleepover. What additional risks does it pose to a blind person which he does not face every day. He has demonstrated he is capable and has commonsense, which is more than can be said for his able-sighted stipid brother. Never @weinerdog. Now they don't have time for such "low brow" crimes; they are way too busy ensuring the population at large uses the bathroom matching their gender assigned at birth or trying to make their fortunes from insider trading. Great chapter @Lee Wilson. Jeff's stipidity seemingly has not reached its full extent yet.

"She was dressed in a skintight, high-shine hot-pink mini dress that looked like it had been vacuum-sealed onto her body, possibly made of rubber...or melted bubblegum. Her hair, which had been a totally different color just an hour ago, now matched the dress perfectly. I had no idea how she'd managed that transformation so fast. Witchcraft, probably. With one final bounce, she got the earring in, slipped on the second shoe, and scooped up what I thought was a heap of black leather from the floor. It turned out to be a dramatic ankle-length coat, which she whipped on like she was about to cast a spell. "Look at you," she said, calmly eying me, as if seconds before she hadn't been hopping around on one foot like a demented flamingo. "Very chic." Much of this chapter was serious as one would expect, however, the description of Nikki's evening wear for the art show was just sooooooooooooo hilariously descriptive, it warranted a rating of the 'ha ha' emoticon for this chapter @Josh Aterovis. I am beginning to wonder if you really are JW writing under the pseudonym Josh Aterovis. I can imagine one of his characters dressed in such an outrageous outfit. "How'd it even get to you?" "In an envelope. From a delivery service." "And I'm guessing you saved that, right? For, I don't know, the obvious investigation that might follow?" "No," I said, suddenly feeling about two inches tall. "There was no return address, so I threw it away." Naïveté does not cut it this time @drsawzall; you were right after all, Will is stupid, at least some of the time. His offer to accompany Caitlin to her next doctor's appointment was cringeworthy. Speaking of Caitlin, I got the impression Aidan was not entirely convinced she is telling the truth. His "40 questions" may have been solely to protect gullible Will, or maybe he has a sixth sense for bullshit. The plot thickens dramatically with the sender of Joey's necklace to Will being someone who used Joey's name. I doubt Joey knew Will was to start work at Avant Garde so it is unlikely he had mentioned this to his killer, so it has to be someone in Will's inner circle, or perhaps Dante, if he knew of Joey, but what would be his motive? Kill Will's former best friend to "fuel" his artistic abilities? If this was the case though it would more likely be Nikki I think. My speculative juices are just beginning to marinate. Killian cannot arrive soon enough @Josh Aterovis.

Two things are abundantly clear from the multiple sexual interactions in this chapter, Étienne is like honey to the bees, and he achieves the most sexual satisfaction and sensual pleasure from being dominated, a bottom but not a power bottom. Enzo and Alessandro, perhaps being more mature and worldly, appear to recognise they cannot restrict Étienne to exclusivity, whereas Giovanni wants Étienne to himself or to share with Alessandro only as was originally the case. As noted by @akascrubber, the sex scenes in this chapter were sizzling, largely because they were sensual rather than explicit. I found your description of the physical environment @E K Stokes in which they took place added immeasurably to the sensuality of the sex scenes, particularly that between Étienne and Enzo.

I assumed you must have only been a youngster. To have that happen as an adult; fuck. A vasectomy would likely have been less painful.

It's a sad indictment of the gun-obsessed ethos many seem to have.

Perhaps he was one of their own.

Perhaps Moggie can be put in charge of decorating @pvtguy. All my "Moggies" have at one time or another considered themselves "decorators".

Thus far the murder is dare I say almost incidental @Josh Aterovis, with the coming of age and mental health/depression exploration far more prominent.

Bravissimo Signor Hugill; what a wonderful chapter. I was initially concerned Carly with her "grey-haired bob, big glasses and wearing a remarkably tailored shirt-dress that showed off her ample figure" may be a clone of Venetia Murray, particularly when Gray observed her "much fussing". Fortunately, this was not the case as she seemed unconcerned by Vince's relationship with Peter. Rowena proved once again to be affable and very observant, and much to the surprise of Gray at least, she was familiar with Gisela May sings Brecht. l do like Rowena and hope she remains a part of the "Philpott collection". The real star though, of course, was Moggie. She appeared, she ate, she charmed and she revelled in the adulation. With Peter becoming en famille, at least on weekends, hopefully Moggie will decide that residence within Philpott Towers would suit her very nicely, which will complete en famille. You brought an eclectic bunch of characters together for a garden party @Robert Hugill, and surprisingly so, to Gray at least, the gathering was a success. All is right in the Hugillverse, at least in Coningham.

Tony displayed a natural charm and wit which belied his apparent nervousness. I think this holds him in good stead for future appearances on TV talk shows, in-store book launches and responses to zealots attacking his stories for their "sinfulness". The mutual admiration and affection Tony and Bill have for each other was a delight to witness @Mark Ponyboy Peters, particularly Bill's enquiry "Now, have you sorted out your issues with that young fella of yours yet?". More fucking tears, before, during and after bedtime thank you very much. I was pleasantly surprised by Anne's involvement in the discussion. Clearly she was the right choice to organise the talk, and she put Tony at ease with her introduction and opening questions. The appearance of Adam in the audience was a surprise. I wonder if he has a genuine interest in writing or is his attendance an opportunity for him to talk to Tony again on more "neutral" ground. Well done again Mr P. I expect this story will have further top 10 placings going forward due to the quality story telling and its consistent popularity.

I assumed the man at the funeral was Joey's father too @drsawzall, not least of all because he was crying and obviously avoiding being seen by those in attendance. I wonder why he left when Joey was a small boy? Is Joey's father perhaps gay, something Joey may have found out, and was acting like he was to prove to himself he was not his father's son? I wonder if @Josh Aterovis knows why he left, and if so, is he going to tell us? Will's revelations to the police assisted them in closing the case so no harm was done to Will, however, it was alarming he attended the police station without a legal representative, particularly given Joey's mother's claim the police were looking for him, which they confirmed upon his arrival. I don't think he is stupid so much as naive @drsawzall. He responds to many things, particularly those which are unsettling or upsetting, with a purely emotional knee-jerk reaction, rather than taking the time to think rationally, which I cannot criticise him for as I am very much like him, much to my frustration. I don't think Joey's mother should be advised of the possibility she is a grandmother by anyone other than Caitlin. If Caitlin asks for Will's advice about revealing this to her then he should, if he so desires provide that advice, otherwise he should leave well enough alone. His motives for wanting to help Caitlin raise the baby are purely selfish on his part as he has expressed, but given he is essentially a "decent" person, I do think he genuinely wants to help Caitlin and the baby too. The necklace presents a problem because the police have closed the case and what evidence does Will have he received the necklace in an envelope with the letter. The necklace appears to hold the key to what really happened to Joey. The suspense ratcheted up several notches in this chapter @Josh Aterovis. I was, before this chapter, beginning to think Caitlin may have been the killer, but her shock at seeing the necklace appeared genuine, so she is off my suspect list for now. The arrival of Killian will no doubt herald progress and the introduction of additional characters, presumably, who may have done the deed.

You would have a very "thin" story for sure @Josh Aterovis, something reminiscent of a Hollywood blockbuster action flick.

OMG I "felt" that hockey stick just reading about it. It is a wonder you weren't accidentally gelded. Were you playing hockey at the time? If by chance you do have any Romani heritage you are in good company with Robert Plant, Adam Ant, Tracey Ullman and Charlie Chaplin to name but a few.

Maybe I have you all wrong @Lee Wilson. You are not really Lee Wilson from Georgia, born and bred in New Jersey. You are Madam Zelenska Procházka, Czech clairvoyant and former mistress of President Vaclav Havel. Your crystal ball/tarot cards/tea leaves/magic vodka bottle was very accurate.

You could be. You may have had a twin brother, Leopoldo, who was also kidnapped, but by a wealthy family from Lichtenstein. That damn hospital had very lax security.

I have to agree with you @Cane23, Vienna and Nolan were very remiss in not being at home; they could have, as I commented, remained in their bedroom for the evening. I have been surprised in prior chapters at the cavalier attitude both have taken towards the alcohol consumption of Blair and Calvin in particular, as both were drunk at Carter's party, and yet neither seemed to be subjected to any punishment or restrictions because of this. Monty appears to either hold his alcohol better than the other two, or drinks less, as he has apparently not been drunk. He also does not appear to have the same sense of entitlement the other two have, especially Blair (she pisses me off big time - vapid millennial princess). He behaved far more rationally even though he did beat the crap out of Victor, whereas the other two started screaming like 5 year olds. Your point regarding the undoing of all the good work which has been achieved through therapy for both Jonah and Will, is a very good one. Unless Will has lied about his sobriety, I suspect Victor has drugged him, but the question to be answered is, how did he manage to do so without Will suspecting something. I don't believe there is anything Victor will not do to get what he wants. As Kath and Kim would say, he is effluent, just like his parents.

There is a difference @Chipplette. @irivera is redeemable, Victor is not (LOL).

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but WTF were Vienna and Nolan thinking leaving the party unsupervised. They could have stayed but remained in their bedroom if they did not want to embarrass the triplets. I cannot see any way Jonah will be able to avoid returning to North Carolina, particularly if the judge who presides over the hearing is Gina Hardfacebitch again. The only possible scenario I can think of which might assist his case is if it can be proven Victor gatecrashed the party, drugged Will, assaulted Monty and Jonah and fled the scene to avoid arrest. Even then, if it is Gina Hardfacebitch she may not care. I would be a hypocrite (which I am in other respects) if I was critical of Blair and Calvin for getting hammered again as I certainly did when I was 16, quite a "normal" thing for 16 year old teenagers in Australia in the 1970's, but I will be any way. Until they can prove themselves responsible they should not be allowed access to their new BMW. It does not appear Monty was hammered, so if not, he should be allowed access to their new BMW. Victor could not have wished for a better outcome. I have to wonder if it was him who called the cops. I hope you have something ultra-vicious prepared for his downfall @irivera, and while you are at it, something ultra-vicious for his parents and Jerk-Off June too.

You are a tickle-temptress @Ticklishboy30, titillating temptation twixt testicular terrestrials.

OK; "forewarned is forearmed". I had forgotten about Pete's extra curricular activities with Michael. Your long-lost twin sister Leonie, Leonora or Leontyne Wilson perhaps? The one you know nothing about as she was kidnapped at birth by a wealthy family visiting New Jersey from Luxembourg.

Jim reminds me so much of myself, a complete fucking idiot at times, overanalysing everything including the minutiae. This is why he see saws and is so indecisive; it was so easy for Jon to change Jim's mind even though he was adamant he was going to end their fledgling relationship. And to be blunt, at Jim's age, a "genuine" relationship is next to impossible to find. He is not Jon's sugar daddy and they are not in a daddy/son relationship, it is a relationship where both parties bring something to the table, one of equality. I, and several others, have said it before, Jim needs to give Alex some credit. Alex has only met Jon once and liked him. Alex told Miss Skankypants to fuck off when she demanded he cease his relationship with his father, that in of itself should tell Jim that he is important to his son, a son who expressed that he wants his father to be happy.

Surprisingly no tears from me @Lee Wilson. I was pleasantly surprised Stephen's parents only real concerns about him being gay and attracted to Michael were that the attraction was mutual, and that Michael did not force him to do anything he did not want to. There was no hesitation on their part to affirm their love and support of him because he is/may be gay, a refreshingly sensible and adult response. LK may be a different kettle of fish though, but I doubt their parents will tolerate any bullshit from him. Pete and Alex's response to the affectionate display by Stephen towards Michael was also a very pleasant surprise; for them it was a non-event, although Alex did express delight at knowing "boyfriends". A @Lee Wilson lite chapter on this occasion, with the only negative the comment from Leon Jr that Stephen is not a fag. I don't believe it was said with malice, however, hopefully Leon will learn that some words can hurt.

This complaint seems awfully petty, particularly given a significant proportion of the population do use the word "mate" as you have noted. I am glad you realise I was not having a go at you; my comment was an observation of something which I found very interesting. I have certainly known many people, including gay men and quite a few lesbians over the years who used the word "mate", but it is not something my immediate group of friends have used to any great extent that I can recall. This is also interesting. I am reasonably certain you have mentioned before you were born in 1963, as was I. I also lived in rural NSW until the age of 20, but always on the coast rather than inland. I wonder if this was of any relevance, not that it matters, but I do find it interesting. I used to cringe at "G'day mate" but have had a complete change of heart regarding this in more recent times. I have come to regard it as somewhat irreverent, a bit of a "piss take" towards social elitism, something I have certainly been guilty of in the past.

You must be a true blue Aussie "bloke" then @Mark Ponyboy Peters, whereas I am a Kylie-loving, cat-loving, vegetarian, shift-lifter. I am not one who has ever followed rugby league, rugby union, Aussie Rules (although it is at least a great perve), cricket (the most boring game ever along with golf) or car racing. I have never called any male friends "mate", primarily because growing up I don't recall any of my friends or family using "mate", and as an adult I don't recall any of my friends using "mate" either. That is one thing which has particularly struck me about all the boys in this story referring to each other as "mate". I know it is a very "Aussie" thing, but I have never been amongst people who have spoken like this to any extent.

I am obviously not much of an Aussie when it comes to rhyming slang as the only ones I can recall ever hearing are dropkick, frog and toad and porky pies, and the only ones I can recall ever using are dropkick and porky pies. When it comes to swearing, well that is a whole different ballgame.