Summerabbacat

There has been many times Damian has behaved more like an adult than a 10 year old child, such that I have on occasion almost forgotten he is a 10 year old child. I was reminded he is only 10 years of age in the time he spent alone with Ludo in this chapter: “Just you and me?” “That’s right. And Adam will do special things with his Dad.” “But we’ll do things, all four of us, as a family.” The last three words were almost a question." I found this interaction between Ludo and Damian very moving, Damian needing reassurance and Ludo providing it unequivocally. Ludo and Arthur's walk and picnic, some valuable alone time together led to some afternoon delight. It appeared in this chapter, as it has in many prior chapters, that the happiest times between Ludo and Arthur, Ludo and Damian, and the family of four together, are those where enjoyment is derived from the simplest of pleasures. Wonderful chapter @Robert Hugill. A miracle occurred in this chapter too, one which I could never have entertained and am still not sure how you managed to do it without some sort of "witchcraft"; I had a fleeting moment of sympathy for Jackie, recognising how profoundly stupid she was to throw away all she had for the "challenge" of not being caught. Suffice to say, I quickly regained my senses and reverted to thinking she got what she deserved.

I just consulted my musical "bible" and am surprised (and that is rare when it comes to 70's and 80's music, especially disco). You Make Me Feel Mighty Real peaked at #16 in 1979 (a much bigger hit than I recall) whereas Do You Wanna Funk peaked at #24 in 1983. I thought the latter was a much bigger hit here in Australia than You Make Me Feel Mighty Real. I remember Do You Wanna Funk still being played in the mid to late 80's in gay clubs when I first moved down to "the big smoke". He passed away in 1988 from the big A.

Hopefully it is a case of "the hunter being captured by the game" rather than the other way around @chris191070.

Ever the pessimist, I am not as confident as my fellow readers Jonah has landed in an ideal situation and has the support of his cousins, at least not all three of them. Certainly it is unlikely he will want for anything money can buy as demonstrated by the shopping spree in Oceanus, but will that be enough for him. When Jonah was confronted by the rude and pretentious Wintour wannabe, Kelly, Blair and Calvin behaved similarly to Cher and Dionne in Clueless, totally oblivious to what a bitch Kelly was. Only Monty appeared to be aware, or at least care, about the insults delivered by Kelly towards Jonah. If only Edina Monsoon had been shopping with Jonah, she would have put Kelly in her place quick smart with "you only work in a shop you know, you can drop the attitude". Horrid creature. Eric, her handsome assistant, at least appeared pleasant and showed genuine compassion for Jonah. I am also somewhat suspicious of Jonah's notoriety at his new school. It would not surprise me if Cher and Dionne aka Blair and Calvin have dramatised to the max the circumstances which have led to Jonah coming to live with them, promoting themselves as such compassionate, kind and altruistic cousins. They both struck me as somewhat fake in this chapter, consumed with being popular and fashionable, at least whilst amongst their peers. I hope I am wrong and I am being my usual overly harsh self, but neither Calvin nor Blair impressed me as being capable or desiring to be an individual capable of thinking and speaking for themselves if it meant they may lose popularity amongst their peers. Monty however, did not present as such a person in this chapter. Victor putin his snide and aggressive remarks, seemingly jealous that William, who it appears is Victor's boyfriend, had drawn an apparently striking resemblance of Jonah. Monty rebuked him, but will that be enough. The remarks of some of the teachers about Jonah being the fourth Kildare or not another one did not appear to flatter Monty, Calvin and Blair. Is it possible the triplets are not as well liked and/or respected by the teachers as what they are by the students. A very revealing chapter @irivera, with Blair, Calvin and perhaps even Vienna being too much Carrie Bradshaw and too little Samantha Jones. I am also suspicious regarding the absence of Uncle Nolan. I am not suspicious at this stage he is dead, but is it possible he has moved out of the family home for one reason or another.

The oft said "a leopard never changes it spots" appears to apply to Darryl as much now as it did when he was married to a woman. He should be honest with Bob who is seemingly a one man man, before Bob invests more in a relationship which may not be to his liking.

Grayson's discussion with Mr Webster and Mrs Mack proved once again that his employer is taking workplace harassment and bullying seriously. I think it is certain Stinky Shane's behaviour will be reported to his employer, unless of course he is self-employed. Either way, I don't believe he will be delivering to the store anymore. If he is not self-employed he may also find himself in the same unemployment queue as the three boofheads. If this eventuates I fear reprisal against Grayson and perhaps even Rafael if Stinky Shane is aware of their developing relationship. It is possible he may even threaten Mike, seeing him perhaps as a traitor for not sticking up for him. Your description of Chase was so vivid @Mark Ponyboy Peters. Although there is no indication he is African American, I had an instant image of him resembling the late Sylvester who was tall, camp and when interviewed often referred to the interviewer as 'Honey'. Sylvester with hair like a rainbow lorikeet, although the purple is more indigo on said bird. Chase was very professional and competent, at the same time putting Grayson at ease with his effervescence and sense of humour. A pivotal chapter @Mark Ponyboy Peters, potentially one with far reaching consequences. I hope it is not the last we see of Chase; I can envisage him outside the workplace similarly attired to Sylvester and camping it up like him as in the video below.

"Sophia" has moved in and the house is at full capacity. The bathroom roster appears to be working, but with Bob and Darryl having now progressed to amore the latter may start sharing the bathroom aligned to the master bedroom. Both couples are apparently lusty and loud. Perhaps they should consider recording a gay porn "soundtrack" as another source of income. The "lyrics" are bound to be straight forward, with lots of ad libbing along the way.

Fabulous, frothy and flirty. Great start to another little gem @chris191070.

Way to go @weinerdog. I wish I had thought of this, but I had not. Mary is a pious poisonous prig and will hopefully get her comeuppance before the story concludes. I am worried Lucas will snap and in a rage kill his Granny. If he does his life will be all but over. It does not excuse his homophobia and bullying, but he has not had an easy life. Seemingly Granny resents him which I suspect Lucas realises. Neil is reacting to all the bullying he is being subjected to in a perfectly understandable manner. I feared for a moment he was contemplating hanging himself by his tie but his thought "He couldn’t face option one; and he didn’t have the nerve to carry out option two" indicates this is not the case. I believe Brenda will respond very positively to Neil being gay. Her comment to Jack “I just don’t want Neil going through the pain his father went through.” was truly remarkable, showing what a selfless, caring and compassionate person she clearly is. A wonderful chapter @Ronyx. A real weepy.

Duplicate posting makes me look like an idiot @Lee Wilson. I thought I had already added the comment and went to edit it but it was still showing 'add comment' as active. I did the edit and then added the comment only to find it had already posted. Very annoying.

Perhaps you could introduce this method preparing and serving fruit salad at the school you work at @chris191070. It may encourage the children to eat more fruit if it were served in such a manner. Maybe you could volunteer to perform a similar role to Joshua.

I think I have heard the word before. It sounds like the type of word Benny Hill or Frankie Howerd would have used in some of their TV shows, many of which were shown in Australia in the 1970's.

I was being facetious. He died a number of years before I was born too and I have never seen any of his movies that I can recall. If it were not for the fact he was born in Australia I would probably have taken no interest in him at all.

I was being facetious. He died before I was born too and have never seen one of his movies that I can recall. If it were not for the fact he was born in Australia I would probably have taken no interest in him at all.

I am going to choose to believe Morrie did not lie to Jane and Alisa when he stated his fur coat was faux fur. Perhaps Ralph could send his parents a carpet sample together with photographs of the twins playing football as Christmas gifts. Industrial chic is a very practical and attractive solution, except for winter when I imagine Parborough gets very cold. Another delightful chapter @Robert Hugill.

What do you mean by your "younger readers" @Lee Wilson? We are only youngsters ourselves, spring chickens, babes in the woods.

Errol should have stuck to what he is most familiar with and what he reportedly excelled at, drinking and fucking any adult with a pulse. I think @weinerdog was right. It was Errol he saw at the bar getting shit-faced with Eric Griffin before Eric started his prison sentence of over 430,000 years for negligent homicide. If Eric was able to survive his lengthy time in prison he might get to see Cher and/or Elton and/or The Rolling Stones do their final, the very last we promise, absolutely no more after this, farewell tours. I admire Madeline greatly for her passion and hotheadedness but must acknowledge she has the perfect counterbalance with Colin, the peacemaker, the diplomat. What a formidable team. I had to laugh, before I fumed, at one of the questions thrown at Madeline before she entered the Cancer Centre: "Do you think you're God?" For once I think Errol got it right with his comment: "You actually believe that horseshit?" Great chapter again @Lee Wilson.

I found the description of Tom's parents' outdated home both amusing and reverential. And Tom's recount of his discussion with Catherine, specifically "That is a relief. For me. the lady ship has never even set sail." was very amusing. What a quaint admission of disinterest. It will be interesting to observe how the intergenerational couples relate when they visit Tom's lake house. Both Alan and Mason seem like very respectful young guys so I doubt there will be any discord between the four.

Indignant Irene and her happy-clapper husband Cretinous Caldwell undoubtedly whisked James away quick smart after he was caught in the compromising position with Jonah. It would not surprise me to learn he has been sent off for conversion therapy and Irene has joined her local chapter of Moms For Liberty. I daresay Jonah has fared far better than James as at least Jonah is now living with a family who realise the earth is not flat and the bible is not a non-fiction instruction manual for life. I hope for Jonah's sake he ultimately learns of James' fate even if it is devastating. I am afraid the Calvin Kyle "joke" was completely lost on me. Is this an American thing or was it considered amusing because of its close resemblance to Calvin Klein? This story is very well written and totally believable @irivera. You have got yourself a winner.

I assume Julie Mack, Personnel Manager, is an influential employee, and unless she is a liar, she has already shown she is supportive of Grayson, not only in the workplace, but outside the workplace too. Her comments about Grayson's recent growing friendship/relationship with Rafael were encouraging as was her invitation to fill a vacancy left by the sacking of boofhead #1 (and don't worry @weinerdog, it won't be long I don't think before boofhead #'s 2 and 3 fuck up and join the chief boofhead in the unemployment queue). Shane may find himself on the wrong end of the stick sooner rather than later. Clearly Mike was unimpressed with his aggressive behaviour in the loading dock. Shane's "cry baby" comment deserved him a smack in the face (at the very least) and his grabbing his crotch and taunting Grayson with "looking for a bit more of this" shows how out of touch with reality he is. I have nothing to base this comment on, but I can almost bet Shane smells, all mix of stale unpleasant body smells, enough to make you want to puke. @wenmale64's comments above ring true for me. Great chapter @Mark Ponyboy Peters. Stinky Shane (as I am now going to refer to him) best wash behind his ears (as well as everywhere else) as his behaviour has been noticed by the powers that be and they were likely unimpressed. He may find himself joining the three boofheads in the unemployment queue. Stinky Shane and the Three Boofheads, sounds like a good name for a punk group.

I think Joshua has exceeded his limit of sanity, he is fucking crazy, which would not be so bad if he was at least fucking. Perhaps if he had seen William Friedkin's Cruising he may not have been as agreeable to allow Anthea to mix a knife with anticipated sexual pleasure. Joshua could be the son of Alvin Purple @Wombat Bill, with horny middle-aged housewives seemingly finding his curvaceous peachy bottom a wet panties experience. If he has intentions of attending a tertiary institution perhaps he could fund his HECS payments with the labour of his loins. He is certainly proving himself to be multi-skilled. At this rate he may have to obtain an ABN or the taxman may be after him.

Indeed she may @Paladin, such is the strength of your writing. I no longer trust her, I think she has an agenda, one which may be perfectly acceptable and proper, but without the revelation of the secret(s) one cannot yet know. You have painted a picture of a "real" woman, not a caricature. I look forward to the boys arrival in Stingray Heads. Whatever awaits Cameron I hope he has the strength to deal with it.

“What the fuck is happening here?” His mom shrieks. She rushes in, grabs James by the upper arm, and pulls him up. He whimpers, not looking at her. “Huh? Answer me!” She shakes him." and "But the last thing I remember for sure is seeing his mom slap him across the face." indicates the church to which the youth group is aligned is not LGBTQI-friendly. After Irene's assault on her son, it is a shame she was not also a passenger in the car in which I assume Jonah's parents are about to "meet their maker". Deliciously ironic they are about to do so, moreso Marcus than Tori. Perhaps Irene will choke on a peanut on Christmas day. You certainly know how to grab the attention of your readers @irivera. This story has started with a bang, literally. I hope Jonah is not consumed with guilt post-accident. Although their appearance was brief, Marcus seemed thoroughly unpleasant and Tori ineffective against him.

A case of complete misunderstanding accounted for some very amusing moments. Joshua's prior sexual flirtation with Lorna led him to believe he was being employed by her friend Anthea to perform some sort of sexual favour(s) for her, particularly given she has recently been widowed, but nothing was further from the truth. Joshua is surprisingly naive in some respects, with comments such as "How will I know how to make her come. I suppose women come. I thought I would look forward to this day, but I’m actually scared. Wow, I will be doing it with a woman my mum’s age. Also not what I thought would be my first experience. No...maybe that’s better...she knows what she’s doing...she’ll guide me, show me the way." absolutely hilarious. It appears Lorna is not "pimping" Joshua out, well at least not yet. Will she find further work for him which does not require he perform any sexual favour(s) of any kind? Only the "wombat" knows and he is not telling.

No MPP, the quotation was "After eating they dressed, transferred the clothes from the washing machine to the line and went shopping." If they had "overlooked" dressing after eating they would not only have been naked when they hung the clothes out on the line but possibly when they went shopping too. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣