Summerabbacat

But were you a cheerleader, choreographer, dancer and actress too @Paladin?

I am not really a lover of rock music per se, but there are exceptions. The three greatest exceptions IMHO are my favourite "rock chicks" - Joan Jett, Anne Wilson (Heart) and the fab-u-lous Pat Benatar. I can still remember the first time I ever heard Pat sing, her first album In The Heat Of The Night was wondrous to my 16 year old ears. I could not get enough of her voice and listened to the album, on vinyl of course, repeatedly. Hit Me With Your Best Shot, what a great song you selected for this chapter @Ticklishboy30. I think that song, Barracuda or Magic Man and I Love Rock 'N' Roll would all be good songs to be tickled to. All three, warrior goddesses who could join forces with Dakota to fight the evils of homophobia and environmental destruction. Joan could kick arse, whilst Anne and Pat could destroy them with the power of their vocals. After all, for Pat, Love Is A Battlefield and Anne can hardly wait to get them Alone.

I cannot believe Toni is now 81 years old and she still looks pretty damn good too. It must be dancing and her Italian heritage which has kept her young.

Now these boys I am familiar with @Ticklishboy30. I particularly look forward to further development of Mickey's character, after all he is named after a very famous, and very fabulous song by a one hit wonder Toni Basil, even though the lyrics are not necessarily apropos.

"All the Giovanni men live in Covington castle, owned by James Covington." I simply MUST know @Ticklishboy30, is James related in any way to Julie, the songstress famous, at least in the UK, Australia and much of Europe, for her pop version of Don't Cry For Me Argentina. My late grandmother had it on a 45 and used to play it when we visited. I hated it as a teenager, but as an adult have grown to love it. The Giovanni boys seemingly have big feet, big cocks and a big appetite for tickles, but @Ticklishboy30, do they have Great Balls Of Fire (Dolly wants to know)?

I am so not a "car person". I have never owned one and have not driven one for 40 years, but even as a child there was something about a Valiant, especially the Valiant Charger that appealed to me. Maybe it was the word valiant which appealed, although I did not know what it meant. It sounded so much more "exotic" than Holden or Falcon. And I have ALWAYS loved purple as a colour, but especially so pre-teen years.

A thing of beauty. A car to make Mike the envy of Bruno Bertolucci .

I did not spot a typo, just a missing word "It will be a start" which is a very minor error and could be easily auto-corrected by the brain without you even realising it. Amongst all the biblical balderdash I neglected to praise your appealing Hugillesque sense of humour which shone through again, this time courtesy of this comment from the head “Not at all. Michael is not a particularly academic boy, so in other circumstances his feat of memory and of absorption of the Biblical message would have been admirable". So gentle and respectful @Robert Hugill, in lieu of saying "Not at all. Michael is usually a fucking moron whose comprehension of even the most basic concepts is minimal at best. It is remarkable he absorbed and remembered any of this drivel his parents have force-fed him. A different kind of moronicity I guess".

The "fresh meat" comment rang alarm bells for me as did the reference to Grayson as "bitch". These terms between those who know each other and are role-playing may be perfectly acceptable, but from someone you don't know I think it sounds somewhat menacing, which proved to be just the case. Animal aka Shane Williams is a thug. I agree with both @pvtguy and @CincyKris who described what Shane did as rape or sexual assault. I refuse to call him Animal as he does not deserve such a respectful name. Non-human animals should not be denigrated by referring to scum such as Shane as Animal. I also agree with @CincyKristhat it is very unlikely Grayson will report the rape as he will likely fear repercussions, feel ashamed (he has already displayed this by trying to scrub away the feeling of being dirty) and embarrassed. I strongly recommend Grayson visit a health clinic ASAP for a HIV and STI test. If Shane and Mike did not use the condoms he supplied, and it certainly appears they did not, then it is likely they have unprotected sex as a matter of course. It is hard to believe Shane has not behaved like this before and perhaps Mike experienced the same treatment. I cannot hold Mike responsible for Shane's behaviour, but I do think he should have warned Grayson what might happen. Very well written @Mark Ponyboy Peters. On a "lighter" note, is Mike's Valiant purple by chance?

Grandpa has a wonderful sense of humour “Good morning. Aren’t you looking healthy this morning!” illustrating this. I think Alan and Mason should show Grandpa how to clear his browsing history. This will "alert" him but at the same time hopefully not embarrass him. I am looking forward to reading of Grandpa's adventures in Boston.

A joyous chapter, in fact, I don't recall a more joyous chapter in this story thus far. Joy must be "in the air" in the Hugillverse at the moment as Ralph and Nolan had an equally joyous time just a few days ago. I rather like the school head. She was trying to be very pc, watching her p's and q's, but it was quite apparent to me she had little regard for Michael Mallion's "flat-earther" parents. If only she were allowed to tell them to fuck off and take their make believe with them I suspect she well may have. Her comment “It will be start, something to build on. We will also make clear to Michael’s parents, in writing, that it is unacceptable to make personal remarks about pupils and their families”, she gave a grim smile, “or staff, for that matter.” has me wondering if she might be a lesbian or bisexual. Italian is by far and away my favourite cuisine and pizza is the only fast food I would ever eat. I have not had it for a number of years, but I could almost smell a delicious vegetarian pizza as I was reading about Ludo and Arthur's visit to La mamma. Great chapter @Robert Hugill. Ludo and Arthur have such a pragmatic approach to parenting. It is no wonder Damian and Adam are such remarkable boys.

Mr and the new Mrs Sovie are well suited. Self-centred, arrogant and cold. One can only hope a Sunday afternoon drive for the newly married couple becomes their last, a tragic accident caused by a semi-trailer driver who has a heart attack behind the wheel before plowing into their car.

I strongly suspect the main reason Bart Sovie may wish to rekindle a romance with Mrs Randall is the size of her bank account. He strikes me as an opportunist, and in this case his target is an easy one. I, like Win, don't care if he hurts Mrs Randall, but I do care what may happen to Win if Mrs Randall is fool enough to marry him.

It would be so easy for Win to go into Mrs Randall's master suite and put a pillow over her face. Alas it won't happen though as he is far too well behaved and law abiding to consider such a thing. Hopefully cirrhosis will come a visiting soon and not leave her until she has succumbed. Miserable bitch. I have to wonder how long it will be before Tad finds out the truth about Mrs Randall. The only positive I can find in her is that she at least, until now, has never embarrassed Win by appearing drunk when Tad visits. I think Tad's mother may suspect Win receives little affection from Mrs Randall. If she only knew the half of it.

Win's mother is a selfish contemptuous bitch. It sounds as though she may have been a lousy spouse too. If she cannot get her act together I hope she falls down the stairs drunk sooner rather than later. Her death will be no loss to Win, in fact it will remove an unwanted stress from his life. An interesting start to this story @Bill W.

Moi? I would never do such a thing with the threat of torture. @Paladin must have forced me to do it, threatened me that if I did not he would force feed me peas and Brussels sprouts whilst playing Love Me Do, She Loves You, Imagine (John Lennon's version), Respect (Aretha's version), You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman (Aretha's version) and American Pie (both Don McLean and Madonna's version) on a continuous loop. I could not sustain such torture so would have to tickle you to save my sanity.

The possible problem I see for Peter is that if he proves to be gifted there will be an expectation he will always be right, and if he is ever wrong, even just once, he will be crucified. Should he have disclosed his gift? I think he was foolish to do so, but then I have little faith in my own species as there will be those who will want to benefit from Peter's gift by whatever means it takes. I am not familiar with Dennis Yost & Classics IV @Lee Wilson, but I did like a few songs by Atlanta Rhythm Section, especially So Into You and to a lesser extent, Imaginary Lover. They had no success in Australia at all, I only knew of them because I listened to Casey Kasem's American Top 40.

You are portraying her realistically I think. She has not proven the ogre she first appeared to be. She is mostly quite reasonable, except after a dose of "poison" from Barb.

The me who tries to think better of his own species agrees with you @pvtguy, but the cynic (realist) in me thinks Peter is worth more alive than dead, his ability to forecast gaining valuable ratings for whatever network he works for. Of course, this will become a moot point if he takes a job at the National Hurricane Centre.

Is @Paladin tickling you?

I guess I just expected him to have been more open with Melissa @Cane23. It seemed to me that both DA Mike Schultz and Judge Chris O'Malley were aware Roger is gay or at least suspected this to be the case. I suppose it was not that long before 1992 that Reagan had been president and Bush was vice-president and now (in 1992) Bush was president. So much good came after with Clinton and especially Obama, only to have so much good subsequently destroyed again.

I have found peas are invariably used in mushroom risotto @Paladin. Unfortunately, they are one of the few vegetables @Summerabbacat truly loathes, along with Brussels sprouts and turnip.

@Gary L sums it up well @Robert Hugill, this chapter buzzes with activity and excitement too. Therese seems to be far more relaxed and agreeable when she has not recently been in the company of her poisonous pals, especially bellicose Barb. Ralph's lunch with her was pleasant, almost like a lunch catch up between two friends; certainly not the atmosphere one could have imagined when the story first started. Perhaps this transition is also part of Ralph's breaking free, breaking free from the role, whether "real" or perceived, of disgruntled ex-husband and father to happier more confident ex-husband and father who will not be bullied into submission for fear of losing his daughters. I seem to recall he often expressed this concern when the story first started, but is doing so far less now. I admire how intuitive Ralph and Nolan are becoming. Nolan has to me always seemed the more intuitive of the two, but in this chapter Ralph really shone. He sensed something was troubling Nolan and waited for him to disclose the source and then treated the concern in a calm and rational manner, alleviating much of Nolan's worry with humour and reassurance. It seems Russ Kahn is admired by or impresses many in the community. I wonder if he is aware of the extent of this admiration. Outstanding chapter @Robert Hugill. Could this be your Christmas #1?

Apart from the harrowing opening scene and another, yet again, totally selfish and ignorant comment from the Cuntess of Chicago, this chapter was largely one with a sense of positivity for many of the protagonists. For me, Mary's breakthrough with Micah and the feedback delivered by the bank manager to Thomas were absolute standouts, the latter as much for the cards and letters as for the cash deposits. I must say the following thought from Melissa really shocked me @empath. "Melissa had known Roger for over five years, but she had not known he was gay." I did not realise Roger had been leading a closeted life, or is it merely because he has had no love in his life to speak of that his private life has never been discussed. If it is the latter, I am hopeful that before the story's end he will at least have someone interested in him. Once again @drsawzall beat me to the punch, describing perfectly my thoughts on this chapter, albeit far more eloquently than what I could have though. "This was a seminal chapter even as new threads were woven into this growing tapestry. A master class in wordsmithing, so well written and presented". It was as the good doctor described, a master craftsman at work.

There was much to amuse as well as arouse in this fine chapter @Mark Ponyboy Peters. "I left Mike and headed upstairs to the fittings area, which was at the far end of the mezzanine floor, where I found a total mess; with shelves and brackets and all sorts of stuff, including various mannequins and their severed body parts, strewn everywhere." This description and other descriptive references thereafter to the mannequins found me reminiscing about an amusing little pop song from Perry Como from the 1950's, a song about a "dolly" named Glendora. "It was getting quite warm, but there was also something else in the air that I found difficult to articulate. I wouldn't call it tension exactly, but all the same it was something tangible and real." Dare I suggest it was pheromones or the scent of sweaty balls and/or butt-crack that heightened Grayson's senses and was making him warm. I think it almost certain Mike knew of Grayson and Hoppy's visit to the underside of the staircase. Perhaps he may have even been watching from a vantage point. It gives a whole new meaning to Men At Work's Down Under from 41 years ago (it reached #1 in Australia on 21/12/81). A happy workplace is a productive workplace or so it is said. If this be the case, Hoppy and Grayson at least should be very productive. Hoppy's transformation from geeky, plain-looking nerd to bisexual stud in an apparently relative short timeframe was pleasing to note.