Summerabbacat

It must have been the calming effect of The Flooral Dance (Terry Wogan's version obviously, LOL) which set ablaze dopamine production and allowed you to relax @Gary L, or was it Mr Blobby?

The song was first recorded in 1912 by an Aussie bass/baritone singer, Peter Dawson. You might like this version better than Terry Wogan's:

An interesting pronunciation of floral as "flooral" @Robert Hugill. Do most Brits pronounce as "floral" or "flooral" or does it vary depending on where you reside in the UK?

Mine too @MastaMak, and I still say it too. For once I was trying to be more eloquent, because I usually swear like a fucking drunken sailor.

It's pretty awful, but it's a gem compared to the UK #1 Christmas song for 1993, surely one of the worst songs ever. I put it in the same category as the execrable Disco Duck.

A journey through the "bowels" of the castle, literally in some places it seemed, with the stench of "sludge" almost overpowering them at times. A journey not for the faint of heart or the weak of stomach. I found it interesting, and it may have been quite unintentional on your part @Mark Ponyboy Peters, that the knights referred to their young rescuers as urchins, whereas Prince Raemande referred to them as waifs, the only notable difference between the two being urchins are poorly or raggedly dressed, whereas waifs may not be so. This suggested to me Prince Raemande is perhaps more tender-hearted and sensitive to slighting the boys, whereas the knights are more rough and tumble. Dare I say Prince Raemande is a little more "woke", a word which I despise, primarily because it is used derogatorily by "humans" I despise, as I too "bristled" each time the boys were referred to as "urchins", even if by themselves or their own kind. As noted by several of the "ponyboy posse" this was a very suspenseful chapter, with several near misses for the waifs and their charges, including near misses with the fetid Dark Lord, Septimus, himself. Oh to see him drown in a deluge of shit, a very fitting ending, but one I fear will not occur.

No, no, no, once again I missed it. Too busy listening to The Floral Dance in my head. It is quite bizarre, but I only thought of that song recently and looked it up to see if it had an accompanying video. I cannot quite remember why I thought of it. It was perhaps when I was listening to the fabulous Chanson D'Amour by The Manhattan Transfer which was a #1 hit in your homeland in 1977 and a hit in Australia too. I hated it as a teenager, but now love it.

I don't think I could live on a canal boat, I get "sea sick" on a boat before it even leaves Sydney Harbour, on a calm clear day. I love the colours of the canal boat above, green with purple. It reminds me of my first Dyson vacuum cleaner, when they were still made in the UK and a great product. It lasted 12 years. The second one, industrial grey with a splash of red, made in Malaysia. One of the wheels fell off within 12 months. Flimsy crap, but still cost a fortune. Never again. Louis and Charlie delighted in helping (organising) Tom. I still wonder what is really going on with him. I don't think Charlie twigged when Joss referred to PJ that it is the same PJ who ordered the lacquered anniversary gift from him. I am almost certain PJ referred to himself as such when he bought the gift. A quirky little chapter @Robert Hugill, one which I enjoyed immensely. I must say though that the PS regarding the grandfather's axe has me somewhat confused. The mention of the brass band reminded me of a song which was a massive hit in your homeland in 1977 (#2). I was 13 at the time and the British pop charts always fascinated me with the numerous one-hit wonders, often with very un-pop pop songs, and this was certainly one. Not a hit at all in Australia. The video quality is crap, but the song still shines through.

He is a wonderful character @Laura S. Fox, so much in common with the equally courageous Otis.

Lord Gary Lysaght you say. I still think Gary Lysaght, Vizconde of Valencia sounds better. Very exotic.

Yes. Fortunately neither has remarried for a third time.

As my late maternal grandmother would have said, Gran is as cunning as an old coot or cunning as an outhouse rat (although she would have replaced outhouse with something more "colourful" - like grandmother like grandson). It took very little effort for Gran to loosen Bernice's tongue sufficiently to reveal Kilby worked as a rent boy. What Gran will do with this information is the unknown. Will she disclose it to Edward as she promised Bernice she would? I suspect she will, but what will Edward do with it? Is he obliged to inform Child Services of this? I imagine if Kilby was still involved in sex work the answer would likely be yes, but given he is no longer "on the game" I would hope the answer is no as it is no longer an "issue". I would like to think Bernice revealed this information to Gran because she wants to "help" Kilby, but I don't believe that, not even for a moment. I think she, Bernice, is as cunning as two old coots or two outhouse rats. I imagine she has revealed this to Gran, counting on Gran telling Edward so that Edward will return Kilby to a group home unwanted and unloved, so that she can have him back to help her score drugs and pay for them.

I remembered she had gone to Cambodia, but had forgotten she dumped all three children on Martin. He is an arsehole, unless it is convenient for her that he is not an arsehole, although he likely "resumes" being an arsehole when he is no longer required to perform such duties. She reminds me of one of my ex-sisters in law, a total bitch. Actually three of the four were, but she was the worst. Both of my brothers have "questionable" tastes in wives.

"He led the drill with the cold, terrifying efficiency of a master of his craft, but inside, he felt like an overgrown pouting toddler who had seen someone else playing with his favorite person. He knew his temper was getting the best of him and he needed to stop." Amongst all the testosterone and occasional piss takes, there were several very humorous moments in this chapter, including the one above. Not only is Brody's vulnerability appealing, but his self-examination is at times very disarming. I agree with @drsawzall and @VBlew, the bar scene, including the navy "put downs" was very entertaining. The absolute pinnacle though was: "The final "Whoa-oh" was a primal scream that rattled the pitchers on the tables. “That’s Britney for you bitches.” A change of pace @Cap. A brilliant chapter, one of bonding, with a real sense of family between Brody and his team, a team who are delighted with his new found joy and the source of this joy.

More like my inner Carrie White. Now if only I could make people self-combust.

"Dad, can we stay the night?" "How about your mother?" "She doesn't expect me home on Friday nights." That wasn't what Martin expected to hear but he trusted Benjamin to be honest." This response from Benjamin greatly surprised me too. This indifferent attitude from Nag-tasha appears inconsistent with the controlling and vindictive Nag-tasha, the one who refused to allow their children to go to their paternal grandmother's funeral. And whilst on the subject of the funeral, why did Benjamin not defy Nag-tasha and go to his grandmother's funeral if he so desired? I assume he is between 16 and 18 years of age and should therefore have had a choice whether to attend or not, or has Nag-tasha attempted to poison their children against their grandmother in addition to Martin? If so, it does not appear she has been successful in doing so to Benjamin as his relationship with Martin seems friendly. I also wonder if Nag-tasha is aware Benjamin is gay, and if not, what her response might be if, and when she finds out. I hope she does not try to use it against Martin and attempt to portray him as a predator who "turned" their son gay, especially if she finds out Martin has a gay cousin who is in a relationship with Martin's gay solicitor, both of whom swam naked with Benjamin in Martin's pool. My speculative juices exploded in this chapter @Paladin, almost drowning me. I am not a particularly trusting person, and I saw so many opportunities for Nag-tasha to seize to make Martin's life more difficult than she already has. Call me cynical, but I think she will exploit every opportunity she can to make Martin miserable. Will we learn more of what led to their divorce and why she has seemingly become so hostile?

I did not gloss over it, it just did not register. Perhaps I was also "a little slow". I had been working today (my paid employment) after a system upgrade and to say the upgrade once again downgraded the system's performance is me being polite, without any expletives added.

I am curious, why is that @centexhairysub?

Allison is a brat and needs to be disciplined by her mother. How dare she just barge into Scott's bedroom and make demands with threats of telling their mother if her demands are not met. Who the fuck does she think she is? This behaviour is one of the reasons why I generally don't like children. Bobby and Tim are the opposite of Allison. Bobby's concern for Sam in the prior chapter and this chapter was heartfelt and moving. Tim appears to share his kindness. Perhaps they can teach the bratty Allison how to behave. Phil appears to have been cultured in the same petri dish as Rod Quincy Sr @Lee Wilson. Shitforbrains is my name and homophobia and drunkenness is my game. Things are looking up for the Lassiter family at present. Given what a loser Phil is though, I would be checking to make sure mortgage payments etc are being made if I was Maureen. I added 'Action Packed' to the recommendation categories after this and the previous chapter @Lee Wilson; this one has definitely moved beyond 'lite' now.

Another severe bout of hay fever hit me when I read this chapter @ChromedOutCortex. It so often strikes when I read a chapter of this story, as it did with its predecessor. "My chest tightened and I squeezed Alex’s hand harder. I couldn’t tell if I was more afraid of the past or of the possibility of a future without it." A profound statement, a fear experienced by Adam, just like Liam did in Older Hearts. As commented by @Doha, Alex shone brightly again, his support for Adam never waning.

Ruby's choice of songs for her burlesque performance was splendid, mostly, two out of three ain't bad (and I am not talking Meatloaf). Both DSB and Marilyn have any number of songs which would work well to accompany a burlesque performance. Gran is on the case, she has picked up the scent (hopefully Kilby's rather than Bernice's) and is about to expose Kilby, metaphorically only of course. Gran may appear tactless at times, but I suspect if she does conclude Kilby has been doing sex work, she may not reveal it to anyone, other than Kilby himself, perhaps imploring him to disclose it to Edward at least, in the first instance. And although Bernice may not have "forced" Kilby into sex work, she certainly encouraged it.

This would be very amusing, except that it is so often the case @weinerdog.

Perhaps the white stag is Larry incarnate, attempting to stop any harm coming to Killian, Killian whom we all know to have a somewhat laissez-faire attitude towards road rules, especially as they relate to speeding. The use of Jacy's knife as a murder weapon may have been opportunistic or may have been planned. As commented by @Philippe, the assumption has been made Jacy dropped the knife when he had his altercation with Professor Healy earlier in the day. If this is the case, then it appears the killer is likely to be someone at the dig, Elyse Pike perhaps. If however, the knife was dropped by Jacy somewhere else then Gordon Wallace or even Aunt Daisy may have committed the murder. The latter especially may delight in framing her nephew for murder, whilst pissing off her sister and her father at the same time. Intrigue aplenty @Josh Aterovis.

Just Arkansas @centexhairysub? What about Alabamy, Georgia and Louisiana?

It appears @weinerdog Sam had every reason to fear his father's reaction to him being gay. I wonder if Sam has experienced any other type of abuse previously from his father, or has witnessed him bullying someone whom he perceived to be gay. I was surprised his father referred to Sam as a poof, a pansy and a fairy; poof especially surprised me as it is a British or Australian term, whereas faggot is more often used by homophobic American's. He certainly has a volatile temper which he made no attempt to curb, and did not strike me as particularly intelligent. I assume he will be charged with attempted murder at least. If a long-prison sentence is handed down I won't be surprised if Sam's mother divorces him. The change from @Lee Wilson lite to @Lee Wilson standard was so quick it almost gave me whiplash. LOL. I hope Phil is not released on bail, and I suspect he may even add to a custodial sentence by further threatening Maureen, Roger and/or Sam.