Paladin

I'm sure Alex would find Brian delicious and satisfying and hopefully not too quick in the morning, afternoon, evening, night, OK whenever!

Halloween predicates Jack O' Lanterns and Trick or Treat.

We were all taught predicate in grammar at school. Predicate (usually pronounced slightly differently) is also a verb meaning to affirm or to declare in the sense of declaring something to be an attribute, quality or property of a group.

I'm assuming that Martin, who was murdered five years before, could be Rick's brother but more likely was Rick's boyfriend at the time. That would explain why it is in Rick's file. A gay murder, poorly investigated. Murders during the Sydney Mardi Gras including the famous parade. Thinking of which, there's one person I wouldn't mind if he was one of the victims.

Like @Summerabbacat and @Mark Ponyboy Peters, I have concerns about the commercialization of Halloween in Australia without a tradition to go with it. However I always enjoy a good ghost story and rural Australia has a strong tradition of ghost stories, usually around the ghosts of people who have been murdered. This is a great story in that tradition. I have recently become aware that Campbelltown in South West Sydney has an eleven day festival to celebrate the story of Fisher's Ghost. The festival includes Halloween (31 Oct). (Fisher's Ghost is a 19th century story of the murder of a farmer, Fredrick Fisher. His ghost, pointing to a paddock, appeared to a local resident who reported the contact. When the police investigated they located Fisher's body buried in that paddock. And yes they arrested the murderer. Spooky heh??)

I assume you are thinking In his wolf form @Summerabbacat and as long as Theo enjoys it

I don't care a jot for the jot that I just jotted down using my Parker Jotter ball point pen.

Two simple things. Halfway there, he muttered, “Great. Field trip to pick up pajamas for my boyfriend’s ex-crush.” Tommy’s head snapped around. “Ex what?” This indicates that Tommy didn't know Nick had a crush on him. And the elephant in the room, or rather basement. What's Tommy to make of the mega box of condoms? Surely he saw them, even if he hasn't said anything. Tommy finds out that his gay friend had a crush on him and is staying the night in a room with a supply of condoms. Just saying 😆

I agree @akascrubber that this has become more intense than we first expected and that Alex has, despite his objective, tapped into a network of friends in the community likely to support him. David has not made friends because his role was to lure Alex into believing he was Alex's target. We can assume that the two agents, inappropriately dressed for the town, also haven't made any friends.

If I didn't have a reason for commenting on word of the day I could easily rationalize one.

Tilting the photo was the first crack in Alex's controlled, structured and ordered life. His own small acts of disruption, thinking of buying a pot plant and not eating the carefully curated meal, soon plunges him into the warm, comfortable chaos of Brian's life. Can we expect more chaos for Alex?

Regularly, I,wonder if my comments on GA reveal that at heart I can be a buffoon.

There are smoky substances where inhalation is not advised, and something a President denied doing.

There are times when my inhalation is because my doctor puts a cold stethoscope on my back and says "take a deep breath.

People with coulrophobia abhor circuses.

Hmm Joint relationship therapy dealing with issues they each had before the relationship and brought to the relationship. Interesting.

Can we conspire to create it?

Like @Summerabbacat, I wonder about the legal matters Leonardo discussed with River and their implications for Zayn and hopefully not as positively for Veronica. Another thing I wonder about is River's crush on Zayn which predates the "contract". River is really holding back on his true feelings for Zayn, including the wall of pillows. Despite Harry (what do they say about first lover?) Zayn is falling for River. River needs to get over his jealousy and the contract and show Zayn how he really feels. After all, can Zayn complain that his boyfriend wanted to have sex with him.

I am continuing to enjoy seeing the story not only from the POV of the other characters but also filling in the gaps the other POV omitted. This is still entertaining reading, even knowing the outline and outcome. Outcome of this part, that is.

I think it is hard to believe that denying he kissed Jonah back was not deliberate. He quickly added "I didn't kiss him back" when telling Jack. I also can't accept that the account in the previous chapter is fake news. Nick felt very guilty about what had happened and extremely concerned abut telling Jack. He worked himself up into believing that telling jack that Jonah kissed him would be enough to destroy their boyfriend relationship. I can understand that he would believe that admitting that he had kissed Jonah back would definitely destroy the boyfriend relationship. Denying would seem to be his best choice. My point is that it is still a lie, and lies like that, tend to return and bite you on the bum. With all Nick's anxieties and, as has been commented, his unresolved grief, I agree that he badly needs significant psychological intervention. The medication serves its purpose of stabilizing Nick but it is not resolving his problems.

There's something in this chapter that concerns me and that's the way Jonah is painted as the one and the only one that has to apologize. I won't dwell on how it would look to someone who has a crush on you, if you turn up to their room wearing boxers and a wifebeater and get rid of their roommate. The kiss happens after some banter and a reference to Jonah's cute butt. Yes playful friendly banter, but not taking Jonas's crush into account. My concern is the Nick rewriting of the event. In this chapter Nick tells Jack that Jonah kissed him and he didn't kiss Jonah back but in the last chapter we were told: And I didn’t pull away. Not right away. For maybe ten seconds – just ten – I kissed him back, our tongues locked in a dangerous dance in our mouths. Next Nick tells Jack that he told Jonah to stop, but again in the last chapter: “You didn’t stop me,” he said quietly. and there was no reference to asking Jonah to stop. We don't know what Nick told Christian, but judging by what Jonah says about Christian's "bitching him out", Nick told the same alternate truth to Christian. Interestingly Jonah accepts that version of events, even though he must know that Nick kissed him back and that Nick didn't ask him to stop. It only stopped when Nick pushed him away. Nick is priding himself on being honest, when he is not, and when it paints Jonah in a very bad light. I agree with all of you that Nick needs to be seeing a psychologist.

I'm not sure about it being a win-win, My comment, like yours, indicated that Blake gave up more than he gained. The quartet got more than Blake out of the deal.

So much so that it is almost impossible to identify when reality becomes absurdity and even more worrying, when absurdity becomes reality.

Yes I forgot about her age. She does seem much older. When she's old enough she will still be scary so it will need a man who is prepared to put his balls on the line in the quest for her love and affection. Win or lose all!! That's assuming she's not lesbian.

Kyle is timid which is why he crumbled so quickly when interrogated by Blake. Timid won't get him what he wants. Not even a small bookshop, even if it does sell Blake's books. At the same time I suspect that Brian needs Kyle to achieve his own ambitions. I hope their love for each other allows them to unite and face the future together. Oh and also find it sexually satisfying. When does Lydia get a romantic interest?