Paladin

There are things about the scene between Nick and Jonah that concern me, especially the kiss or kisses. What else we saw was how fragile Jonah is. Behind all the drama, theatrics and bravado is a frightened and fragile boy. He summed it up with “You’re the only person I’ve ever felt safe with.” A very sad situation. Jonah is confusing various types of love. What he really needs is to know that he is safe with everyone in his friendship group.

OK I'm an Aussie. I'd never heard of a Duck Fart Shot and had to google it. While i admired the skill in making it, I still wasn't tempted to rush out and try it, that's assuming I could find local a bar serving it. No the concoction I'll stick to tonight is a Syrah Sangiovense blend. A lovely red wine.

No murders, but murderous intent. In a rom-com context of course.

A beautiful chapter with Steve surrendering himself to Kenny and, through the ritual of washing, Kenny discovering Steve's body and its appeal. Once Kenny strips off his wet clothes and, overcoming a compulsion to rush all the clothes to the laundry, they can mutually explore the enjoyment of their respective treasures. Kenny's next hygienic challenge will be cleaning another pleasure centre ready for mutual enjoyment. Please leave the discarded brush, discarded.

A common and expensive concoction is the cocktail. It also happens to be a serious intoxicant.

There's something else in the "perfect" comment. Here, he's telling someone else (Lyn's mother after correctly reading the situation). In the present he is telling Lyn directly. I agree the name Blanche is taken from Blanche in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar named Desire,

To some extent I agree with you @Jjeffalch. I don't think that Blake had any right to impose conditions on the above the nail salon enterprise but in the end his conditions were basically things that were already in place. Importantly Lydia made sure that Blake gave up more than he gained. He gained a bit of self satisfaction in return for working for the enterprise and writing more in his book series and having to write Lydia into the next book to her satisfaction. He's screwed!!

A mixed chapter with Zayn and River drawing closer together in a real relationship rather than a financial one. And talking about financial relationship, Harry is revealed as the gold digger he is. Veronica is using Harry and we are yet to discover her end game. She reminds Harry that there's a "goal" and "Zayn's position in the family". We've been led to believe that unless Zayn can convince his father that he can be in a stable relationship he will be disinherited and won't have a position in the family. Leonardo could not have missed that Harry dumped Zayn as soon as disinheritance was mentioned. Veronica underestimates River by thinking River is standing up to her to be "clever". His standing up to her has a lot more to it than that. The scene around the changing room was wonderful.

In the end it wasn't just the chess game that ended in stalemate, but the whole situation. Through chaos, status quo was restored. Well sort of. 😆

What can I say? Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Come on. Fair go. Brian didn't know what was on the tape. He just wanted something, anything, to distract Lydia and save his boyfriend Kyle and his best bits,. Kyle obviously needs help getting over his DILF crush on Blake. I think Brian is already planning a crash crush cure. Anyway it worked in more ways than one.

Alcohol is a commonly consumed intoxicant. I'll drink to that!

So far no one has commented on this: Jason, having finished his muffin, walked over and sat next to Brian, helping himself to one of the pumpkin puffs. “Blake,” he said softly, looking up at his agitated former lover. Is Jason planning to return to the quiet order of family life.? With son-in-law (sort of) Steve in the mix, it won't be as quiet and ordered as before.

I hope Blake is prepared for this. No wait there. Maybe I don't. Can we play Go instead?

They need somewhere private and uncluttered. Ruling out the Volvo back seat and the church, their only other option is Kenny's room after the joint shower Kenny suggested.

So the reality is a clown's fake gun and an actual game of skill. I wondered if Chess-pocalypse… had some rules that Steve didn't disclose, but that's not like Steve. In all his chaos he's been honest even when it wasn't believed. Like when he tried to tell his parents he was gay. This really is a chaotic battle of intelligence.

You tell us! You're the author. Unless you've forgotten

Come on. Steve said the pieces explode not that they are mushroom cloud atomic.

A beautiful description of natural Australia at it's best and enjoyed but still preserved. A very nostalgic chapter for me. Hiking in the bush, tracks,streams, cascades, water falls and clear ponds. Ahh yes. Memories.

Jack is absolutely smitten. He can hardly glance at Theo without lust. Theo is no better as he feels possissive concerning Jack. They are fated to be mates with Vince in there somewhere. But fate is rarely that simple.

I'm just annoyed that this tsunami of comments rolled in while, in my timezone, I was tucked up sleeping and unable to respond until now. If Lydia really wants to punish Blake all she has to do is let the whole student body know that he is the author of “GHOST PROTOCOL: REPLICANT CITY” and is available to personally autograph (no auto pen) every student's copy of the books along with a personal message. Of course they would need a personal message. Blake would have to cope with being mobbed by students brandishing copies of this books. Combines his two dislikes, students and Ghost protocol.

Don't forget Blake was warned : "Lydia! Her name is Lydia! She's the mastermind's sister, and she's terrifying!" Denis looked wildly around him at Jason, as if begging for help. Yes, Blake isn't just confronting Steve but also Lydia and she seems to have lessons for everyone.

I wanted to cobble together a comment for this word of the day but tripped on a cobblestone. Now what was that word again?

“They’re all protecting a kid who is running three businesses while getting a 62 in my class!” Wonderfully personal. The kid's brilliant and doing poorly in my class. It must be deliberate and an attack on me just like the sloth with a monocle debacle.

If this is an example of Blake's skill as an investigative journalist, I'm not surprised he's now a teacher.