by EllenMelville
Been busy and just caught up on my reading, so last three chapter’s comments in one go. My ramblings are more arbitrary than usual, but hopefully of interest.
If nothing else Ch. 17 answered one of my previous questions, albeit a rhetorical one. I found I could look through, and even enjoy, Stephanie’s pain in Ch. 16, probably because I correctly assumed it would ultimately lead to pleasure. However I could not do the same when Tommy was on the receiving end of same. I can only assume that one tends to identify more with one’s own sex. It makes it just a little too close to home. This leads to another question. Is it fair to rate a story lower because one’s arousal is less, even if the quality of writing is similar?
As one who has previously professed a soft spot for Stephanie, there was no way I would not enjoy Ch. 18 & 19. I think, however, I would have preferred not to have the intermission. Yes, I know your style heads toward ‘making it up as you go along’, but as one who thinks flashbacks in movies too often confuse rather than clarify, I found it an unnecessary interruption. This is not to to say the intermission was not highly erotic. I think it was some of your best writing and would have have been brilliant as a stand-alone.