I really, really loved this. It was strange and thrilling and very disturbing (both in terms of plot and the implications about Fraser's state of mind), and you used the Grecian myths to great effect. The writing was perfect. You did a fabulous job blending those lyrical descriptions of the Borderlands/Underworld with Ray's narrative voice, which can be a tricky thing to accomplish. You were working on multiple levels of characterization and description, and more than once I found myself staring at the screen and going, "Wow. She just blew the roof off the place." Like this bit:
A look of surprise and concern crossed his face, and Ray could hardly stand that either, all these human looks that had nothing to do with anger.
Perfect. I want to frame that last clause and hang it up someplace where I can see it every day. "All these human looks that had nothing to do with anger." It is BRILLIANT.
I loved the characterizations, too. Ray was at his most Ray-like: sweet, sincere, testy, twitchy and utterly devoted. Funny, too, as there were a lot of laugh-out-loud lines sprinkled throughout what is essentially a very dramatic story. And your Fraser! Oh, my poor Fraser - this presentation of him killed me. The ending was unbelievably sweet and tender. I think it's probably one of my favourite And the Boys Finally Get Together scenes. It was passionate and loving, and there was a wonderful sense of relief there, too. And the sex felt realistic in a way that I haven't seen much of in my (porny) travels.
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A look of surprise and concern crossed his face, and Ray could hardly stand that either, all these human looks that had nothing to do with anger.
Perfect. I want to frame that last clause and hang it up someplace where I can see it every day. "All these human looks that had nothing to do with anger." It is BRILLIANT.
I loved the characterizations, too. Ray was at his most Ray-like: sweet, sincere, testy, twitchy and utterly devoted. Funny, too, as there were a lot of laugh-out-loud lines sprinkled throughout what is essentially a very dramatic story. And your Fraser! Oh, my poor Fraser - this presentation of him killed me. The ending was unbelievably sweet and tender. I think it's probably one of my favourite And the Boys Finally Get Together scenes. It was passionate and loving, and there was a wonderful sense of relief there, too. And the sex felt realistic in a way that I haven't seen much of in my (porny) travels.
All in all, I liked it. :-) Fabulous job!