This quick shout-out became a review, of a sort . . .
Skip to the post below, if you haven't read it, for a preview of the first Silververse spin-off story!
* * *
I am thrilled to see Gasman's "Trailer Park Tango" as a green finalist. He truly deserves the encouragement and recognition for this honest, well-crafted, touching, and delightful story.
Daisy is the most poignant Domme I've read in a very long time. I abhor hicks, but this one grew on me as she cleverly and tenderly broke Mike of his prejudice and helped him to embrace his submissive nature. This was not a typical mean-and-green story; this was savoring and gentle. This could have been a cliché story—Mike is a football player and Daisy is a bit of a slut—but the clichés were spun well, background coloring instead of driving elements, and the focus was entirely on the D/s interaction. The control method isn't my favorite, but it works well in this case: Daisy does the real work to solidify and enhance the control it facilitates. Gasman weaves in his foot fetish enough that any foot fetishist reading this would be happy, but that isn't even the primary element. This is about submission: sweet, but firm, Femdom submission. Daisy is the gentle but incisive Domme most straight submissive men likely dream of meeting. This story is wonderful process: thoughts and motivations are detailed enough to enhance the story without lapsing into rambling or shifting the focus. This is about the process of submission, emotionally and mentally as much as physically.
The worst criticism I can think of for this story, aside from the phonetic handling of Daisy's dialogue being a bit much, is that it does look like the work of a less-experienced author . . . but one with real talent. One of my favorite things, period, is watching talented authors emerge fully into their gifts. I want to watch this with Gasman.
"Trailer Park Tango" is a beautiful story. I've always enjoyed Gasman's Garden flashes, so I was happy to see his name while sifting through the 2007 archive in search of Spiral nominations. I'm not sure how I missed this one originally! Please consider giving this story your green vote. Penny's "Bound by Name and Blood" is a good story, but her other three nominations are much better representations of her talent, I think. Sara's two stories in this category are good compared to the (other) dreck surrounding them in green overall, but they're really not shimmering. I think the synopsis says it all about "Chain of Command." Truly, Gasman's story is the stand-out story of this list. His would be worthy of a nomination or vote in any color.
Red? I can't talk about red or I will snark viciously. If you abhor Madam's work, please vote for "Gospel" or "The Happily." I did read the other two finalists . . . one is good, but not Award Good. The other, I really would viciously snark if I even mentioned the title. How these two excuses for quality got in over thrall and Tabico, I truly do not know!
Anyway! Encourage good writing. Encourage lesser-known good authors. Vote for "Trailer Park Tango!"
~Valbot
* * *
I am thrilled to see Gasman's "Trailer Park Tango" as a green finalist. He truly deserves the encouragement and recognition for this honest, well-crafted, touching, and delightful story.
Daisy is the most poignant Domme I've read in a very long time. I abhor hicks, but this one grew on me as she cleverly and tenderly broke Mike of his prejudice and helped him to embrace his submissive nature. This was not a typical mean-and-green story; this was savoring and gentle. This could have been a cliché story—Mike is a football player and Daisy is a bit of a slut—but the clichés were spun well, background coloring instead of driving elements, and the focus was entirely on the D/s interaction. The control method isn't my favorite, but it works well in this case: Daisy does the real work to solidify and enhance the control it facilitates. Gasman weaves in his foot fetish enough that any foot fetishist reading this would be happy, but that isn't even the primary element. This is about submission: sweet, but firm, Femdom submission. Daisy is the gentle but incisive Domme most straight submissive men likely dream of meeting. This story is wonderful process: thoughts and motivations are detailed enough to enhance the story without lapsing into rambling or shifting the focus. This is about the process of submission, emotionally and mentally as much as physically.
The worst criticism I can think of for this story, aside from the phonetic handling of Daisy's dialogue being a bit much, is that it does look like the work of a less-experienced author . . . but one with real talent. One of my favorite things, period, is watching talented authors emerge fully into their gifts. I want to watch this with Gasman.
"Trailer Park Tango" is a beautiful story. I've always enjoyed Gasman's Garden flashes, so I was happy to see his name while sifting through the 2007 archive in search of Spiral nominations. I'm not sure how I missed this one originally! Please consider giving this story your green vote. Penny's "Bound by Name and Blood" is a good story, but her other three nominations are much better representations of her talent, I think. Sara's two stories in this category are good compared to the (other) dreck surrounding them in green overall, but they're really not shimmering. I think the synopsis says it all about "Chain of Command." Truly, Gasman's story is the stand-out story of this list. His would be worthy of a nomination or vote in any color.
Red? I can't talk about red or I will snark viciously. If you abhor Madam's work, please vote for "Gospel" or "The Happily." I did read the other two finalists . . . one is good, but not Award Good. The other, I really would viciously snark if I even mentioned the title. How these two excuses for quality got in over thrall and Tabico, I truly do not know!
Anyway! Encourage good writing. Encourage lesser-known good authors. Vote for "Trailer Park Tango!"
~Valbot
Labels: EMCSA, reviews, spiral awards, valbot
posted by valbot at
7:15 AM
5 Comments:
Nice disclaimer, Valbot :p
This is a very nice review of a very nice story, clearly I can't speak for Gasman, but I'm sure he will appreciate that and all the efforts you've gone to in response to his complaints of pervasive negativism.
Val--
I followed your recommendation and read Gasman's story. As you can probably guess from reading my stories, green isn't a favourite colour of mine, but I thought if you could read cyan, I could read a green. Since Gasman's is the first and only green story I've read, I can't compare to the other nominations for the Spirals or other stories in this category. What I can compare it to, however, is your review of it. And your comments were spot on.
As you know, I demurred a bit from your comments about my stories, but no author is ever going to agree with everything a critic says (rapturous praise excepted). And you fully deserve the label 'critic'--your comments are thoughtful, thought-provoking, challenging, insightful, informed, measured--and fun. I for one would feel deprived if the Gasman review was the last of your work I got to read.
So please don't let this be your last post. Say what you feel you need to say. If others don't like your comments (and there will always be those who don't), so be it. Nobody has to read your posts, but if they do, they should be prepared to be stimulated. If they can't handle that, it's their loss.
With respect,
Nex
Dear Val:
I took your advice and read a few more green stories and skimmed several more. The stories seemed to me to run the usual range from well conceived and thought out to 'masturbatory dreck' (to use your label). Most of the poorer ones seem to have been written by males (or by males masquerading as women, an interesting phenomenon of the MC site). One aspect of the poorer ones that struck me was how, with a few changes of pronouns and given names and substitutions of the relevant body parts, these stories could easily become gay masturbatory dreck. The female dominants in them didn't seem to me to be particularly female. Rather, they came across as male projections of dominance through costumes, oversized body parts, and humiliation. There is a depressing similarity and lack of imagination across all the various colour categories.
As for femdoms being cruel--I have a suggestion for a story. I couldn't write it, because my interests lie in other directions and because I don't think I can write female characters who are full and complete human beings. I would end up writing a caricature, which is one thing I hope to avoid in my writing. Anyway, I have a middle-aged colleague whose parents immigrated from Japan after WWII. I spent several years during my youth in Japan and speak Japanese. I've met the family on several occasions. The mother is the only woman in the family, and, at least at first glance, she observes the behaviour expected of married women of her generation in Japan. She is verbally and physically deferential to her husband (she always walks several paces behind him) and worshipful of her sons. Yet she really controls the family. It's fascinating to watch her. She has trained her husband and sons to believe that they are incapable of doing for themselves. And she gets her way by making them think they are getting their way. Granted this isn't an ideal situation, but she has made the best of a cultural role she inherited and has exploited it to her advantage. She uses love and affection and cossetting and deference to control them. Perhaps that story has already been written, but it strikes me as potentially more interesting than the dominant women with humongous boobs in tightfitting latex snarling at men who are screaming 'Whip me again, Cruella.'
That said, I remain staunchly cyanical in my MC preferences.
Nex
Drama removed from this post. I left Nex's comments because a cyan writer who barely reads beyond his own color appreciating "Trailer Park Tango" and feeling inspired to read more green would be a nice thing for Gasman to see.
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