I am a Lesbian, and I Read Cyan!
Blame a lovely woman named Virginia for this post.
Cyan deserves more attention as literature if not as sex appeal.
Read "Making Jeremy", a touching first-person narrative that twists blunt description and purple phrasing to hilarious effect. I think this is Nexis’s most approachable work, despite the graphic male/male sex, given its lighthearted humor and pathos. Saying this story is cleverly constructed is almost a spoiler. Read this as a good piece of short, piquing literature. Looking at it this way should make the sex scenes less squicky.
"Before I Forget" is a tech-centered story with glimpses of detailed conditioning and a creepy conspiracy. This one diverges from humor and clever wordplay in favor of a minimalist narrative with a trilby-esque flavor. I can't say much about this one without spoilers, either. "Before I Forget" is a succinct take for this niche of the genre. Usually these stories are redundant or serpentine; even trilby frequently writes into that trap. What little "sex" there is in this piece shouldn't squick any who read it as literature.
"Mac's Vacation" could be read as stroke, but it’s good stroke. This is a great, nicely paced sci-fi piece, succinct where it needs to be and obsessively detailed where the target audience would likely most appreciate it. This one really isn’t about the sex either so much as the kinks: tickling, teasing, freezing, drugging, milking, massage, technophilia, and androids. This probably won’t be enjoyable at all to non-cyan readers unless one is looking for a story to read only as mind control through physical manipulation. The entire point of Mac’s trip is to experience orgasm after orgasm with detailed play in between.
These stories are worth reading purely for the quality of their construction and content. “Making Jeremy” and “Before I Forget” were two of my cyan nominations for the Spirals. My other was A Dark and Stormy Night. A literature professor reads several stories from a student with subtle (to him) hypnotic ability. There’s a hilarious, intentionally awful writing assignment starting this piece, a detailed and emotionally engrossing account of Holmes and Watson as a gay couple, and an alluring vampire. This one is a little creepy and sexually graphic. Nexis has a thing for biting! This one is also worth reading purely for the story.
Nexis understands writing. All of his stories are distinct in tone. All of them are solidly constructed. He actually uses literary devices masterfully, and his attempts at wordplay are actually clever. His fetish writing is obsessively elaborate. His characters are poignant and believable. He writes strong, natural dialogue. He already writes better than all but the Archive's almost universally agreed upon masters. Based on some of what I read from last year while looking for Spiral nominations, he stands among them.
Nexis does write good sex, at least what looks to me like good sex for those who enjoy male/male sex. He can write tender or rough, sappy or dispassionate, tailoring the language expertly to the type of situation and personalities involved. Sex is the vehicle for mind control, or an adjunct to other methodology; sex is not the destination or the bulk of the stories. He enjoys underwear, biting, massages, and slow hypnotic patter. His enjoyment of the themes he covers is evident from the obsessive detail and the seamless way in which he interlaces them into narratives often unrelated to them.
Nexis's characters are always poignant. Thought processes, visceral reactions, minor quirks, distinct voices: this writer understands people and knows how to vividly write them! Character voice varies magnificently from story to story and within each story. He knows how to incorporate natural dialogue. The social dynamics threaded through many of his stories feel organic; these could be case studies as easily as they are stories. Nexis isn’t afraid to be blunt, but he’s good at being subtle and eerie, too.
Nexis writes better short stories, I think, but what glows in his longer stories makes me think he’ll eventually master that style, as well. I didn’t get far with Brighton Rock, but I’m extremely picky with comic book stories, and this was his first EMCSA posting. His recent work shimmers. Those who don’t mind arrogance in writing might be able to appreciate his reality-based writing. He does explore his interest in writing as an art in fascinating ways. I read those stories as case studies, which is pretty much what they are since Nexis is speaking clearly as and about himself.
I advise avoiding Nexis’s stories about writing. Nexis gets downright masturbatory in an extremely unflattering way when he writes about the craft itself. "A Story for Mathew," "Whatever Happened to What's His Name?": these works paint him as disgustingly arrogant and a touch sardonic. One of these stories details an unappreciative fan who may or may not be a real person being trained to, well, appreciate him. As much as I adore this man’s talent, I find this side of his work appalling. He’s great so long as he’s not writing about himself. These stories explore fascinating points, but the tripe and arrogance makes them extremely difficult to appreciate. Edit: An e-mail exchange with Nex leaves me rather ashamed of this assessment. He really is disturbingly good at intense characterization! These stories are not based in reality; they are merely explorations of a different kind. If anything, my reaction is a reflection of his talent as a writer and of my lacking talent as a reviewer.
A smaller flaw is his minor technical errors. Missing particles, tense errors easily attributed to typos: these things are hard to catch without a proofreader. Sometimes his writing gets a bit gimmicky (obvious twists, verbatim repetition of an earlier scene to show hypnotic change, scene arrangement itself used to pull a story along), but not nearly so gimmicky as most of the stories I snark. Nexis has enough talent for me to notice these things more than I would in most stories on the Archive. I think he will attain the level of skill for which he is obviously striving. He improves dramatically from story to story, sans the ones about himself, and even those (he tends to place full, shorter stories within longer ones to show various points) sometimes contain good shorter stories.
Some other stories to consider:
"The Magic Words" This is a beautiful, short, well-spun D/s exchange. Nexis writes particularly interesting submissive characters!
"Dreamwork" Not all of his writing-about-writing stories are bad. This one has a turning-the-tables slant, and I think Nexis might be a switch (this would explain his ability to write so well from both sides).
"Dear Robert" This gets a little pompous, but the twist is done well enough to make this a good read. Nexis really does seem to have a thing for turning the tables. This one gets a little creepy.
I'll post from time to time about good cyan finds. I read this color purely as literature. Some of Nexis's stories would probably turn me on to no end if they were red. Erotica rarely turns me on in anything but an engrossed intellectual way, so this, to me, truly says something about Nexis Pas's ability to tell a good story.
* * *
Also: visit #argentgarden on bondagenet! Madam's IRC channel is growing. This is really a geeky hangout where the geeks happen to enjoy EMC, or at least erotic hypnosis. We play Scrabble, give ourselves headaches by discussing temporal mechanics, share hypnosis experiences, geek out over D&D and video games, and discuss the weekly updates. #argentgarden is busiest in the evening (PST). Darksong and his infamous Shelley were there earlier tonight. Some of the regulars don't even visit the forums: one doesn't need to be aware of community politics or events to fit in with us. Why not visit our odd, geeky corner of IRC? (One doesn't need to be a geek, but the Madam is a touch insane. Beware!)
Madam's first Silververse spin-off story is sizzling. She is much better now at tightly braiding heat with complex plot, and her worry about Aurora sounding too much like Sarah is a silly one. Aurora's first story is dark in a way Madam hasn't explored previously. This series will be readable without knowledge of the previous series. Please comment on her post below, if you haven't already, so she'll post a preview! She's going to make everyone wait until November for the entirety of these stories (but they'll be much more thoroughly edited, at least).
~Valbot
Cyan deserves more attention as literature if not as sex appeal.
Read "Making Jeremy", a touching first-person narrative that twists blunt description and purple phrasing to hilarious effect. I think this is Nexis’s most approachable work, despite the graphic male/male sex, given its lighthearted humor and pathos. Saying this story is cleverly constructed is almost a spoiler. Read this as a good piece of short, piquing literature. Looking at it this way should make the sex scenes less squicky.
"Before I Forget" is a tech-centered story with glimpses of detailed conditioning and a creepy conspiracy. This one diverges from humor and clever wordplay in favor of a minimalist narrative with a trilby-esque flavor. I can't say much about this one without spoilers, either. "Before I Forget" is a succinct take for this niche of the genre. Usually these stories are redundant or serpentine; even trilby frequently writes into that trap. What little "sex" there is in this piece shouldn't squick any who read it as literature.
"Mac's Vacation" could be read as stroke, but it’s good stroke. This is a great, nicely paced sci-fi piece, succinct where it needs to be and obsessively detailed where the target audience would likely most appreciate it. This one really isn’t about the sex either so much as the kinks: tickling, teasing, freezing, drugging, milking, massage, technophilia, and androids. This probably won’t be enjoyable at all to non-cyan readers unless one is looking for a story to read only as mind control through physical manipulation. The entire point of Mac’s trip is to experience orgasm after orgasm with detailed play in between.
These stories are worth reading purely for the quality of their construction and content. “Making Jeremy” and “Before I Forget” were two of my cyan nominations for the Spirals. My other was A Dark and Stormy Night. A literature professor reads several stories from a student with subtle (to him) hypnotic ability. There’s a hilarious, intentionally awful writing assignment starting this piece, a detailed and emotionally engrossing account of Holmes and Watson as a gay couple, and an alluring vampire. This one is a little creepy and sexually graphic. Nexis has a thing for biting! This one is also worth reading purely for the story.
Nexis understands writing. All of his stories are distinct in tone. All of them are solidly constructed. He actually uses literary devices masterfully, and his attempts at wordplay are actually clever. His fetish writing is obsessively elaborate. His characters are poignant and believable. He writes strong, natural dialogue. He already writes better than all but the Archive's almost universally agreed upon masters. Based on some of what I read from last year while looking for Spiral nominations, he stands among them.
Nexis does write good sex, at least what looks to me like good sex for those who enjoy male/male sex. He can write tender or rough, sappy or dispassionate, tailoring the language expertly to the type of situation and personalities involved. Sex is the vehicle for mind control, or an adjunct to other methodology; sex is not the destination or the bulk of the stories. He enjoys underwear, biting, massages, and slow hypnotic patter. His enjoyment of the themes he covers is evident from the obsessive detail and the seamless way in which he interlaces them into narratives often unrelated to them.
Nexis's characters are always poignant. Thought processes, visceral reactions, minor quirks, distinct voices: this writer understands people and knows how to vividly write them! Character voice varies magnificently from story to story and within each story. He knows how to incorporate natural dialogue. The social dynamics threaded through many of his stories feel organic; these could be case studies as easily as they are stories. Nexis isn’t afraid to be blunt, but he’s good at being subtle and eerie, too.
Nexis writes better short stories, I think, but what glows in his longer stories makes me think he’ll eventually master that style, as well. I didn’t get far with Brighton Rock, but I’m extremely picky with comic book stories, and this was his first EMCSA posting. His recent work shimmers. Those who don’t mind arrogance in writing might be able to appreciate his reality-based writing. He does explore his interest in writing as an art in fascinating ways. I read those stories as case studies, which is pretty much what they are since Nexis is speaking clearly as and about himself.
I advise avoiding Nexis’s stories about writing. Nexis gets downright masturbatory in an extremely unflattering way when he writes about the craft itself. "A Story for Mathew," "Whatever Happened to What's His Name?": these works paint him as disgustingly arrogant and a touch sardonic. One of these stories details an unappreciative fan who may or may not be a real person being trained to, well, appreciate him. As much as I adore this man’s talent, I find this side of his work appalling. He’s great so long as he’s not writing about himself. These stories explore fascinating points, but the tripe and arrogance makes them extremely difficult to appreciate. Edit: An e-mail exchange with Nex leaves me rather ashamed of this assessment. He really is disturbingly good at intense characterization! These stories are not based in reality; they are merely explorations of a different kind. If anything, my reaction is a reflection of his talent as a writer and of my lacking talent as a reviewer.
A smaller flaw is his minor technical errors. Missing particles, tense errors easily attributed to typos: these things are hard to catch without a proofreader. Sometimes his writing gets a bit gimmicky (obvious twists, verbatim repetition of an earlier scene to show hypnotic change, scene arrangement itself used to pull a story along), but not nearly so gimmicky as most of the stories I snark. Nexis has enough talent for me to notice these things more than I would in most stories on the Archive. I think he will attain the level of skill for which he is obviously striving. He improves dramatically from story to story, sans the ones about himself, and even those (he tends to place full, shorter stories within longer ones to show various points) sometimes contain good shorter stories.
Some other stories to consider:
"The Magic Words" This is a beautiful, short, well-spun D/s exchange. Nexis writes particularly interesting submissive characters!
"Dreamwork" Not all of his writing-about-writing stories are bad. This one has a turning-the-tables slant, and I think Nexis might be a switch (this would explain his ability to write so well from both sides).
"Dear Robert" This gets a little pompous, but the twist is done well enough to make this a good read. Nexis really does seem to have a thing for turning the tables. This one gets a little creepy.
I'll post from time to time about good cyan finds. I read this color purely as literature. Some of Nexis's stories would probably turn me on to no end if they were red. Erotica rarely turns me on in anything but an engrossed intellectual way, so this, to me, truly says something about Nexis Pas's ability to tell a good story.
* * *
Also: visit #argentgarden on bondagenet! Madam's IRC channel is growing. This is really a geeky hangout where the geeks happen to enjoy EMC, or at least erotic hypnosis. We play Scrabble, give ourselves headaches by discussing temporal mechanics, share hypnosis experiences, geek out over D&D and video games, and discuss the weekly updates. #argentgarden is busiest in the evening (PST). Darksong and his infamous Shelley were there earlier tonight. Some of the regulars don't even visit the forums: one doesn't need to be aware of community politics or events to fit in with us. Why not visit our odd, geeky corner of IRC? (One doesn't need to be a geek, but the Madam is a touch insane. Beware!)
Madam's first Silververse spin-off story is sizzling. She is much better now at tightly braiding heat with complex plot, and her worry about Aurora sounding too much like Sarah is a silly one. Aurora's first story is dark in a way Madam hasn't explored previously. This series will be readable without knowledge of the previous series. Please comment on her post below, if you haven't already, so she'll post a preview! She's going to make everyone wait until November for the entirety of these stories (but they'll be much more thoroughly edited, at least).
~Valbot
Labels: #argentgarden, cyan, reviews, spiral awards, valbot, Writing
posted by valbot at
5:04 AM
7 Comments
