Tess and Janine having "good girl sex."  I don't know what to say to that.

Chpt 104. Tess

Alright Tess!

She's standing up for herself.  She's done being an emotional punching bag.  Good on her!  She has bourn the brunt of everybody else's craziness and she's done.  I say good!

And she seems to be inspiring the nutty women around her to see Tom as a human being. (I'm not sure in Lina's case.)  Good going girl!

Chpt 98, Donatella.

To be honest...kind of hard to got with this one.

All that talk of being in a home?  How did that come about?  Did Tom2 or Mom just let Donatella keep their dad in a cage...kind of ugly.

Chpt 83. Teacher's Pet.

Uuuummmm...who, exactly, does the hiring at Sapperton Academy?

Tess.

Honey.

Thank you.

Ya' know.  Ya' just say fuck it and have a go at Tom.  I really can't judge you.  You've earned it.

101. Cat like reflexes.

Okay...uh...that was pretty intense.

And it kind of seemed real.

....Did you know it was possible to survive jumping off the golden gate bridge?

It is.  Your odds aren't good, like 2 percent, so don't try it.  And besides, you aren't suicidal.  But, do you know what 100 percent of the people attempting suicide describe the second they let go of that bridge?

Regret.

Every fucking one of them, they see clearly that they have made a mistake and regret smacks them in the face. 

It could be that Janine's actions are an extension of her selfishness, she wants to keep her toy.  But wow...you captured that moment.  That...not clarity...that moment of overwhelming regret.

I have to admit...I would see Janine as having burned every bridge between her and Tom.  Litterally being, at best, the embodiment of Depraved Indifference (willing to use him to the point of his death...infact revelling in the idea) is a pretty black mark against her.

But wow, what a moment....

I'm not going to hold my breath to see if she can develop anything resembling compassion....so far she doesn't seem to have the toolkit...but maybe she can start with something like guilt...again, not holding my breath.

Of course it could also be this is like the hospital tears...a drug induced (in this case, stress induced) anomolie.  I'm really not to prepared to invest in her emotionally, but if she does start to seek some kind of...trip on the road to redemtion...I'd be with her on the journey....

You are an incredible writer...this is so...true.  A 10 rating is not high enough.

Damn!  Suspenseful chapter!  With Stan as our POV character, you can smell the evil coming off the ‘Megs.
And he escaped their clutches!  Stan is da’ man!
If this were just some action piece, this chapter wouldn’t amount to much for our side.  But Viewed as a horror piece, this was a pretty awesome win for the good guys.
Stan knows there’s something extraordinary going on.  He’ll know to be cautious when dealing with the harpy house.  He’s seen how pretty they are, but after this, they won’t have a lot of luck using it to distract him.  He knows to look up stairs.  Since he’s concerned about poison, he’ll never drink anything they hand him. Plus, Edith mentioned Samantha, that should help him avoid the most dangerous pitfall in his path.
I am a bit concerned about how long Edith’s attack will affect him.  Will he get back to Deacon and wind up tiny?
But then was it an attack?  Was that all Stan’s danger sense going off so hard it made him ill?   Or something else entirely?

So damn much awesome, but so damn many questions!

All I can say is: We’re not worthy!  We’re not worthy!

Thanks Duggernaut.

pix

PS 400th review!  Superfan!

So, time for a serious literary examination of the story of our friend Cam.  I liked Cam a lot.  But lets look at his tale in terms of literary themes. 
Cam’s story is one of consumption.  He is a victim of first his own lust.  He was consumed by his desire for Brooklyn.  The trap set for him was powered by this weakness.  From this stand point he served himself up, he made himself prey.  It was joyous and it was natural,but the Megs made it sinister and horrific. 
Once he was in their clutches, (symbolically) they fed on him.  Consumed his essence, lessened him in rather obvious ways.  But as they fed on him....they grew beautiful and powerful.  They gained, he lost.   A parasitic relationship.
Once literally in their clutches he decides to live.  This costs him.  He is silently humiliated and abused.  So much is taken from him; dignity, perspective, hope.  All eaten up to fuel the meg’s little games.  I know we made jokes about “the Brooklyn diet,” but that was the case.  He got more of her inside him than he wanted.  And he was starving.  There is nothing these creatures have to offer.  Once you are in there proximity there is nothing for you.  The have nothing to offer.  They are hollow and empty, nourishing neither your body nor your soul. 
Finally, Cerys feeds on him...he disappears....there is nothing left.  If Oliver dies he will not even be a memory. 
It not just demonstrates their evil...how they are parasites.  It gives them an iconography.  In the last millenia the term consumption was applied to any wasting disease.  Any disease that consumed the body.  In the 19th century the term settled on tuberculosis solely.  The implication is that they are a virus...a disease of our reality.
Cam was a great character, but his sad tale brings the horror into focus.  Would you care as much if all this befell Bear?  I know I wouldn’t.  The contrast might be more dramatic, but who really engages with someone like him?  
Sometimes great stories have sad endings, Cam’s is one of those it seems.  But, it was so worth reading.  So smart and so captivating. 

Thank you Duggernaut and goodbye Cam.  Great work.  Great reading.

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Even though in peril, this is a chapter full of win for Stan. 

I love that he’s listening to his gut, even though he’s teetering on panic.  He’s showing he’s smart enough to not get honey trapped.  He’s not another dummy to fall before a pretty face.  That will make things interesting when he next meets Samantha.

Jill the cop raises some questions.  First and foremost: is she an agent for the Megs, or is she an agent for Edith?   Maybe, Vesper?   How much does the organization share it’s spies and enforcers?  And does Jill know why she’s looking at Stan?  I can understand why the sorority doesn’t know much.  But what about someone like Jill or Vesper?  How much of the big picture do they see?  Does someone like Cady (is she or isn’t she) acting as their agent, innocently, by spreading rumors set Stan off because she grows their power by growing their mystery?

And the mystery deepens...thanks Duggernaut.  Gonna be pondering this for a bit.

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What this makes me wonder is just who is Sersi? 
Harmony doesn’t even know her brother’s fate, but Sersi knows that Oliver made Sara a mother.  Did someone plan on her getting Oliver?  Did they tell her so she could push his buttons?  Or did she go out of her way to develop her own contacts? 

I hope she winds up the best informed morsel in the weasel’s tummy.

And hey, didn't Stan say something nasty about Sara?  Even more proof of his intuition.

Thanks for another great chapter Duggernaut.  It was ponder-iffic.

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