Well, we haven't seen the price that Herme may yet exact, and Dardana has a bit more "processing" to go through.
I'm not sure if Dardana is a masochist (if so, the extreme seemingly mostly for love), or has had certain fantasies moreso because of the allure of submission and wielding of power by Efan.
She's definitely a degree of masochist. I think there's an interesting unanswerable question as to what extent her desires are programmed vs. chosen from free will (due to being "bent"), or both, and thus she is not fighting her nature and the outcome is indistinguishable.
It *is* nice to see her be able to take pleasure in her circumstances when she's with the right person. Inner voice is a privilege of readers (compared to movie-goers) and I love what it adds. (Stating the obvious that, e.g. in the case of dubious consent we may have a very good idea as to what each person actually feels about it.)
She's an Io, which we've established are intelligent but temperamental, with excessively inquiring minds.
She's slightly defective and was let to slip through instead of being euthanized.
Despite the fact that the clones are made to thrive under a certain amount of "firm handling" Thelumene was "off the charts" with that.
All that together let her access a certain amount of self-introspective "meta" perception of herself unavailable to her sisters and allowed her to manipulate her psychology against itself--"my little tricks," as she calls them.
The clones are "gently" masochistic, and I think if Thelumene had toned herself down to the casual cruelty of Kyrie's friends, Io would have been as happy as Gemma.
In an alternate situation, Efan would marry Thelumene, and all three of them would be happy together. It's revealing that once in bed with Efan, her authorial voice *unquestioningly* accepts him as "work" (if pleasurable work), and she finds herself unable to *not* tell you all about it, but she casually uses her "tricks" to conceal her sex life with Barsina.
The really interesting one might be Barsina herself. Correctly made, perfectly conditioned, she still has managed to easily rationalize her accepting Dardana as her "contract-owner" despite the impossibility of that. I can imagine the mentists would strip her down psychologically to figure out how she pulled it off.
How they met must be an interesting story in itself.
Yes, Gemma’s strong aspirations to control Kyrie are unusual! The first girl should be the most dominant tank girl in a household, which should be just “work”, but Gem really, really wants to be that girl, and fantasized about it before everything happened.
Once Marko manumitted her at 30, she’d have been even more Very Firm with Kyrie.
Kyrie’s a tough cookie for Marko, sassy—but not for Gem. I don’t think she ever resisted her. She knows who’s in charge.
Even as his client and concubine after manumission Kyrie would be kept closely in hand by Gem.
Ah, I should have specified the degree to which Gemma went along with the escape attempt, or even Marko and absconding with them. I know there's a degree to which Kyrie used her own "little tricks", and to which I think clones will defer to authority, regardless of legality.
That's a good point about her dominance. That said, I could also see there being specific "models" intended for more managerial roles.
The jealousy/fantasies of getting racked and interrogated were what had me wondering if she can enjoy intensity (perhaps not to Thelumene's degree) when it's the attentions of someone she likes.
Misc. thoughts:
At this point I think Orestia isn't so much insulted as tempted by what she "can't" have.
A lion's mask is nicely appropriate for Efan.
Solene can't be pleased.
Secret societies can have a sexy menace to them! "Obey, or else..."
… and that crystallized ideas. It’s good to have an ARC reader!!
I would certainly welcome a short story about Orestia and Isthmias, that perhaps also addresses the Orestos matter.
Yes, I think the pleasant seaside road, a self-driving ground-car, and a spring drive are definitely in order for young Isthmias Zenithar …
Orestos/Orestia is an "accident" that has created worlds of possibilities …
Well, we haven't seen the price that Herme may yet exact, and Dardana has a bit more "processing" to go through.
I'm not sure if Dardana is a masochist (if so, the extreme seemingly mostly for love), or has had certain fantasies moreso because of the allure of submission and wielding of power by Efan.
She's definitely a degree of masochist. I think there's an interesting unanswerable question as to what extent her desires are programmed vs. chosen from free will (due to being "bent"), or both, and thus she is not fighting her nature and the outcome is indistinguishable.
It *is* nice to see her be able to take pleasure in her circumstances when she's with the right person. Inner voice is a privilege of readers (compared to movie-goers) and I love what it adds. (Stating the obvious that, e.g. in the case of dubious consent we may have a very good idea as to what each person actually feels about it.)
Dardana's psychology is complicated.
She's an Io, which we've established are intelligent but temperamental, with excessively inquiring minds.
She's slightly defective and was let to slip through instead of being euthanized.
Despite the fact that the clones are made to thrive under a certain amount of "firm handling" Thelumene was "off the charts" with that.
All that together let her access a certain amount of self-introspective "meta" perception of herself unavailable to her sisters and allowed her to manipulate her psychology against itself--"my little tricks," as she calls them.
The clones are "gently" masochistic, and I think if Thelumene had toned herself down to the casual cruelty of Kyrie's friends, Io would have been as happy as Gemma.
In an alternate situation, Efan would marry Thelumene, and all three of them would be happy together. It's revealing that once in bed with Efan, her authorial voice *unquestioningly* accepts him as "work" (if pleasurable work), and she finds herself unable to *not* tell you all about it, but she casually uses her "tricks" to conceal her sex life with Barsina.
The really interesting one might be Barsina herself. Correctly made, perfectly conditioned, she still has managed to easily rationalize her accepting Dardana as her "contract-owner" despite the impossibility of that. I can imagine the mentists would strip her down psychologically to figure out how she pulled it off.
How they met must be an interesting story in itself.
I don't think I had clued into (or recalled, at least) the tricks in that manner. It makes sense, though.
As for the mentists, Gemma too, for that matter.
Yes, Gemma’s strong aspirations to control Kyrie are unusual! The first girl should be the most dominant tank girl in a household, which should be just “work”, but Gem really, really wants to be that girl, and fantasized about it before everything happened.
Once Marko manumitted her at 30, she’d have been even more Very Firm with Kyrie.
Kyrie’s a tough cookie for Marko, sassy—but not for Gem. I don’t think she ever resisted her. She knows who’s in charge.
Even as his client and concubine after manumission Kyrie would be kept closely in hand by Gem.
Ah, I should have specified the degree to which Gemma went along with the escape attempt, or even Marko and absconding with them. I know there's a degree to which Kyrie used her own "little tricks", and to which I think clones will defer to authority, regardless of legality.
That's a good point about her dominance. That said, I could also see there being specific "models" intended for more managerial roles.
Thelumene was clearly too much, too cruel.
The jealousy/fantasies of getting racked and interrogated were what had me wondering if she can enjoy intensity (perhaps not to Thelumene's degree) when it's the attentions of someone she likes.
Testifying on the rack is work, work is pleasurable, being racked is painful, pain is pleasure. And it’s Efan, of course.
They are all made to regard to contact-owners as desirable, and she must have zoned in on him as proper to her. Bit of a uniform fetish, I think.
🙂 I see Orestia as not a perfect copy. She seems less in control than Herme! We will have to meet her again …