A review of Chiaroscuro and Catgirls by onehitwanda

[THBGato]

I wrote this a while ago, then sat on it, then it was pending for nearly two weeks, so it feels almost redundant now, but nevermind. At least the delay probably means everyone who wants to read Chiaroscuro and Catgirls by @onehitwanda probably has done.

The original story: https://www.literotica.com/s/chiaroscuro-and-catgirls

The review: https://literotica.com/s/review-of-chiaroscuro-and-catgirls

Spoiler alert: I really liked it!

 

[cdstefi]

Thanks for the link! That is such a beautiful story, and perfectly paced. It's not often I've read a multi-page one without at least some impatience, but I was riveted all the way through.

 

[joy_of_cooking]

You say "all close reading is creative act" and indeed I think your review creates meaning that wasn't in the original. Maybe @onehitwanda will chime in to correct me.

Indeed, the pathos of the camgirl was front and center.

The moral valence of Kirsty's work, on the other hand, I did not see in the text. There's mention of the danger of the DRC, yes, but not of the big mining companies' complicity in creating that danger. And I think you see how thin the Felix thing is when you say, "She's not racist - look, she hugs Felix and thanks him for 'being a good friend.'"

Here's a creation of mine: Chiaroscuro and Catgirls is incredibly bleak. I suspect it wasn't meant that way. Again, maybe onehitwanda will set me straight. But it essentially posits a world where the only way to get ahead is to catch the eye of a wealthy benefactor. Where by "get ahead" I mean afford food. Viv/Ellie was literally rationing her food before she got that commission. And by "catch the eyes" I mean sleep with.

Maybe Kirsty was meant to be awkward? She came off more as masterfully manipulative. And I wonder if that was intentional. Wanda wrote,

She was phenomenally good at making me want to give her what she wanted.

She seemed to take delight in giving me gentle nudges about my stream - warm compliments about clothes she liked, or things I'd said that made her smile... and strange silences when I did things that she perhaps didn't like or approve of.

In light of this behavior, her approach starts looking less like a moment of awkwardness.

Godiva82> Is this what you want to do with your life, Ellie?

How does a woman err that badly, when she's supposedly good at a high-level corporate job that involves interacting with lots of people in lots of places? That would be wildly inconsistent. No, it starts looking more like a calculated neg.

And then there's this, before she asks Viv/Ellie to stay for dinner:

"Now there's nothing between us again. All my power over you is gone. Poof, just like that. Oh no. How sad. How... wonderfully liberating for us both."

Ah, yes, because giving a literally starving artist a thousand pounds levels the playing field. I mean, I suppose it's better than threatening to cancel the commission, but let's be realistic: the hope of more to come is just as powerful an inducement.

There's a glimpse of the story that could have been here, when Kirsty says,

I was... browsing smut sites when I found you, I was looking for... for something, for anything at all to distract me from my loneliness.

I think there was room to lean into the dystopian capitalist aspects of their relationship and it would have been a more interesting story for having done that. The woman who has it all, buys someone to share it!

I admit I was disappointed when I saw the straightforwardly happy ending. But who am I to disagree with 4.91 stars, 12k views, 89 favorites, 77 comments? It's far better than I've ever done.

 

[THBGato]

Hey, thanks for engaging!

Here's a creation of mine: Chiaroscuro and Catgirls is incredibly bleak.

Actually, that's what I got too - the description of Ellie's lifestyle was almost Dickensian in its bleakness. Yet it still moved me. But then so does Dickens.

But it essentially posits a world where the only way to get ahead is to catch the eye of a wealthy benefactor.

Yes, totally agree. That's why I see it as partially a critique of capitalism - it sucks to live in a world where people are dependent on "the kindness of strangers" in order to afford the most basic needs. Wouldn't it be better just to have a decent, tax-funded welfare state? Or am I being too Scandinavian? (I'm not actually Scandinavian.)

 

[cdstefi]

Honestly I thought it was more just a story of love overcoming inhibitions, imbalances and uncertainties, its power gradually diminishing them to the point of near-irrelevance. Beautifully told over a long enough form that they could be explored but with the conclusion that love's a force that will not be denied.

I'm a simple soul though