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Billie here. This is the annotation for Benefactor, a collaboration between Eddie, Annie and me. I'm won't run on as long as some (love you, Annie, but you write a lot!), and those three stories are pretty short (except Annie's), so this won't be quite as overwhelming.
Benefactor comes from a conversation we had about Western ideas about genies coming from Disney movies. Djinn were (at least by the time of the Prophet Mohammed) thought to be angels who defied the creator's command to bow to his new creation, Adam. It was King Solomon of Israel, famous for being a wizard for some reason, who bound them into various prisons to stop them from harming mortals.
None of us are religious, but it was an interesting idea to write about, so we did. We'd been wanting to do a collaboration.
Eddie, who has the most experience writing fantasy, started off with "First Wish", a tale of the creation of the universe, sexual anhedonia fixed by a miracle, pornography, and masturbation. I mean, it's Literotica, the wish was always going to be about something sexual.
He did the most complicated story structure, telling three time periods in parallel. I think it worked well. I was sympathetic to college sophomore Andrea's shyness, buying sexy stuff at the drugstore for the first time. Did you notice that she bought it outside her own neighborhood, before getting on the bus, so nobody she knew would see her?
The first thing the Djinn says is "Fear not." In the Bible and the Quran, God and the angels say this a lot. That was a hint, and you can see Haanish get annoyed when Andrea goes right on fearing him.
I think a lot of people remember from being teenagers, the feeling Andrea has here (and in Annie's story) of suddenly being attracted to people and having to learn to deal with it, a constant distraction.
"First Wish" shows Haanish immediately start complimenting Andrea. She seems to be exactly the sort of person he likes. This is Divine Providence, as Andrea explains at the end. The Creator is guiding events to arrange the end of his imprisonment. She's what he needs, and he's what she needs.
Self-Pleasure for Ladies was at the top of Andrea's video listings because of the wish. Otherwise, it would have been a Disney feature about talking prairie dogs, one of whom is a princess. He also arranged for a sexy movie to be the random show that was on TV when she sat down.
Annie took over for the middle leg of our relay with "Being a Blessing". I hope everyone got that. Haanish (in chapter 1) says that he can only bless or curse as a granted wish. Here he's asked to bless Cliff, but the only way he can do it without violating Cliff's free will is by using Andrea, so she's being a blessing.
This one (like mine) is told in a very linear way, beginning to end. It also hints at something we decided not to write about directly: Andrea is somewhat lonely. She's not antisocial, she has a study group and all, but you might notice she lives alone and never mentions having a friend until she and Cliff start to be close. She had friends in high school, but when she went away to UConn, she never made any close connections there.
We see that Andrea has pretty good people skills, as she talks Cliff down from his crying fit and makes a date with him. As she says to him the next day, she's less nervous and shy when she's worrying about someone else's problems, not her own.
At the beach, Haanish, among other things, compliments Andrea some more. Andrea is also shown trying very hard to be kind to him. They're feeling what they both think is a forbidden attraction, and both hiding it pretty well.
He also explains that, holy books to the contrary, the Creator and Its servants don't care about who sexes who, as long as it doesn't involve betrayal or harm. This is a story about an angel fucking a prophet, after all. We needed a deity who could have Its servants make love.
Among the ways Haanish praises Andrea is to compliment her moral sense, her unwillingness to interfere with Cliff's free will, or anyone's. That forces her to freely allow Haanish to change her again, for someone else's benefit.
Annie hints at the ending when Haanish bows his head respectfully to the mortal woman, and Andrea feels the entire world shudder under her feet, combined with feeling light-headed. She has a connection to the Divine, she is directly perceiving the Creator's emotions as Its painful duty, teaching a child a harsh lesson, is finally ending.
Andrea thinks, "It must be so boring to spend thousands of years mostly alone." The story implies that she has spent a couple of years mostly alone. For a mortal, that's a long time. They're compatible.
Do people want to read the adventures of Dree, the Goblin Queen? Eddie has a thought.
The sex scene is fun for me to read. I hope character shows. Andrea is very much taking the lead, most of the time, but it's clear she's very nervous. Without the Miracle of the Sex Skills, it wouldn't have gone nearly this smoothly or been nearly as much for for these two. Just before penetration, Andrea "spares a moment to be grateful." That's technically a prayer of thanksgiving.
When they're talking after lunch, she says, "I'm not claiming to be a prophet, joyboy." This is what we writers call "too on the nose." (Not really, I'm just teasing Annie some more.)
Andrea thinks, "This is my moment of temptation." Annie did a great job of showing how she never seriously considers abusing miracles. She's a genuinely good person. She does fantasize about miraculously having anyone she wants as a lover for five minutes, because she's a human being. She will spend her afternoon reading Literotica, which is how "Blessing" concludes.
In my chapter, "Generosity", I tried to make Andrea and Haanish's interaction more personal. From the beginning, they talk mostly about each other. Previous chapters have Haanish praising Andrea. This time, Andrea is complimenting Haanish extravagantly. It also becomes clear how focused she was and is on him, his appearance and his mannerisms. They've been denying it, but they're very attracted to each other.
This is also when Haanish reveals that he regrets his rebellion against the One.
When she surprises him with her desire to free him, "He drew himself straight, seeming to stand impossibly high, far taller than the sky. His head was somehow among the stars, even as he was still on the beach with her, in arm's reach." He could not have done that at the start of this story--he was bound totally to a physical body that had to remain near Solomon's prison. As Andrea eventually explains to him, he is in the process of being unbound from his punishment, but he's so focused on her (she isn't egotistical enough to say that) that he isn't aware of it. It's also possible that someone who isn't in the process of becoming a prophet would not have seen that. They are both being granted transcendence together.
Some of my favorite dialogue from this story is:
It's here that we finally explain the title of this tiny theological trilogy. (See, Annie, I can do alliteration too!) Haanish considers Andrea his benefactor, and vice-versa, because they have helped each other.
As with Cliff, Andrea is in charge of most of the lovemaking. This never used to be part of her, but an angel influenced her and she's turning into a prophet. Commanding and leading are two things a prophet does. Why would that not apply to passion and pleasure?
Continuity error I almost made: originally I had the phrase, "... the only other man she had hugged since childhood," when Andrea hugs the Djinn. That’s clearly wrong, she had two boyfriends!
When the pavilion appears, Andrea hears a sound like fluttering wings. You bet your life that was a deliberate attempt to get angel wings imagery in your head.
The business where Andrea directs Haanish to miracle her clothes away foreshadows the Big Reveals. How would a mortal woman know more about his own miracle than an angel who helped make the world? Because of two things: one, part of what's happening is her own miracle, and two, she is (without being conscious of it just yet) receiving divine guidance.
"You are perfect, Andrea, the perfect woman to heal my long loneliness." Haanish is this close to realizing she came to him by divine Providence.
That's a miracle. She shouldn't be that strong, which is why Haanish is surprised.
The finger in the butt was a way to indicate that this world's Creator doesn't care what people do when making love, if it's mutually joyful.
In my opinion, the best paragraph in "Generosity". I'd love to know if you agree.
My final comment: Andrea entered the pavilion at sunrise. She leaves at sunset. Time is freaky when an angel and prophet make love.
So, what did you readers think? All three of us are eager to hear.
Benefactor comes from a conversation we had about Western ideas about genies coming from Disney movies. Djinn were (at least by the time of the Prophet Mohammed) thought to be angels who defied the creator's command to bow to his new creation, Adam. It was King Solomon of Israel, famous for being a wizard for some reason, who bound them into various prisons to stop them from harming mortals.
None of us are religious, but it was an interesting idea to write about, so we did. We'd been wanting to do a collaboration.
Eddie, who has the most experience writing fantasy, started off with "First Wish", a tale of the creation of the universe, sexual anhedonia fixed by a miracle, pornography, and masturbation. I mean, it's Literotica, the wish was always going to be about something sexual.
He did the most complicated story structure, telling three time periods in parallel. I think it worked well. I was sympathetic to college sophomore Andrea's shyness, buying sexy stuff at the drugstore for the first time. Did you notice that she bought it outside her own neighborhood, before getting on the bus, so nobody she knew would see her?
The first thing the Djinn says is "Fear not." In the Bible and the Quran, God and the angels say this a lot. That was a hint, and you can see Haanish get annoyed when Andrea goes right on fearing him.
I think a lot of people remember from being teenagers, the feeling Andrea has here (and in Annie's story) of suddenly being attracted to people and having to learn to deal with it, a constant distraction.
"First Wish" shows Haanish immediately start complimenting Andrea. She seems to be exactly the sort of person he likes. This is Divine Providence, as Andrea explains at the end. The Creator is guiding events to arrange the end of his imprisonment. She's what he needs, and he's what she needs.
Self-Pleasure for Ladies was at the top of Andrea's video listings because of the wish. Otherwise, it would have been a Disney feature about talking prairie dogs, one of whom is a princess. He also arranged for a sexy movie to be the random show that was on TV when she sat down.
Annie took over for the middle leg of our relay with "Being a Blessing". I hope everyone got that. Haanish (in chapter 1) says that he can only bless or curse as a granted wish. Here he's asked to bless Cliff, but the only way he can do it without violating Cliff's free will is by using Andrea, so she's being a blessing.
This one (like mine) is told in a very linear way, beginning to end. It also hints at something we decided not to write about directly: Andrea is somewhat lonely. She's not antisocial, she has a study group and all, but you might notice she lives alone and never mentions having a friend until she and Cliff start to be close. She had friends in high school, but when she went away to UConn, she never made any close connections there.
We see that Andrea has pretty good people skills, as she talks Cliff down from his crying fit and makes a date with him. As she says to him the next day, she's less nervous and shy when she's worrying about someone else's problems, not her own.
At the beach, Haanish, among other things, compliments Andrea some more. Andrea is also shown trying very hard to be kind to him. They're feeling what they both think is a forbidden attraction, and both hiding it pretty well.
He also explains that, holy books to the contrary, the Creator and Its servants don't care about who sexes who, as long as it doesn't involve betrayal or harm. This is a story about an angel fucking a prophet, after all. We needed a deity who could have Its servants make love.
Among the ways Haanish praises Andrea is to compliment her moral sense, her unwillingness to interfere with Cliff's free will, or anyone's. That forces her to freely allow Haanish to change her again, for someone else's benefit.
Annie hints at the ending when Haanish bows his head respectfully to the mortal woman, and Andrea feels the entire world shudder under her feet, combined with feeling light-headed. She has a connection to the Divine, she is directly perceiving the Creator's emotions as Its painful duty, teaching a child a harsh lesson, is finally ending.
Andrea thinks, "It must be so boring to spend thousands of years mostly alone." The story implies that she has spent a couple of years mostly alone. For a mortal, that's a long time. They're compatible.
Do people want to read the adventures of Dree, the Goblin Queen? Eddie has a thought.
The sex scene is fun for me to read. I hope character shows. Andrea is very much taking the lead, most of the time, but it's clear she's very nervous. Without the Miracle of the Sex Skills, it wouldn't have gone nearly this smoothly or been nearly as much for for these two. Just before penetration, Andrea "spares a moment to be grateful." That's technically a prayer of thanksgiving.
When they're talking after lunch, she says, "I'm not claiming to be a prophet, joyboy." This is what we writers call "too on the nose." (Not really, I'm just teasing Annie some more.)
Andrea thinks, "This is my moment of temptation." Annie did a great job of showing how she never seriously considers abusing miracles. She's a genuinely good person. She does fantasize about miraculously having anyone she wants as a lover for five minutes, because she's a human being. She will spend her afternoon reading Literotica, which is how "Blessing" concludes.
In my chapter, "Generosity", I tried to make Andrea and Haanish's interaction more personal. From the beginning, they talk mostly about each other. Previous chapters have Haanish praising Andrea. This time, Andrea is complimenting Haanish extravagantly. It also becomes clear how focused she was and is on him, his appearance and his mannerisms. They've been denying it, but they're very attracted to each other.
This is also when Haanish reveals that he regrets his rebellion against the One.
When she surprises him with her desire to free him, "He drew himself straight, seeming to stand impossibly high, far taller than the sky. His head was somehow among the stars, even as he was still on the beach with her, in arm's reach." He could not have done that at the start of this story--he was bound totally to a physical body that had to remain near Solomon's prison. As Andrea eventually explains to him, he is in the process of being unbound from his punishment, but he's so focused on her (she isn't egotistical enough to say that) that he isn't aware of it. It's also possible that someone who isn't in the process of becoming a prophet would not have seen that. They are both being granted transcendence together.
Some of my favorite dialogue from this story is:
It's here that we finally explain the title of this tiny theological trilogy. (See, Annie, I can do alliteration too!) Haanish considers Andrea his benefactor, and vice-versa, because they have helped each other.
As with Cliff, Andrea is in charge of most of the lovemaking. This never used to be part of her, but an angel influenced her and she's turning into a prophet. Commanding and leading are two things a prophet does. Why would that not apply to passion and pleasure?
Continuity error I almost made: originally I had the phrase, "... the only other man she had hugged since childhood," when Andrea hugs the Djinn. That’s clearly wrong, she had two boyfriends!
When the pavilion appears, Andrea hears a sound like fluttering wings. You bet your life that was a deliberate attempt to get angel wings imagery in your head.
The business where Andrea directs Haanish to miracle her clothes away foreshadows the Big Reveals. How would a mortal woman know more about his own miracle than an angel who helped make the world? Because of two things: one, part of what's happening is her own miracle, and two, she is (without being conscious of it just yet) receiving divine guidance.
"You are perfect, Andrea, the perfect woman to heal my long loneliness." Haanish is this close to realizing she came to him by divine Providence.
That's a miracle. She shouldn't be that strong, which is why Haanish is surprised.
The finger in the butt was a way to indicate that this world's Creator doesn't care what people do when making love, if it's mutually joyful.
In my opinion, the best paragraph in "Generosity". I'd love to know if you agree.
My final comment: Andrea entered the pavilion at sunrise. She leaves at sunset. Time is freaky when an angel and prophet make love.
So, what did you readers think? All three of us are eager to hear.
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