#rillrill

SO.

This is a jaw-dropping series. If you're looking for fluff then it will not be your bag. This body of work nails the complex emotional arc of two people's passion for each other transforming from abhorrence to adoration, and does not let slip the confusion, anxiety and outright shitty behaviour that comes with the process.

Characterisation is bang on. No one is flat or cartoonish. Everyone has tics and faults and is a fully rounded human, and we learn so much about the character's internal lives which contradict our assumptions about them. How the characters interact is not told but shown, and we pick up on such intense moments and feelings through the most subtle of queues. I found this especially poignant between Jared and Richard in ch. 4.

I am a fan of how the obvious power imbalances between Gavin and Richard are played with, mostly in their comparative maturity and life experience, but also in wealth, power and status. Features include Richard's youthful obliviousness to Gavin's motivations, Richard's lack of self-worth creates a feedback loop of destructive denial, and how Gavin is in many ways is just as internally chaotic as Richard but has the life experience to know how to handle his emotions. The parallels between how Gavin handled his past relationship and how Richard is handling this present relationship are also compelling to read.

The main plot is fantastically detailed and well researched. The corporate, journalistic and PR mechanisms described that would be used to control the narrative around public figures is realistic and makes the story compelling.

The LIFESTYLE PORN, ohmygod, I want to live in Gavin's many houses. So beautifully detailed, so believable, so damn enviable. And also hilarious in how much superfluous technology Gavin has in his houses (no one needs a fridge like that!), but that just makes it all the more believable.

And the sex is incredible. Some of the best written porn out there. Kinky and filthy and power-imbalanced, with a throwaway lines that just blow everything out the water. What makes it so hot is the focus on both the overall sensory experience Richard is having and his complex emotional responses of shame and guilt and anger and denial all thrown into the mix. There's nothing I find more erotic than seeing someone get utterly lost in catharsis, find freedom in letting go and handing themselves over to another person. It rides high on the intense passion, first hateful then eventually loving, that these two have, and the age/status imbalance only fuel the fire. I did not know I had an older man/younger man kink until I read this.