I enjoyed this immensely. A lovely view of our guys and great characters. I would love to read more in this ... universe? Bawdy house? PoV? Not sure how to phrase it but you know what I mean.
From: ChannelD Date: 06/11/2011
Oh, I enjoyed this thoroughly. I liked the narrator, the other women, and the view of Illya through their eyes. I liked Napoleon coming to the rescue and even though it wasn't a slash story (which is normally what I come to C&G's Random Story button for) I couldn't tear myself away. Thank you for sharing.
From: Kiwi Bird Date: 08/09/2010
Oh, man. That hurt. *whimper* Poor Illya. Napoleon cares about him, of course he does, just not that way. *shaking head* Usually I prefer the happier fics, but this one resonated somehow and I couldn't just walk away from it. The women who worked in the brothel were handled well, too. Tracey, who understands more than Illya wants to let on, Gladys who needs to be the center of attention and likes to stir up trouble, and Joanie who can't seem to walk away from her abusive boyfriend. And the parallel drawn between Joanie's irrational attachment to Dave and Illya's hopeless attachment to Napoleon was not lost on me. Napoleon is always hurting Illya, even though he doesn't mean to. So sad! *sigh* So, yeah. Compelling. Thanks for sharing. (And thanks for the sly humor regarding Illya's name and allegiance. It really provided a good counterpoint to the overall seriousness of the story.)
From: Katta Date: 04/13/2010
This was wonderful! I got here from a crack_van rec and it was every bit as good as I thought it'd be from the description. I love a good outsider POV, and you really involved me in these women, as well as having excellent characterisation of our guys. (I've always felt that the subtext was pretty lopsided.)
From: Saki101 Date: 03/09/2010
I enjoyed every part of this story. The plot, the action sequences, the dialogue, the characterisation, the music (especially the music), the philosophy and the ending. Every single bit. What a beautiful and beautifully-crafted story.
(Did Trace leave the room when Napoleon visited because she knew Illya was in love with him and she concluded that he didn't love Illya back because he was as heterosexual as Illya had said?)
I was going to finish, but I have to carry on a bit more. The juxtaposition of the scenes where Illya is impressing everyone (including the reader) with all his skills and sangfroid and then the questioning of the smart, ill-tempered lady of the evening, embarrasses him and almost entraps him is fabulous, and all through the story there is more and more of Illya's personality revealed.
And at the end when Napoleon sends all the flowers in appreciation and Illya sends bolts for the doors and instructions, what a wonderful contrast and how brilliantly complementary as Napoleon and Illya are.
I was worried though about the handwriting. Does Illya just have messy handwriting or had THRUSH hurt him so badly that he still couldn't write clearly by the time the gifts were sent? (Yes, I know that's going outside the story, but I couldn't help asking.)
Thank you again for this poignant story.
From: paulaH Date: 03/08/2008
Napoleon is an idiot. I enjoyed the story very much, though.
