8FOLD/ACRA: Kinky Romance # 3, CUT OUT MY HEART PART TWO OF TWO

[Andrew Burton]

Tom Russell wrote:
> ~EIGHTFOLD ROMANCE GROUP PRESENTS A CROSSOVER EVENT~
>             CUT OUT MY HEART
>              PT. TWO OF TWO

I think I'm a bigger fan of the "Doomed Romance" series, at least I 
think I've read more of them...

CUT OUT MY HEART, like just about every other "Doomed Romance" story, 
somehow manages to feel sweet, warm, horrible, and creepy all at the 
same time.  In this case, it wasn't Tuck/Gem's transformation that I 
found creepy.  On the contrary, which I don't have much experience in 
real life or fiction with trans-characters, I thought Tuck/Gem was well 
done.  Switching genders can't be something that's easy to decide to do 
or live with, and I think seeing the follow-up in this story was 
interesting.

What I found creepy was the overall hopelessness of Tuck/Gem's life and 
how one decision, which even in hindsight seemed like the more right 
choice, can shatter two lives and one relationship.  Cordelia and Tuck 
as a whole seemed to be happier than Cordelia or Tuck/Gem separately. 
At the same time, the Cordelia+Tuck being can't survive if its parts 
are, well, falling apart.  Which is creepy because I'd never considered 
that it's possibly to have a good marriage at the same time you have 
terrible spouses.

Very nicely done, Tom Russell.  I look forward to the next * Romance story.

-- 
Andrew Burton
tuglyraisin at aol.com
http://utilitarian.us - A Guide to Esoteric Technology in Paragon City
http://jarodrussell.livejournal.com/ - Take a guess. ;)