A decent critic is an honest critic, so I am going to be honest. When I first entered this fic, I didn’t have overly high hopes for a story that self-titles itself as “mindf*ckery” (love the word, though. Hehe). However, I have to admit that in spite of my own first impressions of this fic, I highly enjoyed your one-shot.

Truly, I can envision a scenario of this caliber happening in the canon (that is, if the canon were edgy enough). It’s anyone’s guess what Gaignun underwent whenever Yuriev regained control of his body. I’m sure Yuriev must have done “something” to distract Gaignun and force him to submit. After all, Gaignun is a paragon of self-control, more composed than his older brothers. Probably, the only way Yuriev could force Gaignun into submission is to taunt the son with sensual weaknesses. Yuriev is sick, that’s for sure, but he *does* utilize drastic measures to get what he wants, too. I don’t put this situation past Dmitri Yuriev.

I deeply pitied Gaignun in this fic. Not only is he at the mercy of his twisted father, but it’s questionable if Gaignun will never have the object of affection he truly desires. The incorporation of the brothers’ threesome was fitting and detailed enough for a one-shot. Gaignun obviously loves both brothers (as brothers), while also loving Jr. and Albedo as *more* than brothers. Alas, Gaignun doesn’t seem to be the person either twin has eyes for. And the worst part is Yuriev takes full advantage of the one thing that can break Gaignun’s almost-impregnable composure. In a way, Gaignun’s vulnerability in this fic reminded me of MOMO’s when Albedo “searched” her for the Y-Data. As I felt for MOMO, throughout this fic my heart went out to Gaignun; defenseless as some sick jerk screws with the victimized mind/body. And knowing the twins, Jr. and Albedo probably never knew how much Gaignun suffered for them (*sniff*).

Well, I can definitely say this story is original, thought provoking, and well written. Yuriev’s sadism is perfectly exemplified, as is Gaignun’s dilemma/feelings towards Jr. and Albedo. I especially liked the last vision when Yuriev taunts Gaignun with an adult Jr. That was my favorite scene in the entire fanfic, even if it was the cruelest tactic Yuriev used on Gaignun. Everything about this story turned out to be quite enjoyable. I guess impressive stories such as this will teach me never to judge a fanfic by it’s opening A/Ns. Seriously, well done!

I know this review is on a story that has been around for a good 2 and a half years, but I absolutely love it and needed you to know. Your imagination is brilliant, wording more than impressive, and the plot is superb. Excellent, excellent work. I hope that you never lose this talent.

Wow! I loved that! It was so great! Where has this story been hiding? XD I loved how you messed everything together. Wonderful description. Poor Nigredo. Awesome. I loved it.

'Selfcest'... uh, okay. Seems one's never too old to learn new terms. XD

Your story was a good, original fic, rather powerful despite its length. I really enjoyed it (which leads me to questioning my own sanity, but that's beside the point). The funny thing is, I'm already so used to seeing complete perversion in XS fics and Yuriev/Nigredo fanarts that I didn't even find the contents disturbing... just kinky, due to the changing fantasies and the last sentence. It was also, as I mentioned before, rather powerful – I mean, from an emotional point of view. I felt bad for Gaignun, because we all know how futile his struggles were.

As I read on, I kept wondering about Yuriev's exact motives for doing that sort of thing to his own child, and finally decided that he was primarily trying to further break Nigredo's resistance, rather than acting to satisfy his own needs and being a sick pervert.

In any case, you did a really good job here.

Haha, and I /knew/ your penname seemed familiar! You're the authoress of 'Blood Stigma', one of my favorite SO3 fics! I stopped reviewing that story some time ago, didn't I? But I assure you, I still /love/ it. Are you going to update any time soon? :)