July Bonus Story: The New Girl
Added 2025-08-15 19:07:30 +0000 UTCHere it is, last month's bonus story, "The New Girl"! I loved this one. The prompt was that Jordan used TIOS to turn Kristy into a student. (At least I think it was. As usual I kinda read it once or twice and let an idea ferment while I finish my existing project, so it's more the jumping off point for the story than the central theme.) Anyway, I hope you like it!
More to come.
Comments
Gosh, Amanda ruins EVERYTHING! I was wondering as we got near the end how you would wrap that. This was tremendous. I would have easily signed up for an entire book of that. Can I???? Please? I was wondering if you would make Kristy younger or keep her the same age, but of course the Angelica precedent made it make total sense to have an "older" high school student. Also was wondering if Kristy was going to join in on the "protests" (and got extra excited when Day 1 was a cheerleader theme!) and I thought you found a unique, fun, and HOT way to do a twist on that. And of course she is a track/cross country chick! The substitute teacher was a great idea, too, made it easier to hand-wave the "don't worry about it" of Kristy suddenly being gone. Interesting that Kristy seemingly remembered little to nothing of the previous few weeks. Would have love to see a sequel where that is unpacked. I just love this universe so much. Great to read another story from it.
Michael Roberts
2025-08-15 23:14:54 +0000 UTCI really liked this one, even if it's a bit of an emotional rollercoaster that I had maybe a couple minor problems with. Let's do the problems first, so I can get back to my default state of expressing my bone-deep gratitude for any time spent with the TIOS cast in a Conner-centric story, because that specific branch is nothing but sweaty, frantic moralizing and utter ridiculousness, with a healthy dose of corny jokes and raunchy sex. It's my absolutely favorite mode of Ice Bear stories, with zero qualifications. But, again -- a couple minor problems with this one for me. 1) There's a bunch of time in the beginning spent on Conner puzzling out how this happened to Kristy -- who was behind it, how they managed it, and what the intended and unintended effects are -- which is fairly typical for a TIOS story. Sort of its main deal! But this time, the reader is shown EXACTLY who did it, and how, and why, so while it's sort of cute to see Conner spin himself into frustration when we know he's missing the truth, it very quickly feels like wasted time. It's just chewing up paragraphs, and not in the normal cute, oblivious way of Beloved Protagonist Conner Fishers. Here, it's just annoying? 2) The end is *kinda* abrupt. Like Conner, I was very committed to his utterly one-sided relationship with Kristy, despite all of the warning signs, and while I appreciate the unimpeachable decision-making of Amanda Carpenter, the way she's just like I Did The Right Thing Because You Wouldn't feels a little too confrontational to the reader, for whom this relationship is maybe in the 99th percentile of healthy, loving relationships for the genre. There's an almost *cruelty* to what Amanda does to Kristy (and, to an extent, Conner) here that feels a little too clinical for a series that spent hundreds of pages on the nuance of Conner's connection with these women. I'm not saying Amanda's wrong (I definitely took a shower today, so she's wrong on that) but I feel like the last couple pages do a disservice to the audience's investment. Other than that, I adored this one. Amanda can harp on the (unfortunately obvious) way Kristy is just a doting sex slave for Conner, but Kristy loved it, and Conner loved it, and I loved it. It's exceptionally sweet in all the ways that relationship could never normally be, which made it perfect for a little spin-off. The stakes are less of the malevolent Jordan variety, and more of the adorable romantic-comedy Juggling Girlfriends type. I thought this one was a joy to read, up to maybe the last couple pages, and I will cherish its brief existence in the way that Kristy hopefully cherishes hers.
WDB
2025-08-15 21:07:49 +0000 UTCAmanda's insightfulness continues to be as diabolical and devastating as the 80% of her body that's legs.
WDB
2025-08-15 20:53:44 +0000 UTC
