>>Another complaint I have about her sexuality >>is that it's repetitive. Silk ropes, whip, X-acto knife, orgasm. >>Many real sadists and masochists have varied fetishes and like to >>act out dramas (which one of Phedre's customers does once, if I >>remember correctly). >> You know, most people's sex is repetitive. Most couples fall into a >>comfortable set of behaviors, and occasionally experiment, but tend to >>go back to the two or three positions and techniques they like best. >>Moreover, adventuresome in bed isn't remotely necessary for a good sex >>life. Some people like stability and predictability. Others, >>demonstrably, not. > >But when someone is hired out to be a special cortesian with a variety of >partners, this isn't so applicable. Um, how many prostitutes do you know? Frankly, imagination is not a hallmark of people who seek out that kind of service. How do I know? I worked in a massage parlour for a year, and several of my friends had been in the life for quite some time. There are people who are extremely creative, but better than 90% of them have fairly predictable desires. This includes the BDSM community. I enjoyed _Kushiel's Dart_ a great deal, but I was ever so grateful that it didn't get into the role playing stuff. Personally, it squicks me. On the other hand, I thought that Kushiel's patrons were unusually interesting and creative. A little over the top, but descriptions of real life lack the edge that you want in fiction, even though as an actual experience, real life can be very sharp indeed. --- As another note - Phaedre is known/hired specifically because of who/what she is - and comes from a culture that accepts BDSM as a basically natural style of sexual activity. The chances of somebody paying her for a simple BJ are pretty small - and as is noted in the later books. *She* gets to pick and choose her partners - much more in the vein of a classic French Courtesan as opposed to a modern-day streetwalker. David Rodemaker