All Comments on 'The Bridge - A Little More'

Sorry mate, but this is shit. You completely rewrote the characters here and by extension the premise, which makes this just another average entitled cheating wife tale, when the original was so much more, it had that air of mystery around Gloria and her reactions and her eventual submission to temptation. Instead we're presented with a serial cheater that just cheated and cheated and cheated until she cheated once too far. Boring. As. Shite.

<>

This would have worked better as an entirely different story where you could have had a different set up and more continuity, because as it stands right now, it's so disconnected from the original it has zero continuity other than character names. Like, I don't recognize any of these characters at all.

Good follow up to the original. The trouble with so many "I'm smarter than you and entitled to all that I want" people is that they forget there is always someone smarter that them and once they are seen for the shallow insecure narcissistic amoral person that they are they can't manipulate those that have seen behind the curtains anymore. Gloria is one of those people and she lies to herself too. Always a bad combination. BardnotBard

WOFLMAO. Game, set, match. Checkmate.

/

@anon - nope, she ALWAYS was a narcissistic entitle bitch. She just wasn't yet dumb enough to stop hiding it. The fact that all the man haters in comments hate this story, is just evidence it did what it set out to do, to reflect the truth and deliver karma.

Meh. Don't bother folks, nothing new to see her. Three stars for an Average tale

JPB

Gracias por escribir

Dicho esto, dedicate al tenis u otra afición, te será más provechoso

Just another stupid cheating bitch..

I'm not a fan of this sequel AT ALL. The main reason for that is the fact that you fundamentally changed Gloria into a narcissistic, entitled bitch that had nothing but contempt for her husband. That's not what the original Gloria was AT ALL.

If you're going to continue someone else's work, you need to be true to that work. You weren't.

This sequel is a mess. The original story was great and doesn't deserve a bad sequel. 3 stars from Xluckylee for a bad try

Yes, these are different people than the original story. Not a continuation, for sure.

Nice. I always felt the story needed more. Great story but needed a fuller ending. Great job.thanks.

You just might be a therapist

You MADE a great start here

Too bad you hit your head on something before writing that terminal trainwreck of a sequel

Mostly I like when the sinner finally understand their sins and give heartfelt apology and surrendering their life to the ones they hurt and betrayed. Atleast that will give some peace to the victims. In this story, it's open ended and seems she will never understands the betrayal and pain she caused.

Stinks. Any resemblance to the characters in the original story is purely coincidental.

It still never answers the "why" question. There will never be a true answer other than she could. Even Lyle knows that. I think the story covered it very well and I enjoyed it for what it is. It wasn't as good as the original, but then copies or reproductions never are. Just like working on your car, you want OEM parts.

Anon 20 days ago said the writing was clumsy. For me, that nails it in a nutshell. Still two stars.

JPB

Uninteresting. I couldn't even make it through page one, I found myself skimming, which is always bad. Too many asides and other quote- covered terms. Frankly, a mess. I'm allways ready to give the author the benefit of the doubt, but in this case, the writing was too painful. Two stars.

JPB

A good point that Gabe had fucked her long before the invite to the cabin, and would continue after. The only point to having him there was to humiliate him. She must be a really poor psychologist not to have gauged her husband better. To get custody of the kids the drug use from the videos should have been presented in court, painting her as an unfit parent. Blood and or hair samples can show some drugs for months. I doubt with Gabes personality he could have kept the affair much longer. The need to humiliate and rub his nose in it would be to strong.

Even tho at time the writing needed some tightening up, this was, overall, a very good addition to the original story, maybe even better. In the words of my late wife, Gloria's "book smart but common sense stupid." I'd have thought that there'd be more confrontation at the dinner than there was; that he'd become incensed with her & what she put him through.

4 stars Bob

Good premise for a follow-up, but writing was quite clumsy.

What justbobkc did in this story was to play out the motivations of a woman who did view her husband as a pet.

Of course, there are countless other rationales to answer the question "What are you thinking, Gloria?"

I agree that the dinner scene does not play well because I cannot believe that Kyle would ever want his time with her. What is the point of having this conversation where he reveal what he figured out about her? Her contempt and loathing for him is so transparent in the original story why would he give a shit about her?

That is why the original story was so powerful because the situation was so clear the question is what will Kyle do in response to this base betrayal.

Sorry, but a story failure. Richard Gerald's stories drive me crazy sometimes but Gloria was a foolish self-centered woman who paid a big and well-deserved price for her cheating, but there is nothing to suggest that she was this cartoonishly evil caricature of a cheating conniving slut. Your effort is appreciated but really misses the mark as a continuation of one of Gerald's better stories.

Some very good points but not composed all that well, thus disappointing.

Svp, arrêtez d'écrire.

An interesting 'explanation' for the Richard Gerald classic. But ultimately it fails. How could it succeed? His stories are like Rorschach tests that people read into for their own explanations. But in the end it doesn't matter other than the reflection it engenders: How COULD she do that? But the smart person just realizes that Yes, she did that and it's all that matters. Anything as traumatic as that story or his others would mean that a marriage would be over because the wife character never really demonstrates true remorse that forgiveness and reconciliation requires. The rest - the Why?- doesn't really matter.

@Gillotine You got it right.

Gloria could not get so bad without Lyle noticing and acting before they went on the weekend.

He couldn't reach her when she got into her 'entitlement' phase after she got her PhD. He hung on hoping for repentance/redemption, but when she agreed to go on the weekend before talking, he just let her hang herself.

No way was he being trained into a wimp. He was just making all possible efforts to honor 'in sickness and in health' hoping for her to regain health. Then she did the unforgivable.

@iameasel1

Yeah big nope on this one. -

That is a well thought out comment.

To address some of what Rick said in his response to you in the foreward: The situation with the woman in the politician is what we have commonly referred to as a "hall pass." I personally don't know if I would give my wife one if she asked or not; I honestly don't know. The problem here is that in order for a hall pass to be used, it must first be given. Gloria never asks Lyle how he feels about giving Gloria a hall pass, much less one to fuck his boss. THAT is where I would have a HUGE problem with it if it were me. She never asks, she just assumes that She can fuck his boss, without his permission WITH HIM PRESENT.

The only guys that would be okay with that are sicko cucks that enjoy watching their wives slut it up with someone else. Even with them I would think that they would like the heads up and to give permission to fuck another guy. Once again, the big problem here is the lack of discussion and the lack of permission. While most of us wouldn't do what Lyle did in real life, most of us would have a HUGE problem with doing what Gloria did.

Stupid self entitled whore............all I see is a future 60 or 70 year old used up cunt with no redeeming value.

This should serve as a warning to other “princesses” that think they settled for less and deserve more.

Be careful which dog you choose......while they may appear loyal and accommodating and just big gentle souls. When crossed, abused, humiliated and or threatened. They recognize you for what you are and will tear you to pieces. Actually to all you “princesses” just ignore the above warning, wouldn’t want you miss out your deserved reward. Hell, no one will miss you any way.

Meh. You went way overboard with your portrayal of Gloria; you made her cartoonishly evil and it doesn't make for a very interesting addition to the original story. Lyle is a smart insightful guy; if Gloria was the absurd bimbo fucking around like crazy for years that you make her, he would have figured it out. What she did was completely unforgivable; no self-respecting man would ever take her back. But if the chubby girl who is now the center of attention by a "Prince" who has been trying to get her into bed and finally does on the Memorial Day weekend is a more interesting character than this Gloria. This one is too stupid to be alive. So, 3***, average LW caricature of the wife hit by the slut ray; not worth the time it took to write it or read it.

To Drgwng: how does that ring true from RG's version of this story? Lyle was not weak or timid. He took control of the situation, and altered it. This extension does not coincide with the OG. It is merely a spin-off, with different characters of the same name. RG's version is what I hope I could achieve, given the same circumstances. THIS story is a great fantasy, but has nothing to do with the OG.

It is well documented through these lw pages that RG writes weak cucky, timid wimps. It is alao well documented and condirmed in the forward that RG expects that women should be allowed to stray, and be forgiven when they do,hence the provided explanation of the real world Gloria and that hubby would forgive her. Only in RG world, otherwise very much delusional. That is why this story seemd unconnected and detached from the RG original. Two competing and diametrically opposed views one in favor of cucks, one not so much.

Considering what she did in the original story, this one just shows what she was really like on the inside (a truly ugly person in a finally externally pretty package) what a waste of his life she was.

I have NO problem with Lyle's actions everyone earned the pain!

This is not the same Gloria. Not even remotely. Ick.

This version of Gloria is nothing like the original.

A sequel with a perfect picture of the cheating bitch Gloria. I wish someone would do this for February Sucks’ Linda.

I want to stand up and cheer. What a great end to a truly sad story.

Gloria says:

"But it's not true. None of it. You just twisted a few things and made all that up. I DID love you as a man, my lover, father of my children. I never despised you at all

If this was true, how could she possibly have done what she did on Memorial Day?

Meh!

Not even better Yan the original.

Bill S.

No way back for this stupid bitch!

Gloria is self centered narcissistic ass. Oh, I mean Richard's friend.

Yeah big nope on this one.

A pleasing wrap-up leaving the case settled, this story's view is an arrow pointed at Gloria's balloon sized ego. Thanks for letting the air out of it with this additional ending.

Serves her right. Good for him.

Gloria is simply a self-centered, narcissist bitch. Maybe she hid it early in their relationship, but circumstances that she still controlled, BTW, brought out her true shallowness and hate.

Never date a psychologist, they have a loose mind.

A confusing conclusion with out any end.

A meaningless depiction of 'contradictory thought'

Yep. Had a similar interaction with a 18 year old women, I was dating. She was a Narcissist, and got off on tearing down her loved ones in private, and causing them misery. Parents included. She was under the “ mistaken impression” that a pussy, would allow her to control men in her life. Welll... I packed up her shit, and dropped it off with the manager of the business she worked at. I then cut off all communication with her. Never looked back. I know that was extremely damaging to her self image. She couldn’t spin this one. There is more to the story, she did try to contact me several times, unsuccessfully. However , that was in the 80’s before cell phones.

The moral of the story is, look at the inside of someone before you commit to them. If they are ugly inside, you are only going to be in for some heartache. It’s not worth it.

How cab the really intelligent people be so stupid? Good sequel to The Bridge, I had to read the last part of that story cause I loved how he burned them both.

The perfect sequel to my favorite LW story of the thousand I’ve read over three years. Just a perfect picture of the cheating whore.

Still confused at RG’s comment. Exactly, again, who the the fuck is critical of Lyle’s actions in the original??? Other than the odd cuckold fantasist of course.

'"While I was at Law School, Gloria had slaved away as a bank teller to support us both. She had earned enough to pay the rent and put food on our table"

Above statement by RG depict that Gloria did care for her Family,inducing husband

However her hidden "slutty" nature ultimate surfaced and took priory

I think this is "principal" theme,and should have been 'highlighted' subsequently

"How can a Ph.D. psychologist just be so dumb when it comes to men and sex - and me and even herself???"

-

= That is exactly my sentiment. For a Doctor in Psychology Gloria was incredibly dumb, stupid, foolish and entitled witch.

I certainly don't agree with RG in his original letter. Gloria's behaviour should never be expected, and I certainly don't condemn Lyle's actions. It seems RG may feel that it is OK for a woman to cheat and disrespect the man, and the man to forgive easily or at least live with it. It would seem RG approved of the cuckold lifestyle. To each , there own, but that is a significant minority viewpoint.

Well, that had WAY too MANY, SHOUTY all capital WORDS in it! You MUST think, like Gloria I guess, that your readers are just too STUPID to know where to assign the EMPHASIS in a sentence. You should trust us and just let your readers READ! Sheesh

I’m disheartened to learn Richard Gerald’s thoughts about his married friends. That she would cheat and he would forgive. It certainly knocked him down a peg or two. I wish you hadn’t included it. If someone did that to their committed partner male or female, in public, with witnesses that know him or her, it will never be forgotten! Trust me! And if they can’t forget then forgiveness is unlikely. No matter what the Bible says

Great continuation of the original tale. Left out a few detaits but a great tale. I always re-read the best tales.

I believe RG is certifiable. The letter presented at the beginning states Gloria behavior is expected and acceptable, and that husbands the world over should forgive their wifesleeping around . Any story RG presents is an abomination and any story that address this shortcoming as this one does is a worthy addition. RG clearly lives in a cuck world and needs much help. This author provided some, thanks

When I first read The Bridge (twice!) I was hoping that some sequel would be written and focus more on Gloria and Gabe and the aftermath. And by golly, my wish just got granted. Glad I found this. Thank you justbobkc. 4 star.

@trandall9991: That story was "Hall of Fame" bad. And I explained why. S-U-C-K-E-D. Deal with it.

and she will continue with her train of thought against a mortal man. TK U MLJ LV NV

Maybe you should try writing a story. Huh? Yeah, so all of us can lambaste you and your views on life. You realize all of the readers on here almost never write a story. But the criticizm is harsh. So try it, so we can all criticize you relentlessly. I have read The Bridge five times. I like what Lyle did. I hated the rest of the characters except the previous owner of the business. Didi you know someone just like you wrote just about the same comments about Vandemonium1, Saddletramp1956, and other real good authors. Chasing writers out of this site seems to be what all you critical thinking people do. We need some of the greats back. Who cares what kind of story it is, even though I love BTB, some RAAC stories carry the weight of being a good story. So try to write one. Please. Make it about an ex-foster child whom everybody thinks is a wimp, but who turns the tables on his abuser wife. Just like he did in foster care with his foster parents.

frontlinecaster a few years ago said, "Never understand the obsession the btb crowd here has with proving authors wrong about their own characters." - I completely accept that the author is the authority on their characters, and if the author wanted to write Lyle as accepting of Gloria's actions, then he was.

/

Where Richard goes wrong is making assertions about real people, and that some women will go off with her "prince" and expect their husbands to accept it, and Richard says that they will. These are not his characters, so we are within our rights to tell him that he's full of shit! That that only applies to wimp cuckolds, that normal men wouldn't even sit there and accept their wives going off, and certainly wouldn't be there when they came back!

This is some of the worst examples of attempted psychobabble I have ever read on L.W. I guess when an author has no idea where to take a story imitation psychbabble wins the lottery! Gloria is a pathetic and lost soul who deserves no sympathy and very little consideration. The character is the product of an unsuitable personality for storytelling. The original story left much to be desired and after reading G.A.'s mess on 'February' I see a similarity of confusion and unsuitability of author to construct a story. This was almost a run-on phrase list!( I guess that's a question for a 10th grade English language teacher!) I'm certainly not qualified to answer it... I just know i didn't like it.

Maybe the worst story I have ever read on Literotica. This guy ignores the point of the original story, and he utterly misunderstands the characters, especially Gloria. And, dear god, the tone of Gloria's narrative is repulsive — this is what happens when "incel" men write women's dialog (or their thoughts, as the case may be). And if I saw one more clichéd "Alpha/Beta" reference, I think I was gonna hurl.

Meanwhile, "the PhD" didn't know the difference between "discrete" and "discreet" or "insure" and "ensure." That's because this guy writing this stuff does so on a seventh-grade level.

Truly awful. One star.

LOL the ignorant supporters around Jill Biden were saying she should be surgeon general Might have been one of the bimboloids on the view . I think that's where that came from.

@Anonymous Re: "really like this extra" - Why the need to bring politics in? How is Jill Biden a "fake doc?" She's not passing herself off as a medical doctor, she has a PhD, which makes her a REAL doctor.

/

As for this story, it's okay except for RG's letter which essentially disavows his here in The Bridge.

I like this story and its analysis of the marriage, BUT in the original story, Lyle stated in the cabin: "You have been a great wife and mother through times that have not been easy. You put me through Law School and raised kids on my meager salary while going back to school. You struggled to earn the great body you have, and you still contribute more than your share to our household. I'm proud to be your husband."

Somehow, that description of a woman staying by and supporting her husband just does not jive with this version of the story.

A bit forced, but good 5/5

Enjoye

jtwheels

great stuff, thought it was a fitting sequel.

Reading again. This is a great sequel to what remains one of the first and best LW stories that I ever read. As I said before, this is exactly the way I saw Gloria.

First , there is the initial explanation by the author of the idea. Writes great stuff about power struggles and real estate scams, but doesn't have firm grasp on average man. Agree with sfbrooks, if the woman he knew had strayed with handsome older man, there would be hell to pay. Divorce a possibility.

So, you continue the story , and add a few layers. Husband no longer a powerful rising force, but an insecure loser. Wife is not an ugly duckling turned swan, but a cheating thoughtless slut. At least in her mind. They are both much less. Disappointed. but look forward to Ch 3.

The problem with RG's stories are he's quite the wordsmith, but has limited talent when it comes to writing female characters.

The Richard Gerald "Lyle" was NOT an alpha male, more a Clark Kent type. The Gloria character was never developed in the Bridge as she really only spoke two times. I find her a shallow person in both stories.

Hope chapter two is better.

For fuck’s sake, not everything is ironic. Are you seriously putting alpha male in quotes?

I'm sure I've commented on this before, but I'm not inclined to scroll so far back, so this may be a repeat -

RG's letter: "This is a woman that, as far as I am aware, has never been unfaithful to her husband. But, under those circumstances, she would have been. I also know that she would have expected her husband to forgive her, and I believe he would have." - NO! MAYBE she would have been unfaithful under those circumstances, but unless she's some sort of a sociopath she's NOT going to expect her husband to forgive her, and unless he's a wimp cuckold, he wouldn't forgive her.

Going back to the original story, my only complaint with Lyle was his not taking action when Gabe gave her a "passionate" kiss under the mistletoe. I thought I remembered Gabe also being inappropriate on the dance floor, but I guess that was my imagination.

The original story was straightforward revenge porn. Tarantino uses the same technique. Fun stuff, right? We all have to get off somehow and some of us like to jerk off to images in our own head of burning down the bridges to trap those who wronged us terribly. Very hot. Getting hard right now thinking about it.

There were some nice literary crossword puzzles as well. Paula was my favorite character and seemed amazingly real for how improbable she was.

Gloria seemed deeply unrealistic. Not the cheating, that's very typical, even for mothers (especially for mothers?), but rather how she flaunted it so openly. That just seemed awkward and forced.

But she had to for the story to work. It had to hurt to justify the wonderful and very pornographic series of moves Lyle made afterwards. Really, I had to wipe down my keyboard and laptop monitor after reading that. Very well done.

As for the SNAG comment above.

"I think Richard Gerald reflects the lingering SNAG (Sensitive New Age Guy) personal identity confusion, promulgated by the overall belittling and denigration of all things that are male, manly, husband-like, and fatherly. "

Whacking off to revenge porn is one thing, but it's just that. Porn. Fantasy. Like all the rest on Literotica. It's not supposed to be real. If you think any of this is real, please, see a therapist before it's too late.

Because Richard was absolutely dead on. There was absolutely nothing commendable about what he did at all. Lyle's wife cheated on him. Ok, he really screwed up and married the wrong woman. Get a divorce and explain to the kids. Try to do better next time on choosing who the friends are. End of story.

Instead he committed felony arson against a community and corporate fraud. He caused unemployment for probably many workers who were completely innocent of Gabe's obvious sexual addiction and Gloria's insecurities. The damage he caused to society was nuclear compared to what Gabe/Gloria did to one family.

His reaction was beyond insanely childish - like a baby giant throwing a tantrum. He absolutely deserves to go to Jail.

And, yes, Gabe and Gloria deserve to live the rest of their life dealing with the personal guilt of their adultery. An immoral act, but not a punishable crime except in maybe in some medieval Sharia governed state.

That's how the story should have ended.

Well, a final extra BTB. Gave it full stars, but I think the way the original author left it was sufficient, and while this story is entertaining, I see is as a different story about different people.

Don't like the idea of Lyle becoming like Gabe.

Disdain not sustain. Damn spellchecker.

This is the true face of Gloria, I think that you have nailed her perfectly in this sequel. It is beyond ironic that her actions with what she perceives as a "prince", turns the husband she so disdained into what she most desired. Now he sustains her. Beautiful.

Good insight into the whores mind...

u wrote a female trump omg that was funny ty for the read enjoyed that

On no sane psychologist would have done this.

And sane society would allow a woman like that , a child psych no less, around children.

Especially after intentionally damaging her own.

No man would tolerate a wife like her.

Victim no she's evil.

Agreed

Also, the thunderstruck woman who would have slept with the politician is a dumbass for telling anyone. She gets over her temporary insanity and is a good wife forever, fine. If I'm her husband and she tells me that, I'm going to give her a divorce decree so she can go fuck whoever she wanted. Your friend who would have forgiven her is not worth having as a friend.

As to the MC's actions being too much, if he'd burned down the house with everyone in it, that might have been just a little too much. Debatable.

Bob and RG, good reads both! As one who works with more than two dozen psych Ph.D.s, (m & f) some of them have educated themselves to try to deal with their own demons. So Gloria is not at all unbelievable to me. Keep writing please, both of you, and write your way, not for the anonnies...like me....

RG

Re your comments at the start of this story extension to The Bridge. The original tale was excellent. However, I can't agree with your assessment of Lyle as bad guy, and Gloria as the "victim''. The very reason why so many readers who have digested your original story appreciate it so much is exactly the opposite of your own views. As a husband and man, Lyle at the lodge faced being trapped in the lion's den. Considering that your portrayal of him was not as a karate black belt ex-SEAL he chose the only path let open to him...to leave and burn the bridge behind him. I took the burning as a metaphor for Lyle cutting loose the suffocating ties to Gabe the alpha prince, and his completely idiotic PhD wife. Fuck, they must be giving away doctorates in the States like candy! Gloria was a victim of her own narcisistic self-image. That's it...no more to be said!

I think you made Gloria into a horrible person. And you tried to paint her as the "horrible" person in their marriage from the very beginning. That seemed different then the weak, pathetic person portrayed in the original story. The original Gloria seemed like she got used and wasn't very smart about it. Her original goals seemed murky or unclear. In this story she seemed to have an agenda since the very start of their marriage. She thought she was in control and the "smart" one in the marriage. But if she was, why did she wait so long to make any type of upward move? This simply wasn't a good continuation.

1 star

Are you on drugs? because your comments at the beginning of this read like you're on drugs.

"We may admire Lyle but we condemn his actions."

Really? I would think 8 or 9 out of 10 men would approve of how Lyle handled the whole situation, from beginning to end. Only those with no self esteem/self respect would go along with what Gabe and Gloria wanted. As a spouse, Gloria's attitude and behavior would have been abhorrent. There was really no way back for these two.

Characters from the original story are like cartoon characters of themselves, stretched out in all directions to make them pathetic. If the author felt this way , then he hid it well in the original. In the original the wife seemed like she cheated because she missed out on something by not being beautiful, and succumbed to the allure of being found beautiful by the beautiful people. This is an understandable emotion, akin to the ugly duckling suddenly being the popular girl in school. She is wrong of course, and gives into her frailty, wrecking her marriage. Even if that is just my view, turning her into a manipulative, controlling bitch seems way over the top , and I don't understand all the references to her training, as if that made her superior to anyone else.. At least the ex husband stays intact since he was "no prince, and made out better than he had a right to."

The bridge made me uncomfortable, and is probably why I keep rereading it. your story just made me want to stop reading it.

He wrote the great LW classic but didn't seem to understand why it was so popular. Lyle was the hero. He did the right thing and we are happy to read that Bob didn't change him. RG creates great characters like David in Jail Breaking. Then he turned around and made him wimp out in the sequel. Thanks Bob.

It goes to show how far we have fallen as a society when there are people like the original author who think we condemn the actions of Lyle and accept the actions of Gloria. His friend admitting to cheating is another example of this as well. In either case divorce is the only option.

Clearly RG seems to be trying to rationalize cheating in such a way that it is acceptable. Gloria had no remorse, never apologized, tried to blame Lyle for not stopping her, and deserves everything that happened to her. Her actions were manipulative, planned, selfish, and she never once considered Lyle or what it would do to her family.

I thought the original story was good until I read the authors comments at the beginning of this one. Now I feel RG somehow accidentally stumbled on a descent story because he clearly feels that Gloria should be excused and Lyle is the bad guy. I think I will be changing my score and comments on the original story.

"The women, you normally see in these stories approach sex physically the way men do. But I have never known a woman like that."

Oh HELL yes. Truer words are seldom written.

"Now this good wife and mother has admitted on several occasions that all the politician had to do was ask and she would have gone to bed with him. This is a woman that, as far as I am aware, has never been unfaithful to her husband. But, under those circumstances, she would have been. I also know that she would have expected her husband to forgive her, and I believe he would have."

Oh HELL no. Time to start hiding money just for her willingness and yes I'd want to know.

"We may admire Lyle but we condemn his actions."

Oh HELL no. If he had shot them both that night and I were on his jury I'd say I believed he was innocent by reason of temporary insanity and hung that jury if I couldn't get him off. I congratulate him for his self control in not doing more than he did.

I thought the writing from Lyle's POV was much better than the writing from the wife's POV which seemed a bit paint by numbers formulaic. Not a bad effort.

He says that "we" don't approve of Lyle's actions. This shows how feminized RG is. Men want justice, and, in this declining culture, family law, employment law, and many other areas of law and "social practice" are not merely unjust, they are virulently anti-male.

I think most readers admired Lyle's actions; they represented getting justice in an unjust world. Only a thoroughly feminized man would think otherwise; only a dolt thinks that "the law" is necessarily to be respected.

I also think that RG doesn't understand Gloria. Far from being a "minor" character, she the pivot around which all the action turns. Her big moments - at the camp and on the doorstep - were what gave the story dramatic tension. They were also extremely revealing in a compact way. A major character doesn't have to take up a lot of lines in the story (in a first person story told by Lyle, how could she?). Rather, it's the character's importance to the action of the story that matters. Here Gloria's character has depth; she isn't just the typical cardboard character of a cheating wife that we see over and over again in LW.

What makes this continuation a 5 is that the author does, as someone else notes, unpack Gloria's narcissism quite well. She is a cunt of the first order. It takes intelligence and creativity for someone to read what RG reveals about Gloria and flesh it out as well as it's done in this story. Whether RG understands it or not, the soliloquy on the front porch shows why Gloria is deeply irredeemable. Perhaps RG's writing is deeper than even he realizes.

I do find it interesting that there is an assumption in the RG story that someone with a Ph.D. in psychology is highly intelligent. As someone with a law degree and a Ph.D. (in a more demanding field than psych), I am amused. Psychology doesn't generally attract the sharpest knives in academia (better than, for example, education majors with E.D.s, and "studies" Ph.D.s, but not much). The issue in part is that, to borrow Gertrude Stein's words about Oakland, when it comes to psychology "There's no 'there' there." It's a "discipline" that has no real theoretical basis. For nearly 50 years Freudianism has been known to be a fraud and ridiculous (psychiatry was saved from extinction by the pharmaceutical companies). Behaviorism hasn't been taken seriously since B.F. Skinner. "Humanistic" psychology (Carl Rogers) never had any sort of rigorous theoretical basis and was repudiated even by his leading "discipline" (who spent the rest of his life warning people about how harmful Rogers' approach was). All we have now is speculation and clinical flailings published in journals of "irreproducible results". Some years ago a Vanderbilt study found that any good listener (uncle, aunt, friend, pastor, etc) was as effective in helping someone with problems as a "trained" psychologist. So, unwittingly, RG in part exposes Gloria's narcissism through her self-regard that is partially based on her degree. This continuation does a decent job of puncturing that balloon.

Finally, I don't think most women are like the friend RG based the story on. They exist, of course. But if I were that woman's husband, and she were to tell me at the time that she would have fucked the politician (celebrity fucking is something that only a dumb cunt would do, and politicians are among the sleaziest "celebrities"), and there were no children (possible because she was late 20's), I would have divorced her. No sane man would want to be chained by children and growing economic exposure to a woman who is potentially susceptible to a the famous LW "Martian Slut Ray". Even if there were children, I would find it difficult to remain married to such a woman. BUT, Gloria doesn't cheat because of the Martian Slut Ray; she cheats because of her narcissism.

The author was very insightful in this story.

"The Bridge" is one of those borderline stories which could easily go BTB or RAAC, which was the beauty of RG's work - he left just enough rope at the end to allow you to take it in either direction, depending on your own particular bent.

That said, the view on Gloria here is extremely cynical, but I understand it was for the purpose noted later on, to contrast how little she knew of Lyle despite so many years together. It's not that it's a cynical view, it's the degree of cynicism for the character which I'm trying to get. My take was not to read nearly as far into her conniving nature as JBKC did here. The take on Lyle is still cynical, but with a more reasonable touch, well, at least compared to that of Gloria. His arc here is a bit more understandable.

My thinking is that Gloria came into her "swan" stage very late in life, after being an "ugly duckling" for so long, and well after her child bearing and after her education. I would think that those life experiences and maturity would temper her desires to explore the new-found power she had rather than in the manner shown here. All her life experience, all her education and her roles as wife and mother, all just thrown away from a Christmas party. That's a pretty powerful transition to make, based on what JBKC wrote.

This is especially strange in light of Gloria's own struggles. Nothing came easy for her - she had to work for her beauty, she had to work for her education. You would think that she would see the value in long term planning towards a goal. One of the problems I have with the original is the fact that she's in her late-30's and cannot see that she and Lyle together would be very well positioned later in life instead of "being always broke" as RG wrote in the original, just seems strange. But this is the essence of the conflict in the story - a planner missing the plan.

Yes she made a horrible mistake and tried to exert her power at the expense of humiliating her "lesser" mate, whom she's horribly underestimated (in itself, the crux of this story, Gloria not knowing her spouse at all after so long is my favorite bit here in JBKC's story). But the whole "she's been a slut for months" thing is really off for me. I can see a one-time exploration, but the whole long-term thing with Gabe (and the "alpha-males") seems very out of character, since they have little to offer each other besides sex. Gabe's long-term seduction, over months, to wear her down, fits much better with her nature and her experience.

By making her into an "instantly seduced" slut, there's a disconnect. For an "alpha", she's too old for child bearing and she's not from an elite family to build a powerful family dynasty. Her only use is sex, and after being with one husband for sixteen years, how much value does she have, once Lyle's been humiliated? None. I can't see her keeping any "alpha" longer than a few weeks, once she's been "conquered". Gabe's long-term interest in her for the story becomes ... a bridge too far. She would likely understand this very quickly, at least from my understanding, and thus, likely return to Lyle, with her secret, before the Memorial Day events of the original.

Anyways, this was enjoyable. If stories went how we each expected them, there's be no point in reading anything. I enjoyed where this went, even if the way there was not the route I intended. Thanks for this.

who claim that this departs from the story and adds nothing. It follows exactly from the Saturday AND, especially, the Christmas Eve soliloquy. Gloria was a narcissist, and the author unpacks it well

I didn’t think this added anything to the story at all. The Bridge was one of the best stories ever posted on Literotica. This author turned all characters into cliche cartoons. It was well written, so maybe it would have been better as a stand-alone, as opposed to riding the coattails of RichardGerald’s story?

Ibagree with ugh no . You made her less, nust to burn her more, and made him less in the process.