The Twelve Zenati Pt. 17

Honestly, I don’t understand the anonymous comments about a different writer or the misogyny of the character of Noah. I see him struggling to deal with someone who has survived severe trauma and as someone who works with people like that I feel this character is well realized and realistically drawn out. To call someone misogynistic because they love BDSM or that’s a part of who they are is odd to me, but at any rate, we know that that is the category the story is (BDSM) so why are you reading something if you don’t like the BDSM lifestyle? Read something else. Once again, the writer has captivated my imagination, and I can almost picture what happens next. Keep up the great work! I feel again that this is very realistic and true to what a strong woman who is willing to give over control to a partner in real life. You are an amazing world builder and I love everything you write. This series is just more proof that the 12 tables is a great world and I hope that you don’t allow anonymous comments make you feel badly about your phenomenal writing.

That after all is said and done that the families of the 12 Tables are so stereotyped that they are the BDSM equivalent of ‘Stepford Wives’, 99% are male dominant and whilst the majority females May appear as strong women they are without fail submissive sexually.

The following is one of Noah’s thoughts...

“He only had to deal with it for a week, possibly two, and then he could correct her thinking instead, he thought smugly.“

It’s a reference to her being in control of the operation to uncover the kink dungeon. The only thing he’s focused on is flipping the D/s roles. She isn’t worried about it because she isn’t planning on sticking around after she’s done what she needs to. I sincerely hope this doesn’t devolve into *and she realised her true role in life* it’s trite and demeaning. Is Noah going to be (rightly) horrified that she was forcibly trained as a *Kept* or is he going to rejoice that it won’t be such hard work to get what he wants? The concept of training women to be submissives is one that gets glossed over, we know exactly what they do but who do they do it for? Is it for any man in the families, just the single men??

Whilst I’ve enjoyed the underlying plots the concept of absolute male dominance is very off putting. What people want to do sexually is there own affairs, BDSM TPE with the M/f respectively is not a reasonable or sensible business model.

Tess (UK)

Great, second time reading the series and loving it all. Well rounded characters, good storyline and hot sex. :)

this is written by someone who doesn’t know the first thing about emotions en real life.

Why would any woman wants a man who doesn’t care about who you are and only sees you as a conquest and a way to scratch an itch. The new writer is a man or a young woman who lived a shallow, sheltered life. Such a shame that the fantastic character that Marcella was ends like this, an insecure woman who needs a strong man who takes over her life.

She would never let him spank her, because she is not trusting him. And why would she, he is constantly telling her lies.

I would be so happy when she found somebody who really cared about her. And when respect and trust is formed, than she might accept a spanking. This is the first time that you would compromise you're characters for a sexscene.

I don’t think anyone here but me takes Noah’s choice to act out violently against Marcella with a spanking was an absolutely inappropriate response to her silly teasing. He had a million other options as a “well trained man of the tables”. Instead he chose to reinforce the beliefs Marcella holds about the violent/abusive tendencies that supposedly all the leading men of the tables hold. Even if, as some have noted, she has been trained to love the pain/act of the spanking...how does the fact that Noah, who KNOWS she violently hates those who do this, do this? Especially while trying to gain her trust, respect, and hopefully love? man who can’t handle this type of teasing from a grown woman. And what if she marries this man, will he abuse the daughter(s) she bears for him? Her father and uncle did! That is the reality that she knows. That is the reality that she tried to save her sisters from. That is the reality Noah is reinforcing with her when he is supposed to be doing the exact opposite and winning her trust.

To me (one reader’s possibly misguided opinion), the point of the spanking is EllieB expressing yet another symptom of Noah’s “selfish disease”. His selfishness will not kill him but it can kill his chance for the life, happiness, and love all the others have found if he doesn’t cure it. So I believe it’s intentional that Noah screwed up...yet again. Noah was told by many family, friends, and advisors (including those that put voices into his head) EXACTLY what he was supposed to do. And the moment it doesn’t lead to Noah’s perfect scenario. He violent abandons it all and forcefully re-establishes himself as the be all and end all. The contract, the fun fake personas, the playful teasing, a moment of being a loving make believe couple in make believe land, the joy of being someone else FOR someone else, for two damn weeks simply because that special someone else NEEDS YOU to be someone else FOR THEM...BOOM...SHATTERED! Add his breach of contract. His misuse of consent. His continued practice of intentionally “ignoring” others trying to help him. And it becomes evident that something is wrong with Noah.

EllieN35 has very eloquently addressed the issue of consent and the manner in which Noah eliminated consent from their roles. ‘Nuff said here...

No one, including myself want EllieB to change how she writes or for her to change a single word of what she writes. She is an amazing author and it is beyond generous for her to share all these tangled characters, in this amazing society, perfectly balanced against the real world, with all of us...for free.

(And we get to comment on it...damn!)

But we also know that she doesn’t create an event like this without purpose. This was not some silly dream sequence that will fade away when everyone wakes up. His violent reaction is but a symptom of a disease he needs to cure...and seemingly on his own since he constantly rejects all other (personal, legal, medical) advice. My out on a limb thought...maybe he’s just afraid to be topped....maybe two Switches can get along...we’ll see...I hope... Anyways, no matter what, all that stuff before me going out on a limb, was intentionally written in to the story for a reason that EllieB will share with us soon.

And that is something that we can all agree we look forward too.

I'm surprised by those criticizing the BDSM elements of this story. It is a BDSM story and that is clearly stated at the beginning of every chapter. It also says pretty clearly that it is about a traditional, male-dominated family.

To those complaining about the spanking scene: the character Marcella has been fully trained as a kept. She knows that to stop anything from happening to her in a scene all she has to do is say RED and the scene will end. She says in this chapter that she is, "caught up in the scene they were creating and aroused enough to wish that he would" treat her like a naughty tease. (pg. 4, paragraph ~54) She wanted Noah to spank her! Once she threw down the gauntlet he had to spank her or she would have lost all respect for him. Her own thoughts reveal that about her in earlier chapters.

For those saying he broke the contract with her--we don't even know what the contract says exactly. This is her time to be in control and she decides to test Noah here. She pushes him with her flirting and never once asks him to stop or tries to get away from him. Her arousal at being spanked showed a side of her that surprised Noah. He expected her to stop him and put an end to the game, but she didn't do that. She was in control the entire time!

I thoroughly loved this chapter and the way it showed the first steps of Marcella coming to terms with her submissive feelings and her need for a strong Dominant that she can truly trust. Watching these two learn to balance their needs within their relationship is going to be delightful, I'm sure! Well done, ellie!

Okay, I was late to the party, but now I GET Marcella. You are such a skillful writer that I had a visceral reaction to your portrayal of her feminist, ball-busting hellion side. Now that you peeled away the layers of her protective facade, I can see her as the lovable, resilient woman that she is at heart.

For those who are critical of Noah spanking her, I don't get it. By now, it should be common knowledge that BDSM is, well, the dominant lifestyle among those brought up in the Tables society. Also, based on Apollo's erotic memory of his last time with Chella, she is into pleasurable pain. And, her handling of Vinnie shows that she is VERY seasoned when it comes to kink. Not to mention her reaction to Noah's domination: she is ON fire. Something tells me that the next two weeks are going to be VERY interesting with these two. I. LOVE. IT.

As always I am loving this series! Ty for taking your time to write fictional stories we can become engrossed in and read for free any time. Don't change what you do or how you write <3 . If people don't like it they can always read something else ;-)

I agree with those who are disappointed in Noah and Marcella for the spanking scene. They both got into the contract not in good faith, but ultimately the biggest problem is the fact that she has been greatly abused by her family and by the Bataglia, and the guy who is supposed to be her one is just like them, choosing to spank her when he doesn't like what she did. This fundamentally abusive culture of the Tables with its mysogyny and its conditioning of children to become BDSMers from young age is so sad, I keep waiting for redemption but haven't seen it yet...

Peri in the twelve tables showed that women can be amazing moms and strong women. They can also have lives and be mothers. Being a mother and bringing life into this world is one thing that men will never be able to do. I love that this series cherishes that. Whether Marcella chooses to be a mother or not, having babies makes us stronger as people instead of less. That is one thing I absolutely love about this series.

Mommylovestoread: I agree, there is a lot of power in submission. That implies consent. Without consent, you can never have true submission.

When Marcella wanted to get away from him, Noah physically held her down and made her listen. When she was in the hospital and knew it wasn’t the safest place for her psychologically , they took her keys and cell phone and made her stay somewhere she didn’t want to be. All she has ever known from the tables is being forcibly held places. So she runs. She can’t get out of the conversation with Noah, because again, he has taken away her consent. So she negotiates. She calls a spade a spade and says he’s blackmailing her. He doesn’t like that word, even though he is threatening her with a form of prison if she doesn’t do what he wants. Sounds like blackmail to me. So that is the obvious threat. The implied threat is also real. She is worried about her mother. She thought this assumed name would protect her mother. Now that Noah ruined the disguise, her mother is also in danger if Marcella doesn’t do what Noah wants. So with the threats hanging over her unless she submits, she has no where to go. That isn’t submission anymore. That is blackmail.

The contrast is Cat Vitali. She submits to the consequences and gets tied up, but when they threaten to go to the meeting with her in ropes, she safewords and they get her out immediately and work to make it up to her for crossing her lines. She really had the power in that relationship because she had the power to leave. In fact, leaving was the right thing to do for her when she went to Peri’s Gathering. So that is the difference between real submission and not having the ability to consent. Cat is powerful in her consenting submission.

Marcella worked really hard to needle him until he gave in and spanked her. We know she wants to find a loophole to get her out of the return time when she wouldn’t be in charge. She just found it. He spanked her and took over. He is smirking because he is winning her game. I think she is smart enough to play the long game. Every time he takes over and wins during these two weeks, he actually loses because he shows her one more time that he will take what isn’t gladly given. So either when the tables go the other way, she actually gets to be in charge because he was during her turn, or she will say that she doesn’t have to follow him because he broke the contract. I hope he starts to truly value how smart she is. He sees now that sometimes she has good ideas, but he feels superior to her and always wants to come fix what he thinks she broke, but Marcella is brilliant. I can’t wait to see how she makes this work for herself.

Ellie, you are undoubtably a truely gifted writer spinning a wonderful plot web. Your characters and interactions keep me enthralled along with the always painfu wait to the next installment. You grace us with your wonderful gift. Please don't change in order to satisfy any disparaging comments posted on here, the plots are yours to take us wherever you wish. Keep up your wonderful work,

XXPJRXX

@MLTR - Normally I could agree with you but in this case there is clearly a problem with Noah. Maybe intentionally placed there by the author, but only xEBx knows that.

So all of those things you wrote about need (especially in this relationship) to start with trust. But clearly there is none between Noah and Marcella. Case in point, he knows her past in all it's brutal colors. If fact the only reason he is here with her now is because he came looking for her to demonstrate that despite how all the other men in her life treated her, he was going to PROVE to her she could trust him. And remember these are lawyers so things like proof, precedent, contracts - should all matter on many levels.

And I believe he wanted to try, wanted to change. Hell, he even went so far as to use a fake persona that matched her alternate identity. I believe he thought that by allowing her to write a contract, which he would (and did) agree to and sign, would show her that he could place her needs first, that he would (for two weeks - he's still a table mannered man) surrender to her will. And I KNOW THAT HE KNEW she would test his resolve.

And we all know he FAILED. He failed her and her little test. A few hours of playful teasing by her alternate ego, shattered him and his over-conditioned "table manners" to such a degree that he broke character and immediately became Noah again. The play, fun, and trust vanished in two sentences. He was not playfully/erotically spanking the alter ego of the woman he "is destined to love" - he chose to beat Marcella (intentionally calling her by that name to reinforce the fact this wasn't playtime between the two alternate ego's who have no colored history) in the exact same manner her abusive father and molesting uncle did.

Noah is broken and so is their relationship.

@E35 - Well written. I will go back and re-read. I believe you are right about Emillo. As for Apollo, I do not have enough background on him to decide and I also believe we haven't seen the last of him yet. I do however think Noah needs some SERIOUS corrective action. Preferably a stint with the Battaglia. Marcella made it through there (more than once) so it might do Noah, and their relationship, some good for him to spend a few months of his free time there. Okay that's mostly sarcasm, because we all know that can't/won't happen but still for a man who clearly hears other voices in his head - he spends too damn long listening to his own voice/ego/table driven beliefs, when he should just heed the advice of others who words are actually filled with common sense.

I also believe all of the women in the Table stories are strong. Don't forget the Seubi (spelling?) attacked the Mothers - not because they were weak and vulnerable but because they actually hold the power in the families. And last, in a D\s relationship, the D does not force the agenda, the sub actually has the power to chose whether or not to submit. It is all up to Marcella to chose.