Message-ID: <14365eli$9808151826@qz.little-neck.ny.us> X-Archived-At: From: bitbard@newsguy.com (BitBard) Subject: {ASS} Celestial Reviews 299 - August 4, 1998 Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.d,alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories.d,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d Reply-To: bitbard@newsguy.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Path: qz!not-for-mail Organization: The Committee To Thwart Spam Approved: X-Moderator-Contact: Eli the Bearded X-Story-Submission: X-Original-Message-ID: <35cff598.78812258@enews.newsguy.com> X-Is-Review: yes Celeste is on vacation and since I did not get the links back to her before she left, I am posting this review. Mail and follow-ups should go to Celeste801@aol.com. I will post Celeste's July top twenty on Monday, August 10 and the compiled Top 20s (January 1996-Present) on Monday, August 17th. Some reformatting was done to prepare this CR for publication, any mistakes are entirely my fault. --Bitbard ================================================ Celestial Reviews 299 - August 4, 1998 Note: I am going to take a vacation. The next issue of Celestial Reviews will appear on or around August 22. If the people who write guest reviews would simply choose a story of their choice and write an extra review and send it to me, that would help me get a good issue together really quickly at that time. Second Note: Occasionally good writers stop writing stories for this newsgroup. If you rarely or never respond to authors, then THIS IS YOUR FAULT! What in the world do you think keeps an author going? You can call it ego or whatever you want to call it. I call it the Blow Job Principle. Simply stated, if a person expects to get a second blow job, the recipient should make the giver glad to have performed the first. Applied to these stories, if you like a story, take the trouble to say so. Some writers on this newsgroup are incoherent and don't intend to improve. If they give up and go away, that's fine with me. But there are good writers who have already abandoned this newsgroup and others who will do so, because there's nothing in it for them. I'm not suggesting that you kiss up to the authors. But if you enjoy a story that you obtained for free, why not take two minutes to give the author some feedback? I don't think most authors want idle flattery; but they write stories with the hope that they are getting a reaction - for example, they may want to make people happy. They'll never know they have succeeded unless somebody tells them so. Third note: Entries have been slow for the Fourth Celestial Story Contest. Here are the rules: About 50 years ago Ray Bradbury wrote a story called "The Veldt." In that story a family has a nursery for their children that includes what we would now call a virtual reality playroom. When the children go into the playroom, they get the authentic feeling of being in an actual veldt - a jungle area populated by mysterious and dangerous animals. Complications arise when the playroom takes on a life of its own - when the virtual reality becomes more real than virtual. You can imagine what happens when Mom and Dad decide to close down the playroom - or you can read the story (which is in Bradbury's book entitled "The Illustrated Man") to see how Bradbury handles the ending. Your job is to write a story based on the general premise of a virtual reality playroom. Feel free to change almost everything. You can have adults rather than children, and you don't need non-human animals at all. In fact, it might be best not to even look at Bradbury's story at all - let your own imagination have full play. Bradbury's story is actually a Frankenstein story with a moral - what happens when we fail to understand technology and its limitations? Your story doesn't have to be like that at all. You don't even need to know that Bradbury himself once said that "man's machines are indeed symbols of his most secret cravings and desires, extra hands put out to touch and interpret the world." Post your stories as you feel they are ready. Send me a copy. Deadline is August 24. Final note: Remember: even though someone else may be posting my reviews for me, my e-mail address is still Celeste801@aol.com. - Celeste ===================== Celestial Reviews: ===================== "Douglas and Penelope" by Gordie D (romance) 10, 10, 10 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13560.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376997880 "Birthday Boy" by EazinAlong (incest) 10, 10, 9 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13479.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376240409 "The Darkness in Exactly Nowhere, Iowa" by Oscar Paco (nostalgic threesome) 10, 10, 10 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13541.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376730928 "Schoolboy Sissy Slut" by Mr Pornwriter (mindless sex) 10, 5, 1 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376424723 01 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376424728 02 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376424733 03 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376424740 04 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430804 05 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430807 06 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430813 07a http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430816 07b http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430822 08 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430827 09 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376566252 10 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376566258 11 "Internet Tools" by Ben Doone (gay quickie) 10, 10, 10 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13542.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376730932 "He Loved Her" by BlueLady16 (passionate poem) 10, 10, 10 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13548.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376997826 "The Pedicure" by Lostgirl (sexy threesome) 10, 10, 10 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13440.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=375345089 "Suzette's Passion" by BitBard (pirate romance) 10, 10, 10 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12673.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=368291231 ===================== Guest Reviews: ===================== "Attacked by Silk Gloves" by Redheaded Composer (magical tg). Tern: 10, 7, 9 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=369322415 01 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=369322422 02 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=369322428 03 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=369322435 04 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=369322441 05 "A Dreamer's Tale of Blackmail" by Tigger and L. Corvidae (romantic femdom). DG: 10, 10, 9 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12370.txt 01 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12371.txt 02 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12373.txt 03 --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=364532865 01 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=364532872 02 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=364532886 03 "As I Bent over the Pool Table" by Adult Video (anal sex). Ivan: 8, 3, 4 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=374598056 "Inanna In The Underworld" by (sex and rasslin'). BillyG: 10, 10, 4 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13523.txt 01 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13524.txt 02 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13525.txt 03 --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430840 01 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430846 02 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430853 03 "Dolls" by Vickie Tern (femdom): Twassel: (no rating) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13304.txt 01 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13305.txt 02 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13306.txt 03 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13310.txt 04 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13311.txt 05 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13307.txt 06 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13309.txt 07 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13308.txt 08 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13312.txt 09 "Fall In Love With Life Again" by H.D. Meister (depressing self-indulgence). BillyG: 9, 7, 5 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=375740625 ===================== Reposted Reviews: ===================== * "Masks - A Horror Story" by Tom Bombadil (Halloween) 10, 10, 10 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=285959989 * "My Wedding" by EazinAlong (wedding orgy) 10, 10, 10 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376240399 * "Shower Buddies" by Stone Wolf (humorous sexual escapades) 10, 10, 10 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376730921 * "Dance of the Lecherous Leprechauns" by R. Stephen Redick (drunken orgy) 9.5, 8, 7 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=197224839 * "She Invited Me to Fuck Her Over the Net" by Lysander (really unusual cybersex) 10, 10, 10 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376997888 * "Awakenings" by Annette (virgin to slut transition) 10, 10, 10 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=375344995 * "Fingerprints" by Anne Arbor (sexual assignation). Stonebender: 8,7, 8 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376243590 ================== <> ================== "Douglas and Penelope" by Gordie D (GordonD103@aol.com). http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13560.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376997880 Doug and Penny have a chaste courtship, fall in love, get married, and have a very nice wedding night. That's about it, except that a few details add a lot of spice. As Doug said afterwards: "That was really unbelievable. I hope she's not expecting it to be like this every night, though . . ." Doug and Penny take turns telling the story, and so we get independent verification of what each one knows and feels about the various events. This was a very good approach to a very good story. Ratings for "Douglas and Penelope" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== "Birthday Boy" by EazinAlong (EazinAlong@aol.com). http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13479.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376240409 There's this young fellow named Oedipus. He's growing up to be a strong and virile young man. His mother id - I mean is {how's that for a Freudian slip?} - His mother is strongly attracted to him and wants to be his first sexual lover. Her husband (his father) agrees. On Oed's fifteenth birthday, Mom invites Oedipus into their bedroom and lets him watch while she and Dad make passionate love to each other. Then she encourages Oedipus to have his way with her. Anybody who has taken a psych course in college knows about the Oedipus complex, which is based on a mythological story that goes along the general lines described in the previous paragraph. However, in the Greek myth Oedipus, who has just recently slain his father without knowing that it was his father, doesn't know that his lover is his mother until after he has copulated with her; and when he realizes his mistake he rips his eyes out and engages in several other behaviors that seriously disrupt the lives of almost everyone in the kingdom. I dunno - of the two stories, the one with Mommy, Daddy, and Sonny happily whooping it up in the sack isn't the one that would sound most seriously dysfunctional to an objective visitor from Mars. As I have said, everybody knows about the Oedipus complex. Mr. Rogers - the one with the Neighborhood on television - even has a song about it entitled "Someday I'm Going to Marry Mom." However, the Rogerian song has a surprise ending: Mom says that she's already married and that she hopes that someday her son will find someone that he can be as happy with as she and Dad are with each other. Whenever I hear Mr. Rogers sing this song, I have always had the impression that he envisioned Mom as fully dressed and refraining from even remote forms of foreplay. I guess what it boils down to is that essentially all modern psychologists and psychiatrists think that parents who deliberately set their children up for sexual activity are somewhere on the dysfunctional continuum between emotionally disturbed and sociopathic. These psychologists and psychiatrists could be wrong, of course; and I suspect that Gerry Springer could find one or two people who say they are shrinks and who for a fee would regard this behavior as "within the normal range," but that still leaves the problem that American courts view this sort of behavior as illegal. What these experts would probably suggest is to go ahead and encourage the kid to feel comfortable about touching his own sex organs, but to suggest that it's best to play with oneself in private and eventually to develop mature sexual relationships from a perspective of mutual love and respect. They would probably frown on Mom using her own body to demonstrate to a boy how to stimulate a clitoris or for Dad and Sonny to wash each other's testicles to the point of erection while they shower together. But keep in mind that these experts would NOT consider what Mom and Dad do in this story to be any more dysfunctional than what lots of American parents have done: tell the kid that sex is a filthy sin and that he will go blind if he masturbates and to lead him to believe that Mom and Dad sure as hell don't do anything like that. I think there's a happy medium somewhere - probably a fortune teller whose assistant is giving her a mouth job under the tablecloth. Ratings for "Birthday Boy" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 9 ================== "The Darkness in Exactly Nowhere, Iowa" by Oscar Paco (OscarPaco@aol.com). http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13541.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376730928 I came to an abrupt stop in the middle of this story. "Damn!" I said to myself. "I know the person who wrote this story!" I meant I knew him in real life. But as I read on, I realized I had been mistaken - unless he had really altered the ending of the real-lifestory. Back in my young adulthood, when I was madly in love with a wonderful man with whom I was planning a permanent and monogamous future, I had friends whose outlooks on life differed from mine. As a matter of fact, I suppose it would be accurate to say that almost all of my friends' outlooks differed from mine. Since that time, some of these friends have done the monogamous thing, with varying degrees of success. One of them has done the monogamous thing five times already, with little evidence of success and five children who currently have no resident father. But I also had friends who believed in what we used to call free love - or at least our parents did. They believed their sex organs were given to them so they could achieve and share pleasure, and they saw no reason to limit their relationships to one person. They thought that achieving happiness and making somebody else happy was about the greatest thing a human being could achieve. They would pound the table - actually, the bar, usually - and shout in a whisper, "What's wrong with that?" "Nothing," I'd say. "I just don't believe it would work that way for me." "Well, will it work for me?" some of them would say. "I doubt it," I would answer. "But what do I know?" I guess I haven't change all that much. In my reviews I refer to people like this as hedonists. Twenty years later I have discovered that their current relationships - at least the ones I know about - are just about as stable and harmonious as most of those of my monogamous friends. Actually, most of their relationships are more monagamous than those of my originally monogamous friends. But I'm still certain that I am right about my own monogamous life. It's just so damned hard - but worthwhile - to maintain this one relationship, that I'll be damned if I'm going to risk it in the hope of getting something better. Oh - back to the current story - I'm pretty sure I don't really know these people. The part you men won't like is that in the threesome the guys kiss and make love to each other as well as to the woman. As we all know, the Unwritten Code is that this sort of thing is OK only for women. This is a really good story. I'm going to give it straight tens, even though I think the time perspective is a little bit confusing. I know some of this confusion is intentional, but I think the author could clear it up a little without losing anything. Ratings for "The Darkness in Exactly Nowhere, Iowa" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== "Schoolboy Sissy Slut" by Mr Pornwriter (mrpornwriter@hotmail.com). http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376424723 01 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376424728 02 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376424733 03 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376424740 04 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430804 05 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430807 06 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430813 07a http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430816 07b http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430822 08 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430827 09 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376566252 10 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376566258 11 I had politely skipped over this story in the postings every time I saw it in recent weeks. Then I received this message in my email: "Attached is a zipped copy of my first story "Schoolboy Sissy Slut", which I submit for review.... Hope you like it." To quote my husband's favorite movie star: "Not hardly, pilgrim." This is a story about a kid who goes to a new school, where he is mistreated and exploited by just about everyone. At the end, we find this comment: "By the time the whole of the first year had their turn David was openly sobbing. After the second year students finished with him, the cross-dressed teenager was wailing with tears. Then came his own year, the third year. They seemed to relish the opportunity to spank a naughty schoolgirl, especially the girls. They made sure their blows really counted and soon David was screaming for them to stop." The question that springs to mind is, "Who gives a shit?" Actually, this story answers that question: (humil, nc, ttt/t, spank, forced tv/tg, f/t, fem-dom, ws, scat, M/t, bi-male, F/t, inc, etc...) This story sucks. In fact, it sucks donkeys. No, it sucks dinosaurs. No, it sucks blue whales. That's it - blue whales - the biggest creatures ever to live on the face of the earth - This story sucks blue whales. Ratings for "Schoolboy Sissy Slut" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 5 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 1 ================== "Internet Tools" by Ben Doone (bendoone@bigfoot.com). http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13542.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376730932 As you probably know, I don't review many mm stories. This is not because I have any moral objection to them, but because I am simply too booked up with heterosexual and ff stories (which turn me on) to have time for mm stories (which generally do not turn me on). However, when I stumbled across this one, I decided to give it a shot. It's a very well-written story; but as I had anticipated, I didn't really get a charge out of it. Had they been two f's at the computer or an m and an f, I would have been aroused; but as is - nada. Still, I would recommend this story to my gay friends. Ratings for "Internet Tools" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== "He Loved Her" by BlueLady16 (BlueLady16@aol.com) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13548.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376997826 Bluelady is at it again. This poem will grab your attention and make you feel what's happening - even though you won't know what's really happening until she decides to tell you at the very end of the poem. Before you read the poem, use your global replace to change "except" to "accept," and you won't even be distracted. Ratings for "He Loved Her" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== "The Pedicure" by Lostgirl (lostgirl33@hotmail.com). http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13440.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=375345089 Guys will tend to skip this one. BIG MISTAKE! To guys a pedicure simply doesn't sound sensual. This story will disabuse you of that notion. A guy accompanies his girlfriend when she goes to get a pedicure. I don't mean to suggest that most pedicures are this sexy. They're more sensuous than sexy; and most women would prefer to go alone, especially since what happens in this story is illegal in most jurisdictions that don't have red-light districts. You'll have to find out the details for yourself. This story - a wonderful combination of voyeurism and actual contact - is extremely sexy. Ratings for "The Pedicure" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== "Suzette's Passion" by BitBard (bitbard@newsguy.com) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12673.txt --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=368291231 Lady Suzette is engaged to be married to an old, ugly Italian man. As she travels from France by ship to meet her fate, she is clad in a chastity belt. But the ship gets attacked by English pirates; the pirates capture Suzette and hold her for ransom; Spanish pirates attack the English pirates; the English fight off the Spanish, but the pirate captain, with whom Suzette is falling in love, is seriously wounded; but he turns out to be a former street urchin with lock-picking skills, and so a happy outcome is at last possible after she nurses him back to health. The author spins an excellent tale - full of swashbuckling heroics, romance, and the sort of sex we women all dream about but never see in the pirate movies. This is another excellent story! Ratings for "Suzette's Passion" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== "Attacked by Silk Gloves" by Redheaded Composer (absurd magical tg). Guest review by Vickie Tern (VickieTern@AOL.COM). http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12807.txt [1/5] http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12809.txt [2/5] http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12810.txt [3/5] http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12811.txt [4/5] http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12812.txt [5/5] Some are born women, some achieve it, and some have it thrust upon them, but however they get there all are then free to enjoy the sexual advantages and perhaps novel feelings. In this TG fable the femininity is indeed forced, for once, not coerced nor coaxed nor sneakily desired despite all. For the hero, being transformed into a heroine is bewildering and annoying, not at all the deliciously humiliating experience of usual TG fantasy. For the reader it's mildly amusing. Young Paul is an amateur magician who like Houdini goes looking for real magic or at least the perfect illusion, one that won't seem obvious or boring once the trickery is understood. While pursuing his researches he falls into the clutches of a cranky, unkempt, nasty old crone who uses real magic on him for her own purposes -- to reconstitute him as her long-dead daughter. She seems to have unlimited telekinetic and transformational powers, so it's hard to see why she hasn't tried to use them before, or even tried to use them to clear away the generations of dirty dishes heaped up in her kitchen sink. The answer seems to be, she's truculent, stubborn and not too bright, a cretin who sees no reason why Paul should not become her daughter Janice, and why Janice should not be grateful to be restored to her mother's bosom and her aging boyfriend's pecker. The humor in this story comes from the interplay between the stubborn determination of this gargoyle of a witch, Paul's naive innocence as he experiences one outrageous invasion of his masculinity after another, the meticulously poised prose that presents the process, and the unsentimental but satisfying way it ends. Silk gloves attacking and taking control of his arms are only the beginning. This is a world where the beds make not only themselves but their occupants, and as your body changes the bedclothes conspire of more than usual slumber to plunder you. It's surreal, Disneyesque, a little like Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer's apprentice, a little erotic and yet as often absurd (come to think of it, what's erotic that isn't? Don't answer that!). Its main problem is, it isn't quite enough of either to make for either heavy breathing or hilarity. But it's good fun, often clever and sometimes witty, and this is a new writer (only one earlier story) with a solid grip on narrative language and some amusing predicaments. I expect that more will be even better. Ratings for "Attacked by Silk Gloves" Athena (writing quality): 10 Venus (erotic quality): 7 Tern (overall appeal to reviewer): 9 ================== "A Dreamer's Tale of Blackmail" by Tigger and L. Corvidae (tigger@alices.com). Guest review by DG. http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12370.txt 01 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12371.txt 02 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/12373.txt 03 --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=364532865 01 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=364532872 02 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=364532886 03 This is an extremely well-written story about the relationship between a female Domme and her male slave. Instead of detailing the theatrical rituals associated with femdom-type relationships, this story focuses on the real people behind each of the stereotypical roles. The Domme is a female executive at a corporation, and the sub is a younger man who works for her. Their SM relationship begins when the man, who is a rising star at the company, develops a drinking problem which threatens both their careers. The woman steps in and becomes his master in order to straighten him out, and their relationship moves in unexpected directions from there. The authors spend considerable time and effort describing the two character's mindsets, attempting to explain why they would enter into and enjoy a femdom relationship. This is something usually not addressed in these stories, and I suspect that one goal the authors had in mind was to educate the average person on what the psychological underpinnings and potential benefits of these relationships are. I didn't buy all of it, but I have to give the authors credit for looking much deeper into the psychology behind such role laying than anything else I have read. (I should note that I am not really a fan of this genre). What the story does lack is explicit sex. Much of the story consists of dialogue and internal musings, and what exposition there is takes place between the juicy scenes. Much reference is made to the violent and cruel sessions between Domme and slave, and I found myself wishing that one of these sessions had been described in detail, not so much for the turn on it would provide, but because it would help the reader better understand the dynamic between the characters. I can strongly recommend this story to anyone who is a fan of the SM genre, or who is curious about the appeal of this genre and is looking for a well-written introduction. Ratings for "A Dreamer's Tale" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 DG (appeal to reviewer): 9 ================== "As I Bent over the Pool Table" by Adult Video (webmaster@sex.net) Guest reviewed by Poison Ivan (poisoniv1@hotmail.com). http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=374598056 Some lady gets butt-fucked by some guy with ten-inch cock. The sex starts midway through the first sentence and doesn't end until the final period. There is no discernible plot. But we do learn one thing about the female character: she loves getting it in the ass. The sex was exciting for a while, but then it got boring. Have you ever masturbated to a good story, but when you reached the end you hadn't quite reached an orgasm? "As I Bent over the Pool Table" might be a good story to push a teetering reader over the edge. But if you aren't already teetering, I'd suggest you skip this one. Ratings for "As I Bent over the Pool Table" Athena (technical quality): 8 Venus (plot & character): 3 Ivan (appeal to reviewer): 4 ================== "Inanna In The Underworld" From: gwalb25@my-dejanews.com. Guest Review by BillyG (hayden@mindless.com) http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13523.txt 01 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13524.txt 02 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13525.txt 03 --- http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430840 01 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430846 02 http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376430853 03 Inanna, Queen of Heaven, a Sumerian Goddess, challenges her sister, Queen Ereshkigel, goddess of the underworld, for supremacy. At first blush, I thought this story might be cast as a heroic struggle between good and evil and for a brief while, it caught my attention. Too quickly it took on the glamour and excitement of a professional wrestling match. Two sisters - one beautiful and healthy stands in stark contrast to her slovenly and very unattractive counterpart whom she one defeated long before and banished her to the underworld. The battle between them is not epic. It's a cat fight - a smelly one at that. The description of the fight is given in seemingly endless detail. No brief encounter and quick defeat this. To the contrary, it goes on and on. It was more cat fight than I cared to read. Hell, had it been a description of sex, it might have been too much! It would appear that the raison d'etre for this story is the description of a professional wrestling cat fight and in this case, beauty and good fall to the greater power of evil and ugly. To the extent one finds sexual power or attraction in this genre, it may work. For me, it didn't. Ratings for "Inanna in the Underworld" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 (good development of bad character) BillyG (appeal to reviewer): 4 (don't much care for professional wrestling or cat fights) ================== "Dolls" by Vickie Tern. Reviewed by Mat Twassel. http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13304.txt 01 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13305.txt 02 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13306.txt 03 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13310.txt 04 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13311.txt 05 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13307.txt 06 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13309.txt 07 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13308.txt 08 http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13312.txt 09 A slight, shy man, in a strange town between jobs, gets picked up in a bar by a young woman. He falls for her. Later she sucks his cock and shares the semen in an after-blow-job kiss. He finds he likes it. He comes to crave it. He'll do anything for her. She starts making him into a woman, no--less a woman than a pet, a doll; and, as if etherized, he goes along. There's some suspense in this long (60 pages) story by Vickie Tern. For one thing we want to know why the young woman is going to all this trouble. And maybe we're a little curious whether the guy will ever resist. (In a brilliantly funny and profoundly sad scene, perhaps the best in the story, the man Bob, does decide to resist.) The effective point of view in the story's first half is the man--but for the most part all we learn is that he's malleable. Part two of "Dolls" shows us the history of Diana, the woman. It's a picaresque sexual journey which quickly turns dark. We understand some of what makes Diana tick. The adventure is mostly entertaining, fluently written, sometimes sexy, and often strange. Diana has some quixotic (but not after all unconventional) ideas about marriage and fidelity, for example. In the end, surprisingly, the characters let us down--plot and idea have the upper hand, and characterization, while apt, isn't engaging. There's almost too much material, and the story, although relentless and of seemingly good pace, chokes. Nevertheless there is much to admire, many many nice images and promises: She was standing at his bureau making up her face in his mirror, and he looked over her shoulder and pressed his cheek to hers, to see their two faces reflected together. They were about the same height, both thin, with the same high cheek bones. His blonde hair was shorter than hers, but getting longer -- she liked long hair she'd told him, and she'd asked him not to cut it. What little beard he had was thin and blonde, and anyhow still smooth-shaven, hardly visible even the morning after. His cheek snuggled against hers, she placed her palm on his other cheek, and they smiled at each other's images. They looked so much alike, like brother and sister. It was a marvelous moment. For the sake of the plot and the plan, it's nice if not vitally important that the two do look alike, but neither this congruency nor anything else really grips the characters' hearts or souls--there's an interstitial emptiness, undoubtedly intentional, but also too bad. The story earns points but provides no catharsis. Black comedy, I think it's called. In a stunning scene near the end this is epitomized: two men, neither of them gay, suck each others' cocks perpetually while a pair of women chat: Diana walked through the hallway into the living room. The two men were naked, lying side by side together on the couch, their legs sprawled apart and their hips turned up, each one's head tucked down into the other's crotch, eyes closed peacefully, each one's mouth working gently on the other's penis. "They nurse on each other for four hours each day," Nicole commented, looking down with some admiration and affection. "It's really very dear. I kept them tied together doing it once for as long as thirty-six hours, when they needed the discipline. Round the clock was common. They got resigned to it, and then used to it, and then they found ways to like it. Now I don't let them go past four hours -- too much of a good thing can lose its flavor." Pick any paragraph in this story and you'll likely find a jewel. Here are a couple more I can't resist sharing. "Until you can decide for yourself what kind of a girl you are and then be you, with your own style and ways of feeling feminine, for the time being just pretend you're me. OK?" And: "Clean, as beautifully clean in your body's openings as I am in mine. This is very special, what we're doing tonight. I want your body to feel different on the inside as well as the outside. A woman should always feel fresh everywhere when she starts out on a date. Remember that. Whatever scents and fluids then fill her body should be those aroused by her lover." The pleasure of these paragraphs goes beyond--they are part of story, well- placed and with later reverberation. And yet the whole doesn't really satisfy. Maybe somebody wiser can explain why--or convince me I'm wrong. ================== "Fall In Love With Life Again" by H.D. Meister (dez187lm@hotmail.com). Guest Review by BillyG (hayden@mindless.com) http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=375740625 The title of H.D. Meister's offering suggests an upbeat, positive story. It couldn't be further from the truth. I was disappointed to read a self- indulgent, self-pitying dirge about a man who's life is emotionally at an end because a woman had left him. In response to his whining questions - "What had I done wrong? Did I not shower her with love? - his Angela replied with a cryptic and unfeeling response, "If you have to ask, it's already too late." What the hell does *that* mean, for cryin' out loud? Mentally taking some comfort in the .44 Magnum that awaits him - the permanent solution to such a temporary problem - he reflects on the bars, booze, drugs and prostitutes he's used in an attempt to find another Angela. Sounds like a variant of looking for love in all the wrong places. He meets a young woman in great emotional pain who similarly has been dumped for another woman. Kelly, however, exudes a confidence and a hope for the future not comprehended by the protagonist. Stuck, without hope in the misery he chooses, Kelly's hope pushes him to again, look down the barrel of his Magnum. Meister's story gives substance to the expression, "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." Ratings for "Fall In Love With Life Again" Athena (technical quality): 9 (a few sloppy errors) Venus (plot & character): 7 (characters disappear when they stand sideways) BillyG (appeal to reviewer): 5 ================== Reposted Reviews ================== * "Masks - A Horror Story" by Tom Bombadil (stbush@iglou.com). http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=285959989 This story arrived the day after I posted my Halloween Special Issue of Celestial Reviews; but better late than never! The story begins with a John contemplating his imminent demise - that is, he is waiting to be killed as part of some kind of ritual that evening, after being held in chains for a year since last Halloween. We don't initially know the complete rationale, but it sure sounds spooky - and morbid. In stark contrast, this first plot alternates with another in which Wally and Jennifer are participating in a festive soiree being conducted by some student athletes on the eve of All Saints Day - that is, some football players are having a Halloween beer bash. A vampire countess and a beautiful witch crash the Halloween party. Needless to say, these two are the real McCoy. The connection between the two plots is that the party crashers are recruiting for their next cycle of human sacrifices. This story is certainly vivid and well written; but it's not for the weak of heart - or stomach. Don't say I didn't warn you! Ratings for "Masks" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== * "My Wedding" by EazinAlong (The artist formerly known as WouldBeBad) (EazinAlong @aol.com). http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376240399 The official wedding took place in the bride's parents' church, with a wedding march, candles, flowers, and lots of guests. In her vows she promised to obey Michael. To most of the people present, this was just a phrase in the traditional wedding vows. A select few who were invited to a separate ceremony later that day knew more specifically what that vow meant. The bride was a successful stoke broker, and she wanted no more stressful responsibility in her private life. She had told Michael that she would give herself to him in the privacy of their home if he would assume all the responsibility. He could have her as a sex slave, if that meant she didn't have to make decisions. This sounded like a bargain to Michael; and so now she stood naked except for a garter belt and a few sensual accouterments in front of a minister and an audience of 20 people - eager but apprehensive about what would happen next. This is not your ordinary wedding ceremony. I won't go into detail here. Use your imagination or read the story. It's very well written. Ratings for "My Wedding" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== * "Shower Buddies" by Stone Wolf (an582016@anon.penet.fi). http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376730921 I normally don't like to review multi-chapter stories until all the parts have been posted. Sometimes the authors don't even bother to finish the stories, and then my readers will feel cheated. In addition, a story that begins well may end badly, or vice versa. I decided to make an exception with this story. Even though only two chapters have been posted and even though the author says that no actual sexual contact will occur until "at least chapter 3," I think you'll want to know about this one. The basic premise of this story is that there has been a fire in the women's dorm and the displaced coeds have with little forewarning been relocated into one of the men's dorm. Our protagonist first notices this when he is in a naked, semi-comatose, early-morning stupor in the shower, asking to borrow shampoo from the person in the adjacent stall. His body language sort of embarrasses him as he tries to be polite and recover from his faux pas when he discovers that the guy he is talking to is an attractive girl. This story reminds me of an X-rated script for a high quality sitcom. For example, I can imagine this being a plot for "Friends" or "The Single Guy." The story is extremely well written; the characters are refreshingly wholesome; and the story is redolent of realistic details of college life - like showers that make funny noises and guys that don't use fabric softener for their towels. I am eagerly looking forward to more of this story. Ratings for "Shower Buddies" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== * "Dance of the Lecherous Leprechauns" by R. Stephen Redick (burrito@mc.net). http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=197224839 A lecherous leprechaun is a strong brandy Alexander mixed with green food coloring. Such drinks are considered useful for religious debaucheries on St. Patrick's Day. This story is about two stalwart guys, their bisexual female friend, and two neighbor ladies who celebrate St. Patrick's Day in Chicago by slurping lecherous leprechauns and fucking their brains out. This is not my idea of a really great time. I simply have this urge to want to remember the good times that I have had. But people who like to read about drunken orgies will find this to be a well-written and sexually explicit account of a boisterous bacchanalia. Ratings for "Dance of the Lecherous Leprechauns" Athena (technical quality): 9.5 Venus (plot & character): 8 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 7 ================== * "She Invited Me to Fuck Her Over the Net" by Lysander (lysander@bitsmart.com). http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376997888 Every once in a while I get the silly idea that I have seen all the possible basic plots on this newsgroup. I think I'm going to stop having that silly idea. The narrator of this story is essentially a lunatic with special powers - like being able to find his lost keys without even praying to St. Anthony. It turns out that one of his special powers is being able to insert pointed parts of his anatomy into the computer when he dials up those Internet sex lines that occupy so much of the spam space on a.s.s. Well, as you can imagine, he gets a Golden Membership and lives happily ever after. It's even more interesting when you read it the way the author wrote it. Ratings for "She Invited Me to Fuck Her Over the Net" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== * "Awakenings" by Annette. http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=375344995 The young lady is a naive virgin who has just graduated from a Swiss finishing school. Her big turn-on is the thought that when a man penetrates her for the first time it will be to shoot live ammunition at an unprotected target. She gets all churned up at the idea of totally unprotected sex with an even chance of being put in the family way. When a rich guy she really likes comes on strong to her, she tells him her feelings and says she's just not quite ready yet. Naive? Well, sort of; but she certainly knows how to keep Alan at bay! She resolves to be a virgin when she marries Alan; but shortly before the wedding he gets called away for work for two months overseas, and she goes on a cruise. The cruise ship is a veritable stud farm; and she mates with the ships mate. Not to worry; he'll use a condom. Ooops! To hell with the condom; he'll withdraw. Ooops! To hell with withdrawal; he has a supply of the RU 462 morning after pill. Ah! Ecstasy (or Ecstacy, as the Brits say); ten straight days and nights of ecstasy. Ooops! If you've never seen an RU-462 pill, I guess it's easy to confuse them with Relaxatabs. The story has minor proofreading errors; but if I managed to ignore them, you can probably do so as well. Here is a lesson from the English teacher that lies hidden inside me. Comedians and newscasters frequently talk about oxymorons. They give as examples "military intelligence," "governmental efficiency," and "honest lawyer." It may be funny to refer to these as oxymorons, because by doing so the speaker is suggesting that the military is inherently unintelligent, the government inefficient, and lawyers dishonest. The problem with those examples is that they are better examples of humor than of oxymorons. This author uses a true oxymoron when the protagonist sees her first engorged penis and refers to as "how beautifully ugly!" That's a perfect oxymoron. I once heard the person behind me at a wedding ceremony refer to the bride's "utterly ugly beauty" - making the point that the extreme artificiality of her makeup was not beautiful at all. There's a famous Latin expression: "festina lente" - make haste slowly, or as Yogi Berra put it, "Take your time; but hurry up!" A genuine oxymoron makes a point. In the story, the idea is that the male sex organ fully engorged with blood is really pretty grotesque if you look at it objectively; but if you look at it from the potential pleasure it can give, it's beautiful. This is such a great example; I want so much to use it as an illustration for my students, but I guess I had better not. American middle class manners; now there's an oxymoron for you! Even aside from the oxymoron, the sexual scenes were delightfully graphic. I strongly recommend this story. Ratings for "Awakenings" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 ================== * "Fingerprints" by Anne Arbor (AnneArbor@hotmail.com). Guest review by Jake Stonebender. http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=376243590 Hmmm... Short story; short review. This was an interesting story. I still haven't decided whether "Anne Arbor" is actually female or not, although I'm inclined that way. In any case, this was a well written story, though it didn't throw me to the ground and rip my pants off. It would probably have gotten Anne747 wet though, I think. A nicely done story of an assignation, with a small twist. If you've been here, it will give you pause; if you haven't, it will probably make you think. Damn; been too long: 8 for characters and plot, 7 for horny value, 8 for me. Ratings for "Fingerprints" Minerva: (technical skill): 8 Aphrodite: (general appeal): 7 Apollo: (appeal to reviewer): 8 ==================================================== http://www.newsguy.com/files/Authors/BitBard/www -- +----------------' Story submission `-+-' Moderator contact `--------------+ | | | | Archive site +----------------------+--------------------+ Newsgroup FAQ | ----