Celestial Reviews 1 - July 6, 1995 - by Celeste "Bank" by Deirdre. My word processor tells me that this story was only 830 words long, but with those few words the author did a really nice job of creating a mood. What's best about the story is that Deirdre shows excellent restraint: she creates a mood and tells us this story without going overboard and trying to make more of the incident than there really was to it. Other writers would be tempted to work in some four-letter words and at least a couple of orgasms and to follow the formula for a good sex story; but Deirdre just relates this anecdote in a way that made me think of comparable things that had happened to me during my own early adolescence. (Rating: 9). "Mother and Son" by Ann Douglas. Perhaps its my background as an educator, but I'm normally repulsed by stories about incest. The basic problem is that once you set aside the fantasy, in real life the adult is almost always engaging in some sort of gratification at the expense of someone he or she should be caring for. We get upset at the clergy and teachers who molest children, but then we're supposed to consider it to be titillating when we read a story about mom teaching her son "what it's like to be a man." That's how I usually react, but this story surprised me. It's about a mother who comes home early and sees her son getting head from a boy whom she doesn't know. She tries to respect his privacy, but she becomes aware that the son is likely to take the plunge into a homosexual lifestyle that may not be appropriate for him. As the only reasonable solution she can think of, the mother herself engages in loving sex with her son. The story ends with... no - you'll have to find that out for yourself. What won me over was the objective, non-moralizing aspects of the story. The author wasn't suggesting that every mother should screw her son; but she showed that this was an unusual situation. Nor was she suggesting that it would be awful if her son would adopt a homosexual lifestyle. The mother just didn't want her son to make that choice without thinking about the alternatives. The story reminded me of the movie Summer of 42, in which a wife loses her husband in the War and then makes tender love to a neighbor boy. When we saw that movie, my husband and I discussed the ethics of an older woman seducing a younger boy - when the boy obviously loved ever second of it. We eventually decided it was just a pretty good movie and that we didn't need to pass moral judgment on it. This was just a pretty good story. (Rating: 10) "Art Museum" by Trane and Wildfire Paradise. The interesting thing about this story is that it was coauthored by two people over the Throbnet BBS. As near as I can figure, the two authors have never actually met in person. The story's format consists of several reciprocal e-mail transmissions among the authors, in which each message builds upon the story as it has been set up by the preceding message. In these messages the authors evolve a story about two people making love in a limousine on a ferry boat on the way home from the Seattle Art Museum. At times the authors seem to want to coordinate their efforts; and at other times they seem determined to throw a curve ball to the other by changing the situation abruptly to see what the other will do next. It's an interesting format, and it results in a sexy story. On the negative side, I think the authors followed the sex story formulas a little too closely - getting in one and only one of every position and every term for a pussy or cock. In addition, although I liked the give-and-take atmosphere, it would have been possible to do some editing at the end of the joint project to coordinate things just a little better. Finally, if they're going to call the story "Art Museum" instead of "Ferry Ride," it would have been nice to bring art into the story a little more. All in all, however, this was a pretty good story. (Rating 6.5). "Amanda" by Grimalkin. (This is one of a series of stories being reposted by THC Adult Text Archive under the title AMANDA.TXT.) As an English teacher, I sometimes feel self-conscious when I criticize a story for bad punctuation and grammar. It should be the idea that counts; not the formatting. But if a writer is going to formally publish something, he or she should make it easy on the reader. I realize that the Internet is not the most formal medium of publication, but if it's worth someone else's time to read a story, then it should be worth taking the time to clean it up or have someone else do so before publication. If bad grammar makes a point, then it's OK. So, I have to ask myself, is there some benefit in the apparent illiterate writing style of this author? The story is about a female friend (an attendant, I think), who is in the room with Amanda, an actress who has given her opening performance and is waiting for the first reviews to appear in the early editions of the newspapers. While they're waiting, the unnamed friend jacks Amanda off. Then the reviews arrive, and they are good. That's the whole story. Is the friend supposed to be an unschooled but loving companion who "just don't talk to good"? If so, this is never stated or even clearly implied. Or is this story the first written expression of an inarticulate but loving person? If so, it deserves some respect. Or does the writer just not give a damn? I'm afraid this is the most likely explanation. As a story, it's really pretty bland - just formulistic lesbian love. Big whoop! (Rating: 2). "Surprise" by Damya. I never used to get high on the idea of watching my husband fuck somebody else, nor did I like the idea of doing it while he watched. But we talked it over several years ago, and we agreed that it would actually be stimulating to watch the other make it with someone else - as long as the possibility of disease could be avoided (which, of course, is possible, in imaginary worlds). It would be stimulating for us, but impossible in reality, since we see so much value in our monogamous relationship. (To me, the fact that I share this wonderful experience with my husband and with him alone makes it by definition impossible to invite another party into the relationship.) So we've settled for an active fantasy life, where he sometimes talks to me about what he'd like to do to a woman in a movie or on the street, and I do the same for him. Now back to the story - I guess I'm making the point that I see problems inherent in the plot; but if I weren't so fortunate as to have this really great bargain relationship, I have to admit that the basic idea behind this plot sounds good. There are lots of good spouse watching stories, but this one doesn't quite make it for me. The author says she's writing it for her boyfriend; and it might have served that purpose really well. If so, I hope they get their bang for their buck. But there are better wife watching stories this one. The reasons to read this story are (1) to find enjoyment in hearing about an interesting situation or (2) to get really turned on while reading it. I don't think either outcome is really all that likely. On the other hand, the story is not awful either. It just somehow failed to give me as a woman the vicarious experience of driving my husband into sexual heaven by letting him watch me do exciting things to someone else. I hope Damya herself had better luck. (Rating: 5). "AdventureLand" by Sue. I love theme parks. Disney World in Orlando is an especially romantic place. In this story, a woman manages to get into the Pirates of the Caribbean attraction after everyone else has left it. She masturbates and engages in sexual fantasies with the characters. The punch line is that one of the characters turns out to be the college kid who runs the attraction, and he fucks her and slips away before she realizes that he wasn't part of her imagination. I liked the story a lot. I'm sure there are religious people somewhere who would be repulsed at the thought of a Disney employee taking advantage of an innocent customer; but what the hell - this story takes place in an atmosphere in which the "legitimate" fantasy consists of fun-loving pirates looting villages and gleefully carrying off the female prisoners. When I've taken my kids on that ride, I've often mentally noted that in real life the pirates would have had their sexual jollies with the women they were chasing. Being captured and raped by a pirate probably wasn't as much fun as Disney suggests. In real life Disney employees who have sex with customers who are masturbating with the characters should be fired; just as pirates who rape and pillage should normally be hanged after a fair trial. It was fun to read a story in which a modern pirate took advantage of a damsel. On the downside, you really do have to stretch your imagination to buy into the story. But overall, it was just good clean fun. (Rating: 8).