Celestial Reviews 214 - September 6, 1997

Note: An English professor wrote the words, "woman without her man is a 
savage" on the blackboard and directed his students to punctuate the 
passage correctly.

The men wrote: "Woman, without her man, is a savage."

The women wrote: "Woman: Without her, man is a savage."

Final note: Remember: even though someone else may be posting my 
reviews for me, my e-mail address is still Celeste801@aol.com.

- Celeste

      "Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock" by MAW (ff mind
            control) 9, 6, 6
      " Violence in Video Games" by Kim (rough sex) 9, 10, 10
      "The Drive In" by Mike Hunt (threesome) 10, 10, 10
      "She Invited Me to Fuck Her Over the Net" by Lysander 
            (really unusual cybersex) 10, 10, 10

Guest Reviews:

      "My Wife" by Tyler Peach (poorly written mindless sex)
            0, 0, 0
      "Her Bet" by Ray Shine (husband humiliation) 8, 8, 6
      "The Art Critic" by Seurat (femdom)  9.5, 10, 7.5
      "Hero to Zero" by MC Woodsmoke (superhero sex) 7, 8, 7
      "The best laid plans . . . sometimes work out OK" by Frank 
            McCoy (mindless incest ) 9, 4, 2
      "The Girl Next Door" by Mack (easy neighbor) 10, 7, 8
      "The Expensive Date" by Gaius (a cautionary tale) 
            9.6, 9.5, 9.0

Reposted Reviews:

    * "Kayla and Martin" by Mark Aster (pregnant thoughts)
            10, 10, 10
    * "Vacation Doesn't Count" by J. Boswell (wife watching)
            9, 9, 8

"Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock" by MAW (MS4EVER321@aol.com).  
This is Number 9 in the Hypno Celeb series.  I just plunged into 
this one without reading any others in the series, and that left 
me at the slight disadvantage of not knowing how the magic disk 
induces mind controlled sex.  Anyway, Julia and Sandra are 
hypnotized into having sex with each other, so that somebody can 
videotape them and sell the tape to people that would like to see 
that sort of thing.  

The sex is clearly presented, but the only real appeal of the 
story is that readers who are familiar with these two movie stars 
can visualize two real people doing the things that this story 
says they do.  That didn't really inspire me.

Ratings for "Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock"
Athena (technical quality): 9
Venus (plot & character): 6
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 6

"Violence in Video Games" by Kim (kim@nym.alias.net).  I don't 
like violence in real-life sexual relationships, but I did enjoy 
this story.  It was a good presentation of the feelings of a woman 
involved in a dysfunctional relationship - kinda like the people 
you see on Gerry Springer's tabloid talk show.

The woman is married to or boyfriended with a guy who has a severe 
self-image problem: he wants to feel superior, but she beats him 
at everything.  He keeps putting her down and looks for a way to 
feel superior.  {Note to young readers who are not supposed to be 
here but probably are anyway:  If you have boyfriend who acts like 
this, drop the bum right now.  If you don't, things will only get 
worse.  Read this story to see how.}  Eventually the lame-ass 
decides that they will have violent sex, just for the fun of it.  
She agrees; and on the appointed day he starts beating the shit 
out of her.  To her surprise, she enjoys it.  To his surprise, she 
turns the tables and beats the shit out of him.

As I said, this is a story about a dysfunctional relationship.  
But it's a realistic story.  I've known several women who have 
gone through pretty much the same thing, and this story gives a 
vivid depiction of what they experienced.  My theory is that if 
you enjoy this story, you're probably normal; but if you enjoy 
doing the things they do in this story, you should see a 
counselor.

Ratings for "Violence in Video Games"
Athena (technical quality): 9
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

"The Drive In" by Mike Hunt (MrM1KE@aol.com).  The author himself 
says that this is a simple suck and fuck story.  That means that 
there will be no character development or philosophical insights 
about the meaning of life - unless, of course, sucking and fucking 
ARE the meaning of life.

The basic plot consists of two guys and a girl who go to a drive-
in on a double date which one of their dates missed because she 
cut her finger.  So the one girl says to her boyfriend in the 
front seat, "I can't fuck with you with Mike Hunt in the back 
seat."  And so they all three get in the back seat and have a 
threesome.

This story has some problems with anachronisms.  For example, it 
assumes that drive-ins that showed x-rated movies existed on this 
planet at the same time that there were answering machines.  But 
hey, this is a suck and fuck story, not the History Channel.

But a little historical background may be necessary.  Drive-ins 
(also known as passion pits) were places where non-Catholic guys 
and girls went to have sex in their cars while somebody played 
movies on a large screen.  Or at least that's what Sister Mary 
Marshmallow said.  Like, the film could break, and nobody would 
notice for a half hour or so.  And for some reason cars rocked 
back and forth in odd ways.

To my eternal embarrassment, the first time I was asked to go on a 
date to a drive-in, I asked what movie was playing there.

Ratings for "The Drive In"
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

"She Invited Me to Fuck Her Over the Net" by Lysander 
(lysander@bitsmart.com).  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

"My Wife" by Tyler Peach (insideit@hotmail.com).  Guest review by 
Kim.

Celeste's opening comment, when she sent this for review, was "I 
keep trying to find something that won't make you change panties 
so often". Well, she certainly managed to fulfill that desire with 
this one!

This story purports to be the daily diary of a dominated husband, 
used and abused by his gorgeous but cruel wife. There follows a 
catalogue of some of the worst excesses that could be shoehorned 
into a story, including such delights as scat, water sports, 
repeated anal rape, grinding misogyny and, perhaps worst of all, 
overt racism. Actually, come to think of it, describing this as a 
story elevates it way beyond it's true status.

At first I started to read it with a smile, as I thought it would 
be so bad that it somehow transcended bad into enjoyable, like the 
films of Ed Wood.

Unfortunately, it was so relentlessly gross, so unendingly badly 
written, so singularly without merit that I came to the conclusion 
that, no it was just plain bad. I'd say it's probably the worst 
story I've ever had the misfortune to actually read, and I've read 
some bad ones, believe me.

To top it all off, managing to add insult to injury, it's just a 
barely disguised ad for a crappy commercial web site. And I 
thought it couldn't get any worse.

Somehow I don't think I'll need to be changing my panties after 
this one. If anyone should happen to get off on this stuff, then 
all I can say is, "You're one sad fuck!". Apart from all that, it 
was just great.

Ratings for "My Wife"
Athena (technical quality): 0 (you're kidding, right?)
Venus (plot & character): 0 (the word "lame" mean anything?)
Kim (appeal to reviewer): 0 (the absolute pits!)

"Her Bet" by Ray Shine (shysub@canttell.com).  Guest review by 
BluePencil.

There are a few rules you need to know to succeed in life.

Always read the fine print.  Never arm wrestle with a guy named "Tiny". 
And never, ever, make a sure-thing sexual bet with your wife without 
knowing what you'll pay if you LOSE.

Our hapless hero apparently never learned the last rule.  When his wife 
offers to bet him a blow job on the outcome of an election, he carefully 
plugs the loopholes . . . by specifying "plenty of tongue and head 
action and swallowing all the cum and even eating what spills."  You'd 
think knowing that his wife HATES giving blow jobs would clue him in, 
but since it wasn't tattooed on his forehead in bright red 24-point text 
he manages to overlook this little detail.  Some people's kids . . .

Give him this; having lost, he is ready to pay the price.  Until his 
wife explains that she wants him to pay off with a REAL blow job. As she 
quite logically points out, she isn't equipped to fully appreciate his 
forfeit - but she has a coworker that she's SURE would like enjoy it. Of 
course, hubby does have a choice . . . if he doesn't want redeem his bet 
she will be more than happy to take her handsome, young, well-hung 
friend into the bedroom and make it up to him.  All night long.  While 
hubby waits outside.

How would YOU react if your wife waited until she had you naked and tied 
up before explaining all this?  I know how I'D react in this situation. 
I'd be willing to hazard a guess about how most men (and women, in the 
analogous case) would react.  As you can probably sense, Our Hero 
doesn't follow the crowd.  What choice DOES he make? How does his wife 
react? How will this affect their relationship?  Is it better to be a 
cocksucker or a cuckold?  You'll have to read the story to find out.

Yes, this is a husband humiliation story.  I'll state it plainly: it's a 
reasonably well written story of a genre I don't personally enjoy.  The 
prose is workmanlike, and Shine has done a decent job of 
characterization; he managed to make the characters believable, if not 
compelling.

Am I damning with faint praise?  Perhaps.  If you like husband 
humiliation stories you'll probably enjoy this one.  If you don't like 
the genre, you may want to skip past.
 
Ratings for "Her Bet"
Athena (technical quality):      8
Venus (plot and character):      8
BluePencil (appeal to reviewer): 6

"The Art Critic" by Seurat {Chapter Four of "The Twighlight Zone" 
series}.  Guest review by Piper.

This is a femdom story.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  To start with, 
Alan O'Neill (that's the art critic and the central character in this 
story) makes a life-altering mistake.  He accepts the invitation of a 
beautiful artist named Ms. Tara Worthington to go to her place and have 
a cup of tea.  Rather innocuous, you say?  Nay.  Before the evening is 
over, he's been drugged, raped, tied down, and had some sort of science-
fictiony crystals permanently embedded in his skin.  According to the 
explanation, they can do some pretty strange things, one of which is to 
stimulate the body's nerves in ways that can enhance pleasure, deaden 
feeling, or cause pain.  You see, in addition to being an artist, she 
also works as a "computer-technochemist" (whatever that is) at a super-
advanced high-tech company.  

Like the men in most femdom stories, Alan has a serious physical 
problem.  Whenever his prick starts to inflate, it cuts off most of the 
blood flow to his brain.  His IQ drops by a minimum of fifty points.  In 
other words, when aroused, he thinks with his little head.  (Since he, 
and they, start out a few cards short of a full deck to begin with in my 
opinion, there's not much left in the intelligence department when they 
get a raging hard-on.)  In addition to that, also in the best tradition 
of femdom stories, Alan is given a series of choices by Tara.  Or 
rather, he is given a series of non-choices.  Take an early one, for 
example.  Secured to a bed, wrapped up in a straight jacket, with his 
family jewels firmly tied to the headboard and a gag in his mouth, he is 
given the choice of getting up and leaving or letting her give him a 
blow job.  Happily for her, he doesn't get up.

Apparently, Tara wants Alan for six more weeks.  Each week, on 
Wednesday, he is to follow some instructions that somehow manage to 
magically appear somewhere in or around his house.  Failure to do so 
will be rewarded with "punishment" - increasing levels of pain in his 
privates.  At the end of the sixth week, he'll be released.  Like in 
most femdom stories, he does as he is told.  Mental anguish aside, he 
enjoys some parts of what is done to him, and doesn't enjoy others.  
Unexpected things happen.  Early on, he finds out that Tara is a member 
of a large, secretive organization devoted to promoting the interests of 
strong-minded women.  They are a powerful and wealthy sisterhood.

Personally, I don't really enjoy femdom stories that much.  I identify 
too closely to the male protagonist(s) in stories I read.  If I was put 
through what this guy was put through, despite the threats and 
consequences, I probably would have broken the first commandment several 
times.  Especially after finding out that I was being lied to.  I would 
not make a good slave.  There's this little part of me that insists on 
being able to make my own choices.  Real ones.  Call it a flaw if you 
like, but it's there.  I also happen to be a firm believer in trust, 
commitment, and faith between life partners.  When the story started, 
Alan was a loving and trusting husband.  That's something else that was 
destroyed.  

Technically, the story is pretty tight.  There are a few spelling 
problems and a few spots where formatting and punctuation could be 
better, but not many.  I'm probably a little harder than Celeste in this 
category, since I read quickly and every snag makes me stop and figure 
out what's wrong with what my eyes just passed over.  This tends to 
interrupt the story flow, and my enjoyment.  Advice to Seurat: let 
someone else proofread your story.  They'll find little things that you 
simply cannot spot, no matter how carefully you check it yourself.  
Believe me, I know that from experience.  While it probably won't 
increase your readership, it will give greater pleasure to the people 
who are reading your stories.

"The Art Critic" is a very good femdom story - imaginative, 
entertaining, and not too nasty.  As a regular story, it's still a 
little better than average.  I was disappointed a little bit at the end.  
There's not enough of an exploration of Alan's feelings about what 
happened.  It's almost like the author cut the story short.  Somehow, 
with the time and effort put into the rest of it, I doubt this is what 
happened.  More likely, the author wanted to leave some ambiguity and 
let the reader make up their own minds about what the final paragraphs 
mean.

As a last note, let me say that there is a distinct split in femdom 
stories.  In one group, the man ultimately ends up taking pleasure in 
serving the needs of his female masters and submitting to their every 
perverse torment.  In another group, he doesn't take pleasure in it, 
even though he is forced to do the exact same things; he ends up as a 
tortured soul.  In between, there's this tiny, minuscule, sliver of a 
group that doesn't fit into either of the first two categories.  I'm not 
going to tell you which category this story fits into.  That would spoil 
the surprise.

Ratings for "The Art Critic"
   Technical merit    9.5
   Plot & character   10
   Appeal to reviewer 7.5     (not my cup of tea)

"Hero to Zero" by MC Woodsmoke (woodsmok@gte.net ).  Guest review by DG.

Like the television shows on which the characters are based ("Hercules" 
and "Xena, Warrior Princess"), "Hero to Zero" by MC Woodsmoke is light, 
frothy, and extremely silly.  
 
Two of the Greek big shots, the God Zeus and the Goddess Mnemosyne, are 
bickering, and poor Hercules is caught in the middle.  All he wants to 
do is be a good Hero to the people by saving them from the many terrible 
dangers that abound in this land (you know: Towering Giants, Drooling 
Monsters, Cheesy Dialogue, that sort of thing) and be a good Husband to 
his hot new Wife.  

Our Hero returns home from a trip with his new friends Xena and 
Gabrielle, and his wife leaps into his arms and says "Is that a Spartan 
Spear in your pocket, or are you just glad to see me?"  This sort of 
dialogue bodes well for the reader in search of a few laughs (and for 
Herc himself), but unfortunately the author can't quite maintain this 
high standard.
 
In order to divert Hercules from his usual heroic pursuits, Mnemosyne 
has devised a needlessly complicated scheme involving lots and lots of 
athletic, mindless sex.  If the thought of Xena, Warrior Princess being 
swept up in a haze of lust and fucking a well-hung, handsome satyr is 
something that resonates in your libido, than you are going to enjoy 
this story more than I did.  You can tell that it resonates for the 
author: as soon as the leather skirts and copper breastplates hit the 
ground, his syntax, spelling, and sentence structure go to hell - you 
can almost hear the panting as commas are sprayed everywhere. 
 
Maybe I'm being a little harsh. The sex is wild and furious, and the 
inconsistent writing doesn't really grate like it might in a more 
serious story.  But I was hoping for more of the humor that 
characterized the beginning of the story.  Like when the satyr who acts 
as Herc's personal trainer slaps his forehead and says "Oy Vey" when he 
sees Herc succumbing to his wife's charms.  
 
The problem, for me, is that characters have to be somewhat realistic 
and sympathetic in order for a story to work on a purely erotic level.  
In this case, my dick never even twitched.  And the story isn't quite 
funny enough for me to recommend it purely on a comedic basis.  But if 
you're a big fan of the TV shows, or if you like cartoon superhero sex, 
you might want to check it out.
 
Ratings for "Hero to Zero"
Athena (technical quality): 7
Venus (plot & character): 8
DG (appeal to reviewer): 7

"The best laid plans . . . sometimes work out OK" by Frank McCoy.  Guest 
review by BillyG

The technical aspect of this story, while fairly good, is a bit marred 
by occasional too-long paragraphs, made-up, nonsense words and the 
annoying overuse of parenthetical statements.

That summarizes the best features of this tale.  The remainder of this 
review will be largely scathing.  

Because I've written a few stories that touch very lightly on incestuous 
issues, I suppose Celeste thought I might be view this story with a non- 
jaundiced eye.  Well, I tried, and then tried again.  W. C. Fields said, 
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  Then give up.  No use 
being a damn fool about it."

If you have a keen, almost fanatical interest in impregnation-incest, 
you may find this story interesting, even conceivably arousing, although 
it stretching the limits of credulity in my eye.  Linda, a mono-maniacal 
28- year-old woman has five children whose ages range from 10 to 16.  A 
casual glance at the chronological arithmetic indicates that this mother 
started her own family when she was 12!  More, it's set forth that she 
was married at the time.  George, her barely two-dimensional husband 
shares her mania for the impregnation of their two daughters, ages 10 
and 12.

The almost non-existent plot soon begins to evaporate, giving way to a 
long expository on impregnation without a hint of character development, 
sensuousness, or sexuality.  In brief, it's a one-trick pony.  If the 
idea of incestuous impregnation is exciting, you conceivably might find 
this worth of reading.  On the other hand, I suspect even those readers 
who find the idea interesting, even titillating, will be bored by this 
tale.  

It's difficult to imagine that many people would be appalled, for the 
story is too superficial and too artificial to stir any emotions deeper 
than boredom.

Grades: 9, 4, 2

"The Girl Next Door" by Mack (bo263@cleveland.Freenet.Edu).  Guest 
review by Mike Hunt.

"The Girl Next Door" is a simple fuck and suck story. Who wants to read 
one of those, anyway? But when the teacher gives an assignment, you have 
to do it, right?

This ought to be a good story. The writer claims it's true. The set-up 
could happen. So why did it disappoint? Because real stories ought to be 
REAL. I don't know how many times you've lived next door to a "gorgeous" 
babe who suntans in the backyard in the nude, who tweaks her "half-inch" 
nipples, and who waltzes around in a partly open robe with "her 
fingers... playing  hide-and-seek in her blonde pubic hair"; but I'll 
wager it's not been often.

Later, as a "thank you" for helping with her car, she suddenly whips off 
her top and says "Suck my titties!" Fairly ripe language for someone he 
just met a few minutes earlier. Of course she's a screaming banshee, as 
evidenced by her overly enthusiastic orgasm a few paragraphs later: "OH 
FUCK, OH YES, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, AGHHHHHHH!  FUCK FUCK YES O GOD YES FUCK  
MEEEEEEEEEEEE!  FASTER!  OH FUCK, DO IT!    I'M 
CUUMMMMMMMIIIIIIINNNNNG!"

Mack, I think, has potential as a writer, and it's not really a bad 
story. But when you set it up as "essentially true", it should be 
believable. This one wasn't. I'd like to see another from him, but 
perhaps with a little more plausible development of the action.

Of course of all people I should talk!

Ratings for "The Girl Next Door"
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 7 
Mikeus (appeal to reviewer): 8

"The Expensive Date" by Gaius ( pec@richmond.infi.net).  Guest 
review by Sven the Elder.

Well - a strange tale, indeed a cautionary tale.  A pickup with a 
difference: that it goes wrong is the reason for it being 
expensive.  How it goes wrong and the sting in the tale you must 
read for yourself.  If I relate, or outline things it will spoil 
all.  The sex, and the build up to it is very hot, the storyline 
is believable, but perhaps stretches a point.  Hence I felt it a 
story that approached the style of fable that Rudyard Kipling 
reached in his 'Just So' stories.  Things that you think might be 
suspicious, are, and then all goes totally 'pear-shaped' for our 
poor 'hero'.  Truly a cautionary tale, as is stated, a strange, I 
wanted to say not totally enjoyable story, but  that would be 
unfair and incorrect.  It is very readable.  Perhaps not to the 
taste of all and certainly how not to be treated during a 'first  
date'. Technically, allowing for the vagaries of 'American' 
english and 'English english, this was properly checked and seems 
to me to reach a high standard.  (Celeste will probably correct me 
on that! <g>) I have  deducted a small amount for made up words 
(footachinations!) and the use of one of the Celestial List of 
Credulous Assumptions. (In fact it was number two on the list!)  
Otherwise all seemed OK.

Ratings for  "The Expensive Date"
Technical quality: 9.6
Plot & character:  9.5
Sven (appeal to reviewer):  9.0

* "Kayla and Martin" by Mark Aster (MyFrThAl@aol.com).  Great 
news!  Pat is pregnant with twins!  In this story Pat and Our Hero 
meet Kayla and Martin in the lobby of a restaurant and join them 
for dinner.  Martin is obviously attracted to the pregnant Pat, 
while Our Hero plays footsie with Kayla.  After dinner they all go 
up to Kayla and Martin's room for postprandial sex.  The author 
does his usual excellent job of choreographing several people 
having sex simultaneously.

Ratings for "Kayla and Martin"
Athena (technical quality): 10
Venus (plot & character): 10
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10

* "Vacation Doesn't Count" by J. Boswell. The title of this story 
is derived from one of the few American aphorisms that has not 
been attributed to either Mark Twain, Will Rogers, or Ben 
Franklin: "What happens on vacation doesn't count when you get 
back to the 'real world.'" I assume it was actually Benjamin 
Disraeli who first spoke these words.  

Sondra is a happily married mother of three who goes on vacation 
with her husband and discovers that she enjoys showing off her 
body.  Her husband eats this action up.  She takes part in a wet 
t-shirt contest with some college kids, and her husband can hardly 
wait to get his dick into her.  For an encore she invites the four 
college kids staying at  the cottage next door in for some sex in 
the jacuzzi.  Same reaction from hubby.  And they go further and 
further - in hotels, with limo drivers, etc.  Every time, the sex 
is hot; and the husband gets his piece right afterwards.  I doubt 
that this sort of thing really works out all this well in real 
life, but it certainly is an interesting fantasy!

Grammar review! What's wrong with this sentence? 

      Always the perfect "lady," bordering on "prim and proper," 
      I was looking forward to seeing my wife in the tiny bikinis
      and revealing one-piece bathing suits she had purchased
      for our trip.

Answer:  It suggests that the narrator is part of a lesbian 
marriage.  The sentence begins with a misplaced modifier that 
gives this impression.  A problem with starting a story with bad 
grammar is that the policy is likely to beget cynicism in the mind 
of the English teacher reviewing it.  When the narrator sees four 
college guys ogling his luscious wife who is sun bathing au 
naturel, he describes it thus:

      My cock had been rock hard for the hour, and now I 
      started to lightly caress it.  I think it was only peer 
      pressure keeping the boys from doing the same.

There's nothing really all that bad about this sentence, but the 
reader who is predisposed to think the author uses bad grammar is 
likely to say, "So what?  A little peer pressure on their cocks 
might feel pretty good under the circumstances."

Having written those past few paragraphs, I can now justify this 
time as work rather than recreation.  I think I'll go get some 
recreation now.

Ratings for "Vacation Doesn't Count"
Athena (technical quality): 9
Venus (plot & character): 9
Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 8