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Subject: {ASS/D} Celeste's Top 20 Stories - September, 1998
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Celeste's Top 20 Stories - September, 1998
Note: Even though guest reviewers write the posted reviews of some of these
stories, I read any story that I think may be likely to win a monthly or annual
award. I personally take responsibility {and blame} for these lists. If someone
else wants to publish an alternate list of awards, that's fine with me.
Second Note: Since many readers would like to read the top stories for each
month, I have suggested that authors might like to repost as many of these
stories as possible. In addition, I am posting STORY LINKS with each story in
the Top 20 List. By pasting these into the appropriate line of your web
browser, you should be able to go straight to that story. Please give me your
feedback regarding the effectiveness of this procedure.
Third Note: I have also had great success finding these stories on the World
Wide Web by using the DejaNews Server (www.dejanews.com). In addition, most of
these stories have been posted and archived through alt.sex.stories.moderated.
You can even find past issues of my reviews through these services.
Final Note: Ordinarily, to be eligible for my Top 20 List for any month, I have
to have read the story for the first time that month and reviewed it in CR.
Therefore, reposted stories whose old reviews I repost are not eligible (unless
they are substantially revised), but an "old" story that comes to my attention
and is reviewed for the first time would be eligible. If anyone else wants to
post a "rival" Top 20 list, feel free to do so. You can even include my
reviews, if you don't want to write your own.
- Celeste
=====================
This month's Number One Story: "Sunset on Roses" by MichaelD, It's a story about
a 32-year-old divorced lawyer falling passionately in love with a 17-year-old
intern. Their sex is hot, but there's a lot more than sex to this story.
What's best about this story is that they don't just meet and fuck: they meet,
they get to know each other (while we get to know them ourselves), they have
problems with the age difference and have to deal with them - THEN they make
love. THEN it gets serious. The age difference isn't brought up in the bedroom;
it's brought up by nosey co- workers, friends, and Michael and Tracey
themselves. This story deals very realistically with that dilemma.
The gradual increase in intensity, the feelings that grow so silently that they
are surprised to find them, the intimacy, the play, the humor, the doubts, the
uncertainties, the introspection, the need to bring existing friends into their
lover's lives Ð the elements are all there. This is an exceptional story.
============================
Here's this month's Top 20 List:
============================
1. "Sunset on Roses" by MichaelD (forbidden love/romance)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541490&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541496&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541502&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541505&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541509&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541515&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13748.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13749.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13750.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13752.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13753.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13751.txt
2. "Scandalous" by BitBard (cheating and romance)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=388115037&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/15029.txt
3. "Katie & Lyn series" by Gina Marie (ff emerging sexuality)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=394675280
4. "Man or Beast" By Diana (beauty and beast).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=385735502&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=385735510&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14757.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14758.txt
5. "Summer Rain" by Sven the Elder (quickie in the rain)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=390043097&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/15244.txt
6. "The Unicorn Prayers" by T. M. Carvett (sexual displacement).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=385875075&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14826.txt
7. "Perfect Lover" by Friar Dave (hot science fiction)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397772238
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397772242
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397772246
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397772250
8. "Leyla & Majnuna" by Sista Shakespeare (ff passion)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=391861723
9. "On Wilder Shores" by Adhara (deja vu sex)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=394318195
10. "Vicarious" by Anne Arbor (voyeurism).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=375504014&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13449.txt
11. "Precious" by Crimson Dragon (really bad day)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=393587728
12. "Lunch Date" by JB (pussy shaving)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=383797562
13. "Layers" by Stroker Ace (mental sex games)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=386880184&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14925.txt
14. "Island" by Janey Urquhart (really friendly bondage)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397751246
15. "Tommy Fucks Meg's Brains Out" by Lostgirl (humor)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=386846259&fmt=raw
16. "A Rare Gem" by bernadette (romance)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=386873567&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14911.txt
17. "Best Friends" by Mikeybear (first time)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=385759765&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14813.txt
18. "The Lens as Mirror" by Adhara Rawcalyn (photography and sex).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=390000650
19. "Illusion" by Miss Behavin' (sex with boss's wife).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397751671
20. "Her Damned Office Party" by Sean Devon (wife watching)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=388115056&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/15031.txt
=============================================
Here are the original reviews in alphabetical order:
=============================================
"Best Friends" by Mikeybear (mkaber@mindspring.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=385759765&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14813.txt
The plot is a familiar one: the boy and girl grow up as best friends, but with
no sexual interest in each other. Then at age 14 they discover each other. The
tale of how these two best friends share their reciprocal "first times" is very
well told. This is an excellent story.
"Her Damned Office Party" by Sean Devon (sean9696@aol.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=388115056&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/15031.txt
This is the kind of story to which I usually give very low ratings. A guy
catches his wife being fucked by another man, and he gets horny while he
watches. The experience deepens their marital love for each other. Yeah,
rightÉ.
The reason I hate this kind of story is that the plots are so simplistic and the
characters so shallow. They leave me with either a "Yeah, right!" or "What a
weirdo!" reaction.
This one is different. It's a poem that tells a story. Sort of like "Paradise
Lost," only intelligible and not interminable. The poetic format gives the
author the freedom to leave things unsaid and to still make sense.
I found this story to be quite arousing, largely because the emotions expressed
in it made sense to me.
"Illusion" by Miss Behavin' (missbehavin@sprint.ca). Guest review by Watchful
Owl.
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397751671
I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't see the ending coming. It's pretty
predictable, in hindsight.
But I didn't, and I enjoyed every second of this read. It was well written (not
a single grammatical or structural error in the whole thing!) and the characters
were quite believable.
The plot features an aspiring young lawyer being asked by her boss to sleep with
his wife for a large sum of money. She decides to do it, and we're off into a
well-done (if somewhat formulaic) plot. However, the ending was a bit of a
turnoff, so it doesn't get full points.
Give "Illusion" a read. You won't be sorry.
"Island" by Janey Urquhart (Janey98@hotmail.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397751246
Jim and Josh are just humble scientists, but they save Angela's life after she
has been drifting about in a life raft. I see a TV series in this....
Josh wants to send for help - maybe even send her to a hospital - but the more
experienced Jim gently reminds him that neither of them have had sex with a
woman in six months. And as near as I can figure there are no sheep or camels
on their island. So Angela recovers her health and feels grateful to the guys,
even though she longs for her beau George, who is somewhere else. She figures
she'll just make the best of things until Jim gets the radio fixed.
But Jim is pulling a Penelope with the radio. To understand that reference,
you'll have to check out the Odyssey, where the wife of the Wiley Odysseus
pursues a more honorable goal by undoing each day's needlework before the
following dawn.
The guys are studying El Nina or La Muchacha or something of that ilk. As the
plot thickens, they tell Angela that a tsunami is coming. This shows that the
author is scientifically literate, since she knows the difference between a
tidal wave and a tsunami. However, that's about where my knowledge ends. I
don't know for sure that you can predict these things really accurately or that
the best way to deal with one would be to shack up in a basement with two sexy
guys until the Big One comes and goes. But I suppose it would be worth a try.
I mean, it beats sacrificing a virgin....
But I digress. The story has lots of non-sexual details - maybe too many. But
as I continued to read, I just KNEW that these three fine people were going to
do the wild thing together.
But alas! Angela has a conscience, one that puts her between the horns of a
dilemma, which is itself a pun-filled metaphor in this case. To put it
succinctly, the Guys know perfectly well that Angela wants to practice
horizontal folk dancing with them, but her inhibitions stand in her way - she
doesn't want to be deliberately unfaithful to what's his name wherever he is.
What can they do? Well, remove her inhibitions, of course. How? Well, by
tying her up before they fuck her brains out.
And so a good time is had by all. A real good time. To put it mildly.
"Katie & Lyn series" by Gina Marie (an242967@anon.penet.fi).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=394675280
A long time ago I posted a review of the first six chapters of this series. This
is a repost with the seventh chapter. As I reread the series, I was more
annoyed this time than previously by the occasional faulty grammar and
phraseology. However, as before, I simply forgave the author, because she does
such a good job of building anticipation and telling a sexy story. The
additional chapter focuses on the introduction of a third female into their
small circle of friends. It's really sexy stuff, and the rest of this review is
still valid.
In response to huge popular demand the author is reposting these stories about
two teenage girls (a high school freshman and a sophomore) who become
disenchanted with their boyfriends' immaturity and enchanted with one another.
This is the hottest girl/girl teen sex I can remember reading. It is hot not
because the descriptions are explicit (which is also true) but because the
author does such a good job of building anticipation. Just knowing what's going
on in Katie's mind makes the actual consummation more interesting and enjoyable.
You don't have to be a lesbian to enjoy these stories. Too many young women
(and, I would assume, young men too) get the irrational feeling that stories
like this are dangerous because they might "become homosexuals" if they happen
to enjoy the action. Baloney. Any person with hormones who does not have
preset biases against these stories will enjoy them - just as any woman with
hormones would enjoy Lyn's hot lips caressing her pussy. The latter mode of
experimentation would certainly be ill advised for many young girls, but I
hardly think the same can be said for the former. Fantasy can be fun - and
understanding how *other* people react to sex can be informative. This advice
is probably extremely obvious to a large number of readers, but I think it bears
repeating. Neither enjoying the idea of homosexual stimulation nor engaging in
and enjoying real-life homosexual activities on specific occasions "makes" you a
homosexual. Don't label yourself so easily; life is more complicated than that.
I myself have no intention of engaging in lesbian sexual activities, because I
am already devoted to a monogamous relationship. However, I found these vivid
descriptions of two people growing in love and affection for each other to be
intensely enjoyable.
"Layers" by Stroker Ace (John Dark Repost). Guest Review by Mary Jorsay Gandmar
(maryjg@finebody.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=386880184&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14925.txt
No ambivalence about my reactions to this one.
It's gripping writing, smooth, clean and effortless, literate and very au
courant. It is a riveting, mesmerizing story of the most terrible and invidious
form of torture - the warping and twisting of a mind, a personality, the very
essence of a human being.
High sophistication, a singularly appropriate title, fluent prose, vividly
realized narrative are all superbly held together by the metaphor that anchors
the tale - the loving, persistent, tedious, yet ultimately gratifying business
of scraping a classic car down to its bare metal (read mettle) and then re-
building its colour and texture and form by hand, layer by layer, till it is,
finally, exactly what you want, an object of abiding pleasure.
And this is just what is done to the lady in the story, the author's lover.
She is destroyed, stripped, literally, figuratively, emotionally,
psychologically, and then rebuilt, reconditioned for only one purpose Ð to give
pleasure.
Perhaps the only weakness in this metaphor is the opening paragraph itself, the
Introduction, which tells us about the car-scraping and the lady and immediately
draws the metaphor. That robs the story of much subtlety. Take away the first
paragraph, leave the metaphor understated and you have a really powerful
narrative.
Powerful is an injustice. Savage might be more appropriate. What can be more
terrible than the conscious, deliberate destruction of a mind only to remold it
into a form more sexually compliant and pleasurable to oneself?
But the metaphor goes far, far beyond the mirroring of car and woman. It works
at a number of levels (again ... layers ...) - one sees the difference in the
relationship between author and lover at the start of the story (she is tough,
aggressive, knows her mind), and its metamorphosis at the end.
How this happens and who does it is another set of layers ... another couple,
another woman, another man, the man similarly tearing down and rebuilding his
own creature, his own creation, a woman he has bought in a country that is
itself being torn down and rebuilt (more layers ...) into something someone else
finds acceptable. This man, not quite evil, but almost, himself complex, deeply
layered, capable of molding relationships and people but, imperceptibly, though
he claims to the contrary, changing with every change he makes to another.
Above all, this is a vicious attack on our society today - a society that is so
befuddled at its heart and core that it allows humans to be bought and sold,
compels this in fact by forcing inhumanity on humans; a society so demented and
depraved that it allows enormous wealth to co-exist with abject poverty;
sophistication with perversion, beauty with ugliness; a society that views
fundamental inequities with tragic indifference and reduces human beings to
numbers and playthings. This is fin-de-siecle Frankensteinism, an awful, brutal
and telling comment on the horrors of our time.
And yet it is deeply caring, at yet another layer. There is a real sadness here,
I think, as the author tells us this tale and seems to say - see, see what we
were and what we have become, what we have made ourselves become, what we have
let ourselves become.
'Layers' is that rarity - a truly intelligent, creative work that could,
possibly, change the way you look at things, people, sex, sexuality, sensuality.
It's not porn. It's not even really erotica. It deserves the widest of
audiences.
"The Lens as Mirror" by Adhara Rawcalyn (eros_dreams@hotmail.com). Guest review
by MichaelD.
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=390000650
The narrator, who goes unnamed, is a married 43-year-old woman; her husband is a
professional photographer who specializes in artistic nudes. The spark seems to
have long since gone out of their marriage, until the day she has him take a
formal shot for her company brochure. Putting his wife, for once, in place of
the "nineteen-year-old nymphs I'd grown to hate," he discovers a side of her he
hasn't seen before. Enraptured with the images, he decides to exhibit them, and
does so to general acclaim. After the gallery opening, they return home and
make love like they haven't since they were newlyweds.
The idea for this story is certainly interesting and fresh, but the execution is
lacking in some spots. Too much is told rather than shown, especially the
elements of their marriage. During the photo shoot, as the husband makes
surprised comments, the narrator gives us a running explanation of what they
mean to her. I think the story would have been more effective with an opening
scene (before the photo shoot) to help us appreciate the state of their
relationship.
I also found the photo shoot scene abbreviated, especially since it forms the
basis for the entire story. Just as we're beginning to understand the emotions
of the situation, it ends.
Another problem I had was that the author blithely jumps over the several- month
gap between the photo shoot and the galley opening. What happens during this
time, after the husband has unexpectedly rediscovered his wife? We aren't told,
and the effect is somewhat jarring. As a married man myself, I find it
difficult to believe that having suddenly realized that his wife is just as
beautiful as his models, the husband would wait months before acting on it.
The author certainly exerted herself in this story, but at times it seemed to me
like she was working too hard. Some of the diction is more ornate and
extravagant than it needs to be, sometimes leaving the emotions of the scenes
overloaded. And, in trying so hard to write elegantly, the author misses a few
glaring grammatical errors (run-ons and dangling participles) that detract from
the story's effect.
I do like this story. It's nice to see something interesting and erotic that
doesn't involve hardbodied teenagers, and the theme (that older woman can be as
beautiful as younger ones) is a healthy one. I think, however, that this could
have been much better. With a little extra work in revision, it could be a
memorable piece.
"Leyla & Majnuna" by Sista Shakespeare (sista_shakespeare@my-dejanews.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=391861723
This story is told from the perspective of a bored nurse who is supervising even
more bored patients at some kind of a hospital. Well, that should throw off the
porn cops, who will assume this cannot possibly be hot stuff. They would be
wrong. The nurse is rerunning in her mind's eye her recent activities with her
lover, another woman with whom she shares a number of lustful urges.
The author tells the tale vividly and passionately. I know I haven't told you
much. It's hard to summarize without ruining the story for you, but I strongly
recommend this story.
"Lunch Date" by JB (jms5b@virginia.edu). Guest review by Watchful Owl.
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=383797562
As I came to the end of "Lunch Date", I felt a silly grin half-slipping across
my features. This is a good read, entirely focused on a woman who decides to
shave her vagina for her husband's sake.
The author does an excellent job of what he's trying to do. The plot is not
deep, and it doesn't have to be. No names are given; they don't have to be. This
is a "charcoal sketch" of a story: no detail is given except to the focus, yet
beautiful in its simplicity.
"On Wilder Shores" by Adhara (eros_dreams@hotmail.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=394318195
When I was growing up, "The Twilight Zone" was a big show. OK, so when I was
growing up reruns of "The Twilight Zone" were a big thing. The basic theme of
that TV series was that things happened to be people that just couldn't be real
- could they?
This story is essentially an adult - or promiscuous adolescent - version of "The
Twilight Zone." All the erotic dreams that the protagonist has seem to come
true at the coffee shop the next day. That can't happen, can it?
Not only does this story have deja vu experiences; it also has crashing waves, a
rising tide, snaking hips, and a rising crescendo with fingernails digging deep
into the into the poor guy's shoulders moments before his release. What more
can you ask for?
"Perfect Lover" by Friar Dave (friar_dave@mhbbs.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397772238
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397772242
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397772246
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=397772250
The man is taking a train home to New York in a blizzard, when he is essentially
picked up by a beautiful young Swiss woman whom he invites to come home with
him. She is intelligent and charming and a veritable sex machine. Literally.
Friar Dave has written numerous excellent stories, and it's always interesting
to see where he will go with the next one. This story did not let me down. I'd
ruin the story for you if I told you more about where this one goes. All I'll
say is that it goes someplace interesting. And the sex is - as usual - hot and
nicely described.
"Precious" by Crimson Dragon (dcrimson@yahoo.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=393587728
This story could be described as the morose self-ruminations of a rejected woman
at the end of a bad day. Molested, fired, her ankle nearly broken, her liquor
gone, she now finds that her savings have been stolen by her live-in boyfriend
who has just dumped her. This story will not win the Good-Humor Stroke Story of
the Month Award.
Although it sucks as stroke material, this story is excellent as literature. You
know - the sort of stuff you read to achieve a more complete insight into life -
the stuff that lets you vicariously experience feelings and emotions that, if
you're lucky, will probably never happen to you.
This is one of those stories where I dislike the abbreviated labels that try to
classify it. My advice is to ignore them; just call this one (good story). The
author calls it depressing, but I wouldn't. Of course, you'll have to read the
story to decide whether "depressing" is an overstatement or an understatement.
"A Rare Gem" by Bernadette (by_bernadette@yahoo.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=386873567&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14911.txt
This story doesn't belong in a.s.s. It belongs in the popular press where
anyone who wants to do so can find it and read it.
Jewel has fallen in love with a man who is emotionally attached to someone else.
They have made tender love, and now they have to decide what course their
relationship will take. Jewel is an artist who has been heavily influenced by
her loving grandmother, who was a deeply religious person. These factors weigh
heavily in the way the story turns out.
The sex is sensual and erotic, but not pornographic. If people's religious or
philosophical values proscribe reading stories like this, they should get a more
sensible set of values.
I'm not going to tell you how the story turns out. I'll just say that it is
extremely well written and sensitive Ð an excellent story.
"Man or Beast" By Diana (diana_svensson@yahoo.com). Guest review by BitBard
(bitbard@newsguy.com)
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=385735502&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=385735510&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14757.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14758.txt
Sci-Fi and Fantasy have a very unique role in literature and erotica. No other
format allows for such an exploration of humanity. Spock on Star Trek wasn't a
green blooded, pointy-eared alien, he was a contrast that allowed us to see and
understand what it was to be human. These forums allow authors to reflect the
human condition from the outsider looking in vantage, as well as allowing
authors to reflect on what we may become.
In erotica this outsider looking in forum usually explores the very boundaries
of sexuality itself. Can a human really love a bug-eyed-monster? Is it really
bestiality if the bug-eyed-monster has a heart and soul and an IQ of 512? If one
falls in love with a shape-shifter such as Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space 9, would
that person be gay, bisexual, heterosexual, or a zoo depending on what Odo
decided to be that evening? Celeste's VR contest produced many entries that
explored exactly what those labels mean when form is malleable.
In "Man or Beast", Emily Sanders is a young woman who is vacationing alone in a
rustic, remote setting. As a city girl she has enormous fun exploring nifty
things like skinny dipping and masturbating in the great out doors. Later she
gets lost in the woods, is almost rescued by a would-be rapist but is saved by a
noble werewolf who has been keeping an eye on our damsel in distress. The
werewolf is actually a really decent guy living as a hermit. He's lonely, she's
lonely and so an erotica story is born.
In a way this is borderline bestiality, but it also serves as a comparison and
contrast. Daniel, the werewolf, is an outcast, alone and reclusive. Emily,
though she lives in the heart of a great metropolis and has friends and co-
workers is just as alone as Daniel.
There's also a great deal of romantic fantasy wrapped up in this story and the
werewolf allows for a duality. On the one hand, Daniel in his human form is
sensitive, caring, kind, and intelligent. On the other hand, Daniel in his
animal form is dangerous, strong, and a pretty damned good lover. This duality
of course is present in all men to greater or lesser extents. The use of a
werewolf however serves to magnify the differences between man and the beast
within.
It's usually pretty difficult to write in the fantasy realm and keep the dialog
believable. This story did a fairly good job of holding the dialog together,
though it was strained in places. The only real problem I had with the story was
learning werewolves travel in flocks. Every time I saw this word I kept
imagining Emily conversing with Chicken Boo. "Pack" or "Clan" would have, for
me, been a much better word selection.
But this is a quibble. This may not be the best story published to ASS/M, but it
a very strong and solid addition to a genre which few authors exploit to it's
fullest potential. This story did exactly what a good Fantasy story should do:
allow us to explore our own sexuality by seeing sexuality in a different and
unusual light. Furthermore, this exploration of sexuality is done from a
*WOMAN'S* perspective in a field dominated almost exclusively by men. That
uniqueness, quite apart from this being an interesting story, puts "Man or
Beast" on my recommended reading list.
"Scandalous" by BitBard (bitbard@newsguy.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=388115037&fmt=raw
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http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/15029.txt
"Well known author seeks model for sitting. No prior modeling experience
necessary." Why would a writer need a model, and how would the model pose?
Considering the salacious nature of his books, what woman would dare allow
herself to even consider the idea?
But Faith is suffering from angst or ennui of a married woman who is taken for
granted by her husband and by the students in her English classes, and she needs
adventure; and so she becomes a model. Actually, Alan just enjoys drawing,
though he's not good enough to sell what he draws. Drawing also grounds him;
puts him in touch with real people with real needs and desires. He tells Faith
that if he decides to use her as a model, and she decides to sit for him, then
he'd like her to talk while he draws. When he sits down to write again, he will
use much of her in what he writes.
She models. He draws. She talks. He listens. They fall in love. That sort of
thing could shake up Harper Valley.
This is not a simplistic story. It is a well-developed plot with fully developed
characters. It is both a sexy and a complete story.
"Summer Rain" by Sven the Elder (sven@brass-neck.demon.co.uk).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=390043097&fmt=raw
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http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/15244.txt
A man is out in a boat fishing, while the woman who is with him reads a book. It
starts raining, and so they stop fishing and reading and fuck.
That's about it, except that the author adds some supplementary words, phrases,
and ideas. Suddenly pendulous, pirouettes, bobbing breasts, shivering,
confluences, sweet roundness, rain-diluted juices, straddling, gasping, savage
proportions, and more bobbing and shivering and rain-slicked foreheads. And the
idea that these two people have had a long history together.
I guess if you add those words and ideas, this becomes a most interesting little
story.
"Sunset on Roses" by MichaelD (michaeld38@aol.com). Guest Review by BitBard
(BitBard@newsguy.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541490&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541496&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541502&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541505&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541509&fmt=raw
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=377541515&fmt=raw
---
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13748.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13749.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13750.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13752.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13753.txt
http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13751.txt
A 32-year-old divorced lawyer, Michael, meets a 17-year-old intern, Tracey. He
sucks her young, hot twat, she gives him a blow job, and then they fuck -- his
hot, throbbing cock buried deeply inside her tight, seventeen-year-old cunt.
That's a typical older man meets jail-bait-teen scenario on ASS, isn't it? Well
guess what? This isn't a typical story, at least not a typical ASS story anyway.
The earlier description was a basic summary of Michael and Tracey's first time
in bed, though I seriously changed the tone to take a small jab at the typical
fucking the teenybopper story. Before this scenario actually happens the reader
is treated to a wonderful character buildup of both Michael and Tracey. In this
story they don't meet and fuck, they meet, they get to know each other (as we
get to know them), they have problems with the age difference and have to deal
with them, then they make love. Then it gets serious.
Surprisingly, something that always annoys me so much in adult/teen stories is
present in this story, but here it is not at all annoying. Tracey is seventeen.
In a typical ASS story her age would be dwelt on over and over and over again
usually while they are making love. In Roses, the age is also dwelled on but
it's dwelled on as a very real point of conflict and drama. The age difference
isn't brought up in the bedroom, it's brought up by nosey co- workers, friends,
and Michael and Tracey themselves. This story deals realistically, very
realistically with that dilemma.
Anyone who has ever fallen in love will immediately connect with this story. The
gradual increase in intensity, the feelings that grow so silently that it's a
surprise to find them, the intimacy, the play, the humor, the doubts, the
uncertainties, the introspection, the need to bring existing friends into their
lover's lives -- they are all there. Also there are all the things necessary to
make a relationship work, honesty, communication, and sharing common interests
and pleasures.
This may very well be the most realistic, accurate portrayal of two people
falling in love that I've ever read and is all the more remarkable for the age
issues which take this into the forbidden love realm. The love-making, when it
happens, is all the more special not only because it is as well-written and well
described as the rest of this story, but because we know these people so well;
because we know they belong together and we can be happy for them, with them
when it finally happens.
This is the type of story I aspire to write, this is the type of story I long to
find and treasure when I do. Obviously, this story carries my highest possible
recommendation. Read it, enjoy it, live it, and know for a brief while the
thrill and intensity of newfound love.
Note the + on the appeal. There are many stories I give an appeal of 10 to -- it
simply means I enjoyed the story and I think you might as well. The + is my way
of noting a story that I not only enjoyed, but a story that I consider to be
among the very best that I have ever read.
"Tommy Fucks Meg's Brains Out" by Lostgirl (lostgirl33@hotmail.com).
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=386846259&fmt=raw
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http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14853.txt
This story deals with the problem of what might happen when we take our
metaphors literally. {The related problem of misusing the word "literally" is
discussed in the CELESTIAL VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT section at the end of this
issue.}
Tommy has fucked Meg's brains out. That might sound like fun, but Tommy has
LITERALLY fucked Meg's brains out. She used to be an intelligent, renowned
doctor; but now she's as stupid and horny as a seventh grade detention hall.
Actually, Tommy hasn't fucked ALL of Meg's brains out; she still has she her
cerebellum and probably her hippocampus, and a few adjacent parts that control
more basic functions. The erstwhile Dr. Kruger still can experience anger,
fear, and sexual urges; it's just that she can no longer execute more involved
cognitive tasks. And she's actually quite affectionate and sexy in that little
backless hospital gown. And I finally got to use "erstwhile" correctly in one
of my reviews.
The following may be one of the best Ð or possibly worst Ð similes ever written
in a.s.s.:
"Defeat mocked him like those forty-five minutes in the Small World ride
watching three Peruvian dolls going up and down, singing that damn song in
Spanish over and over."
This is an excellent story. Somehow this review calls for a cherry popsicle.
"The Unicorn Prayers" by T. M. Carvett (tcarvett@earthlink.net). Review by
Fiddler.
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=385875075&fmt=raw
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http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/14826.txt
The unnamed girl who is the protagonist of this story had a fond father and a
strict mother. Then the mother died. The girl "acts out" as the psychologists
say. She tries to be perfect and to _be_ her mother. When that doesn't work, she
turns her emerging sexual feelings into art and into sluttishness.
This isn't a very explicit story, but it is a very erotic one. It is also a
_story_. It adds another name the line of Michael K. Smith, Tom Bombadil, and
few others who write stories which deal with issues.
"Vicarious" by Anne Arbor (AnneArbor@hotmail.com). Guest review by Crimson
Dragon.
http://search.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=375504014&fmt=raw
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http://www.qz.to/erotica/assm/Year98/13449.txt
I've never read anything by Anne Arbor before, but I have to admit that I quite
enjoyed this short story. The story is basically a voyeuristic/ exhibitionistic
competition of two university friends told from the perspective of Anne, a
current girlfriend to one of the friends. Despite the short venue, Anne managed
to get a reasonable level of plot as well as character into all the people in
the story. There is a small twist that I should have seen coming, but I didn't,
so I won't reveal too much more than that.
The characters were fully described, and the small details made the story for
me. The story is fast paced and hooks you pretty quick.
The erotic aspects were also strong and well described for this type of story.
At least, I thought they were.
I didn't notice any glaring English errors, though I stumbled over the word
'commingled'. I looked it up, and Anne was right again. This story is well
written from a technical standpoint.
Remember that I'm still new to this reviewing stuff, but I'd recommend reading
this story.
<end>
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