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From: apuleius@poboxes.com (Apuleius of Madaura)
Subject: {ASS} RP: Celestial Reviews 1 - July 6, 1995
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This is the first in what will possibly be a complete repost of the Celestial
Reviews (or at least those before links were added to the stories). For each
story I have attempted to provide a link to it on the Dejanews archive; I have
not tried particularly hard to find lost stories from other sources. Obviously
this is a very large undertaking to be starting and I would appreciate comments
as to its usefulness.
We begin way back in 1995 with the first issue of CR. There seems to have been
no formal introduction to the review series - Celeste appears to have launched
straight into them. As should be obvious by now, I am *not* the author of these
reviews. The real author may be contacted at celeste801@aol.com
- Apuleius.
---------------------------------
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).
http://x2.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=346717760
"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)
http://x4.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=308955968
http://x4.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=308955963
"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).
http://x5.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=327409393
http://x5.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=327409409
"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).
(lost)
"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).
(lost)
"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).
http://x10.dejanews.com/getdoc.xp?AN=358921882
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