It's Just a Game

What?

Where have I denied someone an opinion or treated someone like a moron?

3*s

Good story.BUT
Unfortunately, attempt at surprise ending fails. Confrontation with wife Annette and her posse doesn't occur. Their is no surprise. You know he is getting divorced. And the new character Lisa, younger, prettier, will be replacing Annette.
Gees, Steve2244 talk about a failure to climax, lol.
Really a very poor ending. I going to read something else to get the bad taste out of my mouth😫.


AMerryman

@stev2244

You should read what i wrote,i never mentioned your name,i said some authors
Bitte genau lesen was geschrieben wird stev

Since

You didnt explain it in the what could have been a good story, why would they spend the week together having fun and not know each others name?

So,

Did the women all wait for the end of the week to find out they wouldnt get to fuck Mario? How did they feel about Annette then?

please

loved it could have had more details about the divorce but......4* PLEASE any on know what happen to Marriage on Tightrope ???? thanks

yes you should have put in the final confrontation betweeb frank and Annette its abit empty with out

Yes this story needs to be finished

As your readers we need to hear what her excuse was what she said his emotional condition about being drugged please finish this story from her point of view then if need be

@Anonymous Re: "Ummm, well?"

He DID marry Lisa! Read the end again!

@dyonysos - Yes you DID say "some" authors, but since it was in a comment on a story by stev2244, he was well within his rights to take it personally!

Reviewing the comments, I think the take away for the author and editor of this story is that if we readers have to read too closely or work at it, we often don't get it.

With that in mind it probably would have been better to make the characters of Annette and Lisa more identifiable as soon to be ex and Lisa as potential new squeeze. Yes that makes the twist harder to pull off but if you are going to have the twist it needs to be very obvious at the time all is revealed.

I was fully aware that this story would lose a lot of overall score because many readers wouldn´t get the ending. Or at least they would vote before they got it. But I still refuse to write for the score. I like the story as it is. Some of the comments were hilarious and that made it well worth it. Part of my motivation to start writing on this site was that a few stories didn´t turn out like I wanted them to. So if someone doesn´t like mine - go ahead, start to write. Giving me advice how to modify this story is useless, it is already published. And the next one (if I submit more) will certainly be completely different.

@Foolscap

Sorry, I think you're wrong. I'm pretty sure most people got the ending, they just didn't like it. They felt cheated out of resolution.

I am a big fan of this author. That said, I'm not a big fan of twists. Plenty of authors use them (Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" or Ambrose Bierce's "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" spring to mind), I would rather have a straightforward narrative with a resolution. People like different things, and many people who commented seem not to care all that much for twists.

@foolscap Re: "Twist"

If a twist is too obvious, it's not a twist!

How many time do we see comments like, "I saw the twist coming a mile away!"?

It's a Catch-22, so in the immortal words of Rick Nelson's "Garden Party", "you can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself!"

@ Randi

Its a small world. I was just talking about " An occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge " with someone just last week.
Now that's a twist ending ! One of my favorite short stories ever.
There was a movie made in the early 90's called " Jacobs Ladder " that is basically the same plot , just longer and a different era.
I also recently read a story in non-erotic that I thought was a tip of the hat to Mr. Bierce's masterpiece. Think it was by Paperbackwriter

Not sure which one did not sleep with Mario

Was it his current wife lisa or his now x wife annette. Jusy wondering. Sure would like a part 2 to clear somethings up Good story.

@Crkcppr

Yes, very underrated author, Mr. Bierce. I assign that story every year in American Lit. Love his stories of the macabre. R

@Anonymous Re: Mario

His new wife Lisa definitely did NOT sleep with Mario, she doesn't even know him, and only knows any members of the group as the ones who hired her for this "job".

His ex, SAYS she didn't we don't know and we don't care! She was gone for three reasons even without sleeping with Mario:

1) Being part of this ridiculous plan.
2) Offering herself to at least two of the other husbands, even if they didn't choose her.
3) Drugging and kidnapping him!

@randi & sbrooks look at the comments and the number of folks who had to backtrack

to figure out what was going on. A lot brighter minds than I possess. Not trying to be all that critical and I don't think that spoilers are necessary but I got confused. I guess a couple (maybe a half dozen) of TIA's do that to you over time.

All I know is that i would not "buy" another story from this author based on the confusion i, and apparently others, felt.

Admittedly I was drawn into reading this story by the comments and steve2244 does a remarkable job thinking in german and writing in english but most of his stuff is way too RAAC for me and confuses pathological codependence for "love" on the part of the protagonists. Of course, that's my opinion and probably not worth the price of a cup of coffee.

Steve2244 keep on writing. Thanks for this contribution

A joke is not funny if you have to explain it

in the same way a twist may not work if explanation is necessary.

The joke can be reworked to make it funny. The same is true of the twist.

Sbrooks, you've been doing a lot of explaining (with the best of intentions)

Huh?

A bunch of housewives concoct a ridiculous plot to fuck a male stripper. Our hero protagonist refuses to go along with their completely implausible and absurdly unrealistic plan, so they DRUG HIM and leave him in an abandoned forest with a call girl.

...and you all are arguing over whether or not the "twist" at the end was executed well enough? Seriously??

It's not exactly a "twist" when nearly every BTB story ends with heroic hubby ending up happily-ever-after with the only woman in the story who had half a brain.

Nicely Done

There are a series of surprising jumps and all of them interesting. I have to admit that I never would have met Lisa since the moment I had heard she was offering herself to the other husbands (Even though she was unlucky), I would have been out of there and asking for a divorce. Van1 wrote an appreciation that I agree with entirely. Vielen Danken

neither wife

Of course Annette didn't fuck Mario, his fetish is cuckolding husbands and a separated soon to be divorced woman doesn't make the cut for that.

Lisa isn't part of the game with Mario.

like most commenters, i am torn.

this story was excellent; imaginative and entertaining: "five stars."

this story did not solve world hunger: "how dare you post this?!"

Interesting! 5* Though I'd have liked a different take on this

What if he and Lisa had become worried and left the hut on foot on a narrow trail and the wives had found the hut empty and panicked and tried to find them?

Or it might have been nice for him to get revenge on Mario and the idiots wives?

Even so, it was a good story which I enjoyed reading.

I really enjoyed this!!

Well done!! Just look at all the confusing and contradictory comments.

I'll admit, I would have liked a slightly, but only slightly longer ending. Some comment like 'The Game resulted in three divorces and . . . .etc.' On the other hand, that might have taken from what I thought was a satisfying ultra-quick resolution.

For those who get upset with how Stev stretches things . . . Frankly, for me that's part of the fun. How far can one betray (or be betrayed) and still find redemption? Or, how unlikely a situation can we get our characters into and out of? You want only completely realistic (boring) stories that happen everywhere everyday? . . . This isn't the place for you.

Further, Stev never humiliates the betrayers. Usually their guilt and remorse is satisfactory punishment, as it would be for any decent person who understands true love (of course, this will never be sufficient punishment for revenge-seeking misogynistic readers though). His characters, especially betrayers, usually grow during the course of the story (something which draws great vitriol from those incapable of change and growth themselves). Stev blames the betrayers far more than their temporary lovers or affair partners . . . which I fell is actually MORE in touch with reality than many stories here. The affair partner isn't the real problem, even if a seducer/seductress . . . it's the one who falls for them. And those few of you who feel bad things because Lisa was once a sex worker . . . get a grip!! This isn't the 19th century!!

Hey Stev, You wanna' really screw with everybody now . . . Tell everyone that your use of Lisa's name at the end WAS indeed a typo . . . you actually meant to say 'Angela'. When anyone asks you how that's possible . . . simply explain that while Frank was divorcing Annette, Angela's husband announced they now had an open marriage. Angela couldn't stand this, and divorced him. Now realizing with great horror what evils 'the Game' had wrought, Angela is filled with guilt and remorse. She writes beautiful letters of apology to everyone. The letter to Frank encourages him to try and get back with Annette. Frank says he can't do that, but agrees to meet with her to discuss it. They fall in love and marry. So there!!! You really meant to say 'Angela' . . . and now we've really stretched things.

Oh and finally, for the BTB'ers, one final great stretch . . . Anette was so upset with what she'd done, she started studying witchcraft. She became so good at it, that she cast a spell that caused the penises and clitorises of all cheaters all over the world to fall off, essentially destroying any future sexual pleasures for them, and also any chance for any good BTB or RAAC stories in the future.

@c24j, Mattblack and others - go ahead if you want to, as long as you refer to the original, write modified stories, different endings, sequels, different pov, whatever. Should be entertaining. Thanks for all the comments, by the way.

Great story

Thanks for allowing others on a follow up stories.

@Harddaysknight 10/12/16

re:
Reality?
You really have to buy into the obsession of the gang of wives for this to work. That means that you need to accept that they are dumber than hell, self destructive, delusional, and totally lacking in pride and self esteem, individually and as a group. Once you grasp that "truth", the rest makes sense. It isn't easy for every reader to suspend that much disbelief. For me, this seems more likely than vampires and werewolves, which are very popular these days. It is more likely than Harry Potter and the amazing shit he pulls, and we all know how well those stories did.
--------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------
If you know going in that there are werewolves, vampires, wizards etc. in the story then you expect them and accept the world that has them in it if you read it.
Those kinds of stories are actually easier to 'suspend disbelief' than a story about a married couple in a non-fantasy world, because you expect things to work like the real world in a story about real world type things.

Stories where someone drugs, kidnaps, and/or illegally restrains someone and faces no consequences - even stays married to them - are much harder to accept.

Now if the elves in a story are described as looking and acting like ogres instead of looking and acting like elves then the suspension of disbelief goes out the window.

HOW.....

,,,DO WE KNOW SHE DIDN'T!

About The confrontation

Amazing story. *****. One thing only: the confrontation requested from many commenters happened 3 time during the narration: the first with the wife, the second with the three hotties and the last with Angela.

Great Story

Great story. Fortunately for me, I did not cheat and peak at the ending. So I enjoyed the plot twist. For future stories, here are my nitpicks:

(1) If Frank was out of Annette's league, according to Lisa, who was much prettier, how did she settle for Frank? You could have had her say that "looks really aren't everything, and actually are much less important than most people think."
(2)Frank confronted Angela with Mario's cuckold motivation, but why then not his wife?
(3)What was Lisa's university major? You could have had it play into Frank's job or education so that they had some great conversations during the week to build the basis for their connection.

Stupid Wife

Don't remember how many couples and not going back to figure it out. Think it was 5. For the sake of argument we'll use that number. So the premise is: Her husband gets a sex night with 3 of the other wives. Or one or two. But the total is three times. In exchange she gets a night with Mario. EXCEPT. She is part of the "other" wives group. So in reality she would also have a night with zero or possibly all of the other husbands. Could be zero or could have been 12 times plus the one with Mario for a total of possibly 13 times. (ok. two "other" hubbies have already left her "out") So she's down for 1 and / or 7. I'm sure that works. Not just a "one" time cheater but multiple times. Stupid woman stupid wife. Kind of surprised the possibilities were not brought up by hubby as an argument.

Now she's divorced. Really do wish you could get in her head while she's sitting at home crying over what she gave up in a sequel part 2. How many other divorces among the other couples? Then finally Mario needs to meet an appropriate end for sticking his cock where it doesn't belong.

Would be better

If he wrote the divorce, and the annihalation of the stripper. Maybe a nice sharpshooter would have been even better. He could have said no with a bang.

lol

That's quite the typo at the end with Annette's name change.

Swapping

I'm still not clear I wonder if the wife had that night with Mario during the week he was with the woman thinking he would not resist the temptation.

Great Story - Ending too short

I believe that many readers are not going to get the ending because (a) except for one word Lisa rather than Annette one would think that the husband got over her deception; (b) no real confrontation with Annette over her actions; and (c) no real character development of the couple. We have a wife who conspired with her friends to force her husband to agree to a deal where she would have to fuck any of the other husbands in the group - remember every husband had 3 fucks for the one with Mario.
There are eight husbands so excluding Frank, Tom and Paul there were 15 chances Annette would have to fuck another husband. So if Frank went along with the deal Annette would have to fuck at least one husband just to get a fuck with Mario.
So readers could view one ending with Frank and Annette together given a typo or another ending (which I believe you intended) where Frank replaced Annette with Lisa. A second story from Annette's POV would be great to explore the aftermath of her actions.

Just to clarify that - the name change is not a typo.

Nice twist

I would have been disappointed if it was not Lisa

it never says

Neither the category name or description ever says it is the husbands _first_ wife that is the one that loves him.

Not quite sure what this is all about.

But if my wife came to me with this pile of shit I would punch her lights out, kicked her in the cunt then divorced the worthless lowlife fucking whore.

Ridiculous

Horrible story

Huh???

This story and it's ending makes no sense to me! What is the point???

dumb

bill

Divorce is the only possible response and he did

Divorcing a wife that plays this kind of games is the only possible response. And he did. I can't be the only one to notice that the call girl named herself Lisa and his wife was called Lisa as well in the end.

Got it right

The commenter who mentioned divorce got it right. I don't think I would have caught the name change if he had not mentioned it. Very fucking sneaky and ironic. My thought at the ending was that annette had fucked the gigolo even tho our hero did not fuck the courtesan and I was expecting something bad to happen. Interesting ending, I would have liked to hear all the wailing and gnashing of teeth as annette had to deal w/ upcoming divorce and would liked to have read about her turning on her so called friends, also did any of the other marriages break up.

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa!

What the heck happened? We know he divorced his wife and married the call girl Lisa (strange choice that). But did he send his wife to jail and take everything? After all she and probably Angela were guilty of drugging and kidnapping him. That's big jail time. Did he get some type of revenge on Mario? Did his wife really not fuck Mario or any of the other husbands? WAY too many unanswered questions spoiled the entire story.

Stupid ending.

You keep making no sense in your stories. I don't know if German people see the world and especially love and sex different than the rest of the world. But honestly your story and especially the ending makes no sense at all.