The Annex Reviews, August 1998

8/5/98 Quest (Marc Tremaine); Douglas and Penelope (Gordie D); Serpentina (Anonymous); Chapter 4: Bound for Good (JR Gord); The Dancer (Oscar Paco); The Darkness in Exactly Nowhere, Iowa (Oscar Paco)

8/9/98 -- "Rubbermaid Really DOES make Life Easier!"
Rubber Gallery (K. Valery); The Story of Sarah (Anonymous); Binding Agreement (Anonymous); Plastic Wrapped in New Jersey (Polaroid); The New Acquisition (Fool)

8/30/98 Bondage Slave Girls 1, 2, 3, 4 (kilogram22); Kiko 1, 2, 3 (Shon Richards); Dracokin Wanderers (David Farr); Summoning (Lizard); The Gift of the Balloon (Rapture); The Deer Hunter (Misty); Unmasked (Jordan Shelbourne; Grabbing the Brass Ring (Frank McCoy); Movie Notes: Heavenly Creatures

8/5/98

Hi everyone.

This is my second posting since my return, and I am in the middle of cleaning up my website links. Several sites seem to have vanished or won't connect anymore. If anyone can give me the latest listings for Tom Bombadil, Shelby Bush, The Asian Sex Stories Archive, Agincourt's Star Trek Page, Anne018, Brother Cadfael, and Cyntil8 I would appreciate it.

Again, I am surprised at the sheer numbers of stories that are being daily to ASS and ASSM. I am discouraged too, as many seem to be multi-chapter epics that are only so-so, which is not good news for a reviewer with a limited amount of time and patience. Whatever happened to short stories?

There is also a new reviewer on the scene, Rogue Reviews, which gives a terse recap of the story and a summary, along with links and a grade. Helpful if you want the nitty gritty without all the sarcastic sneers and witticisms I put into the act. This person also doesn't seem to go into detail about their supposed personal life, which is nice. I may begin posting links--on my web site only-- in the future, but keep in mind these are only for ASSM stories, and half of what I pick comes from other newsgroups. Speaking of which:

ASS = alt.sex.stories
ASSM = alt.sex.stories.moderated
ASSB = alt.sex.stories.bondage
ASSG = alt.sex.stories.gay
ASSGM = alt.sex.stories.gay.moderated
SSS = soc.sexuality.spanking
SSBB = soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm
ASCEM = alt.startrek.creative.erotica.moderated

Quest [A+]
Where posted: ASSGM
When posted: 8/3/98
Author: Marc Tremaine
Address: tremaine@mindspring.com

This story contained the most poetically described male sex I've seen since Davis Trell's work, and there was a lot of it. Two knights on a quest to kill dragons meet in the backwater inn of a decaying empire. One is old, experienced; the other young and idealistic. The two men share a strange attraction/repulsion toward each other, which is complicated by the secrets they hide. They wind up in bed, and there's fucking, sucking, a semi-rape, and rimming. I wonder if the author was trying to make some point about the anonymity of gay (male) sex, because though the characters have physical sex readily enough, they were unable to connect on an emotionally intimate level, even though they wanted to. There's a reason for that, given later in the story; but I couldn't help taking it as symbolic.

Douglas and Penelope [A]
Where posted: ASSM
When posted: 8/5/98
Author: Gordon D
Address: GordonD103@aol.com

Told in alternating male/female viewpoints, this story chronicles the romance and sexual awakening of the titular couple, who meet at Oxford and marry. She's a virgin and he's experienced, having done it with his Aunt Joan (!) before, along with scads of "needy" girls who throw themselves at college athletes. But she's different. He respects her. The two have sex on their wedding night, she thinking naive virgin thoughts about teaching him a thing or two (fueled by a copy of "The Joy of Sex") while he intends on instructing *her.*

The story was nicely done, though it really didn't say anything new. I found myself wanting to hear more about Doug and Aunt Joan. Now there's a story.

Serpentina [C]
Where posted: ASSM
When posted: 7/30/98
Author: Anonymous
Address: Unknown

This story may get the 1998 Cyrrheal Award for most weird, or maybe for most dumb. I wonder if the author was on drugs when he or she wrote it. A five-year-old girl is given an albino python as a birthday present and names her Serpentina. She bathes with the reptile, and there's long, loving descriptions of what happens when the snake explores her genitals and eventually her uterus, where it emerges from a tear in the organ and takes a road trip around her intestines. This is just too bizarre, as A. The snake is described as being as long as the girl, say three feet; and B. A tear in your uterus, or any kind of internal bleeding from your uterus, hurts like bloody hell. I know, because it happened to me. The rest of the story consists of variations on this theme, with Mom and Dad eventually joining in with Li'l Sis, with the snake eventually exiting from the narrator's mouth while its tail still protrudes from her twat.

The story was repetitive, boring, and I lost interest in it very quickly; my guess is that unless you really dig snakes penetrating little girls, you will too.

Bound for Good [A+]
Where posted: ASSB
When posted: 7/26/98
Author: JR Gord
Address: dave@dsmags.demon.co.uk
Publisher's address: http://www.silvermoonbooks.com

In this story--which seems to be a novel excerpt from a legitimate publisher rather than a story composed expressly for the net--a model poses for a writer to get him in the mood for producing erotic fiction. Said posing consists of her being hogtied in white cotton rope and suspended over dozens of tickling ostrich plumes, which gets her goin' like a geyser:

In glorious Technicolor he saw the intimate close-up of her jewel like nipples straining against encasing rope, her breasts bulging and flexing within the network of confining cords criss-crossing her chest. A second later he would be privileged with the unforgettable image of her tight clenching roped thighs pumping madly and squeezing those delicious smooth, perfectly formed love lips, squeezing the drops of love juice from those demanding mounds of pleasure; soaking the taut bisecting rope in a syrup of liquid arousal.

Exactly Nowhere, Iowa [A]
The Dancer [B+]
Where posted: ASSB
When posted: 7/31/98
Author: Oscar Paco
Address: oscarpaco@aol.com

I picked these two stories at random and later saw they were written (or posted by) the same person. Having already read them, I decided to review them both.

"The Darkness in Exactly Nowhere" (posted as "Exactly Nowhere, Iowa") was an excellent stream-of-consciousness story about a threesome that may have been or never was between a married couple and a young man named Colin, who insinuates himself into their life by falling in love with the narrator's wife. Though the sex was well done, the emotions of the husband were given the emphasis. He even joins in at one point with a blowjob. Yay for him!

In "The Dancer," a young woman reflects on the experience that caused her to take up exotic dancing (a visit to a strip joint and a performance for her boyfriend). According to the author it's a sort of quasi-religious rite and not the sleazy, patently bottom- line occupation it really is. I found this premise unbelievable, despite the fact the story was well written; the author also fell into the trap of overdescription, perhaps to hide the fact there wasn't much of a story there. The excess words wound up obfuscating (Hmmm, now there's a word, boys and girls, obfuscating) the story instead of enhancing it, and I never got a clear picture of exactly how unique the protagonist's style of exotic dancing was:

...where the others were made-up and painted and false, she moved inside her body with respect and awe, surprising even herself some nights; and classic where the other girls were sleazy, she never relied on thrusts and shakes when gesture and suggestion promised more than exposed. Naturally rhythmic, her dances unfolded like mini-epics, simultaneously complex and straight forward, compact and complete in ways that only the religious understand."

8/9/98

Rubbermaid really DOES make life easier!

As I haven't done a theme review in a while, I thought I'd celebrate my comeback with a selection of stories dedicated to that most misunderstood and maligned of fetishes, rubber. Not just the stretchy black stuff, but latex, spandex, and saran wrap as well. Happily, net writers have obliged me with a prime selection of these tales.

In case you don't understand why some folks are so hot on rubber/latex/spandex, know this:

A. It's very tight and hugs your body, showing off your curves.

B. It's very hot and you sweat in it. Heat is a turn-on.

C. It tends to immobilize you, a must for bondage fans.

D. It's visually appealing. It comes in a wide range of colors, can be shiny or matte, and gives the effect of a second skin that does not have the intrinsic flaws of one's own (cellulite, zits, hair.)

E. It gives it wearer a "high-tech" fetish look ranging from a plastic figurine to a robot, enabling them to act (or be acted upon) as sexual objects without the messiness of human nature getting in the way. After all, robots and plastic dolls don't eat, sweat or breath.

While these points may not make the average person a rubber fan, they do explain its appeal...and hence the reason people write these stories.

Incidentally, pop star Michael Jackson used to call his "special friends" (prepubescent boys he groomed at his Neverland Ranch) Rubba. Some speculate it was because he used to rub his body against theirs. But who knows...?

Rubber Gallery [A-]
The Story of Sarah [A-]
Binding Agreement [A-]
Where posted: ASS, ASSB, ASSM
When posted: 7/24/98
Author: K. Valery, Anonymous, Anonymous
Poster: Red Sandhog
Poster address: sandhog@netcene.net

The following three stories were posted by Red Sandhog, apparently to elicit similar material for a website he or she is putting together. All three shared certain things in common.

First off, I think it's safe to say the only reason these stories were written is to describe how a willing victim (usually female) is embalmed in rubber, latex or plastic and the sexual ecstasy that follows. Not that plot and characterization weren't there; they were, and were in fact handled better than in many ASS stories. But the emphasis was definitely on the fetish and the tools that go along with that fetish.

Things got creative when the authors tried to supply rationales for the embalment. In "Rubber Gallery," for example, the victim- to-be answers an ad for a model. She winds up participating in a piece of German performance art where she, and 11 other girls, are denuded, catheterized, coated with black latex, then posed in an art gallery where they become fetish sculptures-for-hire. (The story states she got about 800 DM--deutsch marks--for this; I don't know what the current exchange rate is, but I think she was underpaid.) Meanwhile, in "The Story of Sarah," the victim is a volunteer guinea pig in a medical experiment. She's put in a rubber suit, then a rubber body bag that is filled with oil, THEN a tank that is filled with wax, THEN the wax tank is coated with latex...and by that time it's clear the phony "doctor" and "nurse" running the experiment have nefarious intentions in mind. If rubber stories have a first cousin it's the medical story, going by the many catheterizations and enemas the victims suffer. They have to, for how can one be encased in black rubber without tubes for evacuation and feeding?

The last of the batch, "Binding Agreement" was lighter in tone than the others, and also the most wild. The victim is Bonda O'Tightly, a bondage nut who ticks off her bondage school employer and winds up being a toy in a variety of very strange, meticulously detailed scenes...such as being made into the clapper of a giant bell, or a living Barbie Doll imprisoned in clear plastic. The story was silly enough to be one of Lord Shon's or S. Sneakly's pieces, though the subject matter was not. I had the feeling the author kept things light for fear of being taken as too much of a weirdo.

All three of these stories delivered the rubber goods without making too many mistakes. How well you like them depends on how much you're into the fetish; if you're not, the stories may bore you, though their sheer creativity may redeem them for some non-bondos.

Plastic Wrapped in New Jersey [B+/B]
Where posted: SSBB, ASSB, SSS
When posted: 7/27/98
Author: Polaroid
Address: the_polaroid@hotmail.com

People write sex stories and post them for many different reasons...the fun of it, the challenge, or maybe to impress a lover. In this author's case, it was to find a lover: "As always, if you have suggestions for stories, or comments (like its effects upon you, words of praise, pleas to meet, etc.) email me." He even gives his business license (he's a dom.) And what of a name like "Polaroid" that carries with it all those oh-so-naughty implications?

The fact a story is structured as a glorified personals ad makes it difficult to grade; it's like critiquing someone's shopping list, because it was never really meant to work as a story at all. That said, there's a lot of hot, if overly wordy, bondage action, as the dom spanks, then wraps his sub in transparent plastic so she can't get away. He then does other things to her: "Now, Išm going to clip your breasts. Išm going to do it...fast. Be prepared. You shiver," all of it in second person voice that goes on and on and on without a break (I could imagine actor/professor Ben Stein doing the voice-over.) If you're not into these acts, you'd get bored very quickly; if you are, you'd still get bored, but there's enough good stuff in here to do the mental fast-forward thing.

The New Acquisition [A]
Author: Fool
Available from: The Hall of Statuary
Address: http://members.tripod.com/~ArgoForg/index.htm

Sex stories in the mannequin vein, as this one was, can be considered a wandering love child between robot sex stories and rubber stories. The former because the sex is with a simulacra of a human than a human; the latter because fetishistic emphasis is given to the sex object's form: plastic. How shiny it is. How smooth and poreless. How...excuse me. Anyway, like the Red Sandhog stories reviewed above, the authors are very creative about how they get the protagonists to turn into/have sex with mannequins and statues. This gives the stories more plot than most ASS fiction, and that plot usually belongs in the science fiction, fantasy or horror fields. This story came from The Hall of Statuary website, a site devoted to Agala-something (the word means those who love statues.) I'll be reviewing the site at a later date.

This story was a well done example of its type, and also worked as horror in the Stephen King mode. Sylvia, a call girl, sees a mannequin in a department store that looks like one of her old friends. Later she services a client and is busted, but the cops are phonies. They actually work for G.Limited, the company that creates these lifelike mannequins, and Sylvia is their next victim. The mannequinization process occurs by immersion in a strange fluid, then a heat treatment that turns flesh into plastic; in the manner of the Star Trek TV series it's described in technobabble, but who cares? The important point of the story, as all statue- lovers know, is that the poor girl is turned into a perpetually horny inanimate object subject to all sorts of abuse. With no chance of a climax, yet.

Later poor horny Sylvia is put on display in the store, then is packed in a crate and shipped to a center where she'll be "trained"--that is, brainwashed to accept her mannequinhood and take joy in the fact she's now L-14 (her serial number) and exists only to serve men. Before you get your panties in a bunch about it, this *is* a sexual fantasy; it's written to work as metaphor rather than anything anyone might do in real life, though whether it works for, only you can be the judge of that.

8/30/98

Hi there. Here's another batch of reviews. As I said, I'm sticking to the thrice-monthly schedule, so if I haven't reviewed your story yet, please be patient.

Bondage Slave Girls [D]
Where posted: ASS
When posted: 8/8/98
Author: Kilogram22
Address: Kilogram22@aol.com

I received an email recently, in reference to my carpal tunnel syndrome, that suggested I not waste my precious reviewing time on truly bad stories. I have a reply to that. I review the bad stories because they're so much fun to make fun of.

This multipart serial did not disappoint. It read like the author digested too many John Norman Gor books and then OD'd on lesbian bondage mags--or lesbian bondage websites--springing to life this fevered, sweaty-palmed creation from the addled halls of his or her brain. The story's premise is that in the far future civilization has gone into decline and humanity has mutated into a race of porn star look-alikes who are constantly enslaving each other. I think. It never was made clear. Anyway, men have virtually disappeared leaving Amazons to make the lucrative slave-girl runs, and most of the action consists of the slave girls being dressed in various skimpy outfits and spanked, and their chief occupation is giving other women head and kissing them with their tongues extended. Guess they've watched too many cheesy porn videos.

This story was very bad. It was poorly written, poorly plotted, and poorly conceived. It made absolutely no sense. The author also had the annoying habit of interrupting the story with comments in parenthesis, like:

(Okay, so the black did not match the rest of attire. It would match certain bondage accessories the woman intended to add. More important, it insured that anyone who saw shiny, black, knew they saw her panties. Andrea knew that too. She would assume that anyone looking at her was admiring her panties. Of course, there were other reasons for putting panties on a slave girl, but the blonde was too concerned about sucking the dildo clean to think of them.)

Kiko 1, 2, 3 [A+]
Where posted: ASS, ASSM
When posted: 7/30/98
Author: Lord Shon
Address: lordshon@aol.com
Website: http://members.aol.com/GntlShon/kikotemp.html

Kiko is a silicon-enhanced ninja groomed as a high-kicking sex weapon by her scientist father. In this humorous story she helps an archaeologist regain the Emerald Rod of Might from the lost temple of the Sodomites...and yes, you can guess what bodily appendage the foot-long crystal resembles. Along the way therešs Indiana Jones style perils like marble statues that shoot their dicks off and a cave entrance that resembles a giant buttcrack. (I donšt think wešll see this in Disneyland.) Therešs also a gymnastic pole-dancing sequence that appears to have been inspired by a scene in the "Aeon Flux" cartoon series.

This was a very funny story, just a tiny bit rough around the edges, but the sheer imagination and silliness involved pushes this one up to an A+. Will Kiko return for more adventures? Time will tell.

Summoning [B+]
Where posted: ASS, ASSM
When posted: 8/15/98
Author: The Lizard
Address: red.lizard@USA.net

A sorceress summons a demon to serve her, discovering, too late, that she has carnal desires for it, and falls in love with the very thing she created.

This could have been a very sexy tale if it was shorter. The author can write well, but most of the story consisted of the same thing said three or four different ways, and all the repetition doesn't exactly move the action forward. Still, I liked the interplay between witch and demon, which was erotic without being overly porny.

Dracokin: Wanderers 1 [A]
Where posted: ASS, ASSM
When posted: 8/13/98
Author: David Farr
Address: djfarr@ihug.co.nz
Website: http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/

Fur gets a nice workout in this story, which takes place in a science fiction universe reminiscent of C.J. Cherryh's "Union and Alliance" space opera novels. All the characters are humanoids with genetically engineered animal features. Cherat, a wolf- woman, is the captain of a shuttle ferrying passengers to the far edges of the galaxy, and they include a skunk girl, a cute-as-a- button Siamese cat girl, a fox woman, and a tiger woman. Naturally, they run into trouble and wind up on a planet of real humans (Earth in the Middle Ages?) where they are alarmed to wind up as sex slaves. The science fiction in the this story got more emphasis than the sex, but it was otherwise very well written, in the style of paperback SF these days. More chapters are promised, and there's also a website.

The Gift of the Balloon [A]
Where posted: SSBB
When posted: 8/10/98
Author: Rapture
Address: Rapture@mailbag.com

Note: This story was posted from an organization known as "Kubrick's Kink Emporium and Espresso Bar." Can anyone tell me about this establishment? Readers?

In a run-down carnival a barker admires a pretty young balloon seller. She admires him, too, and they decide to get together. But the barker (not Bob Barker) has a kink: he likes knives. The sharper the better, especially when they're wielded by attractive females. The balloon dancer figures out a way to oblige him without hurting him. It has something to do with the balloons, but I won't give it away.

This mild fetish story had no sex in it but it was very original, the sort that gets an "A" in college creative writing classes, and that's what I gave it, for the elegance of its conception. The writing could have used work--it suffered from beginning writer over- earnestness ("It was late morning on one of those hot days near the end of July when time stops and it feels like mid-afternoon on a dog day in early fall.") but it flowed well in spite of the wordiness. Look this one up if you're tired of the usual.

The Deer Hunter [A]
Where posted: ASS
When posted: 8/7/98
Author: Misty
Address: purfect9@aol.com
Website: http://members.aol.com/purfect9

Here's another unusual story, which the author says was inspired by legendary motor city madman Ted Nugent, a long proponent of hunting (though with a bow the last I heard.)

A hunter going after a prize buck builds himself a concrete bunker to camp out in, and furnishes the immediate area with cheap surveillance cameras from a pawn shop so he won't miss his big moment. One morning, those cameras record not the buck but the rape of a female jogger. Later it's hinted the rapist is the one who eventually bags the prize buck out from under the hero's nose.

The characterization and hunting aspects of this story were done well, but I wonder if it was really meant to be porn or not. Porn glorifies and plays up the sexual element, but in this story the sex serves as an element of horror and suspense. The way in which it was used reminded me of Uther Pendragon's "Duty" which is probably the better story. It certainly straddled the porn/nonporn line with more confidence. But "The Deer Hunter" was entertaining too, just needing some more reflection of the part of the narrator to be something just as good.

Unmasked [A+]
When received: 8/13/98
Author: Jordan Shelbourne
Address: jordan@u36.com
Website: http://www.u36.com/jordan/

Jordan Shelbourne gives the superhero subgenre a new spin with this story, which, without the sex, works as a Donald Barthelme-type satire. In a slightly skewed alternate world normal working people feel compelled to become home-grown superheroes, sewing their own costumes and making up their own utility belts. Apparently, like being a goth or a punk, it's a common stage all young people pass through. The story is about what happens when a man and woman who are about to marry share some secrets about their superhero pasts.

The author stated that "Superheroes are essentially about power relationships...." but I didn't see power issues in the story; it was more about the trust involved with the revelation of one's true self. And also the revelation of ones' fantasies, which the story treats as an allegory; very ironic and insightful considering all the superhero porn that's out there. Anyway, the cleverness and inventiveness of the story's premise overshadowed its sexual/emotional components, at least for me. But that's also why I gave it an A+.

Grabbing the Brass Ring [A]
When received: 8/1/98
Author: Frank McCoy
Address: mccoyf@millcomm.com

This story, which received a drubbing from Celeste in July, marks a sort of turning point for Frank McCoy. Incest is prominently featured, but there's a science fiction rationale for it. The narrator of the story, a middle-aged woman living in a small town, is empathic, which means she picks up on the strongly felt emotions of others and feels compelled to act on them. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), this means having a sex with a lot of angst-ridden teenage boys. While the narrator enjoys the sex, she can't deal with the other emotions, which are painful for her. The tone is delicate and wistful, the plot taking a backseat to the feelings experienced.

I found the story a well-written depiction of how someone with empathic abilities would deal with her life, but, I warn you, most of it was pretty sad, dealing with feelings of alienation, loss, and rejection. You may or may not want this level of depth in a sex story. It was pretty obvious to me that the narrator was empathic because I've read a lot of SF; but I'd recommend an explanation somewhere in the first few paragraphs of the story to spell out the situation for those in the dark, something like, "I've always known I was empathic, which means I pick up on the emotions of others." Otherwise, I think Celeste must have lost her dentures that day or something, because there was nothing in this story that called for the level of critical abuse she gave it.

Movie Notes: "Heavenly Creatures," now available on video, contains a non-explicit yet steamy sexual encounter between two teenage girls. The rest of the movie is excellent too, though "Armageddon" and "Bridges of Madison County" lovers would find it on the bizarre and cerebral side, dealing as it does with the fantasy life (NON-sexual fantasy life, if you please) of two bored schoolgirls in 1950s New Zealand. They eventually murder their mum, and yes, it's pretty bloody. Anyway, five stars ***** and worth it if you also like Quentin Tarantino, Neil Jordan, and David Lynch.

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