The Annex Reviews, June 2002
6/30/02 XWives #1: Sluts Save the World (Jo Jo Jinx): Lance Storm and the Slaves of the Hypnotron (Wersgor); The Red Temple (Rushlight): Summer Solstice Romance Festival: Red Revenge (Frances LaGatta); Summer Solstice Romance Festival: Stargazing (Spline Duck)
6/20/02
Part I: The Sleeve [A/A-]
The sexually adventurous have been hooking up through email for, oh, what, ten years now? It's been enough time to ingrain the idea deeply into the popular consciousness, becoming a porn plot device as much as straying wives and strip clubs have. Usually such tales of virtual lovers meeting in real life are cautionary ones, or preludes to some serious D/s action... the electronic medium lending the sexual silliness a legitimacy, I guess, lacking in snail mail. Computers mean serious business! Computers have machine intelligence and wouldn't lie or play games with you! Do whatever one says!
This story did not deviate from form. The narrator meets a woman online for
some dom/sub action and gives her strict instructions to appear at the isolated
cabin he has rented. Once she is there the plot follows that of the old Maud
Adams/Bruce Dern thriller "Tattoo" -- our cooperative sub is tied to a chair and
has her arm worked over with a needle, receiving an attractive dragon design,
and by extension the narrator's mark of ownership. The fun in reading the
story comes from her back/forth wavering, though it's clear she has given her
consent:
She jerked at the sound, but did not break my grasp.
"What are you doing?" she asked plaintively, voice cracking with
fear.
"You knew you were to be tattooed," I replied calmly.
"Yes, but I thought-"
"It is past time for thought," I stated flatly.
"But you can't-"
"I can, and I will."
At the of the story, as in the movie, the two have sex. I found it a good read, but would have wanted more background on the woman and exactly why she's being so compliant to an artistic but humorless control freak.
Slagged [A]
I came across these stories while surfing an erotic haircutting/shaving story archive. They belong to a subgenre of fetish known as 'defeminisation' -- stories where a beautiful woman is deprived of her feminine attributes (mainly hair, but sometimes sex organs and breasts) and altered in other ways -- tattooing, piercing, etc. -- that turns her into a sexual freak. Such stories are mainly revenge tales, and not for the squeamish. I read one of them a while ago and was surprised to come across more, by the same writer, using the same character, on this site.
Poor Kelly is a tanned, toned, strawberry blonde with 36Ds and long luscious
legs who gets herself into all sorts of trouble, mainly by welshing on the
bizarre bets she makes, or being a snotty bitch to vengeance-minded associates.
In "The Biker Chick" she goes to a bike shop in search of an authentic costume
for a party, sasses off to the owner, and finds herself depilitated, branded,
pierced, and tattooed as the property of The Dark Lords, a Satanist motorcycle
club. Meanwhile, in "Slagged" she's a spoiled rich daddy's girl who goes to a
futuristic casino and is goaded into making a big-time bet she eventually loses...
the punishment being transformed into a slag (State-Licensed Alleviation Gyno-
units) a nude, hairless, depersonalized sex slave. The social justification for
state-run slavery put me in mind of last months' "Christopher Enslaved" which
this story would serve as the female counterpoint to:
At the end of the story she becomes the whore of the unattractive suitor she blew off earlier, making me wonder if the writer of these stories is a venomously seething jilted male: "But don't approach her unless you're fat and balding; she has strict instructions from her owner to only approach the fattest, baldest men she sees, and to be particularly lascivious and lewd in her struggle for their custom." The victim goes unnamed in "The Birthday Present" but she might as well be Kelly, as again, she makes a losing bet, feels compelled to carry it through, and is gradually transformed at the hands of her husband into a toothless, hairless, breastless drone, the whole of videotaped for distribution to the adult-film market. I'd a say a divorce was in the works. This one seemed to lack the focus and enthusiasm of the others; it dragged on too much, and was too reminiscent of those second-person you-the-victim tales that proliferate in IRC chats. Anyway, if you like the idea of this kink, you will like these stories, as they were very well done for what they were; "The Biker Chick" in particular was realistic regarding the bike shop owners, and the slag transformation process in "Slagged" was excellently written as well. I don't know what it says about me that I liked them. Perhaps it's *schadenfreude,* the shameful yet mirthful glee one feels at a disliked acquaintance's misfortunes.
Seven Flashes [A+]
These seven brief (under three hundred words) stories came about as the result of a writing 'duel' with another author. They are known as flashes both for their brevity and their snapshot slice-of-life quality; as the writer says, "Flash fiction can be tart or sweet or bitter, any flavor of any month. Enjoy them." The seven spanned a range of characters from cheating wives to blooming schoolgirls, with the main mood an ironic melancholy. I enjoyed all of them, but my favorite, perhaps, was "Lucky Dress" the only one that did not feature explicit sex at all, or even engaged in dirty talk. It was so short and sweet, it could've gone into Readers Digest, if Readers Digest was more liberal. Look it up and read it to see, since even a small quotation by me would give the zing away.
The Plaything [A-]
This author has written an interesting series of stories about 'Playthings' -- genetically altered human beings whose function in life is to give sexual pleasure. Whether male or female they are eager, willing, multiply orgasmic, and dumb as a box of rocks. But aside from that, they have a pretty ideal existence, being leased for use by middle-class singles or couples who even put aside money in a pension fund for them. It's a take, of course, on the fantasy of having your own private centerfold at your service.
This story concerns a rather square couple, a doctor and a cellist, who buy a
female Plaything to spice up their sex lives. In this future society Playmates are
used as status items as well as stress relievers, so the wife takes her new
acquisition to a party-orgy thrown by her colleagues on the orchestra.
Conventional multiple-partner sex of the type widely available on the Playboy
channel ensues. (This I know because I and my husband have cable now.) The
reactions of the Plaything are as thus:
"Oh mistress, it was wonderful. I don't know how many men I had. One of the
musicians played with my cunt like strumpet."
"You mean a trumpet."
"Yeah. He blew into me. He said he played entire santa."
"You mean a sonata."
I enjoyed the story, but found the handling of the dialogue annoying... for such a straight couple, the two sure had potty mouths, well-versed in the magic words ("Yes! I'm cumming! Now! Aarrhhh!") of porn. I didn't buy it that their sexual language was so stereotypical, especially when the author did such a good job of describing his bionengineered bedmates and the future society they inhabit. They sound like they've watched the same bad movies everyone else has.
Bar 69, Part 1 [B-]
This story had an attention-getting premise: a male nude art model from Cleveland goes to rough and tumble Hamburg where he becomes a performer in one of the Reeperbahn's sex shows. The Reeperbahn, as Beatle fans know, was where the fab four started out, and then, as now, it was veritable den of depravity. I'd think the story would be pretty exciting because of this, but most of it was repetitious. Most of it is taken up with the narrator's performing ani- and cunilingus on a blonde Ukrainian and a black American while spotlit from above on a rotating turntable. Again, this would have been interesting, but the narrator never tells us exactly how he *feels* about it, and just keeps repeating the fact that he's naked, on display, and everyone can see his exposed genitals and asshole. I had no idea if he liked it, was out to make a quick buck, or was dying of shame, as the club owners also insist on calling him a 'slut' on a continuous basis. Some more local German color -- where's the oom-pah music? -- would have pepped things up as well. In short, this had some hot moments, but became tedious after a while.
6/30/02
XWives #1: Sluts Save the World [B/B-]
This story was first in a series. An illustrated version of this story is available on the author's website. The XWives (a spoof of the Xfiles?) are a group of oversexed housewives with nothing better to do than chase big cocks all over the world. When news comes to them of an alien invasion ("Their invasion [was] a thirty year campaign of terrorism that They called television, radio, and adult internet... to turn the population of the world into a mass of spineless, low morality, promiscuous cum sluts") they set off, naked, each wife taking on a moniker ("Janie - Gang Bang Leader... Connie - Coozy Cunt") describing her specialty. If this all sounds heavy-handed, it was. The action starts when the aliens ask to be taught about Earth sex. Nasal fellatio and alien cunnilingus follow. This story wasn't badly written, but it was very obvious, and of the "Cum flying everywhere" genre that was frankly never one of my favorite story types. The humor was more of the lowest-common-denominator adult-joke variety than the well thought-out parodies of Shon Richards, Please Cain, or Felix Lance Falken, other writers whose science fiction spoofs I've enjoyed. This story seemed to be trying too hard to be clever and topical, and the straining showed. I don't think the author knew anything more than the average person about science fiction, the Xfiles, or UFO lore, and if you don't have a knowledge of what you are spoofing, your spoof is not likely to impress. So, I can't really recommend it for its humor, but if you do like "Cum flying everywhere" slutwife stories, give it a shot.
Lance Storm and the Slaves of the Hypnotron [A+]
This SF parody, found on the Mind Control Stories Archive, handled the spoof
elements more successfully. Manly Lance Storm is a member of the Allied Space
Fleet Rocketeers sent to investigate the disappearance of a spaceship full of
Chippendales dancers. To his chagrin he finds out his partner is Lt. Eros, a
member of an oversexed race calling themselves the Orgasmians. The two set off
and come to a 'rogue planet' where gay Dr. Sleazor has enslaved the dancers and
paralyzed them with his Hypno-Para-Freeze-Gun:
Heee!
Poor Lance is paralyzed himself and only a greater hypnotic force can save
him. That force is to be made love to by his partner:
Everything ends happily when the two defeat the villain and Lance acknowledges his homosexuality. This story was very silly, but loads of fun, spoofing not only Flash Gordon type movie serials, but the gay guy-seduces-straight guy fantasy, and the know-it-all but secretly oversexed sidekick in the mold of Mr. Spock, as slash writers have conceived him. Recommended, and there are other stories in this series, too.
The Red Temple [A-]
Though I've known "Phantom Menace" Star Wars slash has existed for a while I haven't been inspired to re-review it until now, with the release of "Attack of the Clones." The Phantom Menace is by far the more slashier of the two movies, chiefly because there are no main female characters, and the male leads are so very very pretty. This story was recommended (a 'rec' in fanfic terms) on another site I thought I'd give it a go.
Obi-wan and Qui-Gon are sent undercover to a Fringe world to recover a
kidnapped governor's son who has been sold into Red Temple slavery... Red
Temple meaning the widespread practice of sexual bondage that drives this
world's economy. In order to infiltrate this underworld Obi-Wan volunteers to
be sold as slave. Qui-Gon only reluctantly agrees, sensing danger ahead for his
protege as he's put on the auction block. But mixed in with it is... arousal?
Of course it is, because in fanfic there is canon and there is fanon, or gradually accreted story elements put there by fanfic writers and accepted by mass consensus, and one of them is that the older, more experienced Qui-Gon always lusts after his younger, more vulnerable partner. So the slashing begins. This story was written well, but like a lot of fanfic I found the author was merely skimming along on top of the action instead of delving into the deep n' dirty. Not necessarily where sexual matters are concerned, but in the more basic story elements like immediacy and suspense. I always knew Obi-Wan was going to be all right, even as he's boffo gang-raped and sent to an S/M parlor. He even had a female trainer -- a mary sue? -- whose job it was to hold his hand and guide him through the enslavement process. Not a lot of tension. (I wonder if the overly restrained, polite tone of fanfic these days is because of the widespread use of beta readers.) I was hoping for a surprise ending -- like the governor's son decides he wants to stay a slave, or the female trainer turned out to be an enemy spy, or something -- but the only surprise was that Obi semi- falls for his new Master, and Qui-Gon has to step in to fight for his freedom. Which in fanon isn't much of a surprise at all. Nevertheless, this was a long, juicy tale with lots of unrequited longing and a few hot BDSM scenes, and if the pair's later conversion to the joys of D/s is unconvincing, there's enough gooiness going on here to keep any slasher happy.
Red Revenge [A+]
This story starts out with a bang, in the style of a historical bodice-ripper:
Yes, the virginal protagonist had been kidnapped by Indians during the
summer solstice of 1777 and lies staked out on the ground as she waits for her
fate. A Lenni Lenape brave approaches, and after some preliminary
explorations of her body
Actually, this whole story was pretty damn quotable, the author having done an excellent job of emulating the tone of historical fiction, as well as that of American fiction of the late 1770s. And pretty damn hot, too. The brave put me in mind of the movie "Last of the Mohicans" -- not the Daniel Day-Lewis character, but his Iroquois foe. Yum. To top it off, there's some interesting backstory, too. Recommended, and I'll ask the author to give us more stories in this vein, please.
Stargazing [A+]
Two old friends, both female, take a break from a boring party to go lay out on
the lawn. One is a pansexual into play parties, the other a wife dissatisfied with
her mate. Side by side, they regard the stars and reminisce:
"I've always felt peaceful down here at night. The stars look so
near and personal. I like to think about them masturbating."
"Masturbating? Talma, what are you talking about?"
"Well, mostly they're all alone. Some of them are double stars,
so I guess they might be doing kinky things to each other through
the eons, but lots of them are solitary. A few are even multiple
stars: far-out, stellar group sex, maybe."
As you can tell, this heats things up for a discussion of masturbation practices, and how the one friend initiated the other into self-love long, long ago when they were both twelve. This was a very good story, always interesting, even as it swung between sweet naturalism and the exaggerations of conventional porn (the narrator gangbanged her high school's rival football team -- twice -- just to spite the boyfriend who dumped her?) with the sweetness winning out. Maybe it was me, but I wound up reading far more into these two characters than was there... I could easily see this story as the start of a longer one, or a series, perhaps. In any case, the author established character without hitting us over the head with it. He or she had a way with description, too (the narrator describes her cunt: "You know, I like to think of it as my Grand Canyon: shrubbery around the rim, deep with folds and turns, and moist far in the center") and even if people don't wax so poetic in real life, it was fun to read. My only quibble was with the female masturbatory techniques. I don't know why solo diddling with the middle finger is so paramount. The index finger has more muscles and is more dexterous, and is only a quarter inch shorter. Hell, I don't use fingers at all, in the beginning. I go with my knuckles, or the side of my thumb. (I can't believe I said that.) And the narrator is still surprisingly nasty towards the boyfriend who dumped her so long ago, considering he wasn't even that well-endowed and she had bigger fish to fry. But, I did like this story a lot, especially that comment about the stars. Two friends, hangin' around and talkin'... who knows what things will come up.
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