The Annex Reviews, April 2003
4/30/03 Rivals (Vinnie Tesla); It Came (Daphne Xu); The Opening (john); Female Plumbing Problems (Vulgar Argot); Jena Commits to Six Months, Part 1 (Dave Haugen)
4/20/03
Creampie is a writer whose stories span many genres, but have one subject in common: the ingestion of the yummy delights found between a fully aroused woman's legs. This story was a BDSM one, and the author had this to say of it: "Be aware that this story is NOT my normal style. OK, it is my style but a very different topic." That's as may be, but it sure was a sweet read. As the narrator tells it, he is having problems in his main D/s relationship in that his submissive partner, being independent in real life, prefers to be a "bottom that tops" within the relationship. Her limits are tested when the narrator, as her dom, requests that she chop off her long, flowing locks and donate them to charity. She balks at this, but later they reach a typical D/s agreement: she will be pierced, then whipped, then shaved clean as a whistle all over including a full-body waxing, the whole to be videotaped for posterity. Being a sub these days sure is a tough job, ain't it? This could have been just another story where a dom puts an uppity sub in her place, but it was surprisingly well written, dwelling on the trust issues involved and the personalities of the couple, as well as being very hot. Recommended, as is a visit to the author's website.
A Drop of Inque [B+]
The cartoon Batman on the WB was clearly the inspiration for this story. I don't usually review toonfic, but since I do watch Batman occasionally, and had in fact seen the same episode the author has -- and pondered the same sexual possibilities -- I thought I'd read it and see what the author did with it. The setting is presented as the near future and the tone matter of fact ("New York is also the home for all sorts of crazies. They range from self-appointed mercenary groups to would-be superheroes. A day doesn't go by that the news doesn't report the daring deeds of the Guardian Angels, Hells Angels, Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Dare Devil, Wonder Woman, Captain America, the Flash, the Green Hornet, the Green Lantern, the Incredible Hulk, the Six Million Dollar Man, the X-men, The Tomorrow People, the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and way too many others to mention.") The hero of the story has missed reading the day's headlines however, and is unaware that the exhausted woman in a black vinyl catsuit he aids is really the supervillainess Inque, a pliable being able to morph herself into liquid form. He nurses her back to health, and she "rewards" him by flowing around his body like a second skin. For the rest of the story she keeps him trapped inside her as she makes tracks for Anchorage, a superhero-less city where she can expect to find refuge. When he balks, she stimulates him sexually from the her interior to keep him enthralled. The story was a good evocation of what it would feel like for a man to be trapped inside a villainous, animated catsuit. There were touches of humor in places, like the protagonist somehow never having the guts to escape from the predicament she periodically puts him in: leaving him naked in a lady's room stall as she commits her crimes. As an adventure story, though, it didn't quite come together. Interesting, though.
Doppleganger XI [A-]
This story was part of a longer series about the Doppelganger, a being with a supernatural power to change sex and form as well as control the minds (and libidos) of others. It's the type of theme common in some forms of mind control fiction: I call it Total Power, because the protagonist can, literally, do, fuck, or be anyone; the fun for the reader comes from what they choose to do with their abilities and the havoc/happiness they create. The protagonist of this story, once a human man, takes on female form in this story to test her (its?) attractiveness in a bar setting, because "There was something in me now that made me want to help people realize things about themselves. I was a bit self-centered before, but now that my experiences had expanded my thoughts, I found my morals had changed as well." She then seduces a nondescript fellow for the hell of it and gives him the most extreme night of sex in his life, complete with magic words ("Nice big fat juicy cock, Mmmm, I like em big. Come for me baby so I can get you hard again. I want you to last a long time in my ass. Fuck me in my tight asshole with this huge pole...") Like the preceding story, this one was pretty interesting, but short on the adventure, and the sex, for all its dirty talk, perfunctory. I'd think a doppelganger could be a little more creative with verbal teasing. The plot didn't let loose quite as outrageously as I thought it would, either, certainly not in the nutty way that "A Drop of Inque" did. Still, I enjoyed the read, and would read others in the series as well.
Slave Raiders, Parts 1 - 8 [A-/B+]
I've written elsewhere in these postings about the barbaric, BDSM-oriented world of Gor, a creation of science fiction author John Norman. Though written in the 1960s, the series of slave girl and he-man novels are still popular, and apparently back in print, online at least. They've also inspired private fantasy playgrounds for D/s players in real life, as I suspect the "David" and "Lisa" (the writer of this series, and its poster) are.
Here they've been transposed to "Dalvid" a seasoned
slave-raider, and "Li'sar" the sprightly nymph he
captures. The raiding party is from the land of Valua
where females are enslaved and whipped as a matter of
course:
Li'sar was made to kneel across the block. "And I
thought he might have liked me!" she thought to herself,
as she braced for the very first lash.
Durip whipped her hard. She couldn't recall ever having
felt such great pain. She struggled to stay on the
block, but she had told herself already that she didn't
want the additional punishment she had seen Adele
receive.
Dalvid smiled down at her, as each lash was
administered. How lucious her bottom was; how nice to
see it punished! He loved having her in such a servile
position before him.
She somehow endured all twelve, though she was in agony
by the end. She danced around in pain, clutching her
bottom, crying, begging. After giving her time to
recover, he ordered her to be put with the others.
(The author later tells us, "Valuans deal (what they feel is) honorably with slaves, always assuring that they are well-fed, sheltered, and not overworked, nor punished anywhere other than on the posterior - Valuans believing that female posteriors have extra fat on them especially for that purpose. (Some Valuans even believe that the females who require punishment the most are endowed with the chubbiest posteriors).") Unfortunately the scenario ends when the local militia comes chasing after the raiders demanding their womenfolk back; but Dalvid, having become infatuated with Li'sar (and she with him) carries her off, only to lose her to bandits, who fob her off to another group of slave raiders making for the cit, where she is to be sold. Dalvid, meanwhile, rushes about frantically trying to recover her. The story was a nicely done one in the Gor-esque vein, with a sweetly romantic tone in the two main characters' relationship. It was perhaps a bit boringly written, and tamer than the usual fare (the slave girls have their bottoms whipped, not asses or buttocks) but I did get involved enough to keep reading each additional chapter, and felt pleasantly entertained by it.
The Saga of Cammi Longclit, Chapter Two: Rebbat-stub [A+]
Here's another barbarian story, this one set in an aproximation of Bronze Age England. It's second in a series of others, but stood very well on its own.
Cammi Longclit is a sexually charged, none-too-bright
female warrior with the oversized organ of her name;
Jestina is a priestess and her companion in adventure.
The two set off to rid a village beset by The Beast, a
shadow creature which has been buggering every available
arsehole in the area and causing much distress. The tone
is parodic but not nasty as the two decide what to do
about it, eventually settling on a course of action:
So as the late afternoon dwindled, and after partaking of
several hares roasted over a fire, Jestina and Cammi and a
soldier made their way to Kilcunny's hut. There Cammi's body
was painted and anointed with oils and herbs. Her left tit
was painted blue, her right red. Her face was also decorated
in swirls. Jestina then painted eyes on Cammi's rump cheeks
and titties so the beast would not be certain which way the
warrioress faced.
"I will grease up your sphincter so if you are taken unawares
you will not be overly discomforted," Jestina said.
"That sounds like fun," Cammi replied.
The Beast is eventually brought low, in an abrupt and frankly squicky way that seems out of character with the first part. Still, I thought the story was a funny spoof of those old English tales, the kind that are inextricably entwined with certain places: the village of Sugnillinuc, indeed.
4/30/03
Burningman is a huge tribal (as in rave tribal, not Native American) festival held every Labor Day weekend in a remote area of the Nevada desert; it's a modern-day freakfest featuring didgeroo players, dreadlocked slackers, performance artists, and lots of casual nudity. For one week everyone turns out to watch and be watched, acting like total asses; then they go back to their day jobs, counting the days until next year's bash. The narrator of this story is one of the return visitors, and this story describes the adventures he has with a female companion at the festival. The oh-so-cool Gen-X duo has a casual on-and-off-again sexual relationship with each other, but at the heart they're really best buds who prefer to hang out together. When an attractive female stranger pitches her tent near theirs they are both intrigued, and make clear to each other they intend to seduce her; thus the rivalry of the title is born. The story was a very good evocation of the strangeness and chaoticism of the festival -- I've not attended, but I've had friends who have, and am also familiar with the peculiar West Coast blend of wheatgrass and weirdness it represents -- and in that it was very interesting to read, as I've known character types like that in real life. But because I knew them, the story got monotonous after a while. Casual no-strings sex done with art and humor is nice, and the author writes it very well. But it also means there's no tension and conflict -- no jealousies, no awkward confessions, no daring moments, no sudden disgusts or heart-racing attraction. Those are the things that interest me as a reader. The story was more of a travelogue with sex, in fact, than a story. A very good and evocative one (and for that I rated it highly) but when all the characters good-naturedly fuck each other without thinking twice, how can you distinguish Amanda from Tanya, or from the topless dancing girl at the next didgeroo booth? I couldn't.
It Came [B-]
It's been a while since I saw a new Daphne Xu story, so I thought I'd read this. I've loved the "Teen Blowjob" series for years, and so expected something similar... deadpan, low-key, shaggy dog, and very funny. Young Tony is on the cusp of puberty and is sleeping in his bed when he hears moaning noises and wakes up drenched in sweat as if from a terrible nightmare. This occurs two more times. I expected there to be some twist, the moaning and gasping a horrorific metaphor for sexual maturity, for example, that would resolve itself in some amusing punchline. So I read this to the end, and stopped, scratching my head. Uh-huh. Hmm. OK, where's the joke? Daphne, did I miss something?
The Opening [B]
A man goes to the opening of a new show by a married female artist he knows and is apparently very close to, and, it turns out later, infatuated with. Later, at another opening, he decides to seduce her.
This was one of those slice-of-life stories, written for a "Thoughts of You" writing challenge; so, I suppose that because it is supposed to be someone's thoughts, the prose is rather disjointed, as most people don't think in a logical, linear way, except when they have some work-related problem to solve. But I honestly didn't know what to make of passages like this:
It's evocative, but of what? After a few more paragraphs like these I felt skittish and jumpy, not really in the frame of mind to enjoy a nice short sex story. Nice, I guess, in a literary sense, but I like plots and characters, or something so odd or unusual I don't care if it lacks plots and characters.
Female Plumbing Problems [A+]
Software engineer Chris is not having a good day. First he has to solve a complicated problem from a customer, causing him to break a date with a co-worker for the third time; then, when he comes home, the plumbing breaks down in his house. When he unscrews the pipe, lo and behold, the watery form of a river nymph pours out to stand at his feet:
Chris, too stunned to move, looked back and forth. The first words out of his mouth were, "If this is some sort of elaborate joke, someone is going to need a proctologist to remove this wrench from their..."
"Excuse me," the woman said in a voice reminiscent of a waterfall Chris had found once, far back in the woods where no one ever seemed to go, "Are you a god?"
This was a sweetly humorous story, most of the giggles coming from the nymph's maladjustment to the 21st century. She can't figure out why modern men don't pursue her as the Ancient Greeks did, for example (as it turns out improved standards of health and hygiene has made modern females as lovely as the nymphs once were.) But she copes, discovering that modern men have their advantages, too ("Zeus had been a selfish lover, even among the gods. Heracles's breath always reeked of garlic. And Apollo was all tongue.") Soon,
"You're so wet," Chris whispered to her.
"Of course," said Oneone, giggling, "I'm always wet."
The story ends on a bittersweet note that didn't really surprise me, but that was the only way it could have ended, I think. Warm and funny, and recommended.
Jena Commits to Six Months, Part 1 [B]
Jena is a knockout 23-year-old divorcee interested in playing out her submission fantasies in real life, and Dave is the top who thinks he can fulfill them... and so, like a pig and a pit at a Hawaiian luau, the two meet, exchanging long lists of what they will and won't put up with from each other ("Dave chuckled to himself at the number of MAYBEs in her responses. It was as though she was too naïve to really know what was going to be expected of her if she actually decided to become his slave.") I guess I've been reading too many BDSM slave stories, because I've gotten mighty tired of them, or at least of this particular kind. I call it jerkfic, because the male dom is less interested in a cooperative relationship with the sub where both roleplay their fantasies, and more into asserting stereotypical male caveman status. Right off the bat Mr. Smirking Jerk whallops his 5'2 95-pound sweetie in the face, then puts her in a doggie kennel and gives her a plastic bowl to eat in from the floor. He even goes so far as to have her download porn for him from the internet, sweating diligently over the computer as he relaxes in a La-Z-boy lounger watching TV ("For the next two hours, Dave sat in his lazy boy sipping port as he watched television, glancing now and then at the screen behind the tv to see what porn Jena was surfing and saving. At one point, Dave had her sit in front of him so he could rest his legs on her ass, while she knelt down, continuing to type and surf, albeit uncomfortably.") If you like the idea of this, go to it; but since jerks are readily apparent in real life, I see no reason to read about them.
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