Message-ID: <4837eli$9710131808@qz.little-neck.ny.us> X-Archived-At: <URL:http://www.netusa.net/~eli/erotica/assm/Year97/4837.txt> From: LadyCyrrh@aol.com Subject: The Annex Reviews, 10/12/97 Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.d,alt.sex.stories.moderated,alt.sex.stories Followup-To: alt.sex.stories.d Path: qz!not-for-mail Organization: The Committee To Thwart Spam Approved: <usenet-approval@qz.little-neck.ny.us> X-Moderator-Contact: Eli the Bearded <story-admin@qz.little-neck.ny.us> X-Story-Submission: <story-submit@qz.little-neck.ny.us> X-Original-Message-ID: <971012230800_1721816392@emout08.mail.aol.com> X-Is-Review: yes Random notes: I have begun posting the many websites of writers, site managers, and archivers on my home page (http://members.aol.com/ladycyrrh). If any of these site listings are outdated or not titled correctly, or if the link doesn't seem to be working, please tell me about it. I am still collecting them, by the way. Rajah Dodger recently sent me at least twenty. Thank you Rajah! The FAQ for the soc.subculture.bondage-bdsm newsgroup, which I talked about in last week's Reviews, is at http://www.unrealities.com/adult/ssbb/faq.htm. This week's issue is devoted to dyke fiction. Or lesbian fiction. Whatever you prefer. Lesbian fiction is a very popular element in mainstream porn. Duh. Like we don't know that. Dykes like it. Straight men like it, for various reasons (1. They just like to watch women having sex; 2. They have fantasies of joining in and showing the dykes a thing or two; 3. It gives them the opportunity to imagine themselves as either woman fucking the other one; 4. It allows them to connect with the primal elemental SHE buried deep within the male psyche. According to Camille Paglia. Tongue in cheek here.) Some straight women like it, one of the reasons being women are more understanding of and appreciative of each other's sexuality than those nasty men could ever be. In Western culture women are so sexualized anyway, especially in the media (turn on the TV at any time of night or day and you're barraged with red, shiny lips, cleavage, and long slim legs stalking around in high-heeled shoes) and one of the results, I feel, is that modern women can't help but be indoctrinated to see other women as sex objects the same way men see them. It's enlightening to remember that in other times and cultures, such as ancient Greece and Medieval Italy, young men were the chosen sex objects, not the young women, by the adult males who had the power in those societies. But I digress. Evaluating these stories, therefore, is harder than evaluating gay male ones, simply because it's harder to tell where the author is coming from. In gay male fiction, certain elements of that culture clue you in that you're dealing with a different sexuality, but because lesbian subculture is so well integrated into the mainstream American one, it's hard to tell if the author is speaking from an authentic lesbian viewpoint or not. Not that this makes a difference as to whether a story is entertaining; only a reader can judge that. But sex stories, like all stories, benefit from actual research, experience and detail; and such details definitely up the ratings I give them. Anyway, here are the stories. A Slave to Capitalism [A] When posted: 9/28/97 Where posted: ASSB Author: Gary Adler Address: sfmaster@worldnet.att.net This was a very enjoyable BDSM/blackmail story. It was written by a guy from the byline, but it was still entertaining. Doris, a young woman who works in a leather clothing store, has been stealing some of the merchandise so she can outfit herself as well as Andrea, the store's owner. She's found out. And as typical for such stories, Andrea offers her a deal: she'll forget about the jail sentence if Doris agrees to be her slave for a year or so. Doris soon finds out what kind of situation she got herself into when Andrew turns out to be a leather-loving lesbian dominatrix who she has to call "Mistress." The story was a very competent execution of its type. The sex was hot, the characters believable (well, believable for a sex story, anyway) and the pacing zipped right along. The story ends with the slave chained to the kitchen wall as Mistress does the dishes. I'm ready for part two! At the Beach [A-] When posted: 9/24/97 Where posted: ASS, ASSM Author: Ellen Hayes Address: Unknown Posted by: Sweet Paradise Address: http://ods.ods.net/voidnet/index.htm This story was reposted by an archiver, Sweet Paradise. Teenage Andrea (another Andrea? What is it with these androgynous names?) is vacationing with her parents at the beach. She makes a close friend there, Darlene, who surprises her one night on the dunes with a passionate kiss...and other things. Andrea freaks out, ashamed of being a lesbian, and runs out into the storm. Later, the two make up, and love saves the day. There wasn't any sex in this besides the kiss, but as a teen "coming-out" story it was very effective, and sensitive without being exploitive. In fact, it was so feel-good it didn't seem to belong with the archiver's overexcited hyperbole: "Over 100 new stories have been added this month! Everything from gangbangs to teenage lesbians!" I assume Ellen Hayes is actively writing because the copywrite on this story was 1997, but I haven't seen any of her stories on ASS or ASSG before. She should post here more often. Falling into Grace [A+] When posted: 10/12/97 (by me) Where posted: ASSM Author: Caintigern O'Nial Address: Caintigern@deathsdoor Caintigern has followed up last summer's multi-part gay Medieval fantasy "Knight Errant" with this tale of a lesbian romance. It was posted months ago, so I'm taking the liberty of reposting it myself. Grace Terranova is attending an international music festival with her hunky boyfriend when she sees an attractive blonde woman, Phil (nee Phylicia) who flashes her a smile. Grace feels compelled to leave the arms of her boyfriend and follow. The two women spend a perfect day together, meet the next day for lunch, and go back to Phil's (another androgynous name) house, where they have gobs of lovingly detailed, steamy sex. The author said of this tale: "This is a story that I began to write several years ago. You may find that my style of prose is somewhat more immature than you may be used to. I know that I can see it, but I'm fond of the story anyway for various reasons. When I get to the later sections, I'll have to write them from scratch and the stylistic difference may be much more noticeable." This is a little harsh; it's just as delightful in its way as the "Knight" series. This author is very skilled at portraying people in the intial stages of romantic and sexual attraction. Their lips tremble; they yearn; they're swept away in the throes of love/lust. It's a tribute to the writer's skill that this larger-than-life romanticism convinces without becoming cloying and gooey. She's (I'm 90% sure of this writer's sex, but I've been fooled before) got an observant eye for detail and character; the story sparkled with little touches that made you believe this was a real event happening to real people...like the lesbian liking for Enya's music and the ubiquitous rum and cokes, which made it the most "authentic" for me of all the stories reviewed here. Because the story was so good, it feels like a sacrilege to point out its weak spots, but I'm a critic, and that's what critics do. Foremost was that boyfriend. He sounds pretty hot. Why would any woman dump a Ken-doll lookalike who naughtily diddles them under a blanket in public area? Now, the author did an excellent job of convincing me why Grace did...she's really an in-the-closet lesbian...but for the purposes of the story, it might have been better to make the male more of a cold fish. Also, some of the dialogue sounded a little silly, particularly the post- coital discussion at the end, but on the whole the story deserves its A+. Caintigern, please finish the stories you've begun! The Whirlpool [B+] When posted: 10/12/97 Where posted: ASS Author: blue_fantasy Address: blue_fantasy@hotmail.com The narrator of this story is driving through Europe when she stops at a Swiss hotel. She's attracted to the young woman at the desk, and her excitable nipples betray her arousal. Later that night, soothing her muscles in the whirlpool bath, she starts to fantasize. The pretty young clerk barges in on her, notices her passion, and begins to masturbate too...and it's the beginning of a brief affair. This story was one of those casual, loosely written I-narratives that could be either fiction or a conversational retelling of an actual experience. I suspect it's a load of fake cowhide, because the narrater speaks too colloquial to be a European (she uses "cause" instead of "because") and it's not the sort of language used by an expatriate businesswoman type either. Though it was enjoyable for what it was and the sex was good, the additional, realistic details would have pushed the grade up for me. Dyke Crossing [A] When posted: 9/19/97 Where posted: ASS Author: Mark Aster Address: MyFrThAl@aol.com This story was part of the "My Friends the Allens" series. Pat, the slightly pregnant wife(?) of the narrator, meets Mike, an old college friend, downtown. Mike is a dyke and has a thing for tattoos. The couple bring her home for a visit. Sex follows, first between Pat and Mike, the two women (They both had androgynous names) which occurs simultaneously as the male narrator has sex with Julia, Pat's sister, who gives a blow-by-blow description of the sex between Pat and Mike (again, they're the two women.) The writing here was skillful in its evocation of the personalities involved and especially the descriptions of the characters. The dyke, for example, has the picture of a spread-legged nude woman tattooed over her belly, her naval being the tattoo-woman's twat. (Sounds like the sort of thing a kinky dom would do to punish her sub, along with various piercings.) Though I liked the cleverness of the story and the characters came to life for me, there was a big hole at the middle of it...namely, why these well-rounded, three-dimensional characters act the way they do. Do the couple have some sort of special pre-nuptial agreement that allows fooling around? Are they turned on by watching each other have sex? Are their brains so fried by drugs or drink they'll fuck anything, anywhere? Everyone's so...well, cheerful about it. I know this story is one of a series, so perhaps the reasons are given earlier, or later; certainly we don't have to have a situation where we're told the reasons every time a fuck occurs, like in the "Phantom" syndicated comic strip where "another name for the ghost who walks" appears at the bottom of the panel by an asterisk every time the Phantom is addressed as Mr. Walker. But make no mistake, this one omission in the story bugged me. Comments to: ladycyrrh@aol.com Website---> http://members.aol.com/ladycyrrh -- +--------------' Story submission `-+-' Moderator contact `------------+ | story-submit@qz.little-neck.ny.us | story-admin@qz.little-neck.ny.us | | Archive site +--------------------+------------------+ Newsgroup FAQ | \ <URL:http://www.netusa.net/~eli/erotica/assm/> .../assm/faq.html> /