I've always been fascinated by the idea of being turned into, or turning someone into, a statue. For me it has always had erotic overtones of arousal, enslavement, and control. Most of the stories I like feature very sexual elements, often with bondage, mind control, and D/s... particularly when strong female characters such as superheroines or Amazons get into ASFR-related scrapes. I'm also a sucker for science fiction and fantasy settings. I especially like scifi spoofs and parodies, such as the Panic and Wersgor stories featured below.
I'm a little ashamed to admit it, but I also like a cruel, dark or hopeless tone in some of what I read, especially if it's ironic or tragic. I'm perfectly happy with the "poor victim gets statuefied and stays a statue forever" scenario. Something about the final and utter irrecoverability of the victim really gets me off. I tend to write dark fics as well, but usually my compassionate side (and my desire to create a satisfying plot) takes over. Still, I'm very fond of a well-done darkfic.
Another fave of mine are stories featuring human-machine interactions... where someone has sex with a machine, or is transformed by a machine, especially if it's of the factory floor or assembly-line variety (such as my Kafka fantasy "Titanium Kiss.") Is there a name for a fetish like this?
My own ASFR output has been steadily growing ever since I got into ASFR in 1997, when I found it to be the perfect forum for much of what I wanted to express. In fact, it inspired to write my first petrification story, "The Gorgon's Kiss," as well as finish "The Tale of Lassok and Zairbhreena" which I'd actually started writing in 1993 and put aside, thinking no one on earth would want to read an erotic Arabian Nights petrification story. Since then I've written statue BDSM/fantasy (The Black Pearl) statue superheroes (Team Paragon) statue-related literary fiction (Titanium Kiss) and statue round-robin stories (at the Medusa Chronicles.)
What follows are some stories I particularly enjoyed as a reader. They also helped inspire my own work.
The Fem-Fantastique series and The Works, by CMQ
(Type: Statue)
CMQ's Fem-Fantastique series of original superheroines was a big influence on my own Team Paragon. Cosmic Girl, The Crimson Sorceress, Transparency Girl, Flamestar, Heatwave, and Shadow Lady battle villains like Plaster Master and Miss Midas, escaping being permanent exhibets in the nick of time. CMQ is of the "Transformed = mentally offline" school so you don't get to read how the gals feel about it, but his third-person POV descriptions of their frozen (or stoned, or plastered, or...) bodies makes up for it. You can definately tell he's their biggest fan. I like the earlier FF stories better than the later ones, which tend to feature more immobilization and less statuefication; but all of them are recommended, enthusiastic comic book mind candy with a touch of real danger for the heroines.
I like "The Works" just as well, maybe more so, for its lighthearted, even silly tone... four friends have fun in a very strange, futuristic amusement park where patrons are gilded, stoned, frozen, and plastified for sensual kicks. CMQ's level of description and world-building is amazing here; I actually felt I was there and that such a place really existed... and that if it didn't, it damn well should. Strongly recommended!
The Perils of Supergirl by Richard Marnet
[Note by Leem: The original link is now obsolete. There are cached versions on ASSTR in plain text format with optional autoscroll, but V 1.2 seems to have gone AWOL.]
V 1.1 | V 1.3 | V 1.4 | V 1.5 | V 1.6 | V 1.7
(Type: Statue/bondage/fetish)
Poor Supergirl is having a very bad day in this ongoing story. Not so much a superhero adventure story as an extended, fantastic journey through the various transformations a power-mad sorceress with fetishistic tastes can enflict upon her victims, with more bondage, rubber, plastic, mummification, statue, encapsulation, and mind control kinks than you can shake a stick at. I'm not so fond of the infantilization passages, but overall this is recommended (for those with strong stomachs only, for it is disturbing) for one writer's extremely fevered imagination.
The Valerian Invasion, by Panic
(Type: Statue)
A long, involved novel about a group of gorgeous women selected to participate in a near-future reality game based on old B-movie science fiction serials, with plenty of petrifications (in various media) and a sinister plot by aliens that is gradually revealed. Lots of fun, angst, and heartstring-tugging moments, all wrapped up at the end with a big, satisfying bang. Very enjoyable!
The New Acquistion and Merchandise, by Fool
(Type: Mannequin and Statue)
I usually like statue stories more than mannequin ones, but "The New Acquisition" is one of my mannequin favorites, as well as, I feel, the first and the best of all peril-in-a-department-store ASFR stories. A woman inquires about the disappearance of her friend, finds out too much, and is transformed into a mind-controlled mannequin for a store's afterhours fetish club. Fool not only writes sympathetic transformation scenes from the POV of the victim, but excellent mind control ones as well, especially when the victim is ordered to 'practice' her skills on a male mannequin.
I also like "Merchandise," part of a series about G. Limited, an underground organization that kidnaps women and turns them into erotic statues, auctioning them off to the highest bidder. (This writer has a deliciously cruel streak.) Again, a classic of the genre, and recomended.
The Touch, by ASL
(Type: Statue)
King Midas tells the story of his life and how he put his golden touch to good use. The author did an amazing job with the Greek setting and caught the tone of good historical fiction like a professional; the story was emotionally affecting as well. A major inspiration for "The Gorgon's Kiss" and the best Midas story I've read.
Lori's London Vacation, by Anonymous
(also known on the net as the more mellifluous "Lori's Trip to London")
(Type:
Statue/bondage/fetish)
Kink-mad Lori goes to swingin' London and applies for a job at a store selling bondage gear, but gets more than she bargained for when she is transformed into a living mannequin in a rubber catsuit. This story is heavy on the bondage and fetish side (including enemas and vacuum pumps) and probably not for the squeamish.
Illness, Cures, and Criminal Behavior on DS9, by Anonymous
(Type: Statue)
Always-greedy Quark gains a device that lets him transmute flesh to pure latinum (platinum) with the expected results. A interesting melding of Star Trek and ASFR, ending with the cliffhanger to end all cliffhangers: the statuefied victim is disposed of by being dropped into the frozen core of a gas giant. (I'd continue the story and help her out if I could, but astrophysics is not my strong point.) -->
The Jaskri series, by Leem
(Type: Statue)
Jaskri, once a human girl, is a statue who brings love and carnal desire to the universe in Leem's excellent science fiction series about the moral and philosophical issues of statuefication. Unusually, he concentrates on what happens after the victim is statuefied, rather than the factors that led up to it... and has a few things to say about the power of love, as well.
Lance Storm and the Slaves of the Hypnotron, by Wersgor
(Type: Immobilization)
Starship captain Lance Storm is paralyzed during a botched rescue mission and must be transformed back to normal from his statue state by Eros, a gay male crewmate, who goes about it with some hot sex. A "Commander Cody" Type scifi parody that doesn't take itself too seriously, with an immobilization ray, an evil villain named Slea-Zor, and a ship full of kidnapped Chippendales dancers who become the villain's furniture.
Midnight's Night Out and Perceptions, by Alexandria
(Type: Immobilization and Statue)
Alexandria is a newcomer to writing but gives her ASFR superhero stories unique twists. "Midnight's Night Out" is a reflective story about a superheroine who enjoys being paralyzed by her nemesis too much for comfort. "Perceptions" features a whole team of the author's original creations (with original superpowers) and what happens when they run into a villain who turns them into robots. I like this one especially for its detailed assembly-line robot transformation process, with the superheroes dangling from an overhead conveyer and a soft voice announcing each major step.
Sculptura and Jack and Monica, by Geisha (Redline)
(Type: Statue)
A tossup between which one I liked better. In "Sculptura" a mage transforms a beautiful girl into pure crystal, with her full cooperation; it was brief but powerfully written, and gives a good reason why someone would want to be transformed into an inanimate object. (Note: Both these stories were on Geisha's site when it existed and were credited to him, not Redline.) In "Jack and Monica" the male half of the couple, a movie makeup artist, turns his girlfriend into a tailor's dummy for a Halloween party, and the author goes into deep, plausible detail about how it may have been done. I love those last two paragraphs.
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Hour of the Golden Doom, by Basilisk
(Type: Statue)
Basilisk has written some of the best gilding scenes I've read in a 'supermodels in peril' scenario set on a desert island (complete with mad scientist) and the manly men of the TV show must save them. I'm a sucker for extended tranformation sequences, especially those involving sexual arousal, machines, and factory settings, and this story delivered on all three counts. The world could use a few less supermodels anyway.
The Band Trip, by Vincent Jarrod
(Type: Statue)
The principal of Athens High School comes up with a novel way to raise money for the marching band's trip to the Tournament of Roses Parade. Both amusing and sinister with a clever plot twist you'll never see coming.
Flynn and Debbie in the Mannequin Machine, by Julien Sorel
(Type: Mannequin)
Two department store employees have naughty fun with a machine that automatically poses and dresses mannequins, with humiliating results as they become its victims; therapy ensues. A slight story, but I love the idea of the posing machine, and the girls' embarassing predicament is played out for all it's worth.
Swamp Shoot, by Tannen Sheer
(Type: Various)
A group of six models on a photo shoot run into nothing but trouble when their car breaks down and they are isolated from the world... one by one they are transformed by a little old lady who turns them into breast-melon trees and gingerbread girls. I don't exactly share the writer's panyhose fetish, but all the transformations were very well done, with just the right amount of pathos. This story doesn't have a happy ending, but that's why I liked it.
Out of this World, by Spoonbender
(Type: Machine sex/Robot)
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
On a distant planet where slavery (and human-powered transportation) is the norm a Master races his ponygirls using a variety of futuristic 'engines' (dildoesque machinery that primes, pumps, and prods them to run) against rival teams. The story also includes high tech ponygirls encased in nano-suits with hoods and exhaust nozzles. This writer has one hell of a speculative imagination, especially the way he depicts how such human 'motors' would work.
The Dangers of Toon World, by JMD
(Type: Various)
Imagine an amusement park where patrons have their fantasies of being squished, spindled and mutilated played out, and you have Toon World, a close neighbor of CMQ's Statueworks Amusement Center. A technically excellent short story in the F&SF vein. I also like JMD's numerous contributions to the Medusa Chronicles, particularly the Imp and Miss Adventure storylines.
The Revenant of Hargreave Manor, by Bill Lemiuex [Link updated]
(Type: Statue/bondage)
Not so much a statue story as a bondage one (though statue transformations are featured at the start and finish) but boy what a bondage one. The author narrates it in the style of Victorian fiction... Victorian mystery erotica fiction... with lush, description-heavy prose and unforgettable visual images that stayed with me for ages. I could practically smell the leather.
Macchine, by Shezmu
(Type: Machine sex)
A woman volunteers to be the first client of the ultimate fucking machine. Not really ASFR as most consider it, but I like the female-machine possibilities. More erotic than most and a very hot story.