Good squick vs. bad squick

Last night I received an e-mail from that author I've been hinting about, telling me she'd just sent her final draft off to Simon; so look for my recommendation in a late Sunday blog entry. In the meantime, I'm still thinking about a question I raised with her in my reply. I know that squick is supposed to be a bad thing, something that turns you off because it's just so squirmy/icky that it makes you want to run away from it. But then again, there are certain things that appear in various EMC stories - mine included, of course - that are both squirmy/icky and at least intended to be hot. Thus, Octopus Vulgaris or Arachnae, or The Icky-Squicky Spider. The horror is part of the turn-on, or at least that's the intent. You realize just how deeply your heroine is controlled when she revels in submission to something that should send her screaming.

I've never been sure if that's how most folks on the EMCSA see squick, or if that's just how I see it. In fact, I've never been sure it was wise of me to go with that name for the spider story (Yes, in case you haven't guessed, the second half of the title was mine; Tabico suggested the much more mainstream "Arachnae").

It seems to me that we ought to have separate names for icky squick and for yummy squick: "squick" vs. "squelch," or something like that. Any thoughts?

Not that many of you are around to see these, but...

Yesterday I had the lowest hit count ever since I started with Stat Counter, though I see that at least a few of my regulars were around to enjoy the Kinski snake-gasms and new story recommendations. Maybe those folks will check by again today - and maybe the rest of you all will eventually return from your holiday travels and page back through my old entries - to find these yumscious shots I just discovered this morning.

That's Ulorin Vex at left, from Deviant Art; and at right are Jade Vixen and Darenzia from Christine Kessler's blog.

...and look what else I've found while I was waiting

Between work and working on "Spy vs. Guy" (first draft now complete and orc-approved), I haven't had time until now to investigate the December 21 EMCSA update. But guess what I just found: two hot and twisty new stories from a couple of long-time favorites: Jukebox's Every Rose Has Its Thorn and sara castle's Enciphered. Superheroines and cyberpunk - that's about all I can say without spoiling any surprises. Just go have a look...and enjoy. ;-)

EDIT: Ah, I see the new update was being posted even while I was reading the old one. Still no sign of the story I've been hinting about, but I think I've made up for the lack with these last two blog entries. ;-P

Holy snake-gasm, Batman!

Still waiting to see if the new EMCSA update gives me what I'm looking for, but in the meantime, like mother, like daughter.

Gaiman's Law of Superhero Films

Judging by my recent stats, most of you fine folk are either a) off for the holidays or b) too busy partying to surf the net or c) both, so I'm taking it easy on the blogging this weekend. Depending on whether or not a story I was asked to proof gets posted in the next EMCSA update, you might or might not find a new author recommendation from me late Sunday. In the meantime, I'll just point you toward Neil Gaiman's delightful musings about Watchmen, Batman, and what makes a great superhero movie.

Happy holidays! Your gifts are wrapped and ready!

From left to right we have Ancilla Tilia from somewhere or other on Deviant Art; Darenzia and Jade Vixen, shot by Christine Kessler and posted on Darenia's blog (I didn't even know Darenzia had a blog until recently); and the inimitable Kumi Monster from damned if I know where, but I didn't get it off her website. Enjoy. :-)



Oh, and one more thing before I leave you to your various festivities. "Spy vs. Guy" is coming along every bit as fabulously as a story about gay men should. I hope to finish the rough draft by Sunday, and then I'm sending it off for inspection by a friend who actually knows something about gay male life. My timing will be terrible, of course; but I never planned to post it over the holidays anyway, since no one would be around to read it. If my friend gets it back to me quickly enough, you should see the first chapter in the January 11th EMCSA update and the second and third chapters in the two weeks following.

Good news!

Sara H's stories are back up on the EMCSA. For those of you too new to the world of mind control erotica to know who she is, Sara H was among the very top tier of F/f writers on the EMCSA when I first found the place about a decade ago. She continued to churn out stories for several years afterwards, then pulled all her work from the web and disappeared under what I, at least, consider to be tragic circumstances.

But now Sara is back - appearing first on the MC Garden, and then on the EMCSA. I look forward to seeing what sorts of new fantasies that brilliant mind of hers will produce down the road, but for now, I'm just happy to have her old work back.

Check her out for yourself. She's worth it.

On a related note, the reappearance of Sara H's stories has given me a great excuse to update my Reader's Picks page again, which meant not only taking out the references to the Wayback Machine, but also adding in another story that I just haven't been able to get out of my head since Jukebox posted it several weeks ago. He's been a great writer for years, but his relationship with Lady Ru'etha has really set his imagination on fire.

I've just sent Simon my updated Reader's Picks, but I figure it's probably too late for him to fit them in with this week's update, so I've decided to just go ahead and copy in my new recommendation here:

Soft and Wet
Jukebox has now officially reached the stage (along with trilby else and Tabico) where he's churning out so many great stories so quickly that I hesitate to add any more of them to my Reader's Picks page for fear of playing favorites. But after several weeks of being unable to get this little treasure out of my mind, I finally gave in and made it an official Pick. "Soft and Wet" is one of the best depictions of the bliss of total enthrallment that I've found on the EMCSA. It doesn't matter if you're a fan of red, purple, green, cyan, or yellow stories; you'll love this one no matter what.

A couple of things I find interesting

First is the picture at left, which I found on My Fetish Diary Blog a few days ago. Could this image be any more directly up my alley? On closer inspection, you can even see a glint of silver in the model's eyes.

Second, sad news from the entertainment world: Ellen Page's lesbian werewolf flick is now officially kaput. Not that it ever stood much chance of being made in the first place, but wow, wouldn't that have been cool? I was especially intrigued by the concept because, shortly before I came out to myself as a lesbian and for some time afterwards, I had several dreams about being a werewolf, myself. I know a good bit about dream analysis, and I interpreted those dreams of mine to be about my potentially dangerous secret self, the part I had to hide from the world, the primal part of me. As a matter of fact, a big step in the process of accepting my homosexuality involved some dreamwork on "embracing the beast" from another dream.

Also - and here I go, teasing you again - those older stories that I mentioned in my interview with Callidus, the ones I wrote under another name and which are still online, involved a) a heroine struggling to hide her true nature from an unaccepting world and b) another character who was a werewolf. All except the final story were written back when I thought I was straight; but that last one, in which the heroine and the werewolf hook up permanently, was written after my discovery.

Make of all that what you will.

Anyway, I'm curious to know if any of my other gay or bisexual readers have had their own werewolf dreams or fantasies. I don't know if this is a recurring theme for sexual minorities or just something my own subconscious has latched onto as a handy metaphor. Comments, anyone?

I can feel your breath on the back of my neck

Over the last month, I've noticed several new blog visitors from my home state, including a couple recently from my own back yard.

No, of course I'm not going to tell you who you are...but I do hope you come back so I can tease you some more. ;-P

Story update

First, the collaboration train has just taken on another rider...but I can't say anything more about it than that. Just Be Prepared. :-D

Second, I got off to an excellent start on "Spy vs. Guy" over the weekend. The characters are pretty much writing themselves, which is always a delight and makes for a great finished product. Guy Wylde and his merry band of brainwashers are turning out to be a really fun group to hang out with. I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I do.

Oh, and while we're on the subject, did you know that the Transporter was secretly gay?

Now, finally, here's a little tidbit of genuine science that fits quite nicely with my plans for brainwashing Mr. Square-jawed Superspy.

A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape: Ethna Redux

I was first introduced to the ancient Irish fairy tale of "Ethna the Bride" through an e-mail conversation that veered from Oscar Wilde to supernatural MC and back to Oscar's fairy-tale-writing mother, Lady Wilde. Her version of the story, for any of you that haven't gotten around to reading it yet, is here.

My first thought, on reading Lady Wilde's version, was, "Wow, those mysterious mid-air voices were almost too helpful, weren't they?" And close behind that came, "I wonder if Ethna was really all that glad to be rescued from a life of ecstatic, immortal slavery."

Then, of course, my authorial gears started turning. It didn't take me long to wonder if there might be some other fairy close to Finvarra - a wife, perhaps - who could take an interest in Ethna and steal her back again, this time for good. So I did some online research; and lo and behold, I discovered that not only did Finvarra have a wife, but she was a goddess! Even better, she had her own separate fairy mound far, far away from her husband's.

At first I thought Oonagh's mound was Knocksheegowna, an actual mountain on the far side of Ireland from Knockma. You can imagine how that tickled me. I even found a lovely panoramic image of the view from the summit here, which I can't resist sharing even now that I know it's not Oonagh's mound, just because it's so lovely. I wrote the first draft of Ethna Redux with Kerovan confronting Oonagh at Knocksheegowna, so it's a good thing I had sara castle to fact-check me (and a good thing I had Lady K to catch another embarassing error). Damn, what a difference a single letter makes! Oonagh's actual mound, Knockshegowna (with one "e") is in Tipperary and is, in fact, only a couple of hundred feet taller than Knockma. But hey, at least it is taller. ;-)

As I said in a previous entry, I modeled Finvarra in large part on Cluracan as depicted by Neil Gaiman in the Sandman series, and also on fetish model Perish. There's also a hint of the Galadriel-Celeborn dynamic in Finvarra's relationship with Oonagh. I've always had the idea, in reading The Lord of the Rings, that Tolkien wanted to give Galadriel a mate who was her equal; but he just couldn't do it. Galadriel is just too glorious to have any equal. Celeborn comes across as a mere hanger-on.

As for Oonagh, details online were scant, but I used everything I could find: the hair, the rainbows, the dewdrop gown - even her reputation for devotion, though I had to pervert that one a bit. ;-) Unfortunately, I couldn't find any images of her that weren't a) inaccurate, b) incredibly cheesy, or c) both; so you'll have to content yourself with the painting of the legendary Celtic queen Medb (a.k.a. Maeve) at left above. I actually did have this image in mind when I wrote the "Bride, meet wife" scene. Medb's attitude here is pretty much what I imagine Oonagh's to have been, and Medb was famously insatiable in bed.

Interestingly enough, Medb is said to be buried atop Finvarra's mound. Funny how these things work out.

And now for Kerovan. First of all, I dredged his name from another, longer version of the Ethna story that I found during my online research. This version is incomplete because it's just excerpts from a book Google is trying to sell you; but if you're interested in having a peek, click here. Anyway, I didn't find anything else in this version that I wanted to use besides the hero's name; the rest of it was just too sappy.

But again, about that hero....Once I really delved into the story, I found myself admiring Kerovan too much to just dump him by the side of the road like I do with most of my other so-called heroes. Kerovan is the real deal. He's very much a product of his time; but he's a good, brave man who will go to any lengths necessary to free Ethna from slavery. He just doesn't understand that slavery is what she really wants.

Oh, and by the way, that's not something I made up for the story just because I liked the idea. You can see Ethna's essential passivity even in Lady Wilde's version of the tale. In fact, she's so passive that I had a hard time making a heroine of her at all, though I did my best. Just as I did with Kerovan. That's why I left his final decision entirely in your hands. Whatever you want for him is what he gets. He deserves it.

The opening act

Before the main attraction, "Ethna Redux," hits the stage sometime on Sunday, I thought you might enjoy whiling away the time with another visit to roperookie's expanding gallery on Deviant Art. He's been posting some lovely - and for him, uncharacteristically romantic - new stuff lately. Have a look.

And yes, I do already have the "Peek Beneath the Duct Tape" on Ethna written. I'll post it here as soon as I see that the story is up.

Benedict Campbell goes Salvador Dali one better

Yeah, I've noticed Benedict Campbell before now. He has a small but fairly interesting gallery on Model Mayhem, and I even chose one of his pictures there for my first Ecstasy of Surrender collection. But it was his new gallery on io9 that really made me sit up and take notice. He's not just photographing interestingly made-up models anymore; now he's adding in all kinds of cool digital effects to deliver us a world full of beautiful cyborgs: male, female, and something tantalizingly in-between. The picture below probably isn't the the one all of you will like best, but it did give me an excuse for a great subject line, so here you go:

Oooh, oooooh, oooooooooh!

I'm too tired to grab you any screencaps tonight, but head over to io9 for a truly geek-gasmic new Watchmen trailer, including shots of Richard Nixon, Moloch the Mystic, a dead Dollar Bill, and lots of fantastic footage of Rorschach's mask morphing.

Oh, and BTW, all the goodies are in the first clip, the second is just a reshuffling of footage from the older trailers.

More tasty treats from io9 to come tomorrow; I have another post timed to hit the web at 12:00 noon, EST. Of course, if you spend any time browsing the site beyond your Watchmen visit, you might already have seen it for yourself, by then. Oh, well.

Nighty-night.

So, what's the big deal about...

Funny how Blogger gives you space in your profile to list the things you like, but not the things you dislike. Me, I have several, including quite a few that other people seem to find strangely arousing. Sure, I get that fetishes aren't always rational; but honestly, what's the big deal about...

• Smoking: Yes, I get that cigarettes and cigars are phallic symbols, but so are lollipops. And lollipops don't make you stink, turn your teeth yellow, and give you cancer.
  
• Eyepatches: What's so sexy about the hint of hidden disfiguration? Or is it the pirate thing? C'mon, folks, you know all those scruffy, dirty men didn't have anywhere to bathe out on the open seas. Just think how they must have smelt! Yes, even Captain Jack. And don't get me started on a life without toothbrushes. EDIT: I have been reminded that Eye of Serpent's awesome MC heroine Corelle D'Amber is the one exception to the eyepatch rule. She can get away with it...but no one else can.
  
• Hot cars and motorcycles: I guess I just don't have enough testosterone for this one.
  
• Unnaturally large boobs: see below
  
• bimboization: Sorry, there's just nothing whatsoever hot about stupidity. Intelligence is much, much sexier, even when it's bound into immobility.
  
• pain and blood: In a vampire story, they can be hot - in moderation. Otherwise? Uh uh, not my thing at all... well, aside from Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel series, but even that grew too florid for my tastes after a couple of books. It's not that I'm squicked out by gore; one look at my list of favorite movies will show you that's not the case. I just don't find anything sexy about it.
  
• scat: Do I even need to explain this one? I think not.
  

And they're off!

Well, it's off. "Ethna Redux," that is. Unless Simon takes an unexpected vacation, you should be able to find it in next Sunday's EMCSA update.

So now it's on to the mystery collaboration (still percolating) and the M/m story (all ready for writing, if I can just find some time).

*tap tap* Is this thing on?

Ah, good. The sound check is complete and now it's time for the interview! Callidus has been kind enough to give me another chance to hog the spotlight, and he's asked some pretty interesting questions. I think you'll enjoy the results. If you do, be sure to drop him and me both a line!

While we're waiting for the soundcheck crew to finish up

Here's a little something to pass the time while we're waiting for whichever of my Big Announcements is ready first: Apnea, looking even more entranced than usual. More on her blog, if you're so inclined.

Now here's something you don't see every day

Well, two things, both of which I found on Christine Kessler's most excellent My Fetish Diary Blog. First up is a lovely tattooed lady with a tattooed artificial leg. Now, let me make it perfectly clear that I am neither aroused nor appalled by amputations in general and would never make fun of anyone because of one. I just think this model has a great look, and I'm intrigued by the tattooing on the prosthesis. I think it's a cool idea.

Second, there's this hilarious, star-studded take on the idiocy of Proposition 8, with no less a personage than Jack Black playing Jesus, thumping the Bible-thumpers right back with their own scriptures and showing them how selective they are about what they choose to take literally. And of course, the show wouldn't be complete without A Certain Special Someone to wrap things up in his own inimical snarky style. Here, have a look:

Oh, and hey, look what I just found

I'll have to investigate this site further, when I have more time. For now, all I got was this juicy little spider bite. If it were on the EMCSA, it would be purple with codes ff, mf, fd and bd. And yes, it would fit quite nicely onto the EMCSA. :-)

UPDATE: Looks like the story has been removed. Well, it was great while it lasted. *shrug* Sorry, folks.

Many plates spinning

There's "Ethna Redux," almost ready for a final polish; my interview with Callidus soon to be posted on his site; the M/m story, which is shaping up very, very nicely in my head - it's almost time to start writing; and that mysterious other project I can't say much about yet and may not ever be able to say much about, depending on what we decide as a team. That's the (only) downside to collaborating: you don't get to do whatever you want to do whenever you want to do it - or say whatever you want to say whenever you want to say it. Me, I've got a pretty big mouth...online, at least. Some of my fellow writers, not so much. Dammit. ;-)

Bonus Sunday Goodness

Well now, I've just been a busy little beaver this weekend, haven't I?

Anyway, here's what happens when you let an experienced hard SF writer loose on the idea of Superman having sex. Be prepared to "bwah." Loudly.

And here's some funky/sexy/cool artwork I just turned up on io9, with clickable thumbnails to my two favorites.

Off and running

Well, folks, I'm pleased to announce that I finished the rough draft of "Ethna Redux" mere minutes ago and sent it off to three cheerful volunteers from the MC Garden (sara castle, robotunit8, and Lady K) for fact-checking all the details of Ireland and Irish mythology that my very American mind might have mangled. My plan at this point is to have the finished product ready for the December 14 EMCSA update.

I have also found some success in my quest for information about gay male sex, in preparation for writing that M/m superspy story I've been teasing you all with (BTW, in case you missed it, the final poll numbers came out almost identical in the "for" and "against" columns. That's good enough for me). I have a slash-loving friend who'd probably prefer to remain anonymous here, but who deserves my thanks for coming through for me in an entirely unexpected way. I hesitated to ask her advice at first, since from what I understand, slash is usually written by women who enjoy fantasizing about gay men rather than by gay men themselves. That, I thought, wouldn't do me any good at all. But this friend happened to have a link to a website of advice from an actual gay man about how to write realistic slash, and it's chock full of exactly the kind of details I need most. I doubt many of you out there are all that curious, but if you are, here's the link she gave me.

And as a special thanks to my friend, I'll be tucking her favorite slash pair into my story...but so subtly that only she'll see them for who they really are.

Cheers to all my secret and not-so-secret accomplices!

Meet Finvarra

So, there I was, plotting out my latest story and trying to turn the two-dimensional baddie of Lady Wilde's fairy tale into a sexy, three-dimensional being you could sort of root for...for awhile, anyway. I took a bit of inspiration from Tolkien and from Peter Jackson's adaptation of same (more about that in the eventual "Peek Beneath the Duct Tape") - including his decidedly androgynous male Elves. I added a large dash of Cluracan as portrayed by Neil Gaiman in the Sandman epic, and then I looked to the guy you see at your left.

This is Perish, the only really popular male fetish model I've found so far. I have a hunch that if he really were a fairy king, he'd be more likely to kidnap Ethna's husband than Ethna herself; nevertheless, he has great chemistry with the ladies he models alongside, and he comes across as delightfully sensual and otherworldly - not to mention occasionally downright freaky. But I like that, I like that. In fact, I find myself strangely attracted to him...well, most of him, anyway. ;-)

The picture at left doesn't quite illustrate anything from the Ethna story, but it comes close enough, with the idea of a supernatural being "playing" his female victim via music. You'll see how it all works out soon enough. In the meantime, if you'd like a better look at the female half of this pairing, you can start here and work your way through her brief but interesting little gallery.

One final note: "Ethna Redux" will mark the first but not the last appearance of Perish in one of my stories. I plan to cast him as the villain in my M/m superspy story, too.

Funny how the poll numbers have changed since my last post about them ;-)

I imagine some of you stopping back by here after a week or two away and going, "Huh? No, wait!" - then frantically stabbing the vote buttons. ;-) But sorry, folks, the wheels in my brain are turning too fast to be stopped now. If M/m isn't your thing, you'll just have to skip the superspy story.

But don't worry; there will be plenty for you to enjoy in "Ethna Redux," including a rather large slice of mdom, for those of you who like that sort of thing. I've tried to do right by the story and characters as Lady Wilde originally presented them...although, of course, I've added a good bit, especially at the end. ;-)

My version is coming along quite well, BTW. I might even finish the rough draft this weekend - or perhaps next. There are a lot of factors to juggle, including a sinus infection and a girlfriend I haven't seen nearly enough of lately.

Anyway, drop back by tomorrow for a look at my model for Finvarra, the Fairy King who kidnaps Ethna.

Happy Thanksgiving from Lords Cthulhu and Dagon

Ever wondered exactly how to pronounce "Ia! Ia! Cthulhu fhtagn!"? Here, let io9 show you how. And wow, that high priestess looks genuinely deranged, doesn't she? That's some mighty fine camp.

Link definitely NSFW, for those of you outside the US who actually are working today. Of course, anyone viewing this blog from work probably isn't too concerned, eh? ;-)

Lastly, to my frequent visitor from Mumbai: my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Aha, so you *are* up for a little man-on-man action!

I like those poll numbers I'm seeing over on the right (Missed the original post? Click here). Well friends, your wish is my command. I'm still working on "Ethna Redux" at the moment, and there's that other mysterious project that's still in the batting-ideas-around stages, so the M/m superspy story probably won't get started until around January. However, I'm so excited about it that I'm already toying with names and ideas. I can't wait to try writing an entire story in cyan. It'll be an interesting challenge.

Apnea shows us what to expect from the retooled "V"

Sorry, I just found this on her blog and had to share. ;-) But for those of you going "Huh?," yes, the classic '80's-era series about guinea-pig-gulping evil lizard people is coming back. Beware.

Oh, and I did get off to a very nice start on "Ethna Redux" yesterday. Toward the end of the process, I'm going to be looking for someone with a good knowledge of Irish fairy tales and Celtic mythology to check what I've written for any glaring errors. If you'd like to volunteer (or volunteer someone else), feel free to drop me a line.

And finally, please vote!

Voicelessness

Behold the lovely Ancilla Tilia, nude, muzzled, and loving every second of it. I discovered in an interview I read that "ancilla" is Latin for "slave," and she really is a lifestyle sub.

Anyway, I chose this picture to share with you today because it represents a subset of my general mind control/enclosure/bondage fetish: enforced muteness. After all, isn't our ability to speak, to express our wants and feelings and opinions, an essential part of what makes us human? Taking away someone's voice, literally or figuratively, is extremely depersonalizing. In real life, it's horrible; but in MC fantasy, it's delicious. A slave has no voice at all in what happens to her or him.

Voicelessness is a theme I explored first in private fantasies; then later in several of my stories, including Spellbound, Solitaire and Willing Subject. Funny how those three just happen to be my personal favorites.

I've also explored the theme in some early photomanips I created for my own private pleasure. I'm sorry to say none of them are good enough to share online; however, I will give you this little tease: Callidus is interviewing me for his blog and has convinced me to share another pic I did which came out rather better than the mouthless ones. I'm not sure when he'll post the interview, but I'll let you know once it's up.

Oh, and one other tease: I hope to start writing "Ethna Redux" today or tomorrow.

Your input, please

Monday night I had another one of my lucid dreams that turned into a very pleasant MC fantasy. This time I was playing around with a very old (but, IMO, pretty clever) idea that I'm surprised to realize I haven't actually used in an EMCSA story yet. So naturally, I started plotting. First I imagined myself as a superspy captured by her archenemy and turned into a willing sex slave. Then suddenly it occurred to me: why did it have to be a female superspy? After all, Aerosol Kid has already mapped that territory quite satisfactorily with his Akiko series. Wouldn't it be fun to turn some macho, arrogant ladykiller like James Bond or Tom Cruise in action hero mode into a cock-worshiping supersub?

Well, one way or another, I'm sure I'll write the story - though "Ethna Redux" is up next, and I've just received an offer I can't refuse via e-mail. It'll be awhile. But I thought I'd give those of you who actually read and enjoy my stuff a chance to weigh in on the subject. And you don't even have to e-mail me to do it; just cast your vote here:

EDIT: Okay, it looks like the poll isn't working, so I've taken it out and tried a different brand. Just look to your right. :-)

A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape with Guest Star Tabico

All right, folks, it's time for the less mysterious of my co-conspirators to weigh on our two collaborations. Take it away, Tabico!

I have the memory of a balsa wood elephant, but there are a few moments from my lengthy engagement in this genre that still stand out. One of them was that first week when Spellbound appeared. It was short, sharp, and awesome, and I knew immediately that a new top-shelf talent had appeared in our midst. I didn't know if she would continue to write - Alphax, another best-of-breed storyteller, has only two short pieces to his credit - but I saw right then at that moment that something had dawned.

So later when thrall suggested a collaboration, I was fully on board. I don't recall now (remember the elephant) what sequence of events led to the suggestion, or even for certain that she brought it up, but I'm fairly sure she did. At that point I had already worked with Iago once, and been ecstatic at what we had produced despite an almost complete lack of any subsequent fanmail. The process as well as the product had been really good, so despite the fact that In Darkness Bound totally bombed at the MC Box office, I was ready to give a collaborative work another go.

I don't recall how spiders came up. I do recall, quite distinctly, that thrall had a mental image she wanted to go with, of a mummified figure with cobwebs over her mouth, the cobwebs moving in and out with her breath. I'm into transformations and monster-women, so the half-human half-spider figures are probably from my imagination.

Arachnae turned out well; not genre-defining, but a good yarn with some punch. Moreover, the process of creating it worked well and was fun. In short, we batted the plot back and forth, each picked different sections to write - and free-edited, meaning that we rewrote each other's work as though it were our own.

It's a tricky recipe, that last part, but as I had with Iago, thrall and I hit just the right balance of respect for one another's work and lack of ego when our own stuff was polished. So it was a good experience.

Later on we did Salvation. I recall even less about that effort, but it was also a fun activity. Somehow we missed the mark a bit there - I secretly (well, not so secretly now, eh?) think that "Salvation" although both good and fun could have been really earth-shaking, and wonder what I or we could have done to make it so. The elements are there - the brilliant concept of the slave being rescued who turns the tables on her rescuers. The hot element of the freed slave, now rescuer, who is lured back into slavery. Somehow, though, we missed some element, some tone, that would have made it more molten.

But I regret nothing.

I've prompted thrall a few times (twice, I think) since then about maybe doing something else together, but the time wasn't right or maybe my suggestions just failed to light a fire. In any case, my genre writing has slowed down a bunch. More recently thought hers has increased, (particularly if you take the blog into account), so perhaps there's hope. I still think that, if we could just get exactly the right ingredients, we could write something that people would be talking about years from now.

Heads up!

First, my Reader's Picks page on the EMCSA is now updated.

Second, remember that horrible David Lynch adaptation of Dune? Well, things could have been a whole lot worse.

And lastly, just in case you've been living in a cave for the last week or two, there's a new Watchmen trailer available with 100% less Lower Manhattan and 100% more drama. I understand some folks are complaining about the use of the name "Watchmen" for the second-generation vigilante team; but my only real gripe is that the silhouette of the Comedian's killer looks a bit too well-defined to properly preserve the mystery.

A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape: My Collaborations with Tabico and trilby else

To date, I've written three collaborative pieces for the EMCSA: two with Tabico and one with trilby else (I don't count the Quick and Dirty Anthology as a collaboration, since each chapter was written separately by a different author; and anyway, I'm not allowed to say much about that ;-P), and each collaboration was lots of fun. Of course, it helps that Tabico and trilby are my two favorite authors on the EMCSA; and our styles and kinks mesh well enough that we were able to create stories that, IMO, come across as seamless wholes rather than pieces of Frankensteinian patchwork.

Each story came about under very different circumstances. I'll tell you a bit about all three now, and Tabico plans to stop by later with her own thoughts, perhaps as early as tomorrow. Stay tuned.

My first collaboration was on Arachnae, or the Icky-Squicky Spider (Tabico and I couldn't agree on a title, so we used both of our ideas. Guess which one was mine. ;-P). It began with my reading Tabico's Adaptation, at the end of which she expressed an interest in squick and wondered if anyone else out there felt the same. She and I had already exchanged a number of e-mails, and as a matter of fact, I was privately toying with the idea of MC by spider bite; so I suggested a collaboration. I didn't have anything like a coherent plot in mind when I wrote her; I was just fascinated by the idea of being so deeply enthralled by something abhorrent that you end up reveling in what should send you screaming. Well, Tabico took that idea and ran with it, quickly coming up with the alien spider queen concept, which allowed for all the variations on freaky bondage and body modifications that we both enjoy so much. We worked up the overall plot together and divided the sections pretty evenly, with one of us taking all but one of the above-ground scenes and one of us taking all but one of the below-ground scenes. I won't spell it out for you, but if you've read much of our writing or know anything about our backgrounds, that's probably enough to tell you who wrote which bits. ;-)

I can't remember which of us was the first to suggest a second collaboration, but I do remember that I'd recently had a dream that gave us an excellent starting point. I dreamed I was a brainwashed slave trying to prevent intruders from taking over my Mistress' compound. There wasn't much more to it than that, but on waking, I was intrigued by the notion of a slave molded for helplessness and passivity being all that stood between her Mistress and victory for her Mistress' enemies - which would have been victory for the slave, as well, if only she'd been in a position to appreciate it. As before, the division of work on Salvation was pretty equal; but this time we swapped off in the middle of scenes as well as between scenes. As a result, when I went back to reread the story a few months ago, even I couldn't remember which of us had written certain sections (though I do recall that Tabico wrote the opening and I wrote the close). I guess that's a testament to how well our styles meshed.

The situation with trilby else was a bit different. As I've said before, he likes to stay in the shadows (a great place from which to snark, I might add) and had never collaborated with anyone else. As a matter of fact, I'd broached the idea to him at least a couple of times before, but he'd always responded with a polite "Thanks, but no thanks." Then I hit a rough patch in a number of different ways; and suddenly there was trilby, offering me a collaboration as, I guess, a way of cheering me up. Unfortunately, that rough patch extended to my creativity, and I'm afraid most of the best bits of Goldilocks are his. I did come up with the basic idea of a woman stumbling onto long-abandoned alien technology and MC'ing herself with no one to rescue her, but trilby was the one who really fleshed it out. I hadn't even thought of setting it in the future, on another planet; I just had a sort of vague, Tommyknockers-ish idea of a unearthed spaceship or secret silo or something, somewhere on earth.

Then there was the matter of names. Idris' ship took its name from a way-beyond-cool William Gibson heroine (trilby's idea, but I recommended the book to him ;-)). When it came time for a story title, of course we had to use just a single word, since that's a trilby else signature. Our first idea was "Bauble," but then he happened to mention Goldilocks in passing, and a little light bulb went off in my head. He liked the idea, too, so there you go. Much easier to name than the spider story. ;-)

Looking back on my three collaborations, I can't help noticing that though the actual work was either evenly divided (with the first two) or more heavily shouldered by the other person (with the last), all three ideas began in my head. I don't know if that's coincidence or if there's more to it than that. Certainly, I'm not the kind of author who can be handed someone else's suggestion and dash off a story just like that - not most of the time, anyway. So don't hold your breath waiting for me to contribute to any other anthologies. But if someone whose work I respected and whose style meshed with my own offered up the right idea, it could conceivably strike a spark in my head. Who knows? I wouldn't rule anything out.

Anyway, collaborating - with the right partner - can be terrific fun. I highly recommend it.

This is what happens when you don't have cable

I don't watch TV at all anymore; the only time I even turn the thing on is to play DVD's. Now, this does have its advantages, like saving the money I'd spend on cable and not getting addicted to some show I'll be stuck coming back to week after week to make sure I don't miss anything. Plus, I'd honestly just rather use my weekday evenings playing online.

Unfortunately, the downside of not having cable or watching TV is that I don't get to see music videos unless I make an effort to hunt them down, which I usually don't. But today, for some reason, I did. One of my current favorite songs on the radio is Shiny Toy Guns' "Ricochet." Just for kicks, I hunted down the official video on YouTube; and lo and behold, it's chock full of fetishy goodness: zentai, total enclosure, depersonalization, and a hint of mind control (not to mention a few random hairless, stuffed dogs). And all that's on top of what was already a kick-ass song to begin with. Here, have a look:

Latex Laurie to the rescue!

The original subject I had planned for my Wednesday blog entry was a "Peek Beneath the Duct Tape" on my trio of collaborations with Tabico and trilby else; but to be perfectly honest, I haven't had a chance to write a word about any of them yet. Fortunately, I just stumbled across a cache of fantastic new Watchmen posters, including the best shot yet of Laurie and a little commentary from Malin Akerman on how it felt to be encased in all that yummy latex. Just click the pic for all the details, but WARNING: clicking the thumbnails on the "Laurie" page takes you not only to larger versions of the posters but also to five different articles from five different sources with tidbits about the movie - and one of those tidbits includes both MAJOR SPOILERS for anyone who hasn't read the graphic novel and a relatively minor movie spoiler for those of you who have read the novel. So, if you want to read every article but the one I'm hinting about, just highlight the spoiler text inside these brackets: [Ozymandias (the guy in purple)]. Otherwise, read all or none as you please. :-)

Quite some time ago I told both my collaborators about my blogging intentions and offered them the chance to participate; but trilby told me he prefers, as usual, to remain in the shadows; and I haven't heard back from Tabico in so long that I can only assume she feels the same. So, Tabs, if you're reading this and really do want to contribute, this is your last chance! ;-P The non-collaborative Peek about collaborating is now planned for Saturday.

Hey, look! It's Gay Superman!

Remember that link I gave you Friday to the io9 page of noir-ish poster art for Watchmen? Well, I ended up following the link from there back to the artist's gallery at (of course) Deviant Art. While I was disappointed by his cheerful rah-rah Republicanism, I did find many more pictures worth looking at, including these three:




There are also plenty of other pictures to enjoy, as well, including several more noir-type Watchmen and superheroes shots. It's worth a look. Just try not to giggle too hard at his take on Sarah Palin.

Hilarious near-blasphemy

Watchmen fanatics, prepare yourselves to have your deepest fantasies joined to your darkest nightmares, then turned against you with the kind of brain-blasting rush you-know-who could only dream of inflicting:

I don't know how I missed this, but...

Many, many thanks to Jukebox for writing in to direct my attention to his new Shiny, Happy People, which is about exactly what it sounds like. This Sorayama picture captures it fairly well, except that the guy in the painting isn't nearly as happy with his condition as Jukebox's converts.

I just have to add this one to the updated Reader's Picks page I sent Simon last night. Can't you imagine the look on his face when he hears from me yet again about the same damn thing as before? Poor guy, so longsuffering. But it's all in a good cause. ;-)

Bonus points to those of you who catch the Faculty reference in Jukebox's story.

I'm thinking it's about time to update my "Reader's Picks" page

I really need to add in sara castle's Athame, which has just come to a delightful conclusion in today's EMCSA update, and also Libertine's Honey Chile and nymph's Las Fallas and Other Stories, both of which I've mentioned here before. Plus, I need to fix a few glitches, and modify an assertion I made about a story that the author disputes.

Enjoy your week. More Peeks Beneath the Duct Tape coming soon.

Now here's a little something to get that nasty Love taste out of your mouth

At long last, Warner Brothers has seen fit to give us a behind-the-scenes Watchmen video that's actually worth watching, even for those of you on dial-up. Want a bunch of long, lingering shots of Sally Jupiter in her heyday and in her boozy old age? How about Latex Laurie kicking major ass in the prison fight scene? Interviews with both actresses and some brief but intriguing glimpses of several other characters? Well, look no further, my friends.

Of course, if you're a dial-upper and really, really can't be bothered to wait for the download (even though I promise you it's worth it), at least you can see a couple of nice shots of the young and old Sally here. All hail io9!

EDIT: I can't figure out how to stop the video from starting automatically; and since it's already getting on my nerves, I figure it probably annoys most of you, as well. Therefore, I've removed the embedded object. You can now find the video simply by following this link to io9. You're welcome. ;-P

Now here are a couple more "money" shots to further entice you, if you still need enticing. Believe me, after seeing this video clip, you will be in love with Laurie and with Malin Akerman and Carla Gugino - and that's even if you haven't read the graphic novel.



Oh, and then there's this: a couple of fantastic noir-style Watchmen posters with a bonus of Spiderman, Batman, and a piece of billion-dollar dreck that I don't deign to name in the same sentence as the Great Ones.

Courtney Love is a total fucking idiot

And her grammar skills would shame a first grader.

Better news from Lesbian Land tomorrow.

Visitor update

I thought you might be curious to know who else been reading my blog lately, so here's another visitor update. Bear in mind that the free version of Stat Counter only counts the last 500 visits (correction: the last 500 hits, and most visitors are responsible for more than one hit. Thus the relatively small number of dots on the map). So you're not seeing, for instance, the two or three folks from New Zealand who've dropped by in recent weeks, the Alaskan, the Israeli, or the South African (Yes! Now I've had visitors from six of the seven continents!). Also, you can't tell just how fervent some of my visitors have been. For instance, I seem to have a true kindred spirit in London; though I've never actually heard from him or her. Anyway, whoever you are, your presence is much appreciated. As is everyone else's. :-)

Art Appreciation 102

If you followed the link in last Saturday's entry to Sci Fi Wire's page of Halloween costumes, you've already seen the image at left here. The author of the article on the SFW page wondered "how she made the tail." Well, dingbat (the SFW author, not you ;-)), "she" didn't "make" the tail. This isn't a costume; it's a painting by an artist named Chio Maisriml, whose work can be found in a subsection of the Beesign website. I've been enjoying his stuff for years now. Here are just a few of my favorites:






For larger versions of these pictures and many, many more along similar lines (including one with an alienized Susan Wayland), just follow the link above. Oh, and by the way, don't be worried that the site is mostly in German; even if you don't speak the language, all you really need to know is "Galerie," which is pretty self explanatory.

Sadly, this isn't the first time a Beesign pic has been taken out of context and/or abused. The pic at left was my first introduction to this artist. I found it on some latex site or other (I'm sorry now that I didn't bookmark it because I can't find it again, and this particular pic isn't on the Beesign website) with the logo attached, just as you see here. Then I rediscovered it on the Hypnopics Collective with the logo removed, some random text added, and the asshole who posted it claiming it as his own work. I dashed off a quick, angry correction in the "comments" section; but the thing had already been up for a year by the time I got there, so I doubt anyone's dropped in on it lately to learn the truth. Oh, well. You and I know, don't we?

My deepest apologies

...to the sumptuous Kate Winslet for not raving about her on this blog before today. Believe me, I've raved about her many times in other venues. To me, this lady is absolute perfection in any of the various sizes and shapes she's adopted through the years, and I love her soul every bit as much as her body. This is the kind of woman I could marry...and just in case you were wondering, my beloved feels exactly the same. I think we'd make a delightful threesome. ;-)

Anyway, I found this lovely Barbarella-esque pic on the Vanity Fair website today (I won't tell you where I got the link for fear of lowering your opinion of me ;-P) and just felt the overwhelming need to share. VF has a ten-image slide show of Kate Winslet images, but IMO this one is by far the best. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Um, I think these people are knocking on the wrong door

Everyone expects a certain amount of spam, right? But when your e-mail address is only posted on X-rated websites, should you really expect spam from a Christian dating service??? That's what I've been getting lately, over and over again.

I can't help wondering how they'd react if I actually signed on with them: "lesbian and proud member of the Religious Left with several kinky fetishes seeking same." Maybe I'd even post that Sorayama gynoid pic as my personal photo. Do you think they'd be more anxious to a) purge their records of my merest blasphemous touch or b) evangelize my poor, benighted soul and help me realize that homosexuality really is a lifestyle choice?

*sigh of relief*

I'll admit to being a bit worried when the new update showed up on the EMCSA and my revised versions of Solitaire and A Tenpack of Trixies weren't included. Fortunately, they're up now. I guess Simon just had so much on his plate this week that he had to do the update in pieces.

So anyway, for those of you who didn't like the thought of downloading the RTF previews, the long wait is over. ;-P "Solitaire" is about 95% what it was before, though I am quite pleased with at least one new turn of phrase. On the other hand, I think "Tenpack" 2.0 is a significant improvement over the original, especially in two crucial explanatory passages that I don't think were clear enough the first time around. I hope you'll enjoy both stories.

As for me, when I haven't turning and returning to the EMCSA in search of my updates, I've been continuing my research into Irish fairy lore. My plan for (working title) "Ethna Redux" is to stick as close to the original script as possible, but at the same time give you "the rest of the story" as I prefer to imagine it. And we all know what that means, don't we...or do we? I might surprise you this time. I might surprise myself. To be honest, I'm not 100% where this one is going yet.

And for my next trick...

Just thought you all might like a little heads-up about my next story. Recently, a certain shadowy friend pointed me toward this old Irish legend, and it immediately set my cogwheels churning. I'm a long way from actually writing anything down yet, but I have begun the necessary research and cogitation. So while you're waiting, here's a little question to set your own gears in motion: weren't those mysterious voices that helped Ethna's husband in the legend just a wee bit too convenient?

Slightly tardy Halloween goodness

Saturday's blog entry was going to be about my next story, but then I got this link in my e-mail box and had to share. Sci Fi Wire offers several sexy suggestions for Halloween partygoers, including the following. Click the link above above for bigger versions of these pics and several others, as well.



And, of course, this post offers me the perfect opportunity to finally share this, which I secreted on my hard drive several weeks ago because you just never know when something is going to come in handy:



Look for a post about my next story tomorrow.

Wow...just...wow

Look what I just found over on Asudem Latex's site. This the perfect combination of MC, technology, depersonalization, and mannequin fetishism all in one short but oh-so-sweet video. Okay, actually, AL has three videos, but this is the one that really did it for me; the other two are just models posing.

*sigh* the things people find to obsess about

Of course you can see Dr. Manhattan's junk in the Watchmen trailer! Would anyone who's read the graphic novel have expected any less?

Anyway, the headline and some of the commentary are rather amusing.

Also, I see from this story that MTV now has an HD version of the trailer, so I'll update my links and pics in the post further down the page.

Sometimes my posts just write themselves

Did you know that actress Scarlett Johansson is a mind-controlled clone? This guy does.

A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape: Solitaire

But first, some good news for those of you who were reluctant to download those RTF previews of Willing Subject and What Do You Give the Man Who Has Everything?: the updates are now online. Unfortunately, it's going to be another week before Simon can post "A Tenpack of Trixies," so you're stuck with the RTF files on that one a little longer.

At the same time I send Simon the five Trixie chapters, I also plan to send him a new tweak on Solitaire; but I must admit that when I looked it over again recently, I only felt the need to change a handful of words. My Muse and I were really going at it hot and heavy that day in a way I've only experienced once before - and that wasn't in writing erotica (though it did involve some MC - tease, tease). I came up with the idea for "Solitaire" one morning (probably after spending a long time the previous night really playing it), sat down to write that afternoon, and had the whole piece finished before sundown. You might say, continuing the Greek goddess analogy, that it sprang full-blown from my head onto the screen.

Of course, I was influenced by several other stories in writing this one, including one by a writer sadly no longer active on the EMCSA. Thank goodness for the Wayback Machine - and thank goodness Sara H herself has returned, even if she's not quite up to writing yet. Sara, if you're reading this, here's a virtual hug and a genuine "Glad to have you back." EDIT: Sara is fully back now, stories and all. You can find "Hiss" on the EMCSA here.

Anyway, at the time I wrote "Solitaire," I was still reveling in the newness of finding a fetish home on the web and reading everything I could get my greedy little eyeballs on. I also really was playing a lot of Solitaire and Freecell while writing as a sort of cybernetic alternative to tapping a pencil against my teeth in thought. Such simple games, but they really do suck you in - and zone you out. It really is true, as I say in the story, that we can fall into a low-grade trance while focusing on a simple task; it's happened to me countless times, especially with computer games. It's like that demanding king who follows you with his eyes (in Freecell, actually, not Solitaire) really does force you to keep playing game after game after game. I used to love that feeling of half wanting to stop and not quite being able to pull myself away from the screen.

But of course, my favorite part of the story is the latter half, when the narrator is transformed into a mindless, shiny black robot with a number (and not even a unique one, at that) where her face used to be. I've always been fascinated with the idea of depersonalization...okay, well, I've always been extremely turned on by the idea of depersonalization. Taking everything that makes a human being an individual, right down to her/his face and fingerprints, and erasing it completely - that, to me, is the hottest aspect of mind control. Adding a slick, black layer of fetishy goodness is really just icing on the cake; but such yummy icing it is.

Then there's the bit about the mouse - the whole reason (as if you couldn't guess) I added a "Don't try this at home" warning at the top of the story. It seems ridiculous to think I'd have to issue a warning about something as obvious as that, but there's a reason gas stations have signs advising people not to suction gas with their mouths, and that a milk carton I saw once in Wales (Hi, sc ;-)) bore a label saying, "Warning: contains milk." Some people are just stupid enough to need such warnings, and I will accept no responsibility for anyone who ends up in some emergency room somewhere with a computer mouse jammed inside an orifice not designed to handle it. But I do still think it's a cool idea. The female anatomy just makes such a perfect computer port, doesn't it?

Watchmen watchers, this is for you

Well, I guess if you're really serious about following the latest Watchmen movie news, you've probably at least heard about and maybe already seen and/or recorded the latest leaked footage. Me, I found it just now on io9, then followed an AICN link to a YouTube version for the sake of comparison. The io9 version is bigger and better, so if you haven't seen it yet, go there. EDIT: Strike that. Go to MTV.com for the HD version.

As for those of you on dial-up who want to know if it's worth the load time, I can tell you this: the new trailer is 1:48 in length and is about half-and-half old footage vs. new - the latter of which includes more of Latex Laurie in action, a glimpse of (I assume) Karnak hanging on the edge of an icy cliff face, Dr. Manhattan disassembling a tank with a wave of his hand, and a couple of great shots of Rorschachian acrobatics. But the best part is how the trailer closes: a fantastic slow-motion look at the Comedian's death plunge.

Here are a few screen grabs just to whet your appetites a little further (new versions now from the HD trailer):

The eyes are the windows to the...what?

Anyone who's read many of my MC stories can't help but notice my fetish for altered eyes. It's an obvious connection, and one I've been making since my childhood, thanks to those old Saturday morning cartoons where childhood idols like Wonder Woman got MC'ed and their eyes spun or glowed or (best of all) turned solid white. I didn't understand then just why altering the eyes of an MC victim was so appropriate, but I learned to link the two early on.

When I first started fantasizing about lesbian MC in earnest, almost all my private stories featured full-sclera white contact lenses. I was very disappointed to learn, after a bit of internet browsing, that in real life the wearer can't actually see out of the damn things. So there went my hopes of ever playing out that fantasy in public...not that it was ever very likely in the first place. Fortunately, I can still play it out vicariously online.

And there are some viable, almost-as-hot alternatives to the all-white look: the gorgeous mirrored lens pictured above, for instance. I've actually fantasized about just such a product I was kid, though I had no idea anyone was really making it until now. But I've recently been on an online fetish scavenger hunt and have turned up some real goodies.

9mm SFX has the best-looking lenses, including the mirrored ones - which, BTW, also come in a black sclera version. Unfortunately, both styles are available only to filmmakers, not the general public. Not that most of us are in a position to plop down $300 on a pair of novelty contact lenses, anyway. But it's nice to dream.

If only these or some other artists would be inspired to take the mirrored effect full-eye, as one Model Mayhem member has done, and as I have done, myself. It's an image I've had in my mind for years, but it doesn't seem to have occurred to very many other people, at least not people who feel like sharing. Dammit. I'd love to see a big-budget movie about mirror-eyed, brainwashed cyborgs...maybe starring Angelina Jolie as the brave resistance fighter who succumbs in the end. Of course, her natural eyes are so lovely that it would almost be a shame to cover them up; but in this case I'd make an exception. ;-)

Anyway, before my stream of consciousness carries me completely around the bend from 9mm SFX, let me just let me throw out a quick "Look here!" to any fellow Neil Gaiman fans. Remind you of anyone? Mmm, tasty! ;-P

And now, onward. I found site after site of novelty contact lenses in my little scavenger hunt, but most of them offered the same set of products, and most of that set were more more cute than cool. There was this, though - a surprisingly high-toned subsection of a fairly standard Halloween-goth-gear site. I particularly like the nitrous sclera lenses. I can definitely see that effect working its way into an MC story: the blue flames starting at the victim's clit and crawling slowly, deliciously upward. By the time they reach her eyes, they've burned away everything she ever was before and left nothing in their wake but darkness and desire.

Sweet dreams, my friends.

Hmmm...

Well, the new EMCSA update is posted, but Simon has e-mailed me to let me know that he won't have my "Willing Subject" and "What Do You Give" revisions online until later in the week. I'm disappointed, but hey, the site's all free, and at least he's nice enough to allow writers to update their work. I really can't complain. Besides, I did a pretty good job of that once already today, didn't I? ;-)

So instead, I'll take this opportunity to point you toward Jukebox's latest, a lovely green piece called Video Killed the Radio Star. His 1980's song title shtick is always fun, but I must admit, it strikes rather an odd chord in this story since it's set in the 1950's. Not that I mind. It's a hot, well-done piece with an interesting MC'er. In fact, Jukebox has been on a pretty darn good roll lately. I should have mentioned him before now. Sorry, J. :-)

sara castle also has a second chapter of Athame online, and things just keeping getting slicker and shinier. Yum.

Enjoy. :-)

Warning: political rant ahead

Sorry, but I just have to make my voice heard somewhere, and it most certainly won't be heard in my home state.

I just got one of those "political poll" phone calls. You know, the kind that at first just seems to be gathering opinions and then starts asking increasingly leading questions that are meant to make you think one guy's better than the other guy. I cut her off at the pass the moment she started down that road, and she quickly retreated back to the more neutral questions, but I'm left with a bad taste in my mouth.

And the worst part is, when she started homing in on the two candidates running for local congressional seats, I realized much to my embarrassment that I didn't know a thing about either of them, not even which was the Democrat and which was the Republican. In a way, I feel ashamed of myself; but in another way, I almost feel justified, because in a state so overwhelmingly tilted toward one party, people of the other party just don't have much of a voice. They try, but they're constantly shouted down, even preached against from area pulpits. Hell, my state is one of those that voted (by a frighteningly large margin) to write discrimination against people like me right into the constitution. Why should I, where I am, have any hope of making a difference on election day? Oh, I'll vote, I'll vote - but the congressman I'll vote for won't stand a chance; and my vote for president will be bundled up with all the others in the state and given to the guy I didn't vote for.

Sometimes this system sucks. I just don't know of a better one.

In Praise of Tipping the Velvet

The miniseries, I mean. ;-)

I'm not generally a fan of romances; as you can see from the list of favorite movies in my profile, I tend toward a) raunchy comedies made by people with more on their mind than fart jokes and b) stylistic suspense and/or action flicks made by people with more on their minds than blowing shit up. That being said, Tipping the Velvet does have quite a bit of raunchy comedy and is shot in a modern, stylistic manner despite its Victorian setting. Plus, the featured actresses (all of whom, I think, are straight in real life) totally sell the lesbian romance and sex scenes - the latter of which are among the most genuinely erotic I've ever seen.

Besides, Nan, the heroine, is a delightful character; and her story mirrors my own in some significant ways. Like me, she grows up thinking of herself as straight because she just doesn't know there's any other way to be. All she knows is, she isn't nearly as interested in having sex with her boyfriend as he and her sister think she should be. I've alluded to the rowboat scene before in this blog; that was so me at that stage of my life.

Then Nan goes to a vaudeville show and finds herself absolutely (sorry, there's no better word) enthralled by a charming young drag king named Kitty. Now, Kitty isn't a modern drag king (And thank goodness for that; women who look like men do nothing for me. On the other hand, I absolutely adore drag queens). She's a pretty young woman who cuts her hair short, wears a gentleman's suit, and winkingly sings about all the women she's loved. Before you know it, Nan's joining her act in a number of different ways, all of which are quite enjoyable - for them and for us.

But that's only the first third of the miniseries. In the second third, Nan falls in with a domme who turns Nan into her personal love slave and exhibits her at fetish balls in various outlandish getups. My favorite is when she paints Nan gold from head to toe, straps a ginormous dildo on her, and introduces her as "Hermaphrodite" (with the final "e" pronounced). When Domme Diana leads her out into the crowd, Nan's face is totally impassive, as if she really has been turned into a mindless living statue. Gah, it's just soooo hot. Here, have a closer look - and an even closer one. Wouldn't you just kill to have a woman like this in your bed?

But that's only the second third of the miniseries, and I really would be doing you an injustice if I spoiled the final act. Try not to hear too much about it before you see it; it's full of delightful twists and turns, and the climax is a real gut-wrencher - in the best possible way.

All in all, Tipping the Velvet is a five-star rental, if not an outright purchase. Check it out. You'll thank me later.

I don't plan to make a habit of this, but...

Here I go again, stitching together a post of totally unconnected bits and pieces.

First up is this absolutely amazing new pic of Kumi Monster from Deviant Art. HW-Design really outdid themselves with the costume, and Kumi carries it off as only she can. Of course, I should also give credit to the photographer, Kelly Lind, who has quite a nice gallery at Deviant Art.

Second, here's a quick thanks/shout-out to Tony at The Fetishistas for providing me with the right-sized banner to add his site to my sidebar. All the banners on the site were too long, but he was gracious enough to give me some alternatives - such a nice selection of alternatives, in fact, that I had a very hard time deciding which one to use. I might swap them out later on. Anyway, do stop by the site when you get a chance. It's chock full of free fetish goodness.

Lastly, I've e-mailed Simon the revised versions of "Willing Subject" and "What Do You Give The Man Who Has Everything?," so those of you who didn't feel comfortable about downloading the RTF previews should be able to find the finished products online sometime Sunday. Meanwhile, for those of you who don't mind downloading RTF files, here are the five revised chapters of "A Tenpack of Trixies," which won't show up on the EMCSA for another week and a half:

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5

In the interest of diversity (or maybe just contrariness)...

Just for once (heh, so far, anyway), I'd like to go totally against the spirit of this blog and share a few pics of some men I like to look at. There's nothing particularly fetishy about most of these images; they're just shots I like. In fact, some of them have been on my hard drive since the time I thought I was straight (like that '90's-era Vanity Fair cover); others, I Googled just now. I hope those of you who like looking at men will enjoy - and those of you who don't won't hold it against me. ;-)

Now, first of all, anyone who knows me at all knows I have to start with Jude Law - and give him twice as much space as anyone else. That's just because, well, he's Jude Law. And look: there is one fetish picture in the mix...or maybe more than one, depending on how you feel about barnyard animals. ;-)




BTW, if you're as much of a Gigolo Joe fan as I am (IMO, he was by far the best part of A.I.), you might enjoy this YouTube video of all his best moments, including the absolutely delightful seduction of a woman who's never been with an android before and isn't quite sure how she feels about it...at first. But embedding the video itself here would be overkill, wouldn't it? sigh

Anyway, on to my second-favorite object of platonic lust, Ewan McGregor. I liked him best in his Shallow Grave period, when he had longer hair, but I had a hard time finding any decent shots of him like that. Fortunately, there were plenty of other, quite satisfactory pics to choose from.



Another actor I've enjoyed for years is Taye Diggs. He has the most beautiful smile and the most beautiful bald head I've ever seen...on a man, anyway. ;-)



And then, of course, there's Orlando Bloom. I didn't particularly care for his look as Legolas; I much prefer him in Will Turner mode, with his natural coloring and longish, tousled hair.



Now here are three random images of guys I used to like and/or still do. First is, IMO, the best-looking man on TV today, though I no longer watch his show (Heroes): Sendhil Ramamurthy. And since I hear they're Fly-ifying him in upcoming episodes, I'm doubly glad not to be watching. Anyway, next is another guy whose show (Lost) I don't watch but whom I have been following since The English Patient: Naveen Andrews (Do you sense a trend in the hairstyles I like on men?). And then there's Brendan Fraser, who used to be quite attractive, especially in George of the Jungle, when he displayed both his body and his comedy chops to maximum effect. I've never figured out why he didn't become a bigger star; he has tons of charisma. Unfortunately, now he seems to be a bit past his "sell by" date.



Finally, here's one last pic for my beloved, who thinks Ashton Kutcher is the prettiest boy she's ever seen and frequently comments on the fact that, if he were a girl, she'd fuck him in a heartbeat. Oh, and she swears she loves his personality, too. And his cougar wife. ;-)

Well, that's it for my little digression into man-love. Tune in next time when we return to our regularly scheduled programming.