Saturday, November 30, 2013

"Oo," not "Pooh"

When I found latex fetish model Winnie Oo on Facebook, my immediate reaction was, "Why have I not heard of this amazing woman already?!" I think you can see what I mean by looking at the pictures in this post.

Thankfully, since Winnie likes to cover herself head to toe in latex, there's no nudity for FB to have a hissy fit about. All the pictures below came from there. But for those so inclined, Winnie Oo also has a website where you'll find stuff FB won't allow.

As always, enjoy.





Sunday, November 24, 2013

Freeware to fuel your fetish

I thought I'd devote a post to some of my favorite freeware, all of which can be used for both fetish and vanilla purposes. But before we go any further, please note that while I've had a lot of fun with these programs, and while they're safe to use as far as I know, I'm no expert. Anything you download, from anywhere on the net, is at your own risk. You're doubly at risk using freeware.

Now, with that disclaimer out of the way, let's move onto the good stuff.

1. TrueCrypt - If you've got anything on your computer that you want to hide from snoops, you need this program. TrueCrypt segments off a password-protected area of your hard drive (or of another drive, if you prefer) in which you can store files you want to keep to yourself. Anyone who doesn't have that password can't get in; they can't even see what sort of file(s) you're hiding, or how large the partition is. Now, some other freeware programs can do something similar, but in my experience, they always limit the size of the drive they encrypt. TrueCrypt doesn't limit the size. That comes in handy when you want to save, for instance, a great big EMC video. ;-) Another major advantage of TrueCrypt is that, compared to some of the other freeware in this post, it isn't too hard to learn. You will need to read the tutorial, though.

2. Virtual Hypnotist - I've blogged about this program so often that I've given it its own tag. Not only do I use it for recreational hypnosis, but I also use it to help me get to sleep every night because I have pretty bad insomnia. VH comes with a bunch of preloaded scripts, some recreational, some therapeutic; and you can customize them and/or write your own scripts once you get comfortable with the program. VH does have a steep learning curve, but thanks to my fetish, I took the time to really master it - and then I wrote a multi-part tutorial which you can find in the sidebar of this blog. It should help a lot if you decide to use this program.

3. Audacity - I'm guessing a lot of you are already familiar with Audacity because it's the freeware of choice for a lot people who like to edit music. It's great for making bootleg albums; I can tell you that. ;-P From a fetish standpoint, it's also great for making backing tracks to go with your customized Virtual Hypnotist programs. Using the stereo option with different mantras on each side is especially effective.

4. Photoscape - This is the first of two Photoshop-like programs I'm discussing today. Why two? Because GIMP is a fucking monster to learn. If you don't want to pull too much hair out, try Photoscape instead. The website is packed with handy video tutorials from the program's creators, and unlike the people behind most freeware programs, they actually know how to explain things. You won't have to Google "Photoscape tutorials" or poke around YouTube to learn how to use this program. Unfortunately, it isn't nearly as flexible as GIMP, which I'll get to in a minute. Photoscape only lets you draw square/rectangular masks, and you can't make areas transparent. Those are major drawbacks when you're trying to manipulate images for an EMC scene. Still, you can do a lot of other great things with Photoscape, and it's perfect for retouching ordinary pictures.

5. GIMP - This is, as far as I can tell, the closest you can get to Photoshop without shelling out a bunch of money. If you're doing complicated photo manipulation, or even if you're just making exploitables for use in memes, this is the program for you. To see an example of what an intermediate-level user can do with GIMP, take a look at my covers for "Love in a Silver Socket" and "Octopus Vulgaris," in the sidebar on this blog. Unfortunately, as I said above, the learning curve is practically vertical. It took me two or three weeks to reach the point where I could make those covers, and even then, I spent several hours on each of them. But again, I'm just at the intermediate level! I'm still learning! If you're interested in trying GIMP for yourself, the best place to find useful tutorials (as opposed to frustrating and impenetrable ones) is YouTube. You'll find a lot of great one-off videos on the use of various functions, but I've found that this user and this user are good at explaining a lot of different topics. As for whether you want to go to the trouble of learning GIMP or just stick with Photoscape, that depends on how much photo manipping you want to do...and probably also on how hard your head is.

Well, I hope this post will give you some good ideas. If anyone else has experience with these programs, or if you have others to recommend, feel free to leave a comment. Remember, I've set up my blog to allow 100% anonymous commenting, and I won't delete anything that isn't spam or trolling.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Have you found Entrancement UK and Hypnodolls yet?

(link goes to uncropped, NSFW version)
Lex is a professional hypnotist based in the UK. He runs Entrancement UK, where he posts videos of his entranced subjects doing various very enticing things in different stages of undress; and he has a Tumblr called HypnoDolls where he posts photographs from the same sessions and others. A few of the shots are staged, but in most cases, the subjects really are very deeply entranced, and you can see it in every line of their faces.

I found Entrancement UK once a few years ago and posted a video which I'm embedding again below. It's still one of the hottest real-life hypnosis clips I've ever seen, even though Nikki is fully clothed. Then I rediscovered Lex on the MC Forum when he offered to let e-book authors use his photography in return for proper credit. I plan to combine elements of three different pictures for my own next e-book cover, and I'm happy to give Lex even more credit than he asked for, because his stuff is just that hot. I know you'll all enjoy it.

The first clip below, "Nikki Frozen and Kneeling," is the one I found before and still love. You'll see why immediately. The second video is a preview of a full 2+ hour set Lex did for Entrancement UK. It's got something for everyone: nudity, doll/puppet action, sexy lesbians, blank-eyed mindlessness, bimbos (not my thing, but I know some of you enjoy it) and even a moment of genuine drooling (which is my thing, because of the depth of control it represents). And if you look closely, you'll see that Porsha is so deeply entranced that her pupils are huge. That's not a special effect. It's real, and it's hot as hell.



Tuesday, November 12, 2013

My latest e-book, "Willing Subject," is now online with an insanely hot cover by Callidus

Willing Subject is a dark hypnosis/mind control fantasy complete with a ridiculously hot cover by the great Callidus (who does take commissions folks :-)). I've just published it on both Smashwords and Amazon. Here's a coupon code to purchase the e-book from Smashwords at 25% off: AD43K.

And here's the synopsis:

Missy is a typical sorority girl in every respect but one: she has a fetish for mind control. She’s always dreamed of exploring it in real life, although she’s been too embarrassed to indulge herself. But now an exotic hypnotist has come to town, and she proves just too tempting to resist. The Black Pearl of Thailand is charismatic and beautiful, and her outlandish back-story feeds right into Missy’s kink. She seems like just the person to help a skittish college girl play out her fantasy. The problem is, Black Pearl’s back-story isn’t a fantasy at all. She really is an ancient sorceress, and under her spell, Missy will spiral into deeper and deeper levels of submission until she loses herself entirely.

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

Saturday, November 9, 2013

"Found" MC: The Voice of Saruman

I'm still rereading The Lord of the Rings, going at an intentionally leisurely pace, taking it like a stroll through the Shire...and Lothlorien...and of course, eventually, Mordor. But it's still a stroll. Anyway, I was kind of surprised when I got to the "Voice of Saruman" chapter to realize I'd forgotten Saruman was an expert at mind control. I'd known it once upon a time, but it had been ages since I'd read the books, and his MC powers weren't obvious in the movie. But here they are, plain as day, in Tolkien's text:

The window closed. They waited. Suddenly another voice spoke, low and melodious, its very sound an enchantment. Those who listened unwarily to that voice could seldom report the words that they heard; and if they did, they wondered, for little power remained in them. Mostly they remembered only that it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire awoke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves. When others spoke they seemed harsh and uncouth by contrast; and if they gainsaid the voice, anger was kindled in the hearts of those under the spell. For some the spell lasted only while the voice spoke to them, and when it spoke to another they smiled, as men do who see through a juggler's trick while others gape at it. For many the sound of the voice alone was enough to hold them enthralled; but for those whom it conquered the spell endured when they were far away, and ever they heard that soft voice whispering and urging them. But none were unmoved; none rejected its pleas and its commands without an effort of mind and will, so long as its master had control of it.

Now let me invite you to play a game that might make this passage even more enjoyable for you. Tolkien describes the voice as nothing but a voice until the very last sentence, when he mentions its "master." Until then, we could just as easily assume a woman was speaking. So why not Galadriel? Remember the scene where Frodo offers her the Ring? What if she'd taken it? The words in that passage would remain just the same, only now we would see them as prediction rather than temptation. Read it that way now, and tell yourself something I half believe to be true: If she cared to do it, Galadriel could control minds just as easily as Saruman, without or without the Ring. But if she accepted it from Frodo and put it on, she could use the power of her voice to make this fantasy a reality:

For many long years I have pondered what I might do, should the Great Ring come into my hands, and behold! it was brought within my grasp....You will give me the Ring freely! In place the Dark Lord you would set up a Queen. And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the Morning and the Night! Fair as the Sea and the Sun and the Snow upon the Mountain! Dreadful as the Storm and the Lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth. All shall love me and despair!"

Can you see them groveling around her? Picture the mithril collars around their necks, and the leashes of hithlain. Picture even the mightiest of the Elves kneeling before her with their naked, sweat-sheened flesh reflecting the lamps of Lothlorien. See them twining around Galadriel's ankles and begging her to draw them upwards, just a little, just under the hem of her gown....

One for the snake fetishists

For the rest of you, don't worry: I have a 100% MC-themed post coming later in the day. But when I ran across this article about snake massages just now, I had no choice but to post it. You know how these things go. Anyway, it's sooo easy to imagine that the snake in this GIF has hypnotized its victim and is caressing him deeper into trance.

I had a hard time deciding which of the GIFs in the article to use here. There are several jaw-droppers, and also one that might make you laugh out loud: a warning that no sex is allowed with the snakes. And after all, that's why I'm posting this anyway. People like us (well, like me, anyway) can see the sexy side of snakes.

After all, how many of us love Kaa?


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

skeevy assholes on Facebook

I've been posting erotica on the EMCSA for about eleven years, and in all that time, I've been hit on exactly twice. I've been posting on Facebook for about a month, and I've been hit on three times. What the fuck? Just because I write erotica, that doesn't mean I'm into cybersex.

Everyone who's commented here has been polite and respectful of boundaries, so this seems like a good place to gripe.

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Interview with Callidus, Part 2

Here's the conclusion to my interview with photomanipulation master Callidus. He and I have been having a lot of discussions lately, and not just about this interview! Yes, that is a hint - and here's another: he's a lot of fun to work with. };-)

Anyway, back to the interview. In this section, he tells you more about his techniques, his artistic influences, and advice for other would-be photomanipulators. Enjoy!


12. What software do you use for your manipulations?

Primarily Adobe Photoshop and After Effects. Animations have traditionally involved a little use of Flash, though these days I’m transitioning to doing everything in native HTML with the help of a tool called Hype. Video editing and sound work happen in Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack Pro respectively.

The little bit of 3D work that I’ve done has happened in Lightwave and Sketchup 3D.

13. I've been using the freeware Photoscape ( easy to learn) for a while now and have recently started learning Gimp (a bitch to learn). How familiar are you with these programs, and what do you think about them? Would you recommend either of them, or any other freeware, by name?

I’m not familiar with Photoscape but I did try out GIMP years ago. I remember it being a bit clunky at the time, though I imagine its improved since then. I’ve recently read something about GIMPshop, its a facelift for GIMP that is supposed to make the software more accessible to Photoshop users so…perhaps it will ease the learning curve.
If you happen to be on Mac, there’s a really impressive piece of software called Pixelmator that costs something like $30. It isn’t a total replacement for Photoshop but its incredibly powerful for the price. I think the new version will be adding Layer Styles which is the secret weapon Photoshop has that most other apps don’t. I’ve used it and I can heartily recommend it. 

Probably the most impressive free alternative to Photoshop that I’ve seen is Pixlr.com. Its a free photo editor that runs in your web browser and the feature list is pretty amazing. It has the five most crucial Layer Styles that I use in Photoshop, and almost all the tools I utilize on a regular basis. I’m right at home in the interface as its very similar to what I’m accustomed to and they have a community of users providing tips and answers to questions. I recommend it without hesitation.

14. You do everything from single, static images to Flash animations to elaborate videos, and I know your projects take different amounts of time. But how much time do you spend on a typical piece of each type?

I used to measure project-length in days, but years of practice have shortened that time a bit. A single, static image usually takes a few hours, and an animation might take a full day or several depending on the complexity or if it’s a series. Video projects run much, much longer. Orientation was about three months of work, Decisive Results was over a year.

In all cases, writing usually eats up a third to half of the total project time.

15. I had no idea you spent so much time writing your scripts. Do you enjoy that part of a project as much as you do the manipping, or is it more of a chore for you? Would you ever consider doing a piece that had no script at all?

I do enjoy writing, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t a chore at times. When I feel inspired, when I have an idea I want to execute, the writing is very enjoyable. When I don’t feel inspired or have an idea…its drudgery. Thief is an interesting case study here because, with that piece, I started with nothing and worked through a couple hours of said drudgery before breaking through and finding a story that I really liked. It was an instructive moment in persistence.
I have done a few images that didn’t feature any sort of text caption, but it feels like cheating. I’d love to play it off as though I felt the image was soooo good that I couldn’t write anything to make it better, but the truth is sometimes I just run dry. 

16. Who are your favorite professional erotic artists, and what do you like about their work?

Hajime Sorayama is a god among mortals. In addition to his astonishing skill as an illustrator (I’ve done some illustration so I can appreciate how good he is) I am in awe of his fearlessness as an artist. There are fantasies I have that I’m not brave enough to explore in my work. I’d like to think that one day I might be as bold as he is. The diversity of his work and the seemingly endless number of fetishes he’s rendered are also quite amazing.

I’m also quite fond of Boris Vallejo. His work is endlessly inventive and has that sense of drama and narrative that I mentioned earlier. I also find his use of color really fascinating. He finds ways to make primary/secondary colors work together where I’d never even think to attempt the same combination.    

On the photography side, I’m a very big fan of Frederic Fontenoy at the moment. I love black & white photo work and his sensibilities and unique style are perfectly suited for that format. I think his work is very exemplary of the maxim that great photographs are created, not captured. His work eschews any sense of direct cinema in favor of an obviously-produced and highly-stylized aesthetic.

I should go count how many of the pictures in my gallery have been shot by Suze Randall. She’s an extremely prolific photographer and has a way of capturing erotic heat that I don’t find equaled very often. I’m also watching her daughter Holly’s work with great interest. 

17. Who are your favorite amateur erotic artists, and what do you like about their work?

The name that has to be at the top of this list is trilby else. More than anyone else, he’s been the biggest influence on me. I’ve always been impressed by his ability to inhabit the mind of a character moment by moment as the hypnotist is gaining control. It’s something I struggle to convey, even now, and he makes it seem effortless. There’s also the fact that there are EMC tropes that he basically invented. I think most of us, directly or otherwise, owe a debt to his brilliance. I have stolen from him so often I couldn’t begin to count.

One of the things I am most gratified by is that, before he left the community, he and I exchanged a few emails and he paid me a very kind compliment on my work. I got the chance to tell him that I wouldn’t have done any work if not for him.

Another name that cannot go without being mentioned is Tabico. Her talent is great, her imagination is without bounds, and, having worked with her several times, I can verify that she is every bit as brilliant as you think she is. I’m extremely fond of the subtlety in her work. I will re-read her stories and find bits of dialog or exposition that I hadn’t noticed before; little hints of what’s going on behind the scenes that she leaves to the reader to suss out.

The fact that she and I have become good friends and that I’ve been able to collaborate with her as much as I have leaves me pinching myself. Examining her craft has really inspired me to better myself as a writer.

emilymoss is one of my favorite manip artists. She’s developed such a unique style and I love the visual flair she imparts to her work. She also has a penchant for brainwashing and kaa-hypnosis which are both right up my alley.

Sleepy Maid is an illustrator that has been on my radar for a number of years now. Her singular illustrative style and love of squick and brainwashing always makes her gallery a fun place to poke around.

4F’s digital art was a profound early inspiration of mine. His dedication to quality and the technical achievement of his work is quite remarkable.

Back on the writers’ side, I’ve also been very taken with the writings of cat_slave, Arclight, Aerosol Kid, Zorkmeister, and Sara H. 

18. You’ve collaborated with other MC fetishists, including writers and voice artists. What has that been like, and how do you divide the labor? Do you stick to image manipulation and let the other person handle the story?

I love collaboration provided that you and the other party each bring something unique to the table while also having enough in common to avoid friction over the most fundamental choices. There’s nothing worse than having a project break down because the collaborators can’t agree over whether the character turns left or right. Those are painful experiences.

As for division of labor, it varies project-to-project. In the case of The Witch Queen, my first collaboration, with Tabico and Iago, I had found the images and put together a draft sequence with an outline of what I thought the story might be. Then I concentrated on the imagery and let Tabico work on the writing with input from Iago.

With Decisive Results, I did most of the actual writing and all the video work, but that was after several months of Tabico and I brainstorming ideas and figuring out the story together. So, while I did type up the script, the narrative was something that had been developed in close collaboration.

19. Which of your pieces are you most proud of, and why?

I am so self-critical that it’s difficult for me to enjoy my work as a viewer; mostly I just see mistakes and misspellings. I find it’s easier to enjoy my own stuff the more time has passed since completing it.

Nurse was the first time I really tried to pull off something technically challenging with the puddle underneath the model. It took many hours of trial and error, but in the end, I succeeded in what I’d hoped to accomplish. That filled me with confidence and drove me to push harder in future projects.

Chamber is a piece I’m fond of because I found writing it so satisfying. I had to keep trimming down my story to physically fit in the manip but I was very happy with what I’d developed and it bolstered my confidence as a writer moving forward.

I’m very proud of Alpha for the technical savvy it took to pull off. The complex geometric pattern that had to be animated, the virtual 3D set I built to form the brainwashing chamber, the 3D models of computer equipment that I added to the control room... every part of that series required some different discipline to execute and, I think, the story ended up being pretty hot too.

Nickelodeon might be my favorite bit of work from my own catalog. I had long wanted to do a manip set in the Victorian era, and that picture set was simply perfect. The process of writing and manipulating the imagery was sheer joy. I don’t think I’ve ever had more fun working on something.

I’m quite proud of both of the video manips I’ve released. They both involved a lot of work and pushed me to innovate in terms of how to tell a complete story. They were demanding but very rewarding.

20. If you had all the time and resources you wanted, what would your dream project look like?

Wow, what a fun question to ponder. I’d like to write and direct a series of erotic mind-control films. Bring to life some of the characters and stories from my manips. Maybe adapt a piece of EMC fiction from one of my favorite authors.

I think, stylistically, I would be aiming for something akin the late Zalman King’s erotic series like Red Shoe Diaries and Kamikaze Love. I’ve also been very fond of some of Andrew Blake’s more narrative-focused films. Recently, I’m very impressed with Graham Travis’ Wasteland in terms of both production and acting quality. I also look at Kink’s satellite site Cruel Romance and see how I could adapt some of their methods to a mind-control-specific tale.

I’ve made films in vanilla life, so combining both of my hobbies is a very compelling idea for me. Perhaps one day someone will trust me with a budget and turn me loose. Or I’ll put together a crowd-funding project to bankroll the production. Either way, the idea of bringing my strain of mind control erotica to life is something I think about often.

21. What advice would you give an MC fetish who wants to get into image manipulation?

My personal maxim is “good manips start with good source material.” Find images that speak to you, that inspire a story in your imagination, and then work on bringing that to life for your audience. Technique is important, but always put creativity first. Don’t stop yourself from doing something because you can’t afford Photoshop or don’t know how to do anything other than add text to a picture.

High-quality and lower-cost photo editors are slowly gaining ground and offering really powerful tools to more people. You can subscribe to Adobe Photoshop now for a fraction of what buying it used to cost. There are free alternatives that are limited, but still offer a way to get into manip creation.

Most of all, listen to your own inspiration. Create something that YOU love. Your passion will be evident in your work and, in my opinion, that’s what will attract others to your art.