thrall

Beksinski's alien terraforming

2012-01-29T14:25:00.000-05:00

And here, at last, is the promised new Beksinski post. A couple of weeks ago I discovered a blog devoted to his art, a blog that included lots of pictures I hadn't seen before - and larger, clearer versions of pictures I had seen. Once I'd downloaded everything I wanted, I cleaned up some of the images even more; so what you're seeing below is a genuine group effort. These pictures have come from all over the net, and some of them have made several stops along the way.

I can't share everything I found with you, not all at once. So I came up with a theme to build a selection around. Quite naturally, the first thing that occurred to me was alien terraforming. As a matter of fact, what occurred to me was transdimensional alien terraforming. Here's a wisp of a story for you.

The Old Ones had been waiting for aeons, in the seas beyond our universe. And now, at last, the stars were right. They could return. They burst asunder the doors separating their world from ours, and then they came inside.

The Old Ones strode across the earth, taller than the highest mountains, stranger than the depths of the seas. And everywhere they strode, they claimed. None could hope to oppose them.

They filled the earth with their alien ooze, remaking lands, plants, animals....

They repurposed buildings to meet their needs, turning even the simplest structures into portals of dread.

And, of course, they repurposed humans, too. They loved nothing better.

And so, at last, the dimensions were united. Into one. Big. Happy. Family.

The time Matt Bellamy MC'ed Grace Jones

2012-01-23T19:42:00.003-05:00

I told you I might get distracted before I got around to posting those Beksinski pictures. ;-)

So, did you know that all the while Matt Bellamy has been ranting about MK Ultra and mind-controlling satellites, he's just been taking the piss? Oh, you did? Good. I did, too. But I didn't know just how he'd been taking the piss until this moment. See, all along, Matt has secretly been one of Them. And what's worse, Dom and Chris are Illuminati as well.

Oh, yes, it's true. I've just found a blogger who put a lot thought and effort into the subject, so I don't dare contradict him. Besides, if I did, he'd just assume I was one more MC'ed drone; and things would only go downhill if I said I wished I was.

I'll give you the link in a second, but first I need to warn you that not everything you'll see there is as much fun as the Grace Jones bit. In fact, I almost didn't blog about this article, because some of the stuff in the middle of it is pretty grim. Real-world grim. But finally I decided to put the link out there and let you all decide what to do with it. You can...

Follow the link below and read the whole blog post, understanding that some parts of it will probably upset you,
Follow the link below and skip over the upsetting section, which begins with the paragraph about the "Sunburn" video and continues to just above the video of the woman in the red bikini, or
Skip the link entirely.

The choice is yours, assuming you're not a victim of MK Ultra, yourself.

Fairy fornication

2012-01-22T10:57:00.004-05:00

Not long ago I was given a book about fairies. Most of the pictures were cute, if not downright twee; but when I took a closer look at this one, I realized it was a little...different.

First, the credits: the artist is Sir Joseph Noel-Paton, and the title of the piece is The Quarrel of Oberon and Titania (though I must say, they don't look particularly quarrelsome to me. I guess they're just getting started).

Now at first glance, this looks like a typically bloodless, idealized Victorian Era painting. At second glance, you might notice Titania has a lovely figure and Oberon's probably dangling out of his miniskirt. But at third glance, you start to notice the really interesting stuff. The rest of the fairies in the painting are up to all kinds of naughtiness. Queen Victoria would not approve.

Here are some crops I've taken from the image above, which was the largest version of the painting that I could find online. Look carefully and you'll see...

a lesbian couple
a gay male couple (or possibly a trio - it's hard to make out the sex of the third fairy and how s/he is involved)
a naked Disney princess on acid
a fattened-up Gollum
an orgy involving an owl
a transvestite with a lady friend
strange goings-on with bowls
spider worship
lizard erotica
a strangely (and to my mind, erotically) obscured face
a famously horny god
and, if you look really closely, a figure oddly reminiscent of this Beksinski crawler.

Speaking of Beksinski, I've found a great new site with his artwork, so expect a post on that very soon - probably this week, unless I find a bunch of other more interesting stuff between now and then.

Turnabout's fair play

2012-01-19T07:36:00.001-05:00

Last week I blogged about beautiful transwomen featured on a site called Oddee. Well, today Oddee is featuring transmen, so I thought I should do the same. At right is Balian Buschbaum, whom I'd love to see more of. Up close. ;-)

More at this link, which I must say contains a wider variety of "types" than the previous Oddee post. It's nice to see some guy-next-door TG's alongside the potential supermodels.

Be sure to notice the Reader Contributions at the bottom of the page as well.

I've been remiss

2012-01-16T09:10:00.000-05:00

It's been too long since I visited Callidus's blog. He has several fantastic new animations up (Collared is my favorite; it's so simple yet so perfect. And Nickelodeon actually made me enjoy mdom - no mean feat!). Check him out.

Watch this. Now.

2012-01-15T07:26:00.002-05:00

Huge thanks to Xenia LaFleur for sending me the link to this incredible video, which I wouldn't embed even if I had the code for it. You need to watch this baby full-screen.

Enjoy...and I know you will.

If only I spoke Swedish

2012-01-13T08:19:00.002-05:00

I just found an article on my standby source for all things SF, io9, about a new Swedish TV show called Real Humans. It's all about robots, and the ads I've found make it look nicely fetishy. Let's start with this 30-second clip, which I found on the Real Humans website:

And here's the (decidedly darker) one I started with on io9:

If you follow the link to the Real Humans website, you can view several more 30-second ads by scrolling to the bottom of the page. For purely fetish purposes, it doesn't matter if you speak the language or not...but these ads do make me wish I knew Swedish and could see the show online.

Once again, for your viewing pleasure

2012-01-11T08:51:00.001-05:00

Since my post about Andrej Pejic went down well, I thought I'd like to another page about beautiful transwomen. Oddee isn't the most reliable source, but I recognize at least some of these beauties (including Pejic), so I'm pretty sure this page is truthful.

At left is Miss International Queen 2011, Sirapassorn Atthayakorn. I also remember seeing pictures once of a Chinese (or possibly Japanese) transvestite model who was one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen, but unfortunately he's not listed on this page and I don't remember his name. If anyone out there knows who he is, I'd appreciate a link. I just love the delicate Asian look.

Neal Stephenson knows how to party

2012-01-04T10:49:00.004-05:00

I'm currently rereading The Diamond Age, a science fiction novel from Neal Stephenson, the author of Snow Crash. But unlike that novel, The Diamond Age isn't cyberpunk. It's almost steampunk - if steampunk could take place in the future. The clockwork and gears here spin inside nanotech devices.

Now, even when I read this novel for the first time, the scene below struck me as something I really ought to blog about. Unfortunately, I just never got around to it. But now that I'm rereading the book, I have the perfect opportunity to correct past laziness.

Here's all you need to know going into this passage. A guy named Hackworth has been taken in by a weird sort-of-tribe known as the Drummers. We don't know much about them at this point in the novel except that they have a hive mind and seem to exist in a perpetual trance. That's pretty obvious in this scene, which builds from a weird, slow ceremony into a bizarre and slightly hilarious orgy. I'm cutting it short to preserve the feel-good-MC vibe:

     In a cavernous dark space lit by many small fires, a young woman, probably not much more than a girl, stands on a pedestal named except for an elaborate paint job, or maybe it is a total-body mediatronic tattoo. A crown of leafy branches is twined around her head, and she has thick, voluminous hair spreading to her knees. She is clutching a bouquet of roses to her breast, the thorns indenting her flesh. Many people, perhaps thousands, surround her, drumming madly, sometimes chanting and singing.
     Into the space between the girl and the watchers, a couple of dozen men are introduced. Some come running out of their own accord, some look as if they've been pushed, some wander in as if they've been walking down the street (stark naked) and gone in the wrong door. Some are Asian, some European, some African. Some have to be prodded by frenzied celebrants who charge out of the crowd and shove them here and there. Eventually they form a circle around the girl, and then the drumming builds to a deafening crescendo, speeds up until it devolves into a rhythmic hailstorm, and then suddenly, instantly, stops.
     Someone says something in a high, purposeful, ululating voice. Hackworth can't understand what this person is saying. Then there is a single massive drumbeat. More wailing. Another drumbeat. Again. The third drummer establishes a ponderous rhythm. This goes on for awhile, the beat slowly speeding up. After a certain point the wailer no longer stops between beats, he begins to weave his rap through the bars in a sort of counterpoint. The ring of men standing around the girl begin to dance in a very simple shuffling motion, one way and then the other way around the girl. Hackworth notes that all of them have erections, sheathed in brightly colored mediatronic condoms--rubbers that actually make their own light so that the bobbing boners look like so many cyalume wands dancing through the air.
     The drumbeats and the dancing speed up very slowly. The erections tell Hackworth why this is taking so long. He's watching foreplay here. After half an hour or so, the excitement, phallic and otherwise, is unbearable. The beat is now a notch faster than your basic pulse rate, lots of other beats and counterrhythms woven through it, and the chanting of the individual singer has become a wild semi-organized choral phenomenon. At some point,after seemingly nothing has happened for half an hour, everything happens at once. The drumming and chanting explode to a new, impossible level of intensity. The dancers reach down, grip the flaccid reservoir tips of their radioactive condoms, stretch them out. Someone runs out with a knife and cuts the tips of the condoms in a freakish parody of circumcision, exposing the glans of each man's penis. The girl moves for the first time, tossing her bouquet up in the air like a bride making her move toward the limo; the roses fountain, spinning end over end, and come down individually among the dancers, who snatch them out of the air, scrabble for them on the floor, whatever. The girl faints, or something, falling backward, arms out, and is caught by several of the dancers, who hoist her body up over their heads and parade her around the circle for awhile, like a crucified body just crowbarred off of the tree. She ends up flat on her back on the ground, and one of the dancers is between her legs, and in a very few thrusts he has finished. A couple of others grab his arms and yank him out of there before he's even had a chance to tell her he'll still love her in the morning, and another one is in there, and he doesn't take very long either--all this foreplay has got these guys in hair-trigger mode. The dancers manage to rotate through in a few minutes. Hackworth can't see the girl, who's completely hidden, but she's not struggling, as far as he can tell, and they don't seem to be holding her down. Toward the end, smoke or steam or something begins to spiral up from the middle of the orgy. The last participant grimaces even more than the average person who's having an orgasm, and yanks himself back from the woman, grabbing his dick and hopping up and down and hollering in what looks like pain. That's the signal for all of the dancers to jump back away from the woman, who is now kind of hard to make out, just a fuzzy motionless package wrapped in steam.

If this scene piques your interest, I do recommend The Diamond Age as a whole. I learned the hard way that Neal Stephenson isn't always as interesting as he thinks he is (For instance, once I got a bit of distance from Anathem, I decided I didn't care for it after all - and don't even get me started on The Baroque Cycle). But The Diamond Age is a great read. It's not as much fun as Snow Crash, but it has appealing characters and plenty of adventure that carry you all the way to the finish. There's no MC apart from the Drummers, who have only a few critical scenes; but the book itself should be interesting for anyone who appreciates SF and world-building. Stephenson has dreamed up a pretty unique future here.

Oh, and one last note: the image at the top came from Vizerskaya. If you reuse it, be sure to give her credit.

Happy/Merry Whatever ;-)

2011-12-24T09:24:00.001-05:00

Here's my holiday gift to you all. It's the video for Karen O, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross' cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song," from David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." The music and video are fantastic in and of themselves, but the whole thing gets even better if you imagine it as technology-and-latex fueled MC induction. You're welcome. ;-)

For your viewing pleasure

2011-12-16T07:50:00.003-05:00

I don't know if you've discovered the gorgeous and totally unique Andrej Pejic yet, but if you haven't, you definitely need to. I'd read a few articles and seen a few pictures around the net and admired his/her looks, but I hadn't really thought much about Andrej beyond being pleased s/he's out there. This video, though, would make anyone take notice. Whoever came up with this campaign (not to mention the bra behind it) is a genius.

If you like what you see in this video, there's plenty more of Andrej all over the net. Here's a quick link to Google Images.

A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape: What to Expect from Your Alien Brainwashing

2011-12-11T08:37:00.002-05:00

So now you see why, in a previous post, I said the picture at left had influenced a part of my latest story. ;-) I think I'm going to have to create a new tag for gas masks. Yes, I really will. I know a lot of people fetishize about gas masks, and to a certain extent, I'm one of them. For me, they have to have an organic quality and/or a hood and goggles that hide the entire face. As always, it's the robotization, depersonalization and voicelessness that most appeals to me.

So anyway, about What to Expect from your Alien Brainwashing. The first bit that occurred to me (in a dream, as is often the case), was the title. And the first title that occurred to me was, "What to Expect from Your Alien Overlords." I liked the idea because it had an inherent humor based on the popular meme, and I could tweak it to be more MC-specific while still keeping some of the humor. Of course, the first tweak had to come with the title.

The idea developed gradually, with the part I'm proudest of - Tinker Toy sex lattices - coming to me again in a dream. Gah, I love my subconscious!

I wasn't sure what my aliens would look like until I found the picture above (all credit to Kimatica). Then, of course, they had to be Greys so I could fit in the huge eyes and pointy faces. Sorry if that's a let-down for anyone expecting more exotic aliens, but it's been my experience in reading SF that it's really, really hard to come up with truly alien species. Vernor Vinge did a great job in A Fire Upon the Deep, of course, but I still fault him for not making the most of the MC possibilities. ;-) As for me, I knew my audience was more interested in the MC than whether my aliens had fur or scales, so I decided to take a pass.

When it comes to the wall installations, I was probably subconsciously influenced by all those weird '80's videos that had people running along corridors where human hands or heads stuck out of the walls. Funnily enough, though, I stumbled across this just yesterday, via Oddee.

Another funny thing, as far as I'm concerned, is that I chose this story out of the three percolating in my brain because I thought it was the lightest; and yet it turned out pretty grim in the end. I hope you still find some humor in it (I do; I always find it funny when MC victims blather earnestly about the favors they're doing their recruits), but the story as a whole got pretty dark. It seemed that with each successive polish, I came up with creepy new ideas that slotted in just perfectly with the plot.

For instance, the idea of elites creating a presentation for their processees was originally just a joke: that's their notion of waiting room reading material. And I had to make my processee desperate enough to read it, so I came up with "wait times might be longer than usual" - a common recorded message Americans hear when they dial toll-free numbers for any sort of assistance. It was only later that I realized why the wait times would be longer than usual: the new architectural craze was sucking up more slaves than ever. That added a whole new layer of horror to the ending. Our poor processee will probably end up a mindless bit of X-rated wall decoration.

Is it just me, or does anyone else now have Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" running through their heads?

And it's off!

2011-12-08T17:18:00.001-05:00

I've just finished my newest MC story and sent it off to Simon. It turned out to be a bit darker than I expected, but I still think it's kind of funny. I'm not sure what anyone else will think, though. As I've hinted before, this one's pretty...odd. It might even be polarizing. Anyway, be on the lookout for it in the next EMCSA update. It's called "What to Expect from your Alien Brainwashing."

Virtual Hypnotist and Windows 7

2011-12-07T07:24:00.000-05:00

I'm not the only one who's noticed that Virtual Hypnotist works differently on Windows 7 than on earlier versions. In some cases, it's only a difference of appearance; but in other cases, you have to make adjustments in your code and/or software. Stop by my new Troubleshooting page for more information. And if anyone else out there has had problems and/or found solutions to problems, please email me so we can all learn together.

Important addendum to my last VH post

2011-12-05T08:09:00.001-05:00

If you've already copied the script snippets I gave you in my last entry, be sure to add the following suggestion (or something similar) to whatever script you use them in.

If you give yourself the idea during trance that, just because you can't hear your thoughts, you don't know what you're thinking, this can carry over into your waking life. I found this out the hard way. ;-/ It didn't stop me cold, but it did make concentrating and focus a bit harder - and I'm not even hugely suggestible. If you're more open than me, it might really be a problem for you. So if you use the "How do you know what you are thinking?" bit in your sessions, be sure to counteract that suggestion with something else later on. This is what I use in my bedtime session:

When you wake in the morning, you will feel refreshed and ready to get out of bed. The wormhole will have disappeared, and you will think normally, and be able to focus easily on whatever task is at hand.

Getting back on track with Virtual Hypnotist

2011-12-03T10:06:00.005-05:00

If you've been following my blog for awhile, you know I lost all my old Virtual Hypnotist sessions in a computer crash earlier this year. Since then, I've been slowly recreating my morning and bedtime sessions based on scraps and older versions of the sessions.

The morning session is now in...acceptable...shape, although there's a lot more I need to do with it before I can enjoy it properly. But that's less of a priority than my bedtime session, since I only run the morning session every now and then, for fun. I use the bedtime session every night to help me wind down enough to get to sleep.

Fortunately, Bedtime 2.0 is in excellent shape now. It's a little different than it used to be because I couldn't recreate it exactly, but I think the new wording is mostly an improvement over the old wording. Let me give you a few examples, which you're welcome to plug into your own VH sessions if you like. I just ask that you give me credit for them, if you share those sessions with anyone else later on. I'm also leaving out the bits of code and other tweaks I use to make the speech synthesizer sound more human. After all, I don't want to make things too easy for you. ;-)

Anyway, here are some bits I'm especially proud of:

     You can hear my voice, and the music, echoing through your empty head; and you know that the echoes mean your head is already very, very empty. But there is still one thing in your head besides my voice and the music. There is a wormhole at the very bottom of your mind.
     Picture this wormhole now, spiraling gently inward, there at the bottom of your mind. Every time one of your thoughts becomes logical enough and heavy enough for you to notice it, the gravity of the wormhole draws it in and carries it down, down, down. Far below your body. Far beneath your chair. Much too far for you to find it again tonight.
     Gravity is such a powerful, pervasive natural phenomenon. Nothing with any weight can resist it.
     But music has no weight. And subconscious thoughts and unconscious dreams have no weight. So they're not affected by the gravity of the wormhole. They will become even more powerful, even more pervasive, as your conscious thoughts spiral down into the wormhole and disappear.
     Already, you can't hear yourself think over the music. And if you can't hear yourself think, how do you know what you are thinking?
     You don't.
     What you hear, is what you think. It's just too hard to think anything else, when the music is right there in the center of your mind. It's too much trouble to pay attention to your own thoughts, when you can't even hear them. So you can just let the music be your thoughts. It's so much easier that way. So much more relaxing. And all you want to do right now is relax anyway.

     And of course, your mind and your body are connected. Picture the nerves that run from your brain, down your spinal column, and throughout your body. Just as your brain sends signals to your body, your body sends signals to your brain. So as your body relaxes, your mind relaxes too. It's a loop. A circuit. A spiral.

     The inside of your head is a vast hollow cavern, filled with nothing but music and echoes. Only your subconscious thoughts, and your unconscious dreams, can move freely through this vast empty space, because subconscious thoughts and unconscious dreams have no weight. Everything else gets drawn into the wormhole and erased. It feels so wonderfully relaxing, to let all your conscious thoughts be erased.

     And now you are even deeper. And going deeper still. Deeper by the second. You have made such a nice, inviting playground for the nonsense. Even your conscious mind is pretending to be asleep now. The music, and the wormhole, have erased and replaced so many thoughts, leaving so much beautiful, relaxing emptiness. And the music echoes through that emptiness so beautifully. The music invites the nonsense, and the dreams, to come out and play. Now they are peeking eagerly out from the darkest corners of your mind. They want to come out and play. They can tell how relaxed you are. How empty your mind is becoming. Because mind and body are connected. In a spiral. And your body is so clearly very, very, relaxed.

Now, the next suggestion is very important, if you plan to use the "How do you know what you're thinking?" bit in your sessions:

So...about those new stories I've been hinting about

2011-11-26T20:12:00.000-05:00

I finished the rough draft of one of them today. It's the darkly humorous story, the one I've been extra-mysterious about because I think it's an original idea and I don't want anybody stealing it from me. ;-) It's also very short, just about 1800 words at the moment, although of course it still needs more editing.

If I follow my usual timetable, I'll have it ready for publication either in next week's EMCSA update or the one after that. Let's just go ahead and assume it'll be the one after that, so I don't put any undue pressure on myself....but you never know. It could be next weekend!

Way too awesome not to share

2011-11-23T19:48:00.000-05:00

I hadn't planned on blogging today, but how on earth was I supposed to keep the Little Rooster to myself?

via via

spotlighting another classic

2011-11-19T09:25:00.000-05:00

I remember when Star Trek: The Next Generation was still on the air. I used to watch it from time to time, but somehow I missed the two-parter where Captain Picard was assimilated by the Borg and used as a weapon against his own people. I don't remember why I missed it: I just reading reviews of the episodes and kicking myself for losing out on the awesomeness.

Eventually I got to see the episodes in syndication, and they were everything I'd hoped for...in short bursts, anyway. I wanted to see less Picard-as-Picard and more Picard-as-Locutus. Or better yet, more of Picard's transformation into Locutus. Even after all this time, I have a distinct memory of him lying motionless and blank-eyed while alien technology sucks all the free will from him brain and his face pales slowly from human flesh to Borg gray. I've just spent some over on YouTube trying to find that scene, and I finally came up with it - jammed in with nearly ten minutes of trance music and a bunch of repetitive space battles.

On the other hand, I found another, shorter video that a) has everything but the face-paling bit and b) must have been created by someone who appreciates the same stuff you and I do. S/he has edited the clips in a way that makes for a perfect EMC story: First we see Picard's hubris in defying the Borg, then his capture and assimilation, his revelation to his horrified former comrades, a bit of space battling, and finally a slightly ambiguous conclusion (Okay, it could have been more ambiguous, but the editor seems to be more of a Star Trek fan than an MC fan, so the Borg Cube had to be destroyed).

So here's what I recommend. Watch the video below first. This is the short, good clip without the trance music. Then click over to YouTube for the longer video, but only watch seconds 0:32-0:37. You can even turn the sound off if you like. I don't recommend watching the full 9+ minutes unless you're really bored or under the influence.

Enjoy!

Musings on boobs

2011-11-14T16:55:00.001-05:00

I just found this astonishing ad on io9 and felt like I had to share. Too bad the video won't embed, but trust me: it's worth your time to click on over and have a look.

Technically, this is an infomercial for the latest variation on the old "magic bra" formula. I don't speak Chinese, but I'm pretty sure the ad promises to grow your boobs to at least twice their usual size. But wait - there's more! The sound effects are hilarious, the models' pre-enhancement pouts are adorable in a sad-kitten sort of way, and that woman in the violet dress just can't seem to stop feeling everyone up.

As for the product, I'm extremely dubious, but I give the designers credit for making it sexy enough that you'd want to wear it even if it didn't grow your boobs...which it almost certainly wouldn't.

Watching this video made me think about my own quest to find the perfect bra. I'm sure at least half of you out there will relate. You and I both know you can't just go into a store with a lingerie department, grab something in your size, and buy it. No, you have to try it on, adjust this and that, try your blouse on over it, and finally toss it in a corner of the dressing room and go look for something else because this one just won't work no matter what you do with it. Then you do it all again until you find something that actually works on your body. Then, good luck finding more than one of it in your size - or finding one again the next time you need to buy a bra. It's a conspiracy, I tell you.

My own boob-related challenge isn't the sad-Chinese-kitten problem, but rather the Queen-Latifah-in-Chicago problem. Ever since I saw I saw her in this outfit, I've been obsessed with her undergarments. My figure is pretty similar to hers, but I've never been able to make my tits stand up like hers without grabbing them in both hands and just mashing them together. What kind of foundation garments did the costumers use on her here? Did it involve any duct tape? I'm pretty sure I'd need duct tape, to make my boobs do that.

Anyway, that's why I'm doubly fascinated by this Chinese super-bra commercial. If it did work, I'd buy one just to improve my cleavage.

Robophiles, rejoice

2011-11-12T08:36:00.001-05:00

I had intended to blog about something else today, but as is often the case, io9 stepped in with something so mind-bogglingly appropriate that I set the other idea aside.

There's nothing subtle about the video below, nothing implied. It's all right out there on crystal-clear display. So, robophiles, start your downloading engines. You're going to want to keep this one!

How could I possibly not post this?

2011-11-08T07:35:00.001-05:00

I just found the image at left in the Deviant Art gallery of photographer Addicted Image. He has lots of other goodies, too, including pics of Scar13 and Ancilla Tilia. Go have a look. :-)

Virtual Hypnotist updates

2011-11-08T07:28:00.000-05:00

If you haven't paid much attention to the right-hand sidebar, you might not have noticed that I added a new page to my Virtual Hypnotist tutorial: Troubleshooting.

If you use VH and notice any problems with it, check my Troubleshooting page to see if I have a solution. And if you don't see a solution there, please feel free to e-mail me and ask a question. I'll be happy to tell you anything I know, and I'll also address your question (without using your name, of course) on the Troubleshooting page.

MC in unexpected places

2011-11-04T21:18:00.000-04:00

We'll take it wherever we can find it, right? And I found a very nice tidbit of MC in Terry Pratchett's Lords and Ladies. Most of you are probably familiar with the Discworld series already, so I won't bother describing it except to note that the books are mostly humorous but have serious undertones.

Lords and Ladies is one of the more serious books in the series; and the scenes I'm about to quote are pretty chilling, I think, despite a touch of jokiness. You don't need to know much of the plot before you dig in, just this: The bad guys in the book are Elves, Diamanda was shot by one of them and is now in their power, she's upstairs in a castle with a captive Elf in the dungeons, Shawn is a castle guard trying to learn martial arts from a bogus book, and Elves are allergic to iron. Now here we go, combining the best bits of two scenes into one:

In the darkness of her sickroom Diamanda opened her eyes, if they were her eyes. There was a pearly sheen to them.

The song was as yet only on the threshold of hearing.

And the world was different. A small part of her mind was still Diamanda, and looked out through the mists of enchantment. The world was a pattern of fine silver lines, constantly moving, as though everything was coated with filigree. Except where there was iron. There the lines were crushed and tight and bent. There, the whole world was invisible. Iron distorted the world. Keep away from iron.

She slipped out of bed, using the edge of her blanket to grasp the door handle, and opened the door.

.....

Shawn peered around the corner. There were the steps, there was the open doorway to the dungeons.

"Stop!" shouted Shawn, just in case.

The sound echoed off the stones.

"Stop! Or...or...or...Stop!"

He eased his way down the steps and looked through the archway.

"I warn you! I'm learning the Path of the Happy Jade Lotus!"

There was the door to the cell, standing ajar. And a white-clad figure next to it.

Shawn blinked.

"Aren't you Miss Tockley?"

She smiled at him. Her eyes glowed in the dim light.

"You're wearing chain mail, Shawn," she said.

"What, miss?" He glanced at the open door again.

"That's terrible. You must take it off, Shawn. How can you hear with all that stuff around your ears?"

Shawn was aware of the empty space behind him. But he daren't look around.

"I can hear fine, miss," he said, trying to ease himself around so that his back was against a wall.

"But you can't hear truly," said Diamanda, drifting forward. "The iron makes you deaf."

Shawn was not used to thinly clad young women approaching him with a dreamy look on their faces. He fervently wished he could take the Path of the Retreating Back.

He glanced sideways. There was a tall skinny shape outlined in the open cell doorway. It was standing very carefully, as if it wanted to keep as far away from its surroundings as possible.

Diamanda was smiling at him in a funny way.

He ran.

*The picture at the top of this post is a cover design for Lords and Ladies, minus the lettering. The artist is Josh Kirby.

Things on my mind

2011-10-28T06:59:00.000-04:00

Well, I've started writing again, sporadically. I'm working on one of the three stories I mentioned in my last post, but I won't say which one just yet. After all, I have three ideas in my head; it's possible I could switch over to one of the others and get it finished first.

Anyway, the picture at left has inspired a portion of the story I'm working on now. I found it here, along with plenty of other goodies for fans of robots, altered eyes, etc. In fact, you'll even find a few shots from another post I made once upon a time.

Giving credit where credit is due, the bodypainting and prosthetics are by a design team called Kimatica.This is not the same Kimatica you can elsewhere on the net, so don't go to YouTube expecting a bunch of fetishy videos. Sorry. ;-)

tantalizing

2011-10-22T06:52:00.002-04:00

One day soon, I really have to get back into my writing. I have three stories on the mental burners now, and the only one I've even started is that sequel to "A Tenpack of Trixies" I hinted about before. Maybe blogging about them will get me going. So, let's see. What can I tell you?

Well, I don't want to say much of anything about the third story because I think it's an original idea and I don't want anyone to steal it before I've used it. ;-) So let's just say it will be semi-humorous and will involve aliens.

As for the second story, if you've read my Peek Beneath the Duct Tape on "Mirrored in Your Eyes", you might remember hints about one of my earliest MC fantasies. Well, the conversion scene I adapted for "Mirrored" was only one part of that fantasy. I actually had plans for a novel, but that was when I was too young to know much about copyright laws. No matter how hard I tried, I don't think I could have disguised Bene Gesserit techniques enough to avoid a lawsuit. ;-/

Fortunately, I've found a new way to tell this story without using anything at all from Dune. I'm going to focus on a different character, one who doesn't necessarily need BG-like techniques, although he had them in the original version - in which I'd actually named him "Paul," silly me. I'll have to change that for the EMCSA version. The MC'er in my old fantasy was male, but I'll also be changing that; so this will be mostly a green story. That will allow for a lot more sex than my prepubescent brain could have imagined. It'll make the story less cruel, too.

Actually, that's one of the things holding me back right now. The Tenpack stories really are cruel, and I'm just not in that kind of headspace these days. I started writing that sequel and it just made me uncomfortable. I couldn't enjoy it. Of course, I will write it, in the end. It'll just be different than I originally planned - not much, but a bit. I can dial the cruelty down a few notches without losing the essence of that storyverse.

But first, I want to write something...warmer. I'm not sure whether it will be the alien story or the not-Paul one, but keep your eyes peeled.

I. Want. It.

2011-10-15T18:23:00.004-04:00

I'll bet some of you got your first thrill the moment you saw the title of this post. That's because some of you saw the movie Looker when you were kids; and if you were a budding MC fetishist in the '70's and '80's, Looker is a hidden gem you probably found well before today.

I remember when the movie first came out in 1981. The trailer was all over the place, and I was excited because it certainly implied some MC. Unfortunately, the hints in the trailer were pretty vague and made the MC look secondary to the central plot, which was something to do with models and murders. Funny how I didn't even remember that part until I looked it up on YouTube just now. ;-)

I had to fantasize about Looker for quite awhile before I got to see it; and by then it could never have lived up to my expectations. Not that it would have anyway. The movie is mainly a murder mystery, and no one exactly gets turned into a robot...not exactly. Still, there is a bit of time-stop MC - and a bit more of "Look into my eyes" MC. That's the part that makes me squirm about Looker even to this day. If you didn't get the title of my post before, you certainly will after you watch this clip.

Oh, and one other thing: Yes, that is Laurie Partridge. You're welcome.

Context-free follies

2011-10-06T13:18:00.000-04:00

First, remember that I don't have cable and never watch TV. Now, remember that I regularly read io9. Finally, realize that due to my insatiable curiosity, I tend to read articles about shows I've never seen and never plan to see.

So...take a look at this clip from a new cable TV show called American Horror Story. If you've seen the show itself, or if you know more about the plot than I do, just pretend you haven't/don't. Now watch this video and write your own plot. Niiiiice, right? ;-)

The Cinderella Method

2011-10-05T08:24:00.000-04:00

I had an interesting dream last night. It didn't involve any MC, but it was weird enough and hot enough that I thought I'd share it here.

I dreamed I was back in college, living in a dorm, and some of the girls on my hall were playing a sex game they called "The Cinderella Method." The idea was to start at 11:30 PM with one girl orally stimulating the other girl, but try to prolong the pleasure until the stroke of midnight, at which point the other girl was supposed to come. In my dream, two pairs of girls were playing The Cinderella Method in one bed, while several other girls stood around watching them and cheering them on.

Rediscovered by accident

2011-10-02T15:19:00.002-04:00

As I was browsing YouTube just now, I stumbled across some footage from an old '70's horror movie that scared the shit out of me when I was a kid. Even if you're in the same age range as me, you might not remember Let's Scare Jessica to Death; it was pretty obscure in its time. But judging by the comments on YouTube, I'm not the only one who had nightmares after watching it.

I really don't remember the plot now, but the clips indicate it had a lot of vampire MC and lesbian undertones - the last of which would have gone over my head when I was a kid, though they're more than obvious now.

Anyway, if you like what you see here, click on over to YouTube for more from Let's Scare Jessica to Death and a bunch of other '70's horror films that will drag you happily back to your childhood.

Funny and awesome

2011-09-30T08:01:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I wish this wasn't an 18-and-over blog (Okay, yeah, I know there are plenty of people younger than that reading it, but let's pretend). The video below is wonderful for anyone of any age - especially but not exclusively closeted LGBT's. It's funny and and hot and pretty damn dirty: a great combination. But since this is an 18-and-over blog, I can't specifically address this post to LGBT teens. I hope you'll help me share it, though. It really is awesome.

Thanks to Lady K for sharing it with me!

Paranoia city

2011-09-26T10:09:00.000-04:00

Just a quick check-in, as my situation still isn't settled and I don't have consistent, proper internet access yet. Make of that what you will, and please don't ask me how I'm managing this post as it's rather weird and complicated. ;-P

Anyway, while I've been on hiatus I've seen lots of things I wanted to post, but didn't for various reasons. This is what finally brought me completely out of hiding: the tour visuals for Muse's performance of "Darkshines" at this year's Reading and Leeds festivals. Now, I try very hard (sometimes sitting on my hands!) not to rave too much about Muse here; after all, this is a fetish blog, not a music blog. But of course Muse is all about SF weirdness, paranoia and mind control; and this video has it all in spades. In fact, it even has a UFO trying to abduct a cow - and apparently failing because the cow is too heavy! Now, how can you say no to a video like that? ;-) Also, be sure to notice the x-ray of the disappearing brain, an underplayed but excellent metaphor for total MC.

hiatus due to grenade

2011-09-01T06:38:00.001-04:00

Sorry, folks, but I've had a grenade tossed into my personal life. Well, actually I've had a series of grenades since last fall; but this was the big mama. It's going to take some time to adjust to. Kind thoughts and/or prayers would be appreciated.

I'll be fine in the end, but I need to take some time away from the blog so I can focus on real life. I will be back, because I enjoy this place - and I enjoy all your comments and e-mails. I just can't say how long it will take me to return. Hopefully, it won't be a really lengthy hiatus, so please watch this space.

Thanks.

Going pretty far afield for today's trance fix

2011-08-28T10:49:00.002-04:00

I first learned about the movie White Zombie when I was a kid, poring through a book on classic horror films. My MC fetish was already in place, so I was intrigued by the snippet of information about the film; but I couldn't tell much more than that it sounded interesting.

Well, last week the movie came to mind again for some reason, and I decided to look it up online. I came up with a synopsis (Here's the quick version: Bela Lugosi kills a young bride and resurrects her as a zombie to do his bidding...only she's not really dead; it's more like he's stolen her life spark. Meanwhile, various men plead with her to notice them and try, mostly in vain, to save her). And I also turned up the compilation below. I have no idea why it's set to a jazz sound track, but I have to admit that it does add another level of interest to the video.

Finally, I found a site where you can download the whole movie for free. It's just over an hour long, so it's not much of a time commitment to watch; but I haven't done so myself, yet. I'm not sure I'll ever get around to it because everyone except the heroine chews the scenery like they haven't eaten in weeks. Still, their hamminess sets off her blankness all the better. Madge Bellamy gives lovely trance face. ;-) It would be fun to collect all her zombie scenes from the movie and make a compilation of those clips. Does anyone feel up to the challenge? ;-)

Anyway, you'll find plenty of fetish material in this compilation, but I'm afraid you'll have to overlook a bit of hamminess on the way.

A happy little update

2011-08-24T14:53:00.007-04:00

First, thanks to everyone who offered sympathy regarding my computer crash and loss of data.

Some people asked me if I could just recreate the lost Virtual Hypnotist sessions, and I said I couldn't. I put so much work into getting my bedtime and morning sessions just the way I wanted them, that I couldn't bear the thought of doing it all over again from scratch. Any of you who've read Stephen King's Misery will understand. At the beginning of that novel, the protagonist is carrying the only copy of his just-finished novel with him when he wrecks his car and gets rescued/captured by a murderous lunatic. She claims to be his biggest fan, but when she reads his precious new draft, it disgusts her so much that she makes him burn it. Well, I don't think it's a huge spoiler, after all these years, to say the protagonist survives. The important thing about his story, for the purpose of this post, is that his new novel didn't survive: he couldn't recreate something that big and complex...not in the Misery book, anyway. I think I remember him rewriting it in the movie version, but that's Hollywood for you.

My VH sessions, of course, were nothing close to novels; but they were still too involved for me to rewrite from scratch. Fortunately, I was so desperate to get them back that I ended up checking every saved folder which was even loosely associated with my "thrall" identity; and in one of the very last places I expected to find anything, I turned up some really old versions and scraps of versions of the lost sessions. That was enough to spur me to action. Maybe you could compare it to rediscovering 2/3 of a novel you thought you'd burned, and outlines for what was still missing.You'd rewrite from there, wouldn't you, if you knew your work was worth saving?

I've already done a lot of work recreating the bedtime session. It will never be exactly like it was before, but it's getting to the point where it does what I want it to do: put me to sleep at night. It still needs some tweaking, but I'm pretty happy with it - and I'm backing it up every few days to a CD. I'll probably end up throwing it into the cloud, as well. This will never happen to me again.

My morning session isn't as high a priority as my bedtime session, since it's mainly recreational, but I'll get around to it soon. And when I do, I'll have If Wishes Were Horses to help me. Thank goodness I wrote that when I did! Most of the session's text is embedded within that story; so the only hard part will be tweaking the pauses, punctuation, etc., to make the speech synthesizer sound more human. I also have an old list of suggestions which had already been tweaked for the speech synthesizer, and I can insert them at the proper point in the script. I'm looking forward to getting started on that sometime soon; but I have a few other things I want to do first, like beginning that new MC story I mentioned in the post about my computer crash.

Oh, and speaking of upcoming stories, about a week ago I had a fantastic dream which laid the groundwork for another MC story that badly needs telling. And you know me: I can't deny my Muse. ;-) I'm just glad she's hanging around so much lately.

Scary dolls

2011-08-21T13:32:00.000-04:00

Sweet dreams };-P

I doubt they can top this

2011-08-19T09:28:00.000-04:00

So the new Fright Night opened this weekend. I doubt I'll go see it. The buzz hasn't been great; I feel like the whole vampire thing has been played out; and most importantly, I doubt the new version will live up to the original - particularly this scene. The '80's fashions and music might put you off for a minute or two, but you'll get past it. Then you'll be every bit as caught up in the seduction as our heroine is. This is great stuff.

There she goes again

2011-08-17T06:00:00.001-04:00

Maggie Gyllenhaal is doing another quirky sex movie, God bless her. This looks awesome.

Since the "AgniDog" set went down pretty well...

2011-08-15T08:45:00.000-04:00

...and since at least one of my visitors noticed the connection between AgniDog and Agna, I thought I'd share some shots of Agna today. There's clearly a strong connection between the two, but I'm not sure if they're just collaborative partners or something more.

I also can't say for sure which photographer took each of these pics. I think it's safe to say AgniDog was behind most of them, but I didn't see any credits (that I could read, anyway) when I saved these images.

Anyway, the URL's stamped on most of the pictures will lead you to more Russian latex, zentai, bdsm, etc. - much of it featuring Agna.

This guy is stepping up his game

2011-08-10T11:51:00.000-04:00

I've been following AgniDog on Deviant Art for awhile now. I suspect he's a fairly new photographer because he doesn't have a huge gallery and his older pictures are often, well, less than satisfying. But some of them hit home for me right from the start, and more of them are hitting home for me these days; so I think he's hitting his stride.

Not that catering to my tastes means a photographer is hitting his stride, but you know what I mean. I hope. ;)

Anyway, here are a few of AgniDog's best and darkest offerings.

What I did on my summer vacation

2011-08-07T19:42:00.000-04:00

...and what I did afterwards. Let's start with the bad news first so I can get it out of the way and move on to things that will make you and me both happier.

Not long after posting the last entry before this one, my Paleolithic computer died the True Death. I had to buy a new machine, which is good in some ways but bad in others. The worst part was losing everything on my C drive. I'd been backing up my most important files and/or storing them on an external drive just in case something like this happened, but unfortunately, there was one set of files I somehow left behind: my Virtual Hypnotist scripts. I can download the program itself again, and I still have access to the scripts I've posted online; but gone, gone, gone are my bedtime session and morning session. It makes me want to kick myself so hard. Technically, I could try to rewrite them, but I put so much work into getting them just right that I can't imagine doing it all over again. Thank goodness I've reached the point where I can get to sleep without the bedtime session now; otherwise, I'd be really upset.

Anyway, enough of the bad news. The good news is that during my staycation, I was daydreaming one afternoon and came up with a new EMC story idea without even trying. I don't want to say too much about it yet because I write so slowly; it might be months before I'm ready to publish this one. I'll say this much, though: the story is set in the Tenpack of Trixies universe, will feature at least one of the characters from the original "Trixies" story, and will probably be just one chapter long. Of course, I've expected other stories to be just one chapter, and they turned into three- or four-chapter stories, so don't hold me to my word on that. Just be glad I have a nice, new computer to write it on. ;)

It's nice to be missed :-)

2011-08-02T18:49:00.002-04:00

Thanks, Tabico and Elizabeth, for letting me know I was missed! Let me see if I can return the favor for you and everyone else who follows my blog.

The lovely ladies in this set are Bellefast (redhead) and Courtney Cruz (black hair), and the photographer is Michael Helms. He's been rolling out images from this photo shoot on his Deviant Art gallery for the last several days. I don't know if he's finished or not, but you should check out his gallery regardless because he's just that good.

As for the models, Bellefast's DA gallery is here and her Model Mayhem gallery is here, while Courtney Cruz's Model Mayhem gallery is here.

Staycation

2011-07-27T14:38:00.002-04:00

I'm going to take about a week off from blogging. Catch you again next week!

I wish I could write like this

2011-07-23T13:29:00.001-04:00

I've written before about Tipping the Velvet, the miniseries; but it's taken me until now to pick up the actual book. I've only just begun - Nan and Kitty are still striking up a friendship that will blossom into something more - but I'm already in love with the author's (Sarah Waters) style. Every sentence is thick with eroticism, even something as prosaic as a description of Kitty taking off her stage makeup. Here, have a read:

She sang on; then opened one eye very wide, and leaned close to the glass to remove a stubborn crumb of spit-black - her mouth stretching wide, out of a kind of sympathy with her eyelids, and her breath misting the mirror. For a second she seemed quite to have forgotten me. I studied the skin of her face and her throat. It had emerged from its mask of powder and grease the colour of cream - the colour of the lace on her chemise; but it was darkened at the nose and cheeks - and even, I saw, at the edge of her lip - by freckles., brown as her hair. I had not suspected the existence of the freckles. I found them wonderfully and inexplicably moving.

Then there's this bit, from a few paragraphs later. Nan is about to leave and takes off her glove to shake Kitty's hand, but...

     All at once she was the gallant boy of the footlights again. She straightened her back, made me a little bow, and raised my knuckles to her lips.
     I flushed with pleasure - until I saw her nostrils quiver, and knew, suddenly, what she smelled: those rank sea-scents, of liquor and oyster-flesh, crab-meat and whelks, which had flavored my fingers and those of my family for so many years we had all ceased, entirely, to notice them. Now I had thrust them beneath Kitty Butler's nose! I felt ready to die of shame.
     I made, at once, to pull my hand away; but she held it fast in her own, still pressed to her lips, and laughed at me over the knuckles. There was a look in her eye I could not quite interpret.
     'You smell,' she began, slowly and wonderingly, 'like-'
     'Like a herring!' I said bitterly. My cheeks were hot now and very red; there were tears, almost, in my eyes. I think she saw my confusion and was sorry for it.
     'Not at all like a herring,' she said gently. 'But perhaps, maybe, like a mermaid...' And she kissed my fingers properly, and this time I let her; and at last my blush faded, and I smiled.
     I put my glove back on. My fingers seemed to tingle against the cloth. 'Will you come and see me again, Miss Mermaid?' she asked.

Like I said, I've only just begun this book. I know there are dozens of incredible (and occasionally kinky) sex scenes ahead, and I can't wait to find them. Just think: if Sarah Waters can pack this much eroticism into a hand-kiss, what can she do with an actual lovemaking scene?

Luis Royo's ultimate BDSM fantasy

2011-07-20T14:58:00.000-04:00

I've blogged about Luis Royo a couple of times already, and many of you already knew about him before you ever read my entries. He's a Spanish artist with a taste for fantasy, SF, and various kinds of kink.

At left is a dome commissioned by a Russian billionaire back in 2006, and below are details from some of my favorite panels. If you want to see the rest of the dome in closeup, just go here.

In my imagination, the various panels depict a harem kept by a powerful Mistress (Maybe she's the one on the pedestal at the center, tossing roses). Her most experienced slaves teach the newer ones the ways of pleasure, deepening their mindless obedience one orgasm at a time.

In one panel you can see Royo, his son, and the Russian billionaire peeking at the harem from behind a hedge. I like to imagine they're about to be ambushed by a company of mindwiped Amazons. I don't know what Mistress will do with them in the end, but they won't be in any condition to complain about it afterwards. ;P

Giving credit where credit is due

2011-07-16T16:42:00.001-04:00

This is a post I've been meaning to make for awhile; I've just been distracted by other, more exciting topics. But it needs to be said, and now is as good a time as any.

These things are just matters of politeness:

If you share a picture that you found somewhere else online, tell your readers where you found it.
If it's a professional shot and you know who the photographer and/or model is, tell your readers that, too.
If you have only incomplete information about a picture you found, tell you readers as much as you know.
If you publish a story on the EMCSA and someone else helped you with it in any capacity (even proofreading), thank them by name at the start of your story.

I'm not thinking of any particular incident as I write this entry. It's more about an accumulation of annoyances over several years - annoyances about things done to other people and things done to me personally.

What it all boils down to is this: if you want credit for the things you do, then it only makes sense to give others credit for the things they do.

End of rant. I promise to give you something sexier next time around. ;)

I think you have to be a fetishist to appreciate this

2011-07-14T15:13:00.000-04:00

Behold!

What it feels like

2011-07-10T16:09:00.001-04:00

I haven't talked about my experiences with Virtual Hypnotist lately, but they're still going well. I continue to use one of the scripts I wrote for myself at bedtime every night, to help me get to sleep. By now, the background music (Men at Work's soporific "Down By the Sea") has become so ingrained in my subconscious that, if I don't have access to VH at bedtime, I can play the song in my head a few times and drop off pretty easily. VH is more fun, though. ;)

I thought you might like to hear how it feels for me, slipping off to sleep via hypnosis, so here we go.

When I first wrote the bedtime script, I was trying to put myself in a state of near-mindlessness; I thought that was the best way to still my thoughts enough to get to sleep. Well, I haven't managed mindlessness with my bedtime session (Oddly enough, I have managed it with my morning session...but that's a little too personal to go into ;)). But even though my thoughts still bounce around a lot during my bedtime session, I am becoming deeply hypnotized. I just don't realize it until the program ends with the command for me to get up and go to bed.

This is where things get cool. The script tells me that it will be easy for me to raise my arms, remove my earbuds, and get up; but it's not. I've become so relaxed by now that it feels like I'm deep underwater. My limbs are heavy, my movements slow, and performing more than one action at a time is more than I can handle.

I can't time myself, of course, but my guess is that it takes me about 15 seconds to get out of the chair.

Picture this. I'm in front of my computer with my chair tilted back and my feet up on a stool. My elbows rest at the point where the chair's arms connect to the back, and my hands are loose in my lap with my fingers lightly curled. "Now go," the program says. "Go to bed."

My arms draw outward until my hands are barely touching my body (To move them any further would just be too much work). Then slowly, oh so slowly, my hands move upwards, fingers grazing the sides of my torso and then the sides of my breasts. Now I move them inward, toward the "V" where the separate earbud cords join together and snake off toward the computer. At this point my hands have to rotate so my fingers are in a position to grasp the cords. Then my grip has to open a bit and my fingers feel their way upwards, looking for just the right spot to grasp the cords and tug.

But even after that, I'm not through. Now I have to lean forward and place the earbuds with their cords carefully on the computer desk. Otherwise, they might drag on the floor and the chair wheels could roll over them, potentially destroying them. Only after I'm sure the earbuds are safe can I get up from the chair, putting one foot on the floor at a time, and head off to bed.

After all of that, it's no wonder I feel sleepy enough to drop off right away.

*The image at the top of this post is by Kassandra Vizerskaya.

More fun with nudity

2011-07-07T20:22:00.000-04:00

Look what I found, barely an hour after my last post about half-naked men. This time they're fully naked, and they're for hire.

Be sure not to miss the final question!

Naked asses and frying chicken: who wins?

2011-07-07T19:15:00.001-04:00

In a sense, we all do. ;) But I think the lady with the mostly-nude male harem took home the jackpot. ;P

COCKTAIL TIME! from EIT! on Vimeo.

Thanks to the silent ones

2011-07-04T13:32:00.001-04:00

Cyan stories don't get much recognition from the EMCSA crowd, but I know people read them even if they don't comment on them. For instance, I haven't received much feedback on "How Did It Come To This?"; but Stat Counter shows me how many readers are clicking through to my blog from the story.

I don't have any personal information about my visitors, but the statistics are nice in their own way. They let me know people are out there, all around the world, enjoying what I have to say. That's a great feeling.

So let me return the favor. I don't post on every forum I visit, or e-mail every writer who floats my boat. I appreciate the privacy of lurking, and I appreciate the fact that you stopped by even if you didn't say anything. You might not have known it, but you made me smile.

A Peek Beneath the Duct Tape: How Did It Come to This?

2011-07-03T16:23:00.008-04:00

I hope I fooled some of you with the red herring in How Did It Come To This? - and I hope none of you dropped the story before you found out it was a red herring. If I ever wrote another vampire tale (and after collaborating so successfully with Jukebox* on The White Album, why should I?), it certainly wouldn't have a vamp as traditional as Jimmy would have been...if he'd been a vamp.

Admittedly, my first idea for a hockey-player-vs.-figure-skater story did involve a Nosferatu, but there's a reason the story didn't work out that way. I couldn't make it work out that way; it would have been too boring. I didn't get enthusiastic about the tale until I realized Jimmy didn't have to be a real vampire; he just had to seem like one. Then it occurred to me that the lyrics to "Time Is Running Out" would fit incredibly well with an EMC story, and I got really enthusiastic.

I don't know how many m/m fans are also Muse fans (though the "belldom" phenomenon would suggest some overlap ;)), so I won't go into much detail about the Muse-related Easter eggs in the story. If you're not a fan, you won't even notice them; and if you are a fan, you'll get a few extra laughs from the story. Here's a hint: Aside from TIRO and "Hysteria," I've referenced at least seven other Muse songs; and I've also given each of the band members his own hidden shout-out.

Not all the Easter eggs are Muse-related, though. Larry Szymanski isn't a fan of Stephen King, but I am, so there's a reason for the capitalized "It" in the fortune cookie scene. You'll get "It" if you've read It. ;)

Speaking of which, my first idea for Jimmy's fortune was a fortune I received myself: "Good sense travels on the well-worn paths; genius never." Eventually I worked this out to be a bad translation of something like, "Good sense always travels on well-worn paths, but genius never does." In other words, genius goes its own way.

That's Jimmy, I think. He succeeds even though he never takes the well-worn paths and never does the expected. In fact, he's so instinctive in his actions that he doesn't always realize what he's doing, himself. I wasn't sure about that at first, but in the end I realized he was just playing by ear and having fun. Of course, he never doubted he'd get Larry in the end. After all, he's not just a genius; he's a fae.

Good thing he's an iconoclast fae, though. Imagine what could have happened to Larry if Penelope had gotten hold of him!

*My collaboration with Jukebox was so successful that I think some of his influence carried over into this story. You can see it mostly in the humor and in Jimmy's banter.

This and that

2011-06-28T10:00:00.005-04:00

This post is sort of a mishmash, but I have a lot of things to talk about today.

First, I've sent the final chapter of How Did It Come to This? off to Simon, so expect to see it in next week's update. I hope you're enjoying it so far. I haven't received much feedback, but my Stat Counter tells me that lots of people are popping in here from the EMCSA - and lots of people are enjoying the Johnny Weir pics. I take that as a good sign. But remember: writers really love feedback! If you're enjoying the story, or even if you're not, drop me a line. Oh, and don't assume that all of Larry's assumptions about Jimmy are correct. ;)

Second, I thought you'd like to hear about a dream I had recently, since it involved so many things the EMC community holds dear. I dreamed that Supergirl was transformed into a mind-controlled zombie much like Tabico and Iago's Olithoi (first introduced at the end of this story arc). She had grey skin and white eyes, and she was utterly mindless. Her controllers sent her after another superheroine who was, I think, Supergirl's sidekick. For some reason this sidekick looked like the model Nicotine. Eventually I became this second girl, so I got the firsthand experience of being strapped to the brainwashing machine and plugged full of IV's and electrodes. So nice. :) I don't remember what happened after that, but for me, the induction is always the best part of any MC scene.

Finally, I just stopped by Asudem Latex's blog and found an amazing video. It's not embeddable, but I've taken a few screen shots to whet your appetite:

This is technically an art installation, but it's sooo easy to build fantasies around. In my mind, the two women (and one man, not pictured) are either nude or totally encased in black or silver. They've become mindless, living art displayed by some world-conquering MC'er like John Dominic of What Do You Give the Man Who Has Everything? They don't move to make the piece more interesting; they move because all they think or know now is pleasure. And so they squirm, wrapping themselves around their enticingly placed tubes and plunging them slowly in and out, in and out....

And that reminds me of a story I read once as a teen. I'd love it if someone else remembers it and can tell me how to find it again. The story was science fiction, part of an anthology by an author I don't remember now (I once thought it was Clark Ashton Smith, but now I think I was wrong). The story was about a performance artist who paid the bills by posing at a living statue. In the centerpiece scene, she stands nude on a dais at a dinner party, stock still on her toes, with a thick tube running between her pussy and her mouth. Later she does other pieces involving silver contacts and things like that. At the end of the story, her type of performance art has gone out of style and she just lies down in the street like a piece of trash, motionless and still wearing those contacts; she just doesn't know any other way to live now. I would so love to read that story again. Someone help me out!

What is it about models?

2011-06-26T13:06:00.000-04:00

So many of them are other things, as well: professional photographers, clothing designers, website designers, singers (although I can't think of any good model/singers) - and, of course, artists.

The sketches in this post belong to a model who goes by "Christiane" in real life, Malady Charlotina in the art world, and Ulorin Vex (Yes, her again! You know how much I love this lady ;-)) in the modeling world. I like her baroque flourishes, especially with the corsets and bondage gear. The more the better, I say!

I hope you'll enjoy her art, too; and that you'll stop by her site for more goodies. Some of them are even available as iPhone cases.

A Preliminary Peek Beneath the Duct Tape on "How Did It Come to This?"

2011-06-21T08:59:00.004-04:00

I have more to say about my latest story than usual, so I'm splitting my commentary in two and devoting the first half to non-spoilery talk about the inspiration for Jimmy DeVere.

Of course, if you're interested enough in gay men to read a cyan story, you probably already know about Johnny Weir. In fact, you probably know more about him than I did when I started writing How Did It Come to This?.

I used to enjoy watching the Winter Olympics, especially the figure skating, but I gave it up before Weir burst onto the scene. Oh, I heard about him here and there, but I never saw him skate and only once saw him interviewed before I started writing. My impression of him was based mainly on pictures, a few sports articles, and the shitstorm he braved at the 2010 Olympics.

I always knew that if I wrote my "hockey player vs. figure skater" story, Johnny Weir would be the model for my MC'er; but it took a long time for me to work out the plot. Once I did, I was dying to start writing; so I researched hockey and figure skating as quickly as I could, then went with what I already knew about Johnny Weir. That might sound odd to you, but I thought I had a strong enough mental image to build a character around. Besides, Jimmy was never meant to be Johnny exactly; he's more of an intentionally uninformed fantasy version of Johnny. That gave me license to play around with details like his musical taste and personal life, not to mention his species. ;-)

Once I had the rough draft in good shape, I could relax enough to satisfy my curiosity about the real Johnny. I started with YouTube, where I found (among many other interesting things), the video below. The routines he performs in competition are beautiful, but I can't help liking his exhibition performances better because they really allow him to be himself.

Later I discovered that all ten episodes of Weir's reality show (Yes, he has one all his own), Be Good Johnny Weir, are available online. I highly recommend them. The show is awesome and Johnny Weir is even more awesome. He doesn't always come out on top, but his courage and ability to bounce back are amazing. And he never, ever caves in to bullies. He always remains true to himself, no matter what the cost.

Watching the show (and several more interviews), I realized Jimmy isn't as much like Johnny as I thought. Considering how much Johnny values personal freedom, he might be horrified to know about my story. What I'd like to think, though, is that it would give him a good laugh. Weir has a great sense of humor, and he took a hilarious jab at homophobic hockey players in one episode of his show. As you read the following quote, bear in mind that I wrote my story before hearing him say this:

Let's go brave these hockey players. Last week they called me "Johnny Queer" and then made a blow job gesture....When you walk by a group of jocks and they're making fun of you, in general, I'll want to turn around and say, "Okay, if you want a blow job, present your penis." Sexually, I enjoy being pursued, or taken to dinner and then pursued. I think it's trashy to do it behind your back.

I so love this man. :)

Now here are a few last Johnny/Jimmy-related notes before I send the next chapter to Simon:

Johnny's teeth turned out to be straighter than I remembered, but they really are a little...peculiar looking, aren't they? And those canines are definitely worrisome.
Yes, I've seen Blades of Glory, but I didn't name my MC'er after Jon Heder's character. I named him "Jimmy" because it was the closet name to "Johnny." I enjoyed the movie, but I don't think it made a big impression on my story.
Yes, I've seen The Cutting Edge, but it was a couple of decades ago and I don't remember much about it. Any coincidences beyond the obvious really are just coincidences.
Yes, I know about the Canadian reality show that pairs hockey players with figure skaters. No, I never got to see it.
Yes, I know about the reality show that pairs figure skaters with non-skaters; and I know Johnny Weir was a judge for the show. But I didn't find out about it until after I finished my rough draft, and I haven't seen it yet.
Yes, I'm sure the figure skating sections of my story have a few technical problems. Just take a deep breath and use that extra buoyancy to suspend your disbelief, okay?

If you're looking for a new tattoo...

2011-06-18T19:37:00.002-04:00

Zoetica Ebb takes commissions, then shares them on her blog. The first and third images below are designs she created specifically for herclients. The middle one is just one of her drawings, but it's the piece I'd most want as a tattoo, if I had to chose any of her artwork.

Oh, and FWIW, she designs iPhone cases, too.

Silvergasm

2011-06-16T12:02:00.001-04:00

I found these pictures by following a link from Ulorin Vex's Deviant Art gallery, where she models some other designs from this fashion house. I think you can see why I chose this set over hers, though. You can imagine what the one at the top of this post did to me. ;-P

As a whole, this set reminds me of trilby else's story Golden. His brainwashed Venusian warriors don't look quite like this, but you could certainly apply their backstory to these gals. They're so obviously seducing each other into deeper trance; and once their Mistress is satisfied with them, she'll send them out to enslave more women. You'll find plenty of conversion candidates on the designer (Anillarte)'s website.

The photographer is Rebecca Saray.

The good news and the bad news

2011-06-12T07:57:00.002-04:00

Bad news first: Chapter 1 of "How Did It Come to This?" didn't make it into this week's EMCSA update because Simon thought it didn't have enough overt MC content. He asked me to send him more of the story.

Thus the good news: I've just sent him the second chapter, so that means you'll probably get the first two sections of the story in the next update. They're only 4,000-5,000 words each, so I don't think that will be too much for anyone to read in a single week.

Honestly, I was torn myself about whether or not chapter 1 had enough MC to post alone. The content is there, but it's pretty subtle, and you won't understand what's happening until the end of chapter 4. On the other hand, you won't have any trouble spotting the MC in chapter 2...or the sex, either. ;) Part 1 is mainly humor. And strippers. ;P

I can't help being disappointed that Simon withheld my story, but I understand his point of view (and I'm glad to know he really reads my stuff ;)), so I can't complain. I just feel bad for anyone who was looking forward to starting on "How Did It Come to This?" this week. To make it up to you, here's a rerun of the clip that launched the whole story for me:

Would China Mieville really destroy the world?

2011-06-11T17:21:00.003-04:00

That's the question I kept asking myself as I made my way through Kraken (If you missed my earlier post on the topic, here it is).On the one hand, the three previous Mieville novels I'd read were pretty grim; but on the other, Kraken started off funny and got even funnier as it went along. Really, would an author who gives his protagonist access to a working Star Trek phaser let that protagonist (not to mention everyone else on the planet) die a fiery death? Well, this is China Mieville we're talking about, so I just wasn't sure.

Now I have my answer, so the only remaining question is how much to tell you. I don't want to spoil the book for anyone, but some of you might feel like Lady K. She read Perdido Street Station at my recommendation and hated the ending so much that she was ready to swear off Mieville completely unless I told her Kraken was a safe read. So, Lady K, here's your answer: YES. By all means, check out this book.

When I blogged about the novel at the halfway point, I said it reminded me a lot of Neil Gaiman, especially Neverwhere and American Gods. I left Anansi Boys out of that post only because it seemed a little redundant to mention when I'd already name-checked American Gods. Now I feel like I have to include it, because Kraken ended up being more like Anansi Boys than American Gods. I say that for a number of reasons, but most of them involve spoilers, so all I'll tell you here is this: a) AB is funnier than AG, while still retaining plenty of horror; and b) Billy Harrow is a lot like Fat Charlie, both in personality and in character arc.

Hmm, I wonder if Gaiman has read much Mieville (I don't have to wonder the opposite, because it's just so clearly true). Maybe they even know each other. Wouldn't it be interesting to have dinner with the two of them together?

I know some hardcore Mieville fans look down on Kraken because it's more lightweight than his Bas-lag novels, so I guess that means I'm not a hardcore fan. But I'm okay with that because it means I got to enjoy a fun novel with real emotional weight, fantastic characters, terrifying villains, hundreds of geeky in-jokes, and "confirmation" of a personal theory I've always held about Star Trek's transporter technology. ;) So what if the ending didn't make me want to stick my head in the oven? Is that a bad thing?

P.S.: The picture at the top of this post doesn't really have anything to do with Kraken, but you didn't really want to see that boring old book cover again, did you? ;) I thought you'd appreciate a bit of stuntkid art instead.

Whew!

2011-06-08T19:38:00.001-04:00

Well, folks, my newest story is in the pipeline. I just sent the first chapter off to Simon, so it should show up in the next EMCSA update. For some reason, this one took more polishing than most of my stuff, but it was worth it. I really like the way it came out in the end.

The story will have four chapters in all, and if you've been following my blog for awhile, you probably have an inkling of the plot already. In fact, if you've been following my blog long enough, you might even know who the (very thinly) disguised MC'er is. ;) But I'm not going to make it too easy for you to put everything together. I'll just say that I dropped my most recent hints in a May 2011 post, but the idea first occurred to me over a year ago. Yes, I know that's a lot of ground to cover, but if anyone is bloodyminded enough to try, keywords will be your friends. ;-)

For the rest of you, I'll just give you the title to look out for: "How Did It Come to This?", and the story blurb: "A hockey player signs on for a reality show and finds himself paired with a flamboyant figure skater."

You've probably figured out by now that the story is cyan, but I think most of my regular readers are fine with that. Besides, it's a damn funny story, if I do say so myself. ;-) I hope you'll enjoy it.

You're welcome.

2011-06-04T08:37:00.000-04:00

The current top entry on Apnea's blog is a flickering mishmash of images: Apnea and at least two other models doing various things in tubs and on beds and with an inflatable doll. The pictures go by too quickly for you to get a good look at any of them, but they certainly are tantalizing...at least, until the flickering gives you a migraine.

Thank goodness for Microsoft GIF Animator, a freeware program you can download from CNet, if you're so inclined. I finally got so tired of wondering what was going on that I saved Apnea's animated GIF and took it apart one image at a time. It turned out to have19 pictures total, each separated by an empty black square. Turning them into GIF's had created a little white noise, which I fixed easily enough, and then I decided to turn them over to you for your enjoyment. You're welcome. ;)

Not quite the right kraken apocalypse

2011-06-01T07:45:00.002-04:00

Well, I finally got the chance to buy China Mieville's latest, Kraken, over the weekend. I've been devouring it ever since, and I'm about halfway through right now (I'd probably go faster if I weren't still polishing my next EMC story).

Folks, this is a very different kind of Mieville novel. For one thing, it's not what I was expecting, which was a modern spin on H.P. Lovecraft. This isn't a Cthulhu mythos tale at all, although there's been one joking reference to the Elder God so far.

Actually, there are a lot of jokes in this novel, and that surprises me as much as anything else. Who knew China Mieville had a sense of humor? The biggest source of wisecracks is Collingswood, a constable assigned to an under-the-radar paranormal division of the London police. She looks like a blonde Amy Winehouse, dresses like someone posing as a police officer for a costume ball, and has a seriously bad attitude. I love her.

But about the plot (Funny how that's never the first thing I talk about, eh?). It revolves around a stereotypically impossible crime: the theft of a giant squid, still in its case, from the depths of the Natural History Museum. The squid and the museum are real, but I doubt that Billy Harrow, the protagonist of Kraken, was involved in the preservation of the actual beast. Anyway, he's the one who discovers it missing, and for some reason that makes him very important to a bunch of scary and not-so-scary denizens of what Neil Gaiman would call "London Below."

Actually, I see a lot of Gaiman influence in Kraken (mostly from Neverwhere and American Gods) - and a lot of Clive Barker influence, too (mostly Weaveworld). Mieville has come up with some seriously freaky villains so far, and I don't even know who the real squid thief is yet. It might be someone I've already met, or it might not.

All I know right now is that the squid's disappearance seems to herald the end of the world...but not the right end of the world, according to a cult that actually worships giant squids. Thus the quote at the top of this blog entry. Yes, it is a quote. Like I said, who knew China Mieville had a sense of humor?

I have no idea whether that humor will carry through to the end of the novel or not, but I hope it will. And I hope Collingswood survives, too. She could use a novel of her own. ;)

Here be dragons

2011-05-28T12:31:00.001-04:00

One of my oldest mind control fantasies involves a woman being MC'ed by a dragon. At first I imagined she'd bent sent to the dragon by her village: a sacrifice to keep it from attacking them (à la that old movie Dragonslayer), but instead it enslaves her and sends her back to take over the village. Later I thought she could be an adventuress who makes a deal with the villagers to kill the dragon, but the same thing happens in the end.

Either way, I'm nowhere close to being able to write that story yet, but it continues to percolate in my mind. I've always been fascinated by the thought of control by something terrifying and alien, like a dragon (or maybe a giant spider). The MC would have to very, very deep to make the victim love it; and that turns me on no end - even before I start thinking about the mechanics of sex with a dragon. ;)

With that in mind, here are a few pictures to stoke your own fantasies. The one above, as well as the first and third below, are by Julie Bell. The middle sketch is by Arantza.

Now three pics by Boris Vallejo. I've shown you the first one before, but it's so hilarious that I can't resist sharing it again. Ol' Boris was having great fun with the phallic symbolism on this one. He must have been laughing the whole time he was painting it.

All three of these artists - and many more - can be found on D4rkw00d.net.

Oh, and if MC-by-dragon turns you on as much as it does me, let me remind you of my previous post on the subject.

Stream of (sub)consciousness

2011-05-25T11:08:00.006-04:00

Back when I was a teenager, I read Kurt Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions. I hardly remember anything about it now, not even the central plotline; but one bit has always stuck with me. There's a character in the book who's writing his own book and has everything planned out ahead of time. Then suddenly one of his characters surprises him, doing something he didn't anticipate (Hmm, or maybe one of Vonnegut's characters surprised him; like I said, I don't remember much about it anymore).

The reason this scene stuck with me is because it rang so true to my own experience. When I'm in the zone, my characters actually do write themselves. Sometimes they even dictate to me. For instance, the MCer in the story I'm working on now is wittier than I'll ever be, but his dialogue came naturally to me (Yes, it's a "him" this time - but the story's not yellow. I wouldn't dare!).

I also wrote most of the rough draft without fully understanding the MCer's methods. That's where the title of this post comes in. I go mostly on instinct, trusting my subconscious to make sense of things I don't consciously understand. Now, my MC'er in this story is pretty capricious, so I assumed he was going on instinct, too...until I slipped in a particular Easter egg. The MCer's subject is making a wild guess about his plans, but after I wrote the guess, I realized it was right! I'm still not sure if the MCer realizes what he's he's doing, though. He hasn't told me.

Anyway, more on all this when I publish the story and post my "Peek Beneath the Duct Tape." For now, I just want to marvel at the things my brain does when I'm not looking.

This is your brain on orgasm

2011-05-23T07:47:00.000-04:00

Via

Wow, the EMC possibilities just abound, don't they? :-)

An appropriate entry for a post-rapture Sunday

2011-05-22T08:49:00.001-04:00

I wonder what the old hellfire-and-brimstone crowd are thinking this morning, since they didn't get taken up into the skies to be with Jay-sus while the rest of us perished in agony. Maybe, just maybe, a few of them will realize we're all in the same boat. And maybe one or two of them will take a moment to reflect on this article about growing up gay and Christian.

In case you aren't familiar with the writer, he's a CNN anchor who just came out as gay (No, not Anderson Cooper. The other guy.) Here's a brief sample of his story, just to whet your appetite:

It's time for us, especially black people, to stop trying to pray the gay away and to get on our knees and start praying that the discrimination of gay people ends.

What we're doing to our young gay people now is child abuse. It's plain old bigotry and hatred. And if African-Americans don't know what that feels like in America, I don't know who does.

Amen, Don Lemon. Amen.

Let the brainwashing commence!

2011-05-18T18:39:00.000-04:00

The theme of this entry should be pretty obvious, so let's just get right to the good stuff, shall we? ;-)

The pic at left came from Gwen Media, as do the middle and right-hand pictures just below. The left-hand one came from Hypnox.

I saved these and all the other pictures in this entry so long ago that I don't remember where I got all of them and don't know how many of them are still available. I'll do my best to point you in the right direction, though.

The next row comes from Latex by Anna (currently inactive), Fetish Live, and Kink Engineering.

Next up are pics from Captive Culture and Fetish Live again.

Lastly, something I've never been able to track to its source, then something that's disappeared into the void.

Vac beds are just so perfect for brainwashing, aren't they? ;-)

Yowza

2011-05-15T10:15:00.001-04:00

At right is Ulorin Vex, sporting the latest from kinky corset designer Bibian Blue. This appears to be part of the newest BB collection, which isn't available online yet as far as I can tell. But there are plenty of other goodies in their Model Mayhem gallery, including several featuring Masuimi Max. I know some of you out there kind of like her. ;-P

Things to know

2011-05-11T09:28:00.002-04:00

You've probably gathered that I'm working on a new story, but I refuse to set a deadline for myself this time because doing that always makes me feel pressured. However, I will drop a few hints today that you might want to keep in mind for...whenever:

If you think you've spotted a Muse Easter egg, you're probably right.
A few Lady Gaga references were unavoidable, but I've kept them to a minimum.
The red is there for a reason.
The fact that I'm using dreams again is pure coincidence.
There is a red herring.

Fishy, fishy, in the nude

2011-05-07T07:10:00.000-04:00

More from the amazing Kassandra Vizerskaya, this time with an oceanic theme (and a first picture that would make a fantastic MC story!).

I'm so happy to have discovered Eastern European artists like her and Jacek Yerka. Their work is entirely different from what I've grown up with, and yet it strikes a chord with me that most Western art doesn't.

I wish I could meet Vizerskaya in person. I'll bet she's a great conversationalist.

This is a scream. Literally.

2011-05-04T10:10:00.003-04:00

I can't thank Sebiates enough for sharing this incredible gem with me. Enjoy. Ohhh, enjoy. };-D

Selling out

2011-04-30T06:00:00.366-04:00

When it comes to music, I tend to be a bit behind the times - like five years or more behind. I won't mention any of my favorite bands by name, but if you've been following my blog these last few months, you already know about my latest obsession (A couple of you have even been kind enough to let me rave at you about them ;-)). This band has been together since the '90's.

Now, bear with me a moment. I promise we're heading toward EMC territory, but today we're taking the slow road.

Because I do discover bands so late in their careers, I've been able to pick up on a strange phenomenon. You might have noticed it too, but if you follow the music scene more closely than I do, your opinion about it could be different than my own. I'm talking about the way longtime fans will complain that a band has sold out if their newer music doesn't sound like their older music. Look at the message boards - or even the YouTube comments - of any band that's been popular for several years, and you'll see what I mean.

Well, okay, maybe you wouldn't find those kinds of complaints about Nickelback; but that just proves my next point, because Nickelback sucks.

And now we've arrived at the borders of EMC territory.

I consider myself a creative person. You probably know about my mind control erotica, but I have a lot of other interests - and a lot of other stories connected to those interests - floating around out there. I also dabble in art; and while I can't play any instruments or sing on key to save my life, I recognize the creativity involved in making good music. When a band sees each new album as a chance to experiment, that's a positive, regardless of whether or not I like their new sound. It's when a band keeps churning out the same shit time after time (again, see Nickelback) that I think they're selling out. In fact, in cases like that, they probably sold out before they ever picked up an instrument.

I sometimes wonder if any EMCSA readers think I've sold out. I certainly don't write the way I did back in 2002, when I first joined the website. My early stories were sometimes rewrites of fantasies I'd been running in my head for years, sometimes attempts at coming to terms with my sexual orientation, and often a bit of both.

But that was then; this is now. Today I'm more interested in trying new things with my stories, like collaborating with friends, writing from a male point of view, or even writing a cyan story.
Does that make me a sell-out? Hell, no; it makes me a creative person. If I wanted to sell out, all I'd have to do would be to write a yellow story. After all, they're the most popular pieces on the EMCSA. (Please note that I'm not disparaging all yellow stories here; it's just that M/f is a personal squick of mine).

Now let me issue a challenges to you - no, two challenges.

First, think about any bands you've criticized for "selling out" and ask yourself whether they stopped making good music, or whether they just stopped making music that floated your personal boat. If it's the former, fair enough; some bands do sell out - or just lose their touch. But if it's the latter, trust me: they really didn't sell out.They just tried an experiment you didn't like.

Now, with that in mind, let's proceed to the second challenge. Think about your favorite authors on the EMCSA and ask yourself why you keep coming back to them. Is it because you never know what they'll do next; or because you know exactly what they'll do since they always do the same thing but you happen to like it?

It's true that a creative writer (or band, or artist, etc.) will sometimes disappoint you. No experimenter has a 100% success rate; and anyway, you might consider one experiment a failure while someone else thinks it's a success. My point is that creative people have to experiment; it's in their natures. If someone churns out exactly the same product every time they go to work, they're either a manufacturer or a hack.

P.S.: Just for the record, I didn't write this post to criticize any particular EMC writer (I don't have any individuals in mind), and I didn't write it to defend my own work (I don't know if anyone thinks I've sold out or not). The idea began with my reading complaints on YouTube about bands I like; I just transferred my thoughts to the MC world.

Scar13 color-coordinates with a friend

2011-04-27T18:08:00.000-04:00

For most of my readers, the lady at right needs no introduction, but here's a helpful tip for the rest of you: she's Scar13, and she's just as gorgeous with clothes as without. But fortunately for all of you today, this particular photo-set is nude only. ;-)

The photographer for the set is Michael Helms, a man who never gets tired of telling the world how much he loves Scar. He photographs a lot of other beautiful women, too - and never fails to make them even more beautiful. You can visit his gallery on Deviant Art to see more - lots more.

Scar doesn't have a Deviant Art gallery gallery of her own, but you can find a multitude of her pictures in other Deviant Artists' galleries just by doing a DA search on her name.

As for her lovely color-coordinating friend, she goes by the name of Velocity, and she has a gallery on Model Mayhem. You might laugh to hear me say this, but I really love her face. ;-)

Tease, tease, tease

2011-04-23T12:59:00.000-04:00

I have a lot of gorgeous, color-coordinated pictures of two models (at least one of whom you know well) to share with you soon, but I'm holding off until the photographer finishes posting the whole set. Expect to see them mid-week, I think.

In the meantime, happy whatever-holiday-you're-celebrating-at-the-moment!

How to turn yourself into a creepy-ass fortune-telling doll

2011-04-22T09:42:00.000-04:00

I found this image in a Bizarre magazine article Neil Gaiman had linked to from his blog. I'm pretty sure that's a real person under there because all the other pictures are of costumed human beings. But look at her(?) hand. Isn't it amazingly plaster-like? She could be wearing some sort of glove, but I know that if I were her, I wouldn't want to have an immobile hand for very long. So I thought to myself, "How else could you achieve that look and still be able to move?" The answer came to me quickly enough: get the right shade of latex gloves and mess them up just a tad. Then you could get a pair of latex stockings in the same color and top them with some old, scuffed ballet slippers; and after that, perhaps some discreet arm and leg braces to wear under your dress, just to make your movements a little creakier. The mask, of course, would be the easy part.

I wish I had an opportunity to try this out myself.

Again, not what I expected to post today

2011-04-20T07:04:00.000-04:00

I just read this excellent article on CNN about the reluctance of soccer (football, for Europeans) players to come out of the closet, and how one player who was forced out in 1990 eventually committed suicide because of the pressure and prejudice he faced. The article also includes video interviews with rugby player Gareth Thomas and cricketer Steven Davies, both of whom came out more recently. They both talk about their great sense of relief at being able to be themselves at last.

I know this is supposed to be a blog about fetishes, but I just can't keep stories like this to myself. There are so many young people, athletes and otherwise, who are afraid to share this essential part of themselves - often with good reason. And there are so many young people who can't hide their differences, and suffer the discrimination others avoid because they simply have no choice.

If my blog gives me any voice on this issue, any power to soften one person's heart or strengthen one person's nerve, then I'm going to take it. Whether you, my reader, identify as GLBT or not, please be vocal about this issue in your community. Please work for justice, and please support those who are fearful and persecuted in any way you can.

Thanks.

She wrote me...I think

2011-04-16T06:00:00.063-04:00

When you get an e-mail from someone claiming to be a published model, it's hard to tell if they're for real or just someone yanking your chain. But I tend to think the message I got from "merkinstache" on Thursday came from the lady herself. She thanked me for mentioning her on my blog and calling her "enchanting," and she said using the name "merkinstache" helped her not take herself too seriously.

Anyway, the e-mail reminded me that I'd promised to do a post about merkinstache but never got around to it, so here it is now. She really is enchanting, yes? And she's also not afraid to put herself in some pretty freaky situations, as you'll see if you visit her Deviant Art or Model Mayhem galleries.

In the meantime, here's a little something to whet your appetite. :-)

The picture above is by Michael Helms, as is the first of the three images just below. The second is by Dan Santoni, and the third comes from Perry Gallagher.

Next up is another pic from Perry Gallagher, then one from Chad Michael Ward.

Finally, two more from Perry Gallagher and one from Vance.

All the photographers featured in this post have Deviant Art and/or Model Mayhem accounts where you can see more of their work.

Your assistance, please?

2011-04-13T12:51:00.002-04:00

There was a time when I only wrote what I knew, but I seem to be moving further and further away from that era. For instance, with the EMC story I'm plotting now, I'll have to know a lot more than I already do (which is practically nothing) about skating sports. Specifically, I need 1) technical knowledge of pairs skating and 2) comparisons and contrasts between hockey and figure skating.

Make of this what you will. ;-)

Anyway, Jukebox tells me there's a Canadian reality TV show where hockey players team up with figure skaters, but I can't access the YouTube videos because I live in the wrong country. :-/ If you can watch the show and have been doing so regularly, you could certainly help me; and if you have personal experience with both sports, you could help me even more. I'm also looking for people with in-depth knowledge of pairs skating (Lady K already has me covered on the hockey front).

If you'd like to volunteer your services, you'll get advance details and peeks on the story in progress, though of course you'll be sworn to secrecy; and I'll give you credit on my blog and in the notes at the top of the story when it's posted on the EMCSA* - assuming you do want that and don't want to remain completely anonymous. But if you would like a credit, I'll use whatever name you wish.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me!

* I make no promises about when it will be posted, but it'll happen.

The Domme Gives a Tour

2011-04-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

This post was always meant to center on the photography of John Tisbury, but I debated for awhile over the layout and whether or not to include similar pics from other photographers. In the end, though, I decided just to splash you with almost everything from my folder of saved Tisbury pictures. I don't think I even need to set up an MC scenario for these, do I? They speak so clearly for themselves. ;-)

Not that kind of grass...or that kind, either

2011-04-06T12:57:00.002-04:00

The Grass I want to talk about today is a science fiction/fantasy/horror novel by Sheri S. Tepper. "Grass" is both the name of the novel and the world on which most of the story is set: the only planet in human-inhabited space that hasn't been infected by a deadly plague. The novel's protagonist has been sent along with her ambassador husband to find out what makes Grass safe.

The thing is, Grass isn't safe, not at all. It seems perfectly pastoral on the surface, right down to the hunts on which members of the landed gentry chase "foxes" (actually native creatures that aren't very fox-like at all) with the aid of "hounds" and "horses" a thousand times more sinister than their Terran counterparts. In fact, you only have to read twenty pages or so before you start to wonder which species involved in the hunts is really in charge - and what it wants of the other species involved.

There's a lot of EMC in Grass - and do note that I said "EMC" and not just "MC." ;-) I'll give you just a taste of it here, a scene so brief it hardly requires any introduction at all: Dimity is a virginal young thing on her first-ever fox hunt. She's been training for months, though, because it's such a painful and exhausting experience...which, for some reason, no one ever thinks of refusing. Her father Stavenger is the captain of this particular hunt, and her brother Sylvan goes along even though he despises the practice. And that's all you need to know before we dig in:

     The Hunt does go on. Time passes. The fox runs for hours. The riders pursue it for hours. Dimity forgets who she is or where she is. There is no yesterday, nor any tomorrow. There is only an everlasting now, full of the pound of feet on the turf, the rustle of grasses as they push their way through, the scream of the fox far ahead, the bay of the hounds. Hours gone. Days, perhaps. Perhaps they have ridden for days. She would not know.
     There is nothing to mark the passage of time. Thirst, yes. Hunger, yes. Weariness, yes. Pain, yes. All of these have been there since early in the morning: burning thirst, gnawing hunger, aching bones, deep-set as a disease. Her mouth cannot be drier than it is, her stomach emptier. She cannot hurt more than she hurts. And now, at last, she gives up fighting against it. It will last forever. The thing in her head wipes out any concern about that. Nothing measures time. No before. No after. Nothing, nothing. Until the mount beneath her slows and stops and she unwillingly leaves the agonized daze she has fallen into and opens her eyes.
     They are standing at the edge of another copse, moving slowly into it, into a grove, into the dusky cathedral shade of the trees. High above them the foliage opens to allow the sun to pierce the gloom in radiant spears. One of them lights Stavenger where he stands upon his mount with the harpoon in his hands, ready to throw. From the tree branches above comes a scream of rage, then Stavenger's arm whips out and the line streaks behind the harpoon like a thread of purest gold.
     A horrible scream again, this time of agony.
     A hound leaps high to seize the line in his teeth. Other hounds as well. They have it. They are pulling the fox out of the tree, still howling, still screaming, never silent for an instant. Something huge and dark with glistening eyes and mighty fangs falls among them, and then there is only the sound of screaming mixed with the sound of teeth.
     Dimity closes her eyes again, too late not to see the dark blood fountaining among the struggling bodies, and feels...feels a welling of pleasure so deeply intimate it makes her flush and draw her breath in, makes her legs quiver where they bestride the body beneath her, makes her whole body rock in a spasm of ecstatic sensation.
     All around her other eyes are closed, other bodies quiver. Except for Sylvan. Sylvan sits erect, eyes fixed on the bloody tumult before him, teeth bared in a silent rage of defiance, his face quite blank. He can see Dimity from where he is, see her body thrashing, her eyes closed. In order not to see it, he turns his face away.

Again, that was just the merest glimpse of "Grassian" EMC. You have no idea how deep the control goes until nude, mindwiped girls start turning up in spaceports - and even that's not the end of it! Check it out.

Skeletor Saves

2011-04-02T08:00:00.001-04:00

First, sorry about the lack of a post last Wednesday. Life, you know. :-/ But I hope I can make it up to you with this post - and this link to more jaw-droppers for those of a certain age.

Some artists in New York City are putting on a He-Man themed charity show to benefit a homeless shelter for LGBT youth. If you live in the NYC area, check it out. If not, consider making a donation and/or spreading the word about this extremely worthwhile cause.

Oh, and just for the record, I expect to be fully back on track Wednesday and swamping you with loads of fetishy goodness. ;-)

Today is a good day to be a mariachi

2011-03-27T12:00:00.000-04:00

There comes a time in every man's (or woman's) life when he questions his choice of career. I think I can safely say that, for these two particular guys, today was not that day. ;-)

These images of Ulorin Vex - and two very real mariachis - were taken by Samuel Hernandez. You can find several more from the same shoot on Ulorin's blog.

A friend has passed away

2011-03-25T08:00:00.002-04:00

I've just recently learned that sara castle passed away. I didn't know her as well as many others did, but we chatted a bit by e-mail and she was always polite and charming: the stereotypical Mary Poppins-ish Englishwoman. Oh, but when she wrote....! Fire and ice, dragons, spiders, and gleaming chrome angels with clockwork gears.

I wish sara joy in her continuing journey, and I wish peace and hope for those who loved her best.

Mistress, is that You?

2011-03-23T06:00:00.010-04:00

It's going to be a very busy week for me, so this is a short-and-sweet prewritten post. I might or might not have time for something else over the weekend. I'll do my best, but in the meantime, I think you'll enjoy this little present. :-)

From left to right, we have Sindel Chaos by Michael Magers, DelilahKillDaemonic by Mastertouch, and Jade Vixen with Darenzia by N. S. Kinloch.

It's all in the eyes, folks. :-)

By request: spiders!

2011-03-19T06:00:00.047-04:00

An anonymous commenter pointed me toward this video by The Cure. Sadly, it's not embeddable, but I promise you it's worth the time to click over to YouTube and have a look. Well, unless you're deathly afraid of spiders, that is. ;-)

As for me, I couldn't help being reminded of my collaboration with Tabico on Arachnae, or the Icky-Squicky Spider. You've got a guy seemingly paralyzed in bed but too numb to feel much fear, dead-eyed band members who've already succumbed to the venom and turned into zombies, a cackling spider-freak wrapped up in a corner, and even a spiderweb over a guy's face fluttering in the breeze of his breath. Oh, and that final shot! It's like they switched over from "Arachnae" to Octopus Vulgaris for a moment, just for kicks.

I don't know about Tabico (though I do hope she drops by to weigh in on the topic), but I never saw more than one or two Cure videos when the band was popular, and I knew nothing about this fetish-o-rama. It's almost funny how so many of these images made their way into "Arachnae." Must be something in the collective unconscious. A China Mieville Weaver, perhaps? ;-)

Hmm, well, umm...

2011-03-18T08:36:00.002-04:00

I don't know what to say about this, other than a) it's certainly the prettiest penis I've ever seen, b) it came from Vizerskaya, and c) she's got a female version, too, but you'll have to stop by her blog to see it.

Aaaaand I think I'm done here. O_o

Clockwork dolly

2011-03-16T08:18:00.000-04:00

A beautiful doll-woman, cool music, creepy lyrics, and all with a steampunk gloss. Really, what more could you want? Thanks to sylvrgirl42 for the link. :-)

scratch-n-sniff: now in latex scent

2011-03-15T12:30:00.000-04:00

Wow. Just wow.

If you need a laugh this weekend, here it is

2011-03-12T08:41:00.000-05:00

Considering current world events, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to make a long, gushy, fetishy post today. But if you want a bit of a break from the horror, here's a good one for you.

Vizerskaya gets in on the tentacle action, too

2011-03-10T08:15:00.000-05:00

Her latest blog post is called Animal KamaSutra. This is just the first of five images she shares, and IMO it's not the freakiest (That would be the snails). But since my own last post was about tentacle sex, I thought I should continue the theme. ;-)

Those wacky tentacle fetishists

2011-03-09T06:00:00.061-05:00

This post started with an e-mail from Asudem Latex, who'd found a picture she thought I might enjoy (see right). I certainly did, so I traced it via Tumblr first to here and then to photographer Daikichi Amano. I don't see this picture on Amano's actual website, but you'll find plenty of other weirdness there, if you decide to have a look.

Anyway, Amano's tentacle pic put me in mind of the famous painting at right below, Dream of the Fisherman's Wife by Hokusai. I wouldn't be surprised if some of you already have that one as your desktop image. ;-) Or if you prefer something else along the same lines, just plug "tentacle sex" into Google Image Search to see dozens of other choices. That's how I found the third pic in this post, by sculptor Rune Olsen. It's so rare to see a man getting in on the hot tentacle sex that I couldn't resist sharing it. ;-P

You know, some people pay good money for service like this

2011-03-07T18:40:00.004-05:00

I just found the image at right on a page of funny drunk pranks, and I thought I'd share the joy. ;-) Of the twelve pictures, this one gets the most points for kinkiness, but it's not even in the running for most diabolical. Here, see for yourself!

It all makes sense now

2011-03-05T13:38:00.002-05:00

It was quite obvious, really. I'm just surprised that it took a crackpot-conspiracy-theory website to open my eyes. Charlie Sheen's brain isn't fried from drugs, people; he's a victim of government-sponsored mind control! MK Ultra, to be exact...which gives me just the excuse I need to talk about Muse again. ;-) Get used to it. Their music will actually have a starring role in my next EMC story. ;-P

Ladies and gentlemen, start your fantasies!

2011-03-05T07:29:00.000-05:00

I just found a whole stash, of these pictures here. They're like Invasion of the Body Snatchers taken to a whole new level: people crawling around inside of other people and breaking out of them. Unfortunately, the only comparison that occurred to the blog writer who posted these pictures was a snake shedding its skin. Silly boy. I'll bet artist Taylor James had creepier thoughts in mind!

If I have nothing to say, I can at least show you boobs ;-)

2011-03-02T06:00:00.000-05:00

I am now in love with Mila Kunis.

Go see Black Swan.

That is all. Enjoy your day!

Just the pictures I was looking for

2011-02-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

...even if I didn't know it yet.

The shot at left is one I just found on Ivory Flame's blog - photo by Sean Elliott, corset by Sparklewren (I always try to give credit where credit is due, and of course some of you will want to follow the links and see more). The moment I saw this picture, I thought about all the fantasies I've ever had of standing mentally - and sometimes physically - bound, in front of a mirror, gazing blankly at my blank face and letting it draw me even deeper into trance. Just like "m" in Willing Subject. Ivory Flame might be horrified to know that's what she made me think about, or maybe she wouldn't. She has to be at least a little kinky, to get into shots like this. ;-)

Now here's the other "just what I was looking for" pic - the perfect shot of Io decked out in all her slick, black va-va-va-voomish finery. Not too long ago I shared some of the pics from her New Year's Eve party, linking you to her blog post about it - a post which promptly disappeared. It's back now, though, as is this new post about gay-and-not-so-gay buddies and adventures in kinky nightspots. Io is a great storyteller, so you'll enjoy reading the entry as much as looking at it. I especially loved the bit about the guy huffing Aqua Net. Ugh! I can't even stand the smell of that cheap-ass shit. If I want to get high on something, I'll just run a little Virtual Hypnotist. ;-P Anyway, have a look at Io's blog. She seems like a fun gal to hang out with.

A different kind of Lovecraft artist

2011-02-24T06:00:00.001-05:00

Alice Duke, a.k.a. Melora on Deviant Art, does a lot of different kinds of work: some creepy, some cutesy, some Cthulhian. I featured another of her tentacular-type pieces in this previous post, and there's plenty more where those came from.

You can check out her Deviant Art gallery for an assortment of oddities; or if you want to cut right to the good stuff, visit her blog and try clicking on tags like "creepy," "demon" "extra-dimensional," "gods" and "monster."

P.S.: Be sure to click on this thumbnail to see all the subtleties of the full-sized image. I wonder what those teeny little people at the bottom think they're going to do with whatever-it-is they've conjured. I don't think they stand a chance, especially since they seem to be armed only with string. ;-)

He's not the Messiah; he's a very naughty boy!

2011-02-19T13:17:00.008-05:00

I've just finished a third China Mieville book, Iron Council. That's not an official cover of it at left, but I think this piece of fan art by Joe D (copied from this page), sums up the story better than any of the professional covers I've seen. Iron Council is a novel of "power to the people," power against the people, and most especially the power of Christ figures over the people.

Not that I'm trying to pin a religious interpretation on the book; it's not religious, and neither, as far as I can tell, is China Mieville. So if you don't know what a "Christ figure" means in literary terms, have a quick look here before you read on. I don't want to give you the wrong impression.

Now here we go. The most obvious Christ figure in Iron Council is Judah Low, who's so saintly and so powerful that he can turn the tide of a battle by creating "ab-life" from scratch. In other words, he makes golems. And he's pretty damn inventive with them, too. That's supposed to be him riding one of his creations in the second-from-left picture below (by homarusrex, who has a lot of other Mieville-related pics in his Deviant Art gallery, although you'll have to beware of spoilers. Big ones.).

I don't think this is a particularly accurate interpretation of Judah or his golems, but I couldn't find anything more appropriate; and anyway Toro (far left) and Jack Half-a-Prayer (second from right) are a couple of other messiah-figures from Iron Council who IMO look spot-on. I also really like the cactus man. That's exactly how I picture them. As for the guy on the right, he's a crayman from The Scar.

Anyway, Mieville's point about Christ figures seems to be that they really aren't messiahs, just (occasionally) naughty boys - and girls - with a lot of power, charisma, and ego. For instance, Judah can be incredibly annoying and hurtful to those who are closest to him, especially poor Cutter. If Judah is a stand-in for Christ, then Cutter is his John, a.k.a. "the beloved disciple." Or if you're tired of religious analogies, you might think of Cutter as Sam to Judah's Frodo (which, if you've already read Iron Council, should give you a giggle. Just think about it for a second. ;-)).

Really, you probably are tired of messiah-talk by now, so I'll just make one more quick note about that and then pretend I'm an ordinary book lover and not an ex-English teacher. The truest "savior" in Iron Council is presented so subtly that you might overlook his/her Christlike qualities altogether. But maybe now that I've clued you in, you won't. I hope you won't. The character really deserves to be recognized.

But what's the book actually about, eh? And how does it stack up against Perdido Street Station and The Scar? Let me start with the easier question: I liked The Scar best, and I liked all three of the novels, but Iron Council is my least favorite. That's due in part to how bleak it is, even though Mieville managed to pull another bittersweet triumph out of his hat at the last moment. I'm beginning to think it's a trademark of his.* I might also have liked the book better if I hadn't been forced to read it in little chunks with lots of down-time between chapters. Because of that, it lost a lot of (heh) momentum for me. I wonder what it would feel like in a re-read. I suppose I'll find out one day. I normally do read good books more than once.

And this is a good book, even though it's pretty hard to summarize without spoiling. I can say this much, though. Iron Council is set about 20 years after Perdido Street Station, and New Crobuzon is full of squabbling, competing resistance movements (which gives me a second good reason for that Monty Python quote above). One of these births a smaller, separate group whose members follow Judah Low. Literally. As the book begins, Low has left the city in search of the Iron Council - which, yes, is partly a train, but that's not all it is - and the people who were closest to him set out in search of him.

Cutter and company end up traveling all the way across the continent and, fairly early on, pick up the guy in the picture (by trabbold) at right above. His name is Drogon, and he has a very, very scary power. He can control people, just by whispering words only they can hear. Just imagine the implications of that. And now imagine those implications again, with the knowledge that Drogon only controls people's bodies; their minds are still free, no matter what he makes them do. I've blogged about body control vs. mind control before, and I still find body control pretty horrific by itself. Plus, with Drogon, you don't know whose side he's really on until near the end of the book. That makes him even more of a threat to your nerves.

During their journeys, Cutter and Judah et al struggle against dangers like smokestone, the Cacatopic Stain, and a relentlessly pursuing militia. Meanwhile, back in New Crobuzon, another pack of dissidents has joined the bull-masked Toro in a plot to kill the Mayor. Then there's a cackly, homeless graffiti artist named Spiral Jacobs, whom I kept imagining as a less-sinister version of Jethro Tull's "Aqualung."

But that's pretty much all I can tell you about Iron Council without telling you too much. I do recommend it, even though I don't recommend getting too attached to most of its characters. ;-/

*along with overuse of the words palimpsest, cosseted, and jag

If I only had more places to share this

2011-02-16T20:00:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, I don't have too many web hangouts where a video like this would be appreciated, so consider yourselves fortunate...or not. ;-)

Noodling around again

2011-02-16T06:00:00.018-05:00

Don't get me wrong. I love Zooey Deschanel, and I love her as much for her quirky/cute personality as for her adorable face. But when I stumbled across a certain picture of her the other day, I just couldn't resist touching it up. Really, she's just begging for it here, isn't she? (And yes, I'm well aware of the triple entendre I just made, thank you very much ;-))

Interestingly enough, the article accompanying the original picture really does imply that Zooey has been enthralled and turned into something less than the free-spirited pixie she was before....So again, how could I resist? ;-P