The Tingle

The artist (and researcher)  CurioBubbles posts fun little comics on Reddit about the human body and why things work the way they do. Worth checking out if you like mixing science education with cute artwork.

I mention it here because a recent comic covered why you can get pins and needles after compression on a part of the body. I always thought it was simply due to blood rushing back, but it turns out it’s a bit more complicated than that. The blood coming back does wake the nerve up, but then the sensation you feel is the nerve basically firing off a bunch of noisy signals as it tries to reconnect with the brain. I’m sure anyone who has played with nipple clamps or similar compression toys can attest to how painful that can be. They hurt a bit going on. They hurt like hell coming off.

I’ve noticed that a lot of dommes can be positively gleeful when it comes to removing clamps that have been on for a time. Rubbing the affected area afterwards is another favorite trick. That really messes with the nerve while it’s still recalibrating!

Image source via tumblr. Not sure who originally created it.

Her Parlour

I like this shot of Miss Courtney for how it plays with the traditional prison / cage set-ups. Often the shots are taken from inside, looking through the bars at a glaring domme. Or an external shot of a domme gloating over her captive. This has a very different dynamic. She’s waiting for you, almost with an invitation to step inside.

It puts me in mind of that old poem – The Spider and the Fly.

“Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly,
“‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy;
….

Who wouldn’t want to be the fly to this particular spider and her steel web?

You can find Miss Courtney’s professional site here, her twitter feed here and her Loyal Fans here.

Loony Balloony

If you have ever wondered just how hard it can be to make adult content these days then I’d direct your attention to this substack post by Ariel Anderssen. It describes a fairly insane situation triggered by her Loyal Fans site.

The short version is that she shoots material in her bedroom and one of the pictures on her wall is the Banksy image – Girl with Balloon. If you’ve not seen before, it’s a famous stencil outline of a girl and a heart shaped balloon. It’s a completely non-sexual image and is clearly just part of the background decor. However, that hasn’t stopped the idiots at Loyal Fans flagging it as content depicting a minor. Which means Ariel’s content gets barred.

I can kind of understand if some dumb AI tool had flagged it. However, the fact that a human has got involved, looked at it, and still decided that it’s illegal content is nuts. Proof that we’re living in the worst possible timeline where nothing makes sense.

For an image I’m obviously riffing on the girl with balloon theme, although this one has a bit more a devilish look in her eye.

This artwork is by Cosmic Crusader, created back in 2010.

The Caring Profession

I’m a fan of how many kinks the artist – Sleepystephbot – has managed to pack into this one image. You’ve got heavy bondage, medical play, imprisonment, forced feminization, uniforms and mind control. A little bit of something for everyone there. Plus, someone pretending to be caring while doing evil things is always hot.

You can find the original fullsize version of this here on Sleepystephbot’s Deviant Art site. If you like this image then check that site out, as they’ve a lot of similar material.

Cascading Whip

Here’s some visual loveliness to kick the weekend off with, courtesy of Berlin’s Lady Lexi. I try and avoid posting too many shots of  beautiful dommes in fetish wear – there’s plenty of other sites for that. However, I loved the composition of this image so much, I felt I had to share it.

You can Lady Lexi’s professional site here  and her link collection here. Image was sourced via this post on her Twitter feed.

DDI

I couldn’t do a series of posts on meeting pro-dommes in the old days without mentioned Domina Directory International – or simply DDI. If cards in phone boxes were the low end of the advertising market, this was definitely the high end. It was professionally printed and distributed, with high quality photographs alongside articles and contact details. I remember play spaces having copies in their entrance rooms, particularly if a domme using the space was featured in it. There were European and US editions, and it was even available to purchase in mainstream outlets.

Unsurprisingly, like a lot of print media, it didn’t survive the coming of the internet. There is still a Twitter feed for them, but the last post was over a decade ago.

Unlike a lot of similar magazines from that era, I’ve yet to find any detailed articles on its history or background. It was pitched as by pro-dommes and for pro-dommes, but exactly who the creators were is unclear to me. Mistress Sidonia has a good tribute post on her Femdom Blog, so check that out if you’re interested in her take on it.

This was #27 of the North American edition, although I can’t see a date on it. The banner along the bottom is indicative of its time.

Pick a Card

My previous post featuring an old pro-domme advertisement, and a comment left on it from Simon, reminded me of this post by the brilliant femdom artist Sardax. It describes the process of seeking a pro-domme in pre-internet days and features the below image, showing the typical sex worker cards you might find in a phonebox or dodgy newsagents.

I remember visiting London in the 90’s and seeing examples of these, but it was a practice already beginning to die out. Unsurprising, given the limited information a card could offer. After all, who’d fancy calling a number on the basis of just “Gas Mask, Leather, Rubber, Boots, etc.” It’s not a lot to go on. The “School Girl Uniform for Sale” is another intriguing one. Did you turn up expecting to put it on? Or for a middle aged sex worker to be wearing it? My favorite is the “1/2 hour of hell” which both catches the eye and gives the advertiser a lot of leeway in delivering the service. It’s the mystery box of cards.

Some Things Never Change

I’m continuing the historical theme with this image. It’s another one from mrunderheel on Twitter. However, in this case it wasn’t the image that caught my eye – although it does feature a very fun phone – but the text. It’s an interesting glimpse into the pro-domme world of the past.

Firstly, there’s the mention of ‘transvestites’. You almost never see that today. Cross-dressing or feminization seem to be current words of choice. I guess transvestite carries too much negative baggage, Rocky Horror usage not withstanding.

Then there’s the use of ‘Greek’ to mean anal sex. That used to be a standard sex worker code word but has gone out of fashion. ‘Slave Greeking’ here presumably means pegging or similar activities.

The acronym S.A.S.E might require some explanation for my readers under 40. That stands for ‘Self Addressed Stamped Envelope’ and was a common request if you were writing to someone and wanted a response. By enclosing an envelope with a stamp you were paying the postage for the reply. I remember it being a standard thing in the 70s and 80s when requesting information.

The part that made laugh and gave me the post title was the phrase – “No pen pals.” I’m assuming this meant don’t waste my time and send me letters expecting a response without paying for a session. Yes, even when it took many days to  communicate, and actual pen and ink were required, reply guys and timewasters were still a thing. Self-centered horny men are, sadly, in endless and timeless supply.

You can see the original full size version via this Twitter post.

Thumbscrews

I’m always entertained when I stumble across strange vintage femdom pornography. Often it’s terrible bondage or odd outfits that catch the eye. In this case it’s an unusual means of torture.

I think the original form of a thumbscrew was a small vice, that crushed the fingers. The domme here seems to have taken the screw part of the name a little too literally. I’m guessing these are woodwork and metalwork tools that have been repurposed by an inventive pornographer. She at least seems to be enjoying herself, even if the slave isn’t.

I’d guess from the color and style this was originally shot in the 1970’s. It was recently posted to Twitter by mrunderheel.