Kink and Culture

Ms Jadis Ives has published a really thoughtful article entitled kink, subculture, aesthetic, authenticity and the algorithm. As you can probably guess from that title, it covers a lot of complex topics, making it hard to summarize. However, I guess the nub of it would be the difference between authentic in person play and everything else that now makes up the wide kinky world.

In the past there were relatively well defined niches of lifestyle play, BDSM professionals offering sessions and (limited, rare) kink themed pornography. The boundaries were distinct. Now, thanks to a variety of technological, cultural and financial reasons, it’s a far murkier and more complex map. Mainstream overlaps with the kink subculture. The worlds of content creation, marketing and and in person play are harder to tease apart. Big tech and legal rules warp the discourse even further. What does it mean to participate in BDSM today?

There’s obviously the danger of nostalgia and gatekeeping here, but I don’t think Ms Jadis is heading in that direction. She’s calling out the dangers of losing sight of a key aspect of BDSM – that visceral, authentic in person connection. That’s not all it is, but it is a significant and important part. We shouldn’t let the performative aspects of the current culture overwhelm it.

Ms Jadis Ives is a Sydney based pro-domme. This image was sourced from her website. You can also find her on Bluesky. If you’re in the Sydney area and interested in experiencing a session in person then you can find details here.

Awful but slightly less so

I was being rude about Google a few posts back. They still suck and I hate how they’ve ruined so many great products, but their image search is just a tiny, tiny bit less terrible than I thought. Maybe 0.27% less bad.

Previously I was complaining that they had blocked reverse image search for explicit images and their definition of explicit was ridiculously broad. Having played with it some more I think they’ve tweaked it so it will still find explicit images, but only if they’re exact matches. Normally, if it can’t find an exact match, it’ll give you related or similar shots. If it thinks the image is explicit then it’ll either just give links to the exact matches or nothing at all. That’s still annoyingly puritanical of them, but at least it can sometimes help with image attribution.

For example, I found this image on a tumblr. Google’s reverse image search took me to The Deadly Doll Experience. That’s the site for Kissmedeadlydoll, a domme and talented kinky smut creator based in NYC. The combination of tight rope and latex encasement is beautiful, with the hand to the throat adding extra hotness.

You can see more from Kissmedeadlydoll at her OnlyFans, Film Site, Clips4Sale and ManyVids. Or schedule a session with her in NYC.

A Healthy Breakfast

It’s always important to start the day off with some healthy essentials. Orange juice, toast, yogurt, a big black cock. Starting the day as you mean to go on. Eating parts of it off the floor is obviously optional.

I’m not sure of the original source for this. I’d guess it’s a pro-domme with a room kitted out as a dedicated cell. It’s a hot concept, particularly with the dedicated anchor points in the walls. If you can help me attribute it correctly the please let me know via a comment.

Updated: Thanks to my helpful readers I can now attribute the image. This is Madame Key at the Warsaw Prison. Looks like a fabulous facility if you’re into imprisonment scenarios.

Art (of) Pegging

I’m continuing the theme of pegging art by new (to this blog) artists. This piece is by Art Pegging aka Kinky Artist. They have a Twitter account but it seems to have been dormant for the last couple of years and, sadly, they don’t appear to have popped up anywhere else. This is pretty damn sexy, so fingers crossed the artist feels inspired to create/share more at some future point.

Three More Years

I renewed my domain name registration for this site this week. A couple of hundred bucks for another 3 years of internet existence. It feels like money well spent. With social media, big tech and credit card companies continuing to make a mess of the internet, it’s nice to have a bit of it under your own control. It might not be changing the world but it’s my little soapbox to stand on.

Not sure what’s the right image to commemorate a DNS registration, so I’ll simply go with some visual loveliness. This is Marie Sauvage from an article on her Shibari practice in Purple Magazine.

Dungeon Tour

If you’re interested in discovering what kinds of toys and equipment can be found in a really well equipped dungeon then I’d point you at this post/video. It feature Domina M showing Rachel Rampage around her Paris space Studio Xème. As you’d expect Domina M has a ton of really cool equipment that looks like it’d be a lot of fun to play with. The metal bondage pieces are a particular highlight.

Here’s a shot of Domina M with some of her bondage furniture, sourced via her site.