LA DomCon 2018

I was sad to not be able to make it to DomCon in LA. It’s an event that has been on my hit list for  a while, but I just couldn’t squeeze it in between my San Francisco trip and my current East Coast trip. Maybe next year.

On the plus side, Twitter does provide a chance to catch some of the sights from the event. There were many gatherings of dommes, for example here, here, here and here. Alice in BondageLand also created a timelapse of the group shot. There were all sorts of pets here, here and here. There was even a Storm Trooper on a leash.

My favorite image and tweet would have to be this one from Mistress An Li and Mistress Servalan. Looks like a fun scene. The quote by An Li alongside the image is “I adore so so much so of course she has free access to my bum.”

Pain and Pleasure in the Windy City

My vacation got off to a fantastic start playing with Mistress Mara Mayhem. Whimpering, grunting, growling and snarling were all featured at some point. Possibly I also moaned, but only in a satisfied ‘hit me again’ type way.

I find there’s a really interesting tipping point in corporal play,  and reaching it is very dependent on the skill of the domme. If the escalation is too rapid or the intensity changes too erratic then the stress of the situation overwhelms the other emotions. It becomes very hard to zone out and relax into more intense sensations when you’re constantly on edge about what’s about to happen. On the other hand is the escalation is smooth and well judged it’s much easier to let the endorphins take over. It’s the difference between pain alone and pain as part of the dynamic between me and the domme. Too much too early is actually counter-productive in terms of building to a satisfying level of shared intensity. Needless to say Mistress Mara judged it perfectly in this session.

Of course we didn’t just indulge in corporal. There was also a fair amount of CBT involved as shown in this dick pic snap. As is usual, the removal of the various clips and clamps hurt a lot more than the initial application. Fortunately Mistress Mara ensured I was well hydrated for the session – in all sorts of different ways.

This was shot by Mistress Mara either just before or just after our session and featured on her twitter feed.

On the road again

It has been at least a couple of weeks since I was on vacation in San Francisco. So that can only mean one thing – time for another vacation. This time I’m heading East rather than South, and stopping off at several destinations. Much kinky play and good food remains the goal.

Today I flew into Chicago, which is just about close enough to Seattle to make it feel like a short jaunt rather than a long journey. I entertained myself en-route with music via the crappy ear buds that came with my phone but, after seeing this article on BDSM cage headphones, I now realize I need to step my audio game up. Apparently while I was simply listening to music, I could have been making a kinky social and fashion statement, all for the low low price of $6,450. I’m not sure if pulling on a set of these headphones on a flight would attract amusement or a takedown by an air marshal. Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to risk it on a United flight.

Staring down their noses at you

The haughty downward stare is a classic/cliche of the femdom genre. Similarly, the equestrian look, complete with jodhpurs, whips and spurs is another classic look. I’ve never seem them combined quite like this however. I guess that horses do come with certain inbuilt natural advantages when it comes to staring down their nose at you. Better hope he knows what a safeword is. Ballbusting takes on quite different connotations when there’s a horse in the scene.

This is the lovely Poppy De Monfort as shot by Hillchurch. While the horse might not do much for me personally, Poppy De Monfort does look quite striking in her equestrian or military gear.

Don’t be scared

Mistress Jadis has published some wise words for any submissives that are put off from playing with a particular pro-domme because of the intense images or descriptions she posts on social media. The basic gist of her post boils down to  – don’t worry about it. The kinky world is a big one, whatever your experience level there’ll always be somebody out their doing something more extreme, and a domme will adjust and enjoy playing at whatever intensity is appropriate for you.

Browsing kinky social media can be entertaining, but I don’t think it’s particularly representative of the daily reality. If it was then 90% of pro-domme clients would be annoying assholes who cancel at the last minute, the other 10% being hard core bullwhip loving masochists who get locked in chastity 364 days a year. Fin-dommes would all make thousands of dollars every day, munch planning would always be a disaster and every relationship would either be amazing or a trainwreck. There’d be barely be time for actual kinky activity to happen.

My general observation is that the more experienced and skilled a domme is, the greater her ability to judge someones limits and provide a very gradual and controlled escalation of intensity. So the ability to build to a particularly intense scene is a good indicator for all levels of activity. And any professional who only wants to do extreme scenes is probably not going to be making a lot of money.

Ms Jadis is a Sydney based dominatrix with a social media presence here.

Mistress Stephanie Locke

I have to admit to being very conflicted on social media. It’s ability to spread lies and poison is undoubtedly high, but at the same time, it does enable me to discover amazing people. As an example, I give you Mistress Stephanie Locke.

I first encountered Mistress Locke via a series of black and white images posted on usenet back in the 90’s. I had absolutely no idea who was in the images, but I remember being transfixed by them. I thought they were the hottest thing I’d ever seen, but I couldn’t understand why I reacted as strongly as I did. It was only later that I realized I was reacting to the realism in the shots. Most femdom and kink shots at the time looked horribly staged and featured bored models.  There were lots of floggers being waved towards the camera by people who looked desperate to escape their boots and corsets. In contrast, the shots with Stephanie Locke seemed to feature people who were genuinely interested in who they were beating and why.* It amazes me that today I can read the thoughts and tweets of a domme who seemed like a mythical figure to the young paltego.

Sadly I don’t have a copy of the original usenet series of images that first caught my eye. The image below looks like it’s from a few years later on. I just wish I was at DomCon in LA to pay my respects in person. I love this selfie she posted with a crop on the bathroom counter.

* It’s also possible that the fact that I have a thing for dommes in glasses also played a role here.

Good looking Nerf Herder

I missed a post to celebrate Star Wars day (May 4th). However, I’m not waiting another 51 weeks before posting this awesome image. So it’ll just have to be a belated celebration post. That’s a pretty well muscled princess and a good looking scoundrel.

I’d love to know where this is from, but unfortunately reverse image searching gives me nothing. If anyone can help me attribute, then please leave a comment.

Updated: Via a very helpful comment (thanks Sam!) I think this is the original tumblr post (complete with extra photos) and the two people are dovemeir and america_young.

Zendaya of Arc

The recent Met Gala was themed around the Catholic imagination. I know for some people a combination of religious themes, high fashion and beautiful people would be a rich source of hot imagery, but religious iconography doesn’t do much for me. That is until I saw the outfit worn by Zendaya and created by Versace. Admittedly, given it’s based on Joan of Arc, it’s more historical than religious, but holy hell. What an incredible look. Not exactly ideal for riding into battle in, but great for wearing to the celebratory ball afterwards. I just wish she’d accessorized it with something sharp and spiky.

Here Kitty, Kitty

Puppy play is a fairly common femdom theme, where kitten play is a lot rarer. That kind of makes sense. Dogs are stereotypically loyal, obedient and slightly dopey. Where cats are independent, curious and will tolerate humans just until they can evolve opposable thumbs. Cats would be the brats of the submissive world.

DomCon in LA has a different take on this, with a Kitty parade organized as part of the festivities. This image is Madame Margherite with her entry into the event. I have to admit, that’s a pretty fine and fierce looking cat. More tiger than kitten. I hope they both do well.