No Heavy Breathing

Good news for German kinksters. The Berlin bondage studios are open again for business. They’d originally been shut under an order that covered brothels, but a court has decided that the order was discriminatory. Brothels remain closed, but bondage studios and massage parlors can reopen.

Given that yesterday Germany had 569 new coronavirus cases, compared to the US single day tally of almost 70,000, it’s not surprising they’re starting to relax restrictions. However, I do find the logic of the court somewhat odd.

Brothels were different for other reasons, the court added, including the fact that sex involved a dramatically elevated breathing rate, which increased the risk of spreading infection.

I’m going to guess the judge behind this ruling has never been involved in a BDSM scene. Elevated breathing rates are very much part of them. Being beaten, shocked, pierced or trampled will tend to do that to you. I’d also suggest that people screaming and moaning are both common in BDSM and great ways to spread a virus. Even breathplay, which sounds like it’d be safe, isn’t great. There’s nothing like an extended period of no breathing to encourage the taking and expelling of great gulps of oxygen when the chance arises.

Here’s at least one way to reduce the chance of viral transmission. Artwork is by Zblabla.

Good Advice

Vice magazine has a pretty decent article on how to find a kink positive therapist. For anyone living through the dystopian hellscape that is the US right now, therapy is close to an essential resource. Just below bread flour and slightly above toilet paper. Finding someone who works well for you always involves a degree of trial and error, but this article seems like a good starting point.

This is of course the amazing Mistress T. She’s not actually a therapist, but she does play one on TV.

Troupe of Slaves

A helpful comment from a post earlier this month pointed me at  Troupe of Slaves. It’s a fun site, with a lot of interesting images, although I’m not exactly clear on who or what is behind it. Is it the artistic spin-off of a local kinky group? A bunch of friends having fun? A one man art project?

Regardless of what it is, there’s definitely a lot of great sexy images to enjoy. I particularly liked this one entitled ‘Polka Dots‘.

 

Party Fun

I’ve no idea what the context for this is, or who these people are, but it looks like a fun time. I like to imagine he’s being used and abused, a toy to be played with and then cast aside. They’ll snap some pictures for their friends, take their pleasure however they desire, and leave him a sweaty, disheveled and incoherent mess.

I’d guess this is from a CFNM themed porn shoot, but I’m afraid I haven’t managed to track down a link for it.

Dronification

I love the fact that after many years of immersion in kinky culture I can still stumble upon new things. For example, I give you the kink of dronification, which is totally new to me. In hindsight it seems like an obvious combination. Obedience, latex, objectification, submission and hypnosis are all hot button kinky topics. Why wouldn’t people put them together? The hive dynamic, with it’s singular queen and mindlessly obedient worker drones, is ripe for twisting in this way. Plus, its masks and visors make it totally suited to a world of coronavirus.

This image from Reflective Desire isn’t strictly a dronification image, but it has a lot of the elements. There’s latex, objectification, submission and all sorts of fun stuff going on.

If you like this image I’d urge you to check out the Reflective Desire site. They have a ton of great content like this.

Vulnerability Coach

This lovely image of Shibari suspension comes courtesy of the twitter feed of Rina Trevi. You can find another two equally beautiful images of similar play from her here and here.

If Rina looks familiar to you, it’s because she used to work as a pro-domme in NYC under the name Renee Trevi. As a domme she always had a very thoughtful approach to her play (you can find some of her older writing captured here) but, as she documented via this instagram post, she eventually had enough of the hyper-sexualized pro-domme role.

Her new practice is as a vulnerability coach, offering “…counseling and journeys into self-discovery and spiritual illumination.” Services offered include surrender sessions, integrative coaching, tantric BDSM and pro-domme mentorship. It’s impossible for me to neatly summarize her practice, so I’d definitely recommend checking out her site.

You can see more from Rina via her twitter feed or instagram account.

Harder or Softer?

A question for masochists and sadists whose play has been curtailed by the virus: What do you think this enforced absence and isolation has done to your desire to inflict or absorb pain? Does the lack of play have you craving intense beatings and no holds barred sadism? Or has the stress and strangeness of it all left you wanting intimacy and more gentle activities?

My impression from kinky social media is that the sadists amongst us (God bless them) are craving hard play. They have pent up energy to expend and can’t wait to unleash it. The general attitude of masochists is harder to read. I’m personally unsure where my headspace is at. I’d love to play again. I miss it desperately. I’m just not sure if I’m craving pain or not. The world is so weird, and my stress levels so distorted, I really have no idea how I’ll respond when I can session again. That’s a unique state of mind for me, but I guess we’re all living through a unique situation.

This is an old image from OWK. She clearly wasn’t in a conflicted state of mind about her sadistic tendencies. Hopefully he felt the same way from the masochistic perspective.

Sparkles

Here’s a final image in my short series of electricity themed posts. This one is very different both in appearance and the associated physical sensation. The estim and TENS devices from the past posts are visual unspectacular and feel exactly like you’d expect them to. They deliver a sharp muscle contracting pulse of pain. A violet wand, like the one from the image below, looks and feels like no other toy. It’s a hot prickly crackly sensation. There’s a fabulous sound and a smell of singed hair and ionized air. It’s not the most intense toy you can use, but it is the only one that 9 out of 10 mad scientists would recommend.

This image is from Mistress Renee’s twitter feed. You can find videos of her scenes via her clips store.

Remote Fun

After writing my previous post, it struck me that someone must already have come up with a remote control e-stim device. It’s an obvious idea and of course they do exist. For example, here’s one from the estim company (official site here). It’s a lot more expensive than your average dog shock collar, but it also has a lot more features and should avoid that whole pesky business of frying your nerve endings. With the addition of some suitable attachment straps, I don’t see any reason you couldn’t use it for the same kind of play.

Updated: There’s also this one from ErosTek. Similarly pricey, but looks like a great toy for remote controlled fun.

These two images from the Men are Slaves site shows a couple having fun with what looks like a remote estim.

An Unpleasant Shock

Anyone who has been intrigued by the idea of playing with shock collars might want to check out this article on them. Apparently they’re not a particularly safe way to combine kink, discipline and electricity. I’ve heard dommes joke that they’d never use them on their dog but they’re fine for a submissive. Given the widespread love of animals in the domme community that’s not too surprising, but maybe it’s time to discard the use of these collars entirely.

Searching around turns up a number of devices that are allegedly designed for human use, but it’s hard to tell exactly how safe they are. That makes me think there’s a gap for in the market here for one of the reputable e-stim companies. They already have the expertise, the hardware and the branding. Just build something that can be attached to a different part of the body and has a remote control. A lot of the e-stim devices are already pretty portable, so it wouldn’t take a lot of adaption.

This domme seems like the caring sort. Obviously she can’t have read the article in question. Captioning comes courtesy of the always creative Servitor.