Tuesday, 16 February 2010

Aftercare

Aftercare is one of those things that is given a bit of lip-service within the Lifestyle, but not a lot is really said about it on an educational or practical level.  It is also one of those things that, in spite of those of us who try to educate others about it, simply is not practiced enough or correctly when observed at public events or parties. 

I would go so far as to venture a guess that a great many of the submissives who may find this blog have rarely if ever actually experienced a well planned, effective, sensitive and rejuvinating aftercare.  I will all but guarantee that even fewer Dominants have received any manner of Aftercare at the end of a vigorous, physically or emotionally exhausting scene.

Let us begin by defining exactly what Aftercare is.  Knowing that is important to what it takes to make a scene and where aftercare fits into the scene.  Every scene should be comprised of four basic and essential parts.  These parts are Negotiation, Pre-care, Play, and Aftercare.  

In Negotiation, both parties discuss what is and what is not desired, accepted, expected or allowed from either party during the course of the rest of the scene.  Limits are disclosed by both parties, preferences are discussed, and a safeword protocol is agreed upon.  Sometimes the toybag will be examined, and unacceptable toys will be put asside. 

In Pre-care all of the physical, environmental, and psychological preparations are made for the scene.  The room is set up to suit the type of play that has been negotiated.  The temperature is set to enhance the scene and not be a distraction.  The music, if used, is put on and allowed to play.  Restraints are applied, and the submissive (or submissives) are placed into their position for the play portion of the scene.  If specific roles are to be assumed by the participants, that is begun now so that they are sufficiently ingrained before heavier play begins.

Throughout Play, the negotiated activities take place. 

During Aftercare, the all of the participants of the scene are given an opportunity to cool-down and reflect on the scene as it progressed and, indeed, as it continues to progress. 

Aftercare is that part of the scene where a conscientious Dominant drives away the demons that were summoned through the use of painful impliments, harsh tones, humiliation, accusations, overwhelming repeated sexual stimulation, isolation, fear, and simulated abandonment.  Aftercare is a time of reasurance, of physical, emotional, and spiritual sustenance, and of healing.  It is a combination of Mom’s Cookies™ and milk, randy debaucherie, and tender ministrations to a well worked and exhausted submissive and to his Dominant.

But what, exactly constitutes a good Aftercare?

Good Aftercare is a scene specific recovery plan that you develop for your submissive based on his physical and emotional needs after the stimulation portion of play.

Begin by removing the submissive from his bounds and guiding him or her to a warm, comfortable place, dimly lit if possible.  A couch, bench or bed is best, but a pallet on the floor or extra large pet bed will do for the more agile Dominant and submissive.  What you want is a place where the submissive can lay comfortably, and where you can maintain close contact with him.  If physical contact is not possible, then close verbal contact mixed with touch is good. 

Cover the submissive with a blanket or coverlet to keep the physical drop or “shock” from being too intense and triggering an adverse reaction.  Another means to that end is to provide your submissive with carbohydrate sources such as juice, pastry, cookies, and other easy to consume items.  This will counteract the body’s consumption of available glucose during the course of the scene and keep the submissive from going into a hypoglycemic state.

As he lays there, warm and cared for, softly speak to him and offer him praise for the way he endured your sadism.  Stroke his back, his shoulder, his arm as you speak.  Hold his hand in yours, both as a reward and as a means for you to monitor his body temperature, any shivering, swelling, and skin color.  Watch his breathing, his eyes, and listen to the way he speaks if he does speak. 

Now is not necessarily the time for analizing the scene, picking apart your technique, and reaping praise for your boundless skills.  That time will come later, when he is more cognant and responsive.  Remember, endorphins are a very power chemical which can induce very strong emotional and intellectual responses, not all of them positive.  He may have difficulty focusing, putting his thoughts into words, even making simple movements.  Just remain with him until his mind clears a bit, do regular wellness checks, and speak gently to slowly bring him back from his subspace without robbing him of it.

Eventually his body temperature and mental state will begin to be more predictable and manageable.  When this happens, you have an opportunity to perform a detailed inspection of his body.  It is more than an opportunity, it is an obligation to check and re-check him for cuts, skin abrasions, bruises and other visible signs of trauma which can lead to more serious problems if left untreated. 

Make sure that each wound is addressed appropriately:  clean them, treat them for infection prevention, and cover them with a dry, sterile dressing or bandage.  For you Forced Fem or age-play practitioners, use Barbie, Dora the Explorer, My Pretty Pony or other juvenile bandaids for a bit of playful fun if you and your submissive do not see it as being unnecessarily cruel or inappropriate at such a moment.   

By giving thoughtful and sensitive care during a session of Aftercare, you can enhance and reinforce your relationship with your submissive, and can also deepen your ties to those free-range submissives with whom you play at events or parties.

[Via http://thatsmaamtoyou.wordpress.com]

Saturday, 13 February 2010

10 DAYS?!!

That long since my last post?!! I should be shot! Seriously though I have been busy and I did write a post but then it got too long and I had to cut it up to pieces so there wouldn’t be a two page post and I got lazy and… oh it doesn’t matter.

Here’s the short list:

4th and 5th – nothing interesting happened

6th – an attempt at provoking a playful spanking turned ugly, feelings were hurt (will write more later)

7th – feelings were soothed with another spanking (will write about this too)

8th – anniversary spanking. otk hand spanking followed by the paddle. The paddling continued until blood spatter was produced. (Not as gory as it sounds oddly enough, just that wood rubs off my skin rather quickly and I don’t know that it has and I keep asking for more and… well you know how one always reads about a certain spanking making it difficult to sit down for a week? Never happened to me or anyone I know. There’d be bruises but they’d only hurt if you directly poked them. HOWEVER, having the skin polished off of your butt WILL make it difficult to sit for a week. Yes I do feel silly that I have two round spots of skin removed from my ass.) (yea more on this later too)

9th to today – no spanking, skin just growing back, busy with other ungodly activities

About to put Luke on a new diet (his request) so getting prepped up for that. It’s good for me too. I always eat better when he is on a diet and we both get more exercise.

Boo for v-day. How can people tolerate that much sap?

10 days to my B-Day. Yay. Getting excited.

I’ll write more soon. As soon as I can sit long term without damaging tender new butt skin.

[Via http://dirtyingenue.wordpress.com]

Tuesday, 9 February 2010

Love Me Like You Always Do: Hot Photography From Jonas Lindström

I can’t be the only person who has a thing for chicks in gender-bending suspenders, and proof positive of that is this shoot by Jonas Lindström.

While he does a lot of traditional fashion and portrait photography, this set stood out to me (and frequent readers of PA already get it) because of the fetishism and bondage motifs, as well as the fluidity of gender roles, and the over all dark mood of the photographs. Check out his blog and other projects.

[Via http://paradigmamalgamation.wordpress.com]

I'm a winner!

Dragon must hate me though. My psychic powers always foil his plans ;)

I took Leo for a walk just now, and decided to walk to the building entrance to check the mail since I was going in that direction anyway. There was a manila envelope that was very clearly marked “Eternity Collars”. So, I really didn’t snoop to find it. I hurried home and showed him. I am sure he is tired of me always guessing gifts before he gives them. I even knew when he was going to propose, though I was surprised at the ring itself.

He kindly decided to let me have it early, and I think I broke the sound barrier with my squee-ing. It’s beautiful! It doesn’t look as rainbow-y as in the picture, but it is so cool! The light changes the way it looks from every angle.  Unfortunately, it is a little too big. If I squeeze my fingers close enough together, I can slip it off. Which kind of defeats the purpose. :( So, he’s sending it back since they have a really great exchange policy. Hopefully the smaller one will get here soon! I went from bouncing off the walls to disappointment in about 60 seconds. Sad panda.

But I am very grateful to have such a thoughtful Master, even if I am terribly spoiled. Thank you, Dragon. I love you, and I love it!

I don’t talk about the nature of our relationship on here much. Even if our friends are okay with it, I still worry about making them uncomfortable. And I’ve been there done that with another blog, and there are just too many people on the internet who like to one-up each other (though none of the bloggers I read do that) in the BDSM world. I got sick of comments about what I should be doing, what I should be feeling, etc., when the only person who has the right to tell me any of that, is Dragon. So, I just try to keep it out of here. But it still remains a very important part of our life and of who I am. So even though it is just a shiny piece of metal, that cuff means SO much to me, and I am so happy and grateful for it and what it means…and that Dragon loves me enough to keep me, despite my cattiness ;)

We went to Walmart today and I picked up some yarn, as well as some knitting needles and crochet hooks. I learned a little bit of knitting in high school (even though I suck) but I have no idea how to crochet. I picked two hooks that looked like good sizes, because I had no idea what I was doing.

I looked through YouTube for how-to crochet videos, but I didn’t have much luck. Lots of them were for hats or intricate patterns. I learned how to make a chain! But then none of them said what to do next, so I temporarily gave up. It’s pretty difficult to learn as a left-handed person. With knitting, it is easier because you alternate hands anyway. But the crocheting is proving to be difficult. I will prevail though!

Anyway, until then I am trying to get better at knitting. Right now I am making a blanket for my dollhouse. Look how terrible it looks. There’s even a hole in the corner, and I don’t know how that happened!!! Martha Stewart would be so ashamed…

I’m making grandma’s porcupines for dinner! Nom nom. Except I am using ground turkey instead of beef, which is something she would never do (sorry Grandma!). I realized that I have not been eating beef at all lately. I’ve been replacing it with turkey and chicken for months now, and now I am wondering if I should stop eating red meat altogether. It’s something to think about, at least. Though I know Dragon will never give up his steak.

I want this week to be over already! I have a paper and two mid-terms to get through before I can have any fun :( But, I know I will see friends this week for D&D (which I am nervous about DM-ing) and then there is V-Day to look forward to. I’m just working for the weekend at this point!

<3Shii

[Via http://shiihappens.com]

Saturday, 6 February 2010

Because We All Like a Little Validation and Comfort

The following is a quote from one of my favorite blogs … Sadomasochists are no different than ma and pa Kettle

“I had a record number of visits to my blog yesterday when I wrote about spanking. Since there was so much interest in the topic it seems that one good spanking deserves another.  There were four recent scientific studies conducted on the mental health of BDSM practitioners.  Each study found no evidence of psychopathology and there has never been a study that suggests anything to the contrary.  One study even found that BDSM practitioners have IQ’s that are 10 points higher than members of the general population.  Not only can BDSM be a healthy form of sexual expression between consenting adults, but as a group, those who participate may also be smarter than the average person. BDSM is a complex game of role-play and costumery requiring thought, communication skills and trust. Perhaps BDSM is to sex what chess is to checkers.  The kinksters may have just declared “checkmate!” 

 www.doctorcannon

To read what Dr. Cannon has to say about spanking, follow the link to his blog and search A spanking good time  (February 5, 2009)    

[Via http://uniquelylibby.wordpress.com]

Tuesday, 2 February 2010

A little behind

One of my rules is to write here at least once a week.

Oops.

Yeah, I missed last week’s post, and it really has been bugging me, but it seemed like I was so busy with this or that, and I’d think about it and tell myself, “I’ll get to it later.”

It’s later, and this is gonna be one helluva big post, so let the dogs out, take a potty break, grab a drink and get comfy.

The past two weeks have been really chaotic and stressful.  I finally reached my limit with Chip and finally had to sit him down and tell him that I just couldn’t continue.  My sis and one of my closest friends held my hands through it and gave me the backbone to do it.  I knew it needed to end.  Hell, I’d been working on ending it for a while.  I had to do it carefully to try to avoid some seriously scary fallout.

The breakup went as well as could be expected.  I really owe a lot to Angel and Cara for not letting me waver and for not letting me fall victim to some heavy duty manipulation.  J was a trooper, giving me the room I needed but making sure I was aware that he was right there if I needed him.

I put it out there, on the line, with Chip, telling him all I could give him was friendship.  The past two weeks have been filled with him expressing all kinds of emotion – anger, grief, sorrow.  He says that it finally hit him how badly he treated me, abused me in fact, and he is so sorry for that.  I take it with a grain of salt.  As hard as it was to pull the plug, I’ve never wavered or had second thoughts once it was done.

What else happened the past two weeks?  Oh!  Staff date auction at work.  That was a longgg day but it was a ton of fun.  I ended up buying Daddy, and he bought me, during the first auction.  Which actually was kinda stupid considering that we’re together anyway, but meh, it was fun and it helps out the club.  I liked people knowing, and seeing, he and I bid on each other.  Kind of like it was bringing our relationship a little more out in the open.   I also ended up buying my sis, as well as her guy.  I gave my date with him to her, but I’m keeping my date with her.  :D  We’re going to have a girl’s night out, leaving the guys to fend for themselves and do guy things.  I just have to pin her down!  The four of us work at the same place, but not always the same shifts, so it can be kinda hit and miss as to who is off work with whom.  Tatt bought me in the afternoon auction and we’ve already had our date.  She took me out shopping to a few of her favorite stores and omg, I had a blast and bought way too many outfits.

I’ve managed to go this entire two week period without getting spanked.  Go me!  I think.  I dunno, it’s kinda weird in a way, but not so weird.  I’m usually pretty well behaved, but two whole weeks?  It kinda makes me wonder if Daddy wasn’t maybe a bit lenient on me because of the stress of crap with Chip.  It definitely had me on edge, along with a whole range of emotions.  Topping that off was my period which was delayed by the stress, and when it finally showed up, it showed up with a vengeance.

I haven’t asked him if he was lenient, because um, that’s just something that really didn’t occur to me at the time, but looking back now I’m pretty sure he was.  He tends to be the type to take a lot of factors into consideration.  He asks questions to find out where my head space is and what’s going on with me, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.  Some people just make assumptions and run with them, which can really suck.

But then again when I think back over our relationship, there really haven’t been that many times when I’ve found myself in trouble.  Angel and Helios, as well as some others, seem to have this perception that I’m constantly in trouble and either OTK or in the corner, but in the six months (whoa, six months! already?) we’ve been together, I can count on one hand the number of times when I’ve found myself being seriously scolded or punished.  Hell, Angel has already had to go to a second hand and I’m suspecting a few toes as well in her counting. :p   And they say I’m the naughty/fiesty one.  *snorts*

Am I perfect? Oh hell no.  I screw up too, and trust me, I’ve made some doozies along the way.  Most of the times I find myself in trouble is because I’ve misunderstood the situation – specifically, I’ve thought we were just playing around and totally missed the point of where the matter turned serious.  Yeah, one of my biggest trouble spots would probably have to be that I get too playful and I assume he’s playing too.  It honestly surprises me to find myself in trouble during those times.

So no, I’m not perfect.  I’m just hmm, experienced?  I’ve been in and out of this lifestyle since I was 17 (for those counting along at home, lets just say that puts me at the end closer to 26 years than not and let it go at that).  I’ve studied the lessons over and over, and heck, I still study them, always researching and reading because I’m not delusional enough to think I’ve learned it all.  Yes, every relationship will have different nuances, based on the two people involved and what they need/want/desire.  But there’s still a common thread running through any BDSM relationship.  There’s a few actually, but the threads that really stand out for me are:  Respect, Honor, Trust and Communication.

During my psych rotation in nursing school I ran across a theory about why people tend to be more respectful and courteous when dealing with acquaintances than they are when dealing with those that are the closest to them.  Kinda like the adage, “You always hurt the ones you love.”  The explanation given for this is that we do that because we feel safe and secure in those relationships.  We know that our partner knows us better than anyone else, and that they will still love us when we are having a really crappy day and snap at them, whereas with a stranger or a acquaintance, we feel it necessary to put our best face forward, so to speak.   In reality, we should be showing respect and honor to those closest to us, for they are the most dear and most deserving of these traits.  However, security kind of blurs that for most of us.  Kinda like a back-handed compliment, no?

Anyway, because of this I find myself taking a few moments, hours, days (whatever it takes) for me to compose myself when upset so that I can speak respectfully to Daddy and explain my concern about something.  What I do need to work on is speaking up and saying that’s what I’m doing.  I need to be more open and just tell him, “Yes, there’s a problem I’m wrestling around, but I’m not quite ready to talk about it yet, please.”  - See how that plays into the Communication aspect? - He always seems to know when something is bothering me.  And no, it’s not cuz I’m hurling small appliances at the walls.   But denying it, or just answering “Nothing” is really nothing but a lie.  And a lie is definitely NOT Honorable.  I just sometimes need to step back and try to find my words.  I have found that if I try to explain something when I’m upset it is harder for me to put the right words together, which frustrates me even more, making me more upset, making it even harder to find the words.

Vicious circle there huh?

But that in itself plays into the Trust aspect.  He trusts me to bring my problem to him when I get a handle on them, and I trust him not to hold it against me or pressure me while I’m getting myself centered on the matter.

So yeah, I’m not perfect.  I’ve just had years of using a different thought process than I had when I was vanilla, as well as the psych training I went through.  I just combined the two into a method that works for me.  It has become my “norm”, so to speak.  Again, this doesn’t mean I don’t screw up and snap now and then, cuz hullo, human here.  But I’ve learned that “More flies with honey” is very much a truism and doesn’t solely apply to trying to entice someone to do something for you.

Need to refill your coffee?  Get snacks?  Go ahead, I’ll wait.  I told ya’ll this was gonna be an epic entry.  LOL

Alright .. everyone back and comfy again?  Here we go.

J and I got a new house with more land.  We have been having a blast with the decorating.  He even built this awesome deck to one side of the house and did a fantastic job!  Being a true manly-man, the first things he put on it were the ice chest and grill.  LOL

He also converted a spare space into this killer Media room, with the big screen tv, dvd players, comfy couches and room to dance.  And in not so manly-man fashion, he decorated it pink and purple.   He luffs me.

He even started on a Zen garden out in the big side yard, and my sis, Angel, and her sweetiepie Helios have *ahem* christened it.  I know cuz I found suspicious looking imprints in the sand yesterday.   Shoulda known them moving to the neighborhood would add spice!

Next topic – J really opened up to me about some things yesterday and blew me away.  No, not with what he told me, but the fact that he told me.  It was incredibly personal and intimate information and I know it was extremely difficult for him to share it.  The fact that he did sent my heart into a storm of pitterpatters and made me fall even that much harder for him, which I thought was totally impossible considering I’m head over heels for him.  The level of trust that he showed was amazing.  The reason why he shared it with me was even more amazing.  He did it because he picked up on some insecurities I was having and he didn’t want any mis-perceptions on my part to be feeding into those insecurities.  He shared it because he loves me and was protecting me.  See, told you he loves me.  :)   Thank you baby.  It meant more to me than you could possibly guess.

Lastly, altho I suspect I’m leaving some stuff out, we got some terrible news yesterday.  Our friend Cara lost her mother yesterday.  We’re incredibly saddened by the news and more than a little concerned for Cara, given the tenuous relationship she had with her mom.  Cara is such a kind and giving soul, and I just know she’ll be extremely guilt-ridden over the way things ended with her mom.  We had Cara and her hubby over last night.  She needed some mindless distraction for a couple of hours.  She and J had a conversation, in which J just let her vent, full of starts and stops.  Then we played some greedy and tried to tire her out so she’d sleep.

Naturally watching a close friend go through the steps of final arrangements for a loved one touched on scars that both J and I have – of J losing his son and me losing my father.   I didn’t sleep well at all last night.  I didn’t sleep well at all the night before either, so I’m seriously brain dead.  Neither one of us slept more than a few hours last night.  Poor J felt physically sick to his stomach knowing Cara was having to go through this.  My stomach revolted too and I spent way too much time in the bathroom on and off thru the night.

The pain of loss does get easier, but it never ever truly goes away, I believe.

Whew.  That’s it, I think.  Now it’s time to hit Publish, wander off to get some stuff done, then crawl into bed for a nap.

[Via http://kissesnstuff.wordpress.com]

Monday, 1 February 2010

Woman Tied Natsuki Megane

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.