So, after finishing up some work there, I was getting ready to shut down for the evening when I noticed a thumbnail in my browser window that caught my eye. I’d been hunting for some specific source material earlier, so I guess I mentally deleted the image the first time I saw it. On second viewing however, it was just screaming at me to get to work on it.

So, I quickly snagged it, fired up my software once more and spent another hour exploiting this really terrific source pic. I just couldn’t have asked for anything better in terms of the model’s expression. The background is a bit plain, but I think that only helps make that large collar the focal point. The nondescript surrounding and anonymous slave fastening the collar to the model ended up being nice jumping off points for the story.

As for the effects work, its all variations on a theme. I’ve used similar techniques before but I was trying to do something new with the eyes where the light from the glowing jewel would reveal a new pupil color. Taking that a step further, I found that reducing the size of the irises created a nice effect and enhanced the already-tranced look of the model.

The story, though not long, took a bit of time to craft and goes on a bit longer than my captions typically do. I don’t mean in terms of word count, just that there’s a bit of a coda that I normally don’t include. I’ve found that my captions typically lead up to a dramatic moment then end with a hint of what’s to come. For whatever reason in this one, I felt the need to include a bit of falling action.

In any case, I hope you enjoy: Collared.

That’s the only conclusion I can arrive at as I really should be working on the big collaboration project I’ve teased a few times now, but I just keep coming across great material and getting inspired and…well, you know how these things go.

So, lets get to the goodies and then you may read-on at your leisure for the director’s commentary on this new animation. Step right up, ladies and gentlemen and witness the newest miracle born of technology and artistry! Experience, for yourself, the wonders of the Nickelodeon!

In the second installment of Manip Musings, I outlined my keen interest in the turn of the 20th century as an era full of posibilites for mind control erotica. I think the vestiges of the Victorian age and the slow transition of the superstitious old world into the reasoned age of industry provides a fascinating backdrop for our fetish.

Apparently someone else thinks so too; or else they wouldn’t have released such an amazing photo series out into the wilderness of the intertubes for me to find.

Three nights ago I happened across a series of images starring the beautiful Nicotine and featuring some Male-on-female bondage and device torture with a steampunk twist. Now, while steampunk itself doesn’t hold great interest for me, in this case it was the absolute linchpin in bringing together this new series.

The alternate-reality nature of the source pics allowed me to get away with a certain level of technological sophistication that would be difficult to swallow in a more straightforward historical setting. Further the instant I saw the fellow in the mask and goggles, and the similar spectacles adorning Ms. Nicotine’s headwear, I suddenly saw the whole backstory in my head.

I saw her as a sleuth cut from the same cloth as Sherlock Holmes; possessing a keen analytical mind and host of knowledge and experience across science and the arts. The man I saw as a person who is under suspicion, but not a known villain. I thought the only way he could gain the upper hand against my heroine was if she underestimated him; and the only way I could explain how such a formidable thinker like her could be out-maneuvered was if this was their first encounter and her guard was down. To further explain her carelessness, I thought that her sense of culture and sophistication would preclude her from seeing this man as an intellectual threat if he were a showman; in this case a stage hypnotist and mentalist.

That was my initial burst of inspiration. Then I sat down and picked out the ten or so images I planned to use and did some minor photoshop work to remove some of Ms. Nicotine’s body piercings that didn’t quite fit the character I was developing. Ordinarily at that point I’d get to the fx work and animation but the story really wanted to be written at that point so I decided to layout all my images and start on the captions.

Strangely (for me), I actually wrote the last panel first. I had done this sepia-tinted shot of Nicotine and her Master posing together; I thought it might make a good preview image or title page or something. But the thought occurred to me that this could be an actual photograph within the world of the manip. A photo the villain commissioned to show off his loyal new thrall. But show her off to whom?

That’s when the idea for ‘The League’ first entered my mind. Obviously, this was a thinly-veiled reference to The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (a far better comic series than film incidentally), and, like them, would be a united group of crime fighters in Victorian England. She would be a part of this group and the villain would send them the photo and a brief note saying something along the lines of ‘Your greatest detective is now my brainwashed slave, suck it heroes.’

Then I thought better of it and decided to have her write the note instead; now as a loyal subject of her master. It morphed into a resignation letter, a warning against further interference from the group of do-gooders, a hint of other women already being enslaved, and a bit of foreshadowing that this wouldn’t be the last time The League clashed with The Marquis DeVice.

His name, incidentally, came right from the original photo series. I liked the wordplay of the Marquis of Vice/device so much I left it in. As for the lead character’s moniker, I knew it had to be Irene Adler, the lady that bested Sherlock Holmes; though I have taken liberties with the character (none the least of which being her nationality).

One other aspect of the resignation letter is the information that The Marquis had forced the brain-smoothed Ms. Adler to become his wife. Now I did this rather instinctively at the time. Its a staple of all kinds of adventure fiction: a villainous man forcing an heiress into a union for her family’s wealth or a political figure marrying into royalty to consolidate power, etc. While I’m not especially fond of bimbo-fication stories, I think, in a sense, I was doing something similar here. I saw her as a woman of great intelligence and so in-love with her work that she didn’t waste a moment of thought on the prospect of a relationship. To take that kind of person and turn her into someone’s pet; concerned only with whatever she’s told to be; in-love now with the thought of being property; well, as Sasha Grey so succinctly observed: “Its wrong, so its hot.”

With the text for the final panel completed, I started at the beginning and slowly forged through the story-work for the remaining images. At ten panels in total, I finally had enough space to write a caption without censoring myself to severely. Having said that, I’ve got oodles of ideas for other places these characters could go. I really wish I were an illustrator at times, I’d love to have my own mc-themed comic series to explore these characters and the world they inhabit.

Until then I’m at the mercy of the photos I can locate. Though after completing this series, I really don’t have any reason to complain; I don’t think I’ve found another collection of images that lent themselves so perfectly to my purpose. After I removed the aforementioned piercings and replaced a head in one image, I only need to produce some animated effects and add a suitable pair of goggles for Ms. Adler’s conversion.

So the bulk of the work here was the writing, which I must say was just a joy to do. Finding an image set that finally allowed me an outlet for this Victorian-era mind control angle I’ve been mulling over for so long was a treat in and of itself. I found myself so inspired by the source material, and that, in turn, led to having a really great time coming up with different ideas and directions to explore. I must say, I don’t know that I’ve ever had as much fun working on a manip.

All in all, not a bad result for two day’s of work.

As always, your questions, comments, and suggestions are welcome.

I recently downloaded a large archive of pics featuring the lovely Justine Joli. I’d seen a little of her photo work and wanted to find out if she’d done any sets that would lend themselves to some hypno-kink. While quickly speeding through a dozen or so folders I came across a set of her with Aria Giovanni, who I’ve featured several times now.

While the bulk of the set didn’t have much potential for my purpose, the first few images really caught my eye. I finally settled on a pic of Aria leaning close in while Justine vamped at the camera. Which turned into my first hurdle; for the storyline that began forming in mind, I needed her lost in the throes of pleasure. I was able to pull another shot of Ms. Jolie’s head from a later pic in the series and solve that problem, then I began thinking about what sort of props Aria might be using to enthrall her new pet.

I’ve recently re-read trilby else’s phenomenal Recovery and, without spoiling anything, one of my favorite moments is when a freshly enslaved character has a vibrating pager placed in a harness against her sex, so her Mistress can reach out and touch someone if you take my meaning.

I think that scene must have been on my mind here, as I found myself really enamored of Justine’s slightly splayed legs and stockings. I created a bullet vibe with a control box that I tucked into the elastic top of her stocking, not sure how it would play to the story but thinking I’d want some sort of device to facilitate her pleasure-conditioning.

The real gem for me here was the crystal chandelier that was already in the scene. One of my early (and still favorite) hypno-tv moments is the famous Hart-to-Hart episode that features a similar fixture as a hypnosis prop. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try and recreate a similar effect through animation.

So, after playing around with some lighting effects I settled on three elements: a series of chaser lights, some rays emanating from the chandelier, and a color-shift that would engulf the room. Ironically, although it was the most straightforward effect, the color-shift proved to be the most time-consuming as I just couldn’t find the look I wanted.

After some trial and error, I realized that by so dramatically tinting the color of the image, I was missing some of the photograph’s character, which first caught my eye. By dialing back the color effect and tinting the two women with less intensity than the background, I was finally able to achieve what I saw in my head.

Sitting down to write the caption proved the usual exercise in self-restraint as I almost immediately had enough story ideas to fill a four-image series. In the end, I was able to hint at the world and events that I’d conceived while still keeping things brief enough to focus on the erotic heat I wanted to convey.

And that is how this latest piece came together. It was one of the quickest animations I’ve ever done; the entire affair was completed in less than eight non-continuous hours over two days.

Your questions, comments, and suggestions are always welcome. I am still in-progress on a very ambitious new manip series that I hope to complete around the first of the new year and I’ll look forward to sharing more on that with you soon-ish.

So, it was with a great sense of ironic delight that I received an email recently from an mc author who told me that they had written a story based on one of my images!

The pic in question was from a speed-manipping session back in 2009. At the time, I had an idea of a storyline for a caption, but wasn’t really inspired enough to write anything. So I posted the image, along with my thoughts, and that was that.

Until an email dropped into my inbox from Mampang informing me that this manip, in particular, had really struck a chord. So much so, that they had written an entire story and would I be interested in having a look?

Now, I’m not one to shy away from long-captions, but I must tell you that reading this story really illustrated for me the difference between what I do and what an author does. Far from just laying out the scene from the image, Mampang breathed life into three wonderful characters and a delicious bit of drama along with some oh-so-spicy erotic flare!

Mampang pays off on the erotic promise of that image and then some; living in the character’s head moment-by-moment, exploring the struggle within as one part of the mind wants to give into the part that’s already given up…its the sort of stuff that I love in mc erotica. And, for the record, there’s a bit of business in there that, if I can find a suitable image, I will be ripping off paying homage to just as soon as I can!

So, enough teasing. Voyer was recently posted to The EMCSA and is available now! Please give it a read, as it is an excellent tale, and pass along your thoughts to its very-talented author!

Lastly, I’d like to thank Mampang and just say what a great feeling it is to think that something I created, in turn, inspired someone else’s art.

It really made my day.

I’m an avid comic reader. Got into them when I was a kid and have just grown to love the medium more and more as I’ve ‘grown up.’ Ironically, or inexorably, the very first comic I ever bought (Uncanny X-Men #226) featured a bit of business which, at the time, fascinated me for reasons I could not articulate. Looking back, I think it was tweaking my still-dormant mind-control fetish. Regardless something kept pulling me back to this page over and over.

Something about the idea of that mask fixed to her face, unable to remove it. The thought of what it might be doing to her… I don’t know…but it definitely did something for me.

Fast forward to 2011 and I’m currently reading the excellent revisionary old west series The Sixth Gun. I’ll try not to spoil anything in the hopes that you’ll pick up an issue and read it for yourself, but the long and short of it is that there are six guns that are sought after by all manner of deviant person.

The series protagonist, Becky, has recently been enjoying the attentions of a handsome gunfighter who comes to her aid when she and her colleagues come under a series of supernatural attacks. He spirits her away to save her from further harm… or perhaps because he’s got plans of his own and a shiny crystal hanging around his neck that helps him get his way.

The following issue opens with Becky still under his control, immobilized in an anonymous hotel room. However, she has a developing mental connection with her revolver, the titular sixth gun, which allows her to break free and go after Kirby.

The big problem, of course, with mind control is that once you’ve been put under, its a cinch to pull you back down; especially when your hypnotist is of the hunky, rogue variety. Kirby reveals he’s after the guns for a payday and that if Becky comes with him, he’ll cut her in for the profits. Becky wants to believe it, even though she knows better, then she finds out that what she really wants is another look at Kirby’s pretty crystal necklace…

Mind-control themes aside, its an excellent series and if you happen to be a comics reader, I emphatically recommend it you give it a read.

That’s all for now, new stuff is still in the works and I’ve got a television recommendation for next time, but that will have to wait till later in the week.

See you then.

If anything, the experience lit the proverbial fire under me and got me to do some security-related research, which I should have done a long time ago. In any case, I’ve closed some loopholes, shored up the outer wall, and implemented some other tricks to help ensure this doesn’t happen again.

So, thanks for your continued patronage and rest assured normal updating will resume this week. More stuff on the way and more stuff in the works. I look forward to sharing it with you all.

So, the story goes something like this. An email correspondent recently confessed that, while they enjoyed my work, Fem/fem material just wasn’t their cup of tea. So, this saucy scribe challenged me to apply my normal mind-control kink sensibilities to some images of dominant ladies turning men into their thralls. I responded that the images are what inspire me. If I found good material depicting women on top, I’d love to work up something a bit different. Fate, as it turns out, was listening.

So the long and short of it is that over the next couple of weeks, I just happened across three potential-laden images depicting the exact sort of hypno hotness that my email associate had hoped for. True to my word, I dove in; relishing the chance to work on something a bit different and also quite happy with how good the source pics were. As for the finished results?

Well, I’ll let you be the judge of that.

As always, your comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome and thank you for reading!

http://tinyurl.com/callidus

Thank you all for your readership and sorry for the hiccup; its a one-time deal that I don’t plan to repeat.

Now, for those who aren’t familiar with this high-watermark of cinema, the essentials of the plot are that Charlie Brewster discovers a vampire has moved in next door to him and must convince Peter Vincent, a vampire-slaying hero of late-night cinema (very much in the vein of Peter Cushing’s numerous turns as Van Helsing in Hammer Films) to aid him in destroying the unholy creature.

I’ve been watching the original this evening and rediscovering some vampire-mind-control moments that I had forgotten about. If you’re familiar enough with the story (or don’t care and just want to skip straight to the blank-eyed-yes-master-I-will-obey naughtiness), the film’s vampire mc scenes are located at the beginning of the following two clips:

I know, I know: 80′s music…ugh. Despite that though, the thing I enjoy most (and had largely forgotten) about this film was the interplay between Jerry Dandridge (the fanged one) and Amy. In the club, he’s definitely exerting control over her, but (and credit to the actress here) it feels less to me as though she’s fighting his control so she can run, but more that she’s fighting with the part of herself that wants to stay.

It all comes back to that tenant of erotic mind control that Tabico so eloquently summed up: “I shouldn’t want to, but I do.” This also represents an interesting sub-plot for the film. In the opening scene, Charlie (the ‘hero’) and Amy are having a good-old high school fumble in his bedroom which ends awkwardly and with the knowledge that Amy is afraid of sex (though in her defense who wouldn’t be afraid of sex with Charlie Brewster?).

So, for her character, Jerry Dandridge and his you-are-in-my-power vampire gaze not only evokes flat-out mind control but also what makes erotic mind control a potent fantasy for so many people: being ‘forced’ to do what you won’t let yourself do. So, the film makes an admirable contribution to the fine lineage of vampire-mind-control seduction that I imagine more than a few us have in our kink resumes.

For me, seeing this film as a younger man than I am now, I think it was the first movie I’d seen that eroticized vampirism. Its obviously not the first film to have done so, just the first one I happened across. Watching it now, I can distinctly remember feeling something else when I originally saw the film; something beyond the stirrings that a movie with sexual overtones would naturally elicit.

I always remember being especially interested in the scene inside the dance club; even over the more explicit scene that follows between Jerry and Amy. The mental battle she’s fighting, knowing what Dandridge is and yet still yearning to give in to him, I find very potent and well-executed…despite the 80′s music.

So, I think I still like the original more than the remake. Which isn’t to say the remake is bad, I enjoyed it and there are some nice blank-eyed stares from Amy in the 2011 film’s incarnation of the dance club scene. But…well its just not quite the same.

New material is on the way. I’ve been cranking out stuff like I haven’t in years. Tabico and I have a very cool new animated series in the works, I’ve got several manips finished and several more planned for a more traditional update and more ideas than I know what to do with.

So, with that tease, I’ll see you next time.

As I wrote about previously one of my more extensive animated manips, Alpha, would probably not have come about had I not stumbled across a few, key image galleries that gave me the source material to completely flesh out both the main plot and sub-plot of that story. One of the hurdles I had to leap was finding a suitable model to portray the titular character. This ended up being a far greater challenge than I’d anticipated simply because I needed to find a series of pictures depicting a woman in a corner in order to match up with my storyline. The long and short of it is I did find a series of suitable images and finished the project.

And then I came across this series of images a week or so ago.

A few times after completing a manip, I’ve come across another image from the same gallery that would’ve worked even better than the one I used or found another image entirely that struck me as being better. But during the download-session that yielded the recent Gas Mask study, I found a gallery that could have been custom-made just for my project.

I mean, come on! She’s in the corner of a room (and that tile pattern could have helped like you can’t image in lining up the photo to the virtual room I built for Alpha); sinking to her knees; clamping her hands over her ears like she’s trying to block out the delicious brainwashiness; clawing at the door as she slowly succumbs to the conditioning; kneeling in surrender as the chamber re-programs her mind. Seriously, I’m not the only one that sees this right? Which got my mind working…

Though it pains to even think about, I admit I did really consider pulling out all the source material for Alpha and seeing if I could make these images work. If there’s one project I’m really glad to have behind me its that one. And yet the temptation to ‘improve’ on it was so great. I thought maybe it would be neat to revisit, sort of an Alpha: Special Edition.

And that’s when my blood ran cold.

I suddenly realized that was the exact rational behind the second-most-spectacular fail of the twentieth century: the Star Wars: Special Edition. I imagined George Lucas sitting through an early preview of Jurassic Park and thinking to himself ‘Wow, I could make Star Wars even better if only…” That path leads to the dark side. Humbled by the lesson, I stepped away from the X-Wing and decided to go back to my training.

Now, I’m not comparing myself to Luke Skywalker or Alpha to Star Wars. Okay, actually I am, but not because I think its an apt comparison, just because Luke Skywalker is cool (not Han Solo cool, but no one’s perfect) and because I harbor no small amount of frustration with George Lucas because of his infernal meddling.

Except now you see, I understand it. I understand why a creative mind obsesses over past work and the feeling that its never good enough, the desire to get it ‘perfect.’ Except there is no ‘perfect’ and the best way to improve is to take the lessons learned yesterday and apply them to today. So I learned something. I learned to let go of my anger debilitating perfectionism and let what’s done, stay done. For once, I learned from someone else’s mistake.

There’s other manips to work on (I’ve got more than one or two that I’m working on right now) without rehashing projects I’ve already finished. In fact, I’m quite eager to show you all the new stuff I’m cooking up now. But it is fun to look at these pics and think about what might have been.