tallglassofoj

Hang Club

2025-11-06T00:00:00Z

I wrote some smut. I hope you enjoy it.

Hey man, so glad you made it! Welcome to Hang Club!” Jeremy clapped me on the shoulder and I’m not too proud to admit I jumped a little. Truth be told I was nervous as hell; being social wasn’t exactly my favorite thing to do, and being invited to something this exclusive didn’t help.

“Oh, yeah. Thanks for the invite,” I managed to jumble out of my mouth.

Jeremy smiled widely. “Nervous?” He asked. “It’d be weirder if you weren’t, haha!”

I nodded. “A little, yeah. How does all this work, anyway?” I gestured to the group of about 20 people all milling about on the deck. It was early fall, and the heat of the day was slowly radiating off now that the sun had set. We were somewhere deep in the woods outside of town, far from anyone who would give us trouble.

“It’s real simple. We draw five names out of a hat and those people go up. They stay up as long as they can until one person fails. If everyone lasts the whole two hours, we pick one of their names out of the hat and that person gets a little nudge,” he explained matter-of-factly.

“Ah. So there’s guaranteed to be some entertainment then?”

Jeremy winked. “Hell yeah man, wouldn’t be Hang Club if it wasn’t fun.” He checked his watch. “Oh shit, it’s 10. Time to get started.” He clapped me on the shoulder as he spun around and strode into the middle of the group. People quickly quieted down and started to gather in a loose circle around him.

“Alright, alright, let’s get this party started! Everyone put their name in right?” A muttering of assents replied, some subdued, others more enthusiastic.

“Before we get started though, I need to point out that we have a new member with us tonight!” He pointed directly at me and suddenly everyone on the deck was staring.

“Uhm, hey,” I replied sheepishly.

Jeremy continued, half addressing me, half the crowd: “I may have forgotten to mention one more rule though…” he trailed off and some folks chuckled. “New folks always go up on their first night.”

“Oh,” I started. “Well uh, I was hoping-”

“Nonsense!” Jeremy chortled. “Everyone deserves a chance.”

Some of the crowd chimed in too, egging me on. Shouts of “Yeah!”, “Come on man…”, and “Pussy!” rang out.

I kinda stopped listening at that point, because I had become acutely aware of the sound of my heart pounding in my chest. I must have looked like a lunatic the way my eyes were darting looking for a way out. This was all happening too fast, it was suddenly too real. Sure I wanted to join the club, but this was being thrown right into the fucking deep end. Fuck! I thought I was gonna come in, have a drink or two, meet some likeminded folks, see some hot stuff and call it a night.

And then Jeremy was in front of me, grinning excitedly. “You okay man?”

I thought about saying no, thanking him for the invite and leaving. Screw leaving, I just wanted to straight up bolt outta there. How high up was the deck off the ground?

No. I had been isolating myself for too long. It was time to commit. Put up, or shut up.

“I’m okay.” I nodded, lying. “I’m great!”

“Good,” Jeremy replied. The friendly demeanor dropped. “Then strip.”

I realized I was now flanked by the other four maybe-condemned, who were already disrobing. Before I could talk myself out of it I shucked my shirt, pants, and finally my underwear. As unfathomably nervous as I was, my dick was already half-hard. The murmur of approval, raised eyebrows, and people nudging each other in the crowd was a pleasant ego boost. In short order, all five of us selected for the evenings entertainment were naked in front of everyone else. A the far end of the row, Jeremy was handcuffing the others, working his way down. I pointedly tried to avoid looking at the crowd and shivered a little. It was early fall and the air had the slightest chill to it. When Jeremy got to me I stood up as straight as I could, masking how afraid I was. I felt the cold steel of the handcuffs ratcheting closed around my right wrist, then my left. Once the cuffs were securely double-locked, Jeremy gave my butt a soft squeeze and my dick twitched. Once we’d all been secured, Jeremy ordered us to turn around and my heart skipped a few beats.

While we’d been getting stripped and restrained, a set of five, three-legged stools of dubious stability had been set out on the deck behind us. Above each dangled a noose, ominously waiting to be tied off. I felt myself rapidly stiffen up, as the crowd went silent to allow the situation to sink in. After a few seconds, and on Jeremy’s signal, we were briskly grabbed by people emerging from the the crowd and marched towards our stools. My assistants were a chick and her boyfriend; he helped me step up onto the stool while she waited behind me with the noose. Once I was situated and found my footing, the boyfriend nodded and she pulled the noose over my head before pulling it taut around my neck. Still loose enough for me to breathe, but that was going to change very quickly. I looked to my right and watched as a chick with brunette hair on the stool next to me had her noose pulled tight until she was standing on her tip-toes. The rope was tied off and she was left to struggle.

Next it was my turn, and if I thought I had been hard before, this pushed me to a whole new level. As soon as I felt the rope tightening my cock started to twitch and bob excitedly. I couldn’t exactly look down to see it, but I felt a glob of precum land on my thigh and start oozing down my leg. Inch by inch I felt the rope becoming more taut as the yanks and tugs echoed down the strands to my neck. Within short order I was forced onto my tip-toes as well, straining to relieve some of the pressure on my neck. I waited to feel the rope get tighter but it didn’t. Whoever was tying us off was satisfied with my predicament and had moved onto the guy on my left. I tried not to watch the crowd below me who were now milling about, enjoying the show we were putting on. Instead I worked to focus my breathing; in slowly through my nose, and out through my mouth. Deep, calming breaths. I could feel my pulse in my neck, not strongly, but there enough that I could notice it. My calf muscles were starting to protest, but I wasn’t super concerned about them yet. As long as they didn’t cramp up, I should be okay I thought to myself. Every movement, every minor adjustment brought the rope of the noose into sharp focus as I felt it digging into the skin of my neck. Only two hours to go.

“Oi mate, how’s it hanging?” The guy next to me asked. He had an Australian accent. I swiveled on my feet so I could see him better.

“Is that your attempt at gallows humor?” I croaked out. He chuckled, swerved a little on his toes, and recovered.

“Looks like you’re enjoying yourself,” he gestured to my cock with his eyes. “A real natural you are.”

I grunted in agreement. “I just really like the peril, y’know?”

“Ah, you’re one-” he blanched- “of those types.” He took a deep breath. ”I reckon I’ll get a little more woken up once they start getting handsy,” he explained. His dick was still flaccid. “I haven’t been up here in six months.”

I tested the handcuffs reflexively, but they weren’t going anywhere. “Amber, on the other side of you,” the Australian continued. “She’s been up here two times in a row now. Lucky girl.”

Our time passed in silence after that. I occasionally shifted my weight from one foot to the other, trying to give one limb a rest. Overall my legs weren’t the problem, it was my shoulders. My arms weren’t used to being kept in one position for this long. Guess I need to spend more time in handcuffs.

The crowd watched us the entire time, just out of arms reach. They meandered, sometimes paced, stalking us like predators. I could all but see them drooling at the mouth. I shifted from one leg to the other and wriggled my shoulders to get the blood flowing again. Finally the crowd broke and moved towards us.

The chick and her boyfriend who had strung me up here in the first place made a beeline straight for me. She slowly walked around my prone form, one finger tracing a random path over the back of my taut thighs while her boyfriend sat and watched from a respectable distance. When she returned to my front, her finger trailed painfully slowly along the underside of my dick, making my body twitch involuntarily. I had never been this turned on in my life and this was driving me insane. I wanted, needed her, or anyone for that matter to touch me more; to feel some sort of pleasure. Contact. A desperate whine escaped my throat and she cooed approvingly while she ruminated on what to do next. I tried to make eye contact with her, but her attention was focused on my chest now. She grabbed one of my nipples between her thumb and index finger and every so gingerly started rolling them. “Ah, ah,” I gasped. Slowly she increased the pressure, driving me more and more wild until I was panting. I started copying Amber’s flamingo movements, just to give myself something else to focus on. The stool shifted ominously underneath me. The chick repeated the same thing with my other nipple, keeping me just on the edge of it becoming painful. I could feel the precum oozing out of me now. I watched as her free hand dipped down, out of my field of vision, and wiped the glob of precum onto her finger and stuck it in her mouth. Suddenly she released my nipple and stepped back with a knowing smile. I whined pitifully, desperately, watching her as she left me. She turned and whispered something to her boyfriend, they conversed quietly, he nodded, and then they both stepped back to me. She watched with an amused expression as her boyfriend started to explore my body. He ran his hands over my calves and gently massaged the strained muscles; it felt so fucking good. Satisfied, the woman gave me a smart little wink before she sauntered over to Amber, leaving me alone with her boyfriend.

He had an air of trepidation about him that told me he hadn’t had a lot of experience with men. So now I had been reduced to the plaything for a bi-curious guy. Eh, there were worse things I figured, as his hands cupped my ass. He was slowly working himself and his hands around to my front side, feeling my hips, running this fingers up and down my sides. He looked at me and grinned nervously, as if to say this whole thing was weird. I didn’t care at this point, a hand was a hand. “Please,” I whimpered. “Touch me.”

Let me tell you, the instant I felt those fingers curl around my dick, I jumped to another plane of existence. He was squeezing my cock, just enough that I could feel the sensation. I whined and slowly rocked my hips back and forth, trying to get something more than this. He was feeling more confident now, looked less like a deer in headlights. He squeezed a little harder and began pumping his hand, excruciatingly slowly. I half sobbed, half mewed as I thrust my hips. His other hand was fondling my balls now, just applying gentle pleasure. I wanted, needed to cum so badly. Even the noose and my overall predicament faded into the background. I drifted off into a world of endorphins. On the stool next to me, Amber was being ravaged by a vibrator wielded by the chick. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, ah!” Amber panted as the vibrator ruthlessly worked an orgasm out of her. I watched as she desperately tried to claw at the noose around her neck, trying to get away from the overly-stimulating vibrator but the handcuffs were unrelenting.

The boyfriend stopped stroking and released my dick as his girlfriend came back over, causing reality to come crashing back down around me. I think I was close to sobbing at that point. They traded a few whispered words while I watched them and tried not to moan like the pathetic bitch I felt like.

Having reached some sort of agreement, they returned their attention to me. While she watched, the boyfriend grabbed my dick and held it up, inspecting it like you would a piece of fruit. After considering it for a moment, he quickly bent down and ran his tongue along the underside of the shaft. I immediately bucked, teetering precariously on the stool, trying to keep my balance while simultaneously trying to do anything to get more stimulation. He did it again and I bounced on the balls of my feet. “Oh fffffuck,” I gasped. I bent my knees a little to try and get closer but the noose pulled tight, preventing me from going any lower. I didn’t care though, if I choked myself it would be worth it for just one more touch. This went on for some time, ceaseless teasing threatening to be the end of me, literally and figuratively. To my left, the Australian provided some distraction with his yelping and howling as a pair of twunks took turns; one paddling his thighs and ass while the other jerked him off. His ass was already a bright, angry shade of pink and his thighs were starting to look the same. Every impact sent him dancing on the stool, skipping from one foot to the other to try and do something about the pain without falling off.

Meanwhile every time I started to struggle the boyfriend would relent and allow me a moment to recover before starting again. I could tell he was stalling for time, working up to something, and I had a pretty good idea what it was. My theory was confirmed when he suddenly bent down, took my whole dick in his mouth and started sucking.

Normally, I take a good long while to get off. You’ve gotta hit the right spots at the right time and it’s a whole ordeal. In this case though, I went from zero to 95% of the way in just a few rounds. Despite having never met before, he somehow picked up on my body language and knew when to stop and focus on something else. This mainly consisted of wriggling his tongue all over the head of my dick until I’d calmed down enough for him to resume sucking. It felt like this went on for hours, me constantly being brought to the brink only to be let down at the last possible second. My world had narrowed to a single point and fact: my dick and how badly I needed to cum. His girlfriend got in on the fun too, working my nipples from behind. Try as I might, I didn’t have a chance of maneuvering myself away from his mouth or her fingers. At one point when I nearly fell off the stool they stopped and spent a few minutes making out while still wrapped around me as I moaned and leaked precum all over the boyfriends stomach.

When he returned to his blowjob duties, the boyfriend had a renewed fervor, clearly ready to finish me off. I leaned into it, willing every molecule of my being to fucking let me cum. He went to work methodically, working the shaft with his lips while his tongue played over the head. Soon we were in harmony, me thrusting as his head bobbed as his girlfriend worked over my nipples. As I felt the overwhelming urge building in my balls, I managed to eke an “I’m close” out of my mouth between breaths. Suddenly the world lurched as the girlfriend shoved the stool out from under me. In one instant the noose was pulled as tight as it could, cutting off circulation to my neck and head. Her boyfriend worked my cock with a renewed frenzy as I started to blow my load down his throat. Even as I was cumming I was starting to panic. My feet couldn’t reach the ground and I was slowly suffocating. My vision was already beginning to fade. I thrashed as hard as I could, tried to reach up and release the noose, but the handcuffs were unforgiving. “Help!” I tried to yell, but all that came out was a quiet gurgle. The boyfriend stepped back and held his girlfriend’s hand as they watched me struggle. Everyone was going to stand there and watch me strangle, doing nothing to help. A few of the guys even had their dicks out and were stroking them. I tried one last time in vain to escape, but my limbs were suddenly too heavy and my vision was almost completely black.

—

The world came rushing back at me all at once. I woke up with a deep gasp to refill my lungs and spent the next few seconds coughing and catching my breath. Once I’d settled down I realized I was lying on the floor of the deck, with my head on a bag and a blanket over me. The chick and her boyfriend were sitting on the ground next to me, while Jeremy stood over me with his arms crossed and a big smile on his face.

“Fuck,” I breathed, once I felt sufficiently reoriented. “That was incredible, holy shit.” The chick and her boyfriend giggled to each other in a way that would have been irritating under any other circumstance. “Why am I uh, alive though?” I looked up at Jeremy.

Jeremy crouched down next to me on his haunches. “What? You think we kill people here? That’d be fuckin stupid, we’d have no one left. Anyway,” He clapped me on the shoulder again, just like when he’d met me earlier. “Welcome to hang club!”

Qs and As

2025-09-10T00:00:00Z

The Qs to be Ad

This set of questions has been making the rounds on Bluesky. Normally I don't care for these, but the questions generally pretty good. Rather than post a bunch of skeets that people have to look for, I figured I'd just save you the trouble and answer them all here.

1. On the spectrum from submissive to dominant how do you currently define yourself?

Currently, I’m calling myself a submissive switch; I’m perfectly happy to play either role, but I prefer to sub at the moment. That has changed before, and will probably change again.

2. Do any people from your everyday life know about your kink side?

Very few. I don’t really associate with people who aren’t also kinky. My parents know a little bit about the situation, but probably not how deep the rabbit hole goes.

3. Do you consider any pieces of media formative to your kink identity?

As a child I had an illustrated bible, and there was plenty of artwork of people in bondage. The story of Samson and Delilah was particularly influential.

4. Rubber / leather/ Lycra / sportswear / other?

Everything except rubber really. To be clear, I find it aesthetically pleasing, but the amount of work it takes to maintain that gear, plus the risk of damaging it ranks it at the bottom of my interests.

5. How many dildos/butt plugs/anal insertables do you currently own?

Oh boy this is gonna be a recurring topic. There’s a few floating around, but they’re either my husbands or Not For Fuckin (NFF). Anal isn’t really something I’m into...

6. Describe your feelings about being fucked / your bottoming journey

…that being said, I really like the idea of getting fucked. I’m fucked up in that I can’t detach sex from power exchange; for me in my mind there’s always a submissive partner and a dominant partner. So I definitely wish I could get tied up and fucked, but no amount of training or playing with myself or trying it out has worked. It’s just an unpleasant sensation that I don’t enjoy and makes it really hard to maintain any sort of headspace.

7. Excluding dildos, talk about the first kinky toy you owned

The first explicitly kinky toy I got for myself was a set of wrestling gear from Dicks. I was worried that my parents would see the transaction on my account statements so I went to my bank (in person!), withdrew some money in the form of a visa gift card, and ordered a singlet, shoes, and headgear from Dicks dot com. I still have the singlet and headgear to this day, almost 15 years later.

8. What is the most explicit thing you’ve ever posted online that shows your face?

Face + exposed dick is the most explicit thing I’ve ever shared. It’s rare but it does happen. I generally try to only post one or the other for the sake of plausible deniability.

9. Do you have any designated spaces/furniture set up for your kinks?

Of course! When we bought our house I said I wanted four bedrooms or a basement. We didn’t get the basement but the fourth bedroom is our playroom (or gym, if you’re here to do some maintenance). It’s not much, but it does the trick.

10. If you have a hot historic photo of yourself that hasn't made it to BlueSky yet, this is your free motivation to post it

I think this pic of me and Spark is pretty damn good.

Look at that fuckin smile goddamn

Heck yes I have! Here it is! This was borne out of one of those stupid Tumblr captions where it’s so outlandish all you can do is roll your eyes. Nevertheless, it sparked me to sit down and bang that out, so I did. I also challenged myself to make the language as non-gendered as possible, so the reader can imagine whatever they want for the protagonist.

Yes, I have, no I’m not willing to share it. I also don’t count it as drawing, but I’ve spent entirely too much time dabbling with a local version of StableDiffusion. It’s made a lot of crap and I feel like a chump for spending any amount of time on it.

13. Excluding medical reasons, what is the longest you’ve gone without having an orgasm since puberty?

32 days, during my early forays into being a boy to my former sir. It really sucked for 22 year old me, but 36 year old me could probably do that again no problem, not that I want to.

14. Do you have a close friend that you fantasise about, who doesn't know? If so, is there something specific involved?

Mmm, not really. I definitely fantasize about a lot of my friends, but I'm at the point where I'm comfortable telling them about the fucked up shit I want them to do to me. Turns out things are a lot more fun when you're up front about what you want rather than just letting it be your own little secret.

WHERE IT APPLIES, AND AVOIDING REPEATING YOURSELF, DESCRIBE A MEMORABLE SESSION WHERE...

15. ...you felt particularly submissive / controlled

Y'know... I just did that!

16. ...you felt particularly dominant / in

That would be my first time at Hampton, and generally any time I'm playing guard.

17. ...there was an element of public risk / threat of discovery involved

Hmmm... this isn't really something that particularly turns me on, so I tend to avoid those kinds of situations.

18. ...there were more than two participants

Teee and Spark having their way with me

Oh man... too many to count. My favorite thing is to co-dom with someone and build off each other's energy. Simultaneously, being on the receiving end of that can also be a very good time.

19. ...there was an element of anonymity involved

It's really, really hard to have an anonymous scene when you were raised in the south. I'm too polite to really enjoy not knowing who I'm playing with. Too many times I've gotten drinks with a prospective play partner and we're trading names right off the bat. Sigh.

There was a time in my much younger, more foolish days where some guy wanted to wait for me, naked and blindfolded, to come into his apartment and abuse him. It was very, very hot but I insisted on cuddling afterwards and getting to know him. We didn't stay in touch.

20. ...you felt like you were taken well out of your comfort zone

One of the best ways to make sure I have an anxiety attack is to make me feel like I'm in an altered state. Anything that makes my body feel "off" is a huge problem for me. As a result, I tend to not drink very much and don't really enjoy being high. Turns out, this also extends to catheters.

A few months ago Nitro offered to give me my first catheter experience. He got me all strapped down and got the cath installed properly and I immediately freaked out. The sensation of peeing, but not peeing made me spiral pretty badly. We wound up aborting the scene early and helping me recover.

21. ...there was an element of endurance or extended restraint

Probably the toughest scene for me was overnight in a friends padded cell. I was stuck in a set of wrist-to-waist humane restraints so getting comfortable was challenging. When I finally did drift off to sleep, I woke up and had really bad vertigo because the cell was pitch black. Other than that, any predicament bondage is tough for me because I'm not in suuuuuper duper good shape. I need to work on that.

22. ...pain was a major element

Me getting hurt

Pain doesn't necessarily do anything for me; I prefer the threat of more pain vs. the actual pain. I'd say about once a year I get really in the mood for a good beating. The first time this happened was back in 2015 at MAL. I was supposed to meet up with a friend in his room, but he wasn't there. His roommates made sure I was ready when he got there though, and I got put through the ringer for about three hours. Those little carbon fiber stingy rods hurt like a motherfucker.

I've also found myself really enjoying spanking as of late. Do with that information what you will.

23. ...anal was a major element

Like I said before, anal isn't a huge part of what I'm into so I've not done much here.

24. ...watersports / filth / raunch was a major element

Yellow

IML 2016: I'd been talking to BondageAviator about punching my WS card and he was more than happy to oblige. Since then I've had plenty of ws experiences, but I'm always looking for more. Especially if its a forced self-recycling scene 😏

25. ...something unusual was a turn on for you / your partner

26. ...the setup was particularly creative

These last questions are supposed to be yes/no only, but eff that

27. Have you got any major fetishes that you don't talk about on this account?

Two big ones:

Nooses: It's a peril thing for me; I enjoy being in a situation where I can't relax my legs without choking myself. Let those calves get nice and sore. That's my kinda scene. The actual strangulation and breath control part doesn't do anything for me though.

My ideal outfit

Tribal Apparel: So first off I understand that this is close to being exceptionally problematic and I apologize in advance for that. I really like the way a pair of moccasin boots and a loincloth look, it makes me feel vulnerable. My biggest fantasy right now is to spend a weekend camping and not being allowed to wear anything but this.

28. Have you ever fantasised about a close relative?

Nope.

29. Do you feel that you have ever "really crossed the line" during a session?

I've spent the last 14 years doing this and I like to think I have a very good handle on myself and how to read people. So no, I haven't, and if I ever did that would be a huge personal failure on my part. Even having someone use a safeword is a big problem for me.

30. Do you have any sexual fantasies that would be legally risky to attempt?

Nah.

I Can't Title This Teee Time

2025-07-14T00:00:00Z

I wanna recap a scene I had a few weeks ago; recap what led to it, how I felt during it, and why it was so impactful. Before we can do that though, I need to rewind to a couple of years back.

Teee's predicament when he visited me

Teee was visiting Atlanta and I had an opportunity to kidnap him for an afternoon. I kept him strapped to a chair in my office while I worked. Nothing special, just some restraints, mitts, a heavy hood and some ear muffs. Afterwards, he spoke very highly of the hood and asked for a link to get one for himself.

Cut back to a few weeks ago. We're hanging out with some other friends, doing various kinky things, and Teee mentions he wants to put the hood on me to return the favor. Of course I oblige him, and even offered to help him set me up in some bondage. I'm a nice guy like that. For this one, I picked my set of Posey waist-to-wrist restraints with locking buckles on the wrist cuffs and the waist strap. The whole assembly was wrapped around a post on the porch, with me positioned on the opposite side of the post from the wrist cuffs & my wrists.

My predicament

So, with the scene set, let me dive into what made this so extraordinarily fun for me. The two key concepts I want to highlight are minimalism and the vulnerability.

Believe it or not, I'm not a maximalist when it comes to bondage. Make no mistake, I enjoy being stuffed into a sleepsack and immobilized as much as the next kinky fucker, but minimal bondage has its place too. For me, I feel more powerless if I have some degree of movement; still trapped, but deluded into thinking I have some control. The aesthetics can't be overlooked either. The visual of someone struggling to resist giving up an orgasm is delightful, especially if they can move around a bit.

Perfectly content to be chained to a hardpoint like this

Or by my ankle

Or keep me hobbled!

Or the always classic pair of handcuffs

My vulnerability in this scene is what really set it apart for me. Yes, being bound and helpless is already vulnerability, but there's so much more beyond that. I started the scene wearing those tiny yellow shorts. As things progressed, Teee yanked them down to my thighs, exposing me even further (and making me rock hard in the process). With some finagling I was able to wiggle them back up somewhat, but with my hands restrained I was left helplessly exposed. Then they were yanked off completely, rendering any attempts to regain some degree of dignity fruitless. Keeping my clothes on to start the scene gave some degree of plausible deniability to the "role" I had concocted for myself in my head; a recalcitrant jock/athlete/frat bro who doesn't want to acknowledge that he gets turned on by being tied up. Removing that final fabric barrier and whatever (false) sense of security I had reinforces just how powerless I truly am in this situation. This is one of the things I still struggle with when it comes to playing as an inmate.

The scene proceeded for quite a while, the majority of it spent edging me. To say I had blue balls afterwards would be an understatement. To spend that long, that turned on, without cumming was the true torture. Even gently touching my balls afterwards was unbelievably painful. Sadly, like all good things, the scene ended far too soon; it was time to start working on dinner and everyone seemed to be burning out. Frankly I could (and should have) asked to be left there, hooded, helpless, and hard, but I didn't. Shrug. Perhaps if this scene hadn't been impromptu that could have been planned for.

I also need to talk about the hood some more. It's a heavy duty, dual-layer spandex fabric. Tight enough that putting it on isn't too much work, but loose enough that it doesn't crush your face too quickly. You can see some light, but not really enough to be useful. Breathing is a little bit more challenging, like wearing a gas mask with a flow restrictor. There's a seam down the middle that might leave a nice little mark if you wear it long enough. This is, hands-down, the best capture hood I've ever worn. It was made(or distributed?) by Leatherwerks for several years, but they've since stopped carrying it. This is one of my favorite pieces of gear, and it comes with me every time I travel and I use it in almost every scene. I hope LW brings it back at some point, because it's truly wonderful.

Anyway, I hope this provides some insight into what makes me tick. I don't expect everyone to immediately jump to finding the simplest bondage they can for me. There's a wide gamut of scenes I enjoy; this is me outlining one that I feel is relatively uncommon.

I Went To CLAW 2025 So You Didn't Have To

2025-04-20T00:00:00Z

The opinions expressed here are solely held by me and do not represent the official positions of any other events I am affiliated with. My experiences are mine, they do not reflect the experiences of other attendees.

CLAW 2025 has come and gone, and I have Opinions™ about it. The last time I went, CLAW took place at the Renaissance Hotel in downtown Cleveland: almost everything happens in the host hotel. The vendor mart, education classes, and a playspace are all steps from your hotel room. When it comes time to eat, there are plenty of options all within easy walking distance. There's even a train that runs directly from the airport!

For whatever reason, CLAW 2025 didn't have a host hotel. Instead, they moved the event to the IX Center out by the airport and the attendees are spread out over several different hotels scattered around suburban south Cleveland. There's no point in beating around the bush: this sucked. Everything you want to do at the event requires so much effort and coordination. If you don't have a car you can take the shuttles that don't run consistently or shell out for a Lyft. Food options at the IX Center are limited and expensive, so that adds another layer of complexity to the ordeal. The quality of the hotels varied widely; from a brand new LaQuinta to the RL that felt like it came straight out of the backrooms. This confluence of factors lead to a reduced overall attendance as well. Most of the classes I was able to attend felt downright empty. The vendor mart had the usual suspects, but I'm worried they weren't able to make a profit, let alone break even.

The IX Center

I think Cleveland gets a bad rap. Sure the river caught on fire a few times, and there was that balloon incident, and its in Ohio; but its not a bad town. Contemporary Cleveland has a lot going for it, and I think the future is bright.

The IX center on the other hand perpetuates every negative stereotype there is to have about Cleveland. CLAW was in the basement of the facility and it felt like the cheap seats. Peeling wallpaper, stained ceiling tiles, expensive food and drinks, no windows, the list goes on.

Geographically, the IX Center is located near the airport aaaand not much else. Pedestrian access is theoretically possible, but its a hike. The nearest restaurant is a ~20 minute walk away, but the route isn't pedestrian-friendly, consisting of high speed roads with no sidewalks and a few big intersections. I think the IX Center is fully aware of that and has no problem shafting attendees to its events on food and drink. Simple sandwiches were going for $14, while a cup of coffee was $6, plus another dollar for non-dairy cream options, with an additional $1 if you paid with a credit card.

The other thing I fucking hated was the lack of reliable cell service in the IX Center. In some parts of the building there was a public wifi network from the IX Center that I had to, I shit you not, sign up for. First and last name, email address, and password. Talk about a privacy nightmare. But that was slow and wasn't working in the primary social space or vendor mart. Installing cellular repeaters costs money and cuts into the profits the IX Center could make from selling internet service, which is presumably why it was a dead zone.

One of the mistakes I think CLAW made was assuming that the empty space they had needed to be filled. Previously there hasn't been a central "stage" area; just the vendor mart and maybe a small lobby area outside. Events like this don't really need a stage for entertainment. In the case of CLAW 2025, the stage here was mostly a source of incredibly loud music and announcements that made it really difficult to have conversations in the primary social space. The stage was also hosting rounds of kinky family feud and bingo; events that (in my opinion) belong at a bar that's trying to appeal to vanilla and kinky gays at the same time.

CLAW shines when it comes to the educational classes and sessions. Having sat through so many Rope 101 classes over the years, the baseline skill level at CLAW is so refreshing. Granted, there are definitely classes for beginners, but if you're interested in getting into the more nitty-gritty details of headspace and restraint with a bunch of like minded folks, CLAW is great for that. I really wish they'd done a little better with the pacing though. I constantly found myself wishing there was a little more time between classes. There was also a reoccurring issue with the rope classes I wanted to attend going on at the same time. How do I choose!?

The Hotel

Boy oh boy do I have some thoughts about the RL hotel. I overheard the front-desk attendant mentioning there's a renovation coming soon, which explains a lot. It feels like they just 100% gave up on maintenance a few years ago; moldy ceilings in the hallway, doors that don't close properly, peeling wallpaper, sketchy elevators, the list goes on. Perhaps the room we were in was just the exception, perhaps not. Normally the quality of a hotel room doesn't bother me that much. After all, I'm just sleeping there right? Well when you're spending a few extra hours there waiting for your party to assemble before you head off to the convention center, you want a nice place to wait.

Apropos of nothing, I'll also note that the shuttle I rode only once round-trip didn't appear to have any accommodations for people with accessibility issues. I've heard that there wasn't shuttle service between all the hotels, and there definitely wasn't service to the playspace.

The Playspace

This is less an issue with CLAW and more an issue with myself I guess. We went over on Saturday night to check it out and the vibes were bad. If you're into a lot of flogging, whipping, impact play, etc then this was the place to be. Doubly-so if you're super duper into a loud DJ and speakers mere feet from your scene area. Unfortunately I was more in the mood for a relatively chill bondage scene, but the atmosphere made getting into that headspace impossible. I don't get overwhelmed easily, but this was almost too much to handle. Luckily there was a much quieter space upstairs where I was able to chill out a little with my friends.

Also; again this is just my opinion, but maybe a medical & piercing scene right inside the front door isn't the best idea for a semi-public event. I know a lot of folks (like me) might not really appreciate having to walk past that. It's the sort of thing that should probably be happening in a private session or somewhere with less foot traffic. Ditto for the top-of-their-lungs scream inducing scene that was happening when we first arrived.

I really hate to be so negative about this. Events are HARD. The amount of effort and energy that goes into putting on even something a quarter of the size of CLAW takes a herculean effort. I applaud the staff and volunteers for making the most of a bad situation. Hopefully, next years CLAW lands a nice big host hotel again and we can put this experience behind us.

TEA Time

2025-04-11T00:00:00Z

A few days ago I got a chance to play with a new boy. This, in and of itself, is not an uncommon thing for me. What makes this particular situation uncommon is the confluence of factors that I had to clear out of the way before I could enjoy myself and feel comfortable playing again. It's been a rough couple of months and I've had a really hard time getting out of my head.

Enter TerribleEscapeArtist. We'd met up a couple of months ago; I'd invited him over for a firepit night, just a social call so we could get to know each other a little before we played. Well something must have clicked for him and the next thing I know I hear he's playing prison guard at HCI. Last I'd heard he was still getting his feet wet and testing the waters. To hear he'd jumped fully into the deep end in Florida was... whew. Leo messaged me with effusive praise for him and I said fine, we'll get together eventually.

A SoftTie on TEAs wrist

Reader let me tell you, I'm glad Leo pushed me to have him over. He showed up around 7, bracketed between my other social obligations that weekend. After chitchatting a little more, we headed up to the playroom. The nice thing about meeting up beforehand is that you can get all the important safety talk out of the way first; safewords, likes, dislikes, limits, etc. We were able to dive right in.

He's still new, and I need to sus out what his buttons are, so I elected to start with a simple chair tie. He slipped into a singlet and I slipped him into some bondage. Posey cuffs for the ankles, similar straps for the chest and waist, and some SoftTies on his wrists.

The headgear, with attached ballgag

These are super neat! They're intended to be used for securing plants, but it turns out they work great for people, too. I'd be shocked if we didn't see these being marketed for that use eventually. Now I'll admit, he managed to get one of his wrists out, and that's on me. They're new and I'm still figuring out how to use them best. I also went ahead and stuck some nice thick rubber gloves on him too. What can I say, I'm sweet like that.

Unfortunately for both of us, TEA was locked. I prefer good old-fashioned edging when I play, but I managed to make do with plenty of teasing instead. He didn't seem to mind it very much; or if he did I couldn't understand him. He spent the entire two or so hours gagged with a nice big ballgag that was strapped to a set of modified wrestling headgear ^[1].

I migrated him over to the squat rack and positioned the vibrator so it was dangling juuuuust on his cage. This proved to be insufficiently frustrating, so the vibrator was repositioned. A couple of tethers ensured that the head was stuck against his cage no matter what. If I had been feeling meaner I'd have just left it on there until he came, but I was being nice so he only got teased some more.

Really proud of the vibrator bit, actually

After that, I switched him to a standing position with his arms chained above his head, and legs clipped to the bottom part of the squat rack. Things had been going really well up until this point, so I took a chance and grabbed a paddle. TEA responded very positively to some light paddling; nothing that would leave a mark but hard enough that you knew what it was. I like the kind of pain that's light, but also has a threat of more, worse pain underneath it. There's definitely more to explore here.

To keep things fresh I offered to let him try some breath play. Nothing extreme, just a gas mask with a restrictor, a swim cap, and the Regulation rebreather hood. The basic fundamentals really. He:

Quite liked the gas mask + restrictor combo. Watching him struggle when I covered the hole with just a finger was amazing
Didn't seem to enjoy the swimcap as much, which is fine. It's a little more mean than I typically enjoy
Wasn't a fan of the rebreather hood. That particular piece is definitely hit-or-miss. I happen to extremely enjoy it, if anyone at home is taking notes

The final position

By this point it was almost 10 (AT NIGHT!?) and I was getting tired. To wrap things up I offered TEA a chance to prove his (in)abilities and escape from the restraints. I slapped a mask on him (my favorite one, natch), put the keys in his reach, and let him get to work. The start of the escape was strong, considering he was still wearing the gloves and was all tired and sweaty. One of the cuffs was released when he made a truly horrible mistake. True to his name, TerribleEscapeArtist dropped the keys, and thanks to the position he was in, there was no way out. Even with one wrist free, the other wrist was still trapped, and his ankles were strapped to the rack.

I let him flail pointlessly for a few minutes before I took pity and released him from the rest of the restraints. It truly is remarkable how a few ounces of leather and steel can render someone so helpless. Alas though, the hour was getting late and I was getting eepy. He got changed into something more befitting and we bid each other a good evening.

So, key takeaways:

I'm actually not broken, and I still know what the fuck I'm doing, so that's nice.
Meeting up beforehand to talk about likes, dislikes, safety, etc is still a really good idea and something I need to get back into doing.
When your best friend tells you "hey, this really hot, really nice guy really wants to play with you", just listen and ignore the lizard- part of your brain.

Credit for this absolutely genius idea goes to Aquagear on Fetlife 😅 ↩︎

You good?

2025-04-10T00:00:00Z

You might have noticed that all the previous blog posts that were here aren't anymore. Some people may be alarmed by this, but it's okay! Really! Every time I went in to add a new blog post I found a billion little things that needed to be fixed, and the whole thing was just a big pain in the ass to deal with. So I started from scratch. All the old content is still available at archive.tallglassofoj.org. The new blog code is meaner, leaner, and better than ever. As always, my immense gratitude to the people who make Eleventy.