Behind the Seams: Solo Dinners, Writing Adventures, & Barbie

Kate Sloan

June 17, 2023

After recording my song video for the week, I changed into this for the rest of the day. (Not really sure why I almost always pick an outfit/”costume” for my weekly song videos; it’s just become part of the process for me at this point. That week’s song was a sardonic post-breakup anthem so I wore all black with a big red heart necklace.)

I wore this outfit to go to the park and write fanfiction while sitting on a bench. This has been one of my favorite pastimes these past few months – not just writing fanfic but specifically doing it while sitting outside, surrounded by people and birds and grass. The bustle of it seems to help with my creative flow, kind of like sitting in a café, only more summery. (Incase you’re wondering, the chapter I wrote on this day was a CBT-infused BJ scene.)

What I’m wearing:

• Dark green cropped T-shirt – Calvin Klein (it’s surprised me how often I’ve worn this since buying it – it’s just sooo comfy because it’s made of a modal blend)
• Dark blue plaid schoolgirl skirt – H&M; bought a size up from my usual size because I wanted it to sit at my hips and not my waist, so it wouldn’t be obscenely short on me (and honestly it’s still pretty obscenely short)
• Black leather Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers
• Tiffany & Co. dog collar
• Blue leather briefcase – Coach Outlet (it’s exactly the right size for me to slip my laptop, wallet, keys, phone, and headphones into it for jaunts to the park to write)

July 15, 2023

I wore this to go see a one-person show, starring and written by one of the kids who was on the high school improv team I coached in 2011-2012. I say “kid” but that was actually so long ago that they’re all adults now, doing amazing stuff out in the world.

I pretty much always have a great time when I go see theatre by myself. This particular theatre was enforcing a mask requirement so I didn’t feel too nervous about it COVID-wise. I laughed and cried and marvelled and it was a lovely night.

What I’m wearing:

• Hippo Campus T-shirt – a gift from my brother
• Navy A-line skirt – Old Navy like a decade ago
• Black leather Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers
• Coach Rambler crossbody bag
• Custom-engraved “Daddy’s” heart-shaped lock from L’Amour-Propre worn on a chain

July 21, 2023

All the Barbie fever had me feeling hype about the color pink, so here’s what I wore a couple days before going to see the movie.

My partner and I have developed a protocol for my current ~secret project~ where, when I hit certain milestones, they pay for me to have a nice solo dinner out somewhere. So on this night I got dressed up and went for a luxuriant meal at my local fancy steakhouse. I was reading a long Sherlock fanfic on my Kindle, and sipped cocktails while eating scallops, steak, and mashed potatoes. Perfect self-date, if you ask me!

What I’m wearing:

• Black dress – Grace Karin (bought when I dressed up as Bettie Page for Halloween a couple years back)
• Pink metallic cowboy boots – Jeffrey Campbell, a findom gift from my love
• Pink and blue silk headscarf – a gift from my friend Sarah
• Tiffany & Co. dog collar
• Coach Rambler crossbody bag
• Prescription sunglasses – Zenni

July 23, 2023

My outfit to go see Barbie with some pals!

Dressing to a theme is so much fun. Some people on my Twitter timeline observed that we should all dress up for movies more often (those of us who like doing that, anyway) and I agree. Sometimes choosing a theme or goal aesthetic is the best way for me to motivate myself to get dressed and get out of the house, because I relish the femme challenge of it.

The movie was great! I only wished there was more Michael Cera, but, y’know. We can’t always get what we want.

What I’m wearing:

• Pink sequinned dress – Grace Karin
• Pink metallic cowboy boots – Jeffrey Campbell
• Coach Rambler crossbody bag
• Pink sparkly heart necklace – Tarina Tarantino
• Pink KN95 mask – MaskC (I’m not wearing it in these photos but you can see it in my hand, and it was an important part of the overall look)

July 31, 2023

Another outfit for a cute solo date, this one a little more low-key – I went to my local British pub and had a delicious and indulgent meal while, again, reading Sherlock fic on my Kindle. I am a creature of habit.

The tote bag was a gift from the folks at Vibratex, the current makers and distributors of the legendary Magic Wand, and I love it. I’ve been putting various enamel pins on it, most of them Magic Wand-themed, to liven it up a little. I like that the message written on it is subtle enough that people don’t stare at me weirdly in public, but is a bit of a wink-wink-nudge-nudge to anyone who happens to know about the Magic Wand.

What I’m wearing:

• Navy T-shirt – Wythe Hotel (worn about a zillion times since I acquired it shortly after having my very meaningful 3rd date with my partner at said hotel)
• Black ruffly skirt – thrifted in 2007-ish; it’s been a loyal fave for many years
• Black leather Frye harness boots
• “I make magic happen” tote bag – gift from Vibratex
• My sub’s chastity key on a chain

August 1, 2023

A little androgynous flavor for ya!

I wore this to go have drinks with an old friend/FWB who I met when we both worked at the same sex shop. We had a lively discussion over dinner and drinks, and then drunkenly made out in front of a subway station for a while. Ideal.

Then I wandered over to my parents’ house and hung out with my mama for a bit, catching up on what’s going on with her.

What I’m wearing:

• White V-neck men’s T-shirt – Hanes
• Black high-waisted straight-leg jeans – Madewell
• Black leather Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers
• Hair styled in a way I’ve been doing it a lot lately, which involves applying pomade when it’s wet, combing it all back so it dries perfectly straight/flat, and then flat-ironing it to give it some extra polish

5 Fun Things to Do When Your Partner is in Chastity

Kate Sloan
Wearing my sweetheart’s chastity key around my neck 🔑

Chastity has joined my constellation of kinks relatively recently; I’ve been my partner’s “keyholder” since 2020. They’re not locked up all the time, or anywhere close to it – usually I’ll lock them up for anywhere from a few days to a week or more, but never for longer than a month. However, even short stints of keeping their dick under lock and key can be emotionally and sexually intense for both of us. I don’t think I’ve ever felt more powerful than I do while literally wearing the key to someone’s genitals around my neck, giving them commands which they eagerly follow.

You might think that your sexual options would be limited if one partner’s junk is inaccessible – and yeah, it definitely puts some fun parameters around the types of play you’re able to engage in. But there’s a lot you can do even while your partner’s dick is caged. Here are a few of my favorite examples.

 

1. Strap-on sex

I’m a fan of strap-on sex in general, regardless of the gender or anatomy of the person I’m with; it’s an enjoyable way to experiment with sensations that are different from those you’d be able to access just by getting fucked with fingers or a flesh-and-blood dick. It can also feel more intimate and visceral than having someone simply hold a dildo and fuck you with it by hand.

It can be amusing to “make” my partner fuck me with a strap-on while they’re locked up. I can taunt them about not being able to do it with their actual cock, and can make humiliating comments about how they wouldn’t be able to last long enough to please me anyway, etc. Plus, on a purely logistical level, I like getting off from penetrative sex but often partners indeed can’t last long enough for me to get there, so it’s nice that with a strap-on, I never have to worry about them coming too soon and thereby losing their boner. (They might still come, though… especially if they’ve been denied orgasms for a while, and are particularly enjoying the sights and sounds involved in fucking me with a strap-on. Erotic hypnosis can also be used to make it so that my partner actually feels like the dildo is their dick, which can make it easier for them to orgasm from fucking me with it. Neat!)

Naturally, it’s also possible for me to wear a strap-on and fuck my partner with it while they’re locked up. I could see this being a particularly compelling activity for people who want to learn to come from prostate stimulation alone, since you literally can’t get any dick stimulation this way if you’re wearing a chastity cage, and have to rely on the prostate stim if you want to get off at all (assuming you’re allowed to!).

 

2. Butt plugs

Speaking of prostate stimulation… Wearing a butt plug can be a nice way of getting some kind of pleasure even if your usual avenues are thwarted.

I sometimes like to have my partner wear a butt plug while they go down on me or otherwise please me, because it seems to keep them more focused on the task at hand, and increases their arousal and pleasure throughout the process.

Vibrating butt plugs can be especially fun. One of my favorites can be controlled long-distance, so I can give my partner prostate orgasms even while they’re 500 miles away from me, which is pretty cool.

 

3. Love letters

One of my favorite things about chastity play is the emotional effect it has on my partner. This could be the topic of a whole other blog post, but suffice it to say, their romantic feelings toward me get dialed way up after a few days of being denied orgasms. It’s almost like they’re back in “New Relationship Energy,” the name given by polyamorists to the euphoric and obsessive mental state that is also sometimes termed the “honeymoon phase” of a relationship.

My partner is always good at writing me love letters, but particularly so when they’re in chastity, because of these elevated emotions. They can pontificate for paragraphs about how much they love various personality traits, talents, and body parts of mine. Since I’m not always the most self-assured person, I often like to take the opportunity during chastity stints to have them write me adoring words that I can look back on for months or years to come, whenever I need a confidence boost. Doing this might earn them a reward, or sometimes it’s just a task I assign them for fun.

 

4. Vibrators

Did you know you can use a vibrator on a chastity cage and the person wearing it can feel the vibrations? This isn’t true under every circumstance – my understanding is that it only really works if the person is hard inside their cage, but, y’know, it’s not too terribly tricky to get my partner hard when they’ve been denied any sexual stimulation for days at a time.

I like using vibes on my partner’s cage when I want to reward them with pleasure but still want them to feel teased and tormented to some extent. They’re obviously not feeling the full force of the vibrations when they’re conducted through the metal cage, so the stimulation feels comparatively muffled in a way that can be thrillingly frustrating. And orgasms, when they happen this way, can be painful and/or ruined, due to the tightness of the cage and the diffuse nature of the stimulation, which makes them a delightful treat for sadomasochists.

For this purpose, I would recommend a vibrator that’s strong and rumbly enough to be felt through the cage. Powerful wand vibrators are my faves to use for this purpose, especially those with a softer head that won’t clang against the cage too harshly. You can experiment with placement, but I find that pressing the vibe against the frenulum area usually works best.

 

5. Cuckolding

Now, granted, this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, and won’t be within everyone’s relationship boundaries (but then, that’s true of all of these suggestions!). My partner and I are non-monogamous, though, and they enjoy the humiliation of being cucked, so it’s been fun for us to lean into that side of things occasionally.

For example, my partner has sometimes paid for my meal or transportation on nights when I’ve had dates (or, in one memorable case, a blowjob porn shoot) with other people, and then I might come home afterward and tell them about my evening over the phone while they groan in frustration. This amuses me, boosts my confidence, and helps ease the irrational guilt I sometimes feel about dating/kissing/fucking other people even though I’m explicitly allowed to do so. Plus it’s kind of a sweet (if perverted) way to reconnect after an evening apart.

 

This post was sponsored. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

My New Favorite Menstrual Cup Might Be the Best One I’ve Ever Tried

Kate Sloan
All images via DivaCup

I’ve been using menstrual cups for nearly a decade and a half. With a few exceptions – like times when my period randomly arrives while I’m traveling and don’t have a cup with me, or times when my vagina is too sore for insertion so I temporarily switch back to pads or free-bleedin’ – I have never gone back.

Cups are just too good. They’re more convenient, better for your body than pads and tampons, more cost-effective, more environmentally friendly, and (once you get the hang of them) they can even be less messy.

My go-to cup for many years was a large Yuuki cup, which I liked because of its high capacity and how seldom it spilled or leaked. But back in October I received a press release from the people at DivaCup about their new Diva Disc and my interest was piqued.

Like Kleenex or Band-Aid, DivaCup is a brand so closely associated with their product category that some people use their brand name even when talking about other products by other brands. My very first menstrual cup was a DivaCup, way back in 2009 (I subsequently moved on because I found that the soft silicone they use was causing leaks/spillage for my particular body). They know what they’re doing when it comes to menstrual cups.

The Diva Disc is a bit different – it has a flat-ish design compared to a regular cup, so it sits horizontally in the vagina rather than vertically, which some people might find more comfortable and intuitive. I certainly find this disc easier to insert than many of the traditional cups I’ve used, largely because there’s no need to twist it around to create a suction seal once it’s inserted – you just fold it in half to make it small enough for insertion, shove it in there, and it unfolds on its own and usually finds the right position without issue.

It’s got a couple of features that set it apart from other menstrual discs I’ve tried. One is its “leakproof shield,” a thin piece of silicone that stretches across the top of the disc near where your vaginal opening will be, which prevents blood from sloshing out of the disc when you pull it out. This is usually a big problem with discs, because their flat design makes them act like a “blood drawer” (as one menstrual-cups blog put it), prone to spilling blood if you’re not super careful about the angle you pull the disk out at. I don’t have to be anywhere near as careful with the Diva Disc because the shield keeps blood mostly contained as I’m transporting the disc from my vag to the sink to rinse it out.

Another key feature the Diva Disc has is a silicone pull-tab, which makes removal much easier. I usually hate the little “stem” at the bottom of a traditional menstrual cup and have cut the stems off most of the cups I’ve owned, because they typically just poke me in the vaginal wall and don’t offer much practical benefit when I can always just grab the base of the cup with my fingers, twist to release the suction seal, and pull the cup out. But I’ve come to really enjoy the convenience of the pull-tab on the Diva Disc; I don’t have to reach as far inside myself to get it out, which ultimately results in less discomfort and less mess.

As for more basic considerations: the Diva Disc leaks less, and is way more comfortable, than most of the cups I’ve owned. My vagina can get sensitive to penetration during my period after a while, but the Diva Disc’s shape and soft silicone are comfy enough that they don’t bother me, even when my vag is throwing a tantrum. The capacity of this disc is great, and it’s supposedly suitable for up to 12 hours of wear (although I try to take mine out and rinse it off every 8 hours, at most, for vaginal flora health reasons). The disc is a dark grey color, which – while it doesn’t especially spark joy for me – would probably make this product feel more welcoming for nonbinary and transmasc menstruators. As is common in the cup world, this disc also comes with a little storage bag, so you can keep it lint-free when you travel with it. Ideal.

I really wasn’t expecting to fall in love with the Diva Disc when the Diva company sent it to me, but it’s quickly become the only menstrual product I want to use when period time comes around. Kudos to the makers for creating a genuinely well-thought-out product that does its job with minimal hassle required. Menstruating is never fun, but it’s made my period tolerable, which is really all I can ask for.

 

This review wasn’t sponsored, I just really like this product.

Review: YoYoLemon Vibrating Pussy Pump with Tongue Licking Motions

Kate Sloan

I really love oral sex. It’s such a basic-bitch opinion to hold that sometimes I feel vaguely guilty or embarrassed about it. Like, girl, you wrote a whole book on kink and BDSM. Surely your favorite sexual activities are more interesting than “insert genitals into mouth”?! And yet, at the same time, oral sex isn’t boring at all – there can be power dynamics involved, and intricate technique considerations, and a meditative headspace for either giver or receiver. Plus, you know, it feels really fucking good. (Why am I pitching you on the merits of oral sex?! Probably preaching to the choir, huh.)

Anyway, today I’m reviewing yet another oral sex simulator, the YoYoLemon Vibrating Pussy Pump with Tongue Licking Motions. It combines suction with up-and-down flicks of a silicone tongue, to provide an experience that theoretically mimics the oral sex technique likeliest to get me off: sucking and licking the clit simultaneously. Is it any good? Let’s talk about it.

 

Things I like about this toy

  • The suction is much stronger than I was expecting, and certainly stronger than you’ll find in a lot of toys in this category. It’s much more akin to an actual fucking clit pump than a paltry oral sex simulator, in that I can feel – and see – it drawing more blood into my vulva with each suck, and it stirs up arousal very quickly as a result. Sometimes the suction can get a bit too intense for my tastes (more on that below) but the first suction setting out of three turned out to be the sweet spot for me, and I never used either of the other ones except to briefly test them out for this review.
  • The wide mouth of this toy (2.2″ across) sets it apart from a lot of other clitoral suction toys because (depending on the size and shape of your clit and labia) it will likely suck on not just your clit but some of the flesh surrounding it, which creates a very different sensation. I really liked how it essentially caused my outer labia to be stroked up and down on either side of my clitoral shaft with every rhythmic suck, which gave me a deeper, more full-bodied clitoral sensation than toys that focus more on the clit alone or even just the very tip of the clit. I also think the size of this toy’s mouth might make it suitable for transmasculine people with bottom growth, and since it’s a gorgeous shade of kelly green (rather than pink or purple), it might suit them from a visual gender affirmation standpoint as well.
  • The suction motion is so wide and strong that it ends up physically moving my clit around inside the “mouth,” so that the tongue inside lands on different spots on my clit at different points in the suction cycle. This creates a sensation that’s much more varied and dynamic than a toy is usually able to provide, which makes the stimulation feel a tad more human/realistic.
  • You can control the suction and licking separately from one another; they each have their own button to flip through their modes (3 suction intensities and 9 different licking modes, the first 3 of which are steady speeds), and you can also use only one of them at a time if you feel like it.
  • If you turn off the suction function at just the right moment, you can get it to maintain the exact amount of suction you want, while you continue using the tongue’s various settings. Personally I prefer rhythmic sucking but I think this is a cool feature for people who want more sustained suction.
  • The suction seems to automatically release when the toy is turned off, which is good from a safety standpoint. I also found that (when properly lubed) the toy would easily release from my vulva even when the suction was on, if I just angled it up or down a bit.
  • To some extent you can control the degree of the suction by angling it various different ways. I didn’t always want the full amount of suction the toy was producing, so I could tilt it slightly to prevent it from reaching its full potential in that regard for a subtler sensation, at least until I got turned on enough to handle the more intense suction.
  • This toy is IPX6 water-resistant, which means you can wash it in the sink or shower without fear of ruining it, but shouldn’t submerge it in water.

 

Things I don’t like about this toy

  • For me, the main problem with this toy is that the tongue is not stimulating enough. The suction is awesome, and gets me very turned on, but I need that little somethin’ extra from the tongue to get me over the edge, and it just doesn’t press hard enough (or maintain its rhythm well enough when pressure is applied) to make this a fully enjoyable experience for me. It also vibrates buzzily, which definitely contributes to the sense of nearly-numbing “not quite enough”-ness. I was able to reach orgasm with this toy but it was never quite as satisfying as I was expecting/hoping for. I think this could be fixed by removing the buzzy vibrations from the tongue, making them rumblier, and/or improving the tongue’s motor so its strokes feel more impactful.
  • The 3 suction settings differ only in intensity of suction and not in speed. This was a bit of a disappointment; at a certain point I wanted to be sucked faster, but still couldn’t handle more suction than was being doled out on the first setting.
  • This toy’s pretty big and bulky for its product category. It would be trickier to integrate into penetrative sex than some other clit suckers/lickers I’ve tried, and also didn’t always feel comfortable to hold after a while. I tried using it hands-free by holding it between my thighs but it didn’t tend to sustain a good enough suction seal on my vulva when I did this.
  • There are a couple of tiny holes at the far end of the toy which have something to do with the suction function, and I found that when I accidentally covered them up with a fingertip, the suction would become erratically more intense, sometimes uncomfortably so. These holes are in a place where they’re really easy to cover accidentally, inconveniently enough.
  • I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: all suction toys should have a manual-release button. If your toy dies or malfunctions mid-suck, you need to be able to release the suction without relying on the toy’s mechanics to do so for you.
  • It’s on the louder side of the spectrum. A lotta mechanical whirring.
  • It has a pretty short battery life – you’ll get 30-60 minutes of use from a 90-minute charge, depending on which settings you’re using.
  • As with most toys of this type, you gotta use a lot of (water-based) lube to keep it feeling good and mouth-like.

 

Final thoughts

At $55 USD, I think the YoYoLemon Vibrating Pussy Pump with Tongue Licking Motions is fairly priced for what it is: a powerful clit pump with added tongue-like stimulation.

For me personally, this is the type of toy I’d reach for if I wanted to get physically aroused fast, since its suction is very effective – but I’d switch to something else when I wanted to actually get off, because I just don’t find its tongue stimulating enough, what with its high-pitched vibrations and insufficiently strong strokes.

If you love having your clit sucked – or think you would – then I think this toy would be a good buy. To me it certainly feels more like a human sucking me than many other such toys have, and while the tongue wasn’t totally my clit’s cup of tea, it might very well be yours.

 

This post was sponsored, meaning I was paid to write a fair and honest review of this product. As always, all writing and opinions are my own.

5 Summery Fashion & Beauty Products I’m Loving Lately

Kate Sloan

Yay, summertime! Here are some hot-weather-appropriate fashion & beauty items I’ve been enjoying recently.

 

 

Image via Amazon

American Crew pomade

I bought this because I’ve been stylistically very influenced by the character Roman Roy of Succession lately (more on that in the recent Dildorks episode about my evolving gender presentation), and his hair is one of the most striking elements of his signature look – it’s usually slicked back or combed to the side and very shiny with product, in a cool 1950s-throwback sort of way. I have this great asymmetrical short haircut now that I can do a bunch of different things with (shout-out to my long-time hairdresser Paul Taylor of Avalon Hair Design!), so I thought it would be fun to experiment with pomade, since I’d never really tried it before – I’ve used, at most, some gel or hairspray for certain elaborate styles, but more often just stick with a curl cream.

There are basically infinite ways to use this pomade, but my favorite lately is to smooth some through my towel-dried hair after a shower and neatly comb it all back with a tail comb. Sometimes I’ll add a little height in the front by pinning it into a pompadour shape with a bobby pin while it dries. This feels like a very summery look to me because it keeps my hair off my face (ideal in the heat) and the shine makes my hair look slightly wet, as if I perpetually just stepped out of a swimming pool. I also love the gender-weirdness of incorporating elements traditionally associated with men’s hairstyling into my otherwise femme-leaning look.

 

 

Image via Amazon

Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in “Mightiest Maraschino”

This is an old-school favorite of mine – I think I first bought it around 2015 and wore it a lot when I was in journalism school (largely because I was so busy and stressed all the time and often wanted to wear low-maintenance makeup, if any), and then in 2021 I remembered this lipstick existed, bought a new tube, and hopped wholeheartedly back onto the Mightiest Maraschino train.

I love red lipsticks of basically any kind, but in the summer, I tend to gravitate more toward reds that are glossy, sheer, and/or very quick and easy to apply – as opposed to the heavier, fussier, matte reds I’ll carefully paint onto my lips in the fall and winter. This Clinique lipstick feels as light and moisturizing as a tinted lip balm, but it’s a nearly-opaque bright red that looks good with pretty much everything. It doesn’t have the greatest staying power, but applying it takes so little time and effort that I don’t mind reapplying after drinks or meals as needed.

 

 

Image via Amazon

Coola face sunscreen in cucumber scent

I know this won’t be to everyone’s taste because a lot of people are sensitive to fragranced products, but I recently bought this solely because the standard non-scented version was sold out, and I’ve been surprised by how much I’m enjoying it.

Coola’s face sunscreen is the best formula I’ve ever tried, and I’ve tried a bunch. Way too many sunscreens are heavy, oily, and/or shiny, necessitating that I pat a lot of setting powder on top if I want to feel presentable. But this one dries to a reasonable level of dewiness, doesn’t make me feel oily and gross, and is a good consistency to apply quickly on my way out the door.

The cucumber scent is calming and cooling – ideal for summer – but it also only lasts maybe a minute or two, after which I can’t smell it anymore. Probably a good thing.

 

Image via MeUndies

MeUndies eggplant-print modal shorts (use this link to get 20% off)

MeUndies had a sale a little while ago, and I basically live in modal loungewear when I’m at home, so I had to at least take a look. Imagine my delight when I saw that they are currently making their super-comfy modal shorts in a print emblazoned with the most notoriously phallic emoji.

I haven’t worn these out of the house, and probably won’t – they’re a bit of a statement, to say the least – but I’ve adored lounging around in them at home, writing in them, sleeping in them, etc. They’re as comfy as boxers, but they have POCKETS, so I can keep my phone with me while I walk around, or whatever. Plus, naturally, I love what the print represents (that being: dicks).

 

 

Image via 3Delightfulshop

3Delightfulshop rainbow earrings

I’ve bought stuff from this Etsy store before and was happy with it, so I decided to get some gay-ass earrings to rock at Pride events. I’ve ended up wearing them a lot – they’re huge, and loud, and they seem to encourage people to see me as the queer weirdo that I am, which is always great.

 

What fashion/beauty stuff are you loving lately?