Bed Post

Monthly Faves: Delirium, Dominance, & a Dragon Tail

Kate Sloan

I had an active, mostly-happy month, sexually and otherwise! Here are some highlights from June…

Sex toys

• Late last year at a sex-industry tradeshow, I picked up a black leather bat from Viktoria Creations. I’d barely used it at all until this month, when my partner specified one night during phone sex that he wanted to hit me with “something thuddy” and a lightbulb illuminated over my head. This baton is made of leather wrapped around a firm core and Viktoria describes it as “the ultimate thud” that “will bruise any butt” (uh, can confirm). If you like your impact sensations to be all thud and no sting, you’d adore this one!

• I’ve wanted to own a Wartenberg wheel for a long time, but never quite enough to justify actually buying one. But then I spotted a rainbow one at an Aslan Leather sale and knew immediately that it was destined to be mine. This type of toy pairs really well with bondage and sensory deprivation!

• Tantus sent me their new impact toy, the Dragon Tail. (I love when companies know me well enough to be like, “We made a super painful hitty thing; YOU WANT IT, RIGHT?!”) One end is mega-stingy and the other end is much thuddier. It’s a versatile little workhorse of an implement!

Fantasy fodder

• Forever fantasizing about being a schoolgirl who’s seducing, or seduced by, a teacher. My Sir and I did a phone-sex scene along these lines this month (not uncommon for us) and I was struck by the fact that we each seemed to have a different idea about how old I was in the scene and it didn’t actually affect the proceedings that much. (I felt like I was about 12 and he seemed to be addressing me like a university student. Ah well, actual 12-year-old me was a pretty precocious know-it-all, anyway.) He also made me burst into tears during the scene by telling his diligent student, “Your writing in my class is fantastic. Maybe you’ll write a book someday.” Gotta love how good doms can simultaneously turn you on and encourage you in your ambitions…!

• This month my Sir made me come with his mouth for the first time – always an important relationship milestone for me and my dainty clit, and one that the vast majority of my partners haven’t even achieved. It’s only possible with an alchemical combination of stamina, enthusiasm, trust, and knowledge of my body – all qualities I find super hot, so I’ve been thinking about it a ton since then.

• A highlight of my sex life this month was pegging my Sir with my pink Aslan Leather harness and pink sparkly Godemiche Ambit. I keep thinking about how hot it was that he came so easily and quickly once I was inside him, like the intensity of it surprised him. I was surprised, too, by how much I liked it.

Sexcetera

• Some of my work elsewhere this month: I was interviewed on Newstalk 1010 about government-funded feminist porn. I wrote about female submission and rope suspension for the Andrew Blake blog. I listed some gender-neutral oral sex tips over at the Ignite blog. I explained how to write a good first online-dating message and what to ask on a first date for RateDesi. On our podcast, Bex and I discussed coming out and interviewed DJ Pynchon about hypnokink, Pup Amp and Pup Dane about puppy play, and Sinclair Sexsmith about protocol and punishment.

• This month I was the demo bottom for my friend Taylor‘s Introduction to Impact Play workshop at Kink Toronto. I always enjoy getting slapped around for educational purposes!

• Delighted to have been asked back to Bed Post again. This month I was the resident sexpert at both performances of the show, answering audience questions about all kinds of kinky proclivities, from DD/lg to fisting to bondage. Yay, fun!

Femme stuff

• Summer is the season for slutty rompers. I need to buy several more, methinks.

• I enjoy Rachel Syme’s suggestion of using particular perfumes as your “bath scent.” As she points out, you have to do this with fragrances you’re not that into (or that weren’t expensive at all) because it requires using large quantities of the stuff so you don’t wanna waste something actually nice, unless you’re some Richie Rich motherfucker. I have this ancient bottle of a pale blue cologne called “Pyramid” which is a cheap-ass knockoff of Armani Code, and that’s been my favorite “bath scent” lately. I spritz about 10 sprays into the faucet stream and then I get to feel as though a hot young businessman has joined me in the tub.

• All hail my new yellow clogs from Lotta From Stockholm. I like how adorable they look juxtaposed with my pink thigh tattoos, and also I like how they draw the eyes of partners who have a foot kink…

Media

• I was craving young-adult dystopian novels this month, so I did some Googling and eventually discovered Lauren Oliver’s Delirium trilogy. It’s set in a world where love is understood to be a disease, and where people are forcibly surgically “cured” of the capacity for love when they come of age. Pretty scary stuff, and definitely thought-provoking if you’re a relationships psychology nerd like me.

• The ever-charming John Mulaney’s latest comedy special, Kid Gorgeous, is a fucking triumph. I watched it once with my mom and once over the phone with my Sir and adored it both times. Mulaney’s one of my favorite storytellers. His bit about how Trump’s presidency is like a horse getting loose in a hospital is frighteningly apt.

• My current fave song is “Saw You in a Dream” by the Japanese House. This band’s dreamy, androgynous vibes feel perfect for mellow summer days.

Little things

Drinking whiskey on the rocks in the front row of improv shows. Sir helping me with tax forms. Craft beers with my rope bondage beau. Nanaimo bars. Doing karaoke with rad people at Dan‘s birthday party. Exercising my democratic right. Sir buying me a fan because my room is way too warm (what a prince). Pre-show solo dinners at Soulpepper. The totally brilliant Gregory Prest. Having a full plate of copywriting clients. Margaritas at any opportunity. Sir sending me flowers for our six-monthiversary. Hanging out with my bruddy. Brent reading me hilarious things over the phone. Mr. Accident, a “good-bad movie” if there ever was one. Sex puns (always). Sir copyediting me on Twitter. Making him his own tag on my blog, at his request. Touching thighs under the table. Drinking rosé in a grassy back yard at sunset. Henry nerding out over Mozart and vintage pianos. Negronis (in Negroni season, no less). Afternoon co-working/phone-sex dates with my love. Bar bathroom selfies. How much I love love love working from home, even on days when I’d rather not be working at all.

Behind the Seams: Slutty Seductress + Glamorous Grampa

Kate Sloan

March 24th, 2018. I wore this to a party my friend Suz threw to celebrate the overhaul and relaunch of her blog. The event description said, “Kinky, queer, fetish wear, glitter, and extra outfits are highly encouraged!” so I decided to get real slutty.

I bought this dress at Forever 21 in early 2016 and couldn’t believe such a mainstream store was selling such an overtly fetishistic item. However, then Bex pointed out that I may have been wearing it backwards… and, as it turned out, they were right. The corsetry is supposed to go up the back, instead of being essentially a cleavage window. But fuck that: I do what I want!

The party was a good time: we danced to ’90s pop, drank cocktails, talked about sex research, watched porn being projected on a giant screen, ate cupcakes with penises and vulvas on them, and debated the merits of various sex toys. Suz really knows how to throw a shindig!

What I’m wearing:
• Hair in braided high pigtails (the Baby Spice vibez are TOO good; I need to do this more often)
• Tight black lace-up dress – Forever 21
• Skin-tone pantyhose – probably Shoppers Drugmart (bought to wear to a wedding last year)
• Black leather Frye engineer boots
• Silver “Daddy’s” heart-shaped padlock – a gift from my love, custom-made by L’Amour-Propre, worn on a chain from a silver key necklace I got on Canal Street in 2006

April 15th, 2018. When I put this on, I looked at myself in the mirror and decided I looked like a glamorous grampa. It’s quite an aesthetic!

This is, IMO, the ideal outfit for schlepping through a foot of snow to a local café on a lazy Sunday afternoon, sipping a latte, and reading a trippy award-winning novel for a few hours, which is exactly what I did. I also journaled about the top-10 most memorable sexual experiences of my life thus far, because what else would a sex writer do on her day off?

What I’m wearing:
• Maybelline SuperStay Matte Ink liquid lipstick in “Pioneer” (it stayed on admirably and didn’t even mark the mug I drank from – impressive!)
• White J. Crew men’s T-shirt – a gift from my boyfriend; he wore it under an impeccable navy suit on our second date and, the next morning, told me I could keep it, a gesture I predictably reacted to by clutching it against my nose and bursting into tears
• Berry-pink merino wool V-neck cardigan – the Gap
• Black leggings – the Gap
• Black leather Frye engineer boots
• Coach Mercer satchel in a color called “Cloud” – one of the few fancy treats I bought when I briefly had a sugar daddy last year
• Montale “Aoud Lime” perfume (obsessed – it’s like a little kick of springtime, which, on this absurdly wintry mid-April day, felt necessary)

April 24th, 2018. I wore this to perform in the Bed Post variety show at the Super Wonder Gallery. I’ve been on the bill at Bed Post a couple times before and it’s always a hoot: the host, Erin Pim, is a whip-smart driven fox, and she always picks such funny, talented, magnetic people for her show’s lineup. It was an honor to be invited back!

I played 3 sexy and/or kinky songs of mine: “Compliance,” “Casual,” and “A Nerd Like You.” Then I settled in with a whiskey on the rocks to watch the other acts, including adorable comedian Emily Bilton and burlesque bombshell Zyra Lee Vanity. Such a fun evening!

What I’m wearing:
• A navy blue smoky eye and red lipstick
• Hair in braided pigtails because Sir said so
• Blue L’Amour-Propre collar, also because Sir said so
• “It’s Magic” T-shirt – Pen and Kink
• Navy high-waisted skirt – Old Navy
• Navy tights – Hue
• Black leather Frye harness boots
• (Not pictured) Leather jacket for that rock-star edge

Monthly Faves: Submission, Scents, & Psychology

Kate Sloan

What a lovely month in my sex life! My spreadsheet is a-burstin’. Here’s some of what went on in April…

Sex toys

• The Doxy #3 continues to be a fave. I went on yet another New York jaunt this month and appreciated, once again, this li’l wand’s portability and lightness compared to its bigger, bulkier brothers.

• I was lucky enough this month to receive a strap-on blowjob from a beautiful boy. I wore my raspberry-pink Aslan Leather Jaguar harness and my sparkly pink Godemiche Ambit. They made quite a gorgeous image, especially in combination with the mouth of one of my favorite people.

• After only trying The Butters lube on my own bits, it was a fun revelation to try it on someone else’s. It makes for excellent handjobs!

Fantasy fodder

• Lately I’m swoonin’ extra hard about my meta-kink for someone knowing exactly how to turn me on and make me come. (What would you call this, anyway? I have it listed on my FetLife profile as “you knowing exactly what I need” but I’m not 100% happy with that label.) Some recent quotes from my boyfriend that exemplify this perfectly and have been haunting my fantasy-brain: “I always want to get better at knowing the best ways to dom you and fuck you.” “I love being so good at you and learning what makes you tick even more deeply.” “Is that gonna make you come, if I keep fucking you nice and deep like that?” 😍

• Teasing and edging submissive boys is fuuun. I’m nowhere near a dyed-in-the-wool domme, so this isn’t something I’d want to do every day, but when it’s right, it’s sooo right.

Sexcetera

• I just got back from the AltSex conference! Lots of fascinating stuff about kink psychology this year – most interestingly to me, Petra Zebroff and Pega Ren‘s talk on what motivates doms and subs to take on their respective roles, and Samuel Hughes‘ talk on kink identity development. I took lots of notes and will be ponderin’ and implementin’ some of what I learned!

• I was invited back to the Bed Post variety show to play some sexy ukulele tunes, and it was so much fun! Sharing a bill with the delightful Erin Pim and her merry band of sex-positive weirdos is always a joy.

• Some of my work elsewhere this month: I wrote a piece for Cosmopolitan (!!) about the sex therapy concept of “sensate focus” and how it can apply to blowjobs. On our podcast, Bex and I answered common questions people ask sex educators, interviewed Dawn Serra and Mx Nillin, and got delightfully high on 4/20.

Media

• I’m loving Alina Baraz‘s new EP, The Color of You. I’ve profiled her music before (here, here, and here) because she makes some of the sexiest slow-jams in the biz, and that’s still true.

• Did you know that Emily Nagoski, of Come As You Are fame, also writes romance novels under the pseudonym Emily Foster? I devoured both of them this month and they reminded me exactly how clever and thrilling the romance genre can be. Having a super-smart and likeable female protagonist sure helps!

• Clementine Morrigan’s new zine “I Want You to Fuck Me” is a straightforward, plain-language statement of their sexual desires, boundaries, needs, and best practices. It’s only 10 pages long but it got me thinking about what my own wants and needs are and how I can optimally assert them when necessary. (If you’re interested in this kind of thing, you also need Bex’s Yes/No/Maybe list in your life!)

Femme stuff

• My boyfriend got me a birthday gift unlike anything I’ve ever received before: he commissioned Stephen Dirkes of Euphorium Brooklyn to make me a custom fragrance. SWOON! It’s called Aimanté and it’s feminine and sexy and complex. Should I write a whole blog post sometime about the process, my thoughts on the scent, etc.? Let me know in the comments…

• Shout-out to MeUndies for making the comfiest lounge pants I’ve ever owned. I have a pair in red and black plaid and a pair in plain black, and they are majorly important to my free-‘n’-easy freelancer/lackadaisical layabout wardrobe.

• GlamGlow makes a tinted lip balm called PoutMud which was on sale at Sephora when I placed an order there this month, so of course, I snapped one up in red. It’s got a slight minty tingle and a beautiful tint, so I’ve been wearing it a lot.

Little things

My darlin’ sending me flowers because I was depressed (and making a subtle Sweeney Todd reference in the attached note; what a nerd). Seeing Anais sing opera in a “Fluevog shoebox” of a concert hall (and Henry shouting, “Iconic!”). Collecting romantic memorabilia in the back pocket of my Moleskine. Improvisors making a tweet of mine into a hilarious scene (and then apologizing to me for it afterward). Pink and blue Blackwing pencils. Cam shows with respectful clients. Nerding out over vocabulary with my love. Beautiful cocktails at so many luxe places: Northwood, Mulberry, Maysville, Eleven Madison Park, and more. How lovely you tend to look in photos taken by someone who loves you. “I am generally known, where I am known, as one cool, collected queen.” Fancy chocolate. Useful attitude adjustments and meta-communication tricks that make relationships more harmonious. Bow-shaped gingerbread cookies in a heart-eyes emoji mug from Bex. Seeing my little brother open for Kate Nash at the Mod Club. Following along with Caitlin‘s updates from her training with Betty Martin (creator of the Wheel of Consent). Sir requesting a guitar in our hotel room so I could serenade him. The portmanteau “meetamour” (and the meetamour itself). Repairing the damage done by nonconsensual touch with consensual touch.