#a character doesn't have to be abused on screen for shock value for you to understand that they are mentally ill or unwell

[imviotrash]

Wishing an underaged character you don't like would get abused is not the hot take y'all think it is...

[magicspacedragon]

After finishing watching Hazbin hotel I need to talk about the differences between Angeldust’s song addict and the song poison. I was sad to see that they had replaced addict as his background song with poison because I feel like it has far less depth of character in general but after seeing the animation they chose to go with for posion I have some concerns. 

The first thing I noticed was the difference in how they portrayed his struggle. I thought that in Addict the flashing between the bright and flashy colors of him on stage and the dark stained bedroom with him crurled up crying with Cherrybomb comforting him was heartbreaking. The color palette changes to show the dissociation and warring feelings that mirrored Cherry and her visions of another man were artistically superior to the shock value of posion where they never left the bright sexy landscape and rellyed heavily on shock value of sexual assault by large men.

The animation of posion was dynamic and complex to watch but there was no subtlety whatsoever. Whereas in addict you caught the emotions in flashes to the bedroom and micro expressions the most violence was shown in Valentino forcfully kissing him, in poison there was on screen sexual asalt from valention and strong implications that many of the other porn scenes where at the veary least dubiously consentual. When Addict showed that those messages could have been gotten across without such shock value I don’t know why they decided to go with the more triggering option. 

Now I know Hazbin and Hell of a boss are not known for subtlety they curse and fuck and kill with wild abandon and i would never want to take that away from the show. However I think making it more direct took away a lot from its impact. The fact that the entire music video stays in that cany colored porn studio and the only dyanimic is between him smiling and him in distress even though it was more graphic I felt like until the very end where the singer's voice breaks the distress doesn't feel as real in a way. In Addict we were seeing into his head and there was an implication that it was what he was thinking about on stage even when he wasn’t in physical danger where Poison tends to save the emotional reactions to when he is actually having sex. 

This leads me to my next point. I feel like Poison relys so heavily on the sex and later BDSM nature of his shoots that it implies that the sex/kink is the problem and not the exploitation. Sex work 100% has problems with exploitation so I can only imagine that is intensified in literal hell. However This idea that the sub in kink or in gay relationships in general is not really enjoying the play is a damaging stereotype. It looks striking in the music video and adds interesting costumes, but the visuals of more monstrous larger men forcing a relationship feels like they are pulling on some of the same ideology's that are used to spread fear about kink or gay relationships. I don't think the team has anything against gay relationships we have seen plenty of queer in there shows but that does not mean that these ideas can't still slip in.

However in the case of rape it feels explotitive. While the push and pull of an abusive realtionship can lead to I love you I hate you moments, the scenes where he was in pink chain dancing into him before the more violent scenes had an implication that he was “asking for it”. The interaction litteralhy starts with “i can only Blame myself.” These are definitely emotions that victims feel around abusive situations but having the lines in an upbeat catchy pop tune leaves a bad taste in my mouth. 

Overall I feel like Addict had a very engaging story about how addiction can become an inter demon that can get you into dangerous and abusive scenarios chasing that feeling of high. While poison reads to me as making a choice to drink in poisonous situations even if you know that they are abusive. I could go on a whole other rant of how removing cherry and his support system removes an interesting dynamic that set it apart from the save the sex worker trope, or how ending the video with him being trapped on the balcony  rather then blowing up a building removes the only bit of agency he is given but this has already gone on too long. No hate towards the team. I just needed to get this off my chest.

[beevean]

I'd have to disagree there

The handling of Hector's character alone surpasses the way Samus was treated in her own game

Sure, having Samus being reduced to a submissive little kid for the sake of douchebag who we're told is supposed to care for her is awful

...but it doesn't even come close to the sistematic stripping down of Hector's literal personhood, nor does it come off nearly as masturbatory. Sure having Samus in her Zero Suit during crucial moments of vulnerability is in supremely bad taste and I have no doubt that somebody in the dev team had a hand down their pants, but Hector is literally with his dick hanging out in the open on screen, he gets treated like a literal dog and is raped on screen for no real good reason other than shock value, same with Alucard, only for him to get mocked about it by Lenore in front of her sisters as she straddles her leg between his legs causing him to recoil in disgust-yeah no nothing in OM is even remotely in the same ball park, S3 may have more forgettable moments but when it gets bad it's not simply offensive

I can't accuse Other M of any of this, not even at its worse.

Plus at least OM has Anthony so at least it has one likeable character going for it. What's NFCV's excuse?

Bro, you have seen the insane rants I go on when someone mentions N!Hector. I 100% agree with you that his writing is beyond disgusting, humiliating, spiteful, mean, and it uses literal dehumanizing (both in-universe and meta-wise, since again, Hector barely counts as a character after S2) as fetish material, to then turn around and shove into my face the accidental theme that real maturity is forgiving your abusers if they're nice enough to you. And yes, thankfully Adam doesn't deceive Samus into sex with the purpose of forcing her to work for him. Yay.

(and thank you for reminding me of Lenore touching Hector's crotch with her foot as she gloated that he was inside of her when she put the ring on him. So much care went into humiliating him in all sorts of ways. Oh but go on and tell me how Lenore always meant well, even back then.)

But spirit-wise? OM Samus and N!Hector have a lot in common.

They are much, much weaker, meeker and more passive than the versions most people are familiar with (or were, in Hector's case :^) ). This was allegedly done in the name of "giving them depth".

Their weakness (dare I say femininity, since Hector is very much designed and written to be a feminine man compared to others) is a prominent plot point in their story. You cannot escape from the plot beating you over and over about how pathetic they are.

They are repeatedly compared to children, in a derogatory way and maybe even nonsensical. Samus calls herself a child because she disliked being picked on for being a woman and for daring to be worried about Adam's brother; Hector is called by others a manchild because he loves animals and trusted Dracula.

They accomplish nothing substantial in the story - and here OM is worse because Samus is the protagonist of the story, of the whole franchise! Well, NFCV does the same with Trevor, so I guess it compensates, hah. Even when they could do something, the story repeatedly blocks them and gives the moment of glory to someone else - Adam and Anthony for Samus, Isaac for Hector.

They mindlessly defer to an abusive figure who shows no care nor empathy for them, who orders them around like a dog and even physically subdues them.

Said abusive figure is beloved by them, with little to no turmoil. The ending of their stories is a touching moment meant to make you feel sorry for these two characters who caused nothing but harm. (at least Adam sacrificed himself for a good cause, unlike Lenore who just flounced out of an uncomfortable situation)

They are both sexualized - yes, Hector's story in S3 is nothing but him being submissive and breedable, yes they took care of drawing his penis while he was getting beaten to an inch of his life in case he wasn't miserable enough, but that doesn't make Samus' gratuituous ass shots during dramatic scenes that much better.

Again, don't get me wrong, you will never catch me defending anything from that foul show that fills me with nothing but bile and anger. But I'm not forgetting how OM made me viscerally uncomfortable too, and being less bad doesn't mean it's not bad.

The only difference is that OM got so much shit since it came out that at this point there is nothing to add to the conversation. Everyone has eviscerated Adam and plucked his bones clean, we all know how awful he is. NFCV is still beloved by and large, Lenector is still hella popular and touted as a tragic romance that should have ended with them getting together, I still read with my own poor eyeballs horrible takes about that story that would not fly if the genders were reversed (going back to the foot thing, imagine a man groping a woman's breasts for the sake of making fun of her), and this is the source of my anger.

... uhhhh well NFCV has the captain who lols and lmaos at Isaac's face for his edgy misanthropy? Can he count as the show's only saving grace?

[butmakeitgayblog]

TLFOAH is so full of gorgeousness that I can’t wait for the final (!) episode next week and dreading the end of it as well. The depth of acting from the entire cast, the lush cinematography, the extraordinary Aussie landscape … it’s one of those rare series where both the actors and everything else are lovingly washed in beautiful light despite the heavy theme. It’s a pity that so much more of the book didn’t make it to the screen. That said, may this role open bigger doors for our favorite dork to stretch her acting muscles!

It really is one of the most gorgeous shows I've seen in so long. These days everything's about CGI and shock value and annoying af editing making things dark to the point you can't see shit, but this is just so filled with life. And there fact that it's a vehicle for such a brutal story is... I love the contrast. I love the underlying feeling it gives you. As a viewer, it doesn't try and manipulate you into this subliminal message of "abuse and pain only go with gritty darkness and the shame of shadows." I appreciate that.

And honestly this story could be dissected so many ways, probably half of which is just me arbitrarily assigning meaning to things that may not be intentional but Idgaf, I still could. I think eventually I am going to break down and read the book and that'll be a whole new level of pain having seen this portrayal of the characters and then mentally picturing how much worse it is as it goes. I'm a glutton for punishment, what can I say.

But anyway, yeah the acting has been amazing. I fucking hate Dylan with a fiery passion which I think speaks to how well the actor is playing such an easily kind of caricature-ish or dissmissable character. Sorry Sebastián, gonna hate your face forever 😅. Twig is just phenomenal and my second favorite character hands down. Sigourney, I mean. C'mon. We all knew she was gonna kill it. The complexity alone. And the woman who plays Candy Blue, adore her too.

And of course, our girl. Without hesitation, this is the best performance she's given since Lexa. And the fact that she's standing out among some real vets around her makes me so happy to see. Because, again, Alice could've been such an annoying fucking character in the wrong hands. I just know if someone had this role they would've played it in a way that would've pissed me off so bad 🥴 but she does a great job of walking the line between naivété and strength; being broken and a fighter.

I genuinely cannot wait to see what next episode will be because I feel like she has to leave for the pics and scenes we've seen to make sense. I mean, it's so painfully obvious this show should've been longer by AT LEAST 3-5 more episodes, but whatever. And I cannot wait to see this Alice rise from the ashes

Gonna lose my shit over her I already know it

[skepwith]

M/M historical romance book rec

Rating: E Category: M/M Genre: Romance. Also adventure, crime, mystery Setting: Romney Marsh, England, 1810 Characters:

Sir Gareth Inglis is a humble law clerk, until he inherits a house and title from the father who abandoned him as a child. The house is in Romney Marsh, on the southeast coast of England, and because it's 1810 and England is at war with France, the area is rife with smugglers sneaking goods back and forth across the Channel.

Joss Doomsday is the leader (with his formidable mother) of the Doomsday clan of smugglers. Widely known as charming and capable, he's used to getting what he wants.

It just so happens that before Gareth came to Romney Marsh, he and Joss had an anonymous week-long fling in London that ended badly, with neither expecting to see the other again. When they come face to face again, it's not under the best of circumstances . . .

This book has everything: enemies to lovers, sweet romance, hot sex, likable outlaws, family drama, skulduggery, and bad relatives getting their comeuppance.

KJ Charles writes great characters—not just the mains but the secondary characters too. The entire Doomsday clan are fabulous. When Gareth and Joss fall out, as they must (because romance), it makes perfect sense given who they are. And when they reconcile it's because they've thought about their issues and talked it through (you know, like real people do). It makes the romance all the more compelling.

I've never been to Romney Marsh but I feel like I have because of Charles's descriptions. She's obviously done tons of research but she never shoehorns it in, just subtly builds an atmospheric backdrop for the story. Gareth becomes an amateur naturalist early on, walking through the Marsh to look at flora and fauna, particularly insects; and of course Joss knows the Marsh like the back of his hand. You'd never believe how romantic beetle-watching can be.

About a third of the way through the book we learn that Joss is mixed race (though it's hinted at earlier). It turns out his grandfather, Asa Doomsday, was born into slavery in Georgia and later immigrated to England. This is mentioned but not dwelt on, and Asa is presented as a respected patriarch. Racism is acknowledged to exist in this world, but the racists always end up getting punished. Charles treats homophobia much the same way: it's a real threat, but it never triumphs.

Some trigger warnings: There's a good amount of violence in this story, though it's not egregious—but we are talking about outlaws here. A couple of people get murdered (off screen), but you really won't mind in their cases. There's a sexual assault (chest groping) that's not shown but is described by the victim, who receives immediate support from her family. There's a young teenager who's verbally and physically abused by his father (a main baddie) off-screen, and one major act of violence that's immediately followed by the kid's rescue and the father's punishment. Overall, I'd say Charles is sensitive to her readers' feelings and doesn't overplay trauma or write anything for shock value. Her baddies are bad, but they always come to a satisfyingly sticky end. Plus, I find that her violence is overshadowed by the love and kindness of the characters and their families, both birth and chosen.

Highly recommended!

[f1shst1cks11]

ANIME REVIEW: A KITE

TW: //Sexual abuse//NSFW//

Hiii!

I've watched... Kite

This is the first time I put a trigger warning on my reviews, since this time I'm reviewing a full on hentai for the first time on this blog, I will try not going into much detail on this text, but consider the tw in case you want to check out Kite

Let's get this done, the writting aspect first. Kite is a slow paced (for most of the ova run time), somber and gritty story, it doesn't shy away from showing really heinous things onscreen, the scenes featuring the trauma and abuse that Sawa, the protagonist, pass on screen quite fast on quick flashes, and even the full H scenes are way faster than the rest of progression of other storybeats, the first H scene kinda cut it very akwardly, it was quick and wasn't cohesive with the pace that the intro scene (the elevator one) establishes, It really comments on vigilante narratives, usually, a vigilante story puts the heroes as the team that serves justices beyond established goverment forces, but in Kite, the vigilantes are, the main villains, not from the perspective of the forces of law, but to the protagonist, just...people. I have to adress this, but I don't think the non-consensual sex scenes help the narrative, ofc is a hentai, from a studio that does hentai, but some feel really played out, and feel more like shock-value, the OVA would feel intact if you remove the explicit sex scenes and instead they are very alluded to. I'm a guy that can take art that is some deegree controversial if others aspects of it are of my interest, and I quite enjoy gore, but the sex scenes kinda started to feel... repulsive. It may have been intentional, but idk, similar themes were treated better in Utena.

The ending is, actually, interesting. There is a slight feeling of hopefulness in a lot of Sawa and Oburi's scenes, but the world still kinda sucks. Tbf, this is Sawa's story, the character we follow on her personal journey and who we see grow personally. But the characters are really not that mush of a strong point of Kite, actually, the best sequences are the action scenes, and I really like them (I like good animated action scenes, I gotta be honest, a good ation scene can win me over), they are kinda illogical and kinda abuse of explosions, but that doesn't devalue the action scenes, especially the bathroom scene.

Now the big thing, what kept me interested the more in the anime: The visuals. The colors pop so much, the reds and blues are so vibrant, the character designs are so interesting, the fashion is kinda on point, the backgrounds are interesting depending on the location, and the artstyle is this sort of semi realistic anime w more proportioned bodies, the line weight is on point, it's pure eye candy to my eyes, and probably is why I do like the ova. A lot of stills could be put up in a frame like a painting.

I kinda liked it, mostly as an artist, story-wise, not so much, but the action scenes? yeah I might actually rewatch those. For the rest of beautifully animated sequences, I'd rather see them on gifs than watching the whole OVA, unless I can skip all the sex scenes. Not recommending it, even if I liked it for very it's gory scenes and gorgeous art, It goes against a lot of people sensivities... and also I was eating popcorn eating it, It made it double uncomfortable.

[patricia-von-arundel]

It's Friday the 13th! Here's a list of 13 of my favorite scary books.

(If you have any particular triggers you're concerned about, feel free to send me a message about any of these! Please do not risk putting yourself in a bad place! I never mind giving a heads up on this kind of thing.)

General trigger warnings: sexual content, pedophilia, rape/sexual assault, extreme violence, deaths of children, deaths of animals, physical abuse, pregnancy, gore.

1. Let's deal with the reigning monarch first - Stephen King. I'll just let him have one entry for several books, since the guy has written 18 million.

1a. It. I read It, and then immediately read it again, for the first time when I was 12 years old. I carried the book around like a Bible. Not only is it truly scary as hell (the history, the deaths of Edward Corcoran and Patrick Hockstetter, and overall the idea that some things, no matter how far you run, you cannot escape - only try desperately, again, to destroy), it also has some of King's most solid characters, and an ending that isn't a total crap-out. He couldn't write great female characters then or now, but Beverly is far from his worst. And there is that scene near the end, but it's brief and easy enough to skip. 1,200 pages of story managed to work when I was a kid, and they still work now, even looking at the whole differently.

1b. Any of King's short story anthologies. I'd say my favorites are Night Shift, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, and Everything's Eventual, but they're all pretty great. The guy really shines in short form. And I dare you to read "The Jaunt" and not feel at least a little freaked out at the end.

1c. Different Seasons - the stories are far less supernatural, and it works. The four novellas are all tight, and all very different. Apt Pupil is one of the creepiest things I've ever read, and there's nary a ghost or beastie to be found.

1d. Christine, Pet Sematary, Salem's Lot, Desperation/The Regulators - the opposite of the above. These are pure supernatural terror, and a hell of a lot of fun. If Different Seasons is the drama looking for award nominations, these are the slasher flicks you watch with your friends while screaming at the characters and tossing popcorn at the screen. (Cujo's another one, but since it's rabies, it's a little more real-world.)

2. Let the Right One In, John Ajvide Lindqvist - an absolutely terrifying book where the scariest thing is not the vampire. Oscar and Eli are one of the sweetest platonic love stories I've ever read, and the bad guys absolutely get what's coming to them. It's a bleak look at suburban childhood - and desperation for something more.

3. In the Miso Soup, Ryu Murakami - this book sets you up for an uncomfortable time, and only gets worse. Short, tight, and terrifying. Murakami is more well-known for Audition, but I found this one far more disturbing. His stuff generally is not for those with sensitive stomachs.

4. Battle Royale, Koushon Takami - the movie is good. The book is better. Once you get past the slightly rocky translation, this one's going to have your adrenaline going from the very beginning. There's not going to be any Hunger Games-esque changing of rules: of 42 students, only one can survive. (I do not recommend the manga. It's mostly torture porn - sometimes literally. It's more disgusting than frightening, and while that doesn't automatically make me dislike a book - see just above this one! - I felt here that it was an unnecessary addition that actually draws away from the horror of kids forced to kill one another in favor of shock value.)

5. Ghost Story, Peter Straub - if there's ever been a horror writer who could easily have made the jump to awards-winning literary fiction, it was probably Peter Straub. Don't expect easy answers or easier scares here. Ghost Story is a very, very slow burn, where even as answers start to appear, so does a creeping fear you never even noticed until it already has you in its grip.

6. The Ritual, Adam Nevill - okay, I'm one of those who doesn't like the weird stuff that pops up near the end (you'll know it if you get to it), but the first 2/3 of the book? Holy shit, good luck turning the lights off before bed. It's rare that a book terrifies me. This one did. In the best way. Too bad about that last bit, which I mostly find ridiculous. 🤷‍♀️

7. The Passage, Justin Cronin - another contender for being closer to literary fiction with a veneer of scare. The first part is tighter than the end (and this is only the first part of a trilogy), but the whole is excellent, and the level of character development is as deep as any I've found in horror. When you feel sorrow and kinship even for the monsters (both human and otherwise), you're in good hands. Or bad ones, I suppose! I've read this one, like It, several times despite the extreme length, and it's always a ride.

8. Books of Blood, Clive Barker - short stories from a guy who not only never pulls punches, he'll start hitting harder just when you think you've gotten used to the pain. It has a story called "Midnight Meat Train," for god's sake! Just give it a go. This is pure horror, and you'll find both hardcore splatter and intelligent presentation.

9. The Final Girls Support Group, Grady Hendrix - a lot of fans of Hendrix actually dislike this one, but I found it a ton of fun, even if I also wanted to smack basically all the characters. 😅 It's just dumb fun jumping off of the same dumb fun as the movies that gave us the concept of final girls. If you ever wondered how Laurie or Nancy did after the end of their endless franchises, give this one a go. (If those names mean nothing to you, try Horrorstör instead!)

10. 20th Century Ghosts/Full Throttle/Strange Weather, Joe Hill - like his rather well-known dad, Joe Hill (legally Mr. Joseph Hillstrom King) has the horror gene, and it manifests best in his shorter work. His novels are good, but his quick-punch short stories and novellas are better. (Bonus points that in one story in Strange Weather, his main character is a butch lesbian, and while he clearly tries hard, it's... well. Let's say "a valiant attempt.") If you saw The Black Phone, it's based on one of his stories. (I hear Locke and Key, his comic series, is also amazing, but I haven't read it.)

11. Swan Song, Robert McCammon - Robert McCammon has never gotten much attention outside of horror circles, and I genuinely don't know why! Like Peter Straub and Justin Cronin, McCammon's stuff is more akin to literary fiction than "paperbacks from hell." This one is a take on apocalypse, and it does it amazingly. Many people cite The Stand as one of their favorite Stephen King novels, but I think McCammon did the same idea much, much better. Give it a go! His other books are excellent, too.

12. The Book of Accidents, Chuck Wendig - I went into this one blind, and loved it. It was creepy, the characters are interesting, and it honestly presented twists I never saw coming. Many Wendig fans say Wanderers (and its recent sequel) are better, but I haven't read them yet. They're on my list for this year!

13. The Gone series, Michael Grant (6 volumes, with another 3 in a sequel series) - these are YA, but they hit like a truck. What begins as a veneer of weirdness just gets crazier, bloodier, and darker. It's a quick read, and I swear, once I got past what initially seems like a snooze-fest main character and "meh" plot in the first book, I didn't put them down until I'd finished them all. These books are dark. Grant is also excellent at writing characters often reduced to stereotypes in horror (including female and LGBT+ characters). (As an aside, he [uncredited] helped write the Animorphs books with his wife, so if you liked those, you'll probably enjoy the equally well-developed-but-hard-hitting material in Gone. He and Katherine Applegate are also the parents of a transgender woman that they have fully accepted as a daughter instead of a son, and are vocal advocates of trans rights, as well as the Black Lives Matter movement. Solid people I very much admire!)

Thirteen seems the appropriate number to end on, but if you're looking for more, a few additional names you might seek out: Natsuo Kirino, Scott Thomas, Dan Simmons, Stephen Graham Jones, Nick Cutter*, Otsuichi, Poppy Z. Brite*, Ronald Malfi, Jason Pargin, Shaun Hutson*, Lee Mountford*, Jack Ketchum*, John Saul, Kelly Link, Ramsey Campbell, Alma Katsu, Katherine Dunn, Lee Mandelo, Paul Tremblay, Gretchen Felker-Martin*, Shirley Jackson, Max Brooks, Graham Masterton, Jeff Strand, Lisa Tuttle, Tim Lebbon, James Herbert, Josh Malerman, Catriona Ward, Richard Chizmar, Kealan Patrick Burke, Brian James Freeman, Bentley Little, Simon Clark, William Peter Blatty, Norman Partridge. Also check out the publications of Cemetery Dance and Valancourt Books!

*Extreme content warning

I will not and will never insult your intelligence by recommending Dean Koontz.

Happy chills! 😁

(And if you ever want personalized recommendations based on what scares you - or not! - drop me a message!)

[fabulousprancingtrashstallion]

The thing about Mistle/ Ciri is that the reason I think why people are in denial about it or just don’t know how to react to it is that these type of relationships are never depicted in fiction, at least not anymore, due to things like the false belief that women can’t be perpetrators of that type of abuse, or anything other than a sunshine and rainbows depiction of a queer relationship is problematic because “ you can’t have a sapphic character be predatory, queer women have been fighting against that stereotype for years”

I can’t think of any other media that has a toxic noncon relationship between two female characters, and actually do it realistically to how the cycle of abuse works in those type of relationships and not just for fan service or shock value

Oh, aye. It is a very complicated situation. Regardless I was stunned seeing people that could read those lines and not clearly see that it was rape, but then some people still believe it can't happen to men so I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at how naive people can be. I think that it was an excellent representation of a toxic relationship, and it is good to see these things from outside prospectives so that we might gain insight. Both Mistle and Ciri (hell all the rats) have been severely damaged. They both have a lot of issues and it culminated into the toxic Stockholm/codependent thing they had going on. But... that was kind of whole the point. Seeing it onscreen (If Netflix doesn't water it down and I'm torn between hoping they don't because it was important character development but hoping that they do as I don't want to be forced to see that happen to poor Ciri on screen) would probably change opinions, because reading about rape and seeing it on screen are two VERY different things. Now don't anyone take this as me hating on a ship or something along those lines. Ship and let ship. It's fiction. I don't care about all that. What annoys me is people trying to say that 'because it felt good it couldn't be rape' or 'Ciri was strong enough that she could have stopped it from happening if she didn't want it' BS going around. That is the exact kind of rhetoric that prevents so many from coming forward about their abuse.

[bookishfeylin]

Also SO MUCH about both Tamlin and Rhys would make so much more sense if they were essentially fae teens. Tamlins awkwardness in general and specifically in regards to his High Lord Status, Rhys' Everything Honestly but specifically how he interacts with people outside Velaris and woth his Inner Court, their interest in Feyre *in general* like, there's such an extreme age gap in general but even if I ignore their actual ages, aren't both men described like their in their late twenties? Like Feure is nineteen and acts nineteen and these men have had full on careers independent of their titles! Also because of how fucking wonky fae seemingly age theirs got to be a couple centuries where Feyre looks significantly more her child's age then her fucking husbands, if that's not just how it's going to be for her entire life.

Part 2: ALSO LIKE, it would fix the issue of the simple fact that like... by fae standards their relationships should be super taboo. Like even ignoring the (80 years olds are new adults) thing, because of how fae age in canon Feyre and Rhys, and even Feure and Tamlin, are just the local equivalent of early twenties dating ppl in their thirties and like that's considered *weird* and like it's commented on ONCE and its done by someone comparing it to his friends parents, which isn't exactly helpful once u remember that his parents relationships is supposed to be kind of disjointed and super toxic! Like!

Part 3: Also the fertility issue is weird too because like.... she could be just time skipped. Like, there's no harm in time skipping literal decades when ur characters are immortal and just ended a war. It makes the Nesta plot make much more sense, makes the Nyx plot make more sense, and also allows for stuff like, off screen character development or smth. Like, Eris is essentially an abusive character who's halfway redeemed because she needed a love triangle and this would make so much more sense if we had like a decade or even a century between ACOWAR and ACOSF. PLUS she could've done stuff to avoid having to talk about shit she doesn't know about. And like, it would be so much more realistic jave stuff go *slow* because the fae can wait, theyre centuries old.

Yes, nothing in this series makes sense or lines up well at all, and Tamlin and Rhysand being shy of a century would make wayyyyyy more sense for both of their characters. We do know, though, that teenage Mor was engaged to Eris, and that Rhysand's mom was 17 when she mated with his father, so...

Yikes. It seems that she walks back on her own worldbuilding and that she prioritizes shock value over the story itself making sense. Same thing with Nyx! And we can't even say he's a fertility fluke or something, because Kallias and Viviane are also expecting a baby! So...

idk. Again, I can't even view the rest of the series as canon anymore because nothing really makes sense and you get a headache just trying to think about it all, but there are SO many ways that things could've been fixed, even by just altering the timeline of ACOTAR like you said, but alas. This is Sarah J Maas. That's expecting too much.

[living-in-the-darkness]

Date Started: 06/15/20

Date Finished: 6/17/20

Pairing: Henry Cavill x Reader x Sebastian

A/N: this is my first writing of smut. It may not be too good but I've not seen many Henry Cavill and Sebastian Stan x Reader smuts. Also if I stole your gif please inform me.

Word Count: 3740

Summary: You are best friends with Henry and Sebastian. You are a famous actor that is acting in a movie with both where there is a threesome sex scene. After the premiere, Henry and Sebastian decide they want the real thing.

"You, Avyanna, are a beautiful woman. Don't you think so, Rand?" Henry says as his character, Logan. His voice was deep and sultry, his pupils blown wide, only a bit of blue showing.

"Very much so,” Sebastian says as his own character, Rand. His voice a bit less deep than Henry's but still in a lower octave. His bluish grey eyes showed the same desire as Henry's, full of want.

Sebastian and Henry have been your friends for a very long time, and you'd be lying if you said you didn't want this moment to be real. Though, as much as you wanted it, you valued their friendship too much and refused to ruin it based solely on wanting their cocks buried inside your holes. Every chance, every joking suggestion, anything they’ve ever said that alluded to them wanting you just as mush as you wanted them- you remembered it. Their words and actions flow through your train of thought making you forget what you’re doing.

When you came back to yourself in the scene, Henry was kissing your chest while Sebastian was working on getting your dress off. You were letting out little whines, wanting them to do more to you. Once your dress was off, Henry started to kiss more of your breast, biting down gently on the soft flesh.

Sebastian managed to tear your bra off. He didn’t know if that was his own strength or if it was because his character was supposed to be strong and full of desire, but regardless, he managed to do it. With the bra out of the way Henry moved his head to start sucking on your nipple, swirling his tongue around the bud, making you moan loudly.

You stood in between them, silently begging for them to touch you. There was no answer to your pleas. Instead, they continued to stand there, talking about how beautiful you looked in your maroon gala dress.

After Henry deemed your nipples abused enough by his mouth he picked you up and carried you to the couch. He laid you down and moved to get his shirt off. Sebastian already stood their naked, although the crew had him put something over his cock to make it invisible to the audience. Henry had the same thing because well, Hollywood.

Sebastian looked at you both as he walked over and kissed you roughly. Henry continued to undress as he watched the two of you, immensely enjoying the view.

Once Henry's clothes were fully off he tapped Sebastian's shoulder to tell him to move. Sebastian kisses down your chest and to your ankle missing your mound. He kisses up to your thigh and runs his fingers through your folds before moving his head between your thighs and flicking your clit with his tongue.

Henry kissed you deeply, swallowing your moans as one of your hands went to Henry's hair and the other went to Sebastian's and tugs on it wanting him to continue. You let go of his hair when he tapped your thigh.

You got up from the couch for Henry to sit down. You make it look like your taking his cock in your ass and Sebastian makes it look like he's putting his cock in your pussy. They both make it look like they're waiting for you to be used to them. After a good few minutes they start to thrust as Sebastian thrusts in, Henry pulls out and vise versa. It goes like this for a long while before you scream out in pleasure and cum hard. And it wasn't no Hollywood fake moaning shit, no you actually came. Henry and Sebastian held back their shocked expressions and faked their orgasms.

After the director called cut you ran off to your dressing room, quickly. You sat in your dressing room, bawling your eyes out thinking you had just ruined your friendship. All sorts of horrible thoughts went through your head.

Henry and Sebastian, however, sat there shocked that you had just came on camera. They look at each other before getting up and grabbing their clothes putting them on. "That was fucking hot." They mumbled to themselves as they walked away and went to their rooms.

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As you guys continued to film the movie, you avoided them like they were the plague. Every time they were near you off set, you moved to go stand next to another co-star. It was clear in their eyes that they were hurt but they couldn't say anything; of course, they couldn't, they were scared you would tell them you didn't want to be friends anymore.

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Finally, on the last day of filming, you talked to them.

"Henry, Sebastian." You addressed them

Henry looked at you, surprised that you were finally talking to him. "Y/n..." He trailed off wanting to ask what happened but he couldn't. He was scared it'd make you run off.

"What happened?" Sebastian asked bluntly, a bit annoyed that it took you so long and fusterated because he didn't know why. "Why'd you stop talking to us and started to avoid us like the plague?"

"You two should know damn well why." You said in a cocky tone.

"Because you fucking came on screen? Because you came while we were fucking you in a scene? So fucking what? That doesn't mean it changes anything." Sebastian kept his voice at a normal volume for him. He didn't want to make you run off if he yelled or raised his voice.

"Yes! Because I shouldn't have! I should've faked it like you two did." You mumbled the last part

"Hm, I've gotten used to sex scenes." Henry says and shrugs. It was true but he was also trying to make you feel better.

"Same here. I've gotten used to doing them. Plus when your just ramming your cock against some you kinda get turned off. I mean, it's just ramming your cock against someone." Sebastian says with a shrug

"Well... I.. I've never acted in one like that..." You say softly

"Niether have we but, like we said, we've gotten used to sex scenes." Henry says and looks at you.

Henry moves to wrap his arms around you. Sebastian does the same and kisses your forehead in a friendly way.

"there was no reason to avoid us for cumming on camera. Especially with us." Sebastian says and holds you close wrapping an arm around Henry.

"We should get going, the sets gonna close down then we gotta go to our houses and get ready for premieres." Henry speaks up after a good five minutes of cuddling up to each other. Henry is the first to let go then Sebastian then you.

After looking at each other for a good minute, you all went your seperate ways.

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After about two months, the premiere finally happened. You wore a beautiful purple dress that showed off your breasts and your legs with gold heals. Your stylist picked the color because it went perfect with Henry and Sebastian's dark grey suits. You liked the dress but the long slit was starting to get a bit annoying as sometimes it would move in the wrong way and showed off your black lacy panties.

You took pictures with the two men and a lot of interviewers were asking about the sex scene and how good it would be. Henry and Sebastian did their best to not answer the questions but if they had to, they kept it extremely vague. The answer they gave the most was "you'll have to watch the movie." You mainly ignored the questions and moved on to the next interviewer if the previous one pressed.

 After all the interviews were done, you guys decided to do a bit of photos with fans and signed some things for fans. After finishing with that, you guys rushed to the movie theater and went to the seats.

 All up until the sex scene you three enjoyed the movie immensely and complimented each other on how good the acting was. Then came the sex scene, you three were silent and just watched it. You couldn’t see it since it was so dark but your best friends’ pants were tented. Henry was shifting in his seat trying to get it to go down but as the sex scene went on, it just got worse. Sebastian was having the same problem, but he didn’t bother with it trying to just let it go down on its own. It wasn’t until it came to the moment when you came hard and with a scream that they both just say, “fuck it” and put their hands on your thighs. You looked at them quickly with desire and shock. You decided not to say anything until their hands went higher. You grabbed their hands and looked at them, “What are you doing?” you ask a bit louder than you meant to which made people “shh” you.

 “Isn’t this what you wanted?” Henry whispers in your ear and you can hear the smirk in his voice.

“For us to touch you. For us to fuck you like the movie.” Sebastian whispers and kisses your neck making a hickey on it.

 You blushed red like a tomato and looked at them. “Yes but… I didn’t think you guys wanted that…”

 “Oh, I’ve always wanted you but seeing you cum like that, for us, I finally see that I really do.” Henry says and kisses your neck making a few marks on it before turning to watch the rest of the movie fingering you.

Sebastian ignored the movie and sucked on your neck rubbing your clit and using his other hand to massage your breast in his hand.

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 You all arrived in a limousine so you didn’t have to worry about who would get to your house first. Once you were all sat in the limo and it was driving off, Henry was fingering you with those thick fingers and Sebastian was rubbing your clit while you palmed them through their pants and went back and forth between kissing them deeply and kissing their necks leaving your own marks. All the way to your home, they didn’t take their hands off of you.

 Henry started to suck on your nipples just like the movie, he nibbled on the soft flesh of your breast, and he continued to finger you. Sebastian made hickeys on your neck as he continued to rub your clit letting Henry have most of you for now. You knew by the end of the night you would be filled with hickeys and you didn’t mind one bit.

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  Once you guys arrived at your house, you all rushed out of the limo thanking the driver before rushing to the door. You unlocked the door and near body checked it open as it wouldn’t budge at first. Henry was the first to walk in, then Sebastian, then you. The second the door was shut, Henry had you pinned to it and kissing you roughly as you locked the door. Sebastian was getting his jacket and shirt off not daring to waste anymore time. Henry pulled away when you both desperately needed air and Sebastian got to his knees in front of you kissing the soft flesh of your thighs. He pulls you up so your legs are on his shoulders as he licks a stripe from your pussy to your clit and sucks on your clit. He moves to lick your hole and slides his tongue in devouring you like a man who hasn’t eaten in days.

 Henry got his suit off down to his boxers before he walks over to you both and starts to massage your breasts in his hands. He starts to suck on the sweet skin of your breast and makes some hickeys on them.

Soon you cried out their names, arched your back, and came for the first time that night and it sure wouldn’t be the last.

 They both moved away from your body and stood up. Sebastian moving your legs from his shoulders to around his waist and carrying you up to your room. He placed you down on the bed and smirked at you, admiring the view. Henry admired the view from afar as he shut the door. He knew no one was going to come into your house but he felt more comfortable that way and you wouldn’t dare comment on it.

 Once they were both on the bed, their hands were all over you.

Sebastian ran his hands over the outside of your thighs as he kisses your neck while Henry kissed you roughly and massaged your sides gently wanting to give your breasts a quick break. Sebastian moved his hands from the outside of your thighs to the inside and slowly moved them higher pushing two fingers into you slowly making sure you could take it. He made sure to open you wide enough that you could take either of their cocks. Henry had you flip over, and he started to run his hands over your ass. He smacked it a few times and another few times after you let out delicious moans.

Henry moved to look you in the eyes “how do you feel about anal?” He asks bluntly not wanting to beat around the bush.

“I’ve never done it but it’s something I’m open to.” You admit and look him in the eyes to let him know you are serious.

Henry nods and gives you two of his fingers to suck on before moving the newly wet fingers to your hole and starts to push one finger in. He slowly moves it making sure to watch your face for any signs of wanting to stop or long bouts of pain. Once he deems you’ve gotten used to it he pushed his next finger in and slowly moves them, again watching your face. He kissed you roughly and started to move his fingers a bit faster swallowing your moans. Once he deems you open enough to take either of their cocks, he pulls them out.

Henry and Sebastian look at each other for a moment before moving to claim their holes. Sebastian claimed your pussy and Henry claimed your ass. They knew they’d have you go again if you were up for it and would switch holes then.

You moved from your spot on the bed and let Henry lay down. You moved and slowly took his cock into your ass. Sebastian moves and slowly enters your pussy. They both wait for you to be ready before they start to thrust. As Sebastian moves out, Henry moves in and vise versa. They alternate between kissing you, devouring your sweet screams and moans, and kissing your neck marking you more. You had a feeling they wouldn’t stop until you were fully covered in them and you were right because once they ran out of room on your neck, they moved to your shoulders. You knew you were getting close after a while as you started to clench around their cocks screaming out their names and arching your back into Sebastian. You held onto Henry’s hand and Sebastian’s shoulder as they whispered sweet nothings into your ear. You cried out their names and came hard, your thighs twitching with the aftershocks. After a bit came Henry then came Sebastian who whispered something about breeding you.

“I’m going to fill you up with my cum and watch you grow with my babies.” He growls right before he came with a loud groan of pleasure.

Henry and Sebastian continued to thrust a little bit more after that to help you ride it out. Once you were settled they switched holes and Henry started fucking you so hard and fast, Sebastian actually had to tell him to slow down and give him a chance. Once they got back into their old rhythm they both picked up the pace allowing you no time to get used to them. Henry was a bit bigger than Sebastian, but it just added a little more pleasure as he filled you up so full it was actually visible in your lower abdomen. You cried and screamed out their names as they allowed you no mercy as they thrusted in and out of your precious holes.

Soon enough you came again and actually blacked out, they got worried for a second before realizing what it was and calmed down, finishing inside your holes. Sebastian pulled out first and looked around your room for anything that was like a plug. Once he found an actual plug he walked back over. Henry pulled out and Sebastian pushed the plug in gently. He smirked knowing you could possibly get pregnant with one, if not both, of their children.

Once they were done admiring your body, Henry went to the bathroom and grabbed rag wetting it before bringing it over and cleaning you up. He found your underwear draw and put some panties on you. He went downstairs after to grab his and Sebastian’s suits as well as some water and snacks for when you wake up.

Sebastian held you close and kissed your forehead whispering sweet words to you. Once Henry was back, Sebastian grabbed his shirt and put it on you then Henry grabbed his blazer and put it on you. Henry put the water and snacks on the side table before looking at you fully and pulling the blanket over you.

“I’m staying, are you?” Sebastian whispers to Henry and looks at him.

Henry looks at Sebastian like Sebastian has just asked the stupidest question in the world, which he did. “Of course, if she wants us gone in the morning then we’ll leave but until then I’m staying,” Henry answered.

Sebastian and Henry nod to each other as they lay on either side of you and wrap an arm around you. They cuddle up to you and each other and talk for a good half hour before finally starting to drift off to sleep. As they were entering the last moment between slumber and awake, they hear you whisper “I love you..” and then all of you go to sleep.

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When you wake up in the morning, Henry was downstairs making breakfast while Sebastian was still sleeping next to you. Henry finished the breakfast a good half hour later and after you took a bath. He walks up the stairs, tray in hand bringing you breakfast in bed. You sat there looking up at him as you were dressed in his shirt as well as a matching set of underwear, you weren’t really cold but you didn’t want to leave Sebastian out so you put on his blazer. You smiled seeing the tray and sat up more for it. Henry placed it on your lap before going downstairs and grabbing two more plates. At this point Sebastian was already awake and had been taking tiny bites of your food. Sebastian takes his plate when Henry hands it to him and you all start eating together.

After you all finish, they look at you and smile. Henry was the first to speak up.

“Good morning beautiful.”

“Good morning, handsome. Good morning, hottie.” You said to Henry and Sebastian respectfully.

Sebastian smiled at you and Henry, close-mouthed, in response having a mouth full of food.

Henry looks at Sebastian with a smirk “Shall I tell her what we discussed yesterday?” Sebastian just gives him a nod in response, and you have a look of confusion and worry.

Henry chuckles, “Don’t worry, it’s not bad. In fact, I think you might even like what we discussed.”

You look at him, same look of confusion but much less worried. “Okay… well, what’d you discuss?”

“We want to do that again some time.” Sebastian pipes up, finally, taking a break from his food to talk.

You were taking a sip of apple juice as you heard Sebastian say that and spit it out all over Henry’s chest making the two men laugh. Their laughs always made you smile so instead of focusing on being embarrassed you focused on that.

“Well, that’s not what I was expecting.” Henry says, honestly, through laughs.

“S-Sorry, just shocked. Was expecting you to say that you didn’t like it.” You looked down at your food which you stopped eating when Henry asked if Sebastian wanted him to share what they discussed.

Both men’s faces went dead serious, they looked at you with confusion and surprise.

“Not like it? Baby, we fucking loved it.” Henry says and Sebastian nods. One of each of their hands went to your face cupping it. “You are the most beautiful, amazing, and crazy women we have ever met,”

“And we fucking love it.” Sebastian finishes Henry’s sentence to which Henry just nods.

“Did you mean what you said when you were falling back to sleep?” Henry asks looking you in the eyes.

You tilted your head; you clearly didn’t remember what you said. “Don’t remember so I can’t say.”

“You said ‘I love you’” Sebastian reminded and looked you in the eyes

“Yes, I did.” You nod and look back down at your food “But-“

“I love you too.” Henry and Sebastian say at the same time.

“I’m sorry it took so long to realize it but I do, I truly do. You make me feel like no other woman can. I feel loved, adored, and honestly, I love that you’re able to come to movie sets and auditions and stuff when you’re not working on your own.” Sebastian says with a big smile

“And I love that you’re able to watch me at the races and challenges. And come along for rides. Kal loves you too.” Henry admits with his own big smile.

“So the only question that stands is, who do you choose?” Sebastian asks thinking you only want one. The question makes you roar with laughter and they both look at you confused.

“Choose? Oh no, honey, I pick both.” You say with a straight face before you start to laugh again.

Henry and Sebastian look at each other, shrug, then give you one word to end all your wishful pining that you used to do. “Okay.”

[watching-pictures-move]

Put On Your Raincoats #20 | Squalid Motels and Desperate Gals, courtesy of Kim Christy

This review contains mild spoilers.

When I first heard of Kim Christy, I knew I had to delve into her work. Here is someone who was involved in the drag scene in the '60s and went on to direct and produce pornography from the '80s onward. She's also a trans woman director (and occasional actress), which is not just unusual in golden age pornography but even mainstream cinema today. Unfortunately, figuring out where to start was a challenge. There's a very good interview with her on the Advocate but which doesn't really delve into her directing work. So I did the highly risky and ill-advised move of scanning through the titles in her filmography and trying to pick out ones with interesting sounding premises. Even this was a challenge, as a lot of her movies sounded like they didn't have a terrible amount of story. (A good many of them also had certain slurs in the title, which are unfortunately common in trans pornography.) So out of the crapshoot of movies I picked, I can't say I really got to the bottom of what makes her work interesting or even gelled to most of them, but hopefully I can convey what makes the ones I did take to interesting.

To start with the most slight, the two Divine Atrocities movies are basically a collection of sex scenes. There's a theme of dominant women running through them, but otherwise there isn't much tying together in terms of staging, aesthetics and the like. The segments have titles like "The Leather Lass Tamer", "Rubber Rampage" and "Ms. Degradation", but truth be told, nothing here is terribly shocking. So there isn't a lot to either of these movies, but if you're watching it for those reasons, they're enjoyable enough. A few of the segments feature trans performers, and I did find that Sulka had a nicely imposing screen presence in her scene, and while Sugar Nicole briefly threatens her partner with her "big black cock", I did like that for the most part the movies don't discern between these scenes and the ones with cisgender performers. In the eyes of Kim Christy, there's room for everyone in this great sexual melange. Also notable is the threesome scene with Janey Robbins, who (after likely reading Dan Savage's column) tells one of her partners, "If you don't find a different way to fuck me, you can forget it, I'll have to find somebody else", and in the first time in the history of civilization, gets mad at her male partner for not climaxing quickly enough. "You always say it'll only take a few minutes. Time is the only thing I can't replace, and it always takes too long."

A bit more substantive narratively but less interesting is Momma's Boy, with a premise that you can guess based on the title. Tantala Ray presides over a brothel set during an indeterminate period, where she presides over her girls and also her son, who mysteriously became a deaf-mute at a certain point of time. Why did her son become a deaf-mute? Will we ever find out? Spoiler: it's incest. Tantala Ray does have a weird enough screen presence to make her parts watchable, but this has none of the charge that, say, Taboo brings to the same material. (It's worth noting that Ray in this movie, looking like a debauched queen of Mardi Gras in one scene, is a camp villain while Kay Parker plays her role straight in the other movie.) As it's shot on video, the movie is not very nice to look at, and the dirt cheap production values make it unclear whether this is supposed to be a period piece. Some of the dialogue is amusing ("Oxford?" "Guess again." "Princeton?" "Try Biloxi Tech, my sweetie."), and there is some old timey music and one of the clients wears an ascot at one point, so it's not a totally squalid affair. (It's classy, see? He's wearing an ascot.) As the son, Jerry Butler does a cringe-inducing lisp, but I did chuckle at his last line.

A bit easier to recommend is True Crimes of Passion, where Janey Robbins plays a private detective (cheekily named B.J. Fondel) who invariably bungles her investigations and winds up in sex scenes with the people she's supposed to be investigating. "Out of the fog and into the smog" begins the overwrought voiceover, which truth be told doesn't compare to the likes of Chandler but I guess the effort is nice. The first case involves her investigating the wife of a minister whom her client suspects of infidelity. Surprise, surprise, it turns out the wife has a girlfriend with whom she has dominant sex. Thanks to Robbins' investigative prowess, she gets found out and forced to join the proceedings and ends up getting her client, a Dan Quayle looking motherfucker in a cowboy hat, captured as well, which leads to an incredible burn.

"The lord will punish you for this."

"The lord already has, he gave me you for a husband."

Also, when Robbins is forced into cunnilingus, she says over narration, "Oh Christ, I'm not even sure I've seen one of these things up close", and yeah, okay, Janey.

The second scene is probably the most notable as it features Christy as a performer. Robbins visits her friend to investigate a death threat against her friend's brother (also Robbins' ex), and the twist can be deduced when you start wondering why a seemingly minor character gets an unusually large amount of screentime. The scene features a trope that likely isn't terribly sensitive by modern standards, but I get the sense from that Advocate interview that Christy isn't too hung up about such things and one must concede that the film is a product of its time and genre (and within that context, there's a lot worse out there). The last scene has Robbins spying on her neighbour in hotel to get some industry secrets, which leads to some really awkward dialogue about champagne and then a threesome involving her client and mark. Like the work of Yasojiru Ozu, this scene breaks the 180-rule, but I guess if this is your thing, you might enjoy it. At the very end, the mark just gives up his secrets to the client. The secrets of male bonding sometimes elude me.

Easily the most accomplished and enjoyable film from Christy that I watched was Squalor Motel. It combines the sexual variety of the other films with a sense of camp and grounds it in a distinct, memorable location. There isn't much more "plot" than the other movies, as it's basically about a motel concierge doing her job over the course of a day, but as it follows her bumping into a variety of (usually horny) guests and finding herself in amusing (and unfailingly sexual) situations, there's enough of a narrative through line that it feels like a "real" movie where the other movies strained for similar effect, and the movie uses a soundtrack of icy synths and jazz that sounds like imitation Angelo Badalamenti to give it all an alluring vibe. I'm gonna make a wager that David Lynch would have liked this movie. Look, I have no idea what his viewing habits are or what sends his motor running, and the thought of him jacking it furiously to this or any movie is not something that brings me pleasure. But this shares some of the campy tone and surface qualities of his works, and I also wanted to leave you all with that image.

Why does the motel have its own house band (to whom people try to listen to while they engage in all kinds of sexual congress)? Why is Jamie Gillis made up like a vampire and trying to sell marital aids? Why does the one guest's blow-up doll turn into a real person (and prove, uh, extremely vocal during their scene)? Why is the owner wearing a pig mask and a tutu while he spies on his guests? Why is everyone laughing at the newlywed? Why is the one scientist with a Hitler mustache and his shrill-voiced assistant conducting experiments (read: having a threesome) with Tantala Ray? And how are most of these things taking place in the mysterious Reptile Room in the middle of the motel? With an extremely winning Colleen Brennan in the lead role (sporting a pair of thick glasses, a Lucille Ball updo, and a big, toothy smile), we'll have a pretty good time finding out. Like a lot of hardcore movies, this is pretty episodic in structure, but its distinct atmosphere gives it a nice sense of momentum as it drifts from scene to scene.

With its nice production design (and the fact that it seems to have actual sets, rather than being shot in what I assume are people's homes like in the other movies), Squalor Motel feels a bit more upscale and lavish than the average porno. While I don't have any budgetary information handy, I do know that the production had an assistant director, Ned Morehead. To what extent he contributed to the movie's DNA I can't say for certain, but the directorial effort of his I watched, also produced by Christy, had many of the same qualities. Desperate Women starts off feeling pretty stylish with its spraypaint style opening credits (although it loses a bit of style when it misspells star Taija Rae's name as "Taja Rea"). Taija Rae plays a reporter who ends up wrongfully convicted for a murder and thrown in brutal women's prison presided over by the sadistic Tantala Ray, who seems to get her jollies from spying on her prisoners as they get it on or abusing them with the help of her dimwitted guard. During such incidents, the guard frequently ends up ejaculating on her uniform as a source of comic relief. (One such scene ends with a shot of a photo of Ronald Reagan.) I must however disclose, without revealing too much about the shameful inner workings of my hopelessly degenerate mind, that the denouement of scene involving Ray, her guard and Sharon Mitchell did not leave me unmoved. Mitchell plays a prisoner who befriends Taija Rae, and it's worth noting that despite being one of the best actresses in classic porn, she's saddled here with an atrocious Hispanic accent and at one point sings a bit of "America" from West Side Story.

By porn standards, this is actually quite well produced and has a relatively sturdy narrative. (I must however note that one scene has a blatant ejaculation-related continuity error.) Women in prison movies tend to be pretty squalid affairs in general, at least in terms of production values, so this doesn't feel too far off from the real thing and offers more explicit versions of the same pleasures, while its sense of humour gives it a nice campy quality. Tantala Ray especially delivers in a pleasingly over the top performance as the teeth-gnashing villain (the camera often frames her severe face in wide angle close ups), and say what you will about Sharon Mitchell's accent, I did like seeing her pop up in here. With all the flamboyance and excitement around her, Taija Rae almost becomes a supporting character in her own movie, although I must confess that I found her character's hopeless naivety pretty cute. ("I didn't wear rubbers, it's sunny out".) With a fun cast, a firm handle on the genre's pleasures and a groovy soundtrack, this is a pretty good time.