#this is. a long one.

[deeper-x-deeper]

I've been considering exactly what it means to me to be dominant.

what exactly is it that draws me to it? which aspects of it do I enjoy more than others? I can tell that my dominance style isn't exactly the kind you see often, so it leaves me wondering.

so many dominants out there relish the ability to bend and break a submissive through tactics that are a little more forceful. exerting their power and demanding respect, relying mostly on the submissive's consent to the dynamic in order to uphold it.

obviously there's nothing wrong with this style. it appeals to quite a large audience, considering how prevalent it can be.

but I find myself taking a somewhat different approach.

I prefer using a soft touch, a gentle guiding hand, the only force lying within my words, and only to indicate through tone of voice the difference between a statement and a command.

and I'm also delving into the why of all of this, of course. always looking for the why.

why do I prefer it this way? especially since, when I have the chance to be submissive, I do also enjoy the more typical approach.

I think I may have the answer, so if you'll allow me to ramble for a little bit I'll try to explain as best as I can.

it starts with a book I was obsessed with from a young age.

my favorite novel when I was between the ages of about 9 and 13, was White Fang by Jack London.

I remember reading it over and over and over and over, devouring every line on every page, captivated by every single word, and no matter how many times I read it, I would always want to read it again.

because, you see, even though the book describes itself as a gripping tale of a wild animal desperately fighting against nature and the Wild to survive, that's not at all what I got out of it.

to me, it wasn't a story of trials and tribulations, of trauma, of abuse, but rather a story about the nature of respect.

it was a story of a wild animal, yes, but one that found itself living among humans who all have different meanings of the word respect.

his first handlers used him as a tool, as a means to get something done, respected for his usefulness, but violently beaten down at the first sign of disobedience. respect out of fear, but a respect nonetheless.

his next set of handlers turned him into a killing machine. one so effective that he was removed from the fighting ring not because he failed, but because he was too successful, too efficient of a killer to be entertaining anymore. respected out of fear, his handlers communicated in the same language of violence he faced every day in the ring.

this isn't a book report, but this brief summary is important for my point.

because my point is where our wild animal finds himself at the end.

after a lifetime of being beaten to submission, forced to respect others out of fear of punishments so violent and frequent that they no longer served as a deterrent

only for the man to finally make him submit

to finally make him obedient without fault

is the one that decides to treat this creature with kindness, and make an effort to build trust.

a gentle hand, a kind word, is all that it takes to make this lethal force of nature bend to someone else's will.

while his punishments before were usually enacted through brutal physical violence, this new handler only has to say a firm word, or give a light tap

and it's far more effective than any beating ever was.

because to be chastised by someone who is more commonly kind means more than to be beaten into submission by someone known to be aggressive.

and that's exactly the energy that I like to bring to my own style of dominance.

I may be gentle. I may not use much force, unless of course I am asked to.

but that's because I don't need to.

I don't dominate by creating fear, I do it by building trust.

of course a submissive will obey if you threaten them with punishments, because fear is an effective motivator.

but consider a submissive that obeys their dominant, not out of fear or even respect

but because they trust their dominant so completely that they know it will always be safe and fun for them to obey.

they can trust that when they submit to me, I will provide an experience that falls within the things they enjoy. that if I push a limit, that the push is all it is, and I will never actually cross the line. that even if my command seems strange, that I have a purpose for giving it at all, one that has only your best interests in mind.

because dominance, to me, isn't about the power or the authority, but in having someone trust me to handle them with care.

and that kind of trust is the highest form of respect for me.

because how can you believe someone truly respects you if they don't trust you, too?

[lrndvs]

compliments from girls go hard

[bookwyrminspiration]

god I would be UNSTOPPABLE if I was capable of consistently initiating tasks. just you wait. you'll be waiting a while but just you wait

[kochei0]

I turn to Ares.

Thanks to Tyler Miles Lockett who allowed me to draw inspiration from his ARES piece for page 2! Look at his etsy page it's SICK

⚔️ If you want to read some queer retelling of arturian legends have a look at my webtoon

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Expertise can't help you here.

[smokiedokie]

I opened my copy of The Tale of the Body Thief & immediately had to close it again because of this silly little annotation

[vicholas]

the funniest part of the jason x sex scene post is actually watching jason x and finding out that the sex scene was plot relevant because jason revives at the very same time they were having sex in the room next door and it's implied that jason could sense them having sex while he was cryogenically frozen and it pissed him so much (because he hates sex) that it revived him. if you removed it you would make the movie less funny.

[thunderon]

“long hair on guys doesn’t make them less masculine. think keanu reeves, jason momoa, danny trejo, or the guy at your local dive bar who rides a motorcycle”

*the crowd nods*

“so long hair doesn’t necessarily determine masculinity”

*the crowd, more hesitant, still nodding*

“butches can have long hair—“

*GUNSHOT*

[kedreeva]

Following the author of The Last Unicorn on Facebook is the only thing that makes being on that site worthwhile.

(source)

[demaparbat-hp]

Arsonist's Lullaby

[great-and-small]

When I was in vet school I went to this one lecture that I will never forget. Various clubs would have different guest lecturers come in to talk about relevant topics and since I was in the Wildlife Disease Association club I naturally attended all the wildlife and conservation discussions. Well on this particular occasion, the speakers started off telling us they had been working on a project involving the conservation of lemurs in Madagascar. Lemurs exist only in Madagascar, and they are in real trouble; they’re considered the most endangered group of mammals on Earth. This team of veterinarians was initially assembled to address threats to lemur health and work on conservation solutions to try and save as many lemur species from extinction as possible. As they explored the most present dangers to lemurs they found that although habitat loss was the primary problem for these vulnerable animals, predation by humans was a significant cause of losses as well. The vets realized it was crucial for the hunting of lemurs by native people to stop, but of course this is not so simple a problem.

The local Malagasy people are dealing with extreme poverty and food insecurity, with nearly half of children under five years old suffering from chronic malnutrition. The local people have always subsisted on hunting wildlife for food, and as Madagascar’s wildlife population declines, the people who rely on so-called bushmeat to survive are struggling more and more. People are literally starving.

Our conservation team thought about this a lot. They had initially intended to focus efforts on education but came to understand that this is not an issue arising from a lack of knowledge. For these people it is a question of survival. It doesn’t matter how many times a foreigner tells you not to eat an animal you’ve hunted your entire life, if your child is starving you are going to do everything in your power to keep your family alive.

So the vets changed course. Rather than focus efforts on simply teaching people about lemurs, they decided to try and use veterinary medicine to reduce the underlying issue of food insecurity. They supposed that if a reliable protein source could be introduced for the people who needed it, the dependence on meat from wildlife would greatly decrease. So they got to work establishing new flocks of chickens in the most at-risk communities, and also initiated an aggressive vaccination program for Newcastle disease (an infectious illness of poultry that is of particular concern in this area). They worked with over 600 households to ensure appropriate husbandry and vaccination for every flock, and soon found these communities were being transformed by the introduction of a steady protein source. Families with a healthy flock of chickens were far less likely to hunt wild animals like lemurs, and fewer kids went hungry. Thats what we call a win-win situation.

This chicken vaccine program became just one small part of an amazing conservation outreach initiative in Madagascar that puts local people at the center of everything they do. Helping these vulnerable communities of people helps similarly vulnerable wildlife, always. If we go into a country guns-blazing with that fire for conservation in our hearts and a plan to save native animals, we simply cannot ignore the humans who live around them. Doing so is counterintuitive to creating an effective plan because whether we recognize it or not, humans and animals are inextricably linked in many ways. A true conservation success story is one that doesn’t leave needy humans in its wake, and that is why I think this particular story has stuck with me for so long.

(Source 1)

(Source 2- cool video exploring this initiative from some folks involved)

(Source 3)

[mangozic]

my dead goth son and his friendly neighborhood personified concept of insanity

[kensatou]

those!!! are!!! his!!!! tits!!! be gentle 👉👈

[wellfine]

Au fucking revoir Mister Prince

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The math just adds up!