The feature image and all of the photographs in this NSFW Sunday are of Domina Mari and Billie LaBeau in Brooklyn Leather Rascals from fetish site Mondo Fetiche. The inclusion of a visual here is not an assertion of the model’s gender or orientation. If you’re a photographer or model and think your work would be a good fit for NSFW Sunday, please email carolyn at autostraddle dot com.
Welcome to NSFW Sunday!
Domina Mari and Billie LaBeau in Brooklyn Leather Rascals from Mondo Fetiche
There are no soul mates, so let go of that narrative and enjoy your life instead:
“We are temporary creatures, Soul Mate. Even when we love someone a whole lot, we eventually have to lose them, and they will have to lose us. Loss is a fact of this life. But as long as we continue to travel, to move, and to live, we will continue to meet people who bring out the best in us, people we want the world for, people who make us stop and think, How was this person sharing this planet with me all this time?
I think that’s what true love is, Soul Mate. It’s true as it needs to be, anyway. And I think when it presents itself to us, if we are open to it, we can have it for a while.”
Domina Mari and Billie LaBeau in Brooklyn Leather Rascals from Mondo Fetiche
“‘You want to watch porn?’ I tried to make it sound like a joke, but my voice came out huskier than I’d meant. We’d talked about this type of scene — watching something together as C told me everything they’d do to the person on screen if they were here, everything they’d make me do — but I’d thought it was a fantasy. I hadn’t realized they’d meant it. I swallowed hard.
They arched an eyebrow. ‘Why not?'”
Domina Mari and Billie LaBeau in Brooklyn Leather Rascals from Mondo Fetiche
Only 36% of respondents to an OkCupid survey said their ideal first date right now is outdoors. What are the rest of y’all doing?
Intimacy coordinators are getting formalized.
Don’t try to change your partner.
It’s actually fine to keep score in relationships, sometimes.
Domina Mari and Billie LaBeau in Brooklyn Leather Rascals from Mondo Fetiche
Having a summer of sex doesn’t mean having a summer of STIs:
“Regardless of how this conversation goes, it’s also a good idea to use condoms or dental dams with new partners (until you’ve had a conversation about how to safely fluid-bond), to wash your sex toys after every use, to visit the OB-GYN regularly, and to get tested for STIs at least once a year (now’s a good time!). As a longer-term strategy, you can also protect yourself by getting the HPV vaccine, which is now available to folks up to age 45 and protects against the most dangerous strains of HPV, which can lead to cervical cancer.”
I liked that soulmate article. If you ever have the time and want to read some wacky things about soulmates give Plato’s Symposium a shot. (The part by Aristhophanes.) (CW: the Greeks had this thing with older man and younger men or boys and this is mentioned. It’s been a long time since I read it, not sure if that’s all the likely triggers.)
This afternoon I went on a socially distant date. We went for a walk and sat in the grass just chatting. I got a sunburn but it was worth it. She has very cute freckles and I liked her a lot. I prefer a date like this instead of in a busy cafe, it makes conversations so much easier.