Reading and Watching 2: Romance, zines, smut, and so on

What have I been reading and watching? Well as you may recall, I’ve started a cinematic education journey, and am making my way through a list of movies that I’ve compiled from peoples’ top 3 must-see suggestions. I’ve also been reading comics and zines and books and reading and watching hentai. Let’s list it out.

Porn, little plot:

Shokuba No Senpai by Mikuni Mizuki https://hitomi.la/doujinshi/shokuba-no-senpai--decensored--english-2933217.html#1 - Written hentai comic. This is a fairly vanilla workplace sleeping-with-the-hot-boss fantasy, but I found it searching for pantyhose hentai. Bonus (to me) for some swimsuit scenes.

Kugisaki Anal Otoshi by Ishigaki Takashi https://hitomi.la/doujinshi/kugisaki-anal-otoshi-english-3459640.html#1 - Written hentai comic. The plot is so thin it’s hard to describe, but in the beginning this sorceress/highschool girl gets cursed to poop herself. She has to poop in a variety of situations (starting with pulling her pantyhose and panties down under her skirt) and also she loves anal, so there’s solo anal masturbating and lots of anal sex with someone who may or may not have cursed her with the shit curse. There’s a part where someone is making a teen watch her? And it turns him into a scat fetishist? Which was unexpected. There was also an enema. The poop curse seems to disappear by the end of the story.

Konomi ja Nai kedo 1 https://hanime.tv/videos/hentai/konomi-ja-nai-kedo-1?playlist_id=ab5tq80phivtol86lwbf Animated hentai. Classic brother/sister sibling rivalry turns to incest sex. The familiarity, and also their animosity towards each other, even as they get more and more intimate, is perfect to me. Otherwise fairly vanilla.

And of course, my own ABDL porn.

More plot:

Exorcism Academy https://ea.asmodrawscomics.com/comic/part-6-page-573/ A fantastic comic that is almost! completed! There is plenty of explicit sex, mostly but not all gay, and a fair amount of BDSM thrown in as well, but there’s also a plot involving the underworld, the human exorcists and their ensnared demon partners, sibling rivalry between Lucifer’s favored sons, etc. The art is gorgeous, the sex scenes are hot, the characters are emotionally compelling, and the story is so engaging that I like that part as much as the sex.

Not pornographic:

“A Closed and Common Orbit” by Becky Chambers - Second book in a series, was gifted to me off of my wishlist (thank you!). I actually liked this one even more than the one that came before it, I think in part because it had a bit more plot action and in part because of the themes. I’ve been really enjoying explorations of AI sentient beings and rights for sentient beings across vastly different capabilities and scopes of existence and this book was lovely in that regard.

“Gooner Nation” by Sam Bodrojan https://cchelmetgirl.substack.com/p/gooner-nation - Short read, fantastic expression of the way we goon through life these days.

Zines from Strangers In a Tangled Wilderness https://www.patreon.com/c/strangersinatangledwilderness/posts - I was reading their April and May monthly zines for patreon supporters, one of which was about DIY shows, and the other was a fiction piece about memory modification called The Memory Shop by Melissa Ren that I found particularly heart wrenching. I haven’t read the June or July one yet.

“Escape From Incel Island!” by Margaret Killjoy - hilarious and fast paced, with unexpected turns and moments that blend “what the fuck” and absolute solemnity and grief in a way I’ve not come across. Probably not a fun book if you, yourself, are an incel, but otherwise a great read.

“Redundancies and Potentials” by Dominique Dickev - Fucked up sisterhood, time travel, and fighting authoritarianism in a fairly short quick to read novel. Highly recommend.

“An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good” by Helen Tursten - Very funny in a dry and a bit grim way. The main character is an old lady who just wants to protect her peace at all costs… even if the cost is somewhat-deserved murder.

“Spoiler Alert” by Olivia Dade - This was also gifted to me off of my wishlist! Thank you! A super sweet heterosexual romance with a fun fanfiction author story aspect that I enjoyed a lot. The male love interest is a little too perfect but it’s still a good read, and there was exploration of familial/parental boundaries that was a compelling to both the characters development and as a story element. Some well done sexy explicit scenes.

“Cursed in Love” by Rachel Bowdler/Bryony Rosehurst https://rachelbowdler.itch.io/cursed-in-love - Lesbian romance with an action based plot that is remarkably low stakes and not super stressful, while still being interesting enough to carry the story. A big city workaholic meets small town academic love story, plus a potential cursed artifact! I think this one kept the sex implied, not explicit, but a lovely romance.

“When Love Barges in” by Rachel Bowdler/Bryony Roshurst https://rachelbowdler.itch.io/when-love-barges-in - Another lesbian romance! An off-limits best friend’s sister (or brother’s best friend, as the perspective switches between our two love interests), working out changing relationships, finding one’s path in life and sticking up for it, and some steamy romance.

Movies:

I finished watching Substance, which was incredible. Cannot recommend enough, although the body horror is fairly graphic. Then from my list, I’ve watched The Fifth Element (incredible, plus an all-out-ness that I love in sci fi and action that is now considered campy but I still love), Shawshank Redemption (wow, I wept bitterly, wow, beautiful), and Amodeus (what a story! Very funny! Very long, probably less interesting if you aren’t interested in classical music). I also rewatched The Princess Bride because it’s wonderful.

Shows:

I’ve been watching Murderbot! I love it so much. I’ve read the first book, and the way the show conveys so much of what was wonderful about the book is just delightful. The deviations from the book are in line with the characters, even expanding on them. I’m excited to read the second book and watch more of the show, assuming they make more. I haven’t been watching other tv right now.

Things Change, Things Stay the Same

A lot has happened. In the last month, few months, and in the last year or so since I wrote a blog post! I’ll put some important updates first, and then continue with thoughts and ramblings after.

• I still require a rapid covid test before in person sessions. I had been requiring Lucira brand tests for better accuracy at the start of 2025, but they’re no longer available. I may try to implement PCR testing, but the logistics are difficult.

• My studio is still in uptown Minneapolis. And I’m getting a second space, in the same building! This expands options and space for all sorts of play. I’m still deciding on what themes and furniture will go where, but the secondary space will likely be available in June. I will also be making one or both studio spaces available to rent for other adult workers.

• I no longer shop with Amazon AT ALL or Target. Target has been harder to transition away from, for everything from toiletries to groceries to studio supplies, but I believe I’ll be sourcing most studio supplies from hardware and medical supply stores.

• Traveling for sessions is likely on hold indefinitely.

While the political and economic landscape of the USA and the world shifts around us, my life continues on. My health has been… ok. I’m still chronically ill (no surprise, considering the chronic part), but symptom management is steady now and overall I’m able to schedule all my appointments with the appropriate doctors. I did get covid for the FIFTH time last fall, from what was an asymptomatic and/or false negative rapid test transmission around my birthday, and it did knock me on my ass for a few months, but I think I’m sort of back to my normal. However, I can’t keep risking repeated infections and possibly worsening my already present health issues or adding new ones, so I’m being even more covid cautious. It’s not fun and it sucks, but my health is always my priority.

I’m thinking really hard about putting my money where my mouth is, which is why I no longer use Amazon. And after Target decided to preemptively pull DEI, I decided to pull my money out of there. DEI in business isn’t the start or end of business, and in general I don’t think that corporations are benevolent, but it felt like such a pointedly dick move in a time of rising xenophobia and homophobia. It’s possible I wouldn’t care so much if Target wasn’t such a “local” part of Minnesota, or if they hadn’t scaled back their Pride collection to a nominal, abysmal money grab from the gays in 2024, or especially if Target wasn’t involved in a giant surveillance program that specifically targeted Black people, but here we are. I’d already pretty much stopped using Walmart except here or there, or when in the more rural areas I come from, but I will continue to not shop there. I’m focusing on small businesses and local businesses. I’ve always been fairly conservative with my own finances, but when I do spend “fun money”, I want it to be more in line with my own values, like fair labor practices, sustainability and/or lower environmental impacts, supporting arts and artists, and so on.

Another thing I’m thinking about is where I spend my time and attention. Specifically, what media, social media, and other things take my focus? Is my attention all algorithmically funneled? I’m trying to switch to more long form essays and reading again, as opposed to scrolling instagram or twitter (I essentially no longer use twitter; I don’t scroll it, I rarely tweet outside of auto tweets, and I only occasionally check my mentions). I stopped using tiktok completely after it was outlawed and then granted clemency from Trump. Even blue sky, which offers what they call “algorithmic choice” along with a chronological feed, can be a time suck or a not-so-healthy echo chamber. I thought substack would be better, but it’s a mixed bag. Which does NOT mean I never sit and watch a bunch of silly videos on Instagram, because I am only human and humans really love a little makeup tutorial video or 60 second comedy skit now and then. But I am trying to be more mindful of how and when I sit and zone out, as well as saving time and energy for reading and supporting things that truly interest me.

Stay tuned, as I plan to make a semi-regular series of posts about what I’m reading and watching, including the porn, since a lot of it is porn. What can I say? I love pornography. It’s part of why I make it! And I truly believe that porn is one of our purest expressions of self and imagination, from the disgusting to the outlandish to the wholesome. Maybe I’ll write more on that sometime, too.