More, More, More in the Twenty-One-Four
By Alexa Day
I take a dim view of most New Year’s resolutions. Every year, I see lots of hoopla about what people are resolving to do, and then, about three weeks later, there’s a wave of shaming about how many people have already returned to their pre-resolution lives. But who can blame them? The average resolution sounds like a lot of work! Think of all the deprivation involved in losing weight, going on a budget, abandoning alcohol, smoking, fatty foods. No thanks! This year, I’ve decided I want more. More of everything, really.
That’s a tall order, I know. Let’s start with these three things.
M/M Romance. If you’ve been hanging out here for a while, you know that I am new to male-male romances. I confessed a little while ago that I had never read one and worse, that I had no real reason for not having read one. Well, C. Margery Kempe popped my m/m cherry (and if you can think of a less appropriate turn of phrase, please do let me know what it is) with MAN CITY: MARTIN, which I gobbled down just before the holidays. I usually shy away from the holiday stories because they tend to lean toward the home-and-hearth-and-2.5-kids themes, but Martin is a man after my own heart. He’s single during the Most Couples-y Time of the Year, and he does indulge in some sweet longing for a relationship like the one his friends Scott and James share. He’s also got some sexy thoughts about the two of them, and that’s where the real fun begins. Martin’s story is hot and playful and laugh-out-loud funny (I’ve been looking at nativity sets differently ever since). As I read, I felt the familiar inclination to choose between the two of them. Then I realized that not only could I have both Scott and James, but that Martin himself was in the sweet-spicy mix as well. A sexy story featuring not one … not two … but three tempting men — that’s the kind of abundance I demand from my 2014! I can’t wait to see what else the world of m/m (and m/m/m, of course) romance has to offer me.
You know, I’m not altogether sure it’s even possible for pleasure to be guilty.
Swirl TV. Last year was definitely a hot one for the black woman/white man interracial action on TV. Olivia and Fitz have been smoldering away for three seasons now on Scandal, and now there’s an even less appropriate relationship between Candace Young and Jim Cryer on The Haves and the Have Nots. On top of that, I’m enjoying a healthy measure of sexual tension between Abbie and Ichabod on Sleepy Hollow. But deep in my rational mind, I’ve had to face that all three of these pairings come with a tiny little complication – the men are married. Sure, Olivia’s working around that, and Candace doesn’t seem to care, but I find I like Ichabod’s wife, Katrina, so much that I have mixed feelings about his getting together with Abbie. What to do? How about even more interracial hotness without quite so much of the adultery? I mean, I like the emotional workout generated by the moral situations we already have here. But in the spirit of more, I’d also like to just sit down and enjoy a more guilt-free sexy. Now, I admit that there may already be something out there that fits the bill precisely; I missed an entire season of Scandal before I found out about Olivia and Fitz. I’m counting on you, friends of Lady Smut, to clue me in if I’m clueless. I’m also quietly thinking about possible romances for Michonne on The Walking Dead, but that might deserve its own post.
Woman-friendly porn. Porn for women has been around for a pretty long time, I know. I know that it’s intended to fill the gaps (ha ha, heyo!) left vacant by “traditional” porn, so it’s got more storyline, more emotional content … which means more for some female viewers (okay, for me) to fast forward through. I’m not really coming to porn for a storyline, although, with apologies to Evelyn Beatrice Hall, I will defend to the death the rights of those women who do. I just think that porn is the fast food of sexual content. If I’m looking for an exquisitely sensual experience, 360 degrees of stimulation, I’m probably going to turn to a nice, hot book. If I just want the fries, I’m going for porn. I’m encouraged to hear about Dusk! TV, a Dutch television network dedicated to woman-oriented porn, or “porna.” (You don’t need me to say that all the Dusk! links are NSFW, right?) Dusk! relies on a panel of women dedicated to exploring and defining porna; the panel’s ratings determine what goes on the air. Alas, Dusk! isn’t available outside the Netherlands just yet, but I’m content to check out the Duskpanel’s research results (which indicate that I’m not the only girl fast-forwarding through all that storyline) until the network arrives here in the U.S. later this year. I imagine I could also pass the time with some gay porn; I’ve become convinced that it has more of what I like from porn and less of what irritates me. I’m not sure how long I’ll have to wait for Dusk!, and delayed gratification is, I think, at odds with this year’s quest for abundance.
What do you need more of this year? Let me know in the comments. And be sure to follow Lady Smut. We’ve got more of what you’re looking for.
