Inflation in Forum UK

Notice to UK folks: Keep your eyes peeled for the next issue of the jolly ol' edition of Forum (as in Penthouse). There's an article in there about inflatable fetishism. Seek issue 42.12 when it comes out, and I believe I'm quoted in it from an interview I did recently. I'm trying to figure out what the cover will look like, but the article won't be in the US edition, so -- those of you with access to British smut, report in!

Inflation Holiday 2008 - today!

It's here! The Expansion Holiday is this weekend, and there's a lot of content that's already been posted. You don't have to contribute to enjoy it, but you also shouldn't feel like you can't contribute if you missed it. I wasn't able to do much; I just re-released an older work that's been offline for a while, but hey, it was something. Happy holidays...

Helia's latest blog

It's here, if you'd like to check it out. I suggested she might have been gone but she's just been lurking. Yay.

The Inflation Holiday

When I suggested an inflation fetish holiday three years ago, some said I was crazy. Well, actually, some said it was a waste of time and nobody seemed to have much interest in the thing once we actually discussed it.

But someone picked up the ball and ran with it, or had the same idea not long after, or whatever. And they finalized a date. Countdown to September 19.

Fuck, I'll celebrate it.

UPDATE: A reminder that this is coming up next weekend. If you can contribute to the merriment by releasing a new story or piece of artwork or merely offering words of encouragement to the creators you appreciate in your community...do so!

heliumgirl77's "Nozzle"

I read Nozzle last night and it blew my mind. I woke up thinking about it today, which rarely happens. I think it's the best inflatable story I've read all year.

It starts out with a setup that doesn't need to overexplain itself; the "huh?" factor is part of the appeal and keeps it fresh (if not waving to Kafka from across the room). The author used first-person brilliantly and the word choice throughout was extremely vibrant; I was there with our heroine in the scene. Even the "mundane" elements of the scene are lovingly described. heliumgirl77's stuff is very subtle and lyrical -- clearly erotic by design, but never vulgar. It's all very beautiful and human, yet totally fantastic. The scenes unspool with perfect pacing.

I'm having a hard time explaining because it's not often that a story hits so many positive points at once. It's not that it pushed personal fetish buttons or anything, it's not like she wrote "my" story -- it's just incredibly finely crafted as fiction. This is a brilliantly WRITTEN story.

Combine this with the early Remnants and we're seeing a legitimate style emerge. Good lord, I think we've gone beyond inflatable stories and we're inching toward inflatable literature.

Some thoughts on the community

This month marks my 14th year in the inflation community. I'm proud of that. And now I will probably ramble.

The best thing about the community is that nobody owns it. I know I've told the story about how I set up the first inflatable fetish mailing list on AOL for a whopping 12 people; even that, I don't really get too much credit for, because, well, how about those other 11 people? It was my list but it was never more "my" community than it was anyone else's. That's kind of the point of a community -- it's a group thing.

Voices and sites have come and gone. I've met some spectacular artists and writers and thinkers; some have stuck around, some have passed through. I've got evidence of most of them on my hard drive in one form or another. I remember when it was all about ACotto's FTP site. Then the BE Archive appeared and -- gasp! -- charged money. Soon it was all about WrenSpot. For a time, my Video Vault was a happenin' place. And ultimately, LVKane set up BodyInflation.org. There are others, too -- whatever happened to DanielSan and the IC/B2E? Where did Ylandra and Champagne Moon go? And why can't Helia come back for good? Ah, well, There's always tomorrow -- anybody could resurface at any time.

The point is, people come and go, variations on our common themes take new forms from time to time, projects appear and disappear...but the community remains. That's because the idea remains. That's more powerful than anything -- and the idea that we're all into the same weird idea is even larger. We're not alone because, at the very least, we have each other. That's kinda sacred to me.

Nobody owns us. Nobody runs us. And while I sometimes sound protective, I don't mean to claim ownership; nobody can actually take credit for the community. In fact, the only time I really get angry is when I see people trying to suggest that the community cannot exist without them, or they are indispensably important to it and/or primarily responsible in some way for it. Sometimes it's just immature outbursts from people looking to belong; other times, I think people really believe it's true, or at least want to make it appear true for egotistical reasons. No; you're nothing without everybody else. We're all shareholders in your stock in the community. Get in here in the soup with the rest of us.

See? I told you I'd ramble. Anyway, here's to 14 years.

Inflation stories as Wordles

Here's an interesting idea that my wife suggested. First, go to this site:

http://wordle.net/create

She said, "You've got to put some of your inflatable stories into this thing and see what happens." So I did -- I cut and pasted stories from my collection.

I ran a few of my stories through it and found, if nothing else, that I repeat certain words too much -- like "said." I should work on more creative attribution of dialogue! Main character names come up a lot too. It's actually a pretty analysis of your story after you've written it, to show you what and how you wrote from a completely different perspective.

It's funny, because stories with a greater vocabulary will not come up with the most titillating layouts -- the stories with less change in language will arguably make more exciting Wordles. I expected lots of "balloon" and "swelling" and stuff like that, but it turns out those words are the money shots in stories and generally aren't overused.

Try choosing "Maximum Words" under Layout and changing it to 75 or 50 words for a few stories; it gives the main words more impact.

By far my best story as a Wordle was Eating Light, which was my first and worst story.

Try it with your favorite stories and post your results.

ExpansionStories.com - a positive example

It should be no surprise to hear that I think constructive criticism is the key to, well, just about everything. I try to live it every day in my real-life job as an entertainment critic. Bitching about problems you find in a creative work doesn't help, but identifying and deconstructing those problems in an organized and positive manner truly does offer insight to the creator. The spirit of the criticism has to be true; it's worthless if it's "I hate you so I hate your work." I want to see more people willing to give well-considered feedback to creators who are equally willing to accept it as the positive force it should be.

That's why I'm stoked to see this happening over at ExpansionStories.com. You have to register to download and comment on stories, but I've noticed that the comments are moving beyond the expected "do a part 2" stuff and are starting to address when things went right and how they went wrong in each story. I'm not sure what's fostering this environment but I'm thrilled to see it evolving naturally and I hope it never stops.

Most if not all of my crap is posted on the site, and I still check the comments on my stories there. (Do an author search if that link doesn't take you to a list of my stories.) By all means, chime in with your considered thoughts and keep the good vibes going.

Vixen: The Tampering

Well, that was interesting. I've been keeping track of the numbers on Vixen's TopHeavy submission every few days and the voting was pretty good -- it was about a 2.5 to 1 ratio in favor of Vixen. Then magically, this weekend, the photos got nothing but No votes. Like, 400 in the span of half a day, all to No.

Vixen was doing it partly just to see what would happen -- she's been wondering that classic "am I hot or not" question and has been thinking about plus-size modeling -- and for two weeks the numbers moved naturally and organically, a few yes, a few no. This latest shift is clearly not natural; it reeks of an organized movement. I wonder why. Who would feel threatened enough to actually rally against four photographs? Strange.

But it was encouraging while the feedback remained honest, and it kind of served its purpose. So thanks to anybody who liked what they saw and said so.

By the way, did you see Kymera there? Wow! Get that girl a hose with which to pose...

YouTube go boom

Just logged into YouTube to find my account has been disabled. That's a drag -- maybe the stuff I was uploading to the Video Vault was deemed too adult. I had a few clips rejected due to copyright, but most of them were original videos. All Ylandra's stuff...I was really glad to have that, and I intentionally put it up first because I was always a big fan.

I can always create a second account, and I probably will. But it's not my main focus right now, so I figure, this is a sign. I've got my fingers in several projects at the moment, both pervy and non, and I've been wondering if I was spreading myself too thin. Even trying to throw a few clips onto YouTube every weekend was a time commitment. So I'll focus my energies on one less project. For now, anyway -- I would like to bring those clips back online.

However...if you were going to play the conspiracy game...I know that Taylor's video clips were all yanked from the service too, about a week before my entire account was suspended. So this is either a system-wide crackdown on adult material...or something nefarious.

Frankly? I'm not ruling anything out.

Vote for Vixen!

A friend has been put up as a potential model over at TopHeavy.com. Top Heavy is a site full of photos of clothed women with big boobs -- lots of cleavage, quite a bit of swimwear, nothing nude, but always tight 'n exciting. At least, it is to those of us who like the concept of clothing leaving something to the imagination.

In any case...if anybody else here digs that stuff too, I'm calling for a little vote help. Top Heavy has only recently reinstated user submissions for new models and you can vote without registering or anything. Just click Yes or No based on who you see. There are some other...interesting choices as well that you will likely want to check out if you like busty gals.

The page is here and the model in question is Vixen (the one with no face -- she's stacked but she's shy). Thanks.

In my element

I hear that phrase a lot. "At work, I'm really in my element." "I'm really in my element when I'm on the soccer pitch." Well, I realized...I actually am in my element most of the time.

I live in California, not far from water, and in an exceedingly windy area. I'm talking 25 miles per hour most days, and when it gets stronger, the windows in my office creak. My front door has burst open thanks to 50 mph gusts, and it's just the natural state of my neighborhood. The hills and the water and everything sort of combine to create an atmosphere where the air calls the shots.

And while I see friends and coworkers complain about the high winds, I love them. I just totally feel like, yeah, world. Behold the power of air. I find the intense winds extremely relaxing. I like walking to the car in the late afternoon when the air currents get more intense.

Because I'm in my element.

I met Sievert

If you felt a small tremor in the earth this weekend, it was the momentous face-to-face meeting of Sievert and Inflate123. Sievert was one of the first people in the community I met -- actually, his was the first Usenet post I read and that gave me hope that there was someone else out there who felt the way I did. He was asking about a video he'd seen featuring a corset with inflatable cups and hips that also got rigid as it inflated. I'm still fascinated by this concept and want to see such a garment made. I wrote to him immediately and didn't get an answer for several months -- he was in college and it was his school account. For me, it was a long three months.

Over the years we got to know each other very well...but never actually met. We talked about it, we found ourselves traveling in similar areas of the country here and there, but never actually made it. He was in my neck of the woods about six months ago and a disastrous work schedule prevented me from seeing him throughout the entire week that he was in my zip code. It sucked.

He gave me a month's heads-up this time and, sure enough, my schedule sucked again. Three days away for a business trip, followed by another event three hours away the day after I returned, followed by an intense deadline push at the office. But in that slim window between those events -- literally about five hours -- I realized we could meet for lunch.

So you can imagine how pissed off I was that he showed up two hours late!

But what's two hours when it has taken you 14 years to get that far? In real life, Sievert is as he seems to be online -- polite, quiet, intelligent. We had a nice lunch that was, for me anyway, surprisingly frank. It felt kind of exciting to be talking about and around taboo topics in public; I rarely articulate any of my fetish verbally. It's always in an email or a forum post or a blog -- I say a lot but I never talk. So it was a little surreal to discuss inflatable fetishism in a crowded restaurant. Nobody cared what we were talking about. My wife just rolled her eyes as we went over inflatable community names, events, and history like two old war buddies.

I had intended to get a photo of the two of us together, then post it here...with our eyes covered with black bars, to protect the guilty. After all, the internet is not a crowded restaurant. But we had to cut ti short and I forgot. Maybe in another 14 years.

Tattoo?

I've considered getting a small, non-flashy tattoo for several years now. (I generally follow pop culture trends about 10 years late...) The permanence is the biggie: What am I willing to get on my skin that I will want to live with forever? What defines me? What will I find funny or empowering 10 years from now?

If I get one, I'm getting it for me. I don't necessarily need it or want it in a public place. So that made me realize...you know, this inflation thing, it's not going away, and it does help define me, to me.

I haven't been able to figure out what to get. I don't want balloons; I don't want Jessica Rabbit (while it's true that she's not bad, sometimes she is just drawn that way...forever). I don't want anything vulgar either, and I don't really want a bike pump or an air compressor.

I have considered a simple perspective line drawing of a valve -- like the one you'd find on a beach ball or vinyl inflatable. I've also thought of just having a PSI rating, in text. Simple, secret, cheap.

Any suggestions?

Helia: She's back again

Yay, a new blog, since she apparently no longer had access to the old one. My link on the right has been updated.

Any update from Helia is a good update in my book.

Big things for Bambi

Here's some cool news. Looks like Bambi's going beyond just physical special effects and is moving into digital special effects as well. According to matching posts at DeviantArt and BEArchive:

Please bear with me for just a bit for this new vid production because we're in the process of moving into our new studio and manufacturing complex! The studio facility will contain multiple sets and a dedicated green screen set which will allow us to greatly expand our special effects capabilities so that we can produce more diversified inflation & expansion content. And...our new prop manufacturing and R&D center will significantly improve prop design and production. This has been a year long undertaking that was temporarily delayed due to my surgeries and illnesses occurring in 2007.

Sounds like a major upgrade. Digital effects are a totally different realm but the technology is much closer to consumers than it ever was before. I have a little experience in it (and a few friends with lots of it) so I've always sort of kept a geeky interest. Seems like a natural evolution of the fetish, though -- if we've got homemade movies, why not homemade special effects movies?

At the same time, look at both Wonka films -- the first Violet scene was all physical effects and the second was all digital. Fans liked the first, but a deft blending of both techniques? That could pay dividends.

Inflatable BE from China

Props to The Process forum for turning up this one from a film called Millionaire Cop. Give it time to load -- China's answer to YouTube is halfway around the world. The BE scene resolves at around the four-minute mark.

Some things, like glasses being visual moviemaking shorthand for characters who are nerdy and uptight, are apparently universal. As for the rest, your guess is as good as mine.

Working on something

Had an idea, kicked it around with an old friend, and we gave it a mutual green light. We've already bought the most important part.

Should be fun. No ETA, though. But lest anyone think I'm no longer creating stuff...I am.

History of BE

Amazingly, someone wrote down a brief history of how the BE/inflation community got its start. The first stories I read were written by Dr. Enlarge; the first two people I met were Buster (who now runs BalloonBuddies.com) and Sievert (who retains a quiet dignity). I think we might actually meet face to face soon, after all these years. I have only done that with a handful of people in the community, by choice -- I met Dr. Enlarge, and I met Lucky and didn't realize I was meeting him at the time! -- but I've always wanted to meet Sievert, the one person who always felt like my brother from another mother. I'm a bit nervous.

I have always wondered what happened to ACotto; did he get bored? Did he get scared? Did he pass away? His creation of a common file archive really did establish the foundation and we really owe him a debt of gratitude.

New content: Taylor, Big Horse

Taylor has put up a new expansion clip called Age of Expansion. It's $12. It's worth it, I think. Keep in mind that I like the clothed stuff, so this scratches my itch. I also enjoyed the light tone and sense of humor going on -- doing both sexy and funny at the same time is often tricky, but I think they pulled it off. The actresses are pretty good at improv and running with the ad-libs. Also, by the end, you can tell they're having a lot of silly fun. While I was happy to see a new face on the scene, the first few clips they released didn't grab me but it looked like they were ramping up. I'm hoping this is the first of a second wave.

Also, now that I unexpectedly have a little more money in my pocket, I've commissioned a few clips from Big Horse on my favorite topics -- inflation, hourglass shapes, redheads -- and he delivered two cool images for the money. With his permission, I'm sharing them with everybody. I don't know what they're really called but I have been referring to them as "The Witch and the Hourglass" and "Boob Tube."



I will upload both images to the gallery at bodyinflation.org too, where many of Big Horse's pieces currently live. Enjoy!