Leatherdar

[Dusk]

"I don't know what to call the way I can always pick out those guys in a crowd. My friend Martin calls it 'gaydar,' which leads to us having long arguments over whether being able to tag a guy who doesn't know he's gay counts as gaydar.

 

"Master Trent has another word for it. He calls it 'corruption.'"

 

A leatherman goes on the hunt at a college ballroom dance.

 

Leatherdar.

[Matthew]

I shocked myself first by reading, and then enjoying, this story. I had no idea going in what my expectations should be, but it exceeded them all.

[Dusk]

Gosh, thanks for the kind words.

 

"I shocked myself first by reading . . . this story."

 

Leather stories not your usual thing? Mine are a bit unconventional.

[Matthew]

Leather stories not your usual thing?

Not at all. I tend to avoid them, as a rule. Although this story doesn't exactly fit that desription to me. Certainly there's allusions to it, and movements toward authoritarian, but it's not at all what I pictue when I think of a "leather story"

 

Mine are a bit unconventional.

I would appear so. I think even outside of the "leather" genre this story would be unconventional on so many levels. I don't know what it is about how it's narrated, but to me it came across almost as someone describing a dream. It had a surreal quality to it. Perhaps because of the setting. Do colleges actually have ballroom dances?

[Dusk]

"it's not at all what I pictue when I think of a 'leather story'"

 

The genre has frequently fallen into a rut, alas, but there are a fair number of leather stories out there that fall outside the stereotypes. But perhaps I should ask you what you envisioned as a leather story before I start pontificating.

 

"Do colleges actually have ballroom dances?"

 

My alma mater does. When I attended St. John's College in the 1980s, the parties were about 50/50 waltz and swing. These days, alas, swing has almost entirely taken over, but I started this story after attending one of the parties last year where they were still playing waltz music.

 

And yes, there were two gentlemen there who looked just like my main characters. Convenient, that.

[Matthew]

The genre has frequently fallen into a rut, alas, but there are a fair number of leather stories out there that fall outside the stereotypes. But perhaps I should ask you what you envisioned as a leather story before I start pontificating.

I really don't know that I have a succinct answer to that. I suppose I envision something more along the lines of "harnesses" and things of that nature being involved. I will admit that anything described as leather smacks of BDSM to me. But perhaps I have poor preconceptions. I think it's more likely that you're the exception to the rule, but I'd be delighted to hear your take on it since it seems to be a matter of expertise for you.

 

My alma mater does. When I attended St. John's College in the 1980s, the parties were about 50/50 waltz and swing. These days, alas, swing has almost entirely taken over, but I started this story after attending one of the parties last year where they were still playing waltz music.

 

And yes, there were two gentlemen there who looked just like my main characters. Convenient, that.

I guess it just struck me as odd because it's so far removed from the college experience I'm going through. But I suppose that I should have learned by now that there isn't really a "typical" college experience.

Edited December 10, 2006 by Matthew

[Dusk]

"I guess it just struck me as odd because it's so far removed from the college experience I'm going through."

 

My alma mater is far from typical. But I believe that there are a few other colleges left that cling to the tradition of occasional ballroom dances.

 

"I will admit that anything described as leather smacks of BDSM to me."

 

Well, D/s is a part of BDSM, of course. I've written bondage and SM stories in this series, but my main interest is in exploring the D/s aspects of the narrator's life.

 

"I'd be delighted to hear your take on it since it seems to be a matter of expertise for you."

 

Hardly an expert - I'm still making my way through most of the famous leather books. But I can point you to John Preston's I Once Had a Master as an example of a leather classic where the focus isn't primarily on BDSM (though there are certainly BDSM scenes in the book). The book is about an assortment of people: nice, liberal, nonjudgmental academics who, when confronted with an actual demonstration of alternative sexuality, fall to pieces; a self-centered youth (the narrator) who abandons his older lovers; an arrogant youth whom the now middle-aged narrator can't get off his mind, even though the other man is simply supposed to be a passing trick; two young men who are dressed up in all the leather trappings, but who don't really have any interest in the spirit of leather; a formerly obese man whose life is transformed when the narrator asks him to do erotic modelling; a man who has lost his lover and feels adrift . . .

 

I think what makes the book work so well is that all of the stories were based on episodes in Preston's own life. I wish that Preston could have continued writing stories like this - but after the arrival of AIDS, alas, he began constructing fantasy worlds that I don't find as appealing as his realistic stories.

 

Preston is the best example I know about of an author who uses leather stories as a way to delve into non-leather topics, but there are a number of other leather authors who either minimize BDSM scenes or else use those scenes as a launching pad to talk about deep topics.

 

(I can see John Preston's ghost glaring at me, saying, "SM is a deep topic.")

[Matthew]

My alma mater is far from typical.

I figured that when I saw that there are no majors. Which as your story pointed out, is the "traditional opening gambit at these places". Which is a very apt point. That's what I ask when I'm awkwardly stuck talking to someone and I've run out of my other question, which is asking their name.

 

But I believe that there are a few other colleges left that cling to the tradition of occasional ballroom dances.

I could see that but, as I said, it's so different from my university. I don't think we have any functions that play any kind of music that would entail any kind of structured dance. They try to have something that would have some kind of slow music every few years when some nostalgic prom queen tries to force her mermories on the unsuspecting student body, but it dies pretty quickly.

 

Well, D/s is a part of BDSM, of course. I've written bondage and SM stories in this series, but my main interest is in exploring the D/s aspects of the narrator's life.

But what confuses me if why you call it a leather story, when there really isn't any except references to "The Eagle". I would think that a more appropriate description would be D/s. Are the two terms interchangable? If so, then I guess my real question would be "Why?" It would seem, from my point of view, that BD is just as much a part of leather as D/s is. So why call something that simply has some D/s in it a leather story?

[Dusk]

Aw, thanks for the nice comment, Birds.

 

Matthew wrote:

 

"That's what I ask when I'm awkwardly stuck talking to someone and I've run out of my other question, which is asking their name."

 

At St. John's, we just say, "Can you tell me whether virtue is acquired by teaching or by practice; or if neither by teaching nor practice, then whether it comes to man by nature, or in what other way?"

 

We all read the same books; that makes for easy conversation.

 

"when some nostalgic prom queen tries to force her mermories on the unsuspecting student body"

 

 

"Are the two terms interchangable?"

 

No, not at all. In fact, there are plenty of leathermen who don't practice BDSM of any sort. "Leather" (at least within the gay leather community) refers to a subculture that has two roots: the gay motorcycle clubs (or its descendants, gay fraternal organizations dedicated to charity work) and the gay SM groups. A lot of leathermen practice BDSM, and a lot of BDSM gay men are leathermen, but the two activities don't necessarily go together.

 

"It would seem, from my point of view, that BD is just as much a part of leather as D/s is."

 

Well, you might as well say that D/s is as much a part of leather as BD. The leather community is splint into various groups that don't necessarily share each other's activities. Any leather story that deals with one of these activities doesn't necessarily have to deal with the other activities. For example, a very good online story I know of, Daddy Takes a Holiday, only has fisting and the slightest bit of D/s in it. But the main character is clearly part of the leather culture, so it's a leather story.

 

I could certainly have called this a D/s story instead. To me, the fact that the narrator is trying to draw the other man, not only into his own life, but into the leather world, is an important aspect of the story. He's not just interested in getting someone to share his bed; he's interested in getting someone to share his community. That's part of the reason why the ending is upbeat.

 

"So why call something that simply has some D/s in it a leather story?"

 

Because my narrator isn't just a sir (i.e. dominant) - he's a leather sir. This is more obvious in one of the earlier stories in the series, "Spontaneous." His way of approaching D/s is shaped by his participation in the leather community.

[Jack Scribe]

Aw, thanks for the nice comment, Birds.

 

"Are the two terms interchangable?"

 

No, not at all. In fact, there are plenty of leathermen who don't practice BDSM of any sort. "Leather" (at least within the gay leather community) refers to a subculture that has two roots: the gay motorcycle clubs (or its descendants, gay fraternal organizations dedicated to charity work) and the gay SM groups. A lot of leathermen practice BDSM, and a lot of BDSM gay men are leathermen, but the two activities don't necessarily go together.

 

"It would seem, from my point of view, that BD is just as much a part of leather as D/s is."

 

Well, you might as well say that D/s is as much a part of leather as BD. The leather community is splint into various groups that don't necessarily share each other's activities. Any leather story that deals with one of these activities doesn't necessarily have to deal with the other activities. For example, a very good online story I know of, Daddy Takes a Holiday, only has fisting and the slightest bit of D/s in it. But the main character is clearly part of the leather culture, so it's a leather story.

 

I could certainly have called this a D/s story instead.

 

"So why call something that simply has some D/s in it a leather story?"

 

Because my narrator isn't just a sir (i.e. dominant) - he's a leather sir. This is more obvious in one of the earlier stories in the series, "Spontaneous." His way of approaching D/s is shaped by his participation in the leather community.

 

Hi, Dusk,

 

I think your perspective for a newbie being exposed to leather is worthy for many of us who are pretty vanilla. I'm only vaguely aware of BDSM...and leather...and D/s. I was surprised that you didn't capitalize Sir. BTW, I've never seen dom/sub abbreviated that way. But it makes sense. I hope that what you presented as a short story - very well written - is a very mellow introduction.

 

The only BDSM stories I've read are in the Authoritarian section of Nifty. I don't share the fascination of slavery and slaves. I'm not sure I'm ready for a fisting exercise but...each to his own.

 

Good going,

Jack

[Dusk]

"I was surprised that you didn't capitalize Sir."

 

Ah, that's me being nonconformist. I don't like to use nonstandard capitalization for a variety of reasons, one of them being that I communicate to a wide range of readers, some of whom aren't familiar with leather conventions. I try to make things as easy as possible for them.

 

"BTW, I've never seen dom/sub abbreviated that way."

 

Oh? Well, it's meant to be parallel to M/s, mastery and slavery. Personally, I usually abbreviate dominance and submission as DS, but I thought folks here might be more familiar with the other abbreviation.

 

"I'm not sure I'm ready for a fisting exercise"

 

Neither was I, the first time I read a fisting story. The majority of my fiction is, well, somewhere in the no-man's-land between vanilla and leather. Coming out of the fantasy literature tradition, I was used to writing about dark stuff like imprisonment and slavery. Think Lord of the Rings or any other mainstream fantasy series. So when I started writing gay fantasy stories - or rather, started writing down the stories that had been in my head for years - they were naturally on topics like imprisonment and slavery. Only suddenly, instead of my stories being considered mainstream, I found that they were being gobbled down by BDSM readers. Very odd, because I hadn't changed my subject matter at all; I'd just added a smattering of sex scenes and a lot of romance.

 

Reassuringly for me, mainstream readers like my gay fantasy stories too.

 

My leather stories are actually a lot lighter than my fantasy stories. I announce my fantasy stories on forums for "dark" fiction, but I can't do that with my leather stories, because they're humorous. I also find it amusing that I can announce all my leather stories at erotica forums, because not all of them are NC-17. This particular story is PG-13.