"Our Daddy who art in heaven, hallowed [1] be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done [2], on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread [3], and forgive us our trespasses [4], as we forgive those who trespass against us [5]. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever [6]."

1. When something's hallowed, you don't tread there lightly, or without commandment. Why are people afraid of graveyards (hallowed ground)? Because they don't know what happens there, they don't understand it, and they're afraid of getting smacked. Same with God.
2. Total abasement, praying that God accept the complete subjugation that is offered, rather than beating the worshipper again.
3. Begging for basic sustenance.
4. "Please, don't hurt me, I didn't know that you'd be displeased by me sipping balsamic vinegar instead of wine at Communion!" Or any other relatively meaningless precept of faith. (This is almost as bad as the Judaistic prayer shawl... loosely translated, the prayer includes the phrase "...and may this act [of putting on the shawl and blessing it] be sufficient to carry out the 187 commandments that require it to be worn..." I'm not certain about the exact number, but it's very large.)
5. Classic "Do as I say, not as I do" -- this entire prayer is about complete abasement before the Lord. However, just like children (especially bullies, or the ones who get into fistfights over the "my dad can beat up your dad" argument), the people who pray this way completely forget it until the next time their training is called upon, which is usually the next time they go to church.
6. Moderately meaningless flattery -- but again, it shows that the worshipper is abasing him/herself utterly before God, and essentially throwing him/herself back into the mental attitudes of feudal Europe (noblesse oblige [the Lord has the right to do whatever he wants with the people he protects, as the price of his protection], a severe lack of any control over what they want to do, etc).

Rather interesting little meme the church came up with, to enforce subjugation of the populace. But the entire reason for this post is because 'Daddy' has a specific connotation in the B&D/D&S/S&M community -- someone who takes care of their boy (or girl), in return for rights to do whatever they want with or to their boy (or girl) within reason. This is a standard response to emotional, mental, or sexual abuse as a child, which leads to the following concept:

Why are so many Jewish people into BDSM? Because they have an abusive-father relationship with their God. And it's the same with Catholics, who accept their punishments from the church.

Ah, BDSM. Wonderful concept. Wonderful people. Wonderfully perverse.

So why is it so damned hard to find a good top, or a good dominant? I'm currently talking with a friend of mine, on the MUCK called Tapestries (http://www.fur.com/tapestries/ for information), and he's telling me that he doesn't feel he fits well into current society, and would feel better with someone to take care of him. In exchange, the person taking care of him would be "in charge" within and without the relationship... including sexually.

Gee, this sounds like a perfect recipe for slavery to me. (Note: That link is to a copy of my own slave contract, posted on Everything2.com.) Abdicate rights to your Master, and your Master returns them if and when He sees fit. A kind of "noblesse oblige" concept... "I take care of you, therefore I get to do whatever I want with you."

In my case, I don't trade freedom for safety or security. (Well, maybe I do, to an extent.) I always have the freedom to walk away and say "no". The contract I signed... well, it's unenforceable. But it is still signed, by me, with full faith to uphold its terms. (I stayed up until 8am for three nights in a row to write the damned thing, wrestling with myself over and over again over the issues that I came across... what would I be willing to give Him, what would I reserve for myself, what things could He expect me to give Him, what things could I expect from Him... important stuff like that. Eventually, we bounced versions back and forth, and we came up with the version that we signed on 24Mar2001.)

And now? It's more than 6 months later, and I'm still with Him. And I realized tonight that He's truly the first man I've ever been committed to, enough to not really want to play sexually with many other people. (Even though I still will -- He doesn't seem to have that high of a sex drive, especially right now. I need a bit more sex in my life than He's willing to give me right now...)

Oh well. I should stop rambling. Wanted to talk about BDSM, ended up talking about my specific instance thereof. Sheesh.

Dear Konami:

This is an open letter to you, from me... I don't claim to represent the gaming community in any way, shape, or form, but I truly hope that you will listen to what I have to say.

Regarding your recent BeMani releases for PlayStation in the USA (Dance Dance Revolution USA, and Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix), I would first and foremost like to thank you for finally listening to your fans, and bringing them over from Japan. However, I've got a small question for you -- it is not a question that you need to answer to me, or to anyone except yourself and your stockholders. Just who are your target market for these games?

I'm bringing this question up because of something that's been troubling me: the comparatively low quality of your releases in the US, as opposed to your releases in Japan. I have purchased the US versions of DDR and DDR Disney, as well grey market original CDs of the Japanese DDR 1st Mix, 2nd Mix, 3rd Remix, 4th Mix -- all of them had MUCH more in the way of fun stuff to deal with, and much more in the way of music to play with, than the US versions. In the US version of DDR Disney, you didn't even include more than 6 songs with a rating of 6 difficulty steps or higher for a single pad. Plus, the voices were much less entertaining than in other versions of DDR. Not to mention that it wasn't anywhere near as configurable.

Also: I cannot find any store that has un-bundled versions of the Konami Dance Dance Revolution Controller pad. Since I already own a copy of DDR USA, I don't want to have to purchase it -again- to get a branded pad -- and I certainly don't want to have to purchase two additional copies in order to get the pads suitable for dual-mode play.

So, I ask again: Who's your target market? Kids who will pester their parents for money? Early to mid to late teenagers with money to burn? Or how about the people who essentially created and maintain the fan organizations for your games -- the early 20 to 35 year old crowd, who maintain places like ddrfreaks.com, and who are the most passionate evangelists for the Bemani series of games in the USA?

Sincerely,

Winged Wolf

Sex. The blessing and bane of my existence.

Okay, yes, I'm addicted to it. It's an addiction that I'm not being very successful at shaking. Part of it, perhaps, is that I'm not ready to shake it yet. Whatever the case, though, I enjoy it a lot.

But, like everything else in my life at this moment, Master has imposed rules on it. Listen up -- this is important -- this is the set of rules that I have to live by when I have sex:

• I can be fucked by anyone I wish, as long as it's safe.
• I can suck off anyone I wish, as long as they're clean.
• I cannot penetrate anyone else without Master's explicit consent on a case-by-case basis.
• I cannot orgasm without His permission... but if I can cum from being fucked, it will make Him happy. (This does -not- include stroking or being stroked while being fucked.)

Annoying. But since I love Him, and He truly has made a marked difference in my life... I'll abide by these rules.

Whee. If you don't already know, I've got a severe sensitivity to silver. Specifically, I can't touch it without knowing it... painfully. (My usual description is 'it burns without leaving a mark on my skin'.) All well and good -- I've had this sensitivity for more than 5 years now.

Lately, one of my friends (Phyxis) has been thinking about this particular problem... and is asking me questions about the various metals I've come in contact with that cause pain. I think he's just as confused as I am about it. Quite entertaining -- I gave up trying to figure it out several years ago, and just accepted it.

There are those who suggest that being unable to touch silver is a sign of being a werewolf. All I have to say is, "God, I -wish-."