About
This is the Tumblr for Cand86, a.k.a. Gwen, just a crazy girl who spends far too much time online.
This is the tumblr for my as-of-lately rarely updated blog, Pop Shot, a simpler place for me to drop off all the random thoughts in my brain and a dumping ground for every one of the amazing things I happen to find whilst meandering on the Internet- pictures, videos, songs, quotes, and websites that would otherwise languish in folders or on my browser's Favorites bar until I felt I could organize and post them "properly". Enjoy the unorganized mess!
Following
Reblogging this because I was trying to find it a little bit ago (because I knew I had “liked” it, but that’s not really helpful at all when you have 2,000+ likes!) and couldn’t.
Now it shall be tagged and bagged, as it were. Also, if you haven’t watched Simon Amstell’s stand-up, please do so. Now. (Oh, and the first season of Grandma’s House is on Youtube in its entirety as well. So get on that, too).
(Source: saminal)
First thoughts on the Crystal Twist:
* Oooh it’s so pretty! I got one with a color swirl on its edges- a sort of mossy green, and a peacock crystal. And the padded closable cloth thing it came with for storage is really nice, too.
* It’s shorter than I expected? Then again, most dildos seem to be too short to me, mostly because I’m used to ones whose extra length is for a handle, essentially. So I guess the insertable length is probably the same as what I like. But then again, I also really like the extra length that acts like a handle (particularly when it’s curved for sweet ergonomics, but that’s another post).
* It literally screws into my vagina. I mean, I guess I can just push it in, too, but honestly, it’s a little frightening how it feels like it’s meant to be screwed in- like my vag has threading for it.
* It stays in place! Which I pretty much love … my biggest pet peeve is dildos that slide out of you unless there’s something holding them in place or you close your legs.
* Despite being glass, which is smooth, has little drag, and usually doesn’t require much lubrication, this baby needs it. It’s not so much the material, but rather, the shape: it functions almost like a plug, with its wider base right up against the vulva when fully inserted. That wouldn’t be a problem if you were in-and-out thrusting with it, but because the motion is a swivel turn and (at least for me, so far) it feels best when fully inserted, the base is rubbin’ up against my labia a whole lot. The glass is fine inside, gliding smoothly with no friction or problems, but the issues surface on the outside. And yes, I know, I should just add extra lube, problem solved, but I kind of hate using artificial lube and unless I’m really wet, the natural stuff doesn’t last long with the base twisting back and forth on the outside.
* Similarly to the last point, because the base is right up against your vulva and you’re using a twisting motion, I kind of feel like this is a toy best used when you’ve shaved. I didn’t painfully tug on any hairs (thank goodness!), but I felt the potential for it (particularly combined with needing extra lube to keep things nice and glidey).
* I’m still experimenting with the sensation. Epiphora raved about it, and I’m waiting to give myself more time to get acclimated and learn how to get the best stimulation out of it. But as of right now, it certainly feels good, but not mind-blowing. And, because I can’t seem to review any toy without comparing it to the Pure Wand, it doesn’t seem to deliver the same amazingness that the Pure Wand does … while I can happily thrust away for probably a good hour with the Pure Wand without ever feeling the need to add clitoral stimulation, I’m not really diggin’ the Twist unless I’ve got the vibrator going at the same time. And the twisting does feel more labor-intensive, which I suppose necessarily makes it a little less awesome of an experience. But I do like the uniqueness of it sensation, and the shape feels really awesome to clench around- far more so than the ball end of the Pure Wand.
* I really want to know if my vag, like Epiphora’s, would also prefer the counter-clockwise turn.
A recent study by Profamilia has shown that online sex education may be more effective than traditional face-to-face methods as young people are more likely to feel comfortable asking questions & are less likely to end up being taught by someone who is not adequately trained to teach sex education.
Profamilia’s course was offered to ninth graders from 69 schools who were able to access online tutorials on topics such as sexual rights & STIs from whatever location they felt most comfortable. They were also able to contact a personal tutor if they had any questions about the course content. Questions were anonymous, & the response non-judgemental, meaning that more students felt able to express any thoughts or concerns they might have.
Students who took the course, especially those who did so along-side their friends, were more comfortable & confident discussing sex, & more pro-active in taking care of their sexual health, for example taking free condoms & getting tested for STIs.
(Source FastCoexist)
This is a really “Well, duh!” sort of move (obviously, you feel okay asking potentially embarrassing questions with online anonymity!), except one that’s only apparent in hindsight, you know?
There is a lot of butthurt (pun intended) going around about the use of the term ‘pegging’ to describe strap-on sex between a man and woman.
I saw this comment, posted anonymously, in response to criticism of the use of the term pegging in a forum online and had to share.
»Stop saying the word “car” that pisses me off. There are already two other perfectly good words for that thing, you can call it a vehicle or an automobile. Stop using the word “car” though, it just makes you look stupid when there are already two other words that mean the same thing, just call it what it is.
That is you. You sound like a fucking idiot. An incredibly butthurt idiot.Mucho kudos, Anon.
FOR THE RECORD: My position on the term is - GET OVER IT. People think ‘pegging’ is the ‘no homo’ of sex terms; That it’s there to shield those whose entire sense of self worth would collapse if they thought for even a moment that they were in any way ‘flexible’. They see it as reenforcing the stereotype that “anal on a male = gay = bad”.
People like to name sex acts. It’s cute. It’s funny. And even more importantly, it’s SPECIFIC. So, if you want to have a discussion about strap-on sex between men and women without having to reference their sex AND gender AND THEN explain how the strap-on is used, and by whom, you just say ‘pegging’ instead and everyone who knows the term’s definition instantly has a frame of reference for the conversation.
Not everything is about the patriarchal agenda. Sometimes a cigar is just a big, purple, silicone dildo, covered in lube, and mounted in a leather harness with straps and buckles…OH MY!
This could be really cool … except that so many sex toys are awful and terrible and though they say that the toys they offer are “well-researched, good quality, and represent the best value in their category”, that’s pretty vague. Doesn’t tell you if a shitty jelly toy is gonna crop its ugly, stinky head, for example. (Sorry, but after seeing some of the stuff sold on supposedly great sites- and people gushing over them!- I’ll take “good quality” with a large grain of salt).
I do think it could be a boon to the amateur non-affiliated sex toy reviewer who is mainly reviewing toys he/she buys on his/her own, but for someone looking to expand their collection, just two months will buy you something really nice that you can research … as opposed to a handful of things you never use again.
I mean, with Birchbox, you can use crappy makeup or give it to someone else. Harder to do with sex toys.
The idea is cool; the probability of it being worthwhile? Not so much.
It is getting consensually and safely fucked in the ass with lots and lots of lube and healthy communication skills and condoms.
It is not “lets call it something else to help protect heterosexual cis men from being worried their ‘manhood’ is in question while still getting them off”
That andI’m pretty sure Dan Savage coined the term, so yeah, fuck him.
I go back on forth on this because, on one hand, hell yeah, I totally agree! Giving male-recipient heterosexual anal sex its own name in essence reinforces female-recipient heterosexual anal sex as the unquestioned norm.
On the other hand, you can pry from my cold, dead hands such a useful word as “pegging”, which instantly explains the practice with no ambiguity, and lets me search for the content I’m seeking easily (particularly when “strap-on” yields lots and lots of lesbian content).
I just found out the coolest thing about Sebastian Keys- in one of his behind-the-scenes interviews, he talks about how when his family found out that he was doing gay porn, it prompted his dad to come out to him as bi.
Porn, ya’ll … bringin’ family together!
And that his family knows and is presumably accepting of it makes me even happier. Obviously, that’s not always the best thing for everybody, but I tend to think that sex workers who can be honest and authentic about what they do are generally better off. You don’t have to compartmentalize and hide a huge part of your life, you don’t have to lie, you don’t have to worry about being found out, and you have a strong support structure in place to give you stability, acceptance, and unconditional love. I know there are plenty of sex workers who have “adopted porn families”, but I do think it’s important to have confidants who are both not in the industry (to provide an outside perspective) and don’t have a financial stake in your career, you know?
You know, I’m really starting to wonder how much an effect the putting on of condoms in porn has on condom usage in its viewers.
And no, I’m not talking about whether people’s choosing to wear condoms is reflected by what they watch- I’m talking specifically about *how* they put on their condoms.
Not just once, not just twice, but now multiple times, I have seen porn stars putting on condoms wrong. And actually, no, it isn’t wrong for them the way they’re using them, because in virtually no porn shoot does anybody actually ejaculate inside of a condom. Thanks to the everlasting popularity of the money shot, condoms, if and when they are used, are always removed prior to ejaculation. So for their purposes, it really doesn’t matter that they don’t squeeze air out of the reservoir tip, or even stretchily snap them on without paying attention to the tip at all; it’s not going to be filled with anything that would put stress on the latex and cause it to break.
By far the most commonly cited mistake made by condom users (other than not checking for damage and possibly improper withdrawal) in a new overview of data from Indiana University were not leaving space at the tip (between 24.3% and 45.7%) or not squeezing air from the tip (reported by 48.1% of women and 41.6% of men).
I’m not saying porn is to blame- and really, when it comes to porn, at least up until just recently, condoms aren’t typically all that common- but if you are watching porn with condoms, it seems damned likely that seeing them put on wrong multiple times might just override the single banana exercise you did in high school, you know? (If you even got that exercise … according to the Guttmacher Institute, 41% of teenagers, regardless of the type of sexuality education they received, know little or nothing about condoms).
Just random thoughts I’m having. For those who see condoms in their porn (and get to see them put on, since they often magically appear thanks to editing)- are they put on correctly?
