Two guys in corsets (corset vests, that is, from The Other Woman), a love of rope and a weight-bearing horizontal pole. Now if that isn't a recipe for a fun afternoon, I'm not sure what is. Monk and I bought these corsets on the same day at Shibaricon a couple of years ago, and they were the impetus behind us starting to discuss shooting together. This shoot happened last year, on the same day as the inverted suspension we did.

I can't say enough good things about Monk and our continually developing friendship. He's a gentleman (despite his protestations to the contrary), he has generously allowed Michele and me access to his rope craft for our art and our play. Neither of us has done much same gender play, though, and it was fun to find space in our rope that was comfortable emotionally and respected our individual boundaries so that we could merely enjoy the rope experience without having to worry about our "masculinity" getting in the way. Very rare in the realms I travel.

It was great watching him figure out the mechanics of how he was going to get me into the horizontal position we'd picked. Conversely, he was happy that I was able to just stand up and take some of the burden off of him when he was untying me. Nothing like working with someone who's creative and appreciates what you bring to the table, too.

And he looks almost as good in a corset as I do.