Jack Fisher’s Sexy Sunday Thoughts: San Diego Comic Con 2019 Edition
For most people, the middle of July is just the epicenter of summer. School is out, the pools are open, and heat waves are the norm rather than the exception. It’s not a bad time of year by any stretch. However, if you’re a fan of comic books, superhero movies, and all things geek culture, this time of year is basically the Super Bowl and Christmas.
That’s because the San Diego Comic Con is going on and for those who love superhero comics as much as me, it’s one of the most wonderful times of the year. It’s not just about teasers, movie trailers, or news about upcoming comics. It’s an event like no other. Whether you’re a fan of the X-Men, Superman, or the Walking Dead, Comic Con has something awesome to offer.
One of the best parts this most uncanny event is the cos-players. As someone who has dressed up more than once for the New York Comic Con, I can attest the joy of this colorful side of fandom. It’s not just about geeks wearing costumes on a day that isn’t Halloween. It’s passionate fans showing how much they love something. That passion is worthy of respect.
I’ve met many amazing cos-players. Some really raise the bar their costumes. The people behind these costumes are incredible people. They love what they do and they look awesome while enjoying it. There’s so much fun to be had at events like this. One day, I hope to go to San Diego Comic Con. For now, I’m content to celebrate it and the cos-players who make it awesome with my Sexy Sunday Thoughts. Enjoy!
“Laughter might be the best medicine, but making love is far more effective at healing.”
“For many people, an orgasm is their first overtly religious proclamation.”
“To some extent, divorce is the romantic equivalent of a cancellation fee.”
“A wedding may be the best day of your life, but your honeymoon will always be the more fun.”
“Being in love means wanting to be part of someone’s life, but obsession means wanting to dominate their life.”
“Orgasms are one of the few things where quality and quantity are equally desirable.”
“Love potions in fairy tales are just kid-friendly version of a drunken hook-up.”
To all those lucky enough to attend the San Diego Comic Con and those who made it more awesome by dressing up for cos-play, I sincerely thank you. This has been an amazing year for superhero comics and superhero media. It’s hard to know what to expect, but after taking in the festivities of Comic Con, the future looks bright, colorful, and sexy. Nuff said!
Filed under Sexy Sunday Thoughts
“Hot Dream” A Sexy Short Story
The following is a sexy short story about sexy dreams, sexy bedtime activities, and what happens when you blur the line between the two. It’s compound sexiness at its finest. Enjoy!
“Another late night,” sighed a restless Victoria Rhodes. “Why do I keep doing this to myself?”
She didn’t bother answering that question as she dragged herself through the front door of the apartment she shared with her boyfriend, Jason Leeroy. She tried not to make much noise. It was past midnight and she was the only one on their floor who worked such erratic hours. Even though she was used to the demands of her job at the law firm, she always seemed out of synch with those around her.
The day still shouldn’t have been that long. Several clients insisted on dragging out basic legal proceedings and, ever the opportunist, she volunteered to cover the overtime. It should’ve been over in time for dinner. Instead, it went past sundown and beyond.
“Hell, I know why I do it,” she muttered as she closed the door behind her. “The real question is why I drag the people I love through the muck?”
Setting aside her keys and purse, Victoria gazed into the darkened apartment to see that her work life and personal life were woefully unbalanced. There was a half-eaten bowl of popcorn on the sofa and a bunch of disheveled blankets strewn over the sides. It reminded her that she’d promised that she’d be home in time to catch up on some shows they’d been binge-watching. Once again, she broke that promise.
She hated breaking her promises, especially to someone who’d been so patient with her. Many of Victoria’s past relationships failed because her lovers couldn’t keep up with her ambition. Jason was the first to last more than a year as she pursued her goal of leading a major law firm. He just kept supporting her and she kept giving him reasons to regret it.
“I’ll make it up to you, Jason,” Victoria said under her breath. “I know I say that a lot, but I mean it. I really do.”
Sighing to herself and shaking her head, she made her way to the bathroom, stripped out of her overpriced business attire, grabbed a towel, and prepared herself for bed. She was tired, but still very restless. She wasn’t sure she could sleep, but she had to try. At the very least, she had to be rested so she could properly apologize to Jason in the morning.
“Quit making excuses,” Victoria told her reflection after washing her face. “You’ve found someone who loves and supports you. Don’t take it for granted.”
Still leaning over the sink, her face still wet and her mind still racing from a long day, she cast herself one last critical scold. Assuming she’d have plenty of time to resent herself tomorrow, she set aside the towel and retrieved a nighty from the laundry hamper. That was something else she should’ve done after work, taking care of the laundry that had piled up. It was yet another thing Victoria kept putting off.
Again, she set that issue aside and focused on getting some much needed rest. Now earing her black nighty and the same white panties she’d put on that morning, she turned off the light and retreated to the master bedroom she shared with Jason.
Not surprisingly, he was already fast asleep, the comforter barely covering his legs and waist. He looked peaceful, more relaxed and content than she’d ever been. It came so easy to him. It probably helped that he worked in the music industry, often with jazz artists and soft rock groups. She envied that ability to just lay back, unwind, and let a stressful day just melt away.
“Oh Jason,” Victoria said under her breath. “Finding peace comes so easy to you. If only we all had that talent.”
With a yawn and a light stretch, she carefully pulled back the covers and slipped into bed with her lover. His warm presence, alone, was enough to ease her anxious mind to some extent. As she snuggled up to him, though, she noticed something else.
He was naked. That was somewhat surprising. While it wasn’t that unusual for Jason to sleep naked, it rarely did so without the influence of a major summer heat wave. Even if it was the middle of spring, she still expected him to wear boxers. Having seen him naked many times before, as well as slept with him, Victoria shrugged it off.
Then, as she curled up closer, she noticed something else that further explained why he’d ditched the boxer shorts. Jason had a full-blown erection.
“Whoa,” Victoria said. “Someone is having a nice dream.”
As she laid next to her lover’s sleeping form, she sensed her observation had been more accurate than expected. That erection matter of male reflexes or morning wood. Jason really was dreaming. She could tell by his quickened breathing and rapid heartbeat. Even in the darkness, she saw how his expression shifted erratically. Those were not the signs of someone in a deep sleep.
“I stand corrected,” she said with a humored grin. “Someone is having a very hot dream.”
Jason stirred slightly in her presence, but didn’t wake up. Being such a heavy sleeper – a natural adaptation, as he called it, from having a father who played guitar and a mother who sang showtunes – it took a lot to wake him up. She didn’t think it allowed for such vivid dreaming, but the proof was rock-hard flesh pressing against the sheets.
“A hot sexy dream,” Victoria mused, “maybe that’s what I need…if only to remind myself why I push myself so damn hard.”
Snuggling closer to her lover, she found herself lightly embracing his sleeping form. In doing so, her thigh grazed over his rigid member. That got a reaction from Jason. She swore he cracked a smile in his sleeping form. Something about that made Victoria smile as well.
Still restless, she rubbed her thigh against it a little more, feeling the manly flesh along her smooth skin. It wasn’t just sexy. It was oddly refreshing, reminding her that she was still young, healthy, and in love with a handsome man. That was something that shouldn’t have required a reminder in the first place, but it still felt so right.
“Mmm…guess it’s not as hard for some people…figuratively speaking,” Victoria said under her breath.
Again, she rubbed her thigh against his hardened cock. She swore it got more erect under her touch. She saw his smile widen. She also felt parts of her body react as well. Even in her restless state – or because of it, even – she felt a twinge of arousal between her thighs.
That feeling, and all the implications that came with it, inspired a new recourse. If Victoria was going to overwork herself while overwhelming those she loved, then she might as well get creative with how she managed everything. Having a naked, fully-aroused man in her bed presented a unique opportunity.
“Maybe I need more than a dream,” she said in a deep, sensual tone. “Maybe I need something more real.”
Opting to take advantage of the opportunity, Victoria channeled her sexy side – a side that she hadn’t been able to exercise in quite some time. Looking up at her lover and recounting how her work habits had hindered their love life, she suddenly felt motivated to rectify that.
With a mischievous grin, she lightly pulled the covers back to reveal Jason’s rock-hard boner. For a brief moment, she marveled at how a man could get so aroused in his sleep. It helped that her lover was very well-endowed. Jason’s older brother once joked that the men in their family had their most extraordinary traits hidden by their ordinary stature. Seeing his manhood at full arousal made clear that it was no joke.
Victoria, already licking her lips intently, carefully grasped the hardened shaft with both hands. Jason reacted again, shifting a bit in the bed, but remaining asleep. Once he settled, the restless woman dared to take the intimate moment even further. Using a careful mix of tact and affection, she leaned in and began giving him oral sex.
“Mmm…yeah,” Jason gasped in his sleep.
It was a good sign. He must have thought he was having an especially vivid dream. Something about that encouraged Victoria even more. Glancing up at her lover through the darkness, she grew bolder and began sucking him off.
She was more careful than usual, going nice and slow, trailing her lips and tongue along the length of his cock. He was so hard. She could feel the veins bulging around her lips, throbbing with the kind of masculine arousal that evoked the most primal of desires. Tasting, licking, and savoring his manly flesh, the experience didn’t just intensify her own arousal. It helped purge from her the anxiety that had followed her home from work.
“You like it. I know you do,” she whispered, adding more vivid details to her lover’s dream. “I like it too. It’s getting me so wet.”
That wasn’t just dirty talk. As she continued sucking her lover’s cock, she felt her own horniness escalate from a twinge of heat to a firestorm of arousal. At one point, she released one hand from the base of Jason’s cock and slipped it into her panties, fingering and stimulating her outer folds to maximize her arousal.
Soon, they were both fully aroused. His dick was so hard and her pussy was so wet. Looking back up at her lover’s sleeping form, it might have been easy to just keep sucking until he got off. That way, she could convince Jason that he’d just had an especially graphic wet dream. However, that would’ve left her unsatisfied. It also wouldn’t have come close to making up for her broken promise.
“I can tell you want more, my love,” Victoria whispered to her sleeping lover. “Don’t worry. You’ll get exactly what you need. We both will.”
Like a sexy spirit of the night, she rose up and took off her clothes, sliding her nighty off over her head and slipping out of her panties. Once she was every bit as naked as her lover, she tactfully crawled atop his sleeping form. From there, she straddled his waist and aligned his cock with her pussy. Then, with the utmost care, she lowered herself onto him, his rigid flesh penetrating her moist folds in an intimate melding of their bodies.
“Ooh Jason!” she gasped in a muted tone.
She tired her best to not be too loud. That wasn’t easy under the weight of the intense sensations that followed. Somehow, whether by miracle or her ability to silence herself in the heat of the moment, Jason remained asleep. They were having sex, their intimate flesh fully entwined, and her lover was asleep. If it didn’t feel so good, it would’ve been hilarious.
However, Victoria’s first instinct wasn’t to laugh. With her throbbing pussy now squeezing Jason’s cock, she remained focused on turning his sexy dream into a blissful reality. She began moving her body, digging her knees into the bed and lightly holding onto his waist. Back and forth, she maneuvered her hips, working her folds along the length of his manhood. Along the way, she rubbed her swollen clit, supplementing every movement with more hot sensations. Even under such a steady, careful rhythm, the feeling quickly intensified.
“Jason…Jason, my love,” Victoria gasped.
“Victoria,” he gasped in a sleepy dazed.
Hearing him say her name, even in his current state, warmed her heart and gave greater meaning to their sex. For all she knew, his sexy dreams involved ex-girlfriends and celebrity bimbos he saw on TV. That wasn’t the case, though. In his sexiest dreams, she was there. She was part of those fantasies. If she hadn’t already been madly in love with him, she would’ve fallen for him on the spot.
“Yes, my darling. I’m here…with you…in your dreams,” she whispered in between blissful gasps.
Whether by instinct or reflex, Jason’s hands found their way to her hips. Victoria quickly took them and guided them to her breasts, allowing him to squeeze them as she rode his cock closer to the brink. She could tell by the way his expression contorted that he was close. She quickly made her way to that special plateau, as well.
She didn’t know if a man had ever brought his lover to orgasm in his sleep, but it couldn’t have been too common. It felt like one of those rare confluence of events that wasn’t impossible, but still improbable. Whatever the odds, it was happening with her and Jason. Victoria was about to climax and so was her lover.
She applied more pressure to her clit, digging her knees and feet into the bed even harder as she jerked her hips through a few more successive motions. She could already feel her lover’s cock throbbing inside her. He was about to pop his load. Then, just as his face contorted to the sweet sensations of his release, she felt it.
“Ohhh Jason!” Victoria moaned, no longer trying to mute herself.
It was like a blanket of bliss covering her from every angle, all those pent-up feelings from excessive work and broken promises washing away in that one moment. Like a woman possessed, she writhed atop her lover, closing her eyes and arching her back as the ripples of ecstasy coursed through her body.
The hard, rapid contractions of her inner muscles helped Jason get his share of ecstasy too. His moans complimented hers as he released a thick stream of manly fluid into her depths, their sexual juices converging in a perfect blend of ecstasy. It embodied the perfect feeling for such an unique set of events.
Coming home late, she’d expected to find her lover fast asleep. Finding him aroused, caught up in a very sexy dream, defied more than her expectations. It felt like a sign, of sorts. Even at a time when she was overworked and overwhelmed, there were opportunities to embrace those intimate passions that made all the work worthwhile.
After soaking in the feeling, committing every blissful sensation and the lessons they carried to memory, Victoria let out a content sighed and rolled off her lover. Their flesh now parted, she curled up next to Jason’s naked body, the post-coital afterglow doing plenty to ease her restlessness. Finally, she felt like she could get some much-needed sleep.
“That was great,” said Jason in an unexpected voiced.
Jarred from her dazed state, Victoria opened her eyes to see a beaming grin on her lover’s face.
“Jason…how long have you been awake?” she asked with an embarrassed, but amused look.
“Since I felt a beautiful woman crawl into bed with me,” he replied.
“And the raging boner you had before that?”
“What can I say?” Jason said with an innocent shrug. “I was having a hot dream. You just helped make it hotter.”
Filed under Sexy Short Story
Daily Sexy Musing: Leaving A Mark
Love leaves a mark. Anyone who has ever been in love knows that. Sometimes, it’s an invisible mark. It’s something that’s etched in your memories, your emotions, and your entire sense of being. You don’t always seek it, but when you find it, you know it’s there.
The same can be said for less romantic forms of passion. By that, I don’t just mean the kinkier side of passion. That’s certainly there and that can definitely leave a unique set of marks. There are times when we just lose ourselves in the moment and wake up with scratch marks we don’t remember getting. They don’t always sting at first, but they too can leave a mark.
They’re among the few tangible manifestations of passion. They can occur in a meaningless one night stand just as often as wedding anniversary. As a romance fan, these moments are among my favorite. They make for some of the most powerful moments in my novels and sexy short stories. When it comes to my personal life, I hope I can leave a mark like that on someone and vice versa.
To date, one of the most memorable marks I ever got from a former girlfriend was a hickey on my neck. I had to hide it under my shirt for a while, but I was genuinely proud of it. Even though she apologized for it, I still didn’t mind. It was actually kind of sweet in its own special way.
Even if you’re not a romance fan, love and lust will find a way to make an impact. That’s what makes it so powerful. Whether it’s etched on your body or within a memory, you’re going to feel it throughout your life. It can be beautiful, bittersweet, and overwhelming. With this Daily Sexy Musing, I hope to capture all of that. Enjoy!
It starts with your lips.
It flows from your hands.
It echoes in your words.
It erupts through your nails.
I sense it in our most intimate moments. When your passion turns to actions, I am at its mercy. I readily subject myself to it. You’re so wild and free. Every gesture becomes a manifestation of our love. When it hits me, it hits hard. Every time I feel it, I want to feel more.
I feel it on my flesh.
I feel it in my mind.
I feel it in my soul.
From the echoes of your gasp, I forge immutable memories. It plays out like a scene from a movie, so graphic and unfiltered. You hold nothing back and neither do you. When you rake your fingers over my body, every nerve ignites with sensation. Some burn more than most, leaving marks that won’t readily heal.
That’s okay. I don’t want them to heal. To love someone is to be vulnerable and being vulnerable means enduring strain. It demonstrates what we’re willing to do for one another. I’ll put myself in your line of fire. You can unleash the full extent of your passion. I can take it. I welcome it.
You accept my invitation.
You unleash the full force of your passion.
You leave your mark.
Now, I intend to leave mine.
Filed under Daily Sexy Musings
The Flaw In Happy Endings According To “Bojack Horseman”
The world can be a harsh, unforgiving place. The extent of that harshness often depends on circumstances, attitude, and even blind luck. Most people, no matter how rich or successful they are, learn that lesson at some point in their lives. It’s rarely pleasant and often leaves scars that don’t heal.
Even with those scars, many cling to a hopeful, wide-eyed idealism about how much better the world could be. Moreover, that world is worth pursuing at every turn. TV shows, movies, music, and literature convinces us that it can be done and still have plenty of room for commercials, ads, and movie trailers. Nearly every great narrative tries to sell us on some unique kind of world-healing happy ending.
Then, there’s the strange and exceedingly depressing world of “Bojack Horseman.” If ever there was a show that went out of its way to kill happy endings with the force of a billion gut punches, it’s this one. Think of all our most cherished ideals from popular media, social movements, and ideology, in general. “Bojack Horseman” finds a way to crush it all while still being funny, albeit in its own dark way.
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I promise it’s funnier than you think.
I say that as someone who has watched “Bojack Horseman” since the first season, but I find myself appreciating its dark themes more and more lately. However, it’s not just because the harshness of the real world is a lot harder to hide in the era of the internet and social media.
Recently, I had a chance to re-watch the past couple seasons. In doing so, I noticed just how much our collective worldview is built around our hope for a happy ending. Almost every character on the show, from Bojack Horseman to Diane Nguyen to Princess Caroline to Mr. Peanutbutter, is driven to achieve some idealized ending for themselves.
For Diane, she seeks to become a successful writer who exacts meaningful change through her work.
For Princess Caroline, she seeks to be an accomplished, independent woman who has it all, both in terms of career and family.
For Mr. Peanutbutter, he seeks to make everyone around him happy and pursue every new project with wide-eyed passion.
For the titular character, Bojack Horseman, pursuing that ending is more complicated. Through him, the harshness of reality seems to hit everyone and everything he comes across. It’s not always through his actions, which are often selfish, reckless, and downright deplorable. His story, which helps drive the show from the beginning, reveals how pursuing idealism can leave us vulnerable at best and destroyed at worst.
To understand how the show does this, it’s necessary to understand what makes this show both unique and appealing. If you only watch the first few episodes, then “Bojack Horseman” doesn’t come off as all that deep. It just seems like a story about a narcissistic washed-up actor who happens to be an anthropomorphic horse in a world full of various human/animal hybrids.
After a while, though, you start to appreciate how Bojack reflects the ugly reality of self-centered celebrities. Whether they’re at the height of their popularity or have been out of work for years, they live in a world that basically requires them to be utterly self-absorbed and completely detached from reality. Living in that world tends to obscure what reality is and provides one too many mechanisms for escaping it.
In the show that made him famous, “Horsin’ Around,” everything was skewed. Every problem was solved within a half-hour. Everyone was happy by the end of the episode. Bojack seems at his happiest and most fulfilled when the cameras are rolling and the show is on. Behind the scenes, which is where most of the show takes place, the ugliness of his reality takes hold.
Without the show, that ugliness consumes him. Over time, it wears on him, causing him to seek that idealized ending that his show often espoused. Throughout multiple seasons, it leads him down many paths. At the same time, others like Diane, Princess Carolyn, and Todd Chavez attempt paths of their own.
From this foundation, any number of ideals can take hold. In Hollywood, or “Hollywoo” as it comes to be called in the show for hilarious reasons, an entire industry is built around telling stories or crafting media that either champion those ideals or distract people from reality. For someone like Bojack, who gets crushed by reality harder than most, it’s the worst place for him to be.
Bojack, and his colorful cast of supporting characters, either embrace or get sucked into this fanciful world. Throughout the show, they get put into positions where they can pursue their dreams, achieve what they think will make them happy, and even are allowed to succeed in some instance. If this were any other show, then that would be the happy ending that both the characters and the audience expect.
“Bojack Horseman” is different in that it goes out of its way to expose the flaws in those idealized endings. The creator of the show, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, has even gone on record as saying that he doesn’t believe in “endings,” at least in the way that TV, movies, and popular media present it. In a 2015 interview, he said this about endings.
Well, I don’t believe in endings. I think you can fall in love and get married and you can have a wonderful wedding, but then you still have to wake up the next morning and you’re still you. Like, you can have the worst day of your life, but then the next day won’t be the worst day of your life. And I think it works in a positive and a negative, that all these things that happen are moments in time. And that because of the narrative we’ve experienced, we’ve kind of internalized this idea that we’re working toward some great ending, and that if we put all our ducks in a row we’ll be rewarded, and everything will finally make sense. But the answer is that everything doesn’t make sense, at least as far as I’ve found. Maybe you’ll interview someone else today who’s like “I’ve figured it out, here’s the answer!” But I don’t know the answer, and so I think it would be disingenuous to tell our audience “Here’s the answer!” It’s a struggle, and we’re all trying to figure it out, and these characters are trying to figure it out for themselves.
This sentiment plays out time and again over the course of the show. On more than one occasion, Bojack seems like he’s on the verge of achieving that happy ending and turning those ideals into reality.
He thinks getting cast in his dream role as Secretariat will give him that ending, but it doesn’t.
He thinks being nominated for an Oscar will give him that ending, but it doesn’t.
He thinks being cast in a new TV show will give him that ending, but that only makes things much worse.
At every turn, reality catches up to him. Whether it’s his many vices, his habitual selfishness, or his terrible choices, it always comes back to haunt him. Even when that happy ending seems achievable, it always becomes mired in complications that Bojack can’t always control. The same complications often impact other characters seeking their own happy endings, as well. For some, it ends up being downright tragic.
At times, the show paints a grim picture about even attempting to pursue a happy ending. Even when Bojack has insights into the process, it’s never as easy as his old TV show makes it out to be. However, the fact he and others around him keep pursuing that ending says a lot about everyone’s need to achieve something greater.
Even in a world without talking horsemen, that’s something a lot of people can relate to. Most of us build our lives around hopes and aspirations that we’ll forge our own happy ending. There may even be moments when we feel like we achieve it, whether it’s graduating high school, getting married, having children, or finally beating level 147 in Candy Crush.
However, even after those moments, the credits don’t roll. Things don’t end. The things that led you to that moment only work to the extent that they led you to that one singular moment. Life still continues and the happiness fades. Bojack experiences this at greater extremes, some of which are downright absurd, but people in the real world experience it too throughout their lives.
I can personally attest to this. When I finally finished high school, I thought that was like slaying the final boss in an impossibly hard video game. I felt the same way after graduating college, getting my first girlfriend, or publishing my first book. If the credits started rolling at that moment, it would’ve made for a great ending.
Unfortunately, life just doesn’t work like that. “Bojack Horseman” belabors that every chance it gets while still managing to inject some meaningful comedy along the way. It’s a lesson worth learning, especially for Bojack. It’s one he’ll probably keep learning in future seasons. Chances are, we’ll all learn with him along the way.
In many respects, the one who best summed up this sentiment isn’t Bojack himself. In Season 3, it’s Diane who lays out the harsh reality that everyone in the real and fictional world struggles to accept.
“It’s not about being happy, that is the thing. I’m just trying to get through each day. I can’t keep asking myself ‘Am I happy?’ It just makes me more miserable. I don’t know If I believe in it, real lasting happiness. All those perky, well-adjusted people you see in movies and TV shows? I don’t think they exist.”
It sounds depressing, but that’s par for the course with “Bojack Horseman.” Reality is often depressing, but it’s not utterly untenable because happy endings are impossible. There are many points in the show that try to make that case. Even Bojack himself tries to make that case, albeit in his own twisted way.
I would even argue that the show’s brutal attack on the very concept of idealized happy endings is uplifting, in and of itself. By making the case that all the happy endings we see in the idealized versions of fiction are flawed, it shows how futile and counterproductive it is to pursue them. The real world is harsh and brutal, but you can find moments of happiness along the way. They’re not endings. They’re just part of life.
Jack Fisher’s Weekly Quick Pick Comic: Age Of X-Man Omega #1
Comics are a unique form of media in that its structure allows a certain kind of story to be told. It’s not like a movie in that it comes out once every few years and costs over $150 million to produce. It’s not like a TV show either that requires broadcast rights, streaming services, and dealing with cable companies.
The simplicity of comics, unfolding on paper and needing only ink and text to convey the story, gives it near unlimited capacity for telling big stories with bold concepts with vibrant imagery. There’s no need to pay Michael Bay or a special effects team to bring it all to life. It just requires a bold idea and someone with incredible art skills to make it real.
A comic like “Age Of X-Man Omega #1” is one of those books that fully utilizes the greatest strengths of the medium. It builds entire worlds while exploring bold concepts on a level that, if it were a movie, would take the gross national product of a small country to make real.
Writers Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler, alongside artist Simone Buonfantino, created an incredible world. Mutants, the X-Men, and their struggle took on an entirely new context within a new realty, courtesy of Nate Grey, one of the X-Men’s most overpowered characters. Age of X-Man has been a story about the strengths and flaws in this reality. “Age Of X-Man Omega #1” brings that story to a close.
From its inception in “Age Of X-Man Alpha #1,” this world that Thompson and Nadler created has been an elaborate thought experiment. What does a perfect, Utopian world look like for mutants and the X-Men? Given the many dytopian timelines the X-Men have explored, it’s not an unreasonable question.
Over the course of multiple books that cover multiple characters and concepts, we get to explore that world and all its complexities. Thompson and Nadler go heavy on the world-building, revealing the best parts of this Utopian vision, as well as price it incurs. With “Age Of X-Man Omega #1,” the full story of this world is complete. Now, it’s up to the X-Men to decide what to do with it.
Like all Utopias, the Age Of X-man comes at a cost. On the surface, everyone is safe and happy. However, there are some dark, disturbing reasons for this. The X-Men of this world, which include the likes of Jean Grey, Storm, Magneto, Nightcrwaler, Mirage, Colossus, Beast, and Bishop, have been uncovering those reasons over the course of the series. Now, they know the full truth.
However, this isn’t just a matter of fighting the source of these harsh truths. Nate Grey is not a mustache-twirling villain. “Age Of X-Man Omega #1” goes out of its way to justify his actions and the logic behind them. In the grand scheme of things, his logic isn’t that twisted.
The greatest strength of “Age Of X-Man Omega #1,” as well as the overall event, is that none of the conflicts were born out of total malice. Nate Grey didn’t create this world to toy with the X-Men or get revenge. He did it because he had the power to end the never-ending struggle that only ever brings them pain and suffering.
It’s at the heart of every Utopian vision, attempting to eliminate suffering so that everyone can be happy. It always comes at a price and Nate Grey understood that price. He even goes out of his way to justify it to the X-Men as they’re opposing him. To some extent, he has a point.
He highlights how the relationships the X-Men forge have been a liability in their efforts. He points out, ironically, how some of their most human traits are the very reason why they suffer so much. His world worked to subvert that and, even though it meant manipulation and subjugation for some, it succeeded in its own perverse way.
That’s exactly what makes the ultimate conclusion in “Age Of X-Man Omega #1” feel dramatic. It’s not entirely framed as the X-Men escaping from a prison or uncovering Nate Grey’s secrets. There is a final clash and it definitely maximizes Buonfantino’s talents. However, that clash doesn’t end because the X-Men defeated Nate Grey.
Without spoiling too many details of a story that has such an immense scope, I’ll note there are some powerful moments in which the X-Men and the mutants they’ve sworn to protect make some difficult choices. They’ve lived in this Utopia. They now know the price of such a Utopia. What they do with this knowledge is less about the battles they fight and more about the choices they make.
For once, there’s no army of killer robots to fight. There’s no deranged, mutant-hating villain to thwart. “Age Of X-Man Omega #1” puts the burden on the X-Men and the entire mutant population of the Marvel Universe to decide the course of their fate. Being heroes, their decisions aren’t that surprising. Even so, those decisions carry a great deal of weight.
As a final chapter, “Age Of X-Man Omega #1” caps off a bold story within an exotic world that dares to explore some weighty concepts. The idea of a Utopia is not new, but it’s a concept that still resonates in both real and fictional worlds. As long as people live in imperfect worlds, fictional or otherwise, it’ll continue to resonate.
The Age of X-Man built a story around an ideal life for mutants, free of conflict and killer robots. That story didn’t bring an end to the X-Men and their mission, but it did put it in a very different context. That, in my opinion, is an uncanny accomplishment.
Filed under Jack's Quick Pick Comic
Daily Sexy Musings: Intimate Echoes
When I was in college, I lived in a co-ed dorm for two years. It was quite an experience, to say the least. I learned a lot about living on my own, having roommates, and surviving in a crowded building full of unsupervised youths. While most of those lessons are more pragmatic than sexy, there are a few that stand out.
One lesson that I learned early on had to do with the unique noise lovers made while sharing a little passion in between classes. The dorms I stayed in were decent by most standards, but they were far from soundproof. I heard things that probably would’ve incurred hefty fines by the FCC, but the couples involved would’ve paid up gladly.
In that environment, you quickly learn the difference between a moan from someone who had a long day and one from someone getting some special treatment by their lover. You also learn the distinct difference in the laughter, gasps, and grunts that people make during intimate moments. They do not sound like anything you’d make when you stub your toe.
Those noises aren’t just the excessive hissing and seething that go on in typical porno. These noises are more subtle. That’s what makes them so powerful and distinct. They’re not always loud and they don’t have to be. That deeper subtext is part of what makes it so intimate. It’s my sincere hope that this Daily Sexy Musing gives everyone a greater appreciation for that subtext.
A simple kiss.
A soft touch.
A muted reaction.
On the surface, it’s so quiet. Your gasps are barely a whisper. Our swirling lips are easily drowned out. The simple gust of the wind is enough to overshadow every noise we make in our passionate moments. However, we both hear them as clear as a ringing bell. To us, they might as well be blaring sirens.
With each loving gesture, we evoke more reactions. They’re unavoidable, impossible to contain or suppress. Every gasp, giggle, and touch echoes with the slightest of sounds. They’re difficult to hear, but we still listen intently. In them, we learn so much about ourselves and our passions.
Without words, we express our love.
Without tools, we taste our passions.
Without thought, we convey our love.
Without guidance, we navigate our desires.
Together, we ruffle the sheets, dishevel our clothes, and evoke more reactions that travel beyond the walls. In every noise we make, we let the world know of our activities. From the way our skin clashes to the distinct tone of our voices, we leave little doubt to all those who hear us.
These are the noises of our love. Every echo is laced with our passion. When I gasp and grunt, I tell the heavens how much I love you. I take my feelings and turn them into real acts with real impacts. When you touch me, every noise carries greater meaning. In every reaction, I try to match it.
These sounds are the soundtracks.
They are the music of our hearts.
Filed under Daily Sexy Musings
Should Teenagers Be Allowed To Use Sex Robots?
There are certain products and activities that society prohibits from teenagers. For the most part, there’s a reason behind that. Teenagers are young, inexperienced, and not mature enough to handle certain things. It’s not an insult, although I don’t blame any teenager for taking offense. It’s just an acknowledgement that most young minds aren’t ready to process the adult world.
That said, things get exceedingly tricky when sexuality enters the picture. Unlike smoking, drinking, or wanting to drive a car, sex is an innate desire that every teenager is wired to seek. You don’t need peer pressure, subversive advertising, or heavy metal music to make a teenager think about sex. Chances are they’re already thinking about it. For parents and teenagers alike, it makes for many awkward conversations.
Pictured are two people who do NOT want to have that conversation.
Thanks to the hormonal onslaught of puberty, a teenager’s sexuality is often in a state of chaos. They have thoughts, feelings, and desires they don’t entirely understand. Their bodies are changing and they’re just trying to keep up. On top of that, the most common refrain from parents and teachers is to repress all those feelings and shame anyone who doesn’t.
It’s an awkward situation, to say the least. I’m not a teenager or a parent, but I think most would agree there’s a lot of room for improvement. Improving comprehensive sex education, providing accurate information, and helping teenagers develop a mature understanding of sexuality will go a long way towards this effort. These are all things we can and should be doing now.
However, what happens once sex robots enter the picture?
It’s a serious question. While I’m sure it’ll elicit awkward laughter from some, I believe this issue is worth contemplating. As I’ve noted before, sex robots are coming. I know that’s a poor choice of words, but it’s true.
Some models are already available for purchase. While nobody will mistake them for actual people, the fact you can buy one today shows the market is there. Sex still sells and, like cell phones before it, the technology will improve. Even if we’re decades from something as lifelike as the model in “Ex Machina,” we’re not that far from something that provides realistic sexual experience.
While there will be plenty of adults who celebrate this technology, as well as a few who condemn it, what will it mean for teenagers? Will they be allowed to legally purchase sex robots? Even if they cannot purchase one, will they be allowed to use one? If not, then how will we go about policing it?
These are relevant questions and the answers don’t entirely depend on logistics. As I noted before, society prohibits teenagers from doing all sorts of activities. There are legitimate legal, social, and even medical reasons for these prohibitions. There are serious, long-term harms associated with teenagers who smoke and drink alcohol. For a healthy society, these prohibitions make sense.
With sex, it’s a lot trickier. While there is some research to indicate that viewing pornography affects teenage sexual behavior, it’s not as conclusive as the harms of drug addiction. Some of those harms have more to do with stigma and poor sexual education than the content itself. Once sex robots enter the equation, though, things get even more complicated.
Porn, for all its quirks and kinks, is a fantasy on a computer screen. A sex robot is a tangible, human-like figure that people can interact with. On top of that, if the robot has a human-like measure of intelligence, it can also provide a realistic sexual experience that the user can share. Robot or not, this experience can be as intimate and satisfying as anything someone might experience in their personal life.
For teenagers, as well as their parents and teachers, this creates both opportunities and risks. Let’s say, for instance, that sex robots are legally accessible for any teenager who wants one. These robots look and feel like any other person. They have a measure of intelligence that allows them to interact and form healthy, beneficial relationships with teenagers.
In this environment, every teenager has a sexual outlet, no matter how awkward or unattractive. They have a sex robot who can provide them companionship, teach them about their sexuality, and even help them learn what they want in an intimate partner. Maybe they even help teenagers struggling with their sexual orientation gain a better understanding of who they are.
Since these are robots, the risks of pregnancy and disease is not an issue. If these robots are sufficiently intelligent, they’ll be capable of guiding teenagers through their sexual maturation, regardless of gender, orientation, or disposition. Instead of hearing some teacher or parent just lecture them on all these awkward issues, they have a chance to experience it first-hand.
For parents, I imagine I’ll still be distressing to think about their teenage son or daughter having sex of any kind. Whether it’s with a person or a robot, it’s going to cause plenty of stress. That’s unavoidable, no matter how much the technology matures. At the same time, sex robots could ultimately be the safest and most satisfying way for a teenager to learn about their sexuality.
The ultimate sex ed teacher.
All that said, there are risks. In a perfect world, sex robots would ensure that every teenager navigates their adolescence with the benefit of a fulfilling, mature understanding of sexuality. Everyone from the most attractive athlete in high school to the ugliest kid in neighborhood enjoys intimate, satisfying experiences through these sex robots. Sadly, we don’t live in a perfect world.
There’s certainly a chance that sex robots could lead to potential harm, which would only be compounded for teenagers. In some situations, sex robots could cause certain individuals to dissociate themselves from other flesh-and-blood people. They may ultimately prefer the company of their sex robot over anyone else, including close friends and family.
This could lead to an entire generation of men and women who reject relationships with non-robot partners, intimate or otherwise. They would see sex with other people as this needlessly complicated, needlessly risky endeavor that offers few benefits. Beyond stagnating the population more than it already is, it could make people more distant from one another than they already are.
On top of that, there could be issues with the sex robots themselves. Ideally, every sex robot would be calibrated to foster healthy attitudes towards sex, intimacy, and relationships. Since computers are rarely perfect and prone to glitching, it’s a given that a sex robot will malfunction at some point. What will that do to the teenager who uses it?
In that case, a faulty sex robot fosters some very unhealthy attitudes in a young, impressionable user. If it’s not caught in time, this person could grow into someone with a very skewed understanding of sexuality. That already happens today with teenagers who are poorly educated on sex. With sex robots, the problems could escalate quickly.
Then, there are the parents, teachers, and authority figures themselves. This is one aspect of sex robots that might be the most difficult to contemplate. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where the adults of the world decide that teenagers shouldn’t use sex robots for the same reason they shouldn’t smoke cigarettes. That may just be the path of least resistance at first.
Where would you put the warning label?
At the same time, it’ll be adults who program, sell, and regulate sex robots. Who’s to say that they’ll do so in a way that has the best interests of teenagers in mind? If anything, people will be more tempted to use sex robots to exert a measure of control over teenagers that even more powerful than controlling their cell phone.
Perhaps parents in religious communities configure sex robots specifically designed to mold their teenagers’ sexuality to their liking. That means anything that may involve homosexuality or bisexuality would be strongly discouraged, shamed, or conditioned. The harm that would do to a teenager is difficult to quantify, although we do have some clues.
There could also be parents who don’t have healthy attitudes about sexuality themselves. Perhaps parents in abusive relationships program a sex robot to reinforce those relationships to their children. From their perspective, they’re not trying to harm or mold their teenager’s sexuality. They’re just conveying what they think is normal.
The (possible) future of normal.
There are probably plenty more risky scenarios I could contemplate. I’m sure those reading this have already imagined a few that I cannot put into words. Whatever the possibilities, the question remains. Teenagers are already thinking about sex. In every generation in every time period, part of being a teenager means contemplating sexuality and dealing with sexual urges.
It’s impossible to overstate just how impactful sex robots will be to society, sexuality, and how people relate to one another in general. Like it or not, teenagers will be affected. Sex robots can certainly do plenty of good. For some, they may be therapeutic. For others, they’ll be disruptive. For teenagers, it could be all of that and then some.
It’s difficult to say, at this point. It’s even harder to determine whether permitting teenagers to use sex robots will do more harm than good. One way or another, teenagers will continue thinking about sex and it’s still going to be awkward for them. No amount of technology will ever change that.
Filed under futurism, human nature, psychology, sex in society, sex robots, sexuality, Sexy Future
