501 Labour for Canyon Ranch
You
expect Cowboys to feature in a collection of gay fantasies at some
point, but this is not the old Wild West, but modern ranch farming.
Two fit young men are being forced to run on bare feet, towed on a
chain by a ranch hand who is riding a horse. The captive's limbs are
completely unrestrained but they have no choice but to follow him.
I
have posted two other, similar scenarios to this recently in A
New life of Air Force Boys and A
New Life for Sam, but they depicted fully-restrained men, there's
a more subtle control at work here. It makes for a lively image in
which domination seems a normal state of affairs.
The
two captives wear matching shorts which seem something like a
uniform, perhaps indicating a former military link or it may simply
be the dress-code for the Ranch they are joining. It's not clear how
these men were recruited for Canyon Ranch nor what their role is to
be when they get there. There's less call for labour in cattle
spreads but these two seem to be regarded as being more like
livestock.
Illustration
for 'Canyon Ranch'
(story not by Amalaric and not presently available as far as I know)
502 Hairy Buck
The same status applies to this
man (another magnificent specimen of manhood from Amalaric). The barn
seems an entirely fitting setting in which to experience his animal
aura. The chains show respect for his physical strength which
will be put to good use and developed further by working on the farm.
Well satisfied with his latest acquisition from the Stock Auction,
the farmer discusses arrangements for using him with his Foreman. He
talks about putting him before the plough*, his obvious suitability
for breeding and availability for occasional, private entertainments, behaving as
though the subject himself is not present, not able to hear and
understand what they are saying.
*(see also Part 4, 10th Stage)
In a sense this scene
mirrors own Amalaric's own occupation of finding suitable 'stock' and
putting them to work in the settings of his stories and images. I
imagine he feels a similar pride in significant new acquisitions. You
may recognise the character on the far right from the last image of
Part 4, where he was deliberating on the future of Pete
Deveraux (lately a PE Coach). The reappearance of anonymous
characters in different stories gradually develops mysterious but
dimly-recognisable identities for them. Identities that add depth to
the images and help create an underlying sense of unity across
Amalaric's work.
Image from 'Hairy
Buck' at Telemachus
503. Another Spring
Round-Up
'Rodeo Round-Up'
whimsically expands on this notion of humans being substitutes for
animals in the context of the annual Auction and Rodeo of a rural
community. This image depicts cowboys rounding up 'Free Range'
livestock for the event. It's not explained just how free,
Free Range men are. Whether, for example, this chap was
'previously-owned' but put out to pasture or completely 'wild' but
just happened to be passing by at a bad time.
Humans, unlike animals,
know that Farmers have certain expectations of their livestock
involving procedures such as milking, shearing and others less
pleasant to contemplate, like branding and gelding. The term
'husbandry' acquires rich new meanings in this context with the
ever-present threat of more drastic solutions for beasts that don't
deliver. I suspect this frightened colt is aware of some of those
possibilities, the restraint arrangement here suggests something's in
the offing and it might be whatever is spooking him just off-camera.
He's blissfully unaware of a more mundane interest just behind.
You may recognise the
Ranch hand here, it's quite a well-known image, pure beefcake . In
the original, the downcast eyes suggest modesty or a manly
indifference to the prying camera. He's a man whose acquaintance you
might be glad to make in other circumstances. It's amazing how
thrusting another man into his eyeline transforms him from that
regular cowboy into a lustful cow-poke. Or perhaps he's just
wondering where to apply the branding iron.
504 Examining The Merchandise
The Stock Auction is the
opening event of the Rodeo and is preceded by the opportunity to
examine the creatures on offer. The artist shows the viewing taking
place in a vast, historic, timber building which seems to infuse the
proceedings with a sense of great tradition and cultural importance.
The variety of men on offer ranges from stallions and bulls to sheep
and lambs and all of them will be wondering 'who will buy me and what
for?' Work? Breeding? Or merely as pets or playthings?
That teasing penis
inspection on the left might be the casual interest of a farmer hoping to impress his neighbours,
perhaps of a professional breeder or a provider of intimate personal
services, or is he just a groper and gawker willing to pay the
admission fee for the thrill of a brief touch? In fact, the narrative
informs us that the well-dressed man on the left is an undercover
MOSLA operative who is preparing to pay a hefty premium to secure
such a fine bull. His overseas clients will pay him a fortune for the chance
to harness this beast's sexual potency to their exotic tastes.
“The big bull
submitted to the stroking and fondling, completely unaware of his
probable fate”.
Some owners are better
than others and their scrutiny may give a clue to that, but
ultimately these men have no say in the matter. They'll all find out
soon enough when they reach their new home. That reality seems to
have suddenly hit the man in the distant background as the Auction
Assistant summons him to stand on the block. This is a domain where
ownership is a commonplace, casual affair and must be accepted by
those who are subjected to it.
The erection and direct
intimate contact shown here is quite a rarity in Amalaric's imagery.
He's usually content to simply imply sexual contact, even in his
writings. Of course, this particular situation does have the
contextual veneer of professional respectability. Later in the
narrative we learn that both the 'Bucking Broncos' and 'Bareback Bull
Riding' events end in sexual intimacies (for the successful cowboys
anyway).
You should recognise a
familiar figure in the centre, starting to seem distinctly sinister
now.
505 Shearing A Lamb
Amalaric's description of
the Rodeo encompasses a wide range of competitions and
demonstrations. Shearing the lambs is one of the most imaginative and
difficult to perform, since the lambs must be caught and stripped of
their clothing before their modest amounts of hair can be shaved off.
Although their hands are tied behind their back from the start, they
are encouraged to resist and the sight of the shears ensures that
they do. It's all against the clock and the weight of the 'fleece'
counts too, so a comprehensive clearance, even between the legs and
under arms is essential - and hugely entertaining for the crowd. The
nice sense of struggle in this image is heightened by the crazy
angles.
506 Lassooing and
Roping
Having
had time to imagine what their rounding-up may lead to, it's probably
a relief for this group of men to discover that they are only needed
as demonstration material on this occasion, providing a vehicle for
the cowboys to show off their rope skills. Like the lambs, it's
expected that they will try to evade capture and resist. The captives
assembled here show signs of continuing anxiety, perhaps worrying
whether that dog is a trained, herding animal or an uncontrolled
scavenger.
The
stunning background landscape lends the scene an atmosphere of
wholesome outdoor sport.
Images from Rodeo
Round-Up at Gay Bondage Fiction
(subscription site with some free chapters)
507 Stud Hunting
Amalaric expands on the
Round-Up theme in 'Stud Hunt Safari' at Telemachus. The title pretty
much describes the plot with 20 desirable young captives being given
a chance to earn their freedom by evading a hunting party on a remote
island for the duration of 'The Hunt' – i.e. 5 days.
A recent movie 'The
Hunt' was based on a similar idea except that those hunters
aimed to kill their quarry. Amalaric's original is much less blood-thirsty (and
all-male of course!). Knock-out darts are the only ammunition in his
yarn and any stud who gets caught simply becomes the hunter's
property, an equally dystopian outcome I suppose, but rather more
interesting erotically.
In the image above, the
youthful beauty of the hunted is contrasted with their unappealing,
grizzled pursuers. The man making a run for it (whose twin we saw
before at the top of this post) is almost certain to be brought down
and will probably come round to find himself securely roped and bound
for a new life with a new owner.
508 The Trophy
This hunter drops his
catch off at the packing shed to arrange shipment home, but he
lingers long enough to test how the man deals with a bit of training
and to set his expectations off on the right foot. Offering men as
competition prizes instead of using a conventional sales process adds
the thrill of the chase to the buying experience. Of course it will
tend to cut out the weaker members
of the herd first, unless the hunters are very discriminating. The
best of the bunch may get away altogether. Perhaps there's an
option of tossing a catch back into the pool if the hunter's
dissatisfied, but I can't imagine this hunk getting that lucky.
The hunt for and
forcible acquisition of desirable manflesh is a major strand in
Amalaric's work and these whimsical pieces fantasise a world where
hunks are forced to accept that fate, they are fair game for
abduction and ownership by those who have money and power. There's
some sort of quasi-legal underpinning for it all which means they
can't file a complaint if they are set free, they must just
thank their lucky stars and enjoy their good fortune.
'Stud
Hunting Safari' is at Telemachus
509 John Shows His
Physique
'Hunting Jarheads' is also a story about cutting out members of 'the
herd', but these are members of the general population and have no
idea they are being hunted. It's the story of a single rogue hunter,
a loner who illegally stalks individual prize specimens for his
personal gratification.
The
hunter, Ric is the narrator of the story. He is much attracted to
Marines or jarheads as they are known. Their fitness, attitude and
ability to defend themselves adds up to an enticing hunting
challenge, requiring great guile and cunning. His patient stalking
process is best set out in the story of 'John', one of four innocents
who succumb to him. Ric first spots John with some friends on a beach
and cultivates his friendship over a period of weeks by preying on
his jarhead weaknesses – his vanity, cocky self-confidence and his
youthful inexperience and loneliness.
This
is an early story but you wouldn't have guessed that from the skilful
description of Ric winning the unsuspecting stud's confidence and
gradually luring him into his web. He eventually makes his decisive
move after an evening's drinking has further softened John's
defensive reflexes. A little flattery of his physique persuades John
to half undress, he even allows Ric undo his jeans for him,
eloquently demonstrating his trust in their friendship, but also his
vanity and inebriation. This image shows the resulting Tee-Lift
(Undress Stage 3 in Part 4 in combination with the Fly
Spread, Stage 7).
510 Get Down On Your
Knees
A
pair of handcuffs have been casually left on the table to give John
food for thought and now prompt Ric to tease him about his ability to endure
punishment, knowing it's a matter of honour for a Marine. He tricks
John into spilling beer on the settee and challenges him to a
role-play punishment so he can make amends and prove how tough he
really is. John's pride is piqued and he agrees and is gradually
manoeuvred into the handcuffs. Ric repeatedly makes sure he is
willing to go on and manages to make him kneel and admit (in
role-play) that he deserves the punishment that is coming. After that
John freely offers himself up, mounting a bench dressed only in his
briefs to initiate a stunning punishment scene that boils with
testosterone.
"His long body glistened with nervous sweat, muscle strained in high
relief as he balanced on hands and knees. His long, smooth back
arched suggestively, high ass thrust outward fit to burst the
stretched cotton of his briefs, thick hairy legs slightly splayed and
head bowed between massive shoulder blades…waiting for his just
deserts”.
(Hunting
Jarheads Chap 7)
Ric's
punishment of John is as neatly structured as his ensnarement and a
concise narrative conveys it's intensity and John's manly endurance
of it, straining against the bondage but intent on demonstrating that
he's a Marine and he can take it. He even reaffirms his consent
halfway through and in the end, after 40 minutes, Ric actually has to
force him to utter the safe word so he can stop.
Only then does John
ruefully acknowledge:-
“Damn,
you lay the leather on like an expert, man…” and tried to smile.
(Chap 8)
511 Staked Out
After
this, John naturally expects to be released so they can go back to
their beers. His honour and toughness have been proven and
(apparently) he holds no grudges, validating Ric's choice of him.
That's not Ric's plan of course, he refuses to release him and within
hours he's smuggled him over the border into Mexico where he
undergoes much more restraint and 'training' including a day
spread-eagled and teased under the desert sun.
In
these images Ric is nicely characterised as an attractive fit man,
but he's always fully-dressed, standing back, watching. The
punishments are largely delivered from a distance with whips, prods
etc but nevertheless his intensely physical attraction to John is
very evident. There are moments of intimacy but he repeatedly
postpones all but the most teasing of sexual contacts. Both men go
unsatisfied during several days of intimate manoeuvrers.
512 Tommy Chained Up
John's
torments are interrupted by his Marine buddy, Tommy, who arrives just
as John's been wired up for his first taste of electro-stimulation.
Tommy is only making enquiries about where John might have
disappeared to and doesn't suspect Ric of being involved.
Consequently he is easily taken down at gunpoint, to be imprisoned in
an outbuilding and given a 'light' introduction to the cat. This
image featuring heavy sweat and moist underwear seems to elegantly
capture this sudden and astonishing reversal of his fortunes.
In
this tale, John and Tommy's story is interwoven with that of an
earlier target of Ric's, Timmy. He was a body-builder, who was
spooked at the crucial 'undress' stage by Ric's clumsy mishandling of
him. He fought back and in the end could only secured at the point of
a gun. This messy outcome caused Ric to refine his technique and John
becomes a primary beneficiary of that. All three men's storylines
break off abruptly after the initial punishments, leaving them tied up
(and in John's case wired up) anticipating more unpleasantness to
come. You sense the author is reluctant to let any of them go, but
can't resist returning to the thrill of the chase, for another 'hit'.
But Ric's 4th acquisition turns out rather differently.
513 Rob Corlis
Rob
Corlis is another Jarhead whom Ric befriends and eventually lures to
a (different), remote, desert hideaway on the simple pretence of them
spending a long, relaxing, boys weekend together watching football
etc. On the journey Ric drops hints that the facilities are basic,
but when Rob discovers he's expected to sleep in a barn, he changes
his mind and wants to go back.
Ric
then confronts him with photos of his indiscretions with the
Commanding Officer's wife. He tells him that the CO has offered him a
private, punishment arrangement to avoid the embarrassment of a full
military tribunal and dismissal from the service. Rob has little
choice but to agree. You may recall Ryan and Todd were persuaded by similar arguments (in Part 4).
Ric
tells Rob he has to perform a military-style 'work detail' as his
penance and makes him strip down to under-briefs to perform it. This
humiliation has just the right amount of logic in it to allow Rob to
accept it. As his reluctant undress into captivity begins, he
provides us with a rather nice, vertical variation on the Stage 3,
Tee Raise, i.e. The Open Shirt (plus a simultaneous, Stage 7, Fly
Spread).
514 Rob's First Taste
of the Whip
Rob
spends the rest of the day working in the hot sun, demolishing walls
and shifting blocks under the encouragement of Ric's riding crop.
After that, he reckons he's paid his dues but instead he gets his
first taste of shackles and, after a period of reflection on his
errors, an introduction to the whip (witness the pink-tinged skin in
this picture). You will observe it is delivered in the traditional
X-spread position. He sleeps naked in the barn that night and wakes
to another cycle of work and punishment.
515 Rob's Hard Labour
After
the first day Ric is so pleased with Rob that he decides he's going
to 'keep' him and attempt to domesticate him, indeed there's even a
slight suggestion that his interest is returned. He offers to uncuff
Rob so he can piss properly and Rob replies:
“Yeah....
and then…...maybe we can do some stuff......but I gotta get back to
the base”
or
is this just the gameplay of a man desperate to escape?
Amalaric
describes Rob's captivity in much more detail than any of the other
men, it mostly comprises of more 'creative', exhausting, but fairly
pointless, work tasks that nevertheless attract penalties if not
carried out correctly. The punishments vary from standing shackled to
a post for hours on end to the more immediately painful options we
are familiar with. The uncertainty attached to when they might be incurred just adds to
Rob's torment of course.
This
punishment by hard labour resembles what happens to Dave in 24 hours.
It creates a more realistic story than an endless regime of corporal
punishment (although Dave soon ends up in that position). In fact Ric tells us later that he doesn't need to whip
Rob every day(!)
516 Rob's Bath Time
Such
is Ric's enthusiasm for Rob, that his narrative delves into their
shared, domestic routine, including hygeine, R&R and supervised
sexual relief. The illustration above shows Rob's continuing
humiliation in the most private of tasks and Ric's unflagging
interest in looking at him and enjoying his body (and why not?).
With
Rob and John, Ric seems to cultivate a genuine, intimate relationship
as though hoping that their Marine's ability to endure punishment
will become a willingness to accept it on a regular basis. But he
doesn't want submission of course - spunky resistance and escape
attempts are part of the game (and to be punished of course) but in
the end he rejects Rob after he almost succeeds in getting away.
Their bromance ends with a cursory disposal, which has the appearance
of petulance.
From 'Hunting
Jarheads' at Gay Bondage Fiction
(subscription site with some
free chapters)
Full publication of this story is on-going.
~
The
common theme of 'The Hunt' in these stories produces some
unexpectedly compassionate attitudes to the targeted studs. In both
'Rodeo Round-Up' and 'Stud Hunting Safari', the men are compelled to
participate in contests of man vs beast, but these are more athletic
than painful in the main and there's an element of 'fair-play' in
their treatment with evasion and resistance encouraged in the
interests of entertainment. Some of them even have a chance to earn
their freedom if they come through their trials with honour and they
seem to accept their situation with equanimity.
'Hunting
Jarheads' is different. The targets are free men with no idea they
are being hunted, but in this case too the hunter goes out of his way
to be 'fair' to them, as though it's a game. He deliberately selects
Marines, who are trained to endure pain better than ordinary men and
indeed he has to force John to say the 'safe word' when he judges
he's had enough, having already given him several chances to back out
of their agreement. He 'goes easy' on Timmy and Tommy for their
introductory punishments and chooses not to whip Rob every day during
his captivity. He also shows awareness about the danger of condemning
Rob and John to roast under the desert sun, coating them with
protective oil (which does no harm to the view of course). In contrast he seems
to quickly lose interest in Timmy and Tommy, as though the need to
take them down at gunpoint had spoiled the game with them (although
that may change, their stories are unfinished at this point in time and I've had a hint that Tommy's due for a fair crack of the whip!)
This
common element of rough games and fair-play gives these stories a
light-hearted feel despite the grim underlying captivity.
517 Day is Done
This
vision of suffering and abandonment in the desert is a far cry from
all that.
The
sun sets after a blazing hot day leaving the wasteland shimmering and
a muscular prisoner sweating astride a sloping bench. His sunburned
body is being subjected to a grizzled cowboy's cruel whip and he
raises his eyes imploringly to heaven as though seeking solace and
escape. In the distance another cowboy arrives, semi-clad and exuding
sexuality. He's casually strolling as though not wishing to rush this
man's punishment, willing to wait to play his own part in the
proceedings.
This
image has an immediate visual beauty and there's an abundance of
erotic sensuality in that hunky, oily body, but it also feels like a
more significant statement. The desolate setting is thought-provoking
in itself and the line of perspective that connects the three figures
recedes into hazy nothingness in the far distance as though there's
nothing left in the world for this man save pain and relentless
punishment.
~
We
continue with that theme in Part 6 of this Series “CruelJustice”
Read this series from Part 1
