The Look of Dawning Reality - Tommy loses at poker

 The evening had all started so amicably.....

...... the guys he met in the hotel bar seemed ever so nice.

Or so it seemed on the surface ......

They suggested carrying on drinking in their room after the bar had closed

...with a nice game of cards for amusement.

Unfortunately Tommy hadn't played poker before.....

 

The alcohol inside him didn't make it any easier.

Tommy was soon losing everything.......

And then suddenly the other guys weren't quite so friendly any more......

 

And so the evening took an unexpected turn........

 

Well it did as far as Tommy was concerned anyway.

I suspect the other two guys had expected something of this sort.

 ~

This No 26 in 'The Look' series at mitchmen blog,
click on the label at the foot of this post to view the others
or use the mitchmen search function (top right in sidebar) 

~

Tommy played by Tryp Bates (also see him Beautifully Bound)

Images and clip courtesy of Kink.com, clip edit by mitchmenblog

See the full Tryp Bates video and images at Kink.com, shoot 38497

Art by XenoForge - Venom

XenoForge - Venom

 This is the first Art I've seen by XenoForge and it's truly worthy of the term. 

 It depicts the strange love story between Venom and Eddie Brock, the human who is, for a time, the host of the strange alien 'symbiote' (essentially a parasite that merges with it's host being). It's a tastefully erotic image but does not evade the physical intimacy of their love. The tentacle-like embrace expresses Eddie's capture by overwhelming feelings, but the more subtle, more deliberate sensuality of their touching palms seems to reflect a cautious bridging of the vast biological difference between them. 

The drawing of Eddie is amazingly economical, but it's a compelling and convincing depiction of an ordinary but attractive man. The blotchy background, reminiscent of Hasegawa, invokes a strange, unfamiliar, floaty medium vaguely suggestive of bubbles in water and stars in the firmament, but it's the colour of passion, pounding blood and there's just a hint of danger. 

~

XenoForge has a twitter account @XenoForge 

The main focus of his work seems to be the 'fur affinity' genre which is not part of the mitchmen remit so I have not explored it in any depth.

Strip Poker 4 - Welcome to the Slave Transit Camp

click to enlarge

Late at night, a driver had knocked at his door with tickets for a surprise weekend away with his girlfriend. He had 15 minutes to throw some underwear and swimming trunks into a case. "I'll meet you when you arrive" the message said. But she wasn't at the airport when he landed, just another driver holding up his name on a piece of paper. A long drive had brought him to this remote camp which wasn't at all the luxury hotel he had expected, he needn't have worn his posh suit after all. 

He was so relieved to see her there, waiting for him and looking as gorgeous as ever. They kissed long and passionately and then she took him a hut, which he thought would be their quarters. But there was a guard on the door, and when it was unlocked he saw the hut inside was full of bunks and little else .....except for a lot of other men. 

They greeted him warmly when he was pushed inside, inviting him to join them in a game of cards, but they all looked tough, very rough and ready, not at all like the city types he normally mixed with. While he was wrestling with this confusing situation, he heard the door close behind him and the sunlight that had streamed in through the door was extinguished leaving only the light of a bare bulb. The guard and his girlfriend had gone. A key rattled in the lock. 

He turned to his new room mates. They were looking him up and down, very strangely. He realised that his reunion with his girlfriend had turned him on considerably (big time, his new friends were thinking). He'd been planning to jump into bed with her as soon as they were alone together and it probably showed through the thin fabric of his expensive trousers. Their stares made him uncomfortable. It was starting to feel very hot in the hut.

~

Original illustration for 'Star' magazine by Mort Kunstler

Text and caption by mitchmen

'Cop Duty' by xth13teenx

xth13teenx - Cop Duty 1 - You Are Under Arrest (detail)

I occasionally feature Chis Redfield, the games character from 'Resident Evil' here at mitchmen. I'm not a gamer but I like his character of a very attractive, 'moody butch' man in his original 'official' images (although he changed in later releases). There's a lot of fan art around for him but much of it reinvents his appearance (e.g. Ariel XY, WithNoTitle). This artist, however is very true to the original.

 

xth13teenx - Cop Duty 1 - You Are Under Arrest

The other interesting thing about Redfield was his involvement with 'biohazards' which created imaginative foes for him in the gameplay and fan art. This image is clearly not about one of those encounters although this androgenous 'cop' is not quite normal. Rest assured it is a man though, seemingly the sort of wierdly camp villain Hollywood likes to pitch against superheroes and secret agents from time to time. As a sterotype of menace it's a double-edged sword for gay men*, but it still manages to create a sense of sinister uncertainty for Chris. He looks great here, bare topped and handcuffed as he submits to a groping search up against the wall before being hauled off to the slammer. It looks like we've just missed his shirt being ripped off leaving only the tie round his neck.

* I should perhaps explain that this artist's output is not homophobic, in fact most of it depicts Chris Redfield's intense, gay relationship with a BSAA colleague Piers Nivan. Their intimate moments as a couple are explored with great sensitivity and mirror idealised heterosual lives.

  

xth13teenx - Cop Duty 2 - Quid Pro Quo

 

In this interrogation image, it becomes very obvious that Chris' opponent is not a cop at all, which makes the situation seem all the more confusing and threatening as he places his foot on the chair between Redfield's thighs, something that one couldn't imagine real cop doing - even a bent one. The chair bolted to the ground and futuristic, sound-proofed surroundings imply what you might call 'greater forces' are behind all this. In the face of it all Chris manages to preserve his manly poise in a most attractive manner. The slightly mystifying title becomes clearer in the images that follow. Sadly I only have fragments of them but they still succeed in stimulating interest.

xth13teenx - Cop Duty 3 - Going Down

 

Chris is forced to give service (I told you it's a man!) and his still-cuffed hands create a nice sense of submission even in this severely cropped image.

xth13teenx - Cop Duty 4 - Favour Returned

 

It's something of a surprise when the cop returns the favour. At this point he is revealed to be Chris's lover Piers and the whole charade an elaborate love-making roleplay. Chris makes another great, chest-out pose as Piers gets to work between his legs.

 

xth13teenx - Cop Duty - 5 Top to Bottom

The give and take continues on an even more intimate level. Even though these images are severely censored the sight of muscular hero Chris being stuffed still excites.

~

 There's a big gallery for xth13teenx at Deviant Art but the Patreon site referenced on the last picture is empty and appears to have been abandoned. The more explicit images signposted there don't seem to be available on the internet right now, not even for ready money.

More Strip Poker Art

Etienne - Strip Poker

This early Etienne picture depicts a more daring undress moment than Krabat did a few posts back. This poker stud seems to be wearing no underwear beneath his jeans- or is that a glimpse of the skimpiest of briefs? Or a tuft of hair even? The other players watch with great interest - and they are all showing subtle signs of arousal if you look closely. The man on the right seems to be anticipating the invention of the mobile phone, or perhaps he's holding out his 'hand' of cards with the intention of stuffing them inside. In fact all three on-lookers have their hands in typical jerk-off or stroking 'poses' with their cards substituted for cocks. In the case of the one seated on the ground, the juxtaposition of the fan of cards relative to his groin is a rather elegant example of 'hidden eroticism'. The interlinked feet suggest that he may be the first intended beneficiary of what's about to be revealed.

More Etienne art at mitchmen

Art Bob - We're Waiting......

In that (necessarily) closeted era, straights were often used as cover for homo-erotic ideas. It's very obvious that there's only one man interested in the woman here. The other sits back waiting for something different and it looks as if it might be well worth waiting for. You sense he's quietly confident of success too, a prospect that is fuelled by the obvious discomfort of the woman in this trio. 

This portrayal of a gay man, confident of being able to outwit a woman and manouveur a straight man into his arms, plays to the establishment paranoia of the time. It was a reassuring fantasy for gay men, empowering in a way, but many gay hearts were broken by unrequited love for a straight friend.

A very early Etienne version of this scenario shows the three ending up in bed, where the gay man helps himself to what he wants while the straight man is otherwise engaged and eventually the woman is side-lined.

There are two more pieces by Art Bob in the mitchmen post 'In Praise of Sailors - 12' .
(see image Nos 46 and 47) One of them features a similar triangle.

 

Palanca - Poker Losers

 Palanca's brand of sexy, Latin masculinity infuses this marvellous scene of casual domination and grovelling submission and service. The two toughs have been tied up to ensure they pay their forfeit in full for losing at cards, allowing the victor to relax and enjoy their naked humiliation.

More Palanca at mitchmen

 

 

Mike - Stud Poker

 Mike is an unjustly neglected artist, this is a great, sexy image with the central figure dazzling his companion with his shining cock but looking round as if wanting us to join in. I presume he is the winner in this game but notice that it involved an extra Ace of Spades. Is he showing us where it was concealed? The loser doesn't seem too concerned about the result anyway!

 

Perkins - Strip Poker

Virtually every picture I've ever seen by Darold Perkins suffers from lack of resolution in the copy but this one has an interesting undertone that is worth attention. 

 

It shows a cowboy poker loser about to remove his jeans, but the other three players seem to be supremely disinterested in what he is doing. One in a cowboy hat looks like the archetypal poker pro, smoking, focussed on the game and giving nothing away. The two in the foreground seem more interested in displaying to each other with legs wide open and one has his foot resting on the rung of his companion's chair which is unmistakeably intimate. 

 

Meanwhile, heaps of clothes are piled on the floor and three more men, all stark naked, stand in the background. These seem to have been eliminated from the game already and now waiting to see who the winner will be and how they must pay their debt to him. Or them, because it may be winners, since this elimination switches the balance, there are now more losers than winners, a suitable time to conclude the play and move on to the apres-poker?

The man standing with his back to us has some intriguing detail in the nether regions.

Art of Jaguar - Darius

I've adapted this scene by Jaguar Art, it was originally from a story about hetero cuckolding with the cuckoo in the nest being fairly obvious! I just like the image so I've made it a gay man and his female friend dabbling in things they don't understand. The next image is a sequel after Thomas wins.

 

Art of Jaguar - Darius

Although this is taken from a heterosexual comic there is a great deal of ambiguity about what Darius is actually doing to Thomas here which is not explained away by the words. I imagined Thomas winning the poker game and taking one for the team, only to find that the sight of him being plundered has persuaded his friend to try it for herself. You can make up your own minds.

more at Art of Jaguar

~

More strip poker to come (link pending)

Beautifully Bound - Tryp Bates

 I love this image of Tryp Bates being tied up and gagged in a fetish shop. 

Purely for display or is this a shipment to a customer?

After all he is a very cute man, fit too! Highly desirable.

 

 Tryp is primed for the prospective customer.

I've been a fan of this type of leg restraint ever since I first saw it in the William Higgins image featured here at mitchmen in 'My Fetish Initiation'. It totally immobilises the captive (apart from knee-walking) without restricting access to desirable areas.

Images from Men on Edge 40094 (has a video trailer)

Strip Poker 2 - Get 'em Off!

I depicted the Strip Poker scenario in my own 'mitchmen' way in one of my earliest pictures.

It was part of the mitchmen series "This Christmas....will be different" which takes an irreverent look at some of the British traditions for that season of the year

 

Mitchell @ mitchmen - Strip Rummy

 

Tradition No 9 - Playing Cards

This Christmas, my sister is bringing her hunky new boyfriend, Darren, to Granny Edna's Christmas 'do'. Granny Edna won't come to the main family get-together, because she doesn't get on with Uncle Charlie. So, to keep the peace, Sis' and I go and have a turkey roast with her (yes another one) on Boxing Day .

Afterwards we always settle down to what Granny calls' a nice game of Rummy'. It should be more interesting than usual this year, because I've spiked Granny's 'New Berry Fruits' and Sis's Elderberry Wine. They can doze in front of the fire while Jake and I introduce Darren to'Strip Rummy'.

Oh yes, I've marked the cards. You guessed didn't you?

~

Read the whole of 'This Christmas..........' at Adonis Male mitchmen club (free membership)

 

 ~

 

more strip poker to come  (pending)

 

 

 

Another whipping from Leo Art

Leo Art - The Devil's Toy

While perusing BrosFate's 'Heroic Band' blogs I stumbled across the work of Leo which is also published there and this image caught my eye (for some reason!). Stylistically it's very similar to the BrosFate whipping gif in my last post but Leo has his own identity at pixiv (see below). He piggy-backs on BrosFate's blog for some posts. The two artists are obviously connected and I dare say this image was inspired by that of BrosFate (or vice versa) but it's rather more polished and detailed. Leo, like BrosFate, uses the device of non-frontal nudity to highlight the vulnerability of his hero (named Jin) and although I'm not a massive fan of supernatural stuff, the imposing but indistinct figure of the Devil confronting him, whip in hand, makes a truly scary threat. You sense Jin is bracing himself for the worst.

 

Leo Art - Jin's whipping

 This scene features the same character and seems to flow from the same inspiration as the image above but it's not neccessarily related to it plot-wise. Render art tends to be based around characters rather than stories and artists understandably delight in manipulating them and dressing them like Action Men/GI Joes. 

This image skillfully treads the line between authenticity and bloody excess in depicting the results of a severe punishment session . In fact the punishment may still be in progess, since neither we nor Jin, the victim, can see the perpetrator, who may still be poised to strike again just out of sight. Meanwhile Jin is left facing the bare wall and a table bearing an array of intimidating torture devices. A barred window just above is open to the cold blackness of night outside, the glowing brazier to one side being of little comfort for him in this plight. 

Leo Art - Jin, Tribal Warrior

This is one result of Leo's experimentations with his character, Jin. He gives him an interesting blend of modern looks with ancient adornments (as we imagine them) and the result is quite sexy. I rather like the pouch design and the claw embellishment to his jewelery which gives him a bit of edge. It is surprising though how short, coiffeured hair (much as I prefer it) drains the character's menace away.

 

Leo Art - Soldier Smoking

A lot of Leo's art is of beefcake poses and yoof's at play but he's also done some interesting military imagery. This example probably owes a lot to the renderer's library of poses but it's still a nice picture with the hand ambiguously screening the crotch creating a bit of extra interest.

 

Leo Art - Military Depot 01

This image shows the same soldier back at work and displaying an eminently cuppable bulge which, by some good fortune, his hands are too busy to screen any more, let alone protect. He has a thoughtful expression on his face. Meanwhile in the distance another soldier walks off with hands in his pockets helping to highlight some alluring buns. Would it be presumptuous of me to link these two things? Has something happened between these two men? Military Depot 02 might be interesting!

Leo Art - Boot Training

Sex and domination simmer in this image showing three recruits preparing to undergo 'boot' training. They've been ordered to wear exceptionally skimpy underwear plus boots but nothing else save their ID tags. If they were tempted to question this unusual demand, the intimidating sight of these two muscular instructors would have dissuaded them. They are dwarfed by them here by some trick of perspective and sensibly stare rigidly ahead lest wandering eyes unleash a torrent of embarrassing military-style abuse from their mentors. I suspect they will be brought to full attention before long!

Leo Art - Frederick, Desert Soldier

I can imagine this soldier observing the Boot Training preparations with a degree of trepidation that the same humiliation awaits him - with a touch of arousal too, judging by the tightness of his pants. Unfortunately his physique would probably make it hard for him to wriggle out of the Instructors' sights were he so inclined.

Actually I've just included this beefcake image because I like it, particularly the clingy T-shirt effect which isn't entirely convincing, lacking as it does any creases, but it cries out for touching and closer examination. There's a bare top variant image at the pixiv site but I prefer this one.

Leo Art - Fight Club

This is another image probably derived from the render library but dressed to taste and it still works despite a fashion faux pas which can be legitimately blamed on the social inadequacies of the villain. He doesn't seem at all inadequate in the downstairs department, however. I rather like Leo's 'tasteful' groin bulges which hint at bulk without resorting to explicit outlines. 

The elbow demolishing the character on the left is quite a novel move and there's a promising interlocking of thighs. I'm afraid I don't know what happens next, but confess that the villains interest me more than the young super-heroes do.

The mitchmen verdict on Leo Art? - Shows great promise, hope to see more edgy work.

~

visit Leo Art at pixiv

There's a small selection of Leo's work at BrosFate's blog. It isn't specifically tagged with his name, so you have to read the descriptions to pick it out, his style sometimes helps. Some of these images are replicated on his pixiv site, but not all.

Strip Poker

Krabat - Strip Poker

 A classic, homoerotic seduction situation that probably only ever exists in the imagination of gay men and that may be the reason why it's rarely depicted. This picture comes from a series featuring the characters from the game 'Overwatch', left to right above:- Jesse McCree, Gabriel Reyes with a magnificent back development and the very handsome Jack Morrison undressing. 

Jack's good looks make him a prize scalp for the other two but they've had to resort to cheating (bottom left) because they consistently lose to him . This moment when he starts to fall into their trap and begins to undress is sweet indeed.

Jack is officially gay in the game, so this scenario is not as edgy for those immersed in it as it might be if he was the sacrificial, 'straight' man. The sexualities of the other two are ambiguous but the artist seems to imagine them all to have gay inclinations which they indulge with each other when they're not fighting (see below). However Jack (aka Soldier 76) also has a role as leader in the group and 'sensible reconciler', which enables the others to enjoy his levelling down on a more 'blokey' level.

 

Krabat - Love

See more of this artist at Art Station, pixiv or just browse search engines.

(and Patreon if you fancy forking out for the gamble of seeing something you like).

A whipping for The Young Knight - from BrosFate

Brosfate - Ryan Whipped

 This dramatic animation is one of Brosfate's recent works, related to his story 'Young Knight'. Ryan is the Young Knight in question and is seen here being whipped for the amusement of his captor who, you will notice, is well wrapped up for the damp chill of the dungeon. Poor Ryan is stripped to his woolly underwear but I suppose the exercise is keeping him warm elsewhere.

 

Intriguingly Ryan's lips are moving, but what is he saying? To me it seems to be "ask me" but that doesn't make sense, could it could be counting? e.g. "eight, Sir", I hope not, that reference seems unreal for the context. Suggestions for defiant words from readers are welcome!

 I didn't feature this story in my original, mitchmen review of BrosFate, but some of the imagery is quite unusual and imaginative so I've added some examples below

 

Brosfate - Ryan is Blessed

This rather splendid picture invokes the way we imagine chivalry was conducted in medieval times, with majestic ceremony and duty entwined with religious sentiment. Not nudity maybe and yet it doesn't seem completely out of place here, symbolising Ryan's absolute deference to his Lord and his purity of spirit, which was an important quality in Arthurian legend and is the core theme of Wagner's Opera 'Parsifal'. These are both Victorian constructs, of course, and the composition and bright colours BrosFate uses also chime with the Pre-Raphaelite movement in art of that era. 

Ryan's youthful nudity, tastefully rendered here, also gives the image a distinct erotic buzz, expressing vulnerability and contrasting with the elaborately dressed, experienced, older men who surround him watching his initiation into the knighthood. One is irresistibly reminded of dirty old men lusting after youth, well you know what priests are like!

 

Ryan and Goliath - Nightmare 2

This picture also draws on the imagery of great Art, most obviously Michaelangelo's 'Creation of Adam' but the device of two flying characters reaching out to each other also figures in numerous other religious works about salvation which is closer to the subject matter here, BrosFate even includes the fires of hell. This modern interpretation by Marc Fishman is interesting,

On the erotic level it's Ryan's nudity once again which stimulates the juices, that and the beastly hands reaching out to claim him, there's even one groping between his legs. Apart from the glimpse of pubic hair it's again very tasteful nudity as if to underline his purity. 

The Goliath character who is desperately trying to save him is a fellow soldier whom Ryan has fallen for. The moment where they meet (shown below ) is rather humourous and shows that Ryan is not as innocent as these images paint him. Goliath's role as rescuer here plays out the gay adolescent fantasy of an kind, older man showing the way into sexual adulthood. Brosfate defers to modern homoerotic iconography by showing him restrained by tentacles. What would Michaelagelo have made of that?

 

BrosFate - At The Well

Ryan offers to wash the back of a sweaty soldier who is highly embarrassed by this attention from a higher ranking Knight, not least because he is very much attracted to the young man and no doubt well aware of his own limitations in the looks department. He can't quite believe that his feelings are reciprocated or that it's possible to bridge the social gulf between them. Having got up close to his hairy hulk, Ryan the soldier Knight seems to have become more boyish in appearance and that's echoed in his naive approach to seducing Goliath. The innocence of this scene is charming and I have no doubt many of my readers will have memories of similar, perfectly innocent fantasies about older men.

BrosFate - Punished for Disloyalty

Ryan  suffers a fair amount of punishment in this story, including another whipping from his own brother Logan for disloyalty. Ryan protests that he wanted to stop the fighting and I'm sure that his moral superiority must irritate his brother as much as his defiance of instructions. This martyr-like punishment continues Brosfate's quasi-religious characterisation of him. This is not as good an image as the others presented here but it fairly obvious why I've included it.

See more of Young Knight at BrosFate's Tumblr including Ryan's temptation by a Devil

 Read the original mitchmen review of Brosfate's work in 3 parts

News - The Mighty Foo

The Mighty Foo - Fire!

The Mighty Foo tells me he has now produced a story which draws together the threads of his highly developed fantasy of a world where soldiers go into battle with their male lovers and where death and sexual feelings are inextricably linked. Two such heroes, captured during a reconnaisance mission face execution, but it's a rite which must be conducted strictly in accordance of the exacting laws of the ancient Gods. It's a rite that tests them all. The story is copiously illustrated with some new and some previously published images. Be warned that some scenes are very graphic.

Read ' The Lover's Execution' at FetLife (free membership, request friend status)

Read the two part, mitchmen Review of Foo's Art