Defeated Army Enslaved

Charles Gleyre - Romans Under The Yoke (1858, detail)

This image depicts the subjugation of an entire, defeated army. 

The muscular soldiers have been stripped of their uniforms and armour.

Reduced to loincloths, their hands are tied behind their backs 

and noose collars of enslavement have been put round their necks.

The entire army was forced to pass under a yoke,

 symbolically bending their heads to acknowledge their failure

and the superiority of their captors,

 who flogged them as they ducked to pass through the arch.

In the full size image of this picture, the artist sought to heap further embarrassment

on the captives by surrounding them with jeering children and choirs of celebrating women.

It's an 19th century work but those sullen, masculine faces and muscular physiques 

still reach out to us across the chasm of time. 

Sadly that homoerotic tang is absent from other, grand works by Gleyre, 

but some have an unexpectedly modern, surreal quality,

Look for 'Egyptian Temple' and the fantasy world of 'Lost Illusions'.

In this image of the scene the captives are tethered together, like oxen. 

This illustrator seems to have heavily based his work on Gleyre's compelling image

But, he's accorded the captives more modest attire, Victorian style.

Another image of the scene shows a captive stripped completely naked

and his clothes and possessions being looted by the captors.

Other artists have imagined a less graphic format to the humiliating submission

with the 'yoke' merely symbolic, the arch actually made from the captor's spears.

However, the flimsy shifts worn by the captives here are scarcely better than full nudity

The depiction is highly sensual and the 'horns' of the aggressive captors

add a threatening tang of sexual domination to the army's subjugation.

~

The event that inspired these images was the ancient battle of Caudine Forks (321 BC)

It wasn't really a battle at all.

The entire Roman army was decoyed into a trap by the Samnites.

Bottled up in a canyon, they surrendered without a fight.

That's humiliation enough for any seasoned soldier.

Samnite Re-enactment Fan

I doubt that the Samnite warriors ever looked quite like this!

But that short tunic and bag dangling from his belt

might have been a useful distraction during close combat!

Tentacle Art by Ruslan

 The early tentacle render portrays a much more dramatic pose pose than most in this genre.

The unfortunate victim is being assailed from above and below by tentacles which have a technological origin, not a biological one. His arms are pinned back by the assailants and one is wrapped round his neck, like a noose, pulling him upwards. Others, emerging from what looks curiously like the innards of a piano, are entwined round his legs and levering them open, leaving the way clear for penetration and milk extraction.

I don't have a site link for Ruslan 

click on the labels below for related posts

Art by Alibobokk aka 'JR'

Alibobokk - Suspended and Pumped

This image is a supreme statement of total, extreme bondage with a man undergoing a uniquely personal, sensual experience under the direction and control of an unseen, external agent. He is tightly bound, face wrapped and suspended in the air, totally deprived of normal sensory stimulation leaving only that provided through the ropes compressing his body and the tubular attachments to his orifices. There also appear to be 2 electrical cables, presumably attached to his pecs. Someone unseen is in total control, but this image is not about him, it's about the bound man.

The artist who produced this striking image signs himself 'JR' on some pictures but he goes under the name 'Alibobokk' on X (previously called Twitter). His art accentuates muscle shaping within the male body sometimes approaching the style of Drtkk.

Alibobokk - Shibari

This image has similar ingredients but the addition of a leotard provides an identity and context for the viewer's fantasies to feed on. With the subject facing outwards it's more suggestive of his vulnerability to control than his inner journey (although the white spillage reveals his intense excitement). The viewer senses (as he does himself) the presence of the man who has lavished time on artistically tying him up and intends to savour the result.

 

Alibobokk - Aloha Chastity

There's no great indicator of age in the preceding pictures but cheery, young men like this surfer-type pop up from time to time in this artist's output, seemingly offering themselves up to us. This sporty man's provocative posing unexpectedly reveals a state of chastity. We don't know if it is a statement of self control or evidence of having submitted to it and perhaps now appealing for release. The viewer can imagine himself as the key holder (if he can keep his hands steady enough!). 

These images seems the wrong way round to western eyes, 

it's origins are Chinese so it should be read right to left.

Alibobokk - Aloha

This image provides the missing link in the sequence and gives a startling glimpse of what is crammed inside that tiny, chastity capsule. Also, one might speculate, evidence of the sort of behaviour that gave rise to its attachment in the first place. 

Apparently Black Cats are positive images in China, associated with wisdom and justice. 

This one's narrowed eyes look more judgemental than enlightened.

Alibobokk - Chastity Guys

This seems like a celebration of chastity. Two, notably muscular buddies seem to be proudly comparing their restraint equipment when once they might have been comparing cock sizes. In a sense the chastity cage is the great leveller but these two devices, though similar, are not of equal size. Older readers may recall the time when men sought out the jeans with shortest zip, perhaps a similar race to the bottom (as it were) applies in the realms of public, chastity display. 

Alibobokk - Shibari at the Office

In this image a tightly-bound office-worker seems to be floating in the air, but is posed as if still seated at his desk. It suggests an office fantasy where a much-admired co-worker is frozen in time, magically elevated, his shoes and trousers made to disappear and then invisibly enveloped in bondage. The top buttons of his shirt have been undone and pulled apart allowing the body harness to squeeze his pecs out through the gap. The reverse re-arrangement of his underpants transforms them into a minimal thong whose sole purpose is to contain his burgeoning erection. It's an extremely sexy picture.

The speech bubbles suggest he's actually a straight man being teased by subordinates who fancy him and offer him sex on account of his excited response to being bound in this provocative way. He vainly protests that he's not what they think but his ID badge lies on the floor as though it represents a vital protective barrier that has been pushed aside. Fortunately the taping of his face hides his identity as well as that of his tormentors should anyone choose to photograph the scene.

The matter of fact title of this picture is reminiscent of books about crafts like flower arranging which would devote individual chapters to the diverse places and occasions when the technique could be introduced, shibari at home, shibari in the Office, shibari in Church,....the list is endless!

Alibobokk - Sub Worked

This is a very similar image which I have included to indulge my own enjoyment of the way the clothing motifs are exploited. The inset 'photograph' seems to reiterate that sense of a man who has been admired from afar until now. His white socks suggest the object of the obsession has a sporting connection. This time it seems to have led to abduction and not just an inappropriate Office prank.

Alibobokk - On his Knees 

A pleasingly clean image featuring attractive, upper body, harness restraint. The captive has a sexy hairline and the focus on his neck continues with a chunky, chain collar and a slightly sinister, dangling cord attachment suggestive of a noose.

The lower half his body is slightly out of kilter with an exaggerated balloon butt (glowing red) and plummy balls which frame a receptive rear, expressing the artist's more earthy interests.

Alibobokk - In The Frame

That earthiness is brought to the fore here. In your face you might say. The ingenious, dual purpose restraint and display block may not be totally original but is a highly polished and convincing piece of apparatus, beautiful in it's simplicity. There's an equally multifunctional plug and probe device whose capabilities to thrill we can only imagine, but thrill they plainly do! 

This set up references the erotic characteristics of tentacle-alia but the probing tubes look to have been engineered by human hand and are suggestive of the practice of colonic irrigation which enjoyed something of a vogue in the 90's. Ball weights (possibly attached via a spring) keep the captive's tackle tidy and out of the way while also reminding him that pleasure must always be counterbalanced by pressure and pain.  

Alibobokk - Plugged and Milked

This sportsman is shown undergoing similar procedures in a slightly more comfortable and slightly less undignified position. But it reveals an expression that tells us that the experience, which might have been expected to be pleasurable, is proving to be demanding for him. It's a matter of degree I suppose and being subjected to strange, new experiences which you cannot control can be very disconcerting.

Alibobokk - Universal Soldier

This artist's interest in tubular, body attachments leads him into the murky regions of augmenting and modifying the body. Here he visualises tubes of an unspecified nature implanted into the groin of his military-looking subject. Tentacle art sometimes fantasises about ultra deep penetrations of a conventional kind but this seems to extend the idea into penetration of the body itself, perhaps in search of internal regions that can be stimulated (presumably pleasurably). 

The dumbbell fitting used to organise this man's balls are a nice detail.

This man is also fitted with a collar tube suggestive of breathing tubes fitted after a tracheostomy which gruesomely extends the niche subject of breathing control (already touched upon in the first image) into startling regions, but this artist's work suggests to me that he's interested in the level of invasiveness and threat rather than extreme experimentations themselves. 

This image seems to encapsulate a search for what you might call the ultimate erotic sensation, a secret internal source of pleasure, the Holy Grail of sex. But it's an internal search apparently, in this case realised through the agency of machines and technology. This artist's work doesn't involve other people except as hidden controllers who appear to be directing the search. Experimenting on their captives by subjecting them to ever more extreme sensations, pleasurable or otherwise. The psychology of this is interesting but I wouldn't pretend to understand or explain it. 

See more of Alibobokk at X (aka Twitter)

Jotto - Jungle Boy Excerpts

The popularity of Jotto's gay fetish art never seems to wane and these excerpts from his recent 'Jungle Boy' series demonstrate that his powers to excite are as strong as ever.

Jotto - Jungleboy Trashed

Jungleboy's captors treat him with contempt.

But they cannot diminish his aura of masculinity.

Jotto - Jungleboy Power-Washed

His physical attributes seem to win him a reprieve.

Jotto - Jungleboy slung

But only so that they can use him.

Jotto - Jungleboy Face Down

Jungleboy is cast aside and  left for dead

But the jungle is his friend, he lives to fight another day.

Jotto - Jungleboy Vengeful

But his spirit is far from extinguished.

Jotto - Jungleboy To The Rescue

Jungleboy is not alone in being abused.

He rescues another victim from the gang, Thiago.

They fall in love.

Jotto - Jungleboy Arrow Shot

But the gang pursue the escapers and corner them.

The reclaim Thiago and punish Jungleboy 'Sebastian style'.

In the historical story St Sebastian is not killed by the soldier's arrows

and so it proves here. 

Jotto - Jungleboy Walking Away

Once again Jungleboy is able to return to the shelter of the jungle.

But it's not necessarily the end.

~

I have tweaked Jotto's story here for presentation purposes, he gives it a surprisingly romantic ending with Jungleboy and Thiago sailing off into the wild blue yonder. In this series he dabbles with some extreme and difficult subject matter in places which I have discreetly tiptoed round in this selection although I have drawn the line at blood. You can find the omissions at the Telemachus gallery link below. However his artistry with the male physique and depictions of 'the hero in peril' are outstanding and even win over my normal aversion to long hair. Super erotic art.

~

 Other Jotto articles at mitchmen blog: 

A-Z of artists article, 
Milking Factories 6, 
Mystery of the Red Barn
also featured in Snakes & Chains

There's a vast collection of gay art at Telemachus 12

see Jotto's Gallery there

The Torments of Channing Travolta

 When a man with a smiling, college jock face calling himself 'Channing Travolta' posts publicity pictures of himself in virgin white trunks, he's creating an image that is an attractive target for all the beastly characters in the world of wrestling who just love to take a self-regarding, pretty boy down a peg or two. 

 

Against Elite Eliot he confident turns up wearing brash red trunks with matching arm bands plus a bleach blond hair-do that projects more edge than his squared-jawed, well cushioned appearance actually delivers.

Nevertheless his chunky physique alone suggests he will be a formidable opponent and more than able to look after himself. So it proves. He gains an early ascendancy over the highly experienced Eliot and pauses to showboat as if to assure us 'you ain't seen nothing yet'.

His undisguised glee while inflicting a painful claw hold on Eliot's face reveals a typically jock-like, cruel streak and contempt for his opponent. Travolta's arrogance is likely to backfire badly at some point, especially against an old trooper like Eliot, who's more wrestler than bully, but no stranger to inflicting unpleasantness on his opponents.

 

Eliot can turn to a dirty trick or two of his own. if he's riled.

And what better way to do it than by grabbing Channing's showy hair?

In very short order, Channing finds himself down on his knees, 

being levered into back-breaking agony.

His pretty-boy face is engulfed by the sweaty hairiness of Eliot's armpit.

But, inexplicably, his manhood pushes out against the restraint of his trunks.

Channing has suddenly lost control of this contest,

His superior weight and strength are neutralised by his opponent with humiliating ease

It's used against him as he is dropped, crashing down onto the canvass.

 

 

His foray into the ring suddenly ends in humiliation and failure. 

see video trailer of Channing v Eliot at Wrestler4Hire

~

A second match quickly follows.

Max Quivers' mask and business suit don't fit the template of a serious wrestler,

 but he's a lot bigger than Channing and that the spooky outfit belies a wealth of fight experience. 

Channing quickly discovers that truth as Max's friendly handshake

 suddenly pulls him into a backwards arm lever and torso twist.

He forces Channing to bend, exposing his fleshy waist to a vicious claw hold.

It's as if those red trunks have angered Max, like the proverbial bull shown a red rag.

Throwing Channing down onto the canvas, the black depths of Max's psyche emerge 

as he wraps his hands round Channing's neck and squeezes the choke hold.

Max releases his hold before Channing passes out, allowing him to roll away 

But then he follows and traps him, pinning his neck beneath the sole of his shoe.

Giving us a nice view of Channing's buns!

As Channing struggles to his knees. Max takes off his tie. 

He wraps it round Channing's neck, pulling it chokingly tight.

Within seconds Channing collapses, gasping for breath again.

Max releases him before passes into unconsciousness.

But Channing's torment has barely begun.

Max removes his jacket, showing he means business.

He traps Channing's arms in torso stretch that has the new boy squirming,

like a turkey who's just found out about Christmas.

That turkey comparison seems to have occurred to Max as well.

With Channing down on his knees before him 

Max seems intent on wringing his neck. 

It's a short step to a repeat of Eliot's humiliation, 

as Channing's face is smothered by Max's arm pit.

I'd wager that Max's shirt is a lot sweatier and smellier 

than Elite Eliot's underarm hair.

Channing's too busy to appreciate such nuances,

because Max's knee is grinding into his back.

The back-breaking attack gathers pace as Max flips him over

and folds his legs into the dreaded Boston Crab.

Channing's chunky physique is marvellously displayed.

exerting every ounce of strength in his body

to stop Max squatting on him and thus capping the move.

His face graphically shows the effort and pain involved.

Max does enough damage to leave Channing helpless on the mat.

Like Eliot before him, he can't resist pulling the Golden Boy up by his bleached hair.

Channing seems to have lost the will to fight

even with his hair being twisted out by the roots.

He's spotted the discarded tie lying on the canvas nearby, 

like a snake poised to strike again. 

Rolling Channing over, Max levers his arms behind his back 

The big college jock is completely overpowered and hurting.

That tie now seems to like a threat of bondage.

Channing bleats something about the rules, as if he's an angel himself.

In another uncanny echo of Channing's debut against Eliot

Max shows just what he thinks of 'The Rules' by grabbing Channing's mouth, 

prising it open and paying him back, it seems, for using a similar move against Eliot.

Channing grabs the tie as if fearing it will now become a gag.

A great shot of Channing's ass with Quiver's crotch hovering over it,

Channing's bent leg blocks any exploitation, fortunately (or unfortunately)

but with Quiver's weight bearing down on it that's scant compensation.

 

Max finishes his chastisement of the pretty boy by trapping Channing in the ropes.

he rubs in the defeat, applying the sole of his shoe to his neck again.

I hope it's clean!

Max goes off, leaving Channing humiliatingly displayed. 

see video trailer of Channing v Max Quivers at Wrestler4Hire

Thanks to Wrestler4Hire for the pictures

~

More of Channing's attempts to break into the wrestling big time in the next post!

For other wrestling humiliations click on wrestlers or humiliations below

Oztangles Retrospective 5

The gay art of Oztangles
Read this mitchmen series from Part 1

2020

Oztangles - The Temple 02

Oztangles produced a series of images in 2020 called 'The Temple' and in this one he creates the atmosphere of a sacrificial chamber with a captive lying spread-eagled across Oz's favourite altar stone. Before him stands a monk-like guard armed with a very sharp-looking machete.  

Two more men are suspended from nearby pillars looking on as they await their own fate. Meanwhile they are being utilised as light sources having been fitted with somewhat incongruous, leather fetish gags which are apparently come supplied with an ingenious, candle sconce accessory that you won't get from Ikea. Judging by the skeletons dangling just behind the altar, this is a long term commitment. 

Oz's rendering of anatomy and clothing reaches impressive levels here, but the background architecture is a bit flat. He dips into perilous waters with his retro, Afro-cum-Oceanic characterisation of the High Priest.

Oztangles - The Temple 06

The denouement turns out to be more prosaic as the intimidating guard melts away leaving the principals to get down to some dirty work.

A nicely balanced composition with good suspension imagery. 

Oztangles - Zane in Trouble

Suspension is the main focus of this image with a captive about to be dipped into water. The men are clad in traditional leather fetish gear but the setting has the feel of a modern workshop. It's a background Oz has used to good effect in other images. Here it all looks surprisingly clean and clinical.  

An ingenious transparent container is used for the dunking water. It gives a stronger sense that Zane is being lowered into it, not just suspended above it. It looks a tightish fit too, with not much scope for Zane to struggle, let alone lifting his head out of the water once he is dipped in it. 
These two are not playing games.

The character at the controls on the left has an other worldly quality about him that is quite sinister with dark, unreal skin toning and a fierce face that resembles the vengeful characters seen in medieval paintings and statues. Zane's pointing finger suggests he is attempting to negotiate a reprieve.

Oztangles  - Big Mistake

The man in this image seems to have made a surprising choice for the location of what seems to be his first tattoo. I can't say I'm qualified to comment on just how painful this is and, since tattoos feature in Oz's images infrequently, I suspect he is commenting from the side-lines too. Judging by his erectile state the recipient is finding some compensation in the caring hands of the tattooist, if not the needle itself - or maybe it's the combination of the two that is so stimulating. 

I'm no expert but the way the needle is being applied here doesn't look conventional. One might wish the tattoist would be showing more concentration on the task in hand and surely he doesn't need to spread his legs quite that wide!

The tattooing scenario disguises the sexual implications of this scenario only thinly, but there's a second, less obvious layer to the eroticism. It's the customer's right hand, tightly gripping the armrest of the chair. It also appears to be resting in the tattooist's crotch, indeed it's easy to mistake his wrist with a suggestive body part belonging to the other man. In its way, this element is a mini-masterpiece of  hidden eroticism that the old masters of gay art would have greatly appreciated. 

Oz has managed to find some interesting and authentic-looking background detail for this picture which greatly enhances it. For once there isn't a dildo in sight.

Oztangles - Zdeno's Workout 1

I rather like this straightforward piece showing a boxer beefing up in a gym. It's a place which we've visited several times before in this retrospective (see Part 4, covering 2015-19). If you've seen those images there are no prizes for guessing what happens to the mirror in the companion piece to this picture - Zdeno's Workout 2 (Clue #1:- he's naked in it, Clue #2 see below).

2021

Oztangles - Quarantine Wank

Lest we forget, 2020-21 gave the word 'isolation' a whole new meaning. For gay men obsessed with cruising the deprivation must have been at least the equal of the more well-publicised traumas.
The very term 'lock down' must have seemed a cruel irony 

This image celebrates the consolation prize God left with men, for use when they weren't required for procreation. You probably remember that we have seen other versions of this memorable, sexy pose  at mitchmen blog. 

Oz's cum-spattered mirror seems to have become something of an obsession, extending back a long way (e.g. 2015), well before the virus struck, but the 'virtual' partner seen in the reflection acquired a new vividness in those months of isolation. The 'Angel' character goes back even further to 2009  and has made other sporadic appearances since then (notably in 2019). His imaginary wings that which might have allowed him to fly away to freedom became a poignant symbol in a period that was a time of introspection and nostalgia for the old days.

And who believed the politicians who said Covid would become the new normal? 
They actually got it right for once, dammit!

Oztangles - Ed's Nightmare 05

The centrepiece of 2021's offerings has to be 'Ed's Nightmare' in which he is abducted from his bed by a military gang and handed over in shackles to the leather clad thug we see in this picture. In a typically Oz, high-tech torture chamber he is mounted in a metal spreader frame in front of a TV camera which is dispassionately recording every moment of his nightmare. 

 The X-frame and spread-eagle pose is standard bdsm imagery, but combining it with suspension is less common and very disorienting for the recipient. Oz manages to infuse Ed's limbs with a degree of tension that make it look genuinely stretched. His body shaping and skin tones are softly succulent and the dramatic, ethnic tattoo on his backside accentuates his vulnerability and nudity. 

Those grey demonic skin tones seen in 'Zane in Trouble' (above) surface again in this villain (if you view him as one). He sits back contemplating his prey and  allowing Ed plenty of time to assess him in return, wondering what he is planning to do with him. Meanwhile the camera catches every minute.

Oztangles - Ed's Nightmare 11

Ed is subjected to a series of torments without ever leaving the frame. Many of them utilise electricity and this, the last scene, is arguably the most dramatic. Notice the time that has elapsed during this demanding examination. His feet have been lowered closer to the ground, perhaps to achieve electrical grounding, but he can still only reach it with his toes. The curious balancing on curled toes here seems to reference ballet technique, a painful way to support body weight for the untrained - and it looks it here, although it's not clear whether the frame is obliging him to do that in this set-up.

Oztangles - Tony's Adventure 06

'Tony's Adventure', by contrast is far less traumatic. He is tempted into a strip club by a 'Men Only' promise. After enjoying the show he goes exploring and finds the delectable stripper expecting visitors in his dressing room. Tony is portrayed as a chunky, ordinary man who is probably delighted by the stripper's eagerness to serve him. Its a dream come true that was never expected. 

All of us can relate to that. 

There's a hint of mild S&M in the toys which Tony can see draped over the chairback and on the dressing table beyond (seen by us in the mirror). The shiny thing in his groin is proves to be a chunky cock-ring later, but who fitted it is not revealed.

Oztangles - Tony's Adventure 09

Tony gets to sample one of the dildos in the finale but he's had the pleasure of the stripper's ass in the mean-time. This is the nearest the stripper gets to returning the favour. Clearly Tony isn't disappointed and there's a nice sense of  playfulness here which shows the hunky stripper to be a thoroughly nice bloke, happy to give this somewhat unprepossessing stranger an experience to remember and cherish.

Oztangles - Tony's Adventure 07

This is an intermediate scene. Normally I would pass over an image like this since it's frequently replicated in every porn film you've ever seen and most homoerotic art. But I think Oz has made an exceptionally good job of it here. Tony's pose is perfection and his chunky physique is transformed into an idealised form that any man would appreciate. Paradoxically, the slender stripper unexpectedly exhibits gloriously chunky thighs, an exaggeration that I appreciate. His sitting position has no hint of submissiveness, he's comfortable giving service. Nice.

Oztangles - Laundry Day 01

This is a more everyday fantasy, which was memorably invoked in 1985 (but not fulfilled) in the Nick Kamen launderette ad for Levi jeans and also in one of my own ramblings My Beautiful Launderette. Like the 'Tony' series this story features a man whose outward appearance might be considered unattractive by some, in this case because he is wearing spectacles. 

By contrast his opposite number is a classic, desirable hunk with a trendy, undercut hairstyle, an enviable physique and skimpy cut-off shorts intended to make sure everyone notices him. But in an unusual twist on the 'Unattainable Bar Man' syndrome, it's he who falls for the Laundromat attendant - or his ass at any rate - as he watches him tending the machines.

Oztangles - Laundry Day 05

Inevitably the spectacles have to be discarded as soon as the attendant gets down on his knees to show his appreciation . A routine sex episode follows but it climaxes (as it were) is this unusual, wheelbarrow position which suggests to me that this dumb hunk is something of a sexual athlete. Or perhaps the bespectacled attendant is a very good teacher.

Oztangles - Pier Street Sunday Morning

This image is also based on an unusual pose, but it is really a commonplace sight on city streets and at surfer beaches. Oz transforms the imagery by making the city skateboarder a grown up man and stripping away his clothing to reveal an emphatically adult and well-honed physique. The resulting figure study seems surprisingly original and his twisted body and balancing pose is comparable in beauty to the male statues of antiquity - just imagine the skateboard replaced by a discus or a javelin in his hand. However, this modern, over-grown kid is much sexier. 

This is one of those render pictures where it's hard to tell where the software leaves off and the artistry begins, but for me it's the result that counts and this is a great result. It's one of several images in 2021 where Oz explores athletic, unconventional body poses (like the wheelbarrow and quarantine images above) and it's much to the benefit of his art.

Oztangles - Naughty Corner 02

The title of this piece prepares you for another S&M romp but in fact this is more chuck-flick than bdsm. It shows the moment when Mario, the sub is freed from his chastity cage and tether after 3 weeks in isolation for dilly-dallying with the plumber. Oz does not indicate whether the formidable electrical installation nearby has figured in this punishment.

 The sub-title to this scene is 'Keep still, dammit, the key's stuck!'  So it's actually a comic moment with the master kneeling, apologetically almost, before his hyper -frustrated slave. 

Another cum-splattered mirror seems in prospect.

Oztangles - A Busy Day (detail)

I won't leave 2021 without mentioning this series, entitled 'Execution'. It's a frank and disturbing telling of a grisly tale with a twist of cynical exploitation thrown in. Coming from this artist, it's unexpected. I have covered noose art here at mitchmen before (see 'noose' label at foot of the post for other posts on the subject) but this detail is all I intend to show of Oz's challenging contribution to the genre. 

You can view the whole sequence at the link given at the end of this post. 

2022

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 01

Oztangle's 2022 work is dominated by the Punishment Cell series. It picks up the theme of isolation as punishment which featured also in Naughty Corner (just above). However, in this case it's a Military Punishment for answering back. The nudity of the prisoner here doesn't quite fit with that background and the chastity device on a chain which is only just long enough to allow him use the bucket seems to take us into Guantanamo country. It seems that he is in the midst of relieving his (understandable) anxieties when the disciplinarian Sergeant Vane arrives wearing his 'wet work' outfit and bringing rope and blood-curdling promises.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 03

Jack, the hapless offender is released from his chain, but only to be trussed for punishment on a bloodstained table. Hopefully, the assorted implements on the bottom shelf mean the torments planned for him will be bloodless. 

The tight leg restraint shown here is a tie that has long excited me, going way back to the 'My Initiation' image. It's ultimately a demanding stress position and often features (without ropes) in wrestling contests. Tied like this, I doubt that Jack could achieve the back-lift shown, unaided.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 05

Sgt Vane's ropework ultimately results in this neat shibari packaging coupled with suspension (again). The Sgt proceeds to torment imaginatively Jack's unprotected, vulnerable areas. 

This is a further example of Oztangle's interest in unusual, stressed positions for the male body which seemed to begin in 2021. Technically it's a significant advance from the simple X-Spreading deployed in Ed's Nightmare (see above) and several other Oz images.  For the observer this tight, self-contained restraint causes the erotic focus to shift from the body of the prisoner to the restraint mechanism. 

This tight relative of the hog-tie position is very hard to capture, even in photographs, so Oz has done well here. The eternal rendering problem of achieving a snug-looking fit with clothing and (here) rope doesn't prevent him from producing a great, stimulating image.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 08

Sgt Vane is not without a sense of humour. He expounds the theory of chaotic movement as he swings Jack on the suspension chain with weights attached to his nipples and balls and going in different directions. Oz manages to capture a real sense of swinging movement in this picture and his contrasting characterisations of the two men work well too. The more subtle bdsm of this image lies in the tweaking of Jack's arms as he swings, heavily weighted on the chain.

Oztangles - Punishment Cell 10

Lesson learned,  Jack formally makes amends in the time-honoured, homoerotic way. 

Offering service while tied up is not uncommon in fetish imagery but I can't recall it being portrayed in quite this way before. Oz emphasises Jack's restraint and submissiveness, rather than the sexual exchange. This position, formally kneeling with head-bowed, departs from the usual 'oral' formula whereby the sucker is expected to look up at his master as though entranced with him and anxious to know that he's doing the job correctly.  

By contrast Jack's pose looks detached and rather dignified and it is intensely appealing.  

Oztangles - Five More Minutes

This image relies on a similar use of weights to torment, but with the focus on simple endurance rather than rough tugging. Once again, Oz does well to create a real impression of stretching with the captive forced to stand on tip-toes. It's a virtually inescapable form of restraint and immobilisation and it's pure simplicity heaps frustration on top for the captive. His agonised expression gives a real sense of that his thresholds are already being tested to the limit and the announcement (in the title) of an extension to his designated time is adding anger to his difficulties.

The tormentor's slightly unkempt and grizzled appearance contrasts with the college boy neatness of his test subject and predictably he's completely indifferent to the poor man's mute appeal. Characteristically abreast of the latest trends, Oz shows him taking a photo of his discomfort and helpless captivity. It adds a little twist of sadistic humiliation with the further threat of a public airing of his plight for the amusement of strangers - and possibly those who know him.

These two make an improbable couple, but Oz des not enlighten us on what has brought them together in this way.

Oztangles - The Night Before

This image may offer a clue to that puzzle. It seems to show the same older man, but dressed in an unexpectedly professional manner. He's approaching a younger street hustler who's neatly dressed and clean looking, but provocatively appealing. More fantasy than reality alas. He has a similar appearance to the prisoner in the preceding picture.

Oztangles - The Morning After

The companion image shows a very different outcome with both parties having ended up in a seedy hotel(?) room, naked and apparently unfulfilled. It harks back to the 2019 Night Clerk image which seemed to embody a similar sense of disillusion and disappointment. In another Oz reversal of the usual, depressing rules of life, it seems to be the prodigiously equipped young hunk who has not come up to the mark.

Oztangles - Imperial Guard

This is Oz's latest posting at Renderotica as I write. 

Here's to 2023!

Read this mitchmen series from Part 1

~

Oztangle's work is not always perfectly crafted but there a plenty of impressive highlights. He explores interesting bdsm themes but also more commonplace feelings which ordinary mortals can relate to.

There's an extensive collection of Oztangles at Renderotica which is free to join. The filters applied to some works don't always stop you viewing them, but they're not always as exciting as you might hope!