Asian Adonis

Actor He Wei

 In this post, a selection of images and extracts from a remarkable pair of films by director Scud, both starring Adonis HeWei (seen above). 'Utopians' charts a young man's sexual liberation and '30 years of Adonis' is the unconnected story of the rise and fall of a fading actor turned gigolo. The thoughtful musings on maleness are shot in an arty way with confusing flashbacks and dream sequences but they are also sexy and homo-erotic and both finish with a flourish of fetish.
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This first image is from the opening scene of 'Utopians' which depicts a party of young men enjoying an idyllic swimming party on a boat. These are not porn films, but they feature nudity and are frankly sexual and very homoerotic. This moment where He Wei dives into the depths leaving his friends behind, symbolises him beginning the exploration of his sexuality. He Wei's guitar tattoo (visible here) plays a key part in the closing scene of the diptych.



There is plenty of sex and nudity, but although it's explicit, it's not shot in the manner of porn films and it's much more focussed on striking imagery than the mechanics of sex. The hero has an affair with a professor at his college who just happens to live in a flat with a spectacular view.



(and a dizzying infinity pool).

with a splendid view!




 This film has an unexpected conclusion when the young man's exploration of his sexuality eventually reaches the world of fetish and he submits to the whims of a woman and a man while tied to a cross.
This scene ultimately welds the two separate films together.

See the scene here:- Utopians by Scud
(please let me know if this link stops working by posting a comment)

In '30 years of Adonis' He Wei plays an actor/dancer whose career is not progressing.
Frustrated by his setbacks he decides to supplement his income by becoming a gigolo

Scud has been criticised in some quarters for producing a porn film. I suppose you might call this gratuitous nudity and it's amazingly erotic, but it's not porn and not entirely irrelevant to the context of  a failing career either - think of 'the emperor's clothes'.



The film features beautiful dream sequences which are puzzling in their detail
but obviously intended to represent explorations and new experiences.

Here, He Wei meets a notorious gangster played by Eric East
(who is a Japanese porn star, but doesn't display those skills in this film)

He recruits the inexperienced gigolo to provide sexual services for a mass orgy.

He and other sex-workers are repeatedly used by priveledged clients
in a highly stylised, pseudo-crucifixion sequence
which visually resembles the forest dreamscape seen above

There are some brutal moments in this scene, underlining the one-sided exploitation.
The gigolo doesn't even get paid for it, but he gets his revenge later



He humiliates the gangster in a fleeting but memorable scene
showing him suspended naked under a cold waterfall.

Needless to say, the gangster is very displeased by this treatment.

The gigolo later finds a path to romance and happiness in the conventional world
including a striking scene shot on an elevated platform symbolising idyllic isolation
from the cares of the world.

Life isn't like that for long of course, he resumes his acting career without success
and is eventually persuaded to return to sex work.

The job turns out to be a rerun of the red crucifixion scene.....

......with a different customer who recognises the young man's guitar tattoo.

This closing fetish scene forges an indelible connection between the two films, shot in an almost indentical way but with a chillingly different outcome the second time around 

(which is sign-posted but not shown explicitly, leaving you to imagine).

 Trailer:- 30 years of Adonis by Scud

These films are baffling but beautiful at first sight and the links and meaning only become (more) apparent in hindsight. It helps if you watch with someone else and can discuss it afterwards.

You can enjoy them anyway for their sexual frankness and surprise use of a fetish theme in a believable, real world situation, dramatising the emotions of submission and helplessness .

Scud talks about his films

Bareass Blogs No 39

Bareass Broad-shouldered Business Type

(image courtesy of Green Owl Photography)

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Bareass Barrista on his Break

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First Catch Your Rogue - 18 The Eccentric Professor

Mark - I've Changed My Mind

The boys heard about the story in an interview on the radio.

The Professor of History at the University, described as bookish, eccentric and absent minded,

had just found out that he was the owner of a valuable painting by Canaletto

The boys thought Canaletto was a kind of ice cream, but they knew what a fast buck was.

They just had to break his window at night and snatch the valuable painting off the wall 

They'd be able to sell it on at the Car Boot sale, before he was even up in the morning.

Unfortunately the boys didn't listen right through to the end of the interview

If they had, they'd have heard that he wasn't your average Professor of History.

He'd been a martial arts champion in the army and was still a part-time cage fighter.

His eccentricities included weight training in his basement at night, to combat insomnia.

It wasn't really the boy's fault that they got caught.
There was no alarm on the building and they didn't make a lot of noise getting in.
The radio report had even told them exactly where the painting was hung.
The weight room  was very well insulated, you couldn't hear - or be heard in there.

But it chanced in the middle of his workout, that the Professor remembered
that he needed to check a reference in the library for his lecture in the morning.

The boys were quite shocked to be confronted by a muscular man in his underpants.
They were even more surprised how he took control of the situation and of them,
using a confident, assertive manner, honed on years of taming wild students.

He made them feel mistaken not bad, just deprived of proper rearing and guidance.
He said it didn't feel right to call in the Police and unleash the power of the courts,
when a little friendly instruction might set them on the road to more fulfilling lives.

Later the boys couldn't remember quite how he persuaded them to take off their clothes
There was something about discarding preconceptions, becoming equals, man to man.
They thought preconceptions was about too many beers before sex with the girlfriend.

He said he would not turn them in but show them something special instead.
and once they were nearly naked it wasn't that easy to just turn and leave,
or to back out of the agreement which it seemed they had made without realising it.

Persuaded and intimidated by their mentor's strength and personal skills
the boys felt their best course, their only course, was to bend
and receive the traditional rebuke for youthful mistakes.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Photo-manip by 'Mark' at Jockspank

For other 'rogues' click on the label below

The Art of TooBoShoo

TooBoShoo - Discipline

This unusual image showing a bondage milking scene is drawn in the traditional Japanese manner but it's actually by a Chinese artist who calls himself TooBoShoo. (*see my footnote on names). The idea of tying a man up and relieving him of his semen pretty much sums up the bondage fetish but the ritualistic manner of the bondage here and presence of a priestly milker with respectful acolyte introduces mystical and slightly menacing overtones. 

The meaning of the title is not obvious, perhaps it's suggesting that the captive is also a member of the religious order, who has fallen from grace. He has a notably chunky build, however, which makes me wonder if he's a local villager, the blacksmith perhaps, or a passing traveller who has been detained to confess his sins! Presumably the fruit of his loins is destined for some sort of communion ceremony.

You can speculate about the technique they have used to elevate their helpless subject, is it the rope harness hitched to the tree or a devious utilisation of one of those sawn-off branch stubs we can see further up? Restraining both his arms and his legs behind the tree trunk accentuates his helplessness and also his vulnerability by opening up the front of his body. You can see the humiliation and dismay in his face.

TooBoShoo - Milk Tech

There's a similar theme here given a sci-fi twist. Despite the absence of any sort of exposed flesh there's an interesting erotic contrast between the burly donor and the clean-shaven, salivating milkman. It focuses attention on the mechanics of the ceremony and the control situation which is going on here, one that is rather more subtle than the previous example. As before the provider is restrained in an elevated position but he also is wearing a face mask. We do not know whether the mask provides a supply of performance enhancing gas or whether it is intended as a kind of breathing control device (with similar aims). 

There's a neatness and completeness about this composition which is very pleasing. If you visit the link given below you will find more explicit variations of this theme but they feature fantasy furry human/animals which aren't my bag but the erotics are worth a look.

 

TooBoShoo - Fighting

There's a touch of the fantastic in this image too with sci-fi buildings, mysterious forces in evidence and an assailant wearing barbarian, S&M-style accessories. The man he is groping though is very human and down to earth indeed, a workman type of character with muscle-masculine credentials. Those qualities makes his reduction to being another man's plaything doubly erotic.

I'm sure many of my readers will love the milking technique, jerking off inside the underwear resulting in cum-sodden material which is going to give this man an awkward and uncomfortable aftermath to deal with. Others, like him, may squirm at this earthiness. I can't say I have seen this situation depicted before, modern computer graphics can capture the translucent, wet underwear very well. Once again there's a compelling simplicity about this image.

 

TooBoShoo - Wrestling

TooBoShoo also takes his interest in men milking men into the wrestling arena, he calls it cum wrestling and it's a sport that he's made many images of. You will gather from the referee's pose in this scene, that ejaculation constitutes either a foul or a defeat. Either way, it's obviously a great embarrassment. 

There's a really good expression of energy and strength in the two wrestlers combat. I particularly like the hooked foot ploy which is preventing a defensive closing of the legs. There's potentially an even more dramatic picture if you imagine the other legs entangled in the same way and the two men toppling forward at the moment of climax. There's also some interesting portrayals in the supporting cast, who are watching around the mat. A clue to this artist's wider skills which we will see below. 

TooBoShoo - Commission

 That dynamic sense of brute forces colliding is even more evident here, supplemented by the proverbial brick wall in an image of two husky rugby players tackling each other. Even without the sexual element, this is a powerful and striking impression of a tough sport. The rugby scenario is a natural one for this artist's chunky characters and as a fan of rugby players myself, the conjunction of  shorts and muscular thighs is a delight. With the Rugby World Cup presently in progress in Japan it's also an highly appropriate image for me to include.

TooBoShoo - Santa 2018

 I know, I know it's not even Halloween yet! 

I don't usually 'do' Christmas anyway in this blog but this image is worth including in it's own right. It's has similar qualities to the previous ones, lauding masculine strength and power with a more than usually fit Santa dragging his heavy sleigh up a steep slope though deep snow. You can feel his pain! By some good fortune, the mishap that deprived him of his reindeer also destroyed most of his usual, camp, fur-trimmed outfit leaving him with just a pair of sexy, tattered, ass-clinging shorts and a bobble cap. There's some interesting presents on his sleigh if you look and the Disney-esque snowy trees are brilliant.

TooBoShoo - Christmas Eve

This depiction of Christmas is quite different and invokes some of the sentiment of Christmas domestics and home-comings in Hollywood movies like 'It's a Wonderful Life'. One of these men has been working as a Santa and it's a modest apartment, so you sense they are not wealthy. Though they are engrossed in their own mundane tasks there's a great sense of togetherness, calm and warmth as they prepare for the holiday ahead, one made extra special by the snow falling outside.  A marvellously understated expression of gay kinship and love, it's quite, quite beautiful.

TooBoShoo - 360 (degrees) Click to expand

You should be getting a sense of this artist's remarkable skills by now and this image extends it even further. At first sight it seems like some sort of medical facility but closer inspection shows that the patients are in fact restrained by chains and ropes and there's an ominous wheel on the side of one of the tables. It's mildly erotic with a particularly interesting bare top muscleman attending to the naked client on the right.

Some of the attendants here are clad in modern protective clothing, others look as if they have stepped out of a medieval pageant. Even Death seems to be here, stalking in the far background. The curious inversion of perspective creates an impression that this pseudo-medical torture chamber is a miniature world to it's inhabitants and the light of freedom and life is far away down a narrow passageway.

Whilst this artist often depicts fantastical scenes, the grey scale colouring and sombre atmosphere here communicates a more serious intent, I believe. A message that oppression never changes and it's suffocating. I'm not knowledgeable enough to truly understand how this applies to China, but I know artistic freedom there is at best a fragile one, I think it's also true of gay freedom, although ancient China was tolerant. You might like to revisit the 'Christmas Eve' picture in the light of this. Even if I don't fully understand it, credit to the artist for making his statement. Like the Russian artist Bubentkov I featured last year TooBoShoo deserves our moral support.

TooBoShoo - Kang

 It's hard to tell if this is playful, sexual frolicking or something more serious, ambiguity seems to be the continuing theme of this artists work. The mischievous cat outside and lucky cat toy inside don't help very much. The title seems to simply refer to a platform bed used in China.

It does look though as if this man is being beaten and the vegetable dildo is derogatory in intent. The implement on the right may be part of his punishment. I haven't a clue about the red rope, although internet searches throw up exotic, erotic connections.

There's a distinctive local flavour in the styling of this piece, the patterns of the bed and windows
 and the objects scattered around.

TooBoShoo - Stop You Jerk

Lastly, another great, but less serious image. I love the physique of this hunky patient (dressed only in his ankle tag!) but it's his energetic resistance that makes the image so memorable, while Doctor's calm domination is also beautifully depicted. The close-up framing gives extra emphasis to the mini-drama going on on the table, it adds sensual intimacy to the erotic message (contrast with the lesser impact of 'Kanga' above)

Literally translated by Google, the artists inscription for this picture is 
"Stop, you are a jerk, shy face
When this shameful line was shot, the face was red. . . Ah ah ah ah ah"
 I don't think that covers the speech bubble words, but you probably get the picture!.


*Note on naming and language - Google translates this artist's Chinese character name (吐蕃叔)

  rather unpromisingly as 'Uncle Tubo' and you will see the name TooBoShoo on some of his drawings (or simply TB sometimes stylised like '7b'). I have also seen the name 'TangBingLa' associated with his pictures (e.g. 'Christmas Eve' above). Google interprets it as a Chinese phrase but translates it bafflingly as 'Sugar Cake'. The artist sometimes provides English titles, sometimes Chinese ones, but the translations are frequently no less ambiguous!

TooBoShoo posts his art on the Japanese site 'pixiv', 

see more at Tangbingla@pixiv (you need to register but it's free)

You can find his weibo address there but you'll need to be a user to access it.

Snakes & Chains - 3

Chains, like snakes, seem to be able to mesmerise men

Chain Play by Dominic Ford

They seem to make them want to undress and feel the metal against their skin .....

Unknown Model by NCB Photography

.....to undo their jeans and let them slide downwards ......

Unknown model by MuscleHunks

.....and even to shed those garments that cloak their most secret desires.

No wonder some accept the invitation to be chained and inducted.

The Master's steel collar and cuffs will tame this muscular lad.
The combo allows him some freedom to move his limbs
but it's a restraint that weighs him down, so he cannot escape
and that helps to ensure he gives his total respect.

His compliance is rewarded with encouraging touches
and looks that give him something to look forward to.  

this image by Tom 'Ropes' McGurk
 (who clearly also knows the dominating power of chains)  

Andrei training at Russian Captured Boys

A good Master will instigate a proper training regime to counteracts the effects of prolonged restraint.
The weight of the chains is beneficial in developing a healthy body and an attractive physique.
It also hinders the subject and reminds him of his chosen role.

A cross country run in chains and fetters develops new skills and muscles
and creates a fleeting, illusion that escape is a possibility if he wants to.

I've always admired this image which I originally found on 'MrS', but I've never been able to find the original picture. I have found equivalent poses, but they don't have the same sense of awkwardness, despair and sheer desirability that this picture seems to convey.

Chastened and resentful

Spirited, younger men may find it hard to adjust to the tough regime.
They may cheek their new Master, like they did their parents.
A tape gag demonstrates they must speak only when allowed to.
It's crude simplicity puts them firmly in their place as novices.
They are not yet qualified for metal-based chastisement.

The cheekiest of novices may find his cheeks parted, by a ride on 'The Wedge'.
His lightness of frame would normally spare him much of the usual discomfort*,

but his bulky irons and chains outweigh and annul that advantage.

He can use his hands for support, but they will soon tire and weaken.

The Master supervises him learning his lesson.
It doesn't usually take very long for the penny to drop. 

(*for more 'Riding the Wedge' images click on the label at the foot of this post) 

unknown model and photographer

 For an older man to submit is harder, even when he's here by choice.

It questions his manhood, though he knows that is the very reason he has been chosen.

The heavy wall chains and thick leather jock with padlock (given him by his Master)
Shows him he is prized and valued - but presently being saved for future enjoyment.
An early release suddenly seems unlikely.



There may be times of deprivation, squalor and much frustrastion ahead.
He must learn the ways expected of him and what he will get in return.



The gifts of new outfits are unexpected and make him feel tearful.
But unknown, new experiences will follow and that makes him fearful.

It was the glamour of total, naked enchainment that lured him,
the embrace of the snake.

The constraint of his newly acquired strength

 is not without struggle and anxieties.

But finally the day comes when he reaches the sweaty pinnacle

Bazz - Snake 16

The day when he stands chained, naked and helpless

presented to the mystical snake!

Please Sir, may I go home now?

Read from Part 1

My thanks to Bazz for his clever snake manips in this article and Part 2
You can see more chain-related imagery at Metalbond