Tag Archives: Intersec

The Adrenaline and the Terror

by Rich Moreland, August, 2015

For the present, this is the last in the Mercy West series. Here’s hoping she will talk with us again soon. 🙂

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The start of a long day Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

The start of a long day
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

“Just hearing someone using it sends shivers down my spine.”

Mercy West is on the set of Hardtied and the day is getting long. But no worry, it’s all good.

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Negotiations

Some years ago when Kink.com established the practice of pre and post-shoot interviews, the reasoning was simple: avoid obscenity charges. The best way to deflect the law was to demonstrate that the model was fully in control of her cognitive awareness, consenting to everything and having fun.

At first, tears were avoided because of the impression that the girl was in pain. After several performers said that crying was their natural response to the intense pleasure created by their fetish, that restriction was set aside.

Within the BDSM community negotiations are always precursors before anybody does anything to anyone. What are the player’s limits and what will happen during the scene? Kink follows this standard as do the other BDSM-oriented porn companies.

Getting ready for the pre-shoot interview Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Getting ready for the pre-shoot interview
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Mercy West gives us an inside look at similar preparation at Intersec, the company that runs the Hardtied site. She’s punished to the extreme, as is her desire.

“The general public isn’t aware of the negotiations that go into professional BDSM scenes,” Mercy begins. What is on-screen for commercial purposes doesn’t reveal the work that leads up to the shoot. There are emails and phone calls that fill the weeks before the actual filming date arrives.

Before she arrived in Oakland for each of her Intersec appearances, Mercy talked with the directors.

“How I was feeling, where my head was, and what I was prepared for,” she relates.

This is important because uncertainty can slow everyone down “if limits aren’t laid out,” Mercy says. Some directors and crew will “tiptoe around talking about the hard stuff” on set and when they finally get to it’s a little late.

It’s the same with submissives or bottoms. Mercy feels comfortable with “full disclosure” and emphasizes there are no “stupid questions” with BDSM play.

Subdrop

An in-person interview on shooting day lays everything out. Though the Intersec folks had a written list of her limits, they insisted that she state them on camera.

“They wanted me to talk about how I was excited to be there and it was of my own free will, that I am aware that the activities are the same as in Hollywood . . . it’s acting. I choose to participate in what they want and I’m not coerced in any way.

They’re basically covering their asses which I can definitely understand. I am sure it all has to do with lawyers and things that may have happened in the past.”

Post-shoot and ready for the interview Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Post-shoot and ready for the interview
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

“As far as prerecorded interviews and interviews after and the type of questions they ask,” Mercy says, procedures vary from company to company. As would be expected, “the post-shoot debriefing” is held after the performer “calms down and takes a breather.”

From her experience with rough bondage scenes, Mercy’s recovery time is fairly short.

“I’m normally pretty smiley and bubbly and happy because it just feels amazing and I love it. I really think they like to show that.”

The twenty-five-year-old is making a name for herself as a submissive who can take it, but mentions that not all porn models are cut from the same BDSM cloth.

“Everybody processes things differently. A lot of girls can seem really sad or be totally unenergetic and very out of it. That’s fine, there is no wrong way to do it, but it might not come off as well [on film]. It’s just not visually pleasing.”

For BDSMers who lean toward masochism, the issue of subspace sometimes arises. Endorphins that elevate the senses while outflanking awareness can be a safety concern so models are carefully monitored as the scene progresses.

Later subdrop, or the crash after the rush, occurs. For some submissives, it can be immediate causing them to be “sort of shy and standoffish,” Mercy says. But that is not who she is.

“When I come out of a scene, I am fully of energy. I’m jumping up and down.” She confesses, “I have such a big smile on my face it’s hard for me to get the words out sometimes.”

But the 5’2” bondage sweetie can’t entirely escape the emotional letdown.

“Generally the subdrop comes . . . way later [for me] sometimes, but definitely not right after [the scene]” she explains. “So the interview with me and the debriefing is important because some people have really strong reactions and I’m one of those people.”

Weaving Terrors into Pleasure

Back to the set and Mercy’s dom in the shoot, Jack Hammer, has his upcoming treat for her. Later she recalled what happened.

“I’m terrified of the single tail whip. I love it, it feels really great. I like having it used on me, but I’m terrified of it and it just makes me tremble. Before Jack brought it to use on me, he started just whipping the air and sort of walking around. I started to lose it.”

Terror takes over Photo courtesy of Hardtied.cm

Terror takes over
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.cm

She is suspended in a chest harness, dangling from the ceiling on tiptoe, giving her wiggle room to highlight her fear, but disallowing escape.

It’s the kind of predicament that sells the shoot to Hardtied fans.

“I started to lose it and bawl uncontrollably before he even touched me.”

To intensify matters, the workday is wrapping up.

“It was the last shoot of the day,” she recalls. “This was the last section [of the scene] and I was totally exhausted but I lost it . . . because in the moment I wasn’t thinking I am on a stage, performing, giving people what they want.”

As the fatigue sets in, Mercy begins to weave the tension into her ecstasy.

Coping with the terror Photo courtesy of Hardtied.cm

Coping with the terror
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.cm

“Oh no, that man has a big whip and he knows how to use it and he wants to hurt me.” She thinks, “I’m trapped!” The excitement increases because none of it is being done to her “in a bad way.” she says.

Swirling emotions in a cauldron of pleasure and pain integrates the staged fantasy into a sensual experience.

“That’s what goes through my head when I’m playing,” Mercy concedes. “That is the sort of space that I want to be in. The adrenaline and the terror and I know I’m safe. I know I’m not going to become injured in a way that I don’t approve of or that is really terrible.”

Record the Marks

For non-BDSMers, it’s a hard sell, but Mercy is reassuring. “I know that I am safe so I can let my mind go to those places. I can let that fear bleed out of me.”

It’s also a statement of why so much care goes into a sexuality charged play scene that comes across as abuse for those who want to see it that way. Mercy explains, “It’s why the debriefing is important because they like to have performers elaborate when things like that happen.”

Checking the marks Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Checking the marks
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Companies want models to be honest. They will say, “You were crying not because we are holding you here and forcing you to go through these things, but because it excites you and was very overwhelming and you get emotional when you play.”

She is delighted to tell the interviewer that she was not coerced, had a safe word to use if she wished, and “was in total control of the situation.”

Of course, BDSM shooters always walk a legal fine line. Some studios do a full body scan “to record the marks so they have on camera what they did and how you looked after the shoot,” Mercy says. It’s evidence, quite frankly.

The director and crew ask the model to walk, lift her arms and legs. Mercy doesn’t mind. It’s for everybody benefit.

“It makes me feel like they are on top of things.”

No doubt, everybody’s got a lawyer . . .

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Making the Decision

by Rich Moreland, August 2015

Mercy West talks race and her first on-screen penetration.

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Getting into adult film is a process. No one recommends jumping into hardcore without preparation. Some performers and agents suggest taking it slowly. Begin by doing a little research to get a handle on what is expected. Next go with nude modeling, progress to web camming and follow that with some girl-on-girl before taking the step into hardcore.

Some girl/girl camming Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Some girl/girl camming
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

The watchword in the business is to always hold something back. Don’t take on everything at once because it short changes the future. In Mercy’s case she wasn’t reticent about BDSM because it is a natural for her. Right now, her hold back is anal which she may put off for some time to come.

Then there is interracial. Needless to say, some models have careers that never include anal or interracial. Others have no problem with it, but like to delay their first IR shoot until their fans demand something new.

In Casey Calvert’s career, she built her brand before doing her first IR gangbang and superstar Allie Haze did her first anal scene after years in the business. The pre-shoot hype guaranteed fan interest.

Allie Haze Photo courtesy of Naughty America

Allie Haze
Photo courtesy of Naughty America

It’s marketing, pure and simple.

Men of Color

However, when it comes to men of color, the story is a bit different.

For Mercy, performing with African-Americans is seamless and she is perplexed about the never-ending dust-up over race in the industry.

Before her Hardtied shoot, Mercy mentions that Jack Hammer, an African-American performer who works the site, will take her on. “Everything is coming up roses and the thorns feel lovely,” is her response to the prospect.

Later, she adds with anticipation, “Feeling really tense / nervous / excited about my shoot with Jack Hammer tomorrow. I think it’s going to go really well. I’m just not exactly sure what he has in store. All I know is that it’s probably going to be one of the most intense fucking things I ever do.”

Then race creeps into the conversation and Mercy remembers talking with some industry people.

“I was abruptly informed in a dressing room one day that not only was I making the decision to have sex with a big cock and a kinky cock… But I was also making the decision to sleep with a black man. It honestly never crossed my mind when I was considering Hardtied.”

With America’s demographic shift creating a more multicultural nation, Mercy’s naivete reveals something important. Young people are rewriting a portion of the American saga in which acceptance of differences is broader than ever before.

“I didn’t even realize that interracial was still a thing! I get the feeling that it’s one of those ‘that’s the way it has always been, so no one really talks about it,’” Mercy says. “Interracial is a genre and as a phone sex operator I learned quickly that taboos are usually the things that really get people off.”

Despite the no-no attached to black/white sex, Mercy doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. “It’s kind of crazy that white girls and black guys or vice-versa is still somewhat considered a taboo.” Then, she adds, cryptically. “While working on the phone I realized it’s mainly a taboo for middle-aged conservative straight guys.”

There you have it.

Excellent Chemistry

Mercy describes her first on-screen penetration.

“I was up on a pedestal with my legs in the butterfly position and my arms in strappado.”

Mercy and Jack Photo courtesy of Intersec

Mercy and Jack
Photo courtesy of Intersec

Oral preceded it, she says, but it was awkward, not because of the bondage tie, but because of her limitations. “I was suspended from the ceiling on my stomach [which was positioned] on a box.” I had my arms tied behind me and my legs in a hog tie.”

Visually, Mercy doesn’t feel the oral went well. “I’m not really into deep throating . . . I have a tiny mouth and I felt he was a little frustrated after while.” She performed fine, Mercy says, but “it just didn’t go down my throat . . . I don’t have that much mouth.” And, Jack is not small.

Incidentally, the sex isn’t the highlight of most BDSM shoots because it’s the fetish that brings in the customer dollars. Mercy remarks, “I feel like the website doesn’t focus much on the sex, it is more on the rope.” In other words, in her first boy/girl, the sex was secondary and fit in with what she’s accustomed to doing.

“I liked it a lot, actually. It wasn’t far from things that I would do in my real life with someone who is topping me with rope. That’s why I picked this shoot, it was wonderful. I truly, truly enjoyed it.”

The diminutive bondage wench comments on a part of the shoot she believes came out artistically well. Jack was behind her, crouching over with the ever reliable Hitachi and grabbing her hair.

Hitachi at work (slightly out of view) Photo courtesy of Intersec

Hitachi at work (slightly out of view)
Photo courtesy of Intersec

“It looked really nice because he is a giant human being compared to me. It was visually very pleasing. I hope to work with him again, we had excellent chemistry.”

Scream, Curse, and Cry

Crying is normal for Mercy. “It doesn’t take that much for me to cry and I think that is why BDSM people like dealing with me.” She good with pain and can take the marks.

“There was lots of caning,” she says with a smile. “Jack lifted my legs up and caned me quite a bit. That is where the worst marks were, on the back of my thighs, those soft, tender, mushy parts that sadists really love.”

Mercy just let everything flow. “I know I’m in an environment where I am able to twitch, scream, curse, cry, do whatever. I feel like I can take what is given me and deal with it.”

Like all bondage performers, Mercy appreciates the safety of the set. Her personal life offers challenges on two levels that the studio avoids. “I can’t be too loud because my neighbors will hear me. I can’t squirm too much because the restraints will come loose.” Intersec’s warehouse, like Kink.com’s Armory, takes care of that.

Tears in her TopGirl shoot with Bella Rossi Photo courtesy of Intersec

Tears in her TopGirl shoot with Bella Rossi
Photo courtesy of Intersec

“I can react any way that I want and it’s all right and I can be as loud as I want and thrash and do whatever. I can just put up with it [the pain] and feel really good about it after it is done.”

Summing up, Mercy says the intensity turns her on. “Not having to hold back makes me want to be pushed even further.”

Of course, as with all BDSMers, she faces the ultimate moment. She wants to know “how intense my reactions can be before I call red.”

Who knows at this time? One thing, though, our cutie is headed to Kink.com one of these days and will gain more knowledge about her personal limits.

Aftercare

A final comment is due on Mercy West. She confesses that playing in the BDSM scene is emotional. “I get to a certain point when I’m worn down and tired and in a lot of pain.” The thoughts that flood her mind are not the best, she admits, though she is doing exactly what she wants and loving it. Yet, she is “emotionally raw” which leaves her vulnerable.

Aftercare in her Pain Toy shoot Photo courtesy of Pain Toy

Aftercare
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

That is “my pleasure and my ecstasy,” she says, and she knows she can handle it. “It’s all fun times. It’s good stuff.”

However, there is a vital ingredient in the BDSM community that submissives appreciate, aftercare. It means everything to Mercy.

“You know someone is there to be nice and cuddle me and make me tea afterward. So, it’s great, it’s perfect. I get to feel emotional release and sexual release and all that good stuff wrapped up into one.”

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I Never quite Know

by Rich Moreland, August, 2015

The Mercy West story continues.

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Mercy West Photo courtesy of Hardtied

Absolutely Wonderful
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

“It was wonderful. It was absolutely wonderful.”

A smiling Mercy West sits on a towel with sections of rope scattered on the floor around her (she was hogtied and suspended from the ceiling). Rope impressions on her ankles can’t hide the pleasure she’s just experienced from her kinks. Her butt sports a submissive’s thrill, cane marks. An orgasm went along with the show.

grunge girl poster

Titled “Grunge Girl,” the Hardtied shoot runs for about an hour and puts Mercy through her paces. It’s her first hardcore penetration scene in adult film. She is whipped, performs oral sex, and is vaginally penetrated (she doesn’t do anal at this point in her career). Her Dom is Jacky Hammer.

The producer of Mercy’s shoot is Intersec Interactive Inc. Located in Oakland, California, the parent company of Hardtied is run by Matt Williams who once worked for rival Kink.com across the bay.

For each of its five websites (the others are TopGirl, Infernal Restraints, Real Time Bondage, and Sexually Broken), Intersec uses the Kink model of pre and post shoot interviews to introduce the performer and ameliorate criticism from those who see bondage shoots as degrading and abusing to women.

A Bondage Disneyland?

Things are not what they seem to be when it comes to BDSM porn Photo courtesy of Intersece

Things are always not what they seem to be
Photo courtesy of Intersec

Here’s a little post-shoot info for those who need reassurance that Mercy has her wits about her and is cool with her experience. She spoke at length with me about it.

Everything went well, she says. “I really can’t think of too much that didn’t go how I wanted it to go. Working with Jack was really nice.”

Each time she’s gone to Intersec, excitement and a positive nervousness abound.

“It’s like taking a trip to Disneyland as much as it is a job like the others I do on a daily basis in adult. I really, really love working with them. The atmosphere in the studio is impeccable, everyone seems to get along. Everyone is respectful.”

Bondage porn is Mercy’s magic. “I’m working with the type of people that I’ve interacted with since I decided to put myself in the kink community.” But, she adds, “I’m always a little nervous because I never quite know exactly what’s in store.”

Shooting with Bella Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Shooting with Bella
Photo courtesy of Intersec

And that’s exciting because Mercy knows at Intersec she is watched over and respected. The studio’s directors–she’s fond of Jack Hammer and Bella Rossi, in particular–work within her personal limits, as is expected in the BDSM community. Jack’s shoot had a “pretty girl” theme and after she picked out an appropriate outfit, the stills were taken.

Instead of relying on “screen shots from the actual video,” companies like Intersec “take the time of take good ones,” Mercy says.

Artistic Still from Infernal Restraints Photo courtesy of Intesec

Erotic Art
Photo courtesy of Intesec

From her experience, some studios may break the action to take 35s or “have someone using photography equipment during the filming to capture moments” outside of the typical screen shot. The petite model compliments studios that focus on good stills because they tend to be artistic, thus “falling under the category of erotic art.” The best ones are “absolutely stunning” and can easily end up as website banners and adverts, she believes.

After a second thought, Mercy humorously back tracks. “I could be wrong and people could just be jerking off to them!”

That’s quite likely.

Nevertheless, she’s pleased with hers. They have “more of an artistic intent than purely pornographic one,” she concludes.

Now to the Details

Rain Degrey before one of her Intersec Shoots Photo courtesy of Intersec

Rain Degrey ready for an Intersec Shoot
Photo courtesy of Intersec

Mercy enjoys the travel that reconnects her with people in the business. When she goes to Oakland, bondage superstar Rain DeGrey, an Intersec recruiter and still active model, picks her up at the airport. Arriving this time for Hardtied, Mercy circulated as usual, carefully avoiding anyone who was busy. “There are always people running in and out” and if they have a moment or two they will “say hello and ask how I’ve been,” she says.

A few days before her arrival, Mercy phoned Jack “about limits and ideas and clothing,” what they would have done if they were negotiating a scene at a club.

It’s a process Mercy knows.

“I’m used to talking to the person I’m playing with before hand to get a feel for their personality and for what they’re looking for. I’d already met Jack twice, first on my Infernal Restraints shoot and again at my TopGirl shoot.” She is comfortable with him, she says, he is “a really diverse performer.” Incidentally, Mercy was careful to make sure he liked her outfit.

Jack at work. The outfit passed inspection! Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

The outfit passed inspection!
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Because the scene was her first boy/girl, Mercy’s nerves were like her body, tied up . . . but less than if she’d been shooting for another company. “I couldn’t have felt better about the whole situation.” Not surprising, the adrenaline was pumping. “It really is a drug,” she exclaims, that undoubtedly enhanced her pleasure.

“After the initial interview on camera, we started to work things out and I got into my first position.” As the shoot progressed, Mercy mentions she did not “have to be taken out too many times.” Models get safewords to use when issues arise because BDSM is hard on the body and brain. Some performers, especially those derisively referred to as “LA porn girls,” are not accustomed to the stresses of the fetish.

Mercy knows about the bondage scene; pornwise, she is not in it solely for the paycheck.

Rope bondage, especially strappado, and suspension can be uncomfortable if not rigged properly. Models must be aware of their bodies and even the best like Casey Calvert and the now retired Bobbi Starr would agree with Mercy that nothing should be “tingly” or “falling asleep.” Make sure “you have feeling everywhere,” Mercy says.

Rope Work Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Rope Work can create a tingly feeling
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Intersec is awareness personified. The director and crew monitor the set closely which makes our short-haired bondage babe feel safe. “We did three or four different sections and I was taken out at least two times in each tie just to give me a break and to last longer.”

Making sure Mercy isn't in a tie too long! Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Making sure Mercy is satisfied
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Though Mercy admits “there is a certain amount of performance” in her shoots, “being submissive” has its own particular pleasures. Unfortunately, there is the “subspace” issue which can be risky for some performers. “Sometimes you can get into that headspace and not be completely paying attention to your limbs and your digits.” In fact, Mercy believes “It is really easy to get lost in subspace and if you are actually into bondage and S&M, not just modeling or pretending to be into it, working with experienced kinksters just feels so comfortable.”

A Reality Check

Mercy does remember one surprise. A nylon stocking cap was put over her head. “I didn’t realize it until it happened and I was being walked out on stage. Of course, they had asked me and I agreed—I just didn’t think twice about it.” Next a “tape gag” was put around her mouth and “a tape blindfold over the nylon.”

Stocking cap and gag Photo courtesy of Hardtied.cm

Stocking cap and tape in the hands of Jack Hammer
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.cm

“I had never been blindfolded and gagged at the same time,” she says and momentarily she felt like she was in over her head, as the old saying goes. Focusing on the sensation “a little too much, I stopped,” Mercy remembers, “shook my head a little bit to get myself straight. Jack grabbed onto me and made sure I was okay.”

‘“Are you all right? I got you. Is everything all right?’”

“I took a breather and he asked if I needed to be taken out of the gag and out of the blindfold. I just stood there and everything was fine. The moment I heard his voice, ready to do whatever I needed, I was immediately calmed down and sort of gave him the ‘let’s go forward.’ When they yelled action and everything went on as planned.”

Looking back, Mercy declares, “I needed a little reality check [which turned out] absolutely beautiful, I really needed that wonderful communication.”

The value of experience in the BDSM play scene is priceless and a lesson for everyone who doubts sane people engage in the fetish. Speaking of Intersec, Mercy says, “I feel like I am completely in control and that they are in control of themselves and aware of the situation.” Good news because her first on-film penetration, breaking her porn cherry as they say in the business, went really well.

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Mercy West is not finished at Intersec because she wants to shoot for each of their sites. “They are totally attentive, extremely friendly and I just love working there. I can’t wait to go back. I would love, love, love to do Real Time Bondage. . . that would be one of the most intense things that I have ever done.”

Before the shoot Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

Maybe Real Time Bondage is next?
Photo courtesy of Hardtied.com

What makes that site so special?

“They say it’s about four and a half hours straight of live streaming with tiny breaks in-between,” Mercy exclaims with delight.

Sounds good to her fans, they’ll be ready to watch this bondage slut take it all in.

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The Mom Factor

by Rich Moreland, August 2015

This is the fifth installment of the Mercy West Story. After making a commitment to enter the adult film industry, Mercy’s summer has been busy with shoots and modeling assignments. Here she talks about her mom and their relationship.

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“I don’t ever remember being disciplined by my mother because I never did anything worth disciplining!”

Mercy West had a secure upbringing though her family structure, like that of many young people nowadays, was flexible with re-partnering parents doing what they could to keep blended relationships afloat.

“I blossomed and matured very early,” Mercy says, which can be a prescription for unwanted sexual attention. “I experienced a lot quite young and not in a bad way.” Her mother was supportive, allowing her daughter to make her own decisions, an attitude born of trust. “I was able to communicate better and deal with things a little more rationally than most people my age,” the twenty-five-year-old adds.

Mercy’s father took a different view. Divorced and remarried, he noticed that his daughter hung out with a bad crowd, so he suspected, and dressed differently than most kids. He believed she was “smart” but “problematic,” Mercy relates. Truth be told, she didn’t spend much time with him in her developing years and once she turned eighteen, little at all.

On the set for Hardtied Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

On the set for Hardtied
Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

“I just can’t be open with him much about my life and I don’t think he really wants to know.”

Perhaps not, but a visit to the Paintoy or Intersec websites to check out Mercy’s promos will let him know what his daughter is into now.

But that’s of no matter, Mercy’s life is all about the mom factor.

No Attached Shame

When Mercy got her first boyfriend, mom insisted she go to Planned Parenthood for birth control. A good move because today the emerging porn model credits her mother with establishing an open and honest dialogue with her daughter. “Nothing was dirty or shameful. I didn’t have to hide anything. I had the freedom to make the right choices and most importantly the wrong choices . . . and still feel loved and cared for.”

Mercy reveals that her mother was ill for much of her daughter childhood but managed to keep a household together despite divorce, remarriage, then another divorce. “She tired to keep things as normal as she could,” Mercy says with great affection. “I didn’t have a traumatic childhood. I have very good memories of being a kid.”

Incidentally, Mercy’s mother was an exotic dancer, a sex worker. “I’ve known since I was fifteen or sixteen. She never attached any shame to it and I’ve never had any issues talking about it.”

Like many women who populate the adult film business, Mercy understands a vital truth. “When you do things that you want to do and you are in control, it can be very empowering regardless of what it is . . . being a stripper or a CEO.”

There’s a name for such an attitude: feminism. Mercy and her mom are examples of how it fits into adult entertainment.

Mercy by the Lake. Photo courtesy of S. Thanatos

Mercy by the Lake.
Photo courtesy of S. Thanatos

Real Passion

Mercy’s adolescence gave her another lesson.

“I never look down on people because you don’t know what someone is going through.”

Mercy credits this attitude to her mother who suffered from social anxiety, despite her profession. In fact, dancing may have served to create a persona to help deal with self-consciousness.

Mom didn’t want this social handicap for her little girl, so it was off to theater and performing arts classes designed to broaden Mercy’s perceptions of the world around her and to encourage interaction with others. Together they volunteered at an Arizona ranch to teach “physically and mentally handicapped folks to take care of animals.” Mercy met autistic children, those with Down’s Syndrome, and others afflicted with physical disabilities. Later she volunteered in special needs and special education classes during her high school years.

This time is getting ready to shoot for Topgirl. Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

Getting ready to shoot for TopGirl.
Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

It paid benefits. Today Mercy is outgoing with an attitude that this writer finds endearing. She has a real passion for helping others and insists that one of her reasons for doing porn is educational. Mercy believes that sex is nothing to be reticent about and for people with sexual hang-ups, there’s a better way.

Quite frankly, I’ve heard this before from new girls in the business and I tend to dismiss their comments as justification for shooting porn or simple naiveté. But with Mercy, I believe it is genuine.

More like roommates than family, Mercy and her mother share living quarters in a way that is flexible and supportive. “She is aware of all my partners, my activities, and my work. She knows exactly what I do.”

Sort of, because mom has seen only “some of the more niche fetishy things” that “are not too sexual,” Mercy explains. Of course, the “more explicit stuff” is only a matter of time because, Mercy says, her mother “wants to see me make my own content.”

“That’s going to be awesome. She knows that if I want to do it, I’ll make it work.”

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The Handkerchief Code

by Rich Moreland, June 2015

Mercy West is a performer in transition. At twenty-five the Oregonian knows the ropes (pun intended) for bondage modeling, but shooting hardcore is another matter. Now that “porn star” is on her agenda, what is pornography in her mind?

Sunny Day Photo courtesy of Sam-R.com

Sunny Day
Photo courtesy of Sam-R.com

Mercy’s adolescent years were spent in Tucson, Arizona. Like most teens, people watching at the mall and flirting with kids her age (only to “have it fail miserably,” she remembers) was part of the routine. Mercy was different in one respect. She dallied a bit with “the older crowd,” again not getting very far but establishing a preference for the age play that delights her now.

Her favorite hang outs were record stores and used book outlets where she often became a familiar face. Her curiosity developed a taste for art and photography, so sifting through book bins became an obsession.

“Different types of art and prints jump out at you and you’re just not sure why,” Mercy recalls. “Everybody has their own tastes. I just remember being fascinated by the human body.” Highly eroticized images swirled around a teenager’s interpretation of art and porn.

Darker Images

Book store time nurtured this budding fetish model.

“It made me think about how I wanted to express myself. I was drawn to images of sexuality, erotic images not necessarily in the context of porn . . . darker images of alternative sexuality and gender fluidity,” Mercy says.

House of Gord Artwork courtesy of House of Gord

House of Gord
Artwork courtesy of House of Gord

So what were these images? The late performance artist and masochist Bob Flanagan intrigued her as did the black and white illustrations of the House of Gord’s latex bondage, pony girls, and forniphilia which had a “more esoteric” flavor. “Classic male dom, female sub leather and rubber BDSM” were her favorites and a bondage elitism was emerging. “Kinksters are aware of Gord’s contributions but most BDSM light/Vanilla folks have no clue,” Mercy says.

Raised in a liberal home environment, Mercy didn’t see any of this “as naughty or shameful.” Instead, the images were “aesthetically pleasing . . . the bondage, the sadomasochism . . . the sort of power play that was involved in S&M really intrigued me even though I didn’t quite understand what was underneath it all.”

Running across a variety of other publications where porn is high art enhanced her journey.

“Magazines like ‘Skin Two’ (a British publication) and ‘Modern Primitives’ were always super exciting finds and I treated them like precious gems, reading and rereading the articles, studying the clothing, toys and body art intensely.”

In fits and starts, an intelligent libertine was finding her future.

Pushing What it Means to be Sexual

Fashion Snapshot Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Fashion Snapshot
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

As comes to most of us, Mercy’s hormones kicked in around age twelve or thirteen. BDSM scenes gnawed at her sexuality; fetish became her thing. Fashion was not far behind. “I learned very quickly that people wore certain types of clothing as symbols and signs to others.”

In particular, the handkerchief code attracted her attention. Mercy recalls people “wearing spiked belts and having colored handkerchiefs hanging out of their back pocket.” (The code began in the gay community years ago and is generally, but not universally, accepted today. Left indicates a BDSM top; right a bottom.). Fashion blended with community and a kinkster’s education marched on.

Of course, what is pure alt often gets bastardized and commodified. “Some of the meaningless fashion in mainstream had been pulled from very meaningful fashion in some underground communities,” Mercy notes.

The code represented communication, openness and freedom, a symbol of being your own person this bondage disciple in the making could not absorb fast enough. Discovering that there were people who lived “a certain lifestyle or the S&M lifestyle 24/7” was pure elation.

Becoming Your Own Person Photo courtesy of San-R.com

Being Your Own Person
Photo courtesy of San-R.com

“What these people were doing was right for them. They were not devious or fucked up in any way. They weren’t causing harm to society,” Mercy declares with a smile. Coming out and “communicating their sexuality to their family . . Saying here, this is me, this is who I am” was natural and undeniable.

Lifestyle statements now mattered to Mercy, whether it be the S&M community or the complexities of the late Francesca Woodman that blurred artistic definitions with psychological statements spoken through the camera’s lens. She “pushed what it means to be a sexual human being,” Mercy says.

An Evolution

What drew Mercy to pornography? She is vague because it was more of an evolution than a moment. “Around the time my sexuality was coming to be I was really starting to think about what other people mean to me [in that way].”

story of o 2Porn didn’t help or hinder her development; rather it provided an understanding that she wasn’t alone with her feelings. Mercy references a trio of influences: Anne Rice novels, Pauline Reage’s The Story of O, and John Cleland’s Fanny Hill. She was intrigued by these works, she says, though at the time she did not profoundly understand them.

As her self-education continued, the bondage slut in Mercy remained muted. The teenage years passed. Interactions with other kids were normal with no “unhealthy obsessions.”

Though sexually active at a young age, Mercy insists porn was an avenue to it, not the reason for it. She was never “broken or scarred” from her interest in the erotic. “I was pretty stable and dealt with things all right. It was just my path and the way things were meant to go.”

So, what is porn to her?

Mercy points out that some people believe porn lacks “artistic intent” [and is] created solely to inspire sexual arousal,” serving no purpose other than “getting someone off.”

Getting off on a Paintoy shoot Photo courtesy of Paintoy.com

Coming Out of her Shell
Photo courtesy of Paintoy.com

“But that isn’t my definition. That isn’t what it means to me. I’ve used it as a tool to navigate my own sexuality.” Porn “can bring people out of their shells,” she insists, letting them “come to terms with things that they wouldn’t have been able to alone or with a partner.”

Is that a pro-porn cop-out or a level-headed assessment? Social scientists and historians agree that porn is a form of sex education. For some of us, it’s the only kind we’ll ever get and for Mercy it shaped a future.

Mercy’s “love of alternative sexuality, S&M and the fetish community translates into the real world” for her now. But she’s just getting started; a seismic shift in her sexual Richter Scale is occurring. She’s figured out that her personal happiness is more than “picking up a whip for a little while” after her day job. “That has led me to Paintoy and Intersec,” Mercy West says, where her shoots will delight BDSM fans who want to see this evolving star shackled and aroused for their entertainment.

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Phases

by Rich Moreland, June 2015

Being in the midst of writing book number two on the adult film industry, I decided to take a time out to compose a series of articles on a girl I’ve recently come to know. She is a sweetheart of many flavors.

*          *          *

Welcome Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Welcome
Photo courtesy of S. Thanatos

How to describe a girl whose on-screen image leaves an impression fetish aficionados can’t shake: a calculated disheveled look that captures the heart of every BDSMer? Try this, a natural body with understated and controlled ink seductively placed to entice the eye with a simple message, “I’m here, let’s play a little?”

Pass as Vanilla

There’s nothing Southern California about Mercy West. She’s more a San Francisco queer porn gamine. Sporting a lovely nose ring that highlights an impish sassiness bordering on bemused self-satisfaction, Mercy allures her fans with a bondage collar extraordinaire. Throw in a penchant for taking marks while making her mark in an industry she has decided to embrace and Mercy wets the screen. No doubt her fans dream of corralling this diminutive lass in a darkened alley, pushing her against the wall and muffling her cries of delight . . . don’t knock over a trash can because trashy is where we’re going.

But that’s only part of the story. Mercy can be cute as the sweet little miss winking at the preacher’s son while the Sunday sermon drones on, ready for a romp with the righteous.

“Because of how I look I can still pass as vanilla in some productions,” Mercy says “But because of my past, I get offers for some quite extreme stuff as well.”

Despite her girlish look, Mercy West is no teenager. In fact, she is a most mature twenty-five. Psychologists know that the brain takes its time reaching adulthood and its ability to make good decisions kicks in around the mid-twenties. Mercy knows what she wants and is ready to move forward. Lucky for her fans, they’re getting the best part of the ride.

Collar and Pearls Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Collar and Pearls
Photo courtesy of S. Thanatos

The Arizona native is wading into adult entertainment with variety—phone sex, web camming, shooting for the extreme BDSM websites Intersec and Paintoy—constructing a resume that moves her confidently in different directions. She is learning her trade. Incidentally, like her experiences, Mercy’s sexuality also is fluid, expanding what her fans will learn to love about her.

Most importantly, Mercy West is honest. “I fell into this business because I saw a group of people I could possibly relate to and a career that I would actually enjoy investing my time in.” Adult entertainment is not for everyone, but in this Tucson girl’s case it rewards a hypersexual attitude that surely eclipses a career in customer and food service.

Pesky Labels

Mercy self-identifies as pan-sexual, gender fluid, and polyamorous, insisting that “I don’t think about a person’s biological sex or chosen gender when I choose partners.”

The current Portland, Oregon resident enjoys men, women, and “other gender fluids and everything in between.” Though she felt like “a sexual outcast” in her adolescent years, “even in some GLBTI (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex) friendly situations,” Mercy is delighted with the sexual kaleidoscope she now emotionally snuggles.

But as the legendary queer porn submissive Madison Young once said, everyone is shoved into a sexual box somewhere, somehow. So when she is pressed, Mercy declares, “pan-sexuality [is] the label I feel most comfortable with.”

Pan-Sexual Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Pan-Sexual
Photo courtesy of Mercy West

Regardless of how she defines herself and those around her, Mercy is having a blast.

“My adventure into the [adult] business has led me to people who are open, accepting, and as excited to work in this industry as I am,” she beams.

But she has more to tell us.

Mercy insists that her gender identification “changes pretty frequently.” Her hair drifts from long to short and her wardrobe is “pretty inconsistent,” though “vintage clothing” is a preference. “Phases” is how she describes her fluidity.

“Sometimes I find myself wanting to use my strap-on with a skinny tattooed bisexual boy I make suck my cock and call me master. Other times I just want to lay back and indulge in a little ‘age play’ with my much older, straight partner.”

Nevertheless, those pesky labels are the bane of Mercy West. She is a biological female, of course, but there is more beneath the obvious. Mercy admits growing “tired of people getting upset [because] I honestly could not tell them what I was.” With a hint of exasperation, she adds, “It took me years to get where I am with my feeling about my sexuality,” insisting that now she is anything but “confused” about her accumulated preferences, statuses, and desires.

As for her love life, Mercy finally realized her modus operandi was different from others. She confesses, “I kept putting myself in ‘manogamish’ relationships that confined me to one primary partner for the sake of  love.'” She felt restricted to “someone else’s idea of what a relationship was supposed to be.”

Primal Photo courtesy of S. Thanatos

Primal
Photo courtesy of S. Thanatos

Mercy experienced an epiphany.

“I began to realize that if I wanted to be truly happy I would have to build the life I wanted.” She needed to find “workable sexual and emotional relationships” because monogamy was unreasonably confining and uncomfortable.

“I was actually super unhappy,” Mercy declares, “because of other people’s insecurities and fears, not my own.” It was a Hydra that dominated her personal life, a destructive force brought on by one-on-one relationships.

Now at twenty-five with options ahead of her, Mercy West fondly embraces the words of her partner.

“When we met you had a whole life that I knew nothing about, you have connections with people I don’t know and experience things that I never could. All of those things shape you, the whole person I love. Why would I want to change that? Change the person I fell in love with?”

Rejection is a the real demon when relationships teeter on the abyss of the personally intense. But Mercy’s partner tossed that aside, encouraging her to explore all possibilities.

“Live, love, and grow as much as you can. I’m just happy to be able to walk beside you for at least a little while.”

And so are we because now it’s obvious what getting out of that box is all about, no labels in sight, only phases.

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Get Your Clothes and Go: Rain DeGrey, Part Three

by Rich Moreland, February 2015

Rain DeGrey and I have run over our alloted time in the press room but I’m curious about one more topic. How are girls at Kink are chosen for shoots and is the process the same at Intersec?

Rain in the press room. Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse

Rain in the press room.
Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse

At both companies, models are hand-picked for specific shoots. “The director says to a talent booker, ‘I want that girl.’ The booker can offer a selection, but the director is the one that makes the final choice [because certain models will] flavor their content.”

Rain emphasizes that to direct for Kink, riggers must rank above their competitors professionally. “I have nothing but praise for anyone who becomes a Kink director because that’s the cream of the crop.”

Most rigger/directors don’t stay at the Armory for lengthy careers. Circumstances vary, professional visions evolve, personal lives change. But no matter, it’s the legacy that counts.

James Mogul.  Photo courtesy of Kink.com

James Mogul.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

“Even if you cycle through the fact that you [were] on-screen means that you are bringing a level of skill that most people won’t even come close to approaching.”

Rain praises an all-star list of directors who choreographed her at Kink: Princess Donna, Lew Rubens, Lochai, Matt Williams, and James Mogul. “All of them [have] their own flavor. It is awe-inspiring what they can create and produce.”

In changing times and diminishing dollars, only James remains at the Armory out of that original group. The man is as much psychologist as rigger, Rain implies. “He is a genius, he is very intense, and you really need to be able to hang with what he is offering.”

Of course, good directors also have the privilege of good talent and Rain DeGrey is top of the line.

A Crush

Princess Donna. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Princess Donna.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

We turn to Princess Donna for a moment and Rain fills with energy. Her eyes light up and her gestures become more animated.

“Oh my god, she is insane!” Rains blurts out. “Wow, okay so I still have a crush on her. She is so charismatic and intense.”

Rain spins the tale of her first shoot with Donna, which incidentally was her first kinky porn scene for profit. She had just submitted her application.

Booked for Donna’s Wired Pussy site, Rain was nervous, explaining that she was “in the presence of someone” she admired so much that she was “shaking.” “I’m like tripping all over myself,” she says.

Sometimes first shoots can be daunting because eager to please overwhelms the atmosphere.

The scene called for a cattle prod with Rain on her hands and knees. Donna was firm about her expectations. “‘Now Rain, it is really simple. I’m going to hit you with this cattle prod and if you move, the shoot is over.'”

Rain was really nervous, after all cattle prods move huge beasts and she is much smaller than a 1500 pound animal. When the prod was applied, the newest Kink hopeful “lurched forward,” she remembers.

“Princess Donna was disgusted. ‘This is the level of talent they’re giving me! I can’t work with this! Get your clothes on and go.”

Run over by a truck she never saw, a confused and disappointed Rain retrieved her belongings. Kink was too demanding, this whole shooting idea was a disaster. “I had no idea I didn’t qualify to be a model,” she remembers thinking.

The Kink neophyte took two steps and was paralyzed by Donna’s commanding voice.

Donna gives the orders, Rain smiles. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Donna gives the orders, Rain smiles.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

“‘Where do you think you’re going?”

“Donna grabbed the back of my hair, flung me to the ground, and surprised fisted me. I’ve never been fisted in my life and [suddenly] I’m a Muppet!” a beaming Rain recalls.

After the shoot went online, the fans loved the performance, complimenting Rain’s acting. “I wasn’t really acting,” she sheepishly confesses. “I thought Donna cancelled the shoot because I sucked as a model.”

From there, a career was launched.

Rain comments that PD is no longer with Kink, attributing the change to shifting winds in the porn business model. Donna’s shoots were getting “more hardcore,” she explains, suggesting that the Fifty Shades phenomenon has led Kink to tone down its product. Rain guesses they are “going for a softer, more marketable base.”

In other words, Donna has authentic standards that aren’t the sappy Hollywood fare of Fifty Shades. Her expectations reflect her personal level of performance as a bottom. “But most people can’t do what Princess Donna can do,” Rains says, and sites like Public Disgrace were getting too extreme even for Kink.com. “She wasn’t able to turn back her directing style because she is directing from her passion and her heart.”

Try Something Once

Before we wrap up, Rain has one more story, this time about her Public Disgrace appearance. Up until that time, she had done very few boy-girl scenes, but “you just don’t say ‘no’ to the Princess.”

The situation was somewhat bizarre because an unexpected psychological role reversal took over the room.

The bar scene. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

The bar scene.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Rain describes the scene. “I am completely naked in a bar full of strangers. They pour beer all over me, spit on me, and are dragging me by the hair into people’s faces.” As part of the shoot, Rain was required to ask everyone for their name.

She remembers that “every single person in that room was terrified of me. I would get up in someone’s face naked and covered in beer and spit and say, ‘Who are you?”

“I’m like, ‘Where is the disgracing? I own this room. My naked beer covered ass is terrorizing you!”

In other words, who was empowered in that bar? Who was in control?

Later Rain had anal intercourse on the pool table before PD “flipped” her on her back and fisted her and she “squirted all over” the felt surface. As an afterthought, Rain wondered what the pool playing patrons would think if they knew that twenty-four hours previously her porn body was sprawled all over that table!

The action on the pool table. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

The action on the pool table.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

As we close, Rain pauses to convey her philosophy of shooting adult film.

“You are only on this planet once and your body is the greatest toy that you well ever have and some people are afraid to play with it. I’d rather try something once and not like it than be on my deathbed and think of all the things I’d wish I had the courage to try.”

“I don’t live my life for anyone other than me. When you stop [worrying about] what other people think, [you have] absolute freedom. You only have a finite amount of time and I want to use the time I have [well].”

“That is why I am here today.”

*          *          *

Adult film is a potpourri of personalities and Rain DeGrey’s carries an amusing, and sometimes scalding, wit that fires a flurry of stories with the rapidity of a machine gun nest. When you think she is finished, she’s always has another round.

Below is the hilarious finish to her Public Disgrace shoot. It’s a behind the scenes look at the trip back to the Armory. I cleaned up the language where appropriate.

Oh, My Knee

Steve Holmes is an ethnic German born in Romania who performs frequently at Kink. He’s no youngster, having been in the adult business for almost thirty years.

According to Rain, Steve is “such a pervert” with a sex drive in overload. He’s a “swinger” who got into porn because “he wasn’t getting enough” at home. She relates a story about a clip he made that reveals his extraordinary ability.

In the scene, Steve’s got “this little eighteen year old girl and he’s going to do the pop shot on her face,” Rain says. “It’s like her first shoot and she dodges the pop.” Things are now fouled up from a production point of view, the ending is ruined. What to do?

“Most dudes when they’re fifty cum once and it’s go sit in a corner. Steve is like ‘no problem give me a moment.’ Fifteen seconds later he ejaculated, holding her little head so she couldn’t dodge it this time. He was like ‘come here you little cum dodger and whoosh!”

“This man is a genius, how can you not respect that?”

On the day of her Public Disgrace shoot, Steve was at the Armory. He had just finished a Sex and Submission shoot, Rain remembers. Meanwhile, Princess Donna’s cast and crew are preparing to depart for the bar in a company van.

Steve Holmes and friend ready for SexandSubmission. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Steve Holmes and friend ready for SexandSubmission.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Rain was ready to go, walking through the Armory “wearing two Band-Aids and a cork, five pounds of make up obviously off to [have sex],” she says. Steve “is hanging out in the lobby” and asks what is on her agenda.

“‘Nothing. Just off to do Public Disgrace.'”

“‘Oh great! Can I come?'”

Rain shrugs and comments that “Steve likes to relax after [having sex] all day by [having sex] all night.”

“So we are in the van off to the Public Disgrace shoot and not only is he about to [have sex] with me just because he had nothing else to do that night, he’ll actual [have sex] with his fans.”

When the shoot is over, everyone is jammed into the van and headed back to the Armory. Steve, who uses all his social media accounts to chat with his fans, makes contact with a woman who wants to have sex with him. She’s a forty-five-year-old African-American truck driver in a knee brace. It is now one-thirty in the morning and the fan shows up.

“We are tired and exhausted and lube is trickling out of my butt,” Rain recalls. The fan is just getting wound up. “‘Now it’s time to party!'” she announces.

“This is the highlight of her night, [but] we’re a van full of bored, tired porn stars [who] are all ready to go to bed,” Rain says, so the evening isn’t going to be extended.

Disappointment sets in and the fan caves, “Oh well.” But there remains a small problem. “‘My knee. You’ll need to give me a ride home,'” she insists.

“Fine, we’ll give her a ride home so she climbs in with the knee brace and gets to Steve and starts giving instructions [to her house]. ‘Two blocks [gurgling sound] go left [gurgling sound]’ and I’m convinced she is giving bad directions to drag out the time.”

“We get there and start pushing her out of the van and she is like ‘Would you like to meet my son?'”

No! And the lady is dropped off. Everyone is tired and armed with the same thought “‘Steve, you have got to stop with the fans, you’re killing us.'”

“Five minutes later we get a phone call that she left her purse in the van. I have to pee at this point and I’m sitting in a pool of butt lube ready to kill Steve.”

“We have to turn around, give her back her purse. . . Anyway, Steve is insatiable and that was my Public Disgrace.”

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Zen, Masochism, and Lew Rubens: Rain DeGrey, Part Two

by Rich Moreland, February 2015

Venturing back to the Victorian Age and the birth of psychoanalysis, popular belief about BDSM, or S&M as it was known in those days, was fairly straightforward: practitioners were sadists and masochists wallowing in their perverted fetish to compensate for problematic childhoods. In our modern times understanding has moved light years ahead, or so we hope. Not all BDSM submissives have masochistic tendencies, nor are all tops sadists. Furthermore, BDSMers don’t believe they are deviants and their adolescent years are as normal as anyone’s, despite the bill of goods now for sale from E. L. James.

Rain DeGrey, however, does have a healthy dose of masochism. It’s “incredibly personal” to her and she’s “passionate about” it.  “I’m never more grounded or immediately in my body as when I am in a masochistic state,” Rain begins. “It’s like Zen for me, my meditation. The endless chattering voice in the back of my head shuts up. All of my self-consciousness is gone.”

Like Zen. Photo courtesy of InfernalRestraintscom

Wonder Woman empowerment.
Photo courtesy of InfernalRestraintscom

Is that subspace?

“Yes, undoubtedly. That’s why we do what we do. You’re causing your body to release adrenaline, endorphins and natural pain killing opiates. Without taking a single substance, I have hallucinated [and become] completely unselfconscious.”

According to Rain, the feelings are so intense that sometimes she reaches “a primal state” where she can’t sit up, walk, or recall the day of the week.

The bondage veteran believes that masochism is empowering. “Everyday in this society women are told they are weak and fragile,” Rain says, but for her BDSM alters that paradigm. When she is punished or disciplined in a shoot, Wonder Woman-like feelings overtake her. It’s “the most empowering thing in the world,” Rain claims, making her feel “invulnerable.” She proves to herself and anyone who wants to listen that she can take it.

“I feel like I am so strong I could topple a building. That is what I get out of masochism.”

Does pain bring on an orgasm?

“I am not the person to ask because a gentle breeze will make me cum. I usually cum in about thirty seconds and can have twenty, thirty orgasm per day. I’ve done orgasm play until I’ve cum so hard I passed out and [had to be] revived with CPR.”

Rain and Felony performing with Princess Donna. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Rain and Felony performing with Princess Donna.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

She elaborates. “I did an Orgasm Destruction shoot for Kink [with] Felony, who is now retired. We both came multiple times while passing out and being revived. The shoot ended when we were both puking. I don’t think a dude will ever understand what it feels like to have fifty orgasms in an hour. It’s like running a marathon.”

Though the pain factor is often muted for Rain, she’s experienced a few pain induced orgasms. She does remember one “paingasm” she experienced in an Intersec scene. “I hallucinated the White Mountains of Japan, Mount Fuji.”

Casey ready to shoot for Intersec. Photo courtesy of SexuallyBroken.com

Casey ready to shoot for Intersec.
Photo courtesy of SexuallyBroken.com

Rain is not the first performer to tell me about multiple orgasms in a BDSM shoot. Casey Calvert relates similar stories. This leads me to bring up Casey.

“Oh yeah, Casey cums easier from pain than I do. Casey is a tough puppy. Before she got in the industry and before she started doing boy-girl she was hanging out with Lew Rubens. I did a suspension and DP (double penetration) scene with her. ‘Isn’t she a cutie,’ I remarked to myself then and less than a year later she is a Spiegler girl and wrangling dicks professionally.”

The Reason I’m Sitting in this Room

Lew is highly respected in the bondage community and we take the conversation in his direction.

“Lew is actually the reason I’m sitting in this room talking to you. Lew got me into porn. It’s all his fault.” A smiling Rain is more than affectionate with her comment.

She recalls the MySpace days when networking on that stage was the backbone of social media. Lew was there. “I saw the guy and he had these incredible bondage photos.” Even though Rain was unfamiliar with Lew Rubens, she did know he worked for Kink so she messaged him.

Lew Rubens. Photo source unknown.

Lew Rubens.
Photo source unknown.

In getting his attention, Rain jokes about her assets. “Boobs are really powerful, they have gotten me far.” Lew took an interest and invited her to drop by.

“It was that easy,” Rain declares. “That is when I first got into the industry and did my first modeling gig.”

Like other girls I know, Rain is a Lew Rubens’ fan.

“I have a great respect for Lew. He is an artist. In fact, he was such an artist that is why he wasn’t able to work for Kink. He is a purist and unfortunately with Kink it becomes a sausage factory. ‘Crank out the product. We don’t have time for art. Get a shoot, get another shoot.'”

She explains that the conditions were difficult for Lew. “He is one of the most skilled riggers I have ever met and like most artists, it is hard to transition the art into paying his bills.”

Bobbi Starr's first shoot for Lew Rubens at Kink. Photo courtesy of Waterbondage.com

Lew Rubens with Bobbi Starr at Kink.
Photo courtesy of Waterbondage.com

(From my conversations with Lew, I support Rain’s assessment wholeheartedly.)

I mention Casey and the now retired Bobbi Starr as Lew enthusiasts.

“Yes, Lew started Casey, he started Bobbi. Though I never dated him, I hung out with him a lot. He started me, too. I would have probably ended up here anyway, but Lew greased the wheels.”

He is very proud of the girls he’s worked with and started in the business, I remark.

“He should be,” Rain says.

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Taking the Orgasms, if You Don’t Mind: Rain DeGrey, Part One

by Rich Moreland, February 2015
Adult film models fall into two broad categories. First is the fresh face who is excited about her new-found line of work and wants to make everybody happy. A bit naĂŻve, of course, but give her credit for enthusiasm, especially if she sticks around for a while. Next is the established veteran who realistically grasps the business and has a solid film resume around which she has built a fan base. Having paid her dues, she’s probably branded her name.

Both can be found in the LA porn world.

Rain during our interview. Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse.com

Rain during our interview.
Photo courtesy of 3hattergrindhouse.com

However, there is a third performer, the bona fide fetish model who gets her kinks in Northern California’s porn theater. One such girl is San Franciscan Rain DeGrey who recently left her Kink.com roots and crossed the Bay into Oakland to join the staff at Intersec, an internet company that rivals Kink’s business model.

The transition was seamless because Rain was already familiar with Intersec’s product, having modeled for all the company’s sites: Real Time Bondage, Sexually Broken, Top Girl, Infernal Restraints, and Hard Tied.

Rain took a half hour out of her busy schedule to talk with our media team recently in Las Vegas. She mentions the Vegas AVN show is actually a recruiting trip for her.

“I’m the talent booker for Intersec interactive and here to recruit for Sexually Broken.”

Rain’s shooting history at Kink makes her one of their most popular models and she gladly reflects on her time with the company. Her familiarity with the directors landed her “a lot of shoots, maybe even more than a model in her thirties who is heavily tattooed should get,” she remembers. However, Rain is not shy. “I am an amazing performer and I love what I do,” a fact that explains all those Kink segments.

How did she get started?

The idea of sending an application to Kink came from an acquaintance at the SF Citadel (a local BDSM facility that doubles as a club and community center). Doubting that she was attractive enough for the company and overly inked to boot, Rain took a chance anyway.

A little suspension can take a nurse to new heights. Photo courtesy of Kink.com

A little suspension can take a nurse to new heights.
Photo courtesy of Kink.com

Kink booked her the next week.

It was “mind-blowing,” Rain declares, because now she could make money for what she was already doing for free. “I love this shit, it’s why I get up in the morning and I can make a living doing it? It was like winning the lottery.”

With a day job as a nurse, Rain never intended to enter the industry. But the phone kept ringing, so she turned in her bedpans for twisting in suspension above a basement floor.

The statuesque blonde describes her career adjustment by presenting a choice between a run-of-the-mill job (like working at a gas station) and what seduced her, summarizing it this way:

“You could be having incredible sex with a ridiculously good-looking person who is skilled at fucking. [Throw in] flattering lighting, good makeup, paperwork proving that [everyone is] STD free and a huge paycheck. . . . Hmmm, I’m going to take the orgasms, if you don’t mind.”

“And that is how I accidentally got into porn,” she concludes with a smile.

Friendly Face

Stepping into BDSM is not for every performer out there; as a result, recruiting new talent has its challenges.

Sex in bondage is “scary for some people,” Rain says. In vanilla porn a girl learns “all sorts of techniques and pivots” to back away and ease the discomfort of penetrative sex. With a bondage shoot those options disappear. “Escape,” as Rain phrases it, is minimized so that trust becomes imperative for success. The shoot can be psychologically harrowing. “You put a chick in bondage and you take that option away from her. A lot of girls don’t want to give up control.”

Throw in accelerated levels of intensity and a bondage orgasm “can be powerful,” Rain says. “We’ve had girls cry, had them get dizzy because they don’t ordinarily cum that hard.” She references “cum drunk,” the result of putting “a model in sexual subspace.”

We get “LA porn girls with the big fake tits, blonde hair and the shellac of makeup and halfway through [their shoot] you can see them shift, the pretenses drop, they not doing the LA porny fake moan, ‘it’s so good,'” Rain jokes. Honesty takes over. “It’s a beautiful transformation on-screen.”

Model Skylar Price shooting for Top Girl. Photo courtesy of TopGirl.com

Model Skylar Price shooting for Top Girl.
Photo courtesy of TopGirl.com

When models complete their booking, Intersec pays for the flight home, but some are not ready to go. “We put them in the green room and they’re like ‘Is it okay if I just sit here for an hour?'”

The company isn’t going “to boot them out of the studio,” Rain says, preferring instead that the performer “sit down and enjoy the buzz [they] just earned.” She characterizes post-shoot reactions as “naked relief.”

But not all models reach a BDSM nirvana. “Some girls love it and some girls can’t take the journey [despite being paid] a ton of cash. Not everyone is willing to walk to the other side.”

Rain explains. “We recognize what we’re asking models to do is strenuous. No one ever comes away from a shoot neutral. [We] either open their eyes and show them a whole new world and they are hooked, or they say ‘never again.’ Both responses are valid.”

A shoot can get intense. Model Jynx Maze for Sexually Broken. Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

A shoot can get intense. Model Jynx Maze for Sexually Broken.
Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

For those who can’t make it to a shoot’s finish line, a “kill fee” is paid and the model gets something for the completed segments. Intersec covers her air fare with “no hard feelings.” But that situation is rare, Rain insists, because “our handlers are the best in the entire planet.”

In the bondage business, that is worth gold.

“I see these fussy girls come in” and I’ll think, “You’ll not be able to extract an hour of content from her.” In those cases, the crew’s creativity takes over; timing and pace can produce a workable solution. It works like this.

“Just five minutes in a position, hit her [with BDSM toys], take her out [of her predicament],” Rain explains. “Once we string [the segments] together [with even] the fussiest girls, we can usually get a shoot out of it. We won’t book them again, but very rarely does someone get sent home because we adapt the level of the shoot [to get results we want].”

Rain behind the scenes at Intersec. Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

Rain behind the scenes at Intersec.
Photo courtesy of Intersec.com

The end product may not be up to Intersec’s standards, but accommodations are made. “We would prefer not to do the super light shoots, all we ask is that a model go as hard as she possibly can. You can see the effort. If a vanilla LA girl is giving it her all, that’s what the viewers want to see . . . her honestly trying.”

Being a talent recruiter for a BDSM internet site has its moments. Not every girl is confident about shooting a hardcore bondage scene, Rain DeGrey says, so “I am here today to put a friendly face on Sexually Broken.”

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If interested in further information on becoming an Intersec model, click here.

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