Shades After page
Warnings for consensual welt marks!
It’s one thing to know what your partner is doing, it’s another thing to actually see it. I have many things to say about this page but I think it’s better to show rather than tell with this, please hold judgement until this little arc comes to an end- if you do want to read ahead I just put up to page 101 up over on the patreon for while I’m away in ‘Murica!
Yeah I saw this coming after the last page D: I hope Anwar doesn’t get too traumatised.
Oh no! I mean, it’s consensual and everything, but being ace myself, I very much understand Anwar’s feelings. I would be hella freaked out myself. Hopefully they talk about this and come to an understanding sans arguing or major freaking on Anwar’s part.
I am not ACE, and I am quite traumatized myself. And I like bondage. Basically the only thing that turns me on in BDSM is the B part. All the rest deal with stuff that is too traumatizing for me. :-\ Poor Anwar. You are made of much sterner stuff than I am to be able to talk about that without freaking out.
That’s pretty much me too. Bondage and even domination. Pain and marking up a perfectly lovely body – not so much. I’m not actually traumatized, but I’ sure I’d be wincing if I came face to face (or face to back) with it.
Anyone would be freaked out by injuries to their partner whether consensual or not. That kind of thing is scary.
Hm, really? Considering how Chris is still basking in the afterglow, my inclination would be just to use a light hand with the loofah :P But it does look like Chris isn’t paying attention to ‘War’s discomfort, or just hoping that being casual about it can smooth it over, and that’s just not cool. Or fair to either of them for that matter, since Chris has the right to enjoy his sessions without guilt and ‘War has the right not to be confronted with a situation that he’s repeatedly shown he finds triggering.
I wonder whether ‘War having lunch and a chat with Raven would be helpful for him or an unmitigated disaster…
I think War deserved at least a warning, but yeah, Chris has a right to not feel guilt over his consensual BDSM.
This exactly.
I’m more inclined to believe that since it is such a normal thing for Chris he may not realize that it is causing ‘War discomfort at all. Rather than glossing over it. It is something I did early on in my relationship.
Um, no, not everyone, actually. The partner I live with knows that when I come home from a dungeon visit with marks, that our mutual partner and I had a great time. (OK, it’s actually more common that I don’t have marks, but the idea is the same.)
She’s far more concerned about the scratches I get from geocaching! Those don’t have someone monitoring my state of being.
I think a warning “hey, I have some hardcore-looking marks on my back but it’s totally ok, just wanted to give you a heads up” could have been helpful. I know some people who tell their partners this even if the partner also does play that marks.
And as I’m kinky and enjoy giving and receiving marks, with two partners who feel the same, I’m not surprised or anything about seeing marks on them. But that’s because it’s become a normal thing to me. I get how for people not into S/M and such could have more gut reactions.
Oh, absolutely! If it was the first time my partner was seeing me with marks, I would warn them. (Actually I tend towards giving them as many details as they want, if only to assure them that I very much enjoyed getting whatever I have.)
I wasn’t considering Phoenix’s comment as a reaction to unexpectedly seeing your partner marked for the first time, but rather as “always reacting that way” to such things. These are certainly two different situations.
I’m the same way re: giving as many details as my partners want. But like I said, both my partners also are into S/M and other kinks so they *know* I enjoyed it.
Ah, I gotcha. Yeah, always reacting that way could be a problem.
I don’t think so?
I mean, maybe it’d be different for a partner, but my friends (who are family-by-choice) were jazzed to see my stitches when I got some two weeks ago from a kayaking accident. Like, that was the first thing most of them said when they saw me the first time after I got them. And my friend had a real bad sprained ankle (also from a kayaking accident) and has enthusiastically been sending pictures of it to all of us and we’re gleefully receiving them because wow that was quite the colorful club of an appendage.
Admittedly, the friends that saw the accident that led to needing the stitches kiiiiinda panicked because it was a hard head hit, but once I was like “nah I’m fine and I don’t have any concussion symptoms” it was all cool. And I was there for the friend with a sprained ankle and it was a little concerning at first, but once we all knew he was all right, eh.
I like the way Anwar is clutching his shirt. It seems quite telling.
Tab, love, the captions do come after the comic on the website…it’s more of an “afterwarning” at that point…pretty bruises though!
Yay, new page! PS, it was so great to see you at Flamecon! I hope you had as great a time as I did! (Love, Remy the Pearl Cosplayer)
Poor Anwar, he’s not liking this. And if he’s not liking this, then perhaps this relationship isn’t right for him.
I think that’s jumping the gun a bit. You don’t have to enjoy everything your partner enjoys for a relationship to be “right”. My spouse, for example, has a love for scrapple but the very smell of it cooking makes me ill. He just cooks, eats and cleans it up when I’m not about. If ‘War can’t handle seeing the effects of Chris’s BDSM, there are compromises they could make that wouldn’t mean ending the relationship while still allowing them both to get what they need/want out of it. Besides, ‘War might just need to really understand that it is consensual and a good thing for Chris. A lot of people who aren’t well experienced in BDSM see those kind of marks and can’t comprehend them being a good thing. It takes a lot of reassurance for some people to get past the initial panic of seeing what they’ve been conditioned to view as damage in a positive light.
I’m hoping that he can grow to understand and accept :) sometimes it just takes some conversation, some learning, and some time.
Yipes! Chris should have talked with Anwar to ready him for this before disrobing. Even if he had talked about it in the past, giving War a reminder still would have been the smart/polite thing to do. I can’t imagine being okay with a partner deliberately causing damage to the body. I don’t judge others for it, but it would bother me if it was someone I was involved with for health reasons alone—especially if any of it scabs over and lasts longer than a day or two. A few friends of mine actually do flogging, but I’ve never seen it lead to anything that lasted more than a day or two (if it even left marks). I’m not sure whether it’s from the whips they chose or how hard they hit—though a couple parties you could really hear smacking from the dungeon even on the upper level of the house.
Just to make it clear, I don’t judge others who choose this for themselves or date people who do this. I can imagine a bit how Anwar feels, though—even though I like other forms of BDSM myself.
I’m thinking that because this is normal for Chris, he didn’t even consider that Anwar would notice the marks, or that they might be scary for him to see. Chris usually doesn’t have to worry about people outside the dungeon noticing his bare skin, so this is probably a new event for him too (post-dungeon aftercare, that is.)
Good point! I think sometimes kinksters like me forget what’s actually the norm with non-kinky folk and what’s not.
This actually reminded me too, Chris is pretty fair skinned which means he likely bruises very easily. Even before I was doing anything with BDSM, fairly vanilla activities with leave all kinds of marks on my neck and I was often asked if they hurt or if my partners had been trying to strangle me because of how easily I bruise. These marks likely look far worse than they actually are.
I’m a sub, mark pretty easily, and tend to enjoy being flogged pretty hard. It’s fairly common for marks to last on me for up to a week. And it honestly wouldn’t have occurred to me until now that it might have freaked out a partner. That’s very much just normal for me, and so I also tend to forget it probably looks awful. I would bet it didn’t even occur to Chris.
Awesome page, Tab. I’m nervous but hopeful! (also the website told me to slow down because I was posting too quickly, haha)
Eek, my “hurtful blurting” senses are tingling…neither of them really thought ahead here (‘War didn’t think far enough about what Chris seeing Raven might involve, Chris didn’t think far enough about how ‘War might react to seeing this), and I have a sinking feeling they’re both going to be caught off-balance and say things they might regret.
Does Chris even realise what his back looks like? He’s fair skinned so any marks will show up better, plus sometimes scratches can stick around without hurting all that much in the first place. My girlfriend scratched my back for me (not even sexually, I just had post-binder itching) and the next day she caught a glimpse of my back and was shocked. If she hadn’t taken a photo I wouldn’t have believed there was anything there.
ha yea post binder itches are a THING! My Partner saw my back the other day after I started binding and had to scratch the post-bider itching. it didn’t hut but it did freak them out. I’m not a kinkster or aything like that but i can see why it could feel good if its expected and wanted. However at the same time marks are always a red flag to see on someone you care for. The first instinct is to worry.
I am not in to BDSM, however do have a skin condition called Dermatographia, it can get really bad on my face and upper chest, to the point people have said i look like have been in a fight or they get concerned that i am self harming. My point is that while it looks ugly it does not hurt me, so i don’t worried about it, but i don’t get upset about people close to me expressing concern. I generally find that once I’ve explained what is going on and they can see i am not in pain they accept it as just part of who i am, i am hoping that is what will happen here.
I’m crying bc I understand your pain Anwar, Its silly but I’m so glad this comic exists bc i really need someone to relate too rn, even if they aren’t real
Jeezum Crow, ouch. Even I’m traumatized right now.