Ella Jacobs – author

Aftercare

Asking for What You Need

Asking for What you Need Isn’t easy I was doing a read through of “If I Were Yours,” and reading a scene where Clara finally opens up to the two men and lets them know how she feels made me want to do this post. ‘Well done’ I thought, remembering how hard it can be. Especially in a new dynamic. Having been with my Dom for seven years and having had a lot of practice, I thought I was really good at expressing my feelings and needs. We’re really good at talking, and sometimes it feels like I tell him everything—to the point where it’s almost compulsive. If I have a fantasy I’m embarrassed about, I’ll initially tell myself that I can keep that one to myself—I don’t have to tell him all my fantasies. But then when the fantasy pops back into my mind later in the day when we’re together, I can’t help divulging it. I don’t know if it’s because his possession is so deeply rooted withing me or if it’s a need to share my innermost self with him. But that’s the level of openness I have with him. But no matter how good I thought I was, I suddenly faced the challenge of sharing some strong emotions and a very urgent need with him. MfM: Introducing a new man Half a year ago, we started opening our relationship up to the MfM dynamic, and my Dom had planned a scene with another man. It was the first time I was with two men, and I was dreadfully nervous, but so damn aroused. The scene was amazing—every bit as good as the fantasy I’d had for years. My Dom had me blindfolded and half naked (wearing lingerie that didn’t cover any of the important parts), and when the other man came, my Dom presented me to him like this. Nothing crazy happened. The two men watched me and touched me but didn’t even shed their own clothes. But the whole situation of being helpless at the hands of two dominant men, exposed and recieving pleasure from a new man, was overwhelming to say the least. (Not all subs would react so strongly to this, but to me, it’s a very big deal). I was a very happy little sub at the end of the night, but in the following days, I struggled to cope with the emotions of being bared to a new man like that and crashed into a week long subdrop (I have a separate post about this). My Dom gave me plenty of aftercare, but it wasn’t enough. Because two different men had used me, and my Dom could only cover his part. I needed aftercare from the other man to regain my balance. Asking for aftercare I badly needed to be hugged and held by him, but I couldn’t bring myself to confess this to my Dom. Surprisingly, it wasn’t because I was afraid my Dom would get jealous—I knew he’d understand—but because I was afraid to be a burden to the other man. I didn’t want to interrupt him and his probably busy life with my subdrop and need for more aftercare. And maybe there was a part of me that was afraid to get rejected. I spent three days working up the nerve to tell my Dom. When I finally did, my Dom decided to call the other man and let him know. I was so nervous, but it turned out I wasn’t an inconvenience at all—of course (but rationalization doesn’t always work on a vulnerable submissive mind that has been thrust into new waters). The other man came the next evening, took me in his arms and held me. It was just what I needed, and it turned out he was happy to do it too. Because even though power and control are a big part of being a dominant, care and protection is part of it too—at least to a good Dom. But even knowing this, I have a hard time wrapping my head around it, and the fear of asking for what I need and becoming a burden arises anew now that my Dom and I are about to embark on another journey of MfM play with a new man. Practice doesn’t make easy I got a lot of practice in opening up during the time my Dom and I played with the first man. Several times, I felt like I laid it all out there and bared my most intimate emotions. With my Dom, that’s okay to do. But in the new dynamic, I felt excruciatingly vulnerable. After all, I was the sub and had no control over what would happen, and the whole situation was very uncertain. Neither of us knew where it would lead or how long it would last. In ways I felt like I gave too much too quick, but BDSM tends to force out strong emotions in no time. It’s often necessary with the things we play with in this lifestyle. And the act of submitting is, in and of itself, an extremely intimate act. At least to me it is. This is why communication is so incredibly important when playing with BDSM. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Being a submissive at heart, it’s ingrained in me to be the one who submits and not the one who asks for things. In a long term dynamic that I feel safe in, I can usually override this, though, but when a new Dom comes into the picture, it’s like my submissive side goes on steroids, plus insecurities arise, making it even harder. So this is when I need to work extra hard on, Because without good communication, it simply won’t work.

Asking for What You Need Read More »

Crashing into Subdrop

Crashing into Subdrop It’s been years since I crashed into a severe subdrop—so long I almost forgot just how bad it can be even though I’ve been writing about it a lot. But then it happened. I fell, and I fell hard and long. For several days, I was depleted. Not just tired. It felt like all the energy had been sucked straight out of me and refused to return. I couldn’t do much else but get the bare minimum of my day job done and lie on the couch the rest of the day. New depthsI thought I was getting sick, but the fatigue never went further. No sore throat or runny nose. It was purely the aftereffects of an intense scene. I’d never tried anything like it. When I started seeing my Dom seven years ago, I would go into subdrop quite often. It would hit me like a strike of lightning—usually after I’d come home in the afternoons, luckily. Suddenly, I’d feel depressed and sad for no apparent reason. I’d often cry too, feeling completely gutted. But it usually went away within a few hours. So this time, when it just kept dragging me down for days, I must say I was a bit worried. Back when I started seeing my Dom, the circumstances were such that we couldn’t be together after a scene. He’d drive me home at night, and then we’d stay in touch through texts. This separation was really hard on me, and when I dropped and he asked me what I needed, I badly wanted to say you. I needed to feel him, to be held, and have the man who tore through my defenses build them back up. But I didn’t want to be a burden, seem needy, or ask for things I wasn’t sure I was supposed to want. So I never expressed my most urgent need. Luckily, this situation didn’t last long. Circumstance changed, and within months, I was living with my Dom most of the time. This meant more aftercare, nights spent together after intense scenes, and bye bye subdrop. There has been small drops of course, but nothing as severe as those gutted, lonely hours I experienced during our first months together. So why now?At first, I thought it was because the scene leading up to it was really intense. And it was. But then someone told me it was also because what had happened during the scene was new and very big, and things suddenly added up. The scene was something I had dreamt of for years—my Dom sharing me with another man. But it was also something that really pushed my boundaries, and I was incredibly nervous several days before. So it was all very new, exciting, and nerve-racking. When I started seeing my Dom, everything was new too. Him, of course, but also the way we played. It was much more intense and real than anything I’d tried before. He was the first true dominant I was with. Not just a sadist or someone who experimented with BDSM for my sake. No, he wanted to take my submission as much as I wanted to give it, and that was huge for me. So comparing the situation back then with the one now, it makes a lot of sense that the whole newness of the scene was part of the reason I dropped so hard. But even though my Dom gave me plenty of aftercare in the days following the scene, I felt afloat, unable to find my footing. Something was missing. Asking for what I neededAs the days passed and the uneasy feeling intensified, it became more and more clear that it was the need for aftercare from the other man who’d dominated me. Aftercare wasn’t just aftercare. I needed it from both men who had pushed me far out of my comfort zone and taken something very personal—my submission. But I had a really hard time telling my Dom this. Not because I was afraid he’d feel bad about me needing another man to help me out of subdrop, but because I didn’t want to be a burden—again, something that ties back to the early days of our relationship. Usually I can tell my Dom everything, but this time it took a lot of rumination and a long talk with a girlfriend for me to gather the nerve to tell my Dom what I truly needed. And I’m so glad I did. My Dom called the other man, who came the next evening and gave me the aftercare I badly needed. The man my Dom had shared me with also reassured me that it was quite normal to feel the way I did and that he liked giving me aftercare. It didn’t magically fix me, but I think it made all the difference. It was like a burden off my chest, and I felt a lot better the next day, and my energy slowly started to return.

Crashing into Subdrop Read More »

Aftercare: A Tricky Affair

Aftercare: A Tricky Affair When I say aftercare, you probably think about cuddling and intimacy right after a scene. But aftercare is so much more than an hour or two of comfort after a good beating. When I was still relatively new to the lifestyle, I had a first time scene with a guy I barely knew. It was in the safe space of a club—points for that—but we hadn’t really negotiated boundaries. Now, I’m not one for long contracts and setting meticulous boundaries, but you have to spend some time going over limits and expectations—getting to know each other, really—before delving into something so intense as BDSM together. But I was new and eager and the guy was completely green. The scene itself went well. More than well, in fact. Our chemistry was off the charts, and he was rough and naturally sadistic in the gruff way I like. He’d hit me with a cane, harder than most first-time sadists would dare, and when I screamed and said it hurt, he’d tell me in a mean voice, “I don’t care.” So hot!!! I was completely under his sadistic spell. It was probably the best scene I’ve had before meeting my master.   But—yes, there’s a but—it was also the first time I felt the not so fun aftereffects of rough play. Letting someone beat you and tell you they don’t care that you hurt tampers with your confidence and strength. If that someone isn’t there to tell you he does care afterward, your ground wobbles and you risk falling hard. The guy did hold and comfort me after we played. But after we parted that night, I got nothing but a brief message saying it had been great. That was like a bandaid on a gaping wound. He didn’t even ask how I was feeling, and I really needed that kind of attentiveness after being treated like I was nothing. I felt lost and alone with all these intense emotions swirling in my manhandled body. His marks were a constant reminder of what he’d done—of him. And I needed to know that it meant something, marking me like that. That I wasn’t just a punching bag. Luckily, I had some good friends in the lifestyle that I could talk it over with, and that helped. But I think luck played as much a part. Thinking back on it, I’m a bit amazed that it didn’t hit me harder. I might as well have fallen into a deep sub drop, and that would have been a shitty thing to be alone with. Not long after this experience, I met my master and would learn what a severe sub drop felt like. Now, aftercare and reactions can be a tricky thing. My master did everything he could to ensure my wellbeing both before, during, and several days after a scene. But that didn’t stop me from dropping low. The first times we played went without a hitch. I was happy and excited about this new play-relation, my stomach all fluttery. But as we delved deeper into the rough waters of BDSM, I, too, would sink deeper in the aftermath. The drop would hit one or two, even three days later. I often made it home before it happened, lucky as I was—or maybe it’s like when your body holds back the flu symptoms until you have time for them… And then the crash would come out of the blue. Like a freight train without warning lights. I would feel this empty pit in my stomach, lonely and hopeless, without knowing why. I would cry like I’d been dumped over text, and everything felt hollow and meaningless.   In my novice mind, the drop seemed completely unjustifiable, and I didn’t want to be a nuisance to my new Dom, complaining about depressing feelings. So I didn’t tell him. But we had already established a good text-communication, so it wasn’t difficult to reach out with some trivial text just to get in touch. Luckily, he saw straight through me and demanded that I tell him what was going on. So I did. I would lie on my bed sobbing, hugging my pillow with one arm, my phone in the other hand.   Texting was by no means an easy fix, and it was really hard that we weren’t able to see each other after a scene at that time. But still, knowing that he cared made all the difference, and I would rise out of the drops a little stronger than when I fell in. So no, aftercare isn’t just for a single night. Human emotions and reactions are complex and tricky. Reactions may set in long after the scene has ended, and so, the Dom must be on standby long after the scene has ended—in whatever way life deems possible. So, what’s the takeaway from all this? Well, there are two. First, don’t dive headfirst into rough play with a new partner. Ease into it. Like all the good Doms I know would say, it’s better to go too slow than too fast. Second, know that subdrop may hit no matter how hard you try to prevent it. In BDSM, you play with stark, volatile emotions, and they may rear their ugly heads when you least expect it. When this happens, both you and your Dom have a responsibility, which is the same: Take care of you! For your part, start with reaching out to your Dom—text, call, mail, it doesn’t matter. Just reach out. Even better, tell him how you feel. If he’s a Dom worth his title, he’ll be all ears and give you all the support you need to get through those rough emotions. Next, go buy a tub of ice cream, slink under the covers, and watch your favorite movie. Give it time.

Aftercare: A Tricky Affair Read More »

Free dark romance novella

Waking up blind, collared, and at the mercy of a stranger.

Get your free copy of His in the Darkness here.