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SPEAKING OF CASTS

One of the very best things about our sexuality - regardless of what the Conformity Police might say - is the enormous variety of stuff that makes guys' dicks hard. Take casts, for example. No, not the actors starring in the umpteenth revival of Cats. We're talking serious orthopaedics here, the kind of casts that immobilize broken bones. Given the delightful fact that just about anything is fetishised by someone, it should come as no surprise that a contrivance of plaster can be not just a therapeutic device, but an erection-producing erotic gizmo. And it's a fetish which brings a whole new meaning to the term "casting couch".

As with any kink worth its salt, there's a whole new set of terms to master: "LLC" stands for "lower leg cast," while a "Minerva" immobilizes the neck and torso. For the hardcore crowd, an "abduction boot cast" places a spreader bar between the legs for maximum immobilization. And casters into fetish aesthetics can choose between traditional white plaster casts (with plenty of space for scrawling) or fibreglass casts that come in a variety of fetching colours; some casters' websites are replete with photos of legs encased in bright orange and sultry purple.

Cast fetishism can be part of a broader love of medical-type scenes. Sometimes cast-kinkiness overlaps other fetishes: Those into feet might well swoon at the sight of tender toes protruding from hard plaster. Still other cast-and-sling fans rhapsodise over the aesthetics of immobilization; says one guy, "From an early age, the look of a leg in a cast just attracted me."

But many would agree with Casting Kid, a 21-year-old who says, "For me, it's just a bondage fetish like any other." Devoted cast kinksters often progress from merely cruising broken-legged strangers to playing with casts - applying and/or wearing them. Some become as knowledgeably skillful as hospital technicians.

Nonenthusiasts might simply shudder, figuring the cast fraternity is a bunch of sicko sadists who rejoice in the suffering of others. But - as with many another kink - things are rarely as simple as they appear; those into casts are often eager submissives. Some apply casts to their own legs, in a sort of medical masturbation. But most scenes involve being put in a cast by another man, sometimes leading to long-term mutual arrangements with like-minded pervs. Casting Kid claims, "A surprising number of guys might not have ever thought of cast play, but immediately find it intriguing."

As with other sorts of bondage, what looks like restriction can feel like something quite the opposite. One casting bottom raves, "It's paradoxical, but when I'm in a cast, I feel a wonderful sort of order and freedom." Another enthuses about being "overwhelmed by the sensation of wearing a beautiful fibreglass cast."

Some casting kinksters are into exhibitionism, and love to spend Saturday afternoon hobbling around Asda. Others crave extended restriction. As Casting Kid points out, "Casts are good because they can be worn very comfortably for days or even weeks; you can't do that with ropes or leather." He loves doing long-term scenes, immobilising a man with multiple arm and leg casts, then acting as both caretaker and sex partner, alternately feeding his plastered partner and teasing his cock. "And he'll suck me a lot; he'll have to if he wants certain things."

Casters can be defensive about their hobby: At least one cast-fetish website reassures the truly disabled that casters are neither mocking them nor seeking to horn in on their territory. But as kinks go, casting really seems sort of harmless and sweet.if a tad specialized.

And those actors in Cats? Before going on stage, they wish each other good luck by saying, "Break a leg." How sick is that?

Simon Sheppard

Now here's your chance to meet the man behind this column. OutUK has an interview with Simon Sheppard or you can take a look at some of his books that are currently available:

Looking for something very sexy and just as smart? Man on Man collects the best and hottest gay sex writing by Simon, who is also co-editor of Rough Stuff: Tales of Gay Men, Sex, and Power as well as a collection of gay erotica called Hotter Than Hell.
In KINKORAMA : Dispatches from the Front Lines of Perversion he takes readers behind the unmarked doors and black vinyl curtains that lead to the sometimes shocking, often hilarious, relentlessly arousing scenarios of extreme sex. There are also stories of bears in Tales from the Bear Cult: Beat Bear Stories from the Best Magazines.