Greetings Dedicated Dominants and Sincere Submissives.

As usual, I want to welcome all the new subscribers to
The Crow Academy Newsletter.

In this issue:

• The NEW Crow Academy FACEBOOK Page (about time, right?)
• New Arcane Advice Article:
  “Safewords, and why they are CRITICAL for Healthy BDSM”
• Movie Review: “50 Shades of BLACK” had us nearly crying with Laughter!

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Join The Crow Academy Twitter Feed At:
@CrowAcademy

First the very, very Good News:

Well it took a long series of events to make it happen, but we FINALLY have a Crow Academy FACEBOOK Page:

https://www.facebook.com/TheCrowAcademy

Why is this so important? Our goal at The Crow Academy is to teach about Finely-Tuned, Healthy, Passionate BDSM, and especially focus on how a Beautiful D/s Relationship can be the most uplifting experience two people can possibly share.

To this end, everyone uses Facebook. If we can get word out to even just one more person who has been searching for answers, yes even if they only ever read our free lessons on ArcaneAdvice.com, then we have done our job. There are soooo many myths and heaps of nonsensical articles out there purporting to be legitimate while actually holding as much water as “50 Shades of Grey” (meaning massive misinformation). The more people who can find their way to The Crow Academy and our very real experiences and lessons, the more people who will be able to share this uniquely blissful experience with their partners that many of you are experiencing in your own relationships right now.

On top of this, ONLY on our Facebook Page will you get to see many Never-Before-Seen Photos from the world-wide Performances of Master Arcane & Co, as well as equally Previously Unpublished Photos from Behind The Scenes of the making of IGNITING THE FIRE: The Art of Romantic Submission, our first book. And that’s just the start…. words of wisdom, links to other pages and articles we like, brief tips on the where / when / why of BDSM and D/s activities around the globe, and other “quick sound bites” for all subscribers to our Facebook Page.

We therefore and hereby (ahem) WILDLY INVITE YOU to come “LIKE” our new Facebook Page!!! 😀

PLEASE NOTE: since we are very firm believers in respecting the community standards of Age-Appropriate materials, we made The Crow Academy Facebook Page an “Adult” page, 18+, and therefor you must be Logged-In to Facebook to see the page.

https://www.facebook.com/TheCrowAcademy

New Arcane Advice Article:
SAFE-WORDS, and Why They are CRITICAL for Healthy BDSM

At The Crow Academy we teach all levels of BDSM Play. From how to use the softest fur to the most intense cane, from floggers made of deer suede through to thick buffalo hide, from a gentle spanking through knife play all the way to Fireplay, and pretty much everything in between. We teach about the thousand elements that can come into play for a fine BDSM scene, and how the process of creating a “perfect” scene is an alchemical – and unique – experience every time.

One of the main lessons we have personally witnessed again and again ourselves is how NO TWO PEOPLE have exactly the same thresholds. Everyone is different, and even an individual will have their personal thresholds change at different times of day or in different environments. Thus there needs to be a Clear, Concise, Fast Way for the Bottom to convey to the Top (or sub to the Dom – for the sake of this article we will refer to the receiving party as The Bottom and the giving party as The Top) when the situation is going well, going off-track, or needs to stop completely. For this exact purpose we – meaning everyone in the entire global BDSM Community – have the sublimely perfect tool known as Safewords.

The goal, as we teach here at The Crow Academy, is for every scene, every play session to leave both people feeling incredibly enriched, happy, blissful, connected, and even giddy (endorphins will do that). The ART of BDSM is about understanding the interplay of all the elements, both mental and physical, and navigating through to a passionately delicious experience where the two people arrive in this uniquely magical place together. A scene is never a haphazard activity, but rather a conscientious, crafted experience, and literally a “physical communication” between the two people.

SAFEWORDS, or Safe-Words, are BDSM’s Absolute Keys of Communication. The proper use of a Safeword on the part of the Bottom (OR the Top as I will explain shortly) will insure that the course of a well-crafted scene continues in a smooth interplay through the beginning build up at the start of the scene, through the intense middle of the scene, and continues all the way through to the gentle “landing” and end of the scene. Some people have very specific Safewords that are unique to themselves. Here at The Crow Academy we teach beginners that the good ol’ “Traffic Light System” works just fine – Red, Yellow, and Green – and the three words are used as follows, similar to the meaning of the three colors of a Traffic Light. Best of all this is the singularly most widely recognized Safeword system around the world, and thus makes for a fantastic “default” set of Safewords, especially for beginners.

GREEN
Green means GO, that “everything is great!” Green can be used by the Bottom if they simply want their Top to know how much they are enjoying the current sensation. Green means, “everything is great, having a good time, full speed ahead.” The Green Safeword can also be spoken by the Top as a short, efficient question to the Bottom if the Top starts using a new toy that is dramatically more (or dramatically less) intense and the Top wants to be certain the different sensation is working for the Bottom. The Top might simply ask, “Green?” The Bottom would then respond accordingly.

YELLOW
Yellow means SLOW DOWN, at least metaphorically. At The Crow Academy we consider Yellow to be the Most Important Safeword. Perfecting your use and understanding of Yellow means that when things do go “off-track” or a small problem arises, the situation is conveyed quickly and the Top has a chance to adjust the situation to get everything back to a “Green” state. Yellow also has very wide application. It can be used when a toy is too intense such that it is wrecking the Bottom’s fundamental enjoyment of the scene (play can be VERY intense for some people, but at a very basic level it should still be “enjoyed,” and yes this can mean different things for different Bottoms; a masochistic Bottom will be more likely to enjoy very intense play, while a sensual Bottom will be more likely to enjoy the soft feel of rope or the like. Like we said at the start, everyone is different). Yellow can also be used for a temporary physical issue, like a knee starting to ache, a weird knot of rope pressing in and causing “bad-pain” (as opposed to Pleasurable Intensity). It can even be used for a known minor medical issue that can be alleviated easily, like the need for an asthmatic to have a puff on their inhaler. In general Yellow indicates where a “LIMIT” is with the Bottom’s experience, and that this Limit is being reached.

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FYI – for more on knowing what you LIMITS are, we HIGHLY RECOMMEND you read the ArcaneAdvice.com article, Black Belts, White Belts, Hard Limits, Soft Limits (you can click on the title to go directly to the article).
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RED
Red is the Ultimate ALL-STOP. Red is the giant brake-lever on the locomotive. When Either Party, the Bottom OR the Top, calls RED then the scene is Officially OVER. All the bondage comes off, and a discussion begins on why Red was called. Understand – and this is CRITICAL so pay attention – that calling “Red” is NOT A BAD THING. Quite the opposite, calling Red if it is what is needed can Save A Partnership. Red merely means, “Hey this is not working for me Right Now; I don’t want to play anymore At This Time.” THAT’S ALL. I have personally – as a TOP – called “Red” more than all my play partners combined! Why? Because I used to do a lot of BDSM Performances at BDSM Dance clubs that were open to the public, and some nights the audience were a bunch of absolute jerks. After a few really rude catcalls or the like, I would lean over to my sub and lovingly whisper in her ear, “This audience does not deserve our scene so I am calling Red.” It was never an issue between the Bottom and I, and often we would just continue the scene or start a new one later on in private. Other reasons Red could be called might be utter fatigue, an injured joint seriously acting up, running out of time for play, etc. So always look at a Red Call as a kind of Friend. When the Top shows Utter Respect for a Red Call from the Bottom, what the Top is communicating is, “Your well-being is the most important thing, and if you need to call Red then I know something serious must be going on, and that is just as much my priority as it is yours.” Of course ALL Safewords should be respected, but the both of you respecting a Red Call without question actually shows a genuine appreciation of each other, and a clear desire that both of you have a great time with your BDSM activities. 🙂

When you get more and more proficient at your BDSM you might come up with other Safewords for your specific needs. The full Crow Academy system has SEVEN safewords, as detailed in The Crow Academy book “IGNITING THE FIRE: The Art of Romantic Submission.” Additionally, it is not uncommon for there to be a “breaking-in” period when a couple is brand new to Safewords, and during this time every Safeword use should be discussed (though Green tends to be rather obvious) when used so that both people really get the knack of when and how a Safeword is appropriate.

As one very long term slave of The Crow Academy wrote as a gift for others wanting to enjoy the experience of Bottoming and submission, “Use your Safewords if you feel the need. Don’t forget to use them or try to be tough. Safewords help keep scenes enjoyable for everyone. Safewords are cherished keys of communication between the Dom and sub. After some time your Dom may know you so well you no longer need Safewords but if the need does arise, even years later, then go ahead and use a Safeword.”

In the meantime, the three Traffic Light System colors above are a great way to get started using a simple, easy-to-remember system of Safewords that many people will recognize and which have a well-proven degree of efficiency. As your BDSM skills and experiences grow together, you will have more and more blissful scene where no safewords are used at all, not even “Green” because the Top will know the Bottom’s thresholds and body language so clearly, and the Bottom will be able to release into complete trust in the Top (and fyi, that moment when the two of you experience Complete Trust in each other is worth its weight in diamonds and gold, and perhaps one of the most singularly beautiful experiences of all BDSM everywhere).

As a final note, if the Bottom / sub is gagged, we HIGHLY recommend a “Safe Song” that can easily be hummed through the gag to represent the YELLOW safeword. The Safe Song can be hummed when something is not working right about the scene, or something is out of whack, etc. If it’s a RED call then the Bottom keeps humming when the Top inquires appropriately. It’s also perfectly fine to have a Physical Safety Marker for certain kinds of intense play, such as having the sub hold a tennis ball in their hand which they drop for YELLOW (and / or which can indicate when the Bottom has gone DEEP into “Sub-Space,” meaning they are very buzzed on endorphins and losing muscle control, sort of like slightly passing out in a blissful state from all the endorphins you get from an amazing massage).

Which ever Safeword system you use, make sure you talk about your preferred Safeword system BEFORE you ever start to play together! Make sure you are both on the same page. And above all, Have Fun!

Movie Review:
“50 Shades of BLACK” had us nearly crying with Laughter!

Seriously, was there EVER a need for a spoof / satire of a movie more than the need to do so for “50 Shades of Grey?”

This has got to be one of the best comedies from any of the Wayans Brothers in ages! We were pretty open minded as we sat waiting for the movie to start. As you can imagine, considering the source material we were not so much concerned with whether or not the spoof was appropriate as much as whether or not they would make all the jokes we WANTED them to make.

Well I am very happy to tell you that they made those jokes, and a hundred more! Pretty much every imaginable thing that you were craving for them to satirize in this movie…. they did! So how funny was it? Well many people consider “the snork” to be a kind of measure of hilarity, i.e. if you laugh so hard you “snork” then it must be extremely funny. Most comedies will get one or two snorks at best.

“50 Shades of Black?” FOUR…. count ’em…. 4 Snorks! The jokes were so dead-on accurate to the abundant material and horrible writing of the original “50 Shades,” material that just ached to be made fun of, one cannot help but speculate that this Wayans Brother has GOT to have some experience in BDSM just to be able to get his jokes so well pointed.  😀

Yes there are a few moments of toilet humor which is not my normal cup of tea, but this did not detract from a comedy that every single person who is genuinely in the BDSM Community will enjoy. At the very very least the juxtaposition of the original horrid books side by side against this movie gives us all a very funny reflection of ourselves. I was in no way offended by the humor and liked the movie enough such that I will probably see it again one day.

And after all, life is a bit brighter when we all get a good chance to laugh at ourselves.

Well that brings us to the close of another Crow Academy Newsletter.
Of course Valentine’s Day is coming up. What kinky things will You do for your Valentine’s Day? 😉

Come “LIKE” our Facebook Page and post your kinky Valentine’s plans in the Comments section of the page – we’d love to hear about it!

p.s. and maybe tell that “special someone” who you have been wanting to talk to about D/s and BDSM all about The Crow Academy. We love playing Kinky Cupid. Happy to help. 😉

Dominant Dreams and Sexy Submission to you all,

— Master Arcane and everyone at The Crow Academy