Brett and Darren by Twisted Smile

[teanndaorsa]

You can view the story here on the plaza:

https://www.selfbound.net/storiesad/brett_and_darren.html
Sbm; mpov; caught; M/m; toys; gag; rope; cd; chastity; buttplug; cuffs; oral; cons; X

https://www.selfbound.net/storiesad/brett_and_darren2.html
M/m; mpov; M/f; cuffs; Sbf; Sbm; oral; clamps; sex; anal; mast; cons; XX

Please feel free to leave your kind comments and feedback about this story here.

Thanks 

[twistedsmile]

For anyone interested, Brett makes his next appearance after chapter 2 (chronologically) in "Sophie & Mark: 14. Searching".

That story should more or less work as a standalone if you don't fancy catching up on the whole series

[twistedsmile]

Over on the Sophie & Mark threads, I've been doing chapter-by-chapter 'director's commentaries'. And because I love explaining myself, I'm going to do them here too

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Firstly, yes, the title is Brett & Darren so that, combined with Sophie & Mark, the initials are BDSM. Secondly, yes, the chapter titles Daydreamer/Believer are a Monkees reference.

With erotic/pornographic stories, I think it's easy for readers to assume that the writer is sharing their personal sexual fantasies, and that the main character is an author self-insert (especially if the story is written from a first person pov). So flipping from an F/m series to M/m, and telling stories from both a dom and sub perspective was, to some extend, an attempt to complicate that interpretation.

I have this suspicion that M/m stories are the least popular gender pairing. And it's likely that most fans of an F/m series would not be interested in M/m stories. So writing this series can only be viewed as an act of self-sabotage


01. "Daydreamer" Commentary

I wanted to do a classic "caught in self-bondage" story, like the ones I used to read when I first found this site many years ago.

The way this story was developed was, I started with that opening scene: a man tied himself up, a stranger finds him and sticks his cock in the bound man's mouth. Then I said, okay, how does this make sense - who are these characters, how did they end up in this situation, why are they doing this?
Working backwards from a sex scene led the stories in a direction I wouldn't have thought of if I had planned the story top-down. To be fair, Brett's motivations are pretty straightforward. The real problem was how to convince readers that Darren isn't a rapist (to put it bluntly). Given the story earned the 'cons' tag, I guess I pulled it off.

We start in media res, partly because (as I said) that's the first thing I wrote. But also it's meant to hook the reader, rather than start with a load of backstory. Though now I'm thinking back on it, maybe it would have been better to tell it in order, to give it more build up/suspense? Instead it plays out like a slow motion car crash, where you can see all of Brett's bad decisions stacking up.

"Now then... Not a bird after all, eh?" - I didn't want this series to feel like "Sophie & Mark except Sophie is a guy now". So I made the characters' relationship very casual and emotionally distant. Likewise, I didn't want the character voices to sound the same as Mark. For Darren, this was done by giving him a particular accent/vernacular. For Brett, I did something more subtle - he never swears or uses vulgar terms. The funny thing is, writing like that also changed his affect to be much more 'bubbly'.

"I imagine he's dangerous. I imagine..." - this is the stories recurring motif, and what the title "daydreamer" is referring to. Brett's kink is the IDEA of being caught and humiliated. What if your fantasy came true, but not in the way you expected...

"Open your fuckin' mouth." - I was unsure whether to include 'fuckin'. In the end I went with it for impact, but it does come off as a little threatening (for better or worse).
"The previous owners took the curtains with them" - I thought this was a more interesting framing that just leaving the curtains open
"a group of women. Maybe a hen-do passing by" - I didn't specifically intend this to be "Zara's hen-do" mentioned in Sophie & Mark 4, but it can be read that way. I think the timeline works out.
"I imagine her, I imagine this woman" - hammering the point that he's fantasising about women. The punchline being, his introduction to Darren basically plays out the way it's described in that paragraph, except with a man.
"I needed something to take my mind off it" - With Sophie & Mark I'm more conscious of saving ideas that can be their own story. In this case, I burned through like 5 potential stories in one go. That's probably why there's only been 2 chapters
"he was singing a football chant, I think" - apropos of nothing, did you know "Sweet Caroline" is sometimes used as a football chant?

"It wasn't until the clocks went back" - I bet daylight savings doesn't come up as a plot point in many porns. When I was about ready to send the story in, I realised this actually introduced a plothole, and I had to do a last minute re-write of the ending. Looking back, I reckon if I'd left it as was, no one would have noticed (or cared). But it mattered to me.

"pink, pleated skirt; thigh-high, stripey socks..." - I will admit this outfit is very 'femboy' -coded
"There's a standing lamp" - I actually hit this detail by accident. I realised the thing about the windows not being so see-through in the dark, which could have screwed the whole premise. The solution was to introduce the lamp, which in turn justified putting a blindfold on Brett.
"There's a safety latch on the cuffs" - putting my thumb on the consent scales again; he chooses to stay bound when Darren shows up.

"Darren: (🗸read)" - that's meant to be a read receipt, meaning Darren saw the message and Brett knows that he did.
"Darren: (·..)" - that's the bouncy dots you see when someone is typing. It's meant to imply Darren spends some time figuring out what to respond, then goes with the very short "pub?"

"The Dog and Pony" - if you've read Sophie & Mark 11, you may recognise that pub name. Small world, eh?
"Sometimes he drinks alone" - this was a bit of a mean joke on my part. But it ends up being the driving theme behind chapter 2
"A little rough around the edges" - there's a bit of classism going on here
"Until it got too dark to see anything" - this is what I meant about the rewrites
"some shit I dreamed about. But in real life!" - chapter 2 is trying to make these lines make sense
"just try the door. 'Cause obviously it's gonna be locked" - see earlier: "I imagine leaving the front door unlocked."

"I'm not... gay" / "me neither" - truth be told, that was originally just a joke. Like, Darren just had sex with another man, of his own free will, and now he's claiming to be straight. But then I thought, well suppose he's telling the truth - how does that make sense? That's what chapter 2 is about.
I think in practical terms, Darren is bisexual or at least hetero-flexible. But I also think he's the type of person who thinks there are only two sexualities (straight and gay); and he's into women, so he must be straight. Brett, on the other hand, probably never considered that he might be anything other than straight. And now, he's very much considering it...

[twistedsmile]

02. "Believer" Commentary

By the time I finished chapter 1, I didn't actually have a concrete plan for chapter 2. I knew that it was going to be from Darren's perspective, that it would follow the same Before/Now/Later structure, and that it would explain Darren's backstory/motivation and continue the 'relationship'.
I also dropped a few breadcrumbs for myself in chapter 1 (per the previous commentary): Darren being 'straight', friends settling down while he's drinking alone, and why the image of Brett tied up was "some shit I dreamed about. But in real life!"

"One Month Later" - hopefully it was clear this meant 1 month after chapter 1, not 1 month after the 'Now' section of chapter 2
"I should probably be in fuckin' jail for what I did" - morally, I couldn't let it go unacknowledged. Even if you accept that the sex was consensual (ultimately), he could at least be charged with unlawful entry.
"Probably uses, like, moisturiser and shit" - mirror of Brett saying in chapter 1 "He might even look handsome, with a little self-care." Speaking as someone who does moisturise, I would recommend it.
"I've got my own shit going on, you know?" / "That gets him beggin' (heh)." - he tries to act aloof, but he's actually into this thing he has with Brett
"that lad can't half talk" - Darren doesn't seem to realise he's made a new friend. The image I have in my head is, I think it was in Tom and Jerry, the big, tough bull dog and the tiny, energetic dog that follow him around.
"told me about this football [anime]" - the one I had in mind was "Blue Lock". And Darren actually watches and enjoys it
"not 'together' like that" - internalised homophobia
"I don't know why he keeps coming down the pub" - One of the things I like about first person is you can play with what the narrator does and doesn't know. Brett clearly has a crush on Darren at this point. Darren is completely oblivious, or perhaps won't allow himself to see it.
"Guess he must be lonely." - projection/dramatic irony

"Before" - the original draft of this section was about Darren's dating history with BDSM, and all the girls that wanted him to tie them up because they thought he was a 'bad boy'. It never felt quite right (and was also a little depressing). Back then, this chapter was going to be called "Brute".
I think the inspiration for this version came from watching the series "Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed". The webcam/POV angle fit perfectly with the title "Believer", which was a better thematic match to chapter 1 (and allowed me to make the Monkee's reference).
I've never actually done any cam sessions myself; I don't like the idea of my porn looking back at me. And having watched 'Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed', I especially don't like the idea of being blackmailed. The descriptions here are based on videos recorded from cam-sessions, plus speculation.
The 'joke' of this section is that the sessions keep getting more idealised and more intimate; but they can never be 'real'.

"You come home to find your girlfriend in bondage (POV)" - this is Darren's recurring motif, equivalent to Brett's "I imagine..."
In my early 20s, I read a lot of Chuck Palahniuk books, and that guy loves a motif: "I am Jack's disappointment" (Fight Club), "Give me pity, give me empathy" (Invisible Monsters), etc. I think Palahniuk has been a pretty big influence on my writing style.
The thing with camming and POV porn is, they're formats that are supposed to make the porn feel more 'real'. But by calling out these key moments like they're the titles of POV porn videos, it's ironically drawing attention to how UNreal they are.

"I whip out my cock, and tracksuit guy does the same" - I think of this like that scene in Blade Runner 2049, where the sex worker and the hologram are 'synchronising'. Darren precedes to describe the scene as if he's actually there in the room.
"oh yes, please cum on my face, Darren." - Nadja's dialogue is intentionally stilted. And she keeps saying Darren's name, which I've heard is a technique for making a person like you. Ironically, whenever I notice someone saying my name a lot, I can't help feeling like they're trying to manipulate me.
"Mmm, it feels so good, Darren. You're so big." - I think this counts as a joke: the cam girls all telling Darren how big his dick is.
"I give her a massive tip, everything I won on the fruit machines" - callback to chapter 1, meaning this is the same night Darren first saw Brett (with the fluffy tail).

"Katie kisses you on the cheek (POV) [4K]" - this is a moment that should be really intimate, even romantic. The [4K] is rather cruelly undercutting it. No matter how high definition the image is, you're still just on your own looking at a screen.
"Your best mate sets you up with your future wife (POV)" - another fantasy he wants to believe
"You see a woman in bondage..." - not (POV) because it's really happening. Kind of. What if your fantasy came true, but not in the way you expected...
"She wants you to come inside" - he's just been presented with a possible future where he gets a wife and settles down. And yet, he's willing to throw all of that away for a fantasy. You could read him going inside as a self-destructive act; resisting a happy ending out of spite, or I don't know what.

"he's wearing that pink wig, and this, like, Japanese school girl sailor dress" - more femboy-coding. Brett is crossdressing because he knows Darren will find it more enticing if he presents as feminine. Which I guess would make him more of a 'trap'.
At one point I considered making Brett trans as a way to resolve the "Darren isn't gay" problem. But I realised that would be problematic - either it falls into the autogynophilia trope, or it presents Brett as wanting to change his gender for a man (not for himself).

"The bottle of lube looks brand new. Reckon it's probably his first time." - obviously it's not. We saw Brett using a butt plug in chapter 1. I think, in the same way that Darren is playing up the role of cruel Dom, Brett is playing up the role of innocent sub.
"I always keep a rubber in my wallet" - it just occurred to me that Brett probably would (should) have provided his own condoms. Very reckless. At least one of them's got some sense.
"mutters something like 'I love it, Darren'" - oh look, Brett's doing the name thing as well
"Who told you you could fuckin' cum?" - maybe Brett could learn a thing or two from Katie
"We have a safe word... He doesn't use it." - don't worry, gentle reader, it's all above board.
"Not like I'm gonna hang around for a cuddle." - more distancing. He could probably be happy with Brett, if he'd only let himself.
"I can see myself actually marrying this bird." - he's found this seemingly perfect woman, who is apparently also into being tied up. So why is he still fucking around with Brett?

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I don't have immediate plans for any more stories. The ending of chapter 2 is setting up an obvious car crash. Likely it would be told from Sally's perspective, with her discovering Brett (in bondage?). I'm just not sure how to play it out in a way that isn't a total bummer. I can't see the story having a happy ending for Brett and Darren as a couple.

But in the meantime, as mentioned in a previous post, Brett does pop up elsewhere. And maybe Darren will too.