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Seeing with the Benefit of a Blindfold?

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If you have not noticed already, I have added another entry, dated 29th May tittled 'Another Unconventional Case' and which you may not have seen, as I'd had it saved as a draft copy until today.  It's a kind of mind control piece: scroll down to read!  Sort of two posts in one day - sort of!


 Now, blindfolds have never really been my ‘thing’.  It can be – and has been – argued that the use of a blindfold increases the disciplinary effect or efficacy of a caning by depriving the subject of the knowledge of when the next stroke is going to arrive – and yes, there are visual cues the miscreant can pick up on.  But such cues can be minimised even in the absence of a blindfold.  For example the subject can be secured facing down and away from the disciplinarian, lighting can be designed and arranged to either be shadowless (fluorescents are good for this, especially if diffused) or to cast the disciplinarian’s shadow back away from the subject and finally, there is a lot to be said for a girl being obliged to observe her own features in a mirror as she undergoes correction.  The latter can be achieved by the simple expedient of laying a mirror on the floor and works even if she is over the lap receiving a hand spanking – in which case keeping her eyes open throughout can form part of the discipline, with extra punishment dished out for disobedience.

Obviously, when across the lap it is very obvious when the next slap or whatever is coming – not so much when secured over an ottoman or even a purpose-made spanking bench or low padded horse.  A padded massage table can be purchased which has an opening at one end for the face.  Laid face down on this, with a cylindrical cushion under the hips to raise the bottom, she can be obliged to remain facing the floor - and thus the mirror, - throughout by the simple addition of a broad leather strap buckled tightly and passing across the back of her pretty head.  If the mirror is angled thoughtfully the disciplinarian is able to view the girl’s contorted features and thus ensure she keeps her eyes open throughout without her being able to glimpse anything of the rise and fall of the cane etc.  Better still is for a witness to be stationed in front to supervise that part of the disciplinary procedure, although of course that person mustn’t flinch or give away any other clue that the cane or the riding crop is about to fall. 

All this can be done – Whispers or Blushes or another of that stable of spanking magazines produced a nice set many years ago, and I myself have handed out a hand spanking with a girl across my lap hanging over a mirror – and can produce an exemplary effect on a headstrong young filly.  But the real enemy – even given the use of a blindfold – is sound.  Never mind the whhhooop of the cane or switch swishing through the air, the rustle of clothing, the shifting of weight on the floor, shoes squeaking, boards creaking – all these things are unmistakable clues that the next stroke is on its way.  Yes it is true that you can create apprehension and confusion by pulling up short from time to time, taking practice swings that do little else but produce noise or providing the occasional harmless ‘range finding’  tap, but it is still difficult to disguise the actual stroke.  No, rather than blindfolding what is really required is to block out those sound cues. 

Ear plugs work – up to a point – but have one or two drawbacks, and miss out on the opportunity to introduce some quite devious refinements that become possible when certain other alternative methods are put to use.  Nothing terribly sophisticated is being advocated her – nothing that hasn’t been available since the fifties or sixties.  What I am advocating is simply the provision of a pair of descent, padded headphones and a white noise source.  The latter is easy enough – an FM radio tuned off-channel, preferably with its aerial (antenna) removed or unplugged will suffice.  Failing that, a looped recording of surf on a beach or even a clacking diesel engine will suffice. 

Now, if care is taken the girl will have no idea whether or not the disciplinarian is even still in the room with her or not – and to that end, I see nothing wrong with the disciplinarian retiring for anything up to an hour, once she is secured, before commencing the punishment.  Utterly caught by surprise in such a manner and totally unprepared I would be surprised if she wasn’t reduced to tears within three strokes or so, possibly even by the very first stroke! 

And now the devious refinements I promised.  One thing now possible – and difficult with earplugs – is that arrangements can be made for her to hear the disciplinarian’s voice, easily arranged by mixing in the output of a microphone switched on and off as required (voice activation would also be easily achievable nowadays).  But THAT is all she’d hear – the disciplinarian’s voice, above a continuous babble of white noise.  Imagine her nerves shredding little by little.  ‘Oh my god… when is the next stroke coming?... when?… oh god!  When?’  Perhaps three strokes might fall in machinegun rapidity… craaack!, carack!,craaack!  Right across the centre line of her buttocks, with barely a split second between each and landing so close together as to almost land on top of one another…  And then nothing…  just the crackle of meaningless static filling her ears… perhaps in anguish, perhaps trying to concentrate to hear past, hear through, the all-blanketing rushing, hissing noise she closes her eyes… Crraaaackk!  The cane has been swung up and under the heavy overhang of her bottom, landing right at the point where the flesh is most tender, where the tops of the thighs swell in meeting meet the buttocks, right in that crease that forms there!  “Keep those eyes open, keep looking at yourself in the mirror – THAT stroke doesn’t count!” 

On the other hand, perhaps the disciplinarian wouldn’t have left the room at all.  Perhaps, if he or she has the patience, she is content to just sit, perhaps for half an hour, perhaps longer, waiting for the moment the girl closes her eyes or tries to look away from her own reflection – and then…. Crrrraaaack!  The punishment starts.

A second refinement:  Most disciplinarians would agree on the value of having the miscreant count aloud the strokes.  And I think most would agree penalty strokes or other, further forms of punishment should be awarded for failure to count, miss-counting, losing count – that sort of thing.  Similarly when it comes to the recitation of various formulae, such as giving thanks for her correction and so on, which of course should be given in some tightly stipulated manner, the later having an element of humiliation providing great disciplinary value.  All well and good, when she can actually hear her own voice, a little more difficult when she is deprived of that feedback by the constant rush of white noise filling her ears and seemingly, after a while, her head.  This becomes a LOT more difficult, requiring no little concentration, when she DOES hear her own voice, but delayed by half a second to a second – easily achieved with a directional microphone set close to her mouth and a tape delay; and it really comes in to its own when a group of several strokes are given together spaced by a roughly similar period to the delay and is exacerbated in any situation in which the girl is required to recite an extended formula along with the stroke number:  “….th,th,three…th, th, thank y,you miss –  thank you for correcting me, miss….   Four, th, th, th,ank thank you, you for correcting…”   “Wrong girl – start again:  The next stroke is number one!”

Her nerves are shredded. Her mind confused….  It is the second time the punishment has been restarted – and she can’t take any more…  But of course she will have to…

By finally it is over – and THEN it is time for the blindfold.  If a small enough device is available the white noise can be continued on her way back to her room.  This is where the blindfold comes in to its own.  Whether strapped into a psychiatric hospital wheelchair, or made to walk, led uncertainly along the meandering corridors, that lack of sight is a major contributor, both to disorientation and to a feeling of dependency on the person whose job it is to see her safely back where she came from.  And several twist and turns can be added to the journey, perhaps several turns around the floor, perhaps passing the actual door to her room several times before being led in. 

In bygone times there was a treatment available in some psychiatric hospitals which involved strapping a patient in to a chair which was then continuously revolved.  If such a device happened to be still in situ in some old disuse room somewhere thereabouts, and given the girl is kitted out in her blindfold and headphones or earplugs than there would be nothing wrong – and a lot might be gained  - from breaking the journey and popping her in the rotating chair for a short period.  Then on leaving, perhaps heading the other way, assuming a circular arrangement of corridors, back to her room the long way, thus making her disorientation complete.  And disorientation is the reason the Victorians built their psychiatric hospitals and workhouse with such long, convoluted, winding and maze-like corridors and passageways – it made running away more difficult and left the inmate easier to control.  And therein is a sort of another advantage of blindfolding – kept blind folded when not in her room or on the ‘ward’ – if kept with a small number of others – and only ever interacting with a very limited number of individuals, the girl can’t know if she is in some sort of huge rambling complex inside some large institution, or in some small network of cellars or suit of rooms under or within a private house.
      
But why have been prompted to write this when I say I’m not THAT keen on blindfolds.  Well it all boils down to yet another of those re-bloged images from Tumblr.  Except this one I never actually re-bloged.  It was one of a pair and I downloaded this one (picture above) but now I can’t remember where from.  Years ago I had the idea of taking a girl out essentially blindfolded, but in a manner not obvious to the public.  It was all about developing psychological dependency of course and my wife of the time and I came up with the solution of procuring for the girl we had living with us – and who was very much under my wife’s wing, as my wife liked to put it – a pair of very strong reading glasses, which of course the girl didn’t need.  These were of such a strong prescription that with them on the girl had to have her nose practically pressed to the page to read a book; her distant and mid-distance vision was hopeless and I gather all she could make out was a blur of shifting shapes – most disconcerting one would imagine – a bit like looking out through frosted or misted glass, except where she could see around the edges and down along her nose, that sort of thing.  And so we’d take her out – and of course she’d quickly kick up a fuss and take them off.  So how did we fix this?  Well, my wife did to tell the truth.  Our girl was proud of her hair back then (that was ‘fixed’ too, but at a later date – and another story).  My wife had tried fixing elastic to them, like they sometimes do with young children’s glasses to stop them falling off, which went around the back of her head, where it tucked under her ponytail out of sight.  And of course we are out, and she pops to the toilet, and she comes back with them tucked in her dress pocket (no – she wouldn’t have dared throw them away or break them; she knew how far she could push us!). 

So… and here comes the clever part… the next time my wife made her put the glasses on she popped a piece of the gum she had been chewing out of her mouth and pressed a bit of the gum around the elastic at the rear and pressed a small part of it in to the hair at the back of her head.  Just in case the woolly-headed thing didn’t grasp the implication my wife quickly told her what she’d done – and what would happen if she tried now to pull the elastic over her head and that pony tail of hers without help from one of us, how the gum would undoubtedly ‘string out’ spreading and gumming up her hair, and high-up where there would be little option other than to take drastic action with the sheers.  THAT did the trick… 

From that day on, each time we all went out together the glasses went on, and then a blob a chewing gum to keep ‘em on.  There was no popping into shops or wandering away on her own after that, when we were out!  Not if she had those glasses on.  She was like a puppy brought to heel with those things on – she couldn’t even go to the toilet unaccompanied.

But can you imagine what could be done with THIS little innovation (see above). Completely opaque contact lenses!  Now these would definitely make the best kind of blindfold.  If only they had been around in the eighties!!

Studying the Effects of Toileting Under Close Supervision

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I call this one: 'Lesbian harassment in a private secure psychiatric unit'.  An image forged from an amalgam of three computer generated images originally produced by Angela Fox and put together by Garth Toyntanen.  The images were originally destined for a comic book or adult graphic novel loosely based on scenes taken from all three novels of the  INSTITUTIONALISED series (which may yet go ahead, prompted by the fact that I worked on this one fresh today).  The enema chair comes from an earlier set originally intended for an illustrated version of INSTITUTIONALISED VOLUME 3: A CONTINUUM OF DISCIPLINE.  The wall board I created today.  If I say INSTITUTIONALISED VOL 1 was subtitled 'BEYOND THE STANFORD EXPERIMENT'  you might get some idea of what is going on.   Of course, nothing is ever as simple as meets the eye, all is not as 'voluntary' as it might have started out - and there are shadowy figures in the background conspiring to ensure... Oh well, I expect you can guess... Or make your own storyline up - that is often much more fun.  But let me in on it - that is why I started writing my own stuff in the first place.

"Fully supervised toileting means exactly what it says - close scrutiny throughout!  But it must feel nice to get out of those smelly old pyjamas, hmm?  They make you look like a real mental patient - you look almost normal like this.  Now, what's all that squirming about?  Ahh, what's this, these raised weals?  Has Miss Swanley had to cane you again?  Sting do they?  Even when I brush my fingertips across your bottom THIS gently?  But you like my finger going up your bottom like this, though, don’t you, hmmm?  And my hand running across your breast?  ...   get those hands back on your head!  Now, why don't you wiggle your bottom against my hand, help my finger slide deeper in there?  Come on - wriggle that bottom!  There's going to be something MUCH  larger going up there in a minute - and then hold back as much as you want but you're going to be evacuating your bowels in a metal bucket while I watch.  How do you think THAT will make you feel, hmm?  Yes, I'm going to make you into SUCH a nice quiet mental patient!"

Caned In Their Regulation School Leotards

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The regulation school issue leotards were delectable when filled out by the mature figures of the young women placed in his charge, young women old enough to know their own minds under different circumstances, even marry – albeit with parental consent in certain cases – yes, quite divine!  But this was no school.  The cane was banned in British schools – but not here.  Here corporal punishment could be legitimised by a special dispensation if need be.  But there was no need for special dispensation, no need to invite the interference of those busy-body social services types… And then there were all those ethics committees and such, endless protocols and checks to navigate.  No, it was best kept this way, discrete, quite, well away from scrutiny, public or otherwise, no need to legitimise it further. 

These idiots had actually VOLUNTEERED for this, after all, although he doubted any of them had expected to be detained as long as they had been thus far - nor as long as they were going to be.  He’d heard that fresh papers had been drawn up, that the extension they would be agreeing to this time was going to be for a full year, and that the wording was set out in such a way as to pave the way to eventually obliviate the need to put pen to paper altogether, if so desired; basically invoking the mental health act.  VERY clever, it explained why ever greater emphasis was being placed on psychological appraisal and record keeping.  He hoped that when the time came he would be the one overseeing their signatures.  Most probably the sheer force of Miss Swanley’s indomitable personality and will was going to win out – it had done before – but there was always the chance that one or two of them might require ‘encouragement’. 

And then there was that fifth girl; she’d been here longest of all, two years already, and he was pretty sure ‘choice’ had played no part at all in HER coming here, however misguided.  They had something special lined up for HER to sign – now, she WAS going to require some encouragement once she’d read through it! 

But for now he had the cane in his hand – and the unassailable, unquestionable authority to use it.  And all that temptation spread out before him, the glossy stretch nylon fabric of those school leotards adhering to every contour, outlining every dimple, every tempting nook and cranny somehow with greater clarity than if they were actually naked, the cut, fit and styling leaving the majority of the bottom uncovered to bounce and wobble and gyrate in front of his blazing eyes as he had them repeatedly touch their toes or perform those wide-stance deep squats that were such a favourite of his, almost as if DESIGNED to inflame his senses, his lust.  Of course he wasn’t allowed to ‘interfere’ with them, touch them in any way – he could only ever watch with mounting frustration the sheer fabric becoming slick with girl-sweat and ‘feminine staining’ as the backseam slipped deeper where he’d like to slip something else, the shiny dampening gusset worked ever more intimately in contact with...  But no, he wouldn’t use THAT, he’d slip it between those luscious bottom cheeks that tortured him so effectively, taunted him; the girl’s had frustration of their own to endure; and he wouldn’t want to deny them THAT by elevating their passion with his own.  

At an age when their hormones were raging, it took the closest supervision to ensure no unauthorised ‘tampering’ took place, that they were spared the temptations of their own bodies.  He could go home and take it out on his wife, bend her over any which way he wanted and take his pleasure – and HE was an old man in comparison.  He could only guess how it must feel at that age for a girl to have no outlet for her sexuality whatsoever, to not even be allowed to go to the toilet alone, to have her most basic bodily functions closely scrutinised, to not even be allowed to wipe her own bottom lest she use it as an excuse to ‘touch’ herself.  

Yes he was frustrated, frankly BURNING with lust, the obvious result of which was clearly bulging out from his slacks, despite his years.  But he had that cane they had given him in his hand.  He had absolute authority over them, these fat-bottomed temptresses, these little…. harlots!  He couldn’t touch them, but he could slake his thirst in other ways, take out his frustration beating a tattoo across their bottoms, he could thrash and thrash and thrash them mercilessly until his arm went numb, his breath came in agonised gasps – and that infernal throbbing had died down in his loins.  Why not?  Why shouldn’t he, just because he’d held back in the past, just because they’d rarely given him an excuse, just because they hadn’t given him an excuse today?  In fact their obedience had been exemplary, a tribute to Miss Swanley’s discipline and strength of purpose.  But something about that very meekness, that head-bowed submissiveness, for some reason inflamed him more than ever.  And he HAD the cane, right here in his hand, the cane Miss Swanley herself had provided him with.  And SHE obviously intended for him to use it!  He didn’t NEED an excuse.  Why NOT use it?  Why not… yes… enjoy himself….  Yes, he would enjoy it, enjoy watching them squirm, hearing them cry out, perhaps beg!  Yes…  yes he would… he WOULD thrash them, all four of them… girl’s like that had to learn… girls like that had to learn not to be so provocative, to have modesty…

“Ok, I was not happy with your performance today – I think six each across your fat little bums… to begin with!  Then we’ll have those leotards peeled right down, and we’ll see which of you needs to go to matron to be shaved again… yes, and right between those bottom cheeks too – matron has asked me to check there as well.  We don’t want any bottom fluff, now do we?”                  

Shame Clothing: And She Shall Have Music... The use of Bells to Enforce Corner Time Discipline

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Everyone is familiar with the traditional conical dunce’s hat, a large letter ‘D’ printed in black on the front.  But how many would appreciate the value of a jingle bell sewn on a short tassel attached at its apex?  How many have even thought of such an embellishment?  Jingle bells are easily acquired from any traditional haberdashers or haberdashery department of some larger stores.  So why not?  (See article below). 

Another thought -today’s ‘social media’ actually makes it easier to drive a wedge between a headstrong young thing and her compatriots if properly managed and manipulated.  Ever thought about that?

 So...  The use of bells to enforce corner time discipline?  Nothing paticularly to do with my INSTITUTIONALISED series of novels, but an interesting concept nonetheless.
 
THE IMBECILE DRESS


 The Imbecile Dress is designed with a view to the enhancement and augmentation of the benefit to be derived from such traditional disciplinary impositions as corner standing and other forms of discipline requiring the maintenance of some manner of prescribed posture.  In the first instance the dress itself is designed to draw attention to the wearer, by way of its idiosyncratic styling and short skirt; to this end the sailor collar and integral neck scarf provide for a suitably juvenile aspect.  Variations, such as the high stiffened collar lend scope for even greater disciplinary vigour, in correcting poor posture for example.  The addition of jingle bells on the points of the collar, around the cuffs and hanging from the hem of the skirt allow for an extraordinarily high degree of control to be exerted over the young lady, even in the absence of direct supervision, when the discipline of corner standing is backed up by the threat of corporal punishment.  She can be arranged in any number of postures as a refinement of the discipline - such as with arms folded in the small of her back, hands on head or fingertips on shoulders and elbows out to the sides for example – and the disciplinarian can retire to his or her writing desk or favourite reading chair safe in the knowledge that the slightest deviation from the imposition will ring out like alarm bells. 

Outside of corner standing and so on, worn for extended periods the sound of jingling bells, especially those mounted on the points of the collar in the high collar variation, can be expected to become tiresome in the extreme to the pretty young thing, becoming a form of discipline in itself, encouraging her to ‘glide’ rather than stride, keep her arms down by her sides and her head straight and looking forward and discouraging any sudden energetic movements.  No more her gaily dancing around or rushing about as if on the tennis court, she will be restricted to slow, deliberate and unhurried movements, a tiresome state of affairs for an energetic young thing, but a constant reminder to her that she is under control, that her affairs are no longer her own. 

There is absolutely no reason why the disciplinarian should not take advantage of this aspect of the outfit’s design, after all he or she is unlikely to want to be bothered by jingle jangling bells.  A few days of listening out for the tell-tale tinkling and quickly backing it up with a stroke or two of the cane or crop across the back of her thighs or across her bottom given in a timely manner so that she associates it with the jangling will pay dividends in the long term. 

As far as refinements go, the dress already features a pair of metal loops, one at the rear of the belt, the other at the rear of the collar to which a leash can be attached  much in the manner of a toddler’s ‘reins’.  Alternatively this feature can be used to fasten her in a high, straight-backed chair to enforce maintaining a long-term seated posture for disciplinary purposes, whether for line-writing impositions or simply to keep her out of the way or as a punishment in itself.  It has been shown that simply being left facing a blank white wall in a quite room for an extended period can have a very satisfying salutary effect on a wilful girl and is a good starting off point for the recalcitrant, pouting, foot stamping headstrong type who refuses to submit to corporal punishment and who threatens to run away.  

A further refinement can be the addition of a name badge similar to the type sometimes worn by shop assistants, either pinned over the breast, as illustrated, or directly embroidered on to the fabric.  This can give her name or can have any one of many words or phrases calculated to add to the feeling of humiliation the dress itself is designed to engender written on it.  In the case of the illustration above, that word is ‘IMBECILE’, a term likely to capsulate how she feels with all those bells jingling like a court jester.  Another variation, shown above, has the word ‘IMBECILE’ embroidered across the rear of the collar – which is why it is called ‘The Imbecile Dress’ - where of course it might be covered by her hair, unless, that is, she is threatened with a haircut!   The word ‘imbecile’ is preferred over ‘dunce’ say, in that it better implies simple-mindedness and yet does so more fully than ‘simpleton’, say, in that it also implies some manner of mental instability or mental incompetence.  The use of the traditional dunces’ cap, incidentally, perfectly compliments The Imbecile Dress for corner standing.  Refined by the incorporation of a bell on a tassel attached at its apex, the traditional conical Dunce cap can be expected to magnify any movement of her head causing any attempt to look to the left or the right to result in tell-tale jingling, and a hard slap across the back of her thighs.

While essentially shapeless, to play down the wearer’s figure and thus not risk bolstering her self-esteem in that manner while adding to its juvenile appearance, nevertheless The Imbecile Dress is designed to be worn over heavy, rigidly boned, corsetry of the most restrictive type.  Whether that corsetry supports stockings is up to the disciplinarian.  There is a school of thought that says she should go bare legged, apart from a tiny pair of ankle socks or anklets and childish T-bar ankle strap shoes. 

The Imbecile Dress is designed to go with flounced short-legged bloomer-style knickers, the frilled legs of which – gathered into deep rubber lined leg openings just above the knees - are designed to show below the abbreviated skirt, and this works well with ankle socks.  On the other hand there is the view that stockings provide a juxtaposition with the juvenile appearance of the rest, which actually makes that childishness even more apparent.  Either way, the corsetry is key and in fact is key to ensuring the wearer is not tempted to divest herself of the outfit.  The Imbecile Dress possesses a feature – a metal ring – hidden discreetly beneath the bow, scarf or tie (which is integral with the dress) – which is designed to lock together with a matching ring mounted on the busk of the corset by way of a small padlock.  The design of the corsetry which goes with this outfit is outlined elsewhere. 

Conceptually The Imbecile Dress is as adaptable to the institutional environment as it is suitable to the domestic one, whether it be for the girl continuing her education at home, the new young wife who needs to learn her place or the runaway who, given room, board and shelter, proves reluctant to show her gratitude.                 



Shame Clothing 2 – Extending the Skirt, Extending the Concept

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 Wow, but that last article on 'The Imbecile Dress' has proved popular on Tumblr, already re-bloged several times!  And one of those blogs it got re-bloged to had this, which I know you'll have seen before - but it made me think just how versatile those jingle bells could be:

Shame Clothing 2 – Extending the Skirt, Extending the Concept
Yes, she has been nicely posed, and soundly caned before hand – an exemplary example of the disciplinarian’s zeal; the juvenile-looking uniform is to be applauded too.  And now she has been left to reflect on her ‘sins’, left all alone  - you don’t have all day to stand around, there are other things to occupy your mind.   

But how do you know she’ll be holding that charming pose as soon as you’ve turned your back?  How do you know she won’t relax, hurriedly take up the stipulated posture when she hears the key in the lock or the handle turning?  Perhaps rattling, jingling bells sewn on the skirt hem, the blouse collar and cuffs an so on?  Some way of monitoring the sound?  Both easy enough.   

True, if she were to be careful enough, moved slowly enough, she might be able to lower that skirt, drop her hands and arms to her sides without attracting attention – and punitive consequences – but could she resume that posture quickly enough, as you step into the room, without a jingle-jangle cacophony?  Doubtful! 

In essence any dress or outfit, within reason - and there should ALWAYS be SOMETHING which sets the wearer apart from her contemporaries and associates, however subtle that ‘something’ might be – can become ‘The Imbecile Dress’ for the purposes of corner time or other forms of what we might call ‘posture discipline’ with a little though and imagination.  Those jingle bells really are available at any traditional haberdashers stores and haberdashery departments, even today.  They are cheap, unsophisticated yet surprisingly effective in curtailing or moderating unseemly boisterous behaviour, and can be sewn on any part of any garment in minutes, converting something which might otherwise be merely a little embarrassing into a seriously humiliating instrument of discipline and control capable – with a little diligence and forethought – of affecting real psychological change in the longer term, given the right circumstances and a well thought-out disciplinary regimen covering other areas of her life.  And.isn’t the latter what the disciplinarian is setting out to achieve when her or she takes some headstrong young thing in hand or guides – in one way or another – perhaps a more sheltered, naive, shy and self-conscious sort through the metaphorical gates of a secure and strict institution of some form or other?  Rows of little jingle bells can be sewn around the cuffs of a school blouse, the hem of a gymslip (school jumper in the US of A, I believe) or pleated school skirt or the tops of frilled turn-over ankle socks as easily as to a purpose designed punishment dress (see last entry) or indeed night attire.

Yes, the cane, the strap, the Scottish tawse and the riding crop can be effective.  But in isolation, can corporal punishment alone really bring about the sort of radical change in psychological makeup the serious disciplinarian is out to wring from his or her charge, given that the disciplinarian’s agenda and motives may well go beyond short-term behavioural control?  I think to the latter question the answer is a resounding no!  Indeed corporal punishment per se can lead to a hardening of the resolve if seen and used almost as an end in itself.  A rather unfortunate side effect!  In the right hands the role of corporal punishment is to bolster and enforce those other forms of discipline, punitive impositions such AS corner standing repetitious line writing  and so on – onerous, irritating, pointless tasks, restrictions, stipulations and exercises which grate on the nerves like a dripping tap or an itch one cannot reach (or more like a toothache which will not go away and which awakens the sufferer at night) and which, given time, actually ERODE the girl’s resolve. 

Now the dripping tap… now there’s a thing… Whether she be stood in the corner, nose to the wall, sat stiffly upright and straight-backed on a high stool, toes just touching the floor and left staring at a blank white wall or her reflection in a mirror (particularly effective, especially if teamed with ongoing repeated discussions of the shortcomings of her features) or squeezed into a juvenile school desk writing lines,  if it can be arranged that the imposition takes place in a quiet room someplace with perhaps a hand basin or metal sink in a corner or against a wall with a slowly dripping tap…  Well tedium is the thing – and nothing quite adds to the tedium of such impositions as these as a dripping tap she can do nothing about.  Oddly enough, in some ways it is even better if she is aware that with little more than a slight twist of the wrist that tap can be stopped dripping.  This is where those jingle bells come in, combined with a baby monitor and a healthy respect for the repercussions of disobedience.  The latter might not necessarily be limited to receiving a bottom braising from the cane, more efficacious might be the disciplinarian simply starting the imposition again, from scratch – and of course setting that tap drip, drip, dripping again!

…To be continued…

A Girl in an Amazing Place - and a Procedure Unspeakable

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A Procedure To Groom A Girl By
 “What an amazing place this is!  So quiet, so… secluded.  You’d never know it was here.  But I do wonder if they’re looking after her a little TOO well – just look at the size of that bottom.   

Mind you, that examination gown doesn’t hide much… Oh look!  She must have misbehaved again – someone has already warmed up her bottom; and recently by the looks of things.  That must really smart; well, it’s going to smart a lot more in a minute!”

“Don’t you think she’s going to sign today then, aunty?”

“Not a chance, Cynthia!  She was trying to get a message to you, trying to get you to come here, help get her out, get a message through to her fiancé…  Would YOU like to do the honours, Cynthia?  After all – you’re the one she trusts, apparently.”
 
 “Gosh, really aunty?”

“Yes, of course.  “

"But… I don't know.  She hasn’t done anything wrong… I mean… Perhaps she’d sign if I told her what has happened… I’m not so sure I should…"

 “What you SHOULD do is as you're told!  Besides, you shouldn’t think of it as punishment - it’s therapy, all part of her therapy.  Now, I want you to give her a damn good thrashing, Cynthia, really hard - you just think of all the problems she has created for YOU in the past… And THEN you can tell her the good news – I know you’ve been dying to - all the events that have happened while she’s been in here, how fickle that young man of hers really turned out to be, how he is your husband now.  I’m sure she’ll be grateful you saved her from all that heartache…”

"And the baby?  Should I tell her about the baby?  I know it shows now but...  Well, you said she'd been... you know... had a procedure... I mean how terrible for her - I didn't know they did that sort of thing in these places nowadays...  I mean, I know they USED to.  But nowadays?  To be... to have that procedure... to see someone in MY condition and know that she won't ever be able to... " 

"It was the cost of her outburst last time - that's all - don't let it worry your pretty little head.  If you MUST know; no, it is NOT the kind of thing that happens nowadays, not without good cause.  I had it done, it was my idea.  You'll find there are a great many things one can get done if one has sufficient influence.  So, yes, I WANT her to know about the baby - but don't say anything.  Just let her see for herself and draw her own conclusions when the nurses let her up at the end.  I want to see her eyes when it dawns on her - it's the perfect time.  

As for the procedure itself - only I and one other knows exactly what has been done, though the stitches and soreness should be a clue...  You know - I don't think I'm even going to ask her to sign anything today.  I think I'll just have you give her a damn good caning. and we'll go.  We'll come back after the tour, in three months, see how she's faring then.  With what I've done - or rather, had done - I doubt there will be any need for a signature at that point!  Now, off you trot, go over there and play your part - you know you want to, you can't fool me; I can see it by the gleam in your eyes, sheer glee"

A gleam in her eyes?  Yes, very much so - she'd groomed the girl well; SHE wouldn't be getting away from her any time soon.  Yes, she could safely say she'd got BOTH girls right where she wanted them now!

.........................................

Storyline - Garth Toyntanen.  The picture origin I am uncertain of - but aint it great! Could have been straight out of my INSTITUTIONALISED series!  Or at least inspired by it.  The subject's bottom is a creation of yours truly and added in later (the original was sans cane marks and was a little bit... I don't know... masculine, for my tastes - but great artwork nevertheless; no signature and I don't recognise the style)

An Improved Dunce's Cap - "For the Modern Miss"

A Girl, a Uniformed Nurse and a Slippering - and Perhaps a Whole Lot More: You Decide!

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The juxtaposition of a strict, no nonsense uniformed nurse with what appears to be a domestic environment is a compelling image I always think, an image in this case which could easily have come straight from the pages of a new book I'm working on:

“No, I’m NOT joking, young lady!  If you take in to account the early bedtime I’ve introduced, that we have this rule you stay in bed until I come to get you and you have your afternoon nap time, it hardly seems worthyou getting dressed.  So get those things off – and get back in your pyjamas.  THIS INSTANT!  And not those old ones you’ve been wearing either – those new ones I brought you a couple of days ago from that place I used to work in.  Yes, I’m sure they ARE embarrassing, or they would be if anyone else saw you in them.  But no one else IS going to see you in them, are they?  You’re not going anywhere. 

I’ve told you before; now that I run this household, things have changed; I’M in charge.  There’s no more gallivanting around the shops and arcades, no more mixing with friends, talking to boys – no going out; period!  No - you stay in nowadays.  Ok, up until now we’ve had our little walks in the garden – so long as you hold my hand – but I’m going to put a stop to that as well; too much sun is bad for the complexion you know.  In fact from now on I don’t even want you going downstairs any longer; I’m going to keep you hidden away up here, on the top floor, when people come.   You’re an embarrassment!  And you’ll embarrass yourself if you come swanning down wearing those new pyjamas I got you.  But you’re not GOING to come swanning down, are you?  No you’re not – because you’re going to be sitting quietly in your room writing lines at your desk or kneeling facing the corner with your hands on your head when people come.  I’M the only person you should be thinking about nowadays – how to please ME.  And the best way you can please me right now is by getting those pyjamas on. 

As I said; there seems little point in you getting dressed nowadays…  So I’ve decided from now on it’s going to be pyjamas all day, every day.  The rest of your stuff can go to the charity shop to join all those things I took off you when I first arrived, all those ridiculous ‘designer’ frocks and fripperies you’d been allowed  to get away wearing, the makeup, the hair ‘products’ and sprays.  I expect you’ll be glad to see the back of that school uniform I’ve had you wearing day in day out – but I think I’m going to have to BURN that; I can’t imagine there being much call for something like that in such a large size… 

No, no – slip the knickers on first; they go with the outfit... And fasten the top button of the jacket for heaven’s sake – the jacket is supposed to button high, so it has a peter pan collar; it gives it a little femininity; it’d look like you’re wearing a rather ugly set of men’s pyjamas otherwise…  Yes, I KNOW there is a badge embroidered on the breast pocket, that’s the name of the place where I used to work - and the word under it, that’s just a clinical term, applied to the woman who last wore those pyjamas; it just lets the staff know not to listen to a SINGLE thing the woman says, that she talks nonsense, rambles… Just like you do dear, when you talk about going to university, meeting a boy, getting married and all that – oh no, no ,no you’re not; you’re staying right here!  So I thought it rather apt…

Smelly?  The pyjamas?  Well… I suppose they are – a bit.  That woman I told you about got a new pair - they’re changing the style apparently - that’s why you got these; I don’t expect they got sent to the laundry before they got thrown out…  The knickers are fresh though – brand new… Stop all that fussing and get them on – that’s NOT rubber on the inside, it’s medical grade PVC, polythene if you will, quite soft and comfortable; the outside is nylon; the waistband is so stiff because there is a spring steel band running through it with a little clasp and loop arrangement poking out through the fabric at the rear where I can slip a neat little padlock, make sure you’re all locked away snugly with no ‘tampering’ allowed. 

Yes, I’ll unlock it if you need the toilet – if you ask nicely – but you know the house rules by now; I have to watch; I’m not having you using it as an excuse to play with yourself;  you KNOW I don’t allow masturbation.  If you want THAT kind of relief I’ll do it for you!  All you have to do is come ask me nicely, drape yourself across my lap, part your legs – and I’ll bring you off in no time with my fingers; I’ll have you squirming across my lap in minutes, reduced to a sobbing puddle of sweat and gibbering like the imbecile it says you are on that badge. 

And once we’ve broken through THAT barrier you’ll find you’ll be coming begging… BEGGING… for me to bring you off that way again and again and again.  I can make it VERY addictive for you  And then…  And THEN… we’ll have to see if we can’t teach you to do a few things for ME!  Oh, I beg to differ – I think you’ll find you WILL, you know. 

Now come and lay yourself across my lap – I’m going to give you a good hard slippering to break you in wearing your new pyjamas:  And I’m just wondering whether I need to shave you again ‘down there’ – yes, I think I’ll fetch the bowl, soap and razor afterwards.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN – OR: AN ORTHODONTIC INTERVENTION (with apologies to the original artist)

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 Yes, silence was indeed golden as far as Julia's guardian was concerned, and where the strap and the cane might have failed in enforcing her strict no-talking rule...

Well, once her young, headstrong, ward, Julia, discovered she was now saddled with a pronounced lisp and was barely coherent she felt sure things were going to change – and when she looked in the mirror! One way or another she was going to get her own way with the girl. Career on the stage? Ha! She'd see about THAT!

(A scenario inspired by an event alluded to in one of my books)
 ............................................................................................................
In case any of you had been wondering as to my absence of late, I have been on holiday in Sardinia (where it bloody well rained on three days, I experienced gale force winds and I suffered from a chest infectiion for the first four day!!!). But  I'm back now and normal service will soon be resumed, which includes a new addition to the 'The Original Institute / Beyond The Barred Window' website which I have neglected for a long tme now (far TOO long).  Today and tomorrow I shall be working on some artwork for the spanking arist Roger Benson but I also hope to be adding to a new work I started on while away, a kidnap / hostage taking story which is intended to be a little more mainstream than my previous stuff, although rest assured that there will still be spanking, discipline and much mental anguish.  Some of the themes I have been hinting at for some time now and there will continue to be teasers from time to time published here...  SO WATCH THIS SPACE!!!

Everyone Loves a Bimbo - So, How to Make One?

She Runs a Tight Ship

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Outside it's 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the scorching early-July sun is still high in the sky - it wont get dark 'till nearly 10PM. The Saturday afternoon shoppers buzz like bees around the stalls in the market place in front of The Corn Exchange, holidaymakers lounge beneath red and white umbrellas outside picturesque pubs lazily supping cider, ales and wine. Incensed, the locals steam behind the steering-wheels of their cars bemoaning the permanent near-gridlocked tailback snaking back and forth through the narrow streets from one end of the market town to the other - a constant carnival parade of tourists; horns sound, angry remarks rend the air, a police siren screams irritatedly. And all this against the background of the constant rumble of the motorway which was built far too close to the edge of the chocolate-box hamlet.

In here, on HER ward, all is deathly quiet, only the tap, tap, tap of her heels on the lino and the hollow, resonant tock, tock, tock of the wall clock she had installed - the time it gives is what SHE calls 'hospital time'; it has nothing to do with the world at large; 'bedtime' here is when SHE says it is, when the 'night bell' rings, a healthy dose of sedetives and sleeping pills helping to ensure sleep comes quickly. The routine has little to do with circadian rhythms and much more to do with staffing levels and shift patterns.

All is neat and tidy and stripped of anything and everything not ENTIRELY essential to the care of 'difficult' girl's in their late teens to early twenties. Thus there are six caged beds with six plastic chairs, one alongside each, and six enamel bedpans, one perched on each chair. There is a desk and chair at one end forming the nurse's station - and that's about it. There IS ONE other thing present - on a hook on the wall behind the nurse's station hangs a slender, wickedly pliant crook-handled cane. Under HER influence corporal punishment has been introduced - they've given her a free hand, so why not? Glancing up at the clock, presently showing ten thirty, she smiles to herself. She knows that strident, insistent ticking is driving certain of the girls to distraction, but if that encourages certain individuals to accept the medication she is keen to introduce, so be it

EMPTYING HER HEAD 2: ANOTHER SIX MONTHS IN CAPTIVITY

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Hi Chaps and chapesses!  Another of those jolly little pictures that jump-starts the little grey cells.  And they really DO need jump-starting at present!  Of course it alludes in some way to the latest outpourings I have been working on, but whether that particular project will come to fruition is another matter.  

I have several part-finished projects on my hard drives, and usually it is because I have just lost interest or taken a dive into depression and not resurfaced until the original concept has sort of gone out of focus; with the way I work momentum is everything, and as it is I am also working closely with Roger Benson on an art project of his which means there are already breaks in my productivity.  The latter is not helped by the fact that my home Internet connection has been clobbered by a bad phone line (noisy, crackling - it has been raining!), is running BELOW the old-style dial-up speed and I'm dealing with 4-5+ Mb files with Roger's drawings which means I'm having to go the pub to receive new work from him at upload the finished product (which in turn means I have been drinking FAR to much, which is not a good thing).  But none of this is what is REALLY putting the kibosh on my writing projects.  

What is really getting under my skin is my having discovered my stuff being offered  free, gratis and for nothing on some sort of file sharing site!!!  Now, I make precious little out of this lark as it is - but I DO like to think I make SOMETHING out of it... 

Sorry I've not got back to you, Non-Victorian Chick.  I will do - very soon, maybe even today if I don't get TOO pissed, I promise (inebriated, not necessarily angry - although I might well manage both!).

There Are Worse Things Than a Caning, Dear!

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“Now, dear; some ground rules:  This is not a NORMAL hospital; this is a mental hospital.  And you are here because you are a mental patient – it’s as simple as that.  I don’t want to hear any of that blathering about how you are ‘normal’, how you’ve been put in here because someone wants you out of the way…  because if that’s the case, they’ve very much succeeded.  This place is very much ‘out of the way’.  No, as far as I’m concerned, if you’ve been placed in here it is because you, girl, are a mental patient; end of story! 

Nobody wants to listen to the ramblings of a mental case, nobody will take a blind bit of notice of anything you say, so you might as well get that in your head right away.  You will not speak unless spoken to, and you will do so only in a whisper.  You will address me as Matron and you will do EXACTLY what I tell you; immediately and without argument.  And you can start by learning how to stand properly; a mental patient does NOT make eye contact with ANYONE…  EVER.  You make eye contact with ME, girl, and you’ll taste my cane across your backside…  Oh yes!  Don’t look so shocked.  I’m fully authorised to use corporal punishment if that is what it takes to tame you!  And I’ve already warned you about eye contact; on the rare occasions you’re allowed out of bed and I speak to you, you will look down at your feet, keep your head slightly bowed at all times. 

I will have no defiance; you will learn to submit to my authority to an extent and in ways you can’t even imagine…  Ok let’s have you bend and touch your toes;  I’m going to give you your first introduction to institutional corporal punishment… And before you think about refusing, think about THIS:  One word from me, one bad report or recommendation, and you could well find yourself going down the path to having a lobotomy carried out.  How do you think you will feel then – not just a mental patient but a LOBOTOMISED mental patient? ”

Spam-A-Lot... No More!

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Yeah, right! Spamalot (with apologies to Monty Python's Flying Circus) is the right term - I'm getting pretty annoyed! Actually I'm getting pretty annoyed about a lot of things at the moment, not least of which being that it has been raining - HARD - and when it rains my phone line sounds like frying bacon in a pan, which of course buggers my internet connection. Thus I am in a pub so as to use their WiFi connection (currently The Toll Gate in Turnpike Lane, North London if anyone fancies a 'meet and greet' and a pint). Today I am having to do some desk research on behalf of one of my two significant others (a hospital dietician) on the dietary requirements and guidelines applicable to cardiac babies... Yahhhhn! By the way: Desk research is a sideline of mine (in case anybody has any work - I need the cash!). But what is REALLY pissing me off is this:

Up until now I have always followed a policy of allowing open access to posting comments on this blog free of moderation, rarely if ever interceding other than to post comments of my own, in fact encouraging its use as a kind of discussion or bulletin board. However for some time now I have been aware that an individual - or individuals - has / have been posting comments which on the surface look vaguly genuine but which include a link to something the person or group describes as 'my blog' but which in fact turns out to be a link to a foreign language commercial site.

Now I'm not sure what all this is about or what the individual or group concerned expects to get out of it (I suspect it is some sort of search engine optimisation strategy), but it has to stop. Therefore I have had to instigate moderation, which basically means that from now on all comments will automatically pass through me via email for vetting before being published. It's a bloody pain, but I've been driven to it. In the meantime, rest assured I will be trawling through the site removing the offending material as and when I have the time!

A Pamphlet From History

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On Inducting a Girl into the Household –

By the Celebrated, Major Alistair StJohn Allois Perskin

Or:

The Control, Discipline and Chastisement of the Recalcitrant Young Maid or Petulant Servant Girl: 

Modern Methods, Hints and Tips.
Being a Pamphlet Detailing Thoughts on Uniform Considerations and Choice, Duties, Assessment and Training and Featuring the Author’s Celebrated Outspoken Views Countering Current Progressive Liberal Thinking on the Subject
...................................................................................................... 

From the outset, on entering the household, a girl should be encouraged to immerse herself in – and be satisfied by - solely occupying herself with feminine occupations. There is a proviso one should consider here; while I say she should be encouraged, at the same time she should not be made to feel she is held in particularly high regard, nor allowed to consider the same. In the latter vein: one should never hesitate to remind her of her limitations; and if a task or imposition may be designed as an exemplar of a particular inadequacy, so much the better.

That being said: there is one important caveat, the master or mistress of the household should be aware of, which is that it is vital such an assignment or chore is not repeated on such a regular basis as to allow practice to make perfect, which is to say, to allow the girl the satisfaction of herself marking any improvement. As much as is possible, then, she should be encouraged to recognize that advancement is beyond the means of her meagre intellect. By this in effect you are doing the girl a service; it is a kindness which ultimately will lead to less frustration, less resentment, on the girl’s behalf by aiding her in her eventual acceptance of the unalterable fact that her life is now under the rigid rule of the household, and that every action, every thought running through that pretty snub-nosed tousled head, is beholden to the gentleman or lady of the house.

To this latter end it does no harm for a girl to overhear her shortcomings discussed with others, particularly as pertains to her intellectual development or lack of it. In actual fact a criticism received in such a manner will be more readily incorporated in to a girl’s persona than if she were to be directly confronted by it or berated face to face. This latter point is especially true in a situation wherein it is the stranger or visitor who initiates the discussion or points out the problem, whether it be perhaps clumsiness or some demonstration of the girl lacking ‘common sense’, and is even more especially true if reinforced by sufficiently frequent exposure to such third-party criticism.

A girl constantly and consistently told she is stupid, will in time become stupid; not in that she will be tempted to mess around, but rather in that she will come to believe herself incapable of arguing back, standing her ground or making decisions for herself and instead will tend to capitulate without struggle to whatever new restriction or stipulation one might care to impose. Consistency is the key here; once knocked off balance she must not be allowed to regain her footing. But you do not stamp on her, you do not trample her under heel. you must not seek to break her in a single step, in one full-blooded blow, as if smashing some unwanted vase in a fit of pique against the wall or in the drawing room fireplace. The human spirit is a resilient thing – even the apparently fragile spirit of a self-conscious and bookish teenage girl – and can bounce back surprisingly quickly from such a direct, dare I say brutal, assault; and bounce back even stronger as a result!. No, for a more permanent result her shy little spirit has to be crushed, slowly, lovingly, little by little and step by step. And never forget; the carrot can be as effective as the stick; though the stick should never be spared where needs must.

One may envisage the process as akin to plucking the petals from a rose. You twist off each off, one by one, each one some new rule or stipulation she must adhere to, some new, perhaps even quite minor, indignity she must suffer. But you do not leave behind just the stem; rather the time to stop is when just sufficient of the bloom remains to still be recognisable for what it once was. In that manner, by tempering one’s hand short of total personality collapse you leave the poor blameless lamb with sufficient wherewithal to assure she truly appreciates the shame inherent in the lowly station she has been brought down to; it is in that constant realisation that true humility lies.

To the latter end I would say there is no harm at all in from time to time reminding her, or contriving to have her reminded, of what she may have become had she not fallen within one’s employ and come under the control of the household. For example; if taking to the stage had once been an aspiration, however lofty or out of reach – but so much the better, if once realistically within her grasp – then a couple of theatre posters or handbills decorating the walls of her room may be in order. Alternatively, why not let her have a programme to read from time to time, procured during some visit to the theatre?

Under such circumstances as I have outlined above I would see nothing wrong with the mistress of the house sitting down with the girl and flicking through the pages with her; in fact I would think it a most instructive exercise. I make a point of suggesting the mistress of the house rather than the gentleman for such a diversion. For it is she - sharing empathy as a fellow member of the fairer sex - who is best suited to perhaps sorrowfully pointing out the pretty lead actress and how prettier still ‘her girl’ is by comparison - or would have been had circumstances been kinder - or discussing the sumptuous costumes, while commiserating over the functional dowdiness of the uniform the poor thing wears, as necessitated by the day-to-day tasks of the common domestic servant girl.

It all helps to act as a constant reminder to the girl of her station within the household, and within society as a whole. As does her uniform. And unlike some, I do not see having a household servant wear a uniform as a ‘thorny question’ or ‘problem’ whatsoever. In fact there should categorically be no question of a serving girl not wearing a uniform. There should be none of this namby-pamby nonsensical advice advocated in certain ‘enlightened’ ‘modern’ pamphlets and ‘household guides’ about how if one ‘provides an attractive uniform, little trouble will be encountered in it being worn’, to quote from one such journal.

The old queen may have passed, God rest her soul. But the Empire remains sound, the Union Jack once more flutters proudly over the Palace of Westminster, and I'm pleased to say that in this King Edward's England we have yet to buckle to women’s suffrage, thank the Lord! Well established traditional values still hold sway in polite society, despite the 'upheaval, turmoil and change' certain mischievous factions within 'the third estate' had predicted for this 'new century'. More to the point: there remain a far greater number of unplaced young women and girls wandering the streets and alleys and facing the workhouse than there are positions available within good, well structured households.

Hence whatever gripe or grumble a girl might have regarding her employer's choice of her wardrobe or other stipulation, the employer holds the whip hand in the matter, never forget that; just as one should never forgo an opportunity to remind the prospective serving girl of that fact. Nor should one ever hesitate to remind the girl how with but a single word whispered in a friendly magistrate’s or councillor’s ear, albeit perhaps eased by means of a little financial consideration, a place for her in a suitable workhouse, or even the equivalent of the old Clink, can quickly be found. The single fact remains: there are still a good few men of conscience within the legal profession and judiciary of these islands today who believe it is better to provide for a secure and structured detention than risk a pretty young innocent, if left to her own devices, descending to the level of a painted-faced young hussy or streetwalker.

With such considerations foremost in the mind, a line should be drawn under the young thing’s previous existence from the very moment she sets foot in the house. It is the author's modest, yet considered, opinion that the most efficacious path to follow in order to achieve the latter aim is to be reached by way of some contrivance or other ultimately resulting in divesting the girl of her own old togs, the aim being to get the winsome young filly placed in her employer's choice of uniform as soon as practically possible. Of course it goes without saying that the well prepared householder will have had the requisite uniform prepared, correctly sized, ready and waiting for her prospect new employee well beforehand; and in this matter the services of a good, reliable dressmaker or seamstress can prove a godsend!.

Now, should a girl arrive on the doorstep bearing luggage, then that should be taken from her before she is shown up to her room. At this early stage it is perfectly acceptable to offer some words of explanation, and a good way forward is to mention laundering or storage elsewhere ‘for the time being’. In her room a washstand with a jug and bowl should have been readied so that she might wash and a linen basket left on her bed to collect her old clothes. If you employ a housekeeper I see nothing wrong with having the woman wait outside the girl’s room to take the basket once she has changed. If not, then the gentleman or lady of the house can perform the same function. The aim is the same. The girl should have to present herself soon after, and while it is perfectly fine – a good thing, in fact – to praise her if she has made an obvious effort in arranging her personal appearance and in her timely arrival in the parlour or wherever it has been agreed to receive her, it is also the perfect moment for the householder to begin to assert his or hers authority, especially as regards to the girl’s uniform.

Some might think the latter be best served by something plain, servile, hard-wearing and serviceable and of some suitably subdued hue; in short, apparel best suited to the efficacious performance and fulfilment of those more distasteful base menial tasks one might think well below the station of housekeeper let alone the mistress of the house.

On the other hand in some households there may well be call for sumptuous layers of satin and lace, most appropriate should a coquettish demeanour be considered pleasing to perhaps indulge a whim on some rainy or snowy afternoon.

In terms of her continuing education, if such should be your wish, she might – at one’s pleasure – in addition to keeping house, be taught the more genteel arts of music, singing, drawing, sewing and poetry. But she need learn nothing whatsoever of the world of science. Nor need she know of engineering, economics or mathematics and she should be actively discouraged from any form or school of philosophical thought. She should, however, be taught all manner of those – one is to hope - strictly feminine arts as might pertain to providing satisfaction of a more, personal, nature, even if destined to fulfil the most demeaning of scullery maid’s tasks or to fill the lowliest of menial positions, perhaps to make a tweeny at most.

An embarrassing – Nay, Humiliating – Innovation: A Request for Feedback / Your Opinion

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(And I don't mean for one of my characters either)

Hi folks!

A request for feedback:

Today you find your scribe VERY much in the doldrums... Errr... Basically I'm penniless – or nearly so! At present I am putting all my energies (or nearly so) in to the new book (which is coming along nicely – or would be if I wasn't being afflicted by bouts of debilitating panic) while simultaneously working on a project alongside Roger Benson and the 3D artist, Angela Fox (which, I think is nowhere near completion and from which I am unlikely to derive much in the way of monetary reward). I'm also embroiled in rebuilding the website – The Original Institute – in which the Beyond the Barred Window site resides from the ground up (Yes, it's true I've done little with it for a year, but partly that was because of medical reasons – and all that is about to change. In the meantime, in the absence of any new publication, the income (as small as it was) from my existing titles has all but dried up – as tends to happen.

The thing is: Ordinarily - and up to now - none of this would have mattered much; I was living on savings, it was never expected to generate a living wage (and never will) and was a hobby as much as anything, albeit one I wanted to share – and enjoy sharing - with others. And then the bombshell: Yesterday, at the bank, it emerged I have nothing like the cash left I thought I had. The only way I can understand / explain the situation is that when I walked in to a branch just before Christmas and they told me the balance of my current account, it was in error. What they were referring to was another account I have which holds the remains of my life savings and which, based on the figure they told me, I hadn't expected to have to resort to until mid-way through next year. Consequently I'm in big trouble if I'm to get these various projects, which are VERY dear to my heart - to the point, with no exaggeration, they literally keep me going, psychologically speaking - finished before I am reduced to abandoning everything to run around seeking social benefit and so on (I presently do not claim income support and so on – and work is unlikely).

Sorry if all this sounds rambling but what all this is about is that as much as anything I am seeking your collective opinion: I am considering adding some kind of donation button to the right hand sidebar here and on the websites saying something like “If you have enjoyed the content here and wish to support this blog / website / the author's next outpourings please make a small donation – thank you!”.... I have seen similar elsewhere, but never really liked the concept myself (it sounds a little too much like those characters who bother me in coffee bars and so on), but things are getting truly desperate if I am to finish this and continue writing (I expect loads of folks will now pitch up and say, well why bother then – you're bloody awful! But I know SOME folks like my stuff – and it IS getting better (I hope).

Anyway... What do you think? Should I add a 'please donate' button? Or is that just TOO distasteful for words? At this stage I am asking for nothing but your opinion – and that just costs a little time and effort.... 

Either post a comment or you can email me direct:

toyntanen@googlemail.com

 Ta!

Feedback on the Buton

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Oh lord! WHAT a lot of comments the last posting produced – the most feedback I have received in such a short time since I don't know when! And all for the donate button bar two – the comment received from 'Ben J. Amen' (yes, I do know who you are. But I cant find your email address, so please email me.) and one which arrived via email. Several others which arrived through email were also largely positive, with one or two minor reservations. The consensus seems to be, then, in favour of the inclusion of a donation button and a willingness to make a small donation from time to time. So unless I hear otherwise in the next few hours or so I will go ahead with the idea – at least on a trial period. Saying all that, though, I'm not even sure it can be done on this kind of blog, nor have I looked into it thoroughly. At this moment in time I have no idea how to go about it!

Alan B (yes I know who you are, too), Ben J. Amen (see comments) and two others via email have suggested I put out some of the unfinished fragmentary stuff I have written over the years which might not otherwise see the light of day at some small nominal charge, perhaps with some words of explanation fore and aft to “set the scene”, place it in context and describe where I had intended it to have gone next, had I finished it. And as an email correspondent pointed out, it is true I tend to write the action and event-laden stuff first, as the ideas occur to me (although I already know the premise and context) and then later add in the basic scaffolding which surrounds those events – the story leading up to them, the character development and descriptive stuff / scene setting and so on.

So there is probably much there some of you would find interesting or exciting. However some of it would need editing, even as fragments and action scenes, spell checking and so on. And of course there are those “few paragraphs of explanation” it has been suggested such an undertaking would require. The idea would be to pay some sort of fee via Paypal and I would then email the PDF (as a correspondent points out – LULU, through whom I publish in addition to via my publisher, Andrews UK LTD, charge a minimum fee which would preclude my charging the suggested 50p - £1 a shot (about 1$ or a bit less I think – I'm not sure).

But at the moment I'm not certain I'd like to go down that latter route, if nothing else than for the reason that I don't know I would have the time to do the editing, spelling correction and the introductory text, without which the reader might wonder, not so much what is going on, as the events would largely be self-explanatory I would imagine, but how it all came about in the first place and perhaps who the protagonists are and their relationship and so on. Remember, this is stuff I have not looked at in a long while – one piece I wrote while down in Eastbourne two years ago I have not even looked at since, and I wont have spell-corrected it as I went along either (and my spelling can be SO atrocious, without correction you would have no idea what I was talking about.

But on the other hand, if enough folk feel strongly enough about it – and there is enough interest out there - I might give it a go in my spare time or when the ideas for the new book dry up from time to time.

So for now it's the donation button, if I can make it work / find out how to do it. I don't know how long I'll need it for, nor whether it will bring in enough to make a difference, but if it will just pay for my internet connection it would help. The work I'm doing with Roger Benson will undoubtedly prove lucrative and my new book, should I get it finished MAY prove lucrative (a bit – it's mainly a labour of love! And the work on the website wont be lucrative at all) but the problem is: they are not being lucrative right now! Oh well! And the banners you see round you don't work: the links will lead you to the relevant sites but in the most part those sites have changed their revenue collection companies and so I don't get a penny (my fault – I haven't kept up to date!).

If and when the button appears it will, I imagine, be found at the top of the right hand side bar.

Bye for now. And thanks for your feedback and to all those who have shown their support. Sometimes words are all it takes to gladden the heart! (The fact that it is a sunny day helps too!)

Domestication, Dress and Other Related Issues

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The domestication process had begun day one, immediately after the ceremony, with the presentation by her spouse of her 'housework outfit'. The chores are pinned upon the kitchen door, and woe betide her if they are not completed. She feels put upon, that she shouldn't submit. And if she wasn't dressed the way she is, perhaps she wouldn't. But the way she is dressed makes her feel 'kept in her place', makes it harder to argue back.

Arranged marriages are nothing new of course, even in Western society. Same-sex marriages are increasingly becoming accepted. How long then before an arranged same-sex marriage? Consider: She has been a hell-cat, a tearaway – no longer! Those days are gone! She is married now – to a woman! A stern, hard-faced older woman hell-bent on domesticating her in a manner no man ever could. Just a year in and already she is a very changed girl, all defiance being lovingly squeezed from her like pips from a lemon. She'd been a reluctant bride of course, a committed boy-chaser beforehand. But her guardian had known what she was doing when she'd placed her future spouse over her a year previous to the ceremony as her governess. “If you can tame her, you can claim her”. 

Well, as you can see I managed to get a 'donate' button in the sidebar.  But it took half the day; it was WELL hidden on Paypal, I must say.  Almost everything I tried ended with me being directed to 'upgrade', which doubtless would have cost money I don't have.  I just hope people don't take its presence wrong.

Worse than the Cane? A Written Imposition with a Twist: A Caption From - and Inspired by - a Tumblr Blog

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Just a few words of explanation:  I have had a few personal problems.  But I’m back working.  I have been working on a project with Roger Benson, the spanking and discipline artist who specialises in setting his work in the 1950s – early 60s, and have taken a look at a part-written piece which I originally intended for the Erotic Mind Control Story Archive with an eye to putting together some sort of novel or book, although I’m not sure where it will fit within my present canon, if at all.  Another activity I have been involving myself (usually first thing, for inspiration) is cruising through the more interesting Tumblr blog pages, re-bloging anything that catches my eye to my own account, more often than not adding a caption inspired by the image, which more than once has led on to exploring certain other directions in terms of imagery and / or writing.  And so I blundered across this pic – and below is where my inspiration led me.  I have also been in email dialogue with a contributor who was responding to something I once wrote about the deliberate induction of stuttering or stammering as a method of gaining control and influence over a subject (itself based on real life, anything but ethical, experimentation).

On the 24thof this month I am going in to hospital (The Highgate – in Highgate, North London, funnily enough) for a total knee replacement operation.  I’ll be in for three nights, but will be staying elsewhere for at least a week after, as where I am usually based there are too many stairs to climb initially.  I Hope to be back on my trusty bicycle by my birthday in mid-July and plan (not TOO ambitious I hope) to cycle to Brighton from London at that point (I doubt I will be sufficiently strong enough to join in the actual organised London to Brighton cycle ride in mid JUNE).

Worse than the Cane? A Written Imposition with a Twist:  A Caption From and Inspired by a Tumblr Blog

She had never felt so crestfallen in all her life.  Line writing was one of Aunt Amelia’s favourite impositions.  But it was not the written imposition itself but rather the effect it was having on her, on the way she was thinking, one the way she acted, that was brining her down so.

“I must not think myself an adult until I turn 21.  Until then I am a child and I must expect to be treated as a child.  I will dress as a child.  I will be seen and not heard.  I will speak only when spoken to.  I will do as I am told.  I will do nothing without Aunt Amelia’s implicit permission, and I will raise my hand to ask”. 

It was a lot to write out – as tedious as can be, and made more so by having to undertake the task as if a dictation, her hand moving in time to a slow, measured, recitation, a recording of her own voice.  Aunt Amelia had made her read the statement aloud from a sheet the very first time she had given her those lines to write, when finally she had completed the task.  And what an onerous task it had been:  One thousand times it had been that day; how her bottom had smarted when at first she had refused; but Aunt Amelia had reached for the cane, and that had been the end of THAT little rebellion.  Then Aunt Amelia had set up the tape recorder and the metronome which usually lived on the grand piano downstairs and had her read through the imposition in time with the slow, resonant, ‘tock’ ‘tock’ ‘tock’ of the wood-cased metronome; she could hear its insistent rhythm now on the tape loop going round and around and around, ‘tock’ ‘tock’ ‘tock’ like a dripping tap spacing out each word from the next…  Then suddenly the passage would change – her own recorded voice still, solemn and slow as if reading a prayer in church:

“A good girl is an obedient girl – I want to be a good girl…”  Over and over.

Then it would be back to the original.  Usually it would be 500 times for the first passage, split in to two blocks of 250 lines with a 250 line reiteration of the shorter ‘good girl’ mantra in between.  When she was being punished, as she was at present, this was a task that had to be repeated twice per day; once, before her afternoon nap, and again in the evening before being put down for the night.  Aunt Amelia said that writing lines before bed was the best way of fixing the lesson in the mind. 

Usually it went on for one week, although it was difficult to know for sure when one week began and finished in Aunt Amelia’s house:  When she was under punishment she was confined to her room with the shutters locked across the window.  This time it had simply been for not addressing one of Aunt Amelia’s lady friends as ‘Miss’ and forgetting to curtsy when that woman had enquired as to whether she was well.  “I am well, thank you for asking, Miss” was the prescribed answer she should have given - while dropping the requisite low curtsy of course.  Sometimes, though, it was just TOO humiliating to have to speak in that tiresome manor – she could always see when a guest or visitor was finding it amusing; and there was only so much a late-teen girl could take. 

But Aunt Amelia had imposed such prescribed idioms of speech for just about EVERY activity:  Asked if she had had enough to eat, she could never be ‘full up’.  Oh no: “I have had sufficient, sir, madam or miss (depending on who was asking)” and – if feeling particularly uncomfortable – “May I get down from the table please, Aunt Amelia?”.  As often as not the answer would be: “Yes, you may; but go and stand in the corner please, facing the wall, until we are finished”. 

Of course if she WAS particularly full, if she was noticeably uncomfortable, fidgeting, wriggling, perhaps squirming a little, the answer might not NECESSARILY be in the affirmative:  “No, I think you can wait there a LITTLE longer – until the ‘grownups’ are finished:  Now, you know the rules: if you have finished your dinner, you sit up straight and put your hands on your head and sit quietly to let your dinner get down; there’s a good girl!  Thank you”.  If the latter was the case, how agitated she would become, how long it would be, before her hand would shoot up would just depend; and as much as anything or whether Aunt Amelia had administered a spoon full of caster oil before her meal. 

So she’d need the toilet, her hand would be raised in the air, and in her own good time Aunt Amelia might deign to notice.  And despite the presence of visitors, there was a prescribed way of asking to go to the toilet too: in fact the very word ‘toilet’ was something her aunt was trying her best to eradicate from her vocabulary;  it was NEVER toilet, nor ‘loo’ nor ANY of the usual run-of-the-mill everyday euphemisms that the rest of the modern world used; ‘powder room’ ‘bathroom’, ‘cloakroom’.  In Aunt Amelia’s home the word was ‘lavatory’.  Who had ever heard of such a thing?  ‘Lavatory’:  “Please, Aunt Amelia, may I be excused to go to the lavatory?”.  It always had to be those words – EXACTLY those words.  It was something male guests in particular seemed to find amusing – a girl of her age, old enough to marry under different circumstances, speaking like that, in those deferential, Victorian-child terms.   Usually Aunt Amelia would consult her watch – there were prescribed times Aunt Amelia preferred her to use the lavatory, although she didn’t know what actual times those were, not in terms of time of day; she had no watch of her own, and there were no clocks she could check around the house.  Of course she wouldn’t be allowed to go alone; she was always under supervision.  Aunt Amelia had hired a nurse whose duties, among others, included escorting her to the toilet; she would stay outside, but the door had to be left ajar.  “I don’t think so, not yet, dear.  Not everyone has finished yet; once they have, I’ll call your nurse to take you”.

And Aunt Amelia was right – when it came to these written impositions, and completing them just before bed.  It really did stick in one’s head, it really WAS a lesson well learned :Yesterday Aunt Amelia - in front of one of her friends, a buxom middle aged and well-to-do woman she had never seen before  - had suddenly turned around and said to her: “A good girl is an…” 
It had come out of the blue – and without thinking she had found herself finishing the sentence, answering “…an obedient girl…”.  Both women had tittered – and she had felt her cheeks go red; especially when Aunt Amelia had patted her on the bottom, the woman’s hand lingering longer than necessary over the frills and flounces of her knickers, a finger insinuating itself momentarily under the taut leg elastic. 


Yes, she had never felt so crestfallen in all her life...  Until now!


Disciplinary Graduation Day

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This has nothing to do with the new book I’m afraid, simply something I cooked up harking back to - and inspired by - the good ol’ INSTITUTIONALISED series, particularly VOLUME 1: BEYOND THE STANFORD EXPERIMENT which some of you, if not most, will doubtless remember.  It is actualy an improved - I think, I hope - revamp of something I created for Tumblr.  The nurse is from an old medical catalogue, the straitjacket girls from a Yahoo Group, the background wall is several repeats of a copy taken from a background image used on THE ORIGINAL INSTITUTE website pasted together.  The barred window is of course something of a repeating motif of mine and is a de novo creation of my own hand (of which there are several versions - originally intended for a comic book project, which might still go ahead now that I’ve had a couple of donations, given sufficient funding).  This is probably not my finest bit of PhotoShop work (actually The Gimp), but I had great fun doing it.  And I hope you gain equal pleasure from viewing it.  
 

I have to admit to having always been fascinated by the idea of blameless captivity, yet legitimised in some manner.  The trap, which, once sprung, proves increasingly more difficult for the young (invariably – although always post-adolescent) woman or girl to extradite herself from.  And the experimental behavioural psychology study gone awry seems to fit the bill nicely, the hapless residential participants being bullied and pressurised into perpetual renewal of their candidacy.  On the other hand, there is more than one way a pretty, nubile young thing might find herself deprived of her freedom and subject to disciplinary zeal; and one such alternative scenario will be examined and explored in the upcoming new book, which by the way is provisionally titled (you have to have SOME sort of working title) ‘HOSTAGE OF DISCIPLINE’ or ‘THE DISCIPLINARIAN’S HOSTAGE’.      

Talking of donations: I have received a couple already for which I am MOST appreciative and cannot thank you enough, particularly one person in particular who has been MORE than generous – I wish I could name names, but that wouldn’t be fair, as I have to respect the donors anonymity; unless he or she wishes otherwise of course. 

Meanwhile, the wrting continues (see my comments on my last posting - in comments section) 
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