I attended the Saturday portion of the Los Angeles Leather HEAT event with Dexx this past weekend. Leather HEAT is a multi-day educational non-profi event highlighting all things leather and M/s (Master/slave) including classes, vendors, play parties, and the highly anticipated M/s contest. It’s also pansexual to include all genders and orientations.
Dexx and I are not well acquainted with the leather scene in Los Angeles but we love to learn and meet new people. Leather HEAT was extremely well organized and the line up of classes was top notch so it was a great way to dip our toes into this sub-community. We entered the Airtel Plaza Hotel to collect our badges and noticed leather clad attendees in spades which is so much fun to see in public. The staff was extremely friendly and we received a goody bag including items from the varying sponsors most notably Stockroom.
We were short on time so we scurried off to our first class. Dexx and I had decided ahead of time to take advantage of the variety of M/s oriented classes to give us some more ideas for our personal dynamic. We decided on “Hear My Face See His Words” by Master Obsidian and slave namaste from Texas. They are a long term M/s couple from Texas. We personally could not have chosen a better class! They discussed everything about communication within an M/s dynamic, cramming all of this valuable information into 90 minutes. This topic is extremely broad and deep, so it can be difficult to dissect it down to the most essential parts. Master Obsidian and namaste did an incredible job of this, noting that discussing any relationship is an “acquired taste” which means everyone can become accustomed to it and it does not have to be an end of the world discussion. They “normalized” M/s relationships for me. We also ran into fellow Kink Weekly writer Jenn Masri in this class. *Hi Jenn*!
We took a lunch break and checked out the vendors. Dexx ended up snagging a pair of matched floggers from Bunny Flogger to practice his Florentine with. He also had his eye on an asphyxiation collar from Justin Sayne Leather. Yes, it is just as terrible and wonderful as it sounds. I on the other hand had my eye on a leather corset posture collar by Deviant Elegance. It’s simply divine!
The next class was “The Invisible Leash” by Master Tallen and slave george. This was a slightly different point of view from the last class since this was a gay male leather perspective. Master Tallen utlined specific protocols he uses and why. He also answered a lot of really awesome quesitons from the audience. My favorite concept for newer couples entering a power exchange was his method for stopping a potential fight before it begins by alwyas going back to the protocols and dynamic. I personally feel it can be hard even for the most devoted slave to short circuit their lifetime of vanilla relationship management and rely on D/s alone. The concept of having a protocol even for disagreements was novel to me.
The final stop on our M/s train was the second class from Master Obsidian and slave namaste, “The Winter of Our Discontent.” This was the go-to class for conflict resolution within an M/s dynamic. Master Obsidian and namaste made many correlations between an M/s dynamic and a royal hierarchy with the Master being the King of course. This is a great comparison since a royal hierarchy has very specific protocols. I was telling Dexx that I think of him as a Captain, haha.
In all it was a really informative day. I left feeling inspired by all of the great content. Tickets for Leather HEAT 2017 are already on sale here.
Master Tobias says
this was truly a wonderful event-it is every year. people take these events for granted and don’t think of all the hard work that goes on behind the senes-that its run by volunteers primarily. they don’t do these to make money, they do it because they are passionate about helping the community, giving back and being of service. that is what matters the most i think.