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Cupping and Fire Play
by Leather Barbie


Cupping

For those of you who saw the movie Dangerous Laisons, cupping is what the nuns did to Michelle Pfeiffer at the end of the movie. It's a take off on a Medieval method of blood letting—only without the blood. I take a small leather patch and place it on the area of the body I want to cup. The buttocks, breasts and back work especially well. I then take a small 100% cotton ball and dip it into some rubbing alcohol, squeezing out the excess. I place the cotton ball on the leather patch and light it. While the alcohol in the cotton ball is burning, I bring a sturdy glass jar or cup, open end down, straight down over the flame so that the flame goes up into the glass as I press the rim of the glass into the skin. As the flame is snuffed out by the lack of oxygen, the air inside cools and creates a vacuum. The suction from this vacuum pulls the skin into glass and is actually strong enough to hold the glass into place even when the subject stands. The larger the glass, the stronger the vacuum. You should be aware that, while cupping is not extremely painful for your partner, it often causes bruising. I think the bruises are quite pretty as they form in the exact shape of the cup mouth. I have cups that are round, square, and rectangular and am on the lookout for other interesting designs like a star shape.

Flash Cotton


The third type of fire play—which I prefer to the alcohol—is flash cotton. You can buy it in any magic store. It looks like cotton, but it's actually made of nitrocellulose, which is the same material used in flash paper. The cotton will be damp with water when you open the package and will need to be left out a couple of days to dry. After it has dried, you can take the cotton and pull the fibers into wispy threads or twist it into a fine cord. Pull it as thinly as possible. If it's too thick, it will be too hot when it burns. Lay a wisp of the cotton on top of your forearm and light it with a lighter. It will literary go up in a flash. Again, try this with a small wisp on the forearm of your bottom. If he or she is okay with the intensity, you may continue. If not, stop here. You can lay out the thin cotton strands in intricate designs across your subject's reclining body. Stay away for their face and don't wrap the cotton under any part of the body. Remember: The flame will burn upwards, burning the flesh above if you wrap it. Be ready to snuff out burning body hair with your hand. Again, one of your hands should be poised between the cotton and the bottom's head in case of an emergency. Use the flash cotton sparingly. It doesn't take much to get the desired effect, and too much may burn your partner.