What is Pittsburgh After the Storm?

Pittsburgh After the Storm is a series of stories and pictures involving superheroes and heroines in the city of Pittsburgh.  The stories take place in a world where super-powered people have existed for some time, but mainly been focused in the big coastal cities.  On September 2, 2016, a strange storm hit the city of Pittsburgh and caused the sudden transformation of a number of people from normal to meta-human.  These stories revolve around a number of different characters whose lives are changed by the storm.  The Character Index below will track each character and their stories.

What sort of stories?

There will be some variety to the stories, based on the characters themselves.  If you have read other stories from my gallery, you can expect to find the same elements you found there.  That is to say that these stories will involve heroines in peril, bondage, and pain, to put it mildly.  The story index, below the Character Index, will list the stories in chronological order and include a brief description of what you can expect to find in the stories.

What sort of pictures?

Fortunately for everyone involved, I will not be producing any of the artwork myself.  I have set up collaborations and commissions with a number of artists to bring each character to life.

Where should I start?

The best place to start is right here, at Ground Zero of the Storm.  But feel free to look at the character or story indexes to see if you want to just jump right in to a story that really catches your interest.  As long as you start at the beginning of any story arc, they will all work as standalone stories.

Character Index

  Destroid, Amanda "Mandy" Conway

It's not surprising that Mandy grew up as a bit of a tomboy, considering that she was raised almost entirely by her father and his pit crew.  She never had the opportunity to attend a traditional school, instead being educated by tutors on the road and learning everything there was to know about internal combustion engines.  Acing the SAT on her first try, she hit MIT like a force of nature.  Her professors would later come to appreciate her voracious appetite for information, though her difficulties focusing almost cost her a degree on multiple occasions.

After graduation, she settled in Pittsburgh with a hefty grant to her name and a faculty position with the Engineering department at Carnegie Melon. She only taught one class there per semester, with the school more interested in the patents the rolled out of her laboratory than in her actually educating students.  That was fortunate, because the few students who were brave enough to take her class almost always ended up scarred, though not always physically.

Mandy was not physically changed by the storm, though it did change her life forever.  She happened to have the news on her television while she was working in the lab on the day of the storm.  When she saw what was going on downtown, she quickly grabbed a few of the projects she was working on and went to help in any way she could.  Since that day, Amanda has been working with the newly powered heroes and heroines as a mentor and trainer.

Themes - For Destroid stories, think of a Marvel movie and then add in more handcuffs.  Bondage elements will be present, of course, but short-term in nature as our smiling and happy heroine almost always finds a way to come out on top.

Stories-  Destroid is featured in ,   and

   Housewares, Kristen Meyers

Kristen had always been fascinated by news reporters.  Their lives had always seemed so glamorous, compared to her own growing up on a family farm.  They appeared so poised, polished, and articulate.  Even during journalism school, she discovered that it was no less dirty work, at times, than farming, however.  After graduating, she got a job as a weather-girl at a small affiliate and worked there for a couple years before catching her big break and getting a job as a field reporter in Pittsburgh.

At Ground Zero on the day of the Storm, Kristen's life changed forever.  She watched first-hand as people transformed around her, and she was changed herself, gaining a strange power.  She wants nothing to do with her powers, however, or the life of a superhero.  Unfortunately for her, the fact that hers were revealed on broadcast television puts her into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.  She hates everything about the situation, including the silly name that the newspapers tag her with: Housewares.  Little does she know, however, that her televised exploits also captured the attention of someone with more malevolent aims.

Themes - Kristen's stories will involve strict bondage and experimentation by a villain who wants to learn more about her capabilities.  Each term of captivity will be short and rough, leaving her to grow increasingly paranoid of how she will next be abducted.  The focus in these stories will be as much about the creative new ways that the villain comes up with to get his hands on her as on the experimentation that follows.

Stories - Housewares is featured in  and 

  Jade, Leah O'Connor

Leah was a drifter and a dreamer, convinced there was more to the world than the simple black and white maxims by which her accountant parents had lived their lives.  Convinced that magic was real, she ran away from home as a teenager and never looked back.  She traveled the world, scratching out a living as a street performer and magician.  Everywhere she went, she searched for signs of the occult.

And then, one day, Leah was led to a magical tome and discovered that she had been right all along.  The tome taught her to take hold of the magical forces all around her, letting her cast powerful spells.  But it also came with a price.  The malevolent spirit contained within the tome, in fact, seemed to hate her, and it took every opportunity it could find to twist her own spells back against her.  

Hoping to find sanctuary with others, Leah made her way to Pittsburgh when she learned of the formation of a group of heroes called the Sentinels.

Themes - Humiliation is a key component to Jade's stories.  Her heroic identity (Jade) and costume are the result of her magical mentor's requirements, and the slightest mis-step in the casting of a spell will see its effects turned back on her, often causing her to be defeated by herself.  As a spell caster, Jade will almost always find herself gagged after defeat.  A key element of her stories will involve her total powerlessness when her magic is blocked, and how helpless that makes her in the hands of a super-powered captor.

Stories - Jade is featured in:
  

Upcoming - The conclusion of Sentinels in Training and Sentinel Grimlik Games

  Mira Campbell

Mira Campbell was already experiencing the worst day of her life before the Storm set down around her.  Forced by desperate circumstances to attempt to make a withdrawal from an account that was not hers, she was sitting cuffed in the back seat of a police car when the world suddenly turned to chaos.  After the traumatizing events that followed, Mira would find herself on trial for the murder of one of her arresting officers.

Themes - Mira's story will be an exploration of institutional restraint and imprisonment in a world where superpowered prisoners must be accounted for.  It will include typical police style restraints, latex, leather bondage, heavy restraints, and gags.

Stories -

  Opal, Elizabeth

When exceptional skill or ability is melded with a desire to make the world a better place, a hero is born.  Replace that desire with greed, and you may find yourself face to face with a villain.  Sprinkle in a little vengeance, and maybe you have an antihero. Elizabeth isn't any of those things.  While she definitely satisfies the first requirement, she is more interested in some of the side benefits that come along in the world of heroes and villains.  

Themes - Elizabeth's stories will typically involve super heroic action and bondage, though they will tend to be willing or reluctant encounters.

Stories -   and 

  Shawnee, Maise Yazzie

Maise lived a fairly normal life until the storm struck.  She worked at a sporting goods store during the week, and then supplemented her income as a fly fishing guide on the weekends.  She didn't live especially well, but she was happy to be able to spend her time focused on the things she loved.  When the storm hit, she was working at the sporting goods store, and looking forward to spending labor day weekend on the river.  Suddenly, the world seemed to be moving in slow motion around her as the storm changed her.

Quickly discovering the side effects of her powers, Maise looked for help and found it with the Sentinels.  She began to train with them to increase her stamina and learn to better control her incredible speed.

Themes - Stories involving Shawnee will be heavy on predicament bondage, as the young heroine is placed in difficult situations that put her strength, speed, and stamina to the test.  The extent of and limitations on her powers will be explored through the use of cruel bondage devices and implements.  These stories will also place a good deal of emphasis on finding ways to capture and restrain someone who can move so quickly the world stops around her.

Stories - Shawnee is featured in:
  

Upcoming - The conclusion of Sentinels in Training and Sentinel Grimlik Games

Story Index

Year One Stories (2016)

Year Two Stories (2017)

Year  Three Stories (2018)

Under New Management - This story features the return of the Manager and Elizabeth as they begin to leave their mark

on a new criminal organization.

The talented DavidPresents sent me some questions to answer.  Since the first one might be relevant to any of my watchers, I figured I would post the responses here as well.

1.  What convinced me to return to DeviantArt?

This is a really hard one to answer.  Mainly it's difficult because I don't feel like I "decided" to return, any more than I "decided" to leave.  In a way, I never left totally.  I was always checking in and looking for inspiration.  I'm writing and posting stories again because I can.  It's really as simple as that.  It comes and goes with me, I think mainly depending on how good a place I am at in the real world.

When I'm not feeling inspired to write, I don't get involved because I feel bad.  It's hard to see people who are anxiously awaiting continuations of my stories when I can't give them.  So, when I'm not writing, I kind of drift away from DeviantArt until I feel like I'm in a place where I can actually contribute.  

I know I shouldn't, but when I'm not contributing I feel like garbage checking in on my page here.

So, I guess the short answer is that I came back because I have something to offer!

2.  Who is my favorite OC?  What qualities does he/she have that makes them feel so special?

This is another hard one to answer.  I think that all of my characters are imperfect in their own ways.  I try to write them that way, intentionally, to make them feel more real to me.

I love Maria's fight and resolve from Slave to the Machines.  I love Maise's concern for her friend in Sentinels in Training.  And, apparently, I love "M" names because I love Mel's struggle with dealing with her online fantasies being brought to life in Over Her Head.

In the end, I think that Mel is probably my favorite.  She's bright and clever and has a kinky streak a mile wide.

3.  I see you enjoy cooking.  What dish would you make if you had one chance to really impress someone.

This would depend on the circumstances a little.  If it was a dinner situation, I would make my Chicken Tikka Masala with homemade Naan.  It's a killer recipe that has never disappointed.

If it was just any dish, though, and not limited to a dinner option, I would go with my Grandfather's recipe for donuts.  He was a baker for decades in my home town and his donuts are the best I've ever had.  The ones I make in a home kitchen using his recipe aren't quite as good, but they're still delicious and there are great stories and memories that go along with them.

About Requests

I get asked from time to time about whether I take requests.  The answer is a little tricky, so I figured I would post about it here for everyone.

The short answer is that, yes, I do take requests.  Some of the pieces I've written for requests are among the most popular stories I've written.  Paper or Plastic, for example, started out as a request, though it's grown into a life of its own from there.

They don't always go that well, though.  Sometimes, I've tried to take requests and they just don't really work out.  When I think about why some work and some don't, here are the things I've come up with:

Request Style 1:  The victim

These requests are usually very straightforward.  Basically, someone has a particular victim in mind that they'd like to see me torment in a story.  This is how Paper or Plastic started.  Natalie, the requester, didn't ask for the puppygirl story that it became.  She gave me information about herself that became that story.  The same could be said of the Hotel Robbery.  

These requests have the best chance of succeeding and being seen through to completion, with the caveat that I need to have the story brewing inside me that is just waiting for a victim.  So, yeah, I am always interested in hearing about potential victims/heroines/villains that you may be interested in seeing in one of my stories and there's a real chance we could strike gold together!

Request Style 2:  The fetish

A little more commonly, I see requests for specific fetishes.  These can sometimes be broad, like someone asking me to write another ponygirl story.  They can sometimes be very, very specific, like requests I've had to write a story featuring wedgies or cleaning.

These sorts of requests have a much lower chance of working, particularly the more specific they get.  Mainly, that's because my own interests tend to be pretty broad. Even stories that I've written involving very specific fetishes tend to branch out a lot from those areas.  The Mayor's Daughter is a good example here.  While its primary focus is pony play, I couldn't help myself but get out into a lot of other areas, like predicament bondage and electro-torture and the like.

I always love to hear about other specific things that you'd like to see in my stories, though! It's really unlikely I'll be up for the task of making a whole new story to feature these specific fetishes, but with the number of stories I'm usually juggling, there's a real possibility that something you mention might make a good fit for an existing story-line.

Request Style 3:  The completed story

Sometimes a request comes in and it's not just an idea or concept, but rather a whole story arc already dreamed up from start to finish.  Basically, in this case, the requester isn't looking for my imagination or input on the story.  He or she just wants me to take their idea and put it into words.

I've only attempted to take on one such endeavor and it did not end in a good result for the requester.  Looking back, I shouldn't be surprised by that at all.  After all, it's rare that my own stories end up in the place that I imagined them going when I started.  They tend to take on a life of their own as I go and I just follow them as they play out.

This was really disappointing to the requester in the case I am referencing because very quickly he saw that I was telling his story completely wrong.

If you're looking for this type of request, I would recommend that you take the plunge and write the story yourself.  It's not as hard as it appears at first.  Really, the only reason that I started writing myself was because the stories that I wanted to read didn't exist.  I had this clear mental image of what I wanted and nobody was writing it!

Last words on requests

In the end, keep them coming!  Share your thoughts with me and I will do my best to incorporate them into what I write.  When you send them, give me as much to work with as you can.  The more you share (pictures, personalities, concepts, ideals, outfits) the more likely it is that something you share strikes a chord with me as something that I will want to write.

Thanks, as always, for reading!

This return to DeviantArt is all about finding a balance in life.

In the past, I've had a terrible tendency to allow myself to become overwhelmed.  It would seem that I have a rather addictive personality.  And that led me to allowing this side of myself to damage the real world me's day-to-day life.

This time around, I am focusing on expressing this side of myself without crossing that line.  I recognize that this part of me is quite integral and needs an outlet, but that I have to keep it in check.

When I sat down to write Chapter Three of Slave to the Aliens, I was literally stunned to realize that it has been a year since I wrote anything new.  The Mayor's Daughter Trilogy and Over Her Head have actually been complete for over a year, and the last thing that I actually wrote was Chapter Two of Slave to the Aliens.  It felt fitting, and also scary, to return to Maria's plight for my first actual fresh entry.

So, I'd ask you to bear with me as I knock off the rust and get back into the swing of this thing that I love.

I will be posting alternating chapters of the Mayor's Daughter and Over Her Head regularly over the next month or so.

I will also be working on new chapters for Slave to the Aliens, Ashley's Story, and Paper or Plastic and posting them intermittantly as they are completed.

Thanks, as always, for reading and commenting!  I can't express how much I always appreciate the support of everyone who makes up this great community!

You know, I have always felt that part of the allure of Dungeons and Dragons for me, as an impressionable youth, was from the fact that so much of the imagery of the game seemed to include BDSM elements.  Some were overt pictures of bondage and others were just mild suggestions, but it often felt like it was there.  In reality, my long love affair with tabletop RPGs has been decidedly without these same sorts of elements.

I'm thinking... hmmm... why not change that?  And I am wondering if there are others out there who would be interested in putting together an online group to play once or twice a month.  It would require internet access, a mic and a headphone for talking in the group, and an imagination.

I have an idea for a campaign that would involve a world where slavery was a common part of everyday life.  Player characters could be slaves themselves, slave owners, or completely unrelated.  The basic gist of the campaign beginning would be that a large expedition was headed out to settle a new area, hell broke loose, and they are now fighting for their lives.  The setup would allow for complete flexibility of players to play whatever they wanted from slavers to mercenaries to slaves to escaped slaves.  It would hopefully create a good deal of tension between the players as these different elements are forced to work together.

If you're interested and able, send a note or comment here.  If you have an idea, let me know what you think you might like to play.  I'm leaning toward 3.5 D&D, but could potentially be swayed to other rules systems.  If there's enough interest, I think that this could end up being a pretty fun opportunity.


OTHER UPDATES:

I am happy to report that I am halfway through Slave to the Aliens, Part III.