BootmanLA

If you are unaware of the rapidity with which Covid can incapacitate and/or kill people, when there is still no guaranteed effective treatment, unlike (for instance, HIV and most other STI's), then perhaps some education is in order.

The problem is that unlike government-issued ID's, a vaccine card is easy to fake and virtually impossible to verify.

I think we're a ways away from seeing those kinds of promotions, for good reason. Once they're up, it will be seen (rightly or wrongly) as an endorsement of their safety (at least with respect to Covid-19). And frankly, given the overall level of vaccination and testing and so forth out there, they simply aren't safe. It's important to think of safety, in this context, as a spectrum. While it's probably reasonably safe, for instance, for a vaccinated person to go to a restaurant where there are still some social distancing seating rules in place, and where the employees likely wear masks, it's probably not safe at all to attend a crowded concert where people are packed in next to one another with no distancing. And while we could hope that unvaccinated people (those who plan to be vaccinated, but haven't yet for whatever reason, at least) would stay home to protect themselves and others, that's not something we can count on with strangers at a sex event. One of the things I remember really clearly from the mid-80's when we finally started talking about HIV and AIDS was a commercial showing what people were thinking while getting ready for sex. One guy was thinking "He hasn't asked me about my status or asked me to use a condom, so he must be poz too" while the other is thinking "He hasn't asked me about my status or asked me to use a condom, so he must be negative too." Factor in that people often don't know whether they've contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, much less know whether they're contagious or not; factor in the pent-up desire people have for sex after perhaps months on end without it; and you've got a recipe for significant outbreaks among a chunk of the population. Look at the number of irresponsible asswipes on this site who've bragged about all the sex they've been having with rando strangers throughout this entire pandemic. If you don't think those sociopaths would happily waltz into a sex party advertised on BBRT, even if they DID know they were full-blown Covid-contagious, you don't know gay men. There are quite a few - a minority, probably, but not an insignificant one - who are precisely that self-centered.

It's actually a lot more complicated than "small penises were desired," which is a gross oversimplification. It's true that most classical statues of nude men feature average to small penises, and inevitably in a very flaccid state. But that's not necessarily proof that small was desirable. Rather, they're in keeping with the artistic sensibility of the time, which usually depicted such men in a pose related to some serious action. So of course they aren't showing huge erections. Additionally: what the elite, thinking classes - those responsible for most of the limited writings we have extant from the period - may not have reflected popular consensus. More than one highbrow looked down at ALL sexual depictions as grotesque, a deviation from pursuing nobler, higher goals; a big penis symbolized base desires as opposed to elevated thinking. It's worth noting that the average person would have considered such elites as idiots. By contrast, check out depictions of ancient Romans in a sexual context, where you'll frequently see erections of stupendous size. You don't see a lot of them in Rome proper because of centuries of sex-repressed Christians having obliterated much of antiquity's eroticism, but when a place is preserved - think Pompeii and Herculaneum, for instance, the Palm Springs and Fort Lauderdales (or Ibiza, or Cabo) of their day - you'll see a lot more big dicks and the people who possess them look very, very satisfied to have them.

You're welcome - it would be curious to see if your liver functions were abnormal before PrEP or if it started afterward.

What is a Princeton Price?

Well, on the one hand, there are some serious infections that are transmitted sexually of which one should be aware and for which BB sex provides no protection. So, somewhat valid point. On the other hand, those infections, insofar as I know, won't have you in the hospital on a respirator within a month and/or dead shortly afterward the way Covid has for several million people worldwide. So, somewhat less valid point.

Those are called "dildos" and "chastity devices". Check into them.

Virtually every hookup/dating app I know has places to fill in other interests, including sports, as well as free-form text where you can describe the kind of people you're looking for. If all that mattered were sexual attributes, those other fields wouldn't exist. And with all due respect, I use "the apps" for whatever I choose. It's not your place to tell me I'm doing it wrong, because I'm satisfied with my usage and what I get from them. On the other hand, you're the one bitching about how you're not getting what YOU want from the apps, so maybe it's YOUR expectations and attitudes that need an adjustment? Just a thought.

It depends on the "something". It's very difficult to contract HIV, for instance, receiving oral sex from someone. It's considerably easier to contract some other STI's that can be transmitted orally. Herpes, for instance. *Overall*, yes, risks in general are lower, if only because for some STI's the risk is low to minimal compared with anal penetrative sex, and there are few if any STI's that are *easer* to transmit orally rather than through genital-anal or genital-genital contact, so mathematically, it just works out that way. That doesn't make it risk free, but it's lower.

She did not say the "US" system has failed. In fact, the original poster is from Canada. That said, your point is well-taken: there is a big difference between "not knowing" and "being too dumb to understand".

Actually, yes, a lot of people use "the apps" for chatting, on top of whatever hooking up they may or may not be doing. I know, I know, people whine that they should take that stuff to regular texts, etc., but not everyone is comfortable giving out their cell numbers to people online for texting. When I get messages through Scruff or Growlr or BBRT or wherever, I know that the amount of info they can get about me is limited to what I provide, and they can't call me at 3 AM while they're fucked up on drugs and wake me up from a decent sleep.

It can. But one has to be aware of that, just like one has to be aware that having a really big dick attracts a lot of assholes, too. The question is whether you're enough of a sucker to let others use your money, or smart enough to figure out where it can do the most good and channeling your efforts that way. I'm not suggest hoarding it if you have it, but there are good ways to use it and not-as-good ways.

"here" might be more relevant a statement if you indicated where "here" was, even in terms of a continent or country. Your profile is silent as to your location.

Not that I think fuckbuds are a bad thing at all. But they don't provide *all* of the benefits a good relationship *can* provide (not that all do). For instance, now that I'm approaching 60, having lost my father a few years back and with a mother in her mid-late 80's, I'm very conscious of end-of-life issues. Having a partner to help arrange things, in the last years (when I may not even be capable of making those arrangements myself) is something most fuckbuds wouldn't want to take on (or even know to take on). There are also times when you need someone who's on your side, in your corner, no matter what; who's going to know that when something really serious happens, everything else gets dropped and you tackle that problem together. Most fuckbuds can't be counted on to do that (they might, if it's not inconvenient, but...). My general feeling is that if a relationship involves throwing crockery, it's a toxic relationship no matter whether it's "love", friendship, fuckbuddery, or whatever.

I think it depends on what the friendship entails.

You posted to this forum, so apparently you're not blocked from posting entirely. The info next to your post shows you've made six posts in total, which demonstrates (a) you are indeed able to post and (b) you've only made a very, very few of them, not enough to be granted higher-level privileges.

It may or may not be - just because it may (or may not) be a rare side effect doesn't mean it's not happening to you. Or it may be something else entirely. It's the kind of thing to discuss with your doctor(s). In my case, my HIV specialist is also my primary care doctor, and he refers me to other specialists as necessary (nephrologist, urologist, etc.). While you are on PrEP, not getting HIV treatment, you might want to consult with an HIV specialist (the active ingredients in PrEP are also used for HIV treatment, so they're likely to have a deeper understanding of them than a generalist) and get his or her recommendations for further testing. I decided for my own info to do some research: assuming yours is not caused by excessive alcohol, what you have is referred to as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, or NAFLD. By some estimates, 25-30% of people in the US and Europe have NAFLD to some degree, probably because we have a richer diet than poorer places. Less is known about the non-alcohol version, but factors that can lead towards it include obesity, high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and high levels of fat in your blood. (Obesity doesn't necessarily mean 350-400 lbs; it's anyone with a BMI over 30; and even a BMI between 25 and 30 may contribute some to this.) So you may want to monitor your blood sugar and/or moderate your intake of fats and sugars (which is a good thing health wise in general). I'd have those things looked into - which are a more common cause of NAFLD - before necessarily blaming PrEP.

That's good information. But the rest of the questions are relevant. I'm not saying you need to answer them, but any answer to YOUR original post would be ill-informed if you don't.

Not that surprising. Some guys may have some natural resistance to some (but not all) STI's. Some may also have had them, but not know it, because symptoms were mild or they just didn't notice because they were regularly strung out on drugs. Additionally, you can only contract an STI if you come into contact with someone who has one. In certain communities, there may be a low prevalence of, say, syphilis or gonorrhea or chlamydia such that the few people who have it rarely have sex with other locals, such that the locals who stick to the community never experience it. Or perhaps in certain areas, when someone gets an STI, it tends to get treated immediately such that it doesn't have much opportunity to spread.

My guess (and it's just a guess) is that this is an uncommon side effect with which very few, if any, members have had any experience.

Drop "poz" from that and you've got it. (Not everyone here is poz or wants to be poz; presumably everyone here, however, is in favor of bareback sex.)

Impossible to say based on your posting. It's possible that in your locality, there's a high prevalence of STI's, but since you didn't include a location in your profile, no one can say for sure. It's possible that in your locality, the bathhouse attracts a different sort of clientele than are attracted to the situations other cumdumps you've noticed online provide. Again, without any location information, it's impossible for anyone to judge what the situation is like *where you are*. It may have something to do with being fucked up on drugs while you have sex, in that your judgment as to who and what to do are impaired.

THIS. I get that "one big day every few months" is the reality you have to live with. But the reality also is that on any given day, you might be batting 1.000 or you might strike out repeatedly. And the only options are: stick it out, and risk being majorly disappointed by the end of your day pass; or abort early when it looks like things are going to be dead for you, and find something else to do with your free time that you'd enjoy, at least as a partial replacement. I can't remember how many Friday or Saturday nights, "back when", that people would go out and hit the bars and clubs hoping to meet someone and get laid. And about 1:00 AM (they closed at 2), people would start getting really antsy - and by 1:45 they'd either have "settled" for someone marginally appealing or they were bitterly headed out knowing they weren't getting sex. Meanwhile the ones who'd said hello to their friends, made the social rounds, and decided early on that there wasn't anyone of interest had been home for a couple of hours, and were either enjoying a late movie or a bowl of ice cream or whatever. Sometimes, cutting your losses makes more sense.

A brand can have more than one variety, just like the brand "Kraft" has mayonnaise, various mustards, and a shit ton of other products. You'll want to compare the active ingredients in each enema (which are clearly labeled on the packaging). You can also re-use the empty bottle for a plain water enema later (they won't last as long as a good quality rubber bulb, but if you prefer plain water to clean out, that IS an option.)