Web projects ahoy!

Occasionally, visitors to the polyamory section of my Web site at www.xeromag.com ask me if I can move the poly information to a new domain, so they can share it with friends or family members who might not be comfortable with the rest of the content on the site.

I am pleased to announce the creation of a new Web site dedicated only to polyamory, More Than Two. The More Than Two site contains all the pages from the polyamory section of xeromag.com, rearranged in a more logical order, and several new pages as well. The existing pages on the Xeromag site can be found in both places, but new articles and essays about polyamory will be found only on More Than Two.


In kink news, JT’s Stockroom is having a sale on violet wands; just $110 for a complete set, which is an amazing price. I’ve placed a link to the sale, as well as a $6 off coupon for my sex game Onyx, on the Special Offers page of my site Symtoys.com.

And speaking of Symtoys, I’ve finally created an eBook of the first part of the porn story I talked about in my Analysis of User-Generated Replies to Porn Stories of Non-Consensual Sex blog post. The story, which is rather longer than I remembered, has been extensively broken into two full-length novels, the second of which has an all-new ending. The first part is available in PDF and as a Kindle and Nook eBook, and the second (and more stories besides) will be available soon.


And finally, just a reminder: zaiah and I are still looking for artists to work with us on our tentacle monster hentai Tarot deck. If this sounds like a project you or someone you like might be interested in, let me know!

62 thoughts on “Web projects ahoy!

  1. Oh very cool! Thank you. Being a polyamorous person who’s not into BDSM is a bit like being in a monogamous married couple who’s not into the idea of having kids. There’s this odd foreign concept that’s inexplicably always present and has to be explained. LOL.

  2. Oh very cool! Thank you. Being a polyamorous person who’s not into BDSM is a bit like being in a monogamous married couple who’s not into the idea of having kids. There’s this odd foreign concept that’s inexplicably always present and has to be explained. LOL.

  3. I’d be interested in providing artwork for your deck, but I’m horrible with computers. All my artwork is with traditional mediums and unless someone knew how to upload it to your requirements I know I wouldn’t be able to figure it out myself. :p

    • That’s easily arranged; all I would need are scans (TIFF format preferred, PNG will work, avoid JPEG) that are at least 300 pixels per inch at 3.5×5.5 inches. We may eventually print a deck as well as make a Web version; if we do, you’ll be able to get royalties. 🙂 If you’re interested, email me at tacitr (at) aol (dot) com!

  4. I’d be interested in providing artwork for your deck, but I’m horrible with computers. All my artwork is with traditional mediums and unless someone knew how to upload it to your requirements I know I wouldn’t be able to figure it out myself. :p

  5. Thanks! I’m still tinkering with it a bit. Some mobile browsers (I’m looking at you, Android) don’t properly respect the background-attachment: fixed CSS, so I’ve made a mobile version of the site as well

  6. Thanks! I’m still tinkering with it a bit. Some mobile browsers (I’m looking at you, Android) don’t properly respect the background-attachment: fixed CSS, so I’ve made a mobile version of the site as well

  7. That’s easily arranged; all I would need are scans (TIFF format preferred, PNG will work, avoid JPEG) that are at least 300 pixels per inch at 3.5×5.5 inches. We may eventually print a deck as well as make a Web version; if we do, you’ll be able to get royalties. 🙂 If you’re interested, email me at tacitr (at) aol (dot) com!

  8. I’m guessing that if we buy the book from Symtoys you get more money, since it’s your website and you don’t have to give Amazon a chunk, right?

    My experience with pdfs on my Kindle is that it’s really a pain in the ass to read them unless you view them as full page sized, so the font is really tiny. If you zoom at all the Kindle does not realign the text to fit the screen so you have to move the document back and forth for each line you read.

    I would really rather give you more money, but I’d like to know what size the text is in the pdf. Would it be possible for you to have the preview available in a downloadable pdf file so you get a preview of not only the content of the book but the formatting as well?

    • Yep, buying from Symtoys does indeed net me more. 🙂

      The Kindle and Nook versions are true “native” files (.mobi and .epub), so they’re resizable and reflowable on readers. The PDF is a “tagged” PDF, so many (most?) readers can resize and reflow it as well, as long as they understand reflowable PDF files.

      If you’re interested in seeing a one-chapter PDF, let me know and I’ll whip one up for you.

  9. I’m guessing that if we buy the book from Symtoys you get more money, since it’s your website and you don’t have to give Amazon a chunk, right?

    My experience with pdfs on my Kindle is that it’s really a pain in the ass to read them unless you view them as full page sized, so the font is really tiny. If you zoom at all the Kindle does not realign the text to fit the screen so you have to move the document back and forth for each line you read.

    I would really rather give you more money, but I’d like to know what size the text is in the pdf. Would it be possible for you to have the preview available in a downloadable pdf file so you get a preview of not only the content of the book but the formatting as well?

  10. Yep, buying from Symtoys does indeed net me more. 🙂

    The Kindle and Nook versions are true “native” files (.mobi and .epub), so they’re resizable and reflowable on readers. The PDF is a “tagged” PDF, so many (most?) readers can resize and reflow it as well, as long as they understand reflowable PDF files.

    If you’re interested in seeing a one-chapter PDF, let me know and I’ll whip one up for you.

  11. I wasn’t aware that Tarot decks were a religion. I have yet to see anyone answer the question “What is your religion?” with “Tarot,” nor see someone answer a census question that way.

    A Tarot deck doesn’t have to be supernatural, nor tap into some kind of cosmic higher force, in order to offer someone an insight into a problem. All it does is prompt a person to use ordinary, non-supernatural tools like introspection to think about a problem; that’s it. No religion involved.

    • But it’s an item connected to several pagan religions; the same way the crucifix or to Bible are to Christianity. They are tools used by followers of a religion and practitioners of those arts.
      Hence my reference to “paraphernalia”.

      The foundation of the tarot being from a considered (at the time) supernatural idea bears no relevance to it’s modern incarnation then??
      After all, it’s not like you’re calling them Tarot Cards instead of “Introspection cards” and designing a whole new set of iconography for them…..

      • Some neo-Pagans and New Age spiritualists also are interested in tarot decks, but that doesn’t make tarot decks a religion, and certainly doesn’t make it associated with those religions in the way a crucifix is associated with Christianity. For God’s sake, the tarot deck was invented as a game! There are still card games in existance today which are played with tarot cards.

        The foundation of the tarot is not supernatural; the foundation of the tarot was a card game called “tarock”. It’s still played in a lot of countries today. Later on, fifteenth-century fortunetellers started using playing cards (of all sorts, not just tarot cards) for divination…does that mean that poker cards are supernatural?

        You seem to be trying to find a reason to be offended. I’m not quite sure what that reason is.

      • Most actual pagan religions predate the tarot by thousands of years. The tarot deck came about in the 1500’s and was actually more connected to the Catholic church in it’s imagery than it was to the pagans. It’s only been in about the last 70 years or so that tarot cards have been something that has identified with neo-pagan practices and then, it was appropriated by those practitioners. Please don’t claim such an entitlement to something that really belongs to nobody.

        • *nods* As a Pagan, agreed — I’m aware of the history of the Tarot deck, and while some Pagans (or New Age practitioners, or any other number of people) use it for divination or as a spiritual tool, one could say the same for horoscopes, which are used by people of many (or no) religious/spiritual identifications.

          I think the deck is a nifty idea, and I’m not in the least offended by it.

          (And *yay* for the website — while I’m kinky and a whole bunch of other things, I have referred a ton of people to your site, and not all of them were necessarily 100% comfortable with the context that your excellent articles were presented in — and now I feel more comfortable referring people to your site who *aren’t* poly, but who are trying to understand poly in concept.)

          — A <3

  12. I wasn’t aware that Tarot decks were a religion. I have yet to see anyone answer the question “What is your religion?” with “Tarot,” nor see someone answer a census question that way.

    A Tarot deck doesn’t have to be supernatural, nor tap into some kind of cosmic higher force, in order to offer someone an insight into a problem. All it does is prompt a person to use ordinary, non-supernatural tools like introspection to think about a problem; that’s it. No religion involved.

  13. But it’s an item connected to several pagan religions; the same way the crucifix or to Bible are to Christianity. They are tools used by followers of a religion and practitioners of those arts.
    Hence my reference to “paraphernalia”.

    The foundation of the tarot being from a considered (at the time) supernatural idea bears no relevance to it’s modern incarnation then??
    After all, it’s not like you’re calling them Tarot Cards instead of “Introspection cards” and designing a whole new set of iconography for them…..

  14. Some neo-Pagans and New Age spiritualists also are interested in tarot decks, but that doesn’t make tarot decks a religion, and certainly doesn’t make it associated with those religions in the way a crucifix is associated with Christianity. For God’s sake, the tarot deck was invented as a game! There are still card games in existance today which are played with tarot cards.

    The foundation of the tarot is not supernatural; the foundation of the tarot was a card game called “tarock”. It’s still played in a lot of countries today. Later on, fifteenth-century fortunetellers started using playing cards (of all sorts, not just tarot cards) for divination…does that mean that poker cards are supernatural?

    You seem to be trying to find a reason to be offended. I’m not quite sure what that reason is.

  15. Well, my main point of contention is you are not creating a Tarock deck; and even wikipedia can give you a better version of tarot origin than that, though I admit my own interest is generally Ryder-Waite onward.

    You however are deliberately attempting to create a comparison between the spiritualist interest and your PRODUCT.
    You being an avowed atheist deliberately attempting to create a link that you outright disavow; THAT offends me.
    You’re trying to cash in on other peoples beliefs, and actually justify it as rational in the grand scheme of things. Maybe you actually believe your own justification.

    I dislike hypocrisy a lot, so I guess that’s my main reason for offense. Of course as a practicing pagan and long term Tarot reader, I guess that qualifies me to write a book on atheism.

    • Um…not to pick nits, but have you actually READ the Tentacle tarot? There’s a lot of work–nearly a year’s worth–that went into it, and I think it’s a remarkably well-balanced and insightful deck. Perhaps if you were to read it, maybe even try some spreads, you’d agree.

      It’s common for people to take offense at things they haven’t actually examined, based on their perceptions of them rather than on reality; the list of books that various religious people have criticized without reading them is an example. You appear to be operating from a similarly jaundiced position, and it really doesn’t seem like you’ve bothered to read what we’ve created. A person does not have to believe in supernatural forces or grand spiritual powers to find the tarot interesting and useful.

      • I am not an atheist and I have a lot of respect for the traditional tarot. I was raised in it and its use. One of the things we did rather well with this deck is that we crafted our own story about the journey of self discovery and actualization. The Schoolgirl’s journey is not the Fool’s. Also, we crafted our own spreads and balanced the deck with different cues in mind. We are not, apurpose, stealing someone else’s favorite spread or their niche deck.

        I continue to be confounded by just HOW GOOD so many of the readings are.. as a meditative or introspective act.

        I wonder if what is going on here is a reaction of a neo-pagan bid for ‘tradition’ by comparing it as more valuable than the nouveaux-arcane we have created here. This arcane tradition is as valid for those who embrace it as other relics or tools are for other traditions. It is the meaning the individual gives an artifact that gives it weight. Right now it seems that the deck is given a lot of importance and weight by how stridently it is being opposed?

      • As a pagan and long-term Tarot reader – going on 30 years now – I have to say I find a tentacle monster hentai Tarot to be a fabulous idea.

        Tarot cards have transcended the niche of “divinatory tool” and moved into “art form”; granted, some of the art forms being published as Tarot absolutely in horrific taste and terribly done, but they are none the less art. I don’t see any difference here. Tacit, I’ve linked your post to an artist friend of mine. She’s fabulous, and I’m hoping she has the time to contact you and contribute.

    • You know, I am pagan, and I own several tarot decks. My favorit is a dragon tarot given to me by my first wife. I feel a true affinity for the deck and do my best readings with it. I just checked, and on the box it says “Made in China”.

      The symbology and meaning of a religious item comes from the person who owns/uses it, not from the people that make it.

      Tacit is creating an item that can be used as a game, as a focus item for meditation and introspection, or as a spiritual item. It’s up to the end uses how they want to use it.

    • I am a long term tarot reader who uses my cards often. I am also a rationalist and an atheist. When Franklin first told me about his tarot project, we talked a lot about the symbolism behind tarot and how it can create a useful template with which to explore thoughts on matters and to aid in introspection.

      So unless you also claim psychic powers of mind reading as part of your practice, I kind of doubt that you really know or understand Franklin’s motivations for making the tarot deck. I could point to a great deal of hypocrisy that exists among many of the pagan communities I know, and I could also assume that you are also just as hypocritical as them, but I won’t. Mainly because it’s a general courtesy to not assume things of people you don’t really know.

      I wonder if you would be able to extend that same courtesy.

  16. Well, my main point of contention is you are not creating a Tarock deck; and even wikipedia can give you a better version of tarot origin than that, though I admit my own interest is generally Ryder-Waite onward.

    You however are deliberately attempting to create a comparison between the spiritualist interest and your PRODUCT.
    You being an avowed atheist deliberately attempting to create a link that you outright disavow; THAT offends me.
    You’re trying to cash in on other peoples beliefs, and actually justify it as rational in the grand scheme of things. Maybe you actually believe your own justification.

    I dislike hypocrisy a lot, so I guess that’s my main reason for offense. Of course as a practicing pagan and long term Tarot reader, I guess that qualifies me to write a book on atheism.

  17. Um…not to pick nits, but have you actually READ the Tentacle tarot? There’s a lot of work–nearly a year’s worth–that went into it, and I think it’s a remarkably well-balanced and insightful deck. Perhaps if you were to read it, maybe even try some spreads, you’d agree.

    It’s common for people to take offense at things they haven’t actually examined, based on their perceptions of them rather than on reality; the list of books that various religious people have criticized without reading them is an example. You appear to be operating from a similarly jaundiced position, and it really doesn’t seem like you’ve bothered to read what we’ve created. A person does not have to believe in supernatural forces or grand spiritual powers to find the tarot interesting and useful.

  18. I am not an atheist and I have a lot of respect for the traditional tarot. I was raised in it and its use. One of the things we did rather well with this deck is that we crafted our own story about the journey of self discovery and actualization. The Schoolgirl’s journey is not the Fool’s. Also, we crafted our own spreads and balanced the deck with different cues in mind. We are not, apurpose, stealing someone else’s favorite spread or their niche deck.

    I continue to be confounded by just HOW GOOD so many of the readings are.. as a meditative or introspective act.

    I wonder if what is going on here is a reaction of a neo-pagan bid for ‘tradition’ by comparing it as more valuable than the nouveaux-arcane we have created here. This arcane tradition is as valid for those who embrace it as other relics or tools are for other traditions. It is the meaning the individual gives an artifact that gives it weight. Right now it seems that the deck is given a lot of importance and weight by how stridently it is being opposed?

  19. You know, I am pagan, and I own several tarot decks. My favorit is a dragon tarot given to me by my first wife. I feel a true affinity for the deck and do my best readings with it. I just checked, and on the box it says “Made in China”.

    The symbology and meaning of a religious item comes from the person who owns/uses it, not from the people that make it.

    Tacit is creating an item that can be used as a game, as a focus item for meditation and introspection, or as a spiritual item. It’s up to the end uses how they want to use it.

  20. As a pagan and long-term Tarot reader – going on 30 years now – I have to say I find a tentacle monster hentai Tarot to be a fabulous idea.

    Tarot cards have transcended the niche of “divinatory tool” and moved into “art form”; granted, some of the art forms being published as Tarot absolutely in horrific taste and terribly done, but they are none the less art. I don’t see any difference here. Tacit, I’ve linked your post to an artist friend of mine. She’s fabulous, and I’m hoping she has the time to contact you and contribute.

  21. Hello there, Tacit. A very wonderful woman, strega42, told me you were putting together a tentacle monster tarot deck.

    I’m a tattoo artist, so my schedule can get really weird. With that in mind I was curious about time frame/dead lines and all that. If you’d like a sample of my artwork you can either check out my deviantArt: http://www.ascenttomadness.deviantart.com/ or my (work)facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gretamquinlan

    My name is Greta Quinlan, and my email is deviousdelilah (at) gmail (dot) com

    Look forward to talking to ya’!

    • We don’t have any real deadlines at the moment. We’d like to get this project started again, as it’s been stalled for months.

      I took a look at your work, and I quite like it! What we’re looking for is digital artwork at 3.5×5.5″ at 300 pixels per inch (obviously, it need not be made in a computer; scans of artwork will work quite well). If you think you might be interested and available, shoot me an email at tacitr (at) aol (dot) com and let me know how we can get started!

  22. Hello there, Tacit. A very wonderful woman, strega42, told me you were putting together a tentacle monster tarot deck.

    I’m a tattoo artist, so my schedule can get really weird. With that in mind I was curious about time frame/dead lines and all that. If you’d like a sample of my artwork you can either check out my deviantArt: http://www.ascenttomadness.deviantart.com/ or my (work)facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gretamquinlan

    My name is Greta Quinlan, and my email is deviousdelilah (at) gmail (dot) com

    Look forward to talking to ya’!

  23. Like the look of the new site!

    May I suggest that the navigation on the Tentacle Tarot site could use a tweak? It would be vastly easier to meander through if there were pervious & next links on the description pages for the cards (especially for the Major Arcana!), so that one didn’t have to constantly head back to the main page in order to get to the next description.

  24. Like the look of the new site!

    May I suggest that the navigation on the Tentacle Tarot site could use a tweak? It would be vastly easier to meander through if there were pervious & next links on the description pages for the cards (especially for the Major Arcana!), so that one didn’t have to constantly head back to the main page in order to get to the next description.

  25. Most actual pagan religions predate the tarot by thousands of years. The tarot deck came about in the 1500’s and was actually more connected to the Catholic church in it’s imagery than it was to the pagans. It’s only been in about the last 70 years or so that tarot cards have been something that has identified with neo-pagan practices and then, it was appropriated by those practitioners. Please don’t claim such an entitlement to something that really belongs to nobody.

  26. We don’t have any real deadlines at the moment. We’d like to get this project started again, as it’s been stalled for months.

    I took a look at your work, and I quite like it! What we’re looking for is digital artwork at 3.5×5.5″ at 300 pixels per inch (obviously, it need not be made in a computer; scans of artwork will work quite well). If you think you might be interested and available, shoot me an email at tacitr (at) aol (dot) com and let me know how we can get started!

  27. I am a long term tarot reader who uses my cards often. I am also a rationalist and an atheist. When Franklin first told me about his tarot project, we talked a lot about the symbolism behind tarot and how it can create a useful template with which to explore thoughts on matters and to aid in introspection.

    So unless you also claim psychic powers of mind reading as part of your practice, I kind of doubt that you really know or understand Franklin’s motivations for making the tarot deck. I could point to a great deal of hypocrisy that exists among many of the pagan communities I know, and I could also assume that you are also just as hypocritical as them, but I won’t. Mainly because it’s a general courtesy to not assume things of people you don’t really know.

    I wonder if you would be able to extend that same courtesy.

  28. They’re made by Kinklab, a company I’ve had very good success with. I haven’t tried their wands specifically, but i have tried quite a number of their other products and they’ve been quite well-made.

    Honestly, I suspect that violet wands have historically been so expensive (I paid $700 for my first one, which I sadly no longer have) simply because that’s what the market will bear. Mechanically and electrically, they’re quite simple; they’ve been all but unchanged since the late 1910s.

  29. They’re made by Kinklab, a company I’ve had very good success with. I haven’t tried their wands specifically, but i have tried quite a number of their other products and they’ve been quite well-made.

    Honestly, I suspect that violet wands have historically been so expensive (I paid $700 for my first one, which I sadly no longer have) simply because that’s what the market will bear. Mechanically and electrically, they’re quite simple; they’ve been all but unchanged since the late 1910s.

  30. *nods* As a Pagan, agreed — I’m aware of the history of the Tarot deck, and while some Pagans (or New Age practitioners, or any other number of people) use it for divination or as a spiritual tool, one could say the same for horoscopes, which are used by people of many (or no) religious/spiritual identifications.

    I think the deck is a nifty idea, and I’m not in the least offended by it.

    (And *yay* for the website — while I’m kinky and a whole bunch of other things, I have referred a ton of people to your site, and not all of them were necessarily 100% comfortable with the context that your excellent articles were presented in — and now I feel more comfortable referring people to your site who *aren’t* poly, but who are trying to understand poly in concept.)

    — A <3

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