My second day in Amsterdam was so busy that any attempt to even take notes during the day was almost impossible, so please forgive me if this particular post jumps back and forth a bit while I put the day back together in my scattered brain. I might need to consult with Kai, Raven and River to get the order of things right, but if it’s in the wrong order I’m sure you guys won’t hate me too much for it.
Kai and I woke up reasonably early on the second day, after a really dodgy sleep. The room was BOILING! Even with the windows open, there wasn’t a single breeze all night and so neither of us slept well. I’m also not particularly used to sleeping next to other people, so that also effected my sleep a little. I’m used to two cats taking up space on my bed, but not a full human. How does one share blankets? Seriously, what’s the trick again, because I’ve forgotten!
Anyway, we had a quick shower and headed downstairs to meet Raven and River for breakfast. We’d all been chatting online for several months on the run up to Xbiz, but I’d never met either of them in person. They were both a little shy to start with, but to be fair, I am fully aware I can be a lot to deal with when you first meet me. I’m either a creature of excessive bubbliness, aloof and blunt or actively shy and quiet. I never know how I’m going to feel, so I think meeting me can sometimes be a little daunting. Thankfully, I must have been alright because we all took to each other quickly. The plan for the day was to get some content creation done before we had to get ready for Xbiz registration at 4pm. I wanted to spend some time trying to blog beforehand, but I only managed half an hour or so of trying to write Day 1 before I got completely distracted.
Kai and I got ready, and spent half an hour or so getting some beautiful photos using the light in our room. It was shining, strong and bright through the gap in the shutter, creating such a perfect photography setting. I know photographers who would have killed to use that light! We quickly discovered that Kai is an undercover TOG waiting to happen! He has some serious skills for picking perfect poses and angles. After we had played a little with the light in our room we went up to River and Raven’s room. Their room was so bright! While ours had the dark wood aesthetic, there’s was very clean cut, with bright walls that reflected the light. Perfect for content creation really.
We messed around with our TikTok’s for a little while, getting drafts together… y’know the standard social media nonsense we all have to do in our line of work. Not that I mind TikTok particularly, but if it would stop having me shadow banned or yeeting my accounts whenever I talk about sex education that would be grand. Once that was done, we got down to business. Kai decided they wanted to be behind the camera, which we were all happy to allow if they enjoyed it.
We started with some group booty pictures, with this one (above) which has already graced the lands of Twitter, being my favourite. I’m not going to lie, I was proud of how good my ass looked with a hand on each cheek. I think my leg and glute day at the gym is starting to show, which is nice to see. I’m terrible for seeing improvements in my body, but I can see it there. Plus, Raven and River also have amazing bums! I highly recommend those booties.
After that warm up, River and Raven created some stunning photos together! They’ve collaborated a fair bit before and you can see there is clearly chemistry between them, which I love to see! I think it really shines through in the pictures that there is a true level of attraction there, and they both looked incredible. From a purely aesthetic perspective, Raven’s pink and purple hair next to River’s bright ginger looked so damn good on camera! It just popped! It was a colour palette that was just so appealing to the eye. I live for that in photos.
River then had a turn creating some amazing solo photos. I won’t say too much, because it’s their content and not mine to share, but that human has one fantastic ass! You could balance a cup of tea on that booty with no issues at all, especially with that back arch.
Raven followed up, and I also played photographer for them, at a different angle from Kai. Raven does pole fitness/dancing, and is one of those humans who can contort into weird and wonderful shapes. There were so many angles involved that I was more than a little envious. Mental note to myself to stretch and bend a fuck tonne more, because I want to be able to do that!
Raven and I did a couple of collab shots together. It was fun, especially since we both have Top energy. Raven is quite a bit shorter than me… actually Raven is at the perfect height to sandwich their face directly between my boobs (see my twitter feed for evidence of that one). They’re very much built like a dancer, but with some serious boob game! We complimented each other really well in the pictures, and got a sneaky make out video in as well for good measure. I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, kissing videos are hot in their own right! We also discovered that my “non transferable” lipstick was very much transferable… sorry Raven!
After that we moved back to the room I was sharing with Kai. Moving around and playing with different lighting and backdrops is a great way of stretching your content, and our room didn’t disappoint. The light had moved and was filling one side of the room brilliantly, while the other had a lovely shadow. I might be going on about the light a little, but honestly, that perfect light for photos makes me so happy. Ring lights and studio lights are all well and good, but natural sunlight is something else entirely! It gets my creativity going big style!
We all had a turn doing some beautiful shots in the window, leaning between the shutter and the window frame, along with a few leaning up against the wall. Then came a little bit of naughtiness, with Raven and I practically kissing while they sat on River’s face and I leaned in between River’s legs. Eiffel Tower style, minus the high five. Then Raven and River switched and I got Raven’s leg up over my shoulder. They turned out so well, but to see any of those spicy collaboration photos you will have to sign up to the spicy sites. I also highly recommend subscribing to Raven and River for their own quirky brand of content.
We wrapped it up at that point because we only had an hour or so to get ready for the event registration. We’d managed to get almost 300 photos in total between all of us, which is a damn good amount of work for a few hours, but it was 30 degrees and we were all overheating. Kai got a few more photos of me before I jumped in another (cold) shower and started getting ready for the registration and Meet and Greet.
At this point I had some serious butterflies starting to appear. Everything was getting so real, so quickly. The imposter syndrome was getting the better of me and I was getting shaky. There was a big part of me that really didn’t know if I belonged at this event, regardless of the fact that I’d been invited and I’d had a lot of validation from other creators. There’s this annoyingly loud voice that lives rent free in my head telling me that I’m not attractive enough, well known enough or skinny enough to be here. The heat, tiredness and general social anxiety wasn’t helping either. But you know what? I sucked it up and did it anyway.
We headed over to the registration just before 4pm, and thank god we did! When we got there the registration room was already packed out with people waiting to get their access badges, and it was almost 40c inside the registration room. There wasn’t really a queuing system, so it became a little chaotic at points. I got touched up more by accident in that room than I did the whole trip! You just couldn’t move and everyone was sandwiched together. They finally turned on the air conditioning after about half an hour of this, and a really nice guy (who’s name I’ve forgotten) let me skip in front of him so I could benefit from the cool air. I was getting a little woozy from the heat, so I was very grateful for that bit of kindness.
During the queuing experience, Kai, River, Raven and I got chatting to the lovely Sean Taylor and Mitch Schif, who proved to be two of the more interesting humans I had the pleasure of meeting at the conference. They were there to promote and engage with the sex work community in the run up to the next Grabby Awards (gay adult industry awards) and they were both so articulate and passionate about their own careers and pushing inclusivity that I couldn’t help but be hooked on our conversations. They were also running a couple of workshops over the following days… but more on that later.
After getting my badge and access pass, I went for a wander and started attempting to chat to people. I won’t lie, I was shaking with nerves. Kai, River and Raven were still in registration, so I was flying solo and knew no one. Again though, someone I’d spoken to briefly in registration took pity on the clearly anxious new girl. The lovely Marie H and her partner were very happy to let me join them so I wasn’t standing around like a spare part. Both were so sweet and helped me take a breath and relax into the environment. We sat outside for a while, talking about our careers, ambitions and plans for our place in the industry. We also chatted about how utterly shit the UK sexual health screening services are in comparison to Germany. If I needed a 24hour turn around result test in the UK it would cost me in excess of £350. Whereas in Germany, they can get a full screening with 24 hour turn around results AND QR code verification (industry standard) for less than €150!! I’d be cheaper flying to Germany for the day, get tested and fly back than I am to do it privately in the UK. I knew it was bad… but that’s fucking obscene! I’ll get back to that particular rant in another blog.
When Kai, River and Raven joined me outside, we decided that we needed to eat, and then figure out whither we wanted to go to the Buds and Booze Cruise, that was the first social night of the conference. As someone who doesn’t drink more than a couple of glasses of wine a month, doesn’t do drugs and thinks that a “party” is a group of friends under the mercy of a D20 dice while trampling through imaginary dungeons, I knew it wouldn’t be my bag (I’m a good girl, sue me). The potential to network with the early arrivals was tempting, but not worth being stuck on a loud boat that may be as busy as registration. I pick my battles, and I wasn’t keen on that one.
Kai and I decided that dinner and an early night was probaby a better idea, so we found a cute Greek place and I introduced him to Gyros Pita wraps. I love Greek food, so I was in heaven! Plus, I needed a solid meal since I had worked through lunch while doing the collab stuff. It was honestly delicious and really needed! We were back at the hotel and all prepped to head to bed, when our early night got a little sidetracked.
The night before we had blethered briefly with some America tourists who were staying in our hotel. They were really lovely, but we were too knackered to stay up too long chatting. So when we bumped into them again in the hotel lobby and they asked if we wanted to join them to check out the Red Light District, Kai, River and I were game. We left the hotel at about 8.30, and jumped on the tram. All I’m going to say about public transport in Amsterdam is that it puts the UK firmly to shame. Like… whipping through the streets of Kings Landing type SHAME. But I digress. We wandered around the district for a while, with the intention of dropping into a shop for some weed. I’ve never felt quite so vanilla as buying a bottle of water while everyone else around me is buying various strengths of weed. The funny thing is though, that despite not buying or partaking, I still got high! Walking around with a bunch of people smoking joints right next to you apparently has a passive smoking effect… or possibly a passive placebo effect because I started getting sleepy, then giggly, then just plain silly. Kai reassured me that it was almost 100% placebo effect so we can probably just assume that I’m a silly, and highly suggestible dumbass.
Oh and in case anyone is wondering, the Red Light District girls are HOT. Regulation hotties, the lot of them! There is something utterly fascinating about the openness of it. Blatant, honest and very horny. I kinda loved it! It did also activate some of my more taboo kinks, which I may have to discuss in a blog at some point. Regardless, give it a visit, it’s a fascinating place.
That’s the end of Day 2. A super busy day and I was exhausted by the end of it. Day 3 promised to be even busier, with the workshops starting at 10am the next morning.
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Love and cuddles,
Kitty xx