Hi Everyone…I’ve been a little quiet on the blog lately, and it’s obviously been a strange and worrisome summer with the coronavirus pandemic going on. As I’ve said earlier, there are a lot of opinions about what’s going on, and lots of politics involved, which I don’t need to comment on, though all the polarization does sometimes make me scratch my head. I’ll just leave it at that!

The last few months though I’ve shot a number of self-bondage videos (probably still five or six of them that I haven’t yet released). And since it appears that the pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon, I’ve also cautiously started to shoot again with other models, taking as many precautions as I can.

Here in L.A. County you can get free Covid testing, though getting the results can sometimes take several days, which makes it much less useful, though it’s something if both the model and me have mostly been staying home. There’s also a lab where the porn stars go which I’ve started to use where they do one- or two-day results. You gotta hand it to the porn stars – if we all took testing (for STDs and now Covid) as seriously as they do, we could bring down the infection rates of this disease considerably in just a couple months.

In any case, I’m trying to be as cautious as I can, getting tested before each shoot and just meeting one on one with the other models. I’ve shot about seven scenes so far, a few with my friend Jeanne and a few with GG Star Nine. And I’ve been reaching out to other models. Everyone has their own comfort level of course and some want to shoot and others want to wait, which I totally understand.

I have been shooting at a slower pace, not surprisingly, and I’ve been posting a lot of the older and “reserve” material that I normally try to keep on hand. So I’ll probably have to slow down my update schedule just a little bit in a month or so, but I’ll post more about that as it gets closer. Trannies in Trouble is continuing on – I’m not going away or shutting down, but I also want to continue to move ahead cautiously, especially with L.A. County still being the Covid hotspot in Southern Californa.

In any case thanks again for everyone’s support and understanding in this strange time. I’ll try to write more news as it comes. In the meantime here are a few recent preview framegrabs from upcoming videos – these were all a blast to shoot! Stay safe and have fun! Hugs, Sandra

Hi Everyone! We’re definitely feeling the approaching summer here in L.A. Things are slowly opening up and the traffic is picking up though the modified lockdown in L.A. is still going on, probably sometime into July, though I don’t know for sure. So it’s a strange time.

I did shoot another self-bondage video, though, which I just posted over on the site. It was a warm night so I’m wearing my tight white retro underwear. I strike some poses and then do a quick book review of a Brenda Starr book that a friend recently sent me. Then it’s on to some self-bondage with some big bulge Hitachi action and finishing up chairtied with the Hitachi strapped into my lap till it finishes me all off!

I also have another video coming up in a couple weeks with the “ice and key” trick that I mentioned over in the Fetlife Group. And I shot another one where I panicked after a few minutes, not sure if I’ll post that one or not but we’ll see. It sure reminded me that self-bondage is risky and you want to make sure you have plenty of ways to get out if you really get stuck or start to lose your nerve – which actually happens to me pretty easily with self bondage in spite of all my experience.

In any case I hope you’re all well and dealing with things as we head into the summer – take care!

Hi Everyone! How are you? Are you staying safe and doing okay? I’m doing fine and I also have days when I think I’m slowly losing it. So in many ways my experience is probably about average. I’m one of those people who has a fairly comfortable living situation and food in the fridge and wine on the counter. And also I’m sometimes fairly stressed. But I’m very aware that I’m much better off than many.

At the same time, though, this is tough for everyone. One thing I’ve been dealing with, like many, is trying to stay in touch on the phone with my family. I don’t talk about my Mom or my family much, but my Mom is heavily into conspiracy theories and it can sometimes be a bit exhausting talking to her on the phone. I try to check in every couple days but some days I have to brace myself. There are loads of conspiracy theories online, so I won’t repeat all of them but due to her influence I’ve become familiar with many of them. I only hope that she doesn’t cavalierly treat Covid 19 as just a big hoax and get sick with it, as she could have a difficult time were she to become ill.

The funny thing about having a family member who’s into conspiracies is that their worldview can slowly make you start to question things, even if you don’t really believe any of the conspiracies yourself. That’s how conspiracy theories work; they get into your mind and make you start to question basic assumptions, and then a few months later you find yourself thinking, “Wait a minute, maybe there really are shape-shifting reptilians below the surface of the earth who are running the government!? I mean, if you can conceive of it it could be possible, right?”

I’ve even read some articles she’s sent me and listened to podcasts where I’ve been worried I might start to believe the latest Covid 19 conspiracies. But the reassuring thing is that so many of these websites make such sweeping and dramatic arguments with only questionable evidence to back them up (the inevitable “One World Government” being a good example). So I generally find there’s little risk of being sucked into their worldview since they just don’t argue their position in a very convincing way – you either buy into it already or you don’t. Plus, a lot of them are just poorly written. If someone keeps messing up “there,” “they’re” and “their” I tend to move on even if they do have some cool artwork about the digitally-produced Matrix that we’re all living inside. The crazy thing is that a lot of these conspiracy websites practically believe that the Wachowski sisters’ movie was a documentary.

Having said all this it’s maybe a little creepy to shift from my Mom to my self-bondage escapades but I’m pretty sure she’ll never read this blog. Here’s a picture from another bit of fun I got into last week, with a very big tapegag that was inspired by a recent custom video that I shot. It’s hard to do something really creative here in my small bedroom but I’m doing my best to come up with something sexy and strict. If you’re doing the same feel free to comment and share your experiences. I don’t know if this blog post makes much sense or if I’ll delete it tomorrow (Oh crap, I can’t talk about my Mom!), but for now here it is. In any case I’m planning to try to do more shenanigans tomorrow! Take care and stay safe!

Like many of you I’ve been going a little stir crazy with the stay-at-home order that was issued on March 19th here in California. In some ways my life hasn’t dramatically changed, as I’ve always spent a lot of time working from home on the computer, but I sure do miss going out to see friends, going to parties and going to the gym. Plus, as I’ve mentioned before, I’m a mild germ phobe so the coronavirus has certainly increased my sense of dread and anxiety, as it has for many. But I’m dealing with it and most of the time I’m feeling fine. I’m also very grateful to be living in a house with a roommate who’s also being careful and taking things seriously.

Last weekend though I decided to get dressed up and see if I could shoot a little self-bondage video. I dressed up in a slutty tranny outfit and tried on some lace-top stay-up hosiery. I’m not sure if I liked the hose that much but they did feel sexy to wear, as the elastic around my thighs was very tight and had sort of a bondage-y feel to them. Here are a few framegrabs from the video. I still need to edit it some more and make sure it’s worth posting, but I’ll probably add it to the site in a couple weeks. I’m already thinking of what I can do next to pass the time!

I hope you’re all doing well out there and staying healthy. Stay safe and let’s get through this separated but together.

(Well, I hate to report but Vimeo canceled Michael’s podcast, so the link no longer works. But it was fun while it lasted! Let’s hope he’s up and running on another platform soon!)

I recently did an interview with Michael over at ByTheRopePodcast which he just posted. It was a lot of fun chatting with him about bondage and the website business. What he’s doing is really cool – interviews with Damsel in Distress Bondage Models and Producers with an added emphasis on shiny pantyhose.

Michael is also over on Twitter, definitely worth the follow. I’m hoping to do more with him in the future, including some upcoming reviews of Trannies In Trouble videos – Great guy!

Hi Everyone!  I hope you’ve all had a good year.  It’s been an unusual one for me, with a few friends and people I’ve worked a lot with moving away; which has also led to some new faces on the site, including CD bondage icon Jenny Page, whom I’m thrilled to finally have on T’s in Trouble.  We’ve known each other a long time but have just never gotten together as much as we should have.  However we’re planning to correct that and shoot lots more in 2020 – I’m really looking forward to it!

Photo by LavenderGirlx

Another change is that I finally posted some racy galleries over on the site, including some with fully exposed shots.  I was a little nervous about the reaction but by far it’s been mostly positive.  I even received a couple emails from members saying they didn’t think they’d enjoy seeing any nudity but then were pleasantly surprised when they found it sexy.  Of course with my sensibilities (if that’s the word), I think even if I were ever to attempt full-on porn it would be a lot tamer than what you’d find on the tube sites like Pornhub (Don’t get me started on that one! ;-)

I also took the plunge and finally got a really nice Sony video camera last summer.  I still have a lot of unedited material from the old camera but everything that I shoot going forward should technically be a cut above.  Which leads me to the question: What would people think if Trannies In Trouble eventually emphasized videos more and still pictures a little less?  I’m not sure how that would look at this point – and I still love still pictures, so would never give up on those – but with this killer new video camera I do wonder if I should emphasize the videos a little more.  If you have any thoughts or feedback leave a comment below or write me directly.  Like I say, there won’t be any big changes anytime soon, but just an idea that’s been on my mind.

I also always want to give a big thanks to the paying members and supporters at Trannies In Trouble!  Without each of you it simply would not happen – so thank you all so much!  As I’ve mentioned before the fetish website business in general has taken a very big hit the last five or so years.  So you’re the reason my site it still chugging along after sixteen years and moving along into the next decade.  I’m going to go as long as I can and I value your support.

Finally, I am always looking for new models, new locations to shoot in, and people with the skills to assist – camera skills, riggers, or just all-around helpers who are reliable and sane. You can always write me at my regular email if you think you could help me out with any of those.

I hope everyone who’s celebrating has a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, a Super Solstice and anything else you may be celebrating.  And I hope you’ll be able to spend time with friends and family.  If you’re alone on the holiday – I’ve been there myself many times – I hope it’s still meaningful and a nice break for you, or overtime pay if you have to work!  Onward and upward…Hugs, Sandra

Photo by LavenderGirlx

A few weeks ago I noticed that Yahoo was soon planning to disable a bunch of the features in Yahoo Groups. Somehow I thought the conversation threads would still be active but not so. So it looks like it’s the end of an era at Yahoo Groups.

I’m sad to see them go away as Yahoo was one of the first places where I saw and posted CD bondage pics all those years ago. It was a good run and the Trannies In Trouble Yahoo Group has been online since March, 2003. I’m happy to say that mine was one of the few Groups that didn’t get overrun by spam even if it wasn’t very active the last few years. I still post over on Fetlife and on Twitter and my website of course isn’t going anywhere but I’m still sorry to see Yahoo go…Onward and upward…Sandra

I had a really fun time getting tied up and gagged recently by Steve Villa. A few weeks ago I posted a new video where I get discovered as the closeted crossdressing son of his girlfriend, and just this last weekend I posted another one where he picks me up for a “date” but has his own ideas for how the evening is going to go.

Steve always ties tight and he’s known for his intense gags. I took some deep breaths and relaxed myself before doing these scenes since I knew I was going to be seriously gagged – which of course I love. I’m happy to say I handled everything just fine and I was in a natural bondage high by the end of the evening. We’re planning to shoot some more scenes in the months ahead, so I’m really looking forward to more intense gagging!

I shot something a little different the other night. I had a few hours free in a cheap motel so I decided to do some self bondage, something I haven’t done in a long time! And since the walls of the motel were so thin I thought I’d do a “fake” ASMR-style video, whispering to the camera while I discussed what I was about to do. It was a sexy and intense evening and when the Hitachi came out at the end there really wasn’t any acting involved. Here are a few animated gifs to go with it, and here’s the link to the What’s New? page.

I’m really thrilled to announce that the TEASE Party is back up and running with our next one coming up on Saturday, July 27th, in North Hollywood, CA. I was recently given a nice donation of clothes and things by one of our members who’s hanging up the heels (not purging, just feeling the passage of years), and I’ll also go through my closets and find some things to donate. So there should be a lot to look through – clothes, some wigs, books and CDs – all of it for the taking! TEASE is a fun and laid back party always with plenty of bondage going on, and it’s great to see the club up and running again, still at the same location in North Hollywood. It’ll be from 8 PM till 2 AM, $15 for Threshold Members, $20 for non-members…Here are some links below…Hope to see you there! Hugs, Sandra

https://tranniesintrouble.com/tease.html

https://fetlife.com/events/796864

I’m no longer active posting on Tumblr now that they’ve banned adult material but I still run across some of my pics that anonymous people have captioned. I always love seeing things – they amuse me! :-) If you see any more like this feel free to write and send ’em to me!

Anyone who’s been reading this blog for a while knows that I’ve been meaning to shoot some racier and more revealing scenes for a while, and so when I was approached by a young trans pornstar named Klintelle Moore it was a nice opportunity to push the boundaries just a little bit. I’ll admit I was a little nervous getting ready for this shoot, but Klintelle’s a very nice girl and once we got going it all worked out great. Klintelle’s a natural at making distressed and worried faces, which is what we want in damsel in distress bondage! The shoot wrapped up a little late but it was a good one and we had a nice time shooting together and I’m hoping we can do it again. So here are a few sample pics, and the full gallery of 65 pics is over on the site. I’ll be very curious to see what people think…Enjoy!

A close friend of Rebecca H. Heels (who passed away in 2007) recently contacted me to share some of Rebecca’s pictures with me, as well as some pics of Marie Maiden.  I never met Marie and have never spoken to anyone who did know her, but her look was extraordinary.  I’d say she was the perfect submissive fetish maid. 

I remember seeing some of her pics probably in the late eighties and mid-nineties, including some super sexy pics in her paisley dress (seventh pic below). I’d heard that she was the submissive of Ledermeister, who made high-quality leather gear back in the day and who passed away years ago.  Everyone who owned any of his gear always said that it was amazing stuff.  Marie Maiden appeared in a few videos with him, as well as with Rebecca H. Heels and Mistress Antoinette, who ran Versatile Fashions.  But Marie herself always seemed like a mystery.  I wonder what happened to her and if she’s still alive, still dressing, or if it’s all in the past?  In any event she was one of a kind.  If anyone knows anything more about her or if you have any memories of first seeing her pictures or videos, feel free to leave a comment below…Thanks and enjoy!

 

Here it is – Sixteen years of Trannies In Trouble! I’m grateful and always a little amazed that the site is still chugging along after those very modest beginnings in 2003.

On the down side, sites like Pornhub and xHamster drive me a little nuts, but they’re here to stay. I have a few online friends who send me notices when they see a new batch of my videos reposted on the tube sites. (Obviously so much of what those sites post is stolen material and it always amazes me from a legal standpoint that they stay in business year after year, but then again it’s “just porn” so there are no real consequences.) Recently I saw one of my videos with Jewell Marceau and me that had over 130,000 viewings on xHamster, and just the other day another one with Star Nine that had over 220,000 viewings! The biggest irony is when viewers watch my stolen videos on those sites and then leave a “thumbs down” rating! I’ve had people ask me, “Well, isn’t it good free publicity?” If there were just an occasional reposted video here and there it wouldn’t make any difference, but at this point it’s become such a widespread problem in the porn business that it’s made piracy the norm. I’ll admit though I do plan to make a Pornhub account to at least post my free preview videos. I might as well try to get a little traffic out of it. We’ll see.

But I don’t want to be all negative. It is pretty amazing to me that my site is still going, even if from a business point of view it has experienced a decline. But I get it. As I’ve said before, the whole naughty website business has on average seen a downturn this decade for a number of reasons, with the tube sites and social media being only one part of the story, as well as changing online habits and the huge increase in smartphones. But I’m still in the game. And yes, my current mp4 videos are viewable on smartphones, which is part of the reason I switched to that format in late 2016.

As always I do want to say to the paying members: Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can’t do it without your support and I really appreciate each of you. Every sign-up, even just for a month or two, makes a difference and keeps the site going. I hope my material is worth it.

I am hoping to continue on to year seventeen and hopefully far beyond – with my fingers crossed. I’m always open to feedback and suggestions and new ideas for scenarios. And I’m always on the lookout for new models and new locations to shoot at in Southern California. I’d like to shoot a few scenes this year that are more revealing (more panty bulges and maybe even a few fully exposed shots), so anyone who has a nice put-together look and who might be interested in something a little more naughty, send me an email. While I can’t always shoot with everyone, I always give honest and considerate feedback, and for those who would be a good fit on the site I definitely want to hear from you! In the meantime, I’m going to keep cranking it out and hope to see you back here next year at this time…Stay safe and keep it tight! Hugs, Sandra

I’m excited to be posting a new gallery with my friend Delilah Knotty to close out the month! We shot these a couple years ago and I’ve been holding onto them till a good time, which is now, since Delilah also just did a nice interview with Nicholas Tanek over on his website, “Your Kinky Friends.” Check her out!

I hope you like the new gallery – it’ll be a hot one with tight hemp rope and several gags, including a super tight OTM gag over a stuffed cleave gag to keep her quiet!

It’s been a few years since I’ve seen my friend Sybil Minnelli, so I was thrilled when she was able to spend a weekend recently in L.A. We were able to get together with our friend Ikaras Jones, who brought a bunch of rope and helped us out with some picture taking. It was a blast doing some new bondage scenes and just hanging out. Sybil was looking as incredible as ever. She has the best outfits with her amazing stockings and retro lingerie! Here are a few preview shots, with the black and white pic taken on her phone. Ikaras and I put her in rope bondage, mummified her, and finished up with an intense Hitachi scene. I don’t think she minded too much…More coming soon!

2018 has been an interesting year for me and a good one! As I mentioned earlier I signed up with a new healthcare plan which helped me get back into therapy. I’ve been in therapy a number of times over the years and I highly recommend it (as long as it’s a good therapist whom you feel some rapport with). Just to be able to share stuff openly and not keep it inside – it’s been a huge relief for me.

I also mentioned on Twitter an interesting podcast series about Pornhub and the effect it’s had on the porn business. It’s called “The Butterfly Effect” and it’s fascinating, although, hey, I’d listen to it just to hear the host, Jon Ronson, and his Welsh accent. (Here it is on iTunes)

photo by Michael Keye

One of the takeaways from the podcast is that sites like Pornhub (as well as social media in general), have created an atmosphere where many consumers now feel that naughty pics and videos should be free. Of course this has had a negative effect on the porn and fetish website businesses. It didn’t really hit me till about three years ago but I certainly have noticed a downturn, which I’ve alluded to before. It helps that I have a very specialized website, so not all my stuff gets reposted (though a lot of it does). I never scold anyone when they write and tell me how much they love seeing my stuff on the tube sites, but I always nicely explain that those videos are all stolen and pirated. And besides, I understand how it is. I used to watch old bondage videos myself on the German site MyVideo till I finally gave up the habit. And soon after that the site changed its format anyway. I really doubt, though, that very many people here reading this blog look at my stuff on the tube sites anyway, as so many of the comments here are from regular viewers of my site or people I know.

I say this every year, but I do really appreciate each of you here who are currently members of my site or have been in the past. Without your support it would not happen (or it would just be a fraction of what it is now with an occasional update). So thank you so much! And I understand too if joining a paysite like mine just isn’t in the budget – I know how it is. I’m definitely still in the bondage game, though, and I plan to keep going for as long as I can. I’m actually more excited about the coming year than I have been in a long time. Maybe the world is going to hell and California may burn to the ground, but in the meantime I’m looking forward to shooting some hot new stuff in 2019 (even if it is among the embers!)

On a more serious note, earlier this year after Anthony Bourdain’s and Kate Spade’s deaths I did write a heavy blog post on mental health issues and suicide. I got some really nice responses from people. And then I started to feel self-conscious about what I had written and I even considered taking it down. I was worried that I said too much. I didn’t want to come across as though I defined myself by my suffering, and I didn’t want to sound like I was too “troubled.” But from the emails I got I know that the blog post touched some readers so I decided to leave it up. I still have days that are a struggle, when it can feel like a real grind to get anything done, but I’m actually doing much better than when I wrote that post and I feel like I’m ending the year on a nice upswing.

I hope that everyone out there reading this is hanging in there and doing okay. In spite of the craziness of the world that we live in I do think it’s going to be a good year for many of us, so I hope we all stick around for another one. In the meantime, keep it tight and hide those knots from prying fingers. See you all in 2019! Hugs, Sandra

photo by Delilah Knotty

Talking about dreams is usually boring as hell but I’m going to do it anyway, so forgive me if this is a snooze. A couple times a year I’ll have a dream where I’ve met a mysterious woman who’s really into me, or who gives off that vibe, and whom I also find attractive. I’m almost always in “boy mode” myself though I think there have been a few exceptions. Usually it’s a scene where we’ve just met and I’m tiptoeing around my feelings, unsure of whether to own up to just how attracted I am to her. In some of them, though, the woman approaches me and her presence is intoxicating. Usually there’s nothing explicit going on but the atmosphere is highly charged. In a few of them we have been in bed in an embrace, or she’s put her hand on my cheek looking into my eyes, or my hand will be on her leg. Something big is about to happen but it hasn’t happened yet. But there’s always a feeling of, “How lucky I am to have finally met this person and to be here in this moment alone with her…”

Just a week or two ago I had one of these dreams, with a woman wearing a satin blouse and shiny skirt, like in the picture below, very voluptuous, practically coming on to me. In the back of my mind I knew I’d have to tell her I’m a crossdresser and I wasn’t sure how she’d respond. I was a little worried but feeling completely swept up in the moment. Again the atmosphere was so charged and I could see her legs and her stockings through the slit in her skirt. The curves of her body pressed tight against the clothes.

At this point I’ll usually wake up and then go, “Damn it, I’m awake!” And then the sadness hits. There’s such a feeling of connection, followed by the thought that I may never feel something like this in real life. I lie there just wanting to be dreaming again. These occasional dreams are by far the most powerful ones I have, like a brief moment when life feels perfect but, alas, they’re not real. I only hope I have one again soon. Maybe by writing about them I’ll trigger some more. Otherwise it could be another six months. It’s worth the wait…Nite Nite.

Photo by AmberKatt

I had a great time last night in West Hollywood. Most everyone I know who usually goes was skipping it this year because it was a weekday night, so I grabbed my camera and went solo and had a fun time shooting a little video. Towards the end of the night I was even able to connect with Ikaras, Lorelei from Bedroom Bondage, and Jon Woods from American Damsels. So there’s even some bondage shots in the video! I was really glad to make it again since I’ve had to skip the last couple years. Another one all wrapped up!

It took me long enough but I finally re-edited the free preview video clips over on the site. The old ones definitely needed a workover. These little clips really take a long time to put together, the toughest part being just finding the right moments in the various videos that work well for a one- or two-second shot. It’s nice to finally have these updated and looking better. Really hoping to get another one done before the end of the year…