I tweeted this earlier in the month:
Some backstory. Both guys were people I saw on Twitter, and were primarily feet guys. One mentioned he liked getting tickled, the other was mostly just foot play. For both, bondage did not seem a big priority (although tickling and bondage certainly seem to go hand in hand to me, and they seemed open to trying it).
The first guy, who has just over 6K followers, tweeted and asked who he knew in LA, as he’d be out here in about a month. I had not messaged him before (generally, I don’t message guys who are not in my area or an area I’ll be visiting), but said I was, then stated my interests and directed him to my blog. He sounded interested, and we had some back and forth. But as his trip grew closer, he said that he doesn’t meet with guys he hadn’t messaged for a while, and that if we did meet, I’d have to pay him.
Now, I’m not really upset about the the first part. I usually like to message guys for a while before meeting as well, so I can understand that. No complaints about there (although he still had about a month before his planned visit, so there was still time to talk more). But paying him seemed absurd to me. I was already willing to host at a hotel and bring my gear. And he wanted additional money for himself? Not exactly an incentive for me.
Then another, completely unrelated guy (and this one doesn’t even have a thousand followers yet) said he was interested when I messaged him, said my site looked good to him, but if met him, there’d be a fee. Seriously?
I figure it’s notable these are guys from Twitter. I’d hope I wouldn’t run into this on, say, Recon (and I haven’t as of yet). But I also hadn’t exactly run into it on Twitter before, either, so it’s catching me a bit off guard. Is this a consequence of an era of Only Fans/Just For Fans?
If these guys had been professional adult performers, or had followers in the 10K+ range, I think this would make more sense. Adult performers are trying to supplement their income and/or earn a livable wage (no easy feat). When I offered @heavy_ to meet for a scene, he requested a payment. While I ultimately didn’t do it, I didn’t harbor any ill will to him for asking. He’s in great demand, has worked with professional studios before, and really appears to be trying to make this his main source of income. That makes sense to me.
I also wonder if those guys saw this blog and though it was a pay site, and that I get money for it. I can assure all of you, I don’t get any money from this blog. In fact, I probably pay around $500 a year to keep it going in hosting fees, domain names, etc. And when I do host for a meet, I don’t mind paying for a hotel room, which is another $150 that I spend. But for me it’s fun, an opportunity for both of us to have a good time, and a way of giving back to the kinky foot community. It’s just a bit depressing that others just see it as a quick paycheck.
Has anyone else had this happen to them? What are your thoughts? Am I overreacting? I’d love to hear feedback. Leave a comment if you have anything to add!
Did you ask to shoot the scene with them? If not, I don’t think it is normal for them to ask to be paid. What is the payment even for? In my opinion, a payment is only appropriate if (a) it is a modeling fee for photographs/videos, or (b) it is a fee for sex work.
I did ask if they wanted to meet for foot fun, and if I could take pics. I suppose to a certain degree they are modeling, but I am definitely not a professional photographer, nor are they professional models. It’s more documenting, if that makes sense. I’m not making money from any pics I take (if I were, that would be a very different story). As for “what is the payment even for”, that’s a great question. Your guess is as good as mine.