{ #5 } Eclipse Of The Moon (MxM || 18+)

Short Intermission

Hello dear Readers,

It's time for a little intermission that I strongly recommend you to read before you dive further into this book as it will give you a few pointers on several aspects of what you are going to read next.

About BDSM...

Alright, BDSM remains BDSM, but I clearly wanted to make some aspects different in this book. As you know, Books 1, 2, 3 and 4 are mainly set in 2014-2015, and even if that's less than a fifteen-year gap with Eclipse of the Moon, I aimed at showing differences in the way things happened between both eras. That's why I worked a bit on the history of BDSM (no worries, I'm not going to give you a lesson here), but above all, almost two years ago, I had very interesting and inspiring conversations with a mature reader who used to be in the lifestyle and got to learn it back in the late 1970's and 1980's (I'll say they to keep their identity secret).

This reader – an American Dominant – discovered the lifestyle in Germany back in the early 80s and at that time, it mostly existed "underground" (and I believe it still does nowadays, with private parties being organized among certain circles, people you would meet in specific clubs), and they had to submit to another Dom for a whole year to get educated to the lifestyle and before they could be considered as a Dominant. They also said that these specific clubs mostly aimed at helping people to meet and arrange private parties, but that clubs similar to the Black Diamond do exist now in very large cities.

Everything that this reader told me, together with a bit more research, was my first source of inspiration to differentiate the so-called trainings described in the previous books from what you'll see in the next chapters and I just adapted what I needed to fit in the context of Eclipse of the Moon. This reader's experience dates from the 1980's and EOTM is set in the early 2000's, so I decided that the late 1990's and early 2000's could be the transition period between the two "concepts", with Ivan being quite old school, hence the old method applied at the Hell Fire at the time Aaron joins.

So, prepare yourself for the Hell Fire to be quite different from the Black Diamond as you know it. It's organized differently, the policies are different, the methods for joining and training are different, but I will let you discover all these details and the progression toward the new concept in the remaining chapters of Eclipse of the Moon and in the beginning of Rise of the Moon.

Meanwhile, I just want to thank again this reader for taking the time to share their story with me, because it was what I needed to mark a difference between the two eras, and I am truly grateful for that. I re-contacted them recently to ask if I could share their username here for an appropriate thank you, but having had no answer to this day, I will keep their name secret for now.

About HIV and AIDS

This specific theme required a sh*tload of research, like many other themes I broached in this book, and that's probably why it took me so long to write it. I realized that I had very basic knowledge in HIV/AIDS, I could barely make the difference between the two. The trickiest part wasn't to find information on what the situation is today (in the late 2010's, early 2020's), but what it was in the 1990's and 2000's.

Science has obviously made huge progress since the 1980's, even if a vaccine hasn't been found yet, unfortunately, but as you get to read about Ivan's sickness, you'll have to keep in mind that the story isn't set today. I have really strived to take all this progress into account and to keep the information as accurate as possible; I even spoke with a guy who's HIV positive and the leader of an AIDS association here in France to validate the information I found.

Opinions and ways to handle this sickness have always varied from one country to another; many articles I read on research and medical websites contradicted each other, so needless to say it didn't help my own research.

In any event, I won't pretend that I have become an expert in HIV/AIDS, I won't pretend that the story is 100% accurate because it remains a fiction, and I will welcome remarks and criticism as usual for as long as it remains respectful and not the what you say is bullshit and I know better than you I sometimes see in the comments. Like I said, research laboratories have always shown different results from one country to another, and sometimes, even within the same country, and this has been the case throughout all the years since the damned virus appeared, and it extends to many other subjects as we all know (though to stay in the medical field, we just have to look at the COVID19 pandemic to see how research evolves differently depending on the countries and even within the same countries, so you get my point, I guess).

That being said, you will discover all these details and progress throughout not only the rest of this book but also throughout the rest of the series because it will always remain a present theme until the end, whether it's when Ivan will tell about his past, his present situation, through Marcus' support and advice (now and in the future), Ivan's death or how another character of the Black Diamond is dealing with the sickness thanks to ART and PrEP (not naming them here because it wasn't clearly stated in the previous books, but I'll be sure to make it clearer when I rewrite TM).

Aaron's submission phase...

Finally, I'm going to add a little note on Aaron's submission phase and the remaining chapters of EOTM, though that's been said before and it's just a reminder.

As you may have read before, Aaron was going to have only one book, and his submission was to be covered by like three of four chapters (LOL...). In the end, the Master Dom gets three books (possibly four with book #9 of the series), and between his first and his second book, it represents 160 chapters (I've really gone nuts with this character...).

Obviously, it's impossible to give details on every freaking day of his life, or there'd be a few more zeros to that number of chapters, so there will be time skips. I decided to focus on specific aspects of this period in order to cover Ivan's belief that to become a good Dominant – and even more so, a good Master Dom – a man has to experience everything that he will inflict to other men. It means that you'll see Aaron try pretty much everything that the lifestyle has to offer, and that represents about twenty chapters.

Now about the submission in itself, I know that some readers kind of fear to read about Aaron-The-Sub because they know him as the Master Dom (I did too...). Remember that Aaron is one big cuddly bear and that's probably the only aspect that would make his submission phase sound not too weird, because you'll like all these cuddly moments. Now keep in mind that Aaron was never a real Sub.

I'm not going to give spoilers here, you'll have to see for yourself, but know that his submission phase comes within the scope of his education to become a Master Dom. You'll see how his mind struggles to endure everything Ivan inflicts on him, you'll see the fight between the Sub and the Dom roles in his head, you'll see how he evolves and matures throughout these twelve months, you'll see how natural it all is to him, you'll see why he is so close to Subs later, and you'll see the development of his complex personality and character.

There'll be painful moments, but there'll be happy ones too, and they are all what made the Aaron we know from the first four books.

Anyway, that's enough blabbering, it's now time to open the doors of the Hell Fire and for Aaron to walk into what will become his life.

Published on 12 May 2020

Quick note: the next chapter will be published tomorrow as planned :)