Look at Me!

Some fun in a pre-Covid world

Ariel was pleased with her latest numbers. Her original Instagram account was now drawing more than 6,000 unique hits per month. She created videos about her normal life, but was clever and creative enough to make them interesting to lots of others. The comments from viewers were mostly positive, after you skipped all of the trashy misogynistic flamers. She had learned to love the attention she was getting with her clever videos. People really seemed to care about her and encouraged her to create more content. Most of those just wanted her to show more skin, but she had learned to really enjoy the compliments on her body, hair, face and attitude. She had come a long way from the shy girl in Akron to a more world-wise woman in Chicago. Now she loved the attention and she wanted more.

Her friend Tommy was an IT geek and had helped several models and aspiring actors to expand their social media presence. He had been encouraging her for months to develop a YouTube channel of her own, by using expanded versions of her Instagram videos. He had also been encouraging her to sleep with him, also with no results so far.

Ariel certainly needed a better way to earn a living. At age 22 she had originally gone to NY to model for a lingerie firm. Her slim body stood 5' 10" with natural red hair, blue eyes, a creamy skin, C cup breasts and a firm round ass. The modeling pay was inconsistent, but was an ongoing source of income. Like thousands of women before her, she tried acting and got some bit parts in theatre productions - but Broadway wasn't ready for her style. She eventually found a niche in upscale strip clubs in Chicago and made decent tips there. She wasn't whoring, she just liked to show off her body. She especially enjoyed clubs with dancing cages where she could safely flaunt her stuff and enjoy the adulation of the crowd. That's where her last vestiges of modesty were discarded and her natural exhibitionism had flourished.

Ariel had been dating lots of guys ever since high school. She enjoyed their attention and never missed an opportunity to wiggle her ass or flash something at a passing man. She loved the control she had over them. She had slept with many, but hadn't found real love -- sort of like Joni Mitchell's description: "Now it's just another show, you leave 'em laughing when you go".

She had joined Facebook to expand her social contacts and found it helpful, but annoying. She could broadcast everything she did to her friends, but in return, had to watch unlimited numbers of postings from people she hardly knew. After a while, she found the whole thing tedious and boring.

She got back into the game when Facebook bought Instagram and she discovered the fun in creating short videos about her favorite subject -- herself. Instead of dancing for 50 people in a club, she could perform -- virtually -- for thousands. She created several exotic dance routines that emphasized her best assets: her face, her hair and her ass. Her followers count soared in a few months and she reveled in the positive comments she received from people all over the world.

Her exhibitionism had grown to a new level. She continued to push the envelope of Instagram's standards with more flesh and more explicit talk until the moderators blocked one video and suggested she tone down the sex appeal. But she had created a brand for herself and wanted to expand it further. There was some income from Instagram Badges, but that wouldn't even pay for groceries.

Tommy followed her progression and suggested that she should move on to YouTube.

"With your looks and screen presence you could start to monetize those videos. It's nice to be popular on Instagram, but it's even better to be rich." He advised.

Moving to YouTube would require her to create a more long-form video format that had more content than just her cute ass and flirting remarks. Tommy promised to help her develop the content and to get it publicized. She could point her Instagram followers to her YouTube channel, but there had to be some new, more provocative content. She and Tommy discussed the limits of most online platforms when it came to sexually themed videos. You could talk about sex, but you couldn't show it.

Tommy's analysis of her followers' profiles revealed that most were 18-30 years old, mostly male, but with significant female interest as well. Recurring comments asked questions about sex, love, relationships and sex. Ariel's online persona had given the impression of a smart, worldly and open-minded woman who wasn't shy about her sexuality. Her followers believed her to be an expert on all things sexual. And that was the key to her next endeavor.

Tommy and Ariel agreed there was plenty of raunchy porn-adjacent video on YouTube, but there was a also vast demand for educational videos on any subject: how to replace a water heater, how to tune-up a 2012 Hyundai, how to apply for a student loan, etc. Could they combine that how-to model with her sexual themes and create a popular project?

It was Ariel who first verbalized the concept. "We should create how-to videos for sexual activities. You know, how to give a good blowjob, how to extend your orgasm, how to convince your partner to try anal, etc."

"You know that won't fly." Tommy objected. "You can't show explicit sex on YouTube. Their automated review process has plenty of algorithms to recognize it and block it."

"I know dummy." Ariel smirked. "But you can talk about sex and describe everything and make it seem real enough. Heck, you could even use medical anatomy diagrams to explain things. People would love it! It's not pornography, it's educational."

They both agreed that they had a workable model for success on YouTube and started assembling the pieces. They set up a bare-bones TV studio in her spare bedroom with lighting and a crude backdrop. They hung large bath towels on the walls that weren't seen on camera to reduce the echo in the room. Tommy already owned a hand-held HD camera with a zoom lens and other features and a laptop with significant video editing capabilities. He created some graphics with a logo, her name and titling ability.

The only thing missing was the sexually implicit, but outwardly clean, content. That's where Ariel's experience proved so valuable. From her interactions with her thousands of followers, she knew what questions they had. She intended to satisfy that demand by playing an experienced sex counselor onscreen to expand her brand beyond just being a hot body. A sex counselor with a wink in her eye and a giggle in her voice.

Her first YouTube video was basically an introduction of herself and her admirable goal of "helping everyone improve their ability to give and receive sexual pleasure". She wore a conservative suit, but with a frilly blouse unbuttoned to reveal some cleavage. She wore enough makeup to emphasize her features, but not overdone like a hooker. She sat behind a table, but made sure her long legs were emphasized in the zoom-out shots. She wanted a backdrop showing naked people, but, knowing the YouTube standards, they chose DaVinci's Vitruvian Man and Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. Who could object to great art from the 15^th century? She named the show: 'Making It Better with Ariel'.

Ariel posted a few new videos on Instagram, each of them mentioning her new YouTube channel. Several thousand of her followers followed the link and saw her new image as the savvy and witty counselor. Over 2,000 immediately followed her on YouTube, but she knew she would need something bold to start some real buzz. It had to be a question that was sexually interesting without being overtly sexual.

Tommy suggested the idea of "What is an orgasm?" and Ariel agreed that was perfect. She started doing her online research and read several boring medical research papers and psychological theories about sexual climax. Definitions varied from "sexual trance and climax via rhythmic entrainment" through "le petit mort" (the little death). She figured out the most effective balance between scientific jargon and common, crude terms. Those terms could be enhanced with the right meaning when delivered with a subtle wink, sideways glance, smirking smile, knowing nod or whole body gesture. And Ariel was very good at all of them.

"The male orgasm seems simpler than the female." She explained on camera. "Men can reach orgasm faster than most women (sad frown) and after ejaculation their organ quickly shrinks (slowly moves thumb and index finger together with disapproving downward gaze). Many people, male and female, vocalize their feelings very loudly (holds hands over ears and grimaces) which seems to increase their pleasure."

The first orgasm video was a hit. People thought it was both informative and funny. She plugged it on her Instagram account and drove the numbers sky high -- for her - 10,000 hits in the first three days. She had joined the YouTube Partner Program so she could earn income from ad sales and got her first real taste of online revenue.

In the following weeks they created more "lessons" based on masturbation, oral sex, anal sex, threesomes and BDSM. All of them included clear verbal descriptions of the acts, some artful diagrams or artistic images, but no explicit demonstrations of the real thing. It was full time work, but the revenue continued to rise, slowly. Ariel got better at writing and presenting the shows and was proud of her work.

Ariel and Tommy paid attention to all of the initial user comments from the first few YouTube videos. Beyond "Thank you", "great video" and "you're a slut" comments, there were lots of people asking for more explicit demonstrations of the subject matter. "Ariel, please make a video of YOU having a real orgasm! I would pay to see that." Tommy and Ariel looked at each other after reading that one.

Again, it was Tommy that saw the opportunity first. "Well, we can't do anything like that on YouTube, but you could build your own website and post almost any content you, or your followers, wanted. We could make a companion video for each of your sex counselor videos where you actually demonstrate the concepts. You could make a lot more money by charging for subscriptions or video on demand. Would you consider becoming a porn star?"

Up to that point, Ariel's exhibitionism had been limited to sexy outfits, seductive expressions and double meanings in her performances. She had often fantasized about illustrating her sex lessons with her own body, but had left it as fantasy. But now there could be a financial incentive to live out that fantasy and imagine how many views she could get by showing off her beautiful body and her acting talent.

It took Ariel only a few days to make the decision and start seriously planning for her own porn site. She had hesitated as she considered the impact on her family and friends, but they had already adapted to her online role. Surely they wouldn't object to her just moving to the next step? There were thousands of naked people online pretending to enjoy sex acts. She would be just one more -- for now.

Instead of 'Making it Better with Ariel' on YouTube, the new title would be 'Doing it Better with Ariel'. They wanted a URL that indicated the evolution from YouTube so they used "ScrewTube". Tommy negotiated with hosting vendors to create and host the website. He used their tools to build the site with a few open, alluring, sexy pages and then a paywall to provide access to the serious content that people would pay for.

Ariel wanted to be proud of her new uncensored videos, so they hired a professional videographer and used his studio for the shoots. Things got more complicated with lighting, sound, costumes and the choreography of the scenes. You can't just record an orgasm. You must provide a setting for it. Is it two person sex or masturbation? If it's planned for a 15 minute show, what will you be doing for the first 5? For the last 5? Just one orgasm or multiple?

Despite her latent exhibitionism, Ariel had a tough time adjusting to shots of her totally naked and masturbating. But after several takes she grew to accept the invasion of personal privacy when someone shoves a video camera between your legs. She was unable to achieve orgasm at first because the technicians and the atmosphere destroyed her concentration. Tommy eventually solved the problem by setting up a TV screen in front of Ariel and playing porn videos while she pleased herself. She was finally able to reach a true climax and let her acting skills take over. They had to adjust the audio feed down because her screams were overloading the system.

After three weeks and a significant investment in time and money, the website software was ready, but had no video content yet. To build interest, they decided to offer the orgasm video for free as a teaser for joining the site. But if people pay for a subscription, they expect lots of content, not just one video of heavy breathing and screaming. It took another four weeks to create 6 new videos based on the older YouTube educational videos. Ariel recruited willing male volunteers to shoot the sex scenes -- and she personally and thoroughly auditioned each one. She let Tommy have the honor of being the lucky man in the original fellatio video.

Working with the male models was exciting and frustrating. They all had beautiful bodies with great muscle structure, handsome faces and significant male equipment. But they didn't take direction well. Most were used to posing for still photos and tried to always emphasize their physical attributes instead of following Ariel's directions. In all of their other modeling work they looked directly at the camera and gave sexy smiles. That doesn't work in videos of people screwing. She had to yell at every one of them: "Don't look in the fucking camera! Look at me."

Despite the frustrations as a director, she really enjoyed the pleasures of being the actress. She could direct them to do anything she wanted. Since she needed to demonstrate a successful climax each time, she directed the guys to do everything she liked. Sometimes it required 7 or 8 takes before she was satisfied - with the video. She particularly enjoyed the threesome video. She took it from both ends at the same time and actually forgot about the cameras and people and was completely lost in a fantastic orgasm. Despite her loss of control, that one turned out fine and was one of the most popular episodes.

Ariel was usually the star, director, choreographer and script writer - although the scripts were pretty bare bones. During the video about cunnilingus, she found it particularly hard to simultaneously describe the actions to the audience, direct the other actor on where and when to use his tongue, move her body so the camera had a clear view of her vulva and then act out the pleasures of being eaten out and enjoying a screaming orgasm. The human mind can only focus on a few things at one time -- and sexual pleasure always gets the maximum focus.

After weeks of strenuous and satisfying work on the videos, Ariel created a video message for her followers on Instagram and YouTube.

"Hi folks. Thanks for all of your support and feedback on my videos. I'm glad that I have pleased you. And now I'm going to please you even more. Many of you have asked me to enhance the sexual lessons videos with actual demonstrations instead of just verbal descriptions. We can't do that on YouTube, of course, so I have created my own website called ScrewTube. I have also created a series of new videos starring -- me! In each one I demonstrate the sights, sounds and actions of the subject activity, using my own body and the bodies of a few partners. Now you can watch the descriptive lessons on YouTube, and then go to ScrewTube for visual demonstrations, using live bodies."

"My first video is a demonstration of the orgasm. I recorded it while masturbating in my bed. You can watch that one for free. But there are many others available to subscribers to the site. Terms for buying a subscription or viewing individual VOD videos are on the site. That's all for now. I hope you'll see me soon!"

By sending that message to her thousands of followers on Instagram and YouTube, she had lit the fuse for the website explosion. The first day there were over 23,000 views, and 8,000 of them bought monthly subscriptions. There were over 10,000 purchases of individual videos. Then it went viral. Her existing followers loved the videos and passed along the link to dozens of their friends. Those friends promoted it to more friends and Ariel became famous -- and rich.

For the next few months she continued to create new content for her site and for YouTube. She had over 90,000 subscriptions at $50 per year - you do the math. The individual VOD episodes brought in another $1.5 million. She actually had to hire an accountant to manage the books and do her taxes. Income tax on 6 million is, well, frightening. A nice problem to have. She also hired a full-time cameraman, a lighting director and an audio director. They were all now being managed by an Operations Manager, Jill, and her secretary.

The male actors quickly realized what they had and demanded outrageous fees to perform. At first, she paid them. She had to keep new content coming to satisfy her half million followers. But eventually, their demands became ridiculous and Ariel started looking for alternatives. Again, it was Tommy who first conceived the solution.

"You know," he said. "You have many thousands of male followers out there who love you and fantasize about screwing you every time they watch one of the videos. We could use them as an alternative to the professional actors by creating an unusual contest -- and generate fantastic buzz. Consider this. You announce that any of your followers -- male and female I imagine -- can submit a photo of themselves. You will then review all of the photos and pick the people you would like and bring them here and record sex videos with you. Every guy out there would instantly stop wanking and submit a picture."

Ariel saw the potential at once. Done right, it could generate a tsunami of buzz -- and followers. She started to enhance Tommy's initial description.

"Great idea," She exclaimed. "And we can amp up the buzz even more by requiring the photos show naked bodies. Each guy has to submit two photos, one front and one back showing their whole body, top to toe. They can blur the face to protect their identity if they wish. Then we post all of those thousands of photos in a special section of the website that any paid subscriber can browse. The ultimate meat rack!"

"But, how am I going to evaluate so many photos? It would take years and how could I decide which ones were best?" Ariel wondered.

Tommy once again jumped to the next step. "Even better! YOU don't pick the winners, the followers do. We create a voting system. The thousands of people who enjoy leering at male bodies would have a ball paging through the pictures. They can vote for up to 5 candidates they like best. We let the contest run for a few weeks and keep track of the voting. Hell, we could release weekly results and make it a horse race. It's like Eurovision or 'Americas Got Talent', except their only talent is looking good naked."

Ariel's eyes were focused on a distant point. The potential was huge. The contest itself would become part of the story. There would be lots of media coverage and people decrying it as sinful and disrespectful to men. The audience would be millions! And then she realized the best part: the winners of the contest would come to Chicago and she would have sex with them on livestream! She would be seen as the ultimate prize for men. Since the internet is worldwide, people all over the world would recognize her. She would be the star of a new medium: livestreamed sex. One of the most famous and desired women on earth. She collapsed in her chair with her mouth hanging open.