BME: Body Modification Ezine

A tattooed person suspends from hooks, laying flat, one leg higher than the other. Their head is back, and they seem to be smiling, dark hair dangling like an anime character.

Celebrating body modification culture since 1994.

Author: Jonathon

  • Twelve Points to the Sky

    Written by

    Jonathon

    There’s a particular kind of magic that happens at your first big suspension gathering when you arrive with nerves, an open heart, and the quiet hope of flight. Guided by the encouragement of mentor Lynn Loheide and driven by the quiet confidence of belonging, Alex stepped into a space rich with the support and energy. The Superman suspension wasn’t just about the pose—it was about trusting the space, the practitioners, and their own strength. What unfolded was more than just flight. What was raised was more than just a Superman.

    Let it be known—Alex proudly claims the title of our very first BME Boy to grace the banner of BME News. A well-earned moment in the spotlight.

    This was also my first superman! I chose a superman for a couple reasons. The first reason is honestly that I wanted to feel like superman (lol). I wanted to soar through the air and really feel like I was flying. The other reason is in this space, surrounded by people doing some of the most beautiful suspensions I have ever seen, I wanted to push myself. I had only ever done two point upper backs before this, so the jump from 2 points to 12 points was huge. I knew that if I wanted to do something big, this was absolutely the space to do it, because at home we really didn’t have all the tools we needed yet. Being in the space made me all the more sure I was making the right call. The room was so full of love and support, people giving and receiving others’ energy as if they were doing something as simple and automatic as breathing. This was absolutely the space to push myself. 

    The suspension absolutely gave me what I needed in that moment. I had a lot of nervous energy build up over whether or not I was doing the right thing, or in the right place, all of the new facilitator anxieties were very real. With that suspension, I got to let all of that go and just be in my own body, and out of that anxiety. My brain got to stop running at a thousand miles a minute, and I got to just be Alex, and exist in that moment, surrounded by people sending their love.

    –Alex

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  • Ontario SusCon 2025

    Written by

    Jonathon

    In March 2025, BME attended the Ontario Suspension Convention in Hamilton, hosted by the Kevin Donaghy and the Ontario Suspension Collective. We had the pleasure to take part and help document the event, but also run a booth to sell a bunch of old (but not quite vintage) stickers and shirts. This is the first, of hopefully many to come, such attendances for BME. If you’re planning an event in the future please let us know!

    BME's booth at the Ontario Suspension Convension

    The venue was impressively organized with dedicated prep areas and massaged tables, meticulously stocked medical supplies, sharp containers, and probably every kind of bandage and antiseptic imaginable. Above us, eight suspension stations hung securely from the ceiling, including one robust enough for a swinging beam supporting two adults behaving like giddy children.

    The mornings started quiet, filled with briefings, presentations, and workshops outlining the day’s events. It felt worlds away from the casual backyard barbecue suspensions we experienced in the early 2000s This was refined, structured, and professional, yet no less powerful.

    Once briefings ended, facilitators and practitioners sprang into action—rigging ropes, prepping suspendees—and soon the day became a whirlwind of simultaneous suspensions across multiple rooms. I had to move around constantly, trying to be fully present, capturing people moving through cycles of pain, contentment, ecstasy, and release. It was intense, humbling, and deeply moving. I only hope the photographs do justice to the extraordinary experiences I witnessed.

    Faces around the venue were mostly new, but I did encounter a few familiar smiles—older now, of course, just like mine. It was comforting to see those familiar faces, especially remembering those we’ve lost along the way.

    Stay tuned for more OSC content, this was only a tease. We have plenty more photos to share and stories to tell! We are planning to attend more local events and would love to come see you so please let us know what upcoming events you are planning.

    Finally, if you attended OSC 2025 and haven’t been in contact with us or received your photos from the event please reach out to me directly (jonathon at bme dot com).

    Thank you. See you again soon.

    —Jonathon

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  • Come Join Us

    Written by

    Jonathon

    For those of you still with us. We’ve setup a new (temporary?) site where we can all connect with each other and share our photos and stories again. SOCIAL.BME.COM is that place and we hope you’ll join us. While I don’t expect a swarm of people signing up, due to the currently limited resources, we’re doing a controlled rollout to ensure the performance and availability of what little we have online right now.

    The software is called Mastodon, it’s a decentralized social networking software. At this time we’re keeping this community (node) private. Meaning your posts do not show up on the network (only on this node), nor do they show up to non-logged in users. Currently we have no plans of opening it completely public, but it’s not impossible. Of course any future changes to visibility will be communicated to all users.

    We hope to see you there.

    https://social.bme.com/invite/uqpMbjaC

    -jonathon

  • To The BME Community

    Written by

    Jonathon

    I hope you might remember me, my name is Nefarious. My childhood was surrounded by BME and I have missed it in the past years, so hello I hope you are doing well.  As you may already know, today 10 years ago my dad Shannon Larratt passed away. And if you were not aware, my mom Rachel Larratt passed away last year in June. Together they built BME and created a place where people truly had freedom. BME may have not been as active recently as it was in the past, but I do not want to let it die with them. Unfortunately through those years of neglect, the site and community have deteriorated. Since my mom’s passing we have been dealing with hosting issues, unforeseen struggles, and a string of bad luck. We’re still gaining full control over some accounts. It is very complicated, but we are asking for patience. We are trying to get it back, but this time it will take longer than it has before.

    I cannot promise that the millions of photos and videos since its inception in 1996 are safe right now, but if it does come to it, together we can create a new collection. Jon, Jen, Marks and I have worked tirelessly trying to keep BME online, and we will continue to do so. In the meantime we will keep this blog running, and we are launching a private website that will allow us to stay connected.

    Times have changed and so have all of you. BME on the other hand has had nearly no changes in the past 15 years. We are overdue for more than just a makeover and recent events mean that BMEShop is our only source of income right now. If you ever want to make suggestions, or even just want to send a friendly letter, please reach out at [email protected]. 

    – Nefarious

  • We’re still here. We’re not giving up.

    We’re still here. We’re not giving up.

    Written by

    Jonathon

    I wanted to provide another update since it’s a new year. As you can tell I’ve not managed to import any of the old Moblog content yet, but I’m hoping to work on that soon. I was away for the holiday spending time with family. I believe I have been able to fix the main site billing issues so you should hopefully be able to create new subscriptions or if you had one that expired over the holiday it should renew very soon.

    We are continuing to keep the site alive and online and we’re working in the background on some plans for the future. Please stay tuned, as we hope to make some announcements on the future path for BME. Thank you all for the support.

    -jonathon

  • We’re back, but…

    We’re back, but…

    Written by

    Jonathon

    As you can see we’re not quite 100%. We were able to recover file backups (images, scripts, etc) of the sites on the machine we lost. However we’ve not been able to recover database backups (posts, comments, etc). On top of that the backup server in our rack has crashed and isn’t responding. We may need to get someone to physically reboot the machine which will take more time. And even if we get that server back online we don’t know if we’ll be able to find what we need*. I’m really sorry, and I assure you nobody is more upset about it than I am. Jen and I will continue to do our best to keep things running until we have a clear plan of what the future will be.

    In the mean time we’ve setup a new blog and we’ll do our best to provide some meaningful updates and regular content for you. The theme isn’t quite what it was but I hope it brings some kind of familiarity while we work on recovery.

    If you’re reading this and you care about BME, we’d love for you to leave a comment as a show of support so we know you’re all out there. This feels like a very lonely place right now and that is very much the anti-thesis of what BME stands for.

    Sorry I don’t have any good news.

    * We’re working on scraping the internet archive for old posts and comments.

    -jonathon

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