Bubblicious

Peeping toms, leather-fanciers, foot-fetishists and other 20th century oddballs are, as Tres Lude would put it, “like Tab motherfucker, yo they ass be out.” These days, the freakazoids are keeping esoteric specialization mad real. They are lusting after middle-aged houswives who get down and dirty with balloons.

Survival in the new dog-eat-dog world of e-porn means catering directly to the highly unique tastes of the millennium perv. Indeed, it’s all about penetrating those inflated niche markets. Just ask Sonya, the webmistress of Loonerladies.com, a balloon fetish site that features housewives in Georgia who laze around blowing up balloons, only to pop them, shove them up their dresses or hump them. VICE caught up with Sonya after she put her kids to bed and before she started popping mad balloons.

VICE: You love balloons.
Sonya: Yes.

Is this a natural progression from liking balloons as a kid?
Sort of. I started when I was young. Parties were always fun and it was the most fun to see all the balloons everywhere and then at the end of the party being able to pop them all. That’s always been fun.

When did it become sexual?
I guess when I hit my pre-teens and my teens. That’s when it started being something I wanted on a date. I’d have my date bring some balloons out with us or take me somewhere I knew there would be some.

Were your dates ever like “What the fuck?”
They always liked it and thought it was cute. I never had a problem approaching a guy with it.

Are some ‘looners (balloon fetishists) more hardcore than others?
Myself, I don’t do any nudity. Rita doesn’t do any nudity. Bonnie is more the Playboy type. And Caryn, she gets a little harder. She’s into smoking and balloons and things like that. She’s got a spike in her nipple and she pops balloons with her spike (laughs).

Do you have a gimmick?
Mmmm… I love to pop. Pretty much any way I can pop a balloon, I’ll do it.

What’s the feeling you get when you pop a balloon?
(Big sigh) Ahhhh. Well, it starts before it pops. You’ve got the anticipation and the excitement and you’re wondering how much more is it gonna take… it could go at any minute… and when it does… you can almost equate it to an orgasm. It’s got that thrill-all-over feeling and that shock and excitement…

And…
…and sometimes there is a little fear involved because it’s scary.

Have you ever been injured by the balloons?
Seriously, no. But if I’m gonna do something like blow a balloon up until it pops — a “blow-to-pop” — I’ll keep my glasses on. If I’m doing it, I’ll also keep my eyes closed. The most serious problems I’ve had are a few welts, and those usually clear up in a couple days.

So what is it about these balloons? Is it the memories?
It’s everything about it, really: the smell of it, the texture of it. There’s nothing in the world like a balloon. And to, let’s say, blow a real big balloon up – like a 40″ or 50″ balloon – and just sit or lay on it is, like, the most free feeling. When you’re an adult, you don’t get that throw-up-in-the-air feeling that you did when you were a kid. It’s kind of like floating.

Do you guys have some special, professional balloons?
Well, we’ve got Hippety-Hopps. I was introduced to them by some of our members who brought up that they liked to see them. Rita really likes them. She got a couple special adult-sized ones and bounced around. That was kind of fun. There not as fun to me as regular balloons, because they’re thicker and rubber…

And there isn’t that anticipation that they’re gonna blow.
Right.

Are there any people with feet-shaped balloons or people who take another fetish and combine it with the balloon thing?
Oh yeah. As far as the balloon community goes, there’s a lot of cross-fetishism. I mean, there’s some that are into BDSM and balloons. There’s a lot of foot fetish involved with balloons because you’ve got a lot of your stepping and popping. People love to see you stepping down on balloons. Of course, you got your big butts and big boobs and obviously you’ve got your balloon stuffing…

What?
It’s something Rita really has a blast with. It’s when you blow up balloons in your clothing or you have a balloon that’s blown up and you put it in your clothes to make yourself larger. Like, to make yourself look pregnant or get some boobs or a big butt or something like that.

Do you plan on ‘looning for a long time?
Forever.