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From Basics to Body

Edited by Mikkel Hyldebrandt

We all know the power in the intentional shift from everyday basics to underwear that’s meant to be seen, felt, and shown off. Don’t get us wrong, we love those crisp daytime underwear styles, but on occasion they need to be replaced by bold cuts, elastic harness details, and anatomy-enhancing designs that flirt with fantasy while staying firmly wearable. For anyone fluent in dance floors, dark rooms, and parties, you know that these looks are less about shock value and more about self-expression. This is underwear as nightlife enhancement: playful, provocative, and unapologetically sexy to remind you of exactly who you are when the lights go low.

The Tony Award ® -Winning

henomenon is now in Atlanta

Why Touch Still Matters Even If You’re Not a Hugger

By Dr. Zachary LaVigne, B.S., D.C

There’s a certain pride some of us take in saying, “I’m not a touchy person.” No hugs, please. Personal space respected. We frame it as a personality trait or as a boundary we worked hard to earn. Fair enough. But the body doesn’t really care about our personal branding. It still expects contact.

Touch is one of the oldest biological languages we have. Long before words, before logic, before anyone talked about boundaries, pressure, and contact told the nervous system one essential thing: you’re safe enough to stay alive. That wiring never went away. We just learned how to override it.

Modern life is strangely touchless. We tap glass screens, work through keyboards, sit in climate-controlled boxes, and outsource physical labor to machines. Many adults go days without meaningful physical contact, then wonder why they feel edgy, disconnected, or constantly tired. That’s not a personal failure. It’s a sensory gap.

Pressure and touch regulate the nervous system in very practical ways. They lower baseline muscle tension, reduce stress hormone output, and help the brain understand where the body actually is in space. That last part matters more than people realize. A nervous system that can’t feel itself clearly tends to stay on alert. Vague bodies create anxious brains.

This is where massage, chiropractic, and other hands-on care ﬁt without drifting into anything mystical. When someone applies steady, intentional pressure, the body receives clear input. Joints get compression. Muscles get feedback. The nervous system stops guessing. That’s often when breathing deepens, and thoughts slow down, not because something emotional was “released,” but because the system ﬁnally got enough information to stand down.

Casual touch used to cover a lot of this. A hand on the shoulder. Sitting close. Working alongside other bodies. Many queer people,

especially those who grew up when safety was less guaranteed, lost access to that early on. Touch was policed, sexualized, or punished. You learned quickly to keep your hands to yourself, to stay guarded, to take up less space. Those strategies made sense at the time. The nervous system remembers them.

Even now, in safer rooms, some bodies never fully unlearn the vigilance. You might crave closeness and tense up at the same time. You might like the idea of touch but brace when it happens. That doesn’t mean you’re broken or avoidant. It means your body adapted intelligently to the environment it was given.

Hands-on care can act as a middle ground. It’s structured, consensual, time-limited, and purposeful. There’s a table. There’s a plan. There’s permission. For many people, that’s the ﬁrst place their body relearns that contact doesn’t demand performance, explanation, or emotional exposure beyond what’s agreed upon.

This isn’t about forcing hugs or turning everyone into a cuddle enthusiast. Some people genuinely don’t enjoy social touch, and that’s ﬁne. But pressure still matters. Weighted blankets. Firm massage. Joint work. Lying on the ﬂoor. Letting gravity do some of the holding. These meet a biological need without crossing personal lines.

The body was built to be touched by the world. Ground. Tools. Other humans. When that input disappears, the system compensates with tension and noise. Bringing touch back, carefully and on your own terms, doesn’t make you needy or soft. It makes you biologically complete.

Dr. Zachary LaVigne, B.S., D.C

Join the RAVE’OLUTION

By Mikkel Hyldebrandt

Atlanta’s DJ and kink community is gearing up for a rare moment of collective ignition this coming weekend. RAVE’OLUTION isn’t just another party – it’s a deliberate act of unity, pulling together queer DJs and collectives, performers and the kink network Kink Down South under one roof for a night rooted in music, liberation, and radical self-expression. The effort is led by RJ Wells aka Birthdae Presence and Keith Hudson aka Popa Color, who make up WOLFTONES, a local queer house music DJ duo throwing epic underground parties and events around Atlanta and across the country for the last decade, including LUNACY, GAG BALL, and BUMP IN THE NIGHT. In collaboration with Kink Down South, the event looks back to the city’s legendary rave-era past while pushing Atlanta nightlife into a bold, politically aware future. Here, we break down how it came together, why collaboration matters now more than ever, and what partygoers can expect when the doors open on Saturday.

Atlanta is about to experience an immense and immersive nightlife event this coming weekend – RAVE’OLUTION. Tell us about how this event came into existence and what is the idea behind it?

Raving for a solution, join the RAVE’OLUTION!

For this one, we are teaming up with Kink Down South, a hot local collaboration sensation, bringing queer and kinky communities together through a variety of unique events all over Atlanta. Our shared love of house, techno, and radical selfexpression makes this partnership the perfect match to deliver a legendary rave experience that Atlanta has been waiting for. Both our teams recognized the need for a collaborative event for the queer communities that transcends the current everyday club experience, harkening back to the legendary days of Backstreet. The amazing venue suddenly became available, and so we jumped at the opportunity, reaching out to all our previous collaborations to take the best advantage of such a phenomenal space capable of uniting all of ATL’s LGBTQ+ and allied nightlife scenes under one roof for one unforgettable night.

You are gathering a wide range of Atlanta’s DJs and DJ collectives for this event. Tells us more about who you chose to be in this large-scale event.

This sounds like something that the queer scene in Atlanta hasn’t experienced in decades! What else can partygoers expect to experience?

We’re stitching together ATL’s LGBTQ+ nightlife scene in a way that, you’re right, hasn’t happened in a long time, in a new incredible warehouse wonderland. Two stages upstairs, one techno, one house, spinning 10 pm-4 am, with local performance artist Halo on an aerial hoop, local scene queen/recording artist Montré hosting, and local vendors selling queer couture, leather goods, and kink gear. Then we all go downstairs 4-8 am for a super steamy afters, complete with a backroom play space provided by Kink Down South. This will certainly be a night to remember!

Obviously, this is going to be a massive party experience set with a clearly deﬁned intention. What impact do you hope that this event will have on Atlanta’s queer nightlife scene?

We hope all these amazing people coming together creates lasting bonds, showing that when we work together as one, we can elevate each other to create so much more for all of Atlanta’s queer communities. We’ve also connected with GA50501 and Georgia Equality to provide information about how we all can get involved and do our part to make a positive impact to our current sociopolitical issues we’re all experiencing. Raves have always been politically aligned, born from necessity of systemically marginalized and oppressed POC and queer communities to ﬁnd safer space to connect and express themselves through times of great hardship. We suffered then and we’re suffering now, needing each other more than ever, and these spaces help us remember we really are stronger together.

We are featuring three of queer Atlanta’s hottest underground collectives: Club Saturn (Don Fairyleon), House by Deﬁnition (Cindel), Technosexual Order (Mike Bradley), and local legends Brian Rojas, Gorp, Jagu4r, Lacochino, Phox, Hotlildxddy, Ruben, Kyle House, and ourselves. All of us have been working separately and together for several years, helping to rebuild underground nightlife since the pandemic lifted, each throwing our own parties and working with one another on collaborations to bring our communities together in safer spaces to connect through music, movement, peace, love, unity, respect, and radical self-expression.

Can we expect more events like this? And what else do you have planned for the coming year?

Oh yes deﬁnitely! The way all these groups have blended in such harmony to produce something so big so fast is really quite extraordinary. We all have worked together for years, and I only see this collaborative level-up as a steppingstone to even more exciting events to come. As for ourselves, we deﬁnitely have several upcoming parties in the works, and KDS has their annual calendar bursting with frisky fun in store.

Where can we follow for updates and get tickets?

We welcome all people across all LGBTQ+ and allied communities to follow @wolftones as well as @kinkdownsouth, @saturn.atl, @ technosexualorder and all our amazing DJs on Instagram for all upcoming events and details!

WHEN: Saturday, February 28, 2026, 10 pm – 8 am

WHERE: 375 Packard St SW, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA

TICKETS: Universe.com, keyword ‘raveolution’

BARS & CLUBS MIDTOWN

BLAKE’S ON THE PARK blakesontheparkatlanta.com 227 10th St NE

BULLDOGS 893 Peachtree St NE

FRIENDS NEIGHBORHOOD BAR friendsonponce-atl. com 736 Ponce De Leon Ave NE

MY SISTER’S ROOM mysistersroom.com 66 12th St NE

X MIDTOWN xmidtown.com 990 Piedmont Ave NE

THE T modeltatlanta.com 465 Boulevard SE

CHESHIRE

HERETIC hereticatlanta.com 2069 Cheshire Bridge Road

BJ ROOSTERS bjroosters.com 2043 Cheshire Bridge Road NE

WESTSIDE

MARQUETTE 868 Joseph E. Boone Blvd NW

840ATL 840 Ralph David Abernathy Blvd

BOGGS SOCIAL & SUPPLY 1310 White St. SW Atlanta, GA 30310 boggssocial.com

ANSLEY

ATLANTA EAGLE 1492 Piedmont Ave NE

FELIX’S 1510 Piedmont Ave NE

MIXX mixxatlanta.com 1492 Piedmont Ave NE

OSCAR’S oscarsatlanta.com 1510 Piedmont Ave NE

WOOFS woofsatlanta.com 494 Plasters Ave NE

TRIPPS fb: tripps-bar 1931 Piedmont Cir NE

EAST ATLANTA, GRANT PARK & EDGEWOOD

MARY’S marysatlanta.com 1287 Glenwood Ave SE

SISTER LOUISA’S CHURCH sisterlouisaschurch. com 466 Edgewood Ave SE

LORE ATLANTA loreatl.com 466 Edgewood Ave loreatl.com

DINING

MIDTOWN

CASA ALMENARA 991 Piedmont Ave NE casa-almenara.com

LA HACIENDA lahaciendamidtown. com

900 Monroe Dr NE

TUK TUK THAI FOOD LOFT TUKTUKATL.COM 1745 Peachtree Rd NW

DEKALB

LIPS ATLANTA atldragshow.com 3011 Buford Hwy NE

RETAIL MIDTOWN

BOY NEXT DOOR MENSWEAR boynextdoormenswear.com 1000 Piedmont Ave NE, Ste A

ANSLEY

BARKING LEATHER barkingleather.com 1510 Piedmont Ave NE

GCB & PLEASURES brushstrokesatlanta. com

1510-D Piedmont Ave. NE

FITNESS MIDTOWN

URBAN BODY FITNESS urbanbody tness. com

500 Amsterdam Ave N

CHESHIRE

GRAVITY FITNESS

gravity tnessatl.com 2201 Faulkner Rd NE

SPAS/BATHS ADULT

FLEX SPA exspas.com 76 4th St NW

SOUTHERN NIGHTS VIDEO 2205 Cheshire Bridge Rd NE

Photos by: Russ Youngblood

Photos by: MH

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