Pardon the snark, since people are dealing with real death and despair, but I must admit that my interest in kink has waned quite a bit since COVID hit.

I wrote the majority of my earlier articles earlier in the year before the pandemic began. Therefore, my latest previous articles before this one were not dated correctly. I wasn’t out and about at a kink event in the middle of lockdown. That would have been very irresponsible!

My intention had been to keep writing, but once COVID hit, my libido took a definite downturn from which it hasn’t quite recovered. In addition, I obviously couldn’t attend any events. I think my partner in crime (AKA kink) and I turned to comfort rather than debauchery.

I hope to feel more inspired soon! And then I’ll be back with more articles. 🙂

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I just returned from a favorite hotel takeover kink event of mine, and I had intended to write a few posts to help people navigate these kinds of events as newbies. But as I started to write, I realized that there are some differences in the advice I would give to women than to men. So, I decided to break these up into separate articles.

I think going to kink events as a man is harder than as a woman—assuming your intention is to play with anyone other than a partner with whom you attended the con.  If you’re just going with a partner and only want to play with that partner, it’s much less stressful. But if you are man going to a con with a woman and you both plan to play with others or you are going alone, I think it can be a stressful experience.

Here’s why.

It’s really easy for women to get pick up play at cons. All you really have to do is write a message beforehand on the event site or a thread for arranging play and you will likely have offers. I’m not saying they will be GOOD offers or offers from people you really want to play with, but you are likely to have offers. Also, those offers will often come from men and other women. Female bisexuality or heteroflexibility is pretty open and prevalent in the Scene.

But what I hear from my male partners and male friends who write those same messages is that they often get—crickets! They will write up messages saying what they are looking for and get few to no responses.

Why is this? Well, it’s complicated. I think part of the reason is that women have more options, so they are likely to pick men (or women) they already have relationships with. I also think men don’t generally do as good of a job at advertising themselves. And male bisexuality, while given lip service as fine and dandy, isn’t nearly as open in the Scene as female bisexuality.

In fact, my male partner said he would never go to a con as a single guy. And I can understand why. It could easily be very lonely.

BUT…I have a good friend, a masochist, who just went to a con with me, and he had play night and day and day and night. I don’t know how he had the energy!

Now, going to a con for play isn’t what everyone is there for. I want to say that because that absolutely is NOT the goal for everyone there. In fact, for me, it’s fun, but I am more there to be with my partner, hang out with friends, see sexy things, flirt and get dressed up. If play with other people happens, that’s fine and fun, but it’s not my goal for kink conventions.

But, I’m going to make the assumption that as a guy reading this article, you might want to find play at a kink con, or at least have the option!

So, how did my guy friend make that happen?

1. He’s been before and is known in the community. He’s attended this convention a few times, so he’s had time to meet people and get to know them. He’s also somewhat active in the local scene and had a lot of friends at the con. Most of the people he played with at the convention were people he knew outside of it or from previous years.
2. He met with new people. I saw him having meetups with a few people I don’t think he knew before the convention. I’m not sure if those meetups ended with play. I think they didn’t. But now he’s talked to those people before and gotten to know them a bit. If they are local, he might meet them again at other events. If not, he might see them if they attend the conference together the next year, and this time they won’t be strangers.
3. He has a rocking body. In fairness, he is in excellent shape. I definitely do not think this hurts. But I don’t think you have to look like a body builder to find play at a convention. I do think it’s not a bad idea to dress nicely and put some effort into how you look. Having a good Fetlife profile with attractive pictures of yourself is also helpful. First impressions matter. I think, overall, women tend to put a lot more effort into looking nice than men do. So, if you wear well-fitting clothes and are well-groomed, you’ll stand out more.

If you are a guy going to a kink con with a partner, and you both plan to play with others, I also think it’s a good idea to really talk about that beforehand. Because it tends to be so much easier for women to find play than men, I’ve seen lot of guys get very jealous and grumpy when their partners are off bouncing around from one scene to the next while they are hanging out in the lobby feeling like the fun is passing them by. I think it would be a good idea to take steps to avoid those feelings, whether that means arranging certain times that outside play can and can’t happen or being aware of that possibility and creating coping mechanisms.

And if you are going alone, I would be aware that your first con could feel lonely. Make sure you know some people there before the event who you can hang out with and keep your expectations low in terms of the amount of play you will find. You might be pleasantly surprised, but desperation isn’t fun or hot for anyone. Instead, use your down time to make new friends, and you might find that the friends you make this year might want to be play partners with you next year.

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I just returned from a weekend of debauchery at a big kink event. This one was in a hotel, although some are also held outside at campsites. The Gentle Domme is also The High Maintenance Domme, so I don’t usually attend those events!

Big kink takeover events are usually crazy experiences. I love them and hate them, often both in the same day, because like any convention, they are crowded and involve hundreds or even thousands of people. Unlike other conventions, I get to dress up in practically nothing, which means that leaving the hotel breaks the spell. So, they can also get a little claustrophobic.

Having attended more than several of these events now, I have some advice for newbies who are going to their first big kink events. When I was starting to write this article, I intended it to be geared toward everyone, but now that I’m writing, I feel like I have different advice for women than for men, so I’ve decided to break them up into two separate posts.

This one is for the ladies.

1. Packing. I am a HEAVY packer for hotel kink events. I’m not alone in this. When you check in to a hotel kink takeover, you will often see people carrying enormous amounts of gear. I wouldn’t be surprised to be see someone carrying in their own Liberator Esse  chaise lounge. What I pack the most of is clothing! At most hotel events, you will have daytime activities and nighttime activities, and sometimes even nighttime nighttime activities! I usually pack comfortable clothing for the daytime that I can attend classes in or socialize in the lobby. These are street legal clothes, but that doesn’t mean they have to be vanilla. Lots of people wear kink themed clothing or onesies during the day. Then I pack glamorous and sexy clothes for the evening for cruising the dungeon or attending parties. Last, I also include lingerie and/or clothing with cut-outs that I would ONLY wear in areas of the hotel that allow nudity. Camping events are different. I have attended very few, packed too much, and learned that the closer to naked, the better!
2. Arranging Play. The events that I’ve attended have had hook up threads on Fetlife starting several months before the event. They’ve also had their own online hubs where you can see who is going to the event and message people who look interesting. How you use these threads depends on your circumstances. If you’re going with a partner and only plan to play with that partner, you can use those resources just to meet people for friendship. But if you plan to play with people other than your partner or are going alone, these resources can be excellent ways to connect with people for play before an event. As a woman, it’s generally not hard to find play at events. What I have decided for myself, after going to a few cons, is that I don’t like to arrange play sight unseen, because I don’t know what kind of connection I will have with someone. Now I only arrange meetups with people I don’t know and reserve possible play opportunities for after we’ve met and seen how we feel about each other. But some people feel differently and will arrange play before ever meeting someone. It depends on your comfort level and the feeling of trust you get from someone.
3. Getting Overwhelmed. I cried at my first kink events, and that’s not abnormal. They are BIG events. If you go with a partner there’s the possibility of jealousy. You might just get hungry or tired and take it out on your partner. If you go alone, you might feel lonely and have FOMO—like everyone is doing cool stuff but you! Or you might try something with someone and have a bad experience. I have had all of those feelings. It’s good to have a plan for what you’ll do if those kinds of feelings emerge. It’s DEFINITELY a good idea to talk to a partner beforehand, if you’re attending together, about what each of you expect from the event. If you thought you guys were only playing together and he thought he was going to try and get play from every domme and switchy woman at the event, there are going to be some very hurt feelings! Retreating to your hotel room every once in a while is a good idea. Going out for a lunch or dinner can help you get your bearings. A lot of people take power naps, which makes me really jealous! It can seem counter-intuitive, because cons are supposed to be fun, but sometimes having fun can be a lot of work! Or the attempt at having fun can feel stressful. Remember that most people at events have feelings like this.

These are just a few of my suggestions for attending a kink convention. I’m sure I’ll think of more and maybe try to write a more exhaustive article at some point. But I hope these are somewhat helpful if you’re planning to attend a kink con in the future!

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Whether you’re just separated temporarily from your partner or only see a long-distance partner by choice, keeping up a D/s relationship when your sweetie isn’t there can be tough. Let’s face it. Long-distance relationships are ALWAYS tough, whether you’re kinky or vanilla. But in some ways, a D/s relationship can help fan the flames of your desire from afar in a way a vanilla relationship might not.

Why is that?

Well, at its core, D/s, or dominance and submission, is about control and power. One of the things that makes LDRs so hard is the feeling that even though you have a partner, you are physically alone. Or even if you’re polyamorous and you’re not alone, the partner who isn’t there, physically isn’t there. You can’t touch him!

However, D/s can allow you to feel your partner’s presence even when they aren’t with you if you feel that they are exerting some control or power over your daily life or you are exerting control or power over theirs. This can be done in a variety of ways. Some examples I’ve seen and used are:

• Rituals. A ritual is often religious, but in this context, it’s something that you do regularly in a prescribed way. For example, a domme could ask her sub to send her a daily picture or daily journal entry. She might even give her sub a specific way to take the picture, such as naked or in a certain style of dress. Or the picture might not even have to be of the sub. It could be a picture of something happening in his daily life that he shares with his mistress. The journal entry could be about his personal life, his feelings about his partner or his love for Star Trek. It doesn’t matter what the ritual is. It can even be something tiny, like when taking off your shoes, placing them in the direction of your dominant. The point is that it’s something done on a regular basis that reminds each person in the relationship of one another and the dynamics of the power exchange.
• Taking Control Over Everyday Life. Some dommes relationships exert control over their partner’s everyday lives. This can be done in a variety of ways, but most are either neutral or used to help improve the sub’s life. For example, some dommes might require their subs to eat healthfully and write down their diets or stick to an exercise regime. This could be done for the man’s health but also to please his domme with his physique. I have seen some dommes order partners with anxiety or stress to meditate daily to help them with their mental and emotional health. Some dommes might require their partners to wear panties under their more “masculine” outer attire to help them feel submissive and/or remind them of their partner.
• Kink Play. Although the couple in the relationship might not be together, that doesn’t mean there can’t be kinky play. This can be done alone, or with the help of Skype or Facetime, “together.” Orgasm control and denial games are perfect for long distance relationships because they’re fun and remind the sub that his domme has sexual power over him. A domme might not allow her sub to orgasm until he sees her again, and instead might keep him in a chastity cage (I would recommend having a safety key available.) or have him on an honor system. She could require him to edge himself every day to keep him hungry for her. Or she could require him to have an orgasm every day, but only in the way that she prescribes or with her watching him and directing him on Skype. Sexting is also helpful in this kind of play, if you like the written word.  
• Plan for Seeing Each Other Again. Hopefully, you will see your partner again. Although purely long-distance relationships exist, those are a different animal. If you have no expectation of ever meeting in the flesh, the relationship exists more as a fantasy. But assuming that you will see your partner again, think of the things you will do when that happens. Dommes, think of fun scenes you might do with your submissive. Submissives, think of ways you might please your domme. Focusing on the excitement you will have when you’re together again can help you focus less on the time you have waiting for that to happen. However, try not to focus so much that you neglect your social life without your partner. If you only focus on someone who isn’t physically there, you can get lonely and bored and boring. Keep the other parts of your life healthy and vibrant so you actually have things to talk about with your partner while you are apart and together.

Long-distance D/s relationships can be difficult, just as all long-distance relationships can be difficult. But even vanilla people could benefit from infusing their relationships with some D/s play when they are apart to help keep the connection alive with partners who are physically away from one another for a time.

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I see this question asked constantly on femdom forums. I get it! Submissive guys sometimes feel like dominant women are rare mythical creatures. There are ridiculous statistics like that there are 100 submissive men to every 1 dominant woman. I flatly think this is untrue, although I am willing to admit that the more hardcore and specific your submissive needs, the more difficult it will be to find a partner who is a match for them.

I believe, with no statistical evidence to back this up and only that I know a lot of kinky women, men who are interested in gentle femdom, who are willing to compromise with sometimes femdom, and men who are comfortable with switching can find women who are into being dominant—at least sometimes. I think most people’s sexuality is fluid. So, if you can go with that flow, it opens up a lot more doors.

But I also understand that some people want full time F/m D/s relationships, and I acknowledge that finding this kind of relationship can be tough.

However, since I consider myself a gentle domme, and a mostly bedroom one at that, I can only write from my own experiences and from my experiences talking to other dommes, tops and switches.

I get a fair number of messages on Fetlife from men, and I find the vast majority of them pretty silly because so many of them focus specifically on kink—as though because I am on Fetlife and I say I am a domme, that is the only relevant thing about me. It’s as though they think my entire life revolves around kink, and I don’t do normal stuff like go to the movies, get groceries, put gas in my car, or hang out with friends.

So, the first thing I would tell submissive men who are looking for a relationship is that dominant women want someone they can have a vanilla relationship with—meaning that if they weren’t kinky—they could still get along with and like that person’s company. Because far more time in life is spent doing non-kinky things than kinky things, having common interests and goals, and genuinely liking someone’s personality, are far more important than just liking what they do in kink. 

Therefore, a huge portion of this question is impossible to objectively answer. I know a lot of subs want THE ANSWER, as though there is one that will unlock ALL THE DOMINANT WOMEN. But just like no two people are alike, no two dommes are alike. We all like different things, have different personalities, different wants and needs.

Past that very obvious answer, there is one thing I know and hear that many dommes do not like. So, if you want to know what they DO like, it’s not doing this thing.

Being treated like a fetish dispenser. Quite a few guys who claim to be submissive can often just be pushy bottoms who don’t care very much about who is doing the topping. No one wants to feel interchangeable. No domme wants to feel that you like her because she’s a domme and not because you like her as a woman and a human being.

I’ve written about the difference between a top and a bottom before, and I am of the full belief that it’s fine to just want to top and bottom and not have a power exchange. But there are ways to be respectful of what you ask of your top and ways to be annoying and rude. Your top is still a person with wants and desires of her own, and she will want them met as much as you want yours to be met.

The other suggestion I have is to be interesting and take care of yourself. We all aren’t brilliant physicists or have amazing bods, but we can groom ourselves relatively well, find clothing that (attempts to) flatter us, have hobbies, be able to pay the rent, exercise moderately, and pay attention to current events. Almost every woman, domme or not, appreciates someone who can cook and knows how to laundry. Picking up a few extra special pampering skills like knowing how to give an amazing foot massage wouldn’t hurt either, although maybe that’s just a preference of mine. Some people are very ticklish! 

I do think that some men are drawn to the idea of submission as a fantasy that they want someone else to take care of them, and I think that MOST dominant women do not want a grown child. While certainly not all dommes want service subs, I think that almost all (I am hesitant to to say all because someone will inevitably write me and tell me they are they exception…) want partners who can at least take care of themselves, if not take care of their dommes. So, many of the things I mention in the previous paragraph are just examples of ways to display that you are a smart, capable human being who is looking for a partner—and not a mother—EVEN if you have a mommy domme kink.

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