Sex, Dating and Self-Confidence [Tuesday, Period 2]

[begmetwice.livejournal.com]

There was no cheerfully-chirped, "Good morning," from the front of the class today. Irene wasn't adorably perched on the edge of her desk as usual, either. Instead, she was standing near yet another dramatically-sheathed table with both hands folded neatly behind her back.

"First things first," she said crisply. "We have another question from the box."

She almost didn't want to read it, if only because she didn't want to trivialize the use of the box itself -- but she really had to admire the tenacity at work here. She drew one hand from behind her back, reading off the slip of paper she was holding. "Any girls want to get together after class?"

She very carefully did not look anywhere in particular, but added, "Once again, the identity of the asker is anonymous." And yes, she was phrasing that deliberately. No reason. "So while I will have to decline the invitation brought forth by this wholly-unnamed party, I do hope that anyone who feels the desire to take him -- or her -- up on it," it was totally a him, "will be able to locate the correct person."

Because it would clearly be so difficult to do so.

"With that out of the way…." Irene strode over to the whiteboard and threw the projection shade up, revealing the words Kink, Fetishes, and Safety. "On to today's class topic."


"So, we've covered the biological impulses behind sex, and the more basic moves to get you started," Irene said, "but as you mature and develop, you may find that your tastes aren't as cut-and-dry as 'tab A into slot B feels good,' or what have you. There's a whole spectrum of sexual impulse beyond traditional intercourse, regardless of your orientation -- so while we've covered the biological functions and most of what most people consider sex, regardless of which acts you choose, today we're going to talk about something a little more nuanced."

She grinned. "The mind. The most fascinating thing, I think, about human beings, is that we're all so different. Our tastes are unique. What feels good to one person might feel strange to another, and vice versa. And that, my friends, is where today's class topic comes in. So what is 'kink'? And what's a fetish? Some of you might already know, but the definitions aren't quite so cut and dry as what Wikipedia might tell you."

She paused behind her desk, resting her hands on it lightly. "Kink is loosely defined as 'non-normative sexual behavior.' Which...is pretty damn broad, wouldn't you say? You might think you're kinky if you enjoy being bitten during sex, for example, because to you that's not normal, but it turns you on. But to another person, love-bites and hickeys are a part of the sexual experience, and the term 'kinky' doesn't come into play until you start talking about having sex in public. It's a terribly flexible term -- which is all the better for our purposes."

"So for this class, we're going to use the term to describe anything that you're into that isn't covered by what we've already talked about. Maybe you like dressing up and playing as characters -- wonderful. Roleplay is a fantastic exercise for getting out of your own mind. Maybe you like a bit of dialogue with your orgasms. Or maybe," Irene said, plucking up a long, thin riding crop from her desk, "you like a bit of pain."

She snapped the crop at the desk with a way-too-practiced ease, and smiled at the class. "There's no 'correct' definition, luvs. And you don't have to talk about it, or share, or identify yourself as kinky at all. But for today, we're going to talk about what some people might call deviant behavior, and I want to stress, absolutely, that there is nothing wrong with any of this."

She circled around her desk, dragging the crop along it. "Fetishism is a step beyond 'kink,' and has a slightly stricter definition -- a fetish is something that absolutely must be included in one's sexual experience in order to achieve orgasm. Now, no, saying 'I have a vagina fetish, because I'm attracted to women,' isn't exactly correct -- though it's a cute joke the first time. We're looking more for something exceptional, something that is aside from sexual organs and their conduct. Many people have a fetish for being tied down, or controlled. Many people have one tied to being the one in control. And again, there's not a goddamn thing wrong with that -- if there was, I'd be quite out of a job, several times over."

She snapped the crop in the air to make it crack, mostly to show off, and added, "Now, the final component that I want to discuss is a serious one, and it's this -- sexual safety. We've talked a lot about contraception, and making sure you don't have any babies or diseases. The trade-off for having a slightly fun class today is that I have a stack of handouts up here, and I'll need you each to take one and read about exactly why you need to wear a condom. But the broader side of sexual safety, beyond diseases and your genital health, is your actual, physical safety."

She held the riding crop up in her hands, showing it to them. "This is a riding crop. You traditionally would use it on a horse, to make it go faster, though this one was never intended for such a purpose -- it's lightweight, bendy, and if you use a light enough touch, it won't leave welt's on a partner's skin. Some people go crazy for toys like these. Some people like being tickled. Some people like being tied down. And if you trust your partner? Then absolutely go wild. But when you introduce pain, or restraint, or anything tricky like that into the equation, where you must trust them? I highly, highly recommend agreeing on a safeword ahead of time."

"A safeword is something that you can say during the act that unmistakably means 'stop.' Oftentimes, it's part of the fantasy for someone to be able to say 'Stop,' or 'Please,' or 'No more, I can't take it!' during the act when really, they don't want to stop, by any means. So I would suggest something unmistakably non-sexual. 'Panda bear' or 'coconut' or 'pamplemousse' -- something that can't be mistaken for sexual encouragement."

She cleared her throat, because that was a lot of talking, and lifted the draped cloth off the table at the front of the room. On it was an array of toys, including nipple clamps, a flogger, a feather tickler, a few paddles, several sets of handcuffs, some blindfolds, and a slightly more intense-looking mask.

"I'm not saying you need to walk away from today's class suddenly deeply into the idea of being handcuffed," she assured them. "But...play. See if you like anything here. Think about whether you ever could. Open your mind up. Some of this might seem weird to you, but try to see how someone might be into it."

Comments

Sign in [09/23]

[begmetwice.livejournal.com]

Either kinkily or safely!

Re: Sign in [09/23]

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry Ween

Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[begmetwice.livejournal.com]

It's really long, but you get handouts on STDs and get to watch Irene play with a riding crop!

Re: Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Okay. Its not that Barry wasn't familiar with these things. But seeing them in person? Different experience.

Barry was looking forward to the front of the class and no where else. Nope. Not anywhere else.

Re: Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

Johnny wasn't necessarily into the kinky stuff beyond the fact that he was a sexually charged teenage boy and it all seemed awesome, but if 'seeing the teacher use a riding crop' counted as a very specific fetish, then he definitely had that.

Additionally, he was absolutely wearing his Anonymous name tag, just in case anyone wondered who wrote that note for the box. And after the subject matter this week, it would probably be a nice release if anyone took him up on the offer from the box.

Re: Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[not-called-icky.livejournal.com]

Ichabod listened to the lecture, staring wide-eyed at Irene when she picked up the riding crop. He would never be able to use one for its intended purpose (on horses!!) again without thinking of this.

Re: Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[stacyexperiment]

Oh god. Gwen was chalking this up to being a class where Aunt May was never, ever allowed to meet the teacher.

Re: Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[tigerundercover]

It suddenly occurred to Raven during the lecture that she'd be really really good at role play.

Growing up in the time period she had had left her with a very limited idea of what her prospects were when it came to sex. Her other sex-ed -- and Navaan's doctoring class -- had opened those up a little bit, but it wasn't until this one where the paradigm really shifted.

She could have any kind of sex she wanted. Really literally anything. She could be the boy or the girl or both or neither or --

Pardon Raven, her brain was quietly exploding, back here.

Re: Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[justwantedfriends]

Kira's eyes got wider and wider as her face got redder and redder and oh god why did she have to be in this class?

Re: Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy's parents were never allowed to know she was taking this class. Or that it existed.

Or that Kathy in any way found any of this hot.

And she was pretty sure she was on the straight end of the Kinsey scale, but watching Ms. Adler playing with that riding crop was seriously bringing that into question.

Re: Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[fly-so-serious.livejournal.com]

When Ms. Adler started playing with the riding crop, Joker practically started to drool. He caught himself staring, took a few deep breaths, and averted his eyes for the rest of the lecture.

Re: Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Some of these items were making Eleanor very tingly. Others were sort of frightening. A few were managing to be both at once.

Was sexuality supposed to be this confusing?

Re: Listen to the lecture [09/23]

[voiceoverdue]

Cecil had at least known most of these things existed, but he still watched curiously. Maybe he could learn something new to tell ♥Carlos♥!

Play with toys! [09/23]

[begmetwice.livejournal.com]

So to speak.

Feel free to mod stuff that I didn't list, btw.

Re: Play with toys! [09/23]

[not-called-icky.livejournal.com]

Toys. Ichabod blinked, unable not to blush, because when he imagined whatever one did with these things he couldn't help seeing the girl that was most often on his mind, and that was absolutely not proper at all.

He picked up the riding crop, looking at it and frowning a little.

Re: Play with toys! [09/23]

[not_a_moonie]

The toys struck Alana as more silly than sexual, but she wasn't going to judge someone else's kinks. She picked up the feather tickler and experimentally brushed against her own inner arm.

The sensation was strange but not precisely bad. She twisted to reach it behind her back, wondering how the tickling would feel against the very tips of her wings.

Re: Play with toys! [09/23]

[stacyexperiment]

Gwen didn't know what nipple clamps were, really, which was why when she picked them up and then realized, she ended up holding them at arm's length like they might somehow attack her and said, "Nope."

Re: Play with toys! [09/23]

[ultimatehottie.livejournal.com]

Johnny had fun checking out the flogger and the paddles and stuff. But then he saw.... something. He wasn't even sure how to describe it. It was.... something. Was it used for hitting? Or did it go in somewhere? God, he hoped not. It was... something.

Re: Play with toys! [09/23]

[justwantedfriends]

There were soooo many things Kira wasn't getting near, but she did give the blindfolds a little poke. That, at least, seemed kind of... not harmful.

Re: Play with toys! [09/23]

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy would never admit that she was looking around for zip ties, but she absolutely was.

For no reason. You shut up. She hadn't started developing a slight interest in them for any Baltimore-related reasons or anything.

YOU DIDN'T KNOW HER. YOU DIDN'T KNOW HER LIFE.

"Wait a minute--are these gymnastic ribbons?" Blushing furiously, she picked one up, muttering, "I'm pretty sure this isn't the floor routine that these were designed for."

Re: Play with toys! [09/23]

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor was picking up the nipple clamps and wondering if people actually used these, and if so, what for.

She was trying to resist the urge to pick up the flogger and play with it.

Resisting. Resisting.

Re: Play with toys! [09/23]

[fly-so-serious.livejournal.com]

Joker looked over the toys with a critical eye. Some of them looked titillating; others (gimp mask, anyone?) not so much. The important question, of course, was whether Eleanor was intrigued by anything she saw.

Re: Play with toys! [09/23]

[voiceoverdue]

Cecil played with the handcuffs a bit wistfully. It’d be a while before he'd get to have any of this sort of fun again. Oh, well.

Talk to Irene [09/23]

[begmetwice.livejournal.com]

She's there for all your question-needs!

OOC [09/23]

[begmetwice.livejournal.com]

SORRY FOR THE LONG CLASS. This is what happens when I decide to roll two classes into one because I was sick last week!

Re: OOC [09/23]

[notamascot]

Kaylin is totally skipping class today!