Undercover Spy costume complete…
I mentioned a while back that “electricity is one of the only things that’s “broken” me (grinning as I say it)…“. Now is the time for that particular story. I welcome you to the wonderful world of INTERROGATION!
Seriously?! Interrogation?: Why yes. Interrogation. This word conjures up pictures of harsh lights on the suspect’s face, varied types of torture, manipulation of the accused, threats… And those are just some of the ways you can make this desire come to life in a scene. As you may or may not already think about, not all kink is about physical sensations. Sometimes kinksters like to engage in the emotional or psychological realms in play, and interrogation is definitely one of the ideas I’ll talk about that moves further into emotional and psychological exploration (though it can incorporate a healthy dose of physical endurance as well). Also, to be clear, interrogation is a more advanced subject/type of play, so please approach it with respect and a level of care that goes beyond some more straight forward endeavors you’d take on.
Ok, so what IS interrogation play? As with most play, interrogation can be done very different ways, and to vastly different levels or ends, and for different reasons for every person participating in it. Interrogation is a game where the Top/Interrogator is trying to get some bit of information from the bottom/interrogation subject before the scene ends, and employs all types of coercion to get it. The information that is being chased can be anything from a person’s name, to a string of numbers, or another bit of information planted pre-scene into the subject’s consciousness, or it can be something more ‘real’ – a story or bit of real life information that the interrogator wants to have given over by their subject. There are a lot of techniques which can be employed in the extraction of this information, and usually the toybag of a good interrogator contains tools that pull on the heartstrings and brainfolds of the person holding out, not only on their physical constitution or endurance.
The morning after Violet Wand torture
Negotiation: Negotiation is arguably the most important part of a successful interrogation scene. Unlike some types of play you might engage in, interrogation negotiation must be pretty extensive and cover territory you might not be used to covering. Not only do the often asked questions about physical constitution apply (and you want to make sure you are rather rigorous about knowing as much as possible), but you want to know as much as you can about how the bottom might respond to emotional or psychological triggers. You want to know if there *are* triggers this person is aware of, and how the person behaves when triggered. You want to know what subjects to steer clear of when taunting them or pushing their buttons. Interrogation can get mean, and because of this you want to make sure there is really clear communication about the use of safe words for reasons differing from physical fatigue. Both the Top and bottom in the scene should feel comfortable stopping a scene in the middle of play if they feel something is off. During an interrogation scene the combination of physical, emotional, and psychological manipulation can tire out a bottom more quickly than anyone thinks probable. So spend time negotiating. Spend a few weeks to a month or more planning with one another. Do your research as an interrogator, and know how to come up from a scene if you find your bottom spiraling down to a place you feel is unhealthy or harmful.
Healing Process/Aftercare: Just like negotiation the aftercare process will be one you want to make sure you are really clear about. Depending on how well you know one another or how personally intense the interrogation gets, the bottom may or may not want to engage in a physically close and comforting type of aftercare. The top in the this scene may have some more needs that usual too – they have, after all, ventured into a land of manipulation and possibly sadistic offense that may be hard for them to resolve in the aftermath. Regardless, I like thinking of the aftercare of an interrogation scene (or kidnapping, rape play, any type of more emotional/psychologically intrusive play) as a healing process. If the interrogation play went pretty far beyond anyone’s comfort zones you may be looking at weeks of healing rather than a few hours of cuddle. Make sure you come out of the scene giving one another the care and space you respectively need as well as making sure the top is checking in with the bottom a few day after, a week after, and possibly longer. What might feel ok in the moment of the experience may prick the imagination of the person being interrogated and work at the fears and insecurities that already reside in that person’s psyche creating a triggered state after the scene has ended. And it is possible to trigger the bottom during play without meaning to creating a situation where they may be looking at a longer process of healing or finding resolution than anyone set out to create. Make sure you find one another in the aftermath supportively.
My very own dungeon torture interrogation scene: I was interrogated by a good friend at a spy-themed kinky sex party a while back. This was a person I was very comfortable playing with, communicating openly with, someone I trusted and enjoyed, and who I felt I had a great creative rapport with. We took a good couple months talking about the scene leading up to the party, covering as many negotiation points as we could think of. Because I was planning this scene with a friend I trusted for an event that I knew I would know most of the people at, I felt very safe not knowing a certain amount of the details about how the scene would go down. What I did know was that there would be at least one or two other people involved (and I had given my interrogator a list of trusted friends who I knew would be at the party), that the scene would be videotaped on a closed circuit camera and shown on a big TV screen in the “security surveillance room” at the party, that the scene wouldn’t be sexual in nature (but that sex could be threatened), that my physical limitations and hard limits were outlined clearly, that my scene partner knew what types of physical torture I could bear, what my emotional and psychological triggers were, and that we had a game plan for aftercare. I had no idea what information the interrogator wanted from me, how the scene would begin or end, or what would be happening with me during the scene…
The party was a really fun success, everyone had dressed to the nines and had characters or various plans for the evening. Before the party had really begun a someone slipped a piece of paper in my hand and I was instructed to memorize the information on it. It was a series of numbers… At some point early on in the night, completely out of the blue a bag was thrown over my head, I was held firmly by a couple of people, my legs and arms were quick tied, and I was slung over the shoulder of a large man and carried down to what I assumed was the venue’s dungeon space.
I couldn’t tell how many people were around me or involved in my kidnapping, but I started to recognize some of the voices around me, mainly my interrogator’s, as I was chained, hands over my head, standing, to an anchor point in the ceiling. I was frisked, manhandled, and talked at for a time… I can’t say my performer’s mind for script and witty repartee didn’t win out inviting my interrogator to be all the rougher and committed to his vicious role in this arrangement. A lot of different things happened to me physically during this scene, at some point a spanking bench was employed, and various tools of the sadist’s delight… The bag came off my head for a time, and was put back on – each time plunging me into darkness and questioning what might be coming next. There was a bright lightbulb shone into my face upon removal of the bag, and other disorienting visual information on hand. I realized at some point that beyond the light there was a line of chairs set up and party goers were sitting politely and with morbid fascination watching this scene unfold… I was strapped into a bondage chair for most of the time with my head, neck, upper arms, forearms, thighs, shins, feet, and waist immobilized. From that point the physical coercion came mostly from a Violet Wand and dog tag chain used as whipping implement (much more effective then you might think). Outside of the physical situation though, I was surprised most by the persona of my captor. He was easy and relaxed, slow to ask for what he wanted, friendly in his demeanor, and quick to remind me that we didn’t have to be enemies or at odds at all, it was entirely my own design if he had to resort to consequences for my failure to cooperate… He did a really great job playing his part. I was surprised at the mental exhaustion physical actions took. Where usually I can bear a great deal of pain, this arrangement caused me to second guess my ability to overcome – to rethink how much I could actually resist, or even wanted to…
The scene progressed slowly and had a great arc to the storytelling. Eventually I did utter the four numbers I had been told to memorize earlier, and I was comforted a while before being let loose to unwind and enjoy our aftercare. I think it was a really great first interrogation scene, and I’d be happy to engage in this type of play again for sure.
Evidence of an evening well planned and beautifully played…
More resources: I’ll tell you once, and I’ll tell you a thousand times that Kink Academy, Fetlife, and your local events are great places to go for more information. The Kink Academy website hosts quite a few videos on the subject by Danorama (of the awesome duo that is Two Knotty Boys) that are quite good. Here in New England, NELA and MOB are great resources as well. In this instance I would really highly recommend talking with other people who have done interrogation before engaging in it yourself along with doing a fair amount of research first. Have fun messing up your loved ones in the best and most responsible ways possible…
To Breath and Being,
~ Karin
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~Thank you.
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