Fear
can be a potent aphrodisiac.
Kele
Moon
This story’s
title may have attracted you because you’re participant in, or at least
knowledgeable, about shibari, the
Japanese technique of elaborately tying up a submissive for sexual bondage. Or,
you may be like me and just happened to stumble across it while in Second Life
(SL)!
Either way,
you’re here with me now, so allow me to tell you my story.
While having
only a theoretical knowledge of shibari from Real Life (RL), (Significant Other
indicates that’s all it’ll be.) I haven’t had much opportunity to investigate
this practice inworld. Recently, I
visited a friend in SL who happened to be in a bondage cell when I arrived to
meet her. (Another story for another
time there.)
My friend
was a place called Madame
Jenny’s Tea and Shibari House. A
Japanese themed tea house which also served those interested in shibari. There’re also many cages and cells for those
who prefer that. While there, I was
introduced to the owner and proprietress, Madame
Jenny. Always quick to
grab a story for my three loyal readers, I
asked for and received an agreement
for a future interview. And, that’s how
we arrived here!
When I
return subsequently to meet Madame Jenny for our interview, she’s wearing a
colorful kimono telling me that she has always been fascinated by Japanese
culture.
We seat
ourselves on an outside deck adjacent to the teahouse and Madame Jenny tells me
her story while she sips her tea from a traditional Japanese tea set.
Madame Jenny
was first introduced to SL when a friend told her about roleplay in SL and being
curious she joined. Her first month was
spent having fun and then she became interested in building thanks to a former
sub. When I ask if she’s a domme
herself, Madame Jenny nods affirmatively.
(She asks that I highlight this point, she has many visitors who show up
expecting her to be a sub!) Her interest in bondage started early when she was
fascinated by photos and a few stories.
Her attraction to Japanese culture came from around them same time. Madame Jenny’s not sure when she first encountered
shibari, but she always found it to be very beautiful and erotic. However, she does not practice shibari in
RL. It's a bigger study for her, but she
smiles as she tells me that she does like having fun with ropes. Her
involvement with SL bondage is a supplement to her RL practices. Typically, Madame Jenny is tying the sub up
or ordering another to make a "show."
She’s not into pixel sex as she terms SL love making because she finds
teasing is far more fun inworld. Sometimes
sex happens, but mostly her bondage activities are limited to domination. She has an aversion to chastity explaining
that she leaves that joy to others.
However,
Madame Jenny calls herself a halftime dome because the rest of the time inworld
she just jumps around doing a lot of chatting, shopping and exploring too.
I next ask
about the tea house itself and what led to its construction.
Madame Jenny
explains that it started with she talked about building a simple Japanese house
with a sub. She tried building it and suddenly she was
working on a really big challenge. But,
she built it. As for her motivations,
she was not very happy with most of the shibari places she’d found inworld. They weren’t very Japanese.
Madame
Jenny’s teahouse was built in classic Japanese style overlooking the sea. The structure is four stories in height. The bottom three floors are open to the
public while
the fourth is Madame Jenny’s private residence. The landing zone in front of the building is
a deck with a sitting area with shibari devices and cages also on display. In the floor of the deck is an entrance which
leads down to a dungeon filled with cells and cages. (Madame Jenny enjoys putting people into
cages.)
The ground
floor of the tea house has a large sitting area for serving tea along with
ropes for suspension of subs and other shibari furniture. Walking through the sitting area, one arrives
in a small Japanese style garden. The
construction of the building is timber floors with tatami mats
covering them. Sliding panels, fusuma, made
of paper and wood comprise the walls. Noren hang
in the doorways. Off the main room is
another large room given over to shibari practices.
The second
floor opens onto a balcony overlooking the waterfront. A tokonoma, or
recessed space, contains an exquisite example of a bonsai tree.
Ascending to
the third floor, one finds a large Japanese bath tub underneath a shibari
suspension
rope. Alongside is a massage area in
front of a shoji screen.
Throughout
the teahouse is evidence of Japanese art and culture. Prints hang on the walls, lanterns, and
furniture are on display. Madame Jenny
is particularly proud of her vase which she scripted herself. They can be purchased either in her own store
or in MarketPlace.
Madame Jenny offers the teahouse to all
visitors who are interested in shibari and bondage. All are welcome to come by and to have
fun. She does not run it as a business
and cites making monthly tier payments as one of her challenges. She laughs as she tells me that if she ran
the teahouse as a business she would have shut it down long ago. Many of her visitors are just interested in
sex and not the actual practices of shibari and bondage. She does not meet most of them but sometimes
introduces a couple for their own entertainment. While admitting that sex and bondage can be
combined, Madame Jenny is more interested in bondage and teasing, the erotic
aspects of domination, and having fun.
As our
interview draws to a close and being mindful of Madame Jenny’s time, I ask her
about the challenges of running the teahouse.
Madame Jenny
replies wishing that more of her visitors came from Japan in RL. She would also like to retain subs to act as
geisha in the teahouse but has yet to meet anyone suitable. She does not see the shibari toys here as
good shibari devices, more a combination of rope bondage and sex. Overall, she doesn’t believe shibari is very
realistic inworld. She has to
occasionally give the toys a “kick” to get them working but that’s all.
Like many owners inworld, she complains of
not having enough time to do everything.
(I can relate!) She has a little dream of having ikebana
(japanese flower arrangements), so she can change them often. One pleasant surprise for her was that she
didn’t have as much trouble from griefers and “jerks” and she’d expected.
With that, I
end our interview and thank Madame Jenny for her time and candor. I return home.
Madame
Jenny’s Tea and Shibari House is an excellent example of a traditional Japanese
structure and is well worth visiting for that reason alone. For those interested in shibari and bondage,
the site is worth visiting as well. It
may not be as true a shibari experience as Madame Jenny would like but the
atmosphere and lack of crowds makes up for that. It can be found here.
In the
future, I’ll be taking a more indepth look at shibari in SL so watch this space
for more!
I’d like to
thank Madame Jenny again for taking time away from her busy schedule to meet
with me and for her very frank answers to my questions.
I’d also
like to thank my friend, who will remain anonymous, who introduced me to her in
the first place!
Additional pictures from my visit can be found on this flickr page.
As always, I’m grateful to all
inworld for their kindness and time in stopping to talk with a stranger who was
passing through their lives
I can be found on Google+ as
webspelunker Ghostraven.
On Skype I’m webspelunker
Ghostraven.
I welcome feedback from
readers, please either comment on my blog or
e-mail me at webspelunker@gmail.com
.
If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
Open roads and kind fires! If you would like to read about my other adventures in Second Life please click here.
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