This is sixth of fourteen essays contained within the third issue of the Adult Analysis Anthology, a collection of longform writing that seeks to expand the breadth of critical discourse around adult games and adult game culture. If you’d like to support the creation of more high-quality writing about adult games the full anthology is available for purchase on Itch! Anthology logo by Pillow!
Written By: Faye
One Mouse In A Bondage Club
Late at night on a crudely coded chat-based website, I was a girl.
Everyone was – Bondage Club was designed by a cis, straight man, and adding male characters was side-tabled for years citing player interest. So cis men, sissy, cis women, and trans women players abounded on the site. We sought to put our sexed-up femme paper doll avatars into bondage scenes and have everyday conversations on the side.
We would chat in small rooms of up to 10 people, some public and private. In them, we’d dress up and tie up our 2-D characters with clothes, bindings, and accessories made by contributors. Using clickable emotes, we’d pet heads, spank asses, and cuddle against each other. Some were happy to just chat and have eye candy to go with it. For others, we’d play a character and role-play scenarios that used chat, the dress-up mechanics, and the emotes to write our own erotica.
Over time, I experienced more and more of what I called “RP Bleed” – that I myself was being inhabited by that character rather than the other way. I liked being that woman, especially once she tried a potion in a scene and was permanently turned into a mousegirl. Then even later one night, I bought an outfit for $7 that matched one my character wore.
As my character might say: “Ah, squeak.”