You don’t need to read your Apple News push notifications to know this is an incredibly difficult time. Between J.K. Rowling’s transphobia, COVID-19, ongoing police brutality, state resistance to Black Lives Matter, and a rise in authoritarianism in the U.S., finding an opportunity to feel safe, vulnerable, or comforted can be impossible. But one new VR experience tries to meet those needs with a BDSM aftercare session with a loving femdom.
Dominatrix Simulator: Therapeutic Domming is a free aftercare experience offering an infinite meditation session with a gentle dominantrix (or “soft domme”). Players sit or lie down with a curvy Devil Girl who helps the player relax with love, care, and deep breaths. The session continues until the player stands up, after which they can play again if they’d like. There are no commands, no rules to follow, no movements required by the player. Just an endless domination and submission (D/s) session filled with care and comfort.
Therapeutic Domming is developed by Deviant Tech, the same team behind the popular adult VR game Dominatrix Simulator. Co-developer Devilish Domina, a switchy Dominant herself, provides the experience’s writing and voice acting, and the game’s Devil Girl is based off her online persona. The aftercare experience, she told the Daily Dot, contrasts from Dominatrix Simulator in that Domina “chose not to play a character when recording the audio track, but rather to speak from the heart as [herself].”
“I just wanted to find a way to offer comfort to every person grieving or lonely or scared who would really welcome that coming from a Dominant persona,” Domina said. “There is something really special about the bond between a Dominant and submissive that isn’t really replicated in any other kind of intimate relationship. It involves power, trust, release, and consent. It is these elements that can allow a person to step into a submissive space and truly let go and know that someone else has got them for a while.”
Therapeutic Domming has its roots in Devilish Domina’s own experience with “a well of emptiness” several years back. After speaking with her partner and co-developer, Deviant Dev, she began reflecting on her difficult childhood years. Throughout her life, D/s gave her room to heal from her traumatic experiences, something she was refusing to admit to herself despite her own growth, she explained.
“I recalled how my discovery of BDSM and the extremely high trust that comes in Dom/sub relationships helped heal some pretty big inner wounds while also helping me awaken deep, sexual desires,” Domina told the Daily Dot. “At the time that I was discovering BDSM, I was aware that the walls I had around me were coming down and that I was forming a sense of self-worth, self-compassion, and self-acceptance that I didn’t want to admit I was struggling with. The loving and caring relationships I had within BDSM had played a big part in healing me and giving me a sense of self that I could use as a foundation for further self growth.”
As it turns out, therapeutic domming is a real—but rare—practice in dungeon sessions. Once COVID-19 became a pandemic, Domina’s healing experience with D/s made her realize that others might benefit from having a trustworthy and caring femdom who can blend therapy with “the added element of sexual discovery and identity,” and Dominatrix Simualtor: Therapeutic Domming was born.
“It came up again just a few months ago when things started to really hit with COVID-19 and this unanticipated shared global shock and grief, with a heavy dose of anxiety about how long it would last or what life would be like when we eventually came out the other end,” Domina said. “Deviant and I really wanted to do something to help people and so I pulled the idea of therapeutic domming back off the shelf.”
Initial feedback has been “overwhelmingly positive,” she said. Players generally find the aftercare experience calming, soothing, or even comforting enough to put the player to sleep. Others find the game therapeutic, cathartic, and healing. One medical worker told Deviant Tech that he saves the game for a day “when he was feeling bad and needed his spirits lifted.”
But by far the most important story comes from a widower who recently lost his wife.
“He said that listening to the VR experience in the privacy of his room was the first time he let himself feel and cry and he said he was able to finally start the path to healing,” Domina told the Daily Dot. “Hearing that made me cry and I felt so grateful he chose to share that with us. That’s what this first audio track was all about. Comforting people so they can let go of whatever is weighing them down right now.”
More therapeutic experiences may be in the works, too, and Dominatrix Simulator may receive standalone modules for more demanding and intense kinks.
“Based on the positive reception, I want to explore with our fan community what other meditative tracks they might welcome, such as for anxiety or depression. These are just things that people deal with all too often and they can’t always get the help they need when they need it,” Domina told the Daily Dot. “[W]e think there are some kinks worth exploring virtually that might not make the most sense to include in the main Dominatrix Simulator game because they would require special equipment or higher levels of personal risk.”
She added that future versions could involve “remote-control sex toys” or “self-chastity with a game as a virtual key holder.”
Interested players can download Dominatrix Simulator: Therapeutic Domming from itch.io. The femdom scene is experimental in nature and still in development, so expect some bugs during your playthrough (this reporter’s session was not infinite). The game’s grief and encouragement sessions are set to be added into the game ideally within the next few weeks, and users are encouraged to share feedback on the site or via Deviant Tech’s Discord. A VR headset is recommended but not required.
For Deviant Tech’s dedicated aftercare experience, check out Dominatrix Simulator: Threshold.
READ MORE:
