Issue # 6 :

"TicklePedia - A  New Kind of Tickle Site"

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Many folks are familiar with the UK Tickling Forum run by TickleBrits.  Not so many have discovered a new creation they've put forth for the benefit of the community.  "TicklePedia" is a fresh new site with many interesting and thought provoking articles on things like what it means to have a fetish at all and tickle fetish in particular, developing and maintaining relationships related to your fetish, guidelines for scenes and much much more.  The site is in its infancy with ongoing updates planned.  Yet, there is already a wealth of material there.  We were duly impressed when we discovered it.  

"TicklePedia" has much to offer.  Yet, many have yet to even hear of it.  So, we asked one of their development team, MorningAngel, if she would be comfortable with the idea of doing an interview so that we can help bring attention to it.  That interview is what follows.

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TK-411:  First off, thank-you for agreeing to do this interview with us.  I was excited to see such a wealth of information on your site.  Can you tell us a bit about how and why TicklePedia came to be created?  Whose idea was it?

TicklePedia Team:  In August 2008 the mods and admins of the UK Tickling Forum started to think about expanding the forum and UK scene as a whole, including facilitating more real-world events, adding more resources and making it easier for newcomers to get involved and feel welcome. The TicklePedia idea grew from those discussions, and by December we had over 50 pages written up.

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TK-411:  Who exactly is involved in developing this site?  I know that you are one of the team.  But, there are others.  Is that correct?

TicklePedia Team:  BOFH666, one of our Tickle Brits admins, handles the tech side, periodically uploading content and updates. He is also one of the main authors of the articles on the site, along with myself (Morning Angel), Alphano and totally_evil (who has a different screen name on Tickle Brits). The tickling community at large can contribute via links at the bottom of each TicklePedia page that lead to a forum topic for that page. There they can suggest future articles, event listings, corrections or simply discuss the TicklePedia content.

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TK-411:  I notice that you've answered this on your site.  But, I'll ask it here anyway for those who haven't had the chance to visit yet.  This is a UK based website.  Does the information in it apply only to those in the UK?  Or is it something that anyone can benefit from, no matter where they are from?

TicklePedia Team: The info on the TicklePedia is for everyone, worldwide, with any interest in tickling. All of the articles written for it are about the universal love of tickling that we all share and related topics that we hope are of interest to the worldwide tickling community. The links on the "Resources" section of the TicklePedia are not particularly UK-focused, with many of the Tickling Sites, Tickling Video Sites and Miscellaneous Sites based in the US.

The only content that has an exclusively UK focus is the news section for Tickle Brits and the associated Tickle Blog [link]. One of the main objectives for Tickle Brits is to help the community in the UK grow, so our news focus will be on tickling events going on here. Although BigJim (the founder of the UKTF) and many of its members are UK-based, and the focus for real-world interaction is based in the UK, we encourage members from anywhere in the world to contribute to the TicklePedia and the rest of Tickle Brits in whatever ways they wish. We have some UKTF members from other European countries and some Americans, and we encourage anyone with an interest in tickling to have a look at the TicklePedia and, if they want to, join the forum and get involved.

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TK-411:  The site appears to be only one of several interconnected facets to the tickling community in the UK.  What other things are taking place on that side of the pond?

TicklePedia Team:  As alluded to above, in addition to the UK Tickling Forum, we've started work on a Tickle Blog and have hosted our first online munch in a temporary chatroom. It had a great turnout, and we hope to host another one in the near future. The online munch is a good way for some of the newer, shyer or more remotely-located UKTF members to talk to each other in real time, while the absence of a permanent UKTF chatroom keeps the focus more on real-world events.

And speaking of real-world events… munches, gatherings and private sessions are taking place regularly in the UK. We have a popular monthly munch in Birmingham as well as regular munches in London, Bath and Leeds, and hopefully there will be more popping up in other cities. Tickle Brits also organises two annual play gatherings with space for about 15 people each (one for beginners and one general), and is currently organising a larger gathering at a dungeon outside of Birmingham that is planned for August.

We have also been invited to put on a tickling demo at the UK's largest fetish fair on May the 17th in front of a couple of hundred people. We're hoping that this will continue the growth of the scene here in the UK and give others an insight into the tickling fetish. [http://www.tickle-brits.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4896], Looking ahead we hope to introduce workshops, other demos and a few other surprises in the not too distant future.

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TK-411:  The UK Tickling Forum is likely the best known part of the scene over there.  I've noticed in floating around to the various online groups and forums that each has a somewhat unique flavor.  For those who haven't been there, what's it like?  

TicklePedia Team:  The overall impression we aim to give of the UK Tickling Forum is that of a community of people with a shared interest who enjoy each others' company, online and off. We feel that while the forum brings us all together, its main function is as a gateway to real-life friendship and fun, and while we have media sections they aren't the driving force of the forum.

The UKTF is a relatively new creation, less than 6 years old, and with fewer than 7,000 members. This may be why the mods and admins have a strong desire (and the ability!) to prevent flaming and actively encourage new members to stick around and make themselves known.

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TK-411:  Many of our readers are from the states.  We tend to have a slightly different view of things than you Brits.  You generally seem more open to being unique in various aspects of life, including sexuality.  How widely accepted is the fetish culture in the UK?  Or is it?

TicklePedia Team:  This is obviously a generalisation, but most people in the UK feel that kinksters can do as they please as long as all participants are consenting adults, and as long as they maintain a respectable level of privacy about it and don't go wearing their gimp suits to the post office or anything like that. So what you tend to find here is that many people are open and will talk about their fetishes, but the scenes are mostly underground. Within the large underground scenes, however, there are a lot of well-attended regular events, and the general BDSM scene in particular is thriving in the major UK cities.

There is, sadly, a very vocal moral minority in the UK, backed by politicians making trouble, using fetishes as a scapegoat for certain crimes and an excuse to treat people as if they're not responsible for their actions. They discover that one criminal had an interest in, say, erotic corporal punishment, and then assume that a) it was the indulgence of his CP interest that made him commit the crime, and b) all people interested in CP are latent criminals too and are always just a moment away from committing a felony. Fortunately this group's views aren't particularly convincing to the sane majority.  :-)

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TK-411:  I notice that there is a section on your site expressly for discussion of other fetishes.  We've seen a good deal of crossover here between tickling and other fetish themes...use of bondage, the dom/sub relationships that can be built, etc.  Do you find the same thing there?  Is this the reason for including this section...to help people intigrate the various types of play that they are drawn to?

TicklePedia Team:  As with the US and other places, there is always a certain amount of crossover between tickling and many other fetishes, while some people will remain only into tickling. The info about other fetishes on the TicklePedia is there to acknowledge the crossover that does occur naturally between tickling and other fetishes because of the inherent power struggles, necessity of bondage in many cases and other aspects of tickling. We also thought it would be useful because tickling has been a gateway for many of our members into the world of BDSM - it can include tame dom/sub elements and the sensation play can get people thinking about other, more painful ways of punishing the body. Many people also find they enjoy the power exchange aspect enough to apply it to other forms of play as well. Similarly, we've had people introduced to tickling through another fetish such as feet or more general sensation or pain play. At the same time we just touch upon other fetishes in the TicklePedia without delving into too much detail about them because we want it to be a resource on tickling first and foremost, and there are other websites that offer more comprehensive information about various other fetishes.

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TK-411:  You also have a section on TicklePedia to address relationship issues, both romantic and lifestyle.  I don't think we've seen this presented elsewhere, at least not on a tickle site.  It's something that's been more visible in individual posts on forums than in articles about the subject.  What prompted you to include a section to explore this?

TicklePedia Team:  The idea grew from thinking about the kinds of posts we've seen on forums and from our own experiences. Tickling and other fetishes have played a big role in the romantic and social lives of the four TicklePedia creators - BOFH666 and myself (Morning Angel) first met on the TMF and became close friends via the UKTF, and we have now been married for over two years. Alphano and totally_evil first bonded (excuse the terrible pun!) over tickling, flogging and other wholesome activities, and are now in their third year of dating.

We see relationships as vital to the tickling community, just as they are for many facets of life in general. In every private session, every gathering, every munch and every date people seek to establish the trust, honesty and openness that enable them to explore their tickling fetish together. And each time people get together for tickling fun they are, even in the case of someone paying for an hour with a mistress in a dungeon, sharing something intimate and creating some kind of relationship, even if it only lasts as long as that session.

In an online community especially, issues of trust and how well you can know someone from text on a screen are always in the background, and in Tickle Brits there have been a lot of questions about forming relationships with fellow ticklephiles, telling friends and partners about the fetish, having "extracurricular" tickling sessions outside of a romantic relationship and other issues over the years. We found ourselves hearing the same concerns and saw people giving the same advice over and over, so we thought it would be a good idea to have a dedicated space on the TicklePedia for all of Tickle Brits' collected wisdom on relationships and tickling.

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TK-411:  You also organize and host various events over there.  These are broken down into three different categories on both your site and forums.  Can you explain for us the differences between these types?

TicklePedia Team:  Sure, we have three main types of events:

Munch; the name is borrowed from America, as you probably know, where it started out as a group of friends with a shared interest in BDSM/fetish gathered together to "munch" on pizza. Our munches are generally held in a pub, and still consist of a group of people meeting to chat and make friends. They are not play parties. Anyone is welcome to turn up to a munch, and the location and time is usually advertised well in advance on the "Munches" section of the forum. Despite the fact that munches are held in pubs, there is no pressure to drink, and many members drink coffee or coke for the whole event, as well as taking advantage of any food provided at the venue. We also have chocolate!

"Closed" Gathering; this is a play party organised by a forum member, usually at their house, that is not accessible to all forum members. Attendees are invited privately, and are usually already well known to the organiser, whether online via the forum, or in real life. Any equipment is generally provided by the organiser or attendees, as the venue is usually a private residence rather than an equipped dungeon. A small contribution of cash is generally requested to cover the provision of snacks and drinks at the event.

"Open" Gathering; These are play parties held at hired venues. The event is organised and advertised via the forum, and sometimes on other tickling and general fetish websites. Attendees are usually asked to "apply", for want of a better word, and the organiser will take the first ones to apply, while keeping as much of a balance between the sexes and lers and lees as possible. As these are usually held at specially equipped dungeons, there is often bondage equipment present already, although the organisers and attendees often bring more. The cost of attending one of these events is higher than that of attending a closed event, as there is the cost of hiring the venue as well as snacks and drinks to consider. There have been multiple events of this kind held in a Sheffield venue, and another currently advertised on the UKTF forum and the TMF in a new, larger venue in the Birmingham area.

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TK-411:  How long have you been having organized events geared towards tickling?  How well attended are they?

TicklePedia Team:  We've been hosting events since 2005, at first semi-regularly regularly and then steadily increasing in frequency and size as we got ever more members to help plan and attend them. We've consistently had more interest than we can accommodate at play events, from the first gathering that BOFH and I held in our flat for about 6 people through to the beginners' gatherings and now to the large play party that Alphano is currently organising in a dungeon near Birmingham, and we're really encouraged by members' willingness to overcome shyness and inexperience to attend events and sometimes go on to host their own.

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TK-411:  I think we've been able to present to people a reasonable idea of what TicklePedia has to offer the community.  But, there are likely things I've neglected to point out.  Do you have any other thoughts or comments?  

TicklePedia Team:   We're very proud of what we've pulled together for the TicklePedia so far, and we hope it will continue to be of use to ticklephiles and anyone curious about the fetish, as well as being a bridge between tickling and the wider fetish community. If anyone has any comments or suggestions regarding the TicklePedia content or would like to contribute in any way please feel free to post on the Tickle Brits forum linked to the relevant article/section or send a PM (on the TMF or UKTF) to any one of the TicklePedia Team.

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TK-411:  One final question.  What are the plans for the future of TicklePedia?

TicklePedia Team:  We plan to feature more community content, including a community-driven fun tickling suggestions section and more write-ups of peoples' tickling experiences. We hope to have regular content updates at least twice a year and continue to develop the TicklePedia into a good introduction for people coming to tickling from BDSM or hearing about tickling from friends, as well those looking for a starting point from which to explore their love of tickling.

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TK-411: Thank-you once again for agreeing to do this interview.

TicklePedia Team:  Thanks!

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Now that you've had a chance to learn a bit about the new TicklePedia website, we encourage you to go take a look for yourself.  You'll be glad you did! ...

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