Voice-over by Dr. Lindsey Doe: This is the Threshold Dungeon in North Hollywood, California. It's a kink playground for over 500 members, and on this particular day, yours truly.

I was invited by Count Boogie to take an experiential tour and go through a dozen BDSM scenes as his submissive. Starting with the lobby, where we sat down - fully clothed, no contact - to discuss: any pertinent medical conditions, my emotional triggers, sexual boundaries, safety (including how we communicate with each other) and expectations - what we wanted from the experience, were willing to do, even if it wasn't ideal, and the hard limits.

Dr. Doe: No body fluids.

Count Boogie. No body fluids. So is it okay if I cut off all your hair?

Dr. Doe: (hesitates)

Count Boogie: Say No.

Dr. Doe: Ask me at the moment. *laughing*

Count Boogie: *laughing* Yeah.

Dr. Doe: In the moment, it might be great!


Voice-over by Dr. Doe: Then Count Boogie invited me into a larger play space where kink equipment of all flavors was laid out on tables. Whips, chains, paddles, restraints and clamps, a Wartenberg wheel and a violet wand. 

I selected my preferences, then stood compliantly as the Count buckled me into soft leather cuffs and attached my wrists to a St. Andrew's Cross.

Count Boogie: Alright, these are called floggers, right here. And what they do is provide a wide range of sensations - from a nice "thuddy" to a nice "stingy!"

Voice-over by Dr. Doe: My job as a guest, and model bottom, was to let him do this - submit and obey. Keeping in mind I could use my safe-words ("Red" for Stop and "Yellow" for Caution) anytime I felt unwilling.

This is me being bound in braided rope to a suspension winch. While restrained, Count Boogie explored my erotic interest in the violet wand (a low current, high voltage electrical stimulation.)

Count Boogie: So what it does, is it creates an electrical charge and ignites the gas that's in this ball, and when I put it against your skin the electricity goes straight into you, but when I pull it a little bit away, the electricity is trying to find a ground to go to, and it makes a zap like that.

Voice-over by Dr. Doe: On my skin it was painless, but pulled slightly away from my breast, that's when I got shocked.

Count Boogie: Little tickly.

Dr. Doe: Mmm... that's not my favorite sensation.


Voice-over by Dr. Doe: A lot of BDSM Dungeon culture is about sensations: physical and psychological. Count Boogie just placed my hands on this web, unrestrained, and yet there's still a sensation of being trapped. I know Boogie isn't going to touch me with the whip, but it's crack still causes me to flinch. And similarly, the sharp blade of this large knife across my chest, can evoke all sorts of thoughts and feelings. I had to trust that without my mouth, the use of my hands, or the ability to run away, Count Boogie cared about my well-being and was never going to hurt me without consent. 

I also trusted that he was trained in all of these techniques. That he knew how to rub oil onto my skin before wax play, and what temperature the wax needed to be. He knew the delicacy of cupping - how to create a suction without rupturing blood vessels. And, how to light me on fire.

Being bound, disciplined, dominated and beaten at the Threshold Dungeon was an enlightening 3 hour process. I got to revisit familiar experiences and open myself to new ones. As the Threshold website states: "We are all new at one point. Many of us were nervous about what to expect. So our goal is to empower you with an understanding of threshold kink and BDSM."

Whether you ever visit and/or participate in what dungeons have to offer... stay curious.


Dr. Doe: I want to give my warmest thanks to Threshold and their team. It was an amazing experience, completely consensual, really fun to play with them. If you're in California, specifically Los Angeles, please check them out.