Am I ticklish? Part 2

[MindOverWhatMatters]

Thread 'Am I Ticklish?'

Sep 9, 2024

I wanted to write about an experience I had recently, as I think it may have changed a large piece of my philosophy relative to tickling.

Before I detail the experience, here are a few points of exposition:

1. I believe tickling to be the most fascinating thing. I’ve been attracted to this fetish for as long as I can remember (approx. 35 years). I appreciate the universal and non discriminatory nature of tickling, the variety and range of reactions and tickle spots, and the contradiction that a physically tough individual can be reduced to laughter as a result of well-placed tickled...

• MindOverWhatMatters
• Replies: 4
• Forum: True Tickling Stories

• 
• 

Part 2:

I wish I had better news to report, but the story has essentially been paused.

I have a difficult time articulating why getting tickled is such a mesmerizing feeling for me. Being tied and touched makes me feel sexy, vulnerable, cared for, and in a word, seen.

I can’t live without sex, but I also think I’m truly lacking if I don’t feel tickles either. Though it feels sexual to me, a tickle session can be had on its own, and feel just as exhilarating, intimate, and necessary.

I told Michelle that I wrote about the experience, but she hasn’t read it, nor have we had another session yet. We’ve had sex several times since, but the absence of a true tickling session has me wrestling around with my frequent anxious questions.

I’m sure we will eventually have a true follow up session, but to be honest, I haven’t pressed that hard because I’m not sure she was as profoundly impacted as I was.

Anyway, some much pondered follow up questions until then:

1) are men that want to be submissive and tickled sexy to women that don’t have the fetish?
2) my tummy has gotten just a touch softer in my thirties, but I’m still fit. Does that matter to ticklers? On the other foot, I think bellies of all types are extremely attractive.
3) I wonder if these confusing feelings have been a reason that I’m guarded while being tickled. In the first part of the story, I really started letting go when Michelle started touching my penis. Would an experienced tickler that enjoyed the fetish provide a different outcome? Would I react differently or would I still need that sexual component?
4) I still have no real idea. Am I ticklish?

 

[croaker68]

Just curious if you tried face down, sometimes people are Ticklish on their back and don't realize it.

 

[Stargazy]

I know I'm replying a few months late, and I don't have the necessary experience to answer all of your questions, but I can try. I really enjoyed your first story "Am I Ticklish?" - I had had the thought before that if I could choose between the world's most classically ticklish guy and the guy who most enjoyed being tickled, I would choose enjoyment. But the sweet and sensual story you posted solidified that thought in my mind. Again, I have basically no real experience of tickling people myself, just daydreams haha, but I can sometimes be distressed by the sight/sound of screams or wild thrashing, while I always really, really love wiggling and squirming, light giggles and hitched breaths and other little noises, and especially the sight of a tummy quivering in response to touch.

Also, I think you have more updates which I haven't read yet, so I'm sorry if any of my answers are based on outdated information!

1) are men that want to be submissive and tickled sexy to women that don’t have the fetish?

Well, I have the fetish so it's hard for me to say. It's difficult for me to imagine someone not finding it at least super endearing. I know lots of women love a guy to have a cute and sensitive side in one way or another. But there do seem to be women out there who want invulnerable men and get "the ick" from non-dominant behavior. I used to think it was just a myth, since most of the women in my life haven't had those feelings at all, but now I've actually seen a few women say this. I still don't think they're the majority, though. I think most of us, fetish or not, like to see a sign that a man is the same species we are and not at a higher remove, no matter how much bigger or stronger he might be. And I think a lot of girls think of tickling as something pretty adorable and affectionate, touchy and something you do with people you're attracted to.

2) my tummy has gotten just a touch softer in my thirties, but I’m still fit. Does that matter to ticklers? On the other foot, I think bellies of all types are extremely attractive.

If you're fit, you're out of my league. Anyway, my honest preference is for soft tummies, for honestly self-centered reasons: I don't think a hard six-pack would give me as much of the sight and sensation I love, the smooth feeling of skin under the fingers and that soft spasming. (NO disrespect to the work it takes to get a six-pack.) The tickling community on Tumblr has more female lers and switches than on this website, and I've seen multiple of them express the same preference I have.

Your third question is one I don't have the experience to answer, unfortunately. To your fourth question, I'd say you seem to be at least slightly reactive and ticklish, and also very tickleable. "Ticklish" and "tickleable" are different things to me - someone who feels tickling very intensely but in a wholly unpleasant way is very ticklish but undesirable to tickle.

 

[MindOverWhatMatters]

I know I'm replying a few months late, and I don't have the necessary experience to answer all of your questions, but I can try. I really enjoyed your first story "Am I Ticklish?" - I had had the thought before that if I could choose between the world's most classically ticklish guy and the guy who most enjoyed being tickled, I would choose enjoyment. But the sweet and sensual story you posted solidified that thought in my mind. Again, I have basically no real experience of tickling people myself, just daydreams haha, but I can sometimes be distressed by the sight/sound of screams or wild thrashing, while I always really, really love wiggling and squirming, light giggles and hitched breaths and other little noises, and especially the sight of a tummy quivering in response to touch.

Also, I think you have more updates which I haven't read yet, so I'm sorry if any of my answers are based on outdated information!



Well, I have the fetish so it's hard for me to say. It's difficult for me to imagine someone not finding it at least super endearing. I know lots of women love a guy to have a cute and sensitive side in one way or another. But there do seem to be women out there who want invulnerable men and get "the ick" from non-dominant behavior. I used to think it was just a myth, since most of the women in my life haven't had those feelings at all, but now I've actually seen a few women say this. I still don't think they're the majority, though. I think most of us, fetish or not, like to see a sign that a man is the same species we are and not at a higher remove, no matter how much bigger or stronger he might be. And I think a lot of girls think of tickling as something pretty adorable and affectionate, touchy and something you do with people you're attracted to.



If you're fit, you're out of my league. Anyway, my honest preference is for soft tummies, for honestly self-centered reasons: I don't think a hard six-pack would give me as much of the sight and sensation I love, the smooth feeling of skin under the fingers and that soft spasming. (NO disrespect to the work it takes to get a six-pack.) The tickling community on Tumblr has more female lers and switches than on this website, and I've seen multiple of them express the same preference I have.

Your third question is one I don't have the experience to answer, unfortunately. To your fourth question, I'd say you seem to be at least slightly reactive and ticklish, and also very tickleable. "Ticklish" and "tickleable" are different things to me - someone who feels tickling very intensely but in a wholly unpleasant way is very ticklish but undesirable to tickle.

Thank you for taking the time to read and reply. As a heads up, I’ll be coming out with part four soon, so keep an eye out for that. I agree with much of what you said above. Are you more of a ler, lee, or switch? Also, I’m curious as to how you define someone being “tickleable”. I think I like the idea of being “very tickleable”, but curious as to how you define that in more depth.

 

[Stargazy]

Thanks for letting me know about part four, I'll be looking forward to it! I'm a switch, but a bit more ler than lee. And "tickleable" just means someone you're drawn to tickle (or would be if you knew them like that). Someone who has the personality or looks of someone you'd like to tickle, maybe your favorite kind of tummy or your favorite kind of vocal reactions, or who responds to tickling (both physically and emotionally) in whatever way you find enticing. So it's very subjective. I don't want to seem like I'm trying to cross any boundaries, but if you'd like to you can read what I thought were the cute and tickleable details in your posts.

* The spasming and wiggling - my personal favorite ticklish reactions visually.

* The clear straightforward pleasure from soft tickling with feathers or fingers. I can go into a haze of happiness with light tickling as either a ler or a lee so it's relatable. I'm ticklish but probably less than many people on this forum. A lot of people who feel it very intensely feel it as "torture" or a mix of torture and pleasure. For me, the only mix of pleasure and displeasure with tickling is emotional, not physical - physically I really like it, but it's INFINITELY EMBARRASSING (but in the right circumstances I kind of like being embarrassed too). Maybe if I were tickled for longer (i.e., in an actual session, which I haven't experienced yet) I would feel the physical torture/pleasure combo, but I don't know if I wanna. Anyway the face of someone in a haze of pleasure from light touch can be pretty enchanting.

* Your clear affection for your tickler/wife and the sweet and willing way you submit yourself to her care and touch. I think you mentioned her going "Awww" while tickling you and how much you liked it, which is an endearing detail. (Cooing reactions like that come naturally to me as a ler, and I get self-conscious worrying that someone might dislike it or feel condescended to, so it's good to have the reminder that it enhances things for some people.)

 

[MindOverWhatMatters]

Thanks for letting me know about part four, I'll be looking forward to it! I'm a switch, but a bit more ler than lee. And "tickleable" just means someone you're drawn to tickle (or would be if you knew them like that). Someone who has the personality or looks of someone you'd like to tickle, maybe your favorite kind of tummy or your favorite kind of vocal reactions, or who responds to tickling (both physically and emotionally) in whatever way you find enticing. So it's very subjective. I don't want to seem like I'm trying to cross any boundaries, but if you'd like to you can read what I thought were the cute and tickleable details in your posts.

* The spasming and wiggling - my personal favorite ticklish reactions visually.

* The clear straightforward pleasure from soft tickling with feathers or fingers. I can go into a haze of happiness with light tickling as either a ler or a lee so it's relatable. I'm ticklish but probably less than many people on this forum. A lot of people who feel it very intensely feel it as "torture" or a mix of torture and pleasure. For me, the only mix of pleasure and displeasure with tickling is emotional, not physical - physically I really like it, but it's INFINITELY EMBARRASSING (but in the right circumstances I kind of like being embarrassed too). Maybe if I were tickled for longer (i.e., in an actual session, which I haven't experienced yet) I would feel the physical torture/pleasure combo, but I don't know if I wanna. Anyway the face of someone in a haze of pleasure from light touch can be pretty enchanting.

* Your clear affection for your tickler/wife and the sweet and willing way you submit yourself to her care and touch. I think you mentioned her going "Awww" while tickling you and how much you liked it, which is an endearing detail. (Cooing reactions like that come naturally to me as a ler, and I get self-conscious worrying that someone might dislike it or feel condescended to, so it's good to have the reminder that it enhances things for some people.)

I will say, it is exciting to think that I am “very tickleable”. It has taken me a long time to really trust in being vulnerable and admitting that I’m ticklish. I’ve always enjoyed the intimacy of light tickling, and I think if it’s done the right way, it can be very effective, very engaging, and a really remarkable experience between two people.

It sounds like maybe there are some parallels in your own assessment. I was convinced for so long that I wasn’t ticklish, but it was only after I really opened myself up that I understood it in a different way. You mentioned that you aren’t very ticklish. What has been your experience in getting thoroughly tickled?

I too, find it to be a pleasurable feeling. I genuinely love being tickled, and I wish I could feel it more often. It sounds like you like the feeling, but I’m curious as to where the embarrassment comes from. What makes you embarrassed with being ticklish?

I could definitely understand the feeling of not being sure whether or not you want to have a full session. I used to have a bit of a love-hate relationship with being tickled because I didn’t think I was ticklish, but I loved it so much, and I couldn’t wrap my head around that. If you were to define a session to meet your particular taste and interests in tickling, wouldn’t you be curious to explore that part of your passion?

As for the “gentle cooling“, I was actually a little surprised myself that I enjoyed it so much. I never considered it to be condescending in my own experience. I think part of that has to do with the partner. I also think sometimes it is natural to fantasize about what ticklers might say during a session. In the moment, I didn’t see it as someone trying to break my will, or on my vulnerability, or even play a mental mind game with me. I genuinely saw it as somebody thinking my ticklish reactions were cute or sexy. It was validating because I think I’ve always wanted to be thought of as attractive in that scenario. I had spent so much time thinking that my body wasn’t good enough, or my reactions weren’t good enough, or my partner didn’t share the same fetish, or it was weird to like what I liked. In that moment, it felt like somebody fully accepting my reality. I think I would like the gentle cooling aspect, because it would mean to me that somebody was interested in my reactions, invested in what was happening to my body, and ultimately connecting in something that I was passionate about.

Sorry in advance for the long reply, but these sessions have meant a great deal to me, and I feel like they genuinely helped me open up a different part of my life, so I could talk about tickling all day 😉

 

[Stargazy]

It sounds like maybe there are some parallels in your own assessment. I was convinced for so long that I wasn’t ticklish, but it was only after I really opened myself up that I understood it in a different way. You mentioned that you aren’t very ticklish. What has been your experience in getting thoroughly tickled?

I honestly don't have any experience getting thoroughly tickled. A few minutes at a time as a kid, before I entered puberty and started feeling "weird" about it and made the people who had tickled me stop doing it. A few seconds at a time as an adult. I've been very shy and never told anyone in real life that I like it, that I want to do it (especially to a man) or that I want someone (especially a man) to do it to me. I remember I laughed when tickled as a kid, but now I don't - maybe it's that I'm less ticklish, maybe it's that I have a lot more motivation not to react than I did as a kid, maybe it's just that the tickling is always very brief.

It's weird, though, because my mind seems more active than my actual nerves when it comes to tickling. I can just read about it and kind of feel it - partly the memory of the actual sensations, partly the emotions that go along with it for me (nervous excitement, embarrassed happiness, "butterflies in the stomach" - probably the reason the stomach is my favorite tickle spot, because that's where I feel tickling-related emotions). Just engaging in tickle-talk with people online has been a surprisingly potent experience, although I've mostly talked to lees and said ler things to them.

I too, find it to be a pleasurable feeling. I genuinely love being tickled, and I wish I could feel it more often. It sounds like you like the feeling, but I’m curious as to where the embarrassment comes from. What makes you embarrassed with being ticklish?

Unexpected touch and attention can make me embarrassed in general, although I like it. Tickling is a sort of power you can wield over a person; this isn't the main thing in my thoughts, but it's probably the reason why I really need to feel safe with someone to willingly let out my lee side. And especially, tickling is --- cute. I feel the exact same mix of embarrassment and pleasure about being tickled and about being called "cute" or anything similar. It's not as painfully embarrassing as, e.g., the feeling of accidentally insulting someone, but it kind of catches me off guard to be noticed in that familiar, affectionate way, since I'm a very reserved person who instinctively avoids attention IRL, and have sometimes unintentionally given people the impression that I don't want or need it.

As for the “gentle cooling“, I was actually a little surprised myself that I enjoyed it so much. I never considered it to be condescending in my own experience. I think part of that has to do with the partner. I also think sometimes it is natural to fantasize about what ticklers might say during a session. In the moment, I didn’t see it as someone trying to break my will, or on my vulnerability, or even play a mental mind game with me. I genuinely saw it as somebody thinking my ticklish reactions were cute or sexy. It was validating because I think I’ve always wanted to be thought of as attractive in that scenario. I had spent so much time thinking that my body wasn’t good enough, or my reactions weren’t good enough, or my partner didn’t share the same fetish, or it was weird to like what I liked. In that moment, it felt like somebody fully accepting my reality. I think I would like the gentle cooling aspect, because it would mean to me that somebody was interested in my reactions, invested in what was happening to my body, and ultimately connecting in something that I was passionate about.

It is definitely natural and common to fantasize what ticklers might say during a session. A lot of my dreams (both lee and ler dreams) are more focused on the talk than the actual tickling. And I'm so glad you understood what I'm certain your wife meant by it - not a mind game or condescension, but what it is. A person enjoying and reacting to being tickled is a person in their cutest state (or one of their cutest states) and this kind of talk just slips out sometimes! Or a laugh just from the delight of watching the lee. As someone with no tickling history she might not have fully guessed just how much it means to you, but she does seem to be what you described - "interested in my reactions, invested in what was happening to my body" - a really good description, by the way.

(edited for grammar)

 

[MindOverWhatMatters]

I honestly don't have any experience getting thoroughly tickled. A few minutes at a time as a kid, before I entered puberty and started feeling "weird" about it and made the people who had tickled me stop doing it. A few seconds at a time as an adult. I've been very shy and never told anyone in real life that I like it, that I want to do it (especially to a man) or that I want someone (especially a man) to do it to me. I remember I laughed when tickled as a kid, but now I don't - maybe it's that I'm less ticklish, maybe it's that I have a lot more motivation not to react than I did as a kid, maybe it's just that the tickling is always very brief.

It's weird, though, because my mind seems more active than my actual nerves when it comes to tickling. I can just read about it and kind of feel it - partly the memory of the actual sensations, partly the emotions that go along with it for me (nervous excitement, embarrassed happiness, "butterflies in the stomach" - probably the reason the stomach is my favorite tickle spot, because that's where I feel tickling-related emotions). Just engaging in tickle-talk with people online has been a surprisingly potent experience, although I've mostly talked to lees and said ler things to them.



Unexpected touch and attention can make me embarrassed in general, although I like it. Tickling is a sort of power you can wield over a person; this isn't the main thing in my thoughts, but it's probably the reason why I really need to feel safe with someone to willingly let out my lee side. And especially, tickling is --- cute. I feel the exact same mix of embarrassment and pleasure about being tickled and about being called "cute" or anything similar. It's not as painfully embarrassing as, e.g., the feeling of accidentally insulting someone, but it kind of catches me off guard to be noticed in that familiar, affectionate way, since I'm a very reserved person who instinctively avoids attention IRL, and have sometimes unintentionally given people the impression that I don't want or need it.



It is definitely natural and common to fantasize what ticklers might say during a session. A lot of my dreams (both lee and ler dreams) are more focused on the talk than the actual tickling. And I'm so glad you understood what I'm certain your wife meant by it - not a mind game or condescension, but what it is. A person enjoying and reacting to being tickled is a person in their cutest state (or one of their cutest states) and this kind of talk just slips out sometimes! Or a laugh just from the delight of watching the lee. As someone with no tickling history she might not have fully guessed just how much it means to you, but she does seem to be what you described - "interested in my reactions, invested in what was happening to my body" - a really good description, by the way.

(edited for grammar)

Thanks for the reply. I felt much the same way that you did, in that, I kind of hid it away for so long. I definitely felt weird about it for a long time, and I guess in fact I still do. I’m not open about it outside of my own relationship. I honestly don’t know that I ever will be. I think this particular fetish is lovely, but I think I’ve also spent so much time looking down on it because I felt different, that it’s been very difficult to fully accept even now.

The good news is, you probably are still quite ticklish. I don’t know that it truly goes away, but perhaps some of the access does, because it takes a like-minded person to be able to explore that part of your personality. I think if you were open to being tickled, thoroughly, and for an extended period, you might find all kinds of wonderful sensations that still exist.

It’s funny that you mentioned getting butterflies, because that happens to me before every session. I think it’s because I know that my tastes are a little bit different, so when my mind is set on the fact that I’m going to get tickled, it leads to nervous but very positive energy.

I think it’s good to recognize that you need a component of safety within a potential session. That really should be first and foremost. I also think it may be genuinely difficult to have a session with someone that you aren’t sure if you can trust. I like being tickled completely, but I think part of that is the connection in which I can let my guard down and be submissive to that little power dynamic. I’ve had success with my wife tickling me, but I genuinely feel most ticklish when there is additional sexual stimulation. It works for us, but there are times that I wish I didn’t need that component, because I think I would be able to explore being ticklish in other ways too. For example, I don’t know how many people have both a fetish and the willingness to provide the sexual component. I don’t even know if I would be willing to. I’ve always been interested in whether or not somebody else can make me feel ticklish, but the limitations of embarrassment, shame, reservation, etc. definitely way heavy on my ability to explore that, so I can totally understand that it can be a difficult process to open up about what qualifies a good session for you.

Lastly, I like your outlook on tickling. I’ve never been really into the torturous aspect. I’ve always seen it as a way to connect and experience something with another person. I like the idea of being in someone else’s care, or caring for them, with the combined goal of reaching a state of laughter, giggling, euphoria, or overall sensation. I honestly think the ultimate goal of a session should be embarking on exploration between two people with the intent to build a higher connection or experience.

Writing about tickling has honestly helped me in accepting this very large part of myself in a different way. Happy to chat further or dm if you like.