WOW! I love new characters and Hooper seems like a very interesting one! So he suplies the Sigmas with all the amazing goods and devices and coordinates events? This is very cool! :-D And his wife "was" a Sigma and the colsest friend of Diane´s mentor? I´m very courious now! :-D
I love that you are so into detail. This makes the story really feel alive. I love that the living places are just like big tickle traps and that they have all this amazing stuff to play around. I wonder what new devices we will see. :-D
That's exactly why I love detail, I feel like it gives the world a real sense, and a real sense makes the tickling seem more real to me.
🙂 So I try to put a lot of thought into it, and also try to research things to add to the depth. Plus sometimes it inspires new ideas!
While we've seen a lot of the Sigmas, obviously, here's a bit more of the nitty-gritty. Their chapter is one of the largest there is, with fifty girls in the house. Sigmas are inducted at the start of the first and second semester, so there are two Hell Weeks a year (twice the fun!). The first semester groups tend to be 3-5 girls, because the tickling is intimidating. The second semester, though, are much larger, because the girls have had several months to see some of the special perks their classmates that joined now have, and to see how much of a reputation the Sigmas have. Diane has especially encouraged this, as she has been instrumental in pushing the agenda of her mentor in bringing in girls - like Diane herself - who might not seem like Sigmas on the surface, but underneath they have much to offer. Wendy and Rhonda were actually pledging at two different sororities, but Diane saw their potential for the Sigmas and partners for each other, and now they are, well, the closest pair of Sigma sisters in the house (some jokingly suggest they share the same brain). Diane likes to refer to her house as The Island of Misfit Toys.
🙂
In larger numbers, the pledges are broken down into groups of three or four and inducted similar to what you saw our trio go through in the trilogy, to help the members of that group bond with each other. After that, over the next month the groups, along with the first semester group, will then be put through regular inter-group bonding activities so that they don't become isolated cliques. They'll still have those their closest too, but they'll feel sisterhood with the rest of their class too. After that, there are bonding activities held that cross class, where two different groups will team up against two other groups in various fun activities - there's tickling, of course, but all in good fun, nothing stressful.
😀 This helps ensure that even though there are those each Sigma is closest with, they're familiar with and friends with the rest of the house too.
The building has four floors plus the basement. Three are dorm rooms for the girls, plus multiple bathrooms and a lounge on each floor. The ground floor has the lobby, kitchen, a theater, several study rooms, and Diane's office. The basement is full of all manner of delights.
😀
Sigmas will often subject one of their own to spontaneous tickling. This has some overall guidelines, essentially it's meant for situations where some girls just want to have some fun, so they'll find someone they can catch either by themselves or with a small group, and have to pin them, and can only use what they personally have on hand. No going to the basement to grab handcuffs or zipties or tickle toys. Also, this isn't punishment, so if the ticklee cries "uncle," you have to let them go. BUT... if they cry "uncle" too soon and not let the girls have their fun, then they're in for it! The girls will get to do it for a much longer period of time, typically while teasing them with a cry of "tickle-chicken!" XD
However, sometimes it's felt a girl has a serious tickling coming for whatever reason. Say she's done something to a few of the others to the point that they want to give her a tickle-punishment. In those cases, they have to go to the officers to get special permission - there are three officers, one head of the house and two subordinates; at the moment they are Diane, Megan, and Stacie. The officers are always seniors, although usually juniors are tapped for some official activities for the house as training. Aiko, for instance, is being groomed to take over the house next year. But anyway, the group of girls can ask the officers for permission to give a Sigma a much-deserved ticking. If the officers agree, they can have access to restraints and tickle-toys, but not to the big equipment. They typically get no more than an hour to tickle the deserving Sigma, after which one of the officers will arrive to end it, make clear this was sanctioned for whatever reason, and to make sure there is then reconciliation rather than grudges. While tickling is punishment sometimes, it's also sometimes a means of bonding, so that's important.
😀
Of course, the rules are even more flexible when it's consensual tickling, then you just need to ask for what you need and you'll have it, and this goes for friends of the Sigmas too. Friends are those outside the sorority who have essentially agreed to be an ally to the Sigmas, which can have perks of its own. It allows the Sigmas to build up even more connection to help their influence in the future; while it's nowhere near as helpful as being a Sigma, being a Sigma friend can have the occasional favor called in. This is why Barton sometimes has Sigma gear and toys in their apartment, as a friend in good standing he has permission (plus the fact he frequently uses it on delighted Sigmas there anyway!)
😉.