When it comes to the world of kink, and tickling especially, I love playing with brats! I’ve come to realize that less people in the tickling community are familiar with the use of the term brat than those in the broader kink community. I decided to write this to both act as an introduction for those in the tickling community who aren’t familiar, and to express some of my own personal interests and experience with it. So, if you are unfamiliar with the term brat in this context, I’m not referring to an annoying, disrespectful child in need of discipline, but rather the term used in the broader kink community to identify a specific kink persona. A kink persona is like a role in that both are used to describe aspects of someone’s kink identity, but a role captures more of the position within a power dynamic or other relationship, while a persona says more about someone’s character and personality during play. Certainly, there can be some overlap between the two concepts, and some people use them interchangeably, but that’s the general idea. The brat persona captures a lot of the energy and behaviors you might associate with its mainstream use, but generally with a more intentional and exploratory adult side to it.
While most all brats tend to have certain common traits, such as being sassy, contrarian, rebellious, mischievous, and feisty, there can be a wide range of individual expression within the persona. For example, some brats might present with a very serious, disrespectful kind of engagement, while others may be more playfully challenging or teasingly flirty. Their motivations can also be very different. Some might use the persona with the primary motivation of instigating retaliation or punishment, while others might simply enjoy bratting simply for the sake of bratting itself. I think there’s also another dimension of variability to brats that is commonly overlooked or under appreciated, which is that the brat persona can fit into many different roles. I think that brats are often stereotyped as being submissive by default, but there are bratty dominants and switches as well. Within the tickling community, that translates to the general roles of bratty ticklees, ticklers, and switches.
Because of the nature and dynamics of a ticklee-tickler relationship, a bratty ticklee most typically manifests as the type of brat seeking punishment, correction, or similar forms of attention through teasing or misbehaving in some way. Just for an imaginative exercise to illustrate the point, something a bratty ticklee might do to tease and entice a ler is to say something like, “Oh, my tummy is just so smooth and sensitive today!” while stretching out on a sofa, or confidently proclaiming how bad the ler is at tickling and saying things like, “I bet you couldn’t even get a laugh out of me!” More on the misbehavior side of things might be the lee “stealing” or hiding something belonging to the ler, or doing something annoyingly repetitive like tapping their fingers, and when asked to stop, replying playfully with, “Make me!” or “What are you going to do about it?” The intensity of the instigating behavior can be mild or extreme, depending upon the specific play dynamic and what each person is comfortable with.
A bratty tickler leverages their sassy, feisty, mischievous side to enhance the tickling experience. The ler gets satisfaction in expressing their inner troublemaker, while the lee experiences an elevated mix of teasing, taunting, and torment by someone delighting in their predicament. You might imagine an interaction such as a lee begging for the ler to stop, saying “No, not there!” only to hear the ler reply with, “Oh, not there? Okay, I’ll get here instead!” Or a bratty ler might taunt the lee in a childish tone with, “Aww, looks like someone’s having a good time,” and if the lee says “no,” responding with, “Okay, well, I guess I’ll have to try harder!” I find that the playful, sarcastic nature of a brats tickling and teasing can make a session much more unbearable (which is what I like!).
In my own experiences, while I love playing with others who take on a brat persona, I don’t really identify as a brat myself. At times, I definitely have some of that energy, but I wouldn’t say it is a dominant aspect of my play style. Now, my wife on the other hand, often calls upon her inner brat in both lee and ler roles. She doesn’t express that side of herself every time, or with everyone, but it’s definitely a part of her. When she’s a lee, it’s fun to see what sort of trouble she can get herself into with her sassy attitude, and punishing her for it with tickling just feels like the most natural and rewarding response. When she’s the ler, she can be a real force to be reckoned with, playing mischievous mind games and enhancing your sense of helplessness by teasingly reminding you that, though small as she may be, she has you trapped right where she wants you–And she loves to tickle!
As a reminder, the preceding descriptions of bratty lers and lees are just examples to better illustrate my idea of brats within the tickling community, and should in no way be considered complete, nor should they necessarily be considered accurate or prescriptive to how you play. Each person who identifies as having a brat persona is unique, with their own personal values and interests. Exploring it, and letting it evolve into what you and your play partners enjoy is part of the fun. So, adopt and conform to what you like, and disregard what you don’t. Lastly, it’s probably worth mentioning that not everyone is into the brat persona, either in part, or all together. Before throwing that kind of energy at someone else, ensure that they’re okay with it (even if they’re into it–It doesn’t mean they always want it, or that they want it from you!). Always prioritize consent and clear communication–It’s okay to be a brat, but not a jerk!
For those previously unfamiliar with the brat persona, I hope this helped clarify some things for you, especially in the context of tickling. I also hope that it helped you reflect on your own interests and behaviors, and whether any aspects of brats fit into your kink identity or play. If you just learned what a brat is, I would love to hear your first impressions of the concept. Did you learn something new or did I prompt you to think about something differently than you have in the past? What’s your favorite persona for you or your play partner to adopt in tickling or other kink activities? I’m always happy to hear what others are thinking about the topics I write about. Thank you for reading!
While most all brats tend to have certain common traits, such as being sassy, contrarian, rebellious, mischievous, and feisty, there can be a wide range of individual expression within the persona. For example, some brats might present with a very serious, disrespectful kind of engagement, while others may be more playfully challenging or teasingly flirty. Their motivations can also be very different. Some might use the persona with the primary motivation of instigating retaliation or punishment, while others might simply enjoy bratting simply for the sake of bratting itself. I think there’s also another dimension of variability to brats that is commonly overlooked or under appreciated, which is that the brat persona can fit into many different roles. I think that brats are often stereotyped as being submissive by default, but there are bratty dominants and switches as well. Within the tickling community, that translates to the general roles of bratty ticklees, ticklers, and switches.
Because of the nature and dynamics of a ticklee-tickler relationship, a bratty ticklee most typically manifests as the type of brat seeking punishment, correction, or similar forms of attention through teasing or misbehaving in some way. Just for an imaginative exercise to illustrate the point, something a bratty ticklee might do to tease and entice a ler is to say something like, “Oh, my tummy is just so smooth and sensitive today!” while stretching out on a sofa, or confidently proclaiming how bad the ler is at tickling and saying things like, “I bet you couldn’t even get a laugh out of me!” More on the misbehavior side of things might be the lee “stealing” or hiding something belonging to the ler, or doing something annoyingly repetitive like tapping their fingers, and when asked to stop, replying playfully with, “Make me!” or “What are you going to do about it?” The intensity of the instigating behavior can be mild or extreme, depending upon the specific play dynamic and what each person is comfortable with.
A bratty tickler leverages their sassy, feisty, mischievous side to enhance the tickling experience. The ler gets satisfaction in expressing their inner troublemaker, while the lee experiences an elevated mix of teasing, taunting, and torment by someone delighting in their predicament. You might imagine an interaction such as a lee begging for the ler to stop, saying “No, not there!” only to hear the ler reply with, “Oh, not there? Okay, I’ll get here instead!” Or a bratty ler might taunt the lee in a childish tone with, “Aww, looks like someone’s having a good time,” and if the lee says “no,” responding with, “Okay, well, I guess I’ll have to try harder!” I find that the playful, sarcastic nature of a brats tickling and teasing can make a session much more unbearable (which is what I like!).
In my own experiences, while I love playing with others who take on a brat persona, I don’t really identify as a brat myself. At times, I definitely have some of that energy, but I wouldn’t say it is a dominant aspect of my play style. Now, my wife on the other hand, often calls upon her inner brat in both lee and ler roles. She doesn’t express that side of herself every time, or with everyone, but it’s definitely a part of her. When she’s a lee, it’s fun to see what sort of trouble she can get herself into with her sassy attitude, and punishing her for it with tickling just feels like the most natural and rewarding response. When she’s the ler, she can be a real force to be reckoned with, playing mischievous mind games and enhancing your sense of helplessness by teasingly reminding you that, though small as she may be, she has you trapped right where she wants you–And she loves to tickle!
As a reminder, the preceding descriptions of bratty lers and lees are just examples to better illustrate my idea of brats within the tickling community, and should in no way be considered complete, nor should they necessarily be considered accurate or prescriptive to how you play. Each person who identifies as having a brat persona is unique, with their own personal values and interests. Exploring it, and letting it evolve into what you and your play partners enjoy is part of the fun. So, adopt and conform to what you like, and disregard what you don’t. Lastly, it’s probably worth mentioning that not everyone is into the brat persona, either in part, or all together. Before throwing that kind of energy at someone else, ensure that they’re okay with it (even if they’re into it–It doesn’t mean they always want it, or that they want it from you!). Always prioritize consent and clear communication–It’s okay to be a brat, but not a jerk!
For those previously unfamiliar with the brat persona, I hope this helped clarify some things for you, especially in the context of tickling. I also hope that it helped you reflect on your own interests and behaviors, and whether any aspects of brats fit into your kink identity or play. If you just learned what a brat is, I would love to hear your first impressions of the concept. Did you learn something new or did I prompt you to think about something differently than you have in the past? What’s your favorite persona for you or your play partner to adopt in tickling or other kink activities? I’m always happy to hear what others are thinking about the topics I write about. Thank you for reading!
