• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • New to kink?
    • Articles for beginners
  • Contribute
  • BDSM Buying Guide

Kink Weekly

BDSM articles ideas bondage erotica resource

Home » sanctuary lax

sanctuary lax

Mistress Cyan Holds “Slave Auction” Toy and Food Drive Press Release

December 4, 2017 By kinkweekly Leave a Comment

cyanstoydrive1

Mistress Cyan Holds “Slave Auction” Toy and Food Drive

Los Angeles, CA – Friday, December 8th, Mistress Cyan will be warming the holidays and a lot of butts with her annual “Slave Auction”  toy drive for charity.

The party is a kinky take on the classic bachelor auction. Volunteers put themselves up for auction for the night. Those bringing in a new toy for children, canned food, or dry goods get play money to bid on the “slaves” for the evening. Winning bidders get to play with their new toys for the night. Everything is negotiated, consensual and for fun.

Last month’s food drive and auction for Thanksgiving brought in over $5,000 worth of donated food. Hand trucks and dollies were required to bring in the bulk goods which were stacked onstage. Blankets, gift cards and cash donations are also accepted. Food, blankets, and monetary donations go The Metropolitan Community Church in North Hollywood, which then distributes the goods to shelters and the homeless for the holidays. Toy donations go to the Toys for Tots program, which distributes them to needy children.

“We would like to invite all our friends in kink and leather to join us this year and contribute to the needy in Los Angeles, said Mistress Cyan. “Last year, we collected over 2000 cans of food and more than 200 pounds of dry goods, as well as cash and gift cards to distribute for Christmas. Let’s try and surpass that this year.  It’s all for a good cause and good kinky fun!”

Doors open at 8:00 P.M. at Sanctuary LAX, 10914 S. La Cienega Blvd., across from the Los Angeles Airport. Admission for the party is $20. Dress code for the night is fetish, leather, or classy casual. No cut offs or baseball caps please.

For more details, go to https://sanctuarylax.com/events/475

###

About Mistress Cyan:
Mistress Cyan is most well known as the founder and organizer of the BDSM Conventions DomCon Los Angeles and DomCon New Orleans. She produces The Lair at Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas. She recently has been appointed to the committee for LA Gay Pride Festival in West Hollywood to organize their “Erotic City” zone. She also runs Sanctuary LAX, one of the largest dungeons in Southern California.
Twitter: @MistressCyan
Instagram: @SanctuaryStudiosLAX
Fetlife: @MistressCyan, @Sanctuary_LAX
www.SanctuaryLAX.com

Tagged With: Mistress Cyan, press release, sanctuary, sanctuary lax

Dexx Interviews Apricot Pitts

September 5, 2017 By Desdemona 1 Comment

Dexx met with professional submissive Apricot Pitts at DomCon Los Angeles to discuss her experiences in the lifestyle and as a pro.

kink_weekly_launch_party_shot_by_rico_j_coria_72

Dexx: I really wanted to interview you because a lot of the people we interview are Doms or very experienced long time players. I’d love to hear the perspective of somebody that is both relatively new to the scene and also more on the submissive side. So let’s start with how long have you been in the scene and how did you come to discover it?

Apricot: Well, I’ve only been in the scene for about a year, after my friend bugged me enough to join FetLife. I saw an event that was local to me at Threshold, so I volunteered there because I knew it’d be a good way to see the behind the scenes and get there early and spend a lot of time just to check it out as much as possible. I met a lot of cool people and I felt like it was a really good community. Everyone was really open with each other, just a very inclusive and not cliquey type of environment, which I really liked.

Dexx: Prior to your friends telling you about Threshold, were you interested in BDSM already?

Apricot: Yes, I think I’ve been into it ever since puberty. I saw a documentary and it was a Domme showing you her dungeon, and I thought that was so cool and interesting. I read a lot of erotica and other things online, and when I got my first boyfriend when I was 16, we started doing stuff like that. Once I started going to Threshold, I explored things I had never tried before, like flogging and teasing implements.

Dexx: How did you transition from playing in the lifestyle at Threshold to finding your way to doing pro work at Sanctuary?

Apricot: I was looking at Sanctuary’s website and they had an advertisement that they’re always seeking new staff, so I decided to check it out. I knew it’d be a good and safe environment to learn and practice. As a submissive, I knew that there would be people there for me if something bad happened. I felt very safe and knew I could trust and learn a lot from all the other women there.

Dexx: What was your experience like, actually going in and interviewing? Was it scary? How does it all work when you actually want to join as a pro?

Apricot: It wasn’t scary to work with Mistress Cyan [owner of Sanctuary] the first time because she’s very calm and she doesn’t say things in a way that puts you off. When she speaks, it makes you want to open up, so it was really easy to talk to her. She asked me what my limits would be and she asked me what my experience was, and then told me the dress code and then Genesis showed me around and I started the next day.

Dexx: How long ago was that?

Apricot: About 6 months ago. I’m relatively new.

Dexx: Tell me about the first time that you did a pro scene. Were you nervous?

Apricot: I was really nervous. I don’t actually remember exactly what it was, but he was fine.

Dexx: Are there particular things as a working pro that you have really enjoyed? Are there things that you’ve done that you don’t particularly enjoy?

Apricot: Absolutely. Since I have nipple piercings, I don’t like any nipple torture or rough play on that area at all. And I don’t like electricity play that much, but impact – it can be very sensual and I really like body worship, giving and receiving body worship, and body hair and odor worship. So, the clients that I get are very particular on that as well because it’s a really niche fetish. So a lot of the time, my regulars come specifically for my body hair.

Dexx: As a pro, how much are you able to dictate the types of play that you do versus kind of having to go with whatever the client is looking for?

Apricot: Well, during the interview with the client, I can always say no, and we talk about limits and what our goals are for the session, and we talk about humiliation and types of impact and things like that. During the session, I can obviously say yellow and red, and if it’s something I really don’t like, (like if the guy only wants to do breast bondage and nipple torture), of course I can say no. And that’s fine because it’s not worth my time to be miserable for however long the session is. It’s not worth my time.

Dexx: And I’m assuming it’s generally men that you find work from?

Apricot: Yes.

Dexx: What would your typical client be like?

Apricot: They’re usually like middle aged and more established guys. They usually just want someone to talk to before and afterwards, so I like to end my sessions a little bit early and just talk and ask “what did you like”, and maybe cuddle and just sit down and be relaxed afterwards. I don’t know, they just seem like normal guys that just need a way to escape during the weekend.

Dexx: So now that you do this for a job, do you still find time to play for fun, on your own personal terms?

Apricot: Yes, once I’m home at night I can do whatever I want. I live with my boyfriend but I go to parties on the weekend at Sanctuary, so I do get to play and explore, just not my submissive side, but when I’m at lifestyle parties, I can.

Dexx: Are you a switch?

Apricot: Yes, I identify as a switch.

Dexx: Cool! Are you out to your friends and family about being kinky?

Apricot: Kind of. Not explicitly. But a lot of my friends know I go to parties and I work at Sanctuary. My dad knows, and my mom kind of knows, but she seems hesitant so I don’t want to say, “This is what I’m doing and I love it!” and she’s going to be like, “Ahhhhhh!”

Dexx: Yeah, even that I think is pretty cool. I think 10 or 20 years ago it would be quite rare for people to be even a little bit out to vanilla friends and family about that sort of thing, so I think perhaps, it’s partly about you, but perhaps it’s also a sign of changing times.

Apricot: Definitely the culture is changing, being more LGBTQ friendly and since kink is really tight knit and a lot of people in kink are LGBTQ so it’s slowly coming out.

Dexx: Do you see kink being a big part of your profession for your future, or is it just kind of something that you dabble in?

Apricot: I don’t expect it to be my main source of income for the rest of my life of course, but I want to pursue it for as long as possible, and I do like it, and the fact that I make money at the same time is a good sign, but I do have plans to get an actual, serious job eventually.

Dexx: Oh yeah, like what?

Apricot: I want to work with plant health and inspection; inspect agriculture and make sure it’s up to health code and I feel like that would be a way that I could do justice for people of the United States and the world.

Dexx: Got it. That was a very unexpected answer but a very cool career path. So you do some kinky modeling as well?

Apricot: Yeah, I’d love to do more. It’s fun and I get to meet other people in the community, not just other players like mistresses, but photographers who go to studios and do that kind of thing.

Dexx: How is the dynamic of working with women who have been pros for years or decades? Are they generally nice and helpful mentors, or is there sort of a pecking order or hierarchy?

Apricot: I think there is a little bit of a pecking order at Sanctuary, but that’s to be expected. Some women just have different personalities and some women are busy so they’re not coming out with the other girls as much because they’re just busier, but I think they are all pretty welcoming. No one is ever rude to me whatsoever, which is really important because the job is stressful enough, we don’t need our coworkers to be rude.

Dexx: Let’s talk about your Domme side. What’s your favorite kind of play when you’re topping?

Apricot: Interesting. I really like body worship so worship my armpit hair and my legs and my butt. But I’m also pretty sadistic I think, so I like to spank really hard, and scratch really hard and fight and tease.

Dexx: You mentioned body hair a couple of times and it’s also a hashtag on your twitter profile. Tell me a little bit more about that.

Apricot: It’s just really cool, it grows there, it’s supposed to be there. I like it. And it smells really good and it looks really good and I like to play with it and like to smell it when I’m bored and it’s awesome.

Dexx: Cool, and do you find that that’s sort of much more prevalent or becoming more prevalent now, or that it’s something that’s pretty unique to you?

Apricot: Yeah, I recently went to Vegas for a girls’ empowerment convention. And that was really fun and a lot of the girls there had body hair as well, armpit hair and full bush and stuff, and I was like, Thank you for not feeling shy about your natural body hair that’s supposed to be there!

Dexx: Do you think that there’s some kind of tie in with feminism as part of that, or it’s unrelated?

Apricot: Maybe. I mean, I don’t necessarily know how all of them identify, but I’d say that I identify as a feminist, we’re all human beings, we can’t control what gender we’re born with, or how we feel about our gender’s sexuality, so we should all just be excellent to each other, you know?

Dexx: Any particular projects or goals that you’re working toward in terms of you’re kinky life at the moment?

Apricot: I think it’s bad that I’m not saying yes. But I guess I just want to shoot more with a lot of local women in Los Angeles, all the girls I’ve met at DomCom, or girls that I’m meeting on twitter, I’d love to just network more with them and make more friends in the community. I’m also transitioning jobs in the vanilla world, so that’s kind of having a lot of my focus.

Dexx: When you say shoot more with the women that you’re meeting, you mean like doing scenes with them?

Apricot: Yes, clips or just photos or helping them shoot anything they want to, if they need a videographer.

Dexx: Have you come across anything in the scene so far that’s been like, Whoa! That’s pretty freaky even for me?

Apricot: Suctions on the nipples and the clit, that’s like (screams). That’s just too scary. I don’t know nipple stuff so maybe I just don’t like that in general.

Dexx: Do you think that that’s mainly because you have nipple piercings that make it intolerable?

Apricot: Yes, I think I have a negative connotation because I know it would hurt if I got it, and so I just think that it hurts, like it’s on their clit too, that’s so sensitive. I’m glad that they like it, but I’m not going to try it anytime soon.

Dexx: You’re in a relationship, so I guess it must be at least somewhat open with you doing what you do. So is he kinky, is it a kinky relationship?

Apricot: A little bit. He doesn’t necessarily like going in public and doing it, but at home we have really switchy sex, a lot of power back and forth and wrestling, which is fun. I don’t really like doing that with clients so it’s good to do that with someone that I actually love.

Dexx: Of course! Well, I guess when you work there’re probably some pretty strict rules about sexual contact anyway.

Apricot: Oh, of course yeah. No penetration, no fluid exchange, no general rubbing a lot on my side. No hand jobs, blow jobs, anything like that.

Dexx: So you get clients that try to push the boundaries?

Apricot: Well yes, they’re guys and they’re in the moment and they see a butt cheek in their face, and they’re just like, “Can I touch in there?” Like no, of course not. You have to make it cute, like, “You can’t touch me there right now” or “No, no no,” You have to make it cute.

Dexx: Are you taught how to deal with situations like that by the other Dommes?

Apricot: Yes. They reiterate that we have to know our boundaries and know when to say no and when to know that they’re touching some place that they’re not allowed to. Because obviously we’re the only one in the room, and they say, “Yell red, someone will hear you, the walls aren’t that thick, someone will come in and stop.” You can always ask to end the session whenever you need to and they’ll have to leave.

Dexx: Have you had any situations like that?

Apricot: I had one situation where I should have said red, but it was only a 15 minute session and it was just really degrading and I’m not even against humiliation, I actually like humiliation sometimes, but it was just a lot all at once. It was only 15 minutes and he went at it right away and it was really shocking afterwards, but I just wanted to put up with it because I knew it was only 15 minutes.

Dexx: Aside from the kind of shock in the moment, do you think you have any kind of trauma as a result of that?

Apricot: No. I think…it’s hard to explain, but I think he was just really hateful towards women, you could just tell by the way he acted and he just really needed an outlet and, I mean I guess I would rather him do it to me in a safe environment instead of at a woman who is really desperate on the street, like a prostitute on the street. And I know he is going to do it anyway, so.

Dexx: That is a very mature outlook towards the situation. It sounds like in that case, it was not necessarily BDSM, but more like actual rage that he had. Do you feel a connection with some of your clients?

Apricot: Of course. Most of them. All the time. One thing, I heard the phrase sexual therapist during some of the classes at DomCom, the Dommes feeling like they take a lot of energy from the other person, that they provide them something that they can’t get in their regular lives. And they specifically seek out a professional, someone that can do that for them, and do that with them, safely, and someone with experience. It is a lot of energy exchange and there is a lot of give and take.

Dexx: Do you think that the guys that are doing scenes with pro subs are the same people that come to play in the lifestyle, or are those different groups of people?

Apricot: A lot of my clients, I don’t think that they go to dungeons or anything, because they are so specific. They want body hair and they just want to smell it and rub it and stuff, but a few guys I know, I’ve seen them at Sanctuary before and then I had a private session with them. I’m not sure. I think there’re either guys that have lifestyle submissives, 24/7 submissives, and they broke up with their submissives and so they just want someone to practice play with, and I think a lot of the guys are like that as well.

Dexx: Have you been to any interesting classes while you were at DomCom?

Apricot: Yeah, I really like Madam Margerie’s pet play class. Pet play is something that I really want to try to explore but I never knew.

Dexx: As a pet or an owner of a pet?

Apricot: I want to be a pet. I think I’d be a good puppy. I want to be a puppy.

Dexx: Have you tried being a puppy?

Apricot: Actually, after I went to her class, she handed out this one page with a summary of the information that she gave and I sat down with my boyfriend and we read it and I explained some of the things that she said more, I explained it more in detail and then, I was a puppy for a little bit and it was really fun.

Dexx: Did you play fetch?

Apricot: We did. And I wouldn’t give it back.

Dexx: Okay, so a little bit of a brat puppy?

Apricot: Yeah. And he has to tell me to go on the bed, I can’t jump on the bed without permission.

Dexx: Sounds like a pretty good rule. Have you tried being a kitten or a fox? Or a dolphin?

Apricot: I liked being a dolphin when I was 7 or 8 when we had a pool, and I would like be a dolphin.

Apricot sessions regularly at Sanctuary LAX. You can also follow her adventures on Twitter.

Tagged With: apricot cums, pro submissive, sanctuary lax

anniebear: My Very First Play Party

January 30, 2017 By anniebear 3 Comments

It was March, 2014. I had been to a munch the previous week and was absolutely dying to go to an actual play party. I was working a dead end retail job at the time and was checking my Fetlife for events. Remember when Fetlife was shiny and new and you were on it every moment looking for messages?! One event popped up that piqued my interest; “Gentlemen In Charge, a high protocol play party for male Dominants and female submissives”. I liked gentlemen, but I definitely liked it more when they were in charge! I was sold! In my brain I’m thinking a room full of Dominant men and me…..pretty scary but so so so hot. This was my ultimate fantasy, something /I’d always dreamed about. But what to do?! The party was in a mere four hours so I’d have to go by myself…and think of something to wear. I sent a text to my sister who is both kinky and out for advice on what to wear and do. She talked me off my ledge and said if all else fails, wear a black dress. Just to be on the safe side, I posted in the Gentlemen in Charge group asking for clarification on the dress code. To my surprise, a few people responded back and cleared it up for me! I even got a nice message from another female who would be in attendance if I needed a buddy. This was working out to be better and better! I dashed out of work at the end of my shift and knew I barely had time to go home, dress, and then make my way back across town in time for the party. The event listing urged people not to be late or risk interrupting the pre-party class/instruction. In my head I knew I would DIE of embarrassment if I were late.

At home I tore though my closet. Looking back on the moment now, I’m simply astonished that I did not own more lingerie. At the time I think I had two garter belts, a bustier, and a few modest 1950’s era slips to my name. The times have definitely changed! I agonized as the clock as ticking and finally went with a black slip, some mint green panties with garters and nude stockings. I had a short bob haircut at the time so was going for a 1920s vibe. Back then, Gentlemen in Charge required the female submissives to wear a collar. Luckily I had recently picked up a collar from Pleasure Chest (I didn’t even know about the famed Stockroom yet). I threw on some red lipstick and flew out the door. Now mind you I was visibly shaking a this point. I was a lone twenty-something female about to go to a dungeon play party. It doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence!

I arrived at Sanctuary, the party venue LATE! I sat in my car, adrenaline pulsing through me. I was sweating and freezing and flushed all at the same time. I can’t believe I blew it and was late. How I convinced myself to get out of the car and into the building beats me. You have to ring a buzzer at Sanctuary to be let in and I was shaking like a leaf. The person at the front desk asked for my RSVP name (I had enough sense to make sure I had done that much) and informed me that classes had already begun and told me the females were gathered in Hades. (??????) Hades?! “What’s a Hades?” I thought. I felt too stupid to ask for any clarification and just walked right in. I went down a short corridor, turned the corner and there was a room full of what looked like fifty men! They were all listening to a man bathed in red light on the stage, the teacher for the pre-party class. I froze like a deer caught by a hunter. A man directly to my right quietly asked me if I needed assistance to the ladies class and I gratefully accepted as he lead the way. It seemed like the gentleman part was working out so far.

I entered a small room (with the name Hades on the door, huzzah!) in the back and it was full of women of all ages, races, and types of dress. Looking around I felt slightly out of place. Women were dressed in beautiful corsets and collars, blouses and dresses. I shrunk myself against a wall, sitting on the floor because the room was at capacity and listened. The instructor, a known Dominatrix was talking about high protocol. The lesson went straight over my head having been so new and foolishly unlearned in the way of kink. It was definitely great people watching as I wondered who everyone was and if they were new too. The class wrapped up and we were informed to join the men for social hour. My nerves returned full force! A woman approached me and asked if I was anniebear. It was Subbiepoppy, the person who had messaged me! I was saved…kind of. Well, I at least had a person to latch onto. She introduced me around to her group and everyone was extremely nice. I then made a beeline to the bar. Let’s be honest, I needed some liquid courage. A few men approached me and kindly introduced themselves. I think they could tell I had a bit of that caged wild bird look to me as they were all gentle and did not invade my space.

One thing that struck me about the crowd I general was that not everyone looked like a supermodel like in the movies. Yes I sound like an asshole but no one talks about this part of kink where you get used to the Hollywood stereotypes and don’t realize what the reality is. These were just normal, kind people. There were all types of looks and the men were not wearing black capes and carrying whips and the women were not all flighty little nymph types wrapped in rope (That would come later). It was a relief. You could look however you wanted to look and be any age and that was ok. In fact, I was impressed with how nicely dressed the men were in their suits. The women all seemed so confident as some undressed down to lingerie and underwear. I started to wonder, could I do that to? Would I find someone to play with tonight?

A man that introduced himself earlier as “Velvet” came back around and we chatted some more. He understood I was new and we talked about what my experience had been like so far. I went back to Subbiepoppy and the safety net of the other girls. One of them asked me if I wanted to play with him and I said I wasn’t sure if I had the nerve. I asked if she knew the guy and she said she did and had seen him around and that he was a good play partner. The wheels in my head started turning. I gave myself a pep talk and told her I wanted to do it! She said she would help me negotiate the scene (I do remember the Dominatrix mentioning negotiations during the class). Thus began the start of my very first play scene ever and in public, which is fitting because I am now such an exhibitionist.

I approached Velvet and asked if we could play and he agreed (yippy…and oh shit!). I told him my friend would help me negotiate. It seems normal now but looking back this was probably one of the single weirdest conversations I had ever had. I didn’t even know where to begin so I rattled off a bunch of stuff I did NOT want to happen which included bleeding, sex, kissing, nails on my skin, and tickling. I was off to a good start. Then is got down to things that interested me; I had no clue. I thought back on my different sex partners and some of the things I liked that they did. “I like spanking and whipping with a belt?”-yea I added the question mark uptick to my statement. After not talking about these things for so many years, it’s a very odd feeling to finally say out loud what you would like a man to do to you. “I like hair pulling.” It was getting a little easier. I honestly really lucked out on a first play partner. He took more time with me going over a few more likes, dislikes and limits. He then asked what my safeword would be to which I gave him a deer in the headlights face. Of course I knew what one was but I could not think of a single word that stuck out in my brain, no blueberry or panda bear or nothing! He explained the stop light colors to me, red, yellow, and green. He also went a bit further and said he may ask where on a scale of 1-10 was I in that color. So if I said yellow and he asked what number and I said 8, that mean I was rapidly approaching red. That really knocked my socks off.

We went in search of a place to play and my brain started whirling again about how naked I was going to get. To my delight we found a room down a hallways that was slightly obscured so not every person walking by would see me. My friend promised to stop by to check on me as well as the dungeon monitors who were helping the party. He sat his bag down and I sheepishly asked what clothes I was supposed to take off. He said whatever I wanted to. I turned my back and slowly removed my slip. I was standing in just my bra, panties, and stocking and had an “aw fuck it” moment and removed my bra. Everyone else was naked, why shouldn’t I be?! And in that moment I felt free and liberated, and nervous as hell. What if this man, this stranger actually hurt me? What if I hated it or freaked out? What if he forgot or broke the extensive rules we discussed? Just then I saw my friend peak her head around the corner and give me a thumbs up. I blew a sigh of relief and gave her a thumbs up right back.

From then on our scene began. While I cannot remember every detail of the scene now, in retrospect Velvet was an incredibly talented flogger. Flogging in particular can look very scary and painful to a newbie but it was actually wonderful and felt so good to me. I loved the feel of the leather on my back and butt. I also remember on mortifying moment where a Wartenberg wheel got stuck in the lace of my stocking. I just took those off at that point too! Velvet took me through a variety of implements and types of play. I truly could not have asked for a better first play scene. Velvet, if you’re reading this, thank you!

Velvet drew the scene to a close and I was soaring! He asked if I needed any aftercare and I couldn’t even think straight! We eventually got me dressed, cleaned up the room and walked back out to the main party and everyone had practically left, it was nearly 1:30am! Time flies when you’re having fun. I drank some water, we exchanged information as he wanted to check on me the next day and he walked me to my car. That my friends, was the beginning of my journey, I was hooked!

anniebear is a submissive living with her partner Dexx in Los Angeles. She enjoys writing, modeling for friends, animal rescue, and teaching herself how to cook. You can catch her on Fetlife or Facebook.

Tagged With: Journey, newbie, play party, sanctuary lax

Primary Sidebar

Don’t miss out!

Get an email each week when new editions are online
We won't spam you, and you can
easily unsubscribe at any time

Sale – today only

Bondage kinks coffee mug

Put a smile on your face each morning

Support Kink Weekly on Patreon!

Become a Patron!

Help keep us online and get
epic good karma (and no ads)

Already a supporter? We love you! Visit here to enable ad-free browsing.

Get

Sexy blindfold & tie-up set

Contribute

Want to feature your writing or photography on Kink Weekly? Are you an BDSM/sex expert or professional, and interested in being quoted in an article? Contact us

Archives

sexy blonde Domme with male submissive in straitjacket

Simple Mummification Fun!

By PirateStan Leave a Comment

Learn helpful mummification techniques in this week’s edition!

shibari male submissive bound

Why Excellent Submission Can Be Remarkably Illusive

By Ms. RikaLeave a Comment

Dive deep into submission with Ms. Rika in this week’s edition!

Footer

18 U.S.C. 2257 record keeping compliance statement
Always play
Safe Sane and Consensual

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in