Fucking In Someone Else’s Shoes: A Quick Guide To Role Playing

Role playing: it's like creative adultery that you can't get in trouble for. But sometimes it's difficult to invent a world where you and a loved one feel like fucking and staying in character. Well, we're here to help.

You might look down at the cheerleader/ witch/secretary sitting before you and wonder, "Why am I doing this?" You're doing it A) to get off, B) to do something different, and/or C) because you feel more comfortable expressing your desires through the medium of a character. Even if you'd like to set up a taboo scenario—maybe live out that Darth Vader and Princess Leia coupling you've dreamed about—that's cool too! Role playing is a great way to experience, sublimate, or simulate any kink you desire, providing psychological release on top of the sexual one.

So whether you do it every night or only on special occasions, we hope this guide will shed a little light on the finer points of role playing.

Choose the right roles. You can always choose classic roles like "Cop & Criminal" or "Baron & Naughty French Maid", but you should feel free to exercise your imagination and find characters that suit your individual personalities.

Be sensible, be complementary. Like anything else, role playing is about compromise. Don't get upset if you want to be a soldier returning from war and your partner wants to be a Night Elf; just go with something traditional. It's easiest if one person is in a position of power over the other.

Find props and costumes. Seeing is believing! Budget yourself some cash and turn yourself into the cheerleader you've always wanted to be.

With a big budget... Take this opportunity to soup up your sex toy collection. If you're trying to be a wizard, for example, you naturally have to buy a cape, maybe a hat, and a wand. Why not make it a Hitachi Magic Wand? Or even drop a few thousand on one of those platinum JimmyJane vibrators? The point is: buy costumes, and accessorize with as many sex toys as possible.

With a small budget... Find stuff around the house! Part of the excitement of role playing is using familiar things (genitals, for example) for unfamiliar purposes (fighting crime), and this extends to any and all items around the home. That spatula? It just became a paddle. That scarf or necktie? It's an all-purpose blindfold/restraint. Turn your bedsheets into togas and Socrates can instruct a mischievous Plato on the true meaning of the allegory of the cave.

Be committed. It goes without saying that enthusiasm is everything. You don't have to put on an Oscar-worthy performance, but you need to stay in horny character. Sometimes it's helpful to come up with names. Anything is better than calling each other "Mr. Fireman" and "Mrs. Lonely Housewife Whose House Is On Fire".

But be ready to drop the act. Realism is overrated. If a fireman just chopped down your door so he could save you from the raging fire in the hall, chances are he wouldn't stop to have sex. Not only should you feel free to bend the rules, you should eventually abandon the role playing all together. Saying fireman sex things like, "Oh yeah, hose me down" is cute at first, but eventually you'll be too busy inventing one-liners to enjoy yourself.

Have a sense of humor. It's ok to laugh! Even if it's nervous laughter, let it out. You can the experience as seriously or as lightly as you'd like, as long as you're supportive and considerate of your partner's feelings. At its core, role playing is the duct tape that binds sex with imagination, and both of those elements provide lots to giggle about.

· Thumbnail star, Priya Rai (nsgalleries.com)