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Use the hand, or Fuck the hand

Text taken from "Distance of Touch", the KP magazine from 2022, this article was written by Juhana Pettersson.

Using the hand as the focus of sexual play allows for a wider range of interactions. Miming out sex theatre-style is limited when it comes to larping nonpenetrative, queer, and particularly lesbian sex. The purpose of “The Hand Technique” for sex is to allow for a wider expression of different types of sexual interactions in larp. Your hand is used to show what kind of genitals are being displayed - outstretched fingers (curved or straight depending on depicted arousal), or fingers in a V-shape, for penis and vagina respectively. 

The way the technique works for interaction is that when you want to perform a sexual act on your partner, they place their hand near their crotch or on their thigh, and you focus your actions on their hand. If you kiss the hand, that suggests oral sex. If you kneel, look up at your partner and touch the hand gently with your fingers, that means pleasuring them using your hands. 

The technique allows for subtle and not-so-subtle off-game consent negotiations. For example, inside the fiction, you’re giving oral sex. However, as a player you’re not comfortable miming oral sex on a hand that’s placed directly above your partner’s genitals. To make the scene comfortable for you, you move their hand so it’s on their thigh. This small but important difference makes the scene possible for you to act out.

During play, you can experiment with the technique for different types of sex acts beyond just oral sex. The recipient whose hand is being acted upon can also convey emotional dynamics by being passive or active. As the sex scene becomes more complex, it’s also possible to switch whose hand is being acted upon.