Cloudpunk - Looking at Andy from a RACK perspective

This article will discuss a mission in Cloudpunk and there will be spoilers. It will also put a quest in the frame of a BDSM consent framework. If you are uncomfortable with that please do not read this, I am taking no bitching in the comments. NSFW!

Cloudpunk is an intriguing game. There's definitely something going down in Nivalis and I am enjoying wandering the highways of the city and finding people's stories. Mostly the androids. I like robots.

One such story belonged to Andy who asked me for a lift. When trying to refuse Rania tells him she only ships packages. It is then Andy pulls out documentation showing he is an object, with an owner. Having proved he is cargo, Rania reluctantly agrees to take him.

Now I'm a woman of the world. Particularly, the dungeon dweller one. I had wondered if this would be a bold way to talk about a more extreme version of BDSM play dynamics without demonising it and this quest did not disappoint me. I know, I'm as shocked as you are.

Andy's job is to be a sex toy for androids. Speaking about long held resentments in the android community about sex robots, some androids were reclaiming this past by having human escorts fulfil a similar role. Andy saw a niche and grabbed it with both hands. He was the legal property of his android mistress and told Rania such when she picked him up. Rania reacted in the stereotypical way, even considering taking him somewhere else to hide.

The really interesting thing about that is her behaviour was trying to override Andy's own consent to engage in this type of play. Now if you're a dungeon dweller like me, you know that's a big no no in these parts. RACK may be more risky (the clue is in the name - Risk Aware Consensual Kink) than Safe, Sane and Consensual but that just means that the processes involved for both parties are that more stringent.

Andy willingly consented to this dynamic. Both parties are fully aware of their roles and duties within their dynamic. There is a great deal of trust there, and that's what Rania seems to be overlooking. No one was being taken advantage of. No one was being abused. Everyone was exactly where they wanted to be and that is just dandy.

I understand that these riskier play situations can give people the Big Ick, especially amongst those of us who are traumatised. The BDSM community can be riddled with people out to use and hurt those without any perceived consequences and with TikTok sugar daddies ~(dry heaves)~ kink is definitely being used to scam vulnerable people and children out of money and into dangerous situations. However, this wasn't a situation like that. The person with the Ick was Rania, who had no right to impose her opinions on their dynamic.

As Andy says - sex work is work, and in a dystopian hellscape, I can think of worse things to be than a highly specialised escort. Especially in a role that seems to be negotiated and consented to by both parties. Rania's potential interference was not consented to. Really, she should mind her damn business.

It's this Ick and refusal to understand relationships like this that actually hurts everyone. The social taboo behind such activity stops us talking about it, stops us learning without specifically seeking the information out. If consent - and specifically consent in a BDSM context - was talked about more, maybe we'd get less teenagers wandering into situations they are simply not prepared for. Hell, some adults I know could do with a refresher on this.

Remember kids - no honorifics before you establish a dynamic, all play negotiated and consented to explicitly, and if it seems too good to be true? Run. You'll never regret running, but you might regret sticking around in a situation that could be unsafe. Trust your Auntie Indi on this one. Have fun, be safe, and I love you.