Emily Post never prepared us for the Internet. Mom never explained how to download a picture of a woman wearing a strap-on and dad never explained why it's rude to hack into the Pentagon's database. Yet somehow here we are jacked in and begging for more. More speed, more bandwidth, more naked ladies, more saucy chat... and more discipline.
It wasn't too long ago that searching for a Domina or Mistress on the Internet brought up a very short list, indeed. Now you'll pull up 257 choices on Yahoo alone after using the keyword "Mistress." Keep searching and you'll find that there are Dominas working alone or in shared dungeons; strippers, escorts and lingerie models willing to play S/M games with varying degrees of safety and proficiency; amateurs with chat room experience but nothing more; and established members of local and national leather organizations, all with websites enticing you to join them. But you'll only find one Mistress Valkris.
Located in the cool, frequently cloudy and always beautiful Pacific Northwest, Mistress Valkris trains well-mannered submissives in her dungeon in Portland, Oregon. But word of her power, might, intelligence and stunning good looks reaches far beyond state lines due to her website and domain name, valkris.com.
Half her professional career ago, Mistress Valkris became an Internet presence. Originally hosted by an appreciative submissive wannabe, Valkris now manages her own site and exercises greater creative control. Her site includes more than merely images and basic contact information. You'll also find a quick guide to S/M etiquette and a slave application. Both provide submissive hopefuls with information about what is expected of them if they want to be properly trained. The documents also pass on valuable knowledge to Mistress Valkris so she can evaluate her supplicants' appeals for sessions and customize their training according to their needs. Perhaps most importantly, the guide and application form send out a clear message to readers about what they can and can not expect from the Mistress' training and what she expects in return from them.
Approximately half of the clients who discover Mistress Valkris via the Web send her e-mail instead of phoning. "And some people are very good and fill out the slave application. That means they really get it. "It's wonderful when that happens because it cuts out a couple more steps," Valkris explains. As one would imagine, clients who can obey simple online instructions and are courteous are more likely to have their appeals favorably received.
Courtesy is something frequently lost in the fast pace of Internet communication. Yet it is vital to the health of any fetish, B/D or S/M relationship, professional or otherwise. It is especially vital in a relationship that requires respectful submission to a dominant Mistress. Etiquette guides such as the one prepared by Mistress Valkris serve as a gentle reminder to the novice, the poorly trained submissive and the experienced reader alike that although the technology has changed, and it is easier to contact like-minded adults, the basic tenants of the leather community have not.
Valkris, the 1998 Ms. NLA-Portland title-holder was recently accepted into a local funeral services program and, as well as blessing her clients with top-notch instruction of her own, works at a mausoleum and takes classes in funeral science law, anatomy, physiology and accounting. "I imagine I'm going to get some great scene ideas from this," she says with a laugh. Currently, however, she's especially interested in rope bondage and clothespins and has a fondness for mummification. "It seems like when they're mummified they're in a cocoon. I'm putting them in a cocoon and pulling out the parts I want to torture. When I cut it open, it's like they've gone through this wonderful metamorphosis."
Those supplicants hoping to receive face-to-face or e-mail training and experience a new beginning, and anyone else interested in learning more about Portland's Mistress Valkris can visit her website at www.valkris.com .
