the emotional crash after a scene is always going to happen no matter how well the scene went, going from high-intensity play to nothing so suddenly is going to put your brain into whiplash.

and that emotional crash acts as a negative reinforcer, right? it's like dog training, if kink scenes are always followed by a negative stimulus then kink scenes start becoming mentally synonymized with the emotional crash, which makes them less fun for everyone.

so a big point (though not the only point) of aftercare generally is to avoid this fate. by making the end of a scene be filled with care and cuddles and discussions and genuine out-of-kayfabe love, it acts as a positive reinforcer, making scenes generally feel more happy and positive, even when they hit intense territory, even when something goes wrong and someone has to safeword abruptly.

chocolate, then, aids this. mental reinforcement is strengthened by how soon the reward is given after the cue, and things like conversations or cuddles take a bit to feel good properly, especially if someone can't cuddle from scene injuries. chocolate can be applied immediately, tastes good immediately, and also has enough carbs to raise energy levels in the medium term.

in our household we have a specific kind of chocolate we get from ikea to use for this purpose, and just directly call it "aftercare chocolate." it helps conditioned responses to not give mixed signals by using something you don't use much in other environments, so having a special kind of chocolate set aside for just that makes the effect stronger.

ID credit: 604121679 on 小红书

Vicke Lindstrand for Kosta