#tickle memory

To be completely honest with you, I'm not really sure! The earliest memory I can think of is when various kids shows I watched contained tickle scenes. I was probably around 6 when I noticed these scenes. Whenever they would come up, I would feel embarrassed and go to another room. If the scenes featured any of the tickle teases, I'd cover my face and hope my parents wouldn't hear it. I still can't for the life of me figure out why those scenes made me flustered as a kid, and they still do. Even just the word 'tickle' gets me embarrassed.

So as some of you ProbablyNotGuy fans (I KNOW YOU’RE OUT THERE) may recall, I went on a date a few weeks ago with tickles involved! I figured I’d dive into more detail.

We met on Hinge and had our first date--she was pretty cute, we had some stuff in common, and she wanted to see me again! Which was nice because I also wanted to see her again.

She had an unusual work schedule so we had to wait awhile for date #2. During this time we had some playful banter, including talking about our respective Mario Kart skills. I brought up a friend of mine had lost in a Mario Kart race due to her boyfriend tickling her (shout out to my friend, you’re a real one). This girl I’m chatting to says “Interference! >:(” Eyebrow: raised.

So I flaunt my Mario Kart skills, saying that while that’s a good tactic to use it’s not one I find necessary since I’m so good. After some small banter about it and how she denies my skills, she claimed she’d have to judge for herself. I responded by telling her that I won’t need to tickle her to win, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do it just in case. She said “Sure we’ll see about that...” The game is on.

We end up having our second date at a bar-arcade hybrid. We take turns playing the games, occasionally playing a 2-player one if needed. Sometimes as she was playing, and at some points nearing my high scores in Ms. Pac-Man or pinball, I would just poke at or pinch her side. Sometimes she would squirm just a tad, other times she stood there. Not sure if successful.

I know at one point I horribly lost at a pinball machine and she teased me, saying that even SHE got beyond the point I did. I reached out and spider tickled a bit at her tummy which did cause her to laugh and squirm a bit.

I sat next to a guy in geography class each day in our seating arrangement for the year when I was 16-17, he was cool. One time I was copying something off a sheet of paper that belonged to him, he wanted it back before I was done with it, he began to pull it towards him and I hung onto it and we grappled for a bit tugging it back and forth. He poked me in the side.

Y'all

Side pokes are an illegal move in combat, Queensbury rules 4.38 from the boxing association. Also unfair military tactics. Also you can't just get someone's sides bc you're losing tug of war like hello??

I fucking slammed my elbow down immediately to protect my vulnerable sides, banging it onto the desk with a very loud clattering noise that echoed across the classroom

So then my arm hurt, he was laughing at me in surprise at my reaction, and others were looking at us (thankfully this wasn't silent study time or anything, they probably just looked over at the smash noise, but in the moment it felt like everyone was staring at me and noticing meee

I had also hung onto the paper this whole time when I flinched back violently, I'm surprised it didn't rip

He was laughing at me and in my flustered panic I told him shush up. Then he said "I didn't know you were ticklish" then he RAISED his VOICE and said "Squish is ticklish!"

I could have thrown him out the second storey window, my panic. He didn't know what that sort of teasing would do to me.

Another friend of ours walked up to our desk, and he said AGAIN "Squish is ticklish". Just to let friend know

I think about that sometimes. Mostly just the fact that the sheer swooping panic-type feeling I was feeling wasn't true anxiety panic. It wasn't the most ideal circumstances, but it was still so something something I'm out of words the end

We had science class together and that class was a shambles, complete waste of time, was a good time to have a nap between other classes, other kids were burning things in the bunsen burners and stuff like that. Which means there wasn't a lot of supervision

We had banters back and forth. He also used to do this thing where he would pat the top of my head (to emphasise that he was much taller than me).

But back to the point, the main best worst thing he'd do to put me in my place when I made fun of him too much was squeeze the back of my neck. That's all he had to do. And I would react uncontrollably every time. I would forcibly lurch forward and squeal, no matter how inappropriate the setting was for that, it was completely involuntary. I'd often hit him afterward, but the damage was already DONE to me

I remember one specific time we were standing around in the classroom and he was coming at me to touch my neck, I knew he was going to do it, I was covering my neck with both hands and backing away desperately keeping my fkn eyes ON him like the prey I was, and he said "Look at how scared you are!" in a playful tone. Probably because I was staring at him like a deer in headlights.