During the thread about application fees a couple of weeks ago I changed my opinion on it, realizing that approach is also good for the safety and piece of mind of the Mistresses when meeting a sub for the first time. The wise Domina M made this comment: "I remember the events of 2008 and literally why I left New York."

Also a couple of weeks ago I visited fetlife. I'm far from active, but sometimes if nostalgia hits me I'll check to see if someone I knew years ago might be active. Around a year ago I reached out to a Mistress I was a regular with years ago, just to see how she was doing. She answered my message, still plays a bit, but moved out of the city years ago. We have exchanged messages, talking about old times, but it hit me: the last time I saw her was 2001 at a dungeon. Yesterday I realized with Domina M's comment the last time I sessioned at a dungeon could have been (gulp) a couple of years before 2008, when NYPD raided several locations. I vaguely remember the raids. By that point I began seeing dominant female bodybuilders that offer kink, and independent dominas that did tours to the city. It's funny how nostalgia clouds memories.

So yesterday I went online to see if Black 'N Blue, DDI and others were online. They are, for sale, old copies from the late '90s or '00, '01. I saw ads for Arena Blaze and other closed dungeons, plus ads for at least four Mistresses I saw regularly... 25 years ago! Three of the four are retired. One is the Mistress who just got in touch with me.

The point of my story is that sometimes something that happened a long time ago seems like yesterday, except when you are reminded with pictures and stories that it happened a long time ago. (And I'm reminded of years when I get up with occasional aches and pains in the AM.) The scene, from what I read here and other sites, is very different than my memories of it.

I'll keep all of this in mind the next time something is posted here about on application fees, deposits, ID checks, etc. that seem to be vital today, and I feel the need to comment on today's scene.

I had a similar reaction. I remember sessioning at Rebecca’s Hidden Chamber about a year or so before the raids.

Things certainly change whether for better or worse is subjective I suppose. I remember my first few sessions I arranged by gasp calling on a telephone.

That's when I was there, right around 2008, with a Mistress named Victoria. To prove that nostalgia clouds memories, in reading your response I recall my last dungeon session was slightly more than a decade ago at Pandora's Box. It was with an independent who broke in with my original Mistress back in the '90s and suggested that dungeon. Our session was okay, nice... which in this scene are backhanded compliments at best. (She probably felt the same way about me, if that.)

I sessioned at RHC with a Mistress Haley. Was a quite fun session. I mostly remember she punched me in the balls with an uppercut I wasn’t expecting which to this day is I think the hardest I’ve ever been hit. I remember dropping to the ground and being so overwhelmed with pain I didn’t even think to safeword. I just tried to crawl away from her so she couldn’t hit me again. Luckily for me she was laughing to hard to chase me.

I also remember when I left, she wanted to knee me while all the Mistresses in the back watched on the camera and then push me into the elevator. I said no, which I very much regret.

I’d pay good money JB to watch some of your old sessions from back in the day!

Funny what memories stick with you. Good times for sure!!

I was struggling at first to work out what you meant about the events of 2008, and then I remembered that that was the year that I last session at an NYC dungeon, Rapture, which was also raided and shut down.

It's fun to go down the nostalgia rabbit hole: I have unforgettable memories of sessions at Angel Stern's, Arena Blaze, L'Oiel Cache, and my favorite, Paradise Lost.

Neat trip down memory lane and going down the rabbit hole. Who did you session with along the way at these wonderful places?

I'm not Jupiter Lake but inevitably get drawn into these memory-lane type posts. Of the houses you mentioned that I sessioned at...

Angel Stern's: the all-time great Veronika, Lady Helena and a tall blonde German mistress named Hildegard were my favorites there. Interesting one-off sessions with Intensity and the infamous Nia, and a couple of sessions with Robin Byron.

Paradise Lost: A good session with a mistress named Olivia, who I don't think was around for very long. (Not the Olivia from Hidden Chamber.) And then a very good session with Velvet, who went on to work at other houses.

L'Oeil Cache: Only made it there at the very end and had sessions with Nadia and Scarlett Cross.

Most of the above sessions were booked on an hour's notice. Different times!