Gooning is a form of ecstatic trance. Most people only know gooning from porn and think it’s about making silly faces. That’s like trying to understand the taste of a chocolate cake from looking at a picture; you can’t understand it until you bite it.
At its core, gooning is a state of pure reaction to stimulus, of unfiltered feedback where sexual energy is exchanged unmodified and instinctively.
MISCONCEPTIONS
Gooning with someone is exchanging joy and pleasure in a way so palpable you can almost grab it. It’s fucking insane, and it works even over cam!
Gooning is letting your body express sexual pleasure in whatever way it wants. It might not look the way you expect: some people’s eyes roll back, others start giggling or trembling, some start talking nonstop while others become completely mute. Tons of people goon and don’t realize it. Becoming aware of it allows you to extend it and go deeper.
To dispel some myths: it is not “an extreme form of edging” that takes hours, with practice you can snap right in. It absolutely does not require porn. It can be done sober; weed and poppers are common because they basically walk you up the front door and push you in, but they’re not necessary, especially once you have experience.
SO FUCKING DUMB
Gooning is a practice. Gooners use different mechanisms to get to the goon state, but one thing is common: gooning is fucking stupid. It’s silly and fun, it’s playful. It’s dumb as fuck.
Silliness and play are next-door neighbors to joy and pleasure —maybe even roommates— both in sensation and neurochemically. Dumb is a type of embodiment that nudges us away from analysis and into feeling. Smiling is encouraging and makes others feel at ease. Doing it in a group helps keep everyone’s attention away from how they’re being perceived and focused on feeling and expressing pleasure.
AN APPEAL
As a final note, an appeal to my fellow gooners: We each have our ways into our beloved trance. The same way meth ravages our communities, ideas of addiction are putting many of ours at risk of isolation and decay. Let’s take care of each other. I hope this helps at least one person shift to methods that don’t endanger them and instead help them connect to others and build community.
SPECTRUM OF GOONING
I’ve been online bating for 15 years, aware I was gooning for 8 and actively engaged in trying to understand it for 5. After joining Bator Bro in the last 2 years I’ve been frequently gooning in person with different kinds of people, environments and countries. I’ve come to differentiate three different styles, or schools, of gooners.
They overlap but most gooners seem to fall somewhere on this spectrum:
This is meant to be shown left to right as shown on the zine. Art by Camilo Salamanca (@vilnotvile on Twitter and IG).
Porn
gooners
Gooning exclusively from porn. Mainstream archetype of a gooner, self-confessed “porn addict”. Bonds by sharing porn with other porn gooners. Language fetichising the extent of their submission to porn as their Dom and how much control it has over them.
BODY.
Sensory overload primarily, through Gooning porn. Proprioception — facial expressions, poses.
Focused attention on the video’s visual and auditory loops.
MIND.
Use of weed and poppers. Rarely meth and GHB.
IDEAS.
Submission through ideas of inferiority and addiction —loserbator, “chronic bator”, “addicted to porn”.
Endurance —“bate all day every day, don’t stop bating”.
Embodiment — imitating “a gooner”.
bateworld
gooners
Gooning mostly from cam and porn. Mix of discreet/DL and “proud bators”. Occasionally attend house bates or jack-off clubs. Bates with others, but centered on individual experience. Language focused on fetishing masturbation, masculinity and penis.
BODY.
Heavily focused attention on Auditory (bate sounds, coaching) and Visuals — visual fetish. Proprioception — gooning face and poses.
Looping — bator babble and repetitive motion.
MIND.
Common use of weed and poppers.
IDEAS.
Self-affirmation loops — bro coaching, encouragement, compliments. Submission — “chronic/addicted”, more dominant coaching styles. Embodiment —“monkey, beast, bull”. Endurance — “don’t/can’t stop bating”.
Sensual
gooners
Gooning mostly through in-person play. Mix of friendly kinksters and tantra/yoga types. Don’t identify as gooners, strong body awareness. Searching for sober, intimate and connected spaces. Language focused on pleasure, joy and emotions. Expressive body language. Few words.
BODY.
Focused attention on auditory (moans), tactile — lots of body contact, rubbing, kissing. Often Smell and taste driven.
MIND.
More sober-leaning, occasional weed. Some use psychedelics occasionally. Breathing patterns for cum control.
IDEAS.
Mostly run on affirmation from tactile and visual feedback.
Embodiment, less common — being milked ‘like a bull’.
Footnotes
This piece is the second half, it goes after What is Ecstatic Trance?
This framework comes from looking at different types of gooners and trying to understand how each of them did what they did. The framework comes directly from observing these differences.
Further Resources
“Bator’s Journey #37: Explore Gooning” on Bator Bro Radio.
The essays on gooning I’ve been writing alonside each zine issue.
JV Marx’s Notes on Gooning for Sensitive Content Mag.
Joshua Schrei’s The Emerald podcast episode “How Trance States Shape the World”.
Alex Sloan’s paper The Many Faces of Ecstasy on his linktree and or by clicking here.