This is a glossary of common terms used in the cultplay community, a BDSM community originating in countercultural movements during the civil war. While occultism and eldritch horror have long been sexually fetishized, the specific domination and roleplay dynamics and terms which cultplay typically uses are a newer innovation. Please see our generic BDSM glossary for more standard BDSM terms.
Potentially relevant cultplay terms are as follows:
Ace of Stars: A term for kinky asexuals in the cultplay community, aces of stars are typically interested in acts of worship, magic, service, and the like rather than overt sex, though some certainly are fine with it. As the cultplay community is one of the more convoluted kink communities and has many options for those uninterested in intercourse, it has a strong asexual community.
Angelplay: Sort of the opposite of Devilry, Angelplay involves play with angels and those possessed or "possessed" by angels. Often overlaps with faithplay.
Atompilz Division: A genocidal neo-Nazi terror organization that worked under the infamous Christian Republic. A subset of Atompilz types known as the Brotherhood of the Ascended Masters were Satanists who drew heavily from Theosophy, and while neither the Christian Republic or Atompilz had much of a chance at winning the civil war, they were known for their atrocities. It was the R'lyeh seasteading disaster and the attempt by Thorin Calvert of the Ascended Masters to market himself as a cultplayer that started the Realignment.
Avatar: One who is being possessed by an occult entity. This can be entirely a matter of roleplay, though some occultists in the community may take this more seriously than one might think. One of the typical dom archetypes in cultplay, the other being the cult leader.
Azathottery: Contrast to Cthulhurotica, a once-derogatory term for those who simply aped the aesthetics of cultplay without respect for the literature, mythology, or magick underpinning it. This was the more popular form of cultplay used by sex workers during the civil war, and continues to be popular among non-WR sex workers and those who produce erotic art for labor vouchers. Typically heavily anime-influenced, Azathottery often comes from a very different place than the core Cthulhurotica community. However, a new wave of Socialist Azathottery in the Worldwide Council Republic of Socialists has challenged existing stereotypes, creating vibrant fantasies, new looks, and elaborate settings. While those of us who prefer to wear flapper dresses and leather detective coats might look down upon the Azathots, it is increasingly hard to call them lazy.
Call of Cthulhu Mature LARPing: A euphemism for some dizzyingly elaborate cultplay sessions disguised as live-action roleplaying sessions, "MaLARPing" can be anything from an impromptu sideshow during a standard LARP to entire days-long sessions of dazzlingly blasphemous fun.
Cthulhurotica: Typically originating from more academically inclined communities, Cthulhurotica specifically refers to cultplay done with respect for occult and occult literary traditions. Cthulhurotica is so named due to the supposed propensity of those who participate in it to "play a lot of Call of Cthulhu", an RPG produced by the company Chaosium in Japan. Cthulhurotics may participate in chaos magic, do great research into their symbolism of choice, or genuinely be practicing occultists.
Cult: An association of cultplayers typically oriented around the worship of a single dominant.
Devilry: The practice of including devil worship or demonic possession into kink. Devilry can range from teasing (and, rarely for cultplay, potentially submissive) imps to generic demon kings and queens all the way to painstakingly accurate role-play and "authentic" possessions of entities from the Ars Goetia.
Dominant/"Dom"/"Domme" (Cultplay): The participant in cultplay who takes on an authoritative, controlling role and leads the scene, roleplay, or ritual. Typically, this is the person who has entered inhumanity or who is the head of the cult or coven.
Erisianism: The practice of worshipping or pretending to worship Eris, goddess of chaos and discord. Erisianism centers around the creation of an Erisian Avatar, a person who either gets into the headspace of the goddess of discord or who believes they are possessed by said goddess. Elements of Discordianism, a joke religion that is also an actual religion, are often also integrated, and while Erisianism overlaps heavily with Cthulhurotica, its less "scary" appearance and more relaxed mindset have given it a certain niche.
Falling: The act in angelplay of attempting to get the avatar of an angel to make some great lusty moral compromise, thus making that angel "fallen" within the roleplay. For obvious reasons, this is almost always just roleplay and has no "real" occultist equivalent.
Femboy Imp: The most common form of the rare "submissive Avatar", a Femboy Imp is a fairly memetic way to describe a specific archetype of an androgyne demonic male, typically an oversexed and playful one.
Hospitality: The presence of providing consistent service—sexual or otherwise—to an avatar in one's home. This can last for a mere hour to entire months: essentially as long as the dom can maintain their inhumanity and the sub wishes for it to continue. This is often a softer or more romantic form of cultplay.
Inhumanity: The equivalent to things like subspace, inhumanity is the state of mind in which one is fully inhuman and beyond human, a headspace of great power, confidence, and low-level madness. Typically the result of a willing possession, found in an avatar. It may require hypnosis or being "psyched into" this headspace, though some can enter it easily.
Kink Abuse/Mass Kink Abuse: A term coined by the mainstream BDSM community but used most in the cultplay community. A "kink abuser" is an abusive personality who happens to be into kink or uses kink as a justification for abuse, and "kink abuse" is a form of abuse done with the aesthetics of kink. The term "Mass Kink Abuser" or "MKA" gained most common use in the cultplay community as a term used in place of "cult leader", which is a more positive term within the cultplay community.
Lovecraft, Howard Phillips: Known author of 1920s and 1930s horror fiction, also known for his infamous racism and anxiety. While his works are masterpieces and much of the basis of the cultplay community, they also do have these extreme biases.
Marking: An avatar may mark their submissive/cultist/follower with a symbol such as a pentacle or Elder Sign underneath their clothes, thus reminding their submissive that they are owned throughout the day. Especially dedicated submissives may even get these marks tattooed.
Oviposition: The kink of laying eggs, typically done with an ovipositor device which implants jelly eggs into one's vagina to be laid at a later date. This can be done to help maintain the aesthetic of inhumanity, or simply for its own sake.
Paganplay: An extremely niche form of cultplay involving historical pagan and neopagan dieties and concepts, such as Norse seidhr magic.
Possession Polycule: A relationship between two or more partners in which one partner is frequently possessed and turned into an Avatar, with the relationship being considered between three parties. This can often be much softer and homier than you would expect, and while most examples are mere extended roleplay there are UPG examples of said possession.
Prohibition Fashion: The fetishized, Hollywoodized-equivalent of 1920s fashion to have come out of the Cthulhurotica community, typically known for ties, smart hats, fringed flapper dresses, dangling jewelry, and so on. A fairly uncommon aesthetic, but one that's gotten some notice due to revolutionary connotations that have been added to it. Only somewhat related to cultplay at this point.
Realignment: The process of ostracizing abusive or reactionary members of the cultplay community, such as cult leaders in the NXIVM sense rather than the mystery cult sense or Atompilz Satanists.
Ritual: The practice of roleplaying out or genuinely participating in Magick. This may include implements such as candles, altars, statuettes of gods, symbols, offerings, libations, or the like. It may also include more sexual tools, such as tentacle dildos, dripping wax, handjobs with excessive lube, blindfolds, or rope bondage.
Sacrifice: Something given up to appease a demon, Outer God, or other occult entity. Typically cum or orgasmic pleasure are used, though mock human sacrifice scenes and rare bloodplay are not unheard of.
Technohorror: A sort of mix of drone fetishes and cultplay. A Technohorror is a dominant in the style of a drone, though one whose mechanical thought processes are based not on conformity and subjugation but on dominating others. If drones are into being the Borg, Technohorrors want to be a hotter version of Skynet. Extremely niche, but a growing community.
Unverified Personal Gnosis: A term for a supernatural event happening that cannot be corroborated by scientific evidence or religious tradition. The term originates from neopagan and Magickal communities, and is more or less a way to say "What you believe happened to you is your choice, but I don't have to include that in my worldview".
Verified Personal Gnosis: A supernatural event that can be corroborated by scholarly evidence or religious tradition.
Wannabe Novelists: Though cultplayers are often the excessively creative sort, there are some cultplayers who are so dedicated to occultism or creative roleplaying that they seem almost less interested in the actual kink play. Though it started as a derogatory term, it nonetheless picked up steam as a term of self-identification during the Realignment.
