Fox and Mya (in slightly giddy form) discuss the ball tie, which is where you tie your bottom into a ball - or as close equivalent as possible! In the episode they discuss the variations and ways you can do it, the functions, safety and risks and what it feels like.

They also share a number of examples of scenes where they’ve used the tie, and how it worked for them. Check it out now and try the tie!

Cats-Pajamas, who is primarily a rope bottom, runs a munch in Malaysia with her partner, KitKatKen, and came to us with a potentially controversial topic.

She’s been thinking about the needs of rope tops and whether in the current climate where there is a great deal of focus on rope bottoms, the needs of rope tops are becoming invisible, and whether we’re truly treating our rope tops as humans rather than rope dispensers.

Fox and Mya talk with her about

* The consequences of bottoms being passive and the expectation being more focused on tops

* How we can use negotiation better to cover the needs of both parties

* Whether we should focus more on what the bottom can do for the top, as well as the other way round

* Making sure the bottom isn’t passive, but takes responsibility engages with the rope and the top

* The load on tops and how bottoms can share this

* The challenge of giving feedback versus ‘topping from the bottom’

* Fox’s experience of this as a rope top and the question only one new rope bottom has asked him

Mya shares a rope erotica piece inspired by her play with Fox. Contains Ichinawa, D/s, choking and rough body play.

(If you’ve ever wanted to know what it was like to be choked unconscious* while doing Ichinawa, now’s your chance :) ) .

*Don’t try this at home kids without training and experience!

Fox and Mya interview @Jake_Wing about his view on the changing nature of the rope bondage scene, the influences he’s seen come and go, the Austin rope scene, and his most memorable experiences with rope.

Listen to this interview to hear Jake’s thoughts on:

* Dark rope versus friendly rope

* Chinese Rope Bondage and how Jake was influenced by Bruce Lee

* Eastern versus Western Rope Bondage and how they’ve mixed over time

* Where rope fits in the wider BDSM community

* What’s changed the most in rope bondage over time

* Accessibility, consent and what the rope community needs to figure out next

* The two most important things riggers need to pay attention to

And much more!

Jake’s been in the scene for many years, and ran a bondage website in the early days of the internet from 2000 with his wife. He’s taught at a number of venues, including Ropecraft, and is one of the team who run the Austin Rope Slingers, Texas, USA.

Fox and Mya had a busy week hosting three rope events in a week. They had a great time, but all wasn’t plain sailing - listen to this week’s episode to hear their discussion of what it’s like to put on rope events, what happened, and their practical suggestions on how you might put on a rope event yourself.

In the episode they discuss:

* What kinds of rope events are there, and how does the name affect the audience?

* Why might you want to run rope events?

* What are the benefits/challenges you might encounter?

* Practicalities like logistics, cost, risk, liabilities, handling cancellations, legalities etc.

* Tips to make your life easier as an event organizer

* The fun versus work ratio

And discover if it was all worth it for them!

Fox and Mya discuss what makes a good rope scene from the bottom’s point of view, considering the many aspects that could make a scene ‘good’ - whilst acknowledging bottoms are different and the mix that makes up good for one person might be different for another.

Mya, as the bottom/bunny in the rope partnership, shares her own experience as a bottom as a practical case study (including what makes good sex in a rope scene), and shares the top few things that make a scene great for her. In addition they discuss:

* The difference between process-orientated and outcome-orientated bottoms and why it’s important

* Questions for tops to ask their bottoms to help them understand what a good scene might look like for them

* How to make sure the scene is good for the bottom before the scene even starts

* What a top might ask or look for to make sure the scene is going well for the bottom

Click the links below to listen now!

Note: We’re not ignoring tops and what makes a scene successful for them, we’ll cover this in a later episode :)

We interview @Pyth01 and GuiltySmile, the founders of Singapore Rope Studio ‘0101 Studio’. The D/s couple studied at Anatomie studio in London for four years, and when they moved to Singapore, decided to open up their own space for rope jams and practice.

Listen to this interview to hear about:

* The challenges and rewards of setting up a new studio

* Integrating into a rope community successfully

* Attracting new people to rope

* Visiting riggers and rope people

* Silly rope!

* The differences they’ve seen between European and South-East Asian rope communities

And a lot more!

If you’re flying through or visiting Singapore, they’d love to see you at Studio 1010. Let us know how it goes.

Fox and Mya often get asked by listeners how to come up with ideas for rope scenes. In this episode, they discuss how to find sources of inspiration for rope scenes, and Fox generates some ideas on the fly to show how you could do it. He discusses his own creative process for rope scenes, and the building blocks that he uses. The rope team share plenty of ideas to get your own creative juices flowing, and to make sure you never run out of new ways to do rope.

Fox and Mya discuss the marks on their bodies bottoms might get when doing rope bondage. They discuss:

* Factors that might create marks on different bodies

* The various kinds of marks you might get in rope bondage play

* Mark envy

* How we might cause marks intentionally and by mistake

* How the bottom and the top might feel about the marks

* How to treat the marks

Fox and Mya discuss the Hip Harness, a fundamental of suspension and usually one of the earliest suspension ties rope tops learn. It’s a very versatile tie that can be used in a large variety of ways.

The episode includes discussion of shape, function, variations, difficulty level, safety and risk of the hip harness, what it feels like for the bottom, as well as some ways it can be used in suspensions or even floor work. Fox and Mya also discuss scenes where they have used the tie.