Hot Review on Rope Bondage story

Fulani’s done it again! I’m proud to tell you that his erotic rope bondage story  ‘Addicted to rope’ has another great review. BDSM Book Reviews’ Riane has this to say.

Addicted to Rope. Click to buy on Kindle

Here’s the summary of the story Riane kindly took the time to read.

Ruth’s work leaves no time for relationships. Traveling a lot and living in hotel rooms, her sex life revolves around one-night-stands. In a hotel bar, one night, she encounters a professional bondage rigger and maker of dungeon equipment. His occupation might be strange, but he’s more together and more interesting than most of the men she meets. When he offers her a challenge, she can’t resist it. And it leads her into an addiction to rope.

And Riane’s opinion?

Review:
Rope. Rope. Rope. I, personally, am fascinated by rope bondage. Shibari is something I’ve never tried but am extremely interested in. When I saw the name of this book, I knew immediately I had to read it.

Ruth is a driven professional woman, a corporate trainer to be exact. She relaxes by having one night stands with guys she picks up in the various cities she visits. While looking for a new sex partner, she meets Leo. When she learns he’s a professional rigger, she’s stunned but interested. He gives her a small taste of domination in the hotel bar and then they part ways with his room number and an offer for more if she’s interested. Since this is not the end of the book, you can guess she’s interested.

The book progresses rather quickly. She’s given an immediate introduction to ropes, and more. I was a bit surprised by the level things progressed to in the first scene. In real life, it generally takes a bit more time to build up the trust required to do some of those things. However, this is fantasy, and it was very hot.

This book is heavy sex, light plot. Not a bad thing, if that’s what you want in a read. I was hooked until Chapter 4, at which point the story took a bit of a turn for me. I like being able to place myself in the position of the female character when I read a story, but Ruth became obsessed. Obsessed not just with rope, but with becoming a “cheap whore” just for free instead of cheap. Instead of being a book I can sink into, it became more of a porn flick on paper… you can watch from a distance and enjoy it on a different level.’

If you want your very own copy of some sizzling hot erotic adult fiction so you can read the story again and again… you can buy it here. Or tell your friends about it. Just click to send to your network on any of the services listed below.

Karada! – bondage how-to no. 2 by Fulani

One of the best-known types of shibari – Japanese style bondage – is the ‘karada’. This is the well-known tie that creates a series of diamond patterns down your victim’s body. I have a series of thoughts about ‘shibari’, its history and influences, and other things but they’re best left for another post… this one just concentrates on the ‘how-to’ of this particular tie.

Sometimes described as a ‘rope dress’, it might more accurately be thought of as a rope corset. In essence it consists of a loop that sits over the shoulders, and two long strands that run down the front, between the legs, up the back, and then criss-cross around the torso. It gives a very strong sense of restriction, the knots can sit in sensitive places, and it looks good. There are many different ways to tie it and what’s shown here is a mix-and-match of two different techniques. Once you have the basics, a lot of experimentation and refinement is possible.

On the model shown, who is 5 feet 5, I used 10 metres of rope. On more ample-bodied women, 10-12 metres should work; on male subjects, 12-15 metres is likely to be needed. I’ve used 8mm diameter rope. Much thinner and it tends to cut into the skin. Much thicker and the knots become bulky. Yes, the model’s wearing a T-shirt – you’re supposed to be studying the ropes, not the tits! Sorry about that…

Figure 1

1. The first stage is the loop over the shoulders (Figure 1). At the back, the bottom of the loop sits above the shoulder blades. I’ve tied this off with a figure of eight knot because it won’t slip – it mustn’t move and cut into your model’s windpipe!

Figure 2

2. I put some ordinary overhand knots into the rope down the front of the body. These are easier than figure of eight knots to loosen and adjust to make them sit exactly where you want them (Figure 2). The close-up below shows both knots, the overhand on the left and the figure of eight on the right (Figure 3).

Figure 3

I haven’t put knots up the back (see later) but if you do, you will have to make sure they sit to one side of the spine. They become uncomfortable if they rub on vertebrae and can cause injury if you lay someone on their back.

By way of explanation, some purists will say you shouldn’t need to put any knots in the ropes other than the initial figure-of-eight and the reef knot that finishes the whole thing off. They may refer to historical sources that say the ties come from ways of holding prisoners and high-status prisoners would be demeaned or insulted if knots were used. Others may say the knots are useful because they create pressure on erotic pressure points (and you can refer to discussions of shiatsu massage or chakras to find out more about those). What I’m showing here is the front with knots and the back without – you can mix-and-match. Your milage may vary. Practice, experimentation and discussion with your sub should result in a style that suits you both.

Figure 4

3. The two tails go between the legs and up the back, then through the shoulder loop (I had the model hold the ends out of the way). You’ll see one knot sits between the legs – bear in mind as you tighten the ropes all the knots will move an inch or two upwards (Figure 4).

Figure 5

4. Next: those two tails go one under each arm and through the front part of the shoulder loop, then back to the ropes at the back, forwards again to make the first diamond (between the shoulder loop and the knot on the chest), return to the back, forwards again to make the second diamond shape and so on. As you do this the ropes down the front, between the legs and up the back begin to tighten interestingly (Figure 5).

Figure 6

5. There are several ways to do the back. You could disregard the ropes up the back and just take each end completely round the body working from one diamond to the next on the front. You could put knots up the back – but position them so they’re not on the spine – and make diamonds front and back. What I’ve done (Figure 6) is cross the ropes over. As you look at the back, the tail from the left loops around the right-hand vertical rope and vice versa. The result is a ‘woven’ set of diamonds, and you can do this at the front as well if you want to cut down on the number of knots.

I haven’t illustrated this, but tweaking the position of the ropes above and below the breasts can compress them in a way that feels good and looks perky and attractive – so-called ‘anime breasts’.

Figure 7

Figure 8

6. I’ve carried on winding the ropes until I have just enough left to tie a reef knot at the base of the spine, though I’ve tied this around some of the other ropes and wound the ends back into the other ropes just for the sake of tidiness (Figures 7, 8). The next photo in the sequence shows a side view of the finished karada (Figure 9). You’ll see at one point I decided to make a ‘diamond’ into a ‘hexagon’ by running ropes between two knots a second time. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t do this if it looks good.

Figure 9

7. So when someone’s wearing a karada, what can you do with them? The final picture (Figure 10) shows my model on the floor. The cushion at her chest is there to ease the pressure of the knots against her chest, but I’ve taken a second 10-metre rope, tied her hands, anchored the rope to the karada and run it around her ankles, then tied it off back next to the first anchor point. There are of course plenty of other possibilities…

Figure 10

After a while, if done right, your model will begin to find the ropes and knots pressing in ways they will find quite erotic. These feelings usually persist even after the ropes come off.

Perhaps obviously, the victim’s arms aren’t tied into the karada, hence the separate restraint. If you do tie their arms in and they’re fond of being escape artists, they’ll be able to reach the final knot and untie the ropes or shrug them off unless you do some other stuff I haven’t discussed here. Alternatively they’ll end up dragging ropes from around their upper arms over their shoulders and possibly even get them caught around their throat, which tends to be life-threatening… On the whole, a separate tie for the arms tends to be a better plan…

Safety issues. First, while the ropes need to be tight your model needs to be able to breathe. Experienced subs will almost automatically breathe in as ropes are tightened, to ensure that they’ll have room to fill their lungs when the ropes are tight. Inexperienced subs take note, and do likewise! Second, making someone lie on the knots can be very uncomfortable and potentially interfere with breathing – hence the cushion in the photo above. Never leave someone unattended when tied up; monitor them and have scissors handy. If you’re interested, the European Commission for the Prevention of Torture has criticised several European police forces and prison services for leaving prisoners face down and hogtied for periods of time, resulting in them suffocating because they couldn’t change position enough to breathe. If people experienced in the use of restraints can make such mistakes, they can happen in your bedroom too…

Third, be aware of any medical conditions your model has, and consider carefully if they are contra-indications for restrictive bondage. Low blood pressure or conditions that leave someone at risk of thrombosis would be examples. Always remember that people’s mileage will vary. The model in the photos is an experienced bondage bunny, was tied for about 20 minutes in the hogtie position and had pretty much reached her limit by that stage.

How you use your ropes and the conditions under which you use them are your own responsibility. We take no responsibility for any problems you encounter or injuries you cause. But on the other hand we hope you play safely and have fun!

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Photos for this piece are courtesy of Sintheticnation, a special effects and graphic design freelance (but the photos are real and unedited!). An earlier version of this piece appeared in a now-defunct magazine, Midlands Fetish Scene.

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Oh yeah – Fulani has published a couple of stories that revolve around, and describe, this kind of bondage. You might like Sex, Art and Aromatherapy, or Zen and the Art of Bondage, the latter in the Cocktales: Kiss in the Dark collection. Both published by Xcite.

Bondage how-to no. 1 – a useful bondage knot (by Fulani)

Velvet has a running joke that despite the amount of bondage I do, I still can’t tie my own shoelaces. It may not be entirely accurate, but it does make the point that you don’t have to know much in the way of knots to be effective at bondage. In fact, 99% of the time, you really only need to know one knot.

It has several technical names and may be familiar to people who ride horses or go rock climbing, since it’s sometimes used as a hitch-knot. However, when I first learned it, it was just called ‘the bondage knot’ and that’s good enough for me.

It’s based on the use of repeated loops, and it has one serious advantage for bondage work – done properly, it will neither loosen nor tighten up. Your sub remains secure, but at the same time the use of this knot avoids one of the main ways in which hands and feet can end up with their circulation cut off.

You can use the knot in almost all situations. The description below is based on one wrist, but with slight modifications it can be used on two wrists together, or a torso, as a tether around some suitable fixed point, etc.

If I’m using this to tie one wrist – for example so I can tie the wrist to a bedpost – I tend to use about three metres (ten feet) of rope. It’s always surprising how much rope you end up using once you start tying someone, and out of a three-metre lenth around one metre will be taken up in the tie itself and there will be two one-metre lengths left over you can use to secure the wrist to the bed, chair, rafter or whatever…

Figure 1

1. Find the mid-point of the rope, and double the rope. A lot of people, incidentally, make some kind of mark on the rope at the mid-point because almost all bondage relies on having the rope doubled. This is especially true of ‘Japanese’ bondage, or shibari (how much Japanese bondage is actually Japanese in origin is a whole other question and I may post about this some other time!). Place the mid-point on the wrist and bring both ends all the way – the same way – around the wrist and pull them through the loop. This gives you a basic hitch called a lark’s head (Figure 1).

Figure 2

2. Now bring the two strands back around the wrist the way they came.  There’s a loop of doubled rope formed where the two strands fed around the centre of the rope, and you put a loop of the strands through that (Figure 2).

Figure 3

3. Pull the ropes through about 6 inches/15 cm – and put another loop through the one you just made (Figure 3).

Figure 4

4. Finally, pull the whole remaining length of the rope through that last loop, and snug the knot down against the wrist (Figure 4).

If you’ve done all that properly you should have one wrist, four strands of rope around it, one biggish knot made of repeated loops and two ends that feed out of the knot from the same place. And if you give it a good tug, you should find it doesn’t tighten up.

I normally arrange the knot so it’s at the front of the wrist and the person who’s tied can close their fingers around the knot, which give them something to hang onto. Unless they have double-jointed fingers they won’t have the purchase on the rope to pull the loops loose.

If you’re tying two wrists together, the process is very slightly different. You tie the same knot, but around both wrists thather than just one, and do it loosely because your next move is to repeat the procedure on the loop of rope itself, between the wrists. Take the two ropes and feed a loop between them, feed a loop of the rope that’s left into the ‘tongue’ that sticks out, loop through that loop, the rest of the rope all the way through that. You should end up with the first set of loops around the wrists and the second set, between the wrists, cinching the first set tight.

While I’ve described this knot as if it’s going around a wrist, you can use it in most situations. The same knot – though obviously using rather more rope – is the basis of a tie that can go around the body. Once you know the knot, you’ll find plenty of ways you can use it.

And you should also find that once you pull the ends back through the last loop you made, the whole knot should unravel all the way back to the original lark’s head with one pull. This means it’s quick to get off when it needs to come off in a hurry.

Safety stuff

First, keep the knots off the wrist pulse and base of the thumb, because pressure there will make the hands numb quite quickly.

Second, do a ‘pinky test’. If you can’t slide your little finger underneath the ropes, they’re too tight (though obviously if you can get much more than that underneath the rope your captive is going to pull free quite quickly).

Third, have scissors handy. In an emergency, it’s better to lose a few pounds’ or dollars’ worth of rope than have someone struggling with permanent nerve damage.  I don’t know anyone who does bondage who doesn’t have scissors in their kit bag, and most pharmacies sell useful bandage scissors with sharp blades and blunt ends.

Fourth, check for circulation every 5-10 minutes. There are several ways to do this. Unless you’ve gagged someone they can probably tell you they’re losing feeling in their hands. Other tests include: put a finger in the captive’s hand and ask them if they can grip it (if they can’t, they need out); squeeze the end of a finger, which should go white, and make sure colour returns when you take the pressure off; stroke the inside of their thumb and ask if they can feel it. If you have someone’s hands above their head do this rigorously because by elevating their hands you’re reducing the blood supply to start with, and pressure on the ropes will reduce blood supply further. And while people may get pins and needles as circulation returns when they’re released from bondage, a feeling of pins and needles while tied up is a clear indicator of pressure on nerves. Release them straight away!

By way of a disclaimer, I should point out that like most things in life, your knot-work will improve with practice. I regularly use this knot on one wrist, invite people to suspend my full body weight on that one wrist, and then show them that (a) it hasn’t tightened and (b) I have no bruising. However, telling you how to do a knot doesn’t mean I have any control over how you use it and if you have (or cause!) any problems I’m not going to take any responsibility for them. There are no substitutes for knowing your sub, being aware of any medical or other problems that may be an issue for bondage, and using a modicum of common sense…

But that said – have fun!

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Text by Fulani. Illustrations courtesy of SintheticNation. Text and pics first appeared in a now-defunct fetish magazine, Midlands Fetish Scene, several years ago.

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If you found this item useful or interesting, you may also like the following stories by Fulani which include some technical descriptions of bondage ties:

Sex, art and aromatherapy, by Fulani. Xcite Books

‘Zen and the Art of Bondage’, by Fulani, in the Cocktales: Kiss in the Dark collection. Xcite Books

Bondage – Why do People do it? Plus safety tips.

Have you ever wondered why people allow themselves to be tied up, dominated by another person, male or female? Is it something that you’d like to try or appeals to you but you’re too scared to give it a go? Or maybe you think that anyone who does do this must be mad.

Fulani and I have been asked many times ‘what’s it like to be trussed up like that?’ and ‘why do you like it?’ The answers aren’t simple, and won’t be the same of course for everyone. But for me the whole thing started with simple curiosity and a tendency to like the strange and different. I went to a fetish ball, met some friendly people who invited me to another event, and after going to several and seeing Fulani tie other people up while taking great care over their safety decided to ‘have a go.’ Yes, right there in the club. The advantage to this was that I asked the friend I’d attendedwith to keep an eye on me, so I felt very safe.

The result was unexpected and the start of some new fun in my life. I found myself relaxing and eventually zoning out while trussed up. The feel of the rope around you is not only quite sexy but quite comforting. I feel secure, safe and totally not in control. Of course, you can only feel safe and not in control when the person who is doing the bondage can be trusted. Obviously Fulani and I got on really well, and met up again many times at events. Eventually I felt safe enough with him to start seeing him in private. Now we are a couple.

If bondage is something you’d like to try, I’d recommend going to a fetish club initially. There are some very good ‘doms’ and some who think they are good but aren’t. Take your time to get to know people. Make friends. Watch how they play with other people. If you fancy playing with someone, it may be a good idea to ask the ‘dungeon monitor’ who is likely to know many of the people at the event. Tell them you’re new. Tell them you’re inexperienced. Don’t be shy. One of the best way to make sure you are safe is to lay your cards on the table and take advice from more experienced people. I’ve found that there is always someone at these events who is willing to help a newcomer. Use your instinct, too. I avoided one man like the plague at three separate events, only to find out he is not the best at respecting a subs wishes, so was right to avoid him.

Always remember that the sensation or feeling of being out of control is not the same as actually being out of control. YOU, as the sub, are in charge. YOU say when it all stops or when you are released if you’re bound. The dom only controls you for as long as you let them. Ultimately, this play is about power exchange. You give the control over to your dom, complete with an understanding of your limits, and he/she gets to behave as if they own you for a while, hopefully giving YOU a good time. He gets his enjoyment out of being control of you.

So if you are thinking of giving something new a try, just do it in a safe environment and don’t be afraid to speak out if you don’t like it. This is not a situation to keep quiet and end up feeling abused. Clear communication is paramount in fetish. Only you can decide what’s right for you. A good dom will listen and act on your feelings.