Making a Mess of Things with Bondagious and Thumper

We are so pleased to welcome Bondagious and Thumper (Montreal) to VoxBody for this suspension-level class! Join us on October 2 for Making a Mess of Things — dynamic destruction and sensational sadism

** Read below for description and details, you are going to want to the right props and materials to have some fun in this class!!! **

Looking for ways to turn up the heat in your rope scenes? Keep your clothes on!

Ordinary items from your closet can lend exciting layers of restraint and support in your ties. Use the structured elements of clothing in sensual ways to increase intimacy and build erotic energy: an unbuttoned shirt, a lifted skirt, an open fly… You may be surprised by how exposed you look and feel while still being mostly dressed.

Clothing is often strongly tied to our feelings of security: identity, autonomy, comfort, protection. In this guided lab we will deliberately destabilize our partners using tactics of destruction, desecration, and straight out meanness by layering intensity in static and dynamic suspensions.

This is not a pattern-focused workshop. We will focus on ways to play once our partners are secured. Efficiently and sustainably tying up their partner will leave people who tie more time to explore the elements under consideration.

PREREQUISITES

Please have suspension experience with your attending partner (suspendable upper-body/chest harness, ankle ties, thigh cuffs, upline management on single point).

We will not review technical elements of the ties: participants are expected to make informed choices from their respective toolkits to manage a suspension sequence within their comfort zone.

People who tie:

Please come prepared with the following elements in your technical toolbox:

• suspendable upper-body harnesses for use in standing and/or face-down suspensions, which restrain the torso and leave the sternum accessible. These can be a box tie/TK, a hands-free chest harness, and/or any other harness you are comfortable tying efficiently and which your partner finds sustainable. (An arms-in-front harness can also work but will shift some of the play target zones to the back and sides.) The objective is to maximize time to play while the harness is loaded. Varying the choice of harness per exercise can be a good way to conserve energy for the person in rope.
• comfort in securing single column ties on thighs and ankles for suspension.
• comfort and security in managing uplines to a single hardpoint.

EQUIPMENT & MATERIALS

People who tie:

• rope kit sufficient to fully suspend your partner as described above. Note: we use natural fiber jute ropes and thus our expertise is relative to this material only
• cutting tool for fabric: safety shears (recommended), belt cutter, etc. You are in charge of your choice of cutting tools and the potential risks associated with their use. Be advised: we do not recommend nor are we equipped to deal with blood play in this workshop.

People in rope:

We will play with altering, cutting, soaking clothes in this workshop. Bring items you are comfortable sacrificing to the cause. Consider items from your closet that have reached the end of their usefulness for you, ask friends for donations or consider thrifting inexpensive options. We find a lot of items on the street/in the trash which we clean thoroughly and keep aside as play clothes.

Clothing items:

• woven fabric upper body garment, with or without buttons (eg. button up/oxford/flannel/dress shirt) to be opened/split down the front
• stretch fabric upper body garment (eg. t-shirt, jersey dress, tank top) to be torn into shreds
• lower body garment (preferably structured/woven) that covers legs separately (eg. jeans, pants, tights) to be cut/torn
• white or light colored fabric garments, to be soaked to render sheer
• full-seat underwear/briefs, to be soaked
• socks, to be soaked

Aftercare:

• towels/robe to stay warm and be comforted after exercises
• any items you may want for self-soothing
• If finances are a barrier for your attendance, we have limited scholarship observer spots available for this class. Please email us to inquire at voxbody@gmail.com
• *Please read and remain familiar with our studio policies and etiquette page. If you have any questions or concerns please email us at voxbody@gmail.com
• COVID POLICY
• GETTING HERE
• REFUND POLICY
• About the presenters:
• Bondagious (he/him) snared Thumper (he/they) at a rope date in the fall of 2019, and they have been tying tangible and intangible bonds ever since.
• Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the duo has studied principally Akechi Kanna-style rope bondage, from official and unofficial sources. They draw inspiration from Barkas and Addie’s approach to rope as a tool for communication and connection, strongly influenced by the teachings of Yukimura Haruki. With backgrounds in the performing arts, they seek opportunities to surprise and delight audiences and each other, drawing on the dynamic, high-impact minimalism of Tifereth and Nicholas Yoroi.
• A shared textile fetish inspired them to develop their Exposure and Restraint: clothing play and rope bondage workshop, which they previewed at NARIX Montreal in June 2022. Since then, they have been fortunate to tour this weekend intensive to rope studios in Toronto, Ottawa, Quebec City, New York City, Chicago, Austin, and Denver.
• Locally, they co-host Mens Rope Night, an open practice at Tension Montreal for GBTQ+ men who tie men to meet, chat, watch and tie in a secure and supportive environment. This monthly event aims to increase the presence and representation of masc/AMAB people-in-rope.
• This October, they will be headline presenters at Men Roping Men 2024, the first annual weekend rope conference focused on education and community building for men, masc-leaning non-binary/trans/gender non-conforming folks, in San Francisco.
• Find them on IG @bondagious and @tie.me.thumper.