Class & Open Tie: Fucking Around and Finding Out

About the Class

“Fucking around and finding out” has become a more and more common phrase when it comes to rope, and particularly suspension. But what does it mean? Why would you want to do it, or why wouldn’t you? This class will answer these questions and much more, covering the process of fucking around from start to finish, and of course what can happen when you really “find out”. Both tops and bottoms will learn all about the pros and cons of this tying style, and how they might incorporate it into their own rope practice.

Class will begin with a discussion of safety considerations, how to develop and execute ideas, the importance of collaboration, ways to handle things going wrong, and more. The instructors will then walk the class through a demonstration of this tying style and answer any questions as they come up. Finally, participants will be invited to do some fucking around of their own with the instructor’s supervision, followed by some general open tie time.

Class instruction will take place from 1pm to 3pm with a 2 hour open tie to follow.

While anyone is welcome to attend this class for the lecture, demo, and open tie, in order to get the most out of this class, there are some prerequisites. These prerequisites are required for anyone who would like to participate in the hands on section of the class.

Pre-reqs for Tops

• Comfortable with more than one upper body suspension harness and more than one lower body suspension harness
• Understanding of upline anchors
• Experience managing more than 2 uplines
• Experience with transitions in either partial or full suspension

Pre-reqs for bottoms

• Good body awareness
• Comfortable communicating with their top while in suspension
• Experience with transitions in either partial or full suspension
• Comfortable making suggestions and setting boundaries before and during a tie

COVID-19 Policy:

For this event, COVID-19 vaccinations and at least one booster shot are required. Please have your vaccination card, a photo of your vaccination card, or a state-sanctioned record of your vaccinations to be shown at the door. Masks will also be required at this event, but people who are bottoming for suspension may remove their masks while in rope. Masks may also be briefly removed to eat and drink, but should be put back on promptly when finished.

About the Presenters

Ailuran (she/her) is a top leaning, femme rope switch who has fallen in love with both the technical and emotional aspects of rope. Since first being tied in 2016, she has sought to learn and experience as much as she can about rope and the ways it interacts with both the body & mind. Today, her happy place when playing with rope lands somewhere around where sadomasochism, collaboration, safety, and experimentation intersect. She sees both beauty and value in many different styles, uses, and levels of rope - from technical, power exchange driven floor work to silly, messy suspension, and just about everything in between.

As an educator and co-host of multiple local rope events, she has substantial experience with rope 101 topics and troubleshooting more advanced topics one on one, but is excited to be expanding further into more formal teaching. She is passionate about sharing what she has learned as a rope switch over the years in order to help others play with rope in ways that work for them. Despite mainly interacting with the larger rope community as a rope top, she feels strongly that rope bottoming education is of the utmost importance, and always includes that perspective (whether her own or someone else’s) in anything she teaches.

Nikki (she/her) is an all around Switch, Rope enthusiast, and NEMA mentor. Nikki has explored and discovered much about her kink, queer, and polyamorous self; and as a switch, she has had the pleasure of learning from both sides of the slash. Her first dive into getting involved in communities started early in her exploration in 2018 and rope was her initial draw to the lifestyle. Nikki wants to share her passion for rope with others with education focused on the fundamentals and safety. She is drawn to rope due to the extensive variety of experiences it can provide. Both as a top and bottom she enjoys the creative shapes, challenges, and connections it brings, and wants to educate and encourage others to find what they love about it as well.