The New Bottoming Book by Dossie Easton, Janet W. Hardy

for whatever other stimulations your tops may have in mind for you.

    Sensations during bondage may range from no stimulation at all - which is called sensory deprivation — to the gentlest and lightest of stroking, to intense sexual stimulation and/or pain. Many tops love to boast about how long they can keep their bottoms orgasming, or how many orgasms they can give a bottom. Being brought to orgasm "against one's will" is such an overwhelming feeling that some bottoms perceive it as intrusive or even painful, and others find it intensely delightful.

    Bondage for a lengthy scene, whether it's about pain, sex or both, needs to be comfortable, so that you can set up the bondage and then stay with it for a while. Those wicked-looking leather cuffs with the studs are often padded or fur-lined to coddle your wrists and ankles, so you can yank on them to your hearts content. Let your top know if your circulation is being cut off, or if a muscle is being painfully stretched. We find it worthwhile to spend some time fussing over the bondage at the beginning to prevent interruptions later.

    Bondage can also be supportive. Standing bondage, where the wrists are tied to something overhead, lets you rest your weight on the restraints, and lying on your back with your legs tied up is much easier than holding them up by yourself. Bondage is supportive on the psychological level, too: when your top ties you up, it gives you clear permission to bottom.

    Bondage can be purely decorative, and those of us who are turned on to rope can spend many happy hours making a rope body harness, or a corset, or duplicating Japanese or Bcttie Page bondage from pictures.

    Bondage can in itself be painful or demand endurance - eroticizing endurance is a major component of Japanese rope bondage. One way to play this is to put someone in fairly constricting bondage, then tighten a part to the point of pain, then demand that the bottom deal with it for a short period of time, perhaps a count of five. Or you can be placed in bondage which starts out relatively comfortable and grows more strenuous the longer you stay in it (with frequent checkins to ensure that nerves and blood vessels are not being dangerously constricted).
    Take care not to stretch joints and muscles too far: we don't want to achieve bondage by Ace bandage for the next two weeks.

    Bondage can also play an important role in capture and captivity scenes, which we'll discuss under "Rough and Tough" later in this chapter. After all, how can you possibly capture someone without tying them up?

    Total immobilization is technically difficult and requires lots of practice... but trying to immobilize somebody can be hot in and of itself, and as even a partial immobilization can be very effective, who's to say the time we spend learning is wasted? Dossie has been in bondage so complete that she just plain forgot that she could move for several hours. Mummification, as you might guess, is immobilization by wrapping the body entirely in rope, Ace bandages, strips of cloth, duct tape over plastic wrap, or plastic wrap alone (don't forget that you will want to breathe!). Bandage scissors should be kept nearby, both for quick release in emergencies and to open up the mummy at sensitive spots to apply whatever stimulation seems appropriate. Full body bags of leather, canvas and other sturdy materials are also a very hot way to mummify, but can be a big investment.

    Bondage Safety. It is possible, although uncommon, to get injured if you and your top aren't careful with bondage. Be sure to tell your top about any unpleasant-feeling pull on muscles, tendons or ligaments. Although pins and needles or numbness in your hands and feet aren't a major emergency, they're a good reason to readjust the bondage to prevent nerve injuries - and any bondage that hurts in a bad way should be adjusted immediately.

    If you're tied up, you are helpless to at least some degree, and vulnerable to real-world emergencies