Chaos Rope: Bondage Without A Pattern
I have a great deal of trouble trying to tie patterns in rope bondage. I can never remember past a few steps without someone leading me. Or I get inspired (or distracted) and want to try something different midway. Something doesn't work, or my tying partner makes a suggestion of something they'd like to try, and we've left the pattern we started on to do something else entirely.
As I've developed my own style of tying rope, we have jokingly called it 'Chaos Rope', because I never really have a solid plan in mind of what I will tie, and I'm as surprised as anyone else how it turns out. The experience of just grabbing some rope and working together with my tying partner to see what happens is very gratifying.
I was challenged to teach how to tie Chaos Rope. But how do you teach a style that starts with avoiding structure and planning? After some thought on my part, I was able to codify some of what I do so that I can share it with others. Not everything in this presentation will be useful to you; consider it a pick-list of ideas to pull from and add some fun chaos to your own tying. This presentation is generally aimed at rope tops in tone, but is also applicable in most parts to rope bottoms, as well.
Chaos Rope - the way that I typically tie - is an experience with the top, the bottom, and the rope all interacting to create a fun experience for everyone involved. It's freeform, without a plan, and the results will look different every time. Sure, I might start with a vague concept, like 'build a web' as in the picture above. Or I might start with an idea to focus on certain elements of rope experience, some of which we'll talk about later. Sometimes I might just have a pose or situation I hope to put my partner into by using rope. Even using the same general starting point, with a different partner, or just at a different time, the result is going to be different. And it's going to be created organically while playing with the rope and with each other.
Chaos Rope concepts can be applied to many situations. You can start with a single hank of rope, or with many hanks. Maybe the plan is 'use all the rope'. You can use synthetic rope or natural, of whatever kind you have available. You can even use things that aren't rope, like climbing straps, scarves, and chains. And there's no particular level of experience necessary for indulging in the chaos. You just learned how to do your first single-column tie? Great! Tie it on a wrist and start there. Or you've been tying for years and your head's full of techniques and patterns? Let them all go and just enjoy playing around instead. The experience should be loose and relaxed; have fun.
Typically, Chaos Rope is not going to result in a pretty, symmetrical, picture-worthy creation. It may be grossly off-balance, or result in a large wad of knotted rope somewhere. And you're not going to be able to do the same tie again, even if you follow the same steps, because some elements will be different. But it's not meant to be for pictures or for repetition; it's for fun and connection between partners. Now, because it's loose and easy-going, I generally would recommend against suspending with chaos rope - suspension is a great time for trusted and known patterns, for safety reasons - unless you are very experienced and confident in your suspension skills. Not that Chaos Rope is particularly unsafe - it's like any other bondage; communication with your tying partner and paying attention to how the rope moves and how the body responds is important.
Not everyone wants to tie loose and chaotic. But it's a great way to gain confidence in your own tying skills rather than relying on patterns to dictate what you do next. The best way to become good at handling rope is to handle rope in a variety of ways. Tying in a more relaxed way means focusing on the experience as it's happening, rather than hurrying toward a desired result. By just taking the rope and trying something new, you're teaching yourself how to anticipate what the rope will do. By listening to and working with your tying partner, you'll be emphasizing your relationship with them, where the rope is just a tool for the two of you to really interact with each other.
One way of negotiating rope is to lay out a plan of what you want to tie and get explicit agreement to do that. That kind of negotiation doesn't work well with Chaos Rope. Instead, you need to negotiate boundaries, ideas of things you don't want to cover, elements you don't want to include. And what you cover will change what you tie, of course.
If either partner is inexperienced, you'll keep things simpler. The more experience you have (together and individually), the more variables you might include, or the more likely you may be to just see how it goes and make changes in the moment as needed. I like to put possibilities 'on the table' and eliminate those we don't want. Are we including the possibility of options like crotch rope, face rope, rope around the fingers? Can I lay out accessories to possibly use, like chopsticks or things to tuck into the rope? Is coconut rope wanted or hated? How friendly can I get in addition to the rope, using hands for touching or impact? Is some level of partial suspension okay - and how good is my partner's balance, if it comes to that? None of these points require certain elements to be included, but negotiations is the easiest time to rule them out entirely if that needs to happen.
The bottom's physical status and hopes for the scene can greatly influence how you end up tying. For instance, do they want to be standing or sitting, restrained or able to move, and are they looking forward to more painful rope or more pleasant rope? Injuries or other body needs can get you started. Let's say my bottom's right shoulder is weak and can't take a lot of strain. I could just avoid that arm entirely, or instead, I could start there, by putting a cuff on the right wrist and immobilizing the right arm by wrapping the rope around the body from there. Now they can't strain that arm, because they can't use it. But in a positive way, we're using their specific body situation to create the tie.
Even more than patterned rope, Chaos Rope means communicating with your partner throughout the scene. The bottom in the scene is usually the first one to notice a rope slipping, or getting too tight. When you place rope in different places, you may catch nerves unexpectedly or pinch where you didn't plan to. The bottom needs to be able to monitor their own status constantly and talk about how things feel or what needs changed - and should be a participant in suggesting things that could be done next, too!
A lot of chaos tying involves just trying something. Lay a rope somewhere, tighten it down, and then ask, "How does that feel?" The result could also be squeaks and moans, or even discomfort or panic. The answer may be to untie it entirely and do something different. Or the answer could be something like, "I like that, but tighter," or "Could you move it up an inch?" The whole tie could hinge on how one particular piece of rope feels, and building on the reactions to that.
(for those with more experience tying...)
When I'm expecting to use a lot of rope, like in a web form like that earlier slide, and my bottom is standing or otherwise in a position where they could possibly fall or lose their balance, I will often start with a very basic chest harness attached to a suspension point with an upline, just so I can not worry about knocking them over. I mean very basic - just enough to help them stay up.
Whether I start with a chest harness and upline or not, getting started means figuring out where you want your bottom to be - standing, sitting, laying down. Then attach some rope, one way or the other. Start with a single-column cuff tie on a wrist. Maybe start a rope on each wrist (ankles too if you like), to incorporate when you're ready for them. You could also start with a loop around the torso. I frequently start by capturing an arm in some way, positioning the arm where I want it to be, and then just wrapping the rope around the body from there.
It's important to seek input from your partner here, to establish early on that they are part of this tie and that you want them to react to what you're doing, let you know about any concerns, and suggest their own ideas. Stay within their comfort zone, as well as your own, relative to what kinds of things you do, risk levels, tightness of the rope, etc.
Because the unexpected is absolutely a part of chaos tying, you should plan some exit strategies for what you tie, possibly a little more, even, than you would with pattern ties. Of course, you'll want to have safety shears available, like any time you use rope. But if you're using a lot of rope, and it's all the same in appearance, expect it to be difficult to remove the exact rope you want to, if you're trying to adjust or move a piece. There are some strategies that will make it easier to do so without having to untie everything just to make one change.
Using leather cuffs on wrists and ankles allows you to release a limb if there's a problem, or if you just want to move things around. If you use a single column tie there, though, I suggest leaving the bight open - don't run another piece of rope through it - so that you can untie and release without having to undo it from the other end of the rope. If you want to use the bight to, say, connect some rope where you've wrapped it around an anchor or something, use a carabiner on the bight first, so it's still possible to release it easily.
You can also be strategic about how you start a new rope. Instead of tying a larkshead around a torso, an anchor, or some already-tied rope, consider using a carabiner there also, or tying a knot instead so that you can untie it should you need to.
Be sure to discuss with your partner that making any changes they need could take a few minutes, especially if the ropes are messily tangled up and hard to identify. In a more serious situation, you may need to ask whether they can hold on until you find the right change to make, or if it's time to cut rope.
With your tying partner actively participating in chaos tying, there are a lot of ways they can influence how the tie looks. We've already talked about tying a weak or injured limb into the tie early to keep it supported and safe. But expand that, and you can do things like incorporating a wheelchair or other devices into the tie (honestly, tying someone into a wheelchair into a suspension is so much fun, since you don't have to worry about nerve compression if you let the chair be the basis of the weight-bearing parts). If your bottom can't stand for a long time, then don't have them standing. Attach them to a chair, or laying on a table.
While the tying is in-progress, a responsible bottom will be constantly doing nerve checks on hands and feet. But go beyond that. Keep shrugging shoulders, taking deep breaths, wiggling a knee or hip. Play in the rope. And if some bit of rope slips out of place, that's a great time to suggest it be adjusted, or something tied to pull it tighter.
While tying the rope, take the opportunity to pull a rope in a couple of different directions, and ask your partner which feels better. Or just ask where they are feeling the most strain right now. You can make that easier - or make it worse, if that's more fun. Typically submissive bottoms may want to answer either/or questions with some variation on, "whatever you want"; insisting that they make a choice can be fun. On the other end of things, some bottoms are great at giving direction for an element of the tie that will be a lot more fun - possibly a lot more unpleasant, but then they've chosen that, and that's fun, too.
And make use of the bottom as part of the equipment, too. You can maintain your rope tension by putting the running ends in their mouth and telling them to hold onto it. Or give them just the tip ends to hold with their fingers or toes - especially if it's difficult for them to do so because of positioning. If they have enough hair to attach rope to, I like to set it up where there's some pull, some discomfort, but I attach it with something that can slip free if there's too much weight, like a binder clip set loosely at an angle on a rope somewhere, or just a loose bow that will easily pull free.
And now that we've gotten started, just keep going. Rope can be wrapped around limbs or a torso, or stretched out to attach to a hard point. Or wrap the limb to the hard point. Whenever the rope I'm using meets a bit of rope already on the body, maybe I wrap it over that piece it crosses, and decide if I want to use that point to change the direction I'm going with the rope. Keep steady tension on your rope, and look back to see that it's staying where you put it. You may want to pull on various ropes from time to time to be sure the tie is solid - and to get a reaction out of your partner when you do so.
When you get to the end of the rope in your hand, you have choices to make. You could extend the rope and keep going, but I generally find that, for me, that's just not as helpful. I'm more likely to tie off that rope. Then I'll either start the next rope on a new limb, or by attaching it to the existing structure first - either with a larkshead, a carabiner, or a knot.
Sometimes when you make a choice and pull the rope in one direction, it will loosen or destabilize something you did before. And that's okay. You can undo one of the ropes and retie them in a different way. Or attach the next rope to what's now loose and use that to pull it in a new direction. Sometimes I'll use what's left of a rope to grab and tie together several other ropes. It may look ugly, but the way the tension on the ropes shifts can be a lot of fun!
While trying to figure out just exactly how to 'teach chaos', I paid a lot more attention to the ties I was doing and ones I've done in the past. And I came up with four general themes that seem to guide my choices. Now that I've done that, I can ask during negotiations how my partner feels about each of these elements. Restriction is just holding someone still, keeping them from being able to move. Vulnerability comes from being in a position that exposes a part of the body or prevents them from reacting as they'd like. Constriction is getting the rope tight. And Discomfort comes from escalating any of these things past a comfort-point, or adding in other elements that create a lot of sensation. Let's talk about each of these separately.
There are many ways to restrict someone's movement, and most, but not all, involve using some sort of hardpoint - a suspension point, a piece of furniture, something attached to the wall. Of course, another body part can be used as a hardpoint, too. The simplest method is to just tie them directly to an object - say, a chair, like the image below. Wrapping around a body part and the hardpoint it's up against is easy, when it works out. If you want to get fancier, do a single-column or double-column tie around the body part and the restraining item. Another easy one is to attach a cuff of some sort to a limb, then stretch it fully out and attach to a hardpoint that's out of reach. Using other parts of the body as hardpoint also works. Attach a wrist to an ankle, and you've now reduced the movement of both an arm and a leg. Or bend the arm or leg and tie it in that position to remove most of the movement of that limb. Our example earlier of starting with a wrist tied across the chest and wrapped to keep it there falls into this theme.
Movement restrictions don't have to be uncomfortable. In the chair-tie below, my partner could only move their head, fingers, and one foot. But they could stay in that tie for a long time, because they got comfortable first. Not to say that restriction has to be comfortable. Arms-outstretched becomes uncomfortable after a while, even if the rope is taking most of the weight. A folded limb can be very uncomfortable, or an arm tied behind the back. The tie will be more or less uncomfortable based on the position you lock them into and how much movement you leave available. Work with your partner's body and the amount of flexibility they have.
Of course, once your partner's movement is restricted, they are essentially helpless for whatever other things you've negotiated to be allowed as part of your scene. Tickling, zapping, poking, and otherwise creating the kind of sensations that your partner would normally pull away from - but can't - can be lots of fun. Play up the idea that they are helpless to get them most out of it. This works great for sexual play like edging, too, since they can't move into the sensation, either. Put things just out of reach that they want, like a food treat - or the vibrator. Get creative in making them want to move more than they can. Awkward positions can also enhance this. Being bent over a bar or something, with both hands and feet attached at the bottom, isn't terribly uncomfortable at first, but it grows.
Playing with forced positioning also adds a lot of vulnerability into the scene. Being bent over is fine, but being bent over where everyone can look at you is another thing. Spreading your legs for your partner is great, but keeping them spread for everyone to see is more intense. The vulnerability in being not just unable to move, but being open and available for others' view (and touches, as negotiated) can be powerful, even with just a few ropes making that position work. More, when someone is tied in an unusual shape, it makes people want to look even more. If it's a sexy pose - maybe one they wouldn't normally choose to put themselves in - the mental discomfort can be much more powerful than the physical.
This chaos theme works better with less rope rather than more, as the focus is on moving limbs out of the way, but leaving most of the body - especially genitals, face, and breasts - open to look at or touch. I suggest using carabiners here so that limbs can easily be repositioned as needed, or released if the rope becomes less helpful as a sexual scene develops.
There are, of course, many things you can do to enhance the sense of vulnerability in your tying partner. A blindfold is a top's best friend - especially a newer top - as it makes the bottom focus on what you're doing, but prevents them from seeing faces you might make when you don't know what to do next or change your mind or do something you don't like and have to undo it. However, note that the blindfold will also hide some of their reactions from you, since half a face is harder to read. It's best used for bottoms that are pretty audible in their reactions.
When your partner is blindfolded, though, or even if they are simply facing away from the room (if you're playing in a public space), this is your opportunity to mess with them, especially if they really enjoy this helpless exposed feeling. Tell them about people looking at them - it doesn't have to be true. I've had friends come up close to my scene and murmur about it so that my bottom can just barely hear them (pre-negotiated as a possibility, of course), or even touch them when I okayed it. The difference between two hands touching you and three is startling, even when you know it might happen.
For a scene that includes sexual/sensual elements, tie your rope with that in mind from the start. Be aware of fluids getting on your ropes - use synthetic ropes anywhere they might get wet, so that you can easily wash them. But tying a knot in a rope going across the genitals gives you something to pull back and forth. And you can vibrate that knot from elsewhere on the same rope by either using a vibrator or by simply pulling another rope across it.
(for those with more experience tying...)
The exception to leaving the body open here would be tying one rope across the genitals so that pressure could be added. This is a good one to attach to hair or mouth rope, creating a predicament where the pressure varies between head/neck and genitals. Be sure to monitor this one constantly and don't keep it loaded too heavily or for too long.
When playing with constriction as a theme, it just means tightening the rope for its own sake, rather than to keep it in place. The constriction is a particular kind of discomfort or even pain, making everything tender. Using reverse tension around a more malleable part of the body is a good way to create this. You can create what we affectionately call 'cupcakes' by constricting the breasts close to the body but letting the area closer to the nipples stay free - they will quickly turn red, and then maybe blue or purple as the blood flow is blocked, and get very sensitive. Around the chest or stomach (stay above or below the floating rib), constriction restricts breathing, forcing the bottom to breathe more shallowly. Constriction on the shins is torture, too. Aside from using reverse tension, you can also create constriction by adding more rope. Each layer builds the sensation.
The biggest thing to be aware of when playing with constriction is breathing. Any constriction on the torso is going to change breathing, and that's an extra risk. So if you are purposely playing with that, monitor your partner carefully. If you are not purposely trying to restrict breathing, make sure you are both paying attention if there are breathing changes you didn't intend on. Using a drop item can help with peace of mind here, because if you can't breathe, you can't say your safeword. I prefer a drop item that is very visible, like a white or neon handkerchief, or something noisy, like a bell.
Even with a minor breathing restriction, you'll increase the risk of your partner fainting, and therefore falling. If I have my bottom standing while constricted, I'll generally secure them to a hard point with an upline. It's not intended to make a suspension happen, but it'll catch them if they drop suddenly, and give me a chance to lower them a little more gently than a sudden collapse. A safer option is to have your partner sitting or lying down when you do any deliberate constriction.
Increasing the constriction and making it the focus of your tie is pretty simple - make it tighter, or add more of it. Metal chopsticks are a great tool to use - slide one under a bit of looser rope, then twist it to tighten, and just tuck the end under the rope when it's tight enough (or the right amount of too-tight). And you don't have to stop at rope. Once the rope is in place, you could add a layer of chain or plastic wrap, or even a blanket. And then - why not? - more rope on top of that. Additional layers, depending on the material, will affect temperature. Plastic wrap or a blanket will make it warm; chain will cool it off. Be aware of that, and play with it deliberately. Each layer will also add weight, especially if you're using chain. But you could also add weight to the tie on its own. Attach your toybag, or just lay on top of your partner. Again, be sure your partner has a drop item or other way to signal distress. Weight plus constriction makes a lot of pressure, and it can build quickly. It can also be difficult to remove quickly, so pay attention and be ready to act early.
(for those with more experience tying...)
If you are experienced doing suspensions, you know that pretty much all ties will constrict once you leave the ground - some more than others. Using this knowledge, you can choose ties that are comfortable on the ground but can get more or less intense in the air.
Rope is - generally - not a comfortable snuggly experience. It's painful in all the ways we want it to be. Let's talk about some simple techniques for dialing up the discomfort of the experience in controllable ways. And a lot of it comes to just being more aware of the choices you make and their consequences.
When you extend rope, or when you tie a new rope onto an old one, you can be deliberate in choosing to place the knot where it won't be uncomfortably pressing on your partner - or you can purposely locate it over a pressure point. And then maybe just press on it with your hand from time to time to remind them how careful and deliberate you are.
As you're tying the rope, you can carefully lay the lines where they belong - or you can drag them into place with extra tension to watch your partner squirm. Same when you're untying - yank those ends free to create extra rope burn in just the spot you want it. And after you've untied it, tying the rope back in the exact same spot, only tighter, is particularly cruel, just when the sensation has started coming back to that spot from before. But not all rope should be tight - scratchier ropes, like coconut, can work their magic best when left a little loose, so they can be dragged over sensitive skin, or sawed back and forth.
And don't let the rope have all the fun. Grab ahold of some rope and push and pull your partner. This is really fun in a web situation or when there's an upline or an entire web of rope keeping them upright, because they will have the sensation of being about to fall, and yet you know they won't. And the ropes biting into them as they are pushed and pulled are great. For a bottom in a slightly uncomfortable position, say sitting leaning over, you can relieve some of the stress of the rope holding them down - by leaning on them with your body weight to hold them down instead.
You can move this into mild predicament play by making the position someone is tied in uncomfortable, but the rope itself is just helping keep them there. Even better if the tie isn't very restraining, giving them the freedom to move around within the tie on their own. Which means they can fight the position by pushing into the rope, which makes the rope tight and uncomfortable. And by adding in multiple small strains and discomforts, you'll can 'turn on' and 'turn off' different pieces, letting you control just how much the pieces build together.
Here are some ideas for small discomforts, but build your own as your rope creation evolves. Have your partner bend their leg somewhat, tie it, then make them stand on that leg. Straightening the leg will cause the rope to bite in, but keeping it bent is a strain on their knee. If you have an upline, have your partner bent over so they can choose between letting the rope hold the weight from above, or their legs hold the weight from below - then make both of those uncomfortable, perhaps by tying it so that they can only stand on tiptoe. Tie a foot and a wrist together so that they either have to be leaning far over or stand on just one foot (with an upline). Or pull their head back with a hair tie or a larkshead in the mouth so that their neck is uncomfortable. Be sure when using mouth or hair rope that it's tied with a slip knot so that if they pull hard it will come loose, and that falling isn't a risk. Be creative, and when you realize something you've done is uncomfortable, but not unsafe, use that.
You can also increase the discomfort you have in a tie by adding weights. You can be creative in what to use for weights - your rope bag, a handy chair, chains, a big rock, even your own body. One option is to tie something onto the rope or onto a body part to pull it down, while the rope is holding it up, giving a bit of a constriction effect. Or you can use a weight to pull up - I like to toss hair or mouth rope over a bar and then hang a free weight from it rather than tying it off. Using your own body as a weight by leaning on them - or even climbing up on them - gives you a lot of control of how much pressure you're creating. Work with your partner to see how much they are able & willing to endure.
While you've got your partner all tied up and uncomfortable, there are plenty of other elements you can mix in - almost any other kind of play, really. Impact on top of the rope gives you extra bang for your buck, as the ropes cut in where you're impacting, and the impact will move your bottom so that ropes press extra in areas you aren't even paying any attention to. Tuck some items into the ropes for extra discomfort. We talked about twisting in some chopsticks before, but tuck in some legos for a neat pattern left on the skin, or semi-sharp items like rocks or dice, even things that are just at-hand, like a bottle cap. Use whatever toys are within reach to tuck in there, which tightens the ropes as well as just pressing on your partner. Particularly fun places to put things are over pressure points (and then push on them), under places where ropes cross, or under whatever body parts are on the floor with their weight rested there - like something uncomfortable under the heel encourages them to stay on tiptoe.
Since their movement is restricted, this can be a fun time to play with sharp toys like wartenburg wheels and blades. Don't expect the ropes to completely keep them from moving, but they will help. You can use the sharps to test just how restricted their movement is. Temperature play is another fun way to spice it up, by using ice. If they are laying on the ground, especially, tucking ice into the tie can be fun. A carabiner can help hold the ice cube in place while it melts. Don't leave ice in one place so long that it creates its own damage, though. The top will need to be extra vigilant here, as the ice can numb things in ways that can be confused for or can hide nerve issues. Also, that ice is going to melt and get your rope wet, so if you're planning to use ice, use synthetic rope, chain, or other materials you don't mind getting wet and having to dry out.
With a more planned-out scene, you will often reach the end of your planning, and that's the end of the scene. When you don't plan what to do, though, how do you know when you've reached the end of the scene? Of course, when your partner says that it's time to start winding up, that's a clear timing. For many of my scenes, 'done' is when I have used up all of the rope I have available. Enjoy it all tied for a while, and then start untying. Or I might call it done when I realize I'm starting to get tired - or at least my arms are. It's important to save enough energy for all the untying and the rehanking, too.
And where do you even start? With a couple dozen hanks of rope involved, it can be hard to decide your untying order. Of course, the ideal would be to untie in precisely the opposite order in which you tied, but that would require remembering or recognizing that order. Instead, identify some ropes that shouldn't be removed yet - especially that harness that we started with, or anything bearing a lot of weight or with other pieces spawning off of it. Push and pull a little on some ropes to see what's nice and snug versus what's loose - I like to untie the looser ropes first, since they aren't doing any work, anyway. Or as I'm pulling on things, I ask my partner if there are any ropes that are just particularly uncomfortable for them or body parts they'd like freed first. They might ask to prioritize setting a leg down on the ground or undoing a rope holding them in an uncomfortable posture. And I'll work in that direction for them. Or, ignoring all of the above, sometimes you just grab any piece of rope where you can find the ends, and start untying there.
I mentioned earlier that I often start with a very basic rope harness tied off to an upline to lend some stability to my partner. If I can, I'll use a different rope for that so that I know that's a piece with actual structural significance. For me, that means my red POSH rope for the harness and an upline, then my natural-colored Hempex for most everything else. Now, if you want to get really fancy, you can use different kinds or colors of rope for other purposes, too. You can see in the web above that we have red POSH for the harness and upline, then blue for more harnessing around the torso. The natural-colored hempex formed the web, tying off to our frame. And then some light red and purple natural rope was added on when we ran out of the hempex. So when we got to untying, I started with the colored natural rope, then the natural, then blue, and the red last.
But just because you start untying, you don't need to quit playing. The rope can be just as much fun coming off as it was going on. After all, there's less decision-making and more just reacting. Keep interacting with your partner. Ask them about what to untie next, perhaps while pulling on some rope to help illustrate their choices. As you remove the rope, be aware of rope burn - make sure you're getting that burn in the spot you choose. If you find a sore spot, poke it a little. When you get each section of rope cleared out of the tie, go ahead and hank it while talking to your partner. Now you have an impact implement; smack them with the hanked rope, if that's within what you've negotiated. If you have several loose sections, you could use chopsticks to tighten one up while you untie the other. Of course, just because you untied it doesn't mean you can't tie it back on, either. Have fun and play with the rope - and your partner - as you're untying. As long as there's no safety reason to hurry up, and they are engaged, you're still playing.
Of course, your partner may not remain engaged and active. If they drop into a heavy subspace, or if they are in any kind of distress, playing while untying may not be appropriate. In that case, just get them out of the rope quickly and safely. Especially if they are in distress, prioritize freeing up their movement and getting them down to the floor to relax. Once they are on the ground, the harness and other ropes can be removed after they are taken care of. Don't worry about hanking up the rope, just get it out of the way.
You have some options for handling the rope once it's off your partner. Some rope bottoms who are in a happy - maybe even kittenish - headspace may really enjoy having all the rope just piled on top of them. The weight is grounding, but also connects to all the rope they were wearing during the scene. Once they've recovered some, the two of you can separate out the strands of rope together. Many rope tops want to hank their own rope a certain way; in this case you can keep your partner involved by asking them to separate out ropes, untangle them, and lay them out with the ends and bights located where they are ready to be hanked up. Or if you don't mind someone else hanking the rope, ask your bottom partner to work on that from the floor while you clean up the rest of your scene space. Either way, keep that connection going by ending the scene together, just like you started it.
I like to end with some touchpoints to remember for each of my classes. Safety is something everyone in a scene should be constantly thinking about and monitoring within their role, including when tying Chaos Rope. Some of the themes to consider when tying in this style are Constriction, Restriction, Vulnerability, and Discomfort. Use elements from each theme as they suit you; use all or none of them! One of the strengths of this style is that both partners can and should be actively involved throughout the scene. And both should be having fun, trying things to see how they feel, keeping the things that are fun, and discarding anything that isn't.
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