The way you move and the way you interact with your partner can do more than almost anything else to set the mood of a scene.  You can change up your style to meet the needs of a given scene!

So … what do you and your partner(s) want your scene to be?

• Fast or slow?
• Light or dark?
• Playful or serious?
• Powerful or flowing?
• Sensual or demanding?
• Teasing or tormenting?
• Hands-off or hands-on?
• Passionate or peaceful?
• Intimate or objectifying?
• Worshipful or degrading?
• Exploratory or goal-oriented?
• Collaborative or domineering?

Be honest with yourself and your partner.  Make this part of your negotiation.  Plan ahead.  By making conscious choices about these things, you both have a much better chance of getting what you want.

Perhaps these questions will help.

• What is the purpose of the scene? … Instructional?  Demonstration?  Exploratory?  Professional (for photography, etc.)?  Foreplay to sex?
• What mood? … Playful?  Serious?  Sensual?  Demanding?  Dark?
• How proprietary do you want this scene to be? … If you need them to be in a certain position or place … Will you ask them to move?  Order them?  Physically force them to move where you want them to be?
• What is their role? … Are they a stranger to you?  Are they a play partner?  A lover?  A spouse?
• How do they want to be treated? … As a respected partner?  As a gift?  As prey?  As an object?  As dirt?
• What are the rules of contact? … Will you be minimizing contact, touching their skin with yours only when absolutely necessary?  Will it mostly be only the rope that touches them?  Will you be casually and comfortably brushing their skin as you tie?  Will you be all up in their business, teasing and tormenting them as you tie, i.e. the more touch the better?
• Is sex planned to be part of the scene? For some people, sex is an important aspect of a bondage scene, for others it is not part of it at all.  IMPORTANT:  If the answer to this is any type of “yes”, make sure you know what that means!!  The spectrum of activities that can be called “sex” is huge.  Be very clear and specific what is okay and what is not okay.  Your definition may not be the same as theirs!

Understanding what you both want can help you choose how you will behave in the scene.

Here are a few examples:

• You can set a dominating mood if you move quickly and with confidence. Use big movements when you are doing tail pulls, fast and sure tie-offs, etc.  You can enhance this by physically moving them where you want them (spinning them, for example) without talking to them very much, demonstrating that you are in control.  But it is important to understand that doing this to an extreme can make them feel extremely objectified.  Feeling objectified can be very good or very bad depending on the person or how that person is feeling that day.  Treating someone like an object without their consent is not likely to go well for you, but doing so when you have talked about it and are both into it can be hot as fuck.
• You can set up a sensuous experience by moving slowly and gently, dragging the rope slowly across their skin as you tie. Letting it brush sensitive things like lips or nipples.  Take your time, make the tying process itself a primary part of the experience.  Even more, make untying just as much part of the experience.  Untie just as slowly and sensuously and you will extend the scene and intimacy even longer.
• If you are tying with someone that has never had rope on them or that you have never tied before, you can set an instructional and light mood by keeping your voice at a higher pitch (less intimate), explaining in detail what you will do before you do it, explaining again as you are doing it and checking in with them about how it feels each time you complete a phase. Keep skin contact to a minimum and let them feel just the rope.  If you are clever or charming, use that to set them at their ease.  Do one short tie, let them feel it for a short time, and then untie them completely.  Once they are completely out of the rope, take a step back, then smile and check in.  Ask them how it felt and how they feel now.  Let them process with you.  Let them be heard.