as far as bringing up the dynamics, i think that's something you need to take time with and consider what you want out of it and why. 24/7 and TPE are romantic ideas, but they're difficult and take a lot of commitment and continued work and communication to maintain. to be clear, i wouldn't consider myself in a 24/7 relationship at all in my personal life, but my partner and i are experimenting with non-sexual rules, which dips into this a little. i've also been with my partner for 12 years so relationship communication is something i know a lot about.

as far as a safer way to bring up that kind of dynamic..... i have some thoughts but it depends on who you're trying to build a dynamic with. if you were trying to meet someone in a kink space and enter into a contracted agreement that's more formal, i'm not the best person to ask and i wouldn't want to advise anyone incorrectly. however, i would recommend deep diving into reddit to see what submissives in the space are saying. i have found /r/SubSanctuary to be very helpful in that respect. additionally, r/DomSubMarriage is a sub that actually discusses what D/S looks like in committed relationships, so that is some interesting insight.

however, if you're trying to bring up bdsm dynamics with a current partner who's more 'vanilla', i do have some advice! my partner and i met young and definitely didn't have any kind of kinky aspects to our relationship for a long time. i'd say even now we're still figuring a lot of that out, but i did have to broach the topic with him after many years of being together and i was super super nervous to do that initially.

**if you're in a relationship with someone kinky but you're trying to extend things out into 24/7 not just bdsm during sex, then i think the same strategies below could work, you just wouldn't be starting from scratch.

my suggestions are:

if the relationship is one where you're already experimenting a little and you want to open up a dialogue, you can always say something like "i was talking to a friend" or "i was reading this book" etc. and the couple in it was doing XYZ kink, i'm kind of curious... would you ever want to try something like that? this can open up initial lanes of experimentation

if you're struggling to figure out how to say anything at all... write it out like a letter. you don't have to read it or give it to them, but it can help get your thoughts in order about what you actually want to communicate. this is what i did (on my therapists suggestion) and it really helped me understand what i wanted, what i was going to ask of my partner, and the stakes. i knew it was going to be make or break for me, so i needed to convey how seriously i wanted to explore this without freaking my partner out

go slow! even if you think you want a big 24/7 style relationship with honorifics and contracts and collars and all the classic bdsm good stuff.... there's no need to rush into that especially if you're just starting. my recommendation is to start slow, add one thing at a time, overly communicate at first and make it fun and sexy. mistakes will come up, there's no dom or sub in the world who is perfect every moment, and be willing to navigate all of that together. if you're thinking through non-sexual rules or more lifestyle d/s, take a long time discussing what things would actually benefit both of you. you can have a rule that requires going to the gym five times a week, but if that's not actually feasible, sustainable, or feeding a goal then it's just an arbitrary rule set up to fail. but something that works would be like.... for me, something i struggle with is drinking water, so we're experimenting with a rule for me to finish 80 oz of water every day (2 stanleys). it's feasible, the rule is a reminder to me to be conscious of a thing i already wanted to be doing, and it's something my partner can easily check in on and help me manage.

be open with long term interests, hopes, and dreams. my partner and i aren't close to 24/7 really, but when i told him about my interests i was honest and said that the idea of a collar feels very romantic to me, the idea of rules and punishments feel interesting to me. we didn't jump into the deep end with any of it, but it's also something we both know we would be willing to experiment with to see if it's something we like the idea of or if its something that feels right in practice.

figure out what bdsm means to you. this might already be checked off on your list, but i was coming to the realization that i wanted bdsm in my real life in the middle of a long term relationship. i had to really weigh if it was just something hot to me or if it was something i needed to explore in reality, and why i wanted it. when it comes time to explain that to someone, knowing deep down what your 'why' is helps you answer that question and make it make sense to someone if they're unfamiliar with the world.