Delving into D/s: Types of slave

I said a while ago that I'd like to take a look at some rules others have come up with to use in their D/s lifestyle. Before I do that, I'd like to explore different roles found in D/s first. For the purposes of this post, and many to come after it I'm sure, I write about a male dom and a female sub. This is by no means a judgment upon other dynamics, it's just this dynamic that I'm familiar with.

Now, we've all heard of the three types of people: dominant, submissive or switch. As has been discussed before, there are different kinds of submissive, and it is the specific role of 'slave' that I want to explore today.

There is a vast difference between being submissive and being a slave. Being a slave is the act of taking submission to a whole new level: living at your Master's feet, pleasing them, being intuitive so that you don't have to be told more than twice to do or not do something. A slave will find great comfort in being controlled (mastered, if you will), and will find a great peace when she is with her Master.

Essentially, there are three types of slave. One person may be just one type, another may be all three. It depends upon the person, and also what the dominant wants out of the relationship.

Three types of slave:
1) Business Slave
2) Domestic Slave
3) Pleasure Slave

The business slave is the one you will read the least about when reading online journals. This is a person who will happily take on tasks for the dominant that are related to work. Often, the dominant owns his own business, and the slave will take care of the mundane paper work, accounting, organising or other activities that otherwise eat up the dominant's time. The slave will often be employed by the company, therefore having a salary. This by no means de-values the slave's position as submissive. It's often hard to recognise duality of the slave's life - dominance in work, submissive in nature.

The domestic slave is one who takes great pride in looking after the home. She is tidy and organised, and is often a brilliant cook (whether she is a natural or had be to taught, she still enjoys it). There is nothing more satisfying for her than welcoming the dominant into his tidy, warm home after a day's work, with dinner about to be served.

The pleasure slave is the type most heard about when reading online journals. This is the type many submissives strive towards. A pleasure slave understands that her reason for being is to please the Master in all things sexual. Ideally, a pleasure slave will never be fully satisfied, so that she is always ready for sexual use or service. The slave has no say in when, where, nor who with; this is all up to the Master, who also has the responsibility to make sure the slave's safety is not compromised.

What would I like to be? Ideally, I'd love to be both a sexual and domestic slave. These are things that, in the long run, I'm aiming for. Even if in the end Sean finds he doesn't want to be a full-blown Master, I'd still love to be intuitive enough to give him what he wants in bed, and to let him feel that he can take it when he pleases. I'd love to be a proper domestic worker - keeping a safe, clean home. That's something I really need to work on (standards around here have dropped since we started back at Uni). I want to become a good cook. I want to get into a routine of cleaning and cooking (with a sensible menu) so that it doesn't have to change much when we have children. Oh yeah, I do want to have children. I want us to be in a stable relationship, with no problems. This is something that, ultimately, I think our application of D/s will achieve.

More resources:
London Fetish Scene Wipipeadia
Magic's World

Definitions

This is something I've been meaning to sit down and do for a long time. This post holds a set of definitions, intended as a list of the terms you might encounter when reading about any aspect of the BDSM lifestyle. It is by no means an exhaustive list, and I intend to add to it over time as I learn more.

BDSM & Associated terms

APE - Absolute Power Exchange.
BBW - Big, Beautiful Woman.
B&D - Bondage & Discipline.
BDP - Border-line Personality Disorder.
BDSM - Catch all acronym, comprising of Bondage & Discipline, Domintion & Submission, Sadism & Masochism.
Bottom - The person who recieves during a scene. Eg they may be the one who is tied up, or the one being spanked etc. They may also be a masochist. Unlike a submissive, a bottom may give instructions to the top about what happens in a scene, and when certian activities may be performed.
CBT - Cock & Ball Torture.
CNC - Consentual Non-consent.
Dominant - Often shortened to Dom (male) or Domme (female). A partner who takes the role of giving during a scene, often incorporating many top tendancies. A dominant will often also take the role of carer or teacher for their submissive, and the role often extends outside the scene.
D/s - Dominition & submission (Note the capitalisation, often used to donate "rank" or respect).
Gor / Gorean - People who follow practises as set out by John Norman in his Science Fiction novels "The Chronicles of Gor".
Masochist - A person who takes sexual pleasure out of recieving pain, they will often (though not necessarily) take the role of bottom or submissive during a scene.
Master - Also known as Mistress or possibly Dominatrix if female. The dominant role in a power exhange relationship, where the master takes "control" of the submissive for a large proportion of the time the couple are together. Thus the difference between a dominant and a master is the degree of dominance. It must be noted that the role does not extend to power over the submissive's legal rights. It can also be noted that a master may have more than one submissive under his "control". Also, many people gain a sense of power or servitude during a scene by referring to the top as "master", though this must not be confused with the daily role of a master.
M/s - Master & slave relationship (Note the capitalisation, often used to donate "rank" or respect).
OTK - Over the Knee - a position used during spanking scenes where the spankee is literalty bent over the spanker's knee.
O/our - usually written by a submissive when referring to both her/himself and her/his dominant. Read as "our" (Note the capitalisation, used to donate "rank" or respect).
RACK - Risk-aware, Consentual Kink.
Sadist - A person who takes sexual pleasure out of inflicting (causing) pain, they will often (though not necessarily) take the role of top or dominant during a scene.
Scene - A BDSM encounter between two or more people. Although usually erotic, there may be no sexual contact between the participants.
Shibari - a type of Japanese bondage, often very decorative.
Slave - The submissive role in a power exhange relationship, where the submissive has given the right to their dominant to exercise authority over them. Thus the difference between a submissive and a slave is the degree of submission. It must be noted that the role does not extend to giving up legal rights. Also, many people gain a sense of power or servitude during a scene by referring to the bottm as "slave", though this must not be confused with the daily role of a slave.
S&M - Sadism & Masochism or sado-masochism.
SSC - Safe, Sane and Consentual.
St Andrew's Cross - a human-sized piece of bondage equipment in the shape of St Andrew's cross, can be free standing or fixed to the wall, with restraints along it's length to use on the bottom.
Submissive - Often shortened to sub. A partner who takes the role of recieving during a scene, often incorporating many bottom tendancies. However, unlike a bottom, a sub doesn't expect to give orders during a scene; indeed many subs enjoy giving up "control". The role of submissive is often extended to outside the scene, and often will carry out orders that aren't of a sexual nature, Eg house-hold chores.
Top - The person who gives during a scene. Eg they may be the one who ties someone else up, or the one giving the spanking etc. They may also be a sadist. Unlike a dominant, a top doesn't have "control" over a bottom's actions outside the scene.
TPE - Total Power Exchange.
Violet Wand - a device used to apply low current, high voltage static electricity to a person
W/we - usually written by a submissive when referring to both her/himself and her/his dominant. Read as "we" (Note the capitalisation, used to donate "rank" or respect).
YKIOKIJNMK - Your kink is OK, it's just not my kink.
Y/your - usually written by a submissive when referring to another D/s couple. Read as "your" (Note the capitalisation, used to donate "rank" or respect).