Elegantly written, witty and to the point, Miss Abernathy’s classic manuals, widely considered the best guidebooks for D/s relationships, are newly in print and combined into one tidy volume.
Dominant/submissive (D/s) relationships are at their heart about giving and receiving service - in these books, in long-term, negotiated relationships. But how, as a dominant, do you determine what sort of service you need, and how to train your submissive to obey? And how do potential slaves reach the mindfulness and focus necessary to devote themselves to another’s will?
This comprehensive compendium includes both Miss Abernathy's Slave Training Manual (for dominants) and Training With Miss Abernathy (for slaves, submissives, or self-directed hopefuls). Miss Abernathy notes the historical implications of the word “slave” to refer to nonconsensual slavery, and acknowledges that she refers to consensual erotic slavehood.
The Manual, a slim volume aimed at dominants, owners and potential trainers, is the “theory,” and Training With Miss Abernathy is the “practice” of her form of training. The Manual explains how to train potential slaves, emphasizing communication, especially written assignments and journals; examples of voice commands, positions, reward/punishment, and eventual collar, token, or other symbol, and their meaning.
Within Miss Abernathy’s guidelines is room for any number of variations. And it is very helpful, as a Dominant, to have an outline to color within (or scribble outside of) when considering training one’s submissive.
Even for those dominants who don’t believe in “slave training” (or who don’t want to be told what to do or how to do it), the Manual will prove a treasure trove of possible ideas for individual assignments, protocol or discipline. Her keen insights into how to keep D/s relationships running smoothly according to each person’s needs will prove helpful regardless.
For dominants who are interested in training a potential slave or submissive through a thoughtful, participatory training program, send them through Abernathy’s training book, and discuss the results with them. It’s comprehensive enough to be tailored to your needs - dominants can select preferred exercises, using the book as a set of guidelines. These would be useful to refer back to later on in service as well - exercises for reflection, mindfulness or simply dialogue with your slave.
Training With Miss Abernathy covers a dizzying array of exercises for the potential slave, covering seemingly all aspects of service from housekeeping to body servant in fifty lessons. To her credit, Miss Abernathy makes room for a wide variety of gender identity and sexuality, and makes special notes for those who do not yet have a Dominant and are doing the exercises for personal enrichment. A combination of written exercises, errands, and quizzes with ample footnotes for outside reading are designed to help the potential slave discover what variety of slave s/he tends toward. The workbook is like a kinky guidance counselor, letting the reader know of the challenges of service, exercises to work through them, and determine if s/he is more of the public escort, or housekeeper, or personal secretary, or erotic slave… or perhaps a combination of a few or all, and helping one along on each path.
For those potential slaves who make it through the fifty lessons, the “advanced” section includes a very useful guide and discussion about different ways of approaching a live-in D/s relationship, bringing that particular fantasy to a very real level. Last is a quiz of ethical problems which may come up when serving a dominant, making her very real point: just because you’re in service, don’t turn your brains and ethics off – act according to what is right, according to your own integrity.
Ms. Abernathy is careful to reveal the sometimes harsh realities of D/s relationships, but she is careful to show the poetry that service gives the everyday, the way it turns routine tasks into meaningful, noble gestures that mean one thing: I serve you, and want to be a credit to you. Christina Abernathy feels that service is a calling and a noble vocation. Her training guides are a powerful reminder for both dominant and submissive of the potential and depth of service.
