What are your thoughts regarding those who primarily are attracted to BDSM because of its “transgressive” nature? Are dominants who embrace BDSM more as a fun, taboo way to explore sexuality any less authentic than those who have committed to the philosophy of BDSM/ base their relationships on power exchange regardless of the sexual elements?

Is love different in D/s relationships compared to vanilla ones?

Do Dominants and submissives love differently?

Have you experienced submissives falling in love faster than Dominants?

Are there types of love in D/s?

Once someone enters an M/s relationship, do you think that it’s fair, right, whatever word you want to use here, for the Master to change the orginal agreement; or, do you think that s/he has the right to make whatever changes he desires without “checking” with the slave?

Define your limits. Explain why you can’t or won’t go past that point and try to think about things that were once limits but are not any longer. This list can be a working list that you come back to often to update.

Dominant. A natural role of humans to take charge and care for others. We are a large group of individuals with many different careers and lifestyle choices.

No where is it defined that BDSM has to be a part of a Dominant/submissive lifestyle. But it’s an integral part of its makeup. Every relationship, whether it’s vanilla or not has a dominant and submissive partner. Sometimes the role is fluid and it shifts from person to person. But in a D/s relationship it is generally well-defined. You can be into kinky play and not have a dominant personality. You could be the type of person that just role-plays a scene of Master-slave.

• How do you see dominance in relation to BDSM?
• If you had to describe your level and character of dominance, what would it be?
• How do you enhance your dominance?
• Do you consider yourself naturally dominant or is this something you had to develop?
• What do you think of the term true dom?

Mentoring in this lifestyle is a topic of varying opinions; much like everything else. Tops volunteer to mentor bottoms, submissives with other submissives and then you have the people that are self declared mentors that will take on anyone that has the desire.

Albany Power Exchange essay says, “A Mentor is a guide, a teacher, an advisor and is also, in a way, a protector, though that needs explanation. A Mentor can be a trusted friend, a recommended source of basic information and there are some definite guidelines about mentoring that I’ve found most folks don’t understand very well.” With this thought, a mentor can be anyone you trust to not steer you wrong in your choices when you are first starting out.
There are several essays online right now supporting or conflicting with benefits. Take a look at the following articles.

Mentors 

Mentoring in the Lifestyle

Mentors: Good or Bad? 

Now, on with the questions:

• What are your thoughts on mentors?
• Have you been a mentor to someone? What sorts of guidelines did you follow? How did it go?
• Would you recommend your submissive to have a mentor before or while your relationship with them is in its early stages?
• Can mentors corrupt the thoughts of a new person? How can someone protect themselves?
• Is there a difference between a trainer and a mentor? What is that difference?

It’s what you have defined yourself. A dominant personality, a dominant role, a dominant. Wikipedia defines a dominant as:

In human sexual behavior, a dominant is one who enjoys performing any of a variety of BDSM practices upon a submissive; or one who holds a dominant position within a relationship based upon dominance and submission (DS). This enjoyment can spring from a simple desire for dominance or an enjoyment of the interplay of wills involved in such a scenario. A male dominant is often called a dom; a female, a domme or dominatrix.

Each and every individual finds their place as unique and specific to their needs. When you think about who you are you can define attitudes, behaviors, characteristics that you see as dominant for you. Others may not agree. The fact remains that you have specified this place as yours. You are dominant.

We have all seen the pledges, the creeds, the inspiring bits of electronic babble about a successful dominant, a good dominant or a Master’s law. Most of them can be dismissed as mush that submissives gobble up in their desire to seek out their perfect Master. I have yet to find a decent essay that is worth placing here as a good definition of a dominant that isn’t partial to niceties, fanciful dreaming or submissive ideals. (If you know where one is or have one, I’d love to see it.)

There are also discussions about types of dominants being better than others or more compatible to different submissive types. The good guys, the cruel sadists, the sensualists, the daddies, just to name a few. Compatibility is a blending of two separate souls; is it impossible to wager that one d-type may be compatible with a completely different s-type?
The thoughts today are thus:

• How do you define ‘dominant’?
• What characteristics do you see in yourself that tell you that your definition fits you?
• What type of dominant are you?
• How do you assert your dominance within your relationship?
• Is your dominance natural or have you had to develop it over time?