subSpace

by
Mistress Steel

subSpace

Generally is used to describe a moderate to deep trancelike condition experienced by persons in the submissive position in a D/s relationship during interaction with the person in the Dominant position in the relationship.

Top Space

I will start by regarding top space or normal space. This is operational ground zero. The submissive in top space often appears quite aggressive, assertive, and dominant. They will be hustling their children off to school, dominating their Dominant mate by organizing him/her off to work, cleaning and straightening the house, sending themselves off to work or to take care of business. They are the Commander of the ship, the General of the Army. Hustle, hustle, hustle. This is a submissive's TOP SPACE.

Marginally Down Space

This space occurs when the Dominant in the relationship directs attention at the submissive. This may be a glance, a light touch, a small sound, or any combination of these triggers. This marginal appearing contact drops the submissive out of top space into a state of waiting and/or listening for command. She stops. Generally, she will cease talking even in the midst of a comment. She may stop moving. She will generally attempt direct eye contact with her Dominant to see if he/she has a direction or command for her. If nothing further occurs, she will most likely re-top. Or, go back to full functional top space. If the Dominant mentally presses...she will generally descend further into space.

Sprite Space

Some submissives will squirm and utterly deny that this space exists. They will swear to you that they don't have it, it doesn't exist, and they would never perpetrate mischief. Hmmm. Essentially, just under or into down space, there is a space where the submissive will TEST the Dominant's attention, desire, and will to control her. She may unclip cuffs; slide out of assigned position - all in total innocence. She didn't hear that command, the blindfold muffled her ears...etc. Note: If she notes that the Dominant doesn't catch her action, she will feel he isn't paying her attention, therefore doesn't love her (mind of women at work).

Blonde Space

Now, as the submissive descends into space, her IQ tends to diminish progressively. Many submissives will tell you that their UP person is off to the side, watching everything. They will feel themselves getting slower mentally. I call this blonde space. In blonde space, the submissive has trouble with rational thought. If you ask her if something is uncomfortable, she is likely to say "I dunno". The truth is - she doesn't know. At this point, she is not capable of distinguishing danger to herself; she cannot and will not utilize ANY safeword - it becomes incomprehensible to her. In her mind, she has YOU, the Dominant, she loves and trusts you, and you won't let anything happen to her.

Sub-Vocal or Primal Space

Sometimes the Dominant and the submissive penetrate what I call the sub-vocal barrier. The submissive in this space loses her submissive nature. If you intend to take her, have her well tied. As she drops through into this deep space, she can and will get feral. Her voice may become primal grunts and sounds, her eyes may alter, and she will be hypersensitive to sound, light, and movement. She will be FAST and very dangerous. She can and will claw you, bite you, or toss you into a wall if you are a small man. In a sense, she is tapping into ancient primal body language. She becomes a predator, barely submitting. If she senses ANY weakness in your control, she WILL attempt to take you out. She cannot EVER utilize safe words here. She cannot remember how to articulate human speech.

These are the basic levels of sub-space. Before beginning an exploration of sub-space, the Dominant and submissive should have intensive conversations about what she may expect and how she may feel. The Dominant should set up a sequence of escape words. This should be a simple question that would NEVER occur in common life. Something such as "What color is your left big toe?" Her auto-UP UP UP response might be "My left big toe is orange!" Essentially, this question asked at ANY time is her command to FAST UP or come to TOP SPACE NOW!!! This escape question should be practiced multiple times until it becomes automatic.

I included the for a very important reason...submissives in DOWN space seldom laugh. Their ability to laugh and giggle seems to diminish as their focus intensifies on their Dominant in space. By requiring the submissive as well, the Dominant is assured that the submissive has returned to TOP SPACE. Note: this command should only be used in a problem situation. For regular activities in sub-space, the submissive needs and desires to be 'caught' by the Dominant gently and allowed to return to TOP SPACE in a normal way...this can take hours of afterplay cuddling.

Some basic information: NEVER EVER leave your submissive ALONE in space unless you wish to risk severe potential problems... YOU are her sole connection to reality. If you leave her alone, she is likely to be terrified. She will return to TOP SPACE at some point and may NEVER forgive you for leaving her.

ALWAYS keep your commands simple and direct. In space, she will obey, but comprehension is limited. NEVER impose responsibility on her for ANY aspect of the play. If you want interaction, stay in Marginal Space or Sprite Space (sometimes known as Sammy Space). In any other DOWN space, she will not communicate well verbally. She may be unable to articulate your name at all.

Reassuringly TALK to her if penetration of sub-space is new - she may be frightened. The further into space she goes, the higher the chems pump into her bloodstream, and generally the more intense the play can become. For a first timer, you need to tell her that sub-space exists, what it is, and how it may feel to her. She will desire to please you and be open to seeking this space. She must FEEL that YOU know what you are doing even if YOU do not. SHE must be convinced that she is utterly safe with you.

Penetration of the different levels will vary for many reasons. Some people can only go so far. They have inhibitors. Often, the penetration may occur over many months as the level of trust increases and the submissive relaxes into new experiences. You should NOT expect a full flight from the beginning.
 

Mistress Steel In A Wonderful Discussion Online December 1997
(This was copied and all of the other text removed.)

SteelBtrfl: I determined the levels of sub-space through my own experience, and about 15 years
SteelBtrfl: of seriously questioning research...
SteelBtrfl: As to putting any individual into sub-space, depending on the individual's 
SteelBtrfl: pre-disposition or level of susceptibility, it can be as simple as a glance
SteelBtrfl: for the beginner, this still holds true...
SteelBtrfl: If the sub is WILLING and seeks space, then they will reach for that place inside their
SteelBtrfl: mind and go there...
SteelBtrfl: essentially, that space is familiar to everyone
SteelBtrfl: you call it something else...
SteelBtrfl: perhaps you call it zoning out...
SteelBtrfl: when you are doing dishes...
SteelBtrfl: it is a relaxed mental state...
SteelBtrfl: A dominant can and will TRIGGER access into this space...
SteelBtrfl: Genetics...
SteelBtrfl: A great deal of my research had to do with the connections between
SteelBtrfl: generations of dominants and submissives...
SteelBtrfl: I found rather quickly that there appeared to be a great many dominants and submissives
SteelBtrfl: that extended from long lines of obvious domination...
SteelBtrfl: this eventually made a great deal of sense to me...
SteelBtrfl: Consider it this way:
SteelBtrfl: In ancient times, a man would gather a group of men and conquer a neighboring village
SteelBtrfl: The DOMINANT man or leader would get to select his choice of women from that
SteelBtrfl: conquered group
SteelBtrfl: The majority of the women would NOT desire to be his mate
SteelBtrfl: But a few would - they would desire the strongest children
SteelBtrfl: the strongest mate
SteelBtrfl: they would seek to mate with this man and SURVIVE the contact
SteelBtrfl: eventually, they would develop techniques and mutations to assist them in
SteelBtrfl: this biological process
SteelBtrfl: One of those techniques is space. When entering space, a submissive can reveal manifestations.
SteelBtrfl: These can be quite varied
SteelBtrfl: sheening (the exuding of scent and oils through the skin)
SteelBtrfl: elevated arousal (under threat)
SteelBtrfl: inability to walk or run (escape)
SteelBtrfl: posturing (presenting body in enticing position)
SteelBtrfl: and space -
SteelBtrfl: dropping into space, STOPS action, she would intend to divert this VIOLENT and ferocious man from
SteelBtrfl: possibly killing her to desiring to f*ck her - much greater chance of survival
SteelBtrfl: This required a mutation on her part
SteelBtrfl: alteration of response from the norm
SteelBtrfl: as these dominants and submissives mated
SteelBtrfl: They produced more
SteelBtrfl: who mated
SteelBtrfl: increasing the responses
SteelBtrfl: Often, you find strong dominants and submissives with very strong
SteelBtrfl: genealogical trees...
SteelBtrfl: The strongest submissives are often dominants...
SteelBtrfl: They only respond submissively in the presence of a dominant, stronger than they are
SteelBtrfl: The stronger the submissive, the deeper into space she will probably go
SteelBtrfl: the faster too...
SteelBtrfl: her responses are not trained - they already exist
SteelBtrfl: they are more revealed by the dominant knowing what to look for
SteelBtrfl: and how to utilize what he discovers...
SteelBtrfl: A higher-level submissive will listen to intricate tonal inflections in the dominants
SteelBtrfl: voice and follow that subtle language down
SteelBtrfl: The higher-end submissives are auto-responsive
SteelBtrfl: If they are in the presence of a dominant THEY believe is dominant TO them
SteelBtrfl: They will respond to command without thought
SteelBtrfl: often seeming to KNOW positions instinctively
SteelBtrfl: or perform movements without any coaching at all... her part manipulating the Dominant
SteelBtrfl: to achieve her desired goal...
SteelBtrfl: she uses the techniques of instinctive response...
SteelBtrfl: enticement, seduction, obedience, etc...
SteelBtrfl: when entering space, her level of arousal will increase...
SteelBtrfl: threat, fear, pain, etc... will send her through the threshold into deeper space
SteelBtrfl: allowing her to transmute the pain into pleasure in her brain...
SteelBtrfl: These responses trigger pleasure from the Dominant - he is getting what he wishes
SteelBtrfl: a compliant female to have his way with
SteelBtrfl: Those of you who are submissive should note that
SteelBtrfl: In some levels of space, you cannot and will not be able to use safe words
SteelBtrfl: primary response is to PLEASE the man
SteelBtrfl: in that condition will agree to ANYTHING
 

Further questions about this scene may be directed via e-mail to SteelBtrfl@aol.com

All rights reserved by Mistress Steel.
Comments or email SteelBtrfl@aol.com.
Other articles can be found at Steel_Door.

[The MasterNik footer has been omitted.]
 

long text

Archivist Note: Email links (steeibtrfl@aol.com, steelbfl@sonic.net, and MasterNik@aol.com) are no longer valid and have been omitted from this archive. The page link for Steel_Door / http://members.aol.com/steelbtrfl/SteelDoor/Steel_Door.html is invalid and has been omitted from this archive. The actual site was http://Steel-door.com, but it is no longer published. 

This article by OP is from an archive file of http://members.aol.com/MasterNik found on archive.org. A standard color and format template was used, even though the original page may deviate from it.

To purchase books by the OP, please search your preferred bookseller by title or by the OP's noms de plume: "Mistress Steel" and "F.R.R. Mallory".

Retrieved May 2026 https://web.archive.org/web/20050817004017/http://members.aol.com/MasterNik/subSpace.html.