Discpline and Punishment

So – discipline. I don't like to apply discipline and I prefer not to, if another, reasonable alternative can be found – but I do when I have to and I try to look at it as the hurts I'm protecting her from, this person who is important to me, are far greater than the pain I could ever give her.

For instance, I had a friend who got into the scene and got wilder and wilder – which I take as a pretty clear message that she's not feeling "looked after," that she wants to know where the boundaries are and who's going to do what about it. Well, as usually happens, one time she approached a boundary and ended up blowing so far past it… she and a friend were in a bar, maybe in a scene club, I don't really remember. For some reason – maybe the guy next to her had annoyed her and she wanted to make him feel bad, maybe, as I said, she was just feeling like it'd be a wild thing to do, she started flirting as deliberately as possible with some random guy across the bar. Soon they were on the dance floor, kissing. Next thing she knows, she's out the back door, pinned against a brick wall with the guy's hands inside her minimal clothes and no intention of slowing down. The good news is some guy walked by and when her would-be rapist backed off a bit, she shoved him off and escaped back inside the bar.

You can imagine how scared she was to tell me – not because of how I was going to punish her, obviously she deserved and needed that – because she was afraid I would tell her that her behavior had been so unacceptable that she had abdicated her position of someone I would be acquainted with. On the other hand, she was so just sick with fear and recriminations that basically she couldn't function and she couldn't very well continue to interact with me in any form without telling me. I have a hard time sitting in silence waiting for a woman to get herself ready to tell me what she has to tell me but eventually the whole story came out.

Other women I've known seldom do crazy things – their problems are usually a matter of not meeting their own high expectations with an endless series of little disappointments – and I've always found that these "chronic" troubles are very dangerous to criticize because it sounds much too much like you're disapproving of the person, not the action. And when they can't bring themselves to change these things, they can feel rejected or worse. But I don't often have to deal with "acute" offenses – these same women seldom do anything that's particularly bad for them.

Even though I prefer to avoid discipline, I do know what's needed, both in terms of lecture and physically. To make myself okay with the situation I described above, I kept telling her "this isn't hurting as much as three years of reconstructive surgery" (since the guy showed an inclination to brutalize her as well as violate her). I also said, once, when she hesitated to comply, that "this isn't as embarrassing as having to explain to your daughters how you got raped" (her daughters were teenagers at the time).

I tend to play with women I have some type of relationship with, more than casual meetings – in other words, a woman who knows and trusts me. I think that's why after we've played one or two times she will want to play very very hard. I have interpreted this as meaning that when she needs real punishment, I have to go way past that. Maybe this is a mistake because her reaction to punishment is always amazingly more sensitive than her reaction to even the hardest play. And no matter how hard a woman likes to play, I do have a few tools at my disposal that are safe but completely intolerable. I define "safe" as not breaking the skin, no chance of broken bones or some kind of deep bruising, and I try to avoid raising welts (I try to avoid purple marks, too, but not too successfully). So these extra tools, which see little play time, are frighteningly stingy. They work by producing an absolute panic, an uncontrollable need to get away which, when it can't be fulfilled, leads to a sense of true submission. Typically when true punishment is called for I require a woman to submit to a heavy paddling, strapping, or both and then take her over my knee for a long session with one of these painful little implements until she has to admit to herself that she really did do something wrong – not "scene," not role-play, but real life.

If the preparation is just a strapping I have her kneel on the couch with her face on the cushions, hips raised or supported by cushions (I do this because the edge of my bed is about waist-level, which is too high), so her arms have to either be out in front of her or tucked with her hands under her chin. The strap has two layers of very heavy leather, not doubled – I use the open end. I strap her pretty conventionally to a normal limit and then coach her through a few dozen more (I never seem to be satisfied with the count I promise her so it usually has to go over).

Then I move up along the couch until my leg is even with her face. By shifting a little she can press her shoulder against my leg and wrap her arm around my thigh or calf. At the same time, by keeping her feet back against the arm of the couch, I can make her keep her bottom raised. Also, like this, she can feel basically held in place (encouraged, actually) just from the touch of my hand on her lower back and the feel of my leg just above her hip.

With a wide stance and a little bit of reach, I can still generate a powerful swing either conventionally from the side or at a high angle – typically I don't use the strap over-the-top for serious work, though the paddle I have can be used quite well this way. This part of the session is extremely difficult but I completely believe that we manage to create a feeling that we're in this together. Emotionally, the penitent's emotional pain is increased by my remarks like the "this doesn't hurt as much as" one. She also hears a lot about how she has endangered someone very important to me – herself, which I make her acknowledge. Frequently she'll refuse or question this, looking for repeated reassurance – which costs her dearly but I suppose she must think it's worth it.

This isn't the first she's heard this, though. Before the first stroke lands, she has had to take some time out to rid herself of any resentment or argument. Not corner time, but alone time. If she has issues after fifteen minutes, we discuss the whole situation and she tries again. Before, during, or after this I tell her, as calmly as possible, what problems I have with all aspects of her behavior. I pretty much dismiss the possible physical damage – cars and other objects can always be fixed or replaced. Instead I start briefly on bodily dangers and then move into emotional, relationship issues – sometimes, for instance, temperamental behavior might be basically a rejection of me, which is not something she wants to do; irresponsible behavior that endangers herself is something of a rejection of everyone in her life, which is also not her intent.

When she has reasonable issues, we discuss them. When she has emotional issues I usually listen to them – to separate out the reasonable ones – and the invalid ones ("so-and-so did such-and-such and she doesn't get spanked" or "she did worse to me," etc.) she has to take the time to overcome. Once I had a scene that never got past this stage on the first attempt and we weren't going to see each other again for two weeks – still we waited and of course the next day she called to say she was ready and sorry I wasn't there.

In short, I don't do the angry spankings to make her see the errors of her ways. Women who need to play that way have to get that from someone else, if they can. Yes, it hurts me for her to have a need that I can't fill, but it would hurt me so much more to ever be wrong, even once. In almost everything else my philosophy is: accept the fact that you'll be wrong sometimes, people cannot reasonably expect anything else and both you and they have to be able to let it go. But I hedge my bets when it comes to driving and I don't take any chances at all when it comes to punishment. You can say that this means that I don't trust my partner to forgive me (for a bad or inappropriate scene) but it's the best I can do.

Going back to the corporal aspects, sometimes I use a different preparation: alternating the paddle and strap done over the back of the couch (or arm of the couch, depending on her height). I used to say that the strap was for "hot" offenses like temper and the paddle was for "cold" offenses like stubbornness but I've concluded that that just seemed like I was showing that I could get madder or more stubborn than she was. I don't want to give that impression, though I fear it is very much true – and probably apparent. Anyway.

In addition to having a heavy strap for such uses I have a paddle that's extremely difficult to endure. It started life as a cutting board and is made of thick, heavy, hardwood. Although it's not long like a frat paddle, it's fiddle-shaped which gives great both-cheek coverage and is so wide that it has incredible heft. I try to get a bent-over position that eliminates the bun-thigh crease so that the paddle is sure to land flat – this avoids those awful purple crescents high on the thigh where the edge came down on it. Since it was a cutting board it's polished smooth and has all rounded edges so a lot of the real danger has been removed, but it's still very clear how school vice-principals maintained order with just a few swats over clothes. My only complaint is that the handle is small and uncomfortable but I suppose if I ever got a better grip on it I'd make someone bite off her own tongue.

From all reports, the first school-style swat with this (school style minus the clothing, that is) completely clears your mind of all other thoughts, concerns, worries, regrets, misgivings, grudges… having admitted you need this has just become a very clear admission that you've done something seriously wrong and that you are in serious serious trouble. I think a first-timer might believe she can still survive this if I stop at six but has few misconceptions when the count heads for twelve. After only a dozen, usually, I switch back to the heavy strap which, even applied straight on (rather than downward), hits very hard. So there's two dozen of those.

At this point I do something that I know not everyone will agree with and some people will say disqualifies this as a punishment session but first of all, it's my show, and second of all, I've been there, the entire session works. So I stop and apply a thick layer of aloe vera gel. Yes, it feels good and alleviates the burning but she's still sore underneath and it protects the skin which is absolutely essential. I rub it in well and make sure there's no excess which I know feels good but otherwise, even this early on, she may have signs of drying, chaffing, and some small bruises (come to think of it maybe I should use it before we start).

Once this first step has been applied, I get out a small mister bottle – normally used for touching up hair-do's. Her bottom, still in the same over-the couch position, is thoroughly wetted and then soundly paddled with a short thick rubber paddle. For some reason the rubber paddle produces an entirely different kind of pain and after bracing for the power of the heavy paddle and heavy leather strap the super-stingy rubber comes as something like an electric shock. Probably its biggest contribution is that it shakes the body out of its resistance mode. If I've had some problems with this woman before (in terms of requiring a lot of punishment) I also have a version with holes in it.

The process is repeated – paddle, strap, lotion, water, rubber paddle – and then reversed. In this set-up, our connection is maintained not just through the two doses of gel but with a continued touch on the lower back. I try to keep my hip against hers as well unless I have to back up to swing harder.

As I mentioned earlier, the fiddle paddle can be used over-the-top from the opposite side – in fact, it's pretty ideal for it, well sized and shaped to match a normal derriere or with double swats on alternating sides for a larger lady. Because of this I may give the last application of the paddle over-the-top or apply it conventionally followed by over-the-top.

However I prepare the woman, it leaves her mentally spent and she requires something of a break. If I put her over my knee too immediately she feels savagely beaten; if I wait too long it might feel like play. And while the break may include a check to see if she's "all right" – still breathing, hasn't sprained her wrist or hit her head (weird things happen) – it does not include coddling of any kind. All of that can wait, in real time it will all be over in a few minutes anyway.

I prefer a certain position to punish a woman over my knee, if I can get it, when I expect that she'll instinctively fight. She does this despite my telling her that her struggles are a silent (ha!) argument against what I am doing while it is only what she has made me do. I sit on the edge of the low couch so that one thigh is straight out and flat while the other points out to the side. I have her bend over my one thigh and put her elbows on the floor, then I lift my foot over at least one of her calves. Regardless of what's been done or said before, it is impossible to be in this position without clearly realizing that you've done something very wrong and you're now definitely going to be well punished for it.

As I arrange her over my knee, trying to do so without inflicting incidental punishment, my attitude has moved all the farther from personal anger, annoyance, or hurt to entirely disappointment and regret at what lies ahead. I remind her that I don't want to be punishing her this time and I definitely don't want to ever have to do it worse (which is entirely true). That her inconsiderate actions are making me do something that I dislike and find difficult. That I'm willing to do this for her if this is what it takes to protect her but I certainly don't like it. I think she needs to recognize this for what it is – an imposition on me when we could be pursuing much more pleasant and playful activities which we will now have to forego.

As I said in the beginning, I have two tools for this punishment – both light and both intolerable. Actually both are also rather quiet so if you can dispense with the preparation you could execute this portion without too much sound privacy. The first tool is a small rubber flogger, three loops of rubber with a surprisingly heavy feel despite having little lasting effect. Swatted it is difficult to take, snapped it is impossible. The second is an extra-soft, light doubled cane – rattan formed into a tight loop on the end which eliminates a lot of its flex.

Either of these implements produces a feeling of absolute panic – a feeling of real danger, an impression that real injury is occurring and accumulating. After surprisingly little of this, even the most docile, accepting transgressor has a natural flight response, which is completely nullified by the position she finds herself in.

In contrast, I can proceed with complete calm. Being able to be rational and being able to see what effect I'm having on her poor bottom, I don't have to worry that I am shredding her skin down to the bone even though it feels that way to her. Her side and hip are against my stomach, my foot and ankle are right in front of her where she can hold me for (emotional) support, and I have one hand free to keep her steady or trap a wayward hand.

There's another reason for my calm – I can work these tools rapidly to good effect virtually without effort, allowing me to completely focus on what I'm saying and on being heard. As she protests I tell her that this is what she asked for when she behaved the way she did, that this is what happens to young ladies who hurt others' feelings or don't take care of themselves, that this is a short, minor unpleasantness compared to the other possible consequences.

It's usually when she takes exception to the word "unpleasant" that I come down on her with the full force of what might have happened – she might have been hurt, she might have hurt someone else, she may have lost many friends, she may have lost me as a friend. I list them off once and then go back through one at a time – "did you want to be hurt?" If she says "I don't care" then she has no complaint about what I'm doing, does she? When I get to our relationship – did she want to lose me; does she know how hurt I'd be; does she know how important she is to me – since she certainly has not been acting like it; does she know how hurt I am that she'd take such a chance; can she blame me for trying to prevent it? I have never once had a partner oppose me for spanking her to protect our relationship.

Once the tears start flowing they're not too likely to stop, so I can switch to hand-spanking at any time. Instantly the sting stops and the smacks drive it out all the more but emotionally the cleansing goes on. I encourage it, telling her to get it all out, let it all go; that she's getting just what she needs, how good this is for her. As long as I keep it firm it doesn't have to be hard and by the time it's over we're both ready for it to be.

Then, as she kneels and turns into me for a hug, the healing and recovery can begin, right? Well, I like to think that it starts a long time before that – maybe as far back as when she decides she's going to tell me what she's done. But whenever it starts, this is it in full force – I get her to promise to take better care of herself, to be more careful, that I'll help take care of her, that we'll stop worrying about this and put it behind us, that she'll ask for help when she needs it because I know she'd help me if I needed her to. That she's really a good girl and things will be better in the future, even if it's a slow process. If there's anything she doesn't want to completely agree with, she can go back over my knee – and I'd probably do it, too, since I don't really think that this phase provides much lasting physical discomfort. But then again, it's never come up.

When you read this, it sounds brutally harsh. Honestly, she winds up in something of a daze and will be sore for days – and worries that she looks awful, though a self-conscious smile can make any face beautiful. She's taken far more spanking than any non-scene person would receive for any offense and I'd go so far as to say that it might be too much for another scene person who didn't know me as well and wasn't as accustomed to me (or basically didn't have the level of trust in me) – but all of these factors are considerations I make. We've tried different ways and some felt inadequate while others felt too harsh, even if it was actually lighter. Really, most often the hardest part is letting her leave afterward.