He doesn't say it, but it's a limit

Subs want to please, for many revealing their limits are problematic as they want to do everything you want. It is important to have a discussion of limits and to allow the sub to tell you. At the beginning it is most important to leave the limits in place. Take time to get to know the sub so you can make educated pushes to his limits. 

Many limits are expected; blood, scat, illegal activity. The sub will tell you the others he has. Some he will not tell you. You need to listen to all the things the sub says, because it may reveal limits the sub does not want to tell you, and may not realize he even has. 

He will naturally give you the ones he knows, but listen to them, and what else he talks about to see if there are unspoken limits. Test him, see how he reacts to discover more. It is possible the sub has limits you can discover and bring to his awareness. One important point here is the sub may not recognize or accept them as limits, but their behaviour and reactions are more important than their words.

One sub I know is excited to have his clothes picked out, what got shaved, how his hair is styled, if he gets tattooed or pierced. Even how he works out, his entire body is a canvass for his Master. Only it’s not. When pressed, he revealed deep seated objections to destroying his nice clothes, felt uncomfortable with some of the shaving ordered. Yes, he offered them up and accepted how he was told to do things, but it was a battle deep in his head. Some bothered him greatly. In the long term slavery he has been in for a while now, he finally had to confess his change of limits to his Dom. These things meant something to him. He’d gladly dress in cheap or scruffy clothes when ordered, but when going to work or out on (non sub) social engagements, his appearance mattered to him. 

Yes, some of it was vanity, pure and simple. His submission was so great his Dom saw no need to take this from him. In the sub’s mind, it is attached to the “see what I do for my Dom” pride. It was “see what my Dom can own”. Having met the sub, it was a positive influence in his life.

The sub actually had deep seated reservations for body modifications. He was motivated to claim they were his Master’s to do or not do, but the reality is he would have felt scarred, abused, mistreated. He would have struggled accepting the tattoo because he had tricked his own mind into believing his Master had to right to do it. Yes, many Master claim and exercise such a right. 

The Dom later revealed to me it was fortunate he discovered this part of his sub. He had been considering ordering a tattoo. Where the sub was proud of the welts he was able to take, he also wanted to have good skin to please his Dom. Still vanity, but rightly placed, he wanted to show the world the price his Dom had. 

These indicators show that where the sub thinks he would accept body modifications, he was actually unhappy about the prospect. His desire to fulfill his Dom’s wishes was so great, it overwhelmed his ability to see his inability to take permanent changes. It can be a submissive fantasy, a lack of comprehension of the full effects, a lack of total realization of what the sub values. Subs are torn between the desire to please and what they will accept. Often, they attempt to negotiate with themselves they can live with it, do it if their Dom wants. It takes a observant Dom to recognize not just the words, but all the meaning behind the words.