Introduction to Chat Rooms

• Quick Guide to Chat Room Etiquette
• Acronyms
• Instant or Private Messages
• Dealing With On-line harassment
• Summary

A Quick Guide to Chat Room Etiquette

Welcome to our community. As you begin to explore the various D/s related chat rooms, you will find a number of rooms with different flavors and a vast sea of personalities. The common thread tying all together is an interest in D/s. There are a number of Rooms to explore, Beginners Dungeon, Le Chateau, Le Chateau Dungeon, Chateau Serenity, and a number of others. Explore each one for each room has it's own flavor and appeal.

The segments enclosed in this file are intended to help ease your entry into the rooms and understand the interactions of the room members. There are several basic rules of room behavior common to all the Chateaux and Dungeons. A few are set forth here.

1. While age / sex / location checks are used in a number of rooms, especially those catering to children and teens, this practice is the height of bad manners in a D/s room. Read the member's profiles, that's why the profiles were created.

2. Before venturing into the rooms, create a profile of your own. A profile allows the members to get a quick over view of who you are without disturbing the flow of the room with impolite questions such as your sex, etc.

3. Advertising is never an acceptable practice in the open room. Entering a Chateau or Dungeon and announcing that you are a Dom/me or sub seeking a partner only serves to inform the members of you newness and may well be perceived that your interest in D/s is shallow.

4. If you notice a member you are interested in start a room conversation with them or open a conversation in IMs. But remember to read the profile first. Then you will have an idea of who they are. And a very important point. If the person you are interested in already has a relationship established. Many members will include information in their profiles mentioning that they already are a collared sub or a Dom with a collared submissive. Knowing this prior to striking up a conversation can often save you much embarrassment.

5. Always speak to everyone with respect and courtesy. Being a submissive does not mean that person is easy, immoral or a slut. Subs are intelligent, independent people and you will find that most are very capable and will to deal with disrespect. And have Dom, Master, etc., in a screen name does not impart any special privilege. Doms, more than anyone else should ALWAYS treat all with respect and courtesy. By doing this, the new Dom will in turn earn the respect of subs and other Dom/mes.

6. Always remember as you venture into the rooms that each room is like a neighborhood bar. There are established, regular members who already know each other and have circles of friends. Just as in real life, a new face takes a while to become accepted. Watch the room, learn the interactions. After a bit you will identify those who are couples and those who are singles. Join into the conversations as you feel comfortable. By being friendly, courteous and observing the traditions of the room, you will soon find yourself an established member and be watching the new ones venturing in.

7. Should you find that you have a question about something, always feel free to ask for an answer. You can do this by asking the room or by asking someone privately in IM. As with anything else, remember to be respectful.

So, in summary, explore and enjoy. You will find a wonderful cross section of personalities. Perhaps, more important, you will find a large number of people who share the same interests you do. Treat all with the same respect you expect for yourself and you will be well down the road to fun and new friendships... and perhaps, meeting that special person.

ACRONYMS:

As you travel through the various rooms, you will find a confusing number of seemingly meaningless jumbles of letters and symbols being used in conversations. These are acronyms for commonly used phrases or actions. Using acronyms saves time and conserves limited typing space. The most commonly used ones are listed below.

DS, Ds, D/s, D&S

Dominance and submission

SM

Sadomasochism

BD, B&D

Bondage & Discipline

BDSM

The full range of Bondage/Discipline/Dominance/Submission/Sadism/Masochism

<s>, ~s~, *s*

A smile

<ws>, ~ws~, *ws*

Wicked smile

<es>, ~es~, *es*

Evil smile

<g>, ~g~, *g*

A grin

<eg>, ~eg~, *eg*

An evil grin

<weg>, ~weg~, *weg*

Wicked evil grin

LOL

Laughing Out Load

ROFL

Rolling on floor, laughing

ROFLMAO

Rolling on floor, laughing my ass off!

BTW

By the way

IMO

In my opinion

IMHO

In my humble opinion

AFK

Away from Keyboard

BAK

Back, Back at Keyboard

BRB

Be Right Back

YMMV

Your Mileage May Vary (generally used to indicate what ever floats your boat, whatever I believe for myself, different is okay)

CHDW

Clueless Hetero Dom Wannabe (also written Chudwah)

GMTA

Great Minds Think Alike

BTDT

Been There, Done That

SAM

Smart Assed Masochist

HANDLING IM's or PM's (Instant or Private Messages): Some Suggestions

As you travel the rooms, you will use Instant Messages (IM's or PM's) to chat. IM conversations are semi-private out of room messages. This allows you to carry on multiple, individual conversations. Unfortunately, we are bless with a number of humorless souls who think IMs offer them a license to be rude, abusive or crude. Here are a few suggestions for dealing with IM messages

1. If it rude, crude or socially unacceptable, press "Cancel". Doing that INSTEAD of responding will make the LobbyLizard work harder to send the second IM. If you respond, he now has an open IM window up to continually remind him to harass me. If you cancel it, he never gets a window back. Facing facts, these dudes don't usually have that big an attention span to remember you unless you prompt them to do so.

2. If it is a polite "hi" or something, consider answer back in a similar light hearted vein. You can never make too many friends. It does no harm to be nice to folks who I'd just because they liked your name, the room name or your profile. You may well find that many of these people will have common interests with you and you will find yourself in a very enjoyable conversation and on the path to making a new friend.

3. If the IM starts out fairly simple and THEN the person becomes annoying, ask them to stop. If it continues you can do the ( go to Keyword TOS now and read what will happen to you when I turn this in ), routine.

4. Some IMs are just too good to pass up, though. I will admit that my sarcastic sense of humor does occasionally enjoy "yanking chains" and "instigating trouble". I am not above admitting to juvenile behavior on MY part keeping an IM going just for the fun of teasing the heck out of the LobbyLizard with snappy banter and flaming, razor sharp wit.

5. I think the variety of people on AOL make for interesting conversations you would not get in most places. Sure, some are rude and obnoxious, but so are many of the people I work with and I handle that okay. Being tolerant of differences, learning things and making friends are reasons I enjoy being on-line.

Dealing With On-line harassment

Unfortunately, AOL as well as all other on-line services have been discovered by people who enjoy harassing their fellows or stalking. Should you become the target of harassment or a stalker here are a few suggestions for dealing with these people.

1. Send the harasser an Email letter informing them that ANY further contact by them to ANY of your screen names will be considered harassment and sent to the TOS staff. Save the letter and forward a copy to the TOS staff at TOSmail1, TOSmail2, or TOSGeneral.

2. If you are receiving phone calls from the harasser, or suspicious phone calls, contact your phone company and let them know you have a crank caller. Do NOT try to name the harasser or connect them to AOL, just let the phone company know and follow their directions.

3. If you are contacted by the harasser again on-line, tell the individual that you will file Federal Charges for usage of interstate and intrastate phone lines for purposes of harassment with your local jurisdiction of the FCC and FBI offices. Log everything from the harasser and forward it to the TOS staff. Absolutely DO NOT engage in conversation with the individual. You can turn off your IM's if necessary by entering $$_IMoff in the send to box of the IM.

4. The vast majority of on-line harassers are punks who get a kick out of scaring people. If you ignore them and not tolerate their behavior, they usually very quickly lose interest and move on. As a last resort, if you feel you have a serious threat and not just an on-line stalker, contact your local law enforcement agency and explain the situation to them. They may be able to help, or at least advise you of appropriate safety precautions.

SUMMARY

As with everything else you will read in the information files you receive, this information is not meant to be the last word. This file is a compilation of ideas and methods which others have found to work for them. Use the information as a guide, but always remember that ultimately you, as an individual, have to rely on you own best judgment.

Again, welcome to our community, all of us look forward to seeing you in the various Chat Rooms and getting to know you better.

Good Luck... Have Fun.... Make New Friends.... and above all BE SAFE.

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