First off safe words and signals are the responsability of the Dominant to establish, make sure A/all parties involved know the safe words and signals. Safe words can be anything. Words such as no or stop are not normaly used. Stop and no are often the last thing a submissive really means, saying stop and no are often part of the scene. That is the reason I like the words red yellow and green.
Red meaning limits have been reached
Yellow some discomfort but continue slow
Green why are you not going faster
Safe signals, a safe signal is use when speaking is not an option i.e gagging. A safe signal is something the submissive can hold the drop with limts have been reached. The best safe signal I have heard of is a cats ball with a bell in side. This not only gives a visual signal but an audio one as well.
Safe words and signals are not an excuse for the Dominant to push the submissive beyond the limits. The safe words and signals are a last resort. It is the Dominants responsability to be able to read Your submissive and know when the limits have been reached. The safe words and signals are part of the Safe Sane and Consensual creed. The safe words are just one extra safety device. Know the submissives limits, be able to read Your submissive, the emotional scars from going beyond limits can take along time for the submissive to recover from, and could cause the submissive to lose all trust they once had in You.
One more thought on safe words. They are not only for R/L playing and scening. A safe word is important in the online world as well. In the online world it is easy for O/others to impersonate O/others. It often happens when a C/couple is happy. So protect Y/yourselfs have a safe/code word only the T/two of Y/you know.
Safe is not limited to play time. It is the responsability of a Dominant to keep Their submissive safe. Also to keep all submissives that are without a Dominant or Protector in G/group setting.
