FAQ Alt.Torture

The people of this News group live a lifestyle where we're comfortable with the division between fantasy and reality. In fantasy, we partake of the most gruesome of tortures, either as assailant or victim or both, and this has been reflected in the stories and historical studies which are posted here. But we have also taken on the responsibility of living our lives practically and realistically in society. We find partners compatible with our interests (they do exist), and in so doing, we conspire together to create richer fantasies and realities which call on intense emotions and skilled design.

The experience is quite profound, richer from both parties' involvement. Mind you, many of our scenes involve surprises concocted by the dominants which often pushes the sub's limits, and that can be beautiful too, when the dominant pushes responsibly. But if you're looking for an experience involving depersonalized, entirely non-consensual victims, then that's not what this News group is about, and you are missing out on something beautifully intimate.

We all are. Torture Town is a home for those of us who find the Ecstasy in the Pain. Our members come from all walks of life, and represent all orientations. Masters and Mistresses both professional and non, Authors, Publishers, Retirees, Switches, Students, Slaves, Subs, Tops and Bottoms are all welcome here. As with any Community we ask that people do observe a few rules.

The easiest way to do that is to read the Charter. There will be a link to it at the bottom of the page. To keep the News group from becoming a Mall of Spam we do ask that our Shopkeepers place tasteful notices at the bottom of their posting, instead of hoisting Neon Signs.

Alt.Torture has been around for a very long time ... who built it no-one really knows. Speculation has run from it having been a News group for people involved with Amnesty International to a group for those who enjoyed Non-Consensual Torture. A long abandoned Usenet group it was found by a person using the Nick DataRat who was seeking a place free from Spam and the S.S. (Safety Squad) to discuss Edge Play, Torture, Humiliation and other subjects that tend to sound the alarms on other groups. It was largely through his earlier efforts that Torture Town has grown and become a thriving, relatively Spam free community.

DataRat has long since wandered off into the real world, but we are grateful to our founder. Since then Alt.Torture has continued to grow and welcome newcomers, some just beginning to explore their fantasies about torture, others experienced players looking to share ideas and chat with others who share their interests.

There are many levels to BDSM, moving from the purely sensual, to playing right on the edge. Torture Town is dedicated to those of us who enjoy the infliction of pain and pleasure. Edge Play pushes the envelope of safety. It may involve piercings, needles, electroshock, breath control, mummification, suspension, mind control, emotional torture and many other methods of torture that does actual damage to the body and mind.

Though we play on the Edge we do pay attention to safety, after all a partner who survives is a lot more fun to play with another day. By sharing our experiences here in Alt.Torture, we can advise one another of the perils of certain types of play, what difficulties may arise, and hopefully tread that Edge between life and death carefully

Sadomasochism is a term used to denote the sexual orientation of people who enjoy the infliction and reception of pain. Unfortunately for most of the world, hearing the term S&M means NON CONSENSUAL torture of innocents. This is a picture that we are trying to change slowly.

We of Alt.Torture do NOT CONDONE the Torture of Children, Animals or Non Consenting Adults, though our Fantasies may reflect Torture Sans Consent. This is not about Abuse of people but about a sexual preference that can be as committed and beautiful as any other type of relationship. We do Advocate CONSENT and Torture as SAFE and Sane as we can make it.

This is a difficult question for some. When you look at a slave kneeling before hir Owner, welted, serving far beyond limits that they thought they would ever be able to ... it would be easy to judge that as abuse. But there are some very simple questions you can ask yourself ( or that person):

Is It CONSENSUAL?
Is your partner in CONTROL of hirself?
Does your partner REFRAIN from Hitting you in anger?
Are you ENCOURAGED to grow within the relationship?
Do you FEEL valued?
Are your RELATIONSHIPS with family and friends SUSTAINED?
Are you EAGER to play and enjoy special times with hir?
Do you SEPARATE your BDSM play and personal interactions on a daily basis?
Does s/he HONOR safewords, signals or indications of trouble?
In intense scenes to date. . .Do you FEEL safe and EMOTIONALLY supported?
UNLESS you have been able to answer YES to the majority of the above questions, you are in a POTENTIALLY ABUSIVE relationship NOT S&M

Not all relationships use safewords, but for the most part they are there for the health of the sub/slave/bottom and the relief of the Top/Master/Mistress. Generally it is a word that will not come up ordinarily in play. Some people use three levels of safewording... the first means : everything is ok ... keep going. The second means: I'm having a little difficulty can we stop for a moment and then go on. These first two may or may not be noted and then denied or granted by the Top, depending or hir judgment as to where you are. The third if safewording is used should never be ignored it means : STOP NOW !! I am in trouble!

Many who use safewords (especially early on in a new relationship when both are learning about the other) will not safeword unless something is seriously wrong. Unplanned for distressed breathing, memories (for those who had been abused at sometime), or extreme problems physically are good reasons to safeword. To replace safewording when gags are used most people are given a small bell or clothespin to hold, the dropping or ringing of which will let the Top know you are in distress. It is generally advised that those who are new in a relationship DO use safewords in the beginning. As the relationship progresses they may eventually be done away with.

The Dom/me and/or Top is responsible for the safety of the bottom or slave. Always. Monitor your victim closely, to check for unintentional side effects. These could include impalment or cessation of breathing, circulation, or mental stability. It is recommended that this point not be exceeded without careful review of the possible civil, moral and legal ramifications of the action.

Procedures, especially those involving manipulation of the flesh in any painful way, are best undertaken by experts and should be practiced, rehearsed and prepared for. Any invasive activities run a risk of infection, and some are particularly dangerous.

courtesy of maxman

The first step that any who play on the edge should take is a solid course in CPR and Emergency First Aid. These courses are available at most Red Cross stations, YMCA's, Colleges or EMT Response Squads. Knowing what to do to maintain life, or stop bleeding while awaiting professional help is paramount. They are also useful in training a top or a bottom in recognizing the signs of distress before they become life threatening.

Torture Town is a community and wants all readers to enjoy their time here. Part of being a community is meeting, talking and getting to know one another. We do ask that you read the postings for a bit before composing your ISO. Like any community, manners do count and the more we know about you ... the likelier you are to attract the person you are looking for.

Torture Town has found that generally a modified biographical ISO tends to receive the best responses. Tell us a little about yourself, your experiences, and what you are seeking.

As we have readers from around the globe using things like DWM may not mean the same thing to them as it does in the U.S., so spelling out the words is worth the effort. We do ask that you list in the header an area code, or section of the world you are in and ISO ... for example ISO: Master in Austin, TX. seeking that Special Slave. By doing this you will alert people in your area or available to relocate that you are looking for them.

Torture as practiced by Governments is non-consensual. It is primarily goal oriented and rarely is the primary concern the survival of the victim. However as practicing torture in the majority of the world by private individuals is likely to make a major change in your career path and domicile (i.e. jail), the majority of Torture Town Citizens advocate Consenting Partners. Within that consent however can lay a world of torment that is not specifically consented to. Part of getting to know who you are playing with is communication, some people have soft limits ... others hard ones.

A soft limit is something that you may not particularly enjoy but will do to please the other person.

A hard limit is something that under no circumstances will you agree to or enjoy ... i.e. permanent maiming, death.

Each of us has boundaries we will not cross, but some of those boundaries are beyond what anyone else would consider normal or sexual. We ask that no-one judge another citizen solely based on their own boundaries. For each of us those lines are very different.

Yep we did ... No Pedophilic Materials. No ISOs requesting Erotic Death.

With Pedophilic materials you raise some very real legal issues as well as emotional ones. Children can not consent to their use. They do not have the life experience to give informed consent. Depending on the part of the world you are in a child may be of legal age at 14, but materials depicting that same child may elsewhere in the world get the person who has downloaded it, arrested, their computer confiscated and their lives destroyed.

ISOs requesting Erotic Death are another problem. The S&M community has undergone with several cases in the past years, a great deal of negative press. Needless to say this has raised issues in governing bodies as to whether it should be banned, made illegal, or regulated to death. When you add to that the fact that in most countries it is illegal to take another persons life or solicit a death including your own, the reality becomes that the person responding can a) be arrested and prosecuted for murder, or b) be arrested for conspiracy to commit murder. Governments for some strange reason tend to get very sticky about losing tax payers.

Alt.Torture is primarily a discussion group. From time to time there may be a picture posted to go with a story, or to show a torture device that someone has built or the plans for one. We do ask that the majority of pictures be sent to our sister group alt.binaries.pictures.erotica.torture.

There are several reasons for this, but the main ones are ... binaries take up a great deal of server space, if they are sent to a discussion group something has to give. Unfortunately it tends to be a text posting of a story or experience that ends up getting dropped.

The second reason is Spammers tend to search for alt.s that have a great deal of binary postings as well as for keywords like sex, bondage, etc. alt.torture does not have the word sex in its title and that keeps many of them from finding us. Binaries posted on a regular basis would be a flag for them and we would soon be searching for our articles beneath the avalanche of Spam. If your ISP does not get A.B.P.E.T. yet ask them to do so. If you are shy about that there are many news providers on the www. who are inexpensive and carries it.

Please do share your literary efforts ... we enjoy them greatly. Like any author we know you take pride in your work and will put forth your best effort. We do ask that you send it through your spell checker though. It makes it much more enjoyable to read when you are not trying to decipher what the author meant. Kind of like school huh? If another citizen posts a story that you like and you would like to post it to another group you read and share it ... please respect the author and ask first if you can.

There are Code letters that help a person know in advance if the story is of interest to them. They are commonly used in all story groups.
Con=Consensual, NC=Non-Consensual , S&M, Bond=Bondage, Tor=Torture

For those with an Interest ... here is a link to our very own Author of Torture Stories. The Master of the Short Short ...TortureTowns' Own Fred Brown!!!

Limited crossposting is fine. We do prefer that if you have something that you feel should be posted to more than one group, you post it separately. This serves several purposes. Since no two groups are exactly alike (we would be one big group then) what is right on the money for one will be a little off for another. This has caused at times in the past inter-group flame wars. Where a person in another group decides that the subject or experience is sick and responds without removing the extra group headers and another responds to them.

There are times that we have had emotional children pull stunts like that deliberately, crossposting to the sex groups and the religious groups to start a war. They are never fun, and take away from the enjoyment of the very subject you came to talk about.

Another reason for this is your post may be ignored by the citizens. Many kill Filters are set to ignore things that are crossposted to more than 3 groups. By doing that it eliminates the time wasted downloading a lot of Spam. Posting your article singularly to each group means that it will be read most likely, and you will get responses geared only your post by that group, not get caught in a possible flame war.

With the proper equipment yes. Suspension without support really should not be done for long times. But with suspension cuffs and boots the scene can be done in a responsible manner and for longer periods. They are worth the money. These cuffs and boots are designed to support the joints that the weight is borne on so that long term damage does not occur. A search on the www using any search engine will point you toward places that sell them. Look for good solid construction.

Temporary and permanent piercings can add a new dimension to S&M scenes and can be done safely. Rec.Arts.bodyart is a newsgroup dedicated to piercings. Their FAQ which is loaded with information on how, where, and aftercare can be found at the link below.

courtesy of BodyArtist

Many of us can be found nightly US Eastern Standard time on Dal.net Internet Relay Chat. Come on up and meet the gang in real time Chat and play. The Channels are #Torture , #Torturesex, #Torturescenes and TortureFest. We can also be found on irc.bondage.com and irc.handcuff.com as well. Both can be reached using:

If you have decided to join us in Torture Town, you are welcome to stay at the beautiful downtown Torture Town Towers. Please ignore the screams of the other guests, or join in ... we can always use another voice. Signing the guest book is completely voluntary, but we'd love to send the Welcome Wagon round ... they do so enjoy their jobs. Choose a leg to click.

PC	MAC
mIRC	IRCLE
PIRCH	MACirc

Urticus' Torture Site	Netsite For Enema Equipment
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