I have been doing a little communicating over on the “Rapture Vision” message board. For those that aren’t logged on there, here is a post I just put up.
Obviously protocol is something I spend a lot of time with in both practical and theoretical terms. I find it to be a fascinating area.
One of the things Flagg has shown me is to separate the basics of one’s protocol from ones kinks and preferred rituals. In short, a protocol exists to guide a servant in choosing the proper course of action. Rituals and kinks exist purely for their own sake.
“Never wear a bra” is not a protocol in this sense then. “Always choose clothing that leaves you accessible to me without opening any fasteners” is much more in the vein of a protocol, though it a simple example.
Protocol and ritual can interact. Once again to use positions as an example to me the positions themselves are a set of defined rituals. The rules which help a servant choose from among their possible positions to find the right one may be a protocol.
Looked at this way, it becomes much easier to manage in my mind. I spend much more time crafting and adjusting my protocols. They are the “operating system” of my servants decision making. Rituals come and go as my whim and mood changes. In both cases the number of things in each is small.
Looked at this way then it is easy to see that in the environments my servants operate in a protocol “breach” may well be allowed to pass, corrected, punished or the protocol itself may be changed. It depends. Since the protocols are decision guidelines, a flaw in their application may have many causes and that will directly affect my response.
I never worry about altering my protocols or rituals as my needs or wants change 🙂
[tags]lifestyle, bdsm, protocol, ritual, rapture, rapture vision, posts[/tags]