Red is Useful. Yellow is Better.

Every bottom has two kinds of inner masochists: 

Masochist A calls yellow the instant things get real. Then she spends the rest of the night polishing her halo.

Masochist B is so hardcore she’s never even seen yellow, never mind called it. When she sees the sun, she sees black. She’s just that hardcore.

You’re not Masochist B, of course, but damned if you aren’t going to fake it when your top pushes harder than you can bear.

You’re going to smother the desire to call yellow to death, so you think about fairies. You think about flowers. You think about all the things that don’t occur in a brain full of barbed wire and thorns. You’re going to give your top the scene he wants no matter how many flowers you need to imagine. The petals collect in your throat. The fairy dust singes your eyelashes off. The rainbows tie themselves around your neck, but you’re not fucking calling it.

You aren’t a mere masochist. You’re an Uber Masochist, and you don’t need yellow, so you push. You swear you’ll call red when things get real, but for now, you’re going to stand at the wall between “Yes, yes, yes!” and, “Oh my god I’m dying” for as long as humanly possible. Uber Masochists don’t need yellow, you know. That’s what your inner Uber Masochist says.

Here’s the problem with that: An Uber Sadist often needs time to get you out of the red zone. Rope must be untied. Clamps must be removed. The bottom must be returned to the floor and cared for. Not all scenes can be stopped within mere moments of calling red. Even if they can, it’s hard to hear”stop” when there’s been no “slow down” to speak of. Ethical sadists are liable to translate that as their own failure. It means they missed the signs—you know the signs you were smothering well enough to win an Oscar? Yes, those ones.

There comes a time when “red” can be broadly translated as “too late.” Too late to revive you. Too late to end the scene happily. Too late to prevent lifelong injuries.

There are two kinds of masochists:

AncillaL

The rest of us.

There is only one AncillaL.

There’s also only one you, and your sadist would probably be super happy to keep you around and in good health. Red is useful, but it’s also late.