I have to chime in. Well I don't have to. But I will.

I see no bloody thing wrong with using the word "cute." If it works for you, use it. If it doesn't, don't. If you're personally offended by being directly called "cute" then fine--tell the person that & they'll probably not call you cute again. But cute has far more then just the "awww ain't that cute" meaning that I think a lot of people automatically associate it with. And maybe it matters what context it's being used in, or whether you have kids of your own & thus associate the word w/your kids... but seriously... talk about over-parsing.

Now for the topic at hand. Dominants can defend themselves, as can submissives. I have never understood why people consider submissives needing defending--they are big boys & girls--they can defend themselves. That being said, if it's in a D/s context, and another Dominant oversteps the boundaries, generally the submissive's Dominant will speak with the other Dominant. But that gets tricky unless you are able to really distinguish & parse apart those events from events when you, as a Dominant, might just "put your claws out." The end result is really the same--we're all adults, we can all defend ourselves.

As for the boards & chat... you're responsible for what you do, no matter your role. If you're a sub & your Dominant steps in & fights someone "for you," both you (as the sub) & they (as the Dominant) are in the wrong. It's YOUR (sub's) fight... not that of your Dominant. It has NOTHING to do w/D/s context... it's just about personal responsibility. Just imagine... "delia, X said I was an arsehole, so I stuck Y on him." Oh GOODIE. Juuuust imagine.

All right, that's my 2 cents.