Poses can even be, and often are, far longer and more complex than just a single sentence. It is not unusual for poses to be as long as a standard paragraph, between 3 and 7 sentences.

Some people find pose commands hard to learn at first. In that case you'll be using "atmosphere commands," or words you type to produce a generic pose (smile, grin, frown, etc) with your name plugged in. For example, if you type "laugh" the MOO will produce "Name laughs hysterically." (Now, Name is replaced by your character's name, of course. And while you might not be laughing hysterically per se, on Sindome you don't get to choose such subtleties.)

In either case, using these commands to indicate the tone and mood of your text goes a long way toward communicating clearly. By describing your facial expressions, body language, gestures, and so forth, you make your flat text come alive and you lose some of the ambiguity that comes with a text-based medium. Poses and atmosphere commands help create a rich, well-described virtual environment.

Here are some examples:

Anna says, "You're an idiot."

can become

Anna smirks, one hand on her hip, shaking her head slowly. "You," she says teasingly, "are an idiot."

Xibo says, "I could use a crayon. Anyone have one?"

can become

Xibo starts patting his pockets, looking grim. "I could use a crayon," he says at last. "Anyone have one?"

Infix actions are verbs or short verb phrases set apart by unusual punctuation (usually asterisks) used to modify the tone or mood of a sentence. They're sometimes found in the middle of a line, and are often tacked onto the end, sort of like a written-out smiley face. The best way to understand this is through some examples:

Claire says, "Hey! *waves wildly* Look over here!"
Elanor says, "Claire? Is that you? *blink*"

A "kevlar" (can be capitalized, too) is when someone misdirects their text. There are a thousand ways to do this. They might accidentally say a whisper aloud to a crowded room. They might page the wrong person because of a typo. They might type in one window when they intended to type in another. The results can be painful, sure, but they're usually harmless and humorous.

To better communicate without misunderstanding, be aware that kevlars exist. You might receive one, or worse you might commit one yourself.

This is Sindome's own name for what others might know as a 'Mav', it's called a Kevlar because he's the Sindome staff member who does this sort of thing the most.

This kind of mistake, by the way, is named after Mav, a character from the original MU*, TinyMUD, back in 1989, who would commit this blunder endlessly.