Fantasylady, when you go to the chatroom, turn off the images, using the settings. If you are on a laptop it's a cogwheel at the top right, and from a phone you go to the menu top left then click the cogwheel at the bottom of the page. Then you can get just the chat without the porn pics. Also you can get rid of the cameras to make more space for chat. Select camera size, don't show.
You can open up a private chat with someone as long as you are both in the same chatroom. Just click their name on the people list. It's like the old chat except that it disappears afterwards, it's not kept for a week as it was under the old system.
For more info on how to chat see the thread started by impurethoughts
https://www.lushstories.com/forum/lush-help-desk/how-to-navigate-the-new-site
and the threads in the chat section of the forum.