The Guide

A collar in The Cellars is an explicit, named tie between two members. It is recorded with the role each person carries within it, the nature of the tie, and an optional set of terms. A collar is heavier than a Bond: it states meaning, not only connection. Any member with a complete profile may offer or receive one.

You will find your collars on the collars page, and active collars appear on each member's profile.

A Bond names a standing relationship in broad terms. A collar adds explicit role labels, a stated nature, and — if you wish — written terms. A collar is not a stronger Bond; it is a different thing. Members may hold Bonds without collars, collars without Bonds, or both.

A collar does not presume who is dominant, submissive, owner or held. Whoever proposes a collar is simply the person opening the request; whoever receives it is the person asked to accept. The meaning is written in plain words at the moment the collar is offered. The Cellars will never label one side Dominant and the other submissive on your behalf.

Each side of a collar carries a short role label. The requester writes both the requester role label (for themselves) and the recipient role label(for the person they are asking). The recipient sees both before they accept.

Free text is welcome. Examples: Owner and Property; Domme and devoted partner; Partner and Partner; Switch and Switch; Mentor and Student; or any wording that fits the tie.

You also name the collar's nature — its centre of gravity:

• Authority — one side carries decisional weight in agreed areas.
• Service — the tie is shaped around offered service.
• Ownership — a stated belonging, on the terms you set together.
• Protection — sheltering, sponsoring, standing for.
• Devotion — a freely offered, considered devotion.
• Partnership — a level tie of equal standing.
• Household — membership within a House or family unit.
• Mentorship — teaching, guiding, learning.
• Mutual — two sides holding one another in the same way.
• Symbolic — a marked tie without practical authority.
• Custom — write your own description.

None is more serious than another. Pick the one that fits.

A short, optional terms note records what the collar means to you both — its shape, its limits, what it asks. Terms are shown alongside the collar wherever it appears. Keep them readable; this is the part you will return to.

1. Open the collars page.
2. Enter the recipient's handle.
3. Write your role label and theirs.
4. Choose the nature.
5. Add terms if you wish.
6. Submit. The request goes to the recipient privately.

The recipient may accept or decline. If they accept, a Keeper reviews the collar before it is published — this is a brief check that the record is in order, not a judgement on the relationship. Once approved, the collar appears on both profiles with the chosen role labels, nature and terms. Either side may later request release; a released collar is closed with the same care it was opened with.

Because the role labels are written by the people involved, the system supports any shape of collar:

• Domme-to-Domme, Sir-to-Sir, or any peer collar of the same standing.
• Switch-to-Switch, where both sides flex and the labels reflect that.
• A submissive offering a collar to a Dominant — the requester is not assumed to be in authority.
• Symbolic and partnership collars with no operational hierarchy at all.
• Mentorship or protection collars where care, not authority, is central.

A collar in The Cellars is currently a tie between two members. Triads, quads and polycules are not represented as a single group collar. Members in such structures may instead record the relevant pairwise collars, or use Bonds to name the wider household.

Members may publish a written ceremony to mark a collar or a bond — vows, witnesses, a date. Ceremonies are a separate tradition: they record an occasion, not a permission.

Older collars created before role labels were introduced display with neutral wording and no inferred roles. Those records remain intact; updating them is not required.

• Nothing is visible to anyone else until the recipient accepts and a Keeper approves.
• A collar does not grant access to private profile fields, correspondence, or Chambers.
• A collar does not transfer account control. Each member always controls their own account.
• The Cellars does not act as enforcer of a collar's terms. The terms are a record between members, not a contract held by staff.

A collar is what you and the other person say it is. Choose the labels, the nature, and the terms that are true for you — and let the record carry the meaning you both intend.