The Guide

A good bio answers three quiet questions: who am I in this space, what do I value, and what am I looking for. Two or three short paragraphs do more work than a wall of text. Speak in your own register — formal, playful, severe — and let it sound like you.

• Lead with what you are, not what you are not.
• Name your interests honestly; vague profiles attract vague messages.
• Treat the bio as an invitation, not an audition.

Interests are how people find you. Limits are how people respect you. Both belong in the open. If a kind of play is off the table — temporarily or always — say so plainly. A short, kind explanation is a gift to anyone considering you.

The Cellars distinguishes between three layers of a profile and treats each with a different default:

• Identity — Lifestyle Role, Identity & Archetypes, Seeking, Interests, Availability, Country and About Me are always public. They are how members find one another.
• Personal preferences — Gender, Orientation and Kinks default to Public. You may hide them from your profile editor.
• Intimate relationship information — Soft limits, Hard limits, Commands accepted and not accepted, Consent preferences and Community notes default to Hidden. You may publish any of them when you wish.

The institution provides safe defaults; the member retains the choice. Hidden fields do not appear on your public profile at all — there is no placeholder announcing what you have kept private.

The Cellars deliberately separates the different dimensions of who you are. Each field on your profile answers a different question:

• Lifestyle Role — the role you usually occupy (Domme, Dominant, submissive, switch…). What role do I usually occupy?
• Identity & Archetypes — who you are. Grouped as Relationship Identity, Archetypes, Practice Identity, and Expression. Who am I?
• Community Presence — how you usually participate within The Cellars (Educator, Organizer, Historian, Writer, Librarian, Curator…). How do I contribute?
• Interests — what attracts you and what you want to explore. What attracts me?
• Kinks — practices, scenes and fetishes you engage in. What do I enjoy?
• Limits — what you avoid, softly or absolutely. What do I avoid?
• Seeking — what you hope to find here (Mentorship, Long-term dynamic, Conversation, Learning, Events, Service, House membership, Correspondence, Ritual, Personal growth, Exploration…). What am I looking for?

These are not synonyms. Identity is not the same as practice, and neither is the same as what you are seeking. Keep them in their own sections so another member can read the person, not just a list of activities. You can change any of them later.

Identity & Archetypes is intentionally curated rather than exhaustive — The Cellars does not attempt to catalogue every possible identity. The absence of a term is not a judgement, only a reflection of this community's editorial scope. Ageplay, for example, is deliberately excluded; that exclusion concerns our scope here, not the legitimacy of other communities.

Avatars and any cover image are added by linking to an image hosted elsewhere — paste the image URL into the matching field. The Cellars does not host uploaded files. Use a stable link from a service you trust; if the link breaks, your image quietly disappears until you update it.

Profiles are visible to other signed-in members by default. You can hide your profile from public listings and search from your profile settings; while hidden, you remain reachable only to people you are already in conversation with.

Most text fields accept a small set of formatting marks:

• #, ##, ### for headings
• **bold** for emphasis
• *italics* for tone
• `code` for fixed-width

Use them sparingly. White space is also a tool.

When you are ready, you may pursue an Honorific Title, form a Bond, propose a collar, or seek verification. None of these are required to belong here. They mark commitment and are awarded with care.

Open your profile editor whenever your work here shifts. Profiles are living documents.