Theory
[Draft] Notes on the four scales behind the profile: what each one means in a scene, and a few concrete examples of where it lands.
ProtocolFrictionAgencyIntensity
Protocol
Instinct ↔ Strict
Protocol is the frame the scene runs inside: how much of it is planned, named, and enforced, versus improvised in the moment. At the low end there is no script: the scene runs on instinct, appetite, and momentum. At the high end it lives on ritual, with titles, positions, rules, and real consequences for breaking them. Neither end is the softer one; a feral primal scene and a rigid protocol one can both take you apart.
A few examples
- Being taken by the hair and moved into position, no words.
- A chase through the room that ends with you pinned and held.
- A standing set of rules with named consequences for breaking them.
- Asking permission before you move, speak, or come.
- Kneeling on a mark and waiting to be addressed by title.
Friction
Defiance ↔ Obedience
Friction is how you meet the power in the room: whether you push against it or fold into it. At the low end is defiance: you resist, provoke, and force what happens to be taken, because being overpowered means more to you than being obedient. At the high end is clean surrender: you obey because obeying is the point, and the charge is in how completely you give over. Most people sit somewhere between, and it can shift inside a single scene.
A few examples
- Being chased down, cornered, and subdued before you yield.
- Struggling against restraint you asked to be put in.
- Talking back to see what it earns you.
- Holding a position because you were told to, even as it gets hard.
- Following an instruction the moment it is given.
Agency
Participant ↔ Object
Agency is how much you do versus how much is done to you. At the low end you are a participant: busy, attentive, throwing yourself in, earning your place through effort. At the high end you are an object, used, posed, or set aside, valued precisely because you are not doing anything. Both are submission; they simply run in opposite directions.
A few examples
- Serving, kneeling at attention, anticipating what is needed.
- Working through a task to earn praise.
- Bound and set aside until you are wanted.
- Used as furniture: a footrest, a table, a thing to lean on.
- Being arranged into a position and left there.
Intensity
Gentle ↔ Overwhelm
Intensity is the overall volume the scene runs at: how hard it pushes, in body and mind. Low intensity is slow, warm, and sensual: sensation that stays inside easy limits and never tips into too much. High intensity is relentless, with heavy impact, deep pain, or sustained pressure that floods you and drives you to the edge of what you can take. It cuts across the other scales: a strict, obedient scene can be feather-light or brutal, and so can a wild one.
A few examples
- Warm oil and a slow, teasing touch.
- Light impact that builds a gentle glow.
- Sensation heavy enough to blur your thoughts.
- Pain worked past what you thought you could take.
- A relentless pace with no room to catch your breath.