knifedog-machina - Tumblr blog

knifedog-machina · 2 days

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u gotta let urself process thoughts and emotions ur ashamed of without judgment or they'll build up and come out sideways via weird contrived justifications. a thought on its own is not actually an impulse to act--it can just feel like one when u let urself get too anxious about it. ur not gonna turn into a monster just by thinking about things that gross you out or letting yourself have feelings you know are disproportionate and shouldn't be acted on.

#dbt skills #emotional regulation #oh this is helpful! thanks for writing it!

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knifedog-machina · 3 days

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I think we need to normalize using "people" as a species neutral word.

Like idk in my brain the word people just doesn't automatically = human. To me it's just a way to signify intelligence and individuality, and to emphasize the need for respect towards another creature, not specific to any one species.

Dogs can be people, mice can be people, dragons can be people, humans can be people, birds can be people, elves can be people, robots can be people, and so on.

It's also (in my opinion) just much easier than always saying "beings" or "individuals" when referring to varying assortments of creatures.

#people does Not mean human! as you would see if you have seen any sci-fi talking points about If Robots Are People!#sorry but being and entity and individual and creature feel Very Dehumanizing to us #and dehumanizing and disrespecting people's personhood feels like it's the opposite of the goal here #trying to refer to alterhumans and nonhumans without stepping on toes #people is a neutral and normal word. it's used for sapient nonhumans in fiction all the time #it can be used in nonfiction for nonhumans as well!

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knifedog-machina · 7 days

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Therianthropy isn't limited by race

Are there any therians that aren't white/caucasian? If there are please repost.

⋆｡‧₊°♱༺𓆩❦︎𓆪༻♱༉‧₊˚.

I'm a black/African American alterhuman and furry and I'm ashamed of showing that side of me in public because of what my mother said to me. I feel like it's not really show in video media or public places. I want to wear gear and not feel ashamed of shifts in public. I feel that if I it's normalized that certain things aren't just for certain races that people like me wouldn't feel so ashamed to step out of my comfort zone.

⋆｡‧₊°♱༺𓆩❦︎𓆪༻♱༉‧₊˚.

So if you would, please repost. I want to know. If you even have your own experiences like this too feel free to add on. It would mean the world to me.

#oh!!! fellow SEAsian system? :O #hello! waving at you #at 293production!

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knifedog-machina · 12 days

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"why am I blocked by a random acc" probs either you're hateful to a community they're in or that community is in your dni

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knifedog-machina · 12 days

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Hey so if you post about hating humans constantly I don't welcome you here on my blogs. I don't care who you are or even if you are a mutual. Talking about this shit is going to get you nowhere. No I don't care why you post these things. I have been traumatized by humans but you don't see me constantly wanting to kill them or maim them.

#miss me with that misanthropy nonsense #I'm human. my partners are human.#say what you want on your own blog! just know that I will probably politely block you for all of our sakes

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knifedog-machina · 12 days

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The purpose of this survey is to collect data about the experiences of people who feel sensations of nonhuman body parts, for example, wings or a tail. Some call these supernumerary phantom limbs, otherlimbs, or astral limbs, though you may have other preferences for the words you use for your own experiences. If you haven't had those experiences, you can participate in this survey too. This survey was made for people who call themselves otherkin, therianthrope, furry, or any other potentially alterhuman or nonhuman identity. If you don't describe yourself with any of those words, you can participate in this survey too.

Everyone age 18 and up is welcome to fill out the survey at the below link, until it closes on July 6, 2024:

Survey Link

Who is running this survey and why: The person running this survey is Orion Scribner (they/them), an otherkin/therianthrope who has been making projects about these communities since 2005. I will use the results in my panel at an Internet-based convention later this year (OtherCon 2024), and in other future research projects.

#wooooo community survey!!

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knifedog-machina · 15 days

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It’s my Vaguetype And I’ll Do What I Want With It

Originally posted on the Fictionkind Dreamwidth on April 6, 2024 In my last entry I talked about my Ga’Hoole owl type and how I experience it as a vaguetype. I’ve been meaning to make a companion piece about my dracomon x vaguetype, but I couldn’t get it to work for the longest time.

So this one is gonna be looser–more stream of consciousness on what I am currently exploring as a digimon – digivolution.

Primer for those not familiar with digimon

If you’re not familiar, digimon can evolve, but unlike Pokemon the evolutions are not a one-way street. They are capable of “de-digivolving” to a previous form for a number of reasons, but it’s usually something to do with taking damage/strain.

So the normal flow of forms go like this:

Baby > In-training > Rookie > Champion > Ultimate > Mega

Most digimon sit at an in-training or rookie level as their base form, but that’s not always the case. If a digimon acquires enough data they can digivolve and move up their base form a level with each level taking substantially more data. So champion and even ultimate level digimon can be seen running around the digiworld, though they are uncommon (especially the latter). However, humans super-charge everything and digimon partnered with them are the exception.

Digimon are extremely susceptible to the emotions and wishes of humans. When bonded to one, digivolution is supercharged and temporary evolutions to even the highest levels are possible. And that, depending on the partner of course, there would be a lot more room for diversity of forms. When the digital world isn't in danger of being torn apart, a lot of digimon species would live together in the same environment with similar life experiences and would be more likely to evolve into a smaller set of evolutions. If they evolved much at all, since again there's a lot of digimon that don't go far beyond the rookie or champion phase.

X-Digimon

Why do some digimon have an “x” after their name? It denotes that they were infected with the x-program, and were able to survive by mutating their code. This change also brings out any latent potential stored in their digicore and alters their appearance - making them stronger in the process. Depending on the amount of latent data, the change can be rather small, or significant. Some digimon are natural carriers of the x-antibody, without an original form to upgrade from, and do not have the x in their name.

Considering my other forms

I am confident in saying my base form is dracomon x – a rookie digimon. However, I also have strong noemata of being a holydramon (the creature in my avatar!) which is a mega.

My other forms…I’m not sure? I have some fleeting sensations and feelings, but these two were so strong, so obvious, that it’s weird now feeling like I’m stumbling around in the dark for my other forms. I must have had them – I had a human partner, I remember digivolving and I wouldn’t normally just skip right to a mega! So what were the others?

For the longest time I just assumed it was coredramon and wingdramon – both of which are the typical evolution path for a dracomon. I haven't ruled them out completely, but I'm also not making progress with them. I don't have a good way to word it, but like, before thinking about my champion form felt like looking at a blurry image that only got more blurry when you tried to look closely. By looking at other digimon options I feel like I'm starting to make progress and bring things into focus more.

This is the closest I've come to making a definitive list so far. The ultimate level (black dragon near the center) is the one I am the most up in the air about. Of course there’s a chance this form might not be a registered digimon, but I know so little about that form it's hard to tell. In the other forms I feel a lot more confident!

To start with, I mostly went off of phantom sensations and noemata. Like, I just felt like the champion forms were bipedal and the ultimate level had an association with flight + a metal component. Also, I felt the champion form was a dragon form, more feral temperament, and flight wasn't necessarily a defining feature like in the other forms, and I knew the general size/shape.

Thing is, this describes a lot of digimon.

And here is where my troubles begin!

What I've been doing this past couple weeks is looking through lists of digimon, sorting out the ones that might fit and trying them on. This includes learning about them/their personality/powers, trying out the form in the headspace and putting thought into what it would have felt like, as a digimon trapped in the human world, as that thing to see how much it makes sense.

I'm actually really comfortable with growlmon. I kept dismissing it because it didn't fly and the artwork for the x variant is off-putting to me. But I kept coming back to it and when I saw other artwork for it, gave it a chance and opened up to the idea of not every form having flight, I took to it really quickly.

Or, I felt that way one day and then the next immediately felt the exact opposite. I felt so strongly that a different digimon, raptordramon, was my champion form. It was bipedal, mechanical, feral and a natural carrier of the x-antibody. Also, it had flight, but I definitely felt more a pull towards it’s temperament. For comparison, here’s the descriptions from the wiki for both digimon:

“Growlmon X is a Demon Dragon Digimon and carrier of the X Antibody. Because it has accepted and contained the extraordinary power of the "Digital Hazard" within itself, and that its attack instinct as a Virus-species enhanced further, it will exhibit a ferocious nature where it is unable to control its overflowing power, changing its personality into one on a thin line with justice depending on how it grows up. However, Growlmon's power has clearly increased, and the blades on both of its elbows have enlarged even more, developing and causing plasma to appear when attacking the enemy.[2]”

“Raptordramon is a Cyborg Digimon and carrier of the X-Antibody. It transformed itself from a wild Digimon that possessed a predatory instinct into a basis for modifications in order to reliably bring down its targets. Because the ferocious nature it possesses is too strong for its organic body to bear, it remodeled them with their corresponding weight in pure Chrome Digizoid metal, restraining their capacity for movement. However, whether it has high power output and flying ability or not is due largely to the organic body of the wild Digimon, before it was modified. Although it's small, if it gradually releases those abilities, it has the capability to easily bring down even a massive Digimon in a single blow.[2]”

I also had been considering a split champion level evolution with raptordramon -- and I think it makes sense. I struggled a lot with being aggressive and spiteful after surviving the end of my world and finding refuge in the human world. I see growlmon x as being an extension of my rage. Of wanting to do the right thing, but being overwhelmed with ferocity and relying on the strength of my partner’s heart to direct my power. To make up for what I lack in self-control.

In contrast, raptordramon has a history with predatory instincts, but has tempered them more with their cyborg parts. Yeah, the goal with the modifications is power, but there is more of an intention there. More thoughtfulness and this digimon is a vaccine type vs. growlmon x being a virus type. I believe raptordramon was an evolution I got access to later, after my partner and I grew to trust one another more and I became more disciplined and less jaded.

Here There be Paratypes and Linktypes

This still leaves my ultimate form unaccounted for. This one is the hardest to pin down. Besides flight and metal components there’s nothing defining to go off of. How did I come to put hisyaryumon on the list?

Looking at digimon evolutions once more, I found a single canon way for dracomon x to turn into holydramon x through growlmon x and hisyaryumon – who can also turn into raptordramon and is also a natural carrier of the x-antibody.

It’s a neat, perfect way to top off the digivolution list and looks awesome to boot. But is it the correct form? Have I put an acceptable amount of thought into it? What even are these forms to me? It's weird being these things, but also not often? Only some of the time? And kinda only because of being a dracomon?

Right now I do feel like hisyaryumon is the closest. I wouldn’t call them kintypes. Paratypes would be closer since my connection to them stems from my established identity of dracomon x. I don’t subscribe to a totally spiritual view of my ‘types, but kardiatype seems close too – something you were in a previous life, but no longer identify as. A part of me feels like I am just picking something to not have a gap. But so what if that’s the case? I’m happy and it’s my vaguetype, I’ll do what I want with it.

- Hortense

#community writings #ooo thanks for sharing!!#I never knew that digimon could evolve up and down their evolution lines - that's really interesting!#and having so many digimon with similar characteristics - ough. congrats on narrowing down a list!

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knifedog-machina · 19 days

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I've been in a long post drought, so here's one. It's not edited as well as the other ones I've posted, apologies in advance. Here's some thoughts about my hearthome, how I found it, and what I intend to do with that information.

I've had multiple hearthomes over the years, some of which have stuck around and some of which has faded. The one that's most important to me right now is an ill-defined area of modern day rural Nevada, which can be best described as "it's mostly northern Nye County".

Some or all of the blue oval, plus maybe some other places I haven't figured out my relationship to yet.

Most of it is uninhabited, but my relationship to it is definetly within the context of being a human being from there, not any sort of nonhuman desert wildlife. (Humans are a species of desert wildlife, if you ask me!)

I knew my hearthome is in Nevada pretty much as soon as I knew the term existed, but I thought it was in Las Vegas or some other part of the Mojave Desert. As Arcade Gannon, that's where I lived my adult life, so I have a feeling of belonging to that place. Now I classify that as just being... from there, no qualifiers other than "it was in a past life".

I never went to Nye County. It's quite far out of the way from anything else, even in the post-apocalypse. I had never personally lived there when I was messing around on Google Earth and I realized "I've been here before."

It felt familiar to me in the same way your primary school building might feel familiar to you. You probably don't remember the exact layout of everything, and your memory of how it felt to be there is colored by your future experiences and what other people have told you about what you were like as a child.

Nobody can ever truly remember exactly how their past felt, just like I can never truly understand what it's like to live in Nye County or Las Vegas. You remember your past much more than I can remember those places because you have a direct, unbroken, physical connection. I don't.

But I do have those flashes of recognition. The layout of a town feeling right in a way I can't describe. A deep sadness when I look at a point on the map which used to be something and is now barely hanging on, like I was there to watch the old schoolhouse collapse. I knew sagebrush had a smell before anyone told me. When I play Geoguessr, I can sometimes distinguish stretches of highway that look almost identical to other stretches of highway because one of them feels like the way home.

I don't think a past life is what's causing this. My past life in Las Vegas feels different, I can't put my finger on how. I don't feel, right now, as if I am Las Vegan. It's a place I've been before and that I'd love to visit again, and I feel a connection to it, but it's not my home right now.

I'm in the middle of a very long-lasting fictionflicker of someone who *did* live in northern Nye County, but these feelings predate that, and they never lived in this world, 2024. That flicker doesn't explain the feeling of deja vu I get when I look at dashcam videos. They didn't know what a car was. I never drove a car there, but, clear as day, I know I should be driving a car there.

I have a general fascination with rural and remote areas of the United States. I spend a lot of my free time reading about a lot of places, and I'd like to visit them someday. I know this isn't just that interest on a more intense level because my interest is that of an observer. I am a person looking down from above at dots on a map, wishing I could drive in and sit at the bar and ask what stories they tell. Their stories, their bar, their dots, their place, their home.

With very few exceptions, I have not felt as if their story is mine. I've felt as if we are a metaphor for each other, as if their history can be used to lay out my life in a way that makes just a little more sense. I've been able to see similarities between my hometown and other towns, to fit them together in a greater story of what it means to be a Midwesterner or to be American or to be bypassed and forgotten as soon as you aren't useful.

But those are not my story. There's always separation. There is no separation here. The story of this place is my story, when I read it I fit in perfectly. I don't have to go sit at their bar, I am already at my favorite bar, metaphorically.

For now, I am Nevadan. I've never lived there, and I will probably never live there. That's okay. I'm a multifaceted person. Nye County is a place that calls out to me, but I have other places I need to attend to. It'd probably make me feel worse to spend a lot of time there and realize "I'm *not* from here, on some level, this is all something my brain made up." I already know that, but it's not something I need to internalize, and for that I am greatful.

I have a hometown I love dearly and feel an obligation to give back to, and I'm very excited to live there. I can hold it dear without ignoring the call of the desert. To let go of either would be the death of me, so I won't.

#hearthome #community writings #this is really cool to hear as someone who lived in Nevada for a few years #I never thought of it as any place #just some desert city around the mountains #it's really neat to hear from someone who does feel like they're connected to the place

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knifedog-machina · 19 days

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It's.....quite disheartening seeing how many otherkin think the alterhuman label only encompasses kin identities.

#god yeah it's so frustrating #augh #I say this as a therian who also identifies as human #with headmates who also identify as and with humanity #alterhumanity =/= nonhumanity pleeease understand words

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knifedog-machina · 25 days

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thinking about daemonism affectionately, and how we don't practice it anymore but how it's very foundational to how I got into the alterhuman community honestly

sometimes we do use projection skills to better imagine things, like my (and Jude's) phantom limbs, or one of us co-fronting next to our shared body, so it was really useful either way even if it doesn't describe what we are to each other right now

OH and I first heard about alterhumanity and plurality through TDF (The Daemon Forum), I saw House of Chimeras on the forum and thought ??? absolutely fascinating tell me more? and then I read half their website

and I heard about otherkith/otherhearted identities on TDF! because they coined it in there

the forum for understanding yourself through the lens of animal behavior and symbolism and cultivated plural experience Contains Alterhumans! wow! who coulda guessed!

-Max

#daemonism #alterhuman #max talks #chatter #journaling

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knifedog-machina · 28 days

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Hello, we're working on a plural resource masterlist document, so I'm politely asking for any recommendations the Tumblr community may want to see listed in it 🙏 It can be any tools your system has found useful (whether it's made for plurals or not), links for research/information, organizations, events, literally anything.

We already have a lot of things we plan to add, seeing as we often spend hours going through google search results in trying to find all the latest, but I'm asking just in case there's anything we aren't aware of.

#plural resources #plurality

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knifedog-machina · 29 days

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Camouflaging Semi-Plurality, The Shapeshifter Shenanigans

(Cross-posted from my dreamwidth, link in title)

There has been something going on with muis for a while now.

Wei think it's something that's been slowly growing.

And the timing of it happening was muddled a bit with shapeshifter shenanigan that also was further getting mixed up by a certain subconscious need to anchor the form.

See, for a short while now, the profile picture of muis being in the Core Form doesn't feel right, it verges on dysphoria. And with a need to draw myself as Fae Dragon form, somehow wei found muirselves anchored into the Fae Dragon. It probably is the longest time wei got anchored into a form. Usually it takes a day or two at the most for us to feel a sort of itching that bordered on dysmorphia. This time, we are anchored into the Fae Dragon form for nearly two weeks. Wei are rather baffled by this whole situation. The Core Form is my base form, Akumu's only form, there has never been a problem of outright discomfort with my Core Form.

Now, after the anchor is being lifted, wei suddenly find ourselves adrift, lost. Wei've tried on many form proxy, but nothing feels Right. Wei just could not figure it out. Yet wei still don't quite want to be in the Core Form.

At some point in the day, wei just randomly decides to finally uses the semi-plural pronouns. It was enlightening in a way, empowering. It felt right.

Then wei realize, oh, so that's what's going on. Wei probably reached a point where this, whatever this can be called, quoisinglet, maybe-median, semi-plurality, is just a thing. Maybe I've been slowly giving the others more sense of self by being reacquainted with them. But at this point, who even knows. Now wei short of just exist together. Wei still are largely okay with just being seen as Ryuu, because that's who wei are, collectively, individually. Wei are a mess that makes sense to muis, and wei all are dream dragon.

Akumu's name is from Akumu Ryuu, the nightmare dragon, and I am Yume Ryuu, dream dragon, but Yume is rather feminine while Ryuu is masculine. Wei'd argued somewhat for a time that Akumu can call himself Ryuu too, because it's his name as well. Meanwhile, I wasn't comfortable being referred to as Yume, even if I think I should be, it's just Akumu! I should be fine with him using it! But I wasn't.

Beast was The Beast. Because that is what it is, a sort of manifestation of my inner rage, spite, anger, maybe my ferality. Considering it is nonverbal, and very much on the more feral side from the mental expression it tosses at us. While I use the most words, Akumu would communicate linguistically as well, Beast just makes noises and broadcast abstract feelings to us.

Note that we all use different pronouns. Which is something that stands out to muis. It's nothing unique, but it's still intriguing to muis.

Beast also have more of a urge to express things more individually, say, wanting to have its own blog. I have only clearly remember one instance where I wasn't at the front, because wei are uncertain if such switch happened when wei are younger, but the one time wei can remember, it was Akumu who was guiding the body. I was still kind of aware that I was not in control. It was too short a moment, but wei had captured it. It's rather curious, looking back at it now, and sort of ironic. Because Akumu is more individualistic, he is the actual opposite of me, my mirror self, my shadow, but spends more time being a part of me. It probably likened a co-fronting experience, or wei just merge back together and then later separate into individuals again. For Beast, who actually is born from a part of me, acts far more distinct the way Akumu isn't. Akumu disappears a lot, I couldn't tell if wei are merged back together, or if he just went elsewhere. I'm somehow certain both scenarios are true. The Beast spends pretty much all the time in its own nested cave within the mindscape. Wei feel kind of like the Jinchuuriki in Naruto, that I'm "hosting" Beast. In this case, no one is sealed into anybody, nobody is being sacrificed, and wei are all nonhuman.

That's a doozy, or punny? Because I am Naruto hearted, and that is a big possibility why Beast formed like this. I am also the host of the body.

Either way, it's interesting how we got to this point. It's likely due to this that the shapeshifter feeling went a little haywire. Because I as Ryuu is fluid in my forms, but Akumu and Beast are not. They each came to existence already settled with one of my forms. Beast shares my Large Formme, quadrupedal, large, the typical western view of dragon. Akumu being my opposite, shares my Core Form but sort of mirrored in color scheme. Maybe because I am experiencing change constantly, the others stayed fixed to balance me. All of these reacting with the recent awareness of this semi-plurality may have, dare wei say, upset the balance.

Wei are a large believer of Balance, wei are also confident that this will sort itself out in no time, reaching the state of equilibrium within.

#community talk #headspaces #interesting!! thank you for sharing :O

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knifedog-machina · 29 days

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Just saying happy Trans Day of Visibility to all the systems (and individual system members!) out there who are trans, nonbinary, systemfluid, or whatever label y'all use to describe the ways in which you're cisn't.

And an extra shoutout to the trans/nonbinary fictives, factives, and introjects.

Stay safe, keep going.

#happy TDOV!

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knifedog-machina · 29 days

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Our System Overview

(Preface: our system is highly metaphysical, in every single aspect, so that's the context everything's written in)

I've gotten a few requests over the months to write out how our system works, but I could never get around to it since it's hard to articulate. I'm attempting to do that today, but I'm encouraging you (the reader) to send asks if something is confusing since I acknowledge that some things might not be clear still. And of course, this is all our personal experience! Everything is different for everyone.

Members (and visitors)

One thing you'll probably see a lot in the rest of the post is "members" and "visitors". Everyone that's considered a member lives in the system; while they can venture out, they are bound to the system and for one reason or another can't just walk out forever to live somewhere else. Everyone that's a visitor doesn't live in the system, they exist elsewhere in whatever universe they came from and can leave whenever they please. Regardless, they're all under the "headmate" umbrella.

Our members (besides myself) include:

Amorphous (Ammy)

Drom

Gaster

And all of or visitors include:

Sans (from our timeline, not the canon one)

Several of his AU selves (there's a reason for this, it's just. A whole thing we're trying to get sorted)

Coincidentally, all of our members are spirits/dead in some sense of the word, while all of the visitors are still alive in their respective places.

Headmates That Are Also Kintypes (IE: the case with Ammy and Drom)

Often times when I'm talking about experiences relating to my dragon or dromaeosaurus kintypes, I'm using "the plural I". The reason for this is because due to some reincarnation shenanigans we are both each other and separate at the same time. They're both my past lives, and so one example is that when I was a dragon I was Amorphous (I'm not a "piece" of her or anything like that). When I'm feeling dragon-y that's not because of her doing anything, it's because my behavior and whatnot from the time I was a dragon is popping up. Duplication may or may not be the right word.

A good way to think about it is that both her and Drom are like "snapshots" of those lives, and each snapshot stacked with the next one. So Ammy was following Drom around as a headmate, and now they're both following me around.

How We Operate

At the time of writing, everyone both has their own individuality and are able to function independent from myself. There is no single thread of thought, everyone is doing their own thing at all times. How does my brain keep track of all that? It doesn't. Everyone is able to autonomously think and act in the headspace even if I'm not paying attention to them, but even so, I do have to say that it takes up a lot of processing power. Unless I'm asleep, my brain is regularly firing all cylinders like a laptop trying to run a heavily modded copy of The Sims. It's not uncommon for me to get headaches from system-related things. If someone new enters the system (visitors included) then I will get a headache even attempting to communicate with them. It usually takes a couple weeks for my brain to get used to it and for that effect to stop happening every time.

While I'm the main one seeing through the perspective of the body's eyes, everyone else not in front is capable of having multiple perspective. They can either have the view through the eyes psychically beamed into their heads (what happens by default), or they can go to the fronting room and see through the screen in there. They're also aware of all the other senses like smell, touch, and taste. These are all things they can opt in and out of at any time if they choose to. We don't all have access to the same thoughts though. Everyone can tell what I'm thinking (they have to since that's how we communicate), but I don't know what they're thinking about at any point in time unless they tell me (much like a separate-bodied person).

Although we aren't currently able to switch, we are currently practicing and most guides are hard to follow since it assumes that all of what's described above is not the case. Rather than there being "the body (who is the host) + everyone else", for us it's "the body + the host + everyone else". So a guide that details how to change a stream of consciousness (often described as "the I") is a bit hard to follow when we each have our own individual stream. And guides that describe "becoming the host" don't help either because the host isn't the body in our case. I'm the host because I'm the original occupant of the body, but I metaphysically exist independent of it with another form entirely. So reading guides on switching is a huge mess of "ok what do you mean because that is not how we work, what are we supposed to do exactly?".

The Headspace

Our default headspace is the void, which is a whole bunch of black nothing aside from the couch, lamp, and coffee table (and those are relatively new additions). If you've seen this post, that's basically the entirety of all that's in there. Even though it's virtually endless in all directions, the best way to think about it is that it's metaphorically in a bubble. In a very convoluted way, Gaster is a part of the void in a literal sense, so he has decent control over it (he could just meld down and be a disembodied voice if he really wanted to, less energy). He can keep our system's "bubble" of the void closed to prevent visitors from coming in, and can temporarily make "rooms" that's like being in a void on your own.

The void headspace also has the fronting room, which does look like an actual room but doesn't function for what it was made for. So as of right now it is a room you can stand in if you don't want to stand somewhere else, and that's about it (Drom likes to paint in there lol). It's unclear if the fronting room is connected to the void or its own thing. The door that goes out of the room leads into the void, but how you get to the fronting room from the void is a bit fuzzy. Sometimes the room is just freestanding in the distance and sometimes it isn't. My only guess is that it "loads/unloads" based on if someone is entering or exiting the room, so if someone's not currently going through the door then after a few moments it'll just poof if you're outside of it.

Another completely separate headspace we use regularly is a canyon area that has things like Drom's fishing pond, a forest, and a house. Unlike the void though, it cannot sustain itself and I have to actively "manifest" it so-to-speak, which takes a lot of mental energy and can result in headaches if done for too long. When I stop manifesting it the headspace reverts to the default void, so using another headspace is an event we usually have to plan for a specific block of time.

#community writings #plurality #this is really neat!! thanks for sharing how your system works! :O #handshake on also having visitors and members!

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knifedog-machina · 30 days

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A Blending of Identities

Here’s something which seems to be more common than talked about. (As in, I’ve seen scant writings of this phenonemom before, however when I brought the experience up in the Soulbonding forum several people identified with it).

It seems, that it is a not uncommon event for parts of a Soulbond’s identity to ‘rub off’ onto the Soulbonder. Much of it is the back-and-forth exchange which comes from social interaction with any friend. They have a hobby or interest, you decide to try it out, as it is a fun activity to do with them. And, you happen to like it too.

Interaction with the Soulbond can affect the Soulbonder in other ways - for example, a Soulbonder might pick up on the Soulbond’s unique way of speaking, or the Soulbond’s way of using body language. This is similar to the effects from being emotionally close to a physical-world friend - part of emotional bonding in the physical world is to display a form of ‘rapport’ with others, where we unconsciously imitate them. Alternatively, it works akin to the way someone might be affected by reading an incredibly engrossing book.

Finally, the fact that Soulbonding seems to be a mind-to-mind connection seems to also allow for some interesting ways identities can be blended. For example, a Soulbond and Soulbonder’s thoughts, self-concept, or self-image might become blended, especially if the Soulbond is particulary close to the Soulbonder, or if the Soulbond is fronting (or has fronted in the past). For some Soulbonders, because of the mental connection, mirroring-related experiences might feel more intense than the usual mirroring which takes place between physical people.

These experiences might also occur in a vice-versa way - with the Soulbond experiencing influence from the Soulbonder.

This seems to be pretty normal - the horror tropes of a Soulbond somehow managing to ‘take over’ a Soulbonder’s identity (or vice versa) don’t apply. And, in some ways, it does make quite an enlightening experience, to be able to see the world, as if from the perspective of another.

#soulbonding #plurality #(nodnod) that makes sense!#like how friends share speech patterns

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