#Parallel Lives

[gingerale13]

I literally can't stop making these fading comics

The first one

Also this was inspired by a bit of writing that @aussie-bookworm wrote about the 1850's Mercs!

Sniper and Scout find Nick Bundy's old journal, and Sniper reads the events of the old sniper's life as the same thing happens to him. Parallel lives trope 👍

I believe James (1850s scout) is more in-tune with his assholeish behavior.

[spacetimesystem]

reminder to anyone who needs it that you're not obligated to remain with someone because of a shared source, kintype, parallel life, etc.

if someone is a toxic influence or has hurt you, you don't need to stick it out for them just because you share a source

your other selves have had their lives, or will continue to do so happily. this life is your own and you deserve better

[jtexplorer]

[enlitment]

Cato the Younger or idk I am yet to read Plutarch properly

@cattus-catos

[pepperstasia-beaverhausen]

Shipping ain't easy

[herenowandelsewhere]

The silence was unnerving, as if a hand had stretched down from the heavens and turned the volume of the city down to zero, and yet the downtown lights were laid out before him in all their expressionistic glory, evidence of a rich and vital life.

She made her way across the dimly lit wilderness that divided the road from the identical rows of apartment blocks opposite. In the distance she could see the vast glass palaces of the financial district outlined by an eerie green and silver light, and beyond them the soft urban glitter of Hollywood and Westwood, but this was another universe entirely. She should have been out there celebrating but instead she was here, chasing the past.

[that-dreaming-dragon]

In Dealing with Exomemories, Especially Exotrauma

Cross-posted from my dreamwidth entry. Link directly in the title.

In the time spent in the alterhuman community, in particular to the therian/kin that dealt with exomemories from other lives, I've come to observe something critical--many carried various exotrauma.

My belief is that a part of the reason reincarnation happens is to provide us a chance to seek closure in our other lives or heal the wounds we carry. Perhaps we are tied to this cycle due to unfinished business, whether positive or negative.

I don’t identify as the eastern ocean dragon of my past; thus, it is my kardiatype. However, I have memories, instincts, likes, and dislikes based on that dragon. There are pains I've felt that I'm still trying to determine if they might be connected to that dragon's own loss, but they don’t hurt me as much, as I am able to observe from a distance. However, this comes down to the identification and separation of the part of the self. From the beginning of my realization of being nonhuman, I already identified as who I am: the dream dragon.

Perhaps this can help others as well, in finding that separation and distance. This is also considering that we have people within the community who can interact with their other lives as separate beings. This couples with the Chinese belief in spirits and souls (hun and po)[1] and how transmigration works with each incarnation: you only move on with a part of it, leaving the rest behind. Essentially, one is different from their past or other selves (as time can be seen as non-linear to some).

Another key thing is finding closure. Perhaps the various memories are vying for attention because of unresolved loose ends.

Writing down stories, or making any sort of creation work for each and every one of those lives might help. I believe there is truth and fact in fiction. Many alterhuman that I've observed use writing as a form of interaction with their selves. I do it too, finding temporary joy in worlds where I can be myself, and it serves as an outlet to work through some inner conflicts or other dissent. Memories become somewhat easier to handle once I put them down as something concrete that I can work with. If emotions are causing suffering, mindfulness is a good practice to counter that—acknowledge and accept the emotions, and then learn to lessen their impact on one's being. This deals with more psychological territory, but the same techniques and methods are not restricted to a single subject area. There are numerous resources available, but here's a small excerpt:

Ride out Waves of Emotions--Be Mindful Normalize Emotions Observe Anticipate Emotions will get bigger/intensify Visualize Ride/surf the emotion wave/tide. Ride it out instead of blocking it. Let it flow. Gently let go; it's okay to release the grasp. Shift focus; practice mindfulness; notice the physical surroundings. Be attentive and curious. Be Nonjudgemental Acceptance

Additionally, having something grounding or anchoring is good. Anything, even a stuffed toy, a pet, a place, another sapient being, or even things beyond—that's a bit like speaking of faith, ironic considering I'm discussing grounding in the unseen and forces beyond.

All of these can to be utilized together. Comfort allows room to break down, grounding offers a point to return to should the mind becomes lost in the memories and emotions. While all the other exercises allow confronting the memories, they help in working through emotions by offering a new perspective.

There is also something many East Asians do—they pay homage to their ancestor, a common practice is setting up ancestral tablets or spirit tablets. Offerings and prayers are made to these tablets as a way to connect with and show respect to one's ancestors. For me personally, I have seen this practice extend to one's own other lives.

In the end, the mind is what matter. Manifestation--your will to see your other lives' chapters be closed. I wish everyone all the best in finding that inner peace.

[1]Reninger, Elizabeth. "Hun & Po Ethereal & Corporeal Soul In Taoism." Learn Religions, Feb. 8, 2021, learnreligions.com/hun-and-po-in-taoism-and-chinese-medicine-3182553.

[oneirosophist]

Something strange that happened to me in meditation recently is these brief—yet quite vivid—flashes of scenes from my dreams from years ago.

Dreams that I had completely forgotten about.

Dreams that don't seem any different from real memories.

Maybe they aren't any different.

They remind me of the concept of parallel lives—lives that our souls live that are concurrent with our present life. Not a past life or a future life, but one lived at the same time.

Maybe some dreams are parallel lives.

[thursdayschild76]

"I'm thinking that it must be love"

"It's not the side-effects of the cocaine I'm thinking that it must be love It's too late (to be late again)"

Religious orientation: David Bowie.

[katriniac]

Randomly recommended podcasts!

I love podcasts, but I don't get to listen to them as frequently as I wish.

There are some really amazing ones out there I learn so much from, and others are very entertaining. I thought I'd share some of my favorites with y'all. Not all of these are current shows. In fact, some haven't added a new episode in over a year. But I myself may have only just recently discovered the show and therefore it's new to me.

I'll break this up into different parts due to Tumblr's photo limitations. I have no idea if these podcasts are available everywhere, but I subscribe to them via Google Podcasts.

Part 1: Creativity, Imagination, Neuroscience

:readmore:

Imagination Radio

Scientific Imagination

Parallel Lives

All in the Mind

Creativity in Captivity

Into the Impossible with Brian Keating

Imagination Desk

Creative Chats Podcast

Creative Pep Talk

Hidden Brain

[sonic-spirit]

It feels weird to have a headcannon about yourself? But I have a headcannon about myself? Headcannon feels like a wrong way to phrase it, but also I don’t have a better way to put it.

So, some Mobians are born with powers (I usually go with 20% of Mobians and about 10% of humans, though there could be sampling bias (and also these percentages are pulled directly out of my anus)). And naturally there’s a need to make sure all these super powered kids are able to not hurt themselves or anyone else with these powers, so powered kits go to a special preschool to help them with those particular struggles.

And then…the things that happen in It Doesn’t Matter happen. (Oh yeah! I put the scripts so far up on my AO3 last week, so you can actually see some of what I’m talking about instead of there being just a void where context should be!) And suddenly people end up transforming into Mobians, and developing powers, and the perception filter will do some of the heavy lifting, buuut, it won’t do all of it. So there ends up being a hole in support where powered kids are being born and there aren’t any structures in place that can help them get their powers under them.

And I think that if shit could CALM THE FUCK DOWN FOR FIVE FUCKIN’ SECONDS I’d be super down and like, actually pretty good at helping kits out with that. Sonic’s Xavier School, bet better.

Yeah, shit gets weird because this is my parallel life and…it’s just so much to just talk about.

Anyway, over here I’ve been teaching mostly kids but also some adults and doing pretty damn rad at it, so I’m starting to think this “headcannon” holds more water than I originally thought when it first occurred to me.

[jamiepage19]

So I was prowling around FFN earlier today (the front end where you read stories, not the backend where I usually post) and holy fuck what a shit show. It’s been a while since I’ve read any fanfics directly from the site. I had no idea how many ads there were and the way they now break up the narrative is awful. I don’t know if it’s a way to drive people toward their app or what, but damn. I owe a big thanks to everyone who still reads my fics over there and what you have to put up with.

Anyway, I’m contemplating moving my other works over to AO3 (I’m not leaving FFN—don’t worry, I still post on both). I’m still not entirely sure how the notifications work over there, but if you start getting a shit ton of alerts that I’m posting, that would be why. Still deciding right now. It’s a lot of work. But maybe going through my older stuff might just inspire me to work on some of the older fics I sort of just abandoned. Who knows.

[jtexplorer]

Parallel Lives needs to be required reading for anyone about to write, draw and edit any Spider-Man comic.

[enlitment]

A medieval manuscript of Plutarch's Parallel Lives from Biblioteca Capitolare, Verona

Thought some of my mutuals would appreciate it as much as I did. Look at the flowers aaa (worth the 7 € entrance fee just for that, honestly)

[deadkinwalking]

Does anyone else have the experience of one of your kintypes actually being, like, multiple kintypes in a trenchcoat?

I consider myself to have 3 distinct kintypes: umbra (a type of lesser deity), qunari, and mannequin.

However, my umbra kintype actually exists across 2 different realities. In one reality he part of a pantheon of lesser deities created by one greater deity; in the other he is a mortal necromancer who became a lich. Despite the fact that they appear to be completely different beings, and exist in separate realities, I still consider them to be a single entity.

I suppose it could just be something that comes with the territory of having parallel lives. They are both parallel lives to me, so of course they are also parallel lives to each other, and I am a parallel life to both of them.

We are a parallel triangle.

[laikacore]

i am looking at you (me)

it is thrumming through time (space)

i can see you, i know you can see me

i move with you

i am begging, i am begging

creator (eywa)

bring me home (bring you home)

bring us together

i am reaching down the vibration

i am trading my hands with yours

nateiya by laika wallace