three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

Questioning whether we're plural right now is hell ://

We keep going back and forth between thinking we're really, obviously plural to thinking that I'm just roleplaying or daydreaming or it's just the random thoughts we get a lot. It's so tiring ... We're trying to do all this (questioning & discovering) slow like a lot of people recommend but, honestly, we just wanna know for sure so we can stop doubting ourself.

It's not helpful at all that I (the host?) seem to be pretty good at roleplaying to the point of almost making myself believe I am the character and feeling their emotions?? (that might be a plural experience in and of itself though, idk)

The thing is that (if we are plural and those were headmates) our switching is more like becoming the other person, and also I seem to potentially be frontstuck and the others can probably only co-front or be co-con. And that feels quite similar to roleplaying a character to us, at least so far :/

Especially considering the only (three) times (that we know of) that someone might have co-fronted or been in co-con have been somewhat if not full on intentional and the only thing we were doing was writing down their thoughts (and I am pretty sure that I was in control of the body and therefore the typing, not sure about the thoughts tho). And two of those times I was very present and still kinda thinking my own thoughts next to/between theirs(?).

All of those times we also felt very exhausted towards the end and afterwards (although the first time might have been because of something unrelated that was somewhat distressing). We've also been feeling a lot of pressure in our head, no actual headaches though, we don't really get those. No idea if these things mean anything.

We did try to get someone we thought might be there to co-front (not sure if that's fitting for whatever is going on with us) today and it didn't go too well. In the beginning I was probably very much 'roleplaying' as her (which was kinda intentional) but we were very unsure if it was working. I definitely stayed very much present and kept thinking my own thoughts. At some point the potential headmate(?) (or just me roleplaying as her, I guess?) started to try and convince me and herself that she's real and we kinda argued a bit? (not really because it wasn't much of a back-and-forth) And from that she kinda became different from what I thought she was before (she went from bubbly teenager that loves silly and lighthearted stuff to self-proclaimed wine aunt). She also called me "my dear" (which is something I feel very uncomfortable with and would never say to anyone else either), so that's something.

Honestly, that does sound pretty plural in hindsight but I am also veeery good at making myself believe my own lies and taking on different perspectives, so that's just something that keeps making me doubt everything.

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

wouldn't it be funny if alters had walk up music

In the middle of a panic attack and you just hear "Super Bass" by Nicki Minaj start playing as Jeremy comes to trade places

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

me when I say "i headcanon so and so thing about so and so character" but actually I'm LYING and it's not a HEADCANON and actually the GUY WHO I SHARE A BRAIN WITH who is THAT CHARACTER has told me for a FACT that it's TRUE

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

pre syscovery is "i would notice"

post syscovery is "HOW DID I NOT NOTICE"

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

I keep having envisage shifts of The Character

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

For me the plural framework is already fitting better than the alterhuman one, but there's one thing missing.

The cameo shifts.

I've had multiple experiences where I suddenly felt like a fictional character, sometimes randomly, sometimes triggered by problems outside, sometimes connected to a hyperfixation.

These feel the same as when my actual headmates front, but if they are headmates too they haven't fronted since that one time.

I kind of hope they are not headmates. Some of them are villains who also act arrogant and evil in daily life, I'm decidedly not looking forward to having to keep Aerion Brightflame from insulting Shenovo (or whatever he'd do if he had to share a body with the rest).

Does anyone have similar experiences?

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

Just found a song all (?) my headmates like.

It's "Ain't no love in Oklahoma" by Luke Combs. I am suddenly listening to country and I'm liking it too.

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My facets keep talking to me, but they don't tell me the useful syscovery stuff. Like, tell me your name or what clothes you like or what you're supposed to look like! But instead one of them tells me she wants the most expensive item in the bathroom store, and the other one tells me I should eat the duck swimming in the river over there. And the third one I'm not sure even exists because she hasn't fronted since the time I became aware of her.

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

me: chat what do we think

the angel and devil on my shoulders: can you not call us that please

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

being plural is crazy because you do the most mundane shit and have a bunch of people making live commentary on it like they’re streamers making reaction content

- 🦇

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

Hello, creatures! Do headmate have distinctly different voices, or is it usually more similar to the "default" voice?

question 53:

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

median egg culture is "I'm not myself but I'm also not Not me, I just also disagree with everything about me and want to change everything. This happens often, and every time I go back to being me I'm annoyed at not-me for changing things. This is totally singlet behavior. Totally..."

.

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

median plegg culture is assuming you kin a bunch of characters until you realise you ARE that character.. but also thats not me???

being constantly confused until you realise they're all facets

That's a very familiar one. We put on an outfit that turned out to be tied to one of our fictives and got reeeally confused by that before we realised we were a system.

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

AlterHuman Median culture is not knowing if you have a new kintype or a fableing and now you realise you have a fictive, which you thought couldn't be possible due to being a Median System.

nothing quite like the kin > median system pipeline

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Is there any sort documentation on (possibly even a term for?) the phenomena of writers' OCs "writing themselves" where the character has traits and interests that the author didnt chose for them and at a certain point you can even suggest something for the OC and it will be denied by the character themselves??

Because this I've seen is such a common thing within OC communities and such but only ever discussed in a "haha i do that" type way and never a "what is it, how does it happen and how common is it?"

Ive had stories I've had to partially rewrite because the characters themselves went "nuh uh that didn't happen" ?????

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

The voluntary/involuntary debate (-is making me lose my mind)

I don't see anyone saying this, but something being missed in the whole "therianthropy (and otherkinity) is completely involuntary!" conversation is that so much of the argument is overcorrection, and it's being treated as a binary when the lines are all grey. Which makes the constant back and forth feel very tiring.

First: context

10-ish years ago (even today in some crotchety circles), therianthropy-focused spaces were chomping at the bit to "weed out the fluff" due to the surrounding alt culture at the time (teen wolves) and the release of a few documentaries that many considered quite cringe-y and embarrassing. They went "oh god, we can't be associate with those weird people" and, while that wasn't the only contributor to the gatekeeping and grilling culture at the time, it was a significant one. So any new therians hoping to join communities were often grilled the hell out of, because people wanted to check if they were ""real"" therians and not those "fluffy teen werewolves" on TV. Therianthropy wasn't a game or a trend, it's a part of you, which is true. But "it's not a game" got bastardized into "it's involuntary" due to overcorrection and a lack of preserving nuance. Regardless if you think you were born a therian or if someone goes "I really want to be a [nonhuman animal]" and starts to embrace that identity, that's still therianthropy. "I want to be this, therefore I'm going to be this, and I am this" is still therianthropy.

This problem isn't unique to therianthropy either, "otherkinity must be involuntary" is also a result of overcorrection, more specifically due to the ableism and damage kinnie culture has done to the fictionkin community. Dragonheart Collective wrote a concise essay on this, so I will link that [right here] rather than repeat things, other than I have noticed "voluntary" be conflated with "kinnie" when it should not be. "Being kin isn't just relating to or liking something" got bastardized into "otherkinity is involuntary" by the community. Regardless if you think you were born otherkin or if someone goes "I really want to be a [character or nonhuman creature]" and starts to embrace that identity, that's still otherkinity "I want to be this, therefore I'm going to be this, and I am this" is still otherkinity.

Second: nuance.

No, involuntary doesn't inherently mean "it's a game". What counts as voluntary or involuntary is so blurry that a common conclusion can rarely even be reached on what it means. Things that have been seen considered voluntary:

Noticing the identity and choosing to embrace it versus shove it down and dismiss it

Waking up one day

Really wanting to be something and deciding to embrace it, versus dismissing it

Was born with the identity but picks and chooses which parts they prefer to focus on and explore

etc. along the above lines

And these are all perfectly fine ways of experiencing therianthropy and otherkinity, people have been having experiences like that for years. This is completely normal and nothing new and it's so tiring seeing people point fingers at places that these things didn't even come from, like TikTok.

"But what about linking then?"

This debate is much older than "-linking" terminology, which in and of itself is a product of this very debate. People made new words because so many were arguing if someone's identity is real if it originates in a particular way. This doesn't change how "-link" terminology should be used today, but it is worth noting that those are perfectly normal ways to experience otherkinity and therianthropy even if these other terms exist. It means you can use whichever personally feels best to you. It does not mean that people need to be shoved out of the non-link labels.

[three-archetypes-in-a-trenchcoat]

You could order all my alterhuman identities on a chart.

One axis is "feral - civilized", the other is "dinosaur - human". I have a 'type in every corner.

Feral human? That's just the ranger/adventurer.

Feral dinosaur? My beloved Broken Jaw from Dinosaur Revolution.

Civilized dinosaur? The raptor.

Civilized human? The other facet of the raptor, high society lady with suspiciously red eyes and white hair.