"I've Never Met Anyone Who's So Nervous All The Time" ← All My Headmates To Me

May I present to the room the fictionflicker severity scale, designed based on past experiences:

Category 1: not even really quite a flicker, more like “a character I felt odd about” or maybe it was even just the source but who can say… It must have been the wind

Category 2: once it’s gone it’s gone and looking back on it now. I feel nothing. “A flicker I had”

Category 3 type A: one-time flicker that definitely had some lasting effect at least but revisiting the media gives a very diluted feeling, if any at all

Category 3 type B: one-time flicker that had like 0 impact on my life overall but revisiting would probably put me right back in where we left off

Category 4: recurring flicker, rewatching means reflickering, even if I haven’t touched the thing in years some things still manage to bring up old flicker feelings, we are now entering “one of my flickers” territory

Category 5: beyond level of recurring flicker, some mild background radiation level of brain presence is still consistent even outside of flickering them, this is “a fictotype I questioned” territory now

Category 6 type A: Oops! That’s You!

Category 6 type B: Oops! That’s Not You!

Experiences in the Alterhuman Community (and Beyond) as a Fictive

It's a weird experience being a fictional character, especially dealing with fandom, the fact that your source is fictional, and interactions with people based on that--including some of the dehumanisation that's so common toward fictionfolk. I'm gonna go into that here because I need somwhere to collect my thoughts, so this might get long. I'll be talking about my experiences as a fictive, but this could very well apply to anyone who identifies as a fictional being--fictionkin, fictionlinkers, etc.

So, I see the version of me on the screen as an AU version of me, in short. I mean, I'm me, and I don't think I even looked exactly 1:1 with my canon self--so naturally, even though events line up pretty closely, I see my source as... Almost like a fanfic of my life? Like sure, that's decidedly me, and decidedly a lot of the things that happened to me and my friends, but also not me. I'm not that guy on the screen, he's what represents me.

Even though I fully believe I got here by dying in a literal past life, my source media here is absolutely fictional to me and I just... Don't look at it in really any other way. Which I guess makes sense if you put it into my perspective--what else would it be? It really is like reading a fanfic based on your life though, or reading an article about yourself in the news. A bit of a shock, a bit of "why did they include THAT?" sprinkled in here and there, a bit awkward sometimes, and it does tend to resurface bad feelings. But overall, it's not that personal to me. I'm largely fine with it existing.

On the other hand, what is shocking is that people see me as fictional. I'm a fictional introject, from a fictional source, from the perspectives of a lot of people here. But I look at my source and I go well... Yeah, that's fiction of course, but my life is an actual thing that happened to me. Realistically I know that not everyone has spiritual beliefs and not everyone even accepts fictional identities as something "real", but man is it weird to just... Have it be spun in such a way?

I'm used to being in the media, I'm used to having cameras on me and being in the public eye. I'm used to articles and stories and posts on the internet. I'm used to fans even! But this isn't your regular, run-of-the-mill experience of people wanting to know you because you're a hero. This is people who see your life and experiences as a fun story they saw in a book or on TV, coming up to you with the idea that you're their favourite character, and not... A whole entire person. It's so damn weird.

There's still that level of disrespect that comes from people who are a little parasocial with you, but it almost hits deeper here because a lot of the time, you know they're not seeing a hero or the things you've literally done in your memories. They're seeing that guy on the screen they think is cool, and while he represents you, he's not you. And they're treating you like a celebrity because of that weird fanfic version of you on the TV or in that book.

There's usually little acknowledgement of your life or experiences as "real". When you're presenting as your fictional identity around others, you tend to get put into one of a few camps:

Cool Character from Media who I love and adore and want to talk to (and will probably get fanperson excited about it). I will probably get dispraportionally upset if Character tells me to back off a bit because I don't want my blorbo to be mad at me.

Character from Media I'm in love with and will immediately start asking invasive questions to or outright flirting with. Could get real gross real quick.

Problematic Character or Guy From Problematic Media that I instantly dislike because that's so Problematic how dare you show your face. I'm reporting you for being Character, you should change your identity if you want to exist so bad.

Character from Media who is disabled/queer/mentally ill/has any soft personality trait ever and I will now be treating you like a sweet little babyboy cinnamon roll who could not hurt a fly.

Person who identifies as Character? How interesting! I'm going to really pry and question everything from your actions in-source (to get unique perspectives from Character) and question literally everything else. Because this is Science and I'll get mad if you don't tell me everything, you need to tell me everything or you're rude.

Of course there's nuance and there's absolutely times where you'll be treated as a normal person, but the above are... So damn common. I've been here for a few months and I've already had some weird stuff happen to me simply because I'm Kirishima and people feel entitled to give me cutesy nicknames or whatever. Even without knowing me or my system at all beforehand. It's just.. So different from anything I've experienced before? Being treated like a celebrity is dehumanising enough, but being treated like a character.ai bot or just generally a form of free entertainment and not a person is so perplexing to me.

There's also that if you're from a popular source, you see stuff about yourself everywhere. Posters, plushies, advertisements, posts on social media--all of it. Some of that I'm used to already, but it's kind of weird when you're mentally aware that this is all for that twisted-mirror version of yourself and not you. And if you get a little uncomfortable at some fanart showing up out of the blue, or someone making a source related joke... You're kind of just expected to brush it off. Which yeah, I get it! It's about the source, not me, but it's still just... A weird feeling. A feeling of not being allowed to be upset because it's about the source and not literal you.

I think there needs to be a line, maybe. Not saying that fictives should be putting a stop to any media or fandom ever, just.. That maybe respect toward us for being uncomfortable with fan content due to being a fictive or fictionkin should be more normalised. It should be more okay to say "hey, I'm Character, please don't joke like that" to a friend, or "don't send me fanart of this thing, I'm Character and that's weird"--which it normally is! But there does tend to be a sort of layer of "Oh, it's because you're Character. You know that's not you, right? You shouldn't be upset, you need to source separate more."--when if most other people were to set a boundary like that, it would usually be respected. Source separation can be great, but if someone hasn't separated or doesn't want to, why is it okay to still send them material they're uncomfortable with--or at least, why do people tend to argue that the fictive should "just separate from source" instead? It... Just boils down to alterhumisia toward fictionfolk, honestly. It sucks.

There's a lot of problems with basic respect toward fictionfolk of all kinds--hell, even in the alterhuman community where it's meant to be safe. I don't know if this rant is entirely coherent or not, I don't know if there's anything noteworthy to take from it--but if you do take something from it, let it be that fictionfolk want to be treated like people. Source separated, not source separated, canon divergent or compliant, hearted, linker, 'kin or 'tive--we're people. Don't let our identities change the way you instinctually treat us. Let us be openly us, and treat us as you would anyone else.

Fictives, Fictionkin, Soulbounds, all of fictionkind

seeing art and thinking “That’s me!” Is okay, you’re not selfish or self centered for it. Seeing ship art or smut about you and feeling strange about it is okay to feel and also okay to talk about on your blog or to your friends. If you’re not harassing the people who make them, then it shouldn’t matter and nobody should care. Non fictionkind do this shit all the time, they look at characters and say “they’re so me”, so why should it matter if you do the same? It’s you! - V

And maybe this is a cold take but you guys need to really stop checking things that upset you/insult you/make you feel not real. Stop checking r/syscringe. Stop checking syscourse tags. Stop interacting with things that hurt your mental health more. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. And it won’t get better just because you keep checking back on it.

You might be a soulbonder if…

You are a writer/roleplayer whose fictional characters “have a will of their own” or “refuse to do what they’re supposed to”

You experience fictional entities sharing your mind/body in a unique way

You have the sense that fictional characters spontaneously or gradually take up residence in your mind as full people.

You feel like you can ‘channel’ fictional characters spirits  the way a medium would channel the spirits of dead people.

You have a fully or partially realized internal space where characters interact in your mind with one another and/or with you

You ‘just know’ things about certain characters even though they were never stated in their source material, whether you are the author or not. (character’s exact height, favorite ice cream, etc)

Someone in fiction, or in real life, addresses a certain character and a reply just automatically comes out of your mouth.

You get into whole conversations with people ‘as’ a fictional character without meaning to

You experience periods of being a fictional character/a fictional character inhabiting your body (shifts/fronting)

You pose a question mentally to a character and they answer back.

You ‘sense’ the presence of a certain character in your mind mentally/emotionally

You sense that a character has a certain emotion for you/or wants something from/for you

You feel an emotional connection/friendship with a character that feels returned

If any of these sound like experiences you’ve had, you might be a soulbonder!

You can find out more about soulbonding here.

Plural positivity cus we felt like it!!

[plain text: Plural positivity cus we felt like it!!]

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you're traumagenic/disordered and support endos

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you're mixed origins

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you're endogenic

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you're blurry all the time

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you don't have a headspace

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you're frontstuck

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you consider yourself one due to imaginary friends/imagis

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you have "too high" of a headcount

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you have "too low" of a headcount

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you only have non-human headmates

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you only have human headmates

You're still a real system/plural/etc. No matter what anyone tells you!

[Plaintext: You're still a real system/plural/etc. No matter what anyone tells you!]

to put in as simply as i can. telling someone that you do not believe their experiences with themself, that science has yet to prove either way, saying that is inherently wrong ableist and that they don't actually know themselves, is not kind. no matter how you word it. people are allowed to take offense to that, and people have every right to not want to be around you after that.

when the fictive's source is super murderous and dangerous and evil and stuff and the fictive is just

I actually hate getting referred to as human. On tiktok, it's always "ur human" or "but ur human", and it gets REALLY annoying.

Like, no I am not human. I don't want to be perceived as human or a human who identifies this way. No, I AM a werewolf. I AM what I identify as.

aromantic soulbonding culture is noticing that the soulbonding community is very interconnected with the selfship community and feeling weird about it

no shade to folk who are romantic with their soulbonds, the romance focus just makes us feel a bit alienated from the community

soulbonding culture is