youve got the means to live

If someone is asking whether a phenomenon is a recognized mental disorder, then clinical psychology and psychiatry are the appropriate places to look. If someone is asking about a social identity, a community, a cultural phenomenon, or how people describe and understand their own experiences, then sociology, anthropology, ethnography, and related social sciences are also relevant.

For example, most people understand that alterhuman communities aren't explained by clinical zoanthropy. They're different phenomena that happen to share some superficial similarities. In a similar vein, discussions about endogenic plurality as a social or identity phenomenon aren't fully answered by literature on dissociative disorders. You will have to look at other sciences.

What frustrates me the most is when people dismiss social science sources as "not real science" simply because they aren't clinical studies. Social sciences are still sciences, and they're often the most appropriate for studying communities, identities, and cultural/spiritual/religious phenomena... Like endogenic plurality.

But... I will admit... if you're looking for the field most directly concerned with explaining the underlying mechanisms of subjective experiences... I'd probably point to psychology and cognitive science. There's just... not much there yet. What we do have are reports, interpretations, community frameworks, maybe some relevant psychological theories, and a LOT of unanswered questions.

Lynx and salmon, an Ivan Bilibin-inspired piece for the Polar Lights 4 charity zine!

1. Slow down at emotionally important moments.

Big emotions need space to land. If a scene feels rushed, pause the plot briefly to show how the moment affects the character.

2. Add reactions, not explanations.

Instead of explaining what a character feels, show it through physical responses, hesitation, or small actions that reveal emotion naturally.

3. Ground every scene in the senses.

If a scene feels thin, add one or two sensory details—sound, texture, smell, or temperature—to make the moment feel lived-in.

4. Let thoughts interrupt action.

A line of internal thought can deepen a scene without slowing it too much. Thoughts show stakes, fear, longing, or conflict beneath the action.

5. Expand consequences, not events.

You don’t need more things to happen—you need to show what matters. Focus on how events change relationships, decisions, or self-perception.

6. Strengthen setting where emotion peaks.

The environment should echo or contrast the emotion of the scene. Setting is not decoration—it’s emotional reinforcement.

7. Add specific details instead of general ones.

Underwriting often relies on vague language. Swap “they argued” for one sharp line of dialogue or a specific breaking point.

8. Let dialogue breathe.

Short dialogue exchanges without pauses can feel flat. Add beats—silence, gestures, interruptions—to give the conversation weight.

9. Show transitions between scenes.

If scenes jump too quickly, readers feel disoriented. A brief transition helps establish time, mood, and emotional continuity.

10. Clarify stakes early in the scene.

If readers don’t know what can be lost, scenes feel empty. Make sure the character wants something specific and fears losing it.

11. Use the “what are they feeling right now?” check.

After each major beat, ask what emotion is dominant in that moment. If it’s missing on the page, the scene is likely underwritten.

12. Expand scenes that feel “too clean.”

“In dreams, I walk with you. In dreams, I talk to you. In dreams, you’re mine, all the time. Forever.”