fictionfolk-guide

imma be real here, you're whatever the hell you want to be.

but, im not evil, i will actually give you more than that. basic question to differentiate: do you feel like the character or are you the character? if you're like the character but you don't consider yourself exactly them, fictionhearted. but if you're them, you're fictionkin. try referring to the character with i/me pronouns for a bit on purpose to see how it makes you feel.

if you're fluid about it, like sometimes you're definitely them, i/me pronouns make you feel more comfortable but sometimes you're not them completely and it's only partially there or it's more of a very strong connection, then you may want to look at labels like fictionfluid. (where identities may become stronger or weaker overtime, sometimes disappearing completely. they can come back after disappearing. the link is to a fandom wiki for you to read more about it.)

Depends on the fictkin! (I know, terrible answer, bear with me here.) Though I should say that this sounds suspiciously plural to me, and you may want to look into fictive heavy systems, it could be that certain kins are tied heavily to different parts of your life. For example, let's say you have a particular time in your life that can be very closely related to... uhm... Alex Fierro from Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard. You later kinfirm Alex, and when you're shifted, you have clearer memories from when you were most interested in Alex.

A spiritual explanation could be that this time is when the piece of your soul that remembered the most from your past life was the most prevalent. If you're psychological, then it could be that this was the part of your life your brain most associated with the kintype, so when you shift, those memories are what comes to mind.

I will reiterate how this is sounding plural to me, but it's very possible that it's just a fictionkin thing.

In case you do want to research plurality, I'll put some definitions under a cut for you.

Not a bit. The amount of headcanons we have...

I'm not entirely sure, as I'm permashifted, so I decided to ask my headmate. There isn't any way to get memories or shifts, but here's how they do it:

They say that what always helped them was playing scenes in canon and then focusing on themself in that scene. Later they'd picture that scene from their own perspective. In one scene, they were running up to another character, and despite that not being very clearly shown, they remember it vividly. Similarly, for non-canon scenes, picturing the area from their perspective and thinking of what they're doing in said scene normally did the trick. However, they always had an abnormally easy time getting memories and shifting. Shifting for them came along with memories, and they were always on the edge of a shift.

Asides from my headmate's method, I scoured tumblr for meditation links to help you shift. Uh... I fell down a rabbit hole of dissociation stuff and I had no idea what the acronyms were and needed to know and I still don't. I may have gotten a little lost. But seriously, do search up tips for kinshifting and you'll find a ton. Some of that stuff is really helpful, others aren't, but look for it. Try not to fall down a rabbit hole. If anyone wants links to the dissociation stuff, I've got them.

Sort of? For me, it was mostly that I kept getting memories. If you don't have memories, it's a lot of introspection. Think about the character's motives, dreams, feelings, thoughts, etc. Compare those to yours, keeping in mind the difference in situations. Think about characters that the character you're considering may have had strong feelings towards and compare those to your own. (For example, my love interest was one of my favorites when I first watched my anime.)

what should i do when i suspect im developijg a crush on a canonmate thats 10 yrs old. (my fictkin is also 10 but im still bodily 14. almost 15 very soon)

-hazel wells :/

I'd say that you're fine here, Hazel! As long as you don't expect a younger fictionkin who is bodily ten to be romantic with you, you're good. Hell, try not to expect any fictionkins of this character to be in a relationship, but that stands for all romance in these situations. You're allowed to ship your in-canon self with the character, and tumblr is relatively good with situations like these, from what I've seen.

If it makes you uncomfortable to have a crush on someone younger than you, I can't help much, but google says to create distance, think about their flaws, and focus on self care. I don't entirely believe that google is right, but it also says to give yourself time to process your feelings instead of repressing them.

Alright, so here's a question. Alterhumans as a whole, but especially fictionfolk, are told we're invalid. But what makes us valid or not?

Roughly stated, "valid" means that something is legally binding or officially acceptable.

With a quick google search of "what does it mean for someone to be valid" you'll be told that being told that you're "valid" means that the truthfulness of your ideas is being agreed upon.

So how does that fit into alterhumanity? How are we, as alterhumans, "valid?" How is our identity any of these things? The thing is, we aren't valid or invalid, because this is who we are. Our identity doesn't rely on being "valid." Valid is if our identities are truthful and agreeable to society's standards. And the truth is, we aren't socially accepted. We're a big fucking mess of creatures and objects and characters from worlds that people don't believe exist.

We're whatever we want to be. We're dragons, fae, elves, characters, creatures, gods, angels, concepts, elements. We shouldn't box ourselves in with a word like valid, we shouldn't be tormented by the question "am I valid," because we don't need to be. Being fictionfolk is being who we are, who we want to be, who we need to be, and who we were. No matter how strange, how "invalid," how stupid, how odd, we are fictionfolk. And hell, maybe you're not. It's okay to stop being alterhuman if you realize you're not. You weren't faking if you didn't know, you weren't pretending if you thought it was real. As much as I talk, fictionfolk is just a label like any other. You're whoever you want to be, and if a label doesn't fit you anymore, or makes you uncomfortable, then you can stop using it. You have a right to comfort, you deserve to be happy. You don't need to be valid, you don't need to stay the same all your life, because you won't stay the same forever. You'll always change, because nothing is static. And whoever you end up being, you have a right to be there and to be happy. Next time you're called invalid for being someone or something that "isn't real," know that they don't matter. Know that they aren't you, and validity is just a concept. Next time you look in the mirror and think that maybe you were wrong about who you are, remember that's okay.

This post is going to have a lot more input from me personally, as I'm a villain myself.

Anyways, being a villain is kind of insane. No, we won't murder anyone, but there are smaller habits that, in my experience, stick around. For example, I serve the Beast of Deceit. I'm a compulsive liar.

If you're in a supportive environment, you'll probably be told to stop (behavior) because it can be harmful to you and others later in life and building up a habit of (behavior) will result in some sort of consequence. But for you, that behavior is already is already a habit, because you built a habit in another realm that's stuck around, or that's just part of you.

If the environment isn't supportive, you'll probably just be punished. Suspended if it happens enough, lose a few friends because you're a troublemaker and their parents don't like that, or they don't like that. Of course, you'll also receive the majority of the adults in your life disliking your presence in their lives.

It's not a great situation either way. Some habits are fine, maybe a little embarrassing or nonsensical, but others are harmful, and even when you know that, you can't exactly control it. It's who you are.

But you can try to get better about it. Lower down the harmful habit slowly. For me, that's been lying about smaller things. Don't lie about whether or not you did task, only lie when you're certain you can get away with it or get better at lying. Don't lie to authority figures if they'll catch you, don't lie about anything consequential. Half-truths are my best friend. I don't know what that could look like for you entirely, but let's go obsession.

Let's say you get attached easily and have trouble letting go, get obsessed to an unhealthy degree. First of all, you shouldn't be looking to tumblr for this, but I digress. What I'd recommend is procrastination. Oh, I'll talk to so-and-so tomorrow. This is a technique used for addicts and suicidal people, saying "I'll kill myself tomorrow" has gotten people through years. This might not work, maybe it's shit advice, but it's worth a shot.

So, I figured I'd start this blog out with some basic clothing advice.

Looking exactly like yourself is hard. And depending on the popularity of your media or your species, you will probably be called a cosplayer. If you don't want that in your daily life, here are some tips. We'll start with things I do for myself:

I usually look at my specific aesthetic. Me personally, I dress in a dark-lolita leaning style more often than not. It can be hard to find clothes in that aesthetic if you live in a conservative area like I do, so here are some tips on that:

Go to the mall. Find smaller things. Pieces of jewelry, clothing in your color scheme, accessories, etc.

Go thrifting. Someone in this town has been as strange as you, I guarantee it. It's cheaper and you can find vintage clothing if that just so happens to be where you're from.

If you don't mind cosplay (let's be real here, we're fictional, being against people being a little whimsy is hypocritical) then cosplay. It's basically just gear. I've been working on making my hard to find accessories out of cardboard and foam, and you probably can too. Even if your first or twentieth attempt isn't quite perfect, it's better than nothing. For beings with colors that aren't exactly natural for humans, wear wigs. Especially if you can't afford to dye or don't want damage from bleach. It'll give you a glimpse of how your current body will look with your colors, which is a lot better than just dying and finding out.

And obviously, order online. Try to avoid companies like Amazon and Shein if you can. Go for smaller shops, support small brands. Go on Tumblr or Twitter or YouTube or even fucking TikTok. Find a small clothing brand, or a wig maker, or shoe companies. They're out there, I guarantee it, and chances are they have what you're looking for.

If you're going for goth, whimsy goth, punk, etc, hot topic and thrift stores. Not how I dress, but every goth person I see thrifts. I've seen people saying that the sleepwear and lingerie sections have the best things, so check there! Hot Topic isn't as great for flowy ruffles in clothing, but what it's great for is accessories. I don't know if they have corsets in every store, but they are certainly in all my local ones. Fae? Yeah, you people, I see you, this is for you. Dragons, depending on your colors, this stuff could be for you too. And several dozen fictokins, probably.

Scene/Scenecore/rave aesthetics? Yeah, to Hot Topic you go. (But also there's a website called Rave Wonderland, which might have some of what you're looking for. Honestly, search up "scene platform boots" on google and look through the buy options. There's a ton of stuff there, but they tend to be expensive. Double edged sword.)