Random Nonsense

Have you been in a scenario where somebody calls you inhuman for not experiencing some type of attraction or another? Well you’ve been a victim of not just aphobia but the “No True Scotsman Fallacy” the No True Scotsman Fallacy is an informal logical fallacy that, to quote Wikipedia is a fallacy “in which one modifies a prior claim in response to a counterexample by asserting the counterexample is excluded by definition.” Let’s use a hopefully hyperbolized example

Bob: everybody wants sex.

Owen: I’m asexual and I don’t really want sex.

Bob: every real person wants sex.

In this example, Owen has committed the No True Scotsman Fallacy by saying that Bob’s Asexuality makes him somehow not a real person. This form of fallacy can even come up in aspec spaces. Another example.

Ace: every aroace can form a queerplatonic bond.

Gary: I’m aqueerplatonic.

Ace: every real aroace can form a queerplatonic bond.

In this example, Ace excluded Gary from being a “real aroace” by arbitrarily saying that “real” aroaces can form queerplatonic bonds

To avoid using this fallacy in future interactions with aspec people, whether you are aspec or not, remember this, no form of attraction is universal or necessary for a fulfilling life. Some people are happy to spend their time completely alone.

For context about this set of stories and the reason they’re written the way they are, these stories take place on a fictional Minecraft SMP called “Jimbobby SMP” the current state of the server is that it’s most dedicated but not necessarily most sane players remain. The owner is often absent for months at a time and the one remaining server moderator can barely hold the server together despite like 10 people on the server being a rarity. The Jimbobby universe is very much sitcom inspired. And finally, it’s written in a style called “epistolary” which in its traditional form is a story told through stuff like fictional newspaper clippings, letters, posters, any form of documentation. Modern epistolary stories often use the internet. The stories you will read take the form of a server chat log.

Now with that out of the way, the stories.

Minor CW for the Happy Pride Month story. There is a little homophobia near the beginning but it’s one line and the rest of the story is essentially a queer discovery.

hello! I have a question for the aroace community. Does a shiny silver ring work in place of a white ring for aromantic pride? just curious. Thanks in advance!

On to the terms

“Parts Conglomerate”

A parts conglomerate is essentially what happens when a parts coalition pulls a trick similar to the “three kids in a trench coat” trope. It is a parts coalition sharing one “body” and moving and acting as one. This also carries the benefit of if you unburden the conglomerate, you’ve unburdened several parts. Parts conglomerates can be identified if they take on more than one role. For instance, an anxious parts conglomerate can take on all 3 traditional IFS roles the role of a manager with constant low level anxiety, causing the person to constantly make backup plans, a firefighter for extreme panic and suicidal behavior, and an exile, always anxious that a parent won’t come back. For me, parts conglomerates are a way for parts to organize themselves into larger, more complicated units. They’ve displayed this behavior for a long time.

Tips for working with conglomerates: Treat them like you would any other part. Don’t “separate” them unless they agree to it. Instead, visualize going into their heads to meet the parts behind the conglomerate.

“Guide-like parts”

These parts are very similar to guides. They have good intentions, they are calming to be with, and they take on the form of something comforting and/or meaningful to the person. The one difference is that they interfere more than they should and don’t have perfect methods for doing what they do. They might be managers or firefighters. They never do anything too destructive but can do morally dubious things in order to try and help.

Tips for working with guide-like parts: encourage their guide-like qualities. If they want to be true guides, unburden them in a way that lets them ascend to the state of a guide. If they don’t like being a guide, do what you would normally do with a part that doesn’t like their role and try to help them find something more fulfilling to do.

Now for the technique I developed to assist in my work.

Contacting unburdened parts:

Joy has long since left headquarters to live in imagination land, Fear and Anxiety are concerned about stuff such as bills and finding love, Anger is still pissed that Aaron’s college sweetheart left him, Ennui has completely checked out and just pilots the console from her phone in bed during times when it’s not Super Bowl, Embarrassment and Disgust are both trying to get Aaron to lose weight, Sadness has been wandering the mind to try and find Joy, and at the center of the mess is Nostalgia, Envy, and a partially shutdown console. The console itself hasn’t fully shut down from Gloom/Depression but it’s about a fifth of the way there. Nostalgia and Envy are at the console 24\7 trying to prevent the encroachment of Gloom. Due to the stress, Nostalgia has picked up some odd habits. He has gained the ability to change memory color and is constantly recalling memories to make them nostalgic and then throws them into the belief system hoping it will fix the depression. Aaron’s sense of self constantly repeats “I was worth something” and Envy is constantly gawking at college athletes and cheering Nostalgia on. Envy has started to work along side Anger, causing Aaron to feel extremely jealous.