#-phoenix

Hello from a resident of 'we perceive some objects as sapient and often similar to humans' town. Boundaries are cool. However by this logic, using a sex toy is assault and getting intimate with, say, a plushie is too. That's silly and very insulting to survivors, especially as someone who self harmed via similar logic before realizing it's bullshit.

Even if you are POSIC (see: perceive sentience sapience etc objects for whatever reason), either you then are able to perceive consent (or non-consent) from the object and continue accordingly, or (if you are not POSIC), THEN IT'S AN OBJECT VOID OF THE POSSIBILITY OF BEING HURT.

You cannot hurt an object in the same way you can hurt a biological being, if you even believe objects can be hurt at all, since POSIC experience is not universal; our general shared reality typically says there is nothing there to hurt in the first place.

('What about if you're POSIC and you perceive you hurt the object?' This happens, yeah. It happened to us multiple times. At the end of the day, it's still perception, and that's still an object-- regardless of what you perceive and feel you did to the object, you have not objectively done anything.

Saying you hurt an object into the context of assault gets most people really confused and/or concerned for you as well. Source: we did that and our friend had to explain we were not in fact a sexual predator now. We had to take the entire issue to therapy.

Obviously, what happened with us in this situation was fueled by trauma-- and in that case, our perceptions were a means of self harm and reenactment. POSICness is not inherently good.

TLDR: it's still perception and still an object, don't beat yourself up, you didn't commit assault or anything. Maybe talk to a therapist if you can; you don't deserve to carry guilt for that.)