#parroting

a stimboard for a show we've recently been autistic about, only murders in the building!

plus any tips on improving communication would be great but no pressure. thanks

hey there…

so when it comes to improving or building communication, we’re probably just going to link our post on establishing contact with headmates. hopefully there’s enough info there to help y’all stay on the right track when it comes to building and maintaining solid communication.

we’re not sure what y’all’s system origins are, and our advice might be different depending on those factors. in general, though, here are a few thoughts we have on your predicament as a host of feeling like you’re puppeting your headmates.

- it may be worth it to try talking to your headmates about this and asking them what they think. of course, we see how this might be tricky if you feel like you are controlling them or have some sort of influence on their actions. but they genuinely may not feel the same way, and at least opening a dialogue between y’all may help you reach a bit of a better understanding.

- if your system is endogenic, created, or purposefully formed by you (the host) in any way, your headmates may sometimes have moments where they’re less sentient or struggle to maintain their own agency. our wife is a paromancy system, and the thoughtforms in her system sometimes experience this. in this situation, it’s just taken time, patience, and going back to the basics of headmate formation in order for our wife’s thoughtforms to settle back into existence. tulpanomicon and tulpa.io are both great sites full of guides that might help with this. if your system is not endogenic, though, please disregard this advice.

- if you really can’t shake the feeling that you’re puppeting your headmates, maybe just try to “puppet” them in ways that allow each headmate to live their best lives. ask them questions. offer them choices. give them space to grow and develop in their own ways. don’t force yourself to disengage or stop interacting with them as a way to force them to act on their own… rather, continue doing what you’ve been doing, while trying your best to treat your headmates with respect. these feelings of having control over the rest of your system may fade with time as you leave room for your headmates to act differently if they choose.

- we fully and truly believe that if your headmates are not distressed by this situation, if they feel comfortable and happy with this current arrangement, then there is nothing wrong with continuing as you have been. every system is different, and some systems may function by one headmate having more influence over the rest. what works for y’all may be unique and special in its own way, and there is nothing wrong with that. it’s all about keeping that dialogue open, helping your headmates feel comfortable coming forward if they want something to change, and accepting yourselves as y’all are in the present.

granted, we are a system with a dissociative disorder, so we likely aren’t going to have advice perfectly tailored to y’all’s situation. but what we can say, is that early on in our syscovery, we did have problems with one part trying to control the rest of the system. we had an alter who very much did try to puppet other members. and for us, that has faded with time as we’ve gotten to know each other better and spent more time focusing on accepting ourselves as we are.

idk. we’re sorry that this response is kind of fragmented and all over the place. personally we do feel that, if your headmates are not stressed about this, then you’re probably fine and shouldn’t worry too much about it either. if they are also stressed that you’re controlling them or having too much influence on their decisions, then you’ll at least know what’s happening, and can take some steps to try and give them more space to express themselves.

Oh! Thanks for explaining that!

SCAR!! What on earth are you doing?

A parrot, a raven, and a toucan sat on a branch together one day.

The toucan, being an exotic bird, was eating mangoes.

The raven, being a raven, was cawing incessantly.

And of course, the parrot, being a parrot, was mocking the raven, copying its caws almost perfectly.

After 15 minutes, the raven grew tired, and ceased cawing.

The parrot, however, being a particularly insane parrot, continued to caw just as the raven had.

This continued for another hour, before the toucan, quite aggravated at his inability to eat his mangoes in peace, whipped about, and with his huge beak, snatched the parrot up, and threw it to the ground.

The toucan flew down, landing above the parrot, and leaned down, ever so slowly in the face of the parrot, and whispered just four words.

Bear this in mind the next time a fan game blows said cranium apart.

Adding a warning now: my experiences with Tulpamancy are pretty far from the norm, and even in general, take this kinda thing with Tulpamancy with a grain of salt.

A lot of people experience the issue you’re facing and for a lot, doubt is a big problem, forcing habits, or some people simply just take longer to get their tulpa to sentience, which is perfectly okay. Everyone’s brain works differently, so times to create a tulpa vary from a day to literally years. 

When I first made Arcanus, I never really did any intentional puppeting or parroting, I more or so just spawned him in and made him stick around and hang out with me and it just... kinda worked. 

Thing is, Arcanus is a fictive from a series I’ve been making for over three years now (a year and almost a half when I made Arcanus), so he already had a really well-developed character and base. Really, I just kinda kicked him over the barrier of character and actual consciousness when I gave the intent of him becoming a tulpa since the personality and base were already there. 

As such, he kinda felt sentient from the start and I never doubted him. Arcanus wants to add his experiences in the beginning, so here you go:

Arcanus: Quite frankly, I could not tell you where my sentience truly began. My life has simply been a life shifted to another state of being in a differing universe. I have memories of my hatching, my family, and the memories of when I was in my old universe. Ryleigh, as she stated simply kept me present as a companion through her busy days, active forcing with me in the beginning, but quickly began to solely rely on passive forcing due to her restlessness during active forcing sessions. It no longer was necessary and they simply felt like bonding time, which we both cherish.

Back to me now (the host), but yeah. We never really did parroting or the likes, so we can’t exactly provide experience-based advice on it. The only tulpa I forced with and such was Arcanus since everyone else but Rylazide were unintentional fusions/systemmates that came about through various means. 

In the end, my advice is to try variety. Find what works because you never know: you may have just been using a method that just didn’t work for you, which happens sometimes. If you know you’re not controlling your tulpa, then you’re not. Assuming that your tulpa is sentient and separate can also help through via placebo effect, too. 

Anyway, even with the long-ass response, we hope this helps and if you have any more questions, we’re always open!