Ringgggg's somewhat-comprehensive foxgirl imposition log

[ringgggg]

I was planning to update for a while now to bring to light what practicing imposition has done in other related phenomena.

 

It was a week back when I noticed that both my visualization and my passive proprioceptive abilities had taken a massive leap forward.

 

It's like I have eyes in the back of my head. What I can see peripherally feels so small now, as if it were just a tiny window within the scope of what I can truly perceive. When I close my eyes, I can fully visualize how my arms and hands look from my perspective with it being very close to its actual position when I open my eyes. I can walk backward and crudely "fill in" my perception of what I can't see based off of my observed position in relativity to everything else, thus allowing me to traverse with an improvised quasi-rearview mirror. However, I have learned that there are specific limitations with this ability, especially mnemonically. What I can see outside my peripheral vision is completely attributed to what I remember seeing, so if an unstationary object not in line with my memory were to appear behind me, I wouldn't know it until I bump into it. This will probably remain true for visual imposition, too. Admittedly, the skill still very much needs work, but I am proud of my progress in being able to develop such a capability regardless.

 

Visualization-wise, I'm not confident in concluding that I've fully developed what people call 'hyperphantasia', but my skills are still leagues above what they were in July. I can take a 3D model of a rudimentary object - an apple, a water jug, or an open box - and visualize it in a fairly detailed iteration while rotating it using my hands in real life. It retains much of its cohesion while I do this, so that might be conclusive to something. I'm only using that particular exercise to illustrate how my skill has developed, but there's so much more I can do with my ability.

 

I estimate that I've spent around 35-45 total hours imposing from this point onwards. No visuals, but it seems like I'm really close to something. The pseudo-visuals I sculpt around on the regular are starting to feel more comparable to what I documented back in the August 30 entry, and A3's boundaries are beginning to accept visual noise marginally more easily with every passing day. I feel super motivated to continue onwards.

 

Clarity has struck me with a realization. Visual imposition isn't something you can practice initially, it's something you attain after passing a certain threshold. The process of working towards visual imposition has many ties with similar phenomena such as lucid dreaming, or Awakening in Buddhism. In the start, you can only facilitate a mental state that would allow it to develop in the first place. The attainment of the skill is completely out of the scope of control, which makes them that much more elusive. Setting proper intentions and consistent practicing provides a rich foundation for these skills to take root whenever they do. Depending on each skill, it could be mindsculpting for vis-imp, dream journaling for lucid dreams, or ritualistic meditation for Awakening. Prior precursor skills that you can control must be cultivated to the point of adeptness before attainment of the final skill. You must have vivid dreams in order for lucid dreaming to happen more often. You must have strong meditation skills to trigger Awakening. Your presence impositon must be top-notch before visual imposition ever strikes you one day. Keep in mind I'm not implying you'll finally be able to control when attainment is reached once these precursor skills are developed, just what happens after; the "keystone" abilities get there on their own with no exceptions. When it finally happens, the world is your oyster. You'll have proven yourself that you are capable of what they call the holy grail.

 

Personal stuff (you don't have to read this)

Spoiler

I feel like I have something to contribute to the world. I dream of being able to look at this from a more professional angle. Maybe I can take up some branch of neuroscience once I get out of High School, but there's no telling what'd happen in between now and then. There's a lot of research I still have to do before I can figure out what's in store for me. However, I'm confident I can bring something to the table, whether that's for this small group of passionate people, or for the greater science community. I began this journey in earnest, but I realize the potential of this now as I'm writing this. All the work that could be done to further study imposition that has yet to proliferate in mainstream research, all of that can start with people like ME. People like YOU.

 

Anyone can cook, but only the fearless can be great.

[Luminesce]

Oh no, Bre's influence has got you walking backwards too... /srs /s

 

I think I agree with all the prerequisites-talk there? At least insofar as that advice certainly won't be wrong when practiced. I don't know if presence imposition is required before visual imposition or not, but I don't think there's harm in assuming it is, and it does usually seem to come first. And it does provide a good basis for practicing actual sense imposition, so yeah. I dunno how you'd specifically train presence imposition outside of just practicing imposition as a whole though, it came completely naturally to us in trying to see/feel - I suppose I would say that in trying that, the sense of presence came first, but it wasn't a checkpoint or anything to us, it was just "getting there". We didn't start talking about presence imposition (which I guess we created the term for) until a long while later though. Probably because we're lazy but dedicated long-term 'mancers, so we still do imposition occasionally even when our visual clarity is practically completely gone (both imposing and visualizing, though our visualization clarity is always a fair bit ahead of wherever our visual imposition is at), but the experience remained satisfying enough because of the sense that they were there regardless. 

 

As for science.. Keep in mind it's never as fanciful as people imagine. It's lots and LOTS of reading, lots of writing, and very often limited to what you can convince grant-givers is meaningful or maybe even valuable. Plus you can't just meditate real hard and write about it like it's official academic literature lol, studies are the basis for writing papers.

At the end of the day, scientific progress always comes from people pushing through that slog and doing novel research - just mind it might not be so straightforward and easy as one might imagine.

Edited October 15, 2023 by Luminesce

[ringgggg]

1 hour ago, Luminesce said:

I don't know if presence imposition is required before visual imposition or not, but I don't think there's harm in assuming it is, and it does usually seem to come first. And it does provide a good basis for practicing actual sense imposition, so yeah.

There's many different paths you can take to attain visual imposition, so I can only go as far as to encourage it. For spatial imposition, though, it might as well should be.

 

1 hour ago, Luminesce said:

I dunno how you'd specifically train presence imposition outside of just practicing imposition as a whole though

Practicing visual imposition techniques before you actually get to visual imposition in the first place. I assume there isn't much of a difference between trying to cultivate visual imposition and trying to maintain it, at a surface level at least. I guess you could say there's a specific scope of focus for each, but that's probably obvious at this point

 

Box Imposition, maybe. Just as a more concentrated, intensive, intentional attempt at presence imposition might do some good, but, again, I can't say for sure.

 

1 hour ago, Luminesce said:

As for science.. Keep in mind it's never as fanciful as people imagine. It's lots and LOTS of reading, lots of writing, and very often limited to what you can convince grant-givers is meaningful or maybe even valuable. Plus you can't just meditate real hard and write about it like it's official academic literature lol, studies are the basis for writing papers.

I want to take in the work aspect as much as I do the Final Destination. There's no doubt gonna be some sucky times ahead of me, regardless of whether I pursue it or not, but maybe that's for the better.

 

You definitely have more to say about it than me, since you're almost twice my age and already finding ways to overcome your old tendencies. I'll leave it within the realm of possibility, and do whatever I can to better flesh out specifically what I can and can't do

 

1 hour ago, Luminesce said:

just mind it might not be so straightforward and easy as one might imagine.

Don't worry - I think imposition has already proven that, lol

 

Thanks for the input, as always, Lumi. I promise I won't let you guys down and stay on track.

 

Final Destination will be there when it'll be there.

[ringgggg]

On 10/4/2023 at 4:00 PM, Aya said:

In our search for imposition information, methods, etc we actually found quite a lot (relatively speaking). We had so many methods that it was overwhelming to decide what to sit down and actually do. It may help break up the monotony, to switch methods here and there when you get too bored. For example this person on reddit/discord has been exploring prophantasia (projecting images but not integrated with reality) and visualization independently and has found an interesting approach, posted a few days ago https://www.reddit.com/r/CureAphantasia/comments/16t8epu/image_streaming_20_how_to_image_stream_to_develop/

I appreciate your input, my friend. I feel like introducing another insight that I've gotten that may have some connection to your link, so I will.

 

I've deduced that there is indeed multiple branches of imposition. I'll be taking an example from an older user to better clarify my point.

 

For those who don't know, there was a very passionate imposition buff on the forums in 2020 known as Yaya/Hydrix. His methods were very different than then the ones Bre and I had normally practiced with, and what he described in his progress report had a notable connection to image streaming and 'prophantasia', as it's called in the aphantasia community.

 

Spoiler

Sadly, his account and report are not available anymore, due to latter entries becoming gradually more incomprehensible and inflammatory. Assuming he wasn't trolling, it seemed as if an alleged mental disorder ("auto-imaginative imposition", as he called it, but I don't think it had any actual ties to imposition) began to become increasingly degenerative to his mental health. I only say this to explain what happened to him; I wish no ill will towards him and hope he is doing the best. Maybe he'll come back someday, who knows.

 

His PR has been archived here. Despite how long it is, it's worth the read. Check it out.

 

I have no idea where to contact him. I've asked around on a few Discord servers after seeing a screenshot of a conversation between him and @YukariTelepath (et al) to little avail.

 

A specific entry addressed a conversation between him and Bre, where they realized the existence of different methods thanks to their two different approaches. Interestingly enough, though, it looks like he also used the manipulation of visual noise as a foundational imposition method. As I've figured out, there are inherent similarities in between imposition branches, and I believe this to be one of them.

 

Quote

In order to further my progress, I began turning to the forums, however there is not much information on imposition here. The most I could manage were a few conversations from the amazingly talented user "breloomancer." By sheer luck, she noticed my reports and the brief mention of her name in the discord, and decided to chime in. I described my efforts and failings to her.

 

She didn't understand what I meant. She never had any such difficulties.

 

In our conversations I eventually came to the conclusion that our methods are linked together, but different. The best I could describe it is that I am doing it "bottom to top," she is doing it "top to bottom."  Apparently, I had several different methods of imposition, each with unique properties, whereas she focused on a single method.

 

He also went on to investigate the different possible branches just like I'm doing right now. His diction and choice of words made it confusing to understand exactly what he was trying to specify (hey, putting thoughts into words can be hard sometimes), but it was clear that multiple branches existed.

 

His classifications are different than mine, I'll admit. I'll summarize my own to paint you a picture. Keep in mind, if you attain visual imposition with one method, you'll most likely be able to do the other with just a couple sessions dedicated to orienting yourself towards it.

 

Take it with a massive grain of salt. As confident as I am in this elaboration, it's all still theoretical.

---

 

•  Overlay Imposition 

Visual imposition in its rawest form. It can be practiced open-eye or closed-eye, but the premise of it takes a lot from hypnagogic hallucinations and the "blobs" you see overlaying your vision after spacing out for a prolonged period of time. Basically, as was previously made prevalent in the quote, it's practicing the skill bottom-up, trying to directly form more connections to the mind's sensory processing capabilities.

 

As the name suggests, this imposition capability is not commonly integrated with the depth that reality provides, instead being an "overlay" on top of the field of vision.

 

Progression goes based off of the ability to manipulate the grains within visual noise. First, they flash faster. Next, you're able to make them turn a certain color. Then, you can make them turn any color. Soon, you're branching off into forming simple shapes made of noise, and then they're growing more complex now right as you're clocking in at >50 hours of consistent practice (give or take). Before you know it, you're full-on image streaming for hours on end like Linkzelda did back in the day.

 

Keep in mind I have just a limited understanding of this method because I'm more inclined in following the next method, as you all may know already. I might be completely wrong about it, but that won't be proven until Yaya comes out from his grave to give me a proper lecture, lol

 

• Spatial Imposition 

 Self-explanatory. It's the main one people think of when they hear "visual imposition". It combines presence imposition abilities with the former to give a more believable effect when imposing. The reason why it's considered to be "top-down" is because you're merely setting the baseline intention to attain imposition in the first place when you start. As you practice more and more, your brain becomes more accepting of imposition, and it begins to "fill in the gaps" unconsciously, creating more connections with sensory processing to the point where imposing is a low-effort skill.

 

I don't need to explain progression any more than I have with this entire PR. I'd just be making myself redundant.

 

---

Two different methods, each with the same outcome.

[ringgggg]

My sights are set. I'm satisfied with the progress I've made with A3's boundaries using my presence imposition skills. I'm sure I can go further with boundary strength and allow it to reach its full potential, but it wouldn't be worth my time anyway because I've already developed it enough to focus on equally important aspects. It's something that can come later after I gain basic visual imposition abilities.

 

Bre described to me in a direct message that results only became prevalent for her through focusing on opacity rather than directly trying to fortify boundaries. I'm not going to ignore the advice of someone who can literally play a game of chess with the entire chessboard hallucinated. If there's advice that's out there, right or wrong, I'm gonna follow through until I can confirm whether or not it's of benefit.

 

I’ve already been doing opacity practice a little by wrapping noise around the boundaries, but I didn’t have a specific focus on eliminating the background beforehand. Instead of bringing down one foundational setback, I built up in the opposite direction. Which works, I guess, but I can’t put the cart before the horse.

 

Boundaries are no good if you can't see them through the environment. Onward

Edited October 18, 2023 by ringgggg

[Breloomancer]

1 hour ago, ringgggg said:

I'm not going to ignore the advice of someone who can literally play a game of chess with the entire chessboard hallucinated

just to be clear, i still can't do that. i tried to do it before, but i would always lose track of the positions of the pieces eventually. through practice, i got better and was able to get further in a game before losing track of the pieces, but i lost interest in the endeavor before getting to the point of being able to get through a whole game

[ringgggg]

I'm just gonna do it regardless. Thanks for clarifying, though lol

Edited October 17, 2023 by ringgggg

[ringgggg]

Opacity work is going well so far. As far as lighting and environment goes, it remains pretty much the same as it has been, save for an additional lamp turned on so there's more contrast between A3 and the background. There's another lamp behind where I usually practice imposition, and my current goal is to negatively impose it so that it's no longer visible behind her. So far, I've gotten it to disappear for a couple seconds with a splotch of purplish-black in place of the lamp before my focus breaks down and it goes back to normal.

 

The majority of the work I've already done with opacity is similar to what I've done in the weeks prior, utilizing visual noise in the imposition process. I'm using the noise to "drown out" the background and blur/darken A3 along the boundaries. My hope is that this skill is built up enough for her to be slightly discernible from the environment, and then I'll just go from there.

 

I unconsciously want to squint my eyes whenever I concentrate, but that means that my eyelashes get in the way or my vision be obscured in any other manner. False progress is not on my agenda, but I'll still let it be known that I am very much bound to have way more accidents in the future. Willingly, that is. It's good for learning. I'll clear it up to the best of my ability.

 

I'm surprised it was able to develop this fast, it's only been a week of practicing with the focus on opacity. I'm not complaining, though 

Edited October 25, 2023 by ringgggg

[Ashley]

I'm glad you're keeping at it, imagine if some day we'll have this day by day step by step progression, all written down in excruciating detail, showing exactly the volume of work needed without any gaps or hand waving. This thread would be the priceless, it already is because it sets your groundwork in an understandable and easy to follow way. I don't know if anyone else will ever do this. So keep it up, we're counting on you.

[ringgggg]

Thank you.
 

2 hours ago, Ashley said:

This thread would be the priceless, it already is because it sets your groundwork in an understandable and easy to follow way.

Well, I don’t call it somewhat-comprehensive for nothing.
 

I’ve said before and I’ll say it again, my goal is to make this as understandable as possible while still providing enough detail to avoid misinterpretation. It bums me out to see a really insightful article word things in such a confusing way.

I could avoid way more questions that way, anyway.

 

2 hours ago, Ashley said:

imagine if some day we'll have this day by day step by step progression, all written down in excruciating detail, showing exactly the volume of work needed without any gaps or hand waving.

No promises.
 

Everything in here can pretty much be called applicable either only in theory or only to me. It’s a personalized experience, but if my techniques help people gain results directly because of that, all the power to them.

 

How much of this is inaccurate is debatable, but until I get a proper explanation through other users as well as my own mistakes, I’m just gonna keep doing what I can

Edited October 25, 2023 by ringgggg