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The Second Spark


Twice Sparked

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I’ve been thinking about the role of Sobolev spaces in trace theory recently.

 

Oh, and also about imposition.

 

This will be our third and final post on visualization-adjacent topics. After this, I’ll consider my debt to the community fulfilled. I’ll then recline on my porch and yell at you kids to stay off my lawn.

 

Imposition is the act of bridging internal and external impressions. Maybe I should emphasize the word “act” in its multiple senses; imposition is fairly described as a performance.

 

Like much of what we do, imposition is a team sport. It’s not enough to expect one’s tulpa to impose themselves, nor to expect the host to, by the magic of looking constipated, will their tulpa to their senses.

 

It’s difficult to talk about imposition coherently as one thing, but it’s false to think of it as having parts or aspects. So, what I’m going to tell you is a myth. Think of it as a useful lie.  

 

Imposition has two parts: form and presence. These aren’t really separate, but play along. Form is what’s predicated of a thing. It’s color, weight, texture, etc. Presence is its directedness in will.

 

Imagine a white golf ball in your hand. Leave aside superficial markings like brand name. See its surface glint, feel its tessellation (though in three dimensions, I suppose it would be properly described as a honeycomb). Can you sense its weight? Maybe, maybe not. Depending on how good you are at open-eye visualization, you may have a pretty clear image. Like any visualization, you can sharpen your impression beyond what you’d experience with an actual golf ball, especially if you’re half blind like me. But is it imposed? Unless you’ve already mastered imposition—in which case, go away; this post isn’t for you—I doubt you can see it.

 

I’m going to say something that might surprise you now: No matter how well you can visualize that ball, you will never impose it. Why? Because you’re only sharpening the ball’s form. You’ve done nothing to address its presence.

 

Dane, aka FAQ Man, talks about presence in his guide—one of the earliest and, in my opinion, best. Are those still relegated to the “old guides” section? Bah.

 

Anyway, he recommends imagining your tulpa walking behind you, gradually growing from your periphery. Why do this? Because it provides presence’s two aspects: direction and will. You intuit where your tulpa is.

Alternatively, think of those feels when someone is right behind you. Maybe it’s a tingle, maybe it’s a pressure, maybe it’s an amorphous awareness. That’s presence.

 

You could spend days giving presence to your golf ball, and I bet you’d succeed, but… Don’t. Just don’t. Let’s talk about your tulpa instead.

 

I asked my loving, patient wife (see, now I’m prodding at her) to write a post of her own. This was in part to force her to say something, in part because she had things to say I hadn’t thought of, and in part because I wanted to emphasize teamwork.

 

Tulpas, you should, if you haven’t already, make presence your number one priority. If your host is going to see you, to hear you, to feel you, they must believe you are there with the same, unshakable certainty they have that they’re reading my words.

 

As an aside, this certainty is the same reason some old members, myself included, treat the direct or passive-aggressive debasement of our tulpas’ reality with disdain. You’re telling Jean-Luc Picard there are four lights when there are obviously five.

 

See I… I reversed the torture scene from “Chain of Command” … I know someone will get that.

 

Host, while your Tulpa projects themselves, you have your own role in this play. Even if you can’t see them, even if you can’t hear them, even if you can’t feel their presence, you must behave as though your tulpa is already imposed.

 

Remember what I said in post one—hell, what I always say, but am ever ignored about: tulpa stuff is all about autosuggestion. No, not strictly self-hypnosis, but an advanced, self-directed artform all the same. If you can treat your tulpa like they’re there, they’ll be there.

 

Back to tulpafriends. You guys should, to the best of your ability, respect 3space. If there’s not enough room for you somewhere, don’t stand there. If it’s too loud for your host to hear you, speak telepathically or speak as though drowned out. And I know teleporting is fun and easy, but don’t do it.

 

Now, for form, you have to meet in the middle. I spoke about two aspects of visualization: stillness and focus. I hope you didn’t ignore those. When speaking of form in imposition, constitution and clarity are always discussed, but never the opposite processes, dissolution and dimming. As important as it is to apprehending every aspect of your tulpa clearly, you must also know how to ignore your senses.  

 

The goal, again a team effort, is to meet your tulpa in the middle.

 

Tulpafriends, Clair told you to know your body in and out, to make a study of the sensations you want to produce. I hope you didn’t ignore that. As is the normal operation of the senses, your host’s faculties are passive. You must make yourself clear while they selectively filter what they see, hear, feel, etc.

 

See? The tulpa pushes up, host pushes down. Again, you meet in the middle. You have, have, HAVE, to work together. If the tulpa(s) makes themselves clear without the host’s selective attention, you’ll be left with momentary, lucid flashes of imposition. Exciting moments, but fleeting. If the host(s) shape what they sense without the tulpa projecting themselves, you’ll get crisp visualizations that are as far from imposition as an electron is from its nucleus (proportionally speaking).  

 

You must dance this dance together, my children. And once you’ve got the basic steps down, you can enjoy the long, rewarding process of solidifying your gains and making more. The process is endless, even if your patience is not.

 

Now if you’ll excuse me, Clair needs to be brushed, and then we’re going to read together.

 

Good luck.

Your thinking needs a readjust; total concentration is a must.

-Zecora

 

Imma Reportin Mah Progress!

 

And, please, call me Sparks.

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  • 1 month later...

Hi, just checking in.

 

All's well. Had some interpersonal conflicts recently that shook me a bit, but Clair and Sophia helped me get past them. It's nice having reliable people around when the weather gets rough.

 

I'm worried one of my younger ones, Thunder, spends too much time in the basement playing that got'dang vidja. I guess he takes after his dad.

 

And Naya, my oldest filly, is of that wistful age where she wants noting to do with us. She spends most of her time in her room these days, which is also a picturesque open field with a superb view of the mountains. She has good taste. I'm not bothered by her behavior, really. Well, maybe a little.

 

There's a lot of other stuff too, I suppose. WL goings-on that probably aren't too interesting to anyone out here.

 

Will stop by again later if I remember.

 

Ta.

Your thinking needs a readjust; total concentration is a must.

-Zecora

 

Imma Reportin Mah Progress!

 

And, please, call me Sparks.

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...aren't too interesting...

 

Don't be so sure. You're experience, I need to know it.

 

[Dashie] he's like an experience vampire

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As you wish, Kuma-tachi. I'll do a quick, general rundown.

 

-The garden walkway between our house and the lighthouse entrance is blooming. It's pretty; there are a lot of different flowers, but I don't know their names.

 

-The lighthouse door knob has a cold. He sneezes whenever I stick my key in his mouth. Thinking of getting him some cold medicine.

 

-Someone added a basketball/tennis court off the den. Like many other things, it benefits from the the "bigger on the inside" principle.

 

-The barrier separating my pernicious influence from the rest of the wonderland seems strong enough to let me wander beyond it some now. At least, no one complains about me straying.

 

-Wind and the giant owl guarding the forest are friendly now from what I hear, though I haven't seen them playing myself. It used to be hostile to everyone, so that's a first.

 

-There's something living in the sunken ship off the shore. Sophia, Wind, and I went diving a few weeks back and were attacked. I cleaved it in half then (and the ocean floor by accident), but it still seems to be there.

 

-The war between the Equestrians and the Akuma seems over-ish. I think Celestia just nuked them.

 

-An old, uh, rp-character/thoughtform/idkwhat has returned. He came to play mercenary in the war, but now I've lost track of him. A little worried because he's not exactly the most scrupulous guy (read: explosion-happy). He knows what he is somehow, but doesn't seem interested in participating in our system.

 

-I can see another landmass several miles from shore now. It wasn't always there. I think it's an island. It might be a result of the war. I might explore it eventually.

 

-Finally, Lulubelle (Luna) continues to vex me. She seems capable of things not even Clair is, and is remarkably clairvoyant when it comes to future events out here. I don't believe in magic/mysticism/the occult (what is misnamed "metaphysics" on this forum, though the latter is a sub-discipline of philosophy and has nothing to do with magic), but if I were to, she would be my argument for it.

 

Today, or yesterday I guess, I started teaching Thunder how to manipulate the wonderland. The first exercise is holding an orb of water without it collapsing. He managed to do it for a few seconds, which is pretty good for his first try, but still needs more practice.

 

That's it. Will update again eventually.

Your thinking needs a readjust; total concentration is a must.

-Zecora

 

Imma Reportin Mah Progress!

 

And, please, call me Sparks.

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  • 3 months later...

Hello!

 

I forgot to post for a while again. Clair made some off-the-cuff remark about looking up a tulpa video on youtube, and that reminded me.

 

A lot's happened; too much for me to bother going over it all in the little time we have. Suffice to say, all's well. Might say more when time permits, but know that we still live.

 

Until next post!

Your thinking needs a readjust; total concentration is a must.

-Zecora

 

Imma Reportin Mah Progress!

 

And, please, call me Sparks.

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  • 1 year later...

I was trying to log in, but couldn't. Oh well. Just checking in to say we're still alive. Hi, new people o/.

 

I swear, only constant in this place is Pleeb.

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(edited)

Nevermind, I figured it out.

 

Helloooo. I'm not really sure what to saaaaaay.

 

We're getting along as usual.

 

At some point so much happens that it makes reporting any one or more things seem trivial. That's all slice of life stuff anyway. Uhh...

 

Y'all are doing great! Keep up the good work! We all believe in you.

 

Edit:

 

Oh no! I know what else I can say.

 

We're seven years at this now. Wow, lucky seven.

 

Having tulpas has been like the family I never had. No secrets and all that. You'd be surprised what they can help you get through.

 

Okay. Later days.

Edited by Twice Sparked

Your thinking needs a readjust; total concentration is a must.

-Zecora

 

Imma Reportin Mah Progress!

 

And, please, call me Sparks.

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