Information - Our Experience
Non-humans - Those who aren't a Human
* We don't personally use the term Otherkin. We prefer 'non-human' or the name of the species. The most basic definition seems to be 'anyone who is not a human'. And since there are a great many races and species who are non-human, we prefer to use other definitions like the names of their species.
* This is rather common for a Group to contain non-humans. It seems only natural that humans aren't the only race to exist. Non-humans may not be a majority, but they are numerous. Our Group contains many non-humans. In fact, humans are a minority for us.
* There have been several non-human individuals over the years. It is possible to eventually grow accustomed to a human body. But, it can be disconcerting for someone to use a human body if they are rushed into it. Similar to someone of a different gender using this body. It helps to gradually ease into using a human body. And to always remember that we still have our own bodies once we leave this one.
* By our definition, Otherkin are simply non-humans. So it is possible to consider mythological creatures as Otherkin. But since we don't technically use the term Otherkin, it's probably moot.
* 'Created people' is a touchy subject. It depends on how that term is defined. In our Group, there are a few people who possibly came into being due to stories that were written back in 1995-2000. It explains why there are some here with duplicate names: in various writings, group members used names of others in our Group to name their characters. Then these characters ended up coming into existence. We don't have any problems with created people. As long as they aren't being brought around just to do all the dirty work of life and they are treated with respect.
* It's possible to look at the children summoned by their parents into the temple as created in this fashion. They can be summoned to live there for several months before they are born by walking out of the portal. They usually are born with a set age and outward appearance and not born as newborn babies. Though, if one of these children are placed within their mother's body before a certain time period they can be born as an infant and grow with time.
* This is rather common for a Group to contain non-humans. It seems only natural that humans aren't the only race to exist. Non-humans may not be a majority, but they are numerous. Our Group contains many non-humans. In fact, humans are a minority for us.
* There have been several non-human individuals over the years. It is possible to eventually grow accustomed to a human body. But, it can be disconcerting for someone to use a human body if they are rushed into it. Similar to someone of a different gender using this body. It helps to gradually ease into using a human body. And to always remember that we still have our own bodies once we leave this one.
* By our definition, Otherkin are simply non-humans. So it is possible to consider mythological creatures as Otherkin. But since we don't technically use the term Otherkin, it's probably moot.
* 'Created people' is a touchy subject. It depends on how that term is defined. In our Group, there are a few people who possibly came into being due to stories that were written back in 1995-2000. It explains why there are some here with duplicate names: in various writings, group members used names of others in our Group to name their characters. Then these characters ended up coming into existence. We don't have any problems with created people. As long as they aren't being brought around just to do all the dirty work of life and they are treated with respect.
* It's possible to look at the children summoned by their parents into the temple as created in this fashion. They can be summoned to live there for several months before they are born by walking out of the portal. They usually are born with a set age and outward appearance and not born as newborn babies. Though, if one of these children are placed within their mother's body before a certain time period they can be born as an infant and grow with time.
Walk-ins & Soulbonds (Fictives) - People who arrive to our Group from other places
* We refer to any individual who arrives to our group from elsewhere as a Walk-in; because they 'walked in' from somewhere other than our home realm. A person from a media source, if we need to be more specific, would be referred to as a Media Walk-in. We do not use the word 'fictive'.
* Instead of the term 'fictive' we use Walk-in or Media Walk-in. The only time we ever use soulbond or walk-in is when we're sharing with someone online. Because our group members come to us from places outside of this body. Otherwise, we just use the person's name.
* As far as we know, there isn't a difference between a walk-in and a soulbond, because both 'walk in' from another place. These are two different words for the same people. Though, other groups may have their own definitions for these words and perhaps these are different for them. Some soulbonds in other groups may have been 'created' by the mind and did not walk in from another place.
* I noticed since arriving here that many people within groups are fixated on calling themselves *fictives*. I never called myself a fictive before I got here, so why would I now? I use my own name. I don't use my last name too often but I started that before coming here. I was in newspapers all the time and I hated that so sometimes I didn't give my name. Harry is an ordinary name so I can get away with just Harry. If my name were Raistlin or Vader or Magneto I guess it'd be a little harder to explain those names away and I'd probably take on a nickname or an ordinary name. Unless I didn't care who knew. Short answer. I don't hide who I am, but I don't over explain it either. -Harry
* 'Canon' is another word for a 'media source where a Soulbond originated'. For instance, Luke Skywalker would be the Soulbond and Star Wars would be his Canon. Canon can consist of movies, books, and any official or authorized piece of work containing the Walk-in's story. There is some debate whether or not it should also include fan-fiction or other Alternate Universe stories. That depends on the Soulbond and the group they live with.
* For an individual to 'walk in', our Realm has a tendency to make connections with other Realms - pathways that individuals can walk back and forth on. Sometimes the connections come about due to watching or reading about a particular place. Other times it happens randomly. If someone is able to return to their home Realm they are free to do so.
* Actually, some of us are able to tell beforehand if someone may move in - sometimes by looking at only an image, or while watching/reading a particular source. There may be a sensation of familiarity, as though we have met before. That feeling will grow as time passes until the person arrives. For some of the new walk-ins, they may either show right up immediately or they may hover around the fringes until they are able to arrive completely. Some may stay only for a visit and decide they don't wish to remain, or they may choose to visit several times or stay with us permanently. We never know how the arrival process will be for each person until it happens.
* For someone to have control over whether or not a 'character' has a chance of arriving to our group, That depends. Our group has various filtering measures when it comes to new arrivals. Plus, we seem to only attract a particular type of person, none of them harmful in any way. Yet, if a potential harmful arrival were to attempt a visit, we are able to determine their intentions and then make them leave the way they came. We've been doing this for many years now, so our set-up is rather efficient.
* When many media walk-ins arrive, their memories are intact. Unless some other physical or psychological reason prevented this.
* It is common for our media walk-ins to have a few or many memories unrelated to their 'canon'. Unless someone's original canon mentions a character leaving their reality in order to become part of a Group and possibly using a body that is not their own, then they are already creating new memories that are unrelated to their canon. But also in the sense of 'extra memories' that were never mentioned in a novel, series or movie... that's common as well. We wouldn't expect an author or screenplay writer to know every little detail or even wish to share every little detail about their characters. It would take too long. An original canon is only this dimension/world's version of someone's story. The story could be very different in other places.
* Once people have arrived here, their canon history and their current history take separate paths. There are also several people who are from specific canons, yet they aren't in their canon's source at all.
* We have had Media Walk-ins / Soulbonds since this body was around 3 years old; some 40 years.
* Snoopy was the first Media Walk-in. That little Charlie Brown dog arrived to us in the early 70s. In the early 80s, we had various Strawberry Shortcake kids visiting us. Later in the 80s, there were people from Tolkien: Gandalf, Bilbo and Elrond. It has been a steady stream of people ever since.
* For us as a Gateway, certain canon sources exist as actual realms or dimensions. We'll label them as 'Tolkien realm' or 'Star Wars realm', for instance. These are complete places where their worlds and friends reside. Our own home Realm is able to bridge and connect with these media realms, allowing doorways or other sorts of connections to form. As a result, various people are able to come through and visit or to stay permanently. Some are even able to go back and forth between their homes and to us. So where they are from, they aren't book characters or even realize that back here people see them as fictional characters until someone tells them so. There's more to it for us than this, but this is the basic idea.
* There are individuals in our group who came from other worlds where their technology level was not the same or nearly non-existent compared to Earth or our realm. Some are from the past, before certain inventions were created.
* We aren't very out-going, mostly introverts. But there have been a couple of instances where someone chose to dress as themselves, in a costume. Yet, since they can be themselves away from the body, it isn't a driving force for them to do so here.
* Some in are group are married to media walk-ins or are life-mates to each other. They love and have families.
* There are duplicates of certain individuals within our group who also live with our partner group - a few before we even knew each other. It's interesting because even though there are quite a few similarities between them, there are also a lot of differences. Some of their histories are different, different ages, and they may even look different; more like family relations - a sibling, perhaps. We don't see it as too unusual. Through the years, we've bumped into and seen various of the same people all around the Plural communities. As long as there isn't any "I'm the only original", "I'm more real than you" or "I hate you in my canon, so I hate you now" going on, then we're okay with it.
* We know of several groups where a Media Walk-in is their main, and have been so for many years. A handful of Media Walk-ins have been co-main regulars in our group over the years. But, so far, I don't believe one has been a full main. Yet.
* Many of the media walk-ins in our group are usually fairly in-between. It's as though the authors or media creators only tapped lightly on the surface of the truth, but didn't know everything. As though the stories were verbally passed down through generations and much of the story was left out with time. As such, they are rather independent from their sources and don't strictly follow everything that an author may have written about them.
* There was someone in our group that several of us had no idea was from a book. We recall seeing someone else online using the exact same name. It was an uncommon name and it was thought the person was copying our group in some way. It turned out he and the person our group were from a fantasy book series. It wasn't until a few years later that it was learned a previous group member had in fact read this book series and even wrote a bit of fan-fiction based on them. It's possible that is when the individual arrived to us. That experience is as close as we have at present. Unless some of the others in our group truly are from a fandom source we haven't bumped into yet. That is also possible.
* I don't believe any of our media walk-ins have been told that the way they describe their life is wrong. Yet, the issue of matching Canon isn't as strict as it once was. Originally, it was best, as a Media Walk-in, not to mention a deviation in history. If you did, you would probably have been branded a 'fake'. It is more acceptable now, but there are still Soulbond purists out there. Since many of our Media Walk-ins have large or small deviations from their Canon source, it's likely they could encounter this situation in the future. One has stated that he finds it much more disturbing that people know so much about his life from reading the novels about him, and he probably wouldn't share much of what wasn't known about him, just on principle.
* Claiming to be a Media Walk-in or a Soulbond automatically opens up a door to scrutiny and doubt on the part of others. There may be pressure to live up to their name. There can be pressure on them if they deviate from their canon-history. They may have to put up with fans who want to swarm them with unwanted attention. And it can be awkward for them to realize that some aspects of their lives that they believed were secret, may actually be known by thousands of people around the world; due to reading or watching their canon stories. It isn't easy realizing your life is already so out in the open. It's quite understandable that any Walk-in would hesitate revealing themselves.
* Instead of the term 'fictive' we use Walk-in or Media Walk-in. The only time we ever use soulbond or walk-in is when we're sharing with someone online. Because our group members come to us from places outside of this body. Otherwise, we just use the person's name.
* As far as we know, there isn't a difference between a walk-in and a soulbond, because both 'walk in' from another place. These are two different words for the same people. Though, other groups may have their own definitions for these words and perhaps these are different for them. Some soulbonds in other groups may have been 'created' by the mind and did not walk in from another place.
* I noticed since arriving here that many people within groups are fixated on calling themselves *fictives*. I never called myself a fictive before I got here, so why would I now? I use my own name. I don't use my last name too often but I started that before coming here. I was in newspapers all the time and I hated that so sometimes I didn't give my name. Harry is an ordinary name so I can get away with just Harry. If my name were Raistlin or Vader or Magneto I guess it'd be a little harder to explain those names away and I'd probably take on a nickname or an ordinary name. Unless I didn't care who knew. Short answer. I don't hide who I am, but I don't over explain it either. -Harry
* 'Canon' is another word for a 'media source where a Soulbond originated'. For instance, Luke Skywalker would be the Soulbond and Star Wars would be his Canon. Canon can consist of movies, books, and any official or authorized piece of work containing the Walk-in's story. There is some debate whether or not it should also include fan-fiction or other Alternate Universe stories. That depends on the Soulbond and the group they live with.
* For an individual to 'walk in', our Realm has a tendency to make connections with other Realms - pathways that individuals can walk back and forth on. Sometimes the connections come about due to watching or reading about a particular place. Other times it happens randomly. If someone is able to return to their home Realm they are free to do so.
* Actually, some of us are able to tell beforehand if someone may move in - sometimes by looking at only an image, or while watching/reading a particular source. There may be a sensation of familiarity, as though we have met before. That feeling will grow as time passes until the person arrives. For some of the new walk-ins, they may either show right up immediately or they may hover around the fringes until they are able to arrive completely. Some may stay only for a visit and decide they don't wish to remain, or they may choose to visit several times or stay with us permanently. We never know how the arrival process will be for each person until it happens.
* For someone to have control over whether or not a 'character' has a chance of arriving to our group, That depends. Our group has various filtering measures when it comes to new arrivals. Plus, we seem to only attract a particular type of person, none of them harmful in any way. Yet, if a potential harmful arrival were to attempt a visit, we are able to determine their intentions and then make them leave the way they came. We've been doing this for many years now, so our set-up is rather efficient.
* When many media walk-ins arrive, their memories are intact. Unless some other physical or psychological reason prevented this.
* It is common for our media walk-ins to have a few or many memories unrelated to their 'canon'. Unless someone's original canon mentions a character leaving their reality in order to become part of a Group and possibly using a body that is not their own, then they are already creating new memories that are unrelated to their canon. But also in the sense of 'extra memories' that were never mentioned in a novel, series or movie... that's common as well. We wouldn't expect an author or screenplay writer to know every little detail or even wish to share every little detail about their characters. It would take too long. An original canon is only this dimension/world's version of someone's story. The story could be very different in other places.
* Once people have arrived here, their canon history and their current history take separate paths. There are also several people who are from specific canons, yet they aren't in their canon's source at all.
* We have had Media Walk-ins / Soulbonds since this body was around 3 years old; some 40 years.
* Snoopy was the first Media Walk-in. That little Charlie Brown dog arrived to us in the early 70s. In the early 80s, we had various Strawberry Shortcake kids visiting us. Later in the 80s, there were people from Tolkien: Gandalf, Bilbo and Elrond. It has been a steady stream of people ever since.
* For us as a Gateway, certain canon sources exist as actual realms or dimensions. We'll label them as 'Tolkien realm' or 'Star Wars realm', for instance. These are complete places where their worlds and friends reside. Our own home Realm is able to bridge and connect with these media realms, allowing doorways or other sorts of connections to form. As a result, various people are able to come through and visit or to stay permanently. Some are even able to go back and forth between their homes and to us. So where they are from, they aren't book characters or even realize that back here people see them as fictional characters until someone tells them so. There's more to it for us than this, but this is the basic idea.
* There are individuals in our group who came from other worlds where their technology level was not the same or nearly non-existent compared to Earth or our realm. Some are from the past, before certain inventions were created.
* We aren't very out-going, mostly introverts. But there have been a couple of instances where someone chose to dress as themselves, in a costume. Yet, since they can be themselves away from the body, it isn't a driving force for them to do so here.
* Some in are group are married to media walk-ins or are life-mates to each other. They love and have families.
* There are duplicates of certain individuals within our group who also live with our partner group - a few before we even knew each other. It's interesting because even though there are quite a few similarities between them, there are also a lot of differences. Some of their histories are different, different ages, and they may even look different; more like family relations - a sibling, perhaps. We don't see it as too unusual. Through the years, we've bumped into and seen various of the same people all around the Plural communities. As long as there isn't any "I'm the only original", "I'm more real than you" or "I hate you in my canon, so I hate you now" going on, then we're okay with it.
* We know of several groups where a Media Walk-in is their main, and have been so for many years. A handful of Media Walk-ins have been co-main regulars in our group over the years. But, so far, I don't believe one has been a full main. Yet.
* Many of the media walk-ins in our group are usually fairly in-between. It's as though the authors or media creators only tapped lightly on the surface of the truth, but didn't know everything. As though the stories were verbally passed down through generations and much of the story was left out with time. As such, they are rather independent from their sources and don't strictly follow everything that an author may have written about them.
* There was someone in our group that several of us had no idea was from a book. We recall seeing someone else online using the exact same name. It was an uncommon name and it was thought the person was copying our group in some way. It turned out he and the person our group were from a fantasy book series. It wasn't until a few years later that it was learned a previous group member had in fact read this book series and even wrote a bit of fan-fiction based on them. It's possible that is when the individual arrived to us. That experience is as close as we have at present. Unless some of the others in our group truly are from a fandom source we haven't bumped into yet. That is also possible.
* I don't believe any of our media walk-ins have been told that the way they describe their life is wrong. Yet, the issue of matching Canon isn't as strict as it once was. Originally, it was best, as a Media Walk-in, not to mention a deviation in history. If you did, you would probably have been branded a 'fake'. It is more acceptable now, but there are still Soulbond purists out there. Since many of our Media Walk-ins have large or small deviations from their Canon source, it's likely they could encounter this situation in the future. One has stated that he finds it much more disturbing that people know so much about his life from reading the novels about him, and he probably wouldn't share much of what wasn't known about him, just on principle.
* Claiming to be a Media Walk-in or a Soulbond automatically opens up a door to scrutiny and doubt on the part of others. There may be pressure to live up to their name. There can be pressure on them if they deviate from their canon-history. They may have to put up with fans who want to swarm them with unwanted attention. And it can be awkward for them to realize that some aspects of their lives that they believed were secret, may actually be known by thousands of people around the world; due to reading or watching their canon stories. It isn't easy realizing your life is already so out in the open. It's quite understandable that any Walk-in would hesitate revealing themselves.
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