Othermagic Prompts Challenge
In an ongoing effort to encourage community participation and provoke thought in regards to nonhumanity and other related topics we cover here, we’ve decided to make a prompts challenge in a similar style to other 30-day challenges floating around the community.
What makes this one so special? For one, you don’t need to do all of them. Ever. No pressure on 30 consecutive days of answering or doing things if you start it, you can pick it up and use absolutely any of the prompts for inspiration in any way you like! Do them all at once, do them whenever inspiration is low, do them all multiple times over.
Secondly, this is broken up into question prompts and activity prompts. The question prompts follow the same general lines as a lot of other community challenges go, but rather than asking about your identity and how you figured it out, they’re specifically tailored to the idea behind this blog: learning more about yourself as “other” and applying it to magic and daily life. The activity prompts, on the other hand, are ideas to try out, things to do and make and research and generally allow you to become a more active participant in your own self-discovery. Of course, there may be some overlap between the two types of prompts, but otherwise they’ve been categorized as best as possible. It’s also worth noting that any mentions of kintypes can be replaced with hearttypes, soulbonds, etc. if you so choose.
If you take up any of these prompts or ideas and post them on Tumblr or another website, please notify us or use the tag #othermagicpromptschallenge so we can see what you’ve done! We’d love to know and see what you guys do with this.
What part of your identity has had the most influence on your craft or things you’d like to work with?
Do you work with any deities or entities from another life? If so, who (so long as you’re comfortable mentioning it)? If not, is there anyone or anything you’d like to reach out to again?
Have you remembered anything that can be used for magic in this world? If not, do you know of anything from related sources (books and folklore related to kintypes, your source/canon or things similar to it) that you’d like to try out in this world or on the astral?
Have any other books, movies, pop culture sources, or mythological sources influenced the way you practice?
Do you know if you spoke another language? If so, have you attempted to recreate or relearn it in this life? If not, have you attempted to make a conlang (constructed language) or conscript (constructed script) that fits the feeling of your species/culture?
Have you made any crafts or recipes related to your kintype or constructed from memories? If so, what are they? Share pictures or details if you’d like!
Have you picked up any hobbies, skills or talents because of your kintype (e.g. sports, musical instruments, etc.)? What are they? If not, what would you like to pick up?
Do you remember anything about other inhabitants of your world/plane/planet/dimension/timeline/etc.? What sorts of relationships did you have with them, personally/individually or as a group/species? Would you ever want to work with them in any capacity again if you don’t already?
Was there a specific form of artistic expression (visual art techniques such as specific methods of sculpting or painting, musical instruments, song, dance, types of poetry, architecture, etc.) that doesn’t seem to have an equivalent here to your knowledge? If so, have you been able to replicate it to any degree?
If you remember there being magic in your world/plane/planet/dimension/timeline/etc., could you use it? If so, do you remember how it worked or how it felt, and have you attempted to recreate it?
Have parts of your practice changed after you found out about your otherness? Have any parts stayed the same?
Is there some part of your practice or your understanding of self that you’re having difficulty with? If so, what is it, and how can you make changes to it so you can continue to grow and explore? Are there things you haven’t given much thought to that you should consider? (For example, if you find yourself thinking mostly about people you used to know or the way you interact with your deities/other spirits and beings but not much about how your kintype affects you on a day-to-day basis or what sort of society, if any, you used to live in. Or vice versa.)
Has anything you questioned that turned out not to be a thing stayed with you in some ways? Has it influenced your craft or lifestyle or hobbies? If so, what and how?
Make a conlang or conscript for your species or culture. If you already have one, make a variation or make one based on another species, culture, or group you remember.
Make sigils using your conlang/conscript and test them out.
Make sigils to represent your kintypes as you experience them and use them as meditation aids for self-reflection and deeper understanding of yourself.
Create a spell, ritual, potion, bath bomb, etc. intended to help you connect to the energy and qualities a being, creature, character, etc. that is NOT a kintype in any way so you can incorporate their positive traits into your life. (Note that this will in no way make you that thing, just more like them.)
Make sigils of your home world/plane/planet/dimension/timeline/etc. and use them to carry the energy of “home” with you, or use them as focus tools while astral traveling or projecting.
Use any aesthetic posts or moodboards you might have saved up around your blog/desktop/phone storage and use them as active meditation tools.
Make a list of positive traits of your kintype that you’d like to embody more as well as negative traits you’d like to diminish and work on.
Put together a set of clothing or accessories that remind you of your kintype, and enchant them to serve as a glamour/shadow shift inducer when worn all together.
Find, modify, or make a recipe of a type of food or drink you used to have or a substitution if there’s no equivalent here (such as souls or animals that don’t exist here) or if you have specific dietary needs that don’t match that of your past self.
Make a list of magical correspondences for your kintype(s). Add things like crystals, herbs, colors, household objects, animals or mythical creatures (if you aren’t one or making correspondences for one), weather phenomena, etc. that you associate with yourself.
Find historical/folkloric accounts, stories, fictional works (including fanfiction for fictionkind if you’re comfortable with it) and compare and contrast your experiences and memories with the author/creator’s portrayal. PLEASE do not directly involve the author/creator in any way (such as direct tagging or saying these things in the comments if applicable) and don’t attack anyone over differences in experience or perception.
Find home decor ideas, items, and/or DIY that will help you feel more at home (this includes things like pillow dens, blanket caves or nests and similar). Make a Pinterest board, a post with links and/or images, a bookmarks folder, or even a physical collage/idea board of things you’re most likely to be able to do or buy in your current living situation.
Look into stories, movies, or other media about shapeshifting or not quite fitting into a human world that aren’t directly related to your kintype(s) and compare and contrast your thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Make a playlist of songs that you associate with your kintype(s) and use it for a shapeshifting ritual or experience.
