If you're accepting asks for the fictionfolk game, I have some questions!
23.) Have you ever considered fictionlinking? If you already have, what made you decide to do it? (In this case, what made y’all collectively ‘link Aurelion Sol?)
26.) Have you ever questioned being fictionhearted? If you already are, what started your questioning into that connection?
28.) Have you ever questioned being a fictionbased archetrope? If you already are, what's your archetropal identity? (In this case, what’s it like having Mew as a pararchetrope?)
Ohhh! specific questions! I like! Answering according to the fictionfolk ask game
23.) Have you ever considered fictionlinking? If you already have, what made you decide to do it? (In this case, what made y’all collectively ‘link Aurelion Sol?)
So in an alterhuman server, we'd met a Shyvana and a Smolder. They were talking about League of Legends. I played it before, and I still wish I could go back and play it one day. But anyway, they were talking, and because Smolder was a recent release at that time, there are more dragons now, like, an actual playable champion. Within the game setting, you usually need 5 for a team, but in the smaller map, you can have 3, so I contemplated the logistics of a three-dragon team to make up the full set. I lament the fact that I'm not another dragon from LoL, but wouldn't that be fun and funny to make a full dragon team if I were to link Aurelion Sol?
Except, you don't really joke about stuff like that. Or maybe I don't.
I'm never too interested in linking identify-as identity, which can make the linking process trickier, harder to pin down feelings, or ways to maintain the link. (I couldn't clearly articulate the why yet; it's an essay-worthy side topic for sure. Perhaps due to me already dealing more than enough with my one kintype with my shapeshifterness and varied draconity that comes with more discovery as I go, or I just prefer to explore the other sort of alterhumanity, in defiance or fascination? Perhaps a bit of both and more.) I had the linktype in the back of my head for a while, but it didn't really go anywhere. Then come April Fool, following the same jokey vibe, I (half-)jokingly set up a proxy.
A little side note before I go on, during that time, we were sorting out our plurality and general median business, but it's all extra fuzzy at that time.
Setting that proxy up was like what we were missing. After a whole day, we feel like something is settling with our identity, or multiple identities. You see, we I'd use pluralkit proxy to help anchor our my form (cause just Ryuu/I shapeshift, the others don't. Median shenanigans, I tell you, can't switch the self pronoun around easily at times), and apparently it has that same affect on helping link a identity.
I should do that for our digimon (also another vaguetype) linktype.
I probably could have finished the answer in that first paragraph. Yet I feel that, to truly answer the "why you link", you need to answer the "why you continue to maintain said link". Figuring that out helps the linking process in my honest opinion.
Because the anchor is only one of the steps. Did I mention it settled multiple aspects of our identities? Remember me mentioning that we were figuring out our plurality and were having trouble? Turns out, it's like a key clicks into place (HA! The amount of alterhuman pun I just used in that sentence). Having an identity together actually helps distinguish us--Akumu is more pronounced, with a stronger individualization. We are like a reverse hydra. Having Akumu helps in other aspects as well. Aurelion Sol is a purple dragon, I'm orange, but Akumu is purple. You see where I'm going with this? This linktype was never a single dragon thing; it's a teamwork effort between the two of us. Also, quoiluntariness makes everything extra funky on what's the cause or the effect.
There are other personal symbolisms we also tied in and tossed into the soup/salad that is the vaguelinktype. Opportunist linkers that we are. In the end, the identity sort of grew beyond us, brought us closer together as a Constellation (which I did not even realize until this moment how perfect the whole thing is). Truly, we started linking this as a "I want to be part of this" sun, silly thing to "I want to put all these things I realize are precious to me together, and along the way, I realize I can do these together with we."
The fun of quoiluntary linking, did you find something new, or did you find the right trigger that awakened something within you? Because these days, we are very much a starry dream dragon.
As a footnote, since I did mention it. When Nova (@nova-dracomon) was first making the Fictionfolk Webring, there was a temporary draft showcasing the digivice (featuring Hortense as her Dracomon X self) as the webring icon, I jokingly said that maybe I should link a digimon. Mind you, Digimon is a source that's dear to me prior to this, and probably with others talking about it more in servers, renewing my interest, one thing led to another, it's yet another case of "probably don't joke about linking stuff because it might just happen". It's not a stable identity yet, but I'm trying to document the process as much as I can to hopefully write something more coherent on it. Oh, this time it's going to be a linktype the whole Contellation (trio of us) will be linking together :D
26.) Have you ever questioned being fictionhearted? If you already are, what started your questioning into that connection?
So, I had to dig around my own activities and guesstimate a bit on the timeline. I really suck at this kind of pondering. I'm always quite amazed when people can pinpoint when or how their questioning process starts or the moment of awakening. I don't remember that y'all!
When I go into a fandom that sticks to me, if it has a lot of transformative potential, I will dive deeper, and if I enjoy the fanfics? Boom, hyperfixation. Down the rabbit hole of exploring the fandom proper I go.
I'm not really sure which came first. Like so many of my identitype, egg-or-chicken is a neverending question that has no answer whatsoever. Maybe the questioning spark the fandom interest, or swimming in the fandom ocean spark that curious pondering. Maybe it's because Naruto is the orange ninja, maybe it's because of Kurama and Naruto's relationship dynamic in fanfics, or maybe it's all the found family or team-as-family and the whole bunch of fix-it feel-good fic. Regardless, there's an inkling of something alterhuman going on there with Uzumaki Naruto and all that surrounds him.
Like taking a stick to a piece of unknown object, I poked at it. I don't remember if this is my second or third alterhuman identity that I questioned, since you can argue that my kardiatype only got separated from me cleanly after the term was coined, though you can also say that it's been in the back of my head since forever. And maybe all my friends being some form of fictionfolk helped push that curiosity, and learning about all types of alterhumanity beyond otherkinity may or may not have added to the wonder, further pushing me to question, "Maybe I can have this too?"
It was for a while with me questioning between synpath vs hearttype due to it being very specific single character (or potentially a whole clan), since some distinguish synpath as for a specific character, and hearttype being applied more for a whole species, or in this case, a clan. I ultimately decided that it is a hearttype.
28.) Have you ever questioned being a fictionbased archetrope? If you already are, what's your archetropal identity? (In this case, what’s it like having Mew as a pararchetrope?)
Good thing the pondering was still fresh XD
A while ago, some discussion was happening within a Pokémon alterhuman server. It led me to contemplate how I'm not a Pokémon, but I feel like I can be considered one. It's hard to tell if that was why I say Mew is a paratype-archetrope, or if my having that feeling is after I declare Mew an archetrope, and me picking Mew specifically is because of the paratype feelings. You gotta love paratype shenanigans /genuine
Why Mew?
I, as a dream dragon, am not an animal sort of dragon. I would take on the label of monster, not because of me seeing myself as monstrous, but more the property of what I am as a creature is a spiritual sort of critter, like a RPG monster. Or, more of a Pocket Monster. Once upon a time, I tried linking Dragonite as a hearttype, because physically, it looks the closest to me, orange and chonky and deceptively speedy. Remembering me saying that you should ask the question of "why do you continue linking the thing"? I didn't have much solid reason or elements to help me maintain the Dragonite heartlink, and it ends up fading away. It's a surface-level, aesthetic sort of connection; it won't last long, and it didn't.
Tell you a secret, I kind of dislike the color pink, a lot. If it's associated with me, I will try to shake it off like it's some sort of nasty substance. Largely because of gender, you gotta love society and their idea of gender associations /sarcastic
And what a great irony. Dream is often tied to the color pink, my first and only flight in Flight Rising is Arcane (pink), and my pearlescent eyes are freaking literally rose-tinted! Also, I happened to enjoy P!nk's music quite a lot. To continue that irony, I don't feel an archetrope feeling towards shiny Mew, but the regular Mew. I can't even say why, it just is. Don't you (in general for anyone) dare assign/diagnose some sort of alterhuman thing going on between pink and me, I will bite.
I digress.
Mew, to me, is all these tropes and archetypes.
Mystical side character
Little l legendary/mythical
Divine being
Secret unlock character
Mischivious folklore entity
Powerful support side character that's not final boss level
There are probably more that I can't think of right now. But me being myself is me fulfilling the Mew archetrope. In being a dream dragon, which is an always constant state of existence, I am always embodying the Mew pararchetrope. (neat combination by taking out one a, Solomon XD)