Thoughts on Brimstone Tulpa Creation Guide

Thoughts on Brimstone Tulpa Creation Guide:

Link to guide for reference: https://docs.google.com/document/d/12KfedtRJCFFss_FzSny99uPMZLZspprFwRfx40ocdpE/edit?usp=sharin

Header 1:
Really don't like it when Tulpamancy guides tell you to look for the definition of a tulpa elsewhere; you're literally just turning your readers away by doing that; it annoys them. Like, this is a tulpa CREATION guide, you should include a definition of what a tulpa is, even if it's from another source.
Don't understand why you have introduce your system; this is a guide, not a blog post.
One of the biggest flaws in pieces like this, "We will try to walk you through the entire creation process all the way into the long-term," or just saying what you're gonna do instead of just doing it. It's not even cleverly written, it just feels superfluous.
"There is no need to read other guides," uhhh... Kind of egotistical? Then you hypocritically say that you should read other guides as well? What?
So they say that tulpa creation is subjective and you should do what works best; let's see if their language continues to actually reflect the mantra or not. I hope it does.

Should you make a tulpa section:
I like the first paragraph; that's a good message. Most guides aren't that serious when warning about the implications of making a tulpa, but this one is different.
I'd say more than a day, most people recommend at least a few weeks for the initial excitement to wear off.
Second bullet point is very nice; a lot of Tulpamancers don't think of the possibility of their tulpa wanting to learn how to switch/possess. It's good advice to say you shouldn't make a tulpa if you're not willing to share the body.
Also good point about relationships; you never know what can happen.
Privacy bullet point... I mean, you can ask your tulpa to not look when you're doing their business and they'll usually listen, but I can see where you're going with this one.
Relationship advances bullet point: yeah, that can happen. That's a good point. Census data is from 2015, but this guide is from 2017, so I'll let that slide. Though, I'd like to see a link when referencing resources like that. That's just a good habit to have.
Ehhh.... the likelihood of being hospitalized because of you having a tulpa is SERIOUSLY unlikely, and I've never heard of Tulpamancers being misdiagnosed with DID or Schizophrenia. The demon one is sadly very common, though.
Never heard of someone suffering long-term serious head-pressures that are really just full-blown headaches... well, unless the person already suffers from things like migraines.
Personally would get rid of the Asperger's mention; that term was made by a Nazi eugenicist. Let's not mention him. Also, as far as I know, because you share a brain, your tulpa is guaranteed to inherit your neurodivergencies, just that they exhibit them differently. Tulpas can have different quirks and symptoms that could be much more mild or much more pronounced to the point where it seems like the tulpa doesn't have them at all sometimes.
There are tulpas/ae, not just "There are tulpa," grammar, please. Though, this is a good point. It is an ethical concern with disabilities, but most tulpas (including mine) are okay with it.
Not knowing what imposition will do forty years down the line is a good point; we're not that far in yet.
Invasive/impulsive thoughts, not intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts are experienced by those with mental disorders and illnesses like ADHD and most commonly OCD and are very severe. Actual intrusive thoughts are debilitating, what Tulpamancers complain of usually aren't unless they're Tulpamancers with a disorder/illness that can cause intrusive thoughts.
Also big points for not calling tulpas "its," THANK YOU.
I agree with all the bullet points on why you shouldn't make a tulpa; I have no issues with them.
"....Host knows themself," not "themselves," the host is not multiple people.
"Tulpas/ae can adapt to new situations fairly well," I'll keep calling this out.
Parallel processing is more limited than the example given since there's only so much attention/focus on brain can produce.
I like the benefit bullet points; these are nice.
Wow, a fifth of the guide was just introductions.

Planning Section:
Form:
Holy sh!t, there's a little GIF of a blue flame thing on the side. I've never seen that in a guide before. It's got personality.
Interesting, never heard of the wisp base form for a tulpa before. I've heard clouds, eggs, balls of energy, but a wisp that can also make sounds? Neat.
What do they mean by "...Your favorite X.X.X character"? I'm scared to ask. If it's what I think it means, then yeah, I can see invasive thoughts being an issue. Ew.
Hey, I have a tulpa with a form of a deranged God of Creation and Dreams who wished to destroy his universe and himself, and he's one of the nicest guys I know. Form doesn't dictate personality.
Warning against expecting a tulpa to act like their base form; good advice.

Personality:
Understandable to disagree with personality forcing because deviation exists; that's valid.
Nice tip with actually teaching your tulpa values instead of just telling them they are that value.
"In the end, your tulpa will decide if they want to follow them out." Missing a comma there. Actually, a lot of sentences need commas badly or the good 'ol semicolon; semicolons are your friend.
Interesting tip about how making a trait list too long where the tulpa may develop faster than you can integrate the traits...
One thing that feels weird is the swapping between "we" and "I" in different parts of the guide despite the guide being made as a group effort in a system. Feels a little weird.
Good tip about not intentionally adding negative traits. Oh. And there's the car metaphor again; that seems to get around.

Mindscape planning:
I am SO glad that they use "mindscape" instead of "wonderland." YES. PLEASE.
Mindscape explanation isn't bad; I like how they mention different immersion levels.
Hmm... if you're gonna mention niche things like paracosms, you should include a definition. There doesn't seem to be a definitions section anywhere. Lame.
"Ivy is a large proponent to interesting mindscapes." Really don't know how a specific systemmate is a "large proponent" for making intriguing mindscapes; this kinda doesn't make much sense.
Kind of urging people to make fantastical mindscapes; interesting.
Also, they legit just include a screenshot of Skyrim; that's pretty funny.

Ready to Make a Tulpa:
That's an... interesting quote.
Explaining why forcing is used as a term; huh. Yeah, that makes sense, but people still have issues with the term. Also, "main method of creation"? You have to force to make a tulpa; it's literally just directing attention towards them.
"As they say, if you put all the ingredients together and bake a cake without knowing you were baking a cake, you will still get a cake" this is a really good metaphor for unintentional tulpas.
Treating a thoughtform as sentient is not required to make a tulpa at all; they'll still develop even if you don't believe them to be sentient; that growth would just be stunted instead.
Otherwise, yeah, talk to the void until it talks back.
At this point, there are too many cases where the writer(s) just say "tulpa" instead of tulpas or tulpae, that I think it's intentional? Although incorrect. There's just too many to call out.
Treating your tulpa as if they're already sentient is good advice, and I like how they actually explain what that means. Thank you.
Good advice: don't baby your tulpa.
Young tulpas can regress if you ignore them for a while, then come back to them, but then there are tulpas that are left just as they were and didn't regress. It depends, so I don't like the absolute language here.
A tulpa doesn't need to possess or interact with other people to self-force, they just need to be developed enough, though being able to start their own discussions is pretty crucial for that.
Upwards to a year? Why not longer? Why not indefinitely? I'd like sources on that claim.

Tulpa Introduction:
Describing as suddenly existing as scary. Hm, never heard that from a tulpa before. Arcanus describes his first moments being aware as "nebulous."
Wow, they want you to go full-out on the introduction. Yeah, I guess first impressions matter.
Don't see why the mindscape has to be well-visualized for you to do an introduction.
There's a good visualization tip in there about focusing on smaller bits and getting them detailed, them zooming out, but it's placement feels odd. Like, that should be in a different section.
"If, for example, the grass is blurry, think of how physical world grass looks and apply that to your mindscape." Damn, that sentence needed commas bad.
At least the guide doesn't go off on a full-blown tangent visualization and says it'll be discussed properly later.
"They will not be able to move themself yet," again, singular they, not plural.
A tulpa's form does not dictate how well they're developed, so I don't see the need to focus so hard on visualizing them for the introduction other than mere formalities.
Points for them explaining how to impose the feeling of the presence of another person in the room. Seriously, that's good advice for forcing with a tulpa with no form yet.
"If you work at this for a little bit, you should be able to fool your mind into believing that someone is there."
Nice bullet list of things you should include in your introduction.

Active Forcing:
Active forcing is the most common? Sources? I thought passive forcing was more common because it's way easier to do.
Definition for active forcing is a little weird, and the quote, "It [active forcing] is so far the most efficient and powerful forcing method discovered to create a tulpa," feels off. I've heard they're about equal because you can do more passive forcing, but you spend more attention with active forcing, so they balance out.
Interesting how they suggest you have your tulpa sit on a chair.
Using one of the authors as an example of what to talk about during narration is... hmm... don't usually see that in guides. I'm neutral to it.
Using a lot of self-reference in this part, I see.

Passive Forcing:
"For example, if you are grocery shopping you can ask your tulpa what they think of different foods and flavors." Commas don't seem to be their strong suit.
"You could ask them to try and keep count of how much money you’ve spent_ and compare at the end." No need for a comma there.
Their reasoning why beginners shouldn't exclusively passive force is a bit odd; I would've personally given tips for beginners on how to remember to talk to you tulpa if I thought it was that big of an issue.
But hey! They give pointers right after, which is wonderful.

How you Know it's Working:
Keeping a log is nice advice, and the explanation on why makes it even better.
There are DEFINITELY a fair few simple sentences that need to be joined with something else to improve word flow. Semicolons are your friend!
Again talks about personal experience with head pressures; I at least appreciate how they use personal experience to give examples, but never state that these experiences are universal. We need to praise that more.
Intriguing how they mention that seasoned hosts can usually tell when systemmates are active. Though, "general head focus" sounds a little off.
Disruption in your sleeping schedule? I'd like sources because uh, some people wake up naturally in the middle of the night despite not being plural. I definitely did before I made Arcanus.
The reason for that also isn't very logical; I have the feeling that it isn't likely for a new tulpa to be able to be awake while the host isn't yet. Also, not all tulpas need to sleep! My systemmates don't get tired unless they're fronting; that's really up to system preferences and beliefs.
Good noting that sometimes, your tulpa decided to stop existing for a period of time at random, though, I wish their explanation was more fleshed out because there's more reasons than they listed.

When are you Done Making a Tulpa:
Not much to say about this page; I don't have much issue with it at all. Nice examples of emotional responses.

Deviation:
Definition of deviation is incorrect; deviation is merely a change in a tulpa whether intentional or unintentional. Doesn't matter if the tulpa willingly deviated or not.
"Your tulpa can modify objects there but because they do not originate from you it takes a little bit for your perception to “render” the object." Never heard of that before; is it like lag? I've never heard of that before. Apparently, other systems have experienced this.
"Ultimately, you should accept your tulpas form with unconditional love," every guide should have this. Really appreciate the emphasis on letting your tulpa be their own person.

Form Piloting:
Why is Tulpa capitalized here, "Form Piloting, Self Piloting, Self Movement, all stand for the same thing, a Tulpa moving their form without you making them move." Like, that's not a name or place, so it shouldn't be capitalized?
"If I asked you to wiggle your ears, some of you already know how," I thought that was a genetic thing?
Points for saying that you should tell your tulpa what you're about to do before puppeting them, as it can seem forceful otherwise.
"Although some guides out there recommend puppeting as a valid forcing technique, we disagree. In small quantities it is fine, but you do not want to grow accustomed to puppeting your tulpa," for the most part, I agree with this, but personally, I do think you can use puppeting to force, but it does have major downsides, which they do list.
Good that they mention that actual puppeting/parroting is INTENTIONAL. You can't unintentionally fake something.
They list the feather experiment, and I remember reading in Tulpa's guide on how experiments like this are flawed, but why? Like, if you're focusing so hard on the feather, the tulpa can move without you realizing it. Maybe because it's a minor form of parallel processing? My systemmates and I have never tried it, but I'd like some actual sources on how this experiment is flawed.
Also, I like how they include an image of a feather as reference. That's really nice.

Emotional Responses:
Explanation of emotional responses is solid.
They have practices for intentionally sharing emotions, huh. That looks like tulpish.
Oh, they even say that. But "phrenish"? What???
Yeah, there's not much to say on this part.

Vocality/Parroting:
First sentence explaining vocality, I would've elaborated more because they literally only put, "Vocality is relating to the voice and ability to speak."
"However your tulpa does not need to be able to speak to be able to communicate," yes, all forms of communication are valid. As I wrote that, Hexicronix sent me tulpish of feeling happy and validated.
"Tulpa normally can speak very shortly after they are sentient," mmmm... Not always, no. There are a lot of sentient tulpas who took a while to learn how to speak after becoming sentient.
"You have to know “where” in your mind to listen to them," weird wording. It'd work better if they stated that you need to know *how* to listen to your tulpa, not where.
Radio simile is nice and pretty accurate for a lot of Tulpamancy systems.
Good for pointing out that some tulpas start off using their host's mindvoice and how to tell the two apart.
Though they don't state that tulpas can first be vocal in their own voice without any input from the host like my systemmates did.
Giving your tulpa the benefit of the doubt is good advice.
"Sit, Breathe, and Think meditation is good for this," breathe and think should not be capitalized and the structure is off at the end.
I do wish they would elaborate more on meditation, but they at least say you can go to a site like Headspace for meditation resources. Though you have to pay for it after ten days; lame.
"Another good idea is to listen to a crowd of speakers, like a public market or a crowded bar. Trying to focus on the multiple speakers may allow your mind to search the right location, or be so overwhelmed that your tulpa gets through," never heard of this method before. I wonder how successful this method is.
Overall, the vocality section isn't bad and it has unique practices.

What can you do with a Tulpa:
First blurb about welcoming your new tulpa to the world is very wholesome and sweet.
I like the advice of getting your tulpa to try a variety of things to learn about themself.

Personality Solidification:
Solidifying the feeling of your tulpa's personality and therefore their presence by having them explore their interests? That's very interesting and I like it.
Have your tulpa grow as a person through experience, very solid advice.
They also state that it's a good bonding activity, which I agree.

Self-Forcing:
They have a section on self-forcing? Wow.
Again, I don't think a tulpa needs interaction from others to self-force... that kind of goes against the meaning. Rather, I think it's because the tulpa becomes so established in the mind, that they simply are stable and reoccurring.
This section is much like my "Tulpas and Social Life" section.
Like, nice advice by saying a tulpa can get their own account and letting them socialize with others and how beneficial that can be.
Benefits listed are accurate.
Accurate that young tulpas can be overwhelmed by the world's horrors at first and that it's probably a good idea to shelter them a little bit until they develop more.
Also good advice that the host should be there to explain these shocking things instead of just letting the tulpa be blindsided by them.
Good thing they warn about syscourse, though I wish they elaborated more on it.
They sort of off-handedly mention parallel processing without going into detail about it by how a tulpa can train to remain awake and aware of themself.

Blending/Eclipsing:
I can't believe that another guide had a section on blending before me; wow.
Definition of blending is fine along with causes, though blending can just sort of happen for no reason to some systems.
Also points for stating that blending =/= merging and that it can be a pleasant experience for some.
"Eclipsing is similar to blending in a few ways, but without any actual blending or confusion," actually, eclipsing absolutely can (and usually does) cause blending.
Their eclipsing definition is also off, but to be fair, eclipsing is kind of hard to explain properly. They're not entirely wrong, though. Eclipsing is more like an indirect form of fronting, sort of using the fronter as a proxy or like a puppet, indirectly influencing them to think like the eclipser to get them to do things.
Also, uh, eclipsing is usually intentional by the one causing it or by the host when they're out of front. Their example is pretty solid, though.
They say most eclipsing experiences are negative, but you barely even hear eclipsing in the community. Sources?
Hmmm... I can kinda see why it can be negative because it sounds like a form of manipulation.

Possession:
Their definition on possession very solid with mentioning that the current fronter remains connected to the body's senses while possessed.
Also, that ghost GIF is a little... off because one of the first things they state is that tulpa possession is NOT like demonic possession. Yeah... kinda weird.
I think Arcanus misinterpreted this part: "The second step to possession is dissociation. We will cover why this is important below, but this is just a step for training possession and will not be required after you get the hang of possession unless you are still having difficulty," they specifically mean training possession, not when you already have it like we do. Despite that, I don't think even that's necessary, but I think it does help.

Mindset:
"Some people have the idea what a limb would feel moved as if someone you could not feel were holding it and moving it around," not "where." No wonder this sentence confused the sh!t out of Arcanus.
"Since during possession you are still connected to the body’s senses you still feel all the muscles contract and loosen as if you were going to be moving yourself," I literally feel my systemmate's essence flow into the thing they're possessing, but they're right about the movement without planning part in the next two sentences. But yeah, some systems legit can't tell when a systemmate's possessing or not, but there are others like my system who do.
"Sometimes this will feel “alien” as you would believe possession in a movie would feel, while other times it may feel like you doing the moving yourself," oh. There it is. Thank you.
Also, their example sounds like force-possession, as in possessing without warning or consent from the fronter first.
"With practice you can defeat this function, but until then possession may not be as fulfilling as you believe it may be as a host. Your tulpa on the other hand will likely not care as it lets them interact with the outside world. Don’t worry too much about it and let them enjoy themselves," great point: let the tulpa have fun.
Their method of proving possession via forethought is unique, and I like that.

Dissociation:
"Although there are many circles out there who look at this term as highly negative, there are positive uses for dissociation. Many people dissociate to a certain extent while doing very repetitive tasks," yes, thank you. THANK YOU. All people dissociate to some minor degree; spacing out is literally a minor form of dissociation!
"What should dissociation feel like? For most people it is a numbing of the senses," I guess this is accurate in this specific context, so I'll let it slide. Shame they didn't mention depersonalization and derealization.
"Dissociation from a host perspective feels like slight numbness. The hand feels cooler, and touch sensations feels dulled," uh? You literally stated that the current fronter remains connected to the body's senses while being possessed, so realistically, this shouldn't occur unless the host begins to bow out of front.
Don't really know about the static-y thing they're talking about in the next sentence.

Technique:
Body positioning? What?
Using affirmations to dissociate a limb; I've seen that before.
"The second part is using body positioning. Since your hand is on the table, most people find it easy to convince themselves that their hand is actually at their side or in their lap," where? Is it like the fake limb association trick where people are convinced that a fake arm is their real arm and they react to the fake arm being hit by a hammer as if it was their real arm? But like, the opposite? Weird.
Other than that, this is new and I've never heard of this being used as a possession method before. Maybe I can try it later and see if I can feel my arm numbing. Mental note.
I like the affirmation focus; I have these in my guide, but for switching instead.
Also interesting that they say that emotion can be used as leverage for controlling the body... Azide kind of supports that theory. Huh.
"You do not actually have to dissociate in order for your tulpa to be able to possess," thank you for stating this.
"If you do rip control back frequently, it will only reinforce that you are the only controller of the body," can see that being true for some systems.
Also, yeah, consent before taking the body back is nice.
I feel like their example of stairs sounds like something that happened to them personally, so they listed it in the guide. Because that's pretty specific. Not to mention that yeah, walking can be hard at first for the tulpa.

Imposition:
"Imposition is a term used in the tulpamancy community that refers to imposing your tulpa into the physical world, or rather forcing them to exist there," on the contrary, tulpas can and usually should impose themselves or want to be imposed. You need to fix the wording there.
"Your tulpa can pilot their imposed form but they do not experience the senses of the form. They still perceive the world from the bodies senses. Although, senses can be imagined and be rather pleasant as a tulpa," senses can be imagined? You kinda contradicted yourself there because that's literally the tulpa having their own imposed senses. And by the way, the tulpa can cut themself off from the body's senses and use their own imposed senses like astral projection.
"You will start to notice that your memories will contain your tulpa as if they were there, and auditory hallucinations will follow next," or you could start with auditory imposition first or any other form of it. Also, sources on the memory thing?
Again, you can do other forms of imposition first. You don't have to start with visual.
The imposition section feels underdeveloped; there's not even anything on taste imposition. I know my imposition section is super detailed and full of methodology, but even by the standards of other guides... it just feels incomplete.

Talking to Others About having a Tulpa:
Good for warning people about the risk of outing your Plurality.
"...as brining it up a second time could make them suspicious of your interest in it," bringing, not "brining."
I like how they warn of people feigning interest in your tulpa(s), and they even give advice on what to do if the person's reaction is negative.

Disagreements:
"Chemical imbalances and hormones affect everyone inside the head regardless," tell that to Rylazide that who no matter what remains energetic and happy.
I like the house rules advice and prioritizing mutual respect.
It's nice that they say that primary fronters should have more say in physical world issues, but not have as much say as internal issues since non-fronters are more equal there.

Relationships:
"Without seeming polyamorous"? A lot of romantically active systems are openly poly and there's nothing wrong with that; they make it sound like being poly is a bad thing.
"Everyone involved in this will need to be aware of your plurality and understand it fully, or else you can risk losing it all," absolutely. It's only fair to the other person in the relationship.
They bring up good points about how only being able to possess can affect intimate relationships.
Closing statement is nice.

Where to go from there:
"If you have any constructive feedback you can message us the variety of ways listed below," thanks, doing that now and I hope my feedback is at least nice to read.
...And then they endorse Tulpa.info and Tulpa Tavern. Sigh...
Their Tulpa.info profile link is also broken.


Final Thoughts:
The start of the guide is fairly strong, though the first page does have minor issues.
I absolutely adore how this guide is not entirely host-centric and has a high priority on consent and the happiness/well-being of the tulpa as well.
Lots of really solid advice in here and techniques that I haven't seen elsewhere.
Grammar is definitely lacking, punctuation and capitalization as well are flawed and would need reworking, but that definitely doesn't break the guide (especially understandable if the authors are not native English speakers).
Imposition section feels very underdeveloped and the methodology has been shown in many, many other guides. It lacks uniqueness that the rest of the guide has.
The aesthetic of the guide is certainly the best I've seen in any of the guides I've read; I really appreciate the page color being an off-white and most of the images are pleasant and add life to the guide. They also don't feel highly intrusive.
The structure of the guide-- especially the methods could be better organized and clear of where a method starts and ends, but it's certainly not bad.
Lots of odd statements and claims that lack evidence; I would love to see the sources on these claims.
Amounts of of misinformation are very minor in things like possession (which is common in guides anyway), but it's definitely not a breaking point. It's usually negligible.
Shame there was never an explanation to what tulpas are or what the practice of Tulpamancy is; I think all guides should include either a link or their own glossary. Telling people to go read somewhere else is bad practice since you're specifically writing a guide.
Overall, I really like this guide. I would put it in my recommended resources and would recommend it to others. Really don't get why the responses were "very mixed" unless the people who looked at it were toxic host centrists like Kopase.