Review of Tulpa Switching Guide

Review of Tulpa Switching Guide
by Félix Chaosys

Cons:

-"When it comes to tulpamancy, what many struggle with is switching," this doesn't take imposition in consideration and feels like a blanket statement. I'd reword this to something like, "Switching is a more advanced skill, so it is common for people to struggle with it."
-Guide uses the term "front" quite frequently, but doesn't define what "front" means.
Another blanket statement about how hosts/originals are "pretty front-sticky," which yeah, is the most common occurrence, but not the only one.
-"Switching is something you have to teach your brain how to do, __and it takes time__," *Looks at how Arcanus and I switched within 2 months and we didn't even try switching for at least a few weeks after Arcanus formed.*
-General issue I notice with this guide so far is that there are quite a few blanket statements that don't acknowledge less common experiences, and thus, can create negative frontloading as a result.
-"It took a bit of practice to at least stabilize, and so will switching," another blanket statement, note the exact usage of the word, "Will," in that.
-[Arcanus] Definition of co-fronting is incorrect. "Front" does not directly entail control of the body, but rather connection to the body and its senses. Example: a tulpa fronts in order to taste their favorite food, but the host still fully controls the body.
-"If the original is still paying attention to what is happening to the outside world, they will still be attached to the body," this sentence is also misleading. Since this guide defines switching as the host/original going into a "tulpa-like state," then that should include the host being able to impose their form like a tulpa can and not necessarily be fronting. This also coincides with the fact that imposing like this is a form of dissociation since a common dissociative experience can be somewhat out-of-body experiences.
-Good that they mention blending, but they also mention grounding exercises, but doesn't give any examples. Their suggestions for how to deal with blending are very limited.
-"...And you will most likely not feel like anything changed," is this statement gleaned from the community or personal assumption? Genuinely curious and would like to know. Maybe there should be a poll for that. Primary concern with that statement, though, is negative frontloading again.
-"Soft-switching" just sounds like another form of co-fronting; it just kind of feels redundant.
-"They won’t blackout, nor will it necessarily feel different, but they will not have connection to the body," you can totally black-out when leaving front. Albeit, for Tulpamancy systems, this is almost always intentional.
-"Your brain will not see the tulpa as a competent candidate to handle it, despite you consciously doing so," yet another objective statement that can induce negative frontloading.
-"Remember: *switching is gradual*," except when it's not.
-It is not entirely required to view the body as just "the body" instead of the host's body, so the statement that that mindset is the "core" of switching can definitely be misleading.
-Though yes, it is good to let go of all your anxiety before switching fully, "full-switching" can still happen.

Pros:

-I appreciate the reassurance that switching isn't scary, and the feel that the author(s) are acting as a supportive and encouraging figure.
-Good that the guide notes that switching isn't a required or necessary skill, but still recommending to at least try it once.
"Consciousness and awareness are defined differently by us personally," good to include this disclaimer at the beginning of the paragraph.
-[Arcanus] Wise to elaborate on amnesia or memory barriers in relation to fronting, though, I do wish it was mentioned that memory barriers can be intentionally built by Tulpamancy systems. Extra credit for the mention of Tulpamancy systems __typically__ experiencing no blackout or amnesia.
-Good advice to trust that the tulpa fronting and that whatever's happening is their doing.
-[Arcanus] It is certainly beneficial to state that there are different ways to define switching, and more positive encouragement from the guide author(s).
-Definitely important that in specific definition, the author(s) put the disclaimer that the definition is personal and subjective.
-[Arcanus] Quite fascinating to write a reassurance paragraph about the unlikelihood of being outed as plural due to changing fronters, and how singlets are oftentimes oblivious to the cues that someone else is controlling the body of their acquaintance.
-Definitely appreciate the statement that switching is subjective, meaning there's no single or right way of doing it.
-There are multiple methods listed, though basic in structure and methodology, as the guide expects to "fill in the blanks!"
-Guide stresses the reader not to worry, which is certainly good advice.
-Definitely smart to *not* recommend strong dissociative methods right off the bat.
-Appreciate the mention of just seeing the body as a vessel for tulpas who don't want to associate with, but still want to use the body.
-Guide encourages forgiveness if the host/original accidentally takes front back, which is important.
-Really good that the guide makes use of Google's document outline.
-Includes affirmation method to help avoid blending.
-Conclusion is good! Trust and having a good mindset is very important.

Final thoughts:

Wow, that's a lot. There's a lot of pros and even if the cons seems like a lot, it's mainly just one big issue that we simply called out whenever we saw it. This is a problem a *lot* of guides have and isn't unique to this one, and that's simply: objective statements and negative frontloading. Which is ironic because this guide *actively* acknowledges that Tulpamancy and Plurality in general is subjective, but then does a 180 and states that something "will" turn out that way or, "This is 100% the core of switching." It just... the guide is hypocritical of itself.

As a result, a lot of the statements in the guide are misleading and can instill a negative mindset on the reader that might impede their progress without realizing it. Let's take, "Your brain __will__ not see the tulpa as a competent candidate to handle it, despite you consciously doing so," for example. That statement very specifically uses "will" instead of something like "can" or "may," which makes the statement sound like objective fact. But in reality, that is not objective, that is entirely subjective and is perfectly likely that the system reading that guide wouldn't have that problem, but because they read that and took it as fact, that mindset-- conscious or not, may make switching harder for them when it wouldn't have been otherwise. That's the issue with objective statements and negative frontloading.

Thankfully, though, that's the majority of the issue with the guide. That can be fixed with better, more open wording and acknowledgement of differing experiences. Other issues are very minor like somewhat incorrect definitions, lack of detail in specific segments, or better defining terms like "fronting."

Onto the positives, I like the tone of this guide and its usage of positive encouragement and willingness to forgive oneself when making a mistake. It's a bit more casual in tone, which can be inviting for some people. Another positive that the guide is organized through Google Doc's outline tool for easy navigating, though the guide is fairly short at only 1,600 words. When the guide *does* acknowledge Tulpamancy's subjectivity, it can be very nice, and spread a positive message. It also gives multiple switching methods, but they are basic and the guide basically gives the reader rudimentary tools and expects them to make something out of them, which isn't necessarily bad.

Overall, the guide is good and the flaws can easily be fixed. I do recommend working on it further, however. Would we recommend it to people? Yes, but not without cautioning people to not take the wording literally and keeping an eye out for those objective statements.

Chaos System, we hope this feedback is helpful!