thoughts on self-resonating

[Matthias Wasser]

Originally Posted by Whitelaughter

oh, a power that Brights have that has some roleplaying potential if nothing else - every time they look in a mirror they can see their own Needs....

The implications of this - in general, not merely with respect to Lilim - have been underexplored.

Seraphim - not touching this wormcan - I have others to open - but no matter your interpretation, whoah. Yet another reminder that either the Seraphic resonance needs to be rewritten or all our conceptions of them do.

Cherubim - I think the relevant thing here is not how useful self-resonating would be (duh) but how un-Cherubic it seems, even dissonant. So self-resonating is both possible and worth a note of dissonance each time it's initiated and every sundown it stays up.

Powers - I'm not sure I've ever understood what the Elohite dissonance condition actually meant, but I'm willing to accept "that which, after you realize that's how you'd act, is still how you'd act" as at least a necessary condition for Objectivity.

Virtues - the most notable thing here (because most of the other things to say are obvious) is that Malakim can just feel how other angels are capable of Falling and how blackwings, well, aren't. No wonder the chip on their chain-draped collective shoulder (well, that and the whole being really good at murder thing.)

Mercurians - what if you could always know how everyone around you regarded you? One reason Mercurians may have such good social skills (other than the practice, and the whole being able to read people's life history and instantly spot their weaknesses thing) is that they don't have any anxiety over whether you like them or look down on them or whatever: they already know.

Balseraphs - well-covered territory. Mentioning the obvious in the text itself works wonders!

Djinn - here's my house rule: 1) Djinn can self-resonate, 2) one automatically consents to harming oneself, but going out of way to avoid a danger removes that consent. So a Djinn that attunes to herself can tell when she's in danger, and she can even take steps to avoid that danger if they're costless to her and she doesn't betray any sign to the Symphony or herself of panicking - things she might have done anyway, like finish her coffee and move to a new café - and still not get dissonance when she fails at avoiding it. If she visibly cares, or takes costly actions, then if she actually comes to harm, she gets dissonance as well.

Obviously the stereotypical Stalker self-resonates and then tries her Damnedest to avoid dissonance, but you can also have the paranoid types who self-resonate and do take steps to avoid danger when it's important enough, those who decide the best option is not to self-Obsess at all, and those who stop self-Obsessing when the hammer looks unavoidable, which of course results in hilarious Cherubic self-Love.

Habbalah - I like to think of Punishers as only feeling self-inflicted emotions. You can wring a whole Band identity out of this (but that's another thread. I Vow to write it.)

Lilim - Sisters who value their autonomy in and of themselves probably strive for Buddhist transcendence of desire. Heh.

Impudites - there are almost certainly dangers to clear thinking that come with Charming yourself. My intuition is that very few Impudites value avoiding that above how good it must feel. Kobal is probably a good example of the minority. On a somewhat unrelated note, I suspect that, while all Takers have a deep need to be loved, Nybbas points to another archetype - the sort who doesn't Charm others just to display his obvious dominance. (This is distinct from the vast majority, who merely anxiously affect disdainful cool precisely in order to Charm.)

Pachadim... can speak to themselves... and then become scared! Just think of all the exciting psychological implications!