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i remember what i wanted to write about now.
on the Toy Soldier
the Toy Soldier is a being of uncertain classification. i mostly tend to consider him a ghost, but he doesn't quite fit into the criteria for being a typical headspace ghost. but i don't think he's a deity either. he may be a spirit? [different than ghost] but i somehow doubt that too. regardless he is here.
he seems to be pretty closely tied to the Order and especially Bloodline members [we need a better name for that], but most likely only those who were around during 2004-2008. meaning limited to, as far as i know, Thirteen and myself [O.]. i am pretty sure that Trolley is aware of his existence, but there's not much she isn't aware of that's close to the Order.
as for what he is, he is - in terms of physical appearance - a man of indeterminate age wearing a marching band or drum corps uniform. exactly which uniform is very prone to change; it can be random/made up, it can be one of an existing corps/band, but most often, it is exactly or a variation on one of the two uniforms worn by the body during marching band, both from Parkwood. [it may or may not always explicitly be Parkwood's uniform, meaning the name may be absent from the first one and the emblem may be gone from the second, it just depends.]
he is of no particular race but decidedly caucasian in features, and although he is referred to as a male he is of course sexless and genderless. but to us he presents as decidedly male [marching uniforms are very androgynous and remove all outstanding body features, on purpose, to make everyone look the same. so he could be male or female, just about any appearance or race, but he appears a certain way to us.]
he has pale eyes that sometimes appear... clouded? hazy? but not in a way that suggests he can't see. they just aren't clear like the eyes of fully living beings, nor are they the opaque eyes that gods or spirits sometimes have. this is one quality that often gets him the 'ghost' title.
he can and does communicate, but is almost entirely nonverbal. i suspect that actual speech is hard for him to put together for whatever reason, whether it takes more 'mental' energy than he typically has, or whether it's just difficult for him to parse sentences in word form. whatever the cause, his words often come out awkwardly, like he is talking around something in his mouth, or speaking in a strange accent. and when he does verbally speak, it is only for short bursts. in most cases he communicates through exaggerated body postures and movements, as if speaking body language across a long distance [i.e. football field]. basically he communicates with drum corps/band drill movements and gestures. sometimes fluid and emotional, sometimes snappy and soldier-like.
sometimes, he expresses things through song. he can conjure instruments to play [almost always some variation on brass instrument, rarely percussion, never as far as i know woodwinds or any other kind], but usually doesn't use them for 'speech'. more often he pulls out a snatch of song, instrumental or lyric, from the body's memory and mimics the original recording perfectly to get his point across.
from this we can gather that the Toy Soldier is able to reach into the body's memories, and has at least some access to them, which is not something that every head-being can do. this reflects on his close ties to the Order and to those of us in the Bloodline. he may be a projection or thoughtform originating in one of our subconscious or that of the system in general.
he is not really a "person" or a human or a full being in his own right. this does not however mean that he is afforded any disrespect; not many headpeople have met him and those who do don't seem to try to engage him much. his status as a ghost, with strong meaning only to a certain few people in headspace, may be very clear to others. i'll need to ask around about that.
on the Toy Soldier
the Toy Soldier is a being of uncertain classification. i mostly tend to consider him a ghost, but he doesn't quite fit into the criteria for being a typical headspace ghost. but i don't think he's a deity either. he may be a spirit? [different than ghost] but i somehow doubt that too. regardless he is here.
he seems to be pretty closely tied to the Order and especially Bloodline members [we need a better name for that], but most likely only those who were around during 2004-2008. meaning limited to, as far as i know, Thirteen and myself [O.]. i am pretty sure that Trolley is aware of his existence, but there's not much she isn't aware of that's close to the Order.
as for what he is, he is - in terms of physical appearance - a man of indeterminate age wearing a marching band or drum corps uniform. exactly which uniform is very prone to change; it can be random/made up, it can be one of an existing corps/band, but most often, it is exactly or a variation on one of the two uniforms worn by the body during marching band, both from Parkwood. [it may or may not always explicitly be Parkwood's uniform, meaning the name may be absent from the first one and the emblem may be gone from the second, it just depends.]
he is of no particular race but decidedly caucasian in features, and although he is referred to as a male he is of course sexless and genderless. but to us he presents as decidedly male [marching uniforms are very androgynous and remove all outstanding body features, on purpose, to make everyone look the same. so he could be male or female, just about any appearance or race, but he appears a certain way to us.]
he has pale eyes that sometimes appear... clouded? hazy? but not in a way that suggests he can't see. they just aren't clear like the eyes of fully living beings, nor are they the opaque eyes that gods or spirits sometimes have. this is one quality that often gets him the 'ghost' title.
he can and does communicate, but is almost entirely nonverbal. i suspect that actual speech is hard for him to put together for whatever reason, whether it takes more 'mental' energy than he typically has, or whether it's just difficult for him to parse sentences in word form. whatever the cause, his words often come out awkwardly, like he is talking around something in his mouth, or speaking in a strange accent. and when he does verbally speak, it is only for short bursts. in most cases he communicates through exaggerated body postures and movements, as if speaking body language across a long distance [i.e. football field]. basically he communicates with drum corps/band drill movements and gestures. sometimes fluid and emotional, sometimes snappy and soldier-like.
sometimes, he expresses things through song. he can conjure instruments to play [almost always some variation on brass instrument, rarely percussion, never as far as i know woodwinds or any other kind], but usually doesn't use them for 'speech'. more often he pulls out a snatch of song, instrumental or lyric, from the body's memory and mimics the original recording perfectly to get his point across.
from this we can gather that the Toy Soldier is able to reach into the body's memories, and has at least some access to them, which is not something that every head-being can do. this reflects on his close ties to the Order and to those of us in the Bloodline. he may be a projection or thoughtform originating in one of our subconscious or that of the system in general.
he is not really a "person" or a human or a full being in his own right. this does not however mean that he is afforded any disrespect; not many headpeople have met him and those who do don't seem to try to engage him much. his status as a ghost, with strong meaning only to a certain few people in headspace, may be very clear to others. i'll need to ask around about that.
