First of all, there are a lot of different explanations for stalking: The most common one that stalking is basically behavior that is produced due to us shifting the AP slightly and making something real "there". When Julian is being a old man, and then all of a sudden a young man, Don Juan calls that stalking.

I am pretty sure this "actor" aspect of stalking is referred to as controlled folly. Basically the art of adopting any behavior to fully make the observer belive that you are what your acting. This is but one aspect of stalking, and stalking is also explained as the art of holding the AP in a place of choice, and there are also plenty of other "stalking related topics" that I wont be covering in this post.

Stalking has unfortunately become a bad topic over the years. Due to its unclear definitions, bad players take it and twist it, to make themselves feel better about having no legitimate progress in sorcery. Also people take the "born stalker" part too seriously, and assume that if they are not able to see colors in the dark, it must mean they are a stalker and are not fit for darkroomgazing. This literally cannot be true. Especially not for men, as in the books it is said that men are neither born stalkers or dreamers, they can become good at any. The reason Julian is a good stalker is because he practiced it more, not because of a born condition. Women could be born better at either one, but they still would practice the other, just they would be less talented.

For our modern purpose, everyone should be forcing silence and practicing darkroom no matter what, as we don't have the privilege of naguals that move our AP. This could over time become a advantage point as people in here learn to move the AP to significant places, where I have seen the insane effects real stalking can have in those positions

My understanding of controlled folly aspect of stalking is that, its the art of binding intent to acting. Lets say your, "yourself". First realization that a stalker should have is that whatever "they" are is a "act". It a role they have been practicing to perfection their whole life. They are themselves, because they are not someone else. In stalking "personality" stops existing. In the film industry this is called the "actors dissociation". When a actor is soo good at being this new "role" that he "becomes" that thing. This likely happens due to you having to almost force silence to fully "be" someone else. That usually will shift their AP slightly. The end goal of the controlled folly practice is to 1. understand your personality and persona to not be any more significant that a random "role" in movies. 2. to tie that persona to the a specific point on the blue line, and make it so that whenever you act differently from that persona you adopt a new persona that requires silence or "shutting of your person" and therefore moves the AP to a different spot ALWAYS.

Now where is the "intent" in this. You see we all have patterns. These patterns tie themselves to intent and draw upon it. Your pattern of intent might be that at fridays your always happy and you are good at sorcery at Fridays. This is much more subtle, but you are sure of it. This goes for also when you lets say wake up in a bad mood, and you feel as if your day will be "unlucky". It turnes out to be true. How is THAT possible. Your "controlled folly" or "personality" whith all its patterns is actually pulling on intent. Now this is something you cannot directly control unless you stop the world/ move far down the j curve where you have a "direct link to intent". In our daily world or any AP positions that are not very significant, you have therefore a "indirect link to intent" through this hidden mechanism. The way to take advantege of that is for example aligning ourselves with the behavior of the old seers, we can make "intent" threat us in the same way it did with them. You might even get the insight that whatever just happened to you, very likley happened to a old seers, exactly like it happened to you. This might be a specific dream buble or a entity. It doesn't matter. in that moment your in their shoes EXACTLY.

Having different personalities that other people fully believe are real also benefits the practice. This is for example having some people believe that your a poor guy who is nice and cares for people, while have others believe your a rude tyrant who is genuinely "evil" and power-hungry. these are soo on opposite ends that you NEED silence to pull it off perfectly. But this is all games for kids. Real stalking is possible when you are able to pull of significant shifts with it.

Ideally stalking will become something you use in the darkroom or during significant shifts of the AP to move sideways ext. Examples of that is knowing how to act as a crow in such a way that you shapeshift into one if your AP is at the lowest point: so therefore making it more REAL. At that point you need total silence as doubt will ruin the process: this also includes moving the AP with the moods of stalking. You can give off "ruthlessness" to show indifference and make the IOBS tempted to show up and "test" your "ruthlessness". You can adopt "cunning" to provoke transegrity to give you visual and real results. This happens because your "cunning" overrides the doubt of your internal dialogue and makes that emotion, stop the world temporarily for you to provoke that real result to happen.

Combine stalking with the puff body/ energy body, and you will also get amazing results. For example lets say you want to shapeshift into a demon. First you will move as deep as possible on the J curve, and then you will collect enough energy around you to feel it as a substantial weight. You then will shape the energy above your head to create horns. You will then use stalking to evoke the "mood" of a demon, and with it a total conviction that you are a demon and that your energy body/ puff body is the REAL you. You can also use stalking like that to fully enter into a dreaming bubble as this demon that you have shapeshifted into.

You could probably live a whole life as a demon in a other world, if that's what you wish. The posibilites are really endless. As described in this post, stalking becomes a tool through which you move the AP mostly sideways, but also down if you combine it with silence, and if your good at it, you can even move it to other worlds.

Ideally you will use stalking also as a "indirect link to intent" to pull on the strings of intent, to give you intent gifts. This requires a way more sublime control, but is it definitely achievable. You would have to see your whole life and its outcomes, as just a big "role" in a show. Maybe this show is the "theater of infinity" where intent is the tool to change. Then by changing that role you can make intent itself give you a different result. By changing your role to be "a old seer" you provoke intent to give you the same fate as a old seer, that includes all the sorcery intent gifts and much more. You might even end up as one, stuck in some other world. Thats why we talk about the intent of the old seers being so important, becouse you need it to be able to achieve what they did. Whithout that intent, its useless.

I’m making a list of references to say at an upcoming Stalker airsoft event. What’s your best?

Here's mines':

Strelok: Here we are... At the shadow of chernobyl

Scar: Finally, after all the fighting we have a clear sky

Some soldier: Major! We've got a call from Prypiat!

Doctor: Well... It seems I'm a Stalker too