Dennim's Guide to Life

This is a list of methods on how to grant Dennim life. The effectiveness of these methods are dependent on the universe he's in.

## Sacrificial practices

*These methods require someone to die or suffer.*

### Soul consumption

This tactic only works with Mind.

This is Dennim's least graphic way of accepting a sacrifice where he doesn't have to come in contact with the body and only needs to spectate it dying. The downside is that Mind has to die slowly in order for him to absorb all of her life essence before it escapes, otherwise he forever loses the chance to become real and "switch places" with her.

"Life essence" is basically a person's soul, but doesn't carry the Biblical definition of the word. For example, if an afterlife exists and Mind sacrifices herself to Dennim and dies, her "spirit" would still show up in this afterlife. It's more or less the driving force that allows her to live and functions like the booting system of a computer.

Having that said, if Mind were to die after this procedure, she can never be revived again. It is possible for Dennim to put her into a coma to prevent her from dying from shock and give her immediate medical care, which increases the chance she'll cheat the system and wake back up, though this is hard.

If Dennim succeeds in saving her, but Mind's heart stops for even a second in the upcoming years of her life, she'll stay dead. These rules also apply to the following method:

### Blood absorbation

This tactic entails that Dennim needs to be covered with a large amount of blood from a still living body. As the amount of blood required will most definitely mean the victim's death, they need to die slowly so that the body will stay alive long enough for the blood to stay fresh and Dennim to take in.

The ritual cannot be done by hitting the sacrifice with a lethal blow and using the blood afterwards, if the intent is to prevent suffering.

Dennim prefers to have Mind, but there are universes where he can settle with other human beings, but those are usually ones in which he can already meddle with reality to some degree.

### Body consumption

This tactic is the least secure and not a permanent solution. Dennim has to keep eating people in order to stay within the realms of reality or, depending on the universe, use his powers. Whenever Dennim decides to go with this method, though, it rarely creates a good environment. He's (considered) a villain in these instances. Nevertheless, Dennim's decision to do this can also be influenced by his wish to not involve Mind and spare her from the two options above.

Dennim only eats humans when in his monster or lord form. While he'd gladly eat them to extend his existence, he doesn't consider them food or replacement of it; Dennim is not a cannibal in that sense.

### Death of the host

In universes that acknowledge some kind of afterlife, Dennim can temporarily free himself when Mind dies; but this only works if she is reanimated afterwards. Dennim cannot begin to exist in the real world if his other half isn't in it.

Even so, if Mind is brought back to life, the rules of reality are urged to bind him to her again, therefore he must execute another strategy to keep himself real. Dennim has limited time to do this, but has more freedom to make it happen when turned into a palpable being.

### Love

As Mind and Dennim are supposed to be the same person, Mind loving Dennim is a symbolic way of giving him life. It's a subconscious change within herself, where she finally acknowledges and loves herself, making the two an unity in the eyes of reality. Though, this is just as easily made undone if Mind stops loving him. It isn't required for her to announce or reveal her love, as Dennim will know.

A side effect is that the strength of his abilities increase immensely. Mind can also like and appreciate him as a friend, which'll make him stronger as well, but not necessarily real.

### Presence

This method is not a way for Dennim to be granted life, but only to extend it in case he's tied to a temporary solution.

If Dennim makes physical contact with Mind, he'll exist a few minutes longer. If his body has perished, there's still the chance he'll come back if Mind wears a piece of him on her body, like a lock of hair or jar of fingernails. Though, only "Blood absorbation" and "Love" can bring him back when he's in this state, making it not an ideal position to be in in the first place.

## Life hacks

*Dennim doesn't know about these methods, and their illegitimacy come with consequences.*

### Fatherhood

Dennim can confuse reality by having offspring with someone. His child would be an impossibility birthed by a real woman, which forces reality to acknowledge him as the father, making him exist.

Every new child creates a bridge into existence that lasts at least 10 years, but only if Dennim doesn't use his powers or other supernatural tricks. The time limit decreases faster if he does. When there are no new children to sustain his existence, reality will break and time will reset itself around the time of Mind's suicide attempt in order to fix it. If Mind is the mother of his children, she'll remember her previous life, while Dennim would not.

Even though this method could be done with anyone, most universes don't allow Dennim to interact with real life beings in this manner without being granted existence first, thus only Mind is available to unlock this strategy.