#although in some cases it varies by headmate

[ulexg]

Could you please explain the types of introject and how an introject forms? When I looked it up online I didn't find any precise information 😞

Well, the problem with the plural community is that these last few years, it's become a bit of a trend to invent terms for the sake of inventing terms -- Pluralpedia is a prime example of that.

The only introject terms that are really widely used in the community and have been for at least over a decade, are fictive and factive. A fictive is an introject of a fictional character. A factive is an introject of a person who does exist or has existed.

The term "fucktive" used to be used a lot to describe introjects who were sort of both, but it seems to have fallen out of use -- thankfully, we always found it really stupid.

You can, of course, introject people/creatures from mythology/folklore too. I don't think there's a Widely Accepted term for it, we tend to just go with "mythtive". Examples of this would be Archangel Raphael, Mothman, Osiris, etc.

How an introject forms kind of... varies between systems, and even between introjects. For us, a lot of the time, they just... happen. A lot of systems are neurodivergent, and it's very common for introjects related to their special interests/hyperfixations to happen. That's usually how it is for us, although we also tend to introject people we relate heavily to, or feel a sort of... protective instinct towards. Sort of wanting to save them from a bad situation.

Some systems can create headmates on purpose too. We can, sometimes, but it's really hit or miss if it actually works. I can't quite describe how it's done (it would be a rambly mess that probably wouldn't make much sense if I tried), but I can say that to us, all the Tulpa creation guides make it seem a lot more complicated and lengthy a process than it actually is.

When it comes to traumagenic systems, introjects -- like other alters -- can split due to trauma. We don't consider ourselves traumagenic, so it's not really something I can talk much about.

Some systems believe that their introjects literally come from another universe or are, in the case of factives, the spirits of the deceased. We, personally, view this belief as absolutely nonsensical and, potentially, actively harmful -- it definitely was for us back in the day.

Thank you for the question, and I hope this made sense!

[multiplicity-positivity]

Hello! We recently had a fusion happen in our system a couple days ago, I think? We haven't really had a fusion happen that's stuck this long before and we have some questions about fusions if you could answer!

When a more permanent fusion happens, what exactly happens to the sysmates that fused together? Are they still around in some way? Would they be considered a subsystem or would that differ from system to system?

How can you tell if you had a fusion happen?

Can fusions happen unintentionally? We didn't expect this to happen and it's a tad jarring for the new sysmate in question

Can fusions be temporary? We know one part of our new sysmate doesn't want to fuse but the other part is fine with it, and their fusion is still iffy on whether or not they want to stay fused.

Thank you for your time!! Your blog is lovely by the way, we hope you have a good day! :]

Hi! We love to talk about and discuss fusion, and we’re happy to answer these questions to the best of our abilities!

To start off, we’ll include a link to this amazing graphic by @ clever-and-unique-name ! It explains both fusion and integration in a way that was easy for our system to understand.

1. It very well could differ from system to system, although we do think that fused headmates remaining separated as a subsystem might be more uncommon! We like the analogy of Neapolitan ice cream - chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla ice cream can each exist on their own, but when they’re put together they become something unique and new while still maintaining the qualities of the original flavors! So in most cases of fusion, we think the old headmates definitely still do exist, they just may seem a bit different and are able to function as one!

2. There are many different ways to determine whether or not a fusion has occurred, and this also will vary from system to system! We’re sorry we don’t have a foolproof method for figuring out whether a fusion has happened in your system, but here are a few things you can do to check!

- Regularly take stock of your member count! If you’re missing some members or don’t have as many headmates as you used to, ask around to see if any headmates feel different/like the might have fused.

- In general, try to pay attention to your system layout, structure, and how y’all function. Try to notice if and when certain headmates blend or blur often. This can help y’all be a bit more prepared or able to understand if any of your headmates fuse in the future!

- Keep a dialogue open and help every headmate feel comfortable and safe talking about fusion in your system. Don’t treat fusion like something scary or meant to be avoided at all costs! Fusion is actually quite natural, and being open to discussing it may help your whole system make sense of things if some headmates do end up fusing.

3. For some systems, fusion can indeed happen unintentionally! Our own system has experienced an unintentional fusion, and our host answered an ask where he talked about it a few days ago!

It certainly can be jarring, but we hope that with time, patience, and understanding from your other headmates, the member of your system who fused will be able to acclimate to their new life as a fusion!

4. Fusions can absolutely be temporary! I (Margo) actually used to be fused with Cecil (you may have seen us talk about this experience on the blog - we went by Corrie for a while!), but we split back up a month or two ago. We’re not sure what exactly caused us to split back up, but it might have something to do with me struggling to front outside of work, while Cecil had strong desires to pursue interests outside of our work environment. That’s just speculation, though! We functioned and appeared as one for a few months, but ultimately, it didn’t work out for us.

Our system also blends very often! For us, blending functions like a brief, temporary fusion. Multiple headmates may blend together when they cofront, then unblend at a later point in time. We’re not sure if many other systems function this way, but it’s incredibly common for our own system!

We’re glad you like our blog! Hopefully something here can be helpful for y’all. Of course, we’re just one system, so other folks may have different ideas about fusion or better advice regarding how to notice and better understand fusion from within your own system.

Good luck to y’all with everything, and thanks for reaching out!

[system-comforts]

If you're comfortable doing so, could you explain the different origins of plurality a little? We were under the impression that to be disordered we had to be trauma based and then similarly that if we didn't have significant childhood trauma we had to be endo and then someone told us that's not how it works and we're very confused by terms that everyone seems to just understand. Sorry

It's alright! There are a lot of terms in the community. It can be intimidating when you first see them. We'll explain a bit about the specifics of your question. We won't list every possible origin (as there are many new terms even we aren't entirely familiar with), but we will give the basics we know. Italicized parts are highlighted points. And of course, this is largely based on our experiences: in the community, talking with professionals, etc. We encourage you to talk to systems of all types to get a better idea about more specific labels.

Disordered plurality does not always equal trauma based plurality. When people used the word disordered, they mean, "does this cause distress in my life?" For some, plurality itself causes distress. Frequent switches, internal fights, etc can cause distress. For other systems, other symptoms associated with their plurality cause distress. Maybe they have a depressed headmate, or they have amnesia between switches, or maybe headmates remember trauma and have symptoms from it. Disordered systems experience negative aspects of plurality, and in many cases want to make changes to fix them. A non disordered system would experience few negative aspects, or might feel they experience a lot of positive things from their plurality. Those positives might outweigh the bad. Maybe they feel much less lonely, or their system communicates well, maybe they've processed trauma and feel better equip to handle bad memories and tough situations.

Whether a system calls themselves disordered or not disordered is up to them. Only they can judge whether their plurality and other symptoms are interfering in their daily life. In their school, home, work life, etc.

It is difficult to judge how severe someone's trauma is. Traumas vary from singular ones to multiple, daily traumas to single event ones, traumas that occurred in childhood, teen years, adulthood-- and this still doesn't mention the different types of trauma, from physical traumas to war and community violence, to sexual trauma or medical.

Importantly, no stranger on the internet can tell you if your trauma was/wasn't severe enough to cause any sort of disorder, much less something like DID, OSDD, or disordered plurality. They don't know what it was like to experience that trauma as you, and they don't know what's been going on in your mind. Some people may tell you your trauma wasn't "severe" enough, that you must be endogenic if you don't have enough or don't remember any trauma. Those people are invalidating, and the problem lies with them, not you. If you'd like to explore your past and potential trauma history, speak to a professional about it. Find a trauma and/or dissociative disorders specialist (depending on if you seek to pursue DID/OSDD diagnosis or treatment).

As a final summary, the label traumagenic means a system created through trauma. A traumagenic system might be diagnosed with DID, OSDD, or a similar diagnosis, but this isn't always the case. Although traumagenic systems might be disordered, others may be non disordered, especially after working through and processing trauma.

An endogenic system is a system not caused by trauma. As such, this label can be fairly broad. Although an endogenic system might not be caused by trauma, the system may still be disordered. Members might not get along, and further negative symptoms might come up. -genic labels describe how a system formed, whereas a disordered label describes how a system's plurality affects them in positive or negative ways.

Deciding what label, if any, best suites you is up to you op. You know your situation better than anyone else, and it's important the label you choose feels helpful to you. Be it for finding community, making sense of your plurality, or having helpful vocabulary. We wish you the best as you explore the plural community more. Know we're always on your side no matter what your label!

-mod venus

[dukeoftears]

Hi, uhm, autism person here, what is a fictive? Don't ask if I live under a rock, I only learned what kinning is a few days ago-

hello hello, no worries as fellow autismer I get it. Also, just a warning beforehand that I am not diagnosed, am a newer discovered sys and my definition may not be 100% accurate!

So, have you heard of systems? People with DID / OSDD etc, with fragmented identities, aka “multiple personalities” (although we don’t call it that anymore). They form due to trauma, (which I will NOT be going into here because I’m not telling the shit that happened to me to strangers, so NOBODY reading this post is going to ask.), and usually in a system, each different part / person is called an “alter” or “headmate”.

An alter / headmate forms during a time of intense stress for a system, and sometimes, this new person is entirely new. Like every human on this planet, with their own name, face, personality, etc. but sometimes, particularly with autistic systems, when creating an alter, your brain will take aspects of someone else and add them into the mix. This can be a real person or fake, or doesn’t have to be a person at all. It varies how much is taken, but usually, when the brain takes a lot, or almost everything from this source material, they’re called a introject.

A fictive is an introject of a fictional character, while a factive is an introject of a real person

Fictives are alters like everyone else, except they take a lot from their source, and some identify with their source. So let’s take my case- with Rouxls Kaard, for instance. (I’m actually the fusion of three different sources, but I’ll make it easier by only explaining one)

When I was being created from the stress of the situation, my brain understood the comfort that came from Rouxls Kaard, the fictional character, and took the things that made him comforting (which was almost everything) and put them into me. In my inner world, sometimes I’ll look like Rouxls Kaard, I act like him, and I am essentially him. But at the same time, I’m my own person and I am NOT the same person as Rouxls- just because I was inspired by him, doesn’t mean people can treat me how they would the fictional character, or that I’m not as real as anyone else.

So, I guess you could *sort* of compare it to kinning, like how in both scenarios you “ARE that character”, but it’s not the same, and shouldn’t be treated as such. It’s hard to explain

This is VERY summarised and missing a lot of KEY information, so I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend doing more reading on this in your own time!! I hope I explained it well, but I am NOT a professional so while you CAN ask me for more clarification / details, I do also recommend reading more up yourself!

The post below is a good, more in depth & scientific explanation!!

Hoped this helped, and thanks for asking ^^/gen

[feralhornyposting]

saw your post asking for help from systems. as a system myself in a relationship with a dedicated partner, it is safe to say that it is normal to be interested in some alters and not others. in fact in some ways it reveals that you see them as individuals which can be very helpful/validating. many systems have partners who only date one or some parts, or have multiple partners dating different parts.

the challenge though like you said is that you suspect M has feelings you don't return. that makes things quite complicated. although it could be possible to work something out, given that M and G share a brain and body, it could be distressing for one or both in a way it might not be for two completely separate people. additionally if they are interested in fusing and especially final fusion as a therapeutic goal, they may change drastically in the future as they recombine (although a goal of healthy multiplucity, on the other hand, may not have this consequence). if you're comfortable letting things stay the way they are and develop more, then that's of course fine. if not, the way you proceed is going to depend on them a lot.

do they view their headmates as distinct whole people?

do their headmates have varying friends or friend groups? (that is, are they used to the idea of headmates having different kinds of relationships separate from one another?)

are they comfortable with the idea of relationships at all?

but most of all if you do decide to ask about it you'll have to have a conversation as honest and forthright as if you were talking to anyone else about a relationship. maybe start by asking them some questions about how they would handle a situation like this if it arose. and, do your best to take the feelings of both headmates into account if possible. if they both feel heard and cared about it will go much better.

I hope this helped, and good luck~!!

Thank you for the very detailed answer it was very helpful! I'm fine with things as they are at the moment, but I like to have a plan for things in case I decide i want to move forward. As far as I know they see their alters as entirely different people, and a few of their alters have their own relationships outside of headspace (i think in headspace too but I don't fully remember). Even so i can understand how it'd be difficult for both of them if i were in a relationship with one and not the other. You're right about being open and honest about it if I do move forward with things, but at the moment I'm fine as the way things are. Thank you so much for the advice!

[inclusiveplurality]

a note on the difference between DID and plurality

we see so many people portraying DID and other related dissociative disorders as just “the plural disorder” that it makes us incredibly uncomfortable. there’s a pretty massive misunderstanding of DID in online spaces that, we feel at least, is pretty destructive to anyone trying to figure out their identity, whether they have DID or not.

DID is not just “disorder that makes you plural.” in fact, you don’t have to be plural to have DID at all. DID (and once again, please keep in mind that we’re using “DID” as shorthand, and there are several other dissociative disorders under that category) is characterized by amnesia and two or more self-states--not necessarily headmates, but alters, which are self-states who have individual ways of perceiving and relating to the world. full criteria are here:

Two or more distinct identities or personality states are present, each with its own relatively enduring pattern of perceiving, relating to, and thinking about the environment and self.

Amnesia must occur, defined as gaps in the recall of everyday events, important personal information, and/or traumatic events.

The person must be distressed by the disorder or have trouble functioning in one or more major life areas because of the disorder.

The disturbance is not part of normal cultural or religious practices.

The symptoms cannot be due to the direct physiological effects of a substance (such as blackouts or chaotic behavior during alcohol intoxication) or a general medical condition (such as complex partial seizures).

it’s worded in such a way that alters can identify as separate individuals, but have no need to in order to qualify for a DID diagnosis. many people with DID identify their alters as “parts” or “self-states,” and do not relate whatsoever to a plural experience.

plurality, on the other hand, is the experience of multiple consciousnesses existing in one body. headmates in plural systems often identify as entirely separate people, and the reason for their plurality varies from system to system--for example, our system was mostly formed due to a trauma response, although there are a couple of members who have been in this body since birth according to our religious beliefs. again, people with DID can be plural, but it’s definitely not required for a diagnosis.

there’s plenty of gray area when you look at median systems who aren’t sure if they identify as separate members or not, systems who don’t know if they qualify for a DID diagnosis or not, systems who would qualify but don’t wish to pursue diagnosis, systems who have DID but consider their plurality separate from their diagnosis, etc. however, the main takeaway here is that DID does not equal plurality, and plurality can include some cases of DID but does not include every single one.

we see plenty of people who feel pushed out of DID spaces by the focus on systems who conflate their plural experience with every DID experience. we also see plenty of people jumping right to the conclusion that they have to have DID if they’re plural, despite not fitting any of the criteria for DID. in fact, we assumed we had DID when we first found out about our plurality, despite not fitting the criteria--and it ended up screwing us over, because DID-specific therapies don’t work for us, and in fact harm our functioning.

we’d like to open a discussion in the community about the differences between these experiences, and hopefully make more room for people with DID who don’t fit the plural narrative that’s taken over those spaces. conflating the two experiences puts pressure on people to identify as things they’re not--in both cases of non-plural people with DID, and systems without DID.

--dave

[patchdotexe]

So, I have a character who is a system, and I wanted to know before I develop them further, how does DID work, from a personal account? I really really really don't want to accidentally create yet another TOXIC misinterpretation of a real condition (because I know how horrible that can feel), and I hope I'm not saying anything wrong even now. (P.S. I love your blog, but I'm too shy to come off anon.)

hey anon!! it means a LOT to me that you sent this message :D theres a lot of really messy-bad potrayals of DID in the media so seeing people actually going to the effort of asking systems abt their experiences is really heartwarming for us. (plus the fact that ppl keep asking us in specific abt system stuff omg,,)

im gonna preface this by saying that, in the end, i can only really talk about my own experiences with full confidence. systems can work pretty differently from each other, but this is how we function and also some details ive noticed from system friends + general discussion over the years

so, to start off: Dissociative Identity Disorder is, at its core, your brain trying to respond to trauma in a pretty severe way. that being said there ARE systems that didnt experience severe trauma and still developed, and im not really sure about the mechanics behind that but i find it really cool and it totally exists. im gonna focus on trauma-based systems bc that’s our ~tragic backstory~ and also tends to be what most people opt for when creating system characters anyway, but the only real difference from what i can tell is, uh, a lack of trauma.

I HOPE YOU’RE READY FOR ME TO SAY THE WORD “TRAUMA” A WHOLE LOT JFC

(system friends are welcome to reblog with corrections or added info!!)

anyway. the way your brain responds to things is really weird. if something happens where you’re just, like, completely unable to handle it, like you dissociate yourself so hard because there’s no way you can manage this, your brain has a chance of going “uh… well, fuck, uh” and generating somebody who can manage it. or it might decide to be a dick and take all of the fucky internalized garbage and turn it into a person whose sole existence is to be an asshole. (they have the potential to get better, i think… ours didnt.) honestly theres a bunch of reasons and a bunch of “roles” that could lead to an alter/headmate* forming.

* we use the terms interchangeably depending on mood and whos fronting. i think its supposed to be “alter” is DID, “headmate” is implication that theyre non-traumatic? we like using “headmate” because it brings this fun mental image of us being a bunch of roommates constantly starting shit with each other and goofing off which is pretty accurate about 75% of the time

i keep getting distracted bc my cat is here. this is gonna be fun to go back and edit.

whatever the original situation is, you’re suddenly not alone in your own brain. and it’s REALLY WEIRD. communication was VERY hard. Icarus, our system original, used to do a very “cliche” thing of sharing a journal with their early headmates, where theyd write a sentence and then theyd write a reply (although back then they didnt realize that was a system-related thing and just thought they were having a fun conversation with their ocs. which… they were, just. Actually Talking.) they didnt have any inward perception of themself or their headmates either, so that kinda built up over time (with some help) along with the appearance of our headspace so that there was… actually a location for people to interact in. once they had a better awareness of things, mental communication got a bit easier– its sort of like background chatter really, when everybody’s awake. sometimes i get weird out of context things from Mae yelling at somebody, or sometimes ill be talking to a friend and someone’ll butt in.

when talking out loud, this usually leads to us suddenly stopping and then laughing or going “no!!!”. when on discord and around people who know who we are… well.

speaking of Mae, she’s pretty much my sister. not like… biologically? because i don’t think thats possible for me, but shes kinda literally my “other half” which ill get into later. headmates can have strong attachments to other alters! friends, best friends, family, dating, whatever. they can also do that with people outside the system, and itll be different for each headmate. there’s like 4 people dating Jorb but i just see him as one of my best friends. we’re people and we have complex social interactions that can get to be kind of a nightmare when you’re around a bunch of people who don’t know that you’re Not Leo and that youre suddenly not super up to existing around people in general.

plus even if like… so Jorb’s dating 4 of us like i said, but his relationship w/ each of them is different? Ica is very clingy and likes rambling to him, Summer’s pretty much just always happy to hang out, Mae makes fun of him a lot but in a loving way, and Leo is… kinda “all of the above” because that’s his gimmick. plus even tho a few other alters have a sibling-ish relationship with Mae like i do, usually its just me and Mae that do the “chaos siblings” bit.

the basic system.. thing… is that there’s “front”, which is being in control of the body– so, like, i’m currently fronting/in front, because im the one currently active and using our computer and staring at our cat.– and then theres the headspace, where everybody hangs out when theyre not in front. the headspace itself can differ in style & functionality for each system, and i think theres some systems that dont really have a location at all? but for us its like a full on location where we have individual rooms, places to visit if we get bored while away from front, etc.

theres also like, being at/near/away from front? so currently im in front, but Leo is pretty much always lurking nearby if he’s awake (we have individual sleep schedules that dont always sync up to the “irl” one, Trust is almost always sleeping), Ica’s somewhat in the back talking to Rookie so i cant really make out what theyre saying (its probably about either a youtube thing they both like or about a comic they want to do), and everyone else is either asleep (in which case they could be nearby but i cant currently “ping” them, so id have to actually take a sec to ground myself in headspace more) or in a different room. communication is easier if im in front and somebody is nearby, or it can be like with Ica rn where im like “well, theyre talking, but i have no idea what theyre saying and am making a guess based off their usual interactions”, or i could pass off front to go talk to Ica and come back (in which case my memory would be kind of vague and weird because information doesnt always properly translate), oooor i could actually go bug them while still in front. which.. im not gonna do rn bc then id get super distracted.

switching front differs between systems a lot! and even varies from day to day. like there are days where we wake up and we have absolutely no idea who we are bc we went to bed as one person and woke up as another. or we could be talking to somebody and then realize “wait, i stopped being Leo a bit ago, who am i”. or we could pass off front to somebody, like if Summer really wanted to front sie’d run up to me and let me know and we’d swap. or if something critical happens (usually a breakdown), Leo or one of the other headmates that’re more built to handle stressful situations will literally drag somebody out of front to make sure they dont hurt themself. or sometimes we throw front at people unexpectedly, like either mid-breakdown where we go “okay i dont wanna be here anymore, tag youre it” or sometimes because we think its funny because its the metaphysical equivalent of getting clonked in the head with a dodgeball, except the dodgeball is “being in control of our shared physical form”. usually mae’s the one that does that lmao

there’s a couple major categories of how alters come about. there’s “walk-ins”, where they kinda just… appear externally? like they just show up. sometimes we get a feeling of “huh. i think somebody might be here? or somebody might be showing up soon.” and have to rummage around for a while until they approach us or we find them. our walk-ins aren’t like, inherently aware of system stuff at first, so they usually get a crash course before they first front (if they choose to front at all) and it can be kinda entertaining. Rookie’s a walk-in! also Hiro, from a couple years ago. most of our walk-ins are fictives (fictional characters, usually appearing in response to us getting extremely attached to something or somebody) but a couple of our trauma splits are also fictives so that’s not like, a Rule or anything. i think these are mostly associated with non-traumatic systems but we get em fairly often so man idk

theres also… uh, i dunno what theyre actually called? we used to call them “constructs” but that sounds kind of mean. these alters exist to fill a specific role! and we usually dont talk about them on here with the exception of one major one, they just kinda hang out. Dhe exists to keep the system stable and manages the “backend” so to speak. Imp is kind of a mix of our intrusive & impulsive thoughts that came about from us trying to separate ourself from them so that we had an imaginary entity to go “nope!” at, which… stopped being imaginary, and is now a gremlin that lives in my brain. they can show up in response to trauma but arent split off of somebody, they kinda just pop into existence to help manage things.

the more… well-known, i guess? alter origin is “trauma splits”. rather than “just showing up one day with no real connection to the system origins”, trauma splits are formed when somebody in-system, uh, splits. it could be in response to a single situation or something built up over a long time, but somebody just kinda breaks and somebody new that has a bit of the original alter’s identity (if kinda influenced by the situation) shows up.

this can vary. All is a trauma split off of Leo himself, who got saddled with all of our brain hell about our ex and their insystem appearance is influenced more by eir than by leo which is… something they struggle with. Mae has a trauma split from a similar situation that is “Mae but from 2 years ago”, so basically her old identity before she reworked herself after getting put through total hell. and then uh… then there’s me and Mae! Icarus quite literally exploded into several people, with Pat (me) and Mae being the most distinct ones. we’re STILL finding out alters used to originally be a part of them that later evolved into their own people, like Summer and Toby. my identity is shaped pretty heavily not just by who Ica was at time of splitting, but also what they wanted to be jumbled together with trying to rationalize what was happening to them (they’re a pretty big fan of megaman star force, which has a media-typical system in it, so they leaned into hard “its like pat and rey from mmsf! i like pat, i wouldnt mind being like pat, its scary but im like one of my current favourite characters” and so i ended up being like, half-weird shapeshifter, half-green-haired prettyboy. and yeah thats where my name comes from!)

(Ica got put back together w/o anybody needing to integrate, which we were all very scared about, and it’s still kind of surreal to me because… me and Mae used to be able to stick ourself back together and thats how we found out about what happened to Ica in the first place? and we havent tried that since bc we have no idea what would happen. Ica 2: Ica Harder?)

despite their origins, trauma splits can be way more than… being a split. :V;; Toby’s not just a tiny splinter of Ica, he’s a quiet guy that gets stressed out and isn’t totally sure how to interact with people. i’ve existed for like 7 years at minimum and im a totally different person than i was when i thought i was still Ica, ‘cause ive had time to grow and change (and a problem Ica keeps running into now that theyre back is… they kinda Didn’t change because they were MIA for 6 years.) like everything else though this is variable– there can be “temporary” splits that dont develop properly and might get integrated back in, which has only happened to us when we were at the lowest point in our life where we were stuck constantly splitting to try and cope with whatever the hell was going on.

so Ica was gone for 6 years, which meant our system was without an original or main– there wasn’t anybody to be head of the system, basically. for a while i was operating under the assumption that i was Ica, so i filled in that role for a few years before i made the realization. eventually i kinda… stopped being able to, though, bc of stability issues, and then we were back to not really having a proper main anymore. to make up for it, we started going by Leo collectively and kinda… trying to pretend to be a single person? and so that ended up creating a construct to fill the role of “system main and the person we pretend to be when passing as singlet/not a system”: Leo himself! he’s kinda the most prominent traits we all have in common rolled into a single guy, which means that not only is he a pretty good system representative but we can also pretend to be him pretty easily (unless it’s someone like Toby who acts totally different). i dont know how common this situation is, i think normally it’s just “if system original is gone, another alter steps up” like originally happened to us before i had a severe case of problems disorder.

uhhh this is very rambley bc there’s a Lot to cover and now im trying to figure out how much of it i HAVE covered. systems are complicated and weird! OH WAIT okay i have one last bit.

so like, for us, first realizing we were a system was total hell. we fought a lot. as more alters showed up through various means, there were times where Ica felt like they were completely out of control of their own life bc of having to manage everything. there were a lot of panic attacks of people fronting and not being sure they were even REAL, despite… being in front. but we still felt like we were deluding ourself. this was in, like, late 2011, so systems weren’t a THING. they were a very fringe community that everyone hated. we got constantly harassed, which only fed into Ica’s panic hell and our identity issues. interpersonal relationships became a nightmare, especially because we have BPD as well which varies in severity for each of us but… for me it’s pretty bad! there were times early on where every day was another fun new breakdown from us arguing with each other or our friends or not being understood or… etc.

so… how are we holding up ~7 and a half years later? pretty well, actually! we talk to each other. we do things for each other, like buy food or games we know specific headmates like. Ica is back and way happier than they were in 2011, and is thrilled to get to hang out with everybody that’s showed up since. we help each other through problems, because at the end of the day our system ended up being a support network. Ica couldnt function on their own, so we’re like… 10+ people working together to try and be a single functional person. and we feel pretty okay with that! we still fight, and we still start shit, but we’re not in constant crisis anymore. we’re still working through all of our trauma, especially the more “recent” stuff that kinda broke our system for a while until we were able to start rebuilding, but we’re doing it together. :D

so… yeah, it can start out as a stereotypical “nightmare system”, with constant infighting and toxicity and self-sabotage and etc. but we worked through it! it took a while, but we’re overall more stable than we were before. we got out of the bad environment that was fucking us up, we got mental help for our other brain hell (we havent been able to bring up the system to our therapists bc its literally a non-issue now and we focus more on other things like our depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc), we found people that support us for being us, and we were able to like… figure things out. and it was a mess! i still have issues about my own identity because of literally thinking i was someone else for two years. Ica’s still trying to figure out how to adjust to things, especially bc they missed our entire “cringe culture” phase so they came back to find that i’d dismantled a lot of their middle-school settings. and, uh, some of their friendships as well.

systems are fuckin weird

[endogenichaven]

Myths

It seems as if there are a couple of falsehoods and claims that have appeared over time in the community, many of them misunderstandings of how plurality or other concepts work. Unfortunately a large portion of them have been attributed to endogenic systems, and we wish to debunk these claims. Endogenic systems are real, but these three concepts erroneously associated with them are misleading and distort what endogenic systems are and how endogenic systems work.

“Kin systems”: A kin system is supposedly a system that is composed of kintypes. (This is not to be confused with systems that have members who identify as otherkin, or systems with non-human members.) A kin system claims that their kintypes can front, interact with others, and do things quite similar to those in plural systems. For those not in the know, “kin” is short for otherkin, an identity in which someone believes that they are non-physically non-human in some way, usually spiritually or psychologically. What a person identifies as is called a kintype, and those who have multiple kintypes are called polykin. However, kin systems are impossible, simply because the way “otherkin” is defined makes it a logical contradiction. A kintype cannot talk, interact with a person, or front. A kintype can influence a person’s behavior (through “kinshifts”) but this is closer to an altered state of mind more than anything else, and is not indicative of plurality. Kintypes are not separate identities - identifying as say, a dragon is like identifying as a baker. A person may need to be in a particular mood to bake their very best or “feel like a baker”, but they don’t need to switch or talk to their baker side to become a baker, nor could they. It’s all the identity of a single person, and is no more remarkable than the person who claims to be both a businessman and a painter. Median systems or OSDD-1a can present with facets that have their own sense of self and behavior yet are all parts of one person, and some identify as nonhuman. We feel that this is what at least a few people are trying to describe when talking about a “kin system”, or that they may be mistaking other spiritual or psychological phenomena for otherkin. Whatever the case, it’s practically impossible to have a kin system, as kintypes cannot take control of a person, have no personal agency, and otherkin is a personal identity a person is.

“System resets”: Systems resets are occasions where a system supposedly “resets”, old members suddenly ceasing to exist and completely new ones appearing in their place. The new headmates are distinct and unique from the previous ones, often having different identities and memories. We doubt this claim simply because we’ve never heard of systems being able to reset themselves in this manner outside of Tumblr. Although headmates may become dormant, this does not mean the system has suddenly reset. Of course, if some system members become dormant and new ones appear this may appear to be a system reset initially, but this isn’t really true, and at the end of the day the old system members are still there. There’s no mental “randomize” button a person can press to eliminate all headmates in a brain, and even if it were possible the person pressing the reset button would subsequently be eliminated too, not just the people not fronting. Amnesia of varying forms can cause someone to be blocked off or forget they’re part of a system for a time, but these are temporary, not done consciously and do not change a system or it’s members outright.

There’s just no way to make the brain naturally and permanently delete a large portion of it’s memory, associations, identifications and those who call it home. “Mental illness systems”: Not to be confused with systems who may be mentally ill or have mental illness, mental illness systems are systems that originate from a mental illness. For example, someone may claim to have a system/be plural due to borderline personality disorder, an unrelated condition. We’re skeptical, if not outright dismissive of this claim because generally plurality doesn’t come from mental illness at all! It can be a symptom of some mental illnesses (like DID, OSDD), but generally plurality originates from forces outside of mental illness, like trauma, being born that way, or whathaveyou. A traumatic stressor or event isn’t a mental illness, and while some mental illnesses do invoke dissociation in people, they function a certain way, and generally will not cause a plural presentation by themselves. Schizophrenia is not going to present as obsessive compulsive disorder, for example, nor will any other mental illness present as plurality. You can be wired for plurality from an early age, or have been made that way through trauma or other factors, but a mental illness isn’t going to make you plural innately.

Kin systems, system resets and mental illness systems are not possible. They appear to be very new ideas and misinterpretations of how plurality, otherkin, or mental illness and the brain works. Plurality may not be as well studied as the community would like it to be, but we do know enough about it, other groups and psychology to reason out certain claims or assertions about how it works.