#crime.txt

[orange-orchard-system]

Small Annoyances as a Polyfragmented System

There are certain patterns and events that we see in our life (mainly in system spaces) that get under our skin as a polyfrag system that smaller systems don't seem to be able to relate to. In an attempt to spread information on what it's like to be a polyfrag system – because goodness knows it's hard to find that – we've created this list of those annoyances, along with examples and explanations of why we find them annoying. Although, this turned into a vent post by the end, so... you have been warned!

Disclaimer: this post mainly applies to our personal experiences. We're sure that other polyfrag systems (and probably other large systems) may be able to relate to some of the things here, but you don't have to relate to any or all of them to be a real polyfrag system.

Polyfragmented Annoyances:

Most system tips do not work with our system because they're based in having a small member count. Anything that starts with "Have every system member..." is a no-go, because it is impossible for us to include every system member in system activities. There's a bunch of people in dormancy, whole sidesystems that we've barely explored, and even counting only the members we know could potentially participate, that's still hundreds of people to go through. It's not gonna work out. "Every system member" is not an achievable goal.

Blurring and other identity confusion happens a lot more often than you'd think, since a lot of us are fragments or otherwise not "full" headmates. When you don't check all the boxes to be a fully independent system member and constantly need at least one other member around to get even basic stuff done, it can be easy to lose track of where the line between you and another system member is.

On that note, co-fronting is a necessity and people outside the system (whether system or singlet) don't seem to understand that very often. We need to have multiple people in front – our system is not designed to have only one person alone controlling the body and aware of what's going on. Whereas most other systems experience negative side effects if they have too many headmates fronting, we more often experience negative side effects if not enough headmates front, and that can create a lot of estrangement when the former is usually the only example of fronting arrangement issues you can find. In addition, people outside the system (mostly singlets, but some systems too) don't seem to understand the implications of "We usually/almost always have a crowded front." Any interactions you have with one of us are going to be overseen, filtered through, and influenced by everyone else in front; if you're building a relationship* with one of us, you're probably building a relationship with several others, too.

Having to do so much more work to keep track of everyone. Organizing headmates by sidesystem, subsystem, etc can be a hassle, and system mapping becomes a lot more difficult when you've got a lot of people to include in your map. You not only have to frequently register new members in things such as Pluralkit and SimplyPlural, but you have to update that data as they learn more about themselves and the system develops, so we end up taking hours to just sit down and go through as many headmates as we can. Simply put, keeping any records of our system is so much more complicated because we're polyfragmented, even if it's just something basic like writing down everyone's names.

Introjects often face a name struggle that they wouldn't if we were a smaller system. Because of how often we get multiple introjects of the same character or person, every introject is expected to take up some kind of nickname so they can be more easily identified and identity issues aren't too frequent, which is its own troublesome process. Especially when we see small systems who don't need to do this... it can make us a bit jealous at times.

It's difficult to find anything about systems of our size. Most systems on platforms like TikTok and YouTube are small, so it's hard to find videos about larger systems. Most systems in fiction, whether they're positive representation or the usual stock-horror serial killer stereotype, have a small number of members so audiences don't get lost or confused. Even within the system community in settings like on Tumblr, it can be hard to find other large systems talking about their own experiences and how they differ from smaller systems – in fact, the experiences of small systems are seen as the "right" experiences in some cases, so if a large system goes outside of that, they are seen as "faking," "promoting unhealthy behavior," etc. We just want to find posts about us that go beyond one-sentence shout-outs, c'mon.

Related to that second-to-last bit, common polyfrag experiences are treated as automatic signs of "faking." Oh, you have a lot of headmates? Faker! You have more than one introject of or from the same source? Faker! You gain new members easily? Faker! Your headmates have highly specific roles? Faker! Some headmates don't have roles because others already handle those jobs? Faker! You often have multiple people in co-front or co-con? Faker! JFC, why is my existence automatically seen as a lie?! A lot of these fakeclaimers supposedly "support" polyfrag systems, too, but then the second a polyfrag system is, y'know, polyfrag, oooohhhh noooo, time to write a call-out about how they're "obviously faking it."

*"Relationship" is used as a general term here and does not refer solely to romantic relationships.

In conclusion, being polyfragmented comes with a lot of small annoyances that aren't helped by how, even in system spaces, we're often misunderstood, mocked, and fakeclaimed. It'd be nice to find more content or resources about/for polyfrag systems, but I'm not holding my breath.

[professor-beryl]

@rxsethxrned said cursed crime rights so i’m going to

eat my boss’s fingers

[hadessaint]

it's been a long night... "I bet."

[secrets-of-forgotten-fruit]

well, we discovered a file on her computer named crime.txt

[orange-orchard-system]

I love you plural joy! I love you plurals who make art and moodboards and playlists of your headmates! I love you plurals who make your own pride merch! I love you plurals who make plural OCs! I love you plurals who write about plurality! I love you plurals with plural headcanons and AUs! I love you plurals who buy or make things for your headmates! I love you plurals who enjoy being plural without shame! I love you plurals who don't want to hide who they are! I love you plurals who treat their headmates like friends and family! I love you plurals who like gaining new headmates! I love you plurals who play games with their headmates! I love you plurals who talk out loud to your headmates! I love you plurals with fun stories about your plurality! I love you plurals!! I love you plural joy!!

[orange-orchard-system]

Some recent stuff online has gotten me thinking... The system community really doesn't take fragments into consideration often, does it? Especially when fakeclaiming. A lot of "this headmate doesn't make sense so they must be faking" claims would just fall apart if you consider the headmate in question as a fragment.

"you don't know anything about this person/character, you can't have introjected them –" Fragments don't always have a lot of depth to them. Introjected fragments can be just the idea of a person/character, and not all that like them, which means you don't need to know a lot in order to introject them.

"that's so specific, why would you split a headmate for that task –" It's common for fragments to have highly specific tasks and roles. Moreover, that role may be the extent of their existence; brains don't always care about making incredibly complex brain folk when they need something done.

"why can't this headmate do X alone –" Because they're a fragment. Fragments can struggle with autonomy, especially if they have highly specific roles and aren't prepared for tasks outside those roles.

"why don't you get overwhelmed with so many headmates in front –" Because they're fragments. Fragments often front in groups to get things done, since it's hard for them to do things alone.

"this headmate feels like a badly written character –" Yes, fragments often don't have a lot of complexity and/or depth to them, and can end up sounding like an NPC in a video game if you try to talk to them. You cannot expect fragments – which often lack in some areas of complex thinking, self-awareness, autonomy, or ability to process a wide range of experiences – to behave as you would expect a "full headmate" to.

"what do you mean this headmate is just an emotion –" Fragment.

"what do you mean this headmate is just your passion for x –" Fragment.

"what do you mean this headmate is just –" Fragments often just have one or two things to them!! I get they're hard to understand in some cases but what do you think a fragment is?!

If y'all keep ignoring fragments and trying to force them to adhere to the same (sometimes ridiculous) standards you have of any random "full" headmate lest you accuse them of faking, I'm coming for your knees.

[orange-orchard-system]

Shout out to endogenic systems! Y'all get a lot of hate and do not deserve it. Don't believe the cruel things people say about you – you are great, you are fantastic, and you have a place in this community. Take care of yourselves and block the assholes who say otherwise.

[orange-orchard-system]

Shout-out to all the system members with really specific roles!

The ones who run the dishwasher. The ones who take the body's meds. The ones who just exist as a work persona, never mind performing the system's job. The ones who suppress or stop negative/self-hating/intrusive thoughts. The ones who set the table. The ones who dress the body. The ones who put down the phone because it's late and you need to go to sleep. The ones who wash the body's hair. The ones who ask strangers for help or directions because everyone else is too nervous to. The ones who make dessert. The ones who cash the checks. The ones who fold the clothes. The ones who brush the body's teeth. The ones who set the alarm clocks. And so many more.

The ones who never expect to see themselves on a positivity post about system roles. Thank you for all you do for your system!

[orange-orchard-system]

Might be edging close to syscourse with this post, but I find it rather unfortunate that feeling positive or just not feeling much of anything at all when it comes to gaining new headmates is seen as "unhealthy" at best and "fetishizing DID" at worst. Like, my dude, this is just my way of making my new system members feel welcome; I wouldn't say it's "unhealthy" of me to take steps and hold viewpoints that help me achieve functional multiplicity. And I think it's rather rude to say the way I accept my polyfragmented DID – and the fact that it comes with having/gaining lots of system members – is "fetishizing DID." What's next? You gonna tell me that because I've accepted my ADHD and the way I'm easily distracted/forgetful, I'm "fetishizing ADHD"? Must I publicly languish and declare my hatred for myself and my life every time I lose track of time for you to not see me as a faker?

It's just ridiculous, in my opinion. "Unhealthy" my ass – refusing to hate myself for parts of my life that aren't going away any time soon is the healthiest thing I've ever done.

[orange-orchard-system]

Kinda feeling the sentiment "I wish I was normal," but not like, in the "I must change to be normal" way. More like the "Normal should include and accommodate me" way. Why should being accepted come at the cost of changing or suppressing who I am and fitting ridiculous, often unhealthy standards? Why shouldn't I be able to expect to not be hated or estranged for being myself? That sounds like basic, common courtesy that "normal" should have, but somehow I'm the one who has to suck it up whenever someone's uncomfortable with who I am, instead of collectively agreeing with any bystanders seeing this shit go down that hey, hating someone for something intrinsic to their life is pretty fucked up. I don't want to "be normal" by conforming to society's current standards; I want to "be normal" through society no longer othering me.

[orange-orchard-system]

Hello, factives!! You are cool! I hope you're doing well! Remember to eat, drink, and get enough rest! This is your reminder post to unclench your jaw, relax your shoulders, take your meds, stretch, take a deep breath, and do anything else that might make your day just that little bit better! You're gonna be a-okay, got that? Okay now go out and have a great day!!

[orange-orchard-system]

News Summary: "The blind woman who switched personalities and could suddenly see"

We recently discovered this article on how disability can affect different headmates through a post by @sophieinwonderland, and as we like to summarize news articles on plurality for others to have an easier time understanding them, we decided to do that with this article, too! Keep in mind this summary will be influenced by what we found most interesting and important, and you should refer to the news article itself if you want details.

(Heads up before we begin summarizing – the language in the article when referring to the system is very different from what most of the plural community would use, so we substituted those words for more commonly used terms, such as "headmates" instead of "personalities." The base story has not been affected by these changes.)

Here is our summary as we understand the article:

A woman named "B.T." (presumably named as such to stay as anonymous as possible) was in an accident when she was a young woman, and was diagnosed with blindness due to brain damage following this accident. She also has Dissociative Identity Disorder.

As she was seeking treatment for her DID, she discovered that some of her headmates (referred to as "personalities" in the text) could regain sight when fronting, while others were left blind. Over time, more headmates regained their sight, until there were only two who were blind when fronting.

Doctors wanted to know how this happened, and came to the conclusion that her blindness was a psychological problem, not a physiological one. The initial misdiagnosis came from an assumption that, because there was no damage to her eyes, her blindness must be caused by brain damage from the accident.

(Side note not very relevant to this story, but B.T.'s headmates vary in the languages they can speak – some spoke only in English, while others spoke only in German, and some could speak in both. Just a little interesting tidbit about headmates and language!)

The story goes into more detail from there.

A few years into psychotherapy was when B.T.'s sight began to return. It was at first limited to one headmate, who could recognize words but not individual letters, but over time she recovered more, to the point most of her headmates could see most of the time. This is what cast doubt on the initial diagnosis of brain damage causing B.T.'s vision loss.

The possibility of B.T. lying about her disability was disproven through an EEG test, which showed no brain activity that would indicate sight while her blind headmates were fronting.

The current theory is that something related to the accident caused B.T.'s brain to remove the ability to see as a coping mechanism. This may be because in intensely emotional situations such as a traumatic accident, some people may wish to become blind, so that they do not need to see. The brain already does something similar under other circumstances, such as keeping someone from seeing double by removing one of the images they see.

The article goes on to discuss the controversial history of DID as a diagnosis, and how some don't believe it exists. The doctors involved in this case argue against this belief, saying that their findings show that DID can be related to one's biology. Another doctor, uninvolved with the case directly, says that this case study shows that DID "is a legitimate psycho-physiologically based syndrome of psychological distress."

In conclusion: A woman with DID had the cause of her blindness misdiagnosed, which was only discovered when some of her headmates gained the ability to see while others remained blind. The case study of this event supports the idea that DID is a real disorder that has both psychological and physiological effects on whoever has it.

This news story was published on November 24th in 2015 by The Washington Post, and was written by Sarah Kaplan. We hope you enjoyed this news summary!

[orange-orchard-system]

Lots of systems have already talked about how it can be funny to have protectors, caregivers, etc. who don't fit the expected "look" of those roles. But what is also funny... is when someone gets adopted into a family dynamic within your system that doesn't look like it would go together. Some guy turned up and started acting like a dad to one of us so we've officially decided he's also the dad of the rest of this group of siblings. Four for one special. And that special includes a non-human fascinated with being in a human body, two random teenagers (of very different flavors), and a subsystem who have decided to be counted as one headmate whenever it comes to their in-sys family/familial relationships. None of these folks look like they would naturally be family except in the wildest of fantasy TV shows.

[orange-orchard-system]

Our relationship with this blog is like walking out of the room going "okay, okay, I'm done", only to storm back in with "and ANOTHER THING –". And every time we storm back in, we're talking about a completely different subject than we were before

[orange-orchard-system]

I get it's often done for the plot, but often in system stories I see this idea that headmates have to give their name to someone, if they're fronting and out to that person as a system. This isn't true. If you don't want to give your name, you don't have to! That's personal information and you may not feel comfortable sharing it with someone outside the system (or even inside the system), which is completely fine. If they need a name, they can use a collective or body name to address you with. You do not have to give your name to anyone you're not comfortable with giving it to.

[orange-orchard-system]

🎶If you wanna be my lover

You gotta get with –🎵

Like at least two other headmates. You don't have to befriend all of us or anything but you need to get the approval of at least one protector and one caregiver before we date. Yeah, it's to make sure you actually accept our plurality and don't just accept it in theory as long as it never actually impacts my life. Rules are rules, dude.