#external communication

[orange-orchard-system]

If you're starting external communication with your system (communicating with them through external means, such as video, notes, a diary, etc), the most useful tip I think I can give to you is to say whatever comes to mind, and don't hold yourself/ves to some strict format.

Communication is not just about making up for any amnesia you may have between headmates. It's also a way to get to know your headmates better, to build up trust between you and provide a basis for healthy systemhood (whether you choose to keep things like that or pursue final fusion in the future). While a format can help for recording whatever information is most important, it doesn't leave a lot of room for any of that trust stuff I just mentioned. If you have a format that helps you, great! But don't be afraid to add some of your own notes or sentiments, or reach out to other headmates. Otherwise, how else are you meant to build a relationship with them? You are not secret agents who will never see each other again after this one mission; professional reports can only get you so far. Tell a joke! Remark on something you liked! Vent a bit! Say whatever comes to mind! At the end of the day, you can think of it like this – you are not just recording your actions, but your thoughts, too, and when you're trying to make of record of things you might forget, the latter is much easier to forget than the former.

This isn't meant as a critique of formats for recording memories or talking to headmates or whatever – those things work for a reason, and if they help you, you probably shouldn't drop them without good reason. But just remember that external communication is about more than formats for recording the daily goings-on in your life. It's about communication, and all that communication can bring.

[pluralprompts]

Prompt #1,566

"Why are we staying up?"

"Our pajamas are in the dryer. I want to wear them when they're freshly done, so they're still warm."

"That was a surprisingly direct answer."

"You asked a direct question."

[multiplicity-positivity]

Here’s some positivity for systems who only communicate externally!

There is a plethora of ways in which different systems communicate with their members. While many systems my be able to have internal conversations with each other, that’s not the case for all systems! So here’s to those who only communicate with their headmates externally!

Shoutout to system members who are surprised to find notes left for them by other headmates!

Shoutout to systems who have a wide variety of tools used to communicate externally!

Shoutout to systems who communicate externally with one primary method!

Shoutout to systems who are curious about using notebooks, whiteboards, notes apps, documents, and other common external ways to communicate!

Shoutout to systems who get creative and think outside the box to find ways to communicate externally!

Shoutout to systems who are happy with their system’s level and methods of communication and don’t have a strong desire to communicate internally!

Shoutout to systems who want more internal communication, but can’t communicate this way for any reason!

Shoutout to systems who are able to nurture in-system relationships and forge strong bonds while only communicating externally!

Shoutout to systems who often feel left out of discussions with a heavy emphasis on internal communication!

Shoutout to headmates who are messengers, managers, or otherwise help facilitate their system’s external communication!

Regardless of how your system communicates, each member is deserving of kindness and respect! It’s okay if your system can only communicate externally or even chooses to exclusively communicate externally. There’s no one right way to be a system or to communicate with your headmates!

We hope that y’all can continue to learn more about yourselves and each other and grow closer together as a collective! Know that we’re rooting for you, and that you will always have a special place in the plural community just the way you are! Please do your best to take care of yourselves and each other, and thank you so much for reading!

[barren-lands-trainer]

the hell does "threat level" mean? pokemon arent threatenin in the slightest

@ray-zor-pkmn

...what rock have you been living under? Pokemon are fucking terrifying when they want to be, man. I consider myself lucky Grapefruit was trusting enough for me to treat his wing when I found him, otherwise I think I'd be ash right now.

[disparate-traveller]

Sketch one of your friends

Well I don't really uh. have any friends besides like... Cyn. So here. I drew Cyn.

[defunct-wandering]

Uhm hello? Uhm .did I turn this on right.. anyone nearby?

[selvesdiscovery]

i understand if this is out of your wheelhouse but do you have advice for starting communication when your host is 100% in denial?

i'm too worried that if i switch i won't get to front properly for years but screaming into the void as internal communication hasn't been working. i know that if i try to talk to the host while host's in front i'll just be ignored and waved off as impulsive thoughts or something; i'm unaware of anyone except me and the host; and i'm officially out of ideas

(in case it matters host uses no pronouns)

Hello Anon! Thank you for reaching out.

I'm not sure how much we will be able to help you, considering how different our internal experience is from what you're describing.

However, we might be able to provide some general advice on communication.

When internal communication seems impossible, and denial is rampant, it's a good option to pursue external communication, especially in the form of a journal. You can write your name, an introduction, your memories, perspectives, feelings, interests, and anything else important to you in said journal, as well as keeping track of experiences that you& are prone to denying. You can also write instructions to more difficult or denial prone headmates to help guide them to the acceptance you seem to already have. If you're very worried about not being able to front again, I'd say so in the journal as well, so that your host can be aware and act accordingly to give you the autonomy you desire.

We've done this in the past, and it worked for some time, but I'll have to warn you that this may fall flat if your host or another headmate is unwilling to cooperate or completely averse to the idea of a journal. At that point, more obvious and difficult to avoid communication like straightforward sticky notes or the SimplyPlural chat or front comments could work instead.

If all else fails, consider going through a trusted friend to pass messages along. This method can be a bit clunky, but it's hard for a denial prone headmate to completely ignore the words of an outerworld acquaintance.

In general, what I'd say is that when internal communication fails, you need to look to external means to get your point across. There are lots of resources online to help as well, though they're usually geared towards DID specifically; Googling "External Communication DID" or "System Communication DID" can give you some more opinions.

[granulesofsand]

It’s fairly easy to acquire an ouija board (it is ‘a’ because the ‘ou’ sounds like ‘w’).

It’s fairly difficult to learn internal communication.

So:

you take the ouija board, possibly with other bodies if you don’t think alters count towards the minimum players

you ask the questions as if it were a spirit on the other end

and let your body move the planchette as they answer

Is this efficient? No.

But it is novel, and that might be enough to convince your body doubles.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE YOUR SQQ HE LOOKS SO FUCKINH DONE WITH LIFE

The recipe for SQQ is: calm on the outside, screaming on the inside.

[probablybadrpgideas]

It’s very ironic that the best way to spark chaos in the D&D fandom is to ask people to define what “lawful” is in the context of alignment.

[autisminabox]

Sometimes I wonder why people are so quick to think autistic ppl are evil soul sucking demon aliens or whatever

Then I look at WH theories (clearly made by neurotypical teenagers) and it’s like. “OMG WALLY DARLING EVIL SATAN WORSHIPPER CONFIRMED” and the linked audio is just either obvious symptoms of autism or him panicking

Like I really find it hard to believe Clown would follow such a cliché ending to children’s mascot horror by making (mascot) be super dangerous evil evil bad guy 3000. Especially after the sheer amount of love and precision they put into all of it. I don’t think it would be satisfying if Wally was just Super Manipulator Murder & Posses Man

[soaked-ghost]

2 (two) strips of a comic I'm not planning to finish but I thought they looked good on their own

[pluralprompts]

Prompt #1,104

Person A clenched the rim of the sink, glaring at their reflection – but despite the intensity of their expression, their words came out gentler, more hesitant than they intended. "Are you there? Can you hear me?"

There were a few seconds where nothing happened. Person A took the respite to catch their breath, ducking their head, gritting their teeth, and –

'Are you talking to me?'

– and jerking their head up faster than a puppet on a string.

Their mouth hadn't moved.

No one else was in this bathroom with them.

But that was definitely a voice.

"You're actually in my head," they breathed, as something between excitement and terror crept through their veins. "I – I have a voice in my head. That's – I can hear you."

'You've been hearing me for a while. Did you not notice that I was around? I really thought you would've started questioning what was up with how your thoughts didn't sound at all like how you'd phrase things. Or that the time we disagreed about spaghetti would have tipped you off, at least.'

Person A choked on a laugh and stumbled back from the sink to lean against the wall, instead. Holy shit. This was really happening.

[multiplicity-positivity]

hi! hope you dont mind the ask.. i tend to get rambly. so, apologies in advance.

um, i have a lot of trouble conversing with my headmates, partly due to being frontstuck near-constantly, and being effectively blind and deaf in my own head. i have aphantasia and do not even hesr my own voice in my head, let alone anyone elses. i know theyre there, i can figure out who they are usually and i can even talk to them occasionally, but its very hard and takes a lot of effort. very hard to be sure i am plural when i cant talk to them so easy, and i never really see any other systems like us..

im not sure what im looking for by sending this ask.. sorry. i like your blog by the way.

Hey, we don’t have aphantasia, so unfortunately I don’t think we can give any aphantasia-specific advice. I’m really sorry about that!

But I’ll go ahead an link a post we’ve written in the past on establishing contact with headmates.

When we were first getting to know each other as a system, we pretty much had to rely on external communication and outside support in order to get in touch with each other. So maybe for y’all it might help to focus on communicating externally as well?

Also if you’re communicating already with some small level of success, it may just be necessary to keep trying and practicing. Internal communication is a skill like any other, and for many systems, the more they practice, the better they can become at maintaining a dialogue inside.

Of course, aphantasia probably complicates the dialogue aspect, but even feelings and vibes could be considered communication. And having some external avenues to talk (journal, discord server, google doc, whiteboard, etc) may help supplement your system’s communication overall. Some systems exclusively communicate externally - it’s not weird or invalidating to connect with your headmates in this way.

Even if this response isn’t exactly what you were looking for, we hope it helps a bit. Thanks for reaching out!

[barren-lands-trainer]

Hewwo??? You seem kinda lost! @touya-san

Uh, not exactly lost since I have my starmap, but I'm definitely confused right now...

[disparate-traveller]

let the quilava commit crimes!!

I mean I can't exactly stop her. She's a 50 pound weasel capable of spitting fire from her mouth.