#plural definitions

[multiplicity-positivity]

Defining Terms

This post aims to define some common terms we use on this blog in our own words. We’re just one system, and we’re always learning and growing, so if any of our internal definitions for these words are wrong in any way, feel free to correct us.

These definitions are not organized in any particular way - sorry about that!

Plural - the experience of existing as more than one. Sharing your mind with multiple beings. Living, feeling, and experiencing the world as multiple.

Multiple - a synonym for plural.

System - a collective of headmates who share one body.

Community/Space - the plural community and plural spaces, especially those that exist online or here on Tumblr!

Headmate - A system member. May also be referred to as “alter,” “sysmate,” or “part,” but we use “headmate” in general or the specific language preferred by the systems we engage with when we’re answering questions or offering advice.

Alter - A system member, part, or headmate. We use this term exclusively for members of systems with complex dissociative disorders.

Introject - A system member whose identity is based on something or someone outside of their system.

Factive - An introject who is based on a real person.

Fictive - An introject who is based on a fictional character.

System origins - the catalyst that caused a system to form. Systems may form for a wide variety of reasons!

Headspace/inner world - an internal, visualized space where headmates can interact with each other. It is not a physical space, but it may feel like it, and events can occur inside that have lasting effects.

Dissociation - disconnection as a symptom, be it from the world, one’s thoughts, memories, feelings, actions, sense of self, body, or other headmates.

Fronting - when a headmate is able to perceive, interact with, and make choices in real life

Cofronting - when two or more headmates are fronting at once

Coconscious - when a headmate is able to perceive the world and potentially influence decisions, but does not have the agency to interact directly or make concrete choices

Blending/merging - when two or more headmates temporarily combine into a single entity

Fusion - where two or more headmates combine permanently or semi-permanently into a single entity

Blurry - often associated with dissociation, when a system is having difficulties determining who they are or who is fronting

Are there any terms you’ve seen us use on this blog that you’d like us to define? Let us know and we will gladly update this list.

[plural-affirmations]

may i ask what a polyfragmented system is? /genq

Hey! So, a polyfragmented system is a system with very complex structures, and the presence of fragment alters.

Previously, the definition was "any system with over 100 headmates", but not every system that fits that is polyfragmented (they may choose a different label, such as polyplural), and not every system that IS polyfragmented is that large.

We only have about 85-90ish alters that I know of, including fragments, but according to our system manager we actually have about 120, so we'd fit the parameters either way.

Here's what Pluralpedia says:

(Don't have the spoons for an image description, would appreciate if someone could help me out 🙏🏻)

Hope this was useful! :D ❤️ /gen

🖤💜💙💚💛

[evergreensys]

hey! i dont know much about willogenic systems. it seems similar to maladaptive daydreaming, could you explain the difference? im confused.

Hey, no worries, I definitely can! /gen

Well, see, I think it's important to go over definitions, first:

1. Willogenic

Any system or headmate that was created intentionally.

2. Maladaptive Daydreaming [Disorder] (MaDD)

Prolonged daydreaming that has progressed to the point of being a coping mechanism interfering with daily life.

Some people can be plural because of their MaDD, due to their para (daydreamed character) becoming sentient and turning into a parative (headmate who used to be a para) of some sort, but this isn't the case for everyone who experiences immersive daydreaming.

That is not the only way someone can be willogenic, though. Willogenic is more of a non-specific umbrella term that covers any created being in a plural system.

For example, we have a willogenic headmate, because for our system, we already had the ability to split people off unintentionally. So, it took a bit of extra effort, but we were able to get the "basics" down for what kind of characteristics we wanted in a future host (which was the reason we wanted someone created to begin with).

Also, not everyone that has paratives consider themselves willogenic; there is a separate term, paragenic, that covers that. Mostly because (from what I understand), you can have paratives that develop without you meaning for them to.

So, to recap: the two terms can definitely overlap, but they're not technically the same.

I hope this helps! :D

[foullittleberry]

Normalizing loving plurality. Not even your own.

Normalize treating new potential headmates in other systems like a default positive until otherwise. Normalize hearing "I think there's a new guy in here" and saying "Wow! Do you wanna talk to them?" instead of "Oh, no :(" And, of course, normalize treating new headmates who front out of nowhere with no idea where they are with kindness, patience, and understanding. Normalize being a rock they can stand on while they get their footing.

Normalize being frustrated you can't physically hold all your friends in a separate system the way you might hold a non-plural friend group. Normalize adoring your friend's headmates. Normalize being happy for them when they talk about their plurality.

Normalize loving plurality.

[eyrieofsynapses]

ok, fiction podcast/audio drama fans, new game: put in the tags the last fiction podcast you listened to, the song stuck in your head right now, and your favorite beverage. go

[thecreepycrawlersss]

it is genuinely the funniest fucking shit when a sysmed comes onto OUR posts, fakeclaiming us, being a giant piece of shit, and then we reply with literal PARAGRAPHS of proof that endogenic plurality is real, and then they block us 💀💀 like aww, did da wittle swysmwed weawize tat they hav no pwoof ?? awwwww 🥺🥺🥺

[plain text : aww, did the little sysmed realize that they have no proof ?? awwwww 🥺🥺]

like im sorry do NOT be commenting on our posts if you dont wanna catch these hands (and by hands, we mean peer reviewed, published papers about non disordered plurality from respected doctors that specialize in dissociation, OSDDID, and trauma)

so uhhh,,,, if you wanna get a sysmed to leave you alone, just tell them about dr. eric yarbrough, or dr's nijenhuis and van der hart, or the ICD-11, or the DSM-V-TR, or dr richard loewenstein, or a paper published by zarah eve, kim heyes, and sarah party called "Conceptualizing multiplicity spectrum experiences: A systematic review and thematic synthesis" ( https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cpp.2910 ) or the acedemic article dating all the way back to 1991 that talks about non-disordered plurality (ross. 1991), or like. just reference the lived experiences of hundreds of people and ask them why they think their opinion is more valid then peoples lived experiences

if anyone wants us to make a post compiling all the sources we can find that prove endogenic plurality exists just let us know and we'll try !!! it'll definitely take us a while though lol

[editedantiendoposts]

fakeclaimers when alters act like source : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when alters dont act like source : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when high headcount : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when low headcount : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when you dont remember ur trauma : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when you DO remember ur trauma : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when an alter dates someone with a different source : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when an alter dates someone with the same source and ISNT dating just bc of said source (guys this CAN happen btw,,,) : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when you tell them that no matter WHAT fakeclaiming does more harm than good : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when factives : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when fictives : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when brainmades : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when you tell them there is more to the disorder than just alters : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when you act traumatized because you are : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when you are publicly talking abt being a system : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when you arent publicly talking abt being a system : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when you dont tell them everything abt ur system : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when you trauma dump to them bc they asked for proof : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

fakeclaimers when you dont wanna talk to them : 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬

[wiisagi-maiingan]

The issue with learning an indigenous language is that a lot of resources are very patchwork and more focused on teaching people phrases and individual words instead of the grammar and other rules of the language, so sometimes you start learning a language from one or two sources and then you find a more comprehensive one and realize that you've been messing up the conjugation or pluralization or whatever on words for ages without realizing.

I'm feeling very

[pubbiee]

Shoutout to introjects who’s fandom consistently sees them as a caregiver when in system they’re actually a regressor

Shoutout to introjects who’s fandom consistently sees them as a regressor when they’re actually a caregiver in system

And shoutout anyone in between, I see you, remember that you’re your own valid person and other peoples baseless notions don’t define you and your experience

[darkmagenugget]

They're getting ready for something.

Tuxes made by Ashe

Dresses made by @iristhedarkwitch

[plural-affirmations]

oh, and also, what is “splitting” and “integration”, and how would they work in a median system?

Ok, so, "splitting" is the system function that results in a new headmate. For example, if I had a system of 2 people, and then I or my headmate "split", I would have 3 people in the system afterwards.

From my understanding, it refers to the unconscious and unintentional act of having a headmate "split off" of someone else. It's frequently brought on by stress or similar things. If you were to create a headmate on purpose, that would be a different thing entirely.

For median systems, that might look like gaining a new facet.

Integration, on the other hand, is the exact opposite. It's the function that results in the barriers between headmates being broken down. That might also result in fusion, which is when 2 or more headmates permanently combine.

Some people use the terms "integration" and "fusion" synonymously, but they're technically different processes, even if they're similar.

In a median system, for integration, barriers between facets would be broken down. For fusion, that would be 2 or more facets fusing together permanently.

Basically, you can take almost any information about systems/being plural, and mentally replace the word "headmate/alter" with "facet" for median systems.

Wishing you a very, very good day, and please come back if you need anything else! :) /gen

🖤💜💙💚💛

[startagainaprologue]

im not rlly hung up over it at all but i still think. that one person (who. had a whole other. set of takes that also were very???) who was. almost definitely vagueposting about my syscovery at the time and essentially trying to say that tumblr asks were. force pluraling me? very funny. what are you talking about

[pluralhottakes]

don't know if this is a hot take but a plural/system being non-traumagenic dosn't mean that they don't have trauma! it just means that trauma wasn't the cause of their plurality! they can still have trauma and be traumatized! many people forget that for some reason, especially anti-endos!

.

[your-fav-is-plural]

Tori from Solitaire (& Heartstopper & a few other books) has DID!!

I had a dream where she had DID and honestly yeah she would have DID so I decided to send this request. I love her and her 15 thousand mental disorders<3

Tori Spring from Solitaire has DID!

The most famous form of disordered plurality, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) is a condition listed in the DSM-V and ICD-11. It's the most severe dissociative disorder, wherein a diagnosis of DID makes any other diagnosis in that category null. DID is most known for its alters (or headmates), but it is much more complex than just having multiple individuals in one mind.

[the-alarm-system]

dear liberals, if the future isn’t plural, then why cyberpunk 2077 have a relicgenic system as the main characters? If the future isn’t plural then why did are V and Johnny in a in-sys relationship during the year 2077?

[syscultureis]

vent-y? system culture is realizing that you are not alone in your body halfway into figuring who you are as an individual, then realizing that you always were multiple and the only reason that you were able to be wild and adventurous before is because you were only three before.

that one barely saw the body as his and let you go wild bc he always projected his self outside the body, and the other is the yin to your yang - who would love to be wild and crazy right along side you - and you know that even if those two were born into different bodies, that you three would be inseparable still.

and then others appeared and now you can’t get a wild haircut and go blue anymore, and you can’t wear that pretty dress outside anymore, and you can’t do any of that anymore because you want to make sure everyone is decently comfortable, but it comes at the cost of your sense of wonder, and it makes the world dull.

I mourn the loss of being just three of us, when life outside of the stories was exciting and every day was something new.

I want that, but I know I will never have it back because of all the different options that block out my own. I miss my small system.

yet I wouldn’t give up the ones I have now. being a system is weird. And being a system can be a struggle.

.