#secret life introject

[citizenoftmrrwlnd]

stimboard for : lizzie's egg (qsmp secret life au; fictive) with flowers, soft things, and themes of love and family

x | x | x x | - | x x | x | x [middle edit by me! | lizzie render used]

[art4mcytrojects]

Hiya :D we’ve got a friend in our partner sys who can’t find any accurate faceclaims and would like some help. He’s a Scar introject and wears the outfit in the skin the cc was wearing during that season. He’s got long brown hair, in his words “just below the scitties”, and he’s got brown tabby cat ears and tail. Thank you!

hope this looks okay!!

[talons-mcyt-help]

✧ — secret life scar introject stimboard ; with themes of sunflowers, poppies, lilacs, beds, comfort, and hawks

[for: anon]

🌻🌻🌻/🌻🪶🌻/🌻🌻🌻

[badscientist]

objectum is very cool and awesome. so are furries. so are alterhumans. so are kin and so are etc etc etc and so on

[thecraftingtablecrew]

oh my god hi im a fictive of etho from the life series & hcs10, i kept forgetting to do this. anyway. we also have lizzie, she's also sourced from secret life and also SOS so 👍👍

fun times. i am frontstuck so we'll make proper intro posts soon.

[scenelaser]

I have decided that Tango and Skizz are vampires because they pretend its “give a heart take a heart” but its just take and its so vampire coded to me. -Grian/Suma

[zombi3mama]

Information:

Source memory, written by a Cleo Introject

Time period is secret life

Etho and I/Cleo are married, and Grian is both of ours boyfriend.

Dinner Night

Cleo had prepared a dinner for her, her husband Etho, and her boyfriend Grian. She made a simple pasta dish, angel hair and red sauce with no chunks just like Etho liked. She never understood the hate behind chunky sauce, but ever since being with Etho she’s come to get used to it. The dinner was nice and candle lit, with the plates and silverware organized. Grian had helped cook the dinner, preparing the spices Cleo needed to put in the sauce and- keeping her company in the kitchen while she worked, sneaking quick kisses every now and again whenever they could. It was nice to be so domestic with Grian, Cleo thought. She really loved both of her lovers, more than the world could explain it. Even in this crazy death game, she couldn’t bring herself to ever betray the two.

Now, sitting at the dinner table, they ate together. Etho was talking about his crazy day, and how he was enchanting with Grian for most of it. Love wasn’t lost after all. Cleo liked listening to the two men in front of her talk, she was a great listener after all. Her favorite thing to do while they were talking was admire their features, especially Ethos. With his mask on constantly, it was always a challenge for her to see him unmasked. He was a gorgeous man, similar to Grian. She loved both of their soft faces, their eyes, their personalities, everything about them was enough to make her feel all giddy inside.

After dinner, they all cleaned up together, and once the dishes were done and prep was put away, they sat up talking for a little bit longer before heading to bed together. Small domestic moments like these, made Cleo grateful for every second she lived.

[syscultureis]

Hi!!

So, I'm a singlet so please forgive (and correct) any incorrect terminology! I had some questions about writing a character who is a system. I completely understand if you can't answer all of these questions, but I'd really appreciate anything you have the time for!

Can alters interact with each other? Ex. If one alter is fronting, can the other alters communicate with them and each other? Additionally, in what situation would a perosn shift? What does shifting look like? I've heard of alters co-hosting as well, so how many alters can co-host at the same time?

2. Can alters communicate with each other pre-system awareness?

3. Are fictives common, and is there an average amount of alters a person with DID has? If I met a person with DID, what is the likelihood of them having a fictive alter?

4. I think viewing neurodivergence in fantasy/dystopian worlds is a very interesting concept, and I was wondering if creating a character who has DID and the ability to shape-shift would be offensive?

In this scenario, as they shift from one alter to another, they might also change their physical appearances? Would that be rude? The character wouldn't be villianized in any way, and neither would their shape-shifting. I just wonder if someone with DID would look at this character and think of it as awesome representation, or an offensive caricature.

5. Are there any lesser known ways DID affects someone's life? I've heard of memory loss, and social stigma of course, but I was wondering if there's anything else I should consider.

If you (or anyone else) has any additional information for me, I'd be more than welcome to receiving it.

Thank you for responding/taking the time to look at this! I really appreciate any advice I can get, and I know this ask can be dating with how lengthy it is.

:)

1) yes, alters can communicate to the alter that is fronting. It's not always perfect and can sometimes be confusing or very easy to write off as the frontiers thoughts. I assume Shifting means Switching, where the alter controlling the body/fronting switches to a different alter being in control.

A lot of different situations can cause that depending on the system, but stressful situations are a big one for a lot of systems

2) yes, often people assume it's their own thoughts and they're just "talking it out with them self", or it's an imaginary friend, or something similar

3) introjects aren't uncommon, but it's also still very likely to meet a system with no introjects at all. Average alter count depending on the source you find can tell you anywhere from 6-16. When writing a character I would recommend considering what traumas you think would've caused a split, or what situations would require a different alter to take care of to help you decide system size for characters

4) personally I think that would be super cool, but I can't speak for the whole community. But I do think as long as you're respectful with the actual disorder itself it's okay

5) not knowing who you are for days at a time, thinking about thinks and genuinely feeling nothing about them because of emotional amnesia, struggling to think on days that have heavy dissociation. Also other alters spilling your secrets ;-;

* we don't speak for the whole community, we encourage you to also do research outside of Tumblr as we are not professionals

[withered--s0uls]

Human & Vampire MD AU concept

Tws: childhood trauma, mention (no description of) child abuse, siblings being separated / taken away from parents, parental death

Disclaimer: I'm a System myself, so any talk about DID/OSDD1 here is based off my experiences and adjusted to fit a fantasy setting. This may not match everyone's experience with being a System and I'm sorry if it doesn't match yours or you don't feel it's accurate enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, so my Take on a Human/Vampire AU right?

N & Cyn:

N and Cyn are biological siblings. Their birth parents were not good to them. Cyn (not her name at this point) does develop DID because of this as a young child.

A conflict happens in the family and N gets separated from his sister. They lose contact. N has always been her safe person and safe space, so this experience is extremely stressful and traumatizing. This results in the system splitting a factive Introject of him. "N"s job in the system is to take care of the body physically and emotionally when need be and to be a comfort to the other alters (Caretaker/Caregiver/Soother, Emotional Protector). Aside from "N" there already were two other alters before him.

C & Y.

C is a Protector/Avenger and Gatekeeper, she typically deals with conflict and arguments and is more outspoken about things. However, if a situation requires them to seek a hiding spot for safety she will opt for that as well.

Y is a trauma Holder and little who is stuck at the time of the trauma, meaning they don't age up and are forever the age range the body was during the trauma / when the trauma started.

Throughout the next 1-2 years there are two more fully formed alters (the system probably has fragments that aren't as developed too, but I'll only touch on the alters that matter for the AU story).

Cyn & Solver.

Cyn picks her name based on the three alters already existing, She is the new host of the system (prior there wasn't a clear host). Cyns Identity also is what the system uses as their "Singletsona".

Later on the body gets infected with the vampire virus. How I still need to settle on, but I am tempted to make the parents neglect and abuse part of the cause.

The process of turning is painful and traumatic, and Solver splits. In the headspace, Solver takes the form of the body as a vampire.

Solver is a Persecutor (under the definition misguided protector - harming the system and its surroundings as a form of protection).

They and "N" tend to co front for making sure the body feeds, "N" because it's part of his Caretaker job to make sure they eat and drink & Solver bc they're the only alter comfortable with the whole Vampire situation.

Eventually Cyn finally gets taken away from her abusive parents and the system ends up in an orphanage.

Here they socially officially change their name to "Cyn", wanting to separate themselves from their past life and self. The only thing they don't want to forget is N, and they haven't heard from him since they were separated.

Until one day the Elliot Family comes to the Orphanage - or well, the parents and two of their kids. Tessa and their adopted son.

Said Son and Cyn make eye contact and recognize each other as N & his little sister. N pulls his adoptive parents aside and points to Cyn, telling them that he's pretty sure that's his little sister.

After some confirmation, both between the siblings and also with official documents, the family adopts Cyn as well, reuniting the siblings!

It seems fine until the vampire situation becomes an issue. The family doesn't know. The secret and whole vampire thing in general puts stress on the system.

Solver fronts to feed, and ends up feeding off and infecting N and V. Another night it happens again with J. (Harming the body as a form of protection in this case; making the system feel more ashamed and guilty about the vampire situation to be sure they won't tell someone who could actually hurt them.)

N, V and J after turning make sure to keep Cyn fed so Tessa and the parents never get turned.

Also technically Cyn isnt aware of the system beyond thinking the alters are "imaginary friends". Mainly bc many systems dont figure it out until they are much older so I feel making a kid aware of it would be a little inaccurate. Not saying it never happens but still.

N does take note that Cyn sometimes acts "off" but puts it down as not having seen her in 2-3 years and her probably having experienced more trauma since, not to mention the vampire situation once he learns of that.

Uzi:

Uzi lives with her single father Khan. Her mother died when she was really young for reasons Uzi doesn't know of.

Nori was a vampire, however Uzi doesn't know this. Uzi did inherit the virus but it is dormant and inactive.

Uzi is kind of an outcast at school, bullying and all, ever since she can remember. The only person who doesn't really judge her is Thad who hangs out with her sometimes.

This changed when the Elliots adopted N and he switched schools, joining Uzis class. His friendly demeanor causes him to actively try to befriend Uzi, even tho she's more than happy just hanging out with Thad occasionally. Over time however N manages to worm his way into her heart and they become friends and she starts helping him with math homework.

(V, J and Tessa attend the same school but are in parallel classes btw)

They're friends for about 1,5 - 2 years when the whole Cyn reunion and vampire infection happens.

How Uzi finds out about this is still on the table but oh well. Also, Uzis own vampirism becomes active, turning her too. Now here is two ways I can't decide between this could have happened.

N has told her about having turned a vampire, due to suddenly avoiding places with lots of sunlight and preferring evening hangouts and sleepovers over their typical day/afternoon hangouts. Also he stinks of sunscreen lol. --- one time, N desperately needs to feed but they're in a situation where he cannot do it (be it they are at school or on a trip or whatever - he cannot go away to try and find some wild animal to feed off of) so Uzi offers him that he can gave some of her blood. He hesitates, not wanting to hurt her. She insists because he's visibly not okay and she trusts him. He promises he won't turn her (as vampires can choose whether or not to inject the virus into their prey) and they get a quiet corner for him to feed off her. Everything seems fine until the following days Uzi has symptoms of turning. N had kept his promise, but being bitten awakened her own dormant virus. She doesn't know this tho and accuses N of lying to her and purposely turning her. They argue and their friendship takes a huge hit. Uzi turns to V and J instead of him to ask about what to do and how to keep herself fed and relies on V for help on her first few nightly escapes to hunt. Uzi would shut her down whenever she brings up how guilty N feels and how he misses her. She's mad at him until eventually finding out about her mother being a vampire (still deciding how) and then realizing it's not his fault. She feels guilty for blaming him and thinking he would break her trust and she then does everything in her power to make it up to him. He's upset she would think he's lying and genuinely believe that for so long, but he's happy to have her back.

Option 2 is Uzi and one of the vampire siblings both being hurt. They patch each other up and Uzi notices their blood being black (a vamp hc ive had since I was a teen lol) and asks about it, finding out about the situation. However during the patching up of wounds, some of the black blood enters her wound which activates her own vampire virus.

One option for this is that Uzi hurt herself prior to helping N watch Cyn and Cyn gets hurt whilst N isn't in the room. Uzi helps her and in the process Cyns blood gets into Uzis injury.

[ I am open for situation suggestions with N, V and maybe J ]

J & V:

Dont have a lot about them except that J was adopted first, she's a little older than Tessa even. V was adopted alongside N from where they were in the same orphanage.

J doesn't like Uzi when N starts hanging out with her. V does somewhat get along with her tho and helps Uzi when her own Vampirism activates.

Tessa:

Tessa is unaware of her siblings vampirism for the most part. She did notice them seemingly eating less though and is a little worried about that, she makes them snacks she knows they like to try and make sure they eat enough.

I feel if anyone were to tell her, it would be N. And he wouldn't tell that it's all of them. Only him and maybe Cyn, as he can pass that off as "well we ARE biological siblings after all".

Idk that's all I got for now.

Also Nori was either

killed by Khan after he found out she's a vampire

Died due to extended exposure to sunlight

Killed by vampire hunters

Majorly injured by hunters or the sun so Khan had to take her out of her miserly

:(

[gyougherea]

crp/mh pride hcs

got inspired by a mutual (the-s1lly-corner) <3 i wanna have a silly post about my silly guys. under cut bc i might get long

jeff the killer

jeff feels very greyrom/aro bisexual to me, i think he "prefers" women because he doesn't wanna admit he's bisexual at first. idk if he explicitly uses the greyrom label or anything but it describes him pretty well. he/him

liu woods / homicidal liu

can we give it up for TRANSHETS!!!!!!! realized he was trans (ftm) at a young age, didn't get to transition until adulthood because the only family who supported him was jeff. mainly to hide from his past he's also stealth about being transgender. he/him

sully (liu's cohost and protector) is arohet i think? idk haven't thought much but i do think liu and sully have slightly different seuxalities. it/he (EDIT: its sexuality is also influenced by the fact that it's an introject of jeff)

jane the killer

lesbian and also trans mtf!!! transbian jane epic win. i think she knew for a while that she was a lesbian and then also realized she was trans in high school as she was going further through puberty. i think she's femme lesbian specifically??? she/her

nina the killer

bisexual (initially had a pref for women, now just has a pref for the glasgow killer, aka jeff), cis girl but LOOOOOVES experimenting with pronouns!!! she/her default but PLEASE use neopronouns on her she would literally die for you if you got wacky with it

ben drowned

even if he wasn't ethereally both 12 and 32 he would still 100% be aroace. that shit does not intrigue him! he also uses he/they pronouns, maybe it/its. lost their gender in the whole becoming a computer shit

ticci toby

transmasc nonbinary, biromantic asexual! he/him pronouns specifically, despite not being a man he really leans into masculine terms and also even is on T and gave himself top surgery! yes. to himself. don't ask. it looks awful. world's worst top surgery scars award

clockwork

she/her. not butch not femme but a secret third thing (the butchest lesbian twitter can handle before getting scared /ref)

tim wright (two hcs)

normal hc is that he's biromantic aceflux! he doesn't really have a preference, frankly he's nervous about entering a serious relationship regardless of gender. his asexuality is kind of a roulette; he also probably falls between sex-neutral and sex-repulsed. he/him

"my house now" hc is that he's an intersex butch lesbian (not sure which exact intersex disorder but one of the ones i'm debating is something with 46,xx dsd?) that doesn't care about gender but uses he/him and masc terms because someone called him that and he was like "why not lol". he/him but frankly not offended if any other pronouns used

masky uses he/they in the first hc, it/its in the second hc

brian thomas (two hcs)

normal hc is that he's a gay man! discovered he was gay pretty early on in life and was probably tim's unofficial bisexual awakening back in college. very open about his identity, he's like the queer beacon in my eyes. he/him

"my house now" hc is that he's a lesbian and trans mtf! for the longest time she thought she was a bisexual man, but then in her late 20s to early 30s realized that not only did she feel like One Of The Girls(TM) but also that the only "man" she was attracted to was tim, who's not a man, so whoops! transbian time! she/her

hoodie uses he/it in the first hc, it/they in the second hc

jay merrick

trans ftm and bisexual! went on T but hasn't gotten top or bottom surgery before becoming the nefarious skully or whatever. cracked his egg in college, but probably figured out he was biseuxal in high school. he/him

skully uses no labels just vibes. queer/abrosexual and genderfluid are probably the labels that best describe them but again they don't fucking care. they/them default but sometimes uses others depending on which of their "many" are at the forefront

jessica locke

now if that's not the biggest lesbian i have ever seen in my life... her and taylor absolutely get married in lesbians after the comics are over. jessica probably always knew she didn't like boys but didn't realize she liked girls until a fateful sleepover in middle school or something. she/her

nothing specific for the others rn, might make a part 2 if i come up with more <3 adios

[plural-affirmations]

Problematic source? No problem!

Are you an introject with a source you're not too fond of? Are you doubting your validity? Secretive about what you're based on? You've come to the right place, my loves.

Brains are funny things. You see, for a lot of systems out there, especially in CDD's, you can't control what your source is. Your mind will latch onto something for seemingly no reason sometimes, and you end up with a headmate that's formed for any number of reasons ranging from "we need someone like that!" to "this person is a representation of something on a deeper level'.

So. With that being said, shoutout to system members who are:

From problematic or controversial media, such as Hazbin Hotel or Danganronpa

Sourced from real life people harmful people, like an abuser

Factives of those who did horrible things; for example, serial killers or dictators

Trying their best to source separate

The ones who prefer to keep their source to themselves

Etc.

Coming from a system who has introjects from media we haven't even seen, being an introject certainly does not define who you are. It doesn't define who you "should" be, it doesn't control your actions, it doesn't even have to mean anything at all if you don't want it to. Sources are where you come from, not what'll predict the future.

Anyways! We hope you have a wonderful day, introjects!

🖤💜💙💚💛

[citizenoftmrrwlnd]

self care for : lizzie's egg (qsmp secret life au; fictive) with items for a cozy, comfy recovery from a health scare and some cute kitty plushies

x | x | x x | - | x x | x | x

[misscammiedawn]

DID Representation in The Incredible Hulk (Part 2)

Continuing on from Part 1 in which I explained the background of the Banner System I wanted to discuss the marriage between Bruce Banner and Betty Talbot Ross-Banner and break down relationships between systems and singlets.

This is a topic that is tackled often in media and one that could be its own topic of focus within DID representation.

Some may have a complicated love triangle where a singlet is in love with two members of a system or have dynamics where members of a system love different partners and even stories involving introjects of loved ones who are treated as living memories.

The romance tropes and "split personality" tropes really do go hand in hand and for the most part those stories are not what I would consider DID representation as the trope exists to facilitate the story. The drama is often sourced from at least one party in the situation not understanding or consenting to the dynamics of the plurality at play or a member of a system attempting to actively sabotage the relationship.

Where I would start considering it moving out of trope territory and into representation territory is when the condition is treated as part of the reality of being in a relationship and something which has to be navigated as surely as any other life circumstance.

Today I'm going to talk about the romance in Hulk comics. Particularly surrounding the relationship between Joe Fixit and Betty Ross.

Since the very first issues in 1962 Betty Ross has known the man she was in love with was both Bruce Banner and Hulk. Bruce's DID may have been a curveball thrown at her down the line, as mentioned in part 1 it was not codified until the mid-80s, but it was never a secret. In the previous part of this essay I noted that Bruce did not have the strength within himself to accept his condition and he was emotionally distant and ran away from the people who loved him.

Bruce has the option of not dealing with his condition. Betty does not.

Hulk is a rare comic where it shows a hyperbolic reality of engaging in a relationship with someone who has a dissociative disorder. Betty and Banner do not have a good marriage. They show a lot of red flags, some more worrying than others. But they deal with those issues and thus they display them on the page well enough to have a conversation about it.

And that's why I wanted to highlight it.

Immortal Hulk #48 (Al Ewing - 2021)

In this issue Betty and Joe have just had a passion fueled reunion that lead to them enjoying some private time in a hotel room. The circumstances are complicated but she had walked out on Bruce earlier in the story. Betty has been trying to show him the imperfections in herself (physically represented by her Red Harpy form) and Bruce has been refusing to engage with the "monster" in the place of his wife.

Gamma tends to make physical that which lays under the surface. When Bruce looks away from Red Harpy he is truly looking away from viewing his wife as anything other than perfect.

Towards the end of the Immortal Hulk storyline Betty returned to the plot and found that Bruce was still "hiding" from her so she got close to Joe instead and the two proceed to have an adult conversation about their broken marriage and just where Joe fits in with it.

We'll cover Immortal Hulk 48 in more detail a little more later. It's one of my favorite comics of all time.

But before I continue I want to point out Joe and Betty's disagreement on whether this is cheating or not. "You married Banner" "You're a part of him" to paraphrase.

Relationship dynamics with systems come in a variety of different shapes and sizes. In writing this essay I have no intention of stating any version is better or worse than another and I recognize that different circumstances have different needs.

Many of my friends who I know from support communities hold Joe's view. That individual alters have the agency to consent to be included in relationships with the system or not. Others hold Betty's view, that to be in love with the system is to be in love with every part of the person, regardless of whether they were present enough to consent at the time the relationship began.

I am in Betty's camp. Some of my closest friends with DID are in Joe's. There are other camps. But there is one thing that I have seen discussed in every single support group I've been part of and it's that members of the system dating outside of a monogamous relationship without explicit consent is and will always be cheating. Emphasis on communication and consent.

Incredible Hulk 376 (Peter David - 1990)

I am polyamorous and our system considers all of us in each relationship, even if we understand that this ideal is not exactly easily integrated into a relationship. I'll not peel back the curtain but there's a lot of inner and external management that goes into that conceit. One of our partners explicitly has a relationship with all 5 of us, our other partners have a relationship with "us" that is less concerned about individual dynamics and neither version of this scenario is preferred over the other. Every relationship is different. Even if one of those relationships contains 5. Like everything with being in treatment, it's about being flexible, understanding, compromising and accommodating.

As noted above, Joe does not consider himself to be Bruce and so he does not feel like he has to honor Bruce's marriage. In the 80s run when Joe gains his name and acts as a Las Vegas enforcer he has a romance with a young woman named Marlo Chandler. Regretfully she is not overtly mentioned in Immortal Hulk #48 though Betty does bring up that Joe had a whole life in Vegas that he had hidden away from her. Marlo was part of that life.

In the tail end of the Vegas arc of comics Betty returns to Bruce's life after thinking him dead for over 6 months. Marlo shows up and is surprised to see Bruce, someone she was told was Joe's brother. Joe and Marlo's relationship was formed while Bruce was dormant and after he returned the cover story was that Bruce Bancroft was Joe Fixit's brother. Joe does not consider himself to be Bruce and so does not honor his marriage. As you see in the above page, everyone else involved does not see it the same way.

A highlight from this era is a few issues earlier where Betty and Joe have their first adult discussion. It's an absolute classic comic and is directly referenced in Immortal Hulk #48. Betty and Joe have great energy together and trust one another, though Joe fears her as the system's attachment to her leaves them feeling vulnerable and lowers the walls between alters. It's a shame that this was 4 issues before the forced fusion. I'd have loved to have seen more interactions between the pair.

Incredible Hulk #373 (Peter David - 1990)

Sidenote that issue has my favorite Hulk cover of all time.

They don't have a lot of time together but Betty and Joe had great chemistry in these comics, especially when compared to how Bruce treats her. The following pages are both from the same issue:

Incredible Hulk #374 (Peter David - 1990)

Bruce does love Betty but he hates himself more than he loves her and she long has to deal with him putting up walls and keeping a distance. Where Banner fears the "monster" he becomes, in no canon does Betty ever fear any incarnation of Hulk.

She does however resent being coddled. Her father was overly protective of her because her mother died, her first husband, Glenn Talbot, was overly protective of her and now Bruce has picked up that sin. She hates being treated as helpless.

For sake of clarity and addressing the "early installment weirdness" I'll note that it wasn't until Byrne's run in the 80s that Betty gained a backbone. During the 80s period of comics Byrne and David codified her as a fierce and strong-willed woman and that characterization has remained with her ever since.

The reason Bruce is so temperamental about the woman he loves and why all the Hulk's, even Devil, are typically so good to her is...

Well...

Incredible Hulk #377 (Peter David - 1991)

I'll let that speak for itself.

The Vegas arc is not the only time that Bruce has seemingly died and been content to let his wife think he is deceased.

Bruce's emotional distance from Betty is another all too real depiction of traumatized adults who are not managing their symptoms. Trauma in all forms remains with a person and steers their behavior. In the extreme this can lead to phobias and mildly it can lead to avoidance.

Bruce is constantly driven to avoid pain. He is depressed, self-loathing and withdrawn and no matter how much he pulls away he is unable to secure for himself a sense of comfort and security. When he withdraws from his wife he is indulging in a maladaptive coping mechanism that tells him that he will be hurt if he gets closer to her.

A quote from Bruce in Immortal Hulk #14 "Betty... I know. I should have... called someone. But I--I wasn't ready. It's like I knew that in my gut. I couldn't face it. I've learned to trust feelings like that. They protect me."

Joe, who is emotionally removed from the source of their trauma, does not live in terror of the memories that haunt the rest of the system. Bruce may have repressed memories of his father's worst deeds (and the fact that he, himself, murdered the man) but he still feels the terror that is attached to love.

Devil overtly spells it out during the Immortal Hulk storyline by saying "Deep down inside. He's still that kid. A little kid who can't imagine love without pain." which is sadly an all too true reality for many suffering with DID. We don't need to be child alters to still be eternally living through events that happened decades ago.

In the Immortal Hulk storyline Bruce spent months estranged from her and when he got back to her she ended up caught in crossfire and died herself, only to awaken the gamma in her blood and be resurrected as Red Harpy.

There's a lot of Comics stuff there about Betty's mutate forms (Harpy and Red She-Hulk) and how gamma mutation is psychological in how it presents. All that is needed to be known is that Betty simmers with a silent fury. She has been treated as a trophy her entire life, protected and sheltered by her military general father, all but traded as a dowry to one of her father's loyal men, Glenn Talbot, and then long suffering as Bruce Banner's wife.

Even her Red She-Hulk form was forcibly taken away against her wishes by Bruce "for her own good".

Immortal Hulk #14 (Al Ewing - 2019)

For this reason after she is killed again, her latest gamma mutation draws out a feathered and fanged harpy, something she entirely identifies as with no shame, represented by her instant and intentional transformations between forms. Her catchphrase is "this is ME."

Bruce cannot accept this is the person he married. Joe actively admires and encourages her self-acceptance.

Here's a page where Bruce escapes from a conversation that he himself initiated because he cannot stand to face an imperfect version of Betty:

Immortal Hulk #22 (Al Ewing - 2019)

This all comes to a head when Betty approaches Joe and asks to speak to her husband and after switching out, Bruce feels cornered enough to lash out and demand to speak to his wife. Betty, realizing Bruce will never accept this side of her leaves.

Which brings us back to the hotel room after she reunites with Joe.

The argument breaks out when Betty scornfully notes that if Bruce objected to them being together then he should come out and say it himself, knowing full well that he will continue withdrawing and hiding from her.

Joe admits that Bruce isn't there because he's in hell. There's a very long and interesting explanation to that which is entirely literal.

But the point is that he allowed their reunion and passionate evening to persist without saying that. It clues Betty in to the fact that Joe may be better at hiding it and may be better at smooth talking than the system's host is but he is just as avoidant.

She does not take it well.

Immortal Hulk #48 (Al Ewing - 2021)

But here's the part that really solidifies these two as a pair of grown-ups.

Joe admits to his fuck-up, offers some additional vulnerability (Betty herself refuses to believe Joe is capable of vulnerability and lashes out at him for attempting to emotionally manipulate her) by confessing to his origins as a child's idea of a man.

The little bits of truth about the condition that spill out during this conversation truly show how much empathy Ewing put into depicting DID as accurately as he could for a comic about world breaking atomic beasts. "If I wanted to lie, I coulda said I didn't remember. We usually don't" and "I... we, All of us. The whole damn system... We're messed up" are lines which feel like they could come up during a conversation on these topics.

I cannot even tally the amount of guilt we feel in discussions where we know our brain should be retaining the information and that we want to remember and be clear but we can't. The hardest part is to not just lean on the condition as an excuse or out for many of the valid discussions that come up when navigating a relationship.

At the end of the day the only way to manage these troubled waters is with trust and communication, same as any other relationship.

Joe gives that a try, even.

Immortal Hulk #48 (Al Ewing - 2021)

DID is a hidden illness. It's denial disease. It is sourced from a level of emotional agony that is too present, too constant and too inescapable. It's why, until the age of the internet where ability to recognize symptoms without medical guidance due to knowledge and resources being widespread, the average age of diagnosis is 30 despite symptoms being prevalent from childhood.

Relationships with disordered systems are difficult. When an adult has a trauma response that causes them to dissociate, hide and reject sources of pain and conflict they will inevitably fail to communicate and cause additional friction in a relationship.

Joe here makes his absolute best attempt to bridge that gap. He accepts his failings. Admits fault and attempts to communicate with honesty and vulnerability.

I do not know where Banner/Ross' marriage will go in the future. There's a lot of hurt there. It won't be smoothed over with a single conversation. It won't be healed until Bruce is able to be present in the conversation.

But my heavens this is the most mature discussion I have ever seen on the topic in fiction. Bruce is the personification of the phrase "Hurt people hurt people.", he doesn't mean it. None of the system truly means it (well... sometimes they mean it. They have anger issues after all) but they want to try and be better. Joe does, anyway.

And the sad fact is that sometimes that can be too little, too late.

Betty leaves after the above page. A hopeful person can claim that she was summoned by Dr. Strange's magical call for champions but it doesn't matter. She decides she has seen everything the Banner System has to offer and needs some time for herself.

I look forward to seeing if we ever get a follow-up to this. It's been 2/3 years.

And that brings me to the end of this little detour.

I'll likely be back with more Hulk talk in the future. There are a lot of storylines to cover. But for now, thank you for reading my little squee on this particular comic book relationship. It means a great deal to me.

If you enjoyed my little ramble about DID representation please consider checking out my Media, Myself and I tag. Otherwise, thank you for reading.

Oh and buy Immortal Hulk. It's legitimately one of the best comic runs of all time.

[luigraphics]

LOL ! I swear I wrote Secret life Scar, but i guess not! it is indeed for a Scar introject :J sorry for any confusion!

Thank you for the request! Here's your template :D

I& tried making it mobile friendly but it does use separated images and I& can't check from my& phone rn so if any problems arise you can swap out the middle graphic for the unseparated ones below cut!

ART CREDIT: @/panidanya (also present in alt text in the template!)

.co/scar-template

[multiplicity-positivity]

Hi there! I wanted.. to ask, even though i KNOW all systems are different and it depends on the headmate themself too- i just cannot help but feel weird myself.. ( and feel free to make this a poll if you'd like? I don't mind any sort of responses ).

Is it- weird to want to seek comfort or be friends with, a factive / introject of someone whos hurt you badly? Specifically an ex partner. I dont moss them in that sense, so its not like i want to relive that. I just.. miss their existance. I know my headmate is different, and i should talk to them, but idk. It feels.. also kinda weird? Like "hey you sucked but its fine i have a backup one". Like ?? I personally.. would feel weird if i found out someone was dating or befriending a version of me in their head. ( which ik isn't in my control )

Hey, we had written a full response to this and then tumblr crashed on us. So we’re trying to piece this back together. Apologies in advance if it seems jumbled.

This is a bit touchy for us to put into a poll, so we’re going to try and answer it to the best of our ability. As always, anyone is welcome to provide insight, especially factives or those who have had personal experience with this sort of thing.

Honestly no, we don’t think it’s weird to want to befriend a factive or an introject of someone who hurt you. Introjects are people, and they deserve to develop and form relationships and just exist as themselves as much as anyone else. It’s not wrong or weird to want to get to know this introject for who they are.

However, it sounds like you’re having a bit of trouble recognizing that this factive is not literally their source. They are not a “backup” of your ex, and they are not personally to blame for any harm that your ex caused you. Many introjects feel hurt and offended when they are treated as their source. And no introject, no matter how connected to their source they are, is responsible for any actions committed by their source. They may look, sound, and act like their source. They may have source memories. But they are not their source, and they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect as an individual, first and foremost.

It might benefit you to spend some time away from this introject processing your emotions and memories surrounding your ex before you can be a good friend. Maybe therapy, journalling, and self-reflection could help. After you’ve had some time to process your feelings regarding this introject’s source, it may be easier to approach them in a positive way without assigning someone else’s baggage to them.

Also, you don’t have to tell your ex about this introject at all? We honestly wouldn’t recommend it, especially if that doesn’t align with the introject’s wishes or if you’re not in touch with your ex anymore. Yeah, some folks may find factives weird, but factives can’t help who they are. They shouldn’t be shamed or made to feel weird or wrong simply for existing. If that means their existence needs to be kept a secret from their source… idk we think that’s fine tbh.

We hope that one day you and this factive truly can reach a place where you can get to know each other on equal footing, and maybe one day become friends! Not everyone clicks or gels well with each other, so if that doesn’t happen, that’s okay too. As long as you’re affording this introject the space and agency in order to be who they want to be in life, we think trying to befriend them one day is totally fine.

Again, factives, y’all should take the reins in this sort of discussion. If there’s anything we said here that you feel is inaccurate, or if you have any further advice you can provide for anon, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Anon, we’re wishing you and this introject the very best of luck with learning to work together and coming to terms with your history in the future.

[kinsearching]

hi ^_^ im a tango introject from double life, secret life, and create mod !!! ive been like super homesick recently and it would be cool if i could talk to jimmy, impulse, zed, skizz or rlly just anyone !!!! we’re 18 bodily and have osdd, as well as a couple other life series + hermitcraft alters (scar, gri, pearl ect) jsyk :3 our disc is lovingfeeling n our tumblr us @doeeeyes

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