#shrapnel (he/him)

[interstellarsystem]

Shoutout to singlets that accept systems for who they are. Singlets who ask respectful questions and try to understand us. Singlets who do their best to accommodate different headmates and make them feel included. Singlets who listen to what systems have to say. You're so important. Please keep doing what you do.

[creativitysloyalservant]

i have decided to break my lack of original posting on this blog to bring you my Thoughts on Rot in Paradise. because i played it as soon as i got up this morning and i have scoured for some opinions after finishing it, and now i have my own!!

(and also i posted this on twitter but twitter has such a Shit wordcount that i'm also posting my things here with More Detail)

so! spoilers under the cut, please go and play the game if you haven't. it takes literally an hour (it only took nearly 2 hours for me because i like voice acting by myself and exploring every nook and cranny) and it's also free. so maybe come back into the tag once you're done.

okay, so i noticed quite a number of people being confused and disappointed on the lack of an explanation for the monster. it's brought up in the story as the central thing driving the plot, but it's never explained on what "she" is, why she's compelling people to eat a ton of fish-related food or hell, metal, and why this doesn't impact June at all.

but you know what I think?

i think that that's the point. the focus of rot in paradise isn't supposed to be on the monster.

yeah, it's the thing that pushes the plot along besides June and the gang going on vacation in this island. it's what's causing that uneasiness from the moment that guy grabs June's arm at the drinks, to the sheer unnerving feeling of witnessing people going to the ocean to get Raptured basically. i know i personally felt a chill when i saw that one dude literally eating chains and the other hauling an anchor, as if they're trying to make themselves heavier so they get taken by whatever She is.

but that's not the main point! the main conflict is about June and her friends.

as people have pointed out, this game is about toxic friendships and relationships! it's foreshadowed in the conversation that June has with the gang about her cousin (which i will also get into), and it carries it through the way her friends are horribly warped by this ocean Creature. June goes on a silly little vacation trip with her friends only for them to become so so different from themselves that they lash out at her and even hit her in McCoy's case.

but she still sticks it out with them. through the whole game, even despite their verbal abuse, despite being slapped, despite them being people that she can hardly recognise. she stays with them for the whole game, up until the point where you are given the two options at the very end. and she could still stay with them.

because they're still her friends. she cares about them even if they still hurt her. from the way June still tells Carmen to tell June if she needs anything after Carmen literally tells her to shut up and leave, the way June worries about Vonnie eating seafood even though she continues to stuff herself despite being implied to either hate or make an active choice to not eat seafood, to the way June still trudges out to sea screaming for McCoy to come back to the shore as he wades further in even after he slapped her until her nose bled.

it mirrors the conversation about her cousin, the reason for why June was looking forward to the vacation. that while she did comfort her cousin through all of it, June clearly says that "they were dickheads, and she should have ditched them a long time ago".

but it's funny, isn't it? that June, an outsider to her cousin's friend group, easily sees the pain that her cousin's friends are causing her, and immediately calls it as it is. that her cousin should have left the second they hurt her.

and yet now, when her friends hurt her, even though this was a quick and sudden change that happened in a span of three days, June still sticks around. her friends are dickheads right now, and we can see that in the way they interact with June, but she still stays.

because they're her friends. and how could she just leave them like this if it's something that's causing them to be this way?

so no, i don't think the monster is supposed to be the main picture. we don't need to know what it looks like, or why it needs to do this to the islanders, or how it's even doing it in the first place. it adds to the scariness of the game, as per the Spooktober Game Jam, sure, but that's not the point. might be a bit disappointing to some, but that's not the point.

the point is about June, and the choice that she needs to make at the end of the game.

it's a choice on whether she chooses to be pulled deeper into the tides and be with the friends who hurt her and will continue to hurt her in this way,

or to leave them to their fates, whether deserved or not, and resurface to a world where she's alone without her friends.

and even though the first choice hurts much more in the long run, doesn't the second hurt even more in the moment? knowing that you're alone at the end of all of this?

even if it is the right choice, i'm sure the pain must be unbearable in the moment.

[fazgoo-connoiseur-1987]

okay okay so William's son dies and, obviously, he is devistated but he's been squashing down his own emotions for so so so long he just kinda files that away with everything else. Compartmentilises the fuck out of it. So Michael wakes up the day after to his dad humming while making breakfast. Henry sees him a week later at work and he's still smiling and chipper. Everyone is uneasy.

[archeryenthusiast]

Hey americans by the way i just want you to remember that you're allowed (at least last time i checked) to own blackpowder firearms that don't use brass cartridges no matter what. Even if you're a felon. So like you do have the right to own a musket for home defense. And yes, that is, infact, what the founding fathers intended

[disabirbity]

Chronic pain strikes again. Caused a flare up by being too active and now I think I need to collapse into myself like a foldable chair.

[terror-punk]

Only evil boops for the evil blog

We appreciate the boops, especially the evil ones <3

[interstellarsystem]

You Could Be Median!

We've seen some posts lately where people are saying they feel too plural to be a singlet and too singlet to be plural, or that they feel certain plural-ish ways about their kintypes... And, well, we have news for you--there's (possibly) a word for that!

See, while a lot of people see "multiple system" and "plural system" as interchangable, they actually have nuance to their meanings. And there's a third term, "median system", that might actually apply to you!

Some descriptions of the terms, for reference!

This won't be the only term list in this post, but to avoid dumping a ton of terms at the start without context, they'll show up where relevant. For now, though, here's a few.

Singlet:

The state of being one singular person/identity in one body. Synonym for non-plural.

Plural:

More than one entity, self, identity or consciousness in a single body. Simply, being more-than-one in some way. This is more of an umbrella term for multiple and median.

Multiple:

Having more than one distinct identities or people within a body.

Median:

The state of being somewhere between "singlet" and "multiple" on the plural spectrum.

Now, that's pretty vague, especially if this is a new concept to you! What does "inbetween" of multiple and singlet even really look like? The answer is, well... Anything, almost! But that's also vague and unhelpful. So...

Some examples of what being a median system could feel like...

You're like a metaphorical hydra--all part of one dragon, but there's different heads. You might feel parts of yourself arguing or thinking different thoughts, and some might be more in charge at times than others, but in the end, you're all a part of one unit anyway.

You're like a metaphorical coin--you're all one single thing, but there's different faces. Depending on what angle someone looks at you from, they could see something completely different.

You're like a gemstone cut for a ring--all one stone, but there's facets of you that reflect light just a little differently.

You speak to your subconscious, but because that subconscious is you, you feel like you're an inbetween of being just one person and two people. (This can also include things like daemonism!)

You feel like your identity itself is a shapeshifter (not in a kintype way--your identity as a whole).

You're otherkin/fictionkin/etc, and your kintypes have juuuust a little too much separation from you to feel like they're still you, but they're you enough that they're not separate people. They're not entirely distinct from you, but they're also not entirely wholly you, either. (More on this one later!)

You feel too much like a singlet to be plural, but too much like a system to be a singlet.

You age or pet regress, and feel like your regressed self is a different version of you. Sure, they're still you! But they're just different enough that they fall in a grey area of being "you" vs "not you".

You feel like "you" are, in whole, a person wearing a lot of different masks. The masks might make you act a little different, or look a little to-the-left of your normal appearance. All the masks are a part of you, as much as you're a part of them.

You feel like you sometimes have a different "filter" put over you, like a photo being digitally edited. You're still the same base thing, but sometimes there's an extra layer on top that makes you a little different.

You don't feel singlet or multiple, but feel like a secret third thing that's in any way inbetween.

You feel like you're almost a system.

Now, that's nowhere near an exhaustive list, but it's a bunch of stuff we've experienced and/or heard from others in the community. That gemstone comparison is actually common enough for the median version of the term "headmate" to be a sort of reference to how it feels!

Headmate (also alter, system member):

An entity/person that is a part of a system.

Facet:

A type of headmate that is a part of a median system.

There's also a term for identities that blur the line between "fictive" and "fictionkin", because the experience of being median while having identities that feel like fictives and fictotypes simultaneously is so common! (There's now a factbased identity term for the experience too!)

Fableing:

A type of facet in a median system that shares experiences of both fictionkin and fictives, making them an inbetween, adjacent to both experiences, or both at the same time.

Factling:

A type of facet in a median system that shares experiences of both factkin and factives, making them an inbetween, adjacent to both experiences, or both at the same time.

Otherkinity and Median Systems

In particular though, we see a lot of otherkin who say a lot of very plural-y things about their kintypes. While not everyone who says these things is 100% plural and maybe just one or two of these points to nothing plurality related at all... These are things we think are pretty good indicators you should at least consider looking into median systems, even if you've looked into being multiple before.

Your kintypes can speak or communicate to you, disagree with you or each other, or interact with things separate from you. This doesn't need to include written or spoken language, either! Sometimes internal instincts clashing can feel a lot like median facets disagreeing.

Shifting causes you to experience memory loss, amnesia, or anything similar.

Shifting causes a complete gender change, even if previously and after the shift you disagree.

Shifting causes you to act "out of character" compared to your usual self.

Shifting causes a complete sexuality change, even if previously and after the shift you disagree.

Shifting causes you to want to change your name, even if previously and after the shift you disagree.

You don't feel like you're yourself while shifted.

You get thoughts that you don't feel belong to you, and feel like they belong more to your kintype.

You don't feel too much like you are your kintype, unless you're in a shift. (Also check out fictionflickering/otherflickering!)

Your kintypes do things that you're unaware of while you're shifted.

You commonly dissociate during or before shifting.

Your kintypes change your likes and dislikes (for example, while shifted you might hate apples while when not in a shift you love them).

You'd call your kintypes headmates or you feel like they'd be classified as headmates if you had DID/OSDD (spoiler alert, you don't need those to be a system!)

Your shifts cause a full or very strong personality change--especially if other people notice.

You feel disconnected from your body or lose control of your body while shifting.

You come out of a shift and are confused, distressed, or surprised at how you acted during it.

Like I said, not all of these point toward being median if there's just one or two--but, if you have the time to look into it, I'd recommend giving it some thought!

Misc FAQs

Do I have to call myself a median system if I fit a lot of/all of this?

Nope! Your identity is yours to label, and this post isn't meant to shove people into boxes. This is simply meant to inform people of what a median system is, and let people come to informed decisions themselves.

Can you be both multiple and median?

Absolutely! There's plenty of ways this can be a thing, too. Some examples:

Multiple system with median subsystems.

Median system with multiple subsystems.

A system that fluctuates between median and multiple.

A system with a bunch of headmates who are median or multiple (regardless of subsystems).

You could be both at once, which we've seen called "mediple"!

Can you have a CDD (like DID and OSDD) and be median?

Yep! It's commonly believed that most (not all!) OSDD systems often fall under the median umbrella, even! A system of any structure or origin can also have median members within it, regardless of other parts of how it functions.

Can you choose to be median?

As with plurality in general--yes, probably! We haven't seen any guides to specifically form a median system, but we're sure it's possible. Daemonism, for example, is usually counted as a nonplural experience by their community, as daemons are "you" in another font--for lack of better phrasing. But a lot of people do consider this to be a type of median plurality in their own experiences!

Is this an endo system thing?

No. Endogenic and traumagenic systems alike can both experience median plurality, and can also be disordered or nondisordered. The term didn't even originate in endogenic-specific spaces, nor did it originate recently either. "Midcontinuum" was presented as a term in around 1996-1997, and "median" was created in 2002. Some early plural communtiy mentions of the terms:

Us and Being Median:

This was co-written by a median subsystem (Dagger of Decay) and one of said subsystem’s QPPs in-system (Shrapnel). While we don’t reflect the entirety of our experience of having median plurality within our system, we can share what we personally know of our own life in the hopes that it resonates with others in a helpful way.

Being a median subsystem to me (Dagger of Decay), feels like I’m separate sides of the same metaphorical coin. (At least, that was an accurate descriptor until I discovered more facets than just the two.) You look at this coin, and one side might have a picture of one thing on it, while the other has something completely different–but you’d be wrong if you said that this was two separate coins just because it’s different depending on how you see it or how you hold it. You’d also be wrong in saying that the coin only had one uniform side–I mean, it clearly has different pictures on each side, they’re clearly different!

The faces of the coin are the fableings that make up me as a person. If I really wanted to, I could probably label myself as one person with very strong kintype shifts, but that doesn’t feel like it covers the full scope of my identity. I can’t talk to my facets, I also can hardly ever disagree with them because we’re so close to the singlet end of the spectrum. But even still, when I’m Tomura Shigaraki, I’m not really the other facets of myself anymore–it’s like you’ve spun that coin around and they’re the ones who are face down, hidden from sight for that moment. The same is true for when any other one is in control. The coin just sort of flips itself occasionally and oops! I’m the same base guy, but in a different font. A little bit to the left maybe.

The amount of separatedness between us fluctuates–sometimes I say “I” to refer to all of me, other times we say “we”. That’s one of the more noticeable fluctuations between my facets, but there’s plenty of other things that shift and change too–how distinct we feel, how much we can disagree with each other, how much we feel connected to other identities we hold… But in the end, we’re solidly sat in the grey area between “one singular guy with no extras” and “multiple guys in one head”--and it took our system a while to get a hold of what that can mean and feel like, so I hope some people who are questioning or struggling with their identity can get a little bit of something out of this post.

For further reading:

The Dragonheart Collective's "Am I plural" guide.

Allium House's "what is the self?" essay.

Endogenic Hub's "Medians" page.

Otherkin Wiki's Plurality page (section on median plurality included).

Beepbird's "Median is More than People With Parts".

Beepbird's "For Medians: Fronting and Switching Control".

Beepbird's entire median plurality links section, honestly.

[iron-niffler]

reasons to buy black and white printings of comic book collections:

1) much less expensive

2) 500+ PAGE COLORING BOOK

[murraywalker]

I just watched the Flambeau episode, and the whole time, I was looking at Father Lazarus thinking, "He looks so much like Lex Shrapnel, but I don't think it's him." Bloody was him, wasn't it.

[lesbiansanemi]

The sheer desperation and frenzied manner that I keep telling myself “just one more week just one more week just one more week” to keep from snapping and going fucking insane is honestly getting concerning

[grimwalker-grimoire]

System Member Blogs

Moving this from our pinned so that our pinned is a little shorter, and we have more room to actually update this!

List of blogs specific to certain headmates/groups of headmates below.

@archiealterhuman -- Archie

Zonic [STH] fictive

Shadow [STH] fictionkin

Heephis [TMOM, STH] fictionkin

Angel Dust [HH] fictionkin

Hank Anderson [D:BH] fictionkin

Peridot [SU] fictionkin

James [PKMN] fictionkin

Lief [DQ] fictionkin

Hunter [TOH] fictionkin

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo therian

Maned Wolf hearted

Scourge [STH] linker

Post Topics: Alterhuman.

@killingthrilling -- Fleety

Fleetway!Super Sonic [STH] fictive

Post Topics: Alterhuman, misc.

@ohmyxeros -- Xeros

Sonic.EXE [STH] fictive

GLaDOS [Portal] fictionkin

Reaper Leviathan [Subnautica] fictionkin

Belos [TOH] fictionkin

Deerhearted

Post Topics: Sciencecore, villaincore, misc.

@royalscourge -- Royal

Scourge [STH] fictive

Dialga [PKMN] fictive

Bluestar [WC] fictionkin

Eda Clawthorne [TOH] fictionkin

Dragonkin)

Post Topics: Alterhuman, aesthetics (gemstones, castles).

@dime-time -- Dime

Sonic.EXE [STH] fictive

Bill Cipher [GF] fictionkin

Alastor [HH] fictionkin

Cecil Palmer [WTNV] fictionkin

Noncanon Sonic character hearted

Post Topics: Alterhuman, misc.

@glowyliquid -- Hazard

Scourge [STH] fictive

Queen [DR] fictionkin

Post Topics: Sciencecore, villaincore, neon aesthetic.

@periperil -- Peri

Peridot [SU] fictive

Post Topics: Alterhuman.

@spectrum-scourge -- Rave

Scourge [STH] fictive

Raine Whispers [TOH] fictionkin

Post Topics: LGBT+, neurodivergent, alterhuman, music, misc.

@sarksdimension -- Sark

Sark [Sonic.EXE NB] fictive

Longtail [WC] fictionkin

King [TOH] fictionkin

Post Topics: Alterhuman.

@spamtonbytes -- Byte

Sonic.EXE [STH] fictive

Metal Sonic [STH] fictive

Spamton [DR] fictionkin

Cabinet Man [Lemon Demon] songkin

AI-hearted

Post Topics: Alterhuman, fandom (Deltarune), memes.

@collector-chaos -- The Collector [TOH] fictives

Various fictives and alterhuman identities.

Post Topics: Alterhuman, fandom (The Owl House), memes.

@abadbutsadcollective -- Hunter [TOH] fictives

Various fictives and alterhuman identities.

Post Topics: Alterhuman, fandom (The Owl House), birds, queer.

@possessed-pack -- Possessed!Hunter [TOH] fictives

Various fictives and alterhuman identities.

Post Topics: Alterhuman, fandom (The Owl House), aesthetics (monsters, darkness, nature), disability.

@corvus-ad-astra -- Alpha Centauri Subsystem

Crowley [GO] fictives

Bearded Vulture therian

Post Topics: Alterhuman, fandom (Good Omens), aesthetics (space, religious), misc.

@mystery-aberration -- Mystery

The Distortion [TMA] fictive

Hisuian Zoroark [PKMN] fictionkin

Macaw therian

Post Topics: Alterhuman, fandom (The Magnus Archives), various art and memes, aesthetics (weirdcore, liminal spaces, unreality, glitches, snow and cold).

@leviafin -- Fin

Noncanon Vast/Hunt Avatar [TMA]

Sebastian Solace [RBLX: Pressure] Fictive

Shadow the Hedgehog [STH] hearted

Post topics: Various art, memes, alterhumanity, aesthetics (water, ocean).

@mercury-lattice -- Cinnabar

Noncanon Desolation/Web Avatar [TMA] fictive

Post topics: Alterhumanity, plurality, aesthetics (fire, nature, spiders), memes.

@kaboom--bitch -- Shrapnel

Bakugo [MHA] fictive

Sylvesqual [RBLX: COS] hearted

Dragonkin

Post topics: Alterhumanity, anti-psych, disability, advocacy, terrorpunk, dragons, art.

@draconicred -- Red

Kirishima [MHA] fictive

Dragonkin

Post topics: Funny things/memes, MHA, positivity, dragons, art.

@deltoradecay -- Dagger of Decay Subsystem

Dain [DQ] fableing

^ Junpei Yoshino [JJK] fictionkin

Tomura Shigaraki [MHA] fableing

^ Mahito [JJK] fictionkin

Lamplighter [OneShot] fableing

Arthropod-hearted

Post topics: Alterhumanity, disability, JJK, MHA, whatever else.

@funeral--pyre -- Onslaught

Dabi [MHA] fictive

Daemian, Reshiram [PKMN] daemon

Reshiram [PKMN] otherhearted

Post topics: alterhumanity, aesthetics (fire), pokemon.

@alterhumanyaoigod -- Zero

Satoru Gojo [JJK] fictive

Noncanon vast + spiral avatar [TMA] fictive

Post topics: alterhumanity, memes, whatever.

@infinite-curses -- Heart and Soul

Satoru Gojo [JJK] fictive

Suguru Geto [JJK] fictive

^ Black Hawl-Eagle otherlinker

Post topics: memes, queerness, alterhumanity, JJK.

Source Key:

COS - Creatures of Sonaria

D:BH - Detroit: Become Human

DR - Deltarune

DQ - Deltora Quest

HH - Hazbin Hotel

JJK - Jujutsu Kaisen

PKMN - Pokemon

RBLX - Roblox

STH - Sonic the Hedgehog

SU - Steven Universe

TMA - The Magnus Archives

TOH - The Owl House

WC - Warriors/Warriorcats

WTNV - Welcome to Night Vale

[disabirbity]

Having asthma and other respiratory issues is so stupid. Like yes I'd love to go into the Fragrances Store with you but unfortunately that store is equipped with The Ward and there's a bubble around it that causes HP to drain via poison damage. I have an antidote but I'd rather just not take the poison damage at all.

[best-first]

He has grit stuck in his tires, a dull ache in his shoulder actuators and lower dorsal support structure, and mud smeared over much of his forearms and lower legs.

But it had been work. Simple, uncomplicated work, with no one’s life on the line or societal collapse as a potential outcome.

Orion dug debris free, loaded the debris into the open bed trailer, and then hauled it to the designated drop off site not too far from where he’d been put this morning. And he’d done that until it had gotten dark enough to need the overhead lights rigged up by the other workers, and then he’d still worked on clearing out his own plot until his tank pinged half-empty.

Now just to wait until someone comes ‘round to get him.

[interstellarsystem]

Fictives are so fucking funny. Like, we'd been in a period of burnout for months, going downhill, falling behind on all the things we cared about and needed to do. Hell, we'd ended up being so fatigued we didn't want to get out of bed and that process alone took hours.

So one morning we wake up with a new headmate--as you do in periods of high-stress--and the new guy is god damn Bakugo from MHA and he does more self-care and general life shit than anyone in the past three months combined. Straight-up fixing our life.

How am I doing this? I have no fucking idea but I'm being productive about it and it's hilarious if you think about it for more than a few seconds. The brain was struggling so it was like "Yeah, didn't wanna do this but we gotta bring out the big one. Get The Anime Boy." Like what.

[outislovescomics]

HOMOEROTIC MANHANDLING SAVES THE DAY

[charhounds]

HIS EAR JUST DID THAT FOR REAL