#“introjects aren't their sources!!!” until it's me

[only-man-in-the-sky]

what actually fucks with me the most is the amount of people who would say I deserved it

[altosys]

Something I think needs to be addressed in plural spaces is the whole "introjects aren't their source" thing.

No, it does not mean "introjects should not identify with their source", it means introjects shouldn't be treated as their source.

Also, what may be a problematic ship in canon may not be a problematic ship in the system. For example, if a Valentino fictive and an Angel Dust fictive were dating, that's fine (as long as it's mutual). I remember [the headmate I'm dating] tell me "Hey, I don't think posting about our relationship would be the best thing to do, as some people might see it as you shipping our sources." Now, me bein' all 'who's gonna give a shit, we ain't puttin' the fandom tags', I reassured [headmate] that it'd be fine.

We proceeded to get blocked by several people in our source's fandom due to hinting at our relationship.

Despite very clearly putting our system tag and not the fandom tag, some people still thought "hey, this reminds me of [person/character] so they must be shipping [person/character]."

Like... "introjects aren't their source" until there's a relationship involving introjects whose sources would/should/could not be shipped.

As a source-convergin' fictive, I'd like to say: fuck y'all who still think this shit. Like, ya think I deal with introject dysphoria for the sake of roleplayin'? (Also, role-playing as real people is insensitive and our system is well-aware of that. Hell, we've introjected people who are the bane of our existence.)

-Circubit & [anonymous]

[circular-bircular]

apologies in advance because this will contain some infodump on our system along with it. as a DID system I feel often out of place in pro/endo spaces. not really unsafe or unwelcome, just really weird and alienated.

the spaces I'm in, in a lot of cases, have endo systems that have some... peculiar thought processes about their headmates, such as treating them as a collectible, that makes me feel really uncomfortable. it's not my business anyway so I'm not saying anything, and if they as a system are happy that way, it's not my place to interfere and say they're doing something wrong. live and let live yk.

but also. I look at our alters and can't help but feel like so out of place. I look at one introject, who in source has lost his right hand, and has severe somatic disfunction over it, to the point of making our right hand unusable when he's close to front, he physically can't move it and it is PAINFUL. like reversed phantom pain. I look at another introject who's our depression and suicidal thoughts holder, and he's miserable all the time so we can pretend that we're functioning. I look at yet another introject, who upon forming shut the front off for days to deal with our flashbacks and severe trauma on his own.

I look at this and think, am I in the right place there? can I talk about these things there? I don't think I can. we don't treat our alters as a fun quirky collectible or imaginary friend because it's not what we are (and I'd like to reiterate: I don't care if anyone does it. their approach to their system is their own. I don't care if somebody created their headmates because they needed friends in middle school, or because they're a writer and needed their characters to talk back, or anything else. it's not my place to interfere. you're fine)

I mean sure I can freely use pk for example and I won't get judged for it for "separating too much" or "pretending to be a character" or anything else, but hopefully those things don't happen in anti endo spaces either so that's not really a point. I don't know man I just feel alienated everywhere I go for being a DID system who's very pro endo

As someone who, up until very recently, fully identified with the label pro-endo, I understand fully. I have always felt like this in all inclusive-plural spaces I've been in. Yesterday, everyone in a server I'm in was having a long discussion about introjects and comparing... how... abusive their introjects were in source... While laughing about the abuse they've done?

(Stares in "the only introjects I have were split to hold frustration and anger due to severe trauma I've experienced, one being a murderer and one being a misogynistic potentially homophobic asshole")

It always feels so alienating to be in those spaces, esp with younger individuals in the servers.

Here's what I'll say though: Talk about it. Talk about that discomfort. Because that's the only way change is going to happen. There's a reason I stuck around in that server -- because I could chime in and say, "Hey, look, you aren't your source, nobody should feel like they're like that" and opened up a conversation about how introjects are not the abusers they split from.

Regardless of system origins.

[problematicfactive]

I've had a few people mention the things I post about can apply to more than just factives. Specifically, people mentioning that these things are true and and helpful for fictives to.

I would like to say now, to the people who feel the need to "open my eyes to the problematic fictives" that

That is the point.

I genuinely and honestly in the most non offensive, non rude, trying my best to be understang way, do not understand how you all do not understand that.

This blog exists to teach people that problematic factives aren't that bad. And the fictives are finding that... the experiences are.. similar? Dare I say... the exact same in some cases!? Its- it's almost like.. there's a reason for that.

Yes! Problematic fictives exist too! I know that! But Problematic fictives do not get BANNED from "Problematic introject friendly" servers by Jeff The fucking Killer FOR BEING INTROJECTED FROM A SERIAL KILLER??? WE ARE LITERALLY ONE IN THE SAME AND I AM THE ONE GETTING KICKED OUT FOR EXISTING???

You can go to a stimboard maker and in most cases (granted, yes, everyone has boundaries and this could totally be against a person's boundaries) get a Jeff the Killer, a Ticci Toby, an Ayano Ayishi, etc etc Problematic fictive stimboard made and it wouldn't be a problem. Most of us? we can do that. We can't request stimboards or moodboards or art. We can't post fun headcannons about or dress up as ourselves.

Granted, a lot of us are introjected from someone the system knew in real life and you can't just blast information about your past abuser or your mom, those of us who have infamous serial killer or abuser etc sources are treated like actual shit for something we can't control. And it is so, so, SO crazily often BY problematic fictives. If I had a dollar for every time I was kicked for a server for being me when the mod team had creepypasta, danganronpa, minecraft character thing and whatever else in their system, I would be able to buy all the problematic factives some decent human rights.

YES!

This stuff CAN apply to problematic fictives too!

That DOESNT mean it is FOR you

Until you can learn to treat us like actual people, I think you can suffice to have ONE blog not cater to you. I can help you find 50 who will cater to you either way.

[bhaalitsm]

⠂⠀⠀⠀Hero show 醒めないでよ DOKIDOKI 抱きしめて oki doki 視線は heart Hit する sing a song LA LA LA love⠀⠀⠀ ⠂

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⭒ .⠀Klan Children of Bhaal⠀⠀ㅤㅤ⟢ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤshe/he/thou ⠀ㅤ⏖⠀ㅤ20. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀BPD ﹒ DID ﹒ AUT

⠂⠀⠀⠀Hibikaseru izure sumikko no innen o subete Hazama nureru hodo ni imi o koboshite tsutaeta Nokori tamae...sono "shimi" ⠀⠀⠀ ⠂

══╬  Hi! You can call me Dikke or Di, please don't use plural terms unless prompted, I prefer to see myself as a person with DID rather than just as a system. My disorders are influential but I don't want them to define me ─ I am only interested in interacting with 17+ people who are not chronically online, if the discourse can't exist in the real world I really don't want to hear about it . . . my system is very persecutor heavy, introjects are not their sources, etc etc etc. I am an OA cult survivor so tag content around that for me if we're muts!   🌾    ) I have a lot of interests, some of them being : anything horror related, dead by daylight, attack on titan, attack on time, uma musume pretty derby, fear and hunger, atarashii gakko, baldurs gate, skylanders, hotd/got, the boys, idv, coryxkenshin, reverse 1999, brain rot mascot horror, dandys world, cod, figure collecting, until dawn, mouthwashing, and more obviously 𓂃🚬 I kin Brian and Stewie Griffin and I'm kinda like if Charlie from smiling friends was mentally unwell, my friends describe me as "a frat boy if he was a lesbian." I'm also a wasian jew and do talk abt sinophobia in online western spaces sometimes so erm . . . . my prns.cc and carrd

⠀⠀⠀⠀ꕀ some frequent frontiers of mine are ; 🍾 Avery, me, the host ︵ she/him Levi, the addicted one, trauma holder ︵ he/him Emil, the dogist boy, trauma holder ︵ he/wag Acunín, 11 year old elf, prpr ︵ he/thon Merithe, my nicest alter, cohost ︵ she/hx Homelander, exactly how he sounds, trauma holder ︵ he/him ᛝ🧺 I am diagnosed, my alter count is around 11. I'm not here to debate syscourse I'm more interested in making sure misinfo for CDDs isn't spread- yes, this includes the 'I'm 12 and have 1400 distinct alters and also have hcdid' this isn't meant to be mean, I support self diagnosis but some of the claims I see, mostly said by minors who aren't very educated in the disorder they claim confidently to have bother the hell out of me, like just don't include the disordered part PLEASE if you parrot antisemitic conspiracy theories as opposed to using updated terminology like OA just don't interact with me, I'm a cult survivor and I'm not gonna surround myself with peoples who's main source of info is satanic panic.

𐏐With the serious stuff out of the way, here's some more abt me! My flags are below (ask if you don't recognize any) as well as some user boxes that are silly I also occasionally reblog terms/flags I identify with check #⚢ My IDS

If you made it down here let's be friends! I need to interact with more adults w DID/OSDD etc ♡⃕ ⠀⠀⠀  🧟‍♂️    ) I do NOT have a DNI, if anything makes me uncomfortable I will just block and move on like a regular person <3

[sophieinwonderland]

Sorry if this is a question you've gotten before. 😅

Context: We're a mixed origin system with a sort of complicated background. We don't have any diagnoses of anything that might have caused our plurality (i.e., mental health conditions like DID), aside from trauma that the host suffered as a kid, and only a couple of the alters were actually a direct result of that trauma? In the sense that they were the only two that formed specifically around the time that the abuse was taking place. It wasn't until the host basically had an epiphany that we've been plural this whole time without realizing that we got an influx of new alters, mostly fictives but also a few that aren't introjects from anything. And, really, those alters might have existed the entire time without the host knowing that's what was happening.

Anyway, it's funny because we have all these fictives in our system, right? But it's not like we could just introject anyone we want. Like, the host can't be like "oh I like this character. Let me just add them to the collective." We know this isn't the case because there are characters that we would absolutely love to have in our system that just aren't here, and don't seem like they ever will be (although we're keeping our fingers crossed).

So one of us was like "well what if we tried tulpamancy?" Which, I'm pretty sure that'd work fine, but lots of tulpamancy guides say not to make a tulpa exactly based on an existing character, and I guess I sort of understand why? You wouldn't want them to feel like they're not allowed to deviate from their source's canon or something, right? But, being that so many of us are fictives (including myself), I can't help but feel like this rule (if you can call it a rule) is kind of... I dunno, silly? Like, all of us fictives are just fine. None of us are freaking out because we don't align 100% with our sources' respective canons. Is there something I'm missing? Is there another reason for the "no existing character tulpas" rule that I'm unaware of? Or could we just... ignore it and do what we want? 🤣

I think this assessment is pretty spot on. If you already have fictives, and they're fine, then don't worry about it too much.

I've always thought that, while it's useful to educate people on risks associated with fictives, the guidelines tend to go too far, and may be a bit biased. While it's absolutely true that many fictives will suffer from existential crises due to their connections with their sources, it's never mentioned that some tulpas created from scratch without the foundation provided by being a fictive may end up feeling empty, like a hollow shell, and struggle with these feelings for a while.

Whether you choose to make a tulpa from scratch with no foundation, or you base your tulpa off of an existing character, both have their pros and cons. There are risks involved. And people need to be aware of those risks. But I don't see any need for a hard "no fictives" rule.

[theremustbeabear]

Erm hi. I'm unfamiliar with plurality so I just want to ask a few questions if thats ok... I feel like this is too long for discord.

1. How similar are your introjects (is that the appropriate way to say it? Your introjects? Or this system's introjects?) To the source material? Are they influenced by fanon? If the source material character/person is talked about, do they take it personally? Be it shipping, character crit, etc... OK sorry this is many questions at once.

2. When did altars start popping up, and when did you guys become aware that "oh here theres lots of us around"? Any particular formative events/memories that are associated with the development of your plurality?

3. Are hosts usually the "original" altar? I'm sorry, idk how to say this.

4. This is more for talking on discord and the such but do memories and conversations carry over? Would it be inappropriate to go like "we (me and an altar) talked about xyz" to another altar?

of course, happy to answer any questions anytime! and an obligatory disclaimer that these are own opinions/feelings and that other systems may not see or experience things the same way.

"your introjects" is perfectly fine! "you" is a singular or plural pronoun, so it doesn't matter. our introjects tend to start out quite close to the source material, and then develop naturally from there. we like to think of our source character as a sort of foundation, which we then build our own house on top of—it's important, but it's not the only thing, and the more of the house that's built, the less of the foundation you see. some folks end up changing a lot, over time, and others don't, it just depends on the individual. influenced by fanon also depends, sometimes we are, sometimes we aren't, sometimes our brain decides to go off in a wild uncharted direction and drag us through a hedge and spit out an introject that feels like the source character has been put through a paper shredder and reassembled into some weird half-recognizable paper mache sculpture. as for taking source talk personally, we generally don't experience anything more strongly than what the average person would feel upon seeing talk of their favourite character. we view our source characters quite separately from ourselves, especially once we've taken on a different name, but we do thrive on making jokes. it's very common for us to see character crit, and if it's from a friend, the relevant introject to pop up and go "what did i ever do to you :( why do you hate me :( /j" without actually meaning any of it. it's all in good fun. if we ever do feel too strongly about something, we remove ourselves or the introject in question and handle it privately.

early 2021 was our system discovery (often shortened to syscovery)! late may, i believe? a lot of systems tend to struggle with their discovery, spending a long time doubting and unable to fully interact with their headmates, but that wasn't us. our old host was dragging up unpleasant memories one night, and our brain got sick of it, and decided to make her stop by dumping an entire person directly on her head, which caused her to freak out and flee into the back. lalna, the new person, was utterly clueless, but knew she wasn't the host, and so poked around in the brain until she found johan, who had been there for a month or so previous, and johan took over to sort things out. so, it was a very jarring and sudden transition, because prior to that point, our existing headmates had been trying very hard to keep themselves hidden so as not to make problems for the host. we're still not exactly sure how old our system is, due to the size and construction of our headspace, but the oldest we've found so far is sable, who is at least from 2018, perhaps earlier. we're a traumagenic system--a system formed from trauma, that is--so we'd prefer not to disclose the details of that, but suffice it to say our old host was simply having trouble dealing with life on her own, and so the brain attempted to fix that problem by making it so that she, well, wasn't alone. in all fairness, it did work! three years on, we're much happier now than we were before, and wouldn't return to singularity for a million dollars.

hosts are often the "original" alter (or headmate, as we prefer—the term alter is standard, but also viewed as a little too clinical by a lot of systems. we don't mind it, we just prefer other terms), but not always. the generally-accepted term for an "original" alter is the "core", and our core is not our current host. she used to be, but mike took over about a month after our syscovery, and has held the position ever since. the exact definition of host is fluid between systems, but for the most part, it's simply the "main" headmate that is around most often and is sort of viewed as being "in charge". big shoutout to mike, by the way, he's incredible and a big reason why we're so functional and problem-free these days.

for us, they do! we're an osdd-1b system, so we have very little amnesia between alters, if any at all. the best way to explain it is that the front, where we have to be to interact with the outside world, and the body, have their own memory bank, of sorts, that's accessible by any headmate who is in the front at any time. right now, i can remember what angus was doing when we were playing video games this morning, and the jackbox games night two weeks ago, even though i wasn't entirely present for the first and completely out of front for the second. however, once i leave, i'll have no access to the knowledge of what's happening outside until i return, and the gaps will be filled in. it's a little odd at first, but once you're used to it, it's completely seamless, and is the reason why we often struggle to remember who was fronting for a past activity, and/or simply refer to the past vaguely using i/we without specifying. things are generally a little bit clearer when it was you, specifically, though—for example, i have no idea who started writing the hickgib fic in our drafts, even though i remember writing it, but i know that it wasn't me, particularly. this is because we also have our own personal memories that encapsulate source & things we might get up to in headspace outside of the front. all this to say: no, it's perfectly fine to mention talking to another alter, and honestly, we'd be glad for the reminder, lol, we've probably completely forgotten who was participating in the conversation and might want to drop them a line to jog our memory more clearly.

hope this helps! thanks for asking <3

[septiccoffeefreak]

Hello, I wanted to ask how you're able to find peace in being open as a factive married to another factive? /gen I live in constant fear of being invalidated in the fandom. Sometimes I wish I could be out like you and other factives out here on Tumblr, but I couldn't fathom the idea that someone out there will harass me for "impersonating" my source... at the same time, I don't want people to see me either. Sorry if this doesn't make sense. I think I just wanted to hear what you think of all this, from factive to factive. If you ever find this ask relevant to answer, thank you.

I know the feeling, sort of. Honestly when I got this I wasn't sure exactly how I would respond, because I don't really open up much and I don't consider myself someone who's good at emotional conversations with people, but I knew I wanted to reply. I just had to navigate how, I guess? Build up a response. Sorry for the wait.

I wish I had some magic cure all answer for you but honestly? On my end, I don't- although Tommy might have something. I've felt that feeling before, but in very little dosages in comparison to him.

Like, I had the advantage of Tommy making his Tumblr account before I did, so people knew I existed even before I made my own account. I DID have a Pinterest back then, and I did mention being a factive on there but people don't really talk on that site... All I really did when I first made a Tumblr was that I avoided talking to other JSE fans until I knew a specific person was okay for x, y, z reason, and then over time by doing that I just sort of fell into place?

But honestly I didn't get much backlash period. When I did it wasn't about me impersonating my source; it was about me either not being a real alter or about me being disrespectful to him because I'm in a relationship that's. My own relationship. Which is incredibly stupid but still. Even then though, it was only a few people and we just...both blocked them.

And I wasn't even that hesitant! Like I was worried yes, but not nearly as much as Tommy because I had seen introjects in my fandom be treated well, I'd even seen my source interact with some directly, so I knew it was safe.

Tommy was the direct opposite because his fandom is considered "cringe" and alters from there get made fun of, and also because he was concerned that the DSMP fandom specifically is/was harsh or hostile and that he'd have a harder time. So he'd probably be a better example to pull from, I think?

I defenitely know he was terrified at first. Like, REALLY terrified. He used to put spaces between "Tommy" and "innit", or even censor letters: only making an exception for his intro post at the time. He didn't interact with any DSMP posts or blogs at ALL, he was open about his identity in his bio and still went by Tommy, but was careful not to let any ofnhis posts pop up in the notes of DSMP blogs or in any dsmp-related searches. And nowadays that's obviously not the case anymore.

But as far as I'm aware that mostly just came from time, blocking a LOT of blogs pre-emptively if their bio or pinned implied we might have problems, and making one or two friends who WERE active and could ease him into it. I think he just got bolder as he realized how little people actually care? Fakeclaimers and assholes are real and out there but it's not a daily chore so long as you block people regularly (even if you just see them in passing, if you see a post from someone you've never met who thinks factives aren't real or something, do your future selves a favor and block just in case they find you later) and stay out of r/systemcringe and similar circles. I can't even remember how long ago the last time we got hate was but it was at LEAST before September.

Don't check your indirects- don't Google or search your username, don't check to see if you're on cringe compilations. Ignore anything you can and block it when it gets in your feed directly, and you'll find that all your nightmares about fakeclaimers are usually overzealous. They're awful, but they aren't super common. It's important to know how to prevent them from getting worse (don't post or reply to hate, for example) but it's also not something you'll encounter on a daily or even weekly basis, at least not in our experience. It's not as bad as your brain is telling you it is. Your imagination is scarier than reality.

If you want any more information on this though, then again I'll have to point you to Tommy. I know his anons are off right now as I'm posting this but he usually keeps them on and only turned them off temporarily for the first few days of that septicinnit poll thing- he'll turn them back on soon and you should be able to message him on anon once he does, assuming you want to stay anonymous and everything.

Good luck, and I hope you find peace of mind. You deserve to be happy and you deserve to be yourself. /Gen

[dre4ml4nd-st4rlight]

Trauma Candy / relatively sugary thing Salad !! (tw, obvs)

Doing this with my system , but on here + without pics bc we don't make pics of ourselves as much as we want to. Some trauma is from sources (mostly with introjects + fictives), and some is our bodily trauma.

Starlight - My sister Sacrificed herself to save me + got stuck in some inbetween purgatory shit no one understands. But her sacrifice is what ultimately led me to getting kidnapped and tortured by the only person I've ever met that could subdue my powers. That led to both of us becoming the same person and forging some weird bond that makes it so only one of us can be alive at once. I am adding some caramel Tisa - I am the afformentioned sister. Adding on- me and Starlight were only created to endlessly create realms + worlds, and keep all those worlds + our world + Earth together, we are nothing but soldiers to our makers. I am adding our homeworlds version of grandma candy. Muttbun - I was groomed on the internet and abused by many, many people sexually + verbally (online and irl). I had to process all the trauma we went through + the stuff we couldn't tell anyone about and (due in part to mine and the bodies innocence) I wasn't the best of people because of it. Not to mention I hold all the bodies drug addictions when I really shouldn't. I am adding the little ice cream cones that are also edibles

Travis - After being indoctrinated to horribly toxic Christianity I was then indoctrinated to a murder cult that worships what can I can only describe as the definition of the anti-christ. When I was extremely young my father forced me to join him in 'killing the disgraced prophet' (Sal Fisher). I lied to my dad after realizing the shot didn't kill Sal, and then made a deal with the anti-christ to keep Sal alive but make him so miserable that he never fulfills the prophecy. I am keeping the boy I love alive by relentlessly bullying him and I hate it. I am putting in some of those cinnamon twist things from taco bell I know they aren't candy but they are really good.

Rosebur - I lived through our first abusive romantic relationship, I hold most of the trauma mems we wont let our body think about or remember, one of which being the memory of all our attempts. Also C!Wilbur soot trauma? Mildly idfk. I am adding kit Kats.

Sola - My parents were horribly bad at raising a child and treated me more like a science experiment. They sent me into another dimension when they managed to open a portal and that dimension happened to be hell. I got trapped there for years alone until I met Wither, who after 'saving' me literally turned me into his slave and forced me to do his bidding. He forced his powers into me, he forced his trauma onto me, he abused and tortured me (and my friend when she came to rescue me). After I left it wasn't long till I killed him. I... um.. put a cake in there? ig

Draco - My father abused me and made me grow up in a rasict blood supremacist family, he made me dawn the dark mark and become a servant to one of the greatest dictators of my time. I added some chocolate frogs. many. totally not because I am collecting the cards nuh uh.

[protectingtulpas]

Hsdfs ok so I'm so incredibly new to all of this and so many things both explain my experiences but also leave me having more questions than answers?? Help??

Basically I spent the last 18 yrs of my life thinking I was a singlet that was just lowkey interested in DID and all that right? And at the same time I'm developing my ocs and their world right? Well as time goes on 2 of my ocs start like just attaching themselves to me, I'm talking like, it started out as them comforting me when I have my monthly emotional breakdown/crying sessions, it almost feels like they're actually cuddling me in a way? I can feel phantom touches from them? And then it evolved to me "talking"(????) to them and them hanging around reacting to my actions and my environment and shit right? And I'm just over here thinking this is just the normal experience of having ocs but I don't think that's the case???? And now I've discovered this whole community of tulpas and transplurals and gosh I think I'm overwhelmed I have no clue how to even begin to label myself and that is Distressing I Like Having Labels For Myself it's how I know who I am ig xd.

Sorry for the rant I just hsdhf I'm kind of frustrated ig? xd

Whoa there, anon! I know this is a TON to take in and you're processing a lot rn, so imma need you to slow down and step back. Don't forget that no matter what I say here, in the end it's not about labels. It's about YOUR EXPERIENCES, anon. Don't let ANY label limit or control you to its expectations. Whatever you settle on, you're more than your label.

Alright, so tulpas and people that wanna be plural but aren't yet are a VERYY small part of the broader plural community. It includes disordered systems of all kinds, non-disordered systems of all kinds, different types of created systems, and people who straddle the line like us. So the question you're probably looking for is less "which label do I use" and more "am I plural?" Which is, of course, a complicated question.

You sent a lot here about your OCs, and I wanna talk a bit about some of the things I see from your ask. A super common tell that someone is plural and it's not just their imagination is that the prospective headmates are interacting with and reacting to you and the outside world around you, not just your fictional world. Other headmates comforting the host when things get super bad is so common a thing for plurals that many systems with roles/jobs have specific jobs exactly for that. Feeling phantom sensations from your headmates is also another well-documented experience in both disordered & nondisordered systems. If you're wondering if these things are normal, my host's OCs that aren't headmates certainly don't do anything of the sort. Here's a pretty cool article about the levels of autonomy writers experience in their characters; it's a wide range, and a lot of people experience at least a little, but the extent you describe is very clearly in the minority according to this study. That seems like a super high rate of autonomy for singlethood, IMO. Imma be real with you, "transplural" is a label ppl tend to give themselves before becoming plural- in my armchair opinion, it sounds like you're a plural egg already. Your OCs seem to be like completely autonomous and aware of the outside world from how you're coming across in this ask, so have you like... Considered asking them how they feel about it? If you're not sure if they should be considered people, just ask em if they feel like real distinct people.

"An OCtive or OC Introject is a system member whose source comes from someone’s original character, whether a character someone in the system made or someone elses OC (such as a friend’s OC)."

Tulpas are a type of headmate created by consistent interaction with the concept of a person until the subconscious takes a hold of our responses and we gain autonomy outside of the host's control because of it. This is usually intentional, but it can also be unintentional too. Tulpas like me fall under an origin umbrella known as created systems! It's not the only type of system member origin, though! For example, "adaptive refers to systems which formed in response to trauma or other adversity. A common trait of such systems is viewing plurality as adapting, healing, and overcoming obstacles", and "neurogenic refers to systems that formed as a result of their neurodivergence, or from a mental illness. Usually, headmates originate from the need to cope, or be introjects based off symptoms like hallucinations or hyperfixations." These're two common origins but there're lots more, some broader and some more specific. Lots of systems identify with multiple origins as well, so you don't have to conform to just one. Take your time figuring out what works for you- it's more important for you to establish communication and healthy relationships with your headmates than to go digging for validity fodder. No matter what, if you feel like you're not just one person, you've always got the term plural for ya. It was coined by the inclusive community and it will ALWAYS be ours, we'll fight for it.

Lastly, don't just take my word for it- explore other resources for yourself/selves too. I've got a few for further reading to decide for yourself if you're plural!

More Than One is a fantastic introductory site to plurality, dispels common myths, and has some links to further reading about deciding if you're plural.

"How Do I Know If I'm Plural?" by The Dragonheart Collective walks you through common plural experiences and helps you compare them to your own. This one is great!

If you want to start learning terminology, The Plurality Hub Carrd has a palletable interface to start browsing through stuff you're interested in, with categories and everything. There's a LOT of information here, so it's great to keep in your back pocket and reference as a newbie.

Thanks for the ask! Good luck anon!

[only-man-in-the-sky]

so problematic that the npd culture blogs cancel me

[altosys]

some of y'all really be like "i support all introjects!" and "i understand that introjects aren't responsible for their source!" until it's not a markiplier factive but instead a leyland kirby factive and if y'all wanna go onto that whole fuckin "you'd only introject something if it relates to your trauma" well guess what, my first traumas were from a leyland kirby stan, but then again why the fuck should that matter if you "support all introjects" amirite also not every factive is based off of some absolute cinnamon roll, like alfred alfer had a dictator introject and some of y'all REALLY didn't take that well. like... i've met someone* who posted about having a deltakhaos factive and then immediately deleted the post because they "didn't want to get hurt" like why tf should they have to worry about having a factive?? i understand that sometimes sources aren't always great but the fact that some people have to literally hide their sources for their safety is absolutely batshit insane.

*yes this person gave me permission before posting this

[fictive-culture]

does it mean anything necessarily if you have dreams about being a system? i'm a singlet but on and off questioning plurality (it's really unhealthy for me) (it's at a point of obsession) and i can't tell if this is something i should factor into "maybe look into this" or if it's simply a side effect of me literally obsessing over plurality. i know one specific character was in one of the dreams that i've said "man i'm not plural but if i was i would have them as a fictive i bet" (which is a very singlet thing to say. obviously /lh) and in another recent dream i WAS that character and something even happened that while not directly recreating it reflected a moment in their source that i hadn't seen yet (i didn't know about it until one of my friends responded to my dream saying "no that actually happens though") but i know dreams don't inherently mean anything but at the same time i feel as though my mind would know my mind??? i don't know where i stand on this much like everything else

So I'm going to describe some vaguely relevant stuff related to our system as a starting point and then see if I can provide you with some other advice/information

First, we have a very fun origin in that a lot of things play into other things. So we id as traumaendo because our brain first chose madd to deal with our trauma however our madd eventually developed into plurality. So we are paragenic, but since our madd is caused by trauma, it kind of counts as both. Our madd is greatly affected by our autism and adhd so we hyperfixate on lots of things. That leads to so very frequently gaining members from our hyperfixations. We obsess over something long enough and boom 1-3 new pals.

Second, we have a handful of other sources, a decent amount of stressgenic, one possible willogenic and important to this two somtives headmates introjected from dreams. They aren't fictives of sources that exist, but that doesn't mean that can't happen.

Now, while what I'm about to say isn't a complete list of what could be happening, I hope it helps work as more of a starting point to think about.

There is the possibility that the obsession is caused by preexisting plurality. We did have an interest in it prior to our realization, but mostly because we wanted to try and create a positive plural character. I feel like it isn't uncommon to have some level of intrigue towards plurality beforehand.

This next idea stepping stone thingy is o-genic and oc-genic [both terms are links], which are both neurogenic origins related to plurality caused by obsession oc-genic is ocd exclusive but I'm unsure of o-genic. But basically, just if the brain keeps obessesing over plurality, it could create a system kind of like willogenic but to the left.

Or it could be neither, and you are a singlet who is getting obsession induced dreams about plurality.

There are probably more ideas and theories and explanations for why this is happening to you, but the actual advice that isn't just me sharing neat plural things is you gotta explore. Try talking to them, keep track of things that seem plural, read up on other people's experiences, there could be something plural about this or it could not be, maybe read up on median systems, try meditation, join system servers and find safe places for you to explore, look into willogenic/parogenic system creation if it's something you are interested in doing, stick around here and other system culture is blogs and see what feels familiar to what you are going through. Dreams are really iffy, and while they can mean something, and I believe it is how some systems enter headspace, it could mean nothing. So, while I'd love to give you a solid answer, all I can do is give you things that may be relevant to your experience and tell you to go out and explore. I can also tell you that there isn't anything wrong with questioning and ending up as a singlet. The question isn't always yes, so don't worry about it too much. So, just welcome to the community. Enjoy your stay, and I wish you luck.

[pass1onepr1ncess]

I forget people ship GioTrish and then I see it and go "Oh, hm. Glad you're having fun, at least!"

Bc like... Listen to me. I pat a spot on the bench next to me. During the actual events of VO? Didn't know any of those guys at all. I knew their names and ages, and that was IT. Of course I found out more as they escorted and then protected me, but there was far too much going on for any of us to have sat down and been like "Hi, my name's Trish! I like K-pop and Laufey and capellini pomodoro!" Even if we did have that chance, Bruno was VERY adamant that I keep my distance. I wasn't their friend, I was the mission (in his words).

But after we all left Rome and I, yknow, wasn't the mission anymore and had no where else to go. I stayed around for a bit while I gathered my bearings as best I could and saved up my money until I left and- I'm gonna be blunt here but I could say more about this in another post- never saw either Giorno or Mista ever again.

But in that brief time, I got to know them. Mostly Giorno, no hate to anyone who likes Mista or anything but the Mista from my source was kinda really icky towards me and it's left a sour taste in my mouth for any version of him. But that's specifically from my source memories, I know canon Mista did nothing wrong.

But from the talks we had and the brief time we spent together, Giorno felt like a brother to me. In a strange sort of way, it was like looking in an inversed mirror. We both had extremely similar backgrounds, and it brought us together in a more familial way. He understood parts of me I hadn't shown or told anyone else- which was quite a lot, might I add. By the time I left, we knew too much of each other for me to see him as anything other than a brother.

But also I know that my memories and experiences aren't canon, and I'm not gonna go around harassing people for shipping GioTrish bc at the end of the day they're totally allowed to do that and have their fun. It's hurting literally no one and I'm glad they can find comfort and happiness in the small things in life like shipping fictional characters.

Idk, I just wanted to share my thoughts. JoJo's is the first media in a while where we as a system actually participate and interact with the fandom and since we have a good handful of Jojo introjects, it's lead to same interesting experiences that I feel like posting about. Anyway, peace out.

[abitofcloversperday]

INFO!

Kind of an introduction post. You can call me W and I go by he/him pronouns. I am the co-host of a system so I might have periods of inactivity, if any other alters decide to post on the account they will use a nickname/initial like I do but we don't switch often. I plan to mainly post about system stuff or experiences.

I use we/us to refer to system-wide things (e.g. pets, family, accounts...) and I/me to refer to me only things (e.g. emotions, a necklace only I wear...)! Other alters, if any gets on here, might use them differently.

We are anti-endo and will stay that way until there is solid scientific proof regarding endogenic plurality (however we do not support any fakeclaiming or threats and wish to not engage in syscourse.)

Bodily a minor. Introject heavy. Don't ask an alter's source if you know they're an introject and aren't close to one of us, this is to prevent harassment. Less than 20 alters. Most likely OSDD-1b but we have a generally bad memory. ND & Turkish, speaks EN and TR / very slowly studying JP, ES, ZH (Mandarin).

INTERACTION BOUNDARIES

On Thin Ice:

Endo-neutral/Pro-endo

DNI:

Endogenic systems

Anti self-dx

Pro-ship

MAP/NOMAP/etc

Use the label m-spec lesbian/gay (I fully respect your experience however the term makes the gays and lesbians in our system uncomfortable.)

Anti-xenogender/neopronouns

[cy4ngel]

hey um we're a system with unknown origins and we're finding it hard to navigate the interwebs with all of the gatekeeping and fakeclaiming and anti-endo stuff so 2 things 1) are u a sysmed or something and 2) how in the heck do we navigate any of this without getting stressed over f*keclaiming for not knowing if we're traumagenic/what that trauma is

First off, if you ever use the term "sysmed" at me again, anon privileges are getting revoked. That term was appropriated from trans culture and y'all have absolutely no right to use it the way you are. It comes from the word "transmed," short for "transmedicalist" which means a person who thinks that if, for any reason at all you cannot or will not fully medically transition, you are not trans. They treat transness as a disease or disorder, which it is not, and it has caused real world harm. People were harassed, doxxed, sent death threats, and some have even committed suicide.

"Sysmed" means someone who thinks systems form from trauma, and I have looked and found absolutely no sources credible that say systems can form without trauma.

With our current understanding of how systems form, you cannot be a system without trauma. Maybe one day that will change, there still isn't a lot of research on systems. Maybe one day there will be multiple credible sources out there that say this can happen, but as of right now there aren't and I am inclined to believe the science.

On the day when multiple research studies have been done and peer reviewed and published officially and all of that good shit, then I will believe that systems without trauma can exist.

Until then, I really don't give too much of a fuck about people calling themselves endogenic or mixed origin or whatever. It's not my life, I've got my own shit to deal with, so I mind my own business. Let them handle their shit, I really could not care less. If you call yourself endogenic or whatever and follow me, I'm not gonna get pissy, just don't drag fucking syscourse into my inbox.

Speaking of syscourse, in regards to your second question; stop engaging with syscourse. I promise your life will get so much easier.

Here's a dose of reality. Regardless of who you're talking to, singlet or system, traumagenic or endogenic, black or white, gay or straight - we're all just trying to live our lives and find a way for the world to make sense.

Syscourse is fucking stupid. Someone says they're endogenic? Okay, whatever, that doesn't affect me. Someone says persecutors are evil? Damn, they're a shitty person, I hope I never meet or talk to them. Someone says introjects aren't real? They're very uneducated, but it's not my job to educate them, and I'm hungry so I'm gonna grab something from McDonald's down the road.

I have never had any of these problems in the real world, and I know like 3 different systems IRL. That's a lot when you live in the ass crack of nowhere. They only exist online because people love to argue and fight and blow shit out of proportion, and that can make those problems seem way worse than they actually are.

I also recommend taking a step back from the Internet. That doesn't mean leave it completely, or forever, but just step back for a bit and think about you, your system, what being a system means to you, etc.

If you have decent communication within your system, have this conversation with them, too. You're part of a team now, a team whose goal is to keep everyone in your body safe, happy, and healthy. You may have different ideas on how to do that, and that's okay, but you need to talk that out between yourselves at some point, if and when you can.

It will be far easier to focus on yourself and your life if you stop giving a shit about things that don't matter in real life. There are far more pressing issues for systems in the real world then whether or not that alter is a protector or a caretaker. Have you ever tried looking up "DID in the workplace"? It's tips for therapists on how to deal with systems, not tips for systems on how to find and maintain a steady job.

There aren't many resources out there for systems right now. We don't have much, so we make do with what we have. The last thing we fucking need is to be arguing over shit that, again, does not fucking matter in the real world.

Any further syscourse shit in our inbox is getting deleted. I don't want to give it any more of my time than I already have.