#a plural who's system/headmates formed for reasons other than trauma

[pluralhottakes]

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

.

[sophieinwonderland]

An Autism culture blog is spreading misinformation about endogenic systems...

The misinformation:

Naturally, all of this is wrong.

The only true statement here is "you could probably learn a lot more about these things in your own research." Because yeah... Doing your own research is likely to bring you to actually valid sources of information instead of whatever this is.

Real Information:

Endogenic systems are not a "fake form of dissociative disorder."

Endogenic systems ARE plural systems who experience multiple agents, or "headmates," sharing the same body in some way without trauma. Usually, endogenic systems don't even report having any sort of dissociative disorder at all.

And this is a real experience that's been repeatedly acknowledged by the psychiatric community.

So much so that the World Health Organization's diagnostic handbook, the ICD-11, specifically states that you can experience the presence of multiple "distinct identity states" without a mental disorder.

"Distinct identity states" is the same wording the ICD-11 uses to describe alters that characterized DID:

It's also acknowledged in the book Transgender Mental Health by Eric Yarbrough, which was reviewed and published by the American Psychiatric Association, that you can be plural without trauma or a disorder:

...

Additionally, the phrasing that endogenic plurality "mocks and invalidates people who are actually plural" is especially harmful as it erases and rewrites a huge part of plural history. That is, the fact that "plural" is an inclusive term coined and popularized to by non-disordered and endogenic systems.

Back in the 90s, the popular term that was used was "multiple," originating with "multiple personality disorder," the old name for DID.

The shift towards using "plural" was an effort by non-disordered systems to distance themselves from medical and pathologizing language. As you can see from this article from the 90s:

We don't claim that every multiple system/household is a happy loving cooperative one. What we do question is the *identification* of "real multiples" with the characteristics or symptoms of a psychological disorder. We go further: we question by what right or authority doctors and therapists are given sole jurisdiction over the definition of "an individual".

This is one reason our clan encourages use of the word "plural" rather than "multiple". "Multiple", even standing by itself, brings to mind MPD/DID, "multiple personality disorder", "dissociative identity disorder", which are specific diagnoses created by the medical/therapeutic community. "Plural" is a much more neutral word, more commonly heard in the context of grammar than psychiatry. (The other reason, of course, is that plural can be construed to have a broader meaning, applying to anyone(s) anywhere on the continuum who experience themselves as plural in some way. )

The Bottom Line:

An autism culture blog should be lifting up all neurodivergents. Not spreading misinformation about them and encouraging hate!

[multiplicity-positivity]

Here’s some positivity for endogenic systems!

Endogenic systems, or systems who formed without trauma playing a role, have always been and will always be integral members of the plural community. Our spaces simply would not be what they are today without the efforts of endogenic systems! Y’all belong here and make the plural community a beautiful, vibrant, and more welcoming place. So this post is for all the endogenic systems out there!

💕 Shoutout to spontaneous systems, or those who suddenly or inexplicably became plural for unknown reasons!

🌼 Shoutout to paros and paromancers, thoughtforms, and other consciously created systems and headmates!

💜 Shoutout to systems whose plurality is influenced by daemonism, their spirituality, or imaginary friends!

🌸 Shoutout to endogenic systems who are disabled, whether or not their disability has impacted their plurality in some way!

💙 Shoutout to endogenic artists whose plurality is intrinsically connected to their stories, worlds, or other creative works!

🌱 Shoutout to systems who educate others, advocate for, and spread awareness about endogenic plurality!

💗 Shoutout to systems who are questioning whether or not they have endogenic origins!

🌻 Shoutout to endogenic systems who strive to keep the plural community safe, open, and welcoming to systems of all sorts!

💝 Shoutout to endogenic systems who also have trauma histories, but whose plurality is not tied to or influenced by their trauma in any way!

💐 Shoutout to endogenic systems who have struggled with being fakeclaimed, harassed, or having their plurality questioned in the past!

❤️ Shoutout to endogenic systems who are closeted or who keep information about system origins private!

Endogenic systems, please keep your chin up and know that your plurality is valid, you are real, and you will always belong in the plural community just the way you are! Regardless of how your system formed or how your plurality manifests, we want you to know that you belong here and you make our spaces better simply by existing in them!

We are wishing every endogenic system a future full of peace, joy, and self-acceptance. Know that, while we are always happy to confirm it, you don’t need outside validation in order to prove that your plurality is real - you know yourself and your system better than anyone else! Please try to take it easy and treat yourself and your system with some kindness today. Thank you so much for reading, and take care!

[pro-endo-culture-is]

hiya! im not a system myself, but uh, i never rly understood the diff between endogenic, traumagenic, and all those terms, didnt rly wanna ask an anti-endo either because they'd be shitty and biased, so if its not to much to ask, could i mayhaps request some definitions or examples of different system types?

Sure! We're traumagenic ourselves, so we may not properly portray the experiences of other origins, and i suggest (/nf) asking some endogenic or other origins systems to clarify if we make a mistake! ^-^

Traumagenic: the most commonly known system origin in both medical spheres and online. This usually (but not always!) Refers to disordered systems with some sort of CDD (traumagenic systems are not always disordered though, just commonly are) who formed through intense trauma under the age of around 10.

Endogenic: mostly an umbrella term, used to describe systems who formed for some reason other than trauma. They may still have trauma, it was just not the cause of their plurality. This could widely vary, from spiritual reasons, psychosis/delusions, created systems or just. Being born like that. There are usually more specific sub terms used to describe why they formed, for example "willogenic". Endogenic systems are usually non disordered, but if they have gone through trauma, they may have a CDD (this is not me saying that you can have a CDD without trauma)

Mixed origins/traumaendo: these are two slightly different terms, with mixed origins being an umbrella term for any mixture of origins, while traumaendo specifically being a mixture of traumagenic and endogenic. This is basically, as it says in the name, a system forming for mixed reasons, not being able to specify one origin.

Willogenic/parogenic: these are again two slightly different terms, (parogenic is used by systems who specifically used tulpamancy, but willogenic refers to all created systems) but they both refer to systems that were created on purpose by the host/cores own will. This does not relate to radqueers or transids in most cases, and are generally non disordered. Willogenic/parogenic systems do NOT see plurality as a game, there are many valid reasons to create a system, for example to help deal with emotions (see internal families), or to process trauma by essentially manually doing what traumagenic brains do automatically. Plurality is not "easy" or fun for created systems as some anti endos would like to believe. Any other system origin may also have willogenic/parogenic headmates.

Quoigenic: quoigenic systems are essentially systems who do not know their origins, do not want to say, or don't think its appropriate to ask. A subset of this is praesigenic, which is specifically for systems who do not want to say their origins.

Spirigenic/metagenic: any system that formed for spiritual reasons, or has spiritual elements. This is not necessarily tied to any religion or practice.

Neurogenic: a system which formed by or in order to cope with a mental illness the body already had. This may be seen as a subset of traumagenic, but its up to the system to decide if they see it that way or not.

There are other system origins, these are the ones we're most familiar with/the most common ones. For other resources/a better understanding see:

☆ System origins carrd (similar to what we just did, but better and including flags)

☆ plural wiki (list of ALL origins with descriptions)

[system-voices]

What to do and not to do for Fictives Connected to a Culture that Isn't your own

by a Japanese fictive in a biracial (White/Honduran) body

Cultural Appropriation is a term that gets thrown around a fuck ton online these days. Here are some educational resources (and more) about it.

Basically, it means taking a culture that isn't your own. Plural systems have this problem with headmates sourced from media where their character is of a different race or ethnicity than the body itself.

So what the fuck do you do when you have a headmate like me who has a different race than the body, hm? Every system is different. Some systems only have their headspace bodies affected while others have headmates form with deeply connected identities that do not belong with the body.

We usually have headmates who are only connected by appearance to a race, but others are deeply connected to deal with cultural trauma we've experienced, not from source, and a culture outside the body affecting the development of a headmate.

Understanding why a headmate is wanting to connect to a culture or identity so much beyond an appearance is important to pinpoint. Is it internalized racism? Some strange concept including racial superiority or believing that race is a choice? Do some good god damn soul searching before diving head first into anything. We all know race is a touchy issue even outside the plural community.

Some rules of thumb no matter the answer are that:

1. Changing the physical body to fit a race outwardly is racist.

EX: A white/other presenting body begins to slowly aquire and appear as another race outwardly that isn't the one they were born as. This can involve surgery, cosmetics, use of slurs, speaking over POC on real-life issues, or even just flat out refusing to acknowledge the bodies race and ethnicity.

2. Claiming a closed culture or closed aspects of a culture is racist.

EX: A hesdmate wishing to dabble or participate in Voodoo, a closed culture, wouldn't be able to and why the affects of participating would have negative consequences. There are obligations as a white/other body you have to uphold in this world.

3. Forcing other hesdmates or the body to follow a specific culture or race that does not align with the body for malicious reasons is not only racist but just harmful in general.

EX: Wishing to claim an entire culture because they "deserve it", "want to make others feel bad," "use it against others," or "get access to spaces and rights they're not supposed to" are, I believe, stepping points in this direction.

This will be good starting points to weed out what racist ideals that may be affecting a headmate. If none of these apply and your headmate simply wants to interact with a culture with appreciation and to connect to themselves in safe ways, where do you go from there?

What to do when your Headmate wants to Connect to a Culture

I am a Japanese headmate because my source is based upon Japanese culture and written by an Asian man. However, my culture is not true Japanese culture. My home is based within a fictional version of Japan with different governments, laws, name structures, and history than the one of this world. When your Headmate identifies with a culture, know there are boundaries and perhaps only specific shared aspects that they long for.

For example, within my source, my name, Katsuki Bakugo, is made up of Japanese phrases and do not resemble real names of real people, intentionally by my creator for people outside his culture. Within my world they are common and not unusual. However, in this reality it is. This is a division of this reality and my own. It is still the Japanese language, but it holds no cultural significance outside of words a being chose to create fictional names.

I am capable of claiming my name and keeping it because it is but an aspect of a language that is open for others to interact with. Japanese is encouraged to be learned and taught. For this reason, keeping my name is not cultural appropriation. This may be difficult for other introjects, especially factives or those whose source stems from a tight intertwining of this reality and their own.

Researching your source name, it's history and why it was chosen, will help decide weather it is one crossing appropriation or simply a name you can still keep. I am lucky mine is not. You may not be.

Because my culture from source is influenced and reflects this realities Japanese Culture, that means certain cuisine and holidays I used to participate in are ones I may know or have memory of.

The solution is simple for this one. If the culture you are based upon or stem from has pieces of food, tradition, or holidays that are closed and unable to be shared or refuse to be shared. You simply give up that aspect and move on to the open, shared, and welcomed portions of the culture. Just because you are not within a body that presents as your race does not mean you cannot appreciate it to the extent that is allowed. But this also extends to the part where you just accept and effectively move on from those aspects of yourself to respect his reality and especially, most importantly, it's own people.

For example, I cook frequently in my system. Most foods I enjoy cooking involve cuisine with tofu, mostly soups, because it's my favorite type of food. The soups I cook are not sacred nor am I stealing them in this body. I researched if they are parts of Japanese culture that are open, shared, and encouraged to be learned and appreciated. If the Japanese culture, or any culture your Headmate wishes to connect with, gives you a wildly recognized green flag to participate, than you may. If not, deal with it.

The only reason I participate within Japanese culture despite living in a body that isn't my own in a world that isn't my own is because of multiple factors.

We as a system collectively have interest in other cultures. We read academic research, we involve and uplift POC voices and actually place our actions where our fucking mouth is. No, this doesn't give us a pass. But it DOES give us an understanding and access to what is right and wrong and how that will influence our decisions. We interact with open aspects of culture constantly and are aware of the dos and donts, continuing to learn all the while. We respect Japanese culture, so when I formed this aspect of it, I was allowed to take part as an outsider, to still have a taste of home. It isn't the bodies culture, but once was mine.

Whatever happens you listen to those of your culture from this world and you slaughter and murder the internalized racism you may have formed with. Anyone not willing to do so is a lost fucking cause.

[cloverstarsys]

So I'm gonna just... idk talk

(Putting all this under a cut both bc it's long and bc syscourse)

So some new anti-endos have made their way into the plural tags. We've been mostly ignoring the syscourse stuff recently because it... admittedly isn't great for us, but I forgot just how cyclical and repetitive it is omg.

"DID is a trauma disorder!" We're not discussing having DID. We're discussing being plural. Just because you(/nay (probably)) don't acknowledge non-DID/OSDD/etc plurality doesn't mean it's not still there. This has been said hundreds of times, or at least that's what it feels like

"Hearing voices is common!" Hey, at least this is a new one. Not sure where it's coming from, though. I mean, yes, some level of it is common, but it really depends on the level. And this talk of DID being uncommon is all dependent on the statistics of how many people actually are diagnosed with DID, and that's not a very solid number. There's not one concrete number of, this percentage of people have DID. Psychologists don't know. All the numbers out there are estimates, and also, dependent on diagnoses. Not everyone gets diagnosed. And all this is assuming DID is the only form of plurality, which it's not!

"Sourcecalls are anti-recovery!" ...???? Seriously, what? At the heart of a sourcecall is a fictive (or factive) looking for those who they know from their source, looking for someone who might share similar experiences to them. I don't see how that's an issue. To be fair, the person who posted this seems to believe alters aren't separate from the "person", like, at all. And I'm getting to this.

"Sub/sidesystems are impossible!" OK look, I have no clue how subsystems work, but I'm going to err on the side of "people say it's something they experience, so I will believe them for now" because I believe in NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE PROVEN WITH FLAT FACTS IN ORDER FOR IT TO EXIST (sorry, I'm getting heated) everything, before it's proven, still exists. Gravity existed before the first theories about it. Etc etc. And who knows, there might be scientific proof of it out there that i just havent found. And when it comes to sidesystems, as far as I know, it's mostly just a separate group of headmates. How is that impossible?

"Alters aren't separate from you!" This post comes from the view of, alters are parts of a whole personality that could have been there had trauma not occurred that caused the disorder. And while yes, that is technically what alters are in a DID system, I don't think it's a bad thing to think of them as separate. Even if scientifically they're not (which I haven't seen any proof of, by the way, but, honestly, there's so little research on plurality it might be hard to come by or just not exist yet. So look above for my opinion on believing people about their lived experiences without scientific proof yet) I don't see how it could hurt to think of your alters as separate people. One of this person's other posts also claims the reason they're not separate "scientifically" is because new alters cam inherit memories. I'm sure that's true, but I don't see how that means they can't be separate people (to the extent allowed by a single human brain, I mean). And they do say at the top of another post that you can *see* your alters as separate people and that doesn't change the "facts" (those "facts" being "alters aren't headmates" (are those not just two different terms to define the same thing?), "alters aren't separate" (well, yes, to an extent, but alters can be significantly more separate than this person is claiming), and just pretty much claiming parts. And while using parts language is entirely valid, do whatever you want, forcing it on others is not. If someone doesn't want to refer to their alters as parts of themself, then they don't have to) but that doesn't change the actual facts of we have no fucking clue what's going on in the brain half the time and significantly more research is needed on non-disordered plurality. Anyways.

I need to get ready for school now, because this post has taken me almost an hour to write lol.

There's no sources for anything I've said, not because they don't exist, but because this was mostly me shouting into the void to help dispel the feelings seeing these posts gave me. There are so many blogs that provide genuine sources and all that, plus individual research is always an option. But even if there isn't research proving something (or disproving it), I'm going to lean on the side of believing peoples lived experiences.

It's always so funny, seeing so many blogs that claim to "correct misinformation" that literally just spread misinfo themselves. I think I've seen... one blog that actually corrects misinfo and isn't biased (either towards or against endogenic systems, just looking at the facts (which, believe it or not, tend to prove non-disordered/non-traumagenic (yes I'm aware those aren't the same thing) systems are real)).

Although I think the reason so many anti-endo sources can be so easily disproven is because they're all talking about DID. we are not talking about DID. you cannot conflate all plurality with just DID.

Ok, I really have to get going now.

(Unless you're really respectful about it. I'm allowing a discussion here right now, don't ruin it by being a dick.)

(Banners by @/lunaridae)

[lightboundhellhound]

i dont know what an endogenic system is can i still be follwing you ?

i mean honestly fair enough kajdkd but let me define it for you

let me get this out of the way: some people interpret it as “DID/OSDD without trauma” but that’s incorrect

what it actually means is “a form of plurality that originates from causes other than trauma” which sounds similar but is an important distinction

you can’t have DID or OSDD without trauma, but you can be plural for a variety of reasons. neurodivergence can cause it, or one might create headmates intentionally, you can even be a system from birth. its not DID or OSDD, but something else entirely

think of it like this: DID/OSDD systems are all plural, but not all plural systems are DID/OSDD. i hope that makes sense. and is accurate ;^^ it sounds accurate to me but i might be neglecting nuance pls let me know if this is the case 🙏🏻

syscourse is ruining people’s brains i think cos how can you be a traumagenic system, surrounded by people who either insist you’re faking or that its not even real, and then see endogenic systems and say they’re either faking or that its not real. girl what

believe it or not, the brain does things that we might never understand!!!! leave endogenic systems alone!!!!!!!! they’re not hurting anyone!!!!!!!!

sincerely, an OSDD system who is SO tired

btw the anger isn’t directed at you anon, just wanna be clear. im just remembering some of the endo hate i’ve seen and im like 😡

syscoursers in the notes will be blocked btw

[hiiragi7]

hi! hope you dont mind the ask!

since you have a lot of pro-endo stuff on your blog, i was just wondering how endo systems even form? since, did in its essense is inherently formed by trauma

genuinely curious btw!! not trying to start any sort of argument or get into discourse ^^

Well, the thing there is that endogenic plurals and DID aren't the same thing.

Endogenic isn't "DID but without the trauma". Endogenic is an umbrella term for various spiritual, cultural, and psychological experiences. It is not DID. Endogenic plurals are not made up of dissociated states, and they do not tend to display other symptoms of DID such as trauma-based developmemtal issues, attachment issues, comorbid psychological issues, somatic symptoms, personality disorders, and so on. Endogenic plurals also do not tend to split in the same way as a DID system. The two tend to function very differently from each other.

An endogenic plural may form in a variety of ways, such as having been born plural, purposefully developing headmates later in life, or viewing themselves as more than one self may be a part of their spiritual or cultural practices; many cultures for a very long time have had very different ways of viewing the self as well as experiences of possession, and this may account for some endogenic experiences.

This is not meant to be an exhaustive list of how endogenic plurals form, but rather to give you an idea of some of the bigger examples.

An endogenic plural may also be DID or have a trauma history, but for spiritual or cultural reasons they do not view themselves as soley DID or traumagenic, which is related to subjective labelling and differences in how people view themselves and their history. Shit gets messy there. I'm not one to tell people they're wrong in however their cultural or spiritual identity interacts with clinical disorder.

Some plurals may also have their own psychological theories for how their plurality formed unrelated to trauma, which is also a subjective labelling thing.

If a traumagenic framework isn't useful to them (or, worse, actively damaging to their mental health), there's no reason to push it on them, to me. If they are traumagenic, they'll figure it out with time, and if they're endogenic, good for them.

Psychological theories regarding non-DID plurality seem to be especially relevant to parogenic plurals, who most often tend to have psychological explanations for what they're experiencing, but it's not exclusive to them.

I'm a bit conflicted on shared terms and labels, since on one hand it seems that it leads to a lot of conflation of two very different things (DID and endogenic plurality) and misconceptions based off of that, but on the other hand I don't think drawing lines in the sand at who can use what words is useful when these communities have been mixed for such a long time that it's kind of impossible now to really use entirely seperate language.

Just so we're clear though, even if the same language is used, how those terms are used in the context of DID is not the same as how those same words are used in the context of endogenic plurality (think "system" as a big example of this), which I think is where a lot of people get stuck and why origins debates are such a big topic. A big part of origins syscourse is definitely how people define words differently and misconceptions regarding language.

For example, I don't think nearly as many people would be upset with someone saying "different cultures have different ways of viewing the self, with some cultures seeing individuals as having multiple selves" or "my spiritual views mean I see myself as having multiple spiritual identities that are always present", but "you can/can't be a system without trauma" is a very hot topic, because one side defines "system" as the more clinical "system of dissociated parts" while the other defines it as simply "the subjective experience of being more than one".

Sorry for rambling, I'm not really sure how to end this post. I hope this answers the question even if I ended up going on and on about things, lmao.

[fireboltsystem]

ok this is going to be an obnoxiously long ask jsyk ahead of time, i have a lot of little things to say/ask aoejrof. 1. this is our-library's main blog!! for context, since im sure youve seen us in your notifs lmao 2. related apologies for digging through so much of your blog we were really curious about you because weve been following you on sonicaspeed for a long time and we wanted to know more about you! 3. related again im about to ask a LOT of questions that youre totally free not to answer if theyre too invasive, but theyre all things were genuinely curious/confused about, so wed like to at least take the opportunity to ask! 4. i really hope you dont mind us jabbering at you like this too much alejfkfn we tend to yap ^^'

first thing were really interested in is how exactly an endogenic system works, talking as a traumagenic did (as far as we know) system, especially one thats partially endo and partially traumatic as you seem to be. in the past weve gone from negative (due to being around people who were very bitter about endogenic systems when we were first figuring ourselves out) to supporting it and knowing full well they exist but not understanding it, and wed like to go to understanding and supporting it, but thats really hard when we dont really have an example and looking things up, as always, leads nowhere.

this is of course a little more personal, but we wanted to ask about your subsystem a little, partially due to the fact that weve begun to form our own and arent totally sure how to handle them yet; i noticed a mention of a satellite subsystem within the solar subsystem? is that a nested subsystem? im both very curious, baffled, intrigued, and wanting to know in case it comes up for us, but either way, id love to know exactly how that organization works exactly!

and, um...oh, that might actually be all the questions. woopsie. overestimated that a lil, hehe. think we mightve answered some of them for ourselves as we were scrolling through your blog and then TOTALLY forgot that we didnt have as many questions as we did when we first read your pinned post. we did still manage to yap for a While though apwkrjgh hope this finds you well and all that and that you dont mind the long ask and all the notifs!!! were gonna go raid your sonic blog using our main blog to rb now lmao

🌪 - Oh snap hey! No worries about 'spam' it doesn't bother us at all lol.

Response got LONG so I'll throw it under a cut!

Endogenic systems have as wide a variety of experiences as traumagenic systems do, so describing how they "work" generally is kind of impossible KWNFWK. The only thing to keep in mind is that endogenic systems and system members form for reasons other than trauma - maybe they were born that way, maybe it's neurodivergence, maybe it's spiritual beliefs, intentional formation, or any number of other reasons! Not all endogenic systems lack trauma or even disorders - You can be a system and then experience trauma which causes problems for you later on. Or you can experience trauma that doesn't cause plurality in you, and then discover or become plural later, too! If you don't know yet about Pluralpedia, it can be confusing to navigate but has tons of info about different system origins, traumagenic and endogenic alike. Plus lots of other info about plurality as well!

We consider our system to be primarily traumagenic, but with many individual endogenic members. Most of our endo members exist as introjects and come from the process of creating or experiencing art - our brain is just naturally inclined to make headmates out of characters we connect with qkdnskcn.

As for our subsystems: Yeah, the Satellite subsystem is nested within the Solar subsystem. Team Solar consists of me (Zephyr) and everyone from my world, including my own headmates from back then. The Satellite subsystem is the Shadow I know from my world and all of his headmates that basically got carried over with him. That includes Mia - his protector and introject of his sister - and some of the Black Arms that hitched a ride. The Satellite subsystem is a classic "system-within-a-system". They experience shifting fronting patterns and stuff like that just like we do generally, sometimes cofronting/coconsciousness too. The Satellite subsystem is traumagenic, and Shadow is considered the host for them. They have protectors, persecutors, trauma holders, etc that revolve around Shadow, rather than the system as a whole or any other particular member. We think this is because they are his alters specifically!

For the most part, we use subsystems as organizational labels first, just to communicate and remember who is related or connected to who. Shared sources is usually the deciding factor for whether we lump headmates together in a subsystem or not. Headmates that are 'related' in some way tend to be more likely to be close to front for us at the same time, if that makes sense? Like loose package deals. The Satellite subsys is probably the closest thing we have to a traditional Subsystem as described by the general plural community, probably because they were a system before entering this one (and so was I actually!).

In another ask, you added the question "What are 'exomemories'?". Sometimes known as 'pseudomemories' (we don't like that term personally for reasons we'll get into), they're memories of things the body didn't experience. "Memories from outside", exo-memory. For us these can manifest as traumatic flashbacks to source moments, or positive memories of our lives before being in this system, or just basic facts about who we are and our home worlds. I have a TON of exomemories. I'm very close to source and care about it a lot! Since you follow our art blog you probably already know how much of our work is based on exomems akdnwkfsnci. We don't like using the term 'pseudomemory' for ourselves because there's nothing 'pseudo-' about them. They feel just as real as any of my memories of this life and shape who I am even more!

Hope this was interesting and/or helpful! Feel free to send more questions our way if you have any.

-Zephyr

[sophieinwonderland]

So, singlet here, been on tumblr for a while but only started to join plural spaces when a friend told me they were plural and now I am trying to learn more. Sadly, the first plural creator I found was Aspen and now I’m trying to unlearn all the endo hate I’ve learned in the past month. If you don’t mind, could you tell me what an endo actually is? Whenever I asked them they just told me what I now know to be lies.

Sure! Thanks for reaching out and being open-minded!

In its most simple form, an endogenic system is a system who is plural for reasons other than trauma.

These include created systems, systems who have been plural as long as they can remember, and spontaneous systems who become plural without explanation. And any of these can have spiritual or psychological views on their system. The plural umbrella is inclusive to any plurals regardless of origin.

Here is what we know:

Plurality is old and everywhere: Throughout history, in cultures around the globe, plurality has existed in the form of possession states or communing with spirits or similar phenomena.

Many of the above experiences have been studied, and psychiatrists agree that they generally aren't aversive and shouldn't be considered a mental disorder. There are specific exceptions carved out stating that non-aversive plurality shouldn't be diagnosed as a disorder.

The invention of the internet and ability to connect with other plurals without fear of persecution led to the creation of the first inclusive plural communities online, shared by anyone who was multiple in one body for any reason.

At the time, the term "natural multiples" was used to refer to what we now call endogenic systems. The community replaced the term with "endogenic" around 2014.

Most of the resources used by the modern plural community came out of the inclusive side of the community. "Headmate" was a non-medical alternative to "alter." "Plural" was coined as a non-medical alternative to "multiple" which was associated with "multiple personality disorder" at the time. Fictives and factives both date back to the soulbonder community. And resources like Pluralkit and Simply Plural were made by endos.

What we don't know:

Scientific research into endogenic systems is still in its infancy. And though it indisputably exists, we don't know exactly what causes it... but we also don't know what causes someone to be a singlet...

Our brain is estimated to have 86 billion neurons with over 100 trillion synapses. We don’t understand what make all of these create one single personality.

The theory of structural dissociation suggests that children start with a less integrated personality that integrates over time. But that opens the door to ask, does this integration occur naturally due to biological factors, or is it from sociological and environmental pressure?

It seems possible to me that different environments or genetic factors could lead to certain humans just integrating into multiple people instead of one. This would explain systems who report being plural since birth.

For created systems, one hypothesis could be that it might involve a form of hypnosis. Some doctors have long believed hypnosis might involve dissociated parts, and Dr Samuel Veisseire and Michael Lifshitz, who have studied tulpamancy closely, believe the practices tulpamancers use to create tulpas might be inherently hypnotic.

Stanford University is doing a neurological study into tulpamancers, and I'm excited to see the results of that, but we aren't sure when that study is going to be complete. And that's likely just the first of many, and though it will be another piece of the puzzle, it certainly won't answer our most pressing questions for how this works. But I, for one, can't wait to learn more! 😁

[multiplicity-positivity]

Here’s some positivity for systems who struggle to communicate with other people!

Many systems may find communication with other people outside of their collective to be challenging, confusing, or distressing. Struggling to communicate effectively is not a moral failing, and systems who don’t communicate well are still deserving of support and celebration within system spaces! If you or your system has difficulties communicating with others outside of your system, this post is for you!

🗣 Shoutout to systems who have excellent and positive internal communication, but can’t communicate nearly as well with other people!

💬 Shoutout to systems whose struggles with communication are linked to autism, anxiety, or some other form of neurodiversity!

☎️ Shoutout to systems who don’t make friends our form close bonds or attachments outside of their system!

🗣 Shoutout to systems who can’t find the right words, stammer or stumble over their words, ramble, speak in fragments, or otherwise have trouble conveying their ideas when speaking to other people!

💬 Shoutout to headmates who find safety, comfort, and security in solitude, or in the company of the rest of their system!

☎️ Shoutout to systems with trauma histories that have largely impacted their abilities to communicate with others!

🗣 Shoutout to systems who could communicate with people outside their system, but who choose not to or don’t want to for any reason!

💬 Shoutout to systems who are too scared, nervous, or terrified to easily converse or socialize with other people!

☎️ Shoutout to those who have been called a loner, hermit, recluse, or lone wolf by others due to preferring the company of their own headmates over other people!

🗣 Shoutout to systems who wish it was easier to engage and communicate with others!

💬 Shoutout to systems whose difficulties communicating with other people cause them to regularly feel isolated, lonely, downtrodden, or depressed!

☎️ Shoutout to systems who find internal communication overwhelming or challenging, but still prefer it to communicating with other people!

🗣 Shoutout to systems who often leave their comfort zone to practice communicating with other people, even when it’s hard!

It’s okay to have difficulties communicating with others. Struggling to have proper conversations, maintain connections, or express yourself to other people is no indication of your worth as a headmate or a collective. You are still valued, cherished, and loved, even if your system finds internal communication less challenging than communicating with outside folks.

We hope that you can find peace, happiness, and self-acceptance in your future! Maybe better communication can come to you with time and practice, but even if it doesn’t know that there will always be a place for you here in the plural community just the way you are. We care about y’all and we’re wishing you the very best in all that you do! Thank you so much for reading, and have a lovely day!

[thefeathercollective]

Hiii! I researched quite a bit about plurals, but im not so sure i understand completely what endo means, the only thing i know is that they're not traumagenic.

Can you please explain what it is about? Would some tulpa system, or writer who lets their characters comment on their life and choices (even control body), count as endo system, or no? What system need to be counted as endo? Do you need to get diagnosis, or have some dysfunction from symptoms like memory loss, to count as endo system? /genq

you have it right in that it's not traumagenic! endogenic just means formed from anything other than trauma, and that does indeed include tulpa systems and writers with sentient characters :D

it can also mean the system has been there since birth, that daydream characters became headmates, among many other reasons I'll admit I don't know much about.

all you really need to be considered endo is to be fairly sure your plurality wasn't caused by trauma, or at least not entirely so (in the case of mixed origin and traumaendo systems).

there's no diagnosis, as being plural is not inherently a disorder, and most endo systems are nondisordered, meaning they don't experience things like amnesia and other things that cause distress/dysfunction and would warrant a dissociative disorder diagnosis.

it is possible to be endogenic and develop a dissociative disorder after the system's already there though, and some people with dissociative disorders believe their disorders weren't caused by trauma (like, DID/OSDD/UDD are caused by trauma in the great majority of cases, but I don't doubt there are a few outliers out there)

I hope this clears your doubts, and if it didn't, feel free to send more questions :D we're always happy to help!!

[writing-plurals]

unrelated to the murder subplot, but it brought up something in my brain. Ghosts how would one best represent a system as a ghost. of course there would probably need to be nuance depending on the way the supernatural was handled in the setting, but would it be one ghost that is the system, or smaller ghosts that contain specific alters, or just the one who was fronting when they died, or- like what do y'all feel would work best

Firstly, I love your brain, anon. I am going to be thinking about system ghosts for the next week.

To the actual question, though, I can see justification for a lot of different types of system ghosts. A ghost that simply is a system is the basic form I'd say. Sams as in life as in death.

Only the headmate that was fronting would be tragic and something I could see an empty system writing or just why a ghost can't move on because it misses it's headmates, it feels incomplete, if they have trauma unable to get over it because it can't remember half of it but still has the emotions connected to it or a plethora of other reasons.

Maybe they forgot they were a system because they can't acknowledge that they died. A member trapped in denial that the other system members can't reach.

A swarm of a bunch of tiny ghosts are they are awake at once. Do they fall asleep is it harder for them to make decisions now that they are a ghost?

Since they aren't physically anymore, does their body still resemble their living body, or do they resemble whoever is fronting?

If the story has ghost abilities, would they be different for each headmate, depending on how they feel about being dead?

I don't think there is a way to write a system that is a ghost that is more or less correct than another. There are a million different unique ways to portray ghosts already depending on what story is being told, and there are just as many unique plural experiences that limiting it to just one portrayal would be a disservice.

If you have a specific idea that you want to ask about you can but what would work best without any context just depends on what kind of story you want to tell and what you would think would be the most fun to write.

Again, thank you so much for this ask. My brain is buzzing with ideas now.

-Mod Sev

[theboysbevibin]

Who the fuck decided to make another pinned?

Hey hey, we are The Boys. A bunch of jackasses navigating bills and a 9-5. Sometimes we post about it. Not much else to say. Main account is @signofthestriking.

We are not an endogenic system. If anything about our spirituality or our refusal to call ourselves traumagenic are too "endo" for you, you can suck my dick and maybe balls too. -Rat

Anything syscourse-related will be tagged with #ratman rants and #syscourse if you need to block them. Hopefully that won't be common.

Under the cut: Rent lowering gunshots, role call, label collection, and a userbox collection.

x

Rent lowering gunshots (sorry that it's so long -Lilith and Ash):

The two headmates with "quoted" names are using aliases. We will not be revealing their in-system names on this blog for cultural reasons

Trauma is mentioned in the diagnostic criteria for DID with regards to memory recall. However, trauma itself is NOT a piece of diagnostic criteria (as per the DSM-V TR). See below:

DID and related dissociative disorders are commonly associated with trauma. This is acknowledged both in the DSM-V itself, and in a lot of the research surrounding DID. An association is not the same as a requirement. Trauma is considered the primary origin of these disorders, but we are not at the point where we can say that it’s the only possible origin.

The psych industry should not be the final authority on what does or does not exist in people’s minds. DID is not the be all, end all of multiplicity as a broader concept.

However, putting all criticism of the psychiatric industry and the DSM aside... "You need trauma to be a system" isn't even what the DSM says. So no, we don't stand by it, and we think its harmful misinformation at this point.

DID and related disorders are serious diagnoses. Self-diagnosis isn’t impossible, especially when professional help isn’t accessible. But when possible, if you believe you have one of those disorders, seek proper psychiatric help if you’re able to. If you’re trying to self-diagnose, please consider other forms of plurality before seriously considering one of these disorders. Especially if you’re a younger person who learns about these kinds of things online. These aren’t queer labels. Like it or not, there are more boundaries to look out for.

“Endogenic” might be a somewhat new term, but the concept of “non-traumagenic plurality” is not. Discussions of “natural systems” not formed by trauma date back several years before the term “endogenic” was made. It’s nothing new. If people rationalize themselves as “more than one” for whatever reason, and if they want a broader community of peers to be a part of, that’s not inherently harmful. Endogenic systems themselves are not the problem. Trying to exclude them has done nothing but promote misinformation and fakeclaiming.

All that being said, plurality of any sort is serious. This community is not a fandom, and the online community tends to act like it is. People have a right to criticize that. And quite frankly, we personally don’t recommend getting deep into the online plural community if you’re a younger person. Like a lot of online communities, it can unfortunately do a lot of damage to developing minds.

“It’s open practice” does not absolve you of cultural appropriation.

Role call!

Jack Nox (Just Dance fableing, host), #rose of eternyx Saffron (DBZ AU fableing, host) #bitten hands "Snow" (DBZ AU fableing, host) #dutiful servant

Rat (co-host, facet, protector/persecutor) #eyes abounding Adrien (co-host, facet, factive) #friends forever

"Pink" (post-fictive, facet) Ash (post-fictive, facet, protector) Aspen (post-fictive, facet) Vinny (post-fictive, trauma holder, facet) Hera (post-fictive, protector, facet) Lilith (post-fictive, archivist and scribe, facet) #a scribe's thoughts Marcy (post-fictive, facet) Rose (post-fictive, facet, little) Fae (post-fictive, facet) Rev (post-fictive of Raditz, facet) Olera (post-fictive, stress holder, facet) Blue (post-fictive, facet)

Vegeta (DBZ soulbond) #royalty renounced Trunks Briefs (DBZ soulbond) #lilac and steel Son Gohan (DBZ AU soulbond) Son Goku (DBZ soulbond) #hey! it's me Bulma Briefs (DBZ soulbond) #research log Tien Shinhan (DBZ soulbond) Piccolo (DBZ soulbond) Chi-Chi (DBZ soulbond) Krillin (DBZ soulbond)

Terezi Pyrope (Homestuck soulbond) #tastes like cherries Gamzee Makara (Homestuck soulbond) #miracles all around Vriska Serket (Homestuck soulbond) #8 of dice Karkat Vantas (Homestuck soulbond) #righteous rage Nepeta Leijon (Homestuck soulbond) #teeth and claws Equius Zahakk (Homestuck soulbond) #blue blooded steed Dave Strider (Homestuck soulbond) #turning tables Eridan Ampora (Homestuck soulbond) #sharpshooter of the seas Kanaya Maryam (Homestuck soulbond) #not your darling Rose Lalonde (Homestuck soulbond) #notes from the grimoire Sollux Captor (Homestuck soulbond) #twin thoughts

Label collection

Mixed origins

Adaptive

Dreamway

Seelegenic/metagenic

Median

Chimera/hybrid

Soulbond

Fableing

x /

[shrubmogai]

genuine question how are you pro endo yet anti transid/radqueer when thats what endogenic is (essentially)

pro endogenic - believing that someone can be plural/a system without trauma being the cause of it

"transplural" - believing you can "transition" into having DID or OSDD

someone who is endogenic may have purposefully formed headmates (like me!), been born with them, have another disorder that caused them to be plural, have headmates that just sort of appeared, or many other reasons (or just not want to explain to people how their system formed).

you can be a system without having DID/OSDD just like you can have triggers without having PTSD, be sad without being depressed, have trouble focusing without having ADHD, etc. you can experience a symptom of a disorder without having that disorder. the majority of endo systems do not have DID or OSDD* and those systems dont claim to have DID or OSDD. saying youre a system =/= saying you have DID or OSDD. no endo system is saying that they want to have a CDD or saying CDDs are fun or quirky or cool.

no endogenic system wants to have DID or OSDD. as an endogenic system, i dont want a CDD, i have friends who have DID or OSDD and the dissociation and memory loss is very difficult for them. no endogenic system thinks CDDs are fun or cute or quirky, endogenic systems have nothing to do with DID or OSDD.

its like if someone said that they were energetic and a bunch of people started harassing them because they didnt have ADHD, saying that they were "romanticizing ADHD" and "making light of serious disorders" when they never claimed to have ADHD at all - that would be ridiculous and awful, wouldnt it? no one does that. only endogenic systems get harassed for existing, our existence is deemed "discourse" and "problematic" even when we dont participate in syscourse. we're harassed simply for being alive in the "wrong" way.

"transplural" people, on the other hand, believe that you can give yourself DID or OSDD through subliminals or forcing yourself to dissociate. transplural people will also often lie about having DID or OSDD, sneak into CDD communities, and base their "transition" off of other people's pain. i used to be in the radqueer community and i saw transplural people sneak into discord servers for disordered systems, where the transplural people would watch people experience dissociation and memory loss and then copy what they were doing to fake DID/OSDD. ive also seen transplural people who outright admit to faking dissociation and memory loss to get a diagnosis, or fake having headmates so they can get away with doing shitty things and get all the attention on them every time they pretend to split another headmate.

endogenic people never do this. you cant "transition" to having DID or OSDD, its very harmful to fake disorders and lie to other people to have them give you attention, endos are very aware of this. no genuine endogenic system is pretending to have DID or OSDD.

also, on top of that, being radqueer means supporting things like transracials or transmurderers or incest, along with a ton of other horrible things. endos do NOT support any of that just because they happen to be a system without trauma. endogenic systems are extremely against things like this. we are simply systems that formed for reasons other than trauma, we are not supporters of "transgroomers" or "AAMs" or whatever else.

(in this, im using "endogenic systems" to refer to non-transplural endo systems. there are some transplurals who have actually formed headmates, however most dont and only pretend to)

*some do - for example, traumaendo systems, such as systems who have multiple causes to their system or who formed from trauma but later formed headmates not from trauma.

[selenophobic-werewolf]

i originally reblogged this but got scared so take my ask!!! systems are beings with 2+ states of identity who often have the ability to take executive control of that being's behavior and thoughts and feelings etc. the term system describes the parts/alters/headmates (all meaning the same thing, just the states of being within a system! people may use different terms that they prefer) within the body, and plurality is the state of having multiple beings sharing a body being plural is not always meaning the same thing as 'system', they just often go hand in hand

with traumagenic plurality, that'd be did/osdd-1: so basically infants operate off of a collection of ego states which represent their basic needs and usually by the ages to 6 to 9 these states will integrate into a personality unless that process is disrupted by trauma in which case they will stay separate and dissociate from one another. this is what happens when people with did/osdd-1. they stay separate because of conflicting needs or different trauma responses or ways of processing the trauma did is distinguished when a person has clinically significant blackout amnesia and their parts/alters are more distinct - they have their own sense of selves and sense of agency and their behaviors, consciousness, memory, perception and cognition/sensory-motor functioning

non-traumagenic plurality is the state of being more than one identity in a body in a way that was not caused by traumatic experiences. endogenic can be a system origin on its own (just meaning 'internally produced) to describe systems that formed without trauma, or it can be an umbrella term to describe different types of plurality including natural systems/willogenic (willing alters into existence), neurogenic (formed by the brain due to pre-existing mental illnesses or neurodiversities) etc

tldr; plurality has many causes, including -traumagenic systems (resulting from trauma or post-traumatic stress) -systems created through tulpamancy (the practice of purposefully creating headmates through various techniques) -spiritual systems who chalk up their plurality to metaphysicl reasons -other causes, which can be grouped under the label 'endogenic' -mixed-origin systems which have been created from a combination of causes

pluralpedia has been a helpful website to me!!

thank you. So what if my other "identities" are no separate consciousness but kind of,,, they're definitely different entities but idk it's kind of like. A name and body I assigned to one of my personalities ,I think.