#because it’s always in some way connected to our plurality

[404shcats]

Y’know if I’m gonna be homesick I’d like to at least remember what home was like -Party

[multiplicity-positivity]

Here’s some positivity for introjects who are connected to their source!

There’s no one true or correct way to be an introject - introjects come in all shapes and sizes, and may have a wide variety of ways in which they view their source! Whether a factive, fictive, faitive, objective, conceptive, songtive, or something else, it’s okay for introjects of all sorts to like their source of feel connected to it. If you’re an introject who is connected to your source, this post is for you!

❤️ Shoutout to introjects who identify with their source’s name, gender, pronouns, sexuality, or other identities!

🧡 Shoutout to introjects who kin their sources!

💛 Shoutout to introjects who identify with their source despite having never directly seen or interacted with it!

💚 Shoutout to introjects whose source is their special interest, hyperfixation, or one of their favorite things!

💙 Shoutout to introjects who roleplay or otherwise engage with the world as their source!

💜 Shoutout to introjects who are source divergent or who don’t identify much with their source, but are still deeply connected to it!

❤️ Shoutout to introjects who like being referred to as their source!

🧡 Shoutout to introjects who are tired of their relationship to their source being policed or dictated by others!

💛 Shoutout to introjects who distanced or disconnected from their source, only to reconnect with it later on!

💚 Shoutout to introjects who often feel ostracized or left out of plural spaces because of how they view their source!

💙 Shoutout to introjects whose relationships to their source are intricate, nuanced, or complex!

💜 Shoutout to introjects who go through phases or waves of feeling more or less connected to their source!

Introjects may not literally be their source, but that doesn’t mean they are morally obligated to abandon connections to their source altogether! Introjects can and often do have a wide range of opinions on or relationships to their sources! It’s okay for introjects to love their source or feel strongly connected to it. You’re still just as valid and cherished as an introject, a member of your system, and a member of the plural community just the way you are!

We hope every source-connected introject who sees this can have a lovely day today. Please treat yourself with the kindness and gentleness you deserve, and don’t judge yourself too harshly for how you view your source! Rest assured, you will always be welcome in our spaces without the expectation to change. Thanks so much for reading, and take care!

[igglemouse]

So I learn right away what Pascal meant that he had a new house...he meant it was bought and ready to be moved in the next day, just waiting! So, that very Sunday morning we move in and leave most of the old stuff behind, some of it will be coming over, but new place, new start, right? Yeah, so, it is a lot bigger, and I can at least confirm that the bathroom, the one connected to the master bedroom, works and although it is a new place we will have the same routines. I'm not sure if I've ever caught him shaving though, not sure if I prefer him clean or with a bit of fluff on his chin.

And the new kitchen is...well, look at it! It's a massive improvement and it definitely needs to be because a nice kitchen will always be my top priority. A whole island to work with, plenty of counter space, and just enough room to where I'm not accidentally bumping into anything. I can't wait to get settled into and make use of all my new space but for now, I'll keep things simple and whip up an apple salad because again, we don't have much here for today, so the new fridge is empty so it is a very keep it simple stupid kind of day.

The apple salad must be good because we absolutely tear right though it, leaving nothing in our bowls, and while it doesn't take much to make a good salad other than fresh ingredients I'm proud of it all the same. Pascal finishes a little after me and finally asks the question that he was holding back all morning. "What do you think about the place? Room to grow?"

"Yeah definitely! A lot more spacious," I reply and glance around. The dining room is more spacious too and I just love love love the window into the kitchen. This place is not a mansion but it is more than I could ever have imagined. I was just a poor girl from Selva who lived day by day.

"Yeah, its wider," Pascal leans back a little in his chair, clearly happy that I'm happy with his decision. "Room enough for Flora to run wild in, I hope!" and there is a sparkle in his eye when he he says that, pride? I hope so! I really do hope he loves her as much as I do.

"Are we already imagining her kick a ball around, then?" I tease, wanting to see how much of her future has he imagined. We all do it, don't we? See our children as future doctors or teachers or even world leaders, and it's good to see him doing the same. For my entire pregnancy there was this nagging feeling that I was carrying her all on my own but he has given me little hints that he's also invested. In his own way, I suppose.

"Just saying!" He laughs and shrugs. "Kids like to run around and that last place was more like a pad. Not enough room for children."

"You keep using the plural?" My brow raises and my voice is tinted with some amusement.

"Well..." he starts and I know exactly where he's headed with this. I brace myself for it, hearing the words before he even speaks them. "Another wouldn't be a bad thing, right?"

"No! Not at all!" I push out quickly but the surprise in my voice is clear. "I just...didn't expect you'd want another?" My head tilts as I take in the man before me. Has the birth of Flora matured him? Perhaps gave him a new outlook on life? He's always been so casual and indifferent that it does shock me that he's throwing around the idea of child #2 so easily.

"Why not?" he shrugs again as if this was always the plan.

"Because..." I hesitate because I do have something else on my mind. If we do have another baby will I be doing 99% of the work? Well, with two it would be double the work, wouldn't it? "It's not that easy for me, you know? You just ummm, you know, do your part and I have to bring it into the world and then I gain all this weight too and-"

"Oh no no no, I'm not saying now! I'm just saying, you know, whenever you're ready! I'm just putting it out there that I'd like it, you know, and if you need a fitness coach who better than me?"

"If it happens, it happens!" I settle on that for now because honestly, I don't want Flora to be an only child. As for the weight thing I Can only laugh. "Alright coach! Just put me on a diet and workout plan then!"

So it's decided, she will have a younger sibling someday, but for right now she is the precious only child. It's incredible how this tiny little girl with her little fingers and toes and hands and eyes and coos has already taken up so much of my thoughts, attention, and my love. She's my entire world and I will not rush through a single moment of this. I'll enjoy it all. Even the crying and endless diaper changing, they are all moments I will try my best to cherish.

I do catch myself thinking about Anthony, my 'dad'. Should I tell him about Flora? I could write a letter and let him know she exists I guess or does he even deserve to know? It's not like he'll ever meet her as he's going to spend his life behind bars. When I look at her little face and drown in her innocent eyes the idea of him being connected to her feels wrong. Why let the shadow of him fall over this bright little life? The past should stay where it's at, in the past, and she, my little Flora, is the present.

After feeding and taking care of Flora I dive right into working on my body. Pascal is here, of course, but he's not overbearing. He's keeping with his own routine which is some light stretching and yoga which allows me to lose this weight at my own pace and yes, I do need to lose it. The truth of the matter is, Pascal is who he says he is, a future superstar with the potential of being an all time GOAT, or so I'm told. This means other women will be throwing themselves at him and I admit to feeling a little insecure about my body right now.

This gym by the way is all in black because Pascal calls it the 'no nonsense' room. It's a work in progress, but so is everything in this house.

This house has sooo many rooms and thankfully it's more than enough for not just a growing family but for me to have my own media creation room. It too is a work in prgoress but honestly it means so much to me. If you recall, Pascal wants me to focus on being a mother and seemingly even discouraged me from working and so him having this room ready to go for me to pursue my new SimTube dreams shows that not only are we not going to fight about this in the future but that maybe he will support it as well.

I'm super eager to get started and so I jump right into it with my first video being about tofu tacos. Okay, yeah, that's not the most exciting dish to feature but I followed my gut and this is what I want to eat for tonight so that's what's getting cooked. It's also simple and its something I know very well and while it might not be the most exciting first video it's something. It's a start!

Hopefully, Ray can help me with a bit of a boost to get things going. I'm not expecting fame or fortune and it doesn't need to make me rich. I just want enough to say I cook for a living and I'm happy to share my passion with those who want to learn and watch. Explaining recipes and teaching a bit of my culture at the same time. It's a chance to create, connect, and cook, what's not to love?

But just when I thought I was settling into my new life and my new home and hopefully new routines a ghost of the past shows up at my door.

It was Candela. Yes, that Candela. The one person I never thought I'd see again and yet here she was standing on my new doorstep as if she were expected. I froze, taking a moment to take her in, the hair, the new tattoos, and that confident smirk on her lips. I knew then she hadn't changed much, she carried with her the same confidence and aura pushed off her her and...oh, I was staring and she was staring right back.

"Well?" she says, raising an eyebrow. "Am I going to stand out here all day or...?"

"O-oh, right!" I stammer, quickly fumbling and stepping aside to motion her in.

So I show Candela around the new place a bit but there really isn't much to see yet. Empty walls and bare floors, space waiting to filled with touch and love and memories and purpose. Pascal and I will make it a home but for now it's just a blank canvas. Still, Candela is impressed, nodding along as I point things out.

Eventually, we settled at the dining table, that one piece of furniture that is needed day one, and we start to catch up. It doesn't take me long to discover that a lot has changed with her actually. For one, she's married now, the ring on her finger evidence of that, and I try to picture it and hope that she has tied the knot to a better man than the last one.

So I ask about her story and she dives in and I'm reminded of just how complicated life is.

"You know, I slid right out of there?" she says, quietly, speaking of the moment both of our lives changed. "No one expected it of me, they thought I was devastated, manic, and I played the part well because I had to. No one could believe I killed him, of course, why would they? Everyone thought I Was obsessed with simoleons so why kill the man who was going to give me the good life?" She speaks so calculated, so pragmatic, so Candela, but there is some pride there in her voice. As if it was all part of some grand scheme.

Honestly, I do believe her. Candela comes off that way, you know? A woman seeking luxury and one who would not accept anything less. She's the kind of person who marries rich and not out of love because she can, because it is her right, and judging by the size of the ring on her finger I wonder about this new man she's tied herself to. She's not flaunting it, I should add, but still it sparkles with every movement of her hand, each glimmer a reminder of who she is at her core.

"What about me? A-anyone still looking for me?" My voice falters with the weight of the question as it is an answer I've always wondered about. I've pushed that fear away because its hard to live with that kind of paranoia and yet still...

"Your father played his part well too," she says, her tone soft now, reflective. "He made sure no one could suspect anyone else. Most people think he put you into hiding as retaliation or something, so they couldn't consider you. To most, you were just some lost girl, one among many, no one is looking for you."

"Oh..." I manage to say, caught a little off guard, all this time I had this fear that the past would catch up to me and it looks like it hasn't even started to search.

"You saved many lives when you killed that pendejo. Including mine. I owe you for that one."

"O-oh, all in a day's work I guess!" I try to joke, though it comes to shaky. "I suppose I should don a cape?" It's a dark joke, I know, but it's easier to deflect than dwell. I've spent so much time trying to ignore my past and try not to think on the night I killed a man even if it were in self-defense, but the weight of it lingers on me even now. I push the conversation to another direction. "So, you live here in Oasis Springs too?"

"It's not been that long actually," Candela says. "I was living in Ciudad Enamorada for a while but the hubby thought it better to leave that country entirely after the baby-"

"You are a mom too!?" I blurt out, unable to hold back my shock.

"You're a mom too!?!" she fires back immediately, just as shocked but grinning as wide as possible. The surprise in both of our voices clear but turns into a shared laughter.

We settle in, chatting about our children, and I learn quickly she has a little girl too! It's funny how the conversation shift into planned playdates. "You know, I don't even live that far away so that definitely will happen!" I am wondering how she found me but then I remember she had been trying to call me and so...I wonder what that is about but the idea of our little girls playing together is an idea I can get behind.

So umm...yeah...today was certainly a day. I love Candela, I really do, and if there is one part of my past returning to me it is definitely her...

Frida Varela - Next Episode 9.2

[bedtimegiraffe]

The relationship Aerin wants with his mother is not the one he had, despite all the smiling and hugs in this chapter.

So let's do a chronological deep dive of what we learn about Aerin's mother and their relationship.

This only covers up to Book 3, Chapter 9 because I'm playing general release. We still have interactions between these two ahead (I assume), so I'll update if we get anything major! The snippet we see in the divination scene has me very nervous (and excited) this is going to go one of two very angsty ways. NO SPOILERS PLEASE VIP PLAYERS Unless you're reading this in the future and the general release is already done. Then go for it.

Book 1, Chapter 8:

Our first mention of Aerin's mother (technically) happens in Book 1, Chapter 8 during Aerin's diamond scene.

As @the-unconquered-queen pointed out, parents is very much plural. Aerin has the father we can learn about in a Lore Tablet earlier and (presumably) a mother. And neither seemed to give him much attention at all, to the point that to his child self magic seemed like the only solution. That was how invisible Aerin felt to them. So we know neither of Aerin's parents went out of their way to spend time with or appreciate him.

TTRPG (Released toward the end of Book 2):

Aerin's mother gets a name and confirmation that she is dead in the Aerin's inventory list.

I've always found this ambiguity about the signet ring fascinating. It's not, "Signet Ring given by his deceased mother, Queen Aurinae," but, "from his deceased mother."

We don't know how Aerin got it from her. Did she specifically make it known before her death that she wanted Aerin to have her signet ring? Or did she die and King Arlan went, "Well, I guess the boy is technically a Valleros. Give him my dead wife's signet ring, she's not using it anymore." Signet rings were often passed down in real-world history, so that's not unlikely.

Especially because Aerin never brings this up. If it was sentimental because of the connection to his mother, why give it away so easily? When he gives it to MC, it could be a way to protect them, both for their own sake and to make sure they can get all the Onyx Shards. But it really seems like he could have just given them a letter with his seal to cover that.

And why not say it belonged to his mother? Wouldn't that be endearing and make it more valuable to MC? Maybe Aerin realized it was given to him as a practical thing, not a genuine expression of connection.

Book 3, Chapter 1:

It all goes silent on the Aurinae front until the floodgates open in Book 3. In the first chapter, you get this discussion (if you choose the non-romance option for Aerin's diamond scene).

Aurinae was very into alchemy, like Aerin is now. It made her popular in court, which is probably part of why it appealed to Aerin. He couldn't be a strong warrior like his brother, but maybe he could get some positive attention for making useful potions like his mother.

Crucially, based on what Aerin says here, she did not teach him. Not to say that she necessarily wouldn't have- I'm willing to bet she died pre-Dreadlord, so when Aerin was 9 or younger. But still, alchemy was something he picked up in earnest after she was already gone. He wanted to feel closer to her, to feel like he had that connection with her, something in common with his mother, and was doing something she could be proud of.

Book 3, Chapter 3:

This reads to me very much like Aerin's mother was the only member of his immediate family not lashing out at him. Which is good! But the bar is so incredibly low, this just tells us she wasn't the worst.

This is before the party learns that anyone dead can look in on the living. So to Aerin, it seemed like Aurinae may or may not have been hearing from newly dead people that Aerin summoned the Dreadlord, killed his brother, got disinherited and thrown in prison, then died from wandering off like an idiot (according to the offical story).

Aerin's nervousness here is completely understandable. He knows his father hates him. He knows his brother hates him. But he doesn't know how his mother feels. She wasn't violent toward him and there is a chance she might actually love him.

Book 3, Chapter 9:

The woman herself appears!

Aurinae makes a pretty good first impression. Aerin has absolutely had it rough and it's good that she acknowledges that. Though thanking the group for "looking after" him shows that same mentality the rest of the family has that Aerin is weak and needs to be taken care of to survive.

This is where it gets extremely interesting. Aerin sounds almost concerned for Baldur. Like he feels bad that he's at the river. Which we know he very much does not. I'd be willing to bet Aerin wishes Baldur was somewhere much worse (seriously, does anyone go to the Hells? Does he get pity points for being murdered?) Something about speaking with his mother makes Aerin show concern for his abusive brother.

Aerin also doesn't confess or ask forgiveness for killing Baldur. Maybe he doesn't want to bring that part up?

As for Aurinae... this is not an apology. This is not an acknowledgment of any negligence or regret on her part. In fact, it's phrased in a way that makes it clear she has absolutely no blame for what happened. She had hoped Baldur would act one way, and he did not. Oh well.

This is also an incredibly tame reaction. Like he embarrassed her at a party, not ruthlessly beat and intimidated her child. I would think most people would be devastated and/or enraged, maybe so relieved that despite all that Aerin is okay. The most generous possible reading is that she still has that noble desire not to show her emotions in public and she doesn't want to upset Aerin by getting into it here.

First of all, I want to shake this man. Second, Aerin doesn't usually devalue himself like this. When alone with MC or as a quip while fighting unkillable monsters, sure. But not with a genuine smile. This feels like Aerin making the point that he'll try really hard but he might still be weak and useless.

And this is the end of the interaction. No reassurance from Aurinae. And for the record, Tyril's mother is far more complimentary toward Aerin than his own mother is.

During the diamond scene, this is part of the conversation if you ask for a story about Aerin.

It seems like Aurinae doesn't necessarily connect Aerin's interest in alchemy to her own. But it sounds like she did at least take some interest in his studies. So that's something!

But you get something else if you ask for a story about the mothers. They talk about an extremely spicy tea Aurinae makes. Apparently Aerin tried it as a child and...

Oh wow. If this isn't a metaphor for pre-Onyx Shards Aerin, I don't know what is. Literally in pain trying to please someone else, insisting everything is great.

If you choose to pull Aerin aside later, he admits that he's been acting differently with Aurinae around, describing it as "falling into old patterns."

One of the main reasons Aerin wanted to be close to his mother as a child was hoping that she would rescue him. Again, I think it's helpful to recognize what this isn't. This isn't Aerin saying being around his mother made him happy, or feel safe. It's him saying he hoped that if he could be "good enough" she would protect him. Because she had no innate desire or reason to do that. And at least she wasn't actively scaring him like his father and brother.

Aerin's reason it was a "foolish dream" is also very telling. Not because protocol wouldn't allow it, but because Aurinae saw no reason to leave. They didn't treat her poorly, so why would she want to leave? Certainly not to protect her younger son.

If she really had "no trouble putting her foot down," why no intervention between Aerin and Baldur? It sounds like she wasn't scared of the rest of the family. So did she not notice? Or did she not care?

What we've seen so far has not convinced me that Aerin and Aurinae actually had a loving relationship. Just that Aerin wanted one so badly he can almost see it that way. Because Aurinae is better than the rest of his family, but still far from a good mom with genuine affection for her child.

I will be keeping my headcanon that Aerin was desperate to connect with his mother, but she never particularly cared about him.

Screenshots are a combination of my own and ones from Neckrone Shen's playthroughs on youtube. I feel like I owe them a drink for all the time they've saved me looking for stuff.

[doin-just-fine]

hello! I’m not a system myself, but I’m doing some research for a friend of mine who’s questioning.

I was wondering if you could do a ‘the people wanna know’ about what different kinds of systems there are/how it can present, or something in that vein?

Thanks, love your stuff!

The People Wanna Know: System Types

Disclaimer: We are by no means experts in this at all. We are quite new to the whole being plural thing and there is A LOT to learn when it comes to plurality and systems, especially in types and "microlabels". These microlabels are VERY helpful when someone is trying to sort out if they are plural or not especially if they are an atypical system like us. They can make you feel validated and at home when previously there was fear and confusion. We also want to suggest that you continue your deep dive outside of this post! We hope you give you a launch pad into the complex world of plurality but do not let this be the end of the research! I will be using definitions mostly from Pluralpedia. Systemhood and plurality is very under researched so many of the labels you'll see are created by community members that are then adopted by the greater community. That all being said, as validating as these microlabels can be they can sometimes also have the opposite effect if they don't fit all the way. If you guys land on them being plural, we encourage you to leave the microlabels behind especially if those labels are close to their experiences but not quite accurate in all ways. 🛸I found when identifying specifically as a Median system, it lead to a few denial spirals because that label mostly fit our experience but not all the way or all the time which lead to us question our experiences making it harder to accept and understand ourselves. I personally find just calling myself plural or a system is enough and allows me the freedom to have my own unique experience as a human being with an atypical brain that science is only just starting to research and understand rather than trying to define my experiences filtered through a ill fitting label that doesn't change with me as we grow and learn. But, if you guys find a label that fits like a glove CONGRATS! Use it, love it, where it with pride!

ANYWAY, THE PEOPLE WANNA KNOW!

System Types

DIAGNOSABLE SYSTEMS (labels recognized by the DSM-V) DID OSDD 1 OSDD 1A OSDD 1B OSDD 2 OSDD 3 OSDD 4 UDD

None of those fit? Build Your Own System

I will be giving short definitions of each label. If you want more information each term will take you to a more in depth description.

ORIGINS (why the system formed) Traumagenic: Origins were trauma related. Endogenic: Umbrella term for origins that are related to something other than trauma, though trauma can still be a factor but not always. SUBCATEGORIES: (link to microlabels of the subcategories bellow) Created: Systems that were created intentionally for any reason. Adaptive: Origins that were related to trauma or other adversity. Spontaneous: For systems that seemed to just appear one day seemingly without cause. Unknown: A system who's origins are unknown, unclear, or still being sorted out. Mixed: Multiple origin labels can be applied to these systems.

CONSCIOUSNESS (how communication, conscious connection, and shared existence feels with in a system) Monoconscious: Shared consciousness between members where everyone thinks the same thing together as individuals. Polyconscious: Everyone in a system has their own thoughts and mind that are separate from each other. Hydraconscious: Everyone has their own thoughts and mind but in a collective consciousness. This may feel like everyone talking out loud about different things at the same time. Cephaconscious: When member are in or near the front together they have a shared monoconscious experience but when they are not in the front they have their own separate thoughts and mind. Mutoconscious: When member are in or near the front together they have a shared monoconscious experience but when they are not in the front they have a hydraconscious experience. SYSTEM SEPARATION (how individual are the individuals) Partitionary System: Individuals are very distinct. They do not share memories and often experience time loss. Median Systems: Individuals are less distinct and blend with each other more. These systems often don't experience typical amnesia. Blurian: Systems who share 100% of memories regardless of who's fronting. These system may also not experience Amnesia. (Edit: Here is some more resources for things that blur the line of plurality and systemhood ) Unrelated to the question but maybe to your situation here is a link to help questioning systems

I hope this was helpful let me know if you have any questions or need clarification!!

REMEMBER: You're gonna be ok. You're gonna figure it out. Be kind and gentle with yourself and others. Asks are open. Have a nice day.

[median-culture-is]

I think I might be median tbh,recently a plural friend said I had traits and I looked it up and it surprised me because it really fit tbh,anyways my question is could you show an example of how a median system would work,I’m sorry if this is too much to ask im just genuinely surprised tbh

uhhh

median systems are as diverse as any system so givinf examples can be difficult

ill explain our experience and then some follow ups and anyone is free to add on

We thought we were just kinning for the longest time as in the beginning we always felt like the same person but there were hints memories, phantom pains, genderfluid, name collecting, feeling "unreal" and "emotionally distant" when we didn't feel like any specific kin (dissociating)

Before we learned of median systems we actually referred to each other as flavors

All flavors of the same guy like soup it's still soup but different the best way to describe the experience at the time is a Parasian Orbital system as we thought we were all flavors of Cain our center

It always fronted for the most part with others present and we didn't feel that different but different enough thankfully we had our spouse& to help us with all of this so we got a lot of practice early on figuring out how much we wanted to present ourselves if we were comfortable calling attention to the fact that we weren't fully separate or if we wanted to be treated as fully separate even if we weren't

We actually adopted this blog from the original owner a week after figuring out we were plural we weren't even confident in it yet but the owner couldn't take care of the blog anymore and I didn't want the biggest amount of median experiences deleted when we were just starting to figure things out it was months before we felt comfortable thinking of ourselves as plural

Over time we have become more separate vaguely around mesoian-diversian and we weren't orbital cain was just our host at the time

We don't really do hosts either akjdjs

We are all still connected and those with closer connections are able to feel and pull up others

Sometimes based on source sometimes based on similar personalities sometimes its just like two idiots the brain decided were gonna be close

We personally go by different names in public if we talk to someone more than a handful of times they are told we're plural just cause we can't stand the idea of being friends with someone who might drop us if they found out

We have been considering charting the web to make things like fronting and checking in on people easier

We don't have a lot of access to the back when we front so I don't know how the like inner headspace feels

I feel like I've just rambles but thats all I got akdjns

[indigochromatic]

hi. this may seem out of left field, but is there any research on how OCD, Autism, CPTSD, and plurality can mix together? yes, all of them/any combination of them, because we *think* our plurality began due to our OCD spawning someone and it cascaded from there, and we'd like to know if anyone else has had similar experiences, or knows anything about it. a caveat being we aren't diagnosed with DID, and covid recently burnt out our headspace and internal communication. maybe you can find something we can't? we dunno

Hey there! Damn, that sounds rough, I'm sorry. Short answer is yeah, absolutely, this stuff can all be connected for sure.

-> CPTSD and plurality of course have a pretty robust, well-established connection--not in the sense that they only ever go together, but that it's very common for plurality to exist and/or arise in concert with chronic trauma and hardship. Chronic adverse environments promote chronic dissociation, which is a well-studied risk factor/predisposing factor to developing dissociative plurality (and actually probably any plurality, based on anecdotal conversations with some intentionally-created system friends who have noticed that folks in their communities with more dissociative tendencies often tend to find the process of creating headmates to be easier). In most cases, studies on this stuff are looking at the relationships between DID and CPTSD, but a system doesn't have to have a DID diagnosis to be experiencing dissociative aspects to their plurality, especially in cases where they also have CPTSD and/or a history of chronic difficult life experiences.

-> Autism is unfortunately a very strong predictor for trauma, definitely because of ableism and the chronic struggles of living in an overstimulating and allistic-centered environment/society, but/and also because there's some research indicating that the neurology of autism itself makes a brain more likely to utilize trauma-response pathways: (this is a post we made talking about one of those papers, with a link to a news article about the paper). Also, and this is closer to an armchair theory of ours, but there are traits that tend to be more common in autistic folks that seem likely to be non-trauma-related additional predisposing factors for plurality--stuff like personification synesthesia (link and link), object personification (link and link), and mirroring-of-others tendencies that can look a lot like "temporary introjection"

-> We're less familiar on the research between OCD and CPTSD, autism and/or plurality--but one thing to note is that OCD itself can be a very traumatizing experience just innately, especially living with the disorder for many years. Also, the inverse is true: pwOCD are more likely than average to have experienced adverse and/or traumatic events (link and link). Autism and OCD are often comorbid (link and link). Also, and this was new to us to read, but apparently OCD is often linked to dissociative experiences, and some researchers have theorized relationships between OCD and maladaptive daydreaming (which is often considered to be on a spectrum with dissociative disorders like DID/OSDD, as well as sometimes co-occurring with them) Also, @curiousitycollective has a bunch of great posts detailing their experience with OCD + schizo-spectrum stuff + systemhood (hey! hope you don't mind the shoutout, lmk if you'd prefer I deleted the direct ping and I'll do it)

Hope this is helpful? What you're describing sounds super in line with what we've heard other systems talk about, just anecdotally. And plurality pretty much always has a way of becoming intertwined in various ways with whatever else your brain's got going on.

If you have more questions, or if you're looking for something more specific, lmk and we'll see what we can do. <3

-S

[pluralhottakes]

@cantmakeupmymiiind says: my hot take is that as an endogenic plural I hate how in hiding other endogenics are (because of harassment from anti-endos). I know a few endogenic systems say they are mixed origin just to not deal with the harassment and it's sad.

And it's not that endogenic systems are rare but even in the endogenic system tag, it is full of well meaning "I'm a traumagenic/mixed origin system and I support Endos" more than I see full endogenic systems. Which is OKAY, I'm glad and thankful for the support but I want to connect with other Endos because our experiences are similar, way more similar than traumagenics. And it also feels a few of those positivity posts still have that internalized "I'm traumagenic so I'm a REAL system" feel, like we should listen to them more and feel more appreciated because a REAL system supports us (this is specifically about those posts about Endo positivity that targets Endos, not those talking to/about anti-endos where your traumagenic origin would be appreciated). I'm not trying to say their support isn't appreciated, I just wish I could find Endos easier than just "Endos are valid" posts.

(also when I'm talking about Endos here, I am specifically talking about fully endogenic origin systems. I love my mixed-origin friends but I rarely see fully endogenic systems in comparison)

I also don't want to sound mean or ungrateful but I feel like it needs to be said. There's not a lot of proud and out Endos.

The thing is that anti-endos are mostly hateful, bitter and miserable that endogenic systems exist for other reasons than the trauma they had to suffer through, so instead of being relieved like "oh thank goodness you didn't have to deal with the shit I dealt with" they see it as a mockery of their suffering.

Personally, as a traumagenic system ourselves we see it that way. Now some endogenic systems do have DID/OSDD and that's because they later dealt with trauma after their plurality was known to them.

We don't look at endogenic systems who don't have disordered symptoms or issues because of trauma like they're a mockery of our existence as a system. As far as we are concerned, they're systems. And we wish they didn't have to hide because people want to be fucking hateful.

We want to see more endogenic systems honestly. The best way to counter hate is to put your experiences out there and tell people what it really is to be an endogenic system. These days on Tumblr, anti-endos are actually dropping in number, and it's always a good idea to block them and not engage when they spout bullshit, especially if they've made it clear they don't want to learn or drop the hate.

There are some out there with the worst takes and that just gets them a block from us. Like they even invalidate other traumagenic systems who support the existence of other system origins. Anti-endos are bad for everyone and that's why we don't like them.

We especially love hearing from endogenic systems on this blog so please by all means all of you send us asks. We will post them! And if you send them off anon and some anti-endo asshole decides to comment, they'll get blocked. Like we don't play with them coming for you all at all.

But I get what you mean. Wanting to find other endogenic systems is important as well.

[fallen-and-holy]

I don’t think I've talked about our dæmonism much on this account, and I wanted to fix that! So, here’s just me yapping about my& experiences with it!!

I’ve had a dæmon for longer than i’ve known i was plural, before my headmate Cypher even formed. Phi’s been with me since around March 2022. Her full name is Delphi, or Delphegor if I’m feeling silly. As soon as i learned about dæmonism, i started talking to Phi and she started talking right back. I’ve always known she was a snake- even before she was there, back when I was reading His Dark Materials on my own for the first time. Even back then, i just knew- my dæmon would be a white snake. And she is. Usually a ball python, but occasionally other ‘domesticated’/common pet snake species. She flirts with other forms sometimes, because we’re researching them or just for fun, but at her core fae are and always will be a snake. Because of that, wei consider muirself settled. Fae take other forms regularly, but she always comes back to her first one. There are a couple forms that she takes regularly, some based on the form finding system and some based purely on vibes. She does prefer white forms though- and will often be a leucistic or albino version of the chosen form. Her analytic forms are cotton-top tamarin, asian small clawed otter, and giant river otter. Her pullman forms are the aforementioned snake and cat. And then for fun, she’ll be a barn owl, white bat of some sort, or snow leopard. Fae likes experimenting, and definitely represents the more playful side of me. 

I’ve heard from faer a little less since Cypher formed, and it can be hard to hear/’see’ both of them at the same time. I have to be focusing pretty hard to keep track of all of them. But she’s still there, and always will be. She says fae don’t mind, but i do feel a little guilty sometimes.

Speaking of Cypher, ae have aer own dæmon: Ink. His formation is actually a pretty interesting story. We were out doing stuff, I was projecting and trying to focus on Cypher and Phi together, and Cypher touched Phi for the first time ever. It was a really interesting sensation- looking at my messages from that day, I described it as “indescribable, like a live wire and a full body shudder- wei felt the sensation more than when Cypher touches me.” It was wonderful, a strange and alien feeling that was so full of love and connection. About thirty minutes later, Ink was there. It was. A really strange time but it was super cool!! Ink formed as a black cat, and has stayed a black cat- along with varied corvid forms. He generally doesn’t show up or talk unless Cypher is fronting. 

We didn’t do this on purpose, but we think it’s super cool how our dæmons naturally settled as a kind of yin and yang- Phi takes white forms, while Ink takes black forms. Our souls… compliment each other. We’re Symbiotic, and it's really awesome and meaningful to us the way our dæmons work together <33  

So yeah!! That’s all i can think of for now- but please ask muis questions!! Wei love talking about this!!!

[je-doute-donc-je-suis]

Please, I've scourged through all the official medical articles, median tag, parasian tag, osdd 1a tag, reddit and more

There's nothing, barely any help, and even less that actually fits

How the hell do you people see distinction between facets/alters. How the hell do you communicate. Figure out who's who

I saw that facets mostly all think that we're the same person, just slightly to the left. That there's no full switches, just personality influence. So how can you separate them and have different names and know who you are and who's there

I don't know...feels extra blurry while writing this, really hard to put into words, like someone is putting in a mental block to stop me from talking about this

Idk who i or anyone is. Idk how to communicate. There's no answers in the post it notes or simply plural or our private discord, because "i" never black out with someone else taking over. I don't hear voices. I feel stuff or see images, and have no idea how to tell if that's "someone" else

I tried acting close and really friendly and supportive and like we're a team. But saw posts that says that some alters aren't friendly in a way that implies that it's like physical people with having to slowly build a relationship. Idk what to do, they may have reacted badly at me acting like we're buddies? It's not like i can tell anything that's going on in there or how many there are...

So fucking blurry

Feels like someone was deeply anchored in the body from December to july or august, slowly building an identity and feeling really connected to how the body looks. Which has never happened before, always wanted something else for the body. Then suddenly in august/September, it's like someone or something blew at us, and sent us all twirling like dandelions bits away from the controls, and now we're still twirling above the controls in a blurry cloud

There's no one we can talk to, or help available in this country

So lost on what to do...have no idea what I'm doing. Or when "i" will finally stop being just a grammar thing, and finally get a real connection to a real identity, because "i" am just a static cloud

Don't even know if we're really median or osdd, i could straight up just be a front stuck host with the role of never learning about us being plural to keep us safe, while everyone else has already been aware of each other for ages, and are actively interacting in an inner world i can't access...

Or i could be wrong about all of this and making up all the signs and possible switches and the bad reaction I've got from insinuating no one else is real and it's all just cptsd and audhd

[misscammiedawn]

I wanted to say thanks for that write up on the depiction of DID and Mr. Robot! You said everything that's been burning in my head for years now after watching. Hearing another system's thoughts on it was something we've been looking for.

Part of our inner world is also part of the NHM in London lol.

Truly and sincerely thank you.

First off, I am delighted to know that we're not alone in having the Natural History Museum as host to a segment of inner world. Would love to know which exhibit/area you see when you visit, though no obligation to respond. We know that these things can be deeply personal.

The show may not strike with every system but no two plural folx are going to have the same connections and attachments and comforts and that's 100% okay. For those who share our affection for Mr. Robot I am glad you get to enjoy the show and our ramblings on it.

Wishing you and your system well and thank you again for the ask. You've no idea how much feedback comforts and encourages.

Asks are always open.

-

Post the asker is referring to in the question, btw:

Also... have some random rambles about Mr. Robot in a readmore, because I feel like typing a bunch.

-

Also, because it gives us an opening to talk about it. Have some random Robot thoughts:

Mr. Robot is and remains my favorite show. I had started typing "our" favorite and got a sharp rejection so shall use singular pronouns. It has its issues, the use of the term "real" for instance, but with good faith a lot of it can vanish. Not all. But most.

I've been thinking about things a lot more since writing the essay and there are things I wish I had spent longer discussing. For instance during the portion where I wrote about how Coney Island represents a safety in nostalgia, a fortress for the Alderson siblings to hide in their treasured childhood memories; I didn't mention that both Trenton and Mobley use their own nostalgia as their hacker aliases with Trenton being where she lived when young and DJ Mobley clearly being someone Mobley found joy in at a younger age.

Similarly Hot Carla's name is selected because of a hair dresser who validated her gender identity and sheltered her when her parents were abusive. Whiterose's hacker alias is the last moment her life could have been the "good future" that she envisioned and worked so hard to force into reality.

I do like that pretty much every character who has an alias picks their alias as an identity forged in positive memories. Elliot clearly did with Mr. Robot being the store where he and his dad were friends and his other alias (The Gentleman) is a reference to The Careful Massacre of the Bourgeoisie, a movie he and Darlene watched every year that became the entire iconography for the fsociety movement.

If I were to ever do another Mr. Robot essay I think it would be on the way each character insists on living in the past in order to escape their present and how that relates to the way trauma invades the present. Not going to promise that, though. We're already snowed under with our Loop and Beatrice essays.

I think that can be one of the big failings of the show, actually, especially for those watching it as it aired. The show is deeply ingrained in the perspectives of characters who have critically distorted beliefs on reality and the show doesn't really start laying down objective reality until late season 3 after the cyber bombings.

Someone watching the show for the first time can watch Elliot's edgelord rants about "Fuck Society" and think that the show believes these things rather than its main character and we do not get the show delivering the message that it's small minded and childish (which, given that Elliot is stuck in trauma time and perpetually reliving a horrifically abusive childhood he cannot fully understand because he won't allow himself to remember clearly, is exactly what he is) until Irving and Price each spell it out to Mr. Robot in S3E7/9 or Whiterose outright calls Elliot on it in their final confrontation.

I adore the show for its patience and how it tells such an emotional and complicated story over its 45 hour runtime but I do understand people watching the first hour, getting the wrong idea about where the journey is going and opting out.

Hell I understand a system going in for DID representation and not having the patience to stick around the show's Fight Club pastiche era before starting to get to the meat of things.

But hey. I gave the show a shot and can't go back now. I love it too darned much.

Also because I don't want to start another thread on it, I do want to say that the show is truly frustrating in how it depicts economic collapse for society and yet none of the characters are ever impacted by it.

Darlene is homeless throughout the show, spare her stint living in an FBI safe house and she has no job through the show's run. She is never hurting for money, even when the banking system of the world collapses. She likely is stealing but it's frustrating that we only hear about the financial ruin in the periphery. We learn of the eviction of Elliot's neighbors spare for the kind older man who takes care of Flipper but Elliot himself can buy entire new computers on a whim and go months between jobs or spend a season in prison and not be impacted.

Like the show depicts the world going into a major decline during the economic crisis and it's clear by Season 4 that the show is venting frustration that when the banking system failed in 2008 the ones responsible were not harmed at all and it was the public who suffered and things just went back to how it was in time; it's just... every character is living comfortably in New York and Darlene is the closest we have to a "poor" character.

But that's a rant we have on every show. Poverty doesn't really exist in television. You watch a show like Ted Lasso and everyone is a millionaire. Even the Kit Manager (Nate, not Will) has parents who own a home, sent him to higher education and gave him private violin lessons. Kit Manager salary is about £25-50 per year, even for a Premier League Team.

...but my discomfort with how poverty is never represented on TV is just a random rant and I'm going way off topic.

I'll stop rambling now.

[multiplicity-positivity]

We were just fakeclaimed by our own mother.

She was our safe person — but she thinks our system is just the Host putting on masks as a form of escapism. We discovered the system pretty recently (two, three months ago maybe? Bad with time.), and the Host’s imposter syndrome has been pretty bad, so much so that a new protector formed just to deal with that.

But now…? We barely know if the system is real. I mean, the two alters that have been here the longest; they’re here, they’re real, we know that. But the rest of us…? We’re not sure. Even the aforementioned protector is distant now. We don’t know what to do. Do y’all have any advice? Words of encouragement? Anything? We’re not sure what we’re looking for with this. Partially to vent, partially for help.

(Couldn’t think of any way to search for any specific comforts or advice for this, it’s weirdly specific, sorry.)

Thank you.

Hi! We do have a post that may be very useful for y’all. It focuses on dealing with denial, which is a very common issue for many systems:

We’re so sorry to hear that you’ve been fakeclaimed by someone so close to you! It’s an unfortunate reality for many systems, as multiplicity can be a very difficult thing for singlets to understand. However, just because your loved ones may not understand or believe in your plurality doesn’t mean that you’re not actually plural or a system!

As far as some specific advice for y’all, we’d say to give it some time, and try to focus on affirming yourselves and seeking internal validation rather than relying on validation from others. At the end of the day, you know yourselves and your system more than anyone else! It’s better to spend time building connections and communication and let that tell y’all everything you need to hear about whether or not you’re actually plural.

Of course, we are always more than happy to provide validation to anyone who wishes or feels they need it. But ultimately, we do believe that affirming and validating yourselves can do so much more to strengthen your resolve and identities as plural.

We hope this helps! Best of luck to y’all with whatever your future holds.

[sophieinwonderland]

I want to contribute a different take on the movie IF. I saw the underlying theme as the importance of forming a connection to the childlike wonder we all have as kids, how it can provide an inner strength. Hence the father always trying to encourage Bea to be playful. The IFs come back into Bea’s life because she’s afraid of losing her father, despite her insistence that she’s “no longer a kid”. She uses them to escape that reality. This comes to a climax when the reality hits that she really could lose him, that she is still a kid, and she still needs him. When she’s able to face reality, she stops seeing the IFs because she no longer needs the escape. However, that childlike wonder will always be a part of all of us, and we can all benefit from reconnecting with it.

Which isn’t to say I disagree with the plural take. That’s the magic of storytelling. We can all find our own meaning.

(Context)

I think that you're definitely right about the themes of the movie!

What I tend to focus on is more what's literally happening on the screen whenever I make my plurality of... posts. Because while the theme is about rekindling that childhood wonder, stories still want us to buy into the idea that these things are literally happening to the protagonists to some extent.

And that's the lens that I wanted to view it through. That everything that Bea experiences is either happening to her literally in the real world or is at least taking place within her imagination.

Stories, to the audience and author, can be metaphor. But they still are real within that narrative to the characters. Even a story told by an unreliable narrator is generally true to that narrator.

It's kind of like Inside Out. On one level, Inside Out is a metaphor for dealing with emotions and growing up. Most people in real life don't have little people in their heads representing their different emotions. (Though some plural systems do operate like that.) And the movie isn't suggesting that they do.

At the same time, the emotions within Inside Out are literally real within the context of the movie's narrative. Joy isn't merely an artistic representation within the narrative. She's a fully realized sapient person within Riley's mind. Same with the other emotions and entities in Riley's head.

Externally, they're metaphors. But internally, they're real characters and everything happening in Riley's head is actually happening.

So when I analyze Bea in IF, I'm trying to consider the events of the movie in a way that Bea could have literally experienced them.

The only exception is that I've just kind of ignored the ending because...

This part breaks away from Bea's perspective

It breaks the established rules for how IFs work in the rest of the film.

And it follows Bea's "what if" monologue that I think is meant to imply that those events at the end didn't happen and were more wishful thinking.

[antedeluvianbreedingtwink]

So, sometimes I'm hesitant to share things about my dysphoria, since I think a lot of people will glance past the Plurality and try to frame this as some kind of detransition. No hate towards people who do end up detransitioning for any reason, but that's a very different thing to my weird-ass deal, and I'm sure as fuck not reversing any surgeries when the most functional Alter and the earliest one we know of are both transfem still. Hell, we're even still planning to go forward with bottom surgery, and I'm not really even against the idea?

The issue I run into most is, well... boobs. We have D cups, with 420cc (seriously) implants, which makes it a hard to properly go dude mode now? I can bind, and I do it basically the moment I'm fronting, but it's really only flat when I double up on binders, and, uh... yeah, that's a quick way to remember which rib got dislocated once? I'm trying to be smarter about it- one binder and a denim vest to try and hide the extra oomph... but I have to unbind eventually, and it feels awful every time because our body is very, very feminine now.

I did have a peculiar dream last night, though. I was dating a guy (an OC from a story we were going to write) as myself in it, but the time to go to bed together came and I... still had breasts. Then, when I got uncomfortable, Dreamguy just kept referring to them as boytits, which led to me waking up briefly euphoric and confused.

I guess I was just feeling really dysphoric and someone acknowledging the boyness of my hongalongamogongas helped relieve it a bit? Maybe the idea that I could be in a relationship and still be acknowledged as a separate person was also weighing on me, since me and Kay (maybe even Alice?) have very conflicting sexualities and identities, and I worry things will either be too complicated, or I'll have to take a back seat.

I think my biggest worry, though, is... what fucking community do I belong to? Kay's obviously transfem, and even though I'm masc and AMAB, I'm not Cis? I'm still very much nonbinary, just heavy on the masculine side, but the people I connect with and get tips from are transmasc, and it just feels disrespectful for me to attach too much to that community?

I guess collectively we're genderfluid, but even that feels strange when we're different people, and I can't even recognize Kay's thought process most of the time?

I guess I'm just rambling because there isn't a short way to accept being plural and having to deal with conflicting gender identities on top of that. It makes everything way, way harder, but I do know things will work out in the end. I'm taking a crash course to make sure I know enough about Kay's major to hold down a job properly (without fronting and immediately crying because I have no idea how to do anything.)

Plus, y'know... there's always the option of being poly, or just dating someone with a gender ambiguous enough to appeal to a lesbian and a gay boy at the same time. Just as long as they know these are (at least when I'm fronting) he/him chesticles and they prefer to be called sir, damnit.

[rose-harmony96]

So like we are currently undiagnosed, and we experience a lot of internal doubts about our plurality. We would appreciate advice, affirmation, a reality check? Idk, something.

We are pretty certain that we are traumagenic but its not like theres some single event that stands out. We suspect we first started breaking around the time the world started to expect us to be a boy and by the time we were in elementary school we got bullied all the way into the game me and my friends used to play until it really did become real within me, the stories would run out almost automatically, my "character" was always at my side, growing, changing and evolving, eventually becoming twins and then there were all the supporting characters and even a layer of side characters, almost npcs? And like all of this, what we are calling the darkwater, thats where those of us who live up near the surface now actually grew up. The person that we used to be, the one who made the darkwater to begin with more or less got lost down there around the time things in reality went to hell around middle school, at this point those 3 years are a pretty huge memory hole save for a the friend who set off our queer/sexual awakening and the chunck of time around breaking our arm. Otherwise its just kinda loose, formless pain that we might honestly actually be able to dig something out of if we really really focused in but it hurts to try. Hischool at least we found our people, even met another plural person and immediately connected and felt less crazy. We openly explored a bit back then. Never really got into the depths of thr darkwater and all that but our(their?) Friends knew about a few of us at the time. In the darkwater, this was also the time that some version of most of us that live near the surface now started to form. Post highschool and anything that isnt us realizing that we are and freaking out because the male parts are smothering and supressimg the shit out of us is pretty blurry. Like i think we forgot about plurality as an issue for a few years there maybe or rather "oldself" was trying to smother us out or something. Then there was the first big mental breakdown/manic episode broke that deadlocked miserable fuck into the old dog and the lost little girl and like we were actually jade at the surface for a while there, not just calling ourself jade while oldself tries to numb it out but we were actually us, actually her. And like voices from the darkwater were coming. back, the scenes were more vivid... at one point in there we started listening to bambisleep and eventually bambi took root, going fucking nuts, and she ended up finding alex, who we figure was from that first split waaaaaay back when, (who had been the seed of an entire archetype whithin the darkwater). And like we were mostly bambi jade and alex for a while, more or less. Until another huge manic episode came blowing through and left jade totally shattered and our current family to pick up the pieces and maybe try to get out shit together?

And like our switching is pretty free flowing, we are all more or less around most of the time. A lot of the time we feel less like any particular individual and more like the collective will of the whole darkwater(?). We have huge holes in time and memory; but whats normal, whats drugs and like what even is amnesia. "I" have never experienced "getting thrown in the trunk" afaik but alex is pretty clear that she spent most of childhood "trapped in a box". We kinda like having our real family all together in one body and for some reason that feels invalidating or something?

This got long af and probably less coherent than we want but im gonna go ahead and post anyway, probably also send it to our theres once we get one.

-lilly, mostly i guess. Akiri as well probably.

[anendoandfriendo]

Actually, just while we're thinking of plurality and how its treated as a whole intra-community — we probably will not be able to put this elegantly, but we want to talk about exomemories and how they're treated.

People always treat exomemories as if they have to be like, some vivid thing that one can completely recall in its entirety. The problem is that...that's not how memory works. In the world of psychology this is not the only type of memory that happens. Memories can also be things like:

Unconscious habits and the unconscious steps required to perform those habits

General facts

The microseconds of a touch, smell, taste, or sound just after it has occurred

So, please, tell us why in the hell we treat vivid recall as the only "valid" form of an exomemory, if even non-plural memory is, to put it lightly, a complicated fucking mess of a concept.

Even within the episodic memory the vivid personal recall we talk about when it comes to exomemories would fall under, this specific type of memory is generally what is called a flashbulb memory.

Recalling the phantom of a touch, from someone's hand into yours, is an exomemory.

Recalling the last ruler of your country and nothing else is still an exomemory.

The flutter of the wind on your face is an exomemory.

Being able to write out a "fantasy" script with no clue on how you got that information, regardless of its readability to you, is an exomemory.

Being able to recall how a family member set their hair on fire or how you looked for an item for two days just to find it on a bookshelf is an exomemory, but so is the smell of smoke or the feeling of hard wood under your palm, if it is connected to a world outside of this one.

We dunno all, this is kind of what we are talking about when we say you can be pro-endogenic and still a sysmedicalist we guess? We should not always and constantly need to use an established phenomenon in order to state that people have been or can be shitty. The -med part in sysmed is -med for a reason, as opposed to like, anti-endoist!!

Plurality is certainly different in some aspects compared to being a singlet — but like, we aren't an entirely different species because of it. Unless you are all therian in your system, in which case, good for you! But singlets can also be therians so our point still stands. :v

We wish we had a better way of putting this. We don't, so all we can state is that we notice this stupid trend of people in plural communities just Isolating Themselves In Weird Ways.

On one hand, the assimilationism: plurality is only adjacent to being neurodivergent (even though neurodivergent means operating in a way that is non-normative, which plurality is); plurality is only adjacent to alterhumanity (even though alterhuman means operating in a way that is non-normative, which plurality is); plurality is only adjacent to being queer (even though queer means operating in a way that is non-normative, which plurality is).

On the other, the assertion that we ARE different, just, Not Like That, it's still an Acceptable Difference: exomemories for plurals are always a vivid recall (even though that's not how memory works at all even for non-plurals and is also what we suspect to be an effect of sysmedicalists defining exomemories as a "coverup" to Bad Things Happening when this is not always true for every system); everyone in a system either gets along all of the time or otherwise it's a disorder (even though in the outerworld people don't always get along and that doesn't always mean the people in an argument are suddenly disordered — it just means those people do not vibe well together); everyone knows everything about each other and there is no misgendering at all and everyone knows exactly which species everyone is other otherwise it's DID or OSDD (even though this is not how it works in the external world — mistakes happen and we can guarantee you that if you live in the US you do not personally know every single person down to their favorite restaurant if they live in like, Russia or India, and then also vice versa for Indian and Russian individuals).

When we say sysmedicalists are fascists. This is what we mean. And when we say pro-endos can be sysmedicalists. This is also what we mean.

It is not a disorder if you do not know everything about 500 people all at once. Being a big system is not inherently distressing or dysfunctional.

It is not a disorder to accidentally use "she" for your only other headmate who just came out and uses "he" as long as you apologize to your headmate and then do better next time, and make the effort to use "he" in reference to him. Being a small system is not inherently distressing or dysfunctional.

And just to be clear since this is Tumblr: DID and OSDD are not bad and are not a punishment or moral failing. This is specifically in regards to the bainaristic tendencies that our communities have. Everything is butterflies and rainbows or it's a living hell. The idea that disordered and non-disordered systems share nothing in common. The conflating of endogenic to non-disordered and traumagenic to disordered. That any and all disorder that ever existed is coded into the DSM and the ICD. That inconveniences as small as like, wdk, an example from us is needing hot chocolate every night to go to sleep — must be treated by professionals or it's not a legitimate inconvenience. All of it.

All of the binaries that permeate into our community like a fucking poison that we cannot seem to clear out from our lungs and our brain. It seeps into our skin and our home and doesn't leave. We don't know if it will ever leave. We feel like the community is fucking dying just as it's growing and maybe we're just paranoid and worried, but it's fucking seeing into our hearts and souls and then we cannibalize our own.

There can, in fact, be experiences within the realm of annoying but not ruinous when it comes to plurality and we are sick of the community treating this as if it is not true, even implicitly and unintentionally. We are in general agreement within this system (even if we don't agree in how exactly) that this really, REALLY needs to be examined at some point by the systems who claim to be inclusys.

------------

♤♤ anendoandfriendo ♤♤

~ Art from picsart ~

[A sparkly signature image. The background is the endogenic system flag, recursigenic flag, and protogenic flag. The endogenic flag has the treblesand on it. Amber from Genshin Impact is on the left side of the image; Cinderella from Disney's Cinderella and Aquamarine Hoshino from Oshi No Ko are on the right side. The words "They/Them (pl.)" sit in the bottom corner of the image.]