#category: PLURALITY

[mortelum]

Theorole

[ pt: Theorole /end pt ]

[ left id: a rectangular flag with seven horizontal stripes in the following colors, from top to bottom: dark gray, medium gray, light gray, near-white gray, light gray, medium gray, and dark gray. In the middle of the flag there is a near-white gray rhombus. Behind the rhombus is a dark gray vertical line. /end id ]

[ right id: a rectangular flag with seven horizontal stripes in the following colors, from top to bottom: dark blue, medium purple, light purple, pastel pink, light purple, medium purple, and dark blue. In the middle of the flag there is a near-white gray rhombus. Behind the rhombus is a dark gray vertical line. /end id ]

[ id: a divider made up of mostly pixelated roses of varying sizes. There is an animal skull in the divider as well, sitting amongst the roses. /end id ]

Theorole: A role descriptor for headmates for when their role is [x] in theory, but [y] in practice. For instance, a headmate that is called/self identify as a caretaker, but their actual job is more protector-like. Can be a term umbrella with the prefix/suffix theor-/-theor.

@radiomogai

Divider Credit

[splattergai]

System Role: Driver

plain text: System Role: Driver

[ Image ID (left): a rectangular flag with a square diamond in the center, with thin horizontal stripes extending from the left and right corners to the edges of the flag. the left half and stripe are pastel yellow, and the right half and stripe are muted pale yellow. The top left of the flag is muted orange-red, and the bottom left of the flag is muted dark red; these sections extend in the same direction as the sides of the diamond, taking up more than half of the flag. The top right of the flag is muted teal and the bottom right of the flag is dark muted turquoise. /end ID ]

[ Image ID (right): a rectangular flag with 4 equally-sized horizontal lines with 2 thinner lines in the middle. The colors are from top to bottom: dark muted red, muted orange-red, muted pale yellow, pastel yellow, muted teal, and muted turquoise. /end ID ]

[ Image ID: a centered divider made up of eight drawn pixelated eyes. The eyes are in varying sizes. The irises of the eyes are a dark red with black pupils, and the scleras are an off-white. /end ID ]

A system/plural role where a member's role is to do driving-related things; such as the task of driving itself, or to deal with certain driving-related issues.

Flag PSD Credit | Eye Dividers Used

@radiomogai

[syscest]

hi im assuming the us vs them post is about a specific term, which one would that be?

so the sysmed out-group term being referenced in the joke post was (as the reblogs guessed) "endogenic", and I'll lay our thoughts out straight just once to avoid being potentially taken the wrong way

I've got two angles here, existential theological linguistic bullshit, and harm-reduction. stay with me here because even if you're not on board with the first thing you'll want to see the second.

so "traumagenic vs endogenic" is a false dichotomy, and I don't just mean "there's a secret third thing", I mean both classifications are fundamentally not real.

personally? we haven't the foggiest idea why we're a system. but the thing is, I don't think anybody else does either - I think it's genuinely impossible to know why your own consciousness is behind your own eyes and controlling your own body, why you *experience* existing in first-person at all. Like shit, lots of singlets believe it's because a soul has been created or introduced to their flesh, and a bunch of others think that's a load of crap and the chemicals just *do this* on their own. Singlets get this unalienable right to believe whatever the hell they want about why they're experiencing being themselves all the damn time, and I refuse to believe that systems are uniquely special in a way that singlets are not such that anyone can fucking flawlessly divine the cause of our consciousness all of a sudden. These are existential-tier questions and to deny their impossible complexity and the right to self-belief over them is, in my eyes, to deny systems something many singlets feel is part of what makes them human.

You can believe all sorts of stuff about the nature of your own systemhood just like how you can believe all sorts of stuff about the nature of your own existence - that doesn't make you definitively right, it's just a meaningful mechanism through which you understand your own experiences that other people should respect - it's like any faith, go figure.

Frustratingly, these words - traumagenic, endogenic - they're not talking about belief, they're objective buckets actively being used for exclusion. So every time we use the term "traumagenic systems", in saying "systems that objectively exist because of trauma" we are saying, loudly, "it is possible to know why a system exists". and frankly? no the fuck it isn't.

Anyway that's airy bullshit and reflects very idealised interactions so - practical, realist opinions, and harm reduction:

Saying "I'm pro-endo" is a net good, though I think "I support all systems" is probably marginally better because it doesn't perpetuate categories pushed by sysmeds for exclusionary reasons as being essential to defining systemhood - as we joked about.

Contrastingly, self-declaring "traumagenic" or "endogenic" in a bio is a net bad. Saying "I'm a traumagenic system" also says "Hello sysmeds, I believe in your dichotomy and I'm one of the good ones" (great way to get sysmed followers), and that factor doesn't go away if you go on to say that you support all systems - you've already thrown away your opportunity to shield more vulnerable systems from harassment through making who sysmeds need to target more obscure.

In fact, regardless of whether your bio says to sysmeds "I am a target" or "I'm not a target", by saying it explicitly, you're pressuring other, more vulnerable systems to similarly self-declare. It's like cis people putting pronouns in their bio to shield trans people from harassment through obscurity and embarrassment, but in reverse - if you shut up about it, and *just* call yourself a plural system, even if you do believe in their categorisations, you stop the propogation of the self-labelling and exclusionists are forced to make themselves look like idiots because most of their harassment would have to be done at random. It's basically herd immunity - nobody talks, everybody walks.

anyway yeah there's context for future, though honestly the section in plural respect is a lot more succinct lmao

[tacky-optic]

Had a question about who our favorite Zenigata partner is in a server I'm in and now I can't stop thinking about them. Tis the zaza sickness.

anyway here's literally all of the characters Zenigata's been partnered with that i could find (within reason). if anyone wants to elaborate on any of these guys (cough yata cough) please feel free to go absolutely ham. *(obligatory spoiler warning for a whole lotta lupin specials, waow-- notably zenigata keibu since that's probably the most unwatched of everything i cover. but if youre here im guessing youre as unfortunately well-versed as i am so LETS FRIGGIN GET INTO IT)

Starting off nice n' mellow. I'm pretty neutral on Yata, tbh. I just think he's neat and it's easy enough to write him and not much else. I've rambled about him being a stand-in for the viewer before, but overall i just don't have all that many thoughts on the guy (seriously someone please do yata). ironic considering he's hands-down the most prevalent sidekick to date, but alas. head remains empty.

MARIYA. Mariya my girlie oh how i love thee. finally, someone with a Gimmick on par with Mr. my-sword-can-cut-anything. Plus she's super sweet and smart and sharp and just an all-around endearing character. AND SHE'S DIFFERENT!! she's tagging along with Zenigata of her OWN FREE WILL like gurl what are you THINKING. there isn't a shred of coherent interview material to draw from this man, especially about Lupin. The dynamic they end up developing is on point, though!! Zenigata's initial total miscall of it aside, It's just plain ol' wholesome. If Yata's his surrogate son than Mariya's obviously his daughter. No shot in hell they don't at least keep in contact after the special's done. plus her snapping a pic of him every time he eats shit is peak comedy journalism

MOTHAFUCKIN' MELON COP!! an absolutely magical reefer-smokin' shitbag, especially in the edgy Tokyopop translation. He's a great foil to our otherwise serious(ly neurotic) manga Zenigata. Not to mention the combative potential with a down the line Melon.... ough. A more toned-down "newer part"-esque Zeni getting slapped with an extremely smug and insistent reminder of his angstlord past is such a delicious concept to me. i will be using this guy extensively in that exact way one of these days-- he's too fun not to.

a bit of a sidenote but i've gotta point fingers at gray jacket again (can't recommend it enough) for having my favorite melon depiction in fic; walther recently had him show up in their fic secondhand vanity as well (which i also can't recommend enough), so needless to say i think he has some fun potential.

Sakuraba and Kunikida from the live-action show get honorable mentions, obviously. They're both so different yet learn so much from Zenigata all the same. As far as reacting to the inspector goes, they're the ideal Yatas (again i am so so sorry yata-- surely someone will do you justice). Even though they aren't technically "new" to the force they're new to the Zenigata Shenanigans, and that is where the entertainment factor is. Sakuraba's the traditionalist keibu method-doubter whereas Kunikida's this mousey blue around the gills fella, and over their respective case file appearances, they both gain faith in/learn confidence from Zenigata, respectively. It really is a great bit of development to watch play out.

I'm gonna count The Guys™️ as a collective group/formless mass with maybe one of the Guyest of Guys as Zenigata's right hand Guy, like that one dude in Cagliostro. Apparently the name he's given in one of the dubs is Sam?? That's neat. Sam's neat. for anyone interested in some homework, here's the link to the highly informative lupin forum thread i found that out from: [x]

But yeah the Guys! Right from the start, Zenigata having this army of inexplicably and absurdly loyal cops was always a fun trope and i love to see 'em whenever they show up. I had this idea ages ago for this fake documentary-style miniseries based around them-- all the usual Lupin nonsense goes on in the background while we get a peek at the typically unseen shenanigans happening on the law-bearing side. Getting assigned to the lupin taskforce is probably seen as some kind of punishment, but that just makes the camaraderie all the more tight-knit. There'd be some behind-the-scenes Zenigata/how he interacts with them, what they get up to on their own whack case assignments when they're in a Lupin sighting lull.... hell maybe we even learn why they're all so damn loyal to this one supposedly hyper-independent guy. I think it'd be fun but maybe that's just the Zenigata hopeful in me. Surely he's capable of building some semblance of rapport with the fine group of folks he drags around the world with him....

Let's just rip the band-aid off-- I dislike Oscar with a burning passion. which is weird, right? because i like Melon Cop, the dude who's totally cool with straight-up cold-blooded judge/jury/executioner-style murder. I dunno dude the obsessive daddy kink simping's just too feckin' weird for me. i checked the hell out so fast. If the goal was to make Oscar extremely disquieting, they friggin' did it. Granted he was written to be a bit whack from the start, and getting raised(?)/mentored by THAT Zenigata would irreversibly mess anyone up. I get that the fucked up-ness is part of the appeal, but man. How anyone can gravitate towards Oscar without heavily modifying his whole deal escapes me.

I've seen him written tolerably in fic maybe... twice? He's in gray jacket (there it is again!) and SMRO (needs no introduction nor explanation), so obligatory kudos to anyone who can wrangle [gestures vaguely at all of that].

Vicky though. Vicky Flannigan from Island of Assassins is so goddamn funny. Still can't believe they took one of the most badass Zenigata character designs and actively went out of their way to make him bedridden. I've seen folks call him "Proto-Yata" and. Yeah. Can't argue. He's a glorified babysitter, if anything, and the only reason he's even remotely effective is because he (accidentally) broke both of Zenigata's legs. Funniest shit istg

ICPO LADIES!!! They're cute. Designs could be better but it's Babylon yknow. Despite being an admittedly fun romp, the special has its obvious.... uh. issues. product of its time and all that. iykyk. anyway LADIES. They're competent. They take No Shit from Zenigata. The random little crush that comes out of nowhere between Chinjao and Goemon is cute as hell. Plus, I've seen some pretty rockin' fandom redesigns floating around.... wouldn't mind in the slightest if they made a comeback.

I'm gonna lump all of the Betrayers into one category: Emily O'Brien from Angel Tactics, Kazami from Fuma Conspiracy, and Terry Crown from Alcatraz Connection. Never expected the "Zenigata's partner is the bad guy!!1" trope would be so prevalent, but it tracks in retrospect. It's a neat enough idea-- bummer they never seemed to nail it down, though.

The only reason O'Brien is so predictable is because she's so goddamn unlikable. There's hardly any screentime of them working together and in every single scene, the incompetency just feels so blatantly intentional its almost offensive lmao. Zero surprise in the slightest when she showed her true colors-- just mild annoyance, which tracks for the whole special tbh. Only worthwhile parts are the beginning and the end, and absolutely none of that has anything to to with O'Brien.

Kazami just has that chump secondary villain face y'know. Again, a bit on the nose how obnoxiously dorkish he is-- but them playing up him putting on his glasses so Fujiko can recognize him got a little laugh outta me, ngl. He served his purpose, plain and simple.

I'll never know whether Crown was predictable or not because I stumbled across ""Evil Columbo"" before I watched Alcatraz, but despite the spoiler I can at least say he isn't lame as shit. Pre-reveal, he's probably the closest we'll get to a taste of what Melon might be like in modern Lupin media. He's your run-of-the-mill corrupt sleazebag detective-- steals evidence, generally doesn't give a fuck, takes cheap jabs at Zenigata-- but their final standoff is what puts him above Kazami for me. Just a real melodramatic overdramatic moment of Zenigata Zenigata-ing his heart out.

Welcome to the ELDERLY MEN CATEGORY, OORAH. The old guy from Twilight Gemini, Kogoro Akechi from the pilot, and George McFly from First Contact. I could track down Gemini old guy's name, but I hand-to-god couldn't care less. The only worth a damn thing Gemini's given me is that one jigzeni screenshot, so we're just gonna move on to the next two.

Not much of Akechi, huh. He only shows up in the pilot and doesn't do anything of note besides be someone for Lupin to disguise himself as. Dare i say Goemon was a more effective ally to Zenigata than Akechi...? yeah sure, why not. Goemon's a zeni sidekick. i'll die on that hill. anyway I believe he's also a reference to a pre-existing character...? like Lupin, Goemon, and Zenigata are. All in all its probably for the best that he didn't make it to part 1.

Finally, the only old guy that actually has aspects to talk about. I actually really like McFly and the role he plays in First Contact; it isn't Zenigata learning from whoever his partner may be, but McFly learning from Zenigata. He's a jaded, on-the-verge-of-retirement type that thinks he's seen all the force has to offer, but here comes this young (is he considered "young" in this?? early, maybe) freak-ass foreigner cop with a vendetta he's practically frothing at the mouth to rectify. Neither of them are exactly enthused to be working together, but McFly sticks around anyway and learns to see past a lot of Zenigata's first impression baggage; the tenacity, the passion, the genuineness of it all. Not only does he want to make real change, but the crazy bastard can actually friggin' do it. ...Or at the very least make a sizable dent.

Zenigata sincerely adheres to the idea of what a cop's supposed to be, fundamentally, and not what a "cop" actually is, as a vague collective occupational concept. Zenigata has a genuine effect on McFly-- enough to make him just the slightest bit less soured by the end of it all. It's a nice sentiment; that no matter where you are in life, ideas can still change. It's a small arc that flies beneath the radar of everything else, but i noticed it. I FRIGGIN' NOTICED IT, MAN

tl;dr Zenigata's a lonely guy, sure, but he doesn't have to be.

That should cover all of the significant parts/specials/movies, but if i missed anyone (any notable episodes? manga?) lemme know. Either way, it's nice finally having 'em all in one place.

[samus-arans-sweaty-pits-n-balls]

Seeing all the syscourse as a 31yo formerly homeless, genderfluid aroace system gives me some insight. Far as I'm concerned, traumagenic and endogenic are terms to gatekeep and exclude folk who aren't 'traumatized enough'. As such, I don't consider either word to actually be part of the experience. You have alters or you don't, and I can't see into your head so why tf would have the right to accuse you of faking?

If you're anti Endo, find an actual battle to fight. Get your head out your ass and stop taking swings at people going through hell. Alienating and ostracizing people who's parts are good at their job of shielding the others from knowing their trauma is fucked up. Don't be bitchy just cause your alters couldn't keep the horrors from you.

For every minority and marginalized group, we don't need our own trying to cause harm to each other. We need to stand together. "WhAt If ThEy'Re FaKiNg It?" What if they are? What if they aren't? What if the world is made of pudding? I'd rather give a hundred fakers a safe environment than a hostile one to even a single person who's legit unsure and trying to find support and answers.

[velviflags]

CELESTE HEART » Specutien && Specusian

Link to the flag/term : [X]

[thattheater-kid]

Being a South Park fictive is so funny because I’m nine years old, so our friends associate me with child things like Hello Kitty, Care Bears, Bluey, Paw Patrol, etc., but if you watch even a second of South Park, Care Bears and Hello Kitty are probably the last things you’d ever associate me with.

-Kenny

[rotenotes]

Saul Newman - The Politics of Postanarchism

The Politics of Postanarchism Saul Newman In recent years radical politics has been faced with a number of new challenges, not least of which has been the reemergence of the aggressive, authoritarian state in its new paradigm of security and bio-politics. The ‘war on terror’ serves as the latest guise for the aggressive reassertion of the principle state sovereignty, beyond the traditional limits…

[cum-villain]

why is the only system rep in media always either "evil creature possesses person (and the trope is sometimes subverted by the creature and human becoming friends)" or "person has a Secret Murder Alter that kills people when the real person isn't aware!!"

[kyofsonder]

We don't often make up-front posts about our system or the people in it, but we have a sudden desire to say this into the Tumblr void and no good arguments against doing so.

Having your speaking and/or thinking accent suddenly shift at a random moment for no apparent reason is a hell of a specific experience, isn't it? Suddenly, your mouth just wants to take a different shape and your words comes out in a different way and it's not even necessarily an accent you're regularly exposed to or have a reason to mirror or want to practice. It's just there, all of the sudden, and you ride it out until you either feel it fade or have to mask it around others. It's. A hell of a thing, is all we can think to say.

We're always co-con to some degree, too, so we'll feel the ebb and flow of it as the accent-holder is closer to and further from our shared consciousness. It'll warp our accent into something between our usual/default one and whatever the accent-holder has.

Maybe we've posted about this before and forgotten, but it's weird and fascinating to us every time. Speaking patterns changing is already both those things, but whole accent shifts are... another level.

Being plural is wild, truly. We'll probably never stop being surprised, even by aspects/experiences of it we've known a thousand times over.

[mortelum]

Hexisapian

[ pt: hexisapian /end pt ]

[ left id: a rectangular flag with five horizontal stripes in the following colors, from top to bottom: pastel yellow, pastel orange, medium pink, medium purple, and dark purple-blue. in the middle of the flag there is a dark pink silhouette of three hexagons. /end id ]

[ right id: a rectangular flag with five horizontal stripes in the following colors, from top to bottom: pastel yellow, pastel orange, medium pink, medium purple, and dark purple-blue. /end id ]

[ id: a divider made up of mostly pixelated roses of varying sizes. There is an animal skull in the divider as well, sitting amongst the roses. /end id ]

Hexisapian: a species term for bug-human hybrids, specifically hybrids of bees, butterflies, and/or moths.

@radiomogai / @specieschive

Divider Credit

[revenant-coining]

Comforter Flags

[pt: Comforter Flags /end pt]

[First Flag ID: a rectangular flag with a square diamond in the center, with thin horizontal stripes extending from the left and right corners to the edges of the flag. the left half and stripe are blue, and the right half and stripe are lightish green-blue. the top left of the flag is darkish blue and the bottom left of the flag is dark blue; these sections extend in the same direction as the sides of the diamond, thus taking up more than half of the flag. the top right of the flag is light green and the bottom right of the flag is green. End ID]

[Second Flag ID: a rectangular flag with 4 equally-sized horizontal lines with 2 thinner lines in the middle. colors in this order from top to bottom: dark blue, darkish blue, blue, lightish green-blue, green, light green. End ID]

requested by anon

Comforter (link) Flags; “a headmate whose role is comforting others within the system. Sometimes, their role is to comfort the system as a whole, while others may only comfort specific headmates or groups.”

@radiomogai , @imawanokiwaaa

[ID: a red line divider outlined in yellow. in the center is a red feather outlined in yellow. End ID]

[splattergai]

Alternate Pluralflux Flag

pt: Alternate Pluralflux Flag

[ Image ID: a rectangular flag with seven horizontal stripes in the following colors, from top to bottom: medium-pastel purple, pastel purple, dark pastel pink, pastel pink, near-white pink, pastel green, and medium pastel green. All the colors are slightly muted. The medium pastel green and purple stripes are larger than the pastel purple and green stripes, which are larger than the three pink stripes. /end ID ]

— Alternate pluralflux flag! Edited so the stripes are horizontal and it's a bit less vibrant and easier to look at for the eyes.

— Original Coining Post for Pluralflux

[v-is-for-vivienne]

cool and interesting endogenic systems interact please I need more endo friends to learn from

[melatovnik]

kit kat and nonsense? well yes I'd love that trick or treat? happy Halloween ^^

alas, i ate the last of the kit kats i had 🤧 instead, can i offer you a nice egg(man) in this trying time?

[velviflags]

specutien and specusian flag emojis