all_together

We're a small yet mighty mixed origin special snowflake system of roughly ~~seven~~ ten people that don't play by the usual plurality rules, though only about ~~three~~ four of us use the internet or care about it. We're bodily 22 years old as of writing.

Some of us were created as a direct result of trauma, some of us weren't, and all of us have very different ideas of how we got here, why, and what our "roles" are, if any. We value each other's personal identification and experiences over the (often horseshit) models used by old white guys to classify and more often than not dehumanize us. Everyone here is their own, fully separate person, the only exception being my median facets. But they're cool too.

People You Will Likely See

Watcher

I'm the main breadwinner type person and bullshit absorber. Internal age 26. Traumagenic split. I started existing around body age 4-5, stopped existing around age 7, then got thrown in the saddle around age 14 and have been there ever since. I've gone through a lengthy metamorphosis over the years.

I'm largely a product of my environment, so I'm not the nicest, most stable person, but I come through in a pinch and put the rest of the system before anything else. I used to have a friendlier Customer Service Representative filter that's since broke down in the past 12 months thanks to dealing with too many fairweather friends and assholes at once, so I can be blunt and a bit intense. That said, I mainly hit back when hit and don't go out of my way to be mean.

I'm a ~~former~~ median subsystem. If I ever mention "facets", I'm not referring to any of the other people listed here, rather, I'm talking about parts of myself. Their names are Rhyme, Reason, and Rage. Pretty self explanatory; you'll probably know them when you see them.

Mel

Smol, snobbish princeling who likes to think he's a practically perfect system mate in every way. Who knows, maybe he's right. Internal age 21. Mel is the type of person who loves to organize and plan things, to the point where if we don't let him choose an outfit the day before we go out, he'll make us late. Not out of malice, just because he's not used to throwing stuff on last minute.

He seems like the vapid, boys-and-clothes type at first glance, and to some degree he is, but he's probably the most well versed in science and history out of all of us. He fronted for most of our university career, writing essays and all that good stuff.

He can have a pretty huge personality, but for the most part he usually parodies himself more than anything. If he seems totally insulted that you're running late, or made a typo, or wore shoes without socks, there's an 80% chance he's only pretend-outraged. Well... okay, I can't promise that'll be true in the third scenario.

Mel walked in a few years ago with memories and sensibilities from another place, and we have an interesting history to say the least.

S.M.

SM is our cigar smoking, pizza eating, poetry writing, obnoxiously extroverted system "final boss", who according to his calculations was no older than 39 post mortem. He's a born salesman and can talk to pretty much anyone, which means he's usually around to offer opinions on things, whether they're wanted or not. A reforming Bad Guy Fictive and thrifty survivalist; he hasn't quite fully adjusted to life in a timeline with ample food and water, but he does his best. Don't worry, he probably won't threaten or extort you. Probably.

He's constantly running his mouth about shit, like constantly so you'll probably talk to him before you talk to the rest of us. It legitimately concerns us when we haven't heard anything out of him for more than two hours. He's also a total dynamo and will, in his words, try anything once. Special Interests include baseball, guns, fat activism, beat poetry, and surviving nuclear war. Oh yeah, and making robots think. It's an old hobby.

He's about as subtle as a freight train and has a terrible poker face. Beware of the dad jokes.

Silas

One of our younger members, Silas had a lot of issues with cooperating when zie walked in. Nowadays, zie handles school and volunteering alongside me, so times sure have changed. 17, nonbinary superqueer, loves action movies and things that go boom.

Silas is our "do geese have wars" person, and somehow manages to be our resident stoner type without taking any drugs. Silas also doesn't take hirself too seriously, but zie is easily ticked off if zie senses zie's being unfairly controlled by others. Zie and Marty don't get along with each other well for that reason.

Silas has a very straighforward thought process, which provides refreshing contrast to folks like me and Aramos. Unfortunately, people often read too much into what zie's saying, mistaking hir earnest questions for sarcasm.

Silas is a walk-in with "fictive-ish" origins, meaning zie's become fairly detached from hir old canon identity.

People You Are Less Likely to See

Aramos

Internal protector type, internal age unknown. It's kind of a long story why this guy is so elusive, but I guess the best way I could put it is that he's a crisis fronter. He's one of the older system mates, doesn't take himself too seriously all things considered. He's probably the most deeply spiritual individual out of all of us.

Aramos struggles a lot with straightforward communication, and is better at honing in on "big ideas". That said, he writes excellent prose, but it takes a lot out of us whenever he sits down and does so, since when this guy fronts it's very overpowering. Sort of like the mental equivalent of being flung into the sun. He's a wild man type, loves the outdoors and shit, and has the highest alcohol tolerance out of any of us.

He has a sense of optimism about him, but not the sickly pollyanna kind. He comes off as pretty sweet and more than a little aloof face to face, but never enrage him. Also a walk-in from the same place as Mel.

Marty

Marty is our Tough Guy(tm), and often comes out when we're potentially in physical danger. ~Mid 30s-40s-yet-somehow-ageless (long story). This guy can be very domineering and hard to work with in group settings--he likes to stir things up and make mountains out of molehills for the sake of entertainment, and we're aware of that. Of course, he can be and often is decent in other contexts. He's just a tough nut to crack when he's not in control of things.

Although happy to backseat drive, Marty doesn't front all that much, which makes sense. Also a walk-in, he's fairly temporally removed from our everyday life, and his cultural awareness only extends to roughly the early 2,000s. Web 2.0 is a bit beyond him.

Marty is pretty book smart and has a dark sense of humour. I imagine he'd thrive in a university setting if we were still there. Maybe he and Mel can go back and get our B.A. together.

Sal

A traumagenic split lost to time, internal age 13-15. According to Sal, me and it split apart at the same time, and Sal went under a number of times the same way I did. It got reawakened after roughly a year of memory work, and its entry into the system was... theatrical to say the least, bringing with it a ton of old baggage and attacks by creepy mindscape entities.

Sal has a fairly unstable sense of identity, and less than zero self esteem. It's gender-ambivalent, since a large portion of its trauma revolved around that, so while many of us here are uncomfortable with it pronouns, it's the only ones it'll take without hissing and spitting at us. Sal is even more nonverbal than Aramos, but understands what's being said to it. We can communicate pretty well using back-and-forth mental imagery.

The structural dissociation theory would likely class Sal as an "emotional part" or something like that. I think the structural dissociation theory can go fuck itself. Sal isn't a part, Sal is a person, and it should not be treated like some static paper doll doomed to relive its trauma over and over. It can heal.

Being treated like that is what fucked Sal up in the first place.

G

Fictive walk-in who's way more closely tied to his canon than Silas. Internal age ~27. This guy showed up about ~~a month back~~ mid September 2016, and I don't know too much about him outside of what's shown in media, since he's rarely present. He can be arrogant and theatrical, and seems to feel most secure when toting knives around. Maybe the fact that he doesn't front much is a good thing.

Samantha

Holy shit this girl is angry. Y'all need to stay in the void 'til you calm down. ~13 years old, stronger identification with animals than humans.

Others

"Origin"

Defunct fronter/original. Little. Committed "original sin". It's complicated.

"Echo"

Possibly defunct traumagenic fronter from childhood, ages active unknown. Little, echolalia prominent.

"The Dragonslayer"

This guy used to be a part of the main system, but he disappeared mysteriously about a year ago and we haven't heard from him since. He was a walk-in and also a bit temporally challenged--he really didn't understand the modern world or anything in it, despite being eager to learn. Age unknown.

He preferred French to English and helped a ton with our university classes. He was jovial, diplomatic, and very hard to shake, though he could be a bit brash and had a nasty habit of body jacking. He avoided alcohol and had a bad history with it, but still had a tatse for good food and the finer things of life.

We hope he's okay, wherever he is.

Ghosts, voidlings, creepy mindscape entities...

They appear as inky creatures with glowing white eyes, in various forms. We're still trying to decode what these guys are about. I seem to get visited by them more than the others, usually when I'm poking around at stuff I shouldn't be. They can be creepy to encounter, but we've yet to be genuinely hurt by them, and they don't seem to actively trigger anything aside from intensified amnesia and dissociation.

Overall, their nature is more defensive than offensive. I'll probably write more about them at a later date.

And that's about it, folks.

-Watcher

What is plurality?

Plurality is an umbrella term for the experience of having multiple "others" sharing your body alongside you. Plural systems, as they are commonly called, can be multiple (comprised of fully separate individuals known as system members) or median (comprised of different facets or personalities).

While some plural systems, such as those diagnosed with DID/DDNOS could be considered disordered, plurality itself is not inherently pathological, and there are many other systems who don't arise from trauma the way clinically diagnosed systems do. These systems are referred to as endogenic systems, and the systems that arise from trauma such as DID/DDNOS systems are known as traumagenic systems.

So is endogenic multiplicity, tulpamancy, and DID all the same thing?

Hardly. While all of these experiences fit under the plurality umbrella, they are all vastly different experiences from one another, and it is impossible to tell whether the same mechanisms that give rise to one experience also give rise to another.

Or, to put it this way, American, Pakistani, and Chinese are all cultures, but they are not the same thing, and entail vastly different experiences.

How old is the plurality community?

Decades. Astraea’s Web, one of the oldest plurality sites, was rehosted in 2007 but actually was first created in 1999. There are some mailing lists that extend as far back as the 1980s.

What is the difference between plurality and multiplicity?

Plurality: An umbrella term encompassing all phenomena in which multiple beings coinhabit a brain and body.

Multiplicity: Can refer to one of two meanings:

(a) The state of having system members who are strongly separate from each other, each possessing a self-identity distinct from the others in the system. Contrast medianhood, in which members are somewhat separate but share one central identity among themselves. The older and more common definition of this term.

(b) Referring to a plural system that is not a tulpamancy system, i.e. a system where no members were created by other members. A more recent use of the term that emerged with the appearance of Western tulpamancy.

While the latter definition of multiplicity is useful for discussing the many differences in culture and experience between tulpamancy systems and non-tulpamancy systems, it should be noted that systems are systems and people are people regardless of origin–one should never use the latter definition of multiplicity to exclude tulpamancy systems as “less plural” or tulpas as “less real.”

What is the difference between plurality and dissociative identity disorder (DID)?

DID and OSDD are clinical diagnoses for plurals who trace their plurality back to trauma, experience their plurality as fundamentally entwined with their trauma, and/or experience their plurality as a source of clinically significant distress, dysfunction, or danger. Not all plurals are dysfunctional, and thus, not all plurals fit the DID narrative. In addition, it is possible for functional systems to become dysfunctional, and dysfunctional systems to become functional without integration/merging.

Beyond that, it is also possible for systems who are diagnosed with DID/DDNOS to not identify with the diagnosis, as well as for systems who are unable to be formally diagnosed to identify with the clinical labels. All in all, you should watch someone and see/ask if they use the diagnosis to describe themselves first, and not apply it to others without their permission. It's also important to keep in mind that experiences within the diagnosis itself are diverse. Some come to treasure their plurality, others have only experienced suffering as a result of being plural and would rather not be. No matter what, all experiences should be respected.

Can types of plurality overlap?

Indeed they can, in several ways. A systemmate might fall into multiple categories; for example, being a fictive walk-in and thus also a soulbond. Their origins may blur the lines (e.g. an encouraged split may be considered a repressed but pre-existing natural member, a split, or even a tulpa) or be difficult to place (e.g. a system member who has been around for as long as anyone can remember–it is impossible to tell how they originated).

In addition, the terminologies of certain subgroups can clash or overlap. This is particularly seen in tulpamancy–what the tulpamancy community calls “accidental tulpas,” the wider plurality community calls “walk-ins”, for example.

How many plurals are there?

It’s hard to say. However, two systems, based upon their interactions with people and some careful questioning, have made upper- and lower-bound estimates. The lower-bound estimate: 1 in 10,000 people is a plural. The upper-bound? 1 in 10.

Whoa, one in ten?

Keep in mind that’s an upper-bound estimate, i.e. at most one in ten people are actually plural. This number also largely includes medians and other plurals who are relatively “normal”, e.g. fiction writing authors who can speak to their characters–these plurals may not even know they are plural, or identify as plural.

How can I tell if someone is plural?

Unless you ask them (and they’re honest with you), there’s no way to tell for sure. Even systems who switch can learn to imitate each other and pass their switches off as forgetfulness or moodiness with the uninformed. A preliminary way to test the waters is to ask the question, “Have you ever lost an argument against yourself?” However, keep in mind that this is not a definitive measure of plurality.

Why/how does plurality exist?

We don’t know. It can develop as a coping mechanism, especially in trauma-created systems, but not all plural systems were created from trauma and not all trauma victims become plural. Some people appear to be born with an inherent tendency towards plurality, with some having known or even switched with their systemmates at childhood. Articles by Simler, and the theory he discusses–bicameral brain theory–posit that plurality was actually the original state of the human brain. But there is no solid consensus or data on the matter.

What we do know, however, is that plurality exists. It is not something that is made up. It is not only hinted at in the accounts of authors and mystics–it has also been physically verified by EEG studies and other case reports on DID systems. How it operates, we cannot say, just as we cannot say how a singlet consciousness comes to be–we only know that the brain is far vaster, far more complex, and far, far more marvelous than we have even begun to understand.

Can system members be different ages/genders/species?

Yes. Keep in mind that mental/inner identity does not have to correlate with physical characteristics.

What are the upsides to being plural? Downsides?

This is going to vary depending on which system you ask. Some systems cooperate extremely well and get along wonderfully, considering each other family--they could not imagine life without each other. Other systems are in constant disarray or infight constantly, and plurality is a curse for them.

All in all, plurality is not innately good nor innately bad, but a baseline neutral experience that varies per system and per member, just like any other human experience.

I think I might be plural. How do I tell if I really am?

See our page on this. (link TBA)

I want to become plural. How do I do that?

It was previously thought that a singlet could not consciously become plural. With tulpamancy and soulbonding, and arguably daemonism (though daemians, it should be noted, generally do not consider themselves plural), we now know that’s not the case, and that it is possible for even singlets to consciously create new system members.

However, the decision to become plural should not be made lightly. Remember that a systemmate is a person as much as you are, and should not be created for the purpose of being a toy, for switching with you so you can escape responsibilities, or discarded and neglected when you tire of them, especially since young tulpas tend to be frail and wither without attention. A systemmate should not be created with the intent of replacing real-world friendships or interaction. In addition, keep in mind that just like physical people, systemmates are not perfect and will not agree with you on everything. You must be ready to communicate and listen.

Finally, realize that by becoming plural, especially when delving into projection/switching, you are changing the wiring of your brain on a major scale, and breaking down mental shields that cannot be easily replaced. To say that this process is entirely safe, with no possible drawbacks, is a lie. And should you ever decide to be public with being plural, be ready to face ridicule, ostracization, or, at worst, forced psychiatric treatment (especially if you are a minor, as your parents can commit you to treatment against your consent).

How should I treat a plural system?

See: ettiquette. (link TBA) A general rule of thumb, however: if you’re ever uncertain about how someone wants to be treated, ask politely–just as you would with any other individual.

Why do plurals hide?

Stigma and prejudice. Thanks in part to sensationalized media portrayals of plurality, the bulk of the public believes that plurals are unstable, dangerous, or otherwise “crazy”, when in reality, even a DID system is far, far more likely to be hurt by ableism regarding their plurality than they are to hurt anyone else. On top of that, psychology and psychiatry both pathologize plurality as something that can only ever be a mental illness, as something that must be “fixed”. Plurals have had their driver’s licenses confiscated, have been forcibly committed, have been denied employment and benefits for being plural. Even in less drastic cases, plurals must deal with accusations of “faking” for attention, claims that they are “delusional”, and many other forms of invalidation, even from friends and family–or even other types of plural systems who regard themselves as "more legitimate".

Given the above, it isn’t too hard to see why most keep their plurality a secret.

I’d like to ask you some questions, but I don’t want to be rude…

No, please do ask! As long as you’re polite and respectful of boundaries and identities (e.g. no asking about highly private matters like “how does sex work?” or phrasing questions problematically like “so why do you think you’re different people?”), questions are appreciated. It means you want to learn.