Blog is up!

I put off this question for a bit because I wasn’t in the right state of mind (exhaustion, or just brain fog), but now that I’m in a less slothful (although not entirely productive) state of mind, I do have an answer for this.

I think one way of choosing a name is thinking about something you all have in common. Whether its an interest, or a concept, or word, or character, or whatever.

For example, a member in my system joked about how we all love the character Luigi from Super Mario Brothers and how we should be called the “Luigi System”. And it would probably have worked except we…. already have a system name and didn’t want to change it.

There are probably… way different ways of doing this too, since I haven’t seen other systems use this method. It’s just something I had thought about recently. A lot of the more prominent system names I’ve seen are wordplay on systems or multiplicity itself (the solar system, ect) but… at the same time using something so simple or obvious runs the risk of someone else having that system name as well. I might be opinionated on that though, since we (as in me and my system) like having a name that other people wouldn’t think to pick.

guess who hopped on the system comic bandwagon, sort of

odette came back yesterday and drew this comic with me last night.

this is a problem we run into a lot since we’re in arts college now- whose passion do we follow? whose art is going to have to be pushed to the wayside simply because we don’t have the time or energy to do everything?

transcription & systemmate identifiers below.

Ask yourself these questions:

Can they front? (Control the body, move limbs, write, talk to other people, including offline/in real life)

Alternatively, are they aware of their surroundings? (As in, real world as opposed to positioned setting)

Can they make their own decisions, even if it goes against what the rper originally intended for them?

Do they have strong feelings towards the rper? Or, if not an OC, original creator? (Strong feelings being affection, hatred, but indifference can also appear)

Is the supposed headmate not 100% the same as how they were intended to be? Are they mostly similar, but with a few minor details? (Like say, “Oh yeah you got that right, but I don’t actually like [this thing]” or “Actually you wrote me completely wrong let me show you how its done”)

Lastly, does the supposed headmate claim to be in control of themselves? And does the rper claim to be in total control of their supposed headmate?

These are just some questions to help you (or your friend in this case) figure out whether or not they’re conscious. None of these are criteria; it’s just more likely for them to be sentient if a lot of these are “yes”. I mainly based these questions off myself and other people in this system. There are probably even more than these that you can ask.

Can they front?

I couldn’t, but we didn’t know it was possible back then. I was created before my host or I knew about tulpas or multiple systems, and it was pretty obvious by that point even to her that I was a tulpa and not just imaginary. I probably could have fronted way back then if we’d known it was possible and actually tried it.

Alternatively, are they aware of their surroundings?

Most of the time, I was only aware of the wonderland (a.k.a. the headspace). I knew there was a “real world” that existed outside, and I did manage to see it through my host’s senses a couple times before we knew I was a tulpa, even though I wasn’t “supposed” to. My host was not cool with fourth wall-breaking back when she thought we were “imaginary”.

Can they make their own decisions, even if it goes against what the rper originally intended for them?

I certainly could!

Do they have strong feelings towards the rper?

I had some pretty mixed feelings toward her, and I still do. We were pretty good friends, for the most part, but I hated it when she tried to control me. At least she doesn’t do that anymore.

Is the supposed headmate not 100% the same as how they were intended to be? Are they mostly similar, but with a few minor details?

Mostly similar? When I was able to rebel against expectations she forced on me, I did. I couldn’t resent her too much for it because I understood that she had no idea I was actually separate from her, but I felt like I had to establish my individuality. I made a point of resisting expectations to make a point that I was me.

Lastly, does the supposed headmate claim to be in control of themselves?

Yes.

And does the rper claim to be in total control of their supposed headmate?

She claimed to be, but I think the amount of times she tried to “correct” my behavior when I didn’t act how she expected and all the times she told me I was supposed to act how she wanted and not differently just goes to show she was aware I had at least some independence.