#did asks

@ Aven, Rory & Owen

Aven: It's basic but I adore blue topaz, I love the shade of blue it is and the fact that it's my birthstone

Rory: Topaz!! It's so pretty and reminds me of sunlight!!

I have approximately 200~ ish alters/parts! Less if we count subsystems as one alter which I usually don't. We used to have more! With healing and trauma mixed in people have gone dormant/fused and then split back off/come out of dormancy, so the number fluctuates!

And actually, not everyone knows each other

We know of each other usually, but sometimes people just end up not crossing front together so they never communicate! Its a bit difficult to explain, because we know mostly of each other, but not entirely?

Okay so, based on our knowledge and understanding, and well, having it, I’ll give my best run down!

C-DID is Complex dissociative identity disorder!

You might say “but DID is complex” yes! It’s just a categorization, not a separate diagnosis.

You need to have a few things to be a C-DID system that aren’t always common in DID systems!

You have to have multiple subsystems, sidesystems, and higher dissociation (often leading in more alters). This type of DID is one that comes from often more intense more prolonged trauma. While most DID can develop into being 9-10, C-DID is widely agreed to be developed earlier.

In some cases certain types of trauma (RAMCOA) are considered needed, I do not have ramcoa trauma therefore won’t be discussing it but I have severe dissociation, a lot of subsystems and side-systems and a pretty high alter count. I also have pretty intense trauma in areas of things that may be associated with ramcoa, though that does not apply to me. I won't get into my trauma here, as it's not needed, but the term can be applied to trauma outside of ramcoa occasionally, though I do say it shouldn't be thrown arround! Just having a high alter count and subsystems does NOT mean you have C-DID.

6: We have lots of in system couples. Our old host was really uncomfortable with them but since they split it’s been a lot easier. Mitch and Rose were the first but there’s lots of others. Beau and Billy, Nate and Bonez, Clover and Kc, the list goes on. Since realizing we could date each other, it’s kinda been going ham 😅

8: We do use system roles and find them quite helpful. We use them kind of religiously actually. It helps us know why someone is in/near front or who needs to be

💙 - do you switch frequently or do you go longer periods between switching?

We switch a lot, and often struggle with documenting our front switches day-to-day but numerous headmates switch in daily to interact, though there's usually a specific fronter designated as a main fronter each day.

🎙️ - does the taste in music vary a lot between different alters?

The music taste fluctuates a decent amount. We have some mutual songs but they're different enough that the old host and I have entirely separate vent playlists and our youtube has dozens of general playlists with all sorts of different genres.

🍡 - are different alters part of different subcultures? which ones? (we are!)

I'm going to be totally honest in saying that subculture is a new term for me, but I'm going to give the answer like it says subsystem because I'm not exactly sure what a subculture in DID would look like. None of this is meant to be sarcastic, and I'm happy if I have it wrong to corrected and own that.

And as far as subsystems go, we do! We're only recently learning a number of the subsystems we have, but we have 5 Lucifer based alters in a subsystem. They're more individual than some of our other subsystems. That group is Patch, Lou, Bash, Erin, and a token just Lucifer in pop culture fictives.

Thank you for the question. I'm sorry for taking so long to answer it. I had a very busy weekend!

No, other parts in our system don't wish to have other partners. At least not now, not now that we're with our current partner.

The current state of things is that we are all (mostly) aware of ourselves as parts of a single person and our partner is our partner. The relationship we have with her is just a little different for each part. But I think all of us agree that it would feel like a betrayal to have a relationship with someone else that was closer than our relationship with her. For example, to our little parts, she is our very best friend and no one else could ever take that spot and be any closer.

Things were different 15ish years ago when we were with our ex. We were more dissociated back then and also still living in a traumatic situation, so it was chaos. Back then, yes some parts did want their own relationships and more of their own independent lives. When we were in more conflict with each other, it was a lot harder to function with any kind of cohesiveness. It didn't help that our relationship at the time was pretty toxic and the majority of the system did not want to be in that relationship.