#from gee

Hi! We’re still sick but now that I’m feelin a little better (sleeping straight for almost a whole day because we kept waking up in the middle of the night due to feeling awful) I think I can answerjshdjdh

So there are different kinds of headmates in systems, and for this ask, we’ll focus on insources and introjects

Insourced people are like,, they’re what you probably know about the most based on this ask. They are basically- or could be described as- headmate made “from scratch”. Whether they have their own backstory or not, they could be based on or influenced by some other factors but they are not “a straight rip/based on” an already existing character or person

Examples of insourced people we have right now are all the littles, Dakota, Micah, Jaiden, Matthew (we have more but we’re like 20+ of us)

Now Introjects- they can be classified under 2 categories if you’d like:

Factives: Based on real life/historical people. For example, we have a factive of Ellen Page (except we call her a factive-ISH because she’s still a little different, plus her name is Louise)

Fictives: Based on fictional characters. For example we have our main fronting circle (Kris (Deltarune), Chara (Undertale), Crowley (Good Omens), Peter (Post Endgame MCU/Marvel), Sal (Sally Face)

Fictives and Factives may or may not be almost exactly like their source (which media/person they come from) counterparts- whether they are close to canon (the events that happen in their source) or VERY divergent is completely valid.

Another term that may be seen is canon which may be defined as “your timeline”

E.g. “my canon is different from source canon”

So far all of the Fictives in our system are very close to canon,

But it does NOT stop them from growing, learning different things, or just being different overtime or even the moment they arrive

NOW, why do systems have introjects? (I know you asked about fictional characters in my system but I’m gonna make it general to introjects)

I’m not an expert, I’m not even diagnosed, but I’ve had a theory that I’ve also read from other people in systems/talked to them; and doing research on Fictives/introjects have helped

Making an alter is a long/hard job for the brain, it’s not necessarily too extremely hard but borrowing a character from a source makes it an easier job— it’s faster when you don’t have to make your own “character” and you can just go “hey we need someone like that” and bring them in

For example, when Crowley split, it was when we were surrounded by Chara’s trigger quite a lot— so much that Chara was so affected that they couldn’t function properly, being surrounded by flashbacks and their trigger (being in a physical church and having masses 4 times everyday oh my god)

So I guess you can say our brain went “time to bring out another person to handle Not Liking God”

Peter I can theorize is just another kid in the circle of “all of us have dad issues because he’s mildly absent all the time” and is a continuation of me coping over an old friend’s death with how he’s having trouble coping with tony starks death- plus his PTSD symptoms are still kind of severe

In short, Introjects are like ANY other headmate/alter

It just so happens that they are from a source

Whether they’re from an AU or your brain wrote the heaviest fan fiction doesn’t change anything about how alters are made for a reason whether we know what that is or not, whether if it’s sad they’re here or not

Goodness, I do know that the fictives here know that feeling;;

It takes a long time to learn how to cope or come to terms with things, but it’s possible! Just very hard, and it requires patience and time, it’s honestly like grieving or sudden loss, it’s not your fault at all and missing people that you won’t see anymore IS hard

I already kind of answered these before but here’s some! One, two (also try using the browser and searching under #fictive or #fictives!)

I don’t know if I included it yet, but besides some suggestions from the two links above, you can also dedicate things to friends?

It sound rough, and can be an option that’s hard to think about (which is acceptance), but it’s okay to pay respects or such

Like for example, Sal made a playlist on spotify which, really until now, he adds music to it. It’s a playlist he called Basement Level, and he puts music in it he’d think Larry would like or music he’d like to listen to with Larry

But- like with the links above, you can draw, write, document memories, or ALSO try to meet people from your source(s)! For example, we linked/reblogged (a surprisingly active) fictive server down in the blog! You’ll see us talk there sometimes! Even if you can’t find your canonmates, we personally found that talking to sourcemates is nice because you can relate either to having the same world (even if your canons can be different) or even just struggles, like missing the same or some people

Whatever you feel helps, do it! As long as you keep yourself safe

Hi anon!

So remember we’re not professionals this is just based on our experiences and interactions with ourselves and other systems-

So headmates who split can either 1) have no past life memories when coming into the system or 2) have past life memories (like a life before they came to the system e.g. “Last thing I remember I was in my desk and fell asleep then I woke up here” etc.)

Personally- I’ve said it before but- a headmate can split for many reasons but generally it’s to cope

Like in my “we’re like the brain’s fanfiction” post on Fictives, the system/brain can split an alter with a complex past life to cope— maybe the brain/system/someone feels their trauma should have been worse- so suddenly there’s a split with “exaggerated trauma” ((NOTE: Yes, alters who are traumatized even with things that never happened to the body but happened to them- DO deserve love and support- and therapy or help if needed))

Maybe the brain gave them a happy life as a way to cope- what is a happy family supposed to be?

Maybe it’s escapism- maybe it’s fanfiction- maybe they’re a Fictive or introject

One way or the other, someone’s past life/old life is usually someway connected to the body’s experiences— May it be in references, symbolism, etc ((the headspace/inner world is a powerful place and almost anything is possible in systems))

It’s kind of hard to say WHY someone can have their own past life memories

((PS. They can be referred to as “pseudomemories” but personally, we don’t like using it because it sounds like our “past lives” are any less important. Also I’ve said it before but introject sa are diffeeent from kind. ALSO “exotrauma” is a term for trauma that happened in someone’s “past life”- it is a term found in the kin community but he System community ALSO uses it))

Every system and every person in that system- so if you want to dig into it- you can maybe compare what’s going on with someone’s past life to the body’s— but remember you’re not required to- because understandably some people win have an existential crisis dkdnskbjssb

EXAMPLES:

With my trauma (I’m the host) I feel sometimes that what happened to me was not serious enough ((im summarizing it I’m sorry I’m butchering this sksbsjdndj)) and I guess?? That split Matthew and Chara

Matthew doesn’t have a dad, but I do. His mum is more physical while mine is just verbal- and he was severely bullied in HS while I wasn’t- and he became a trauma holder— you can say this was the brain’s way of holding how we/I felt about my personal situation

The same can be said with Chara, and they’re also a trauma holder— it’s,, a sucky job, to be a trauma holder even if it’s not DIRECTLY the body’s trauma, but they deserve support and they’re still important- unfortunately they were built to hold the pain or memories, introject or not

Micah is a more- their past life is MORE closer to mine? Almost exactly the same situation is CRAZY and everyone is like “woah” because we never had someone with a past life as close to mine before

They split off during a time when I was slowly starting to come to terms and accept the fact that my mums really toxic and I shouldn’t hope for a relationship with her anymore

You can also pay attention to themes- is there a common theme you notice?

For example:: Every fictive pulled in ALWAYS 1) lost someone they cared about 2) was hurt by someone

KSBSJSBJSEN IM RAMBLING but I hope this answers SOMETHING ,,,? If you have any more questions even if it’s to clear something up just ask sksbsjdnd

Hey it’s okay!!

If you mean the post on what fictives are, it’s this one!! And if you mean the one on how fictives might be able to cope, it’s this one!

I can still see them on my end, but if no one else can see them please do say!

If you’re searching for it via the search button on the tumblr app, please try it on a browser instead using

(blogname).tumblr.com/tagged(or “search”)/tags here

But Ogeeitsme should have a search bar on the theme itself on desktop!!!

Hi! so i'm really sorry we haven't answered ;; it's been a time KSHSKH

And it's okay to ask I promise!! I promise we weren't ignoring this ask ;; we have just been planning what to say (and also forgot)- we're also not really experts/professionals so this is all based on our experience ;;

Uh, it's possible, i'm not saying they ARE headmates- but it is very possible- it's a possibility that is possible. Uh, because there are such things as "non-fronting alters" and such! Or just- there are bound to be headmates that probably can't or won't front? May it be because they don't have the- power?? kind of like a dissociative barrier is keeping them from fronting

Like, we have this one person who has never fronted, but is not an NPC- that's Alven

and then we have someone who has a hard time trying to front (it's like, it's getting hard to front? Like there's a wall that's slowly building up in terms of being able to control the body for them) That's Matthew- he's not dead- he just can't front as often

Maybe because the brain is like, yo, you're not dormant, we just have other people who can front now

And i haven't even mentioned switching-frequency. Every system is different- not everyone's the same! Some switch everyday, some a lot within a day, some a few times a week, to a month, and some a few times a year-

Also, for the second part (last part of your ask) regarding if people can just/have the ability to "go away", there's a thing called dormancy! Every system sees this differently- so some may see it as this headmates is in a long sleep- like sleeping beauty- or maybe they just disappear- some die (as in headmates can witness them die- it is still dormancy but the brain interprets it as death- or the way the brain shows their dormancy is through death)

it's different for everyone, and i guess the common thought of dormancy is that they just fade away- which is one of the ways dormancy can look like/feel like

dormancy is not permanent, but it can so happen that the dormant headmates does not come back- which you may then call "permanent dormancy"

BUT,,, again, just because someone is dormant doesn't mean they will never come back- nor does it mean that it's not okay to grieve, mourn, and try to move on in case they don't

i love rambling so sorry sdilcjsclj