#system fictive

terms like “fictive” or “little” are only labels! they aren’t rules that define exactly what an alter acts like!

fictives can be source connected or not connected; have a personality and appearance exactly like source or completely different; have a ton of memories or no memories or memories that are totally different from canon; enjoy being viewed as source and like to talk about source events or not want to engage with source at all—or for all of these, anywhere in between. it doesn’t matter where a fictive falls on any of these scales. none of these possibilities are ‘more valid’. none of them are signs of faking. they are all possible variations on a general concept.

as for alter age, that doesn’t mean anything any more than source does!

littles could speak in baby talk or be able to write a college thesis, cry when something startles them or enjoy playing horror games, have parents in the system or be completely independent, look like a baby or an adult in headspace, prefer to crawl on the floor or play extreme sports, have trouble tying their shoes or know how to fly a commercial jet, or anything in between, and all of those possibilities are valid, and none of them mean faking.

i’m saying this because i’m tired of the constant contradictory stereotypes and misinfo about alter types—ESPECIALLY both fictives and littles—and how they relate to behavior. some fictives are almost exactly like source, some aren’t like it at all. some littles act like actual children, some have the maturity and skills of an adult.

assuming what an alter’s personality will or ‘should’ be like because you know their source or age label is like assuming someone’s favorite color because you know their gender. it’s stereotypical and it’s often wrong. not all girls like pink, and not all littles act like children.

the other way around—assuming that their source or age has no impact at all, like claiming fictives who are source-similar are faking—is equally annoying, by the way. that’s like claiming a girl is faking their gender because they do like pink—which hopefully you can agree would be absurd!

anyway, tldr: just let fictives and littles exist in whatever way they are without judging their behavior based on that