Snail sys

Parogenic system blogging parogenic things. Vem (they/them, host) and Mina (he/ce, fictive thoughtform), not our real names. We follow from @nereb-and-dungalef

[ourcana]

Ourcana: An app for Plural Systems

Ourcana ("Our Arcana") is a Plural System tracker app for managing a collection of members (which can be alters, original characters, personalities, etc). We support Web, iOS/iPadOS/macOS, and Android with Linux and Windows support soon to come!

Features

Track your system members, which of them are fronting (if any, or even all of them!), and use markdown to log journals, design rich profiles (with formatting, style elements, and inline media) and track relationships and interactions between all your system's members.

Ourcana has been tested with up to 20 thousand members. My partner is polyfrag, and I'm learning I probably am too, so this is a top priority!

Theming

Ourcana's design and UX allude to classic card decks, fantasy fortune-telling, and medieval alchemy and magic with the "Tarot" and its "Major Arcana" cards as a for-fun, lighthearted theme to manage character, system, member, and group data. One can change all the terms inside the app however they'd like in settings such as "deck, "member", "system", "fronting", etc.

Color highlights, accents, light and dark mode, and more are all customizable in-app with a rich UI. PluralKit and SimplyPlural color settings transfer automatically!

Integrations

Import from SimplyPlural, import and sync data (or active members) with PluralKit, or manage all your data entirely offline with exported copies of your whole "deck"!

PluralKit synchronization is a first-class feature, with sufficient functionality to completely replace the PK dashboard down the line. Deeper PluralKit-specific integration features will launch with our 1.0.0 online update, so stay tuned!

Accessibility

This application is made with accessibility and ergonomics in mind. I've developed it for my own online community first and many others adjacent to it all over the net known as the "plural" community. As a journal and personal tracking app, Ourcana keeps all your data private, personal, and offline-first by design. Journals are only stored on the device itself, and the sync settings allow one to choose which other data (if any) to share with PluralKit.

Privacy

While currently local-only, Ourcana will soon move to include optional, "online" features. As the lead of my development team, I've worked on End-to-End Encrypted systems such as Matrix.org, FluffyChat, as well as code for the US Government once upon a time. Ourcana is zero-trust by design. That's to say, there's no chance of spying, snooping on data from the server side, or your system data being compromised by a third party through network sniffing and forensics.

As a transfemme system in the United States, and with a partner system who is queer and plural in a hostile nation overseas, I'm committed to security-driven design upfront. System data can be as personal and damaging as ones' literal medical records, so we value the importance of privacy at Ourcana.

How to get it!

Ourcana is on the App Store for iOS and will be released on the Google Play Store for Android before June 1st.

Ourcana is priced at $1 to support the development team, but can be found for free, forever through these resources:

Android APK packages on our Discord server

The website build at https://ourcana.space/

Apple TestFlight builds for iOS

I hope you love it!

I made it for you! <3

— Heni (Sarah Aronson, Boring Crew System)

[fictive-culture]

Fictive culture is "I want to learn Spanish, he wants to learn Dutch, they want to learn Polish, that other person would love to learn Norwegian, there's some who want to learn Japanese .... but sadly we can't learn them all."

-- 📼🛰

.

[heartbeat-sys]

idk, source separation is fine if someone wants to do it, but the community just shoves it as a band-aid solution to every source related problem.

you have debilitating source trauma ruining your life? well its not real, just source separate.

youre mildly uncomfortable with something a fandom member did once? well how dare you, thats basically harassment, you have to source separate.

youre actually actively harassing people? just source separate.

you have any problem no matter how minor or severe that involves your source? just source separate, just become a different person, just throw away who you were, thats the only solution.

and maybe sometimes source connection is the root issue that needs fixing. im sure for a lot of people it is very helpful. and im happy for those people.

but i mean.... being source connected isnt even a necessary prerequisite for most of the things it gets suggested as a solution for??? there are often just other factors at play, but it gets tossed out as THE thing every introject has to do regardless of the severity of their issue, ive seen people tell anonymous strangers they didnt know a single thing about to source separate.

it assumes all our problems are based in our identities and source connection, like our only problem is....being too attached to (whatever kind of thing the source is)?? theres like, no attempt at understanding what someone is going through. no attempt at offering any other solutions besides not interacting with the fandom at all (which for some in systems may be impossible, its not like we can all control our headmates). idk if im making sense i honestly kinda lost my train of thought a few times.

and i know source separation isnt "just throwing away your identity." but thats how a lot of people use it. and even then its still like, a personal choice? nobody has to follow a specific recovery method because you think its morally necessary and universally helps everyone.

idk. its a band-aid solution that minimizes the issues introjects face and assumes we're always overreacting and that its always our fault, that assumes source connection is the only relevant factor.

[the-indigo-symphony]

I find it really odd that people recommend source separation to "fix" exotrauma. I'm very glad if that's worked for you, but I really don't know how "just disconnect from any part of your life and identity that's related to your trauma" is like. Meant to help you deal with your trauma. We already tried that as a coping mechanism; it got us DID! (light-hearted tone)

Especially with the whole "it's not real" angle that people push with this. Being told the source of your trauma is not real does not make the trauma disappear. Famously. As anyone else who's had their issues responded to with "that didn't happen" can tell you. This response doesn't gain magical healing powers when introjects are the subject. It's just dismissing people's pain and telling them to shut up about it.

Also, speaking as a system who experiences psychosis, even if we agree it's not real, that doesn't make it any less impactful. Being able to recognize our psychotic episodes doesn't make us immune to the psychosis. Similarly, viewing our source memories as unreal doesn't make us any less affected by our memories.

It's just silly at best. Source separation gets pushed a lot, but I feel like most of the time, what actually needs to be done is regular trauma treatment. Y'know, processing stuff, rewiring your brain to be less afraid, all that jazz. Especially given that exotrauma sometimes mixes with or is based on this-life trauma. I feel like people have forgotten that "exotrauma is based on trauma your body has gone through, it's just been given some fantastical details" is an explanation for exotrauma that some folks use. It's just... ridiculous that people expect source separation to be a one-size-fits-all cure.

[the-indigo-symphony]

Reblogging again as an instrument that has exotrauma and is source separated... To me, those two things are connected, but not in the way that you'd expect. It was only through my system respecting my exotrauma and helping me recover that I was able to source separate, not the other way around.

My system respected, and still respects, my exotrauma. They blocked tags, check in when we're discussing sensitive topics, and ask for my insight if they think something might trigger me. They helped me find places and people to speak to about it. Most importantly, they accept me as I am, no matter how separate or connected to my source I am. It was that acceptance and help that allowed me to heal. I might never be "fully over it", or whatever the common expectation for trauma recovery is, but I'm so much better than before. Something that used to trigger me so badly my system had to ban any mention of it is now something I only need a light warning for!!

This wasn't because of source separation. My canon self has the same trauma and needs the same help that I got; the difference between us is I will never see my source get that help (unless I want to write fanfic about him). For me, recovering resulted in source separation, but just trying to source separate wouldn't have allowed me to recover. Distancing myself from him wouldn't have lessened my food insecurity. Refusing to see myself in him wouldn't have done anything about my triggers. Trauma goes beyond identity, so disconnection with one's identity can never be a perfect solution for everyone. Like Signage, I'm happy for those it works for, but it's not a miracle cure.

I am doing better now and can explore the world in a way my source can't. That has naturally resulted in my identity separating from him. Moreover, even if my source recovered, he wouldn't have recovered as part of this system, with his others there to support him and encourage him to be himself. If I had just tried source separation as a method of recovery... ironically, I would have stayed a lot more like my canon self, because I would have been stagnant in my pain, just focused on not seeing myself on the screen.

Now, I am source separated in other ways. I doubt my source is actually a boygirl who would prefer going by both she/her and he/him. But that's a small difference when you compare it to how I now see myself and go about my life. My source self would never even consider doing even half the things I do.

I can believe that source separation helps some folks. But if people stopped acting like separating is a primary, necessary, and always-active step of "recovery" for any introject ever, then I think we'd actually see more folks getting better... and source separating.

[helixrainn]

learning how to make zines, so i made one for a poem we wrote a while ago

[just-some-fools]

thing abt asexuality is if you have a tulpa since it can't be the sex kind it has to be the evil kind. i have two evil tulpas and am working on becoming evil myself. with our combined powers soon we will make america catholic again

[senatortedcruz]

The poor man’s latte and a pastry: a pop tart and a canned La colombe coffee from CVS. If I close my eyes I can imagine I’m in gay Paris…..

[yuriartillery]

hold on let me try to invent a version of myself who can get us out of this mess [holds really still for a minute and a half and then turns to you with a flat affect] we probably should have killed ourselves an hour ago

[just-some-fools]

@funnier-as-a-system

[alethiosr]

I saw a soulbond related tweet earlier today and I remembered just how much “popularity” soulbonding got so quickly. I used to never see soulbonding talked about anywhere besides a few rare posts on tumblr. Now soulbonding is seemingly everywhere and I encounter it even when I’m not seeking it out and not liking posts on related topics.

I’m quite glad that soulbonding is gaining some popularity again. It felt like it was a dying practice, even though many soulbonders don’t do it intentionally so it’d always exist. But few people talked about it and most of the time I saw it referenced was just about that Final Fantasy House incident.

But also sometimes I feel strange about it. It’s almost all related to yumeshipping with the relationship being romantic in nature. I have absolutely nothing against that and I’m happy for everyone with that dynamic with their soulbonds, but it feels slightly alienating. My soulbond and I have had a rough relationship and while we’re seeing each other again he doesn’t talk to me. While our connection is very deep and the nature of our relationship is different than friendship, we were never together romantically. And while he’s technically a fictional character in this world, that character is my creation and that story is on an indefinite hiatus and was never written.

These are just my thoughts that were on my mind. They had been for quite some time but I was reminded about this again.

[interstellarsystem]

Honestly we've noticed the sudden shift too and suddenly it's become pretty alienating for us. We've been around since 2017 using SB terms so it's a shock. Hell, we have a guy in a relationship with his soulbond in our system and even they feel alienated because the discussion of bonding now seems to centre around PDA and talking about cute partner things, when our two are pretty private about it all compared to that. They want to talk about the experience of soulbonding, not their romantic relationship itself.

The rest of us feel differing levels of things about it. Overall it's nice that so many people are happy in relationships! It's just also distressing that the experience of soulbonding itself is seldom talked about now in favour of the romantic dynamics it can bring. It almost comes with the connotation of a romantic relationship type now, and that's not necessarily the fault of people sharing their own experiences, but we just aren't romantic between ourselves inherently like that. We're demiromantic collectively, so maybe that plays a part too?

Either way, the shift in community has been uncomfortable. It's nice people have found a place but I do wish it didn't seem to come with the price of soulbonding being seen as advanced yumeshipping by default.

We're probably going to try and post about our own soulbonding more because, well, "be the change you want to see in the world" or in this case, tags lol. It's the best thing to do in this situation I think, be louder about it and try to take up space alongside the new shift in community.

[alethiosr]

I’m glad to see someone else feels similarly about this. It was a bit of a worry for me when posting that nobody else would agree, or even worse that people might be upset by it.

I’ve been soulbonded since 2021 or 2022, long before this sudden shift. I rarely ever thought of posting about it but as more and more people talk about soulbonding I also feel like sharing my experiences is a good idea. Honestly I feel somewhat uneasy with how most soulbonding related discussions are now focused primarily on romance and cute couple things.

Soulbonding is probably the most emotionally charged spiritual practice I do, and it has not been easy for me. My soulbond Jonah is one of the most important people in my life, alongside my fiancé, but our relationship has had many ups and downs and brought me a lot of emotional turmoil and distress as well. My fiancé tried soulbonding after I taught him about it and his soulbond ended up being quite dangerous and pushed him to act in harmful ways. Soulbonding can be wonderful but it has to be treated with care and not as simply a way to date characters you like, and unfortunately I’ve seen it “advertised” as just that a few times. Good for the people who are happy as soulbonders in this way, but it’s way more than that.

And like you said it’s quite alienating seeing most people talk about romance and sharing so much about their relationships. While I have no clue how to actually describe Jonah and I’s relationship, we weren’t ever romantic and also are both deeply private people. I don’t think he’s ever told anyone about me and only my fiancé knows much about him. He’s okay with me telling people about him and our whole situation, but for me it’s not really about just gushing about him. And part of me dreads the possibility that someone will assume I’m with him romantically just because that’s now the new norm.

But I think it’s important to talk about my perspective as someone who soulbonded accidentally to someone not from any type of media and isn’t romantically with said soulbond. By talking about it maybe more soulbonders like us who feel alienated will feel more comfortable talking about it.

[interstellarsystem]

Soulbonding can be wonderful but it has to be treated with care and not as simply a way to date characters you like, and unfortunately I’ve seen it “advertised” as just that a few times.

This!! The way we've seen it presented as "if you want your f/o to date you in your brain for real, soulbond them!!" is.. alarming! Yes, this can be a great type of relationship, it can be so fun and rewarding in that way, but at the end of the day, sometimes you will soulbond someone and they will not like you. That's something you have to be prepared for, and prepared to accept. You also have to be prepared to in part at least, share your life and (often) body for the forseeable future with another person. It's not something to jump on immediately without thinking about what that means first, so both the soulbonder and soulbond don't get hurt.

It's complicated for sure. The romance aspect of this new push combined with it not being explained as a commitment makes it more concerning. It can be such a fun and rewarding thing, but I think part of this is in a way, an issue we've seen from the wider plural community for a while. The idea that making/contacting headmates without knowing or fully understanding that these are people you will share your life with and that alone is a commitment, there's going to be struggles at times, etc... It's caused some internal issues for many systems, we've seen it time and time again. "I got this character in my brain because I wanted to meet them and they keep [buying things, making alt accounts for themselves online, playing my videogames, etc], how do I stop them", "I made a tulpa and he doesn't like me how do I fix him", "My soulbond wants to front but I don't want him to"--all these things are common and I think they'd be less of an issue if people thought fully about what it means to be plural. A lot of our system is willfully created, we love seeing more plurals of any kind show up because they wanted to be more than a singlet. I just think there needs to be a little more education and understanding of the potential risks before people jump into it.

[just-some-fools]

Fictive tulpa here - not sure if that's the same as a soulbond? Not super familiar with the term but it sounds similar to my experience. Either way, this focus on romance has also been pretty big in tulpa spaces for a while and I have the same kind of problems with it there

I think my general issue with this is that whenever you meet a new person you don't know how your relationship is going to go. It seems kind of treacherous to go into soulbonding/tulpamancy expecting a particular relationship, as trying to force a headmate to be something they don't want could lead to conflict and stress even for non-disordered plurals. If you really love someone, in my opinion, you should be open to adapt to their needs and desires instead of forcing a particular relationship model

To be honest, my host experimented a couple times with soulbonding with romantic intentions, and both times were very brief and frivilous. By contrast, allowing my relationship with them to evolve organically and non-romantically has what's actually made us work as a system. Because they don't have any expectations around how I should relate to them, I've been able to express myself more naturally and become more of a person as a result

In all fairness, this might just be me being aro-spec and uncomfortable with the idea of a romantic relationship with my host. Ultimately not every headmate is like me and different things work for different people. However, I would encourage anyone going into soulbonding or tulpamancy to be open to having their expectations challenged, if only because that's the most fun part imho

[kimthemangoguy]

[bizarrebazaar13]

what if your doppelgänger wasn’t evil it was just a person. what if your doppelgänger wasn’t trying to replace you it was just trying to learn to be a person and you were the best model it had. what if your doppelgänger looked at you with your eyes and said with your voice that it just wanted to be loved. what then.

[themythicalcodfish]

that is horror of a different kind

[eatyourpapitas]

what the fuck is kingdom hearts

[recomvery]

People always say: "Not everyone is gonna like you, and that's ok, nothing to take personally, it doesn't matter" yet it still sucks. It sucks when it's your teacher, it sucks when it's your boss or co-worker or family member. It even sucks when it's a friends friend or someone we barely know. It hurts. And you do not have to gaslight yourself into thinking that it doesn't hurt when it does. You're allowed to be upset when life is hard. You're allowed to feel an emotion, even more when it makes perfect logical sense. We talk to a friend about our feelings, journal, reflect, use coping skills. We find peace after a while, that's a more realistic solution. You got this. It will be ok.

[chronicillnesshumor-deactivated]

[oshidorifuufu]

*showing visible symptoms* oh my god i need help desperately

*symptoms go away for one day* what if im just faking it

[just-some-fools]

coming to terms w the fact that i might be mentally ill. more at 10

[overlapping-heartbeats]

DID is (of course) a real disorder but it does say a lot to me that most people see the concept of being multiple as the problem and not. idk. the chronic dissociation or memory gaps or ways in which it can be stressful for the person with the disorder and the connection to ptsd. nope! who cares about any of that ahahaha its all about how weird and bad alters are yep!!

seriously. im not saying we shouldnt diagnosed it or it isnt a real condition (i have it, why would i do that) but moreso. the focus for a lot of singlets is NOT how it actually impacts the person with the disorder, its just "alters bad, alters scary."

i could keep talking for hours about this topic but i dont really want to so i will refrain. it just feels sooo. baked in singletnormativity. the idea that the problem is exclusively or at least mostly the multiplicity itself as opposed to again all that other stuff i listed, or alter conflicts, or anything?? this doesnt help anyone. why is the goal here to make us "normal" and not to make our lives less shitty.

[veliseraptor]

on the one hand i understand why people don't like the word "consuming" to describe interaction with media and generally i agree but on the other hand there is something about it that can feel appropriate for certain things. sometimes it's like. yes i am eating this in fact. sucking the marrow out of its bones even

[alma-de-naturaleza]

[shadythetortie]

A HAMMERHEAD????

[gallusrostromegalus]

I attended a campfire presentation by a park ranger who described Osprey as "both the pickiest and least picky eaters of all time."

They're the pickiest because they only eat things they can catch by plunging into at least six feet of water feet-first and are as close to their maximum carrying capacity as possible, to maximize calories-per-trip.

They're the Least Picky because so long as something fits those parameters, Osprey will go for it.

The ranger then showed us an extensive slide show of the local osprey in flight with their catches, which included: trout, carp, snakes, bass, eels, small sharks, ducks, surprisingly large catfish, a nerf football, muskrats, a summer sausage that fell off a boat, sneakers, a fish previously thought to be extinct in the area, a Barbie Doll, and another osprey.