Welcome, one and all! This is the Showtime Build a Headmate blog, where we'll make all of your dreams come true! Now, that being said, what is this blog exactly?
"And shout out crazily, 'wandahoi'!"
We are a build a headmate blog, meaning that we provide templates of sorts for fragments to either develop based on, or for willomancers to form headmates based on! Be aware, however, that the headmate may not turn out exactly as the pack says! We call it a "template" for a reason!
The Abstract Circus performance (subsys) runs this blog! If referring to us collectively, simply call us "Shape"! There are four of us here, and we'll use a userbox to indicate who posted! Here are the names of us:
Mod Jester (he/they/it/jest/star)
Mod Wind (xe/they)
Mod Haunt (she/it/rot)
Mod Party (he/it)
People outside of these four might post, signing off with "Guest [x]"!
Some of us may be better at different things, but as of right now, we do not believe there is a difference! Also, note that we are anti-radqueer, and will not include transIDs, paras, or MUDs in our packs! Also, here's our masterlist, if you want to look for something!
"I'm the reckless, amusing legend..."
What do we offer? We offer the following:
Songtives (willing to listen to any song! (note: for foreign songs, providing a translation is preferred, exceptions being made for Vocaloid songs, generally. If we can't find a translation, we will request that you send us one.)), introjects in general (aside from factives- personal comfort, I apologize!), fictives (any source except Harry Potter is fine, provided with a Wiki page (or really, anything that gives us an idea of their character) to go off of!), and brainmades!
We also have "levels", depending on what you desire, so here they are (note: you can mix and match levels! If you want something one level has without requesting that level (ie, personality traits in the vision level), or want something removed from one (ie, color palette in prophecy and dream levels), feel free to ask! We will do it!):
Level 1 - Vision
On this level, you get...
-A name
-Pronouns
-Gender
-Sexuality
-Age
-Species
-If applicable, source
-Faceclaim
Level 2 - Prophecy
On this level, you get...
-Everything in the "vision" level
-Likes and dislikes
-Role(s)
-A color palette (3-4 colors)
-A second faceclaim
Level 3 - Dream
On this level, you get...
-Everything in the "prophecy" level
-Personality traits
-Hobbies
-A third faceclaim
Not satisfied with these? Don't worry, we have stars you can add on! Just don't request more than 2 or 3, ok?
Stars - add ons
You may get...
-A playlist of 4-5 songs
-A tiny SimplyPlural template
-Userboxes (one for a sign off, one for whatever you wish!)
-Kintypes
-A few profile pictures for SimplyPlural or Tumblr!
-A headspace room
-Trivia (3-4 facts about the headmate)
Now, that is all! Just know that we value perfection above all else, so packs may take a while!
Hi, let's talk about an issue we've seen in the BAH community
[plain text: Hi, let's talk about an issue we've seen in the BAH community / end plain text.]
I know it’s been a hot minute since we have been active, but I see this happen often enough that it’s worth making a post on.
This post is about exactly what the title says: it's about an issue that we've seen in the BAH community as a whole, not just one section of it, and one that we would like to help correct. While I understand that this post is lengthy, I would advise reading the entire thing, as it is an important message, and should be spread. In fact, if you can, I would like to ask that you please reblog this post, so that more people see it. Thank you. [Plain text: While I understand that this post is lengthy, I would advise reading the entire thing, as it is an important message, and should be spread. In fact, if you can, I would like to ask that you please reblog this post, so that more people see it. Thank you. End plain text.]
This issue is intersexism. You might think "but I'm not being malicious towards intersex people, so how can I be intersexist/do intersexist things?," but the thing is, intersexism doesn't rely on you wanting to be bigoted against intersex people. You can be unknowingly bigoted. (I will say, however, that if you double down claiming that anything said here is actually totally fine, you are intersexist, period. There are no ifs or buts about it.)
Here on out, we should warn: there is discussion of intersexism (obviously) and fetishization of intersex people. We also discuss intersexist slurs, although they will be discussed in a more informative context. If you cannot read the whole post because of this, that's fine. I should also note here that we are (bodily, even) intersex, so we know how to recognize intersexism, and are very intimate with this kind of bigotry. We are not just making this stuff up.
Now that the warnings are out of the way, I realize that we never named the issue directly. Simply put, the issue here is that people are offering shi/hir as pronouns for packs without regard that they are intersex exclusive, and the person requesting the pack that has them could very well be perisex (not intersex), and also offering intersex as a "gender" in packs. Both of these things are intersexist.
I will start with the most obvious thing first: intersex being offered as a "gender" in BAH packs. Intersexuality is, simply put, naturally developing a body that varies from what is typical from a "male" or "female" in chromosomes, gentilia, hormones, and/or so on. This can be from something like vulvar hypospadias (when the urethra is close or even inside the vagina), or even something such as mixed gentilia (I believe this speaks for itself). This is not a gender, and to claim so is intersexist. [Plain text: This is not a gender, and to claim so is intersexist. End plain text.]
"Intersex" is (provided you meet the definition) an opt-in label that describes something about your body. A description of your body can never be a gender, and especially not something like intersexuality. The closest there is to this is integender, which is when your gender is influenced by your being intersex, but even then, this is exclusive to bodily intersex individuals. [Plain text: exclusive to bodily intersex individuals. End plain text.] You cannot identify with this label if you are bodily perisex, even if you have "intersex alters/headmates/parts/your term here" (the definition of intersex refers to your physically body anyway), nor [plain text: nor /end plain text] if you are "transintersex", as in "transitioning to being intersex". If you are a radqueer reading this, let me elaborate: you cannot "transition" into being intersex, and to claim so is intersexist. I am anti-radqueer, and do not care if you call yourself "transintersex", as you still cannot use this term.
As a side tangent, "transintersex" in itself is an intersexist term, so if you identify with it, I would recommend unpacking your bigotry before you interact with literally anything about/with intersex people. I do not care if you feel bad about not being intersex. There are plenty of other terms out there for you that do not involve the intersexist connotations.
Someone may be wondering how "transintersex" is an intersexist term, and that's a valid question! It's ok to be confused! However, essentially, "transintersex" is intersexist because you cannot "transition" into being intersex. This is something that the definition of intersex states: you must naturally develop whatever causes you to vary from the typical "male" and/or "female". Even ignoring that, though, there lies an inherently problematic implication with the term "transintersex": if you can "transition" into being intersex, you can "transition" into being perisex. I don't believe that I have to explain why this implication is problematic and harmful, but to put it simply: the idea that one can "transition" out of intersexuality and into perisexuality (or "normality") is something used to justify medical abuse against intersex people. I will not go into detail here, but just know that it is gruesome and should not be condoned.
Now, the second issue is the one I mentioned earlier: offering shi/hir pronouns in BAH packs with no regard to the fact that they are intersex exclusive. Now, I understand that quite a bit of perisex people do not know of this, and that is fine, but you have to be ok with learning about this if you want to be a good ally to intersex people.
Now, this section can be triggering for people, as it will contain discussions of the fetishization of intersex people, specifically their bodies, intersexism, and will use the h slur fully spelled out without censoring. It is worth noting that I am using it here to be educational; some people do not know what this slur is, and so I feel as if spelling it out is the only way to truly drill my point home. I will note here that I personally do not reclaim this slur for myself, so while it should go without saying, do not call me it anywhere, including on this post or elsewhere. You will be blocked and reported. [Plain text: I will note here that I personally do not reclaim this slur for myself, so while it should go without saying, do not call me it anywhere, including on this post or elsewhere. You will be blocked and reported. End plain text.]
(Before I actually begin explaining, it is worth mentioning that pronouns such as ze/hir are ok. It is shi/hir specifically that are intersex exclusive. Also, as a summary for those who cannot read it due to the warnings, which is fine, essentially, shi/hir pronouns were originally made in the context of furry porn for the sake of fetishizing intersex bodies. As such, they are not for perisex people to use, and if you intend to put them in a pack, that is fine, but at the very least, it should come with a note that those pronouns are exclusive to intersex people.)
Now, I will try to be as simple as I can in this explanation, so here we go. For the sake of not triggering people, it is beneath the cut.
For starters, I am going to assume that most people are familiar with what furries are. Now, within the furry porn community, there are these bigential (meaning that they have both reproductive systems, presumably with them both functional (this is a classic stereotype of intersex people— that we have both reproductive systems simultaneously, and both are functional. This is a fetishistic fantasy, however, and not accurate to reality. As far as science is concerned, no human can be born with both reproductive systems and with both of them fully functioning. It is possible for someone to be born with both, yes, but at least one of reproductive systems does not work in these cases)) creatures that are caricatures of intersex people. These are known as "hermaphrodites", which is an intersexist slur, for the record.
Shi/hir pronouns were coined with this context in mind. As far as people are concerned, the very first usage of shi/hir was within this context, and for a hermaphroditic character. These pronouns, then, are drenched in fetishization in history. Inherently, they are tied to the fetishization of us intersex people, and are based on uninformed, intersexist ideas of who we are. Shi/hir pronouns were made in an intersexist context. [Plain text: Shi/hir pronouns were made in an intersexist context. End plain text]
Due to their history, it is insensitive for perisex people to use them. They are not for perisex people to use, and are exclusive to intersex people. And yes, just like earlier, this is exclusively for bodily intersex people, and neither "intersex headmates/alters/parts/term here" nor "transintersex" people are included in this.
This is not to say that you cannot at any point put these pronouns in packs. This is to say that if you do, it should at the very least come with the disclaimer that this is for bodily intersex people only. And honestly? While it is your call, and you're not really intersexist either way, I would personally hold off on including them in packs meant for perisex people.
To finish this post, I just want to say that I have hope for the BAH community. I believe that we can grow past this. However, if we truly want this community to be safe for everyone (and I mean everyone), we have to learn when to stop things that are harming people, like this, and I hope that one day, we can all grow past our intersexism.
[ PT: (Late) 200 followers BAH ask game !! end PT ]
☄️ - Make a pack from your current hyperfixation or interest!
⛈️ - Make a pack sourced from whichever source you have the most introjects from!
🌦️ - Make a pack from the source you've done the most packs for!
☀️ - Make a pack from a source you've done no packs for but is on your source list!
🌪️ - Open up a mogai archival website or blog, and click on something random. Make a pack based off whichever term it is!
🍓 - Press shuffle on your longest playlist, and make a songtive off the first song that plays!
🌶️ - Make a pack from a pervious hyperfixation or interest!
🍂 - Make a duo of headmates of any duet song you like (romantic or not)!
🌑 - Make an aesthetive of your favorite aesthetic!
🌙 - Make that pack you keep putting off. Go do it now. Stop procrastinating. Go do it.
⭐️ - Spin the Ultimate Pronouns Wheel and make a pack based off what you get!
🌊 - Make a songtive of your favorite song from your favorite artist!
☔️ - Make a mixtive of two sources that have NO RIGHT to be together
🫐 - Make a duo of headmates for your favorite rarepair from any source!
⚓️ - Make a pack based off your favorite trope (fanfiction or regular fiction)
⌛️ - Make a mixtive of your favorite sad song and your favorite upbeat song!
🗝️ - Make a foodtive of your favorite candy!
🧸 - Make a headmate thats just a creature like literally just a dude like its literally just a guy like genuinely just a thing like genuinely on a genuine level is just a guy. The guy ever perhaps
🌀 - Make the pack you've had the idea for for a long time!!
hii!! could we request a level 1 + roles for a fictive of crane from the webcomic waves always crash? preferably, liking men, and not older than like, 25.
some links for you: https://toyhou.se/22462671.crane + the tumblr for the comic is wavesalwayscrash, you can sort by character tag to find stuff specifically about crane (you don't have to look through everything, jic you want to!)
(We don't have our dividers rn, sorry.)
"And the stars give to you..."
A vision level Crane (Waves Always Crash) + roles fictive!
Note that headmates may not turn out exactly as the pack says. This is normal! Also, feel free to change anything.
hii!! could we request a level 1 + roles for a fictive of crane from the webcomic waves always crash? preferably, liking men, and not older than like, 25.
some links for you: https://toyhou.se/22462671.crane + the tumblr for the comic is wavesalwayscrash, you can sort by character tag to find stuff specifically about crane (you don't have to look through everything, jic you want to!)
(We don't have our dividers rn, sorry.)
"And the stars give to you..."
A vision level Crane (Waves Always Crash) + roles fictive!
Note that headmates may not turn out exactly as the pack says. This is normal! Also, feel free to change anything.
hi! could this one get a prophecy (with userboxes and front triggers) of Bunnyx? this one apologizes if not :)
(https://www.miraculousladybug.com/characters/bunnyx/ or just her wiki page)
Yeah, sure! We're sorry it took so long, our mental health is sucky and we didn't have motivation. We also couldn't find a good third faceclaim, sorry. :(
"And the stars give to you..."
A dream level Bunnyx fictive with userbox and front trigger stars!
(Note: from now on, if no second userbox is specified, we will not make it.)
Welcome back to build a system! It’s been a while no?
So basically we’ve had a very stressful time but we’re back here (woah!) we’ve decided we’re going to open a simply plural (Build_A_System) meaning anybody can add us and have inspo galore, it gives us somehbjnb to do which isn’t staring at a tumblr. We forget about tumblr often haha. Reblog if you go to add us , the account will be open shortly on sp. Occasionally I may screenshot those alters and send them here. I may also make subsystems and internal worlds , still not sure how
So yeah, sorry for the lack of updates. But new thing :)
Edit ;; Build_A_System is now live on Simply Plural
Edit 2 ;; please reblog this for visibility I want this to be a big project !!
MORE PLURAL ASK GAMES COMING IF YOU GUYS WANT IT! (let me know so my ideas dont get forgotten)
tags for some blogs that like to do ask games or just my moots : @siren-bah @sleepy-space-bah @ink-casket @tattered-bah @dinonuggets-bah ( not sure if you guys do subsystems but it doesn't hurt to tag )
FEEL FREE TO SEND THESE TO PEOPLE WHO REBLOG OR TO US !!!! (please specify which ask game so people don't get mixed up!)
🪶 : make a subsystem based on a group of birds ( ex : eagle , pigeon , hummingbird , etc )
💫 : make a subsystem based on the solar system ( ex : mars , venus , sun , etc )
🪽 : make a subsystem based on spiritual entities ( angels , deities , demons , etc )
🌈 : make a subsystem based on the colors of the rainbow ( red , pink , green , etc )
🔮 : make a subsystem based on mythological creatures ( vampires , witches , werewolves , etc )
🍭 : make a subsystem based on types of candy ( jawbreakers , skittles , m&ms , etc )
🗡️ : make a subsystem based on types of weapons ( swords , bow and arrows , axes , etc )
🌊 : make a subsystem based on sea creatures ( sharks , dolphins , school of fish , etc )
🕸️ : make a subsystem based on bugs/beetles ( ants , cockroaches , grasshoppers , etc )
🦴 : make a subsystem based on big cats ( lions , cheetahs , pumas , etc )
🫀 : make a subsystem based on your favorite animals ( anything ! )
