Plural and Proud

Hello there, we are the Siphonophore System! We are traumagenic and a system of over 40 people. We follow from @jellyfish-rabbit-bear . Feel free to send us a message any time.

[targetedknowledge]

[fisutiddies]

[vilebloods]

baby cats very cute

[tired-shipper]

see i do actually love myself. my brain? it HATES me. that's the main difference between us.

[tabris-the-seventeenth-angel]

@funnier-as-a-system

[barkybonez]

im the host in our system, and i think ive trained myself so much to push down other alters and to not let them front that it’s hard to let them front now. whenever anyone else fronts, it’s not for very long. i don’t know how to get them to front, and i can’t figure out most of anyone’s fronting triggers. i feel bad sometimes because i tell some alters they can’t front or beg them to not front because i’m dealing with something irl (like not letting a little front during school and begging a fictive to not front when something really traumatic/hard to go through happened). does anyone have any tips for getting alters to front and letting them front without being scared of people finding out and being embarrassed later besides just “do [xyz] that they like”?

[cambriancrew]

One thing to really honestly and truly understand and remember is that no one outside of your system is anywhere near as keenly aware of and conscious of your systemmates' differences and distinctions as you are. Basically everyone, including other systems, if they don't already know you're a system, and if your systemmates aren't extremely overt in their differences, they're most likely not going to pick up on it. And on the rare occasions that they do, their assumption is not going to be that you're a system. It's that the singular person they assume you all are is just in a somewhat different mood or state - because no human being is ever 100% constant. And if there are stark differences you can make up any dumb little excuse that people will accept without a second thought. Like if you have a systemmate with a different natural accent they slip into when they forget to sound like your singlet persona, "Oh I was practicing X accent earlier and now it's stuck." (Actual excuse we've used a few times and it always works. And gets people talking about accents in a neutral way, if they talk about it at all.)

In general, two things are true: People are a lot more oblivious, gullible, and uncaring than you think. And being a system is so far down on the list of reasons someone might be a little different from time to time, or even a lot different, that they're highly unlikely to suspect you're a system.

The other thing to remember is, you don't have to fully switch. If you have enough control over switching to prevent it, you can learn to co-front or at least include them in what you're doing - and if you can't get them to front on purpose with you, then direct part of your mental attention towards things you feel they'd be interested in. Maybe your little shouldn't be studying world wars and atrocities in history class, but in math class come up with word problems based on their interests to teach them the concepts you're learning. In science, break down the terms you're learning into language they understand or in terms that fit their interests. In literature classes, read together and ask your little or other headmates to give opinions on characters' choices and get a little debate going as you analyze the themes and character arcs. If you're taking a foreign language class, try and describe yourself and headmates with the vocabulary and grammar you're learning or come up with little stories together. If you have free time, let them decide what you'll do together to fill it.

Also remember. You don't have to shoulder everything yourself. It's okay for others to help, even if they do things differently from the way you would. I know that's a hard thing to really believe and understand, especially if your trauma made you fiercely independent and especially if headmates don't feel to you as if they'd be able to handle things. They can be more capable than you might think - especially if you all practice including each other and then if they need help handling something you can do it together or you can talk them through doing it.

Last thing. Learning this is most likely going to take a lot of time and effort, and trial and error. Mistakes will be made. That's part of life. You're no more immune to them than the rest of your system. Don't try and push perfection.

Best of luck to you from someone who's struggled with this very thing for a very long time and has gotten sooo much better at it, with a lot of grace from my headmates.

[achillesinhighheels]

To love someone is to attend a thousand births of who they're becoming

[herzenskoffer]

THISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

[lyter-system]

Host is about to pull a pro gamer move

[divinecompass]

system ask game except the questions are moderately unhinged

🐠 who has the strangest fictional crush?

🦀 who is the BRITISH one

🐬 most likely to be turned into a frog by an evil witch :(

🦑 which pillow pet are you (current fronter)

🐳 who says y’all unironically

🐙 who’s the best at fronting (interpret this how you will)

🪼 who has the most obscure source? who has the most well known?

🐡 who’s the most insect adjacent. either in the little guy way or the EEEAAAAGHHHTKGJF FNN KILL IT way

🐟 who should be at the club rn

[isyoursystem]

are there parts of headspace that only certain headmates can access?

Are there parts of headspace that only certain headmates can access?

Yes

No

No headspace

Unsure

Nuance

Results

Voting ended onMay 6

[snototter]

A Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis) in the waters of Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida, USA

by Helene Hoffman

[briarpatch-kids]

I desperately need y'all to see this scam bot I just got:

[litterofbiscuit]

its interesting being a weird autistic tranny as a kid and letting yourself get accustomed to the idea that youre just some magically antisocial loser who is "introverted" and is happy being alone and then you grow up and realize that actually you love being social you love hugs you love going out and hate being alone you just hated all of the social opportunities available to you growing up so much you let yourself romanticize solitude as a slightly less miserable state than interacting with people

[dead-dove-ble]

Actually you SHOULD make problematic content. You SHOULD explore dark or taboo topics. You SHOULD have a space where you can cope with your traumas or explore sensitive topics in a way that doesn't hurt anyone.

[herpsandbirds]

Australian Lungfish (Neoceratodus forsteri), family Neoceratodontidae, order Ceratodontiformes, class Dipnoi, Australia

ENDANGERED.

photograph by Bill Hawthorne

[wholeheartedsuggestions]

there can still be good things in bad days

[cheaphalloweencostume]

CPTSD constantly has me acting so cartoonishly stupid. hello my partner of 4 years who has literally never so much as raised their voice in my direction, i heard you doing dishes a little louder than usual in the other room. are you going to kill me?

[deltoradecay]

[funstyle]

Im always like "i will not add my two cents. i will not add my two cents" but i cant lie the pennies are getting sweaty in my hand