The Solar System

Welcome! This is @thesolar-system's chatting blog. Banner by @KianaMosser on Twitter.

[solsys-talk]

Hello hello, welcome in!

This is @thesolar-system’s chatting blog! Here we answer questions, ask questions of our own, and just talk about whatever’s going on in our lives.

We won’t do alter info here, so please check the comic blog’s pinned for info on our alters.

Tags General Boundaries

[solsys-talk]

Boundaries

- This system is bodily 20+ years old, and as such we ask to be treated as adults. No exceptions.

- Do not vent to us excessively in our inbox. We are random people on the internet at the end of the day and we have our own issues to deal with.

- Asking for advice is fine, but remember that we will not have all the answers, especially in regards to questions about being a system.

Basically, just treat us like people. Thanks.

[solsys-talk]

If i can ask, what program/app do you use to draw your comics?

We use Procreate, specifically the iPad version!

[solsys-talk]

I might be a bit dumb, but what inspired you to use the name ‘solar system’? Is it just because of Nova? Because they are the only person in the system I can think of that’s linked to space.

Nova chose our name yeah. But we just really like space, studying space & looking at pictures and all that

We all have our own space phenomena & planets that we feel connected to, which is something Nova wanted to talk about in a comic at some point

Also, we’re a system, so “the solar system” just Sounds right

[solsys-talk]

Hello, I hope you're doing well. We seem to have split a new alter today and they are adamant on using Nova as their name, and it seems they got it from you. We apologize in advance.

- Alexander

Oh boy 😭 I just hope they aren’t an actual copy of our Nova cuz that’d be. interesting!

[plc-comics]

HE MEANS THE ONES WE CAN RECLAIM but like man what a way to open up a conversation

[solsys-talk]

...

Does the cyn here. Hate the solver. What it did.

Ours does not.

And we are curious.

If they do then we are sorry.

-Null

> Yes.

> I have control over my body now though. The Solver exists as a mere tool.

> I forgive but do not forget.

[sophieinwonderland]

All The Resources You'll Need To Build Your Own Wonderland, Headspace or Inner World, Now Mobile Compatible!

I made a page dedicated to this, but it wasn't mobile compatible. On request, I decided to make this in a post for mobile readers.

I see a lot of systems asking for advice on building their own inner worlds and Wonderlands. There are a lot of resources out there, but they can be difficult to track down because they all are so spread out between different websites and different systems, so I decided to make a dedicated page for the topic with all of the guides and resources I’ve gathered, to make the process as streamlined as possible.

What’s a Wonderland?

Wonderland, inner world and headspace all refer to places you create inside your mind. These are imagined environments in which you can interact with your headmates.

You should start with the expectation that it isn’t going to feel very real in the beginning. Immersion is a skill that takes time to build. Don’t get discouraged if your inner world experiences don’t match up perfectly with those of others. Be patient and be kind to yourselves.

On Building Headspace

On Building Headspace is an introductory guide that focuses on beginning with a simple object and building around it. It’s light, but is an effective starting point.

YOUR GUIDE TO THE HEADSPACE (For OSDD/DID systems)

This is an introductory guide to building headspaces specific for OSDD/DID.

The DIY Headspace Guide

This handy little guide has a lot of ideas of how to build a headspace for yourself with an accompanying pinterest to jog your creativity. This guide is all about using references from real life, games and art to use as the basis for your inner world.

Immersion

Now that you have the basics down, it’s time to start working on immersion. This is a more in-depth guide focused on immersing yourself in your Wonderland or headspace, going through each of your senses.

Wonderland Immersion

This guide utilizes a much more focused method of immersion through semantic analysis.

How To Refocus On Your Wonderland

A detailed guide on focusing your attention in the Wonderland and staying in the moment.

When Things Go Wrong in Your Imagination and How To Fix Them So They Don’t

This one is pretty self-explanatory, providing tips on how to rein in your Wonderland when it doesn’t seem to be behaving how you’d like it too.

Innerworlds & mindscapes in Plurality & dissociative identity disorder  #DID101

This DID-focused guide to inner world creation is centered around using self-hypnosis to enter your inner world and create a safe space in your mind.

How to Build a Memory Palace

This one is actually not about building Wonderlands per se. Rather, it provides you a practical way to use your Wonderland to improve your memory once it’s built. If you’ve already worked so hard building your visualization skills, why not put them to good use by allowing you to more easily remember large amounts of information?

Additional Resources:

Besides guides, here are some other tools you might be interested in using for making your headspaces.

Homestyler

This was mentioned in the DIY guide, but I wanted to provide a direct link to the site, as it’s a free program and could be really useful for designing homes in your inner world.

Inkarnate

Where Homestyler is for your homes, Inkarnate is a map maker that you might find useful for designing the larger areas of your Wonderland. Caves, , landscapes, cities, countries, etc. It’s unfortunately mostly a fantasy map-maker, so you’ll struggle at building a lot of modern or sci-fi environments with it.

* * * * * * * * * *

Anyway, I hope someone out there can make use of these. And if anyone else has more guides or resources to add, don’t be afraid to send them my way! Good luck, and happy Wonderlanding!

[solsys-talk]

curious question. Does cyn here feel heavy when in front? I do. Body gets limp.like source. Wonder if it happens to other cyns.too

-cyn

(system of absolute null. I. I saw others here. Smile. I am fine here. Yes,?)

> Hello other Cyn. Smile.

> Body does feel heavy at times. Not as bad. But I still like to do the posture. It feels right.

( > Count the pixels in this gif. Giggle. )

[fruitorchardsystem]

200 string cheese please

[solsys-talk]

Besides the sources that the fictive are from, is there any piece of media you’d say really impacted you?

Undertale for sure, also Madoka Magica, it really influenced our artstyle

[solsys-talk]

Iwant to move out ofthis place

Or at least, iwant it to be better

[solsys-talk]

Do you guys have things you can't watch/media you can't consume because the introject potential is too strong? For us its arcane, we watched one episode and latched onto Powder so hard that we just can't watch the rest of it because its too much of a risk that we'd get a Jinx and that would not be good for us right now...

anyway i was wondering if this happens to other plurals? Also if you've seen arcane is it good enough that it's worth it? We might just watch it anyway bc Jinx will probably show up regardless

-🌲from @sagebrush-collective

We haven’t watched Arcane and we don’t really plan on it. Not bcuz of a plurality thing but just a lack of interest.

Also we have a lot of media that trigger our alters (in a bad way) which is why we avoid those, but I’m not sure if we have a media we can’t engage with bcuz of fear of introjection. If it happens it happens.

[solsys-talk]

Your art style is really cool! Do you as a system all draw together or is there like, one person who draws with the rest giving instructions, or do you each draw ur own comics? Or is it a third thing?

I suppose we draw together, I don’t rlly understand how it works fully. If whoever’s fronting wants to draw then they draw.

[interstellarsystem]

You Could Be Median!

We've seen some posts lately where people are saying they feel too plural to be a singlet and too singlet to be plural, or that they feel certain plural-ish ways about their kintypes... And, well, we have news for you--there's (possibly) a word for that!

See, while a lot of people see "multiple system" and "plural system" as interchangable, they actually have nuance to their meanings. And there's a third term, "median system", that might actually apply to you!

Some descriptions of the terms, for reference!

This won't be the only term list in this post, but to avoid dumping a ton of terms at the start without context, they'll show up where relevant. For now, though, here's a few.

Singlet:

The state of being one singular person/identity in one body. Synonym for non-plural.

Plural:

More than one entity, self, identity or consciousness in a single body. Simply, being more-than-one in some way. This is more of an umbrella term for multiple and median.

Multiple:

Having more than one distinct identities or people within a body.

Median:

The state of being somewhere between "singlet" and "multiple" on the plural spectrum.

Now, that's pretty vague, especially if this is a new concept to you! What does "inbetween" of multiple and singlet even really look like? The answer is, well... Anything, almost! But that's also vague and unhelpful. So...

Some examples of what being a median system could feel like...

You're like a metaphorical hydra--all part of one dragon, but there's different heads. You might feel parts of yourself arguing or thinking different thoughts, and some might be more in charge at times than others, but in the end, you're all a part of one unit anyway.

You're like a metaphorical coin--you're all one single thing, but there's different faces. Depending on what angle someone looks at you from, they could see something completely different.

You're like a gemstone cut for a ring--all one stone, but there's facets of you that reflect light just a little differently.

You speak to your subconscious, but because that subconscious is you, you feel like you're an inbetween of being just one person and two people. (This can also include things like daemonism!)

You feel like your identity itself is a shapeshifter (not in a kintype way--your identity as a whole).

You're otherkin/fictionkin/etc, and your kintypes have juuuust a little too much separation from you to feel like they're still you, but they're you enough that they're not separate people. They're not entirely distinct from you, but they're also not entirely wholly you, either. (More on this one later!)

You feel too much like a singlet to be plural, but too much like a system to be a singlet.

You age or pet regress, and feel like your regressed self is a different version of you. Sure, they're still you! But they're just different enough that they fall in a grey area of being "you" vs "not you".

You feel like "you" are, in whole, a person wearing a lot of different masks. The masks might make you act a little different, or look a little to-the-left of your normal appearance. All the masks are a part of you, as much as you're a part of them.

You feel like you sometimes have a different "filter" put over you, like a photo being digitally edited. You're still the same base thing, but sometimes there's an extra layer on top that makes you a little different.

You don't feel singlet or multiple, but feel like a secret third thing that's in any way inbetween.

You feel like you're almost a system.

Now, that's nowhere near an exhaustive list, but it's a bunch of stuff we've experienced and/or heard from others in the community. That gemstone comparison is actually common enough for the median version of the term "headmate" to be a sort of reference to how it feels!

Headmate (also alter, system member):

An entity/person that is a part of a system.

Facet:

A type of headmate that is a part of a median system.

There's also a term for identities that blur the line between "fictive" and "fictionkin", because the experience of being median while having identities that feel like fictives and fictotypes simultaneously is so common! (There's now a factbased identity term for the experience too!)

Fableing:

A type of facet in a median system that shares experiences of both fictionkin and fictives, making them an inbetween, adjacent to both experiences, or both at the same time.

Factling:

A type of facet in a median system that shares experiences of both factkin and factives, making them an inbetween, adjacent to both experiences, or both at the same time.

Otherkinity and Median Systems

In particular though, we see a lot of otherkin who say a lot of very plural-y things about their kintypes. While not everyone who says these things is 100% plural and maybe just one or two of these points to nothing plurality related at all... These are things we think are pretty good indicators you should at least consider looking into median systems, even if you've looked into being multiple before.

Your kintypes can speak or communicate to you, disagree with you or each other, or interact with things separate from you. This doesn't need to include written or spoken language, either! Sometimes internal instincts clashing can feel a lot like median facets disagreeing.

Shifting causes you to experience memory loss, amnesia, or anything similar.

Shifting causes a complete gender change, even if previously and after the shift you disagree.

Shifting causes you to act "out of character" compared to your usual self.

Shifting causes a complete sexuality change, even if previously and after the shift you disagree.

Shifting causes you to want to change your name, even if previously and after the shift you disagree.

You don't feel like you're yourself while shifted.

You get thoughts that you don't feel belong to you, and feel like they belong more to your kintype.

You don't feel too much like you are your kintype, unless you're in a shift. (Also check out fictionflickering/otherflickering!)

Your kintypes do things that you're unaware of while you're shifted.

You commonly dissociate during or before shifting.

Your kintypes change your likes and dislikes (for example, while shifted you might hate apples while when not in a shift you love them).

You'd call your kintypes headmates or you feel like they'd be classified as headmates if you had DID/OSDD (spoiler alert, you don't need those to be a system!)

Your shifts cause a full or very strong personality change--especially if other people notice.

You feel disconnected from your body or lose control of your body while shifting.

You come out of a shift and are confused, distressed, or surprised at how you acted during it.

Like I said, not all of these point toward being median if there's just one or two--but, if you have the time to look into it, I'd recommend giving it some thought!

Misc FAQs

Do I have to call myself a median system if I fit a lot of/all of this?

Nope! Your identity is yours to label, and this post isn't meant to shove people into boxes. This is simply meant to inform people of what a median system is, and let people come to informed decisions themselves.

Can you be both multiple and median?

Absolutely! There's plenty of ways this can be a thing, too. Some examples:

Multiple system with median subsystems.

Median system with multiple subsystems.

A system that fluctuates between median and multiple.

A system with a bunch of headmates who are median or multiple (regardless of subsystems).

You could be both at once, which we've seen called "mediple"!

Can you have a CDD (like DID and OSDD) and be median?

Yep! It's commonly believed that most (not all!) OSDD systems often fall under the median umbrella, even! A system of any structure or origin can also have median members within it, regardless of other parts of how it functions.

Can you choose to be median?

As with plurality in general--yes, probably! We haven't seen any guides to specifically form a median system, but we're sure it's possible. Daemonism, for example, is usually counted as a nonplural experience by their community, as daemons are "you" in another font--for lack of better phrasing. But a lot of people do consider this to be a type of median plurality in their own experiences!

Is this an endo system thing?

No. Endogenic and traumagenic systems alike can both experience median plurality, and can also be disordered or nondisordered. The term didn't even originate in endogenic-specific spaces, nor did it originate recently either. "Midcontinuum" was presented as a term in around 1996-1997, and "median" was created in 2002. Some early plural communtiy mentions of the terms:

What is a median? Neither multiple nor singlet.

Us and Being Median:

This was co-written by a median subsystem (Dagger of Decay) and one of said subsystem’s QPPs in-system (Shrapnel). While we don’t reflect the entirety of our experience of having median plurality within our system, we can share what we personally know of our own life in the hopes that it resonates with others in a helpful way.

Being a median subsystem to me (Dagger of Decay), feels like I’m separate sides of the same metaphorical coin. (At least, that was an accurate descriptor until I discovered more facets than just the two.) You look at this coin, and one side might have a picture of one thing on it, while the other has something completely different–but you’d be wrong if you said that this was two separate coins just because it’s different depending on how you see it or how you hold it. You’d also be wrong in saying that the coin only had one uniform side–I mean, it clearly has different pictures on each side, they’re clearly different!

The faces of the coin are the fableings that make up me as a person. If I really wanted to, I could probably label myself as one person with very strong kintype shifts, but that doesn’t feel like it covers the full scope of my identity. I can’t talk to my facets, I also can hardly ever disagree with them because we’re so close to the singlet end of the spectrum. But even still, when I’m Tomura Shigaraki, I’m not really the other facets of myself anymore–it’s like you’ve spun that coin around and they’re the ones who are face down, hidden from sight for that moment. The same is true for when any other one is in control. The coin just sort of flips itself occasionally and oops! I’m the same base guy, but in a different font. A little bit to the left maybe.

The amount of separatedness between us fluctuates–sometimes I say “I” to refer to all of me, other times we say “we”. That’s one of the more noticeable fluctuations between my facets, but there’s plenty of other things that shift and change too–how distinct we feel, how much we can disagree with each other, how much we feel connected to other identities we hold… But in the end, we’re solidly sat in the grey area between “one singular guy with no extras” and “multiple guys in one head”--and it took our system a while to get a hold of what that can mean and feel like, so I hope some people who are questioning or struggling with their identity can get a little bit of something out of this post.

For further reading:

The Dragonheart Collective's "Am I plural" guide.

Allium House's "what is the self?" essay.

Endogenic Hub's "Medians" page.

Otherkin Wiki's Plurality page (section on median plurality included).

Beepbird's "Median is More than People With Parts".

Beepbird's "For Medians: Fronting and Switching Control".

Beepbird's entire median plurality links section, honestly.

[solsys-talk]

I wonder if we’re a median system .

[solsys-talk]

I couldn’t help but notice how Similar our alters are to each other. We all are fine with they/them to varying degrees. We don’t have amnesia barriers. Our personalities and ways of speaking irl are mostly the same. We have to force ourselves to put on different voices, it doesn’t come naturally.

We dress the same. We talk the same. We mostly act the same. And sometimes it makes us wonder if we’re faking it.

[solsys-talk]

I wonder if we’re a median system .