#coconscious

[multiplicity-positivity]

I found that I mainly talk to my system verbally. I need to use my voice and them answering back with my body. I didn't know talking to yourself is not normal lol.

This led to realizing they've been having fun messing with me by randomly sing loudly or do a tiktok dance (I don't have tiktok) and the feeling of embarrassment I get is because of them oh my goddd

Question, is this called co front or co consciousness? I couldn't tell the difference between them cus I'm new to this plurality stuff.

hey, so we’re pulling these definitions from our glossary (<- link) where we’ve defined these terms and more in our own words.

for us, cofronting is when two or more headmates are fronting at the same time. in our system, this can often result in blending, when we are more or less combined temporarily into a single entity (steven universe style).

coconsciousness, on the other hand, is when a headmate is able to perceive the world and potentially influence decisions, but does not have the agency to interact directly or make concrete choices. for example, being coconscious may be perceived as sitting in the backseat while someone else drives, or otherwise being able to witness the world without interacting with it directly.

there is also passive influence, when a headmate is able to influence fronters or the body without fronting themselves. we don’t think a headmate even needs to be coconscious in order to have a passive influence on other system members.

these experiences are all immensely internal, so ultimately it will be up to y’all to determine whether or not your headmates were cofronting (aka fronting at the same time as you), coconscious (aka being conscious of your actions and environment without having much agency to act) or using passive influence (aka influencing your thoughts or actions without fronting or interacting with you directly).

we hope this helps. also if others read this with their own personal definitions or with some insight they’d like to share, by all means you’re welcome to :) we’re just one system with our own ideas on these sorts of things after all.

[iota-andromedae]

if i had a nickle for every time we got a fragment of a character from a series that we arent even into solely because we watched the snapcube fandub of that game, i would have two nickles.

which isnt a lot but jesus christ this needs to stop happening

[facesofone]

I don't know if there is already a specific term for these types of switches, I just like to call them Hard or Soft switches. Sometimes it comes in the form of stepping back and letting another alter make the controls work, other times it's a straight up replacement.

[ID]

Panel 1: Atom is talking to someone, and Jak is tapping him on the shoulder, asking "Can I tell him something?" To which Atom responds, "Hm? Sure, go ahead." At the top it reads "Soft switch: Passing control of the front."

Panel 2: Jak now has the front and Atom is standing right behind him coconsciously. Jak says to the other person, "Okay, I've got one for you. An investment banker, a retired sea captain and an emu walk into a bar..."

Panel 3: At the top it reads, "Hard Switch: Taking control of the front" and it shows Kyra kicking Jak into the void. He shouts "Aww come on! Five more minutes!" To which she responds, "Nope, you're done, tonight is mine!"

Panel 4: Kyra is now in the front, she puts her hair up in front of a full-length mirror. She says to herself "Ahh peace and quiet. It's been too long since I've had a night to myself." To the left of her is the void popping closed, with an arrow pointing at it (at Jak who had been sucked in) simply saying: Gone.

[END ID]

[dissociatedabyss]

one thing non-dissociative individuals can not understand and is hard to explain, is the feeling of another part/alter becoming aware of something or conscious when they weren’t a moment ago. like, how can i fully explain the experience of being awake for two hours before feeling a separate part “wake up” themselves? how i can be sitting in class for an hour before another part becomes aware of where we are? what words can i use to explain what it’s like to to witness and experience something at the same time? i don’t think there’s any way to fully encapsulate what that’s like, to be interrupted by the sudden presence of others and their thoughts. It’s your world being in first, second and third person, all at once.

[lionsystem]

still awake (derogatory)

[the-potato-system]

anyone out there have like 50 browser tabs open when you’re co-fronting and different alters are looking at different things?

[voidedego]

Trying to do Chemistry homework for a close friend but the teacher of the system decides HE should do it.

I ended up becoming agitated.

[multiplicity-positivity]

hey just asking here because this is something i've begun to wonder about. functionally, we know we're a system. something we only heard of recently is the experience of "seeing" somebody in front, like a person or character in one's mind. we understand its not the same as daydreaming, as it happens quite randomly. but someone suggested it could be a symptom of plurality which is something we've never considered. weird to realize we might've had more people fronting cus we assumed this wasn't a plural thing but an "overactive imagination". well, we're not so sure so we'd like to hear others' opinions on this :)

Ah, we are not sure we entirely understand. Our own system has those moments of “seeing” someone else front, but it usually is indicative of coconsciousness or some degree of dissociation. We believe that viewing yourself, or someone else, in your body moving and acting on your behalf may have something to do with an active imagination… however, our opinion is that it more likely is a symptom of depersonalization or derealization, and experiencing a general disconnect from your body and the world. In this case, it may not be a plural thing at all - some people do dissociate or experience depersonalization or derealization without being a system. Many systems do indeed experience dissociation and DPDR, though.

Each system is unique, and many of us do have our own special ways of functioning. For your own system, this may be a dissociative symptom, or it may in fact just be an active imagination at work. And for some people, this sort of thing may not be an indication of multiplicity. We’ve found that many things that may be signs of plurality for one person, may just be ordinary, non-plural facts of life for another.

These are our opinions on this matter. Maybe others who see this may have their own thoughts to share?