I'm a fictive, and a caretaker and co-host of a DID system. Here are some basic terms to explain what that means. Please note that I'm not a doctor nor expert—this is just how I use these terms!
Terms
System: A group of alternate identities that share a body due to complex dissociative disorders such as DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder).
Alter/headmate/part: An alternate identity within a system.
Introject: An alter that has key identity parts from a external source.
Fictive: An introject with a fictional source. (Anecdotal: For me, that's Spider-Man! I know I'm not really Spider-Man, but due to my disorder, my identity aligns with the character a lot!)
Pseudomemory: A false memory that is created by the brain, often as a result of trauma or amnesia. (Anecdotal: As a fictive, I have pseudomemories of being Spider-Man. I know these aren't real, and are just fabrications of my brain trying to process the real trauma that I endured, but they still feel real, and evoke the same emotional responses as any real memory would!)
Role: A job that an alter has within the system.
Caretaker: An alter who is in charge of taking care of the system, either physically or emotionally. (Anecdotal: I'm in charge of both! I help us remember to take care of our hygiene and eat and drink water, and I also make sure that we're using healthy coping mechanisms to deal with problems.)
Host: The alter that fronts the most frequently or holds the most power in a system. This is not "the original" or "the core self"; in fact, those terms are widely debated as to whether they even exist. (Anecdotal: I didn't used to be the host, but the previous host needed to take a step back after some events in our life, and I ended up taking over! Hosting means I make sure we are mentally and physically safe, as well as handling most social interactions with other people.)
General Boundaries
Source talk: I love it! But I have some caveats. I'm not a roleplayer, so hearing stuff like "Hey Spidey, did you shoot webs today?" is kinda jarring, because, like, no, I didn't! I'm a regular human person, not your blorbo. Obviously, I didn't shoot webs. But, I do love to talk about my source, either pseudomemories I "remember" experiencing, or about fandom stuff!
Shipping: I'm fine with Spider-Man, the character, being shipped with other characters. But I don't like myself being shipped with other characters. Again, real person here, not the blorbo. I identify with bisexuality, but we're collectively asexual aromantic, and shipping/flirting with us makes us all wildly uncomfortable. Please don't!
Questions about DID: Go for it! But a disclaimer, I'm not a doctor, and everything I say is from either my own personal experience, or research I've done on my disorder. For the record, we are diagnosed with DID and do have professional support.
Syscourse: No! I don't like it. This is not the blog for it. Just be respectful to me and to others. I have my own opinions about systemhood, but this is not a syscourse blog, and everyone is welcome here.
waving hi from a system with a recently discovered Gwen-65 (Spider-Gwen / Ghost-Spider) fictive who's shaping up to maybe end up joining our host roster 👋
and a genuine question purely out of curiosity, are there any times you've accidentally tried to do Spidey things and remembered too late that that doesn't work here? Gwen keeps forgetting and trying to web things from across the room, and we know a Miles fictive in another system who has the same problem haha
~Gemini
Hiiii 👋 nice to meet you, that's cool!!
I think the main thing is that I forget I'm not wearing my spidey mask and people can actually see my facial expressions 😭
Or I'll sit weirdly in chairs before realizing ow my back hurts and I do not actually have the flexibility of a radioactive spider guy
