Niihinat - Niinat

Sometimes, I wonder...

Sometimes, I wonder if anyone else in my life is plural, but too scared to tell anyone.

Sometimes, I wonder if anyone else in my life is plural, but they just don't have the language to describe it.

Sometimes, I wonder about my friends' "imaginary friends" who've taken on a life all their own.

Sometimes, I wonder about the folks who think in conversations, who have named each and every one of their emotions, each speaking with its own distinct voice.

Sometimes, I wonder about the people who stay up late at night crying, only to be comforted by a familiar voice from within, telling them not to give up.

Sometimes, I wonder about the beings with elaborate and sprawling internal worlds, where a thousand other beings they've known in their daydreams wait to welcome them home.

Sometimes, I wonder about the headmates, forced back to the subconscious, patiently waiting for their host to figure it all out.

Sometimes, I wish I could tell all of them.

Sometimes, I wish they all knew they weren't alone.

Sometimes, I wish they all knew how freeing it can be to embrace plurality.

Sometimes...

Sometimes, I wish they all knew that the future is plural.

I hope the future is plural...

We hope the future is plural.

So like shoutout to soulbonds with exotrauma. To soulbonds with traumatic memories, soulbonds who're in a whole new life now and hafta figure out how to deal with that. Soulbonds in bodies with trauma and without. Soulbonds that're scared of people disbelieving our PTSD or other traumabased disorders, being called fake or roleplayers, or our trauma being treated as lesser. Soulbonds who even struggle to treat ourselves as just as important as others that were hurt. Soulbonds whose painful experiences involve fantastical elements that make it hard to talk about in a down to earth way. Soulbonds who're scared they'll "speak over" others with similar bodily trauma. Soulbonds in bodies who only have PTSD at all because of exotrauma.

What happened to us was real because we experienced it and it affects us, and that's so important. We deserve to be treated with respect and we deserve help! It's not fair that we're treated as lesser than bodily trauma. I want every soulbond with exotrauma to know that we CAN find healing one day, and it's gonna be okay. I love you and you'll find others that do too

I am once again fucking begging the community to stop writing everything other than identify-as identities out of the word alterhuman and now fictionfolk too

Alterhuman does not mean everyone who identifies as nonhuman on some level (oh and maybe otherhearted people too). Please for the love of all that is good and holy stop saying that. It means anyone whose identity falls outside of society’s idea of “normal human” - anyone with an identity alternative to humanity or that’s an alternative form of humanity. It includes nonhumanity, yes, but also otherheartedness, hearthomes, archetropy, plurality, daemonism, furry lifestylers, othervague folks, constelics, and so much more. Here’s the coiner’s words to prove it.

Fictionfolk does not mean anyone who identifies as a fictional character. It means anyone with an alterhuman connection to fiction of any kind. It includes fictionkin and fictives and such, yes, but also fictional hearthomes, fictionheartedness, soulbonders, fictional vaguetypes, fictional constelics, and much more. Here’s the coiner’s words to prove it.

To collapse these words down to basically be synonymous with otherkin and fictionkin is to utterly defeat their purpose. Please stop defining us out of our own communities. Please stop erasing the existence of everyone outside of “identifies as nonhuman and/or fictional”.

my hot take is that it doesn't matter why you're otherkin or how you came to be otherkin- if you identify as or are another creature you can call yourself otherkin

yes this includes otherkin by choice

as long as someone choosing to be otherkin actually, earnestly identifies as otherkin I literally do not care. I care when our labels get watered down to "identify with another creature" or "relate to another creature" because that erases the meaning of these words. these terms were founded to describe people who are other creatures.

I am a crow. I am a gray fox. I am fae.

I didn't choose these things. I don't have a problem with people who do.

I think the term otherlink can be valuable but I think it can exist alongside being otherkin by choice. gatekeeping reason behind the term "otherkin" doesn't help us. if someone isn't watering down terminology, if they actually identify as another animal, then they are taking nothing from us.

Here’s some positivity for proxy systems!

According to Pluralpedia, proxy systems are “where one functions as a singlet (or approximately close to one, such as a median system) due to a frontstuck host, yet all members of the system are completely distinct in the headspace.” Many systems may find that they function in this way! This post is for all the proxy systems out there!

🧡 Shoutout to willogenic, paromancy, imagian, or other willfully created proxy systems!

💛 Shoutout to systems who are writers, artists, or other creators whose headmates are characters who are unable to switch or front!

🤍 Shoutout to proxy systems with headmates who wish they could switch!

💜 Shoutout to proxy systems whose members often cofront, blur or blend together, or are coconscious!

💙 Shoutout to proxy systems who love, embrace, and celebrate the way their system works!

🧡 Shoutout to protogenic proxy systems, or those who have always been plural even if no one but the host has fronted!

💛 Shoutout to proxy systems who identify as specutien or have some other specific labels for their experience as proxy systems!

🤍 Shoutout to proxy systems with vast, complex headspaces, and to proxy systems with no headspace whatsoever!

💜 Shoutout to those who are questioning whether or not they are a proxy system!

💙 Shoutout to hosts of proxy systems who work hard to help their headmates live the lives they want to live, even if they can’t fully front!

🧡 Shoutout to proxy systems who prefer to present as a singlet in their daily life for their own comfort and/or safety!

Proxy systems have always been and will always be valued, cherished, and integral members of the plural community! To any proxy system who reads this, please know that your system is real and you are valid, regardless of how you experience plurality or the ways in which your system functions! It’s okay if most of your system members interact with the world through your system’s host. That doesn’t negate the validity of your system in any way, shape, or form!

We hope that every proxy system out there can have an amazing day today. Know that you are so loved, and you make the world and our spaces a better place simply by existing in it! Regardless of how your system came to be, you are special, your system is beautiful, and we are so pleased to be able to share this wonderful, diverse community with you. Please keep you chin up, have some pride in your system and how it works, and do you best to take care of each other!

This silly plan of the Cambrian Crew,

This challenge to write rhymes, by a few

Of the boredest of us - Varyn and Shiloh,

To push the limits of where syscourse can go.

We can be clever, we can be kind,

We can disagree or be one in mind...

But can we say things in rhyme that are meaningful, wise?

It can't hurt to at least give it a few tries.

So this is our first test, and so we say, we see:

Whatever your kind of system, what caused you to be

Many in mind, not an I but a We...

We welcome you, see you, respect you, believe:

The intertwined lives that your systemmates weave

Is a beautiful, wonderful living tapestry.

Each thread of your life, whether bright or grim,

Is stronger for having been woven as Them.

The muffled sounds of tails swishing in the open blue, listening to the generational symphonies sung by whales carried in such gentle tunes...

So vast, so terrifying, so beautiful, and so satisfying.

The ocean will always be in me, floating me in it's embrace.

i feel so left out. like everyone around me knows how to be a human and i don’t.

Plural positivity cus we felt like it!!

[plain text: Plural positivity cus we felt like it!!]

*･ﾟﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*ﾟ:*:✼✿

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you're traumagenic/disordered and support endos

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you're mixed origins

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you're endogenic

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you're blurry all the time

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you don't have a headspace

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you're frontstuck

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you consider yourself one due to imaginary friends/imagis

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you have "too high" of a headcount

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you have "too low" of a headcount

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you only have non-human headmates

You're still a real system/plural/etc. if you only have human headmates

You're still a real system/plural/etc. No matter what anyone tells you!

[Plaintext: You're still a real system/plural/etc. No matter what anyone tells you!]

Experiences in the Alterhuman Community (and Beyond) as a Fictive

It's a weird experience being a fictional character, especially dealing with fandom, the fact that your source is fictional, and interactions with people based on that--including some of the dehumanisation that's so common toward fictionfolk. I'm gonna go into that here because I need somwhere to collect my thoughts, so this might get long. I'll be talking about my experiences as a fictive, but this could very well apply to anyone who identifies as a fictional being--fictionkin, fictionlinkers, etc.

So, I see the version of me on the screen as an AU version of me, in short. I mean, I'm me, and I don't think I even looked exactly 1:1 with my canon self--so naturally, even though events line up pretty closely, I see my source as... Almost like a fanfic of my life? Like sure, that's decidedly me, and decidedly a lot of the things that happened to me and my friends, but also not me. I'm not that guy on the screen, he's what represents me.

Even though I fully believe I got here by dying in a literal past life, my source media here is absolutely fictional to me and I just... Don't look at it in really any other way. Which I guess makes sense if you put it into my perspective--what else would it be? It really is like reading a fanfic based on your life though, or reading an article about yourself in the news. A bit of a shock, a bit of "why did they include THAT?" sprinkled in here and there, a bit awkward sometimes, and it does tend to resurface bad feelings. But overall, it's not that personal to me. I'm largely fine with it existing.

On the other hand, what is shocking is that people see me as fictional. I'm a fictional introject, from a fictional source, from the perspectives of a lot of people here. But I look at my source and I go well... Yeah, that's fiction of course, but my life is an actual thing that happened to me. Realistically I know that not everyone has spiritual beliefs and not everyone even accepts fictional identities as something "real", but man is it weird to just... Have it be spun in such a way?

I'm used to being in the media, I'm used to having cameras on me and being in the public eye. I'm used to articles and stories and posts on the internet. I'm used to fans even! But this isn't your regular, run-of-the-mill experience of people wanting to know you because you're a hero. This is people who see your life and experiences as a fun story they saw in a book or on TV, coming up to you with the idea that you're their favourite character, and not... A whole entire person. It's so damn weird.

There's still that level of disrespect that comes from people who are a little parasocial with you, but it almost hits deeper here because a lot of the time, you know they're not seeing a hero or the things you've literally done in your memories. They're seeing that guy on the screen they think is cool, and while he represents you, he's not you. And they're treating you like a celebrity because of that weird fanfic version of you on the TV or in that book.

There's usually little acknowledgement of your life or experiences as "real". When you're presenting as your fictional identity around others, you tend to get put into one of a few camps:

Cool Character from Media who I love and adore and want to talk to (and will probably get fanperson excited about it). I will probably get dispraportionally upset if Character tells me to back off a bit because I don't want my blorbo to be mad at me.

Character from Media I'm in love with and will immediately start asking invasive questions to or outright flirting with. Could get real gross real quick.

Problematic Character or Guy From Problematic Media that I instantly dislike because that's so Problematic how dare you show your face. I'm reporting you for being Character, you should change your identity if you want to exist so bad.

Character from Media who is disabled/queer/mentally ill/has any soft personality trait ever and I will now be treating you like a sweet little babyboy cinnamon roll who could not hurt a fly.

Person who identifies as Character? How interesting! I'm going to really pry and question everything from your actions in-source (to get unique perspectives from Character) and question literally everything else. Because this is Science and I'll get mad if you don't tell me everything, you need to tell me everything or you're rude.

Of course there's nuance and there's absolutely times where you'll be treated as a normal person, but the above are... So damn common. I've been here for a few months and I've already had some weird stuff happen to me simply because I'm Kirishima and people feel entitled to give me cutesy nicknames or whatever. Even without knowing me or my system at all beforehand. It's just.. So different from anything I've experienced before? Being treated like a celebrity is dehumanising enough, but being treated like a character.ai bot or just generally a form of free entertainment and not a person is so perplexing to me.

There's also that if you're from a popular source, you see stuff about yourself everywhere. Posters, plushies, advertisements, posts on social media--all of it. Some of that I'm used to already, but it's kind of weird when you're mentally aware that this is all for that twisted-mirror version of yourself and not you. And if you get a little uncomfortable at some fanart showing up out of the blue, or someone making a source related joke... You're kind of just expected to brush it off. Which yeah, I get it! It's about the source, not me, but it's still just... A weird feeling. A feeling of not being allowed to be upset because it's about the source and not literal you.

I think there needs to be a line, maybe. Not saying that fictives should be putting a stop to any media or fandom ever, just.. That maybe respect toward us for being uncomfortable with fan content due to being a fictive or fictionkin should be more normalised. It should be more okay to say "hey, I'm Character, please don't joke like that" to a friend, or "don't send me fanart of this thing, I'm Character and that's weird"--which it normally is! But there does tend to be a sort of layer of "Oh, it's because you're Character. You know that's not you, right? You shouldn't be upset, you need to source separate more."--when if most other people were to set a boundary like that, it would usually be respected. Source separation can be great, but if someone hasn't separated or doesn't want to, why is it okay to still send them material they're uncomfortable with--or at least, why do people tend to argue that the fictive should "just separate from source" instead? It... Just boils down to alterhumisia toward fictionfolk, honestly. It sucks.

There's a lot of problems with basic respect toward fictionfolk of all kinds--hell, even in the alterhuman community where it's meant to be safe. I don't know if this rant is entirely coherent or not, I don't know if there's anything noteworthy to take from it--but if you do take something from it, let it be that fictionfolk want to be treated like people. Source separated, not source separated, canon divergent or compliant, hearted, linker, 'kin or 'tive--we're people. Don't let our identities change the way you instinctually treat us. Let us be openly us, and treat us as you would anyone else.