a-system-and-fanworks - Tumblr blog

a-system-and-fanworks · 5 months

Note

Hi! I hope this blog isn't inactive but if it is and you've decided to log back in years later for whatever reason and see this- that's cool! Dw abt it

My situation: I'm specifically trying to not write a character with DID/OSDD because I feel it would be harmful representation in the story with how it works. However, I'm worried that it will read as if I am anyway. I'd appreciate help to avoid this.

My character is a conduit that connects their world to a magical otherworld. They are not aware of this till much later in the story. This means that at any time, creatures from that otherworld (wether accidentally or on purpose) can suddenly inhabit their body, shoving their own consciousness to the back.

A lot of the time, if the creature has entered accidentally, they may be confused or disoriented and do things humans wouldn't do, sometimes getting violent because of it. There is one (or two) reoccurring charcter(s) that are first disoriented and maybe violent but over time and re-entering their body repeatedly, form a connection with the character and work towards a common goal. However there is also another one that appears in their body exactly once on purpose, and then tries to tear them apart in order to make their connection to the otherworld more physical and larger.

I dont think this would be a good allegory for DID/OSDD specifically because of the violence. So I want to know if there's any way I can do this without making it read as such. I have friends in systems and I absolutely do not want to contribute to the hatred against them. Your help would be much appreciated.

P.S. I am writing another character that actually has DID in a different story! They're still in the research and construction phase but just wanted to let you know :)

Haha yes this blog is still active, I should probably put a little note in the header or something

But as for your ask, maybe drawing a parallel between their situation and things that affect all sorts of people would help clarify the difference. It seems like the main point of conflict is that the character has to play a role they didn't choose (even if they come to be okay with it later), and that's something that can happen to anyone.

Some parallels could be working a retail job, being closeted to your family, or even being in the military. All of those can have a massive effect on one's life and make them feel out of control of their lives, and that might distance the comparison to DID/OSDD.

Another idea is that you could include a reference to DID/OSDD within the story, specifically to contrast it against how your character's situations works.

(Side note: I don't think violence inherently makes it a "bad allegory," violence can definitely be a part of system dynamics, but you're right, it's an oversaturated aspect of works about DID/OSDD/similar things, and contributes to stigma)

I hope these spark some ideas for you, if you want to write back and keep brainstorming feel free! :)

#writing did #writing advice #did representation

3 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 7 months

Note

Hi! I don't know how active this blog is, but wanted to give it a shot anyways--I'm writing a fic right now with a character who is canonically a dissociative system, and I want to make sure I get it right! I have a couple of questions:

1) How would you describe the feeling of leaving the front? If, for example, System Member A was fronting, and System Member B came to the front, what would that experience feel like for System Member A? Would they still be aware to some extent? Is there a physical sensation associated with it?

2) Then, vice versa, what would that experience feel like for System Member B? Would they have any awareness or understanding of the situation they are in? E.g. If System Member A took the body to a doctor's appointment, and then B came to the front, would it be possible for B to know what was going on at all?

3) Is it possible for a system member not to know the body's given name? For example, if a system member went by their own specific name, and maybe didn't front very often, then saw an old childhood friend on the street. If that friend called them by the body's given name, would it make any sense whatsoever for the member in question to be confused?

4) I know it's possible for multiple system members to front at once, but is there such a thing as a situation where no one is fronting? If so, what would that look like?

Thank you so much for your help!!

Despite how it looks, this blog is in fact active! Thanks for the ask! I’ll put the rest under the cut, but I hope this helps. Good luck with your fic!

How does switching feel to the people leaving/entering front?

It’s different from system to system, but there are some common descriptions of what switching feels like. To some, it feels like waking up/falling asleep. To others, it feels like fading into the background/coming into focus. Sometimes a physical sensation or muted physical sensations goes with switching, like a chill running up the spine or getting goosebumps. Some people twitch or make other movements, and switching headaches are notorious (but not always present)

Remembering things between switches

Again, this varies from system to system. It’s pretty much a consistent thing for systems to have some sort of separation between switching, between simply emotional distance or full blackout amnesia. Generally though, having some impression of what happened before one switched in is normal. How much one remembers between switches tends to follow a pattern, so you should keep that in mind. Often how much is remembered between switches improves over a long period of time with better communication, so that can change as well

Remembering details about the body

Whether or not someone’s able to remember details about the system’s life depends on the barriers they have between other system members. This can vary from system to system and member to member. Often a system member will have at least some idea of the body’s life and memories, but clarity varies. Full amnesia about the body’s life isn’t impossible, but neither is knowing exactly what’s going on.

For the specific scenario of someone calling out the body’s name and whoever’s fronting being confused, yes that’s entirely possible. I would expect them to be confused about other things too though, especially if they’re not used to fronting or are new

Can the front be empty?

Technically no, but it might seem that way if the system as a whole is very dissociated and so blurry that it feels like there’s no one in front. Some systems may also describe it that way because it translates better in everyday talk. If a system is very dissociated and blurry though, that might look a lot like the freeze or flop response when one is triggered, so that could be something to look into for writing purposes

#🏡#writing did #writing advice

3 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 9 months

Note

Hello! Recently, I've wanted to write a character with DID (not associated with Moon Knight, I've kinda been scrolling for a bit), and although I have friends who are/have systems (is that the correct term?), I don't know how to exactly ask for help because I don't want to come off as rude or prying.

The character in question is quite stressed out in life with no one to turn to for support, and he witnessed a close friend being shot to death. I checked out some of the posts on this blog, and noticed a few times it was mentioned that people usually have DID due to similar traumas. (Please correct me if I'm wrong, I want to learn!)

So, I want to ask a few questions;

1) Is it possible for an alter to forget someone that the host knows? So that when that alter is fronting, they won't recognize the other person?

2) Do alters have to know about the host's significant other? Can the alter dislike that significant other?

3)Is it possible for an alter to front at the same time as the host, if the system is confused for example? (for example, in my story, the system not agreeing on if they should shoot someone or not because the host cares for that person, but the alter doesn't?)

If you ever do read this, thank you, and I do apologize for not being the most knowledgeable about these things. :(

Hi there! Uninformed questions are totally okay here, that’s what the blog is for :)

DID is caused by trauma, yes, but the key point is that it forms in childhood before a child’s personality is fully integrated (we don’t know exactly when that is, but it’s speculated to be around ages 6-9). You could probably change the timeline of when the major trauma occurred, or establish gun violence as the cause of their trauma, then have the aftermath of their friend’s death as when they face their DID head-on. These are just some suggestions, but identity separation generally doesn’t occur past childhood, and is a bit different than DID as we currently understand it

As for your questions:

“1) Is it possible for an alter to forget someone that the host knows? So that when that alter is fronting, they won't recognize the other person?”

Yep, and this is because of the way switching amnesia and dissociative barriers can work in DID.

Switching amnesia is amnesia between alters based on whether they were fronting/near front when something was happening. It might not be total, blackout style amnesia, but with switching amnesia there’s usually some “fuzziness” that accompanies trying to remember what another alter did. This can definitely extend to whole relationships.

Dissociative barriers are what separate memories, identity factors, skills, opinions, emotions, etc between alters. They can be lowered as part of healing, but are the base “building blocks” of what makes alters alters.

“2) Do alters have to know about the host's significant other? Can the alter dislike that significant other?”

Not at all, and absolutely. Like I said about dissociative barriers, different alters may have different memories and opinions, and that can extend to people the system knows. As an example, our social protector sees the body’s parents as his peers, whereas our host sees them as their parents.

“3) Is it possible for an alter to front at the same time as the host, if the system is confused for example? (for example, in my story, the system not agreeing on if they should shoot someone or not because the host cares for that person, but the alter doesn't?)”

This is called co-fronting, which is when two or more alters are fronting at the same time. This is similar to co-consciousness, which is when another alter is aware of what’s happening on the outside, but isn’t in control of the body. Co-consciousness is a little like having someone in the passenger seat of a car to give driving instructions, whereas with co-fronting, both people have their hands on the wheel.

Also as a side note, the host of a system is an alter too, they just happen to “run things” :)

I hope this was a good reply! Good luck with your writing!

#🏡#writing did #writing advice #death tw #gun violence tw #murder tw

11 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 1 year

Note

Will a protector ever front if there is nothing that the host needs 'protection' from? (like if they are not currently in a stressful situation)

Short answer: yes. Sometimes alters with specific roles only front when their role is needed, sometimes they front regardless of if their role is needed, it depends on the dissociative system and the alter. Whether someone fronts only for their role or not can also change with time, in either “direction”

#asks #🏡

5 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 1 year

Note

Hi I have a question!! Are there ever cases where an alter dislikes the host's romantic partner, or isn't really close to them at all? And if so how is this usually dealt with/resolved? And do all alters have to warm up with that person individually? Sorry if that was worded really awkwardly, or if you've already answered this, but you're really awesome for offering this advice out to people!! Thank you ^^"

You’re totally alright! They are cases where that happens, and we’ve actually been in that exact situation before. If anything, this may be more likely than not, since different alters may or may not develop the same feelings and opinions towards a person.

Sometimes there’s emotional bleed-over or make it easier to get to know someone, but this isn’t guaranteed, and how that presents may vary (for instance, most of our main fronters are fond of our host’s partner due to our host’s feelings, but don’t have the same feelings towards our host’s partner). Different alters may also have different reactions towards a partner because of past experiences. For instance, a child alter who’s scared of men may not warm up to a male partner for a while.

For systems who are open about their systemhood, I suppose a conversation would have to be had around boundaries and making sure that a system’s partner is okay with fluctuating boundaries from alter to alter. How a relationship ends up in the end can really vary. Sometimes a partner is only dating one alter, sometimes they’re dating the whole system or otherwise partnered with them, sometimes they’re together with multiple alters, and may or may not consider this polyamory (at that point it sort of comes down to how they personally view it).

If they’re not open about it, aren’t fully aware of their situation, and don’t have much control over switching, that may lead to some problems and internal conflict (like “why do I love my partner one moment and the next I feel grossed out by the idea of kissing them? I must be a bad person for this”).

Overall it can be complicated to work out a relationship as a system, but it’s definitely not impossible! We’re friends with a solid handful of systems with singlet partners, system partners, multiple partners, only in-system partners, there’s a ton of ways people can find healthy companionship

#thanks for the ask!#asks #🏡

5 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 1 year

Text

Occasional reminder that this blog still exists 👋

If you want to send in questions about portrayal of dissociative systems in media, especially how to portray us in fanworks, feel free!

#🏡

1 note · View note

a-system-and-fanworks · 1 year

Note

hi!! so this isn't related to what fandom is particularly popular on this blog, but I'm writing a gift for an older fandom in which a character has sort of, dual personalities after the tragic loss of a parent-- the alter that comes out after the event is what I believe to be akin to a protector (again, coming from a singlet who has friends who have systems/are part of systems themselves) but I've seen discourse saying it is uncommon for only two separate entities to exist within a system-- (like just a host & one alter). also, do you have any tips for writing within headspace? the fandom I'm writing for (knb) has scenes that sort of focus on a shift between alters but it's just a blank space where the host & alter interact with one another. I want to do it justice without my portrayal being harmful, I suppose. thanks for running this blog, it's been very helpful as I've done research!!

Hey there! Other fandoms are totally fine, Moon Knight is what we’re mostly familiar with but this is a blog for any fandom at the end of the day.

You might not have thought of this (or maybe you have), but if you’re writing a dissociative system whose dissociation stems from a major event, that’d have to be in their childhood (before about ~10 or so). Without support and a healthy environment to process that, a kid could definitely develop as a dissociative system.

Systems with only two alters aren’t as common to our knowledge and experience, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with writing a system with two alters. If the loss of their parent happened in adolescence or adult life, then yeah, it would be unusual or possibly downright impossible at that point for there not to be other alters. Since you’re writing fic though, you can mess around with the timeline as you like if you want.

When writing the character who’s a protector, keep in mind the variety that can come with that role. Is their job to take the painful emotions so that the host doesn’t have to feel them (so they’d be a trauma holder/protector)? Is their job to mask painful emotions when they come up, and not display grief? There’s a ton of different ways a protectors file could present in this case.

Alright, now for headspaces. Headspaces can look like anything, or they can look like nothing at all, or a system may not have one and communicates internally in some other way that doesn’t have a physical space (like exchanging thoughts, emotions, external messages, stuff like that). Having it be a blank space isn’t wrong at all, plenty of headspaces look like that. Since this is the nature of the space though, you have a lot of potential wiggle room where you can add things. Symbolic objects (like a filing cabinet for memories), a way to visualize the connection to the outside world (like a screen), symbolic settings (like a childhood home or comforting space), or other things.

I hope this explains things and gives you some tips! Feel free to write back if you have other questions

#writing did #fanfic advice #did representation #knb #(lmk if you want me to take that tag off)#asks #parent death mention

8 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 1 year

Text

We haven’t been to active lately, but if anyone’s got questions or wants to stop by, we’ll be here for a couple hours :)

0 notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 1 year

Text

As far as one alter momentarily interrupting another alter fronting to do or say something, often that gets played as a horror device, or for angst, or whatever other negative action you want.

And yes that can happen, that does happen for many, but that’s often not all that happens.

Case in point: A more playful alter who I didn’t know was on co co-fronted for a second just to imitate a friend of ours saying “uwu” in a Goofy voice

#Obligatory yes every system is different yes people have different experiences yes it’s not all fun and games #but it’s not always a terrible experience either #sometimes it’s the equivalent of someone throwing erasers at you or distracting you so you act silly in front of your boss #🏡

1 note · View note

a-system-and-fanworks · 2 years

Text

Heyy we’ve got some time available tonight, so just a reminder that this blog does in fact exist!

If you’re a singlet and wanting advice on representing dissociative systems in fanworks, or wanting to ask questions related to that, this is the blog! Silly, awkward, or niche questions are all okay :)

Check description and pinned if you like, but otherwise just stop by our ask box

#Tagging this w/ moon knight stuff because that’s still what we’re into for this blog but non moon knight stuff is a-okay too #moon knight #moon knight fanworks #moon knight fandom #moon knight fanfic #writing did

8 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 2 years

Text

Thinking about that big final fight again and thinking about how fucking cool it was to see a system with the dissociative equivalent of suddenly being able to fight amazingly, like it went right along with the superhero genre and the way that the arc of getting acclimated to new abilities tends to go in superhero stories, but with something we could relate to! And it was amazing! And it fit perfectly!

*sigh*

It was just so good

#We haven’t been too active on this sideblog because of college *shudder* but we were thinking about this tonight #we’re still open to taking asks but probably will answer them slower #moon knight #moon knight series #cursing tw

11 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 2 years

Note

Hello, I have a quick question. If, for example, Marc is fronting and getting drunk, would Steven also feel drunk if he’s close enough to the front? Or would Steven be able to watch and not feel the effects of alcohol? Or does it depend on the system?

Hi there! We answered a similar question here, which answers most of this, but I’ll answer your questions in short form here too

Steven would possibly be able to feel the effects of that, yes, but it’s possible that he wouldn’t feel the effects to a certain point. Regardless though, since alcohol temporarily affects how your brain works, he’d notice something sooner or later, since the brain can’t exactly section off a part to be completely unaffected. It really depends on the system how different people are affected by intoxication, so there’s no completely straight answer I can give you

Hope this helps!

#asks #moon knight fanworks #moon knight #alcohol mention

5 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 2 years

Note

I have a question about sharing skills between different alters, but more about the actual experience of it? I know some alters can have skills that others don’t, or not have skills that others do, but how does that actually work from a first-person perspective?

Now that’s something we haven’t seen brought up that much, so thanks for asking! As always, experiences between systems vary a lot, so this is just from our experience and what friends have told us.

From the perspective of an alter who can’t do certain skills, it’s wild to watch other alters do a certain skill. Especially if we’re co-con or partially fronting, it can be really impressive, or confusing, or even scary to watch someone else do something you definitely can’t. It can also be surreal to watch someone who can’t do something you definitely can, whether it’s something important or more minor.

It can also be… well, an experience, to have to account for variation in skills. Sometimes it doesn’t matter too much, but sometimes you’ve got to answer questions about why you’re suddenly good at something you’re notorious at failing, or bad at something you’re very skilled in.

And then there’s sharing skills. We’re able to do this to an extent, and sometimes we actually rely on this for some of us to be able to get things done. Usually we do this by partially blurring, or co-fronting, or being close enough in our fronting room that one person passively influences the other. This can be practical, but it can also be very interesting when you’re suddenly being given access to a skill you can’t normally do. There is of course muscle memory as well, but this is a little less reliable for us.

Sometimes all of this can get pretty funny though. We might try to pester someone into switching out so we can do something better (or at all), or someone might end up in a position where they have to try to do something they have no idea how to do, or know they can’t do well (like one time when we were doing karaoke and the resident good singers were unable to be found). Sometimes we run across the results of something doing an awful job of things (putting away dishes…), or a really great job (trying to figure out how someone put something together so well), and that can be interesting as well.

Anyway, I’ve rambled long enough. Hopefully this gives you some examples of how all that is from a first-person perspective!

#asks #by the way all the examples here were shared by permission

3 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 2 years

Note

Hi Uh ok, this is my first ask ever and I am nervousss but thank you sm for this blog! Please, take your time answering if you even want to answer at all! I’m wondering about how to write an inner world in a system. I love imagery, so the idea of it is fascinating to me and I really want to get it as accurate as I can. I’ve learned that every system is different, and nuanced; but do you have any general tips or reminders or things to avoid? Apologies if you’ve already spoken on this Thank u :))

Hey no worries! Pretty much every inner world is tailored to the system, at least once work is put in to see what’s needed, what’s helpful, that sort of thing.

In general, inner worlds reflect 1) the system’s needs, and 2) the system’s current condition. They can lean towards one or the other, or be both at once, or what have you, but those are the main running themes.

Some systems don’t start out with an inner world, and work on forming one in therapy for communication reasons. There’s a couple different common models for that, like a table with a bunch of chairs around it, or a park, so doing research into inner worlds formed with the help of a therapist may be helpful if you want to go that route.

Inner worlds can vary a lot on how intense or vivid they are, and I feel like this is an important note no matter the appearance of an inner world. Some systems may not be good at visualization, or it may take time/effort to make things more vivid.

Inner worlds can also vary a lot in complexity and area. Some systems may have huge, sprawling inner worlds, or extremely detailed inner worlds, or very abstract inner worlds, or tiny inner worlds, etc.

Many inner worlds can change! Whether they change without effort or with the help of a specific alter or groups of alters, inner worlds can change to fit the system’s needs or reflect the system’s condition.

It takes focus to keep up an inner world, and many inner worlds are not as comprehensive as the external world. Not everything is generated automatically in high resolution detail, for most, and it may result in some odd situations because of that. For instance, books on a bookshelf might not have anything in them, or have illegible print, or something like that.

The rules of an inner world don’t always reflect reality, and (in our experience at least) often don’t. Things which don’t exist in real life can exist in an inner world, physics don’t always follow the same rules, and even the concept of space can be flexible (for instance, rooms which are bigger on the inside, or only exist sometimes).

A lot of systems have a fronting room. Not all of them do, and alters don’t necessarily need to be in a fronting room to front, but it’s a common feature of inner worlds.

I haven’t covered everything, so if you have any more questions feel free to send them in. All in all, if you’re writing a system’s inner world, there’s a lot of things to consider. The system’s background, what they might find comfort in, what might represent certain things (for instance, an area that houses intense trauma holders may be underground), whether they’re very imaginative or not, that sort of thing.

#writing did #fanfic advice

6 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 2 years

Note

I hope it’s okay for me to submit this but with that scene when Marc punched Steven in the face? That had me and a couple other alters in my system going “Woah woah they can do that? Shit, I want to learn how to do that-”

(We know virtually zero other systems who actually watched/enjoyed Moon Knight, so I’m telling you this here, I hope that’s okay?)

Yeah it’s alright! And yes, oh my god, we thought the same thing several times. Although our face would probably regret the amount of punching we’d want to do over little things.

That’s one detail that we liked about the show, that while their control over fronting and jumping in and stuff is unusually skilled (at least for Steven’s level of experience), it’s definitely doable and really funny sometimes. We were thinking, “Yes, that’s how you utilize this for plot reasons!”

#moon knight

3 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 2 years

Text

Generally this blog isn’t for much else other than advice/answering questions about writing dissociative systems, however…

In Moon Knight near the end-ish when Steven kept trying to explore the psych ward and ask questions and dig up past trauma, a lot of us related heavily to Marc, since it always seems like there’s that one guy who keeps trying to dig through things and then gets over their head very quickly

Like if there’s one thing you don’t want an alter who’s just learning about the system and how everything works to do, specifically one that isn’t a trauma holder, it’s immediately go digging for trauma asfgdfs

#moon knight #moon knight duat

7 notes · View notes

a-system-and-fanworks · 2 years

Note

saw your reblog! is it alright if i pm you?

Yep!

#asks

0 notes