i hope it's okay to ask, i'm curious, but i'd like to know how does astereus / the starwake system have an alter based on dante break, micah's character? please correct me if there's a better way of phrasing this question. i love reading your posts about them! ❤️

Ooohhh, this is a really good question, thank you so much for asking and giving us an opportunity to talk about this topic! These alters who are based on individuals outside the system are Introjects ( specifically, Factives / factual alters are alters created after real people and Fictives / fictional alters are alters after fictional characters, although there are introject alters who can represent after abstract ideas, tropes, archetypes, etcetera, which us cluster personally call them conceptual alters or Conceptives ).

Dante Break was a character of Micah's who xe was extremely connected with since xe was fourteen, Dante being xyr most comfort and all favourite character that xe created for xyr special project, Beyond the Unknown, and even roleplayed it on social platforms during high school years, roleplaying being one of the things that strengthened xyr writing passion and dream of being a published writer when xe accepted xe couldn't take the path of becoming an astronaut due to xyr amnesia and disabilities.

It's unknown when Durante ( alternative name of the Starwaker based on Dante to avoid confusion ) came into being or if it was originally an alter fragment that wasn't fully developed who took upon the Dante Break identity, but Durante initially existed to help Micah ( as a teen while xe faced depression, derealization-depersonalization, self-hatred, and internalized ableism ), cope with the loss of xyr ultimate dream of being an astronaut while teaching xem the importance of carving xyr path in xyr own life.

As explained from our research with own personal understanding and experiences with OSDDID, It's highly common that systems have a large amount of introject alters after fictional characters who one or more alters always been attached to or become more hyperfocused on at this time. These characters are the easiest sources of joy and comfort that the brain would introject from to help the affected alter better adjust in their life with their current health state and living situation.

However, it is possible indeed that alters can be created after real people who the alter(s) know, may it be based on someone who had a significant positive impact to that alter such as a caregiver or negative like an abuser. Although keep in mind, introject alter =/= their actual source. The introject alter may relate to their source in some degree, but in the end, they are their own person who can choose to disconnect with their source or maintain their source identity for their comfort.

To add our own personal experiences, we do have several introject alters, few prominent being based on Sun and Lito ( and suspectingly Wolfgang ) from Sense8, Jang Nan-gam from A Killer Paradox, few of our original characters, we even had an alter based on the " monster tamer " character archtype when I was hyperfocused on watching Pokémon and Digimon during the summer two years ago and this alter deeply loved to explore and interact with bugs. He really loved ducks as well and would have us watch duck related videos with him.

Durante was highly active when Micah ( and Philos when fronting while Micah was unavailable ) portrayed it for the show, hearing its suggestions and comments at times, but xe only thought xe would be exhausted and slip into the Dante Break persona when xe's used to being it for xyr arts career. Durante would sometimes be co-present with Micah while xe's acting or being interviewed, which it and especially Philos were the main reasons why people came to speculate that Micah had DID.

Phoebus and Philos always knew Durante's existence, then soon Phobos, but Micah became aware some time after xe got the diagnosis on their DID, exploring their inner world in one of the first few times and met it who was loitering about.