Calmer (n.)
A member who calms the symptoms or stress of a particular disorder or stimulus. May often pair with a holder ⓘ to manage symptoms through a combination of isolation and suppression as a team.
Caretaker (n.)
A member who takes care of the system's mental and emotional health. This may include looking after younger members (littles ⓘ ), providing comfort and therapy-like support to other members, or any number of other related jobs.
Fictive (n.)
An introject ⓘ whose source is a fictional character.
Factive (n.)
An introject ⓘ whose source is a real person, often historical figures or personal acquaintances.
Gatekeeper (n.)
A member who controls or manages who can front and when. This can be for various reasons, including safety or simply being a part of how the system functions.
Holder (n.)
A member who "holds" or isolates a particular feeling, urge, mental condition, set of memories, etc. to allow the rest of the system to function more effectively. For example, an ADHD holder might manifest symptoms of ADHD more strongly than other members, in order to fulfill the brain's needs without impeding other members.
Host (n.)
A member who holds the system's front the majority of the time. Note the slight difference from a shell ⓘ , which is a primarily social role; a member who is a shell is often also a host and vice versa, but not necessarily.
Introject (n.)
A member who is "sourced from" something outside the system. May have similarities to their source in personality or even retain some of their source's memories, but are not necessarily literally the same individual; more often, introjects are closer to a replica or copy of their source, and may differ significantly in various ways.
Little (n.)
A member who is signficantly younger than the system's actual age, usually a younger child. Similar terms like "pseudolittle" for members who are little in one regard but not another, or "middle" for members who are teens rather than children, are also sometimes used.
Manager (n.)
A member who helps ensure the system stays on-task and properly takes care of work, chores, and other responsibilities.
Persecutor (n.)
A member who causes significant and direct harm to the system or other members. Contrary to popular belief due to bad representation in media, persecutors are not "evil", and most are simply attempting to protect the system in a misguided or self-destructive way, and can often become protectors ⓘ if the other members are willing to work with them to channel those efforts in a healthier direction.
Personal trainer (n.)
A member who helps the system stay in shape through working out, exercise, and so on. See also physician ⓘ .
Physician (n.)
A member who helps ensure the system stays physically healthy, including nutrition, hygiene, taking medication, and so on. See also personal trainer ⓘ .
Protector (n.)
A member who protects the system from percieved threats, usually external but potentially also mental or existential.
Shell (n.)
A member who serves as the system's public persona and/or legal identity. Typically the member who most often handles interactions with people outside the system who don't (or aren't allowed to) know about the system, or the member others pretend to be in such situations.
Snapshot (n.)
A member who is a "copy frozen in time" from a specific point in the system's or a specific member's life. Not necessarily identical to their source at that point in time.
Subsystem (n.)
A system within a system - a member who is themselves a system separate from the overall supersystem ⓘ . Individual members of a subsystem may or may not be considered members of the supersystem.
Supersystem (n.)
The inverse of a subsystem ⓘ , a system which contains one or more members who are themselves systems.
Blurry (adj.)
A state in which two or more members of the system are mixed up with each other and unsure who is who. Usually unintentional, and may result in stress or confusion for some systems.
Cofront (v.)
The act of holding the front simultaneously with one or more other members. In most systems, only one person is "in control" at a time most of the time, but co-fronting creates an exception to that dynamic.
Co-conscious (adj.)
A state in which a member of a system retains autonomy while not in front and is able to observe the outside world, despite not actively being in control of the body.
Dormant (adj.)
A state in which a particular member disappears or becomes effectively comatose for an indefinite period of time.
Fusion (n.)
With time and therapy, it is possible for the dissociative walls that separate two alters to be broken down, improving communication and reducing amnesia. In some cases, the end result of this process will be the brain no longer considering the distinction between the two alters to be necessary at all, resulting in the two fusing together into one new alter that combines traits and memories of both.
Final fusion (fusion of all alters into one) was seen as the end goal of therapy for DID ⓘ for a long time, but has fallen out of favor more recently in favor of aiming for functional multiplicity (remaining as multiple, but improving ability to function as a team). Different systems have varying opinions on fusion, and varying levels of control over whether it happens; while many consider it objectionable, there is nothing inherently unhealthy or wrong about it, as long as it isn't being forced on the system against their will.
Headspace (n.)
An "inner world" in which system members can interact with each other to varying degrees. Not exclusive to systems, but much more commonly a topic of discussion in the plural community than outside it, as it's a vital tool for individual members to communicate and interact.
Dissociative Identity Disorder (n.)
One of the two primary medical diagnoses, alongside the somewhat broader OSDD (Other Specified Dissociative Disorder), which are common causes of plurality. Note that not all systems necessarily fit a particular diagnosis at all; DID is simply one of many possible causes of plurality.
Learn more about DID ⮚
Endogenic (adj.)
A system whose formation was not caused by trauma, as opposed to traumagenic ⓘ .
Traumagenic (adj.)
A system whose formation was caused by trauma, as opposed to endogenic ⓘ .
It/Its (pr.)
A set of pronouns typically used for inanimate objects, but also sometimes by those who do not identify with human-ness.
I was talking to it .
Is this its dog?
That seat is its .
It did it all by itself .
Void/Voids (pr.)
A set of neopronouns representing a gender which is void-like, null, or empty.
I was talking to void .
Is this voids dog?
That seat is void's .
Void did it all by voidself .
Vi/Vir/Virs (pr.)
I was talking to vir .
Is this vir dog?
That seat is virs .
Vi did it all by virself .
Median (adj.)
A type of plurality in which individual facets are not as distinctly "separate" as typically seen of alters in other forms of plurality, often being seen as aspects of the same core individual that are still too distinct to be purely code-switching. Sometimes considered to be somewhere "between" a singlet ⓘ and a full system.
Singlet (n.)
A person who is not a system, being the only person occupying their body.
Syscovery (n.)
A portmanteau of "system" and "discovery". The act of discovering, or time when it was discovered, that you are a system.
Info Button (n.)
A small button in the shape of an encircled lowercase I, which are scattered throughout the Foxflower Shrine site, and can be clicked to pop up a short definition of potentially unfamiliar terms.
Magic: The Gathering Colors
In the trading card game Magic: The Gathering , cards are assigned to one or more of five colors, representing both the card's mechanical identity and the character's driving philosophy. We've used them here as a "personality test", to represent different members' personalities in a brief and intuitive format.
White – unity through orderBlue – perfection through knowledgeBlack – independence through ruthlessnessRed – freedom through actionGreen – harmony through acceptanceColorless – no specific philosophy; empty, void, mechanical
Different combinations of colors overlap in various ways, and can give a broad overview of an approach to life. Keep in mind that no color or combination is evil , and the philosophies they represent are extreme oversimplifications. Learn more
Representation Clarity
We rank "representation clarity" on a scale out of 5, to describe how clear it is that a series or character is plural representation. Note that this is a separate metric from the quality of that representation; this only describes how directly plurality is shown, regardless if that's well or poorly.
Loose thematic parallel ; could be read as plural-adjacent, but only at a stretch or through thematic inversion (e.g. hiveminds, physical mitosis).Clear thematic parallel ; could be read as plural-adjacent, but doesn't directly involve a literal system.Seemingly plural, but not directly stated ; at least one character seems to be a system, but it could be something else.Clearly plural, but not directly stated ; at least one character is definitely a system, but there's no explicit reference to system-related terminology. Marked with an asterisk if they are explicitly stated to be a system outside of the series itself, such as at panels or other author Q&As.Explicitly stated in medical or community terms ; the series explicitly references plurality, CDDs, or other system-related terminology. Marked with an asterisk if the terminology used is outdated medical terminology such as "split personality" or "multiple personality disorder".