Plurality
The foxes of the forest |
|
|---|---|
| Alter | Description |
| The Foxes (she/they)  |
A blurred together state where the foxes listed below, as well as other foxes that have yet to identify themselves The foxes are not a singular person/alter, and trying to focus on any one emotion or thought usually leads to the foxes bickering with one another |
| Vivian (she/her)  |
Of the foxes, she tends to deal with the majority of day-to-day stuff She isn't the original, she's not the core, she's not the "true self", she's just the one who handles a lot of the stuff we all have to do Often delegates more difficult tasks/thoughts to Sandra & Crow |
| Misty (she/her)  |
Generally soft spoken, tries to leave most complex/adult tasks to the others Easily overwhelmed Often more open with emotions and being silly than the rest of the alters. If I'm acting particularly silly or scared, it's likely Misty you're speaking with She is small |
| Grey (they/it/she)  |
Feels more connected with our past compared to the others, and with that has more difficulties reconciling the fact we lived as the wrong gender Is mostly just fed up with the concept of gender and prefers to not be labeled under it. Also goes by Void, although less often nowadays Has been blamed by the other alters for our past. But the self that lived that life was not Grey, nor any of us. That person is dead, and was never truly alive in the first place. |
| The other creatures. Less frequently appearing, those that consider themselves more separate from Vivian | |
|---|---|
| Alter | Description |
| Sandra (she/her) - Protector/Caretaker  |
Tends to handle most professional tasks when the others are non-functional Pushes forward everyone to be the most they can be, encourages euphoria and exploration Often works and speaks with Crow and Vivian |
| Crow (they/she) - Protector/Caretaker  |
Deals with emotions through repression and disconnection Desires safety, functionally similar to Sandra, but through methods that are more focused on repression and suppression than euphoria and exploration Has some degree of therian feelings regarding see themself as a crow Often works and speaks with Sandra and Vivian |
Lanolin (she/they) |
Soft and warm personality. Has more difficulty anchoring self to reality than others. |
Mephitidae/Drone (it/they) |
They are a skunk They are okay with the name Mephitidae and variants on it, or simply Drone Enjoy doing tasks that are monotonous. |
We're all comfortable being referred to as Vivian, although if you're aware of our presence, we would like it if you tried referring to us directly at times
When speaking to us, you can just refer to us as a singular entity, Vivian, she/they
All we ask is that you act like a normal person about my plurality. If you're just going to psychoanalyze us or tell us we're weird, we'd rather not speak to you.
We're happy to clarify and answer questions, just don't do it in excess, and be respectful.
We have placed this on our page to help spread awareness of plurality, help to normalize and destigmatize it, and to soothe our own anxieties regarding it. We encourage others to explore these feelings in themselves if they find that these concepts fit them.
The mind is complicated. There is no central sense of self contained in any part of the mind. It is a fragmented mess of neurons that are loosly hooked together. Everyone has some level of fragmentation, because the mind is inherently separate parts in communication. For anyone to consider themselves fully and absolutely singular is laughable
We have always been plural
From our youngest memories, we have been segmented internally. There was never a singular self, there was always a plurality of self
These thoughts were not intrusions, they were not seen as foreign. All voices have their place, they are not outsiders, there is no delusion present
We occupy different states at different times. We lose track of my thoughts and snap into states where we feel distant from the emotions we felt a moment before
This is plurality
We are still coming to understand ourselves as plural
The label works, the understanding fits, the metaphor of fronting fits.
We are plural
A few comics that I've come to enjoy that helped us in understanding myself in this regard are cuteosphere's brain bunnies' comics, gray/Dupe's Plain or Simple, and the comics from a carousel of animals
You can read up a bit more on the concept of plurality here
And now, a fun little blog with fun facts about the Forest System!
- Crow thinks our system name is lame, and wants to come up with something more clever
- Everyone in the system took part in writing this website, but Drone and Vivian did most of the heavy lifting of making it actually look nice and be formatted correctly and everything.
- Sandra picked her name before Vivian did
- Sandra, Crow, and Vivian, and Drone have always existed in some form