We took a break from the site and then got sick (just a cold but we still felt miserable), so we don't have much to write about right now.

The new blog theme ended up being fairly similar to the original nude theme. Making it more colorful seemed like it would lean too much in the direction of one of the branches. This version of the theme is inspired by Emilie Reed's Zonelet (Hotel Paintings) and Murid's neocities page, as well as news websites in general.


In an attempt to explain my experiences as part of a subsystem that is more median than the rest of the system, I came up with some ideas for descriptions based off of more well-known concepts in plurality that used star systems as a metaphor. Since the amount of separation between people in this system changes so often, having short ways to describe might prove useful.

Headspace is a commonly used term. It refers to the "internal world" some systems have, where system members can see/visualize each other to interact.

Identity space: the space in which identities are compared, as opposed to a headspace where peoples' mental-physical presences are compared in physical distance. Identity space is described more vaguely and with metaphors because it doesn’t translate to physical distances as well as a headspace does. For example, system members in a multiple system have identities that are distant from each other in their identity space regardless of how close they are to each other in their headspace. A median system may use a headspace where they can be distant from one another for functional visualization purposes but they are still close to each other in their identity space. A subsystem has an identity space of its own within the broader system’s identity space, where they can be relatively close or distant considering that the subsystem’s members are closer to each other than they are to non-subsystem members.

Identity mass: how much of a presence someone has in the identity space they occupy. Some system members, such as fragments, may have a small identity mass while having a strong presence in the headspace due to their strong reactions. Identity mass can correlate with how much distance they have from others in the identity space, but it doesn’t necessarily have to do so. People can be very individualistic while also blending with each other easily.

Integration (in this terminology): integration or fusion occurs when two identity masses are so close that they intertwine. Typically, integration refers to permanent combination, fusion refers to impermanent combination, and blending refers to combination that is both impermanent and incomplete. We don’t have much experience with integration or fusion. Our blending happens as a function of Fronting more often than it happens in our general identity space.

Describing the weight of identities as masses is difficult to use. It might be more helpful to use a different perspective to make descriptions like these if the comparison to stars is too limited. The terms are bound to have some limitations, however, since they are meant to describe system members relative to each other and not to describe them more objectively as individuals. The idea was to come up with a flexible way to describe the scale of multiple-to-median that allows for self-explanation instead of using rigid terms, but it may still feel rigid when applied to describing people.

Identity space is easy to use but describing one seems difficult. That may be because we just happen to have a very complex one, though. Our headspace is based off of things we know but our identity space isn't. It moves fluidly but isn't in our control.

Maybe these will be expanded on in the future if we decide to use them again. If we make an update on Front it may be useful. Most of us are used to how our system works enough to not need words for it outside of writing.


Thoughts


Things

This one is a little long because we sat on it for a while. Blog post drafts generally start with this section.

Here's some links that aren't about security or privacy. Some recommended reading from the Poetry Renaissance: