WikiPlural

A system within a system – nested plurality. Can refer to a member of a system who is median, but has non-median systemmates, or systemmates who share a headspace/innerworld/otherworld body much as systems share an outerworld body, etc.

In outerworld, some people are singlets and some are plural. The same can be true within a plural system. Individual system members can be singlet or plural within the system itself.

Just as the spectrum of plural systems is very diverse, so to is the spectrum of subsystems. For example, sometimes the members of the subsystem share a headspace/innerworld/otherworld body, sometimes they have separate ones. Some have a headspace/innerworld/otherworld internal to the subsystem itself, but others do not. Origins are just as diverse. Some are traumagenic, some are natural, others were created via methods such as tulpamancy, some are of mixed origins, etc. Some systems can form and/or split apart subsystems at will, while others can't or somewhere in between.

A few of the many types are described in more detail below. Note there is considerable overlap.

1. Multiple System Within The System – Multiple here refers to topology (separateness) in contrast to median topology. They share a headspace/innerworld/otherworld body. The subsystem might have a single fronter, or it may have one. They may switch and/or cofront their subsystem, or do none of these things. They may front and/or cofront the outerworld body, or they may not.
2. Strongly Aspected System Member – A system member has strong aspects who then form a median subsystem, much the same way that some median systems work. Like aspected median systems, they may separate and/or converge at various times. They may sometimes have different headspace/innerworld/otherworld bodies but at other times have a single one.
3. Partially Integrated Fraction of The System – When some but not all members of a system try to integrate, they may not quite become a single person but instead may form a subsystem (can be of one of the other types listed here or another altogether). They may become a single person most of the time, but periodically separate but remain very tightly connected.
4. Median System Members within A Wider Non-Median System – Generally system members with different headspace/innerworld/otherworld bodies but are median with respect to each other but not the rest of the system.

Plural systems as a whole are poorly studied and documented enough, but subsystems are even less studied, despite appearing to be rather common. Below is a collection of speculations and anecdotal observations on somewhat shaky grounds.

1. Anecdotal Observation – Among tulpamancy systems, a large fraction of the hosts (person making the tulpa/s, sometimes also known as a “tulpamancer”) are median subsystems. Similarly, the originals of many systems who have gotten walkins are median subsystems.
   1. Speculation – When a median system makes a tulpa or gets a walkin, the tulpa or walkin is not median with the host/original making the host/original a median subsystem within the wider system.
   2. Anecdotal Observation – Most tulpamancy hosts who are median subsystems did not realize it till some time after making a tulpa.
      1. Speculation – Either unaware median systems are very common among the general population, or unaware median systems are more attracted to the idea of making a tulpa, or both.
2. Anecdotal Observation – Median subsystems have a harder time disconnecting or dissociating completely from the outerworld body and are therefore can't get completely inside the system's headspace/innerworld/otherworld while someone else in the system is fronting.
   1. Speculation – Each member of the median subsystem has a connection to the outerworld body resulting in a stronger total connection to the front. This is then more difficult to break both due to being stronger and due to difficulty disconnecting the connections from less dominant or dormant members of the subsystem from the front as they are less able to be part of the process.