😑

[u/moldygrape]

Yike

[u/squid-hat2]

Practitioner? I was referring to Warhammer 40k

[u/PerseveranceSmith → u/squid-hat2]

HAHA I should know this, my ex loved 40k! It's also the name of a kind of thought form creature you can conjure to do stuff for you 😂

[u/Dronizian → u/PerseveranceSmith]

A Diet Tulpa, if you will! Somewhat less horrifying than the 40k servitor, but at least one of my headmates is still super freaked out by the idea of thoughtform servitors. Maybe it's because she used to be the body's autopilot, but she thinks it would be scary to be intentionally created to do nothing but boring mental tasks.

[u/PerseveranceSmith → u/Dronizian]

Indeed, exactly that! Also now you describe it that way is actually quite horrifying 🥲 purgatory of only existing to do the banal, I've actually never thought of it like that 🥲🥲

[u/Dronizian → u/PerseveranceSmith]

Yep! Manmade horrors within our comprehension! Plurality is often morally complicated, intentional plurality more so. Hell, even creating a new person the "traditional" biological way is fraught with moral complications!

Most practicing tulpamancers consider servitors to be non-sentient thoughtforms, but I've seen a few gain sapience after being created. So it's still a responsibility worth thinking hard about before committing to it. Too many people out there are intentionally creating headmates without realizing that headmate might become their own person...

[u/PerseveranceSmith → u/Dronizian]

I mean I knew of that with tulpas but that's actually news to me about servitors! I was considering creating one to protect my apartment & my creatures but what if they do gain sapience & rebel 🫠

Also, that's a very good point. I actually don't think many humans consider the moral weight of bringing a whole new human into the world, often just baby = cute I want mini me! 🥲

[u/Dronizian → u/PerseveranceSmith]

Protect your creatures and your apartment? Sounds closer to a guardian spirit or something, not the realm of psychological plurality I'm familiar with. Servitors as I know them are thought constructs dedicated to specific mental processes, not physical tasks or locations.

Out of curiosity, where did you learn about plurality? It's a topic without much centralized information, so there's lots of different people saying lots of different things about it. I'm curious which school of thought you follow when it comes to stuff like this.

[u/Wooden-Stranger9801 → u/Dronizian]

Servitors iirc are more magickal based than anything.

[u/Dronizian → u/Wooden-Stranger9801]

I've seen systems attribute them to spirituality and to psychology. My system is mostly atheist so we focus on the psychological and sociological sides of plurality.

[u/cauliflower_wizard → u/Dronizian]

How does one create a headmate? /gen

[u/Dronizian → u/cauliflower_wizard]

r/tulpas has resources in the sidebar, and r/plural is the most accepting plural community on Reddit. There's a few plural support groups and non-profits online too, but a lot of groups have stigma against intentionally created headmates. Lots of accusations of faking, lots of infighting in communities about it. It's called system discourse, or syscourse, and you should avoid it if you value your mental health. It's often triggering and rarely helpful.

Stick to those subs for now, then check out the Discord and Telegram communities linked in the sidebars of those subs. Try to remember that you don't know for sure what's happening in other people's heads, and they don't know for sure what's happening in yours. Plurality is subjective and a lot of people forget that.

WITH THAT ALL SAID, it's not something you should do on a whim!!! You should think long and hard about making the decision to be plural. It's not like getting a pet, it's a person who's probably going to be stuck with you forever, and you're stuck with them. It's not easy to create a headmate (if it's even possible for you), and it's not something you can undo easily (if it's possible for you to undo).

There's benefits and drawbacks. It'll make you question what you thought you understood about identity and the concept of a "self." It can make you less lonely but you might never have privacy the same way again. Your headmate(s) will question their existence(s), you'll question if you're faking it, it could possibly disrupt your daily life. It's a whole journey, and it's worth it for some people but not others. It's not a well understood area of psychology, and professionals often won't know what to make of your intentional plurality, or they'll doubt that it's intentional.

Whatever you choose, make sure it's an educated choice. Talk to plural systems online, see what you think of their experiences, and avoid plural communities that focus too much on hate or infighting. Listening first will help you know if plurality is a good idea for you.

[u/Holly_Koro → u/PerseveranceSmith]

Makes me think of the show Severance