System Type:   Our system as we exist fit several categories used within the plural community.    

- Multiple System – A multiple refers to a type of plural in which there is a marked presence of more than one distinct and separate persons within a system. Those who are a part of our system have a lot of individuality (our own names, ages, genders, opinions, senses of self, personal interests, and so on). This is the way in which we experience our own plurality.   

- Diagnosed – In November 2010 we were diagnosed with Dissociative Disorder Not Otherwise Specified (DDNOS). In the years since then, we've developed into a system that is no longer re-diagnosable as we have put an end to our dissociative amnesia and have put an end to any distress we caused each other when we would not work together. (No longer meet two of the criteria for DID and one criterion for OSDD.) Our once disordered state has shaped who we are today as it has forged our strong convictions on cooperation and communication being extremely important to us within our system.    

- Functional System – A state in which a system’s members can live together and not experience distress due to their plurality. An alternative goal in therapy for those who need it. Our system chose the path of living together as a group rather than seeking means to become a singlet. With a lot of personal work, we have learned how to cooperate, communicate, trust, and share with each other and thus going from clinically disordered to not being so.    

- Gateway – A gateway is when it is believed/experienced that the headspace is another reality or dimension that is connected to a body in this world/Earth, and that headmates are simply controlling the body to interact in this reality. This is how we view and experience our inner world verses our relationship with our physical human body. We debate amongst ourselves on how literal or metaphorical this experience is, but that is how the experience is perceived by us.    

- A System That Is Part Of A “Cluster” – We use the term cluster for ourselves to refer to an experience we have. We have our system where we, obviously, are connected to a human body in this reality. However, we also perceive our system to be connected to something greater. For us, along with our innerworld obviously being connected to this human body, our innerworld also has a connection to a few other different perceived realities where another system and another body exists. So, through our innerworld our system is connected with and we interact with a few other systems who have their own bodies and such. We’ve taken to calling our collective grouping of system a “cluster” and we have named ourselves the Maelstrom. 



System Structure:   Every system is structured differently. Here are some of the variables that make up how we function as a system.     

- Three Hosts – We use host to refer to someone who “owns” the body more than anyone else, have the strongest connection to the body, and who front the most out of anyone in the system. Our system has three hosts: Ocean Watcher, Sky Singer, and Earth Listener.     

- Large Numbers – Our system is part of a very large cluster. As far as people our own system currently consider members, the number is over 50 but that number only consists of people who can front with the body. (Only a small portion of those 50-ish people front very regularly, however.) If we include persons who are residents of our innerworld (but not “members” of our system), that brings the number up to over 200 and more.   

- Nonhuman – Most of our system are nonhuman. Most of us are nonhuman animals that exist or once existed on Earth. Those left are mostly either mythical or fictional beasts. A small handful are plants. The handful of humans in our system could be better described as "posthuman" as they developed some sense of nonhumanity after being in our system for some time.     

- Co-consciousness – Co-consciousness is where two or more members of a system are aware of what is going on around their physical body (whether they are fronting or not) and are aware of each other’s presence. Our system gained co-consciousness after a lot of work to put an end to our issues of losing time when switching. Thanks to being co-conscious, we no longer have blackouts between us even when switching.    

- Singlet Persona – Our system maintains a persona of being singlet around people we are not out to about being plural. This singlet persona is something we often also call our "Mask." It is a persona anyone fronting takes on when around most people and includes things such as going by our body's name, a certain tone of voice and way of speaking, and so on.   

- Multi-Layer Inner Worlds – Our internal existence has a complex inner world with many parts to it. There is what we do call our innerworld, which takes the form of a whole planet with biomes and so on. But our existence also consists of several “realms” we can travel to. One being a place that is a visual manifestation of Front and our connection to this physical body, and another being a manifestation of our memories and such in the form of a giant library, among others.      



Origins: We are mixed-origin. Our plurality’s existence is not dependent on a single catalyst. Rather we exist due to a number of circumstances reverberating off one another in a cascade building up the state of our plurality as it is today.    

- Neurodivergence – Our neurodivergence influenced our brain to develop plurality.  
  
- Soul Pluralism – Our body was born with more than one soul in it leading to plurality.    

- Trauma-caused Dissociation – Trauma and other negative factors directly messed with our identity development leading to plurality.    

- Soul-Splitting – Trauma led to a soul splitting into two or more souls leading to plurality.    

- Maladaptive Daydreaming Created – Negative childhood events pushed us to have maladaptive daydreaming as a means of coping. This led to the creation of tulpas/thoughtforms due to putting so much focus on certain characters that they gained a life of their own.   
 
- Intentionally Created – We took an interest in the topic of created entities from the pagan and occult communities which led to the conscious creation of a few individuals which added to our plurality.   

- Wandering Spirits Joining – Our animistic practices include long-term spirit possession and housing/taking care of spirits (of the dead).   
  
-  Ambiguous – There are aspects of our plurality that have transpired that do not easily fit into an already listed category and we haven't quite pin-pointed a way of describing those aspects yet.     

- Unknown – There are aspects of our plurality that make us believe there is more to us than we have yet discovered.    



People We Seem To Attract:  We've come to realize that certain types of individuals arrive in our system more often than others. There are a handful of common trends that apply to many of us. (Not everyone fits one or all these types, but most of us do.)     

- Nonhumans – The most obvious trend is the high likelihood of people who join our system are nonhuman. Because of our animistic practices and religion, we interact with many nonhuman animal spirits who have passed away and sometimes a spirit will choose to stay with us rather than pass on. But even those who we did not first meet because of our religious practices are very often nonhuman.    

- Unfulfilled Lives – A large portion of people in our system, those with past-lives anyway, are those whose lives ended without them feeling fully fulfilled in some important way. Sometimes its “unfinished business” kinds of situations but more often its people who had to hide critical aspects of who they are while they were alive and desired a chance to be themselves for a change.      

- The Outcasts – Another large portion of people in our system with past-lives, lived lives where they felt alone and adrift without a place or family to call home. They were the outcast in some way; often labeled or considered monstrous or broken by their society.    

- Bookworms – While not as extremely common as the former three, a sizeable number of people who end up being part of our system, regardless of origins, tend to be of a bookish or scholarly-inclined type as far as their interests or even professions tend to align. Even if they didn't read (or, more often, couldn't read due to their nonhuman species) they often have personalities that seem to incline them toward enjoying learning, knowledge, history, and stories in some form or another.