common courtesy

do not assume each alter is the same
the most important thing to note is each alter is a different person. treating an alter like another alter, is generally frowned upon and can be seen as very disrespectful, if not downright ableist.

do not call upon other alters
it is also considered a bit disrespectful to call upon another alter. being that, if you have an alter you're friends with, "a", and "b" is fronted, it's considered rude to ask "b" when "a" will be out, or to pass on messages for them. this varies from system to system, but a rule of thumb is to ask beforehand.

do not use us as a "cool thing" to talk about
another thing that is often seen as disrespectful, is talking over us about our experiences, or inputting your "personal feelings" on things relating to being plural. we are the ones with authority over plurality, and if you are a singlet your opinions on us are, 99% of the time, not appreciated.

do not talk about how plurality is an interest of yours
we are not a specimen for you to examine. do not talk about how our plurality is cool and interesting to you, or talk in depth about how you love searching it if you're a singlet. in most cases it comes off as extremely creepy.
acting like alters have choices in who they are

do not tell a fictive or introject that their source is 'problematic' and that they are wrong for existing. that is cruel. we can not control where we come from and treating us as if we're evil for existing is wrong for many obvious reasons.

do not posi trigger an alter out without permission
many alters have what is called 'posi triggers' which will trigger an alter to front. it is considered rude to do this without prior permission from the one fronted, and the alter you're going to trigger out.

do not assume systems are roleplaying
a lot of people assume that systems and plural people are simply 'roleplaying', especially involving fictives. we are not roleplaying, we are different people, and insinuating that we're just roleplaying is ableist.

do not assume that fictives want to roleplay as themselves
some fictives are very uncomfortable with the insinuation of roleplaying as themselves. they are not simply just a character to play around with, they are a living, breathing, person.

do not assume you would know if someone is a system or not
systems can be very covert. you can not always tell if somebody is a system, and if somebody tells you they are one, do not tell them that you would "know" if they are one or not.

do not make jokes about those using pk being 'bots'.
we've heard it a million times. it's not funny. it was never funny.

DID , OSDD , Vocab , Roles , Stereotypes

Edit

Pub: 10 Aug 2025 08:17 UTC

Edit: 10 Aug 2025 08:27 UTC

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