Kin vs Multiple, an explaination
Abby is kin. Abby’s kinselves are Dirk, Legolas, and Pikachu.
Bobby is multiple. Bobby shares headspace with Jane, Aragorn, and Charizard.
Abby experiences her kinselves as one single and complete individual. Dirk, Legolas, and Pikachu are all active parts of her identity, who add to the whole of who she is. She has memories and feelings of being each of them. Maybe she even remembers that when she was Dirk, she remembered being Legolas. Though she may call herself Legolas or Pikachu sometimes, no matter what name she is using she is the same person.
Bobby experiences his headmates as separate from his identity. Bobby is one person, Jane is another separate person. Aragorn is seperate from Bobby and Jane. Charizard is separate from all of them. Bobby is a complete individual with opinions, dreams, likes, dislikes, etc, that are different from those of Jane, , Aragorn, and Charizard. Bobby’s name is Bobby. If you are talking to Jane or Aragorn you are not talking to Bobby.
Abby remembers being a different sex, and a different species. She may grow uncomfortable with female pronouns and decide that she is a transman. Or she may full embrace being a female, or having another gender identity all together in this life.
Bobby’s sex is male. When Jane is ‘fronting’ (which means using the body she shares with Bobby) Jane will probably want to be called a girl. This does not make Bobby trans, because Bobby and Jane are separate.
Abby has memories and feelings left over from her kin lives. She remembers what it feels like to be inside a pokeball, and she also remembers what it is like to kill an orc with a longsword.
Bobby’s memories are Bobby’s.He may or may not be able to share the memories of Jane, Aragorn, and Charizard, but they are not his memories. Charizard sometimes forgets how to use a fork with Bobby’s hands, and Bobby must correct him.
Abby is always herself, no matter how close or distant she feels to the memories of her old life. Sometimes she feels very close to one life or another and experience a ‘shift’, which is a kind of full body flashback. Even if Abby is experiencing a ‘Dirk shift’ she is still fully Abby, and fully Legolas. She is just saturated in the feelings and emotions of her life as Dirk.
Bobby has to share his body with Aragorn, Jane and Charizard. Sometimes two or more of them may be active at the same time, but they are still separate people. When Bobby is fronting, his ideas and emotions are mostly in control. However, sometimes he must let Jane front and do her own thing. When Jane is fronting Bobby is ‘in the back’, and not fully experiencing all the things that Jane is doing. Bobby may not remember everything Jane says and does.
Thank you~
ps. Kin can have headmates, and members of multiple systems can contain kin.
