hello! i’ve checked your faq but i’m so new and v. confused, so i thought i’d just ask. i understand what the term headmate is used for in regards to this community, but i am confused if its supposed to be completely different from what a person with dissociative identity disorder means when talking about their headmates, or if they mean the same and meant for people w DID but alters that are similar to fic characters? sometimes some say anyone can develop headmates but thats not how DID works?

First of all, just to clear things up, headmates have nothing to do with fictionkin or otherkin.

Headmate as a term came about to describe an experience different from DID alters.

Headmates are independent entities with their own thoughts, desires, person-hood, agency, etc. They are fully realized people like you and me, however, they don’t have a body of their own, instead, sharing the body of someone else.

Headmates can be entities from outside who have come into the body, such as soulbonds, walk-ins, or other spirits.They can also be created internally by magic/willpower, like some tulpas.

The key difference between an alter and a headmate is that an alter is a mental facet or persona created by the trauma of a host, and a headmate is a fully independent entity with its own reality