How is it that Amber is both a traumatized violent teenage vigilante who dissociates her identity and hallucinates her deceased best friend, and the most relatable character ever?
Wait, but she was just Amazi-Girl until a second ago – does Amazi-Girl *also* require immense willpower to not look at her phone, or were the ~2 seconds before Sal was totally out of frame just absolute agony for Amber?
I think they might be co-hosting a bit. AFAIK Amazi-Girl doesn’t feel the need to look at her phone when people are talking to her—the only reason they’d feel that urge is if Amber were fronting or at least partially fronting.
Banner turns into Hulk when angry, and back into Banner when he calms down. But as Avengers reveals, “I’m always angry”, and I guess he controls it more through willpower until he can’t help it anymore.
Amazi-Girl is the one playing roller derby, and talking to Sal about Asher and Jennifer, because despite being a violent vigilante, she’s also less antisocial than Amber. But Amber always wants to look at her phone. Eventually she gives in, and thus becomes Amber.
I think they’ve gone from full switching to being co-pilots.
So they’re both “awake”, but one is more “in control” than the other.
Which I guess is technically a step in merging back into one person?
I don’t think they’ll ever merge (reintegrate). But hammering out a timeshare relationship could be feasible.
King Daniel
Yeah, from what I recall of what Cerberus (and a few other commenters too, but she’s most prominent) has said of her personal experiences with DID, “merging” – as opposed to working out a healthy relationship between the alters – is not a generally-recommended or healthy thing to attempt.
Doki
^ Yep, you got it!
flower system
this is correct, yeah. some systems do it with the aid of a therapist but few want it ~chrys
DID system here: So, two alters can “co-front” which means they are both somewhat in control. But if several alters have worked through the amnesic barriers between them, then it’s possible for one alter to be fronting and another isn’t but is aware of everything that’s happening. Just because you are in the backseat of the car doesn’t mean you can’t see out the windshield.
Having this ease of inner communication between alters and no longer being separated by amnesia does tend to be a sign of healing. But many systems don’t wish to become one person, and instead this step allows them to collaborate and build a life together that suits everyone.
Regalli
Thanks for weighing in! Having done the Autism (and for that matter Depression) 101 in the comments before as relevant, I appreciate the effort explaining things to non-your-specific-neurodivergence people takes and appreciate the knowledge!
……….. I literally heard the Metal Gear “!” sound as I read this. It makes a ton of sense o___o Fingers crossed that’s where this leads because:
1 – It complicates Sal’s motivation (and frustration) even more
2 – Weird as it might be, Sal’s probably Amber’s System (is this accurately worded?) best friend, to the point she willingly put the phone away to be a better listener – Meanwhile Sal trusts her this much, yeah, but she was there only because she needed to vent and Marcie wasn’t an option.
3 – I’m a masochist, and 1+2= Delightfully painful
I don’t think they’re merging. Amber and AG flip back and forth pretty quickly and arbitrarily sometimes. I’m not even sure “merging” is possible with DID someone has to clarify that for me.
I don’t have DID but know a few systems. It’s possible for alters to ‘merge’ in a sense (there’s a term for it that I’m forgetting right now), but it’s relatively uncommon as far as I understand it, and what can cause that to happen isn’t very predictable? To the point that ‘merging’ is almost never a common goal in therapy to work towards, instead coping skills and finding ways for alters to cooperate to help with managing daily life.
I imagine what we’re seeing here just that the two of them have worked out a way to switch between them more seamlessly in a way that works for the both of them. For example–Amber doesn’t like being social, so Amazi-girl takes the reigns when she doesn’t feel up to it. Etc etc.
Kella
The word you’re looking for is “fusion”! Fusions do happen, I’d say about as often as new splits do, and just like splits, they usually happen out of necessity. If someone in the system is feeling like their role is utterly useless now when it used to be needed, or if someone is feeling that the tools they possess are simply insufficient to get by, sometimes a fusion of the two will happen so that the best qualities of both of them are combined into one new alter.
It’s not always smooth like that and can backfire into combining the distressing aspects of each alter, but it’s different every time. Sometimes the resulting alter is entirely new, other times they are mostly like one of the two alters that fused to make them, with some key changes. Also, an alter can fuse with the system as a collective and their essence is just sort of sprinkled over everybody.
Fusions can happen as a result of healing but many systems have no desire to become one person again, and typically it takes YEARS and years of therapy to get anywhere close to full-fusion, if it’s even desired in the first place.
Fusions are, however, very painful emotionally. It can be just as painful as someone you love passing away. A member of your inner family no longer exists to interact with. They are not fully gone but also they are not there.
BBCC
Yeah, I know Cerberus used to say that the ‘fusion’ model of reintegration is often looked at by the alters as trying to kill them. She said it takes lots of respect for each alter and what they bring to the table to make it work and even then stressful situations can sometimes cause the fusion to split apart again, sometimes with new alters depending what causes the split.
She said the ‘committee’ model is becoming more popular for integration, where the alters stay, but are communicating, sharing memories and can more or less work together as a collective (even as they each have their own understandings of the goal and how best to attain their goals). That seems like what AG and Amber have here.
Demoted Oblivious
This is fascinating and I’m very thankful for all of your sharing. But now I also can’t stop hearing Carrie Fisher’s line from star wars: “I am not a committee!” (and I really hope that isn’t insensitive or hurtful)
Not necessarily. They could both be aware of what’s happening in the external world even if only one is fronting at a time. I believe that beat in the middle was intended to represent a switch.
147 thoughts on “Willpower”
Ana Chronistic
For some reason Slamber is giving me Splatoon 3 vibes
AGV
Prolly nothing to do with the eye mask ????
Clif
I choose to believe that Splatoon the third is a famous skater who wears an eye mask.
Blind Beholder
All of this is wrong but also not far off.
JepMZ
Aww. Why bring up Splatoon here? it’s painful to know Animal Crossing had been abandoned and Nook’n’,Cranny store will NEVER get an upgrade
Doctor_Who
How is it that Amber is both a traumatized violent teenage vigilante who dissociates her identity and hallucinates her deceased best friend, and the most relatable character ever?
Stephen Bierce
Like I said, she reminds me so much of my own mother it scares me.
Clif
Your mother was a traumatized violent teenage vigilante who dissociated her identity and hallucinated her deceased best friend?
Pearl
Yours wasn’t?
Delicious Taffy
I thought that was just normal.
Clif
This explains so much about the comment section.
ETP
^^^^^^ BOOM!
Pylgrim
Compartmentalization.
Concolor44
Seems like that question answers itself.
RassilonTDavros
I feel like this is personally attacking me
NotThatDrew
Same
Clif
Yes, we all feel this is personally attacking you
Clif
(Back me up here.]
Demoted Oblivious
/Places arms out in front of body, palms up.
Bends elbows lifting hands up and towards face.
Repeats motion./
Ok, now what?
Liam
Definitely.
WanderingLynx
And it’s so cruelly specific, too! ;A;
Spencer
Imagine anyone but Rassilon TDavros ever feeling this.
Wagstaff
“Hey, if you push that notification, I’ll release some dopamine.”
“Okay!”
“Here.”
“Aaaaaahhhhhhh……”
Keulen
“I’m in this photo and I don’t like it.”
Wagstaff
*plays “Acceptance” by Ridiculon on Voxola PR-76*
Stephen Bierce
The Blue Danube done metal. Cute.
Wagstaff
Sorry. This is the right one.
TemporalShrew
Wait, but she was just Amazi-Girl until a second ago – does Amazi-Girl *also* require immense willpower to not look at her phone, or were the ~2 seconds before Sal was totally out of frame just absolute agony for Amber?
Rotunda
She changes drivers between frames 2 and 3. Roller Derby and interacting required Amazi-Girl to be in charge, but now she can yield to Amber.
Wereg
I know you meant automobile-style drivers, but for a split second I thought you were making a Kamen Rider reference.
Jhon
We all need to update our drivers on a regular basis.
Clif
But what do you do with the old ones?
Asking as my wife’s primary driver.
motorfirebox
I think they might be co-hosting a bit. AFAIK Amazi-Girl doesn’t feel the need to look at her phone when people are talking to her—the only reason they’d feel that urge is if Amber were fronting or at least partially fronting.
Mr D
look at tags
Bicycle Bill
How is Willis going to tag the character when there is a fusion of the two?
And I just KNOW that there is going to be such a time…..
King Daniel
I’ll take that bet, and say that there won’t be.
Meagan
Either tag them both, or they’ll agree to both be called ‘Amber’ I imagine.
JBento
They’ll be called Slamber.
Wereg
Come on and Slamber
and welcome to the Jamber
Doctor_Who
I see it as a Hulk/Banner thing.
Banner turns into Hulk when angry, and back into Banner when he calms down. But as Avengers reveals, “I’m always angry”, and I guess he controls it more through willpower until he can’t help it anymore.
Amazi-Girl is the one playing roller derby, and talking to Sal about Asher and Jennifer, because despite being a violent vigilante, she’s also less antisocial than Amber. But Amber always wants to look at her phone. Eventually she gives in, and thus becomes Amber.
Nono
It’s either a Hulk thing, or a Venom thing.
woobie
Like when Banner goes to sleep?
I’m sorry, but I regard that as Joss being a wiseass instead of a retcon to the entire history of the Hulk.
Needfuldoer
So Slamber/Amaziber would be Smart Hulk?
Mr. Random
I think they’ve gone from full switching to being co-pilots.
So they’re both “awake”, but one is more “in control” than the other.
Which I guess is technically a step in merging back into one person?
Leorale
I don’t think they’ll ever merge (reintegrate). But hammering out a timeshare relationship could be feasible.
King Daniel
Yeah, from what I recall of what Cerberus (and a few other commenters too, but she’s most prominent) has said of her personal experiences with DID, “merging” – as opposed to working out a healthy relationship between the alters – is not a generally-recommended or healthy thing to attempt.
Doki
^ Yep, you got it!
flower system
this is correct, yeah. some systems do it with the aid of a therapist but few want it ~chrys
Kella
DID system here: So, two alters can “co-front” which means they are both somewhat in control. But if several alters have worked through the amnesic barriers between them, then it’s possible for one alter to be fronting and another isn’t but is aware of everything that’s happening. Just because you are in the backseat of the car doesn’t mean you can’t see out the windshield.
Having this ease of inner communication between alters and no longer being separated by amnesia does tend to be a sign of healing. But many systems don’t wish to become one person, and instead this step allows them to collaborate and build a life together that suits everyone.
Regalli
Thanks for weighing in! Having done the Autism (and for that matter Depression) 101 in the comments before as relevant, I appreciate the effort explaining things to non-your-specific-neurodivergence people takes and appreciate the knowledge!
Nono
Okay okay, this is a wild guess, but…
I think this is less a Asher thing and more of a Marcie thing.
Zach
Ooh, you’re definitely right. She’s even here for the roller derby and not hanging out with her.
Sunny
Maybe she’s making out with Malaya?
brute
god i hope so
WanderingLynx
……….. I literally heard the Metal Gear “!” sound as I read this. It makes a ton of sense o___o Fingers crossed that’s where this leads because:
1 – It complicates Sal’s motivation (and frustration) even more
2 – Weird as it might be, Sal’s probably Amber’s System (is this accurately worded?) best friend, to the point she willingly put the phone away to be a better listener – Meanwhile Sal trusts her this much, yeah, but she was there only because she needed to vent and Marcie wasn’t an option.
3 – I’m a masochist, and 1+2= Delightfully painful
Sirksome
Gee, Sal is really sensitive about this topic.
TemporalShrew
What? No, she’s totally FINE!!!!!! about it.
Sirksome
Like is Sal really that hot for Asher? I get that he’s supposed to be “pure sex” but he’s just Asher.
Nono
And Walky is just Walky, but we just had a storyline with multiple women tripping over themselves for him.
Mr. Random
Oh cool, I guess they’re finally merging.
Sirksome
I don’t think they’re merging. Amber and AG flip back and forth pretty quickly and arbitrarily sometimes. I’m not even sure “merging” is possible with DID someone has to clarify that for me.
Joyfulldreams
I don’t have DID but know a few systems. It’s possible for alters to ‘merge’ in a sense (there’s a term for it that I’m forgetting right now), but it’s relatively uncommon as far as I understand it, and what can cause that to happen isn’t very predictable? To the point that ‘merging’ is almost never a common goal in therapy to work towards, instead coping skills and finding ways for alters to cooperate to help with managing daily life.
I imagine what we’re seeing here just that the two of them have worked out a way to switch between them more seamlessly in a way that works for the both of them. For example–Amber doesn’t like being social, so Amazi-girl takes the reigns when she doesn’t feel up to it. Etc etc.
Kella
The word you’re looking for is “fusion”! Fusions do happen, I’d say about as often as new splits do, and just like splits, they usually happen out of necessity. If someone in the system is feeling like their role is utterly useless now when it used to be needed, or if someone is feeling that the tools they possess are simply insufficient to get by, sometimes a fusion of the two will happen so that the best qualities of both of them are combined into one new alter.
It’s not always smooth like that and can backfire into combining the distressing aspects of each alter, but it’s different every time. Sometimes the resulting alter is entirely new, other times they are mostly like one of the two alters that fused to make them, with some key changes. Also, an alter can fuse with the system as a collective and their essence is just sort of sprinkled over everybody.
Fusions can happen as a result of healing but many systems have no desire to become one person again, and typically it takes YEARS and years of therapy to get anywhere close to full-fusion, if it’s even desired in the first place.
Fusions are, however, very painful emotionally. It can be just as painful as someone you love passing away. A member of your inner family no longer exists to interact with. They are not fully gone but also they are not there.
BBCC
Yeah, I know Cerberus used to say that the ‘fusion’ model of reintegration is often looked at by the alters as trying to kill them. She said it takes lots of respect for each alter and what they bring to the table to make it work and even then stressful situations can sometimes cause the fusion to split apart again, sometimes with new alters depending what causes the split.
She said the ‘committee’ model is becoming more popular for integration, where the alters stay, but are communicating, sharing memories and can more or less work together as a collective (even as they each have their own understandings of the goal and how best to attain their goals). That seems like what AG and Amber have here.
Demoted Oblivious
This is fascinating and I’m very thankful for all of your sharing. But now I also can’t stop hearing Carrie Fisher’s line from star wars: “I am not a committee!” (and I really hope that isn’t insensitive or hurtful)
Leorale
Thank you for sharing!
RassilonTDavros
I’m not so sure about merging, per se, but they do seem to be more actively co-piloting.
Kella
Not necessarily. They could both be aware of what’s happening in the external world even if only one is fronting at a time. I believe that beat in the middle was intended to represent a switch.
WanderingLynx
Y’all clarified several things for me tonight! Thanks for taking the time to type all this ^^
Mr D
So, is Slamber only the Roller Derby nickname? Or is it AG’s new name, since she isn’t a superhero anymore?
Mr D