thebatcavesystem

Two bits of news!

First of all, we will be presenting a shortened form of our many-selved history lecture (along with, by request, a brief talk about how we came to do what we do and what it entails) at a little trauma and dissociation conference, from 3-7 pm on Friday, April 3, at Franklin Patterson Hall at Hampshire College in Amherst, MA.

The second thing is, the essay I owe y’all will likely be late. Sorry guys. Ny died, Meagan got convicted of first-degree bullshit, this month has been challenging.

Rogan: hungryghosts nerd-sniped me with, of course, multi etymology! Specifically, an anthology that looked like it might contradict my previous posts on the history of the use of "system" in plural space!, Richard P. Kluft was the editor; it's Childhood Antecedents of Multiple Personality from 1985!

( Interestingly enough, Kluft himself never uses the term in the book! He might've picked it up from other writers in this book, maybe? Would have to read more of his work to be sure, which... I am in no hurry to do. )

Rogan: I guess, if I had to summarize my feelings about labels, any kind of identity label, it’d be this: labels are created for people; people are not created to fit them.

A label describes, but it shouldn’t define. If it strangles you, ditch it. Even if you can’t avoid other people slapping it on you, you don’t have to make THEIR mistake part of YOUR identity. (Sadly, uprooting nasty brainweeds like that is rarely as simple as just saying no. You may end up having to know your enemy, do way more research, and think way more about it than you’d like, just to pull up all them runners. It’s worth it, though, to be free!)

Whatever label you choose, hold it loosely. Don’t death-grip it, or you’re priming yourself for a total identity collapse if/when you change... and change is the only constant. Let yourself grow. Let yourself be playful about what you call yourself and why; we call ourself a “multivarious cyborg” and it’s a typo! We named ourself Loony-brain thinking this was just an embarrassing stage we were going through, and now we own it! We went from soulbonder to natural multiple to DID to “yes and” multi. Maybe one day, we’ll even be singlet again, or something else entirely!

Knowing your label is not the same as knowing yourSELF. There’s no linguistic shortcut for that work. Nobody can do it for you, and that’s good news: it puts the power in YOUR hands.

Use it well, and don’t hang on so hard.

Winner of the 2026 fan poll! All text under this is text-only transcription of the comic.

( No Sneaks were involved in this sneak attack. )