Fictive

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Fictives are headmates based on a fictional source. Common sources are media like games and books, but almost anything can be a fictive's source, such as original characters or D&D characters created by other system members.

Timeline
Fictive was previously thought to have been coined in the soulbonding community some time during or before 2004 as a less spiritual way of referring to soulbonds. Recent discoveries have led to a much more complicated history.

In 1988, Jay Martin published Who Am I This Time?: Uncovering The Fictive Personality, a book unpacking how some of the greatest artists "[take] on aspects of fictional characters to compensate for deficiencies in themselves." While likely not directly related to the creation of the plural term, it is worth mentioning.

A Pluralpedia editor found a usage of fictive on a fanfiction site. The work in question was first archived in 1999. On the Fanlore page for fictive, there is a non-plural definition from 2009, and from there one can be led to the Subreality Café. The first archive of the writing site Subreality Café, made in 1999, defines fictive in its FAQ as "characters from the stories for whom the Cafe was created."

"If you watched "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," you might get an idea of what fictives are like "off duty." They're like cartoon characters; they can't really die, it only looks that way in stories, but it can sure tick them off! The only thing a fictive truly fears is his/her writer and readers giving up on their story, thus letting them fade away into non-existence again."

In this original definition, fictives are presented as ideas that grow to the point of near sentience. By late 2000, Subreality Café had been redesigned twice, and the writing page now included sections for "Fictives Only," "Fictive/Writer Interactions," and "Fictives About Writers." With these changes, it solidified the idea that fictives could act independently of their writers, but these stories were still generally portrayed as pure fiction.

A metafic titled "Ancient History" brings that a bit into question. "Theoretically, the muses of Subreality had been the basis for his muse. At least, he hoped so. He'd hate to think his mind had pulled her out of nowhere." Before long, Harry, the main character, came home to a girl in his room. The fic also brings up his realization that "all" fans were in some way mentally ill or neurotic.

It's impossible to know how much of Subreality Café was fiction, exaggeration, or genuine. The story that originally spawned the concept, "Subreality Hopscotch," seems to have been a purely fictional piece, but all ideas expand. Most of the works are written in third person, which only complicates perspective more. Kielle, the site's creator, says in the author's note of "Subreality Chronicles" that she's not sure she wrote all of it, which lends itself to the plural end of the soulbond spectrum. A work on Fanfiction.net from September 2000 stands out for its portrayal of fictives meeting in a room in the writer's head. Some former Subreality members made LiveJournal posts about their fictives as sentient independently from their Subreality fics.

"Walking in the Rain" has an introduction to the Subreality Café that is indispensable to understanding the origins of fictivity. "Muses are the source of a Writer's Inspiration. The Muse may be a good friend of the Writer, or a long-time enemy; either way, Muses are indispensible [sic] to the Writing community. Some Muses are specifically assigned to Writers, while others are simply imaginary friends that the Writer failed to outgrow."

In 2001, plural Sethrenn posted on their LiveJournal about soulbonding and tagged it with "fictivity," though that may have been added later. "There's a limit, I think. Even in fan culture. You can only talk about SBs and characters in your head so far, only take it so seriously, before other people start to back off and write you off as a raving loony. [...] It's interesting how, on a much smaller scale, the backlash in the fan community against SBing in a way mirrors the psych backlash against multiplicity, doesn't it?" Subreality has an LJ community and has had it since 2001, which may explain the transition of terminology, especially after Subreality founder Kielle's death in 2005. Fictive was occasionally shortened to "fic."

The term was later adopted by other plural groups, but it is unknown when exactly. It is now widely used beyond its original coinage. Some members of the multiplicity LiveJournal community discussed terms describing fictive and adjacent experiences in 2004, describing "fictives" as "oh, media people in your head." One soulbonder using the tag "fictive" in 2005, and a few followed after, and if it can be counted, "fictivity" was used in a comment in 2006. There are records of similar concerns about "faking" fictivity in LiveJournal communities as have been prevalent recently. In 2009, an introduction in the pagan_multiples community identified many members of a system as fictives, clarifying that they "started as soulbonds."

Pavilion added fictive under their definition of soulbond in mid-2008, which was mirrored on Astraea's Web. At the same time, Astraea's Web altered their page on controversies to include the term fictive, which was defined as "a serious connection to a real presence with a fictional source" and pitted against soulbond. The first archive of Ex Uno Plures's glossary in 2009 redirects fictive to soulbond. It was listed separately on Pavilion by 2009, based on Astraea's mirror, where it was defined as a "person from fictional sources, who is adopted into the mindspace of another person."

"Non-fictive" was being used alongside thoughtform on LJ in 2011. Fictive was used in an October 2011 fanfic on Archive Of Our Own, which was also tagged with plurality and multiplicity. A multiplicity glossary on Tumblr in 2011 defined fictive as, "A member of a system who originates from a work of fiction. This is a controversial term, and some find it offensive and prefer the term 'soulbond.'" The LivingPlural Tumblr account had a "fictive directory" in 2012 and had defined it as "a headmate based on a fictional character" by 2015. Also in 2012, a Tumblr user referred to fictives as being "common among multiples." Members of the otherkin community in 2012 and 2013 referred to the term fictive as a "new way" to refer to soulbonds. In 2014, claims were made that fictive was a fictionkin term for someone who kinned a specific character, as opposed to a species in general, seemingly based on earlier Tumblr definitions that they perceived as being replaced by a plural definition.

A September 2013 work showed that the usage of fictive as a type of muse was still surviving. A month later, a DID multiple on LiveJournal defined "fictive" as being "ones designed off of fictional characters" in an explanation they cross-posted on the purged and unarchived profile "multipledidlife." "Outspacer" was coined as a synonym for the plural term by Lightrayes in 2014. Now, fictive has even entered the medical sphere.

There is a misconception that fictive is short for fictional introject, however this is untrue. Fictive came from soulbonders and is based on a preexisting dictionary term, while fictional introject came from medical settings. Fictives can be fictional introjects if that is the term they choose to identify with, but one should always check which terms a fictive is comfortable with.

Related Terms
Introject is an umbrella term which includes fictives and factives, which can be considered medical and avoided by certain types of systems. Though some systems consider the term to be open for use in a non-medical context, this term should not be used for systems without their consent.

Factives are headmates based on a non-fictional source, like another person.

Walk-ins and soulbonds can be some types of fictives and were formerly more synonymous.

Fictionkin can also involve considering oneself to be a fictional entity, but can be experienced by singlets. Fictives may identify as fictionkin if they choose. A fableing is a headmate within a median system who is identifies as both, or somewhere between, a fictive and a fictionkin.

Fictive-flux is when a headmate's connection to their source(s) varies over time. A post-fictive is someone who no longer identifies as what they were originally a fictive of.

A semi-fictive is someone who is partially a fictive in some way, while polyfictive or multifictive is someone who is made up of multiple fictional entities. Polyfictives and multifictives could be considered composites.

A system with many, or mostly, fictives can be called fictive-heavy.