Buffer

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A buffer is a headmate whose role is to act as a buffer for other headmates from potentially traumatic or stressful situations.

An example of this would be if a syskid or headmate who shouldn't be fronting during traumatic or stressful situations was close to fronting, a buffer would front to prevent them from witnessing or being around the situation, similar to when police or firefighters in TV shows block children's ears or eyes and distract them from the crime they were called out for.

Related Terms
A similar term to buffer could be DNI holder but they should not be mistaken for each other. A headmate could be a buffer while also being a DNI holder but that is not always the case.

This is a subterm of protector, caretaker, and could also be seen as a subterm for gatekeeper depending on the system using this role or headmate with this role.