Host Transfer Period

Host Transfer Period:

A host transfer period, or a transitional period, refers to the time it takes a system to change hosts in a transition of authority, system permissions, and the succession of a role. This is usually a major event in a system, but does not have to be.

This can happen in any system type of any origin. Host transfer periods can vary wildly depending on the system and its current dynamic; they can last for as short as hours or days, to as long as months or years. A system can go through multiple authoritative transfers, one, or none at all.

Cyclogenic systems can be more likely to experience this, as this system type experiences frequent system collapses. Other systems that function differently than cyclogenic that have gone through a system reset or system collapse can also experience having a transfer of power. One or multiple headmates that return, or are newly formed, after a collapse may be given authoritative power and, depending on the presence (or lack thereof) of a previous host or other headmates pre-collapse, may have to learn how to host a system themselves.

The former host(s) may step down and become an adviser(s) or a co-host(s) to the new host(s) in the case of planned, or otherwise orderly power transfers, or the former host(s) may enter dormancy or fade.

History
This term was coined by The Etheridge Collective to describe their experiences in the hopes to see to it that those who have undergone a stressful transfer of responsibilities do not feel alone.

Related Terms
A successor is a headmate that is designated to become the next host, for example for a planned host transfer.

If several transfers occur within one period, or if several periods follow each other in quick succession, this may be called a rapid host transfer.