The Nature of Split Personalities was a book that appeared in Doc Scratch's Library. It was written by Doc Scratch under the pseudonym of "Vanill A.". It was eight chapters long, and was a detailed study on the birth and death of split personalities, showing the events of a split personality's life. It was completely read through by the players.
Contents[]
Table of Contents[]
Introduction ~ Schizophrenia
Chapter I ~ Nomenclature
Chapter II ~ Ubiquity
Chapter III ~ Development
Chapter IV ~ Taking Over
Chapter V ~ Colormatic
Chapter VI ~ Dominance
Conclusion ~ Apotheosis
Introduction ~ Schizophrenia[]
Hello there, reader. If you just read my previous sentence unimpeded, then well done, as you are fit to read this book. I have written this under a pseudonym as to not reveal my true identity to those who are unfit to gaze into these pages. Of course, those who are "unfit to gaze into these pages" simply cannot read my astonishing white text. (Of course, there is no option for them to highlight it, either. Boo-hoo.)
Since you, who are undoubtedly reading this sentence right now waiting for me to pick up the pace and explain the secrets of schizophrenia to you, I ask that you allow me time for a proper introduction not to my words, but to my person.
As you have most certainly ascertained by now, I am Doc Scratch, the First Guardian of a far-off planet in another universe. That last part hardly matters. What does matter is the fact that I know everything there is to know about anything, which makes me the ideal candidate to write a book such as this. Now that we have my title out of the way, we can begin to talk about the titular subject at hand, split personalities.
First off, let me preface this preface by giving you a definition:
schiz-o-phre-ni-a - noun
"a long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation."
I'll give you a few minutes to see if you can figure out why I have presented this definition to you here and in the title of this chapter. In the meantime, I'll drink a glass of water.
Alright, surely you're done by now. And don't worry, I know that all readers of this book will be done by this point. Remember the "knowing everything about anything" bit I told you a few paragraphs ago? So, due to complex examination, you have figured out that schizophrenia is, in Layman's terms, a disorder in which one develops, among other things, split personalities.
And that is why I have chosen it for this book. The subject of split personalities is delicate and involves the mind, the soul, and challenges many things life has come to accept as fact. As such, this book will not be for everyone.
But you've read this far, haven't you? If you are willing to read on into this subject and follow me down the rabbit hole, so to speak, all you have to do is turn the page.
I will see you at the other side.
-Scratch
Chapter I ~ Nomenclature[]
Hello once again, reader. If you are reading this, this means you have either decided to take me up on my offer to explore the subject of split personalities, or it means you have sequence broken and are reading ahead. If you fall under the latter category, I advise you turn back and read the previous chapter. Trust me.
If you fall under the former category, which hopefully you have, then you are ready to begin your quest for knowledge. However, before we can truly begin, I must provide you a definition first. Trust me, this will be necessary, and will most certainly happen numerous times after this.
no-men-cla-ture - noun
the devising or choosing of names for things, especially in a science or other discipline.
I'm going to skip the pause that would be associated with you figuring out how this relates to the subject with hand and get on with it, due to brevity. The reason I have chosen a word that relates to the names of things is because the topic of split personalities has a lot of odd words that people who are not versed in the field will not understand.
As such, this chapter will define those words, which will undoubtedly appear later on in this book. And in case you are wondering, which I know you are, yes, I did just preface a chapter of definitions with a definition.
Carry on.
split - Shorthand for "split personality."
the Split - Shorthand for "predomination."
the Arrival - The act of a split's creation.
the Build - The act of a split's development.
spectra - The color a split is associated with.
the Shatter - The act of two splits warring for control of a body.
predomination - The act of split gaining complete control of a body.
apotheosis - The powers a split receives upon predomination.
bipolarity - Having two splits.
tripolarity - Having three splits.
quadripolarity - Having four splits.
quintipolarity - Having five splits.
totality - A rare occurrence in which all splits act as one being.
Chapter Two ~ Ubiquity[]
ub-i-qui-ty - noun
a synonym for omnipresence, the property of being present everywhere.
In this chapter, we will begin discussion of split personalities proper. I am terribly sorry for the delay on this topic. Like an excellent host should, I had to get my introductions and facades out of the way first beforehand.
Ubiquity, as seen above, is the state of being everywhere at once. I have chose this for the name of this chapter because it fits the nature of splits very well, from what I and many others in this field have seen. The point being is that a split seems to be everywhere at once inside its body. It consumes the host in and out, and eventually, it will be the death of them. This is a process we will detail in further chapters, so for now, let us talk about the formation of these splits and some of their properties.
As I'm sure you have gathered by now, no one can have one split. If something is split in two, it is split in two. This means there must always be at least two splits in a body. Or, more well said, two splits in a mind. That is where the personality of a being lies, after all.
In addition to the property of being nearly everywhere at once inside a host's mind, splits, in most cases, know much more than the minds they inhabit. This is a direct cause of their ubiquity; they do not only have to exist in a mind. As long as they have direct contact with their hosts, splits can leave and observe the outside world intangibly. Additionally, it seems some splits simply form with this knowledge.
Perhaps even they are not sure of how they have collected it.
Perhaps they do not want to know.
Oh, sorry. Just getting a glass of water. One must drink once in a while.
So, we have a split's ubiquity and knowledge. There is additionally, their great power. When a body is at least bipolar, their power seems to increase literally by two. This is theorized by many to be because instead of one's power being halved amongst the splits, it is multiplied. This would explain many recorded events of bipolars' acts of anger or benevolence far exceeding even the most magically adept.
Now that we have splits' properties out of the way, we can begin on the topic of their formation.
The creation of a split is a long and arduous one in most cases. It seems a split's creation is brought about by a traumatic event most of the time. Either it is direct physical trauma, in some cases directly to the mind, or emotional trauma. Either way, in both cases, the mind may retaliate by simply splitting in half, creating two distinct personalities that both control the body, and eventually war for it.
In other cases, one may attempt to create a split on purpose. Keep in mind this is very dangerous and almost never works. However, note I am not responsible for any ideas you get while reading this book, so do whatever makes you happy.
In still others, a split may randomly occur in one's brain. These anomalies are very rare and oddly, have much more power than non-anomalous splits.
In any case, once a split is created, it can lie in the mind dormant for weeks, months, and even years. However, it seems, most dormant splits occur in a specific timeframe; around 4.13 months to 10.25 months. This period, is known as the Cessum Temporis, meaning "emergence period" in an Earth language.
However, the actual event in which a split first appears in a body is known as the Arrival. In this time, one will usually feel horrendous pain as their mind splits in two. Some may not even survive the process.
But those who do are never the same.
Chapter Three ~ Development[]
de-vel-op-ment - noun
a specified state of growth or advancement.
Now that we have discussed the formation of splits, which, in review, is due to some sort of event that caused trauma, which then halves the mind, creating two distinct personalities that war for control but can lie dormant, we can discuss splits' lives, their activities, and overall the heart of this book, their titular Nature.
After The Arrival, the mind will, if the subject has survived, be successfully be halved into at least two distinct parts. These parts usually borrow aspects of the subject's personality. This is a very interesting subject in and of itself that could fill whole volumes if the author wished, but, since brevity is the soul of wit, and I do enjoy humor, I'll keep this brief.
Usually, the two splits borrow from a person's good qualities and evil qualities. For instance, if a subject thought about rising to political power and undermining a whole country, that could manifest itself as the whole of one split. Additionally, if he counter-productively thought about giving to the needy or other selfless acts, that could manifest itself in the other split.
To give another example, two splits could form on polar ideas. One could form loving truth, the other deceit. One could love the art of music, the other the art of war. The point I am trying to get across here is that, in a bipolar subject, the two splits are drastic opposites. They each have different moralities, different likes, different hatreds, and this will be very important down the road in further chapters.
However, as does any young mind, a split needs time to grow. It needs time to form and time to analyze the world around it, including its other half. This period of time is referred to as the Build, because the two splits spend this timeframe effectively building themselves up. They will, eventually, throughout their Build, gain awareness of each other, and this will lead to the foundation of a split's life.
They will spend their entire existence arguing with each other, eventually leading to a climactic moment where they... Well, I'm getting ahead of myself now. In the rare cases in which two splits agree, they can enter Totality, which is, as described in Chapter One, a powerful event that brings with it a devastating blessing, or curse.
Regardless, the Build is what takes up the majority of a split's existence. The two, formed on exaggerated ideals that are opposites, are in a perfect position to end up hating each other, and it is this that makes splits so fascinating.
This duality, this bifurcation, is oddly repeated throughout the universe and is a trait shown in other species, the most notable being a strange race known as the Cherubs. It is a truly mind-boggling subject, and one no one understands very clearly, if at all.
Despite their differences, during this time period, the two splits mostly form uneasy truces. But, one day, it could all just, well, shatter.
Chapter Four ~ Taking Over[]
take-ov-er - noun
an act of assuming control of something.
In the world of split personalities, a "takeover" can mean one of two things. It can refer to how being bipolar can consume the host body completely, leaving them no time to think about anything else. It an also refer to how, eventually, one split will take over the other, completely controlling the host.
This chapter, as you have no doubt guessed by now, will discuss both of these matters.
Let us start with the first subject, as it is less... central in the overall life of having bipolarity. As I have stated two paragraphs above, having a split personality tends to... consume the host body. Of course, this is completely natural. The idea of having your mind literally split in half would bring stress to any person. However, this "takeover" goes deeper than that.
As you may recall, the Build takes up most of a split's life, and it is in this time period where it grows and interacts with the other splits in its mind. As you may also recall, all splits are made to be polar opposites, and they are made to hate each other. As such, they constantly bicker and fight. So much arguments and so much hate leads to most of the split's time thinking about one another, and it is in this way that any shreds of the host's original personality will be subjugated by the splits.
The personalities will effectively take over all of the mind, in one way uniting it after its being halved. It locks the splits in an uneasy relationship. Their whole being, their cores, are opposites; they hate each other, and this builds up to the latter subject, about the one split's controlling of the other.
This subject I will cover in extensive detail in the sixth chapter in particular. However, I will discuss it in this chapter as well to pique anyone's curiosity who may not want to read that far.
Since each split is an opposite and feels hate for each other, it is only natural that, after a time, they will eventually be fed up with the others' existence. However, their motives for doing so will be different depending on the split. As paralleled in cherubim biology, one split is, by nature, stronger than the other split. This split will tend to assert dominance on the other, and so the other will live in fear of him. This stronger split tends to be the more malevolent split. However, in very rare occasions, it can be the benevolent split instead.
His reason for being fed up will be that he is tired of the weakness of the other, smaller split, and also due to his, in his mind, "warped ideals."
The weaker split's reason for being fed up will be that he is scared of the stronger split and is unsure of what he will do with his power. It also due to his, in his mind, "warped ideals."
Eventually, they will bicker more and more, arguing at, to some extent, frightening paces. They will grow more and more angry at each other, until, eventually, their arguments and fear will grow into a stunning climax known as the Shatter. During this event, the mind encasing the splits will essentially Shatter, and the splits will be free to fight. Not that they won't want to, of course. For, you see, if one of them doesn't fight, the other will.
However, the topic on what happens depending on who wins will be left for Chapter Six.
Chapter Five ~ Colormatic[]
spec-trum - noun
a band of colors, as seen in a rainbow, produced by separation of the components of light by their different degrees of refraction according to wavelength.
---
used to classify something, or suggest that it can be classified, in terms of its position on a scale between two extreme or opposite points.
You may consider this an "intermission chapter" before we discuss the topic of what happens when the Shatter's strife draws to a close. Rest assured, we will get to that, as it is a very climatic event that controls the host body's life forever. But, for now, we will talk about a strange part of splits; that is, their spectra.
As you have read above, (and trust me, I am sure that you read it, as you are a good reader and you always read the definition at the heading of a chapter, don't you?) a spectrum is either a band of colors or a "line" used to classify something.
In this case, a split's spectra can refer to both. As you have read in Chapter One, a spectra refers to the color a split is associated. For some reason, every split's speech is visualized in a color. It can range from any color on the visible spectrum of light, although there has never been a recorded case of white or black spectra.
It is unknown truly how much influence and depth a split's spectra has in its personality and actions, but it seems that one thing is certain. More malevolent splits tend to have spectra that are red to gold, and everything in between. Likewise, more benevolent splits have spectra from lime to purple, and everything in between that as well. However, there have been some records of anomalies.
One of these had a bright blue split end up becoming a fabled Godmodder and start terrorizing a whole universe. It happened long, long ago, perhaps 400 years or so, and yet its records can still be found today.
One last bit of knowledge to impart is that it seems that some spectra are more favored than others. It seems that most malevolent splits are around orange or yellow, and most benevolents are dark blue to even purple.
However, you may be asking, what are the most rare spectra? For that, I can answer lime green and candy red.
Chapter 6 ~ Dominance[]
dom-i-nance - noun
power and influence over others.
Welcome back to this book. If I'm correct in believing this (and I know I am via omniscience), I knew you would take a large break after reading Chapter 5. Or at the very least, I knew a particular group of readers would. Now, on with the show. The show where I show you exactly what happens in the Shatter, a very tumultuous event indeed.
The Shatter is a direct cause of the repulsion that split personalities feel towards each other; it is a way for their impulsive feelings to coalesce into one giant brawl of the mindscape that leaves only one whole victor. As I mentioned in Chapter 4, the split personalities of a host body will, when the Build is in its later stages, feel a large amount of hate for each other, regardless of benevolence or malevolence. As if for the direct purpose of setting up the Shatter, a split is designed to have a power level. If a split is on the small end of the power level, they will most likely lose any arguments with the split on the high end of the power level. The benevolent split is usually the weaker of the two, and the malevolent split the stronger of the two. For this reason, malevolent splits are usually the victors of the Shatter, though this is not always a certainty.
The splits of a host will, when the Build is in its later stages, begin to argue and feel hate at increasing intervals, with the malevolent/stronger split winning the majority of arguments and fracases that take place, as I have described above. As a result, the benevolent split will end up living in fear of the malevolent split, and the malevolent split will enjoy doing whatever he pleases to the benevolent split. Thus begins a vicious cycle of torment and pride. (Keep in mind that this is not always the case, and the roles could very well be reversed. Such events are rare, however.)
Eventually, both splits will want the other split out of their life, for reasons that fluctuate depending on the split. The weaker split will wish that the stronger split was out of their life because they have lived a life of fear and are scared of what the stronger split would do if they were out of the picture; they will also despise the stronger split's practices. The stronger split will wish that the weaker split was out of their life so they can get on with their goals and have complete control over the host body; they will also despise the weaker split's practices.
As a result of everything I have listed above and prior, there will come a day where the arguments of a host's splits will escalate to a large enough scale that the two will decide to resolve all their differences in a strife: the Shatter. The sun will go out and the moon will fall, the very skies cracking open. Time will stop like a scratched record, space will be rent, and cosmic dances will play out like the quarrels of the sun and the moon. At least, this is how the event will appear in the mindscape.
During the Shatter, the host's mind will essentially shatter into many pieces, turning the splits from what was previously thoughts and words into corporeal entities inside of the head of the host. In essence, the host's body will become incapacitated, and their mindscape will become a battlefield of the personalities. Each split will gain a body that represents how they would look in real life (usually taking elements from how the host looks), and will be locked in a dual to the death.
From then on, it will be a matter of time, the Shatter in essence being a contest to see who will enter predomination. Predomination is given to the victor of the Shatter. Also known as the Split, it is the act of a split gaining complete control over the host body and eradicating the split who does not survive. Depending on who the stronger split was during the Build, the Shatter will typically go in said split's direction. However, there have been cases where the weaker split has one. Usually some sort of trickery or outside forces are involved.
There have only been a few recorded cases of a host's body literally splitting upon a Shatter, with the Shatter occurring in the real world rather than in the mindscape. Said Shatters usually devastate the area thanks to their all-encompassing power, but the outcome is generally the same: one shall stand, one shall fall. The victor of a split will, as I just said above, enter predomination. The split who loses will generally be killed in a final blow dictated by Rule of Cool, and the split who wins will gain complete and utter control of the host body, doing with it whatever they wish.
In essence, a split is destined to die as it was born: from bloodshed.
Conclusion ~ Aposthesis[]
a-poth-e-o-sis - noun
the highest point in the development of something; culmination or climax.
~~~
the elevation of someone to divine status, deification.
And now, our journey throughout the world of split personalities comes to an end, as all good things must. We have covered the terminology of split personalities, their creation, their nature, their rises, their falls, and their demises. No doubt you have learned something from this book's pages; something that may help you in future endeavors or shed light on past experiences. And even if you have not learned something from this, it would be best to take its contents to heart.
Any self-respecting hero, adventurer, or villain will no doubt encounter a schizophrenic on their travels, or perhaps, could end up becoming one. Hopefully this book will have shown you the plight that those with polarity face, and what they will ultimately become. For, you see, once a split becomes victorious in the Shatter, they will enter apotheosis, which is, if you remember by definitions in the first chapter, a great (almost divine) power.
This power will dwindle and fade as years go by, but it will burn bright for a long while, giving a split the ability to do whatever it wishes in its new host body. With no chance of fracturing into more personalities, they will live their life as an independent being and will be completely immune to natural death, but not fatal injuries, much like the conditional immortality that certain gods face. Of course, the other split will be condemned to oblivion, and if it is fated that the malevolent split is to die, they will almost surely be sent to a special kind of afterlife based on what they had done in the host body during the Build.
But the nature of that life is for another book. Thank you for reading.