What you guys said makes sense to us, Gemini. And DID is dang confusing! To me, twins on any spectrum, from opposites to a near single identity, seem a natural development in DID. If you consider the moment an alter comes into being, you might imagine something like a cloning or a twinning of whoever is out. This is only one way to look at it but it helps me to think of it, even though some of us were invested with radically different characteristics almost immediately.
I know a particular type of abuse had me looking for others to come help me. This caused Johann to arrive. He got spanked, was hurt emotionally and didn't comply and Hansel came to help him from hurting, to cheer him up. I don't know if they started out as twins but it seems a pretty natural development for how they arrived. A fourth, Quato, came to sustain this abuse at some point in the near future and the dissociative walls between Quato and us quickly grew high. This left Johann and Hansel as permanent twins and my sometimes pals who I used to talk to and be nice to at age 4-5. Johann is generally more gloomy, thoughtful and responsible, Hansel more positive and energetic. But both have identical other traits, like wandering into places they probably shouldn't out of curiosity and daring. Maybe not surprising, Quato does this too, though to more dangerous places.
Our twins are very similar to each other and used to work in tandem, switching back and forth every couple minutes, sharing the time out almost equally. It was pretty dizzying to witness but unlike with the rest of us, their frequent switching didn't cause headaches. They are more independent now and show up for stretches without feeling the need to hand off to their brother. But they still do it if things seem particularly fun or if the other wants in. We have a sense that they share the same mind space, sort of like two halves of an orange or something, parts which were severed but still have great similarities.
Oddly, the more they're out, the more their differences and individuality manifest. But when they've been taking a walk for a while, their emotions move towards neutral. Then I have to recall which took over the body last to figure who is out or I have to ask. Both of them sometimes give the name of their twin as an answer and stumble to quickly correct themselves. This may be because they chose new names after they woke up in our system. Because they're brothers, they tend to see the others in our system as brothers too, which has tended to spread as an interpretation of who everyone is and how we're related, which is rather nice. Only among the littles up through Dan. Nobody can see being brothers with Marc, the oldest in our system, or with the strange, spooky, but wise Sphinx, who is and always was or something -- originally, he knows that's not valid now.
Dx DID. John, Johnny hosts. Sphinx gatekeeper. Ulric, Gwen 50s
Marc-Dominic, Aaron, Ryder 40s. Jonathan 33. Nigel 20
Quato 19. Kyle 16. Daniel 15. Faolán 14. Mick/Mxyzptlk 13
Neville 12. Jack 11. Zane, Ty, Randy, 10. Brody 9
Luke, Hank, Yanni, Sky, Vince 8. Chase, Matt, Cole 7
Greg, Carter, Godwin, Estes, Andre 6. Caleb, Michael, Inky, Kent 5
Wats, Raisin Annie, Hansel & Johann twins, Casper 4
Pip, Max, Little John 3. Ashár wolfdog, Henry 2
Edward, Clark, Zeb 1. Adam core 8 mos.