We've identified as plural since 2022, although the decision to do so was based on years and years of referring to each other as separate people without fully acknowledging it. Without fully talking.
We're relatively new to being open about this and don't necessarily have the language to explain all of it, so this probably isn't the place to go to if you're looking for the most information.
the history
Basically, as far back as we can remember - at least a few decades ago at this point - our internal monologue has always been more of an internal dialogue.
And then there followed years and years of little things that we didn't fully acknowledge.
Almost completely separate social media profiles for the two of us...
A strong desire to replace 'I' in work emails with the royal 'we' without knowing why...
Lots of little things like that.
the present
Since fully accepting things in 2022, we've also had a couple of additions; a yinglet (effectively acting as a version of ❤️ with some differences) - and then in Feb 2024, we had a pretty bad nightmare and came out of it with a pegasus from a specific show taking up the guest bedroom.
We didn't intentionally choose for this to happen, but several months on, we're glad it did.
the system
We're a median system.
This means I tend to be the one in control. Most of the time, if we're talking then you're talking to me.
I tend to stay in the background more.
Same.
Backseat driver, conscience, guide, Cyrano de Bergerac in terms of whispering things to say, sometimes.
...after checking the Wikipedia article, that last one is maybe not a comparison you want to be making.
Anyway, what this also means is that experiences are shared - there's less separation than other systems have.
We have a fair few names collectively as a system; but in a semi-professional, semi-anonymous context, Null Patch is the one that suits us best.
In a fully professional context, the legal entity's name is fine to address us. For now, at least.
Our shared headspace tends to see us on the bridge of a spaceship or a mech cockpit, piloting our physical body around (sometimes ineffectively).