Your name(s) to outsiders

I was wondering... How do you react when someone addresses you by the name of an alter who isn't out?

Depends if they know we're DID or not.

If not we just pretend we're the host (Nin) and take her name. No one except me uses their own names with people who aren't aware of our DID anyway - and I've only done it a couple of times, mostly out of a need to state that I am not her. And then Nin just said "Oh I have several nicknames You can call me [Nin] or Lin, whatever you want" and her whatever attitude made it not seem like anything at all and therefore didn't cause a fuss from the other parties either.

If we're with people who know about the DID (and I'm not pretending to be Nin, obviously) I usually sign that I am Lin (or just my name) or I sign hello/nod hello or something that effect so the other person will be aware that oh, there's been a switch (since I switch very quickly and unnoticeably into the body, while most of the others are more noticeable).

If there's mixed company (some who know, some who don't) we're always pretending to be Nin anyways so that counts for the first.

- Lin

If it is me who is out and someone says "bourbon" I just go: "you don't know who you're talking to do you"!

Poppy

Poppy: I do the same thing haha! My looks differ a lot from Nin's though so a lot of people look at me very strangely and if they know about the DID I just say "Yeah.. I'm not Nin" and if they don't know I tell them my name (or my nickname at least) and let Nin say "Oh that's just my nickname"

- Fighter

Like many of the others have said, I just pretend to be the person being asked for if I can. Sure there are a few exceptions but very few know about us so that is rare. It does get a bit annoying when those who do know call me Ani (The host) while I'm out. Depending on my mood I'll either pretend to be her or kindly say I'm not her. There was one occasion though that a friend of her's kept calling me Ani and referring to me as a she. I eventually snapped and just yelled ''I'm not a girl for heaven's sake. Can't you tell the difference." Yeah, well I did regret that later on.

-June

(Suzumi) I panic and see if I can find the alter being requested. But there's only one person who knows.

It depends. A lot of the time we just answer to the body's name. Depending on whether we're comfortable with the person we'll just say x isn't here right now.

It depends, when people address us we reply to whatever name we are being called. We run with different groups so depending what group we are in we will introduce ourselves to new people by the name that is used with that particular group.
Mine group knows me as me but they also know our legal name so if any phone calls come and ask for our legal name( the name is the name of one of the others) they know to get me.
If I am introducing myself to a new person that is not within our group I use my name, even if they can see our legal name (legal name is a name of one of the others). I just say to them my name is a nickname. This usually happens when I start a new semester at college with new professors.
J

Very few people use the name of a system member-- usually just people online who are trying to prod at someone specifically. If someone were to call for a system member, and that one currently wasn't loud, we'd first wonder "how the hell did they know!" and then we'd likely try and rouse that system member.

anagram wrote:I was wondering... How do you react when someone addresses you by the name of an alter who isn't out?

I always use a "passport name" with other people yet it doesn't belong to anyone inside me. Sometimes I get very surprised if someone calls me with this name, and it feels very strange, like I never heard it before. Usually I just don't care how they call me, as if I had no name at all. Being "no-name" always felt very adaptive and safe.