I would like know to more and everything about "plural" Clover concept
oh I am so glad you asked. smiles
(for those hearing about this for the first time I also did art about it a bit ago)
For the unfamiliar plural is a colloquial term for people with dissociative identity disorder. That’s me. I’m people.
How people experience DID and define themselves varies wildly! Don’t take anything I describe here as a depiction of something every system experiences.
OKAY. So key point #1:
Clover does NOT know they are plural like at all. Not in the slightest. At least not during canon I think they’d figure it out in a post-canon revived scenario though (and I’ve been working on a fic about that!)
Key point #2: background. why are they plural in the first place?
So a lot of Clover’s backstory is up to interpretation. But how I like to write it is that they’re an older kid in a pretty large and busy household that lives in a much too small home. A lot of responsibility is put onto their shoulders! And they often have to just take care of themself and the others without receiving much gratitude or attention in return. They are really neglected by the adults around them. Not particularly healthy for someone that’s like twelve years old and has been living like that their whole life.
To them, cowboys and the Wild West and all that are something they’ve always loved and a sort of fantasy they could escape to in their daydreams. A way to pretend that they can be a hero that fights for justice. That they have the power to actually make a difference, to have control over their life, to be someone better that people would actually care about.
Clover’s spent their life constantly pushing down their own feelings for the sake of others. To be quiet and fade into the background. It’s easier to get through the day that way. But, at their core, they care a lot about. Well. Justice. They want to do the right thing, they want to help others, they want to call out injustice and defend the people who need help!!! They want to be so much more of a person than the box they’ve been pushed into. You know.
You can probably see how this drives them to climb the mountain in search of those missing kids. But these are all just my headcanons :)
Key point #3: the Justice System (heh)
Right the actual system. So I think being heavily invested in/disassociating through your daydreams + suppressing a lot a lot a lot of your own wants and emotions as a child does often make developing dissociative identity disorder a lot more likely. I’m not a psychologist though. Anyways
Three different alters make up Clover as a system (during canon at least. would probably shift quite a bit as they grow older).
First up is the host! They’re the one that’s generally pretty quiet and goes along with whatever works for everyone. It stems from a place of kindness, but they end up being very closed off when it comes to anything regarding themself and what they want or feel.
Second is the cowboy :] they’re the one who’s a lot more energetic and talkative— especially when it comes to their hyperfixations. They can be a bit impulsive and jump to help anyone in need. They also have the same tendency to downplay their own feelings.
Third is the one who’s really tired of living like this! Really really tired. The thing with bottling up your emotions is that they don’t actually disappear. Their mood can be pretty volatile but they care deeply about protecting the other members of the system. They’re a lot more decisive than the others.
As for names I am undecided… cause. I think they’d all see themselves as Clover during canon. They wouldn’t use any other names. For differentiation’s sake I’ve thought of fun ones like Four, Leaf, and Clover or Clover, Sorrel, Meli (the latter names being derived from plants that are clover lookalikes). But I’m not super attached to any of those…
During canon there’s really no communication between the headmates because I don’t think any of them are fully aware of the fact they are plural yet. So everything’s a bit messy.
Key point #4: the timeloop! the timeloop!! the time
Now Clover unfortunately also goes through the timeloop TM which makes their plurality a bit more. mmm. apparent.
Since I headcanon every route as canon with the true pacifist route occurring last— when Clover becomes determined enough to take control of the timeline in the retribution route (and resets it, losing their memories in the process) that determination lingers with them. Which means they have slightly clearer memories than most of every timeline they’ve been in. Which is a lot! They tend to brush them off as just deja vu or nightmares, but… it causes problems
So not only do they have memory problems because they’re plural, but they’ve also got timeline memory problems! womp womp
I do also want to be clear since it can easily be misconstrued: no alter “belongs” to a single/route timeline. they’re all present in every route!!! memories are weird and some remember certain timelines or moments better than others
Key point #5:
You may be asking. Is there any canon evidence for any of this?
no but I like to explore their actions from the perspective of a system given how wildly their actions and narration differ depending on the route. like ?????
(obligatory “yes the player makes those route defining choices and yes they do play a role in the narrative but none of those choices are things clover wouldn’t do on their own probably” disclaimer)
There’s also a bit of a meta element to all this being me wanting to incorporate aspects of different fandom characterizations into them… and them being plural just makes sense to me. I like projecting myself onto my favourite characters what a shocker
Okay I think that’s everything rattling in my brain. If you have questions feel free to send another ask <3
I think being stuck in a timeloop but not knowing you’re in a timeloop but having a vague sense of wildly different events that happened and contradicting ways that you acted that you can’t really remember probably does something to your personality. anyways does anyone else headcanon clover as plural
the final chapter of graceless dance of epithets is out now!! go read it read it read it especially if you like chara and clover having a bad time. no not the skeleton bad time just like. in general. okay
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