#pluralprose

[the-indigo-symphony]

I understand and sympathize with writers without DID who are intimidated by the idea of writing characters with DID because they don't want to get things wrong or offend anyone. But the ship of "only people with DID should write characters with DID" has long since sailed, and that's part of the problem. Regardless of whether or not we ask people who don't have DID not to write DID, there are going to be people who don't know or don't care enough about us to follow that or even portray us respectfully. You might as well help balance things out with your attempts to be respectful, because I can promise that whatever you can offer would do a lot more to help than just leaving the responsibility of fighting this stereotype to writers with DID.

[snuuyfanged]

"...is it weird?"

Summary: She shook her head. “No…I’d know if it was one of them. These thoughts, they…they sound like me, but aren’t mine. Sometimes it feels like I’m arguing with them, really…” “Oh. …huh.” “Is…is that weird?” … Sunny talks to Eugene about what she found out regarding her past as a Landkeeper, unable to head back to sleep - it makes them both think more about their shared similarities than they thought. (Sort of a follow up to my previous one-shot, Underground Hug, but you don't need to have read it to understand this one!)

-

aka what if i hit sunny (and eugene) with the plural/system beam now that 1.8 update just gave me all the more reason to headcanon that. bc her quest was extremely plural-coded to me if anything and i don't see enough people talking about it

also with me being self-indulgent again and writing more platonic eugene and sunny stuff bc i think about their friendship always and forever

[pluralprompts]

we’re in the middle of writing something that was inspired by several prompts on this blog, and recently published a short piece from it, so we figured we’d send the link in here!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/50523433#main

Neato! For anyone else who'd like to read this fic, here's a direct link to it! It's an Undertale AU fic centered around Nightmare from Dreamtale. We're glad we could inspire you, anon

(old ask, cleaning out inbox; thank you for your patience in receiving this response)

[bindibites]

Some sort of writing of the experience of being plural, its long-ish. Though about making a comic at first, I don't have the patience for that though.

I and the Changeling of my own name.

There used to be some folklore, about the failure to thrive.

Where the "strange" and "ill" children were replaced.

Explained away as changelings, taken by demons.

We know now that this likely referred to disabled children,

but I can't help but to find myself relating to it.

I Was Never The Same Child.

I don't know who "I" was before,

whoever they were, I know they went through hell.

I know who I am now,

every part of a whole left behind from that child,

I'm only one of many.

My parents always talked about how "I" changed,

I didn't know what they were talking about.

They explain it as a result of the abuse,

at the time I didn't think it changed me so much.

Thought they were overreacting.

I realize now that the inconsistent child they saw wasn't just theirs,

That child alone didn't exist anymore.

But a complex web of what identity was and should have been instead,

many fractures each with their own names,

each with many thoughts,

many feelings.

Even before there was a name put to what we were experiencing,

I knew something was there.

It kept me protected as much as it could,

I didn't question it till I got older, I started seeing people talking about "systems."

Talking about the disorders that resulted of trauma.

...

And we didn't accept that as an answer.

It wasn't bad enough.

We weren't good enough, didn't fit the mold enough.

So I covered my ears and tried to ignore it.

I convinced myself I was delusional.

Every so often I'd entertain the idea, maybe something was going on.

But I kept it under lock and key till one night it broke.

We didn't sleep much at all, and cried a hell of a lot,

between feelings and fireworks there wasn't rest to have.

I couldn't ignore it anymore,

I couldn't ignore the fact I was still slipping away,

I couldn't ignore the fact I wasn't the only one in this body.

It took years to make amends with it.

With us, with our trauma, with life.

We were angry, and sad, and lost.

There was someone before me,

gone now like the child we were born as.

When we finally felt safer, that was when he backed down.

Long dormant, and no expectation of return.

Eventually I'll probably end up the same,

and someone else will take up our name.

Few know our actual names.

but plenty will see when that major shift happens,

and again, we'll be that changeling, the odd child.

And that's okay.

We're ill, and that's okay.

We aren't so angry and sad anymore,

we found a direction to go, not so lost anymore.

I know who I am, and I know the changeling of my own name.

I'd have it no other way.

☘︎

[the-orange-solace]

There's a phenomenon with plurality I'm not sure others have experienced but it's one quite regular and even integral in our experiences. For context, this blog answered an ask about system hopping that felt similar to a frequent experience that happens with me and my sys friends.

We all have a connected and shared headspace we can enter that forms from close bonds as a system and on an individual member level. Many of our headmates are family and friends from the same timeline, source, and just naturally form deep bonds that are then integrated after formation.

Our system specifically works by forming a portion of headspace with a new member and this applies to interactions with our sys friends. This usually occurs by interacting so often we can internally see others and interact with them without leaving a system. It's like a very heavy form of imaginative play but it actually affects the body and our headspaces when it happens. We've experienced this for years now and never considered it a kind of system hopping.

Do others experience this? Does anyone have any theories or thoughts? I find this super interesting and I'm hoping this opens interesting doorways in plural circles to figure it out!

[mindotaur]

We are seven and we are in the forest, picking up seed pods and pretending to speak to each other through them as if they were the communicators from Star Trek. We are in our grandmother’s house discussing what we want for breakfast and arguing over how much Nescau to put in our milk when our brother first nicknames us Sméagol.

We are fifteen and throwing up in our boyfriend’s lap because someone just had the brilliant idea to chug a bottle of cachaça during a party. We are reading the Lord of the Rings in class because it’s the best way to dissociate while the teacher goes over the material we already know by heart.

We are nineteen and, somehow, we are still alive. We made it through high school, though no one knows how. We are moving to another state to attend university – a university we never thought ourselves qualified for – and now we are a completely different person.

We are twenty-one and our world shatters. We are a completely different person.

We are twenty-five and hope blooms. We know each other now, we’re learning to work together and trying to forget less. We are employed, we are in a healthy relationship, we have friends and inspiration.

We are twenty-six and we are married, but the depression sets in and we let our house and headspace go to waste. We are setting ourselves on fire to keep others warm.

We are twenty-eight and we are happy. We are still happily married. We own our house. We work together to overcome every obstacle, we pamper our dog, we spoil our cats with toys and climbing space, we have the support we need to grow and stabilize.

We are functional. We are together, always. And Sméagol gets to tax us whenever we get sushi – the sashimi is always his.

[paluimbel]

The Structure Fell About Our Feet (And We Were Free to Go)

Chapter 1: Try One, and Try Two

Summary:

Some time after the Rapture, Gem used a spell she found in some far-flung ancient library to let an Eldritch Entity™ share her body in exchange for power and protection. There's just one problem; when it comes time to introduce those she's close to to her new headmate, fWhip isn't exactly happy about her decision.

Notes: This was partly inspired by Prompt #1,051 by @pluralprompts, except we sorta accidentally stopped reading halfway through because we got Ideas after just reading the first bit. Oops?

Read on ao3 here.

Fic:

“You’re not Gem.” fWhip said, fixing her with a glare that made her feel the need to turn her practice sword on him in self-defense.

Gem wouldn’t like that, though, so she refrained, letting it swing idly by her side. (Oh, to have hands with which to hold a sword, and arms with which to swing it!) This was earlier than they’d planned to tell him, but, well, now was as good a time as any.

“Not… exactly?” she replied, face contorting into an awkward expression she was starting to become very familiar with.

fWhip’s red-orange magical aura, smelling of ozone and fire and a strange sort of crisp decay she couldn’t quite place (Autumn, Gem informed her kindly, it makes sense that you wouldn’t recognize it, since the End has no seasons, but you’ll experience it for yourself soon enough), exploded outward in an angry wave.

(Hang on, she thought, I was under the impression you were both human.

Mostly, Gem replied, by which I mean about three eighths, I think. We’re changelings.

That explains a lot, she thought back.

Thanks. Gem’s grin was inseparable from the feeling of the word.)

“What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?” Sausage broke in.

“I go by Gem, now that I’m here,” she gestured at the meat suit Gem had been so kind as to share with her, “but I’m not the Gem you know.”

She was shaking. Why was she shaking? It felt like the rush of adrenaline that came with battle, but without any of the focus, without any outlet. (We’re nervous, Gem informed her, not exactly calm, but warm and safe, take a deep breath.) She did, and was surprised to find how much it helped.

“Oh,” Sausage replied, clearly not understanding, “then if you aren’t Gem, how are you in Gem’s body?”

“She let me in. We have an agreement,” she stated.

“My sister would never let someone take over her body,” fWhip accused, shooting daggers at her with his eyes.

(Stay calm, Gem told her, if you…

I know, I know, she replied, You’ve sent me practically every memory you have of him in preparation for this, remember?

Right, Gem answered, just worried, is all.)

“I didn’t take over,” she replied to Gem’s brother, “your Gem has just as much control as I do. We take turns. I’m mostly in control right now, because I wanted to spar with Sausage, but she’s here too.”

“And we’re just supposed to take your word for it?” fWhip asked incredulously. “How long have you been in there with her without telling us? Without telling me?”

She could feel the fire that was her headmate pulse hotter for just a moment. Remembering what Gem had told her, she took a deep breath, and the inferno quickly returned to its customary warm glow.

“Maybe we should trust Gem, fWhip,” Sausage spoke up before she had the chance, “you know how cautious she is, she wouldn’t do anything like this unless she knew it was completely, 100% safe.”

“Maybe she didn’t have a choice, Sausage,” fWhip replied, “also, you let yourself get possessed by a demon, so forgive me for not totally trusting your judgement in this matter.”

“Will you at least give me a chance to explain?” she interrupted.

Sausage and fWhip turned back towards her. fWhip didn’t look happy about it.

“Gem was the one who suggested this… arrangement. She wanted power and protection, and I wanted to experience the world,” she began, an uncomfortable, restless churning sensation filling her abdominal cavity, “I’m not sure all the details of how she bound us together, some spell book she found in a dusty basement or something, but it was completely her choice. You can ask her about the terms of our arrangement later. She’ll corroborate what I’m saying.”

fWhip fixed her with a skeptical glare, “I want to speak to my sister. Now, not later. Prove she’s really here and you’re not just controlling her.”

She paused, closing her eyes. Gem’s wordless and slightly playful outrage drifted towards her.

“Gem says to tell you that it’s rude to demand she come out when I’m already here,” she interpreted.

“Then ask her what the heck she was thinking, inviting a strange demon-spirit-entity-thing she knows nothing about into her body!” fWhip demanded, having apparently judged the message she’d passed on as something his twin would say.

The sting of betrayal welled up in her chest, alongside a strange sort of exhausted exasperation, and tears pricked at her eyes. The feelings weren’t hers, but she felt them, and Gem carefully shoving them down, all the same.

“Just because Gem’s your sister doesn’t mean you know what’s best for her, you know,” she spit out, “We both know you mean well, but she’s an adult; she can make her own decisions.”

(Reva… Gem scolded, somewhere between dryly amused and anxious.)

“Besides, I’m not a stranger; I’d already been working with Gem for years before she bound us together,” she added.

fWhip opened his mouth as if to respond, then closed it again, storming off.

She and Sausage stared after him for a minute.

(That could’ve gone worse, Gem thought, tone as cheerful as she could muster.

Yeah, no, that went great, she replied. Are you okay?

Gem’s lack of a response spoke volumes.)

“So… do you wanna continue sparring, or…?” Sausage asked.

“I think we need to go home and rest after all that,” she replied, “sorry.”

“No problem!” he said, “It was nice meeting you, uhh… Other Gem? Can I call you Other Gem?”

“Other Gem works,” she shrugged. “See you around?”

“Anytime.”

She flew off.

Additional notes: This is sorta a prequel to some planned Gem-centric works in our plural!hermits series, but since we haven't actually written them yet this is more like a sneak peak/fun preview.

Other Gem's name before Gem bound them together was Revañae, a word from a conlang we made for the inhabitants of the end in a different mcyt series. It literally translates to something along the lines of "void dragon" and is really more of a title than a name, so Other Gem decided to start going by Gem once she and Gem were bound together and she started creating a proper identity for herself. Gem still calls her Reva in the headspace sometimes though.

Also! Other Gem will eventually become hermit!Gem. Hence why this is relevant to the plural!hermits series. That's still a long way off at the time this takes place though.

[bloodiedbeloveds]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

got sad, wrote a canon era ficlet about john being plural and deeply isolated