>> OH! Ok! I thought they knew. If they don't, then that makes a lot more sense of the way it was worded. Thank you for the clarifications, <<
I often have to feel out what's happening as I go along. Some things I know in advance, but stuff like who learns when about Damask -- that's more nebulous, and likely to be shaped by prompts.
>> and oh gosh yeah, we've been accused of that. Mercurial as a hatter.<<
Thing is, a system has to decide whether to tell each person in their life. The closer the relationship, the harder it is to hide plurality, but the higher the risk if you disclose. Plus, even in T-America, multiples aren't widely known or accepted. The risk of negative response is very real, even if things like incarceration are a lower chance than here.
Damask are terrified of how Maisie's family will react, because the relationship is one-way. They all feel related to those relatives, because they have Maisie's memories divvied up among them. But the relatives only have a relationship to Maisie, who they don't even know has been dead for months; they don't know the Damask headmates at all. Damask would be devastated by any rejection, the chance of everyone taking it well approaches nil, and that's before adding the risk of someone calling the nearest mental hospital and Dr. G having to defuse that mess. Hiding from housemates isn't easy, and the pressure is especially hard on Ham and Clement, but they generally seem reluctant to disclose.
Of course, when a multiple system hides their true nature, what shows on the outside is someone who doesn't act like a singleton anyhow. It can be faked, but the reason people usually get away with that is not because they do it well, but because most observers simply don't realize there's any other possibility. (I have furry friends who can pass for human the same way: they're terrible at pretending to be primates, but nobody sees any other option.) Not ideal, but sometimes better than the alternatives.
The result is usually that observers think the multiple person is 'spacey' or 'mercurial' depending on how often they switch. If one headmate usually fronts, with occasional changes for topical reasons, then you get a 'spacey' presentation. If they switch often and fluently, it looks more 'mercurial' instead. And that's if you have headmates who sound similar enough. The shifts in body language and accent can be dramatic, and the energy flares -- even in L-America -- can make static on video. In this case, Ham is Italian and Keane is black, so they don't sound the same. The body language is quite different too. There's one person, Dan the Ice Cream Man, who can distinguish accurately among the headmates, even though he doesn't know they're individual people -- he thinks of them as moods.
So all this is really complicated life for Damask, and by extension, the other people around.
We watched Thor: Ragnarok recently and there's a scene where Thor lies to Hulk about liking him better than Bruce, then lies to Bruce about liking him better than Hulk. All I could think is that Thor is a GIANT ASSHOLE who is a terrible friend to any plural person. >_< The movie made a joke out of one of the worst things people do to multiples. The other, of course, is trying to make the current Front go away so you can talk to the headmate you like better, which is how most people treat Hulk all the time. Arg.
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dancing_serpent
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-12-17 06:55 am (UTC)I often have to feel out what's happening as I go along. Some things I know in advance, but stuff like who learns when about Damask -- that's more nebulous, and likely to be shaped by prompts.
>> and oh gosh yeah, we've been accused of that. Mercurial as a hatter.<<
Thing is, a system has to decide whether to tell each person in their life. The closer the relationship, the harder it is to hide plurality, but the higher the risk if you disclose. Plus, even in T-America, multiples aren't widely known or accepted. The risk of negative response is very real, even if things like incarceration are a lower chance than here.
Damask are terrified of how Maisie's family will react, because the relationship is one-way. They all feel related to those relatives, because they have Maisie's memories divvied up among them. But the relatives only have a relationship to Maisie, who they don't even know has been dead for months; they don't know the Damask headmates at all. Damask would be devastated by any rejection, the chance of everyone taking it well approaches nil, and that's before adding the risk of someone calling the nearest mental hospital and Dr. G having to defuse that mess. Hiding from housemates isn't easy, and the pressure is especially hard on Ham and Clement, but they generally seem reluctant to disclose.
Of course, when a multiple system hides their true nature, what shows on the outside is someone who doesn't act like a singleton anyhow. It can be faked, but the reason people usually get away with that is not because they do it well, but because most observers simply don't realize there's any other possibility. (I have furry friends who can pass for human the same way: they're terrible at pretending to be primates, but nobody sees any other option.) Not ideal, but sometimes better than the alternatives.
The result is usually that observers think the multiple person is 'spacey' or 'mercurial' depending on how often they switch. If one headmate usually fronts, with occasional changes for topical reasons, then you get a 'spacey' presentation. If they switch often and fluently, it looks more 'mercurial' instead. And that's if you have headmates who sound similar enough. The shifts in body language and accent can be dramatic, and the energy flares -- even in L-America -- can make static on video. In this case, Ham is Italian and Keane is black, so they don't sound the same. The body language is quite different too. There's one person, Dan the Ice Cream Man, who can distinguish accurately among the headmates, even though he doesn't know they're individual people -- he thinks of them as moods.
So all this is really complicated life for Damask, and by extension, the other people around.
We watched Thor: Ragnarok recently and there's a scene where Thor lies to Hulk about liking him better than Bruce, then lies to Bruce about liking him better than Hulk. All I could think is that Thor is a GIANT ASSHOLE who is a terrible friend to any plural person. >_< The movie made a joke out of one of the worst things people do to multiples. The other, of course, is trying to make the current Front go away so you can talk to the headmate you like better, which is how most people treat Hulk all the time. Arg.