Phew! You wouldn't believe me if I said I wrote these last chapters in a fucking hospital, would you? lol
But hey, anyway, this is just a lil preemptive FAQ to explain anything you didn't get or I didn't make clear enough!
Q: So, Caliborn imagined them all?
A: Nope! They were his alters because he has DID, Calliope was his alter as well.
Q: Why did they die?
A: Its a metaphor for my fears going through treatment for DID that my alters will be killed and disappear and I won't remember them anymore
Q: So thats why no one remembered them? Why did their significant other remember them?
A: Yep thats why! and purely for angsty, shippy reasons lmao
Q: Why did they share disorders with their parents?
A: After the fire killed them (the alpha kids and beforus trolls) Caliborn created alters to replace them to deal with the trauma
Q: They all died in the fire then! So why did the newspaper say otherwise?
A: Because the newspaper was part of the headspace, purely to make it more real in his mind that they never died
Q: Headspace?
A: Thats a term for people with systems/alters/DID-DDNOS. Its where our alters live and exist when they aren't fronting. A place in our heads.
Q: So what about the whole magical weapons appear out of no where business?
A: Headspace shenanigans! Anything can happen in there.
Q: Integration?
A: Its a common treatment for DID where the alters are all smooshed together into one "personality"
Q: Whats Gamzee's deal? Why did he know so much?
A: He was a sort of medium between the doctors attempts at therapy and Caliborn who was trapped in his headspace.
Q: Why could Aradia remember everyone?
A: Idk shes a spooky ghost?
Q: So the hospital they talked about creating in the prologue, Cherub Institute, thats just their headspace?
A: Yup!
Q:Are we gonna read more about what happened in the real hospital to the parents?
A: Its possible! I've never written any of them and don't have a solid grasp of the characterization of the Beforeus trolls.
Q: Alright, I read this far and I still don't get why all the disorders are so stereotypical.
A: The million dollar question. Alright, hear me out. Their parents had the disorders, not Caliborn. So, when he internalized those disorders into his alters, he couldn't possibly accurately portray them. All he knows is the things he's seen, read, or watched and there should be no argument that Caliborn is not exactly researcher material.
Just to be safe, heres a short rundown of the timeline: Caliborn splits into Calliope early on, he is sent to a hospital, hospital burns down and hes the only survivor, hes traumatized so he splits a bunch more, creating alters to remind him of the friends he lost, he internalizes their disorders as well, Gamzee starts to "cure" him by forcing integration and killing off each alter, Caliborn wakes up alone without any of his system
Any other questions are welcome in the comments! If you want to argue please address your concerns to: fuck_off
And finally, thank you all so much for sticking with this story for like three goddamned years after my depressed ass decided to quit writing for a long time.