PluralKit

Edited: February 11, 2023

Note: This document is specific to Discord. If you’re not making use of our community spaces on Discord, PluralKit won’t be available.

PluralKit is a Discord bot that exists to allow users to proxy their messages via Discord webhooks. This has many practical applications, especially given that Discord doesn’t have any features that support the plural community, or any built-in mental health aids.

PluralKit has all kinds of fun and interesting uses, but in Quilt community spaces it should only be used for plurality or self-identity purposes, or as a mental health aid. We do not allow users to make use of PluralKit for role-playing.

If you see users talking with the bot tag, they’re talking through PluralKit. You can react to any message sent this way with the question emote (❓) for information on which Discord account the message belongs to.

General Usage

The primary function of PluralKit is automatically proxying messages that people using it send, in order to make those messages appear to come from someone else. This is done by making use of Discord webhooks — which has the unfortunate side effect of Discord stating that the messages were sent by a bot. Rest assured that this isn’t the case — while the messages were proxied by PluralKit, they were written by a real member of the community!

Even if you aren’t making use of PluralKit yourself, you can still leave reactions on messages that PluralKit has proxied. The following reactions allow you to interact directly with the system that sent the message, or to look up information about it:

  • ❓ (question) — Get a private message with information about the Discord account that sent the message, such as username, nickname, pronouns, system/member descriptions and roles.
  • 🔔 (bell) — Mention the Discord account that sent the proxied message, to make sure the system using it sees your reply. We advise using this sparingly, as it gets annoying and spammy quickly.

Moving from Tupperbox

If you already have a system set up on Tupperbox, you can easily import that system to PluralKit. Simply follow these steps:

  1. Send a private message to Tupperbox: tul!export
  2. Copy the link that Tupperbox gives you, to use in the next step
  3. Send a private message to PluralKit: pk;import <link>

Moderation Notes

When working with PluralKit, please note that our moderation policy is one of system accountability, meaning that plural systems are responsible for their members. Unfortunately, there’s no practical way to moderate system members individually — the community team is only able to target the Discord account you’re using when acting as moderators.

If you’re part of a plural system, we suggest that you talk with the other members of your system and make sure they’re aware of this.

Plurality?

Note: Pluralities are not the only valid reason to make use of a tool like PluralKit, but it’s by far the most common use for it in our community spaces — so we created this section to help explain the concept. Any gatekeeping of these types of tools will not be tolerated in Quilt community spaces, but you’re always welcome to contact a member of the community team directly if you have any concerns.

Plurality is the concept of multiple people sharing a single body, inhabiting the same brain. Many people’s first (or only) experience with this is from people with Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), but there are many other situations that can cause something like this to happen — and in many cases, the existence of a plurality is not problematic or negative. As More Than One states:

Plurality (or multiplicity) is the existence of multiple self-aware entities inside one physical brain.

You could think of a plural collective as a group of lifelong roommates, but with a body instead of an apartment.

In general, a group of plural entities sharing one body tends to be known as a plural system.

When interacting with plural people, remember to treat each individual member of a plural system with respect. Don’t pathologise their identity (for example, by asking to meet the “real” person or suggesting that they need to be “cured”), and remember that many plural people consider their identity more a matter of philosophy than of medicine. Additionally, treat each system member as separate people, with their own memories, experiences and personality — If they ask you to treat them in a specific way, listen to them and follow their lead as best you can.

It’s also worth noting that plurality is a whole world and plural systems often greatly differ from each other, sometimes identifying or manifesting themselves in completely different ways. All plural systems are valid, regardless of how their members identify or interact, how they were formed, or how they think about themselves.

For more information on plurality, feel free to browse the following resources…

Ex Uno Plures

Note: This site belongs to a specific plural system, and much of what’s written there is related to their personal experiences of plurality. Additionally, some articles there were written quite some time ago, and may contain vulgar language and outdated terminology — including terms that exist outside the plural community. Nonetheless, it remains a popular and useful resource for people approaching plurality and plural systems from the outside.

Other Resources