So, A character I have, that shows up later that I am at currently, has a slightly complicated identity. The character is sort of a person who had a feminine identity but is also kind of a genderless monster possessing her body. The original persons mind is still somewhat present but it has been corrupted by the possessing force and is kind of half-dead, given the possessing force is the only thing keeping her alive. My thought was that characters would vary in terms of referring to the character as "she" or "it". Is that like... okay? I don't want to sort of cis-handle gender-identity issues and be insensitive. But at the same time this isn't an issue of normal human identity and so its supposed to be weirder and the character logically wouldn't necessarily be clear on it. What do people think?
So just to be clear: You have a character that has been possessed. The thing that possessed the person is being referred to as „it“ and the former owner of the body as „she“, correct? If that‘s the case, I don‘t see a problem. As far as we know gender identity is a human issue and therefore an inhuman being does not need to be asked for it‘s gender identity unless it is somehow relevant to the plot. Referring to this being as „it“ will make it inhuman. Unconsciously readers will not put it on the same level as your human characters. It makes a great difference whether I refer to a dog as it or she/he. English for example only uses „the“ as an article but most European languages actually have gendered articles/nouns. You will find that French people will think of sun as more masculine („le soleil“; le is the masculine article in French) while Germans will think of it as more feminine („die Sonne“; die is the female article in German). Same here if you refer to this being as it, people will automatically think of as an „it“. You should keep that in mind. Concerning the former owner of the body. It‘s fine to call them whatever they identified as. If they are female (not meaning they just have female body parts), they should be referred to as „she“. That‘s my take on it. I believe it‘s fine to use both. You just have to make clear that you are referring to two different beings and stick to very clear rules. If you don‘t, it could get confusing.
The problem is the entity, called Bel-Shammaroth for reference, is both the she and also the possessing force. Bel-Shammaroth is a unique entity that isn't really the original person and it contains only a portion of the possessive force (which is not really a living entity). When characters refer to Bel-Shammaroth as either she or it they are referring to the same entity but seeing it from different perspectives. The character I most have in mind for referring to Bel-Shammaroth as she is someone Bel-Shammaroth takes a liking to, whereas others referring to it as it are mostly concerned with the monster aspect. The non-humanness is important because currently my idea of Bel-Shammaroth's gender is that it is not clear; because Bel-Shammaroth is a unique and extremely unusual entity.
This kinda reminds me a little of schizophrenia. I think it should be fine to have others call this being an „it“ if they want to dehumanize it. Calling it a „she“ is really weird to me but I wouldn‘t see it as controversial. I kinda wonder why that person doesn‘t call it a he though. Is it a romantic interest or just interest in a person? What does Bel-Shammaroth look like? Taking these thing into consideration, I‘d conclude different things about the character. That‘s also my warning. Be aware of who your character is and what it implies if he addresses Bel-Shammaroth that way. If Bel-Shammaroth does show signs of a gender identity though, you need to take that into consideration. As of now I still don‘t think it‘s insensitive. You are not referring to a human being. You are talking about a being without a gender identity, therefore all pronouns are valid. My personal opinion: I‘d view Bel-Shammaroth as genderless since it doesn‘t seem to have specific gender orientation. If someone was referring to this being as a he or a she, it‘d assume their projecting their own wishes on them. Like they desperately want a friend or a boyfriend/girlfriend and since they cannot find a fellow human, they choose whatever Bel-Shammaroth is. Even if this is a genuine connection, I think that‘d still be a bit foreign to me.
I could see them referring to themselves as 'us' to show they are a collective of the host and possessor.
