#But there's nothing to replace it with

[niimda]

I've been following some of those plural poll blogs for a little while now. I think it's fun to answer questions, especially ones that make me have to think really hard or consult others. It's a good way to learn about the worlds I inhabit and the people I inhabit them with, but I've been noticing some (if not most) of the questions are almost.. not applicable to us or our experiences. Specifically now: questions that want you to answer as or for the collective.

"Collective favorite [X]", "[Y] that describes everyone", "Collective opinion on [Z]."

While thinking about these questions I realized that it probably feels pretty bad to be expected to be radically different from everyone you share a brain with. That kind of expectation can unintentionally de-legitimize peoples' experiences and make them feel like they aren't "separate enough" to count.

At the same time, we don't have…a collective anything. Even this body is off-limits to at least one person. Trying to make all of us agree on something has made us run into more butting of the heads than anything else in the past six years, and that feels very strange! Being asked to exist cohesively and uniformly causes some of the most upset I've ever seen.

My favorite ice cream flavor is pistachio. Verin likes specifically Quality Dairy's Death by Chocolate. Oliver wants nothing to do with any of it. To answer with a single "collective favorite" would mean disregarding most opinions in favor of one. It's a silly example, and it's true most of the questions tend to be silly and un-serious in nature. So why should we have to fight over whose favorite gets the spotlight?

There are plenty of other common plural-community things that don't apply to us, being a system of less than ten with only one (introverted) introject. We don't tend to subscribe to common frameworks (roles, origin labels, and the shiny new consciousness labels), and microlabels in general just don't seem to have that luster. Being unconventional isn't new to us for many, many reasons.

The polls aren't even really my main concern here. We don't follow many, so it's possible it's just a few of them. But it's not the only context we're expected to present as less individual than we actually are.

The name of the group, Solsten, is neutral at best for more than half of us, but existing without a link to others in the system online is heavily frowned upon. "System tags" are commonly required in Discord servers that have bots for accessibility. Intra-system communication in public is laughable & weird at best, and outright banned at worst. We are expected to be a very single group of people.

We've known about each other for years longer than we've known about the plural community, so I guess it makes sense that we don't fall in with the norms presented here. We're in the age range now where we're "too old" for the youngest members to be comfortable with, and "too young" for the oldest.

The easiest thing for us to do has been to find others through our interests, and we've been very lucky to find three(!!) other systems who we're now very close with. They don't seem to be as interested in alterhumanity as I am, but I think all I can really do is take what I'm given. They listen and allow us as much space as we need to be uniquely and separately ourselves.

This was sort of an aimless ramble from the get-go. I haven't been here long enough to make in-depth critiques of common trends. (It's my understanding that other platforms like Dreamwidth and some personal websites host wonderful content of that variety.) But maybe we should start making all of our coworkers decide if they all had to be one animal what it would be. Even if our coworkers are already strongly and separately wolves, birds, and human beings.

[wormy-business]

I saw this question posed on tiktok, but I think Tumblr would really enjoy it too.

If a fae creature offered to give one million dollars for a bone FROM YOUR BODY chosen at random, how many bones would you allow them to take?

Light clarifications; The fae is not the one choosing the bones. The bone is taken at random. Each bone, no matter the size or importance, is worth a full million dollars. You must also declare the exact number first, you can't go bone-by-bone. You either say 2 or you say 10, you can't work your way up to a higher number. The bones are removed instantaneously, and the money is given immediately as well. You will not get in government trouble for acquiring the money.

Tell me in the tags/replies how many bones you'd let the fae take. And as always, reblog for bigger sample size.

[zealouswitchwerewolf]

Tim *on his 68th hour of no sleep trying to finish the cases he stole from the cave after being banished to titans tower because of red hood, fully believing he's all alone there*: ok but what if we blow up the tower, fake our deaths, and take a 3 week vacation? Way more effective than just sending me here and hope for the best with the unhinged murderer fixated on me.

YJ *worried about their team leader and annoyed at their mentors, actually considering*: sure, why not?

Bart: I'll go get the explosives.

Kon: but how will they know we died here?

Tim *fully invested now*: the cameras don't have audio, we have a bunch of our blood and we can drop a bag of our teeth plus some kryptonite to make it convincing.

Kon *shrugs*: close enough.

[factual-fantasy]

These past many art thefts, tracings and copy cats have been pretty discouraging. But ultimately after sometime away I missed interacting with ya'll and wanted to try posting again. Specifically my TADC AU.. <:00

There's not really any specific meaning behind this picture. Other than I guess the fact that Bella wasn't meant to stick around after her initial adventure so now Caine doesn't really know how to interact with her. <XDD That, and I wanted to show my Caines signature long coattails :00

I tried a bolder/more clear watermark and placed it in a more inconvenient/harder to crop area. I hope my work is still easy to see despite this. Not sure what I'll draw next :0 Mostly just wanna see how this post makes me feel <:)

It goes without saying on my blog. But please do not draw my TADC AUs designs, thank you all 🙏

[fridayiminlovemp3]

the fact that this is real is beyond horrifying

[borgialucrezia]

PERIOD DRAMA APPRECIATION WEEK 2024

⚜️ day one → favorite tv show(s)  — the borgias (2011-2013) by. neil jordan "There is no Hell, no Heaven either. This world is what we make of it." starring: jeremy irons, francois arnaud, holliday grainger and david oakes.

[asexualandalwaysshipping]

Neil Gaiman facing SA allegations… Umbrella Academy s4 sucked ass… Dead Boy Detectives canceled… it is not a good year for the sci-fi/fantasy folks

[shepscapades]

GLAD EVERYONE ENJOYED THE ANDROID INFO UPDATE ABOUT INTERFACING DFGJNDGKGNMXGHNCBNM

[onebizarrekai]

I played corpse party on my 3ds this week. yandere ayumi is canon. to me

[jerswayman]

slutty mcsluttyson acting up before the puck even hits the ice

[buglaur]

this is kit, please commission some art from them on social bunny 🙏

[bruciemilf]

People neglect the fact that Jason was a youngest child once, and, if we're talking being heartbroken over being replaced; His beef would be with Damian. Yes, he IS, petty enough to throw hands with a 10 year old for his old teddy bear and blanket, B R U C E

[howlsofbloodhounds]

Yall think color still carries any scars and wounds he gained from trying to help/save/defend/protect all the other killers nightmare had. and like almost none of the physical scarring is from nightmare himself, they’re from all the killers over the years in various places, shapes, sizes, weapons, length, depth, width, reasons, etc.

some of them were too deep to heal, but eventually he stops trying to heal them completely because he wants the reminders and the evidence. reminders of what exactly? His failures? His friend? his motivations? All of the above? Who knows. Maybe he attempts to heal them again when hes finally able to trust that he has actually managed to save at least one of his friends.

[jadequarze]

Did I just buy ME: Andromeda? Yes, yes I did.

[rocketbirdie]

taking matters into my own hands and giving us the gongaga we deserved

[premamelody]

i think they'd be somewhat friends