> ABOUT THE COLLECTIVE
This page holds information about our collective! For now, it's simply the Plural Etiquette Questionnaire!
> PLURAL ETIQUETTE
What do you go by collectively?
When being referred to as a whole, we go by Samuel or The Ceefax Mainframe! We call ourselves a collective, we rarely use system for ourselves and would prefer if others didn't
How should people refer to you?
If you're discussing the collective as a whole, then using our collective names is okay and makes sense! We use any pronouns collectively. Otherwise, you should really use the individuals name(s) and pronouns! We've had issues in the past where we've ONLY been referred to collectively, and frankly we really hate this. Unless you're talking about us as a whole, refer to us individually! Please do not assume a member's pronouns either, we have no common set.
What terms do you prefer for referring to yourselves as individuals, or as a group?
Preferences do differ a lot depending on the member, but, unless you absolutely know a member has a different preference, you should stick to collective, member, and you/your language
Who in your collective are people most likely to interact with?
We have a lot of members, but there is a group of people who front significantly more than the others. They are:
- 🦷 Bishop (it/its : ve/vir : 🦷self)
- 🌊 Caspian (he/him : ey/em)
- 🐕 Charlie (it/its/itself)
- 🪴 Eleven (he/him : it/its)
- 🚬 Enoch (he/him/his)
- 📺 Juno (he/him/his)
- 👁️ Lucian (any pronouns)
- 🩸 Luna (ze/hir : he/his : it/its)
- 🚀 Nivens (he/him/his)
- 🧴 Sunny (he/him : she/her)
- 🎴 Xanthe (ce/cir/cirs)
Caspian, Charlie, Lucian, and Xanthe all have subsystems who's members show up semi-frequently too. Other members of the collective only tend to front a few times a year, but often love chatting when they're around!
Will people be interacting with any child members? How should they treat them? Is there anything they should know when interacting with them?
Yes, and they all have different preferences on how to be treated and all function differently. The key rule is to ASK them how they like to be treated, instead of assuming they want to be treated like children
Are there any collective members who are nonverbal or otherwise have difficulty communicating? What should others expect when speaking with them?
No-one has communication issues that we're aware of, but Juno types in all caps and we have a few people who use only italics. So that's something to know about!
What should people do if they don't know who's at front?
On Discord, we'll usually be proxying unless we don't know who's fronting; we encourage people to ask if they're unsure or if we're not proxying. On other sites, please ask as we don't have a tool indicating this (our front on PK is privated)
Is it okay for people to ask if they can talk to someone who isn't at front at the moment?
Only if we're close, and only with the understanding that it may not be possible. If you have a message for a certain member, we can make sure they receive it either at the time or when they front, depending on several circumstances
If someone talks to one of you, will other collective members be aware of the conversation? Will they be actively watching, or just able to remember it later?
Other members are often in the background, and they sometimes are unable to leave at the time. We also have no control over memory sharing, and cannot usually tell what will be recalled between us
Adding onto the above – if multiple collective members will be aware of a conversation, will they want to chime in? If someone wants to speak to a member one-on-one, what expectations can they have and how should they communicate this?
Sometimes they will chime in, if you want it 1-on-1 then this will need communicating
How out are you? What should people do when talking to people who don't know you're plural?
We're not out IRL (we would love to be, but there's no-one we know who's plural IRL and we live in a funny place), however that shouldn't really matter unless we somehow know each other in person. It's fine to refer to us as plural, and especially as our individual selves!, online
Do you have any internal communication difficulties, memory issues, switch triggers, etc that others should be mindful of?
Memory share is funny to say the least, and we never know what'll be remembered or not. It's not usually too bad though. While we have switch triggers, they aren't really things that'll easily be encountered in conversations
Your stance on being asked questions?
Hell yeah, we love questions!
Is there anything else others should know?
We don't use most common plural language, such as origins, roles, and -conscious terms, and we do not appreciate people assuming we do. We also keep a lot of member information private unless they specifically choose to share it, because it's rude to assume they're okay with it