The Hive Mind Should Just Write Fanfic on ‘Pluribus’
Pluribus is a fascinating show. And while many are trying to unpack the mystery of this virus and its hold on most the population. And I cannot stop thinking about the “hive mind” mentality of it all.
I’ve already talked about how I wouldn’t connect well with the “hive” decisions. But the penultimate episode brought a whole new development of the hive that I didn’t expect: The crave creativity. Within their one unit, they have collective opinions. They love Carol’s (Rhea Seehorn) book series and even if someone didn’t love it, they’re basically overruled. But their love for the franchise means they long for more stories.
Zosia (Karolina Wydra) brings Carol white board markers and excitedly asks about The Winds of Wycaro. We started the series with a new book being released in the series but the hive mind doesn’t know what Carol had planned for the rest of the series and their joy in getting something “new” told me one thing: They lack creativity. Or more, they don’t know how to function without new things to consume.
To that, I ask this: Can the hive mind write fanfiction? Why not all play that game where you each say one word and write a story? I feel like if they did that with fanfiction it’d be a beautiful exploration of how they feel about the books from an honest point of view and then maybe they wouldn’t be asking Carol to essentially do free labor.
Make your own art, hive!
To be fair to the hive: Carol doesn’t seem mad at the idea and even talks to Zosia about it. But I still think that the hive’s desire for novels and something new to read and explore means that they are longing for creativity and art. They want to all live as a collective yet that collectiveness comes at a cost. No one has an original thought or feeling.
That means that art, which is often an expression of emotion and self reflection, cannot really happen. They all have one collective mind and thought and that means they can’t really express themselves in that way but I do think that they could maybe manage fanfic. Not to say that fanfic doesn’t require skill but rather than there are probably PLENTY of fanfic writers in the hive that can take over the collective. Right? That’s how this whole thing works?
Imagine a bunch of AO3 writers all taking control and getting their feelings out. It’d be great and they wouldn’t rely on the few individuals left for their source of entertainment. But then again, I don’t really see the hive mind staying for long given how Zosia reacted to moments with Carol. Until they figure it out though, it’d be kind of fun to see what kind of fanfic they all can write together.
(featured image: Apple TV+)
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