welp, this account and it's stories are probably dead.

Are you still writing? You didnt update for a long time...

Happy new year. May 2020 be a memory filled one.

Thank you for every smile/joy your storys bring me in past,present&future

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That does indeed sound like the form of collective in use, yes. The term hivemind may be a tad imprecise, but it's one that does, as you say, provide a useful shorthand, and I've seen it used in this context before. Not to mention, I could see changelings regarding it as an appropriate term culturally, given that they exist in hives, and it's to do with their linkage of minds.

As for updates, I'm intending to bring Inquiline level with Cuckoo, before trading off between them, if that helps. Currently, I'm also trying to extend the length I default to where chapters are concerned, as I feel they're a bit short, but they just seem to round off that way so far. As for White Hat's gender, well, while his view on it can be flexible, he has spent centuries considering himself male. It's a matter of identity to him, not necessarily shape. That being said, his definition of what it means to be male doesn't necessarily require standard male physiology, nor did his default to start off with actually conform to that in this continuity. To answer your question, no, he's not going to become a girl, as he still considers himself male, but that doesn't mean his physiology will necessarily be standard male.