#Hyper-converged

[shital1998]

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Systems Market- Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast (2021-2028)

Meticulous Research®– a leading global market research company published a research report titled “Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Systems Market By Component, Application (Virtualizing Applications, ROBO, Data Protection Disaster Recovery, VDI, Data Center Consolidation), Organization Size, and Industry Vertical– Global Forecast To 2028”.

According to this latest publication from Meticulous Research®, the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) Systems Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.1% from 2020 to reach $42.1 billion by 2028. The growth of the market is majorly attributed to factors, such as the growing need for enhanced data protection and disaster recovery solutions, increasing demand for enhancing IT operations, and growing need to reduce operating costs & improve the scalability of infrastructure. The increasing number of data centers and the growing need for reducing the footprints in data centers are expected to offer immense opportunities for the HCI systems market over the coming years. Apart from this, the integration of AI in data center services is the new trend in the HCI systems market. However, high setup costs in developing countries and the global impact of COVID-19 on the industry vertical have obstructed this market's growth.

The Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) Systems Market is segmented on the basis of component, application, vertical, organization size, and geography. The study also evaluates industry competitors and analyzes the market at the country level.

Download Sample Report Here: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/download-sample-report/cp_id=5176 Scope of the Report:

Hyper-converged Infrastructure Systems Market, by Component                  

·         Hardware

o    Processors

o    Networking

o    Memory

·         Software

·         Services

Hyper-converged Infrastructure Systems Market, by Organization Size

·          

o    Large Enterprises

o    Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises

Hyper-converged Infrastructure Systems Market, by Application                  

·         Virtualizing Critical Applications

·         Remote Office and Branch Office (ROBO)

·         Data Protection and Disaster Recovery Solutions

·         Virtualization Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)

·         Data Center Consolidation

·         Private & Hybrid Cloud

Hyper-converged Infrastructure Systems Market, by Vertical              

·         Healthcare

·         Manufacturing

·         Energy

·         Retail

·         Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI)

·         IT and telecom

·         Others

Hyper-converged Infrastructure Systems Market, by Geography:        

·         North America

o    U.S.

o    Canada

·         Europe

o    Germany

o    U.K.

o    France

o    Italy

o    Spain

o    Rest of Europe

·         Asia-Pacific

o    Japan

o    China

o    India

o    Rest of Asia-Pacific

·         Latin America

·         Middle East and Africa

Speak with Our Analyst: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/speak-to-analyst/cp_id=5176 Based on components, the hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) systems market is segmented into hardware, software, and services. The hardware segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the overall hyper-converged infrastructure systems market in 2021. The large share of the segment is mainly attributed to the increasing demand for HCI systems to reduce IT infrastructure costs and streamline processes & operations and increasing demand for robust and cost-effective devices, including servers, storage, and networking devices among business enterprises to strengthen their IT infrastructure. However, the services segment is slated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the increasing demand for cloud services for IT operations.

Based on application, the hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) systems market is segmented into virtualizing critical applications, remote office and branch office (ROBO), data protection and disaster recovery solutions, data center consolidation, virtualization desktop infrastructure (VDI), and private & hybrid cloud. Among these, the data center consolidation segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the overall hyper-converged infrastructure system market in 2021. The large share of the segment is mainly attributed to the benefits offered by HCI systems, including data reduction features such as deduplication and compression. Also, the need to reduce the requirement of separate backup software, deduplication machines, and storage array, such as SSD RAID (solid-state drive RAID), further contributes to the segment growth.

Based on organization size, the hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) systems market is segmented into large enterprises and small & medium-sized enterprises. The large enterprises segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the overall hyper-converged infrastructure system market in 2021. The large share of the segment is mainly attributed to the increasing HCI adoption for applications, including VDI, data protection & disaster recovery solutions, and ROBO, and increasing focus on improving remote access. The need to reduce capital, operational expenditure, and enhance disaster recovery & data protection capability further contributes to the segment growth. However, the small & medium-sized enterprises segment is slated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the growing need to enhance overall business productivity, improve scalability, and cost-efficiency of IT infrastructure.

Based on vertical, the hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) systems market is segmented into healthcare, manufacturing, energy, retail, banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI), IT and telecom, and others (oil & gas, education, government). Among these, the IT and telecom sector is estimated to account for the largest share of the overall hyper-converged infrastructure system market in 2021. The large share of the segment is mainly attributed to the increasing number of data centers, growing demand to increase IT operational efficiency, growing data center traffic, surging need for effective monitoring of projects, and reduced technology infrastructure cost. However, the banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector is slated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period due to the surging demand for cloud-based solutions, increase in demand for data center transformation services, rise in security breaches targeting business applications, and growing need to streamline the deployment of new workloads, reduce IT costs, & optimize infrastructure.

Check complete table of contents with list of tables and figures: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/product/hyper-converged-infrastructure-systems-market-5176 Geographic Review:

Geographically, the hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) systems market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East &Africa. The North American region is estimated to account for the largest share of the global hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) systems market in 2021. The large share of this segment is mainly attributed to the presence of major players along with several emerging startups in the region, early adoption of the latest technologies and government investments in advanced technologies, rising demand from the VDI for training and education purposes, and growing need for reducing the footprints in data centers. Besides, other factors such as increasing demand for cloud-based services to enhance IT operations and increasing focus on improving remote access and strengthening the enterprise mobility framework are further supporting the market growth in this region.

However, Asia-Pacific is expected to witness rapid growth during the forecast period, driven by the rapid adoption of VDI and server virtualization in data centers, increasing number of datacenters, and growing need to reduce operating cost. In addition, the rising focus on digitalization with technological advancements, including artificial intelligence & cloud-based solutions, and growing demand to improve infrastructure scalability are some of the major factors driving the growth of the HCI market in APAC.

Key Players:

The key players operating in the hyper-converged infrastructure systems market are Nutanix, Inc. (U.S.), Dell Technologies, Inc. (U.S.), Cisco Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (China), VMware, Inc. (U.S.), Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (U.S.), Microsoft (U.S.), IBM Corporation (U.S.), Fujitsu Limited (Japan), DataCore Software (U.S.), Pivot3, Inc. (U.S.), NetApp, Inc. (U.S.), Hitachi Vantara LLC (U.S.), NEC Corporation of America (NEC Corporation) (Japan), and Scale Computing (U.S.) among others.

You Can Buy Report Here: https://www.meticulousresearch.com/Checkout/65202464 Key questions answered in the report-

·  Which are the high growth market segments in terms of component, application, vertical, organization size, and countries?

·  What was the historical market for hyper-converged infrastructure systems market (HCI) across the globe?

·  What are the market forecasts and estimates for the period 2021-2028?

·  What are the major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and trends in the hyper-converged infrastructure systems market?

·  Who are the major players and their share in the hyper-converged infrastructure systems market?

·  How is the competitive landscape in the hyper-converged infrastructure systems market?

·  What are the recent developments in the hyper-converged infrastructure systems market?

·  What are the different strategies adopted by the major players in the hyper-converged infrastructure systems market?

·  What are the key geographic trends, and which are the high-growth countries?

Contact Us:

Meticulous Research® Email- sales@meticulousresearch.com Contact Sales- +1-646-781-8004 Connect with us on LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/meticulous-research

[theaologies]

Barbenheimer this, Barbenheimer that

Just go read The Locked Tomb

[clare-with-no-i]

happy new year, here is a snippet of something I’m affectionately calling my “dark academia university au jily,” and no that’s not just because I don’t have a name for it yet!!!

[vgetit]

Scale Computing HC5250DZ Hyper Converged Appl 12L4Z23.76TJ2-1024

[radiantindia]

VMware vSAN storage solutions India, VMware hyper-converged infrastructure, Radiant VMware partner

Learn how VMware vSAN optimizes storage solutions in India with Radiant as a trusted partner. Discover VMware prices, licenses, and subscriptions available in India.

[virtualizationhowto]

Ceph Storage Best Practices for Ultimate Performance in Proxmox VE

Ceph Storage Best Practices for Ultimate Performance in Proxmox VE #ceph #storage #bestpractices #proxmox #proxmoxve #homelab #homeserver #hci #softwaredefinedstorage #hcistorage #virtualization #virtualmachines #vms #vhtforums #selfhosted

Ceph is a scalable storage solution that is free and open-source. It is a great storage solution when integrated within Proxmox Virtual Environment (VE) clusters that provides reliable and scalable storage for virtual machines, containers, etc. In this post, we will look at Ceph storage best practices for Ceph storage clusters and look at insights from Proxmox VE Ceph configurations with a Ceph…

[vaiswr]

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) Market Size, Business Opportunities By Leading Players, & Pricing Analysis

The global Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) market size reached USD 7.34 Billion in 2020 and is expected to register a revenue CAGR of 26.8%, during the forecast period, according to latest analysis by Emergen Research. Rising need for better data security and disaster recovery solutions and growing demand to improve workload performance are some key factors driving global hyper-converged infrastructure market revenue growth. Increase in incidents of crucial data loss with on-premises facilities, lack of protection and flexibility, and increased investment in outdated software and hardware is resulting in an increasing majority of businesses deploying infrastructure security solutions, including disaster recovery and data security solutions. For all types of virtual, physical, filetypes, and databases, HCI systems enable full backup and recovery environments that are scalable, robust, and reliable, and this is expected to increase its adoption going ahead. Rising adoption of hybrid cloud technology is also expected to boost revenue growth of the market over the forecast period.

However, concerns regarding vendor lock-in and hypervisor selection restriction are expected to hamper growth of the global hyper-converged infrastructure market over the forecast period.

[georgeacrump]

Can HCI Replace a SAN?

I speak with two to three IT leaders daily looking for a VMware Alternative, and while most are open to using a hyperconverged infrastructure solution (HCI), they rightly wonder, can HCI replace a SAN? There are several very legitimate questions about the storage capabilities of HCI compared to a dedicated storage area network (SAN) or network-attached storage (NAS) system: Can HCI Scale? Is…

[reporttrendz]

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Market size is forecast to reach $22.2 billion by 2027, after growing at a CAGR of 20.2% during the forecast period 2022-2027. Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) operates by grouping multiple information technology (IT) components such as servers, data storage devices, virtual desktop infrastructure networking equipment and software into a single and optimized commercial off the shelf package. While Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) is a software-centric architecture that incorporates compute, storage and virtualized computing resources in a single system which contains x86 hardware. Increasing demand for data protection requirements, server virtualized computing, disaster recovery, hardware segments, enhance IT operational efficiency, and improvements in data protection and software defined networking from IT and telecom industry are the factors driving the growth of the Converged & Hyper-Converged Market. In this era where data is intellectual and valuable property, recent surveys by IT giants have portrayed that 87% of IT companies agreed to the fact that HCI make assessments agiler. The increased adoption of IoT in various technologies including smart homes, smart cities, Industry 4.0, connected vehicles and so on is analyzed to boost the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market size during the forecast period 2022-2027 as it provides with reduced latency, lower processing times and many other benefits.

Report Coverage

The report: “Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Industry Outlook (2022-2027)”, by IndustryARC covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Industry.

By Hypervisor:

Vmware (ESX/ESXI/Vsphere), KVM (Kernel-based Virtual Machine) and Hyper-V.

By Application:

Network and data security, virtualization, data protection, ROBO, Cloud and Others.

By End Use Industry:

BFSI, Healthcare, Government, Retail, Education, Cloud Service Network and Others.

By Geography:

North America (U.S, Canada, Mexico), South America (Brazil, Argentina and others), Europe(Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia and Others), APAC(China, Japan India, SK, Aus and Others), and RoW (Middle East and Africa).

Key Takeaways

North America dominates the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market owing to high adoption of the technologies such as IoT and 5G.The growing popularity of connected vehicles globally and the implementation of Hyper-Converged Infrastructure solutions in the connected vehicles to assist the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market growth during forecast period 2022-2027.IT and Telecom is hold the major market share in 2021. However, increasing adoption of digital, mobile banking initiatives, advanced platforms and so on in the BFSI industry is impacting on the significant growth rate in the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market during 2022-2027.

For More Details on This Report - Request for Sample

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Industry Segment Analysis – By Hypervisor

Hyperconverged infrastructure is becoming the dominant solution for organizations seeking to create a true hybrid cloud environment due to its ability to quickly build a private cloud, extend to public cloud and offer cloud-like manageability. Nutanix is a hyper-converged infrastructure pioneer who has transformed itself into a software and subscription company focused only on HCI commercial off the shelf software innovation. The San Jose, Calif.-based company is a dominant software defined networking market leader, along with VMware, for HCI on a global basis. The $94 billion infrastructure giant continues to dominate the worldwide hyper-converged market as Dell Technologies doubles down on server innovation with new PowerEdge servers. The Round Rock, Texas-base company has been leading the HCI systems market for years thanks to VxRail, Dell’s flagship HCI product jointly created with VMware. This has led to VMWare dominating the market in 2021 with share of 39.5%.

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Market Industry Outlook - By End User

Converged and hyper-converged infrastructure is essential as it has improved the efficiency of the systems and also reduction in costs. This infrastructure has also led to the essential hardware upgradation in the existing infrastructure systems and improved the scalability and due to the advancement in technology which has raised the business demands for more IT functionalities that is reliable, efficient and easy to use. Thus, this major factor has led to the growth of the Converged and Hyper-converged market and is expected to grow more in the coming years. Geographically North America dominated the hyper-converged infrastructure market owing to higher demand of hyper-converged infrastructure in the U.S., as a result of presence of major technology giants across the U.S., coupled with presence of the major IT & telecom and BFSI companies. Asia Pacific is projected to have fastest growth, owing to rapidly increasing adoption of the modern IT services to store data at an economical cost, growing awareness for data management, rising focus toward VDI, server virtualized computing, increasing popularity of using infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) solutions, and favourable government policies in developing nations such as China, and India in this region. Among all the end-user industry, IT and Telecom has the highest market share in the hyper-converged infrastructure market at 24.9% share in 2021.

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Industry Segment Analysis – By Geography

North America is dominating the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market size with a market share of 39% in 2021, owing to the increased adoptions of industry 4.0 in the manufacturing sector, in the past few years. Moreover the presence of large number of data centers in these regions is also adding up as a boosting factor for Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market as they help in minimizing latency. APAC is analyzed to be have the highest growth rate during the forecast period 2022-2027. The major factors such as the increased investments and government initiatives for the development of smart cities in India, China and other countries are further fueling the growth of Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market in this region. As of International Data Corporation, China's smart cities initiatives is forecast to reach $38.92 billion by 2023 thereby elevating the growth of the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market.

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Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Market Drivers

Growing demand for IoT in various industries

The employment of IoT in various industries including automotive, manufacturing, retail, transportation, energy and so on has been analyzed to drive the market. IoT is employed in these industries as it provides real time information, improves operational efficiency, optimization in production, and other benefits that impact the efficiency of the industry and further contributing as the driving factor for the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market. G.E has stated that employment of Industrial IoT has 44% impact on global energy consumption. Therefore the employment of IoT in industries is analyzed to be a driving factor for Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market during forecast period 2022-2027.

Rising Virtualization and Adoption

Globally, rising usage of virtualization, increasing need of data protection & disaster recovery, low capex & total cost of ownership are the prime growth drivers of the hyper-converged infrastructure market. In addition, development of technologies to create high value hyper-converged infrastructure and increase in adoption of hyper-converged infrastructure in emerging economies such as China, India and others, is expected to create new opportunities for the hyper-converged infrastructure market. However, higher cost of the research and development, demerits of bundled solutions are the key restraints for the hyper-converged infrastructure market. In 2021, Server virtualization is the most widely used virtualization technology by businesses in North America and Europe with an adoption rate of 92 percent, while a further five percent of businesses plan to use it in the next two years. This will drive market demand for Hyperconverged infrastructure including commerical off the shelf over the next few years.

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Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Market Challenges

High costs and security issues

Although Hyper-Converged Infrastructure is employed in many applications, the high initial cost and the maintenance cost act as the hindering factor for the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure industry. Moreover the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure forces businesses to grapple with the same network security models and the physical security parameters for more remote servers in which security footprints and the traffic patterns are accessible to everyone thereby hindering the security of the database and acting as a challenge. However according to an IDC study on the cost savings in organizations using the Nutanix Enterprise Cloud platform with hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) calculated that they could achieve a staggering five-year ROI of 477% on average. Thus, despite the price comparison with IT, the advantages of HCI combined with the ROI will drive investment in the market.

Hyper-Converged Infrastructure Industry Outlook

Technology launches, acquisitions and R&D activities are key strategies adopted by players in the Hyper-Converged Infrastructure market. In 2021, the market has been consolidated by the Hyper-Converged Top 10 companies including

HuaweiScale ComputingCisco Systems Inc.Dell Inc.NutanixIBMFujitsuVMWareHewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)Microsoft Corporation

Recent Developments

In August 2021, Quantum Announces Definitive Agreement to Acquire Hyperconverged Software Startup EnCloudEn Technology. This adds hardware-agnostic hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) software including software defined networking solutions that extends Quantum's HCI offerings for the surveillance market, and accelerates shift to subscription-based software acquisition model.In July 2020, HPE unified the SimpliVity and Nimble dHCI engineering R&D into a single merged entity. SimpliVity and Nimble dHCI are based on ProLiant servers and managed through InfoSight software.In July 2020, VMware Announced its Acquisition of Datrium to Provide Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service for Hybrid Cloud Environments.

For more Electronics Market reports, please click here

[shibaraki]

THE VANISHING MOON ┊ TSUKISHIMA KEI

tags: GN reader, post timeskip, exes to lovers, fluff, emotional hurt + comfort, reader is a writer, alcohol consumption, mutual pining, getting back together, kisses, weddings, previous ‘mutual’ breakup, happy ending

wc: 4.2K

For as long as you can remember, you’ve loved love stories.

The first time you picked up a pen with the intention to write you’d been looking for a specific someone. To pour love into and be loved by. Conjured from the recesses of your mind, a soft smile from the boy you liked, one prepared to whisk you away from the converging angst that came with your adolescence.

In later years you looked inward, searching for yourself. To satiate your loneliness through self introspection. Ink blotted fingers working arduously at the knots that make up the soul. Knots that were once straight rope, simple and without weak points. And when you failed to love yourself you turned outward, exploring the web that made up the world.

You saw that other people loved stories, too. That there would always be at least one which speaks to them in some way and stays with them. You coveted that reality; to be something another person could love, and look back on with fondness. For your words to strike such a chord that they’d become part of another’s tapestry. To live on. Never again be forgotten, even if it means being an echo of something.

That yearning accompanies you up the cobbled footpath. The crisp air pinching the tips of your ears. Soft, muted chirps rippled throughout the treeline. “Wow,” you murmur, breathless. Arms sticky with perspiration, leg muscles tingling in exertion after walking the steep hill.

The reception venue sits on the end of a private road, concealed by threadbare canopy. Under an open sky there lay every shade and stroke of colour. Dappled sunlight casts shadows across the grass and your eyes are drawn to them.

“Wow is right. They’ve done an incredible job,” Sugawara airs his appreciation as he walks at your side. His voice is awed, and his cheeks are red. “I can’t believe they managed it. Karumai Gardens are notoriously stingy for booking events”.

The wedding invitation shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Remaining some of your closest friends, Kiyoko and Tanaka had already confirmed your attendance long before the formal invites were sent out. You even found yourself on the end of multiple phone calls over the months assisting a panicked Tanaka with writing and rewriting his vows.

Despite that, your stomach roiled at the invitation on your kitchen counter, and your heart crawled up into your throat. Because suddenly it was too real.

Everybody would be there.

Tsukishima would be there.

You’ve been a high strung for most of the day, hyper vigilant to the point of fraying. The ceremony was beautiful. Kiyoko looked ethereal draped in her white lace gown, a delicate veil cascading down her back and rippling down the aisle as she walked. Tanaka was striking in his dark blue suit and embroidered waistcoat. Sitting at the forefront, you remained steadfast in your ignorance of Tsukishima’s scrunity and dabbed at your face as you cried.

You missed having his attention. Missed the subtle stroke of his sharp gold eyes across every part of you as though it were Tsukishima’s hands themselves. A scant, cowardly part of you considered not attending the reception, grateful that he hadn’t approached you yet. If he would at all. Kei could be unbearably prideful about these things. But what do you know?

Nothing. After all this time you probably know nothing at all.

“I think he wants to talk to you,” Sugawara says, drawing your focus to the present. “It’s obvious he’s missed you”.

You edge past the increasingly dense foliage with intent, your fingertips outstretched to brush the near-blooming plants. “Who?” you ask. Sugawara’s grin turns wry and he threads his arm through yours.

“So petty,” he murmurs, patting your bicep. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. But he’s single, and has been staring at you all day. I thought I should mention it”.

“Well you’ve mentioned it,” you return without true malice, squeezing him back. Sugawara’s lips parted in a sigh, and for a brief second, you saw a wistful expression beneath the lighthearted veneer. It stirs unease in your chest and you add, “I just don’t want to make a scene”.

“You really think that’s what it’ll come to?”

Memories unearthed from the deep recesses of your mind. Packed away into tight spaces and left to collect dust where they can’t hurt you. They awaken easily, triggered by a simple question, and with such clarity that you wonder if you ever forgot them at all.

Soft, deliberate touches. Long, warm embraces, swallowed up by his large frame. Graceless laughter—the ugly kind that makes your stomach hurt. Languorous kisses, biting kisses, chaste kisses, clumsy kisses. Good morning and good night kisses. Bickering over breakfast. Bickering over dinner. Wandering, calloused hands. Pressure behind two fingers, splitting you like soft fruit. A sharp tongue and sharper words. Holding hands in bed, anchoring yourself to him like you were afraid he might float away in the night.

Life became busier than either of you expected. Kei landed an opportunity to play for a division two team in the V league alongside his work at the Sendai city museum. Your publisher's demands increased. Kei’s priorities shifted. Resentment crept in. He started to forget things. Small promises and favours, like getting the grocery’s or making it home for date night. They felt so significant at the time—things you deemed indicative of his commitment to you, without communicating as such.

Fractures formed in your relationship. You ignored them in favour of keeping the peace, hoping to address them when the timing was better. Only with hindsight can you say that was the wrong choice. The fractures contracted, expanded until it grew into a yawning cavity with one of you standing either side of it. A slow decay.

“No. No, it wouldn’t,” you tell Sugawara. Tsukishima has never been a shining paragon of virtue but he wouldn't do anything to disrupt Tanaka’s wedding. “I’m just nervous. I haven’t seen him since…”

Sugawara hums his acknowledgment. You’re adrift as he guides you into the venue holding the wedding reception, welcomed into a kaleidoscope of colour. Carefully crafted floral arrangements line the hall. Half of the building is a greenhouse conversion, and natural light filters in through the high, arching ceilings, illuminating the dance floor. You take in the surroundings as your senses are enveloped by the pleasant din.

“Look, there’s Yachi and Nishinoya,” Sugawara tugs on your arm and calls out, “Yachi! Noya!”

Nishinoya crowed, leaping forward to gather you and Sugawara into a blistering hug. Barely two extra inches on him yet larger than you remember, skin kissed by the sun and his hair handsomely coiffed. His waistcoat creases awkwardly with the stretch of his body while you sink into his warmth and feel your cheeks ache.

“Man, I feel like I could scale a mountain! It’s so good to see you guys again,” Nishinoya reclines to get a look at you both and firmly takes you by the shoulders. “You have a lot to answer for,” he says with mock seriousness.

“I do?” you laugh, skull knocking side to side as he shakes you.

“I read your book on the plane”.

Your laughter putters out. You grimace and clear your throat, “Oh—really?”

“Most of us have. We wanted to support you properly,” Yachi admits as she steps forward to hug you. She’s smiling when she pulls away, faint laughter lines deepening.

Sugawara nods and pokes at your waist, “Don’t look so embarrassed. It was amazing”.

“It made me cry!” Nishinoya effuses. He sniffs, and to your mortification he looks like he might burst into tears again. “There was this one line—gah, no! I can’t talk about it. Get over here, I need to hug you again”.

“Thank you, Noya-san,” you wheeze at the arms constricting around your midsection, eyes clenched shut to repress the impending sting. You turn your head, nose knocking against his temple as you peer at the others. “Thank you all. I mean it”.

Yachi squirms, her smile quivering. “I’m really happy you made it today,” she says once you’ve been released. The unyielding pressure of Nishinoya’s embrace lingers like two phantom limbs. “You too, Nishinoya-san”.

“It’s amazing you’re upright. I thought for sure the jet lag would get to you,” Sugawara laughs. He utters a quick apology to the server passing with a tray of drinks. “Didn’t you fly in from Barcelona?”

“Yeah. Should’a been heading to Andorra but I wouldn’t miss my bro’s wedding for the world,” Nishinoya’s voice drifts as his eyes follow the alcohol. He plucks a glass in one swift motion and holds it high, “Salut I força al canut!”

Yachi watches him throw back the drink with poorly veiled anxiety. “Ah, speaking of, we should find our seats. It looks like the cake cutting is starting soon”.

“Good call. We’re getting in the way of the preparations. And I think you’ve left Asahi alone for too long,” Sugawara claps Nishinoya on the shoulder. “Looks like he’s been accosted by Saeko-san”.

Nishinoya pivots on his heel, whip-like and buzzing. You’re not sure which name he reacted to more. Asahi or Saeko. “Where?” his gaze locks in on the pair across the room. “I’ll talk to you guys in a bit!”

Gone in a blink. “He never slows down,” Sugawara sighs, shaking his head fondly. “Guess that’s my cue,” he says before parting ways. Yachi waves after them.

An idea strikes you then. “Say, Yacchan. You’re next to me, right?” you glance toward the long tables set up around the dance floor and meet her gaze with a suggestive smile. “Would you want to sit next to Yamaguchi instead? I don’t mind swapping”.

Their relationship had blossomed over the past few months. A long, slow burn finally come to fruition, new enough that mention of it usually makes her turn pink. But the light in her eyes dims at your suggestion, and rather than flustered, Yachi looks uncertain.

Her fingers form a loose clasp around your forearm. “Tadashi is seated next to Tsukishima,” she explains gingerly. You feel yourself freeze and the kind motion of her thumb strokes circles along the inside of your wrist.

You let out a shaky exhale. “That’s okay. I don’t mind,” you tell her before the consequences of what you’re offering can really be cemented. Yachi’s eyes widen, her grip tighter on your hand as you squeeze back in an attempt at reassurance, knowing your smile looks brittle. “It’s probably for the best. We haven’t… talked yet”.

“Are you sure?”

“I’m sure”.

“Are you sure you’re sure?”

“Hitoka,” you laugh, bumping your shoulders together. “I promise I’ll survive”.

You regret it not two minutes later.

Anticipation fizzes under your skin as you spot him. On approach you give him a cursory look over, the harsh beat of your heart ricocheting in your chest. Tsukishima looks good—he always does, but today, dressed in his dark, double breasted suit, with the golden hour light carding fingers through his neatly styled hair, you think he’s never looked better.

It is disconcerting to see him again and realise that your feelings haven’t changed much in the slightest.

You sit in the chair beside him. You see his spine draw taut in the corner of your eye and feel an oscillating loneliness; so alike those final few weeks together that cold dread seeps between the spaces in your ribs and steals your breath.

“Tsukishima,” you incline your head, impersonal and cautious, hating how foreign his surname is on your tongue.

A beat passes before he repeats your name in greeting, soft as a psalm despite the dour expression on his face. You’re overcome with the urge to poke the uncomfortable crease in his brow. To smooth it out and kiss the skin there, the way you used to do.

You shift in your seat. The arms curve around your midsection and knock against your elbows as you fiddle with the table cloth, “I told Yacchan that Yamaguchi could have my seat so they can sit together. I hope that’s alright”.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” and you know the clipped answer is reflexive by the way his jaw locks in frustration at himself. Bracing for what you’ll say next.

Only, your mouth curls up a little, and you exhale a short laugh through your nose. You haven’t seen him this skittish since your first year of highschool. You consider that maybe you aren’t the only one who’s scared. That things are the same and they are not the same. The thought is bittersweet, but it’s nice, the way his trepidation gives way to muted awe, how he sends you sidelong glances when he thinks you’re not looking.

The music picks up in a grand crescendo as the newlyweds enter the hall and the reception begins with a raucous applause. A rich aroma unfurls as the food is served, the depth of the flavour layering over the already present notes of wildflower and honey. Drinks are handed to the guests. Generously. You swirl the liquid gold around the rim of your glass, luxuriating in the syrupy inebriation of a gently oaked chardonnay.

“So, uh. How’ve you been?”

Tsukishima, to his credit, does not startle at the question. “Fine,” he says, and you think he might leave it at that when he adds, “The museum received another new Crinoid collection last month, so I’ve been preoccupied”.

You grasp at the conversational thread, not wanting him to stop, “Crinoids?”

“Marine animals. They still exist today, though not as common. You might’ve heard of sea lilies and feather stars,” he shrugs halfheartedly, not daring to look away from his deep fried tofu, though it’s clear he can’t help talking about his work with pride. “Ours are from the Triassic period”.

“Just like the, uh—” you click your fingers to conjure the name from thin air “—Gojirasaurus! Your favourite, right?”

Tsukishima pauses. It’s a fleeting thing, but you notice. The corner of his lips curves into a barely-there smile. He seems pleased that you remembered. You busy your hands with repositioning the cutlery a fourth time so maybe, hopefully, you can distract yourself enough not to say something stupid like: “If I visit, will you show it to me?” or “Do you miss me, like I miss you?”

You clear your throat. “I hear the Sendai Frogs have been doing well, too. Congratulations on moving up to division one”.

Those aureate eyes are sliding to you again, bright and searching. Tsukishima arches his brow in a delicate mocking gesture that was unbearable when he was sixteen and even more so now. “Keeping tabs on me, are you?”

There’s mirth trickling into his voice, giving it a familiar smarmy lilt. A wave of emotion washes over you. Embarrassment and heart-twisting-happiness. You shove some rice into your mouth and chew it down to fine paste, vying for time to formulate a coherent sentence. “No. I read about it in the latest Volleyworld issue,” you reply unconvincingly.

“You don’t read Volleyworld”.

“How would you know that?”

Tsukishima takes a shallow breath and nods. The warm gloam of late afternoon mellows his taut features. “I’ve been reading too,” he says after another sip of wine. “I saw you finally published your book”.

Dread seized the inner workings of your mind and the apology on the tip of your tongue curdles. Time ticks by, one sickening second after another. Your eyes dip low to avoid his gaze—which for some reason, he refused to direct anywhere else.

Your recollection of the break up itself was hazy at best. There had been no raised voices, no desperate movie-esque kiss, no slammed doors. Only grief filling your body like lead, and jumbled, half-hysterical thoughts of ‘Is this it? Are we giving everything up, just like that?’

You remember everything that followed, though. The inability to accept reality. It is said if a writer falls in love, that love can never die. And so you kept writing, and writing, and writing; perceiving love through different lenses, creating different endings; relying on metaphors of natural forces and disasters, of cannibalism and gluttony, of journeys and patience to make sense of it all. Six months after everything fell apart you completed the final draft of ‘The Vanishing Moon’, dedicating a final testimony to him in small print on the first page.

Given the choice, I would’ve rather had you at my side than any one of these words.

Has he seen it? Is that what he’s getting at? Did he read through all eighteen chapters and meticulously pick out the remnants of him you pressed between the pages?

“Noya said it made him cry,” you eventually reply.

Tsukishima signals for another drink. He takes two flutes from the server, handing one to you. You accept it with a soft ‘thanks’, hoping he didn’t notice the tremor in your fingers. “Nishinoya-san cried when he found out swans can be gay,” he points out.

“You cried at The Land Before Time”.

“What kind of cold hearted bastard doesn’t cry at The Land Before Time?”

Laughter bubbles up in your chest as the initial dread ebbs away and the tension seeps from your shoulders. Tsukishima dips his chin, a small smile as he mutters, “That’s better”.

In the centre of the hall Tanaka cradles Kiyoko in his arms, now surrounded by clusters of their loved ones whirling with their own partners, a hurricane of colour and laughter and love. Tsukishima observes them with a solemn gleam in his eye. That could’ve been us, his heart says in chorus with your own.

“Do you remember that time we danced together in third year, at the summer festival? I tried to kiss you and gave you a nosebleed”.

“I remember”.

Your gaze drops to the bottom of your glass. At the time you had been mortified. Now it’s a story you would share at your own wedding table. The thought cleaves your heart in half.

“Do you remember the song that was playing?”

“Why are you bringing this up?” Tsukishima snaps. “Yes, I remember everything. I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to. Happy?”

There’s a surge of something devastating in your chest, like love and heartbreak all at once, strong enough that you feel as if your ribs might splinter just to make room for it. But they don’t—and you don’t, because you’ve felt this before, and your body remembers.

You remember.

Suddenly the room is too hot, and the music is too loud. “Sorry. I’ll be back in a minute,” you murmur, pushing your chair back and getting to your feet.

“Wait,” in one short breath there are long, calloused fingers circling your wrist. You do wait. Tsukishima hesitates, the pressure elevates, and as you lean away your palm slips into his, skin kissing skin. Then he’s standing, towering over you. “I’ll come with you. I know a place that’s quiet”.

Tsukishima does not let go of your hand, and you don’t let go of his. He walks a few steps ahead guiding you through the throngs of people. Some familiar heads turn, their attention drawn immediately to the place where your bodies meet, and shooting you various looks of encouragement or confusion. Yamaguchi sees you pass and his mouth splits into a grin so wide that his eyes crinkle.

You’re not sure where it is he’s taking you, only that his promise of finding quiet is true. The cacophony simmers and soon enough the festivities are muffled entirely. Just when you think you’ve wound up at the end of a corridor it curves, leading to a pair of french doors. “Come on,” Tsukishima ushers you out onto a balcony.

What you’re greeted by makes your breath catch. The world as it is around you comes to a standstill, the fabric of reality peeling away. An orange yolk dips below the horizon and the sunset hour drapes across the ostensibly endless meadow hidden behind the Karumai Gardens. Rolls of grass sway in the wind, peppered with wildflowers of every shade.

You move to stand at the balcony’s edge. Tsukishima drops his hand, and your fingers curl into your palm. The shadows grow longer, the air cooler. The evening insects begin to sing. You’re warmed still by the wine thrumming in your bloodstream.

“Hey, Tsukki?”

He comes to stand beside you, folding his arms atop the wall. “Don’t call me that”.

“Oh,” you swallow against the swell in your throat. “Sorry, Tsukishima”.

Tsukishima’s expression twists into a scowl. There’s a blush creeping toward his ears. “I didn’t mean that,” he says. You blink and wait for him to elaborate, which only flusters him further. He stares stubbornly at the border. “Just—call me as you normally would. Anything else sounds wrong in your mouth”.

The name leaves you in an instant. Hushed—not whispered, “…Kei”.

He makes an inquisitive noise, strangled as it is.

“You didn’t say what you thought of it,” you continued. “My book”.

You feel a rush of adrenaline when Kei doesn't answer immediately, unable to read his expression. “Good,” he says, veiled indifference belied by the restless twisting of a cufflink between his forefinger and thumb. “It was good”.

“Well, that’s practically a Pulitzer recommendation coming from you”.

“Shut up,” he huffed, gaze flitting across your face and dropping to your tentative, uncertain beginning of a smile. He wets his lips and glances away. Heartened, both by the alcohol and his reciprocation, you press closer in small increments, and Kei flowers under your gentle persuasion, like he always used to.

“This okay?”

In lieu of a reply you are ensconced by a warm, firm chest and two strong arms around your back that show no sign of withdrawing. The low timbre of his voice vibrates under your cheek, “Who was it for?”

“Hm?”

“The book. You dedicated it to someone”.

You exhale, squeezing your eyes shut. You’re glad, in part, that he can’t see the emotion written plainly on your face. “Nobody,” you answer lightly, angling to position your ear right over his beating heart. “Just an ex. You don’t know him”.

“Right,” Kei says, drawing out the ‘l’ the way he does when conceding a point he knows he’s correct about. It sounds so fond that you want to curl up where you’re resting, like some benevolent cat. “Guy must’ve been a dick”.

“I was too. We made a lot of mistakes, I think,” you say. If nothing came of this you would at least be able to revisit it; to pick at the scab and stop the wound from closing over too soon. There’s comfort in that. You crane your head and meet his gaze, nervous but unwavering. “But even if he was kind of a dick, I miss him a lot”.

“Yeah?” his eyes soften, half lidded and dark. “He misses you too”.

“He told you that, did he?” your mouth trembles. Kei dips to bring your foreheads together, and the hard frame of his glasses bumps your eyebrow. You share a shaky exhale of laughter.

“I’m sorry,” he mutters, brow pinched with regret. Again, “I’m sorry. I know I fucked up”.

You feel your jaw quiver. The familiar burn behind your eyes. Tears so close you can taste them. “We both did. Don’t shoulder the blame on your own”.

“But I made you feel lonely,” he says.

You tuck your chin and whisper, “Yes”.

His fingers splayed across your cheek, pinky tucked beneath your jaw as he cradled your face in his hand, tilting until you’re staring back at the reflection in his pupils. Puffy and damp, eyelashes clumped with tears. What a sight.

Kei strokes his thumb in an arc beneath your eye. A tear beads on his nail, slipping into the crook of his hand. The inexpressible tenderness is overwhelming yet you are underwhelmed by the inaction. You can’t find it in yourself to be embarrassed by the whine in your voice as you ask, “Are you going to kiss me?”

“Demanding as ever. What happened to ‘please’?” he murmurs. And then he kisses you.

It is slow at first, hesitant, leaving room for you to pull away. But with every languid movement of Kei’s lips came a sweet affirmation, that which you took and took until you no longer felt unworthy of receiving it. His hand flutters at your waist. You take a shuddered breath, pressing closer into his embrace and deepening the kiss. In his distraction you take him by the wrist, encouraging him to touch. There’s an immediate, reverent grip at your hip, kneading over your clothes.

This is what you’d been longing for. The feeling you couldn’t transpose; that which people have long tried to capture. The esoteric, giddy anticipation and joy that bubbled between two people on the precipice of something bigger than themselves. Even with an affinity for stringing words together you are scarcely able to describe it. Immense and overwhelming, light and dark, tender and everything in between.

Kei pulls away for breath with a low, vibrating hum, wearing a smile that you thought you’d never see outside of your memories. Almost boyish when he looks at you. The distance is an inch too many but it is just that—an inch. “Eager,” he teases, only to kiss you again, twice as eager.

For as long as you can remember, you’ve loved love stories.

But love doesn’t only exist in stories.

You remember that, now.

[darksilvania]

PRAWNIARD [Pawniard + Prawn] Water/Fighting The Shrimp Pokemon Abilities: Moxie/Hyper Cutter - Tough Claws (HA) Dex: "They patrol the ocean floor in small gangs, comprised of several PRAWNIARDS and a single EBISHARP, very similar to its surface counterparts. Their pincers are extremely sharp, even when closed, resembling blades, but what makes them specially dangerous is the speed with wich they use them. PRAWNIARDs are know for constantly training the speed of they slashes, until they claws become faster than the eye can see.” Moveset: -Karate Chop -Jet Punch -Fury Cutter -Sword Dance

EBISHARP [Bisharp + Ebi (Shrimp in Japanese)] Water/Fighting The Pistol Shrimp Pokemon ->Evolves from PRAWNIARD after learning BOILING HOOK<- Abilities: Moxie/Hyper Cutter - Tough Claws (HA) Dex: "It leads a squad of PRAWNIARDs and controls a small territory under the command of a powerful KINGAMBA Its claws can deliver blows at speeds above the speed of sound, this punches are so fast they make the water around them boil.” Moveset: -Boiling Hook: Fighting type / pwr 90 / acc 95 / pp 10 “The user launches a punch at such a speed the water around its fist boils up.” -This might leave the opponent burn -This move power is boosted against water type pokemon or if it is raining -Razor Shell -Aqua Cutter -Soak

KINGAMBA [Kingambit + Gamba (Shrimp in Spanish)] Water/Fighting The Mantis Shrimp Pokemon ->Evolves from EBISHARP after defeating 5 wild EBISHARP using BOILING HOOK<- Abilities: Moxie/Hyper Cutter - Tough Claws (HA) Dex: "It controls a large territory under the ocean, with many EBISHARPs as its lieutenants, each one commanding a squard of PRAWNIARDs" It vibrates its claws with such speed they become searing hot. Being hit with them is said to feel as being hit with a hot branding iron. They use this burning pincers to mark its lieutenants.” Moveset: -Boiling Hook -Crab Hammer -Cross Chop -Guillotine

Finally finished my convergent Pawniard line, I think I made them at the begining of the year but Im just getting to finishing things by now

PRAWNIARD is based on a Velvet Blue Shrimp

EBISHARP is based on a Bullseye Pistol Shrimp

KINGAMBA is based on a Peacock Mantis Shrimp

[joe-spookyy]

okay! so i’ve been watching a lot of smiling friends. and it would be out of character for me to watch something without doing some sort of intense hyper analysis. so here’s my thoughts on the biological classifications of the critters, humans, and maybe some other species of the smiling friends universe. my friend said this is how sheldon cooper would enjoy smiling friends. and i guess he’s right it’s very scientific. please read on.

first. we look at the wiki. who is defined as a critter? for this analysis, the specific characters that are designated as critters on the wiki i’ll be looking at are charlie, pim, allan, glep, dj spit, and mr landlord. so first, let’s take a look at the anatomical features of each of these characters.

charlie:

- large protruding nose

- eyes on the front of his head (i think?)

- head and some body hair (chest, stomach)

- 4 fingers

- primary and secondary sex characteristics (nipples and genitalia)

- belly button

- average height

- 27 years old

pim:

- no visible nose

- eyes on front of head

- no hair, one exposed nerve ending

- four fingers

- secondary sex characteristics (nipples) and presumably primary (genitals) given the fact that he is always clothed

- belly button

- short

- 34 years old

allan:

- smaller but still protruding nose

- eyes on sides of head

- no hair

- four fingers

- no visible sex characteristics, no clothing required, occasionally to accessorize (tie, bathing suit, floral vacation clothing)

- no belly button

- tall

- 24 years old

glep:

- can’t tell if he has a nose or if it’s just his upper jaw tbh

- eyes on side of head

- no hair

- no fingers

- no visible sex characteristics, only wears a hat

- no belly button

- incredibly short

- 1295 years old

dj spit:

- prominent nose

- eyes on front of head

- facial and body hair

- no fingers

- secondary sex characteristics (nipples) and presumably primary (pants covering lower half)

- no belly button (as far as i can tell)

- average height

- 23 years old

mr. landlord:

- prominent nose

- eyes on front of head

- hair on head

- four fingers

- no visible sex characteristics, does not usually wear clothes

- belly button

- tall

- unknown age

now. that’s a lot of variation! in My humble opinion i feel like that’s enough to designate different species since there is so much different between some of them, especially in the case of a lack of visible sex characteristics and the presence of nipples/a bellybutton, since the latter are distinct signs of a place tal mammal. however, regardless of what i think, it’s clear that there’s a significant amount of genetic variation in this population. what could have caused this?

theories:

here is what i and a few others who i’ve asked have come up with. scroll down to theory four to see the one i think is most likely, and therefore did the most research/explaination for.

theory one: there is no meaning to any of it and there is no pattern. they look the way they do because it is funny. is this a realistic take? yeah. do i like it? no. it’s boring. so i’m disregarding it.

theory two: the critters are just a species with an incredible amount of genetic variation. i guess this is possible and kind of goes with the first theory but there’s a little more nuance to it so i’m including it as a separate theory. again i keep going back to how i wish there was more specification, like certain breeds or races. different races, though, like the spamtopians, seem to be treated as completely different species. although they also have a lot of genetic diversity. additionally, many of the humans don’t look the same/have the same traits. so maybe there’s just high levels of diversity in each species, and there are other ways they’re each distinctly classified.

theory three: convergent evolution from a few different base species. this one could very well be the truth. several of the critters bear more resemblance to reptiles or amphibians, particularly the ones that are hairless and possess no visible sex characteristics. allan definitely has some lizard-esque characteristics, especially looking at the shape of his eyes, and pim kind of reminds me of a frog, and he does in fact refer to his youth as when he was “a tadpole”. glep also reminds me of a small lizard. the more mammalian critters, like charlie, could also have evolved from apes as humans did. maybe charlie and his big schnozz are distantly descended from a proboscis monkey. and dj spit from. something else ape like. idk. i definitely don’t know what to say about mr. landlord. he has some mammalian characteristics (hair, bellybutton) but he also lacks the sex characteristics. he could be the result of some intermixing but i’m truly not sure. additionally, some of the critters have forward facing eyes (typically indicative of a predator species), while some have eyes on the sides of their heads (typically indicative of a prey species). now, this rule does have exceptions, but i do think the possibility that pim is a predator animal is really funny. this one has its merits, but i don’t see why they wouldn’t be just split into different species at that point if there are distinctly reptilian vs mammalian groups, and the existence of those who are sort of in between, like mr landlord, adds to the confusion. additionally, it fails to account for how the critters all seem able to breed with/have relationships with characters classified as humans, because if there are some that are distinctly more reptilian than the more mammalian critters, it’s so incredibly unlikely that the reptilian descendants would be able to breed with humans, since, at least in our universe, humans cannot even breed with other mammals, so there’d have to be something going on for a primarily reptilian species to breed with humans.

theory four: all the critters we see, with a few exceptions, are a result of many generations of human/critter crossbreeding. this is the one that i am rooting for, and it makes the most sense to me. between all the critters, we can definitely see some that have more human traits, and some that have more animalistic traits. so, maybe charlie and dj spit have more human dna, whereas, say, allan and glep have more critter dna in their lineage. again, we do know that human/critter relationships are very commonplace, as both glep and charlie have human partners. in my opinion, it seems that glep is furthest on the critter spectrum, given his lack of any distinct human characteristics and incredibly high age. he could be one of the last remaining true Critters. on the other end, dj spit appears to be the most human. all the others fall in between.

additionally, many of the human characters don’t display Only humanoid traits. some are live action, some are rotoscoped, and some are traditionally animated. the different ways they’re animated (or distinctly Not animated) seems to indicate a little bit of genetic diversity as well. for example, mr boss is animated, and switches from five to four fingers, and has the ability to turn his face into a dog face. i guess there’s no proof none of the other humans can do that, but he does seem to be a little more non-human, when we take that into account along with his disproportionate features (eg. massive head). and i’m not even gonna open up the can of worms that is the fact that sometimes he has massive bazonkers that he can nurse jason with, and sometimes just has pecs. additionally, we can see that doug and professor psychotic, while presumably biological brothers, have a lot of different characteristics, with doug being rotoscoped, and professor psychotic being animated and honestly sharing more characteristics with dj spit (a critter) than his own brother. someone also pointed out that their mother may be spamtopian, as she looks like the waitress that pim and mr boss encountered on their visit to spamtopia. so, we can divide the humans into four groups, going from least to most human.

- wacky/slightly inhuman animated person (mr boss, professor psychotic, desmond, etc)

- regular looking animated person (zoey, marge simpson, etc)

- rotoscoped person (doug, etc)

(i cant find a good picture just go watch the show)

- live action person (president jimble, tyler, simon s. salty, etc)

(you know what a human being looks like.)

now there’s one thing that kinda throws a wrench in this theory: jason. jason is the son of mr boss and an unknown mother, presumably a critter. jason, while being the son of a character that is classified a human, looks the most like glep: meaning that he displays some of the most critter characteristics when compared to any other characters. additionally, he seems to share glep’s aging patterns, being 18 years old and still a nursing baby. so if he’s definitely part human, and appears like glep, maybe glep isn’t a full critter after all. HOWEVER. the way i have elected to combat this is through the use of a punnet square.

now, if H is the allele for presenting like a human, and C is for presenting like a critter, we can see that a half human half critter, when mixed with a whole critter, will produce offspring that are fully critter 50% of the time. now, with the amount of different critters that have varying amounts of human traits, we can assume that it’s a lot more complicated than two genes. but, if all the genes weigh together, it is definitely possible for jason to have inherited mostly his father’s critter dna instead of his human dna, which, when paired with his mother’s full critter dna, resulted in him looking like a pure critter, like glep. yknow, like how some dogs are mixes but they look exactly like one parent rather than the other. now of course, jason doesn’t stay this way, and ends up growing wings and all that jazz, which could be a result of the variant dna, showing that while he may initially look fully critter and age like one, some traits may emerge as he matures that show his differences.

so, to conclude this theory, here is what i think the spectrum of critter -> human is, and where the line between the two is drawn.

now yes, this is a simplification and does not account for any interbreeding between the less common non human/non critter species, such as spamtopians, demons, sentient animals, forest folk, and so on and so forth. but i think it covers the most likely line of progression between the two species and how they’ve presumably mixed over time, with more input from the less popular species as aforementioned.

thanks for listening like and follow for more overanalysis of stupid things.