#alternate universe - science fiction

[technicallyclassyperfection]

Embrace the new World!

[texasthrillbilly]

[whirligig-girl]

Losar System

Cooking the Solar System from the Inside Out

(yeah lol it does kinda look like it says Loser)

For this system layout, I have taken the Solar System planet's orbital distance in astronomical units, and taken the reciprocal.

The major planets, in order of increasing distance from Los, are Enutpen, Sunaru, Nrutas, Retipuj, Sram, Thrae, Sunev, and Yrucrem.

Read more about them below the cut:

The Losar system formed through a very different mechanism to our solar system. I'm not sure entirely about the specifics, but the arrangement is not dissimilar to the Kepler-90 system, in which 6 super-earth-mass planets are extremely compact and close to their parent star, with a low-mass and a high-mass gas giant at the outer part of the solar system. Perhaps as Retipuj formed, it migrated inward, carrying with it the ice and gas necessary to form the super-earth-mass planetary cores which accreted into Enutpen and Sunaru, or perhaps there was some kind of switcharoo where the Hot Ice Giants started out on more distant orbits, before crossing orbits with Retipuj and then being coralled into lower orbits.

Either way, some kind of migration is necessary, since Enutpen and Sunaru are volatile-rich, and the outer planets are comparatively volatile-poor.

I've excluded Pluto (or "Otulp") and the other dwarf planets, not because I don't like them or think they count as planets, but because I think by the time you're accounting for every large object in the Solar system in the Losar system, it just gets really implausible. also I bet some objects end up inside of the Sun. Plus, this kind of thought experiment is playing the same kind of planetary dynamics game that splitters are playing when they say Pluto's not a planet. Suffice to say, there are definitely lots of interesting small worlds in the Losar system, but they don't have 1:1 analogues with Solar system planets.

There are only five large moons in the entire system. Aside from Retipuj, satellites and rings are not stable around any of the Hot Giants. If satellites were initially formed around the Hot Giants, they would have either crashed into the planets or were ejected into one of the asteroid belts.

The first civilization to arise in the Losar system are the Sunevians, suspiciously great-ape-like feathered aliens who walk on their upper limbs and use their lower limbs as graspers. Sunev is an oceanic world with one large australia-sized landmass and a great number of volcanic islands. The ocean is relatively shallow, with a lot of coral reefs across the planet. The world is kept warm due to an atmosphere with an Earthlike composition but over twice the atmospheric pressure. Its slow retrograde rotation period results in day/night cycles which are more like seasons, and there is plenty of time during the warm nights to peek through the relatively dense cloud cover into the nearly empty sky. Early or late in the night, one might be able to see Thrae and Noom, or Sram, or if they catch it at just the right time, they might see the incredibly bright spectacle of Retipuj or even Nrutas peek out of the treeline, brighter than any planet or star. On a really good sunset across the ocean with clear skies, some observers report seeing additional super-bright red stars next to the red Sun, but these are thought to be some kind of weather phenomenon reflecting sunlight.

In rare moments of clear skies at night, away from light pollution, one might see many faint hazy spectacles. The zodiacal light (meteoroids orbiting beyond Yrucrem) shines as a faint haze across the ecliptic. The milky way too, shines as a glittery patchy cloud across the sky. But sometimes, every few hours, early in the night, there is a bright patch near the sun, brighter than the zodiacal light. A mystery for ages, but this is now known to be the cometary tail of Enutpen. Sunaru's tail is also detectable, but substantially fainter.

Sunaru and Enutpen were the first planets to be discovered, and were detected within a week of one another by early Losar observers. After the invention of the astronomical telescope, a reflector, observers got very bored during the daytime months. That is, until someone figured out a safe way of pointing towards the Sun. At a cadence of 52 and 103 hours, little black dots would march across the Losar disk. 52 hours was also the cadence of the brightening and dimming of the twilight zodiacal light. And suddenly, two brand new planets were discovered!

Millions of years later on the cold ice-age planet Thrae, astronomers would have an easier time with Enutpen and Sunaru, having known them to be planets since antiquity, due to their apparitions during total solar eclipses. Thrae's comparative cloudlessness also helps.

Sunev has three tiny asteroid moons, which was a helpful jumpstart to Sunevian space exploration, providing early wins for all four space programs. But these little asteroids were not truly other worlds, merely refueling outposts on the way to the rest of the Losar system.

Every few years, there would be a perfect alignment between Sunev and the Hot Giants to allow for a grand tour to be completed using only flybys of the gas giants, with minimal propellant expenditure. The first grand tour attempt got no further than Retipuj--contact was lost due to overheating before the probe made its Nrutas flyby. Specially developed solar flyby probes had to be developed that could survive hotter temperatures before the Hot Giants could be properly explored. These probes would resemble the Parker Solar Probe in some ways, albeit with very different scientific instruments designed for planetary science as opposed to Oilehphysics. Nrutas, Sunaru, and Enutpen turned out all to be much less massive than originally thought, having been puffed up to a larger diameter by being cooked by solar radiation. Nrutas, thought to be the king of the planets, turned out to be merely puffing up its crest to appear regal, so to speak.

Retipuj's moons were incredibly interesting. Retipuj turned out to have 8 satellites--four tiny inner asteroid moons, and four large satellite planets. Otsillac, the innermost turned out to be a volcanic world, yellow-brown in color and pitted with dull-red volcanoes, and a thin atmosphere constantly replenished by volcanic plumes. The next three are in a Ecalpal Resonance of 1:2:4. Being both larger than Otsillac (and, in fact, Yrucrem) and in a more eccentric orbit, Edymenag was even more volcanically active, with a molten surface and exposed mantle. The smaller and more distant Aporue and Oi turned out to be less active, with only a few active volcanoes and many extinct ones. Oi was the least active--although the most recent eruptions were only half a million years old, it was practically dead. It was also the only one with a substantial amount of impact craters, and like Thrae's satellite, Noom, there is likely some volatile ices stuck in the permanent darkness of polar craters.

Hot Giant exploration was best appreciated by specialists, but the other outer planets were much more appreciated. Sram was thought to be warm enough to potentially support liquid water, but its atmosphere ended up being 1/20th of the pressure initially expected, the majority of it having been blown away into space by the Losar winds and the Enutpen tail. But Thrae was a sweet spot--it may have had a thinner atmosphere, but that was compensated by being nearer to Los. In addition, a giant impact it sustained billions of years ago lead to it having a powerful magnetic dynamo to survive the onslaught of the Losar and Enutpen winds. Thrae was a habitable biosphere of similar complexity to Sunev's, albeit with deeper oceans and all the alien horrors that comes with the territory.

Even Yrucrem turned out to be a surprise--despite a dull appearance in telescopes, it was found to have cryovolcanoes and pockets of subsurface oceans, which could potentially support a biosphere. It's a dark brown color due to ice having been aged by solar radiation, with white spots and rays spraying out from recent asteroid impacts and cryovolcanic plumes. The small planets of the trans-Yrucrem asteroid belt were a similar treasure trove, although the nearest large trans-Yrucrem planets were a dozen au away, and requiring RTG power sources. Initial flyby probes to the Trans-Yrucrem-Objects required both being capable of surviving the oppressive heat of Los-shine near Retipuj, and the cold of deep deep space, in order to take advantage of Sunev-Thrae-Sunev-Retipuj gravity assists.

The Sunevians never had a chance to discover the deepest secrets of the Losar system. Their planet froze over due to anthropogenic aerosol production intended to reverse anthropogenic carbon emission, civilization fell, and it never recovered.

But millions of years later, perhaps the Thraelings have a chance to discover, whether through direct imaging or through analyzing the weirdly arrayed orbits of certain trans-yrucrem objects, the four Cold Giant planets, and the distant brown dwarf companion of the Losar system...

[nostalgia-tblr]

okay it turns out writing fic is hard so i have made a PHOTOSTORY of the Dark Lokius fic that i would write if i wasn't lazy and a coward:

[battlegroundofdreams]

2

And now they meet....

“I take it you’re Melinoe?” Morpheus sounded as thrilled as he felt when he walked into the training room the next morning to meet the woman who would be his partner, or at least until he could find a way to get rid of her.  At least she wasn’t bad to look at, and from her outfit she was there to do serious work.  At least they hadn’t put him with one of the females that was more concerned about her appearances than whether they got the job done; that was at least a bonus.  However as his eyes swept her body from her long coffee colored hair that was pulled up in a plait, across her curves, and down to her long legs that were toned from workouts and the rigors of their job, Morpheus had to admit that at least the scenery would be enjoyable while he was forced into this position.

“I am.  That would make you Morpheus.  I’d say it’s a pleasure, but your reputation does proceed you.  I’ve already been warned, you’re not going to scare me off or get rid of me.  We’re stuck together, so let’s see if the other part of your reputation is correct.  Hand to hand first, then we can do weapons. Let’s see what you got.” Melinoe gave him a wink as she smirked over at him.  She was prepared for anything he could throw at her.  Overnight she’d done some research on the assassin she’d now be paired up with, and had gotten a good feel for who he was and how he operated.  To say he was generally disliked would be a significant understatement, even amongst their superiors.  While he was adept and lethal, he had an attitude that few could stomach.  The number of reprimands in his file was impressive for him still to be in the service.  He’d impressed someone along the line, or maybe slept his way into keeping his job.  She couldn’t deny that he was nice to look at - tall, dark hair, and grey eyes that seemed to be scrutinizing her, chiseled jaw and cheekbones, and he didn’t have to wear tight clothes to see his musculature.  Yes, sleeping his way to keeping on the force was a possibility. 

“I guess I won’t have to wonder where I stand with you.”  Morpheus was actually impressed, not even one single attempt to flirt, and she was direct.  He had to respect that, even if it slightly amused him.  The tall female was attractive, which normally meant flirtatious.  Now he had a good idea why he’d been paired up with her, maybe he wouldn’t hate this quite as much as he’d anticipated.  The thought made him smirk as he considered exactly how to put her to the test.

“Not at all, killer.  And don’t think that the nice cheekbones, strong jaw, and ability to smolder are going to get you anywhere.  I’ve been told I’m immune.”  She gave him a tight smile and another wink as she pulled on her training gloves: tight leather fingerless gloves that had padding in the palm.  “Don’t take it easy on me, and I will do the same.  I want to see what you’ve got, and how much of your weight I’m going to have to carry.”  Now it was she that was smirking as she kept from looking at him, something she was sure he was not used to.

“Excuse me?  MY weight that YOU are going to have to carry?”  Now Morpheus had to scoff as his eyes rolled.  There was no way she’d be carrying any of his weight.  More than likely, he’d be carrying her weight, and although she was far from fat, he imagined he’d be tired from carrying her weight on every mission.  There were few in the service that could keep up with him, let alone fight to his level.  He dropped his equipment bag to the side of the area that they were going to be using and began to pull on his own gloves, keeping an eye on her as well.

“I believe that IS what I said.” Melinoe was glad she didn’t have to hide her smile at the indignation in his voice as she dug more of her gear out of her own bag.  “I won’t play nice to save your ego.  I’ve heard it gets enough puffing up off the job, I don’t plan to do any more of it while we’re on the job.” She tossed a few things to the side and then turned to stand and face him.

Before Melinoe could come to full standing, Morpheus had her by the bicep and shoved up against the wall, with his body against hers, keeping her there.  Those grey eyes of his seemed to have gone ice cold and his expression was dead serious; she had to hand it to him that he was intimidating when angered.  “I don’t know just who you think you are, but commenting on what I do off the job is none of your business.  And my ego doesn’t need to be puffed up any, by you or anyone else, my performance speaks for itself.” She’d hit a sore spot without even meaning to, but he wasn’t going to let it slide either way.  This is why he preferred working alone. No asshole coworker to annoy you, or get you injured or killed.

Her green eyes met his evenly and with a hint of amusement in them.  “Is that so?  And yet, you lose your cool so easily over the statement.  Hiding something, Morpheus?”  Her eyes dropped to where their bodies met and then back to his eyes.  “Or compensating for something?  I don’t care, but don’t you ever grab me that way again if you want all your body parts to remain in their original and current positions.”  Melinoe’s chin lifted defiantly and her eyes narrowed.  “Now back the fuck up and let me go, or I will make you.”  The coldness in her voice made ice feel like the tropics and the set of her jaw made it clear she was not in a joking mood.  He too had taken a step too far.

“Fine!” He took one step back, releasing her as his fingers splayed wide on both hands, his head tipping to the side, and his own eyes narrowing.  “Don’t start a war you can’t finish.  As you said, Melinoe, we are stuck together.  We can fight each other and the nightmares, or we can fight together.  You choose.”  He was fighting grinding his teeth as he stood there staring at her.

“You made the first move, Morpheus.  I’d say it’s up to you if there’s a truce, or hostilities continue.  I’m not going to back down if challenged, and I won’t pull punches.  Don’t think you can steam roll over me because others cower at you.  They picked me for a reason.”  The corners of her mouth ticked up, he’d have to call the truce between them and apologize. She wasn’t going to be made to apologize or back down, that wasn’t her style.

It was at that moment a messenger came into the room.  “Ema!  Ema!  I have a message from Krios.  It is in regards to your last mission.  Something’s happened.  He is going to need to speak with you after training!.”  The messenger held out a scroll to her, bowing deeply as she reached for it.  “I’m sorry to interrupt, ma’am.  I was told it could not wait and was of the utmost importance.”  Morpheus’s eyes narrowed as he watched, something was off about the interaction, and what had he called her?

“Right!  Well, then it is best that you didn’t.”  Her tone was clipped, but Melinoe was not chastising or upset sounding.  It was clear on her face that something about what the messenger had just said was troubling, and she was not wanting to reveal more in front of him.  “Thank you for delivering it to me.  Morpheus and I will be in to see the Prime as soon as training is completed.  Let him know that it was delivered.  Thank You.”  She inclined her head and waited until the messenger had exited the room before breaking the seal on the scroll.  As she read, a feeling of dread filled her.  It seemed that she and Morpheus were not going to get much of a period to get acquainted. 

Morpheus waited for Melinoe to share what was within the scroll.  As he did, he went back over what the messenger had said.  He’d called her “Ema”.  The name sounded familiar, but he was having a problem placing it.  There was also that the messenger had shown a reverence to her that he didn’t even receive.  And why would Krios contact her directly, the Prime rarely spoke to agents.  Who had he been paired up with?  What had the Dream Gods done?

“It looks like we aren’t going to get much time to get to know one another before we are going to have to undertake our first mission.  A pair of nightmares that have been preying on dreamers and brutally killing them from within has resurfaced, or one of them has.  I killed the other one in my last mission. I had hoped both were dead, but apparently the one was just badly wounded and laying low for the last couple weeks.”  Frustration bled through her voice as she filled Morpheus in.  Having to admit to not defeating the one nightmare was not something she liked doing, but she wanted it all out on the table. “Apparently the remaining one struck someone just taking a nap, not even someone asleep for the night.  So, since it was my last solo mission, it has become our first joint mission.”

Now would be the test if he could control his own mouth, or if they would forever be at odds with one another.  While he didn’t want a partner, fighting with her while trying to defeat the nightmares wouldn’t benefit either of them.  Best thing was to call a truce and work together.  “A truce it is then, if you’re agreeable to forgiving my earlier slight.”  Once she had inclined her head to indicate that she did, he continued, “I guess we should get down to training then if we’re going to be thrown into it that fast.  Learning one another’s fighting style is going to help when we’re taking on an adversary, especially one that is out for revenge for you killing its partner.”

[theprofessionalpromptmaker]

Person A is an assassin android, built to be a perfect killer. Person B is their target, who is actually a god of life living in human guise for a chance to learn about humans. When Person A finds Person B impossible to kill, they kidnap them and hold them prisoner, studying Person B and trying to figure out a way to kill them, but due to the extended proximity to a life god, Person A starts to become human and struggle with emotions and things they’ve never felt before.

[plotandelegy]

Building Futuristic Worlds: A Comprehensive Guide to Crafting Transport Systems for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing

Hey there! Here's yet another world-building article where I detail how to enrich your story world in unique ways. Transportation systems in fantasy, science fiction, and dystopian worlds often get overlooked when world-building. So let's go into some details about how a unique transportation system can be built

First, lets go over inspiration. Mixing different types of transport is an excellent way to get started creating something unique. To get pretty weird with the example, let's say we have a uni-cycle in a rolling bubble under the sea. The rider would have to cycle to move the bubble to its destination. Please don't ask me how they get in or out. A hatch at the top? Maybe the bubble exterior is gelatinous and can be walked through?

Next, let's go over geography. Different terrain will determine the type of transport you'll need to create. Got a vast mountain range? May I suggest teleportation? I'm not too fond of driving in high locations. Underground tunnels might work well too. Bonus points if the tunnels are unstable and cause conflict for your protagonist. 

Now for the fun stuff: add unique and exciting elements to your transport system. In a fantasy world, you might have enchanted gargoyles pulling carriages through the sky. In science and fiction, hovercraft may shift between sky and underwater depending on traffic.

Finally, we'll talk about currency. Do you need one-time magical tokens to board earned through questing? Or do you have to buy your ticket with the meager credits you get from your job at the sardine factory? Please don't ask why we have a sardine factory in a sci-fi environment. I'll add that to the list of things I need to figure out. 

In conclusion, it's your world; do what you will with it. Take or leave the sardines. Mix and match if you need inspiration. Think about why this transport is required. What purpose does it serve? Who needs to use it? Bonus question, what would make it the worst way someone might get around but still has to? What would make it the most magical experience hardly anyone gets to have? Those are some things you might want to think about. Happy world-building. 

-Indigo

Need more? Check out my other articles!

[theomenmedia]

Why Is The Fantastic Four First Steps Set In An Alternate 60's?

Why did #FantasticFour take a leap back to the '60s? Dive into the retro-futuristic world of an alternate dimension with

Link to the full story: https://www.theomenmedia.com/post/the-fantastic-four-first-steps-retro-futuristic-leap-why-the-60s-alternate-dimension-setting

[amadholes-lostre]

Orginal-Verse: Erden

I like speculative evolution, I like science fiction, I like alternative history, and I also like fantasy, so i have an idea to blend these genres together, which appealed to me greatly. I have had an idea about my OV for a few years now, however, it is unlike my other OV, which I have it since my high school years in 2012. All these ideas form into a world called Erden, meaning 'Earth' in Anglisc.

Erden is similar in many ways to Earth, either geographically or astronomically, though there are changes in space. For one, Saturn orbits where Mars does now, and not only Venus is closer to Erden now (20 mi kilometers at their closest), but Venus is now trimming with life. Erden is also 15mil kilometers closer to Mars/Saturn too, which means Erden also has a longer year (likely 50 days).

Magic exists, too, influencing both geologically and biologically. The magic system is the one I talked about before on my BNHA-au posts, where Wednesday Netflix is in the BNHA-verse, too. And there are more sapient races that aren't just humans too.

I incorporated many ideas that could be divided into three categories:

1). Geography. There are many locations that don't exist at Earth, which does at Erden, and there are some that don't exist at Erden. I, again, will divide it into three categories when creating these locations.

On mythical lands and errors on mapping. There are lands that exist on Erden that are usually viewed as myth to Earth. For instance, Altantis exist, both the city and the island. It is situated on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Other mythology islands and lands exist, too, like Fusang/Fuso, Avalon, and others . Phantom islands also existed like Thule, Frisland, Brasil, and California.

It is based on either geological events from the past or future and on hypothetical or submerged lands. Atlantis is situated on the northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge, while Fusang/Fuso is situated on the Izu-Bonin-Mariana Arc, southeast of Japan. Doggerland, a land bridge that connected Britain to mainland Europe, is still surface, making Britain a peninsula rather than an island (also having so many goddamn bloody wars). New Zealandia, the submerged continent, is also surface, while the East African Rift had already broken off from Mainland Africa. The subcontinent of India hasn't crashed into Asia yet, and so, it's too is still remain island. The Isthmus of Panama also doesn't exist, too, now being a strait, with a large island off the coast of western Columbia.

Here is just what I wanted to make. I didn't based this off on either mythical lands or geological events but just what I wanted. So, first of all, there is a strait from Gaza (now an island) to Taba, making a journey between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean straightforward. This has many consequences, one of which is that Roman never managed to conquer Judea, meaning not only Christianity (other than a weird, small Jewish cult) doesn't exist, but the genocide and expulsion of Jews from Judea also didn't happen. The Black Sea is also connected to the Caspian Sea through Russian territory (lol, lmao even), connecting the region around it to the wider world. This means the region also has a higher population. The Ryukyu Islands also have a massive island, connecting Okinawa with Amami (also, Ryukyu 🤝 Fuso= hating Japan together). There's also massive islands off southwest of Britain and northeast of Spain.

2) I like speculative evolution on the possibilities of an animal existing, especially if they are fantasy animals. Here, a lot of fantasy animals exist too through evolution like unicorns, dragons, gryphons, etc. There are new species that do exist on Earth, and trying to think of a way why some mammal species could grow enormously, like an elephant-like species reaching 12 meters by the shoulders.

I like realistic fantasy animal design not because any snotty or accurate reasons, but it creates unique and plausible designs. For instance, how dragons, either lesser or greater, were evolved from the Scansoriopterygids family. The Scansoriopterygids were similar to flying dinosaur like birds, but instead of having primary feather for flight, they had leather wings to do so. This give Scansoriopterygids a dragon-like appearance, hence why dragons will evolve from them. The dragons lead into multiple families, including Western dragons, Eastern dragons (sea serpent), cockatrice, Dragon-kins, and the like. Gryphons, meanwhile, will evolve from hadrosaurs (the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event didn't kill the majority of dinosaurs. There even a small continent east of South America full of them). Due to a lack of vegetation, gryphons' predecessors turned into carnivores. They were branched into two families: one evolved to gain the ability of flight, and the other are still flightless. Some flightless gryphons were managed to be domesticize, some being the size of German Shepherds (mostly in Mesoamerica like the Mayas). Unicorns (and frankly, kirin and qilin too) are a bit difficult thinking how they will evolve from, but mainly that they are a suborder of Ceratomoporpha, being related to rhino with having three spread toes. Both unicorn and kirin have thicker and longer tails compared to many mammals, similar to anteaters and their cousins. This also branched out into two families: Unicorn having their horns near the snorts (usually one horn, but some genus have two horns from the same spout). Qilin/kirin have their own family, existing only in East and Southeast Asia, having scale-like skin (like pangolin), either having antler-like horns on their head or horns on their snort, and they're also omnivores. Some unicorns and kirin were managed to be domesticized.

Source

There are many mammal species that reach heights taller than Paraceratherium, the tallest land mammal. The restriction of why mammals can't reach the height of dinosaurs, other than being viviparity, is not having an efficient respiratory system nor hollow bones like avians. Some solutions I figured out to handle this by having mammals having a pseudo-air sac between their lungs, which should be allowed to pump in more air. Another is having anotherelement in their bone tissue, some form of carbon formula to make it lighter but stronger. Another is that food energy, like carbohydrates and proteins, is just far more potent than Earth's is.

There are more sapients on Erden, just like other fantasy settings. However, I don't want to use the same old race trope. I found it boring and predictable, so I want to create original races, similar to how League of Legends does so. There will be two primary categories when it comes to race: magical and non-magical races. Kind of self-explanatory, non-magical race evolved by the old fashioned way, while magical races were evolved (called aetheo-evolution) either form humans somehow gaining animal traits, shifting into one, or a whole other genus (like Dragon-kins) speedrun through evolution. I don't know how many non-magical races there are on Erden, maybe like between 7-9 races. Some races I think are a deer/ ruminant-like race (with a shorter snort) and a dromaeosaurid-like race (shorter and thicker tail, posture in a diagonal like shoebills, crane, and heron, and their brains are more elongated and thick). It's a bit difficult trying to create magical races that aren't stereotypical fantasy races. Humans are the most common species on Erden, like around 70% of the population (thanks to being more adaptable to environments and genocide).

3) All species on Erden are mono-sex, meaning they have to have gay sex in order to reproduce (lol, lmao even).

I was always intrigued by this concept, that the idea of there is a species that dont have a male/female, but that they all considered a same-sex, and they reproduce like this. I was inspired by this concept first by a Harry Potter fanfic I read in late December 2011. I don't remember the reason why, but Lily needs help from a lamia colony. The lamia were a mono-sex, or an all-female race with how the fic described it. I was amazed by this, but I didn't think it couldn't happen outside of fantasy. But I discovered Mass Effect, and by proxy, the Asari that same month and I was astonished by them. Though they referred to a monogender race, which I found confusing at the time, but oh well. However, when i started playing the game (I discovered ME through femshaina sex scene at YouTube and fanfic, lol), I disliked how the Asari were portrayed, and thought I created my own race out fo spite. Admittedly, my reason itself was misogynistic and biphobic (oops). Ironically, the races on Erden are not the same race I created when I was 18 (they're called Idren). The idea of Erden was in 2019, and I it expanded from last year. I did think of writing my oc race, Idren through a Harry Potter fanfic, where an Idrin teen is an exchange student at Hogwarts (Idren are an alien race which are already space faring by the 1990s). The only reason why I haven't really written this down before is because I am very picky; they are supposed to have many languages, but I not considered good at that, so I haven't managed to even properly give them names and such lol.

Even though the races on Erden are mono-sex, they still have genders and gender roles, though they are more malleable and not as strict compared to humans. One of the reasons is that humans, and many other races, are considered semi mono-sex, which are different than true mono-sex. Gonna need to elaborate on this minutely on a different post. Though they shouldn't really consider females (or having males for that matter), I am still using the term matriarchy and patriarchy (feminine and masculine too, for that matter) because it can still be implemented on them (they're mono-sex, not mono-gender).

I have a bit of an issue of actually naming the humans on Erden. Humans viewed man/male as the default when it comes to genderization (I think that is the term). Like a stickfigure will always be considered a man unless drawing it with a shirt or long hair. A monster (or any animal for that matter) pronoun will always be he/him unless state otherwise. Even the story of Garden of Eden, it considered man came first, and Eve came from him. The word, human, was derived from the French word for man. The words female and woman indicated that man is first and default while woman came second. (ironically, man was a gender-neutral word in Old and Middle English). Humans in Erden are, what I considered, a majority matriarchal society (just that people giving birth have more political, economical, and maybe military power), and so, will likely have have wo/fe- prefix in their species name. It also helps how mono-sex actually works, too. However, because Modern English doesn't actually exist, it is a bit difficult naming them. I do have an idea of a conlang, a Gallo-Romance language sproken by people off the coast of France, Spain, and Brython (the name of Peninsula Britain as the Anglo-Saxon could never invaded pass Dover). I was thinking of basing it off Old Norman, but I can't find a proper dictionary for it, so I likely based it off Old Occitan instead.

Just because humans, and frankly all the races on Erden, are mono-sex, or "all female," if you wanna call it that way, doesn't mean they're less violent than Earth humans. There are more conflicts on Erden due to having more countries and non-human sapients. Conflicts are also more bloody due to a lot more destructive tools at their disposal. A 1940s Englishman is not more violent than a 1420s Englishman, it just that the latter has far more powerful weapons. This is the case for Erden Humans as magic is far more integrated in their society. Because of this, conflict will be a lot more violent due to some people having the ability to blow up buildings with a stick.

Being an alternative universe of Earth, Erden also has an alternative history due to so many geographic differences, non-humans race,s and magic. Like I said, there is a strait between Gaza and Taba, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean. Because Judea is adjacent to the strait, along with having magic, Jews were never expelled from Judea. Another thing is that Atlantis existing on Erden means that the majority of the world already knows about the Americas before the 1490s and that, by proxy, horses were introduced to the Americas millennia before the 16th century.

Like I said last paragraph and before, magic plays major roles in Erden. One primary reason why Judea could hold off conquests like the Roman is, other than having more economic and military power, due to golems protecting the nation. This is also expanded to other ethnicities who manage to hold off from being conquered. The Assyrians held off the Rashidun Caliphate (though they were conquered by the Golden Horde), Maya managed to held off the Spaniards, and the US (this version is a bit different than Earth) could never expand west of the Mississippi River due to the many indigenous tribes like the Sioux (these conflicts were a series of wars called the Great Plain Wars). Half of Africa also manages to hold off Europe during the Raping of Africa Era thanks to magic (this is mainly in Northern Africa due the Sahara being much greener than ours, Central Africa still got fucked).

However, in contemporary times, there is far more tension between countries, ethnicities, and species comparative from ours. One of the reasons that many states, even though managed to fend off Western conquest or rebel against their conquerer, did lead to other conflicts. For instance, many indigenous groups, especially Mexica, manage to overthrow the Criollo and Mestizos government (they fled to the island of California). However, Mexica were not popular with other tribes that also formed their nations, especially the neighboring Maya. Black Nationalists formed a black majority nation (thanks to the US for reasons), forming from Louisiana, half of inland south, and Georgia (looks like a horse-shoe). However, they conflict with neighboring indigenous tribes and the Confederate. The majority west of Mississippi River are Native American states with some exceptions.

Keep disgressing, lol. So like, because the US never expanded west (due to the Great Plain Wars and other reasons), they focused their power on the Atlantic Coasts. This means Hawaii and Alaska were never conquered/claimed by them. Great, but also still bad because Japan doesn't have an isolation policy here (Fuso does, though), and still have their conquering policy (like trying to conquer Korea before). Because of this, they conquered multiple islands and Lands including the Philippines (only half, and making an enmity with Spain too), half of New Guinea and any other islands there, quarter of Australia and half of New Zealand. They also conquered Hawaii too, and because of this, half of the regions hates them.

There are also more religions, many of which are fictional, like a monotheism in which the Assyrians worship Ishtar. Like I said before, because Rome never conquered Judea, Christianity doesn't exist. The majority of Europe, however, follows a belief, an universal bitheism religion of a light deity and a dark deity (I was thinking of calling it Lumity, but I remember that name is already taken, lol). Universal religions aren't that common, like the majority of Europe and 1/3 of the Americas do follow the light-dark religion, but that's about it. Islam also spread just like on Earth, however, it ranges were limited. The Caliphates only managed to conquer North Africa. They never could push beyond the boundary of Judea, Jordan, and Iraq. There are Muslims in those regions, but only a minority and they are treated like shit (half of Insular Southeast Asia are still majority Muslims, though).

I gonna draw a proper map of Erden, however I going to do so by regions first and then commission a person for a proper global version. I also tried to figure out how to draw the fauna and flora. For ethnicities and countries, it will be a bit difficult to write since I need to properly research languages and cultures like Assyrians and Mayan to create proper names and such. Atlantis languages, however, will be a new language family (going just use a conlang websit generator for that). For antisemitism, I don't know how insidious it will be. Antisemitism, in its essence, are cause by religious reasons; Christians blame Jews for killing Christ while Muslims hate Jews for betraying the Prophet. However, because Christianity doesn't exist, antisemitism shouldn't be as rampage there compared to here. (I think, Europeans hate Romani as much as Jews, though. So perhaps European will still hate Jews, though it shouldn't be as insidious. Also, will there even be a reason for Jews migrating in Europe?).

I am also planning to write some fics on Erden; creating a storyline does help me force to think creatively. One idea is a teenage Victorian girl being isekai'ed to Erden, mainly on the western island off France and Spain coast. It's mainly a romance story between her and a teenage noble... girl? Person? Boy? (Ugh, need to think of a proper term, Erden humans are still mono-sex beings.) It is also an adventure story with her and her now lover traveling the world.

Erden Humans are also stronger and taller than Earth humans, like the ability to lift 3.5-4.5 times their weight and are, at average, 6'1 feet tall. Their lifespan, non-mage I mean, is average around 135 years.

Nothing else to talk about, unless it's how the fuck do mono-sex reproduce. In that case, I likely have to write another psot because there are different methods, and the explanation between semi mono-sex and true mono-sex. Asari may be the inspiration, but Erden races don't do mind-mend and shit for reproduction, they fuck nasty in a faggot way in order to have kids.

[whereserpentswalk]

You're a dimensional traveler. You're mostly a researcher, for an organization that knows about other dimensions. It's not something the average person in almost any dimension actually knows about, but there are a few pocket realms, where dimensional travelers can meet.

Its strange going on research trips. They always put you in the body that you would have had if you had grown up in that world. You've felt what it would be like to exist in a body that's been a medieval peasant its entire life, and likewise you've known what it's like to be in a body that's never left a spaceship.

The strangest time was when you were in a body from an entirely mechanical world, where no biological life existed. It was horrifying ar first, being a machine that didn't breath or eat, you felt like you were being drowned, and felt like your skin was missing. And the worst was so desolate, knowing there was nothing but wasteland outside the cities. But the more you stayed there the more normal it felt, as empty as it was, the beings there only knew humans, only knew life, as a bad memory, and era long forgotten.

You've been to a world with superheros, it was right after you left the machine dimension. It wasn't like your childhood fantasies, wasn't like what the people of your world dreamed of. A superhuman is a horrifying thing to witness as a moral, and the fact that an alien thinks of itself as a farm boy from Kansas, can be more horrifying then it think of itself as an alien, horrifying to the shoplifter and the media pirate, horrifying to the protester, horrifying to the radical. It's scary for such creatures to uphold mortal law. You couldn't give those people any weapons to fight back with, but you could tell them that you were from a world without superheros, and tell them that is was possible, and it wasn't more dangerous like they thought it would be, it was safer.

You've met people you've wanted to take back with you. People who you could have. There was a time when you were in a world with limited technology, and powerful magic. You befriended a eunuch priestess there, a priestess of a god whose temples were being burned, where her faith was being replaced with a monotheistic one, one that would have her killed for more reasons then one. She fled from city to city, as more cities were being taken by the new faith, where she became illegal in more and more places. You offered to take her to your world but she said no, she needed to be with her people in the end, and even if she went, you realized she'd be no more accepted there then she is where she lived.

And you've seen better worlds. You've seen a post revolution America, seen how much more advanced it is. And seen the old churches of that world converted back into pagan temples, and seen cities where office buildings were all apartments, and city halls had become meusums, explaining to people what governments were when humanity had governments. You've seen things be possible you didn't think were. Yet you had to leave. You always had to leave.

You've been to a world where humans didn't experience romantic or sexual attraction, and didn't have libidos or erotic sensation. It was strange, you felt empty at first, you missed those feelings so much. You went with your partner, and you couldn't feel anything about them, there was no feeling of lust when looking at their naked body, and worse off there was no feeling of romance when you looked into their eyes. But you still liked eachother as humans, you were good freinds even when you weren't able to love eachother, you still talked for hours, still cared about eachother. And you cuddled, because without romance freinds would just cuddle in that world. When you came back to your own world, and the attraction came back, it felt weird and wrong at first.

You've been to so many places you've had to leave behind. You've been to a world of endless forest night, where monsters preyed on humans, and you've sat with humans who've learned how to survive despite everything. You've seen a world of endless city, stretching across a planet, and you had to leave it, you always have to leave it behind, even though you could explore it forever. You've been to a world where the internet was all that existed, where there was no physical realm, just websites and chatrooms, the image of a screen being all you could see, and being there for awhile without a body, just getting to talk to people, and see how they spent their days, it made you love the body you had, but still care for those without them.

One of your most deadly missions was to go to a world of demons. To live in that empty world, that world with no light, no hope, where every soul knew it was forever damned. But the demons still had to live, still had to spend their days doing their best, still had freinds, despite the fact that they knew redemption was beyond them. And you were one too, and despite how you expected there to be nothing when you were thrown into that void, you were still you.

You're more appreciative of your own world now. Seeing people on the street and the subway, they're still human, anywhere you go. You've asked the organization for an interdimensional internet device, you really want to be able to still talk to some people you've, you think people deserve that, to be talked to. Mabye people actually are good?

[technicallyclassyperfection]

Via print:

[ahagisborn]

Losing my mind.

Okay, I read a short story about a group of scientists/researchers/explorers out on the ocean who are looking for a particular spot where they can either time travel or get to another dimension (?). They go through whatever the portal is and release a dolphin that they have on board that's supposed to like conduct research somehow (?). The dolphin is attacked and killed by these creatures that LOOK like dolphins but are actually fish/reptiles (?). I think then the scientists end up on land where they find remains of a creature or a living creature that LOOKS human but isn't (????). I have to stop googling this I'm going crazy.

What fucking story did I read?

Fucking stories I did not read:

any of the Uplift series by David Brin

Dolphin's Way by Gordon R. Dickson

Sister Planet by Poul Anderson

[kj-ursa]

ever since i got to talking with friends about astrology i've been fascinated by how a system having THREE suns from the get-go might affect religion, science & general history.

(the 3rd sun in question is a red dwarf 1/5th of a lightyear out they didn't even realise was part of the same system until relatively recently)

[promptsausandshit]

Picture this; #476

In an effort to travel to another universe a scientist ends up swapping lives with their other self. Now they have a whole family they never had relying on them and no idea of what fate befell their double.

[dnschmidt]

The Hypothetical Woman - A Science Fiction Story

The physics building was surrounded by protesters. They were waving signs and shouting about researchers opening doors to parallel worlds. Silly conspiracy theories. Next they would say the moon landing had to be faked because of all the space ghosts...

The Hypothetical Woman - A Science Fiction Story