#fanrace

[problemspritester]

Hi Tumblr Homestuck community!

The 3rd!! Fanspecies Week Banner Raffle Rolls are almost here! (Fourth FSW but third year with the raffle)

In two days (hivebent day, because of course it is) we'll spin this wheel. Five of these 60 (or more?? unless?) species will be on the server banner for the next year, as well as a Fun Project that will be seen at a point in the future!

To all the Homestuck fanspecies authors who aren't on the server, but want to be in the running, please shoot me a message! I want everyone to see the phenomenal species this community has made!

[whoneedslovewhenyouhaveknives]

Lamplings: A Splatoon Fan-Race

Okay then, let's do this!

The full bullet pointed list is under the read-more! Be warned, there's a lot.

The same way that Inklings come from squids and Octolings come from octopi, Lamplings come from lampreys!

They use aggressive mimicry! Lamplings look almost identical to Inklings or Octolings, depending on where they were raised.

Since they come from lampreys, Lamplings need to feed on bodily fluids (like blood, you heathens. Get your mind out of the gutter) in order to survive. This has gained them a reputation much like vampires.

There's even an in-universe horror movie about Lamplings. It's well-acted, but relies so much on the stereotype of "Blegh Lamplings are all evil and want to suck your ink and kill you" that it's not even funny.

Lamplings are technically pseudo-cephalopods, despite not evolving from a proper cephalopod, since they spent centuries evolving to mimic Ink and Octolings. This means they have things like an ink sac and swim form.

They have two types of mouths: one type on their face, and another type on their tentacles, replacing the suckers that Ink and Octolings have.

The mouth on their face isn't connect to their digestive system, instead only connected to the respiratory system. This means they can talk out that mouth, but can't eat with it.

The mouths on their tentacles are the eating mouths, having a full setup of sharp, retractable teeth, a sandpaper-textured tongue, and a throat that travels through the tentacle, down the head, and to the stomach.

The eating mouths act a lot like suction cups, pulling food in and trapping it in place with the teeth, so the tongue can bore a hole and eat the blood and small pieces of meat.

Lamplings are a female-only species! (By female-only, I mean in s*x only. If you're a transphobe, GTFO my post, this ain't for you.)

They reproduce asexually! If there's an abundance of food, resources, and shelter, an adult Lampling can lay an egg.

Lamplings actually have their own unique ears, with a round body (Octoling) that comes to a small point (Inkling).

Lamplings also can't mimic eyes, making small mistakes any time they try. This can make a Lampling's eyes look wavy, pie-cut, or even rotated.

Despite their weird eyes, they actually have better eyesight on average than Ink and Octolings.

When Lamplings are born, they're blind, rely entirely on their caretakers, and have several small, sharp fangs in the mouth on their face. While normally these fangs merge into a "beak" when the Lampling matures, sometimes they'll stay separated, leaving the kid with a mouthful of sharp teeth.

They reach maturity at the same age as Ink and Octolings, 'round 14 or so.

Despite their terrifying reputation, Lamplings are actually pretty chill and friendly!

While lots of Lamplings live in pre-dominantly Ink or Octoling settlements, sometimes lots of Lamplings come together to form settlerments of their own.

Lamplings have come up with lots of neat recipes in order to feed themselves and their families without hunting down an innocent person. Consequently, one of the freshest and kindest things to do in Lampling communities is cook for other people.

Food is everywhere in Lampling communities. Everywhere you look, someone is making something to eat.

Lamplings can cut away parts of their tentacles, leaving a light or dark-colored scar. Since Lampling heal incredibly quickly, this doesn't really bother them since they don't have many nerves in most of their tentacles, only having some around their eating mouths.

Lamplings usually cut parts of their tentacles to use in dishes, but Lampling youth find it "fresh" to cut their tentacles and maintain it, adding a cool scar to their image.

Lamplings are very friendly to those who they don't see as a threat, always lending a helping hand.

Due to their love of cooking, Lamplings have a high appeal and demand for cuisines from other cultures, studying and adapting them for maximal flavor and enjoyment in their community.

Examples of Lampling-Hybrid cuisine include: Battered-&-Fried "Squid" Rings (made from minced tentacle), Ink-Crystal Candy (Wasabi-Flavored), and Five-High-Pile-High Ink-Soaked Clam Mochi.

And now, pictures!

(A Lampling who mimicked an Inkling form, also called an "Ink" Lampling.)

(A Lampling who mimicked an Octoling form, also called an "Octo" Lampling.)

(Yuuna, one of the two Lampling "idols", and a newscaster for the main Lampling-dominant city, New Oceania.)

(Nami, the other Lampling "idol" and newscaster for New Oceania.)

Thank you to everyone who's read this far and/or voted in the poll!

If you happened to vote for the other option, "Research Paper", I'm pleased to announce that it's already been published on ArchiveOfOurOwn! You can check it out here: Lamplings: The Basics - ArgoNavisStarGazer - Splatoon [Archive of Our Own]

And remember: Drink water, have a nice day, and Stay Fresh!

[kotlcmemesforsomelaughs]

i love the sudden spike in notes as @ham-cheese-toastie, @thishumanformislimiting, and @imobsessed123 all reblog the same post like 50 times

maybe today we'll get to 700 notes?

Edit: Pippa you literally reblogged this 100 times

What is wrong with you? (affectionate? I think? Slightly concerned?)

[doctor-dorky]

Because I was on a roll with doing digital edits, and my mouse was working properly again, I did a new version of the previous Isel portrait!

Isel(pron. ee-sell) are a race of batlike creatures that were once subterranean. They headed up to their planet's surface and began to propagate it, while also inhaling silicon particles that changed their genetics into partially silicon-based lifeforms. They are environmentally adaptable, but the Isel prefer colder regions. Such is the case for why their ships, the Isel Glacier, are cold.

The Glacier has two weapons to delpoy: Their main weapon is an Icicle Spreadshot, which sends sharp, short-ranged icicles towards their opponents. Their subweapon is what makes these 8-crew ships so valuable, as their subweapon is a Subzero Blastr which freezes enemy batteries. This of course does not work on ships that have manual recharge(like the Pkunk Fury or the Druuge Mauler).

I know you've seen the original pilot portrait of my fanrace, the Isel before, but what's different from the original?

The first one is only slightly edited to make it appear more symmetrical(I noticed that it wasn't symmetrical and it was bugging me), thus I duplicated the picture, cropped it and then placed it to make it more symmetrical(save for the tail).

The second one now matches up with the redesign I did of the Isel, with the wings and the console the pilot's sitting on!

[cinlat]

I couldn't help myself. Fynta would 100% make Caldus drive everywhere.

[space-mist]

@dru-plays-starbound i'm glad you asked!

the erichius ghosts are creations of the moon's resident horror as a defensive measure! they're scary projections generated by the horror that lock onto anyone with erichius on them to scare them away from the moon or kill them via draining their energy and intense radiation exposure. erichikin at base are pretty radioactive and the horrors are no different, and they compensate for their immobility by using projections (and if that doesn't work, the many erichikin that live around them to defend them).

since it's a projection they can't truly be destroyed, which is why if you manage to "kill" one it doesn't drop anything and another one is quick to show up. they're created from vibrational frequencies from the crystal, so the average chump mining on a moon couldn't do anything about them. large-scale mining companies however have this figured out and probably have a counter frequency in place to effectively neutralize them

[milolol]

rororo

[spiderton]

completely forgot for a moment to post this. new fanrace? fantribe IDK

[hells-greatest-prince]

*I've been developing a fanrace of rabbitfolk for TES lately

[charmikarma]

did you ever make yourself a homestuck fan character and/or typing quirk?

also: thoughts on usjng one’s own qujrk for day to day stuff on tumblr?

oh back in middle school when i first got into homestuck with my friends we made an entire fanrace. they were magical rainbow furries because what else would a middle schooler make. the ocs from that time had quirks but they were kinda dumb hehe. if you're asking if i ever made a sona though.... surprisingly not??? i truly do not know why. it feels so out of character for middle school me to not make a kidsona or trollsona. oh well. i don't have much interest in the concept now, i'm more of a kinnie these days (and even then, not nearly as much as i used to be)

as for using a quirk on tumblr ... i mean it's fine. i don't rly have any strong opinions on what other ppl r doing. they're living their lives n i'm living mine. can't say i really understand the phenomenon though

[rosabunnie]

totk brining back fanrace thoughts

[problemspritester]

Hey good news and bad news

Bad news is I'm ass trash at promoting stuff on tumblr

Good news is here's everything that's happened on the Fanspecies discord since last chime in:

- We're doing contests now! Like everything else, we're adding species to a wheel and rolling it once a month-ish. Then we make characters for that species and vote on them until we have a winner! We've done @lepiosprites's Molluskins and @blivesagain's Golems so far. Next roll's on May 2nd!

- Honkbot's really coming together. I posted about the fanspecies bot some time ago, but now he's really flying. Most notably is that I got "Alien-ify" to work. You can roll traits for individual species, sure, but now you can have him roll for species first then roll for traits. We're still working on making the wiki command work up to standards

- FSW2023 is on the way. As of 4/13, we started the gathering period for this year's wheel. On 6/12 we'll roll for the five species that'll be represented on the server banner for the next year, as well as in the promo post for FSW here on tumblr. So if you want in lmk! I'd put everyone's fanspecies if I could and I want to see what everyone's made!

[whoneedslovewhenyouhaveknives]

Thank you, everyone who voted! The winner by 7.6% is bullet-points!

I'll be writing out the post on the fan-race soon, so watch out for it!

Question, followers and/or Splatoon fans!

If I were to post an introduction to a Splatoon fan-race, would you rather it be bullet-point style or research paper style?

[kotlcmemesforsomelaughs]

Hello I can post again. Prepare for an onslaught of notifications

ok

[orsinium]

(bouncing from one subject to the another) i wanna reboot and rework my bug ppl fanrace but i literally cant pick a bug to base them on theyre all so good 😭

[cinlat]

“Help me understand.” The woman’s voice is calm, barely above a whisper but, Caldus feels it in his soul. She emanates peace and serenity, two things he’s been seeking for the better part of three years. Maybe his entire life.

The young Cathar sitting to Caldus’s left fidgets, then seems to remember himself and goes still. He’s a skinny thing, all arms and spindly limbs compared to Caldus’s bulk. There’s a gleam in the boy’s flame colored eyes that warns Caldus that he might not be as young as he looks.

“Let’s start with your name.” Hers is Jedi Master Notiac Carlo. She is soft, colored like a summer sunset of Caldus’s homeworld. Her curls drape gracefully over slim shoulders, but there is an air of power about her. It’s different from the Sith. They are bravado and rage. The Force presence that Caldus senses in Master Carlo is like a warm breeze over a field of flowers. It could gust into violence, but for now, it is calm.

“My name is Caldus,” he begins, staring down at the helmet in his hands. It was all he managed to grab before fleeing Korriban. He couldn’t bear to part with it, nor could he put it on. This helmet, with its artfully swept forward tusks and intimidating crest symbolizes everything he hates; that he’s afraid of. It also symbolizes friendship born in the fires of trauma and inside jokes; a small kindness in a sea of madness. He is proud to own it, but he’s ashamed that he left the giver behind.

Taking a shuddering breath, Caldus forges on. “I am—was—a Sith acolyte awaiting to be chosen by a master. They found me on a docking platform at the edge of the galaxy and stole me for their own. When I met the Jedi captive, my task was to feed him information that would influence the positioning of Republic military forces to open the way for a Sith invasion.”

“You didn’t do that,” Master Carlo says, her head tilted to one side. She wears a mask over her eyes. It’s simple, yet elegant, with pearls and beads accentuating the lines of her face.

Caldus can’t hold her gaze. Though her eyes remain hidden from him, he can feel her attention. Instead, he rubs his thumb over a scratch in his hamlet’s surface. He wonders idly why they let him keep this one, with it’s sharp points and menacing edges, but took the other. “I did. Then, I decided to go with him.”

Events had moved quickly after that. Caldus and the Jedi prisoner snuck onto a transport under the guise of an escort mission. Then found an escape pod, and the Jedi activated a beacon after they had drifted far enough. Master Carlo and her Padawan had answered the call with a contingency of political statesmen and a full platoon of special forces soldiers. Caldus had not resisted when they surrounded him.

“Do you wish to join the Jedi?” She asks.

It’s the question Caldus knew would come, yet he still doesn’t have an answer. He had joined the docking crews who flew merchants to distant colonies to pedal their wares to get away from Orsimer Prime. He can’t crawl back to his tribe as a failure. They would accept him, but Caldus’s pride would forever keep his eyes to the ground. Better to stay out here and find his way. At least with the Jedi, he wouldn’t be forced to murder innocents to cater the favor of madmen.

Caldus tucks the helmet into his lap and looks up at the woman. His half-helm had been confiscated upon his arrest, leaving his unique features exposed. Neither the woman nor the Cathar appeared concerned by the tusks jutting from his lower lip or the claws tipping his fingers. He supposed the Cathar, at least, wasn’t intimidated by those.

“Would I be welcome?” Caldus counters after the silence drags on for too long. “I was trained to be Sith, and I am liable to stand out in your ranks.”

“Would you prefer not to?” Master Carlo holds out one hand to her Padawan, Caldus’s half-helm appearing seemingly from nowhere. His fingers itch to grab it as it hovers into her waiting grasp. A test, most likely.

Clearing his throat, Caldus nods. “I prefer a certain level of anonymity.”

“Then you’ll have it.” The woman holds out the helm.

Caldus hesitates, reaching out with his senses for any sign of a trap. When he finds none, he carefully lifts it from her hand and places it over his head. The familiar brush of fabric against the bridge of his nose eases some of the dread sitting in his chest. With his eyes and large ears hidden, he could pass for any number of large species known to the greater galaxy.

“I will not murder with the Force,” Caldus states, emboldened by the return of his flimsy shield. Before the Sith, he used his abilities to make work easier on the dock. He shifted heavy cargo and performed amusing tricks. The Sith wanted him to turn that gift into a weapon against nulls. There was no honor in it. Caldus would fight with his sword, a blaster, or his fists. But he refuses to wield against another living being ever again.

“We would not presume to infringe on your religious customs.” This from the Padawan who now leaned forward with his forearms braced on his thighs. An intricate pattern of darker lines marks the fur around his eyes, nose, and mouth. Perhaps, after some time around beings less humanoid than the ones in the Sith ranks, Caldus might be comfortable baring his uniqueness to the galaxy too.

Even with most of his face covered, Caldus’s surprise must be evident because Master Carlo chuckles and Caldus is momentarily distracted by the beauty of the sound. There is no malice in it, just the amusement of a woman who has seen far stranger things than him. “Kadu has made a point to research our more obscure neighbors. He wishes to be a healer, and thus he learns everything he can about the races he might encounter. Your kind is known to us, Caldus. You are welcome and safe.”

Caldus nods, his throat suddenly too tight to speak. Only one person has taken the time to learn about him in recent years, and he isn’t sure whether it is because she was working an angle or because they are friends—were friends, he supposes. It is unlikely that she’ll forgive him for abandoning her.

The woman stands from the stool she’d placed in front of Caldus for their conversation and stretches her back. From this angle, he sees the signs of age around her mouth and under her chin. She too is older than she appears. “If you do not wish to be the aggressor,” she begins, tipping the mask in his direction. “How do you feel about being the shield?”

“Like, protecting people?” It’s a stupid question, but Caldus needs a clear answer before he agrees.

Master Carlo nods, a smile pulling at her lips like he will be a particularly fascinating puzzle. It’s Kadu who speaks, though. “Who do you think would be best to teach him?” Those flame bright eyes turn towards Caldus, weighing him with experience that Kadu looks too young to have. “Shielding is tricky, but if you are willing to put in the work—”

“I will,” Master Carlo answers before Kadu finishes his sentence. “You will soon be leaving me to practice with the medical universities. I have the flexibility for a second Padawan if we play our cards right.”

Caldus’s attention bounces back and forth between his new allies while they discuss his future. Hope tugs at his ribs, urging him to take this chance. He’s escaped the Sith, if things turn sour, he can escape the Jedi as well. “I agree,” Caldus blurts into their conversation before he can talk himself out of it. He’s lost out here with nowhere else to go anyway. Maybe this can be the way he atones for the wrongs he’s committed.

The Sith taught him to destroy. Now, Caldus will learn to preserve.

*Caldus is my new guy based on a fanmade race called Orcolans. I didn’t make them, but so much work and love obviously went into their creation that it felt wrong not to use it after I stumbled across them. Obviously, swtor doesn’t have that option, so Caldus got a fancy half-helm so that he could still show off his lovely beard. Eventually, he’ll move to a full helmet to avoid stares and awkward conversations.

**He was 19 years old when he escaped the Sith and fell into the Barsen’thor’s lap quite literally. This probably won’t turn into a full story, but be a fun little world for me to play in. It’s an offshoot of the Sith Fynta AU. So…and AU of an AU?

***This was meant to be a 500 word quick drabble….it grew.