#gonochoric

[ipsogender]

Alternative language for biology of sex without using "hermaphrodite"

So, you're worldbuilding a scifi alien species or a fantasy race that can reproduce as both male and female. Or you're a biologist or science educator. And you want what you're writing/making to be inclusive to intersex people.

The term hermaphrodite in biology refers to species that can reproduce as both male or female. The problem is it's also a slur when used against intersex people (it's also incorrect - we're not hermaphrodites). I recently polled other intersex folks informally and a plurality were fine with the h-word being used with the correct meaning in appropriate contexts. But the qualitative feedback I got was, all things equal, most people who wrote to me said they'd just be happier seeing the term less.

So here is a glossary of words you can use to talk about the biology of sex without invoking the h-word:

Gonochoric species where individuals (typically) reproduce only as either male or female. This means the species produces two types of gametes that have different sizes, and conventionally the larger is female. Gono- for generation/reproduction and -choric for separated/distinct. Note that "non-gonochoric" includes both hermaphroditic species and those that can reproduce asexually (e.g. parthenogenesis).

Gonosyne: species where individuals (typically) can reproduce as both male or female. Gono- for generation/reproduction and syne for together/combined. This is a term I have coined to be an alternative to hermaphrodite.

Types of gonosyny: it's common to categorize different forms of gonosyny based on temporality and how many gonads an individual has.

Grouping by Temporality:

Cosex: species where individuals can reproduce as both male and female simultaneously. Alternative terms: cosexual, simultaneous hermaphrodism. For example: land snails/slugs typically mate by linking up both pairs of genitals.

Dichosex: gonosynic species where individuals reproduce as male and female at different times in their lives. Protandrous species start as male then switch to female; protogynous start female then switch to male. Some species cycle between the two (serial/bidirectional hermaphrodism/disexuality). Alternative terms: dichosexual, dichogamous, sequential hermaphrodism. I coined this one after feedback that "dichogamous" was not intuitive to non-botanists, keeping dicho- (in two parts/paired) for simplicity. Example animal: clownfish (the Finding Nemo fish).

Grouping by Gonads:

Digonic: species that can reproduce as both male and female because they have separate male and female gonads. Digony can be cosex or dichosex. In botany the term monoecious is used for flowering plants. For example: barnacles have their ovaries in the base of their body, and testes in the back of their head.

Syngonic: species that can reproduce as both male and female, because their gonads can produce both male and female gametes. Alternative terms: syncoecious, monoclinous, ambisexual. (Note ambisexual has other meanings.) Syngony can be cosex or dichosex. In dichosexual species the gonad changes which gametes it produces when the individual changes sex. For example: land slugs have a single gonad (ovotestis).

Together this makes four categories. Examples come from: Sex change in plants and animals: a unified perspective.

Syngonic cosexual. Simultaneous gonosyny within the same flower/gonad. Examples: Black-jack daisy, Lady of the Night cactus; mangrove killifish, stubby-root nematode.

Syngonic dichosexual. Non-simultaneous gonosyny within the same flower/gonad. Examples: Bromelia chrysantha, grape ivy; California sheephead fish, common limpet.

Digonic cosexual. Simultaneous gonosyny from different flowers/gonads. Examples: bitter melon, jaraguá grass; barnacles, flatworms.

Digonic dichosexual. Non-simultaneous gonosyny from different flowers/gonads. Examples: papaya, catsfoot; staghorn coral, earthworm.

Hope this is helpful! I have two little notes I want to add on: Note on "non-gonochoric": it's possible this could also include isogamous speries? There's some ambiguity in use. Isogamy refers to sexual reproduction where you don't have two different sized gametes - instead it's two identically sized gametes that are getting combined. This is the standard amongst unicellular eukaryotes and very common in fungi.

Note on ambisexual: this is the term that Ursula K LeGuin used for the dichosexual aliens in the Left Hand of Darkness. The term in biology these days refers to undifferentiated (immature) tissue that has yet to develop into a given sex - e.g. a human embryo has ambisexual gonads until sexual differentiation later on in development. The term ambisexual has a ton of other meanings in other contexts such as a sexual orientation. For this reason I'd personally avoid it.

[ninjasmudge]

[puts my hand on your shoulder] bro the 'is the lamb amab or afab' question is so stupid dude, canonically the answer is neither. in that world, anyone can have kids with anyone, these characters very clearly arent from a species with two sexes, there is no male or female in here, gender is entirely separate from biology in this world dude. this is not an either/or situation, all the followers are both bro, theyre hermaphroditic, can you hear me?

[emuwarum]

fighting for my life on reddit talking about parthenogenesis and sequential hermaphroditism

[sgraffitobonito]

Taking a marine biology course can be very disorienting because after a while, you get so used to things being hermaphroditic that it throws you off when you learn that something else isn’t.

Like what do you mean it doesn’t have both male and female reproductive organs?

Hmm? Oh yeah, pssh, of course I totally remembered that most animal species are gonochoric, mhm

What’s that? OH. Humans, yeah, the species that I’m apart of, right right, yep, for sure

…But like that little snaily-lookin’ fella totally gives you the vibe right?

No, it’s only got dude junk? Ok coolsies 🤠👍

[insaniquariumfish]

Even if I agree just for argument's sake that the existence of intersex people proves that some people can have "nonbinary" sexes, or "third" sexes, and that "sex is a spectrum," how does that have any relevance to people who are not intersex? Like okay, let's "agree" for the moment that intersex people are something other than male or female. How does that make YOU, as a person who is not intersex, something other than male or female? Saying that intersex people's existence somehow makes sex "complicated" for you specifically is like saying that the issue of whether or not you can hear is "complicated" because some other people who are not you suffer from hearing loss or deafness. Like sorry but for 99% of the human population it is not "more complicated" than born with perfectly normal male genitalia = male and born with perfectly normal female genitalia = female, and chances are you fall into that 99%.

Sex is not a social construct or a nebulous enigma of a concept. It is not debatable and made up in the manner that gender is. You cannot philosophize about whether there are two sexes any more than you can philosophize about whether humans have two kidneys. Someone having a missing or malformed kidney or accessory kidneys does not change the fact that humans as a species have two kidneys. Humans are gonochoric just like nearly all other animal species on Earth.

[hpmort]

This a race of nonbinary rock people. Yes, like Steven Universe, no this is not a rip-off, no did I not create it, that was Haruko Ichikawa in 2012, which was one year before Steven Universe’s pilot was produced, and no, I am not saying that Steven Universe stole from them.

They all have the exact same bodies, reproduce asexually, have not made contact with any contact with gonochoric sentients, and all use they/them in the official translations.

They sometimes have been known to engage in romantic relationships, and there’s also that general homoerotic/Soft Yuri dynamic going on to an extent, like one of a sfw fan-service anime that doesn’t want to alienate any potential viewers that aren’t fujoshi and himedanshi.

If you know what, if any, gender is associated with their first person pronouns in Japanese, do not take that into account.

(Yes this is to prove a point which wasn’t even contested)

[dogtoling]

Biology of Inkfish - Reproduction

Eggs

Neocephalopods most commonly reproduce during the warm season, due to their cold-blooded nature, although a specified mating season may be absent in generally warm climates. They are gonochoric, with any individual carrying and producing either eggs or sperm, in contrast to some other molluscs of the era such as many gastropods. Eggs undergo internal fertilization as opposed to external fertilization in numerous species of fish - these eggs are incubated inside the body for three to five weeks until they are laid. From this moment, depending on species and temperature, eggs typically take between three to eight months to hatch.

[Octoling eggs at different stages of development. Paralarvae feed off a large yolk in the egg as they grow and develop. Once the yolk is depleted and they have grown sufficiently, they will break out and hatch.]

The average inkfish eggs consist of a sturdy but soft, rubber-like eggcase, an interior filled with liquid, as well as a large yolk that will deplete over time as the embryo develops. After eggs are laid, they will be kept in a den of some sort, which is typically a hole or crevice that is supervised by the shoal and routinely sprayed with ink to moisturize, protect and conceal them. Neocephalopods without a den to hide their eggs in will carry them within their crown tentacles to move and protect them - this is usually referred to as brooding. Brooding inkfish are notably moody and protective of these eggs - this is an instinct seen even in the modern day. Depending on species, juveniles are raised either by the parents, mother or the whole shoal.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Sexual dimorphism in most species of neocephalopod is generally low and inconsistent, typically coming down to variable size differences, voice pitch and pattern displays. In some species, males are larger - while in others females are larger, and in many species, there is no size differentiation at all. Voice pitch is more commonly determined by overall size of the species and the specific individual. Many cephaling species have striking color displays used mainly in flirting, though these displays are only historically gender-specific* and, in reality, are more an indication of social role or confidence. All in all, the majority of neocephalopods don't have enough sexual dimorphism for there to be commonly accepted traits, and whatever traits exist have significant inconsistency.

(*Think of these color displays as more akin to human hairstyles - culturally and historically gender-specific, but in reality, whether you want long or short hair comes down to personal preference. Though within personal and cultural context, it still signals something.)

Even still, some preferences in mate choice can still be tracked - inkfish are typically more likely to pick brightly colored and more saturated partners, and larger tentacles are usually deemed as more attractive. Favorable characteristics have a lot of variety between species - hooked species may be attracted to larger hooks, bioluminescent species to larger or brighter photophores, and so on.

[Cuttlefish are some of the most visual cephalings. Patterns are culturally used to signal reproductive role, but in reality, they have less gender significance and are more of a marker of an individual's personality or confidence.]

Iteroparity

While most ancestral cephalopods were semelparous, this is not the case for modern Cephalings which can reproduce multiple times throughout their lives with no issue. This is due to the altered function of the optic gland, and is a hypothesized leading cause in the leap in neocephalopodan evolution and intelligence. An involved parenting strategy came with a significant decrease to the amount of offspring per clutch, but with a higher intelligence margin and survival rate of neocephalopodan ancestor species, which ultimately outdid the cons.

Modern society has greatly lessened the brutality of mate choice and violent competition over females, both of which are mostly irrelevant when it comes to modern inkfish and highly relevant with oceanic cephalopods. Sexual cannibalism, which was also highly prevalent especially in oceanic octopuses, is also absent from modern neocephalopods. As a result, neocephalopods do not typically suffer from post-mating senescence or violent death by the beaks of their mates or competitors, which means several clutches of eggs may be laid.

[nochd]

This came across my dash via the #lgbt tag yesterday. I don't want to engage with the OP because that would get me into fights on radfem tumblr and I don't have the energy for that. But the post itself I think is worth answering, just because it's so neatly and exactly wrong.

(Not that my answer is going to spread very far, because I have 37 non-bot followers, of whom I think roughly 35.5 are just here for the nude photos. But anyway.)

Even if I agree just for argument's sake that the existence of intersex people proves that some people can have "nonbinary" sexes, or "third" sexes, and that "sex is a spectrum," how does that have any relevance to people who are not intersex? Like okay, let's "agree" for the moment that intersex people are something other than male or female. How does that make YOU, as a person who is not intersex, something other than male or female? Saying that intersex people's existence somehow makes sex "complicated" for you specifically is like saying that the issue of whether or not you can hear is "complicated" because some other people who are not you suffer from hearing loss or deafness. Like sorry but for 99% of the human population it is not "more complicated" than born with perfectly normal male genitalia = male and born with perfectly normal female genitalia = female, and chances are you fall into that 99%. Sex is not a social construct or a nebulous enigma of a concept. It is not debatable and made up in the manner that gender is. You cannot philosophize about whether there are two sexes any more than you can philosophize about whether humans have two kidneys. Someone having a missing or malformed kidney or accessory kidneys does not change the fact that humans as a species have two kidneys. Humans are gonochoric just like nearly all other animal species on Earth.

Let's start with the arithmetic. If 99% people are of binary sex, that leaves 1% of people who aren't. There are approximately 8 billion humans on Earth. 1% of 8 billion is 80 million -- about sixteen times the population of my entire country. Even just the number of intersex Americans is something like two-thirds the population of my country. This is not a negligible number of people.

There's a deeper error here, one that goes to the root not just of this misunderstanding but of many. Biology is always complicated, at every scale and at every level of explanation. It's messy, it's fuzzy, and it's always bottom-up, never top-down. Everything biological is the way it is because it grew that way. Biology never does the same thing twice.

Why does it seem like it does? Because, of all the ways you can arrange the parts of a living body, only an astonishingly tiny fraction of them actually make a living body. Any genetic mutation that nudges an organism outside of that fraction dies out and doesn't get passed on. Embryonic development is a gruelling tight-rope walk over a vast pit of non-existence.

Now for most of the body's systems, evolution has only had to produce one arrangement that works and survives. There's not an alternative plumbing plan where the oesophagus goes to the lungs and the trachea to the stomach. But for the reproductive system, evolution has to allow for two arrangements that work and survive, and it has to grow them both from the same starter kit.

What it does, therefore, is grow a body plan that works with a continuum of possible arrangements that includes both of those two. Various other points on the continuum may or may not be capable of producing viable gametes, but they're all survivable.

What biology doesn't do -- what biology never ever does -- is run new products on a conveyor belt stamping them into shape with cookie-cutters. The only things made that way are artificial constructs.

[saliinthia]

The Salii’Qi - Saliinthia’s Sophonts

The primary sophont species residing on the warm, Earth-like world of Saliinthia are the Salii’Qi, a race of strange mammalian-insect creatures. They have dispersed into four main subspecies, two sedentary groups who live in the forests and islands respectively, and the two nomadic groups who call the grasslands and deserts home. Through this blog I will delve deep into their various cultures, religions, technology, and day to day lives living on Saliinthia!

Basic Biology

The Salii’Qi evolved from intelligent, largely carnivorous pack hunters, with the grassland subspecies being the oldest ones. They have intelligence equivalent to that of human beings, though tending to be better at problem solving. Their mammal-like biology gives them warm blood and dense bones, though their skeleton is derived from a graphite filled exoskeleton similar to that of insects, that was slowly internalized over the course of millions of years. They are egg layers, and have a complex life cycle not unlike that of an Earth caterpillar or beetle.

Salii’Qi have three sets of eyes, two are simple and detect movement and light only, while the third pair is complex and has an expanding and contracting pupil like Earth’s vertebrates. They hear through bright colored ear flaps held up by cartilage, able to swivel and pin to show emotion or focus in on certain sounds.

Salli’Qi have four pairs of limbs, two are used for walking while the other two are used for physical manipulation. One pair of limbs are attached to the skull. These “arms” evolved from pedipalps, now used for eating and handling weapons or other objects. The pedipalps are weaker than their forearms, so they usually use those for heavier work like lifting large objects. With the evolution of centaurism in these creatures, they lost a lot of flexibility in their backs, and so can no longer keep their forearms on the ground for long periods of time.

The skeleton of the Salii’Qi have a dark color due to the high amount of graphite present in their bones, with black teeth stronger than ours. Their bones are dense and very similar to ours, although the ribs are free floating and connected with cartilage. Some of the vertebrae located near the end of the body are fused, which aid in supporting the back. Ancient relatives had a connected skeleton below the skin, which resembled that of insects. To allow for more flexibility and dexterity, those bones have now been reduced to cover less area.

Salii’Qi have organs very similar to ours, but have a unidirectional respiratory system. They breathe in through two spiracles beneath their eyes, and after passing through the lungs, it is exhaled through the two spiracles placed behind the first pair of leg’s shoulders. This allows faster replacement of oxygen in the bloodstream, fueling their insect-like biology.

Their digestive system extremely similar to ours, the only notable difference being the tiered stomach, which allows for tough protein rich plant matter to be digested.

Salii’Qi have a gonochoric reproductive system, meaning they have two sexes. Both sexes have bright colored ear flaps and antennae, but during the spring the male coloration deepens for mating. Females are slightly larger than males, and have duller colors. Depending on the culture, females may take multiple male partners during the mating season, or only keep one partner for their whole life.

Subspecies

The Salii’Qi are spread over four main subspecies, and are regional variants. As mentioned before, the nomadic grasslanders were the first successful variants, which then radiated into the forest, desert, and island subspecies. As the names imply, they live in settlements and groups around specific biomes they are best adapted to.

The foresters are mostly a sedentary group, and also physically the largest. They eat the most fruit and plant matter out of any other , and have learned how to farm and selectively breed crops. They have long, thin limbs for reaching up into the vegetation, and upturned simple eyes to see differences in the shadows above. They are skittish and try too keep to themselves, but enjoy trading their crops with other groups. Grasslanders are nomadic, but have specific areas they return to during nesting season. They follow the herds of large grazers who roam the grasslands, using their good stamina to their advantage. They are a proud and strong group, seen as kind and humorous. They are artisans, creating unique goods and clothing out of hides and pelts for trading with other groups. Desert dwellers live in smaller groups, and instead of hunting, they primarily ranch and travel with herds of domesticated livestock. Desert Salii'Qi forage desert fruits, roots, and other plant matter before a harvest. They travel to feeding grounds during the fall and winter, but return to fertile river communities during the spring and summer where plants for livestock flourish along the banks. During this time, the desert Salii-Qi raise their children to take on their next journey. Islanders are small, social Salii'Qi who settled on an archipelago millions of years ago. They are the most well adapted group and the second oldest subspecies. Islanders have partially webbed feet, seal-like fur, powerful limbs, and higher back spiracles which makes it easier to spend time in the water. They primarily feed on fish and island fruit which they've selectively bred. Islanders mainly spearfish, but also use boats for fishing and trade. They routinely voyage to the mainland to trade goods, and some have even settled on the mainland shores.

[abhorrenttheorizer]

Some Sky titling nomenclatures or some shit

So a HC of mine I wanted to briefly mention is naming titles for Sky's people, and how children, adults, elders, and Megabird are addressed. I may expand on this later.

Firstly, Skids and child spirits (at the time they were alive) name themselves, as to their people, identity is very important, so parents will not name their children and instead leave them to choose when they're old enough. Sometimes the results are disastrous, and you'll have adults in esteemed positions named "Grass" or something.

Rythulian naming customs tend to keep to what is natural, visible, tangible, and so on. So names such as "Butterfly", "Cliff's Edge", "Dove", "Meteor", "Beetle", and so on are quite common. Symbolic or implicit names are less common, only found in those who have changed their name later in life, or didn't choose a name for themselves until they deemed themselves old enough to do so.

Lastly, is the usage of pronouns and gendered titles.

Idk if I should link an earlier post, but I hc that Sky's people and Rythulians in general, through all stages of their development, are physiologically hermaphrodic. When relating to gonochoric specimens, they will use separate nouns, but for themselves, pronouns are largely used for titles, and not for denoting any kind of gender.

"They" or "He" is used for children, adolescents, and adult Rythulians, and they may be used interchangeably. The elders are almost exclusively referred to as "He". "She" is almost exclusively reserved for Megabird.

Megabird is referred to as "she", because she is the only entity that brings the birth of new children, as adults of their species neither give birth nor lay eggs (I may briefly go into how I imagine these things reproduce, but that's a post for another time), instead relying on their unborn to be gestated in stars within the body of Megabird. Without her, new souls cannot be born and those who have died cannot be reborn.

Daleth, who shepherds newborn children down to the Isle, among other things relating to the guidance and guardianship of newborns to young children, may also be referred to as "she", thanks to his role in aiding the birth of new Rythulians. However Daleth is only referred to as "she" in the context of shepherding souls. In other contexts, he is 'he' along with the other elders.

Elders are referred to as "he" because they aren't explicitly joined within Megabird like the people they guard over are, and besides Daleth, have no role in facilitating or aiding the birth of new souls. Because of this, they are farther away from the connected existence descendant Rythulians have.

As for titling, it's fully dependent on the role that the descendants, ancestors, elders, and Megabird herself have.

Words like "king", "lord", and "god", to name a few have female counterparts such as "queen", "lady", and "goddess", since they are high esteeming titles that may be applied to Megabird.

However words like "prince", "sir", "mister", and so on only have their masculine counterparts with no feminine equivalents, since they are lesser esteemed titles that, if applied to Megabird, would be considered disrespectful.

[gl1tchy-4rt]

after the rest of the kiddos,

can u share more cheeseslime anatomy?

like how they reproduce and how many months till the curd is born?

Okay let's go >:)

TW (?): Biological Topics ahead like reproductive systems.

As shown in the drawing above, CheeseSlimes have cloacas, that meaning a "Hole for everything" like most reptiles and the platypus.

This internal organ remains closed most of the time, only opening and letting the genitals to slip out when necessary, and the cloaca itself is covered by the Cheese's slime coat.

As said above: the placement and shape of the organs is speculative, because they naturally stretch and squish, and it's not clear were they end or start

Nature is Queer and so are they :)

As explained above, CheeseSlime genitals are not "just Male" and "just Female" (or gonochoric like humans), is more of a spectrum between Male, Female and both!

Because of this they can be qualified as "Unperfect gonochorics" or Intersex, but not Hermaphrodites since only one sex is predominant and fertile.... In most cases.

In Rare occasions a "True hermaphrodite" (both fully functional sexes) CheeseSlime can be born, as well sometimes a "Perfect gonochoric" can be born (a singular sex with no bits of the other.

Despite this spectrum, CheeseSlimes do have sexual dimorphisms as listed above, things that can list them as "predominantly male" and viceversa.

Yet even when they look completely of one gender, they still have characteristics of the other sex.

Example: our beloved Vigi has non-functioning uterine tissue, he can't get pregnant but it's still there, besides this is pretty common among male CheeseSlimes.

Like humans, CheeseSlimes are Viviparous (Embryo develops inside of mother) and the Pregnancy takes around 7 months, sometimes a bit longer.

On the first weeks of their life, babies feed from their parents's slime coat, yet most of the time they are feed animal milk (like cow milk) it's just as nutritious.

The two other ways to make a CheeseSlime:

Cloning: Most of the CheeseSlimes in the levels are non-sapient clones that tend to have a synthetic taste, however those clones can develop sapience and have normal life (like Snotty) and...

Forced mitosis: Like a starfish, but most of the time either the other half never regenerates or the original CheeseSlime just dies, tho most cases of both halves surviving are kids that went through this mitosis.

Ta-da!!

That's all of the weirdass biology headcanons of the CheeseSlimes (I think) 😃👍

Ho boy I had to make some trips to Wikipedia to look up some of the concepts in this post.

So yeah! I like writing down this Headcanon stuff and making up facts about this world

And... yeah

See y'all next time!!

[amadholes-lostre]

My hopes for ME 5:

Take place centuries after ME trilogy

Mainly

The protagonist could be plays as nonhuman

The idea that instead playing as a human protagonist like the first 4 games, here players could choose their race like how Dragon Age does so. The races I could think of are: humans (naturally lol), asaris, turians, salarians, quarians (suitless), and maybe an original race.

Humans will naturally have the most optionable when it comes to customization, however other races should have some variations as seen in ME3 multiplayer but with more. Having asari's crest shape either being curly, female turian having fringes, etc.

Another idea is how some races have restrictions when it comes to class selections, like how DA done with its race. Humans are the jake-of-all-trades: neither thr most powerful yet not the weakest. Asari could only play biotic class, but the most powerful. Salarian can't play frontline class like soldier and vanguard but best at infiltrator. Krogan can't play infiltrator, but the best options for soldiers and Vanguard.

The protagonists were either cryosleep or descendants of the Mass Effect squadmates

The cryosleep option will likely be a good choice for a stand-in character; before Reaper War, some of the government officials did believe in Shepard's warning and managed to create a cryogenic colony, similar what the Protheans did. There were only limited numbers due to funding and timing, and the numbers were likely only in the thousands. Once Shepard active the Crucible, it fried the VI moderating the cryopods, causing some to die and the rest not to be reawakened until the start of ME5. What likely woke them up was a conflict between Liara and her group with the Reaper Cultists trying find a now awake Shepard. Now the awoken Protagonist trying adjust to a new galaxy unfamiliar to their own; another intragalaxtic rivaling the reformed Citadel Council called Attican Traverse Alliance, a Reaper snd Shepard cultists, etc.

Another option is that the protagonist-based on their race- are descendants of ME triology characters, more specifically the squadmate and crew. Like thr krogan will be Wrex child, thr human will be great grandchild of Ashley or Kaidan, etc.

More preexisting Alien races before and during Reaper War

Canonically, there are dozens of different races that members of the Citadel Council, however, the games were limited due to the game engine and creativity. The idea is that there should be more races in the 5th game that were already known, but only introduced in this game. Maybe like 20, at least to show that thr galaxy is far more diverse than how fanfic protray it.

That, and also more non-gonochoric races, either mono-sex (like asari), hermaphrodite, or races having more than 2 sex. For mono-sex, I already saw 2 ME oringal species that assigned at such, and I have my own original races that are mono-sex.

Could choose Shepard's gender and their lover

I preferred that Shepard is a woman and that her lover is Liara T'soni (people forget how big this was in the 2000s). I also know Bioware portrayed Shepard as a man. My idea is to keep it as anonymous as possible and allow the players to choose, likely at where players customize their character.

If not, at least allowed be Shepard x Liara be canon and still allowed to change Shepard gender.

Self-explanatory, I know how biased Bioware could be with Liara, and a lot of the storyline make it more dramatic and romantic if the players choose Liara as their lover. However, I don't like the idea that mashep will considered be thr canon Shepard, so hopefully, they allow us to choose the gender.

If the last two were option, allow the protagonist and/or main characters (as an Asari) be Shepard's daughter.

One idea is that each optionable race have their own backstory with players choosing some of it (like Shepard). My idea that the asari character is Liara's daughter, either being Shepard (if players chose them) or some other person (likely another asari, or maybe still Shepard if they gave het permission before hand). This creates more drama and interesting storyline.

Technology progression far more after the canon end

Self-explanatory. It will make sense, especially since they already did so after ME1. Some idea I think of: far larger and faster ships (3km+ and 25 ftl per day); using plasma or hard-like light weapons; far larger space station (see my Citadel redesign); maybe a new wearable computer and superseded omnitool; maybe some tech that isn't based on mass effect/eezo.

Actually provide more lores for races other than superficial ones on the codex

Even though Mass Effect sometimes provided great lores, it doesn't feel as filling.

Lost Worlds/Reconnecting other planets that were disconnected from the relay

One of the primary reasons why I wanted the game to take place centuries layer. Having planets that were isolated due to the destruction of the relays, especially multi-species ones, allows interesting storyline and lore. Though ME3 already confirmed the mass relay were back up, it will make sense if they are only functionable in Citadel Space.

One idea is a hub section on a newly connected world, heavily populated by multiple species with a large population (maybe around 50 billion). Another idea is multiple star systems in Terminus Systems that were populated by former slave descendants who had revolted after the Mass Relays destruction. Likely called the Free People Republic who are extremely anti-Batarian.

Mythification of Commander Shepard

Don't know what else to add here.

The main antagonists are Reaper cultists

Like the mythification of Shepard, there will also be a mythifcation of Reapers. Insteadif believing that Reapers were villains wiping out organic and synthetic alike, they were actually a harmonic force of good, trying to bring harmony and unity through assimilation. They only fought through horrific means due to the resistance they faced.

The game storyline will be about finding Shepard while also dealing with the Reaper cult, figuring out who they are and their motivation. They will be more like a looming threat in the background like Cerebus were in the first game.

Some characters' ideas I have/ want a lesbian and gay characters in the squad

Honestly, this is more like my oc in ME 5, but I also disliked how the only lesbian/gay character we allowed to romance ain't squadmate. I love Samantha Traynor and Suvi Anwar, but they're don't have a lot followers due of their lack of scene time. I have 2 characters, though one is more like transmasc nonbinary.

The Blue Mage/ Blue Sorcerer

An oc I have since ME:A, the Blue Mage biracial Japanese, she is a D&D enthusiast who enjoys role-playing as a Mage and employed it through her biotic Though naturally a weak biotic, her staff contains a large amount of eezo, which amplifies her biotic ability. She is also a biochemist who specializes in genetics and eezo. Her backstory is a bit tragic; she once has a beloved wife that she adored along with 5 daughters. However, due to recklessness when researching eezo and genealogy, her wife died through AEND, and all her daughters blamed her for it. The Blue Mage (I calling her Samantha) looks like in her late 20s, she is actually in her 100s (it helps that humans' maximum lifespan will be at 250 years). Not only that, due to her tinkering her genes (with eezo) (and being a designer baby), she could live up to her 500s. (She also talk about how weird it is to have an asari best friend; by the time she has her third daughter by age 40, her asari friend will be at stage 4 of puberty.)

When the Female/Enby protagonist romance her, or at least trying to be friends with her, she will open who she is, including about the research that led to her wife death, thr method behind her daughter's birth (she carried her), her parents that she hated, and her religion belief (she is a Shintist, Buddhist, and Siarists) (it also connected to her research). Her research was about not only increasing biotic potential for humans (and other nonhumans), but it was also about trying to apply telepathy and mental connection like how asari does so. Not only that, but using herself as a guinea pig, having telepathic. Her telepathic is so adroit that she managed inseminated telepathically through her former wife's gene, through birthing her daughter like an asari. And how her wife got AEND was that, due of her being also an eezo researcher like Samantha, she and her were both reckless when dealing with her research, and though Samantha was immune, her wife was not. Her daughter blamed her for her death, which she agreed. However, the protagonist could convince her that both her and her wife held responsibility and that she shouldn't feel as solely the guilty one. This will help her for her loyalty mission and their romance if female/enby protagonist romance her.

For the loyalty mission, her oldest daughter-a powerful biotic vanguard - joined up with an asari majority vigilant group that fights against pirates and slavers. Samantha discovered an SOS from her band that they managed rescued slaves from an infamous, powerful mercenary who's planning to sell them to an unknown buyer (likely the Reaper cultists). The hilarious idea that Samantha's daughter contacted the protagonist's squad and learned that her mother is in it. Cue two of them yelling at each other to the point the omnitool can't even translated it. When the protagonist intervened, and if the they're female/enby romancing Samantha, this would be the response.

Daughter: Who the hell is this!?

Female/enby, choosing renegade option: I'm your new daddy.

Daughter: My new wha- Okāsan?!

Samantha, blushing yet also angry: Not the time, babe!

The other squadmate: I didn't know you two were dating/ too much information/ you using the wrong gender word.

In the end, after rescuing the band and the captured people, the daughter and Samantha made up, and the daughter introduced them to her asari lover. This led het other 4 daughters to forgive her too.

The Ronin

A vanguard who was friends with Samantha (they lost touch before Samantha's wife death), the Ronin is like a futuristic samurai. The idea behind the character is based on my fictional architectural/cultural resurgence called Neohon. The idea is how Japanese started rejecting having their architecture and fashion based on Western style and start using their traditional ones, just using more advanced or new tools (other cultures also done the same thing). (The only issue is that it was overtaken by ultranationalists.)

Anyways, the idea was how some Ko-ryū and Ninjutsu schools started employing biotic ability into their curriculum and swordship method. The Ronin uses Iaido (quick drawing) for their swordship; do a biotic charge and use the momentum to cut through enemies.

I don't have lore behind them: they were friends with Samantha and both were from a Japanese-Asari jointed colony that predated the Reaper war, they part of some samuari/shinobi band, their teacher was also their lover, and the majority of their band were betray by their own member, leaving only them as the only survivor.

The Biosyth

This is actually based on one of the aliens that was mentioned in the game. With all their race living a huge server, there are some who wish to venture outside, using a robotic unit that has almost all the similarity with an organic body. The virtual race does not have restricted genders, nor do they have retained sexual orientation. Meaning the protagonist, no matter of gender, could romance them.

Some ideas I have that the Biosyth is a youngster of their race, going through a rite of passage by leaving the server and venturing out with their unit. They are fascinated by the outside world and ask the protagonist a whole bunch of questions and trying new foods. They even start experiencing their gender, either feminine, masculine, nonbinary, or agender, and the player could help choose for them.

Squad member platonic date and romantic date

Kind of similar how ME:A did it, but after completing a squadmate loyalty mission, they will invite the protagonist and the rest of the crew for a group date. If the player have a romance squadmate, they will also have an additional one.

For Samantha/Blue Mage, her platonic date is returning to her and Ronin homeworld, and going either an RPG/fantasy convention or an dnd session. One hilarious idea is that the player gave the DM an idea using a humongous final boss monster (like Y'gathok, the Ceaseless Hunger). The hologram will make it more hilarious. For the romance/intimate date, Samantha invited the female/enby protagonist visiting her wife's grave, along with her 4 daughters, her oldest and asari lover. It'll be the final acceptance for her wife's death, healing for the remaining family, and introducing new potential families.

I can't think for a romace date for Biosyth, but platonic, I thought of a fun fashion for them in a clothing store. They were trying different clothing that were assigned on genders, and the crew either encouraged them or joined in.

ME:A gameplay mechanic

Fuck do I love Andromeda's mechanics, they better add it back.

Accurate Races height

Due to the first 3 game limiting game engines, almost all thr races have equal height. I wish for ME5 to have a more accurate height for each species, like Krogans supposed to be 7'5, Turians 6'6-7, etc.

[paperlunamoth]

The fully sane to fully insane TRA progression:

"I'm a man, but I don't feel comfortable actively conforming to traditionally masculine gender roles."

Nothing wrong with that! Gender is bullshit anyways.

"I'm a man, but I feel more comfortable actively conforming to traditionally feminine gender roles."

Cool. You do you.

"I'm a man, but I have a mental disorder that makes me deeply uncomfortable with being male. In addition to presenting and acting in a traditionally feminine manner, I would like to be recognized socially as a woman and addressed as 'she/her' in order to more easily manage the distress that results from my condition."

Okay. That's fine I guess.

"I'm a woman who was incorrectly identified as male at birth. I am not meaningfully distinct from biological women and therefore am entitled to exist in single sex, female only spaces, and to speak on behalf of women as a group. Women as a class should change the language they use to discuss their bodies and their oppression in order to make me more comfortable even though many of such discussions necessarily do not involve me. Women are to blame if I am the victim of male violence, especially women who are concerned about the issue of male violence. If I don't have access to a lifetime supply of medically unnecessary hormones and receive multiple invasive cosmetic surgeries in order to make my body appear more female, I will become suicidal, but also I am not mentally ill. Calling my condition, which causes me daily psychological distress, a mental illness is hate speech."

Um...

"What even is a woman, anyways? I know I'm a woman, because I identify as a woman, and that's what it means to be female. Gender isn't real and doesn't exist. But also transgender identities are real and valid and trans women are discriminated against because their gender is female. Sex is an arbitrary nonbinary social construct just like gender, also sex has nothing to do with gender. But also I would like my penis to become a vagina in order to alleviate my gender dysphoria. Sex based oppression isn't real, only gender based oppression is, and it is a totally random coincidence that the concept of gender happens to benefit the penis people at the expense of the vagina people 99% of the time. The existence of intersex birth defects demonstrates that humans are not a gonochoric species. No one is born male or female. A clitoris is just a very tiny penis, and a penis is just the outie version of a vagina, and sex organs don't determine whether someone is male or female. I still really want a vagina specifically though because I am female and females have vaginas. Homosexuality has nothing to do with sex and being exclusively same sex attracted is morally wrong. I think minors should be allowed to take cross sex hormones and receive cosmetic surgery but also no one is saying that shut up stop lying. I don't have a mental illness, that would be bad and gross, I'm perfectly normal and dysphoria is perfectly healthy, and you must literally want me to die if you think otherwise, how dare you be so hateful towards mentally ill people. Not giving in to my every demand and actively catering to my desires is literally partipating in genocide. Choke on my cock and die you misogynist!"

...

[bethanythebogwitch]

Y'all voted for a crustacean for Wet Beast Wednesday so I picked possibly the weirdest one to go over. We're talking about barnacles. Barnacles were initially classified as mollusks for understandable reasons as they look a lot like limpets. It wasn't until observation of the larvae that they were reclassified as very strange crustaceans. The hard outer shell contains a little crabby critter that will spend its entire life within. Barnacles can be loosely divided into acorn barnacles, who have their shells directly attached to a solid surface, and goose barnacles, who use a thick, muscular stalk they use to attach.

(image: acorn barnacles)

(image: goose barnacles)

Barnacle shells are derived from the same structures as the carapace of other crustaceans, leaving the barnacle within as a fleshy blob. Most species have an operculum that can open to allow feeding or close to retain water and avoid predators. The vast majority of barnacles are suspension feeders who will stick their legs out of the shell. These legs are covered in sticky filaments that snag plankton and organic material that will be pulled down to the mouth. A few goose barnacles lack cirri and require water movement to bring food into their shells. Barnacles that live in intertidal zones (roughly 25% of species) will close their shells during low tide to retain water. Because barnacles are so sedentary, they lack hearts and gills.

(image: a diagram of barnacle anatomy)

Most barnacles are simultaneous hermaphrodites, producing male and female gametes at the same time (as opposed to sequential hermaphrodites, who change sex during their lives), those some species are gonochoric (distinct males and females) or androdioecious (distinct males and hermaphrodites). Because they are sessile, mating is difficult for barnacles and they have developed internal and external reproduction depending on species. Those that reproduce internally have enormously long, flexible penises that are used to reach and fertilize their neighbors. The barnacle famously has the longest penis to body size ration of any animal, with the penis growing up to 8 times longer than the rest of the animal. Other species use a technique called spermcasting in which male gametes are released into the water and picked up by females/hermaphrodites for fertilization. Juvenile barnacles go through two distinct larval stages. The first of these is the nauplius, a one-eyed, free-swimming larva that will go through 6 molts before transforming into the next stage. The next stage is the cyprid and its only purpose it to find a suitable pace to spend the rest of its life. It will use its antennae to examine hard surfaces with a number of criteria including surface texture, chemistry, color, biofilm, and the presence of other barnacles. Cyprids have limited energy stores as they cannot feed and test have shown they get less picky the longer they spend in this stage. Once a cyprid finds a suitable spot it will permanently attach itself headfirst using a secreted glue and metamorphose into a juvenile barnacle.

(image: a diagram of barnacle life stages)

Some species of barnacle aren't content living on rocks and instead attach to animals. Various barnacle species have adapted to latch onto other animals, including whales, sea turtles, mollusks, crustaceans, and other arthropods. In most cases, these barnacles have a commensal relationship with their hosts; the barnacle gets the benefit of a free ride and protection from predators while the host neither benefits or suffers from the relationship. In cases of heavy infestation, the barnacles could cause irritation or drag and could cause problems for their hosts. One group of barnacles, the rhizocephalans, have gone further and adapted a fully parasitic lifestyle. These have become so heavily adapted they are virtually unrecognizable as barnacles or even arthropods, lacking shells, appendages, body segments, and most organs. A female consists of gonads, a few muscles, the remnants of a nervous system, and a cuticle. Males have even less, they are reduced to a cluster of cells that live inside the females to provide a constant supply of sperm. Parasitic barnacles mostly target decapods (crabs, lobsters, shrimp, etc) thous some species target other crustaceans, including other barnacles. When a female larva attaches to a host, it grows a root-like cell mass called the vermigon into the host's body that absorbs nutrients through the host's blood. The most famous group of parasitic barnacles are in the genus Sacculina, who parasitize crabs. When these barnacles attach to a crab, they sterilize it and prevent it from molting or regrowing lost limbs. It also grows a sac where the female crab would hold its egg sac and forces the crab to protect it as if it really were an egg sac. When Sacculina infests a male crab, it interferes with hormones, causing the male crab to take on a feminine body plan and act female. When the barnacle is ready to release its larvae, the crab will assist as though it was releasing its own egg case.

(Image: Sacculina force-femming a crab)

Goose barnacles are the subject of a famous myth involving geese that granted them their name. The barnacle goose is a species native to Europe but in the days when spontaneous generation was accepted, nobody knew how they reproduced. The geese migrate to the arctic to mate and lay eggs, but nobody knew that at the time. A common myth arose where goose barnacles attached to driftwood were said to be the remnants of goose trees, where the barnacle would grow and eventually release a fully-grown goose. This myth is where the name barnacle came from. The crustaceans were named after the goose.

(image: a drawing of a goose tree)

[somerabidraccoon]

(obviously in the present of the show they reproduce through artificial cloning but I mean like, originally)

[yoga-onion]

Legends and myths about trees

Trees in Buddhism (1)

Fig trees (Ficus) - Trees that bear fruit without flowering

“Enter the fig forest and seek the flowers, but get none. In the world of the three realms (Trailokya: Ref), you seek the unwavering and you do not get one. The practitioner who knows this, forsakes this and that together...like a snake shedding its old skin.” - Buddha

Above is an extract from a verse of the Buddha in the Sutta Nipata No.5.

A common feature of the fig genus (ficus) is the peculiar inflorescence. They appears as if it suddenly bears fruit without flowering. They are hermaphrodites or dioecious, collectively known as fig trees or figs. These belonging to the family Moraceae have about 850 species and are native throughout the tropics, with a few species also found in semi-temperate zones.

Hermaphrodites are generally those that have male and female reproductive organs in one individual. Those that do not are referred to as gonochoric. In the case of plants, they are referred to as monoicous and dioicous, respectively.

The fig fruit develops as a hollow, fleshy structure called the syconium that is lined internally with numerous unisexual flowers. The tiny flowers bloom inside this cup-like structure. The small fig flowers and later small single-seeded (true) fruits line its interior surface. At maturity, these 'seeds' (actually single-seeded fruits) line the inside of each fig.

The fruit of most species are also edible though they are usually of only local economic importance or eaten as bushfood. However, they are extremely important food resources for wildlife. Figs are also of considerable cultural importance throughout the tropics, both as objects of worship and for their many practical uses.

The Bodhi tree is well known for Siddhartha Gautama (Ref2) sat under the tree, meditated and finally attained enlightenment becoming the Buddha, also known as "sacred fig tree", belongs to this fig family.

木にまつわる伝説・神話

仏教の樹木 (1)

イチジク(無花果) 〜花を咲かせずに実のなる木

“無花果の林の中に入りて、花を求めて得ることなし。三界世間（参照）の中にありて揺るがざるものを求めて得られず。かく知っている修行者は、これをもあれをも、ともに捨てる。蛇が旧き皮を脱ぎ捨てるがごとく。“ー���ッダ

上記は、経集 (スッタニ･パータ 5) にあるブッタの詩篇の抜粋である。

イチジク属に共通する特徴は、花序が特殊であることだ。イチジクが無花果と言われるように、この仲間は、花が咲かずに唐突に果実を生じるように見える。雌雄同体あるいは雌雄異株で、高木になるものから低木、またはつる性の木本になる種もある。モクセイ科に属するこの植物は、約850種あり、熱帯地方全域に自生し、数種は半温帯にも分布している。

雌雄同体 (しゆうどうたい) とは、一般に、雄の生殖器官と雌の生殖器官を一個体に持っているものを言う。そうでないものは雌雄異体 (しゆういたい) という。植物の場合にはそれぞれ、雌雄同株 (しゆうどうしゅ)、雌雄異株 (しゆういしゅ) という。

イチジクの果実は、中が空洞で肉厚の「サイコウニアム (隠頭花序)」と呼ばれる構造で、その内部には多数の雌雄同体の花が並んでいる。小さな花は、このカップ状の構造物の中で咲く。その内面には、小さなイチジクの花と、後に小さな一粒の種の真果が並ぶ。成熟すると、この「種子」(実際は1粒の果実) がイチジクの内側に並ぶ。

果実はほとんどの種で食用になるが、通常は地域経済的に重要であるか、山菜・野生の果物として食されるに過ぎない。しかし、野生動物にとっては非常に重要な食糧資源である。イチジクは、熱帯地方において、崇拝の対象として、また多くの実用的な用途として、文化的に非常に重要なものである。

菩提樹は、ゴータマ・シッダールタ（参照2）がこの木の下に座って瞑想し、ついに悟りを開いてブッダとなったことで知られ、「聖なるいちじくの木」とも呼ばれる、イチジク属の植物である。