#he isnt inexperienced or innocent by any means

[kissingarthurclaus]

Little messy doodle but I was talking to my friend about how my s/i would be using just every petname in the books on Charles but he...struggles a bit to do the same! Even the smallest effort earns him some lovin' tho 🥺💖💖

[neolxzr]

Literally a genuine question no ill intent

What do you like about Aira? As much as people are absolutely adamant Akira is projecting (I really don't think he is (I'm not saying Akira is innocent) I just think he's trying to address the prejudiced thoughts the average Japanese person will have on the Ainu) Aira's weird comments and behaviour to Hiiro have been there since day one. And I also think Aira being the one who says all this is because he's supposed to reflect the fans and the average Japanese fan probably isn't that educated on the Ainu + there can be a good few racist enstars fans...

I'm not trying to sound heated about this I'm just coming from a genuine place, what appeal is there in Aira?

Also, as much as the Aira fans are talking about blaming Akira, I feel like there should absolutely be a focus on Hiiro right now considering that comment was... yknow said to him. I just think we should actually be talking about the Amagis considering that comment was intended to discuss the Amagis and their culture and the discrimination they go through.

i had someone ask me a similar question once but not in the context of all thats happening currently so you can read that here if youre inclined

buuuut what made me like aira so much in the first place was honestly that his concept as a character is really funny. i made a post a long while back that went into the funny meta jokes that you could make using aira as a character before i really knew much about enstars at all. having a character in your idol series that loves idols and canonically reads fanfic about them is just a funny concept in general. and as i continued to read more he continued to be funny and annoying and endearing (his little mini interaction with midori comes to mind immediately. there is something wrong with him)

also i tend to gravitate towards characters that give me like. little sibling energy. i love having a favorite little guy to dote on

but afterwards what really drew me to him was the main story!! thermometry specifically comes to mind (ouuugh,,,,). his feature scout stories are also great and so is feather touch! i wont like. go into detail really cause my blog is covered in me talking about aira already

his dynamic with hiiro is one of my favorites too, especially in mainstory. their dynamic isnt JUST aira says shitty things to hiiro and thats it. their relationship develops really far to the point where aira admits that he needs hiiro as much as hiiro needs him. they're young and inexperienced and kind of codependent as they're trying to keep themselves from going under in a sort of cutthroat industry. i think thats really neat. their relationship is really sweet to me and aira is a great tsundere type of character. he regularly is shown to actually like hiiro a lot as mean as he can be to him sometimes i.e. here. and you know the whole holding hands thing (which they also fucked up in the climax story but Whatever)

theres also this. which i think about regularly. the hiiai shipping fuel is vast

and additionally i think aira has some really great relationships with other characters too, alkaloid especially. feather touch develops his relationship with tatsumi a lot and its one of my favorite aira moments. i couldnt find my screenshots for this one but basically aira gives tatsumi his unlocked phone (something VERY important to aira since hes a little screenager) and it shows tatsumi just how much aira trusts him and he realizes how important aira is as a friend to him. being someone with a history like him aira's friendship is sort of new to him and it helps them both grow

he loves his friends so so much and he’s had a positive impact on all of alkaloid. he is its heart after all

but in any case i'm not going to like, defend myself for liking aira. i am aware that the shitty stuff has been there from the start but i've said something similar in the past that was like. aira isn't real and he cannot take accountability for what he says. he's a character written by real people who doesn't have any control over how he acts. so i guess that's why when i think the writers write something i dont think he would do or say in my own personal aira opinion i can sort of brush it off as just bad writing.

and not in the sense that i dont recognize that enstars sucks, because it does. enstars can be terribly racist sometimes and not just when concerning aira, and thats important to talk about (i.e. the orient cards, the king of thieves cards, etc). but at the end of the day the most important thing to recognize is the people and company behind the game as well as the real people who play the game and are affected by it. and not like, the specific characters in the game. cause they didn't actually do anything or feel anything you know

[fixationlikeaphoenix]

Starting from the oneshot...

This was pretty fun and I gotta say I loved it. It was actually the first time I read the oneshot! So it was able to surprise me.

The version I read is by Kawa Scans.

What a delightfull image to see haha!

So this one shot features only a few characters from the manga. Kaneki, Yoshimura, Touka, Shinohara and lastly the ghoul activist guy on tv. The early versions of them that is... but they are easily recognizable design wise while their personalities are quite different.

One shot Kaneki honestly reminds me more of manga Touka here. He is angsty from the start because he is a ghoul from the start. Not an artifical half ghoul.

Meanwhile o.s. Touka seems to be an innocent human girl, with her carefree life and simple fears contrasting Kaneki's ghoul struggles.

(Kaneki trying to eat a sandwich lol)

She talks of fearing being eaten by a ghoul, much to Kaneki's discomfort.

I was kinda annoyed she would just be simple a foil character but then...

Anyway, the philosophy the pacifist ghouls go by is different here. Less developed. Ooooor in other words, they arent pacifist at all. It seems that the way Kaneki decides to feed is by going after the bad ones.

Like I said, kinda under-developed. It's a very basic way of thinking, not all that just or fair as one may think at first. But I think it makes sense for Kaneki's character here. I will get back to this later.

Kaneki is being suspected by an early version Shinohara, his personality is very similiar to that of the manga Mado Kureo's. Shinohara is targeting Kaneki because he thinks the recent binge eater ghoul that targets young girls is a teenage male ghoul, on the logic that teenage boys like feminine bodies. He makes fun of the ghoul activist on TV that comments the binge eater must either be an obese or a brat ghoul. While Kaneki thinks the binge eater must simply target young girls because they taste good.

Either way, Shinohara pins that Kaneki is a ghoul because of the way he grimaces while eating and rushes to the bathroom afterward. So Kaneki dons his mask to go kill Shinohara before he himself is killed. It seems like Kaneki is losing until...

(Kaneki's face again haha)

Man I love Touka...

So she was the binge eater. The TV commentor was correct that the ghoul responsible should be young (Kaneki later mentions that younger ghouls have a bigger appetite) and Kaneki was correct that the eater mustve simply liked the taste of young girls. Really emphasizes the arrogant ignorance of an investigator like Shinohara here.

Her being a ghoul is hinted at as well in the way she says she is on a diet and how she kept her friend away from those men who she knew could be ghouls. Obviously things like this are also explored in the manga but this one shot has a small page count to tell its story and I think it is remarkable that details like these that deepens the characters could still be hidden in. And there is more...

The last character revealed to be a ghoul is Yoshimura. It is hinted all throughout with the way he is clearly looking after the young ghouls without them realizing it. But it doesnt seem obvious at first because he always offers them sandwiches and eats them casually himself. But here's the thing:

Kaneki and Touka are inexperienced. Because of how young they are, and they dont seem to have any adult figures to teach them either. Touka is glad Kaneki is there to teach her, who is older than her, which means there must not be anyone else. (This also explains Kaneki's eating preferance. Eating bad people was just what he came up with on his own. He isnt aware of any alternatives. Wasnt taught any that are more discreet.)

Eating human food is perfected with practice. And Yoshimura mustve had a lot of it already. So he offers them human food often to practice. (But also offers Kaneki coffee after to make him feel better)

Yoshimura is later shown (not actually shown, but he recognizably says "Kaneki-kun and Touka-chan" as there arent any other characters who refer to the kids as such) eating the ghoul activist guy. He is saying that kaneki and touka should handle their meals more deliciously? kinda hard to decipher which I am guessing is because the translation has been off all throughout this scan. But I think he targeted the ghoul activist because his knowledge is too accurate and therefore dangerous to ghouls.

I want to finish this post off with this image of Touka and Kaneki failing to eat sandwiches

I think this was the part of this oneshot I enjoyed the most. The way they are really just dumb kids trying to figure out how to live as ghouls, relying on eachother and with the help of an older ghoul looking after them. It makes this one shot unexpectedly sweet and endearing. I wasnt expecting that at all but I am glad nonetheless. It put a smile on my face. I would read a tokyo ghoul alternative of the misadventures of young ghouls Touka and Kaneki and their caring grandpa.

[bigassmoth]

The balders gate squad would be especially interesting with an inexperienced/virgin Tav (thinking few or no romantic and or sexual partners)

Obviously their first order of business is to make fun of you, and then tease you, and also bully you, and finally to make it a permanent inside joke.

But having someone so untouched by the wounds of love and lust also makes them protective- especially Gale, Astarion who found that sex ruined lives and left unhealed wounds.

Lae'zel and Wyll are protective, wrongly assuming that your inexperience means innocence. They cannot help but want to preserve your singleness- as in actively stepping in when you are flirted with. Something about you being so untouched makes the knightly instincts in them rise. This isnt to keep your purity, its to keep you from being used for your body. Laezel is also considerate of your emotional affections as well, seeing it as predatory for people to receive (or gods forbid pursue) your affections when they have no intention of bedding you.

Wyll is practical, polite, safe, and just gently teasing. He encourages you to have casual sex if you are interested but then basically talks himself into being scared for you. "They must be clean. They had better be able to afford a room in a tavern at least. Of course they should open the door for you. Don't bed with anyone who talks ill of their sister. Oh and-"

Lae'zel pulls a lot of "lmao lameass virgin" rhetoric. You say ANYTHING and shes like "how would you know when you've always entered a cold bed?" because it is so amusing to her. That being said she is possessive of her band members and distrustful of everyone else. She doesn't want you to be looking for any hookups because she assumes you will somehow sleep with the shadiest dangeriest serial killer near the gate.

Shadowheart is the most neutral about this, a very "its just ok" stance towards the carnal acts. There are more important things in life and if the (idiot horndogs) other party members are anything to go by, you aren't missing out on much. But she will tell you to accept any flirtatious advances so long as Lae'zel is within earshot to get upset by her words

Gale believes you should get some ass! Its good stress relief! Just dont go too crazy with your feelings and try to choose someone of equal power and social standing so theres not weird imbalances ha ha...ha.

Astarion....yikes. half "oh well i can fix that for you ;))" and half "never let anyone into your bed it will never end well". He can't decide if he likes you too much to sleep with you or too much to not sleep with you.

Karlach is conflicted because on one hand she would totally be out there if she could but on the other, she can't exactly project her feelings onto you. If you express any interest in getting a hookup then she starts going "oh! what about her? ah no wait, look at his hips! sleep with him!" as if you could just waltz over there and sleep with whomever you wanted (Karlach believes you could do it). But if you mention anything about emotional intimacy she completely understands and becomes your number one defender- which isn't helpful. She does a lot of "Tav hasn't found the right one yet, you are all just jealous because you sleep around like whores >:I" and then both of you are being laughed at

Now if they begin to develop romantic or sexual feelings towards you, all of them of course want you out of the market. No more shopping, you have a delicious body at home to enjoy.

Some are more aggressive about warding off potential suiters (Lae'zel, Astarion, Karlach) while others take a subtle approach (Gale, Shadowheart) and Wyll is a nice mixture of firm and polite. Of course if you feel deeply compelled to sleep with someone they won't stop you- just present themselves as an annoying obstacle to step over. And of course they will cross their fingers that whatever bitch's bastard you are sleeping with fails to meet your expectations.

[hotchfiles]

Honestly your take on ,,dark“ fiction is interesting but I feel like there is no circumstance and no coping mechanism that would excuse minor x adult smut.

there is also a difference between exploring dark themes and romanticizing them.

Fiction affects reality, always has and always will and just because someone might use fanfiction as a coping mechanism doesn‘t mean it’s healthy or excuses anything.

If you write sa/noncon or abuse or whatever you deserve to be publicly called out if you romanticize it and especially if you don‘t give warnings.

As a victim of grooming and sa when I see someone writing about these topics and publish (!!) it as if it‘s something usual as a recipe it‘s disrespectful, especially if you aren’t a victim yourself.

i totally understand your point! that’s why i said one of the things we must take in consideration is that the fact we want to write something doesn’t mean other people have to be comfortable with it

i have hard limits myself, romanticization of nazism, slavery, real incest, age gaps when the older has known the younger since they were a child

i also have flexible limits, i don’t mind reading noncon when it’s part of a bigger story and it makes sense and it’s not romanticized, i’ve read a young snow x reader one that had noncon as a plot point and it was honestly so good, it wasn’t hot or anything, it was sad and agonizing and reader only found out what was happened to her by the ending so it wasn’t graphic (graphic noncon is one of my hard limits)

i do think fiction doesn’t happen in a vacuum but i also think fiction is a way to safely explore darker themes, and it all boils down to how you do it and why you do it

i used professor!remus as an example on that post exactly because it is my most problematic plot, reader is 17 and smitten, and the thing is, she is smitten because it’s remus, because remus is fictional so he’s perfect, if a 17 old girl told me she was pinning after her teacher and he was accepting her advances i would immediately tell the headmaster

the thing is, and its why i dont write and post anything of the sort, im 27 so i fully know how to separate fiction from reality and what my limits are and aren’t in both, but my audience isnt made of all people that feel like that and i do try to respect my audience fully

like i said before, content like that needs to be heavily warned, and if you don’t give warnings about it, it gives the impression that you don’t think it’s a problematic theme, and i do think thats an issue, if you write it, know its problematic, warn people about it so they won’t read it if it affects them, i think it’s fine, because it shows you know how to separate fiction from reality and that you respect the boundaries of your readers

i think lolita (the book) is a good example of that, lolita is written from the creep’s pov, so it’s written as a romance, people might empathize with him if they read it without any warnings or media literacy, but it’s not a romance, it’s the story of a creepy man going after a child and blaming her for it, when you read the book already knowing that, the experience is completely different

what i do find a bit problematic is how common some tropes are, and in that i can understand and support talking about how problematic it is (which is why i commented that we as writers have to know and show that we know that type of content wouldnt be okay irl): how often reader is “innocent” and inexperienced, the use of femininity as something fragile, the infantilization of grown women—and it bothers me more when is written not as a kink reserved for sex, but as the whole premise of the relationship

i’m usually very “extreme” on my opinions, but fiction writing dark themes is one of the topics i have a lot of thoughts, i debate on it a lot and i have different perspectives depending on the theme and how it is written

i personally prefer writing dark themes in other ways (i write about death and suicide a lot, one of my fics will deal not only with suicide but with the unfortunately common and widely known SA of young boys in the catholic church) but i know that the way i write it might make people uncomfortable even if it isn’t sexual/smut, and i wouldn’t get mad at people for that

that post was more of a vent as i debated with myself about it and not a hard truth i will hold on forever

[cielospeaks]

b8 thoughts

honestly b8 is by far the least ive liked a book plot at its opening. like 7 had cool music and an interesting time loop premise, 6 had awesome elm theme (that is elms theme you cowards) and elm himself ofc, 5 was kinda meh (first impression-wise, i do like otr and faf quite a bit) but it had a cool pipe organ, 4 was an absolute breath of fresh air after the travesty that was 3, and at least 3 seemed to promise a "the gacha characters kill you" premise and before then the main cast werent the despicable unlikeable shitheads they are today.

b8, on the other hand, has a somewhat interesting premise and nice designs for hresvelgr and niddhoggr, but it also opens up so many plotholes. if the yggdrassil group really is like a group of valkyrie esque battle medics, where were they when people were being burned alive in b2? where were they when frejya was trapping people in eternal sleep in b4? or eitri experimenting on people, letizia torturing people, the whole golden curse last book, heck you could even argue for gustafs death in b3. the game never lets the main cast be morally accountable for bad stuff they do, ranging from stalking, possessiveness and controlling/gaslighting, to murder, covering up the suffering of innocents, torture, etc. and even with just the explicitly stated stuff its still her betraying her family for an arrogant, posturing, show off jerk who makes insensitive comments abt any culture he isnt familiar with. like at least w reginn i got the feeling that she did what she did bc she is naieve and inexperienced. and with the "uwu anxiety cute" beats of the new character i just feel like theyre going for "the main lord is her comfort character uwu" which just rubs me the wrong way. for one in universe theyre all real horrible people, and for two i just think its a bit demeaning for actual people.

on top of that, while not bad the music i dont find personally quite as striking as b6 and 7 (or even 4), and although i do like hresvelgr and nidhoggr, theyre not like uh.... plumie, njorthr or elm tier of getting my attention and investment. (and also the banners have both been terribly disappointing so far. another kid banner from 13 and a 5 banner with no real faves, could be a lot better)

but while this might sound complaining, which it is, i think it might actually be a good thing. if i go in with no expectation, any decent surprise could be a good one. i also dont risk getting invested, wanting a better plot than is canon (i think the worst offenders were askr getting away with all the awful manipulation he did, just the entire frejya plot of b4, the jotnar sisters and reginn just disowning her brothers in b5 and just whatever tf eitri was, the sadboi motivation of the antagonist of b7 most recently, and thats not even counting temptri), or getting upset if a character isnt playable. (that being said ill be slightly miffed if we dont get a cute hresvelgr and/or nidhoggr for new years, or just their defaults in general, they have good designs)

also also it means i can focus on the better yggdrassil story, my detective-esque fanfiction about a compulsive liar actor and a bunch of cool and cute original characters

[daddyzarc]

Hot take: The Barians are the only innocent creatures in all of yugioh

You’re probably wondering what I mean by this, but I have a perfectly sound explanation.

Look at these comparisons. 

Notice anything peculiar? Let’s look a little closer.

That's better.

For those unaware, you may notice that the Barians lack a “mouth”. A mouth is “the opening in the lower part of the human face, surrounded by the lips, through which food is taken in and from which speech and other sounds are emitted.”

Why is this important? Well, because a mouth is an essential piece of the body part to engage in the act of Vore. Since Barians lack the ability to vore due to their own anatomy, they are unable to vore ever. In fanart or in the show, these angels are incapable of being involved in any of that stuff. They’re completely in the safe zone, they’re untouchable as far as the show puts them because you can’t do anything with these guys in THAT specific situation.

BUT WAIT, i hear yall typin away with a rebuttal

With the the introduction of Vrains, there exist another species of creatures without mouths—the Ignises. 

Examining the images above, this other unique species also lack these crucial mouths, so you could argue that there are 2 Yu-Gi-Oh groups that are entirely sinless. And this is a fair argument without the context of what the Ignises could do.

But could that could they do exactly?

These images say it all. They could absolutely do that within the canon of yugioh.

So without a doubt, Ignises have the wholly ability to vore other creatures with ease. And this isn’t a one-off thing either, like they did it once and that was it. Ai is shown to have done this on multiple occasions within LINK VRAINS, his homeworld, presumably in a natural form. It is safe to assume that the Ignises absorb data and dismantle prey like this.

Knowing this, Barians ARE the only creatures incapable of voring.

But I hear you screaming. “But Dyzarc, you cranky dragon you, whadda bout anal vore? Cock vore? Absorption! Plus they have HUMAN forms, too. WITH MOUTHS which means the Barians are fully capable of eating! Theyre no different than any other ygo char!”

You could make those arguments, but I also have several points to refute this.

First, the human forms.

You could say that their human forms exist so that they can vore in that sense. That’s a very reasonable assumption.

And yes.

Yes, they could do that.

Yet, human form isn’t really Barian. It’s kind of off-canon, in a sense. They only took that form because Earth is hazardous to their bodies and they cannot maintain their true forms in that unnatural state. Within the closed system of their own environment (or Barian World), which is what I care about, the Barian species does not naturally have a mouth or a human body and therefore cannot partake in that act, canon or otherwise.

Furthermore, if a person wants to draw or write vore involving a Barian  as the predator, they simply cannot do it. They must turn the Barian into a human or face the simple fact that Barians cannot vore (or a third option*).

*Theoretically, you could slap a mouth onto them or imply that a mouth exists underneath their muzzle, which only reveals itself when the Barian needs it. However, this is no different than giving a snake tiddies or putting legs on a shark just to fulfill a kink.

Secondly, I’ll focus on the other vore methods by showing pictures of some raw Barian crotches.

Now I may be blind as an olm, but they are clearly naked around the groin area. They lack any visible extremities that could be considered an anus or a cock too. Unless their anatomy works similarly to reptiles as in these organs are hidden behind a thin layer of rock around their crotch and only protrude when it is needed, they lack any organs that can perform cock or anal vore. 

Excluding their physical appearance, Barians are canonically born from a circumstance other than, say, laying eggs or live birth or asexual reproduction. Meaning if they DO have those body parts, it’ll be a vestigial structure with no other purpose than to sit there and look stalactitey, probably kinda gross-looking considering what they are. 

Of course a “cock” could function like the giant claw of a fiddler crab, where it’s mainly just for show to prove who has the biggest one (and so deserving of their territory, which is why Nasch is the leader. I’ll get into this later on why this could be the case) as well as to help them fight, find a mate, or exert their dominance.

Also, although I do not believe this image represent the entirety of Barian physiology

It is most likely that their insides consist mainly of veins and a... heart?? A star fragment, ball of spike? Whatever the case, I don’t see a stomach pouch nor do the Barians have a reason to have such a thing. The lack of a mouth and stomch makes sense in the “overarching picture” of how a Barian functions. Think about it from a human perspective. Why do we eat? Humans require food in order to produce energy to survive, grow, and reproduce, plain and simple. 

Barians, on the other hand, live in a toxic environment void of life other than themselves. They do not need to eat for there is nothing to eat.

My personal theory is that they don’t require energy through consumption of food items like humans do. They either get it from photosynthesizing since their sun appears to be very close to their planet

Or maybe the "heart” is some sort of radioactive material that supplies them with an ample amount of energy. This powerful energy surges through the body through the help of the “roots” and essentially fuels them with life without the need for the consumption of food. My assumption is that the Barian itself is the roots and hearts, while everything else is just a rocky mass separate from the actual thing (im not gonna go super in-depth into the mind-body dualism thing btw. Just think about as a hermit crab with a shell with the “shell” being made of minerals)

And if we bounce off the idea that the shell is composed of minerals, or a rock, thus being very susceptible to erosion and damage as seen in how Vector broke pieces of his body during one of the duels

They most likely naturally regenerate their body parts by burying themselves deep into the ground so that the Rock Cycle 

can repair and grow their forms. See, this process does not require food (which fits into their biology very well) and instead mandates that the Barian digs deep enough to begin the process of melting down its old, damaged body. The heart and roots will remain above the metling point of course; in fact, they play a crucial role in getting the Barian back into its proper shape. After reforming a new shell, the Barian emerges from the ground like a bunch of baby sea turtles, completely healed as long as the “molt” wasn’t disturbed. 

Furthermore, this molting cycle could explain the presence of any “cocks” found within the Barian. Molting is extremely energy-consuming and time-consuming; rushing a molt will result in an imperfect shell or other impurities, or death if the impurity is life-threatening. The hardness, body structure, addition of any extra parts, and safe resurfacing, or preventing their new bodies from being damaged as they emerge from the ground, also depends on how well the Barian could alter the temperature and pressure of its surroundings magma (molten rock) to result in the best possible shell. This means that the Barians with poor molts are young and inexperienced while Barians with the best molt are old and experienced. 

(hey can u find a better pic, this one isnt a good example)

This also works with how a big “cock” (in an abstract sense) could show their dominance over the other Barians. Or, in this case, the cock is actually extra formations to show off what they are capable of. Regular and large racks, for example, showcase a Barian’s skill at creating a new shell, with the larger and more angular the rack, the more powerful or experienced they are. This is especially difficult to do at a consistence rate, so the Barians capable of carrying it off tend to be on top of the pecking area. Nasch’s abilities to create so many horns means he’s deserving of his spot as the leader. 

The Barian pecking order probably goes down the list on how complex—in that they managed to form a perfect, angular rack—their composition is. 

Obviously, the chart simplifies what makes a great Barian. The Barian pecking order is much more complex than this.

For example, Mizael, despite the complexity in parts of the body like the face “mask”, is lower in the hierarchy than expected. Why? There is a lot to dissect about Barian physiology, but a peculiar detail is their carapaces. Unlike the rest of the body, which consist of a rocky formation, Mizael’s mask is a carapace. This could be easily seen when Nasch was briefly seen without these carapaces in this scene.

As seen on bodies of these Barians, they appear to have many carapaces which are separate from their main bodies, such as: 

These carapace could be involved in the pecking order. The fineness and sharpness of the carapaces gives the illusion of strength (notice that Nasch is covered in carapaces while Durbe practically has none) as well as adding to their maximum size.

But they could also play another vital role...  Defense Mechanism

It may sound strange, but I believe that Barians are built solely for defense.... 

Let’s take a look at a creature whose behavior and structural patterns mimics the Barians, the noble Hermit Crab.

I like to compare these two species due to their essentially parallelism in terms of “form follows function” such as:

(Marine Hermit Crab adding extra defenses to its shell using a venomous sea anemone; similar to a Barian adding sharp carapaces to its already tough, rocky exterior)

Comparing the likeness of the two, it could be assumed that the carapaces provide extra protection over the Barians’ main defense (rocky shell). The carapaces aren’t involved in the molting cycle, of course, due to their complicated build. It’ll be a massive waste to destroy them. Since a Barian could remove them at will, they most likely store the pieces above ground (or above melting point) and molt without them. After they finish molting, they retreive the carapaces. Again, very similar to the molting process of a hermit crab.

It may feel like I am going on a tangent of Barian anatomy rather than focus on their ability, or thereby lack of, to vore, but these details can be used to explain why Barians cannot vore from a historical standpoint.

They cannot vore because they are built like a prey. 

Like hermit crabs, they are “bottom-feeders” with no prey of their own—mostly in part due to the absence of food on their home planet. Instead of being designed like a predator with the capability to vore, a mouth, they are the exact opposite in that they have only the defensive capabilities to defend themselves against a predator.

So following this, if there is a strong need for defensive pressure, who is the offensive pressure? A creature cannot be so defensively driven (thick shell, regeneration, armor, etc.) without the presence of a harmful force.

If it isn’t obvious, their predator are the aqueous Astral Beings. 

Astral Beings are the perfect Barian predator (perhaps co-evolution played a part in this, or y’kno eliphas just said fuck those guys, lets kill em). 

Moving along, not only are they armed with mouths, water is one of the natural forces that could heavily erode rocks, as seen along beaches, rivers, and cliff-sides, into a pile of sand and mud. Barians, with their outermost covering consisting of rock, are especially vulnerable to being broken down by the Astral Beings, exposing their sensitive cores to a likely death. 

Their main defense against this is either: 

(1) Regeneration, they can drop limbs and endure damage to their shell without fear of death, then repair any injuries during their molt

(2) Armor, the sharp carapaces (made of metals that can withstand water) can ward off potential attackers

A third defense that follows the how Astral Beings vore Barians in a predator/prey relationship could also be seen in the habitat of the Barians, or the presence of the Sea of Ill Intent. 

Instead of being made of water, the sea is made of a very strong acid. Why is this important? For any of you that took a chemistry course, the proper technique of mixing acid and water (i.e the Astral Being), you must add acid into the water in that order. The flow of acid into water mixes the two better, preventing a reaction to occur. Adding water into acid, on the other hand, causes the water to react with the acid due to poor initial mixing, causing it to boil and potentially explode.

For this case, the rocky exterior of the Barian allows them to be submerged into the acid without risk of immediate death. Unless the Astral Being wants to harm itself by going into the acid to pursue its prey, they most likely will abandon the prey. If the acid starts to dissolve Barian’s shell (say, the Astral Being attempting to stakeout the Barian) they could regenerate the broken pieces during their next molt.

So not only Barians cannot vore, but they are hapless prey at that! 

They are far from helpless prey—in the same way a Rhinoceros is considered a prey animal—but there is plenty of evidence that lead up to the fact they are indeed a prey species. 

And the fact that they are the bottom of the barrel scavenger, harmless, unable to be a fearsome predator, only a potential prey at best...

They’re just innocent.

Now you say “Kay Dyzarc, ya made me read a longass analysis on the biology of a bunch of space rocks to prove some sickass vore fantasy of yours. Now what. What was the point.” 

Welcome to Zarc n’ Pals, installment 1 baby, strap in for a wild ride