#oh and also abilities special to species or different creatures

[jellysnail-draws]

Randomly remembered how Lawrence was a real one for knocking Qwark out in UYA to help his boss out lmao

Seriously

This was one of those rare moments I realized someone seemed to genuinely be on Nefarious’ side. Everyone else could be flakey, but Lawrence was the only one who stepped in to save Nef when he needed help and I just think about it a lot ok

Also do not mess with the butler or else he’ll knock your ass out fr. I love that he’s lowkey a threat too but he just doesn’t care enough to act on anything

[kiwioala]

documents bagi found in the fed lab!

I feel so sick from seeing all these bodies... First our colleagues and now this?? I need to take some time boss, I'll be back later. Maybe...

2 pictures, both from etoiles fight:

diagram regarding mimicubes and mimic octopus:

The bouncing block of slime is capable of copying the equipment of its enemies, the different things they can copy are: weapons (not only applying on hit effects but also enchantments), shields (being able to block projectile weapons like bows and crossbows), and totems to prevent their own death. Their goo is also known to be able to be used to copy a piece of equipment to the last detail regardless of what material or enchantments it has. It's ability seems to be an evolved version of that of a mimic octopus, the mimic octopus would copy the behavior and looks of other animals for both hunting and self defense. But it seems the mimic cube can copy other materials to the very last details, including pieces of equipment.

diagram regarding lobsters:

These little creatures have incredible abilities, including but not limited to being able to smell and taste the water with their "nose" to hunt their prey, their claws are also a unique barb that allows them to hunt for fish.

IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT WE ESCALATE THIS MATTER TO UPPER MANAGEMENT -> They won't stop growing and won't stop molting throughout with their life, it is considered that they could live forever, if it wasn't bc of the energy needed to molt that they eventually (at 100 years,) won't have

They also can come in different colors, depending on amount and distribution of pigments, being able to be other colors, including: orange, blue, yellow, white, black, and some with special names, like the split halloween colored (black and red) red-blue split colored and cotton candy (pinkish white)

diagram regarding cosmaws:

A once believed extinct species, these flying creatures will attack any player that hits it, biting back with its protocesis, it also uses it to hunt its main pray, the cosmic cod, which can be used to tame them.

While they will not protect their owner in a fight, they serve a different purpose to exploration, whenever their owner is about to fall to the void, the cosmaw will run for it and try to catch it so it doesn't fall into said void.

"Cosmic Cod are fish that can be found in the void between end islands. [...] They float through the ether of The End in decently-sized schools. If one fish in the school is attacked; the entire school of fish will attempt to teleport away as soon as possible. [...] Cosmic Cod can also be caught in an empty bucket." -Animal Dictionary

diagram regarding code status and behavior:

book found in drawer:

more code writing:

010 010 00 0100 0101 01001100 1010 00 00 which translates to "HELP"

lab reports:

[REPORT] Given the recent events at the laboratory, including the intrusion, code breaches, injuries, fatalities among our workers, and the peculiar attack by unfamiliar individuals, we have made the decision to relocate. The place isn't the secured area it used to be, we have reasons to think that several factions with different goals have found its location, therefore we need to find a new place to pursue our researches We have to protect our informations and hide our goals, we cannot let anyone see our research. All the content of our research is now way less valuable since it has been seen and might also have been copied. The next laboratory needs to have a way more secured system, cameras, and lockdown system.

[REPORT] All entities have been transported or terminated, the documents should follow.

[REPORT] It seems like the one eyed creature has been correctly relocated.

misc. clipboards:

CLIPBOARD 1: 1: Heyy, are u having a good day?? 2: No. 1: Oh. sorry about that, what's going on?? 2: Work. 1: O.o

CLIPBOARD 2: • Terminate the subject.

CLIPBOARD 3: • Check for vitals • Check for updates • Check for infection • Check for development

CLIPBOARD 4: • No report has been conclusive yet.

CLIPBOARD 5: • Reports still have to be finalized. • Night shift has to be adjusted as the code changed it's rhythm yet again.

CLIPBOARD 6: • Has been calm over the last fourteen hours. • The current frequency can't be read, we need to order new equipment.

[nogenderbee]

https://www.tumblr.com/nogenderbee/726526704731996160/hmmm-im-not-sure-if-this-is-going-to-make-any?source=share

Oh, sorry! I didn't know! My memories of Pokemon are a little fuzzy so I'll try my best to explain.

So, Kyogre is a whale-like Legendary water-type Pokemon that possesses the ability to expand the oceans and create storms. It battled with it's rival Groudon (another legendary Pokemon that has the ability to expand continents). It is believed to be the personification of the sea itself and is also described as the creator of the ocean in mythology. A powerful Pokemon, it has control over the water and rain. It is hailed as a savior for quenching areas of the world plagued with drought. Kyogre is able to fly and generally lives deep in the ocean, resting in a deep trench.

Kyogre is normally very calm and peaceful until it meets it's rival, Groudon.

I hope this helps!

Thank you for explaining and absolutely! I hope I got it correctly and that you like it!

And just for curious people and me... here's link to original request!

♡˗ˏ✎*ೃ˚ 𝕂𝕪𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕖 ₊˚ˑ༄

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Zhongli, Gorou, Itto, Tighnari with Kyogre alike!reader

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ @bleachtheidiot

✧ Zhongli had a small feeling about you being a but different form normal humans since beginning

✧ he noticed how you have strong bond with water and how you seem to have some sort of control over the water anytime you're around and he'd lie if he said his curiosity wasn't picked

✧ he knew you were a human and never doubted it but he was really curious where you got that sort of power from

✧ he won't actually ask you about it at first, instead he'll recall every single meeting with water species and try to associate some with you! But as could be expected, none actually fit it...

✧ but once he discovers the truth either through you or through other ways of gaining knowledge (or by him remembering something), he won't really make a fuss about it and will observe in silence, after all he doesn't want to scare you away

✧ he'll patiently wait for you to reveal all of your powers to him, he wants you to do it out od your own will and trust, and he has all time in the world!

"Oh that's interesting. So you just happen to find sea calming? Would you mind telling me more about it? I'm genuinely curious about the reason."

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

✧ Gorou noticed your skills almost immidietly and you could feel it by the way he stares at you with curiosity in his eyes! But he pretends to look at something else once you catch him

✧ he doesn't like being remembered about his dog-like appearance so he doesn't mention it to you either, especially since it'd mean admiring he's been admiring your powers

✧ but one time you played with water close to him and he got distracted, his tail immidiely wagging, you couldn't help but state with a smile but that ended with him being flustered a bit

✧ in the end he admits he was paying special attention to you and that's when he finally knows everything from you! But it ended on that, he trusted you were a human and never even dared think otherwise

✧ of course he heard about your rival and saw how troubled you got by it, he definitely was interested but also a bit startled by your sudden change... after all you were always so calm and collected

"Huh!? No, I wasn't staring... I was just... I thought I saw Lady Kokomi pass in the distance, that's all."

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

✧ I feel like Itto wouldn't assume you for having some special powers even if he saw your tricks with water, he'd just find it impressing but that's all!

✧ he'd actually get more interested in it if he hears fairytale or so about some water creature, that'd when he starts seeing similiarity between you and them

✧ he's not secret about it tho, you can do anything and he'll casually mention your similiarity

✧ but when he discovers fully about your powers and despite everyone telling him it's not something normal humans do, he won't question anything and will be the biggest supporter in return

✧ most likely asks you to perform your skills when he's bored or when he needs a distraction so be prepared to be associated with his troubles if you agree

✧ but don't worry because this man will do his best to defend you with his life!! It just doesn't usually works...

✧ but going onto next trait of yours, he's surprised how calm you are and tried making you a bit less official and have some fun, at least when you're around him

"Just imagine how much fun everyone would have if you did a water slide! At least a small one! ... Please?"

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

✧ Tighnari is rather observant so all it took was one trick with water when he was on patrol, and he started being more interested in all the why's

✧ he can't count how much books about animals and even mythical species he read for the last few days with hope that at least one would lead him closer to discovering

✧ in the end, he figures out it's the best to ask you himself. As much as he'd like to discover it all himself, it seems he has ko choice if he wants to know the truth

✧ and when he does discover it, he won't hesitate to ask you for a small showcase of your abilities. And he'll make sure to note them all!

✧ he's DEFINITELY not believing you're fully a human after all of that tho, he's sure you must have at least a bit of other genes in you

✧ he associated your calmness with water ever after discovering your association with it, but then he realized that even the calmest sea can be chaotic...

✧ that's why he expected you to burst sooner or later so when you met your rival, he was already prepared and quickly dragged you away as he offered you your comfort food or some plushy to calm down

"I expected situation like this may occur so I brought your favorite sweet with me. Here you go."

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

[spearxwind]

since talas has to eat One Big Thing every month or so like you said and i assume communities around the globe are reeling in their own leviathans, what are their populations like? are there plenty, are they going extinct, are leviathans each unique things, or are there things like common and rare species etc and if so do these normal, not shapeshifter leviathans display special abilities like hades' being a blowtorch or talas' ice beam (SORRY for this i love the idea of gigantic ocean creatures being regular things and would love to see more of the biome sort of stuff this world has if you've given it any thought!!! love the characters and the gay eels yes but the enviromence...) are there leviathan hunting rules/regulations like throwing back female blue crabs...........

Oh good question! :]

Leviathans are one hundred percent NOT going extinct. The ocean is massive and immensely deep, there are MANY of them out there. Comparatively, there are very few mers because there's very little land, and they hunt for resources, not to fill a quota or just for sport, so leviathan hunting does not drive them to extinction. If we're gonna use Talas as a comparison, average mer communities would be able to rely on maybe one hunt a month or so as well, roughly.

And yeah there is a hunting guild that somewhat regulates hunts (there's not like,,, hard law syndicate or whatever), for the most part to make sure the ecosystem does not take damage. Merfolk are a part of the ecosystem too just like the big leviathans are so they both fulfil their role in it

In general leviathans do have some "species" that they can be categorized in but in general tend to be unique, but that's because I like designing different things and I like the idea of some of them being completely unexplained x) so I guess the answer of that is there's both kinds. Could be theres a species of leviathans that are like whales and live in pods, sometimes a fish just Becomes Fucking Huge, sometimes [redacted information], etc etc. Free real estate

Some DO have special abilities as well, the most common beam attack ones are water jets, poison, and acid (siege for example, is a non-shifter leviathan who spits acid). Fire is really rare but it happens. Sometimes they do have other abilities like hypnosis or illusions that are meant to be more defensive than offensive. I don't have a whole lot of info on that though bc the general vibe for that is giving them the vibes of some irl sailor legends for "what sea monsters could potentially do", some of em could be tall tales some of em could be real

As for biomes.... I have the overland ones set pretty much. Still have not decided on a lot of the ocean ones, but theres a lot. I would like to have a subnautica-esque variety of them (as in, really varied with some of them really colorful) but I havent gotten around to actually think thonking of them very much yet. Funny enough my own world's oceans are largely unexplored to me at the moment x) but I will get on that for sure!

Currently the biomes ive at least thought out are the polar areas (especially voids embrace), a volcanic area around the spine, with a lot of hydrothermal vents and stuff (things get real weird there), the tropic belt is filled with life and colors and is neighbored by grand reefs which are also filled with life and colors

[itsbenedict]

a thing farn and i talked about on discord

idea: gestalt organism made up of lots of smaller organisms that each contribute a specialized piece of cognition. this one knows how to coordinate leg movements, this one knows how to operate the coffee machine, this one knows a bunch of verbs and this other one knows how to coordinate the mouthpart-creatures to make the sounds of the verbs, this one remembers a coworker's daily routine, this one is a filter on profanity...

so you've got one of these on your spaceship crew and like, most of the time they're a pretty normal and reliable person, albeit made up of worms gog-agog style.

but at any given time, some of the worms are sleeping.

not all of their faculties are always operational. some of the key motor skills have redundant reps who sleep in shifts, but for things like personality and ability, they're not quite the same person throughout the day.

"hey, squirblox, i need you to fix the astro-radiator, it's making weird noises." "oh, sure, uh... gimme a couple hours, i'll be an engineer around then. i'm navigation right now."

and like, it is technically possible for this thing to split up into multiple things to accomplish specific tasks- but you'll notice if they're doing that, because while so diminished, they're basically falling-down drunk- missing all kinds of key cognitive capacities that they rerouted to the other agent.

their species, on their home planet, doesn't really distinguish between a skill, a mood, a person, or a corporation- they're all just differences of scale and complexity in organizing person-fractions into functional wholes.

the term is weird to them! like, "big mediumhood", uh, what? are you confused? why are you drawing these distinctions? why do you have all these distinct categories for social arrangements, and accord some social arrangements special rights-as-individuals that other arrangements don't??

they've also got like, specific preferred configurations for interacting with individual alien people- the Squirblox who's spending time with Barbara down in the shuttle bay is optimized for interacting with Barbara, a slightly different person from the Squirblox who's up interacting with the captain in his office, or with the whole bridge crew.

humans, too, have different faces for different social contexts, but squirblox literally has different faces.

see, that's the kind of alien-unit-centric idea they would find baffling. the individual organism of this species isn't a "person", it's something like the basal ganglia- this one worm knows how to control the leg, which is to say they know how to take a signal "we need there to be a leg-formation moving forward in this direction", and give orders to a bunch of other worms to grip each other and pull in a particular fashion to make there be a leg moving and balancing in a particular way. it doesn't have thoughts about people, it doesn't have thoughts about arms, it barely has thoughts about the food it needs to sustain itself as an individual!

what is the minimum viable sandcastle that still counts as a sandcastle? who knows? you're just coming up with definitions for definition's sake!

humans and other similar species are so weird to them, for how they're fixated on a particular range of size-ability-configurations as "people" and obsess over how you treat those, just because they all sort of happen to be born in these similar and difficult-to-change configurations. as if the setup created as an accident of their birth were something fundamental to philosophy, to social organization, to the concept of intelligent life!

just because you're a 5-6 foot tall bipedal config with a top-mounted centralized sensory apparatus and working memory for ~150 distinct social relationships with other individuals of approximately the same size doesn't mean we all have to be, all the time!

squirblox also probably the center of some... relationship drama, on the ship. when you're actively reconfiguring yourself to be someone optimized for positive interaction with another person every time you interact with them, this is sometimes interpreted as romantic interest.

your coworker shapeshifts towards your physical ideal and is conspicuously interested in everything you have to say every time you're alone together? someone might start drawing conclusions from that sort of thing!

lot of people thinking particular versions of squirblox are their soulmate, and that those versions are the real squirblox.

[apatchedupdoll]

Heeeeeyyyyy! So if you don't know, I write a lot. If I come up with a little blip then I write it down and try to incorporate it into the story. I have a long list of things that slowly get integrated all nicely color coded.

But some things just don't make it.

This was the original fight for Oh, Where Have You Been Brother? Chapter 6 when introducing Metal Head. Buuuut I didn't like it enough to put it in. So I made a bit of a different fight. There are a lot of similarities but still a lot of differences.

But anyways the reason I'm posting it is because I can't really find any reason to keep it, and I hate completely deleting thoughts so I thought Tumblr could eat it. It's beneath the cut.

So enjoy (:

Chapter 6 fight Goose vs. Metal Head Cut

The announcer was loud and boastful as their voice came through the speakers, “What a wonderful show! But oh! We have something special for you all tonight! Our champion seeker running straight for the top is ready to honk! Please welcome The Garganornis!” Out from one side of the arena came the warrior seeking chaos and becoming champion of the battle nexus. Decked out in golds and reds with a sword lifted into the air that made the crowd boom.

“Scoff.” Donnie couldn’t help but feel this attention undeserved. If they couldn’t get past his bot, then they deserved nothing. His technical skill versus the creatures that came to challenge him.

“And in the other corner! A beast back from the dead! You love it! You missed it! The wall that only the best of the best can cross! Metal Head!” Right on que the beast of metal pushed into the view of the crowd and greeted with an even louder boom. Donnie’s beak flicked up with pride. The crowd was right to enjoy his creation.

The metal monster let out a roar to coax the crowd to get louder. It was much like a turtle, it was a turtle. After meeting his brothers he took some liberties. Originally it was much more boxy, but now it had a shell adorned with spikes. It was also patterned much like a box turtle, purple of course although some places interrupted the patterns with the new panels. Its head shaped much like his red brother’s species and of course he was excited for the abilities shared by Mikey.

Another roar came from Metal Head before dropping onto all fours and charging for The Garganornis. The warrior dodged easily out of the way sliding to the side, but that was the first mistake. Metal head’s tail swung and nailed the warrior right in the side and threw them into the arena wall. The boys cheered with excitement as an indent was left. The long spiked tail flowed black and forth as the goose yokai was already struggling as they got up from the imprinted wall. Without that armor they would surely have done it. Metal Head turned to attack again, much more artful this time and the fight was truely beginning.

Garganornis wasn’t untalented, there was a reason they were challenging the metal beast. Their sword glowed with an intense energy before counter charging and diving beneath Metal Head’s fist. They rolled and used the momentum to slash at the monster’s leg. A loud screech as the sword struggled to get through the beast’s armor. At most it left a dent. The tail was incoming again and Gargonornis was aware enough to dodge this time. The sword started to glow again and much brighter as the warrior pointed it at the metal monster. Metal Head turned and charged once again, moving in much of a zig zag while the warrior stood there ground with their sword growing brighter. Donnie tensed. His technical skills were built to outlast any stamina, so this attack wasn’t unexpected. The Garganornis was known to have attacks that could kill their opponents in one shot and it seemed Garganornis knew they needed to end this battle quickly. Else they be defeated by exhaustion alone.

Metal Head went to swing its fist and right on que the blast from the mystic sword went off, going straight for the counter. The metal turtle’s fist pushed back and tilted until it landed on its back.

“What! No!” Mikey shouted before whining. Raph couldn’t help but snicker, no doubt reminiscing on how he defeated Metal Head in a similar fashion. Donnie could only smirk.

Metal Head struggled to right itself, the shell doing nothing to favor the situation. There would probably have to be some spikes fixed. Garganornis took a running start and jumped above the metal monster, readying their sword to strike the beast down right in the head. One rule his mother had him follow was killing shots on a normal creature is a must on Metal Head. Just to keep things fair, fine he was happy to work around that. As Garganornis made contact there would be a sickening clang. The sword hit metal, but the plastron had covered up the once exposed head. In fact all the limbs aside from the tail were now hidden. Thank you Mikey. The yokai seemed taken aback and stepped back while checking their surroundings before preparing an assault from the tail. Then the turtle began to spin. Donnie cringed when seeing spikes break off as it spun faster and began moving around the arena with speed the warrior struggled to deal with. They’d gotten thrown off the spinning top and while it was blind, there were many uncomfortable close calls that could have claimed the warrior’s life. Mikey and Raph let out cheers while Donnie basked in his deserved glory. What could possibly be better than this?

[ask-third-circle]

I have been meaning to ask..

Why are the marks on toliki on the places they are?

Like, why cogs in the neck, hands, feet and eyes?

Is there any particular reason?

This is very long and full of spoilers, so get settled in and please keep your arms, legs and feelings inside the vehicle at all times!!!

<3

A long time ago, a fight ensued between Traebit and Deity (a man who was involved with the creation of arfri, Toliki's species)

As expected of Traebit, he was using mainly psychological means to torment his opponent, and began to step closer.

Deity's lover Scally (also involved in the creation of arfri) has had enough and runs over there to at least get in between the two.

But Traebit, excited on how much his words are affecting Deity, decides to strike.

Deity pushes Scally away.

Blood goes everywhere and Scally out of instinct covers his face, and so when the blood lands on him it lands kind of like this.

The chaos of bleeding and also seeing his lover covered in blood but calm enough to comfort him … how do I describe it? It became a core memory for Deity, and influenced the creation of Arfri, which he and Scally were working on together.

And so the body parts of Scally that had blood on them later became an important part of the shifter uniform:

In combination with colour rules, where black means responsibility/devotion and white means a new start/open to new possibilities …

The uniform is black meaning you should be a responsible shifter when you wear it … but sometimes, as shown by the white accents, it is necessary to break the small rules to keep the peace or serve the greater good

The fact that these same areas are where Toliki has his markings ...

...means that he has basically been told by the universe that no matter what new information or new opportunity comes his way, he is still a corrupted member of his species.

By the way, it would probably repulse other arfri to even see purple, let alone have purple in the areas of the body usually reserved for "open to new possibilities"

The reason there are cog shapes is because the category of creature he is is called a Cog. It's like having a tattoo of a rose if your name is Rose: A really obvious, non-metaphotical, slap-in-the-face reminder that he is Different and no matter what clothes he wears to hide it, his body will still display that he is CORRUPTED and should REMEMBER that he is a Cog even if he cannot BE a good cog.

The order of creature categories goes like this:

Unlimited - Gods, etc. Residents of the third circle e.g. Traebit, Pelor, Creator, other creator gods etc. Nothing stops them from doing what they want forever.

Wish Makers - ~Humans~ and similar creatures. They are only one level below gods themselves. They are not "unlimited" just because they HAVE LIMITS. Even if all diseases and ailments are cured, a body can only do so much. You only have so much time. You have to take breaks to eat and poop. Sometimes wish makers ask gods for special powers, but it's rare that this is actually given.

Immaterial - OH, IF ONLY I HAD A BODY!!! This category is for those who maybe have wishes, but cannot even begin to work on their goals because they don't have physical bodies to experience the world with. Sometimes they possess a physical creature, but it doesn't last for long. They prefer humans because of our sophisticated language abilities and the fact that we pride ourselves in making artworks. Some examples of immaterial are ghosts, and also ideas waiting to be born.

The Devoted - No wishing. No desire to change. Humans might make dolls and pretend to be gods. Immaterials might possess someone and pretend to own a body. But the devoted is a category that has no intention of becoming something different. It's worth noting that they are not BENEATH wish makers/immaterial, just seperate from them. (Imagine a 40 year old learning to drive for the first time and the instructor is 20. Maybe in life the older one knows more and could guide the younger one but in the case of driving, the younger one knows more.) Plants are in this category. All they do is grow and grow without any regard for whose perfect lawn they are interrupting. the Guardians are in this category too (remind me to make a post about the guardians lmao)

Cogs - Truly the only ones who ever get anything done. But it's such a shame that they have no free will. Arfri, for example, were created to serve shifters and protect them from evil. Humanise them all you want, but cogs are literally living tools. When was the last time a letter (in a word (in a sentence (in a book))) said to you "hold on i need to rest" ??? When a pen no longer produces ink, do you not throw it away? (unless it's a hello kitty pen, and then it still has a function; to be pretty, even if it doesn't write.)

[stinkiesdraws]

C-can I have more Adalas, Celestial Realm, and Aether lore 👉🏼👈🏼

Oh absolutely !!!! I will break it off into the BASIC of the three worlds and you can also pick which one you would like to ask more questions about :3

Adalas

Think of basic Earth, which a few differences. Like Adalas, use to have magic naturally spread throughout the world. However, during the Salem Witch Trials, is where one super powerful witch was pushed to her breaking point. She was sick of seeing her friends and family members get accused for being Witches and tortured, basically forces themselves to their end. So she invested her hatred into Dark Magic, which lead to the birth of The Celestial Realm, a place where witches and wizards could use magic without fear of being hunted.

However for this realm to be created, all the natural magic in Adalas would be drained away. While pursuing Dark Magic, the Witch that saved all the other ones from harm, ended up become corrupted and eventually titled "The Damned One." Who basically Damned all witches to be feared, trapped in the The Celestial Realm.

Fast forward a few hundred years after that, it would pretty much be modern day Earth! People live their lives as they do now, they have cellphones, cars, computers, TV, except they no longer have magic. Or so that the Witches think. For The Celestial Realm to stay up, it would constantly be draining magic from Adalas. Until there is a new type of magic that slowly starts leaking into the world, and it can only be found within the humans. There are still Mermaids/Vampires/Demons/Aliens, but since they are like a different species they also have their own systems. They are just very very rare or very well hidden.

Celestial Realm

After the witches were sealed into the middle realm, many of them grew overpowered due to all the magic in the area. They were able to basically start over to practice, study and grow as their own people now. Around 150 years of being sealed in this middle realm, the learned how to create portals. Their first few portals that where created, ended up taking them to Aether, since Aether also naturally has magic, it was just easier to make an entrance there. Thus allowing them to grown and educate themselves more. A few witches left to go live in Aether, but a lot of them like to keep within the Celestial Realm.

It doesn't really have morning or night there because it's the middle, it always either looks dusk or dawn with both the moon, the sun and stars out. After forming their own government system, they were eventually able to freely come to and from all three worlds with ease. Of course they come up with some ground rules like how you cant use magic in Adalas, since there is no magic there, it would cause a problem. Aether naturally has magic and is used in daily life so it isn't seen as a problem there.

So Nick normally likes to spend her days in the modern world because she isn't seen as the Princess Failure. She was born from a witch mom and a human dad. Normally when a witch marries a human, they have to give up their powers and live a normal life siding with humans. So marrying a human to a witch is like walking into a grave and killing your gene pool.

Aether

In the magical world of the Aether, there are many fantastical creatures that fill the land, the sky and the ocean, some more civilized than others...The settling of the Aether is very vast, having Elves, Dragons, Ogres, Fairies, Mermaids, Pantharian, Draconian you name it. They are all there, living life. Due to the ability for anyone to really use magic, technology didn't advance and their historical setting would be that of our 1300s/1400s. They have Kingdoms and their own history too that I have written out.

Ketlus, Raindol, Windin, continent is called Eznar /Eznari: This settling is very medieval Europe style. So there are Kings and Queens

Night Moon Valley - A special clan of deadly assassins that live in their own little island.

Kōilan/Korish - This is where most Snow Elves live, they have more of a Southeast Asian style of culture. (Yes there are different elements to almost every species)

Mermaids/Sirenese - Tropical, islands and sandy beaches. They like warmer weather, but there are probably a few small clans that like the colder waters.

Hinamiri/Hinamirese - East Asia type of settling, quite a lot of humans in this location.

That are just off the top of my head, I have a few more I think but still have to figure a few small details.

Anyways, Raindol is at war and it's some spicy stuff because they THOUGHT they killed off all of the royal family, but the Prince managed to get away. :3

Anyways, THANK YOU!!! For asking about my worlds Gabby!!! They are so much fun to think about and I put so much brain energy into thinking about it.

[ckneal]

Sometimes I need to remind myself that not everyone watched Supernatural with an ongoing gen fic happening in their head, all about the family life of the angels before Chuck’s disappearance and the rise of humanity. And as such, not everyone was constantly compiling stray details thrown out about the angel characters, clustering them together into this rubber band ball of ideas that was just so fun to play with.

I mean, for instance, not everyone took in the way the other angel characters seemed to look down their noses at the cupid characters (who, it’s worth noting, are never once referred to by their individual names, but instead by the human pet name for their category of cherub [which in Lucifer’s case, was certainly framed as an unflattering term], despite Castiel once boasting that he knew everyone in Heaven), and reason to themselves that it was surely because the other angels were jealous. Because obviously, the cupids are given classified information from God himself about what bloodlines he wants to see continued and merged for the sake of his Plan, putting these silly, non-combatant angels on par with the archangels in terms of secret knowledge about what was to come. For the first couple billions of years of existence, while the other classes of angels were sitting around with nothing to do, they all had to watch the cupids happily zipping around the earth, cooing over blue-green algae and gradually coaxing different species into existence with their magic love arrows. And every time a significant milestone was reached, they also had to watch as the insipid little harbingers of love scooped the newborn creature up and raced over to the nearest archangel to excitedly show them their progress, like a little kid with their first art project. And the archangel in question, regardless of which one, would nod encouragingly and smile as the cupid in question babbled about the tiny, tiny lungs this fish had, or the beginnings of feet at the ends of its fins. Even Lucifer, who would also add the additional suggestion to try and give the next one more teeth.

Additionally, not everyone looked at the way that Lucifer was able to just insert himself into Sam’s head from inside the cage, and considered how Azazel needed to visit a specific geographic location to communicate with Lucifer, and even then was only just barely able to do so, and thus came to the conclusion that clearly Michael and Lucifer must have come to an agreement to pool their powers to project Luci’s image into Sam’s head. Which explains why Sam’s special link disappears right after leaving the cage, and also why Michael didn’t interfere when Lucifer was freed, even though season 15 makes it clear that Luci did not sneak quietly out the backdoor. Michael was fully aware who was responsible for the jailbreak, thus leading us to consider that perhaps Lucifer was supposed to turn around and free Michael and Adam in turn, but did not. Thus leading us to imagine Michael spending roughly a year (Earth time) tapping his foot in the cage, until . . .

“He’s not coming back for us, is he?”

And Adam, cracking open a molecule-flavored soda (manifested courtesy of Michael), snickers. “Nope. Told you not to trust him.”

“Right. . .” Michael exhales, looks around for a moment, settles on side-eyeing Adam. Then, with an air of ‘fuck it’ says, “Want to make out?”

And Adam promptly chokes on his soda.

And not everyone heard Metatron specifically say that he personally tattooed the names of every prophet of the Lord ever on the inner eyelids of every angel, and immediately had the thought, “Poor Michael” spring to mind. Because of course Michael was the first one on the proverbial chopping block, trying his best not to flinch as his little brother gradually figured out how to handle the needle. (To this day, Michael is still not sure if the prophet after Chuck Shurley is named Kevin Tran or Rovim Frun). And all the while, Michael was probably also trying his best not to worry about how things were going on Earth while he was busy getting his eyes stabbed.

After all, Lucifer was God’s second eldest son, barely younger than Michael in the grand scheme of things. He could handle watching over their younger siblings for a little while. And Raphael and Gabriel were there to help. Everything would be fine.

However, Michael isn’t aware that about five minutes after being left in charge, Lucifer yelled, “HEY EVERYONE, CHECK THIS OUT!” And then promptly threw his grace into the body of a nearby pterodactyl. Possession being a new ability that Chuck had recently invented, the surrounding angels were mystified as Lucifer piloted the prehistoric reptile through a series of dizzying loop-de-loops that saw the poor creature—not suited to containing angel grace—explode midway through, leaving Lucifer gleefully giggling in the sky.

About half of the angels looking on gaped in horror.

Gabriel whispered to Raphael, “We’re still beta testing that, right?”

The other half of the gathered angels, however, like the impressionable young followers that they are, start grinning, because Lucifer is grinning, and he’s their cool older brother, and as Lucifer—relishing the attention—makes a beeline toward the earth’s one continent, Pangea, and an unsuspecting herd of ornithopods, these younger angels eagerly follow.

Soon, Earth is full of the anguished cries of cupids, watching their hard work blown to bits again and again. Swept up in the crowd, are Castiel and Balthazar. They watch Uriel and Zachariah excitedly throw their armored dinosaur bodies against one another in the moments before both vessels combust, after which Uriel and Zachariah excitedly dart off to take on new ones.

“Are we sure this is. . .okay?”

“Well, Lucifer is in charge. We’re supposed to follow his lead. . .aren’t we?”

Meanwhile, Raphael is frantically trying to stem the carnage. Several dinosaurs are levitating in mid-air, as Raphael tries to simultaneously keep them from exploding while also ordering the angels possessing them to vacate the vessels immediately. But none of them have ever taken a vessel before, and do not know how to get out of them without tearing them apart. Raphael keeps expanding their powers to more and more creatures as their young siblings continue to follow Lucifer’s example.

“GABRIEL, DO SOMETHING!”

“RIGHT!” Gabriel looks around, locates Lucifer running amuck in an apatosaurus that he’s forcing to walk on its hind legs, and fires off a lightning bolt to startle him out.

The lightning bolt misses its target in spectacular fashion, and several trees catch on fire.

Gabriel throws another lightning bolt.

“GABRIEL, THAT IS NOT HELPING!”

“RIGHT!”

Gabriel then grabs a giant meteor from outer space and begins trying to smother the flames by whacking it against the continent, to Raphael’s horror. More cupids begin to cry. Thick clouds of dust fly up, choking out natural light on the planet’s surface—now only illuminated by flames, as well as the magma that rises up out of the cracks that form in Pangea, as Gabe unintentionally creates the first tectonic plates from the sheer force of his assault on the planet.

Trees fall over. Fire continues to spread.

Lucifer is still in the apatosaurus, but he’s fallen onto his side, laughing hysterically.

“WATER, GABRIEL! USE WATER!”

“OH! RIGHT!”

Gabriel throws the meteor into a nearby sea, creating a tsunami.

It is at this point that Raphael abandons the dinosaurs to their sad fate, forgetting their solemn oath to not reveal any secrets regarding evolution and God’s plan, to broadly yell out to any and all of their angelic siblings who are listening, “QUICKLY, SAVE THE MAMMALS!”

And it is at this point, that Michael returns. Samandriel, clutching a dozen or so rodents in his wings, is the first one to spot him. All of Michael’s eyes are red and puffy from abuse. The cupids are sobbing, the Earth is battered, flooded, and scorched. Angels are getting into fist fights with reapers as they dart back and forth, trying to ferry as many warm-blooded creatures as they can find from the site of the catastrophe to the relative safety on the other side of the mountain range Gabriel accidently made when he bashed a crater into the planet—relative, as it turns out some of those new mountains are in fact volcanoes, and it took some trial and error to figure out how far away from an active volcano could be considered “safe.”

Nearby, Castiel and Balthazar are somehow both stuck inside the same mosasaur, beached from the tsunami, and loudly panicking as they struggle to de-possess it before it explodes. There’s a snapping sound, and then suddenly all of the angels still trapped (or willfully frolicking) inside vessels are ejected, at the same time that the fire goes out and the volcanoes cease erupting.

Consequently, everyone goes very still as Michael scans the damage and his bedraggled siblings. With humans not yet existing, the art of facepalming is not yet a thing. But looking at Michael, one might just expect him to invent the practice right then and there.

When Michael gets to Lucifer, he’s greeted with, “What? Pop’s 86-ing the lizard kingdom anyway!”

Michael promptly drags Lucifer off to Heaven.               

The next day, it was made an official rule, written into the very fabric of angelkind: vessels could only be taken after obtaining explicit consent.

Additionally, everyone agreed to never, ever mention the existence of the dinosaurs or how they ended ever again. And, rather than fixing the damage to the Earth’s surface, the tectonic plate situation was just sort of left to do as it would.

Many, many years later, Adam was shocked by Michael’s reaction when the cage door suddenly swung open in Hell. Adam had immediately surged to his feet in excitement, ready to leave and never come back.

Michael, however, remained stationary on the floor, squinting at the doorway, wondering what dystopian nightmare must be waiting on Earth after leaving his siblings unsupervised for a solid decade.

“Michael? You okay?”

“Adam, before we go back to Earth, I think I need to tell you a story. . .”

[djarrex]

Countermeasures || 1

Archives

Fives x ofc!reader

x | next chapter ->

| main masterlist | series masterlist | read on ao3 |

Rating: 18+

Word Count: 3.6k

Warnings: mentions of lust? is that a warning? otherwise, nothing yet ;)

chapter summary: Renna (you), an intern who spent the entirety of her internship thus far filing paperwork in the archives of Tipoca City’s medical wing, finally is able to work with a real patient - that patient just so happens to be Fives.

note: Renna will basically be taking the place of AZI-3 in the Conspiracy arc. A lot of the dialogue I wrote is from the episode, and of course I added more to dig deeper into Renna and Fives as characters. When this idea came in my head I was only planning on writing it as a oneshot. As I starting writing this, however, I realized there was so much more that could be done with it since this arc is both a good one and a sad one. If you’re ready to go on this journey with me, then keep going under the cut! <3 Also, I wanted to add that there will be POV changes in this chapter. I don’t know if I’ll stick with that going forward, but we’ll see.

* tbh special thanks to @bvcketfvcker for coming up with the series title and being da Best™ 

***

The archives of the medical wing in Tipoca City, the capital of the watery planet Kamino, were always so cold and lonely. Every single day of your internship thus far has included you being nearly drowned in paperwork, no real field experience to show for it.

You’ve been on Kamino for your medical internship for what, close to six months now? You were still stuck doing paperwork. Maybe at the six month mark you’d be moved up to sterilizing all the medical equipment, which would seem terrible to anyone else, but at least you’d be in proximity to anything remotely “medical”. You were longing to get your hands dirty, to start real field experience, to learn how to heal. You wanted to help people, to help anyone in need. You wanted to learn the practices for saving someone’s life. Everything you wanted, you could not get if you were stuck in the archives with paperwork as your only companion. 

You decided within your first month that you would not let the paperwork and lack of real purpose get to you. So, you made your situation better by wearing - to the best of your ability - a positive attitude. On the day that marked the end of your first month here, the Kaminoans told you that music can be played in the archives as long as it’s not too loud, so you brought in a small radio the very next day. The start of your second month was a little better than the day before. You hummed to the music playing on the radio as you tried to make a game out of filing the paperwork. Turns out, not even a simple game could be made out of something so boring and tedious as filing paperwork.

You lost count of the days you’ve been in Tipoca City, within the archives shelled by the stilted dome structures, after your second month. Every day was exactly the same; you filed and shredded paperwork, organized reports, and finished filling out medical reports that the Kaminoan doctors didn't even want to bother with. Every day you woke up early, headed to the archives, and spent your entire day there in solitude until it was time to head back to your quarters for the night. Lunch was always dropped off to you by a couple of guards from the Kamino Security Team. The guards were always in full grey and white armor but you already knew what they looked like; they were clones, and you’ve seen their face in every file. They were handsome, sure, but there were literally hundreds of thousands of them out there. 

You were pretty sure you were coming up on month six of your monotonous internship. Waking up and getting ready was a routine ingrained in your bones. You were taking the regular route to the archives from your quarters when you were stopped by a couple Kaminoan doctors on the way. To your surprise, they asked you to follow them, which you were hoping translated to you not having to work in the archives anymore. Maybe month six was the lucky number.

You walked behind the tall and slender creatures through unfamiliar halls. You had no idea where you were following them to, but anywhere was better than where you were originally heading. 

They kept walking, with you in tow, when you passed by the only Jedi you’ve ever really spoken to - Master Shaak Ti, a calm and collected Togruta who was known to have a soft spot for the clones here on Kamino. The Jedi nodded in greeting to the Kaminoans in front of you, then over at you. With no words spoken, you were now following the Jedi through the halls, still unsure of the destination. 

Just around the corner, you saw two very decorated troopers coming towards you. They donned blue and white armor with a ton of other accessories. As they got closer, the one trooper removed his helmet and carried it at his side. This trooper had the usual dark brown hair and kept the common clone cut style. The way this clone walked with his helmet pressed to his hip had awoken something in you, though you couldn't put your finger on exactly what that something was.

“General Shaak Ti.” The other clone removed his helmet as he greeted the Jedi. He was blonde and sported a closely shaved cut; despite having the same face and body, the two clone troopers looked completely different. They were unlike any clones you’ve ever seen.

That’s when you noticed another trooper laying on a stretcher behind them; his hair was long enough to be worn in a bun, a tear drop was inked underneath one of his closed eyes. He was also unlike any clone you’ve ever seen - especially since he appeared to be unconscious, He was hooked up to oxygen, you also noticed, as two guards pushed his floating stretcher right by you and around the corner, out of sight once they went down the hall.

You realized how zoned out you were and quickly snapped back to reality - only for only a second, though - as you became transfixed on the clone in front of you on the right, the one with dark hair. You scanned his features a little more now that he was closer; he had a dark goatee that framed his chin and his right temple had the number “5″ inked on the skin. His armor was crazy different from the armor the guards here wore. He looked... good. Uh oh. 

For just a brief moment, the “good looking” trooper’s eyes broke away from his conversation with the Jedi and met yours. Slightly embarrassed, you snapped your head forward and glued your eyes to the Kaminoan’s ankles in front of you.

Just as you started listening in on the conversation, the two clones, the Jedi General, and Dr. Nala Se broke away and turned the corner in the same direction they took the unconscious trooper.

Kriff. You missed the entire conversation. The Kaminoans started moving forward, and you assumed you were still supposed to follow them, so you did. You still had no clue where you were going, but you’ll get there eventually. 

***

Fives’ POV

Fives walked to the left of Rex, a long-neck doctor in between them, while Tup’s unconscious body was guided by two Kamino guards behind them. 

“You will have to say goodbye to your friend now.” The long-neck broke the silence. Fives was worried for his friend. No one, not even Kix, could figure out what was wrong with him. Why would Tup shoot and kill General Tiplar? Fives noticed Tup was acting somewhat strange right before it all happened, but didn’t think too much of it at the time, Now, he’s racking his brain, trying to understand what set Tup off. He’s a good soldier, a good man. He’d never do such a thing in his right mind. 

It was suggested that Tup be sent to Tipoca City, to Kamino, back to his roots, for a better chance of figuring out what was wrong with him. Fives gladly accepted the offer to escort his friend there, and was overjoyed that Rex came along with them.

General Shaak Ti came into view, and the troopers came to a halt. Captain Rex greeted the General, and she turned her attention over to Fives.

“Fives, am I correct?” He nodded. Tup was being pushed from behind them and then around the corner in front of them, quickly going out of view. The General spoke again, her eyes glued on the unconscious trooper being led down the hall. “You’ve served with Tup?”

Fives was desperate to be by his friend’s side right now. “Yes.”

Then he saw you. You, a foreign species to Kamino. What were you doing here? It had been a while since Fives was last on Kamino, but he was sure there weren’t any others like you here before unless they were Jedi - but the only Jedi known to hang around Kamino was General Shaak Ti.

He had noticed you tailing the long-necks before you had even come entirely into view. Fives let his eyes flicker over to you as Tup was being taken away, only to have locked eyes with you for but a second. He noticed you blushed right before you snapped your head forward, obviously embarrassed that you’d been caught staring. General Shaak Ti’s voice broke Fives’ trance - didn’t even notice he was losing focus once he caught your eyes - and it was all over in less than five seconds. 

“You must come with me.” 

Fives quickly snapped his attention back to General Shaak Ti, “with... all due respect, General, I can’t just abandon him now.” The Jedi General smiled reassuringly, and turned to lead Fives and Rex down the hall in the same direction Tup was taken. 

Fives knew where his undivided attention should be, and that was on Tup - his friend - his friend that for some reason just gunned down a Jedi in the heat of battle in the space station just outside of Ringo Vinda, only to come to with no memory of what he had done. Fives cursed himself for thinking of you when his friend was about to be strapped to an exam table, being poked and prodded like some kind of lab scurrier. 

***

Renna’s POV

Dr. Nala Se, the Chief Medical Scientist on Kamino, approached you once you had gotten to the head medical lab and informed you that you’d be the one who would start procedures on a clone trooper who had potentially been exposed to a virus of some kind. You nodded, all too giddy as you gladly accepted the task.

You were escorted by two guards to where you’d be working with the patient. When the door whisked open, you slowly made your way into the quiet room, the door shutting quickly behind you. You glanced to the right, noticing the window that would normally allow you to see into the room next door was blacked out - put into the privacy setting. Strange. 

“You?” The deep voice - a voice that sounded like honey in your ears - put a halt on your thoughts about the darkened window. You knew it was the voice of a clone; the only voices you ever heard were either the slow, drawn out words of the Kaminoans or the clones’. Of course a clone would be in that room, of course a clone would be the subject of your testing.

Who you didn’t expect to see was the clone trooper you saw in passing not even a half hour ago - the one with the dark goatee and number 5 tattooed on his temple - the one who made you blush when he caught you staring. 

You felt yet another blush heat your cheeks before you even registered it was happening. What the hell were you blushing for? He’s a clone, and you’re here to take blood samples and body scans to make sure he’s okay. You knew you were staring at him like a fool, and for way too long. You shook your head slightly in an attempt to reorganize your thoughts. 

“You ok, Miss... miss?” He stood up from his seating position on the cot, and cocked his head to the side with his arms folded across his chest. You nodded your head slowly.

“Renna,” you nearly whispered your name to him - the words almost came out choked - for some reason you had forgotten how to speak in Basic for a moment. 

“Look, Miss Renna, I am not a threat. Neither is Tup.” 

Your brow raised as you studied the clone’s expression. It was hard; his eyes were piercing and his brows were furrowed. Crossed arms flew to his sides, hands tightening into fists. No doubt he was feeling angry and confused.

“T- Tup?” Was that the name of CT-5385? “You’re referring to CT-5385?”

“Tup! The trooper in that room right there?” He pointed over to the darkened window, “He’s a good soldier, my friend, and he’s in the room next door getting - getting tortured by those long-necks.” A beat. “None of us clones go by numbers anymore, by the way.” You closed your eyes for just a moment, trying to think about what to say next. You inhaled deep through your nose, then slowly out through parted lips, watching as his expression went from angry to more... afraid? Worried?

“Trooper, I promise Tup is in good hands. I’ve been briefed on his- his condition... they - we - just want to find out what made him kill Jedi General Tiplar, that’s all. They’ve asked me to do a couple of procedures on you, take some notes, since you were close with Tup. Maybe we can find something in you that will help your friend.” 

The trooper’s expression changed again, softening as his fists unclenched at his sides. Surely he had to understand the gravity of the situation; when you were briefed, it was mentioned that no one on Kamino had any idea why CT-53 - Tup - shot a Jedi General in cold blood, or why he keeps floating in and out of consciousness, murmuring things like “kill Jedi”. Clone trooper Tup seemed to have no memory of what he had done; and so far, no scans were showing anything wrong with him, though his health was deteriorating.

You walked over to the counter where the sterilized needles and scanners resided and started to prep the equipment, reading over notes to see what it is you needed and what you were supposed to be testing him for. Reading through the notes, you realized this trooper’s designation was ARC-5555, and the tattoo “5″ on his temple made sense now. It was actually kind of... cute.

It was silent for a couple minutes while you were getting everything ready when a loud, airy sigh coming from behind you made you turn around to face ARC-5555.

“The name’s Fives.”

***

Fives’ POV

Fives was getting more worried for Tup by the minute. His rising frustration didn’t help, either. General Shaak Ti had engaged the privacy setting on Fives’ only view of his unconscious friend, leaving him in the dark as to what the long-necks were doing to Tup in the room next door. 

Fives sat in the room in silence, alone with his worries and doubts. You were out of his thoughts at this point; the worry and fear he felt for Tup swallowed him whole - until you were the one walking through the door. It could have been any Kaminoan, any droid, yet you were the one they had sent. 

His eyes wide, he watched you slowly walk in as you immediately set your attention to the darkened window to the right side of the room. Fives wanted to know if you knew what they were doing to Tup, why they were hurting him, why Fives wasn’t able to be there by his side. He had a million questions, almost all of them relating to Tup, except for the ones he had about you. 

Fives was sitting on a cot on the other side of the room, and you hadn’t noticed him yet. What is she doing here? Who is she? She definitely isn’t a long-neck. He wanted to ask you all kinds of questions, a mix between wanting to know more about Tup and wanting to know more about you, but all he could muscle out was one word. 

“You?” Fives shook his head in disbelief as the first word he said to you left his lips. It did manage to get your attention, though, because you turned away from the dark window and were now staring directly at him. Fives felt his heart beat just a little harder when he could finally take in your whole figure in more than just a quick glance. You were beautiful - more beautiful than anything he’d ever seen, and wearing the same thing he saw you in earlier; a tucked-in dark grey skin-tight top that came up your neck like clone under-armor blacks did, a white lab coat that came down to your ankles, hugging your curves in all the right ways along the way. The coat was open in the front, save for the one buttoned part right at your waist, just barely keeping the coat together. Your black boots were knee-high, your black leggings tucked into them. You stepped closer to Fives and his heart started racing; he was completely in awe of you, but there was something else, and it made warmth head straight to his groin.

***

Renna’s POV

Fives. That was his name. Not ARC-5555 , just like Tup wasn’t CT-5385. “No clones go by numbers anymore,” he had informed you. Being waist-deep in paperwork all the time never gave you an opportunity to actually work with the clones. All you knew about the clones were their designations, along with whatever the paperwork was filed for. It didn’t occur to you that they had names. 

“Look, is Tup gonna be alright? Have they found anything out?” Fives’ eyes were pleading, begging for some kind of reassurance. 

“Please, sit down.” He huffed, but obeyed. “We’re using hyper level tests, so we should get the results fairly quickly.” He nodded his head, thankful for any little crumb you could give him. “I’m gonna need to get started now, okay?”

Needle in hand and ready to go, you preemptively apologized. 

“Wh- ow!” You jabbed the needle into the side of his neck, a sympathetic smile on your lips. 

“I said I was sorry!” You chuckled quietly. Fives rubbed at his neck and you made you way back over to the counter, inserting the needle into the port next to the computer. 

“Well?” His hand still rubbing at his neck, you squinted your eyes to read the results displayed on the screen. 

“Everything... seems normal.” You weren’t exactly sure what to expect, but you were happy your very first patient wasn’t immediately dying on you.

“Oh, great! That means you can let me out, right?” The excited tone in his voice made it quite difficult to relay the next part to him.

With an apologetic smile, you walked back over and sat on the cot across from him.

“Actually... I’m afraid that’s not possible right now, Fives. I was instructed to keep you in quarantine until we’ve pinpointed the exact cause of Tup’s breakdown. We can’t risk any further casualties.” You couldn't bear to look at him now, so you glued your eyes to a fresh scuff mark on the toe of your boot.

“Like I told you before, I am not a threat, and neither is Tup!” You looked back up at him when his voice raised. Fives wasn’t angry, or at least it didn’t appear that way. He was worried for his friend. 

“I- I believe you, Fives. Unfortunately, I’m not the one to make those kinds of calls. I’m just- just an intern. This is my first day not filing paperwork in the archives. I don’t- I don’t want to mess this up. You’re my first real patient.” You stood up to leave the room, letting your hand rest on his shoulder for just a moment in an attempt to comfort him. Something you never thought you’d be doing - comforting a clone. You told him you’d be back later to check up on him and to perform any tests the doctors deemed necessary. Then you left.

***

As you headed for your quarters for the night, you couldn’t help but think back on your introductory meeting with your very first patient. You replayed your short conversation over and over in your head; you transfixed on his voice, the raw emotion in it that went straight to his facial expressions, and the way he looked at you. You’ve seen his face many, many times in the files you were doused with daily, but most of the clones on Kamino didn’t have anything significant to mark them apart from one another - no scars, tattoos, different hair styles, and were generally clean-shaven. When you first saw Fives, his tattoo and facial hair was what did it for you. You hated to admit it, but you may have just accidentally gotten a crush on the ARC Trooper.

This was all new to you. You never realized clones had such... emotion. Or capable of such emotion, for that matter. You were kept in the dark for the entirety of your internship on Kamino, and now you understood why. You weren’t Kaminoan, you weren’t a Jedi, you were just an intern. In their eyes, there was no reason as to why you should engage the clones, so they kept you busy with paperwork every day. You wondered if you were physically kept away from the clones because you were also human, and therefore were able to share the same emotion and ideals as them. That idea wouldn’t have made sense to you if you thought about it earlier today, but now that you met Fives, it made sense.

Maybe the Kaminoans were fearful that you would be a distraction to them, or them to you. 

***

Tags: @bvcketfvcker @deewithani @chromia7567

[nonbinarytoast]

Oh you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.

Penguins make up Spheniscidae family, which is their own family entirely. Because of their strange features that have only been adapted by penguins specifically, they don’t fit into any other family of bird.

Only one species of penguin, the Galapagos penguin, is found in the northern hemisphere. Galapagos penguins are only found on the Galápagos Islands and Ecuador, and they currently fall under endangered. They live in the Galapagos because of Humboldt and Cromwell currents, which are surprisingly cool waters despite their tropical occurrence. Usually Galapagos penguins have a lifespan of twenty y are but from a joint effort of climate change, plastic pollution, and new predators introduced into their habitat that life expectancy has been greatly reduced.

Penguins have something called countershaded feathers, meaning they have dark plumage on their backs and light plumage on their bellies. This helps them blend in with the water since anything looking from above would see their feathers and think it was blackness from the deep, and anything looking from below would think it was sun rays.

They not only feed on fish and krill but also certain types of squid, which they catch using their spiked tongues and the spines on the roves rooves if their mouths so that when they catch something it’s can’t escape.

Penguins first appeared on earth 60 million years ago around what is now Australia and New Zealand. The first ever penguin species is called Kupoupou stilwelli, and arrived during the Paleocene epoch when there was no ice cap on the South Pole. This penguin was the first time modern penguins features started to evolve in birds.

The largest penguin species today is the emperor penguin, standing at 1.1 meters (3ft, 7inches) and weighing 35kg (77lbs) on average.

The smallest penguin species is the Little Blue penguin, an all known as the fairy penguin. They stand around a foot tall and weigh 1.2-1.3kg (2.6-2.9lbs).

Larger species of penguin tend to inhabit cooler climates while smaller penguins tend to inhabit warmer climates.

There is an extinct genus of penguin called Palaeeudyptes, which were giant penguins, all larger than the penguins we think of today. The smallest of the four species in this genus was about the size of an emperor penguin while the largest species, Palaeeudyptes klekowskii, was 2meters (6.6ft) tall and weighed up to 116kg (256lbs). Fossils of them have been found from almost 35 million years ago.

Penguins closest relative is the albatross, as they originated from the same seabird. Penguins first dived into the water from the sky, but slowly lost the ability to fly and became fully land and sea creatures.

Penguins mate in strange ways. Some species mate for life but others stay with their partner for mating season, raise their chicks, and then go off with a different partner next mating season.

Penguins winds have the same bone structure as the wings of flying birds, but with shorter bones to allow for them to be used as flippers instead.

Penguins feathers are specially designed so that they can trap air under the plumage, insuring isolation and warmth when a penguin is underwater hunting. This air trap also lets the penguins swim up for air easier since the air gives the penguins an extra level of buoyancy.

The fastest penguin in the world is the gentoo penguin, which can swim at up to 36km (22miles) per hour. They can also dive up to depths of 200meters (660ft).

Penguins often slide on their bellies, using their feet to propel them forward. This method of transportation is called tobogganing, and it’s more energy efficient for the penguins than waddling or hopping across the snow or rocks.

Their eyes are so well adjusted to the water that they are actually nearsighted in land.

They can drink saltwater because of something they have called a supraorbital gland. This filters excess salt from the bloodstream into their nose, causing them to sneeze after they drink and causing the snot from that sneeze to be incredibly salty. (I do want to know the scientist who tasted it yes)

1 in 50,000 penguins is born with a rare genetic mutation called Isabellinism. This makes their feathers brown instead of black and is not the same as albinism, though it does cause the same fate of a quick death since they are not as well camouflaged.

Penguins have no fear of humans and will often approach people. Because of their cold and hostile climate, they have never had a reason to fear humans since humans have never lived near them long enough to hunt them. In fact, they are some of the only animals in Antarctica and they have no predators on land, meaning if you are on land they are not scared of you. The only land predators they had were sled dogs we would take to Antarctica, but dogs have been banned from going ever since we made technology good enough to explore without them. Penguins d not usually come within 9ft of a human they just met, though they will watch you from outside of that range.

My favorite species of penguin is the chinstrap penguin, named for the fact that they have a pattern in the feathers on their head making it look like they have a chinstrap.

so, birds huh.

My life long goal is to become an ornithologist and study penguins in Antarctica

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

HASO, “Ash.”

A couple people were showing some interest in other Alien characters aboard the ship, and I thought I would give you all some insight into that. I hope you enjoy, and I hope you all have a great day. 

“You have ruined this family.”

“What have you done!” 

“The war is the only thing left for you now, so make yourself useful and die.”

-

Etium slowly lifted his head from the computer where he sat staring blankly at the accounting spreadsheet on the screen. Beside him, the other two Tesraki’s chairs were empty. He sighed, and slowly turned back to the accounting. They had likely finished their half of the books hours ago, leaving him to sit in the darkness alone with his own strange thoughts. His four fingered hands clicked at the keys of the human made keyboard,

He was good at typing, pretty fast for someone who was missing two requisite fingers, but he was nothing in comparison to the others.

He was nothing in comparison to most Tesraki.

Etium was slow when it came to doing the books, repeatedly checking every line and ever string of numbers for any possible mistake that could have been made. The process took him hours longer than it should have, but finally he stood, pushing back his chair and hopping down to the floor. The human ship whirred softly in the distance. It was a comforting sound, but he had always found some measure of comfort in humanity.

Etium had been hit the hardest by the huminization phenomenon. It didn’t surprise him all that much. He had fought side by side with humans since the Drev war, and the changes in him had taken a long time to develop. They ran deep now through his body as sure as his blood. WIth skills honed in human war, and being one of few survivors, he was quick to react to sounds, followed movement more easily, and could read body language better than almost any other alien he knew.

Dr Krill wasn’t even as good as he considered himself.

That’s what war did to a person.

He reached up to his torn ear and shivered at the smell of smoke that seemed to waft up from his fur. He could never get the smell of ash out of his head no matter how hard he tried.

Etium knew there was something wrong with him, but he kept that to himself. The others tended to avoid him, and that was alright. He was friends with the Finnari, and while they were a bit sensitive, he supposed that was ok. He didn’t need anyone asking questions about what he was doing and why he was there.

He ducked through one of the maintenance corridors, and into the hallway behind the rec room.

He could hear humans and Drev talking and laughing on the other side, but when he passed through the next door, he found the hall opened into a large-ish storage room that was lined in boxes and crates. Inside was what remained of the Omen crew. Tesraki, Finnari, Celzex and Yeb. They had a little place here for those aliens who found it difficult to constantly interact with humans.

Yeb was a bit of a special case as she seemed to hop between both without much trouble. She lounged on one of the crates, her tail swishing back and forth against the box below her, bright green fur along her back, waving slightly in the air currents.

Etium leaned against the wall making no noise, and interacting with no one.

He wouldn’t have minded hanging out with humans, and drev, but….. Every time he did he just couldn’t shake the smell of smoke.

Why was he here?

Because he had seen a human boldly risk his life for two wounded alien soldiers.

Etium remembered the red sky above and the ash covered ground beneath. He remembered the wounded Rundi soldier at his side as the creature stalked towards them from the darkness. He remembered the flash of blue, and then an animal howl as the human came charging from nowhere.

When he closed his eyes, he could still hear the blood curdling scream of pain the human had given off as his limbs were ripped from his body.

He shook himself trying to shake the smoke away.

“Clan is more important than anything else.”

Etium lifted his head, arms still crossed over his chest.

“Then mean nothing.” Yeb was saying, “My parents abandoned me in an ice cave when I was just a cub.”

“Not our fault your species is defective.” Lord Avex was saying.

The burg lifted his hands in an attempt to keep the piece, technicolor wings flickering behind him, “Not now, all of you we must remember that as different species we all have different beliefs and needs. He pressed his hands together. The Burg do find clan very important, but it was for our survival for the longest time. There are plenty of other species that don’t need such things, like the Vrul or the Gibb for example, who are solitary creatures.”

The group of three finnari huddled close together and nodded.

They wouldn’t be likely to argue, they hated conflict and tried to keep the peace as much as it was possible.

He glanced over to the side surprised to find Waffles, the dog, lying with her head on her paws, around her neck, the snake creature Jeffery hung like a boa scarf.

He supposed she had any right to be here like the rest of them, she wasn’t human and neither was the snake. Though neither of them were classified as sentient and didn’t have the intelligence to speak. Waffles licked at her paws and Jeffery lifted his head turning to look at the speakers as if he was listening intently.

“This is not about biology, this is about the facts. There is strength in numbers, and numbers can win out over force anyday. Humans are the best example of this and you all know it. They managed to survive on a death world by making packs.”

Lord Avex did have a point, but lord Avex was also known for being an egotistical asshole.

That was sort of the defining feature of Celzex.

The furry little creatures were very proud, and very loyal, so they were both a blessing and an absolute pain to have on your side.

Most of the time they just liked causing problems for the sake of causing problems.

“There is nothing wrong with a solitary existence. My species has been living as single occupants inside a distanced society for a very long time.”

Lord Avex snorted, “Might I also point out that you society is a fascist Authoritarian dictatorship recovering from a pandemic crisis and refuses to join the GA to control their own citizens?”

The hair on the back of her body stood up, “Oh like your planet is any better. Roving warring clans who eat their own children.”

“Please, Peace.” THe burg was saying.

“You have no place in this. The burg have lived under a corrupted monarchy for ages.”

Etium sighed and closed his eyes.

Apparently, he had sighed much louder than he intended, and when he opened his eyes the entire room was looking at him,

“You got something to say.” Avex growled, “Anything to offer from a corporate capitalist hellscape.”

Etium pushed himself off from the wall, “No, I have nothing to say.”

Avex bristled, and when he did he got even fluffier, “I don’t think we are done here. I want to hear what you have to say.”

Etium sighed, knowing that he wasn’t going to get out of this one, “I think that all of our societies suck, they just all do it equally.”

The room bristled, but he kept going. He had stuck his foot in it and now he was going to have to deal. He looked at yeb and Avex, “Both of you are true about the other, same with the burg sorry to say.” He nodded over at the winged creature, “But think about it, all of us suck in some way or another,. My species destroyed our own natural habitats in the name of progress, He looked at the Finnari, No cohesive leadership, and a societal wide inability to make decisions. The Vrul live under a corrupted communist system and the Rundi are all politicians, so guess where that leads us. The Drev are a fractured group of clans bent on killing each other for no other reason than the fact that it is honorable. And don’t even get me started on humans, they are the worst of us all, since they can do everything we can and more.”

He sort of expected the uproar that followed, but kept his head low to avoid having to deal with it. He brushed a hand through his fur, attempting, mostly to brush the ash from it, and despite being able to feel it with his fingertips, he saw none break loose.

The room grew louder and louder until a sharp bark broke the silence.

The room went very quiet very suddenly.

He turned to see waffles had risen up into a sitting position, her hackles raised.

She growled low in her throat , and the entire room calmed down very quickly after that, Jeffery opened his mouth and turned his head like a periscope around the room.

Waffles slid back onto the floor and rested her chin on her paws ears sticking straight up as she sighed.

The room was only slowly able to return to its former discussion, though everyone remained mostly quiet.

Etium slumped back against the wall. He could see the other Tesraki across the room staring at him. He tried to ignore them for the most part, he didn’t really fit in with them to any sort of degree. He didn’t blame them.

He wasn’t particularly good with finances.

He didn’t have to be though, most humans were pretty poort at it too, so any ability whatsoever was considered good. That was another reason why he was here. If he was slow and ok at handling money, then he was going to be fine. If he tried to work anywhere else as a Tesraki….

He'd be fired

Or disowned…

Etium quietly slipped from the room, out and down the hallway. He knew where he was going, and followed his own memory down through the hallways until he came to a door. He knocked once.

“Come in.”

The door slid open and he stepped into a room lit by soft yellow light. Dr Adric was sitting at his desk, skin glowing a pale yellow in the dim lighting. He looked up, and when he smiled his teeth flashed white.

“Etium, it is good to see you. I didn’t expect you till our session tomorrow.”

Etium wandered into the room glancing down at the diagrams on the wall, and the large books on the shelves beside the desk. “Do you want me to leave.”

“No, of course not, take a seat.”

He did and stared up at the ceiling with a sigh.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Etium was quiet for a while, but finally opened his mouth to speak, “I can still smell the ash sometimes, Feel it in my fur when I go to bed. It…. doesn't really bother me most of the time, and I know it’s not real, but it certainly feels that way.”

Dr Adtric leaned on his desk and nodded, “Did you know somatic hallucinations are extremely common In Tesraki.”

He rubbed his fur, “Really?”

“Yes, at least one in twenty report small things. Feelings of items brushing over their fur even when nothing is there. If it starts to bother you, come to me and we will look into helping it. Otherwise just remember the exercises I taught you.”

He shifted in his seat and absently looked at the wall, “So if Somatic hallucinations are common in Tesraki….. Than what about everyone else?”

Dr Adric smiled at him. His expression, both charming and calming at the same time. He had an eir about him that just seemed to make things slow down and relax. It was a nice feeling to have.

“Well both Vrul and Gibb are prone to psychosis with obsessive and grandiosity characteristics. Most Vrul I know could be classified as having some sort of anxiety. Rundi are commonly seen with OCD. Celzex presents with characteristics of Antisocial personality disorder.  Finnari can commonly be seen with dependent personality disorders. Both the Drevb and the Starborn, have a high rate of narcissism. In the case of the starborn, they have a 100% rate at this time…. Though to be fair we only have one starborn”

Etium couldn’t help but smile just a little. “Humans have all of those things I guess, since you have a name for all of them.”

“Yes. Though, I would say that I work most closely with Post Traumatic Stress.”

“Like what I have?”

“Similarly yes, though yours presents differently.”

“That’s what the Admiral’s dog is for? He said she was a PTSD dog.”

“That would be correct.”

Etium leaned back in his seat and stared out the window behind Adric. The man said he presented with listlessness, difficulty concentrating, and emotional detachment. He didn’t have flashbacks or stress associated, which is why he couldn't be entirely diagnosed, bu7t the two of them were pretty sure whatever he had was similar. They had thought about depression on one or two occasions, but he didn’t have trouble getting out of bed, or doing things that he enjoyed. He just got listless and distracted a lot.

Adric thought it might be an entirely different issue from what humans could get, but as of yet, there wasn’t enough research to determine that. They were working on it in their own right now, and he had been feeling a little more present, but he still wasn’t really there yet.

He hoped that soon he would be out of the rut he was stuck in.,

“Have you managed to tell the Admiral, like we had been talking about.”

Etium picked at the fur on his arm, “He seems…. Too busy to talk to me and I…. well I don’t know what it would accomplish.”

“I think it would be good for you to talk to someone who experienced the war.”

Etium sighed, “I didn’t really do much in the war. I sat there and just… was scared. The humans did everything.”

“I think you might find there are humans that feel the same way you do. I encourage you to talk to him. Knowing the man myself, I have no doubt that he will be accepting  of your story.” He held up his hands, “I don’t want to push you, but I do encourage you to let him know.”

I think it would be good for both of you

[nyehilismwriting]

Hello, I love Rohan. I also want to punch Rohan. I strongly appreciate how u managed to cause such a strong, conflicting opinion for xem, thank u

Oh! Another thing I absolutely adored— that moment of softness between the two aliens, when you choose to sneak around. Way too often, in all media types, the enemy faction — especially if it’s a different race/species — is just shown as blank slate awful, with nothing compelling them but the conflict. They’re blank slate Baddies for the protagonist to emerge victorious against.

So plz forgive the turn of phrase, but that moment of softness was v humanizing and I adore it.

ohh I'm glad that moment stood out to you!! there's obviously going to be more development for the aliens, and having alien ROs and main characters is going to provide some humanisation (for lack of a better term) but yeah I don't want it to seem like rhaxa and imxa are "special" among aliens for their ability to form social bonds and attachments.

these are sentient creatures with their own motives and mannerisms, and while the operative isn't in a position to appreciate that at that exact moment (and you can't really blame them, given the day they've had) I did want there to be some reminder of that from the get go.

also, you're not alone in wanting to punch rohan and you're all so valid for that

[scottsumrners]

why do the kids in mystery inc hang out together?

every single scooby doo media to date: oh they were probably friends in high school or something, despite clearly being in complete different social spheres, don't think too much about it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

scooby doo mystery incorporated: the kids were being manipulated by an ancient, evil, otherworldly entity who has been doing the same thing for generation after generation, bringing 4 people + a talking animal together to try and free it from its prison so it can destroy the world. it is also responsible for scooby being able to talk, since its species can only exist in our world if they possess animals, and the eventual offspring of these creatures have special abilities

[zatyrlucy]

“Surprise Hazbin Q&A”

Ok, so I listened to +5 hours live stream and oh boy, that was a lot of information. That’s why I decided to divide the list in two parts, the other part I hope to post it around the 6th of January. Btw, there were some moments where viv and the crew gave some advices about different topics and I know there is a lot of people here who want to become animators/artists/story tellers, etc so I put the exact time when viv start talking so you can hear them.

-          Do the main characters had crappy lives when they were human? That’s spoilers

-          Alastor and Angel Dust are the hardest to write for vivziepop because she doesn’t know all the details of the period of time where they come from and because they are based in some complex emotions she has had in her life. She finds this ironic because those two are part of the first characters she created and her two favorites.

-          Husk is the easiest to write because he doesn’t care about anything and he is very grumpy. So his reactions to anything are pretty much the same.

-          Vivzie likes when Hazbin helps to inspire people to create their own stories, characters and/or universes.

-          Can the demons possess a human being? Viv cant answer that yet, but she is thinking in doing a story about how the human world works in the Hazbin universe. Is not in the works, is just an idea in construction she plans to do in the future.

-          Vivzie has already planned how heaven looks like and its hierarchy.

-          Hazbin’s hell is a mix of different religions and mythologies.

-          Believe it or not, Hazbin’s hell is a punishment. It probably doesn’t look like that because there is no flames or constant torture like the typical hell but the continuous chaos of the cities and the fact that the demons can suffer a lot from that chaos is the punishment they have to stand for eternity. 

-          Charlie is the hope of hell, literally, because she is the only one who sees the good in sinners

-          “Reality is gonna hit all the characters at certain point”

-          53:35 for people interested in voice casting for future projects

-          1:08:55 info about what tools viv and the crew use for animation

-          “The way demons look like is the reflection of their souls”. That’s why every sinner has a different design because every being has a different soul. Still, vivzie wanted to draw the classic demon design of red color withd big horns, so that’s why Helluva Boss’ characters look like that.

-          The origins of the eggbois is a joke viv wants to explore in the future

-          Everything related to Charlie’s family is spoilers and cant be answer

-          Episode 2 will start the main conflict of the story. The pilot was just an introduction of the characters.

-          The idea for future episodes is to be as long as the pilot (30 min) but Viv is still figuring that out

-          Angel hates his feet and that’s why he always hide them with big boots (here is a pic of what I think are his canon feet). 

-          Demons born in hell don’t look human at all and have their own species (like Stolas and his family, who seem to be the same kind of “bird-demon” species). Sinners at the contrary are mostly different because of “their appearance reflecting their soul”

-          1:26:10 if you are interested in art school and some advice about college

-          Alastor’s mic is an extension of himself but Viv says that it can also be open to interpretation.  

-          1:45:00 advice at how to write a story

-          Most of the voice records for Hazbin was in home studios, which according to vivzie, is perfect for independed projects, especially when the cast live in different cities.

-          The voice recording for Helluva was different because vivzie got a big studio where all the actors recorded the voice audio at the same time and it was special because they got the opportunity to interact which each other.  

-          Angel’s creation was full of emotions because he helped vivzie going through a toxic relationship.  

-          Alastor is very appreciated by vivzie too because he was created while she was in middle school

-          When a sinner dies in hell they disappear out of existence, forever. But the “dark energy” sinners are made of pass to be part of the pure fabric of hell, that’s why some objects are “alive”, because those have part of that evil energy coming from exterminated sinners.

-          There is a part of hell called wonderland where there a lot of crazy creatures and is really dangerous

-          For every new content of the comic there will be a new questions to answer.

-          After Angels comic there will be another one about the daily life of alastor, but it would be shorter, about 10 pages long

-          Sir pen can hypnotize people with the eyes of his hood. He relays on his machines and minions to fight but if someone got really close to him, (he doesn’t like to be touched) he would use other abilities like hypnosis.

-          Vivzie confirmed what fans talked some time ago. Alastor doesn’t respect the personal space of others, but he ironically hates to be touched.

-          Vivzie would like to do a Hazbin’s holiday special, either a chirstmas or a hallowen special.

-          When the sinners celebrate Christmas, instead of santa, is krampus the one who they like to talk about and want him to visit their houses.

source

[paradife-loft]

also, re: last reblog - I feel like even with the background I have in animal cognition, it actually took me until a lot more recently when I started really learning more about plants, to realise a more firmer grounding and intuitive understanding of what it really means, in an expanded sense, that human-style cognition isn’t essentially the Most Specialist Pinnacle Of Intellectual Development So Far?

because idk about other people, but I feel like - even with all sorts of other animals, the way of thinking about their cognitive landscapes sort of inherently comes with an implicit comparison to what it’s like to be in a human mind? we have memories, we have evaluative skills and problem-solving and spatial awareness and social knowledge - so thinking about other creatures using skills like those, even if they’re quite different in what they look like in practise, you still kind of naturally analogise, subconsciously, to what it would be like to do similar things in your own consciousness as a human? and I can say, oh xyz species that basically grows up, finds a mate to produce babies, and then shortly after dies, is surely having an absorbing cognitive time for all the capabilities necessary to do those things, and that’s not lesser just because it’s not watching another individual figure out water displacement puzzles to reach food, and then doing it yourself, but..... the fact remains that imagining having that life yourself sounds pretty damn boring and unpleasant, and so it just feels like the sort of cognition necessary to put up with that would be “lesser”.

but. but but but but. when I start learning more about plants; about the delicate balances of chemical signalling, and responsivity to environmental conditions, and the kinds of defense mechanisms they have to help ensure their seeds can be propagated in the ways that best allow them the chance to grow... like, these are such alien things, in alien modalities, compared to what life as a human is like. they’re not mediated by a central nervous system and the mind that implies; they don’t even move around and interact with other individuals in a way that looks like anything intuitively understood to us as animals. and so it makes it easier, I feel, to dig into those sorts of things and truly see the complexity and detail that goes in to whatever “experience” these other organisms have as they’re alive, and their abilities to respond to environmental circumstances, without overlaying a comparison to how humans do those same things, whether better or worse.

it’s an entirely different blueprint for what existing, and interacting with all sorts of other individuals and species and environmental conditions to promote that existence, looks like compared to the animal one. and because we have to essentially pick apart how that method of existing works from the ground up, for me at least there’s so much more space to notice that complexity and all the intricacies that go into responding to what’s happening around you, since I can’t just take for granted what I can guess those experiences feel like from the inside. meanwhile, with other animals, it’s just so easy to get stuck in evaluating them as more or less worthwhile, in some squishy intuitive way, based on how much their behaviour resembles what we find internally fulfilling and absorbing - while seeing the other bodily processes of interaction with the world as almost taken for granted? but when it comes down to it, human cognition is also but one individual mechanism for interacting with and responding to environmental conditions, just like chemical signals in a root system - not a separate layer to be evaluated as something “on top of” or different from other physical ways of exerting your continued presence on the environment. centralised cognition isn’t, biologically speaking, set apart as special (or better), but rather one tool for interacting and surviving, developed amongst millions of options for how bodies can work, used by other organisms in whatever capacity suits them best.