#project:the second planet

[draakart]

Sasha and Bogdan (left to right). Two scientists who have dedicated themselves to the study of the thawing Siberian tundra, with a special interest in the thawing viruses and bacteria.

Being a bi-species team, traveling to remote locations can be tricky, as food sharing is not possible, but they wouldn't have it any other way.

As the keen-eyed observer would notice, the geteza have successfully been reworked. They have a slightly more upright stance and only two pairs of walking limbs. Their middle pair have been turned into brood legs, so I don't need to draw them anymore :) and it makes putting on clothes for the geteza much easier.

[draakart]

Mariya Pinto is a florist working in Australia. She came with her parents when she was only a few months old after a request for aid in reindustrialising the nation. Most of Mariya's family still lives in Brazil and she hopes that they'll come to visit soon.

Mariya is from my alt history project wherein alien refugees arrive on Earth in the 1940s and the main premise of the setting plays out post WW3.

There's a massive amount of historical research that needs to be done now and I am not looking forward to it in the slightest :')

[draakart]

Permafrost specialists out to help a small and isolated village in the Far East.

With a focus on Aleksandr Chernikov, who is a tall Russian man. The face I've decided on for him is the top centre. I don't think he's the sort to do anything too complex with his hair and beard

Other characters are Bogdan Novak, a geteza who loves to play the concertina and Botagoz (who still needs a last name), who is a butch Kazakh.

They met each other at the regional centre for higher education, which I am tentatively calling the Siberian Permafrost Institute.

This lot are sent as delegates to the sickly Far Eastern village of Belmorsk, who are dealing with the consequences of long-preserved chemical dumps in the permafrost thawing out. Or so the Institute assumed.

The reality of what is making the townsfolk so ill is much more sinister.

[draakart]

Bogdan and Aleksandr head Eastward on the Trans-Siberian train. Aleksandr is reading about mushrooms native to the region btw. If you even Care

A little quick thing with minimal references (derogatory)

Redesigned geteza. Again. Their legs and old design was not super fun to draw and confused me too much. I've also got the major ethnic groups sorted out.

There is still so much work to be done. I need to figure out how an anarchist/communist university might work as well as flesh out Belmorsk. And learn more about the cultures of the region.

[draakart]

An announcement is hereby made to inform everyone that the fingerplants have yielded an abundant harvest this year! The fingerplant fruit, often likened to eggs rather than traditional fruit, possesses a delicate blue skin that conceals the delicious, velvety gel-like flesh. These fingerplant fruits are highly favoured by the geteza community, yet they possess significant toxicity to humans. In light of this, it is important to note that sales of fingerplant fruits to individuals below the legal age, irrespective of their species, is strictly prohibited.

Here's my contribution to the @windowtoworlds 2023 Zine!

You can access the Zine on the Carrd and itch.io in both web and print format!! Please check it out! All the art looks absolutely wonderful!!

The geteza homeworld was a hot and humid planet and, as such, most perennial zoophytes do not grow in cold and dry environments.

In the dry northern hemisphere and in hot, arid climates, large greenhouses (or rather, redhouses) are used to maintain the required conditions for the 'plants'.

Zoophyte 'fruits' are highly toxic to humans and most nations prohibit the sale of these foods to minors. This is also the case for many true vegetables and fruits such as avocado, custard apple and cocoa products.

While there are massive education programs to educate human and geteza youth about the potentially deadly consequences of sharing food, accidents do still happen.

[draakart]

After a look into the recent past (50-100 years ago) with the last illustration, let's look back further.

In the geteza homeworld's ancient seas, the mostly sessile Zoophytes share a sea-dwelling ancestor with the mostly motile creatures of the planet. All Zoophytes, sessile or not, have a mutually beneficial relationship with photosynthetic red algae-like organisms. In sessile Zoophytes, these microbes are responsible for creating most of the creature's energy. Paedomorphic Zoophytes, on the other hand, are consumers and get their energy from eating other organisms, with the red microbes supplementing their energy levels.

Cultures of these microbes are passed down from parent to offspring, leading to many different strains.

Most sessile Zoophytes will only exchange gametes during their motile, reproductive phase, with different courtship rituals dependent on species, using the stored genetic material for use only once it has fully metamorphosed.

[draakart]

Earthlings protesting conscription in Brisbane, 2029.

In the late 90's, the geteza (χetezɑ, ge-TE-za) and their allies started a movement called Earthlings. The primary goal of this movement was to blur the line between humans and geteza and to secure the future of their shared world.

Mieke de Wet (pictured) immigrated to Australia with her family in 2010, hoping for a better future. But as the cost of living went up and her parents grew ill, things grew dire. Mieke joined Earthlings in the mid 20's and took to the streets with them during the 2028-30 protests and riots against conscription.

[draakart]

Unnamed Sophonts of The First Planet

I've got a project that I'm currently working on called The Third Planet (may rename it to The Second Planet). The aliens from this project are from a small, warm planet (The First Planet) from which some fled after climate collapse.

On their homeworld, most creatures are simultaneous hermaphrodites, with only a handful of bisex organisms, mainly in the form of 'plants' (Zoophytes).

Their ancestor was a flying animal that made its home on an isolated island. Millions of years of evolution in isolation lead to a lineage that was flightless. When the island reconnected with the mainland, there was high selective pressure from predators, leading to a very social and highly intelligent species.

Zoophytes typically have mostly sessile adult life stages, with terrestrial variants' larvae burrowing underground during the brief winters after gamete exchange. They then grow up and out, with their heads at the tip of their branches. They can and will bite.

[draakart]

change begins with you

[draakart]

Gonna redesign my aliens cos they have too many fukgin LEGS

[draakart]

For any newbies, this is what I am dealing with

Mariya Pinto is a florist working in Australia. She came with her parents when she was only a few months old after a request for aid in reindustrialising the nation. Most of Mariya's family still lives in Brazil and she hopes that they'll come to visit soon.

Mariya is from my alt history project wherein alien refugees arrive on Earth in the 1940s and the main premise of the setting plays out post WW3.

There's a massive amount of historical research that needs to be done now and I am not looking forward to it in the slightest :')

[draakart]

Thinking of turning the middle pair of walking legs into brood legs

Gonna redesign my aliens cos they have too many fukgin LEGS