#saimiri's theories

[nyotasaimiri]

Florans having specialized “starter soils” and fertilizers for their seedlings, much like humans have baby formula.

[nyotasaimiri]

I'm not saying this is apex cuisine but this is totally apex cuisine

every redpill dudebro who thinks life was better and more “traditional” in the 50s needs to be sentenced to eat 50s food for the rest of their lives

[nyotasaimiri]

"uranium apex days"???? Please explain if you don't mind! This sounds amazingly weird.

Buckle up, my good anon!

So a good friend of mine (I can't remember his tumblr username right now, we mostly chat on Discord) went file diving and found folders assigned to each of the races, with another folder inside labeled with some chemical notation. I can't remember all of them but Hylotl had H2O, Glitch had Fe, Floran had CO2, and Avians had methane of all things. Apex were U for uranium. Maybe humans were oxygen. Can't remember if Novakid were in there or not.

Well it sort of makes sense for it to be an element they need somehow, hylotl need water to live, plants breathe carbon dioxide... who even knows for methane but yeah glitch are metal / iron, right? But. Uranium. What even?

Friend and I realized hang on a hot second, uranium has modern uses in genetic editing! What are apex but a genetically edited whole species?!

Nutter that I am, I took this a step further and suggested maybe they have specifically uranium 238 in their bloodstream instead of a cellular immune system like humans have. Because why not? It's more efficient on an energy basis (outsourcing the work), weak enough to not destroy cells that have adapted to it while still destroying simple viruses and bacteria, their thick skin and fur could somehow block it from radiating their whole environment, and the extra heat would be a beneficial adaptation on their preferred arctic worlds. Radioactive planets would still be a danger since it could make that U-238 transmute into highly dangerous plutonium 239, so it didn't break canon. Probably.

In case you were wondering why my apex are so nice warm and snuggly to be around~

Yeah, I'm a tad bonkers.

[nyotasaimiri]

If Floran language has a scent/pheromone component to it, that means there could be Floran poetry that’s entirely silent: composed of a harmony of aromas.

[nyotasaimiri]

“The Apex have no gods. We must trust in Big Ape...”

I have read that phrase many times in-game and on the wiki, and I still have not developed much theory on it. Which is rather funny, given my penchant for going nuts with my original world’s theology.

But, to the point: It is said only to Avians. So, if the others have their own gods, they are perhaps less open about it. The use of gods plural, though, makes me think that polytheism is known and maybe even common in the galaxy. And the idea of gods is known to the Apex, restricted though their society is. Perhaps it is used in propaganda, or in ‘history’ and ‘culture’ lessons provided by the Miniknog, to deride outsiders for their beliefs. That sounds like a very Knoggish thing to do.

But what of the Resistance? They certainly do not trust Big Ape. And those ellipses at the end of the sentence impart a feeling of longing, sadness, or regret. Does the speaking apex want a god?

My friend suggested (jokingly at the time) that “Lana Blake” may be a ‘mantle’ of sorts, something that can be picked up by any female apex with false-scar makeup and a red scarf. I rather like it. In-game Lana is still very real, in my writing, but there’s an appeal to using this concept. The idea can be easily seeded among the Miniknog and civilians, to sow discord or inspire quiet dissent. In 1984, which the Apex are based heavily on, the leader of the opposition is fiction. Perhaps the Resistance has operated on something similar in the past, using a distinctive disguise to pass the mantle of leadership, pass hope, along to all who see them.

The iteration of Lana Blake in my writing knows the true name of each predecessor who came before her. She repeats them to herself at night, while on watch or before she sleeps, and before a big raid. It’s a ritual, she tells herself, to remember their names. But others around her sometimes take up the whisper, keeping the names alive... and perhaps invoking, somehow, these long-dead spirits of rebellion, asking for protection, guidance, hope, in the battle to come.

Perhaps when the Miniknog finally falls, their names will be spoken aloud, their stories will be told told, their memories will be given new life as the first Apex gods.

-

To risk sounding like a YouTuber, what do you think? I welcome commentary, ideas, and further theory. The beta had several other Avian gods (like Harspex, who I shamelessly swiped for my vulture priestess Tezal), are there still others out there, as lesser servants or fringe cults? What do Floran believe, or the Novakid? Humans must have carried their stories with them; but how will those ideas evolve, with the home of those stories gone, and the whole of space before them? Go wild, let’s fill the void!

(Just keep it clean if you reply, please. Y’all know I hate mean discourse. It’s more fun to share and welcome; space is big enough for all of us if we play nice.)

[nyotasaimiri]

Floran and Hylotl bonding over mutual love of mineral-rich mud baths.

[nyotasaimiri]

An interesting continuation of my thoughts into Floran scent language: hylotl might actually be quite sensitive to the pheromones. In an evolutionary sense, it works from two angles. First, amphibians have thinner skin (they often breathe through it) so they’d pick up changes in the air over a much broader surface area than most other species. Second, they did get hunted by floran for a good portion of their past. However long ago that was, it would still make sense that hylotl who can realize there’s plant hunters gossiping nearby would be a hylotl who has a better chance to escape and pass their genes along.

In the modern day, we could put this to a new use: as floran and hylotl heal their relationship and reach out to each other in less hostile ways, certain hylotl (like our Koichi) might use the innate sensitivity to start understanding Floran language on a level thought impossible to anyone who isn’t floran. What finer way to break down the barriers between them? Combine that with Hylotl technology, and perhaps they could synthesize the scents themselves, for the galaxy’s first true Common-Floran translators, or even make it possible for the other species to understand Floran in its full context for the first time.

This could facilitate cultural exchange between all parties at an absolutely phenomenal level. Those floran tribes that still hunt sentients would have a harder time doing so if their intended prey can understand their battle plans, forcing them to turn to less controversial prey, which in turn would help improve the Floran reputation overall. And tribes that are already friendly with the galaxy finally have a way to share their histories with the world, and share their new friends’ histories with the other floran.

That’s the most powerful step to loving and accepting strangers, I think. Realizing that they too have stories.

[nyotasaimiri]

Greenfingers learning to grow bonsai as a gift to Hylotl neighbors. Hylotl discussing their historical plant-care techniques and learning that maybe their methods aren’t so different after all, at least in this little way, convergent cultural evolution. Floran being delighted to find out that Hylotl care about plants so well, maybe they’re more interesting than Floran thought. Young Floran embracing Hylotl gardening techniques as a way to be like their Greenfingers, even if they can’t talk to plants like the Greenfingers do. A Hylotl town featuring a garden grown by both Floran and Hylotl working together. It’s at the edge of town, halfway between the centers of the two settlements, and locals from both places show it off to their visitors with pride. The path between is well-trodden and bordered with flowers.

[nyotasaimiri]

I wonder what various odd alien animals have been domesticated in the Starbound universe. I have a personal headcanon that Apex domesticated bobfae (vaguely based off of how irl apes often eat bugs). Anyone else have some thoughts?

[nyotasaimiri]

Had a concept the other day. Fennix, maybe they were domesticated at one point to help with controlled burnings on their native arid planets? Their fire breath is probably a defensive feature but it wouldn't take much selective breeding and training before you could turn that (and maybe a nest building instinct) into an instinct of gathering brush in safe places and burning it off to keep wildfires down. If humans can get wolves to guard and herd sheep, anything is possible. Then the Fennix follow their spacefaring masters to the stars, a few escape and start new feral populations, and so it continues.

I think Avians are the most likely for this one, if it's one of the major seven. I find them on arid planets a lot, either their villages or the big tombs. But it could be the Fenerox too, and someone else said "oh that's cute I'm catching one!" And turned the fox loose in frustration upon realizing their new pet saw loose paperwork as burnable brush too

[nyotasaimiri]

I’ve got a vague headcanon that Floran molt as they grow. They never really stop growing, though they do slow down after reaching adulthood, so they have to outgrow their tough carapace after a while. Young floran do so frequently (and might treat the shed carapace as a snack, like hermit crabs do, to “recycle” the nutrients), while adults do so maybe once or twice a year. Older ones especially might be a little more lethargic after molting and, er, forget to hide the results around non-floran friends, which leads to some spectacular spooks~

[nyotasaimiri]

Avian families looking after their neighbor's eggs so neighbor can eat, bathe, and do some self care. Bonus if they bond with the chicks and the new babies just end up with a dozen adopted relatives

[nyotasaimiri]

Headcanon: game?

So apex have a concept of games at least, even if most of them aren’t legal under the Miniknog. I thought up a fun one for them to play~ 

It’s called “liar’s box” and it’s played with at least two players, though you can easily have as many as a dozen if you have enough pieces. All you need to play are ceramic tiles, a flat surface like a table or a smooth crate, and the ability to think on your feet. Any easily stackable object can be used if you don’t have the right tiles, but they do make such a satisfying noise when they fall over. 

The players take turns stacking the tough ceramic tiles in increasingly complex patterns while telling "true" stories to each other. The tiles are weighted and shaped to make stacking relatively easy at first, but the natural tremor that comes with lying makes your hands shake enough to knock down an overly complex tower. Stories can be as realistic or out there as you like, the only rule is you have to talk and stack at the same time. Gotta build it careful and controlled and hope you don’t get a spasm or twitch at the wrong moment. You can stop before you knock your tower down, and you get points for how big it ended up. Do you go for broke or quit while you’re ahead?

It's a game of oneupmanship and extremely precise control, and treated as symbolic of letting your lies get out of control when the tower falls down.  It’s pretty popular with both rebels and Miniknog loyalists, though it’s gotten some trouble before as secret sympathizers use it to sound out potential allies. Naturally, it's got a lesson aspect too, teaching the players to consciously control subconscious reactions and become better deceivers. If you can tell a real whopper without knocking the tower over, that’s considered the pinnacle of the art. 

Think you could play a version of this in real life? Give it a try and tell me how it goes! 

[nyotasaimiri]

I bet avians would like fireworks

[nyotasaimiri]

Given that apex gnaw on sugarcane for their dental hygiene, the idea that sugar rots human teeth must be really odd for them.

[nyotasaimiri]

Avians would probably be appalled at watermelon seed-spitting contests. The seeds are the best part of everything, after all!