#this biology isn't set in stone

[la-nute]

Thinking about a bit of biology for the alien plant people. Plus a bit of cape/mask thoughts, I don't think it's worth bothering with though. It's too complex for a daily use item.

They have arms a bit longer than a human and shorter strong legs. No need for a large digestive system, and so the lungs take up the exyra space. I was thinking about bird lungs and respiration for the people. They live in thin air so why not have the most efficient lungs. There is always air circulating within their lungs, perfect for efficient oxygenation.

I mean, it's way more complex than that, I'll throw an animation from google as an example of how the system works. Basically the exhale moves to a holding space before being exhaled.

[tizeline]

Hello Tizeline. I’d like to ask you about (if it’s not too far for you in the plot you have established and if it’s not too revealing) what would be the Trios and Donnie’s reaction to their encounter with Karai and the knowledge that she is their ancestor. I imagined that Donnie might already know as he is the “only child” raised by Splinter so he might have told stories. But what would be the Trios reaction to the information of their human ancestry?

Yeah that's definitely something I still have to figure out haha. So the turtles know that they're related to Lou Jitsu, a human, but they don't exactly consider him family. So in that sense, they'd know that they technically have human ancestry , but they wouldn't feel any real connection to that ancestry. In the show it seems that ninpo and in general the connection between Hamato is more based more on relationships in the emotional sense and less on biology, considering Karai makes it very clear that April is "one of them" (the Hamato clan) despite not being related to them biologically. So with that in mind, I don't think the Drax Bros would have any mystic connection to their Hamato ancestry at first, because they don't have emotinal connection to it.

All of this is to say, by the time they'd first meet Karai (assuming I decide to follow the canon story more closely) the Drax Bros would've just started getting close to Donnie and Splinter (they decide on giving up on their conquering humanity plot after the season 1 finale). So while they've kinda started actually properly becoming part of the Hamato family at that point, they still wouldn't feel the same connection to Karai as Donnie would. He would very much be on the Gram Gram Hype Train like he is in the show, but for Raph, Leo and Mikey it would be kinda awkward I guess? Cuz, yeah sure she's their ancestor? But also literally who is she?? Does she consider them family???

This isn't set in stone yet, but I do kinda like the idea that Splinter introduces Donnie to the whole Hamato/Ninpo/etc stuff earlier in the AU than what he does in canon. Donnie would find out about Lou Jitsu being his bio dad basically immedietly from his brothers, but like in the show he wouldn't connect the dots at first that Lou Jitsu=Splinter. So basically as soon as he finds out about his secret evil family he'd run to Splinter to demand answers. "Did you know I have Long Lost Brothers?? And that they're evil?? And that they wanna kidnap me?? And that I'm related to Lou Jitsu?? Where is Lou Jitsu anyway??"

So because of that Splinter would probably just tell him his Secret Tragic Backstory way earlier. And also, because Draxum and the three Draxum Jrs might try to kidnap back the only son he has, Splinter would be a bit concerned with making sure Donnie actually has a chance to defend himself. Splinter doesn't seem to be familiar with ninpo in canon, but in the AU he's probably gonna at least know it's A Thing, he just never learned how to use it himself. Donnie'd be reluctant to learn it cuz he's all like "ew, magic, cringe", and it'd be hard if Splinter doesn't know how to use it himself so they'd have to rely on like ancient Hamato texts or something. But he would eventually start figuring it out, before he meets Karai.

[giulliadella]

Speculative Biology of Euclydians (and Bill Cipher) part 2

Part 1

Part 3

So this part is what you've all been waiting for, it took so long, but you'll quickly understand why. This part is:

The Biology of Bill Cipher

As always, this analysis is based on two assumptions:

Before Bill Cipher became a demigod, he was a biological, living organism and so were the rest of his species.

Even after Bill Cipher became a demigod, he still retained some physical characteristics of his biological form.

And a fair content warning: This contains anatomy illustrations. This isn't anything gory, but there are people who are squeamish, so you've been warned.

Click on the images to get better quality!

And without further ado, let's begin.

External structures

Euclydians are animals with a very specific shape. They have a shell in a form of a geometric shape and four limbs. Bill is an equilateral triangle, so my analysis will be just on triangular Euclydeans.

They have bilateral symmetry. This type of symmetry is characterized by having a left and a right side placed like mirror images of each other. Humans and majority of Earth’s animals also have this feature.

Bilaterally symmetrical organisms usually have a distinct head region, because of a process known as cephalization. This process moves the animal’s brain and sensory organs towards one end of the body – the head. Euclydians have a head. It’s the “tip of the pyramid” on Bill and that’s where the eye and other sensory organs and brain are located.

Finally, Euclydeans are segmented. Their segments are clearly visible as those weird brick lines on their body. Bill also often separates his body into three segments. This is a part of his god powers, but it tells us that Euclydeans have three major body segments, I’ll call them the tip, the middle and the base. Each segment contains specific organs.

Euclydeans are invertebrates. And yes, I know this image exists, but this is just Bill’s trolling. He’s making fun of human classrooms where we often find skeleton models. That skeleton wouldn’t even be functional, because it doesn’t have any joints in arms and legs, so it wouldn’t be able to move. And it has a hole where the brain would be, so you know, the fucking brain would fall out.

It was outright stated that Bill has an exoskeleton. Having both external and internal skeleton would be a big waste because you have two systems that do the same thing. Besides, the way Bill's limbs move is much more similar to an invertebrate. His shell is also somewhat bendable which would not be possible if it was made of bone. And the eye-mouth complex that Bill uses to eat would also be completely impossible with a set of vertebrate jaws.

Euclydean shell (or exoskeleton) is nothing like anything here on Earth. It’s most likely made out of silica combined with proteins. I say this because Bill turned to stone when he died and he also likes to eat glass, which is pure silica.

The exoskeleton is made out of several parts. It has a front (ventral) and back (dorsal) part. Both the front and the back part of the exoskeleton are made out of head region (the tip) and three layers of “bricks” which are just segments of the exoskeleton.

The front tip is probably made of more protein and elastic tissue than the back, because Bill has a very expressive “face”. This means that he also has quite complex facial muscles. The back of the head is probably the hardest part of the exoskeleton because it protects the brain. Bricks are in the middle since they have a very important role in speaking and breathing, but also allow the shell to bend.

Can Euclydeans change color, or is it just Bill Cipher using his god powers? Well, since he changes his color on instinct, I think they could! Bill can change color to black, yellow, red and blue. This means that he has a complex system of chromatophores – cells that contain little sacs full of pigment. When the sacs inflate, the body appears to be the color of the largest sac, whilst those deflated are invisible. Color changes depending on the pigments contained in inflated sacs. In Bill, the pigments are red, blue and yellow. Yellow is the standard color, it signifies neutral or content emotional state. He turns red when he's angry or wants to look intimidating and blue might signify fear, despair and cry for help. Black is the color of Euclydean’s skin, so when they look black, it’s because all pigment sacs have deflated and the transparent shell allows us to see the skin underneath.

And yes, Euclydeans have black skin. I know some people say that Bill wears thigh high boots and long gloves, but to me, that doesn’t make any sense. Like, that image of him in Theraprism is showing him with clothes over his supposed gloves and boots. Why would they make him wear sneakers over boots? And why baby Bill has yellow hands? Well, that’s something I’ll tell you in the next part where I’ll talk about babies.

Anyways, the skin is black, but we have no idea what it feels like. Seriously, so many people shook hands with Bill and nobody wrote down how his skin feels like! But we know that he has fingerprints. That means that he has very sensitive fingertips and that those little paws were made for grabbing things. Also, Bill doesn’t have any growths on his skin: no nails, hairs, scales etc. I know a lot of people love to draw Bill with claws, but he doesn’t have claws, not even in his most eldritch form. His fingers always remain small and soft. The legs have no fingers and the skin of the sole of their feet is probably thick.

Internal Structures

Coelom

Coelom is one of the most important organs, that you probably don’t know you even have! It’s a fluid filled cavity whose role is to separate internal organs from the muscles of the body wall. This allows organs to move and grow independently of your muscles and it also protects and cushions them against impact. In humans coelom is complex and it’s made out of pericardial cavity (around the heart – allows heart to pump blood), pleural cavity (around lungs – allows lungs to expand while breathing) and peritoneal cavity (around digestive system – allows for expansion and movement of digestive organs).

I believe that Euclydeans also have some form of a coelom. Coelom is even more important in invertebrates, as that’s where their immune system is and it can also serve as a supportive hydroskeleton. Since Euclydeans have a hard shell, they need the protection around their organs. Every shelled animal on Earth has coelom for that reason. They also need room for the food they eat, since the shell can’t expand and their limbs can enter the shell, so they need room for that too.

2. Nervous system

Euclydeans have a vast range of emotions, capability to communicate using speech, body language and even color shifting. They are as intelligent, or more intelligent than humans. They have a highly developed eye and other senses and all of this requires a nervous system. We saw Bill’s optic nerve when his eye got pulled out during Weirdmageddon, so he does have a nervous system, but I can't tell you how exactly it looks like.

There’s one part of Bill that I bet is similar to human - it’s his brain. Bill claims that he can take control over any being a long as they have neurons. This is his god like power, but then, why just beings with neurons? Well, most likely, because he has neurons too and kind of understands how they work. Maybe his brain even produces similar neurotransmitters as ours, so we’re easy to control with them. The brain is in the tip of the pyramid, slightly above eye and it likely has a lot of neurons and a very complex structure. I can’t tell you how exactly is his brain organized, but since he's bilaterally symmetrical, it’s very likely that it has hemispheres. He likely also has two neural cords, like most invertebrates, and those run down the dorsal (back) side of his body

3. Senses

Euclydeans have camera lens type eyes. Now here I can only speak of Bill, since we haven’t seen any other Euclydian. Bill’s eye is large, placed in the center of his “face”. It has eyelids with “eyelashes” (more on them later) and produces tears (Bill cries after his break up with Ford). The pupil is slit and vertical and there is no iris. However, there are muscles that can change the shape and dilation of the pupil. The eye looks similar enough to human that I can confidently say that he has cornea, lens and sclera. The eye is filled with refractory fluid and has some form of retina in the back. Bill’s eye changing color and being used as a projector or to shoot lasers are all parts of his god powers, however, it is possible that his species has a tapetum lucidum, a reflective layer of cells which help animals see in low light conditions and also makes the eye glow in the dark. Bill has color vision and he claims that he can see every part of the electromagnetic spectrum, but I think that's a part of his god powers. However, Euclydeans definitely could see in color, since their alphabet was basically a color code and they also use colors to express emotion.

Since Bill has fingerprints, we can confidently say that his fingers are the most sensitive part of his skin. Bill can feel through his shell too, just like every shelled organism ever (that's why he used Ford as a backscratcher). Tactile senses are very primitive, so Eucliydeans could feel cold, heat, pain, pressure, vibration and everything else just like we do.

Bill has a sense of smell and he even says which scents he finds attractive. This could mean that sense of smell plays a big role in reproduction of Euclydeans, but where is it located? Well, on the eyelashes. Except, those are not eyelashes, they are antennae. Bill has total eight of these antennae, 4 on lower and 4 on upper eyelid. They are very soft and sensitive, so he can retract them inside the eyelid. He does that when he feels threatened, so it’s probably a fight or flight response. His lashes get longer and he flutters his eyelid more near Ford, probably because he enjoys his smell. They are also located close to the mouth, so that’s how he samples the scents of the food.

Euclydeans have great hearing. They communicate vocally, sing, Bill can play the piano, so obviously, they hear. But I have no idea what they use to hear. It could be the bow tie, since it does look vaguely ear shaped, but it's possible that the bow tie isn't actually an organ. In that case, they could have an unknown structure inside them or they could just use their thin exoskeleton to catch sound vibrations.

They taste using their long tongue.

4. Muscles and movement

We have seen Bill’s muscles and they are striated skeletal muscles like mammals and insects have.

As the shell is kind of bendy, there is a lot of muscles underneath it. Those are the muscles of the body, they also move the face and bricks while speaking. The limbs have muscles too and two kinds at that.

When Ford shoots through Bill’s hat (which also a part of him) it is shown that inside of it are strange bone-like structures. These are not bones, since they aren’t articulated, but muscles do connect to them. They kind of remind me of echinoderm ossicles, but they don’t really look like them. This is another fully alien structure and I’ll call them anchors.

You know how Bill’s limbs can both bend just like human arms and legs, like he has elbows, wrists, knees and ankles, but they also bend like goofy rubber-hose cartoon anatomy? Well, that’s because there are two types of muscles in them. There are muscles attached to the anchor points and subcutaneous muscles.

Anchor points are located in the same places as joints in humans. Muscles that attach to them are long and strong and they are used for regulated, precise movement. The subcutaneous muscles (the one we see in his Weirdmageddon image) are used to bend the limbs in every other manner. They are not attached to anchors, but to the skin, so they resemble muscles of octopus arms. They are shorter and less strong, but when they act together they move the limbs in coils. These muscles are also responsible for squishing the limbs inside the shell when they are hidden.

Bill has incredible control and dexterity of his muscles, especially in arms and fingers. Even though his paws are soft and small, he can use them pretty much as efficiently as humans use their hands.

Possibly the strongest muscles in Bill's body are his jaw muscles, so let's talk about those jaws.

5. Eye-mouth complex and the digestive system

Having your eye used for feeding seems wild to us, but this adaptation is seemingly common in fictional geometric shaped people, as it has convergently evolved in Flatland’s inhabitants as well. And, speak what you like, but Euclydeans can’t choke on their food, so they have it better than humans.

I don’t know what Flatlanders eat, but Euclydeans are definitely predators. Now, I know that Bill sometimes depicts himself with human like teeth. The guy has a thing for teeth, especially molars, but he doesn’t have mammalian teeth. In every image where he opens his mouth that was not made by him, we see that he has cone shaped sharp teeth, like a predator. These teeth are great for biting and subduing prey, but they suck at chewing. Euclydeans can’t chew, so they they feed by swallowing chunks that they bite off, or swallowing their food whole if it’s small enough.

Here I depicted how this “eye-mouth complex” functions:

Euclydeans have a stomach in the middle of their body, but I have no idea what goes after it. My best guess is that they have a branching intestine. Our flattest organisms (flatworms, sea stars and brittle stars) all have this type of intestine. It basically means that, instead of just going like a tube, the intestine branches into different parts of the body. I also have no idea whether they have an anus and if it’s just one. This is just something I can’t tell you.

Since Euclydeans are capable of eating a lot of various things, I expect that they have accessory digestive glands (that’s liver and pancreas in humans). Strangely, despite the fact that his anatomy indicates a predator, Bill likes eating starch (pasta, empanadas, sandwiches etc). Most carnivores are unable to digest starch, so I went with god powers, but he ate sandwiches when he was a kid and had no god powers. So, we have two options. Either Euclydeans are omnivores (which, with those teeth, I doubt) or the animals on their planet store their excess calories as starch, not fat, so predators evolved the ability to digest it. If the second one is true, then Bill eating pasta is like your cat eating pure butter. It’s probably not healthy for him, but I don’t think he’s a guy who would give a single crap about that.

6. Breathing and speaking

In The Book of Bill, Bill says that “dumb trapezoids and rhombuses were sucking up his rightful oxygen”. This means that Euclydeans are aerobic organisms – they breathe oxygen. Their skin is dry, so they don't use it for breathing and they also speak, laugh and sing. All of this tells me that they have lungs.

I believe that their lungs are located near the base where the bricks are. The gaps between bricks have little tracheae that lead to the lungs. Bill most likely breathes in from his back side and breathes out from the front. The air is probably forced to travel through small crevices inside the lungs so that it can exchange the oxygen with blood. We don’t know whether Euclydeans exhale carbon dioxide, but they probably do, since they can eat our food, so they probably have similar metabolism to us Earthlings.

Since Euclydeans can speak and laugh, they probably have some kind of a diaphragm. In fact, I think they have two! Their voice has an echo, which means that, most likely, their lungs don’t always expel air at the same time. Air expelling causes the bricks to vibrate which produces sound. That’s why Bill seems to glow when he speaks – he’s actually vibrating. This action is also controlled by muscles. Depending on which row of bricks is vibrating and how many of them are involved, Bill changes the pitch and tone of his voice.

And the growling noise? Well, when Bill uses his demonic voice, he is doing one of two things. He is either using his god like powers to modify his voice, or that’s just how Euclydian vocal fry sounds. If you don’t know what vocal fry is, it’s produced when the vocal chords are vibrating slowly and they become out of sync. This produces a very specific sound and that sound can be made voluntarily. That’s how Mongolian throat singing works. Similarly, Euclydeans could slow down the rate at which their bricks vibrate and make them out of sync to produce that menacing “demon voice” as a threat display.

7. Circulatory system

We know how Euclydean blood looks like. It’s silvery and kind of seems like it glitches. It also contain chemicals that can make humans sick. This means that Euclydeans have much different blood from animals on Earth, but it certainly serves the same function. It’s used to transport nutrients and oxygen through their body.

Since the agents from The Book of Bill were able to draw his blood, it’s clear that Bill has a circulatory system and a closed one at that. The closed circulatory system means that blood vessels end in capillary nets and don’t open inside the body cavity like they do in molluscs and insects. If the agents used syringe to pull Bill’s blood and he had an open circulatory system, they could actually collapse the entire thing as they would pull his organs as well. That’s why I believe that he has a closed circulatory system.

Closed circulatory system requires a heart and I believe that Bill’s heart is located between his lungs, like ours. I have no proof that his heart looked anything like in the illustration, but I looove cardiology, so I did all this just because I wanted to draw a weird heart. I don’t think Euclydeans have a super complex four chambered heart like we do, they most likely have two or three chambered heart. The heart separates lung and body circulation and regulates their blood pressure.

The capillary nets are all located in important places: lungs where they exchange oxygen, intestines where they absorb nutrients and brain where they feed the neurons. Euclydeans have a rather large brain, so it probably uses most of their calories and oxygen.

8. Other systems

I can’t tell you anything abut Euclydean excretory system. I don’t know whether they produce urine or not, if they have kidneys, nephrocytes or something completely different. I genuinely have no idea.

They have to have an immune system because they are multicellular. Every single multicellular organism including sponges and plants has some form of an immune system. I believe Euclydeans have something similar to coelomocytes - a very common type of immune cells in invertebrates which reside in coelomatic cavity.

I'll talk about reproductive system in Part 3!

Are Euclydeans warm or cold-blooded?

This was a very tough one, because they could be both, but I am leaning more towards cold-blooded. They have very little muscle mass and heat is produced within the muscles via trembling or metabolic heat (heat released in various chemical reactions in the body). When an animal has very little muscle it isn’t used for that. Even mammals like sloths who have significantly reduced muscle mass become dependent on the surrounding temperature. Also, Euclydean flat shape can easily distribute heat they absorb, so they wouldn’t need to waste energy making their own. On top of that, Euclydeans don’t wear clothes, which can be a cultural thing, sure, but they could also not wear clothes because they need their skin exposed so that it could absorb heat.

Here's how Bill Cipher's complete inner anatomy looks like:

There, I hope you enjoyed this! I'll see you hopefully next week to tell you about Euclydean reproduction and development.

Thank you @ok1237 @unoriginal-starwalker and @chrystalitar for your support :D

(Also, I hid Ford Pines in one of the anatomy illustrations. Can you find him? Click on the images for better quality!)

[witchofthesouls]

Tbh Star Saber’s reaction is justified. Sentinel just claims this random bot as a bride (probably doesn’t even know their name too) I’d be miffed too if I was his protector. But what about said bot’s reaction? You wake up after passing out and suddenly your hitched, I’d be backing up Star Saber in the background as he yells at Sentinel.

(You're going to be busy trying to deal with alien biology to start yelling. If anything you're yelling at whatever drop-kicked you into this timeline that's the dumpster fire that makes up Bayverse.

Get ready for misunderstandings and failed negotiations:)

Consciousness doesn't gently trickle back. It kicks you in the teeth without any warning. One moment, darkness. The next moment, you're heaving up and accidentally slamming into something hard.

That something yelps.

While you have the grace of facial protection, Sentinel isn't as lucky. You still have a throbbing headache, though. It flares whenever there's the incomprehensible electronic noise of their native tongue is being spoken.

Your head pulses to an excruciating degree when suddenly it clicks. The noise becomes words.

And you don't like them.

"Look, it can't even speak. Let alone understand us." Star Saber - your HUD factually pings, rapidly scrolling all of his positions, achievements, strengths, and possible weaknesses - says like an absolute cunt.

"Oooooo. Cooon-tuh." The High Lord Protector sounds out the English your ass of a mouth that not even a supercomputer brain could leash have shot out. The Seeker is unamused, and you don't even resist the urge to stick your tongue out since you're wearing the visor and he can't see.

You have a vague sense that you're forgetting something important. The wisps of a strange dream linger in the periphery edges of your mind, but a hiccuping wail interrupts everything.

Nearby and attached to the berth (fanon terminology don't fail you now!) are the infants. You immediately pick up the crying one. The tiny face warps from the force of their distress. Something compels you to cradle it up to your chest, and they settle down to snuffly whistles.

Of course, the other one starts up when your hands are full.

Sentinel picks the second infant to maneuver them to you. You never expected this asshole to have gentle hands, but he does. At least for the babies.

"They're split-spark." He explains as both of them grab a hold of each other, whistling and chirping between a songbird and a hot kettle. "They have to remain close together until they're third in-star."

There's a moment of silence in the room, only interrupted by the newsparks' chirping babbling and fretful meeping.

"Not to be rude," you slowly test out the digital language, and Star Saber doesn't snort or move his expression, but he definitely disproves. Fucker. "But why am I here?"

"Yes, Prime," the Seeker knows how to turn a soft voice into an assassin's thread. "Why do we have such a guest here?"

The words he chose have so many insulting undertones and stresses that if you didn't have your arms full, you might as well slap him. High Lord Protector be damned.

He wants you far away, and you want to be farther than Star Saber could dream of.

Of course, neither you nor Star Saber gets those desires granted.

"You're here," Sentinel’s tone shifts. Formal. Very formal. A strange mix of anticipation and... duty? "In the privacy of my household and in the presence of my most trusted-" Star Saber's expression is set in stone and just as cold "-to declare our sparks together in front of Primus."

Unlike fanfics where Sam Witwicky has the Allspark to handily act as a translator, you only have the equivalent of a more sensible Google translate with all of the additional kinda-helpul-but-not-really dings of subharmonics and underlying glyphs to provide more context. It sounds like a marriage proposal, but the way Sentinel emphasized it is more akin to a 'Guardian seek out an equal partnership in a (business) venture.'

Thanks, Google. Great help as always. Never change.

Unless you've taken over the body of a noble with capital to buy out galaxies or some sort of daring pirate/elite assassin with that ghostly possession of hidden skills, you have no idea why he's asking you for this kind of proposition.

You need to bite the bullet because you don't know what you're walking into, and maybe you can jump out another window and speed away.

You start searching the lexicon for the right words. Hopefully.

_____________

Even with the visor eclipsing your face, you're refreshingly honest and it's something Sentinel profoundly misses ever since he's been taken from the Guiding Hand's Towers.

And right now, they know your possible intention to jump again beneath the tangle of confusion and worry.

The windows here are reinforced and capable of withstanding artillery blasts and extreme heat resistance as well.

:: The foundlings are completely attached to this one. :: Hard and unforgiving Star Saber may be, but there are a few things that soften the mech. It may be the Seekerkin-coding in him that invokes protective feelings towards the very young.

You and the newsparks have sealed a guardian/parental bond. They can't separate them from you. The strain will most likely kill them, and possibly you with your recent recklessness. You may have a powerfully dense spark -a hallmark of mecha with Primal heritage- but you're still young, barely past the ninth in-star, and still developing towards an adult frame.

Ratchet had been torn between absolute fury and begrudgingly impressed by the one that had done your frame-schematics. It's a remarkable mix of stealth modifications, hidden components, and security. Your systems had literally chewed up suppression codes and medical overrides and spat them out.

Either you have a creator that's a fiend of a weaponsmith or you have ties to the legendary War-Forged, too. Unbelievable, but no one expected any frames out in the Wastelands to be blessed by Primus, and yet here they are with not one, but two individuals.

And Sentinel is asking the mechling for a formal courtship with the intention of bonding.

"Are you-" you speak carefully, testing out the glyphs, and he wonders what kind of dialect the Wilders speak "-asking me to bond with you?"

The phrase makes logical sense. However, Sentinel can't help but choke at the subglyphs you used. Instead of 'unity of wedlock between two parties,' you attached something akin to sponsoring a courtesan for an exclusive relationship. An explicitly sexual one.

Star Saber doesn't budge. The Seeker's body langauge is impeccable and beyond reproach to stand as a witness to this mess, but Sentinel feels the icy talons of their shared bond flare to a vicious burning grip.

:: If you say any sort of agreement to that poorly worded question, Sentinel Prime. :: Star Saber's terrible words cut into Sentinel's spark. :: I will personally make the rest of your limited time on this planet a new level of Unicron's Pits. ::

Sentinel had to lock his joints to keep himself upright and not sprawled on the floor. After a long moment, he manages to grapple with the bond to sear away Star Saber's influence. :: I wasn't! ::

Slag all those that deify their partnership as the original split-sparks Prima and Megatronus, it's a slaggen mockery of a marital bond.

Sentinel gathers every scrap of his intentions to make it work with the newly found Primal-descended and throws it at Star Saber's end. It's still a raw wound. He finds it deeply discomforting to be intimately tied to the Seeker upon the confirmed demise of an unmoored Zeta Prime. Just barely after the Temple's blessings to establish suitable compatibility as a Prime and a new Protector.

(If Sentinel thinks too much about it, he will scream until he burns out and -)

Star Saber quirks a plate at his efforts and releases the onslaught. :: Look at that. Perhaps there's a warrior underneath that softness, librarian. Correct your Intended before the Wilder escapes with the newsparks. ::

During their internal spat, you pressed your back against the wall, plating closed to minimize noise. You've silenced your biosignature as well. Even the foundlings are silent -a natural defense that's driven by terror of the sudden tensions and your own reaction.

Fan-fragging-tastic.

[catboybiologist]

Weird ramble and asking for advice here.

When talking about biology, I sometimes run into a problem where I don't even realize that the level I'm talking about is beyond what most people think about. That isn't supposed to be a brag, its literally this often-memed xkcd:

I have a point/vent here.

I'm kinda prepping to come out to my parents in probably about a week and a half. I'm terrified, tbh. I'm kinda realizing that this is me with gender too.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm going to be coming out to two people who are on the borderline of boomer and gen X who have never extensively interacted with a trans person in their life. I wrote a document to come out to them, and I'm trying to emphasize that their acceptance shouldn't be contingent on understanding. But I also know that they'll want to understand, even in an accepting, "get to know me" kind of way.

Thing is, I'm a decade or more into self exploration and realization, theory and rabbit holes about gender, synthesis of biology concepts with the way I understand gender, and they, well... they're not.

So what I'm doing now is going back to a lot of video essays, online resources, and the like, and trying to think about what would both accurately describes my experiences, but is also at a level where they won't just understand- but they won't write it off as being "overcomplicated" or "wishywashy". And that's.... hard. Because the video I want to show them is this:

(btw, I love Lily Alexandre to death, please check her out)

I don't think this'll go over their heads, but I do think they just won't pay attention because of how.... "not set in stone" it is? Thing is, this video, especially the early parts, are pretty much exactly what I want to get them to understand. If you saw my vents earlier, both of them (but my dad is louder about it) have said that people transition to "escape" something, or as a result of some kind of mental health crisis, and usually have regrets.

But I don't know how to get that through to them.

Idk. The thing I'm trying to emphasize is that I'm a biologist, and an adult, with a light sprinkling of "you have 0 financial control over me", but I'm worried about them worrying. About them making an enormous deal in their heads about something that they think is a cry for help, or a sign of something else.

Idk. I guess I'm asking for advice. Which is- what are the best "intro to trans" videos or resources for parents of adults? Most of the things I can find are explicitly aimed at parents with children much, much younger than me, and talk about things like support in schools and such. I don't even need my parents to support me, I just need them to not work actively to hurt me or themselves.

[elfieafterdark]

It's the first day of school. Santa Monica is the same as it always is. The September air probably isn't actually that cold, but it certainly feels cold to Harrow Tridentarius.

She's spent seven years living here, with her adoptive family. Her real family. She wakes up, gets dressed in her new fit (now with more mesh), packs her bag, and heads downstairs.

Corona must still be asleep, but she can always count on Ianthe to have woken up and made coffee.

"Mornin' Harry." Ianthe says, looking like a pale fairy queen, if said Queen short shorts and a big university sweater. "Sleep all right?"

"Yes, thanks." Harrow replies, grabbing her favorite travel mug and the coffee pot. "You?"

"Not really, but what's new huh?" Ianthe is lounging in a really big leather bar chair. Picking at some toast.

"Aww, I'm sorry Thay." Harrow tops off her travel mug with a healthy dose of creamer, then digs through the fridge for a Pop-Tart. "What are you up to today?"

Ianthe sets her plate down and grins, "I don't have classes until tomorrow. So naturally I'm going to a party tonight."

"Judith?"

"Hah, no. Dulcie."

"Makes sense." Harrow shoves the foil wrapped pastries into her oversized pockets. She hugs her sis, and makes for the entryway. "I got to run."

"Be late for once Harry." Ianthe says, "You know you don't have to arrive at school an hour early right?"

"I like to-"

"I know I know, you like to get your locker sorted and figure out where all your classes are." Ianthe gingerly picks up a piece of toast again, buying like it's plotting something. "Love you! Have fun! Get sloppy, make bad choices!"

Harrow rolls her eyes, slipping on her dark purple high tops. "Love you too, make sure to drink water." And she's out in the street.

She loves Santa Monica, she loves the ocean, she loves the beach, she loves the salty air. She loves the piers, she loves all of it.

It's way better than Montana that's for sure. She shudders, either from the chill or from remembering that ranch she spent her early years on.

Doesn't matter. They're gone. Anna is doing well, she's doing well. She walks, she doesn't need to, she could have someone drive her. Mom's, well there's no way around it, mom is loaded.

But Harrow likes to walk. She likes to look around, she likes to see how things along the route she always walks change day to day. The old bakery, the new five-story tall multi-use buildings. The dog who's always lounging on the porch of that old house.

Canaan secondary school is the same as it always is, an upscale architectural nightmare of faux stone and glass. It's perfect. Seems like she isn't the only person here either, a few cars in the student parking lot, a bus full of nervous freshmen pulling up. Noise. But the comfortable kind of noise.

She gets her schedule, and is grateful to see a few familiar teachers. As well as a new name: M. Cristabel for biology.

Wonder who she is.

Harry hits a brisk pace to her new locker, which is mercifully down in the art wing of the school. Her favorite haunt, walls plastered with noteworthy projects from last year.

A few excessively dark and tastefully macabre samples are her own. She's proud of her art. Of herself. Even if she is a little bit strange. The polished floors shine, and her converse squeak a little as she goes.

She scouted out all her classes, she's crammed all her unnecessary stuff into her locker. (Extra hygiene products, extra non-perishable snacks, a spare jacket because she gets really cold randomly; and so on). Now she can find her friends, or wait for them if they aren't here yet.

Down the main hall she goes. Past the somehow even more nervous freshmen, down the front steps.

And she crashes into something sturdy with red hair.

"Oh shit!" The red haired sturdy thing, a girl apparently, says with some kind of new england accent.

Harrow falls, drops her stuff, namely her Pop-Tart. But none of that really matters. Not when she looks up and sees the girl. Tanned skin, freckles, a swishy top of hair and shaved sides. A flannel tied around her waist. Jeans and a white tank top. Mirrored aviators slipping off her nose.

"I'm so sorry!" The tall and muscled girl blurts out, "Oh God I hope I didn't hurt you."

"No harm. I'm all good." Harrow says, smiling as this slab of girl helps her up. "You did accidentally smash my breakfast though."

"Fuck." The girl says, "We got a bit of time before class starts, can I buy you something from the corner store?"

Oh. Uh oh... This girl is smooth. Chances of her being like Harrow are pretty low of course... But what's the harm right?

"Well I'd have to know your name first." Harrow says with a smirk.

"Right. Gideon. Gideon Dve." Says Gideon, Gideon Dve.

"I'm Harrow."

"Your name is Harrow? That's actually badass. Okay Harrow, can I take you to the corner store and buy you some replacement breakfast?"

Harrow feels a shiver, like a drop of cold water running down her spine. It's not at all unpleasant though.

"Yes," she says, "I'd like that. Lead the way, Gideon."

[mysticstarlightduck]

Q&A QUESTION!

Firstly: Love your cast from Supernova Initiative.

Secondly, and this is my classic thing that I ask everyone: What's up with the food in your WIP? What do people eat? How do they get food? How is it shaped by the cultures?

(I love food and geopolitics, so this is my life. I'm sorry. I hope this isn't too much XDDDD)

Hii!! Thank you so much for the ask, @amaiguri!!! And don't worry, this isn't too much at all!!! I adore these kinds of questions and I myself love creating intricate details for my WIPs' cultures, politics, and worlds (and I love rambling about those details lmao)!

Also, I'm super glad you liked the cast of this WIP! If you want to ask something about the team or about any particular character, you're also more than welcome (and encouraged) to!

So let's get to it!

What's up with the food in your WIP? What do people eat? How do they get food? How is it shaped by the cultures?

Man, this is such an AMAZING question! I love it!

There are so many different planets and cultures in this WIP and thus there are many different kinds of food/diets as well, many being specific to certain settings and to the biology of different alien species! Let's go over some of the three main ones!

In Cethea III, which is a downtrodden mining settlement that is also one of the most crime-ridden places in the galaxy, abundance is not something that is a part of the day-to-day lives of most of that moon's inhabitants. Most food there comes from cheap, greasy diners or shady restaurants scattered around the settlements, though miners often receive weekly packets of rations from the mining companies they work for (though those rations are awfully tasteless and are more of a "last resort" for many).

As for what are the most common dishes in Cethea III:

Dried fish stick sandwiches and hot chocolate made with milk powder (this is the favorite dish of the main trio of this story - Jack, Deimos, and Cassie - as it was an affordable and tasty meal that was also a very good source of energy).

Fried pocked cheese tarts (a common snack present in most of the many greasy diners in the settlements, these tarts often come in considerable portions, packaged in a simple cardboard box).

Prairie rodent roast (the dusty, desert-like prairies of this moon are crawling with packs of medium-sized, hare-looking rodents that are often hunted by the population as a free source of game meat for roasts and stews. Some people also dry the rodent meat to make it last for longer and to make "beef jerky" out of it)

Glow-Slug Pudding (by far the most... concerning and rather disgusting dish in this moon's culinary culture, is an expensive dessert enjoyed in some of the few more high-brow and "fancy" establishments of this moon. The appearance of this pudding depends on the color of the slugs used in its mix, often having a glowing, neon look to it in various shades of purple, pink, and deep blue. Some of these puddings are cooked and served cold, but some versions of it are raw and include living slugs- the latter being even more expensive and considered a delicacy. Most of the main cast of this book has never tasted this dessert and even now that they can afford it they consider it far too disgusting to be edible. And honestly, I think they're right lol)

In Ivion, which is a giant ice planet that Cethea III orbits, the cities sprawl underground, and are vast places built out of pitch-black stone. The original inhabitants of this planet, the Zatrian people, have a large carnivore diet - while they technically are omnivores, their diets require a much larger protein intake than that of other humanoid species. They are skilled hunters, and many Zatrians have evolved to have keener eyesight and hearing in order to be able to track their gigantic prey fast without risking prolonged exposure to the cold of the planet's surface, making them even deadlier at marksmanship.

The most common dishes in Ivion:

Intricate, meat-based dishes, with strong condiments and often a vibrant appearance. Those dishes vary from different kinds of stews, roasts, soups, and fillets, often being served extremely hot, and fresh from the oven. A single portion of those dishes is often so vast/abundant that it can feed at least a dozen people with ease.

Boiling Frostberry (a common drink that has a staple deep blue color with glittery swirls. It has a sweet yet tangy taste and as the name implies is typically to be drunk hot. This juice/beverage can both be served as a celebratory drink as well as a day-to-day beverage for all walks of life and is known for providing an astounding amount of warmth, as the berries have a capability to warm the body from within and are impossible to freeze)

Burrow-Wyrm Eggs (often harvested from Burrow-Wyrm nests during a specific season of the year - Burrow-Wyrms have hundreds of giant eggs per mating season, and the Zatrians often only poach around 5-10 eggs or so per year - these eggs are boiled then roasted over a fire with a strongly spicy pepper. Reserved for special occasions, those astoundingly large eggs (they're as big as two basketballs stacked onto each other), are a part of the traditional Zatrian diets and are only consumed in new-years festivals and coming-of-age ceremonies)

In Stryxus, the bustling dwarf planet known for its sprawling tropical fungal forests and also for being the home to some of the most dangerous crime families in the whole Khosmonian Galaxies has many different cultures that cohabitate within its sandy-colored cities, thus having many different culinary traditions spread evenly throughout the small planet.

The most common dishes on this dwarf planet:

A lot of the dishes on this planet are mushroom or fungi-based, as is to be expected of a dwarf planet that contains the largest fungal forests in the system. Mushrooms of all kinds are used in a variety of dishes, ranging from savory salads, roasts, barbecues, and even sandwiches, serving as the main source of protein for the population of this planet, both rich and poor. Sweet fungi are also a common ingredient for local desserts, especially cupcakes, puddings, and some varieties of ice cream.

This planet is also known for its sprawling cantinas and saloons, having some of the most varied alcoholic beverages, from common drinks like wine, beers, and specific brands of whiskey, to rarer, more exotic drinks that are only found and brewed on this planet, often using some rare fungi as a basis for the fermentation process, which grants theses neon colored, bubbling drinks an extremely rare taste and a varied range of appearances.

Swamp Fowls are abundant in Stryxus, and thus are a common ingredient for roasted sticks and nugget-like delicacies enjoyed by both young and old in the planet's pubs and restaurants.

I hope you enjoy the answer! Once more, thanks for the ask, and feel free to ask many more if you so wish to!

Supernova Initiative Taglist (-/+): @ray-writes-n-shit, @sarandipitywrites, @lassiesandiego, @smol-feralgremlin, @kaylinalexanderbooks,

@diabolical-blue @oh-no-another-idea

@cakeinthevoid, @clairelsonao3, @sleepy-night-child

@thepeculiarbird

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@finickyfelix, @lyutenw, @elshell, @thecomfywriter

Let me know if you'd like to be added!

[indigosabyss]

Just watched the first six episodes of dungeon meshi. Final thoughts? Not a fan.

The mechanics of the monster cooking were fun, which as far as I can see are the series' main draw. The animation is decent and the characters unique. On its own it's fine, as long as they acknowledge Marcille's orc racism down the line. It's just the plot/writing/setting that doesn't agree with me.

I'm really disappointed bc someone called this the Dr Stone of fantasy food, when it just isn't. Anyone can explain how a certain interest of theirs works. Dr Stone's main draw is how every step and progression leads into the next one (the making sulfa drugs plotline is a shining example here)

dunmesh isn't that. Which is fine. But it did affect my viewing experience.

In terms of technical and storytelling aspects, worldbuilding is my major issue, bc these guys constantly reference dying like it's no big deal but?? Why? Is something ressurecting them??? Do dungeon trawler mangas have the same explanation for this across the whole genre that's so widely understood that they don't even bother explaining???

A lot of character introductions need to be tweaked to make a better impression, and despite the stakes presented at the very beginning, the plot is meandering and oftentimes directionless.

Another thing that gets me is the fact that these guys have gone through the dungeon a lot. They got to the lower levels, they should have done the upper ones a bunch. So why do they act like they have no idea what's next.

Why do they not plan ahead. Why isn't the audience clued into things that are coming up. So much tension can be built up and mini-arcs can be set up, but no. There is nothing to look forward to.

I have watched. A full quarter of this show. And the only semblance of an ongoing conflict we have is the Red Dragon moving up the floors slightly.

Other than that, we have had minimal character building, some interesting monster biology, and a really stupid forced non-communication plot point.

If you like it, that's great. They had a selling point and they delivered on it, at least. But I think i like the fanwork more than the show itself.

[songsandsophism]

Over a year, huh? Do things ever really change?

I've been busy, I guess we all have. Whether we're using that time on work, education, family, or ourselves; Time is such a strange idea, we rely on it for so many things we become bound inseperably to it. It seems so set in stone, but we bend it every day. Five extra minutes in bed couldn't hurt, I can do that tomorrow, one last episode before bed. The ways we find to take back the time we sold to actions one way or another, time spend standing still feeling like a debt. And yet it's so fragile, we leave things in "The Past", we try to live in "The Present" and, we try to strive for "The Future". Yet, so many of us fail to do so. Some of us are living in the past that haunts us, surrounded by our traumas. The present passes us by, and the future can't be imagined as anything other than more of what we know.

Others seek solice in abandoning things to the future, certain there's always more time to get it done. Embracing the present and making use of all that's there. The past growing in the background, slowly filling with futures missed. Some still find themselves striving for the past, blinded by a past they're told was sweeter, living in a present poisoned by neglect, and warned of a future they're told is so much darker. None of these are wholy unique, some of us have burdens, others ignore whats best for us, and more still let others tell us what to fear.

Political musings aren't my strongsuit - less so even than my other meagre meanderings - but, I live my past, delay my future for present pleasures, and I'm told of oh-so-many things I should fear; Some things I do fear. But, I think my fear comes from all of these things. Especially as elections approach and outlooks are mixed, fascists reach for authority, wealth seeks complacent pawns, and the hands of death sew hared towards their detractors. I see queer rights attacked en-masse, I see people seeking to be comfortable in their bodies labled as predators, moral dangers, echoing times escaped through protests which more and more governments want to suppress. I see those who benefited from radical action decry those that fought beside them for their right to exist throw their siblings under the political bus, and not expect it to turn around to hit them. I think they carry the memory of what it was like to be in the position of victim, and don't want to experience it again, choosing complacency, and in turn, buy themselves time with the blood of others. We delay action on climate, action on poverty, action on systemic reform so sure, that now isn't the right time, that things are hard, and that living through harder times for the sake of our children couldn't possibly be worth it. Changing democratic systems to reflect the voters and not the hands the draw the lines, or the wallets lining those hands' pockets, denied and delayed and degraded by those in power, and those who could snatch power. Fear of others, echoing a certain period in time, sprouting in every part of the world. "The ones coming from the south of the border must be invading" or "They want to replace us". Young men fleeing death labled "Fighting age men", the children dying where they fled being called "Young men". Blamed for draining services they often can't even access, discriminated for "stealing jobs" while having greater difficulty finding employment.

And still so many accept what they're told, that a person's genitals are your business, that those who inheret wealth deserve it, that denying basic human rights is better than compassion.

Seduced by a past of hegemony, of 'simple biology' they were taught as children, and enraged by stories of dystopion futures mandating transitions. Seduced by the promise of a brighter future, where they will see wealth trickle-down to them. Blind to a future where they bake in the heat, and drown in rising seas, unfeeling yachts in the distance. Seduced by the idea of a common enemy, a reason why so many promises were never kept, by the hemogenous past of identical complections, by the promise that once it's just them, everything will work. Turning their back to the deaths their support fills the present with. Sometimes I'm scared by how far time stretches out before me. But for now, I fear the time ticking down to zero. Is there any time left?

[hiimcanadia]

Although (and I know nobody finds this as interesting as I do) the omegaverse fic I'm trying to write features Ed as an omega with more or less typical biology and Stede as an omega with what is basically a hormone imbalance disorder bc I want to make them deal with their heats accidentally syncing up and explore the different ways they react to that both emotionally and physically. Also this isn't set in stone yet but I kind of want this scene to happen in that short period in s2 where Ed is still mad at Stede just for even more drama

[probablyfunrpgideas]

Rethinking the Great Wheel

This isn't a one-size-fits-all kind of idea. I've just been working on my own campaign setting lately, and trying to answer some questions while molding the standard D&D cosmology and biology into something more unique. I still like Planescape's vibe of "ideas becoming physical creatures, places, and forces" but my setting doesn't need upwards of 38 different planes.

I know that deities are an important part of Tephra, so I wanted to establish where they are when not creating the world. I also wanted a home for some of the classic planar creatures: elementals, demons, fey etc.

Tephra is the solid heart of its local reality, as the Material Plane where mortals are born and where they live. The World Below is the afterlife, where mortal souls go. Nerull takes them, Segojan guides them, and Ereshkigal watches over them as the queen of the underworld. The Lady of the Nine Doors makes sure that the dead stay out of trouble in endless dimly lit cavern galleries. Sometimes a resourceful ghost will retain enough memory to return to the land of the living. The World Above is hard for mortals to even imagine. This is the realm of the other gods - good, evil, and neutral alike. Each major deity has a center of power here, though some are better neighbors than others. Sekolah and Umberlee share a turbulent sea domain, for example. The gods also created beings of energy to act in their will from time to time, so angels and devils dwell in the World Above, and powerful mages can call them down to Tephra. The World Between is partially in phase with the material plane. In Tephra, each river and mountain, each geyser and sirocco, has an elemental spirit. Many plants and even some animals have dryads or other fey watching over them. But these beings all live in the World Between, visible and active when they choose. One interesting note: when mortals interact with their environment more and acknowledge it, they reinforce certain traits. So a brook where people do laundry and chat might become a friendly and talkative elemental... or the deadly shipwrecking rock in the bay might have a sinister pack of stone mephits.

[adribelladonna]

The fairy biology post reminded me of some questions I have had:

If fairies can be drunk and they can be poisoned (apparently), then, presumably, anesthesia and aderall should work

Since it seems the detached wing remains somewhat alive, how improbable would it be to eventualy invent a way to reattach it with surgery and magic and loads of painkillers.

If fairies cannot taste, it means they may have even less way of telling if they were poisoned or drugged than humans (who can sometimes smell or taste something off) until it is too late

How important is quality of food to fairies and does the food need to actually be fresh. Did Shall starve a lot? Can someone put some meat on his bones?

How long will a fairy survive if their remaining wing is not torn off but rather has a tear? Can any damage to wings ever recover?

If a fairy's durability is defined by the qualities of the origin material, couldn't the Fairy king found some... less brittle stones for his kids to be born from? The only one who rolled something more or less decent in terms of durability is the babiest brother. Or is that durability isn't as directly influenced by the origin material as we think? Or maybe the Fairy King simply thought that whatever other traits the opal and the obsidian could offer were worth the trade-offs (makes me think, if he anticipated that the opal fairy would come out as potentially very cunning and crafty and obsidian fairy as rather stoical and pragmatic for example, do not know enough about the diamond fairy).

While fairy names are just names and all, the consistency of Fen seems to indicate that sibling fairies at least may share a naming pattern. Do these patterns differ between different sets of siblings or not.

Did Rafalle try to deliberately teach his diamond baby brother things before he was born by constantly talking to his "unhatched" stone, I need to know this. Just how much knowledge do fairies retain from their origin and why if Lusul knew nothing, she could still talk dammit. Are they suggesting the entirety of nature is actually capable of thought and speech and it is just that no living creature is able to normally hear that.

I'll try to answer those with to the best of my ability (and my knowledge) from the various novel titbits that I've gathered!

1. Probably? It would make sense I guess, but then again, no one's seemed to bother to try to give meds to fairies. We know that aphrodisiacs would work on them (it was explicidly mentioned by Mythrill. The best wingman out there was trying to drug Challe with "special tea" at one point. I swear Mythrill is unhinged. If you see him -- run!)

2. It is unclear if the detached wing is still alive or not. It loses it's warmth and colour so it's safe to assume that it's a dead limb... but twisting it still brings pain to the fairy and tearing it still kills them so... not so dead???

3. Haha I was thinking about it for a lot for various reasons. They can still smell things, but what if a poison is colourless and odourless?

4. And can they "eat" something that is not food? Questions without answers maaaan

4.1 I swear both Challe and Anne need to put some meat on their bones. Have you seen them? They both look like twigs, pls.

5. It seems they just can't. If a wing is torn the fairy dies. Don't tear your wings, kids, it might be lethal (probably it IS).

6. The Fairy King was a Ruby, we do know that. He didn't need a weapon since he could just make one like Challe and Lafalle (and Ellile, the diamond fairy for that matter) can. He's crafted a sword for himself specifically so that he could encrust it with an opal, an obsidian and a diamond. Why he'd go with these three stones in particular is a mystery.

7. I've said it before and I'll repeat my joke again:

"We fairies do not have last names," -- said Challe Fen Challe, the brother of Lafaell Fen Lafaell and Elille Fen Elille.

The other sibling-fairies that we know of are Daan and Hala and, unfortunately, I believe that it's their human names, so we don't know their original names.

8. Elille was born from Lafalle's gaze. He was a little cocomelon ever since his birth damn it. For now we only know that Elille is incredivally attached to Lafalle and that is all. It's a mystery how much of Lafalle's "teachings" he retained after his birth. And I don't really think it matters all that much since Lafalle was there with his diamond baby brother from the very beginning. He'd get tainted by Lafalle's ideas either way.

As for the whole "just how much knowledge do fairies retain after their birth" thing, I think it's just an author's tool to use at her own convinience. Magical realism bullshit at play. Of course fairies are born knowing how to speak, no one has time to teach them that, it's not relevant to the plot. What if I tell you Challe was born already knowing some basic sewing skills? What are you gonna do about it? Flip out just like I did? Honestly, good. Glad to know we're both sane.

(I kid you not when I'm saying this btw, the first thing he did after he was born was (aside from scoffing at Liz) pilfering clothes from baby Liz, making a whole scene about how human clothes constrict his wings and how uncomfy it is, pilfering a sewing kit from Liz and resewing shirts to better fit him. I kid you not. I could not make this up. Just... Mikawa-sensei, why?)

[abyssalpriest]

Note: Physical Plane, 3/9/23

Leviathan said: This plane is a linguist's dream. The entirety of it is as a written book is: Linear, black and white, written. I've been showing you the beginning of all things lately for a reason. This world is straightforward, written left to right, words embroidered on to the surface like a sewing machine pulls threads. It's a translation of our favourite book.

Everything is translated, yes, but to a highly black and white degree. Polar paradise. Imagine: The brain is the seat of consciousness, yes? Why? Why does the workings of this plane fit linearly on to Material things? Spirits translate themselves on other planes easily, fluttering between forms and ideas and manifestations, the world listens and echoes their being, their states. It is more usual off this plane to be in touch with the world's archetypal and energetic forms than it is here. Why?

Here is a story, linearly set in stone from point a to point b. The Big Bang is a diorama of the beginning of everything, the brain is a complex set of explanations for consciousness, where did life come from? You'll find that answer here. You can trace back every movement because everything is written in the physical.

This plane is a book. This plane is a manifestation of the author's wishes. The Librarians, the three of us, having spent eons studying the Universe and documenting it, then experimenting with it, then creating our own realities, set out to work on a new experiment: A self-writing book, a self-divining reality. We learned to copy reality into writing forms that extended beyond the confines of what physical books show - though all non-Physical-Plane books extend outside what Physical books allow, I mean in this case we learned to write documentations and memories into the fabric of reality itself - we learned to read reality's expressions though that is a lot harder... Well, wouldn't it be much easier if reality was written in a language we understood? We are obsessive. We were created to write.

God's writing is insufferably encoded to a point that it can't be read except through extensive and arduous and very dangerous contortions of the self and Mind and Matter through to near-God states of existence, which proves doubly difficult because God extends into the microcosm, meaning often you expend all your energy and risk your "sanity" to fold yourself through to the amniotic sac before God's womb, and at the end of the day what you come back with if you make it back at all is a thin, hair-like thread of revelation that isn't designed to be sustained in reality. I say "sanity", Mental things are much more weighty and less Subjective on other planes, much more quantifiable; you will end up being literally contorted and may be damaged and drawn out in certain ways until you cannot sustain a cohesive self anymore, well, the exact process can't be spoken on this plane, but the loss of "sanity" is not simply going insane is what I mean.

So, what if you could set in motion a new library that documented everything in existence, but one where you succeeded as godhead, and thus you were the womb and muscle and skin surrounding that amniotic sac to which the sac and child were entirely... Not "understandable", it still requires massive amounts of processing and other things to translate and observe, but... Organic, to. Of the same DNA. Of translatable biology. What if you were, as a Librarian, to make something that was forced to write things that happened even before and after it was even created, simulating them in real-time, and very specifically spelling out in your language everything that exists and why?

[vivienne-the-drakelayer]

Human variance isn't bound by sex, anyone who thinks it is probably doesn't care about the actual truth of the matter as much as they claim and probably don't have the required thirst for knowledge and open mind required for advanced biology. Nothing you can claim is necessarily set in stone unless proven beyond a shadow of a doubt

[mikaharuka]

Hey, how's it going? So, quick little thing in regards to this post, I was figuring on asking for 6, 10, and 12.

Happy hunting!

Also, good luck on your WIPS

Heyo Salty! Thanks for the ask and sorry for the delay~ I'm finally getting around to clearing out my asks, so here I finally am!

#6 - "What work of yours is it most similar to?"

Apricity has a vague predecessor in this short 1.6k word (I know, shocking) fic I wrote 3 years ago during my short stint in the FE3H world - The Forsaken Throne. This was supposed to be my first multi-chapter fic... except real life got in the way, so I left it alone. This has that same sort of dream-like, eerie, sensory feel. Here's a bit of it:

As the years passed, the mysterious woods morphed into a haunted forest, the spring creatures fleeing and the delicate gardens shriveling as a frigid gust consumed all life in its path. An eerie violet frost clung to the castle as thorn-filled vines lined with deadly icicles scaled the walls of the castle and trails of black ice formed intricate sigils that decorated the courtyards. The interior of the fortress carried an oppressive aura, accentuated by the frosty air. The fortress itself was an ominous warning for all who dared to enter.

#10 - "Is your WIP an AU or canon-compliant? Either way, talk about any research you had to do, lore you had to make, or timelines you had to screw with to make it work. Talk about what makes your universe tick!"

Haha, this goes past AU into "almost original work" territory! You asked for it, so strap in for a wild answer, even though I simplified it!

The tl;dr - I threw out 98% of canon. I only kept superficial things like most character names/appearances, vague supernatural abilities, the general geographic setting of Forks/West Washington, most character relations, and a few superficial plot beats. But all of that is defined differently thanks to the fundamentals of this world.

What I changed... the biggest things, at least.

General Timeline - Canon Twilight took place in 2005. I pushed it forward to 2020 to do some interesting stuff and test out other challenges. Also, a certain C-pandemic isn't a thing in this world, but that's only out of sheer convenience. My one lazy act in this verse XD

The basic framework of the world - it is an Eastern one, inspired by what I grew up with and know (and seeing a bit of that reflected in my work was nice). Along those vein, a much stronger Asian-American presence and more diversity overall.

Vampire biology/lore/themes - this ties quite heavily into the framework bit, but I changed everything from surface stuff (no sparkling thing and they can eat human food, but get no sustenance from it), to fundamentals (animal blood doesn't cut it - they are very much human-blood vampires... and certain societal stuff but spoilers), and to the more ambiguous/sensual feel of the genre.

Magic (mystic) system - ties into the first point. The super short tl;dr is that there is cosmic energy (shakti) that pervades the universe and everything within. Non-humans are mystic by nature, some humans have more shakti than others and can become a mystic user (mantrika, Sanskrit for enchanter, or one who chants mantras, but can be used as a general 'magic user' term). Shakti influences space-time in a "soft fate" way (think... nothing is set in stone, but some outcomes are favored since they are more stable).

History and Lore - Most notably seen in Quileute history and lore/origin stories (totally wrong in canon), but also with when and how vampires and other mystic communities interacted with general human history, major conflicts, political status, and more.

Specific Backstories + Personality Traits + Relationship Dynamics - Although I changed backstories, a few traits, and dynamics to make sense with this world, I kept general plot beats for most characters. The four huge exceptions are Carlisle, Edward, Mina, and Mike.

In Mina's case, I kept her age/time the same (mid-1800s) and changed her human origin story because I wasn't ever going to do the Confederate thing. Also, I wanted her to show up earlier, so she doesn't join the Cullens in the 1950s, but in the 1800s itself. And her ability... she can subtly affect aura to make things more likely, but she's not OP-levels of directly changing emotions like in canon.

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In Edward's case, I kept the vague concept of him and his human mother being caught up in a plague... except you see Salty? Canon Edward is dated to the Spanish Flu in 1918. You know how far back I moved him? To the Plague of the Justinian - mid-500s CE. Of course, his birth name isn't Edward - he changed his name (alongside Carlisle) when they showed up in the Americas. This part alone pretty much erases most his canon personality. I only kept the general premise of the mind-reading, but also changed the mechanics of how that worked.

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In Carlisle's case, obviously he's older than Edward. I haven't 100% finalized the exact years he was human or what his exact turning story is, but you know where I pinned that guy? In the Late Roman Republic - 200-27 BCE. It goes without saying that his birth name is different... but it's already been mentioned in Apricity so far! Well, thanks to the worldbuilding, vampire biology, and timeline, Carlisle is very different. He is absolutely NOT parental in any sense whatsoever. He is very much fraternal/older brother-like. I could go on forever about how he came across as a mentor rather than parental in canon... and how strangely perverse it is for vampires (inhuman, queer concept) to be posing as a picture perfect nuclear family (very human, heteronormative concept), but I'll save that for another day. Just know that I went with "queer found family/siblings" vibes instead. With that said, though, he retains a decent number of his canon traits... adapted to this new world, in any case.

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in Mike's case, he's still your standard human teenage guy in high school. Canon didn't give him (or the other students) much of a light, but canon Mike was entitled, manipulative, and just an all around asshole defined solely around Bella as most characters were. I was always planning on doing justice to the human students of Forks High, but Winter Light's Mike was the 100% winner of that. Not only did he end up becoming co-MCs with Beau and have his own connections and dynamics not centered on Beau so directly (but still influenced, because social connections are webs were everyone affects everyone else)... but his personality was a fun one to alter. He was a manipulative asshole who did stuff in canon... so I simply toned down those traits massively. So now, he's this super observant guy, is extremely quick on the uptake, can logic/deduce things really quickly, can subtly influence the odds in his favor, and has a hilariously petty/sassy narrative voice. However, he also has a defined family, personal circumstances, and is empathetic to a fault. He's kind of stoic on the outside and is the middle child of a well meaning, but huge family... so he's very used to prioritizing others instinctually, thanks to his loud siblings.

Well, I'll leave it at that for now, since I could go on forever lol

#12 - "How did you come up with this fic? Where were you/what were you doing when you thought of it?"

Oh no. You asked the one question that I could go on even longer about, than the previous question! HOWEVER... you're in luck :)

You very, very, conveniently left me another general ask that is closely related to this question. The umbrella question, even!

"Okay, so, this just came to mind for me, but I was actually wondering if you could tell us what originally got you into the whole vampire genre."

I'll spare everyone's time and quit while I'm ahead, before this post gets even longer... but I'll spill the beans when I get to that ask, since a number of people have asked me just how this whole "Vampire Brainrot + Twilight Rewrite + Winter Light Verse" thing even started.

So... stay tuned for that!

[bjrdy00]

For awhile now I've been a huge fan of speculative biology and as an extension world building and like any fixation of mine I wanted to try my hand at making something of my own, so I did! This is the first creature that I've set in stone for this project of mine that I hopefully will continue to work on, it's not perfect per say but I'm very happy with how this janky creature turned out.

A bit of explanation:

Spark of life. Probably the most interesting thing about this creature/world is a fantastical approach on life itself, the very act of being alive in this world is taken into a physical form via a special fragile ball called a spark of life simply put when this ball in socketed into an animal they are alive and kicking and when they don't they just lie there motionlessly even though their body is in a state where they should be alive because the spark is gone they aren't. This all leads to some horrifying assurances such as a creature being mutilated beyond repair but still alive since they have their spark and the ability to resurrect an animal by socketing another creatures spark into them. I realize that this is no way scientifically accurate to anything but that's kind of the point, this isn't the first time I've tried my hand at speculative biology but every time I try to make something it always ends with me realizing I have no idea how biology works, getting frustrated and deciding to take a break, then forgetting about the project. By throwing the laws of nature to the wind and just trying to create something weird and interesting I think I'll be able to create something way more fleshed out than I could otherwise.

Nasal vents. Instead of a nose or a larynx in their throat (Had to look that up) the animals of this world have nasal vents near their brain that give their bodies a large, constant supply of oxygen which has allowed them to reach large sizes despite their copper blood which is bad at carrying oxygen, notice the green coloured innards. This of course leads to the problem of them not being able to stop breathing in which leads to them "swallowing" things they don't want to such as dust, parasites, stray partials and the water from the river they're drowning in.

Neck mouth. A very flimsy mouth that's attached to the neck, I don't really have an explanation for this I just thought it would look cool. I was inspired by animals of "The eternal cylinder" on this, it's a cool game if you like weird creatures like this. 10/10.

L E G S. The animals of the genus this creature is in are hexapods meaning that they have 3 pairs of legs, this creature specifically walks on the front and back legs leaving it's middle legs free to hold things which it uses to pick up and run with it's young when their herd gets attacked, would this creature become sapient (Which I am considering but not sold on yet) they would have an interesting time using tools as their arms are on the very bottom of their bodies.

And that's all! I'm not to sure of my ability to keep going with this project but I certainly hope I do! At least compared to my other failed projects which have nothing to show for them it at least has 1 thing to show for, which is better.

Anyway take care!