#we prefer oxygen minimum zones thank you

[montereybayaquarium]

The most common question we get about Into the Deep/En Lo Profundo: how do we pressurize the exhibits? Simply put, we don’t!

The technology doesn’t yet exist to provide large viewing windows for a pressurized tank. Instead, we feature deep-sea animals that also do well in the lower pressure of surface waters. Our midwater gallery, for example, almost exclusively focuses on jellies. That’s because gelatinous animals, like this chandelier jelly, are mostly made of water, and are constantly at a hydrostatic equilibrium with the environment around them, regardless of depth.

There are other deep con-sea-derations to exhibiting deep-sea animals. Want to learn more? Swim over to our webstory!

[humanmoodring-retired]

Feline A Little Clawstrophobic ||Nicole & Nadia

TIMING: Back in April  PARTIES: @nicsalazar & @humanmoodring SUMMARY: Two cat ladies walk into an elevator CONTENT: Drug manipulation (balam ingesting catnip)

Lack of focus was always a problem for Nicole, but it was safe to say things took a turn for the worst in the past weeks. She was hardly present anymore. To the point where she jumped on her truck and drove aimlessly for hours. Like sleepwalking but conscious, she mused. It was better to drive than to walk, though. Not only because she was forced to do light activity after breaking her ribs, but it was better for her if she put her mental energy into an easy task. Walking used to be how she processed things, and she wasn’t ready for it. She couldn’t think about that night without fear constricting her throat.

Wandering around the shopping center was manageable. It would take real bad luck to break her bones again. Nicole held onto a bag items she didn’t recall buying, and tired of just circling around the same places, she headed towards the elevator. She pushed the button for the first floor, but as the doors were closing, another person entered. The eye contact was minimum before she lowered her gaze, shoulders tensing at the presence. Her lips pressed into a thin line. The woman would be able to tell it was meant to be a smile, right? It didn’t matter, in a few seconds she would never see that stranger again.  

With the weather getting less shitty, and with her body healing more and more each day, Nadia was slowly but surely getting more comfortable with going out and doing things. And, seeing as she hadn’t done shit for her own birthday but it was well over a year since she’d found and rescued her cat, Rhiannon, Nadia decided she was going to do something nice for the little fucker. She was grateful to have the cat back in her apartment, even if she woke up with a giant mound of fur crushing her. It was a good reminder that she was still alive. She’d gone to the store and bought a few cat toys with her groceries, ended up snagging a thing of catnip before she was starting to feel fatigued and decided it was time to head out.

The woman in the elevator with Nadia felt like grief and fear and something numb, familiar and numb. Even if it was probably not as overwhelming as it could be, something that she was beginning to expect from many of the residents in White Crest, it was still a lot, and she felt herself tensing up in response. Still, she managed to give the woman a tired smile of her own and a murmured “thank you” before she shifted her weight a bit and waited for the elevator to take them down. Except there was a grinding noise, a jerk as the elevator came to a violent stop. Nadia grabbed at her side instinctively, even though she wasn’t at risk of stitches popping open this late in the game. “Shit,” she hissed, looking around, trying to figure out what was going on.

Nicole lifted her head when the elevator came to an unexpected stop. For a split second she expected the doors to open for another person, but the woman’s reaction made her realize what was happening. The elevator malfunctioned. They were trapped. “Uh—” she swallowed, slowly processing the situation. The feeling of being caged wasn’t exactly one she was fond of, and she fought to keep her rising anxiety in line.  She let out a nervous breath, eyes fixing on the emergency button. “It— it should be fine” she shrugged, leaving her bag on the floor. The less effort she made carrying extra weight the less oxygen she took out of the room, right? “Un— less...unless there’s a blackout or some— some shit like that” She pulled at the extra hair tie on her wrist, absently playing with it. What could be worse than being in a confined space with a stranger? Even her nightmares were nicer than that. “But... it’ll be fine” she met the woman’s gaze through the mirror on the wall, before pushing the button a few times. When she took a deep breath in, something tickled the back of her throat. Brow furrowed, she glanced at the woman again, trying to decipher her scent. Nothing was particularly strong, yet— she licked her lips, trying to concentrate on the smell.

This was cool, this was fine, Nadia thought as she felt her own nerves mingle with the stranger’s. She wasn’t a fan of tight spaces, she was learning, the way it reminded her of being able to look out her own eyes but not move as she lacked control of her own body. She dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands, the gesture grounding. She was real. It was a shitty situation, but she was real, and she was fine. She almost wished she could walk through the fucking wall like she was still a ghost. Almost. She never wanted to be like that again. “It’s totally fine. Someone’s gonna come, and, yeah, it’ll be fine.” The other woman just really kind of radiated a sense of anxiety that Nadia couldn’t quite get over. This was great. This was why she didn’t get out much. “Just my fucking luck,” she muttered. “Go to the store and get stuck in a damn elevator.” She leaned against the wall and slumped a bit, her bags hanging by her side. When she met the stranger’s eye, she tried to give a half-hearted smile. The other woman’s emotions had changed a bit as her brow furrowed, though Nadia couldn’t quite tell what it was. “Is the, uh, the help button working, or are we in a dead zone?”

Right. It was a good thing they were both staying level headed considering the situation, Nicole thought. Everything would suck so much more if one of them started panicking and sucked all the air in the small elevator. She looked down, hiding a smile at the woman’s words. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only one annoyed by the situation. Had she been better at conversations, she would’ve enjoyed spending the time complaining about shitty luck and poorly maintained machines with her. That was a thing adult women bonded over, right? “No… don’t think it’s working” very slowly, she lowered her hand, as if she still held a glimmer of hope that something would happen. She retreated back to the opposite wall, licking her lips again. What was in the air? It was familiar, yet she couldn’t place it yet. Some sort of plant. Nicole blinked once, twice, tongue poking between her teeth. Wide brown eyes stared intensely at the other woman. Searching, assessing. And then— She took a bite of air. Oh, no. Her heartbeat raced. In the back of her mind she was aware of what was happening, but she didn’t think she’d be able to stop it. Fuck. Still conscious, she tried to pass off the odd movement as a yawn. Good, quick thinking and — Oh, it was creeping on her so, so fast. Premium shit, it had to be. She didn’t think she’d care for long.  “I’m— I’m...do you—” poor woman, Nicole smiled lazily. “Have...cat?”

“Oh, good. Hey, I was worried this would be resolved quickly, right?” Nadia sighed, running a hand through her hair and hoping she wasn’t coming off as an ass. It was just, fuck, being stuck in an elevator wasn’t exactly how she’d imagined to spend the day, and at least she wasn’t alone, but she also wasn’t alone, which meant she had to deal with herself as well as someone else. Normally, she preferred that, preferred that she could focus on someone else instead of herself for just a bit, just a fucking bit, but maybe not while both of them were stressed over being stuck in a goddamn elevator. Nadia liked being able to focus on positive emotions, or even fun emotions like anger. Not anxiety. She had enough of that on her own. There was no need for anymore, thank you. She checked her phone. Yep, yeah, that seemed about right. No fucking service. She bit at the inside of her cheek before she felt a wave of just… mellow wash over her. She looked up at the other woman, the smile on her face and the look in her eyes, and Nadia raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, I’ve got a cat. She’s a total asshole. I actually came to the store to get her a few things and…” she trailed off. “Do you… like cats?”

Nicole inhaled deeply, enjoying the absence of stiffness on the side of her chest. She took in as much of the scent as her lungs allowed. The cast on her wrist was forgotten. The effect was much stronger now that her brain recognized the minty fragrance. She tilted her head back against the wall, transfixed by the emergency lights. “Fuck” she let out a breathy laugh. “I’m so so—” she wanted to apologize, knowing she would embarrass herself, but the words faded from her brain. Nice. “Mmm...I’m cats” She closed her eyes, a blissful smile plastered on her face. It was hot inside the elevator, Nicole registered. But for a few seconds there was nothing to worry about. No dreamscape, no cliff, no anger getting out of control. Just the fast beat of her heart to focus on. Not quite euphoric yet. She needed—  craved more. The scent just wasn’t enough. Her mouth was watering. Pupils were blown when she opened her eyes again. She got off the wall, taking a few clumsy steps towards the human. She offered a mischievous smile, nodding at the bag. “Hey... c’mon” she pleaded softly, before getting close enough to peek inside. Her prize. It was driving her wild. She gripped the human’s wrist, forcing her to lift the bag, before rubbing her face against it. Almost. Her patience ran out quickly, the human was so slow that she smacked the bag out of her hands, content spilling on the floor. She dropped to her knees, trying to rip the catnip bags open.

“What the fuck do you mean, you’re cats?” This was a little weird, even for Nadia, but she couldn’t deny that this chick’s emotions? They felt so much better than her own. Pure fucking contentment and happiness and relaxation. It’d been awhile since she’d felt that, and, sure, maybe it wasn’t full-throttle, but, god, it felt nice. It was weird as hell though. Nadia backed a bit into the wall, pushing herself against it. The woman grabbed Nadia’s wrist, the one that had been snapped sometime during or before the exorcism, and Nadia winced. “Hey, hey, no grabbing, let’s not-- let’s not grab, okay?” Nadia… knew this feeling, sort of. She recognized it from the few college parties she’d been dragged to, the way she’d felt it coming off of people from the crowd and filling her, making her want to go back for more. “Dude, are you-- are you fucking high right now? How? We’re in the-- you just spilled my shit, holy fuck.” She watched as the bag of catnip and toys spilled out on the elevator floor and the woman went down to the ground. “I just bought that. Fuck. Wait-- you’re cats. You… you want the catnip.” Okay, cats. Cat people? Cats. This was fine. This was totally normal. “I’m stuck in an elevator with a high cat lady. I wish I was a high cat lady,” she muttered, and she slid down the wall to sit, shooting the woman a tired look. But, hey, at least she was relaxing.

Nicole heard the sounds. Words, she knew. Vaguely. Not that it was ever her strength, but she couldn’t exactly form a coherent sentence at the moment. Her head bobbed without a clear direction, attempting to nod. A cat lady. Curious eyes observed the woman for a moment, waiting for some sort of reaction, any reaction to her trying to tear the bags opens. She was rude but not that rude. It confused her, tilting her head as the woman quietly slid down the wall, but it was the permission she wanted.

She crushed the catnip between her fingertips, nostrils flaring when more scent was released. All tension left her body. Nicole was weightless. She brought the catnip to her mouth, getting a taste of it. A hoarse grunt escaped her mouth. Shit. Shit. Her body tilted forward in slow motion, until she couldn't keep her balance and face planted on the ground. She rolled on her side, letting out a strangled laugh. Something out of the corner of her eye made her jump. She was ready to pounce when she realized— Oh right, the forgotten human. She could enjoy the catnip too, otherwise why did she buy it? Nicole wasn’t selfish. She pawed the air, until she got a hold of her sleeve and pulled her down to the floor. She laughed at that, before breaking down some catnip.  “Here…” she mumbled, her clumsy hand rubbed it in the woman’s face.

There was a woman getting high off of catnip, and Nadia was stuck in an elevator with her. That was what was happening. That was her life now. At least the woman seemed to be enjoying herself. Nadia could feel the relaxation and ease that was working its way through the woman, and it was nice to hear a laugh. Nadia managed a small one herself as she watched the woman struggle with movement. It was funny. It was enjoyable. It almost made being stuck in an elevator for the near future something that was almost tolerable.

Or, at least, Nadia could have believed that it was tolerable until she was pulled over and down to the floor with a groan. “Hey, no, no-- fuck.” She was on the floor with a woman that was high on catnip, and that woman was dragging her down and rubbing catnip in Nadia’s face. Sure, it smelled alright, but it wasn’t, like, weed or shit. “That was for my cat,” Nadia said, her tone dry as she plucked a piece of the catnip out of her hair. “But, hey, glad you’re enjoying it, you know?” It was hard to stay mad with the good vibes.

Nicole gave the woman a blank stare. She wanted to understand what she was saying, she really did. The words were floating above her, but they sounded like a foreign language as they reached her ears. She hummed in response, trying to keep a serious face. Whatever she was saying sounded important. Her cat, something about her cat. Her smile kept growing however, stretching until it hurt her cheeks. She buried her face in the bag again, taking as much as she could before discarding it somewhere on the floor. She allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment, eyelids heavy as warmth swept her body. The sensation was barely familiar. But it wasn’t new, just long forgotten. Like feeling loved or cared for. Being safe on her mother’s lap. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt anything similar.  

Jealousy filled her chest. The human had to be a great cat owner. How come no one was doing that for her? She turned her head to see the woman, watched her remove the catnip from her hair and while confusing, the message was understood. “Oooh” Nicole would’ve been embarrassed by what she was doing. So embarrassed that she would’ve considered moving out of town. But when the scent of catnip was impregnated in every corner of the elevator, shame was hard to register. A clumsy hand reached out to help, patting her head with no delicacy and tousling her hair in the process. Her human brain still pushed to communicate, thank the woman for bringing such a nice gift to her. Making her feel safe. But words kept failing. Instead, she settled by her side, gently pressing her forehead against the woman’s shoulder. Her breath slowing down.

The cat lady, who was a different kind of cat lady than Nadia’s type of cat lady, was well and truly high on catnip. Of all the things that she expected to happen when she came to the store, this just wasn’t it. Maybe, like, getting attacked by one of those fucking mime creatures. She could have seen that happening. Or maybe the sky raining fish. She’d been there, done that, even if she didn’t get the t-shirt. But this was… a little weird. Not the worst thing in the world, but a little weird. It was hard to be too mad, though, when the woman was smiling and felt genuinely content. It was weird as hell, but she wasn’t, like, malevolent. Nadia had been in worse situations.

“Shit, fuck, ow, yes, thank you, thank you, that’s very nice,” Nadia said as the woman swattered at her head. It was just like dealing with Rhiannon. If Rhiannon was a grown ass woman that was swatting at Nadia’s head. Really, it was practically the same thing. She reached up to fix her hair before giving up and resigning herself to it. Then, the woman leaned against her, calm and relaxed and, yeah, okay, maybe Nadia relaxed a little bit, too. Despite being locked in a fucking elevator, this really, really wasn’t the worst. “Maybe don’t, like, fall asleep. Just in case someone comes to get us out of here, soon.” But she was also a little tired. Just a bit. Not much. But Nadia was always tired. Always. But this was kind of relaxing.

Nicole could hardly remember what her life was before she was on the elevator floor cuddling with a stranger. Nothing extraordinary, surely. But she couldn’t care less. The back of her head was tingling pleasantly and that was all that mattered. She had a moment of utter relaxation and she was going to make the best of it. The human beside her wasn’t too bad either. She made a decent cushion compared to other human cushions, and some of the catnip scent had impregnated on her clothes, making her perfectly comfortable. She barely registered what the woman said, because it was time for a nap. And what was more important than that? So she hummed, letting silence fall on them as she enjoyed the best moment in her miserable 27 years of life. Nothing was going to ruin it.

The floor underneath them shook abruptly. The metallic sounds so jarring to her sensitive ears that her body jumped, suddenly on high alert. Nicole was on her feet faster than it was humanly possible, taking her surroundings in. Her brain was foggy, and though it felt like she should’ve been worried about the source of the sound, all she felt was confused. Not yet conscious, but the sensations gradually subsiding. She narrowed her eyes, staring at the woman on the floor with a puzzled expression. “Wha—?” she let out a big laugh, trying to understand why a woman would be lying on the elevator floor in a mess of bags and herbs.

Nadia was resigned to this. This was her life. She lived in this elevator now. She’d never get home. Her only hope was that Ms. Carmody would see about Rhiannon when it appeared that Nadia wasn’t going to go home. She’d never leave this elevator, and she’d die being essentially cuddled by a stranger that was high on catnip. Her saving grace was the second-hand relaxation that poured off the woman in waves, making Nadia not totally perturbed by her situation. Really, it could be worse. There were more tragic ways to go out. More terrifying ways. More nightmare inducing, memory tugging ways that she thought about all the time. This? This was fucking peaceful. Nadia could allow this, even if she’d miss her friends, her people. She was relaxed. She was chill. She was--

She was jolted away when the elevator started moving again, as well as when the woman moved. Nadia sat up, brushing the catnip out of her hair for real this time as she looked around them. The elevator door opened up, and she stood, grabbing her things. There was a guy that opened the door.

“You ladies alright?” he asked.

“Fine, totally, appreciate it,” Nadia said. She looked at the other woman who was still dazed. “We, uh, we should get off.” Nadia couldn’t tell what happened, but she’d gone from high to coming down relatively quickly, and that seemed to have left a lot of confusion in its wake. She didn’t even mind being laughed at. “Unless you wanna stick around the elevator, that is.”

The rumbling continued, and the elevator began to descend. Nicole felt as if she was being pulled in two drastically different directions. On one side, she tried to navigate the thick fog in her brain, recall important information, like who the fuck was the woman with her and why was she suddenly fond of her. On the other, she gripped the sidebar, her stomach filling with the primal urge to hunt down whatever monster was causing those awful sounds. It didn’t make any fucking sense. She gritted her teeth, but it wasn’t enough to contain the hiss she directed at the emergency lights. Her cheeks flushed, embarrassed. Great. Her awareness grew, but somehow so did the grogginess. Part of her was falling asleep while the other was waking up. And no one seemed to agree on who was going to take control yet.

When she looked down again ,her companion was sitting, brushing off whatever it was she had on her. Cat...nip, she read on the bags. Catnip. The wheels began turning faster. She breathed out, relieved to be able to read. The scent was still floating in the elevator, but it had no effect on her anymore.

The smile still playing on Nicole’s lips faltered, and as the door opened, everything clicked. Well, fuck. The woman’s voice came, and she saw part of her confusion reflected on her face. Nothing but babbling sounds came out as she tried to speak. God dammit, what did she do? And why did she still want to laugh? She nodded curtly at the suggestion, picking up her bags and following the woman. She clenched her jaw, wondering if she could spontaneously combust due to the humiliation. The doors closed behind them and there was silence. “Yeah, uh— sorry about...” she shook her head, pointing in the direction she was about to go. Making a mental note to never leave her house again. “Know what? we...we don’t have to,” they didn’t need to talk. Ever. Why bother? “We’re just not gonna...never” she continued to nod, gripping her bag with sweaty palms. Yeah, that was perfect. She turned around, too scared to wait for the woman to add anything. Eyes fixed on the ground, she bolted towards the nearest exit.

[artist-in-space]

I should be studying but I can't find the motivation. Any advice?

Sorry for the late-ish reply, my internet died... I hope I’m not late???

But here’s what you do.

Determine the passing score. I don’t know how you guys grade your tests, but for us in my school I had determined that sixty percent is the passing score that you should aim for. Fifty percent is achievable-- I believe in you-- but aim a bit higher, just to make sure. That’s why I aimed for sixty percent.

Next, sit down, and tell yourself- you just got to pass that sixty percent (or whatever passing score you need to achieve). You can do it. However, this is purely self-talk, but it has merits-- believe in yourself. They don’t joke that the mind will influence a lot, especially studying.

Get into the “zone”. My study time was always, always 9 pm to 12 am, for some reason. I’m not saying that you should study at that time, I’m aware I suck at noticing the time, but everyone has study times. Are you good with certain time schedules of 1 hour review versus 30 minutes break? Or are you the 2 hours review, 15 minutes break? Sometimes continuous studying makes you tired, and unmotivated to learn. Breaks are nice and rest is good for your mind.

(Just don’t sleep. Promise, it will turn bad)

In those break times, I suggest not going through discourse (good god that’s bad for your brain in these trying times) over the internet. If ever, talk to your friends, or watch a video. I’d include listen to music-- but if you prefer listening to music while studying? That might help you in studying.

If you’re getting bored with studying, I recommend doing something akin to the subject/topic you’re studying about. Bored for chemistry and how ions form? Watch something about how water is used in outer space to create oxygen. Bored learning grammar? Read bad/good posts or find funny stories. Let your mind fleet through the concept-- it might help you in the long run. I mean, I understood algebra finally because of physics. What a twist!

Funnily enough, some other stuff I do to be able to study (2 and 3 are my faves):

-Find something that could make you inspired. Yes, it’s hard to find motivation sometimes, but maybe your can persuade your thinking. Some examples are: “I could study now so that I can sleep earlier. I can study now so I can watch something later. I should try to pass this so I could buy a... something (I like eating cup noodles after a job well done in a stressful situation lol). Or maybe, banter with your friends and make a little competition or rule, or something that could get your study zone going. My favorite is “let’s study and we could text-scream at each other how hard this is”.

- Check the teacher’s way of grading. I had some.... not-good teachers in the past and man, oh man. I just had to measure what I should study for the meantime and what not to purely out of their past tests or how they ask questions. I had one teacher who would point out certain concepts or outright say “this isn’t included”. If you think that’s how it might be, then don’t bother to be honest. Sometimes minimum effort is what is needed, HAHA

-Related to this, check their habits for tests. Do you remember your teacher impressing a ‘certain’ question? Does your teacher prefer odd-man-out to multiple choice, do they like for you to explain concepts by example or by theory, et cetera? That’s maximum effort.

- Guilt trip yourself (it kinda worked for me?) if you think you can do better for the test but you know you’re not doing anything. I remember-- this arts subject that I had-- I hated how the tests worked, so sometimes I said I would just “wing it”. But I knew that I could do better, and somehow I ended up studying for a subject I didn’t really care about, which, woo yay me

I know that the lack of motivation might be centered through different stuff. Other “quick” remedies:

-Is it because you’re tired? Sleep. Or rest. Your brain will thank you later. Then make do with your time.

-Is it because you just don’t want to? Mhm, remember. It’s your grade.

Lastly, do your best. That’s it; do your best. Not other’s best-- good god, if you saw one of my friends study it’s unreal-- but yours. You know who you are and what you could do. Others? They’re different. Maybe they like the subject, maybe they love studying. Do your best, because you can do it.

I believe in you! Hope this helps!

[annoyedbritishperson]

Alien Anatomy

I’ve kinda been thinking about alien anatomy and here’s some vague conclusions I can come up with.

Insect: so there’s the idea of insect type aliens and if they’re anything like earth insects then their size would be limited by the amount of oxygen (or whatever they breathe) is around. So larger bug aliens could only exist with high breathable concentrations so their planets atmosphere must be a minimum of 30% of their preferred breathing gas. Also, exoskeletons can only be thick to a certain extent before they can’t breathe so larger sized insect aliens would have a thin (compared to smaller insects) exoskeleton; but that doesn’t mean that they can’t have the biological equivalent of steel making up their exoskeleton, they’d still need support if they’re on the larger size, flight could also get a little tricky if they’re on the larger size (basically they might have to go into different methods of it but idk, I’m not a professor on insect flight)

Reptile: so like insects their size would also be limited, but not by air/atmosphere composition but by temperature. The closer to the equator (on earth) the hotter the temperature, and, if you haven’t noticed, the bigger the reptile species. Only the largest reptiles live in the hottest places, you don’t exactly see a saltwater crocodile in Norway. To put it simply, it’s because of their heat regulation; they’re ectothermic. If they live/ evolved on a world with similar temperatures to ours then largest they could be would be a large monitor lizard. And don’t ask “what about dinosaurs? They were lizards”; taxonomically yes but their living descendants (birds) are exothermic, suggesting some sort of transition along the evolutionary line.

Mammalian: size can obviously stay the same maybe bigger/smaller than what we know (for mammals it’s mostly gravity and pregnancy limiting our size) whether they evolved on a planet with more/less gravitational pull. Mammal variations such as marsupials might get around the pregnancy issue since their young are born around the size of a jellybean and monotremes just lay eggs (btw the pregnancy issue is basically that the bigger the mammal the longer the pregnancy and the longer the pregnancy the more time you’re vulnerable to predators) though if you’re a pack hunter, pregnancy might be less of an issue since you are the predator and those in your pack could bring you food so that you wouldn’t be in any danger by hunting (the prey could choose to attack as a form of defense).

Birds: now you can bring in your dinosaur anatomy since they’re technically one in the same (though velociraptors were likely not unnaturally intelligent). This isn’t a rule based off of fact but if you base the bird/dinosaur design off of Jurassic park dinos then you’re out (THE THERAPODS (carnivorous bipeds: velociraptor etc) SHOULD’VE HAD FEATHERS! T. rex might’ve been the exception as they could’ve been big enough to regulate their temperature without insulation but I digress) they would also be able to get around mammals size issues as they don’t have to worry about since they typically lay eggs and have a lighter structure meaning larger size (have you ever held a bird? They’re strangely light, as if they’re constantly inhaling helium instead of oxygen)

Fish: all I know of their physiological limits is that it’s a little similar to the insects limits as oxygen concentrations (or any gas really) is almost always in higher concentrations in the atmosphere than it is diffused in the oceans. As long as they have some sort of propulsion and streamlining to a degree there would be less rules with this one ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Amphibians: they would have to be heavily reliant on the liquid they evolved from and their skin would be weak to infection (at least ones they haven’t evolved against) they might be able to metamorphose like bugs through their life too.

Mollusks: for those who don’t know mollusks include things like octopuses (yes its octopuses not octopi) and snails. Due to the lack of set bones you could have as many appendages as you please, ones around the mouth are likely as it would help with eating. Early in their evolution basically all mollusks had shells so it wouldn’t be unheard of for your alien to have one too though they could also have lost them (like squid or octopuses) or chosen to adapt them into a bone like structure (like cuttlefish) though that would prevent their awesome ability to squeeze into anywhere. Their skin could also be used to communicate or camouflage as they’re notoriously good at changing their colour and even shape to fit their surroundings.

Plant based life: by this I basically mean a moving plant. If they regularly photosynthesise then their need lots of leaves or their equivalent, they’d likely have a bark like exoskeleton to keep them from flopping about as they move, if they don’t, they’d likely stay small; like bowtruckles from fantastic beasts. If active then they would get rid of rooting into the ground as a method of nutrient extraction for something else, they could have a mouthpiece to transfer water directly to a xylem and have some sort of digestive system equivalent for minerals etc.

Planet: I need to put this in because it sorta affects all creatures. If they evolved on a planet with less gravity then they could potentially become space faring sooner as they wouldn’t have as much of a problem reaching escape velocity. There’s also more potential for flight and bigger “mammals” on these planets. Their orbiting star can affect them too; if they’re around a red dwarf then they’d have more time to develop but their planet could be tidally locked meaning there could be limited habitability on their planet, either too hot on one side and too cold on the other but there’s a small line between the two where liquids could exist and life could evolve, it would also bring in the fun concept of them being like “WOAH, NIGHT AND DAY? WHAT IS THIS?!” Since all the time it would look like twilight/dawn on their planet. If they’re orbiting a supergiant star then they’d have to evolve quickly since supergiant stars don’t live that long before going supernova; this could suggest that they’d have super short lifespans, a year (for us) might be super old to them and they could think were immortal since we live so long (even by our standards) their planet would also have to be much further away to be in the habitable zone so their star may be dimmer from their perspective and, as a result might not evolve eyes. Life on a planet orbiting a supergiant star could also survive with less of a magnetic field (they’d still need one though, but life could still exist with a weak one) so life on their planet could have less geographic activity, therefore less volcanoes and less earthquakes. Other mainstream stars like our own might not differ much when it comes to development and lifespans, it just matters how long they’ve been there/ how long through the stars life it is.

Blood: the colour of an animals blood depends on its needs. Since all animals we know of use oxygen I’m basing the colour on what we know of oxygen breathing life. Hemocyanin (blue blood) would be better used in cold climates so if your creature evolved on an icy planet it’s blood would likely be blue. It gets its blue colour from copper instead of iron. Remember, evolution works as survival of the good enough so if the planet was extremely cold in life’s early emergence then they’ll likely gain this colour and stick with it regardless of whether their planet is cold later in its life. Haemoglobin (red blood) is overall more efficient so if the planet isn’t that cold then red would be more likely to occur. Hemerythin (violet blood) is a simpler structure compared to the first two; going along with the rule of ‘survival of the good enough’ a lot of creatures could possibly have violet blood due to its simplicity. Biliverdin (green blood) is a pigment, it doesn’t carry oxygen and occurs when haemoglobin breaks down but makes animal more resistant to disease meaning that it would be more likely to occur if they evolved in a disease infested environment, likely as a result of lack of predators since disease would replace them in culling their population.

Limbs and organs: limbs such as arms and legs have no real set boundaries though it’s a good idea to make sure that they keep the same amount of limbs or less of them based on the creature they and other creatures on their planet have evolved from (e.g. we have four limbs in total because the first terrestrial vertebrates had four, animals like snakes etc have lost theirs over time but none have gained any limbs because you’d need to have severe evolutionary stress to specifically gain limbs or die: otherwise it’s too much effort for extra limbs). Organs you can go crazy with, you can have as many eyes as you want and in insect like aliens you could even forgo the need of a heart (or heart equivalent) due to their different respiratory system (you could get rid of lungs then too :P) you can have as many sensory organs as you want though you should take into account their planetary surroundings to make sure each organ is necessary (e.g. little to no constant light could mean no eyes/eyes that detect different wavelengths than us)

This has been an unnaturally long 1:30 am shitpost but I felt like I had to say something. Thanks for reading, laters.