puddleorganism

[puddleorganism]

for the worldbuilding asks: 33, 39, & 40

Realized I never specified which spacefarer(s) of the 14 I have I was answering questions for, so I’m just going to do the ones from my most recent post, Oxyu!

33. Is your sophont located in a specific area or are they found everywhere?

Oxyu technically are not spacefarers, I just call them that because I use the term spacefarers instead of sophonts and they fall loosely into that category. They’re part of the Interstellar neighborhood regardless so it’s just semantics. The point is that their planet’s surface is almost entirely uninhabitable, with simple life only existing in isolated pockets in geothermal springs. Complex life, like Oxyu themselves, only exists in one single cave system fed by one of these springs. First contact is usually left up to the species entering the neighborhood, but Oxyu are a different story. They were accidentally discovered when a mining operation ignored the scant signs of life on this planet and broke through into the cave system the Oxyu called home. Since then they’re being tentatively integrated into the interstellar neighborhood through long-distance education and cultural exchange, though none have yet actually gone into space.

39. What children's toys are there depending on the age group?

For xuwu & xuwuzu (neonate/larva):

Fishing toys - literal lines with charms on the end like fly-fishing lines (just without the hooks) used by adults to encourage aquatic larvae to swim around and practice hunting. As Oxyu society has started relying more on agriculture than hunting, this has started falling out of fashion, as hunting isn’t seen as such an important skill anymore.

For xuwuzuho (infant):

Mirrors - usually made of highly polished stone or shiny minerals. Rarely are they a solid flat surface like our mirrors, usually they’re a bunch of little reflective surfaces attached to a string or stick. Used to encourage light usage and entertain young ones who have just learned how to flash their lights.

Texture pads - usually carved stones, carved bone/carapace, or even fabric woven in different textures/patterns, sometimes with inlays or beads. Xuwuzuho play with them by running their still-growing-in whiskers over them. Promotes dexterity and the ability to differentiate textures.

Animal figurines - usually carved out of soapstone. Very common due to soapstone being cheap & plentiful and easy to carve.

Noisemakers - mostly hollow containers filled with pebbles. Popular because babies make funny faces when playing with them (Oxyu hear with their feet, so holding an object that rattles can be startling and overstimulating for babies who haven’t figured life out yet).

For children/adolescents:

Toy spears and other tools - spears are becoming less common as hunting does as well, but it’s fun for any kid to mimic their guardians.

Streamers - similar to fishing toys, but much bigger. Kids have fun chasing these, dancing with them, or even just watching them flow in the river.

40. What beverages are common?

That is. A very good question. Honestly I’m not exactly sure how to answer it lol - I don’t have a lot of Oxyu cuisine figured out. Because they live in a cold cave system, I imagine things keep pretty well, so they probably drink a lot of fermented things. They also have a thing about being close to the source of the river that fills their caves (it’s like a hierarchical/belief system thing), so it might be a fad to drink water that was collected from the source. Additionally, they don’t cook, so while they’re not beverages, Oxyu use a lot of sauces, dressings, etc. to flavor their food. Maybe something similar to garum!

[puddleorganism]

“I can fix him” just get a Belgian malinois or an Australian shepherd or something

[puddleorganism]

My bugs #mybugs

[puddleorganism]

Worldbuilding asks

I was looking for a numbered ask list about worldbuilding projects and found none so I made my own.

What inspired you to make your project and what was the starting idea?

What is the first art you made for the project?

What is something that you struggle with designing / writing for the project?

What kinds of pet animals do your sophonts keep?

What is the technological era of your setting? how does it differ from our timeline?

What are the health and beauty standards of your sophonts?

How do your sophonts react to seasonal change?

What does your sophonts art look like?

How many colors can your sophont see?

What are the basic foliage colors? are there areas where the color is different?

What do plants look like? are they similar to earth ones are drastically different?

Are there unique biomes?

Are there any non intelligent species in your sophonts clade? how do your sophonts view them?

How social are your sophonts? how do they show affection? is it done in private or in public?

Is there a crab like creature?

What weapons or tools are used by your sophonts?

What is your sophonts diet like? how does this affect agriculture?

Are there any big cities or well known areas in the world?

What sports are common and how is it perceived publicly?

Are there any rude or disrespectful gestures used by sophonts?

What does the typical family structure look like?

What organisms reside around cities or settlements but are not domesticated? (like seagulls or rats)

How does society view those not within the norm?

Are body modifications like piercings, tattoos, decorative scarification / branding common?

What are some holidays celebrated?

Is there food only eaten during certain times of year? is it because of the availability of the food or just the holiday?

Are there any dolls or toys that resemble sophonts?

What musical instruments are common? how often is it enjoyed?

What are forms of literacy that are used? are there books , scrolls or other forms of writing canvas?

Is seafood regularly eaten?

What types of drugs or smokable substances are used?

What domestic livestock exist? how do they differ from the wild species? what different breeds are there?

Is your sophont located in a specific area or are they found everywhere?

What insect or small organism species are there?

What large organism clades are there and how have they evolved?

Are there any animals that evolved out of the ocean and returned like whales / dolphins?

What are commonly ridden animals?

What "bird" species are there?

What children's toys are there depending on the age group?

What beverages are common?

What new invention exists and what is the public perception of it?

What creature or concept have you wanted to talk about but have not had the chance to? now is your chance :)

How do your sophonts refer to themselves?

What is your biggest worldbuilding pet peeve?

What camouflaged organisms are there?

What are some architecture examples?

What home decorations are common? are there statues, tiles, flags or other decorations?

What are some bed/ chair examples used?

How big are your sophonts compared to a human?

What mythical creatures or sprits are believed in?

[puddleorganism]

My bugs #mybugs

[puddleorganism]

That is NOT his belly

Public domain photo by Ken Thomas

Why the hell are they called red-bellied woodpeckers

[puddleorganism]

Why the hell are they called red-bellied woodpeckers

[puddleorganism]

Organism Prompt #8

Mixotroph (can obtain nutrition through heterotrophy (consuming other organisms) and autotrophy (producing their own nutrition))

Tiny

Amphibious

Is somehow reminiscent of a fern

This is little project to expand the biodiversity of my own worlds. I have many space-faring aliens, but few of their homeworlds are fleshed out. Anyone is more than welcome to use these prompts as well! Please tag me if you do, I’d love to see what you come up with :)

My organism below the cut:

These organisms are native to the Agacana homeworld, a terrestrial planet with a highly eccentric orbit and dramatic seasons.

These creatures are mixotrophs - they acquire nutrition via photosynthesis and filter-feeding. During warm seasons and in warmer climates they rely predominantly, if not entirely, on photosynthesis. During the cold seasons when the sun is far away, they rely almost entirely on filter-feeding with their spiraling arms.

These creatures spend most of the time in the water affixed to some surface or other, but will settle anywhere that is sufficiently damp. On land, they usually acquire nutrition via photosynthesis, but may drag their arms through mud or water if there are available nutrients within them.

These creatures are usually stationary, they typically only move to relocate to more nutritious areas, to mate, or to vacate areas with high predation. When they are mobile they are typically slow-moving, crawling along surfaces. On rare occasions they will detach from whatever surface they are on and use their arms like paddles to swiftly wriggle away. They usually only do this when injured.

These creatures can act as disease vectors, as they will sometimes pick up water-born diseases or parasites, and then migrate into cisterns, wells, or other water sources and can spread these diseases into population centers. Because of this they are commonly seen as pests by Agacana, and most think of them as dirty or gross creatures.

Even so, in certain pockets these creatures are considered a delicacy, and are eaten regularly. Though, in the modern era, only those grown in farms are eaten to prevent the risk of disease. They are sometimes used as food sources in space travel, due to their hardy and low-maintenance nature.

[puddleorganism]

Send me your favorite mech/cyborg/sci-if prosthetic-having characters I want to do some fanart and get better at drawing that kinda thing

My list so far (I’ll add them as they come in):

Ava (Ex Machina)

[puddleorganism]

Bang 💥 spec bio beam

[puddleorganism]

Made this ages ago and I’m pretty sure I just forgot to post it lol

[puddleorganism]

Bang 💥 spec bio beam

[puddleorganism]

Made this ages ago and I’m pretty sure I just forgot to post it lol

[puddleorganism]

Being on tumblr (freak website (affectionate)) makes looking at art on different sites so funny because artists will be like WARNING ‼️‼️SUGGESTIVE and it’s just a cute girl in a bikini standing there🧍‍♀️

[puddleorganism]

Organism Prompt #7

Carnivore

Mid-sized

Other (not terrestrial, aquatic, or aerial, but something specific to their world)

It resembles a wolf in some way

Bonus relationship prompt: Superstition

This is little project to expand the biodiversity of my own worlds. I have many space-faring aliens, but few of their homeworlds are fleshed out. Anyone is more than welcome to use these prompts as well! Please tag me if you do, I’d love to see what you come up with :)

My organism below the cut:

These creatures are native to the Slimarian homeworld.

These mid-sized carnivores live in and around lakes, though they are not the most adept swimmers. Instead, they live above the water, running along flats of lily pad-like organisms that cover much of the lake’s surface.

They are cooperative pursuit predators, chasing down and herding small creatures that also live on or visit the surface of the lake. They often hunt small amphibians, the few other terrestrial creatures that live exclusively on the surface, and commonly herd small flighted creatures, leaping dramatically into the air to catch or herd them towards their fellows - often ending in them taking a dunk in the lake and paddling awkwardly back to the pads. They also are known to strategically herd and take down creatures larger than themselves, such as tall waders, large fish, or even small Slimarians.

They are intelligent and exceptionally cooperative, using complicated and often target-specific strategies to hunt. Strangely enough, they rarely, if ever vocalize, and produce very few pheromones. They seem to flow around each other with silent precision, as if they know exactly where each other are and what they are thinking and doing instinctively. In truth, they communicate almost entirely through psionic communication - a direct mind-to-mind interface.

This is a trait they share with Slimarians, though it is species specific. This ability is not common on this world, but is present in multiple species and has independently evolved several times. Organisms with this sense can detect each other through this manner, but the signal, as it were, is weak and often incomprehensible. Though sometimes they are able to detect intent, so intelligent creatures like these beasts and Slimarians must alter their hunting strategies to account for it.

There is superstition among Slimarians, that eating these beasts increases one’s own psionic sense, allowing them to sense further or with more accuracy, or even in some cases allowing them to understand the creatures consumed better. It’s common for older, larger Slimarians to hunt down other creatures with a psionic sense - including the one featured here - and feeding them to their young to encourage the development of this sense. Violence is generally considered a result of an underdeveloped psionic sense by Slimarians, so it’s a common form of conflict resolution to gift the meat of another creature with psionic sense. It can also be a bit of a back-handed insult by implying the receiver is brutish or stupid. So, sometimes it starts more fights than resolves them.

[puddleorganism]

Organism Prompt #6

Heterotroph (can’t produce their own food, instead consuming other organisms)

Large

Terrestrial

Capable of breaking the sound barrier

Bonus relationship prompt: Predator

This is little project to expand the biodiversity of my own worlds. I have many space-faring aliens, but few of their homeworlds are fleshed out. Anyone is more than welcome to use these prompts as well! Please tag me if you do, I’d love to see what you come up with :)

My organism below the cut:

This creature is from the Grassraptor (actual name tbd) homeworld.

This creature is called the “whipdevil” - and for rather good reason. They are very large, at least by Grassraptor standards (about the size of a real-world hare, which is about 10-15 times larger than a Grassraptor), and have no qualms about hunting them.

The whipdevil is a highly aggressive ambush predator, that often hides burrowed just under the surface of sand, or nestled inside crevices and under ground cover. They will rarely leave their den and are generally slow moving. Except for their whips, of course.

Whipdevils have long, modified antennae attached to powerful muscles and latch-like mechanisms in their carapace. When not in use, these antennae lay flat against the back. In use, they launch forward at incredible velocity, enough to occasionally break the sound barrier and create the distinctive sound of a whip crack. If these whips hit any smaller creature, they are often instantly killed or injured enough they cannot escape the whipdevil’s (much slower) grasping claws. Even macroorganisms avoid whipdevils, as though they are rarely killed by whipdevils, their whips can leave nasty lacerations on just about anything that approaches them - not to mention the frightening noise of their whips alone can scare most beasts off.

Because their antennae are specialized for whipping, the whipdevils’ sense of smell is quite dull compared to most. They rely almost entirely on sensing vibrations through the ground. They do not seem discriminate against what they whip, and are often mocked for being stupid - whipping just as fervently against a thrown stone as they will actual prey. In reality, they do discriminate. Their whips become damaged with use, and though they molt frequently to compensate, a whipdevil caught without any whips is a dead devil. So, they only whip at things that make consistent vibrations, or things that startle them (such as a thrown stone). Even still, with a poor sense of smell and poor vision to boot, their targets aren’t always sensible.

They will eat just about anything they can kill with their whips, which ranges from things far smaller than them, such as Grassraptors, to even creatures larger than themselves.

Whipdevils are rarely predated upon because of their aggressive nature and dangerous whips, but some clever larger predators are capable of stalking and killing exposed whipdevils.

They are generally disliked by Grassraptors because whipdevils actively hunt them. This is compounded by the fact that abandoned or uninhabited structures are often used as dens by whipdevils, and so they can be dangerous by proximity. It is theorized by historians that Grassraptor long-ranged weaponry such as spears and bows was first invented not for hunting or conflict, but to defend themselves from whipdevils.

Dodging a whipdevil’s whips is a common aspect of Grassraptor folk legends and tall tales. “Dodging the whip” (or other variations) is a phrase often used by Grassraptors to indicate incredulousness or to imply one is exaggerating or lying. For instance:

“Yeah, I totally did everything you asked!”

“Uh-huh. And I bet you dodged the whip, too.”

[puddleorganism]

Organism Prompt #6

Heterotroph (can’t produce their own food, instead consuming other organisms)

Large

Terrestrial

Capable of breaking the sound barrier

Bonus relationship prompt: Predator

This is little project to expand the biodiversity of my own worlds. I have many space-faring aliens, but few of their homeworlds are fleshed out. Anyone is more than welcome to use these prompts as well! Please tag me if you do, I’d love to see what you come up with :)

My organism below the cut:

This creature is from the Grassraptor (actual name tbd) homeworld.

This creature is called the “whipdevil” - and for rather good reason. They are very large, at least by Grassraptor standards (about the size of a real-world hare, which is about 10-15 times larger than a Grassraptor), and have no qualms about hunting them.

The whipdevil is a highly aggressive ambush predator, that often hides burrowed just under the surface of sand, or nestled inside crevices and under ground cover. They will rarely leave their den and are generally slow moving. Except for their whips, of course.

Whipdevils have long, modified antennae attached to powerful muscles and latch-like mechanisms in their carapace. When not in use, these antennae lay flat against the back. In use, they launch forward at incredible velocity, enough to occasionally break the sound barrier and create the distinctive sound of a whip crack. If these whips hit any smaller creature, they are often instantly killed or injured enough they cannot escape the whipdevil’s (much slower) grasping claws. Even macroorganisms avoid whipdevils, as though they are rarely killed by whipdevils, their whips can leave nasty lacerations on just about anything that approaches them - not to mention the frightening noise of their whips alone can scare most beasts off.

Because their antennae are specialized for whipping, the whipdevils’ sense of smell is quite dull compared to most. They rely almost entirely on sensing vibrations through the ground. They do not seem discriminate against what they whip, and are often mocked for being stupid - whipping just as fervently against a thrown stone as they will actual prey. In reality, they do discriminate. Their whips become damaged with use, and though they molt frequently to compensate, a whipdevil caught without any whips is a dead devil. So, they only whip at things that make consistent vibrations, or things that startle them (such as a thrown stone). Even still, with a poor sense of smell and poor vision to boot, their targets aren’t always sensible.

They will eat just about anything they can kill with their whips, which ranges from things far smaller than them, such as Grassraptors, to even creatures larger than themselves.

Whipdevils are rarely predated upon because of their aggressive nature and dangerous whips, but some clever larger predators are capable of stalking and killing exposed whipdevils.

They are generally disliked by Grassraptors because whipdevils actively hunt them. This is compounded by the fact that abandoned or uninhabited structures are often used as dens by whipdevils, and so they can be dangerous by proximity. It is theorized by historians that Grassraptor long-ranged weaponry such as spears and bows was first invented not for hunting or conflict, but to defend themselves from whipdevils.

Dodging a whipdevil’s whips is a common aspect of Grassraptor folk legends and tall tales. “Dodging the whip” (or other variations) is a phrase often used by Grassraptors to indicate incredulousness or to imply one is exaggerating or lying. For instance:

“Yeah, I totally did everything you asked!”

“Uh-huh. And I bet you dodged the whip, too.”