#i also think that stark was originally a female banik but that’s just me hitting him with my transgender beam

[satanic-fruitcake]

6 notes? yeah that’ll do.

spoilers for… everything, all throughout, specifically The Peacekeeper Wars. Also a warning for a bit of mild sanism toward the end, used only for dramatic effect.

I’ll start this off with a general farscape world building theory, and that’s that most, if not all, of the less imaginatively designed species in farscape are simply like that because they’re part Sebacean. Descendants of Sebacean cross-breeding programs from when the Eidolons were trying to make adjustments to their physiology. the Baniks and Kalish, as well as many others, are the living results of this.

Over the thousands of cycles that have passed since these races came around, they’ve evolved, and devolved in completely unexpected ways, (more on that later) and their numbers have grown far greater than the Peacekeepers wanted. This is why, in the present, the PK’s oppose contamination so strongly. And why the Baniks and Kalish are conquered species’s, and kept in servitude. they’re a “mistake”.

I unfortunately don’t have any solid ideas about Kalish, (they have a pinkness about them, and look vaguely reptilian? i was thinking maybe the Pathfinders, but. ehhh.)

The Baniks however. Are none other than descendants of the Sebaceans and Eidolons themselves.

To explain this, i’m gonna need to talk about our beloved leather-clad half Sebacean half Scarran Scorpy.

Scarrans interrogate people by radiating immense heat that, somehow, makes people tell the truth. (this is farscape, don’t ask don’t tell) The Prodigal Grasshopper doesn’t have this ability, but he has something just as good. An unexpected result of his breeding gives him a built in lie detector. The Scarran’s ability is external, Scorpius’s ability is internal.

Eidolons bring peace externally because they emit a glow that evokes a feeling of calm and neutrality. Baniks inherited an internal version of this ability. “outsiders think that we do not feel, but it’s only that our feelings don’t always show.”

i think this makes sense with how Yondolaow addressed Stark with… familiarity, almost? he understood that him being a Stykera meant that he understood the psyche of those he passes over. This could also effect how Stark Wigged The Fuck Out when absorbing Yondolaow’s knowledge. And also why it worked, instead him just spontaneously combusting or something.

Now, about the Stykera. Stark’s character profile claims that a Stykera is simply a particularly special sub-species if Banik. I think that’s bullshit, in the sense that it’s a common, galaxy-wide misconception, and that there are even some Baniks who don’t know the truth. Also, i just kinda find that explanation boring. So, my theory is this:

this next part is in direct contradiction to Stark referring to his own body as a “molecular creation” but i’ll be honest. i just don’t give a shit.

The Stykera are different race to Baniks entirely. A formless, non-corporeal race who can only live in this realm by finding a body to house their soul. The Baniks, for whatever reason, perhaps their mental abilities and stoic fortitude, perhaps their peaceful ways due to their connection to Eidolons, are the only species able to house them.

The transference of souls - or possession, whatever word you prefer - happens at birth. The Stykera’s soul and the Banik child’s just. swap places. with the Banik starting the process of becoming a Stykera. Energy, able to view our realm but not experience it until however many cycles it takes for the Stykera inhabiting their body to die. They’re then transferred, randomly, into a Banik being born. and the cycle continues.

now we go into general headcanon territory.

This viewing of the world is vital, because so is their duty to the dying. and the only preparation Stykera get for the real world. and, hey, it’s more than humans get. Unfortunately, if Stykera are anything inherently, it’s emotional. empathetic. easily overwhelmed. They have an utter inability to develop a thick skin, to become desensitised, because it would interfere with their duty. Selflessly giving souls passage to the other side at the detriment to your own sanity requires boundless empathy. Banik wilful stoicism doesn’t come naturally to them, it has to be learned, with time, nurture and great self control. all of these are difficult to come by in slavery. Not to mention how few and far between Stykera are. Stark’s ability to achieve calmness and serenity when performing his duty is the best you can expect. from as early as birth, Stykera are so rarely sane.

…. so that’s my theory! thanks so much of you’ve read this far, please reblog if you like because ive had this rattling around in my head for months and it’s 2:40 am because it’s taken me nearly two hours to finally get it written down.