#i'm pretty sure these are bioluminescent plankton

[heartnosekid]

bioluminescent waves recolors 🌈 | source

[wyked-ao3]

Hellooooooooooooooooooooooo! 😎😎😎

I'm so intrigued about the Bioluminescent Sea in TPKODR, can you tell us...everything about it?

(ok, without spoiling too much of course)

Like : does something similar really exists? Where the inspiration came from ? 💗

thank you for the ask @gioiaalbanoart. 🫂

Real life:

Milky seas, like off the Horn of Africa, are caused by the presence of millions of bioluminescent bacteria on the surface of the ocean. Sometimes the outbreaks will be caused by bioluminescent algae and changes in the marine environment.

The light swirls of bluish-green sometimes found near Puerto Rico are actually collections of millions of bioluminescent dinoflagellates. Dinoflagellates are a type of plankton.

Plankton consists of most organisms (plant or animal) that inhabit the oceans and are a source of food to larger aquatic creatures. A large number of plankton are known to be bioluminescent. Bioluminescent plankton occur in all the world’s oceans.

And don't get me started on how many types of bioluminescent animals/insects ECT there are.

Also here is an article that explains how it happens pretty well

Inspiration: I'm a nerd and i wanted something that could technically really happen to make the ocean special....then of course I'm also adding in magical reasons but I wanted some if it to have roots in the real world....also I had a fever and had a weird dream after researching bioluminescent plankton....where it was sticking to people like glitter...it was kinda funny. Also it smelled like rotten eggs if they didn't wash it off due to it having a sulphuric breakdown process....0_o my dreams go into detail when they are weird

TPKODR

The ocean in question:

The bioluminescence sea glows due to a overpopulation of luminescent plankton according to the locals but in reality the water glows on its own as well, they just don't know it. There is a mixture of colors and they swirl together in ways that has mesmerized some pirates into ship wrecks. Although it is still a lovely sight to see it border's the kingdom of Xerex and Tarak and it holds the main portal to the pirate island that was once faélánd. It has every type of sea monster that the others seas have and is the mermaid capital. It is also a key point for the pirates cursed god later on in the series.

The creatures within:

sirens are the water fae and are evil, they turned their backs fully on the ways of old and went dark and slowly corrupted the older they are the more monstrous they appear, they reproduce asexually after feasting on the ones they drag down into the depths. They sing songs and whisper to allure the sailors into the water and once in the water they will never return 10/10 don't recommend an encounter.

Mermaids are of no relation to the fae, they prefer merfolk as their are males as well. They are peaceful but not to be messed with, the royals all have gemstones embedded in their skin. The ones that appear almost human have human soulmates. The ones with more scales are fully Merfolk. They can walk on land if they have a human soulmate otherwise they can't. They have a allure as well but those immune to the siren are immune although they hear the constant whispering. They have accidentally killed sailors if weak willpower as they would hear the whisper's and give into temptation. They are a matriarch driven society and Queen Coral is the current queen her daughter Anne will be the next despite having a human mate. They have a treaty with the pirates and are a honor driven society who believes in repaying debts...from you saved my life you are welcome to stay here or ask for aid in the future to an eye for an eye type of situation.

Kraken: belong mostly to the mermaids as guards. I'm not sure on the logistics of it but perhaps their songs keep them calm? Then you have the rouges that are far away from the Mer palace they are the most dangerous to deal with. They can range in size but they all have a reddish purple tent that is unique to the kraken.

Large fish: nothing coming to the top of my head other than sunfish.

whales: will not be encountered often as I don't want to die laughing, I fondly blame @the-golden-comet for most whale scenes being either at a distance or in the past...😉

Oisìn: plus I bloody hate the things since they about capsized me my second day as captain.

Megalodon: they will be huge sharks capable of severe damage to ships and run-ins will be rare. They are more of a deep water shark.

Behemoth: will be a land and water dwelling dragon like thing if I add it in the second or third book.

Leviathan: it's going to be kind of a giant serpent that spits scolding hot water to stun/kill prey.

plus many others and then theirs the creatures you can find on ships......

tpkodr tag list+ @tragedycoded and @saturnine-saturneight & @sableglass Since it's a lore dump.

@thatuselesshuman @gioiaalbanoart @lychhiker-writes @goth-automaton

@thecomfywriter @evilwriter37 @saebasanart @the-golden-comet

@mauannacreates @kind-lion @alinacapellabooks @kuebiko-writing @kaeru483

@differentnighttale @theink-stainedfolk @unstableunicornsofasgard

@mysticstarlightduck @demon-sneeze @an-indecisive-nerd @smellyrottentrees

@honeybewrites @pheonix358 @the-letterbox-archives

[biorust-art]

And There Were Stars! OMG, that was a beautiful piece of writing! Your descriptions, that Din finds the waters are warm, the way he realizes the blue glow, and compares it to being among stars, the Armorer's response when he returns! It's beautiful! Also, the fact that the tiny little lifeforms release oxygen! That's actually one of the theories for how Earth got its oxygen -- cyanobacteria respiring oxygen in response to photosynthesis, known as the Great Oxygenation Event. (1/2)

I wonder, now, if the beskar might have some ferric iron through it, as cyanobacteria synthesized Fe(II) in water to Fe(III), and eventually these created banded iron deposits in rock. Maybe your glowing lifeforms might have a similar action? The implications are pretty interesting! But I'm off on a tangent, and I just want you to know how much this story meant to me and how much I loved it. Thank you so so much for writing it, you did an excellent job! (2/2)

Actually, one last note: while cyanobacteria are generally harmful to humans, I have heard stories of bioluminescent bacteria being involved in healing. One of these is a story of soldiers in the American Civil War, whose wounds glowed, but healed cleanly. While there are apparently no contemporary written reports of this, it's a fascinating idea. It leads me to wonder if the waters in the Mandalorian mines, as depicted in your story, would also have healing effects? Just a thought!

Ah!!! Thank you so much!! And I think you’ll be excited to learn that I am a Marine Science minor! So yes! I know about cyanobacteria <3 and I absolutely used my fic as an outlet for my love of marine plankton and the deep sea.

For the plankton in And There Were Stars, I combined attributes of cyanobacteria and dinoflagellates (some species which are Known for their bioluminescent qualities ((and others for the toxins they produce but that’s not relevant here))) and some other creatures to make my own special Star Wars plankton. In my head, I had it that the plankton ‘activated’ when Din went into the water due to the new movement (because in many creatures, bioluminescence is a self defense mechanism) and started to, essentially, feed off him (think dead skin cells) and thus they had the energy to produce oxygen and continue glowing. I also had it in my head that the entire cave system glowed due to chemical signals that essentially would wake up the entire colony in a few were ‘set off’

Oh and they would absolutely feed off of beskar in the walls, but since its not their limiting factor, they would stay in stasis until someone showed up. But in terms of iron in the walls, I’m not sure! I think beskar is an alloy and not a pure metal (in some sw sources, who knows if its cannon though) and one of those alloys might be iron!

I know about the civil war incident! It was called Angel’s Glow, and if I remember correctly, the Angel’s Glow essentially kept the wounds clean while they healed. There’s actually a podcast about it; Sawbones Link here -> Angel’s Glow | Maximum Fun

About the healing, I wanted the pilgrimage to focus around the idea ‘leap of faith’ and being connected to Mandalore, past present and future. The whole thing is very spiritual for Din. Extremely personal too, and something that can be interpreted by other people in other ways if they took the same journey. I think if the waters were healing it would add a practical aspect to the pilgrimage that would be too… materialistic almost. Like one wouldn’t understand the importance if one just came for the healing properties. So, no, no healing water. But I will say, the entire planet is essentially anoxic, so the discovery of an oxygen producing creature is… very promising for Mandalore’s future.

Thank you so much for your comment! <3 I LOVE geeking out and you’ve brighten (heh) up my day immensely!

[heartnosekid]

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