#star wars xenobiology

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

Do you have any Muun headcanons?

So I didn't really know that much about Muun and had to do a little research this morning. One thing I find interesting is that they are said to live in a snowy, mountainous climate, yet have super elongated and slender features.

In biology, there's a principle known as Allen's Rule, which states endothermic animals in colder climates tend to have shorter limbs and appendages than similar animals in warmer climates to reduce heat loss. This appears to be the opposite of what we see in Muun.

For a long time, this was thought to be due to selection pressures, but actually some research is showing that cold temperatures actually suppress cartilage growth in homeotherms. The hypothesis is that, because cold weather constricts blood vessels, that limits nutrient flow and therefore growth in soft tissues like cartilage.

In Muun, their most distinguishing feature is said to be compressed/flattened noses! So perhaps the cold weather in the environment they are native to contributes to their appearance. So if you took a Muun infant and raised them in a warm climate, would they grow a normal nose? Perhaps.

I'm still perplexed in how they've adapted to a cold environment yet have such long, frost-bite ready limbs. Maybe they are native to a particularly warm microclimate, like volcanically-active mountain ranges, and originally lived near the natural heat source? And over time, obviously being intelligent, they made body coverings and structures that allowed them to expand their range further out, but at the cost of their nose cartilage?

Just a thought.

Also I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I strongly prefer how @stagbeetleboy draws Muun to how they are depicted in canon.

[bogleech]

Wow, what a cool exotic Star Wars planet!

Wow its apex predators are bioluminescent plants that evolved in total darkness!

Oh shit there's a civilization there and it rides around in giant "horrifying" tunneling centipede tanks?! Can't wait to see what these weird ass aliens must look li-

wow don't strain your imaginations TOO hard guys

[dathomirdumpsterfire]

For fun, I wanted to think through which organs Darth Maul is actually missing. This gives us clues as to which bodily processes he just doesn't have anymore, which ones he's using sith juju to make up for, and what Talzin or Death Watch might've done for him with the prosthetics. To be fair, humans have about 70 to 80 possible organs systems (don't ask), but who knows what zabrak have, and where they truly are located. We can only guess.

✓ Means he probably has this.

X Means he probably doesn't have this.

O Means he probably only has some.

(Checklist and conclusions below the cut.)

✓ Adrenal glands (above the kidneys)

X Anus

X Appendix

X Bladder

O Bones

O Bone marrow (spongy part of the bone)

✓ Brain

✓ Bronchi (tubes in the lungs)

✓ Diaphragm (muscle of breathing)

✓ Ears

✓ Esophagus

✓ Eyes

✓ Gallbladder

X Genitals

✓ Heart ( 2 of them!)

✓ Hypothalamus (in the brain)

O Joints

✓ Kidneys

O Large intestine

✓ Larynx (voice box)

✓ Liver

✓ Lungs

O Lymph nodes

O Mesentery (Nerves, vessel, & fat storage in gut)

✓ Mouth

✓ Nasal cavity

✓ Nose

✓ Pancreas (hormones/enzymes)

✓ Pineal gland (in the brain- hormone production)

✓ Parathyroid glands (hormones, in the neck)

✓ Pharynx (back of the throat)

✓ Pituitary gland (in the brain, hormones)

X Prostate

X Rectum

✓ Salivary glands

O Skeletal muscles

O Skin

O Small intestine

O Spinal cord

✓ Spleen (big blood filter)

✓ Stomach

✓ Teeth

✓ Thymus gland (immune training, in the chest)

✓ Thyroid (hormones, in the neck)

✓ Trachea

✓ Tongue

O Ureters (Kidney to bladder tubes)

X Urethra

O Ligaments (connect muscles to bones)

O Tendons (connect bones to bones)

✓ Blood cells

✓ Hair (Uhhh... horns? I guess he has eyelashes?)

✓ The vestibular system (of the ear)

X Testes (unless zabrak locate them internally)

✓ Nails

X Vas deferens (testes to genitals tube)

X Seminal vesicles (semen fluid production)

X Bulbourethral glands (makes preejaculate)

X Penis

X Scrotum (if zabrak keep the testes externally)

✓ Parathyroid glands (neck, hormonal)

O Thoracic ducts (Where lymph flows into veins)

O Arteries

O Veins

O Capillaries

O Lymphatic vessels

✓ Tonsils

O Nerves

O Subcutaneous tissue

O Olfactory epithelium (nose)

✓ Cerebellum

Long story short, besides just his legs and genitals, Maul lost most of his digestive and urinary systems.

He actually kept almost all of his life-critical organs, so whatever sith voodoo he was doing to stay alive on Lotho Minor was probably focused on fighting off sepsis (due to the unclean end points of his digestive system. Remember he got cauterized by a lightsaber so assume he had to make... new holes. There may have also been some self-done surgery to reconnect what remained of his large and small intestines.)

The loss of his testes, if he indeed had human typical location for them, could have proven a growing problem, considering that they make 90% of a man's testosterone, and that's needed just to have normal amounts of energy.

The digestive track is also a problem, as the gut microbiome is where a lot of neurochemicals are produced. For example, 95%~ of the body's seratonin is produced in the gut. Lacking huge chunks of his small and large intestine means that Maul had poor absorbtion of nutrients, and probably needed to eat all the time just to get a fraction of the calories and nutrients from his food.

So. He lived on the edge of starvation due to a truncated digestive track, had low energy, mood imbalances like you wouldn't believe, and constant sepsis. I'm sure the acid rain being the only source of fresh water was also just, so helpful.

I assume, by the lack of black veins on him afterward, and (sort of?) stable mood, that talzin might've regrown some of his gut and fixed the end point issues. Later on, Death Watch (being mandalorians) might've given him more robust life support systems that included testosterone replacement and cybernetic genitals. Seems like what they would do for their own people.

Possible lingering complications? I assume he has a VERY weird relationship with food. He had spider legs for twelve years, so bipedal motion probably fails him sometimes. Back pain. Phantom leg pain. Nerve junction issues. Immune system weirdness (from all that missing marrow, and a long stint with sepsis). Issues storing fat. Talzin yoloed his brain back to sane-adjacent, so mental health is... I mean. Yeah. Triggers. Teeth prone to chipping and cavities (from malnutrition and acid water). Possibly goes to the bathroom once a day and urinates like a race horse. Issues with being touched, myriad phobias, and a squirrelly libido.

Did I miss anything?

[megamindsupremacy]

Stewjon is Space Scotland: Names and Naming Conventions

For context, I designed an entire naming system for my Stewjon is Space Scotland AU. I'm still trying to work out the cultural logistics of it, but the actual practical logistics I have down.

To break everything down:

Stewjon is a clan-centric society, with clans and clan names having a hugely important role in the culture. I therefore had clan names feature in both the first and last name of Stewjonis.

-The last name (Kenobi) is the family/clan name, and is passed down the family paternally. This is both because I'm from a western culture with a paternal naming tradition, and also because I liked how his parents names sounded when the last names transferred paternally but not maternally. "Ken" would translate to "Clan" (I don't know if this is accurate to Scots English or Scots Gaelic, but I'm working from canon Star Wars names and trying to worldbuild from nothing so work with me here), and then the clan name "Obi" is attached, so "Kenobi" translates to "Clan Obi" or "of Clan Obi"

-The given name (-Wan, but we'll get to "Wan" in a second) is one to two syllables. All of these names are (according to Wikipedia) actual Scottish names, which I picked from the list mostly based on how well they'd sound next to the clan name.

-The prefix clan name (Obi-) is the interesting part. All children are given the father's clan name as both their first and last clan name. Therefore, Obi-Wan Kenobi, son of Ito-Benneit Kenobi, has "Obi" in both his first and last name. However, upon marriage, the couple swaps their prefix clan names to signify the tie between their clans. Therefore his mother Ito-Ceit Kenito and his father Obi-Benneit Kenobi became Obi-Ceit Kenito and Ito-Benneit Kenobi upon their marriage.

-Originally I was going to do something with the fact that "Obi" means belt in Japanese, such as making the clan names signify professions in the same way "Miller" or "Smith" would in English surnames, but I gave up because Japanese is so different of a language from what I understand that I would have just made myself very confused and everyone who understands Japanese language and culture very mad. So I just went with a vowel-consonant-vowel pattern for all the clan names and called it a day.

-Remember how I said we would come back to "Wan"? Obi-Wan wasn't born Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was born Obi-Owen (Owen is a whole 'nother thing and I decided to just give myself a freebie on it), and his name was anglicized (basic-icized?) upon being brought to the Jedi temple. Not on purpose, but it did happen. So technically the chart above should have him listed as Obi-Owen Kenobi, but I already took the screenshot so this is what we're working with.

-Culturally, it's respectful to refer to someone by their full name (Obi-Owen Kenobi). The full name stands until two people are fairly close to each other, platonically or romantically. The informal, friendly version would be their full first name (Obi-Owen). So you wouldn't call your new friend "Obi-Owen" until you're quite close, even if you're social equals. Technically you could refer to someone by their given name only (Owen), but it's awkward and Stewjonis don't really see a reason for it. All of this highlights the cultural emphasis placed on clans and clan ties in Stewjoni society.

The Family Tree

THE KIDS

Starting from the bottom, we have the four Kenobi siblings. Obi-Conn is the oldest, and he marries Yana-Eóin Kenyana, becoming Yana-Conn Kenobi. None of this happens in the story but I wrote it in the chart anyways. Obi-Eóin is nonbinary, which is why their square is white instead of blue or pink.

Obi-Mór and Obi-Pál are twins and approximately four years younger than Yana-Conn. Obi-Mór is ambiguously disabled (she has some form of muscular disability, but the specifics weren't relevant to the story). Obi-Pál is just some guy and I love him for that.

Obi-Owen is the baby of the family. He's twelve years younger than the twins (16 years younger than Yana-Conn) and was definitely an oopsie-baby. I don't need to say anything else because he is also one of the major characters of the Star Wars franchise. You know him.

THE PARENTS

Obi-Ceit Kenito and Ito-Benneit Kenobi are the Kenobi siblings' parents. I don't have much to say here other than that Ito-Benneit shortens his name to Ito-Ben, to avoid the repeated "eet" sound in his full first name. I'm sure that doesn't affect Obi-Owen's future nicknames in any way!

It is Ito-Benneit fault, by the way, that I made clan prefixes instead of surnames to be switched upon marriage. Culturally, it would have made more sense for the more commonly used first name to hold your birth clan and your less commonly used surname to indicate your linked-by-marriage clan, but I needed Obi-Benneit to marry into the name Ito-Benneit so that I could shorten it to Ben. Goddammit.

THE GRANDPARENTS

Ito-Ben's parents are entirely irrelevant so they don't exist. Sad!

Technically I didn't have to name Ito-Lili Kenuna, but I felt bad having her up there as an unnamed person. Una-Owen Kenito, as you may suspect, is where Obi-Wan's name comes from. I really wanted to highlight his Stewjoni heritage in this fic, so giving him family ties through his whole name was important to me. Obi-Ceit names Obi-Owen for her father because Una-Owen was a strong fighter, and she wants to pass that resilience to her son. Which, uh. Well he sure is resilient to things trying to kill him!

Feel free to come yell at me in the askbox about Stewjon's worldbuilding!

[troythecatfish]

Who the hell says tv shows/movies even have to have plots? I would love to see David Attenborough do a nature documentary on the flora and fauna of the various planets from the original Star Wars trilogy!

[graaid]

Even aliens have to take baths ;)

[zincbot]

forgot i love sci-fi a normal amount

[stygiantechpriest]

SILVA TENEBRIS LOREDUMP

(MAC'S FORGEWORLD)

Silvra Tenebris was a tomb world of the Szaregon dynasty. It was awoken during the early age of the imperium, slowly awakening over time. The awakening quicking during the era indomitus when explorators of the adeptus mechanicus invaded the planet. Once on the planet, the mechanicus forces invaded and scoured the planet. During their invasion of the planet, the mechanicus forces had a rebellion led by a known heratek. During this rebellion, Techpriest scavola sided with the heratek rebellion and killed Fuastinius in on one combat. Due to the fallen leader, the mechanicus forces suffered a skishm, with Lector-Dogmatis Videx dumping all the mechanicus forces on the planet and leaving, thus leaving the new leader Scavola and the remaining forces, which includes Xenobiologis Tiresus, Subdomina Khepra, Quartermaster Rho, Prime-Hermeticon Captrix, and Magos Dominus Reditus. The focres now lead by Scavola managed to establish an alliance with the Necrons of the tombworld. 

They eventually dubbed themselves “The Court of the cog”, with Lord Szaregon and Lady Tech-aquisitor scavola as its leaders, using the mechanicus leaders to supplement the court members that fell during the original invasion. At some point, during interrogations with a void dragon C’tan shard, the shard spoke of an accession beyond flesh, even beyond Magos Dominus Reditus’s ascension. One techpriest, Madoc Fuego, decided to speak with the shard personally, and both disappeared for a long amount of time. After the period of time was done, a machine spirit calling itself Machina Furem emerged, showing a hybridization of the C’tan shard and the techpriest. The machine spirit however, also speaks of memories that was not Madoc Fuego’s, perhaps suggesting it is several techpriests and the C’tan shard. The machine spirit shown extreme interest in learning, so Szaregon and Scavola treated it as their child, and it learned all that the Court of the Cog could teach it. The machine spirit eventually figured out how to open temporary webway portals, and subsequently the Court of the Cog purged the world of the Flayed ones and the Destoryers.

However, not all would be well, as eventually  Lector-Dogmatis Videx returned with a full fleet to perform an Exterminautus on the Heratekinca of the World. The court of the cog used hybrid Necron-Mechanicus tech to create a defense system that woud assult ships with bolts of Guass, and trace the beams with Necrodermis, thus ensaring and webbing the ship. The ships were then siphoned of motive force, thus stunning them. This meant that the exterminuatus fleet were ensared and pulled onto the planet, wrecking them. Lector-Dogmatis Videx’s forces were attacked and subsequntly defeated. Lector-Dogmatis Videx was captured and brought before Lord Szaregon and Lady Scavola. They decided to punish Lector-Dogmatis Videx by stripping him of his augmentics and wiring him into a vox system. 

Some time after, a large shard of the C’tan Maldogoth emerged, and began a schism in the Court of the Cog, thus starting the War for tenebris. During the War for tenebris, forces lead by Maldrogoth began to use necron biotransferanse technology to capture and convert forces of the court of the cog to his side. Maldrogoth eventually seized the artefact of the Court of the Cog, but in a last ditch effort, the court of the cog split the artefact into 8 shards. Madrogoth seized 4 shards, and began to create a large device dubbed Maldrogoth’s Grasp, emplaced at the north pole of the planet, and connected to the core of the planet. Maldrogoth’s forces began to work on the tombs of the planet, carving strange pathways into the planet, and using scarabs and tomb spiders to carve sections of the tomb. When the carving was done, Maldrogoth used Maldrogoth’s Grasp to ensnare the star of the system, and drag it into the planet, and the purpose of Maldrogoth’s wrath was revealed; the star was ensared and forced into the planet’s core, desabilizing the planet, and the carved sections shifted, enlarging the planet and allowing every tomb to be powered by the star. The maldrogoth shard reveled in this, as it meant that it could use the newfound power to power Maldrogoth’s grasp even more. With more modifications, Maldrogoth’s grasp became even more powerful, allowing it to breech the webway and the warp, ensnaring all neabry ships and pulling them onto the surface of the planet, where tehy are scrapped for technology. The maldrogoth shard was distracted enough during the modifactations to Maldrogoth’s grasp that Prime-Hermeticon Captrix was able to assiante it by pushing it into the star core if the planet, however due to the nature of the C’tan shard, this did not kill it, but instead made it comatose. 

In current times, the Court of the cog are mostly defeated, lying hidden in inactive tomb sections, hoping that machina furem coud organize an effort to purge Maldrogoth’s forces. 

Due to the horrid atomosphere generating constant storms, and the high gravity of the enslaved star, hover technology doesnt work on Silvra tenebris, thus the mechanicus of the forge world adopted achhranid like patterns to their bodies and vehicles. It is not suggested to fly on Silvra tenebris, as the constant storms and dense atmosphere make flying difficult and dangerous. Due to the reshaping of the planet, large pillars of blackstone emerged along the coastlines and beaches of silvra tenebris, much akin to basalt pillars. 

Over the years, many factions have come to or been grounded on silva tenebris, making it a constant battleground. It is of interest to those who know about, as it holds many secrets and technologies on it. 

The factions under Machina furem regularly come to the planet to save the planet, but so far it has been to no avail. The factions include the Mechancus cult of the Machinasiah, which believe machina furem to be the omnisaih, the Adeptus soroitus cult of the Order of the Blessed cog, which are akin to the Machinasiah cult but also are mostly fanatical electropreists, using both augments of electropreists and arcoflagelants to create electrified zealots. The chaos cult of The Lord of Technology, which worship the warp nature of Machina furem. The Tau cult of Fio’Tek-O, which have learned the lies of the Etherals and decided to side with Fio’Tek-O. 

Live doc link:

This is the setting for my Warhammer 40k DnD 5e campaign!

[thenightmarketofdathomir]

I love your amazing headcanons about the Dathomir culture, it's so well thought and so interesting.

That said...is there a reason of why you headcanon the Dathomir dicks to look thier particular way (with the flared tip, the knott and the ridges) I know it's such a nerdy question but I wondered if there was something that lead you to that headcanon!

I won't answer this in character because it's not a typical ask for the Market, and accordingly, I'll preface this by saying that this is opinion and personal preference, but I'll show my work with some expediency because xenobiology isn't a forte of mine, I just like what I like, and this is my high-level why:

Zabrak are a humanoid species so they share some characteristics with us, sure, but innit nice to find a surprise sometimes between the thighs?

CW: Strong language, sex talk, Nightbro xenobio and culture, mention of omegaverse tropes

There's been a lot of talk about knots in the Market largely because several of the asks welcomed tropes from omegaverse. I don't personally hc that zabrak come equipped with knots, but I do favour an HC that includes a few ridges on the dong (and the running joke is that the bigger the zab, the more ridges they've got *points at Savage.*)

I think in some of the earlier asks where omegaverse tropes occur, I was still in the process of trying to clarify my own core headcanons pertaining to Nightbrother dominance traditions, and while there are some familiar ties to omegaverse, I've since moved away from it.

The origin of the ridged cock HC emerged from a bit of "research" for me... or, googling "what species have penis ridges?" because I have a curious nature:

The first being that there are certain mammalian species with keratin ridges on their penises, assumed to stimulate ovulation, or be involved in other cases of sexual selection (I remember reading one article about cleaning out competitors' sperm from the vaginal canal, but if I remember correctly, that theory was refuted.) There's also a mention on wikipedia about creating a plug (a "genital lock") as well, which I think serves the same purpose as a genital knot in omegaverse to keep the come inside once its deposited to increase chances of fertilization. (I can see that logic handshake there, but feel free to weigh in if you've got a different resource or reference tying together the fiction and the reality. Would love to hear it.)

The second thing that fused this idea with Star Wars is an offhanded comment made by Savage after Maul was retrieved from Lotho Minor and they were ramping up on their brotherly reign of terror post-chicken leg aquisition, in that "we don't need to assert dominance over one another, brother" (or something to that effect.) It made me go HMMmm at the process of Selection and HMMmmm at physiological differences to facilitate mating dominance and HMMmmMmm at Nightbrothers having a hierarchy amongst themselves that assigns priority to the greater warriors and the greater potential sexual partners among them and what that suggests about their societal stratifications and how they act around each other (and who defers to whom etc.)

But ALSO, let's be super practical here and overshare while we're at it: I'm a monsterfucker at heart and they're just a fun ride, friend.

(Yeah, they make toys like that.)

Hope this helps. I'm in favour of occasion-based HCs and nothing is law unless stated that "it's the rule for the fictitious AU I have written and it true within the confines of the story." Everything else has stretchy and flexible edges (and often those HCs like to contradict each other.)

[d-saster-chron-cles]

At the age of 40, Xajuta Xanaii would gaze up at the millions of lights in the sky. His breath would catch in his throat, and his heart would beat a little faster. As he slept, he'd dream of flying away from home -- of exploring and learning about the vast universe that hovered just beyond his reach.

With his peoples' war against the Undine, it seemed he would never soar among the stars. He was doomed to remain at home, patching up soldiers as a combat medic and healing the sick. Though his specialties lay in Xenobiology and the sciences necessary for exploration of space, he was essentially grounded,

That was where some Romulans found him. It was quite by accident -- the result of a mistake on the part of some refugees. They had fled the Tal Shiar and their oppressive government, but had been caught in the crossfire between some Undine bioships and the Azurran planetary defense turrets. The result was their shuttle blasted out of the sky, forcing them to make a crash landing on Azurra's surface. The refugees were injured, and their computers were destroyed.

Initially, the Romulans were afraid of the Azurrans to exit the shuttle when Xajuta's group of soldiers approached them, but the Azurrans were quick to set up a protective barrier around the shuttle, soldiers keeping Undine away while Xajuta used his telepathic to reach past their obvious language barriers. He sent them mental images of food, bandages, and other supplies, and tried to send positive vibes so they would know he was trying to help As an empath he could feel their fears and their pain, as a medic he wanted to soothe, and as an Azurran he wanted to make them feel safe and welcome.

Eventually, the Romulans understood. One could see it on their faces as they realized Xajuta and his people were only trying to help.. It was enough to reduce them to tears of relief, and soon the Azurrans found themselves with arms full of sobbing, grateful refugees. With Xajuta acting as a translator, they were able to collaborate with the Azurrans to repair their shuttle's computer and bring much-needed food and supplies. In turn, they tried to teach Xajuta and his soldiers about the universe.

There came a day when the Romulans had healed, their repairs were complete, and it was time to say goodbye. Xajuta didn't want to lose his new friends, so he asked if he could go with them -- if he could learn their language, protect them and keep them alive as they searched for a new home.

The Romulans were delighted. In that moment, Xajuta's dream of exploring the cosmos would become his new reality.

The rest, as they say, is history.

-

This is my original blue boy, from Star Trek Online. He is a character I have had for many years and he was what broke the ice for online gaming for me. I will always have a soft spot for him.

[inquisitorius-sin-bin]

Muuns have 3 hearts. One normal heart and two that were consciously controlled. That might explain how they can live for so long, over 100 years old. But there are other species with only one heart that live longer.

I think three hearts regulate their temperature and oxygen intake. That way they don't get cold and don't get sick from climbing mountains.

How else do you think 3 hearts affect them? Especially being able to consciously control them? Imagine, you have a heart attack and then just think ''Heart on the left, go!''.

Right, so for most species that have more than one heart, the hearts are spread further around the body than ours are, such as in insects

Where multiple hearts are necessary because they don't have a well-developed, pressurized vascular system to pump blood throughout the body, and are just like big blood-filled sacs. I don't think Muun are this way, I just think it's a neat thought. Raises questions about Geonosians. Real crime Fyzen Gor didn't get to finish watching that surgery, that's the novel I want to read.

But in cephalopods!

Which also have three hearts, one to pump blood throughout the body, and two to pump blood just from the gills to the systematic heart for circulation through the body.

I imagine the Muun setup might be similar to the cephalopod system, where there is a ventricle heart which circulates blood through the body, and two hearts specifically dedicated to re-pressuring blood for circulation through the lungs, which would be helpful in high altitude, low-oxygen environments (I would think).

As for control/survival odds if they lost one heart, I would guess control would feel similar to our control over our breathing. Most of the time, it would be regulated by the autonomic nervous system and would just work without them having to think about it, but there are certain situations where they might want to have conscious control, such as we exert on our breath, holding it, hyperventilating, taking deep breaths, singing, talking, etc.

I think the ventricle heart would need to be functional irregardless, and if that one timed out, they'd die. But perhaps they could function with only one remaining branchial heart?

[nivenus]

Something I've been working on for awhile and finally finished:

HAIDIÀN

Located on a small volcanic island near the equator, Haidiàn is the capital of Qingxing, also known as Gliese 105 A.02, as well as its largest city, though it posseses a population of only 70,000 permanent residents. Divided into five main districts, the city is composed of a mix of prefab colonial structures from the early settlement to larger buildings constructed in the decades since. Most buildings in the city are designed to float in case of flooding and many residents use amphibious vehicles rather than gyrocars for this reason.

Although Haidiàn isn't a major vacation spot, the tourism industry has been growing for some time and as a result there are a number of amenities available for visitors, from hotels to five star restaurants to mid-priced brothels.

PLANETARY INFORMATION

GLIESE 105 A.02 (QINGXING) Location: Outer Veil, Taotie Sector Affiliation: Independent Core Systems Colonies, Jĭngtì Lóng Classification: Terrestrial planet (oceanic) Climate: Breathable atmosphere, tropical weather, typhoons, mildly acidic oceans Temperature: 20°C Terrain: Vast oceans, atolls, volcanic islands Colonies: Haidián, Dàdao, Tamaki Hou, Kaoh Veng Population: 500,000 colonists, roughly 30,000 transients Key Resources: Aquaculture, mariculture, fossil fuels, bio-research

First settled in 2104, Gliese 105 A.02, also known as Qingxing, is an ocean-covered planet interspersed with a series of small to large islands, where the vast majority of settlements are located, though some are built directly on the sea floor or as floating habitats. Most of the planet's islands are barely over 100 meters above sea level, which makes flooding a constant risk even in settlements with a firm foot on "dry" land. Complicating matters is the fact that the planet's ganglial net formations have rendered the surface of the ocean mildly acidic, making construction and even transportation difficult. As a result the colony has experienced consistently slow growth, despite its otherwise very high habitability.

Before the Dog War, Jingti Lóng established Gliese 105 A.02 as a Chinese colony under the administration of the China / Asian Nations Cooperative or CANC. During the War, however, Jingti Lóng split from the Cooperative and defected to the United Americas and Three World Empire, pulling control of the planet and the rest of the Gliese 105 system away from China. Not long after this, Jingti Lóng and Hyperdyne Systems established the Independent Core Systems Colonies. Today, the system is almost completely under the control of the Jingti Lóng Corporation itself.

Qingxing is most notable as a scientific research site, the center of a major Geholgod Institute investigation into the ganglial nets, an unexplained xenobiological phenomenon that has been located on a handful of ocean worlds throughout the Middle Heavens. In addition to this, Qingxing is the center of a major petroleum extraction operation under one of Jingti Lóng's subsidiaries and a growing aquaculture industry, primarily for local consumption.

[ao3feed-obikin]

limonite

read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/49235542 by maragny Without thinking, Obi-Wan lifts his glass to his mouth and takes a sip. Anakin’s alarm reaches him in the Force a moment later, just as he notes the flash of triumph in his tablemate’s eyes. On a mission, Obi-Wan drinks something he's not supposed to. Words: 4109, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Fandoms: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types, Star Wars: Clone Wars (2003) - All Media Types Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: M/M Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker Additional Tags: Aphrodisiacs, Wall Sex, Dubious Consent, discussions of consent, fuck or die but it's more like fuck or suffer, Xenobotany, Xenobiology, made up some space toxicology as a treat for myself, Mind/Mood Altering Substances, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Clone Wars era, Competent Anakin Skywalker read it on the AO3 at https://archiveofourown.org/works/49235542

[mediaevalmusereads]

Redshirts. By John Scalzi. Tor, 2012.

Rating: 4/5 stars

Genre: science fiction

Series: N/A

Summary: Ensign Andrew Dahl has just been assigned to the Universal Union Capital Ship Intrepid, flagship of the Universal Union since the year 2456. It’s a prestige posting, and Andrew is thrilled all the more to be assigned to the ship’s Xenobiology laboratory.

Life couldn’t be better…until Andrew begins to pick up on the fact that:

(1) every Away Mission involves some kind of lethal confrontation with alien forces

(2) the ship’s captain, its chief science officer, and the handsome Lieutenant Kerensky always survive these confrontations

(3) at least one low-ranked crew member is, sadly, always killed.

Not surprisingly, a great deal of energy below decks is expended on avoiding, at all costs, being assigned to an Away Mission. Then Andrew stumbles on information that completely transforms his and his colleagues’ understanding of what the starship Intrepid really is…and offers them a crazy, high-risk chance to save their own lives.

***Full review below.***

CONTENT WARNINGS: gruesome deaths, blood, dismemberment

OVERVIEW: I generally respect John Scalzi as a storyteller. I read Old Man's War a while ago, so it has been a hot minute since I've picked up any of his books, but I figured I'd give one a go since I needed something relatively light. Overall, I enjoyed myself and I understand what Scalzi was doing: poking fun at sci fi tropes while simultaneously deploying them. There's a lot to like, especislly if you're a fan of Star Trek. I guess my 4 star rating is entirely subjective; as much fun as I had, I wanted a little more from this book, so while it was a blast to read, it ultimately could have had a greater impact.

WRITING: Scalzi's writing is fine for the type of book we're working with. The prose is quick, so you can get through it pretty fast, and it revels in a particular brand of humor that some will enjoy. The prose is also heavily weighted towards dialogue and telling (versus showing), which I normally wouldn't like but works in this context precisely because it's imitating the dialogue of TV shows like Star Trek.

CHARACTERS: I'm not going to look at individual characters in this book because a lot of them blurred together for me. Because the plot is partially meant to mimic an episode of Star Trek, there isn't much meaningful character development, and the differences between the characters are not so impactful that they make them feel like individuals. I often mixed some of the supporting characters up, which I guess could be indicative of some aspect of sci fi, but personally, I wish some of the "redshirts" had felt like real people.

PLOT: The plot of this book follows a group of new recruits aboard the spaceship Intrepid, which has been mysteriously experiencing a high number of recorded crew deaths every time there is an away mission. Led by Ensign Andrew Dahl, the recruits try to get to the bottom of the phenomenon while avoiding their own untimely- and nonsensical- demise.

This story is more enjoyable the more you know what it's trying to do. It pokes fun at the running gag on Star Trek the Original Series, in which "redshirts" (low-ranking crewmembers) are killed off at astonishing rates and in ridiculous manners. It also pokes fun at Star Trek's imitators and episodic TV, primarily at shows who bend the rules of physics or use character deaths for drama. At the same time, Scalzi deploys these same tropes to construct a story that is quick, silly, and ultimately, something of a love letter to sci fi (in the way Galaxy Quest is a love letter to the same).

But what made this book most meaningful for me were the 3 codas at the end of the book. The codas are a little different in tone and reflect more seriously on the idea of what makes a life (and death) meaningful. Personally, I loved this meta-analysis and wished more had been sprinkled in throughout the novel as a whole.

TL;DR: Redshirts is a humorous look at the life of "expendable" sci fi extras and episodic TV writing, poking fun at the nonsense physics and meaningless deaths in shows like Star Trek. While readers familiar with these tropes will get a chuckle out of the narrarive, the codas at the end of the novel will really bring the story into more contemplative territory, and my rating is partially a reflection of my desire to see more from the codas explored throughout the rest of the novel.

[troythecatfish]