Date: 75 EPL [eclipses post landing] Time: 05:00 AM
Granted, it wasn't much of a mission. Starscream started talking about going on a scouting mission beyond the outer fence line earlier this moon. Surprising, given how averse he is risk. I worry that someone from Batch Two has been harassing him, what with his sudden "interest" [He cannot be genuine in it: posture too stiff, avoidant of eye contact, trembling voice.] in exploration and withdrawn behavior. I am almost certain it was Orion [workaholic, complete lack of tact, unnecessarily snappy]. He will hear from me, should that be the case.
OOC Segment:
Hello hello! After a year or so of planning [and procrastinating] I'm finally working on my fanclan! You can probably already tell where this story is going : )
Laika and Starscream's character pages will be up soon enough!
In hindsight, I'm not certain that reply did anything to answer the "how harsh" and "what kind of threats" questions- I think I mostly just gushed about world building.
The actual answer to that is pretty mundane: terrain is temperate, aliens are just as hungry for cats as coyotes and hawks are, and sometimes it rains.
Ultimately the shape of the threats might change but its largely the same sort of threats that a clan would face on earth... mostly!
There is a big exception but that's for much much later in the story
what's the planet like?
I'm curious about how harsh the territory is, the different kind of threats they might run into, that sort of thing!
I am actually soooo glad you asked and I hope that answering this will help return my fervor in working on this fanclan. I'll try to keep this FAIRLY brief.
Keep in mind that I am a layman who is by no means an expert so there will be mistakes and things wrong- this is a warrior cats blog and I am NOT an expert in any way.
Now! To start things off! As you may have noticed on the character pages, our casts' residence is listed as Gliese 667Cc. This is a real planet! However, we really only know it exists because of its interactions with the other bodies in its stellar system soooo A LOT of what you'll see below is stuff that either scientists believe to be true about it or that I have made up.
The Gliese 667 is actually super interesting, it is a TRIPLE star system located in the Scorpius constellation [the stars are named A, B, and C... you see where this is going]. Planet "Vegas" aka Gliese 667Cc is a planet orbiting the star Gliese 667C and in our fictional setting it was renamed "Scorpio" by the colonists. Scorpio is a red dwarf and therefore a lot dimmer and cooler than our Sun and, because of this, the habitable zone is a lot closer to the star itself.
One of the consequences of this closeness is that Vegas is tidally locked, or in other words, the same face of the planet always faces the sun. Vegas does not rotate on it's axis the way earth does. This means ONE side of the planet is scorching hot and the other is freezing cold. The only part of the planet that is livable for human colonists is a band of twilight that lies between these extremes.
This tidal locking also means that Vegas doesn't have a day and night cycle the way one would expect. It's named after Vegas, the city that never sleeps, for a reason. While it is never fully dark, there are periods of dimmer light and brighter light. "Night" is an eternal, wine red sunset that casts the landscape in a ruddy glow. "Day" is determined by the presence of the moon as it reflects the light of the sun back down, casting everything in silver. Vegas's moon was named "Chronos" for this reason.
I have a lot of other notes and fun facts typed out in but they aren't quite as interesting to me. I've also got some fun alien critter planned for future pieces! I'll leave you with this early sketch page of cast concepts [and a suprise] as a preview of things to come.
Cat bases! If you guys like this I may create future bases with a variety of shapes and body types that you'll be able to buy cheaply and customize for yourself!
Having to take a sick day so I’ll probably work on some small sketches for here! Ask anything you want of the characters themselves OR about the planet and it’s non-feline denizens
EMS Code: TON d 33 67
DOB: 27 EPL [Eclipse Post Landing]
Residence: Colony site 1 | Gliese 667Cc "Vegas"
Notes:
Curiosity is one of the cats that Antares shares his duties as leader with. She heads all of the expeditions and scouting missions beyond the perimeter of colony site one and she has a seemingly endless amount of enthusiasm for exploration. You'd almost forget how dangerous it is out there when listening to her talk. There really isn't cat more suited to their name.
Probable mutation[s] beyond standard modification: Heightened awareness [better senses?]
WALL.E is always at her heels wanting to explore and Starscream is always eager to hear what she has to say about the big, beautiful world they call home. On another note- I've got a feeling that she is going to be my favorite cat of them all to draw.
I have never ever been more captivated by a WC oc story in my life. You've done an amazing job at setting up the characters and world already and only one page has been posted; there's an underlining barbarism in these cats' bare existences that's just so fascinating to me. I am so so excited and invested in where this story will go.
(sincerely someone who is so normal about space and animals possessing human level intelligence to the point of existentialism <3)
Aw thank you genuinely genuinely- it’s asks like this that give me that boost of energy I need to keep working on content.
Weekends will be for prepping content for next week! So I’m not planning on posting any art, HOWEVER, I’d love to draw some ask replies for the lore OR the characters <3
EMS Code: BSH x 61
DOB: 39 EPL [Eclipse Post Landing]
Residence: Colony site 1 | Gliese 667Cc "Vegas"
Notes: WALL.E, alternatively "Wallie", is an odd one. According to the database, he has a condition called chimerism that has little relevance beyond his colorful coat. The only thing loud than their coat is their personality. Wallie is fearless and curious to the point of disaster and I have no idea why such a spontaneous cat would spend so much of their time with someone like Orion. I have a feeling that she'll either die young or live to see her name on every expedition report.
Probable mutation[s] beyond standard modification: Chimerism and a complete lack of fear
I don't think cats would find chimeras as extraordinary as we do- that's just a tortie with extra flair as far as they are concerned. The strangest thing about Wallie to Etherclan is everything else about him. Partially because he is the 'youngest' cat of batch two and partially because of his small stature and round face, Wallie has been... babied more than he prefers. Acting out and taking charge is how he copes.
She and Orion form something of a comedy duo. She's the good cop to his bad cop. The Ernie to their Bert.
As someone currently in school for physics/astronomy, I am so excited to hear more about this planet! What you said about it being tidally locked, but still having a "day/night" cycle based on the moon is so cool.
Also, your character designs are really good, I especially like Starscream's design!
Thanks! I love astronomy [very casually] so it’s been fun to have a reason to research- though I won’t lie. The version of Gliese667Cc that you see here is like 80% fiction given how little we know about the planet and its system.
Starscream’s anxiety is the only thing holding them back from becoming a super model. He’s based on this cashmere[?], marbled bengal [cinnamon silver I believe].
Did the Cats of Etherclan name themselves / each other or is there another (human records?) origin of their Names? Also, are all cats the same or different ages? Any familial relations? Essentially, did they all "hatch" in one big colony starter batch or are there more traditional genetics and family structures in play?
The names are the names given to them by the human colonists! They don’t really have a frame of reference for the cultural references beyond “Laika looked it up and said it’s from a movie/history/etc”.
With the exception of the two litters that were born recently, all of the cats were produced from Batch One or Batch Two and each batch had fifteen cats. The two batches are ROUGHLY one earth year / twelve eclipses / twelve moons apart in age. NONE of these starter cats are biologically but that hasn’t stopped them from finding families in each other. Mostly for aesthetic reasons, each cat also has a “scaffolding breed” used as the basis for their genes- you can see what breed each of them is based on their serial number and EMS code!
EMS Code: CRX fs
DOB: 39 EPL [Eclipse Post Landing]
Residence: Colony site 1 | Gliese 667Cc "Vegas"
Notes:
It is shame that my intellectual equal happens to also be the most insufferable cat in Etherclan. I can scarcely think of a single positive trait that could endear them to me. The only way that they could improve my disposition towards them would be by taking a vow of silence and never bothering me again.
Probable mutation[s] beyond standard modification: Enhanced cognition
I think the funniest part of Laika's dislike for them is the fact that the two of them actually share a lot of the same flaws- mainly their pride and refusal to consider the ideas of anyone they don't consider their equal on some level. His opinion of Laika is surprisingly positive, however. Orion sees her as his rival, constantly pushing him to improve. Laika does not recipricate.
What do the hearts mean and why do some have more then others?
The hearts are a very LOOSE indicator of the relationship between the cat on the sheet and the one represented in the icon, however, it doesn’t inform if or not the relationship is romantic or platonic.
I do have one romantic pairing planned but only one of the cats posted 👀 feel free to guess who.
I JUST FOUND THIS BLOG AND ITS SO COOL SO FAR???? WHAT??!?! THE STORY THATS BEEN REVEALED IS VERY UNIQUE IVE NEBER SEEN ANYYHUNG LIKE IT BEFORE, VERY COOL!!
♤FleaCoveredFur
Thank you! I love fanclans and speculative biology so it just made sense to combine the two <3 hoping today to get another character up and maybe have the energy to work on The Creatures
