i have an idea for a hdg fic and loki hear me out cause i think it's banging
ok so there's this really old bloom affini who doesn't like putting implants in her florets and there's an independent that would literally do anything to avoid having an implant. Now, by chance, this old bloom happens to be from a fungal branch similar to the species of fungi Fusarium which is a large genus of filamentous fungi, widely distributed in soil and associated with plants. Most species are harmless saprobes (basically fungi that do all the hard work decomposing), and are relatively abundant members of the soil microbial community. And, funnily enough these little blighters, as ordinary looking as they might seem, spew a *lot* of spores for something underground most of the time. and what do spores typically do? that's right, they infect. So, this poor little independent who has no idea what a saprobe is let alone what the fuck a filamentous fungi is, starts hanging out with this affini almost constantly due to certain circumstances. And due to this prolonged exposure, an interesting reaction starts to take place. A type of fungi, to be exact, a Fusarium mimicry adapted to survive the poor gravity of the 3rd ring starts to develop in their lungs from the increased density of spores the independent is breathing in daily. And this infection spreads and spreads, until the pathogen is present in almost every part of their central nervous system, tinkering away silently at their brain, waiting dormant for the right time. which, of course is the second the old bloom manages to convince the usually homebound sophont to come to a humid planet on an expedition. and, with humid conditions being the perfect climate for fungi to thrive, it swarms to take over their body and consciousness, thoroughly florting them and leaving her to wait for the old bloom to claim her pet before the independent even realises that they infact do not mind having an implant, even if said implant happens to be an unusual method This was a lot longer than the usual posts i make so please tell me if i fucked up somewhere lol i wrote this in 10 minutes