#but make it...

[begrudginglytumbling]

This post seems to be taking over my day dreaming brain.

Can't quite decide if I might write something with it, or if it will stay as a fun little brain scenario. Either way, I'm flinging thoughts about it at Tumblr (mainly because I'm at work and if I don't write it down I will definitely forget).

So! MXTX but make it ants!

...ant based?...ant adjacent?

Anywho, still figuring out ABO aspects but! I have this -

Each Sect could function like a separate colony. The Sect Leadership would be the Queens (not sure which would be Alphas or Omegas).

Each Sect already has different abilities/techniques due to having different origins (Jiang - hunters, Lan - monks, Nie - butchers, etc), but what if they were based off of different ant species? Or elements of different species mushed together?

If we follow the thought that Alpha pheromones could be curtailed by spritzing with water, then the Yunmeng Jiang would be screwed, being a water based Sect. HOWEVER, there's an ant species that dives!

Diving ants, colobopsis schmitzi, dive into pitcher plants to pull out prey. Yunmeng Jiang could have techniques that allow them to dive without being affected by the water. (This, of course, would not help during the day if someone just spritzed an Alpha, they have to prepare to dive, you can't prepare about a Jianghu appropriate squirt bottle you don't know is coming).

The Wen could be more fire ant based.

The Jin could have elements of honeypot ants, with their gathering of gold (could also say their talent is becoming bloated with their own self-importance).

There's actually a meat ant that's like a butcher ant, so that could cover the Nie.

Not sure on the Lan yet, maybe they're more generic ant but based of communication via vibrations and such.

I can't decide who would be what between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji.

Omega!LWJ has its appeal - annoying Alpha!WWX having water flicked at him to suppress his pheromones, briefly causing him to feel like he's died, so Lan Wangji can escape. Maybe it's against the Rules, but there's nothing to say Wangji can't knock a dew covered tree to coat a pursuing Wuxian in water droplets.

Omega!WWX has its appeal in crafting ways to bypass Alpha pheromones. Talisman that creates little rain clouds above Alphas heads. Little charm with an array to gather ambient water to release in a burst at Alphas. Instead of punching Jin Zixuan, he absolutely drenched him with a talisman that creates water that's resistant to drying talismans. JZX thinks he's dead for hours.

And fierce corpses! What if they're due to zombie ant fungus! Or at least a form of it. The dark veins associated with it could be what shows the spread of the fungus. Corpse dust would be the spores. What if Wen Ning was infected with the fungus, but they managed to cure him? The effects could still be there - the blackened veins, pheromone death, etc - but he would actually be alive and relatively well. Or it'd possibly be more like surviving with the effects of a chronic illness - can't be fully cured but can be managed.

[begrudginglytumbling]

The ants have led me down a mini-rabbit hole.

Did you know there are bugs that have what are basically anti-aphrodisiac pheromones?

Now imagine that in an ABO context.

Alpha: What are you...are you flirting with my Omega? I think the fuck not. *proceeds to absolutely douse the Omega in anti-horny pheromones*

Omega: *sighs the sigh of the generally long suffering as they watch the Alpha they were casually chatting to recoil so violently they trip over their own feet and fall to the floor* Bit much, don't you think?

or

Group of Omegas trying have a fun night out constantly being pestered by irritating horny Alphas - if it's an Omega defense then they'd just give off a cloud of anti-horny pheromones, not only clears them of Alphas, but also gets them some room on the dance floor.

or

Group of Omegas has this one incredibly chill Alpha friend who'll just casually smear them with the anti-horny pheromones whenever they're tired of fending of Alphas.

or!

Cockblocking Alpha parents! Teen Alpha comes to pick up Teen Omega for a date - Alpha parents stares them in the eye as they scent their kid with the anti-horny - there will be no teen pregnancies or inappropriate behaviour on their watch - either respect their child or get out.

[begrudginglytumbling]

New in ABO but make it *insert non-wolf creature here*....Leopard Slugs!

(I get this is a weird one, but bear with me)

So, Leopard Slugs apparently signal their willingness to mate by producing a different scent/pheromones in their slime, then they climb high, swirl around each other, drop down suspended on a rope of slime, then entwine their male appendages, fanning them out while they mate.

Like this -

Now, from an Untamed/Cultivation view, what if having a golden core is what triggers secondary genders? Perhaps it's a biological way of ensuring offspring that can cultivate cores?

Anywho, what if instead of slime trails, it's the qi or sword glares that produce the scents/pheromones?

What if they do something similar to the Leopard Slugs? Not as a way to mate, but as a mating dance? A way to test compatibility of their energy?

They could fly up on their swords, then flip upside down before twirling around each other as they lower themselves, tethered to their swords by threads of their spiritual energy that's twisting together. At a certain point their descent will stop and spiritual energy will pool below their heads before swirling together.

The more even the mix of colours, the more compatible, the more equal and balanced the pair are.

The swirl could be like an upside down vortex, or it could form something like a appropriately symbolic flower or something.

I just think the visual effect could be stunning...also kinda funny with the long loose hair and floaty robes, but what if they're spinning quickly enough that those things aren't just dangling down, but swirling around them the same as the energy vortex below them?

(just look at that image of fucking slugs and imagine your favourite cultivator pair in their place, their spiritual energy entwined instead of slug cock and tell me that wouldn't be a visually appealing image)