I wanna talk about Petrosapiens again (what else is new) and today’s hot topic is, drum roll please…
Uh… beard crystals???
Okay, so, let’s begin by announcing that this is kinda honestly super dumb. Or at least it’s dumb for how… stuck on it looks. That chinstrap (that’s what it’s called right?) looks like it’s held in place with a super secret magnet rather than naturally growing from the guard.
Well, no offence to Tetrax 23 here- I mean if I mocked the style I’d be a hypocrite for giving it to Humanformer Skyke-!
But looking at it, it just feels too human and is actually, in a way, cheating out on an alien set of uh… appearance options. And it’s not like Tetrax over here can’t get a Petrosapien equivalent, but how would it even look?
The answer may lie in hardstone carving;
It’s been done on Earth in quite a few places, but if you’ve ever seen a jade sculpture, that’s what hardstone carving is.
Now, different cultures for different aliens, of course you aren’t gonna find an etching nor carving of Buddha on a Petrosapien’s face. But digging into crystals here and there, unlike in real life where there is no ‘take-backsie’s, taking a dremel to the face is less utterly terrifying because 1) it doesn’t particularly hurt, 2) so long as it’s surface level that ain’t gonna get infectious, and 3) “don’t be such a baby, ribs jaws grow back”.
Hardstone carving could also extend to the rest of the body, especially in places that aren’t repeatedly broken like anything and everything below the elbow of the arm. Backspines have a lot of uh… free space to decorate on without breaking nor getting to inner parts through digging in a little deep.
Getting away from carvings, piercings here and there could function too. At first, I wouldn’t really think so, Petrosapiens don’t have any ears. But then I focused on the guard again, looking at that taped on chin strap Tetrax 23 seems so insistent on wearing.
So, taking inspiration from David Draiman of Disturbed fame, chin/jaw/guard piercings;
But then, you may be thinking, aren’t piercings also a rather human thing?
Well, perhaps, but it’s less about growing metal from our face and more about sticking something into our face. Petrosapiens get the benefit of both, and even if metal piercings are too human, carving into their crystals is still a hypothetical thing, putting extra stuff into the design doesn’t seem that far out of left field.
I thought adding some visuals though may help a little;
I have a plan:
1. work for the awful dude who is going to pay me to split wood and hang out with his dogs
2. Buy an anvil and build a small forge
3. Use the abundance of scrap steel I have access to to make leaves (basically one of the standard blacksmithing practice projects)
4. Turn those leaves into keychains and stuff
5. Try to sell them on Etsy
6. Not sell any of them because Etsy HEAVILY favours creators who are willing to buy listing “bumps”
7. continue to feel like a failure.
