(Mod Noob here!! I wanted to put together all of my thoughts on Cirze's planet, species, culture, and biology... and thought you'd want to read it too! This also serves as a little guide if you're ever confused at something they mention, lol
Warning. This is so long. I am not kidding HAHAH, it's under that cut for your own safety
If you have any questions, feel free to leave them under here, and I'll probably answer them and then add them to the main post :D)
The Planet:
Cirze's home planet has a much lower gravity than Earth. It is also unique in the fact that its layers are separated, meaning, sometimes, it turns in such a way that the planet is put into a period of "zero gravity". (It may also cause other such weather events that are Weird and Unexplainable, like starfalls).
Because of this, the delicate ecosystem, and the distance from it and other systems, the planet itself has been put on special restrictions for travel. Most of the people who travel there are general researchers, geologists, or anthropologists.
Culture, Language, and Social Aspects:
The citizens are mainly horticulturalists and hunter gatherers, switching between the two if need be. Groups of individuals don't exceed more than 200 at the very most, and all the groups have trade and communication with the others, to a surprising degree. All groups stay close by bodies of water, and most of the plants grown are done so in water beds, tide pools, etc. If there are houses, they are made with materials that can be taken down easily, or repaired easily, especially with gravity storms (and other events) that may destroy them.
There are quite a few languages, Cirze speaks the one that is most commonly used for trade in their area. The language isn't written, but carried verbally, so the writing system used on the blog is actually borrowed from the "Pipen" language, since it has a lot of similarities in how it's spoken aloud.
The language itself does have ""swear words"", but they're extremely local, and usually extremely offensive. Like, calling someone one of those words is akin to full-chest calling someone a slur with only negative intention in English. Stuff you may even start local group wars with. Not words you can even fathom playing around with, in any way. Any translated swear words from the blog are just ""emphasis words"", which are functionally the same as English swears (communicating a strong emotional feeling) but without the taboo that surrounds them in English.
Their have an octal numerical system, instead of ours, which is decimal. They count on 8's instead of 10's, basically. Any "rounded up" numbers, if they were talking, would be multiples of 8. This is because their counting originated from facial features they could point to (similar to how we count to ten, since we have ten fingers). Two melons to the sides of their head, two eyes, two antennae, one melon on their forehead, and one mouth. Following this pattern draws you upwards on the face and then down to the bottom again, allowing for mostly seamless counting.
They do have technology, they were the ones to reach the universal connection first (albeit, the universal connection itself was already not only made, but hugeeee by that point), but they have no space travel. Most activities are done by hand still. (If you're looking on how to use futuristic technology, I use it as "spice" to the world, not as a main facet, and it's often either decorational or for small additions onto tools. Keep in mind that these people move often, so most technology is going to need to be portable and easy to maneuver!)
All settlements are in temperate areas. Culturally, this means clothes are not often worn, especially because of their body shape and make up, which makes it difficult. The most may be cloaks or smaller accessories. Accessorizing is also done through tattoos (body paints wouldn't work, as they're often in and out of the water, but dyeing the skin is much easier, so even applying dyes to the surface, like henna, would work wonderfully).
In terms of family structure, they do not have a strict parental system. No one individual is seen as another's parent. Instead, everyone in one's settlement or social group is often seen as close to familial, and children are raised communally. Despite this, they still have a functional social hierarchy, and will often stick with their social group for their entire lives.
Biological Aspects:
They are many, many, many different colours. Basically anything could work, but they often have one "main" colour and one "sub" colour, the latter being their bioluminescent markings. These bioluminecent marks are able to partially be controlled in brightness, as they're used for communication.
In terms of sound, their verbal language sounds like squeaks, clicks, pips, and other sorts of noises. (I'd recommend looking up beluga whale vocalizations, as that's similar.) They use the five (or six, depending on if the mass on the back of the head is split) bulbous melons on their heads to aid in how sound is vocalized. Each one has a few minor muscles to allow it to contract or shift in small ways, that change the sound they're currently making.
(*^ A melon, in terms of how I refer to it, is the same as a beluga whale's. It's a large deposit of fat that aids in sound. That is also why I used them for the sound comparison!)
The melons on their heads are not one set length or shape, only position. Different shapes will affect their tone and sounds, which effectively makes different pitches in voice, and other sorts of variations.
They also have two antennae-like extrusions, next to the melon on their forehead. These secrete pheromones to communicate different emotional states. Facial expressions are secondary to this communication, but still important. Their bioluminescent spots are similar.
Facially, they have two large eyes (without eyelids, but with a very thick outer coating that can be brushed and rubbed - it can also be healed, repaired, and cleaned by their own wings). Directly underneath their eyes, they have two holes, which serve as nostrils. This is only part of their intake of air, as the other half is taken in through the skin itself. (This is also how their pheromone communication is done.) They have a mouth, and no tongue, but a mass on the bottom of their mouth that can be moved to further adjust noises they may make. They also have no teeth, taking in food whole, since their digestive track and body itself can expand and contract to allow for larger bits of food to pass without blockage.
Their entire bodies are coated in a thin layer of slime, keeping them from drying out too quickly on land. This is much thicker on the antennae and on the "insides" of the wings, including the underside of the tail, especially since the insides of the wings are used for gripping onto objects. (I'd probably describe the feeling of their bodies as "slippery" instead of "sticky", lol)
Their main body consists of two ray-like "wings", which stretch down to the centre of their lower back, and go above their tail. These wings are made of a thick flesh that is able to grasp and move more like the foot of a sea slug. At the tip of the wing are two smaller extrusions, similar to a human's pointer finger and thumb. These aid in more specific guidance for tasks they may be doing. The entire wing's edge is able to grab ahold of objects, turn them, or do other sorts of simple tactile motions. In practice, they may use this to hold many different objects as their ""hands"" do more specific work.
Below this, they have a thick, long tail, with two wings at the base. Their tail has more horizontal movement than vertical movement, and is usually used as a "third leg" when standing and walking, and a "rudder" when swimming. It also triples as a defense mechanism, to attack and deter predators, as it is very powerful when swung. Although I drew it being held up many times, it is also common to see it pressed against the ground.
Their legs are rudimentary, being two fleshy extrusions with a smaller joint at the bottom, to allow them to form "feet". Naturally, when underwater, they point straight downwards, allowing for less drag.
When on land, they are not very fast, but are excellent climbers, able to scale sheer cliffs with relatively no difficulty. When in the water, they are extremely fast if pushed to be so, darting through the water almost like how bats fly through the sky. They are able to make much more sharp turns than expected, especially if trained to do so, and can do so almost on a dime, which allows for better escape from predators.
Stature-wise, they sit at an average of 80 cm (2'6) for a mature adult, although height variations always exist.
Biological sex is not a factor until an individual becomes an adult. If they choose to participate in the creation of any babies, they can shift their pheromone and secretion output to one that will transfer DNA to a clutch of unfertilized eggs. Any mature individual can also create these eggs, although the shift needed to do so is much more time and energy consuming than simple DNA transfer. The eggs themselves can be fertilized from multiple different individuals, including the one who created the eggs in the first place, and it is often a communal task, as each clutch may have multiple children. After it is done, the individuals can revert their state to their original asexuality.
The eggs are laid in the water, on a rocky wall, or some other surface of similar grit. They're also often barred off from predators after the process, and checked on daily.
Other Such Notes:
Thank you so much for reading over all of this, if you made it this far HAHA - if you want to make your own little alien, you have my blessing. Please tag me if you do!
This blog is all just for fun, so a lot of this won't... come up as explicitly? A lot of it is just some little alien chatting on tumblr dot com. But it's something that I find so so fun, so maybe you'd have fun in reading all the little details!
I'll update this if I change anything, or have more to say on a particular topic
ARENT MEASURING SYSTEMS SUPPOSED TO BE CONSISTENT LOL. YOUR "AMERICANS" HAVENT EVEN GOTTEN TO THAT? ARENT THEY DIFFERENT SIZES ON DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS?
um doos, sgo itoqifo goufgs ad doliko gelimr ur izaes 5-5.5 emusr imc liko ur ralovgis 5.5-6 emusr. sgur umcutuceik ur umcooc debjumf vusg xae.
bomsulosqor iqo i laqo nqoburo imc qokuizko rxrsol sa lo noqramikkx. zes daq deseqo qodoqombo, amo daas emus ur izaes 30.5 bomsulosqo emusr.
ARENT MEASURING SYSTEMS SUPPOSED TO BE CONSISTENT LOL. YOUR "AMERICANS" HAVENT EVEN GOTTEN TO THAT? ARENT THEY DIFFERENT SIZES ON DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS?
ARENT MEASURING SYSTEMS SUPPOSED TO BE CONSISTENT LOL. YOUR "AMERICANS" HAVENT EVEN GOTTEN TO THAT? ARENT THEY DIFFERENT SIZES ON DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS?
