MI Stuff- Alien morphology/ stereotypes (spoilery maybe)
Added 2016-05-11 00:18:08 +0000 UTCWith relative sizes
Maybe this is spoilery, if you care about what gender or age Kallakore is. Either way you're reading this so it's probably too late, haha. Don't worry, it doesn't affect the plot. To be honest it probably won't even show up in the comic at all given all my editing down, but you can read about it~
There are three sexes
- Major female: these are females who can produce other major females as well as males. Heavier bodies to accommodate the rigors of pregnancy, built very much for defensiveness. Looked down upon as relics, somewhat, because of a recent societal lack of interest in procreation, and because their bodies are seen as somewhat unwieldy. They are perceived as being slow and standoffish.
- Minor females: these are females who can produce only other minor females. Most of the population is made up of minor females, who are very hardy and powerful, sort of a mix of the best qualities of both the bulky majors and lithe males. Definitely built for success. Despite their diminutive name they are found at the upper echelons in almost every field.
- males: just males. They are smaller overall than either majors or minors and have more powerful jaws. Often treated more as children, which is unfair since many males are just as capable as females... Tend to gravitate towards more creative fields.
- adolescents are spotted, probably a relic from ancient times when they needed camouflage from dangers in the sky. Usually spend their childhood grasping onto their mothers until they have developed enough arm strength to pull themselves out of the nursery on their own.
They are viviparous and give birth underwater, like whales, necessitating a journey to the surface for baby's first respiration. Depending on region their crest can be any variety of shape, though some sort of spatulate or forked shape is more common. And depending on the general fashion trends of the era, crests might be artificially reduced or engorged to be hip or whatever, damn kids.
Thanks to Brad for asking about sexual dimorphism more than once so that I felt like it would be interesting to talk about.
Comments
"Most sexual needs can be achieved perfectly with machinery..." ...were- were these biological machines? O_o
Lilian Stoltzfus
2018-01-28 06:53:10 +0000 UTCHaha, good questions... Yes, the investment is pretty heavy. Minor Wollaria usually do not produce more than one offspring. Major Wollaria may have one or two, though two children are awkward (rare triplets are considered very unlucky). Offspring are traditionally carried on the underside of the body (babies can cling from an early age) if being raised more traditionally/ aquatically, most mothers will go on a cushy amphibious "sabbatical" for the first weeks of rearing to bond and strengthen their child, or head to the ocean if their means are lower. And Wollaria are viviparous; babies subsist via histophagy/ secretions when very young and are fed directly by their mother after a week or two. Sex is pretty obvious from build alone, since the build and nascent crest of a young female Major is much different than that of a minor. As for the rest, yeah, they have a cloaca like structure, which isn't culturally shamed (still Kalla is more naked than she would be in her own time). I have no idea about the specific anatomy but a pregnant Wollaria carries the weight fairly centrally so they don't tip over (but usually rest just in case... after all they are descended from aquatic animals and aren't fully amazingly adapted for land). Wollarian society in general has a negative view about child rearing in Kalla's era. It's seen as very archaic and pointless, especially given the level of automation and technology their society has achieved. Having a child or being excited about children is sort of like being excited about owning a kinkajou or something, your neighbors might be interested but they'd possibly view it as some attention-desperate affectation. Like, kids aren't ~necessary~. Sex and procreation are similarly less interesting to a lot of modern Wollaria. Most sexual needs can be achieved perfectly with machinery, and expecting a partner to be able to emulate that level of perfection is sort of ridiculous. Birth rates are extremely low, and after the oceans started going they dropped even further. To be honest, even if the bombardment hadn't happened, they may have driven themselves extinct within a few dozen more generations out of ennui alone.
Der-shing Helmer
2016-11-02 00:09:13 +0000 UTCLovely! The possibilities of sexual dimorphism/sexes are a fascinating thing. Since wollaria give birth to one or two offspring at a time, this implies a heavy investment in the success of each individual child. How do wollaria gestate their babies? A placenta? How do they feed their young? Can newborns be sexed right away? Do wollaria have external genitalia? Just what do their reproductive tracts look like? How do the males and major/minor females interact? What is considered proper sexual behavior? Does a male have to choose between a major mate or a minor mate? Is there any sort of pair bonding?
Lilian Stoltzfus
2016-11-01 23:51:20 +0000 UTCAh, that's due to the decreased gravity! It is only .38 of Earth's gravity, so things are able to get a lot larger (but you're right, the pulls from Phobos and Deimos are much smaller compared to our moon. IIRC you can barely even see Deimos from the surface of Mars, it's that small).
Der-shing Helmer
2016-05-13 15:27:46 +0000 UTCJust curious, what would make Mars' waves so large? As far as I'm aware, it doesn't have any really notable satellites to provide a huge gravitational pull-well, except for those dinky little asteroids.
Whachamacallit
2016-05-13 15:17:36 +0000 UTCPlease, more background! This is great!
Verteiron
2016-05-11 14:15:25 +0000 UTCLOVE THIS STUFF TOO. A lot! Also, I'ld wish I could translate it in some way ._. It is patreon-only, so I won't do anything without permission, but I was thinking to maybe posting translated non-full excerpts of some posts with the illustration to the vkontakte social page. It's separated from the main comic website and it would fit nice there, imho ._.
Duke BG
2016-05-11 05:22:10 +0000 UTCThey are generally all a darker color, in blues/ purples/ greens/ grays. Backs may or may not have mottling as well depending on locality.
Der-shing Helmer
2016-05-11 05:06:30 +0000 UTCI LOVE THIS. YES GOOD. Are they all generally the same color skin/fur/hair/nails/etc as Kallakore? I must know every detail here.
Abyss
2016-05-11 02:44:52 +0000 UTCOh, and for anyone who was guessing or who cared, they originally evolved from animals who lived in the turbulent intertidal zones on Mars. These ancestors basically clung to the rocks with their heavy arms and ate the small animals that were swept in with the tide. Since waves, like lava tubes, on Mars can reach prodigious sizes, they have a strong gripping claw that has been modified over time to be more of a flexible hand/foot thing. Also talking about this is about as disrespectful as describing a human in terms of a monkey-like common ancestor so I should probably stop before I offend any Martian readers :x
Der-shing Helmer
2016-05-11 00:46:57 +0000 UTCI was just hoping the males had little goatees on their chins.
Bradford Fisher
2016-05-11 00:44:24 +0000 UTCActually no, your original guess was right; it's decomp on a Kallakore-like body (also it is too big to be either of the other two)
Der-shing Helmer
2016-05-11 00:41:23 +0000 UTCI am going to guess that the Armshark that Mike found under LEVi's remains was male since the head seemed like it was a different shape, I just assumed that was from decomposition.
Brad Kent
2016-05-11 00:37:43 +0000 UTCwow rude
Der-shing Helmer
2016-05-11 00:26:25 +0000 UTCSo Kallakore's an 'unappealing' lady?
Lar Rackell
2016-05-11 00:23:59 +0000 UTC
