It's Wednesday the 13th! (At least still in my country)

So, let's give some lore, a bit more, to this unlucky woman.

Opal was born 50 years after Petropia's destruction, 394 years before the original series. The father died on Petropia, but her mother, Saphe, who was born from an anodite and never developed a spark, worked as a scientist in a space station. Unknowing that she protected herself and her child.

For many reasons, mostly because of possible new armaments, the station got attacked and left many scientists, including Saphe, dead.

After the accident many Hunters were called to "Clean after the mess". Tetrax, still guilty, helped with the mission. He ended up finding Opal, after he recognized Saphe.

Opal never knew how she ended up with Tetrax. She was too little to understand, she was the equivalent of a newborn who could walk.

She had many sign she already had a spark since she was born, mostly given by her mutations. She grow faster for a petrosapien in body and mind. During her growth many anodites who could detect her would go to her out of curiosity. Tetrax just learnt to let them be, as he could not help her. Anodites would teach her how to use her powers, until they noticed something odd in her spark: she fused her mana.

Opal came out to use mana was highly destructive, making herself hide her anodites heritage more and more. She never showed her powers to others outside her father.

Tetrax and Opal would stay on Gheos A mostly of Opal's life. Gheos A had a lot of work for bounty hunters and Opal started to work for his father's friend in a bar.

When Opal was an adult and Tetrax was out of the planet she succumbed into a raid. She ended up left for deaths and being sold as a gladiator

Out of rage she would use her anodite power, unable to control it she went into Deep space.

In Deep space she escaped to a near planet full of life.

Welcome to earth, Italy, March 1990.

Fun facts:

- Opal necklace is a gif from Tetrax, she is very jealous of her necklace.

- She is very tall, more of a Petrosapien, being 2 meters and 18 cm.

- In Petrosapiens culture saying the name of a dead person is blasphemy over that person. Tetrax thought Opal died.

- I never saw Anodites as Immortal beings, but they can be mistaken as ones by beings who do not live a lot. I see anodites as mini stars, they are a sort of condensed mana and their "spark" as a sort of nuclear fission. Some anodites have their whole bodies who work like a literal star, making them highly destructive in terms of power and are not very well looked at by other anodites.

Having a nucleus the older they get the less mana they can keep, slowly dying imploding.

- Saphe and Tetrax knew each other on Petropia. Saphe was one of the few people who would try to kick into Tetrax's head good sense. They ended up locked in a cell for a fight more than once, Tetrax hated every bit of it and Saphe actually bought him a sort of beer after.

I’ve been thinking about how if you compress quartz you get electrical current and thinking about its inverse - how if you give a quartz an electric current it compresses - and because y’all know me, it made me think about petrosapiens.

But with lingering thoughts from a previous post of mine, I have combined these thoughts with another, older and collaborative idea of the past-

Let’s get started.

Alright, when you have aliens sci-fi sometimes you get off the wall creations that thanks to the whole ‘fiction’ side of the science, probably aren’t possible as is explained? From aliens made entirely out of sound insulated with silicone to walking talking fire pits from the sun, Ben 10 is by far taking science by its reigns and going full speed into that fantasy and petrosapiens - the example of the ‘material based aliens’ you see in lots of media - is well within that cool factor you can’t fully logic.

Well, since it’s been stated a few times, petrosapiens (and the similarly crystalline crystalsapiens) are silicon - no e - based beings, and guess the fuck what my dear readers? Silicon-based crystals happen to include the beloved electric conducting quartz that this following headcanon is reliant on.

What if a petrosapien’s crystal structure down to its very molecular construction acts not only as their nervous system, but also as the root of their crystallokinesis?

Silicon itself does not provide its own current of course, but what is a nervous system without organs and most significantly of all, the CENTRAL nervous system; the brain - of course - alongside the spinal cord (read: not the spine that protects it). Simply put just like our own nervous system the central nervous system and the (conversely) peripheral nervous system communicate back and forth with one another using electrical currents.

Unlike our own human nervous system, the petrosapien nervous system is either mostly or near entirely electrical signals rather than electrochemical messages along neurons. Instead, through at least the crystal part of their bodies (which comprise most of their body and in fact translates more into extremely thick skin rather than natural armour) conveys sensory and neural responses and activities - either autonomic or somatic - along the crystalline structures like natural geometric circuitry.

Most of the nervous system in the crystal of a petrosapien is somatic, many of the autonomic nervous system being the soft squishy bits inside sitting like the centre of a fruit gusher, but it’s not without its own autonomic systems even if they are more towards the core. These autonomic functions are of course the organs responsible for recycling and reusing the digested minerals (a responsibility of the stomach) to act as materials for new crystal growth.

And with new crystal growth, along comes with it the inherent (but trained) crystallokinesis of petrosapiens. Though so long as a petrosapien eats their daily crystals they are engaging with crystallokinesis post digestion, the external act of crystal manipulation is in a sense literally letting your nervous system interact with other quartz-like or silicon-based crystals in order to jumpstart the manipulation of its structure as an extension of yourself.

Because having a network of circuits means that petrosapiens can literally feel more things than you expect of them, being able to detect sensory information beyond the simple presumed sensation of pressure, crystallokinesis of far more ancient literal planet made crystal is a process young petrosapiens need to practice, adapt, and get used to. It’s less about feeling pain and more about feeling more of yourself exposed to the air, to the water, to the ground beneath your feet and the ceiling above your head. To manipulate the crystals of Petropia you must become a part of Petropia.

Rather a religious experience wouldn’t you think?

Now what happens when a certain specific cult arrives in search of (literal) power?

That’s right baby welcome to classic reboot crossover time where I introduce a fundamental player into the headcanon history of my version of Petropia, the very reason that petrosapiens were introduced suddenly into the galactic sphere and how because of the materials of Petropia and the interference of extraterrestrials, the rapid rise of interplanetary level tech grew to the point where a certain criminal found himself staring at the shattered remains of his own home planet!

Say hello to the fulmini and the High Override himself, cult leader of the Global Mind and a literal representation of a nervous system, who’s invasion of Petropia was under the assumption of it being a barren uninhabited planet full of electrical current sustaining crystal for use in energy sources.

Check out this post by @sxilor-1010 and me for a more in-depth discussion on both the biology and more relevantly sociology of the fulmini and the High Override’s cult (which in today’s post I just made a name for that may or may not stick) so check that out-!

For the longest time I marked this period as The Surface Craze, the benefits of the English terminology being that it has multiple means beyond the direct Petropian translation of ‘the day the sky broke open’. As the many petrosapien people were introduced for the first time in thousands of years, spanning multiple generations perhaps equivalent to old English to modern (as it is today) English, the sky was crazed (rock term for scraped), the people were going crazy, and the upper rungs (aka the poor and the slums that couldn’t afford the protection of the holy core) sought this new horizon and caused a drastic shift in the political and societal landscape. All the while the energy hungry Override, with his energy desperate limbs of conquered colonies, studied and contemplated the usefulness of disciples (and batteries) of this new species.

Another meaning of craze was introduced to petrosapiens when the High Override grew interest in the regenerative abilities of petrosapiens, his arms and legs reaching out and spreading across the newly cracked open planet, singing his own praises as their one and only truth through the teeth and mouths of his subjects. Though many of the religiously scorned people of the shallows were far too burnt to be swayed, those that clung to religion in hope saw that these strangers were far more accomodating than the leaders of their own faith, the Override perhaps not able to fully take control of them as he could as those that serve as his fingers, but he did not come this far without his own manipulative ways.

A proposition was made, that these beings of crystalline stone can offer their patronage by contributing to the flow of energy, to welcome their arms into the embrace of the High Override and provide a tithe to his service. Their arms, which compress with the electricity of their central nervous system, that can be compressed and crushed and chewed up by the machines that the Global Mind and the High Override’s many fulmini limbs are hungry for, are desperate for, are past the point of begging for.

And those with the faith and the belief and the desperation, they take up arms and feed the machine.

Funny, it seems, that the High Override’s act has created one of the largest surviving community of petrosapiens yet.

Hey. everyone! I've decided to turn this Rewrite/Redesign Ben 101 AU into a series on youtube, where I'll show the speedpaint of redesigning the characters, and explaining my ideas and changes for them. Vilgax is the first of the series, so if you want to hear my thoughts and help support me on this idea, here is a link to the video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdWjPF…

Backstory: Long ago, Chimera Sui Generis took part in an old war in the galaxy, one that has been lost to history, but many races suffered from the aftermath. The Chimeras themselves suffered greatly, as the war had weakened their kingdom, and a neighbouring planet of aliens took that chance to conquer the world and people, enslaving them and treating them awfully for many, and I mean many years. They were used as servants, pitted into fights with animals or each other for amusement, and many even died to the harsh treatment. And no outside forces came to their rescue, unfortunately, even groups like the Plumbers as they did not have outposts, bases or sets up to the location of the Chimera’s homeplanet. So they were left on their own to suffer the torment of their rulers. That was, until one Chimera was born, and would one day free them all. His name was Vilgax, and the moment he was born, it was clear he was different. Stronger, smarter and even had much more endurance and stamina than any member of his species, some kind of odd genetic mutation. He was quickly found out about, and seeing potential interest in the young child, the rulers snatched him from his family, and trained him to fight in their arenas. Vilgax became a formidable warrior in the pits, slaying any creature thrown their way, but he never dared kill a member of his kind, knowing very well the pain that they were all going through. The foolish rulers thought they had a good grasp on Vilgax, thought they knew every move he could pull, but it ended up being their downfall that they took in the man when he was young. Because for years now, Vilgax had been making plans to take back their homeworld, and the moment he put that plan into action, it only took a few years to reclaim what the rulers too, and to kill or drive off most of them. Vilgax’s people celebrated their hero, thanking him endlessly for freeing them, and even elected him to be their new king, which he accepted. He vowed to never let him or any of his people ever feel so weak again, though little did he know that these words would be his downfall. It didn’t take long for Vilgax to realise that they needed more resources, bases, weapons and subjects to keep their home safe, and looking at other neighbouring planets, he decided to become a warlord and conquer them himself. He became pretty successful with this new role of his, and whenever he took control of a new planet and implemented his own rules, he let the people of those worlds decide if they wanted to leave, or live under his rule. He certainly didn’t treat them as nicely as he did with his own people, but it was better than being forced to wander in space. For years Vilgax was unchallenged, his name becoming well known across the galaxy, for being the lone warlord who was willing to fight until he got what he wanted. And that pride did start getting to Vilgax, that feeling of power he hadn’t had for so many years when under salvery control, it was something he clung onto, never wanting to let go of. So when he came across the Petrosapien, and they managed to fight back, something snapped a little in Vilgax, and caused him to make one of his most harshest of choices he has ever made. With the use of Tetrax, a young outcast of the Petrosapiens Vilgax had taken in, he blew up the homeplanet of the crystal people, and used them as an example of what happens when you cross Vilgax’s path, and don’t bow before him. This did cause talk among his people, many now feeling scared of their ruler. And yet he still treated his people kindly, it was just the rest of the galaxy Vilgax was willing to hurt. A few members of his people did try to say something, but he never listened, turning them down and repeating that he what was best for them. And while this didn’t sit right with them, they didn’t act out of line and just let Vilgax be, for they still felt like they owed him. Plus, if Vilgax did leave them behind because they angered him, they were scared that they could be conquered again, and made into slaves once more. Or worse, even go extinct. It wouldn't be until a few more years later that Vilgax would hear rumors of the ultimate weapon in the galaxy, a watch that allows you to turn into other aliens. Vilgax had, over the years, been taking parts and pieces from other races he conquered, like weapons, tools, amour and so on. He had even been upgrading himself with cybernetics or even drugs that enhanced him as a warrior, so the watch was certainly something he knew he would use. He tracked it down one day, watching the Omnitrix be taken away by Xylene and chased after her. Little did he know what path this spark for him, his own downfall when he finally meets the one human he will never be able to conquer, that one person who can challenge Vilgax’s pride, and make him spiral in on himself, and test his promise about never being weak again. He will forever curse the name, Ben Tennyson.

Ben 10 Alien Species Headcannons: Tetramands

Here’s installment number two in this new headcannon series. As I mentioned at the end of the first one on the Galvanic Mechamorphs, I will cover the original muscle alien race of the franchise, the Tetramands!

This installment will mostly consist of cultural headcannons, although I do have some biology ones to add.

In both continuities, the Tetramands are portrayed as a barbarian-like warrior race, being generally blood-thirsty and hitting first then asking questions later. I’ll admit it was a bit jarring to learn that the reboot continuity shares the same culture as the classic continuity, since it contradicts the lighter-hearted tone of the reboot.

At the same time, though, they’re supposed to be a badass species of warriors by virtue of having extreme strength. so one can’t completely do a 180 on their culture.

Thus, I’ve come up with an alternative culture for them that makes them more civil, yet still of tremendous strength. It’s more or less built directly off of Ancient Greek Culture. I always felt that a similar culture would fit them, and help deter the stereotype of being seen as a dumb muscle species.

First up, the biology headcannons:

 -Most Tetramands are red like before, although there can now be varying shades of red, such as orange and pink. Rarer skin colors like blue and brown are still possible, however.

 -As mentioned in my third power headcannon post, Tetramands are able to undergo brief muscle growth at will, doubling their strength in the process. However, being in this state drains their stamina much faster than normal. Thus, most only do so when absolutely necessary.

 -Males are now able to have more hair like females. Hair on males is not as common as females, however.

 -Tetramand skin is leather-like in its property, and thus is highly resistant to attacks that would severely wound a human. For example, most civilian-grade ammunition would deal no damage to them (they’d get royally pissed instead).

 -Tetramands are born with physically fit bodies. Thanks to their diets and regular physical activity, they are easily able to maintain their physique for their entire lives.

Now for the main meat of this installment; the culture headcannons:

 -Tetramands were once like their cannon selves; ruthlessly attacking their prey and rival tribes with brute force and cruelty. As time has passed, however, they have mellowed down as they find that bonds with each other is key to their overall survival, especially as resources are used up.

 -Tetramand culture is analogues to the Ancient Greek civilization of Earth. Most of all, the Tetramands have a religion of gods and goddesses of all aspects of life, from nature, to the hunt, to the seas. Unlike the Greek gods, however, it is not seen as damning to speak ill of them (though general consensus is to at least tolerate them).

 -The architecture of Tetramand buildings is based on Ancient Greek design, but with contemporary aesthetics added in.

 -Despite their great strength, the Tetramands are actually very much capable of deep thought. Much like Plato and Aristotle, they are known for their thought-provoking philosophical debates on a wide range of subjects, like how to determine ones true purpose in life.

 -Off of the same token, Tetramands are also known for being surprisingly intelligent. They had already developed both full mathematics and science foundations before crossing paths with the Galvans. Thus, they’re an example of the Genius Bruiser; strong yet intelligent.

 -Tetramands do have access to advanced technology, even if it’s not at the same level as the Galvans.

 -Despite having access to things like video games and TV shows, most Tetramand youth still spend a good amount of time partaking in physical activities as well.

 -Tetramand government is a Monarchy, with a royal family tracing back many generations currently in power. The overall leader can be either male or female, depending on which member is the strongest. Despite being in a monarchy, the royal family makes sure that their people are treated with respect and are given opportunities to grow in the social ladder, as well as have access to vital resources.

 -The biggest social event for the Tetramands is their Grand Wrestling Tournament. Not only are riches bestowed to the champion, but so is a high honor in society for perfecting their strength to overcome all opponents. Especially if one can dethrone the reigning champion. The tournament is broadcast on many planets, with well over 5 million viewers each year.

 -Despite their cultural origins and strength, Tetramands are Martial Pacifists, only engaging in warfare when necessary. One instance is when they aided the  Petrosapiens in their war against the Subsapiens (in reality the Antrosapiens), which they were losing before reinforcements arrived. The Tetramands and the Petrosapiens share a strong bond for each other, by the way.

Whew! That was a good amount of headcannons there. I’m happy with how they turned out.

I’m not immediately sure who will be next. I think I will need to give it some thought first.

As always, feel free to suggest your own headcannons for species from across the franchise!

See you next time!

Random Headcanons (canons?) for my Ben 10 AUs

For the weird high-school ish (which has a blog-- @askteenagealienheroes ) and the Steven Universe LIKE AU (it’s not a steven universe au entirely...) If any are AU specific, I will say.

Crystalsapiens have a backstory more based on the game Vilgax Attacks, plus with my own theory. Essentially, they are/were their own species, who would find planets and do what they could to restore them to habitable statuses, due to their easy ability of adapting. The last known home of them was the planet Mor’ Otesi, the story there being “Crystalsapiens evolved unique attributes to take advantage of their irradiated environment and went on to create a complex and sophisticated society on modern Mor' Otesi.” (source: Ben 10 Wiki). They died out not only due to losing the ability of reproduction (done by removing chunks and crystals of their body) from becoming too indestructible. They never came from Petrosapiens. Petrosapiens are far more like OS and like what was seen in the Alien Planet thing for the reboot (which, albeit existing opinions not liking it, is really good) about Petrosapiens. Sugilite made good friends with two Petrosapiens, eventually making friends with Tetrax, and they soon worked together to come up with a back up plan--making the back up crystal.

All of the parents participated in an experiment in which they would be able to get a child from, even if it was from one parent. Azmuth was the one in control of the experiment. All it took was DNA samples (Galvans are smart, man. Before you ask, Sugilite used a weapon that could rework his energy enough to at least break off a part of him. Think Vilgax’s sword, but smaller. It was simply used to break off a small chunk of his arm, then a small part of one his shards)

Ghostfreak was the son of a female Ectonurite named Ayano, but while the experiment was being conducted, Zs’Skayr snuck his own DNA into the Ectonurite DNA, then when Ghostfreak formed, Zs’Skayr possessed a servant, taking Ghosty home claiming to be the pick up for Ayano (who had said she’d be sending someone in). Ghosty spent years as Zs’Skayr’s trainee and back up plan, more that than a son, but when he reached age 12 he ran away, due to dealing with awful, awful abuse from Zs’Skayr. and being used when he was young. He was found by his mother, Ayano, who took on raising him from that point.

Many of the aliens speak different languages, languages actually--seemingly--from Earth, along with their own languages exclusive to their own species/planet. For example, Crystalsapiens spoke French, while Petrosapiens and Appoplexians speak Spanish, Tetramands speak German, Ectonurites speak Italian, and so on. (Admittedly this seemed like an interesting idea since it’s implied a lot in OV that they have something like that . . . )

Chromastone had issues when younger, his father usually too busy to be home, as he had duties to attend to. This eventually caused a rather bad effect on him, even leaving him with a rather low view of himself. When Petropia was destroyed, he found himself in a rather low place, but he did his best to stay happy and try to keep those who lived on Petropia but weren’t on it at the time it was destroyed hopeful. Even when he was successful in restoring it and it’s people (which did leave him in a 2 and 1/2 month coma due to being far too young to be able to handle releasing and using so much energy without at least being temporarily out for a while) and he was able to see his father again, it took quite a while for those issues to be . .  realized and handled. (High school AU specifically)

Diamondhead has two mothers, Lukuoa and Aquaria. Lukuoa goes by Luka and is happily married to her wife and vise versa, and the two were ecstatic to finally have child of their own.

Luka and Aquaria are great friends with Sugilite, which ended up making Diamondhead and Chromastone to be good friends at a young age.

At age 14, Chromastone was sent a disturbing threat, threatening to attempt to attack Petropia, late at night. Immediately, he attempted to leave his home to tell his father who was out at the time. This turned out to be a trap, as Chroma was captured and trapped in a strange mirror by Vilgax. Vilgax took the mirror with him, planning to use it as a bribe a good bit after Sugilite noticed his son was missing (which took no time at all), but found the mirror had been lost, most likely misplaced on some planet he was trying to get control of or get something from. The mirror went on from person to person, planet to planet, Chromastone being used, aging alone with no idea why this had happened to him. (Literally just think of something similar to Lapis Lazuli’s story) Eventually, (when he was around 19) he found a strange team of Plumbers had found his mirror, and used him for a good while, 4 years specifically, before just tossing him into the basement for a year. Eventually Ben found the mirror with his cousin, and they talked to it for a while, before setting him free. They were thankfully able to convince him to consider joining the Plumber team. (SU AU specifically .. .  o...obviously...)

Snare-Oh actually comes from a high class family, but despises it, and chose live his life as a rebellious street-rat. Eventually, he was caught by security at a high school he was hiding in (having hidden there to get away from some people wanting to kill him for something small) and could really only get away from the situation well if he agreed to go there. (The principal of the school had no students of Snare-Oh’s species and was curious as to what he could learn.)

Azmuth owns the school, having begrudgingly agreed to allowing Ben to keep the Omnitrix. 

Four Arms was abandoned on Earth as a child, his parents not wanting him as he looked to weak (BOY WERE THEY WRONG). A human woman, named Donna (don’t worry, she remembers her doctor), took him in.

Upgrade has a fear of thunderstorms, as does Chromastone.

Upgrade also has hemophobia, the fear of blood. Although he cannot bleed himself, the thought of it highly disturbs him. (And although Ghostfreak loves blood, he respects and understands this.)

Sugilite has a major minor fear of mannequins.

Okay y’all, by popular demand, Omni-tricked. All four parts.

Portland again? Really?

Did, did Animo make an ant/elephant hybrid? I mean I wouldn’t be surprised.

Sounds to me like that alarm you get when you check the smoke alarm’s batteries. Have you considered changing them? Also Ben you do not need more power you just used the wrong alien fucking chill.

Stop trying to break your watch, Tennyson.

Mount Megalodon? Really? That’s where the ele-ant comes from? Gods preserve me

Yep, Animo.

Dude, it’s Portland. You couldn’t have gone for something.... moreso? I mean is Oregon for fuck’s sake.

Um, did Ben just dial up a Chimera Sui Genesis? I mean don’t get me wrong if there was a species I’d like to see him turn into that’d be it (seriously, somebody write that fic), but not what I was expecting. Also the sudden shift in background color from green to yellow is concerning. Wait, oh fuck, is this the new Ghostfreak?!

Goddamnit Ben!

Oooooo, looking awesome. If they’d put this level of cool factor into the other alien designs I wouldn’t have had to deal with over a year of “this cartoon dug up my grandma’s corpse and fucked it” sentiments in the tag.

Ben, do not listen to the whispering in your brain. It’s not a good sign. Although I clearly have been dealing in too much Pern because I got wher flashbacks.

So, is like a Ghostfreak/Venom situation, is the vibe I’m getting?

Goddamnit Ben

Oh Holy Shit, I did not realize Chimera Sui Genesis could do that

Fucking laser eyes?!?! Seriously?!?!

Welp, bye-bye Portland

I wanna say “goddamnit Max, leave the child behind”, but so far this show has proven to me that if he did a second critter would pop out from under her, take her captive, and things would just escalate from there.

Animo!

Ben, chill.

“You can’t control Gax”, oh Gwen you have no idea. Wait for the other shit he’s gonna unlock, so far he’s doing good.

Welp, bye-bye Portland

This fucking critter!

For fuck’s sake!! What does it take to take down an ant/elephant critter?!?!

I admit, I saw a screenshot of this scene (with the “Gax Was Here” boulder) back when the episode aired an assumed that this was actually Vilgax and he was the one who made it. Which would’ve been awesome and hilarious and right up the alley for this show so far. Honestly, I’m kinda sad I wasn’t right. I mean come on, tell me you wouldn’t like a Vilgax who does shit like that.

Okay, so, if becoming a Chimera Sui Genesis is what it takes for Ben to stop being scared of squid, does that mean who could clear up Prime Ben’s peacock phobia with careful application of a kick-ass peafowl alien?

Welp

Ben pls

~~~~~

I have to assume the Omnitrix going white isn’t a good thing.

Phil? Wait what? 1) Tell me this ain’t the same Phil from OS, 2) Phil’s an electronics genius? The hell?

Finally he’s human for a while.

I will say, I’m becoming more and more convinced this Max isn’t a Plumber.

Somebody tie him to a chair

Well at least there’s some weakpoint.

Not much of a cave-in, and it don’t look like nobody’s hurt. Fucker’s just climb out. Even I could make that climb. In flip flops. With ease. You don’t need rescuing, you need to stop being pansies.

See that’s a fucking cave-in! What you fucker’s had was a pile of loose rock.

Also hi Phil. You look like the same Phil, but reboot style. We shall see if you’re as big an asshole. I have to assume so, even though you have shown no signs, because I’ve seen Prime you in action.

Phil! Please! Attention!

*gasp* It’s SixSix and Kraab!! Yay! Hi guys!

And, who are you?

So, Phil knows what the Omnitrix is? Is Max just that much better at hiding shit in the reboot? Are they still Plumbers? My interest has been piqued.

Oh, Tetrax, okay. I thought it might be you, but I wasn’t sure. Ya know, what with the fucking hazmat suit.

No, I’m with Ben, you are too damn fast for a Petrosapien.

Dude chill.

Welp

You have no anything

Um.... That looked suspiciously like a Null Portal...

You’ve made bigger jumps, Tennyson, and you know it.

Welp

And you’re not dead. Which I hope is a plus for you, given you’re ten and haven’t seen even half the horrors you’re going to yet.

Welp (this has been a very ‘welp’ four-parter so far, I’m noticing)

~~~~~

Let Gwen sleep

Welp

I wouldn’t trust Phil with a potted plant they’re letting him put shit on the Omnitrix.

Welp

Ben no.

Welp. Somebody’s gonna die.

Ben is just walking chaos in this four-parter.

Of course, the forest is saved by another thing falling from the sky. It’s like a reversal of the first episode of OS.

What the fuck are you looking at Phil? That screen don’t make no sense

....Vilgax? Is, is that you? Um, nice cloak Your Warlordship?

There is something incredibly hilarious about the idea of Vilgax being reduced to trying to essentially pickpocket the Omnitrix

Who saw this coming, raise your hands? Is that all of us? Everyone? Of course it is.

Welp

Never expected Vilgax to give me Kevin flashbacks, but then the reboot seems dedicated to throwing bits of him everywhere rather than giving us a cohesive whole Levin.

Hello Null Void bounty hunters. Nice to see you. If you could do something about the warlord parading around, that would be swell.

Well, thank you for trying.

It’s not gonna stop him, but throwing him off a cliff will delay him for a few seconds.

I gotta say though, pausing for a second, the idea of Vilgax wanting to destroy the watch this time around is very unique. Wonder what would happen if he and Prime!Vilgax met...

Bye-bye Vilgax

Welp. Sucks to be you, Benji. Or, well, not you, as the case may be.

~~~~~

Poor Ben....

What are you doing, Vilgax?

Nice Job Breaking It, Hero

There goes Gwendolyn

mrrrrrr, Tennyson Cousin Moment

Welp

Huh, this Vilgax knows how to fix the Omnitrix?

Nice Job Fixing It, Villain

Yay Upgrade!

Did, did Ben just Upgrade the Omnitrix? Oh my fudge. Holy crap.

Vilgax the Conqueror, out to destroy Earth out of spite

Welp

Bye Ben.

Goddamnit Tennyson!

Aww, Tennyson moment.

Also what do you know, Phil?

Well now they gotta have a season two, because I have too many damn questions!

9/10

11 year old Ben’s new batch of 10! Updated powers n such under the cut!

Swampfire has the ability to regrow his body over and over again from even the worst type of damage. He has a heated inner core that allows him to create fire from his charcoal-like hands. When snapping his fingers together,  a spark ignites the methane gases his body produces, allowing him to create fire. Being a being that LIVES on heat, Swampfire can withstand almost any type of hot temperatures. Swampfire is pretty resilient against many things, but if in extremely col environments, he is greatly weakened. He has a TERRIBLE odor due to the methane gas (although not as bad as Stinkfly’s stank) so hiding ain’t easy. For this design, I tried merging all of his concept designs, along with his blossomed form while adding a bit of my own flare to it. Heh, flare. Like fire. As in the alien above. The one that controls fire. Aptly named Swampfire. I wish I was dead.

For Echo Echo’s new design, I kinda wanted to return to form on this one. While I love Omniverse’s style and a lot of their redesign’s (I mean it IS practically the only art style I try to go for when drawing Ben 10), there are a few redesigns that don’t really strike me as the best. Echo Echo kinda being on of them. My only complaint was making him more pudgy-looking and giving him bulbous bug eyes. So, I kinda used his old design while keeping in tune with Omniverse’s design. Echo Echo is like a living amplifier. Covered in head to toe with a biosuit allowing him to create copies of himself, Echo Echo can duplicate and increase his amplitude tenfold. However, he can’t make infinite copies of himself. His max limit for clones is around 10 to 15. Anymore than that can weaken him and make his amplification less powerful. So if you’re expecting an army, you’re out of luck.

For Humungousaur’s new design I didn’t necessarily change much despite his power set is a tad different. AS for his clothing, I absolutely LOVE giving Vaxasaurians MMA-style clothing (shorts and gloves, primarily). I liked how it looks on my OC, Brawlasaurus, so I wanted to do it with Humungousaur too! Humungousaur is one one of Ben’s strongest, and largest aliens (besides Way Big). Humungousaur is pretty much just a large humanoid-like Dinosaur alien ranging up to 20 feet tall. He has IMMENSE strength (surpassing Four Arms), and very durable, incredibly dense, armor-like skin. But, like every alien, he has his weaknesses. Vaxasaurians are notorious for being cold-blooded creatures. Meaning if they were ever in contact with harsh, cold elements, their strength and size would dwindle and could possibly even die. So if a Vaxasaurian were to ever pick a fight with a Necrofriggian, chances are the Necrofriggian would come out the victor. And before anyone asks, no. My versions of Vaxasaurians do not sporadically change their size and grow plates of armor. They’re already large enough and have dense skin.

Instead of flying fast, Jetray is able to merely glide quickly in the air. In the water, however, he’s an incredibly fast swimmer. He can still breathe both on land and in water. Instead of shooting lasers from his eyes and tail, he merely has the ability to do so from his eyes. His tail is now able to shoot out a very long, VERY sharp paralytic barb that he can regrow. For this redesign I wanted to keep Jetray’s colors/stripes and such, but have a few of his features to feel a tad more alien. So I decided to simply restructure his face and change his abilities.

Big Chill’s power set is not that different from what we’ve seen. He still has the ability to freeze things by blowing incredibly cold gases/wind onto an opponent, freezing them instantly. He also has the ability to become intangible and phase through different objects, even freezing them inside-out if he chooses. Big Chill now has the added ability to create large ice structures over his limbs in order to make any punch/kick twice as powerful. Big Chills species can survive the cold vacuum of space, however they are still susceptible to incredibly hot temperatures. Was really excited for this one since Big Chill was an old fave of mine. For his design, I really wanted to keep the buff look Omniverse gave him, since I sorta felt his more scrawny-look made him look like a dude in a suit (a problem I feel UAF had a lot of times with their designs). I wanted to give him a lil fur, like an actual moth, and an exposed rib cage that has a translucent sack that can sorta show his organs (although a tad hard to see in the pose, my bad). I also REALLY wanted to keep the hood he always wears, so I had the idea that to top part of his wings stay on his head when he’s gliding, but when he needs to fly faster they flow outward, giving him more air to fly on. 

Chromastone is still a subspecies of Petrosapiens known as a Crystalsapien. However, this subspecies mainly lives deep underground, illuminating the dark caves and catacombs. They absorb large amounts of light when they’re on the surface and “feed it” to the core of Petropia, thus containing the planet as a whole. The crystal on his head allows him to shoot a wide range of powerful beams of light that can disintegrate an object in no time flat. He can also create light energy-based barriers to defend himself (an evolutionary trait his species learned to not be crushed by any cave-ins). Nothing too different from the last redesign I did for, but merely simplified it and gave him a new outfit.

For his powers/skill set, Brainstorm is one of Ben’s most strategic and analytical aliens on the roster. Able to calculate practically ANYTHING (whether it being complex math equations, enemy attacks, etc.) Brainstorm proves to be a go-to alien when needed for complex issues Ben can’t solve on his own. Brainstorm can produce and manipulate electricity in a variety of useful forms, including shoving/launching or shocking enemies, creating protective force fields of energy by opening the exoskeleton plates on his skull. Brainstorm is often very cold an calculating, so a lot of his calculations don’t involve how other may feel about his solutions. His species is also very boastful, so he may get stuck on admiring how intelligent he is.  Nothing all that different for Brainstorm in terms of design, pretty much just an addition of the sharp, winged ridge around his dome. Felt like it gave him some mad scientist “hair” in a weird way. .

For his skill sets, Spidermonkey is not too different. He’s now equipped with sharp, prehensile spider-like arms and a paralytic/venomous bite. Spidermonkey’s webs are about as strong as a lightweight cable, and sticky enough to latch on to just about any surface. Spidermonkey is able to climb on just about anything, although places with sooth surfaces can be pretty hard for him to grasp on to. Spidermonkey is INCREDIBLY agile, able to dodge many attacks and can jump insanely high. However, he’s not as strong as you might think. He relies far too much on his webbing, but can only organically spin out as much as he can. He can be easily caught off guard and taken down, depending on his adversary. For this design, I really wanted to hammer in the whole spider aspect about Spidermonkey, since I sorta feel his design was pretty much just a monkey with extra limbs and weird eyes. However, I didn’t want to stray away from his initial design he had in UAF. I didn’t really like the hair design they went with in Omniverse, so I kept the UAF style since it gave him more of a spider-looking head. 

This Goop doesn’t need his Anti-Gravity Projector to move, however if he’s on a planet with little to no gravity, his body will move aimlessly and sporadically. He’s still able to make his goop acidic, and can fit between any crease or crevice. However, if the Omnitrix (which is now located inside his body for convenience) is removed from his body it will return Ben to his human form. His one major weakness is large amounts of water. If submerged, his body will dilute and also cause Ben to revert back to his human form. Goop’s species is immune to heat, but can be slowed down in much more frigged temperatures. Nothing too different from the first redesign I did of him, just felt like putting him in an old pose he’s had before. 

And last but certainly not least, Alien X! I really loved his initial look, so the only thing I really wanted to was give him clothes inspired by OS suits and the Galactic Gladiator outfit. I also wanted to make the three horns on his head to be the same color green that Serena and Bellicus are to show how there are three entities controlling Alien X (including Ben, obviously). Alien X is at the TOP of the most powerful aliens list. He’s omnipotent, being able to warp reality, time, and space with ease and at any level. He’s so powerful he can even recreate the universe if need be! However, that doesn���t mean these tasks are easy… A major weakness for the most powerful alien in the universe is simply coming to a decision on what to do. Sounds dumb right? It should be easy knowing what to do immediately. Wall crumbles? Just rebuild it using your thoughts. City being wiped out by typhoon? Just reverse the effects of the planet to calm it down. Bad guy going on a rampage? Teleport him to the nearest dimension. Well, it wouldn’t be hard to actually do those things, but it depends on every variable you could dream of. Ben often goes to Serena and Bellicus (the two other halves of a Celestialsapien that they all have) to see what to do. Serena tells Ben how one decision can solve the situation, while Bellicus tells him how it could also mess with events going on ANYWHERE in the universe. Not only that, but Alien X’s powers are so difficult for Ben to manage that any one of his abilities can mess with the fabric of reality itself. While in this form, Ben would have to be absolutely emotionless and analytical. All three must come to a conclusion that ends up solving the problem, while not damaging any part of the space-time continuum. You can probably imagine how that sort of thing can be really difficult for an 11 year old who barely knows what cereal to get at the super market. Not only that, but turning into Alien X takes a major tole on Ben’s psyche. After transforming back, Ben still hears voices and gets major headaches. He has trouble sleeping at night, thinking about every action he takes that could have a negative or positive effect. It really messes with him for a while, making Alien X one of his most powerful, and harmful aliens to transform into.

Because I’m trying to read something and am constantly getting distracted about my internal thoughts, I wanna talk about petrosapien diets and also about the Alien Force inspired human petrosapien hybrid character that I finally have a design for and how she factors into that... vaguely.

So not keeping you for long, everything now continues under the cut.

A lot of my headcanons around petrosapiens and Petropia centre around the idea that most of this silicone-based planet and the lifeforms it produces spawns from the existence of crystalovores, however is best to spell a word that doesn’t exist. Crystalovorous lifeforms are either plants that grow into many of the crystals and subsequently derive nutrients from the significantly harder to eat rock to soils and sands, or lifeforms that derive some form defense mechanism associated with crystals or otherwise in need of a way to get more crystals.

Petrosapiens, being largely crystalline (a step up from having a crystal exoskeleton even if by technicality that’s what they generally are) are an example of the latter group and get their nutrients and energy from eating and digesting very specifically crystals, rocks being the cheaper and technically ‘unhealthy’ equivalent (think fast food or otherwise not-entirely-good-for-you foods) and metals, what little there is in easy access on Petropia inedible. Maybe you might have metal be the equivalent for gum, but one can’t dissolve it in large quantities so it’s best not eaten at all if not just spat out after.

That being said, a lot of crystalovore species - including that of petrosapiens, of course - have evolved to specifically digest crystals and sneak away what little nutrients it would have, also having to adapt to find, need and desire the nutrients specific to crystals that other species would not and never will benefit from otherwise. This digestive acid - stomach acid for closed system lifeforms like petrosapiens, an acidic poison-like secretion from roots or skin for plants and otherwise open system lifeforms like bugs and certain tunneling creatures in and out of water - is strong enough to break crystals into nutrients to enervate the body and leave dust behind. Open system creatures and life leave the dust behind for non-crystalovorous plants to take root, for fungus wanting to finish things off or for other purposes, but petrosapiens take that remainder crystal waste and use it to grow more crystals.

I suppose the human equivalent may render that idea as being kind of gross, taking the useless parts of your digested food and turn it essentially to skin; were it a shelled creature, waste product shells, but to be fair that’s how snails work on Earth anyway. And that’s mostly how I see it, it’s not a system that can be perfectly paired with a human function, and now (well technically not now, I already had made the connection before) I add snails to my pool of ‘what the fuck is a petrosapien’ biology headcanons- lemme just...

Hahah, you cannot escape my weird inspirations!

But, as a little something something, though that acid is not strong enough (nor built right) to digest metal - no literal bismuth petrosapiens walking around with technicolour crystals - it is more than enough to dissolve what would typically constitute for food, biological plants or meat typical to a diet of herbivores, carnivores or omnivores (hmm that’s a lot of ‘i’s, maybe crystalovore should be crystalivore?). Looking at like, specifically if herbivores can eat meat or if carnivores can eat plants for like... a sliding scale of what can happen or not, there are generally no strict herbivores whereas carnivores cannot digest - and thus cannot be sustained - by plant matter (so feel free to slap a furparent for giving their dog a vegan diet).

With this in mind, this made me think that crystalovores are to omnivores what herbivores are to carnivores, there’s a level of disconnect between the food and the individual that leads to a disconnect of what you can digest. But, though the acid is capable of dissolving plant and animal matter no sweat, unlike herbivores who can eat some form of meat (typically being that of insects rather than a full body, but can in moderation eat carrion and bird chicks) and derive sustenance, it is the difference between organic and inorganic food that simply means that petrosapiens (and other exclusively crystalovorous species) just simply do not have the same nutritional needs that organic food provides.

So, with all that mumbo jumbo out of the way, petrosapiens can and - for those trying what is dubbed ‘human food’ ie, not crystals and named after the introduced idea of humans who eat anything and everything regardless if it will harm them - do eat meats and fruits for all the nutritional value of a garnish. Having a diet of only meats and fruits and whatever other non-crystal based thing will do absolutely nothing for a petrosapien, even if it’s rich in minerals or whatever, because that’s a lot of garbage to sort through to even get to minerals, and by that point the salts and whatever other relatively inorganic part of the food does nothing for sustenance. In fact, speaking of minerals, mineral water does more good than a full course meal of ‘human food’ because even if the minerals are floating around in actual water, there’s no need to sort through any junk to get to those minerals.

And so, sure, have a journey with textures one can’t even begin to make with crystals and try out ‘human food’, petrosapiens eat crystals and maybe cheaper rocks with like pockets of crystals within them if you can’t afford better, because they just built like that.

But I have a petrosapien character who is not built like that, and saying that she’s petrosapien is only half right.

Say hello to the finally drawn concept of a nameless human petrosapien hybrid, a character I’ve been referring to as Abuelita de los Crystales after the Mexican Cave of Crystals because guess what, she’s lived for 180ish years ever since the Victorian era and, if it weren’t for her significantly more human (but still half petrosapien twin) she would have been far more alone than she is and is coping with the loss of a lot of people by being great at Dia de los Muertos.

Because I cannot be trusted with keeping a hybrid character free from angst, I have forced myself to keep her angst be of the typical ‘i live for a long fucking time and the people around me are god damn human’ angst and slightly just ‘i’m very visibly not human’ (this is why i made the mutants and magic au, this great great great great grandaunt of her slightly more human compatible twin’s lineage deals a lot better where non-human beings are a little more common place), I’ve given her more of the human-ish materials part of her genetics as opposed to her twin.

By that I mean, abuelita (genuinely I don’t have a name for her) has crystals made of bone - or at least calcite (crystalised calcium) and bone cells - whereas her fraternal twin had her nails, hair and bones replaced with their mother’s crystals (not to be confused with their human mum, look this has been a whole year of thought and it’s coming out because these thoughts are now impacting reading). This individual right here does not derive sustenance from meat or fruit like full-blooded humans, but because she is made from bone/calcite with bone cells whatever I’m deciding, the simple solution is drinking a lot of milk and straight up eating bones and sucking out the marrow like a grandfather who finds the marrow of an ossobuco is the best part.

Now, from the angst ridden bowels of my mind, this tatara tatara tatara tararabuelita (tía, abuelita or bisabuelita for generally not bullshit long titles) can now be essentially one of the founders or perhaps only member of the family that has, in 180 years of free time, has picked up a hobby to cattle farm. Aside from overseeing something that can have intergenerational workers, she has a very stable source of calcium that can also directly feed the people that she cares about with so much fucking cow products it’s like ‘Tía! I’m tired of having so much beef, can we get more variety?’.

Okay this has turned into Abuelita de los Crystales propaganda (I should REALLY FUCKING decide on a name now that I have a drawing of her) instead of ‘oh petrosapiens eat rocks for breakfast’ bullshit but excuse me for giving my technically not even an adult petrosapien human hybrid a little farming hobby with little pieces of ‘wait what do you mean her sister ‘had’ crystals replace her bones’ insight of what a year of sitting around and doing nothing about it did to this character :)

So, petrosapiens (maybe even Chio my petrosapien therapist that I shove into every circumstance that needs some therapy even if location wise it doesn’t make sense) are confounded that my nameless hybrid sustains herself off of very organic bone and milk to live and humans are thinking how bizarre it is that Abuelita de los Crystales only ever drinks milk and eats bones when her very human looking family eats significantly more meat than she does. My baby’s therapy is cattle farming and Dia de los Muertos ofrendas being full stocked with memories and offering like you wouldn’t fucking believe.

And I believe that is all, for now at least. Now let me get back to what I was reading and hopefully I won’t look anywhere other than the screen and suddenly think of something else to write.

Petropia wouldn’t exactly be the type to grow its own plants, but with a few quick searches, I can say that’s it’s possible. And, when looking at the existance of Petrosapiens, surely there comes animals too, right?

This will hardly be concrete, just speculation, but this will... fill out the world of Petropia a little more.

So, starting off, y’all know how I love to include red sleep in my string of headcanons. It’s a little plant that can be easily added to a rock garden, not that you’d want to.

A little tidbit on rock plants though, there IS a tiny requirement for soil. Now, for our little crystal eating friend here, we can say that red sleep has adapted to turn crystals into soil, which it then consumes and takes its nutrients. This, for one, signifies an evolutionary adaptation that may have occurred in more that one species.

Convergent evolution is a wonderful thing, and given the mostly if not all crystal environment of Petropia, it’s highly possible that a lot of its species has this crystal to nutrience adaptation. Yes, I am essentially saying here that crystalivores (crystal-eaters) are most likely to produce the same chemicals in digestion.

So, much like stomach acid to Humans is more than likely to harm ourselves, Petrosapiens have the same issue. Unlike Humans, where most soil-based plants on Earth do not produce the same stomach acid, the plants that eat crystals on Petropia DO, and it’s far more common and widespread.

But rock plants aren’t the only plants that can grow on Petropia. There are air plants and water plants too.

Now, Petropia doesn’t have much in the way of weather, not only because it’s naturally subterranean, but also because there isn’t a lot of stuff on the surface to actually form weather (save from wind of course). However, that does not mean that moisture does not exist on Petropia at all. One of the cornerstones of cave development is water, made not from rain, but from condensation.

Life may or may not exist thanks to water, life may or may not come into fruition without it, but to avoid going fantasy, water Petropia shall have. Their ocean would take up quite a lot of the planet’s deepest reaches, but that’s how our ocean works anyway.

Lakes, rivers and the odd waterfall also exist on Petropia, but running water only typically forms after years of crystal erosion. An occasional, unique water system are shrinking lakes, where instead of growing from the condensation, the minerals in the water actually form new crystal ground. It’s a cycle.

Getting back to plants, water plants can take root in these conditions, requiring at least an inch of water most of the time. Air plants, despite the name, would also thrive in these damper areas, seeing as though they take the water heavy air and incorporate it into their systems.

But what of sunlight you ask, what about photosynthesis.

Well my friends, my recent Petropia post talked about how the crystals of its walls would glow from the UV light of the sun. Plants closer to the surface would be bright light plants, but those deeper in still get a glow, being naturally low light plants.

Truly underwater plants, like the equivalent of seaweed, may have some trouble in forming like Earth seaweed. But no matter, low light rock-based plants may adapt to survive no light, feasting on the walls, floors and cliff edges of the underground sea that they cling to.

Now that the plants have been set, let’s begin talk about animals. Maybe as a way to try and make this flow, underwater animals may in fact exist. Since direct exposure to the sun is impossible from an underground, a lot of the creatures underneath may be more akin to midnight zone fish on Earth.

Almost in reference to Petrosapien’s occasional glowing eyes, the idea of having majority a of the sea creatures be bioluminescent seems really cool. Ah, my bias is showing, yes, but scientifically bioluminescence is a certain natural chemical reaction to oxygen. Structure wise, the deeper the fish the less likely they have bones, or in the Petropian equivalent, natural biological crystal structures.

Motile creatures can and do occasionally evolve armour, and depending on the pressure of the water, may be Petrosapien-like with their crystal structure acting as an exoskeleton. Sessile creatures, however, are more likely to grow or even dig into the crystals. In fact, a rather large proportion would most likely be crystalivores too. Not to say that Petrosapiens had initially evolved from sessile coral type creatures, but there is a higher chance that they do share a common ancestor than not.

Predators of crystal-covered animals are typically both carnivores and crystalivores (a combination word would need to depend on what... i think it’s class if insectivores have anything to say about it). However, certain predators are only crystalivores, while others are pure carnivores. Herbivores typically don’t have this battle, as a majority of plants don’t typically rely on crystals for protection.

Stepping out of the water, terrestrial animals can either have endoskeletons of crystal, with whatever appropriate skin material as their outer layer, or exoskeletons, where their skin is almost completely not present, acting more so a liner between crystal and flesh. Fur is most probably not a factor, it’s rather humid underground in damp caves, but perhaps one or two species develop a waterproof coat.

There’s sure as heck gonna be loads of little critters that no doubt contribute heavily towards pollination of plant life, if not just serve as the Petropian equivalent of bugs. Being small would mean that there is an explosive amount of niches yet to be fulfilled, and even if I new every one of them, it would take forever looking into the specific.

I would say, the creatures that have endoskeletons would most likely grow to large sizes, mainly due to the square-cube law. This would mean that Petrosapiens themselves are not all that large in comparison to certain animals. Perhaps to the point of predators? I’ll get to that.

Whether or not Petrosapien’s have the same innate Human desire to adopt something can vary, but my brain is smooth and only thinks of funky alien animal companions. Like, just imagine a little dog-sized pillbug-armadillo looking buddy that’s just... you as a Human can’t tell, but from a Petrosapien’s perspective could just as well be a VERY happy puppy. And it’s just, it’s baby but aside from the funky alien pupper I have no clues on how culturally they would be domesticated like???

A!

Anyway, back on track.

Ever since I starting thinking of north and south Petropia, I couldn’t exactly stop. I would say that Petropia’s ‘moons’ may have previously been apart of the planet, ages and ages ago, so that safe passage from north and south WAS a thing. Just like how the ice age opened and closed some pathways to different areas of Earth, this could functionally be the same for Petrosapiens.

However, I will say that, because there’s no feasible way for Petrosapiens to get across the planet (unlike Humans and boats across the sea), whichever side was the last to be populated and eventually trapped on the other side were forced into changing to fit the new environment’s niche. Now, they didn’t change all too much, being still very much Petrosapien, but there are some visual distinctions.

Uh, what those are though I don’t know.

The primary differences however are the different ecology, since animals don’t demand finding out new things and being ocean-bound prevent water to land back to water journeys. So, if Petrosapien’s were to have predators, it depends on who you ask.

I have two ideas, mainly inspired by caves and also rock eaters of Earth. One, being the cave influence, are essentially megafauna bat, that can play frequencies that can on the odd and most beneficial occasion ring crystal (not a good thing if you have tuning forks on your back). The other are giant seaslug squids, ones with shells that glitter with consumed crystals.

Who gets who is up in the air, but this post wasn’t meant to be a specific analysis of all the species and body plans of Petropia.

Welp, I hope you at least enjoyed it.

And yeah, I’ve learnt my lesson. Went straight to notes on this one.

I always wonder how petrosapians are born but like ... Do they get planted upside down?

And another thing that's been bothering me is tetrax not having his back shards I think on petropea ( I can't spell) there's this weird birth defect where males are born without shards or they where ripped off and they can't grow back ( many males are mistaken for females on many many planets )

And I have a headcanon where some females are much taller then males

( please think about this real quick )

Just to keep in line with how I structure my stuff, I’ll put the majority of my responses under the cut, but I do love your ask (with questions and bonus ideas of your own).

I’m weird when it comes to Petrosapien birth and have it between live-birth and egg-berth. I don’t know if I’ve posted it or kept it in my notes for later uploading, but what essentially happens, to my headcanon, is that they do the do and lay the baby in the mother’s crystal system.

It would largely be inconvenient to lug around an extra mound of crystal, so imagine it like taking off one’s pregnant belly as if it were a backpack. A little weird, sure, but that’s aliens for ya.

Your word choice does confuse me. Planted? They’d probably, if they are ‘planted’ by definition, I’d say that they’d be right side up. Planted to me insinuates being connected to the ground, the wall or maybe ceiling, but I suppose I’m not exactly sure what you mean.

As for Tetrax, he’s a little weird. In flashbacks, he sure as heck has his backspikes, but in modern times he doesn’t. Feel free to headcanon your own beliefs, the idea of a birth defect (or perhaps a deficiency in the Petrosapien equivalent of testosterone) is actually a pretty cool thought, but I propose a thought.

I feel that the backspikes are a little more necessary than just regular crystalkinesis, so it’s not the simple matter of sucking them back in. Sure, someone can grow the spines themselves, but they lack the… durability of natural spikes. Perhaps, however, Tetrax chose to remove them.

The suit he wears is probably made to tear and heal itself to allow him to make structures, but the initial purpose of a suit (aside from being for space) is to ultimately hide that he’s a Petrosapien. Tetrax is a walking fossil not from age but from the fact he’s one of the few Petrosapiens alive, and advertising that as 1) a bounty hunter and 2) as the person involved with Petropia’s destruction, it’s not so hot an idea.

or he’s trans and now that everyone’s dead he doesn’t have to ‘pass’ as male

And as for females and their height relative to males? Heck yeah they can be. I like to think that there are a whole heap of shapes and sizes a Petrosapien can genetically be, and body types too can be different. Not only can you get muscular shapes and skinny twigs, there may also be the plus sized.

It’s not necessarily fat, it’s more so thicker crystals in places that are thinner on others, being solid crystal an everything. Tall, short, skinny, wide, muscular or not, just so long as their crystal structure doesn’t interfere with the movement of their joints, it’s all possible.

And for Petrosapien exclusive gender differences, females can be sharp, males smooth, and spines can vary if the level of testosterone is higher or lower.

Oh, and thank you for the ask. These are just my thoughts and you can take whatever you want or leave and make some of your own.

Hrmmm lizard brain making funny noises, and I must comply.

Also maybe I get a little weird near the end but you can skip it? It’s not like it’s a plot thing it’s just... suggestive in a hopefully safe kind of way...

What if Petrosapiens are reptilian?

Okay not every alien needs to conform to earthly standards of animalia and/or the insect kingdom, but I really just had a brain moment (not sure if smooth brain or wronkle brain) and I want to walk you through this completely fanfiction headcanon I’ve got.

So obviously Petrosapiens aren’t mammals, even if for some reason their crystal skin is keratin based (it’s apparently silicon based but I think UAF had a weird obsession over it so that’s under scrutiny). There’s also no way that they’re amphibious or even remotely fishy, because them animals are very... moisture based and I’m really sure that the only form of wet Petrosapiens get is like... I don’t know, condensation? From the environment?

I will say that insectoids can have exoskeletons and chiton, which sort of goes along with the species tough exterior, but that thought also terrifies me and I’m pretty sure that doesn’t much apply to the behaviours of Petrosapiens (not that I’m an expert or anything I’m just an internet dweller with too much and no time on my hands).

But why reptiles, why make that a headcanon?

Uh...

Okay maybe not reptiles but close enough?

So Petrosapiens have a tough crystal skin, what if that’s the scale equivalent yeah? Sure it regenerates like magic and sure I’m not smart enough about reptiles to make a good case, but there are many lizards that can regenerate lost limbs (specifically tails but you get my point).

But that’s not a reptile exclusive trait! You say, axolotls are amphibious and do the same, a snail can regenerate its whole body from the head alone! But I’m not finished.

I mentioned that Petrosapiens don’t really look like moist people (okay that’s a horrible image), so to partner with that, I believe they’re cold blooded. Now thinking of crystals with blood inside them is probably a bit of a cursed idea, but what cold-blooded means in actuality is having no thermoregulation. Unlike we mammals that can sweat when too hot or get goosebumps when too cold, I see Petrosapiens just not doing either of those and having to manually cool off or heat up (I mean, feel free to say otherwise but like, can you blame me?).

As a more... cosmetic reason, I would say that their rather monotonous expressions and facial features lend towards a more... lizard like characture? Like mammals are super expressive (maybe because we can understand them as fellow mammals), bugs are super creepy looking with multiple eyes either on stalks or in compounds, amphibians with them squishable faces and then fish with their vacant walleyed faces, I think (or hope, rather) that you see where I’m coming from.

And... oh boy am I gonna talk about this, reproduction. Oh no I am, oh no. Feel free to skip this, imma try not to be too nsfw with this and ruin anyone’s childhood.

I once read somewhere oh so long ago in a galaxy far far away that someone made a headcanon that Petrosapiens use their crystalkinesis to help in... you know... so... oh okay I’m doing this. So... not that I’m looking or anything, but male and female Petrosapiens have a distinct shape that lends me to believe that, no, they don’t have external parts... like reptiles. Crystalkinesis opens the stomach region and exposes whatever they got and it’s like... holding hands but with an open stomach so the parts aren’t shown, but aside from that, reptilian.

This should be sfw now, ish. With crystalkinesis, I headcanon they make an egg, which is probably a horrific image to y’all but I’m like, digging my own grave at this point. Using stomach crystals, the mother... lays an egg... which is almost like a... live birth because... that then becomes the kid? Please don’t ostracise me even if I deserve it, it’s not even reptilian anymore it’s just alien...

OKAY! Enough of THAT!

In UAF, during the transformation sequence from Ben to Diamondhead... its revealed Petrosapiens have nostrils. As cursed as that realisation was (and the fact that Ben was still sneezing when sick, I am peeved at how alien sickness then and there wasn’t unique like in OS shut up it’s not a rant) sorta... further separates Petrosapiens from an insectoid based species and allows for... my lizard brain to say kin but other than that, this is just weird fanfiction.

If you all unfollow after realising I’m a degenerate, go ahead okay but I really hope I didn’t get on anyone’s nerves or anything.

Okay, this is take 2, and I’m starting from complete scratch. Now, however, since I’m writing this in notes INSTEAD of tumblr, I’ll be taking the time to think through thoughts a little more cohesively.

Starting of with mentioning not only Petropia, but how each element of the planet helps contribute to Petrosapien biology AND culture.

Petropia is definitely not a spherical planet, and even though Earth itself isn’t perfect, this is super wild. But planets of a more... oblong let’s say, shape and appearance can exist.

From what I have heard, however, this means that Petropia would need a super fast rotation speed.

For those who’ve read my Kinet/Kineceleran post about their Earth sickness, you may be thinking that if this was the case, Petrosapiens too would have a significantly faster sleep-wake cycle. What differs between Kinecelerans and Petrosapiens however, despite their already significant differences, is their natural lifestyle. Many times in canon, through pop-ups and reboots Alien Homeworlds series, Petrosapiens are stated to be subterranean.

Now, unlike bats that would live in caves and travel into the open to eat fruit and bugs, Petrosapiens do not require to live on the surface. They would be functionally nocturnal, yes, but inherently everyone would be. Perhaps to the point where a full, brink of death, sleep may not actually be required.

Why would they have eyes, you ask, if they traditionally live underground? Well well well, this question comes back to the planet.

Crystals, even if they do block out a majority of the light, are a little bit more transparent than dirt and earth, especially metal. Many gems are luminescent, and is quite often the distinction from fake to real stones, but can y’all guess what specific lights make these gems ‘glow’? If you guessed UV, then you’d be spot on!

And guess what type of light suns produce the most of? That’s right babes, ULTRA VIOLET!

Instead of a pitch black subterranean culture, with no need for the development of eyes, the planet is lit with its own interaction between sun and crystal and glows. Environments closer to the surface may have more of the natural sun colour, but the deeper you go, the more it’s lit like a black light, with glows not typically present under the average white light.

This in conjunction with the speedy rotation of the planet, could mean that a lot of the time there’s a consistent glow. I will say that this is part of the reason why Petrosapiens may not have a sleep-wake cycle at all, even if they do happen to rest. If there is no technical night, what point even IS there to sleep.

This can also mean that Petrosapiens are cable of seeing UV lighting too, if not replacing some that humans may have. Also, the evolution of eyes can also lend to comparisons with nocturnal eyes in Earth creatures. Look at the cat, then look at Diamondhead.

Occasionally, especially notable in the first episode, Diamondhead’s eyes occasionally glow. But that may not be the case. Since Petrosapiens are evolved to have eyes, even if they live a life underground, they may have similar ‘nocturnal’ evolutions as according to convergent evolution. The glowing eyes, merely a reflection of light to help see more, just like a cat’s.

Now, silicon-based lifeforms (i say as present me, kicking past UAF biology hating me in the shins for discrediting that) may not follow the same rules and requirements as carbon-based. But theorising any spectacular differences may serve only to alienate (hah) and create fancy of sci-fi. As the saying goes, know the rules before you break them.

Not that I know the rules completely but I mean...

Speaking of, the planet. Speed may be the primary contributor to the odd shape, and crystals manage to light up the lower environments, but let’s combine the two. Petropia is made of one of the toughest materials in the known universe, and if canon suggests anything, it’s resistant to both ageing and damage.

Damage is an obvious one. Petrosapiens are a rather enduring species, through body and now mind thanks to the sleep headcanons. But if Eon can’t turn their crystals to dust in how many centuries/millennia it takes to dust off a To’kustar, age comes as a second resistance.

This damage and age resistance may not be as much of a factor against the blank void of space, but it certainly impacts on the parts of the planet with an atmosphere. It’s lasted for long enough to evolve a sapient species, after all, and though some chunks of the planet have separated, Petropia’s strength and shape come from its resistant materials.

Speaking of, though Petrosapiens do age and subsequently die of it, it’s more so in line with how lobsters age. A Petrosapien, a being made out of the elements of the planet that they live on, are almost completely resistant to external damages. The only reason why they can and will die is because of their internals. You can not control the speed at which Petrosapiens die (unless you kill them yourself).

Death from ageing simply means that the internal organs grow weaker over time, growing unable to sustain and maintain crystal development, and if not ceasing production, may instead create weaker and easily breakable crystals. This is why drugs have such a negative impact on a Petrosapien, as I headcanoned in my dark hc/ oc talk duo. You are actually bypassing the natural external resistant and forcing yourself to age faster by killing off the only thing that makes your mortal.

Another death can occur from pressure, and that can be easily prevented thanks to the atmosphere. I mean, unless they want their insides to be liquor inside their crispy outer shells, something to prevent their insides from smooshing/ripping apart would be handy.

In canon, Petrosapiens apparently have a nose, so they most likely need air. It doesn’t mean oxygen, but it can certainly mean that an atmosphere would be in their best interest. The oblong shape of Petropia does have some interesting effects on the atmosphere though, and while a subterranean lifestyle can avoid most of these, surface life is more subject to these challenges.

Now, depending on what side you look at it from, Petropia can suddenly appear to look like a flat planet. Annoying as that is, a video by Artfexian does point out that the atmosphere of a flat planet may have some issues. Since Petropia isn’t just a coin floating in space, and has a little more reason put into it as to why it’s shaped the way it is, there’s some left over logic we can apply to this hypothetical.

Here goes. The speedy rotation of the planet may pull a majority of the atmosphere to the sides, leaving the tips of the planet to either scrape the outer atmosphere, or even breach it and go into space. The atmosphere of the north and south of Petropia however, would be a lot more protected given the mountainous landscape, than the sides of the planet. Protected from what, however.

Solar winds, that is!

The fast rotation of the planet may incidentally blow away the atmosphere off the sides, which would be uninhabitable. A magnetic field may be the most beneficial way to prevent solar swept atmosphere, but even though Petropia is densely made from crystals, I don’t believe that it has a metallic core.

What prevents the surfaces of the north and south of Petropia from losing their atmosphere is largely dependent on the mountainous peaks. Often facing away from the sun, with minimal axial tilt, the atmosphere is protected like glass to a fishbowl. The atmosphere DOES however suffer from a frayed edge, so life in the mountains is strictly discouraged.

But then this brings about another question.

If the north and south sides of Petropia are liveable, but the core, the mountain peaks and the sides of the planet are inhospitable, how do they interact with each other.

Without tech, they CAN’T!

For however long the species has lived, only in recent times has the surface been known to exist. For eons before that, many Petrosapien’s have learnt that going deeper is a danger to themselves, and stopped trying to go further. The ends of their world start from the roof and the floor and historically have not gone beyond.

Given their nocturnal-like lifestyle, they also never had much of an incentive to travel to the surface. For most, their ‘sky’ is the glowing crystal roof, lit from UV rays and whatever filtered light that Petropia’s atmosphere turns its whatever sized/coloured sun into. And more even longer, Petrosapiens had no planetary based resources for technology to naturally develop.

So, when tech did arrive, it was introduced by the people seeking to mine Petropia for its ‘valuable’ crystals.

Now, I’m not saying that the Plumbers were the one to gather more wealth. But opportunistic wealth hunters may have forced a lot of Petrosapiens into life on the surface. As soon as news spread that Petropia housed not only life, but SAPIENT life, the Plumbers did indeed intervene.

The Plumbers or the Intergalactic Enforcers, whichever takes notice first. And since opening up the surface is a little more significant to Petrosapiens than life of Earth living beneath our feet (i mean come on, we know more about outer space than we do the ocean), Petropia was thrust head first into the world of aliens.

Technology was not their natural invention, so a lot of their words for the tech came from what they heard the foreigners call them. A lot of new materials were imported, and even if Petrosapiens began developing tech on their own, it would still not be natural. A lot of Petrosapiens upset with the changes retreated deeper into the planet, while others ascended and built lives on the surface.

The once unused mountain tops served as interplanetary landing pads, with elevators constructed to get up without requiring a space launch. Spacesuits were made and Petrosapiens began to explore the uninhabitable sides of their planet. And finally, north and south Petrosapiens begin to learn about one another.

Now, there could very well be another species separate from Petrosapien on the other side, Subsapiens and/or Antrosapiens. Subsapiens could be named because their side of the planet had not been opened, Antrosapiens could be named because they are the opposite. North and south Petrosapiens could merely be the equivalent of Murk vs Perk Gourmands, genetically different enough to qualify as different species, but similar enough to fulfill the same niche of the planet, partitioned because of their geological separation.

Either way, one side was most likely the only side that was opened by interplanetary intervention, and the other side was recently introduced. Their cultures have significant differences, while simultaneously sharing many similarities. While the first surface Petrosapiens may tell cosmic horror stories of their sky parting, malignant forces mining for the lives and homes of the people, the other may be more ‘holy’ and benevolent, the sky opening its gaze to their future.

Since I have no preference of which side is opened first, north or south, the species is separated into Cardinal Petrosapiens and Auxiliary Petrosapiens, if in fact I settle for the Murk-Perk dynamic. These names can change, it’s just a starter name pair.

Yes, I rewrote this. No, it’s not the same.

...But now that I look at it, it flows a little better. Sure there’s a back and forth, but at least it ain’t a stitched together string of planet talk and species talk.