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Post by bluebird on Apr 25, 2016 23:26:15 GMT
As someone who watched way too much Discovery Channel as a kid, I want all the gory details of how aliens evolved and function(ed), as both a civilization and individuals. I'm just greedy like that. Please consider me your captive audience for xenobiological and xenosociological headcanons. I'll even go first. I really doubt I'm the first person to suggest this, but I love the idea that trolls evolved from a particularly wide-spread and adaptable species/branch of parasitoid wasp. There are many, many species of parasitoid wasp on Earth, and most of them have a specific host species, or at least a narrow range of host species. I imagine that a wasp which could parasitize a much broader range of animals could easily come to dominate a planet, and eventually beyond. It would also explain a lot about lusii, if they all evolved alongside the wasp from host species. Because what benefit is there to devoting years of care to a juvenile from a completely different species, when that juvenile doesn't seem to provide you with anything you couldn't get for yourself? Not much, unless the alternative is providing food and shelter for that species' babies in a much more up close and personal way. Gross. Some parasitoid wasps are also closely related with a type of virus, so closely that the virus has been incorporated into the wasp's genome. The virus weakens the host animals and can alter the cells of that animal to be more beneficial to the wasp larvae. Which sounds like a pretty great sci-fi explanation for how wiggler and lusii blood colors came to synchronize, and maybe why all lusii are white. Other species of wasp have what's pretty much chemical-based mind control, and can change a host animal's behavior by injecting this chemical. The host then starts behaving in a way that is somehow beneficial for the wasp, like in the case of spiders building rain-proof webs specifically for the wasps to build their cocoons in... Trolls have various type of mind-fuckery at their disposal. The mechanism may be different, but still, it's a compelling similarity. Here's a cool article on parasitoid wasps (warning: pictures of insects, somewhat gruesome/morbid content, for obvious reasons). I would love to hear other folks' headcanons and theories, if any of you would like to share! |
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Post by ashenafterglow on Apr 26, 2016 4:59:48 GMT
I dig it!
Contemplating the lusus/mothergrub/troll relationship is pretty interesting, to me. I remember reading a fic once that had an interesting take on it, which I've sort of spun my own headcanon off of, since then.
Basically, I like the idea that the mothergrubs (and possibly the drones?) are a completely separate species, which has been genetically modified (since we know trolls have that kind of biotech already) to have extreme dependence on and symbiosis with trolls. At some point possibly before the Condesce took charge, or possibly as a result of her messing with genetics and population control, trolls would have made the switch from reproducing on their own as egg-layers in pairs or small groups, to being expected to donate their genetic material to a central hub and keep their own bodies in peak fighting shape at all times. At the same time, a mind-controlling fungal strain (think cordyceps or something similarly horrifying) was modified to turn otherwise hostile or ordinary beasts into caretakers, or lusii for the huge numbers of troll eggs the mothergrub could sustain and lay.
On a side note, that same fungal strain could occasionally mutate to infect trolls, resulting in various sorts of shambling undead with limited agency and misfiring instincts that populate daytime wildernesses.
Admittedly, I like the idea that the mothergrub/lusus/troll symbiotic relationship is a relatively recent (on an evolutionary scale) adaptation, and that the adult population is probably subjected to regular doses of chemicals or hormones meant to keep them individually sterile and dependent on the mothergrub for viable reproduction. On that scale, it's not too much of a leap to figure some individuals or groups, upon being cut off from those chemicals and Imperial control, could rediscover viable reproduction in a sort of 'oh my god what is happening to my body' way. Really though, what wouldn't HIC do to keep the troll race under her explicit control?
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Post by Momo on Apr 26, 2016 16:36:00 GMT
I like the idea that mothergrubs are ancient hive queens, and waaaay back in the day the whole "jadeblood-mothergrub lusii" was modus operandi for hive formation. The laid matriorbs and hatched MGs would be paired with jade-blooded trolls who were expected to either kill and replace the standing matron-pair or leave to form new hives upon reaching reproductive maturity. This is how it works with ants, basically, and in my mind trolls are something like... wasp-ants.
The roles of lusii were probably instead performed by hive workers (drones, not trolls, even though the word drone in typical entomology means exactly the opposite of what it would most feasibly mean here.) and eventually, as trolls began to live more and more outside of hive formations, replaced with other domesticated or psychic/biologically manipulated species. I mean, they do have the bronzebloods.
I also kind of like the idea of alternia as a hellish landscape of no-holds-barred parasite warfare with all kinds of terrifying bug stuff going on, because terrifying bug stuff is kind of the best. And waaaaay back in troll history, the idea that two previously separate but compatible strains of a similar enough kind of weird space bug smashed back together through mutual reproductive thievery is pretty cool. Even if they're a unified taxidermal entity as far as the last million years or so are concerned.
Then there's my mile-long breakdown of the hemospectrum itself, the pre-caste hemorelations and religions, hive function, etc, but I really can't sit here typing up headcanons -all- day.
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Post by Rosie/Cam on May 2, 2016 23:41:57 GMT
I don't really have anything original to contribute except that honestly this is so much more satisfying than humanoid alien beings with grub scars on their sides and tentabulges in their pants, at least theory-wise. Give me all the gross bug stuff, I thrive on this.
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Post by omoly on May 23, 2016 21:12:02 GMT
Here's one of my favorites:
Cherubs have a one way digestive track.
As we all know humans (and trolls) have two way digestive tracks: food goes in, poop goes out. That's because our bodies are actually pretty shitty (pun intended) at both breaking down food into energy and then storing that energy for later use. Only a small percentage of what we eat is actually absorbed by our bodies, the rest just sort of sits inside of us for a while before getting squeezed out. But that's fine, because we live on earth, a planet with an abundance of delicious plants and animals for us to eat. It's easy for us to find food whenever we want so we don't need to be super efficient when we break it down.
Cherubs, on the other hand, absolutely need to be super efficient when breaking down the food they eat. They're born on dead or dying planets with limited resources, so they need to make every little bit of nourishment they can get their claws on count. Everything that goes into their mouths is broken down 100% and all of that energy is stored for later use when they're flying through space as adults were no food is available at all.
Basically what I'm trying to say is Calliope and Caliborn don't poop. They are literally incapable of giving a shit. Which is probably for the best because the room they spent their childhoods chained up in didn't appear to have a toilet.
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Post by mango on Oct 22, 2016 1:31:42 GMT
((holy moly im living for this board))
I definitely feel like lusii have parasites in their brains; maybe a part of the DNA bred into them from an ancient parasite that through breeding just hands down the (relative) domesticity. If I'm remembering correctly the troll planets did have non-lusus fauna, ones that where hostile and incapable of caring for young trolls. I think they were black colored to match the black/white patterns but it's been so long I may have blended fanon with canon.
Also I really like the idea that ancient seadwellers would use their voices to attract Land-dweller ships near rocks to either crash/be close enough they could climb on board to steal the cargo and food.
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Post by corybanticgloom on Oct 22, 2016 21:27:53 GMT
im feeling all of these! i, personally, have always headcannoned something similar to what ashenafterglow is saying. maybe this is just for the fun this would cause in terms of social dynamic, but i could even see this being an implementation by the good ol' Condesce we all know and love, back sometime in the very early stages of her reign. this would make it so that some of the oldest highbloods would be fully aware of the implementation of the mothergrub and lusii as a means of keeping them as better soldiers and servants for her domination of the universe.
of course there are obvious parallels to a variety of insects. i... am not ready to let go of trolls being somehow genetically linked to insects, and would like to think that this distant common ancestor in their lineage is what had the condesce looking at wasps and ants as inspiration for her plans.
if something like this is vaguely true, i also wonder if troll reproduction without the mothergrub would be possible. were trolls completely stripped of their ability to reproduce? was there, way back when, a specific bloodline or other gender of trolls that carried the young, and we are now left with only bloodlines/genders that do the fertilizing? have jade bloods always been around, or did the condesce create them to serve her purposes?
i know this theory probably has much less scientific backing than "literally descended from animals that breed like this" but boy do i love the dramatic politics of it all.
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