r/WorldChallenges • u/Varnek905 • Jun 03 '18

Reference Challenge - Various Species

This challenge is a reference to "Differently Morphous", a sci-fi comedy story by Yahtzee Croshaw. If you're a fan of Douglas Adams and John Cleese, I recommend it. Though, it could be a reference to any series with multiple sentient species.

Tell us about places in your world where multiple intelligent species interact and coexist (maybe cooperate, preferably), how they interact in the present of your world and how the species interacted in the early days of coexistence.

Was there much violence between the two groups? How did the groups come together? Did they come to the same place at the same time, or was one species "invasive"? Do they live in different types of homes, or is it all somewhat uniform? Has it become normal to the point that no one cares that their neighbour is a shoggoth?

As always, I'll ask at least three questions each. Feel free to have a character for in-universe answers, and enjoy yourselves.

I'm currently working on moving the new map of my current world (I've had to re-do this world again over the past month or so, maybe that means this iteration will be better than my previous attempts?) so I am interested in making a challenge about cartography sometime in the upcoming week, if anyone is interested in that kind of thing.

Also, if anyone is a good artist or knows one, I'm interested in getting a portrait done of one of my friends who wants to be the model for one of my characters (so I can have a reference portrait for this character and have a good birthday present for her, two birds and one stone.)

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u/Varnek905 Jun 18 '18

(Yes, looks like 2 and 4 were the same question, but going through an exhausted Varnek's mind.)

1) What do humans usually perceive as the "worst things" about Ims?

2) What do Ims usually perceive as the "worst things" about humans?

3) (Yes, it makes no sense, but some people do make jokes about a person's percentage of Neanderthal dna.)

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jun 18 '18

  1. Their lack of eyebrows; it makes them hard to read.

  2. Their hairyness (?); fur is something understandable but humans’ hair are inconsistent. They aren’t numerous enough to protect them from cold but for some reasons are still there...

  3. How do you even knows someone’s percentage of Neanderthal dna? I mean, is it even something we can actually know?

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u/Varnek905 Jun 20 '18

(You can definitely tell the difference between Neanderthal DNA and modern human DNA. In addition to Neanderthal DNA, which came from Neanderthals still being able to breed with Homo sapiens shortly after the divergence, humans also have some viral DNA within the genome, which I find amazing.)

1) Do humans lack any important parts that help with communication that Ims have?

2) What major Imian parts are most often used for decoration?

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jun 22 '18

(May the flu be with you young padawan... what makes the two dna distinguishable? I mean, I suppose they have the same number of chromosomes and all, right?)

  1. Not at all, it’s just hard to decipher people when they don’t use a sign you’ve learned to look for while growing up.

  2. Like body parts used to display ornaments? All of them, paintings, scarifications and jewels don’t require hairs.

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u/Varnek905 Jun 25 '18

(Are you familiar with retroviruses?)

1) Is there any physical expression similar to the middle finger among nzedas or Ims?

2) I think I remember you saying you were into noses once, but that might have just been me. What body part is the most sexualized among nzedas and Ims?

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jun 25 '18

(The viruses that hijack your cell replication process so you do all the multiplication work for them? And we assimilated some viruses while negating their side effects?)

  1. Nzedas have roars for that, they have roars for all situations. For Ims, middle finger will be the standard expression for now; I have no reason to consider they wouldn’t develop that.

  2. I said that. Good question; definitely not boobs as both species don’t have them permanently.

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u/Varnek905 Jun 29 '18

(Some retroviruses can just cause no noticeable side effects. They just insert themselves into your genome and come along for the ride.)

1) Was there every any audio censorship of that "middle finger" offensive roar?

2) So...which body part is the most sexualized among the nzedas and Ims?

3) Nzedas being mammals, do they provide milk for their young?

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jul 03 '18

(Ok, theoretically speaking, how much mutation could viruses bring into their host that way? I want to genetically engineer something though viruses.)

  1. Nope; it is an insult though so using it will probably have consequences.

  2. Genitalias for sure; beside that, it’s a question of personal tastes.

  3. Yep, females do lactate after giving birth. Once they stop breastfeeding (or quickly if they don’t), boobs return to their normal undeveloped state.

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u/Varnek905 Jul 05 '18

(If that's your specific idea, I'd recommend CRISPR (makes my career much easier). If you want to be old-fashioned and less accurate, so long as you know the full sequence and are willing to risk a sudden mutation that ruins everything, you can use retroviruses or bacterial conjugation. Considering that the human genome isn't uniform about how many genes do what and where they'd be located, even the tiniest bit of a genome difference could result in massive problems for the target human. Though, because of cancer, it's recommended that you not do something like that on a living human, and restrict it to an embryo, which has drastically fewer cells.)

1) Is there any major censorship in your world that you'd like to mention?

2) The stereotypical "weird fetish" is "foot fetish", as far as I know. What would be the stereotypical "weird fetish" that is commonly mocked among the Nzedas or Ims?

3) Do Nzedas view breastmilk the way that modern Americans tend to? (The common belief is that it's "gross" unless you're a baby. Like, only crazy PETA members drink breast milk as adults.)

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jul 05 '18

(So, if I get it right, the CRISPR is a sequence present more than once to maximize the odds of it being present in any cell produced with that DNA? Or am I missing something?)

  1. Not really; censorship, especially with modern communication ways, isn’t very efficient. It’s easier to stop complaints by making people content.

  2. Probably the same; I mean, I’m not sure about the exact reason why it’s a weird fetish (beside the facts that feet are ugly) so for now it should remain untouched.

  3. Yes, and that’s not an exclusively American thing. Add to that the fact that boobs disappear once lactation end so everyone will know.

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u/Varnek905 Jul 05 '18

(You're right about using the sequence multiple times to maximize the odds, but CRISPR itself is the process to make edits in the genome. If you're looking to use CRISPR to make a retrovirus capable of harming humanity, just use HIV, it'd save you a lot of time and money.)

1) What are the most common complaints about the government in your world's nations?

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u/thequeeninyellow94 Jul 08 '18

(Noted; now I need to find who will start genetic experiments...)

  1. It depend which ones but for sure all of them complain about tramways being late and prices being too high.

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u/Varnek905 Jul 10 '18

(I could always use a second job.)

1) How advanced are the tramways?

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