The Bubs

Discussion in 'Denied' started by crumchy, Apr 1, 2021.

  1. crumchy

    crumchy pet food taster Silver Donator

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    The Bubs


    Tags​

    Cratered hammerheads dedicated to serving their Watcher and sailing on a sea of slime.


    Appearance​

    An adult bub, at first glance, looks much like an insectoid, but upon closer inspection, one will notice they are covered in a black and white rubbery skin. Bubs, being apex predators in their ecosystem as well as carnivores, have heads reminiscent of that of a hammerhead shark, with white beady eyes placed at each edge for full circular vision of their surroundings. However, one could notice that the Bub has no mouth, and most cannot speak, requiring technology to do so. Usually squat and stocky, standing at about four to five feet tall and 160 lbs on average, the body of a bub is covered in corrugated vents. Two sets of two rectangular openings appear on the space between the neck and head. Black vapor pours out of the upper openings as they exhale dangerous chemicals while those lower take in any gaseous compound it can and churns out energy from the substance. The mitochondria in generic Bub cells are special because they can process any non-noble gaseous atom and transmute it into oxygen, and from there energy plus a byproduct, allowing them to breathe in almost any environment as long as there is an atmosphere while also emitting possibly pollutive vapor from the top vents, left over from the special breathing process.


    The bodily structure of a Bub is especially complicated. The skeleton of a Bub is more like an insect’s exoskeleton with a layer of hide wrapped around it, and when a Bub is slashed it will immediately gush their uncanny grey blood, as the space between the dermis and skeleton is flushed and inflated with the fluid, and cutting it would pop the structure, which the Bub must then repair like any other wound. The exoskeleton is constructed in sharp geometric plates, which is especially apparent when looking closer at a bub, the general structure of their body expressing many rectangular ridges as the hide wraps around the plates. Instead of a spine, a Bub has a set of pillbug-like wide plates. However, this prevents them from standing upright. Bubs stand with a noticeable slouch and are often squatting down. Down the back are more openings, much like the neck-vents, but they seem to have no use.


    While bubs stand on plantigrade legs, their feet are reminiscent of a goat’s hooves, with two toes in the front and one in the back. This pattern is repeated with their hands, as they have two main fingers and one thumb on each hand. However, the elbow of the left arm of every Bub splits into a third, equally-controllable forearm and hand. Where this trait came from is a mystery, as they are the only species on their home planet with an odd number of limbs. While Bubs are observed to have no “typical” mouth, the skin over the stomach area can be pulled open painlessly by most Bubs. From there, food can be placed inside and will be digested. When the stomach is closed back up the body will create a rapidly-acting organic adhesive to stick the torn skin flap back to the torso, but most Bubs have a scar on their “Rip Spot.” Bubs appear to have no reproductive organs of any kind and are agender, but that isn’t stopping one from calling themselves a man or woman.


    [​IMG]
    A Bub spearbub, as illustrated by @MaskedHero

    Culture​

    Bub culture may be bizarre to others based on how it has contorted over time to aid them in living on Bibbybub, their home planet. Bibbybub is home to two rival amoebic seas, giant superorganisms made up of interconnected transparent plankton. The two seas are prevented from touching each other by a single continent wrapping around the planet into a sort of worldwide isthmus. The two seas eat away at the fertility of the land as their hunger cannot just be sated by monopolizing the undersea vents and desertification is becoming a growing worry among Bubs who fear that the oceans will suck the land dry. Studies by Bub intellectuals show that the two oceans are aggressive to one another, and should a specimen from one ocean come into contact with one from the other, they will kill and consume each other. This mass of microorganisms have shaped the way Bubs live their life on a day to day basis.


    [​IMG]

    A map of the surface of Bibbybub. Notice the huge strand of land acting as a barrier between the two oceans.​


    The Bub lifestyle is often described as both utilitarian and paranoid. They are a “seafaring,” folk, who have over time developed techniques in craftsmanship to create both tools and vessels to cross the jelly-like ocean without being disintegrated and consumed entirely by the hungry zooplankton. The amoebic oceans have no taste for steel and as such most Bub vessels are made of the fossilized remains of the beasts who lived in the ocean when it was once water, tipped with steel for structure’s sake as well as buoyant material to prevent any sinking into the mass of slime. Despite being a seafaring folk, however, the land that splits the two oceans is extremely important to Bubs, who view it as a “barrier between two enemies,” and have crafted their own mythology and religion around the existence of the primary elements of their planet. Bub “cities” are giant platforms floating on the amoebic sea, and consist of huts and houses, edifices built with balance on the slime ocean in mind. The cities never drift away and can be found just by using the map as there is no tide on Bibbybub, nor are there currents.


    The majority of Bubs, however, do return to land quite often. Because Bubs by themselves cannot produce more Bubs, they make use of the Watcher. The Watcher is a bub who has sacrificed their sapience and has grown to a monstrous size, so much so that it can be seen walking around from every edge of the isthmus of Bibbybub. Because of the great size of the Watcher, it stomps on cities and destroys them in a matter of seconds without knowing, and Bubs who stay on land rather than take to sailing are known as Babs and are treated like outsiders, discriminated against to a worrying degree. However, every five years Bubs are instinctually obligated to return to the isthmus to find the Watcher, scale their massive body, and pluck growths resembling assorted collections of Bub-sized organs which are then buried in the ground and collect nutrients, incubating and undergoing metamorphosis from a barely-alive mess of flesh into a fully grown Bub, where they then crawl out of the ground and join the closest pod of Bubs in their area. After a year of waiting for the Bubs to sprout from the ground, all non-Babs will then leave for the ocean, starting the cycle again. Those who are left behind often become Babs with no means of escaping the Isthmus, doomed to become the lowest class.


    History​


    The first of the Modern Bubs appeared in roughly ~2,000,000 BCE. Evolved from bipedal predators, the ancient Bubs proceeded to form primitive hunting civilizations, where they would slaughter animals before turning to the raising of livestock for quickly-accessible food in order to please the first of the Watchers. They raised mostly small animals that could be plucked and placed in the stomach easily. This lifestyle went on for a nauseating amount of time, until 50,000 BCE when the first of the Bub empires were founded. There were two, and they were known as the Bibbybubs and the Bubbarbs. The empires are infamous in Bub scripts for their assimilation of lesser Bub tribes and forcing of their men to go to war with the other empire, all the while making shrewd trade deals with one another. Due to the sheer amount of scripture written this time that can be sifted through(the Bibbybubs were the first to create the current language and writing that Bubs use today,) historians have yet to discover the fate of these empires, thought it is apparent they are not around today. Their planet, however, was named after the Bibbybub empire, so historians tend to hypothesize that they won the war waged upon each other.


    In 25,000 BCE a mysterious unknown event caused every Bub in existence to grow a third arm from their left elbow. This was passed down to the offspring and there is no known cause for this change other than, "The Watcher wanted it."


    In 10,000 BCE a species of zooplankton emerged from the bottom of both of the oceans on Bibbybub. It was capable of attaching itself to those of its species and was extremely efficient. By 1000 CE the ocean had been replaced entirely by these plankton.


    In 1500 CE the united commonwealth of Bub city states decided to disband after a Watcher was displeased and stomped out four towns in two days. Survivors who usually feared taking to the amoebic ocean made makeshift boats of steel and decided to become seafaring.


    In 3288, the Bubs made contact with several alien species after the development of extremely powerful radio equipment and was introduced to space travel, and ever since Bubs have been scrambling to leave their hellhole of a planet.


    Intentions for Story & Setting Interactions
    Bubs are a species perfect for the individual who wants to sink their teeth into playing as what basically amounts to an eldritch abomination, and for those who seek a character with bizarre and unique biology that gives them advantages in esoteric situations, but want to play around certain handicaps. Communication between other races is a primary theme of this race to match up with the rest of GC and I look forward to crafting unique scenarios in which the United Crews of Bibbybub must make creative technologies in order to stake out parts of the Fringe as their own and work their way up to be seen as equals in the eyes of the galaxy in real time.


    Additionally, player characters will have unique character elements and special character-building “moments,” that I feel couldn’t be replicated with other races, such as learning what water is and how to deal with it on a mechanical standpoint, and having to teach other races how their biology works should they have to visit a hospital, as public knowledge on Bubs is extremely rare ICly other than, “they showed up one day.” To my cosigners, I present playing a Bub as an interesting and challenging experience both biology and personality-wise. I also plan to hold little events for Bub and non-Bub characters alike on Bibbybub to unravel the secrets of the Watcher.
     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2021
  2. MaskedHero

    MaskedHero Galactic Prodige

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    Cosign
     
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  3. Moon Moth

    Moon Moth Local Moth Impervium Donator

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    Cosign
     
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  4. Exon

    Exon Galactic Enforcer

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    Co-sign.
     
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  5. Dorfus

    Dorfus Sword Fiend

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    cosign
     
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  6. zirconzz

    zirconzz da guy Staff Member Community Monitor Gold Donator

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    Hello! I'll be grading your species. As of right now, I'm going to give this a pending.

    There's a lot of really cool ideas here but also a number of concerns and issues I have with it. First and foremost, the names are a little too silly to be honest. They don't exactly fit the theme I get from reading through this application and they feel almost like they were made up as part of a joke. Bubs is one thing, but it's hard to take a species seriously when their home planet is called Bibbybub. I am not saying you need to rename the whole species but it would be greatly appreciated if people didn't have to guess as to whether they're meant to be serious.

    One of the other issues I have is with the Watcher. It's not explained how or why the Watcher is able to grow so large other than that they sacrificed their sapience to do so. I feel like it's kind of a big thing to just not explain at all. This also extends to them having a third arm simply because the Watcher wanted it. I understand that there is an element of mystery you're trying to maintain here but these are fairly major details to leave out for what seem to be pretty integral parts to the Bubs biology and culture. If you still want to maintain that secrecy, you can DM me the details in a document or something.

    My last issue is also probably my largest issue. You already have one species. That's not the issue though; the issue is that you've done very little with that species. I understand that sometimes someone is excited and forgets to actually have any story or interesting plots for a species, but I need assurance that you have an actual plan with these guys. You have fantastic ideas for species but they're not of much use if the species just goes dormant right after it's accepted.
     
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  7. zirconzz

    zirconzz da guy Staff Member Community Monitor Gold Donator

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    After having my concerns answered in private (including the renaming of many things), I am ready to give this a pass for Stage 1. I'm sorry how long this took, I really didn't expect my semester to be so hectic.

    I'd really like to see the culture expanded on in Stage 2. How exactly did the continent affect cultural development? What are some examples of mythology and religion related to it?

    I'd also like to see some of that biology further explained. How do the mitochondria process those non-noble gases? Why did that feature evolve in their cells? How did the random mutation of a third arm affect them, both physically and mentally? These are just example questions, but I could think of a lot more.

    I'm excited to see Stage 2 and hopefully have a lot of my questions answered.
     
  8. Pinkbat5

    Pinkbat5 pocl v3.6.7 Staff Member Moderator Diamond Donator

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    Sorry for the giant delay.
    Second pass! Zircon's concerns pretty much mirror mine:
    - The "non-noble gas is converted into oxygen" thing is crazy, borderline impossible. Changing the elements of individual atoms takes a lot of energy, probably more than you'd get from using that resulting oxygen in the cell. It's also really unlikely to evolve; If Bibbybub has no oxygen, life would be more likely to evolve relying on some other molecule; if Bibbybub does have oxygen, then they would just breathe it in like normal. Even if Bubs did evolve a way to turn one gas into oxygen, it's very unlikely they'd evolve a way to convert every (non-noble) gas– they only need the one. It'll need a really good justification.
    - The Watcher being able to just make everyone grow a third arm is also pretty crazy. What wouldn't be crazy is for newer generations to be born with them, though
    - Make sure to do stuff with these guys
    Looking forward to stage 2!
     
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  9. zirconzz

    zirconzz da guy Staff Member Community Monitor Gold Donator

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    Moved to denied at the request of the writer.