spiritually a plane bc I love huffing avgas ✈️

It always takes place in one of two arcs - the war arc, and the peacetime arc. The war arc is where Vlada and May met during a war between the planes and the helicopters, that was waged by the helicopters after the CEO of Aeronology, Inc (the manufacturer of all the aeromorphs) was asassinated by a helicopter. The peacetime arc takes place in Aileron Valley, CA where the focus is more on them bonding with less stakes and battles. The plot really is just about them getting to know eachother and strengthening their relationship.

part of Vlada's character development is that she realizes that war is bad. At first, when war is declared between the planes and the helicopters, General Fishpot wants absolutely all hands on deck for this fight - that includes Vlada, who is just a technology demonstrator. And of course she gets all excited over this news because its her chance to shine. But through meeting May after getting into a horrific crash, she learns to see things from May's pov as a nurse and what she has to deal with every day, Vlada learns that war isnt glorious, and she goes into this spiral of "oh god, was i only made to kill?" Which May does pull her out of as well. Once the war ends, they both emerge as changed people.

In this world there exists both aeromorphs and just regular, non-sentinent airplanes. The aeromorphs were manufactured by a company called Aeronology Inc. They were created to serve people, and work with the non-sentient planes. But Aerospace technology got so advanced that the aeromorphs became sentient, and they decided "hey, humans are just slowing us down!" And then started building their own society with their own little towns and everything.

Humans didn't want this to happen, but the aeromorphs are significantly hard to neutralize, because of their flying ability and the fact that they just keep repairing themselves, build new aeros, and replacing their parts if need be. There was nothing to level the playing field.

The aeros would frequently breach containment and sneak out of their hangars to go to parties hosted by other aeros in secluded locations. They were like teenagers with a disdain for authority. It wasnt long before a very tight-knit community began to form as more aeros found eachother.

The Aeros started mixing jet fuel into human food so something that tastes really good could also give them energy. Unfortunately, this made the food unsafe for human consumption. Starvation was the main thing that caused humans to go extinct, along with a severe lack of resources. There's a museum in Empannage City that houses a lot of human artifacts, like real skeletons and cars.

How do they reproduce?

When planes love eachother verrry much, they.... go online to browse the latest model releases. Its tradition for the parents to choose the newest version of the model they already are, but choosing an entirely new model is not uncommon. Before computers, this process was done by browsing a very thick book of all the newest releases. This guide was re-released yearly before going digital.

Once the parents place their order, the parts are packed into a box at a warehouse before being shipped through the post. Twins occur when a worker makes an error by packing two sets of parts into the same box. It can be two of the same model, or two different models. This process can be canceled at any time before arrival. When its delivered, the parents set aside time to build the baby, and its a momentous occasion once theyre finished. There is no difference in this process between same sex and opposite sex parents. Dont throw rocks if you live in a glass hangar!

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What is their diet?

When aeros first gained sentience, one of the first things they did was try human food. And to their pleasant surprise, it was extremely good. But the problem was, it was not a substitution for jet fuel. They solved this problem by using the fuel as a sauce/flavoring to mix into the human food so they could have the best of both worlds. They also cook and eat drones. (They are non-sentinent and animal-like, therefore they are okay with it) aeros typically slow cook a drone for a holiday dinner like Christmas, or toss one on the grill in the summer time.

They also can eat things that are inedible to humans like pieces of metal and nuts and bolts. They have especially sharp teeth and a strong bite force, as well as stomach acid so corrosive it can dissolve such things with ease.

Other tidbits:

* they can retract their wings back inside themselves so they can sit/lay down/go through a door comfortably.

* a birthday is called a "Manuday" short for "Manufacturing day"

* an aero's size depends on what resources are readily available to build more of them with. During a shortage or price increase, the aeros may not be able to get over 5 feet. (Like Puddle Jumper and Vayu) The cheaper the materials, the bigger the aero.

* those pointy things on some or their heads (like Eli and Vayu) are their antennas. They can recieve radio signals from other aeros this way.

* little Aeros learn to walk like babies do. They are taught how to fly as children at an aviation academy. it doesn't come naturally to them and requires skills to be honed in on.

* non-sentient aircraft are referred to colloquially as "Non-sentis" while aeromorphs are colloquially called "sentis"

* theres a stereotype around the fighter jets that theyre trigger-happy and have a hatred for living things, and dont let anything get in their way because of what theyre built for. This is not true

* a little airplane's "first flight" is a huge deal, its as important as a human child's first steps. Airplanes figure out how to fly very young, and it sometimes even causes the parents to cry tears of joy. Later, little airplanes go to Flight School to hone and master this skill.

* theres a taboo around an two different types of aircraft being in a relationship with eachother, like a fighter jet dating a business jet (COUGH COUGH VLADA AND MAY) Most aircraft prefer to "stay in their lane". This taboo is also why May's parents are so cautious of Vlada.

* It is possible for Aeromorphs to get motion sick or jet lagged.

* the CEO of the "Planeboy" magazine is a guy named Miles High-Club