A Species Documented

I think I’m somewhat close to finishing their design though. Might take between a week and like. 5 months lol.

Okay okay okay SO!!

Some little Gileñavu trivia for you lot!

Gileñavu are sophonts hailing from l’Noua, a planet within the same solar system as the human homeworld. l’Noua used to have more land, but since the planet warmed up and the glaciers melted almost all of its land is now underwater.

The name ‘Gileñavu’ means ‘people who travel with the currents’.

The shells on the backs of Gileñavu are actually parasites. It is estimated that around 95% of Gileñavu population has those parasites. There are isolated polar pods, where the infection is absent.

The parasitic shells reproduce similarly to Marmorkrebs, in that. The offspring is a genetic clone of its parent. Gileñavu calves are infected in the womb and are born with a soft, translucent shell on their backs. The shells grow with their hosts and gradually harden and become more opaque.

Separation of a Gileñavu calf and their shell is possible within the first weeks of the calf’s life but it’s not advised, as the shell penetrates their flesh and attaches into the spine. The shell will die without the host and the separation will leave the host paralyzed.

I think I’m somewhat close to finishing their design though. Might take between a week and like. 5 months lol.

I think I’m somewhat close to finishing their design though. Might take between a week and like. 5 months lol.

I think I’m somewhat close to finishing their design though. Might take between a week and like. 5 months lol.

I saw a pair of male and female wolf spiders in my bedroom today, within a few inches of each other. I took a picture, sent it to the group chat and made a joke about "aw they're on a date." I went back about fifteen minutes later, and noticed the only thing left was a leg (assumedly from the male being eaten post-copulation), and commented on this plus "I see the date went well"

Then I was like, huh. That is a very non-anthropocentric comment I just made (aside from the fact that I was labeling spiders mating as a date, which was pretty clearly anthropocentric). Seeing evidence of post-copulatory cannibalism and commenting on it as on par with human standards for mating rituals, and all that

Then I thought to myself, what would interacting with a sapient species that has similar practices work? Of course you have to do a certain amount of anthropomorphizing to play with this idea at all in a way understandable to a human, but I digress. Back to spider people

Like... how would that relate to social roles? Would it be acceptable to turn down post-copulatory cannibalism, or would it be seen as a cowardly or selfish thing? Would it be approached as an ancient practice from a time with fewer resources, which isn't participated in anymore as a sign that they have reliable resources?

Would there be cookbooks like 101 Best Ways To Cook Your Mate? What about some equivalent of last will and testimonies? How would a male think about the whole arrangement? What if a female didn't want to eat a male post-copulation? What if she only wanted to eat him a little bit? Would that be taboo, or considerate, or even kinky? How would legal things work? Would it be a private matter, or out in the open? Would it be seen as a romantic sacrifice, or a grief filled necessity?

Of course we're modern educated people who don't believe in fairies