(no subject)

[keaalu]

Update on the not-a-moa: now called a "Janya" and has been moved from Unseria to Vulpecula Prime, since it looks like a bit like a Jerga (the horse-ostrich) and I thought it could happily co-exist as a member of the same family. The family, incidentally, is called the "Reev" family, and includes the Venca-fowl as well (sort of a monkey-chicken; climbs well but is very stupid).

Also, with regards to the Coalition stellar fleets, I've found my old note sheet and am going back to four fleets - Halcyon is science and research ONLY, then there's three other wings for merchant, police and military (although the military one is in "mothballs"). "Pandion" = military, "Coracina" = police and "Aramus" = merchant. They all follow in the same system of naming that Halcyon does. :)

Yay.

Edit: I'm trying to work out how to "un-sexy" hermaphrodites in my universe. :P Since it's a natural progression from their natural state of being for the Xniki - 1 in 5 are chimeric - so it stands to reason a few would be male/female bi-gendered. But I don't want anyone latching onto it and going OMFG HERMS SEXY MURR-

*beats with stick*

Comments

[aegis-fox.livejournal.com]

Well, the problem with de-sexifying something, as you'd say, is that what exactly is found sexy varies from person to person. Some people will find your hermaphrodites sexy simply because they are hermaphrodites, in the same way a few seem to find your synth sexy. ANd the only real ways to combat this is either to make the subjects involved either undesirable as possible, avoid anything with a known fetish, or make them intentionally desirable so it's a more universal problem, as opposed to just a random group. Granted, the latter isn't an actual solution. But still an option.

It'd be the same as having me go "There are people who find foxes "sexy", how can I make my foxes less like foxes?"

Well, you get the idea. On that note, what are the Xniki - and how do you pronounce that word, anyway?

[keaalu.livejournal.com]

Xniki = essentially "znikki" or "snikki". I just like having xs in words. :) They're a large, heavyweight species of aquatic origin, which I'm redesigning at the moment.

I suppose it'd be impossible to get past the fact some people would like them simply BECAUSE they're hermaphroditic, but I was meaning herm in the "traditional furry sense" - you know, monster throbbing cock, cavernous vagina and giant breasts sort of way. :P ;)

So far, I have:
1 in 5 are chimerae (2 individually fertilised ova merge very early on in utero to form a single individual with 2 sets of DNA)
1 in 50 chimerae (i.e. 1 in 250 total population (I think I got the maths right)) are dual-gendered but functionally single-gendered - the levels of one hormone make them functionally "male" or "female" even though they have DNA for both genders in their genetics.
1 in 1000 are nonfunctional hermaphrodites - usually as one bit of anatomy gets in the way of another bit of anatomy and the conflicting hormones means they're sterile.
Only 1 in 10,000 chimaera are functional hermaphrodites capable of both fatherhood and motherhood (although 50% of these require medicalintervention to make it possible).
Twins, on the otherhand, especially non-identical twins, are like gold-dust, since most twins merge into a single entity in the womb. Identical twins are more common, as they result from the SPLITTING of an egg, but are still rare.
Does that make sense, vaguely? Granted I have to think a bit more about the biology of it, but meh.

[aegis-fox.livejournal.com]

Well, the easy way to avoid that sense of a hermaphrodite is to avoid giving them oversized sex organs. They wouldn't fit into a realistic universe that well, anyway.

What I'm wondering is how exactly this reproductive system works that makes things so unstable - namely, that 20% of them have dual-DNA. Considering our own reproductive systems, it's half and half - I think (but have no proof, evidence, or experience to support this) a human chimera is an absorbed twin- Another embyo's DNA caught within a main embryo's, or something. Since each only provides half, even if one was somehow accidentally double, that wouldn't be enough for another set. I think. I think.
As I said, It depends on exactly how genetic information is passed. And how human Chimerae are born, since I think the condition does exist in some humans... and if such a condition can even lead to a hermaphrodite....

Plus you have to factor in how many of these Chimarae would survive after or even until birth... especially the rarer they go...

[keaalu.livejournal.com]

Well, it's not THAT unstable - like you said, it happens in humans, too, and most chimeric people don't know that they are unil some event like a DNA test of parentage suggests they're not the parents of they're children. They're just as HEALTHY as other people. Let's see... they're called "Tetragametic chimerae" and hm, upon looking it up it seems it IS a cause of ambiguous gender in humans too. Hm hm, I may call them "intersexed" instead of "nonfunctional single-gender partial-hermaphrodites", it's a lot less of a mouthful. ;)
Wikipedia has lots of nicenice info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_%28genetics%29)

Oh, and by "dual-DNA" I didn't mean two sets of it the same cell, but two cell-lines in the body with different DNA. Each cell only has one genetic code in it, but there's two different codes in the body, if that makes sense?

[aegis-fox.livejournal.com]

Yes! I was actually right about the Absorbed embryo concept!


How I knew that, exactly, I have no idea....

All I know is Wiki lists the odds of your average human herm at 1%. Though most in the States appear to receive surgery shortly after birth. So you can only tell by the lingering mental and sexual damage it reportedly causes. So if anything, your odds are a little high. Weird..

And yeah, I understand the dual-cell lines. Some organs have one DNA set in their cells, other organs have the different set. I still find it odd the don't reject each other.... *Shrugs*

[aegis-fox.livejournal.com]

Ah, that reminds me. On the note of your pseudo-Moa...



Hey, it was your nickname for them...

[keaalu.livejournal.com]

Aaaahahahahahahahaha. What the hell is that from? :D

Still, I like mine better. ;)

[aegis-fox.livejournal.com]

It is from a random search of the interweb. And that's about all I know.

At least it's not a Moa.