Alien Planet - Blog Posts

If you can access this on Netflix please, please watch Scavengers Reign. I can't describe how amazing it is. Stunning visuals, immaculate and fun world building with a spectacular array of alien fauna and flora, beautiful character driven storytelling.

I am going to start rewatching it as I can't get it out of my head. I really need a second series. Please watch this.

It can be a bit gory in places (but most of it isn't) and does deal with some heavy topics but these were handled in such a careful way so please don't let it put you off if you think you can handle it.

Scavengers Reign 1.02 "The Storm"

In the waters of a lowland swamp, a dramatic scene unfolds in miniature. The skeletal remains of a long-deceased creature have been colonized by a gelatinous, rather fluffy organism known as Rugosa. Covering any available real estate like a crumpled, spreading blanket, this filter feeder removes organic particulates from the surrounding water. Swamps with high levels of Rugosa growth maintain a more transparent water column, hosting more autotrophs and greater biodiversity. Firmly attached to this ensconced matrix is the decaying husk of a once mobile Flame Diversoma. Its last dying act was to serve as a shelter for its numerous offspring, which are now developed enough to disperse en masse. The coordinated timing of this exodus is critical, for a slow diffusion of these larvae would make them easy prey for the surrounding cadre of predators, who have gathered in anticipation of this event. The most successful hunter thus far is the Spotted Spearmouth, which relies on its harpoon-like proboscis to stab the passing swimmers and drag them into its maw. A vast swarm of semi-transparent Swamp Pearls paddles along slowly, unaware of the violence unfolding nearby. Having little in the way of visual sensors or situational awareness, their lives are consumed by chasing the flow of nutrients and favorable conditions in this tangled aquatic realm.

Interwoven

Like a giant pink warship, the Rosy Frigate punctuates the endless sea of tendrils. It hosts a crew of disk-shaped ravenous eating-machines called orbics. It is the orbics’ duty to keep the creeping tendrils from strangling and overtaking their home. Fading daylight signals their departure from the safe cluster beneath their giant companion to begin the night’s work of clearing new growth in the near vicinity. Each orbic can consume half its body weight in tube-carpet flesh every night, ensuring they will always have a place to return to at dawn. A Dwarf Blue Cortina observes the melee in confusion. Anything larger than an orbic will send it leaping away for cover, as its curiosity is matched only by its caution. The stoic quartet of Reponos standing solemnly in the background is incapable of seeing or hearing the events taking place nearby. Their role in this ecosystem turns out to be rather bizarre…

World Eater

In the murky ponds on the floor of the Glow Forest lives a surprisingly diverse community adapted to the near total darkness. Decaying organic material releases methane gas which is harnessed by towers of colonial microorganisms. Upon this bedrock of the food chain, a plethora of creatures creep and crawl about their daily lives while trying to avoid the pond’s top predator - a massive leviathan blindly devouring everything in its path.

A Universe Below

Almost no sunlight penetrates the thick canopy of the glow forest. As a result, organisms in this ancient biome have evolved a massive array of survival strategies using bioluminescence. Some emit light to attract mates or warn against predators. And some, strangely, illuminate themselves in order to be eaten.

This is Floria, the planet that Beauhi visits a lot. It is a circumbinary planet, which means it orbits two suns.  It is a fairly large planet and is full of vegetation.  Even some species of animals on Floria are similar to Some plants, some of which are found on earth.  Though they aren’t nearly as large on earth as they are on Floria.

Favorite things 👽

We love an alien ecosystem in this house. We also love giving deer spine spikes to defend against big birds and making fungi trees will bioluminescent spore pods. Image Id under keep reading.

Image Id: An astronaut in a pale blue space suit sits beneath a dark green tree with heavily textured bark. At its base, same green shoots point up towards the astronaut and the branches which have glowing oblong blue pods at their tips. The astronaut has black boots, pants with pockets on inner and outer calf and thigh, and a gray belt with many pouches. Attached to the belt is a knife in a black sheath. She wears a gray oxygen tank like a backpack and  gray tube threads into a hole on the chest of her suit. Her helmet screws into her suit in a gray ring at the neck. It is stylized with an ear level blue circle that is surrounded by a gray ring with a stem that connects to a triangle at the based of the helmet. There’s a blue patch on her shoulder. Brown hair frames her smiling face, eyes wide with delight and wonder. She reaches with a black glove with gray bending fingers and a blue stripe across the back towards blue floating glowing spores. The background is a field of red grass beneath a dark blue sky with a flush of yellow at the bottom. The blue is filled with stars the same color as the spores. A herd of strange deer with spines on their back graze in the distance. One looks at the camera. One walks towards the left. One eats with its head buried in the grass. Beneath the stars their is a city  of green and blue cylindrical buildings with rounded tops and spherical protrusions. The lights in the windows are blue like the spores and stars. Orange lights hover in the sky. A translucent blue dome with a hexagonal pattern near the top surrounds the city. /End Id