wraith anatomy and other things wraith
May. 1st, 2006 02:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lobelia321I have decided on a few backstory type factoids for my wraith fic, after very lively anatomical discussion on
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sga_noticeboard. I have chosen to go with the 'wraith evolved from bugs' line of thinking, illogical as some of it may seem. This is because a) arthropods appeal to me fic-wise, and b) nothing is quite as conducive to characterising a being as alien as giving it arthropodic qualities because to us earthlings, insects are the ultimate ALIEN. And, as I read on some sci-fi site somewhere, do not fall prey to the fallacy of making aliens humanoid. That is: do not make the wraith teh cute. (Hard to avoid, I know, but hey, *g*.)• The facial markings of wraith are spiracles. They are like the breathing holes on insect bodies. But the wraith augment these for status and identity purposes; they tattoo around them. Each pair of spiracles is unique and identifies that wraith. Hence, they function like names. These names can be transposed into writing ('wraith' script) but cannot be said in language: there is no need to, the wraith address each other by name telepathically. They think of human names as totally superfluous; for one, human names are not unique. Hence, the irony of Sheppard giving them names that are very common (Bob, Steve, and, as in my fic, Ken). Also, heh, the irony of John Sheppard's own name not being exactly molto rare.
Somebody pointed out that the facial markings could be like the heat pads on snakes which help snakes to locate prey by body warmth. I like that a lot but I don't want arthropod and reptilian anatomy and imagery to interfere with each other so I'm having to abandon that line of thought.
• The wraith do not react well to salt water, especially to salt water entering their spiracles.
• The wraith are sensitive to sunlight and can't stand too much of it (worse than Rodney!).
• The wraith do have genitals, and I base these loosely on some forms of insect genitalia. The males have ejaculatory ducts in the form of a pair of digitiform penes (god, couldn't I just die for this vocabulary). They insert these penes into the female's brood pouch. They couple for several hours during which time they may ejaculate every few minutes. Not all males get to reproduce; the soldier drones don't. Also, copulation is extremely rare; a queen can keep going for years laying fertilised eggs from her brood pouch after a single copulation. I'm still thinking about how many males fertilise one batch of eggs, probably quite a lot. Also, I'm thinking there might be a ritual associated with this: telepathic chanting or somesuch. The sex is sublimated and not very corporeal, a bit like the sex of an ascended ancient.
• The wraith look down on matters of the body as inferior. Everything is sublimated. They don't like living on planets and being exposed to the brute matter of planetary life. They have lived in artificial environments so long, and they like the relative non-matter of space. They view language as inferior to telepathy, and eating by mouth as inferior to feeding by hand. Humans are to them very base, wallowing in digestion and copulation, having to say everything by mouth instead of by mind. Wraith are very dependent on their technology.
• Some wraith are foodies. Adrenaline makes their prey tastier; this is why some wraith like to go hunting Runners. Wraith Ken likes to eat food as a sort of dandyfied gesture; it doesn't nourish him, it's like smelling perfume or something.
• The more the wraith feed on humans, the more 'human' they remain. I haven't quite figured this one out yet but I'm thinking along the lines of some sort of feeding dialectic: a wraith ingests human life, and the human prey ingests enzyme from the wraith at the same time. So they 'feed' each other.
• The wraith have a prehensile tongue, much like the stylets and maxillae of a butterfly. A quote from some insect site: Mandibles and maxillae are formed into stylets which are enclosed by the labium. Once the stylets penetrate, a secretion is injected to dissolve tissue, act as a toxin in predacious species, or as anticoagulant for mosquitoes. *has brief swooning fit* This is what the wraith's tongue does: it injects toxin/enzyme into the human during feeding. It is a sort of tube. It occurs to me that this is not in the slightest supported by canon which never shows a tongue. I may have to rethink! Perhaps they have some sort of stylet in their palms, a hand tongue! I am clearly enamoured of tongues, witness my last foray into the world of cross-species sex in The Orc's Tongue!
Pic of butterfly proboscis.
• In some cultures (hill tribes of Thailand, the Japan of Lady Murasaki), black teeth are regarded as beautiful (a pic here). I'm thinking the wraith regard their own green teeth as beautiful. They also file them.
• Some elements from canon that I have as yet not integrated: The wraith hiss like cats (in German: die fauchen). The wraith smell and sniff.
My god, I am turning into a total wraith whore. Looking back on my career in fandom, this could possibly have been predicted... Even in HP, the only fic I ever actually managed to bloody post was Dementor!fic!! The good, the bad and the ugly is for me, seemingly, the rare, the weird and the non-human.
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(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-01 02:25 pm (UTC)Very cool and detailed information, hon. Bravo. Now I'm giddy and anticipate more of the story like woah.
German? (Maybe we've already talked aobut this - as I've talked with somebody about being German/speaking German too lately and was that you? Mein Hirn ist ein Sieb. .. If you didn't understand this, never mind.)
Tataa.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-01 03:14 pm (UTC)You are such a sweetie for commenting on my own clarifying-my-wraith-in-my-head post. And for loving the swoony language! I mean: swimmerets! Pleopods! Breeding pouches! *salivates*
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-01 03:21 pm (UTC):)~ (<- smiley tongue + tongue icon)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-01 09:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-01 09:33 pm (UTC)from friendsfriends
Date: 2006-05-01 02:27 pm (UTC)Suddenly pictured them tattooing each other by hand -- with needle-sharp claws, and god knows what for ink. The trust/power issues involved.
What do you think of their hair? Their clothes are fascinating, especially some fanon suggestions that they're leather from human skin. And the subcultures within each hive ship, and among hive ships.
Are humans with prior Wraith or Iratus exposure more... hm, not susceptible to the telepathy, but more receptive? The Wraith make you see things. But Sumner could not mentally resist, and John did, and Teyla with her Wraith (maybe it was a drone!) bloodline was taken down by Michael. Why couldn't / didn't the Queen try to influence anyone on Atlantis? Did she need the hive ship to amplify her powers?
Re: from friendsfriends
Date: 2006-05-01 03:20 pm (UTC)Needle-sharp claws: to die for. And the ink, the mind spins - could be some evil blood type of thing. Human would be nice but sort of doesn't make sense. Squid is more likely. Or something they themselves secrete...? But that wouldn't fit in with my idea of them being rather fastidious and fussy and not really into bodily matter. Oh, maybe something the iratus bug secretes!!! So they'd need to keep some iratus bugs on board all the time!! Yes!!!!
Fanon subculture that the clothes are human skin? Ew, that is so gross and possibly so fictionable. I must think on that. Very Silence of the Lambs.
I've not yet seen Michael but I'm getting there! Finished Epiphany today because bearded!Sheppard is the Sheppard in my wraith fic.
And your point that perhaps John is resistant to wraith hallucinations!!! It can't have to do with the enzyme because he didn't take it. Iratus secretions as counter-hallucinatory vaccines! It is extremely suggestive. May I gack this, too? I will credit you up the wazoo! :-)
Re: from friendsfriends
Date: 2006-05-01 06:55 pm (UTC)And your point that perhaps John is resistant to wraith hallucinations!!!
:)) The comparison between Sumner in Rising and Sheppard in The Hive is telling. There was kneeling, but not necessarily submitting. It's also a change from Sheppard in Rising, because he was fooled by the hallucinations then, so it can't be his ATA specialness. Oooh, now I have to watch Michael again. Sorry if I spoiled you ^^;;; It was never really explained entirely, so one would have to look at the actors' performances.
Re: from friendsfriends
Date: 2006-05-01 09:13 pm (UTC)Very, very interesting re John being resistant to hallucinations but not from the very beginning so it's not the ATA. Maybe he's just starting to feel this affinity for the wraith...? Hahahah. Yes, this pairing is so EVIL; that is the best thing about it. But I am also a mooshpot that if I'm not careful I'll make the wraith cute and romantic so the insect bits are a good tonic. Except knowing me, I'll bloody well end up making spiracles erotic. ;-)
Re: from friendsfriends
Date: 2006-05-01 09:22 pm (UTC)Actually I haven't seen Conversion (or even The Gift yet, for Teyla) so my Wraith/Human knowledge is sorely lacking. Watching Allies, the season finale, is a total trip. I'm prepping a fic with specific theories on the Wrongness of it. Should I mention that John makes a smart alec flirting-quip about a Wraith Queen? In public?
And just where did he learn Wraith language in The Hive? Enough to fly a Dart blind.
Mmm, erotic spiracles.
OH my gods it just occurred to me. The Wraiths' injuries super-heal, right? Any biting and scratching would just heal right up... right? Speaking of romance. :9
Re: from friendsfriends
Date: 2006-05-05 01:54 pm (UTC)wraith kids
Date: 2006-05-04 07:37 pm (UTC)Re: wraith kids
Date: 2006-05-05 01:43 pm (UTC)