Flush It Friday: Macrospecies
I recently picked up Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky and it’s been a wild ride so far. Set on an exoplanet dubbed “Kiln” (officially Imno 27g, which just rolls off the tongue), exiled enemies of a far-future Earth superstate (the Mandate) toil and die in labor camps surrounding strange alien ruins. The biology of Kiln consists of creatures that can combine into “macrospecies,” where each segment of an organism is itself a unique species. It’s a concept that echoes The Thing in some ways, but I find it even more bizarre. As opposed to an assimilator that can be split into pieces that continue scrambling for survival, a macrospecies is a mutualistic relationship between disparate species, working together as one organism. Because my brain is a mysterious and chaotic realm, I remembered an episode of Adventure Time when I was driving around today, in which a macrospecies is depicted with hilarious results. Behold the Super Freak from “Freak City” (S1E20), a conglomeration of individuals that one can certainly interpret as a macrospecies:
Anyways, METAL.
The ever-reliable Joaquin Stick brought you TMP. The sometimes reliable me brought you TTT.
Tha Boiz discussed deathcore delinquents and colorectal cancer cures on Toilet Radio.
Reliquary Tower dove into demos part deux-deux in this edition of Tag Diving.
The hole-y days are upon us. Got any vacation plans? Anything tickling your taint to be released in the coming weeks? Let us know with your G/B/Us, you dashing Dumplings. <3 Roldy
