Redwood Roots: Ask anythings, audiobook, and other stuff.

Redwood Roots is a post-y2k bug speculative ecofiction fantasy slice-of-life drama about Scone, a human teenager being raised on a houseboat by members of the Huskent species after getting lost in the woods as a cub scout six years prior. The story takes place in Connecticut, but was specifically inspired by my inner hatred awhile ago for being unable to recycle in my small town after a hypothetical short film we were shown in science class made me feel like it was my choice not to recycle, even though I only could at school or somewhere an hour away. Huskents are humans injected with seeds and energy from living trees, being basically powerlines for trees, draining energy from living things to give to them at the cost of their own energy. Despite this, Huskents never drain from or eat meat much larger than rabbits anymore, even though human society still sees them as zombies. They have hair and body parts that appear longer, like corpses, splotches of skin that look and feel hard like tree bark, and vines on their body. Over time, turned Huskents bred born Huskents by learning to share trees and plant energy. Huskents are generally named after plants or fungi if born and prey or predator animals depending on the standing of Turneds. They also believe the longer you last, the younger you seem. Heck, most humans don't even know Huskents actually exist. Scone is raised by Grackle, who was Turned at fifteen and has been for fifty five years, their found family members Canary and Weasel, and Canary and Weasel's child they are coparenting, Fungus. Scone uses They\he and was actually named by Grackle for carrying a scone. The story also takes place in 2075, but is inspired by the 1970s nostalgia of the 90s and Midwest emo to an extent. Canary turned at 30 and has been turned for sixty years, Weasel turned at 25 and has been turned for 75 years, and Fungus is six. Scone themself is fourteen and has been living here for six years. Venus was turned at seven is currently 15.5, when Miriam was 36 and Foxglove was 32.

Everyone else's pronouns:

Grackle: He\She\They

Canary: They\them

Weasel: He\they

Fungus: They\She\He

Grackle is also Scouse despite the Connecticut setting. Weasel is very cautious and almost conspiracy theorist like, whereas Canary is very poetic in the sense they describe the world through metaphors because they are so content with their life here. They also empathetically listen without giving advice. Even if they don't always make clear sense. Fungus is their child who is very perceptive for their age, who also has a very mumbly, slightly eerie, but sincere way of speaking. Grackle. Grackle is certainly a character. Warm, open, with an honest sense of humor that isn't exactly dry. They have a way of grounding and observing above anything else, making them seem a bit aloof at first glance, but deep down, they'd rather hold space than force anything on others. Making them an unique form of comfort for the brash, adventurous, albeit afraid to go beyond their own comfort and monotone Scone, who harbors a lot of guilt from never being able to earn worth to their old scout troop. Scone is a brash, adventurous, albeit cautious and monotone kid. They think before they do anything else, even if they don't really need to, just to make sure no insecurity or ridicule comes their way. They also have a really deep philosophical view of the world, even if they never outright say it and a deep impartiality in them. They were trying to get a sustainability badge of all things, never understanding then that the world was never sustainable before. Then there's Venus's side of the story. Oh boy. Venus ( They\them) was the child of Dr. Miriam Way and someone now known as Foxglove. Their mother, a scientist afraid Huskents are helping trees bring about the apocalypse, came up with an idea, what if you create a Huskent from a non-living carnivorous plant seed being embedded into a human? That became Venus. Of course, she needed someone to become this and someone to test that new species on, creating Venus and Foxglove. She tested on her child, Vivian who became Venus. Foxglove, originally Miriam's partner and Venus's parent as well, was horrified by this and asked that Venus live a normal life after the first test, under a compromise. Since Venus is made from a carnivorous being, they have to drain and eat, and take more energy from meat than the average Huskent. Despite this, Venus does not want to both drain and eat meat, let alone photosynthesize or exterminate Huskents and hide this from their mother, feeling deeply insecure and emotionally black and white despite being morally grey and determined to accomplish their purpose despite hating it. They are inspired by the Crane Wives' song The Moon Will Sing. Venus is especially shocked when they learn Huskents haven't drained energy from living things larger than rabbits for years. They basically learn everything they were taught was wrong, and either way it's still horrible to them. They basically see themself as a cannibal. They also see themself this way because they refuse to see Huskents as inhuman. Venus also doesn't drain or photosynthesize at all. And they see themself as human. Eventually, they do get better, but it takes a lot of time. Foxglove meanwhile allowed themself to be used for Venus to test their instincts on in hopes this would be the only test. They nearly died and it was only the Foxglove seed that turned them that helped them live. But of course, no part of a Foxglove is safe for humans, so even after being Turned, Foxglove feels like they are dying. In my head they are just a black silhouette with toeless legs, a lack of clear or attached arms, A sort of melting look, A Foxglove protruded through their left eye, and a downturned almost a mix between triangular and oval, yellow eye that is extremely dark with a single shaky scribble esk black pupil and lack of sclera. Foxglove in my head sounds either like Angel Hare or Yuria the Witch. The trees are kinda like traumatized pitbulls to me. They don’t mean to turn people, and are only trying to protect their home and have someone understand them. Unfortunately, they do not understand how Turning affects a human. Scone always reaches for goals based on the past, even if content with the present, due to the adults before their life with Huskents being so unsatisfied with the present, but never stopping to change it. If anything, they feel like even among people who bring change to both the natural world and them, their guilt will only tear both sides down. They feel as though humanity judges Huskents and trees by instinct and cover, but also feel they may have never realized how to interact with the world, nor how to handle it changing. They feel Huskents understand what humanity does not, but do not want them to be endangered by humanity or go through the same systemic guilt and ridicule they have just for trying to help them. They understand the world has to unite, but find both too idealistic and high risk for everyone, even if it is a better solution. They understand why these societies are separate and that Huskent society formed as a solarpunk sorta rebellion against human individualism and glorifying of scientists, organizations, and corporate conjectures, but need them to accomplish this goal. Their own emotional maturity and understanding of the butterfly effect that everything in their world has holds them back. If anything, there isn't an actual antagonist, rather everything is neutral. Fear, instinct, and the desire to survive is the closest. Sure, Miriam is an antagonist toward Venus and has negative views on Huskents, pretty much wanting them exterminated, but that's hard to do with a living, breathing tool with autonomy that is your child. The only reason these views formed are humanity's fear of a lack of control. The bug only caused magnetic field disturbance that caused earthquakes beginning to awaken the trees, they only began taking action after the major rural and suburban technology decreased. Scone fears they will lose appreciation for the present if they look back or forward. They believe they deserve guilt and hold themself to a standard of too much impact. I mean that in their impact on the world, not importance. A sense of structured purpose. They really just want to leave their mark on the world in a way that will lessen any guilt in the world, not understanding guilt brings about introspection and personal change, for better or worse. Even though their troop was a community, it never focused on teamwork in a way that lifted an individual, only worsened the feeling individual impact was the only thing that matters. That changes when meeting Venus and attempting a journey on the houseboat across other Huskent communities to learn the impacts they have on humans, humans have on them, and they have on each other. They have a much more black and white world view than Scone, but their own desire to change and confidence in taking chances is enough to both inspire and challenge Scone. Venus is the first sign to them of the importance of change not related to a cycle in the natural stagnant world besides their family. They are also a very individualistic character, which clashes with Scone's worldview and directly forces Scone and their family to leave a stagnant life because of Venus being on the run from their mother, who is already after them, and leaves Scone with a hope this journey can help Venus feel alive and help both understand humans while growing past guilt. They learn that even if all systems can not agree, sometimes the beauty of letting them change naturally, work naturally, and observing is enough. Systems can take years to change, everything takes time. They've reacted the way the earth does all along, and that lifts their guilt. Before that, the closest indicator we have of the impacts of someone like Miriam is Weasel’s obsession with cleaning and supplying his tree with extra energy to try and regrow it from Miriam’s multiple attempts to mark it for deforestation, both of which cause stakes for his health and Fungus’s, as born Huskents are created from combining energy from the Guardian trees, or the trees that first Turned a Huskent that they therefore get more energy from, which means their health is somewhat tied to a parent’s Guardian tree. This drives Scone to uncover Miriam’s motives, which turn out to be her fear of Huskents and trees regressing human society, as she only likes change she can control and enact, not understanding how Huskents or trees interpret change as they do and being unable to cope with it herself, seeing eliminating the catalysts for change as the only way she can excuse her guilt for collapsing her family and not letting the world take time. She can not feel satisfied with the inability to prevent a world she sees as inefficient to live in. She believes humanity must stay industrialized and that “ Its only value is being apex in intelligence.” She hates a life without challenge, yet can not accept that there are things she can not solve. That is why she truly created Venus. Scone, if anything, is searching for her not only to help Venus, but because they in their observant nature are fascinated by why people act the way they do, why they do certain things, they are fascinated by change and science, even if change is a difficult process for them. They are equally protective of family and structure, as deep down they understand how contradictory and yet symbiotic to each other structure and change are, even if they can not apply it to life yet. They have to learn to let go of keeping everything inside their head before it harms those around them, even if it feels unsustainable to be blunt, maybe, just maybe, it will bring them closer to those around them. Maybe change is the best part of life. Maybe change is the one sustained thing. Maybe everything happens for a reason, and you just have to accept it happens. Maybe it doesn’t matter what systems you follow, it matters that you do things to improve yourself and others. It matters that you try and contribute positively to a cycle of change, and you go through the effects without fear, but with the adaptability of nature. Miriam has done less talking and more testing since the incidents. She has become avoidant to her own child's issues, despite feeling the need to control Venus in codependency. She depends on Venus to give her a tangible entity to prove herself as right with, rather than fully understanding they are still her child. She lost her sense of selflessness when she lost her partner. Without anything to love her, she can't love herself. She was inspired by Ceroba Ketsukane from Undertale Yellow. If she would discover what Venus is hiding, she would likely not be in simply defined anger, but in a state of projecting her resentment, fear, and inability to confront her feelings and trauma onto Venus. Unlike a character such as Canary, she needs to see and touch something for it to be correct. She prefers certainties over possibilities. Doubt is her driving emotion. Venus would take every word to heart, but they know the words are restrained. They know emotions are not simply black and white, but they would rather feed into the codependency at the moment than cause anyone pain. They put the blame on themself, the importance, on themself, yet they can not define their internal world at all. Their rebellion and complete cut of trauma is the only way they can see a sense of self as fully deserved or understandable. They, like their mother, can not accept trauma as simply being. They are both stuck in a codependent trauma bond where doing what the other wants determines their worth as a person. A bit of lore on Canary: They were afab and used to work an office job they did not want until one day the company got a flash flood warning.They got separated from the rest of those evacuated and got Turned shortly after. They scrambled for a few days until finding Weasel, who offered them shelter and healing. Despite Weasel's generosity, Canary still found his harsh nature and animosity towards the corporate world offputting at first. They had always been submissive and sacrificing compared to Weasel, wanting to hide authenticity for the sake of others, but being around them helped Canary realize the philosophy that guides them today, everything has two sides meant to balance it and maybe despite everything, despite pain and change, despite ridicule and welcome, everyone has the opportunity to fulfill both sides of a coin inside them intrinsically, even if they can not choose it in what they believe to be good will, or how they feel, they have a stagnant duality inside them that makes them human.They have the ability to realize love and change are tied, they just have to use it. The ability to accept duality is necessary to live. The ability to accept your capacity to do everything is a great and risky strength, because it shows you know you are only human, even if it takes reflection and acceptance of the fact you can never know anything for certain, but maybe that is life's beauty. If you accept there can be no answers, it allows you to see the world as art to be interpreted. The point of things like science or faith is to fulfill one's ability to accept things as they are while forming an interpretation, not to create fact. Love is to do that. They simply let Fungus explore themself without judgement. They hold off on exactly teaching them any philosophy tied morals for now, as Fungus is just around kindergarten or first grade age, but that doesn't mean they can not teach him to be good. To be good is to make change for the better, no matter who it impacts, and that means sometimes, you have to accept you occasionally don't realize your good. What matters is that it simply is. Granted, Fungus still inherited Weasel's bluntness, but they use it to directly uplift and observe rather than doing so unintended and throwing abstract things at the metaphorical wall like Weasel. That makes Fungus someone who learns by observing in an explorative way authentically, as Canary also holds a deep belief that the raw authenticity and complexity of a child, their ability to grow easily, learn without concern of losing yourself, and way to accept interpretations as they are is deeply beautiful and one of the most important things in the world, to have that raw being is everything. Scone may not understand Fungus at times, but they accept that they have pure intention in everything. Venus on the other hand is caught completely off guard by someone so true to who they are, but appreciates someone so opinionated yet impartial being around. Weasel feels empathy for Venus, but because of the paranoia from both sides he'd rather act like they don't care about Venus than admitting any genuine care. They act like they fully think the kid is a threat at first when in reality, they are proof of everything he stands against being true on the surface. If American Idiot still existed in this universe you know Weasel bops to it. As far as how Venus interprets Weasel, it's in very subtle ways of showing kinship even if they find them offputting. Some more on Foxglove's world right now: They are experiencing several deadly but unendable symptoms of the plant's toxicity such as appetite loss, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, tachycardia and bradycardia, fatigue, delirium, slight xanthopsia, blurred vision including blurred outlines, dilation of their remaining pupil, drooling, body weakness, feelings of near collapsing, heart block, and seizures. They now live abandoned after accidentally escaping containment by a pond, calmly offering spa-like treatments, planting forget me nots, and raising amphibians, mostly newts and mudpuppies. They generally have a calm disposition, with the exception of a visceral reaction to being touched, and mostly navigate by sound. Their ability to be so peaceful despite this complex pain makes them a great nurse to animals, even if they do fear most who cross them. They are known as a siren of sorts to pond locales. They mainly eat anything they can find, but mostly eat fruit and anything to even slightly control their heart rate. If Foxglove ever meets Venus again, they would likely not react well at first, but they would offer them the ability to hear each other again. Like Canary, they have a strong interest in floriography, and would probably assign Venus a flower or plant that actually suits them as a way to say," I am here and I care too." They would give them a Tillandsia, Sundew, Red Hot Poker, Adenium, and Yerba Mansa plus a Gladiolus for Scone. Scone would be extremely honored because it's their favorite flower but not just because it's his favorite, but because someone finally understands why beyond mere beauty. They probably give a simple bow to show gratitude. They aren't one for grand gestures. When it comes to meals, Grackle bakes, makes the jam, and makes non-tea drinks. Canary cooks and makes the tea, Weasel makes sure preparation is followed, and Fungus gardens the vegetables, helps Canary cook, and arranges the food. Venus would develop some new hobbies slowly including recipe and nutrition logging, fruit gardening, and grilling. They also make sure to leave a note if they aren't ready to get up as they haven't quite learned to respect their own routine style and boundaries yet. Weasel is the first to taste test and then when it's actually good, he decides to not immediately tell everyone, but does leave a slight graded note the first few times, learning to remind Venus that grading isn't just critique and can be motivation for improvement. Fungus immediately gets chowing down after, before everyone else comes in and just decides to have an outdoor dinner. Venus would brace for critique, Especially with Weasel, only to immediately have a quiet joy in their eyes. Weasel and Canary nest together, raise Fungus together, and do similar hobbies together like plant upkeep. They also go on platonic dates. Depends on the day which hobbies they do together. The teens meanwhile, structure all of Fungus's hobbies into a routine because both kids overcompensate. Fungus doesn't mind schedules, but they allow the teens, Especially Venus, to take a break if needed for their own sake. Miriam actually has ablutophobia, trypophobia, and a fear of clicking sounds. Her lab is entirely away from any natural water, everything is smooth and safe, and everything has a specific jingle instead of making any general noise. Venus’s first experience when finally out of it is touching moss.

Everyone’s nicknames for others:

Scone’s nicknames for others:

Grackle: Gracks, Nesty

Canary: Entle Canary, Enty

Weasel: Watchdog

Fungus: Little Toadstool, Toady, Spores

Venus: Snapdragon, Snappy, V

Grackle’s nicknames:

Scone: Toasty, Feathers

Canary: Songbird, Sunshine, Honeycomb

Weasel: Post, Granola, Scout, Crow

Fungus: Kiddo, Muffin, Lillypad, Hum

Venus: Mini Miri (formerly), Flyer, Thorns, Tart

Foxglove: Fox

Miriam: Miri

Canary’s nicknames:

Scone: Trustful, Chipmunk, Strelitzia

Grackle: Sport, Fireplace, Buttercup

Weasel: Aconite

Venus: Sundew, Flytrap

Foxglove: Digitalis

Fungus’s nicknames:

Scone: Cookie

Grackle: Auncle

Canary: Big Bird

Weasel: Pa

Venus’s nicknames:

Scone: Biscuits, Byblis, Badges

Grackle: Pitcher, Merula

Canary: Light

Foxglove’s nicknames:

Venus: Vivi

Fun facts about Scone:

Their hobbies include collecting driftwood, cartography, birdwatching, making popcorn, and repairing old tech.

They like cookie dough ice cream.

His favorite flower is a Gladiolus.

Their favorite bird is a Hawfinch

Their favorite season is fall and their favorite month is November.

They enjoy rainy weather

They like cinnamon

They commonly wear a scarf

Their favorite color is Auburn

They twitch their nose frequently

Transmasc unlabeled aroace

Facts about Grackle:

Hobbies: Candle making, acapella singing, photography, upcycling, card games, Coin collecting, making virgin cocktails, making jams, Karaoke, kite collecting, stargazing, hiking, camping, and baking.

Favorite color: Marigold, which is also their favorite flower

Favorite bird: Common Grackle

Favorite season: The inbetween of Summer and Fall in September

Transfem Genderfluid Graysexual Demiromantic Pan!

Facts about Canary:

Hobbies: Annotating books, Antiquing, making nature bookmarks + collages, cloud watching, crochet, composting, Embroidery, writing poems, flower pressing, making necklaces out of lost, dumped, or unusable objects, knitting, studying mycology, making wind chimes, pottery, sewing, scrapbooking, tarot, floriography, and tea brewing.

Non-binary QPR aroace

Favorite color: Pastel green

Favorite season and month: April in Spring

Favorite bird: Swiss Frill Canary

Favorite flower: Amaryllis

Facts about Weasel:

Demiboy QPR aroace

Hobbies: Collecting Magnets, cleaning, taking apart and reconstructing machinery, foraging, doomsday prepping, creating models out of gears, entomology, metal detecting, terrariums, mind puzzles, and geology.

Favorite color: Cerulean

Favorite month: February

Favorite season: Late Autumn

Favorite flower: Hydrangea

Favorite bird: Blue jay

Facts about Fungus:

Intersex

Hobbies: Bird calling, birdwatching, cooking, chess, making fairy gardens, collecting fungi, rocks, and bark, making conlangs, vegetable gardening, raising snails + slugs, chalk drawing, origami, Picnicking, making art from food, moss cultivating, making plushies out of what Grackle finds for her upcycling, weaving, and making art out of felt + yarn that is not clothing or plushies.

Favorite color: Mauve

Favorite month: May

Favorite season: Summer

Favorite flower: Masterworts

Favorite bird: Calliope Hummingbird

Fun facts about Venus!:

Non-binary asexual lesbian with demiaroace lesbian and graysexual berriromantic unlabeled parents!

They don’t have many hobbies of their own yet, besides playing the ocarina and logic puzzles.

Favorite color: Olive

Favorite month: December

Favorite season: Winter

Favorite flower: Sundew

Favorite bird: Purple Martin

Facts about Foxglove:

Favorite color: Lilac

Favorite month: June

Favorite season: Spring

Favorite flower: Forget Me Not

Favorite bird: Sanderling

They likely have a poor memory for actual events but have a strong visual memory.

Let me describe their voices:

Scone: Flat, monotone, dry, on the lower end of medium pitched, would have to be someone actually transmasc. Very much talks at the same specific pace unless they can not bottle up the upset.

Grackle: just a warm scouse voice that can sound chatty.

Canary: I imagine their voice to be very wispy, but not sing song or whispery, more so just light and whimsical, but grounded, and surprisingly low.

Weasel: Columbus from Zombieland.

Fungus: Maybe like a younger Peri from Fire Emblem Fates except less creepy happiness.

Venus: Very quiet or very loud, no in between. They also have a lot of voice cracks. On the highest end of medium pitched.

Foxglove: Yuria the Witch

Miriam: A slightly lower Beverly Crusher with more diction.

Miriam is a demiaroace lesbian and Foxglove is gender unlabeled and graysexual berriromantic ( They\It\Xe).

You must be 13+ to audition, have a decent mic with a pop filter and denoise, communicate on site, and be very committed.