#decembergame (placeholder name)

some initial chatter

Ah, December. Humor me a moment before you go to the questions (or if you're impatient, they're at the end, just scroll down), I'm not limited to 300 characters minus whatever it takes for a hashtag.

The month filled with days of, for those in the Northern hemisphere, longer nights, cold weather, and a chain of holiday festivities and familial obligations. Not a lot of time to be online, but you'd probably like an excuse to check in with your online friends and maybe brainstorm some creature-related shenanigans. I'm also sure there's plenty of details on the topic of food chains you barely remember from school if you didn't enter a line of work that requires you to have this knowledge, because like shit for as much as I like creatures and legally distinct Pokémon, I was doing research just to write these up.

December is also my birth-month, right from the start, followed up with an extended end of year time off period from my day job.

Because of these two factors, December's Quarterly series is technically "a little easier" compared to the other three. It mirrors Marchistics in concept (a connected chain of things) but may seem repetitive through each step when you look at the questions. The core of them becoming interesting is up to you and how you answer them for yourself.

arts & crafts day

If you were here for Septopolis 2025, you will be familiar with a silly activity I added towards the end of the prompt series which asked you to make something creative WITHOUT THE USE OF AI representing the place you discussed the whole month. A lot of people had fun with this!

With this quarterly, since it's during my birth-month, I'm bringing the question back and adding the option to show off something you've had commissioned from an artist with credit ("store-bought art is fine too") since you likely know me and my passion for art patronage. Mid-October, I began a call to find folks that are actual human artists and likely able and willing to take on an order for you to deliver before this question comes up. The following is the list that came from it:

• Siggi, found at their carrd or directly on vgen.

• Mar, found at their carrd or directly on vgen.

• Sicklewhims, found at their vgen (note: some NSFW work; it is labelled accordingly for those averse 💜).

• Fabrosaure, found at their carrd or directly on vgen.

• Aowna, found at their vgen or through direct e-mail correspondence (see their pinned on bsky).

• Flygohr, found at their website or directly on vgen.

Remember: these are all humans doing labor of a creative nature in exchange for money that could make a difference in their lives. With that in mind, being listed here is not a guarantee they will be able to take on work for you or be delivered on time, but each of them has consented to being listed here with awareness that this list goes up on or before November 1st and therefore the deadline is approximately 4-7 weeks depending on when someone hits them up.

the culture days

A part of the semi-repetitive nature for each of the five sections will be what I am calling "culture day" questions. These are questions about the living thing and its relationship to your nearby dominant civilization (so, humans for us; could be elves or dwarves or legally-distinct Tau for you). To have respect for your time this season as well as my own, these are all a PICK TWO, modal-type of question.

Day 1 in each section focuses on the "practical" relationships: uses of the being (labor, resources), a meal made of them or a byproduct of theirs (e.g. eggs, milk, pollen), domestication (e.g. pets, traveling companions), or its impact on the overall environment in the event of instability (thanks, Barrows!). Day 2 in each section focuses on more of the "symbolic" relationships: what the being represents; how it's used in art, religion, and/or heraldry (this can also be sports or company logos if you're going more modern) for example; superstitions and/or folktales; language (e.g. idioms, root words to nouns/verbs/adjectives/etc.).

By making these a PICK TWO scenario, I hope that frees you up to enjoy the holiday season instead of bogging yourself down with too many details you feel compelled to answer and maximizes the likelihood others, if they have the time this month, can read and enjoy what your share.

Choose the two most important for your story or worldbuilding, the rest can be if you feel like it on your own time.

the prompt list 🎁

As promised, here's what December will entail in the exact level of detail I use to reference making my cards and the accompanying daily posts. Something I should probably state that I probably haven't yet (I figured it'd be implied given my work), but these definitely are meant to apply for magical creatures and plants and not explicitly only earth-like food chains!

Lastly, avoid doing personal promo until the end. Going forward, I will be detaching people who put promo links in their posts.

intro 📝

1. 1.

   Introductions, Goals, and Expectations. Introduce yourself, your goals for developing a fictional food chain, and what your anticipated community engagement with others will be throughout the month.

   • Read-ahead note: this was grossly misinterpreted by a lot of people for Septopolis 2026, so I am adding even more specificity. This is not asking you what attention you think you're going to get, this is asking you what you have for bandwidth to put into others.¹ It's honestly, genuinely fine if you're using this for yourself/playing along solo, but it's appreciated you flag yourself as such.

2. 2.

   Location and Biome. Determine the location in your world and the biome where this food chain exists—this environment should inform some characteristics, behaviors, and adaptations about your beings!

3. 3.

   Tentative Food Chain. Determine and briefly mention your tentative food chain members of producer, primary consumer, secondary/tertiary consumer, apex predator, and decomposer/detrivore you’ll focus on and why they matter in the context of your world or story.

   • Read-ahead note: I will flesh this out more in the daily post, but tentative is here because you may decide to change later or you may not even know yet. Something like a "cow-like" or "wolf-like" creature is fine to start, you have 5-15 days to figure out specifics even if you were playing strictly daily! Hopefully your producer is quick to come to mind though!

producers 🌱

4. 4.

   Description and Etymology. Introduce your producer species (e.g., plants, algae, fungi, bacteria) by providing an overall, high-level description—as detailed as you want!—and its name along with the history and/or background of its name.

5. 5.

   Energy and Nutrients. How does your producer species generate macronutrients (e.g., carbs, fats, proteins) as an autotroph (that’s your term to look up!) and obtain nutrients for its functions?

6. 6.

   Defense Mechanisms and/or Interesting Trait. How does this producer species attempt to thwart being eaten by your primary consumer? If this isn’t a priority for you or you have space, talk about an alternate interesting trait this species has that wasn’t covered before.

7. 7.

   Culture Day: Practical. PICK TWO: (1) How does this producer see use in industry as labor or resources? (2) Describe a meal that it or a byproduct made by it is used as a key ingredient. (3) What is the species like in use horticulturally or if it can act as a “pet” or companion (if sentient)? (4) What are interactions like in the wild, if any? (5) What risks are there if its population grows out of control due to imbalances in the food chain?

8. 8.

   Culture Day: Symbolic. PICK TWO: (1) What does this producer represent as a symbol culturally? (2) How is it depicted or used in art, religion, and/or heraldry? (3) What superstitions or folktales is it the focus of? (4) What idioms or words are derived from it?

primary consumers 🦗

9. 9.

   Description and Etymology.  Introduce your primary consumer species (e.g., herbivores like insects, rabbits, cows) by providing an overall, high-level description—as detailed as you want!—and its name along with the history and/or background of its name.

10. 10.

    Adaptations for Foraging. What enables this species to be able to eat, via realistic or magical adaptations, your producer despite its defenses and/or environmental factors (e.g., enzymes, mouthparts, ability to withstand lava)?

11. 11.

    Survival Tactics and/or Interesting Trait. What methods does this consumer species use to thwart it and/or its young from being eaten by its predator(s)? If this isn’t a priority for you or you have space, talk about an alternate interesting trait this species has that wasn’t covered before.

12. 12.

    Culture Day: Practical. PICK TWO: (1) How does this consumer see use in industry as labor or resources? (2) Describe a meal that it or a byproduct made by it is used as a key ingredient. (3) What is it like if it can act as a “pet” or companion? (4) What are interactions like in the wild, if any? (5) What risks are there if its population grows out of control due to imbalances in the food chain?

13. 13.

    Culture Day: Symbolic. PICK TWO: (1) What does this consumer represent as a symbol culturally? (2) How is it depicted or used in art, religion, and/or heraldry? (3) What superstitions or folktales is it the focus of? (4) What idioms or words are derived from it?

secondary/tertiary consumers 🐁🐍

14. 14.

    Description and Etymology. Introduce your secondary/tertiary consumer species (e.g., mice, snakes) by providing an overall, high-level description—as detailed as you want!—and its name along with the history and/or background of the name.

15. 15.

    Hunting Tactics and Defenses. What tactics and/or adaptations does this species use for hunting down its prey, namely your primary (or secondary) consumer, and on the other hand, what is used to protect it or its young from its apex predator?

16. 16.

    Social Dynamics and/or Interesting Trait. What are the social dynamics like of this species (e.g., group composition or hierarchies, reproductive habits or rituals)? If this isn’t a priority for you or you have space, talk about an alternate interesting trait this species has that wasn’t covered before.

17. 17.

    Culture Day: Practical. PICK TWO: (1) How does this consumer see use in industry as labor or resources? (2) Describe a meal that it or a byproduct made by it is used as a key ingredient. (3) What is it like if it can act as a “pet” or companion? (4) What are interactions like in the wild, if any? (5) What risks are there if its population grows out of control due to imbalances in the food chain?

18. 18.

    Culture Day: Symbolic. PICK TWO: (1) What does this consumer represent as a symbol culturally? (2) How is it depicted or used in art, religion, and/or heraldry? (3) What superstitions or folktales is it the focus of? (4) What idioms or words are derived from it?

apex predators 🦅

19. 19.

    Description and Etymology. Introduce your apex predator species (e.g., eagles, wolves, lions) by providing an overall, high-level description—as detailed as you want!—and its name along with the history and/or background of the name.

20. 20.

    Hunting Tactics and Life Risks. What tactics and/or adaptations does this species use for hunting down its prey, namely your secondary/tertiary consumer, and what risks does the species face despite its status at “the top” of the chain (e.g., poison accumulation, vehicles)?

21. 21.

    Social Dynamics and/or Interesting Trait. What are the social dynamics like of this species (e.g., group composition or hierarchies, reproductive habits or rituals)? If this isn’t a priority for you or you have space, talk about an alternate interesting trait this species has that wasn’t covered before.

22. 22.

    Culture Day: Practical. PICK TWO: (1) How does this predator see use in industry as labor or resources? (2) Describe a meal that it or a byproduct made by it is used as a key ingredient. (3) What is it like if it can act as a “pet” or companion? (4) What are interactions like in the wild, if any? (5) What risks are there if its population grows out of control due to imbalances in the food chain?

23. 23.

    Culture Day: Symbolic. PICK TWO: (1) What does this predator represent as a symbol culturally? (2) How is it depicted or used in art, religion, and/or heraldry? (3) What superstitions or folktales is it the focus of? (4) What idioms or words are derived from it?

decomposers and detrivores 🦠🍄‍🟫

24. 24.

    Description and Etymology. Introduce your decomposer or detrivore species (e.g., flies, snails, fungi, bacteria) by providing an overall, high-level description—as detailed as you want!—and its name along with the history and/or background of the name.

25. 25.

    Breakdown Mechanism. How does this decomposer or detrivore break down dead organisms and return those nutrients to ultimately be used by your producer?

26. 26.

    Reproductive Tactics and/or Interesting Trait. What are the reproductive processes and cycles like for this creature? If this isn’t a priority for you or you have space, talk about an alternate interesting trait this species has that wasn’t covered before.

27. 27.

    Culture Day: Practical. PICK TWO: (1) How does this decomposer see use in industry as labor or resources? (2) Describe a meal that it or a byproduct made by it is used as a key ingredient. (3) What is it like if it can act as a “pet” or companion? (4) What are interactions like in the wild, if any? (5) What risks are there if its population grows out of control due to imbalances in the food chain?

28. 28.

    Culture Day: Symbolic. PICK TWO: (1) What does this decomposer represent as a symbol culturally? (2) How is it depicted or used in art, religion, and/or heraldry? (3) What superstitions or folktales is it the focus of? (4) What idioms or words are derived from it?

outro 🎆

29. 29.

    Arts & Crafts Day. Take today to draw or share a commissioned piece of artwork with artist credit of at least one of your critters or critter-foods, then go look at others’ shared pieces and leave nice comments.

30. 30.

    The BLU Collapse. Uh oh, it’s that time… sharing all that lovely art has caused the walls of the Bluesky Literary Universe to collapse again! Based on the thing you shared art of yesterday (or free pick from your chain if it's a more interesting option for you), where would they find new food(s) and/or threat(s) in this new metauniverse?

    • Read-ahead note: like Septopolis 2026's BLU Day, I will be asking in the post itself that you limit yourself to two other participants. I know some folks will flex this limit, I can't do much about that, but try to avoid doing lengthy shout-outs. I try to engineer the BLU questions for you to make thoughtful, logical connections between yours and someone else's work, not just picking your friends, because you're likely spending all month talking on your friends' posts anyways!

    • If you're playing solo, please skip this question. Answering this question without tagging or at minimum referencing another participant will result in me muting you. Please use reading comprehension (this honestly probably isn't going to be an issue if you're reading this).

31. 31.

    Free Space Day. It’s Free Space Day—so you know, do your promo or whatever, share another detail about your favorite creation in the chain in a topic I didn’t have time for, or tell me the most interesting thing you learned through this process.

Happy New Year, all. Fuck 2026. May 2027 be at minimum marginally better, alright?