A: Transformation, evolution, and transcending the constraints of flesh are all symbolized by TransSentience. It represents the idea of accepting change and diversity as an essential aspect of life, rather than solely as a necessity. Embracing change means growing, adapting, and experiencing the different points of view that various species, cultures, and lifestyles have to offer. Fundamentally, our setting explores the beauty of overcoming obstacles, whether they be societal, technological, or physical, the flexibility of identity, and the strength that comes from adaptability. It questions what it means to be “human” or “alive” and pushes the idea that growth requires accepting oneself and understanding others, even when they act or appear quite differently to the point it feels discomforting to oneself. In other words, TranSentience encourages the idea of overcoming one’s own and the world’s constraints, accepting change, and finding acceptance in our differences as well as those of others as well as when such differences are out of our control. We attempt to fully express this idea with our setting, as well as reflect common and real-world societal challenges and ways to deal with them. We should never forget our true roots, which are the same thing that unites us all. In addition to its philosophical implications, the word has connection to our lore. In the Ember galaxy, TAU (a significant figure in the setting itself) founded and runs the fictional firm TranSentience. Derived from the words “transcend,” “transform,” and “sentience,” the term “transentience” describes the complete or partial transformation of a feeble mind and weak organic body into a (mostly) robotic body. The process is a long one, and you can read more about it in TAU’s codex.

TranSentience started as a way for us to collaborate on our prior (separated) worldbuilding concepts that we had developed for years before we started dating. Given our shared love of science fiction, we thought it would be a shame to waste our abilities and ideas. The idea of TranSentience was first initiated by Virtual, who laid the foundation for a galaxy in which we could engage in roleplaying with our characters. Our initial comic concepts arose after AEMRA introduced a new protagonist/main character for herself. Our galaxy started small, with only two or three alien species, our main characters, and ideas from the past. However, we didn’t feel prepared to do anything significant with it until recently, so we made the decision to make our project more known. Eventually to be turned into something that would last for us and our lovely dovely online community, something we would likely still enjoy in our fifties. Whether it’s existence itself or life as a construct, we both like philosophizing and pushing each other to think about the most bizarre topics. Numerous events from our early years also influenced our long-term passions.

To fill in the gaps and add further background to our universe, we will continue to work on and publish additional lore and art. We will also continue to work on our TS comic strips and webcomic, which tells the story of our protagonist traversing a completely foreign galaxy. Prints of the webcomic are likely to be available for purchase once Volume 1 is complete in order to raise funding for the comic’s further development and to reach a larger audience. As mentioned above, we will continue to add new content to the worldbuilding project overall in the meantime. Additionally, we will occasionally paint and illustrate situations that aren’t shown in the comic or won’t happen in the near future but might potentially be sold as prints. While we’re dreaming of making our setting even more engaging such as through animated short films or some kind of game, it’s unclear at this time whether we will handle all of this ourselves or whether we will hire someone to do this once we’re able to afford such a feat. In addition, by adding elements like timelines, character voice lines, theme music that we commission or create ourselves, soundscapes for planet biospheres and other scenes/events, and noises made by each species, we intend to eventually transform our website into a more interactive adventure.

A: If it is published, simply follow our homepage or wiki links. If you can’t find anything about what you’re looking for because you’ve read or heard about it somewhere, then there’s either nothing about it published yet, or not created. You can always ask for exclusive WiPs as our Patron/Substar. We might even create stuff upon request if it’s something we haven’t considered before, or held back on.

A: The most straightforward response is “no.” It takes place in a distant, non-human extraterrestrial galaxy. The long answer is: somewhat. Our protagonist is the only known posthuman. She is the “purest” human you will ever meet in TranSentience, despite the fact that she has experienced so many changes that her body appears quite foreign in and of itself. In truth, there is the API and Architype concept, and itportrays people as an essential component of our project, but in reality, they have no crucial significance. The majority of the API was created for backstory-purposes of our protagonist and her biomechanical mate, Three.

A: On Patreon and Subscribestar (18+). Any support helps us get closer to our goal of working full-time on TranSentience and creating content more frequently. Life in Germany is expensive, and living off of 500€ a month is simply impossible, but we’re doing our best to keep our living costs as low as we can while maintaining a reasonably bearable standard of living as long as we get by. If we had to take on secondary jobs, it would limit the time we can dedicate to the project in the future. Your contribution of just 2 Euros a month can seriously change circumstances for us long-term.

A: Absolutely. Just remember to give credit to us (best if linked back to our website) as well and show us how it turned out! : ) We want to feature all canonical fanart on our website to give you some exposure too.

A: If it is safe for work, sure. Make sure to check AEMRA’s commission list if you plan to commission her for it. Ask us if you plan to commission someone else for it. We’ll most likely not say no.

A: Yes, but only if it is stated on the wiki. Some species and entities should not be used for this purpose.

A: No. Non-commercial content only.

A: Preferably not as this isn’t our goal with the project, but feel free to ask. We’re not gonna meet that subject with disgust.

A: We (officially) started working on it in May 2023, but individual ideas of alien worlds and designs already existed since around 2014 that we’re incorporating into TS from time to time.

A: If you look more closely at TranSentience, you’ll see that the majority of its extraterrestrials are sophonts with bipedal traits. Don’t let your eyes deceive you, though. We don’t strive to stick to a specific style or genre, nor are we “obsessed” with the shape. Diversity is important, and we enjoy giving our aliens different looks based on their evolution, biology and biosphere, which is why some of them also have pretty strange appearances. Since there are practically endless design options, you can’t make a sci-fi scenario with just four sophonts and claim that diversity is covered. However, that depends on the setting you’re creating or seeking out. We may speculate that many pre-civilization life forms adopt bipedalism since it is a very practical posture, even if bipedalism in aliens cannot be scientifically proven because humans do not know what advanced extraterrestrial life actually look like. Some sophonts don’t need it if their bodies are already arranged in a way that makes dealing with challenging situations easy. We could go on and on, but we’ll just say this: People like things that they find visually appealing, things that make them happy. We won’t even try to convince you to approve of bipedal aliens if you don’t like them and find them unrealistic, humorous, or boring.Additionally, keep in mind that, just as sapient is not equivalent to sentient, bipedalism does not equate to humanoid. It would be like comparing snails with crows. And let’s face it: Wearing silicon masks is a thing of the past. However, neither the new creations that aim toward humanoid aliens nor the oldies are inherently terrible. They’re fun and unique in their own way, just like everything else an artist creates.

A: Earth animals, random ideas, pictures, fave games, dreams. Asking us directly about a species is probably easier because we can pinpoint the exact inspiration.