TCP culture varies from zone to zone, though some things remain consistent: colonies, learning/teaching, and integration into society.
TCPs don't like to be alone. They seek out fellow TCPs, an easier feat than it sounds. While TCPs can spawn globally, the sheer magnitude of TCPs spawning at any given day means that a friend can usually be found within a few hours' walk- and much less if they end up in a more urban area. Making friends with other TCPs is much easier for them than any other species, but many do seek out the companionship of far larger people.
Once a few TCPs have met up, they have tendencies to form colonies- settlements of TCPs anywhere from a small, tight knit group, to sprawling miniature cities. Large enough colonies are often registered as protected to prevent bigger folks from trampling or endangering them, and many urban areas have premade structures for colonies and groups to settle into with ease. Leaders in colonies can occur, but they're not necessary most of the time- most TCPs are content to work together by default. TCPs do not have the same ideas of “family” or “partners” as other species inherently, and typically value eachother as friends of varying closeness. That said, TCPs more socialized by and introduced to other cultures can change the way they look at things, with TCPs in cities more prone to claim others as romantic partners or chosen familial bonds.
TCP logic does not work the same as other sapient species- they run off of inherent knowledge of concepts. A morbitian TCP can look at rain, recognize it as rain, and recognize that when the rain touches them, it feels wet. They may know that being in the rain for too long can be dangerous, and know to seek shelter- but what if they don't know what would be a good shelter? For a TCP to fully understand a concept, they have to experience it directly; but doing so will give them plenty of information to make decisions on. Freshly spawned TCPs tend to bumble around until they have enough knowledge to go off of, and just because they know how to walk from the start doesn't mean they're very good at it.
TCPs can also be taught skills- simply by sharing the knowledge with eachother. This is typically done through brief physical contact, as light as a simple tap on the hand with the skill in mind. Colonies grow quickly as a result, especially if its members come from different places. Learning too many skills at once can cause sensory overload, so it's best to only do a little at a time.
As mentioned before with walking, TCP skills are simply knowledge of what the skill is, and how to do it- doing it correctly takes time and effort. TCPs may not have muscles, but getting practice is necessary for a TCP to become proficient in a skill. The only exceptions to this are speech and reading. These are often learned quickly, as simply hearing a language is enough to pass it on. Those out in the wild are less fortunate, but thankfully for TCPs, body language and expression tends to be easy to convey and understand.
Every zone has a different way of handling TCPs in their society, most willing to accept them (although begrudgingly at times.) Some view them as less than people, others put them on a pedestal. TCPs in well populated areas have the option of acquiring specialized, niche jobs in exchange for a place to live and pay, or volunteer to be adopted by someone as a pet, or even a family member. While most would find the idea appalling, TCPs are happy to be pampered and taught information through play and care. Not everyone acquires these TCPs for good reasons, however, and many morbitian TCPs are exploited for their abilities. Groups that aim to protect this species are widespread and dedicated, typically funded by gods that appreciate the TCPs' presence in their zones.
TCPs do not have a similar gender system to that of most Morbitians, both in terms of roles and identifiers. Upon spawning, they have innate knowledge of whatever pronouns they can be referred to with, though it’s uncommon (but not impossible) for any TCP to be particularly attached to these at first. These pronouns can be changed easily in a TCP’s mind, and are oftentimes flexible depending on the situation. Pronouns are very rarely linked to a concept of gender identity unless the TCP themself has been socialized with Morbitians that practice more concrete gender customs.
This isn’t to say that TCPs cannot develop a sense of gender on their own, however- many TCPs find themselves leaning towards specific ways of presenting themselves, though this is rarely ever dictated alone by concepts such as “masculine” and “feminine”, and can equally involve visuals and themes that are immensely personal to the TCP, or just for fun.
In this sense, transgender TCPs can and do exist, but the definition may vary. The easiest is self identified- some TCPs choose to identify as trans, either because they’ve changed their gender identity in some way from their “starting state”, or just because they feel like the label suits them. Similarly, identifying as nonbinary is a common choice for TCPs who feel as if the binary systems that complexes often use doesn’t encapsulate the TCP experience. Gendered terms like “girl”, “boy”, “man”, and “woman” are generally learned from complex society, and aren’t a thing in isolated TCP culture- however, some TCPs identify with these terms upon being socialized among complexes.
TCPs are capable of forming romantic relationships like most other complex species, though this tends to manifest in different ways, similarly to gender, depending on whether the TCPs in question were socialized within or outside of complex society.
Outside of complex society, TCPs will develop their own ways of expressing romantic intent and affection, and while this generally involves gestures of kindness and physical touch that can be easily recognized by complexes as affectionate, things that wouldn’t immediately be apparent to a TCP due to their biology/anatomy being different (such as kissing) would have to be learned about and adapted from complex society and/or media. Different typings of TCP will also develop their own customs based on what they’re able to do comfortably, leading to extremely varied and interesting behaviors in isolated groups with lots of different typings.
As mentioned earlier- when socialized among complexes, TCPs may learn to adapt complex behavior for themselves. With a lack of mouths, TCPs have often adapted kissing into nuzzles or head bumps, and wearing things like a ring on one’s finger as a signifier of partnership into wearing bracelets or collars. Customs like dates and weddings are also taken up by TCPs in these settings, though similar rituals may exist among those outside of them.
Use of identifiers for romantic orientations is rare in isolated TCP societies, both due to unfamiliarity and the more fluid nature of TCP identity. TCPs definitely have preferences for the kind of presentation and traits they value in a partner, but considering that TCPs outside of complex society do not often pick up gendered terms, classifying orientation is difficult and oftentimes needless. TCPs among complexes, however, do occasionally pick up orientation terms, though their interpretations of them tend to be a lot more fluid and could have entirely different or even subversive meanings.
If you do end up posting stuff in our official forums/Discord, there's some stuff we'd rather not see and will moderate for. They might show up in official projects for narrative/worldbuilding purposes, but we can't vet every single person who might post this stuff for good faith intent, and would rather just ban in advance.
The following depictions of romance will not be allowed in fanworks posted in official communities (the forums/Discord/etc): Relationships between:
TCPs are, for all intents and purposes, considered an asexual species by other Morbitians at large- both in the reproduction sense and identity-wise. They reproduce by spawning and don't have blood family bonds, and are removed entirely from any kind of non-TCP/complex notions of that. They experience this kind of thing in ways that even ace complexes would be unfamiliar with- though some will understand more closely. Similarly, we can look at a real-world asexuality framework to get a feel for how TCPs work.
Being asexual in the real world can involve a lot of things outside of just “not feeling sexual attraction”. TCPs are no different- some feel sexual attraction to others, but no actual drive to act on it. Others have the drive, but no attraction. Some are completely uninterested in “typical” sex acts (as much as a TCP would be able to, what with their body conventions…) and prefer more abstract kink stuff, and others skew in the opposite direction. A TCP might choose to help a partner out and not really seek stuff out for themself, etc etc etc. A one to one parallel to completely allosexual experiences is not super common- and we encourage those making TCPs or reading official works to explore ideas of alternate sexuality beyond what we see in mainstream media.
For ideas on what a TCP might want to experience, we recommend looking at stuff like their typing, their life experiences, and the world around them- none of these solely make up someone's interests, and they may not have Reasons for the way they are, but it's fun to think up how they got to that point.
Please keep any talk/fanart/etc of horny TCP shit to 18+ spaces, and if posted publicly, use the #tastefulcatpeople tag.
If you do end up posting stuff in our official forums/Discord, there's some stuff we'd rather not see and will moderate for. They might show up in official projects for narrative/worldbuilding purposes, but we can't vet every single person who might post this stuff for good faith intent, and would rather just ban in advance.
The following depictions of sexuality will not be allowed in fanworks posted in official communities (the forums/Discord/etc):