Adaptation

COMMUNITY REPORTS
The remainder of this article contains lore created collaboratively by the Blaseball community.

Adaptation is any transformation, (structural, physiological, supernatural, or some combination of the above) undergone by an individual as a result of exposure to the Hellmouth.

History

The single greatest mass Adaptation event followed the opening of the Forbidden Book, and the Hellmouth swallowing of over half of the city of Moab. The surviving residents who elected to stay in the settlement experienced a raft of transformations — some near-simultaneously with the Hellmouth’s opening, while others’ modifications did not appear until several days after the disaster.

Adaptation has generally been observed in any individuals who spend extended durations around the Hellmouth, and is one of the primary reasons the Hellmouth Anti-Tourism Board was originally founded. Exceptions do occur, however — players from other blaseball teams playing away games in the The Solarium appear to avoid Adaptation, and individuals born, hatched, or otherwise brought into existence within Hellmouth since its opening do not experience drastic changes. Adaptation is not considered to be painful, and most residents eventually come to enjoy their new features.

Adaptation is touted as a definitive reason not to visit Hellmouth, by organisations like the Anti-Tourism Board. However, it is seen as an extremely good reason to relocate to Hellmouth by individuals seeking both a lottery pick of drastic bodily modifications and a home dangling on the edge of an infernal doom pit. Adaptation is thus often regarded as a blessing by those who call the Hellmouth home, and a curse by those who have lingered too long.

Adaptation and Hellmouth Society

Adaptation, along with the Tug, are near-universal experiences among Hellmouth’s residents. Adaptation is, on a surface level, an easy way to identify one who has been drawn in and claimed by the Hellmouth as one of its own. This works to foster a community spirit, which, in the malevolent climes of the Hellmouth, proves essential for survival. Additionally, while no consistent pattern can be found within the effects of Adaptation, modifications which improve one’s survivability are quite common.

Some experts speculate upon Adaptations which do not noticeably improve an individual’s resistance to the Hellmouth’s hostile environment. Instead, some Adaptations will enhance survival more subtly, by providing new arrivals with the physiological tools to collaboratively create a livable space with their fellow Hellmouthians.

Past and Present Sunbeams with Confirmed Adaptations

• Donia Bailey
• Tot Best
• Aldon Cashmoney
• Sigmund Castillo
• Siobhan Chark
• Kaz Fiasco
• Hahn Fox
• Howell Franklin
• Miguel James
• Son Jensen
• Randall Marijuana
• Nerd Pacheco
• Hendricks Richardson
• Malik Romayne
• Borg Ruiz
• Zack Sanders
• Comfort Septemberish
• Kaj Statter Jr.
• Jayden Wright

Non-Beams with Observed Adaptations

Despite the numerous protections seemingly in place to prevent Adaptation among non-locals, circumstances may arise in which those that aren’t residents may acquire Adaptations.

• Pitching Machine
• Hurley Pacheco
• Esme Ramsey

Possible Causes of Non-Adaptation

A number of notable individuals, including multiple players for the Hellmouth Sunbeams, do not appear to have obvious Adaptations despite having lived in Hellmouth for extended periods. Several theories have been proposed:

Adaptation at birth

Former members of the Hellmouth Sunbeams lineup Dudley Mueller and Sutton Bishop are considered Hellmouth-born and have not experienced Adaptation. Nonetheless, there is credence that — in their gelatinous and eldritch natures respectively — the unknowable forces that alter immigrant Hellmouthians had some hand in their initial creation.

Principle of Lis Dalebi Pendens

While the Hellmouth itself has no apparent respect for any court of mortal law there is some evidence that individuals aligned with a comparable entity are unable to be “claimed” by the Hellmouth and thus do not experience Adaptation or the Tug. This may explain how non-Sunbeams blaseball players can spend back-to-back series in Hellmouth with no ill effects - beyond those normally encountered within the splort itself.

Hahn and Priya Fox, who are both natives to the Florida region, have spent several seasons in Hellmouth with little to no Adaptations between them. This immunity is hypothesised to be due to their falling under the polithological protection of the Party Rock, but this is pure speculation.

Solar interference

See the main article on this topic: HELIOLATRY

The Sun has long been venerated in Hellmouthian culture as the primary source of light, heat, life, and energy on the Immaterial Plane. While it has maintained a professional distance from most mortal affairs, the Sun became a tangible source of power for several players on the Hellmouth Sunbeams blaseball team, most notably Sandoval Crossing. Crossing is adamant that any supernatural qualities they possess (sunlight pouring from eyes, empathic connection to remnant Moab desert, and abilities commonly associated with psychopomps) are exclusively “thanks to Sol”, and they have “never accepted a damn thing from the monster that ate my home.”

Demonic Forces

Despite spending enough time with the team to develop Adaptations, neither Alexander Horne nor Harriet Gildehaus have reported changes of any sort. The most supported theory as to why is their shared Demonic heritage; that it's something Hellish in nature taking precedence over the powers exerted by the Hellmouth.

Retrocausal adaptation

A highly speculative theory, retrocausal adaptation claims that the Hellmouth can enact changes upon a person not only in their present but also in their past. Retrocausal adaptation has been used to explain how highly anomalous individuals like the digital being Emmett Internet, or supernaturally-adjacent entities like Igneus Delacruz and the former psychopomp Velasquez Meadows, have had their early lives in the mundane Moab go unremarked-upon.

Needless to say, such a process is almost impossible to scientifically prove, and has terrifying implications for the immutability and sanctity of histories both personal and communal.

Trivia

• The interior of Sigmund Castillo is considered a sovereign nation, and inhabitants of the sentient castle are apparently immune to Adaptation irrespective of Castillo’s actual location. Despite this, Castillo themselves has gained an Adaptation of their own in the form of stone grotesques.
• The Hellmouth Anti-Tourism Board considers Adaptation to be the final stage of becoming a resident of Hellmouth, and will stop attempting to make a visitor leave once they have undergone Adaptation.