Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Arioch]

what is Loroi television and movies like? do they have romantic movies or something similar? Or is something movies and television something that Loroi have done away with entirely as a more primitive form of entertainment.

The Loroi don't have a media culture like we do. For their arts and entertainment, they prefer live performances over recordings so that their telepathy can be part of the experience. The truthful nature of telepathy means that they don't easily see the value of works of fiction, so storytelling is mostly reserved for the recounting tales which they believe to be true (including their heroic myths) and is typically done in small groups. Live performances are mostly concerts dances and the like, or games and physical contests, rather than plays. They have video, which they use mainly for nonfiction and various kinds of public announcement, news, education and public interest programming.

[Snoofman]

Do any of the sister worlds have reserves or for primitive Loroi, like the reserves for nomadic tribes or aboriginals on Earth?

[Arioch]

Do any of the sister worlds have reserves or for primitive Loroi, like the reserves for nomadic tribes or aboriginals on Earth?

There are a variety of such traditionalist societies, and they would have a range of different practices and legal situations (such as the difference between a hunter-gatherer tribe in the Amazon forest and an enclave of pre-industrial Amish farmers in the eastern United States). Some would be independent nations in their own right, some would just be civilian-designated groups doing their own thing on property they own, but there probably would be a few existing on designated preserves.

[Snoofman]

Where might some of these enclaves and reserves be on Mestirot?

[GeoModder]

Where might some of these enclaves and reserves be on Mestirot?

On undesirable land (deserts, swamplands, steep mountainranges,...).

[Arioch]

Where might some of these enclaves and reserves be on Mestirot?

On undesirable land (deserts, swamplands, steep mountainranges,...).

Well, that's true, but I think that's inevitable; traditionalist societies, especially nomadic ones, tend to live at the fringes of civilization by their very nature, not necessarily because they were sent there.

Deinar isn't as intensely developed as Earth, so there is still a lot of undeveloped land. There are nomadic Tadan groups in the arid regions of Arran, and Login tribes in the forests of Malia and Seiranin. In Seiranin some of these groups form independent nations.

[Quickdraw101]

I'm not sure that men attracted to muscular women has anything to do with homosexuality... but my point was that different individuals of the same species can be attracted to different things. There are all kinds of sexual peccadillos which have no specific reproductive logic to them and aren't easily ascribable to some sort of latent homosexual tendency, like the attraction to fat people. Or the strange attraction of some men to pregnant women... that seems particularly unhelpful in biological terms.

I feel called out and I don't like it.

Which brings me to another question. Is it particularly difficult for Loroi in general to put on noticeable amounts of muscle? Not gigachad swole type, but more Laura Croft or Wonder Woman style of athleticism. They are noticeably stronger, but not to a ridiculous degree like how most comic books portray heroes.

Also, since there isn't a real nudity taboo, would it be correct to believe that when off duty, some barracks or quarters shared by warriors might very well resemble a nudist colony with how laid back the Loroi are in that regard? Because I had an amusing idea where some Terran Marines get assigned with a Soroin regiment on some bumfuck outpost away from civilization and walk in on a nudist colony of off duty Loroi who didn't expect any new arrivals.

[Arioch]

Is it particularly difficult for Loroi in general to put on noticeable amounts of muscle? Not gigachad swole type, but more Laura Croft or Wonder Woman style of athleticism. They are noticeably stronger, but not to a ridiculous degree like how most comic books portray heroes.

Loroi don't bulk up the way human males can, but a Loroi female can achieve a similar level of strength that a human female can.

Also, since there isn't a real nudity taboo, would it be correct to believe that when off duty, some barracks or quarters shared by warriors might very well resemble a nudist colony with how laid back the Loroi are in that regard?

I don't think most female Loroi care very much about seeing female nudity, but I don't think it would be common practice under normal circumstances for them to lounge around nude. Most Loroi facilities are kept pretty cold, as most Loroi from Deinar or Taben come from cold weather cultures, and with this I think comes a sense that part of proper decorum means wearing clothes. Even military decorum can go by the wayside if things get uncomfortably hot, but even in this case Loroi will tolerate heat better than the average human, since a lower body temperature means less waste heat to get rid of. (Also, in my experience, being completely nude when it's really hot is worse that having a little bit of clothing, as there's nothing to wick away the sweat.)

[Snoofman]

Is it particularly difficult for Loroi in general to put on noticeable amounts of muscle? Not gigachad swole type, but more Laura Croft or Wonder Woman style of athleticism. They are noticeably stronger, but not to a ridiculous degree like how most comic books portray heroes.

Loroi don't bulk up the way human males can, but a Loroi female can achieve a similar level of strength that a human female can.

But could a Loroi put on some extra muscles if she was training for it?

[Quickdraw101]

Is it particularly difficult for Loroi in general to put on noticeable amounts of muscle? Not gigachad swole type, but more Laura Croft or Wonder Woman style of athleticism. They are noticeably stronger, but not to a ridiculous degree like how most comic books portray heroes.

Loroi don't bulk up the way human males can, but a Loroi female can achieve a similar level of strength that a human female can.

Also, since there isn't a real nudity taboo, would it be correct to believe that when off duty, some barracks or quarters shared by warriors might very well resemble a nudist colony with how laid back the Loroi are in that regard?

I don't think most female Loroi care very much about seeing female nudity, but I don't think it would be common practice under normal circumstances for them to lounge around nude. Most Loroi facilities are kept pretty cold, as most Loroi from Deinar or Taben come from cold weather cultures, and with this I think comes a sense that part of proper decorum means wearing clothes. Even military decorum can go by the wayside if things get uncomfortably hot, but even in this case Loroi will tolerate heat better than the average human, since a lower body temperature means less waste heat to get rid of. (Also, in my experience, being completely nude when it's really hot is worse that having a little bit of clothing, as there's nothing to wick away the sweat.)

I don't necessarily mean bulking up the same way we do as human men, but more Gal Gadot levels of muscle and athleticism. Also, I was operating under the impression female Loroi were just shy of average Human male strength and far superior to human females.

As for the second, I'm not thinking about a post that's very popular or important but some far flung one where most warriors are beyond bored, and there's little for them to do when off duty. A place where asshattery and tomfoolery can be done within reason.

[Arioch]

I don't really think of Gal Gadot as being especially muscular. Maybe a better example is Gina Carano, and yes, a Loroi female could get that big.

I do wonder whether the ability to "bodybuild" (to use weightlifting to build for mass rather than strength) is a uniquely human quirk, or whether other animals could do the same. The fact that women have a harder time bodybuilding without chemical enhancement may be a clue. And I also wonder whether strength in other animals is as dependent upon regular exercise as it is in humans. Our closest relatives, gorillas and chimpanzees are immensely strong... but they don't seem that active most of the time. They spend a lot of time lying around, and their main activity in gathering food is not very strenuous.

Maybe the ability to rapidly gain and lose muscle mass is a human adaptation specific to tool-using culture? Flexibility is important to our way of life, I think.

Also, I was operating under the impression female Loroi were just shy of average Human male strength and far superior to human females.

There's not that much difference in strength between a male and female of the same weight... I think the difference is mainly that males are larger and can build muscle more easily due to higher levels of testosterone, etc., and so can become much heavier. Soia-liron musculature is a little bit more efficient than mammalian, so a Loroi of the same height as a human male has roughly similar strength... but Loroi females are around the same size as human females, so human males are still going to have a strength advantage.

In the GURPS models, I have Alex's strength rated at 10 (average), Beryl at 9 and Fireblade at 12.

As for the second, I'm not thinking about a post that's very popular or important but some far flung one where most warriors are beyond bored, and there's little for them to do when off duty. A place where asshattery and tomfoolery can be done within reason.

Loroi are no strangers to tomfoolery and asshattery (Talon & Spiral can attest), but lying around naked doesn't strike me as especially fun or interesting. (Unless you're talking about... something else.)

[Quickdraw101]

I don't really think of Gal Gadot as being especially muscular. Maybe a better example is Gina Carano, and yes, a Loroi female could get that big.

Maybe the ability to rapidly gain and lose muscle mass is a human adaptation specific to tool-using culture? Flexibility is important to our way of life, I think.

As for the second, I'm not thinking about a post that's very popular or important but some far flung one where most warriors are beyond bored, and there's little for them to do when off duty. A place where asshattery and tomfoolery can be done within reason.

Loroi are no strangers to tomfoolery and asshattery (Talon & Spiral can attest), but lying around naked doesn't strike me as especially fun or interesting. (Unless you're talking about... something else.)

Our flexibility and muscle structure allows us to write and throw very accurately. Chimps can't do the same, neither can gorillas. It all comes down to the different way our muscular systems are made.

And while neither Gal Gadot or Gina Carano are particularly muscled compared to a human of the same size and weight class, they are compared to most women, so my question has been answered.

As for referring to anything else, not really. It's just that the nonchalant attitude that Talon and Beryl showed earlier to Alex when they gave him that pressure suit, made me think that their attitudes towards people wanting to be nude are very liberal. So if they happened to have a few warriors who liked going nude, none of them would raise more than an eyebrow, and go about their normal off duty business.

And hearing and seeing some of the tomfuckery that goes on in Army and Marine barracks around the world, and knowing that Soroin and to an extent Teidar, are basically Army and Marines, such stuff shouldn't be unexpected from them, when off duty.

[Demarquis]

"Maybe the ability to rapidly gain and lose muscle mass is a human adaptation specific to tool-using culture? Flexibility is important to our way of life, I think."

Heh, I'm reasonably certain it's a non-evolutionary outcome of a modern, sedentary lifestyle (ie, we didn't evolve to become more flexible, technology allows us to become weaker).

"... but lying around naked doesn't strike me as especially fun or interesting."

That's not what I've heard, from people who spent significant time in an army barracks. "Terminal Lance" had a few things to say on the subject.

[SaintofM]

To the Loroi or their allies (or even enemies) have a tattoo culture(s). Humans have developed seral before the Polanyian word for it became near universal for it. Lots of space ships, probably a sailor culture there. If so how would the different cultures and subcultures view them?

[Arioch]

Heh, I'm reasonably certain it's a non-evolutionary outcome of a modern, sedentary lifestyle (ie, we didn't evolve to become more flexible, technology allows us to become weaker).

Physiological changes that dramatic usually don't happen in just a few generations, so the human musculature most likely developed to be the way it is tens of thousands of years ago, at the very least. But regardless, such adaptations are still "evolution," whether they are beneficial or not, and whether they are driven by changes in the natural world or changes in lifestyle or technology.

To the Loroi or their allies (or even enemies) have a tattoo culture(s). Humans have developed seral before the Polanyian word for it became near universal for it. Lots of space ships, probably a sailor culture there. If so how would the different cultures and subcultures view them?

Talon and Spiral have face tattoos, so the obvious answer is 'yes.' Tattooing traditions have had a variety of contexts across different Loroi subcultures throughout their history. In some times and places, tattooing or ritual scarring was a standard part of diral rituals. This is no longer official practice in the modern Loroi military, but it's still not uncommon for diral kids to do it on their own, either individually or as a group identity -- as we see in the case of the "High Tide Low-lives", Talon & Spiral's diral, who all got matching face tattoos.

I think that in the modern Loroi military culture and sense of fashion, tattooing is mostly viewed as a primitive affectation, emblematic of a traditionalist, a member of a specific subculture, or kids being rebellious.