Halfway station RP thread.

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Hālian
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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by Hālian »

sunphoenix wrote:...yes, yes, yes... I'm sure EVERY Female Loroi turns into a rapist in the presence of unprotected male.

...And despite their having ultra-tech weapons that can lay waste to planetary surfaces.. the concept of a 'condom' is lost on them for controlling their population growth in means less than surgery.

Yeah, whatever dudes.. you can play all you want in your little close-minded universe... have fun.
You seriously need to rein in both your power fantasies and your lip. At the same time, it doesn't hurt to have someone else look over the backstory when you're developing a RP character.
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Suederwind
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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by Suederwind »

@dragoongfa:
I would rather compare Loroi males and their place in society to children (as Arioch did sometimes). The are protected and every Loroi females is expected to take care of them or at least look after them. A Loroi male standing on a spaceport and wanting to buy a ticket to human space is (to me) the equivalent of a 9 year old boy, standing on an airport and wants to buy a ticket to south africa, with his parents nowhere to be seen. How far do you think he might get till someone alarms the security? I bet not very far.

@Carl Miller:
it doesn't hurt to have someone else look over the backstory when you're developing a RP character
Or any other character. Feedback is important.
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Tamri
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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by Tamri »

Children aren't quite correct comparison. Children generally aren't able to take care of himself completely. Loroi men is such an opportunity, technically. Faithful will be compared to the inverted relationship to the women, where there are few of them. With a factor of 5-10. And probably it is better not to take a modern, but Century XIX-XX.

Absalom
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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by Absalom »

Suederwind wrote:Pro's:
1.) Such a character would be interesting, as they are currently not present in the comic, but play an important part in Loroi society. The RP could benefit from it, if the character is well played and the player knows its boundaries.
It can probably work out okay even if sunphoenix (or whoever else) overdoes it a little, just not a lot.
Suederwind wrote:2.) The player could show us a bit about the "inner workings" of a Loroi male. Would he be not confused in such a situation with all those similar looking aliens, all these human males around him and all those females that would react very differntly to his presence, than he is used to?

3.) The player hast the chance to develop the background of his char basically from scratch, as there are few informations. What cast would he be? Why is he there? There will be a strong motivation neeeded to explain the later.
I think that could even be something of a point: if the Loroi Union thinks that maintaining semi-friendly relations with the TCA is valuable, then a "counter intuitive" envoy such as a male equivalent to the Listel (forgot the cast name) might be seen as the perfect choice.
Suederwind wrote:Con's:
2.) Like mentioned by others before: the Loroi are a basically a militaristic dictatorship. Also their males are rare and protected, like we protect our children. I can't imagine why they should let a male wander around or travel to the TCA. Someone will notice him and, againe, I can't imagine a Loroi frighter captain taking him aboard without facing the consequences. If we add to the mix, that this male might be a strong telepath, then the gripp of the Loroi goverment will be even tighter. Regardless, I am sure no Loroi will be able to simply buy a ticket on a starship and travel around freely.
3.) And they major point against such a character: we know they have a very strong sexdrive, so far that they get sick if they can't let off some steam, so to speak. I can imagine that this will lead to some _very_ unpleasant scenes with female player or nonplayer characters, because Loroi males are apparently used to get "helped" if they develop such a "problem" by any female around.
I do think both of these could be toned down, and are likely to be more subtle in Arioch's actual setting than it might seem: having to keep a full 1/11 of your population sequestered is inherently difficult if they aren't prone to playing along with it. I imagine the solution involves a lot of "men's cities" with multiple sub-districts (e.g. you don't stick the men's housing in the commerce areas) embedded into normal ones, so that the sequester can be converted to simple patrols & checkpoints. A Loroi who does get pregnant without authorization would be easy enough to detect later on, so they just need to restrain the statistics, not the totality.

dragoongfa wrote:@Sunphoenix

If I may make a suggestion about the plausibility of your character, we do know that Loroi males are over protected and kept away from the female masses in order to limit the population growth.

A fertile Loroi male running around freely would be a big no no in Loroi society but a Loroi male who would want to travel around and 'escape' the usual restrictions of Loroi society would have to undergo the Loroi equivalent of a vasectomy or vasalgel injection.
Vasalgel analogues seem more likely, even a group overseeing thousands of males would normally be dubious about permanently sterilizing even one of their males, since they're a limited resource.
dragoongfa wrote:Would make an interesting character tidbit as well as allowing for the much needed freedom he would crave. (He could also mate at will with any Loroi without any issue since infertile).
Or he could be a member of some sort of social-control monastery. Though I suppose that would go down with you guys about as well as growth hormones :p .

sunphoenix wrote:...And despite their having ultra-tech weapons that can lay waste to planetary surfaces.. the concept of a 'condom' is lost on them for controlling their population growth in means less than surgery.
Vasalgel isn't that big of a deal actually, you're thinking of vasectomies. Vasalgel is supposed to be reversible (if I remember right, with a baking soda solution). Condoms are arguably more heavy-handed than that when used over an extended period, not less, and it's availability is really just a matter of technological development. Given the Loroi lifespans, gender ratios, and male sex drive, it could probably be argued that temporary fertility inhibitants (I spelled that the way that I meant) would have been very important during long-lasting stretches of peace: Arioch has outright said that one of the changes that lead to the sustainability of Loroi society was controlling access to males, but even then they probably had fairly high death rates, so if they had to actually cut-off access to males for most of the population during times of peace, then it probably would have lead to chronic (though presumably not major) rioting.

Also, condoms and doom-cannons are really only related to each other in the realms of artillery jokes, and over-compensation.

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Razor One
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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by Razor One »

A male loroi can work like that provided it's been couched in the correct manner and has a background that supports the narrative the PC wants to put forward. It's not really all that different from a Joan of Arc or Grace O'Malley type of character, provided you balance things out to give other people room to have their fun also.

So, to fill out a bit of the background from what Sunphoenix provided, we have a loroi male who's been exposed to human marines and wants to be a warrior too. The thing is he has to justify it to his caretakers in the same fashion that a child would to his or her parents. Yes, you can board an international flight as a child, provided you have a trusted guardian and abide by certain behaviours, also if it's for a good reason.

So, the loroi male would almost certainly have a bodyguard or three. Their function would be threefold. The first is to protect his person. The second is to prevent him from having unsanctioned sex with others, and the third would be to relieve him of any stress he may come under. These bodyguards would almost certainly have been rendered temporarily infertile prior to accepting the position.

This resolves a number of the problems that loroi society would have with a male running around free and clear. His bodyguards keep him out of trouble and he gets his freedom. We still have the problem of a reason to let him go though, since a lot of the social taboos regarding males in loroi society make them effectively non-functional outside of monastic orders.

One possible solution would be tradition. Presumably not all loroi cultures and sub-cultures had Mizol from the very beginning. It had to be invented by someone at some point, and prior to that you'd have more primitive methods of attempting to peaceably deal with others. One possible angle of attack would be to send two males to negotiate with one another. Since males are precious, it provides both risk and reward for those that come to the table to talk. If the other clan harms the male, they've just violated a massive taboo that could turn others against them, so decorum becomes absolutely imperative. Likewise, males being perceived as less combative than the females, it would be assumed that a peaceful discussion and accord would be reached more easily than otherwise.

Another potential angle would be scholarly interest. The guy had to have done something before he was displaced and academic or philosophical pursuits would be a worthwhile excuse to let him be.

That's kind of what it comes down to in the end I guess. The Loroi Union needs both an assurance that he won't freely breed without state sanction, and an official excuse to let him go off galivanting on what amounts to an adventure. Bodyguards and the official excuse of studying human culture and philosophy lets a loroi male be a plausible character. The rest, the wanderlust, the desire for adventure and an exciting life, can sit in the background for later character development.

You could get a lot of interesting interplay between the loroi male, his bodyguards, and the station personnel he interacts with. Since Sunphoneix wanted him to go into security training, there could be an interesting story arc there, such as his bodyguards becoming overprotective when it comes to physical training and sparring, or the character finds that becoming a warrior is actually quite hard, struggles, and succeeds at some tasks whilst failing at others, developing further as a character as a result. He might never meet the physical standards to go into the military or security, but he could serve as an advisor or as a negotiator, especially with regards to other loroi who would be compelled to listen or at least be civil in his presence.
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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by sunphoenix »

At last.. a voice of reason and open-mindedness.

This would be a neat character to play.. which was ALL I was interested in.. certainly no 'Power-Play' as some would suggest.
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Tamri
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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by Tamri »

Interesting opinion, Razor One. Some of the facts were not clear to me, and something that is shown from a different perspective. It will be interesting to watch and think about this. Thank you.

Absalom
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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by Absalom »

Razor One wrote:One possible solution would be tradition. Presumably not all loroi cultures and sub-cultures had Mizol from the very beginning. It had to be invented by someone at some point, and prior to that you'd have more primitive methods of attempting to peaceably deal with others. One possible angle of attack would be to send two males to negotiate with one another. Since males are precious, it provides both risk and reward for those that come to the table to talk. If the other clan harms the male, they've just violated a massive taboo that could turn others against them, so decorum becomes absolutely imperative. Likewise, males being perceived as less combative than the females, it would be assumed that a peaceful discussion and accord would be reached more easily than otherwise.

Another potential angle would be scholarly interest. The guy had to have done something before he was displaced and academic or philosophical pursuits would be a worthwhile excuse to let him be.

That's kind of what it comes down to in the end I guess. The Loroi Union needs both an assurance that he won't freely breed without state sanction, and an official excuse to let him go off galivanting on what amounts to an adventure. Bodyguards and the official excuse of studying human culture and philosophy lets a loroi male be a plausible character. The rest, the wanderlust, the desire for adventure and an exciting life, can sit in the background for later character development.

You could get a lot of interesting interplay between the loroi male, his bodyguards, and the station personnel he interacts with. Since Sunphoneix wanted him to go into security training, there could be an interesting story arc there, such as his bodyguards becoming overprotective when it comes to physical training and sparring, or the character finds that becoming a warrior is actually quite hard, struggles, and succeeds at some tasks whilst failing at others, developing further as a character as a result. He might never meet the physical standards to go into the military or security, but he could serve as an advisor or as a negotiator, especially with regards to other loroi who would be compelled to listen or at least be civil in his presence.
Another aspect to this is that he doesn't necessarily need to have gone directly to the station. The exact time-frame hasn't been nailed down as I best recall, so it could have been a few years, or even a decade, since the station was built. He may have spent a few years on Earth, for example, investigating things that the governments would be much more willing to let a foreign civilian look into than a foreign soldier.

If he felt it sensible to learn a little self-defense and maybe even investigate the Terran training institutions in the mean-time, well, that would possibly even fall within his duties, now wouldn't it? Receiving certifications? The perfect way to confirm his analysis! But, of course, it wouldn't be what sunphoenix described, of a Loroi going off against the wishes of his society to become a "real man", and he wouldn't be able to be an actual member of the Station Police unless it was an official joint station, so it's probably not what he's looking for.

At any rate, if you guys want this RP to start then someone really should post IC, or work out a bit more of the station, or some other such thing. Nothing produces progress like taking action does.

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Diodri
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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by Diodri »

At this point it would probably best to create a new thread for the RP, and leave this for OOC discussion/planning/working out the details. I was kinda waiting of Sweforce to do something like that, as he/she was the OP.

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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by Sweforce »

Diodri wrote:At this point it would probably best to create a new thread for the RP, and leave this for OOC discussion/planning/working out the details. I was kinda waiting of Sweforce to do something like that, as he/she was the OP.
Maybe I start with an In character character introduction as a kick of:

The starlightblocking mass of the old tanker Mongol filled the viewscreen the Eva pod. Inside, sgt Hansson took a quick look on his sensors to make sure he had enough clearance for the metal sheet held in his pods claws. A quick touch on his forward thruster control ended his relative momentum to Mongol's. A downward thruster burst and the pod began moving towards the tankers "roof" where two technicians worked tirelessly to seal a huge hole caused by an meteoric impact. Clearing the roof he saw the two space suit clad men standing passively next to each other showing no hint of having noticed his arrival. Hitting some controls he connected his intercom system to the two men and started to listen in to their conversation.
Tech1: "-...peperoni, my favourite and today's menu... I really need to get out of this suit for a while... ...the pod should be here any minute now, I'm starving!"
Hanson flicked on the pods floodlights sparking an immediate reaction from the waiting figures turning towards him.
Tech2:"-he got another sheet with him. We got to anchor that before heading out for lunch!"
Finally Hanson spoke to the men: -Don't bother, I'll hold it until you are ready to assemble it properly. For now, hop onboard and get your lunch!
Tech2:"-What? Eat in the pod? That cramped eggshell of yours?"
-Orders, captain are not going to let you in until the hole is sealed and the compartment behind it pressurised. I got some zero rations with me, it have to do.
Tech1:"-Damn it, I hate those."
Tech2:"-We all do, btw what was that delay about shouldn't you been here half an hour ago?"
-I had lunch, peperoni pizza. Yummy!...

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Re: Halfway station RP thread.

Post by DavalKatro »

.

The starlightblocking mass of the old tanker Mongol filled the viewscreen the Eva pod. Inside, sgt Hansson took a quick look on his sensors to make sure he had enough clearance for the metal sheet held in his pods claws. A quick touch on his forward thruster control ended his relative momentum to Mongol's. A downward thruster burst and the pod began moving towards the tankers "roof" where two technicians worked tirelessly to seal a huge hole caused by an meteoric impact. Clearing the roof he saw the two space suit clad men standing passively next to each other showing no hint of having noticed his arrival. Hitting some controls he connected his intercom system to the two men and started to listen in to their conversation.
Tech1: "-...peperoni, my favourite and today's menu... I really need to get out of this suit for a while... ...the pod should be here any minute now, I'm starving!"
Hanson flicked on the pods floodlights sparking an immediate reaction from the waiting figures turning towards him.
Tech2:"-he got another sheet with him. We got to anchor that before heading out for lunch!"
Finally Hanson spoke to the men: -Don't bother, I'll hold it until you are ready to assemble it properly. For now, hop onboard and get your lunch!
Tech2:"-What? Eat in the pod? That cramped eggshell of yours?"
-Orders, captain are not going to let you in until the hole is sealed and the compartment behind it pressurised. I got some zero rations with me, it have to do.
Tech1:"-Damn it, I hate those."
Tech2:"-We all do, btw what was that delay about shouldn't you been here half an hour ago?"
-I had lunch, peperoni pizza. Yummy!...
A Seven month gap? Why the heck not respond?

Tech1: Tilted his reflective face shield slightly more upwards at Hanson's pod and lifted his right arm in an upwards gesture. The gloved for finger and middle showed a V facing outward. " Hah hah, yer a riot Hanson."
Tech2: Chuckled over the Com and said "John, you are as vulgar as the archaic appliance for which you are named." Neither Tech spoke with rancor.

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