Mayhem wrote:I am suggesting that our constant, impenetrable Lotai might subconsciously register as a "lack of 'soul'".
It might, which is why I think it is an interesting subversion of the "aliens look like us, they must be like us" trope
Victor_D wrote:I was talking about the typical Loroi female who would exhibit xenophobia and species chauvinism.
Do we know what a "typical Loroi" (whatever that means in their culture) is like? They may be brought up that way, especially since so many of them are essentially soldiers, but there usually is a difference between acquired, culture-specific knowledge and personal instincts. No doubt many of the white soldiers in the early days of colonization were led to believe that the natives were only marginally better than animals (no proper religion, no 'advanced' technology, 'primitive' customs, etc.), but many of them ended up infatuated/falling in love with local women, who were often radically different in appearance and behaviour from European women.
I am thinking that given sufficient opportunity, the Loroi would behave the same. Obviously they're not going to behave like that under the watchful eye/mind of their superior officers, which explains most of the reactions to Alex we've seen so far.
Beryl doesn't count as she is described as a xenophile and is therefore atypical and a potential "sexual outlier".
Or she is more intellectual than the 'typical Loroi' and therefore better able to sift through the chronic xenophobic indoctrination, which makes her less ashamed for being naturally curious about things and people that are different.
Reviewing pages 19 - 101 Beryl is the only Loroi so far that is clearly (& honestly) friendly to Alex.
Tempo is a spy and a diplomat so we can't determine anything about her real attitude to Alex from her behaviour.
Fireblade and Stillstorm are clearly hostile to and distrustful of Alex.
(Fireblade does have moments of sad reflection/pity it seems but how this pertains to Alex is yet to be seen.)
The rest seem to be divided between hostility and neutrality with a scattering of cautious curiosity.
So it seems reasonable that the typical Loroi female would be unlikely to be interested in becoming intimate with a human male.
Many of the reactions are no doubt a result of their suspicion that Alex is some kind of an Umiak ruse. They may also be a bit freaked out by his 'Lotai' ability - I'd certainly be highly suspicious if in the middle of a battle with a devious enemy I found a being which from the looks of it might be an enemy genetic construct, especially if it was somehow able to resist my 'mind-meld' and I'd thus be unable to verify its story. It all seems very convenient, as Tempo hinted.
Therefore, I wouldn't assume that what we've seen so far are 'typical' reactions humans will experience when meeting Loroi for all times to come.
fredgiblet wrote:You're relatively new on the forums so you may not have had a chance to see the character sheets, but Beryl has Xenophilia (not what you think), so she's going to be much more accepting of Alex then the other Loroi. She might not be showing that level of body language to a slug-creature, but a lot of what's going on with her and Alex is particular to her, not to the Loroi as a whole.
As I said above, I believe this is a result of her being more intellectually developed than the average Loroi 'grunt'; thus she is more open to things that are new and interesting (and I mean it in perfectly non-sexual way now). The other Loroi might be suspicious at first, but I doubt they'd remain so after a prolonged contact with humans.
(Many foreigners claim that Czechs display exactly this attitude: when you first come here, they all seem cold and suspicious and it is hard to make them open up to you. But once it happens, they are suddenly very friendly, welcoming, and curious about you.)
In short, my argument is that the perceived hostility we've seen is a result of the abnormal (*umiak kktkthttkk sounds in the background*) circumstances of the first contact and the cultural barriers between the Loroi and Terrans. I think this will get better in time.
More than just ethical. We probably represent a major part of their history, it may be a part they don't want to be brought up (since they'd rather be created from whole cloth to be more special) but the value of picking us apart genetically and examining our history is too high for them to give up.
Definitely. The question is whether the powers-that-be want to find out. I am sure humans would be curious, but the Loroi who've constructed their 'national myth' on the basis of their perceived true Soia heritage will be apprehensive of what they might uncover.
After all, how would humans like to find out we were in reality constructed for fun, because some alien man-child was bored and decided to play with little apes he'd randomly discovered? Wait, no need for such an analogy - just look at how certain religious people react to the scientific explanation of where Homo sapiens came from. No higher purpose, no "made in God's image", it's hard to stomach for many.