Well of Souls Forums

Razor One wrote:Without a personal stake in the affair, there's no reason to really 'try' to be warrior and the diral would likely wash out for lack of effort.

That's true for humans, where all martial cultures have been that been for social reasons. So human warriors definitely need skin in the game to risk it on the battlefield.
The Loroi give a biological reason however. Not training to be a warrior might not be an option for warrior caste children. As when they don't follow the martial traditions as a society, their society will grow so unstable via pop boom, that war becomes an inevitability.

The Loroi definitely have one hell of a youth bulge problem.

Werra wrote:The Loroi definitely have one hell of a youth bulge problem.

Humans too. It barely takes twice as long for human children to become reproductive.
Just look at the demographics in some of the 3th world countries where half their population is younger then 20.

Suppose I want to kick New Frontiers in its butt to get it moving again. What do you think of a short part that timeskips about 1 or 2 weeks and makes it so that the events during the timeskip are told by one character to another?

Werra wrote:Suppose I want to kick New Frontiers in its butt to get it moving again. What do you think of a short part that timeskips about 1 or 2 weeks and makes it so that the events during the timeskip are told by one character to another?

Go for it, it is Writing Prompts after all!

I will see if I can kickstart Beacons with something as well.

Alright, guys, but Coral will have quite the tale to tell.

@dragoongfa I'm looking forward to more parts of Beacons.

I wonder what movies Alex will play for movie night with Beril and Fireblade in Beacons.
Since most movie references he talked about are from Alien movies (I mean those old for him movies are still known) I think that Battleship should be on list.
I can imagine Beril analizing situation of using obsolete warship when their most modern ships were sunk (not before dealing serious damage to enemy).
Fireblade will just sit quietly with 'meh' expresion (humans and their toys ).

aleks wrote: I think that Battleship should be on list.

I don't know "Battleship".
Is that an anme, cgi, pc-game,...?
Did Imiss something?

edit: duckduckgo'ed it, and no, it does not sound relevant for spacefaring spacebattling societies at all.
And the story sounds rather .... meh.

Perhaps something more realistic like “Sink the Bismarck” (1960), not the entire film but the parts in which it destroys HMS Hood, disappears and then is found again... crippled by biplanes and then finished off by every available vessel in His Majesty’s Naval Service.

Maybe he meant Space Battleship Yamato?

No I really meant on "Battleship".
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1440129/
I know that story is weak but following that he (Alex) used Alien movie references I kept options on movies (not anime).
"Sink the Bismarck" (1960) from Zarya's post is good reference too.

"Battleship" is more about flexibility, for instance using NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) buoy network to search for enemy when their radars and sonars couldn't.
This is also one of reasons why movie is called "Battleship" using reference to same named game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battleship_(game) (who watched movie will understand this reference).
And main point in using decommissioned ship with which they (almost) completed mission.

Would the Loroi understand those movies well without knowledge of human culture?

Aliens seems like an ideal movie to get the Loroi started as the horror is based on primal biology.

Didn't Alex spent good deal of time explaining and writing reports (he was asked to do that) about his people culture and military?
For Beril I think movie and few explanations will be more effective than dry report, giving her brief idea of works of old days of his navy.
I wonder which movies in end would be chosen in story.

Werra wrote:Would the Loroi understand those movies well without knowledge of human culture?

Aliens seems like an ideal movie to get the Loroi started as the horror is based on primal biology.

Sure there are movie references (or references in the movies) which do need a lot of cultural background to understand, but I think the "we were never prepared to deal with that kind of crap and we got in over our heads" is pretty much species and culture independent. Especially if it concerns basic fears and needs both species share.

Loroi might find spiders and snakes cute and perhaps kittens to be repulsive - one would never know without asking. But something capable of burning you to ash, dissolving you in acid or slowly tearing you apart, I'm quite sure that Loroi would rather stay away from that as well.

And what works with fears works with basic needs and creature comforts as well. For example, if a Loroi male would find human women attractive, he most likely would think of a Victoria's Secret show or the Pirelli calendar as 'aethetically pleasing', if somewhat alien, even without knowing what these brand names actually mean.

While I do think Loroi would "get" movie genres like horror more easily, don't forget that what we think of as "horror" is a very human perspective. For example, the Loroi may find it unwatchable because of unforseen reasons, like the whole "one male/female goes into the basement alone" trope, which already stretches belief in human society, but is unthinkable in Loroi society because of their gender relations.

Then there's the whole question of whether or not they even have the same concept of "Genres" as we do. For all we know they may prefer dry, to-the-point quasi-documentary movies. Something like Baraka may do well. So would Planet Earth. This would give them a frame of reference of sorts. After that, a movie that speaks to their sensibilities may be preferable. Like Predator or Alien. Anything that doesn't dive too deep into human society or history. Comedy or Drama will be completely incomprehensible so you'd better file away Bridget Jones for another time.

After keeping it simple for a few days, war movies/series like Band of Brothers would work well for them, maybe follow that up with Schindlers List to answer the questions they'll have after "Why We Fight", though it might be a bridge too far.

If they are still with it at that point, I'd move on to "The Right Stuff". At that point so much time will have past that all spectators should be fast asleep.

Ofcourse, that is all assuming no movies are made between now and the date of the Bellarmine leaving earth.

One of these days I must sit my ass down and write the manuscripts I have already written...

If it means anything, I, for one, would love to see Beacons, Reforged and A Shout in the Dark continued, I love all of those

I concur. I would also love to see Dragoongfa's stories continued. Especially Reforged

I've got a question for you guys. Within the framework of Beacons, what demands and concessions do you think would Alex and the Loroi make if Alex had to negotiate a formal treaty without contact home?

It's complicated and it would depend to a lot of factors:

Strictly speaking the Loroi are the side that can enforce any demand and terms without any concession. Paraphrasing an ancient saying: The strong enforce what they can and they weak suffer what they must.

However things aren't always so cut and dry. Internal politics and circumstances always play a role in everything. If the Loroi ever get into a position where they need something from humanity then certain concessions can be granted. In an other story I worked with a certain framework and assumptions:

1) That certain events transpired in which Humanity gained the trust of the Loroi.
2) That Humanity became aware on how to play with Loroi internal politics.
3) That Humanity was in a position to ask for concessions for its cooperation in bringing an end to the war.

With all of the above I thought it probable that Humanity could get away with tech, continued human independence and an undisputed sphere of expansion.

In Beacons we are more or less establishing the final touches of point 1 and set the groundwork for point 2. If negotiations happened now then there isn't much that humanity could ask for other than protection under certain Loroi terms, most probably an induction to the Union as a client state in order to keep humanity under close watch.