Jun 2013 Archive, part b

I like the amount of variety you've got with all the different species, although I do wonder how easy it will be to make sure that they all get a decent amount of 'screen time'.

Similar to what some of the other guys have said, I think that the names and characterisation of the aliens work better as 'this is what humanity refers to them as / tends to think of them as' than being truly representative of the variety that could be present in an entire species. However, I think that a broad generalisation could be appropriate with the insectoid races - if you've got a hive structure with different specialised castes, then it might make sense for their personalities to all be very similar, or even identical.

Following on from that logic, it would mean that humanity as the 'Jack of all trades' is humanity's opinion of itself, it'd be interesting to see if the other races agree with them on that.

Specific thoughts on some of the aliens:
- The Trull being mechanically inclined but lacking in imagination seemed a little off to me at first, as I would normally associate 'mechanically gifted' with being creative, but then I thought that it could make a lot of sense depending on how they interacted with the world. If they've got a range of extra senses, such as microscopic vision, the ability to 'see' magnetic fields, sense the density of materials, etc. then it might be that something nebulous like a new concept that doesn't have any kind of working prototype just wouldn't seem real to them. They could be really good at assessing damage, making copies, making minor improvements, but generally lack the creative thought process for coming up with truly groundbreaking new ideas.

That got me thinking about the other races - humans tend to get most of their information about their environment through sight or sound, is the same true for all of the aliens? Or do some of them have a different priority order (or even have entirely unique senses)?

- Saurians having a reputation for being good fighters, but not being smart, seems like a contradiction to me. I would have thought that in a setting with spaceships and advanced weapons you'd actually have to be pretty intelligent to make it as a (successful) mercenary type. Fair enough, they may not produce many Nobel prize winning physicists or whatever, but I would think that the professions you've said they are inclined towards would actually require a fair bit of intellect and skill. Although again, I think it could make sense if we're just talking about the perception of them rather than the reality.

- You say that the Yagitsu live simple lives with just the basics - are they actually a space-faring race, or do they just live on their homeworld? If they're planetbound, do they actually have much interaction with the other races?

- I like the idea of the Ferrar. Out of interest, are they fully feline/canine in apperance, or are they more anthro (like cat-people)?

- The Hexxion seem pretty cool too, that's a very original body shape that they've got.

Personally, when it comes to sci-fi I'm normally more interested in the technology of the setting than the biology/culture of the aliens, so I'd be quite interested in seeing some details about the spaceships, weapons, etc. of the various races. Have the different races all known about each other, and traded with each other, for long enough that technology is homogenous? Or are there obvious differences between the same type of device produced by different species?

Well, since they're aliens, psychics could be, well, just psychic. Since you've admitted you're already probably not going to be technical about this, you might be able to just make some things, like why aliens have psychic powers, pass. Not everything has to be explained. Some people forget that.

Okay, now my rundown on these species, one by one, as well as a few of my ideas on what you might do with them.

Human: The idea of humans as a "jack-of-all-trades" species has been used so many times that the concept is pretty stale. However, if there was some reasoning behind why they had been involved in so many fields, it could set up a history, round them out, and make them fit better into the scheme of things.
A lot of people use the "humans are in charge" format to accomplish this, saying that the humans are in so many places because they run the show, but Id go against using that concept, since putting humans in a distant galaxy is basically self-inserting an entire species already and making them in charge when there are several other species who'd be more suited to the role never made sense to me. I'd recommend something in particular, but since I don't know the history behind this universe, I can't really do that.

Roon: The space elf concept is also rather overused, though I like that this universe sees their space elves as the stuck-up twits they tend to be. That could actually be a relatively good springboard for inter-species conflict, since the space elves are, as ever, racist and obnoxious, and for once, the others aren't going to be putting up with their crap. Actually, they might be a better choice for being the Mortu's psychotic slavemasters, since they wouldn't see the oppression of another sapient race as a problem and might just as easily view every other species as nothing more than animals. There could be interesting plot hooks for ideological conflict there.

Trull: I'm seeing a disconnect between being mechanically-inclined and erudite while still lacking mental skill and imagination. Typically, in order to be skilled with machines and other fields of study, one requires some extent of imagination to do so. However, the idea could be taken in a few interesting directions if set up, and I've got two ideas that might be a basis for set-ups.
Idea one: they project the idea of being self-contained and generally unintelligent to hide their true activities, which involve the intense study and mechanical work. Why? I don't know, since this universe's history isn't too familiar to me. Perhaps they have a traditional dislike of outsiders getting involved in their projects, and their expansion into space has made them paranoid of other species meddling with their work. Perhaps they're planning something and don't want anyone else to know what they're up to. Or maybe they just don't like to be pestered, and spreading the idea that they're stupid would make people leave them alone.
Idea two: most of their race is just as unimaginative as suggested, and as such, they are ruled over by a small group of mutant members of their race who possess higher intelligence and mechanical ability. This is a less original idea, but it also has potential, I think. Maybe the mutant leaders could be tied into the propensity of this universe for psychic power, or exhibit traits of psychic abilities themselves. Maybe they're a remnant of a precursor race's failed uplift experiment. Possibilities.

Tokkar: There's not really a lot of information here, but still a few interesting concepts. If they hardly leave their home planet, how did they get well-known for their psychic abilities? How does the rest of the galactic community feel about them and their supernatural powers? And exactly what can their psychic powers accomplish? Telepathy, telekinesis, electrokinesis, teleportation, what? Setting what is possible for a species-wide power set is important, and since these guys appear to be one of the few here that are naturally psychic, they would need to be especially certain of what they are capable of doing.

Amphibe: There's not really much to say about these guys, except for two questions I have How do they stay moist, and what happens if they start to get dry? I'd imagine they might carry around some sort of fluid packs to keep themselves within a recommended moisture range when off-world, but it might need to be a full-body soak. And once they get dry, does their blood start to clot up, do they get slower and weaker, or less intelligent, or something else? If something bad will happen to their race if they're left out in the sun, it's important to establish what it is or at least how bad it is. If it's just the alien equivalent of chapped lips, the stakes are much lower than if it sends them into a coma.

Lepida: This starts to bring up a recurring question I have: Is this what these races call themselves? I mean, if the humans couldn't understand a Lepida's wacky bug-language or a Mossian's plant-pronunciations, and the names were given by humans, that's one thing, but if the aliens name for themselves is a modified term from World One, and that World One-based naming is consistent among multiple races, that's a no-go unless there's a really good reason as to why, and I mean a really good reason.
Also, I agree with what firemagic said earlier about species-wide cultures being a bad thing. One trait being ubiquitous among a race isn't bad, especially if it's something that's a deeply ingrained personality characteristic like their level of aggressiveness or their social ability, but having political views and love of art and the like be universal across an entire species is pretty implausible. Even if it started out like that, differences would start to rise after a few decades/centuries/millennia(I don't know how long your races tend to live) passed and the new generation realized they didn't like to spend their whole day looking at paintings.
One more: What do humanoid moths look like? Are they similar to humans, but with feathery antennae and moth-wings coming out of their backs? Because they would not be able to fly with those, unless the wings were so big they couldn't fit them through human-built doors. Moth wings are fragile and not terribly efficient for a spacefaring race. At least some species could fold them up and protect them behind wing cases or something. Moth wings would just be an encumbrance.

Sectoid: These guys don't really have a lot of description here, and while I like the idea of a knight in shining chitin, they might be better if their cultural idea was merged with the one currently used by the Saurians. Again, just a suggestion, like all of my previous ideas have been, but it could work well. I'll go into detail about that in the Saurian section.

Saurian: Okay, the space elves could be taken in an interesting direction, but lizard-man space pirates that are low in intelligence just invoke a half-dozen clichés that I'm not sure the race could recover from. It doesn't help that their species name is a World One term for a monophylum of reptiles.
Their cultural description was pretty good, though, though I may be biased because when you mentioned efficiency and industry I got a mental image of scenes from Great Depression-era silent movies about factories being played out by lizard people.
Now, the Sectoid bit. You said earlier that the Sectoids tended to be chivalrous and honorable, but what if, instead of just an inborn trait, it was them compensating for the rest of their race? When you mentioned the Saurian race's love of self-improvement, my first thought was of... well, to be fair, I my first thought was of cyborgs, but my second thought was of the potential for cultural conflict that could cause. For them, the lizard-space-pirates, that wouldn't go very far, but if you transplant it to the Sectoids, it starts getting interesting. Possibly there was a series of wars in the past, with their species fighting over concept shifts or possible changes in intra-species affairs, and the losing faction was exiled from the planet. The chivalrous Sectoids wouldn't want to execute their own species, but the losing faction would still be harboring resentment for having lost the war.
After a few conflicts, they would have a large force of exiled dissidents, and while the on-world Sectoids would be as nice and proper as could be in an attempt to make a good impression on the rest of the galactic community, the off-world Sectoids could show even greater shifts and become generally hostile. It would be a nice twist on the typical sci-fi cultural monolith.
Also, if several exile factions were united by a Sectoid warlord, that could make an interesting early-stage conflict. And then maybe the un-united exiles could become the space pirates instead!
Okay, I got a little carried away there, but I like that idea and I might use a variation on it myself. Plus, physically altered sapient cicadas as space pirates. I love that.

Hexxion: Again, not much here, but I like how physically different these guys are. Everyone else is some sort of Intelligent Gerbil, to invoke a TVTropes title, but the Hexxoins are distinctly alien in comparison. Also, that description of their culture is vague enough that it might be able to work as how a species would actually behave, so that's a definite plus.

Ferrar: These guys... need work. The lion-like species being the "noble and proud" species is a cliché as it is, and while I like the sexual dimorphism, most of the rest of them looks like it could easily create potential problems, especially since the description of their culture is another one-personality-for-a-whole-species issue like the Lepidas had.

Mossian: Again, is this what they call themselves? That's actually vaguely insulting for a tree-based being, being compared to non-vascular plants. It'd be like comparing a human to an armadillo or a sloth or something. It doesn't seem like a direct insult, but it would probably make people mad.
They don't really have a lot of details either, but I'm not sure how a slow-moving and slow-reacting species became space-faring. It'd be like seeing Ents on the Enterprise. (The pun was not intended, but I like it now that I see it. It's just so corny.) Are they confined to a single world, like the Tokkar were?

Phylum: These guys need a different name for the same reason the Saurians would have: it is a taxonomic term and makes no sense as a species name. That being said, I like the idea of bright-colored jellyfish walking around in robot exo-suits, and they didn't have a one-personality culture, so they get an approval otherwise. How do the other races react to them, though? Do the Sectoids ever get offended that they refuse to show their faces? Do the Amphibe bond with them over their mutual need for environmental technology to survive off-world? There's possibility for good inter-species dynamics here.

Tenguri: These guys are... well, to put it bluntly, made almost entirely of clichés if that was a good summary of their culture. Castes in a Proud Warrior Race society, said Proud Warrior Race following pre-set laws of what constitutes their honor, bird people being anti-social, and it goes on. I like how they aren't a cultural monolith, though, so they could still be usable if they were rounded out more.

Kujaka: I really like their name, but I have no idea what a peacock-taur is intended to be. Are they half-peacock, half-bull? What does that even look like? I'm imagining feathered cows with beaks, and that is actually fairly off-putting. One-personality culture, again so I don't have a lot to say here other than asking what a species made of two races that have no manipulatory appendages could be a Proud Merchant Race. Do they have tentacles or something in addition to hooves and feathers?

Yagitsu: Not much variance here. I find it difficult to believe that an entire species would take to the shamanistic or nomadic lifestyle, though I can imagine a cultural majority perhaps, with a few splinter groups that embrace the possibilities of galactic society. Also, if they are so isolationist and decentralized, how were they introduced to the galactic community? It doesn't seem like something a species based around living only with "the essentials" would be interested in.
The theocracy idea could be interesting, but again, I'm biased because I like the idea of religious fanatic sheep flying spaceships.

Charchadon: I like the Charchadon. I don't know why, since they seem almost as monolithic as some of the other races were. Maybe it's just the freshness of seeing land sharks in a space-based setting. Also, their name is fun to say. The superstitious and brutal nature of their culture could provide interesting story possibilities, especially if you go the full length and make them a less-than-enlightened race, living separated from the rest of the galaxy due to some turmoil or perhaps never having been introduced to the galactic community.
Perhaps this could bring them in with the more powerful psychic species as their battle-allies. I can see them teaming up with the Andomedians, with each providing a foil for the other's characteristics and rounding them both out, and the Charchodons could act as the hands and eyes of the Andromedians in the galaxy at large, since mysterious energy beings tend not to like interacting with others, and may have taken advantage of the Charchodons' low intelligence and superstitious nature to hold themselves up as gods.

I hope I'm saying this right, but some of your races seem a bit sci-fi stereotypical. I mean, the villainous skeletal-looking xenophobic eugenic superrace with 'necro' in its name (why does a nonhuman race have a name-root that matches so well with English words? It's just a bit standard. Also, the whole-race-personality thing always annoys me in sci-fi. Putting the idea of family-loving or honorable on a whole race seems kinda silly - surely they have different cultures with different values within their species.

...were the Necroix inspired by:


these guys?


More questions if you don't mind:

-what is your universe's method of FTL travel? Do different races have different methods?

-are there alliances between the various races? Who are the major powers? Are they in conflict with each other (aside from the very obvious Necroix/everyone else interactions)?

-are all of the aliens able to live in the same atmosphere? Can some aliens eat the food of another alien species without getting sick?

-are the armies of the galaxy still using kinetic weapons or have they moved on to laser beams? (PG-13 language)

-speaking of military power, how do the humans stack up physically and tactically to the other warrior-races?

-do the Roons ever get served a "Screw You, Elves" moment?

-how powerful are the proposed psychics? Can they fry their enemies' brains inside their heads or are they limited to "weaker" interactions like telepathy?

Yes, you can adopt T'Zar.

I don't want to see fan pants. Not even those who are only fan-y.

Who knows what's lurking there.

Star Swirl the Bearded never learnedthe magic of friendship. If anyone would understand the importance and power in love and friendship, it's Harry.

Apparently it was in beta stages about a year ago, and was up entirely by at least last month, when there was a very long and eventually pretty angry topic about it and whether or not people should start migrating to it from the main Board. Evidently, not much came of that, since it doesn't look like there have been many posts on the third Board at all.

A pack of NM&NMs. Never had those before.

(picks up mini-Rayquaza Missingo)

I guess this is my responsibility now. If I close my eyes, I can almost ignore its whispers.

How... interesting. The human refuses my gift. The beauty of error will not be marred by your failure to acquiesce. You must be aware of that.

Oh, drat.

All that never was is one in my glorious being. Not even the walls of reality itself can stop the ascent of error.

Excuse me, I've got to get a portal to the Phantom Zone to drop this thing down.

The human feels that his actions shall harm me. How... quaint.

(Missingo is swarmed by the mini-Agents)

Off! I will not be diminished!

Oh, right. You guys are still in battle mode from hunting down Guy Fierri the other day.

(Cadamr nods, handing over the SC Shotgun)

A magic gun. How appropriate.
SC, you can have this back once I get rid of Missingo. If it had the powers it's claiming it had, it would've consumed one of the minis by now, so the gun should be able to hurt it.

So long as there's no glitter in there, I'm good.

Okay, maybe not.

I haven't gotten to watch it yet (sad face). But I will some day! It looks good.

You can't see me... Oh wait, you can?

Yes, I know what a Rapidash is, and which scene. Thanks!
They don't say it because I'm annoying, they say it because I'm crazy.
I don't really know that much about Phoenix Wright, other than there are lawyers. But I have heard of a crossover. That might be the one.

Wow. People are so inviting.

Okay, seriously. What is this thing?

That's a bird, right? Is that why this one is sitting on my head?
Anyways, thank you Fluttershy.

Ninja weapons! Stereotypical ninja weapons, true, but ninja weapons!

That was definitely one of the weirder experiences of my life...

The ˆ and ¨marks are what my computer is doing instead of italics and underlines. I'm not entirely sure why.
Yes, my relative is a current boarder, although he hasn't started sporking yet. I think he still needs permission.

I actually don't know very much of anything about Harry Potter. It's just not that big in our house.
... And that made ˆnoˆ sense, didn't it.

I know people who don't especially like TV or movies. To me, though, it really just seems so natural. Hmm. Guess that's the insanity talking.

... And one that you do not want to open. Let it be said, though, that I like Zuko for his character arc and Ty Lee for being a cloudcuckoolander (Tv Tropes).

The Cake is a Lie.
/Overused meme
Anyway, I'd point you toward the Constitution, Wiki and IRC channel, with those spiffy links, but I'm feeling lazy right now. So I'll let someone else do that. I'll just give you this cup of tea, instead. Just don't let the leaves eat you, Mr. NotHimAgain.

You've found this great canonical opening for a crossover. That's the first step, because that sets it up the whole story more plausibly.

I'd like to point you towards Lily Winterwood's Tutorial on Fandom Collision (very slightly NSFW), because it conveys things better than I can.

Don't worry, you're on the right track. Gods, that feels so nice to say. I was just giving concrit to a Suethor.

I should have been a bit more specific: The pesky detail is not about the canon per se, but about how I can find a canon-friendly way to make this crossover work.

To be more precise, here's the problem: In Bakugan, the elemental attributes don't really mean much, e.g., Pyrus isn't weak to Aquos, Subterra isn't weak to Ventus, etc. However, type alignments are central to Pokemon battles. So the problem (which I pose to anyone reading) is this: is there a plausible way to make Bakugan susceptible to Pokemon type alignments?

...as the majority of refugees are fleeing thoughtcrime charges.

And even in the Cavern, there have been betrayals from within.

It seems like we have a lot in common! Maybe sometime we could write together.

Yay weapons! They look so nice right next to all my knives.

Shinyyyyyyyyy
I'm in Ravenclaw.

I'm more excited for the Animal Crossing Villager.

"OMFG she's so hot I want to f**k her" in the case of a beautiful female character?

I don't think very highly of my fellow male humans...

Fanboys are just as enthusiastic as fangirls. Believe me.

Also, this.

Not at all. Fanboys are the male equivalent of fangirls, and their voices are deeper because of biology, which might make it seem like they are more composed, but if you think they're actually more composed, I must suspect you have not seen the line of mixed-gender fans at a con outside of a popular panel.

...not necessarily. I've felt the need to squee when confronted with my LO.

Yes, I do consider myself a fanboy. One who is restraining his tendencies, but still.

It's from the second time in the chapter that Iplis speaks.

she pointed out, gesturing at the footprints they were following. "You can see for yourself they kept stopping – and we haven't.

"Assuming they're from the OFU at all," Phoebe said, scowling.

Need something to get me actually writing stuff anyhow.

I like the idea of restarting the PPC writing contest. Sounds like fun. I would suggest, though, that we change the name to something less competition-y. Monthly PPC Writing Game or something like that.

I think a songfic department could work, but I'd see if anyone wants to put agents in that department before we make it a thing. We have a lot of these cool departments (Bad Quizzes, Bad Parody, Bad Role-Play, etc.) that have very few missions probably because it's easier to follow the well-established formats of Mary Sues and slash.

Thanks! I really appreciate the gifts! I was really surprised to find that no one liked the series. I admit Eragon was a tad bit bratty and annoying but I like Murtagh and Saphira.

Toasters are always good to have on hand, especially ones that could be used as a weapon. It sounds like loads of fun.

Thank you for the gifts, they're always appreciated. One can never get too many gifts after all.
On the topic of the Eragon books I honestly didn't like Eragon that much, he was a bit bratty. I mainly read it because of Saphira and Murtagh. To be honest the movie was terrible and poorly represented characters (like Arya, she was a much more interesting character in the books).

The movie is HORRIBLE. The book was actually OK, but Eragon is STILL a Stu.

It's a tie with the question on the Doctors. I'd have to say either 4, 10 or 11 though. Thank you for the chocolate, I love chocolate. The only person I've ever known who didn't like chocolate was actually allergic to it.

The luck detector will certainly be handy. I can use all the luck I can get!

I don't think it's possible to have too much fun when grenades are involved! Grenades mean explosions and explosions are always fun. Atleast that's what Mythbusters has taught me.

I have read the constitution and the original series. I found the PPC one night when I was up too late and I was looking for a story with a Mary Sue in it and I found the first chapter of the original series. Later I found the Wiki and read everything I could. I got interested in the PPC and ended up here. Sadly I have never danced in the pale moonlight let alone with the devil. I live in an area very unsuitable for that sort of behaviour.

Thank you for the gift! I wonder why there aren't many fans of Eragon on here though. It's a good series after all.