Miscellaneous Loroi question-and-answer thread

[Suederwind]

Amazing series. Thoroughly recommend it.

Indeed, a very good show.
Another interessting Anime/Manga I would recommend, that goes in a similar direction is "Toward the Terra". Not sure if you know this one Razor One.
In that story, telepathic people (called "Mu") are seen as a serious threat to an anti-utopian human society. Among other things, every human on the edge of adulthood has to undergo a series of tests (in other words torture), to find out if his or her emotions trigger a telepathic respons and "awakens" as a "Mu". If that person is a telepath, he or she will be killed at once, all others get their memories deleted and are brainwashed, so that they (among other things) can not develope those abilities later on.
However, those powers don't come without a price: someone who has strong telekinetic powers is usually physically very weak, someone who has the ability to "telesend" his thoughs to others is mute, someone with a very limited clairvoyance ability is blind, etc...
So one could wonder: why the big deal? Well, at one point in the story one of the "Mu" has an emotional breakdown, as she thinks, that her son has been killed. Even as she was not a powerfull "Mu", she would have been able to destroy the huge starship, they travelled on, on her own, if she hadn't been stopped in time. Those "Mu" need to learn to control their powers and keep their emotions in check, if not, things can get very ugly.
I am not 100% sure, but I guess Loroi (especially unsheathed ones like Fireblade) are similar in that regard and I assume emotional unstable ones are taken care of quickly.

[dragoongfa]

Just to clarify, what constitutes deviant behavior? I wonder how Fireblade slipped through the cracks.

I think that Fireblade is suffering from PTSD and isn't much of a deviant in the sense that would warrant a harsh punishment or even death.

My guess is that a deviant in this case would be someone who exhibits unwarranted aggression and violent behavior to others and actively refuses to stop said behavior. Something like the behavior of some hardcore juvenile gangs combined with telepathy and even telekinesis, trying to imagine the body count in such a scenario is mind boggling.

EDIT: Or someone from this list perhaps: http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/mos ... -children/

[Arioch]

My second question had more to do with a parent/guarding invoking the rule as a personal whim and not for someone who has irreversible defects. If this happened I would expect someone to try to stop it, especially if the child had rare and highly sought out telepathic or telekinetic talents.

The state can revoke guardianship if it has reason to do so and forewarning, but this would be very unusual. It's incredibly rare for a Loroi mother to kill her own child for no particular reason.

Arioch, you said that some Loroi like to listen to music, but what other recreational things do civilian or warrior Loroi in their free time? Are they allowed to have hobbies of some kind? Like sports, arts, etc...?

Loroi have the same kinds of pastimes that humans do.

You mentioned their old storys, are those commonly read by the Loroi, like we read books in our free time, or is this more some kind of "religious thing" they do only on special occations like holidays?

The Loroi "old stories" are not written, but are recounted telepathically from memory. Often the telling is a formal affair led by a Nedatan Ninzadi, but Loroi do sometimes recite them alone or in small groups as a sort of meditation.

However, did I understood it right, that their guardians are expected to kill handicapped children?

It's the mother's choice, rather than an externally imposed rule. Most severe birth defects would be detected in utero and the pregnancy terminated long before term (if the mother so chose). After birth, Loroi medical technology is advanced enough to repair or cure most injuries or illnesses. The exception that comes to mind would be brain damage, either due to oxygen deprivation during birth or due to head injury.

Just to clarify, what constitutes deviant behavior?

Habitual criminality, chiefly. The inability or refusal to abide by the rules of society.

[Sweforce]

I suspect that some "deviants" may choose to emigrate to live in more accepting cultures then stay and end up risking the wrath of the state. A few years later the people of Esperanza are sick of loroi misfits cramming the place

[Razor One]

Indeed, a very good show.
Another interessting Anime/Manga I would recommend, that goes in a similar direction is "Toward the Terra". Not sure if you know this one Razor One.

I think I've heard of it before, it's deep in my backlog in any case, so I'll get around to watching it eventually, it sounds interesting so I just need to work through to it.

[dragoongfa]

Indeed, a very good show.
Another interessting Anime/Manga I would recommend, that goes in a similar direction is "Toward the Terra". Not sure if you know this one Razor One.

I think I've heard of it before, it's deep in my backlog in any case, so I'll get around to watching it eventually, it sounds interesting so I just need to work through to it.

Just finished Shinsekai Yori, a good show overall but with a huge, HUGE plothole for an ending resolution that nearly destroys everything. Will start Toward the Terra soon.

EDIT: Actually the whole plot has a plot hole but only if one does the math.

[Razor One]

Indeed, a very good show.
Another interessting Anime/Manga I would recommend, that goes in a similar direction is "Toward the Terra". Not sure if you know this one Razor One.

I think I've heard of it before, it's deep in my backlog in any case, so I'll get around to watching it eventually, it sounds interesting so I just need to work through to it.

Just finished Shinsekai Yori, a good show overall but with a huge, HUGE plothole for an ending resolution that nearly destroys everything. Will start Toward the Terra soon.

EDIT: Actually the whole plot has a plot hole but only if one does the math.

What plot hole/s are you referring to? Been a while since I last watched it but I can't recall anything too egregious.

[dragoongfa]

It's a little off-topic so I don't mind if you want to split it into an other thread:

The two plot holes:

SpoilerShow

First the ending one, it's how they killed the Queerat Messiah, in essence the child thought that it was a queerat and when it realized that it killed a queerat it triggered the genetic kill switch that all humans have in them.

The plot hole is that the child already knowingly attacked and helped destroy a Queerat army made of tenths of thousands of Queerats, how come the kill switch wasn't triggered then? It could be that the child only destroyed the weapons of the army (something that is not made clear while the description of the dead queerats and their mutilations is parallel to PK attacks), however even a hostile action against a queerat should trigger an adverse reaction from the kill switch, how much an action that lead to the brutal murder and mutilation of tens of thousands of unarmed queerats. Hell the protagonist's own kill switch nearly got her after the child's death because she knew that the action she took would lead to said child's death.

Second plot hole and the one that nearly broke my suspension of disbelief:

There aren't enough children in the village for a sustainable population even before counting the culling. To have a sustainable population each woman needs to give birth 2.1 times before hitting menopause. The problem is that almost every family depicted is a lone child family, hell the protagonist is a lone child because her older sister was culled.

Then there is the culling itself which worsens everything in regards to a rapidly declining population. I think that the director didn't think about that as he tried to make the families look like the ones from contemporary Japan. Considering the setting and story they should be more like medieval Japan's where each woman had on average more than 5 births but due to child mortality the number fell to 2 or 3 surviving children per family which offered a stable population with a predictably stable growth.

This could be seen as nitpicking but I think that the story itself would be better served if there were far more children and their number visibly decreased as time went by (a plot hint for the viewer to notice), with the main cast not noticing it until they were hit by their own loses and confusion due to their tampered memories.

As the story stands now the humans are committing their own societal suicide and their society should have collapsed long before the time the story took place.

[Razor One]

I think splitting at this point would break the flow, but we are off topic, so I'll start up a new thread and we can carry the discussion there.

[Krulle]

Arioch, your post in the WIP thread gave me a question:

How do the Loroi with their "no-touching" society do with the simply things of pedicure, manicure, hairstylist, and similar, when touching is a taboo due to the telepathic contact initiated by it?
I'm pretty sure that the Loroi enjoy being pampered for a well-textured skin, nice nails, ...; but that does not really work when touching is to be avoided.

[Sweforce]

Arioch, your post in the WIP thread gave me a question:

How do the Loroi with their "no-touching" society do with the simply things of pedicure, manicure, hairstylist, and similar, when touching is a taboo due to the telepathic contact initiated by it?
I'm pretty sure that the Loroi enjoy being pampered for a well-textured skin, nice nails, ...; but that does not really work when touching is to be avoided.

I suspect that they just put up with the sensation when they have to. Came to think of it, mundane work seem to be done by the entry rank people from each cast. Do not be surprised to find Mizol operatives working as hairdressers. Keep control of your thoughts!

[Razor One]

There's three possible solutions to that.

The first is technological. Gloves. Easy.

The second is cultural. Have someone you wouldn't mind touching you do what needs to be done, and return the favour, unless you're of higher rank. Since Diral's are usually kept together, there would be fairly close bonds between Loroi of various units. It's only Outsiders (:P) like Fireblade, since everyone she could possibly have been close to got killed, or other exceptional Loroi that get assigned where they're needed that might have trouble, in which case gloves are the solution.

That aside, a third solution might be that there is a caste or subcaste dedicated to the kind of work that requires physical touch, from pedicures to massage and anything else that may require physical contact. Touching with them would be socially acceptable within certain limitations and restrictions, and likely a requirement that they keep what they take in from their clients confidential in the same way a psychologist or counselor must respect patient confidentiality, with similar or worse repercussions for breaking that trust.

[dragoongfa]

The answer is simple: whenever a good looking female needs help with something that requires touching, she will seek and find out a male

[SVlad]

Does Loroi allowed to encounter with males for a reproduction purpose only, or can they encounter just for a pleasure too?

[Grayhome]

Hey Arioch I was thinking, all tech hardware and software nowadays comes with built in instructions and schematics explaining it's purpose, how to use it, it's manufacturer, date of production, etc. Shouldn't the artifacts left by the Soia have the same built in instructions? This is but a moment's musing, but I could see the Soia tchnology being equipped with sophisticated AI and holographic projectors or even a direct neural interface to explain how to use the device and to answer any questions the user could pose.

Do the Soia artifacts react to any particular species, sentient or none, in any way? Switch on, shut down, start up, initiate reboot, or even give the blue screen of death?

Funny what-if scenario came to mind: Alex comes into contact with a Soia Artifact, it immediately starts screaming (verbally and telepathically) "DEMON! DEMON! DEMON! DEMON! DEMON!"

[Arioch]

Does Loroi allowed to encounter with males for a reproduction purpose only, or can they encounter just for a pleasure too?

Under peacetime population restrictions, most low-ranking Loroi, including nearly all civilians, will only have enough encounters to become pregnant with the desired number of children. Higher-ranking warriors are awarded additional encounters as a sort of reward for exemplary service, and though they are likely to become pregnant as a result, the pleasure factor is as important. If you are a Loroi of high enough status that you can arrange an encounter for yourself at will, then it can be for any purpose you like, and you might (gasp) even use some kind of contraceptive to avoid becoming pregnant.

Hey Arioch I was thinking, all tech hardware and software nowadays comes with built in instructions and schematics explaining it's purpose, how to use it, it's manufacturer, date of production, etc. Shouldn't the artifacts left by the Soia have the same built in instructions? This is but a moment's musing, but I could see the Soia technology being equipped with sophisticated AI and holographic projectors or even a direct neural interface to explain how to use the device and to answer any questions the user could pose.

A few do, but most of even those rare artifacts that are still in working condition have lost most of their data; it's either corrupted or entirely blank. Most everyday items did not have firmware or power systems designed to last a quarter of a million years, and most of the Soia-era population sites from which such artifacts are usually found were subjected to bombardments that presumably included hard radiation and electromagnetic pulse that made matters worse. This means that some physically intact artifacts may have lost some or all of their function due to loss of data or software.

Those artifacts that are fully or mostly functional tend to be hardened, often military items. The UI tends to strictly utilitarian without elaborate help or tutorial systems, and aside from serial numbers there is as little information about the systems that produced it as possible (presumably for security reasons). There are a few artifacts with working speech systems, but these are very rare, and probably not something Alex is likely to run across.

And important thing to consider about Soia-era artifacts is that although they appear to have been produced by a TL14+ technology, most seem to have been made for use by much less-advanced client races. They're export material, like the industrial-age axe heads and mirrors made for sale to stone-age cultures.

Do the Soia artifacts react to any particular species, sentient or none, in any way? Switch on, shut down, start up, initiate reboot, or even give the blue screen of death?

There are a few devices (such as amplifiers) that respond only to those with telepathic abilities, but most devices would have no way of determining biological information about its operator. And there are no known devices of any kind that can independently transmit a telepathic signal.

[SVlad]

Does Loroi allowed to encounter with males for a reproduction purpose only, or can they encounter just for a pleasure too?

Under peacetime population restrictions, most low-ranking Loroi, including nearly all civilians, will only have enough encounters to become pregnant with the desired number of children.

And what is the average number of children Loroi have? With their women ration they need only 1-2 childes per woman to maintain population. And with 400 years lifespan it means approximately one encounter in 300 hundred years. For males situation would be just a bit better - one encounter in 30 years. And, because of the uneven distribution of males, most males wouldn't have sex for decades.
Even if each Loroi woman would have 10 childes per life, numbers wouldn't be much better. One encounter per year for popular males, and one in decade for other.

[dragoongfa]

If Loroi fertility is anywhere close the human one then it would take more than a few encounters for a female to be successfully impregnated.

[Siber]

It's worth remembering that a 400 year lifespan doesn't mean they're immune to accidental death and such, and while their medical tech probably makes that less common a longer lifetime also means more opportunities. And chances to live close to that length of time without seeing a major war have been pretty rare.

[SVlad]

If Loroi fertility is anywhere close the human one then it would take more than a few encounters for a female to be successfully impregnated.

By "Encounter" I meant the whole dating interaction between female and male, not just a single copulation.

All sexual access to males is restricted by law and must be arranged through various kinds of formal matchmaking; a male and female can't just meet at the mall and decide to have a date.

Insider: Loroi