Amazon Versus Practical Female Warrior Aesthetic....

[Bamax]

As a guy we are familar with female superheroes such as Wonderwoman, supergirl etc.

I by chance saw a video that mentioned that IRL, any woman soldier gets a hair tie to tie her hair back. Preferably in a bun to keep it out her face.

Nothing worse than not being able to see a punch coming straight for your face because your long hair is obscuring your side view.

The truth is... men... who often write female characters, love the way hair looks on women, and know having it down... impractical as it would be in a fight, is a selling point with fans.

How they dress is likewise often impractical but the reason guys well know

The Loroi only kinda get away with this, since I noticed that Beryl does use hair ties.

But folks with hair so long it no doubt goes down to the buttocks (looking at you Fireblade) really are I dare say endangered by their hair in combat.

Even then... because of Teidar superpowers it may not matter so much.

Mainly because Loroi do not have to see, hear, or touch a Umiak to know they are near or where they are if within a 100 meters, their telepathy kind of works like ominiversal radar.... if I read correctly on the database.

Against a human or group of humans with guns Fireblade would be worse off if she could not see them. Since we all know humans are virtually immune to sanzai.

[Werra]

Amazons were very sensibly dressed when they went into battle.

I don't think Fireblade will face any more issues with her hair fighting humans than she does fighting the Umiak. The only circumstances under which that hair could make a difference would be hand to hand combat. Which sounds like suicide against even the weakest of Teidar.

[avatar576]

First off, as we know from the Insider pages, a Loroi's hair is often (but not always) emblematic of service longevity. The longer it is, the more trips she's made around the block. Like service stripes on present-day uniforms. This seems to vary, though, according to individual preference. Fireblade has probably never once cut her hair since passing her warrior trials. The same is probably true of Desire (the green-haired med tech at the beginning of Chapter 1), whose hair is at least as long as Fireblade's. Stillstorm, though, seems to prefer having shorter hair.

That being said, I can't actually see long hair being a real impediment to performance in service aboard a warship. Most of the fighting is done from a chair in front of a computer console. All that's needed to keep her hair out of the way is to tie it up in some fashion, and there are many more examples of this besides Beryl (Desire, Razorthorn, Tempo, Cloud, Rune-Laurel, Forest, etc.). For others, such as rank-and-file Soroin, we see a number of them serving as guards aboard Tempest wearing helmets. Same effect. And don't forget, they all have long, pointy ears which also make great natural hair restraints.

The only shipboard Loroi who I think would really have to worry about their hair are the Gallen. No doubt they have some heavy machinery and power tools in the hangars and maintenance bays that could rip their scalps off if they caught a lock of hair. But still, tying their hair up is all they would need to do to avoid a workplace accident. It's just basic situational awareness: "Maybe having my head 2 cm away from that flywheel spinning at 10,000 RPM isn't such a great idea...long hair or not." And of the two Gallen we've seen so far, one was wearing a full helmet with goggles and face shield, and the other was wearing something that seemed to be a combination hair restraint and hearing protection. Makes sense they'd have PPE to accommodate long hair.

Now, where you really, really wouldn't want to have long hair is ground combat. Imagine Fireblade trying to march through a jungle, with her flaming red hair (great camouflage) getting snagged on every branch, twig, vine, and thorny thicket around. Or trying to survive in a desert. I've worn my hair long before (never more than shoulder length), and my hair is very thick. When it's long, it gets HOT. Like wearing a wool cap. If I have anything longer than a crew cut in the summer, it's almost unbearable for me.

[Bamax]

Fascinating. I am not white and have curly hair. When it gets high (afros get high rather than long), I honestly cannot say my head feels much hotter.

I think curly hair is more aerated perhaps because of the structure.

While I have never approved of rascism, I do realize that there are definite differences between races anatomically, and I think recognizing the differences and appreciating them rather than pretending they do not exist and pretending they are irrelavent is important.

Each have advantages according to weather.

For example, I could easily tolerate hot days, even with long sleeves, whereas my white friends would be sweating bullets and stripping down to less clothing.

In cold weather though I was no where near as comfortable as my white teacher who wore only polo shirt and kept the door open to the outside on cold days.

In hindsight I think he did it just to keep the class on their toes or to play with us without getting in trouble.

Once I asked my teacher about leaving the door open and he said he was not cold, and added that he had viking blood.

I was impressed with the viking thing, but I actually thought he probably could stand the cold better because he was a very stocky, thick bodied man.

As opposed to his mostly scrawny class composed of of a majority white/latino mix and me.

Racially and culturally, I often times think other races are not unlike humanoid aliens to me, inasmuch they have different experience I will never have because of anatomical differences, nevermind the cultural differences as well.

[avatar576]

Climate has a lot to do with it. I was born, raised, and have lived most of my life in a cold climate (northern US). I am quite skinny, but still have a high tolerance for cold weather (and I grow my hair longer in the winter because it insulates so well). When I lived in Florida for a short time, I was really amused by the refusal of Floridians to go swimming at the beach during what they call "winter." The water would be a balmy 75-80°F -- perfect for a northerner like me. Way too cold for a Floridian. They'd bundle up in fur coats, hats and gloves in any weather below 60°F. Whereas I'll be comfortable in a t-shirt down to temperatures in the upper 40's.

Which brings up another point about the Loroi. They have a significantly colder core body temperature than humans, and prefer a colder ambient temperature than what humans would consider comfortable. Having long, thick hair is an advantage for conserving body heat, which I think would be helpful as they also have slower metabolism (they only need to eat once a day). So they would not need to spend as much energy on generating body heat.

[sdfgeoff]

Now, where you really, really wouldn't want to have long hair is ground combat. Imagine Fireblade trying to march through a jungle, with her flaming red hair (great camouflage) getting snagged on every branch, twig, vine, and thorny thicket around.

My hair is currently reasonably long (nowhere near fireblade long), and bush-bashing through scrub is kinda meh. It's not terrible because you generally try to avoid hitting your head on things (there are soft squishy things on your head - like eyes), but by the end of the day with your hair is full of twigs and leaves, and it's half pulled out of whatever tie you had it in.

I'd assume that a ground soldier would have a helmet of some sort, which would negate that particular problem. What it wouldn't negate is the 5 minutes in the morning required to get the hair into a serviceable state - or maybe I just suck at keeping my air under control while I sleep. Psychokinetics may hep with this?

Regarding temperature, I'm currently running an experiment on myself. Normally I wear more clothing than people around me. I have a jersey when they're in short sleeves etc. For the past few months I've been trying to "run a little bit cooler" and so far its going well. Not only am I now comfortable in colder conditions, but my skin temperature has also shifted slightly. It seems to be slightly higher than it was - I guess this makes sense because my body has to put out more energy to maintain the same internal temperature.
So I reckon Jardin will be fine with Loroi climate control after a couple weeks adaption.

[G. Janssen]

went into battle.

"Behold my manhood, woman!"
"I'm holding an axe, you know."

[G. Janssen]

While I have never approved of rascism, I do realize that there are definite differences between races anatomically, and I think recognizing the differences and appreciating them rather than pretending they do not exist and pretending they are irrelavent is important.

True. And the lack of knowledge about this or lack of willingness to accept this costs lives every year. I remember a discussion on Twitter between an institute that was tied to organ donations and a mob of college educated *cough* Millennials.

No matter how often this institute explained that organ transplants between members from different races were much more risky than between members of the same ethnic group, the Harrfart educated mob kept insisting that the only physical difference between races is skin color and shouted "racism"!

And look at the problems that kids from mixed couples have when they are in need of a kidney.

[G. Janssen]

.The only shipboard Loroi who I think would really have to worry about their hair are the Gallen.

The gallen are indeed the ones who have to unclog the shower drains. At least twice per week.

And then there's the galley. "Cook! There's a hair in my soup. Again! And this time it's green and 1.5 meters long."

And then there's the time that a certain sleepy Loroi was taking a sh*t and forgot to lift up her hair so it was hanging in the bowl and suddenly general quarters sounded. The crew couldn't just see her mind approach, they could smell her mind approach.

[Werra]

Hair of Fireblades length isn't really that big of a deal in everyday situations. One of my teachers had hair that went down to her ankles. Most of the time she kept it in a normal sized bun. Took her about 30s to redo her hairdo and she was able to move about, even do sports with it just fine.

[Bamax]

While I have never approved of rascism, I do realize that there are definite differences between races anatomically, and I think recognizing the differences and appreciating them rather than pretending they do not exist and pretending they are irrelavent is important.

True. And the lack of knowledge about this or lack of willingness to accept this costs lives every year. I remember a discussion on Twitter between an institute that was tied to organ donations and a mob of college educated *cough* Millennials.

No matter how often this institute explained that organ transplants between members from different races were much more risky than between members of the same ethnic group, the Harrfart educated mob kept insisting that the only physical difference between races is skin color and shouted "racism"!

And look at the problems that kids from mixed couples have when they are in need of a kidney.

On a personal note, during my middle school days white kids used ask me why am I so fast (I could outrun all the ones I knew and few could keep up with me).

I was hailed as nearly superhuman, but also surprised and disappointed them when it became obvious that I was absolutely horrible at basketball lol.

I dunno why we are what we are. But if I had to guess it has much to do with environment and our bodies adapting to match them through generations along with selective genes we inherit.

[G. Janssen]

I dunno why we are what we are. But if I had to guess it has much to do with environment and our bodies adapting to match them through generations along with selective genes we inherit.

I agree wholeheartedly.

[Demarquis]

Genes and upbringing interact with each other. Then you add personal choice. If you have the body, you can be a superstar, but only if you get the training, and commit yourself. If someone offers you the training, you won't be a superstar unless you have the body (that is, whatever physical abilities are required). Genes alone don't get you very far. Training alone will get you farther, but not all the way. Then there's the personal desire required. If you don't really want it, you won't get it, regardless of whatever else you have going.

[gaerzi]

About hair length, remember the magic words: "artistic license".