Writing Prompts

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Kensai
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Kensai »

speaking of the stories... I am dearly missing them. Just re-read Beacons and I really hope to see more. All y'all rock.
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dragoongfa
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by dragoongfa »

Alright, I will try to force my fat ass to sit down and copy the manuscript I have at hand.

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Werra
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Werra »

Me too. But Beacons seems to have run into a collective writers block. Maybe some fresh blood can throw a curveball.

I'll continue NF if nobody else wants to; but had life-stuff going on.

As far as my plan
SpoilerShow
Coral continues her story about how the Diral fled the planet. Some things won't turn out as dark as they sounded like in the beginning of her tale, others will be more difficult. Some thought KIA might still be MIA, which complicates things massively.
Actual huge spoiler ahead. Read only if you're a spoiled princess.
SpoilerShow
The rival faction that attacked the Diral will pose a huge danger to the Mizol if they managed to take prisoners. So Nelonial will have to take drastic measures, for which she needs Nathans help as she currently has only two able bodies capable of a Lotai available, of which one is a stranger to Deinar.

entity2636
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by entity2636 »

Werra wrote:But Beacons seems to have run into a collective writers block.
I'm guessing it's because the canon story progressed differently that people speculated in Beacons. IIRC, that has happened before and was handled pretty well. I as a reader would be perfectly fine it the Beacons story would continue along the path that's already established as an alternative plot line/expanded universe and not try to realign with canon.

Werra on NF - go for it :)

Krulle
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Krulle »

SpoilerShow
dragoongfa wrote:[...]

"And that's exactly where my plan hinges on. I don't want you to just deny everyone with the excuse of my truly limited time but to have those interested earn my time through the both of you which is where the boon for us all come in. Let's say that a possible way to earn some time with me is by assisting in the maintenance of the ship in their free time or by having being exemplar in performing their duties, I am willing to allocate some of my free time each day for those you two deem that they have earned said time. Do you two thing think that we can setup a system where those interested can earn my time and attention?" The two Loroi first looked at each other for a few long moments before turning their attention back to him.

[...]
Nice, dragoongfa.

Here's to clean water filters!

Pretty sure everyone will enjoy the idea of that.
But again, why would it work if only promised for the future?
That won't help the crew waiting now.... They won't get "better access" then by doing chores now, because there is no system that can guarantee them such.

But it could set a precedent for all future crews working side by side with Human crewed ships.


(i also wonder how much room is available in the service ducts... Will all be able to fit in there to do the "voluntary service tasks" they asked for?)
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jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
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Kensai
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Kensai »

Indeed. A pretty elegant and inspired line of thinking.

As it stands, the proposed solution would be very interesting to see written out... and as already brought up, not all encounters necessarily end in copulation.

For all we know, some of those who want time with him might be genuinely interested in things NON sexual. Duskcrown and the Crossfire game for example.

Perhaps someone on the crew might want to learn about humans in general. That anthropology interest some folks may have... or even just a desire to know someone of another culture.

****
As an aside, among those I served with.... we had a plethora of interests and hobbies; and a simple conversation on culture turned into a rather unlikely bit of interaction and friendship.

During the first gulf war, one of the guys in my platoon struck up a conversation with a Kuwaiti woman at this hospital we were guarding. Nice lady too. We rotated out of the duty and were in our assembly area when his innocent chat became fodder for something else.

Some four or five days after we were there, I was in the middle of a card game with him and a few others when a ton of Brass and an MP showed up in our billets looking for him to pull him away for questioning. It seemed that this woman was the daughter of a fairly powerful Emir/Sheikh and she had come back to the facility we had been guarding to continue her conversation with my friend. When she learned we were no longer there, she apparently was a bit upset. So she got her father involved.

Cue the VERY nervous officers who grilled my buddy over what went on.... and the STRONG admonishment to behave as she was coming to the camp to see him the next day. And she did too. They never went anywhere not public and IIRC, there were a few more visits to our camp- and one trip OFF the camp to go somewhere.

To my knowledge, they remained friends even after we rotated back to Germany. Would not be surprised if they still were some 20+years later.
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Werra
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Werra »

My OCD is getting triggered because the latest part is not in a quote field.

Krulle
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Krulle »

Well, the quote field was handy to find story elements when the posts were still in this thread.
They've outlived their purpose in this particular case....
My OCD got triggered for something else.

Still, thank you very much, Dragoongfa!
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charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
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dragoongfa
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by dragoongfa »

I will put it in a quote field and try to clean up the typos so I don't cause an OCD outbreak :P

entity2636
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by entity2636 »

Thank you very much, Dragoon!

I can already see the looks on both the Loroi and Terran brass' faces when Alex comes forward with his "proposal" and the resulting "benefits" for both species/nations :lol:

And, by the way,
SpoilerShow
dragoongfa wrote:"It is but not arbitrarily, a valid reason must be given and those usually involve the safety, health or status of the male. A denied female has the write right to lodge a complaint if she believes that she was unjustly denied her due rights to meet with a male and the caretakers will be severely punished if their reasons weren't valid." He nodded at that, he already knew that after having talked about this with Beryl the previous day and his plan hinged on exactly that.

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dragoongfa
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by dragoongfa »

In all seriousness humanity has no choise but to pursue intermingling between the Loroi and Human crews, the Lotai is a severe handicap in dimplomatic relations but in the setting of 'Beacons' humans can reawaken their telepathic abilities when in contact with the Loroi.

From a strategic viewpoint alone humanity needs to awaken telepathically, the benefits are plain to see even without the Loroi angle but the most important angle is that a telepathic humanity is immediately in a position to pursue friendly relations with the Loroi.

One would think that Loroi Imperial Command would flinch due to the nature of human telepathy but the nature of Loroi telepathy is an issue when it would come to possible Loroi aggression against humanity. The more Loroi learn about that 'the pretty and big pink males are actually telepaths' the harder it would be for Loroi society to accept any aggression towards Humanity.

entity2636
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by entity2636 »

I agree completely, and the mid- and long term benefits and implications are clear and logical, it's just that the initial reaction from the brass would likely be outrage :lol:

I also see Alex's proposal as a dick move of sorts, that the promise of easy sexy time could make crews force their captains and in turn certain admirals into launching a true first contact mission, possibly against orders from Command. This could be fun.

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Werra
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Werra »

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect

You guys are very optimistic when it comes to our chances.

What reason would the Loroi have allowing such an integration of personel? Even once humanity has ships that can perform alongside Loroi ones, the crews will still be separated by hundreds of thousands of kilometres of space. I see no benefit that would convince the xenophobic, isolationist and racial supremacist* Loroi to essentially hand humanity their technology and know-how for free. It's far more likely that humanity ends up like Puerto Rico.

An integration of Loroi into our society also carries with it risks. First of all, Loroi can breed extremely quickly. If Loroi High Command decides to establish ~20 million Loroi on earth, that would turn a possible war between us and them into a future Loroi civil war. If the Loroi settle 40 million people, there might not even be much the human military can do to dislodge 20 million warriors (and Teidar) before the Imperial Fleet is in orbit. The idea of a melting pot is nice and all, but it doesn't work well with different species. that can't interbreed like Tigers and Lions can.

Lastly, developing new tools such as telepathy could make humanity stronger, but at first it would weaken us. Considering telepathy in particular, the social upheavals of a humanity with an inherently truthful mode of communication would be mind blowing. We'd not only have to develop a completely new ruleset for communication and interpersonal behaviour, we'd also have to restructure society and every single form of government we have ever come up with. Just imagine 2016 if Trump couldn't bullshit thanks to the telepathic rumour mill and Clinton would be forced to earnestly answer questions such as:"You really knew nothing about Eppsteins island?"

*Worst part is, they're correct.

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dragoongfa
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by dragoongfa »

Werra wrote:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect

You guys are very optimistic when it comes to our chances.

What reason would the Loroi have allowing such an integration of personel? Even once humanity has ships that can perform alongside Loroi ones, the crews will still be separated by hundreds of thousands of kilometres of space. I see no benefit that would convince the xenophobic, isolationist and racial supremacist*
That's for two reasons, the aliens that we have seen so far aren't exactly pleasant to be around and because of the Loroi telepathic bias. You can't exactly be friendly with aliens who aren't pleasant with you while also sensing how unpleasant you are to them. Humans however fill a really weird niche, impossible to sense at first but still pleasant to look at and socialize with while also being telepaths once they open to you. As far as alien civilizations go Humans are a quite pleasant unexplored territory for the average Loroi.
Loroi to essentially hand humanity their technology and know-how for free. It's far more likely that humanity ends up like Puerto Rico.
We humans don't hand technology to each other and I doubt that the Loroi actually shared their tech between their sister worlds after reunification. What I have in mind is that humanity either becomes a full fledged member of the Union with warrior privileges or a friendly/allied independent state. I would like to point out that Puerto Rico may be subpar to live in when compared with the mainland US but it is arguably a better place to live in when compared with the rest of the Carribean and most of South America.
An integration of Loroi into our society also carries with it risks. First of all, Loroi can breed extremely quickly. If Loroi High Command decides to establish ~20 million Loroi on earth, that would turn a possible war between us and them into a future Loroi civil war. If the Loroi settle 40 million people, there might not even be much the human military can do to dislodge 20 million warriors (and Teidar) before the Imperial Fleet is in orbit. The idea of a melting pot is nice and all, but it doesn't work well with different species. that can't interbreed like Tigers and Lions can.
A self sustaining Loroi population out of Union control is a political imposibility, nevermind the status of immigrants and all that the Union would not allow Loroi males to be out of their sight.
Lastly, developing new tools such as telepathy could make humanity stronger, but at first it would weaken us. Considering telepathy in particular, the social upheavals of a humanity with an inherently truthful mode of communication would be mind blowing. We'd not only have to develop a completely new ruleset for communication and interpersonal behaviour, we'd also have to restructure society and every single form of government we have ever come up with. Just imagine 2016 if Trump couldn't bullshit thanks to the telepathic rumour mill and Clinton would be forced to earnestly answer questions such as:"You really knew nothing about Eppsteins island?"

*Worst part is, they're correct.

All new starts are hard and painful but the long term benefits are far too great to be ignored and yes I would love to see the shitshow of politicians and all other leaders having to be truthful on all occassions :P

Krulle
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Krulle »

Werra wrote:Lastly, developing new tools such as telepathy could make humanity stronger, but at first it would weaken us. Considering telepathy in particular, the social upheavals of a humanity with an inherently truthful mode of communication would be mind blowing. We'd not only have to develop a completely new ruleset for communication and interpersonal behaviour, we'd also have to restructure society and every single form of government we have ever come up with. Just imagine 2016 if Trump couldn't bullshit thanks to the telepathic rumour mill and Clinton would be forced to earnestly answer questions such as:"You really knew nothing about Eppsteins island?"
Yes, the introduction of telepathy would cause sincere upheavals.
Reminded me of this short Sci-Fi film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=193qajOfVK0 (+- 19 Minutes)

But think about it: having the Brexit campaigners tell the electorate the truth about "Future Global Britain"....
Oh yeah....

That would put quite an end to a lot of things...
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charred steppes, borders of territories: page 59,
jump-map of local stars: page 121, larger map in Loroi: page 118,
System view Leido Crossroads: page 123, after the battle page 195

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Werra
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by Werra »

dragoongfa wrote:That's for two reasons, the aliens that we have seen so far aren't exactly pleasant to be around and because of the Loroi telepathic bias. You can't exactly be friendly with aliens who aren't pleasant with you while also sensing how unpleasant you are to them. Humans however fill a really weird niche, impossible to sense at first but still pleasant to look at and socialize with while also being telepaths once they open to you. As far as alien civilizations go Humans are a quite pleasant unexplored territory for the average Loroi.
That's true. Humans are a special case and in Beacons doubly so. The particulars remain to be seen and humanity might work especially well with the Loroi. But the easier they can integrate us into their Union, the higher our risk of losing independence. If both nations were to start on even footing, then I'd be more hopeful for a mutual partnership. As things stand now, the Loroi will have ample opportunity to influence our government in whatever way they like before we can become a credible power in space.
I mean, sure, human males seem to trigger at least some protective response in Loroi females, but the reverse is undouptedly also true. I don't think either side would be stopped from doing what's prudent.
dragoongfa wrote:We humans don't hand technology to each other and I doubt that the Loroi actually shared their tech between their sister worlds after reunification. What I have in mind is that humanity either becomes a full fledged member of the Union with warrior privileges or a friendly/allied independent state.
Well, humans either serve on Loroi ships and learn there or they don't serve. Allowing aliens on their warships must be seen as a considerable boon from the Loroi, which they will ask concessions for. The Loroi would be naive if they wouldn't push for as much control over humanity as possible. Warrior privileges will be the first thing the Loroi should be aiming to take from us, as without our own fleet, we'll be bound to them just like the Neridi are.
dragoongfa wrote:A self sustaining Loroi population out of Union control is a political imposibility, nevermind the status of immigrants and all that the Union would not allow Loroi males to be out of their sight.
That's the beauty of it. A self sustaining Loroi population would create Union territory. Either that or they could serve as a Loroi minority that needs to be protected. Why would the Loroi leave humanity with enough authority to make earth citizens out of Loroi? Puerto Rico couldn't do that to US nationals stationed or living there and they have little means to resist such stationing.

Should the Loroi win, they'll have the opportunity to reshape the local bubble similar to how the allies reshaped the globe after WW2. European politicians are still to this day strongly influenced by american interests via lobbying and "connections". And Burger diplomats don't have attractive, charming Mizol.
dragoongfa wrote:All new starts are hard and painful but the long term benefits are far too great to be ignored and yes I would love to see the shitshow of politicians and all other leaders having to be truthful on all occassions
Krulle wrote:Yes, the introduction of telepathy would cause sincere upheavals.
I'm curious how long it would take until women stopped asking stuff like:"Does this make my ass look fat?" or "How do you like my new haircut?" Generations... :?

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dragoongfa
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by dragoongfa »

Regarding Human independence, it would depend on a lot of factors but it may be beneficial in many aspects to become a full fledged member of the Union. The technological uplift alone is a huge boon and while being under a foreign umbrella will raise plenty of eyebrows but by doing so Humanity can in turn influence the Union through the assembly. There are also the economic and security benefits of being part of the Union to consider.

As for if the Loroi Union accepts Humanity into the fold, I think that the Loroi would prefer for Humanity to be inside the tent pissing out rather than outside pissing in.

As for the Loroi minority, if said minority does appear in Human space. Humans may not compare to the Loroi in terms of reproductive potential but the Loroi are heavily constrained by their societal limits on reproduction in a way that allows humans to easily outpace the Loroi births/migration. The human population explosion the past 100 years is proof enough, going from 1.3 billions at the 1900s to 6,5+ in the 2000s. Humanity in Outsider is around 25 billions almost all of them on Earth. With enough space, food and incentives we can easily double that in 20 to 30 years, add in longevity technology and artificial wombs and you can easily reach 100 bil in 50 to 60 years provided you have the room and food production to match.

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GeoModder
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by GeoModder »

dragoongfa wrote: As for the Loroi minority, if said minority does appear in Human space. Humans may not compare to the Loroi in terms of reproductive potential but the Loroi are heavily constrained by their societal limits on reproduction in a way that allows humans to easily outpace the Loroi births/migration. The human population explosion the past 100 years is proof enough, going from 1.3 billions at the 1900s to 6,5+ in the 2000s. Humanity in Outsider is around 25 billions almost all of them on Earth. With enough space, food and incentives we can easily double that in 20 to 30 years, add in longevity technology and artificial wombs and you can easily reach 100 bil in 50 to 60 years provided you have the room and food production to match.
I doubt exoplanetary real estate in Earths' neighbourhood is sufficient and human-friendly enough to support such a population. If Aldea is a typical example, colonisation takes more then just transporting people outthere. In Outsider humanity is roughly 50-60 years relocating the willing, and hasn't even come close to making a serious increase in offworlders compared to the homeworld population.
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dragoongfa
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by dragoongfa »

GeoModder wrote:
dragoongfa wrote: As for the Loroi minority, if said minority does appear in Human space. Humans may not compare to the Loroi in terms of reproductive potential but the Loroi are heavily constrained by their societal limits on reproduction in a way that allows humans to easily outpace the Loroi births/migration. The human population explosion the past 100 years is proof enough, going from 1.3 billions at the 1900s to 6,5+ in the 2000s. Humanity in Outsider is around 25 billions almost all of them on Earth. With enough space, food and incentives we can easily double that in 20 to 30 years, add in longevity technology and artificial wombs and you can easily reach 100 bil in 50 to 60 years provided you have the room and food production to match.
I doubt exoplanetary real estate in Earths' neighbourhood is sufficient and human-friendly enough to support such a population. If Aldea is a typical example, colonisation takes more then just transporting people outthere. In Outsider humanity is roughly 50-60 years relocating the willing, and hasn't even come close to making a serious increase in offworlders compared to the homeworld population.
That's more of an issue of established infrastructure, transportation technology and economic growth. An Earthbound example would be the colonization of the Americas by Europe, the colonies took centuries to become able to absorb the excess populations of Europe without much issue (barring societal friction). Transportation technology was limited, slow and dangerous, Infrastructure was non existent and economic growth was borderline with the exception of the looted gold and silver from South and Central America.

In Outsider the issue with Earth's colonies are pretty much the same. Transportation is slow, limited and dangerous (for the human tech level), Infrastructure amidst a hostile environment has to be built from the ground up and the potential for economic growth is limited due to the nature of the closest colonization prospects (most planets in the Great Wastelands were humanity is being mineral poor).

With better tech, infrastructure investments and better economic prospects human colonies and their population will explode.

novius
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Re: Writing Prompts

Post by novius »

Definitely need to get back into writing again. There was just too much demanding my time recently.

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