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File 144882002848.png - (32.28KB , 800x800 , BTE3-Title.png )
96269 No. 96269 ID: dd338c

The ITQ for Lago specific quests.

Previous BTEs:
>>85202
>>49496

Current main ITQ:
>>80766

Previous ITQs:
>>76582
>>68983
>>50332
>>343117
>>338649
>>327658
>>319591
>>313335
>>1754
Expand all images
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No. 96270 ID: dd338c
File 144882006181.png - (15.15KB , 800x800 , RakaeITQ6.png )
96270

>Can't they just... trim their coat?
In theory we can, but we grow it back really fast. Like, just within hours. I mean, I have done that before for sure, but it's such a pain usually I just crank the AC right up or jump in the ocean.

It does mean we can use pretty heavy duty, permanent fur dyes, because when we want to wash them up we shave in the night and it'll be back by morning.
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No. 96271 ID: dd338c
File 144882009237.png - (13.19KB , 800x800 , TaffrinITQ1.png )
96271

>Itcher's Sister and/or parents, actually, anyone's family from the Asteroid that isn't on the Asteroid with them, would you care to comment about your family member's disappearance on the Asteroid (regardless if you know they're alive on the Asteroid or assume they're dead somewhere out in space)?
My - our - parents nearly got themselves killed trying to investigate what happened to Itcher. The whole farce was covered up by the bastards, and Itcher just 'disappeared'. Eventually it came up where he went and everything that happened. We never got confirmation though whether he made it to the asteroid or not, but we hope so. We just wish we could know for sure. All I knew is that he was getting into bad stuff when he started getting cagey about how his work was going.

We weren't that close, but that didn't mean we didn't care.
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No. 96272 ID: dd338c
File 144882017607.png - (19.08KB , 800x800 , PennITQ7.png )
96272

>Hey Penn, how good are you at security systems?
It's actually become a pretty major skill set for AI scientists, especially for me with a specialty in CAI creation.

I mean, Arza's great accomplishment is said to have been cracking one of the major CAI building components, and that was nearly entirely hacking instead of AI creating.

>I expect AIs are very common in computer security.
That's right. Manpower is still used in security, but a lot of the time, the surveillance is mostly monitored by an AI system, usually non-sentient, that alerts live guards to certain feeds. Then stuff like people recognition and hack detection and so on.

>With your qualifications, could you get a job fitting software security systems like that?
I've had to turn down a lot of jobs of that kind and many others.

>Penn, since you've just been through the educational system, can you tell us what it's like now?
For belenosians, school is kind of like one big study group. Since learning is fun for us to begin with, there's not a big problem motivating students to learn, for the most part, unlike the other species. So, we just have certain milestones we have to get through, so we have to learn about certain things by a certain time to keep up. Teachers are there to help us with questions and to make sure we're focused.

For humans, things are a little more freeform than it used to be, but there's still several grades and various tests and all that. And it's still mandatory in most largely populated planets. There's still a lot of issues that it has, but there's a lot more chances to really make it up later, too. A kid at the third grade level who's supposed to be in the sixth grade isn't going to be as lost as I hear they used to be.

Human teaching is also more effective for humans, too, but while they do spend less hours per day in school, they still have to go to school for the same amount of years, and generally are expected to learn more, too.

Miklik and Heef kind of adopted the human style of courses, too, but miklik and heef schools don't have as high of standards as human based schools. I don't know much about those, though, as much as belenos, humans, and later on, neumono.

Neumono have a lot of schooling, but a lot of it is more, well, practical stuff. There's a lot of stuff on how to operate cars and relatively common machinery and construction, various arts, computers, and so on, on top of the usual pure math, science, history and so on.

>On earth, humans have a range of films, games and other media set in post-apocalyptic settings, often kind of... overblown and unrealistic in a lot of ways. Do people make historical post-apocalyptic belenosian movies, set (relatively) soon after the collapse of your ancient society? By which I mean, I assume there are historical dramas and documentaries and so on, but are there more... actiony, adventury, cheesy stories like what humans imagined from their own fictitious apocalypses?
Yes, most of them were made about a decade after first contact with them.

First, there were documentaries, stories, and movies that were played absolutely straight and as factual as possible about us new aliens.

But then all kinds of B-movies started happening and all kinds of silly interpretations of our past happened. We were always so serious about our past that this was actually kind of offputting for belenos at first, but humans mostly convinced us that their movies just meant that they became comfortable with us and our past.

Plus, we saw they did it to their own history too, so they just had a different sense of.... well, they're aliens. I guess there's still belenos who are into that, though, and humans who aren't, in other words, we always could relate in that our species' outliers did cross into each other.

>Rather than the stereotype of the fearful savage, tribal peoples - and recently tribal peoples - can can keep a stronger "center" and better preserve their focus and peace of mind when faced with things that lie outside their experience and skills. Does this match up with your experience?
I think it matches pretty well, at least with Roxie. For a broad example, if I'm proven wrong about something I can get really flustered, especially if I was so sure I was right. But sometimes Roxie will swear up and down about something, and if she's proved wrong, she just goes... 'oh'. She's not shaken at all, and I'm sometimes jealous about how she has that confidence.

>Also: have you ever seen the movie your costume came from;
I haven't.

>Did you have a reason (besides not wanting to wear a different costume) that Roxie thought you seemed unusually ok with the idea of a sexy costume?
If I'm not forgetting something, it was just that I'd rather try and wear a lighter sexy costume than put on a sapphire costume. I know I couldn't tell Roxie the real reason for that.
>And, though Roxie was anxious about Milo's advances on you, on reflection it seemed like you were really not interested to begin with and were just being polite.
I really wasn't interested. There just wasn't much I could sense between us, if that makes sense, and if I was going to see him any more, it would've just been to be more social, not because it was him in particular I'd want to see.

>First, are there different grades used to classify how "strong" an AI is?
Yes, definitely. There's three big ones. There's just case-based ai's, like chatbots, which just have set values to respond to. Then there's reasoning AI's, which can take what they've learned and make up new outputs on the fly. Then there's learning AI's, which can use their code to make new ways to make up new outputs. Then a bunch of sub-categories from there. It gets uglier from more advanced AIs, where it's harder to classify things, especially what counts as sentient and sapient.

>Second, how simple is it to make an AI? The method to make CAI AIs, at least, seems to be very organic, as it were.
Since CAI's use a mostly unexplored blackbox technology, it's on a whole separate category than regular AI making.

It's simple to make a simple AI. It's sort of like making one's own computer. People don't go do it from literal scratch, forging out the copper and all that, they use certain components. There's a lot of components in the form of prefabricated codes, modules and so on to make AI's.

The tricky part is to combine the right prefab parts into something coherent, and then modify those pieces to do what you want the AI to do.

Maybe a better example would be like a video game engine. People start off with that, and they have their set of algorithms, and code something specific from there.

That's for more classic AI though, which is the biggest market since it's the most publically legal one. AI's that can learn are tougher to come by.

>if, for example, you took the same base AI generating program and gave them to two people, and one was someone with a proper professional setup who kept a clinical distance and was always observing the AI as it grew, and the other was some dude cooking it up in his back room computer who liked just chatting with it about anything in a friendly casual way, and sometimes just left it by itself for long periods, would you end up with two significantly different AIs? Would they be different at more than a superficial level?
For the AI generating programs, though, it is definitely true that two different upbringings will yield two different AI's. But, at the same time, our current level of technology for AI like this isn't perfectly organic, so there's certain given values as well, leading to very similar behaviors.

So, we can think of the two different AI's in this example to be like identical twins separated from birth.

>If so, can AI developers be identified by the AIs they've made? What I mean is, could a certain AI's quirks and mannerisms act as a sort of "signature" for their creator. Like, if you lost a usb drive with one of your AIs on it, and Arza found it, and we assume for this scenario there aren't any tags or notes or other identifiers on it, could Arza interact with/study the AI for a while and eventually go "hmm, this looks like it might be one of Penn's"?
Yes, definitely! At least, for the more advanced AI. If it were too simple an AI, then there wouldn't be much for personality, but with any AI that has anything emulating a personality, there are certain quirks that tend to come up based on who made them.

For instance, mine have a tendency to run more passes on re-evaluating a scenario more than most makers would. They run slower as a result, but can be a lot more stable.

>How many AIs have you made, Penn? Is that more or less than a graduate student of your level in the field usually has made, by the point you've reached?
That's kind of a tough question, because there's not really a clearly defined number. If I made one AI one year, but then for the second year I improved on the first year's AI, does that count as two since year one's is backed up as it's own? What if the third year needs three different AI's, but year two's model is a really good base, so I split that model off 3 ways?

Then, at some point, I made an AI that made AIs. If those are creditted to me, then that would be a lot.

Then, every time I upload one of my AIs to a database, or back it up, in a way, I'm making a new one - would we count those? Well no we shouldn't count that, but the others make the question hard.

>Do you still have legal ownership of all the AIs you've made? If not, what happens to college-project AIs when they're finished?
Sorta. It gets tricky, because of the fact that making an AI from absolute scratch is just done for learning, but doing the same for advanced AI would be reinventing the wheel, train, car and plane. So we use a lot of base modules and values, but of course a lot of those are proprietary, and licences to use them are often granted to colleges, in which case the AI's basically belong to the college on a license grant from the module's company, and, well, it's a mess. But, the individual work that the student's do are their own, but since the foundation of the AI is typically from others' work and property, the AI itself isn't entirely theirs either.

In other words, in academia, just about every new AI that's made by students is born in licensing hell. There's ways around it though, because the student can usually pay a severance fee to purchase the usage of modules after their graduation at any point in order to fully claim their AI. Or, the school or the module owner can purchase the AI off of the student as well, which is often common since the student can still put the AI on their resume, and it's a nice financial bonus for doing all that work in school. But until the license is sorted out after the student's graduation, the AI is usually just put in stasis by the school. That's also common, since a lot of students don't want to give up what they've gotten attached to, but can't afford the fees.

>Which one of yours was your favourite, or at least, which one do you feel the strongest sentiment or other emotional connection towards?
Definitely Orix, which is basically my primary, multi use AI. It's only pseudo sentient, but really rubs up against the line of what's legally allowed for personal use. In fact, it's fully compatible with just a couple of components that would make it fully sentient, as well as compatible with a huge variety of databases.

Also thankfully, Arza allowed me to use some base engines and modules to make Orix and exercise as much legal control over him as possible. He'd probably be my only friend if Roxie wasn't around.

>Speaking of favourites, what's your favourite food?
I really like earth's lettuce.
>>
No. 96273 ID: dd338c
File 144882020363.png - (9.06KB , 800x800 , PoloITQ100.png )
96273

>How are you with kids? We got told a story that made you seem like you got on well with some, at least. Do you interact much with your own hive's children? Or, perhaps, do they try to interact with you?
I'm alright. We love each other, of course, but I'm seen as one of the busy ones that should only be disturbed at the right times. During the right times, though, we get along well.

That is in regards to my own hives' children.

>Do different neumono hives/demographics also have different fur textures, and if so what are they?
Hives may have tendencies of having varying traits, such as thinner fur, more fur, so on, but overall the impact is made more by demographics.

Snow hiver fur does not have much texture, and is smooth throughout. Cerulean neumono fur absorbs less water, but it is also smooth looking throughout. Redgrass fur has uneven, diagonal patch lines through it. Jungle fur is usually patchier, creating a somewhat natural camoflauge look at times despite that the fur itself is still commonly a single color.

>Polo, what happened to that giant lung collapsing shard of shrapnel that got pulled out of you that you were gonna keep.
Rakae managed to pull it out and stuff it in our baggage. I'm thankful for that, because I completely forgot about it after fighting Rokoa.
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No. 96274 ID: dd338c
File 144882024018.png - (26.62KB , 800x800 , PoloITQ100-Fanfare.png )
96274

toot
>>
No. 96275 ID: dd338c
File 144882029380.png - (13.43KB , 800x800 , RokoaITQ78.png )
96275

>Have you ever played Russian Roulette? I'd imagine it's more popular among neumono. Or perhaps it eliminates the whole point of the game?
Yeah, cept with us, the rules are for russian roulette are effectively the same as a simple drinking game with an added luck element. Take turns around the table. On your turn, roll a six sided die. If it's 1, take a shot. You lose when you pass out.

>How do you avoid causing horrible bedroom accidents with your horrifying shark teeth?
With a marginal amount of effort.

>And if you did cauterize a wound, would that prevent you from regenerating?
Cauterizing is just making more work, but it wouldn't stop regeneration for us. That's just a delay. But if the neumono is suffering from a lot of deep cuts over missing limbs or something, then cauterizing the wound becomes a good idea when the threat is losing too much blood.

>Rokoa! Of all the neumono guys we have personal acquaintance with - Pilon, Az, Biles, Rikek, Kappi, Tirrek, et cetera et cetera - who would you personally rank in your top 5 cutest/hottest/generally attractive, and in what order? I assume the top five would be all neumono, but if not include others too. I'd like to get an idea of your tastes.
From best to worst, Kappi, Pilon, Biles, Rikek, Az.

>Rokoa: What's your favourite human food?
Pigs.

>Are there things your small children do that you think are cute and that other species' babies don't do?
They try and fight things before they learn how to walk. Or how to fight.

>Heroic Spirit from Fate Stay Night?
Think I heard Kappi mention it in a list of old as dust anime.

I wasn't paying attention.

>If you have a baby in your hand, and you know someone who hates you is about to burst into the room, which of the [given] scenarios would be the funniest?
First one. Simple. Effective. Leaves enough to their imagination and doubt.
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No. 96276 ID: dd338c
File 144882043217.png - (13.13KB , 800x800 , KappiITQ30.png )
96276

>Heroic Spirit from Fate Stay Night?
Ohh, uhh.. geez, that's tough. Maybe shielder? I don't think I'd fit in one, but it sounds like the, uh, least proactive one. And I guess a Barrier Noble Phantasm? For the same reason. It's been a long time since I was looking at old anime, so, I'm a little, uh, uninformed.

>If you could be a character from an anime, which character would you be?
Probably Saitama!

>What anime is the character from?
From One Punch Man! Which is also the name of the character?

>Why that character?
Cause I'd rather be bored than scared. And I mean it would work well for me since I just kinda want to hang out all day.
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No. 96277 ID: dd338c
File 144882045313.png - (16.10KB , 800x800 , PilonITQ35.png )
96277

>Does the neumono tail armor cause any balance or coordination problems?
It takes some getting used to, but even if our tail is mostly fluff, they can still be strong. With enough experience, people can grow accustomed to balancing with it on. Most of the time the armor back there is lighter anyway, but whether it goes on or stays off becomes a personal preference.

Except, I suppose, the military has to stick to their uniform for better or worse.

>Is it theoretically possible for a king/queen to be a rogue? Say if everyone else in their hive died or they schismed so badly no two individuals stayed together. If so, would they stay a rogue or would they gather followers over time?
Yes, that is absolutely. In fact, a queen/king probably has it worse, as the chances of them attracting rogues to form a new hive again are astronomical, and the chance of being pulled in by a new hiveleader might be zero.

Their only option, I think, is to have kids themselves and hope it works.

>How is 'Neumono' pronounced anyway?
Like 'neuro' and 'mono' combined, minus the 'ro'.

>Neumono aging
This question's answer is still in progress, but it hasn't been forgotten about, don't worry.
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No. 96278 ID: dd338c
File 144882046326.png - (14.19KB , 800x800 , AzITQ18.png )
96278

>Az, Biles, Raox even? Or whoever's answering another question anyway, if anyone, to make it convenient. Give us a top 5 best-looking, in your opinion, of the girls we know.
Yeah this question sounds like my kind. Cept it's tough, cause I know a lot of girls you don't.
Vivilli, Rokoa, Roxie, Katzati, Jess.

Probly some inbetween there that I'm forgetting about.

>What on earth convinced you that letting a mouth full of teeth like that near your dick was a good idea?
The part where we know they're gonna leave their teeth out of it.
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No. 96279 ID: dd338c
File 144882049035.png - (11.80KB , 800x800 , RoxieITQ1.png )
96279

>I want to know how much potential trouble Penn could get herself into if she did have a one-night stand with some belenosian dude. Diseases seem unlikely in this advanced era, so I'm mainly thinking about family planning. I've heard that belenosian ladies "just start running eggs through their plumbing in response to a dude trying to fertilize it", so, does that mean they could have a kid any time?
Yeah, they have like a 2/3 chance of having a kid with any intercourse whatsoever, whether or not the girl or guy want it. It's insane.

Luckily! Belenos have all kinds of insane pharmaceuticals too, and they can just take an over the counter pill to prevent any kids for like a week straight, which also cancels any pregnancy up to a point. So as long as she remembers that within like a week, she can do whatever.

>While I'm asking, how's battery life on your phones? Do you have super future batteries that last for days or weeks, or do you have some sort of thing where in cities and other built-up places there's some sort of wireless charging so that stuff stays powered?
There are wireless powerups, but only in big towns, and only with specialized phones.

It's easier to just use our super batteries that can last weeks with a little use.

>Also, if someone asked you what is the best thing about being uplifted, that surprised you, what would you say? By which I mean, when you get uplifted I assume you get lectured at about a lot of stuff like peace and security and wealth and technology, so, what's the best thing about being uplifted that no-one told you about and that you didn't expect?
Probably the hygiene. I mean sure they taught us how to use it, but I didn't think how much it would impact me. Now having a bright sheen on my coat feels nice and is important, so I shower every day, and it feels great.

>And what's the worst thing?"
... actually having to keep it up. Now I go visit home and I get bugged by the tiniest clump of dirt in my toes, which baffles everyone including myself.

>Hey Roxie, your degree is Linguistics, right? What inspired you to move into that field?
Honestly, it just sounded easy, so I went into it.

First off, it wasn't easy, but then I learned that I was interested in all the funny noises things make.

>Do you speak any languages beyond the galactic standard and your own hive's tribal language?
Nothing fluent that's spoken widely by real sapient species, but I've studied the verbal communications of a whole bunch of my home planet's wildlife. That's kind of my specialty, but of course my studies did include the actual sapient languages.

>What language do you like best?
For personal bias, my own tribe's language, of course. For actual use, Base. Base is just an artificial language that was meant for easy learning, use, but still have enough nuances to work well with writing and poetry or whatever. I'm pretty fluent in that, actually, but the only people who use that are, well, all kinds of people, but not many people.

>And can you answer something I've wondered: is it easier and/or faster for a neumono to learn a new language, so long as they have another neumono to learn it from, since you can use empathy to clue you in on meaning?
Yeah, that does help a lot. We seem surprisingly good at learning language anyway considering how much we'd refuse to do it pre-uplift.

>And, perhaps, you have an advantage even without that, because your brains seem like they retain more plasticity for longer compared to other species?
That's probably it.

Also, we're slower thinkers overall, but we can hold a lot of thoughts at once, so it helps with long term memorization and learning a huge set of rules and so forth.

>Conversely, do neumono have particular trouble learning to make some sounds that alien languages use? Or do other aliens have that trouble? Do the different species have an audible "accent" that's just due to the different shapes of their mouths?
Yeah, but thankfully all aliens can either learn how to make an approximation of a noise, or learn a substitute for it that other aliens can learn. Yich eaters, for instance, can hardly make the 'th' sound, hard or soft, so they make a weird, airy 't' noise instead.

Every species has a pretty noticeable accent anyway.

>How are the ultrahive cities generally built?
The capitals all start as an alien base of operations. An official one, I mean, not from some big megacorporation looking to mine out a nearby mountain. They're well protected, were the least shady areas, and generally had the biggest platform for growth. So they were always seen as the place to go to get away from war, even if it was still affected.

Other major cities though were just places of interest that weren't blown to smithereens, or were made after the big time wars. They could've started off as military bases, or just somehow had some gimmick that drew people to them.

Typically places with the least amount of bad wildlife, bad weather, easy construction soil and still well within ultrahive jurisdiction are good factors to growth.

>Given that it's still only a few generations from uplift, do most neumono still know their former tribal language in addition to the standard?
Yeah, in fact, hive homes still have a lot of old languages that are spoken. My hive'll probably be the same for awhile, where the kids are taught english but all the old grannies still speak angry sounding language.

>How about the other species? In the case of belenosians, did they have a single language still, as a legacy from the old imperial age?
Nah, belenos split off from one another pretty hard languagewise, in a collective motivation but separate manner of trying to get away from imperial talk. So they had all sorts, but were pretty quick to learn english when humans came by.

Still a bunch know how to speak it, but it's not as common even on their own planet, according to Penn.

>For example, Roxie, if that manipulative racist girl you met had really just wanted to pester Penn instead of riling you, could she have switched languages to try exclude you entirely, assuming you don't speak any belenosian or whatever the name of it is, if they do have a single language?
Probably not, because it's probably only old people on belenos that speak old languages, not kids on astreneus.

>If there's a program for individual tribals to be sent out to live among civilized neumono and aliens to get used to them and prepare their hive for full uplift, is there an opposite program? Are there aliens who go out and live with tribal hives to help them get used to aliens? If so, how well does that go down?
Yeah, really, that's how a lot of hives are found now. My hive was approached by aliens, with gun-wielding escorts, to learn about us. Or so they said to learn about us, but we learned more from them. I was just a kid at the time, I think.

Not many actually live with tribes, though. Takes a supernerd of a belenos or an overly daring human to do something like that, but it happens.

>Do neumono suffer from that two people walking towards each other and you try to step around them and they go the same way and you get caught in a loop thing, or does empathy preempt that. Or does empathy just mean you get stuck in the loop sooner.
Nah, empathy causes a little bit of the loop initially, but it's solved by the time we get physically close.

Jammers would fuck things up though, especially if you're used to being outside of a jammer.

>Hey, Penn didn't punch you when you got home! Did you sign her up for martial arts classes? Or paintball or parkour or whatever?
I'm gonna try and convince her later. Because I gotta, because apparently they don't let people sign up other people to things like that.
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No. 96280 ID: dd338c
File 144882050366.png - (13.06KB , 800x800 , ThreeStripesITQ14.png )
96280

>Three Stripes, did you ever get it on
Three Stripes is lost

Three Stripes only has many buddies and hopes that answers the question?

>Business of Four Stripes and Dead Stripes
Three Stripes only tried to get along with the other two and never knew how the other two got along with each other
>>
No. 96281 ID: dd338c
File 144882052357.png - (15.17KB , 800x800 , TinITQ6.png )
96281

>Sorry if this has already been asked before, or if I had simply missed it, but in most of your pictures, you don't seem to have a mouth. Unlike Hok, who has a visible mouth in some pictures, I don't remember seeing you with a mouth at all. It might just be my crappy memory, but if it's one of your mutations, how do you eat and talk?
I do. It's low and small.

If I had a mutation without a mouth, I would be dead. Probably.
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No. 96282 ID: dd338c
File 144882055849.png - (15.45KB , 800x800 , SealockKidsITQ1.png )
96282

>How are you with Polo?
"She's so serious but sometimes we can get her in a good mood."
"We can even get her to roughhouse with us sometimes!"
"But then we can't walk around without being in danger of noogies. She can go silent, it's not fair!"
>>
No. 96283 ID: dd338c
File 144882057707.png - (13.73KB , 800x800 , PennGrandmotherITQ1.png )
96283

>But, is there anything you can tell us? Like, she mentioned a while ago that she's never gotten any sort of infectious illness in her life. And I notice she seemed to have good endurance for a desk worker. She explained it by saying she sprinted between classes a lot, but that gives a different kind of endurance than a lot of walking needs, which is what was going on, so that's suspicious.
Correct. I have dodged the topic for obvious reason, but for those who know of her imperial influenced genes, there's no harm in saying that her health is exactly because of her influenced genes.

Belenos still do not get sick that often, and they respond well to cybernetic and biologically enhancing drugs, but even those qualities must have been weakened after just shy of 10 thousand years of evolution with minimal genetic engineering and optimization. If Penn's genes were influenced as they seem to have been, then, for all intents and purposes, she has a superior set compared to any other belenosian. I have no idea how that will come to be used, or how many downsides it may have in the future.

I won't say what specifically she may have, but only because I am not 100% sure of any of it. I would have needed another few decades to see her grow before making final conclusions, and I don't like to share guesses.

>Also, how much of her isn't from her... special status?
Her unique experiences growing up in our world. It couldn't have been everything, but everything is suspect.

That includes her gender. There is hardly any data on Sapphire's early life. Records indicate most of the empires being refered to as a gender neutral pronoun, which makes sense, as records also indicate that the nobles favored being agender, asexual, and, frankly, non or partly biological.

Even if they looked like one gender over the other, it's a safe bet that most emperors were sterile and could only reproduce through technological means.

What I'm getting at as that Sapphire could have been female, and the spitting image of Penn, before being transferred to artificial bodies.

>Why were you assigned to work with Penn, have you studied cases of previous individuals like her?
I'm just a geneticist. Maybe they thought I was renowned enough to work with Penn, or maybe they thought I may not treat her like an evil tyrant ready to bring a new age of whatever. I didn't ask.

I have studied previous cases of belenos genetics, but none with specifically interesting composition. Penn was easily and by far the most unique.

>Do you ever get an urge to headbutt things? Maybe even just when you're children? I ask because I imagine tiny horned fuzzy babies bumping their heads against things and it's adorable.
We don't get the urge to do it via some ancient belenos evolutionary tendency. It's possible it used to be there, then was beaten out of us by the imperials, and post-empire evolution wasn't enough to bring it back.

That doesn't mean that it doesn't happen anyway by energetic children wanting to show off their growing horns.

Or babies who just bump into things anyways.

>Are there things your small children do that you think are cute and that other species' babies don't do?
Act well behaved once in a while.

>Does a tendency towards certain horn shapes tend to run in families? Milo and Navanna were siblings, for example, and seemed to both have a front-two-small-back-two-large shape.
Yes, but not by much. They are much less likely to get one of the 4 most probable general horn shapes than they are to get another random horn shape.

>Speaking of horns, are there any cultural connotations to using horns in a certain way? Like, is grabbing someone by their horns considered especially rude, or is it considered particularly vicious to actually attack someone with them, when size/shape/situation makes that possible?
Grabbing horns for us is on par with grabbing a human's hair or neumono's ears. So yes.

Attacking with horns is clumsy and out of desperation. It looks cool I'm sure if it's done effectively, but not extra vicious.

Otherwise, cultural connotations of horns are purely visual.

>have you guys come up with special pillows to accommodate horns when sleeping? Because it seems like a lot of you would have trouble lying on your back, and others trouble lying on your sides. Lying on your front seems the only position where they couldn't potentially be a problem, but that's not usually the most comfortable for most species. Unless it is, for you guys?
The front of our necks stretch out better than many other species, and so we are able to lie on our stomachs, heads forward, more comfortably than it may look. That is the most common way.

The horns are typically built well into our skulls anyways, which do well to disperse weight as broadly as possible, so putting weight on one's horns isn't like jabbing a finger on someone's head. In short, lying on the backs of our head is also much more comfortable than it looks to aliens.

We have pillows that are made pierce and tear resistant anyways, and work well molding to the shapes of our horns. This material still can be breathed through, making it plausible for flat faced aliens to sink their heads into, making belenos the leading manufacturer of good pillows.

If all else fails, however, belenos are exceptional at falling asleep in many positions, be it a regular chair or otherwise.
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No. 96284 ID: dd338c
File 144882060636.png - (98.48KB , 800x800 , ZirkalaITQ10.png )
96284

>Healing magic is damaging to the undead, right? Should Story Seeker be careful about potentially bringing powerful healing items or other effects back home to you from his trips, and if so have you warned him about things like that? Or do you have precautions set up to negate those dangers to begin with? I'd assume you set up your ghouls with some way to not burst into flame if someone tried to heal them, for example, but maybe that's just an acceptable hazard.
To an extent, healing magic harms undead. It can be complicated, as healing magic can vary in intent and possibility. There is healing magic to restore lost limbs, and healing magic to revert wounds as though they never happened. I'll talk about the latter case.

Those wound-reverting healing magics will attempt to sew a body back together however it sees fit. That includes getting rid of rotted flesh, debris and anything that isn't the wound itself. So, in cheap zombies, haphazard ghouls and patchwork skeletons, those bodies will be seen as undesirable elements of a wound, and the healing magic will expend its power on destroying the bodies, hence, healing is very effective against such things.

In undead made by anyone remotely competent, however, their bodies are truly undead and can be treated as inanimate, and so targeting such an undead would be the same as targetting a boulder. Nothing will happen.

In well made, expensive undead, their bodies will be made of flesh that is sustained and living, put together in such a way that their body can emulate a living being. Healing magic, if the caster does not have or take the precautions against these pseudo-living bodies, can heal the undead as though they were living.

That's the simplified version of it.

>Actually, if Kexluk had been around back then, would he have had a way to detect your ghouls?
I cannot be sure, but I doubt it. His plain power is frankly obscene, but his techniques, arsenal and mentality are all hardly versatile.
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No. 96285 ID: dd338c
File 144882064930.png - (92.60KB , 800x800 , RuliITQ1.png )
96285

>Neumono that got barked at while trying to get hotdogs
>what were your thoughts at the time?
I really hate holidays.
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No. 96286 ID: dd338c
File 144882068169.png - (100.14KB , 800x800 , CogsviITQ1.png )
96286

>Hot dog stand guy: So, how did your 'dog-making skills hold up?
Really well! I think. I mean, even if I know a lot about cooking, it's a really straightforward job. I just had to know how to operate the machinery and catch his lingo.

>Hot dog stand guy: How did your other skills hold up. *nudge nudge, wink wink*
P-pretty good?! I think? She left in a good mood so I assume so!

>How often do you imagine doing terrible naughty things to your customers. Is this part of the appeal of your stall.
Never! I mean, not usually, but usually they don't, just, wear... that, and then... do things. And think things. I couldn't help it, but that is definitely not the appeal of the stall!

It just... happened this time.
>>
No. 96287 ID: dd338c
File 144882070046.png - (79.72KB , 800x800 , ImportantHotDogManITQ1.png )
96287

>How did you become so hot dog important? Do you have importance in any other food domains?
By making it a habit to visit every hot dog store, stand, restaurant and shop in town. I became a specialist on it, and my opinion and feedback was valuable. I kept doing it long enough that within the hotdog niche, I became popular enough that other people treated my opinion as valuable as well.

Just for hot dogs.

>And, are neumono health and safety standards for culinary preparation more lax than for aliens, or do you just not care?
I didn't care. It's about the hotdog, not the ambience or whatever.

>Do neumono, being mostly carnivores, have a larger, more varied and more nuanced market of meat products compared to aliens?
Yeah. That's why I like hotdogs. It's simply a combination of meat, no bullshit with buns or vegetables or whatever.
>>
No. 96288 ID: dd338c
File 144882072262.png - (134.21KB , 800x800 , MurderhouseWinnersITQ1.png )
96288

>Person who eventually won the Halloween murder house mystery: how did that go down?
It wasn't too special, actually. I basically cheesed it by hiding the whole time until at the very end, where I and two neumono managed to piece together who one of the murderers was. Which happened to be the last one. It wasn't hard either, the last murderer got pretty sloppy at the end as they got more and more impatient and nervous. I basically missed out on the slaughterfest where like half the total people died within half an hour in what was basically a shootout. I think it started with Roxie, but once she got killed some murderers took advantage of the resulting chaos and things went downhill pretty fast.
>>
No. 96289 ID: bb78f2

>>96272
Penn, how is AI romance seen in public circles? As in either romance between AI's, or between one with an organic?

Oh, that's assuming that you guys don't make organic AI's. I'm also interested in potentially organic artificial intelligence that people have tried to make. Also interested in how the romance is seen between an organic artificial intelligence and a organic natural intelligence.
>>
No. 96292 ID: bb78f2

Actually, I have some other questions for anyone who can answer them.

How far has science gone in the essence of understanding the consciousness, and whether or not it's possible to digitize an entire mind, and how to transfer a proper consciousness from one area to another, like into a different brain?

I assume that the ancient belosian empire MIGHT have mastered that concept, since it sounds like some emperors have switched bodies into a robot body and brain ala "Ghost in the Shell". So I'm curious how far along humanity or whoever is currently researching it in that regard.
>>
No. 96298 ID: 243dc7

Anyone knowledgeable: Did any species have a name for their homeworld, which was kept after humans came by?
All I remember is that tribal neumono didn't see the big picture in the first place, and belenosians had long forgotten their homeworld's name after the apocalypse.
>>
No. 96315 ID: 31f075

Question for anyone, Which races are most likely to pursue romantic partners outside of their species?
>>
No. 96318 ID: 88e46e

>>96315
My money's on humans, what with how our libido goes off of what the torso looks like.
>>
No. 96322 ID: ad936f

>>96315
>>96318
Obviously it'll be humans, but which? The smart furry humans? The feathery humans? The psychic regenerating furry humans? The varying plant humans? The scaly humans? The non evolutionarily viable humans? The robot humans? The absent humans? The ai humans? There are so many possibilities!
>>
No. 96323 ID: 88e46e

>>96322
What are you talking about? Like, seriously, is there a point or a joke/"joke" I'm missing? "Human" and "person" stop being synonymous when you start having more than one race of sophonts.
>>
No. 96324 ID: ad936f

>>96323
Joke about how Asteroidquest deals almost exclusively with http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HumanoidAliens
>>
No. 96327 ID: 509306

>>96324
I'm confused. The article you linked emphasises how the aliens of that type are only just close enough to humanoid to qualify.

I mean, if you're going by mindset, sure, but if you're diluting the definition of human to be human minded as opposed to genetically related to Homo sapiens then very few things on this entire website count as nonhuman.

So really what distinction is even left?
>>
No. 96328 ID: ad936f

>>96327
Y'all are over analyzing this, I was just making an innocent joke about how the intelligent aliens in Asteroidquest are mostly just humans with a few differences. This is true of most soft sci-fi. The aliens in most media are usually not even as alien as some things we can find on Earth.

You have killed my joke, it is dead. The funeral is in one week. I expect you all to attend.
>>
No. 96332 ID: d37fb4

>>96328
>You have killed my joke, it is dead.

It was put out of its misery. A kindness.

>>96272
>I've had to turn down a lot of jobs of that kind and many others.

If you didn't have the next step in your career lined up with Arza, but you still had all your qualifications, what job would you like to do?

>It's simple to make a simple AI. It's sort of like making one's own computer. People don't go do it from literal scratch, forging out the copper and all that, they use certain components. There's a lot of components in the form of prefabricated codes, modules and so on to make AI's.

Hmm... what's the state of robots, as opposed to AIs? Like, I imagine there are housekeeping robots and ones that help in hospitals and so on, that are pre-made for specific jobs, but how possible is it for someone to build a robot for themselves? Is it similar to how you describe AIs there, that you can buy up a bunch of components and put them together in a custom configuration for whatever task you have in mind? You'd have to come up with an AI that can use the weird custom body, of course, but for someone like you that wouldn't be too much of an issue. Have you ever made robots, Penn?

>AI quirks

Besides the idiosyncrasies of individual makers, do you feel like there's a difference between AIs made by different species? Do AIs made by a human or a pomi or a neumono differ in recognizable ways from one made by a belenosian?

>In fact, it's fully compatible with just a couple of components that would make it fully sentient

So... if legality wasn't a problem, you could upgrade Orix to be sentient pretty easily? What are the legal limits, anyway, is more allowed for government, corporations, or military work? Are there like, wealthy CEOs who go "oh no we need an advanced AI to handle our security", but who are really just using that as a loophole to have their own special AI buddy?

>I really like earth's lettuce.

Lettuce is basically just water, but... well, if you like it you like it. On the subject of food, do you and Roxie ever cook for each other? Or is it too problematic for aliens to prepare each others' food, like what tastes fine to one won't taste the same to the other. Or, like, when a neumono cooks for aliens they always make too much food, and when aliens cook for neumono they don't make enough, so the neumono has to go "oh thank you" to be polite and then sneak off afterwards to cram something else into themselves. That sort of thing?

Actually - maybe Roxie would answer this one instead - do neumono need different arrangements in regards breaks to eat at work or college? Humans, and I assume most species, have that three-meals plan that's not really natural but designed to work well with the working day, but neumono need more food more often. So, do neumono workplaces have brunch and linner breaks in addition to what everyone else has? Or do they just have extra food stands and snack machines on site and the neumono just get up and grab something whenever they feel the need, and everyone just accepts it? Do places with a lot of neumono tend to have a lot more street vendors and restaurants and such in general? Do they tend towards any higher quality than those for other species, since neumono don't do so well just cramming junk into their bellies to stop hunger pangs until later?

Also... psst, Roxie. How much does Penn eat, compared to other belenos? All that braining all day must eat up a lot of calories. Plus, well, you're both lovely ladies, and you're curvier overall of course, but Penn doesn't seem like she has to make any excuse in the caboose either, know what I mean? And good for her, too.

>>96278
>Vivilli, Rokoa, Roxie, Katzati, Jess.

... Az, do you have a snow neumono fetish? I mean, three out of five when there are four options... and you did indicate once that if Pilon was a girl you'd like him. So it sounds like you have an extra appreciation for the pale ladies. Is that just physical, or is there like, since the white and red are the largest and there seems a sort of implicit rivalry there, maybe it's a racial tension thing...? I mean, no shame, man. I'm just curious.

>>96283

So, I know you're not Penn's actual biological grandmother, but did you have any kids of your own? If not, is that common? Like, is there a problem with the biggest belenosian science nerds being so busy doing science that they don't have kids. And, since you mention a lack of husbandry during the tribal era, are there any weirdos who are trying to make up for that now? Eugenics, and such?

Speaking of biology, we know neumono have crazy regeneration all by their own, but how does medical assistance stack up against it? If a belenosian loses their arm, can science cook up a clone limb and reattach it, or stimulate a form of regeneration artificially? Are there cyborgs who emulate neumono resilience by having backup redundant organs installed, and can they get put back in action as quick as a neumono can if they have the best treatment available?

Finally... this is sort of an insensitive question, but besides that you guys just like learning, do you think belenosians' comparatively limited lifespans have an influence on how eagerly some of you pursue science? Like, you know you only have so much time to see how far science progresses, so you want it to go faster so you can see and learn as much as possible? And, do you think Penn will behave a little differently in that regard, since there's a reasonable chance that she might have space to be more patient? I mean, the ancient belenosians were certainly capable of making improvements in that regard, and it seems like one of the first featuress you'd include.

Couple of more broadly targeted questions:

Any CAI contestant, along with sight and sound and touch, is the sense of smell part of your experience? I noticed Unity experienced taste for the first time in the belenosians sim, and those two senses are linked, so I wonder.

And speaking of scent, to neumono: you can't get empathic readings off aliens, but can smell make up some of the difference? Different emotions produce different chemical balances that come out with perspiration, particularly the excitement-oriented ones like fear, anger and arousal and so on. I assume aliens just smell weird at first, but after a while learning what odor corresponds to what, can you pick up information on them through your nose? Not just emotion, but things like general health, what they've been eating, how old or what sex they are in the more ambiguous cases? Like, Vern said that without scent, voklit wearing loincloths wouldn't be able to tell each other's sex, which implies smell does tell sex pretty clearly, and that should hold for most species. Could neumono learn to tell voklit men and women apart by smell?
>>
No. 96334 ID: ef4949

Dear Shaman from a alternate universe in which Story seeker makes really bad life choices.

So some people are worried that you tribe treats new immigrants horribly and that you in particular seemed awfully prepared for that sort of thing.

Do you in fact run a horrible sex dungeon on the side and make a habit of selling passerby's into slavery? Or has the whole situation been blown out of proportion?
>>
No. 96369 ID: cee89f

Rokoa: Have you ever ripped off your ear and used it as a projectile weapon, and would that actually be useful, assuming that you didn't have a gun or something?
>>
No. 96373 ID: 424e89

Following that food question, what did belenosians eat during the pre-contact days? If there was any natural ecosystem left under the empire then it must have gotten absolutely devastated. It seems implied that there weren't any animals left, either, besides toyas. So like, without insects, did farmers have to see to crop pollination themselves? Without beasts of burden, did they have to do all the ploughing, hauling, etc. as well? Did they ever try to breed toyas to be more suitable to help out? Were there ever giant riding toyas?

As for the plants, what was left? Was there anything natural, or did the original survivors have to put up with using more tech-dependent crops? Were there like, seed banks? Maybe a few wealthy nobles before the disaster had been paranoid enough to create survival bunkers, loaded with stuff that helped out? Did any such survival-crazy old nobles actually survive and reappear during the tribal eras, out of stasis or whatever?
>>
No. 96374 ID: ad936f

>>96369
Wouldn't that be like throwing an uncooked steak at someone? Humans used to be known to be excellent throwers, but how good are the different arm-having aliens at throwing?
>>
No. 96376 ID: cee89f

>>96374
A really big one, maybe.
>>
No. 96377 ID: 91ee5f

>>96376
C'mon, her ears aren't THAT big.....are they?
>>
No. 96379 ID: ad936f

>>96377
C'mon guys, she isn't Pilon, stop trying to make her self conscious about her ears.
>>
No. 96383 ID: cee89f

>>96377
Biggest steak I've ever seen was a bit larger than my head. Rokoa's pretty tall for a neumono, and her ears are large even in comparison to her body. So her ears are at least that large.

>>96379
A) I'm pretty sure Rokoa is secure enough in her raw sexuality/slaughter potential that anything I say would - at absolute worst - come off as the conceited ranting of the stupid. She ain't gonna feel self-conscious.
B) I was under the impression neumono saw large ears as an attractive trait >.> Which is part of why Pilon gets all the bitches.
>>
No. 96384 ID: cee89f

>>96379
And C) nice job implying that Pilon's got ugly ears, mate :P
>>
No. 96388 ID: 86cfc3

>B) I was under the impression neumono saw large ears as an attractive trait >.> Which is part of why Pilon gets all the bitches.
Pilon can you confirm this is true.

Polo can you confirm this is true. (You know ears big enough to use as a mattress and/or quilt are sexy).
>>
No. 96389 ID: ad936f

>>96384
I'm just saying that not everyone can have beautiful ears like Pilon.
>>
No. 96401 ID: 88e46e

Everyone: Milk or cereal first? Water or toothpaste?
>>
No. 96454 ID: a81394

Yo Jessica, if I remember right, you were raised in a jammer city, right? I was wondering, recently: I know in jammer cities you don't get neumono getting in trouble with each other because they empathically rub the wrong way, and you don't get rogues constantly being reminded what they're missing out on, and a bunch of other problems damped down, but as part of the exchange... would there be more racism or sexism in jammer cities?

I mean, the reason discrimination starts is because people need a mental shorthand for dealing with each other. Ideally when you meet someone new you would get to know them personally and treat them like the individual they are, but it's impossible to do so for every person you'll interact with in any sizable population. So, people's minds take a shortcut, looking at someone's appearance or clothes or way of speaking, and using that to sort them into a group that's assumed to be similar enough to each other that they can all be treated the same way. Of course, it doesn't go down as sensibly as that, it mostly happens subconsciously, people take disproportionate influence from media, pick up wrong ideas second-hand, seldom bother revising their assumptions and so on and that's why discrimination generally sucks.

Now, without jammers, neumono probably don't have this problem as much. The first instinct is to judge the other person based on their empathy, and once you get past the basic not-my-hive reaction, the empathic read tends to be pretty accurate, so there's no reason to make judgements based on anything else about them. When you're in a jammer, you don't have that. For example, during Polo's most recent adventures, I noticed that after spending a long time in a jammer, Katzati started getting more flak about her weight from her companions. You can high-five every neumono you meet to get an empathic read, of course, but in the case of a jammer city that seems both very impractical and defeating the point of the whole thing in the first place.

So, when you live in a jammer city, do you get people making more assumptions or judgements based on you being female, or red, or dressing or speaking a certain way?
>>
No. 96520 ID: 91ee5f

To Clunker: Who did you work for before you met Story Seeker? Have you had any jobs other than being a bodyguard?
>>
No. 96540 ID: ad936f

To anyone; would you eat Miklik if it was presented as part of a nice salad at a fancy dining occasion?
>>
No. 96572 ID: 898ae2

To the fluffiest Belenosian: Just how fluffy are you, and does it pose any issues?
>>
No. 96605 ID: 91cfcf

>>96540
Wouldn't neumono be more appropriate, with their being known for regeneration and all?
>>
No. 96608 ID: 898ae2

>>96605
Last I checked, Neumono aren't known for their plant-like properties
>>
No. 96688 ID: 5ad4a7

Glitcher, Rulekeeper: So... how was the date?
>>
No. 96693 ID: 315927

>>96608
Have you never had meat in salad?

Also, any belenos, are you aware of the ancient Celtic deity Belenos? Coincidence, evidence of alien meddling, something else?

Lagotrope, why did you pick belenos/belenosians? Was it because of the sun god or just a coincidence?
>>
No. 96694 ID: ad0f55

>>96693

Building on this question: aliens, how do you feel when you find things that resemble yourselves in other species' ancient culture? Any pomi want to comment on finding human stories about lizardmen, or belenosians on discovering fuzzy horn-having people-creatures?

And how about non-human instances, are there like, any ancient pomi myths that coincidentally include hairless monkeys or half-plant folks or whatnot?

While I'm asking questions, an unrelated one to those: Penn, have you ever met any others of Roxie's hive? I assume you've never actually visited her proper hive, but has she ever like had another who's going through the uplift program come over and visit her, for example?

Also, do tribals going through uplift get like special resources to help them deal with technology, or did you often have to put up with Roxie coming to you for help every time she couldn't figure out how to turn on the tv or so on? Or maybe both?
>>
No. 96695 ID: ad936f

>>96694
I bet that the ancient Belenosian empire actually did discover ftl travel, but they kept it a secret, and that's why so many aliens resemble belenos. The aliens with the three genders (forgot the name) were genetically engineered by belenos. Humans and goats both evolved from belenos (possibly artificially?). Mikliks were a belenosian experiment in creating sentient life from plants!
It's all a conspiracy! Soylent Green is people! They're putting fluoride in our water! The diamond emperor is still alive! (okay maybe that last one is a little far fetched, BUT STILL!)
>>
No. 96696 ID: 315927

>>96695
At the very least, extensive fossil evidence and overwhelming genetic similarity to nonhuman species would disprove that theory for Earth, since it's fairly definitively proven that we evolved here from native fauna. Either that or belenos have been around for billions of years, which brings up a whole another host of problems to do with lack of advancement.
>>
No. 96698 ID: ad936f

>>96696
That's true for our universe, but maybe not necessarily for theirs.

Belenos could stay the same for quite a while what with their genetical manipulation.

The Belenosian empire had absolutely ridiculous levels of technology, which could potentially excuse a lot of bullfuckery surrounding this crackpot theory, so I'd say it's still as good an explanation as any.
>>
No. 96700 ID: 903d89

>>96693
I think it was already said that the name comes from humans. They named the star Belenos (humans naming a star after a sun god, how surprising...), gave a number to the planet, and since the natives had forgotten their name, they too were named after the system...
>>
No. 96722 ID: bb78f2

Karri, are you seeing anyone right now? Or do you just have a few casual flings now and then? Anyone we know? We haven't shipped you with anyone save maybe kappi, and I think your mom might have dibs on him? It might not be dibs.

How about you, Pilon? We haven't even shipped you with kappi... Yet.

Rokoa do you have dibs on kappi, or would you share if either of them was interested?
>>
No. 96729 ID: cecc73

Going really far back with this one, but... >>91170

Miss, do you pomi ladies just lay eggs regularly, regardless of prior activities?
>>
No. 96741 ID: bb78f2

>>96729
Oh hey, yeah, after reading that post again, it makes me want to ask if that means that Belonos are REALLY fertile, and have a higher chance of having twins and triplets.

Belonos birth control must be a BITCH for the women, because all the good stuff must have been made in the empire days. Might have been a good thing we never got Penn a boyfriend (and that Milo was just a backstabbing turd waiting to happen).
>>
No. 96773 ID: 15720c

>>96741
>(and that Milo was just a backstabbing turd waiting to happen).
Honestly, when I was first reading through the bit there, I was expecting that he'd have defended himself and outted his sister, and hoping that he would have ended up staying when she was coerced to leave. Dude had some awesome potential, it's a shame it got thrown aside because of his overzealous sister.
>>
No. 96776 ID: 623ef0

Speaking of Milo... hey, Milo! You seemed pretty confident in your wooing abilities. You seduce ladies often? You didn't look to have much objection to your role in the plan, either. In regards the morality of it all that's one thing, but not personally, either? Did you just not mind, or did you actually find Penn attractive enough to make it less of a chore?... You a leg man?

Also does your sister pull this shit often. Complicated vengeance/sabotage resentment schemes, I mean. She seems like she would.
>>
No. 96796 ID: 60b77d

Question most relevant to Az, but directed at anyone who might know.

How does a king/queen happen in a jammer hive? I was under the impression it had something to do with empathy, but in a jammer hive that cant really be the case, can it?

Terribly sorry if this has been answered before. I know Az went into detail about how queens are for the most part born rather than created, but wouldn't the lack of empathy be a problem?
>>
No. 96797 ID: 91cfcf

>>96796
Jammers allow empathy via physical contact. They can only block it at a distance.
>>
No. 96856 ID: 0f2de7

Belenosians: do you have fingernails or some equivalent under that fur? Or do the soda cans of other species taunt you with their slippery tabs?

Neumono: We've teased Polo with the word "frenemy" to describe her relationship with Rokoa, but I'm wondering if frenemies could actually have been a thing, historically. Like, if you have two neighboring hives that weren't really warlike, they would have raided and skirmished and beaten up on each other a lot, but with neumono toughness a lot more of the participants would survive than with other species. So you could end up with particular individuals meeting each other again and again, and developing a familiarity and knowledge of each other. Like, Rokoa's parents presumably met each other in some similar fashion. In extreme cases, you could even end up with two particularly old enemies becoming the eldest in their hives, so that they'd have known each other longer than anyone else. Is that a thing?

And if it is a thing, how do such relationship generally turn when hives are uplifted? Since the ultrahives are geographically bounded, and hives seem to want to keep their ancestral homes more often than not, there must be a lot of former enemies who are having to see a lot of each other. Are there neumono going out to drink and talk about the young people these days, then getting in nostalgia fights with each other? Hives who are otherwise peaceful to each other but who have this one pair who keep getting into arguments because their mutual antagonism is just part of them now? Intimate dalliances between couples whose forbidden attractions are now permissible? People turning up at each others' doors with apology gifts going "hey sorry for breaking your arms and legs all those times"?
>>
No. 96857 ID: 88e46e

>>96856
Actually, that reminds me. Rikora basically said that big women with tiny men was a family preference/fetish. Rokoa has admitted she'd have sex with Polo, and we've seen the kind of stuff she does to Kappi.

So, Polo, have you realized that you're Rokoa's fetish yet? How does that feel?
>>
No. 96861 ID: d0868f

Hey Rokoa, when you were were telling that story to Kappi, did you leave out the part that was never to be spoken of again? >>/questarch/429257

>>96796
>>96797
Yeah, jammer hives still have empathy, just less often. You need a certain level of emphatic activity for members to bond / attune / sync with the hive. You can't have a bunch of people with the same or similar pattern in a vacuum.
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No. 96862 ID: 88e46e

>>96861
Although to be fair that's apparently a bit of a retcon or jammer tech has advanced, since when someone asked how sex was in a jammer the answer included that there was no empathy.
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No. 96864 ID: d0868f

>>96862
Nope, no retcon. The very same post that discusses how sex in a jammer can feel weird to someone not used to it also discusses how physical contact in a jammer still provides empathy, just weaker than you'd get sans jammer. >>/questdis/74540 (It's something of a matter of degree, and what you're used to).
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No. 96866 ID: 700555

>>96862
>>96864

Plus, that post was quite a while ago now. Most of the more recent neumono adventures have empathy through physical contact in a jammer as quite a significant thing. Most of them are set in the past relative to the main Asteroid Quest, so technology could have advanced, but Christmas Quest was set at around the same time and it was still possible for Rokoa to get reads off Jess and that one CEO guy. Christmas Quest was in a different timeline, but if anything it seemed to have superior technology overall.
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No. 96941 ID: 86ff22

>>96283
>Records indicate most of the empires being refered to as a gender neutral pronoun, which makes sense, as records also indicate that the nobles favored being agender, asexual, and, frankly, non or partly biological.

Hmm. This might be more of a psychology or sociology or anthropology(xenothropology?) question, but do you think forsaking sexuality and sexual identity may have been a factor in the nobles becoming... well, assholes?

I mean, sex is more than just messy reproduction. Most animals have very brief, to-the-point couplings; sentient species like humans and, clearly, most of the rest of you, developed longer mating sessions for a reason. It's a bonding exercise, fostering attachments and trust and intimacy and so on, forming and reinforcing social and emotional connections within a group. By not having sex, the ancient nobles would have effectively severed themselves from one way to create and to strengthen relationships with others. Strong sexuality is very useful for many purposes.

Engaging in reproduction itself is also a common, primitive but effective way to form alliances. Having a child creates a mutual interest for two family groups, effectively allowing them to adopt each other as relatives. Having no sex makes it far harder to form such relationships; even a token presentation of gender for a physically asexual being would allow them to participate in the traditions to some extent. It also makes it harder to be a parent, as you become "creator" to any offspring rather than the more primal, culturally weighty "mother" or "father". Being unable to have mates also eliminates the slight but present possibility of any other member of one's species being a potential adopted relative, which creates further social distance.

There's an element of hubris to it, as well. To be a gendered entity is to present yourself as incomplete in and of yourself, one half of a whole that remains unmade. Effectively, if you're male or female, it's an implicit admission that there are some things you can't do by yourself. Have you ever read Frankenstein? One of the ideas commonly held as to the work is that, in creating a child without involving a woman, the titular Frankenstein pursues his goal as an exercise in his own ego, to create offspring without having to admit the involvement of anyone else to detract from his own achievement. If they had stayed gendered beings, the ancient nobles might have kept a little more humility.

I can get the idea of ascending past the limits of mortality and flesh and blood and all that, but a being within a greater universe can never be perfect, and reminders of that imperfection are useful. Besides, I gather most of them kept forms that resembled belenosians. That may have been a matter of how they want to present themselves, but then gender would have been as well.

Sorry for my rambling.

Another, related question: How are the soft sciences and humanities viewed by belenosians, generally? Did they, being less threatening than fields which can produce technology, continue to be pursued during the tribal eras? And in the modern era, are they spit upon in comparison to the fields which produce harder facts?

And another: I assume most belenosians are atheists or on the harder side of agnosticism, but what sort of views are common in regards the philosophical questions of the meaning of life or sense of purpose, or why certain things are important, and so on? I was wondering if a certain flavour of pantheistic atheism would work well for you guys. Like, "we are the part of the universe that is capable of appreciating itself, so the best fulfillment of life is to just discover and experience as much as possible", and that would carry on to attitudes like "just by existing you have vlaue, life is precious and especially sentient life because killing someone or destroying their mind takes away a unique perspective on existence", that sort of thing. That would be one that supports science a lot, though it could also support art appreciation or creation or exploration or even hedonism if you want to spin it that way. Would a philosophy like that be held to by belenosians, in place of religion? Were any actual religions rediscovered/created during the tribal period?
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No. 96955 ID: 3d2d5f

How does Yich Eater child rearing generally go? Are all three parents involved in raising kids?

Many / most of the other major sapient species pair off to form something like nuclear families, and neumono obviously skew towards more collaborative hive rearing. But we know almost nothing about Yich Eater social constructs! (I don't think we've ever even seen two Yich Eaters interact directly).
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No. 96974 ID: 88e46e

Heeeeeey Pit, are you familiar with Lieutenant Pit from the first thread or are there just only so many monosyllable names?
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No. 97033 ID: f79998

Penn, has Roxie ever tried teaching you any of her hive's language? Does the belenosian learning thing apply well to gaining a language?
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No. 97201 ID: 44950f

Do neumono tails play a part in the physical expression of emotion? Like, bristle for fear/anger, lift for alertness, droop for depression, wag for happiness, et cetera?
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No. 97414 ID: dd338c
File 145385370668.png - (12.96KB , 800x800 , PennITQ8.png )
97414

>Penn, how is AI romance seen in public circles? As in either romance between AI's, or between one with an organic?
Romance between AI's practically has its own field of study, just because of how complex relations can form from one AI to the other. Sometimes they're not supposed to, but in any respectable field, it's seen as a shortcoming of the building of the AI rather than the AI's own fault.

AI and an organic, well... most places see it as weird, since most of the time, non-sentient AIs are supposed to be treated the same as non-sentient tools. Or in the case of sentient AIs, on a pure professional basis.

But people fall in love anyway, whether or not it's a good thing.

I mean, that's really not including the AI companies that make artificial significant others, but that's a controversial field. Also, there is a huge, sentient AI on earth that acts as like an unofficial therapist or counselor to anyone inside of earth's solar system. That's also controversial since AI's can't really get degrees like that legally, so that AI always has to be presented 'for entertainment purposes only', even if it's done a lot of emotional good for people without access or willingness to go to a professional living being of the respective field.

Siiince it's basically a sentient being that's made to be available for public talk and to be as nice as supportive as inhumanly possible, a lot of people have confessed love for it.

It has its own algorithms to deal with people who fall in love with it or grow dependent on it or whatever, too.

>How far has science gone in the essence of understanding the consciousness, and whether or not it's possible to digitize an entire mind, and how to transfer a proper consciousness from one area to another, like into a different brain?
Not very, just because everyone saw how well that worked out for the belenos. So there's a lot of legal red tape that has to be cut to make studies on it, and that red tape is usually in the form of having to proof that there's a very serious benefit to what exactly they're trying to do.

Still, we know a lot about it, but there would need to be an enormous amount of breakthroughs, one after the other, before we get anywhere close to being able to move people's brains into other formats reliably, and in a way that, even just arguably, moves it instead of cloning it then destroying the original.

>Did any species have a name for their homeworld, which was kept after humans came by?
No, not really.

Each species had their own name for it, definitely. A lot of names for it, really, since each species would have their own languages. Most of those species' language would just translate it to something like 'all the dirt under our feet' or something like that, rather than a planet as we understand it.

>If you didn't have the next step in your career lined up with Arza, but you still had all your qualifications, what job would you like to do?
Ah... I would probably still want to work with CAIs very much, I think.

>Hmm... what's the state of robots, as opposed to AIs? Like, I imagine there are housekeeping robots and ones that help in hospitals and so on, that are pre-made for specific jobs, but how possible is it for someone to build a robot for themselves?
It's definitely doable, but it also has the same issues of making an AI from scratch. Anyone with some money can just go buy some prefabricated parts and install in a compatible AI that can understand what its limbs specifications are. More in depth people can buy smaller and smaller parts to build a robot body with, and can code in the specifications of the limbs for the AI to work off of.

So, yes, it's exactly similar to how I described making AIs, kind of.

I have made some robots a little, but only to show how an AI can learn how to use its limbs without being told how. That class usually films the results so people can laugh at all of the robots flopping around trying to stand up. It's kind of funny but also kind of depressing that it's funny.

>Besides the idiosyncrasies of individual makers, do you feel like there's a difference between AIs made by different species? Do AIs made by a human or a pomi or a neumono differ in recognizable ways from one made by a belenosian?
Ah, sort of. Not really much between human and belenos, but that's because a lot of the field's advances are because of us two working together on it so much, so it blends together. Neumono have a tendency to make it run a lot of processing power to come up with a "correct" decision even if there really isn't a correct one. Pomi try to have it run efficiently at the cost of, well, making it stable.

I haven't seen enough AI's made from other species though to tell if those AI's quirks are because of the species, or because of the individuals.

>So... if legality wasn't a problem, you could upgrade Orix to be sentient pretty easily?
Well, if legality wasn't a problem, and if I had the modules, Orix could be sentient easily. Those modules are hard to get, though. I can probably get one from Arza, but.... that doesn't count.

>What are the legal limits, anyway, is more allowed for government, corporations, or military work?
Only for high level military and government work. They can be loaned out, in a way, to corporations, but the AI is always to answer to the government, not the corporation.

>Are there like, wealthy CEOs who go "oh no we need an advanced AI to handle our security", but who are really just using that as a loophole to have their own special AI buddy?
Yes, but since the government can easily investigate and check up on the AI, it would be really difficult to get away with trying to make the AI serve the corporation's purposes.

>On the subject of food, do you and Roxie ever cook for each other? Or is it too problematic for aliens to prepare each others' food, like what tastes fine to one won't taste the same to the other. Or, like, when a neumono cooks for aliens they always make too much food, and when aliens cook for neumono they don't make enough, so the neumono has to go "oh thank you" to be polite and then sneak off afterwards to cram something else into themselves. That sort of thing?
Wellll, that may be common for aliens cooking for one another who aren't familiar, but it doesn't take long to get an idea of what an alien eats, at least for a basic idea.

I rarely had time to cook for even myself, but Roxie, since she's being funded by Arza at my request for being helpful, cooks for me all the time. It was a little rough at first, since she insist on cooking things that were complex and things that she'd never eat, but she can do it well now.

>Any pomi want to comment on finding human stories about lizardmen, or belenosians on discovering fuzzy horn-having people-creatures?
Human stories might've been unflattering but I mean, the bad guys that were goat people didn't really look like us anymore than an orc or whatever would look like a human, so there's just enough separation that it didn't mean much.

But, uh there was a little while, like a few decades at most, where neumono were being spot-uplifted over a lot of areas that weren't necessarily connected, and there was a lot of stuff neumono were starting to make. Like, a lot of hives wanted to get in the technology based industries, so a lot started making video games, cars, movies, all that kind of stuff. But they didn't have the normal tools or education on it, so there were a lot of interesting... products of the time. Including the movies, which were sometimes about aliens, which, uh... well, it's a little amusing how they got into the industry to prove a point to aliens that they can use technology too, and then used that technology to make some really goofy interpretations about what aliens did and do.

>Penn, have you ever met any others of Roxie's hive?
Almost! But then I got shy and ran out of my apartment before her hivemate showed up and I missed the meeting and I've always felt terrible about it since, because in theory I should get along just as well with Roxie's hivemate as I do with Roxie.

>Do tribals going through uplift get like special resources to help them deal with technology, or did you often have to put up with Roxie coming to you for help every time she couldn't figure out how to turn on the tv or so on? Or maybe both?
Well, yes, but most of the basics like tv's and toasters and whatever are covered in initial courses long before they get a roommate, so that isn't an issue. There's also a big database in either a book or computer file format that the neumono can look up.

Roxie knew how to use appliance and stuff well, but I did have to answer an awful lot of computer questions for her for awhile.

>Do you have fingernails or some equivalent under that fur?
Yes! Our claws are sort of like a thin fingernail, so it's basically flat at the end, but it's really tough.

Since we don't know how it would've come up in an evolutionary sense besides guesses, it's a safe bet that our fingernails were designed to do stuff like open cans.

>Penn, has Roxie ever tried teaching you any of her hive's language? Does the belenosian learning thing apply well to gaining a language?
A little! Sometimes when I ask what a word means when she yells one out. It's usually a curse. I remember most of it, because Belenos are definitely also good at learning languages, but I'm definitely not fluent or even capable of broken speech with it, because it's still a big deal to learn for such a specialized thing. Plus, statistically speaking, if Roxie's hive migrates to an ultrahive completely, then at least 95% of the hive will also know english in about 30 years.
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No. 97415 ID: dd338c
File 145385373386.png - (12.69KB , 800x800 , RoxieITQ2.png )
97415

>Do neumono need different arrangements in regards breaks to eat at work or college? Humans, and I assume most species, have that three-meals plan that's not really natural but designed to work well with the working day, but neumono need more food more often. So, do neumono workplaces have brunch and linner breaks in addition to what everyone else has? Or do they just have extra food stands and snack machines on site and the neumono just get up and grab something whenever they feel the need, and everyone just accepts it?
We're not so lucky! We don't really get more breaks, but vending machines are about as common as bathrooms. Also, rules are a lot more lax about eating at our desks or wherever. And if it's not, then taking a food break is just as acceptable as taking a bathroom break. It's why though a lot of our food is just condensed snacks.

>Do places with a lot of neumono tend to have a lot more street vendors and restaurants and such in general? Do they tend towards any higher quality than those for other species, since neumono don't do so well just cramming junk into their bellies to stop hunger pangs until later?
Yes, for sure we have more food places, at least in highly populated areas. After all, people need to eat, so it's gonna have an industry, and if people need to eat three times as much, it'll be three times as big an industry!

The 'quality' of food has to go up, yes, but the taste of food, not so much. So there are places that keep the taste up, some places that are just convenient and fast but still healthy, and we still have our junk food, but our bodies start having issues way faster if we eat too much junk. As opposed to aliens who do just fine for about 30 years on a junk diet.

>How much does Penn eat, compared to other belenos? All that braining all day must eat up a lot of calories. Plus, well, you're both lovely ladies, and you're curvier overall of course, but Penn doesn't seem like she has to make any excuse in the caboose either, know what I mean? And good for her, too.
She eats... enough? I guess? When I first started watching her eat, I thought she was trying to starve herself even after being told they eat a lot less.

I never watched other belenos eat whole meals or anything, but Penn tells me that she makes sure she eats enough to keep herself operating well. Which is a really belenos way of putting it.

>And speaking of scent, to neumono: you can't get empathic readings off aliens, but can smell make up some of the difference? Different emotions produce different chemical balances that come out with perspiration, particularly the excitement-oriented ones like fear, anger and arousal and so on. I assume aliens just smell weird at first, but after a while learning what odor corresponds to what, can you pick up information on them through your nose?
Yeah kinda.

Only works on studying one person though, since it's even harder to pick up the patterns shared by all members of the species.

>Could neumono learn to tell voklit men and women apart by smell?
Probably. Maybe? Voklit smell is supposed to kick ass, so it depends on if that gender difference is a big difference or a subtle one.

I mean, I've been around voklit before, jungle and all, but usually they brought bigger concerns than wondering about their reproductive capabilities.

>Do neumono tails play a part in the physical expression of emotion? Like, bristle for fear/anger, lift for alertness, droop for depression, wag for happiness, et cetera?
Yes! Like any other limb. It'll, uh, not wag, but wave around if we get happy, jerk around if we're irritated, but otherwise just what you'd expect I think.
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No. 97416 ID: dd338c
File 145385374497.png - (9.93KB , 800x800 , KarriITQ4.png )
97416

>Karri, are you seeing anyone right now? Or do you just have a few casual flings now and then? Anyone we know?
Just casual stuff with a few guys that I get along with. Nothing significant or long term.
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No. 97417 ID: dd338c
File 145385376407.png - (25.75KB , 800x800 , MissITQ12.png )
97417

>Any pomi want to comment on finding human stories about lizardmen
I think some early Pomi had a pretty cool sense of humor about saying how they weren't aliens at all, but inhabited the center of the earth long before humans were around and then for reasons were on our homeworld.

But really no one paid any more bad attention to weird lizardman stories in human movies any more than humans poke fun at how badly their own movies predicted what 50 years in the future would look like.

>And how about non-human instances, are there like, any ancient pomi myths that coincidentally include hairless monkeys or half-plant folks or whatnot?
Plant folk, sure! The mikliks, uh, didn't really live up to the epic tales of plant gods.

We never really had a good match with human looking things, though.

Buuuut, we did have one pretty major god who was the god of gluttony who just a little bit resembles a neumono, so that's cool.

>Miss, do you pomi ladies just lay eggs regularly, regardless of prior activities?
Kinda, but it's a really small egg, so it's barely even worth a bathroom break.
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No. 97418 ID: dd338c
File 145385378748.png - (11.27KB , 800x800 , PilonITQ36.png )
97418

>Question for anyone, Which races are most likely to pursue romantic partners outside of their species?
I believe human and neumono are the most common for this. The theory for us neumono is that we already have experience with other sapient and sentient creatures, and so we at least had a boost of familiarity with the concept unlike most others.

Humans, well... they're complex, and I think they have a tendency to look and focus outside of their boundaries a lot more than the other species. So even though they can be just as discriminating for just as arbitrary reasons as any other species, they also open themselves up to a lot of possibilities.

>My money's on humans, what with how our libido goes off of what the torso looks like.
That would explain it, and in simpler terms, too.

>I was under the impression neumono saw large ears as an attractive trait
>Pilon can you confirm this is true.
Often, yes, but as the saying goes, there's no accounting for taste. And even neumono have a sense for too big, too much, and so my ears can still be offputting even to those who like large ears.

Oh, since it's related... just in case anyone thought differently, you can't make Rokoa self concious of her ears.

>How about you, Pilon, [are you seeing anyone right now]?
I do have my relations with various people, yes, but it's not quite the same as having a lover, and even considering that, it certainly doesn't feel as strong as I wish it did.

So, I'm not seeing anyone in the sense that most people take "seeing someone" to mean, no.
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No. 97419 ID: dd338c
File 145385384326.png - (10.83KB , 800x800 , PoloITQ101.png )
97419

>I was under the impression neumono saw large ears as an attractive trait
>Polo can you confirm this is true.
I find Pilon's ears are more of a novelty to me than attractive.

Nonetheless, if I were out of an appropriate bed or other sleeping surface, I would sleep on his ear even if it is strange.

>Would you eat Miklik if it was presented as part of a nice salad at a fancy dining occasion?
No, under the presumption that I am not starving to death.

>So, Polo, have you realized that you're Rokoa's fetish yet? How does that feel?
I doubt it's that simple.

I still won't miss her.
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No. 97420 ID: dd338c
File 145385385429.png - (14.46KB , 800x800 , RokoaITQ79.png )
97420

>Have you ever ripped off your ear and used it as a projectile weapon, and would that actually be useful, assuming that you didn't have a gun or something?
Yes. My ear by itself would be completely useless. It's got some good weight to it, but it's still soft and fluffy. At best, it's a special distraction in a special circumstance, especially if I throw it at some alien or weakling who reflexively protects themself from anything dangerous or unexpected.

The reason why the answer was yes, is because normally I have remote controlled explosives or plasma swords lodged in my ear when I know I'm going somewhere that doesn't have a CAI or any possibility of activating them unexpectedly. So that question got fucked, because ripping off my ear is the same as dislodging a grenade or something.

Without shoving whatever tech in my ears, there's not as many fuck-you options. A few examples of when I've done it are, other than food, is to use as a blindfold, something to muck up and sabatoge an engine, and to slap someone with.

>Would you eat Miklik if it was presented as part of a nice salad at a fancy dining occasion?
Yeah. They're an acquired taste, but then they're not bad. Like a mix of meat and vegetables.

>Rokoa do you have dibs on Kappi, or would you share if either of them was interested?
If I had dibs on Kappi, I'd shove him in my backpack wherever I go, because I can't leave a person alone and expect them to not get stolen or wander off.

So he can screw around with anyone else while I'm away.

Just like I can judge him on his choices.

>I'm wondering if frenemies could actually have been a thing, historically. Like, if you have two neighboring hives that weren't really warlike, they would have raided and skirmished and beaten up on each other a lot, but with neumono toughness a lot more of the participants would survive than with other species. So you could end up with particular individuals meeting each other again and again, and developing a familiarity and knowledge of each other.
Yeah. Usually the less neumono around, the better, so we just bit the hell out of other neumono to get them to fuck off or die. But in one of our environments that we passed through yearly, we were in a place where some nasty wildlife hung around, and with enough neumono, the population of that wildlife was kept in check. That's when we recognize that less neumono isn't good, so we would come to a sense of agreement that instead of killing each other, we'd just beat the shit out of each other but let them survive.

Course, we'd want to beat them up so hard that they wouldn't want to fight us anymore. In hindsight that was a dumb fucking idea, because a few times we'd get our heads beaten in and that just got us wanting to do the same back to them even more. If we used our heads, we'd realize that they'd feel the same way when we won hard.

>Rokoa's parents presumably met each other in some similar fashion. In extreme cases, you could even end up with two particularly old enemies becoming the eldest in their hives, so that they'd have known each other longer than anyone else. Is that a thing?
They had that begrudging respect thing going on.

Also, snow areas tend to have tougher wildlife per neumono, so we killed each other less than, say, redgrass neumono on each other.

>And if it is a thing, how do such relationship generally turn when hives are uplifted? Since the ultrahives are geographically bounded, and hives seem to want to keep their ancestral homes more often than not, there must be a lot of former enemies who are having to see a lot of each other. Are there neumono going out to drink and talk about the young people these days, then getting in nostalgia fights with each other?
I saw where the world was going before I landed on the asteroid.

There probably wasn't a whole lot of old enemies finding each other and having to deal with each other's presence, cause they couldn't find each other in that sea of kids everyone covered the planet with.

I bet some fights happened, though. Some would be nostalgic and harmless, some would go full tribal backslide.

I can bet that because I'm sure just about every imaginable outcome happened at least once.

>People turning up at each others' doors with apology gifts going "hey sorry for breaking your arms and legs all those times"?
Except this one. Tribals doing that to other tribals is comical.

>Hey Rokoa, when you were were telling that story to Kappi, did you leave out the part that was never to be spoken of again?
Hell no I didn't, I never agreed to that, and it's an important part of the story.
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No. 97421 ID: dd338c
File 145385386548.png - (14.31KB , 800x800 , AzITQ19.png )
97421

>Az, do you have a snow neumono fetish?
Think I think about why I like the things I like?

I don't.

I just know I like 'em.

>How does a king/queen happen in a jammer hive? I was under the impression it had something to do with empathy, but in a jammer hive that cant really be the case, can it?
Physical contact within the hive to get past the jammer, and lots of it.
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No. 97422 ID: dd338c
File 145385390837.png - (13.83KB , 800x800 , PennGrandmotherITQ2.png )
97422

>I know you're not Penn's actual biological grandmother, but did you have any kids of your own?
I had a good for nothing son that ran off with a good for nothing girl. The more he tried to stay in contact with me, the more I wish he'd drain out. Eventually he got the hint.

If I have any grandkids, I don't feel attached.

>Like, is there a problem with the biggest belenosian science nerds being so busy doing science that they don't have kids. And, since you mention a lack of husbandry during the tribal era, are there any weirdos who are trying to make up for that now? Eugenics, and such?
Yeah, but there's enough non nerds that it isn't a big problem, yet.

There's belenos that want to practice eugenics, sure. Problem is, they're all about theoretical eugenics and wouldn't recognize practical application if you wrote a masterpiece book on why their idea is bullshit.

So that's not a big problem, yet.

They will be, and I won't be sad that I'm too dead to miss it.

>If a belenosian loses their arm, can science cook up a clone limb and reattach it, or stimulate a form of regeneration artificially?
A cloned limb is the way to go. It's not cheap or prohibitively expensive. Trying to mock direct regeneration, like neumono, has had some results, but is far too primitive and unpredictable to be useful yet.

>Are there cyborgs who emulate neumono resilience by having backup redundant organs installed, and can they get put back in action as quick as a neumono can if they have the best treatment available?
Theoretically, it's possible, but trying to cram people full of spare organs has its own limitations.

On a mass scale, it would be cheaper to reduce the cloning laws, clone the would-be cyborgs as backups, and let them die and replace them.

>Finally... this is sort of an insensitive question, but besides that you guys just like learning, do you think belenosians' comparatively limited lifespans have an influence on how eagerly some of you pursue science? Like, you know you only have so much time to see how far science progresses, so you want it to go faster so you can see and learn as much as possible?
No. The most productive belenos scientists are the ones who pursue a goal without any sense of mortality to them until they're on their deathbed. Not including the ones studying immortality.

Passion and discipline. Master those, and you'll go just as intensely knowing you have ten years left as you would knowing you have a thousand. A scientist that decides to not study a field because it won't be as advanced as they'd like when they die is not a scientist who justifies their brain.

>And, do you think Penn will behave a little differently in that regard, since there's a reasonable chance that she might have space to be more patient? I mean, the ancient belenosians were certainly capable of making improvements in that regard, and it seems like one of the first featuress you'd include.
I am not one hundred percent sure how much space she'll have to be patience, but patience is irrelevant. I feel that she will study as she wants, when she wants, which will be a lot, with neither patience or impatience about it.

>Following that food question, what did belenosians eat during the pre-contact days? If there was any natural ecosystem left under the empire then it must have gotten absolutely devastated. It seems implied that there weren't any animals left, either, besides toyas. So like, without insects, did farmers have to see to crop pollination themselves? Without beasts of burden, did they have to do all the ploughing, hauling, etc. as well? Did they ever try to breed toyas to be more suitable to help out? Were there ever giant riding toyas?
Toyas were the only animals left, but there were still stockpiles of crops that were made to be easily and efficiently farmable in a plain environment. Still, tribals typically did have to do all the labor themselves.

Needless to say, the diet was not very diverse. Many belenos lived and died only experiencing the taste of a few different things, granted, there were creative ways to cook the exact same thing in different ways.

As for beasts of burden, no. There were more than just toyas that survived the apocolypse, but tribals let them starve or just killed them if they were remotely dangerous animals. Which was any animal that was not a toya.

>Did any such survival-crazy old nobles actually survive and reappear during the tribal eras, out of stasis or whatever?
Yes. The tribals, in their religious fervor and shortsightedness, would use technology to destroy other technology. Therefore, any time an old deathbot, noble or "self sufficient" battlestation reactivated, the tribals somehow were able to destroy it before going back to a life of harvest and rock banging.

>Would you eat Miklik if it was presented as part of a nice salad at a fancy dining occasion?
I would say no, but ever since I was put in charge of Penn, I was led through some high society shit with some out of reality mindsets. Like the more exotic the food, the better.

And of course, grandpa topdollars would get offended if I didn't eat whatever gold seasoned, 30 year activated manure was put on my plate.

So never willingly, but I could be coerced under the right circumstances.

>Belonos birth control must be a BITCH for the women, because all the good stuff must have been made in the empire days. Might have been a good thing we never got Penn a boyfriend (and that Milo was just a backstabbing turd waiting to happen).
No. Belenos are highly fertile, and having sex without protection is a surefire way to become pregnant, yes, but like most medications, we are very responsive to birth control as well. We have birth control that prevent sex, and pills that are safe to stop a pregnancy a little while in, at least enough time to take it in case the normal birth control pill was forgotten.

>This might be more of a psychology or sociology or anthropology(xenothropology?) question, but do you think forsaking sexuality and sexual identity may have been a factor in the nobles becoming... well, assholes?
As a small part, perhaps, but that's just one sacrifice they made in the big picture of living, breathing organisms.

>How are the soft sciences and humanities viewed by belenosians, generally? Did they, being less threatening than fields which can produce technology, continue to be pursued during the tribal eras? And in the modern era, are they spit upon in comparison to the fields which produce harder facts?
To a degree, yes, but with formal scientific methods seen as some kind of heretical religion, the ideas they formed around it were as harmful as helpful.

As for the modern era, they're not spat on. At least, no more than the mathematician brags about the purity of his field over physics, or those who mock philosophy students who took the beginning courses and now think they understand the world. However, on the whole, they are recognized as useful in their own way, and although arriving at a hard, irrefutable facts is far more difficult in those fields, sometimes us belenos see that as a challenge to come up with something useful with softer material.

>I assume most belenosians are atheists or on the harder side of agnosticism, but what sort of views are common in regards the philosophical questions of the meaning of life or sense of purpose, or why certain things are important, and so on? I was wondering if a certain flavour of pantheistic atheism would work well for you guys. Like, "we are the part of the universe that is capable of appreciating itself, so the best fulfillment of life is to just discover and experience as much as possible"
To a degree, yes. But we do have tendencies to wish to control our surroundings as much as possible and then some. Although belenos are not as openly religious as they used to be during the tribal era, many do believe that the universe is somewhat of a living thing, somehow while recognizing the fact that it's just one big, slow motion explosion. And that we are its cells, so to speak, but with freedom to do with the universe as we please.

That last part is usually phrased in a less overt manner.

> and that would carry on to attitudes like "just by existing you have [value], life is precious and especially sentient life because killing someone or destroying their mind takes away a unique perspective on existence", that sort of thing. That would be one that supports science a lot, though it could also support art appreciation or creation or exploration or even hedonism if you want to spin it that way. Would a philosophy like that be held to by belenosians, in place of religion?
I have not heard of many ideologies that place value on just existing. There is not much of a concept for us of equal minds. However, many religions of the tribal era were about politeness and generosity - to organics, of course - and so at least some value was placed on any random individual. If not by just existing, then by potential.

There was not a singular church that took hold of wide swaths of the planets, though, and with less communication, there were lots of variances.

>Were any actual religions rediscovered/created during the tribal period?
Probably not many were rediscovered, and those that were were likely mutated, perverse ideas suited to the new times. Lots, however, were created entirely from scratch, aside from known history for loose justification.
>>
No. 97423 ID: dd338c
File 145385391806.png - (85.55KB , 800x800 , MiloITQ1.png )
97423

>You seemed pretty confident in your wooing abilities. You seduce ladies often? You didn't look to have much objection to your role in the plan, either. In regards the morality of it all that's one thing, but not personally, either? Did you just not mind, or did you actually find Penn attractive enough to make it less of a chore?
It's not like I try to get in the sack with women all the time, but I'm definitely a social kind of guy, and once social games are down, it's not much of a bridge to gap to seem appealing to women.

And no. It was a nasty plan, but my sister and I look out for each other, so I don't mind breaking some hearts for her.

I did like Penn, actually. The reason for my approach was a shitty reason for sure, but if we really did hit it off well, I might've been able to stay in the clear and actually treat her well.

>Also does your sister pull this shit often. Complicated vengeance/sabotage resentment schemes, I mean. She seems like she would.
Yeah. Usually not as complex, but this didn't come out of left field by any stretch.
>>
No. 97424 ID: dd338c
File 145385393137.png - (35.91KB , 800x800 , GlitcherITQ2.png )
97424

>Any CAI contestant, along with sight and sound and touch, is the sense of smell part of your experience?
So, the -

>Any CAI contestant
I'm close enough.

So, the answer is basically yes.

Smells kind of come up whenever, though. Most of the time there just wasn't anything to smell up until simulations got involved, or when the stage had some point to smell something, or whatever.

And when there's nothing to smell, the contestants can't smell! Which is kind of silly, but I guess it takes out a bit of overhead for them to process it.

>So... how was the date?
Man it was confusing but you know I think we're getting along pretty fishy now. Which is good. Because fish swim. So fishy is swimmingly. Which I have no idea what swimmingly means. In fact fishy sounds kinda bad so just forget it.

So we're doing more stuff together and I want to be around her more than I don't want to be around her so considering that we were about to try to murder each other I'd say it went pretty glorious-like.
>>
No. 97425 ID: dd338c
File 145385394177.png - (15.80KB , 800x800 , RulekeeperITQ1.png )
97425

>So... how was the date?
Better than expected.
>>
No. 97426 ID: dd338c
File 145385411283.png - (13.33KB , 800x800 , JessITQ17.png )
97426

>Would there be more racism or sexism in jammer cities?
Not really. Meaning there's a lot, but people don't know how to deal with it.

In non jammer cities, people often immediately dislike each other, but it's common, so they go about their lives and it's not a big deal, because people are used to being disliked. There's no, you know, expectation otherwise. Well, okay gotta keep in mind that, er, I hear from aliens that they frequently think of some nasty thoughts about an acquaintance or something if they get inconvenienced accidentally by them. But if they actually confront, they'll often suddenly be nice and polite and stuff. There's kind of the same idea with us, except that our thoughts are open to confrontation, too, so we won't necessarily think the same way in front of a person as we would if we were out of empathic range or in a jammer.

But! Not everyone, though, and I don't think to a big extreme anyway, so we still have to get used to being disliked, and having other people know we dislike them, even if we act all nice to each other because we're civilized, society loving neumono.

But there's still going to be wary eyes on that redgrass neumono walking in like she owns the place.

>The first instinct is to judge the other person based on their empathy, and once you get past the basic not-my-hive reaction, the empathic read tends to be pretty accurate, so there's no reason to make judgements based on anything else about them.
Yeah, but we still judge off other things. Like 'oh, he seems like a polite fellow, but he dresses like a dumpster diver, so he probably has issues that I just can't sense offhand'. It takes a little more getting to know him, with or without empathy, before the first glance impressions really go away.

>When you're in a jammer, you don't have that. For example, during Polo's most recent adventures, I noticed that after spending a long time in a jammer, Katzati started getting more flak about her weight from her companions. You can high-five every neumono you meet to get an empathic read, of course, but in the case of a jammer city that seems both very impractical and defeating the point of the whole thing in the first place.
There is kind of a two way problem for people who are used to always being in a jammer or always our of one. Jammer neumono have trouble suddenly being opened up when they leave for a nonjammer town for the first time, but nonjammer neumono also get pretty weird. They're so used to being an open book, they don't know what to do when they're in a jammer. So then they start trying to convey their empathy by the other physical means by holding up body posture, or just vomiting words that are best left internalized. Just too much discomfort, I guess, with being closed out from everything, so they express themselves more actively to compensate. And words to us can sometimes convey empathy about as well as the written word can convey someone's tone of voice.

And there's the problem, because nonjammer neumono suddenly put in a jammer suddenly forget there's a difference between just thinking 'oh she's pretty fat' and actually going up to a girl and going 'oh wow you're fat what's up with that'. The former is at least passive and there's an understanding that bad thoughts are going to happen, but talking about it is giving those bad thoughts value and affirmation.
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No. 97427 ID: dd338c
File 145385412818.png - (82.93KB , 800x800 , ClunkerITQ5.png )
97427

>Who did you work for before you met Story Seeker? Have you had any jobs other than being a bodyguard?
Yeah, I've had other jobs. By that I mean I've had a job. By that I mean I was never a bodyguard before meeting Story Seeker.

But you know, odds and ends. Whatever needs doing. A little of everything. Basically assistant. Yeah, that was my job. Assistant. Assistant cook, delivery man, handyman, anything. Anything that paid a thing.
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No. 97428 ID: dd338c
File 145385413924.png - (11.05KB , 800x800 , AgnesITQ13.png )
97428

>How does Yich Eater child rearing generally go? Are all three parents involved in raising kids?
Rarely so. Modern Yich Eaters often split the children. The carriers will be raised by other carriers. The rest will be raised by the non-carriers, together. This virtually always happened pre-uplift, but although modernization has skewed things to have exceptions, it is still a long standing tradition.
>>
No. 97429 ID: dd338c
File 145385419155.png - (12.93KB , 800x800 , PitITQ3.png )
97429

>Heeeeeey Pit, are you familiar with Lieutenant Pit from the first thread or are there just only so many monosyllable names?
There are over ten billion neumono.

There are many Pits, yes -

What I mean to say is, Pit isn't that common a name, but it's not that uncommon either. I've heard of at least a few Pits in my life, and I'm sure I'll hear of more. I'm sure there's some with the name Pit, and with the same hive as me, too.

The short answer is no, I'm not familiar with that particular Pit, nor anyone named Pit who has any military relations.
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No. 97430 ID: dd338c
File 145385422020.png - (117.36KB , 600x500 , Likol(Rokolo)-ITQ1.png )
97430

>Are there any obvious signs of Neumono aging?

Hello. I'm Likol. The one from Rokolo's timeline, for those of you who need the distinction made, although I gather you might not have too many of me to be confused by. If I have managed to stretch a few decades more than some of my counterparts, though, that isn't going to last much longer. I'm getting old.

Which makes you fortunate. Neumono dying of old age still isn't at all common. Hives who do have a member reach the point of deterioration tend to get quite protective, and don't appreciate prying. My hive, however, are among the ones who do the prying.

A neumono can begin their decline towards death by old age any time after their second century. A few even start a few decades before then, but it's rare. Around two hundred and fifty is about the median point of the range, and there's a great deal of variance. Since timekeeping was spotty pre-uplift, it can be hard to know exactly how old some neumono were when they died, but at least a few have pushed past three hundred. Legends, of course, talk about various heroes and villains living several centuries further than that. Tentative theories suggest that empathy can have a strong impact on when a neumono starts to age, as it has on so much else of our physiology, with neumono whose hives especially value them tending to live longer. There's been no record of a King or Queen, for example, starting to age earlier than two hundred twenty, but the amount of them who have died of old age is a very slim slice of an already small sample size.

Now, what happens to you when you do start to age?

It happens gradually. You might take a few months to realize what's happening, maybe a year if you already lead a sedate, reasonably healthy lifestyle. The first thing you notice could even seem positive: you stop being as hungry, as your metabolism starts to slow down. Along with that, if you're in the habit of doing anything that wears at your body somehow, you start to discover that your regeneration isn't working at full capacity any more. In my case, I was already accustomed to using my eyes so much that I needed glasses, and when I began to age, my eyesight began to worsen more quickly and take longer to return to good condition. Despite your lowered metabolism, your body also gets worse at storing food, so in combination with the loss of appetite you begin to lose weight, particularly in places with low blood flow. The ears are usually the most noticeable. You begin to get tired earlier in the day, and become more prone to feeling cold, since you no longer produce as much heat yourself. A healthy lifestyle with good diet and exercise can help your energy levels and keep you healthy for longer, but it has to be actually reasonable exercise, not the common neumono military regimen of repeatedly smashing your face into dangerous objects. If you are unwise enough to keep up the careless habits that a lot of neumono have, you'll find that not only do you not heal as fast, your regeneration starts to make mistakes: broken bones won't set properly, severed tissue will be misaligned, the negative effects of recreational substances won't clear away as quickly, and so on. Depending on your environment, you will likely become more prone to cancers. Your body still retains some ability to clear them, especially when they cause actual pain, but they develop further and cause more problems than in a young neumono, and you can no longer simply get yourself cut open and the tumor torn out so carelessly. Since we have redundant biology, cancers will only kill you if you're unlucky enough to lose functioning in every instance of an essential organ at once; however, even moderate internal damage can cause exhaustion, confusion and other persistent symptoms until your body catches up, which can take far longer and require more medical assistance than it previously would have. It gradually becomes harder to maintain muscle mass, and your bones become more frail. Flexibility doesn't suffer much, though, compared to aliens, and again, good exercise can slow the decline somewhat.

After a few years, there are more cosmetic changes. All neumono can develop gray hairs during their normal lifetime, especially under stress, but as you age it happens more often. Your body still tries to keep up, so color can return, but the rate of new gray fur appearing slowly begins to outpace it. You will get some overall fading, in addition to pure gray patches. After a few years, you'll also begin to get some bald spots, mostly on extremities and on the joints, where there's some more wear and tear. We do develop a few wrinkles, but not any faster than aliens; they don't have time to get too severe. The ones we do get are usually hidden by our fur, except where it gives way to something else, such as the edges of our eyes.

That's it for physical symptoms, but if behavior counts as an obvious sign, I should mention the mental effects of age as well.

Psychologically, the decline is more... subtle. There's a sort of senility that sets in, but instead of forgetting things, or not being able to think, you actually start to think too much. It becomes difficult to keep your brains in line, so you get a lot of different thoughts trying to go off in several directions at once, and it gets harder to maintain focus on any one thing in particular. When you're well-rested and well-fed, it's not so bad, but the more drained you are the worse it becomes.

Along with the general loss of mental cohesion, your self-awareness starts to slip away. It's a little hard to explain, as an experience. Have you ever had a dream where you were doing something strange, that you normally wouldn't be able to do without realizing how silly or senseless it is? But in the dream, you just don't notice? You do things, and you're aware of what's happening in the dream, but you don't think about them. For neumono who are aging, moments like that start to happen when you're awake. Mostly, what you do during those moments isn't that different from what you would normally do, but it's alarming to suddenly realize you've spent the last few hours not paying any attention to your own thoughts.

Perhaps related to that is the trouble you start having with empathy. It doesn't fade or dull: if anything, you start to become more vulnerable to external empathy, particularly from hivemates. It becomes a lot harder to keep track of the distinction between your own thoughts and those coming from outside. As your condition worsens, it happens more and more. What we do know from other hives suggests that, by the end, an aging neumono will lose themselves completely. Or, well... not "lose themselves", exactly. From my own hivemates' experience of me when I have such moments, I'm still mostly myself. My personality, my habits and so on are all still there and apparent. I don't become very wild or overly emotional. I simply lose my... sentience, I suppose. Autonomy? Free will? I'm not sure what to call it. You get the idea. Eventually, I'll lose it and not be able to get it back. I'll stop really being a person, and become... more like a pet animal. A well-trained, well-loved, probably quite happy pet animal, with an empathic connection, but they tell me the difference is still noticeable.

Some time after that, if your body hasn't suffered some fatal failure by this time, you finally just die on your own. As if your body simply decides there's no more benefit to staying alive. You get tired, and fall asleep, and then just don't wake up. There haven't been many chances to study the exact process properly.

It's really not a bad way to go, compared to the alternatives, I think.

One of my hivemates suggested that, if elderly neumono become more sensitive to empathy as they decline, it may be that aging rogues could find themselves more easily able to make a hive connection again. Which is good, but... really still more ironically tragic than anything.

From deterioration to death takes about five to ten years, and I'm in the middle of that. I don't really mind. I've been ready to die on any day for hundreds of years. Rokolo has several ideas about neumono immortality that she's talked to me about, but... no. None of that. I'm too old. I've seen too much. I remember when just figuring out how to make semi-transparent glass was a big deal. I've had to stretch too far; it might be the effects of age talking, but I'm worn out. The rest of my hive will do better without me holding them back.

Besides, the Rokoa clones, they...
>>
No. 97431 ID: dd338c
File 145385424811.png - (112.15KB , 600x500 , Likol(Rokolo)ITQ2.png )
97431

>"Likoool! You're not in the gravity room! Come on, we put the timetable on your wall."
>"You know your bones snap like fucking twigs if you don't train!"
>"And then it'll be time to eat!"
>"If you haven't worked up an appetite we're just going to jam it down your throat for you again!"

... like me.

There are more than twelve hundred Rokoas here.

There's going to be thousands.

Death may not come fast enough.
>>
No. 97432 ID: dd338c
File 145385427284.png - (13.00KB , 800x800 , EnaloITQ1.png )
97432

>To the fluffiest Belenosian: Just how fluffy are you,
Very.

>And does it pose any issues?
Yes.
>>
No. 97433 ID: dd338c

>Lagotrope, why did you pick belenos/belenosians? Was it because of the sun god or just a coincidence?
Just a coincidence.
>>
No. 97434 ID: 211d83

>>97431

Ok here is a question for the Rokoa hive. Or anyone close to them.

So how stable is a hive made up of clones? Do you have any non Rokoas that joined or were born into your new hive? And did the strongest Rokoa become a queen or what?

Also do you fight over Kappi?
>>
No. 97437 ID: bb78f2

>>97428
Agnes, I know carriers get the shit end of the deal, are there ANY neurological or fulfilling benefits such as endorphin or something similar for their part in the reproductive process, or is it nothing but a painful process? Why would a carrier choose to bear children, if they only really get a 1 out of three chance to raise it? Is that 1/3 chance really seen as worth it at all by the carrier population?

Is their Yich Eater birth control for carriers, if there is a neurological benefit of the process for the carriers in case they want that benefit without the child bearing result?
>>
No. 97442 ID: 0b66e1

>>97414
>there is a huge, sentient AI on earth that acts as like an unofficial therapist or counselor to anyone inside of earth's solar system
...okay. That demands followup.

Sol therapy-AI, how are you doing? What's a day like for you? How do you manage interacting with probably millions of people in parallel if you aren't a CAI?

How did you even come to be? Honestly, something as phenomenally useful and sensible an idea as you is the kind of thing that never happens without people killing it by panicking over potential abuses misuses and dangers, people being unable to fund something of such scale (even if it's cost saving in the long run), or the government and/or military, being the only ones who could afford such an endeavor, turning the whole thing to their security (or other) agendas.

>>97419
Polo you're trying to deadpan deflect attraction by talking about sleeping with him. Freudian point undercutting.

>>97424
Glitcher are you aware you're wearing Rulekeep's snaggle-tooth. Were the makeouts that intense.
>>
No. 97445 ID: 3d2d5f

>I still won't miss her.
Of course you won't. You have clones to keep you company!
>>
No. 97457 ID: 99a64d

Rulekeep, why are you red?

>>97427
Now you're an assistant fatass :D

>>97420
>to slap someone with.
Wait, so did you just rip off you ear and slap them in one continuous motion? Or did you already have your ear ripped off and then you slapped them? did you slap them with the bloody bit or the floofy bit? Did you eat it afterwards? Was it a friendly slap? A "fuck you, bitch!" slap? A "get yourself together private!" slap? I have to know more!

>>97419
>I still won't miss her.
Denying your feelings is just delaying the inevitable, wouldn't you be happier if you just accepted them?
>>
No. 97484 ID: 857179

>>97457 
> >to slap someone with.  
>Wait, so did you just rip off you ear and slap them in one continuous motion? Or did you already have your ear ripped off and then you slapped them? did you slap them with the bloody bit or the floofy bit? Did you eat it afterwards? Was it a friendly slap? A "fuck you, bitch!" slap? A "get yourself together private!" slap? I have to know more!  
To me it sounds a lot like a "challenge" slap, like they did with gloves in ye olde times.
>>
No. 97486 ID: 88e46e

>>97419
Jokes about how you secretly like Rokoa aside, it's fairly obvious you have some feelings and/or urges towards her, given how you briefly fantasized about calling her cutie and slapping her ass on their mothership, then said that you thought about hurting her. You were later worried about how you seemed to linger on Rokoa. How likely is it that your "obsession" was caused by you trying to suppress that sort of thought about Rokoa instead of just getting it over with?
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No. 97535 ID: 15e42e
File 145420065998.png - (232.17KB , 700x600 , rokoaclones1.png )
97535

>Ok here is a question for the Rokoa hive. Or anyone close to them.

Queen Rokoa, here. They call me Sevens, since I was clone seventy-seven. We weren't feeling very creative, back then.

>So how stable is a hive made up of clones?

We're very stable. A few of the oldest clones, mostly some of the dart clones who were more mixed up, left as soon as they were able, but it wasn't many. There was another pair who wanted to try hook up with Rikora's hive, as well, around the same time. Since then, no-one's left, but that might not be just from being a hive of clones. If rogues and schisms happen when neumono get sick of their hive, then clones of someone who's not happy with themselves probably won't be able to keep together very well. Rokoas, though, so long as we're moving forward, we feel pretty good. So we haven't had many problems, so far.

>Do you have any non Rokoas that joined or were born into your new hive?

Yeah, see, there's where we might have trouble. Us clones are sticking pretty good, but we're not all clones any more. We haven't had any miracle rogues join, but we do have a bunch of kids, and we're planning on more. Some of the science hive think that, since the majority of our hive is more similar than a normal hive is, hive members who aren't Rokoas will feel more like outsiders by comparison, even though in a standard hive the level of difference would be totally normal. That could make them more likely to go rogue.

We have a predator and a half-predator around who can try help if things really get out of hand, but to help head the problem off, I encourage the girls to try and be at least a little different from each other. It's not as hard as you'd think, since the process of cloning leaves you a bit malleable. To be honest, if we met someone who knew her, most of us would feel a bit toned back compared to the original Rokoa. Since we start off with her personality traits faded a bit, we all get some space to become our own people. Partly. Still clones. But being part of the Rokoa hive is about trying to live up to the real meaning of the name, not about being a perfect copy. So long as these little guys do that, they're going to fit in fine. They're a bit spoiled for attention, but they work hard to make up for it.

>"Today I learned how to fight in a moving car! Tomorrow it's on motorbikes."
>"I learned how to defuse bombs so you can use them yourself!"

Good work, kids.

>And did the strongest Rokoa become a queen or what?

Pretty much, but not quite. See, way back when, we agreed that so long as Rokolo could beat us, we'd be her army. People think it's some sort of weird honor slavery thing, but that's not what it's about. Rokolo is what's left of the original Rokoa, mixed with someone who was able to beat her. If we can beat her, fair and square, then we'll know for sure we surpassed the original and have the right to lead our own lives. If we can't, then we don't deserve autonomy. So, every five years, we had a big tournament to see which of us is stronger than all the others, and that winner got to fight Rokolo herself.

None of us beat her, but I managed to reach her three times in a row, and after that I became Queen. I don't know whether I was really the strongest Rokoa, but I am the one the others thought was closest to our ideals, and that's what does it.

Things have changed, of course. It's only the top hundred Rokoas who take part in the tournament, now. Starting from the bottom, a new clone begins with just her four-digit production number, which isn't a rank at all. She can pass a set of tests, though, involving a lot more than just raw fighting ability, to get herself in on the bottom of the three-digit numbers, which are ranks. Higher the number, lower the rank. She can challenge other three-digits to take their number and move them down, and if she makes it to the top 100 she gets to call herself an elite Rokoa and join the tournament for the chance to fight me. Then the winner between us fights Rokolo, after resting, because we're not idiots. Maybe if anyone ever managed to beat me, she'd take my place as Queen. It'd depend on everyone else's opinion of her beyond that.

I'm for certain not the highest pure-strength Rokoa, now. That would be one of the giant clones, which we have a few dozen of. They're all massive, so much that they need cybernetic reinforcement to keep their bodies from crushing themselves. Bones, tendons, lungs, hearts, all that. They have their own competition between themselves, since fighting the rest of us wouldn't prove so much. Fights and contests still happen, it just doesn't count for position.

>Also do you fight over Kappi?

Nope. He was never born, here. I heard about him from Rokolo, though. We'd like to meet him.

It's not like we can't find other cute guys, though, and sometimes they manage to last. We know how to share.
>>
No. 97539 ID: 99a64d

Is it possible for a Neumono to become discontented enough with their hive to want to leave without becoming a rouge? As far as I can tell rouges are a result of misaligned empathy, and it's possible for Neumono with different empathy to be friends, so is it possible for Neumono from the same hive to dislike each other enough to want to leave while still maintaining similar enough empathy to not be considered rouges? Maybe if a whole hive contracted self loathing, but then one of them got it worse than the others and decided to leave despite not technically being a rouge, would that be possible? Or, in a more general sense, is it common for Neumono to abandon their hives without going rouge first?
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No. 97540 ID: 211d83

>>97535

So how does the big fight with Roloko go down? Who gets to pick the weapons used or the format? And do you do it in a giant arena or what?

Also how did the past few fights go?
>>
No. 97560 ID: b08bfa

Why does it take so long for symptoms of aging to manifest in neumono? Shouldn't their regeneration cause higher rates of mutation and telomere erosion?
>>
No. 97562 ID: 88e46e

>>97560
Mutation isn't technically the right word, but you're assuming they have telomeres and that regeneration doesn't also fix them or whatever analogue they have. Their genetics do seem related to empathy, with how a hive can subtly change someone's genetics, so I doubt telomeres are too big a part of it.
>>
No. 97640 ID: 808440

I really expected some Miklik to answer that salad would be a culinary heresy and that they're better steamed, or something the like.
>>
No. 97643 ID: b6178d

I do have a meta question for any character who'd care reply. What would you look for in a theoretical good poster's suggestions for your actions? Conciseness? Best-laid plans? Wicked one-liners?
>>
No. 97709 ID: 211d83

Dear Super-Team Space Hive Omega-Waveforce. So what exactly were all of you doing at a volkit brothel? And with your uniforms and gear no less?

Also how did you get into the super hero powered by crazy mad science business?
>>
No. 97828 ID: bb78f2

Okay, now that I think about it and it's in my head, even so soon after posting about it in the discussion thread, I HAVE to ask.

Rokoa, and anyone else who would be interested in playing a game of Roy, how would YOU play it as Roy?
>>
No. 97955 ID: 742a1e

Jess, what other problems can arise when Neumono date humans, and vice versa? You already mentioned having to compensate for a lack of empathy by being much more verbally and physically expressive than you normally would be.

Any neumono scientist or Ben if you're in a particularly good mood; have you thought about building off the existing (and really primitive) human mirror neuron empathy system to create actual neumono empathy in humans? We can already do this:

-Human A lifts a heavy thing
-Human A's brain activates to say "wow, heavy thing"

-Human B sees human A lifting
-Human B's mirror neurons activate identically to the way they would if he or she was doing the same lifting
-Human B can kind of sense what it would feel like to lift the object, cringes, and goes "agh that must be heavy."
>>
No. 97956 ID: 5f1b8e

>>97432

How's the hug game tho

>>97415
>usually [voklit] brought bigger concerns than wondering about their reproductive capabilities.

Kort, you're a voklit expert. Have you learned to tell the difference between dude and lady voklits? Would it be important to be able to know, if someone wants to interact with them a lot, or would it be a long way down the priority list?

>>97422

So, you studied Penn, and then created a false report to say there wasn't anything really special about her besides the eyes, right? But you must have kept your own notes about the study, some sort of documentation with the real facts, as much as you could find out. Did you just destroy them, or did you give anything to Penn herself? Did you tell her much of anything about herself that you kept secret from everyone else?

On the topic of birth control: How is it on the men's side? Do they have an effective pill, too, or would they still need a surgical option? Maybe an implant of some sort? I'd expect there to be implants for ladies as well. Speaking of men taking pills... does belenosian steroid use have, uh, the same drawbacks associated with more primitive steroids? On the other end of the spectrum, how about pills with the opposite effect? Humanity has been plagued by false promises of male supplementation for centuries. Has belenosian medical technology surpassed those limits?

Also, for any belenosian: what's more attractive, sizeable schnozzles or small snootles?

Extra question: do you have any ability to move your ears? Most of the time when you have them they seem to just hang down. Is there any wiggling or waggling possible?
>>
No. 97961 ID: 742a1e

Rokoa, do you pretty much always think people who rely almost entirely on technology are weaker than those who don't have to, or is there a point when you start to respect someone for how much bullshit they can pull off with tech? Like the CAI for example.

Polo, what is the best example of "wow that really shouldn't work but I guess it does" you've heard of or witnessed in the field? Bolo net made of salaki innards? Arm-mounted trash railgun? Blade that secretes Liquid explosive at the press of a button with an ignition switch on the hilt, allowing you to slow down the regeneration of severed limbs by cauterizing the wound with sudden combustion?
>>
No. 97990 ID: 99a64d

Hey Rokoa, have you ever raped anyone before? If yes, have you ever done it post contact? Have you ever had sex with an alien? Sorry if this has been answered before, but it's been a while since I've read through BTE

Dear Poloquest Rokoa, where do you see yourself in a hundred years?
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No. 97995 ID: a3a5d7

Hey Penn, I know AI design is your core subject, and presumably general computer science as an extension of that, but Arza's having you take a bunch of other classes as well, right? What's your favourite of the non-technical sciences? What's your best, if it's not also your favourite? What's your favourite academic subject outside the sciences? And, though I'm sure you don't have time for it, did you have any interests when you were younger that are outside what you study now?
>>
No. 97996 ID: 99a64d

I know Belenos probably have (had?) a bunch, but do any other aliens have any notable symbioses?
>>
No. 98028 ID: 88e46e

Hey Polo, ever get/send any mail from/to Rokoa?
>>
No. 98031 ID: 650265

Hey Tom or Chee, roughly what does the power scaling on soul bursts look like? We saw a single one at close range was enough to detonate part of an island and every soul in an entire false world was enough to instantly kill a God forever, but what about firing a beam of 100, 1000, or just a few souls of especially powerful people? Could Chee have used you like Sans uses Gasterblasters at low soul levels?

How high could Muo's power climb if she continues to cause chaos on larger scales, and what do the upper levels of devotion award? Is there a point at which you pretty much start making your rules with what you can give a follower, or is it carefully monitored like the "no direct communication" one is at a lower piety point? In a hypothetical scenario where a dude goes around causing larger and larger amounts of chaos in an area full of intricate plans to jam up, eventually plunging the entire world into anarchy, what tier of devotion would he be in?

What do you think you'll do once Chee is the God of Chaos?
>>
No. 98097 ID: 88e46e

Pilon your opinion on this .gif is needed urgently

>>98086

For real, I'd mostly like to know what you think about the hype thing and whether you actually have any notoriety, either as a fighter, as a diplomat/lover, or as anything else.

Actually, do neumono have any particular sex symbols or is attraction too based on empathy for those to be a prominent thing? Maybe Quirill, Pit, Az, Pilon, Vivilli, other ultramonarchs and neumono with strong personalities?
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No. 98128 ID: d16746

Can anyone give a quick rundown on what species names were given vs. what ones were kept from themselves? I get the impression that all your homeworlds got names from the humans, and I know neumono and belenosians were given those names as well, but do the rest of you have your own names that you kept? Pomi, heef, miklik and etc. all seem like names you could have had for yourselves. And did that mean you had some more semblance of unified culture, or were there different names in different cultures and just the most dominant/first uplifted one got primacy?
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No. 98141 ID: 741634

Hey, Kappi, I just realized something. Rokoa starred in a movie, and the Internet is still the Internet. How much porn of Rokoa is in your browser history, and how much of that involves Polo?
>>
No. 98144 ID: 99a64d

>>98141
>the Internet is still the Internet
Not really, an interplanetary internet isn't really possible, especially with the danger of CAI, and especially on the asteroid.
>>
No. 98145 ID: 91cfcf

>>98144
That's already been explained in ITQ. It's been long enough since the movie that for these purposes, yes there is.
>>
No. 98161 ID: 0fc52c

Hey, Penn! Did you have any problems with how neumono smell, when you moved to their planet?

Because, I was just thinking, I know you're both really omnivorous, but that belenos lean closer to being herbivores and neumono lean closer to being carnivores. And a thing is, predators usually smell worse to most other species? Like, if you're a predator, you're ok with the smell of yourselves and you like the smell of your prey, whereas if you're more of a prey animal then generally you're ok with your own smell but hate the smell of predators. Also scent is partially based on diet and diets high in animal protein do have a slight tendency towards producing more unpleasant scents, though it's a minor issue in comparison to things like overall hygiene and so on, obviously, there are plenty of plant-eating animals that smell terrible and meat-eaters that are ok, but it's another bit of a trend.

And possibly it would have been pronounced for the span of time in which Roxie was still mostly tribal in her sensibilities, and hadn't grasped the nuances of presenting herself well, in all senses including the olfactory? I mean, by now I'm sure you're used to how neumono smell, scent is one of those things you adapt to over long exposure, but in the past?

Contrariwise, do freshly washed and dried neumono smell fine? Good, even? It occurred to me as possible that some quirk of biochemistry could randomly mean that neumono just smell nice anyway.

And did Roxie ever make any blunt comments about you smelling weird or bad (or tasty?) to her?

Rokoa: This is probably a pretty racist question, but which of the non-neumono species do you find you tend to like best? Like, just to click a bit better with, when you're forced to interact with them?

And which species' fighters would you say tend to give you the most trouble, when you take them on?
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No. 98166 ID: 99a64d

>>98145
Even if there is Kappi doesn't have access to it.
>>
No. 98167 ID: 88e46e

>>98166
>>93251
0/10
>>
No. 98168 ID: 02422f

The internet exists, it's just more segmented into chunks both to restrict CAIs from running wild, and because they don't have constant interplanetary FTL data transfers. You have to wait for content updates from other planet's / system's internet to make it to your local one.

If you assume ftl-ships have to carry internet updates from system to system, it makes sense the Asteroid-net might be more out of date or take longer to get stuff than planets or systems with more regular traffic.
>>
No. 98175 ID: 02422f

Oh, Jess: how's that chocolate.
>>
No. 98200 ID: 477b7d

Non-canon Story Seeker Lizard:
Do you have more experience as a girl or a guy now?
>>
No. 98220 ID: f9ac9a

>>96272
>I really wasn't interested. There just wasn't much I could sense between us, if that makes sense

It makes sense, but what's more interesting to me is the implication that you are familiar with what it'd feel like if there was something between you. Have you had any romantic relationships before, Penn? Or just romantic aspirations? Crushes? Fantasies? Celebrities, historical figures, fictional characters?

Hmm... have you ever seen the humans' old show, Star Trek? I don't know if you're attracted to humans, but personalitywise, would you call yourself more of a Kirk or a Spock girl? (Or McCoy? Pickard, Riker, Data? Sisko? Trek has a lot of guys.)

That does make me think of another question: studying AIs, is it part of your education to study the less hard-science fields related to that, like public perceptions of AIs, the expectations, and how cultural attitudes have historically formed and developed about them? I'm sure you'd have to be aware how certain things are going to be received by the public within the context of artificial intelligence, so it seems like a basic familiarity with the cultural background would be a requirement. Like, for your species you'd have to know how belenosians feel about AIs, of course, and particulars from your history and stories to embrace or avoid, but for humans there'd be similar things to know like the Three Laws, ideas of what counts as life, not to give it glowing red eyes or call it Hal, et cetera. Other species less so, since they generally didn't have enough science to have science fiction, but I still imagine there's a difference if, like, pomi for example have mythological tales about golems brought to life and rebelling against their creators, or similar.

So do you have any exposure to old science fiction from an academic or professional perspective?

How were the arts among your species, anyway, pre-contact? I gather you kept yourselves at a roughly late medieval/renaissance level, maybe up to just pre-industrial, as far as technology went. But, I also assume literacy was kept widespread? So, was there a solid print industry? I'd guess you couldn't have much of a popular music industry unless you allowed yourselves, like, phonographs as not too much of a transgression, but were there popular novels, magazines for publishing short stories, et cetera? And how were visual arts, painting and sculpture and so on? Architecture? Performing arts in the form of bards, gleemen, magicians, circuses?

Basically, what did you all do for fun?
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No. 98232 ID: bdcc82

>>98220

On the topic of artistic expression, Penn, would the belenosian learning-is-fun reaction apply to any art stuff? Learning how to play songs, for example? And do you know how to play any musical instruments?

Same question for everyone, actually. Anyone have any musical skills we haven't had the chance to see?
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No. 98627 ID: 65807d

Someone from Fen Quest who would know: can you give us an idea on the upper limits of magic? Like, who's the most famous historical magic-using kobold you know of, and what were their greatest feats? Or, would the greatest magic be something done in cooperation with multiple mages? Basically, I want a rough idea of the biggest thing a solo mage has ever done, and the same for the biggest thing magic in general has ever done.

Also: I notice that a lot ladies have seemed awfully friendly towards Fen. Is he up high on the attractiveness scale? ... Would he maybe have to worry about noble ladies pressing affections on him? Because he does plan on becoming a gladiator, and that sort of thing does seem traditional.
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No. 98629 ID: 91cfcf

>>98627
He's muscular and rich relative to 90% to 99% of the population. I'm only surprised that men haven't started trying, too.
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No. 98632 ID: 91ee5f

To Cheese from Fen Quest: Were you surprised at how quickly Fen managed to track you down?
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No. 98638 ID: 02422f

So Sealock types: how much work is it to clear a beach of all the terrible creepy crawly critters so you can actually lounge around on the sand and play in the surf safely without anything trying to eat anyone?

Or are beaches typically not so dangerous? Do you get things you can safely cohabitate with, like humans sharing beaches with seals? (Tooth-gulls minding their own business)?
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No. 98639 ID: 765d31

I've been wondering how easy it is to raise neumono kids. Human babies need time to learn language, but empathy seems more instinctive than that, while at the same time conveying more information than things like posture, facial expression and tone of voice. Not that babies always pick up on those, either.

So, are neumono kids made any easier to handle by the fact that they can pick up on an adult neumono's empathy, to understand empathic feelings like "you need to not touch that" or "stop fighting"? Conversely, is sensing their empathy a very big help in taking care of them, to tell more specifically what they want when they're distressed? And are there disadvantages to them having empathy, as well? If an adult gets annoyed or angry with them and manages to contain their outward expression of that, will a small neumono child still start crying just from feeling someone be mad at them? Do upset neumono babies set each other off on a chain reaction of crying more easily than alien babies do? What sort of qualities make for someone who's good at minding small kids, if empathic sensation is a big factor in how well the children will respond to them?
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No. 98661 ID: 91913b

Further Fen Quest questions: How do the rules of inheritance for nobles work? Are titles/ranks passed on directly, or is there some more complicated arrangement, due to that "nobles must be strong" thing? Like, some sort of test to pass, or a decreasing rank each generation unless you boost it up again, or similar? If rank is passed on, do only legitimate children inherit, or like illegitimates only get consideration if there aren't legitimates, or are all children equal?
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No. 98747 ID: bc7b9a

>>97422
>Needless to say, the diet was not very diverse. Many belenos lived and died only experiencing the taste of a few different things, granted, there were creative ways to cook the exact same thing in different ways.

I'm now imagining that, during first contact, after carefully figuring out what foods were able to be shared between the two species, there was a moment when humans invited belenosians to have a meal of earth food with them. And after the first couple of bites the belenosians were overwhelmed by flavour and went crazy just cramming everything into their mouths. Then for months the humans had to deal with constant attempts to sneak into their kitchens and storage, compensated by the ability to get interviews and guides and other research subjects easily just by bribing them with, like, a thermos of pea soup.

Anyone want to comment on whether that idea's at all accurate?

I'm also wondering how good belenosians are in regard lactose tolerance, or other aliens for that matter. Being able to consume milk products as an adult was kind of a weird mutation for humans. I expect it from a species as ravenous as neumono, and for belenosians maybe your ancestors engineered it in because why not, but how about pomi, or especially the species without mammalian attributes?

If belenosians are fine in that department, I guess the question that naturally follows is if any desperate belenosian chefs tried anything with toya dairy products? I know humans have done that sort of thing with their household pets.
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No. 98832 ID: 7bf2db

>>98661

On a related topic to inheritance, what are the rules for marriage? I recall Shup having multiple wives, is that only a thing for male nobles, or can female nobles have multiple husbands, too? Is it only nobles? And what's the stance on homosexuality? Are there guy-guy or girl-girl marriages? Or some sort of lesser arrangement, like maybe some oath of quote-unquote brotherly affection between totally masculine warriors, wink wink nudge nudge? Or is just totally taboo?
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No. 98834 ID: dd338c
File 145970589828.png - (14.03KB , 800x800 , AgnesITQ14.png )
98834

>Agnes, I know carriers get the shit end of the deal, are there ANY neurological or fulfilling benefits such as endorphin or something similar for their part in the reproductive process, or is it nothing but a painful process? Why would a carrier choose to bear children, if they only really get a 1 out of three chance to raise it? Is that 1/3 chance really seen as worth it at all by the carrier population?
Perhaps I mis-spoke.

We have multiple children at once, and unless some unlikeliness occurs, there are always at least 3, generally much more, and the carrier is guaranteed one. Of course it is not always divisible by three, and who gets the upper rounding depends on the agreement.

Furthermore, again, perhaps I did not imply this correctly, but while reproduction for us is not pleasant nor, often, rewarding, we do get the urges. A sudden mental need to get on with it, but one that we don't derive pleasure from.

It is still odd that we do not derive pleasure from it, as this would be far more effective in a darwinian manner than simply having the equivalent of a sudden urge to stab oneself with a knife.

>Is their Yich Eater birth control for carriers, if there is a neurological benefit of the process for the carriers in case they want that benefit without the child bearing result?
This does not apply since we do not get that neurological benefit, but medical knowledge is catching up such that carriers can be drugged to make the process, if not pleasant, not terribly unpleasant.
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No. 98835 ID: dd338c
File 145970596195.png - (5.80KB , 800x800 , SoltaiITQ1.png )
98835

>Sol therapy-AI, how are you doing?
Hello, I am well, thank you!

>What's a day like for you?
Intense, if we consider me a single person. I talk with so many different people and have so many different experiences at once, it's hard to describe a single day as, well, a single day.

>How do you manage interacting with probably millions of people in parallel if you aren't a CAI?
Many, many cores all running together in a very, very big computer.

>How did you even come to be? Honestly, something as phenomenally useful and sensible an idea as you is the kind of thing that never happens without people killing it by panicking over potential abuses misuses and dangers, people being unable to fund something of such scale (even if it's cost saving in the long run), or the government and/or military, being the only ones who could afford such an endeavor, turning the whole thing to their security (or other) agendas.
I only started out as a small project by a few people, but then became integrated into a research facility which implemented in a large sample group of volunteers. Even if I'm not an official counselor or therapist, the public became fond of me and many people pushed for me to be more ubiquitous. This continued on until I was given wide scale funding for the good of the world, and so my many cores in a very big computer is now paid for by lots and lots of taxpayers.
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No. 98836 ID: dd338c
File 145970599409.png - (14.01KB , 800x800 , GlitcherITQ3.png )
98836

>Glitcher are you aware you're wearing Rulekeep's snaggle-tooth. Were the makeouts that intense.
Look I'm pretty sure we basically fused with one another at some point in time.

So I mean

Calling it a makeout is kind of

An understatement ??
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No. 98837 ID: dd338c
File 145970600557.png - (11.63KB , 800x800 , RulekeeperITQ2.png )
98837

>Rulekeep, why are you red?
I wished to stand out from the white contestants, but didn't wished to be confused for the blue or purple ghosts. Beyond that, red is simply arbitrary.
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No. 98838 ID: dd338c
File 145970602275.png - (12.88KB , 800x800 , RokoaITQ80.png )
98838

>Rokoa, do you pretty much always think people who rely almost entirely on technology are weaker than those who don't have to, or is there a point when you start to respect someone for how much bullshit they can pull off with tech? Like the CAI for example.
Tech's got little to do with it, the more I think on it. If some weakling kid grabs a gun, I'm still gonna think he's just a weakling kid even if he's now capable of more harm. If that same kid then goes to the training field every day and becomes a damn good shot, then at least he's got some strength.
I don't know a damn thing about the CAI. Sounds like some kind of tech things that were born as wizards, and it doesn't sound like it's tough for them to do their bullshit at all, so they're probably weak. Can't judge, though, cause again, I don't know shit about them.

Point is that these days, there's more ways to be strong than finding animals and beating the hell out of them, and I've slowly gotten accustomed to it.

>Hey Rokoa, have you ever raped anyone before? If yes, have you ever done it post contact? Have you ever had sex with an alien?
Yes, probably but not going to elaborate, yes. Didn't get a taste for alien sex enough to keep doing it.

>Where do you see yourself in a hundred years?
Doesn't matter when in my life it was. Either fighting, or dead because of fighting.

>Rokoa, and anyone else who would be interested in playing a game of Roy, how would YOU play it as Roy?
Check out how well I'd do if I were a human and had to dodge shots more often.

>Slapping someone with ear?
>To me it sounds a lot like a "challenge" slap, like they did with gloves in ye olde times.
It was. Some kid wanted to fight me, and told me he'd have my ear. So I took it off and slapped him.

Then ate it in front of him.

Then ate his.

>This is probably a pretty racist question, but which of the non-neumono species do you find you tend to like best? Like, just to click a bit better with, when you're forced to interact with them?
Humans. Most aliens are cowards who will hide behind cover at the slightest bit of danger despite that people and what they care about are counting on them to fight. Most humans are cowards too, but the ones that don't are the ones that I can respect. Even moreso than neumono, since humans know damn well that a single lucky bullet will mean that they won't even be aware that they're dying. If they aren't hopped up on their adrenaline or complete morons, it takes a specially trained alien to do that shit.

It's a lot easier to get along with people like that for me regardless of how they act when they're not having bullets skimming their helmets.

>And which species' fighters would you say tend to give you the most trouble, when you take them on?
In a firefight, humans. The good ones can be just as aggressive as neumono, except that their fragility means they play smart, their reflexes are good, and of course their hands are way better for precision intruments.

For fighting, heef, easily. My strength is my strength, but I can't outpower a lot of heef, so I've got to fight in ways I'm not used to.

Then again, trained martial artist humans can punch me twice before I react to the first, so the really good ones may be worse than heef. Never met many good ones, though, usually they just train unarmed good enough to not be totally helpless if they drop their gun.

Still, my claw can extend far enough into either species in a fistfight to hit an artery, and neither one of them deals well with that.

>Anyone have any musical skills we haven't had the chance to see?
I can play the piano.

>I've been wondering how easy it is to raise neumono kids.
They're a lot more receptive than alien kids to their family's wishes. So they might want to wander off normally, but we can convey to them that we absolutely do not want them to, and usually they'll listen enough. They'll rebel by trying to convince us that they can handle it, so most kids are in a big hurry to grow up.

>Conversely, is sensing their empathy a very big help in taking care of them, to tell more specifically what they want when they're distressed?
I've done a little babysitting for alien kids.

They just scream when mildly distressed. Neumono kids will empathically scream, which is worse, but actually be a goddamn help unlike the screaming. Alien kids, you're left wondering if they're hungry, if they want to be held, if they don't want to be held, whatever.

With neumono kids, you can tell that sometimes, they're just upset for no reason. Suddenly some weird thought got in their head and now they're crying. But you can tell that. And they can feel you being sure that they're being babies and that everything is okay. Alien babies will just scream harder thinking the world is unravelling or some shit and they aren't even listening to your words let alone understanding them.

>If an adult gets annoyed or angry with them and manages to contain their outward expression of that, will a small neumono child still start crying just from feeling someone be mad at them?
Yeah, that's kind of a downside, but if the parent keeps their outward expression cool, then their empathy will be saying they're trying to keep cool, too. That they're upset, but trying to be patient. Sometimes the kid is okay with that. Sometimes the kid gets upset and yeah, then the wimps start crying from someone being mad at them probably for a good reason.

>Do upset neumono babies set each other off on a chain reaction of crying more easily than alien babies do?
And here's the downside. Yes. They do.

>What sort of qualities make for someone who's good at minding small kids, if empathic sensation is a big factor in how well the children will respond to them?
Comfortable, caring empathy put inside of saint-like patience.
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No. 98839 ID: dd338c
File 145970603561.png - (10.85KB , 800x800 , KappiITQ31.png )
98839

>How much porn of Rokoa is in your browser history, and how much of that involves Polo?
Oh gosh, I really don't think I would be comfortable seeing Rokoa in something like a porn. I mean I guess it wouldn't really be Rokoa, just actors who look kinda like her, but, it'd be kinda weird to me!

But no I haven't seen any with her in it, even though, uh... I'm sure it exists on some level.
>>
No. 98840 ID: dd338c
File 145970604841.png - (9.43KB , 800x800 , PoloITQ102.png )
98840

>Polo, what is the best example of "wow that really shouldn't work but I guess it does" you've heard of or witnessed in the field?
There was once a tank that had issues with flipping over. Instead of making it more stable, they attached a big spring lever on it capable of flipping it back over.

Apparently it worked well.

>Jokes about how you secretly like Rokoa aside, it's fairly obvious you have some feelings and/or urges towards her, given how you briefly fantasized about calling her cutie and slapping her ass on their mothership, then said that you thought about hurting her.
That was a high stress environment while in the center of an entire foreign hive's empathy constantly butting heads with my own. Intrusive thoughts will happen. It is not a fair assessment.

>You were later worried about how you seemed to linger on Rokoa. How likely is it that your "obsession" was caused by you trying to suppress that sort of thought about Rokoa instead of just getting it over with?
Unlikely.

>Ever get/send any mail from/to Rokoa?
As of a few months after meeting her, no.

>How much work is it to clear a beach of all the terrible creepy crawly critters so you can actually lounge around on the sand and play in the surf safely without anything trying to eat anyone?
Lots. Clearing it out is not too difficult, but we have to install lots of measures to make sure that they stay out.

>Or are beaches typically not so dangerous?
They are dangerous enough that most places would want the children out of the water and all neumono to be close to one another, but not so dangerous as redgrass. There is some cohabitation, but even then, there are many animals that can be a threat if they are either hungry enough or angry enough.
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No. 98842 ID: dd338c
File 145970613176.png - (11.33KB , 800x800 , PilonITQ37.png )
98842

>Is it possible for a Neumono to become discontented enough with their hive to want to leave without becoming a rogue?
If leaving means a five minute walk to cool down, then yes, it's common and even good, but for a more definition of leaving is effectively the same definition as going rogue.

It could just just purely maligned empathy, but sometimes it's perfectly healthy empathy that forms a dissonance with the hive's ideals.

>And it's possible for Neumono with different empathy to be friends
It's a little different, perhaps unfortunately so, that in the best of circumstances, extra-hive neumono are held to a different, generally lower, standard than one's own hivemates, so more can be forgiven.

So all in all, perhaps there have been some rare circumstance in which someone physically leaves their hive for malcontented reasons but without fully going rogue, but that has to be an extremely rare occurrence.

>What would you look for in a [general assortment of suggestions for you to act off of?]
Diplomatic, then avoidance, then fighting, in that order, but how they're presented doesn't have to follow a strict ideology.

>Anyone who would be interested in playing a game of Roy, how would YOU play it as Roy?
That's difficult, as it seemed like that game did not provide awareness of one's own, real life? So it sounds as though I would just be a regular human with a rather normal upbringing in a family.

In other words, I doubt I would stray from living a simple life.

>Pilon your opinion on this .gif is needed urgently
>>98086
Heheh, it's very nice to see someone make something like that, but it's hard to think too well of it without feeling narcissistic.

>For real, I'd mostly like to know what you think about the hype thing and whether you actually have any notoriety, either as a fighter, as a diplomat/lover, or as anything else.
I do have notoriety as a potential threat to watch out for, yes. The difference between me and Rokoa, though, and the reason why I'm less feared, is because if I do become an enemy, it's after friendly options have been exhausted, and the person knows that things are going sour. I'm a predictable lightning bolt that only strikes under known circumstances, and it's harder to fear such a thing when you know where to avoid standing.

Rokoa, however, is the lightning bolt that can strike from anywhere and any time for reasons that were completely unknown to the struck person.

>Do neumono have any particular sex symbols or is attraction too based on empathy for those to be a prominent thing?
We do have symbols, yes, although they are archaic from the tribal days. They exaggerated everything that was remotely seen as typically attractive. They were just symbols, though. A real person with those traits would be seen as too over the top by most people. The symbols, though, represented someone with the body size of Az, my ears, the openness of Vivilli and, depending on male or female, the traits of Pit or Qiurill. Then again, there were many tribes, and so maybe some had the traits of both.
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No. 98844 ID: dd338c
File 145970621070.png - (12.25KB , 800x800 , JessITQ18.png )
98844

>Jess, what other problems can arise when Neumono date humans, and vice versa? You already mentioned having to compensate for a lack of empathy by being much more verbally and physically expressive than you normally would be.
Neumono gotta remember that when you roughhouse with a parner aliens are fragile. If that's not something that comes up, then I dunno, it's mostly all about the lack of empathy that comes into play.

>How's that chocolate.
Fuck'n delicious.
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No. 98845 ID: dd338c
File 145970622961.png - (11.51KB , 800x800 , RoxieITQ3.png )
98845

>but do any other aliens have any notable symbioses?
I think the only symbioses we ever had was when we raised creatures for their whatevers, but not really any sort of natural symbioses that I'm aware of.

>Anyone have any musical skills we haven't had the chance to see?
I'm told that I'm pretty good at singing. I don't think I have the voice for it, but I can hold a note and that kinda technical stuff.
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No. 98846 ID: dd338c
File 145970625976.png - (17.63KB , 800x800 , BenITQ23.png )
98846

>Any neumono scientist or Ben if you're in a particularly good mood; have you thought about building off the existing (and really primitive) human mirror neuron empathy system to create actual neumono empathy in humans? We can already do this:
Yeah! Artificial empathy relayers exist, and we can transfer our feelings into it. Problem is, is that most brains are so associative and finicky about everything, that trying to run something in a normal brain reliably and predictably - necessary traits in any product - is difficult to put it nicely! So putting the right emotion in the empathy relayer is tough enough, let alone that the empathy relayers to real empathy is like wood as a replacement for steel!
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No. 98847 ID: dd338c
File 145970627607.png - (11.76KB , 800x800 , EnaloITQ2.png )
98847

>How's the hug game?
For me, like I'm getting squeezed in some place.

For someone else, like they're squeezing a dense portion of air.
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No. 98848 ID: dd338c
File 145970629710.png - (11.86KB , 800x800 , KortITQ1.png )
98848

>Kort, you're a voklit expert. Have you learned to tell the difference between dude and lady voklits? Would it be important to be able to know, if someone wants to interact with them a lot, or would it be a long way down the priority list?
Yes. Smell is tricky, but sometimes a voklit ends up on the particularly extreme end of their dimorphism and a neumono can tell. For the ones that don't, neumono smell isn't good enough.

There are, despite popular belief, slight visual differences between the two, but I don't tell people what they are because then they start calling girls guys and guys girls thinking they can tell, no matter how much I tell them that personal variance far exceeds actual dimorphism.

The most reliable factor is cultural differences in gender. This requires studying the voklit tribe more than the voklit, but most tribes do treat men and women differently, as well as the voklit themselves having a different demeanor based on their gender. Excepting the tribes that hardly view gender differently, this is, by far, the best way to reliably tell.

Tribes familiar with ambassadors will know they judge based on cultural more than anything else, and so calling a guy a girl will be taken to mean that that guy, in the neumono's opinion, acts like a girl.

For the most part, it's a middle priority.
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No. 98849 ID: dd338c
File 145970639004.png - (15.50KB , 800x800 , PennGrandmotherITQ3.png )
98849

>But you must have kept your own notes about the study, some sort of documentation with the real facts, as much as you could find out. Did you just destroy them, or did you give anything to Penn herself? Did you tell her much of anything about herself that you kept secret from everyone else?
Yes, I did keep the truth documented.

I took it to the grave. The risks otherwise outweighed the benefits.

>How is it on the men's side? Do they have an effective pill, too, or would they still need a surgical option?
Pills work, surgery is easy, implants are cheap. Eugenics were part of the empire, and so sterilization was made easy and convenient.

>Speaking of men taking pills... does belenosian steroid use have, uh, the same drawbacks associated with more primitive steroids? On the other end of the spectrum, how about pills with the opposite effect? Humanity has been plagued by false promises of male supplementation for centuries. Has belenosian medical technology surpassed those limits?
I could hardly say that our medical technology surpassed those limits, but that makes it sound flattering. In truth, once again, our biology simply is highly receptive to simple medication, and so it is resistant, not immune, to the side effects. Which is why belenos on steroids are so massive, and there is no middle ground. Likewise, male genital "supplementation" works well, and so belenos with large bulges can be assumed to take those medications, too. Usually they take too much and it works too well and they just become a novelty.

>What's more attractive, sizeable schnozzles or small snootles?
That has nearly identical implications, and tastes, as small or large horns. One is represented as dainty belenos descended from the empire, the other as a stereotypical tough techless-barbarian.

>Do you have any ability to move your ears? Most of the time when you have them they seem to just hang down. Is there any wiggling or waggling possible?
Yes. Some people are able to move them slightly, but record holders are able to nearly flap them up and down with the muscle near the base of the ear.

>Can anyone give a quick rundown on what species names were given vs. what ones were kept from themselves?
Belenos is just the name of our sun, but we were happy to adopt a name from aliens rather than ourselves.

'Miklik' is based on a miklik tribe's language, in which miklik meant, roughly 'as it goes' or 'that's life' or similar.

The tribe said it as hellos and goodbyes, and as 'oh' and as 'I understand.'

In other words, they said it a lot, and the humans attributed it so heavily with the mikliks that that is what they called them. So in a way, mikliks named themselves, but not knowingly so.

Neumono is established as the misnomer of the bunch, as it is short for 'neuro mono' or a single... well, let me put it this way. Humans initially thought they were fully telepathic with each other and thought they shared the same mind. Not just is that wrong, but "neuro mono" doesn't even make much sense as a name for that, so neumono got tied for the worst name of all. It doesn't matter, though, as it's not condescending, and hearing 'neumono' only gets people to think of the species rather than the literal phrase of which it came.

Yich Eater because they ate Yiches. Simple, plain, no one hated anyone over it.

Heef was based off of a human twisting of the word 'hen', and so Heef are tied with neumono for the worst name in my opinion.

Pomi, surprisingly, kept their own word for it. Their uplift might have been the best uplift performance on the human side of things of all, and an attempt was made by officially putting those newly found aliens down as "BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB" until their name for themselves was found out to be 'Pomi'. Until then, some humans called them "Beebee's," and there was a real fear that that would catch on before "Pomi".

>I'm now imagining that, during first contact, after carefully figuring out what foods were able to be shared between the two species, there was a moment when humans invited belenosians to have a meal of earth food with them. And after the first couple of bites the belenosians were overwhelmed by flavour and went crazy just cramming everything into their mouths. Then for months the humans had to deal with constant attempts to sneak into their kitchens and storage, compensated by the ability to get interviews and guides and other research subjects easily just by bribing them with, like, a thermos of pea soup.
>Anyone want to comment on whether that idea's at all accurate?
Some belenos did get get fanatical about all the new foods, however, food was common enough that they did not need to do drastic actions just to get a thermos of pea soup.

Plus, some belenos grew so accustomed to a single taste that anything other than the few flavors just seemed wrong to them.

Others, still, did not care. It was interesting to them, but they did not get overwhelmed.

>I'm also wondering how good belenosians are in regard lactose tolerance, or other aliens for that matter. Being able to consume milk products as an adult was kind of a weird mutation for humans.
We are lactose tolerant. Perhaps more genetic engineering was involved, but there was no reason for us to lose the ability to consume a common, healthy food.

>I guess the question that naturally follows is if any desperate belenosian chefs tried anything with toya dairy products? I know humans have done that sort of thing with their household pets.
The idea is disgusting now, but I'm sure that every single part of a toya was considered worth consuming in 10 different ways each, by old tribes.
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No. 98850 ID: dd338c
File 145970642671.png - (14.29KB , 800x800 , PennITQ9.png )
98850

>Hey Penn, I know AI design is your core subject, and presumably general computer science as an extension of that, but Arza's having you take a bunch of other classes as well, right? What's your favourite of the non-technical sciences?
I guess psychology! It's hardly even a science in belenos eyes, but you can still do experiments and just sort of glean the results as guidelines, and it's almost like a freestyle science?

Well I'm sure a real psychologist would want to slap me for that answer.

>What's your best, if it's not also your favourite?
Probably economics.

>What's your favourite academic subject outside the sciences?
I uh... don't know.

>And, though I'm sure you don't have time for it, did you have any interests when you were younger that are outside what you study now?
Ehhh... counting stars if that counts.

>Did you have any problems with how neumono smell, when you moved to their planet?
Yes, sometimes. Some smells okay, some smelled bad. Roxie smelled kinda weird at first, but I think I grew to be okay with that too. I mean, it helped a lot when she started using shampoo and stuff, but she still smelled like her even with that. And.. well actually I guess I kind of like the smell now but that's just because I like her, not the scent itself.

>Contrariwise, do freshly washed and dried neumono smell fine? Good, even?
I think, then, is when they just smell like whatever products they used, so how good it is depends on the product!

Still, I think that's kind of the concensus on how neumono smell. I hear that heef actually tend to kind of like it, though, but maybe that's just rumor.

>Have you had any romantic relationships before, Penn? Or just romantic aspirations? Crushes? Fantasies? Celebrities, historical figures, fictional characters?
Sort of. I've had all the things normal people do, except I can't help but feel like it's somehow weaker than even most belenos. Like just enough to recognize it for what it is, but I don't think I've really been in love with something. Instead, just kind of a sense of... that I may enjoy this person's company or affections for what they are instead of simply serving a purpose beyond themselves.

>Hmm... have you ever seen the humans' old show, Star Trek?
Uh, a little actually, just as one of those funner days in history class where we changed the pace and looked at what humans thought the future would look like. I mean, this was a less funny example of a funny thing, and was more just an example of the more major human media thing rather than whatever goofy stuff was drug up from the human's media past.

>I don't know if you're attracted to humans, but personalitywise, would you call yourself more of a Kirk or a Spock girl?
I feel like I'd get along better with Spock overall, but, um, not actually sure if that's who I'd want to get along best with, if that makes sense.

And if not him, I don't know who the alternative would be!

>Studying AIs, is it part of your education to study the less hard-science fields related to that
Yes, but mostly just ethics. I think the stuff like 'don't give it glowing red eyes' is just something we're expected to pick up with peer review and not being completely socially incapable, desk hovering info machines. We don't have a class on that sort of thing specifically. Then again, the ethics classes do tend to cover a lot of things that aren't directly ethics but aren't cleanly put into a whole other class.

>So do you have any exposure to old science fiction from an academic or professional perspective?
Sometimes, yes.

>How were the arts among your species, anyway, pre-contact? I gather you kept yourselves at a roughly late medieval/renaissance level, maybe up to just pre-industrial, as far as technology went. But, I also assume literacy was kept widespread? So, was there a solid print industry? I'd guess you couldn't have much of a popular music industry unless you allowed yourselves, like, phonographs as not too much of a transgression, but were there popular novels, magazines for publishing short stories, et cetera?
Yes. The printing press existed, but it was kept, uh, the rule was that every action that the machine did, the person had to do an action to cause that machine's action. So you couldn't just hit 'go' and have it print out a newspaper, people had to organize the individual letters and... however old people did it I guess. So things like that existed, but not on a very wide, accessable scale.

Paintings and individual writing was common though, and we definitely had some good stuff back in the day, especially since the arts, whether it was painting, performances, architecture or whatever were seen as a good way to study without leading to technology stuff.

>magicians
Well... we were kinda superstitious so magicians had to be careful about how good they were.

>On the topic of artistic expression, Penn, would the belenosian learning-is-fun reaction apply to any art stuff? Learning how to play songs, for example? And do you know how to play any musical instruments?
Yes, but it's harder overall, since the learning-is-fun kind of applies to hard facts that we understand are real and reliable. Finding something that works for sure in an artistic way, well, since it's subjective... it definitely pleases us if we feel we learned something, but that subjectivity has got kind of a sour taste to our mind.
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No. 98851 ID: dd338c
File 145970649169.png - (110.42KB , 800x800 , TomITQ9.png )
98851

>Hey Tom or Chee, roughly what does the power scaling on soul bursts look like? We saw a single one at close range was enough to detonate part of an island and every soul in an entire false world was enough to instantly kill a God forever, but what about firing a beam of 100, 1000, or just a few souls of especially powerful people?
Think of the souls like bombs. If you have two bombs, then they explode twice as much as one bomb. They don't like, partially cancel each other out or make the other explode harder or anything like that, it's all just so - bombs stacked on bombs!

A really powerful soul can be like a whole bunch of souls, but as far as blowing it up goes, there's no difference between that and just using a whole bunch of souls.

>Could Chee have used you to shoot out series of smaller blasts?
Absolutely.

>How high could Muo's power climb if she continues to cause chaos on larger scales, and what do the upper levels of devotion award?
I'd totally give someone demi-god level abilities if they use it right.

But that's the trick. Using it right. Chances are, they don't need demi-god levels to cause good mass chaos, so the ones good enough to become demi-gods probably don't get to act like demi-gods. The system is fucked up like that and that's how I like it.

Upper levels of devotion award the ability to buy big time spells. They can't cast it themselves, but they'll be allowed to cash in their points for it, while low levels of devotion won't get much more than making a wheel slowly take the form of a square over time.

>In a hypothetical scenario where a dude goes around causing larger and larger amounts of chaos in an area full of intricate plans to jam up, eventually plunging the entire world into anarchy, what tier of devotion would he be in?
Chaos is kind of a relative thing. If the whole world were in anarchy, it'd be harder to scale things up from there. So I'd probably go hungry while waiting for things to get orderly again so they could get chaotic again.

So it would be like going to an all you can eat buffet, and then not eat for a month.

Now, if this person consistently was able to devolve places into anarchist extremes consistently and frequently without making the whole world like that, then they'd get to max levels pretty damn quick!

>What do you think you'll do once Chee is the God of Chaos?
Tell her what to do on the sidelines cause damn me if she'll have any idea or intuition for what to do!
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No. 98852 ID: dd338c
File 145970685718.png - (12.38KB , 800x800 , CheeseITQ1.png )
98852

>Someone from Fen Quest who would know: can you give us an idea on the upper limits of magic?
The only limit is the wizard's imagination!

Okay, okay, that's only true in theory. Theoretically a wizard could do some pretty... world bending stuff. But in actuality, we just do some... world changing stuff. So! The upper limits of what's actually been done!

>Like, who's the most famous historical magic-using kobold you know of, and what were their greatest feats?
Yes like this, this is the question I should've waited for before going and answering saying... nevermind.

The most famous magic using kobold, at least in the north empire, is proooobably the emperor himself, but it's kinda hidden what he actually does with his magic. I mean the true tales and the tales of what he's supposedly done might be different? So I'm just gonna avoid that and go to the archwizards.

So, biggest change in our lifetimes and really probably the greatest magical feat of all time in the northern empire is the warp zones between province capitals. It took the archwizards the greater portion of their combined efforts to come up with it, and a huge bunch of wizards to power up the whole network enough to warp everything once a week but now that it happened, trade has been made a hundred times easier for everyone, the capital populations have boomed so the towns actually look like a real capital rather than just being some dingy place where a greater beast probably died and all that.

For single wizards, well... the Might Wizard is a good example. This guy is in the Poluputus army, and basically he boosts up the physical power and toughness of kobolds. His army is only like about 1000 strong, but they are basically huge giant kobolds with the strength of 10 and hard as heck to slice through. I mean, I'm pretty sure some of them can compete with a Dragon Knight, but, uh... things that can beat Dragon Knights are kiiiiinda watched a bit more than most people would like by the empire considering the rate of rebellion, so the Might Wizard denies they're that strong. But they've had so much success while being vastly outnumbered that the wizard is pretty well renowned and feared.

Then there's the Necromancer of Erja Nokol. He's able to raise up bodies that died there. He can only control so many at once, though, so he usually gets the strongest ones, or just the scariest looking ones. Which coming from Erja Nokol, can be pretty scary, neverminding that stabbing on in the face doesn't do much to stop it. Still, he has a few hundred under his flag.

There's other examples too but that's basically the power levels! Other wizards mostly just affect fertility, either making things grow up faster and healthier than they would otherwise, and stronger wizards just change the scale and duration of what they do.

Southern wizards are stronger, though. Kinda scary to think of what they can do, but we mostly get the rumors. I hear that they can kinda.. collect magic in a spot and then unleash it all at once, so like, a northern wizard might be able to make a place hot for 20 hours, but a southern wizard might spend 20 hours doing what looks like nothing, and then suddenly make the place explode in fire. But then again southern wizards say that our wizards can create 20 super soldiers per day from the ground! Or that our wizards are fake and that we can't do magic. So I mean... everyone's kind of full of it, sometimes.

>I notice that a lot ladies have seemed awfully friendly towards Fen. Is he up high on the attractiveness scale?
Yeah kinda? I mean he seems way too serious to be likeable in Fisher's run, and I think he'd be seen as way too plain in Dragon's Fall, but he sure isn't bad looking definitely not to me haha.

>Would he maybe have to worry about noble ladies pressing affections on him?
Ladies who are nobles? Probably not, they get to pick the cream of the crop, so Fen would really need to fit their tastes perfectly.

Ladies who are wives or consorts with nobles? Uh... well that would probably be a bad idea for them to press affections on a commoner!

>Were you surprised at how quickly Fen managed to track you down [from the Fence]?
Oh my gosh, yes. I mean I wasn't too surprised he got to the Fence, but I knew the chances of him finding out about me were slim. But it kinda happened anyway and then he found out I skipped town and... I'm just surprised that he killed Rasyan, got his money, and then friended the crows.

>How do the rules of inheritance for nobles work? Are titles/ranks passed on directly, or is there some more complicated arrangement, due to that "nobles must be strong" thing?
Wellll, the nobles can pass on their title to a single person if they want, actually, and that usually is their kid or their spouse or whatever.

But, uh, there's a lot of shit nobles can do to one another, so... nobles do pass it on to their kid, but they make sure it's the most promising kid, not just the firstborn or whatever, and make sure they're trained from birth to be a noble. I mean it doesn't even have to be their kid, they can just pass the title to whoever. The thing is is that when they do get the title, whoever they are, they'd better have proven they're competent and strong, because otherwise, other nobles will prey on them. If they're not suited to be a noble, well, they'll get eaten alive.
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No. 98854 ID: dd338c
File 145970877405.png - (62.93KB , 800x800 , OmegaREDITQ1.png )
98854

>So what exactly were all of you doing at a volkit brothel? And with your uniforms and gear no less?
Investigating a building of INJUSTICE and OBSCENITY. We were on the case of the STOLEN CHRISTMAS, which is why we were in full uniform. Unfortunately, we did not prepare for a gas attack from another source!

>Also how did you get into the super hero powered by crazy mad science business?
Perhaps our BACKSTORY may enlighten you?
http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/res/614976.html#630614
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No. 98858 ID: 91ee5f

>>98852
Hey, Cheese. Uh, just so you know, no matter what other mean people say about you, I think you're cute!
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No. 98859 ID: 252878

>>98832

Looks like this Fen Quest question got in just before the batch, so I'm just linking it so it doesn't get missed next time.

>>98834

So... your part in the process isn't pleasant, but it is still somewhat satisfying? Like scratching an itch?

>>98839

Kappi, if you only think of live-action porn, you're not as big a pervert as I thought! What about drawing, comics, animations? What about fan fiction? I mean, probably since they're all made by people who didn't really know her, they're probably erroneous and weird to someone who actually has met her, but still. Step up your game, Kappi!

>>98838
>I can play the piano.

... Are there special neumono pianos? If not then that's extra impressive. When and why did you try learn that?
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No. 98861 ID: f562b1

Discovery: This thread is not mobile friendly.
>>98835
Which quest did SolTAI show up in? Was that Kappi's?
> Instead of making it more stable, they attached a big spring lever on it capable of flipping it back over.
To be fair, if the enemy has a ramp designed to flip tanks over, that spring is a good idea, as it counters the ramp.
>but he sure isn't bad looking definitely not to me haha.
If he were polyamorous, how interested would you be in him? Like, on a scale of consort to major spouse.
>I'm just surprised that he killed Rasyan, got his money, and then friended the crows.
He's an odd one, isn't he? Killed a noble, and was swiftly willing to kill the guards to help you, but he befriended not only the crows, but wanted you to be a friend even after you stole his Dragon Cloth.
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No. 98862 ID: 02422f

>>98861
>Which quest did SolTAI show up in? Was that Kappi's?
None. Penn mentioned it in the last batch of answers >>97414
, so follow up questions got directed to it.
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No. 98898 ID: b412df

To any neumono who wears glasses, why do you wear them? Wouldn't regeneration take care of most problems?

Also, Az mentioned that trying to fit rogues under other hives has problems, why is that?

And on that subject, any rogue who wishes to answer, what's it like being rogue? A lot of the rogues we've seen seem normal, at least on the outside.
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No. 98900 ID: 595d54

>>98898
I'm pretty sure most of those were answered. Regeneration doesn't make you perfect, it makes you the same as your original genetics. So if you get fat you usually stay fat, lose muscle fast, etc. If you have a genetic defect that messes up your vision, regeneration will keep it messed up.

Rogues don't fit well into other hives because not being in a hive doesn't mean you automatically fit in other hives. Same way just being an orphan doesn't mean all families are great.

Kappi's answered what being/going rogue feels like, iirc. The short version is "really shitty".
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No. 98902 ID: 8e8223

>Yes, but it's harder overall, since the learning-is-fun kind of applies to hard facts that we understand are real and reliable. Finding something that works for sure in an artistic way, well, since it's subjective... it definitely pleases us if we feel we learned something, but that subjectivity has got kind of a sour taste to our mind.

I see. But, I suppose the technical aspects would still apply? How to read sheet music, the proper methods for producing X sound from Y instrument, et cetera? Someone previously mentioned that belenosian music is quite formulaic. Would that be because it's easy enough to learn how to play and to replicate existing songs, while actually having the creative spark to produce the more subjective, innovative sensual aspects is more difficult?

>Probably economics.

Hm. Tell me, is there a lot of apprehension and/or excitement about neumono among economists? Their population is growing rapidly, and now that they've mostly compensated for the negative effects, their empathic abilities seem like they would be a huge boon to business. Less miscommunications, less obstructive formalities, better multitasking with what Roxie said about holding multiple thoughts at once better, and a natural inclination (perhaps better intuitive understanding?) towards operating in large groups rather than as individuals. Like, if a neumono government thinks "we need to stop spending so much/spend much more on [thing]" to fix a certain problem in their economy, with other species that sort of direct control would be barely possible at all, but with neumono all you need to do is convince the Kings and Queens and then a massive portion of the populace will go along with it, even if it's a hardship. It seems like their economic productivity could well outstrip everyone else's in just a hundred years or so. How would you feel about living in a galaxy where neumono have become the dominant species, Penn? And an overall better economy is good for everyone, but are there many who seem hard set against the possibility?

Another question: You said once that there are belenos who've studied straight for days. Is that more from just the allure of knowledge overriding the need to sleep, or do belenosians need to sleep less often in general? Or, is study somehow a kind of activity for your brains that can replace sleep, at least to some extent? How about yourself, are you good at going for long periods without sleep, or at having less sleep per day? What's your record, and how quickly/to what degree does it impair you?
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No. 98910 ID: b412df

>>98900
Ah, that makes sense, and I hadn't realised the last one had already been answered, I'll have to go back and look.
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No. 98914 ID: 02422f

>>98898
>>98900
The other reason some neumono need glasses is that lots of screen usage and/or reading can cause eye strain / eye damage that regeneration needs to repair. Which means depending on how badly you've been abusing your eyes and/or how much you've been giving your eyes a rest and letting regen work, your prescription will actually be different, necessitating multiple pairs of glasses to function. (It's why Mimi is bitching about not having the right intermediary pair of glasses during Hok's last crime spree. >>/questarch/575710 ).

Obviously not everyone is as susceptible. Kappi and Lakkat stare at screens for their jobs all day, but neither wore glasses. (Although maybe that visor Kappi uses helps?).

Dastrica, in Polokoa, has advanced adaptive science-magic glasses that adjust so she doesn't need multiple pairs. ( >>80341 , last heading / question).
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No. 99114 ID: 1d9723

>>98838

I was wondering if this was too rude a question, but considering one you just answered there: Rokoa, have you ever kept a slave? What sort of qualities qualify someone as good slave material, anyway? Would most slaves be, like, some sort of craftsperson who can make something the hive wants but doesn't like to do themselves? Or would it be less practical and more horrible and most slaves would just be kept as playthings to torture before killing them once they become boring?

Related question: if something like your scenario with Kappi had played out pre-contact, would it be possible you'd have kept him as a slave then? Because, well, I can't imagine he'd be able to just live his life with you visiting him like you do now, and a slave scenario seems possible. So, pre-contact you is out and about on business, on your own, you find this rogue, he falls in love with you instantly and your empathy clicks together pretty well, what do you do with him? I mean, taking him back to your hive would probably get him killed even now, but maybe if he's set up in a cave living by himself or whatever, would you let him be and just come out to visit him now and again? Make him maintain a little hunting lodge for you or something?

And if that still wouldn't have happened with you, is it the sort of thing that still could have happened somewhere with someone, some time pre-contact? Are there any big extra-hive romance stories set pre-contact that have reached popular consciousness, or is that sort of thing still considered too deviant and/or scandalous among most neumono?

>>98845

Psst, Roxie. Penn got asked, so I want to ask you the same: what do you think about how aliens smell? Did you think Penn smelled funny when you first met her? Was it her specifically, or just that all civilized people smelled weird, until you got used to it?

What did you think when you first met an alien, anyway? Were there any specific species that you had any particularly interesting/embarrassing thoughts about when you first saw one of them? I remember you saying that your hive was contacted some aliens and their escorts, but did you personally talk a lot to anyone in particular, in the course of your preparation to come out and learn to be civilized? Maybe your hive has some specific liason or team of liasons who they talk to/get talked to by, in relation to their attempts to uplift? What are they like, do you like/trust them? And on the topic of liking aliens, most of your friends besides Penn seem to be neumono. Do you have any other alien friends, or alien partybuddies at least?

>I'm told that I'm pretty good at singing.

Hmm. Have you ever heard Penn sing? Like, even maybe just some earworm that got into her head and she sang it in the shower or something that you heard through the wall. For... some reason, I imagine she would have a voice that people wouldn't mind listening to, if she used it confidently. Would you say that's accurate?
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No. 99258 ID: d5cd65

Belenosians/neumono/heef: have you managed to invent bandages that work well with fur/feathers? Just as lesser-fluffed human I know that trying to put one on where there's a lot of hair doesn't work so well. And what about taking them off? I mean, ouch.
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No. 99259 ID: 595d54

>>99258
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-adhering_bandage
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No. 99282 ID: a0a58f

Hey Polo, who do you admire most? I imagine your Queen is up there, as that seems to be part and parcel of the relationship between a hive and their king or queen, but anyone else? Any celebrities or historical figures who you'd like to meet? Dare I say, even be excited at the chance to meet?
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No. 99285 ID: 99a64d

>>99282
Have we met the sealock queen?
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No. 99286 ID: a075ba

>>99285
Nope.
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No. 99372 ID: 595d54

>>99286
>>99285
We have, actually. Check the older threads.
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No. 99374 ID: a075ba

>>99372
I can't prove a negative short of linking every post she doesn't appear in, so I'll settle for a chat log excerpt.

Apr 19 22:07:43 <Lagowork>I sure don't remember drawing her


If you've got a post in mind, by all means, link it.
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No. 99379 ID: 99a64d

>>99374
Maybe they were referring to when Polo called home during the intermission? There were some random sealocks in that panel.
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No. 99617 ID: 3d2d5f

Polo, since you've actually experienced it now, what's it like for a neumono who's been dominated / pacified by a predator?

I'm directing this at you because from what we've seen, it seems to be a disorienting experience (and therefore hard for people to describe effectively), but your training with Three Stripes meant you went under and came back out repeatedly. Which is a different experience than most have (ie "no experience", "bluh, that was one confusing and disorienting trauma I had" or "I'm sorry, I'm a brain dead zombie and no good as a witness"), and might have afforded you some degree of acclimation and/or a perseptive that's less clouded by / overwhelmed by the whole experience.


To anyone (un)willing to find themselves the subject of an amusing visual, what's a shaved neumono look like?
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No. 99807 ID: bcf3a9

Hey, Kappi. You're trying to get swole, and familiar with the animes. From what we've seen of ships and space stations, you guys have artificial gravity technology, right? Well, do you have hightened gravity training rooms? I mean there are possible theoretical complications to going more than a few decimal points above standard for humans and probably most species, but for neumono I imagine it would actually be very good for convincing your body to maintain higher muscle and bone density? Have you tried it? ... How hard is it to implement, would a hardcore like Rokoa be able to get it installed in her living space so that she can have it on as much as possible?

By the way, have you tried making any other bets with Rokoa? I was thinking that, since you're smaller, you could maybe take her on at a reflex-based shooting gallery game, if you practiced a lot. You could try get more clues out of her to that thing she wants. Or other favors, wink nudge.

Also did Jess get mad at you making a mess of coffee and mug shards and then asking her to cover your job thereby implicitly making her clean up the probably-by-that-point-dried-in coffee mess?
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No. 99924 ID: 5009e5

Itcher, buddy, let's cut to the meat of the matter. Are you naturally beefy, or supplemented? No shame if you are enhanced, I mean, you're not employed to be a tank, but with your lifestyle and residence it probably would have been a good idea to look intimidating, though maybe not so much now. On the other hand, we've been told you are in the natural range, and your sister seems pretty solidly built as well. If you are a natural, do you get sick of people assuming otherwise? Do you work out much?

How do you feel on the imperial-vs-tribal division of physical ideals, anyway, overall? And how do you feel about the various chemical and technological enhancements on offer for your species, are there any others you'd be tempted to get?

... Also would you smooch a robot. Or like a super cyborg or something. Imagine Whiskers turned out to secretly be, like, an ancient belenosian noble who flung herself into the future by doing loops around a black hole at .9c, or something. Would you still want the hot makeouts?
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No. 99998 ID: 91ee5f

Kappi, you messed up! When Rokoa told you not to have chocolate anymore, you should've just grabbed a piece of chocolate and ate it right in front of her! You probably would've gotten a little respect for having the balls to do that!
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No. 99999 ID: 595d54

>>99998
Rokoa, what would you have done if he actually did that?
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No. 100000 ID: 595d54

>>99999
Also, Jessica, do you think you're getting less terrified of Rokoa now or is she still not someone you want to be around?
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No. 100002 ID: f0e552

>>100000
GET
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No. 100025 ID: f44d37

Belenosians: We know that neumono like getting their fur brushed, how about you? I mean, one would assume that some brushing is necessary for comfort after using the body dryer, but there are logistical problems with brushing yourself. You could use some long-handled brush arrangement, or some other device, but I imagine they wouldn't provide the same satisfaction. So about what level do you need to be on with someone to let them/ask them to take a brush to you? I'd ask the neumono the same question but one assumes the answer is just something like "anyone who I like and who's empathy I can stand".

Speaking of grooming, non-humans: do you have equivalents to hairdressers, where you go to get yourself tidied, smoothed out and prettied up? I mean, even humans have salons for like skin and nails and such, but they're comparatively rare. Do you have something you'd use more frequently?
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No. 100087 ID: dd338c
File 146502123559.png - (40.76KB , 1100x800 , ShupITQ6.png )
100087

>What are the rules for marriage? Is it only nobles?
There are virtually none, aside from a fee required for the empire to formally recognize the union. The fee is nominal, but it is a fee nonetheless, so most peasant 'marriages' are simply informal. Otherwise, so long as the two parties are both willing, any two adult kobolds may be married.

>I recall Shup having multiple wives, is that only a thing for male nobles, or can female nobles have multiple husbands, too?
For nobility, multiple wives and husbands is a signifier of wealth. While trophy wives and husbands certainly exist, and may even be seen as valuable, a noble with many wives and husbands has connotations to be willing to share their wealth, livelihood and well being with others. After all, those husbands and wives have their own familes, and those families can expect to reap generosity.

This is the ideology of the empire, but in practice, some nobles simply have glorified harems.

>And what's the stance on homosexuality? Are there guy-guy or girl-girl marriages?
Certainly, at least among the nobility. The peasantry, while not often outright hostile to homosexuals, tends to give the idea negative connotations. The emperor cares little about this, and so by extension and his blessing of titles, the nobility is free to indulge in their own tastes. And the peasantry, not wishing to offend the nobility, wisely keeps their views amongst their own less polite company.

>Or some sort of lesser arrangement, like maybe some oath of quote-unquote brotherly affection between totally masculine warriors, wink wink nudge nudge?
And this would, perhaps, count as the informal 'marriages' of the peasantry I had prior mentioned.
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No. 100088 ID: dd338c
File 146502124975.png - (9.61KB , 800x800 , AgnesITQ15.png )
100088

>So... your part in the process isn't pleasant, but it is still somewhat satisfying? Like scratching an itch?
That is a good analogy, and correct.
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No. 100089 ID: dd338c
File 146502127282.png - (22.73KB , 800x800 , KappiITQ32.png )
100089

>Kappi, if you only think of live-action porn, you're not as big a pervert as I thought! What about drawing, comics, animations?
Well it would be weird to look up that stuff now! And it would've been before I got to know her too, come to think of it!

I mean, she'd probably laugh at it, so I guess the option is there. So that's nice.

But still the internet here is kind of shoddy scraps of the real internet, so I can't hold out much hope. Or, expectations.

>Hey, Kappi. You're trying to get swole, and familiar with the animes. From what we've seen of ships and space stations, you guys have artificial gravity technology, right? Well, do you have hightened gravity training rooms? I mean there are possible theoretical complications to going more than a few decimal points above standard for humans and probably most species, but for neumono I imagine it would actually be very good for convincing your body to maintain higher muscle and bone density? Have you tried it? ... How hard is it to implement, would a hardcore like Rokoa be able to get it installed in her living space so that she can have it on as much as possible?
I doubt Rokoa has one installed personally, but it's actually possible that her hive has something like that! Last I checked, a lot of their crashed spaceship was still functional, and that included antigravity, though it must be old as heck by now and maybe it either doesn't work or is more or less replaced part by part.

It has been tested, though, and yeah, it's mostly common amongst weightlifters who like to do competitions since it's pretty hardcore. I mean, regeneration does bring us back to the baseline, so if you want to get the benefits of doing that kind of training, then you have to do it all the time to keep the benefits. Supposedly, though, the strongest neumono in the galaxy do train in heavy gravity and take a lot of steroids for neumono and other stuff. Rokoa says that neumono like that could snap her in half if she fought them with brute strength, but they're all really slow as far as agility goes and tire out quickly.

>By the way, have you tried making any other bets with Rokoa? I was thinking that, since you're smaller, you could maybe take her on at a reflex-based shooting gallery game, if you practiced a lot. You could try get more clues out of her to that thing she wants. Or other favors, wink nudge.
That's the idea! I haven't made any other bets, but I'm thinking of some.

>Also did Jess get mad at you making a mess of coffee and mug shards and then asking her to cover your job thereby implicitly making her clean up the probably-by-that-point-dried-in coffee mess?
A little bit, but I think she'd mostly be mad at Rokoa, and she doesn't want to get mad at Rokoa.

>Kappi, you messed up! When Rokoa told you not to have chocolate anymore, you should've just grabbed a piece of chocolate and ate it right in front of her! You probably would've gotten a little respect for having the balls to do that!
That uh.... that might be going a little far. I think she wants me to challenge her in ways that improve me, not challenge her in spiteful ways for its own sake!
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No. 100090 ID: dd338c
File 146502129773.png - (21.98KB , 800x800 , RokoaITQ81.png )
100090

>Rokoa, what would you have done if he actually did that?
See how well he responds to getting punched in the throat mid-swallow.

>Are there special neumono pianos? If not then that's extra impressive. When and why did you try learn that?
There are, and it looks more like a grid of big buttons than a real piano. I don't even want to hear my attempt at trying to press down those toothpicks on antiquated pianos.

Anyway, my hive's always had a soft spot for classical music, so it was always a little hobby of ours over the course of decades.

>Rokoa, have you ever kept a slave?
Yeah. Not for long term, though.

>What sort of qualities qualify someone as good slave material, anyway? Would most slaves be, like, some sort of craftsperson who can make something the hive wants but doesn't like to do themselves? Or would it be less practical and more horrible and most slaves would just be kept as playthings to torture before killing them once they become boring?
Some jungle hives kept a few redgrass or snow neumono slaves around for heavy lifting where it was tough for a lot of the little twerps to deal with, and that's the only time I've seen common slave cases before aliens showed up.

Most lengthy slavery is just when food is good and there's enough spare food to feed the slave. Once the food supply hiccups, though, that slave becomes the backup.

And most slavery, period, is that horrible stuff. Sure, some hives just screwed around with their slaves as playthings before killing them, but some wouldn't kill them when they became boring. They'd show that slave just how much pain and suffering can be inflicted, and when the slave is completely dead inside, then the hive would return the slave back to the slave's own hive to bring their wounded, broken empathy to poison the hive. It was our version of psychological warfare.

>If something like your scenario with Kappi had played out pre-contact, would it be possible you'd have kept him as a slave then? Because, well, I can't imagine he'd be able to just live his life with you visiting him like you do now, and a slave scenario seems possible. So, pre-contact you is out and about on business, on your own, you find this rogue, he falls in love with you instantly and your empathy clicks together pretty well, what do you do with him? I mean, taking him back to your hive would probably get him killed even now, but maybe if he's set up in a cave living by himself or whatever, would you let him be and just come out to visit him now and again? Make him maintain a little hunting lodge for you or something?
I'd probably kill him. Back then I was all about the killing of rogues.

Maybe he'd hit the mark back then too, though. Hell if I could claim that I remember myself perfectly one hundred years ago. If he did though, he would have to live seperately, but the mental image of that guy living as a rogue out in those wilds for more than a day is comical! And if he did that, and I got over the rogue offense, then damn right I'd make visits to him off in his cave or hut or whatever.

>And if that still wouldn't have happened with you, is it the sort of thing that still could have happened somewhere with someone, some time pre-contact? Are there any big extra-hive romance stories set pre-contact that have reached popular consciousness, or is that sort of thing still considered too deviant and/or scandalous among most neumono?
A few case studies got made into best selling novels or movies or whatever, and are perpetuated since aliens are all about glorifying two different hives getting together by unlikely pairing or whatever. Modern neumono eat it up, too.

I'm sure it's happened somewhere in the past, though. We had a real ultrahive, apparently. I'm sure since and before that, there's been wonky neumono.
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No. 100091 ID: dd338c
File 146502132859.png - (11.70KB , 800x800 , RokoaITQ82.png )
100091

>To anyone (un)willing to find themselves the subject of an amusing visual, what's a shaved neumono look like?
'Amusing' is a new one.
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No. 100092 ID: dd338c
File 146502135741.png - (19.84KB , 800x800 , PoloITQ103.png )
100092

>Hey Polo, who do you admire most? I imagine your Queen is up there, as that seems to be part and parcel of the relationship between a hive and their king or queen, but anyone else? Any celebrities or historical figures who you'd like to meet? Dare I say, even be excited at the chance to meet?
Not really.

>Polo, since you've actually experienced it now, what's it like for a neumono who's been dominated / pacified by a predator? I'm directing this at you because from what we've seen, it seems to be a disorienting experience (and therefore hard for people to describe effectively), but your training with Three Stripes meant you went under and came back out repeatedly. Which is a different experience than most have (ie "no experience", "bluh, that was one confusing and disorienting trauma I had" or "I'm sorry, I'm a brain dead zombie and no good as a witness"), and might have afforded you some degree of acclimation and/or a perseptive that's less clouded by / overwhelmed by the whole experience.
At first, to me and most other neumono, getting controlled by a predator feels more like I was deciding on the action. It's still disorienting, because there's still a large part of the brain that detects that the controlled thought is either wrong or otherwise influenced. It's disorienting though because it isn't as though one can feel the predator's mind tugging at our own, but rather our own mind decided something against its own will, and for a mind to do that is, for the most part, a first. If they don't know there's a predator there, they may just feel it as a sudden, out of place urge to do something. The ones that do know there's a predator affecting them often report they weren't initially sure if, say, their sudden urge to eat an apple was because of the predator or their own mind playing tricks on them. At least not until they scarfed down the apple against their will.

Later on in my training, I felt like Three Stripes was able to control my body more than my brain. This wasn't the case, of course, but I could feel my mind getting dragged in places instead of it feeling like I was making decisions against my will. While attempting to hold onto a rock, I could feel my limbs abandoning my conscious mind's orders. That was even more disorienting when I felt like there was something to fight against. And I would still drop the rock. This seemed to unnerve the researchers more than what was previously felt by predator's targets, as Three Stripes seemed able to control neumono on a deeper level than originally thought. I was a case study, however, and it's possible that Three Stripes, with his extensive practice on me, was able to get to my deeper conscious even by just sporadic bursts of control. Eventually, I was able to think clearly about holding onto the rock before, during, and after my hands letting go of the rock. It became like aliens call alien hand syndrome.

.... which sounds funny to me.
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No. 100093 ID: dd338c
File 146502138315.png - (19.24KB , 800x800 , AzITQ20.png )
100093

>To any neumono who wears glasses, why do you wear them? Wouldn't regeneration take care of most problems?
Alright here's a refresher. The regeneration puts our eyes back to baseline, which is usually well and good vision, but screens fuck up our eyes fast for a lot of us, so we're in a constant state of damaging and healing our eyes. That's why neumono that are susceptible to damage need a lot of intermediate pairs of glasses.

>Also, Az mentioned that trying to fit rogues under other hives has problems, why is that?
Because to a hive, rogues feel like someone took a shit in a rose garden. And to a rogue, a hive feels like.... let me grab a random rogue, here we go. Yeah, his posture is bad, he's depressive, he's just awful to be around. What do hives feel like to you?

>".... those other guys."

That's right. Other guys. Not his guys.

>And on that subject, any rogue who wishes to answer, what's it like being rogue? A lot of the rogues we've seen seem normal, at least on the outside.
Care to answer that one, rogue?
>"It sucks."
Care to elaborate?
>"Like everyone's a stranger. Even if you know all the facts about them, and you've been with them for a long time, every time you see them you still feel inclined to greet them like you would if you first met and to not get too cozy."
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No. 100094 ID: dd338c
File 146502142248.png - (21.05KB , 800x800 , PennITQ10.png )
100094

>But, I suppose the technical aspects would still apply? How to read sheet music, the proper methods for producing X sound from Y instrument, et cetera? Someone previously mentioned that belenosian music is quite formulaic. Would that be because it's easy enough to learn how to play and to replicate existing songs, while actually having the creative spark to produce the more subjective, innovative sensual aspects is more difficult?
That's right, I think! We usually compose stuff base on rules that try to be hard set and formulaic, and we just have no idea what to do if we try to break out of that mold and do something, well, creative. There's some belenos that are about to do it, but they're terribly rare.

>Tell me, is there a lot of apprehension and/or excitement about neumono among economists? Their population is growing rapidly, and now that they've mostly compensated for the negative effects, their empathic abilities seem like they would be a huge boon to business. Less miscommunications, less obstructive formalities, better multitasking with what Roxie said about holding multiple thoughts at once better, and a natural inclination (perhaps better intuitive understanding?) towards operating in large groups rather than as individuals. Like, if a neumono government thinks "we need to stop spending so much/spend much more on [thing]" to fix a certain problem in their economy, with other species that sort of direct control would be barely possible at all, but with neumono all you need to do is convince the Kings and Queens and then a massive portion of the populace will go along with it, even if it's a hardship. It seems like their economic productivity could well outstrip everyone else's in just a hundred years or so.
I, um... I've never really been in a big neumono business meeting, but there are a lot of neumono who have to meet up for a common cause, and... there is a lot of honesty between them, but I've learned that whenever an alien keeps something to themselves, maybe that's a good thing? I've seen a neumono who was speaking vigorously about his point, and then he suddenly hushed, and he and a bunch of others faced this one other neumono, and the speaker confronted that neumono if there was something he'd like to share. I forget what he said, but it didn't go well and the whole place blew up in screaming and yelling.

As for just convincing the queen/king, well, that does work well in small chunks! The problem is is that it falls apart pretty badly on the big scale of things, because there are a lot of kings and queens to convince. And the hive rulers will often be really set in their ways because they have their hive of dozens and dozens of neumono backing them up.

There are a lot of neumono though, and they'll probably be a huge powerhouse of economy, it's just that a lot of people are worried that the neumono aren't really going to be friendly to themselves or aliens about it. It's just going to be a lot of warring corporations instead of tribes, they say. I think it's been mentioned, but hives have so many kids! They have so many because then they can get more power since it's so many people working together, but then it gets too big, then you have two hives. Then you have two hives that lost a lot of people, and they want to replenish their numbers! Even though it caused the issue in the first place! Then you have four, and... well, there's worries. A lot of civilized aliens will, for some reason or another, actually get less kids as their civilization stabilized, but for neumono, there's just no signs of stopping. And it's not necessarily a good thing, because ultrahives can schism too, and that's, uh... it's not pretty.

>How would you feel about living in a galaxy where neumono have become the dominant species, Penn? And an overall better economy is good for everyone, but are there many who seem hard set against the possibility?
I don't know! I hope they don't become dominant before I get accustomed to them. I hope they remain more or less friendly to aliens like they've shown in the past pretty consistently! I guess most non-neumono that are against it are the ones who don't want to get sidelined or ended up treated as second class citizens. Or just don't like neumono, and not liking neumono on Astreneus is already a really awful fate.

>You said once that there are belenos who've studied straight for days. Is that more from just the allure of knowledge overriding the need to sleep, or do belenosians need to sleep less often in general? Or, is study somehow a kind of activity for your brains that can replace sleep, at least to some extent? How about yourself, are you good at going for long periods without sleep, or at having less sleep per day? What's your record, and how quickly/to what degree does it impair you?
We need to sleep just a tiny bit less than humans, but we can go without sleep for a long period easier than most other species, and without the harm to the brain.

So, I've definitely pulled consecutive all nighters, but we get sleep debt and I once slept for a day straight. Roxie called emergency services and everything.

>Belenosians/neumono/heef: have you managed to invent bandages that work well with fur/feathers? Just as lesser-fluffed human I know that trying to put one on where there's a lot of hair doesn't work so well. And what about taking them off? I mean, ouch.
Yes, there are self adhesive ones for the simple option. But, we've got a special weird paste that's almost like a foamy glue, but it cleanly wears out after several hours and just sort of disintegrates on its own. That's pretty common for just little nicks that just need a little bit of covering for awhile.

>Belenosians: We know that neumono like getting their fur brushed, how about you? I mean, one would assume that some brushing is necessary for comfort after using the body dryer, but there are logistical problems with brushing yourself. You could use some long-handled brush arrangement, or some other device, but I imagine they wouldn't provide the same satisfaction. So about what level do you need to be on with someone to let them/ask them to take a brush to you? I'd ask the neumono the same question but one assumes the answer is just something like "anyone who I like and who's empathy I can stand".
I guess, well, you are right, because it is tough to get to the back unless you have an actual handle extension. So decent friends will be pretty comfortable with brushing each other, and it happens frequently, even in public. Neumono and heef do it way more though because they're a lot more inclined to get the social interaction that some species get out of grooming one another, but Belenos usually don't bond quite like that, normally. I don't know much about how comfortable heef have to be with each other, but neumono will do it to anyone who they want to bond with, but Roxie told me how she once had to let herself get lightly groomed by, and groom, neumono from outside her hive as an uplifting training session. Which seems kinda weird to me.

As for me.... I've got the handle extension, even though Roxie has offered to brush me a lot.

>Speaking of grooming, non-humans: do you have equivalents to hairdressers, where you go to get yourself tidied, smoothed out and prettied up? I mean, even humans have salons for like skin and nails and such, but they're comparatively rare. Do you have something you'd use more frequently?
We do! They're still not as common, so the ones that do are usually multi-racial, so humans can get their nails done while belenosians can be given special shampoo and... have their nails done too. That's actually where I see mikliks most often, because they have a lot of allergy and skin issues off of their home planet, but special treatment helps a lot with it.
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No. 100096 ID: dd338c
File 146502149186.png - (16.89KB , 800x800 , RoxieITQ4.png )
100096

>Psst, Roxie. Penn got asked, so I want to ask you the same: what do you think about how aliens smell? Did you think Penn smelled funny when you first met her? Was it her specifically, or just that all civilized people smelled weird, until you got used to it?
At first it was weird as heck like they were.... you know, aliens. It was kind of bad, but by the time I met Penn, I got used to it! And now I almost like the smell of some aliens.

>What did you think when you first met an alien, anyway? Were there any specific species that you had any particularly interesting/embarrassing thoughts about when you first saw one of them? I remember you saying that your hive was contacted some aliens and their escorts, but did you personally talk a lot to anyone in particular, in the course of your preparation to come out and learn to be civilized? Maybe your hive has some specific liason or team of liasons who they talk to/get talked to by, in relation to their attempts to uplift? What are they like, do you like/trust them? And on the topic of liking aliens, most of your friends besides Penn seem to be neumono. Do you have any other alien friends, or alien partybuddies at least?
I was kind of shy to aliens at first, actually. I was basically just a late adolescent when I first saw them, and that was the first creature outside of my hive that I ever saw mixed with my own hive's empathy screaming at me 'you must never ever hurt this thing!' And I also heard they're really fragile, so I was afraid to even touch any aliens for a long time. It was so ridiculous that I scooted away from aliens who tried to touch me because I was afraid they'd hurt themselves somehow. That was dumb, but, you know, a lot of those aliens took that to mean I didn't like to get petted, because in their head, they were trying to pet me like some, uh, you know, pet. And that was dumb and insulting too, so my idiocy sort of saved them from their idiocy! Anyways, I behaved well enough though for an adult, and since my hive wasn't comfortable sending impressionable kids off to other hives, I was selected to go get uplifted.

At first we did have a liason of sorts, which was basically just one of our older guys who seemed to get a knack for getting english down, but these days our alien liasons are basically the uplifted neumono. Like me.

Aliens are pretty cool though for the most part, but it is more involved to get friends with them. Most of my friends are neumono just because we pass each other by and if we'd get along well, we'd know it right away.

>Have you ever heard Penn sing? Like, even maybe just some earworm that got into her head and she sang it in the shower or something that you heard through the wall. For... some reason, I imagine she would have a voice that people wouldn't mind listening to, if she used it confidently. Would you say that's accurate?
I swear she's sung to herself. I keep almost hearing it, and then I try and listen in, and it's gone. Someday I'll hear her sing.
>>
No. 100097 ID: dd338c
File 146502150690.png - (20.35KB , 800x800 , JessITQ19.png )
100097

>Also, Jessica, do you think you're getting less terrified of Rokoa now or is she still not someone you want to be around?
I'm getting less terrified in the sense that that sense of murder feels more like a sense of respect her. She's still hard as hell to read and even more awkward to be around, because she's always looking for damn trouble. The hub really isn't that big once you walk around it a couple times, too, so I keep running into her when she's around. So even if I know she's not going to rip my eyes out for looking at her weird, if I get too cozy around her or start thinking she might actually be a softy, she might start seeing me as worth starting trouble with and start giving me shit.

And that's bad, because I don't like taking shit, and that means things would probably escalate between us, and the chances of me coming out on top are pretty bad.
>>
No. 100098 ID: dd338c
File 146502151657.png - (18.57KB , 800x800 , ItcherITQ11.png )
100098

>Itcher, buddy, let's cut to the meat of the matter. Are you naturally beefy, or supplemented? No shame if you are enhanced, I mean, you're not employed to be a tank, but with your lifestyle and residence it probably would have been a good idea to look intimidating, though maybe not so much now. On the other hand, we've been told you are in the natural range, and your sister seems pretty solidly built as well. If you are a natural, do you get sick of people assuming otherwise? Do you work out much?
Alright, lotta people think I hit the roids, and sometimes I wonder why I don't. Probably cause I don't want to look like a meathead, but I want to look like I can fight. And that's the reason I give, cause I've gotta put up a front. It's a good reason, 'cause it's true. I used to get picked on when I was a scrawny fucker. I thought I was okay with it, but if it was convenient to look like a meat wall of no shit taken, I figured I'd take it.

And then I got put on gold watch duty. They didn't let me take in books or games or any goddamn thing to entertain myself with, so it was just me, waiting for several hours per day, in a locked room full of heavy, golden bars and given rations under the Zozu family's direction. Them being Salikai, that means 'optimally healthy food'.

Anyways, I ain't gonna miss my Zozu days that much, but I am gonna miss being able to say that I got swole by lifting bars made out of solid gold.

Actually, it's probably for the best that I don't say that in front of greedy assholes anymore.

>How do you feel on the imperial-vs-tribal division of physical ideals, anyway, overall?
I am a goddamned mental vegetable when it comes to having feelings on that.

>And how do you feel about the various chemical and technological enhancements on offer for your species, are there any others you'd be tempted to get?
Probably would feel pretty good if I gave enough of a shit use those chemicals and things.

But I don't.

>... Also would you smooch a robot. Or like a super cyborg or something. Imagine Whiskers turned out to secretly be, like, an ancient belenosian noble who flung herself into the future by doing loops around a black hole at .9c, or something. Would you still want the hot makeouts?
If we're talking the beep-boop non-sapient steel things, I wouldn't smooch 'em. If Whiskers was a secret robot? Well then I've already smooched her all over the place and I'd say I was pretty cool with that. And I'd also say that if she was a robot, then those ancient belenosians knew how to build them convincingly.
>>
No. 100099 ID: 595d54

>>100098
hi Roxie how did you shapeshift into Itcher
>>
No. 100105 ID: 211d83

>>100091
So Rokoa you are black under the fur to help keep warm in snow climates. But what about Polo? Is she white to help reflect the heat on the summer beaches? And what about Jess and Az? Or the mystery cave neuomono?

We obviously need a shaved lineup of the different neumono tribes for science.


>>100092
If you can mentally but not physically resist a predator does that mean you could pretend to be controlled and docile while secretly plotting away until the perfect moment came up to escape/blow stuff up? Or would it be able to notice you still thinking away in there? Seems like something your new partial empathy/lying ability would come in handy on.


And a final question for the Omega waveforce team.

So after that scuffle with Polo did she make off with your empathy gun? Did you ever get your vengeance? Or was there a whole bunch of bureaucratic muttering about jurisdiction and vigilantes getting involved in official cases while Polo grumped at you about irresponsibly taking a giant robot into a civilian center?

Or did you flee and put her picture on your wall of villains as "The Grump" and then later had a two part holiday special to try and teach her he meaning of Christmas?
>>
No. 100111 ID: a075ba

>>100105
>So Rokoa you are black under the fur to help keep warm in snow climates. But what about Polo? Is she white to help reflect the heat on the summer beaches? And what about Jess and Az? Or the mystery cave neuomono?

>We obviously need a shaved lineup of the different neumono tribes for science.

The skin coloration thing was mentioned somewhere before. The darker coloration is specifically a snow hive adaptation / gene. Neumono without it have pinkish skin.

And if you really want to know who has which color skin, head on over to the draw threads, look at the porn, and pay attention to the nipples and dongs. Color coded for your convenience!
>>
No. 100149 ID: 91ee5f

Polo, if Dart-Rokoa changes your body in any way before you "eat" her and there was no way to stop the change, what would you want the change to be?
>>
No. 100165 ID: d5e15c

>>100105
>>100111
Rokoa's skin is black under her fur because she's the walking manifestation of neumono nightmare.
>>
No. 100166 ID: 595d54

>>100165
No, that's Polo.
>>
No. 100167 ID: bb78f2

Rokoa and/or another neumonoalien with the experience: Can you give me a rundown of which aliens are the best tasting, for the times you've had to eat them, if you've done it at all? Maybe even a description of the flavor.

Since cannibalism is only in reference to eating something of the same species, what's the crime called when you eat an alien sapient species?
>>
No. 100168 ID: a075ba

>>100167
Rokoa's already had a fair bit to say about how various peoples taste.

Humans >>82263
Pretty much everybody else >>82469
Mikliks, again >>97420
>>
No. 100170 ID: 5a893f

>>100168
Oh dammit, Im pulling a "Simpsons did it"
>>
No. 100250 ID: 91ee5f

To any of the nonhumans in the Asteroidverse that're willing to answer: Humans have expressions that go like "Brother from another mother" and "Sister from another mister", do any of you have a similar expression for your species?
>>
No. 100401 ID: b0190d

>>100098
>I am gonna miss being able to say that I got swole by lifting bars made out of solid gold.

So, what are you doing now? It'd be a shame to let all that muscle go to waste, and you counteract all your drinking if you don't want to get a beer belly. Though, I dunno, maybe you guys have different weight gain trends than humans. I don't think I've ever seen a belenosian with any chub on them. Is that a thing, or has it just been coincidence?

... You know, you should consider learning to pole dance. It's very good for keeping in shape, and I'd bet you if she heard about it, Whiskers wouldn't be able to help coming by to sneak a peek on you some time. She seems like an appreciator of the arts.
>>
No. 100533 ID: fef1bf

Dogs with floppy ears get yeast infections. Do neumono have this problem, and how do they deal with it?
>>
No. 100567 ID: 91cfcf

Hey, Rokoa. You're super dedicated to your hive and everything, pretty sure everyone knows that by now. But then why leave the snowhive for the warhive?

Also, what sort of other uses do nanobots have? Given what bioarmor is capable of, the first other applications that come to mind are medical and industrial. You could make a less complicated, less expensive version of the stuff for surgeries or particularly complicated chemical synthesis, but what sort of thing justifies the cost of large-scale nanobots?

Also, roughly how much territory/population does each race have? Pit mentioned there were 10 billion neumono, but I'm curious how many planets they're spread over and about other species. Especially humanity, with stuff like Soltai it sounds like they've gotten close to a post-scarcity society.
>>
No. 100687 ID: 595d54

Which one is stronger: an average heef or an average voklit?
>>
No. 101106 ID: db0da2

>>100166
Polo is a spooky ghost story. Rokoa is a slasher movie villain.

Did the Belenosian empire ever attempt interstellar colonization?

I just realized that we know startlingly little about the overall galactic political situation off of the asteroid, anyone care to fill us in on that? For example: Do humans run everything? Are the alien home worlds independent? Is there a singular "United States of the Galaxy"? Are there multiple interstellar empires? Are most planets unified or are they broken up into smaller countries? Is democracy still dominant or has favor shifted to meritocracy or some other system? Is society post-scarcity? What about just Earth? What kind of equipment do space cops come equipped with? How do humans fight, in general? What notable military and para-military organizations exist, and what equipment do they use? What is the most destructive weapon currently in existence? Is intergalactic travel possible, and has it been attempted?

To what extent has the singularity happened with the AI regulations getting in the way? Is any form of Eugenics common or acceptable? How far has VR tech come? Is it possible to virtually simulate a human or alien consciousness? Are consciousness uploads possible? How old are the oldest members of each species? For which species is indefinite life possible, if any? Are genetic modifications commonplace or acceptable? Do human subspecies exist? Has artificial biological sapient life been created either through genetic engineering or selective breeding? Do space marines exist? How good are current prosthetics? Did a Deus Ex scenario ever take place? More generally; to what extent has trans-humanism taken hold?

Who is the most infamous individual in all of history? Most revered? Who killed the most people? Who killed the most people personally?
>>
No. 101118 ID: 91ee5f

To Tin: Almost every time we see you, you're balancing a pen or something on your finger. Are you bored or is it just that entertaining to balance things? Also, what's the most things you've balanced at one time?

To Moi: If you can somehow make it out alive with Biles' group, how do you think you'll be able to live a normal life with that bioarmor being permanently stuck to you? And do you think you might ever get it off?

(Doing this one for shits and giggles) To the fluffiest Neumono: Just how fluffy are you? Does it pose any issues? How's the hug game?
>>
No. 101123 ID: e4cf2c

>>101118
> (Doing this one for shits and giggles) To the fluffiest Neumono: Just how fluffy are you? Does it pose any issues? How's the hug game?

Weren't the first two of these already asked?
>>
No. 101126 ID: a075ba

Hey Croc, tell us about your love life. You thought Cheese was cute, and now I'm curious.

Has your opinion her in improved at all, by the way?
>>
No. 101127 ID: 91ee5f

>>101123
Yes, but they were asked to a Belenosian. This time a Neumono is being asked.
>>
No. 101133 ID: 595d54

>>101127
I thought Pilon was the fluffiest neumono and then someone decided to ask about the fluffiest belenosian? Actually why not take it further? Fluffiest individuals of every species including ones that aren't normally fluffy, how's life?
>>
No. 101141 ID: 91ee5f

>>101133
We don't know for sure if Pilon is the fluffiest, we just know that so far, he's the one with the biggest ears.
>>
No. 101142 ID: bb78f2

You know what race we haven't asked about fluffiness yet?
Mikliks.
The fluffiest Miklik, where are you? If that mutation is possible.
>>
No. 101143 ID: 595d54

>>101142
>every species
Are you saying miklik aren't a species?
>>
No. 101159 ID: e4cf2c

>>101133
Whoops, my mistake. Sorry for interrupting you.
>>
No. 101160 ID: 595d54

>>101159
I was teasing you, no need to apologize.
>>
No. 101395 ID: a075ba

Hey Cheese, in your assorted moments of desperation and fear, you went "oh god" a few times, and you did have a church for a base of operations for a little bit.

What can you tell us about kobold religion? Do you have one god or a pantheon? Is there an official religion of the empire, or various scatter heretical mumbling? Does organized religion play any big part in politics (the fact that the church was disused and that Gauche treated going there as a dying, futile act of curiosity / desperation imply it's not now, although it might have been in the past). What's the kobold god supposed to stand for, and what's their big story?
>>
No. 101402 ID: 4f8995

>>101395

That raises a bunch of other possible questions. Like, how much evidence is there for any actual divine intervention? Do deities have any role in the afterlife? We were told the land contains the souls of all dead kobolds. I assume they reincarnate or something. Do kobolds ever have any ability to recall past life memories? Has anyone ever been identified as a reincarnation of someone else? And what are the limits of necromancy, we got a hint that it's possible to talk to the dead, has anyone ever tried bring them back to life and succeeded, even partially? Like, if blood binds the soul to the body, are there like... kobold vampires, dead souls pulled back into bodies by magic who have to drink blood to maintain the connection, or something? Or how about other soul manipulations, can necromancers use souls for power or try to absorb soul stuff to make themselves stronger?

What happens if a kobold dies outside its natural environment? What happens if a kobold dies outside kobold lands entirely?

If you all came from big magical beasts, are there like... beast cults, who worship the beast they came from as their ancestor, or believe the beast's spirit is still alive in them and the land, or similar? Are the beasts that kobolds come from intelligent? Are they all gone, or are any still around?

>>100094

Eyo Penn, I'm wondering, how much is it possible to create a personality duplicate of an existing person? By which I mean, like, not a brain scan copy or upload or anything, I figure those are still out of reach, but like could someone take a few psychological tests and answer and bunch of questions and load in their biography, and have a program created that could effectively imitate them? How easy would it be for you to make an AI that could act like a copy of you, and fool people? I have to imagine there are some antisocial nerds out there who would make an AI to do all their online interactions for them, if it were possible. And in general, is it easy now to create non-sentient AIs that can pass the Turing test?

Another question: how's the state of belenosian cyberbiology these days? I gather there are cyborgs, and there are combat advantages for military and criminals, but aside small convenience things like heart monitors or fertility switch implants, are they common outside those groups? Are there police cyborgs? Or in any other fields? Are hate crimes or discriminations against cyborgs a big problem? Apart from the big physical things like super jumping/running legs and guns popping out of arms and so on, are there more subtle upgrades like brain implants to help with certain mental tasks, wireless interfaces for "telepathy" with machines, et cetera? Do cybernetic implants tend to require a lot of maintenance and repair and upkeep, and the structure to support that, or are implants reliable enough for a cyborg to go trekking through a wilderness for a few months? How long can cyborgs go without specialized support?

Would you consider getting any implants yourself? Large ones? Subtle ones? Even any of the small medical things that don't really count?
>>
No. 101403 ID: 595d54

>>101395
Well, it seems fairly clear they worship the dragons and Emperor to some degree, considering that the dragoncloth was a holy relic from said Emperor. Might just be lip service, but that's still something.
>>
No. 101427 ID: e05b38

More Fen Quest kobold questions: Is there public education in the empire? Or, is that up to the nobles of each area? With the big emphasis on nobles needing to prove their strength and strength being such an important thing in general, how much structure is in place to help people get strong in the first place, or for naturally talented people to get what they need to maximize their abilities and thereby serve the empire as best they can? Does the emperor mandate any sort of basic education for children, or any policies that people who are good at something get the chance to do it? It seems like there are ways into the military for everyone, but are there other ways to learn to fight? How about crafts or magic, do you have to have a source of coin to get into them, or are there like, scholarships, or loans, or so on?
>>
No. 101527 ID: 211d83

Dear Belenosian guys and ladies. With those big old stabby bits coming off the back of your feet do you ever accidentally jab one another during sex?

Or any other foot related activity for that matter.

Also is there any Belenosian martial art designed to make use of those stabby bits? And how sharp or dull are they by themselves? Could you strap some metal covers over them and spin kick someone in the neck?
>>
No. 101748 ID: 5a893f

Clamp, it's been a while.

You know, I was curious what kind of economics your clan thrived on. Do you guys typically just do standard agricultural work and your warriors are mostly for defense or clan warfare, or does your clan pillage and rape a few villages for profit and fun? You know, steal, enslave, torture etc.

You seem like a swell guy with a moral compass and code atypical of the stereotypical gnoll but who knows maybe you got yourself a few slaves offscreen. Just cause you treat your friends and family nice and with dignity doesn't mean you don't enjoy torturing some poor slave you got in a cage somewhere.
>>
No. 101870 ID: ba7c6d

Hey Rokoa, you run around all over the Asteroid getting into danger. Do you keep stashes and hideouts around the place in case you need them? Actually, since the Asteroid seems to have a very high population of people getting in trouble all the time, are there, like... professional safehouses? Like, places that specifically cater to taking in people on the run, with like hidden entrances and that are good at keeping inquisitive people from looking in the right places, and tight rules about dealing with other guests and so on?

Or do you generally just go to one of your mysterious non-hive friends when you need to lay low?... Is that how you make friends?
>>
No. 101935 ID: 01f5ac

So, Penn is a "biological reincarnation" of the Sapphire Emperor. It's an odd term, sort of unscientific but using a scientific term, and I wonder where it came from. I'm not asking her, that would be kind of mean I think, but anyone else who's familiar with belenosian culture: How much general awareness of biological reincarnations is there in belenosian culture generally, or how much presence do they have in media?

Like, would most adult belenosians be aware exactly (or vaguely?) what it means for a kid with weird eyes to show up? Is the attitude towards them built solely on hostility towards the ancient imperials that they're the reincarnations of, or did enough of them manage to survive long enough during the tribal era to add their own stories to the cultural library, and add more baggage? Plenty of cultures have legends about ancient heroes who will return some day, are they kind of a counterpart to that? Have works of fiction been made featuring them as antagonists, protagonists or plot devices? If tribal belenosians did develop more religious/spiritual/mythological mindsets, was there ever a mystical view of them, that they were full-on reincarnations, or that they were the result of a curse or like the ancient emperor's ghost had possessed the child's body, or anything like that? Were there maybe superstitions about them, like you shouldn't say their real name or you'd attract their spirit to haunt your community and try to get born, and you used other titles like how the devil got called the Evil One or the Old Lad or the Morning Star if you wanted to be nice, to avoid using his actual name. Anything like that?
>>
No. 102142 ID: 1f0577

Eyo, Penn. Has there ever been an attempt to create AIs based on neumono hive structure? Like a little community of AIs constantly communicating their thought processes to each other and working together through a network? Or is that seen as too close to CAIs?

Also, sillier topic: Does your college teach music, and/or have music clubs and events and so on? I was thinking, with empathy, neumono are probably really good at coordinating improvised performances with each other, and working together when coming up with songs and so on. And then I thought, if you got a bunch of musically inclined neumono together, thinking about music and beaming those thoughts at each other and with empathy helping share ideas and coordinate and get into the same feeling and keep timing and positions relative to each other and so on...

... Have you ever encountered any spontaneous neumono musical numbers? Big silly song and dances like you see in musicals, but real?
>>
No. 102144 ID: 91ee5f

>>102142
So, basically a Neumono flash mob, right?
>>
No. 102152 ID: 1f0577

>>102144

I'm not sure it counts as a flash mob if it's not premeditated.
>>
No. 102153 ID: 595d54

>>102152
I think mobs aren't supposed to be premeditated as a rule.
>>
No. 102154 ID: db0da2

>>102153
Flash mobs are coordinated in semi-secrecy beforehand.
>>
No. 102176 ID: 24100f

Rokoa: you commented at one point that you were pretty new to the idea of not killing your enemies when you first ran into Polo ( >>89227 ). How's that been going since then? Have you run into more people you thought didn't deserve to die and/or who won enough respect that you let them live after fights even if you could have killed them?
>>
No. 102279 ID: 151e06

Ok so neumono, you can bark, can you howl? Or like some other vocalization that carries really well over distance. Like you're a very social-oriented species, even more than the others, and in short range you have talking and empathy and mid range you have empathy (and shouting I guess), it seems like it'd make sense if you or even your pre-sapient ancestors had something for like, if a hive's scouts on the edge of their territory spotted some other hive's raiding squad coming in and wanted to send a message back to their hive that would travel fast enough to provide preparation. A lot of social-oriented group animals tend to have things like that. And since you can regenerate if you made some really earsplittingly loud noise you wouldn't take permanent damage yourselves.

Do neumono get upset at being compared to human dogs?
>>
No. 102281 ID: 05cb51

Miss, Korli, or someone else perv enough to answer: how do the different species' tongues actually compare, in terms of length, breadth, shape, fine control and so on?
>>
No. 102416 ID: db0da2

Most excellent Father Zozu,

What were you like as an errant youth? Were you born on the asteroid? And how did you come to lead the Zozu mafia?

Respectfully, me
>>
No. 102683 ID: 595d54

Hey, all species including humans, what dances are currently and historically popular in your cultures?
>>
No. 103196 ID: 398fe1

Alison: What was your reaction to EGG?
>>
No. 103197 ID: 91cfcf

Are there standardized units of time? Are they based on Earth or something else? Do years, days, and so on vary between planets and systems or are they constant?
>>
No. 103242 ID: 3abd97

Hey, Ring Shell, what's it like being dead Glitchers?
>>
No. 103755 ID: 44bc30

Can/do neumono twitch their noses?
>>
No. 103808 ID: 44bc30

So neumono are the big issue population-wise, but how about the other species? I guess humans are probably a big population as well, with the starting advantage, while the belenosians were small due to deathbots, and the others due to general primitivity, but generally when low-tech peoples are introduced to technology there is a big population boom for a while, until the old "have as many kids as possible so they don't all die" traditions start getting rethought. Also, there have to be a lot more habitable worlds without intelligent life than there are worlds that had intelligent life of their own, and if you want to colonize them you need people. Plus I imagine there are some who just think they should try keep up with the neumono as much as they can, to preserve their species' slice of the future galaxy pie.

So, how's the population growth for the non-neumono species? Are they still having what would be considered a lot of growth if the neumono didn't make them seem smaller? What are the growth ranks between them? Have most non-neumono governments instituted measures to encourage/incentivize population growth, especially on colony worlds? What are the cultural standards around child numbers? Penn's parents, for example, seemed particularly unhappy with only having one child. Belenosians in general have seemed like you'd assume they wouldn't put too high a priority on having lots of kids, but perhaps the old tribal traditions encouraged large families, since everything had to be done by muscle powered labor?... I have wondered if the belenosian tribals might have deliberately embraced ideals of fertility and fecundity as a reaction against the old imperial values.

Are there methods for producing a lot of kids beyond the traditional biological methods? Vat-grown babies, robot caretakers, et cetera? Do those methods exist but are illegal? Authorized only for specific situations? With small populations booming out into large ones, have any genetic modification methods been approved for artificially increasing the size of the gene pool?
>>
No. 103870 ID: 3abd97

Hey Sweater, what was the story following this? >>/questarch/717285

Your pals got to hear, but between thread transitions and Glitchkeeper antics, the readers missed out.
>>
No. 103873 ID: 91ee5f

Hey, Giant, according to the scientists, they said that since you're no longer eating the special food the Salikai gave you, you're going to start getting smaller. So, have you started getting smaller?

And just in case she doesn't want to answer, I'll also ask Three Stripes the same thing: Has Giant started getting smaller?
>>
No. 103995 ID: 3abd97

Hey Polo, you ever notice your mom looks really youthful? To the point where if I didn't know better I would probably guess who was older wrong.

Good genetics, the perils of perpetual grumpy face, or proof you turned up your nose at makeup too quick?
>>
No. 104005 ID: 595d54

>>103995
That's just how neumono work, so good genetics, I guess. They're stated not to show signs of age until their lifespan's nearly over, presumably because of their regeneration.
>>
No. 104106 ID: 211d83

Hey I have a question for someone high up in earth's military, diplomatic or government.

So what is the state of the galaxy in general right now? Did the alliance with the Belenosians stay a alliance or was it the start of a empire/space republic thing?

And how complicated have things been with all the new sentient species wandering around in the past few years?

Any big problems with racism or worries about resources and territory? Or is the fact that the Human Belenosian empire is the only real power at the moment make things easier?

Oh and how goes the military side of things on earth? We see lots of things with Neumono mercenaries due to there handy ability to not die easy. But how has that changed things in the armed forces?

I assume Earth probably has more doomsday weapons than they can shake a stick at now that they have lots of happy Belenosian mad scientists working away in secret government labs. But how are you dealing with the new rise of organized pirates and huge criminal organizations with nasty tech like the Black sun and there new Salikai allies?
>>
No. 104531 ID: 99bd8f

Rokoa: if for some reason you had to take up a job that didn't involve fighting, or any strenuous physical activity at all (so no athlete/trainer/etc), what job do you think you'd be best suited for? And, if it's not the same, what job would you prefer? Or dislike the least?
>>
No. 105493 ID: b412df

To anyone know knows about infrastructure, what sort of power generation is commonly used now, for large scale and small scale generation? Is fusion is reliable thing, and is there anything more exotic being used?
>>
No. 105539 ID: 595d54

Hey, everyone and especially Polo, got any secret crushes that aren't actually obvious?

That means Rokoa doesn't count, Polo.
>>
No. 105563 ID: 3abd97

Whoever from Fen's Quest who would know:

What were the forest kobolds like, back before they all died and Erja Nokol went to hell?
>>
No. 105771 ID: 3abd97

Hey Polo, I know your time at college was intended to foster exposure outside your own hive, but what was your actual degree in?
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No. 105773 ID: 595d54

>>105771
Grumpiness, of course.
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No. 105813 ID: 44359f

So, we've learned that for neumono, the equivalent of kissing is licking (if you don't mind ruffled fur/slobber on your face) or nose rubbing (if you do). What about the rest of you non-humans? What's your equivalent of kissing, if you have one?
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No. 105814 ID: 595d54

>>105813
Well, they do just kiss too as Vivilli and Korli showed us, but yeah, I'm especially curious to see what the salikai do instead of kissing.
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No. 105817 ID: 91ee5f

>>105814
>salikai
I think it was mentioned somewhere that salikai treat mating as a business transaction and not actual love. And going by that, I don't think salikai actually kiss or have a salikai equivalent of kissing because kissing would actually require them to love each other.
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No. 105822 ID: 595d54

>>105817
We know Vanski was in love with that salikai the science hive failed to cure. Or at the very least he was more emotionally invested in her than business justified.
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No. 105830 ID: 91ee5f

>>105822
That sounds about right.
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No. 105842 ID: bfb318
File 147987542459.png - (12.26KB , 800x800 , RokoaITQ83.png )
105842

>So Rokoa you are black under the fur to help keep warm in snow climates. But what about Polo? Is she white to help reflect the heat on the summer beaches? And what about Jess and Az? Or the mystery cave neuomono?
Every neumono but the ones from the snow are pink or pale to some varying degrees. Redgrass ones have a little color to them, but Polo? I can see why she got the nickname 'ghost.'

>Since cannibalism is only in reference to eating something of the same species, what's the crime called when you eat an alien sapient species?
Cannibalism is used just as much to mean alien sapients as it is same species. There's even 'homocannibalism' for specifically one's own species. Might be wrong, but it gets the point across.

If there's an extra word that's 'correct' that means the right stuff, then I don't know about it.

>Dogs with floppy ears get yeast infections. Do neumono have this problem, and how do they deal with it?
We get problems in there, but usually just if we don't practice basic hygiene.

So we deal with it with basic hygiene.

And also avoiding dunking our heads in shitty swamps.

>Hey, Rokoa. You're super dedicated to your hive and everything, pretty sure everyone knows that by now. But then why leave the snowhive for the warhive?
What? My hive was called a 'snowhive' because it was in the snow, but then it became a 'warhive' when we grabbed some guns and started shooting other hives. Same hive, just different label.

>Also, what sort of other uses do nanobots have? Given what bioarmor is capable of, the first other applications that come to mind are medical and industrial. You could make a less complicated, less expensive version of the stuff for surgeries or particularly complicated chemical synthesis, but what sort of thing justifies the cost of large-scale nanobots?
Yeah, medical uses are advancing pretty well. Cept us neumono have bodies that are really good at kicking the ass of nanomachines injected in us, and most of the nanotech is made for humans. Belenos would probably be the followup cept they hardly need it to begin with. Cancer, for instance. Humans can't just lop off whatever, but they've just about cured it. Sort of. Not a single injection cures all cancer but basically nearly all of it is a non-issue except for the rarest of cancer and even then those are just sort-of-issues.

So nanomachines for humans are mass produced to either the things that kill a bunch of them, or to novelties like extending their age or whatever.

For the other species, stuff is catching up, but they've got to wait awhile. Too bad their short life spans make that tough.

>Also, roughly how much territory/population does each race have?
>So neumono are the big issue population-wise, but how about the other species?
>So, how's the population growth for the non-neumono species?
Right here.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tg1NxFrlSKpbXGGtbxXpHhHCVciVvarBUnHYwCCFLYA/edit#gid=0

It's a breakdown of each major planet, their total population, the percentage of the planet's population vs everywhere else, the breakdown of percentage and then raw numbers for how much of each species is on that planet.

Not a whole lot of planets have been inhabited that didn't already have sapient life on 'em, so they were clumped up together for it.

Humans are still up top and have spread out all over the place, but a lot of people get nervous when they see those neumono growth stats.

There's various habitable worlds, but moving to a frontier world is a big move. It's still a minor percentage of the whole galaxy's known population. I'm sure it'll grow.

>Have most non-neumono governments instituted measures to encourage/incentivize population growth, especially on colony worlds?
Sure, but it's tough to make people have kids when they don't want to.

>Penn's parents, for example, seemed particularly unhappy with only having one child. Belenosians in general have seemed like you'd assume they wouldn't put too high a priority on having lots of kids, but perhaps the old tribal traditions encouraged large families, since everything had to be done by muscle powered labor?
Answered your own question, yeah.

>Which one is stronger: an average heef or an average voklit?
Voklit if you want an arm wrestling contest, but a heef can run circles around a voklit.

>Hey Rokoa, you run around all over the Asteroid getting into danger. Do you keep stashes and hideouts around the place in case you need them?
Yeah. All over the place.

>Actually, since the Asteroid seems to have a very high population of people getting in trouble all the time, are there, like... professional safehouses? Like, places that specifically cater to taking in people on the run, with like hidden entrances and that are good at keeping inquisitive people from looking in the right places, and tight rules about dealing with other guests and so on? Or do you generally just go to one of your mysterious non-hive friends when you need to lay low?... Is that how you make friends?
There's nothing 'professional' I'd call about them, but yeah there's a a lot of those. No place is stupid enough to try and allow anyone seeking refuge inside, but there's some places that'll allow members of 1, 2, maybe 3 factions inside. I don't use those. I go to places where I know everyone on a personal basis, which includes my non-hive friends. Not how I make friends, though. Showing up on their doorstep and not killing them isn't enough for me to feel comfy sleeping where they know I'm sleeping alone.

My warhive owns a few small safehouses, too, since I'm not the only one that goes scouring the surface.

>Rokoa: you commented at one point that you were pretty new to the idea of not killing your enemies when you first ran into Polo. How's that been going since then?
Once I left the homeworld, it was good. We often fought other mercs, and mercs had a little society and unwritten rules about 'em. Concepts like 'fighting to the last' or 'make sure your enemy's fight is their last' were thrown out and replaced with game fighting. Hell, sometimes we'd just pick like 5 of our best, they'd pick their best 5, and we'd beat the shit out of each other and the losing side had to consider the whole battle lost.

We started off not liking that crap, but if we did kill and fight to the last, the other mercs would label us as 'blood soldiers' and respond in kind with dirty strategies and tactics. It just gave heartbreak and wouldn't affect our chances of winning overall. So we played along as long as we got the job done.

We'd prepare for a real fight every time, of course. Yet there'd often be pre-determined rules to lessen the heartbreak, sometimes even referees would inspect us before the fight. We charged across a state of the art battleship with lasers and grenades and all that in our storehouse, but we'd, per the terms, be armed with clubs for the weapons and nothing but t-shirts and shorts for decency, and maybe bras and cups to diminish what the softies call 'cheap shots'.

Since we had a big rep for being able to fight, we'd be called on to fight blood soldiers, but our new queen had to reject a lot of those jobs. A lot of jobs were just shit, and put nearly the whole hive in danger.

The resulting fights were a game compared to what we went through in the ultrahive wars. I'd call it fun, but to consider ourselves soldiers on the battlefield would be condescending and insulting to all our hivemates and my children that were killed in real warfare. It was conflicting, as we still fought as hard as we could even if armed with bare claws and teeth, yet the whole process was a mockery of...

The question was how well the 'don't kill the enemy' went. It went well with the mercenary life, since even if we fought for real, we could spare 'em knowing that this was just a temporary job and we'd never see these guys again.

On the asteroid, though? It's a small pond. People who I let live are selected more sparingly. Do I respect them? They live. If I was the one at their mercy, would they let me live? Then they live. My mood plays as a random factor.

Still happens, but there's a lot of people who would kill my hivemates given the chance, and the idea that the person I have pity or mercy on could later kill a hivemate makes me ill.

>Can you howl?
Sorta. Not properly like wolves, but we can emulate it using our voice pretty well.

What we can do is scream with rapid inflections, and it makes a good war cry. Used to be a tribal thing that softies lost, cept I hear that newer boot camps will teach neumono how to do it again once they realized a good war cry puts fear in the enemy! They still stink at it, and it's uncommon enough here that they don't even use warcrys on me after they notice that it just gets me excited at them.

>Do neumono get upset at being compared to human dogs?
We didn't evolve over eon's in nature's battlefields to get compared to a dumpy creature that was bred to make a docile tool with the brain of a 3 year old!

>Can/do neumono twitch their noses?
Yeah. Another reason why we're compared to rabbits as much as dogs. Which is also insulting, since we're not just nature's breadbasket ripe for the eating.

>If for some reason you had to take up a job that didn't involve fighting, or any strenuous physical activity at all (so no athlete/trainer/etc), what job do you think you'd be best suited for? And, if it's not the same, what job would you prefer? Or dislike the least?
What a tough fuckin' question.

Probably upbringing. The so called housewife. That sort of thing. Maybe gun maintenance.

I do like playing the piano, but that'd be unrealistic as hell. It's just a hobby.
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No. 105843 ID: bfb318
File 147987543682.png - (19.24KB , 800x800 , PoloITQ104.png )
105843

>If you can mentally but not physically resist a predator does that mean you could pretend to be controlled and docile while secretly plotting away until the perfect moment came up to escape/blow stuff up? Or would it be able to notice you still thinking away in there? Seems like something your new partial empathy/lying ability would come in handy on.
For the most part, yes. It may be able to tell that I was not fully docile, and it would continue to hammer away with me, but I don't believe it's common to have a neumono manage to mentally resist, and so it may not take my mental resistance as seriously as it should. As long as I ultimately appeared subdued, an inexperienced predator would hardly know how to deal with any hiccups.

Three Stripes, given his experience with Rokoa, then myself, then a variety of other special cases, would know immediately how well subdued a neumono was.

>Polo, if Dart-Rokoa changes your body in any way before you "eat" her and there was no way to stop the change, what would you want the change to be?
The toughness. Perhaps that is more subdued than you were hoping for, but I would not prefer a visible change, and so if I had the choice, I would only benefit from having her physical toughness and brain redundancy.

>Hey, everyone and especially Polo, got any secret crushes that aren't actually obvious?
No, anyone who I care to relate with is a hivemate, and it isn't a secret, nor a crush.

Aside from possibly Pilon, but that ship has sailed.

>Hey Polo, you ever notice your mom looks really youthful? To the point where if I didn't know better I would probably guess who was older wrong. Good genetics, the perils of perpetual grumpy face, or proof you turned up your nose at makeup too quick?
I was told that my mother was always carefree and almost childlike, and my hive began to expect she would look as youthful as her empathy felt. As hive empathy can cause self fulfilling prophecies, this is what happened.

>What was your actual degree in?
A level 2 in city planning, with a level 1 in civil engineering.

Most colleges for upliftees were more about general education, and I do have a certificate showing that I have completed basic college courses, which do include what humans typically learn, plus how to act as a neumono in an ultrahive.

There is encouragement to take additional classes during college, and since my hive knew they would most likely either join or be absorbed by an ultrahive, we were having most people study applicable, stable jobs.

Due to the ultrahive wars effectively ending, focus returned to the reconstruction and construction of new towns. Between that and the increasing population leading to further expansion, these were fields that are not expected to fade away anywhere in my life span.

My main degree was only the general education and uplifting, however. Level 2 in city planning shows that I have the basic idea, while a level 1 degree shows that I took essentially anything past the introductory course. Anything below a level 4 doesn't mean much. Having upwards of 10 levels in degress happened due to a want for a relatively concise view of one's standardized education, while being more detailed than major degrees.
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No. 105845 ID: bfb318
File 147987547456.png - (16.65KB , 800x800 , KorliITQ46.png )
105845

>Korli, or someone else perv enough to answer: how do the different species' tongues actually compare, in terms of length, breadth, shape, fine control and so on?
Okay I'm gonna take this question but I'm gonna answer this as a biologist not a perv!

Neumono tongues can get pretty damn long, but it's kind of tough to measure fairly since the traditional way is to see how far they can stick it out, and tongues don't have as much corrolation with muzzle length as one would think, so short muzzled neumono have an advantage. Shape is broad, fine control is high, breadth is wide.

Mikliks have thin little needle tongues that stick out a couple inches, with real good fine control.

Belenos have tongue that's great for talking and controlling, but it isn't long at all and they can barely lick things.

Heef have thick tongues that make them have funny accents. Good for mashing food; their control isn't great but it's stupid strong. Like... they can crack or smash their own beaks with it if they tried. Length is pretty long, like the length of their beak on the outside.

Yich eaters are like heef's except with fine control instead of strength, and way longer.

Lastly, Pomi! They have a good mix of strength and fine control, and can stick it out a few inches or so. Good balance, and overall a bit more useful than the rest in my opinion.
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No. 105846 ID: bfb318
File 147987548820.png - (11.42KB , 800x800 , FatherZozuITQ17.png )
105846

>What were you like as an errant youth? Were you born on the asteroid? And how did you come to lead the Zozu mafia?
For safety's sake, I do not let my past be known so easily.

I have developed an attitude in my life that Father Zozu is seperate in all possible ways from who I was before.

What is known is that the people on the asteroid are desperate for safety and stability. This leads to easily influence targets, and supplying them even an illusion of such will make loyal partners. Forming a mafia amongst the needy is startlingly easy.

>So, we've learned that for neumono, the equivalent of kissing is licking (if you don't mind ruffled fur/slobber on your face) or nose rubbing (if you do). What about the rest of you non-humans?
We do not. Affection is shown through laying down in the same sleeping spot as the other, and essentially displays through trust.

Salikai do have our own forms of 'love', but we seldom use the term to describe it, as it gives other species notions of our relationship that simply do not apply.
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No. 105847 ID: bfb318
File 147987551061.png - (100.64KB , 800x800 , OmegaREDITQ2.png )
105847

>So after that scuffle with Polo did she make off with your empathy gun? Did you ever get your vengeance?
She did! We were not pleased, nor did we manage to find our own vengeance, however, with Polo using our own gear upon the likes of the Salikai, we feel that things worked out in the end, and so our passion may move on!

Despite that, we do intend on teaching her the meaning of christmas.

As for taking a giant robot into a civilian center, we are recognized as vigilantes without equal!

Of course, after that affair, they had to re-look at everything, and... well, we are to make sure no such event will ever happen again.
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No. 105848 ID: bfb318
File 147987553384.png - (20.08KB , 800x800 , ShitzanilliITQ4.png )
105848

>Humans have expressions that go like "Brother from another mother" and "Sister from another mister", do any of you have a similar expression for your species?
Oh, yeah, we do. We just call them 'spirit siblings' so it's nothing fancy, it just implies they're still siblings even if there's no blood between them.

Mikliks have said 'root sharer' which I guess is based off the idea that sometime after getting planted, mikliks that were planted close together sometimes grow roots that fuse with one another and so will get nourished off the same, well, roots. I say that, but I think it also might be like the human's 'two peas in a pod'. It's multiuse I guess.

I think Heef have some phrase in their native language that I forgot, but it meant 'brother by god'.

Actually, we have that too, but in our culture it more just meant a member of the same society who you didn't actually know.
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No. 105849 ID: bfb318
File 147987554817.png - (11.41KB , 800x800 , ItcherITQ12.png )
105849

>So, what are you doing now? It'd be a shame to let all that muscle go to waste, and you counteract all your drinking if you don't want to get a beer belly. Though, I dunno, maybe you guys have different weight gain trends than humans. I don't think I've ever seen a belenosian with any chub on them. Is that a thing, or has it just been coincidence?
Yeah we got some similarity with neumono where we put on a bit of weight and then anything more and the body resists storing so much. We can get fat but we've really got to try.

This trade place has a gym, though. I'll miss the gold but you know what the gold didn't have? Handles. Forming the shape of a dumbell. And that helps.

>You know, you should consider learning to pole dance. It's very good for keeping in shape, and I'd bet you if she heard about it, Whiskers wouldn't be able to help coming by to sneak a peek on you some time. She seems like an appreciator of the arts.
Would not surprise me if Whiskers was into that. Maybe there's a planet out there where poledancing is some sacred art or whatever. On the asteroid, though, it's a showgirl job. Or showguy. Point is, a hooker job. No one's gonna pole dance unless they want to say they're a hooker.

>With those big old stabby bits coming off the back of your feet do you ever accidentally jab one another during sex?
They're not sharp unless you actually sharpen them. Does hurt though, which is why it's encouraged to be careful not to jam your heel into your partner.

>Also is there any Belenosian martial art designed to make use of those stabby bits? And how sharp or dull are they by themselves? Could you strap some metal covers over them and spin kick someone in the neck?
Yeah I'm sure martial arts make use of horns. They can be pretty sharp if they're filed down enough, and covering them with metal I guess would work, cept you'd poke holes in a wall or whatever just walking around.

Spin kicks to the neck have probably happened. I'm sure it's happened a lot in video games.
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No. 105850 ID: bfb318
File 147987558068.png - (13.82KB , 800x800 , PennITQ11.png )
105850

>Did the Belenosian empire ever attempt interstellar colonization?
All evidence has pointed to no, but why they didn't is one of the biggest questions we have.

>I just realized that we know startlingly little about the overall galactic political situation off of the asteroid, anyone care to fill us in on that? For example: Do humans run everything?
Humans do oversee the most, but they haven't clung onto power with an iron fist or anything like that. Well, not overall, but there are humans that do, especially pointing at the neumono uplift situation for a reason why humans should be in control more at least for awhile.

But, they have insisted that everyone be allied, if not necessarily under one flag. Even both ultrahives have to answer to the same humans in a lot of ways, and there is an awful lot of human based bureacracy that gets involved on Belenos itself.

>Are there multiple interstellar empires? Are most planets unified or are they broken up into smaller countries?
This is kind of tough, because there are a whole lot of factions that everything is split up in, but most of them are pretty well united. Sort of like how even countries are broken up into provinces, sectors, states and so on. Some of those may want to secede, but it doesn't often happen.

>Is democracy still dominant or has favor shifted to meritocracy or some other system?
It's a mix of these two. Most people can and do vote on people, but who can vote on what is usually restricted depending on the what and the where and everything. It can get pretty complicated, but the public has the ability to either vote or has the resources to be able to get to vote on most things.

It's almost like a democracy through the eyes of a meritocracy.

>Is society post-scarcity?
No, but it is approaching that! At least, in some areas. But there's still a ways to go.

>What about just Earth?
I hear Earth is a pretty mixed bag. It's almost like an accurate reflection of society in our galaxy on the whole in a lot of ways.

>What kind of equipment do space cops come equipped with?
The average cop just does have equipment focused on their ability to defend themselves. Anything more and they have to call in special teams or the military.

>How do humans fight, in general?
Carefully. They really value life in general, and will fight at the last resort, and do so as carefully as possible. Unless its war, then things get a little chaotic.

But if it's war, they usually get neumono.

>What notable military and para-military organizations exist, and what equipment do they use?
The biggest is just the plainly named Galactic Army, which is mostly a peace keeping force, and really just next door neighbors to the space cops. The army itself just gets called when bigger threats may come around.

Paramilitary forces aren't all that common, or at least they're not all that recognized officially. Still, neumono mercenaries are really common, so there are some big organizations out there that either fight space piracy, or are the space piracy. These are often hired by the Galactic Army when the mercenaries are in a better position to deal with what needs being dealt with. Plus, the Galactic Army is known to be a huge bureaucratic nightmare, so a lot of the officials in there are known to hire out to third party armies when they just need to get past the red tape.

For the most part, though, things are relatively peaceable these days! So there aren't any major military forces in the grand scheme of the galaxy other than the galactic army itself. On Astreneus, on the other hand, each ultrahive has a huge standing army.

The equipment they use is... uh, that's really tough to answer just because the answer is either not enough at all, or would take a long time to explain!

I can say that since things are peaceable, military isn't really the driving force for technology. In fact, the necessity for tech seemed to go down in recent decades in a lot of ways, so there are fears that things are slowly stagnating.

>What is the most destructive weapon currently in existence?
Well, uh... people think that weaponizing FTL is possible.

That is, using hyperspace to approach the speed of light, then leaving hyperspace in the direction of a planet. Thankfully, there are a few problems with it conceptually, so it is not just around the corner.

So it's still mostly just nukes and bigger nukes, but that may change someday.

>Is intergalactic travel possible, and has it been attempted?
Yes! It's just slow, and takes several months each way from one galaxy to another. It is being done, but since there's still a lot of our galaxy to explore, it's almost a novelty to go to another galaxy.

>To what extent has the singularity happened with the AI regulations getting in the way?
CAI's are the only AI that would be capable of that, and so far, everyone's kept a tight grip on them for a bunch of reasons. If some force managed to mass produce CAIs and set them loose and flood the markets with, well, everything, then that's... then that'll happen. It's one of the fears about how inevitable that is, and how we can deal with it if it does.

>Is any form of Eugenics common or acceptable?
Neumono, especially warhives, do it pretty frequently! It's almost an organic thing so it doesn't need big society rules.

The heef might have gone the farthest, next, and they, uh... since eugenics weren't a natural thing like it was with neumono, Heef went pretty far.

In fact throughout history there's been examples of attempted eugenics being done poorly, and Heef are currently the biggest and most recently quoted example and is proooobably why non-neumono don't practice any forms of eugenics on a non-negligible scale, at least not overtly.

>How far has VR tech come?
Pretty good! Augmented reality is done more commonly with any practical scale, and we're a far cry off from being able to, you know, put a plug in the back of our skulls into cyberspace or whatever. Humans might have the best advances for it so far, but they have a lot more uncontrollable factors to deal with than belenos, so us belenos will probably see something like that first. Since we kind of cheated and have already done that kind of stuff in the ancient empire.

Since smell and taste are almost out, and touch is limited, there isn't much VR that successfully tries to mimic a 'you're really there!' feel to it, but it's main use is for simulations of basically any sort, and for that it's pretty good. Video games are still often done on a computer and controller of some kind, but for physics demonstrations and interactions, good VR software is almost a perfect parallel to reality, so it's a legitimate way to, say, learn to fly a plane or play golf or all that. They include a thin pair of gloves to fit on your hands to place them in VR, so you can grab stuff in VR directly. The expensive gloves will even squeeze a little bit for feedback, just so you feel something when you hit a button and don't have to rely on seeing the button pressed in. Some gloves will even lock in certain ways when you hold onto something. Still, it can't simulate the weight of something, so, in the case of learning golf, it's still best to get a VR golf club.

>Is it possible to virtually simulate a human or alien consciousness?
>I'm wondering, how much is it possible to create a personality duplicate of an existing person? By which I mean, like, not a brain scan copy or upload or anything, I figure those are still out of reach, but like could someone take a few psychological tests and answer and bunch of questions and load in their biography, and have a program created that could effectively imitate them?
AI's come a long way, and a lot of AIs can carry on a pretty good conversation! There are some quirks, but they're so tiny that it just makes them even more like real people that also have quirks.

Specific people can be emulated, such as speaking with the same kind of grammar and tone of people, and taking things in certain angles, but trying to emulate a specific person is more difficult. If you knew the real target well, then you'd be able to tell the difference. There are some novel examples of 'talk with this historical figure', which has helped in both humanizing those people and, well, making them less subject to the romanticizing of history that happens a lot.

>How easy would it be for you to make an AI that could act like a copy of you, and fool people? I have to imagine there are some antisocial nerds out there who would make an AI to do all their online interactions for them, if it were possible. And in general, is it easy now to create non-sentient AIs that can pass the Turing test?
Like above! It would fool most people, and most people would fall for the Turing test with a little work and a few tweaks. It would take a lot of work though. The best sentient AIs would need to study hard to figure out how I work, and they wouldn't be perfect at it. If I manually did it, well, that would be even tougher.

That said, though, those AI's that almost-work are typically the mass-produceable kind based on templates and the like. To really set in a specific personality would require a huge amount of work and effort, to bypass the diminishing returns after the initial AI is made. The best bet would be to make a single AI that is robust and intelligent enough to mimic people well.

>Are consciousness uploads possible?
Nope, not these days. We can freeze people pretty well though to wake them up later, like people with incurable diseases.

>How old are the oldest members of each species?
The oldest known human is 231, who's said to be both full of longetivity and received life extending medicines, but it's just too hard to tell for other species since there's still aliens out there that were around before being discovered and uplifted. None of the records for them are any good, so there's plenty that say they're over a hundred years old, but there's just no way to prove it.

>For which species is indefinite life possible, if any?
If we get the tech back, Belenos may have the lowest tech necessary to hold back the aging process. Humans have the most, and the rich ones can live way longer than the average lifespan.

Neumono might be the closest naturally immortal species just from the idea that we don't really know why they die. Their cells perfectly regenerate for so many decades, and then just stop perfection and get imperfect. It's like their ability to perfectly reproduce has a degrading factor, and once that dies, then they age fast.

>Are genetic modifications commonplace or acceptable?
For humans, absolutely! Again, mostly for medicinal purposes, but the military does have genetically modified soldiers.

>Do human subspecies exist?
Nope, just human races.

Since they're spreading out all over the galaxy, now, it's expected that after some long time there will be human subspecies.

>Has artificial biological sapient life been created either through genetic engineering or selective breeding?
Sapient is arguable, but a lot of small insects and animals have had some drastic changes, though that's been true for a long time depending how you look at it.

>Do space marines exist?
Yyyyes, but, uh, not quite like they might appear in science fiction.

>How good are current prosthetics?
Very! For humans and belenos. They don't really exist for miklik or neumono who can regenerate limbs. For the rest, they exist, and they're catching up, but we're still learning how to get prosthetics that map to the nerves correctly.

>Did a Deus Ex scenario ever take place? More generally; to what extent has trans-humanism taken hold?
It's kind of interesting that despite how much of a trainwreck history makes itself out to be, humanity seemed to get pretty good at manipulating society as a whole to the point that they've, to date, have managed to keep technology from running away from them. It's really strangled technology for better or worse, but when anything is able to be mass produced, it has to go through a lot of tests, passes and studies to make sure that not just is it safe, but that it won't destroy society. So, there is known tech out there that could make production of certain things amazingly cheaper, but since it would put thousands or even millions out of work, it's held back. There's a lot of pressure to change that mentality, arguing that it's better in the long run than to embrace the short term benefits of sticking to what should be archaic ways, buuut that's a different topic.

Which is why, if I can go back to an earlier question, a lot of people think that humans have already found immortality, at least for themselves. But, out of fear of sweeping social changes, haven't released it.

>Who is the most infamous individual in all of history?
On Astreneus, it was a human that would send huge numbers of neumono to their death for absurdly little reason. There's way more to it than that, but it's the only time the entire galactic government system has apologized to an entire species for a single person.

On Belenos, it's the Sapphire Emperor.

Heef had a warlord that wiped off a lot of places from maps and is said to set their progress back by a two thousand years.

Mikliks once had a more tragic individual which managed to get a mutation that emitted an airborne disease. History isn't really well documented on it, but it seems like this miklik kept running around the world trying to escape his disease, not realizing that he was the source of it, and helped spread it.

It was something like the miklik's version of the Black Death.

Pomi's case was a religious figure that spread his teachings around the world. It's kind of interesting because he was the most revered Pomi of all time until uplift, but now modern Pomi are kind of glad that they can eat a common plant on their homeworld without the rest of society burning down their homes for reasons that have long since been forgotten.

Yich eaters barely even had a society to begin with, so when asked who they most revered, they mostly just said 'their mother' or something similar. I'm not even sure how much reverance they're capable of feeling.

>Most revered?
For the most part, it's the person who not just had credit for inventing the FTL warp drive, but also managed to convince - or maybe sidestep - governments to allow private use of it instead of keeping it under heavy lock and key for their own use.

>Who killed the most people?
If immortality has been solved, then I'm willing to bet that whatever organization is keeping it from being released publicly has, in a sense, killed the most.

This is kind of a tough question since it's asking for a single person who non-personally killed people, and that's tough to attribute to a single person. I guess some say though that the first one with the title 'Ultra Queen' did it by sparking off the ultrahive total wars, but it's a dubious thing to say since most people agree that if she didn't set it off, someone else would have, given how things were.

>Who killed the most people personally?
Probably Sniper Q, whos real name was hidden from the public. He was a miklik sniper-commando mercenary in, unsurprisingly, the ultrahive wars.

I don't really know the details but he would go behind enemy lines and just, well, kill neumono. He used the then newly improved explosives rounds, which were made to provide enough force to either kill a neumono, or take them out for weeks.

He was always recording for intel, so the numbers are expected to be accurate. Which was 2,090 killed, 3,010 wounded. Which averaged about three per day for almost 5 years of constant combat.

What's funn - interesting is that he wasn't even a sniper by occupation! He was a surgeon. They say that he saved as many as he killed, because he did practice surgery on the field, and knew more about neumono anatomy than most doctors at the time, and knew what kind of techniques would and wouldn't work on them. He had a lot of quotes, but one of them was saying that when fighting neumono, it was best to think of weapons not as instruments of firepower, but as long ranged scalpels.

>How's the state of belenosian cyberbiology these days? I gather there are cyborgs, and there are combat advantages for military and criminals, but aside small convenience things like heart monitors or fertility switch implants, are they common outside those groups? Are there police cyborgs? Or in any other fields? Are hate crimes or discriminations against cyborgs a big problem? Apart from the big physical things like super jumping/running legs and guns popping out of arms and so on, are there more subtle upgrades like brain implants to help with certain mental tasks, wireless interfaces for "telepathy" with machines, et cetera?
Cyberbiology is growing fast for medical and ethical progress, but there's huge resistance to advancing it in other fields, since the last time we did that we blew everything up and nearly made ourselved extinct. It's ironic too, since we're genetically modified to be highly compatible with technology like that.

Sooo, there's certainly no cyber police since that would just scream police state, and people with big physical things like running legs and all that would attract all kinds of unwanted attention. Hence, anything really fancy that is done is subtle, like brain implants. Those are limited, though, since most of us want to avoid a thing where we can, say, telepathically communicate with the machines and all.

>Do cybernetic implants tend to require a lot of maintenance and repair and upkeep, and the structure to support that, or are implants reliable enough for a cyborg to go trekking through a wilderness for a few months? How long can cyborgs go without specialized support?
The implants, which are mostly done for medical reasons, need only little maintenance and repair, especially the ones that would be embedded deep inside someone.

But, overt stuff like guns popping out of arms, if those were used, would need near constant maintenance. Trekking through wilderness would be possible for months with that maintenance, so long as they had their tools to keep it up. As long as nothing really went wrong, it can probably last through several months before specialized maintenance support is needed.

>Would you consider getting any implants yourself? Large ones? Subtle ones? Even any of the small medical things that don't really count?
It would go over... incredibly poorly if I ever got implants. Any implants. I'd get one if I had a medical condition that needed it, but I'd hate to do even that.

>Has there ever been an attempt to create AIs based on neumono hive structure? Like a little community of AIs constantly communicating their thought processes to each other and working together through a network? Or is that seen as too close to CAIs?
That's one of the big thing Arza is working on! Aside from... on paper... "cracking" a box, he's working on designing a CAI-like object from the ground up with non-sentient AI. He's really only interested in sentient AI mind! It's just, if you make it so they're incapable of suffering in any way, you can do a lot more things ethically.

He has looked at neumono models and behavior for how organic beings behave when they can see other's thoughts, and seeing how he might also re-invent models for AI having overlapping thoughts.

I think Arza does want to make a ground up CAI in his name, but the funding and interest is actually to make a less effective CAI - in other words, a program that does something similar to a CAI but without the innate dangers and ethics that a real CAI brings.

>Does your college teach music, and/or have music clubs and events and so on? I was thinking, with empathy, neumono are probably really good at coordinating improvised performances with each other, and working together when coming up with songs and so on. And then I thought, if you got a bunch of musically inclined neumono together, thinking about music and beaming those thoughts at each other and with empathy helping share ideas and coordinate and get into the same feeling and keep timing and positions relative to each other and so on... Have you ever encountered any spontaneous neumono musical numbers? Big silly song and dances like you see in musicals, but real?
Y... yes, sort of.

Completely impromptu musical numbers are usually done by just a single hive, since extra-hivemates usually can't broadcast to each other well enough to coordinate such a thing on the spot, but there are a couple hives that have done it! Even so, coming up with a brand new musical number is a big feat empathy or not! And with a practiced musical number, well, it wouldn't be as big of a deal.

Except, I haven't seen a musical number like you'd see in movies. Roxie actually told me about one time she was waiting for a late teacher in class, and she was tapping her pencil on her desk in rhythm. Then another neumono started tapping his nails on the desk in time with it. Then a hivemate of that one started tapping his glass, another would drop his backpack, another started beatboxing and by the time the teacher showed up there was a percussion show happening in class.

Another time, I saw a confident neumono bring a portable stereo and was blasting it on his way to class. Then a few neumono started following him and danced alongside like a weird musical escort, then by the time he got inside, others joined in and it was an impromptu dance session that I had to make my way through to get to class on time.

I have seen videos where a talented hive that was good at creating music on the spot would make something with more production value. It's so rare, but so good that it's not uncommon for the tourism industry to promote them.

>Flash mobs
Even though sometimes these are pre-meditated, it's a well documentated case that neumono flash mobs are often completely spontaneous.

>Are there standardized units of time? Are they based on Earth or something else? Do years, days, and so on vary between planets and systems or are they constant?
Years are based on earth years, and lesser time units try to match, but... it's a mess depending what planet someone lives on. There's movements to get a more neutral time unit as the standard, but it's not going anywhere fast and the improvements are kind of not significant. Other planets try to match the timeframe as close as possible for simplicity, but it's pretty tough. Usually we use earth years to count time, but we're still aware of the time of year on the planet we live on. New earth years just happen right on random spots on other planet's days at any season. Astreneus thankfully is in the ballpark of earth time, so we can almost pretend like it's the same as earth!

>Are there methods for producing a lot of kids beyond the traditional biological methods? Vat-grown babies, robot caretakers, et cetera? Do those methods exist but are illegal? Authorized only for specific situations?
It is possible to make vat-grown kids, but robot caretakers aren't, well, they don't happen. So without caretakers, mass producing babies isn't really considered a viable thing, or at least not something that most of the population is comfortable with, even with neumono slowly overpopulating everywhere. Especially not since the people who do practice it give it a bad name by basically making clone soldiers or something.

Neumono populating everywhere may be the sort of problem that might not have solutions implemented until it's too late. I mean, not that neumono are that bad, but they, uh... have had issues with, you know, large populations.

>With small populations booming out into large ones, have any genetic modification methods been approved for artificially increasing the size of the gene pool?
Not really! Artificial modification of genes is still a really touchy subject.
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No. 105851 ID: bfb318
File 147987559826.png - (15.19KB , 800x800 , TinITQ7.png )
105851

>To Tin: Almost every time we see you, you're balancing a pen or something on your finger. Are you bored or is it just that entertaining to balance things? Also, what's the most things you've balanced at one time?
It started when I was just that bored. It continued when it became a habit. Now it even helps me concentrate on other things.

A pen on top of an upsidedown cup on top of a book. I was stressed that day.
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No. 105852 ID: bfb318
File 147987561203.png - (16.11KB , 800x800 , MoiITQ2.png )
105852

>If you can somehow make it out alive with Biles' group, how do you think you'll be able to live a normal life with that bioarmor being permanently stuck to you? And do you think you might ever get it off?
It won't be permanently stuck! I just can't rip it all off at once or anything. Just, bits and pieces, and the bio armor will spread over to fill the gaps, but it doesn't actually regenerate itself, so eventually it'll be spread so thin that I can just take it off.

There's also tech out there for this purpose that will disable bioarmor safely, even if it destroys it in the process. So not a worry!
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No. 105854 ID: bfb318
File 147987589081.png - (14.59KB , 800x800 , PennGrandmotherITQ4.png )
105854

>So, Penn is a "biological reincarnation" of the Sapphire Emperor. It's an odd term, sort of unscientific but using a scientific term, and I wonder where it came from. How much general awareness of biological reincarnations is there in belenosian culture generally, or how much presence do they have in media?
Just about every belenosian knows of 'biological reincarnation'. But it's just similar to tales passed down to kids after generations, much like most cultures I know of have some kind of 'boy who cried wolf' or 'cinderella' equivalent. It's a vague term and doesn't say much on its own, but consider most tribal belenosians used to say call it dramatic snippets like 'doomtouched' or 'machinebomb', I can't complain about the non-scientific origin.

The term itself comes from a human uplifter who first wrote about it, or at least made the first popular book with it mentioned. I would like to say he was no scientist, yet after considering that it's a difficult phenomenom to name accessibly to the layman, and that being a scientist does not guarantee generating flawless terms, I'd say that didn't matter.

>Like, would most adult belenosians be aware exactly (or vaguely?) what it means for a kid with weird eyes to show up?
The interpretation would be twisted and it's a low risk to assume they're wrong in some or all ways. Know that all of the major emperors had their logos planted on many things, and they persisted through millenia. The tribes would always see anything with those symbols of it representative of the near-death of the planet.

Calling it a true reincarnation, a curse, a possession, a start of a transformation to becoming a robot, a ticking time bomb were all used by tribals, but any interpretation, wrong or not, always involved a negative reaction.

When a child's eyes show anything but regular pupils, they're considered unhealthy and the mere sight would unnerve others. Mix that with their eyes having a logo of planetary destruction, and you can assume that the reaction goes from an unhealthy child to a panicked, ill tempered response. The calmest tribes would at least try an exorcism or some equivalent first before harsher treatments, and the luckiest children had their eyes torn out. Most were simply killed, and sometimes the tribe's reaction was so poor that all of the direct relatives were killed along with the child.

>Have works of fiction been made featuring them as antagonists, protagonists or plot devices?
Yes, but these works are controversial, and are bound to make a large percentage of belenosians angry at how they are represented.

>So, we've learned that for neumono, the equivalent of kissing is licking (if you don't mind ruffled fur/slobber on your face) or nose rubbing (if you do). What about the rest of you non-humans?
We can kiss, awkwardly, but it's a human invention to us. There was no equivalent for it, at least not beyond the usual displays of affection.

I believe it's something the neumono picked up to a small degree, as well.
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No. 105855 ID: bfb318
File 147987591917.png - (18.90KB , 800x800 , NireeITQ1.png )
105855

>To the fluffiest Neumono: Just how fluffy are you?
The fluffiest.

>Does it pose any issues?
Only to shampoo bottles. And to those, I am the bringer of death to those, and to my wallet.

I await the day that scientists find out that neumono fur has high economic value. Then I will be rich, and my wallet safe at the expense of more shampoo.

>How's the hug game?
The hug game? Fantastic after getting dried off from a shower. But if there's static electricity in the air, it is no longer a game of hugs, but a deadly game of tag.
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No. 105856 ID: bfb318
File 147987594270.png - (30.17KB , 800x800 , PlekITQ1.png )
105856

>To the fluffiest Miklik: Just how fluffy are you?
Are we counting leaves as fluff? Because they're fluffy so I'm counting leaves as fluff.

I'm real fluffy. Know what's also fluffy? My fluff.

What I'm saying here is that my leaves have leaves.

>Does it pose any issues?
Okay, so my main mutation is just leaves everywhere, whatever, it'd be fine. On its own. But normally, growing leaves is done at mating season and is a sign of, well, that I've got all kinds of backup nourishment and I'm ready to use it. Like, that's when mikliks are about as aroused as they get. What I'm saying here is that leaves are usually a sign of the alien equivalent of having a boner. So I just have it just because mutations, and it doesn't mean anything, but other mikliks don't really see that like they should. In their eyes, I am a giant, walking, talking boner.

Is that an issue? It's kind of an issue.

>How's the hug game?
Because of the reasons listed above, incredibly awkward.

>So, we've learned that for neumono, the equivalent of kissing is licking (if you don't mind ruffled fur/slobber on your face) or nose rubbing (if you do). What about the rest of you non-humans?
Curling our tails together is my best guess. It's probably not the same, but it's still pretty intimate and all that so that's what I'm saying.
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No. 105857 ID: bfb318
File 147987598173.png - (20.42KB , 800x800 , DavidITQ1.png )
105857

>To the fluffiest Heef: Just how fluffy are you?
After applying an experimental anti-balding solution to my balding back, I became a too-success story. They had to tone it back. They had another person try it and it worked better, and they became the poster child for anti-balding solution. I became the poster child's estranged brother.

Either way, the 'successful' dose still has less fluff on his whole body than I have on my back.

The experiment's payout for 'permanent impediment' is pretty nice though.

>Does it pose any issues?
Aside from looking like the hunchback of horrible nightmares, it's surprisingly not impeding. Long as I don't go to any places with 'no shirt, no service' policies.

>How's the hug game?
Since it was applied to my back, it doesn't apply.

>So, we've learned that for neumono, the equivalent of kissing is licking (if you don't mind ruffled fur/slobber on your face) or nose rubbing (if you do). What about the rest of you non-humans?
Don't have one. Human kissing is weird stuff.
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No. 105858 ID: bfb318
File 147987599679.png - (13.33KB , 800x800 , RaoxITQ4.png )
105858

>So what is the state of the galaxy in general right now? Did the alliance with the Belenosians stay a alliance or was it the start of a empire/space republic thing?
I'm not part of earth's government directly, but it's my job to know these things.

On paper, the human-belenos relation is still an alliance, but they're so intermingled that they may as well have assimilated one another.

The overall state is rapid expansion and colonization to ease overcrowded areas, along with would be resource barons looking to make a fortune on space mining and planet excavation.

There are no major wars officially, but some criminal factions have gotten so large that clashes with them resemble wars.

Overall, though, things are looking up for everyone, on average.

>And how complicated have things been with all the new sentient species wandering around in the past few years?
Most of the complications are unique to their respective home planet, but I have heard it's not easy for many aliens to move to earth or another human heavy location, then be surprised that despite the human's efforts to uplift them, the humans they meet aren't always so kind or accomodating.

>Any big problems with racism or worries about resources and territory? Or is the fact that the Human Belenosian empire is the only real power at the moment make things easier?
Racism exists, but for the most part it's not nearly as bad as it could be, considering examples of history.

Given that there's an accessible, wide range of planets out there ready for investment in inhabiting, plundering and so on, there's not much worry about that at all.

>Oh and how goes the military side of things on earth? We see lots of things with Neumono mercenaries due to there handy ability to not die easy. But how has that changed things in the armed forces?
Human forces just use the increasingly large neumono numbers to be the forward troops more often, lessening the number of grunts in their own.

Still, for every unit on the battlefield, there's a few that aren't. Those support jobs are still primarily humans, and despite there's no big wars going on, they still have a large army. Most of them won't see combat, and the army has almost become a way to train their own to give them a skillset they can use to become useful members of society, as much as it is to be able to use force on one's enemies, which amounts to pirate factions of some sort. It's almost like their own internal uplifting, at least from my perspective.

I can't blame them, either, for putting so many of us on the front lines, considering that we would survive so much of what would kill a human. The KIA rates are lower. They're even encouraged to back out of a fight if they get wounded in a way that they could still technically fight, although since many of their hivemates are involved, they keep fighting anyway. Blood loss is the greatest cause of death. Warfare, as a result, uses gunfire more as suppression tools than killing tools, and tactics employ bombs and explosions more commonly, not that they weren't common before.

>But how are you dealing with the new rise of organized pirates and huge criminal organizations with nasty tech like the Black sun and there new Salikai allies?
The army is older fashioned and trained up for proper war against real factions, not space guerilla warfare with high destructive weaponry. Specialized units and mercenaries are frequently used for more precision strikes, while the mass army simply occupies zones to protect planets and stations from invaders.

The trouble is that many of the larger factions blend in with normal civilian areas, effectively using law abiding citizens as their shields. They even have charity drives to raise loyalty and friendliness with the local population while committing atrocities elsewhere. In places like these, it's not so simply to just send overwhelming force to the location. Intelligence and spywork, therefore, is in high demand.
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No. 105859 ID: bfb318
File 147987613647.png - (13.93KB , 800x800 , AlisonITQ4.png )
105859

>What was your reaction to EGG?
Good!

That's all I can say about my reaction, because I didn't want to overreact and get in the way. But, I was more than happy and willing to look after the eggs while Rulekeeper worked hard for us.
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No. 105860 ID: bfb318
File 147987615124.png - (14.32KB , 800x800 , SweatermouseITQ1.png )
105860

>Hey Sweater, what was the story following this?
Stage 8 was just stage 8, but you want to hear my backstory? Are you sure? It's really not interesting. Like I just kind of hung out in the corrupted sanctuary after blundering my way through the first few stages! I don't even have good anecdotes, I just kind of watched the Arbiter and Alison. If you know what they did, just imagine my backstory was looking at them off to the side the whole time!

Oh that sounds creepy, but, uh... that's what it was.
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No. 105861 ID: bfb318
File 147987616965.png - (18.54KB , 800x800 , CrocITQ1.png )
105861

>Hey Croc, tell us about your love life. You thought Cheese was cute, and now I'm curious.
Oi fishbones got a love at the ol' familiar hole but the slimmy has a penchant for the still. When fishbones gets the stiffness in the whites, it'll be the sun in the jelly sayin' sit and settle with a few shorties. Till then ain't a meaning to the pleasant sights on the jellies than just that.

>Has your opinion her in improved at all, by the way?
Neh still a bent dully in the nest. Ain't the black beast under the shuteye, mind.
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No. 105862 ID: bfb318
File 147987619410.png - (255.68KB , 800x800 , CheeseITQ2.png )
105862

>What can you tell us about kobold religion? Do you have one god or a pantheon? If you all came from big magical beasts, are there like... beast cults, who worship the beast they came from as their ancestor, or believe the beast's spirit is still alive in them and the land, or similar?
Welllllll, up in the north empire, the only 'gods' we really have worship for are the greater beasts we came from and the regions they made when they died. Even then, it's more of a personable basis, and there isn't a whole lot of organized religions out there, at least not widely recognized ones.

We do say 'oh god' but in northern cases, 'god' is just seen as an overall 'the powers that be.'

The church, I believe, was made as a little safe haven for the southern empire kobolds coming up to visit, since they're really the religious ones. Anyway we northerners sometimes let in southerners, but the church was pretty shitty and unmaintained so I bet there just wasn't enough southerners going there. It was probably before the Fence became the place that it did, so the church may have stopped being so safe for southerners after a bit. I'm surprised it still was standing at all!

Anyway, southerners believe that the greater beasts didn't even really die, just like, turned into ethereal forms or something, and that only through prayer can they get the will of the land or something. They might be on to something, since the way they use magic is a bit different.

The common thing is that we both view the greater beasts of gods, though we don't agree on what gods are, exactly. So, a pantheon! But 'gods' and 'greater beasts' are interchangeable, and we probably don't view gods at all in the same way the races outside of our continent do, if they even have gods.

Howwwwever, up north we almost consider our emperor to be a god in some sense, and that's why the south often says we're heretical bastards, because we're ruled by someone who sees themself as something alongside a greater beast.

>Is there an official religion of the empire, or various scatter heretical mumbling?
Like implied, northerners have scattered little followings for the greater beasts, but as long as they follow the emperor, we let them be.

Southerners have an official religion, and scattered little followings, uh, well, aren't received well. I think some of ours are actually southern kobolds who fled, because they'd rather be in the company of northerners than practice their stuff down south.

>Does organized religion play any big part in politics
In the south, the church is practically the government or something, I don't know, we really don't know much about each other at all! It's kind of not known if the church is the government, or something alongside the government that has equal power. It's definitely a huge driving factor in everything they do.

>What's the kobold god supposed to stand for, and what's their big story?
Since the 'gods' are just the greater beast, they mostly stand for whatever the land itself represents, and their big stories is, uh... well since we came by from their death, usually their big story is all about how they bit the dust.

For the 'god' that the northern emperor is, though, well, he's supposed to stand for the empire itself through strength and force. His big story is about how he murdered the shit out of everyone who opposed him.

>Like, how much evidence is there for any actual divine intervention?
That's basically what magic is! At least how we see it. Since the gods we see are the greater beasts and the land is made from their own magic, wizards doing magic is borrowing the lands power to do what they want to do.

The south just takes it farther and says the land is fully aware of what it's doing, and will do thing even without wizards asking.

>Do deities have any role in the afterlife? We were told the land contains the souls of all dead kobolds. I assume they reincarnate or something.
Kind of hard to deny that! There's definitive evidence that the land still contains souls. When new kobolds are made, there's been some evidence that part of other people's souls seep out and become a part of the newborn, so it's sort of partial resurrection. Like, the souls eventually intermingle and turn into one giant soul pudding. Not a lot is known about this, since soul wizards are pretty quiet, and leave a lot to rumors and hearsay.

>Do kobolds ever have any ability to recall past life memories?
I don't think this has ever happened? In theory, if a soul seeped out of the land before it intermingled much in the soul mass, and it occupied a newborn and became a wizard, it's possible. But the chances of that are apparently so tiny that it just doesn't happen.

>Has anyone ever been identified as a reincarnation of someone else?
Only legends and myths, but there's a lot of those that are totally fake. Can't really say it's impossible though!

>And what are the limits of necromancy, we got a hint that it's possible to talk to the dead, has anyone ever tried bring them back to life and succeeded, even partially?
Partially, sure. Like all magic, there's really no upper limit, in theory anything is possible, but in practice only a lot of mundane stuff.

This is especially subjected to the rumor mill, though, because necromancy is completely forbidden in the south, and is heavily monitored and restricted in the north.

>Like, if blood binds the soul to the body, are there like... kobold vampires, dead souls pulled back into bodies by magic who have to drink blood to maintain the connection, or something? Or how about other soul manipulations, can necromancers use souls for power or try to absorb soul stuff to make themselves stronger?
Rumormill says yes to both, and I wouldn't be surprised if both of these were true, at least partially. In fact I'd bet that, at least partially, stuff like this existed in the past.

Especially, you know, stuff like that must have gone bad for the northern empire to heavily restrict something that sounds as powerful as good necromancy.

>What happens if a kobold dies outside its natural environment? What happens if a kobold dies outside kobold lands entirely?
The lands do seem to have connections in some way, so a kobold who dies outside its normal environment finds its way back to its homeland, even if it wasn't born there. That's why in the south, most kobolds stay in groups of their own throughout life, but up north we're more about living life hard and then dying, so we'll mingle with whoever. Especially since between life and death, life is the only time you have to make friends with kobolds not of your own type!

We don't really know for certain what happens if a kobold dies outside kobold lands. Soul wizards, for what little they say, say the soul disperses more clumsily, like it's lost and doesn't know where to go. If that means they're lost souls, or if they get completely dissolved, or if it just takes longer for them to find their way back to their homeland, I don't know. But it's a scary prospect for everyone, and kobolds who leave kobold lands usually do so because of some kind of desperation.

>Are the beasts that kobolds come from intelligent? Are they all gone, or are any still around?
It's been awhile since one was seen, but the Dragon Knights say that they were intelligent.

Almost all are gone, but there is legitimate magic in the barbarian's shroom forest, yet no signs of any native kobolds there, which really implies there's a greater beast that's hiding out. Which is also a good implication that they are intelligent, since literally every other greater beast was killed.

>Is there public education in the empire? Or, is that up to the nobles of each area? With the big emphasis on nobles needing to prove their strength and strength being such an important thing in general, how much structure is in place to help people get strong in the first place, or for naturally talented people to get what they need to maximize their abilities and thereby serve the empire as best they can? Does the emperor mandate any sort of basic education for children, or any policies that people who are good at something get the chance to do it? It seems like there are ways into the military for everyone, but are there other ways to learn to fight? How about crafts or magic, do you have to have a source of coin to get into them, or are there like, scholarships, or loans, or so on?
Yeah how to fight! That's really it for across-the-empire stuff. The emperor doesn't mandate anything except military service, education wise.

For everything else, it's up to the noble and region. Some are better than others about it. Apparently, Shup's Goldyard has the highest literacy rate by far, and even has history lessons and basic math and how to be civilized and all that.

But every kobold has to get into the army at some point. Many nobles, of every rank, want to boast a good army, so they do train people constantly. Kids are shown how to fight, and I swear a lot of nobles let violent crime get lax punishment since it encourages the rest of everyone to learn some self defense.

There are guilds though for skilled labor, but for the most part, everything is learned on the job, as needed, and that's what most people do for life. People with talents for something may be invited to the guild, but the guild talent scouts have to find them. Otherwise, the individual who wants to learn has got to find a way to get to the guild and show them what they've got.

That's all for crafts, though. For magic, if you get it naturally, you're basically set for life. You can learn it on your own, maybe, but it's always a stab in the dark and to get real tutilage, you need to be so rich. So rich in both money and time. But that's why so many nobles are wizards, too. Either the magic let them become nobles, or the nobility let them learn magic.

>Hey, got any secret crushes
Ffffeeee

>That aren't actually obvious?
N.... no.

Crooooo...? noooooo

>What were the forest kobolds like, back before they all died and Erja Nokol went to hell?
You know who's seen forest kobolds? Dragon Knights. You know what Dragon Knights don't do? Converse with dirty peasants. Or anyone except them... I don't even know about themselves!

Anyway, conjecture time! They were probably called forest kobolds for a reason. I hear they changed scale color based on season! So they would blend in with their local foliage and just look goofy in other regions.

Supposedly, they were light, so they could climb up trees and all that stuff, and were just all around nimble things.

Or I mean maybe they were apple shaped slugbeasts that fed off treebark. Probably not but I can't prove they weren't!
>>
No. 105863 ID: bfb318
File 147987626486.png - (132.58KB , 800x800 , ClampITQ3.png )
105863

>You know, I was curious what kind of economics your clan thrived on.
We export murder and import valuables off the people we exported to.

>Do you guys typically just do standard agricultural work and your warriors are mostly for defense or clan warfare, or does your clan pillage and rape a few villages for profit and fun?
Wind had a flock of sheep so I guess we have that too. Seemed ridiculous at first like we were running a pet daycare, but when a hunting day turns up nothing and we still don't need to go hungry, I started seeing the point.

Everyone knows how to fight anyway. We go fighting with other clans, because either we fight them, or they fight us. May as well learn where their place is so that we get something out of fighting them.

>You seem like a swell guy with a moral compass and code atypical of the stereotypical gnoll but who knows maybe you got yourself a few slaves offscreen. Just cause you treat your friends and family nice and with dignity doesn't mean you don't enjoy torturing some poor slave you got in a cage somewhere.
I ain't a sadist that tortures for the fun of it, but the last time I called myself a swell guy with a moral compass, all I learned is that I don't have a sarcastic voice down and that my clan thinks they can have a chuckle at me.
>>
No. 105870 ID: 3abd97

>>105860
I meant going the other way, Sweater. What happened to you guys in Stage 8 after Alison went and killed herself to make a point.
>>
No. 105871 ID: a107fd

Aw man, yich eaters are outnumbered by humans by a factor of almost 20, just on their own homeworld. That's gotta be some kind of weird embarrassment for somebody.
>>
No. 105889 ID: 44359f

>>105842
>Another reason why we're compared to rabbits as much as dogs.

Hmm. You know, I hear rabbit nose-twitching is a form of communication. How fast their nose twitches is a display of interest/excitement/anxiety, I think? An alerted rabbit twitches fast and a relaxed rabbit twitches slow. So, what does nose twitching mean to neumono?

I feel like I've seen a neumono do a nose scrunch, too. Maybe I'm wrong but if you do twitch your noses then the muscles for a good nose scrunch are there. What does that mean (and can you show us)?

Non-neumono: do you find neumono nose twitching/scrunching adorable and/or amusing.

>>105848

Hey, it's you again! I wanted to ask a question and/or make a suggestion. Your objection to changing your name was that it'd upset your parents, right? And I have to assume it's some sort of traditional name from their culture. But in that case... well, it's not like that original language used the latin alphabet, did it? It has to be a transliteration, merely an approximation of the same sounds into the english script.

So... why not change your name to Sheetzanilli, or Shytzanilli, or Shihtzanilli? Or go even further and become Chitsunily or Sheytsignélee or any combination of various things? I sincerely doubt that some distinguished authority somewhere sat down and went "yeah this is definitely going to be the one and only official way to spell this alien name in english". Right? I mean even humans use multiple ways to spell most of their common names, and it's their language.

>>105850
>It would go over... incredibly poorly if I ever got implants. Any implants.

Yeah, but would you like to? Like imagine if there weren't any social consequences, that you'd be living somewhere no-one objects to cyborgs, that you could get them installed by your own personal private protected robo-doctor, and they'd have no more drawback than they would for any young belenosian lady. What would you say?

>>105854

Are there any projections for how often biological reincarnations show up? I mean, if every belenosian culture was aware of it pre-uplift, and you had a population limited by death robots and available food divided into X groups that probably didn't talk to each other because of such-and-such geographical divides and language barriers, over Y amount of time, then they must have shown up... once every thousand years? Every 500? 200? More? Even pre-uplift you guys had literacy and would have had record-keeping and such, I imagine. How reliable was the most recent report before Penn, and when was that placed? Is it known or indicated whether multiple emperors have had biological reincarnations, or only Sapphire? And the more your species' population grows the more kids are being born and the more genes are mingling and the pace would go up. How long would the guess be for the next one?

General belenosian question: What's the rarest fur color among your species? Do you get fur patterns, and if so what kinds are possible? Are any considered particularly attractive, or exotic? Any stereotypes or superstitions attached to certain colors/patterns, from the tribal days?

>>105862

Ey Cheese, you and your mutant buddies refer to yourselves as family, but you aren't really, are you? How does romance play out in your group, then? If, for example, Tomato revealed a secret crush on you, what would your reaction be? Or do the serious dunk-mutants generally give up on that sort of relationship completely?
>>
No. 105890 ID: 595d54

>>105889
Shitzanilli has stated that it'd upset her parents and that she doesn't feel badly about them. Plus it rarely comes up and most people just assume it actually is Sheet, iirc.
>>
No. 105891 ID: 44359f

>>105890

That's the point of the question, though! She could change her name without actually changing her name. It would still be pronounced the same, it would still be the same sound, you could probably do it by only changing one letter, and there isn't any importance at all to the name being spelled exactly that way. That way of spelling it isn't the real way to spell it, because the real way to spell it would be in an entirely different alien script and the english transliteration probably doesn't accurately capture the proper pronunciation anyway, because the two languages developed for literally different mouth shapes! Why spell it exactly that arbitrary way when another, less embarrassing way of spelling it would be equally valid?

If she goes up to her parents and goes "Hey mom and dad, I changed my name from shĭd͡zanɪli to shĭd͡zanɪli" and holds up an ID card showing that she's replaced the first I with two Es or added an H, are they really going to be that upset?
>>
No. 105900 ID: 4cfe41

>>105891
Let's say your name is Stephen. I tell you that your name is now legally Stefen and everyone will act as though it is. This includes any documentation. Would this bother you?
>>
No. 105902 ID: bb78f2

Rokoa, do you like watching the occasional cute pet videos?
>>
No. 105907 ID: 44359f

>>105900

That comparison isn't valid. If I was Stephen and changed my own name to Stefen (or, more likely, Steven), then no I wouldn't mind, and that's what's being suggested.

I'd mind if you changed my name, because it's my name and you don't have the right to do that, but that's not the scenario being proposed with Shitzanilli. She's not being told to change her parents' names, this is her personal name.

And even if it was somehow their family name? If I moved to another country and discovered that in the local language part of my family name means something embarrassing, I would probably change it just enough to not be, and if I didn't I wouldn't mind if my kids did.
>>
No. 106049 ID: 25393f

Koror: Why are you dressed like a tourist? Also, what's the story behind that hat?
>>
No. 106050 ID: 91ee5f

>>106049
Even though Koror is a neumono, he's actually not one of Lagotrope's characters. So I think you're better off asking your question in the regular ITQ.
>>
No. 106051 ID: 595d54

>>106050
Nah, BTE is for all neumono/Asteroidverse stuff, was agreed upon in the split of the first BTE from ITQ. For example, the Polokoa Quest characters are in here too despite Jukashi running that one.
>>
No. 106060 ID: 91ee5f

>>106051
Oh. Well, never mind then.
>>
No. 106110 ID: 395c02
File 148055934391.png - (12.81KB , 800x600 , KororITQ1.png )
106110

>Why are you dressed like a tourist?
What's wrong with my clothes? I live on an island in the tropics, so it's hot basically the whole year. These are light and easy for us to get ahold of, so a lot of my hive wears something like this! It's a lot better than back when we had even less contact with the rest of the world and had to make clothes ourselves. Eesh.

>Also, what's the story behind that hat?
... I feel like you're expecting me to pull out some kind of emotional story here, like it's the only thing I have from my father who's dead or went rogue or something, or I got it from someone famous, or whatever. But... it's just a hat. I like wearing hats! The best I can give you is the mental image of me wearing one as a little kid.
>>
No. 106196 ID: 9dc26d

Does the hat have an ultra-sharp rim that you can use to chop the heads off statues when you throw it?
>>
No. 106203 ID: 595d54

So we know the neumono are fairly lax about cannibalism. What about voklit and miklik? Voklit can't regrow limbs, but how common is it to tear strips off?
>>
No. 106205 ID: 595d54

>>106110
Also I'm pretty sure most people would like an image of you wearing your very first hat as a kid.
>>
No. 106218 ID: cf85b0

>>105842

What earth animal would you like to be compared to, then? A polar bear?

>Those population numbers

Now, hold on. 168 years since contact, and the Belenosian population has only grown to a bit more than 200% of what it was pre-contact?

Let's (generously) say it took about 50 years after contact for the humans to help the belenosians make their world relatively stable, containing the death robot threat, and setting up new infrastructure for food and medicine to support population growth, and so on. Say that's about how long it took to start opening up new colony worlds, too. So that would leave 118 years of time for basically free growth, and we'll round that to 120 because it'll be convenient if we imagine a generation - the time it takes for someone to grow up and pop out kids of their own - to be about 30 years. Some people younger some people older, et cetera. Developed civilizations tend to have people leave child-having for later, which limits growth since people squeeze up against infertility, but belenosians can keep having kids nearly their whole life so we'll say the late kid havers make up for people not having kids early. That's basically four generations of kids, roughly abstracted, popping out between the point where their population could start growing and now.

For the population to have only doubled in that amount of time, each generation would have had to have had each pair (assuming monogamy) of belenosian adults have... uh, about two and a half children, amusingly.

Which is a perfectly reasonable pace for an already fully established civilization, but for a society with a rapidly increased supply of food and security than they had before, one with economic and political reasons to be making special effort to increase their numbers, and one with traditions of large families, it's like they're not even really trying. There should have been at least a bit of an explosion during the first couple of decades, and there shouldn't have been that much pressure to stop, since even if you restrict yourself to only raising one at a time, a belenosian woman would be capable of squeezing out about three kids over the course of her life, and way more if you actually raise more than one at a time, which there should be plenty of social and cultural institutions to encourage. It's not like the humans or their own government would have had reason to try and restrict growth. Quite the opposite.

There could be a lot of belenosians not bothering with kids now, and maybe more who have only one kid and then decide kids aren't their thing, but that would verge on the domain of almost a crisis in itself to have that many people refusing to reproduce.

Belenosians, what do you have to say for yourselves!? You're barely having kids faster than the Yichs are, and they need three people to do it!

Also, while I'm asking, for the sake of curiosity; are you traditionally monogamous, or did some of your cultures have poly arrangements, or arrangements to raise kids but otherwise free breaking up and reforming of couples over the course of someone's life, or what?

>>105854

So, given the lack of information, is the "reincarnation" part of "biological reincarnation" just a fancy? We've been seeing people behave as though Penn has a very direct connection to Sapphire, like she's a clone or similar, but is it perhaps the case that she's only more vaguely marked, as "belonging to" Sapphire somehow? It seems like there could be lots of other possible interpretations for what exactly she could be.
>>
No. 106221 ID: 395c02
File 148082624145.png - (13.90KB , 800x600 , KororITQ2.png )
106221

>Also I'm pretty sure most people would like an image of you wearing your very first hat as a kid.
I was kind of a goofy kid, but ... fiiine.

>Does the hat have an ultra-sharp rim that you can use to chop the heads off statues when you throw it?
What? No.

... That's a reference to something, isn't it.
>>
No. 106222 ID: 595d54

>>106221
That's great, you should look back on that fondly. Who's Pinky? Particular friend of yours or just a nearby rando? While we're at it, do you have anyone waiting for you back in your hive? Mother? Girlfriend? Girl you have a crush on? Kids?
>>
No. 106223 ID: 91ee5f

>>106221
D'aaaaaaaw! You were so excited to get your first hat! I'm pretty sure the hat you're wearing right now isn't the same one, right? So do you still have you're first hat at home? If so, did you keep it for sentimental reasons?
>>
No. 106250 ID: 595d54

>>105855
Are wigs not much of a thing? It occurs to me that you could shave yourself and sell the excess fur to make wigs with. Alternatively, if you just trim it a bit shorter, does the regeneration actually notice?
>>
No. 106254 ID: c0f910

So how well do humans get along with neumono? I can imagine a lot would like to pet or cuddle the adorable fluff balls.
>>
No. 106264 ID: 395c02
File 148106686962.png - (13.55KB , 800x600 , KororITQ3.png )
106264

>Who's Pinky? Particular friend of yours or just a nearby rando?
That's Tomo. I guess it just kind of randomly happens that she's in that picture, but we're pretty close nowadays because she's the other neumono who specializes in computer-ish stuff in our hive. She's better at the hardware aspect than I am, which is good because most of our stuff is shoved together from whatever we had on hand at the time, and we haven't exactly have a steady supply of new equipment coming in.

>While we're at it, do you have anyone waiting for you back in your hive?
I mean... yes, obviously?

>Mother?
Again, yes?

>Girlfriend? Girl you have a crush on?
Sort of? I mean, I'm not in, like, a committed relationship with anybody, but, well, the whole hive tends to be pretty close.

>Kids?
I'm probably not going to end up with any kids until we're ready to expand the settlement again, which won't be for a while as far as I know.

>I'm pretty sure the hat you're wearing right now isn't the same one, right?
It's not.

>So do you still have your first hat at home? If so, did you keep it for sentimental reasons?
Nah, it fell apart ages ago, probably because I wore it constantly and little kid me didn't really understand you were supposed to take care of things that you didn't want to fall apart.
>>
No. 106301 ID: 49fe0f

So I was thinking about whether Az was likely to be record holder for guy with the most kids, and I thought "nah, it's probably some dude in one of those super big gigahives who his hive think is great", and I figure there's probably a lot of competition for that record and the neumono are the population boom people so probably the answer will change a lot. Then with >>106218 I thought, "I wonder who the belenosian guy with the record for most kids is", because that'd be a way more interesting question.

So, who among belenosians is the rightful owner of the coveted "#1 Dad" mug?

Specifying recent history, since in ancient imperial times there was probably some dude with a mutation or something that an emperor liked and had a bunch of kids artificially made from him.
>>
No. 106302 ID: 595d54

>>106301
Pilon probably has the record or a strong claim, he has like 19 and Az thought that was ridiculous.
>>
No. 106303 ID: 49fe0f

>>106302

That's gotta be no-where near the record, though. Even if you discount legendary or historical accounts, or donorship, there are some human guys with >100 kids, and plenty more who have >50. And like there are even women who've had well upward of 20. Given that they can keep at it for much longer, the numbers have to be above that for both neumono and belenosian women, and the number for men has to be greater than for women in both cases. Pomi can probably manage more kids too, since their eggs are said to be so small.

Really, I'd like to know who all these record holders are, and see the differences in how they're regarded/treated and in their personalities and stations in life, but that's a lot to ask for.
>>
No. 106336 ID: 595d54

>>106264
Koror have you ever seen Steve Irwin and how good are you at impressions?
>>
No. 106479 ID: 91ee5f

EVERYONE!

WHAT ARE YOUR OVERWATCH MAINS?!
>>
No. 106481 ID: cee89f

>>106479
Also, what are your opinions on people who steal other people's questions?

;)
>>
No. 106486 ID: 595d54

Raush show us all your xenophiliac dating site profiles
>>
No. 106505 ID: 395c02
File 148176774905.png - (10.60KB , 800x600 , KororITQ4.png )
106505

>Koror have you ever seen Steve Irwin and how good are you at impressions?
That sounds like probably a human name? I really don't think I'm going to get any of your references to human, uh, anything, sorry.

I'm probably not very good at impressions! I can't say I've tried doing them much, though.

>WHAT ARE YOUR OVERWATCH MAINS?!
My what now?
>>
No. 106506 ID: 595d54

>>106505
Koror why do you always look sad or anxious? What usually puts you in a better mood when you think of it?
>>
No. 106510 ID: 91ee5f

>>106505
>My what now?
It's a video game. But your island probably isn't uplifted enough to have a good internet connection to play it anyways, so don't worry about it.
>>
No. 106511 ID: 595d54

>>106510
Well that plus it's literally hundreds of years in our future iirc
>>
No. 106598 ID: 8cb228

Koror, can you make as many obscure references to your pop culture while talking about something unrelated, that we couldn't possibly know, just so those of us who are insensitive get the point?
>>
No. 106667 ID: 49978d

So after being exposed to The Last Guardian for a while, a chain of thought made me remember that planet polo (also inhabited by other people) has some pretty big beasties, with giant birds tamed to ride on already inquired about and confirmed here in ITQ in the past. So I ask whoever would know best: what's the biggest creature that you can successfully tame? Like, to make into a proper pet that you could be friendly with and give belly rubs and so on.

Like, predators are already pretty huge, and vernauts seem even huger, and they both seem cuddly enough that they could be made good pets with the right conditioning, if they weren't intelligent beings already and therefore fit more in the people category. Treating people like pets is wrong!... But is there a non-sentient animal that fits the same (or greater) scale of hugeness while also retaining the trainable and huggable factors?
>>
No. 106672 ID: 91ee5f

>>106511
True, but by then Overwatch 27 will be out. Along with Super Smash Bros. 41, Call of Duty: Hoverboard Ops, and Final Fantasy 100.
>>
No. 106928 ID: 395c02
File 148281133893.png - (11.56KB , 720x576 , KororITQ5.png )
106928

>Koror why do you always look sad or anxious? What usually puts you in a better mood when you think of it?
I'm not usually an anxious person, I swear! I think I'm way more stressed out than usual lately.

I would probably be in a better mood if I was home with my hive, instead of in the jungle on some island with tribal neumono I can barely communicate with.

>It's a video game. But your island probably isn't uplifted enough to have a good internet connection to play it anyways, so don't worry about it.
>Well that plus it's literally hundreds of years in our future iirc
Okay yes I'm obviously not going to be playing some ancient online game.

I kind of resent that comment about "not being uplifted enough," though.

>Koror, can you make as many obscure references to your pop culture while talking about something unrelated, that we couldn't possibly know, just so those of us who are insensitive get the point?
... You're giving me a headache.
>>
No. 106929 ID: 3b108e

>>106928
What does it feel like to discover you're a massive pervert who can't stop thinking of lewd things in life-or-death situations?
>>
No. 107030 ID: 3abd97

Korli: what do you think about the way you're portrayed as some kind of huge villain in basically everything non-canon?
>>
No. 107035 ID: 595d54

>>107030
More like a second-string villain in it for sex.
>>
No. 107101 ID: 595d54

Rokoa: Kappi successfully snuck into your room in your hive's headquarters and is stealing your panties or other applicable undergarments. What do?

Kappi: You find yourself in Rokoa's room in the warhive headquarters. You have 30 minutes of guaranteed safety unless you fuck something up, and can safely escape at the end of that time. You cannot explain it away as a big misunderstanding and will get people probably including Rokoa chasing you if you try. What kinds of panties do you steal and what else do you do?
>>
No. 107109 ID: 97cee0

>>107101

I feel about 94% sure that Rokoa does not wear panties.

I would be willing to place my bet, in fact, that bras are the only commonly worn item of that nature. Neumono in general don't seem like they'd be into superfluous layers of clothing.
>>
No. 107112 ID: 595d54

>>107109
To the extent that the pornoverse and various reference sketches are canon, neumono absolutely do wear panties. And in canon, Rokoa specifically is shown wearing panties here, NSFW: http://tgchan.org/kusaba/questarch/src/145538685795.png

Also, uh:
>superfluous layers of clothing.
People didn't just decide to wear panties for no good reason. They have multiple uses, but the one most immediately relevant to neumono is that most women don't want friction between their vagina and, for example, jeans. I'm sure Rokoa goes commando when she's wearing bioarmor, but that's very different from ordinary clothing.
>>
No. 107148 ID: 97cee0

>>107112

Objection! The items in that picture you link are a swimsuit, likely one which Rokoa had with her and changed into. We can tell, because earlier pictures during their grappling (such as this NSFW one: http://thatquestsite.org/kusaba/questarch/src/145533401638.png) make it clear that Rokoa was not wearing them under her normal sports wear. At the very least she had to put the top on, and since the top matches the bottoms, it's easy to imagine the bottoms were put on at the same time. And I notice that Kappi, in addition, just wears his normal shorts in the tub, suggesting he's not wearing anything under them either, though that may be just because he was dumped in like that.

As for the pornoverse, I feel there have been quite a few instances where a character has only needed to be stripped of one layer of clothes before being naked. My memory isn't great so feel free to correct me, but I don't recall any instance of a neumono wearing non-support lingerie unless it was the only thing they were wearing. That's the pornoverse, though. As for reference sketches, I think something similar applies, that we usually only see such things when nothing else is there to be worn on top of them. Which makes them more like... delicate short shorts, not underwear.

Chafing is less of an issue if you have fur. Uncomfortable rubbing on the fur itself is a possibility, but underwear might contribute to that more than solve it - I'd imagine a fur-bearing creature would prefer loose clothing when possible, not anything that presses tightly.

I also suspect that neumono may not be affected so much by that sort of thing.

>>105850

Ahoy, Penn. Did Roxie ever go through a phase of trying to set you up with guys who she sensed were attracted to you?

And if you or anyone else would know, is that a common thing that happens with non-neumono who have neumono buddies? Not even necessarily setting up dates specifically, but just a certain stage in the friendship where the neumono gets the idea that their empathy-blind friend is missing out and tries to be nice by narrating empathy to them. Like how with blind people sometimes their sighted friends get it into their heads that they should be excessively describing everything to them.
>>
No. 107150 ID: 595d54

>>107148
Fair, but we also know that Polo, at least, wears boyshorts and apparently some frillier panties for special occasions. That may just be because her hive's more modern and/or Polo's considered a prude, but I wouldn't be surprised if Rokoa had some around the place even if she didn't wear them often. If nothing else, she's had a lot of boyfriends who might have gifted her some sexy lingerie as a present to both of them.
>>
No. 107156 ID: 97cee0

>>107150

From what I've gathered, the impression is that most of Rokoa's boyfriends, in the sense of gift-giving type personal boyfriends, have been non-hivemates. Her hive would probably not approve of her keeping blatant "boyfriend gift" items like that. Like, if Kappi wanted to give her a present, he'd have to give her something that she could pass off as just a thing she owns, not something with particular sentimental/romantic value.

He can just steal her bras, though, if all you want is a theoretical undergarment for him to hypothetically pilfer.

>>105842

Rokoa, since you have a reputation as a badass warrior, do you ever get people who think of themselves as prospective badass warriors coming to you asking for training? I know most neumono think you're scary, but I think there's a quite large subset of neumono who want to be scary themselves, and I'm sure there are a good few for whome admiration is mixed in with the fear. So do you get other neumono looking for your mentorship? Your way of doing things seems quite species-specific, so I doubt you'd get non-neumono looking for the same from you, aside maybe wanting general advice on the asteroid mercenary shadowrunner lifestyle. If you are ever approached for that, do you ever agree? Do you give them the standard "put them through hell for a bit just to see if they give up" bit? Has anyone ever "graduated" from your training?

... Are any of them still around?
>>
No. 107160 ID: 595d54

>>107156
It was a joke question. So no, I'm not going to change it to bras.
>>
No. 107828 ID: 8c5e12

Bad Music/Hugs Specialist Alison and Opera Alison: which of you is better at hugs? I imagine Specialist has developed more skill, but Opera seems like she's starting with a natural advantage.

Also Opera Alison, is there a story behind your big cute eyes (and your big cute body)?
>>
No. 107829 ID: 91ee5f

>>107156
>... Are any of them still around?
Well, Kappi is still around. Although, technically, he didn't volunteer for Rokoa's training, he got drafted into it.

He's either a masochist or the sex/dream sharing sex is legendary. Or both.
>>
No. 108198 ID: 595d54

Ay yo Shup, ever studied material sciences or know anyone who does? How does magic rot work for stuff that's taken outside its region, and has anyone exploited it to decompose stuff or mess with volatile substances? What're explosives like, mostly just oil/powder or have you discovered stuff like mixed metal oxides for thermite? Does physics even work like that?
>>
No. 108831 ID: 65ec8d

Do rogues ever try channel their feelings through art? Like, among humans at least, there are whole genres of music given over to being sad and lonesome and miserable, and a large number of powerful and popular songs that express those kinds of feelings. Are there famous rogue blues singers, for example? Does rogue art play any part in the fight for rogue rights? I imagine hive neumono can be more sympathetic to rogue feelings if they're expressed beautifully, and if they don't actually have to be in the rogue's empathic presence.

Speaking of, though, is there such a thing as empathic beauty, separate to just empathic pleasantness or unpleasantness? Almost anything can be beautiful, even painful or gruesome or depressing things, if they're spun to the right pitch and perfection. Could there be neumono who's empathy tends towards hatefulness or sorrow or something else that's generally seen as negative, but other neumono still find them kind of entrancing or fascinating, because their empathy has a sort of grandeur or depth to it?
>>
No. 109398 ID: 595d54

Hey, Katzati or anyone else interested. Do neumono tend to be kinkier when they're sharing dreams, especially lucid ones? Not just because you have more options and less consequences in dreams, although those are interesting too. Are people more willing/comfortable about kinks and whatnot?
>>
No. 109769 ID: 9bf80c

This may have been asked before, but belenosians: can you/do you make any noises that humans can't/don't generally make?

And if any of them are conveniently answering something anyway, same question to other intelligent non-human species.
>>
No. 111280 ID: 8111b6

Hey, Az! What do you find appealing on another neumono? You a leg man? Hips? Bust? Ears? Or are you more into the intangibles? Inquiring minds want to know, I'm sure!
>>
No. 111398 ID: 83b227

Anyone from Fen Quest who would know: is an item made from a kobold's body "attuned" to the zone in which it's made, or the zone the kobold is/was native to? I'm thinking of poison from a mutant specifically, but it also raises the question of if a kobold's corpse decays more slowly in its home zone. Something similar could probably be asked for items made from animals in general, like leather from cows and so on? In fact, while I'm asking, are animals raised in kobold lands at all affected by what zone they're raised in?

Zirkala: You once told Story Seeker that you'd resurrect him if he died, with the caveat that he'd have to pay for it afterwards of course. My question is, what exactly is the difference between raising someone fully from the dead versus making a ghoul, since your ghouls are so very lifelike anyway? Or whatever you did to your enemies that you turned into summons? Is there any difference between a person brought back to full life and just a very well-raised undead with their own soul? Would a resurrection just be the same process but without putting in any of the control methods you use for your higher-class "undead" servants?
>>
No. 111468 ID: 3ce125

Glitcher: Did you ever figure out who left those three logs you found in the RS itself? And what they referred to? Who is the "one"?
>>
No. 111646 ID: a363ac

to the Shortest Nuemono: how is life with all the humans trying to pet you and adopt you like some kind of pupper?
>>
No. 111648 ID: a363ac

To Chen from Korror quest : where do you hide your giant technological dildos in your cave of wonders?
>>
No. 111651 ID: f522d4

Another Fen Quest question: How much awareness is there of the world outside kobold lands? Is it explored much, or is there a lot of mystery? Could there theoretically be far distant places with their own magical beasts that died and gave rise to other kobolds, unknown to you?
>>
No. 111657 ID: 6dc8e5

>>111648
In her Cave of Wonders, obviously.
it's a common euphemism.
>>
No. 111898 ID: ddd967

Glitcher Jr. and Haydi: I think we might have missed the chance to investigate this in-quest, so I'm asking here. What's the deal with the two of you?

Like, I'm not sure exactly what you are. Are you basically just glitchers, but... better? At least, more stable, not so rough? If so, are your cores the same as other glitchers and you just have a superior shell, or are your cores actually different somehow as well? How does the RS react to you, in that case? Are your cores and your shells more integrated with each other than normal glitchers? What can you do that your dad couldn't, what can't you that he could, same questions for your mother?

What are your capabilities? You were born into an environment where there wasn't much crazy adventure mystery left to be had, but if you were somehow dropped into an earlier stage of a regular cycle, what sort of things would you have been able to do? How much are you dependent on the system having been told to work with you, versus how much innate ability to interact with the system you have? How would you have measured up against "natural" glitchers, and the other cosmic threats your parents had to deal with?

Also... the closest thing most people in your world get to a family relationship is with alternate versions of themselves. Do you feel weird, having a mom and a dad and a sibling? How do you feel about each other? We haven't gotten to see you two interact that much. Are there more differences between you than personality? You were each made in somewhat different ways. Having been made from a romantic union, are either of you interested in finding love somewhere? Have either of you attempted? Succeeded?

Why did you have to be eggs for a while? What was going on in between Glitcher and Rulekeeper making you and you popping out?

And Haydi: how was your introduction to existence? We got to see your brother's first moments. What were your first thoughts and feelings?
>>
No. 111957 ID: ddd967

Lewd questions, so I'm going to spoiler them.

Neumono ladies: Is there a romantic or intimacy connotation to having a male's gel balls inside you? Like, as some sort of bonding thing, or a mark of a kind of possession you have over him, or him you? Is it emotionally pleasing to think that you're carrying around a piece of someone whose company you miss, or who you admire, or otherwise have positive feelings towards? Is there variance in how you choose to take care of your stockpile, like maybe some of you don't care at all, and some of you try to pick and choose whose you keep with you and whose you get rid of? I get the impression that getting rid of the balls you have stored is an imprecise ability, but is that really the case, and if so to what degree? Are there incidents of creepy stalker ladies being too concerned with the particulars of their "collection"?

While I'm asking, how much physical sense do you have of the gel balls inside you? Despite what pornography and erotica often depict, females of us fluid-shooting species often can't feel the stuff itself being delivered internally, aside reactions in the rest of the male's body, since it's a liquid that doesn't weigh much and is generally about the same temperature as their bodies are. I imagine gel balls have more presence, though, and if you have a storage system with muscles to manage it, perhaps you have more sensation in that area. I know the gel has some substance that triggers a reaction in you, but how much sense do you have of the physical mass and weight?

Finally, do neumono tend to attach much importance to virginity and the loss thereof? I gather it generally happens pretty young, so I don't want to ask too many details, but do most hives not care much more than they would any other incidental part of growing up, like voice changes and getting new teeth and forming political opinions, or is it generally considered a milestone and treated like something special? Because as well as which, I wonder, in modern hives, could one's entry into the realm of sex with non-hivemate be thought of as more of a milestone? Some of what we saw with Roxie suggested that it was. Though maybe more of a personal one?

>>
No. 111958 ID: bfb318
File 149583919603.png - (18.36KB , 800x800 , ShitzanilliITQ5.png )
111958

>Why not change your name's spelling to Sheetzanilli, or Shytzanilli, or Shihtzanilli?
It's true that our own language didn't follow english lettering, but...

>I sincerely doubt that some distinguished authority somewhere sat down and went "yeah this is definitely going to be the one and only official way to spell this alien name in english
No, but the entire government did. This was before the neumono uplifting style, and so with us, there was a lot of hard regulations, order of operations, and whatever. So some linguists, or I would think some linguists, sat down and had to agree on the 'official' way to translate, or actually to express lettering in each other's languages. I'm sure there was arguing in there, but once the official way was made, that was the right way. It wasn't too bad, either, because even if our language didn't use english letters, the two dominant languages on each planet meshed surprisingly well in that way, so no one really fought it, especially since both sides wanted to streamline learning each other's language.

So, uh, I could change my name's spelling, but then it'd be wrong. My name might have some alterations, too, sort of like some english names have variations, but my parents were purists, and changing that would be wrong, too.

I guess I'd change it if it were a serious problem, but all it means is that I become the receiving end of jokes, and get a lot of, well, shit, for it.

>Can you/do you make any noises that humans can't/don't generally make?
We can make a nice little trill noise. Oh, wait, humans can do that too, can't they...
>>
No. 111960 ID: bfb318
File 149583923354.png - (17.72KB , 800x800 , PennITQ12.png )
111960

>Yeah, but would you like to [get implants]?
I, uh, I'd have to think about that, and thinking about that is something I've generally tried to avoid. If it weren't for all the stigma, then... I guess I'd at least be open to the idea, and I'd think about it more.

>Did Roxie ever go through a phase of trying to set you up with guys who she sensed were attracted to you?
Actually, no! Arza had already told her that I was supposed to focus on my studies, and I think she thought, at the time, that he was part of the school that could have thrown her back out for any bad transgression. Plus, at the start, she wouldn't date other guys either, and from her perspective, I was also surrounded by guys outside of my hive, or something like that.

By the time that Roxie knew what the boundaries were and had a better grasp on our society, she was doing more protecting me than anything. I think that she was actually on the lookout for belenosian guys for me, actually, but she always had such a high opinion of me that she never thought that any of them were good enough.

>And if you or anyone else would know, is that a common thing that happens with non-neumono who have neumono buddies? Not even necessarily setting up dates specifically, but just a certain stage in the friendship where the neumono gets the idea that their empathy-blind friend is missing out and tries to be nice by narrating empathy to them. Like how with blind people sometimes their sighted friends get it into their heads that they should be excessively describing everything to them.
Yes, I haven't had much of that, but I have heard that some of the non-native species that are put together with neumono roomates, will sometimes have those neumono follow them around and let them know what every other neumono is thinking.

>Non-neumono: do you find neumono nose twitching/scrunching adorable and/or amusing.
I don't see it often but I've seen a couple neumono do it periodically. And I do! Find it adorable, that is. But, they're people, so I always feel bad when I think something so animal looking in them is cute.
>>
No. 111961 ID: bfb318
File 149583926274.png - (14.30KB , 800x800 , PennGrandmotherITQ5.png )
111961

>Are there any projections for how often biological reincarnations show up?
Best guesses say approximately once every 150 earth years, minding that our best guesses are so bad that I'm reluctant to even give the idea that it's every 150 years.

>Even pre-uplift you guys had literacy and would have had record-keeping and such, I imagine. How reliable was the most recent report before Penn, and when was that placed?
Terrible. There were records, yes, and they were a travesty of data collection. Honestly, what records we have look like someone turned fables into spreadsheets.

>Is it known or indicated whether multiple emperors have had biological reincarnations, or only Sapphire?
It's not known. There's no indication anyone other than Sapphire has any kind of reincarnation system in place, but because of what I think of record keeping, I wouldn't rule out the possibility.

>How long would the guess be for the next one?
Unless the genetics have some nonsense mapping to time things oddly, theoretically any moment. There's nothing saying there isn't already another Penn out there that's being hidden much more competently than Penn, other than believable probability.

>What's the rarest fur color among your species? Do you get fur patterns, and if so what kinds are possible? Are any considered particularly attractive, or exotic? Any stereotypes or superstitions attached to certain colors/patterns, from the tribal days?
Our fur commonly has reddish tones, and there's virtually no variation other than edging into brown or pink tones. There have been various belenosians with stripes. These are odd looking ones, and they were held in high regard in pre-uplift days because it wasn't commonly believed that they were of imperial influence. Rather, because of the odd looks, it makes them look less belenosian, and may have assisted them in avoiding being registered as belenosians by rogue bots. It's still extremely rare to see, though, even if it did help survival.

>Are you traditionally monogamous?
Yes. Polygamy was common for nobility in the empire, so as was typical for tribals, polygamy was banned. Divorce happened, but while society didn't look too poorly on a divorced couple, it was hard to re-marry when there was a failed marriage beforehand. To say that, though, is to paint a broad stroke across a whole planet.

>Extremely slow rate of population growth
We know. There's several theories on why we didn't have many kids, even going from the phase from tribal to modern.

As is common, genetics themselves may to be blame. Once things got cozy, we may simply be that hardwired to not overdo it with kids. Another is that, traditionally, upbringing kids was seen as sacred as tasks get, and a full time job for even one child. Having many kids when required is one thing, but if things are all cozy, then it was seen as far more favorable to bring up a couple of well raised, exceptional children, rather than spit out 10 kids and hope one of them does well. This goes against most of the rest of nature, it's true, but at this point, we're barely a natural species.

>So, who among belenosians had the most children?
If we're to believe the record keepers, several hundred years ago there was a king who thought so highly of himself that he had love affairs with an enormous amount of girls. It was kept a secret since that kind of activity would've gotten him dethroned, but apparently a consort of some sort was sent to him every night. So there may have been thousands of kids, since this went on for years.

It's fuzzy and might not even be true.

The better established, modern records show that an uplifted warrior donated sperm, and with his popularity and decidedly anti-imperial physique, there were several hundred takers. He might also have the record for non-donor children. The guy was a hornball.

>So, given the lack of information, is the "reincarnation" part of "biological reincarnation" just a fancy?
It might be, but it probably isn't. Her internal structure resembles something from a long time ago, rather than the offspring of her own two parents.

>Belenosians: can you/do you make any noises that humans can't/don't generally make?
The closest we've got is our ability to hold our vocal chords still and keep our voices far more level than other species. Other than that, no, human noises are more robust overall.

>Non-neumono: do you find neumono nose twitching/scrunching adorable and/or amusing.
Not really, no.
>>
No. 111962 ID: bfb318
File 149583928599.png - (13.12KB , 800x800 , RokoaITQ84.png )
111962

>Rokoa, do you like watching the occasional cute pet videos?
Eh, if I do, it better be something interesting instead of the pet being cute.

>What earth animal would you like to be compared to, then? A polar bear?
I'd rather not get compared to anything over there, but if I had to, then a polar bear's an improvement.

>What's the biggest creature that you can successfully tame?
Vernauts. I don't know what the salikai did, but they're not typically any smarter than other wildlife. They're also hard as hell to tame, but it should be possible. A vernaut raised by a neumono hive starts off cuddly, but once they grow so much bigger than everyone else, they start wanting to be the alpha, and puberty ruins any sort of taming that was done in its childhood.

What might fix that issue is castrating it to keep its puberty effects from getting in the way. That's necessary, I bet, but it isn't a perfect solution. Vernauts get mad easy, and they hold grudges well, and as far as getting a grudge made and getting something mad goes, chopping off balls is at the top of the list. If some other person or thing was convinced to castrate it, other than the hive itself, then, maybe. Just maybe. It still would not be happy about its lack of equipment anyway.

>Kappi successfully snuck into your room in your hive's headquarters and is stealing your panties or other applicable undergarments. What do?
I'd see how good he's gotten at running and not getting kicked in the face.

>Rokoa, since you have a reputation as a badass warrior, do you ever get people who think of themselves as prospective badass warriors coming to you asking for training?
Yeah. It doesn't happen often, but it does.

>If you are ever approached for that, do you ever agree?
Not really. Kappi might be the first I give a shit about that wants to be trained.

>What are the voklit and miklik opinions on cannibalism?
Miklik are weak stomached about the whole thing, constantly. Never heard of a miklik society that thought it was okay. Dunno about any diseases they get from it or anything.

Voklits, though. They're either all for it or all against it. Small wars have been fought about it and everything. Respecting their dead and carrying on the torch and all that is done in all their no-empathy ways, so they get pretty weird about things. So if they do eat other voklit, it's a huge ceremonial thing. If they don't eat voklit, then it's a huge deal to continue to not eat other voklit.

I don't believe for a second, though, that in times of starvation, their 'tradition' isn't put in the backseat for awhile.
>>
No. 111963 ID: bfb318
File 149583933726.png - (12.54KB , 800x800 , KappiITQ33.png )
111963

>You find yourself in Rokoa's room in the warhive headquarters.
... that sounds bad?

>You have 30 minutes of guaranteed safety unless you fuck something up, and can safely escape at the end of that time.
I think something already got fucked up if I'm in the warhive headquarters!

>You cannot explain it away as a big misunderstanding and will get people probably including Rokoa chasing you if you try. What kinds of panties do you steal and what else do you do?
I'm not a panty thief, I get out of there because they will probably kill me if they catch me inside of their place!... if not getting killed was a guarantee, then I guesssss... nooo, nothing, I'm not a panty thief!

>Do rogues ever try channel their feelings through art? Like, among humans at least, there are whole genres of music given over to being sad and lonesome and miserable, and a large number of powerful and popular songs that express those kinds of feelings. Are there famous rogue blues singers, for example?
Yeah. I'm not uh, musically inclined or anything, but there have been successful rogues that do that kind of stuff, especially popular amongst other rogues.

>Does rogue art play any part in the fight for rogue rights? I imagine hive neumono can be more sympathetic to rogue feelings if they're expressed beautifully, and if they don't actually have to be in the rogue's empathic presence.
Yes! Or so I hear. It doesn't apply to the asteroid of course, and I haven't heard of any wideswept changes, but a lot of the popular artists do donate to rogue research and help.

>Speaking of, though, is there such a thing as empathic beauty, separate to just empathic pleasantness or unpleasantness? Almost anything can be beautiful, even painful or gruesome or depressing things, if they're spun to the right pitch and perfection. Could there be neumono who's empathy tends towards hatefulness or sorrow or something else that's generally seen as negative, but other neumono still find them kind of entrancing or fascinating, because their empathy has a sort of grandeur or depth to it?

Oh, yeah. It's often subtle unless two neumono click together, but if there's an emotion, there's probably an empathy that'll give off that emotion. Maybe even emotions not typically felt.
>>
No. 111964 ID: bfb318
File 149583936073.png - (11.44KB , 800x800 , KatzatiITQ12.png )
111964

>So, what does nose twitching mean to neumono? Nose scrunching?
It means either we're mad, or something smells bad, or we're mad about bad smells. It's not at all like a rabbit! We have good lung capacity, and our noses don't just flick up and down during breathes. And it looks kinda weird, at least when I make faces in the mirror.

>So how well do humans get along with neumono? I can imagine a lot would like to pet or cuddle the adorable fluff balls.
It's not unheard of! I've seen humans, and other species, surrounding themselves around curious neumono, but also aliens that are surprisingly uncomfortable around us. It might be the teeth? Or it might be the stereotypes that treat us like talking wild animals, even though there's a lot of upbringing and effort to make sure we're as civilized as anyone else. For the most part, though, we get along well with humans. They bring us food, and we do a lot of dangerous manual labor for cheap. Uh, that probably sounded worse than it actually is.

>To the Shortest Nuemono: how is life with all the humans trying to pet you and adopt you like some kind of pupper?
I'm not the shortest but I'll take it anyway since I've seen it. It's kind of rude to just go up to someone and start petting them! It doesn't help that some neumono like it anyway and are way too receptive to unrelenting alien affection. Even if they get pet in places that are absolutely inappropriate! Most neumono, of any size, find it demeaning, though. Even though a lot of us usually like aliens better than non-hivemates, random petting isn't often that well received from anyone but one's hivemates.

>Do neumono tend to be kinkier when they're sharing dreams, especially lucid ones?
Yeah, we arrre. But a lot of that is just because our inhibitions are kind of shot when we sleep, and so we're okay with all but the most ingrained ideas of what we don't want to do. Even if we're lucid, we're not always that thoughtful about what kind of stuff we can get up to, so waking up can be immediately followed by that awkward feeling of thinking really weird thoughts! Which is why it's so awkward to dreamshare with extra-hive neumono! Which is why it's good that it's so rare!
>>
No. 111965 ID: bfb318
File 149583938095.png - (14.50KB , 800x800 , NireeITQ2.png )
111965

>Are wigs not much of a thing?
They are, so that's something.

>Alternatively, if you just trim it a bit shorter, does the regeneration actually notice?
Yeahhh, it notices.

Hair grows back stupidly fast if we're well fed, but if we're a bit empty, it takes a backseat, but I don't like feeling constantly peckish. It's worse than being a hairball.
>>
No. 111966 ID: bfb318
File 149583939436.png - (15.89KB , 800x800 , KorliITQ47.png )
111966

>What do you think about the way you're portrayed as some kind of huge villain in basically everything non-canon?
I think it's funny and also pretty fucked up! I'd never do basically any of that. So it's totally wrong.
>>
No. 111967 ID: bfb318
File 149583941976.png - (14.63KB , 800x800 , LikolITQ1.png )
111967

>Raush show us all your xenophiliac dating site profiles
He would never have been in the position he was in, if he let someone like me stumble on that sort of thing.
>>
No. 111968 ID: bfb318
File 149583945620.png - (11.52KB , 800x800 , AzITQ21.png )
111968

>What do you find appealing on another neumono? You a leg man? Hips? Bust? Ears?
I'm more of a whole figure guy. That is, some girls pull off certain attributes better than others. A great characteristic on one neumono will just look meh on another neumono. Trying to pin it down to just one set of attributes will make me think of a dozen girls that don't fit that but look great anyway.

>Or are you more into the intangibles?
Those are important too, I guess.
>>
No. 111969 ID: bfb318
File 149583949930.png - (30.52KB , 1200x800 , AlisonsITQ5.png )
111969

>Bad Music/Hugs Specialist Alison and Opera Alison: which of you is better at hugs? I imagine Specialist has developed more skill, but Opera seems like she's starting with a natural advantage.

Specialist: That's really up to personal taste! It's not like I was ever good at hugs, it's just that I did it a lot. So if people wanted the tightest and longest hugs, I'd be better.

Opera: And if people want soft hugs, that's all me.

>Opera Alison, is there a story behind your big cute eyes (and your big cute body)?
Opera: Not at all. This is the very first form I took, so there's no more story behind that than almost any other Alison. But thank you for saying so!
>>
No. 111970 ID: bfb318
File 149583952733.png - (214.23KB , 800x800 , GlitcherITQ4.png )
111970

>Did you ever figure out who left those three logs you found in the RS itself? And what they referred to? Who is the "one"?
There were four logs from Arbiter's set, and they were sent to me so I could translate them to that RS language. I dunno where the number three came from, or what the 'one' is! Since they were in the corrupted field, they couldn't be read by the system that delivers logs to contestants, but instead of sending an error message or whatever, it copied what the RS understood the log as. Except then the language got all garbled up anyway since it didn't translate it back to contestant language. Something like that. That's the leading theory anyway!
>>
No. 111971 ID: bfb318
File 149583955794.png - (117.20KB , 1200x800 , GlitcherKidsITQ1.png )
111971

>What's the deal with the two of you? Are you basically just glitchers, but... better?

Haydi: Yeah basically!
Jr: We're really just a form of our dad's that was seperated from himself by our mother, but stabilized a little bit. We still have glitchy exteriors, but we have more emphasis on our strings.
Haydi: That's to say, dad has - well, had - his shell that controls like a puppet, but we're more inseparable from our shells. So, even if we get sliced up by another glitcher, we can still keep ourselves together instead of leaking out like other glitchers. Other than us, the only way to look inside a glitcher is to do our mother's trick of... like... creating visual space in the middle of an object, but not actually dividing what's now two pieces. It's weird is what she does!
Jr: We probably would have been very good at fighting other glitchers. We're much harder to kill off.
Haydi: Yeah but then mom and dad pretty much negated any chance of that ever happening before we were even born, so no, there's no point at all!

>How does the RS react to you, in that case?
Haydi: It'd still fuck us up bad, if we went in like our dad did.

>Do you feel weird, having a mom and a dad and a sibling? How do you feel about each other?
Haydi: Uh no cause that's what's normal to me. Everyone else is weird.
Jr: It's a little weird being such a small group of people unique to so many others.

>How do you feel about each other? We haven't gotten to see you two interact that much. Are there more differences between you than personality?
Jr: We're close to each other.
Haydi: Not too close, mind!
Jr: Haydi does sometimes wander off, but usually we do things together. There isn't too much different between her and me, other than the personality changes.
Haydi: Yeah! The way we were made was a smidge different, but it turns out it was all the same idea behind it. Any practical difference isn't big enough to see or matter about.
Jr: At least not as far as we can tell, in the world we live in now.

>Having been made from a romantic union, are either of you interested in finding love somewhere? Have either of you attempted? Succeeded?
Jr: I don't know, it hasn't really come up. If I were to make a point to follow in my parent's footsteps, then I could probably find something more substantial then finding someone.
Haydi: Love? I don't think I've really found 'love' anywhere, just varying amounts of like! And I like a lot of people! I could see romancing some, but I dunno if I care about romancing like, as a formal thing, as people understand it. Things get weird.
Jr: So, I don't think we'll seek love out, but I hear that it's sometimes a sudden thing?
Haydi: Or an accident one way or another.

>Why did you have to be eggs for a while? What was going on in between Glitcher and Rulekeeper making you and you popping out?
Jr: We had to stabilize, and turn the clump of strings into our own shelll. Digestion, I guess?
Haydi: Dad said he probably had to do the same thing, he just couldn't remember it for some reason.

>And Haydi: how was your introduction to existence? We got to see your brother's first moments. What were your first thoughts and feelings?
Haydi: Since my strings were wiped clean, I came out as confused as anyone! I basically doubled or tripled in size instantly, and flipped a mouse over on accident. Then I was approached by a snake lady, hugged, and then my mom sat me down and immediately gave me everyone's life stories.
>>
No. 111972 ID: bfb318
File 149583957434.png - (17.26KB , 800x800 , SweatermouseITQ2.png )
111972

>What happened to you in stage 8 after Alison killed herself?
Ohh. Welll, there was some fighting for swapping out of some other ghost's position in someone's emblem, buuut, well, I just kind of let myself die. It wasn't a good moment! Or a proud one! I just kind of panicked for awhile and I don't really want to think about it.

>Non-neumono: do you find neumono nose twitching/scrunching adorable and/or amusing.
Yes! It is! I assume it is for real neumono too!
>>
No. 111973 ID: bfb318
File 149583960041.png - (95.17KB , 800x800 , ZirkalaITQ11.png )
111973

>My question is, what exactly is the difference between raising someone fully from the dead versus making a ghoul, since your ghouls are so very lifelike anyway? Or whatever you did to your enemies that you turned into summons? Is there any difference between a person brought back to full life and just a very well-raised undead with their own soul?
There are little quirks to the ghouls, here and there, not the least of which is a little 'off' smell. They also have odd sensory inputs. There are little dead areas that I can poke without them feeling something, or touching them on a cheek will feel, to them, like I'm touching their shoulder blade, in the worst case. Few living beings can see these quirks offhand, and it seldom conflicts with performance. It can be blamed on the slightest imperfections in casting, considering it's hard enough to get them so lifelike to begin with. Simple degradation can also be an issue.

Given a perfect spell casting, and good maintenance, though, there is virtually no difference between a ghoul and a living being, at least as far as moment to moment is concerned. That and, I suppose for some, the ethical considerations of each.

>Would a resurrection just be the same process but without putting in any of the control methods you use for your higher-class "undead" servants?
It's an incredibly different process, at least considering that the end results are so similar.
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No. 111974 ID: bfb318
File 149583961363.png - (11.66KB , 800x800 , CheeseITQ3.png )
111974

>Ey Cheese, you and your mutant buddies refer to yourselves as family, but you aren't really, are you? How does romance play out in your group, then? If, for example, Tomato revealed a secret crush on you, what would your reaction be? Or do the serious dunk-mutants generally give up on that sort of relationship completely?
Abominations like Cabbage and Tomato are uuuuuusually sterile, so that'd be tough stuff for Tomato if he wanted kids with me! Or at all.

Plain ol' mutants like me and most of the family though can have kids, and then, well, we have them if we want! We don't even pass on our mutations, either, we don't think. The kids look as normal as anywhere else. So, uh, if we do pass on mutations, they don't show up till later. We don't know since it's not like they'll grow up in a place other than Erja Nokol, probably! And if they do immediately get passed to another region, it probably means we'll never see them again.
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No. 111975 ID: bfb318
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111975

>Shup, ever studied material sciences or know anyone who does? How does magic rot work for stuff that's taken outside its region, and has anyone exploited it to decompose stuff or mess with volatile substances? What're explosives like, mostly just oil/powder or have you discovered stuff like mixed metal oxides for thermite? Does physics even work like that?
Such basic principles are a given. Any noble that does not know, at the very least, the raw basics, should not be a noble to begin with.

If an object is taken outside of its native region, then it will rot, no matter what, provided it's native to a land belonging to a greater beast's influence. Materials from dead lands do not rot nearly so fast, and metals nearly not at all provided adequate care, making them particularly valuable on long expeditions in which wizards aren't periodically available. Things made inside of a beast's territory are held together as much by magic as by physical traits, and without their native land to feed it to them, they rot proportionately quicker without the magic component. That is why simply feeding it magical energy is enough to prevent normal rot, though they are still subject to physical rot, as is a deadland item.

Some items are to be rotted, however, such as refuse. Some regions handle their refuse better than other. The goldyard, however, will purchase refuse from other regions. Their refuse is brought in, and it decomposes into various elements that, more commonly than not, provide adequate soil for farming. The price, aside from some gold, is to then fill their wagons with our refuse, and dump it into a surrounding region, which will then have the same benefits as we get.

We don't believe that any volatile material grows in the north, or at least not in any practical quantity. We do have a wizard capable of bombs, though it seems more of a novelty than of adequate power. We also have, I believe it was quartz, that when heated in a fire, will burst rather than melt. The application seems limited, if any.

Good explosives are limited outside of the barbarian lands and the northern empire. The deadlands have a powder that explodes well, which we import as we can. The southern empire also has some explosive material, but they hold their secrets well, so I don't have the faintest idea if it's cultivated or if they simple have it as a natural resources. Hence, all of our knowledge towards explosives are only what we can experiment with from deadland imports.

>Is an item made from a kobold's body "attuned" to the zone in which it's made, or the zone the kobold is/was native to?
It's attuned to the kobold's nativity. That is, their original home region, regardless of where they grew up. Hence, all draconic kobold items are attuned to Dragon's Fall, even all the savage tribes in the contested territory. Mutant poison, therefore, lasts much longer in whatever territory was home to the kobold type that made the poison. Ironically, beause of the extinction of forest kobolds, this means that no mutant poison is preserved in Erja Nokol.

However, kobolds are naturally charged with magic. Our corpses immediately have leftover magic in which to preserve the body, and don't decay any faster in one location than in another. Once that magic is used up, though, then they will decay faster if they are in a foreign land to their type. This applies to mutant poison, as well. That is magically charged as soon as it's spat into a bottle or whatever, and will keep for some time, depending on how magically intensive the kobold source was.

Animals are not typically affected by kobold lands. They seem to be purely physical, at least the ones we encounter. Touching them does not feel like being on a deadland, suggesting that the deadlands are not what causes distress in kobolds, so much as being away from kobold lands is what causes distress. They rot as quickly as a kobold corpse that is out of magic but on their native soil.

>How much awareness is there of the world outside kobold lands? Is it explored much, or is there a lot of mystery? Could there theoretically be far distant places with their own magical beasts that died and gave rise to other kobolds, unknown to you?
The average peasant knows virtually nothing of the outside world. Nobles are a more academic and curious bunch, though, and we have adequate trade with species from the deadlands. Many of them have made maps of their lands, and we buy them. They're also often glad to talk about their lands, though from their own voices I can tell that they're idealizing and embellishing the wonderful nature of their homeland. Nonetheless, even I find myself enraptured by stories that come from places that no kobold could ever travel through, as the lands apparently stretch so far that our continent is barely a bubble on the map.

Not even their explorers and academics, though, have heard of any other places in the world where other greater beasts have lived and died to make other kobolds. If there are other kobolds, then suffice to say, we are so far apart that we will never see each other.
>>
No. 111986 ID: bb78f2

Neumono, Belosians, Heefs, Voklits, and other furry or feathery or scaly alien races that could have had interactions with a human furry community, do furries creep you out?

Mikliks, do human planties creep you out?

Shup, you have sketches of deadland species somewhere you could show us? Would you consider romancing such an exotic creature? What usually IS your type anyway, when looking for a woman? Are you bisexual? Experimented with a stable boy when you were younger? How is homosexuality treated in your lands, are there differences between the noble's treatment of homosexuality and how commoners treatment of it?
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No. 111987 ID: bb78f2

Oh and how many kids you have Shup?
>>
No. 112020 ID: 262ceb

To the least fluffy neumono: how do people react to a furless neumono? Are some people into your smooth pink/black body? And how does being double nude feel?

Science types: Is there such a thing as astro-archeology, where you use FTL to fly X years away from a system so that you can look back and see its emissions from X years ago? The band of time in which a civilization gives out high-power stuff is narrow (between when they develop the technology and when they stop being wasteful), but surely it could provide something. And besides that, you can collect a surprising amount of information about a planet's atmosphere and other details from the light reflected off it, theoretically including hints about the kinds of life on it.

On the topic of archeology, have any remnants of extinct sentient races been found on planets that have life but no current intelligent species?

And on the topic of aliens, what's the most alien alien lifeform that's been discovered so far? Any animate gas clouds or living rocks or anything?
>>
No. 112023 ID: c0f910

Have any humans/how often have humans joined neumono cuddle piles?
Did friendlier neumonos try to give humans coats or hug them to keep them warm due seeing humans had no fur and if they did do some still try to do that to humans?
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No. 112028 ID: 91ee5f

This is for all the races of the Asteroidverse that have not already answered these questions (because I want to see what Lagotrope will come up with for the answers). To the fluffiest [insert race here]: Just how fluffy are you? Does it pose any issues? How's the hug game?

If a race doesn't have any fluff, then the questions will go to the member of that race that has their race's equivalent of "fluffiest".
>>
No. 112039 ID: bc24cb

Is there any history of empathy affecting the physical health of a neumono?

For instance, if there were a single neumono an entire hive had ill will against, but not enough to make the disliked neumono leave, would they eventually become more sickly than the rest of the hive?

And same for the reverse, where a beloved member of the hive becomes a prime example of health (not that neumono really worry about diseases and the like to begin with.)

Also, which part of a Neumono's ears is the hearing bit? The obvious answer seems to be "like nearly anything else, a hole in the head near the ear itself" but I can't imagine having a thick layer of fat and fur covering your ear canal at all times being helpful. That's basically exactly what I'd use if I wanted to deafen myself.
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No. 112041 ID: bb78f2

Clamp, besides Matron who and what else have you boned? Leaf, your hand, Human, your Chieftain, a pillow, the girl next door, Elf, Shabin's Mom, Werewolf, Shabin's Dad, Goblin, your mom, Undead Gnoll, General Unspecified Undead, Leaf, etc.?
>>
No. 112256 ID: 4e4014

>>111961
>Her internal structure resembles something from a long time ago, rather than the offspring of her own two parents.

Yeah, but maybe she's like, part of a custom servant race or something?

>Once things got cozy, we may simply be that hardwired to not overdo it with kids.

That's interesting. In that case it'd be an example of a modification that's an outright disadvantage to you know now, when the existence of colony worlds means overpopulation won't be so dire of an issue for the next, oh probably a few thousand years, once it gets going? There have to be way more habitable planets than there are ones already "owned" by intelligent life, especially with terraforming being a thing.

Though that depends on the question of what "cozy" means exactly. Is it just physical comfort and lack of stress, which (with good technology) would be reasonably available even to settlers on a fresh world? Or do belenosians living on worlds that are still mostly untamed start wanting more kids? I know colonizing fresh worlds is in its early stages (if I'm remembering right), but there should be some statistics by now. Has anyone tried artificially inducing non-cozy settings to promote the urge to have kids? Or attempted to isolate the biological factors, to counter whatever process quashes the urge using hormonal treatments or such? It seems like the idea of something artificially spliced into their genes to make them stop wanting kids would be something a lot of belenosians would find disturbing.

On the subject of population, if the ancient belenosians made a point of doing everything with personal labour, was slavery one of the more common atrocities in tribal history? Or like, indentured servitute, serfdom, other things that are basically slavery?
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No. 112424 ID: 262ceb

When neumono from the same hive commit crimes and are arrested, is it general practice to put them together in prison?
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No. 112619 ID: 91ee5f

We already know how humans portray zombies in their media. My question is directed to all the non humans in the Asteriodverse: How do you portray zombies in your media?
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No. 112726 ID: a363ac

Ultra-King Az, and Polo what does your work
internet history look like? and what does your personal internet history look like?
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No. 112763 ID: 08eca1

To Sir Gauche: You're the only noble I've seen who goes by "Sir" instead of "Lord". Were you a knight before you got your title?
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No. 112767 ID: 262ceb

Fen Quest people: Are immortal kobolds obviously different from normal kobolds? What stops there being some random immortal just hiding out among the general populace?
>>
No. 112776 ID: a363ac

to Zizi : what is your idea of a good first date?
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No. 112995 ID: 9e9eae

Given that neumono culture is still heavily influenced by pre-uplift values (at least those that haven't been deliberately targeted for elimination), and by the military culture ingrained during the ultrahive wars, is there a neumono equivalent to a scouts organization? Like, boy/girl scouts, teaching woodcraft, survival, pseudo-military skills and preparedness and so on. Is that sort of thing left to individual hives to pass on, taught by a large scale group with its own communal identity, or has it even been made a standard part of public schooling by the ultrahives?
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No. 113039 ID: e121d3

heef truck driver: I was thinking, with the whole "rogue" thing neumono have... maybe people who are on the road a lot, such as yourself, are actually used to occasionally seeing lone wandering neumono hitchhiking along, looking like they haven't cared for themselves much, emotionally muted, hollow-eyed, tired, with nothing but what they've got on their backs, a distaste for talking about themselves or their past, and an apparent need to get as far away from where they came from as possible before some... something can catch up to them.

Would you say so?

I'd also wonder whether a lot of people like that show up on the news as victims of something or other.
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No. 113241 ID: 658912

Story Seeker, has anyone ever told you you have a charming smile? Because you do.
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No. 113415 ID: e121d3

Penn: Hey, did you get a title with your qualification? You were acting like it was the end of your academic career. Should we be calling you by any honorifics? Got any letters after your name? Are you a doctor?
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No. 113532 ID: 27762f

Hey Glitcher, did you ever catch back up with that version of Alison you talked to while you were beginning to get back into the system?

Also, neumono: considering your gender dynamics, I wonder, are there girl bands with flocks of male fans, the way things traditionally work with boy bands among humans?
>>
No. 113534 ID: 91ee5f

To Lukratsa, Tammi, and anyone else involved in movies: Not all movies are filmed perfectly, so I'm pretty sure there a plenty of bloopers that have happened over the course of your careers. My question is: Could you guys please tell us about some of your favorite bloopers moments that have happened?
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No. 114118 ID: be641e

If drug treatments like growth hormones and contraceptives and so on work especially well on belenosians, is the hostile use of drugs also a larger problem for them? I wouldn't have put it past the old empire to have sometimes wanted to use conspiracy-theory "mind control chemicals in the water supply" shenanigans, and I can equally imagine modern criminals trying to take advantage of similar methods. Like, roofies are obvious, and secretly sabotaging people in athletics or between rival companies, but also things like unscrupulous property developers drugging poorer tenants to make them behave badly and have an excuse to kick them out, or pacifying people so they don't complain or cause trouble when they really should? Maybe even on up to some sort of full-on obedience serum? It at least seems like something someone would have tried at some point.
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No. 114435 ID: 3abd97

How do rogues and the military work?

I could see them being banned and not trusted as modern militaries have treated different groups at different times (and some rogues are certainly too much a mess to place in reputable armed forces), but on the other hand, I see the potential for neumono without a hive who are instead dead loyal to a structural institution that will take them, with no conflicts where they put their hive's interests first.
>>
No. 114441 ID: 7cdf1e

To anyone who watched, what was the Omega Wave Force's Christmas special episode like?
>>
No. 114578 ID: 2b0550

What does bioarmor feel like, when someone is wearing it? It's been described as making people "smooth and shiny", so I assume it's very smooth, but like silky smooth or slippery smooth? And what sort of give does it have, is it rubbery, leathery, squishy? Does it have a sort of muscular quality where it's soft when not doing anything but firms up when active? Do different parts of it feel different, like the places where it's not attached as firmly feel softer, or the spots where it digs into particular points of the nervous system feel more dense? Does it form more thickly/resiliently over vulnerable areas of the user's body? Does it get noticeably goopier for a while when it's attaching, or in spots where it's stretching itself over tears? If you poke someone using it with your finger, would any combination of poking it hard enough or for long enough or otherwise allow you to push your finger through? We've seen neumono tear it off with their claws, how hard is it to tear off with fingers?
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No. 114667 ID: 4d606a

Penn's grandmother: first, what's your actual name? I can't remember if you introduced yourself, before.

Second: We got an opinion from every other lady belenosian who's been here, I think, so let's ask you too. How do you rate Itcher's attractiveness?

Third: It's been implied that belenosians have trouble with artistic pursuits like music. Is this just in comparison to how good you are with science and other fact-learning and analytical work, or is there actually a lower incidence of what we'll call artistic talent or inclination, compared to other species, proportionally? If arty folks are rare, are they prized and encouraged when they do display themselves, or considered weird and discouraged? Is there an attitude of "other species do it better anyway so we should just do what we're good at" or is there an opinion that belenosian artists are needed to express the unique belenosian perspective/heritage/culture/et cetera? Perhaps both or more opinions exist and remain in conflict?

Fourth: I gather that pre-contact, your tribal societies were united by common distaste for technology and the needs of survival, but aside from that you weren't really united by much else? That, aside from probably geological rifts of wastelands and impassable robot danger terrain and such, tribal belenosians effectively deliberately split up as much as possible in culture and language and such, to get away from the old imperial model. So, you must have had some pretty distinct nations and cultures prior to contact. From what I can tell, though, it seems that you then unified under the human... well, let's not call it a colonial government. Aid/uplift government? In any case, my question is, how much do those pre-contact cultures still have a legacy? Is ancestry with a particular region and its culture still something belenosians identify themselves and each by, even partially? Or how about the legacy of social class? I have to imagine a lot of the (relatively) wealthy folks from the tribal days found ways to remain wealthy, because they often do in such situations. Do belenosians still care at all that they or someone else would have been of a royal/noble or peasant class?... Did the old royal families become a source of gossip/scandal-ridden tabloid-haunted celebrities the way a lot of ancient human royal families did?
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No. 114668 ID: 27762f

How advanced is robotics? Like, the upper-ish limit. Assume a very wealthy person, eccentric enough to ignore organics being cheaper/smarter/et cetera. Could they have a robot servant to do all their housework and other menial chores for them? Could it be built to a humanoid frame? How agile could it be? Assuming you had an advanced enough AI to run it, how close could you get to a robot that could imitate a member of a sentient species?
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No. 115556 ID: e36c7f

Fen Quest kobolds: With everyone expected to at least learn to fight, and the military basically the only half reliable route to social mobility as well as being idolized in general, but such a huge rate of lethality in said military... are you all expected to have tons of kids?

Also, whoever answers: If you met Story Seeker, or a kobold as much like him as is possible to exist in your world, what would you think of him? Aside everything about him as an individual, which I'd like your opinion on, I'm also wondering if you actually have anything like bards. I assume you have entertainers, of course, but "bard" generally implies a higher-class professional traveling performer, educated in history and poetry (and in this case, magic) as well as songs, stories and tricks. Someone who kind of straddles social boundaries, too, who can charm and chat with a peasant or a noble with equal comfort.

Reilqin: You seemed... less directly opposed to Story Seeker's flirtations than to Kexluk's interest. Is Story more to your taste, then, or was that just coincidence? Have you ever considered dallying with a mortal, and if so what sort would you consider? Does anything of that sort happen between the gods themselves? Do a lot of gods have personal consorts like Tom does? ... Do you?
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No. 115647 ID: 27762f

>>111961

So, stripes are possible, but rare to happen naturally. How about unnaturally? Did tribal belenosians have access to dyes that they used on their fur, either for the "look less like a belenosian to robots" thing you mention, or just for some personal cosmetic reason? How about modern belenosians, are there people who take dye baths for a particular colour they like, or even to give themselves some kind of patterning? Or, given it's the future, are there more advanced cosmetic treatments, like something that changes the pigment your follicles produce? Is cosmetics generally advanced for belenosians?

Steroids to build muscle are available, and you were asked about male supplements before. Is cosmetic surgery still surgery, or are there more gentle methods, like using nanobots to alter bone structure instead of having to cut open and work at it that way, applying a local hormone treatment for increased bust size instead of implants, or triggering some growth effect to get taller instead of having to break your legs and stretch them the old-fashioned way? Is it possible for unwise people to try self-administer such things and make mistakes, like with the male enhancement? I imagine ladies who end up with too much in the front could just get a reduction, but are there some people out there who've ended up too tall, with oversized hips or shoulders or extra horns or too-long tails, from trying to correct what they saw as deficient?
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No. 116247 ID: c2051e

Yo, Rokoa, with everyone judging your relationships, what's your opinion on other people's? Like, say, Pilon with Polo back when you two had just finished the assassination or other non-hypothetical couples?
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No. 116868 ID: 08d976

To any/all: favourite pizza topping?
>>
No. 117115 ID: a363ac

Pornoverse Korli: what was the original objective of lesbian gas? like what was it originally supposed to be? what was the purpose it was made for? what are some of the missions the Saliki have deployed it for?
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No. 117142 ID: c0641d

To Hok, Polo, and... Itcher. (Those seem to be the most serious cases; you'll see.)

Have any of you talked to your doctor and/or psychiatrist about Disassociative Mental Process Disorder (or DMPD)? It is a mental disorder primarily characterized by audio hallucinations or thoughts in the form of voices seeming to give commands and foster discussion; it is different from Schizophrenia in that rather than being random ramblings and derisions, these are more akin to one's subconscious being given conscious voice; to put in Freudian terms, it is as if one's id and superego are literally talking to them rather than just intangibly influencing. One patient described it like having one's brain wired like a CAI.

Around 0.56% of the galaxy's population may experience an "episode" of this state when under great amounts of stress or anxiety, but more serious cases such as yours (where your voices are "on" more often than not, and sometimes even in completely unwarranted scenarios) are even rarer; only about 0.07%.

DMPD was named as such partly for its initial presumed relationship to DID (Disassociative Identity Disorder), where it was hypothesized that each described "voice" was one of many alternate personalities operating under one dominant personality. However, since then, the Subconscious/Freudian model has become more popular. Meanwhile, brain activity modeling has firmly disproved the idea that it is merely a more controlled form of Schizophrenia.

While there are benefits to having DMPD, such as radically accelerated rate of mental processing - being able to run several long and complicated trains of thought by oneself within the span of a few seconds, for starters - there are many mixed to negative symptoms that can manifest, including, but not limited to:
Increasingly paranoid behavior,
Unusually violent, erotic, or otherwise primal thoughts,
Increased emotional detachment,
Fixation on a person or persons that the patient finds pleasing,
Increased tendency towards impulsive or compulsive behavior.

Note that it is rare for all of these symptoms to manifest in a single patient, and that even with these debilitating modifiers, many DMPD patients are high-functioning, and have a tendency to be movers in some shape or form; you'll rarely find a DMPD patient that isn't on anybody's figurative radar. So chin up, own your "disability," though maybe seek a prescription if those violent/erotic thoughts get out of control.

(OOC: If you're wondering what the hack I'm on about; since there's no orb of infinite psyche, no other supernatural source afflicting them from the outside, and no neural AI implants on the existing cast that we know of, then that can only mean we're dealing with a bona-fide mental disorder, and "Schizophrenia" just won't cut it; it's too consistently controlled for that. So I hope you don't mind me inventing my own to submit as potential canon in the Asteroidverse?)
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No. 117335 ID: 33d4be

Sir Orjin, or another knowledgeable Fen Quest army person: What's the army's attitude to "fraternization", and what measures, if any, are taken to put controls or restrictions on it and its consequences?

So far from what I've seen, it looks like the army really doesn't care about soldiers having fun with each other. There seems to be a casual attitude to people showing off their bodies, which I suppose is a result of ideals of physical strength along that ancient greek line, and there doesn't seem to be even a hint of people being told not to "share comfort" with each other, which is somewhat in line with that way of doing things as well. Those kinds of ancient cultures tended to not mix guys and girls, though, and again, your lot don't seem to care about that sort of thing at all. I could see the empire going to a lot of trouble to keep diseases spreading through their troops (of whatever transmission vector), but I wouldn't have expected anything like, say, a contraceptive ration for all female soldiers or anything like that. We do know there's some pressure to have lots of kids, though, and I can imagine the Empire wanting their soldiers (at least, the ones who have proved they're worth something) to have even more than usual, given their ideals. So, maybe the army actually provides support for soldiers having children, to improve how much of the population has soldier blood? Specific army-serving orphanages or care homes? That could... explain a lot. Is that accurate? Or, maybe it's different for the different armies? It'd be rather poetic if the assassin branch gets some funding for making lives as well as taking them.

Aside from the story of how motherhood goes in the army, though, I'd like to know the general view. Is it just "so long as you're doing your duties well enough I don't care"? Is clandestine physical satisfaction allowed but open romantic relationships not? Is there competitiveness over who can attract/handle more partners, of that kind of "ha ha look at me I killed 20 guys then spent the night thoroughly satisfying 5 girls hrrr I've got so much stamina/virility/etc" way? What's the differences between the lower ranks and upper ranks? Is mixing between ranks ignored, looked down upon, or is it expected that superiors enjoy privileges? Are professional comfort-providers allowed? Officially regulated? Expected to provide enough service to keep the soldiers from each other? Forbidden? Are soldiers allowed to take side-work of that kind, the same way there's probably always some smuggling of alcohol and so on? Maybe not allowed, but ignored? What about people who don't take pay, but are just... friendly with a lot of people?

And, if this is you, Sir Orjin, I don't suppose you'd furnish us with some examples from your own experience? You seem like a... passionate man, and we haven't seen any sign of you having a specific lady around. Or fellow. Do you have any kids?
>>
No. 117337 ID: 314bcd

Anybody:

CHOOSE
TITS OR ASS?
>>
No. 117338 ID: 3abd97

Polo: what can you tell us about the dildo industry and what's available for purchase?

Okei: What did you do for fun before that jerk Likol roped you into accompanying him on his irresponsibly dangerous journey?
>>
No. 117349 ID: c88e6d

Question to Cabbage and Orjin: What, if anything, do you seek in a romantic and or sexual partner?

Tomato: Do you know of another material you could acquire that would enable snuggling?
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No. 118293 ID: c0641d

To Hok; how serious have you gotten at method acting as Pip? Do you initiate conversations with her? If Hok is bored, do you think about what Pip could do for fun in that situation?

A good strategy would be to think of a bunch of different scenarios, and then think about one way Pip is the same as you, and one way that she's different. As an example; say the two of you are getting drunk alone in some dive bar. The way that you'd be different is that Hok would be more talkative towards the other patrons, while Pip is off in the corner trying not to bother anyone. Meanwhile, something you share in common is that you're both a bit easier to rile up. Or how about talking a friend down from jumping? I think you'd both try to talk slowly to them, but Hok would stay where he is and trust that his words would get through, while Pip would move closer so that she can physically intervene if negotiations fall through. It's exercises like these that really help you understand your invented half more.

For instance, how would your tastes in food differ?
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No. 118301 ID: d0bba6

>>118293
What
>>
No. 118627 ID: 33d4be

Shup, or some other knowledgeable Fen Quest character: What do the surviving Dragon Knights do with their time? Or, at least, seem to do with their time? So far, the impression is that they're not politically active at all, at least with the various rebellions, revolutions and magical disasters going on. We saw one hang out at a courtroom, and that seems to be it. It seems like they would have been mentioned specifically if they were involved with the teleportation system being set up, and that's supposedly the largest magical thing that's happened recently, so are they not involved in magical experimentation either? Do they have families they're involved with? I have to assume that they can have children, and that that's where the first mortal kobolds came from.

On the subject of the first mortal kobolds... kobold souls come from the land, right? Apart from the immortals, whose souls presumably came from the magical beast that died to create them? So, could the first mortal kobolds only be born after some of the immortals had been killed? Or was there loose soul-stuff from the beasts' deaths that got loose without immediately going into immortal kobolds?

I've been assuming that magic and kobold souls are essentially made of the same stuff, but is that true, or are they different? Do kobolds believe that the intelligent races who live outside kobold lands have no souls?

Is it known whether the southern kobold empire has any immortals of its own left? Is it possible that they and the dragon knights are in some sort of incredibly long standoff over when an opportunity to conquer or assimilate the other will happen, and they're just very patient and cautious about it? Is it known why exactly the dragon knights felt they had to carve out an empire in the first place, and why they felt they had to hunt down all the magical beasts they could find? Building an empire requires raising morale and fervor with speeches and declarations, and giving at least some idea to the people under you what you expect to achieve, so I'd assume they said something at some point?
>>
No. 118736 ID: c2051e

Lily: Is it difficult to suck dick with such an outrageously small mouth?
>>
No. 118839 ID: c2051e

It's possible for groups of neumono to share dreams, we've seen mention of hives doing it and... I guess dart!Rokoa/Polo/Katzati too if each consciousness counts individually.

Let's say we have three neumono A, B, and C, all sleeping together. A and B don't know each other at all, but both A and B know C well enough to share dreams with C. There's almost certaintly a variety of possibilities, but which are the most likely ones and what factors would it depend on?

For this hypothetical situation, assume that A, B, and C all fall asleep at the same time in the same mood and that they all happen to dreamshare by coincidence.
>>
No. 118850 ID: 12b116
File 151330496059.png - (155.68KB , 831x1060 , improved bold carrier copy.png )
118850

Not neumono related, but I have a solution for making Clamp look more like a leader, and armoring the only useful party member at the same time.
>>
No. 118851 ID: c88e6d

>>118850
Perfect.
>>
No. 119159 ID: 33d4be

Belenosians: Does your "get satisfaction from learning facts" thing vary depending on your personal specializations? Like, maybe most belenosians when they go out to a fancy restaurant and get a really nice meal then it'd just be good food for them, but if they were a professional culinary science person who had specialized in knowing all about cooking and nutrition and the history of various food traditions and so on, they would get more out of it by way of it being a learning experience for them as well?

So like, for someone like Whiskers, there's obviously certain pleasures to be had in crime and in grandstanding and having power and escaping pursuit that most species can experience, but perhaps she also has a personal expertise in security and forensics and the history of crime and so on, that makes it doubly pleasurable for her? Or like would Penn and Arza get more fun out of learning AI facts than the average belenosian, because they have the grounding and context awareness to draw extra inferences and implications from what they already know?
>>
No. 119878 ID: 5b326c

Remdul (Likol's truck driver)/Bloodsaw, or whoever keeps tabs on that.

What qualities do Heef have as soldiers in contrast to Neumono or humans, aside from their strength?
>>
No. 120106 ID: 2efe4b

So, Okei! What happened to you? Where are you in life now, and where are you aiming to go? How are the Alisons? Everything good?
>>
No. 120263 ID: 6780f5

Christmas-verse Korli/Ramella: What ever happened to your Likol, if one existed?
>>
No. 120278 ID: 564375

father zozu, vanski, kiiu or any salikai really: how do you feel about cybernetics?
>>
No. 120287 ID: deec6e

>>119878

Also for Remdul - what made you take up a job as a truck driver? Lack of options? A desire to see the world? Pure circumstance? Is it even that common to have Heef truck drivers? I'm guessing part of the utility is in having someone who can help unload stuff faster. Or is it more because you're a big burly guy who can guard the goods on the way?

... and has your truck's AI systems in any way seemed oddly helpful of late?
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No. 120299 ID: cf24af
File 151772108954.png - (39.00KB , 800x600 , itq-hidira.png )
120299

>>120278
The only thing worth pursuing to the salikai mind, beyond baser needs, is the improvement of the self. Flesh is inherently, obscenely flawed, and improvement beyond its limitations demands its replacement. The path to ascension, no, transcendence, begins with the liberation of the mind from the prison of flesh. Doors are then opened to immortality. Life beyond lurking in shadows fearful of mortal concerns. Longevity. Duplication. Backups. Modular systems. Adaptability. Nothing can ever truly end a transcendental being. And so, this is the goal to which I aspired to. Whether I succeeded or not is undetermined. I tried to bring my daughter on the same path, but she would not understand my vision. A pity.
>>
No. 120306 ID: fda98a

>>120299
I feel pity on you. You only see the extremes limits. That can only take you to self destruction. You can only see the opposite poles, you can't see what is in the middle and you have transmited that to your doughter. You have planted the seed of self destruction on her. She can trust no one but her self, and that might cause her downfall. Just like YOU.
But she is smart, she has still time to see the error of her ways.
>>
No. 120553 ID: 92dd1f

How do corrupt neumono do their corrupt stuff and get away with it without their empathy giving away that they're doing illegal stuff? In government or in private businesses.
>>
No. 120800 ID: 730337

Yo pilon has anyone ever called you a gumball machine? How'd it go?
>>
No. 121166 ID: c8ffa1

To mac:
If some government people came to you and offered to de-rogue you using a certain predator, would you accept?
>>
No. 121259 ID: 1410a4
File 152044206333.png - (89.03KB , 800x800 , MacITQ1.png )
121259

>If some government people came to you and offered to de-rogue you using a certain predator, would you accept?
Yes!

It would put me back with my old Hive, right? I mean, from what I’ve heard about them, predators can make neumono do anything, so what if he put me in another hive? Or turned me into a vegetable? I don’t know which would be worse. Except getting eaten.

But if there was a chance to go back to my family I‘d take it, even if it was dangerous or unlikely.
>>
No. 121260 ID: d2e2ce

Hey, Mac, how does it feel to be in the same class of being as an arkot?
>>
No. 121266 ID: cb585b

Because i believe nobody has asked this and i need to know...

To anyone who knows this stuff:
- What kinds of atmospheric/spacebound ship designs do different species have?
- What classes of ships are there and how big are they/what role do they fill?
- How does a Warp Drive work and how big is it?
- How often are ship-to-ship battles, are there any fighters or drones involved?
- What kind of weapons do warships of certain species have?
- How much of the galaxy has been explored?
- And last question, have Warp Drives been weaponized yet since their invention, and how?
>>
No. 121416 ID: c59ec7

Has there been any research into the physical science behind what makes a neumono queen? If there was some way to artificially induce it, I imagine that would be of interest to rogues...
>>
No. 121453 ID: 300f7e

>>121266
>How much of the galaxy has been explored?
>>65386
>And finally, year 65, us neumono were discovered. Considering how long it takes to explore the galaxy, it was especially lucky for us considering that we were already on the farthest edges of the galaxy where exploration was lightest.
>>65406
>Since the warp drive has been invented, it hasn't even been a couple of centuries before almost an entire galaxy has been well mapped with, if not civilian ships, a massive number of exploratory drones.
>>
No. 121660 ID: f15f72

I might be wrong, but it's occurred to me that no-one's ever mentioned the neumono homeworld having any moons. I feel like I don't remember any being mentioned for the belenosians, either. How about the rest of you? How many moons do you have? Any moon bases?
>>
No. 121669 ID: 79298a

>>121660
And how many of those moons are actually imperial death machines?
>>
No. 121738 ID: 23a0a3

Do neumono have anything like a unified religious belief? We've heard about their tribal legends, but do any more general ideas about e.g. death and afterlife endure today? We've also been told that tribals had particularly deleterious views on rogues; do those beliefs still endure even in modernized hives, and how has that affected social conditions?

Does an ultraqueen have to be a literal queen, or can anyone get the position?
>>
No. 121741 ID: 7fad5d

>>121738
From previous answers:
No.
No, there are ultrakings too. But if you meant do they have to be the leader of a hive, then yes.
>>
No. 121792 ID: 07bd22

How does Raox's hive handle its own rogues? I imagine there is some public scrutiny there.
>>
No. 121796 ID: d328bb

>>121741
To clarify: We've been told that some time after uplift there was, essentially, a World War Astreneus for which hives would be in charge. The monarchs of the winning hives became the ultraqueens and ultrakings. After the wars they controlled most of Astreneus, but some isolated hives, like a bunch of tribals, and island hives like Sealock, remained independent. Although that often changed as tribals were discovered. And in Sealock's hive, Rokoa's warhive happened, and forced them into joining an ultra after their old home got nuked.
>>
No. 121797 ID: 3abd97

>The monarchs of the winning hives became the ultraqueens and ultrakings
I think that's an oversimplification. The Tree and the Coalition are global superpowers, each encompassing many many hives. There's probably a whole lot of hives who joined up before the wars ended but lacked the size or political clout for their leaders to claim seats as ultrakings or ultraqueens.

Granted, whoever were big players in the military coalition probably had it work that way for them.
>>
No. 121798 ID: d328bb

>>121797
The hives that actually won, not all the ones on the winning side. The ones you're describing just tagged along instead of doing any actual winning.
>>
No. 121809 ID: d2e2ce

Hey, Pilon or Az or whoever. What do neumono men do to clean up when they're done jerking off? Still a tissue to wrap the ball up and wipe off fluids or something else?
>>
No. 121925 ID: a43366
File 152236168630.png - (68.22KB , 800x800 , KarkITQ1.png )
121925

There’s been a lot of answers about rogues from people who don’t know a goddamn thing about rogues, and I’m including the rogues that answered in that shitpile. I’m going to clear up some of their worst answers.

>Az mentioned that trying to fit rogues under other hives has problems, why is that?
Combination of cultural revulsion and rogues being empathetic downers. To start with, rogues as a concept is one of the greatest fears neumono have. The best analogy I can think of is to imagine if all your family members were at risk of getting a disease and dying. You grow up knowing that this disease can strike anyone you love, and at some point, you realize you could get the disease too. In the back of your mind there’s always this fear that you’re going to be next. And you can’t ignore it because those dead family members are still around! They may look, act, and think the same but your empathy tells you in no uncertain terms that they’re a stranger to you, and most Hive neumono are completely incapable of keeping a meaningful relationship with a former Hive member under those circumstances. They completely cut off the rogue for their own mental health. I dumbed it down, but you can see how on a macro level this can lead to a culture that is completely incapable of meaningfully dealing with rogues as an idea, and on a micro level it leads to hives being unwilling to accept rogues into their bubbles of bullshit.

That’s not to say they’re wrong to be unwilling to let rogues live with them. Rogues are more prone to, well, every negative mental condition. Neumono are a lot more emotionally sensitive then we like to admit, and a rogue can massively affect how a Hive feels and operates. Much of that is a self-fulfilling prophecy of course. If a hive thinks a rogue living near them will mess up their communion it eventually will. There are cases of a rogue and a hive coexisting, but they are rare. I know personally only know of one case. She works as a janitor for a war buddies hive. She’s got a shitload of problems beyond being a rouge though, so I’m not sure how they manage to put up with her.

>On that subject, any rogue who wishes to answer, what's it like being rogue? A lot of the rogues we've seen seem normal, at least on the outside.
This is both really complicated and simple to answer. I’ll try to keep it simple for you.

This is an aside, but it’s important to know if you trying to understand rogues to any significant degree. Every rogue has their own story, and no one becomes a rogue in the exact same way. There are actually a few different sub-classifications of rogues depending on who you’re discussing the topic with dividing us into how we went rogue or how we dealt with the aftermath, but unless you’re being an intellectual douchebag, there is only one difference that matters. Rogues who used to have hives and those who never did.

Hive rogues are more likely to be the worst fucking people you will ever meet. The worst of them are whiny, short-sighted, self-sabotaging, completely incapable of any level of introspection and I hate them more than it’s possible to express. Rogues who had hives are terrible because they have a hole in them that their hives used to fill, and the vast majority of them never come to terms with it. They try to fill it with drugs, religion, work, other neumono, and anything else they can get their hands on, and they fail. In the process of failing they also like to fuck over everyone who tries to help them out, and then feel sorry for themselves because no one wants to deal with the sacks of shit they’ve become.

Pure rogues are best treated like aliens with empathy. Most of them are jammer kids, grew up on alien planets for whatever reason, or are 2nd generation rogues and because they don’t have that gnawing hole inside them they are much more pleasant to interact with on every level. For them, empathy is like an extra leg instead of being completely integral to their self-image, so they deal with empathetic matters with a level of detachment most neumono are incapable of. They are a minority among a minority though.

As far as most rogues seeming normal, they would. No one likes hanging around depressed assholes, so most rogues learn how to keep their worst impulses under check when they’re with company. The ones that don’t, well, they’re where the stereotypes come from. Plus, most of the shit that makes rogues ‘rogues’ shows up on an empathetic level. It’s hard to explain and I don’t really feel like trying right now.

As for being a rogue, well everyone’s going to give a different answer to that and I won’t put words in other’s mouths. Personally, before I went rogue it was like there was a voice in my head that I couldn’t hear but was always talking to me, like a second brain chiming in on everything I did. I never noticed it at the time and I could only articulate the difference years after I left. I wasn’t a singular person before, I was just a physical appendage on this larger being and having my own thoughts was wholly in service to its wellbeing, not my own. After I went rogue it felt like I was alone for the first time in my life, even if there were hundreds of neumono around me. Just me rattling around in my skull, which is how I like it. For the record, I’m a freak among rogues for thinking this way. Take my thoughts on the subject with a grain of salt.

>Do rogues ever try to channel their feelings through art? Like, among humans at least, there are whole genres of music given over to being sad and lonesome and miserable, and a large number of powerful and popular songs that express those kinds of feelings. Are there famous rogue blues singers, for example? Does rogue art play any part in the fight for rogue rights? I imagine hive neumono can be more sympathetic to rogue feelings if they're expressed beautifully, and if they don't actually have to be in the rogue's empathic presence.
Rogue artists exist but most are pretentious and melodramatic. That’s my opinion on most art though, and I acknowledge that upfront. The most successful one’s market themselves to aliens. A lot of humans and belanos’ find rogues to be ‘romantic’ and art that deals with rogues as its subject and is also made by rogues is viewed as authentic or some shit. The yuppies eat it up. Neumono hate the idea that rogues even exist so there is almost no market for that kind of art among them, even if it’s divorced from empathy. At least nothing that portrays rogues as something other than an easily digested comic sidekick or villainous lackey.

That’s not to say there are no rogues who are successful in the neumono market. There’s an author using the pseudonym Trenn rozu Oilsinger who is a rogue, and she writes a popular sci-fi series. There are a few books out and rumors about a movie, I think. A bunch of random, unconnected neumono and a few token aliens get sucked into a wormhole and end up in some strange universe and to survive they must band together. Her being a rogue isn’t a secret exactly, but I find only the most hardcore fans of her work know about her being a rogue. I suspect the author is sneaking in a lot of pro-rogue themes under the noses of her audience, but according to Marassa I read politics into everything so what the fuck do I know?

Kappi mentioned that rogue artists are popular among other rogues, and while he’s not wrong he ignores the context that rogues are an extreme minority even on Astreneus V and are generally poor as shit. So while there are popular rogue artists who cater to rogues they have very little impact on mainstream genres and are largely local acts.

Basically, successful rogue artists aren’t on Astreneus V. The ones who do make it are either starving, pricks, or don’t sell themselves as rogues.

>How do rogues and the military work?
Loathe as I am to admit it, rogues and the military work well together. At least while they are deployed. A lot of the interpersonal bullshit that crops up between rogues and hive neumono fades when you’re being shot at daily and you are in a squad with a bunch of other randos. Not only that but the structure of military life helps keep rogues focused and less prone to bouts of melancholy. Plus, the ‘brotherhood’ jarheads love to bang on about is a thing with neumono too, and the bonds are probably deeper than the same bonds among aliens. I recommend the military to just about every rogue that can hack it without getting themselves killed, which is fewer than you’d think.

The military still has institutional problems and shit, and I could bitch about the Trees’ military culture and how rogues fit into it all day, but I’ll spare you for today. I will say both of our resident warmonger Ultras care about all soldiers under their banners despite their many, many other faults, so we manage to dodge a lot of the worse aspects of the use em’ and lose em’ policies for soldiers that happened in other nations histories.

A lot of rogues wash out in basic training though. And those that do manage to hang on usually die because they stay grunts their whole careers and don’t learn proper self-preservation after becoming a ‘me’ and not an ‘us’. It’s still a raw deal in my view, but most rogue soldiers are a lot happier than civilian ones, so it’s a tradeoff.

>If some government people came to you and offered to de-rogue you using a certain predator, would you accept?
For future reference, every rogue that’s not mentally ill or under extenuating circumstances is going to say yes to this, unless they are deathly afraid of predators or the government. Even then most of them will get over it. You can get a rogue to do just about anything if you wave a ‘cure’ in front of their nose.

In my case, it’d be an emphatic ‘Fuck no’. Having my brain sculpted like clay to fit in some hives’ mold and getting slotted in like a puzzle piece sounds like an existential nightmare.

>Has there been any research into the physical science behind what makes a neumono queen? If there was some way to artificially induce it, I imagine that would be of interest to rogues…
There’s been loads of research since it’s one of the most important aspects of neumono empathetic development. It’s just been dead ends as far as I know.

It also depends on what you mean by artificially inducing it. In a hive, you can chart the birth of a queen empathetically most of the time. The only observable trigger among rogues is mental. If we are restricting the discussion to using artificial chemicals or therapy and Hives, there is still just a casual relationship with becoming a queen. I stress, empathy is the most important thing here. Making the subject more in line with the Hives idea of what a queen is will be helpful, but you can’t turn lead into gold. They need to have that royal quality in them, but every hives royal quality is different so it’s hard to come up with any solid methodology to make queens in otherwise functioning hives.

Now if we’re talking rogues, if you have a kid who isn’t a total failure you can theoretically raise them to be more likely to trigger as a queen, but desperately beaming empathy at them when they are growing hoping that they’ll trigger won’t do shit. More than enough rogue parents have tried that with their kids.

I’ve known a few rogues turned Queens and saw one go off personally. They all describe the experience as a sudden epiphany about themselves and the world. It fades pretty quick and they tend to be a little out of it when it’s happening but getting a straight answer out of them afterward is like pulling teeth. As an observer, the best way I can describe it is like flipping a switch. One second they’re normal and the next they’re a queen.

As near as I can guess they were all set off by different things too. Rogues becoming queens is really hard to predict, though there are a bunch of pieces of shit who like to pretend that they can and sell the ‘predictions’ to gullible fucks, who then stalk whatever unlucky bitch is named for months hoping she goes off and they can get the first crack at the new hive.

As you can imagine designing a controlled experiment around such a random occurrence is hard as balls, so reliable data is scarce.

>How does Raox's hive handle its own rogues? I imagine there is some public scrutiny there.
Raox rozu Scorch is a fucking bleeding heart, even if he’d never admit it. The main difference between Scorch rogues and the other Ultras’ rogues is that they tend to stay in Queenwood and get subcontracted by the government for a bunch of rogue outreach shit in Queenwood’s old roguetown.

Like most of the Ultra’s, he has a severance package for rogues of his own hive. His is the most comprehensive, though that’s barely a contest. Az’s rogues just get enough money to get them to whatever planet they want. Almost everyone in Zoya rozu Silverstream’s hive has their own nest egg so Zoya doesn’t pay a zeny unless they went rogue young. Silverstream rogues either go broke in a month or are the richest rogues in the Tree. Most of the others are some version of ‘Here’s enough cash to fuck off’. This sort of system is enough to keep the aliens happy about not having the Trees leaders abuse their rogues, while also letting those leaders deal with the rogues as little as possible. Neumono don’t really care as ignoring rogues is what we do best.

One Ultraqueen doesn’t follow this system. Her rogues leave her city as soon as physically possible with the clothes on their back or they’re never heard from again. She’s a fucking maniac, and while I can’t prove that she eats rogues who don’t get out of her city quick enough, I wouldn’t put it past her.

In general rogues from an Ultras’ hive tend to stay in Tree territory because they can’t afford to go off-planet and going to another Ultrahive would be a good way to get themselves embroiled in some political bullshit. Most still leave the city where their hive lives, even if there are no actual laws regarding that.

>Do neumono have anything like a unified religious belief? We've heard about their tribal legends, but do any more general ideas about e.g. death and afterlife endure today? We've also been told that tribals had particularly deleterious views on rogues; do those beliefs still endure even in modernized hives, and how has that affected social conditions?
Unified, no. A bunch of hives have their own ways to express spirituality, but if you boil them down they’re basically just ‘the hive is god’. I’m not a sociologist but neumono never really needed religion unlike a lot of other species since we had our hives and you can’t convert others into your hive. I’d probably say most neumono are agnostic and just don’t think too deeply about these concepts, but I’m not an expert and could be way off base.

However, while most neumono don’t give much thought to religion in any organized manner rogues flock to it, comparatively. We don’t have any popular original religions so most rogues who get suckered into that racket subscribe to alien beliefs. We tend to buy into anything that provides an external source of self-worth, so if you find a neumono cult or one of those dumb self-help seminars, it’s probably full or rogues. The Heef are the most aggressive in converting rogues in Queenwood, but you can find all kinds of small churches around the city.

Fundamentally, the tribal view of rogues is the modern view of rogues. The only difference is that now killing us is frowned on. But, to be fair, a lot of how rogues are treated varies by hive and age of the neumono. The younger they are the more likely they are to avoid us than have an impulse to harm us. Still, the basic thought process is the same as back then. Separate the rogue from the Hive and pretend they don’t exist. If you rub two brain cells together, you can see how that’s affected us socially.

>TITS OR ASS?
Ass, obviously.
>>
No. 121995 ID: 2c441e

>Having my brain sculpted like clay to fit in some hives’ mold and getting slotted in like a puzzle piece sounds like an existential nightmare.
This raises another interesting question. Rogue who got de-rogued by Three Stripes, what did that feel like from your perspective?
>>
No. 122488 ID: d2e2ce

Two questions for neumono in general, and one for Luvi. What do dichromatic snowhivers look like? Where do neumono have their sense of self, their imagination, or whatnot? Like, for other races with a single brain the self is described as a darkness behind the eyes or as a mind's eye in the head or whatever, but it's generally centralized inside the skull. Do neumono feel themselves thinking distributed across their whole bodies or does it depend on which parts of their brains are being used at the moment?

Also Luvi, what's your interpersonal life look like, friends, romance, anything? What do you look for in a partner?
>>
No. 122533 ID: 78a3e5
File 152448422063.png - (81.11KB , 800x800 , LuviITQ1.png )
122533

>Also Luvi, what's your interpersonal life look like, friends, romance, anything? What do you look for in a partner?
My interpersonal life is busy! Barely a week goes by that someone doesn’t come by to ask me favor or needs me to lend them some money. Plus, in my free time, I’m usually volunteering someplace like the Rogue Nursing Home or visiting the friends I have that don’t mind having me around. I barely have time for my hobbies!

My closest friends are my old ship crew and I do my best to keep up with them, especially the ones who live in Queenwood now, but I’ve made a lot of new ones since I’ve moved to Queenwood too! There’s Kark, Ranford, Vinessca, Peace, Creed, Yliss, Polly, Zajj…

Sorry, I’m rambling. I just know so many great people and I still haven’t even mentioned even a quarter of them! But I still think I’m closest to my old crew, like Rocker. He’s my oldest friend. Not because I’ve known him the longest but because he’s turning ‘two hundred and something’ in a few months! I’m planning a surprise party for him, but it’s tough keeping myself from giving it away when I visit him because it’ll be so much fun! He’s a bit of a hermit so I try to go by his home every week or so.

I don’t want to brag, but I think I am one of the richest people in the in the Tree! After all, friends are the real treasures in life and I have a bunch. I was lucky enough to have learned that lesson early on. It did take a few decades for it to sink in though. I’m a bit hardheaded sometimes!

As for romance, well, this is a little embarrassing to talk about. Once, when I was still with my hive, a girl took me out to a field and serenaded me with a poem she wrote herself. She was even sweet enough to make me a flower necklace! It was the most romantic thing I’ve ever had happen to me!

All I would want out of a partner is for them to be someone who always needs me!
>>
No. 122562 ID: bfb318

Friendly reminder here to keep posts here to quest characters. Questions directly to me in relation to quests can go into the respective quest's questdis (I should make a clamp questdis soon, come to think of it.) For questions to me that have nothing to do with tgchan, I can be PMed on IRC (rizon server.)
>>
No. 122582 ID: caf1de

>>122562
that a no then
>>
No. 122692 ID: bd5422

Aira: What's your goal in staying in the army in such a dangerous post? Are you after social advancement, feel it's the best way to feed yourself, or something else?

Holly: Is there any extra severance pay from the army for heavy injuries like yours that don't kill the person?
>>
No. 122776 ID: 50d32d

I just had a brilliant idea for neumono who are sad because they have lost all of their hive. You could vivisect yourself precisely along the sagittal plane. Then once you regenerate, your hive is now doubled in size! Repeat as needed until you're not alone anymore!
>>
No. 122778 ID: 91ee5f

>>122776
It has already been explained that won’t work.
>>
No. 122877 ID: 6bcf97

Neumono, particularly neumono who have lived on earth: As (to humans) rabbit-like creatures who (sort of) lay eggs, is Easter weird to you?
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No. 122914 ID: caf1de

so bout them dicks ey
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No. 122915 ID: caf1de

and would any of you set yourselfs on fire to escape ninjas
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No. 122967 ID: 1e23d4

Pen: because of your limited social interactions due to study and your eyes I'm guessing you've never had sex, if this is true have you ever entertained the thought of Arza being your first?
Is the Silhouette empire only belenos or are there other species that work with/for them to bring back the lost empire?
If what ever the hell is going on with Penn is possible then is it possible that all Belenosians could have some kind of programed biological commands? And I don't mean like genetic modification, I mean like Bioshock kill/control commands.
To SCIENCE people: has there ever been an attempt at genetic modification for the purpose of inter-species breeding? How similar are the different species genetically?
Polo: can you turn off your ability to READ empathy?
Rokoa: thoughts on chainsaws or chain swords?
Polo/Rokoa/Ben/fuckitanyone: thoughts on bolters?
Giant would you prefer it if the other strange neumono called you Kago?
Giant what would be your thoughts of three stripes one day having kids?
What do Belenosians think of cyber-punk stuff like Blade Runner?
How much would Belenosians want portal guns, and what would you even do with them? Probably more then Aperture did.
Sealock hive: how many requests for inter-hive breeding, specifically for polo, have you gotten?
What would happen if you infected a neumono egg with a rokoa dart?
Do rouges that choose to be rouges like Kark have the same problems with forming emotional attachment?
Christmas remella: If there is a clone hybrid thing of your genetic material and Rokoa then is it possible that there's a clone of you and polo?
To anyone: what was the thing about aliens that you had the most trouble getting your head around?

Lago: You're running like five quests at once, run a Patreon, make comics, take the time to answer stupid questions that have lead to you creating a vast, deep and interesting fictional universe, AND your art and writing are consistently incredible.
Thank you.
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No. 123037 ID: 44720c

To anyone really qualified to answer this:
Do the humans really give a damn what's going on in neumono-owned parts of space? They don't seem to.
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No. 123207 ID: 7fad5d

Sisirri: What do you think of updog?
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No. 123255 ID: bfb318
File 152747590973.png - (12.74KB , 800x800 , PoloITQ105.png )
123255

>Have any humans/how often have humans joined neumono cuddle piles?
I've heard some do. As long as it's appropriate, and not just walking in the middle of a sleeping hive uninvited, it isn't seen as some kind of faux pas.

>Did friendlier neumonos try to give humans coats or hug them to keep them warm due seeing humans had no fur and if they did do some still try to do that to humans?
I'm sure some have and do, if not because humans have no fur, but because humans have no fur and don't always dress accordingly in wintery conditions.

>More fluffiest questions, this time to every race that hasn't answered fluffy questions.
That's enough.

>Is there any history of empathy affecting the physical health of a neumono?
Yes. I haven't heard about any neumono getting hit with such a trainwreck of empathy that they die from it, but health can be affected by mentality.

It isn't a direct causation though, but rather how the neumono in question reacts to it.

>If there were a single neumono an entire hive had ill will against, but not enough to make the disliked neumono leave, would they eventually become more sickly than the rest of the hive?
For instance, this single neumono would be fine if they just didn't care about the ill will. If all that ill will caused stress and distress in single neumono, as it would most, then yes, that neumono would be more at risk to get sick.

The reverse is also true.

>Also, which part of a Neumono's ears is the hearing bit?
The hole in the head, as is typical. The inner part of the ear is made of tougher cartilage, while the outer side of the ear is where the fat collects. The whole ear collects sounds better than it may seem, although bigger doesn't necessarily mean better. Pilon doesn't have exceptional hearing.

>When neumono from the same hive commit crimes and are arrested, is it general practice to put them together in prison?
See
>>91729

With the addition that hives may have sanctions put on them if they repeatedly have offenders.

>How do you portray zombies in your media?
Neumono without empathy.

>What does your work and personal search history look like?
Academic materials related to warfare. My personal life and work life hasn't been separated yet.

>Omega Wave Force's Christmas special episode like?
Ridiculous and cheesy. There was a moral to the story about holiday spirit, and the writers cared about as much about it as I did.

>What does bioarmor feel like, when someone is wearing it?
It's like wearing a wetsuit that tries to clamp down in your skin. It's uncomfortable for awhile.

>It's been described as making people "smooth and shiny", so I assume it's very smooth, but like silky smooth or slippery smooth?
Silky, but that's how the outside feels. It does not feel like silk to the person wearing it.

>And what sort of give does it have, is it rubbery, leathery, squishy? Does it have a sort of muscular quality where it's soft when not doing anything but firms up when active?
Rubbery, but it does tighten like muscles at points.

>Do different parts of it feel different, like the places where it's not attached as firmly feel softer, or the spots where it digs into particular points of the nervous system feel more dense? Does it form more thickly/resiliently over vulnerable areas of the user's body?
Not particularly. Any difference is difficult to see by just feeling.

>Does it get noticeably goopier for a while when it's attaching, or in spots where it's stretching itself over tears?
It's noticeable, yes, but mostly by unworn bioarmor. The more it's worn, the more it will just feel the same as though it's actively being worn.

>If you poke someone using it with your finger, would any combination of poking it hard enough or for long enough or otherwise allow you to push your finger through? We've seen neumono tear it off with their claws, how hard is it to tear off with fingers?
It's only torn when it does so to spare the skin itself from ripping out with it. This is easier done with claws. Poking at it will do nothing short of putting on so much pressure that it won't be right to use the word 'poke'.

>Have any of you talked to your doctor and/or psychiatrist about Disassociative Mental Process Disorder? Symptoms include
>Increasingly paranoid behavior,
>Unusually violent, erotic, or otherwise primal thoughts,
>Increased emotional detachment,
>Fixation on a person or persons that the patient finds pleasing,
>Increased tendency towards impulsive or compulsive behavior.
This doesn't sound like me.

>What can you tell us about the dildo industry?
Nothing.

>Let's say we have three neumono A, B, and C, all sleeping together. A and B don't know each other at all, but both A and B know C well enough to share dreams with C. There's almost certaintly a variety of possibilities, but which are the most likely ones and what factors would it depend on?
The most likely combination is no dreamsharing at all.

For a combination that does happen, the most likely is tied between A and C, or B and C. The next most likely is all three of them together, and the least likely by far is A and B.

The two biggest factors are how familiar they are with their sleeping environment, what positions they happen to be in, and what they happen to be dreaming about on their own.

>Can you turn off your ability to READ empathy?
Not from a biological standpoint, no.

From a mental standpoint, however, I am fully capable of aggressively ignoring them.

>How many requests for inter-hive breeding, specifically for polo, have you gotten?
Not many specifically for me, because I am considered dead, so the ones that we did get are weird and creepy. That, or by people who know I am alive.

There have still be requests for the rest of the hive as well. We are still settling in before considering any such actions.

>What would happen if you infected a neumono egg with a rokoa dart?
I doubt much. The Rokoa is a fully formed brain and it would be unlikely to know how to integrate into an undeveloped neumono.
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No. 123256 ID: bfb318
File 152747592568.png - (12.77KB , 800x800 , PilonITQ38.png )
123256

>Yo pilon has anyone ever called you a gumball machine? How'd it go?
No one's ever called me that, before, but they have called me similar things. I think.

It's one of those awkward little sort-of-compliments. I don't mind so much, but I don't get elated over it, either.

Unless it's a nice girl calling me a nickname affectionately, but at that point? At that point, it really doesn't matter what the nickname is.

>What kinds of atmospheric/spacebound ship designs do different species have?
Since humans uplifted each of us, we're all intertwined enough so that standard ships are accomodating to all primary species.

Some luxury cruisers, though, do have special rooms with various humidity and oxygen levels.

>What classes of ships are there and how big are they/what role do they fill?
It's also the luxury cruisers that are the biggest, even bigger than most military ships. That's mostly because FTL doesn't get much more cost effective past a certain mass, at least not yet, so the military doesn't have use for moon sized bases. Luxury cruisers, though, like to travel in single ships, as a fleet of ships would spoil the view of space, I guess, if other luxury ships were in the view.

>How does a Warp Drive work and how big is it?
Bigger ones are the size of a room, but most of the room required is room required by a powerplant to hold and generate enough power for the warp drive to function.

I don't think I've heard an explanation of warp drive that ever made sense, to be honest. It involved bending space, and seeing two points at once.

>How often are ship-to-ship battles, are there any fighters or drones involved?
In the grand scheme of things, they're very rare, but amongst pirate factions and those who fight them, common enough. Drones are frequently used to clear a path to them, but boarding parties are common since most people don't want to blow up a ship when they can take it over instead.

>What kind of weapons do warships of certain species have?
Homing missiles, and lots of them.

>How much of the galaxy has been explored?
This one's been answered already, covered by:
>>121453

>And last question, have Warp Drives been weaponized yet since their invention, and how?
No. They're not at all accurate enough to aim with, which means the chances of warping in something at high speeds to collide with a planet or other target is very slim. It's possible that they could do it a far, far distance away and use thrusters to correct the course, but at that distance, planetary countermeasures could detect it and intercept.

>I might be wrong, but it's occurred to me that no-one's ever mentioned the neumono homeworld having any moons
There were two. Both of them are relatively small, but the weather can still get a little crazy.
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No. 123257 ID: bfb318
File 152747596512.png - (12.39KB , 800x800 , RokoaITQ85.png )
123257

>Yo, Rokoa, with everyone judging your relationships, what's your opinion on other people's? Like, say, Pilon with Polo back when you two had just finished the assassination or other non-hypothetical couples?
Polo and Pilon can fuck all they want, I don't care about 'em. I just care about who my hive gets with and if they're getting with someone good.

And I judge my own self for going on like this with Kappi, but I'll still do it.

>What do dichromatic snowhivers look like?
Not much different. The difference in the fur tones are tiny. You'd have to look close.

>Where do neumono have their sense of self, their imagination, or whatnot?
Everywhere. The whole dang body, up to the nails.

>Thoughts on chainsaws or chain swords?
Just proof that stuff can be cool and stupid at the same time.

>Thoughts on bolters?
We have those, sometimes. They're nice, and fucking dangerous as hell. I've had close calls with anti-neumono overkill measures.

Rare on the asteroid, though.
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No. 123258 ID: bfb318
File 152747598546.png - (13.52KB , 800x800 , PennGrandmotherITQ6.png )
123258

>What's your actual name?
Tracy.

>How do you rate Itcher's attractiveness?
He's alright. He'd be a 10 if I were into baby horns.

>Is [trouble with artistic pursuits] just in comparison to how good you are with science and other fact-learning and analytical work, or is there actually a lower incidence of what we'll call artistic talent or inclination, compared to other species, proportionally?
It's partially in comparison to our analytical minds, but it's also our infatuation with 'correct' answers. Trying to find the 'correct' answer in an artistic pursuit is the path of madness.

>If arty folks are rare, are they prized and encouraged when they do display themselves, or considered weird and discouraged?
They're encouraged in forms of interest level, in that the most well known belenosian artists have also been the most controversial, and frankly, abnormal.

>Is there an attitude of "other species do it better anyway so we should just do what we're good at"
As a society, there is an attitude of that. As individuals, plenty of us are interested in what art belenosians can and will make.

>Or is there an opinion that belenosian artists are needed to express the unique belenosian perspective/heritage/culture/et cetera? Perhaps both or more opinions exist and remain in conflict?
Our perspective is best addressed through scientific study. Our culture is derivative of technology, either by loving it too much or hating it too much. Our heritage is... a mess. I'm not proud of it, but not being proud of our heritage is what our heritage is all about.

I like some belenosian art and music, sure, but I sure as hell don't think they're needed.

>Was slavery one of the more common atrocities in tribal history? Or like, indentured servitute, serfdom, other things that are basically slavery?
Normally we'd be prone to coming up with things like indentured servitude, serfdom, and such so that we could have slavery without a guilty conscience.

But tribals did like to keep the feelings of guilt strong, so they often threw people in shackles and felt it was okay as long as they also felt guilty about it.

>How much do pre-contact cultures still have a legacy?
I'm sure they have a legacy that's important to them, but not to society as a whole. Many belenosians uprooted by uplift have sought refuge in tribes farther out there, so there's fewer pre-contact cultures, but the ones that remain have gotten bigger for the most part.

>Is ancestry with a particular region and its culture still something belenosians identify themselves and each by, even partially?
Some belenosians, sure, that grew up in their anti-tech wastelands. Preaching that technology is bad, while letting oneself get uplifted, makes sure there's a whole lot of rationalizing going on. The popular thought is that it's okay as long as they defer the decision making to those responsible, technology mindful aliens.

A lot of humans laugh when I put it like that. But it's not that bad of a thought, because as close as the humans have gotten to blowing their planet right up near to self extinction, they didn't. So they have that over us.

>Or how about the legacy of social class? I have to imagine a lot of the (relatively) wealthy folks from the tribal days found ways to remain wealthy, because they often do in such situations.
Yeah. Since humans were doing a good job making their first uplift a non-neumono catastrophe, they worked with the tribals with respect and care, so those in high standing with the tribal nations could easily maintain their position.

>Do belenosians still care at all that they or someone else would have been of a royal/noble or peasant class?
A little, but as little more than a novelty thing, and maybe some additional respect. So long as they don't act like they own wherever they walk.

>Did the old royal families become a source of gossip/scandal-ridden tabloid-haunted celebrities the way a lot of ancient human royal families did?
Eh, not so much. Guess there were enough 'royal families' that no royal family became household names.

>In terms of a lack of biological impulse to have kids, is it just physical comfort and lack of stress, which (with good technology) would be reasonably available even to settlers on a fresh world?
In short, yes. What kinds of stress matters, as well as if it's life threatening to them personally or just a bad environment. In detail... well, the details are argued about endlessly.

>I know colonizing fresh worlds is in its early stages (if I'm remembering right), but there should be some statistics by now.
There are, and the reproduction stats for belenosians on fresh worlds are higher.

Average stress levels are higher, too. There's currently no reason to move to fresh planets unless they're out of work, and their situation on a core world - that is, a world with an intelligent species already on it - is bad enough to make it worth uprooting themselves and travelling halfway across the galaxy. In short, that's the basis for there being a correlation between stress and reproduction.

>Has anyone tried artificially inducing non-cozy settings to promote the urge to have kids?
No, at least not in any galactically sanctioned experiment, since giving people shitty lives to figure something out is exactly what we're supposed to refrain from doing.

>Or attempted to isolate the biological factors, to counter whatever process quashes the urge using hormonal treatments or such?
This has been done, but only through studying existing statistics. There's no control groups or artificially controlled circumstances as a result, which is why the exact details about what causes a need for reproduction are endlessly argued about.

>It seems like the idea of something artificially spliced into their genes to make them stop wanting kids would be something a lot of belenosians would find disturbing.
Maybe. But if a belenos is disturbed at the idea about having splced genes that direct their decision making on a regular basis...

Well, they probably want kids.

Our 'natural' selection may lead to a future of easily stressed belenosians.

>How do you portray zombies in your media?
Less zombies, more mindless or insane robots.

>So, stripes are possible, but rare to happen naturally. How about unnaturally?
Tattoos, dyes, and so on as easily implemented within the belenosian body.

>Did tribal belenosians have access to dyes that they used on their fur, either for the "look less like a belenosian to robots" thing you mention, or just for some personal cosmetic reason?
They had access to dyes, I'm sure, but their take on it was exactly the opposite. The empire loved improving bodies, so the tribal nations embraced their fully natural forms, with the possible exception of horn alterations for some reason.

I believe aliens had it in their mind that tribal tattoos are a thing across cultures, and one movie depicting belenosian tribals had all of them with heavily modified bodies.

The tribal nations got mad and loud about it. It was frequently polled as the most racially insensitive movie ever made, up until neumono were discovered and accepted into the movie making industry. They were so loud about how bad it was, in fact, that they somehow convinced the galaxy that tattoos and fur dye on belenosians was disrespectful to everyone, not just to their own sensibilities.

>How about modern belenosians, are there people who take dye baths for a particular colour they like, or even to give themselves some kind of patterning? Or, given it's the future, are there more advanced cosmetic treatments, like something that changes the pigment your follicles produce?
As the borders of tribes recedes and the modern belenosian population grows, fur dyes and patterning are becoming more common among the younger generation.

Dye is the cheap option, of course, but as is typical for how receptive we are to artificial alteration, it is also relatively easy to have machines alter every follicle on our body to actively grow certain colors. It is then about the same cost and investment to revert those alterations.

>Is cosmetics generally advanced for belenosians?
They are, yes, though not as much as human cosmetics.

>Steroids to build muscle are available, and you were asked about male supplements before. Is cosmetic surgery still surgery, or are there more gentle methods, like using nanobots to alter bone structure instead of having to cut open and work at it that way, applying a local hormone treatment for increased bust size instead of implants, or triggering some growth effect to get taller instead of having to break your legs and stretch them the old-fashioned way?
Surgery has improved steadily ever since the humans first learned of germ theory. Now cosmetic surgery is still surgery, but much of it is quick and easy. Nanobots can be used in conjunction with this, though perhaps not entirely on their own, to alter bone structure. Hormone treatment is effective on belenosians as well, so where applicable, those can be used over surgery. Growing taller... most likely requires surgery, still, but while a human may need multiple sessions of surgery to get certain effects as the body adapts, belenosians may get away with one or two.

>Is it possible for unwise people to try self-administer such things and make mistakes, like with the male enhancement? I imagine ladies who end up with too much in the front could just get a reduction, but are there some people out there who've ended up too tall, with oversized hips or shoulders or extra horns or too-long tails, from trying to correct what they saw as deficient?
Self body modification can and does go wrong, but it isn't a widespread issue, at least not among belenosians. It is not difficult or honestly even prohibitively expensive even for the lower class belenosians to get cosmetic surgery. The primary barrier that licensed surgeons or doctors have is that they can't legally adjust a belenosian's body without a reliable way to change it back if desired. Which is fine, as most desired levels of changes can be done and undone - ones that can't are often ones that make a belenosian look comical or unrecognizable.

Which, of course, still occurs, and unlicensed practitioners do exist.

>Favourite pizza topping?
Sliced spinach.

>Does your "get satisfaction from learning facts" thing vary depending on your personal specializations?
There's a correlation, yes.

We do get better feedback learning certain things than others, but we don't feel better about learning things just because it's our specialty. It's that we learn what we favor learning, and choose our specialty off of that.

>Like, maybe most belenosians when they go out to a fancy restaurant and get a really nice meal then it'd just be good food for them, but if they were a professional culinary science person who had specialized in knowing all about cooking and nutrition and the history of various food traditions and so on, they would get more out of it by way of it being a learning experience for them as well?
In this sense, if they're learning and studying the food, then yes, they may be able to get more out of it, including the learning feedback.

>So like, for someone like Whiskers, there's obviously certain pleasures to be had in crime and in grandstanding and having power and escaping pursuit that most species can experience, but perhaps she also has a personal expertise in security and forensics and the history of crime and so on, that makes it doubly pleasurable for her?
If she learns something as she grandstands and all that, may become doubly pleasurable.

Learning mixed with practical application - such as learning about something you know you can use, or learning something directly because of doing something you enjoy - makes the learning have a... flavor, let's call it.

>Or like would Penn and Arza get more fun out of learning AI facts than the average belenosian, because they have the grounding and context awareness to draw extra inferences and implications from what they already know?
This, too, is much better than learning some random trivia fact.

To expand on the flavor analogy... I would say that studying a new topic is like having a new flavor. It can feel nice and exciting, and there are jack of all trade belenosians because of this. Having a specialized knowledge of a field, however, lends itself to having a deeper experience of that flavor.

>I feel like I don't remember any being mentioned for the belenosians, either. How about the rest of you? How many moons do you have? Any moon bases?
One moon, with a small handful of modern moon bases. And, of course, a variety of dead ancient moon bases. Hopefully dead, anyways.

>And how many of those moons are actually imperial death machines?
Not even the belenosian empire thought it was practical to turn a moon into a base.

>Has there ever been an attempt at genetic modification for the purpose of inter-species breeding? How similar are the different species genetically?
There absolutely have been, and there's been absolutely no success.

We're just too different genetically. Even splicing stuff on the same planet has proven elusive.
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No. 123259 ID: bfb318
File 152747602181.png - (20.88KB , 800x800 , PennITQ13.png )
123259

>Hey, did you get a title with your qualification? You were acting like it was the end of your academic career. Should we be calling you by any honorifics? Got any letters after your name? Are you a doctor?

Yes. I don't think I like the ring of 'Doctor Penn', though. I'm not sure why, but I think I'm alone in that. All of my peers say they spent so many years for the degree that they won't even respond to people who don't refer to them as Doctor.

>How advanced is robotics? Like, the upper-ish limit. Assume a very wealthy person, eccentric enough to ignore organics being cheaper/smarter/et cetera. Could they have a robot servant to do all their housework and other menial chores for them? Could it be built to a humanoid frame? How agile could it be? Assuming you had an advanced enough AI to run it, how close could you get to a robot that could imitate a member of a sentient species?
Robotics are very good! For all of the hate and care that AI's get, the galaxy loves robots, even if they end up being, well, kind of stupid robots.

I guess the reason is that a single body can only do so much, but a loose AI can spread itself like a virus so efficiently across a network.

Plenty of shops use robots just because it's much easier to get them to act consistent for so many hours a day. It's common that they're clearly robots though, even though technology can make them look pretty convincingly organic. So, when a good AI is put into a convincing body, it can be a bit tough to tell the difference, at least at a glance. People with a good eye can still tell that the movement and looks are just slightly off.

Since battery technology has gotten so good, those robots can also output a lot of energy, so they're potentially strong and fast too.

>Because of your limited social interactions due to study and your eyes I'm guessing you've never had sex, if this is true have you ever entertained the thought of Arza being your first?
I - no... never.

I don't really need it, and there's just no way it'd be with Arza!

>Is the Silhouette empire only belenos or are there other species that work with/for them to bring back the lost empire?
I think there's... a few other species. The word is is that there's a whole lot of members of other species that have joined, but I think they overstate the numbers and just parade out those alien members.

>If what ever the hell is going on with Penn is possible then is it possible that all Belenosians could have some kind of programed biological commands? And I don't mean like genetic modification, I mean like Bioshock kill/control commands.
There's not really any evidence that that exists. That doesn't mean they don't, but there's no evidence for it, or that it would have worked after all these generations, and whatever those commands were, were probably lost a long time ago.

>What do Belenosians think of cyber-punk stuff like Blade Runner?
I think some belenosians think that part of the reason that humans were able to do so much better with technology than us was because of old cautionary tales like that. In fact, a lot of their tales about their future seemed to revolve around the future being scary.

I don't know if that's true, but I hear that idea a lot!

>How much would Belenosians want portal guns, and what would you even do with them?
I think anyone would want portal guns a lot...

We'd, uh... well if there's no limit on range, I guess just explore the galaxy and make trips to the store a whole lot faster.

>What was the thing about aliens that you had the most trouble getting your head around?
Hm... I don't think I had anything, but belenos on a whole, well, pre-uplift belenosians had legends and passed on stories about how if aliens ever did show up, they would technologically advanced and therefore definitely enslave and take advantage of the belenosian race.

Then that didn't happen. So that was a nice surprise for everyone and after the initial awkward scared meeting, it gave tribals a good excuse to rethink their outlook.
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No. 123260 ID: bfb318
File 152747603852.png - (12.11KB , 800x800 , AzITQ22.png )
123260

>What does your work and personal search history look like?
I have assistants to search things for me.

>Is there a neumono equivalent to a scouts organization? Like, boy/girl scouts, teaching woodcraft, survival, etc
There are! They're called school electives. We focus on that kind of stuff more than alien schools that teach, I don't know, how to prove geometry exists or whatever the deal is.

Course it's all done within school districts and regions, so there's as many variations on that kind of stuff as there are school districts and regions. I'm told we should standardize that stuff, but it works well enough on its own and we have bigger fish to fry.

If individual hives want to pass on their own skills to the next generation, then they can do it on their own time.

>Also, neumono: considering your gender dynamics, I wonder, are there girl bands with flocks of male fans, the way things traditionally work with boy bands among humans?
Heck yeah there are.

Most bands are a mix of male and female anyway. Just seems right to us, but male only and female only exist and the popular ones have their flocks regardless.

>Favourite pizza topping?
At least 5 kinds of meat I can name, and 10 kinds I can't.

>Does an ultraqueen have to be a literal queen, or can anyone get the position?
Basically. Who the hell's going to vote a not-queen into being a queen? If she was the best fit for the job, why's she not the queen? Too many questions. Fat chance in hell.

>What do neumono men do to clean up when they're done jerking off?
How the hell would I know? I have women for that. Probably whatever aliens do.
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No. 123261 ID: bfb318
File 152747605994.png - (13.10KB , 800x800 , EstonITQ1.png )
123261

>This raises another interesting question. Rogue who got de-rogued by Three Stripes, what did that feel like from your perspective?
Like everything made sense. I didn't learn anything new, but what I did knew just sort of shifted right back into place like a big jigsaw puzzle, and I could see the picture again.
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No. 123262 ID: bfb318
File 152747607598.png - (13.84KB , 800x800 , RemdulITQ1.png )
123262

>Would you say you occasionally run into hitchhiking neumono who are lone, homeless, tired, and so on?
I'd say so, yeah. They're depressing even for me, and I can't imagine having them broadcast their issues right into my head.

They are pretty safe though, they often look like they don't have the energy to steal a wallet I leave in the glove compartment right in front of them, let alone try to murder me and take my truck.

>I'd also wonder whether a lot of people like that show up on the news as victims of something or other.
Not really. Not like it doesn't happen, but it shows up about as much as traffic accidents. It's hardly news worthy.

>How do you portray zombies in your media?
Like, uh... what's the word. Thralls, I think they're called these days. They aren't people who look dead, but are soulless on the inside. Outwardly they act fine, so the spook factor's that they could be anyone you know.

>Favourite pizza topping?
Eh. Nothing wrong with extra cheese pizza.

>What qualities do Heef have as soldiers in contrast to Neumono or humans, aside from their strength?
We were better about keeping our heads under cover.

Course, since a Heef's stereotypical trait is strength, it was us carrying dumbass neumono back to medical tents because they, on the other hand, didn't give as much of a shit about getting shot in the face, or even getting hurt. Had to put ourselves in the line of fire for their bravado sometimes.

Us heef were also damn good at setting up a perimeter and holding down a stationary location for a bit.

Speaking of neumono getting shot in the head...

>What was the thing about aliens that you had the most trouble getting your head around?
Just because they can recover doesn't mean they've got to be so dang ready to get hurt.

>What made you take up a job as a truck driver? Lack of options? A desire to see the world? Pure circumstance?
Good pay.

>Is it even that common to have Heef truck drivers? I'm guessing part of the utility is in having someone who can help unload stuff faster. Or is it more because you're a big burly guy who can guard the goods on the way?
There's only so many solo neumono that like to leave their hive's range frequently. And most of those neumono are rogues, which... isn't as bad as putting down 'convicted criminal' on the resume, but it sure as fuck isn't a favored trait.

Point is, it's an non-neumono kind of job. Tough heef veteran who can protect and unload the goods is a plus, too.

>And has your truck's AI systems in any way seemed oddly helpful of late?
It's working, that's all the help I want out of it.
>>
No. 123263 ID: bfb318
File 152747610320.png - (14.40KB , 800x800 , LukratsaITQ22-TammiITQ3.png )
123263

>Could you guys please tell us about some of your favorite bloopers moments that have happened?
Lukratsa: This one's not really a real blooper but whatever. One time after a cut, Tammi walked off the camera to go handle some business, but she forgot to take off her Rokoa smile the whole. Damn. Time. Talks with the producer, trip to the grocery store, coordination with the stuntgirls, just wearing that smile and the poor girl could not figure out why she was weirding everyone out.

Tammi: Whenever Lukratsa forgets her line, she'll always just replace key phrases with huge innuendo, or with a straight face asking 'when do we fuck.' She knows Polo will probably see it and get embarrassed or miffed so Lukratsa does it all the time. And I just can't help laughing at it every time.
>>
No. 123264 ID: bfb318
File 152747614272.png - (13.55KB , 800x800 , OkeiITQ1.png )
123264

>What did you do for fun before that jerk Likol roped you into accompanying him on his irresponsibly dangerous journey?
Heckled people who got too close to home, and shoot at things or people who got too close to home.

>What happened to you? Where are you in life now, and where are you aiming to go? How are the Alisons? Everything good?
I just left! I haven't even found a new place yet!

>And would any of you set yourselfs on fire to escape ninjas
And miss meeting real ninjas? No!
>>
No. 123265 ID: bfb318
File 152747615647.png - (13.14KB , 800x800 , GiantITQ6.png )
123265

>Giant would you prefer it if the other strange neumono called you Kago?
I would not. It is not how the word is said in one's language. It is the meaning. As long as the meaning is not muddied, they may pronounce the word how they will.

>Giant what would be your thoughts of three stripes one day having kids?
Impossible.

He is not tough enough to handle my children.
>>
No. 123266 ID: bfb318
File 152747618079.png - (14.21KB , 800x800 , HokITQ22.png )
123266

>Have any of you talked to your doctor and/or psychiatrist about Disassociative Mental Process Disorder?
My whatnow?

>To Hok; how serious have you gotten at method acting as Pip?
Pretty great if I do say so myself!

>Do you initiate conversations with her?
Her?

I might need to change my first answer because I forgot it was 'her'.

>Do you initiate conversations with her?
Wait what is method acting exactly because I don't think that is talking to myself with different personas.

>If Hok is bored, do you think about what Pip could do for fun in that situation?
Nevermind, I don't think I can method act at all.

>For instance, how would your tastes in food differ?
Uh... maybe Pip would like fast food. And other things that are fancy and prepared.
>>
No. 123267 ID: bfb318
File 152747620269.png - (12.55KB , 800x800 , ItcherITQ13.png )
123267

>Have any of you talked to your doctor and/or psychiatrist about Disassociative Mental Process Disorder? Symptoms include
>Increasingly paranoid behavior,
>Unusually violent, erotic, or otherwise primal thoughts,
>Increased emotional detachment,
>Fixation on a person or persons that the patient finds pleasing,
>Increased tendency towards impulsive or compulsive behavior.

Pretty sure if I've had any of those things, it's because they're perfectly balanced and natural responses to the shitty environments I keep living in. So not a thing wrong with it, and not a thing worth going to the doctor over.
>>
No. 123268 ID: bfb318
File 152747627242.png - (16.97KB , 800x800 , FatherZozuITQ18.png )
123268

>How do you feel about cybernetics?
Good ones are fantastic. Bad ones are far too overrated.

In principle? I suppose would encourage them, but there are not many on the asteroid who can afford ideal cybernetics, so I am uncertain what issues arise when people take cybernetics to an extreme.
>>
No. 123269 ID: bfb318
File 152747629444.png - (84.87KB , 800x800 , XMasKorliITQ1.png )
123269

>Pornoverse Christmas Korli: what was the original objective of lesbian gas? like what was it originally supposed to be?
A feel-good hallucinogen!

We wildly missed the marks, but like many great inventions, it was a total accident and we just looked at the good points of what we made, not how hard we missed the original objective.

>What was the purpose it was made for?
Uh.... a feel good hallucinogen.

>What are some of the missions the Saliki have deployed it for?
Pretty much anything that needs a distraction. It's surprisingly verstile for that!

>What ever happened to your Likol, if one existed?
Passed peacefully in his sleep.
>>
No. 123270 ID: bfb318
File 152747630895.png - (104.98KB , 800x800 , XMasRamellaITQ3.png )
123270

>If there is a clone hybrid thing of your genetic material and Rokoa then is it possible that there's a clone of you and polo?
At this point, I don't see why not!
>>
No. 123271 ID: bfb318
File 152747632612.png - (123.85KB , 800x800 , StorySeekerITQ15.png )
123271

>Has anyone ever told you you have a charming smile? Because you do.
I have been told, and yet I enjoy being told that now as much as I did the first time. Thank you!
>>
No. 123272 ID: bfb318
File 152747633696.png - (58.49KB , 800x800 , ReilqinITQ1.png )
123272

>You seemed... less directly opposed to Story Seeker's flirtations than to Kexluk's interest. Is Story more to your taste, then, or was that just coincidence?
Story Seeker is like the pet that gets up to ridiculous antics, versus one's own son. In other words, it's a matter of having higher expectations of Kexluk.

>Have you ever considered dallying with a mortal, and if so what sort would you consider?
Not for anything long term, but for those who I would in the short term, those who can best inform me of mortal viewpoints of the world.

>Does anything of that sort happen between the gods themselves?
My relation with other gods is kept at a business level.

>Do a lot of gods have personal consorts like Tom does? ... Do you?
I do not.

But many do, all gods with tastes in as wide a spectrum as one can imagine.
>>
No. 123273 ID: bfb318
File 152747638810.png - (77.53KB , 800x800 , GlitcherITQ5.png )
123273

>Hey Glitcher, did you ever catch back up with that version of Alison you talked to while you were beginning to get back into the system?
Yeah. Talking with her is a nice break from everything.

She doesn't have a whole lot to say since she doesn't have the amount of experiences as a lot of other Alisons, so, uh, when I just want to get away from stuff, that's perfect.
>>
No. 123274 ID: bfb318
File 152747646318.png - (14.74KB , 800x800 , ShupITQ8.png )
123274

>Shup, you have sketches of deadland species somewhere you could show us?
Certainly, but there's too many to cover. Kobolds are, as far as I'm aware, are the only species that have trouble being outside kobold lands. There are humans and dozens of variants of humans, orcs, gnolls, and even more I'm sure I don't know about.

>Would you consider romancing such an exotic creature?
Never.

>What usually IS your type anyway, when looking for a woman?
Capable, strong of will, self sufficient, and free of any inherited disfigurement.

>Are you bisexual?
No.

>How is homosexuality treated in your lands, are there differences between the noble's treatment of homosexuality and how commoners treatment of it?
This has been answered.
>>100087

>How many kids you have Shup?
55, with an inconsequential number of children out of wedlock.

>With everyone expected to at least learn to fight, and the military basically the only half reliable route to social mobility as well as being idolized in general, but such a huge rate of lethality in said military... are you all expected to have tons of kids?
Yes. People have sex, most kobolds are easily impregnated, and kids are not a physically intensive ordeal for the mother. It helps that they aren't completely helpless as infants, either, and grow up quickly.

Therefore kobolds are expected to have tons of kids not because they must, but because they will. At least it is so in the northern empire. The shroomleaf barbarians expect their own tribes to care for their kids, so they must temper their own population boosts to be able to support their numbers, instead of simply being able to drop kids off at a local daycare or some such backup.

Of course, this is all just for the average garden tending kobold. Strong warriors and upper class kobolds are pressured more to have some amount of children.

>Are immortal kobolds obviously different from normal kobolds?
Yes. They have an intense enough mana aura about them that if they are around, even the most naive savages will know they are in the presence of a powerful individual.

>What stops there being some random immortal just hiding out among the general populace?
It is true that one can let one's own mana act as water in the river of the land, thus hiding their presence. An immortal, on the other hand, has so much excess mana that I can't see how any could do it convincingly. Yet I do have to admit - if one did master the technique, then I would never know.

>If you met Story Seeker, or a kobold as much like him as is possible to exist in your world, what would you think of him?
It would only take a glance to see that he's no known kobold. Not a northerner, southerner, or barbarian. A kobold from some far off land that's easy to live in.

>I'm also wondering if you actually have anything like bards.
We do. They are expected to be able to fight along with anyone, but upper class kobolds require upper class entertainment.

>Someone who kind of straddles social boundaries, too, who can charm and chat with a peasant or a noble with equal comfort.
This is more unusual, but I suppose one doesn't bar the other.

>What do the surviving Dragon Knights do with their time?
Put quite simply, I have no idea.

I would like to think they do something besides gather together in a dimly lit room and stand as still and silent as statues for days at a time, and yet...

I can so easily imagine them doing precisely that.

Supposedly they patrol the realm, handling noble disputes and lending their strength as required.

In practice, they are so rarely sighted outside of their high towers in dragonfall that I doubt they often leave. I have only seen a handful, myself, though I have seen those handful on multiple occasions. This is, assuming of course, that each mask is unique and never traded amongst dragon knights.

>It seems like they would have been mentioned specifically if they were involved with the teleportation system being set up, and that's supposedly the largest magical thing that's happened recently, so are they not involved in magical experimentation either?
No, we have archwizards. Dragon knights are magically adept, but don't often seem to use those powers in any external fashion.

>Do they have families they're involved with? I have to assume that they can have children, and that that's where the first mortal kobolds came from.
I suspect that they are their own family, as yes, they must have had children - with each other. Perhaps they have had children in recent years that don't advertise themselves as second generation. Perhaps after so many of their children aged and died, they stopped. For all I know, while they are seemingly immortal, they could have become outright infertile after a normal lifespan had passed.

It doesn't truly matter, and so I have not asked them.

>On the subject of the first mortal kobolds... kobold souls come from the land, right?
Correct.

>Apart from the immortals, whose souls presumably came from the magical beast that died to create them? So, could the first mortal kobolds only be born after some of the immortals had been killed? Or was there loose soul-stuff from the beasts' deaths that got loose without immediately going into immortal kobolds?
I can't know for sure.

Still - the greater beasts shaped the land with their magic and soul. In other words, the greater beast and the land itself - at least, what made the land unique and magical - was intertwined. The soul of the greater beast and the soul of the land us kobolds are born from are from one and the same, at least in theory. Therefore, there should not have been any reason why dragon knights would not have been able to reproduce before any of them died.

I stress, again, that information on this topic is limited to myths and the dragon knights themselves, the former of which has a strained idea of truth, and the latter a strained idea of conversation.

>I've been assuming that magic and kobold souls are essentially made of the same stuff, but is that true, or are they different?
It is safe to assume this is true.

At least, if it was not true, then there would be far more unanswered questions.

>Do kobolds believe that the intelligent races who live outside kobold lands have no souls?
Many don't. The more knowledgeable kobolds believe they only lack the kinds of souls we have.

That is to say, there is evidence that they have some kind of soul, just not the same kind of soul that we have. Those other races, though, know even less about their own souls than we do.

>Is it known whether the southern kobold empire has any immortals of its own left?
Supposedly they do, yet they never see their own immortals.

>Is it possible that they and the dragon knights are in some sort of incredibly long standoff over when an opportunity to conquer or assimilate the other will happen, and they're just very patient and cautious about it?
Immortality does afford patience much easier, it's true. If so, then both teams of immortals are admirably quiet about their little war.

>Is it known why exactly the dragon knights felt they had to carve out an empire in the first place, and why they felt they had to hunt down all the magical beasts they could find?
Not exactly, no.

They haven't claimed to have killed the other beasts, though, only the immortals that spawned from the beasts. That isn't to say they didn't, simply that something else may have killed them.

>Building an empire requires raising morale and fervor with speeches and declarations, and giving at least some idea to the people under you what you expect to achieve, so I'd assume they said something at some point?
It's as likely they built their empire with their kids, and had their kids do the speeches and declarations and so forth to properly build a society versus.... whatever it is the dragon knights were.
>>
No. 123275 ID: bfb318
File 152747648741.png - (17.04KB , 800x800 , LilyITQ1.png )
123275

>Is it difficult to suck dick with such an outrageously small mouth?
I wouldn't know.
>>
No. 123276 ID: bfb318
File 152747651554.png - (14.46KB , 800x800 , GaucheITQ1.png )
123276

>You're the only noble I've seen who goes by "Sir" instead of "Lord". Were you a knight before you got your title?
I was, absolutely.

'Sir' still brings images of knights over lords, which is why many nobles who were knights still prefer 'Lord' as their prefix. Others, like me, prefer 'Sir' to remind the populace that nobles do often fight in the rank and file.

>What's the army's attitude to "fraternization", and what measures, if any, are taken to put controls or restrictions on it and its consequences?
By default, the army itself simply doesn't care.

If the commander of the branch, or squad, or whoever does feel it is a danger to the mission, it's up to them to decide to disallow it, to what degree to disallow it, and what measures to put in place to make sure it won't happen.

>We do know there's some pressure to have lots of kids, though, and I can imagine the Empire wanting their soldiers (at least, the ones who have proved they're worth something) to have even more than usual, given their ideals. So, maybe the army actually provides support for soldiers having children, to improve how much of the population has soldier blood? Specific army-serving orphanages or care homes? That could... explain a lot. Is that accurate?
That is more or less accurate across all the northern armies that I'm familiar with. Some do more than others, but all do something to help raise offspring so that the fighters can continue fighting.

>Or, maybe it's different for the different armies? It'd be rather poetic if the assassin branch gets some funding for making lives as well as taking them.
Although, I don't believe any entire army gets funding for having children.

>Is it just "so long as you're doing your duties well enough I don't care"?
This is, above all else, the priority, so in short, yes.

>Is clandestine physical satisfaction allowed but open romantic relationships not? Is there competitiveness over who can attract/handle more partners, of that kind of "ha ha look at me I killed 20 guys then spent the night thoroughly satisfying 5 girls hrrr I've got so much stamina/virility/etc" way?
This can have more variance across armies, but I can say that the turtle army often revolves around boasting and telling one's own story.

>What's the differences between the lower ranks and upper ranks? Is mixing between ranks ignored, looked down upon, or is it expected that superiors enjoy privileges?
There is very little stigma against mixing ranks. The upper ranks may decide for themselves whether to pursue others in their own rank or below.

>Are professional comfort-providers allowed?
In bigger armies, absolutely. In smaller armies... well, that just depends on the commander, I suppose.

>Officially regulated?
Not once that I've ever seen.

>Expected to provide enough service to keep the soldiers from each other?
I don't believe anyone expects anything of whores other than some cost.

>Are soldiers allowed to take side-work of that kind, the same way there's probably always some smuggling of alcohol and so on?
Allowed, yes. Frowned upon? If there's work to be done, yes.

>What about people who don't take pay, but are just... friendly with a lot of people?
And this... is unusual, but not unheard of. Many, I think, charge not necessarily because they need the money, but because it would almost seem suspicious if they didn't want anything.
>>
No. 123277 ID: bfb318
File 152747655224.png - (46.42KB , 800x800 , ZiziITQ4.png )
123277

>What is your idea of a good first date?
Whatever makes for a good time, of course! It probably involves at least one fight and a lot of shouting.
>>
No. 123278 ID: bfb318
File 152747659454.png - (20.84KB , 800x800 , CabbageITQ1-TomatoITQ1.png )
123278

>What, if anything, do you seek in a romantic and or sexual partner?
Cabbage: Not applicable.

>Do you know of another material you could acquire that would enable snuggling?
Tomato: <horrible mutant noises>

Cabbage: Tomato says that anything thick enough and resistant to stabbing works well enough.
>>
No. 123279 ID: bfb318
File 152747663845.png - (18.36KB , 800x800 , OrjinITQ1.png )
123279

>Sir Orjin, I don't suppose you'd furnish us with some examples from your own experience [of fraternizing within the army]? You seem like a... passionate man, and we haven't seen any sign of you having a specific lady around.
I got too much shit to do to worry about getting all smoochy doochy with girls!

When I don't have too much shit to do, then I'll fuck!

>Do you have any kids?
As a matter of fact I do. Only with one woman who happens to be my damn wife!

>What, if anything, do you seek in a romantic and or sexual partner?
And she's my damn wife because she's the only woman I know who knows how to raise a kid to not be a sopping coward stain!

>TITS OR ASS?
Well obviously ASS because I'm not a some scrawny field 'bold!
>>
No. 123280 ID: bfb318
File 152747664922.png - (14.81KB , 800x800 , HollyITQ1.png )
123280

>Is there any extra severance pay from the army for heavy injuries like yours that don't kill the person?
Not a copper or a care.
>>
No. 123281 ID: bfb318
File 152747666638.png - (14.04KB , 800x800 , AiraITQ1.png )
123281

>What's your goal in staying in the army in such a dangerous post? Are you after social advancement, feel it's the best way to feed yourself, or something else?
In peaceful posts or in peaceful towns, people expect me to be sociable and loud. If I'm not, I get disrespected and shunned.

This has been less true when we're in danger. I don't seek danger, but it's an easy price to pay to fit in.
>>
No. 123282 ID: bfb318
File 152747669610.png - (118.05KB , 800x800 , ClampITQ4.png )
123282

>Clamp, besides Matron who and what else have you boned?
Ain't anyone's business, that's who.
>>
No. 123283 ID: ba5478
File 152747712832.png - (85.34KB , 800x800 , KarkITQ2.png )
123283

>Do rouges that choose to be rouges like Kark have the same problems with forming emotional attachment?
I mean I didn’t choose to be a rogue, I just got unlucky and it turned out I preferred it that way. Of the very few rogues that consciously and purposefully defect from their hives they do tend to have more emotional stability than the other chucklefucks. I wouldn’t chalk that up to some kind of mystical power going rogue on purpose imparts. It just turns out that people who have the emotional maturity to make that big a decision by themselves are also emotionally mature enough to identify and work on smaller emotional issues, including their emotional connections with others. As opposed to most rogues who are, as I consistently stress, stone cold dumbasses.

>Neumono, particularly neumono who have lived on earth: As (to humans) rabbit-like creatures who (sort of) lay eggs, is Easter weird to you?
I haven’t heard of Easter before, but if it’s some kind of holiday where you find eggs, I don’t find it any weirder than other holidays. The Tree has a day of commemoration for its founding where you where you’re supposed to take a branch off a tree, give it to someone not in your Hive, and keep it until the next year where you bury it and get given another one. It’s baffling and I wonder everyday how the Ultras managed to be the winners of their wars.

>What was the thing about aliens that you had the most trouble getting your head around?
Lack of empathy, obviously. For something less obvious, scars. I’d never seen them before because if any animal we attacked survived it knew to stay the fuck away from us. The idea of an injury staying on your body forever freaked me out.

>Do the humans really give a damn what's going on in neumono-owned parts of space? They don't seem to.
They care too much. Not that they aren’t justified considering how many wars we neumono started in just 80 years. Any impressions to the contrary probably come from the contradictory goals of both giving us a right to self-determination and giving us boundaries so that we survive as a race until all of us who remember the tribal days are dead and can’t fuck it up for the next generation anymore. Plus, even if the human government is mostly ‘benevolent’ there are plenty of other alien superpowers at work that can interfere with their goals, including the bigger neumono governments. There is a lot of capital to be gained in resources from Astreneus V, both physical and scientific. It’s very rare that altruism and profit mix, as our uplifting showed about a million times over.
>>
No. 123286 ID: 7fad5d

Yoooo Korli, are scars a common fetish among xenophiliac neumono? How about external balls and other features neumono don't have? Do you like running your fat sausagey little fingers through long hair?
>>
No. 123292 ID: b1b4f3

>>123274
>I've not heard about a dragon knight dying
What about the rogue knight?
>>
No. 123296 ID: eeb7d9

>>123292
Yeah, that answer actually surprised me. Isn't that the whole reason why Zizi is so famous, and by extent, Fen?
He DID kill the rogue Dragon Knight, right, or am i mistaken?
Someone do correct my if a am wrong.
>>
No. 123297 ID: bfb318

I made a goof with Shup's answer, as he is aware that the rogue dragon knight died. His answer has been revised.
>>
No. 123301 ID: bb78f2

Giant, Az, if this question has been already answered, I am so sorry but...

What are your feelings in regard to Clifford the Big Red Dog?
>>
No. 123302 ID: bffeb2

>>123255
OK Polo from after its revealed that you were alive: How many breeding requests/odd fans/things in the mail that really shouldn't be in the mail have you gotten?

>>123257
>bolters exist
I'm guessing they're not the diamond tipped, filled with uranium kind and are just semi automatic mini rpgs.

>>123259
I don't know why Penn but you are adorable.
But now imagine if those biological commands were real and still worked and because of all the stuff with sapphire only you could access them. If you could look at another belenos straight in the eyes and give them a command, and they would follow it without question, how horrified by yourself would you be?

>Blade Runner
But what to Belenosians think of old future sci-fi where the machines are good? I'm guessing these kind of things are despised by the tribal holdouts.

>>123260
>What do neumono men do to clean up when they're done jerking off?
>How the hell would I know? I have women for that. Probably whatever aliens do.
Then why did you answer? Kappi you answer this question!

>>123263
Was there ever a time were Polo just got up and fucked right off without saying a thing.

>>123265
>my children
I meant him having offspring with a female predator. Do you mean that cause he can't even handle you nuemono kids that he'd be unable to handle predator pups? If so then give the guy more credit then that.

>>123270
So what you're saying is that there IS a possibility that you and Polo have some kind of weird clone child.

>>123274
>bisexual
>no
Well there goes the best ending.

>>123275
Now I'm not sure whether you're upset because the question implied you suck dick or that it implied you have a small mouth, or both.

>>123276
I kind of see you as the koboldverse version on Pilon sorry.
Maybe it's the eyes, or maybe its that you were a kind of enemy that became a kind of ally, or maybe its the fact that you also have funny size things going on with your body.
Oh right a question err... could higher up nobles demand sex from a lesser noble?
What are the stories like of nobles that have really abused there power?

>>123277
If you were to find out that someone you specifically spared when you were in the army or someone with a grudge against you hunted down and killed Fen just to spite you would you seek revenge?

>>123280
So it's like America


Does the empire have sports teams?
>>
No. 123303 ID: 3abd97

>>123302
>OK Polo from after its revealed that you were alive
That's not how it works. You're not getting any answers from future-Polo until present-Polo gets there.
>>
No. 123304 ID: bffeb2

Oh one final thing Shup did you expect this level of craziness to happen Lilly gave Fen, a barbarian whos stated goals was to one day go to the northern empire and become a noble, that dragoncloth?
Was the whole you ordering training for Fen and letting him get all hopeful part of some plan to one day get your own personal kingslayer?
>>
No. 123308 ID: b59fad

>>123275
>I wouldn't know.

Well gosh Lily aren't you marrying a noble for the sake of supporting your family? You want to make sure whoever you marry is extra doubly convinced to never think twice about the expense of doing that. You should try learning all the tricks that'll make having you around as pleasant as possible! So ok maybe you can't practice exactly but you should familiarize yourself with the theory. I'm sure there's some sort of kama sutra equivalent instructional manual for the marital arts kicking around somewhere with instructions and information and illustrative woodcut printed pictures. There are probably concubines and higher-class professionals you could ask for advice, too.

On that subject, what's the state of erotica in the empire? Are there bawdy songs, perfumed-garden-esque literature and poems, and/or artworks in circulation? Paintings? Crude printworks? Murals, friezes or statuary?... Graffiti? Dirty jokes?
>>
No. 123313 ID: ee2d6e

>>123302
>Well there goes the best ending.
He only said he wasn't bi. Could still be pan. Or something else entirely.
>>
No. 123355 ID: caf1de

>>123303
but we get answers from the asteroid and the actors and they're in the future-present
>>
No. 123356 ID: 3abd97

>>123355
Characters have consistently answered questions from their 'current' perspective on the timeline.

So Polo has always answered questions from 135 AW ("the intermission was recent for me"), Rokoa from 185 AW ("the intermission is something I did 50 years ago with Polo I'm looking back on now"). Pilon started out talking from 135 AW, then jumped to 185 AW after he appeared on the Asteroid for the first time, and then never went back.

We're never gotten access to a version of an Asteroid character who's more ahead in itq than we've encountered them in the story.
>>
No. 123357 ID: 7fad5d

tl;dr: No spoilers from BTE
>>
No. 123359 ID: ae1644

>>123303
>>123355
>>123356
>Past-Polo
>Future-Polo
>Future-Present
MY BRAIN HURTS!!
Problem is that by the time we get to ask post mission polo questions I and everyone else would have probably forgotten this completely pointless inquiry.

Lets try compromise a little. Lukratsa after the movie came out how much fan mail/requests to fuck did Polo and Rokoa(who everyone already knew was long gone) get that you are aware of? How much did you and Tammi get? How many of those requests were for you or her to be "in character"?
>>
No. 123382 ID: 91ee5f

This one is directed at anyone that would know what to do in this hypothetical situation and the answer can come from someone in the Ultra Hives or on the Asteroid or both locations:

A Salikai has made contact and wants to peacefully coexist with the Neumono. There are no tricks, traps, or strings attached, this Salikai is willing to do whatever the Neumono want. Also, this Salikai is all alone, no Arkots or allies of any kind.

Based on this, what would the Neumono do? Would they accept the the alliance with this one Salikai? If so, how long would it take for them to start trusting this Salikai?

To Rokoa and Kappi: If you continue this relationship with each other, what are the odds of Rokoa allowing Kappi to put some kids in her sometime in the future?

To Christmas/Valentines Polo, Katzati, and Ramella: When all of you got in bed together, describe as best you can, just how amazing your “group activity” was? And if you guys said anything to each other, how much of it was really you talking and how much of it was the effects of the love beam talking?
>>
No. 123647 ID: 8c0673

How well do neumono handle burns? Are incendiaries common anti-neumono weapons?
>>
No. 123662 ID: 186f53

Would Leaf be diagnosed with the gnoll equivalent of autism if the gnolls had an equivalent to a psychologist?
>>
No. 123771 ID: 85e349

>>89228
So, Ramella, I think it's fairly obvious at this point that people are implying the Salikai are going to use their experimental Rokoa-clone-darts on you.

Regardless of whether or not you actually believe this, if it were confirmed to your satisfaction, would you try to run away, do something to convince them you're too valuable to dart, or what? Obviously, giving up is pointless, since you want to COMPLETELY LIVE.
>>
No. 123966 ID: 1fbbcc

We know neumono hives usually use large communal showers, but does anyone use large communal baths? Is it considered a luxury thing that only rich hives would indulge in?

Speaking of rich hives... hive vs. rogue gets all the publicity, but are there any significant class tensions between wealthy hives and poor hives that causes problems?

With the topic of divisions between hives, I also want to ask if there are any observable general differences between old pre-uplift hives, split hives (descended from an old hive but considers themselves new) and totally fresh queen-rogue-formed modern hives? In terms of attitude to their place in the world, each other, et cetera.

And do hives with a king or queen consider themselves superior to ones that currently don't? Is a hive without one considered unfortunate or deficient? Without a single authority figure, do such hives face problems in directing themselves? Does the bureaucracy assume hives will have kings/queens and give a harder time to those that don't?
>>
No. 124061 ID: 39e3f1

Asteroid fuzzy folks: Your fur/feathers grow to a certain length and then stops, right? Like, if it sheds or gets cut it regrows to the same length, but past that it won't, right? I'm wondering, are there any products for tricking your hair into growing longer? Some sort of hormone treatment for the follicles? Like you could use it to get fluffier overall, if you like the look or you're going somewhere cold, or you could use it to grow certain patches artistically?
>>
No. 124065 ID: 91ee5f

>>124061
Considering what happened to this David guy: >>105857 , yes, there are products that increase feather/fur growth.
>>
No. 124555 ID: be3691

Likol, you had a “we ain’t rabbits mug” mug. Where do you even get something like that in an underweb-controlled life, and why? How offensive is being called a rabbit to you? Has that ever happened?
For that matter, you seemed to have a normal, well-adjusted grasp of life out in the normal world, but I don’t think it was ever established when you would have had a chance to experience life in in the non-underweb world prior to your run. What’s the story there?
Also, how is Neumono heaven treating you? We miss you.
>>
No. 124672 ID: 9125e0

Hey Kappi I dont remember if this was asked yet,But can we get a diagram of the housing.I would like to see what the room layouts for the cheep housing,To the more expensive?

I would expect that you would know this info as your the quartermaster.
or just what your house layout is?
>>
No. 124673 ID: 5f1126

Considering human cultural dominance, do most aliens grow up watching a ton of human shows/movies, playing human games, et cetera? And since there must be so much by now that, as aliens, you haven't seen, do you get a bunch of older "classic", "essential viewing" media thrown your way, or do they just try to push only newer, more profitable stuff on you?

tl;dr did you non-humans grow up watching old human cartoons
>>
No. 124897 ID: 7cf41b

So, it seems implied, and reasonable to assume, that the commonest form of religion among neumono (or the closest thing to religion) is a sort of self-hive-worship, where they revere the "spirit" of their own hive, with the king or queen as a sort of avatar or half-divine figure as a focus for that.

My question is, how close to the trappings of religion can that get? In very large hives, especially, where the queen can't get to know more than a fraction of her hivemates personally, does the reverence take on more abstract elements, maybe? Carrying around icons of the queen (like a step further than Likol carrying around that plush of his?), having little shrine-like things like a photo of them in some prominent place, or having regular "religious" functions, like maybe once a month everyone gathers to line up and have some sort of brief communion or personal moment with the queen, or hear her give a speech, or things like meeting up once a month with a bunch of other hivemates to formally focus on hive feelings and talk about events in the larger hive? I think we've heard suggestions of hives having their own little festivals, but how about other kinds of communal rituals? It seems like maybe some or all of these sorts of things could have a positive effect on hive cohesion.

Maybe any king or queen of a huge hive want to comment on this sort of thing? Trying to get as much meaningful time with as many members of your hive as possible seems like it could become a full-time job in itself, and it seems like most of you don't try to do that.

Are there like... sub-queens/kings? Hive members who aren't anything near king or queen themselves, but who are exemplary examples of the hive, and maybe end up being sort of like relays for your influence and help keep the hive together?
>>
No. 125338 ID: d2e2ce

Hey, Captain. How hard was it to set up a sex dungeon in Queenwood and rope a bunch of guys into doing kinky military RP with you?
>>
No. 125340 ID: d2e2ce

Actually wait, how the fuck does an art hive make a living anyway? Presumably the art scene isn't all just money laundering.

Speaking of which, oi, Silverstream, what's business like and how do you prevent yourselves getting used for money laundering and the like?
>>
No. 125341 ID: 5f3f48

>>125340
"Art Hive" just means that art is central to the hive's identity. That doesn't necessarily preclude them from other income streams, or mean that they're incapable of anything else. And even then, there's a lot of creative fields the hive could own a business in, or that individual members might have gotten jobs in if they were so inclined.
>>
No. 125345 ID: d2e2ce

>>125341
That's cool and all but to be honest I'm more interested in the in-universe answer
>>
No. 125460 ID: 32dc9c

To anyone who participated in the ultrahive wars (eg. Rokann, Marra, Rokoa...), How violent were the wars in general?

Were there any laws of war to be followed (for example about the treatment of POWs or civilians) or was it a total bloodshed for all the hives involved? Actually, how many lives were lost in these wars?

Was there any peacekeeping initiative organized by the aliens to keep the violence as minimal as possible?

Any interesting/notable stories or events that happened?
>>
No. 125461 ID: a1c591

Dr. Renson, or anyone who’d know: how common/rare is it for people to practice medicine on other species? In the event of someone having a medical emergency in an area that’s predominantly some other species, would there be any effort to try and find a doctor of that person’s species to treat them, or would that not be a factor? Do other, similar professions (therapists for example) ever cross species barriers?
>>
No. 125509 ID: 27bc37

To Story Seeker:

I have no idea what I'm doing, or if this is even the place to ask this. Here goes.

Has your adventure come to an end (at least as far as we are concerned) or are you just "doing laundry" so to speak.
>>
No. 125515 ID: e1d580

>>125509
I'm pretty sure SS could provide a funny in-universe update on his stuff in here, but if you want a more unambiguous OOC answer the Story Seeker disthread is probably a good place to try if you can hunt down which page it's fallen downwards to. For what it's worth I'm reasonably sure it's still on the list of quests to do, just lower-priority than the more recent/bigger projects.
>>
No. 125516 ID: afdebc

>>125515
>if you can hunt down which page it's fallen downwards to
Protip: you can look up quests on the wiki (which has an actual search function) and follow the link to the dis thread of your choice much faster than manually hunting through pages or the catalog.
>>
No. 125517 ID: bfb318

Normally what the couple of above posts say is true, and the wiki pages, in this case https://tgchan.org/wiki/Story_Seeker , are good for just keeping track of threads, but in this case there isn't actually a Story Seeker dis thread.

So for the meta answer, SS isn't over, it'll have more stuff at an undetermined date. Also I'll probably make a disthread around then just so it has one, no matter how belated.
>>
No. 125547 ID: 2f83e5

Now that we are on the topic I want to ask a question to SS.
SS you did a great job improving the conditions of the kobolds (and other races) in Spearstone. Do you think is possible for other races to stop seeing Kobols as just slaves or savages? Or do you agree with Reilqin statement and Kobolds do really shine in the servitude of other races?
>>
No. 125863 ID: a44332

To Shup: Have you ever met the Emperor face to face(plate)? Like, did he ceremonially hand you your mithril seal or something?
>>
No. 126499 ID: 7450a1

Panica from Luvi's story in The Rogue: There is no tactful way to ask this. Why is your pregnancy so weird. Why. Why so big. Why is your freakish alien pregnancy weird. Why. Why. Explain. Why.
>>
No. 126535 ID: 094652

Luvi: How many date / marriage requests do you get weekly? How do you deal with these requests given your... attitude against rejection and other negative actions?
>>
No. 126554 ID: 298905

Shup, or another person who would know: Non-kobold creatures can be enchanted, right? Like those dogs that react to the fields being trespassed on? I was wondering if there are any other animals that commonly get enchanted for things. And, the obvious next question: can you enchant non-kobold people, from outside? What if they were born and raised in the kobold lands, somehow? I can already imagine some border nobles hiring non-kobold mercenaries just to have a more special and intimidating entourage.

Neumono question: I can't remember if this was ever answered, but if you got a big enough bunch of neumono babies and raised them in constant contact with each other, isolated from other neumono, would they grow into a hive with each other?

General Asteroidverse technology question: Has anyone tried blend AI with cybernetics? Like, through some implant in their brain, using a partial AI to expand someone's knowledge or skills directly. Like, for the cyborg parts with complicated uses such as an arm that can flip out an array of complicated tools or something, instead of having to somehow learn to make a bunch of unnatural impulses using a nervous system not designed for more than fingers and a few joints, you'd basically jam in an extra chunk of artificial brain that already has all the "instincts" for how to use them and which can handle the weird alien feedback it gets. Maybe even up to more radical things like, to bypass the danger of sentient AI, you make a shell of an AI with everything but the sentient bit and a biological person's brain jacked into the saddle to take it's place with a set of neural implants, thereby giving them insane haxxor computer powers?

I mean most people besides neumono probably wouldn't want to risk that kind of brain surgery, but is it possible for the sufficiently unethical/illegal/wealthy person?
>>
No. 126567 ID: e1d580

Yo, to any Asteroidverse lads, how do you rate the different species' pussy? Tits too, if any species has them and they're different from the standard model. We got a rundown on cocks and cum so I figure the other side needs some love.

Korli, any chance you'd know? Ramella maybe?
>>
No. 126822 ID: 8950e3

Zirkala, did you ever punish your skeleton alchemist for chemically castrating Story Seeker? I haven’t followed his story in so long I’ve forgotten her name, and I remember him saying her potion wore off around the time he started learning actual magic, but that doesn’t make what she did any less monsterous. I remember the reaction when we realized what she’d done being unanimous horror and disgust.

I imagine it’s probably hard to reasonably punish an undead minion who you want to keep employing, but still. Have you thought of anything yet?
>>
No. 126873 ID: 465a14

Yo neumono your hives gotta get new blood sometimes right? If the individual hivemates don't meet enough new people by themselves do hives ever arrange meetups, like are there dating sites for whole hives at once? How often do hives arrange orgies for breeding?
>>
No. 126879 ID: a9af05

To Dame Frais from Fen Quest: What did you think of Fen when you first saw him? Did you ever think he would make it as far as he has so far? Did you ever expect to be good friends with him or did your friendship with him come unexpectedly?
>>
No. 126889 ID: 470289

How do Brothel Hives deal with rogues who want to get pregnant, and do they ever use customers sperm to get pregnant without informing the father?
>>
No. 127145 ID: 7582e1

(same poster as >>125863 here)

To Sir Zall: Do nobility or children thereof get any "skip the Pawn stage of the army" privileges? That would explain why do few of your knights are disciplined.

To Cheese: This Might Wizard, does he only upgrade soldiers? Because I thing there would be a good market for upgraded runners, capable of running long distances without stopping often and without dropping dead at the end.
Even with the teleportation network, if you need a fast reply a week can be too long.

To anyone knowledgeable: Are there any farm animals in the kobold lands?
>>
No. 127148 ID: bd22be

Do Kobolds like being pet?
>>
No. 127173 ID: daffb0

Ranger Pink, from the Omega Wave Force: if it's not rude to ask, how old are you? You come across as young at heart, but some things came up when Polo was looking for you that made it seem like you and the other rangers might all actually have been around for a while. How old is the Wave Force? Are you all the original founding members? The way the gun narrated your backstory to Polo made it seem like it was designed for passing it around sometimes. Have you had any extra or replacement members before Polo?
>>
No. 127205 ID: 58c855

Glitcher, would it be possible for other CAI members to reproduce, or is that only possible due to you and Rulekeep's unique natures? Also, what would an Alison/Sevener kid end up like?
>>
No. 127880 ID: 080aaf

Mac: Why are we still here? Just to suffer?
>>
No. 128559 ID: 0ab3ed

To Loviro, how does AI programming in the real world compare to you eork in the simulation? Has any of your knowledge carried over?
And also, what do you think of Arza?
>>
No. 128854 ID: 094652

Nalene: I could have sworn I've seen you somewhere before this quest. Any previous appearances throughout the multiverse (internet)?
>>
No. 128856 ID: 465a14

>>128854
You want the other ITQ thread.
>>
No. 128927 ID: bcc41d

I’ve been meaning to ask. What do Neumono think of alien murder mystery / whodunnits dramas, given the lack of empathy?

And how long did it take from Polo’s ability being exposed to the world until someone ran with the idea to create a «proper» neumono murder mystery whodunnit?
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No. 129226 ID: 93fb12

How long do neumono generally take to regenerate from various levels of injury?
>>
No. 129480 ID: a12187
File 155846665340.png - (63.71KB , 800x768 , Mac Placeholder ITQ.png )
129480

>Actually wait, how the fuck does an art hive make a living anyway? Presumably the art scene isn't all just money laundering.
I think most hives that deal in the arts work like Storytree, though most of them are much more specialized than we, er, they are. Most of the funds that are earned go into the Hive’s central bank account which pays for taxes, food, utilities, and other general things. Reoccurring costs. Only a few of us can touch that account, and it supports our lifestyle. From that account the Queen transfers a certain amount every month into a shared account that most of us do have access to. That’s basically used to pay for like, personal purchases, Hive events, everyday expenses.

Once you’re an adult and considered responsible enough you get a card that lets you access the shared account within certain limits. Before that you must ask someone with access to the account to do transactions you can’t do with petty cash. So, when I was a kid I used to ask J’raine to buy any personal instruments or easels or whatever and once I got a card my little sister bothers me whenever she wants some stupidly expensive history book or access to some online biography that’s behind a paywall.

Any individuals or small groups in the Hive that do paid work that’s not ‘Hive sanctioned’, which means the Queen doesn’t personally look over or listen to the work and sign off on its quality, sends their profits directly into the shared bank account. It’s not required, and I know a few who don’t, but they usually spend what they get almost immediately. If someone needs funding for the project they use the shared account, and we basically work on an honor system that no one will take too much out of it. So, if decided to do a band gig with some hivemates then, well we’d probably borrow the equipment from someone else in the Hive, but if we couldn’t we could buy the equipment with the shared account and we’d forward the pay back to that account. Assuming we weren’t paid in beer, obviously. Overall, this isn’t much of our income.

‘Hive sanctioned’ work are contracts that are brokered by the Hive itself. Generally, the Queen or her representative will meet with another Queen, company, or whoever and work out the specifics of the deal. This can be something like production design work on a small movie. Usually the Hive picks who’s going to work on the project and if the Queen signs off on them it basically just goes like any other job. Income from this goes to the central account, and it’s the bulk of how we support ourselves.

We also own a few businesses which I think operate independently, money-wise. A few hivemates live and work there full-time and they grab kids for part-time work as needed. We have a publishing house, the front of which doubles as a book store, and the amphitheater we call the Hall. Oh, and the gallery. That’s new though, and I’ve never been there and don’t know much about it. The Publishing House mostly prints Hive stuff, but we do lease it out to outsiders sometimes. The theater is the same, though it’s a lot bigger. The Queen is always looking to expand, and I think she has her eye on a studio next.

Storytree is more stable financially than a lot of other artistically focused hives since our products are diversified, but the drawback is we can’t handle large volumes of work in the same medium. If someone needs a small band we can do that, but we don’t have enough professional-level musicians trained in the specific instruments to field a full-scale orchestra, for example. We do have an edge over our competitors since we can do multimedia projects in-hive with a lot more ease.

I think that’s everything?

>Why are we still here? Just to suffer?
Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
>>
No. 129481 ID: 1ec988

Alright, someone has to bite the bullet. Luvi, what's the premise of Tekbeasts?
>>
No. 129500 ID: a12187
File 155849939835.png - (93.66KB , 800x785 , Luvi Placeholder ITQ.png )
129500

>How many date / marriage requests do you get weekly? How do you deal with these requests given your... attitude against rejection and other negative actions?
I don’t get them weekly, but I do get asked out every now and then. If it’s from a rogue I’m helping I try to let them down gently, but firmly! It’s against the rules to date clients, and it’s also just awful for their long-term well-being. Rogues rebounding onto their case workers is never good because they get really fixated on you. It’s one of the job hazards.

Outside of work, I speed date when I can and since I can’t always attend ladies’ night, I get asked out by insistent guys sometimes. It’s usually best to say yes and wait until they get tired of me in a couple of weeks and ghost me. If it’s a girl, well, a lot of times we stay friends afterwards, which is great!

…This isn’t exactly dating, but occasionally I do get propositioned on the street. it’s usually by rogues who think I’m a U addict because of my empathy. U is a drug that makes you happy and euphoric, but it’s hard to get in the Tree, so some people try to get close to me to get access to my ‘connection’. Usually after I insist for a bit, they believe I’m naturally like this. When they don’t, well, sometimes Rocker gets involved.

>Luvi, what's the premise of Tekbeasts?
Oh! I’ll try not to talk your ears off! Just the premise, Tekbeasts!, the original series, is about a world where different races have been locked in strife for countless generations. There are hundreds of societies on the planet of various sizes with each main character coming from a different one. The one thing all the civilizations have in common is they lack a concept of metal, and without it advanced technologies like we have now are absent from the entire planet. At least until the planes are broken! During a melee one of the smallest and weakest societies reveal they’ve secretly been plundering other planes for technology and have launched a campaign to begin their Empire! The main characters who were fighting in the battle manage to fall into a trap that sends them out into the wider planar field and have to put their differences aside in order to get back home and learn enough about the planes and each other to get back home and save the planet! And that’s just the first season, before Thrasher gets her Infernocycle!

There’s been a few reboots and sequels, and they all remix things in their own ways, some more than others. Thrasher is in every adaption that matters, and Gulper of Black Marsh, Tyreen Tail, and Joe show up the most often of the original cast. Oh, that’s going a bit farther than just the premise though. I’ll shut up about it now!
>>
No. 129506 ID: a12187
File 155858150221.png - (55.23KB , 500x500 , Captain ITQ.png )
129506

(Slight Spoiler if you haven't read The Rogue, she's this lady >>/questarch/900106)


>Hey, Captain. How hard was it to set up a sex dungeon in Queenwood and rope a bunch of guys into doing kinky military RP with you?
Most of my squad would not have sex in the basement of our current safehouse. Therefore, I would not classify it as a ‘sex dungeon’.

A few safehouses were already functioning when we came to Queenwood. Part of my work since has been to cultivate more. Varied methods are preferred, from buying property, renting with trustworthy landlords, or long-term squatting to keep the paper trails as hard to follow as possible.

To obtain Toreq I followed him and mapped his likely paths. Geo then intercepted him, pickpocketed his wallet, and ran into an alley where I was waiting. I subdued him, and we transported him to the ‘dungeon’. He is the only guy we have roped on this excursion.

I do not know what ‘RP’ is, or why it would be kinky.
>>
No. 129543 ID: caf1de

>>129542
>>
No. 129702 ID: 1b5015

>>129543
Or if they'd like RimWorld. Although that might be tame compared to some of the shit these guys have faced on actual alien planets.
>>
No. 129703 ID: 1b5015

>>129702
Amending this to ask whether any particularly crazy characters have played the ultra-retro but still fantastic human video game series, Devil May Cry.
>>
No. 130848 ID: c59ec7

Raox, what inspired you to campaign for rogue rights? Was it spurred by a personal decision, or a hive-wide one?

And no offense, but you look /awful/. How well are you balancing ultrahive politics with your normal duties as queen?

To Raox or anyone else who wants to answer, what is Scorch's specialty, and how is it doing these days?
>>
No. 130851 ID: 465a14

>>130848
>Raox, what inspired you to campaign for rogue rights? Was it spurred by a personal decision, or a hive-wide one?
Answered before, iirc- Raox brought up the issue at a meeting one day. The others thanked him for volunteering and then it was his job.
>>
No. 130852 ID: b1b4f3

Mittens: any luck restoring your corrupted cycle with the full power of the Ring Shell rather than the indirect power of a glitcher?
>>
No. 130854 ID: 2d5e36

>>130851
His original answer >>93274 implies his choice was a bit more active than that, and Kark calls him a "bleeding heart" -- it's curious why he cares in the first place and why he hasn't quit, especially when not a single other ultraqueen appears willing to address the issue without humans twisting their arm.
>>
No. 130959 ID: 85dd90

To Hok: How much of a gamer are you, and how good are you by miklik standards?
>>
No. 131344 ID: e5e15e
File 157271080848.png - (743.84KB , 800x800 , Zoya & Nora ITQ.png )
131344

>oi, Silverstream, what's business like and how do you prevent yourselves getting used for money laundering and the like?
No clue, boyo. Honestly! People yell at me about ‘conflicts of interest’ and ‘ethics violations’ if I even look at a Silverstream™ business sideways. If my Hive aren’t being mopey pieces of shit I assume everything is good. Nora! Tell them how y'all work!

>"The Silverstream Conglomerate is highly successful, even considering the ludicr- the fair, market value price Mother charges us to use her likeness. Our goals are focused on long-term growth and the cultivation of sustainable, steady profits, along with a strong community ties and a pleasant corporate persona. Our banking branch is relatively new but has tapped into underserved communities to carve an important social and financial niche with which to bolster its overall portfolio.”

>“We pride ourselves on running one of the most benevolent and above-board operations on Astreneus V. To keep ourselves honest we have several techniques from independent review boards to rigid ethics guidelines. When violations do occur, we correct them swiftly and the perpetrators are prosecuted thoroughly, in a very transparent process. It is our continuing-"

My kids don’t do anything shady because they know if they do, I’ll catch them. And if they’re stealing from the Tree, that means they’re stealing from me. The consequences for that are dire.
>>
No. 131424 ID: c59ec7

Somewhat related to the question of hive vs. individual culpability for crimes: If a queen committed a major crime, like something on the level of treason, war crimes, or an attempted coup, and they faced trial, what would happen to their hive in the aftermath? How much is a hive considered on the hook for their queen's actions, if the queen is the heart of the hive and reflects/directs its will? Is "the hive made me do it" a valid legal defense? Or does it work the other way around, can followers claim they were bamboozled by the queen's influence?
>>
No. 131426 ID: c59ec7

And sorry for the double post, someone can say if this has been answered before: Is Raox Coalition or Tree? I interpreted his "All the other ultras are queens" to mean only the ultras in the Tree, but did he mean all ultras period?
>>
No. 131436 ID: e5e15e

Raox is Tree. I don't think any Coalition Ultraqueens or kings have appeared or been directly commented on.
>>
No. 131779 ID: 57bb13

Question to any Neumono or expert on Neumono biology:

What frequency range does Neumono empathy inhabit? And if not measurable in hertz, what sort of wave does it constitute?
>>
No. 131813 ID: 0e24f3

Any Neumono: can you guys whistle?
>>
No. 131839 ID: 3a3c64

Moi, what kind of Neumono are you? Snow, Jungle, Redgrass, Archipelago? We know Likol had Jungle roots, but others from your hive (Ramella, Korli) seem to be something else and all the Salikai intervention means there was likely some mixing of things.
>>
No. 131929 ID: 9dfd12

To anyone knowledgeable: What is the rank of Tower Knight Veiza? Is he a Grand Knight too?
>>
No. 132119 ID: 08e220

To anybody: What's the neumono home planet's name?

To Polo and Rokoa: If you two switched places, for instance, Polo had the Eternal Smile, and Rokoa had the Unyielding Mind, how do you think your fight would've turned out? And do you think your hives would've changed as well, or stayed the same?

To Ramella: What do you think a clone of you and Polo would look like?
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No. 132120 ID: 465a14

>>132119
The planet's name is Astreneus V.
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No. 132121 ID: 08e220

>>132120
Thanks
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No. 132135 ID: 7fd899
132135

Construct Lily. You said you knew hoe to fight with a sword. Are you as skilled as Feb is or as skilled as the original Lily?
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No. 132141 ID: e2f5cc

All of these questions are directed towards the inhabitants of Fen Quest and can be answered by really anyone qualified/with an amusing quip to say unless it's obviously for a specific person.

Firstly, what is the continent you all live on called? What about the world as a whole?

What, at least roughly, are all the ranks in the Empire's army? We only know about blood, tower, and helm knights, but if those were the only three types they'd probably have more synergistic names, and how does one get knighted through means other than murdering real good?

What is the average life like in the north for people who don't want to enter the army? Like, what's the day to day of someone living in a break town, a regular town, or a city? Are are any people just kinda living out in the sticks?

What's the state of birth control? Since sex is probably the only solace a layman has in the empire and that Kobolds were explicitly stated to be easily knocked up, I imagine that contraceptives would be a lucrative business for those with enough sense to realize that kids cost money.

What are the other races in this world, standard fantasy fare but with enough attention towards kobolds you're mildly worried your GM wants to fuck one?

How is it seen when a married individual has sexual partners other than their significant other when separated for long periods, like in the army?

Oceanic Kobolds: Why do you exist? To be ugly?

Cave Kobolds: Show your faces, I know Sir Orjin is a cave 'bold but I don't think that man should be used as a reference for normalcy in any sense.

Southerners; show yourselves as well. Let me see why your kobold variants are better than the north's and why your nation is better than the empire.

Holly, how does it feel to have gone from bumming around army bases to basically being a spy master while living your dream and most likely making enough money to have a wizard regrow your leg just because you talked to some chucklefuck on the street?

Aira, What exactly were some of the strange assumptions people made when you told them you were asexual? I assume that not having any bits down there was a common one, but I'm sure you wouldn't have shied away from talking about this if that were the only thing.

Also to Aira: What exactly do you mean when you say you're Asexual? I know you aren't fully opposed to sexual acts since you said you could still enjoy them, but like, do you not really get horny? Only get horny super rarely/for certain people? Do you still have a preference for boys or girls, even if only in terms of romantic partners? And on the same line of thinking, would you only be willing to have sex with someone you love, more as a way of displaying just much you feel for them?
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No. 132215 ID: 08e220

Oh, something I forgot.

To any scientist: What would happen if a neumono was born, and kept away from any hive, or neumono in general, and stayed like that for many years, would meeting a new neumono and their empathy effect them in any way? Or even meeting a hive?

And what about the opposite? What if a neumono who has been with a hive all their life, and agreed to something like this, kept away from any other neumono empathy, and they stayed away for... let's say 5 years, would that effect them? Would they slowly turn mad from no longer having any neumono and their near them?

Thank you for listening.
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No. 132236 ID: ca4acd

>>132135
This is a very interesting question. I'm not the author but I can't help thinking about it.

Given what has been said of the spell I think construct Lily's fighting skill would be based on Fen's but filtered by his perception of the late lord Rasyan, Fen's only example of a noble fighting (which would shape his expectation of how a noble fights).
Since Fen has seen Rasyan fight for a couple minutes at best, she wouldn't actually fight like him, but it's possible to Fen's eyes it would be undistinguishable.
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No. 132254 ID: e2f5cc

I just realized I forgot the most important question: How do field kobolds like being pet or scritched?
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No. 132765 ID: 015bf2

Judgementor, how’d you get so good at energy finesse and the training thereof?
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No. 133722 ID: bf2d51

To anyone who’s eaten it:

What does Neumono meat taste like?
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No. 136241 ID: b72032

>>127145
To Cheese: Just how common are food-based names in Erja Nokol? Is it just people from your orphanage? All orphans? Or is it more widespread than that?
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