Poor popular Polo. A terrible thing to happen to a ghost.

>>68712
While we're on the subject of silence, how could you tell Red's wasn't real?

>>68712
Yeah but there's always relatives and kids that love that uncle for being his crazy self. Do you have that at all back home, with at least one person?

>>68712
But that's... weird. Why would you gain a skill after losing a limb? Maybe the neural tissue was making it hard to focus on the right path before you lost it, or maybe that small dose of nanobots you got that one time cleared something out to make you easier to control and left you with some more efficiency in the brain while you were at it. Maybe Polo eating your leg gave you two some two-way cosmic neumono magic ansible connection and you gained some mental empathy tricksiness while she got anger issues. The dream you shared did seem strangely lucid compared to what Polo had said it would be like.

>>68711
>seeing what I have of ultrahives, it is a possibility now that I live in one
Will there be parties? Fancy media parties and cinema premieres and exclusive night clubs with big bouncers and art shows and fundraisers and red carpets lined with people while journalists ask questions and take photos and fashion e-magazines and tabloid news and suits and pretty dresses?

Will you wear pretty dresses, Polo??

>>68724
She's not suggesting the amputation gave her the skill. She's suggesting she had already figured the skill out at some point, but then forgot about it due to having a piece of her (distributed) brain lopped off.

>pretty dresses
...so help me, I really want to see high class gala Polo now.

Rokoa 2013/03/09(Sat)11:35 No. 68728 ID: c4e5c2
File 136285772223.png - (11.17KB , 700x700 , rokoaitq28.png )

>While we're on the subject of silence, how could you tell Red's wasn't real?
Lucky guess. Never saw one before that, but I know those bioarmors existed. Figured I'd run into one of those before Polo.

>Yeah but there's always relatives and kids that love that uncle for being his crazy self. Do you have that at all back home, with at least one person?
I am that person. Cept with a hive, there aren't many oddball kids who takes a liking to Rokoa. But usually we have a word for those crazy uncles. Rogues.

>Why would you gain a skill after losing a limb?
Next person has the right idea, I forgot I figured it out at some point. Plain memory loss via a torn off limb is the probable cause, but I'd be a fool to think it's impossible that there might not be some other mindfuck going on given the whole, you know, nature of the needle trick.

Polo 2013/03/09(Sat)11:36 No. 68729 ID: c4e5c2
File 136285776622.png - (8.50KB , 700x700 , poloitq38.png )

>Will there be parties? Will you wear pretty dresses, Polo??
Not if I can help it.

>>68729
Oh c'mon. We'll find you a dress you can hide a gun under. Being secretly deadly in plain sight is totally part of being a ghost.

And you're going to have to attend the opening of you movie, eventually. Not that it's even in the works yet from your perspective, or that action movie premiers are particularly high class. :V

>>68729

But parties, Polo! There'll be cake! And ice cream! And a band, playing music, and all the boys will want to dance with you!! You'll get makeup from proper makeup artists and a dress from a real fashion designer for rich people and you'll be so beautiful, Polo!!!

And the people who make cereal or sports drinks or night vision goggles will want your name on their brand and you'll get contracts and sponsors and people asking you what shampoo you use and native rights activists and invitations to shooting clubs and you'll have a bunch of money so you can buy a big house in the country with a view of the sea and have all your friends over and own lots of guns and a personal shooting range and a fancy car and get yourself a pony, Polo!! Two ponies!!!!

Or if ponies aren't your thing you can bring Three Stripes to live with you and you can find him a girlfriend and they can have babies and when people come to visit you can sit on his back with his family around you and you can say Yes I live here with a bunch of the single species specifically evolved to eat mine it is no big deal, and your visitors will be like damn, son and you will be a role model, Polo, and everyone will love you.

>and all the boys (and some of the girls) will want to dance with you!!
>be like damn, son girl
fixed that for you.

>>68729
I've never seen a Neumono in a dress, come to think of it. Do any Neumono wear them?

>>68735

Jessica during the fancy bar episode wore a dress.

Jessica 2013/03/09(Sat)17:45 No. 68740 ID: c4e5c2
File 136287995334.png - (14.15KB , 700x700 , JessicaITQ5.png )

>>68735
Yes.

>>68740

So are you the nicest dressed Neumono on the Asteroid or just a contender for it?

Nina 2013/03/09(Sat)19:52 No. 68750 ID: 25312f
File 136288754341.png - (91.61KB , 512x512 , ITQ2.png )

>>68368
What? No, no I couldn't!

>>68421
How rude!

You know, I'm really starting to wonder if you voices in my head really have my best interests at heart! First you want to see my knickers, and then you suggest that I'm old! I'll have you know that I'm 18.

>>68422
If Gran hadn't raised me to be a lady, I'd tell you to bugger off. But she did, so I won't.

Jessica 2013/03/09(Sat)22:29 No. 68770 ID: c4e5c2
File 136289694901.png - (12.84KB , 700x700 , JessicaITQ6.png )

>So are you the nicest dressed Neumono on the Asteroid or just a contender for it?
I might be! But a lot of those people in sector 2 are honestly all prim and proper, and probably have the money to spend on hand laced suits of the highest quality and shit like that. My other competition is all pirates, bounty hunters and nasty criminals. There'd be something really wrong if I was dressed worse then them.

>>68712

You're still my favorite crazy uncle (and a total badass).

>>68740
>>68770

I'd vote for you. You looked damn good in that dress. Damn good.

If sector 2 has all the rich people in it how the hell is it still standing? I would have thought that ever bandit group, gang, and maybe even some of the larger hitters like the Zuzu family would have taken it down at some point. How is it still standing, is it because they also have some heavy tech under there belt and can keep all the bandits away or is it because they just use there money to buy some really strong muscle or something else along those lines?

Kevros, Hans: Hey, a sequel happened. How do you feel about that?

>>68818
Pixel Adventure 1 heroes: the sequel takes place 500 years in the future. And heck your game lasted until the heat death of the universe. So I assume you all kicked the bucket in one way or another and ended up in Lizbeth's soul collection.

So how'd you all die? (Well, we know old age got Kev, and boredom did Liz in).

>>68770
pah I bet they don't even hold a candle to you.

also yeah sector 2 seems like a goldmine waiting to explode, personally I'm guessing they raise a private army?

Polo 2013/03/10(Sun)17:21 No. 68824 ID: c4e5c2
File 136296126919.png - (14.06KB , 700x700 , JessicaITQ7.png )

>If sector 2 has all the rich people in it how the hell is it still standing?
The majority of their wealth is in two different things. A standing army, and shitty novelty wealth, the latter which they think is actually valuable on a place like the asteroid, hence bolstering the first to make sure it's worth it for no one to try to steal. And you know the type of thing I mean by novelty wealthy. Name brand designer wardrobes, antiques, that kinds of stuff. They protect it like it's still got a market value according to a high class society just as much as their munitions and valuable materials. Without a way off the asteroid, there's no point for some pirate crew to take some 100 year old painting made by a dead guy with a fancy name. The only purchasers for that stuff here is sector two, so destroying and looting sector two would involve ruining the only way it would be worth it! Kind of funny.

There are thieves that go in independantly that try to steal off specific things and that is a big issue for sector two, but they are pretty safe from other factions from just wiping them off the map over a single night.

>I'd vote for you. You looked damn good in that dress. Damn good.
>pah I bet they don't even hold a candle to you.
Thanks, but it's not like I'd enter a beauty contest anyway.

>>68824
you should, I'm sure we'd all vote for you, and itcher should, won't you itcher? WONT YOU?

>>68825

It is at this point where I am wondering if Jess has attempted to seduce Itcher off-screen.

>>68824

An interesting question is raised.

To all neumono (or whichever one wants to answer): of all of you that we've seen, who most closely matches the "standard" neumono media ideal of physical attractiveness? And if empathy is a big factor, who among you has the most "base" empathic appeal, leaving aside modifiers from hive attunement and such?

TD 2013/03/11(Mon)00:38 No. 68843 ID: a00410
File 136298751835.png - (189.20KB , 1231x490 , polorokoajess.png )

>>68832
This should be interesting. Most of the Neumono to our eyes just kind of look generically cute. Humans and most other non-neumono species would probably have the issue of they all look alike. (Not a slight on them, humans probably look alike to neumono). Though the broad range in height and color do tend to counter act this.

Now neumono as said being cute (by human standard) have probably gathered some degree of Xeno-romantic interest. It still leave no clear idea for an outsider what they see as attractive though. So while Jess, I think you are a pretty lady, the main difference with you and other neumono in our eyes is a combination of familiarity and personality. Yes I think Jess is cuter than say Rakoa (scary and overly large) but Kappi is very attracted to her. On that note I'm not sure that I would consider Polo that attractive (On the how attractive I would find a Neumono Scale) I love the character, but on looks; she has a hard mean hungry look. Kind of sallow and very small. She also about the smallest busted female we have seen. And the species seems to average in the epic boobs range by human standards. But maybe Rokoa's size, or Polo's lean and hungry look are major physical attracters. Or dose it lean more toward Jess average size softer features and very nice curves.

Clues have indicated the Physical appearance is not completely irrelevant in their attraction.

Sorry that is just about the least flattering Polo pic.

>>68843
Okay, now I am officially shallow and a touch chauvinistic. My apologies the the feelings of the fictional female character for buying into a rating scale.

But if the question doesn't offend they rest of us dogs are probably drooling to hear the answer.

A least its not a poop question. I still can't believe those came up.

Um. Yeah, I have to say, I'm not really interested in asking characters to try and evaluate or justify their own level of attractiveness. Or trying to establish the neumono "scale" of prettiness. I'm not sure why'd you expect them to have any more a consistent metric than we do.

And while I'm sure physical stuff plays a role, you gotta remember this is a species with mind reading. They can feel what others think of and feel about them and sense what they're like on a fundamental level. That colors perception a hell lot.

And then there's meta-pressure on the selection process too, with hives selecting for certain qualities and pushing certain people to hook up.

Although I suppose for anyone growing up in a jammer city the experience might be more what we're used to.

>>68847 >>68843
uhhh itcher cleared some aspects up in one of the asteroid quests (I think not long before asteroid pubcrawl) & basically noted that cross-species relations can & do happen, tho there can be a basis of choice & local views, like if theres plenty of humans a human will have more chance of say dating another human but in say an asteroid outpost then it can be anything, and with the iews, some places have the whole strict "having relations with an alien is wrong!" view

Hans, ja? 2013/03/11(Mon)07:27 No. 68859 ID: b3ca75
File 136301207295.png - (1.44KB , 135x111 , EvilAlive.png )

>Kevros, Hans: Hey, a sequel happened. How do you feel about that?
To be honest, darling, I’m kind of disappointed, ja?
I send is this fabulous script called Pixel adventure 2: The wrath of Hans but they chose to ignore me!
Completely unfabulous, ja? Those darlings didn’t even hire me to help with the special effect either!
Those bite of the head and eat it scenes looks completely faked and unfabulous, ja? If I was there I would show those darling how you really bite someone head off…

>How’d you all die?
Apparently building a swimming pool and filling it with the blood of your enemies might not have been the most fabulous idea I ever had. Blood is quite a bit harder to swim in than water, ja?

[Kevros is unable to answer any questions at this moment because he is currently on the set of Pixel Adventure 2]

Graven the bitter. 2013/03/11(Mon)07:28 No. 68860 ID: b3ca75
File 136301210874.png - (1.52KB , 198x174 , EvilDead.png )

[Gravens soul has successfully been summoned!]
Why yes, dragging someone from the netherworld to answer a few questions is clearly a good idea.

>Pixel Adventure 1 heroes: the sequel takes place 500 years in the future.
What? That would have been impossible. I, myself, lived to the age of 742 and I never heard of any sequel. Why they even would do a sequel to that train wreck is beyond me.

>How’d you all die?
I was consumed alive by some pizza elementals when we accidently broke down the barrier between the dimensions. In retrospect loading a canon with enough magic to theoretically kill the gods so we should consume their corpses might not have been one of our best ideas.
As for the rest… let’s see… Kevros, Olof and Maggwen died of old age, Sonya got her head cut off by some black clad cultist, Helga was hanged for some theft and Hans apparently drowned in his pool or something. Can I go back to my eternal slumber now or do you guys want to keep me in this hell to ask a few more petty questions? Maybe I should do a little dance in my suffering for your amusement?

>I, myself, lived to the age of 742 and I never heard of any sequel.
Well, it's possible you just weren't anywhere close to where the events of the sequel took place (it is a big planet after all! Or universe. After all, we've got no hard proof this is actually taking place on the same planet). That, or the limited secondhand historical information we've been able to dig up so far in the new setting got their dates wrong.

>dance
You're a little short on legs for that.

>summoning me up to this hell
Hey, don't think of it as violating your eternal rest, think of it as one group of bodiless spirits dropping by to say hi to another.

>>68843

Oh come on, nobody cares about bust size. This is the future. We've gotten past such petty desires!

Those tiny ears though Polo, I just dunno... have you considered ear enlargement surgery?

Polo 2013/03/11(Mon)12:20 No. 68875 ID: c4e5c2
File 136302961485.png - (10.48KB , 700x700 , poloitq39.png )

>Those tiny ears though Polo, I just dunno... have you considered ear enlargement surgery?
No. I have come closer to getting ear reduction surgery, i.e., cutting them right off. The less hearing capacity for having small ears is not good, but what is even worse is having long, weighty, grabbable appendages trailing my head. I do not know how people like Rokoa like having ears that size. They are heavy, and about as tactically advantageous as having large breasts. I honestly am somewhat surprised Rokoa didn't cut them off for our duel. Both parts of the anatomy, I mean. Both sets of these fat containers are only good if faced with a long period of little or no food.

>Or if ponies aren't your thing you can bring Three Stripes to live with you and you can find him a girlfriend and they can have babies and when people come to visit you can sit on his back with his family around you and you can say Yes I live here with a bunch of the single species specifically evolved to eat mine it is no big deal, and your visitors will be like damn, son and you will be a role model, Polo, and everyone will love you.
I will consider this in what will feel like a lifetime from now.

Kappi 2013/03/11(Mon)12:20 No. 68876 ID: c4e5c2
File 136302965096.png - (8.31KB , 700x700 , KappiITQ11.png )

>To all neumono (or whichever one wants to answer): of all of you that we've seen, who most closely matches the "standard" neumono media ideal of physical attractiveness? And if empathy is a big factor, who among you has the most "base" empathic appeal, leaving aside modifiers from hive attunement and such?

Okay, uh, for hives, it's a complete cointoss. It kind of works out since their ideal standard just so happens to be their own physical standards, it's convenient like that.

For rogues, empathy isn't as important since it's kind of hard to bond anyway except when it... isn't. I mean, a rogue will probably latch on to anyone they can actually form a bond with at all, like me to Rokoa, but otherwise it would be similar to someone in a completely jammed city. And then, well, I guess there aren't any surprises, typically we like girls with motherly attributes, evolutionary attraction and all. Physically fit is important for both genders, to look like they can hold their own, but maybe that's sort of gone by the wayside? I don't know, it's kind of a cointoss if a neumono would find Rokoa or Jess to be more physically appealing.

Now, empathy still has some important, just not as much as in a hive, to rogues and jammer raised people outside of a jammer, but that really depends. Of course we'd like people constantly in a good and favorable mood, but someone who emanates intense happiness might not be as good if it's fragile, too, as in, if they're easily brought to be in a bad mood. Also, some neumono don't like to have personalities 'forced' on them, so an 'ideal' empathy signature might be happy with subattributes of being strong, stable, but not forceful. But then, some people might like a forceful mood on them to help them let their own empathy go by the wayside, and some might not want a 'stable' empathy because, well, someone who is constantly happy might get on the nerves.

>>68875
With all these analogies, I must wonder...
Are there 'support garments' for overly large Neumono ears?

since we seem to be on the topic of what is and isn't attractive for different species what's concerned attractive for the other races as well and I mean all of them. Miklik, Yich eater, Heef, Belenosain, salikai, and maybe humans as well if what is and isn't attractive has changed enough to be weird to us. I'm asking this to however wants to answer it

>>68875
I think we both know if Rokoa actually thought amputation would have brought her victory, she would have ripped the parts off with bare hands.

You're just enjoying a nice little violent fantasy. :V

...and for what it's worth, Pilon claims his oversized ears are good for stopping bullets.

>>68887
Sure! Karri wore straps on hers.

To Asteroidverse folks: What's the attitude towards clones, in general? And for each species, if there's significant differences.

Are clones considered full independent people with complete rights? Is there clone slavery? Are there people who have clones instead of children? Are there morally impaired people who make clones and experiment on them or harvest them for organs or do brain transplants or such? If someone is cloned without their knowledge, and finds out, do they typically act as if they had a child they didn't know about, a long-lost sibling, or do they generally not care that much?

Actually, this is interesting, so let's open the field to people from other sci-fi settings.

>>68875
Kinda makes me wonder why neumono military forces haven't adopted the practice of removing their troop's ears and capping the wounds so they don't grow back. It'd make sense to remove an appendage that could be grabbed or caught in something, especially if it'd improve hearing. Maybe even do the same to their tails as well.

Hey, you could start a trend of ear-less military neumono once you come "back from the dead." You'd have enough of a reputation that the army would listen to you on that matter. It'd at least make armor helmets a lot less complicated to accommodate all the different ear sizes.

Has to be some evolutionary reason for the big ears. Maybe they use them to battle for mates and such.

Maybe ears are a race thing? The difference between small ears/large ears/squared ears/round ears might have some sort of traditional value.

Well there do seem to be two "styles" of ears (flat and squared off, and round and poofy. I shall dub thee... flap-ears and sock-ears). And both come in a variety of sizes, though the flaps definitely trend smaller than socks.

It's probably just one of those funny binary genetic choices.

Graven the bitter. 2013/03/12(Tue)05:56 No. 68934 ID: b3ca75
File 136309296668.png - (1.55KB , 186x168 , Bitterness in lizard form.png )

> Well, it's possible you just weren't anywhere close to where the events of the sequel took place.
Last time you were active you changed the world quite radically so I don’t think being on another continent would stop me from hearing about it. It’s more likely that you have been misinformed about how much time has passed.
> Hey, don't think of it as violating your eternal rest, think of it as one group of bodiless spirits dropping by to say hi to another.
You remind me of that annoying neighbor I once had. He kept borrowing my wands without ever returning them and never wanted to leave when he came to visit. Luckily his home “accidently” became a crater after a while.
>dance? You're a little short on legs for that.
If I wasn't a little short on arms I would show you a nice hand gesture.

Maaan, you know, you were a lot less bitter the last time you died.

Whatever, head back down and go back to spirit-spooning Mags for all eternity. If you ever decide you'd rather be more active in your retirement, we're always recruiting here at the voices of the many (here, have a card). And as a former member yourself, the readmission process is a cinch.

Hey since the only one around longer then you is Lizbeth how and what was she doing the last time you saw her and what was the last thing you heard involving her?

Graven the bitter. 2013/03/12(Tue)08:06 No. 68947 ID: b3ca75
File 136310079245.png - (1.59KB , 186x177 , Dirty Lizard.png )

>Hey since the only one around longer then you is Lizbeth how and what was she doing the last time you saw her and what was the last thing you heard involving her?
She was trying to make a spell that would hasten the reincarnation process of a soul so it would only take 500 years for it to be reborn instead for a few thousands. Of course, she failed and accidently cast herself into an endless slumber instead. That’s why you don’t do magic without protection, kids.
>If you ever decide you'd rather be more active in your retirement, we're always recruiting.
The short answer is no. The long answer is noooooooooooooooooo!
>Maaan, you know, you were a lot less bitter the last time you died.
Well, last time I died I wasn’t forcefully pulled into an agonizing existence away from my sweet maggy in the middle of a pe- I mean socializing.
>Whatever, head back down and go back to spirit-spooning Mags for all eternity.
Yes… spooning… that’s exactly what I was doing…

Polo 2013/03/12(Tue)13:23 No. 68968 ID: c4e5c2
File 136311978075.png - (6.90KB , 545x555 , poloitq40.png )

>Are there 'support garments' for overly large Neumono ears?
The only things in wide use are either ear armor, or a simple strap to lock them together. The latter helps in that it keeps it closer to a single spot that has to be grabbed, and it is harder for the ears to get in front of the head. For instance, facing the enemy, leaping backwards. Unstrapped ears may be left to drift forward and each be open for a grab, strapped ears will only push lightly into the back, still well away from a charging opponent.

>To Asteroidverse folks: What's the attitude towards clones, in general? And for each species, if there's significant differences.
Cloning is legally done with permission. They are given as many rights to anyone else in their position, but their 'position' may be handed to them. For instance, there are cloned soldiers, and they are not typically given much of a chance to say otherwise. But other than that, that clone soldier has just as many rights and priveleges as any other soldier who willingly enlisted. Typically it is only humans and belenos that are cloned, not because they are the most simple, but simply because they've been the ones subject to the most research.

Criminal organizations have done cloning, no doubt with less than ethical treatment, but it is harder to speak of general treatment on that note.

>If someone is cloned without their knowledge, and finds out, do they typically act as if they had a child they didn't know about, a long-lost sibling, or do they generally not care that much?
From what I have heard, it is just weird. It is not that they 'don't care', but they don't suddenly feel an instant bonding with someone they never met that is just like them. There have been narcissistic people who will meet their clones and proceed to highly flatter each other, along with people blaming everything from practical jokes to felonys on 'their evildoing clone.' This is the exception, and cloning is not so widespread, and most clones are done on only one person for one purpose. In other words, recreational cloning is generally not allowed.

>Kinda makes me wonder why neumono military forces haven't adopted the practice of removing their troop's ears and capping the wounds so they don't grow back. It'd make sense to remove an appendage that could be grabbed or caught in something, especially if it'd improve hearing.
It wouldn't improve hearing. That is the downside of shortening the ears, it impairs hearing. It would worth it if the person had particularly long ears already, or if they were regularly in melee combat. Most fights are with firearms, in which hearing is more important than grappling defense.

Ear armor is still complex, but most have shuttersystems so that armor plates can be extended or brought back. There is not a one-size-fits-all for that, but engineers have gotten it to one size fits several, and ear pieces can be swapped and exchanged to different helmets of similar models.

>Has to be some evolutionary reason for the big ears. Maybe they use them to battle for mates and such.
Some find them attractive, but trying to battle with them would look and be stupid. They are used to detect wildlife that can kill neumono, and to offer a food source in times of starvation. Normally creatures would store their fat in more balanced areas such as the belly, but the difference with neumono is that it is not just survival of the fittest individual, it is survival of a hive. A neumono can cut off their ears to feed a hivemate. Cutting off a slab of thigh or stomach is not as readily done. In fact, the ear's connective tissue is weak just a bit below the base. If it's pulled on hard enough, it will likely rip cleanly off at that fracture line sooner than the base of the ear. That is still iffy, and most just use a knife.

>Maybe ears are a race thing?
It's lost its meaning after the races got together far more from alien contact. More aquatic friendly and temperate climate neumono tend to have the flat ears, while cold climate and underground ones tend to have rounded ears.

>>68968
Well that explains why Pilon gets so much action, and why the ladies like to chew on his ears. They must be naturally tasty!

Pilon, have you occasionally diced up parts of your ears in spices or fried them? Ever get a little experimental with them? Like dip them in olive oil, sprinkle a bunch of kosher salt not only for salting but also texture, then grill them?

What kind of clones are we talking anyways? Same genetics, but starting over as an infant? The aged up rapidly to catch up to the original variety? Memory copied over or no?

What about neumono attitudes towards cloning? I mean, the practice is anything but practical, but you're possibly the only species with a 'natural' way to do it. All you need is a knife, time, and sufficient medical care. That's a lot lower bar to clear, technologically, than anyone else.

This thread is beyond a thousand posts now.

Time for a new ITQ thread?