Would you date fantasy "demihumans" or sci-fi races

[golentan]

I've been wearing human bodies for 8000 years. Chiefly due to the lack of availability of any acceptable substitute. Sure I've gone native a bit(okay, a lot), but only enough that I wouldn't really feel comfortable going back. I'm very good at faking human, but I doubt that I'll ever really get there. If it twere to happen, twould have happened many ages ago. At this point I'm just holding out for the opportunity to design my own body in a few decades to centuries.

[Kalmageddon]

Ok, sorry I misunderstood.

[SiuiS]

Ok, sorry I misunderstood.

This was the most polite response I've seen outside of outright complicity. Thank you.

[golentan]

This was the most polite response I've seen outside of outright complicity. Thank you.

It's okay to tell me I'm being crazy, as long as you're nice about it, you know. I know I'm being crazy, it's just not always worth the effort to not be. *shrug*

[Dexam]

Not necessarily. I wear human flesh, and it does influence my mind in many unnerving ways, but I'm still not human.

Yeah, and I'm saying it doesn't work in the one direction, why should it work in the other?

Well, if that's all that is bothering you, minds are even more malleable than flesh. Once again, with the appropriately advanced magic and/or technology, I'm sure we could make you...



... change your mind.

[SiuiS]

It's okay to tell me I'm being crazy, as long as you're nice about it, you know. I know I'm being crazy, it's just not always worth the effort to not be. *shrug*

Oh, I didn't mean that in any way against you, not even by degrees. I was just expecting outright hostility. Understanding was a pleasant change. :)
I may or may not register you as an ancient alien self-incarnating being rather than a human with troubles. >_>"

Well, if that's all that is bothering you, minds are even more malleable than flesh. Once again, with the appropriately advanced magic and/or technology, I'm sure we could make you...



... change your mind.

Dork~

[Dexam]

Dork~

And proud of it.

[NoseFeratu]

While we're on the topic of body surfing, does anyone have any Xenogears fan theories to throw around?

[GloatingSwine]

While we're on the topic of body surfing, does anyone have any Xenogears fan theories to throw around?

I think the wackiest Xenogears fan theory I've ever heard is that the game wasn't catastrophically over schedule and budget and that the second disc was actually supposed to be like that....

(There's actually not a lot of room for confabulation in Xenogears given the amount of detail in Perfect Works)

[goto124]

I think we need to ask ourselves if we'd rather date the bitchy "subjectively cute elf" over the extremely kind and interesting orc for "looks reasons" could just be me though.

I would make friends with the orc. Dating might be a problem just for the superfical reason of 'looks' though...

[NoseFeratu]

It would make sense as to why Disc 1 was better... Still, my favorite is the one that says that Krelian IS Deus, rather than just a semi-immortal human. It seems to have a few holes, though.

[NoseFeratu]

I would make friends with the orc. Dating might be a problem just for the superfical reason of 'looks' though...

I don't see the problem. Scars are really cute (especially if I inflicted them) and the little fangs are to die for.

[Starwulf]

I don't see the problem. Scars are really cute (especially if I inflicted them) and the little fangs are to die for.

They are green(usually), they have tusks(not little fangs), and their faces generally resemble that of a bulldog that got punched one to many times.

[SiuiS]

They are green(usually), they have tusks(not little fangs), and their faces generally resemble that of a bulldog that got punched one to many times.

Spoiler: Depends on the Orc.

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I'd get hit by that.

[Starwulf]

Spoiler: Depends on the Orc.

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I'd get hit by that.

lol, there will always be an exception to the rule, but the green skin still would stop me, and that's not even considering the tattoo which is an instant "nope" for me.

[themaque]

but the green skin still would stop me,.

It wouldn't stop Kirk, why let it stop you? :-) Then again... what WOULD stop Kirk? maybe not the best role model there.

[GloatingSwine]

It wouldn't stop Kirk, why let it stop you? :-) Then again... what WOULD stop Kirk? maybe not the best role model there.

If you live your life by the motto "What Would Kirk Do?" you'll go places in life. Admittedly you'd better be handy with a double handed hammer punch for some of those places, but y'know. Places.

It would make sense as to why Disc 1 was better... Still, my favorite is the one that says that Krelian IS Deus, rather than just a semi-immortal human. It seems to have a few holes, though.

The main hole among them being that he didn't exist before 500 years ago, and narratively the role of the being which guides Deus to reconstruction is Miang not Krelian.

[Coidzor]

I don't see the problem. Scars are really cute (especially if I inflicted them) and the little fangs are to die for.

How are you not aware that your fetish isn't widely shared?

[SiuiS]

Scars? Are you kidding me? Scars are hawtness, and that's definitely not a rare fetish.

Tusks, yeah. Different story. Just enough mocking Dominic Deegan art to make me blanch at the thought.

[Starwulf]

Scars? Are you kidding me? Scars are hawtness, and that's definitely not a rare fetish.

Tusks, yeah. Different story. Just enough mocking Dominic Deegan art to make me blanch at the thought.

I may be wrong, but I've viewed the term "Fetish" as implying it's not something that is commonly accepted/widely enjoyed, which automatically makes anyone who has a fetish as being in the minority. I think it would be strange/wrong to believe that most of the people on this forum have a fetish, therefore Coidzor saying not many people are going to share that view is technically correct.

[SiuiS]

I may be wrong, but I've viewed the term "Fetish" as implying it's not something that is commonly accepted/widely enjoyed, which automatically makes anyone who has a fetish as being in the minority. I think it would be strange/wrong to believe that most of the people on this forum have a fetish, therefore Coidzor saying not many people are going to share that view is technically correct.

I avoided saying 'it's not a fetish' mostly for semantic parsimony, but that was the point.

And given what fetish actually means, I think I can guarantee 99% of this forum has one. Because it covers everything from 'I like blondes' to 'my day is just not complete unless I've pumped some iron'.

[Starwulf]

I avoided saying 'it's not a fetish' mostly for semantic parsimony, but that was the point.

And given what fetish actually means, I think I can guarantee 99% of this forum has one. Because it covers everything from 'I like blondes' to 'my day is just not complete unless I've pumped some iron'.

If you want to get technical, yes everyone has a "fetish", but I tend to ascribe a different definition to it, one that I imagine many people do as well, be it consciously or subconsciously, of "A fetish is something that your average person would be a bit disturbed over/think is kinda weird, usually along the lines of feet, really kinky toys, dominatrix style stuff, etc". And I would firmly place "Enjoys the sight/feel of scars" into "fetish" territory.

[Spanish_Paladin]

Spoiler: Depends on the Orc.

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I'd get hit by that.

Oh wow... i usually like elves or humans as a love interest in fantasy... but well... i can open my mind

[Lentrax]

If you want to get technical, yes everyone has a "fetish", but I tend to ascribe a different definition to it, one that I imagine many people do as well, be it consciously or subconsciously, of "A fetish is something that your average person would be a bit disturbed over/think is kinda weird, usually along the lines of feet, really kinky toys, dominatrix style stuff, etc". And I would firmly place "Enjoys the sight/feel of scars" into "fetish" territory.

It's probably a lot more common than one might think. After all, with 6 billion currently alive people on the planet, and the fact that more people are joining us daily, it is hardly bound to what one may define as rare or unique. In fact, it would be truly hard to even define "rare"

[warty goblin]

It's probably a lot more common than one might think. After all, with 6 billion currently alive people on the planet, and the fact that more people are joining us daily, it is hardly bound to what one may define as rare or unique. In fact, it would be truly hard to even define "rare"

Rare is easy to define: (# of people who are into this)/(total number of people), then compare to the overall distribution of ratios of people into various things to number of people, and there you go.

[SiuiS]

If you want to get technical, yes everyone has a "fetish", but I tend to ascribe a different definition to it, one that I imagine many people do as well, be it consciously or subconsciously, of "A fetish is something that your average person would be a bit disturbed over/think is kinda weird, usually along the lines of feet, really kinky toys, dominatrix style stuff, etc". And I would firmly place "Enjoys the sight/feel of scars" into "fetish" territory.

That's true. It's colloquial use is different than it's normal use (normal being chosen for lack of other nonloaded terms). This puts me at an impasse though, because this is a neat conversation but I'm not sure it's worth going into? The end result is this use of fetish is, simply, bigotry; "sure we all have our kinks, but those kinks are waaay worse, amirite? Let's ignore our differences and shun those people".

So I'm stuck, do I have a conversation that is very interesting and fun but also a bit controversial or do I just say "cool, that's fine" and walk away? I know you don't really dig those "SJW conversations".

Oh wow... i usually like elves or humans as a love interest in fantasy... but well... i can open my mind

Beauty is. Facet of character. What makes this chick so hot is, mostly, the inteligence and focus apparent in her drive.


Also, her hot bod. Yee~haw~

Rare is easy to define: (# of people who are into this)/(total number of people), then compare to the overall distribution of ratios of people into various things to number of people, and there you go.

Yeah, but that gives you faulty end data that is then extrapolated as legitimate and end-all. How rare something is or isn't in the entire human population is noise that crowds out the signal. Rarity should be a factor of smaller populations so that it retains relevancy to causal and noncausal factors. So it can be meaningful.

That is, basically, one equation among many that means little without context. Although I admit on reread that is covered implicitly in how you said that, which is my faux pas.

[NoseFeratu]

Scars aren't a weird fetish at all. Every person I've dated has some, and if they don't, I give some (with permission, of course). It links to s&m in part, but also just something attractive by itself.

Also, what if Orc hair is really soft?

[Coidzor]

It's probably a lot more common than one might think. After all, with 6 billion currently alive people on the planet, and the fact that more people are joining us daily, it is hardly bound to what one may define as rare or unique. In fact, it would be truly hard to even define "rare"

Relative frequency is a lot easier to grasp than you're making it out to be.

Spoiler: For example

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0.1% of the population of Earth is a large number, but it's still 0.1% of the population.

~7,125,000,000 vs. ~7,125,000; using Google's numbers for 2013.

I'm not going to entertain notions that the majority of the population secretly fantasizes about cutting and scarring their lovers without some reason to believe so other than people coming to the "defense" of someone who had the fact that their fetish is non-ubiquitous pointed out to them when they showed that they don't seem to appreciate that others have different tastes than their own.

[warty goblin]

Yeah, but that gives you faulty end data that is then extrapolated as legitimate and end-all. How rare something is or isn't in the entire human population is noise that crowds out the signal. Rarity should be a factor of smaller populations so that it retains relevancy to causal and noncausal factors. So it can be meaningful.

That is, basically, one equation among many that means little without context. Although I admit on reread that is covered implicitly in how you said that, which is my faux pas.

Sure, that's just marginal versus conditional, which basically comes down to what sort of question a person is asking in the first place. Now generally it seems to me that 'is behavior X rare in people' is marginal across all people, in which case I had the correct definition and reference distribution. It's perfectly valid to ask if X is common among geographic, cultural or other subgroup Y, which changes the denominator and therefore shifts the reference distribution to the incidence of behavior conditional on membership in group Y.

The more interesting part is that the conditionals don't tell you much if anything about the marginal,and vice versa. This is a fact that trips people up endlessly.

[Coidzor]

Scars aren't a weird fetish at all.

I didn't say anything about the weirdness of it as a fetish.

I pointed out that it's a fetish when you seemed surprised that someone else didn't share your fetish.

Every person I've dated has some, and if they don't, I give some (with permission, of course).

Your having dated people with scars doesn't really say anything, especially when you're an avowed scar fetishist and have implied you derive some kind of thrill or pleasure from giving your lovers scars.

It links to s&m in part, but also just something attractive by itself.

To people who like scars, yes, that was never disputed.

Do you have anything to suggest that it goes beyond being a fetish, such that those who don't share your fetish should find scars attractive when they don't?

Also, what if Orc hair is really soft?

Well, considering that orcs don't actually exist in a way that we could test this, strictly speaking, and effigies of them would be entirely dependent upon the preference and materials available to whoever made such simulacra, we can't say.

If we want to get transhuman about it, then the softness of orc hair would, again, depend upon the people who wanted to become orcmorphs and the people who would design said orcmorphs.