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OOC [OoC] Miharu Discussion thread

I'm a little awash in work, but a drive-by: I can see the benefit of a trade-off between propulsion and shielding, but one necessitates the other. Propulsion that can take an armor outside into space or beyond a planet's atmosphere probably requires shielding to survive the trip. Maybe the propulsion pack can have a navigational-only shield, one that doesn't absorb much damage but allows safe space travel?
 
Ah shit, I also forgot they don't have hearts.

One thing I notice with the NH is that it got more player friendly and less game breaking as the years passed. The overpoweredness is pushed gently to the side, viewed with a sort of cumulative community embarassment, and quietly downplayed or forgotten. It's a clear OOC reaction to the community becomming so large and the drive going towards more making sense than not.

Which is, more or less, fine by me.

In any case, going to continue to remain as true to eretta as possible while maintaining believability, I guess?
 
Question: Phasing?

The ghost misshu phase, and they've been around long enough I'm sure someone has a theory on how to create a power armor that can do the same thing.

And I never really minded teleporting.
 
Tickling? Um... no. ^_^;

There are some traits from the nekovalkyrja like the 4 incisors instead of 8, the eyes that can adapt visual spectrums, the furred mobile ears, the four fingers/toes, the generally oriental cast to their features and the colored streak over their backbone that represents their SPINE interface that set them out in a tasteful "I'm not human" fashion.

The lack of fingernails on the latest neko is stretching it. I really don't buy the rationale, which was to not damage the HS inserts when inside a power armor (which would probably insta-regenerate anyways). Fingernails are just too useful otherwise. But I've worked my way into thinking that the tips of their fingers was bony enough to achieve most of anything a fingernail could do for a human. I never got the 'tacky' part seeing how usual skin-oil (or saliva - whenever someone licks their finger to then have an easier time turning a book's page) would've achieved that well enough already.

Having skinprints (or ridges in the skin of your fingers) is also a pretty important part of skin traction. Despite the merit behind nekos not being 'identifiable' by skinprint (which kills the use of forensic experts/detectives - assuming a neko intruder/murderer wouldn't have been smart enough to wear gloves), I really don't see the usefulness of not having skin ridges on the hands and feet (especially considering the smoothness of floors in starships - like, say, in a power armor bay).

The lack of skin oil and sweat is also counter-productive.

Skin oil is important - it gives us water permeability while still allowing our skin to breathe (what happens to your fingers after you stay in a bath for too long shows the job skin oil does for you). Skin oil also contributes in your skin staying soft. Skin oil buildup does bring up complications, but where the nekovalkyrja body could shine is simply in regards to regulating the degree of skinoil present over a select portion of the skin.

Sweat helps your body cool. Basically, the process of moisture getting on your skin and then evaporating releases a lot of body heat. Our bodies don't sweat for fun, they sweat because we need them to. The bad part of sweating is the odor, and I figure that if we wanted the nekos 'improved' someplace, it'd be in the lack-of-stink department.

Right now, the lack of heart - besides the semi-amusing possibility of accusing a nasty neko that she's heartless, which will be literal - implies, from what I've heard in the past, that each and every vein in a neko's body can sort of behave like a worm/intestine by undulating and forcing blow to keep flowing through the body.

Can you imagine what sort of quivering mess that would make a neko look like? The only real use I can find for this is the lack of heart pump to damage... but that in itself isn't an immunity to death from torso wounds: the lungs are just as vulnerable. In a way it'd make more sense to have a redundant cardiovascular system than making it entirely absent in favor of something that doubtfully would be spread over the whole body.

This also brings up the question of what happens with the space vacated by a missing heart? Hearts take considerable internal real-estate in a human's body - even if nekos are diminutive, the absence of it would be hard to replace with something else.

Besides all the opinionated observations above, there's also the loss of a wealth of emotes. "She sweated nervously, waiting for his target to pass into the ambush point", "Her heart hammered in her chest as she ran in pursuit", "She remained very still, her heart pounding so hard in her ears that she feared it would betray her to those she was hiding from", etcetera.

Actually, I'm willing to bet that half our playerbase actually do believe that nekos have hearts and that they do sweat, and that they'll keep emoting that until someone whom knows 'better' slaps them on the hand for it, probably coaxing out a dubious "really?". It's one of the thing I'm wondering if a retcon would be possible, rather than the creation of a wholly new nekovalkyrja type.

Sometimes, making something too nice or advanced under the excuse of making it better is not always a good idea.

* * *

I post tomorrow. Hopefully, Aendri will have posted before I do. If not, tough luck for Kyou.
 
Phasing is a splendid gimmick for antagonists, but a bad one for players to be 'manageable' under a Game Master's purview.

I'm getting very dubious about the propulsion pack if it implies shielding (any sort) to be trans-atmospheric. Especially considering the Mindy never had any of that. Plus, there's the issue of shuttle usefulness.

Then again, comparing to the Mindy is a bit unfair. I know overshooting the mark (like the Mindy) rather than hitting it just right (like what I usually try to do) means the Mindy will always look more powerful by comparison. Then again, this isn't a competition: I'm just trying to design a suit that will suit my players and GMs of similar style to mine well.

...I'm still torn up about the issue regarding how a power armor can be boarded and if something more efficient than the current setup (as I elaborated in my previous post) could be possible.

Another question I've been pondering on, mostly due to some of Blas' obvious preferences: giving the power armor nekomachina-like autonomy. That, however, begs the question of why go and wear a power armor when you can stay safely behind and let it fight for you. ~_~;
 
What if the Armor had a 'kickstand' or tripod that keeps the suit upright and stable without the need of a frame. It could be just part of the suit itself and it keeps things locked in place to allow the pilot to board it.

Phasing is a great power but not for Armors and protagonists. Maybe a rarely used plot gimmick for protagonists but its not very conducive for character use. That said though I still love phasing. I just never plan on ever having it, ha ha ha.

Automated power armors were supposed to be highly limited. A few remote tricks like floating it to move somewhere really does not seem like much to me. If anything its like a safety feature for incapacitated pilots. It can also be limited to command elements to have the necessary permission. But an Armor without a pilot, conscious or otherwise, should not be very combat capable. Unless I'm forgetting something, I think the most I ever wrote was to have a suit pick something up and clumsily float along. There's independent robotic AIs doing things and then there's a suit that requires a living pilot. AIES is already helping the pilot to aim and shoot. A basic safety protocol like remote slaving the suit to do minor actions when the pilot is incapacitated does not seem over the top. Keep it limited to that with some player discretion and I don't see how it can be abused.

To give a Power Armor full range independence like a nekomachina pretty much just makes it an autonomous robot. Its not a Power Armor anymore.

Oh hey, the SQUIRE system you mentioned previously, what if the way it functions is it has a collapsible rail system emerging from the back that goes half around the suit like a cloak/wing. Okay you command the SQUIRE to give you a weapon and a rail deploys around the weapon arm from the back. The rail also engages a barrier to help defend while the user is mid-weapon. The weapon gets shuttled out via magnetic rail, the pilot reaches out and deposits the weapon on the rail, the weapon gets magnetized or whatever and racked while the new weapon gets passed to the pilot's hand. With the new weapon in hand the rail then quickly collapses into the back of the suit and the pilot continues to fight. Depending on which hand the pilot uses the rail system could emerge from either side and arm either hand. All of this would require a lot of high speed movement for efficiency so it would have to be very fast.

Or if not the aforementioned, what about a pinpoint magnetic system that deploys from the back and travels along the body of the Armor. The pinpoint magnet can carry weapons from the storage rack to the users hand. It can also take the previous weapon and then store it away. Its not as much 'rack' like but its a thought.
 
I think by eliminating sweat the writer meant to eliminate body odor.

Hmm the image of pulsing veins while disturbing does sound kind of cool. Maybe the veins pulse in very minute movements. Very minute. If all the veins do it then maybe they don't need to make big pulsing motions like a heart does. But it does make more sense to have redundant cardiovascular systems like multiple hearts or maybe a system of small heart 'waypoints' that allow the blood to continue flowing if even 60% are damaged.

Maybe the lack of hearts makes room for the gravity manipulation guts?
 
Now that Yukari is feeling more Neko, she'll actually USE the dang eye thing.

Fingernails also can be used during torture. Peel them off and such.

This I agree with.

This I'm not as sure about.

NH-7 didn't need to sweat because they had cooling vents. By the time NH-17 did enough hard work that most (fit) people would be sweating, they would be out of energy and collapse.

Now, with NH-29, it could be said they don't need to sweat because they don't generate the same kind of heat inside their bodies. After all, they're nanomachine constructs; the machines could produce microscopic vents of steam across the entire surface of the Neko's skin, instead of drops of water and chemicals via glands. If produced across the entire surface, it would not require the big drops of water and other solubles.

Neko, as well, might pant. It's unknown, but they could. Big steamy clouds puffing in front of a Neko's face as she lets her tongue loll out and her incisors are showing ... bweh heh heh.

While this might be a little unpleasant to think about ... Neko blood is hemosynthetic fluid, which is an organic nanomachine material.

What if the blood moves itself?

The veins and arteries could help it along, guide it to necessary places, reroute or close off damaged areas and such, sure. But theoretically the blood could flow all by itself. It's not just a dumb fluid; it's nanomachines. Thus, the Neko's body could be built to compensate for any such vibrating or pulsing of veins, arteries or the blood itself. And it's the blood that keeps the Neko alive, not the muscles around it.

That's why you would avoid the redundancy — if the blood isn't properly working anymore, there's no point in pumping it to needed areas.

The lungs are vulnerable to damage, but many times the heart is a one-shot kill. The lungs are not.

Only if it required replacement. What if the Neko has larger lungs? Maybe it has a redundant "brain?" Because the blood is so important, maybe it has a second liver or another pair of kidneys?

All we're doing, in the end, is speculating on the anatomy of a Neko, which no one knows anything about.

It's one of the thing I'm wondering if a retcon would be possible, rather than the creation of a wholly new nekovalkyrja type.

Sometimes, making something too nice or advanced under the excuse of making it better is not always a good idea.
I would prefer explaining the current NH-29 — give it an actual anatomy! There's no need for a retcon if we can explain things in a sensible fashion.
 
Kokuten said:

Thanks Kokuten. I missed that.

If Aendri can't manage a post by the time I get home after overtime, I'll keep things non-lethal.

Doshii said:
What if the blood moves itself?

I just pictured miniature white and red blood cell tadpoles.

Imagining veins being filled with blood cell-spermatazoid equivalents is pretty wierd, though. On the other hand, figuring how hemosynthetic fluids are suppose to help speed healing greatly, it might actually hint things your way - making the cells involved more modile and 'skilled' to achieve tasks.
 
Neko, as well, might pant. It's unknown, but they could. Big steamy clouds puffing in front of a Neko's face as she lets her tongue loll out and her incisors are showing ... bweh heh heh.

I am so using this.
 
I think you're severely underestimating the importance of sweating for the human body. Not to mention the NH-29s certainly don't have vents. Lemme quote Wikipedia:


I can see how panting would make it more dog-like/cat-like, but nekos aren't covered in fur like those animals. It just doesn't make sense to me to have the yamataians have a perfectly good perspiration system, and deny the nekovalkyrja that - especially considering most new-to-not-so-new players will still assume they can sweat.

As for the absence of heart, and how the heart can be offed with a single hit, I can't deny it's true. But many inner-rib cavity wounds are often fatal to nekos anyways.
 
Depends on the severity of the wound.

I read that page, too. I'm not saying Neko have vents: I'm saying the nanomachines themselves could perspire. It's the difference between a microscopic puff of steam that could be seen by an infrared scanner and perhaps even detected by someone in the know, and human sweat, which forms big beads or coagulates skin oil.
 
I find that flimsy justification to have nekos not sweat like the yamataians can. It doesn't make the nekovalkyrja an improvement on what nature made, especially considering they should have 'strong metabolism' - that's part of it.

I also went "nano-sized puffs of steam WTF?!" there XD Steam equals water-past-boiling point. That strikes me as 'very bad'.

Anyhow, those are just justifications to an end. Doshii, do you mean to say you prefer your nekos without any sweat at all enough to stick with an excuse that try to make it have sense? Heck,even the anime 'sweat drop' would require the capacity to sweat in the first place (super huge sweat pores that would have them pour over hair, even).

I mean, you can have your sweating and your panting too. Each are not mutually exclusive - together they end up doing a better job.

I know if Kotori ever gets genetic manipulation to optimize her signaler body, sweating will probably come with it. In hindsight, she needs it kind of badly.
 
If any Neko needed it, it's Kotori.

I am coming up with possible ideas as to why Neko don't do it know, or at least not visibly. I didn't say the ideas were good. *grins*

When handling firearms, sweat sucks. That alone is enough of a reason for a Neko to not sweat from their palms. Also, avoiding getting sweat in the eyes is a good thing, too. Maybe Neko sweat only in specific places (such as the feet) with panting making up the difference?
 
Well, that's what I referred to when I said the nekos could be more efficient about sweating - beyond making perspiration odorless. Simply don't sweat where it's not convenient. That sort of body control is probably where the neko would improve on the human.

You just wait: one day, one neko will have the crazy idea to adapt her sweat to smell like perfume. She gets to go on a date, be really nervous about it, and smell like wildflowers for her trouble. =P
 
Doshii, Fred, you are both madmen and geniuses! Sweat pants~ Also, perfume sweat would be rather nice for real life, no?
 
These ideas both are officially stolen or set to be stolen. Utterly brilliant as all hell.

Lord knows I could do with sweating cologne after a workout.
 
Feel free to enjoy the ideas, though I invite you to pay more attention to the in-character post I just made.

Someone wants to make mishhu babies with Yukari. I think it's time to express Yukari's disagreement by not staying there.
 
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