Approved Character Samantha Wong

[Spacebox]

Well, here's my first character, the Freelance Bounty Hunter Samantha "Sam" Wong, for Scot's BH plot.

Haven’t done a profile in a while and I feel like I skimped on the history and personality in places, I hope it all makes sense and isn't too cliché. The physical appearance is lacking too but I'm having trouble really getting in depth with her looks.

I really worry I may have given her too many weapons or overpowered her in some way. I'm totally good with dropping the throwing knives and switching the NAM M-5 PDW out for the Styrling Tactical Assault Rifle if the former is deemed unacceptable. She has been a Bounty Hunter for a while and has had most of her gear since going freelance, but if it is desired I can deduct the value of her weapons and whatnot from her starting 6000 DA. I could probably drop the Airbike too if necessary.

Hope everything looks alright.

 

[Doshii Jun]

Couple broad points:

1. "Han Chinese" doesn't really exist in the setting. Your character can still look and feel like a Chinese person, complete with last name, but since Earth is really a myth in the setting, if it even exists at all, using things like Han Chinese doesn't jive.

However, you're the first person (that I can recall in nearly five years on the site) to come up with a Chinese character, so I'm not sure what we'd call her.

The Nordic word for Chinese is "kinesiske", so that's one possibility. If you want a more Yamataian word, there's "sangokujin", which is a slur but quite possible in Yamatai. The neutral term, apparently, is "kakyō".

If you want to be safe, use "kakyō". You can link to this wiki article by way of explanation.

An exception can be Chinatown, as that word's meaning transcends ethnicity and describes a locale.

Second, and less important: The history you have is an enormous wall of text. While those details are important for you to hold onto, a summary for people checking your profile is best.

This isn't to discourage the history itself, which is great! But let those details out slowly, through RP, to give them more life and meaning. No character just meeting your character should know all of those things.

 

[Scot]

Well, I guess I'll give my suggestions on what we could do, however it probably be a few paragraphs long so I might just make the post elsewhere.

I do not see Chinese like characters to be Neps, there have been a few characters with Chinese like names however. Of course I say as Yamatai is all forms of asian much like Neps are most forms of western.

Going with Doshii's point, kakyō is approperiate but then need to know which body your in, Nep or Yamatain. As a Nep probably half Yamatain, while as a Yamatain you would be a subgroup of Yamatain's. Then there are of course the biological perks of either group.

Or we could try making a new subrace somehow on one of SARP's many obscure worlds.

 

[SentientRace]

Hm... well, it's been stated that there's a lot of racial union within Nepleslian planets. In the Nepleslian Culture articles, particularly this one, there is mention of there being no racism over skin tone or ethnicity. That must mean that there are a bunch of different human races within Nepleslian society. It's not far-fetched to think that there could be Chinese-descendant residences. While maybe they are similar to the Yamatai, they are different in that they are not perfect (genetically speaking), many of them may have cybernetic implants, and they don't speak Yamatai or are from Yamataian origins.

They're just humans with squinty eyes. Just because they're oriental doesn't mean they're instantly going to belong to Yamatai.

Also, a much more important point. Japanese =/= Chinese. To us they may seem very similar, but they're actually way different. That's like assuming the British are very similar to the French. They've both got different languages (to us they are much more different than Chinese may be to Japanese, but orientals might view us very similar), different customs, etc...


What I'm saying is I don't think any given ethnicity or culture should outright be placed in one Star Empire or the other based solely on that. It's even possible some Japanese human descendants live within Nepleslia, having extremely similar customs to the Yamatai and looking just like them, but considering themselves Nepleslians none-the-less.

It's not going to be common, obviously, but it can happen.


I suggest just not mentioning her actual culture and heritage, or that she practices it, but merely mentioning that she looks Chinese. For instance, Dimitri is clearly of Russian heritage, but a lot of the things from that distant past are forgotten, so his upbringing is probably entirely different to the upbringing of today's modern Russian family, and he doesn't even know Russian (though there may be some common Russian words included in his slang). Culture has drastically changed in the thousands of years that have passed-- specially language. Just because she is Chinese, does not mean that she has to know Mandarin Chinese. It's fine if there are some Chinese roots in her upbringing, such as the martial arts routines and discipline, etc... But specifics should be avoided.

Remember, if you're a Nepleslian, you're a Nepleslian first, and whatever subculture you are second. Nepleslia is your country, not China. China doesn't even exist anymore, nor does Earth. Your character has no idea what planet Earth even is, let alone China.

 

[Spacebox]

Hmm, well, this didn't turn out as bad as I thought it would, heh. Anyway, responding to Doshii first here. I do think stating a specific Chinese ethnicity, despite being the largest, currently, wasn't a good idea and I could probably just stick with "Chinese". Now, when I first started making Sam here, I checked around the site to see if a Chinese heritage was possible in the setting and came upon these two: Henry Chen (who makes a specific reference to Chinese communities on Nepleslia and speaks the language) and Leeroy ‘Lee’ Chang (who describes his Chinese ancestry and knowledge of the language as well). I'm not trying to lawyer you, I just want to show you where I drew from.

Based on these two, I don't think her ethnicity is too far fetched, but then, that is entirely up to you. As it is, I'd rather her not be Yamataian in any form and, given that both of the fellows above are originally Nepleslian, it seems to me that is where non-Yamataian Asiatic individuals could/would originate from.

Now, the history… yeah, I can break that down into a summary. I'm used to packing everything into a background from other sites. The mindset was "History needs everything major your character has done in it so you don't suddenly have your character telling everyone they wrestled a wild boar with their bare hands while blindfolded with no mention of it in the background." If… that makes sense. Basically kept people from pulling things out of the air, but I don't think that'll be a problem here, heh.

Scot, as I said, I'd prefer her not be Yamataian but, honestly, if you or Doshii want her changed I will definitely do it or drop her and go with my old cyborg concept instead. I am totally willing to change whatever is asked of me to make your plot awesome. I do not mind one bit, I want to make things easy for you guys and any other Profile Mods. Believe me, I've been a Character/Profile Mod in the past and I know it can be a tough job.

SentientRace, I totally agree with you on your points here, given it's been done in the past and the very "melting pot" nature of the society, I don't see what's wrong with Chinese Nepleslians, but I will heed any decision the Mods make without complaint, I'm just happy to be here on SARP.

I suggest just not mentioning her actual culture and heritage, or that she practices it, but merely mentioning that she looks Chinese. For instance, Dimitri is clearly of Russian heritage, but a lot of the things from that distant past are forgotten, so his upbringing is probably entirely different to the upbringing of today's modern Russian family, and he doesn't even know Russian (though there may be some common Russian words included in his slang). Culture has drastically changed in the thousands of years that have passed-- specially language. Just because she is Chinese, does not mean that she has to know Mandarin Chinese. It's fine if there are some Chinese roots in her upbringing, such as the martial arts routines and discipline, etc... But specifics should be avoided.

Remember, if you're a Nepleslian, you're a Nepleslian first, and whatever subculture you are second. Nepleslia is your country, not China. China doesn't even exist anymore, nor does Earth. Your character has no idea what planet Earth even is, let alone China.

I just saw this bit and I can totally work this angle if you guys like it. This seems to really work. If she’s mistaken for a Yamataian, she wouldn’t be insulted by not being recognized as Chinese, she’d be insulted by not being recognized as Nepleslian.

 

[Doshii Jun]

No problem, spacebox.

I like the idea of her being mistaken for Yamataian by Nepleslians who don't know any better. I'm sure that would happen, actually.

I also don't mind being lawyered! It's kinda fun. When it comes to Chang, notice that character was never approved for IC usage. Don't draw from anything that has that tag at the top of its page.

As for Chen ... whew. OK, you kinda got me there. Henry Chen is a legendary figure in Yamataian culture, and his player, Yangfan, is Chinese. Chen was created before we, as a community participating in this site, chose to really clamp down on Earth-based references, so Chen and his bio get a pass. I can tag it at the top stating as much.

In the end, going with kakyo or just plain Nepleslian is fine with me. Nepleslians do acknowledge differences in themselves, but in the end they're all Neppies, so I'm flexible on that score.

I've PM'd this to Nepleslian GMs so they can see it, too.

 

[Spacebox]

No problem, spacebox.

I like the idea of her being mistaken for Yamataian by Nepleslians who don't know any better. I'm sure that would happen, actually.

I also don't mind being lawyered! It's kinda fun. When it comes to Chang, notice that character was never approved for IC usage. Don't draw from anything that has that tag at the top of its page.

-Facepalm- Cannot believe I missed that tag! Ahh, well.

As for Chen ... whew. OK, you kinda got me there. Henry Chen is a legendary figure in Yamataian culture, and his player, Yangfan, is Chinese. Chen was created before we, as a community participating in this site, chose to really clamp down on Earth-based references, so Chen and his bio get a pass. I can tag it at the top stating as much.

Ahh, I gotcha.

In the end, going with kakyo or just plain Nepleslian is fine with me. Nepleslians do acknowledge differences in themselves, but in the end they're all Neppies, so I'm flexible on that score.

I've PM'd this to Nepleslian GMs so they can see it, too.

I am completely cool with going SentientRace's route and not making any ethnic refferences at all, she's just an asiatic Nep and that's it.

 

[MoonMan]

The Essential Moon Man here, one of Nepleslia's GMs.

Just like to pop in and confirm that, despite Yamatai giving off a big oriental feel while Nepleslia gives us that western flavor, Nepleslia actually has several 'types' of Nepleslians. I myself have a character that is latino, and also a an ID-SOL that has a bad Russian slur. With so many planets and different cultures in Nepleslian society, it's pretty easy to fit in while playing whatever tickles your fancy.

So, it is possible to have that Eastern character type and still not be Yamataian... although, most people who want to play Eastern-type characters are attracted to Yamatai first, so you can understand how you don't see many of them in the roleplay. As long as real-world stuff isn't mentioned in the roleplay (calling your characters accent russian, or a woman's features Chinese), it should work for us.

 

[Spacebox]

The Essential Moon Man here, one of Nepleslia's GMs.

Just like to pop in and confirm that, despite Yamatai giving off a big oriental feel while Nepleslia gives us that western flavor, Nepleslia actually has several 'types' of Nepleslians. I myself have a character that is latino, and also a an ID-SOL that has a bad Russian slur. With so many planets and different cultures in Nepleslian society, it's pretty easy to fit in while playing whatever tickles your fancy.

So, it is possible to have that Eastern character type and still not be Yamataian... although, most people who want to play Eastern-type characters are attracted to Yamatai first, so you can understand how you don't see many of them in the roleplay. As long as real-world stuff isn't mentioned in the roleplay (calling your characters accent russian, or a woman's features Chinese), it should work for us.

I really like the diversity, freedom and the grittiness you get with Nepleslia, seemed better to me for a Bounty Hunter than the YSE. Thanks for popping in and giving your opinion on the subject, Moon Man!

Anyhoo, I'm all done with my revisions, removed any and all references to Chinese anything and cut down the history to a third of its original size. I think I didn't chop out anything too important and it leaves out details that can be filled in through RP interactions. Hope it's easier on the eyes now, heh.

 

[Doshii Jun]

Anyone got a problem with Ms. Wong? I'm thinking she's ready to go.

 

[Spacebox]

Just popping in here to let everyone know I'm still around and patiently waiting. Been a bit busy lately, but I do make it a point to check by the site at least once a day.

 

[Doshii Jun]

This character is approved for IC usage.

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