What are the requirements to serve in the Nepleslian Military?

[Wes]

The Star Army of Yamatai lists its entry requirements on the the Star Army recruiting article. But there's currently not a Nepleslian equivalent. There was recently a case of a Yamataian Nekolkvalkyrja moving to Nepleslia and joining the NSMC, which got be thinking of what the entry requirements are. Nepleslian law, (The Expansion Act of YE 30) may prohibit Nekovalkyrja from being legal in Yamatai and the Nepleslian constitution itself has racist restrictions against Nekovalkyrja, prohibiting them from serving in the senate, as premier, and banning them from voting. So are they allowed? In the past RP, Tweak Three Seven had to conceal her identity as a Nekovalkyrja to serve in the Nepleslian military.

With that in mind, here's questions we need to answer.

1. What species are allowed?
2. Any species not allowed (e.g. Rixxikor)?
3. What sort of physical shape do you have to be in?
4. What sort of mental health and/or education requirements are there?
5. Do you have to be a citizen of Nepleslia?
6. What kind of things can cause the Nepleslian military to reject applicants?
   1. Can reds join?
   2. Criminals?

 

[Cowboy]

Ooo, good question. My first impression of Nep is "We're Nepleslia, we'll take anybody."

 

[Locked_0ut]

I mean for the criminal thing, I'd hope it's a case by case basis.

 

[Ametheliana]

Violetta watched as the Neko smile crept upon Yui's face and said, "Looking past the outcomes of our neighbors, I want to know about the outcomes you see between us. You spoke of an alliance. Is that what you see in our future?"

"The Empress wants Yamatai and Nepleslia to become brother and sister nations who always have each others' back," Yui said. "That sounds good to me."

This RP was from 2017 and other than some major battles having Nepleslian's last minute help, I don't see the RP since that drives a new understanding between the two.

Nepleslians and Yamataians have a very recent very shared past. Like Adam and Eve, one was born by splitting from another and like that story, they represent the sexes and the inherent differences between them only just through the lens of our setting. It's incredibly interesting to explore this clash of cultures rather than homogenize it. Their relationship is a very complex and narratively interesting one that isn't served by making one basically the other and vice versa.

To me this kind of goes beyond "do Neko serve?" because of course they don't. Nepleslians look at Nekovalkyrja differently, sometimes as the source of all bad that happens. No other species is as detested in Nepleslia as a Nekovalkyrja. Is that justified? Who cares, it's fun to write. My admiral noticed Yui's smile as different, as inherently Neko-like. She had to double down on what she wanted to know after Yui had felt glorified in removing the stubborn Nepleslian/ Lorath treaty. With that friction we have characters that have a more complicated dynamic that makes for more future stories. We didn't walk away from this RP drafting a treaty and having a hunky dory family, we walked away inspired for writing the sibling tension of two nation-states that inhabit two different sides of the same coin. From that RP I made a lot of wiki articles, put catgirls on a Nep ship as exchange officers having a hard time but persevering and inevitably needing to back up Yamatai in the Kuvexian war through it, and explored the distance between the two empires further in RP by writing Nepleslian FM news posts. That tension hasn't been furthered but left simmering and I don't think in canon Nepleslian characters have reason for new feelings towards Yamataians.

If we have a society described as a salad bowl -one that has many components that don't necessarily mix but co-exist- that suddenly acts like a melting pot for their sister nation, it strips not only the individuality of the nation but also the possibilities for them to fall, fail, or succeed in the sibling balance act. Saying Nepleslians love Neko means you're automatically writing a success when the complexities of fumbling, failing or just simply working hard at that before that success can be attained is both more realistic and more fun.

 

[Soban]

• What species are allowed?
• Any species not allowed (e.g. Rixxikor)?

So I think it's probably similar to Yamatai, but with a wildly different mix. Much fewer non-Nepleslians, a very much more of a 'masculine' culture, and fewer accomodations for things like Separa'Shan physiological differences. Nekos in the military proper are 'civilian' type Nekos. Whereas exchange officers probably have the military upgrades. I think Ame is right in some ways. We want them to be different. I think by having them deal with similar situations (same races) in different ways is a better option.

• What sort of physical shape do you have to be in?
• What sort of mental health and/or education requirements are there?

I think you would need to be quite a bit fitter than you would in Yamatai. That said, I think that they are probably on average fitter. They also encourage cybernetic upgrades a lot more. I think they probably care a bit less about the mental health and education aspects. If you can shoot a gun, you are probably good.

Do you have to be a citizen of Nepleslia?

I don't think you have to be, Military service is a fast track to naturalization in many countries. That said, they probably aren't like Yamatai in how they deal with it. I feel like Yamatai is fairly accepting of it's members who are not citizens. I think the Nepleslian perspective is perhaps a bit more on the 'prove yourself' side of things.

What kind of things can cause the Nepleslian military to reject applicants? Can reds join? Criminals?

I think they don't do a lot of rejecting off the cuff. I think as long as your crime wasn't too bad, you can probably join. Having killed someone probably isn't the same sort of impediment it would be in Yamatai. I think it would depend on the red. There are probably plenty of Reds that they would reject. On the other hand, there are a lot of Red who aren't terrorists. I think a comparison might be drawn to Ireland during the troubles. You had Irish in the Army, you also had Irish terrorists who attacked them.

--

Overall, I think that if Yamatai is symbolically female, Nepleslia is symbolically male. (I wouldn't be surprised if they called it the fatherland rather than the motherland.) There are big thematic differences between them, and their thematic contrasts are a pretty core part of the setting. I think a better approach to dealing with those differences is through how they deal with similar situations rather than them having different situations.