Where Children Sleep

I found a fascinating photo essay: Where Children Sleep Around The World. Take a look at the pictures.

It made me think: What are beds like for different people in the SARPiverse? What are beds like in Yamatai? Nepleslia? Iroma?

I remember back in the day, Nekovalkyrja tended to sleep in twos or threes in a nest. Now there's mostly bunkbeds on Star Army of Yamatai ships. It might not be bad for us to inject a little more cultural uniqueness into our factions. What do you guys think?

Well the Poku Degonjo Saeruo (Hidden Sun Clan)'s main beds found on ships and other facilities are detailed in the wiki.

As for Yamatai, I liked the concept of the Neko Nests and kind of hated to see them not being implemented on newer ships.

I was thinking that Yamatai did have 'traditional beds' and that they were the most common on ships. Nests have never quite jivved with me, though I was considering trying to get over it as they're supposed to be... neko-like? Another thing I was wondering about when trying to make ships more communal was to take an approach not unlike inn rooms with multiple futons which struck me as more 'japanese' and, well, communal.

Futons definitely would feel more 'Yamataian', but in ships where space is limited, bunk beds provide more sleep space per square foot of floor. After all depending ceiling height you could have up to three bunks in the same space.

Yamatai is contradictory and extravagant in ways that defeat common sense. It may just be a prestige thing, but Nozomi scouts have had palatial hallways with chandeliers and paintings. Plumeria gunships have wardrooms with marble floors and have their captains sleep right over the Effing-Huge-Death-Ray.

I'm sure if they want to use futons, they'll make an excuse for it. Besides, in a room with bunkbeds, you could just make people sleep on the walls and ceiling with different gravity plating. If you want more efficient than that... you forego the concept of cabin/bedroom and jump to cellbeds.

Now that I've written this, though, I don't really see much point in the futon, however 'culturally' appropriate. The reason? The purpose of the futon: a bed that can be unmade and stored away so that you can use your living space differently.

Now, how often do we roleplay in our bedroom/cabins in SARP? How much do we do things in them?

Infrequently. It's not really encouraged in our plots. Outside of intimate relationships, GMs encourage PCs mingling. Ship rooms aren't like shared apartments: with no bathroom and kitchen, they're not place you're supposed to live in moreso to just stop for the night and then leave at the beginning of the very next day.

So, there's no point in the futon. Heck, it's been proven overtime there's little point in cabin space unless you want to people to be intimate. With that in consideration, cellbeds would be a lot more efficient.

The question from there is to ask ourselves how our characters are meant to live on those ships. At the end of the day are we actually just tucked away in compact cellbeds? Is home, when applied to ships, a concept of the broader ship itself - or does it also count in exclusive living space and privacy afforded to each of its members to be comfortable? How much does KFY care about the comfort of the people crewing the ships they make?

KFY: ships made by nekos, for nekos. It's one of their creeds. That probably matters a lot. But what does that mean, exactly?

Actually crew cabins can be used for character interaction besides intimate ones. This has happened numerous times on the Aeon.

Even if in other plots the cabins are not used much, it helps to create a mental image, a perception of how the crew are treated. Having a cabin verses just having a cell that they crawl into provokes totally different mental impressions.

Yamatai has a range of cabins these days including the Standard Star Army Infantry Squad Cabin

But I think this may be straying from the subject, because it is not just what kind of sleeping arrangements beds vs futons vs nests vs hammocks, its more about the entire faction. What kind of beds do the civilians have as well as the miltiary

The ISC Phoenix has a notable pair of beds.

In Luca's Sargasso apartment, there's the bed Luca sleeps in, which is a matty old thing. Occasionally, he wakes up and finds bullets that have been stuck in him ejected from his body and in the sheets from previous firefights. The one that he uses while he's on the Crimson Kestrel is subject to similar abuse.

There's also the Couch that his daughter, Vita sleeps on. It isn't one couch, the mantle tends to pass from couch to couch as more and more creative ways to be destroyed are beset upon the couch, including but not limited to gunshots, fire, explosion, defenestration or contamination. The couches have come (and gone) in a variety of colours and styles. On the Kestrel, she sleeps on a futon in Luca's room.

Meanwhile, I remember Osaka telling me that the lorath civilians sleep in something called a Pit. Its kind of like a concave shaped bed where lots of light blankets and pillows are left on in a pile, and you cover/bury yourself in as much as you want for hot or cold nights. Snuggle up with a friend too: the times you'll have will be a luxury when you're on a lonely ship in the middle of nowhere and everywhere else is another bunkbed.

I don't think a Pit is good for your back, but you won't really mind after the first few hundred perception altering substances.

Nashoba said:

But I think this may be straying from the subject, because it is not just what kind of sleeping arrangements beds vs futons vs nests vs hammocks, its more about the entire faction. What kind of beds do the civilians have as well as the military

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Definitely. In most factions the military accommodations are well known but the civilian ones could use more detail. And the military accommodations should generally stem from the civilians ones, not the other way around (except perhaps in Yamatai, with such a huge population of veterans). For Yamatai, American/European style beds seem to appear most in the RP, but we could always switch it up to gradually give the faction a more cyberpunk-futurism feel, the same way I want to try to include more futuristic goods like cloned meat, algae-made stuff, and insect "micro-livestock." This is the far future and it's important for immersion to have it feel that way. I posted this topic to get GMs, FMs, and players to think on how we can do that.

Also, it's okay to talk about the real-life side of this article too. There's a lot of poverty in the real world and I think while technology has gone a long way in making life better for the people of Yamatai, for example, there's probably a lot of places in the SARPiverse that are more like Urtullan, where people are barely scraping by on the frontiers and have beds like the pictured places.

you forego the concept of cabin/bedroom and jump to cellbeds.

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Cell beds (capsule hotel style) might be a good idea for future ships, especially infantry ones. In theory you could have them also be stasis chambers. Maybe the player-characters are in an active squad and their NPC help is in stasis ready to be activated when things get heavy.

But what does that mean, exactly?

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Nekos as a race and as a subculture of Yamatai (which is itself still finding its own culture) are still developing. A few years ago, I think nekos certainly had more of a distinct flavor to them which stemmed from them being promiscuous naive slave-weapon-girls who wore next to nothing and did everything together. Now there is more independence (in many senses of the word) for soldiers in the Star Army and that Nekovalkyrja culture has faded in favor of values that are more based on the players IRL values. At least that's what I feel. I'm not saying it's wrong, it's just how it is. Should we work against that to make them more unique/alien? And should other factions do the same?

You probably can't please everyone, but you can likely attempt to put that meta-knowledge in the minds of the nekos designing KFY ships.

A neko designing things for neko could take into account:

• Early starts where the neko is created and doesn't exactly know how to harness her own identity, meaning that purpose is the driving force in her life.
  
  Arguably, this is the stage where the bunks are the most appropriate. They wouldn't know what to do of their independence/privacy so placing them in an environment where they would not have much that would be superflous avoids the 'empty cabin' syndrome as well as places them in frequent contact with other nekos.

• A point where the nekovalkyrja develops more in maturity and becomes comfortable with some of her sisters could be the point where the nest bed might feel more appropriate.
  
  I've also been thinking that nest beds probably aren't good to be shared with nekos in different workshifts. It's one thing to be all piled up in the same space, and nother to be sleeping and have some of your nestmates prepare for the day/need talk with each other while you're sleeping.

• With maturity comes independence. As much as some human children might enjoy sleeping with their parents, around adolescence they typically outgrow that yearning for closeness. I figure it can kind of be the same for the neko, whom eventually might just want to have their own space - especially if they got to know about humans and try to emulate them.
  
  That's where the single cabin comes in where the neko might have it to herself, or just share it with another person.

From there, we can likely surmise that the neko, as she grows, starts making her own decisions about her preferences. If she values the independence she's reached, she might very well go for more luxurious solitary quarters. That can work fairly well for both the neko whom values having her own personal space to nekos that are more reserved. That often comes with higher rank.

Other nekos could try to figure out what it is to be neko, and tie it to their beginnings, perhaps returning to their nests. Or, if they have quarters, switch their bed back to a nest pit to share with any other neko significant other.

...

So, I figure the KFY designers would have studied the issue. In a way, it's very much an age thing. Nekos go through transitions as new members first start playing them and figure them out for themselves in contrast to the subculture that's gradually been forming throughout the years.

Eventually, nekos find their own answers:
- Yui goes for big rooms and nest beds which is fairly prepared to be shared/
- Hanako goes for comfortably large quarters with a sizeable traditional bed, which she's been prone to amply sharing it in the past.
- Kotori likes large rooms because she's reserved and values her personal space. She uses traditional beds by habit, though her samurai upbringing might see her comfortable with tatami/futon. Going back to nests could be a possibility, but it feels awkward.
- Yukari idealized the human lifestyle over the neko one, and sought after it; so she's gone for traditional bed shared by her human partner.

Wes said:

What are beds like for different people in the SARPiverse? What are beds like in Yamatai? Nepleslia? Iroma?

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Vroom vroom!

@MoonMan: Haha.

@Fred: I think your analysis is really great. Though I suspect there's a lot of hammock-users in Yamatai, too!

Related: Tiny Hong Kong apartments

The Neshaten style of beds and their anesthetics of their rooms and hallways really depends on the Shipmaster or the fleets Admiral. A lot of Neshaten warships have luxurious looking cabins for the enlisted with the same feel and look for officers, only the Shipmasters and those of higher ranks really have better rooms.

This is mainly done out of the belief that the Enlisted should be treated no differently than officers, as the Enlisted tend to do more of the grunt work than officers.

The She'tan'ora doesn't reflect this style because its an early made vessel, but future Neshaten warships due this. Their hallways are extravagant to the point of making someone wonder if perhaps they are onboard a luxury cruise ship, of course, this is by Neshaten standards. Other factions might not see it that way.

Having plants that hang from the ceiling is something that is found on most stations and even on most warships, the planets pull double duty of not only serving as part of the life support system but also of adding a favorable 'scent' to areas.

Some ships likewise have animals roaming the corridors, either to hunt vermin or to serve as an early warning system in case of intruders.

That said, the Beds in general are very comfortable; but where they are located depends on the species. Daur don't like sleeping close to the ground, but Laibe and My'leke don't mind this.

anesthetics? they introduce sedatives in the rooms... think you meant aesthetics

Whoops! You're right, I completely botched that up =p

Wes said:

In most factions the military accommodations are well known but the civilian ones could use more detail.

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Well, I've finally done it! I made an article of micro-apartments common in Yamatai.

Also, while doing research for the article, I found another image-heavy article on some of the smallest/worst types of homes: cage and coffin homes, which are pretty shocking. I imagine they probably exist in places like Funky City and in some places like Urtullan.

If/when the Brolt are born, I actually imagine a lot of those images would depict most of their common/middle-class people's housing.

However, if we're talking about purely their kids? They sleep in dirt. Because Brolt children are planted mushrooms. Yeah. Dirt nap to a new meaning =_=

I imagine the Kudhacari live in tight, military bunks... that'd probably be fun. They're small so they fit in there properly, though...