JimThermic's Project List

[JimThermic]

Not all senses are created equal. Eyesight is far and away our most useful sense. You can make up for lack of echolocation with a flashlight, but you can't really make up for lack of sight with anything, which is why you see deaf people claiming they're an "alternate lifestyle" but blind people not so much. This is less like not having echolocation and more like not having ESP. Oh, and everyone else has it and they've structured civilization around people having it.

If you don't wanna write it because it'd come out all sappy, that's fine. It's not like the game goes out of its way to make us think about the issue, since the question of uplifting the vanae is never raised. This just isn't a good justification.

I don't want to write it because I think it's unnecessary, on top of being a metric fuckton of work. I'm the king of sap, and not just the tree kind. Sap is so my jam, I spread it on toast.

And yes, eyesight is a human's most useful sense. But it's not necessary to survive. There are animal species who survive without it, particularly deep water species where light doesn't reach, the sort that vanae are based on. Plus, they're pretty much 'Daredevil, the Species'.

 

[Noob Salad]

I'm a sucker for girls with pretty eyelashes, particularly the natural eye-shadow vanae girls have.

M-Muh makeup fetish!

 

[Decanter]

I'm the king of sap, and not just the tree kind. Sap is so my jam, I spread it on toast.

I know man, you're almost as bad as that guy who wrote Bess and then followed it up with Embry.

 

[JimThermic]

I know man, you're almost as bad as that guy who wrote Bess and then followed it up with Embry.

And I hear Neiri's just as bad. :/

Spoiler

"Anyway, so why would someone like you come here in a </i>sar--stahr--starship<i>, anyway? Was it the oela fruits? Probably the oela fruits," she remarks, playing with the leftover peelings. "... T-that, and one cute maiden huntress you felt was missing from your life, right?"

// Right

You wholeheartedly agree and Neiri furiously blushes. She even goes so far as to grab her burning cheeks. Is she swooning? "... Ooh! I was just joking, but you totally went with it. Now I'm feeling all giddy and speechless!"

The young vanae stands up and sneaks over to your part of the tree, though, and plants her pink butt down right next to you. She then grabs your hand, and entwines her fingers with your own, at least as best she can.

"... Um, I just kind of wanted to do this. Just keep talking like normal, okay--?" She insists. Her and your hand are interlocked and on her lap. It's pretty cute how she's trying to innocently get closer to you.

 

[Svelliphore]

Not all senses are created equal. Eyesight is far and away our most useful sense. You can make up for lack of echolocation with a flashlight, but you can't really make up for lack of sight with anything, which is why you see deaf people claiming they're an "alternate lifestyle" but blind people not so much. This is less like not having echolocation and more like not having ESP. Oh, and everyone else has it and they've structured civilization around people having it.

If you don't wanna write it because it'd come out all sappy, that's fine. It's not like the game goes out of its way to make us think about the issue, since the question of uplifting the vanae is never raised. This just isn't a good justification.

I think the reason deaf people have a more distinct culture than blind people has more to do with language and communication; culture and language often go together, and for most deaf-but-sighted people, it's easier to communicate with a sign language than with a spoken language. Blind-but-hearing people don't have this level of a communication barrier. 

Whether the Vanae can see or not seems completely irrelevant from what I've read. Like Jim said, they're hardly suffering. And they basically seem to act in a way indistinguishable from how they would if they could see anyways. Didn't Jim even write a part where one of them recognizes colors in the story he did a while back? (I think that was actually a mistake, but it still supports my point.) It might be unrealistic, but it's fiction and not reality.

As for eyesight being the most useful human sense: there's a lot of other senses that seem to me more important for survival, but they're very basic and there are few people who lack them. Sense of pain, sense of touch, sense of temperature, sense of balance, etc. 

 

[Fisto]

Well I've been mulling it over for like a day now, couldn't put my finger on why I disliked Embry and Bess a little, I mean don't get me wrong their great but, I think the main aspect that turns me off is the fact that if PC ever did receive a bad end, Bess states she would throw herself out the airlock, and as for Embry well I don't know, But i'm thinking too deep into a fetish game for my own good.

 

[JimThermic]

I think the main aspect that turns me off is the fact that if PC ever did receive a bad end, Bess states she would throw herself out the airlock, and as for Embry well I don't know, But i'm thinking too deep into a fetish game for my own good.

I'm not sure where that happens. For the first third of the plot, bad ends only lock her as being a sex-bot. For the second third, if you bad end it, she heads to Tavros station and you can pick her up any time. It's only when you've gone through 20+ scenes that if you decide to bad end it, she dramatically leaves forever. Which is really what happens when you get into a relationship with someone that deep, raising them up to sentience, nurturing their heart, only to shatter it into a million pieces. (E.g. You have to say 'I love you' and then pretty much take it back). Aside from actually flushing her out the airlock at the start, there's no air-locking. I think she mentions when you're her lover that if Steele dies first in 300 years time, she'd deactivate herself rather than go on living, but that's about it. As for Embry, she just cries a lot and then gets cold.

But you're free to not like my characters. I don't expect everyone to, by any means.

 

[Couch]

It's also plausible the vanae can see, but not very well.  It might be they can detect color very well, which would explain their markings as a sort of visual fingerprint, but have uselessly murky vision when it comes to shapes.  Under this theory a vanae to another vanae is a vague blob of their marking color, but they can detect the subtle variances in that color to tell one apart from another.

 

[Noob Salad]

Neiri?

"You don't even need a spear to disarm a girl, do you?"

Best line.

 

[Fisto]

 I think she mentions when you're her lover that if Steele dies first in 300 years time, she'd deactivate herself rather than go on living,

I thought she said something like "If you didn't come back to the ship one day, I don't know what i'd do, probably go rogue and throw myself out the airlock"

Spoiler

still love em' tho

 

[EmperorG]

It's also plausible the vanae can see, but not very well.  It might be they can detect color very well, which would explain their markings as a sort of visual fingerprint, but have uselessly murky vision when it comes to shapes.  Under this theory a vanae to another vanae is a vague blob of their marking color, but they can detect the subtle variances in that color to tell one apart from another.

Well bats which most people think are blind actually do have some limited eyesight, so it wouldn't surprise me if the Vanae can see slightly, just imagine them like having instead of 20/20 vision, 200/200 vision.

 

[easykiln]

It appears you wrote all my favourite TITS scenes. Good Job. Can't wait for more Vanae.

 

[JimThermic]

It's also plausible the vanae can see, but not very well.  It might be they can detect color very well, which would explain their markings as a sort of visual fingerprint, but have uselessly murky vision when it comes to shapes.  Under this theory a vanae to another vanae is a vague blob of their marking color, but they can detect the subtle variances in that color to tell one apart from another.

That's not a bad idea, and solves a lot of the problems associated with them knowing each other's colors. That said, I can't see a way to write that in retroactively. :/  

Neiri?

"You don't even need a spear to disarm a girl, do you?"

Best line.

It appears you wrote all my favourite TITS scenes. Good Job. Can't wait for more Vanae.

(*≧∀≦)ゞ

 

[StarcraftJunkie]

Well bats which most people think are blind actually do have some limited eyesight, so it wouldn't surprise me if the Vanae can see slightly, just imagine them like having instead of 20/20 vision, 200/200 vision.

That's not how vision measurement works.

20/20 vision means that someone sees something at 20 feet as well as the average, healthy standard for human vision sees something at 20 feet. So 200/200 vision would be healthy human vision too.

That's not a bad idea, and solves a lot of the problems associated with them knowing each other's colors. That said, I can't see a way to write that in retroactively. :/  

Of the stuff that's currently in the game, the only thing it really seems like you'd need to change would be the codex. I'm not aware of any indepth analysis of what a Vanae's seeing from their perspective.

I have no idea what you've put in the completed but not implemented material, though. I can't imagine that you've spent too much time talking about them being blind - at least not specifically enough that "well, they're blind but they can kinda see colors" would mean you have to find and change every single reference to their eyesight.

 

[Decanter]

Maybe their pigments taste slightly different. How do you feel about about tentagirls tonguing each other, Jim?

 

[Karretch]

That's not a bad idea, and solves a lot of the problems associated with them knowing each other's colors. That said, I can't see a way to write that in retroactively. :/  

There's also their chameleon ability. Kinda hard to blend colors when you can't see.

Of the stuff that's currently in the game, the only thing it really seems like you'd need to change would be the codex. I'm not aware of any indepth analysis of what a Vanae's seeing from their perspective.

But as SCJunkie says there's nothing except the codex that says such outright. But just like everyone believes bats are literally blind this could be the codex's fault only because of limited knowledge. Not like many people if any have actually talked to them.

 

[JimThermic]

Maybe their pigments taste slightly different. How do you feel about about tentagirls tonguing each other, Jim?

You have to work hard to stop those girls licking each other. 

There's also their chameleon ability. Kinda hard to blend colors when you can't see.

I try not to think on this particular point too hard. >_>

 

[StarcraftJunkie]

I try not to think on this particular point too hard. >_>

This made me look up stuff on octopuses (not octopi, apparently) and how their color changing works and whether it's sight dependent. Apparently the answer from the scientific community is "we think so, but they're colorblind too, so we're not really sure how it all works"

 

[EmperorG]

That's not how vision measurement works.

20/20 vision means that someone sees something at 20 feet as well as the average, healthy standard for human vision sees something at 20 feet. So 200/200 vision would be healthy human vision too.

Alright then 20/200 vision then, point is they can see colors but not much else other than that.

 

[Tenacious_Tiddy]

Check your privilege, Terran scum. 

Geez how long has it been since I've heard that phrase? Still, made me laugh.

I'm not sure where that happens. For the first third of the plot, bad ends only lock her as being a sex-bot. For the second third, if you bad end it, she heads to Tavros station and you can pick her up any time. It's only when you've gone through 20+ scenes that if you decide to bad end it, she dramatically leaves forever. Which is really what happens when you get into a relationship with someone that deep, raising them up to sentience, nurturing their heart, only to shatter it into a million pieces. (E.g. You have to say 'I love you' and then pretty much take it back). Aside from actually flushing her out the airlock at the start, there's no air-locking. I think she mentions when you're her lover that if Steele dies first in 300 years time, she'd deactivate herself rather than go on living, but that's about it. As for Embry, she just cries a lot and then gets cold.
But you're free to not like my characters. I don't expect everyone to, by any means.

And wait whaaeeert?! Is this already implemented? If so i really, REAAAALLLY, need to be spending more time bess/ben! Hell for that matter Embry.

I don't want to write it because I think it's unnecessary, on top of being a metric fuckton of work. I'm the king of sap, and not just the tree kind. Sap is so my jam, I spread it on toast.

And this is why Embry is one of my Favorite characters, ever since i found out she likes to write and is sappy to boot, plus the fact that she as a character appeals to my genderswap fetish, and i got to be there for her as she *coughs* "grew" into the lady she is on my main male game... I'm still actually considering monogamy for her on that file alone! By the way, any chance of a Embry impregnation later? Might be a silly question but you know what they say about assumeing...

 

[Nik_van_Rijn]

And this is why Embry is one of my Favorite characters, ever since i found out she likes to write and is sappy to boot, plus the fact that she as a character appeals to my genderswap fetish, and i got to be there for her as she *coughs* "grew" into the lady she is on my main male game... I'm still actually considering monogamy for her on that file alone! By the way, any chance of a Embry impregnation later? Might be a silly question but you know what they say about assuming...

If you still haven't done it, check this out and rejoice! There will be a lot more of Embry, it seems.

 

[easykiln]

So many bad ideas trying to ruin the vanae in this thread....

And in all probability they can smell a corresponding hormone released with marking colour. I mean I assume the marking has some sort of biological meaning to vanae. Idk why they might refer to it by colour though, perhaps just because that's what outsiders call it. Actually, your codex is probably just translating it.

EDIT: Also when Briha has my children I want to be able to convince her that she needs to try to have a fresh start on life with them. Tell her there is a place on Tavros for her, she doesn't have to abandon her children to do right by them.

 

[Karretch]

Also when Briha has my children I want to be able to convince her that she needs to try to have a fresh start on life with them. Tell her there is a place on Tavros for her, she doesn't have to abandon her children to do right by them.

I've thought the same, so too of other Myrellion characters. So many want off the rock but they can't.

 

[JimThermic]

EDIT: Also when Briha has my children I want to be able to convince her that she needs to try to have a fresh start on life with them. Tell her there is a place on Tavros for her, she doesn't have to abandon her children to do right by them.

That's part of the plan, and why I'm writing the Tavros Residential Floor. Gotta have somewhere to put all those folks you pick up or kick off the ship.

I'm hoping to write an option to take Briha and Lys and have them live there. There's a lot of potential opportunity for the idea, IMO. It'd also be hella sweet if you had two pregnant waifus raising kids together amicably as neighbours. >_> Not that... this appeals to my personal breeder fantasies or anything.

 

[easykiln]

I am glad we are on the same page on this! Go breeding. 

I am surprised they are both fertile though? If it was known they wouldn't be put on the front, right? Taking Lys would be great but I can't take her from her wife without a good excuse...

 

[Karretch]

I am glad we are on the same page on this! Go breeding. 

I am surprised they are both fertile though? If it was known they wouldn't be put on the front, right? Taking Lys would be great but I can't take her from her wife without a good excuse...

No. Lys isn't fertile (so far?) and is also not a wife. She's the other deserter in No Myr Land. Jim meant Briha and Embry.

 

[Noob Salad]

>_> Not that... this appeals to my personal breeder fantasies or anything.

Oh. It does to mine, though.

 

[easykiln]

No he didn't. Lys is a widow who stays in the wastes to stay close to her old home where she feels closer to her wife. Embry is a proper waifu and doesn't need the secondary status of staying in Tavros, although I guess she will stay there if you boot her for some reason. 

 

[Karretch]

No he didn't. Lys is a widow who stays in the wastes to stay close to her old home where she feels closer to her wife. Embry is a proper waifu and doesn't need the secondary status of staying in Tavros, although I guess she will stay there if you boot her for some reason. 

I concede I was wrong about Lys, forgot that part about her. However, it's very heavily inferred he means Embry, since the whole reason for writing the living quarters is for her when Fen said no babies on ship.

 

[Taboo-Sho]

Didn't ya say on the old forums you where thinking of making it so that Xanthe could knock the player up? Or is that planned? Or am I being stupid and my incarnation into this forum made be forget shit.