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| My Planned Novel; my take on alien transplantation | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 28 2011, 01:43 AM (1,326 Views) | |
| Canis Lupis | Mar 1 2011, 05:02 PM Post #16 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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To be honest, it's really just an idea I've been tossing around. I want to make a humanoid that can pass off as a human, but I don't want it to be humanesque either. If you have any ideas (and that means anyone) for the aliens, toss them out. Nothing is set in stone at this point.
You make a good point Singe. Hmmm...something to definitely think about. I'd like for his friends to help in the battle in order to show that they accept him no matter what he is. So if you guys have any ideas how to solve this plothole, let me know. |
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| T.Neo | Mar 1 2011, 06:33 PM Post #17 |
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Translunar injection: TLI
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Well, if you want the alien to fit into some sort of human suit, it is going to be tough to design them to be convincingly nonhuman. The easiest would probably handwave and talk about some sort of molecular recombobularizatination into a human. It's not realistic, but it probably fits the story best. Of course, the most realistic way to masquerade as a human is to use... an Avatar! Ok, so as to how realistic creating your very own brain-dead meat-puppet and then perfectly controlling it over a distance is 'up for debate', but it is far more plausible than genetic retransmogrification and (probably) more convincing, in-story wise, than some sort of suit. Also leaves an interesting interpretation for "having your human form destroyed', but of course means the story has to deal with 'having two bodies'. One alternative would be some sort of extremely realistic android that a (physically smaller than human) Servain could fit into and operate, with seamless sensory integration VR technology (essentially, an android avatar that you sit inside of). This does however, mean that the Servain would have to be considerably smaller than humans. Of course, another interesting study would be to see how many different animals could convincingly fit in the human form, and then be able to extrapolate their bauplan from there. Of course, that would be pretty tricky. Another alternative would be to make them squishy and really limber (like a humanoid octopus, able to contort their body shape somewhat, able to make themselves fit in a human 'suit', but 'solid' enough to live on land effectively). Since there is a lot of variation in the human form, these human-disguised Servain could share a particular trait, like for example being tall and lanky, or short and stocky, whichever fits their bauplan best. Also, the issue of where they get their identity/who they impersonate would have to be addressed... they could potentially base their physical looks off famous, rich or influential people, but those from times past (because presumably a lot of them have only travelled to Earth in the past), which could lead to some very funny references... The female's attraction would have to be based on mental and emotional (rather than physical) cues, since her having a physical attraction to a 'human' is about as plausible as the protagonist having a physical attraction to a human. She would see- almost instantly- that he is an alien, by the way he acts, the way he talks, the way he thinks, and she can relate to him easily because that's maybe what she felt when she first came to Earth. Edited by T.Neo, Mar 1 2011, 06:33 PM.
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| A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork. | |
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| Canis Lupis | Mar 1 2011, 07:39 PM Post #18 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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This to me is the most intriguing possibility you posed. The only problem is that people may accuse me of ripping off James Cameron, but the idea of an avatar has been around for considerably longer. It would have interesting ramifications and would allow my aliens to have a more varied body plan (though humanoid would still be better IMO so that they would be used to walking on two legs). Heck, the rich aliens could conceivably use some sort of avatar to interact with the poor so they don't have to. Or, more likely, as a military weapon. Why kill your top military geniuses by sending them into battle when you can just make controllable drones to actually go out and battle? Heck, they may be able to control multiple avatars at the same time (though that may take too much brainpower). |
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| dialforthedevil | Mar 2 2011, 01:08 PM Post #19 |
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Frumentarii Administrator
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Oh T. Neo just gave me an awesome idea. It would be funny when he first lands if he starts using slang from i dont know the 1930s perhaps the Servain had not updated their dictionaries. Also it would make him seem slightly posher. What accent is the alien going to have by the way? |
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| Canis Lupis | Mar 2 2011, 10:33 PM Post #20 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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Hmm...to be honest, I haven't really thought about that. Perhaps a slight German or Russian accent, since I imagine that their language would be similar in some ways to these two languages. |
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| T.Neo | Mar 3 2011, 07:51 AM Post #21 |
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Translunar injection: TLI
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That would be pretty amusing... there could ben insistance of "Are you from Russia or something" with the protagonist replying constantly "What is Russia?"
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| A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork. | |
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| colddigger | Mar 3 2011, 02:29 PM Post #22 |
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Joke's over! Love, Parasky
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This right here, he'd have to act so obviously like their species that she easily picks him out of all the other creeps and realizes that he's an alien fr her to actually gain the interest you're suggesting she develops for him. Unless of course, being on Earth all those years she developed a fetish for the human body. Their conversation reminds me quite a bit of the conversation Klatuu had with that old guy in the McDonalds about humanity. The idea of them using machines as their human disguises actually would make a lot of sense as for when they destroy his disguise. I suggest making them scraggly spiderthings. Also, for their body you have to keep in mind that you said they lived on a rather dry planet. For blue collar folks defeating soldiers, make one of them a veteran or something and give the aliens a different form of warfare. adunno. |
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Oh Fine. Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP?? v Don't click v Spoiler: click to toggle | |
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| T.Neo | Mar 3 2011, 03:04 PM Post #23 |
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Translunar injection: TLI
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Exactly. And he can act pretty obviously for her to notice him, but the natives might not notice, and just think he's weird/foreign (this is where a Russian-sounding accent could come in handy: being from a different country, with different customs, could be a cover for his odd behaviour). Something else to consider might be the female having a similar accent, but a very slight one, having managed to convincingly mimic a South Carolina accent many years before.
I still think you could make a sort of octopus-body work in an arid environment, the vaguely squishy traits would be located on the inside, on the outside it could be a shark-like denticle skin thing, adapted to reduce water loss. Of course the problem of insulation comes up, but the skin could work as a very fine felt-like down, or they could have lost most of their insulatory filaments, kinda like we did.
That makes a lot of sense. War for the Servain nobles could be something highly ritualised and rigidised for hundreds, if not thousands of years. The guy leading the revolution could have just figured out a totally different (and far more effective, in terms of killing people and gaining control over areas) strategy. Another thing that this could potentially cause is the stagnation of Servain weapons technology (while their other technology is far more advanced than that of humanity), which would be another incentive for the revolutionist to take advantage of disadvantaged humans as well as human weapons. Edited by T.Neo, Mar 3 2011, 03:06 PM.
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| A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork. | |
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| SIngemeister | Mar 3 2011, 03:14 PM Post #24 |
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Hive Tyrant of the Essee Swarm
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1. No. Just no. I'm as tired of that stupid 'he's a veteran' handwave as T. Neo is of American aliens. It's a cheap fucking arsepull to get some guy to be a good fighter. 2. Makes even less sense. Even if we did have the 'veteran', a non-human style of combat would make him even worse for the task. A veteran will be a veteran of human wars, not alien ones, and thus is completely buggered when faced with an enemy that uses a completely different fighting style. 3. Stagnation of weapons technology? To what level? That they're using bows and arrows? Swords? You forget something, that they will still have weapons. And, considering they presumably have combustion technology, they will at least have something explosive, unless they suffer from species-wide tunnel-vision. The humans won't, or at least, won't be able to carry them in public. Unless the US laws on guns are even laxer than that. |
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My Deviantart RRRAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!! | |
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| colddigger | Mar 3 2011, 03:34 PM Post #25 |
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Joke's over! Love, Parasky
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I think he means by stagnation that they would have weapons roughly at our own level. You'd be surprised by how much weaponry you can conceal, making explosives is easy if you know how and hiding large amounts of it on your person, well, just as a suicide bomber. If you're so tired of "he's a veteran" then how about he's a fucking conspiracy nutjob who loves guns and studies warfare with a passion. Sounds like one of my friends... |
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Oh Fine. Oh hi you! Why don't you go check out the finery that is SGP?? v Don't click v Spoiler: click to toggle | |
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| T.Neo | Mar 3 2011, 04:14 PM Post #26 |
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Translunar injection: TLI
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I never forgot that they would still have weapons. Well, some sort of gun technology is probable, but one should also look at the adoption of guns in Japanese history... if that cannot be transposed literally, it can at least be taken as a sort of inspiration for their cultural views. Also depends on how the term "stagnate" is taken. One could argue that many aspects of modern firearm technology have been perfected for what they do, most firearm technology dates from the first half of the 20th century, and many designs in use today are at least 30 years old. For example, the Servain could have firearms on the level of flintlock muskets; smooth bore, muzzle-loaded externally fired weapons. Even if they ran them down a long line of odd advancements- such as using smokeless powder, or igniting the charge electrically. You could actually develop a firearm like that in many interesting ways, none of which would have much relevance in our history. Remember: our history drove technological development. The US Civil War started out with flintlock guns, and ended off with percussion fired rifles. Their history could have been far more different, with relatively peaceful kingdoms fighting through ritualistic combat, such major advances would not be sought after. And if you are using muzzle loaded muskets, even a bolt action rfile, let alone an automatic one, would be like a ray gun of science fiction... Also, if he's planning some sort of revolution, he won't worry much about concealed carry laws... he might even want to raid weapons from the military, for example. But then again, the citizens that would want to partake in a marxist revolution in the US probably aren't your stereotypical gun-nuts. Or maybe they are, you never know...
Potentially even that, though there wouldn't be much of an incentive to bother with terrestrial weaponry if you already have stuff that is on a par with it. Maybe they didn't invent the rocket launcher, or somesuch. Still, if you can build biomechanical bodies and traverse interstellar space, 21st-century level weaponry is pretty darn stagnated.
You know, that would be pretty interesting... and probably more relevant in modern society. Edited by T.Neo, Mar 3 2011, 04:14 PM.
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| A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork. | |
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| Canis Lupis | Mar 3 2011, 09:40 PM Post #27 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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T.Neo, your idea of electrically ignited cartridges intrigues me. So much that I'm thinking of incorporating it into Servain biology. I'm thinking about changing the Servain into something akin to a terrestrial electric eel (humanoid, probably. I'm now imagining something Golem-like (of course not so humanesque, but you hopefully catch my drift)). Of course, this would mean that the planetary conditions of Elorem (the Servain's planet for those who forgot) would have to change considerably. It would have to be moist, perhaps more humid than Earth. I'm thinking that the terrain would be generally at sea-level (though in some spots, mountainous) and as such the planet would have a higher gravity. What I'm thinking right now biology-wise (and this is subject to change) is that the Servain started out in a mangrove forest (not swamp (though it would technically be one) but a forest). The Servain ancestors would probably be "fish"-eaters, almost like miniature bears. The Servain ancestors (at least starting out) would be arboreal and would need to have eagle-like eyes in order to look past the refraction of the water. They would probably start out climbing down into the lower branches and pounce on the "fish," killign their prey via shear weight. However, I imagine that this process would become more efficient at some point in their evolutionary history. A specialized set of muscles could evolve in the arm and, when linked to a large neuromuscular junction and a rapidly growing brain, could potentially cause the Servain ancestors to emit an electrical charge to stun their fish prey much like electric eels and other electrical organisms do on Earth. Now, potentially, the Servain ancestors could form large social groups, focusing on dominance as much as most predatory animals do on Earth (I'm thinking something on the level of chimps or lions). Heck, I imagine it would almost be a pseudo-caste system. The non-dominant members of Servain ancestor society would probably do a majority of the hunting, building elaborate traps to draw the "fish" into a concentrated space and thus stun them faster and in a larger number. The dominant members of Servain ancestor society, on the other hand, would probably spend more time guarding the non-dominant members of society and taking all the food for themselves. Eventually, in modern Servain society (or at least the society I'm concerning myself with), this would evolve into full-fledged feudelism, causing the Marxist revolution that is essential to this story's plot. If the evolutionary history of the Servain is plausible, there would be certain technological developments that either a) would not happen or b) would happen sooner (such as light bulbs) or c) would happen later. I'll go ahead and get to work drawing a picture of these Servain and their weapons. And if you guys have anything you'd like to say about my redesign, or just ideas you'd like to submit, let me know. I always listen. |
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| T.Neo | Mar 4 2011, 07:16 AM Post #28 |
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Translunar injection: TLI
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Well... I originally thought that the bioelectric specialisation would make them less probable to evolve sapience, but it is actually a pretty good explanation for the evolution of a sophont with a sort of a caste system ingrained into society (ingrained until the revolution, that is). They will know about electricity from prehistory, obviously, but whether this will affect their technological development depends on other factors. For example, they would really only be able to build things like lightbulbs once they had the required hardware (batteries/generators, evacuated glass bulbs, fine wire made out of a metal such as tungsten). I doubt they would be able to power any technology off of their own bioelectricity. My suggestion of an electrically fired musket was just an evolution of flint and percussion fired guns, such a gun would probably have piezoelectric external ignition, as it would probably be more reliable than batteries and such. |
| A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork. | |
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| Canis Lupis | Mar 4 2011, 04:08 PM Post #29 |
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Dinosaurs eat man, woman inherits the Earth.
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Alright, so I assume that means that the idea itself is plausible? And as for those electrically fired muskets, I was thinking that the Servain would just need to hold the gun with both hands, thus not requiring a trigger. They'd send out an electrical signal, causing the flint to ignite and fire a bullet. |
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| T.Neo | Mar 4 2011, 05:19 PM Post #30 |
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Translunar injection: TLI
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Well, in a flintlock gun, the sparks do not actually come off of the flint, they come off the steel 'frizzen' that the flint strikes/slides against. The fact that the flint is harder than the steel and is travelling forward with quite some force means that it shaves off small, very hot (from the friction, of course) fragments of steel that then go on to ignite the gunpowder in the pan, which then goes on to ignite the main charge by flaming through a small hole in the barrel. In an... let's call it an 'electro-lock' gun just for fun, you would have a sparking electrode (presumably in the barrel) that would ignite the gunpowder within the barrel. You can certainly ignite this with batteries, but batteries can also run down... then again, batteries are clearly regarded as reliable enough to run a variety of modern military equipment, and you could potentially use some sort of piezoelectric material instead. I don't think bioelectricity would be sufficient, not only would it (probably) not have enough 'impulse', but there's potential for it to get worn out/expended or just plain tired, which might make its use in a usual battle situation impractical. Originally it would probably make more sense for the Servain to develop firearms similar to those developed by humanity... match and flintlocks, for example, but that they would go on to develop electrically fired weapons when they developed the sufficient technology for it. |
| A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork. | |
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