IC: Poll About Sexual Orientation

[sythyry]

So, this is primarily for primes, but I'll let anyone answer it. I may try to do some statistics on the result, if I get sufficient energy. I really need to get my clients to answer it, but I don't know how to do that discreetly.

I understand that the answer to the question "how much do you lust for Cani" is subtle and tricky. Do I mean -- how much do you secretly want them? How much do you try to sleep with them? How much do you succeed in sleeping with them? Some other choice? Well, pretty much, I do mean that, more or less any of that. I will let you take your own definition, though I am more interested in what you like than what you do. This isn't a very careful survey anyhow.

[Poll #1587395]

Comments

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

My society generally views me as indecent and improper because I am married to another woman. I tend to prefer humans, but I can certainly see the attraction of other sentient beings. I could certainly see myself involved with a Cani, Orren, Gormoror (though I really Don't Get poetry), or Rassimel. I expect that, should I be honored enough to meet the correct Zi Ri, I might get involved. On the other hand, I don't expect that I could manage to be in the presence of Herethroy long enough to develop a friendship, much less an attraction for one. They look far too much like nonsentient beings on our world for which I have a completely unreasonable and insane phobia.

[rowyn]

I would describe myself as "sapiosexual": I am attracted to others based on their intelligence and, primarily, their skill at writing. The attached body has not, to date, made a difference in my level of desire for someone. I doubt it would on World Tree, either. I do find the stereotypical Sleeth, Gormorror, and Khtsoyis somewhat less intellectually appealing than the other sprecies stereotypes, and Herethroy bodies (not to mention genders) are sort of boggling. So I might actually be less likely to be attracted to an intellectually compatible Herethroy. I think I'd be less likely to *find* an intellectually compatible Sleeth, Gormorror, or Khtsoyis, but I don't think that the species would be a deal-breaker for me if I did find one.

The same holds true for World Tree monsters, for that matter.

This is purely extrapolation on my part. If my world has any sapients of another species who are possessed of writing talent, I've not encountered them much less tried to sleep with them. But as long as the mind is attractive, the thought of bodyplay with various other species is reasonably appealing. I expect there are limits: a physical body that was so aesthetically repugnant that I wouldn't enjoy bodyplay regardless of the mind inside.

... I'm not exactly sure where those limits are. Herethroy don't reach it, certainly.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

You're in a monospecific world, if I recall properly, where gender appears in social constructions where I am more used to species? Forgive me if I don't want to add gender into the consideration. I do know people who are fussy about it -- my long-dead first apartmentmate Havune much preferred Cani men to Cani women, and would sometimes flirt with non-Cani men, but never any women or others. But that consideration would double-and-a-bit the number of dimensions I need to consider, and it's intimidating enough as it is.

Pity about the Herethroy. I was married-in-practice to one for quite a long while, and miss zir extremely. But this survey is largely about tastes, and I shall note yours without scolding you for them.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Raspberry says:
I don't think I'd ever really get involved (like, married or whatever) with anyone but other herethroy, but it's fun to... well, to flirt, at least. I think it might be fun to mess around sometime, but despite the rumors I haven't actually done much of that. Khtsoyis are fascinating with all the tentacles, Sleeth have nice scratchy claws, and Taptet are *so cute*!

I'm used to being around misfits, so I think I'd probably be comfortable enough in Castle Wrong, although I'd be embarassed to actually live there. Especially since I'm really cissy.

[mharreff.livejournal.com]

I am the Sleeth! I do not need more labels. Even the view of Sleeth does not fit me so well.

I give love to very very few, but it is not the complete unknown to me. So far I do not meet the SLeeth I have that love for intimately, but perhaps one day it happens. There are other Sleeth I am fond of somewhat.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

"Society in general considers you"

Based on their perception of me or the actuality of me?

"How well do you think you'd fit in to Castle Wrong"

As an absolute? Or relative to the rest of World Tree society?

[kris-schnee.livejournal.com]

It's a tough question to answer for us offworld monsters, even those of us who're somewhat familiar with the culture the primes fit into. Some of us are spooked by Herethroy's vague resemblance to our world's horrifying boneless creatures whose young grow as ravenous parasites in a living paralyzed victim! If any of us were dropped into the Tree as our own species, we'd be monstrous outsiders and an attraction with any prime species would automatically make us and them "wrong". We wouldn't even be allowed into the cities, so we'd be shut out of much of the culture. And if we somehow were accepted as primes, asking whether we're cisaffectionate doesn't make sense without advance knowledge of what kind. It's like asking whether we're attracted to the opposite sex when we don't have a defined sex ourselves!

It's also weird for us that we could be attracted to (say) Orren and Rassimel when both are vaguely similar to local non-sentient animals. Attraction to an animal is taboo, for good reason, and attraction even to a prime seems perverted to some people who can't tell the difference. I wonder what the key difference is. The thought of loving a prime-shaped creature with an animal-level mind makes me shudder, and the reverse is confusing. Same question goes for machine constructs too.

[OOC: I'm considering running a short WT game in which a mad wizard-or-something brings a few humans, whose players are unfamiliar with the Tree, and converts them to primes for convenience. Would that make any sense given that people might think, "That's some kind of outsider in a magically-created body"? Could the PCs plausibly get into a city?]

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Based on the actuality, would be the more useful answer.

And relative to the rest of World Tree society.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

[OOC: I'm considering running a short WT game in which a mad wizard-or-something brings a few humans, whose players are unfamiliar with the Tree, and converts them to primes for convenience. Would that make any sense given that people might think, "That's some kind of outsider in a magically-created body"? Could the PCs plausibly get into a city?]

You're the GM, so you can declare that it works.

In general a decent city wall would keep out aliens (like humans), even ones shaped like primes.

One way (of many) that you could get around that is to have the mad wizard be the one who made that aspect of the wall, and have left a back door.

Another way, I suppose, is to have the process of bringing humans to WT convert them to primes -- giving them prime bodies and mageria at least -- a la the astral projection techniques of various pulp fiction of the last century. Prime mageria are what most city walls look for, I imagine.

There are other tricks around of course!

[shurhaian.livejournal.com]

Prime mageria are what most city walls look for, I imagine.

Tangentially - would this mean that bonstables have some innate illusion that conceals their mageria? Otherwise spotting them would be rather trivial, I should think, in any context for which inspecting the magerium is normal(which the city wall boundary would be but social dealings would not). But as soon as Illusidor is introduced, of course, all bets are off...

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Innate or learned, I guess. Many of them operate outside of cities in any case. I certainly hope that none but the most skilled (or newest-model) bonstable can get into Vheshrame!

[kistaro]

Herethroy's vague resemblance to our world's horrifying boneless creatures whose young grow as ravenous parasites in a living paralyzed victim

Herethroy have never looked that much like politicians to me...

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The thought of loving a prime-shaped creature with an animal-level mind makes me shudder, and the reverse is confusing.

I prefer prime-shaped primes with prime-level minds, myself.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Huh, I always got the impression that the gates in the wall were just that -- gates that anyone could come through when they're open. At best you'd get alarms or something if a monster tried to sneak through.

The book's discussion on doorwaying implies that it's not terribly *difficult*, just really illegal.

I guess it really depends on how paranoid primes are about security -- having your magerium inspected every time you go out to the farmer's market is a serious invasion of privacy! After all, looking at a magerium was described as being equivalent to a full body search.

But if the city's in a wartime footing for some reason it'd make sense to go to that much trouble.

...oh, and I just thought of something else. Kennoc effects give the wrong results 1 time in 20. That's a LOT of false positives if you're using a monster detector on a high-traffic gateway. O.O

...or there's always

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Offworlders have *no* mageria -- obviously it's just a wizard escorting some animated items.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

I'm really really cissy but I've never felt out of place when visiting Castle Wrong. I think that's because Castle Wrong has people like Grinwipey and Rheng who're there because they're Wrong but not because they're Traff. And I don't feel like I'm very Right even though I'm cissy.

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

Taptet?! All right yes they are cute but ... Taptet? They're not even Prime!

[rowyn]

Mynthë was the sort of person worth getting over a phobia for! ♥

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Inspecting someone's magerium isn't very difficult. It'd be like complaining about people looking at what color your hair is.

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

I also OBJECT! Loving a Particular Monster was NOT included in the survey! I would rate a Taptet at least a 2... if not a 3!

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

They *should* have been prime! They were cheated!

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Why did you choose world tree nonprime, but you have a human avatar? :P *tease*

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Taptet are sooo cute... =D

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Yea, but you don't have an animal minded creature that looks *exactly* like a waterform orren living in some of your rivers, lakes, and oceans!

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Some Orren I know aren't much better...

Actually, we do have animal-minded waterform-Orren-like mammals, called otters [in translation], plus norren who are monster-minded waterform-Orren-like mammals, and so on.