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Imagine for a moment that rather than being a creature in a fantasy setting, beings that are harpies (in all but name?) are aliens in your generic space-opera universe. They've evolved from some kind of bird equivalent on another planet and are humanoid and human sized, except they're covered in feathers and have those weird legs and GIANT WINGS STRETCHING BETWEEN THEIR OVERLONG FINGERS (as well as various anatomical differences nobody gives two shits about).

How would their technology develop? They managed to become a starfaring race, but the shape of their bodies (as well as the mentality/psychology that must surely come from having evolved as flying creatures) means that their equipment would likely look extremely different from human.

For example, how would something with giant wings and such useless hands ever be able to put on a spacesuit? How would a creature used to flying not go insane when confined to the insides of a spaceship? How would they manipulate something like a gun - they can't hold it in both hands because they need the arms for flight!

Try to stick (at least in the beginning) to "realistic" ideas - if those all prove completely impractical, then we can start pulling out the nanobots and gravity generators.
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>>28196355
Well, either there's another race around that helped them, or they managed to invent robotics REALLY EARLY out of necessity.

That, or they were engineered for space habitats, where low gravity was the norm to save fuel and structural materials. Giant O-neill cylinders, spun up to 1/6-1/3G, with plenty of sky for them to fly in.
Maybe the caretakers of a generation ship full of frozen colonists, lost beyond hope of recovery after an incident, and not remembering they're meant to be doing something.
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>>28196355
>For example, how would something with giant wings and such useless hands ever be able to put on a spacesuit?
Ever seen a bird scratch the back of its neck with its foot? Shouldn't be a problem.

>How would they manipulate something like a gun - they can't hold it in both hands because they need the arms for flight!
Hold them with their feet? They don't need them to stand on if they're flying.
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I imagine they'd develop badass power armor and arm cannons.
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They would fit pulpy well without mich explanation. They woukd probably be naturally adept in zero gravity. They could have amazing space suits designed with artificial membranes to allow them to still use their wingspan for manipulation in zero-g.
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>bird people in space
chozo?
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>>28196461
builders?
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>>28196355

Considering how big they fingers and feet are, they probably build things much bigger than us. Also more space needed to fly around.

Probably less buttons and more controls on the floor.
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They could've evolved on a low-gravity planet, Avatar's Pandora style. Give them bullshit carbon nanotube bones like the na'vi and they even sort of kind of start to make sense. No technology, though.
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>>28196355
They probably come from a low gravity planet with a thin atmosphere. Space flight was achieved by accident as they continuously made augmentations to allow them to fly higher. It started out as just flight suits to shield them from the weather and low levels of oxygen. Eventually, they hit a wall and started to build aviaries high up in the atmosphere to act as jump platforms.
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A species doesn't just jump into the space age. Technological discoveries build upon earlier discoveries, and even if it was possible, what reason would the bird people have to ever invent those? How and why would they ever have an agricultural revolution? How and why would they domesticate animals? Build fires? Build cities? Forge metal? Those are all prerequisites even to the inventions leading to the inventions leading to the inventions leading to the inventions leading to anything even remotely like space travel.
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>>28196355
Howabout, get this, they use their wings to FLY THROUGH SPACE, like there was air there even though there isn't.

Imagine that you and your team are going warp speed to a distant system with a cargo of badly needed supplies. This is an easy job with low risk that, do to the necessity of it, is paying quite well. The crew's in high spirits, the ship is running properly for once, everything is perfect.

But then you hear it-- *cling*

Everyone freezes in place, and listens carefully.

*cling*

There it is again! The navigator checks an outside camera to see a spear lodged in the ship's ceramic-titanium hull.

*cling* *cling* *cling*

Everyone runs to their stations, the red alert klaxon quickly sounds throughout the ship.

*cling* *cling* *cling* *cling* *cling*

On the way to your station you catch a glance at a monitor just in time to see it: a winged figure, spear in hand, swooping in, piercing the camera lens dead on.

*cling*

It couldn't be--but it is--

*cling* *cling* *cling* *cling* *cling* *cling* *cling*

it's a Space Harpy attack!
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>>28196751

Why would humand invent these too?

Both species would probably have the same reasons for the same inventions.
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Something with useless hands incapable of working objects would not have become a starfaring race, only by magic.
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>>28196911
well the two fingered hand in OP's pic would be semi useless, unless they are able to use their feet as manipulators like some birds do.

But give them three fingers on their hands with one aligned similar to a thumb and things become more workable.
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>>28196938

Okay, suppose they have three fingers per hand. Does that really make that much of a difference?

>>28196877

Why? They have radically different existences.
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>>28196978
well with proper alignment of fingers they suddenly have useful manipulators for toolmaking, which could lead to taking down bigger prey.

Imagine a flock of harpies descending from the sky to divebomb a mammoth with spears thrown with their feet (because their hands are for creating and their feet for killing)

Agriculture could develop if they are omnivorous and just like humans find themselves in a ridiculously fertile area.

Even our agriculture developed more by accident than design.
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>>28196598
>>28196743

>not evolving on a floating crystal above an ocean of acid
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>>28196461
No...
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>>28197090

Hey, these guys have proper arms beneath their wings. That's totally cheating.
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They'd basically use their talons for most things, they're good graspers and manipulators. They can even hold tools while in movement while using their feet, because their primary method of movement is flight.
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>>28196978
three fingers like this.
Together with wing it makes almost human-like manipulator.
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>>28196938
> Feet as manipulators
Wouldn't they then have hands as feet? Less walking, more toolmaking.
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>>28197654
well I think harpies due to their somewhat human torso and head might benefit from hands to more easily see what they are doing

but their feet are actually pretty darn good manipulators..

and it would be adorable a harpy sitting on a ledge working something...
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>>28197690
yeah, the only real problem with tooltalons is they have to sit down to do two handed work. Otherwise they're perfectly functional manipulators.
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>>28197789
well sitting down on a branch is a good possibility for harpies.

maybe some harpies (the very skilled or very stupid) do two handed work while flying?
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>>28197854
well, they can do things like operate levers and bows and such. But actually making things while flying is... not the best of ideas.

Same applies to humans, really. It's sort of a bad idea to try to carve some spears while you're sprinting. That running with scissors adage is appropriate.
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>>28197933

It would make sense if they're a tree dwelling people anyway. Hang off a branch using the "hands" while working with the "feet".
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>>28198335
Yeah, that part makes sense.
Though, tree dwellers have their own problems. How big a population can a cultivated forest support?

I've seen fascinating pictures of forests that every plant produces food, but no statistics on how much that actually is.
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You could always look up all that stuff about corvids being super clever.
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>>28198663

I don't think bending pieces of wire to get to food inside a bottle is going to cut it for spaceflight.
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>>28198700
Spaceflight is basically a compilation of exceedingly complicated bent wires, anon.
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>>28198335

If you go with this, there's a good chance their spaceships are set up so there's a sort of "perch" above the control stations, from which they would dangle and work the controls.

Going on with that, I'm now picturing whole set-up of ceiling-bars that the crew could swing themselves from and to. I imagine they must get very cramped, yeah, but their wings/arms would at least get exercise.
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>>28198737
Also, divebomb-style turrets, where you stand in the turret bay and use your lower body to adjust targeters.

Assuming we're not doing hardscifi shoot-missile-wait-6-hours-explosion combat.
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>>28198737
maybe they make ridiculously oversized spaceships to get the space?
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>>28198768
Maybe once they're technologically advanced enough to start thinking about comfort rather than practicality.

And then I'd imagine it being more of a recreation thing, or maybe long hallways (or whatever) between places.

But practically, you'd want as much important stuff as possible within talon-reach.
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Are we doing hard or soft scifi?

Because if soft, individual harpy fighters designed for maximum agility that guard apiary-dome population stations. They're known for being able to fly the closest and trickiest formations without crashing into each other.
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>>28198700
Crows also do things like make tools, then hide them in a log for later.

And spy on each other hiding tools, so they can steal them.
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>>28198815
alright soft scifi is go.
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>>28198824
If they descended from crows, then they're either going to be japanese-tier hyper polite in reaction to constant spygames, or they're going to be basically living that spy VS spy comic.
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>>28198892
Crows form family groups, so presumably that would give them a form of stability.
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>>28198849
Common uses of tight formations include flying with others in such a way as to make your squadron look like a singular, much larger ship to scanners. Also moving in a cohesive ever shifting pattern to baffle enemy attempts at counting your number.
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>>28198942
ah, that makes it way easier. As long as they don't do the theft and such inter-family.
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>>28198942
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/LivingBird/spring98/crowsSp98.htm
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And they are at war with the dragon born and their monstrous dragon ships. Masters of bio-technology.
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>>28198976
like, do you mean dragon people, or dragons, or those shouting vikings, or kobolds, or...
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>>28198999
shouting space vikings sounds cool, they shout into a sort of sonic weapons
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http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/crows.html

So, I'm thinking maybe they have a strong clan-based society. And a thing for sneakiness.
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>>28199125
actually a cool idea.
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>>28199125
>>28199152
They've also got the ability to relay faces accurately entirely via description. Pretty good for a bird.
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>>28198976
Mostly the first two and the last one.
Dragonmen are the working race, s ervile to the smaller and more intelligent kolbolds. And dragons are the ships
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>>28199185
so, lizards with lizard bosses in lizardships?

That slot is usually reserved for bugs, so I enjoy this twist.
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>>28199268
The bugs build the boxy grey ships
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>worm
>dummy
>fool
<KERBLAM>
...
<HALLELUJAH>
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>>28197058
Poor Toomin... Such a sad story.
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>>28199185
Space temeraire.
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If you've ever watched a parrot, you'll note they can do a lot of manipulation with just one foot and their beak. Since the harpies have finger-like things on their hands, that broadens their abilities.
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>>28199185
So dragons are the ships?
Sounds like /d/ creeped into this thread awful fast.
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>>28196355
Perhaps they rely on using both their claws and hands for manipulating objects, dressing themselves, etc. Perhaps their rifles have cameras one them and they have at least on screen over and eye so that they can fire without having to go into the awkward position of holding a rifle to your shoulder while flying with your feet.
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>>28199860
Oh god parrot harpies would be crazy ambidextrous.
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>>28199986
You gotta be ambidextrous when you only have a couple fingers per hand.
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>>28200004
Their talons are their hands.

The things on the wings are just claws.
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>>28200021
well still, talons don't often have the most digits I think.
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>>28200038
Even just having four or three I think would be enough.
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Harpy Spacesuits are pretty much straightjackets, it was too complicated to get the wings right so they wrap them around there bodies and use there feet as manipulators.

Even on planets they use there feet for fine manipulators, and they are used to tucking there wings in when resting so it's not as uncomfortable as it sounds. No more or less uncomfortable than than a human spacesuit anyways.


As for getting into space. Part of me likes the idea of them using spaceplanes instead of rockets for early space exploration, but the other part of me thinks they would have less incentive to build heavier than air aircraft due to a natural ability to fly. So There spacecraft would probably be offshoots (sorry for the pun) of ballistic missiles just like ours were.


In an HFY thread I came up with the idea that humanity's history as an endurance predator would give them a stereotype as a race of relentless bounty hunters, so I guess space Harpies would be stereotyped as a race of pirates due to there history as ambush predators. They like to park there cruisers in places which have advantageous vectors to popular shipping routes and just sit there scanning everything. As soon as they see one that looks like easy prey they burn hard and come in for the kill.
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>>28200151
I like to think their natural flight, and whatever technology they come up with to help with that, will at least be able to get them high enough in the atmosphere to get good star viewing.
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>>28196461
Photino birds
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>>28200221
I could see a race of bird people appreciating lighter than air flight. Ie Balloons and airships.

Oh yeah one thing harpies have going for them is they are probably much lighter and have much more efficient respiratory systems than humans, so they will probably need less life support.
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Why don't harpies have arms as well?
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>>28201935
Because they're tetrapods?
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>>28201953
I'm just thinking unless magic is involved I don't think that harpies would be able to develop fine technology.
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>>28202034
why? Crows seem to be doing just fine, so far. Getting smarter every year, too.
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Space Dryads is more interesting to me.
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>>28202107
It isn't a matter of intelligence, but finesse.
Not having things like arms, or fingers would really hamper a race's technological advancement.
Unless magic or slave races are involved.
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>>28202219
I'd just say they have opposable digits on there feet which allow them to work like hands, and possibly smaller, less dexterous fingers on there wings.

Most manipulation, including tool use and carrying things, would be done with the feet. The wings might also be used to hold some objects when on the ground.
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>>28202219
You don't need arms as long as you have hands. Which birds totally have, except they're feet.
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>>28202219
This was already discussed. The answer is "feet are hands, and if they really need two, they can just hang from a branch or something with their wing-claws."
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>>28196355
>space harpies
Ohai.
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>>28203847
too bad they all died of ennui
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>>28199986

OP here, funny you should say that, because I didn't mention anything (not wanting to needlessly complicate the discussion) but I'm actually planning on making the space harpies more parrot-like than vulture like. (because I like parrots and because they're pretty and I thought it'd be a nice twist on the generic "Green Skinned Alien Chick")
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>>28204800
honestly, the choice tends to come down to parrots or crows. Depending on if you want them more shifty superspies or flamboyant jojos.
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>>28204876

The plan was to go as full jojo as possible without going all "Every single female member of the race is a stripper and every single male is a pirate" like Star Trek. Basically think something between the asari, orion and kig-yar. Maybe add a dash of centauri for those faggotlicious luxury battleships with command centers set up to look like ballrooms (assuming the race has advanced to the point of having such power and prosperity they can afford to literally turn their battleships into giant floating "Fuck You"s and be assured of their victory).
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>>28204988
full jojo is a noble direction to take them. Strategic goals focus as much on displays of power and ability as actual acquisition of resources for them.
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>>28205023

>the only civilized race to fit their ships with optical "camouflage" (used to create dazzling and colorful patterns with symbolic and ritualistic meanings all over the hull) two centuries before even coming up with the concept of thermal dampening

Captcha: the plaeca
>a name found for the race?
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>>28205082
What's the most spectacular space weapon? Nukes? I would say lasers, but aren't those invisible?
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>>28204988
>with command centers set up to look like ballrooms
Instead of ballrooms, it should be a tiki/reggae/brazilian carnival setup.
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>>28205095

Plasma, far and wide. It has about the same range as spitting at the enemy, though, and I don't think the potential damage makes up for it.

Although, MISSILES can also be very spectacular. Put something in the engines so the trails are particularly incandescent and you have a flight of beautiful death pricks streaking it through the void, trailing blue light after them. Which would, for the first time in the history of fiction, explain the Itano circus: it's almost LITERALLY a circus for the plaeca.

>>28205107

What are the most decadent cultures on Earth? The centauri were pretty much Roman empire crossed with pre-revolution France with a bit of Tsarist Russia. We go with Brazilian Carnival plus...

(my personal suggestion: add elements of Ottoman sultanate. Feathers, whores and drugs everywhere)
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>>28205242
>colored macross missile massacre
Feel my gorgeous plume of death!
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>>28205242
>>28205294

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F69_UKU5EcM

I don't care how retarded the idea is, drone weapons from Stargate: Atlantis always give me a spacebattle boner.

Also, for some reason 4chan won't let me post without a picture in this thread and I'm running out of parrot pics.
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>>28205095
Realistically speaking, most weapons are either invisible or unimpressive to the naked eye in space.

The enemy ship will be a slightly brighter than normal star, explosions, even nuclear ones, will just be little flashes, and beam weapons are only visible if you are the target.

In SPACE OPERA however there are plenty of colorful lasers.
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>>28205375

That's true for beam weapons. Ironically, in a realistic setting, physical projectiles are almost certain to be brighter and more impressive - shots of plasma, missile trails, even rounds from hypervelocity guns (since the outer layer of the projectile will sublimate into plasma upon leaving the barrel). Or the ingenious solution they found for it in the Mass Effect universe to have the best of both worlds: magnetohydrodynamic weapons that shoot a relativistic stream of molten metal.
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>>28205242
I was saying go with flamboyance over decadence.
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>>28205465

Why not have the best of both worlds?
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>>28197058
Oh shit, I got that instantly and without looking at the Andalite or filename.

It's been more then a decade since I read the books and I recognised him from it's text description alone.
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>>28205465
>>28205565

>bridge of the glorious warship Parakeet
>Everything painted purple and yellow, because it's the season
>fountains of electric blue alcohol spill into "rivers" crisscrossing the marble floor
>hanging chandeliers of colorful crystals shine a rainbow over everything
>towering, spiral structures handing heavy with pink, orange, green and black bottles of drugs
>cakes and candies of all colors and shapes
>the captain's personal harem is spinning through the air, dancing sensually
>two pissed off male officers are having a show fight in the corner for dominance, using traditional wingblades. A chorus sings around them, as it is practiced
>atop a raised, thronelike structure of gold and ruby, decorated with flowing drapes of turquoise silk and surrounded by scented candles of all heights and colors, the captain is perched, surrounded by a holographic, spherical display of the battlefield around them
>"Mr. Cacatua, prepare all batteries for fire on my mark"
>Mr. Cacatua takes the hookah out of his mouth with a talon "As you command, my captain"
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>>28205910
>artificial gravity malfunctions
>all the cakes drugs and alcohol go all over the place.
>chandlers break
>OH GOD GLASS AND DRUGS ARE IN MY EYES!
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>>28205910
Don't forget the chocolate bathing fountain!
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>>28205935
It wasn't a perfect setup, but the eyeglass was worth it for the bitches.
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>>28205935

>beat
>AND IT'S AWESOME
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>>28196502
from planet 4chan?
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>>28205957
>>28205949
But yes, the idea of space harpy culture as being all about the drugs and bitches is very yes.
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>>28205992
almost, but not quite. It's about displays of glory, the drugs and bitches being a way of doing that.

The best part about drugs and bitches is telling everyone online about them
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>the sole survivor of the attack on the glorious warship Parakeet ("I completely did not see that missile coming, I'm telling you") descend into the planet below in an escape pod, nervously munching on the emergency candy supplies
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>>28206040
>forced to participate in honor duel with a harparrot
>throw a blanket over him and watch him pass out
Or would he bust out the glow sticks and space ecstasy since he thinks its nighttime?
>>
Hasn't anyone ever seen Life Force?
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>>28206182

Apparently not
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>>28205910

I can kind of see it going off of this.

>the wealthiest families have a island ship were the mansions of the Sultan-Captains and their officers live
>These island ships are supported by subordinate vessels were various forms of industry are conducted (ships designated to build weapons while others are dedicated to food and drug production)
>While very Patriarchal the males have to show their worth to females and the status is judged by how many females to have to their harem who are free to leave if their chosen male proves weak and usless or loses to a rival in ritual combat
>While guady and opulant they are conniving and have only loyalty to their family even as they try to advance their own personal status
>Ultimate it's all about family, bitches, and money
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>>28206428
so some kind of hyper fab space semi-mafia.
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>>28206428
>>While very Patriarchal the males have to show their worth to females and the status is judged by how many females to have to their harem who are free to leave if their chosen male proves weak and usless or loses to a rival in ritual combat
This is actually very close to something I had planned for my own OC DONUT STEEL alien species.
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>>28206463

Yeah, something like the Ferengi, Quarians, who carry around their own city states while trying to out fabulous the other families
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ITT:
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>>28206510

Ferengi don't carry with them city states. Their culture is based on their shithole swamp planet.

>homeworld of the harparrots (Plaeca?) has a single large continent on the equator that looks like Central/South America combined with West Africa and Indonesia, with scattered tropical islands around
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>>28206505

Wow. Imagine their version of FTLnet 4chan. All the betas complaining about females only liking JERKS asking for advice on how to become RIPPED and CONFIDENT.
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>>28206548

They all frequent /fit/ and /adv/
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>>28206548

That's perfect actually when you think about it.

Males will venture out to try and acquire their own wealth or do something to distinguish themselves and simply relying on the wealth accumulated by your father is seen as lazy. Betas set out to make a name for themselves and join the ranks of the Alphas for a chance to become officers or have important positions with the Sultan-Captains or even become a Sultan-Captain themselves
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>>28206428
>>28206533

Could be somewhere in the middle. They have their homewolrd (space Amsterdam/Rio/Vegas put together, the drug, gambling, whoring capital of the galaxy) and a few colony worlds (most of them far less developed and mostly dedicated to agriculture, and even then it's mostly spices and drugs, not food). Most of the nobility (the only members of society that matter) prefer to spend whatever time they don't spend on (one of their countless villas and summer palaces on) the homeworld on their personal pleasure barges (thinking of the colony worlds as full of dull hicks and the weather is bad).

They're probably a very old and established power, which is how they can afford this strange arrangement. The galaxy is probably littered with abandoned colony worlds and stations they just got bored with after centuries when they turned obsolete. Some of them may even still be populated with small amounts of agrarian colonists who couldn't afford a trip back out.
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>>28206548
I imagine low ranking (Unmarried) males would go to great lengths trying to obtain fame and fortune that would get them females.

Pirate gangs would consist mostly of mateless males trying to climb the social ladder by any means necessary.
>>
>>28206548
Its more of that they don't see any reason to not act like a fabulous jackass ever to the point where they have a great deal of spiritualistic and philosophic texts based around exploring the nature of fabulosity and wonder why human betas even exist. After all, if someone is really that much of a thorn in your side, just fight him to the death
>>
>>28206428

Oh and the largest and most magnificent family pleasure barges have entire decks (domes?) of garden/jungle space where genetically engineered plants are raised and piped throughout the ship (aquaponics style) both for recreation (hunting, sunbathing, frolicking through the woods) and supply replenishment purposes (fruit and seeds, fish, hunting animals, etc.). The aquaponic pipes running through the corridors mean that most of the ship feels like walking (or flying) through a garden path.

Less powerful families have to make do with smaller barges that must stop on a colony world every so often to restock on drugs and cookies/refuel and rearm/ditch used whores.
>>
>>28206586
Think about all of dem raiding an looting possibilities of those abandoned worlds!
>>
bump
>>
>>28206674

Far more amusingly: getting sent by a noble as a herald to notify the people on a certain remote colony that they may consider themselves officially disenfranchised and of no interest to the house, and are pretty much on their own.

>Oh, so THIS is why the embassies look like little fortresses and have all those soldiers around them
>>
>>28206826

Could explain why so many different family tribes exist. They just moved into the old villas of the previous owners, had it out to see who would be the Sultan and next thing you know new kids on the block to do it all over again to some other planet after they had enough time to get that kind of power.
>>
>>28206924

That, and all the powerful nobles keep poisoning each other and getting killed in duels and hunting accidents (no, you can't just hunt an adult ursaur with your claws because "rifles are for betas") or leading glorious but idiotic space battles (their ships may be powerful enough that they can afford to party on the bridge and still win most combat, but 50 enemy destroyers are 50 enemy destroyers)
>>
>>28207005

Hand me downs would be pretty big too considering their nature. Just patch up the remains of the ship and replace the marble columns and you can get the wine distilleries back up and running in no time!
>>
Used in the traditional form of plaeca dueling, noble wingblades (S'croosh) are long, curved, short hilted swords held between the claws, with the blade (supposedly) looking like an extension of the wing beneath it. They are swung around in wide, spinning motions combined with quick and vicious talon strikes and are virtually always used in pairs (some styles stick to a single one, or one and a parrying knife, but those are considered highly eccentric). The point is not to dismember or slash the enemy through, but to cause countless long, thin cuts along the wings that cripple and humiliate. Fights rarely end in death, although the most hardcore sometimes fight until one of the duelists simply loses enough blood to pass out (not an easy task, as plaeca have extremely efficient red cell equivalents and can lose copious amounts of blood without suffering hypoxia). Part of the traditional noble regalia is two crossed wingblades hanging from the belt, ready to be drawn simultaneously (a fact helped by the plaeca's almost universal ambidexterity).

Of course, most nobles much prefer the good old knife/pistol in the sleeve, or even better: the tiny packet of powder in the cocktail.
>>
Meanwhile, crows are living on nearly undetectable solar panel coated asteroids.
>>
>>28207116

Crow people are the mirror universe version of the parrot people. They also have evil mustaches.
>>
So, does all this showing off to be the stronkest express itself as HONORABU at all?
>>
I wonder what plaeca think about cloaking devices/stealth technology/stealth in general. On the one hand, it's inglorious, on the other hand, many of them appear to have spent their youths as pirates and what most other cultures would consider "criminals (rather than "adventurous young nobles doing as they fucking please in search of riches"), meaning they may have had to rely on those sorts of tactics often.

Parrot Romulans?
>>
>>28207222

It's not about the honorabu, it's about the appearance of honorabu.
>>
>>28207223
optic camo is only okay if you switch it to full showoff pattern once you engage in combat.
>>
>>28207222

It's all about being alpha even if you have to poison the other guy to do it but when push comes to shove you better be able to step up and put a nigga in his place.
>>
Being that many starting clans don't actually have carrier ships to pirate with, they often resort to a combination of optical camo and tight formation to disguise themself as a merchant trader. Then they patrol a trade route until they either come upon a cargo ship to their liking, or they are attacked by existing pirates. They then disperse and engage in boarding actions, if successful, earning themselves a carrier to operate from.
>>
>>28207243

Optic camo is worth shit all in space.

But I guess that also applies to full-spectrum stealth, assuming they have it. Heck, they could even make use of the same idea - use heat dampening to make their ship invisible to IR sensors or something, but when combat starts dramatically vent all radiators to make yourself shine like a dozen suns on everybody's scans.
>>
>>28206586

>parrot homeworld is bachelor Mecca
>>
How do harpies get dressed?
>>
>>28207417
They have clothing with hooks. Though they might be the first race to come up with vlecro, given that feathers were originally the basis of the idea for velcro. Bandeau tops and shorts skirts - not much for underthings, as a general rule.
>>
>>28207417

Simple, flowing garments you wrap around yourself like a sari/poncho/toga/cloak.
>>
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Why the hell are we having the women stay in giant harems and not out adventuring in badass spaceships? How else will the humans get Harpy waifus?!
>>
>>28207509
That's easy. The male harpies aren't living up to their standards. Too much subterfuge. too much delegation. Too much underhanded bullshit. Whatever happened to the good old days when a man would go out and ruffle some feathers himself with out any tricks or goons watching his back?
>>
>>28207509
Papi is best monstergirl.
I take the rest to the ERP thread...
>>
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>>28207509
Papi, you are no doubt the reason my harpy fetish eclipsed all my other monstergirl fetishes.
>>
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>>28207569
Hrm...
Human travels to the Harpy Planet, solves things in a HFY way by punching out the supreme leader.

Suddenly finds himself with a Harpy Harem since he just proved himself the manliest person on the planet..
>>
>>28207569
>>28207617

And this is why Earth was bombarded to slag and we're now living on an asteroid. Totally worth it, though.
>>
>>28207644
Just like them. Fucking pussies couldn't even take down the guy who did it. Had to go blow up his planet cause oh shit it might mess up their perfectly styled hair/feathers.
>>
>>28207677

Say what you may, but half the race is dead and another quarter is enslaved and forced to dress like sissies. I'd call that a victory no matter how you achieve it.
>>
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>>28207607
>dat tight, supple, light body
>dat cheery, ditzy, constantly happy personality
>dem shorts and tight tops
>dem laced panties...
>>
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>>28207909
Yes, Papi is definitely the best...
>>
>>28207909
>>28207938

Next stop, big breasted space centaurs...
>>
>>28208000
>>28207938
>>28207909
>>28207864
>>28207677
>>28207644
>>28207617
>>28207607
>>28207572
>>28207569
>>28207509

And we were doing so well to...
>>
>>28208086

Such is the end of all interesting topics on /tg/.
>>
>>28208146
You can't resist the monstergirls...
>>
>>28208357
>>28208146
>>28208086

You know, we COULD continue the discussion of how technology would evolve for a race without hands. Or their culture, or something.

Or we could keep posting pictures of sexy harpies, either way works.
>>
>>28208384
I wonder what their religion would be like? I could see them gathering the feathers of their dead and arranging them in very intricate displays. The Noble families would have generations of their ancestors feathers displayed in a sort of shrine setting.
>>
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>>28208384
why not both?
>>
>>28208426

A funeral would be a grand affair I imagine, sort of like a funeral in New Orleans with a band playing while the body is carried away.

With that said what would happen to the harpy dude's harem if he bites the dust? I suppose it would do good to figure out how the harem thing works like, they still have a harem but only one or maybe two of the females are chosen as the one who bares the male's heir
>>
>>28208486

Why not all of them? If you have 20 heirs all that means is more entertainment when they fight it out until only one remains (they don't all have to die, of course, just walk away without any part of the inheritance the inheritor doesn't feel like sharing)
>>
>>28196355
Paralithians- from a book I read a while ago. They were humanoid aliens covered with feathers and had a beak-like bone in place of where a nose would be on a human, as well as hollow bones and the like.
They were considered to be among the best ship handlers of any known alien species (with humans coming somewhere second) with a near-supernatural comprehension of three-dimensional piloting.
It's also stated that they created airships before they discovered fire, by capturing hydrogen from natural sources on their mountainous homeworld.
>>
>>28208704

I could see that. In that case I'm reminded of how the Sabbat run their business. The Arch=Bishop may be the baddest dude on the block but even he still needs his own guys to make sure he can stay in that seat.

I could see it very much the same way. The established powers would either recruit young males to give them a sense of worth so they don't immediately go after the big guy and if they refuse you get some one else to take care of it unless some code of honor dictates that you have to handle it yourself (even then, having your guys in the background to ensure you win).

Huh, works out better then I thought.
>>
So, for their standard warships, we're looking at a colorful design, cloaking field, hundreds of missiles and a palatial interior (presumably for the officers, most of the crew make do with normal accommodations)? I could dig that.
>>
Bumping for harpies? This thing turned good right before it turned bad.
>>
Here's a thought: How do they handle the existence of homosexuality?
>>
>>28210614

I actually don't think they'll mind it much at all. If they're such hedonists, they'll just see it as yet another fetish. So long as you're willing to fulfill your social obligations as a male/female (including having sex with members of the opposite gender and all that) what you do for fun is nobody's business.
>>
>>28209105
SO many missiles. And maybe fighters too.
>>
>>28210932

How would you shove a person with big ass wings into a tiny cockpit? That sounds extremely uncomfortable. And how would you put them in a spacesuit in case shit happens?
>>
>>28210964
well, there's a few ways. Straight jacket space suits and foot controls is the one way. Another way is to make the fighters basically oversized winged space suits, giving them engines on the wings to mimic natural momement. Weapons systems, still, are foot operated.
>>
>>28207089
Remember there fine manipulators are in the feet. Wingblades might be good for dueling if they traditionally fought by smacking each other with there wings, but ranged weapons would probably be held be held in the talons.

>>28207417
Why do they wear clothes? I imagine just jewelry and, of course, spacesuits for going into space.

Clothes are for races without feathers or fur.
>>
>>28196978
You're kidding right, considering this is an completely alien world where not only the general physics are different but the entire ecosystem, there could literally be a chance for no plants, just a bare big world of breathing gas spewing animals/reactions.

Then we have to take in account on how and why they actually discovered said technology, i mean they could be writing about the possibilities of using electricity before going in on using any advanced combustion or even invent greater engineering tools.

We could get a race of space faring beings that simply don't know how to build guns or even have an understanding what herbalism and farming outside keeping animals would be like.

And it's all possible cause it's a completely different world, different metals, different gravity and of course: Different beings made out of completely alien biomatter, they might not even use a cellular structure. That's how alien they can be.
>>
>>28200151
Maybe they'd adapt robotic arms, but maybe their lack of actual hands would make that a later more advanced thing.
>>
>>28210999

That makes about as much sense as expecting long range space combat to be conducted by astronauts with rifles and jetpacks.
>>
>>28211328
>not conducting astronaut with rifle and jetpack combat
Anon, I pity you.
>>
>>28211281
Feet ARE there hands. How many times do I have to say this.
>>
>>28207509
>>28207617
>hfy faggotry and waifufaggotry
No, fuck you. This was fun until you showed up
>>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrot

"Although there are a few exceptions, parrots are monogamous breeders which nest in cavities and hold no territories other than their nesting sites.[32][38] The pair bonds of the parrots and cockatoos are strong and a pair will remain close even during the non-breeding season, even if they join larger flocks. As with many birds, pair bond formation is preceded by courtship displays; these are relatively simple in the case of cockatoos. In Psittacidae parrots common breeding displays, usually undertaken by the male, include slow deliberate steps known as a "parade" or "stately walk" and the "eye-blaze", where the pupil of the eye constricts to reveal the edge of the iris.[32] Allopreening is used by the pair to help maintain the bond. Cooperative breeding, where birds other than the breeding pair help the pair raise the young and is common in some bird families, is extremely rare in parrots, and has only unambiguously been demonstrated in the Golden Parakeet (which may also exhibit polyamorous, or group breeding, behaviour with multiple females contributing to the clutch)"
>>
>>28208486
>With that said what would happen to the harpy dude's harem if he bites the dust?
If the guy is someone really important, they would probably find someone else to elevate to his stature as sort of a puppet haremlord in order to keep enjoying the privileges his status afforded them. Otherwise, they probably just find some other guy to harem for.

I would imagine rivals of the deceased would contribute extremely flashy condolences so as to impress the currently man-less harem. So the more rivals a guy has and the more people want his harem, the more extravagant his funeral is.
>>
>>28212021
but anon, I never stopped having fun.
>>
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>>28210614
"Ah yes, I'll take twenty"
>>
>>28212140

Is this robot built into its chair?
>>
>>28213125
Are you built into your seat?

Of course it's built into it's chair!
>>
>>28213125
>has never seen futurama
He is pretty much the perfect depiction of the Space Harparrots.

But yes, Hedonismbot is built into his chair.
>>
>>28212023

The idea is that they have colorful plumage like that of a parrot, except they are near psychotic hedonist who'll smoke space hookah while ordering a missile massacre while getting a 10 way blow job from all of their bitches.
>>
>>28210999

>What would a bird need with a plane one could ask? When the Plaeca, or Harparrots as humans call them, have made unique technological advances having to deal with beings who used flying machines far heavier and heavily armed then any Plaeca soldier could bring to bear.

>Boarding between Exo-armor and fighter jet, their wings extend into larger mechanical versions of their own limbs. Shielded with plasteel and electro polymer muscles they can operate in altitude and in vaccum with variable weapons systems from micro missile racks, vulcan rail cannons and plasma bolt casters while maneuvering with their natural body movements with the polymer muslces protecting their limbs from the extreme g-forces of complex manuevers aided further by the neural interfaces some elect to receive the push the limits of their combat abilities.
>>
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>>28213162
And I forgot my picture.
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Fabulous harpies.
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>>28214019

I think this is what you really meant to post
>>
>>28211378
I saw OP's image and just assumed that harpies in this setting would have hands, though not as complex or dextrous as those of humans. They'd be capable of grasping and holding things with both their hands and feet, but in exchange they would have greater difficulty using their wings to fly, perhaps only being able to glide.
To make up for this, they would instead have powerful, agile legs, not unlike the largest birds on Earth, similarly incapable of sustained flight.
>>
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>>28214041
That is certainly fabulous.
>>
>>28214064
At the risk of drifting the conversation back to papibutts, I like the way Monster Musume did harpy hands where they have little thumb claws for simple grasping but their feet mostly replace their hands.
>>
>>28214213

There was a monster girl comic with a bat girl where her feet were fully function hands. When she's hanging onto the guys back by hugging him essentially she's holding a lantern and pointing like it's a regular, if oversized hand. Then again she was also 4'8 or smaller as well.
>>
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>>28214261
Similar to that, I have this.
>>
>>28214019
The setting really makes the gif.
>>
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>>28214289
And I have this.
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>Star harpies
>Starpies
I don't why this makes me chuckle, but it does.
>>
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Remember that in most bird species the males have brighter plumage.

Pic Related: A peahen.
>>
>>28215116
>Remember that in most bird species the males have brighter plumage.
Hence all the talk of flamboyant honor duels.
>>
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>>28215193
and the talk of jojos.
>>
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>>28215221

MAXIMUM JOJO
>>
>>28215380
Oh good god yes. Cytomander-analogue for king of the SPESSBURDS.
>>
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>>28215475

Anybody has any good gifs of the guy?
>>
>>28215193
Yeah but I'm just pointing this out to all the people who want Harpy waifus.

Incidentally harpies probably consider human men to be effeminate and human woman to be very butch. During first contact they probably assumed the genders were reversed, and imagine us as a race of space amazons.
>>
>>28215583
>implying we don't want drab harpy waifus
???
>>
>>28215221
Same thing, really.
>>
>>28215583
The harpy women are probably all very conservative dressing secretary types that run the ships for their flamboyant husband.
>>
>>28215711
Hnnng
>>
>>28215711

Wasn't there some talk of harems?
>>
>>28215740
I doubt EVERY woman is going to be a part of a harem, anon. Or, even if they are, they're probably doing other things during their not-getting-fucked time.
Like being a secretary.
>>
>>28215758

Oh, okay, I can live with that. How do you decide which women ends up in the fuck-cage and which ends up manning the drive, though?
>>
>>28215740
Secretarial harems, duh. The male might dress his favorites up in provocative, showy clothing, but no matter how extravagant they get they probably still wear their business ties. Besides, you cant have your women looking more fabulous than you, thats just emasculating.
>>
>>28215776
A little something we like to call romance, anon.
>>
>>28215740
well the whole harpies with a patriarchal society where males maintain harems sound less like harpies and more like something else.

Especially considering that in most bird species it's the male that has to prove itself to be worthy of the female.

So the harem fantasy does not fit in with the idea of space harpies.
>>
>>28208486
Honestly i don't think so, since they really wouldn't care for the dead more than they care about the living. As such they probably have some quick sorrow song and then drop of the dead guy where nobody can see him. This may be to their highly competetive nature when it comes to status and a dead guy outside of how well he fucked someone and if he's gonna come back as a ghost to haunt you, you really aren't gonna care that much about them.

Can't have a completely spotless race of drug addicts now can we /tg/?
>>
>>28215776
see >>28215827
He would surround himself with his favorites, but there likely wouldnt be any fuck cages since they would be more useful elsewhere. Unless the male was in the fuck cage, too, but thats a different matter entirely.
>>28216734
>Especially considering that in most bird species it's the male that has to prove itself to be worthy of the female.
Hence the flamboyant honor duels. The first post on the matter actually covered this point for point. See >>28206428
>>While very Patriarchal the males have to show their worth to females and the status is judged by how many females to have to their harem who are free to leave if their chosen male proves weak and usless or loses to a rival in ritual combat
You gotta earn your harem, son. Women aren't property in this society and are free to leave your ass whenever it stops being so fabulous.
>>
>>28217265
I liked >>28212102s explanation, where his rivals throw him a huge funeral in order to woo his harem. Everything is a competition, after all.
>>
>>28211378
Yeah but think about it, FOUR HANDS.

That's like, double the amount of hands, and they are close to your face, so you can actually walk AND eat when you are in battle, where bitches are killed fast.
>>
>>28217315
>four hands!
>FOUR HANDS!
I can just imagine the Harparrots shouting that when they see humans for the first time.
>>
With the current situation we've got going for these harpies, I can't really see these guys having any sort of good standing with any other star-faring civilizations, with the exception of any traders who sell them their exotic candies and drugs.
>>
>>28219497
Well, we've only talked about one of the ways they might show off to attract ladies.

They could try gaining ludicrous wealth through more legal activities.
>>
>>28219497
Or the males, anyway. I imagine the females are slightly more down-to-earth (so to speak).
>>
>>28219497

There is also the fact that it's been mentioned that they could have abandoned worlds they colonized and left people behind. Who's to say those they left behind, with no means of leaving, couldn't be more friendly to others while still being all macho and shit?
>>
>>28220121
"Look, when you're dealing with the Harparrots, you'll want to talk to the ladies. Those are the brown ones. It's the ladies that care about the practical things."

"But I thought they had harems and stuff."

"Best to think of those as a bunch of ladies sharing the hottest men.
>>
>>28220292
that's pretty much how it works.
The ladies know, the men might know, but the key is that the ladies never know the men know the ladies know, because the system breaks down.
>>
>>28220292

>The rank among the harems is more to do with who was the chosen male's first woman rather than age to determine seniority. With that, the primary woman has technical authority over her sisters however, the females being more leveled headed and concerned with the working of things, tend to be somewhat more democractiic in their dealings.

>Following the whims of the male they delegate roles for each other based on their experiences and expertise. Just being apart of the harem of a powerful male is the end goal so most females do not mind taking the role of pleasure wives focusing solely on tending to their chosen's physical needs while others may handle such affairs as banking, piloting (but not combat piloting), tending to the well being of the brood and other such roles that females dedicate themselves to
>>
>>28220386
I imagine the women would handle combat piloting aboard the flagships. Sort of like that one prince in Wakfu whose battleship bridge was crewed exclusively by women.
>Lucretia, be a dear give those drab human fellows a salvo of missiles for me. Medium style.
>Oh, and don't use the new cannons. I'm saving those for my duel with that flabbergasted snook of a magpie Percival von Womberfold.
>>
>>28220524
I fully support this motion if it means we can have the drab lady harpies in perky military uniforms.
>>
>>28220541
I thought that was the plan ever since we decided on Secretarial Harems.
>>
>>28220541

seconded.

While I imagine that the husband has overall command of the ship or ships he delegates the overall captain duties to his wives who want or have military experience so she has authority over the other males by virture of her husband's rank.
>>
>>28220600
Theres probably only one male per ship. The size of your ship and by extension the size of your harem determines your place in the fleet. A bigger harem means you can staff a bigger ship and once you hit a certain point, you just start making your ship as flashy as possible.
>>
>>28220600
>>28220674
Well, There might be a whole ton of beta males in the ship as fighter pilots. That's probably how they earn their first subordinates when they're young, showing off their flashy ace pilot skills out there in combat.
>>
>>28220746
Heck, they probably get their first few girls that way.

Possibly they are the male relatives of the family. Sons, younger brothers, etc.
>>
>>28220674

For staffing the ship yeah, but the males are the ones who would be going out and fighting. Actually now that I think of it it could be like how Lords and knights work.

Males can sign on with a particularly powerful male for a chance to gain status. like >>28213621 mentioned you could have guys like that who go out and fight (or go pirating depending on the flavor) and record their exploits for bragging rights so they can get females.
>>
>>28220746
That actually sounds really good. Your assault fighters are young bucks trying to prove themselves and maybe your more defensive fighters are some harem girls. Flight squadrons are a man who has managed to gain a few girls but not enough to staff his own frigate yet and you move up from there.
>>28220786
Sons of rich males probably inherit their own frigate as well as a few loaner girls from dear old dads harem.
>>
>>28220822
>>28220786
and now I'm imagining falco from star fox for some reason.
>>
>>28220879
>I guess I should be thankful
But in reality he is pissed because by saving him you rob him of the chance of wooing any ladies
>>
>>28220879

Falco would be the kind of male who went off the rails to find a different way of attracting females by earning a name for himself elsewhere. Maybe he didn't have the luxery of getting in with a powerful family? Maybe he wasn't a particularly favored son and his mother lost favor with the husband and the harem?

I could see females awarding daring and originality if the male made his own way in the world and became successful.
>>
I think we're getting close to auto sage. Can anyone archieve this thread? We could pick it up once we've reached the limit.
>>
>>28220955
They probably have varying tastes.

Some prefer a guy who can kick everyone's asses without breaking a sweat, some just care if they dress well.
>>
>>28220955
Maybe he just got a sweet, sweet deal with the fox crew.

I mean, the lylat system paid big bucks. And a per-kill bonus too.
>>
>>28221001

They are glorified mercenaries all told, so when the war fighting ends in the Lylat system and Falco can focus on settling down he can woo the ladies with his war stories in his down time and focus on getting his own frigate.
>>
>>28221069
He's probably going to steal tips from fox's design.

A giant ship that looks like you? That's brand recognition class right there. Some kind of giant space eagle. The falcon.
>>
>>28221091

Good to see we have a represenative of the race. Thinking about this the Dos Esquis guy could be a good example to. A daring explorer who's equal parts Dos Esquis guy and Indiana Jones all roled into one.
>>
>>28221141
That guy from Wakfu, too. All sorts of toys and weapons all crewed by women, but doesn't ever dirty his own hands.
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>>28221180

Another thing. There could be exceptional females who's status is such that males will compete for her to be a part of their harem.

After a certain point a male could afford to be choosy about what females he lets into his harem and typically the harem sisters have a say in weeding out unwanted females who don't bring anything to the table.

Exceptional females could be ones who've survived their previous husbands and could be (using D&D as an example) skilled magic users, diplomats with connections and money, skilled inventors and scientist or just have a name that would be awesome to have associated with your own.

While they are still a part of the harem they may have a bit more pull and personal freedom to do what they want so a high level female could go off on her own so long as she still wears her husband's symbol or whatever marks her as his wife.
>>
>>28221294
I had just assumed that the ladies would be generally unaligned and cared for by whomever their parents were until such time as they struck out on their own or found a man.
>>
>>28221294
Each harem is likely to have a Head Girl who keeps everything running and is the brains behind the operation. The kind of girl who is so valued by her man that she herself becomes influential to the point that if their man dies they just keep running things and grab his son/brother/etc and teach that guy how to be fabulous in his stead. Or if their man is on the decline, they can cash in on his reputation by becoming the wife of one of his rivals, since there is no greater insult you can deal someone than stealing away their Head Girl.
>>
>>28221328
I would think a good way to recruit young males would be to gift them with one of your daughters since your own child can't be one of your wives (it's incestuous even if she never does anything and seen as cheating)
>>
Just a bit curious; are we sticking with Harparrots, or are we including other subspecies still?
>>
>>28222352
there may or may not be ravens.
Nobody is sure.
Too sneaky.
>>
>>28222352
OP wants Harparrots, but I guess you could still have fun with the "Crow Harpies are sneaky fucks with clan loyalties" thing.
>>
you know, these guys actually remind me a bit of metroid space pirates.

Just a bit.
>>
>>28223160
They're like space pirates meet Ctarl-Ctarl and heavily dipped in Jojo for good measure.
>>
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>>28210658
A Lesbian Harpy Pirate manages to out alpha all of the male harpies in her crew, now she has two harems
>>
>>28224329
it's bound to happen sooner or later. Or at least be a rumor at birdbars.
>>
>The Harparrots have a religion who's diety is a god of war, fertility, prosperity, and ritual madness

>His cult is made exclusively of females who are wedded to the diety and become his brides.

>They set out across the stars to tend to far flung males offering varied forms of comfort to them and perform orgiastic rituals for the populace as a way of managing and releasing pent up aggression and frustration evident in the race

>males who frequent priestesses are looked down upon by other males due to having no females of their own to find comfort in and priestesses keep detailed records of those they attend to

>Being turned down by a Priestess is akin to excommunication and eternal shame on the part of the male.
>>
>>28224473

>Female Harparrots have an amazing degree of freedom and can, and do, associate with females even from other harems (as this is often how important business dealings are made). So long as the female does not interact with a male beyond acceptable conditions.

>Likewise there is no taboo against males in any form of same sex relations as dominance plays an important role in their society and young Harparrots may have to endure this treatment during their years in training with older males.
>>
>>28220746

You know, that actually justified for once having space fighters in what might otherwise be a realistic setting. Sure, drones are more practical, but the danger and glory is what it's all about!
>>
Is this thing archived yet?
>>
>>28224771
Balls if I know. Not that it's hard to use the archives, I'm just lazy.
>>28224647
Well, cultural justifaction for these things is really the only excuse in hardscifi. But I tend not to work in it because I love soft space battles.
>>
Fireworks,
The Harparot (Seriously is this the best name we can come up for them) civilization entered it's feudal stage with the invention of gunpowder. While in human civilization the noble class used horses to elevate themselves above the common soldier in war, the avian (I'll just call them avians) nobility preferred to stay at home and demonstrate there greatness through salvos of explosive rockets.
Somewhere between saturation bombing and fireworks displays, in the feudal erra these barrages were just as deadly to friend as they were to foe. The order of battle was to send in waves of unmarried males to engage the enemy, launch a salvo of rockets. And then have the nobility swoop in to clear out the rest. Any soldier who survived this stood a good chance of attracting a mate and climbing the social ladder.
In the industrial age, radar and computerization made these barrages less chaotic and more precise. More closely resembling the so called "Itano Circus" of the animated films of XXth century earth. The invention of the atomic bomb allowed one of the various warring clans to decisively conquer the entire planet and heralded both the beginning of the current empire, and the beginning of the spacefairing age.
With the entire race united under one banner, the same rockets that had lit the battleskies now carried explorers into the stars.
>>
>>28225977
I like this, but I'm mostly dry on inspiration at the moment, so I can't help you much.
>>
Drugs,
The Avians use drugs to enhance almost every aspect of there lives and have been doing so since the dawn of there civilization. Even gunpowder which has shaped there history, was accidentally invented by drug chemists experimenting with unstable formulas.
This over reliance on drugs however has come at a price, after thousands of years of species wide drug use, they are no longer able to manufacture several key hormones.
Unlike humans, avians are only able to mate when in Estris. In the past mating took place on a regular cycle, however during the feudal erra it became popular for the nobility to use drugs to artificially induce it for recreational sex. Eventualy this practice spread through the entire society, and now the entire species is ONLY capable of reproducing when under the effects of fertility drugs.
All drugs are legal in Avian society, however the most important drugs carry heavy taxes leading to rampant smuggling.
>>
So? Are these space harpies carnivores or herbivores?

Part of me wants to write them as raptors, but with the whole drugged up peacock thing we have going it might make more sense for them to herbivores. Nuts and berries probably provide enough fat and protein for sentience even without meat.
>>
>>28226175
I don't think we've decided at all. Though, if the peacocks are herbivores, I'd love it if the ravens were carnivores.

Of course, ravens aren't real, those are all just tall tales told around bird shipping lanes.
>>
>>28226196

Parrots are omnivorous (they eat seeds and such as well as insects), but the fact that these guys are humans sized changes things. They probably wouldn't be able to live off just that. Small animals/fish and fruit/nectar, I suppose.
>>
>>28226196
Maybe there is like another ethnic group that is just biologically different enough to have a different diet.

They have less gender dimorphism (Both males and females are drab) they only eat meat, and they don't really get along with the rest of avian society. They are considered untouchables, but get hired as mercenaries for anything that requires not being flashy and flamboyant.
>>
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So let me get this straight.

Space Harpies have some weird fusion society based around recreational drug use, harems, super flamboyant garb like it's the freaking city-states italian period, and being incredibly hedonistic and foppish about -everything-?
>>
>>28226322
yes.
Also ladies doing all the gruntwork while rolling their eyes and/or getting ladyboners over the men's antics.
>>
>>28226240
well, herbivores would most likely take to eating meat once civilization happened. You basically can pre-digest things using fire.
>>
>>28224329
Not only is she tiny, ugly and pretty colorless by their standards, so i'd guess she'd pretty much have a harder time actually wooing others into her following.
>>
>>28226346
So basically men are expected to be balls out awesome as possible to impress the ladies or lose them to other males. This tends to lead to a high mortality rate for young males who get killed trying to attract mates.

But even so, that can't account for ALL the males. That might count for those who are rich enough to afford to enlist and get into space, but perhaps there's other methods? A male might impress the ladies with his amazing art work, or his works of industry and craft?

EG: Don't want to go fight? Prove yourself by carving a homestead out of a deathworld colony might be enough to attract some ladies from the homeworld.

I imagine their version of things like online dating websites are all lists of accomplishments for the guys more than anything else.
>>
>>28226390
That just makes her achievement all the more impressive.
>>
>>28226392
yeah, military antics are most common, but they're an entire species. New and innovative ways of showing how awesome you are happen every day.

Flying closer to the sun than anyone else can? you betcha. Paint the most glorious and brilliant depiction of a battle or self portrait or something? Sure, could probably land a few ladies. Be some steve irwin fuck who wrestles dangerous animals to the ground? Ooolala, you didn't even use a wingblade, how... impressive.
>>
>>28226414
True enough

Might cause a whole load of trouble with the younger generation

Suddenly we have some kind of fucking lesbian/femenist revolution on their hands cause the whores are fed up with the males in control.

They are high sentience beings, they can think outside a niche long enough to come up with the idea that maybe, maybe those guys shouldn't be in controll of everything, "I mean i'm pretty tired of dancing sensationally for the local clutch lord and he keeps hogging all those drugs for himself, clearly this is all the males fault or something, this jack is making it fucking hard to think". And so they had their own little radical femenist movements.
>>
>>28226533
later, they all realize the ladies were in charge the entire time.
>>
>>28226392

I can actually see this happening.

>Shurkumch
>young male looking for love
>participated in the battle of Indigo Streams in 2198, 16 confirmed kills
>awarded medal of the neon pink heart
>examples of my amazing poetry
>prefers smokers
>>
>>28196355

The obvious way out would be to just give them another set of appendages for articulation. There's no reason they have to have the same number of limbs as Earth vertebrates?

And I'd imagine flying or swimming creatures might actually adapt better to weightlessness and the spacer life than we do.
>>
>>28226392
So instead of OkCupid they have LinkedIn. Makes sense.

I'm imagining that the disparity of mates would probably be there biggest source of inequality. 1% of the males control the majority of the females, and use the promise of getting mates to get the rest to do just about everything. Hence how blowing up your own soldiers in an artillery barrage being considered normal war. "If you survive you can have one of my daughters!"

The system was more or less stable until they started interacting with other species. The idea of Monogamous relationships based on mutual love is considered dangerous sexual deviancy. Human sexuality in general frightens the religious and political elite of avian society. The idea that humans can have sex whenever they want, and sometimes even chose to deny sex to fitting partners, has serious implications.
>>
>>28196743

A thick atmosphere relative to the gravity seems more likely, as it makes flight more advantageous. At the extreme, they might not actually be able to fly under Earthlike conditions, or do so poorly, like chickens.
>>
>>28226603
>neon pink heart
My sides
>>
>>28226634

>inb4 plaeca visit earth and mistake chickens for dominant species, begin putting on a show
>get mad that chickens are not impressed
>>
>>28226533
Don't confuse this with any human social movement. It's not the females that would rebel, it's the lower class males.

The nobility controls society by monopolizing the females. The Majority of the males however will die virgins. Right now they are all motivated by the remote possibility of getting a mate, but if something were to upset that balance things could get ugly fast.
>>
Space harparrot quest when
>>
>>28226757
around the same time we get the MAKE SCIENCE! space pirate simulator
>>
>>28226570
>>28226693
Important social feature.

high ranking males might call the shots MOST of the time.

But by and large, the VAST amount of power lies with the females I imagine. Their version of the feminist revolution probably happened around their version of the enlightenment. Rather than "I'll let you marry one of my daughters" it became "and maybe my daughters will CHOOSE to marry you."

Basically, a harem can fall apart just because a male has lost favor with his wives. And a young buck can suddenly find himself drowning in babes because he did something fucking awesome. The real power lies in the females in this society.
>>
>>28226776
WAIT!? THIS IS A THING?!

also, is anybody making either a 1d4chan page on this, or a pdf? Because this shouldn't be lost to sage.
>>
>>28226849
yeah, the females tend to be quite free to move around. They just tend not to, unless a good reason is given, because why would you leave a good deal for no reason?
>>
>>28226864
>this is a thing
I am pining over the fact neither of these things will ever exist, anon.
>>
>>28226872
My point is that the male isn't expected to sit on his laurels. If he's not constantly striving to impress his girls, he's going to lose them.
>>
>>28226849
Regardless, Humans are dirty sexual deviants and we don't want our hatchlings hearing that nonsense about romance or monogamy.
>>
>>28226903
yes, exactly.
>>
>>28226894
The hell they won't.

Explain to me the details. My job is to make games a reality, and by god I am going to make this one a fucking reality.
>space pirate simulator makin time.
>give me features

>>28226912
Point.

What about inducting other species into this? Sure, we don't want our hatchlings hearing about it, but what if some male of female of another species buys into our philosophy?
>>
>>28226929
It's just a name we throw around, anon.
Like that chapter master game.
>>
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>>28226864

A wiki page would be awesome if some handsome alpha male with the right motivation were to go make one, nudge.
>>
>>28226977
So MAKE SCIENCE! Space Pirate sim doesn't really mean anything at all? You're sure?

Cause I think I could probably make something similar to King of Dragonpass for this >>; nothing super fancy, more a text adventure, but it's not impossible.

Anyway...
>>28227007
noted.

Guess I'm going make a page.

In the mean time somebody track down this thread on either foolz or sup/tg/ so it can be made properly.

Also, are we going to do this with other monster girl species? One thread at a time? or what?
>>
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>>28226757
I'd do it if I wasn't already planning on helping with the up coming Mech Mercenary quest.
>>
>>28227033

Jesus, no. I still have PTSD from the minotaur civilization monstergirl thing.

>the milk, the milk
>everywhere
>so much of it
>>
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>>28227055
Well, this thread only really happened because OP wanted to talk about harpies in space.
>>
>>28227083
http://1d4chan.org/wiki/Space_Harpies

There you go anons. Fill it up with the data on this thread. Just make sure to log in and hit the 'minor changes' check box if it's just editting a line or two so the wikifags don't hate us too much.
>>
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>>28227033
what we do with monstergirl species really varies. We usually don't do scifi like this.
>>28227077
Oh come on, the majority of them are way less fetish than that.
>>
Okay, heading to bed, somebody make sure to archive this and link it to the wiki page so that we can populate it now that we're in autosage.
>>
>>28227185

You know, I could see a culture of wooly, peaceful herd animals evolving on a cold planet, if we want sheep girls.
>>
>>28227301
I generally stick to one or two human-looking types of aliens. Unless we're in a rubber forehead universe. In which case, go fucking nuts.
>>
>>28227301

You're the guy who fucked up the Zodiac thread aren't you?
>>
>>28227401
oh, don't be so harsh on him. The guy wants the bottled lightning to be able to be reproduced and manufactured.

I personally would like such treatments for my favorite monsterfolks, but that will come another day and another thread.
>>
in another thread, I was taught you could put a nuke in a well, put an object on top of the nuke, and get it shot at six times escape velocity directly up.

The object is usually destroyed entirely.

This sounds like something harpies would try to use.
>>
>>28227460

It's basically an Orion drive.
>>
>>28226693
>>28226849
Actually i just wanted a communist revolution type, where really angry and pent up females actually go to war because of this one female war hero(which they either bring on their side or disappointingly fight with), a kinda Bolshevik revolution against the tzar if you replace nobility with patriarchism.

If people could change their way out of one man rulership into another, more state owned one. Then i'm sure a bunch of old/angry/low status whores of a lords harem can think of the perfect state where the men are the pretty dancers. Basically a change around with really violent females that are probably gonna loose anyway, but by bird god they will fight.
>>
>>28227434
No, he wants to wank to the thought of animal people with flat bug faces.

Fuck those guys.
>>
>>28227588
Why? They basically run everything already.
>>
>>28227641
Well it would bring some flavor to a one sided species. Besides if they loose the males can point at them and go "LOOK, LOOK how bad that is!"

That and i didn't really like the totalitarian male rule just vanished because reasons, they gotta make compromises to not have something like that happen again.
>>
>>28227668
But it's not totalitarian male rule. The males prance around and get into fights, the women do basically everything else. If a guy's super awesome, he gets lots of babes and their concurrent skills. If he is not awesome, he gets nothing.
>>
>>28227811

Basically just like real life.

Also, i just thought of something: would a female born with colorful feathers bs thought of as intriguing or like a bearded lady?
>>
>>28227827
putting myself in a harparrot mindset:
She'll propably be considered androgynous, maybe intersex by our standards.

If she plays her cards right she could gather a harem of her own, but she propably won't be accepted into a normal Harem.

Maybe these outsiders get forced into a diplomatic role with humanity to keep the normal harpies from being corrupted
>>
>>28226390
>>28226414
>>28226533
Or it might mean that she dyes her feathers and tries as hard as possible to look male, becoming essentially their equivalent to a guy in drag.
>>
>>28225977
>Seriously is this the best name we can come up for them
This guy >>28213621 called them Plaeca and said harparrot was just their human given nickname.
>>
>>28228751

Actually it should be plaeca, not Plaeca, since it's the name of a species and not a nation. Mass Effect is one of the only space opera settings that gets this right.
>>
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All I can say is...
This species is gonna have some major bling.
>>
>>28228151
On the flip side, she is an oddity and in turn a rarity, which makes her desirable on the sole fact that she is one of a kind. Any male who woos her can brag about how he is the only male with a naturally fabulous wife.
>>
We started on 1d4 article yet?


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