OH GOSH NO THAT MEANS PLANT DICKS DOESNT IT? But yeah, that means that either they would all have cloaca, or some sort of thing like that, or they would all have guyish parts and girly parts at the same time, doesn't it?
Ah. No. Animals with a Cloaca often still have genders. It means they probably reproduce like plants. Which is to say cross-pollination. Which is to say, the flowers they have wherever. Of course that's inconsistent because some Florans don't even have Flowers. Even so, I somehow doubt plant dicks are a thing. So we have that going for us, I guess. If it DID say "unisex" then my argument, though unnecessary, is still right.
I just assume they all have a flower where a humans genitals are and they pollinate each other's flower or some shit
This is probably the third or fourth, maybe even fifth thread that's cropped up about this, where yet once again not only has a consensus been failed to reach, but also the signs of it degrading to sexy plant boobs is nigh. You can easily keep the nature of reproduction ambiguous and it'll still have the same narrative effect. Let's explore the reasons why someone would be so obsessed to finding out the genitalia of imaginary plant people: To simulate more accurate means of sexual reproduction? The desire for accuracy is commendable, if ERP wasn't outlawed. To define the biological constructs of established gender binaries in their culture and society? Not really; as established, they're unisexual and can easily identify with one gender or another. You don't need to know how they do the nasty to get that point out in the open. To know how the anatomy of a Floran works? Good luck with that one, because that road is only paved with speculation and head-canons for miles. Though, if you really want to be fickle, you could even say they rub butts. Implement it in the characterization of a character? How? Do plant dicks have dark and awful pasts? Why supply what is basically concentrated forms of detail that is irrelevant to the narrative the character is trying to portray? If it gets to the point where the narrative results in some sort of background love-making (which, again, ERP is not allowed so good luck doing that on the server), you can easily, easily just keep it ambiguous. If it's inter-species, keep it even more ambiguous. Hell, the mystery itself on how it was even possible has five times the allure of whatever anatomical pseudoscience anyone could even try. Take it from someone who actually attempted to try. The last line on that post still rings true to this day.
This topic is not strictly about the reproduction methods, but rather why Florans don't have gender and how, as a society, their lack of gender would affect their outlook on genders internally and the genders of other races. Whether or not Florans have a concept of gender identity is something that would affect them in the day-to-day. The reason this came up was because the term "Matriarchy". Although, arguably there is no such thing in Floran society. And I would go further to argue they do not have a concept of gender identity unless that concept is placed upon them by another race. Unfortunately I doubt many Florans will change the way they act because of such a conclusion.
Looking into the social constructs of what are canonically aggressive and deadly plant beings whose sole intent (for the most part) is to hunt anything that moves is honestly looking for complexity when there isn't. Sometimes a cigar is simply a cigar, and sometimes a compulsion to talk about plant dicks when there ain't is just a compulsion about plant dicks where there ain't. For some people, the latter certainly applies.
I would agree that sometimes a dick is a dick. However, if you've actually interacted with any Floran for more than five minutes, you'd realize that pretty much anyone who plays them doesn't like the savage thing, so the just kind of brush it under the rug. That aside, Florans DO have civilization and society, even if it's extremely aggressive and extremely primitive. Looking into that society can make it easier for people to actually play Florans. Simply shrugging it off means we continue to have a bunch of leafy Humans.
Playing a 100% tribal floran is more often than not, a death sentence, so the fact is, there won't be many. But if there's a good backstory/many tribal values remain, just not enough to be insta-hated; Then /I/ don't see the problem.
That is true, except with one unfortunate catch: Their civilization, their culture, their entire reason to be centers around the hunt and how to hunt things. Their ability to survive rests on their vicious nature, to the point where they are willing to deceive any environmentalists into thinking they're one with the planet just to raid them. Dear God, one of their main influencing factors in the codexes is a parody of Sun Tzu. No amount of analysis will change the fact that this is, and probably will always be, a very violent, very brutal race, even if their violent ways stems less from genuine hostility and more just their lack of concept of anything beyond plant-life (which is probably the dumbest explanation ever if these things have any sort of capacity to understand things, period, but whatever, we'll roll with it). I'm fine with people playing casual Florans, for the reason Iridium just said right now: This, including with the fact that Florans are capable of becoming independent and going off into space themselves makes this pardonable. Very few people like to play things that are hated; it's tough, and it's hard, and it requires levels of masochism people wouldn't want to deal with. But I want to make it very clear, that the problem won't be resolved by analyzing the culture of something that's been made clear how it operates, but by encouraging people to actually play one of these things true to form in some way, which is pretty much borderline impossible for a variety of reasons I've stated before under the context of different topics. ...well, now that I think of it, there could be one solution to that. Floran throwaways. As long as the person doesn't get too attached to the character, they should be able to play a Floran true to form without caring whether or not it's hated. Alas, that initiative is up to everyone else, but if done correctly, it could help the situation at hand.
No no. The problem isn't with Florans that behave like Florans but without the rampaging horde of man-devouring hunger bits. Florans who act tribal, and attempt to be civil are one thing. The problem is Florans who act indistinguishably from Humans. It's a problem common in pretty much any alien species, even Glitch. Even though the Apex perhaps have the only justification for it. In most cases, it's Avians and Florans who behave like Humans unless someone brings up other Avians and Florans who act more along the lines of their racial culture, at which point they play the "You're racist!" card and pat themselves on the back. This is in part because the lore is sketchy. Super sketchy. It's also probably a little unfamiliarity stacked on some snowflake syndrome all powering a pretty flat line of culture. And you can argue "But they'd be just as diverse as Humans" all you want, but they won't. Avians are likely bred, born and raised in a highly pious, highly ritualistic lifestyle. That's not something you one day wake up out of and then put on some blue jeans and tennis-shoes. Even the Grounded NPCs don't fly so far from their culture. With Florans, even if you do break out of the violent cycle, you're still likely to have biological urges to attack, self-control issues, a lack of general empathy toward meatbags. That kind of thing. You wouldn't just have an epiphany that eating meatthings that talk is wrong and your people are savages. Or if you do, 50% of the Florans on the server shouldn't. Say what you will, but when you're raised and brainwashed into a culture, not even having the familiarity of others of your kind with different mindsets, or even knowing their out there (and if they are, they're demonized and ostracized), that's tough shit to break. As said, the Grounded NPCs don't even totally abandon he aesthetics of their people. With Florans, they're extremely likely to be even a step further gone in that their neurological systems (brains) and hereditary genes would be built for hunting and hunting and hunting. They'd have to fight both their bodies and their minds constantly. But who needs that? Too much work. Let's all be Humans.
My personal rule of thumb when playing a Floran is what I call the "curious caveman approach". Civilized passive Florans always make me cringe in a way because the concept simply goes against the grain so severely. We've seen what a "civilized" Floran should be like, and his name is Greenfinger. From what we've seen in the codices, he is very cunning and very underhanded - that isn't to say he's evil, just that being a morally upstanding citizen is the least of his concerns. He isn't sitting down for coffee and having a conversation about the weather. The approach I've been trying to take whenever I play my Floran (which isn't often, I'll readily admit) is channeled aggression for "learning" purposes, aka "see how it reacts to getting stabbed first, and then look for other approaches". Violence is in their blood, but that doesn't mean they're always gonna be murdering people. Florans seem to be naturally intelligent, if their reputation for reverse engineering is any indication. I'd like to see a lot more people utilize that - use their natural aggression and curiosity as tools or means to an end. It's not hostility, it's their culture.
There's a difference between purposefully playing something that is hated, and playing a poor character nobody likes. I'm referring to the former; the latter is it's own topic for another day.
Florans are not stupid, just less technologically advanced. Real life humans back when we were all tribal were no less intelligent than modern humans. Therefore makes sense that a floran would be intelligent and cunning enough to know when attacking meat is suicide. The effective predator knows to separate their prey from the herd when outnumbered.
And the badass predator just dives in and gets what it wants. Florans are not stupid, they are just only intelligent in areas that matter to them. Science, language, government and morals do not make you better at stabbing.
True, but playing a badass floran will either get you killed or accused of gpdmodding. In the lore florans can take on equal numbers to themselves and come out of the fight victorious and with minimal casualties. Play like that on the server and you are god modding. Or have them die all the time and seem weak and unskilled in combat compared to lore described florans
