Clan Nova Cat - Zombie Catgirl Extravaganza

[Minemech]

 It is better to take that as a product of the chaos and confusion around the move rather than as an objective fact.

[parable]

I can see the note coming into the HPG now, "Dear Clan Nova Cat, thanks for ceding your Kerensky cluster holdings to us in exchange for our helping your Clan survive its abjuration.  Oh and by the way, sorry for attacking your Clan during that selfsame abjuration, things are pretty crazy for all of us right now, you know?  Seriously, our bad.  Sincerely, Clan Snow Raven"

[cmerwin]

I can see the note coming into the HPG now, "Dear Clan Nova Cat, thanks for ceding your Kerensky cluster holdings to us in exchange for our helping your Clan survive its abjuration.  Oh and by the way, sorry for attacking your Clan during that selfsame abjuration, things are pretty crazy for all of us right now, you know?  Seriously, our bad.  Sincerely, Clan Snow Raven"

"Sorry for the 8 million dead. Lol.😂😭"

[Were there emojis on the Chatterweb?]

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I'm sure that the Clans view emojis as a form of contractions.

[parable]

I'm sure that the Clans view emojis as a form of contractions.

I got to thinking about this and I think they'd love them.  We all know the Clans like contractions, just ones that are THEIRS, quiaff?  And in a highly-regimented society, bold, straightforward symbols would be the norm.  MSDS symbols, military hand and arm signals, semaphore, constructivist art, &c.  In fact, I think they'de promote them à la 1984: break emotion down to symbols representing a range in the spectrum, and weed out symbols whose influence you don't want in your society.  No tired faces that look sad, because being tired means you did your duty and should be satisfied with that.  Nothing that even references pregnancy or marriage: yes, it happens, but it shouldn't be normalized and it's a hindrance to Clan superiority.  And so on and so forth.  Add strictures to who can access what based on caste and rank and you have a VERY solid argument that a widespread system of emojis, smileys, and .gifs would be something the Clans, at least the Watch and any leaders worried that the other castes might organize, would very much like to have.

[Metallgewitter]

I'm sure that the Clans view emojis as a form of contractions.

the chatterweb excerpts showed that the chatters were not exactly above using contradictions or even 'lol' to egg each other on. Though no emojis. Maybe the administrators thought that would be too much IS style. Though what emojis might be good? A barbarian face? Surats? A Falcon waving it's wing perhaps?

[tassa_kay]

Emojis are a step too close to real-world nonsense for me, and certainly don't feel very Clan-like (I tend to agree that they'd be akin to contractions in Clan eyes).

[cmerwin]

Emojis are a step too close to real-world nonsense for me, and certainly don't feel very Clan-like (I tend to agree that they'd be akin to contractions in Clan eyes).

Despite being the person to originally pose this question, I agree for the most part that emojis feel un-Clan-like, at least for the Warrior caste.

That said, I think Parable makes a convincing argument for the use of such things among the lower castes as further modifying their language away from that used by the Great Houses. What if the Diamond Sharks created, ala Clan Spaniel, an entire code of symbols for the lower castes (following Metallgewitter's suggestion)? Modifications of military map symbols for use by the technicians and laborers that IntelSer and the Watch could monitor? Cute ways of indoctrinating freeborn children to adhere to Clan values?

[Fire Scorpion IIC]

"Sorry for the 8 million dead. Lol.😂😭"

[Were there emojis on the Chatterweb?]

Definitely

Emojis are the least wasteful method of communication

[tassa_kay]

I mean, until anything even remotely like this idea pops up in canon (and I really hope it doesn't; the very last thing I ever want to see in BattleTech fiction, and especially amongst the Clans, is friggin' emojis), I'm not sure there's an answer for "what if?" here. Hopefully emojis have gone the way of the dodo in the future of BattleTech. Even "lol" in the Chatterweb was immersion breaking to me.

[cmerwin]

I mean, until anything even remotely like this idea pops up in canon (and I really hope it doesn't; the very last thing I ever want to see in BattleTech fiction, and especially amongst the Clans, is friggin' emojis), I'm not sure there's an answer for "what if?" here. Hopefully emojis have gone the way of the dodo in the future of BattleTech. Even "lol" in the Chatterweb was immersion breaking to me.

I think I 100% agree. There's a lot of BattleTech speculation I really enjoy. I like the what if? aspect, I like looking things up, I like reasoning consistently within lore and accounting for differences in the universe and 1000+ years from now. And then some things I think: "No. No friggin' way."

I stand by my defense of Parable's thought process, but I want to move on to more wholesome speculation...

[cmerwin]

This may be a topic that may only be of particular interest to me, but I would love thoughts from others. I've been consistently fascinated by the character of saKhan Lucian Carns (who should have been played by Lance Reddick in any BattleTech film) and I've tried to reason out why. We know a lot about him, in many ways more than we know about many of our other Khans and saKhans (even Leroux).

While it has never been 100% confirmed it is implied that Carns was originally a Clan Wolf Warrior. For purposes of speculation, I am going to accept that as true. So a ristar Bloodnamed Wolf warrior, who tested out of his ToP as a Star Captain, is taken as bondsperson in our Clan, earns his way in to our Warrior ranks, we don't know much of his career as a Nova Cat, but fairly quickly becomes saKhan. For a LONG time. TP: REVIVAL Trials has him as saKhan before the Invasion in 3048. In 3058, at the age of 80 (!!!) he and Leroux score "impressive" victories in their Trials of Position, and along with the other Nova Cat high-command was involved in the Vision Quest to bring us to the 2nd Star League.

I guess what really fascinates me is how does a Wolf ristar so accept and embrace Nova Cat culture that he rises so high? The vast majority of references to Nova Cats in the literature always smirkingly say something like: "Oh, the Nova Cats? They're ...different." But clearly Carns was able to completely embody our culture and rise to the top.

Asking myself this question about Carns then led me to wonder, what other Clans would do well as Nova Cat bondsmen? And which wouldn't?

[Minemech]

 He could have been an ailurophile the whole time. Perhaps even an odd duck from the get-go.

[parable]

Cloud Cobra and Nova Cat took each other as bondsmen enough that there's a Nova Cat mystic cloister of the Cloud Cobras (Rossei) and a Galaxy of Nova Cats (Xi) that largely adheres to said cloister's beliefs, so there's some proof that the two Clans were culturally close enough that their bondsmen could integrate.  I'd imagine that a Nova Cat could do worse than Goliath Scorpion: mysticism, visions of the future, a love of and knack for sharpshooting, &c.  Of course, they'd basically have to pick up a drug addiction.  The reverse might work, but I doubt any Clan would take a bondsman who will immediately go into withdrawal.

[cmerwin]

He could have been an ailurophile the whole time. Perhaps even an odd duck from the get-go.

Agreed, but in most clans, odd-ducks aren't that accomplished before they are taken bondsmen. There's no reason not to think he wouldn't have become at least a Star Colonel if he had remained in Wolf (and maybe only that, but still) and then somehow shoots up through our ranks too.

I agree with you, there is a large part that is certainly his particular personality, but I think there's also a question of "fit".

Also, outstanding use of ailurophile. Ailuronovisphilis? My Latin declensions are rusty.

[Minemech]

Agreed, but in most clans, odd-ducks aren't that accomplished before they are taken bondsmen. There's no reason not to think he wouldn't have become at least a Star Colonel if he had remained in Wolf (and maybe only that, but still) and then somehow shoots up through our ranks too.

I agree with you, there is a large part that is certainly his particular personality, but I think there's also a question of "fit".

Also, outstanding use of ailurophile. ? My Latin declensions are rusty.

There always could have been a backhanded deal involved, for fear that he might have made it to at least Galaxy Commander in Clan Wolf. In the Clans, the cultural barriers vs internal politicking vs competence is a thing. In the Ravens for instance outsiders would never make it high due to the cultural barriers and internal politicking. He could have been too out there for even Clan Wolf.

 As for Ailuronovisphilis, we can treat it as an irregular loanword. That way it fits him.