The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained herein)

[Lucius]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

One could probably set a similar bar for Societal Morality scales(with Morality Level' date=' -5 to +5) and Stages:[/quote']

 

While I appreciate what you're trying to do here, the topic is too complex for a linear scale. For example, Islamic society incorporates polygamy (specifically polygyny) but usually prohibits visual erotica. Ancient Greek culture encouraged intimate relationships between males, but not marriage. And of course, lots of times and places have had some form or other of the "double standard."

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary wonders why people worry about sexual content, but not sexual discontent.

[Steve]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

The idea of an alien race that promotes incest as a standard practice seems counter-intuitive. Doesn't collapsing the family tree lead to some nasty genetic traits emerging?

[Lucius]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

The idea of an alien race that promotes incest as a standard practice seems counter-intuitive. Doesn't collapsing the family tree lead to some nasty genetic traits emerging?

 

Even on Earth, it's standard practice for plenty of species.

 

I may not want to deal with the idea in game, but incestuous extraterrestrials are not automatically either unrealistic or unscientific.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Palindromedaries reproduce asexually

[Orion]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

The idea of an alien race that promotes incest as a standard practice seems counter-intuitive. Doesn't collapsing the family tree lead to some nasty genetic traits emerging?

 

If the bad traits are pretty much already weeded out of the population, then all is good. If genetic engineering is at a high level, then it may not matter, because either all can be fixed later, or it's actually a chromosome donation, and only the good ones get picked.

 

And it can lead to bad genetic traits, although the great majority of the really bad ones lead to the fetus aborting very early in development.

[phoenix240]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

The idea of an alien race that promotes incest as a standard practice seems counter-intuitive. Doesn't collapsing the family tree lead to some nasty genetic traits emerging?

 

Over a somewhat long term is can cause undesirable traits to become more prevalent, varying depending on how common they are in the family line. But this can take generations of close relatively incest, AIUI. Barring bad luck or a line with many genetic defects.

 

and of course, this assumes their biology is like ours and incest being acceptable means reproducing with close family as opposed to sexual activity alone.

[phoenix240]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Is there an in-game explanation for the cultural shift? It's not super far off reality in some ways' date=' but still quite significant.[/quote']

 

It's been awhile since I read it but as I recall it was due to a number of things. A general "eat, drink and be merry" attitude given the practically post apocalyptic setting (allot of humanity had been destroyed, the "Great Old Ones" actually existed and though things were utterly horrible, tomorrow was no guarantee, so enjoy and it was a way to celebrate life), subtle encouragement for the pragmatic reasons (more population), the general collapse of older, more conservative religions and some encourage from various cults and groups seeking to spread the influence of the Elder Gods, seducing people into breeding rituals, kinky orgiastic rites and other erotic horror type situations. For example there was machine that could drain the Orgone energy from sexual activity to provide usable power and magical essence.

[phoenix240]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Well' date=' I suppose what matters more than her name is how she's portrayed in-game. If she acts like an independent, strong, intelligent and sex-positive superheroine who does what she does to make a very pointed point, then I don't see a problem. If her behavior is more inconsistent or involves "sending mixed messages"(whatever that might mean in context), then the name will become representative of the problem posed by the character's portrayal/purpose in the game setting.[/quote']

 

Honestly "slut" is such a major trigger word for me I doubt I could be comfortable with it used an ongoing title, even ironically. But not everyone is going to react that strongly.

 

Edit: But I don't think I've have a problem with something like "Superbimbo"... :-/

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

While I appreciate what you're trying to do here, the topic is too complex for a linear scale. For example, Islamic society incorporates polygamy (specifically polygyny) but usually prohibits visual erotica. Ancient Greek culture encouraged intimate relationships between males, but not marriage. And of course, lots of times and places have had some form or other of the "double standard."

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary wonders why people worry about sexual content, but not sexual discontent.

 

A valid observation. I suppose it would make more sense to break things down into a half dozen or dozen major categories, with a rating for each. How permissive a society is considered overall might be based on the average of the scores. Hmm...

 

10 Categories, each rated from 0(most repressive) to 10(most permissive)

 

1. Sexuality in Media(art, literature, music, film, tv, internet)

2. Marital Freedom

3. Attitude towards Sex(prohibited, for procreation only, only within marriage and only in certain positions, permissible outside marriage, etc.)

4. Teen Sexuality

5. Homosexuality and Alternate Lifestyles

6. Sexual Taboos(0= all sex is taboo, 10= no sex is taboo)

7. Sex Education

8. Sex Work and Prostitution

9. Monogamy

10. Female Sexuality

 

I dunno whether those are the ideal categories to use, but I suspect they'll work well enough for now.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Over a somewhat long term is can cause undesirable traits to become more prevalent, varying depending on how common they are in the family line. But this can take generations of close relatively incest, AIUI. Barring bad luck or a line with many genetic defects.

 

and of course, this assumes their biology is like ours and incest being acceptable means reproducing with close family as opposed to sexual activity alone.

 

I had a few different possibilities in mind:

1. Advanced eugenics and inbred "castes"--a worker caste, warrior caste, etc. the genetic kinks are somehow worked out and everyone within a caste is within a few degrees of kinship with each other.

2. Species that use sex for many social reasons and have control over their own reproductive cycle--the species may have a very short "childhood" and everyone interacts socially through sexual interaction. Species may or may not reproduce during incestuous pairings(probably not).

3. Family structure is largely irrelevant because the species has a hive mind or hive mentality, reproduction and sexual interaction is simply as needed under the circumstances. Parent-child and sibling relationships are sublimated and subordinated to communal needs. Genetic engineering is used to correct any "error accumulation".

 

Humans don't engage in incestuous activity(for the most part) for a number of different reasons:

1. The Westermarck effect(people who grow up in close proximity to each other during a key age tend to not experience sexual attraction to each other).

2. Religious taboos

3. Deeply held societal taboos and social opprobrium

4. Legal prohibitions

5. Parental protectiveness

6. Concerns about inbreeding and birth defects

7. Concerns about destroying the familial relationship

etc.

 

It's possible an alien species might experience none of these things, or that their genetics might work a little differently.

[Steve]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Here's one example of an alien humanoid species with castes I had bouncing around my thoughts.

 

A human-like matriarchal species that is mostly infertile except for a select few "breeder" caste types. Males are rare, like 1% of the species, but they are invariably fertile with strong sex drives and belong to the breeder caste. Fertile females are equally rare, but single births are unknown. Typical births involve 4-6 offspring, and pregnancy and childbirth is relatively easy compared to humans. The majority of the race is made up of infertile females. Due to ancient genetic engineering efforts, defective genes were weeded out of the gene pool completely, and incest carries no risk of bringing out genetic defects.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Honestly "slut" is such a major trigger word for me I doubt I could be comfortable with it used an ongoing title, even ironically. But not everyone is going to react that strongly.

 

Edit: But I don't think I've have a problem with something like "Superbimbo"... :-/

 

Well, yes, I think that could be an issue for almost any game group. "Supertramp" has a certain 70s nostalgia feel to it. Or UltraVixen, MegaBabe, HotBod, HardBody, Ms. Godiva, etc.

[phoenix240]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

I had a few different possibilities in mind:

1. Advanced eugenics and inbred "castes"--a worker caste, warrior caste, etc. the genetic kinks are somehow worked out and everyone within a caste is within a few degrees of kinship with each other.

2. Species that use sex for many social reasons and have control over their own reproductive cycle--the species may have a very short "childhood" and everyone interacts socially through sexual interaction. Species may or may not reproduce during incestuous pairings(probably not).

3. Family structure is largely irrelevant because the species has a hive mind or hive mentality, reproduction and sexual interaction is simply as needed under the circumstances. Parent-child and sibling relationships are sublimated and subordinated to communal needs. Genetic engineering is used to correct any "error accumulation".

 

Humans don't engage in incestuous activity(for the most part) for a number of different reasons:

1. The Westermarck effect(people who grow up in close proximity to each other during a key age tend to not experience sexual attraction to each other).

2. Religious taboos

3. Deeply held societal taboos and social opprobrium

4. Legal prohibitions

5. Parental protectiveness

6. Concerns about inbreeding and birth defects

7. Concerns about destroying the familial relationship

etc.

 

It's possible an alien species might experience none of these things, or that their genetics might work a little differently.

 

Sure, why not? Not even all human cultures/groups avoid it

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Sure' date=' why not? Not even all human cultures/groups avoid it[/quote']

 

Well, the rate of occurrence within western culture is non-insignificant. Some of it falls into the "child molestation by relative" category, some of it into "sibling/cousin adolescent experimentation", and some into "consensual adult" incest. The first is traumatic, the second may be traumatic, and the third probably lacks sufficient documentation to draw a solid conclusion.

[Lucius]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

A valid observation. I suppose it would make more sense to break things down into a half dozen or dozen major categories, with a rating for each. How permissive a society is considered overall might be based on the average of the scores. Hmm...

 

10 Categories, each rated from 0(most repressive) to 10(most permissive)

 

1. Sexuality in Media(art, literature, music, film, tv, internet)

2. Marital Freedom

3. Attitude towards Sex(prohibited, for procreation only, only within marriage and only in certain positions, permissible outside marriage, etc.)

4. Teen Sexuality

5. Homosexuality and Alternate Lifestyles

6. Sexual Taboos(0= all sex is taboo, 10= no sex is taboo)

7. Sex Education

8. Sex Work and Prostitution

9. Monogamy

10. Female Sexuality

 

I dunno whether those are the ideal categories to use, but I suspect they'll work well enough for now.

 

Odd that female sexuality is listed but not male.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary quotes: "It will be millions of cycles before they transcend death and death's clumsy attendant necessity, sex"

[James Gillen]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Odd that female sexuality is listed but not male.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

The palindromedary quotes: "It will be millions of cycles before they transcend death and death's clumsy attendant necessity, sex"

 

Generally repression affects women more than men because cultures that see a need to control sexuality see a greater need to control women. Islamic dress codes, for instance, require modesty of men as well as women, but more emphasis is given to covering women because somehow men are simultaneously regarded as more provoked to sexual arousal yet more capable of having authority over the opposite sex.

 

JG

[James Gillen]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Well' date=' yes, I think that could be an issue for almost any game group. "Supertramp" has a certain 70s nostalgia feel to it. Or UltraVixen, MegaBabe, HotBod, HardBody, Ms. Godiva, etc.[/quote']

 

I like "SuperBimbo." I also approve of UltraVixen because it's both superhero-sounding AND a Russ Meyer reference.

 

JG

[James Gillen]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Came across this on Andrew Sullivan's site, and it seems relevant to our discussion:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2011/11/17/porn_that_women_like_why_does_it_make_men_so_uncomfortable_.html

[Lucius]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Here's one example of an alien humanoid species with castes I had bouncing around my thoughts.

 

A human-like matriarchal species that is mostly infertile except for a select few "breeder" caste types. Males are rare, like 1% of the species, but they are invariably fertile with strong sex drives and belong to the breeder caste. Fertile females are equally rare, but single births are unknown. Typical births involve 4-6 offspring, and pregnancy and childbirth is relatively easy compared to humans. The majority of the race is made up of infertile females. Due to ancient genetic engineering efforts, defective genes were weeded out of the gene pool completely, and incest carries no risk of bringing out genetic defects.

 

If nothing else, this thread made me do a bit of reading and thinking on the topic.

 

Research tells me that while it is not (as I already knew) that uncommon for mating between close relatives to occur among a variety of species, it is also common for the "defective" offspring of such pairings to die young or otherwise fail to procreate.

 

I speculate that an intelligent, social and tool using species would arguably be more likely to try to preserve the lives of even the most defective children, and/or more motivated to try to avoid such births in the first place. Losing young lives to genetic defects would be, in other words, less of an acceptable cost than it is for wild animals or for the breeders of domestic animals (who often deliberately inbreed for selected traits.)

 

So despite my initial reaction

 

I may not want to deal with the idea in game, but incestuous extraterrestrials are not automatically either unrealistic or unscientific.

 

I see that there is a case to be made that even alien cultures are likely to have some form of incest taboo.

 

Of course, this is still just a half-baked argument and I acknowledge that freely incestuous extraterrestrials are quite possible. If their biology resembles that of hive insects for example; if I'm not mistaken a queen bee always mates with a drone who is her "brother" to put it in those terms.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

Palindromedaries reproduce asexually

[Lucius]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Came across this on Andrew Sullivan's site, and it seems relevant to our discussion:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2011/11/17/porn_that_women_like_why_does_it_make_men_so_uncomfortable_.html

 

Interesting.

 

For those who didn't follow the link, the article is about (among other things) the fact that most male actors in "mainstream" erotic films do not appeal to female viewers, and the reasons why.

 

One of the points is something I realized long ago, but I'm not sure I have articulated it on this or related threads - not only do males (who are still the decision makers in that industry) not know what women want, they often make the mistake of assuming that what impresses them, will impress females. Thus the emphais on, as the article puts it, "Big arms. Big abs." and other big things.

 

It's a good point and perhaps accurate, but I am not sure that this or the other factors adduced are on target, or at least, not the whole story.

 

Mainstream erotic film is basically a wish fulfillment fantasy for males. The reason, in my opinion, that actors in such works are infamously ugly is that the viewer wishes to be transported in imagination, however briefly, into a world in which even someone no more desireable than himself - or even less desireable than himself - can still get all the sex he could wish for.

 

Lucius Alexander

 

I don't get all the sex I wish for, but I have lots of palindromedaries

[John T]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Palindromedaries reproduce asexually

Probably by trying to walk in two different directions at once.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Gods' date=' Aliens, Elves, Vampires, Demons, Angels, and alternate romantic, erotic and sexual lifestyles[/b']

 

This is a pretty broad category, but basically it covers the romantic, erotic and sexual lifestyles and habits of non-human beings, such as gods, aliens, elves(and other fantasy races), vampires(and other undead/supernatural beings), demons(possibly including qliphothic beings), angels(including servants of polytheistic pantheons), as well as any lifestyle choice other than heteronormative/generally monogamous/"straight sex".

Gods may have fairly extreme lifestyles, inasmuch as they may not have a fixed form or gender, may not have a moral authority to report to(besides each other), and may have worshippers willing to do anything they want. Some gods, like Zeus, may respect almost no boundaries or parameters--gender, species, kinship, age, consent--and freely engage in sexual activity (and even procreation) with any partners they wish. Others may be much more selective or disciplined, being either serially monogamous, permanently chaste, or only focusing their amorous attentions on specific types of partner(heroes, virgins, river nymphs, monarchs, etc.). Still others may have somewhat deviant interests and spend a great deal of time indulging in their particular "kink". The degree of moral accountability of a deity is inversely proportional to their relative power/rank in their pantheon--the higher the rank, the less accountable they are. Some gods are highly prone to jealousy, and it can prove worse than fatal to cheat on them. Others are just as prone to treat all relationships as casual, and may even fail to remember a particular mortal they dallied with. When interacting with or roleplaying deities, players should remember these three things--Power, Immortality, No Accountability. Gods generally have a tendency to get what they want, and severely punish those who deny it to them or disappoint them. They are immortal, and so normal goals and motivations may seem a bit alien to them. They are accountable to almost no one, so even taboo or illegal(for mortals) acts they commit may trigger little more than a shrug from them when confronted about them. Enjoying the attentions of a god should definitely be a mixed bag--on the one hand, the benefits are likely to be pretty awesome(fantastic sex, lucrative gifts, exotic travel, lots of connections and favors), while on the other hand, the drawbacks can be pretty bad(jealousy, abuse, demands on time, possibly long absences(gods have a very different sense of time, being immortal)), even fatal at times.

Aliens, by the very nature of being "alien" to humanity, can have virtually any lifestyle the imagination can come up with. They could be completely asexual, all bisexual, could have multiple genders and a really complicated reproductive process, incestuous with reproduction via inbreeding, poly or omni-sexual, sexually parasitic or symbiotic(requiring another species to reproduce and sexually interact with), mate for life or for minutes at a time, use sex only for reproduction, use sex to establish dominance(heaven help the diplomatic crew that makes first contact!), use sex to resolve disputes(like the bonobo monkeys do), use sex as the currency of normative social interaction(all social interactions become sexual in nature, even arguments), use sex only for recreation(with procreation entirely separated from sex), reproduce via cloning or genetic engineering, have only one child, have swarms of children(who they may or may not reproduce/have sex with), have strict taboos or no taboos, never date outside their species or only date outside their species, utilize external tools, robots, drones or another species to satisfy their whims/needs(sex slaves, concubines, drones, droids, or a voluntary dom/sub relationship), use natural seductive prowess to secure relationships/sex, use natural seductive powers to secure what they want, etc.

 

(to be continued)

 

Interacting socially with aliens, human PCs may or may not immediately recognize differences in sexuality or romantic attitudes. Species may be extremely discreet and circumspect about their practices, or they may be "in your face"(quite possibly literally) about it. It's up to the GM to decide whether a species is "sexually compatible" with humans(or other species) and what that means precisely--"the parts fit"; pheromones and visual cues sufficiently similar for attraction to happen; capable of cross/inter-breeding(which either "breeds true" for one species, or produces an alien-human hybrid); or anything else of note(a hermaphroditic species may be capable of inter-breeding with either gender of humanity). Attitudes toward monogamy/fidelity and polyamory/polygamy may also vary a great deal. PCs who fail to do their research before hopping into bed with the "hot alien they met at the cantina" may be in for some unsettling surprises.

 

Elves and other fantasy races are notably different from humans in several ways--besides the fair skin, slenderness and pointy ears, they tend to be extremely long-lived, if not outright immortal. Depending on the campaign setting, they may be "bound by fate", predestined to pursue a specific destiny. They can be extremely light-hearted and carefree, or grim questers pursuing their aforementioned grim fate. Elvish biology tends to be highly similar to humans, though they are naturally magical(usually) and tend to be highly resistant to most of the diseases which plague humanity(never seen a story about an elf with cancer, for example). One could assume that would include STI's as well. Elves appear to have smaller families, and to be comfortable with long separations from loved ones. Their sense of time and commitment is naturally different from most humans, due to their longevity. It's possible that elves have different reproductive cycles from humans--perhaps female elves are only fertile every season, year or decade, or only "in heat" for limited periods of time. Usually elves are presented as sexually compatible with humans, producing "half-elf" offspring. Whether they are also compatible with other humanoid and demi-human species is an open question. Elvish attitudes toward sexuality may vary greatly, but are likely to be influenced by their longevity and "youth" which lasts centuries. Some may see all connections as fated to cycle through beginning and ending repeatedly, and have a laissez faire approach to intimacy. Some may shun all but long-term commitments, seeing pairing as a sort of sacred bond which lasts forever. Some may be somewhere in-between. "High"

Elves may be likely to regard humans and other "mortals" with a fair degree of condescension(seeing them as barbaric, foolish and short-lived), while others may feel attraction and admiration for them, due to their willingness to die for their beliefs, their lust for life, and their ability to accomplish things which last beyond their deaths.

PCs who date elves may need some time to discern the attitude of the elf they are dating. Dating humans may be a form of youthful rebellion, experimentation or even a sort of "fetish" for elves.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Vampires and other undead and supernatural beings, by their very nature, are going to be living an "alternate lifestyle". While they may have once been human, such beings are forced to live their lives in the shadows(unless it's a True Blood type scenario), and on the fringes of society. They may seek out their prey on those fringes, and may simply view them as "livestock" to feed upon, or as playthings to seduce, abuse and destroy. Ethical vampires/undead may seek out relationships with humans, establishing a consensual symbiotic relationship with a sexual/romantic component. Attitudes towards dating/mating may vary as they do with elves, given vampires' longevity. Of course, vampires typically do not reproduce in any conventional way. They simply create more vampires by "turning" their victims. Such newly-created vampires are usually portrayed as in the thrall of the "master" vampire, and it's easy to characterize such a relationship as a DS sexual one. Some vampires may create small or even large "harems" of vampire thralls, of whatever gender they prefer(or even both genders). They may also use their powers of hypnosis and seduction to create still-human servants, to protect them while they sleep, and/or to provide them with a steady source of fresh blood. There is a heavy implication that both the act of drinking blood, and of having one's blood drunk, is sexually stimulating, perhaps even orgasmically so.

PCs considering a relationship with a vampire or other supernatural creature, or who themselves are supernatural creatures, should carefully think about the risks of such relationships and conduct themselves accordingly.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Demons and other beings from other dimensions may be even more alien than aliens, or more human than humans. They are typically immortal, come from a physically and/or spiritually unpleasant place, and may be socially maladjusted, self-interested, distrustful or outright malevolent towards humanity. Unlike the way some angels are portrayed, demons are frequently represented as having human emotions and qualities--anger, envy, lust, jealousy, cruelty, desire, loyalty, gluttony, pride, and even love. They may have a variety of motivations for appearing in this dimension--seeking to tempt mortals to destruction, possess and corrupt the innocent, escape the torments of their realm, conquer and dominate others, battle their angelic adversaries and their mortal servants, grant favors to those who pact with them, breed with mortals to sire half-breed offspring, engage in orgiastic rites to sate their needs and increase their powers, etc. It's a GM call as to whether all demons(or even most demons) need to be "evil", per se. They could be "just doing their jobs", a representation of chaos/personal freedom/individuality, a mentor testing mortals as a means toward encouraging their moral growth, victims of a PR smear from "the other guys", or anything else you can come up with.

PCs who consider dating demons(now THAT's adventurous!) or who are in fact demons should be well aware of the risks involved. They may alienate their fellow adventurers, or may find powerful enemies in both the demonic and angelic realms.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

Angels may seem like an odd topic for a discussion of romance, eroticism and sexuality. Sometimes(as in the movie Dogma) Angels are even portrayed as lacking sex organs, or physical desire of any sort. Often, however, they are portrayed as having corporeal forms and capable of corporeal feelings and temptations(if not outright desires). Angels may be pure servants of all that is good and pure and holy, or they may be morally ambiguous servants of morally ambiguous "higher powers", or anything in-between. They are almost universally portrayed in genre as beautiful, imposing and charismatic. Some angels may engage in sexual interactions with humans as part of a specific task(See Prophecy II, e.g.--also, one possible non-dogmatic interpretation of the Immaculate Conception could be that an Angel conducted the "divine" insemination). Some may do so because that is their duty(see my upthread comments about a proposed "Angel of Love", who comforts the lonely and provides companionship to those who need it most). Some may do so because that is their desire--either they are fallen angels who are earth-bound and no longer "on duty", or they are acting on feelings that have developed over time(and depending on the GM, their boss may not strictly prohibit such relationships). The offspring of a human and an angel is referred to as a Nephilim.

PCs who engage in relationships with angels may be in for either disappointment or for an interesting experience. It's even possible that not all angels may be pleasant to be around, or even may wish ill upon humans.

[megaplayboy]

Re: The "Essay"(ESSE/UEH) Project(Warning: mature/controversial content contained her

 

I actually don't have a lot to say about "alternate romantic, sexual and erotic lifestyles", except to point out that if you can "grok" non-humans engaging in all kinds of sexual activities, courtship rituals and lifestyle arrangements, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to figure out how to represent humans doing such things. Homosexuality or BDSM may seem positively tame and easy to describe/RP, compared to demons, aliens, undead, or deities' practices. Polygamy may still be a challenge, though perhaps one thing to remember is that in cultures where it is accepted, it's likely that attitudes will be different because they are inculcated in the culture, and perhaps even jealousy may be frowned upon/stigmatized, in a way that it is not in our society.