Why Felicia Bioroids? : A memetic study from ancient times to 2100

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by jeff_wilson

I can only lay the blame at the feet of Charlie Stross' diseased mind. Read SATURN'S CHILDREN if you feel like you need to know more.

I'll take your word for it. I'm not sure which is more disturbing, a tolerated/implanted genetic disfunction, or an indoctrinated sexual disorder. Probably both really.

[ClayDowling]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

"Murder machines" requires a conscious act of sadism. Sadism requires the understanding that others feel pain and taking pleasure in inflicting it. Cats are not capable of that in general. It's gross anthropomorphization.
Dogs will play with dead and dying animals just as much as cats and really most other animals.
Why should I find humor in imagining that my loved ones are sadistic monsters? That's a bit disturbing, and not in a good way.

You are way too serious man. Lighten up, have a drink, go out and talk to girls (or boys).

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by ClayDowling

You are way too serious man. Lighten up, have a drink, go out and talk to girls (or boys).

Seriously, Jupiter talking to Saturn. You two probably aren't gonna understand each other. I'm saying this warning out loud just in case it needs mentioning that no good will come from heating this thread. (Yes, 99% pre-emptive. I just don't want any locks here.)

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Seriously, Jupiter talking to Saturn. You two probably aren't gonna understand each other. I'm saying this warning out loud just in case it needs mentioning that no good will come from heating this thread. (Yes, 99% pre-emptive. I just don't want any locks here.)

I'm not getting upset. I'm sorry if it seems like I am, or about to. I admit that I'm on the far end of the curve for animal empathy, and don't find the humor in things that others do in this field. Everyone has their not funny subjects.
For example, my family joked constantly when my father died. Not many people would find that kind of morbid humor funny.
One time my mother asked what I would do if my father were there to see me. I, of course, said something like, "Run the hell away! A zombie!"

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by ClayDowling

You are way too serious man. Lighten up, have a drink, go out and talk to girls (or boys).

You are the first and only person to ever call me too serious. My nature is one of excessive silliness. You just happened to hit one of my very few "not funny" topics.

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

"Murder machines" requires a conscious act of sadism.

That's an odd definition of "machine".

[jeff_wilson]

Originally Posted by David Johnston2

That's an odd definition of "machine".

It's not a definition of "machine", it's referring to an attribute of the metaphor "murder machine".

[David L Pulver]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

Greetings, all!

Today our topic will be the Felicia. This bioroid is typically attributed to the whims of an eccentric millionaire in the Middle East. However, the 'eccentric' meme seems to be rather . . . dubious. The Felicia meme is ancient, even though it changed many names over the course of centuries. In the mid- to late-1900s, it expressed itself in such versions as the various Nekomimi, or the more Western Thundercats' Cheetara, or Batman's Catwoman. Or SPANC. But wait! The line stretches on and on. It can in fact be traced to at least 2500 BCE. Yes, the first known catgirl deity is named Bastet.

So, the question really shouldn't be 'Why did the eccentric millionaire ask for such a bioroid model?', but rather 'Why is this meme so popular, so long-lived?'.

Thanks in advance!

Toxoplasma gondii no doubt.

[David L Pulver]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

I doubt this is purely cultural, since surely bioroid training differs between places. And AFAIK only Feliciæ are like that.

Probably a legacy shortcut transferred over from using an earlier model as a template; the only other Euphrates bioroid is the one mentioned in the Incubus entry. A designer probably cut some corners when suppressing that part of the earlier design; the complex chemical triggers involved in the hyperstrength boost cause unintended effects that allow it to emerge again.

(Meta: It's actually there because the Felicia is from GURPS Bio-Tech, and the latter book was primarily intended to emulate SF tropes of various sorts. The post-combat-boost-sex effect in super soldiers occurs in a number of stories - you can find it in in the draka super soldier in Draka by SM Stirling and the hybrid super soldiers in Wargames by Karl Hansen, for example. Bio-Tech tried to give generic examples of many genetically engineered advantages, so the Felicia got to be that example, giving it some differentiation. It's included in Transhuman Space because it seemed reasonable that not every design would work exactly as delivered and we wanted to link the two books anyway, for various tawdry commercial reasons (In 2001 or so BioTech was a very successful book; Transhuman Space was an untried experiment).

(The Felicia is in Bio-Tech because I had some cat bioroids in GURPS Cyberpunk adventures and GURPS Robots I was fond of from the 1990s. They're there because I'd been using them in my own campaign. The reason I was using them in my own campaign was Masamune Shirow: Appleseed book III, which was one of the first manga I'd read, and I'd liked the character design and concept behind Artemis, the major MacGuffin of that story arc, which I'd stumbled on and was reading around that time.

http://e621.net/post/show/9589/apple...t-feline-femal

Attractive catgirls in science fiction: I would be almost certain that the single largest influence in the mass media depiction
was likely to be Star Trek cartoon series:

http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/M%27Ress

Given the animated Star Trek's wide diffusion and early date (1973-4) I'd say M'Ress likely was seen my more people than most earlier examples (like C'Mell). Indeed, M'ress also predates comic book supers such as Tigra and the feline version of Cheetah as well, as well as most Japanese examples (and the animated series ran in Japan).

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by David L Pulver

Toxoplasma gondii no doubt.

That would certainly make sense if we were mice. I love my kitties, but am definitely not attracted to the smell of their urine.

(I am not so near autistic to think you were serious. Just in case my humor doesn't come across.)