Ok even in the 20th century there are enhancements that seem to get guys' attentions. When guys we are close to stare at these women we, women, will point out "those aren't real you know." The response, when we get one, is "Don't care." Followed by some grunting and references to finding a mammoth for dinner. Like wisenose jobs and facial sculpting is here now and people talk about cheek bones that can't be natural.

BUT

watching a music video the other day I had a thought about other changes. In the video "Shake it for me (country girl) " it starts with the dancers talknig about learning as routine, the idea being as they dance they are scaled down until one become 'the' girl for the video. as she pranced around with high kicks a long steps I thought how much better would she be if she had SR's enhanced articulation? The same would go for dancers on Dancing With the Stars/Strictly Ballroom? Would there be a whole new set of what we use for B&E that would be big inthe entertainment field? Would girls get them too even if not dancers the ways some girls get nose jobs? would it be a big market?

As usual, "Follow the money".

At, what, 45,000 nuyen (Or is it 20? I forget), compared to the thousand for a (entry-level) boob job, Articulation is simply way out of line for the average poledancer. A skilled "Feature performer" might start looking into it (And take out a loan from a crime family, which, really, is the start of an adventure seed ... Crystal, exotic Elf dancer, is in deep to the Yakuza and needs help. Their offer of how she can pay it off ain't happening, but she has this one regular customer who she's pretty sure is a shadowrunner...)

Once you get to a more avanced payout level, such as a Vegas showgirl, dancers for a big money rocker, or certain exotic simstars, then it becomes an option that several look at.

Of course, a few professional athelelets jump in, hopefully in sports where augmentation is okay, but some try to slip it in past the majors, since it doesn't exactly show up on a drug test. "Wow Barry, still pitching those fastballs at forty two? What's your secret?" "Good diest, excercise, and NERPS pain reliever." "*snort* And a ten grand payoff to my team to influence a medical report. *tridclick*"

Well, there are things to be said about girls able to touch their ankles behind their neck . .
mainly that they are flexbile, of course . .

Body augmentations always get their start (introduction into a society) by way of two modes:
1. Prosthetics – to aid in becoming “normal” mostly in a functional sense.
2. Cosmetics – to aid in becoming “better than normal” mostly for attractiveness.

All the augmentations available to shadowrunners are undoubtedly an evolution of prosthetic and cosmetic enhancements.
So, ballroom dancers with enhanced articulation would have been around years before Street Sams got them.

I don't have all of my older books any longer, but IIRC, when enhanced articulation first appeared, two of the shadowtalkers were talking about someone who had it, and a third shadowtalker asked if they were talking about a new dancer at some place again. So it definitely was used by people like dancers, as well as shadowrunners. Just, at the price tag, it's probably reserved for the upper-echelon performers.

There are a ton of things a performer in Shadowrun could get. Muscle toner, synthcardium, reflex recorders, neo-EPO, and enhanced articulation can make a superhuman dancer. There are also things like extended volume, elastic joints, vocal range enhancer, tailored pheromones, clean metabolism, cosmetic biomodifications, sleep regulator, and more. A former entertainer, or the "pet" of some mover & shaker, would be a good background for a face, actually.

Now I want some mammoth for dinner.

...

Buffalo will do, and is actually available here.

But, on topic, yes they'll be good for high-end niche groups, but there's also folks like me that can't help but only want the real thing. 'Course, I'm a sick, twisted self-confessed and unabashed deviant, so I'm probably not the best example...

Actually, I've been referred to as "The best negative example we can think of" for quite a number of things...

Buffalo is fantastic, and makes delicious burgers.

One thing to keep in mind in shadowrun, with the advent of Bioware and bladeless surgery, is that the era of plastic surgery, botched nosejobs, and fake tits is kind of gone. Medicine can pretty much grow that stuff right onto a patient.

I also think that cosmetic surgery of this nature is actually a lot more common among the joe averages and jane does of the sixth world: Per Runner's Companion, anyone who has a middle+ lifestyle can just afford cosmetic surgery now and again. High can bill their lifestyle for occasional geneware. And people who can afford luxury categories for more than a few months can do pretty much anything they want.

As long as they stay away from the mods that make them look insect-like for some reason.

Those never go into style...

Sucks to look like an Insect... Everyone is always out to kill you then. No one ever looks under the Chitin to really get to know you. Makes me a sad Spider indeed.

Snow Fox, you do realize that I'm now going to be going through the whole list of Cybernetics and Bioware to figure out what can be used in the sex trade, right?

WHAT HAS SCIENCE DONE?

Wait, you mean you haven't done that yet?

Too many projects, not enough time.

Well, I looked at them for an NPC concept. Not a lot that really works (and is cost effective) outside the things used for Personafix dolls in Bunraku parlours.

There's also butt and muscle padding, penis lengthening (does bad things to the prostate for all i know, but whatever floats your boat), sex change OPs that produce near-believable results sometimes, and laser treatments to permanently remove hair or notably enhance vision. Oh, and vaginal rejuvenation surgery, another of those American trends.

There's a whole host of implants in Arsenal for that, from silkyskin and sensitive skin to inflat-o-boobs to penile/vaginal implants (with capacity cost, so if you want one in your cyberarm's elbow ...) to bioshaping, which can be anything from corrective surgery (which was statted in SR3 to give +1 Charisma) to sex changes to transforming yourself into a furry with genitals in interesting places. You could exchange penis and nose if you think that a good idea and have both functional, by the rules.

Also, thanks for proving that women are just as sexist as men most of the time.

Hola, Señor Koquonfaes!

I have long suspected that the first gen of wired reflexes will come from a "prosthetic" to aid people with some kind of neuro-muscular issue. Then perhaps they find that said patients get a better then normal reaction time out of it. From there to government, corp and shadows is likely short.

Hell, real life US fighter pilots are issues Speed during long missions...

Mantis spirits think they're hot.

I'm sure everyone thinks that. And Muscle Replacement will become available for people who have degenerative muscle disorders.

Methamphetamines were issued to tank and aircraft crews in WWII on almost every side of the war. It was also trademarked and sold legally in Japan. And it's rumored that Hitler was a Meth Head, too.

One of the characters I write has low-level wired reflexes due to nerve damage as a result of having a building fall upon him (He's also had his skin grown back as Orthoskin with the Smart Insulation modification and titanium-reenforced bones when they were knitted back together. A few of his bones are pure titanium.). High end and stylish Zeiss Uhu Mk. 2 series Cyberoptics that were just declassified as military issue only when he got them as well, with custom options. Of course, he needed the eyes because his wife's skull splinters did severe damage to his optical nerves before the building came down... Cyberaudio system (Bose) as well, because the bomb ruptured his ear drums past the point of recovery. Lots of dental work, too.

Needless to say, he hates flying, and prefers airships as security is more interested in background than hijacking, and he's a SINner.

EDIT: He's a major promoter of Doc Wagon and their health insurance plans, having won "The Life Insurance Lottery" as far as he's concerned. "Get Doc Wagon coverage, and check ALL the electives!"

Perhaps, but very few else maintain the practice to this day.

Like any meat, Mammoth, when properly cured, can be quite tasty.

Heh... I am sure that a meeting between the two would be quite entertaining indeed...

Date and dinner.

...

In that order.

What more could you ask for? Oh wait, I know... "That was pleasant, Please don't kill me and eat me now."

*shrugs*
some people like carnivorous women . .

Ummmmm... no..... right?

if you dare, read up on the term on sankaku complex dot com . . which is a horribly NSFW page . .
also, yes, there actually ARE people who are into that stuff . . if you dare, look up the term vore in relation . .

Yeah, No Thanks. My Squick factor has already been compromised.

I think you'd be surprised at just how much money even an entry level poledancer makes. I had two friends, Jessica and Shawna, who danced at clubs around Pittsburgh in the mid 90's. Jessie was the bustier of the two, and used to take me along on weekends to be her bouncer (I did if for the free drinks and getting to see all the bewbage.). In an average week, at the low scale just above dive level strip bars here in Pittsburgh, she'd make 1500 to 2000 a week in tips. That did not count the once or twice a week that she'd be hired for hour long private shows at a house (bachelor party, etc), where she made $800 per hour (and I'd get $50 to show up with my pistol on my hip and look menancing so the guys knew it was just going to be a lapdance and not a bj or what have you). About once a month, she'd drive up to NYC to one of the high scale clubs, where she'd bring in $2500 to $4000 in tips. I remember she bought herself a new ford ranger with all the option with cash.

And she was never a big name Vegas showgirl stripper like for example, Pittsburgh's more famous stripper twin sisters Shawna and Jennifer Bucci.

Considering that even in '95 a non-famous mid-level stripper who didn't hook on the side could afford to drop probably $35K on a truck in cash, I don't find it hard to believe that a reasonably attractive chica in the Shadowrun world could afford enhanced articulation after a year in the biz without hocking herself into permanent debt with the yakuza/vory/etc/etc. Of course, there's always going to be the girls in that biz who try to get it all after a month or so in an attempt to leap from beginner to top tier who end up in that sort of severe debt with the Yaks.

Cordially,

Eric

Indeed... Had a friend in Denver that did much the same. Amazing how much money you can earn. And again, she was not in the big leagues either.

*snickers*
sorry dude ^^

No worries...

Btw, i just reminded myself of a ad that ran on Norwegian TV some years ago. It opened up with a first person view of walking up to the reception of a training studio and being greeted by a young lady in tight clothing. during a tour of the place, she makes the comment that if one really want to get a body like hers training will not really do. And then go on to point out various parts of here anatomy that she claims have been surgically altered. This was a spoof ad about honesty in advertisement...

Such is the glory of being too kinky to torture!

Heh...

I've already prepared ways of dealing with such people in game. Specifically:

> Flash-frozen, a la Terminator 2
> Instant Immolation
> High enough caliber weaponry that, in a single shot, will make their head or whole body disappear in a red puff of logic.

The kinkiest can find pleasure in even the greatest suffering of their own characters. The only proper way to deal with it is to eliminate all but the simple fact of immediate extermination. This also has the added benefit of driving home the point of exactly what won't be tolerated, at all.

I think those might be going too far. Let the player enjoy the character for a while, but remind him/her that things like that Mania quality exist, and could give him a penalty to dodge (or gymnastic dodge) in combat, based on the penalty to resisting the effect. I had a character like that once, and played it accordingly. He also spent a year in traction because he picked a fight with a mind-controlling spirit who set the biker against me (Got run over twice. Had to burn edge to survive.)

for shits and giggles

I wasn't referring to the character being kinky like that. I was referring to a player being kinky like that, and trying to take it out through a character who WASN'T statted to be as such. If I catch such problems ahead of time (before character creation), I'll simply bar certain character options that would likely become problematic in play. Also, I don't just suddenly rain down god's wrath, I take the time to speak to the player first, and I warn them about the problems their roleplay might bring. However, if a few times pulling aside such a person doesn't work...

I do have one such person in my game. His character concept was a high-class prostitute-turned-face. He had tried the character in a prior game with a different GM and was upset that she wound up being characterized by the GM as a slut. Suffice it to say, after one session, it was obvious that the problem wasn't the other GM. His character's actions have earned a criminal SIN, several STDs that need to be treated, and an extra point of Notoriety (Bad Rep), and not as overly punitive measures (blatantly poor judgement on his character's part). I've also pulled him aside and pointed out the problems, suggesting some solutions. If he tries to keep running his character as his own personal, poorly-written porn fantasy in the middle of a shadowrun game, though, I'll have no problems utilizing some method other to end the issue on an entirely non-sexual, non-BDSM note.

Who was talking about characters in game?

I was, in regards to punishments. IRL, my solution would be to give a job that makes productive use of such a person and an expense account (if I had the money, which I don't). Otherwise, restraining orders and second amendments.

Wait....who's too kinky to torture?

CanCan RayRay

Because they are?

Thanks, Hobgoblin & Stahlseele.

Can can, can I do the Cancan can I do the Cancan can I do it, hell no I can't my knees knees are shot shot, really really shot shot, shot all to hell. All. To. Hell.