===== Gim Culture ===== The Gim are an uplifted diasporic species. They have long since lost touch with their uplifters as a species, but maintain some of their cultural touchstones they appropriated or were taught by their benefactors. Gim often come off as either competitive or condescending to your average humanlike intelligence. This stems from the commonly held Gim beliefs that everybody is, in fact, fair game for fatal activities. Mortality is very fluid for them, as in they do not see death as a problem or even much of a hindrance. That being said, they don't usually have self-sacrificing modus operandi. They often seek out ways to fulfill themselves through demonstrating their willingness to adapt to situations socially or physically. ==== Morals ==== * They embrace the absolute that is death. * They generally do not consider groups as a unit or units as a representative of a group, so humanish thoughts of "X is like this, so that means all of X's group must be like this" are not usually a concern. Basically they look to individuals on an individual level. * As such, politics are not really a concern for the Gim. * Gim have notions of politeness and "kindness" but their interpretations of it usually result in them interpreting the two as "Saying awful things in a nice way" * They consider politeness to be an untruth afforded to outsiders as a cost for doing business. === Friendship, Romance, Courtship === Close Gim friendships involve a lot of physical contact and violence. Getting bloody isn't an uncommon side effect of "hanging out" with a Gima. Romance and courtship are more casual affairs, with Gim not really taking individual partners on a long term basis but more whoever they feel with at the time. It's not uncommon for a group to form over multiple shared partners however, lending to clanlike familial units with no blood relation frequently. === Crime === There is very little the Gim see as taboo within their own cultural groups, but for dealing with the many, many non-Gim species in the galaxy they make a concerted effort to at least keep potentially criminal actions of those societies out of sight. ==== Style ==== Gim love the notion of "dressing up," but also like to imply their competency. This translates to exposing their form in non-suggestive ways (usually) or threatening/nice decorations on their property. That being said, if they had to choose between the two in a situation of life or death, they'd choose neither and do the practical thing. They're not //idiots.// === Fashion === Gim prefer having clothing that serves the tasks of dressing up/show off, but also be good to move in. As such, they tend to wear riding pant-type clothing on their legs, but on their tops they tend to wear naval style coats without any undershirt. Exposing the stomach is a very popular thing to do among the Gim as a form of boast in both their physical fitness and as a goading to anybody who would dare consider attack. That being said, a Gima would take any opportunity to match an outside culture's event shot for shot if the need arose in another form of their comptetitve spirit. "Everyone can see how fantastic and powerful I am! I have no need to hide!" "I am so great that even bound by this strange fashion I am still an apex predator!" === Architecture & Aesthetics === Gim don't typically build architecture themselves, instead relying on clearly better suited designs by other species to do any relevant heavy lifting, such as shipbuilding or architecture. That being said, they do love embellishing their ships and buildings with diamond shapes and patterns (they're pointy), though never anything too long as to interfere with any necessary function. ==== Technology ==== Gim are effectively a "lazy" race when it comes to technological advancement. Rather than develop a culture of science and advancement, they are more than happy reaping the rewards of others' research (A leftover trait from their uplifting). That being said, they are adept at this repurposing, and have even found ways to use outdated things in new ways. === Magic === Their magic is incredibly unrefined in its use. Rather than practice a casting discipline or learn a runic language or invest in spell glyphs, Gim use very rudimentary spell arts to wild effect. This results in effects that are intended, but the actual potency varies wildly (A fire spell can manifest as a tinder spark or a fireball). This results in a primarily enchantment focused aftermarket for magic items and consumeables, as imbuing a potion with such a wild effect can provide a very clearly superior or inferior product for later use, rather than relying on luck of the draw at the time of casting. The casting method relies on very little verbage but a lot of willpower and somatic gestures in order to make their powers manifest. === Psionics === Gim psionics, similar to their magics, are very unrefined. Unlike magic, these effects are much more limited to bodily enhancement while in use (hardening fists on contact, strengthening fingers to climb, enhancing muscles for a single jump). With proper training, some Gima can manifest these effects longer and in slightly more versatile ways, but largely their psionic population members are limited to these small enhancements. ==== Agriculture ==== Gim only ranch out of necessity to have a food supply that isn't other members of their population. It is very uncommon for them to keep pets unless the pet happens to be very good at killing other things. Horticulture is limited to providing feedstock for livestock, but they still prefer purchasing to growing themselves. === Cooking === Gim traditionally don't cook, but may sear meats just to keep the juices from getting everywhere (for when messes are inconvenient). Though, on occassion they will apply spices as a dry-rub onto whatever meats they devour for the sake of variety. In more polite company, they may prepare whatever they eat into tartare and make some of the best tartare in the known universe. ==== Religion ==== Gim have no organized religion in the same way that other species do, seeing it as a waste of time seeing as whatever is being worshipped doesn't usually have a material presence for them to interact with. === Ceremony === Gim have no ceremonies they hold themselves, rather taking interest in adapting whatever traditions the society they're present in hold to suit their own purposes. ==== Traditions ==== Gim like eating hearts first of anything they butcher themselves. The Gim have no form of ritualized duel. It's also very common for two gim having an amicable conversation and then going into a sudden fight, then going back to talking normally. This does not usually happen with non-Gim because they are aware of the hassle it would be to deal with other species morals. === Birth and Death === Gim see birth as a miraculous thing and make a combination baby shower/naming ceremony for the newly born. Given their violent nature they tend to not care about the child until birth due to the possibility of miscarriage. ==== Subgroups ==== >This section is used for showing some of the varieties of subcultures, subfactions, or subgroups present within a culture that one might encounter, or that the designers may desire for the setting.