XiC: Culture

 

The Xi empire is a blend of different cultures, given that it spans several hundred million star systems across the galaxy and encompasses countless planets. Each planet and system has its own unique cultural traits and traditions, but there is a shared Xi culture that pervades all these worlds. This shared culture is incredibly diverse, thanks in part to contact with alien species with different understandings of gender. While many humans in the empire still identify with the traditional binary genders, others have embraced a more fluid approach. Some humans have even adopted alien gender identities, while certain advanced technologies allow individuals to change physical sex or incorporate traits traditionally associated with different genders. For instance, the cybertonians express their gender in binary digits, while the light-constructed gems have a gendered caste system based on light-spectrum frequencies for individual members,

In terms of clothing, many of the Xi wear a traditional red and white uniforms, dress, shirt or jeans as the 'base color' with other signaling identity and self-expression. Their clothing is not made out of traditional a fabric, but rather is composed of a liquidy substance called kem, short for Kemloid-matroleum, a substance mined from flesh-cavens of whale like organisms migrating through star systems, each member several kilometers across. Kem forms in shape and texture when exposed to water and air and exposed to high temperature, becoming an almost rubbery-texture which can be molded into specific garb forms. Light-crafting is the basis for their other clothing, often seen as more formal and distinctly luminous. Specific craft-algorithm gems are simply placed next to the body and then designed to project the solid clothing from its presence. Kem-textured garments are often embellished with colors, jewels, and light-spectrum-influenced gems, and a Xi's kem can even turn into metallic shimmering screens, as popular in the entertainment industry.

The Xi are a pluralistic race of people that thrive on culture, and they embrace art of all kinds, from visual arts to music and even dance, while literature is another prominent aspect of Xi society, often written in the form of fiction, with characters that embody Xi principles. To date, Xi novels have largely taken place in the Xi empire, from the imperial core worlds to the frontier. Literature is typically patriotic and romanticizes the masterful exploits of the Highfleet, books teaching the sons and daughters of the glory of Xi and the slaughter of the empire's enemies.  History is also celebrated and revered in Xi literature, as the Xi people's expansion glorify both the original period of Xi past earth's ascent prior to Sandra's disappearance, the 'rogue void period' after in which numerous forces and political entities competed for control of the fractured empire, and golden period of intergalactic connection and universal diplomacy that has resulted since.

 

The entertainment in Xi culture is centered around specific stations, oft located within a Star-court that becomes the central focus of the Xi people's Kapitalistic-culture and society. These stations can be dozens of miles across and house millions within their complex, effectively constructed as indoor-cities floating in space near populated capitals and star roads. With this starcourt, Xi entertainers have access to a variety of light and sound waves that can be molded to create any visual, musical, and tactile experience in which the artist or audience wishes to engage, a personalized broadcasting studio and a circular crowd around their platform housing hundreds of thousands of viewers. Star-court stations are usually staffed outside with thousands of shops and malls that others can purchase an assortment of fashions and goods at, usually with a giftshop pertaining to the specific company's owned idols. Micro-Ai simulants of the Idol in question are purchasable in holographic form, although usually limited in personality, songs and computing power for a rather steep cost. In addition, Xi society also relies heavily on the entertainment industry, with Xi movies of varying length and complexity, viewable in dozens of theaters around the station. Vendors are found frequently in halls along with conventions hosted within. The most popular singers are known as the "Idol Lumina", who receive the merit of representing their corporation. It's said that the underbelly of Star-Courts contain training centers for Lumina, where the competition is cut-throat. Those who have signed up for the protocols for proper calibration cannot back out, and should they fail to meet the company's standards can either be sealed tightly and put away for storage, or repurposed for other roles outside of idol- many of the food vendors within Star Courts can attest to the bonuses in labor they receive from newly provided menial drones, along with those added to the casinos and hotels of the station's adult entertainment. Once a certain skill level is mastered, they are then assigned their own star-court station permanently as their home.

Star-Courts were a venture started by Star Charity, in what was previously only above surface-world living platforms and Lots until they were bid en masse to various defunct X-Kompanies. Idols frequently make use of hard-light constructs with the bodies that house the actual personae they create, which also serve as transportation, and are often given multiple personalities, which they can use depending on the situations and the company they are in. In addition, many stars can only be accessed by specific contract holoprojectors in the form of certain wrapped individuals, using their neural pathways as the computation.

The Xi empire is one of the few galactic empires that does not keep their populations segregated by the caste systems, rather embracing the different ideas and concepts of gender, and allowing their populations to mix together, with various forms of gender and sexuality.

Because of this, in the Xi empire, sexual preferences are very liberal and vary as much as there are members, from sexual acts that are typically associated with male or female, but have been known to include non-gendered activities, such as the use of sex toys, a variety of genders, and sexual combinations, including male and female partners. While certain elements of Xi society are more traditional and conservative, there is still great emphasis placed on sexuality and sex roles, although Xi people generally do not have a set sexual identity. The Xi people also do not enforce or enforce gender roles, with the same individuals often expressing and performing in the same role or gender that may be associated with their own gender identity. In addition, the Xi culture does not have a caste system, with many positions being fluid, and some not having a clear hierarchy. The Xi have long known how to effectively blend gender and sexual identities, with the Xi people having a much wider understanding of sexual diversity than many galactic civilizations.