(08-06-2014, 04:24 PM)Enteris Wrote: I actually had to do some quick google "research" on this. There have been several studies regarding this fact (in regards to cats, that is) and whether or not they have full, conscious control of their tail. Much like their purring, the results have been fairly inconclusive. Many say yes, many say no. Even still, the tails on cats seem to only mirror their emotions. Nice and tall if they're happy, wagging if they're pissed, etc.
To my knowledge, we have yet to run into any humans that have tails that also have full (or any) control of them. As such, I can't rightly say to what degree a person would have control of their tail. Is it a series of muscles from base to tip that would allow them to flex and point as you suggest? Or is it simply a muscle at the base that allows them to wag it and perhaps make it stand upright (like a happy cat)?
Sure, I am all for a miqo'te being able to "hit" someone with their tail by wagging it, but as far as controlling it to the point where they can literally point to people in a crowd with is, saying "You, you, you, you........" I'm not so sure about that.
Even then, if they DID have control of their tail to that degree, it makes me wonder what would be the "proper social" etiquette regarding the use of it. Much like our tongue, we have relatively close to full control of it, but we don't use it to point at people.
That's . . . really cool. Mostly my line of thought was that if you can wag the tail, curl it, lift it, wave it, then you could do simple actions such as point or what not -- I hadn't actually given thought to the idea that it would actually make biological sense for it not to be controlled. On an intelligent person, the idea of not having control over a limb kinda freaks me out a bit, I will admit. Although I will also say that I didn't imagine it being precise either; pointing in a general sense more than a specific -- so I'm with you on that one (not dextrous as a monkey's tail, but able to make simple motions already shown to be in range -- just controlled rather than automatic).
Although, if it isn't able to be controlled then there would be a question of whether or not its movements would be able to be suppressed when the miqo'te feels something -- ie, if my character is annoyed by something, would she not consciously be able to stop it from twitching?
Ahahaha, luckily for me social etiquette doesn't much come into play.
Half the fun of rping Zhi is getting to showcase that rude, ignorant teenager who thinks she's beholden to no one.edit - ah, and I wouldn't count humans-with-tails in the same league as miqo'te. At the very least we can agree that miqo'te tails are far more mobile and expressive than anything humans have ever had.
