(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.

(08-06-2014, 03:50 PM)Coatleque Wrote: Alright, time for the more important questions.

1.) Do they claw the furniture?
2.) Do they like getting their chins scratched?
3.) Do they raise their ass in the air if you touch the base of their tail?
4.) Do they bury their poo in sand?
5.) Do they run when you spray water at them?
6.) When they leave the Quicksand do they often turn around and come right back in?
7.) Do they sleep on things you're trying to read?
8.) When given an expensive toy you bought, do they instead prefer to play with a dead leaf that just blew inside?

(08-06-2014, 03:56 PM)LiadansWhisper Wrote:

(08-06-2014, 03:50 PM)Coatleque Wrote: 3.) Do they raise their ass in the air if you touch the base of their tail?

I was told by a friend of mine in my free company, Kondo, that only the females are allowed to touch fluffy tails.  *sage nod*  So don't do that, or they might take your hand off.  >.>

(08-06-2014, 05:00 PM)Fates Skein Wrote: Re: tails
I imagine that miqo'te that fight very rarely have full-length tails in actuality and that most of them have sustained some sort of injury to their tail...

(08-06-2014, 03:50 PM)Coatleque Wrote: Alright, time for the more important questions.

1.) Do they claw the furniture?
2.) Do they like getting their chins scratched?
3.) Do they raise their ass in the air if you touch the base of their tail?
4.) Do they bury their poo in sand?
5.) Do they run when you spray water at them?
6.) When they leave the Quicksand do they often turn around and come right back in?
7.) Do they sleep on things you're trying to read?
8.) When given an expensive toy you bought, do they instead prefer to play with a dead leaf that just blew inside?

(08-06-2014, 05:35 PM)Naunet Wrote:

(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.

Well to be fair, that's applicable to cats, but miqo'te are fully sentient. It's not out of the realm of believability that a sentient organism could control their limb beyond just instinctive movements.

(08-06-2014, 05:00 PM)Fates Skein Wrote: Re: tails

I actually wonder- cats and dogs have a big bundle of nerves that connect to the base of their tail.  If the tail is pulled hard enough, it can damage that bundle of nerves and actually cause paralysis to the legs/lower part of the spine.  It would be an interesting weakness to have to protect against, considering armor doesn't really protect against pulling/ grabbing and all their armor has a tail slot for it to wag around instead of actually protecting the tail (which is prone to all sorts of injuries- degloving, breaking, being caught in doorways...)

I imagine that miqo'te that fight very rarely have full-length tails in actuality and that most of them have sustained some sort of injury to their tail...

(08-06-2014, 03:50 PM)Coatleque Wrote: Alright, time for the more important questions.

1.) Do they claw the furniture?
2.) Do they like getting their chins scratched?
3.) Do they raise their ass in the air if you touch the base of their tail?
4.) Do they bury their poo in sand?
5.) Do they run when you spray water at them?
6.) When they leave the Quicksand do they often turn around and come right back in?
7.) Do they sleep on things you're trying to read?
8.) When given an expensive toy you bought, do they instead prefer to play with a dead leaf that just blew inside?

(08-06-2014, 04:16 PM)Coatleque Wrote:

(08-06-2014, 04:08 PM)Nero Wrote: Would Miqo'te knock over vases and stuff to get attention, too?

Yes.  They also sit next to your bed, lean 3 inches from your face, and go "Hey!"  "Hey!"  "Hey!" until you wake up and feed them.

(08-06-2014, 04:54 PM)Enteris Wrote: Well, they're human-like to a degree... so humans with tails. We have a tail bone and there are humans out there that have tails (think stubs, not actually full-length miqo'te type tails). Some of them are able to wag it a bit, but that's really about it. Others don't have control at all. So, from the human example we know we can possibly wag a tail if we had it.

(08-06-2014, 04:54 PM)Enteris Wrote: Then we look to cats, the other "half" of the miqo'te. And, as I stated above, the results of studies have been fairly inconclusive. We do know that cats use it to express emotion (think body language)... again upright and tall when happy, wagging/twitching when pissed, etc. Beyond that, we've yet to see cats do much else with their tails, other than chase it (Yes, owning seven cats myself... I have seen them chase it. And, on that note, a couple of our cats do intentionally hit us with their tail... haven't seen them point yet, though.  ) So, even from the cats all we know for sure and have seen is that mirroring of emotions type deal.

(08-06-2014, 04:54 PM)Enteris Wrote: I think this plays into your question about being able to suppress it. That entirely depends on the unknown amount of control that the miqo'te actually has... how much that "hyur side" of their brain controls it versus the "cat side." In that regard, I would like to think that they are able to consciously control the muscle at the base of their tail to the point of making it stop and put on a "poker face". That being said, I personally feel that would be the extent of their "hyur control" of their tail... being able to wag it and being able to stop the wag. 

Otherwise, I think every single sentient creature in Eorzea would love to play poker with miqo'te. You'd never lose against a miqo'te with their tail being giant, obvious tells.

(08-06-2014, 05:00 PM)Fates Skein Wrote: Re: tails

I actually wonder- cats and dogs have a big bundle of nerves that connect to the base of their tail.  If the tail is pulled hard enough, it can damage that bundle of nerves and actually cause paralysis to the legs/lower part of the spine.  It would be an interesting weakness to have to protect against, considering armor doesn't really protect against pulling/ grabbing and all their armor has a tail slot for it to wag around instead of actually protecting the tail (which is prone to all sorts of injuries- degloving, breaking, being caught in doorways...)

I imagine that miqo'te that fight very rarely have full-length tails in actuality and that most of them have sustained some sort of injury to their tail...

(08-06-2014, 08:15 PM)Knight Kat Wrote: I'm glad people are having fun with this thread instead of turning it into a huge flamey rage-fest.

(08-06-2014, 08:05 PM)Fio Arasgain Wrote:

(08-06-2014, 05:00 PM)Fates Skein Wrote: Re: tails

I actually wonder- cats and dogs have a big bundle of nerves that connect to the base of their tail.  If the tail is pulled hard enough, it can damage that bundle of nerves and actually cause paralysis to the legs/lower part of the spine.  It would be an interesting weakness to have to protect against, considering armor doesn't really protect against pulling/ grabbing and all their armor has a tail slot for it to wag around instead of actually protecting the tail (which is prone to all sorts of injuries- degloving, breaking, being caught in doorways...)

I imagine that miqo'te that fight very rarely have full-length tails in actuality and that most of them have sustained some sort of injury to their tail...

When in armour, I actually RP Fio having placed a light wrapping of cloth around his tail and some chainmail over that to prevent it from being hacked off. Is he less acrobatic? A little. But it's better then having to compensate for a hacked off limb that aids in balance.

(08-07-2014, 03:45 PM)Zhavi Wrote: -snip-
Humm, I think this might just be a divide of opinion.  To me, miqo'te are neither humans-with-tails nor cats-with-people-biology.  They're an intertwined mix of both in a way that are neither cat nor human.  I agree that they take traits from both -- you'd rightly think me stupid if I tried to argue against that -- but to simply think them humans with cat ears and tails takes away from the blurbs you can read in character creation.  Their biology has to be different from human biology, otherwise they wouldn't have superb olfactory senses or strong leg musculature.

But then again, as you said in your first post, we're both having to interpret from a rather vague snippet of information.  I guess it isn't so surprising we both think the other is wrong.  ehehehe

-snip-

I am ignorant enough about cat biology that I will actually need to get off my ass and look up some studies.  I said earlier that I was floofing on the biology, but I'll admit it -- you've intrigued me enough to want to go digging through studies!  Soooo. . .I'll get back to you on that when I'm a smidgeon more educated then my current status as ignoramus.

-snip-

To me, the ability to suppress would also mean some ability to control, but then again I'll have to defer to my previous statement.  YOU WIN. . .for now.

(08-07-2014, 04:17 PM)Aerghwab Wrote: Did you play in 1.x by chance? Miqo'te used to have this thing on the left goin' on:

Show Content

Spoiler

I have no idea why they did away with that. I thought it was a cool little detail.

(08-07-2014, 04:25 PM)Enteris Wrote: For me to say you're wrong would be rather arrogant, to be honest. I simply share what seems to be a fairly logical explanation to a few things with what little we have been given to go by. And I perhaps misspoke (mistyped?). I didn't mean to say that miqo'te are indeed simply humans with ears and a tail... I was more looking at their physical appearance and more simple biological features. In other words, how they would act, barring cultural differences, would likely be very human-like... unlike the meowing, purring, etc. that I have unfortunately seen through out the random RP I've come across. Simple stuff like walking upright, using utensils to eat (messier foods), etc to more complicated things such as speech patterns and the like. 

I very much agree that there is a level of underlying difference within the miqo'te when comparing them to hyur. Like you said, that superior olfactory sense accounts for something. Perhaps what I was touching on is how much of a difference is there? And therein lies the issue that would likely answer the question of how much control they would have in regards to their tails. Just how different are they underneath the skin? Is it just the smelling and stronger legs? Or is there actually a portion of their brain capable of consciously controlling the movement of their tails?

On the note of cat biology, I pray I didn't come off as playing the know-it-all. My "knowledge" simply comes from the amount of time I've spent owning cats in my life (currently own seven -_-) and the brief google search I did for this thread... and a little bit in the past as well because I was actually curious as to the control of a cat's tail and the meaning behind each movement. So, again, I am by no means the professor of all things cats.

As to the suppressing vs. full control thing... I suppose I'm still just hooked on the mental image of a miqo'te quite literally pointing at someone with their tail... or pointing at several people in a crowd in that "You, you, you, you..." scenario I mentioned earlier. I likely also have a deep seated aversion to anything that comes off as "cartoony"... and that mental image really seems silly and cartoony to me. I do apologize if I've misinterpreted what you meant as pointing, but I'll leave you with this little thought...

If a miqo'te is able to point as in my mental image of what you're trying to say, how far off are they, then, from simply being able to curl their tails around objects, thereby making them fully prehensile? If they're able to bend and flex their tails with a precise enough point... I can't imagine that grabbing is too far behind.

tl;dr: I don't think you're wrong or stupid. In fact, I agree with you on many points. Many of my points may have been "mistyped" as I am known to do. I get good thoughts in my head then just puke on paper/forums when trying to relay said thoughts.

(08-07-2014, 03:45 PM)Zhavi Wrote:

(08-06-2014, 04:54 PM)Enteris Wrote: Well, they're human-like to a degree... so humans with tails. We have a tail bone and there are humans out there that have tails (think stubs, not actually full-length miqo'te type tails). Some of them are able to wag it a bit, but that's really about it. Others don't have control at all. So, from the human example we know we can possibly wag a tail if we had it.

Humm, I think this might just be a divide of opinion.  To me, miqo'te are neither humans-with-tails nor cats-with-people-biology.  They're an intertwined mix of both in a way that are neither cat nor human.  I agree that they take traits from both -- you'd rightly think me stupid if I tried to argue against that -- but to simply think them humans with cat ears and tails takes away from the blurbs you can read in character creation.  Their biology has to be different from human biology, otherwise they wouldn't have superb olfactory senses or strong leg musculature.