(08-07-2014, 03:45 PM)Zhavi Wrote: -snip-
Humm, I think this might just be a divide of opinion. Â To me, miqo'te are neither humans-with-tails nor cats-with-people-biology. Â They're an intertwined mix of both in a way that are neither cat nor human. Â 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. Â 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. Â I guess it isn't so surprising we both think the other is wrong. Â ehehehe
-snip-
I am ignorant enough about cat biology that I will actually need to get off my ass and look up some studies. Â 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! Â 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. Â YOU WIN. . .for now.
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.Â
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.
Raandal Bennett (Deceased)
