How cat-like is your Miqo'te?

[Knight Kat]

Yes, I just threw some fuel into the fire that is the controversial Miqo'te. Please forgive me, but I am so curious.

 

I would like to know how cat-like other RPers play their Miqo'te. This was somewhat discussed in a previous thread, but wasn't touched on directly. I am not really interested in knowing why people choose to play Miqo'te (I love Miqo'te myself), but rather, HOW they play Miqo'te.

 

Do you ever make your Miqo'te meow? Purr? Hiss? Or do you just stick with emoting the ears and tail? Are there any other cat-like tendencies you do with yours?

 

Regardless of my personal feelings on the matter (which I will share later), I have never judged how other people play their Miqo'te. I recently met a RPer who played his/her Miqo'te in a more dog-like fashion. I thought it was an interesting idea and would never try to discourage that RPer from doing so.

 

However, Square obviously seemed to intend to make the Miqo'te a cat-like people, so how do you play yours? Cat-like? Dog-like? Neither? I would like to hear from all Miqo'te RPers who want to offer an opinion on the matter.

[Crisiet]

I love using the ears and tail in emotes when roleplaying my moonkeepers. It's so expressive. I also tend to roll my Rs like some npcs do and if irritated or startled they might hiss.

 

I think it can work very well. Also, I absolutely must use "RIGHT MEOW" in speech at some point. It's too ridiculous not to.

[Ildur]

I ussually forget. When I remember, I drop a line about ear/tail movements, but most of the time I don't have it my conscience. When I do remember, I use this post to keep some degree of consistency.

 

I also don't see any reason to permutate the R's or have any other kind of vocal weirdness. Miqo'te are basically humans with cat ears and tails, so any weirdness in their speech patterns should be a regional thing (like an accent, basically).

[Twinflame]

Miqo'te to me are primarily humans, and not entirely cat-like. Mine do not purr or meow, but they do hiss on occasion (because even humans have an unpleasant shrill exhale they do sometimes). They do not have claws, but they do have thick fingernails, some of which are sharpened. Tails and ears are extremely expressive for my Miqos. I play up their sense of smell in most of my RP as well, and for one of my characters it is his primary sense (he will forget a face, but he'll never forget a scent).

 

To me, Miqo'te purring is strange. It's such a bizarre expression, and there's a lot of debate as to what cats mean when they purr. I also imagine it would sound really strange in the human diaphragm. I don't judge people whose Miqos purr, though; I just ignore it, as in my headcanon, they do not.

[Naunet]

The most animal-like (I still think those ears are so not cat ears) my miqo'te tend to be are in the expressions with their ears and tail. Like Twin, I'll also lean more on other senses, particularly smell as it's something that's mentioned in lore as a sense that is very developed in miqo'te. Considering the mobile their ears are, I treat their hearing as more directed than, say, a hyur's as well.

 

I'll admit, I internally cringe every time I see the "rrrr"s and "meow"s and whatnot, both from NPCs and other PC miqo'te. I feel that treating them like just "cat people" does a disservice to the uniqueness of their cultures, so I do my best to treat them as miqo'te and not "cat people".

[Dat Oni]

Edgar enjoys being pet. He absolutely relishes those few moments when someone strokes their hands through his hair or scratches his ears ever so gently. And his response to this lavishing of affection is typically some form of purring.

 

Now this is typically restricted to those he really likes, but he also does brush up against their person, all cuddly-like.

 

Honestly, I don't care what people say. I won't play down the importance of the Miqo'te's culture, but I won't play down the fact that they have cat ears and a fluffy tail, either. If I want to play my Miqo'te as acting cat-like, I'll do so.

[Kailia]

I play mine very cat like. When she gets angry or scared, her tail fuzzes up, she loves to climb, and so far her story hasn't had her purring. But if she ever did get that comfortable, yeah she probably would purr.

 

The emotes square has given us, is perfect for her. Yes she does make the little pawing motion from time to time. She has even been known to chase small critters around like butterflies. If there's any form of catnip like plants in the game, she'd definitely have a reaction to it.

 

So yes, K'ailia is very much cat-like in how I play her. Nashu and K'hai too.

[Leanne Starlight]

I tend to emote the ears mostly. The tail sometimes not often just easier with the ears. She doesn't 'meow' or do that thing where people put a bunch of r's everywhere. She does purr, growl and hiss though. She also bites and scratches~

[FreelanceWizard]

For L'yhta, I often emote with her ears and tail, and I follow the same post Ildur uses for the tail motions. I don't have her exhibit any other cat-like physical characteristics such as fangs, sharpened fingernails, or anything like that; she does have the "tiger stripes" and slit pupils common to Seekers of the Sun, though. In terms of voice, she speaks with a "normal" Eorzean voice -- I don't have her roll her Rs or meow. However, I have had her growl when she's been extremely angry.

 

Socially, she despises people who try to pet her, grab her tail, or otherwise treat her like a cat, because she has a huge chip on her shoulder about the "disrespect" other Eorzeans show "her people." She hates the "sexy cat stereotype" and dislikes other miqo'te who play into it as well as those who desire it. That said, I as a player don't see anything wrong with such characters, as there are many, many NPC examples of it.

[Aysun]

Fire indeed... I'll just answer the question.

 

My Miqo'te is a Miqo'te, not a neko or some such. So she has Miqo'te traits, not feline. This includes the occasional rolling of an R (when she's drunk is pretty much the only time that comes through in her accent), use of her tail and ears in expression, and she possesses racial traits such as a heightened sense of smell. She places a hiss on her H's in some instances when it would be called for (such as pronunciation of a Miqo'te name), and may hiss words when she is very angry, but not a feline hiss. I enjoy playing a Miqo'te with traits shown by NPC Miqo'tes rather than pulling from cats/nekos.

[Kendha'to]

I use ears and tail emotes to complement "human" facial expressions. Ken will flatten his ears at times when angry, annoyed or uncertain. His tail will flick rapidly when teasing Kiht. :3 And he overall moves with cat-like grace, but that's where it ends for me. He won't hiss or purr, though I see his voice as having a sort of "growl" to it naturally. So when contented, this could almost sound like a purr while talking. 

 

I do actually have him growl and bare his canines when sufficiently angered, but it has more to do with his personality than with anything I see being inherently miqo'te.

[Faye]

I like for my Miqo'te to be very cat-like. To me, the idea of Miqo'te not being cat-like makes them seem like Hyur with cat ears and tails to cater fanservice to weeaboos who want to play a kawaii uguuuu cat girl (or boy). Which is fine if that's what you're into, but it's not my cup of tea.  I like to pay close attention to my Miqo'te's tail and ears, their fur bristles when they're startled, they bare their teeth and snarl and hiss when they're angry, they sometimes sort of purr or roll their r's, they have feline-like grace and agility, they eat mostly meat, etc. I suppose I like Miqo'te that are more cat-like in the... feral way rather than the cutesy way?

 

For example, I've seen some people RPing Miqo'te near constantly purring, making terrible IC cat puns (an example I've actually seen, "We need to go right meow!"), ending sentences with "nyaaa," and in more rare examples, squitschy things like rubbing up on people constantly and saying they're in heat. That's... uhh... just not a fan of that lol.

[allgivenover]

Fire indeed... I'll just answer the question.

 

My Miqo'te is a Miqo'te, not a neko or some such. So she has Miqo'te traits, not feline. This includes the occasional rolling of an R (when she's drunk is pretty much the only time that comes through in her accent), use of her tail and ears in expression, and she possesses racial traits such as a heightened sense of smell. She places a hiss on her H's in some instances when it would be called for (such as pronunciation of a Miqo'te name), and may hiss words when she is very angry, but not a feline hiss. I enjoy playing a Miqo'te with traits shown by NPC Miqo'tes rather than pulling from cats/nekos.

 

Pretty much this ^ for me as well, though Rakka'li doesn't roll his R's. One thing I've noticed is that the heightened sense of smell is very much under-used. Please use it more other Miqo'te RPers! Miqo'te apparently have noses like blood-hounds (I can't find the actual dialogue of this, but that's what I've been told was in 1.0), that's powerful stuff.

[allgivenover]

For example, I've seen some people RPing Miqo'te near constantly purring, making terrible IC cat puns (an example I've actually seen, "We need to go right meow!"), ending sentences with "nyaaa," and in more rare examples, squitschy things like rubbing up on people constantly and saying they're in heat. That's... uhh... just not a fan of that lol.

 

There's an NPC in the North Shroud that actually says that "We need to go right meow!" and uses the word meow, whenever she can. To be fair, that NPC probably says "nyaa" in the Japanese version, but the rest of it is not only a little ick to me, it's also completely unsupported by lore.

[Knight Kat]

I shouldn't be surprised by the diversity of opinions. Its great to read everyone's take on the subject.

 

I was going to wait longer before giving my opinion on the matter because I didn't want to influence other peoples answers, but with so many opinions set forth already, I hardly think that will happen now.

 

So, with Kiht, I fully express her ears and tail in a cat-like fashion; if I remember they are there :lol: I haven't purred with her yet, but I have considered it because I think it might be funny if she let off something that sounds like a purr then suddenly tries to hide the fact that she made it. Not sure if I'd do that yet. I gave her a cat-like curiosity and feistyness. And she will certainly hiss when threatened.

 

She would bare her Keeper fangs if angry enough, but that is hardly exclusive to cats. Many animals with teeth do that. I've seen humans do it too. She is mostly carnivorous, and has cat-like grace/agility. I also keep her powerful sense of smell in mind.

 

On the other hand, she wouldn't meow, roll her Rs (too lazy for that), nor would she put any "nyans" in her sentences. As for her reactions to physical contact, I don't know yet. I'll have to consider that.

 

Looking forward to reading more responses from people.

[ansemaru]

Miqo'te having feline features is a boon to writing body language for me. In addition to typical tone/expression cues, having ears and a tail to indicate emotional state is really convenient, even if I don't try to faithfully replicate cat behavior.

Other than that, my Miqo'te character doesn't really exemplify feline traits. No hissing or meowing or other speech quirks, doesn't try to sit on things people are working on, has never once stolen food from a person for no good reason...

 

Well, I jest on some of those- the punchline there being of course that cats are weird- but to be honest, most of my Miqo'te character's idiosyncratic traits come from who he is as a person, not from him being a catboy.

[Jana]

I haven't roleplayed my character much, but I did play a cat-like character in my last MMO. I gave her some quirks like enjoying naps in a sunny spot and liking to eat fish above most other foods, but she was also kind of a serious character. She didn't have an "accent" and would get offended if someone implied she should, and got mad at most people who would try to touch her ears or tail.

 

Ears and tails are a lot of fun to use in RP though! I did have to get used to including them but once I did, it was easy to make them an additional way for my character to express herself, voluntarily or not. It's fun to make a straight-laced character give herself away because of an unconscious movement of those extra body parts that we wouldn't normally think about.

[Faye]

For example, I've seen some people RPing Miqo'te near constantly purring, making terrible IC cat puns (an example I've actually seen, "We need to go right meow!"), ending sentences with "nyaaa," and in more rare examples, squitschy things like rubbing up on people constantly and saying they're in heat. That's... uhh... just not a fan of that lol.

 

There's an NPC in the North Shroud that actually says that "We need to go right meow!" and uses the word meow, whenever she can. To be fair, that NPC probably says "nyaa" in the Japanese version, but the rest of it is not only a little ick to me, it's also completely unsupported by lore.

 

Oh, I'm aware of the NPC, Mia-something or... something starting with an "M." Still, it didn't make me cringe any less lol.

[Tla]

A, hot topic here.

 

I treat my miqo, for emoting and such, simply like a human with ears and tail, because that's how I see them, I see them as all but cats. I must admit I dont use ears and tail in emoting as much as I'd want, i tend to forget, which is weird because in another game I used to do it all the time instead. Also I play her with more acute senses, mostly hearing. I don't see why they should have a better smell then humans though, since the nose/face conformation is exactly the same. I guess Seekers also have nightvision like cats, seen how their eyes are?

[Raeletta]

I hadn't actually thought about this until I read the thread, then realised I basically don't play her anything like a cat at all.

 

Rae loves fish (and despairs at the implication it brings (Cats love fish )) so she's aware of how "cat-like" people may expect her to be, but bar that I've never RPed her doing anything particularly catlike. Haven't RPed all that much though, so there's nothing stopping me from developing traits I think would work. More likely to be unintended reactions than rolling Rs and the like though.

 

The miqo'te npc mentioned is one of the most amusing in the game, purely for the way she is. I think that being like that is fine, myself, so long as it's sustained as well as she does it

 

TL;DR: IMO, They're cat-like. Play 'em as cat-like as you like. Just remember they're also human-like, and balance it

[Kendha'to]

A, hot topic here.

 

I treat my miqo, for emoting and such, simply like a human with ears and tail, because that's how I see them, I see them as all but cats. I must admit I dont use ears and tail in emoting as much as I'd want, i tend to forget, which is weird because in another game I used to do it all the time instead. Also I play her with more acute senses, mostly hearing. I don't see why they should have a better smell then humans though, since the nose/face conformation is exactly the same. I guess Seekers also have nightvision like cats, seen how their eyes are?

Keepers certainly do, being nocturnal. Slit pupils actually reinforce sight during the DAY, by the way, if that's what you're referring to in regards to Seeker eyes, as they take in less light.

[allgivenover]

I don't see why they should have a better smell then humans though, since the nose/face conformation is exactly the same. I guess Seekers also have nightvision like cats, seen how their eyes are?

 

Probably due to how cats have much more powerful noses than humans - not nearly as powerful as dogs though. It was stated a few times in 1.0 and again in ARR, though I neglected to take screenshots.

 

I'm not sure about night-vision for Seekers, maybe better than humans but not as good as Keepers. It's possible that Seekers have more acute vision as long as there's adequate light due to the vertical slit pupil shape that they share with real life cats, a trait that Keepers don't share. Keeper eyes are just super wide all the time.

[Lan Darklyn]

Okay gonna add my 2 Gil in here lol.

I like to use Lan's ears and tail to help get across the mood he is in. I will usually have his ears sort of turn when he hears something peak his interest and of course they will flatten if he is perturbed. It has never come up in RP yet but he does enjoy a form of petting, his mother used to run her fingers through his hair and lightly scratch near his ears so that sort of thing would bring back fond memories for him. He does not like it when his tail is messed with though, but he will tolerate children how touch it because they are just kids.

[K'nahli]

Rp'ing them cat-like would turn the character into something very comedic I think since they have very few attributes that make the such. All I do is describe my character's ear and tail movements which has little to do with the fact they are cat attributes but actually because they are simply a part of her. Other than that I gave her a respectable level or perception across all of her senses.

[Tiergan]

I'm in the same boat as most other folks in that I primarily RP out the ears and tails to show emotion.  He DOES secretly like getting his hair stroked or pet, but that's because scalp massages FEEL AMAZING. 

 

He does, in extremely rare circumstances, let out a low, rumbling noise when he's completely relaxed and content - but for the most part Tier is more feral-cat-like as opposed to cutesy-neko.

 

Lurial's the same way except I don't RP out as many of the cat-like qualities due to her keeping a more professional demeanor.