#Tortie's confusion

[daily-whistlepaw]

daily whistlebreeze until fae becomes PoV day 1411

Whistlebreeze talking to Whisperbreeze requested by @pinestripe37

[hazeltortie]

What do you MEAN the water just goes down and doesn't appear anywhere ever again?? 🤯

[rosebe11y]

click for better quality!

i aint even half as dirty as beauden is- why am i getting washed before him?

[amber-tortoiseshell]

Hi there! I've recently been on a quest to find the correct way to describe my sister's cat Azula. My best guess is that she seems to be a seal mink point with white spotting + dilute or double dilute red tabby (the faint red/cream tabby markings on her face, parts of her ears, and a few very faint cream patches on her body and paws). But I'm confused how the dilute red can with the much darker seal points, and I'm very new to cat coat genetics. If you could help, I'd be so grateful!!

Hello! I believe she's a black (aka seal) tortoiseshell point with white. (Not mink, siamese-type point.) She has the characteristic blue eyes, and points can easily get this dark.

The very pale red is also normal, colorpoint washes out the red pigment more efficiently than the black, so flame points are much paler than seals, and on torties the red patches can seem almost white. Strictly speaking it's not dilution, since the cat's genotype is still D_, nevertheless it's a lightening effect.

If you want to deep dive into cat genetics, the genotype for this color is: aa B_ cscs D_ Oo wsw.

[bonefall]

i dont think people are upset that the erins "weren't creative" enough with Moonpaw, they're upset that she's just. not a chimera. thats just a longhaired tortie and they justified it with chimerism. which is extremely insensitive because chimerism is a real medical thing that can cause issues in every species, including humans for those that dont know, and thats like. a big thing.

like, yay some disability rep (depending on how they write it. it wont be good. ughh) but like. its not going to be considered a disability when it can be in some cases. they are just going to say "ohh shes so special!!" like some people say with autism in this age (the infantilization of it) and its gonna be. weirdddd

anyways. sorry for ranting in your inbox.

Hey. Woah. THIS is insensitive and I don't know where you're getting this from. NONE of the three types of natural chimerism are a disability and it is extremely rare that fusion chimerism leads to medical complications.

Do not spread misinformation about a genetic condition because you're annoyed about the writing team confusing a common tortie fur pattern with chimerism. THEIR mistake is ultimately harmless. What YOU'RE doing is stigmatizing.

Quite frankly, after seeing a bunch of posts and receiving several asks about this, I don't think half of the people who are getting mad actually know anything about chimeras. I sure as fuck hope it's just ignorance, and that you aren't out here trying to call the state of being intersex a disability.

But I can fix ignorance. No need to assume malice. I will explain what chimerism is, and why you should stop going around implying it "causes issues in every species."

Chimerism is when a single individual is comprised of cells from two or more fully fertilized zygotes. There are two BROAD types of chimerism;

Artifical

Natural

Artifical chimeras are common with the advent of modern medicine. Ever had a blood transfusion? Organ transplant? You are a chimera. Or at least were for a while.

THIS can lead to complications and can cause disability, but it's not what Moonpaw is. She would be a type of natural chimera, which in and of itself has THREE subtypes;

Micro chimerism

Blood chimerism

Fusion chimerism

Microchimerism is so common that I could make a Your Mom joke out of it. It's caused by the passage of cells between the fetus and placenta during pregnancy. Everyone who has ever been pregnant is a microchimera.

While it can lead to complications, it can also be beneficial. Pregnancy could be considered a type of temporary disability, but no one would expect disability rep from every character who had ever given birth.

Blood chimeras are common in species whose twins typically share a placenta, such as cows and marmosets, but very rare in animals like humans and cats which usually don't. It occurs when tissue between two twins is exchanged through the umbilical chord. This type of chimera often ends up with a mixed bloodtype, hence the name.

This is the cause of freemartinism in cattle, when fraternal cow twins cause a sister to share her brother's hormones and act more like a bull. A type of intersex condition, not a disability-- so I sure HOPE you aren't trying to imply THIS should be "disability rep."

And even in the other case, would you automatically expect disability rep from a character that has two blood types?? No. Just like you wouldn't automatically expect disability rep from every character that had ever been pregnant, or every character who had ever needed a blood transfusion

And lastly, the one that Moonpaw ACTUALLY is. A fusion chimera. These are created when two fully fertilized zygotes fuse into a single individual.

These are extremely rare because you can't usually TELL when an individual is a chimera. There is no obvious physical difference between the "halves," with some cases of doctors insisting that patches are just weird birthmarks. They live their entire lives with normal health problems like non-chimeras. It mostly causes complications when DNA testing results in a false negative-- because the offspring of a fusion chimera occasionally end up being their genetic nespring.

Or, the two "halves" are male and female, causing gonadal differences. These people aren't disabled, there's nothing wrong with their bodies, but they're subjected to unneccesary cosmetic surgeries as children because they are intersex.

Say it. SAY IT. INTERSEX. I N T E R S E X. IM GRABBING YOU BY THE SHIRT AND SHAKING YOU THEY ARE INTERSEX.

Can some intersex conditions cause disabilities? YES. Are intersex conditions inherently disabilities? NO. Even when you're discussing infertility as a disability, tread VERY CAREFULLY because intersex people are fighting very hard to lift the stigma over their bodies.

Speak with care. Do not equate being intersex with being disabled. They are two different things.

You can be both and sometimes one could contribute to the other, but BEING intersex IS NOT a disability.

VERY rarely, even MORE rare than standard chimeras which are already very very rare and massively underreported because they are so unremarkable, a fusion chimera will happen LATE in utero. THIS can contribute to a chronic autoimmune condition where the cells reject each other, which is a disability.

And by rare I mean one case. Literally one. Of the 50 reported fusion chimeras in the review I'm referencing, Taylor Muhl was the only one with this. 4 were discovered via congenital abnormalities (unknown if connected to the chimerism b/c they were only tested because something was already wrong), 17 had fertility issues, and the remaining 28 didn't report immune conditions or birth defects but INTERSEXUALITY.

ANOTHER condition is often lumped in with chimerism, by people who do not know what chimerism is, which is mosaicism. Mosaicism, when there are two different sets of genes resulting from the same zygote, is NOT chimerism. MOSAICISM can be a cause of disability. CHIMERISM is usually not.

(Read the review in depth, as it includes mosaic cases for the sake of completion.)

They can both be fertilization errors, but are not the same thing. Follow me, I'm only going to woefully simplify a complicated topic once,

CHIMERA = Two zygotes in one body

MOSAIC = Two bodies in one zygote

CHIMERA = usually fine

MOSAIC = usually bad

And the last possible places you could be getting the idea that chimerism "causes disability" from, to my knowledge, is 1. This study that says the loss of a twin in early pregnancy increases the chance of congenital defects in the survivors (has barely anything to do with chimerism, this link is tangential, vanishing twin syndrome does not necessarily mean it was absorbed by its sibling)

Or, 2, this study of several animals where they correlated rates of benign tumors to % of chimerism based on SPECIES. BLOOD chimeras. It's COWS AND MARMOSETS AGAIN. The study ITSELF calls for further targeted research of chimerism cause of susceptibility to cancer.

It couldn't even link new growths or malignant tumors to chimerism in the mammals of its study. WE'RE mammals.

Correlation does not equal causation. Statistics 101.

So no. That's not "a big thing." Chimerism is fine, they're just very likely to be intersex if they're a fusion chimera of a male and a female zygote. Do not imply intersexuality is a disability. Please get mad about the actual ableism in the series, not the team being clueless about tortie patterns.

Also everyone say you're sorry to intersex Moonpaw. I better see you people making intersex Moonpaw pride flag edits as penance IMMEDIATELY.

UPDATE: Anon apologized! Growth! I still think this is an important post, especially in the context of the wider fandom conversation, so I'm leaving it as-is. Please feel free to reblog.

UPDATE 2: Clarification on infertility as a disability because I didn't word myself very well in one section!

[felinefractious]

I saw this really pretty pointed tortie on Facebook in the "The Bappening" group and am confused about its coloring (I couldn't find any info in the comments about the cat's breed so I'm assuming it's a DSH). I would very much appreciate a correct color ID and possibly more info on the genetics that led to this coloration.

My guess is that she is a black and red tortoiseshell colorpoint cat. The colors on her most pointed parts are not dilute (the red on her face appears diluted but her ears are pretty red and that is definitely black, not blue, imo). The lightest parts of her body are not pure white but they are very light, with what looks to be some lightened red patches. And she has blue eyes.

I'm guessing this based on the "How to ID Your Cat's Coat Color" guide in r/cats (https://www.reddit.com/r/cats/comments/4wbuav/how_to_id_your_cats_coat_color_a_guide/).

Thank you so much for the help!!! I'm not great at IDing cats yet but I've learned so much from following your blog. I very much love your work and aspire to be as knowledgeable as you some day. Have a lovely day!

This is all correct! Awesome job!

She’s a black tortoiseshell point, more often called a seal tortie point or even just tortie point. She doesn’t appear to have any white and the darkening of the coat with age is characteristic of pointed cats.

So she’s black (B-) with one copy of the sex-linked red gene (XOXo) making her tortoiseshell.

She has the recessive non-agouti/solid gene (aa) and the recessive colorpoint gene (cscs) causing the appearance you see.

Which adds up to a very pretty Domestic Shorthair!

I was in The Bappening group but left because I got annoyed with all the dangerous pred-prey interactions and actual aggression that got posted for laughs instead of wholesome baps.

[cryptidclaw]

Leopardfoot!

Design Notes:

I havent done a design for this gal in AGES ... yet I tried to keep a lot of the ideas from my old one for this one!

I really liked the idea of her having tortie patches that mimic leopard spots which i had used in my old design, so I've done it again!

Character Bio:

Leopardfoot

Lesbian; demi-girl; she/they

Age as of 1st arc's beginning: 11 cycles, 8 moons; ~64 Hyrs

Age as of 1st arc's end: 13 cycles, 6 moons; 72 Hyrs

Title meaning: -foot = a cat who is light on their feet; a cat who is sure of themselves, and is confident in their actions

Warrior -> Elder of Thunder Order

Mother: Swiftbreeze

Father: Adderfang

Siblings: Patchpelt

Ex-Mate: Star Pineheart

Mate: Fogtalon

adoptive/step kit: Mousebite

Kits: Thistleclaw; Night; Mist; Birdflight (biologically Fogtalon and Sparrowpelt's)

Grandkits: Sky, Shimmer, Shine; Star Tigerclaw; Lynxstorm; Sandstorm; Flint; Poppy

Other notable kin: both the Tiger and Fire descendants are her kin, Fire not biologically tho.

Character Summary:

Leopardfoot was born to Adderfang and Swiftbreeze alongside her brother Patchpelt, unlike in canon she is born a few cycles (years) earlier than Bluefrost and Snowstorm.

Leopard grew up with a very heteronormative ideal of what her live should be as an adult, find a good strong tom as a mate, have kits, be the perfect Thunder Order molly. Because of this, when Star Pineheart showed an interest in her a few years into her adulthood, she agreed to become mates with him, he was the leader after all, it would be dumb to say no to such an honor.

Leopardfoot soon had a litter of kits with Pine, Night, Mist and Thistle. Just like in canon Pine ends up abandoning the Order and his family to live with humans and Leopard is left to raise her kits alone. Leopard was devastated by this, especially after Night and Mist passed due to kitten cough. Due to all of this Leopard grew a misplaced hatred for kittypets which she passed on to her son Thistleclaw, and later her grandson Tigerclaw.

After Pineheart left the Order however, Leopard began to get close to Fogtalon with fog helping her out with the kits. The two of them end up having a slowburn romance and end up becoming mates later in life!

Leopard is a sort of step parent to Mousebite and Birdflight was raised with both Fog and Leopard as his moms!

Leopard retired with Fogtalon and as an elder she spent a lot of time with her grandson Tiger, who would often bring her fresh prey and moss and chat with her about the day's happenings.

Leopard had an idea that her son Thistle was kind of an asshole, but she was never told the full truth of his actions that lead to his death. Nobody wanted to hurt her like that, especially since she was now relaxing and retired.

Leopard was devastated when Tiger was banished and for a long while she was in denial about him being evil. she started to act more old and confused after this too.

within the plot, Leopard is able to give the backstories and motives of characters like Tigerclaw to Fire, though she really only tells these things to him after Tiger's banishment when she became more confused.

...

[Image ID: a digital drawing of Leopardfoot from Warrior Cats. She is laying down with her right side showing and she has a slight frown. She is a slender, long furred, black and orange tortoiseshell molly with green eyes. She is mostly black, with orange patches on her shoulders to mid back, paws and cheeks that imitate leopard spots. She has brownish gradient under where her orange patches are, as well as on her tail./ End ID]

[thewastes-clangen]

Plagueclan Founders

Before the infection, 3 clans filled the valley; Shoreclan dominated the beaches by the ocean, Peakclan teetered on the edge of the mountains that shadowed the valley, and Meadowclan populated the flower fields in between. When the infection began, it started in Shoreclan. As the survivors moved into Meadowclan territory, they brought the illness with them and it spread further and further, even making its way up the mountains to Peakclan where the survivors made their last stand. When the dust settled, only a handful of cats remained. Battered and bruised they headed back into the valley and created a camp, hoping to find a cure to fight the disease and survive.

The Survivors:

Hailstar-A medium-furred black tabby and white she-cat with pale green eyes.

She/Her;106 moons;Insecure, Incredible Runner, Steady Paws

Aa (susceptible carrier);CHA:10,INS:13

Originally from Peakclan, Hailstar was once an average senior warrior. That is, until the infection began and swept through the other clans like a wildfire. When Peakclan finally faced the plague, Hailstar, then Hailheart, ran in fear and left her clan to defend itself without her. Now, Starclan has chosen her to lead the survivors to the confusion of not only her new clanmates but herself as well.

Tigershadow-A medium-furred dark ginger and black tortie she-cat with yellow eyes.

She/Her;78 moons;Wise,Valuable Insight

Aa (susceptible carrier);CHA:8,INS:16

Tigershadow was once a warrior of Shoreclan. She was a well-loved cat amongst all three clans and thankfully survived the initial outbreak. She lost many loved ones and as the first clan to fall, she watched the entire first wave play out in horror. She survived through it all, though, and while many others think she should've been made leader of the survivors, she is thankful to not have the heavy weight of their survival on her shoulders as Hailstar does. She supports the other she-cat loyally and backs her up on every decision.

Nettlebloom-A medium-furred light brown and dark ginger tortie she-cat with green eyes.

She/Her;96 moons;Bloodthirsty,Trusted Advisor

aa (immune);CHA:14,INS:17

Nettlebloom was once the medicine cat of Meadowclan and served them loyally for many years. However, once the plague began something inside her seemed to change. She became colder and didn't seem to have the same fight for helping her clanmates survive as she once did. Through the protection of her clanmates due to her status, however, she managed to survive the initial outbreak. Now she is intent to find a cure, no matter who she must experiment on to do so.

Tawnystripe-A short-furred gray and golden brown mottled she-cat with hazel eyes.

She/Her;56 moons;Thoughtful,Fast Runner,Talented Swimmer

aa (immune);CHA:8,INS:14

Tawnystripe was a warrior of Shoreclan alongside Tigershadow. She found Cricketkit on the way to Meadowclan after Shoreclan had been defeated and decided to take care of the kit herself. She followed the survivors all the way up the mountains to Peakclan, however she was horrified when they were attacked and Cricketkit was bit. She was not going to sit back and let anyone harm the kit, though, and stood over her with her claws and teeth bared at the ready for days, waiting for a sign that it was the end and vowing to finish her off herself if it came to that. But it never happened, and Cricketkit recovered, proof that there was some sort of defense against the infection. She tends lovingly to the kit still, treating her as a child while giving any cat who comes too close a vicious glare.

Icequill-A long-furred dorsal-striped silver she-cat with blue eyes.

She/Her;54 moons;Playful,Unusually Strong Fighter,Great Kitsitter

Aa (susceptible carrier);CHA:13,INS:7

Icequill was a strong and well-liked warrior of Peakclan. When Peakclan was attacked, she watched in horror as Hailheart ran away, leaving only her and two other warriors to protect the survivors. She fought viciously and was the last one of Peakclan standing. Once she saw that Cricketkit was bitten, she decided she would take the heavy burden of killing the poor kit, a merciful task. However, she was viciously attacked by Tawnystripe and was strangely beaten by the maternal she-cat, something that had never happened to her before. She was shocked when Hailstar was made leader, and angry that Starclan would choose a coward to protect the survivors, however she does respect Tigershadow and hopes Hailstar gets what's coming to her quickly.

Goldenrose-A long-furred white and speckled pale ginger she-cat with gold eyes.

She/Her;27 moons;Calm,Talented Swimmer

AA (susceptible);CHA:9,INS:11

Goldenrose and her brother, Daisypaw, are the last survivors of Meadowclan other than Nettlebloom. Goldenrose is terrified of the she-cat, knowing what her goals are and what she would do to any of the survivors if she had the chance. She stays far away from the medicine cat and quietly tends to her brother, who has been traumatized from the plague and the loss of the rest of his clan. She is uncomfortable amongst so many strangers but knows if she strikes off alone with Daisypaw there is little to no guarantee they would both survive.

Daisypaw-A short-furred white and speckled cream tom with green-yellow eyes.

He/Him;10 moons;Compassionate,Formidable Fighter

aa (immune);CHA:16,INS:11

Daisypaw sticks close to his sister, Goldenrose, who also forced her way into being his mentor. He is a bleeding heart and is overly attached to anyone who shows him any kindness due to the loss of his clan. He has a great interest in Nettlebloom due to her familiar face but is constantly dragged away from her by a terrified Goldenrose. He keeps to himself unless speaking to Goldenrose, but Cricketkit seems to be one of the only other cats to be able to get him to crack a smile.

Cricketkit-A short-furred white and masked silver tabby she-cat with pale yellow eyes and a bite scar on her neck.

She/They;3 moons;Compassionate

aa (immune)

Cricketkit was abandoned at the start of the plague. Tawnystripe found her and took care of her as the remainder of the clans gathered in Peakclan. However, during the attack on the last fortress she was bitten. Sure the worse was about to happen, Icequill stepped forwards to do the sorrowful task of killing the young kit. Tawnystripe defended her brutally, however, wrestling Icequill to the ground until the she-cat and all the rest of the clan agreed to wait. How much damage could an infected kit do, anyways? It was a miracle and surprise when nothing happened and Cricketkit recovered from the bite. Tawnystripe tends lovingly to the kit, defending her from any attempts by Nettlebloom to use her for "experiments".

[clangenrising]

Month 7 - Leaffall

“They’ll love you,” Smokyrose soothed as she wound her tail with Ghost’s, leading him across the grasslands towards the RisingClan camp. 

“I know, I know,” Ghost sighed, leaning his head on top of hers. “I’m just… nervous.” 

“What for?” asked Smokyrose genuinely. 

“About the kits, I guess?” he shrugged. 

“Oh?” she licked his cheek curiously. She had told him just an hour or so ago and he had taken it well, if a bit surprised. She had rubbed herself all over him, vibrating joyfully, and he had laughed and held her close. She couldn’t have been happier. She had eventually convinced him to come meet her Clanmates, even though he seemed reluctant. She couldn’t help but wonder what his reasons were. 

 “I’m sure things will be fine,” she added, “Sagetooth is a skilled Healer, I’ll be in great paws, if that’s what you’re worried about.” She wondered if the city cats had their own healers or if they just had to hope they never got ill. 

“It’s not that,” he shook his head. “I’m… I’ve never been a father before.” Quickly, he amended, “I mean, I’m sure I’ve had kits, but it’s never been… a responsibility for me before. I’m not sure I’m cut out for it.” 

“I have faith,” she purred. “You’ll make a great dad.” 

“If you say so, Miss Smoke.” He chuckled a little and placed a few licks on her forehead, causing her purr to deepen in her chest. 

Soon, the camp was upon them. Smokyrose squeezed herself against his muscled shoulder in encouragement and they descended into the dip where she had always made her home. Ghost’s mouth was open wide to scent the well worn scents of the cats who lived there. Smokyrose looked around and saw that Pantherhaze and Songdust were sunning on the roof of the warriors’ den. 

Raising her tail she gave a tiny meow to get their attention. “Songdust! Pantherhaze! Look who I brought ‘round.” Songdust sat up, squinting in the sun, but immediately brightened at the sight of them. 

“Hey!” she purred, rolling to her paws. “If it isn’t your fancy new beau! Nice to meet you.” She dropped onto the grass to meet them, tail swishing gently. Ghost dipped his head in her direction. 

“You must be the famous Songdust,” he purred and Smokyrose nearly swooned at how suave he was. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Smokyrose lifted her head proudly, almost hoping that Songdust would be jealous now that she’d met him.

“Wow, you were right,” laughed Songdust, brows lifting. “He is quite the gentleman.”

“Isn’t he just?” Smokyrose hummed fondly. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” Pantherhaze said, padding up with wide amber eyes. 

“Pantherhaze,” Smokyrose said, “this is Ghost. Ghost, Pantherhaze.” 

Ghost dipped his head again. “The pleasure is mine.” 

“So, Ghost,” Songdust asked, shifting into a more comfortable stance, “are you coming to stay then?” 

Ghost chuckled reticently, “We’ll have to see, won’t we.” 

“Well, hey!” Goldenstar’s voice called from the other side of camp. “Who’s the handsome stranger?” 

Smokyrose looked over to the Stoneperch where the leader was emerging from her den and grinned. “Goldenstar! Come meet the father of my kits.” Turning to Ghost, she said, “This is Goldenstar, she’s the leader of the Clan.” 

As Goldenstar approached, he bowed his head deeply. “A pleasure to meet you, your excellence.”

Goldenstar laughed, eyes sparkling. “Wow, are all city cats as polite as you two?” she looked over her shoulder and frowned. 

“Pardon?” Ghost glanced at Smokyrose, confused. She tilted her head in kind, not having seen anyone behind the tortie even if she could infer who Goldenstar was looking for.

“Sorry,” Goldenstar said, face falling a bit. “I thought that…” She shook her head a bit and pulled her attention back to the cats in front of her and put a smile back on. “Not important. There’s no need for such formalities. We’re all friends here.” 

“I see,” hummed Ghost. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you regardless. My name is Ghost.” 

“Ghost,” she nodded. “Well, welcome to RisingClan, Ghost. You’re welcome to stay as long as you like, get to know the place.” 

“I’m trying to convince him to stay but he’s being stubborn about it,” Smokyrose purred, pressing against his side again. She smirked up at him and he smiled as his gaze dipped toward the ground. 

“Regrettably, I have obligations in the city, but I’m happy to stay for a bit.” 

“That’s too bad,” said Goldenstar. 

“Come along,” Smokyrose said, pushing his shoulder, “I want to introduce you to Oddstripe.” 

“Ah,” he chuckled, “excuse me, then.” 

Smokyrose purred and pushed him towards the Healer’s den. As they went, she whispered, “You’ll have to excuse Sagetooth, though. She’s a bit of a curmudgeon.”

“Good to know,” he whispered back and Smokyrose’s stomach fluttered. She felt like an apprentice again, full of energy and mischief and excitement. She even dared to hope that somehow she would be able to change Ghost’s mind and he would stay for good. We’ll have to see, won’t we? she thought to herself.

[wc-confessions]

"not everyone is from-" guiys im the tortie anon I'm not American I've never set foot in America and will never want to set foot in America

My entire family call it calico. People I've talked to call it calico. Random other British people online call it calico.

If anything reading "tortoiseshell with white" confused me more then the word "calico" because I was like "what?? I thought they didn't have white???"

‎

[loonarmuunar]

INCREDIBLY confused about moonpaw

Like she’s canonically a chimera, but it’s not entirely clear WHAT she’s made up of. The right side of her face is entirely ginger, but her body is referred to as “ginger tabby and black tortoiseshell fur” which. Is odd to me. It’s certainly not impossible for a tortie to have a mostly ginger face, but it’s usually more mottled. Do they mean her fur is supposed to be a MIX of a ginger and black cat, resembling a tortie? Or is she ginger and tortie? Tortie and black?

Idk, would love to hear others thoughts.

[sonicjustbecause]

Mostly cats with quills

Sonic's fur mattern would be tuxedo, something like that. Cats with dark gray fur are called 'blue'. In fact some breeds have names such as 'Russian Blue' and the original name of the British Shorthair was 'British Blue'

A solid blue cat

Shadow is definitely a calico. Calico cats often have a drop shaped spot on their forehead and in other parts of the body just like Shadow. There is some confusion between calico and torties. Reading about fur patterns, presence of white and more defined spots make the fur pattern 'calico' and not 'tortie' Shadow's colours are well defined.

Curiously, calico (aswell as tortie) fur pattern is almost exclusively feminine. Male calico are one in 3000 and they may either have Klinefelter's syndrome or they are chimeras (one red and one black cat fertilized egg cells fused togheter causing the birth of a single individual with double DNA. Chimerism is mostly harmless).

[fallenclan]

how do you color torbies? i'm making my own clangen blog soonish and one of my cats is a torbie, and i'm confused how to just put another color over existing lines

i made a little tutorial for you :D i'll put it below the cut so it doesn't get too long

so step one is just to draw out your cat, then fill it all in one solid color

then you can turn on Alpha Lock. most drawing programs, whether you're on your phone or your computer or whatever, will have this. it just locks it so you can only draw on the colors you've already placed down. sometimes it will just look like a cursive A. then you can draw on your second color

if your tortie is just solid colors, you're all set! if it's patterned, then on a separate layer (make sure it's not the base layer, can't tell you how many times i've made that mistake) go ahead and draw on whatever pattern your cat has. speckled, bengal, whatever. i went with a simple tabby. go ahead and pick the color that you'd use for the base--since i'm going with a dark reddish cat, i picked a deep burgundy (go a little up or down the color wheel, too, to keep your colors from being flat!)

then you can Alpha Lock this layer, too. grab the color you'd use to pattern the second base color (in this case, medium gray). turn down the opacity of the layer, just enough that you can see the colors underneath, and color in the silver bits! you can turn the opacity back up when you're done, or just skip that part altogether and eyeball it.

and you're done :) hope this helps, if it doesn't, feel free to send me another ask and request smth more specific!!i like when i can help ppl out

[mineashthetrash]

Star spoilers and art under cut!

I know, logically, the names wouldn't change their design. Mistslime is probably just as sleek and beautiful as Mistpool. But also when i read the book i couldn't help as see her in my minds eye as covered in algae and slime and looking fucking miserable so screw logic

Design notes: Mistpaw is a tortie; i don't really see any cats in WC as dilute torties, not even Tawnypelt, but i will make a damn exeption for Mistpool. Her name is fucking mist i refuse to make her orange. The eye colors were hard for me, because apparently Jayclaw has grey eyes now?? Why do we need two dark gray/black cats with gray eyes? Hes gonna look even more like Reedwhisker now :( But it works out for Mistcloud, so she got her dads eye color. As Mistslime, im making up reasons for her to be green, so i made a dumb headcanon that she has to clean the reedbeds and algae and weeds from the edge of camp. She's always wet and slimy.

Graysky is a silver tabby, but i dislike that, he is gray to me. Despite looking like his dad in my design, he actually has all of his moms details and designs, like the tufted ears and the tail that naturally kinks over his back. I think of it as Curlfeather wearing a Jayclaw costume, so he gets his moms yellow eyes! I tried to make him look swirly like a cloudy sky, to justify his name. I think of Sludge as being a dark greyish purple, so i gave Graysludge a purpleish colorscheme, and i justified this by putting him in purple. He stops grooming and gets really sad, so his furs fucked up, ruining the beautiful sleek cloud patterns and making him look wet.

Frostdawn's got a cool to warm thing going on, which ive seen others give her, but it wasn't until she got her full name that i began to see that on her personally. Her eyes start as a light aqua, but get dark blue shading and green/yellow highlights, making her eye color kinda obscured? because i dislike the confusion, why do her eyes look purple on Wind's cover. Her getting a scar right on top of her old one made desiging them a little hard, but i settled on: her scars from the vet are dashed, to represent the stitching, and the fresh one is just a large slash. As a kid i give her the same swirl as her mom, but this is after Star, so she's just got slightly messy hair. She's sorting Catmint from Marigold, while looking at her siblings talk.

[amber-tortoiseshell]

If you could introduce any pattern/color to cats from other domestic species (for example: black-and-tan, brindle, etc) which one would you choose? :) I really wanna see a black and tan cat, imagine a tortoiseshell and tan cat 😂

Oh yeah, i'm really curious how the tan allele would interact with cat colors. Like, would the tan part be striped? (Probably yes? Aaah)

But i have a few more ideas:

Harlequin aka japanese brindle from rabbits for maximum confusion 😆

This is an extension (mc1r) allele, so it's not sex-linked and could be mixed with tortoiseshell. Introducing this allele would make everything more difficult and wouldn't have any adventage whatsoever.

My sister suggested the wild type ferret pattern, you know, with the little mask, and yeah. That would be epic.

And lastly... merle.

This is literally just tortoiseshell on a different color scheme. I'm so predictable

(Ok now i'm imagining a merle tortie. New kind of tricolor)

What about you all?

[bonefall]

Genuine question, is the two-faced kitten phenomenon not related to chimerism?

Not always! Sometimes it is!

Like I explained, a chimera is a fusion of two fully fertilized zygotes in one body. The chimeras we're talking about are Natural Fusion Chimeras: the result of two fully fertilized zygotes which fused together in utero.

Though the "split face" is the most dramatic example of it, many chimeras are actually fused in patches all over the body. This can resemble a mosaic, which is where that other term "mosaicism" comes from!

But like I explained, it's important to understand that chimerism and mosaicism are actually two VERY different things under the hood, which can be confused for each other if you don't actually know what the terms mean.

(Chimera = Two full sets of zygotes. Mosaic = one zygote with extra info.)

This is a chimera dog, his name is Tiger!

Tiger's face is not split. He has black patches! This is one type of chimera!

Here is another example of a chimera, this time a cat with the split face in question. His name is Narnia.

Chimeras are a fusion of two sets of genes, and that expression doesn't have to "meet in the middle." It just happens to occur sometimes, because the majority of multi-cellular life on earth is bilaterally symmetrical.

That's fancy talk for most animals being mirrored on both sides. It's a pattern in nature. A cleft palette is most common in the middle of the lip, having two faces splits a skull down the middle, having a divided tail happens at the tip, etc.

There's evolutionary theories about it, but bottom line is that it's just an observable fact of the natural world. Animals are usually bilaterally symmetrical, so if it's going to NOT be symmetrical, it will happen split down the center.

So, torties can just have the split face and it's nothing peculiar.

Like this one! Probably not a chimera, just a cute tortie with a split face pattern! Tortoishells are known best for it because they're common and beautiful, but they can be any two colors.

Here's one who's gold, gray, and white. Also genetically a tortie but I'm actually not a cat genetics enthusiast, you'll have to ask someone else for that info

Here's the pattern in black and white.

So, in a nutshell, the canon design for Moonpaw is actually not uncommon in nature, nor is it a dead ringer for being a TRUE chimera. Not even with the heterochromia, though it does help.

It is your mission and moral imperative to make your Moonpaw design as BONKERS as possible. NO RULES. SMASH TWO CATS TOGETHER. GO NUTS!