#anyways have paws

[hattiestgal]

I may be burnt out right now, but that'll never stop me from being sooooo Normal

[wistfulwatcher]

[ruporas]

on the run!! (ID in alt)

[mistfallengw2]

How do charr hands function? Here's my headcanon (with drawings!)

So I made this poll earlier today and I ended up making some sketches to explain how I headcanon charr hands and their supposedly retractable yet too big claws. The idea is that both the game and the books are partially right: claws can be big (not as big as the models), and they're semi-retractable (so fully-fluffy paws). [Disclaimer: I am bad at anatomical drawings and did not try to make them super accurate :')]

Basically charr fingers are made of three phalanges, but functionally they're just two, with the 2nd and 3rd being much shorter and sort of "merging" with the claw itself, which is mostly supported by the 3rd and starts very close to the knuckle between them. The palm is covered almost entirely by a skin pad/paw pad, which usually extends to the first phalanx of each finger, and the fingertips are covered by pads as well.

The claws are semi-retractile, though the exact range of motion depends on the individual's genetics (claw size and shape + hand anatomy) and preferences (how much they trim the claw). The ability to retract their claws is managed by specialized extra tendons and muscles in the hand's structure, and they can lock the claw in place or move it, even while the fingers are bent, though with some limitation at the extremes of movement. While the claw at rest will stay at a "safe" angle, the claw's bed can shift on the cartilage structure when pulled, sliding back into a "sheathed" position or be pushed outwards. [note: I was too scared to go too far with the "x-ray" sketches and probably the claws could go a bit further back in the finger lol]

Ancestrally, this system kept the claws from always digging into the ground and losing sharpness when running on all fours, while still allowing for extra grip when necessary (similar to cheetahs) and the use when fighting or taking down prey. During the evolutionary transition in which charr started walking upright most of the time and using tools, it lost some of its ancestral necessity and functionality. However, instead of turning into something vestigial, charr evolved the ability of controlling each claw's movement independently from the rest of the finger, allowing for greater precision, fine motor skills and dexterity.

The pad grants grip and softer manipulation of items, while the claw handles movements finer and more precise than the pad allows, and other races find it complex, fascinating or a bit freaky. Some say that charr are as dexterous than humans, if not more, which is quite an accomplishment for creatures with such big hands.

That said, variety is huge among charr. Some have stubby paws with big, wide claws, while others have long, slender fingers with narrow claws.

Claws are still used as a natural weapon by many soldiers, but it's totally not uncommon for charr to file their claws down or keep them blunt, as there's a huge variety of reasons for not wanting sharp knives on one's fingers (job requirements, handling of delicate materials, safer interactions with cubs or creatures with softer skin, personal preference, etc), and some even keep their claws at different lengths for specific uses.

That said, claws can't be trimmed beyond the quick without bleeding or potential damage, and since it extends out of the sheath it's not possible for a charr to fully sheath their claws. Claws grow quite fast to make up for the daily wear and tear, so upkeep must be done regularly, as trimming too much might temporarily impact coordination. Declawing can happen during combat or following injury, and those affected might wear prosthetics/fake claws to make up for it.

[airoarts]

Leader and deputy

[Image description: a digital painting of Squirrelstar and Ivypool from Warriors. Squirrelstar is a small dark red cat with green eyes, standing in front of the much taller Ivypool, a gray tabby-and-white cat with blue eyes and many battle scars. The background is dark blue. end ID]

[airocats]

[what-an-art-blog-huh]

All cats are fueled by autism in their own unique way

[slutcore-starships]

you know, if santa was like cool hed tie me up and deliver me to someone for the holidays . like literally imagine getting up and im all bound under the tree and youve still got morning wood and we ••• ••••• ••••• •••• •••••• ••• ••••• •••••

[chasing-faith-and-fate]

Moon 29

Bonus

Moon 29 | Moon 30

[kineticallyanywhere]

Time & Space pages 1-2 ( This is the start || ao3 (not yet!) || next ) Starts less than 24 hours after the death of Willy Stampler. With the job done, there's finally time to sort some things out. They just need the right amount of space.

[acronym49]

Sunny Appreciation time

(rambling about my wof headcannons in tags below!)

[blade-that-was-broken]

[papayasector]

screw the leafs have auston’s side profile instead

[candycryptids]

"Louis, Off with her head. She bores me."

Carbs (Maltagliatti) uses [It/They] pronouns

Finally got around to Malta's DT rework, got it some new ears and with EB having an earflap toggle (bless u Ulli) it now also gets to have those nasty chompers I always invisioned it with.

At some point I'll get around to making Louis into a Carbuncle Shaped Carbuncle (Y'know, uh, smaller, cuter, but I want to keep that big ol horn LOL)

Shame you can't see it's tail in any of these... so here's a couple dressed-down front-n-backs. Lol. I need to fiddle with the C+ on the tail some more but it's comin along uvu

[nenoname]

Hi, you mentioned in a post that Stan quotes moby dick at some point and I wanted to know where?

I’m currently reading moby dick and I really wanna incorporate some of its narration into a fic about the Stan twins

stan says "from hell heck's heart i stab at thee" in swine before time! it was probably just a pop culture reference but now i don't think it's a far cry to assume that he read a bunch of books about the sea

but for more moby dick stuff, alex directly compared ford to ahab in terms of wanting to murder bill so the idea of ford also reading it and taking the completely wrong message from it is hilarious, mr "icarus should've flapped harder"

[catgirlkirigiri]

Iris my love... gotta have the girly secondary fursona. For gender time. Actually think she's being demoted to fursona number 3 but idk we'll see about the pecking order when refs are all done. She was waaay overdue for a redesign oh shit I just realized I didn't put a color palette on here. Oh well ig too late for that now I am not rearranging that bg