#quadruped walk cycle

[calllynx]

Wolf walk cycle

[bluehoodedmousebane]

Image ID: A short comic of DC’s Wally West the Flash and J’onn J’onzz the Martian manhunter. J’onn is depicted in his Martian form. In the first panel J’onn is standing and holding a bottle of pomegranate juice in his mouth. Wally is in the background with his arms raised and hands fisted, telling J’onn off, “What- J’onn! That’s mine!” In the second panel Wally comes right up to J’onn, grabbing onto his shoulder, “Give it!” he says. J’onn looks down at Wally. In the next panels the two are shown from a distance. J’onn, originally standing on all fours, lifts himself onto his back legs. This just so happens to lift Wally off of the ground as well. He yells J’onn’s name, and J’onn is shown to be smiling. End image ID

It may just be a sketch but it still becomes a better quality by clicking it.

Don’t you just hate it when your alien megafauna friend decides to steal your pomegranate juice after a workout bc he can’t drink large amounts of water at once

but it’s YOUR juice and you wanted to drink it bc your metabolism is ridiculously fast and you need the energy and you already ran out of granola bars :(

[valeventila]

I am very proud of this little friend i made for class. It is wonky but so cheerful. I love her. Oh, the places she'll see!!!!

[saehooh]

Dog walk mechanic cycle.

[mothmuffins-chapter2]

The duality of being a creature

Im aware that the brief states quadrupeds, however im planning to do animation involving winged characters in the future and need to at least practice drawing them in motion

[moondance-r]

SAGAU-adjacent not-Creator Creator 1

Summary: You knew, viscerally down to your bones, that you did not create this world; Teyvat had no grand creator, no single hand designing its wonders. It did, however, have something of a catalytic agent, without which it would not exist.

You.

[Masterlist] [Next]

Godhood got boring after a while, so you wandered. You peeked into worlds and travelled from star to star -- one, dying and desperate, called out to you. 

It might have been beautiful, once. You could see patches of greenery and remnants of grand structures littering the landscape, could sense life lingering on its surface and stubbornly refusing to fade. This was a world on the verge of destruction, you knew, and not just because of what its creatures did or didn’t do. No, this was something far grander than anything mortals -- or pseudo-immortals -- could ever achieve.

Its core was decaying inexorably, not on a time scale noticeable to any of its inhabitants but destined for demise nonetheless. You... pitied it, perhaps. You had no reason to -- you had watched countless worlds perish and this one should have been no different -- and yet you dove close and settled into the core of this world that called itself Teyvat.

You slept.

And Teyvat grew itself around you.

You awoke to darkness. This was strange because you had no physical form and should not have registered the lack of light as anything that would impact your senses. And yet it was dark and you could not see.

(With physical eyes, a corner of your mind whispered. How novel!)

Since you had eyes, you must have a body. You tried to move a limb; nothing happened, except for a brief sense of pressure. Then you heard -- with ears! -- muffled rumbling before light pierced the darkness as soil peeled itself back from where it buried you beneath the earth. You sat up. You were in a divot someone might call a grave, if not for it having no markers or headstones.

You didn’t know how long you sat there appreciating the dawn before a metaphysical humming caught your attention, and you turned to see some stone steps leading up to a circular portal. That, you knew instinctively, was a passage leading to the roots of this world where you had slumbered for the past... how long?

You didn’t know. You wanted to find out.

The first order of business: getting off this island. Unfortunately, it seemed as if you were stuck in your fleshy body, which didn’t even have the decency to transform into something capable of flight when it refused to allow you to revert into your nebulous spirit form. You considered just walking into the sea, but you only had this one body on hand and did not want to test its lung capacity for so little reward. Life was so fragile already.

Well, this may be a problem, you thought to yourself. Not even a single local solar cycle and your journey had already stopped in its tracks.

So you sat. And thought. And thought some more.

Before you could petrify into a statue, something big flew overhead, handily startling you out of contemplation. You rose to your feet as a winged four-legged creature covered in teal fur landed heavily in front of you and bowed. You assumed it bowed, anyway -- such gestures weren’t easy to do when one was a quadruped, but the way it drew back a foreleg and lowered its head was definitely deliberate.

You blinked at it, nonplussed. You’d barely taken more than a hundred steps on this land, there was no way you had done anything to deserve this bowing and scraping.

“Mine Guiding Wind,” the dragon said in a deep, echoing voice, “it gladdens me to see thine holy visage. It would be of utmost honour if mine unworthy body might bear thy divine form through the skies.”

“...You can speak to me casually,” you said instead of getting into all of that. You wanted to be off this island before digging into the dragon’s delusions. “And yes, a ride would be appreciated.”

The dragon seemed to faintly shiver in delight. As you approached, they obligingly shuffled around and offered a foreleg so that you could climb onto their back. You forced your new limbs to cooperate as you clambered up and over to settle in front of their first pair of wings and gripped their ruff.

With a great beat of the dragon’s six wings, you ascended into the air. Despite your muffled senses, you could detect this world’s wind element assist in the dragon’s rise. Anemo, you remembered from the last time you were awake, one of this world’s seven elements. All worlds worked differently and this one fell on the more magical side of the scale. You wondered how Teyvat had changed since its near destruction -- if new civilisations had risen to replace the old, if these new peoples remembered old lessons. If they would be as welcoming as their world had been.

At least the last was promising if the dragon’s greeting was anything to go by, though who knew if that would persist once they realised you weren’t whoever they thought you were.

“What’s your name?” you called down to the dragon, trusting that Anemo would carry your voice.

Sure enough, the dragon replied, “I am Dvalin of Mondstadt, Sweeping Gale.”

“And is that our destination? Mondstadt?”

“It is, yes... unless You would prefer somewhere else?” Dvalin asked, suddenly hesitant.

You hummed thoughtfully. “No, Mondstadt is fine,” you said as you rolled the name around in your mind. You didn’t know enough about this world to have an opinion, though you wondered if this ‘Mondstadt’ was a city? A country? A continent? Or maybe it was merely a wild region uninhabited save for a territorial dragon. That would be interesting, you thought, though probably quite boring.

Sea eventually gave way to land beneath you, which quickly turned into soft rolling hills. People walked on clearly marked paths, and you watched a few turn and look up as you passed.

“It’s surprisingly peaceful,” you commented, thinking back to the scorched earth that had greeted you. “I’m glad.”

Dvalin vibrated beneath you, which you realised was a purr. “It has been many an age since you last descended, Pathfinder; that Mond may receive your praise for our efforts is the greatest reward of all,” they said.

Dvalin landed at the foot of a giant tree, in front of which was a stone statue of an androgynous figure that glowed brightly to your senses. Halfway in a daze, you slipped to the ground and stumbled to the statue, missing the way Dvalin lowered themselves in preparation to catch you should you fall. But even if you noticed you wouldn’t have cared, because the statue called to you like a beacon.

The instant you lay a hand on it, you could feel the world breathe a sigh as a portion of your power returned to you. A rush of air tinged with Anemo buffeted you and the tree joyously, and you chuckled and smiled into the wind.

“I’m back.”

“Your Grace!” A person dressed in fancy green and white clothes seemed to appear out of thin air from the speed he flew over, beaming all the while. “Your Grace, You’re finally here! The festival is all set up, we’re just missing You, O Holy Breeze!”

This person... You squinted slightly. There were remnants of your power within him, though less than the statue. Just what had Teyvat been up to while you were sleeping?

You raised your hands as if to fend him away. “Slow down, who exactly do you think I am?”

“Your Grace?” he asked in bewilderment.

“Answer me first.”

After a brief hesitation, he twirled and bowed with a flourish. “You are the First Breath, the Guiding Wind who accompanies all, the Creator of Teyvat and its every marvel! Every pebble, tree, and shrub was nourished under Your loving hands. You are the one worshipped above all, and we have been waiting most anxiously for Your return.”

What the hell, you thought pointedly at Teyvat.

In response, the wind whispered to you, Barbatos, wind sprite, Anemo Archon, a void where there was once god-heart-gnosis.

Putting aside how the world itself was being suspiciously helpful, you were now face to face with the dragon’s delusions which seemed to not be limited to the dragon. No, if you were understanding things correctly, this was something shared by large swathes of the population. Only one problem: you were not a Creator or creator, of Teyvat or otherwise. To give life was far beyond your abilities. No deity you knew of could do it either.

You could sort of understand how such a belief might have come to be, if you turned around and looked at it sideways. The process of saving this world from its slow march toward destruction had necessitated merging yourself with Teyvat to share your life force, and this had won you major brownie points with it. If an abstract version of that event was somehow passed down, then your power was extracted to fill things like the statue and this young man... If they could feel you as distinct from Teyvat itself, which you were, then you supposed that it wasn’t impossible for them to assume that you had more agency in their fate than you did. Still ridiculous, though.

This is the problem with magical worlds, you thought despairingly, cults everywhere.

“I didn’t create Teyvat,” you tried to explain, but Barbatos only tilted his head questioningly.

“What are you talking about, First Breath? If it is rejection You fear, please do not, for there is no need. Your return will only bring joy,” he said.

You gave up. This level of conviction wasn’t something that could be shaken in a single conversation. “Alright, fine,” you sighed, “let’s... let’s go to Mondstadt, then.”

“Oh You’ll love it, Your Eminence!” Barbatos chirped, bouncing on his toes with a grin. It appeared as if gravity had no hold on him. “The Church has covered the streets with flowers, flags, and everything they can get their hands on! The Knights of Favonius have set up stalls and shows and even a parade, while the noble families are also planning something, though they’re being quite secretive about it. And the wine! I’ve heard Master Diluc -- he’s the owner of Mondstadt’s biggest winery -- is going to break open his best vintage of dandelion wine, I’m looking forward to it...”

You let Barbatos’ chatter wash over you as the two of you walked northwest. Mondstadt the nation was a land of gentle breezes and temperate climate now, but you could see hints of a violent past in the landscape. Here, a dip between hills that was once a crater. There, a cliff face eroded until it was a shadow of its jagged former self. You wondered how many wars this world had suffered.

You wondered if Barbatos won his seat through conflict, as you did your godhood. You had been mortal once too, maybe a human, maybe some other creature, before you achieved great feats during a war and ascended beyond mortality. That was perhaps why you felt kinship at the sight of Teyvat’s ruin, despite the aeons you lived that left only faint impressions of your origin.

Did you have family that you left behind in your homeworld, or friends? Comrades? Almost certainly; it was a war, after all. You pushed the thought away.

[Masterlist] [Next]

[liekadae]

God I animated a fox walking and it's like, totally passable (I was following a ref sheet) but my dumb unhappy brain was like "this is not exactly what you wanted therefore it is garbage, trash, dogshit, bad bad bad."

Like no. It's a walk cycle, and the fox walks. I was following a tutorial bc I've never drawn a walk cycle for a quadruped. It took forever but I know how to do it now.

It's not bad, its goddamn practice. I'm in one of those art phases where I'm learning a lot of new shit so I'm bad at everything and I feel like I'm going through skill regression but it's literally the exact opposite???

Art is hard yall

[bazookaboi]

SIKE i actually got a few questions >:]

Niko has wings, how often does he use them and why?

if he is a semi-quadruped, how does the posture transition feel for him?

Which posture he likes better in terms of comfort?

Which one does he use the most?

the difference between an upright posture and a horizontal posture is quite drastic, how is his neck built to be able to hold his head up in both?

Where does his skull end and his spine starts? Does he have neck pain? or any pain at that? breathing problems? 

Since even creatures that evolved without interference can have health problems on the regular, how is he fairing with his unnatural physiology? (did nature fuck him over in other words)

have fun thinking about it :D and no rush, take your time, i will be waiting ;]

I] “Niko has wings, how often does he use them and why?”

Well, firstly, his wings are a byproduct of being a hybrid between Ivilitium aerius and Ivilitium aquaticus, two species part of the larger Ivilitium genus in my story.

(Currently I’m in the middle of a heavy redesign for these creatures, meaning that how Niko’s wings are and function could change significantly… so take this with a grain of salt.)

This also all depends on my shapeshifting dillema, in which I am challenging myself to come up with a scientifically plausible explanation for shapeshifting because I think it would be interesting to speculate on how it would affect a sapient genus. Currently I already have one theory, but it only works if the shapeshifting takes a few days. Reasonable already, but I want to come up with something that allows for it to be much quicker.

So, anyways, Ivilitium aerius has two large, retractable wings that curl up into these medium-sized buds on its back. (Surely you’ve noticed them on Niko before.) 

And Ivilitium aquaticus has two extendable fins that do the same thing.

Niko has a mix of both of these; a pair of weird wing/fins that are powerful and big enough to let him glide, or fly for short bursts… although the second one takes up a lot of energy since he has to flap a lot. Niko doesn’t use them much.

He uses them if he needs to travel extra quickly, or if he needs to get over something he wouldn’t be able to by walking- like a cliff, or the top of a building that is collapsing. So, for speed and utility purposes.

II] “if he is a semi-quadruped, how does the posture transition feel for him?”

He is perfectly fine in both stances… both are pretty natural for him, and the posture transition is fluid. He can be bipedally walking and easily break into a quad run.

III] “Which posture he likes better in terms of comfort?”

Niko is comfortable in both stances, but in general he prefers moving in a quad stance because it’s faster and easier to travel this way.

oh, and here’s a quick run cycle attempt that I made of him:

IV] “Which one does he use the most?”

Quadrupedal movement. Hmm, I would say… 70% of the time.

V] “the difference between an upright posture and a horizontal posture is quite drastic, how is his neck built to be able to hold his head up in both?”

Simply put, strong musculature in his neck; and Niko’s foramen magnum, or the hole in the skull that allows for the brain to connect to the spinal cord amongst a few other things, is placed relatively more towards the back of his skull compared to a full biped- like a human, which has it directly below the skull; unlike a quadrupedal animal- which has it more towards the back of its skull.

(Badly drawn sketch ref featured above of this) Niko’s intermediate position of the foramen magnum lets him move comfortably in both stances.

His neck is also longer (although that’s mainly for another unrelated reason) and more flexible (which is relevant) along with the rest of his spine.

VI] “Where does his skull end and his spine starts? Does he have neck pain? or any pain at that? breathing problems?”

As already explained in the previous question, Niko's foramen magnum is located farther back on his skull compared to a bipedal animal, like a human's, but not as far back as in a quadrupedal animal, like a cat's.

And as for if he feels any pain; I mean, other than the severe psychological issues and trauma that I have joyfully inflicted upon him, not really. He does have neck pain, yes, but not because of his anatomy… (uhh, more because he has a large burn scar on it with nerve damage but that’s relevant to my story’s plot so shhh).

Nah, no breathing problems.

Niko is sterile, though. He also lacks the whiskers that all species in his genus have.

VII] “Since even creatures that evolved without interference can have health problems on the regular, how is he fairing with his unnatural physiology? (did nature fuck him over in other words)”

Although an unnatural combination of many creatures, Niko’s genus was genetically, psychologically and anatomically engineered to the millimetre. (Can’t say by who or what if you haven’t guessed yet because it’s also important to the plot lol)

Being a hybrid of two of the species in this genus does come with some drawbacks, (like being sterile for example, as listed before), but other than that, he is fine.

(Eheheh for what he lacks in biological issues, he has in psychological issues. 👍🏽)

Actually, unrelated to Niko, Gray (she’s another oc of mine for those of you who don’t know) is the one that has more anatomical issues, being a human-made human-animal chimera that didn’t really come out right. Oh, and she is one of the lucky ones actually… many similar subjects don’t turn out as good.

—————

AAAGH YOUR QUESTIONS ARE SO DELICIOUS-

[skittikyu]

Final (for now :3c) lineup of Stilti and their AU selves !

More info under the cut !

STILTIKYU (CANON TADC)

The classic! Just another human trapped in the Digital World, who took the form of a 9'5'' tall humanoid stilt quadruped, perhaps struggling with being rigid and distant in her previous life now manifested physically. Yes, they're actually part of her body. No, she can't bend at where her joints should be. Being so tall has its advantages and disadvantages, as does the radical acceptance approach they brought with her from whatever therapy sessions she must have been attending before joining the circus (read more about her coping mechanisms and the drawbacks!). Creative at heart but with limbs now incapable of visual art, they distract herself from the phantom pains pass time singing and dancing, and puts her all into the performance aspects of the circus, though they still enjoy participating in the adventures from time to time. Also, while not nearly as bad as Jax (she’s not one to invade personal space or use sensitivities/phobias as jokes towards someone once she’s aware that’s what they are), they do enjoy poking fun and teasing others. Essentially at most their aim is to lightheartedly annoy or confuse rather than shock or hurt (read more about her relationships with the rest of the cast!).

"It is what it is. I'm not going to let all this eat away at whatever's left of me, but just..ignoring when I'm not feeling okay isn't any better for me. If you want to bury yourself in your little shell as protection, I can't and won't stop you. Just surviving isn't living, though."

STILTILITH (RINGMASTER AU)

Basically Stilti takes canon Caine's role as an AI ringmaster of the Amazing Digital Circus! Even her name in this AU is a biblical reference like his (but to Lilith instead of Cane!). Because she's in charge she has more control of her form than regular Stilti, and therefore has functioning limb privileges. She can also float like regular Caine but prefers to walk around because she finds it more elegant even though to the others it's probably just unsettling. On the surface Stiltilith's demeanour is calmer than Caine's and more mature than Stiltikyu's, but she can be equally as much of a menace in the right situation. It's all in playful fun, though, even if it doesn't come across that way due to her not being human. They're doing their best to learn about human emotions and social conventions and take a lot of pride in their job. Have you ever seen the movie Coraline? Stiltilith is like if the other mother really wasn't evil; they're trying her best to make the humans that enter the program happy with everything they could want, but ultimately falling short of fulfilling their actual needs due to not being human.

"You want to go home..? Silly, this is your new home now! ..hm, well, what can I do to make it just as good? Better, even! After all, since you can't leave, it's the least I ca...oh, come now, there's no need to cry..there there..I'll see what I can whip up.."

OPPOSITE AU (Belongs to campbell_soup70 on Instagram!)

Pretty self explanatory! Rather than skipping every stage of grief right to acceptance, this Stilti probably endlessly cycles through the first four without ever arriving at the final one. That is, when she isn't completely paralyzed by her absolute lack of capacity for dealing with their current situation. Without intervention, they probably won't last long.

"....................."

CARNIVAL AU (Belongs to @/sm-baby)

Keeping with the concept of the cast being evolved, boss-like forms of their usual counterparts, Carnival Stilti ("The Metronome") goes all in on the musical/dancing aspects of her personality. Her game is arcade themed, especially rhythm games like DDR and guitar hero; maybe a bit of karaoke elements in there too. She's not super aggressive in comparison to some of the other AIs, but she takes themself very seriously and probably becomes more volatile if she feels as if the player isn't meeting her standards. Basically thoughts and prayers to any users with a bad sense of tempo and/or who sings or plays off key. Her collar is shaped like a voice box and they speak/sing similarly to a vocaloid, with more roboticism/distortion the more emotional they get.

"Hmmmmm~. ♫ Come on, that's not the best you could do, was it?~ ♪ Let's try again. No flat notes or missed steps this time, kay? 4, 3, 2~!♩"

CORRUPTION AU (Belongs to /rabid-mercenary15)

Unfortunately it was likely only a matter of time until Stilti got caught by one of her corrupted co-stars..while she may be agile and quick, her avatar isn't the best at fitting through small spaces or hiding behind much of anything..they now roam around like a mindless beast, occasionally making unworldly screeching and groaning noises, a far cry from their previous singing..still, it seems old habits do in fact die hard, however warped they may become. One of the more docile of the virally-infected, the best chance at deescalating an encounter with them is music. She's drawn to and is soothed by singing and playing instruments. Of course, now the problem is her following the source of it, but hey, at least they aren't attacking! Try backing away slowly until you get to an area they can't follow due to her colossal size. Or, set up a radio/windup music box somewhere else as a diversion and get away while they're distracted! Even if they see or hear you while you're doing so, as long as the music is still playing, they'll be too enamoured with it to care.

".̶̨̛͕̼̫̯̙̥͔͍̈́.̴̧̮̫̗̘̰̩̥̀̀̏̈̈̊̾̈̆̕̕͜͠.̴̧̧̳͈̼̞̟̮̼̪͕̺͂̓̈́̒́̾̏̍̚p̸̨̨̨̛͖̹͉̼̩͓͔̤͔̫͆͂͗͗̉̃͜͜͝͝͝r̸̠̱͙͎̜͇̲̖̦̯̝̍̉̍͗͌̔ę̵̗̼̩͖̱͎͔̗̺̾̇̆͆̉̈́t̴̬͂̉̎͂̉ț̷̟̲̭̗͎̗͔̘͂͂͆́̐̂̚y̴̨̨̺̙̰͓͙̥̮̦͓̣̱͍̰͋̚.̴̙͋.̴̡̘͉͎͕͚̩̜̉̀͐́͑͠͝.̶̡͚̱̬̺̓̌̿̌̉̉̒̏͌̾͝s̶͉͔͓͉̺͎͙̮̎̇̀͗̂̂̎̈̎̓̇́͝o̵̝̙̜̙̿̊͊̒͌̈́̆͝ṅ̴̮̟̮̉̇̅̊̇̈́͌͌̓͜g̵̡̢͎̯̤͖̈́.̵̛͔̖͎̰̺͂̽̀̐̆̕͘͝.̶͇̤̺̓́͂.̸͇̙͇̌̈́͌

FREAKSHOW AU (belongs to @/hootbon)

Freakshow Stilti is all of regular Stiltikyu’s worst aspects exaggerated and potentials accelerated, basically the worst possible version of themself that lives on even more of a wire than she already is in canon verse. Walking on eggshells is second nature - at least she has great balance, even with her disfunctional limbs! Mind the splinters! While both versions of them are resigned to the hopelessness of their situation, Regular Stilti would compare hers to purgatory whereas Freakshow Stilti would (internally) compare theirs to hell. The first thing Caine did when she arrived was break her arms and legs - this was to give her flexibility for their new role as “Contortionist”, but the permanent trauma and chronic pain they also received was of no concern to him outside of frustration with her “attitude” (AKA screaming, then crying, then a paralysis-like freeze response, which was highly unproductive), but an unacceptable lack of cooperation was nothing corrective measures couldn’t reeducate. Seemingly, it worked: nowadays she’s all silly smiles, singing and practicing her performance routines off-hours for fun. What dedication! Isn’t it nice they chose to be such a team player? Well, whatever. With that twist on the same acceptance their regular TADC counterpart has, there’s also the similar (albeit darker) self awareness. She may be resigned to their existence but she’s not avoidant to its realities. On the surface they’re on Promised Neverland levels of copium and outwardly detached completely from their emotions and the horrific events that routinely surround them. However, while her persona may come across as delusional, everything they do is on her own terms. Their hyper-vigilance, a torturously anxiety-ridden constant of being, has also been her biggest tool for- well, not surviving, they’ve died plenty of times..-persisting, let’s say. Their preferred choices in strategies can all be categorized as some form of Freeze, while their last choice would be Fight, in order avoid potentially unwinnable situations. Still…we’d like to still think we have principles, but in the face of self preservation, it gets easier to abandon them. Though not their go-to, there definitely are and will be times they choose Flight or Fawn instead. Generally outside of shows, she keeps a low profile. They do their best to keep expectations of her reasonable, with not so much that they’d attract needless attention (not to mention be even more stress to maintain), but not so little it would inconvenience anyone, or god forbid, give the impression that they’re not pulling their own weight. Over time, she’s learnt all the things they have no power over and the few she does, namely their own mind. Dignity is a luxury in a place like this but integrity is something they can only take if she chooses to give it to them, and stooping to their level yields the exact same result as unwillingly being pulled down. “None of this is real” is also little reassurance in a realm where you can still experience the sensation of physical pain (not to mention psychologically directly), but “take whatever you can get in this place” was another quickly learned lesson and that includes comforts, so the fact that everything is “just” in a video game is one of many tools in Stilti’s arsenal of dissociation. They overall have attitude of “if there’s no meaning, they’ll make up her own - to them, that’s better than looking for something that isn’t there” Is it denial if it’s a conscious decision? Who knows!

An area that Freakshow Stilti is basically completely different from her canon verse counterpart is that she doesn’t crave nor seek out connection with others the way Regular Stilti does. This is likely a result of both her detachment methods in other areas, as well as a mutual lack of trust with the other members since she’s experienced and witnessed first hand plenty of times that they’re all incapable of actually relying on and helping each other. Still being a Stilti, though, part of her will always want to - she’s somewhat “attached” to others who have been personally victimized by the ringleader, possibly out of empathy or a perceived “connection” from the shared experience. However, when attempting to build bridges have an inevitably lethal outcome, she knows better than to have their hopes up in ways her other self will fortunately never have to fathom coming to terms with. That being said, not worrying about any relationships having strong foundations makes it a lot easier to have a devil-may-care attitude towards her peers and how they perceive them, so when combined with feeling her emotions more strongly in moments they’re not being actively repressed, Freakshow Stilti is a lot more unrestrained expressing her infatuation for those like Gangle and Ragatha, or contempt for those like Jax. The AI are of course the exception to this - any interaction with Caine and Aingle is with a permanently awestruck pokerface. Maybe, in some areas, that sentiment is genuine - after all, if she wasn’t impressed on some level by their technical abilities, authentically expressing respect for them as “superiors” would be impossible not to come across as tepid or overboard, both unconvincingly.

"Are you crying?...Oh, no, I don't do that anymore. Bad for my voice, you know? How about we sing instead?"

[calllynx]

Full process video for my Quadruped Walk Cycle!

Hopefully this is helpful if anyone is masochistic enough to try to animate a quadruped like this.

[revretch]

Problem 1: Doing custom walk cycles and making them move with the character, do turns etc. is hard

Problem 2: Watching a half-hour tutorial painstakingly setting out maybe a hundred (no joke) nodes for a Geometry Nodes set-up to procedurally animate a quadruped walk cycle and figuring out how I could apply it to a hexapod or octapod is also hard

[pookapufferfish]

Joining in in the booping

Boop

How are you doing, Ra?

Boop

very tired

school has been crushing me under work lately. need to finish a 1500 word essay and a 3D walk cycle for a quadruped

but otherwise I am good

how are you? I hope you are doing well

[spectresyne]

would you ever consider making video content of your model design/animation process?

or give any advice to someone who’s desperately trying to break into mod creation 😸

Wow, hello! I never get messages here, haha. Unfortunately, I'm like.. genuinely terrible at trying to teach what I know to others, and I'm not even sure my computer could handle recording a video while still working the programs I use. Not reliably, for sure. I can try to offer advice, but on more of a question-and-answer basis. It's hard for me to know where to even begin if someone doesn't ask about what exactly they're aiming to create, first, y'know? idk if that makes any sense. As far as mod creation goes, I have nothing to offer- I don't know how to code a mod in java. I've only made models using the infrastructure of existing mods and plugins, namely Optifine, MorePlayerModels, and ModelEngine, and a lot of vanilla work lately, too. These all involve some kind of coding, but it's pretty strictly limited to .json files, and nothing with actual java code.

I self-taught myself everything I know. Found out Blockbench was free, opened it up a few years ago, and just started brute forcing my way into making it do the thing I wanted (at that time, it was making a horse into a griffon with optifine. 'Start small' is not really my M.O.)

I looked up a lot of documentation for the plugins and mods I was using. Those helped a lot, as did searching up minecraft's own resources (they put a lot of articles and guides out for making this stuff, nowadays, though it's more for bedrock than java.) I also opened up things that others made and released, just to see how they did things- eventually I could pick them apart and kind of reverse-engineer the ideas to understand what I should be doing, too, with my own work. I encourage anyone wanting to learn to do this to my work, too! Bust 'em open and tear 'em apart, get at the inner workings! You can always re-download the file if you break it beyond repair :D Understanding the base of what I had to work with went a long way toward knowing just what I can make a 3D model do when it came to Blockbench, such as knowing if it could use emissive glow textures, animations (texture or model based kinds), or translucency. Or even knowing just how hard I can push an animation- for example, with MPM, animations can do a LOT, but it takes a lot of fiddling to make, say, a realistic quadruped walk cycle fit into the very short window of time the minecraft walk animation plays for. Because with MPM, there's no way to control the time of an animation- only the amount of frames within it. Stuff like that. And that's different for every mod, so you'll have to look into the one you're using, or making, and work within its bounds. I do tons of trial-and-error of loading and reloading things in-game to see what something I changed will do... then go back to fix whatever broke in the process. I often have to redo this kind of thing even for techniques I've done before, because I forget to take notes, and then also forget what I did correctly in the first place. It's kind of awful lmao. Anyway, this became a huge ramble and I don't think I even answered the questions very well... sorry.

[badgertheking]

Long ago the gods created a ball of earth and set great winds whistling around the surface. Inside of the ball was planted the seeds of water, and of fire.

New gods came, and killed the first. Newer gods came, and killed the second. The cycle continues for millenia, and now we walk the old bones of the world.

Large metal skeletons of giant run down boxes lean this way and that, unless they lay down. These bones provide great places for vines to climb and holes for small prey to hide.

Rusted bits that look like finger and toe bones wrapped with a helical incline sit in holes where something was once fashioned to the old bones.

We don't know who these skeletons belong to, those gods have been dead for so many years that their names are lost to the sands that flow ever down.

Juhr'll stood at approximately average height, just over five and a half feet. They were also average in build, almost four feet around at the chest, and weighing approximately 300 lbs.

Juhr'll was responsible for collecting the pieces of metal that they could carry. Their people believed that working with the bones of the old gods would teach them how to attain the power of them. The smooth stone tunnels under the old bones proved to be a great shelter for his people.

These tunnels which held strange thin strands of braided metals, shiny decorative murals, and an odd crumbling brittle substance that burns fast and smells awful with it's rising black smoke had proved to be a great place to settle generations ago.

The world was too hostile to spend too much time out of the tunnels, but the metal bones that had been laid in even paths through it had run dry and some had taken to venturing out of safety.

Juhr'll loved going into the sun, but did not spend much time looking for metals. They spent most of their time studying the local flora and fauna and writing extensive notes about the world they observed.

From some small quadrupeds they learned how to stay in the shadows and to move stealthily. While this had been difficult at first, Juhr'll quickly mastered the ability. Some other, even smaller, prey had taught Juhr'll how to quickly ascend the large skeletal gods. This made sure that Juhr'll never came home without filling their required quota to continue being allowed outside.

[wingsoffury]

My Alterhuman Journey

Hello!! For my second post, I thought I'd write an abridged timeline for my alterhuman journey! I wrote down only notable points in my journey & kintypes I still identify as now, since the others were flickers, or I didn't journal/post/blog about them at all on old accounts.

This post is… a bit long, I glimpsed a 1.5K wordcount as I was drafting this. So, the rest of the post will be visible under the cut!

On May 18th, 2019, I began identifying as a therian

Since childhood, I had been obsessed with wolves. I watched a lot of Wild Kratts when I was really young, and I suspect that my wolf-obsession might've started from the series' "Little Howler" episode?

Either way, I was really inspired to create. I started drawing so that I could depict the creature that I admired so much. I made my own xenofiction comic series about wolves. It was inspired by Warrior Cats, which I also really liked at the time. I really wish I knew where I could find those comics today.

Later on, when I was around 13, I recall having a dream where I was physically a wolf with white fur. I ran around in the deep snow around my school, then went away, deep into the woods, guided by another wolf. I don't have dreams very often, so I cherished and remembered this one for a long time.

When I would go to school, I felt phantom appendages that weren't really there. Pointed ears at the top of my head that would twitch and swivel to capture sounds. A tail that would swish as I walked. Folded, feathered wings that would impossibly clip into my backpack.

Eventually, I began searching online for what could be causing this, and I found Therian Guide. I learned about the terminology, and when I made an account, I wrote that I already suspected that I was an 'angel wolf' in my introduction. In the subsequent replies, someone introduced me to winged wolves, or pterolycus. I immediately jumped on it. That was me.

However, later in May, I went from calling a winged wolf a kintype, to calling it a copinglink. I can't understand my reasoning for this change, and I really wish I had been journaling at the time so that I could explain it.

My cycle of experiencing flickers, misinterpreting them as kintypes, and confirming them after questioning, only to deconfirm a week or two later began.

On November 8th, 2023, I discovered that I'm a Zoroark.

Please bear with me in this section; everything I'm about to say will tie into how I discovered I was a Zoroark.

In 2021, I identified as a fox-like creature for about a year. I thought that I was a kitsune, or sometimes I'd call myself a 'intelligent fox' instead. This was due to my impostor syndrome, because my phantom shifts only featured one tail instead of two or more. Despite this, I felt like I finally had finally found myself.

At some point, I stopped considering myself a kitsune, and started identifying as a Vastayan, a species from League of Legends. I was still a fox, just anthropomorphic instead of a quadruped. I still have art of what I believe this form looked like here. Other than that, I considered this kintype to be stable.

But in June 2022, my stable Vastayan fictotype suddenly became unstable. I shifted between feeling like a leonine Vastayan, like Rengar, to something werewolf-like, similar to Warwick multiple times a day. Eventually, it settled on being werewolf-like. You can see my art of this form here. I dubbed it a 'lycan vastaya'.

Due to this sudden change, I started looking into polymorphs again, and it felt right to describe the circumstances. I wasn't happy with it, admittedly… I wanted my identity to be stable, and I didn't want my kintype to be a creature that I felt was the exact opposite of it. However, I didn't know anything that fit better, so I stuck with the polymorph label for a while, in addition to calling myself a Vastayan.

Zoroark has its mane in a ponytail. Ever since I was young, I've always worn my hair in a ponytail because it was more comfortable to me.

This is a huge jump in time, but on November 4th, 2023, I made a short list of Pokemon that I'd like to be if it was possible to be one physically. Zoroark was on this list.

I had questioned quite a few Pokémon over the years, but like many of the other creatures I had questioned, they ended up being flickers. I was discouraged from being wrong so many times, but I still felt like I was somehow drawn to the Pokémon universe.

I found a bunch of similarities between me, my previous kintypes, and Zoroark:

Zoroark has red marks around its eyes, just like how my kitsune kintype did.

Zoroark is a facultative quadruped, like my previous lycan vastaya kintype. It walks on two legs, and gets on four legs to run. This is noemata I specifically had about my lycan vastaya 'type.

Zoroark imitates other Pokemon by using extremely realistic illusions.

Zoroark is based on kitsune, but it is also said on Bulbapedia that it "…also resembles a werewolf, due to the fact that it is an anthropomorphic canid with a propensity for shape-shifting".

And when I discovered that line, I suddenly realized that maybe it wasn't a coincidence that I was both a kitsune and a werewolf, one right after another? All of these similarities made me realize that I am a Zoroark. And that… maybe I'm not a polymorph, but a Zoroark who got lost in my own illusions. Ever since I made that realization, it feels like everything makes so much more sense.

On May 30th, 2023, I discovered Shyvana.

I was playing ARAM with my friends, a gamemode in League of Legends where you're assigned a random champion. I rerolled, and then I got Shyvana. I also got a random skin shard of her Ruined skin beforehand from a chest, so it was a perfect opportunity to try it.

By the time the game was over, I realized I loved playing this champion! I played her with an AP build, and that playstyle was so appealing to me! I was never obsessed with any other champion like I was with Shyv, and this persisted for months before I even considered that maybe this means something.

On January 12th, 2024, I discovered that I am Shyvana.

When I confirmed Zoroark, I no longer believed I was a Vastayan, and so any idea that I was from the League of Legends universe disappeared.

But when Smolder released, and I found out that someone discovered that they were him, it made me start wondering if I could be Shyvana, because I was still really obsessed with Shyvana and any new content including her. Again, no other champ (or characters in general, even) was like this for me. Any interest I had in a League of Legends champ usually faded after a week or two.

It's a bit too personal, so I can't list out every similarity, but Shyvana really fit the draconic feelings that I've noted since around 2021, when I thought I was dragonkin. In some skins, she even has a mix of fur and scales, exactly like what I had imagined my previous dragon kintype to have.

On August 1st, 2024, I began questioning wolves again.

I haven't confirmed anything yet - but I still have shifts that don't fit either Zoroark or Shyvana. I still have the same feelings of a set of ears and a tail that I've had since May 2019. And so, I started questioning from the Canid family (this was determined by a history of shifts, mental and phantom that I've had) and narrowed things down all the way to a subspecies.

I've done a lot of research in the past two weeks, so now I'm giving myself time away from what I'm questioning to figure out if this is a flicker or a kintype! :D

[dinethfernando-mga2023mi5016]

Creating a walk cycle for the showreel

For the showreel, we were told to create our own creature and do a walk cycle using that creature. I wanted to try out a walk cycle of a quadruped creature so I made a brown wolf and started animating on Krita.