All fours?

The wiki mentions in the Neko entry that they are capable of running on all four, but doesn't mention any biological differences from humans to justify it. In order to run on all four one would need either shorter legs, or longer arms. Attempting to do it as they are results in an awkward, slow gait with their rear end up in the air. This may not apply to all nekos, but at least some, perhaps specific groups would have this adaptation. Anyway, i'd like to know what you guys have to say about it.

They spring forward with their legs and catch themselves with their arms. Repeat ad nauseum.

Spoiler:

i had though of that, but if it was that simple, humans could do essentially the same. From what i gather, shoulders just aren't built for the constant shock.

Well, if you want to spend the next five hours over something this worthless, go right ahead. Just don't complain that you could have spent that time doing something actually constructive, like criticize someone else's character.

Interesting what some people consider what is worthless and what isn't.

How come it's acceptable to talk about certain Felarya physics like the movement of the sun (which few characters would surely have understanding of, therefore begs the question of why go into it) but a simple question of how Neko's move the way they do is not acceptable?

Because some of us are still trying to determine something concrete about the cycles in Felarya, and how ought we count the years.

Sean has a terrible attitude, but something of a point either way. Nekos either can run on all fours- or they can't. If any of you is an ergonomist or an evolutionary biologist, that'd be great; most of us can't really help you there.

From a fetish standpoint, though, longer arms... well, I don't know if any of you here has a fetish for long-armed girls. I could learn to love them, but I wouldn't force that upon anyone.


P.S: Sean, if people are offering to overthink, it's because it's fun. Thinkers gonna think.

P.P.S: EG, we can say neko shoulders ARE built that way (thicker cartillaginous structures, intersparsed muscle fibers to compensate for the shocks) and leave it at that, or you can look at other species with short front legs, like lagomorphs, that have a characteristic gait despite their itsy-bitsy front legs. I'm not in love with the idea of nekorillas, but they could also work; why not?

DarkOne wrote:

Interesting what some people consider what is worthless and what isn't.

How come it's acceptable to talk about certain Felarya physics like the movement of the sun (which few characters would surely have understanding of, therefore begs the question of why go into it) but a simple question of how Neko's move the way they do is not acceptable?

Answer me this: would the revelation of how they can walk and run on all four have a lasting impact in the grand scheme of things? Would it alter our perception of the setting? Would it change how stories are told and enjoyed? I also want to know why that would be so. Stabs answered it the best: they just can, end of story.

As for you Stabs, my username's different and I take offense that you refer to my older one. Honestly, it breaks my heart after all the trouble I went to change it.

I believe you misunderstand, I don't think it has anything about reverlations and I hardly think it even needs to be gone into great detail. However just working out how the hell they are doing it will be great for narrative description, only bad writers would simply say 'They got on all fours an sped off' a prouper writer would describe the locomotion involved, their gait and so on. therefore some idea of how it works of it would be required. It's all about character!

If it helps in any way, I took a moment to look into it and found this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=fvwrel&NR=1&v=oT_Cg6EY2tM[/youtube]

Essentialy the gait would have to slightly different, but it's possible, the hind legs are bent at the knees but not all the way, allowing surport from the feet and so the knees don't smash against the ground. That is how the length of the legs are solved. The arms are also slightly bent, for better comfort. The only thing is doing that is really exhausting, but we know that Nekos are normally stronger than a normal human therefore they could possibly keep that up for a while and do much faster.

There you go, wasn't that hard was it?

Yes, and a good writer knows something called the Law of Conservation of Details. It's nice for the first few times how you describe the way the mage cast a spell, but after said first few times, you give the abridged version, or else you just bog things down. Giving the low down on how they run off on all four isn't necessary. Do you go in great detail how the human put its foot in front of the other ad nauseum? Or how the naga is able to move to when it's not completely lying down on its stomach like actual snakes? Do you go into specifics for those as well?

Also, that's largely unconfirmed, but I think nekos, while indeed stronger than humans, can't keep up their superior speed for extended periods and mostly do it in short bursts.

Well of course I wasn't suggesting that it would be done to ad nauseum. It really depends on your story, but lets say someone who never met a Neko before and sees one speed off like that will obviously pay attention to the bizarre act they have just witnessed. So I would think you'd want to get across in the details. Do a good job of it and you really don't need to go into it again because next time the audience will visualize what you orginally described the first time around.

And what if that person isn't a naive newcomer? That's it's really a human and a neko running from something. Assuming that this is the very first time in your series that you have a neko go on all four and flee, would you, again, put every detail in that locomotion?

As I said, it really depends on the story. It really depends on what you are trying to say in the scene and the tone your trying to set. It could be a newcomer seeing it for the first time, a lover admiring the way their neko partner moves, a hater of nekos looking in digust at their unusual movements, and so on.

Some stories might need it, some might not. But it would be nice detail for the stories that do.

If that's how you write, fine. I know for a fact I won't bother with that.

I'm with stabs, just say they can and don't worry about it, though if we try to talk about it and we cannot justify how it would work, then logically speaking we'd have to remove the neko ability to run on all fours, because it'd just be too damaging to the body; which would in turn effect parts of their lives - and that's important.

Here's a question. Why does it bther either side so much?

Shady, you finding the topic insignificant, but then calling out just enough attention to it, means that you somehow care just enough about it to disparage it. If the topic bothers you, I would say leave it be.

That said, sometimes details are important, depending on the story. Someone may be inclined to detail things like locomotion, and going on all fours isn't always about running either. There are wild and ferral Neko's in Felarya, whom use the all fours walking method as standard simply because it has a lower profile.

Try to remember people, that there are different ways of looking at things, people my consider things you don't.

Because I believe the subject at hand to have no possible satisfying answer does not prohibit me from giving counter-arguments to those who think otherwise. That being said, if we're going to dive into the anatomy of the cat people, why wouldn't we dive into the anatomy of every single other species, except humans? I am all for discussing details, but when it's blatantly overthinking something that isn't important in any shape or form, then it's simply people pointlessly rambling, thus a waste of time.

If nekos walking on all four is so important, then please, come up with an explanation as to how nagas can slither in spite of keeping their human halves vertically. How harpies, fairies, and especially sphinxes are capable of flight despite their build not being aerodynamic. How nemeses are capable of extending their neck. Such questions are just as valid.

And as a reminder, I am not trashing a thread. I am presenting arguments as to why I am against going into such trivial details. I may be blunt, but that is not synonymous with being in a bad mood.

Shady Knight wrote:

Because I believe the subject at hand to have no possible satisfying answer does not prohibit me from giving counter-arguments to those who think otherwise. That being said, if we're going to dive into the anatomy of the cat people, why wouldn't we dive into the anatomy of every single other species, except humans? I am all for discussing details, but when it's blatantly overthinking something that isn't important in any shape or form, then it's simply people pointlessly rambling, thus a waste of time.

Anatomy is a very satisfying subject for some, Shady. And on top of that, if people want to "waste their time" thats their perogative. As long as they arn't breaking forum rules, then I see no problem with having those whom find such threads pontless to simply navigating from the thread and finding something more productive themselves to do. I would suggest you not be "blunt" just because you don't like the thread's topic, simply navigate away please, because your bluntness is bordering disruptive by this point.

Shady Knight wrote:

If nekos walking on all four is so important, then please, come up with an explanation as to how nagas can slither in spite of keeping their human halves vertically. How harpies, fairies, and especially sphinxes are capable of flight despite their build not being aerodynamic. How nemeses are capable of extending their neck. Such questions are just as valid.

None of those are the current topic, and pedantacism does nothing to answer the question posed originally does it?

Shady Knight wrote:

And as a reminder, I am not trashing a thread. I am presenting arguments as to why I am against going into such trivial details. I may be blunt, but that is not synonymous with being in a bad mood.

No, but it is being synonymous with being disruptive for it's own sake. Nobody said you have to participate in the thread if you don't want to.