~ intro ~ Ello, all! I'm back with more writing advice. And, more importantly, more Glittersparkle. In the past we have covered "can and can't" and names, so the next logical thing is appearances. Welcome to cat genetics class, kiddos! Anything with an asterisk is genetic lingo that you don't need to worry about on the base level. . 3.1 : Pinkfur was a pink-furred tom. Yeah, totally, great- uh, no. genetic mumbo jumbo for pelt colors : . black . blue* . blue caramel* . chocolate* . lilac* . lilac caramel* . cinnamon* . fawn* . fawn caramel* . red* . cream . apricot* . white . golden tabby [ mutation ] . silver tabby [ mutation ] . colorpoint Okay, okay, that's probably a lot to take in, and it doesn't even include tortoiseshells, tabbies, and other patterns. If you aren't going to pore over cat genetics guides and get really technical, then your list narrows down to : . black . various shades of gray . blue-gray . various shades of brown . ginger . cream . white . golden tabby . silver tabby . colorpoint Please note that orange cats ALWAYS have stripes, whether or not they are tabby. unrealistic colors : . red . saturated yellow . green . saturated blue \\ cyan . purple . pink [ except lilac*, a pinkish-brown ] . most other saturated colors fix : Pinkfur was an ironically brown tom. . 3.2 : Pinkfur the ironically brown tom had ginger, black, and cream patches. There are two things wrong with this. The first you might be quicker to spot. Male cats cannot normally be tortoiseshell. It is a very rare genetic mutation. If a male cat IS tortoiseshell, then he cannot have kittens. There is another thing wrong with this that you may not have realized before. Chimeras, which I will explain in a bit, are the exception to this genetic law. The only colors that can mix are : . white + any pattern, solid, or combo . black + ginger [ red ] . darker browns [ cinnamon \\ chocolate ] + ginger [ red ] . gray [ blue ] + cream . blue [ blue caramel ] + cream [ apricot ] . lighter browns [ lilac \\ fawn ] + cream . lighter browns [ lilac caramel \\ fawn caramel ] + cream [ apricot ] Yep, that's it. No brown on black, no silver-and-blue, no black, gray, and white, just the short list above. Or just be like Erin Hunter and throw reality to the wind. fix : Pinkfur the ironically brown tom had no patches of other colors. . 3.3 : Pinkfur the ironically solid brown tom was actually a tabby cat with orange stripes. Yeah, well, I didn't mean that either! Tabby cats follow specific rules. The darker stripes of a tabby cat are actually the color of their base coat. The lighter part is, in fact, their stripes. A black tabby cat will look like a dark colored cat ranging between brown and gray with black stripes. Tabby cats cannot be white, but can be pale gray. Their stripes cannot be of another hue, such as orange on brown. fix : Pinkfur the ironically brown tom was, in fact, a tabby cat. . 3.4 : Pinkfur was a brown tabby tom whose stripes were in the shapes of zigzags and polka dots. Okay, this one should be self-explanatory. There are a few patterns classified into three types. [ * genetic lingo below * ] . base patterns . classic . mackerel . broken mackerel . spotted . bengal patterns . marbled . braided . broken braided . rosetted . ticked patterns . [ classic ] ticked . [ mackerel ] ticked . agouti This probably doesn't make sense, so please visit Sparrow's Garden as linked in the credits, go to their genetics page, and click on "Agouti and Tabby". This should bring you to a page with a concise picture of these patterns. fix : Pinkfur was a dark brown [ black* ] mackerel tabby tom. . 3.5 : White cats hunted just as well in the deciduous forest as brown and black cats. Thanks to for the input regarding this entry! Consider this: would a white cat hunt well in a deciduous forest? No, they would not blend in with the shadows or the sunlight. Would a black cat hunt well in a deciduous forest? Sure, they would hunt pretty well, shadows considered. What I'm trying to say here is consider your environment. Snowy? White cats! Desert? Ginger! Mountainous? Muddled browns and grays! Coniferous forest? Dark colors! Deciduous forest? Tortoiseshell, tabby, and dark to midtone cats would thrive here because of the amalgam of shadows, colors, textures, and movement. This is especially interesting to consider when you are trying to draw. A cohesive Clan pallette can distinguish a midtone Clan that lives in a deciduous forest from their lighter neighbors on the moors. Sure does make gatherings easier, anyway. Who just slandered EvilClan's leader? Was it a PerfectClan cat, a ForbiddenromanceClan cat, or a FillerClan cat? Oh, of course, it was probably a PerfectClan cat, because they were a midtone tortoiseshell-tabby cat!
. 3.6 : The cats had varying builds and skills. No rhyme or reason whatsoever. Due to natural selection, feral cats will have features that are compatible with their environment. Snowy? Thick fur and bodies to keep warm. Desert? Thin, short fur and light builds to keep cool. Mountainous? Strong, flexible bodies for climbing. Forest? Durable, lightweight builds for maximum stealth in the undergrowth. Their skills will also depend on their environment. I know I keep using the same exact terrains here, but they are the most common for fan-Clan settings. Snowy? Stealth and survival skills. Desert? Resourcefulness and strategy. Mountainous? Climbing. Forest? Stealth. Land features also influence their skills and traits. A forest without a river would probably lead to cats being unable to swim, but a river cutting through a forest would allow them to learn. . 3.7 : The tom was half black and half orange, with one blue eye and one green eye. No. Heckin'. Way. I bet you all thought I'd say that this was "unrealistic and cringe and stuff"! Well, it is none of those things, as long as it is handled right. Chimera cats are cats who have two conflicting pelt colors. Often, one half of their face is one color, one half the other, with a mottled body, but with chimeras it truly varies. Some chimera cats can have kits, but it is rarer than not. Chimera cats are the result of two embryos [ unborn kittens very early in development ] fusing. This combines their DNA. This is a very rare occurrence. Chimeras are a really fun way to go with myriad possibilities, so be creative, but don't overdo it! ~ let's fix glittersparkle ~ Glittersparkle is a soft, fluffy, cute, pretty, shimmering, perfect silver tabby she-cat with perfect white speckles that look like perfect stars in her fur. Her tail is super fluffy and perfect. Her fluffy, tufted ears are softly rounded and perfectly frame her perfect face. She has perfect, sparkling, wide, round, icy blue eyes. Her perfect fluffy paws are dainty and soft. Her perfect muzzle is pointed gently. The parts of her perfect fluffy fur that do not have stars I mean white speckles on them have fluffy white perfect crescent moon shapes. Did I mention she is perfect and fluffy? First, it states how she is "soft, fluffy, cute, pretty, and shimmering." These are a long list of somewhat obscure adjectives. I would probably narrow it down to "has soft, fluffy fur that shines in the sunlight." It's still pretty cringe, but we can edit later. It mentions several times her "star-and-moon-shaped white speckles." Unless a cat has vitiligo, their fur rarely has white speckles, but patches or other patterns are exceedingly common. The distribution of white spotting is random at best, so Google is your best friend here if you need inspiration. We'll just change Glittersparkle's white speckles to white patches. It mentions constantly how she is "perfect." This is plainly unrealistic. Every character should have quirks and flaws. Beautiful characters are far overdone. Also, I get fluffy, long-furred characters are fun and all, but this has overlooked drawbacks as things get caught in it and it is more difficult to maintain. I'm going to make her short-furred and average-looking. fix : Glittersparkle is an average-looking silver tabby she-cat with short, soft fur that shines in the sun. ~ credits ~ Thank you so much to sparrows[DELETE]-garden.com for helping me learn about cat genetics. Consider checking the website out. It has useful tools and comprehensive genetics guides. ~ question of the project ~ What is your least realistic-looking OC in a nutshell? Mine was a black tom with red eyes. I don't even remember his name at this point. It was Darkspirit or something cliche like that. He was your standard evil Dark Forest revolutionary. ~ outro ~ Next: We will be covering personalities! Not here yet, but stay tuned! Don't forget to check out our previous part, if you didn't already!: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/938149806/ Do you have any suggestions for appearances? Comment them, and you might see them in the future! Remember, you are most likely a part of the warrior cat fanfic community if you are reading this. Your suggestions are valuable!
