forums wouldn’t let me edit no more :( ———————— Ocular albinism effects the amount of pigment in the eyes and can also lead to abnormal development of optic pathways. This effects Plumagekit's eye color, as well as having some non-neglible effects on his vision. Photophobia: Plumagekit will have trouble seeing in bright light and it will take an unusually long time for his eyes to adjust. Because he'll be much more sensitive to bright light, he'll often need to take a moment to orient himself when moving between shade and bright sun (exiting a den for the first time in the morning for example). As well as subtly trying to make things easier on his eyes, such as staying in the shade, when possible, or turning away from facing the sun when in a conversation. When exposed to sudden bright light, he'll blink rapidly and try to look away or cover his eyes with a paw, and his eyes might start to water. Astigmatism: Unfortunately, Plumagekit doesn't get out of it at night. In low light settings, he has astigmatism, which affects both his depth perception and his visual sharpness. Everything's a little blurry, and he has a harder time judging depth perception, especially of moving objects. This actually gets better in brighter settings, but it comes with the tradeoff of painful, watery eyes. Farsightedness: Though not severe, Plumagekit does have some farsightedness, which also gets worse at night. This simply means things tend to get blurrier the closer they get to him. This condition is only mild, though; he can make out expressions well enough when conversing with a cat right in front of him but will miss smaller details. So, the ideal weather for Plumagekit would likely be partly or mostly cloudy, where there is still plenty of light to prevent his astigmatism, but no harsh direct sunlight. His night vision would be the worst, albeit the least painful. Plumagekit's vision will stay pretty consistent throughout his life, only getting worse as he gets into his elder moons. https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/ocular-albinism https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/ocular-albinism/#causes lil bonus: ocular albinism is an x-linked traits, so if he were to have biological kits, it would be much more likely to show up in male kits than in female kits. codeword: Anywhere but here /j I haven’t been to a ton of national parks before, probably Yellowstone would be a good place to start!
SRP: (since I felt like I already showed a decent amount of Plumagekit’s character in my jrps, I decided to use some creative liberty here! this rp is very, very hypothetical, and will take place probably when Plumagepaw is around 10-12 moons, and is on his journey plot thingy. on that note - his journey plot thingy would be a series of srp’s and occasionally rp’s with loners, kittypets, etc. and maybe a few clan cats at the start or end. just wanted to put that detail here! Since I can’t edit my forum application anymore lol. also don’t mind me, i’m the type of person who likes to plan ahead a lot) Plumagepaw woke up to the roar of waves crashing against the earth and salty sea spray damp on his fur. A stalk of tall beige-colored grass tickled his nose and he let out a small sneeze, pushing it away with a chocolate-colored paw. The sun shone cheerfully over the pale sand, reflecting near-blinding rays over the dark blue sea. The ThunderClan apprentice slowly rose to his paws and shook out the sand and dried grass from his pelt. These days, he often woke up energized, but never refreshed. If he didn’t know better, he would’ve thought his paws would continue to ache for all eternity, and that his muscles would be forever sore. He supposed it was a small price to pay for traveling nearly from sunup to sundown. Plumagepaw turned away from the expanse of endless blue waves and sea foam - as much as he appreciated the scenery, it hurt his eyes to look for more than a few moments. He began to gather up his belongings, which consisted only of his golden bracelets and a few trinkets from home, wrapped in study leaves and secured in a rather odd, but practical, position on his back. Without further delay, he shook out the last bits of sand from his pelt and trudged onward. The only question was, onward where? Clearly not towards the setting sun - he’d just hit the end of the land. And yet he still felt inexplicably restless, a longing for something so natural and free that only the deepest, most unbridled wilderness could satisfy it. Plus, he’d only been gone for… a quarter of a moon? And if he had his directions right, he wasn’t even that far from ShadowClan territory. Go south, and he’d run right into it. And from there, it was only a matter of time before he was back in familiar territory. No, no. He was not ready. The lone crow had yet to find his prize. His family and friends in ThunderClan - sure, he was starting to miss them a little, but he was hardly homesick. In fact, he was anything but… …And also, he couldn’t dare to face their surprised concern, their half-hidden anger, their shouting relief, and worst of all, their seeping disappointment. Their disappointment that Plumagepaw, the bitter, reckless apprentice, would abandon his clan without a second thought. He’d have to explain that he never meant to abandon them, that he was fully convicted he had to do this, that he had no regrets. Holy hairballs, would they even let him back in? Loyalty, Plumagepaw, loyalty… royalty, retreat, rage, disappointment, law, outcast. Gone. Death. Death to the soul. What would he be if not Plumagepaw of ThunderClan? Plumagepaw. Of ThunderClan. Plumagepaw never had much respect for rules and codes and leaders and all, but he had the upmost respect for his clan and his clanmates. They were kin. Family. Companions. Comrades. Warriors. Even if they did kick him out, he’d find his way back… somehow. He refused to imagine the alternative. And at the end of this journey, he would’ve found something, perhaps the only thing more important than a clan. Himself. He knew he was out there somewhere, he just had to find him. And what better place to look than the most beautiful of all places? The wilds was where he had to go. He had to go somewhere no one else had ever been before. Plumagepaw’s pawsteps suddenly became surer, more deliberate, as he trekked over a grassy hill patched with sand and sandy dirt. Never in his 11 moons of walking this crazy earth had he been so certain about one thing. He had to keep going. Further, further, until he was utterly lost, and his only sense of direction was the sun and the stars. Until his only conversations and friends came from the shifting clouds and the rain and the birdsong, until he was so lost, only himself could he found. This was the only way. No backing down, no turning back, no giving up. This adventure was only just beginning.
