Mossy Feathers (They/Them)

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Cake day: July 20th, 2023

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  • Many animals, including most felids and canids, have a fifth toe (aka dew claw), which could potentially evolve into a thumb. You don’t normally see it on domestic dogs though, because if I’m not mistaken, it usually gets cut off when they’re a puppy due to it being weak and having a tendency to get caught on things.

    Alternatively, there is polydactylism in cats, which can give them extra toes that can help them grab things (I’ve seen a video of a polydactyl cat using it’s extra foretoe like a thumb, though I can’t find it). It seems possible that, overtime, an extra foretoe like that might eventually provide enough of a evolutionary benefit for it to become a standard feature.

    If cats evolved human-like intelligence, they’d absolutely have night clubs of some kind. That said, I’m not convinced that cats don’t already have human-like intelligence and aren’t just choosing to not use it, but that’s beside the point.

    Walking bipedally is something a lot of smaller mammals can do as well, it just isn’t their normal mode of locomotion because their bodies aren’t currently designed for it. Going the evolution route again, however, and it’s possible that a species might eventually decide to stand up like humans did. Edit: I forgot about birds, dinosaurs and semi-bipedal mammals like the pangolin. Birds and pre-historic theropods walked on two legs, and pangolins have heavy tails they can use to balance on their hind legs so their forelegs are free to dig at ant mounds. So humans aren’t the only animals that walk on two legs.

    The wing things are part of her clothing.


    You’re correct that being bothered by a chin alone is strange, but,

    A) people have weird things that bother them, sometimes illogically

    B) I kinda look at anthropomorphic animals as being evolved from their real world counterparts, so I tend to rationalize things in regards to how they might have evolved. It makes it more believable for me.

    C) iirc, in the context of the movie that specific character is from, thats actually someone’s VR avatar. As such, it makes sense to make human concessions like opposable thumbs, five fingers and toes (cats technically have five toes on each forepaw, four toes on each hind paw), walking plantigrade, etc. A chin seems like an odd concession to make. From the article, it doesn’t really give humans any really evolutionary advantage so it’s not like you’re gonna be unable to do something because you don’t have a chin; and based on what I’ve seen in the furry community, chins on anthros doesn’t really seem to have much of an aesthetic appeal either (otherwise nearly every fursona would have an obvious chin).

    D) It just looks weird. Idk man, it just looks weird to me.

    That said, I don’t tend to mind hybrids or mythical creatures like gryphons, dragons, dragon-cats, or whatever, so idk. It just looks weird to me and I guess the thing about humans being the only ones with chins is a explanation and justification for why I find it weird-looking.









  • I don’t drink and that sounds amazing.

    Edit: in case anyone’s curious, I’m don’t tend to drink because I don’t really like the taste of alcohol, and cocktails are too tasty. I need something that tastes good, but not so good that I feel tempted to become an alcoholic. I’d bet that the French toast brew is tasty enough for me to enjoy the flavor, but not so tasty that I’d want to drink it every day. That said, I have had people tell me, “oh this beer is amazing you have to try it” and then it tastes like shit, so it who knows.



  • This. If I’m not mistaken, the system was meant to operate like a hybrid between patents and trademarks. Iirc, things weren’t originally under copyright by default and you had to regularly renew your copyright in order to keep it. Most of the media in the public domain is a result of companies failing to properly claim or renew copyright before the laws were changed. My understanding is that the reason for this was because the intent was to protect you from having your IP stolen while it was profitable to you, but then release said IP into the public domain once it was no longer profitable (aka wasn’t worth renewing copyright on).

    Then corpos spent a lot of money rewriting the system and now practically everything even remotely creative is under copyright that’s effectively indefinite.





  • In a written statement, the ADL said the decision by Wikipedia was the result of a ”campaign to delegitimize the ADL” and that editors opposing the ban “provided point by point refutations, grounded in factual citations, to every claim made, but apparently facts no longer matter.

    You of all groups should know that the last part of your statement is a common right-wing dog whistle that gets used when someone doubles down after their “facts” get rejected for bigotry and/or inaccuracy. By using that phrase, you’ve automatically cast doubt on the legitimacy of your actions and statements. At best you’re ignorant of a common dog whistle, which is embarrassing for an organization who should be well-versed in this kind of thing; at worst you’ve signaled to everyone that you’re potentially peddling “alternative facts”, which casts doubt on everything you’ve done in the past. Either way, you’re ultimately hurting the Jewish people by making that kind of statement.

    Mira Sucharov, a professor of political science at Carleton University, said Wikipedia’s decision represents a major opportunity to reflect on why the ADL is facing scrutiny and rethink communal approaches for fighting antisemitism.

    “This is a sign that the Jewish community needs better institutions,” she said.

    They really do, and I feel bad for them. The places that should be defending them seem more than happy to ignore them or even throw them under the bus in the name of Zionism.

    Like, okay, personal beliefs on Zionism aside, if your organization is tasked with defending a group of people, you should ensure your actions aren’t going to endanger, delegitimize or otherwise encourage bigotry against said group. That means that even if you’re a Zionist Jewish organization, if your task is to fight against bigotry towards Jews, you shouldn’t be ignoring non-Zionist Jews nor should you be dismissing their views. Instead, you should be listening to what they have to say, condensing it and releasing it in an manner easy for non-jews to understand (which means providing political, historical and religious context, because many people, myself included, don’t understand as much as they think they do about Judaism).

    In the current context, you should be giving people statements from Zionist and non-Zionist Jews about Palestine, and attempt to include non-biased historical, religious and political backgrounds for events that are occurring.

    I think ethnically Jewish people could make an honest argument that they should have some portion of Palestine based on historical origins (I think it’s a weak arguement, but I think you could argue for it). However, that doesn’t excuse the way that the IDF and Israeli government have treated Gaza and the West Bank.

    You can criticize the Israeli government while also believing that ethnically Jewish people should be able to have a country they have control over. Other countries do this all the time (get criticized for poor treatment of the “outside” ethnic group(s)), why is this somehow different for Israel? Why aren’t we allowed to criticize Israel? I can talk about how France, a white, French ethnostate, is mistreating Muslims without being a racist bigot; I should be able to talk about Israel the same way.


  • My biggest complaint about Sims-likes is that the visual style always looks too serious. It gives me the feeling that whatever I’m going to do with my not-Sims, it’s gonna be something that makes me regret my real life.

    You wanna know what I did the last time I played the Sims 2 though? I repeatedly held parties at my Sim’s house and then lured the guests into a room they couldn’t get out of. I also used the moveobjects cheat to collect police cars whenever a cop showed up to shut the party down. By the time I was done I had amassed around 70 urns, many hysterical immortal Sims (Sims with households can’t die while visiting someone’s house in the Sims 2), 4 Police cars and a fire truck.

    The Sims has a mischievous air to it that tickles the devil on your shoulder and begs you to listen to them. None of the Sims-likes I’m aware of seem to have the same air.

    Edit: now I want to play the Sims again.


  • Honestly kinda sad I missed the “golden years” of MTV. I didn’t grow up with cable or satellite TV; so my sister and I would watch the shit out of Nickelodeon, cartoon network, discovery and animal planet when we were on vacation or at our grandparents house. However, I grew up with my parents waxing poetic about how MTV used to have the best music and they would have (supposedly) gotten a cable or satellite connection if only MTV still showed music videos.

    Looking back it was obvious bullshit and they wouldn’t have gotten a subscription even if MTV only played their favorite bands and music videos; but at the time it meant I was always hoping MTV would start showing music videos again so my parents would get cable and my sister and I could watch cartoons, science, nature, history and engineering shows.