#everyone has long ears!! hair colour and fur colour can be whatever!! etc!

[eggoyolkk]

i am setting the list of fem/masc raposa traits on fire i will do as i please <3

[faunusrights]

murphy’s guide to writing faunus (if you, like me, write very specific aus and maybe u want yr ocs in them too idk)

When trying to explain how I write the Faunus, I have to preface: it’s a bit of a mess. I have a bunch of rules and limits that I know by heart, but others I have to wrangle as I encounter them? So, most of this is just stuff I tend to stick to whenever I’m figuring out a new Faunus/converting someone into a Faunus/building lore/whatever the hell I’m up to next Y’ALL KNOW ME BY NOW.

Anyway, long story short, I mostly categorise Faunus and their traits into three categories: physiology (how they look ‘n’ stuff), psychology (how they think ‘n’ shit) and society (how they group up and react to each other… ‘n’ that).

Physiology wise, I’ve stated a lot of my headcanons and opinions on this before! But for the sake of beating this dead horse into submission, I really think the ‘one trait’ rule is, uh, complete nonsense. Why? Well, it carries the unfortunate implication that Faunus are just humans with a bonus animal trait. Even canon kinda contradicts this claim with low-light vision, which is another Faunus trait! So, how do I work with traits? Simple: major, minor x2, very minor. Allow me to elaborate with some examples!

The major trait is usually the biggest and most obvious trait of a Faunus, such as ears, tails, or wings. The two minor traits are less visible, yet can be more dominant depending on heritage, and comprise eyes, teeth, scales, claws, and more. The very minor trait comprises even smaller changes: roughness or smoothness of skin, flexible joints, extra fur or body hair, more teeth, less teeth, feathers, heightened senses… heck, some Faunus might have a lot of minor traits! But let’s go over some basic examples.

Great Weiss Shark has the major trait of gills, a minor trait of slitted pupils and tapetum lucidum*, a minor trait of Big Teef, and a very minor trait of rougher, more waterproofed skin.

Blake Belladonna has the major trait of cat ears, a minor trait of slitted pupils and tapetum lucidum*, a minor trait of Teef (not as big as Weiss’s but they have Teef for sure) and a very minor trait of F U Z Z.

*all Faunus in my works have tapetum lucidum (the reflective bit in the back of the eyes), though colour varies on heritage, since that’s the source of their low-light vision.

But not ONLY do Blake and GWeissS have these traits, but a cohort of minor ones: weird proportions, or lighter bodies, or more flexible joints… the list can (and does) go on. So, for me, this is one way I give Faunus a greater sense of depth and individuality, as well as clearly drawing a line between Faunus and humans and ensuring everyone knows they are not the same thing.

Which brings us to psychology! The Faunus in my works do not relate themselves to animals directly in any form of classification. A Faunus may have traits that look akin to an animal’s, but the traits are not of that animal. One example would be Velvet ‘I’ll Kick My Own Ass’ Scarlatina: she has tall, leporine ears that look similar to the ears you may see on a rabbit or hare, but these ears are Faunus ears. They are not rabbit ears. This is because she didn’t rob a rabbit of their ears and she herself is not a rabbit. See? As such, it’s more socially acceptable to say ‘Faunus ears’ and not ‘[insert animal here] ears/tail/claws’ etc.

THAT SAID IT’S TIME FOR: EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE!

The Faunus can, and do, accept the animals they share traits with as being types of ‘totem’ animals, aka representations of themselves or for use in jokes shared between other Faunus. Most are, however, exTREMELY clear on who can and can’t make those comparisons, and more often than not humans are expected to leave such topics and conversations between Faunus and Faunus alone. Comparing oneself to the animal they see as kin is funny; a human doing the same thing is pejorative. There’s exceptions to even that rule, of course: some Faunus find pride in their kinship to an animal, whereas others may refer to themselves as that animal to accept their own traits and identity as a Faunus (see: Weiss often being called a shark in GWS!AU, since she struggles to identify as a Faunus but finds it easier to identify as a shark, since it embraces a positive self-reflection [because sharks are cool, ergo she is cool]). As such, some close humans may be permitted to engage in these jokes or references! But this is by a case-by-case basis and, as stated before, is the exception, not the rule. Most Faunus, especially those who are proud to be Faunus, will reject any relation of themselves to an animal whether in jest or not (see: Velvet Scarlatina in everything I’ve ever written the end).

Society-wise, this is the part I’ve probably spent the most time building (but will talk about the least because there’s a lot here and some of it got covered by psychology anyway). The Faunus have a long history that’s often erased, but they were once bastions of civilisations in huge tribes formed out of hundreds of individual clans. They were the most dominant society up until humans discovered Dust, at which point humans forced them from their lands and settlements and forced them to either blend into human society, or die in the Grimm-reigned wilderness. The removal of Faunus from their homelands and the destruction of their tribes is HUGE when determining and establishing a Faunus’s family history, and informs a lot of their character! Tribes, to this day, impact families and the construction of Menagerie (I’ve also written a ton on Menagerie too, but that may have to become a separate post) This also informs spoken languages, design of their homes, their beliefs, their traditions, and more. You can see more of this in The Frappuccino Logs and the upcoming Tribelands AU.

To end, here’s a bunch more examples of traits you can give your Faunus! You can imply odd/off-kilter proportions, especially in smaller/bigger Faunus like birds or bears, or give them denser/lighter bones, heavier/lighter bodies, harder/softer/smoother/rougher skin, more/less body hair, wiry/fluffy hair, and so forth! Different blood types for Faunus is also a headcanon that’s used frequently. Faunus can also have different teeth types, or more/less teeth (I have a headcanon that some Faunus forgo wisdom teeth to have a second set of smaller canines). Senses may also be enhanced, such as smell, hearing, sight and taste. There could be also be increased resistance to certain types of weather/heat/humidity, or some Faunus could have hardier stomachs/resistance to venoms and poisons.

When writing Faunus, you can go really off the wall with headcanons! That said, a few I don’t subscribe to include (and are certainly not limited to): heat cycles (humans also have heat cycles! It’s called a period), vegetarianism (this is very dependant on whether that society can viably live without meat in their diet. Most can’t!) and such things like marking territory with… scent like okay I don’t think even a Faunus’s nose will be powerful enough for that eesh they have eyes! They can use a sign like everyone else!

So yeah! If you’ve ever been like ‘I wanna make a Faunus but how’ I guess this is my *motion vaguely* method. I guess.

[what-the-floofin]

Trying to figure out galra taurs is just causing a lot of frustrated noises here hahaaaa

I’m trying but it’s not so straightforward when there’s more to consider and I think it’s at the point where I’m better off spouting it out and seeing how we feel about it

I dunno. Let’s give it a whirl under the cut

I mentioned once before Galra would be of the particularly leggy sort, with a very wide variation in that. Further thoughts have come to mind that while they could be very elk/moose/bison in likeness, I would probably stray further into other alien-esque qualities. They could be compared to most things across the terrestrial ungulate family, generally in the cervidae/bovidae sorts, but not strictly be them, y’know? Because, well, they’re not from Earth. They shouldn’t be limited to exacts and hard rules based entirely on earth critters.

So, main concerns.

There’s an issue of size. Galra be tall ridiculous mofos and thus need to reflect that - they might compare in looks to earthen ungulates, but they’re just outright and all-round bigger. Taller. Uncanny valley similar? Much the same just ridiculously huge compared to what the paladins would know.

So it’s just a matter of being aware of that in any drawing that involves only galra, I guess – because galra beside galra is one thing, galra beside the paladins is jarring.

Another concern are coat patterns. If I change things up here I am pretty much on my own to make it all maintain a natural vibe for them – and as long as we don’t mind me calling all the shots there I would commit my best to the task. I’ve got ideas – like introducing patterns more akin to predator varieties perhaps, amongst other things. Guess I’d play it all by ear. Seeing a lot of dark colours though.

 Then there’s Lotor and his generals specifically.

Lotor – pretty straightforward, he’d still be very horsey and really much in close resemblance to Altean taurs. Just…. very… tall… for a horse that isn’t a draft.

An Akhal Teke has been suggested, and while I would agree pretty heartily I also feel he could do with an equally pretty but also sturdier looking build – so, perhaps Arabian? Also c’mon tell me you can’t see a highset tail on that smug pretty boi.

Coat colour is still up for debate – probably something grey/white, tones based on lavender etc. Flea bitten? Mulberry grey but replace red with purple? Or just as clean and downright glowing as that goshdarn luscious hair?

Either way, compared to standard Galra tones he absolutely sticks out.

 As for the kickass ladies.. hm.

Acxa I can see with elk qualities. Maybe longer in the legs. Not too out-there in accordance to earthen standards, all things considered. Shortest of the squad I think?

Zethrid… something buff. Something shaggy? Tough, rugged, maybe a buffalo. Or at the very least more buffalo inclined, whatever she is.

Narti and Ezor are where things get difficult because they’re just so different. I’m tempted to take them far more reptilian-esque in reflection – ungulate in build, but with soft hide instead of fur. Pull inspiration from my ol’ dragon roots perhaps? There’d be other galra out there with hide/scales rather than fur so it’s not a hugely weird thing.

Ezor is sleek and springy, long bodied and entirely capable of all her acrobatic flexibility right through from nose to tail :P and yeah man, same colour scheme runs right through. Maybe clawed digits instead, too.

Narti is similar but a smidge sturdier. Possibly longer tail to get maximum use outta that sweet ass prehensile quality, and takes the furthest step from everyone in breaking away from the ungulate toe quality into those graspy feet? The gecko-ness of her design makes me think she’d come from a species that utilises a lot of climbing, which especially makes grasping feet far more necessary if everything was converted to taur-esque ideals all-round.

 Auuughgh I wanna do them I really do, I just gotta toughen up and accept that I’m really winging them all the way. And give the heads up that they’re not gonna be standard stick-em-on-a-horse-body taurs lmao

 For the record I still have no clue what I’d give Zarkon. Maybe he’s a fucking moose. Or that extinct Irish Elk that’s like even bigger than a moose.