Gin's Playground

Reseaching on being an Animal

ginsengkyong — Fri, 05 Oct 2007 00:42:16 +0000

So as my Catwalker trainer suggested, I am going to concentrate on role playing more on my cat side than on my human side. So yesterday I went to the library and got a few books. Strange enough the one I am going to quote from today I randomly opened it up in the library and read some interesting things about cats. When I brought it home I could not find anything in the book about cats, it had a lot of info about fish and birds.

Today I was able to find the spot in the book about cats, but before I go into that, here is some interesting info about dogs. The author was saying when a dog feels fear and is undecided and torn between either fight or flight, his facial expression will be one of aggression showing his teeth and he will more apt to make loud noise. On the other hand if he has no fear, his face will be calmer and he will just attack.

So before I move onto the cat info, the book I am getting this information from is On Aggression, by Konrad Lorenz (1966)

The chapter I have been reading is on Instinct. ”…a passionate hunter cannot be cured by abundant feeding.”(p 8

“…one tends to assume that the cat performs the movement pattern of prey catching ‘for the sake of eating only.’ That this is not so can be demonstrated experimentally. Leyhausen gave to cats which were keen hunters one mouse after the other and observed the order in which the part actions of preying and eating disappeared. First the cat stopped eating but killed a few more mice, leaving them untouched. Next the killing bite disappeared, but the cat continued to stalk and to catch the mice. Later still, when the movement pattern of catching was exhausted, the cat still did not stop stalking the mice an indeed, in so doing, it always chose those farthest away in the opposite corner of the room, and ignored those that ran over its forepaws.” (p 92)

I believe it goes on to talk about the need for such an action or the desire to fulfill these instincts. It gives and example about a human baby when given a bottle of milk that takes no effort to drink, and the baby gets full fast, she will then look for other things to suck on to fulfill her need and instinct to feed to its fullness.

Gin’s background story

ginsengkyong — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 17:00:56 +0000

Here is the background story I came up with for Gin, not sure if I will use it yet, or if I will change it, what do you think of it?

Gin has vague memories of his mother, Sanghee, and none of his father. Back then they really did not have a permanent home, they would often sleep on the street or stay in the home of one of his mother’s many male friends. Gin was a light sleeper, he would often wake in the middle of the night to the rustling sound of his mother gathering her possessions and trying to leave without him.

He still remembers the day she finally abandoned him, he was 5 yrs old. They had gone to the temple in the city. They would go to a temple at least every year and his mother where she would repeatedly stand and kneel while holding a wooden beaded necklace and murmuring something to herself. They would be there for what seemed hours. It was after such a time that his mother told him she cared about him and that she wanted a better life for him then she could provide. She then went to the bathroom and never came back. He waited there for her until the monks found him sitting alone.

He stayed with the monks about a month till they found someone who would take him in. It was an older man, Jungwan, a retired tai kwon do master. Gin happily stayed with Jungwan, he call him father, for many years where he learned about honor and tai kwon do, but Father was very old and he died when Gin was 14 yrs old.

Gin soon found himself out on the street. Being half cat and close so close to nature in his mind set, it was not a big thing having to survive on his own, he adapted quickly to survival. On his own he found other strays like himself that he would often befriend. Like himself most of these strays had no respect for humans laws that tend to protect only those that had money. Often he would find himself fleeing from city to city very similar to his mother.

On the street his fighting skills increased from practice and from sharing knowledge with similar strays. Because of his background in Tai kwon do, he was able to pick up knowledge of other forms of martial arts from Japanese sword fighting to different forms of Tai-chi.

In fleeing the law and one of the local gangs he arrived in Midian city at age 20. He instantly fell in love with the city. Instinctively he took to the roof tops and came across a group called the Catwalkers. They seemed to tolerate his presences except when he would go too close to their den in which case they would chase him away usually having to point their guns at him. In spending so much time on the rooftops he had a lot of time to observe this group of cats, and it was his first time that he considerer not to flee to the next city. Watching the Catwalkers, he felt a longing for a home, a family…

Back in Midian again

ginsengkyong — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 14:57:00 +0000

I am back in Midian again, this time exploring the sim as a Cat. So far I have had more action with others as a boy than a cat, but more meaninful adventures as a cat.

Hmm I took the warrior skin I has struggling so much with making and used it to make a neko skin, though it has much more fur than regular nekos, it looks a bit like a furry in some cases, so that has potential to put me in a category where I am rejected by both the neko and the furry community. But hey, it does have an original look, and the look I kind of like, though a bit scary, but inside he is really cuddly and playful.

Life in Midian so far as a stray is a bit lonely but I occationally meet some kind strangers. I will see some action from time to time, other times it is up to me to make my own action.

Hmm.. though a strays life can be a bit lonely, and there will be times I think of kindship and stare out into the distance where I know the hang out of the pack of cats hang. But I am not sure if I have the time to invest in such a family, and so far have been meeting interesting dwellers of the city. The other day I met a cute cat, Jazzy, she would be a good one to hang out with and get into trouble, something that comes natural to a cat in Midian.

Somehow I just enjoy hanging out on top of the church looking at the city below and listening to the crows complain of my presence.