RttS: Talita's Growth Timeline

oh my god baby talita is so adorable

She's got space for a big brain in that torso!

Valentina José

!!!! That’s a great pic! Gonna bookmark it to keep looking at it later. 😁Out of curiosity: I usually associate the move she’s making lunging after the cable as a “skitter”, but now that I think about it that probably has a lot to do with how cat/dog/Terran predators usually have claws and toe pads that make that noise when they move. Did you pick “patter” because it more closely reflects the sound baby-Talita’s little hooves would make on a hard surface?

pinglederry

Humans and avians are the two most likely species to wind up fostering an alien. Centaurs (and scuds, though theyre not around in main timeline RttS yet) are more inclined to cull any extraneous kids that aren't talking yet, and if they are talking, child adoption is up to the discretion of the clan matriarch(s). Bug ferrets tend to be more visually specific about what they consider "cute" and parentable than humans and avians, so they usually make less... passionate foster parents. Bug ferret kids are also notoriously hard to provide cross-species care for because of their intense social needs. Avians have a pretty similar parental care and flexible "aww" response to humans, so that's why they're more likely to cross-species foster.

Jay Eaton

Wow! So she made the cat box thing at less than the developmental age of a 10 year old human? That's impressive!

Lorax177

Is cross species adoption a thing at all otherwise, both for humans caring for alien infants or aliens caring for infants of different species?

Jules

Yes, about the same. Maybe slightly Slower?

Jay Eaton

Do centaurs age at the same rate as humans?

Lorax177

Unfortunately I haven't drawn them too much since the ancient (rather outdated) first post I ever made about centaurs: https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/post/118595542048 They also made a recent appearance in an ask response: https://jayrockin.tumblr.com/post/656672816635183104/

Jay Eaton

Baby Talita is adorable, but now I'm insanely curious about larval and pupal forms. Has that been shown before?

Origamigryphon

Tiny Talita is so CUTE

hawkmoth

Sorry it took me a thousand years to get around to grabbing the image link: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E6xGaemVoAA_hcE?format=jpg&name=large

Jay Eaton

Makes sense! I can see it more in her when she uses her actual eyelids in expressions instead of her nictitating membranes (which I imagine is one of the reasons she does the latter). I’m drawing a blank on the “valid to eat fingers” pic though, sadly.

pinglederry

Part of that is probably because the centaur I draw the most is Talita, who's usually going out of her way to appear non-threatening. Centaurs in general I'd say they look predatory in more of an owlish or mantis-like way than a mammalian way. That "valid to eat fingers" pic I drew comes to mind.

Jay Eaton

Something about the build of the centaurs (the finger-hooves + ungulate-like shape + trunk?) just never registers as “predator/carnivore” to me, so despite repeatedly reading they are I’m still surprised when reminded of it. I think seeing baby-Talita’s prey-drive activate is the first time I’ve really been able to visualize it? I think I registered it more viscerally when her teeth were more dog-like, but I do think the parrot-fish teeth look neat and more fitting.

pinglederry

There is some strong (in a good way) Muppet energy to tiny baby Talita

BasiliskFree

It's not widely known, but given that adult centaurs are 3 meter tall carnivores who were found as ""technological primitives,"" the soup of xenophobic urban legends surrounding them is more than enough despite that.

Jay Eaton

Given that she was left in a cat carrier, it was probably a human that left her there. Who that human was and how they obtained an infant alien is anyone's guess.

Jay Eaton

Not much goin on in that little chest brain at this point beyond "THING MOVE???? MUST CHASE!!!"

Jay Eaton

That's a kitten, not a centaur :p Look at that face on the second picture: joyous murder

ArgenteaMoon

I can't stop thinking about tiny stick talita

Is the fact that centaurs cull infants commonly known among humans? If so, that would go a long way to explaining the xenophobia that humans seem to have toward centaurs. It's a sensible process for the centaurs, but I can't imagine many humans would quickly get comfortable around a group whose culture is fine with killing their tiny emu-horse children on occasion. (Also the look of mischief on Douglas's face in the second comic is sending me... pranking children is a beautiful tradition)

interesting!! makes me wonder if it was her bio parents that dropped her off, or if someone just found her and brought her there--since centaurs have no reservations about culling infants, i imagine a parent that sent an unwanted child to an adoption agency as opposed to, well... the other option, would be odd indeed. wondering if maybe a human just Found her and dropped her off there

cactus bastrop

neat ❤️

Simone Spinozzi