Tail Spade

TheSpike · Post by **TheSpike** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 6:07 am

Hey Scrawlers, Im new here!
even tho Ive been lurking for awhile, Ive finally decided to reveal myself... anyway, this is my question:

What is the spade on Kurts tail made of?

I used to think it was bone, but it would be impossible for it to be so flexible if it was bone-ish, so, what do you guys think?

Garble · Post by **Garble** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 6:12 am

Well the center of it probably has bone like the rest of his tail, but I always assumed the bulk of it was muscle. Like your tounge.

as I was typing that I knew where this thread would eventually go...

I guess it's possible there might be some sort of bone structure in the spade itself.
This seems like a good question for Dave.

Bamfette · Post by **Bamfette** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 6:17 am

cartelige. like in your ear or nose. soft enough to be flexible, rigid enough to keep the shape.

TheSpike · Post by **TheSpike** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 6:25 am

Well, th movie one surely is bone...

However, it could be just like very little bones connected by muscle...

And, if it was cartillage, i dont think he would be able to bend it and do such stuff...

Garble · Post by **Garble** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 6:26 am

I was thinking about that too. But it couldn't be solid cartilage like your ear or nose or he wouldn't be able to operate it like a hand the way he does. I can wiggle my ears and nose a little but I don't think I could hold and fire a pistol with them.

Could be a system of tendons connected to muscles elsewhere in the tail. Like the way your fingers are operated by muscles in your forearm...

LadyErin · Post by **LadyErin** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 6:46 am

Maybe cartilage with tendons and muscles connected? But yes, this is defintely a Dave question. *Yells: Dave, We need you!!!!!!* *Crosses fingers and hopes he hears*

PS: I think I'm getting slap-happy at this point....need

Post by **Elwing** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 7:54 am

My personal pet theory is that it is a tuft of hair. Maybe he cuts it onto shape himself. After all, nothing like it is seen in the animal kingdom... But it probably is cartiledge, like jill said...

Vee_EmmCee · Post by **Vee_EmmCee** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 12:42 pm

Yeah, cartiledge it what I thought immediatley. the center of it is prolly bone and muscle like the rest of the tail, but the spade itself is cartiledge.

Bamfette · Post by **Bamfette** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 2:53 pm

nononono.... you guys arent getting what i was saying. when has he EVER bent the lillte triangley bit at the end, just by thinking about it? bones along the length of it, yes. of course, that has to be. (though an elephants trunk has not a single bone NOR cartelidge, it is entirely tendons and muscle, and can lift tree trunks, but we wont go there. tails on the whole are made up of bone.) but think of the spade tip as TWO small triangles of cartelidge on either side of the bone.

Cartelidge DOES come in varying degrees of hardness. don't forget, a shark's skeleton is nearly entirely made up of cartelidge, and sharks are far from weak.

sevati · Post by **sevati** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 3:14 pm

*laughs and tries to figure out how much shark week Jill has seen*

I agree with the idea his spade/tail muscles are located higher up like fingers are controlled in our arms, and that the tail-spade itself is cartilage. Practically unmoveable, but shark-hard cartilage. Still, even that strong, if it were to get caught on anything, I think it would rip sorta like your ear would. Has anyone ever seen a scar from 'some girl's earring getting caught on something and whoops, that'll need stitches'? Say the earring ripped straight down. From that trauma, the earlobe tears apart and stretches a little bit(?), sometimes a jagged tear, sometimes clean-cut. I knew a girl in my photo class that happened to, she had a tiny red scar, but her ears were roughly the same size and shape. Do you think Kurt worries about this?

Rine Wagner · Post by **Rine Wagner** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 4:20 pm

That probably wouldn't be too much of a problem unless he gets his tail pierced or something. If someone's ear gets ripped like that it's almost certain to have been caused by an earring getting snagged or pulled. One of the reasons I never want my ears pieced actually.

Maelstrom · Post by **Maelstrom** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 5:04 pm

I'm assuming we're talking Canon Nightcrawler, here, who has a relatively small and delicate spade at the tip of his tail. MovieCrawler's spade is really big, and it does curl around and grab stuff, in a similar manner as an elephant's trunk.

Siona · Post by **Siona** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 5:12 pm

image.php?iid=1402

On the cover of Wolverine #6, it looks like he's bending the tip slightly.

~Siona

Maelstrom · Post by **Maelstrom** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 5:16 pm

Yeah, and it also looks MUCH more like MovieCrawler's tail than CanonCrawler's, though without those bumpy ridges halfway up. Maybe the artist used a synthesis of both for their inspiration.

Siona · Post by **Siona** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 5:21 pm

Why does Wolvie look so pissed? Ah, well, we all know he's just hiding his inner joy of seeing Fuzzy nekkid.

I kinda liked the ridges on M. 'crawler's tail, made him a little more...demonic.

~Siona

Gaz · Post by **Gaz** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 7:38 pm

I've always thought of Kurt's tail being either almost hairless or with really short fur, and the spade being flexible but firm, like the skin of a dolphin (or shark). I imagine the spade being made of muscle, and could move and wiggle, but, like a finger, could only bend in one direction.... that's just my opinion though........

NachtcGleiskette · Post by **NachtcGleiskette** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 11:29 pm

ooo.......skin of a shark? Very abrasive. I don't think he could have that type of skin. T'ain't a reason for it...

Maelstrom · Post by **Maelstrom** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:07 am

Originally posted by NachtcGleiskette
ooo.......skin of a shark? Very abrasive. I don't think he could have that type of skin. T'ain't a reason for it...

I agree. The shark's tough, abrasive denticles (which look kind of like "scales" under a microscope) are that way to create a micro-turbulence in the water, which makes its swimming that much more smooth, silent, and fast. Not much call for that in a medium as thin as air, especially when you've got fur to worry about as well. After all, they used sharkskin in China, Japan, and other sea-faring countries as sandpaper, and as a hilt wrapping, for hundreds of years.

Siona · Post by **Siona** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 1:53 am

Man, Maelstrom, just WHERE doyou get this kind of info?!

You some kind of super genius?

~Siona

Maelstrom · Post by **Maelstrom** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:44 am

Originally posted by Siona
Man, Maelstrom, just WHERE doyou get this kind of info?!

You some kind of super genius?

~Siona

I watch a LOT of Discovery, TLC, PBS, and the History Channel

. It's incredible the stuff you can find on there. Also, I constantly web surf for information for my stories, and it's proven invaluable for research material. That's how I get the medical aspects of my fiction so close.

I just did some research on the actual Romani for an idea about Nighty's past and upbringing, and it's been a real eye-opener.

Put bluntly, if the Rom were anything in the Marvel universe like they are in real life, Margali Szardos would have left Kurt to die of exposure. He was obviously full of bad spirits, and as unclean (marime) as you could possibly get. He'd be an outcast among outcasts.

I'm going to try and be "real life" with this background story, so I'm going to have an interesting time explaining why he was allowed to live among the Rom. I think I have it worked out, but it needs some fine tuning.

(Oh, and in case you're intersted, I had my IQ tested at 147-154 ) (*BAD MAELSTROM! NO BLOWING YOUR OWN HORN!*) (Huh? How did you get in here-- *smack!.... ow.....)

Siona · Post by **Siona** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 2:53 am

Originally posted by MaelstromI watch a LOT of Discovery, TLC, PBS, and the History Channel . It's incredible the stuff you can find on there. Also, I constantly web surf for information for my stories, and it's proven invaluable for research material. That's how I get the medical aspects of my fiction so close.

Ah-HA! Proof I need to watch more TV!!

I just did some research on the actual Romani for an idea about Nighty's past and upbringing, and it's been a real eye-opener. Put bluntly, if the Rom were anything in the Marvel universe like they are in real life, Margali Szardos would have left Kurt to die of exposure. He was obviously full of bad spirits, and as unclean (marime) as you could possibly get. He'd be an outcast among outcasts.

I'm going to try and be "real life" with this background story, so I'm going to have an interesting time explaining why he was allowed to live among the Rom. I think I have it worked out, but it needs some fine tuning.

Yes...*wringing hands*...I can see it now! Raised by this one accepting woman...but shunned by the others!! *runs off to write fic, all the while cackling*

~Siona

Maelstrom · Post by **Maelstrom** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 3:07 am

Originally posted by Siona
Yes...*wringing hands*...I can see it now! Raised by this one accepting woman...but shunned by the others!! *runs off to write fic, all the while cackling*

~Siona

MY GOD! What have I done?! The horror... the horror...

....and make sure to share it with us when you finish, eh?

Siona · Post by **Siona** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 3:33 am

I will!...if I ever finish it. I STILL haven't finished my first Kurt/Ororo fic "Shadows of the Past" and two fluffy one-pieces, also Kuroro.

~Siona

Maelstrom · Post by **Maelstrom** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 3:50 am

Originally posted by Siona
I will!...if I ever finish it. I STILL haven't finished my first Kurt/Ororo fic "Shadows of the Past".

Yeah... I NOTICED THAT.

Don't you be leavin us hangin', girl! Don't you make me start pouting and doin' the "puppy dog eyes" thing....

(Oh, dammit, NOW see what you started?)

Siona · Post by **Siona** » Sun Aug 24, 2003 3:54 am

Noooooo!! Not the puppy eyes!! I can't take the puppy eyes!!

I WOULD get on it...but I'm stuck between this scene of introducing Beast and Gambit or another...eeeeeevil scheme.

~Siona