#htf science lore

[randomslasherwingau]

What's thr cutoff point for wings that are too small to fly?

It depends on the person. There’s no set size, though if the wingspan isn’t at least twice span of your arms from fingertip to fingertip at a minimum, your odds of flight are slim. 

But it depends on things like personal build/strength, weight, height, wing build, wing type, etc. Some people can’t fly for long distances but can glide for a short time; some people can only take off from a height or if there is a strong headwind; some people can only fly in certain weather. It varies just as much as athletic ability varies for us, and just like athletic ability, types of flight can be trained toward, but there is also innate talent and body type to be considered. 

[randomslasherwingau]

If someone is mute or deaf or has some sort of disability, will their wings have a higher chance of being smaller and less attractive or just as big of a chance as everyone else?

Deafness, muteness, blindness, or other sensory factors have no bearing on wing size, shape, color, or effectiveness, unless they are the result of the same underlying condition (an accident that caused blindness and also injured a wing, for example, or an illness that affected motor neurons across the board).

[randomslasherwingau]

Hello, this is the biochem anon again. I saw the ask about twins having same/different patterns, and you were debating between environment and genetics... Have you heard of epigenetics? Basically it's an extra layer of genetic information that is determined by the environment but can be passed on to the next generation. So, even though wing color development could be very random based on the other ideas I had, it stands to reason that someone with the same genetic and epigenetic code could (1/2)

lean towards certain colors or patterns. So maybe they’d have the same color but a different pattern? Or a different hue but the same pattern? But maybe they could also have just enough different in their wing color epigenetics that they have radically different wings, or maybe they could have just enough similar that they end up with near identical wings? Maybe how twins’ freckles often differ, but sometimes a parent/child can have the same freckles. This is kinda a non-answer…Sorry :P (2/2)

I was hoping you’d chime in!!! I like this though!!!

[randomslasherwingau]

How do undercover operatives work? Do people with common wing types/colors tend to be more suited to that field? What about witness protection?

Oh man. 

You guys are thinking of the most awesomely intense questions lol

So super bright fancy wings are the minority–maybe 10-12% of the population. Most folks have single-color or dual-color wings, and most of THOSE are of a few primary hues: blues, greens, reds, and yellows, with a few purples and oranges mixed in occasionally (though those are slightly more rare). So while someone like, say, Patton or Roman would probably not be good as an undercover agent, they are in a very extreme minority. 

As for witness protection, that’s where the previous version of wing prosthetics would come into play. These were basically slip covers that would go over wings and hide their real colors. 

And before someone asks me why monochromes don’t just buy these slipcovers: some do. But they’re expensive, and difficult to maintain (feathers fall out and have to be replaced in a realistic looking way, etc.). And they can’t be worn in flight. So they’re not terribly practical as a long-term solution, and are generally only used for costumes and/or situations where someone needs to hide their identity. 

[randomslasherwingau]

do identical twins develop identical wings?

OH MY GOSH I DON’T KNOW!!!

I think it’s gonna depend on whether the colors develop based on environmental factors (diet, exposure to sunlight, etc.) or genetic factors? I’mgonna have to think about this one, omg good question anon, let me get back to ya!

[randomslasherwingau]

so, you've said that at some point Logan would try to make the prosthetic wings a publicly available thing. Unfortunately if they work by the wing movement of those with stunted wings that could pose a problem for those with a) those born without wings b) those with one wing amputated or c)those with both wings amputated. So that got me thinking about how they could be modified to fix these problems.

The easiest one to fix would be for those with only one wing as you could add either a sort of cable harness like some prosthetic arms work or they could react to the residual muscles from the amputated limb. For double amputees it could work much the same with the residual muscles controlling the wings. Now those without wings would be a bit more difficult you could either surgically connect them to the brain and control them that way or have them rely on the movement of, perhaps, the shoulder,

Then there was the problem with learning to use them/ adjusting to the extra weight (which i would imagine would be like carrying a pile of wet towels around). I think Patton, being a carrier, and Virgil, having experienced the transition, would be the ones to teach them how to work the wings. (As you can tell i’m really invested in this AU, so this was really long.)

LJ: You’ve really thought this through!! I love it!!! 

Yes, Virgil’s wings are a prototype, built specifically for him, but once Logan is able to make them work, he sets to work on figuring out ways to modify them for all sorts of wing functionality issues. 

[randomslasherwingau]

Hi, I was just curious you take about the mechanical prosthetics but could those exist in real life. Like if we figure out how to make them strong enough to life a person would there be a way to actually give us humans the possibility of flight because that would be so amazing and I am curious.

I don’t know anything about aerodynamics or physics, anon, but I know many many people have tried to invent a way for humans to fly and so far, no one has done better than hang gliding. Could it ever happen? Who’s to say? But to the best of my knowledge, we’re nowhere near something like that. 

[randomslasherwingau]

Could there be someone with wings that have different colour(s) or patterns on each wing (same size/shape, just not symmetrical aestetically)?

It’s possible, but rare. And not particularly desirable. Wings should be symmetrical, so if they’re not, it’s a symptom of something wrong, usually.