Board Thread:Questions and Answers/@comment-3025831-20140303104749/@comment-10860529-20140525212354

Flamette wrote: yea...lets say the Swan Maiden was anthor..your speaking of Thea's grandparents right? Ack, sorry for not responding earlier. I might have been a little confused at the time upon writing my explanation. Let me clarify things better, because after thinking over this, I do think she may count.

Cynthea's father is a shapeshifter, but his human form has anthro-like qualities (swan wings behind his back and feather-textured hair, to be specific). This is a result of two things: The very first Ugly Duckling being an actual, non-anthro swan, and his descendants having mates who are avian shiftshapers of the swan variety, as they are associated with beauty and a certain Headmaster wanted to ensure that all future Ugly Duckling would grow up to be as beautiful as could possibly be achieved.

As for Cynthea's mother: Although she's the descendant of a Swan Maiden (Thea's grandmother), Her mom isn't one herself (since her grandfather on that side is a human and his side took dominance). While she has transformed into a swan before (through heirlooms/magically-bound mementos on her swan/shapeshifter side), her mother has zero shapeshifting powers and appears completely non-anthro (no extra feathers and the like) in human form (actress Lupia Nyong'o comes to mind as someone who could portray her, ehe).

As for Thea herself, she quite obviously looks humanoid aside from the feathery hair she aquired from her dad's side - her dreadlocks are in fact made of a feathery down and are naturally the color gray, but since she's been teased about her hair and since her aunt wouldn't let her dye it blonde like her cousins she keeps them auburn. She'll grow a set of wings and learn how to shapeshift at a later date (a bit of a late bloomer, appropriate for a future Ugly Duckling). I'm thinking that Cynthea looks more like her mother as far as her more human-like aspects go (darker skin, will grow up to be rather tall/quite the pretty lookin thang, ext).

Hope that helps?