[Asks] #51: Heat?

Answering my fifty-first question!

I meant to answer this one a long while ago; and even had to come up with how "heat" worked in the story word. Surprisingly, though unplanned, my initial thought about how it works aligned itself to fit perfectly with the story and other events that take place within the comic world.

So, here's an explanation of the way this all works:

For starters, women can get pregnant at any time of the year, not just during the heat; but the chance during non-heat times is drastically lower. A typical heat cycle happens once a year and lasts over the course of one season, or 3 moons. This sounds like a lot but it's a slow ramp up to the "peak" time of the heat. To give an example of how it works within the heat: The cycle starts out with barely any noticeable reaction during the first moon, slowly increasing urges or thoughts on the matter and reaching a slightly noticeable reaction by the end of the first moon. When the second moon starts the effects increase exponentially for the first half of the moon, reaching peak "heat" at the halfway point of the whole heat cycle. All the while, fertility chance increases as well. After the peak, the heat rapidly dies down similar to how it built up; but, the cooldown portion of the heat can take slightly longer than the build up. Meaning overall it can potentially last a little bit longer than 3 moons, but it varies from woof to woof.

Hopefully that all made enough sense. You could think of the heat only as that second moon portion of the heat cycle since that's when it really becomes incredibly noticeable; but again, it varies from woof to woof so some feel the full 3 moons of the heat more or less than others.

To fully answer the question:

Dealing with the heat can range from sexual acts, or simply trying to ignore it. Also, certain remedies do exist in the world to help deal with or at least dampen the heat's effects. Kierra acts on them (usually), Tara becomes more cuddly, Jen doesn't feel much of it's effects, Maya.. well she's already trying to get close to Aaron so.., and Akire..???

It can be slightly awkward for guys since the scent of a woman's heat is quite noticeable during peak times. The scent causes a reaction in men that give them a "mini-heat" of sorts while around them; making them more amorous. In addition, most women will tend to get more physical during their heat and will show more affection towards their chosen mate (or closest potential mate.)

Alrighty, hope that info dump was a good enough explanation and hopefully I'm not forgetting anything too important.