Hey Do You Remember?

Hey do you remember?

No, no he doesn't...

I have been informed that I have passed inspection.

I have no idea what that means, but it sounds like a good thing.

Pardon me, just the FBI coming through

Submit your underwear whenever it is convenient

A visit from the Federal Bulge Inspectors! Oh!

Oh...uh....reporting for .... inspection then?

Unless you want me to literally submit them? What could you possibly need them for?

Adastran Sunset

Ya know, I thought getting abducted by aliens would be much worse, but this ain't half bad.

There may still be a bit of anal probing tho, lmao.

HOLY HECK! I FREAKING COOKED WITH THIS ONE! I am honestly stunned by how well this came out. This is likely one of my best pieces ever. It took a lot of work (and a cancelled DND session (Don't worry, I was sick and used the time to instead do this)), so I'm so happy it came out so well.

I was also excited to make another fanart of something. I'd read Adastra quite a while ago, but when the inspiration hits, ya know ya have to seize it. I know there's some sequels or something, but I haven't gotten around to them.

I have a lot of opinions on Adastra, so feel free to ask if you wanna lend me your ear.

Pardon me, just the FBI coming through

Submit your underwear whenever it is convenient

A visit from the Federal Bulge Inspectors! Oh!

Oh...uh....reporting for .... inspection then?

Unless you want me to literally submit them? What could you possibly need them for?

so you picked an otter as a sona cause you swim a lot makes sense, but why a north american river otter specifically? also why'd you become a furry/when?

(btw civilotterneer is a FIRE username. goated af for that)

Well, it's an interesting story, but one that'll make sense after some wine, I'm sure. Trying to understand the machinations of my mind is like reading a boring quantum physics textbook that'd be more entertaining if burned for s'mores.

Short answers:

North American because I AM North American. Also freshwater swimming mammal, which is what I am IRL.

Why: basically always was a furry gamer (played animal races in every video game or DND thing), just decided to be real about it instead of hiding it internally

When: January 2024

That quantum physics textbook is written out below should you want the full deal and answers, as well as the famous Civ IKEA story.

North American, well, yes, I am

Otter=swimmer. Same page, right? Well, I initially was going for a sona that was a mammal and swam. I thought about a beaver, as they build things like damns and live in water, but didn't like the look as much. I narrowed onto the mustilid family because I like the snake cats, as Ze Frank calls them.

North American River Otter was actually because, well, I'M North American. Being from the US, I was wanting something at least from the same continent, but I was also wanting something that swam in fresh water, since that's what I swim in. The NA River Otter, was just the right amount of all of these.

When and Why

As to when and why: the why is probably because I've always been a closeted one. I always played the Khajiit Skyrim character, the Leonin or Dragonborn DND character, the most animal-like race of any game where you get to pick your character. I had a lot of furry hate for a long time cause I saw it as disgusting. Funnily enough, this was my take on being gay as well, so I guess I can blame my Christian raising for that. Turns out, the stuff I was repulsed by the most were later revealed to be aspects of myself that I likely hated because they were a part of me and I didn't actively realize it.

I can't really tell you why I was this way, just that it's always been a part of my life and its only as of recent I decided to reflect on it and live it without hiding. I also came out as bisexual (I'm currently mostly just gay, but I wouldn't mark out finding the right woman to marry still), about a year and a half before becoming a furry, so the path was kinda laid out towards getting over those old self hates.

The when is probably officially January 2024, but I started investigating around December 2023 when I decided to commission a ref sheet for what I thought would be my sona. But later, after finding @galileogb's otter model for VRChat and attending PDFC, I fell in love with this model and the idea of furry, and thus it was my sona.

The IKEA Story

There was one hiccup in that month of January, however. Just before finding Civ's model, I wasn't happy with that sona ref sheet I had gotten, and I couldn't redraw it in personal art for lack of ability. I had been questioning whether being a furry was what I wanted, so around that time, I decided to give up the idea. BUT, I was driving to Phoenix to go to IKEA and grab some furniture, and somehow I was stopped for lunch and learned that PDFC, Phoenix's early January Fur Con, was occurring. Somehow, I thought it was a good idea to just see what was going on. While I basically just sat in a corner for the whole time, a very nice, older lady sat next to me, asking how I was. She had an awesome opossum suit that was veiled, and kinda looked like a Dishonored character but with green accenting. She really made me gather up my courage to take a second look at furry stuff cause I wasn't sold by just being there alone. The next day I found the Civ base model, and the rest is history.

I think I can literally blame three things for finally giving in to becoming a furry: IKEA, that nice older lady, and @galileogb. I can't really thank yall enough. I hope to go back to PDFC this year and give that lady the real thanks she deserves if I can find her.

On the case of the Civil Otterneer name, that was just a random perfect thought I had. I knew I'd impart my civil engineering work into my sona cause if this sona was going to be as large a part of my life as my work, then there should be some reflectivity. Then, I just thought Civ was a good shortened 'name' for him to be personable after coming up with the whole thing.

Story time finally over. Anyone got another bottle?

general thoughts on Amicus? and ur thoughts on his relationship with Marco?

Well, let's open up a can of worms by looking at our favorite wolf emperor.

First off:

Awooga.

Ok, now that that's out of the way, let's focus.

Amicus is pretty cool as a character for a few reasons.

First, I think his figure is a nice view of a character who can be attractive but has, well, a beer gut! I'm not for the 'becoming unhealthily overweight' side, but some of the strongest farmers on my dad's side of the family, including my dad, have builds like him. Pudgy but strong enough to lift bail rolls of hay.

Second, dear god is Amicus a sheltered noble child. I mean, he's kind, but he is way too confused why Marco acts the way he does when he's abducted.

If anything, the interaction of the pet/servant system is requiring of deep diving, but I'll keep it brief here. Amicus is supposedly 'progressive' but his culture still tells him that non-uplifted races are worthy of this servant rank, and that they should consider themselves lucky for the opportunity. His confusion to Marco's push back lends more to his lack of raising outside of nobility, he literally can't understand why one wouldn't to because he hasn't interacted enough with other species.

Now, since he's a guy who doesn't seem to have lots of friends, he becomes extremely attached to Marco. Like, unhealthily attached. It makes sense, but it's not great when your emperor has such an easy pressing point.

Now here's the thing: I think this flaw is pretty cool. It's a fascinating flaw for a sci-fi civilization character to have, causes some interesting interplay, and causes the main drama of the story, so I'm all for it.

In due honesty, Amicus has plenty of cool aspects, and leans pretty hard into his kind strengths. If he was any different or less kind, I don't think the stockholm syndrome situation would have gone so cleanly in his favor. He's pretty lucky he didn't get his skull caved by an angry ape that first day on the ship.

BUT, he's luckily also kinda hot and pretty kind, so he's got that.