-pats ilocke affectionately- only you buddy lmao

got a claim in the desert, and she's identical to what kara originally looked like except for smalti eyes lmao

just plain sunflower, white skin, no markings whatsoever

oh ilocke only you my dear lol

oh well, time to design a new girl! <3 -pounding fists on table- NEW FRIEND. NEW FRIEND. NEW FRIEND. NEW FRIE-

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-slaps phantom body and the white horse of pestilence on her- she doesn't even have a name yet lmao

and so much for her having ncl exclusive eyes lol <-- changed her eyes to sign to match The VibesTM

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i think i'm leaning towards changing things up with zojune here rather than my usual approach of 'new ncls come in just as they are and then undergo The Horrors to become their new looks' since i had most everything i needed to get her prettied up the day of, just need to finish my quest today to get her one more piece of decor, and i think it'd be fun to have her come in as a sort of 'she was already like that' character since i made her a spooky prophet girl

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ilocke is at 666 stats, what a perfect time for october to begin

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welp ive already lost 2 battles today, i know i had at least one freebie from my recent level up but i cant find record for any others??? could've had up to 3 but i cant find my records of leveling up to 19 and 20. hrmph. im usually pretty good at writing down when i lose a fight bc of the freebie system so if i cant find any records ill assume i had three as of this morning from levels 19, 20, and 21; gonna check discord when i go on lunch

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why YES, flipping between accounts gets really dangerous when it comes to battles since i can just spam click on this one :))))

(nothing happened just whining about my own wholly self-imposed struggles lmao)

i should really type up a summary of the lore, would help me keep track of it for when i sit down to write it, like a good outline

One thing I'll say right now while I'm sitting here is that Ilocke is extraterrestrial, just as stated on my den page! His species is called 'Mimics' in universe, while when I've adapted them to DND and the like I call them 'Copycats' to differentiate them from the already extant mimics. :) And just as also stated on my den, his species is inherently parasitic, but how could that be so when Ilocke is a sweet and gentle individual?

Well, part of the whole thing with his species is that it's an exploration of multiple themes, such as that you don't choose how you're born, where do you draw the line for rights when for some those rights inherently come at the cost of others (not saying this is reflective of reality or any particular group, just an interesting idea to explore!), and what defines 'parasitism'.

When mimics are born, they're born to organic lifeforms like you and I. They're always born in even numbered pairs, one normal child, and one mimic. This is because the mimic 'true' form is energy-based, and so the organic body they're born in is akin to a protective shell or, perhaps more accurately, an egg. The energy-based aspect of the mimic is too weak to sustain life outside of the organic shell when first born and needs further time to develop and strengthen themselves. This is simply because a mimic's 'gestation' period is far longer than that of any organic species, so they simply continue to inhabit the organic shell outside of the womb while continuing to develop. Don't mistake this for control or something of the like! There is no organic 'consciousness' inside the body, the body is wholly the mimic's, the brain is theirs and always has been, they will just eventually have the ability to transition to being an energy-based lifeform. :)

The reason they're born in pairs is that the mimic forms a close connection with their organic twin in the womb and this continues after birth, the mimic using the organic twin to stabilize themselves. This does not harm the twin and is in fact a commensal relationship, the mimic gains the benefit of stabilizing while the organic twin is unharmed! While in the womb, it is absolutely necessary for the mimic to have an organic twin, or else their energy-based 'core' cannot form stably and the child will be stillborn. :( After birth, the mimic is strong enough to survive the passing of their twin, but it will certainly make them quite sickly and of poor health.

After a time, usually before the organic body reaches adulthood, the mimic will be strong enough to survive outside of the organic shell and will transition from their juvenile to their adult stage. This involves the rapid decline of the organic body's health followed by death. The mimic then detaches from their shell/egg and is now in their adult stage. They are a wholly energy-based lifeform and are, in theory, immortal if they are not killed. Adult mimics are quite hardy as well, and killing one requires extreme disruptions in their energy. They are not even remotely bothered by the empty void of space, and often travel around the universe, both to search for homes and to simply explore and live their lives.

However, adult mimics are not capable of reproducing. This is because mimics MUST reproduce with an organic lifeform because, as previously discussed, young mimics are incredibly unstable and require a lot of support from organic matter in order to properly form. This is where the mimic's third life stage, reproductive, comes in.

If a mimic chooses to have children they must successfully 'copy' another organic lifeform. This process is incredibly draining to the organic lifeform and leaves them in terrible health and near death. If the host is already in poor health they can even be killed by the process, although this typically interrupts and ruins the copying process and so mimics prefer to avoid sickly hosts. The reason the copying process is so detrimental is that it involves the mimic invading every aspect of the host in order to know them intimately, enabling them to create a copy, and as mimics are hardy, energy-based lifeforms, this is extremely harmful to the host. This is what makes a mimic a parasite.

The copied body will be slightly different from the original, as nothing is ever exactly the same, and this includes a copy of their memories (although, again, slightly different (but we remember things wrong all the time, so is it really all that different?)). A mimic is now on a timer, for when binding themselves to a copied body they have made it so that they cannot be unbound from it, and when the body dies, so will they.

As a result, mimics are often some of the most wonderful and loving parents you could ever find, because they had immortality for as long as they wished, and wanted children so much that they chose to die. And yet, mimics are still parasites, and reaching the point of having these children comes at the expense of another. Mimics are also prone to killing their hosts after copying them, even if the host is still alive, to prevent retaliation. (And, in the case of copying a wild animal, to give them a merciful death rather than letting them die slowly.)

Yet, mimics are sapient, intelligent and capable of thought. It is wholly possible for a mimic to find a host who is willing, to bond with another as friends or more, to become so close that their friend is more than willing to take a period of sickness so that the mimic can have children. The occasional instance of this is seen as a touching story of love and sacrifice, the mimic becoming a caregiver to their friend in the aftermath until they are well, the two often close till the end of their days.

But mimics are still often seen as little more than parasites due to the harm their nature causes, it is not uncommon for partners to reject a mimic upon finding out their nature, knowing that it came at the cost of another. As such, it's not uncommon for mimics to keep quiet about their species, hoping that they can at least successfully have and raise a single child (of their species - while some mimic parents only care for their mimic child and disregard the organic twin, most love both to the ends of the universe, after all, they wanted children so much they chose to die, why would they not love their second baby just because they're a different species?).

Which is where the interesting moral dilemmas come into play - is it fair to deny an entire species the right to reproduce just because of something they cannot help? Is it fair to demand that all mimics take non-sapient hosts and reduce them to having families with wild animals? Of course the copying process done unwillingly is a violation of the host's rights, but does that justify violating the mimic's?

And what does this mean about Ilocke? Who is he? He is a mimic, that much is clear, but what was his relation to his host? Ilocke is terribly kind and protective of even strangers, and seems very distraught by his host's passing despite not being able to remember what happened (not even knowing what he is), could he really have taken an unwilling host? If his host was willing, why would Ilocke have ever started the copying process if his host was in a position to die? And if he didn't, then why did the host die?

Why is Ilocke so fearful, feeling like something is coming? Like something is out to get him? Like he has to do something important to protect those around him, and like being near him puts those around him in danger?

What happened to him?

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note to self: STOP BEING COCKY YOU'RE GOING TO LOSE THE CHALLENGE

(i did not lose a fight but i once again gambled and went for another hit when i could theoretically kill if i hit but i would also definitely die if i missed and got hit myself, this is okay to do when i have freebies, i do not have any more freebies. i am a danger to my own challenge asdfghjkl)

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oop had to do death saves bc i overestimated how much hp i had, it's fine i got heads, tails, heads he's fine he lives another day

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i maxxed ilocke's imp so i can claim ncls without impacting the challenge (holding them for my side) and briefly unsecured saba, sara, and zojune and sent them to my side so i could make use of the three slots they took up to get the last bit of usefulness out of my catnip that i could. it feels WRONG that they're not with me (they'll be home as soon as these ncls come off cooldown and i can swap them back bUT STILL-)

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I only have like a month before Kara has to ascend I’m nOT READY-

She’s off to go fight the false prophet and his army, and possibly I may have Eliein ascend with her depending on how her next heat goes (I still need an heir honey) because they’re so close

I intend to make a lore summary thread soon so that I have the basics of what happens written out at least

It can basically be summarized as:

Ilocke: who am I??? what am I??? oh my god i think i killed someone and stole their face
Kara: … so i see that someone needs therapy
Nirah: well no i mean he’s a mimic so like, he is actually a face-stealer and most mimics kill whoever they’re copying when they do so so he did probably kill someone and take their face, he seems p chill tho so i bet there’s more to the story than that
Ilocke: -runs away in terror that he’s going to spontaneously go back to being ‘evil’ and kill his family-
Kara and Eliein: -absolutely booking it after him- WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT HE WAS DOING BETTER
Nirah: I SAID THERE’S PROBABLY MORE TO THE STORY-
Original Ilocke, who had his face stolen, watching from heaven as his best friend tears himself apart for mercy-killing him when he begged for his friend to copy him and live on so that the evil mimic they were fighting wouldn’t get the chance to take his face instead: :’( bestie :’((((

they were going to be brothers, mimic-ilocke was going to gently copy him and then nurse his friend back to health, and they were going to have a pride together as brothers and best friends, then someone had to come ruin it and og ilocke gave his life for it :(

(Mimic-Ilocke had a name when he was a child, but renounced it when he got older, saying he wanted to pick out a new name once he finally found a place to spend the rest of his life. He was nameless, which is why the only name he can remember is his best friend’s: Ilocke. He feels like he stole it, like he couldn’t even have the decency to put either his face OR his name to rest with his passing. His mother (adoptive, shows up at the very end) puts it well as she comforts him while he’s dying: ‘No, you didn’t steal it, I rather think he shared it with you.’ :’) )

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It’s another one cub litter so no mimic baby yet but BABY LIIIIIIVES

WHOOOOOO THEY’RE GONNA HAVE ANOTHER KID

So far all of the survivors have been bangers but last litter showed they have the potential for some ugly ass kids so we’ll have to see what I can do lmao. But tbf -filing claws- everyone except for the cubs has been built from the ground up and I think they’re all bangers if I do say so myself -blows dust off claws- so I think I’ll manage

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-excited wiggle- new baby in the morniiiing

So far they’ve had three bangers, one potential banger, and one ‘yeesh that would need a lot of work’ lol (couldnt crb eli’s 3 cub litter since she had a survivor so technically they’ve had 5 kids, they have since been sentenced to the reserve via my side so they’ve had 3 kids lol)

So far I’ve made it work and October’s not over yet, so I’ve still got access to all those apps and decor to work with in building a design. We shall see-ee (sing-song)

I’ve been utterly spoiled by them having two rare bases so far, and the fact that the middle cub was the one to survive last time and she was the ebony lol. Utterly spoiled by the fancy bases for their kids, and Ilan may be a common base but brass is putting some work in on behalf of all common bases lol

And it’s even sweeter that Ilan takes after her dad so much, Beneditia her mom, and Sara is a wonderful mix of them both

The pride is advancing to 8 lions, Ilocke has such a big family now not to mention non-lions that are there in story like Nirah and Harbinger more or less permanently, and Aitar when he’s able (Ilocke’s male backup lmaooo)

I’m so proud of my stupid boy, and hey, this cub may well be the 200 stat cub I need for my first stat goal! Only took -checks watch- I don’t want to think about it lol

I’m debating making this cub heir regardless of whether they’re male or female and just sex changing and then test frogging them so they can lorewise by the heir but game mechanics wise they’d have to be the ‘king’. In order to make it work any NCLs who became her subsequent partner(s) would also have to be test frogged to appear ‘male’ but hey, could be fun. Id pricey. And I’m already stressed to fuck about having the jellyfish and space to freeze the current crew before they die (I’ll store them in dynasty and res later if it comes to it - but lorewise I’d really rather not. Like - at least the first five, yknow? I’ve got what I need for Kara and Eliein already so they’re good, but ofc frozen slots get MORE expensive so o o f. I need 60gb to get the ‘space’ for the others I want to definitely freeze prior to death. I have uh, 3. F.)

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Okay well I just mass sold a bunch of stuff I had buried and am up to 9gb now so not bad. Should be able to get to 10gb tomorrow and that’ll be my ‘third’ frozen slot done. Jellyfish next so 5 more gb and Saba will be ready to freeze when we get there. Then Ilan and then Sara. Bene I feel can be ressed later and it’d be fine, same with Zojune. They just haven’t been around as long so aren’t as core to Ilocke’s character lol

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ilocke babygirl i love you but why do you keep getting vulture eggs from trick or treating but my side doesnt when my side is the one im karma farming on

(‘Just transfer them’ no they’re challenge materials now!!! what if i need them )

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HE LOOKS LIKE HIS MOMMY

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