Hey everyone! Here's an awesome new pic I got from NagaiNosfw over on Twitter.

It's a reference sheet of a brand new character I had made by the name of "Thom". He works as a Transporter, ferrying goods from one spaceport to the next using a cargo spaceship he pilots. He's also a member of the newest race of cosmic kitties to join the galactic community known as "Demies".

Now what are "Demies"?

Demies are a race of felines that are known for their small stature. Where the other races generally clock in at heights above 5 feet, Demies rarely measure anything close to 4 feet. But what they lack in size, Demies make up for in innovation and ingenuity. Engineers and salvagers by trade, Demies are the proverbial repairmen and custodians of the galaxy - responsible for nearly all the maintenance work on space stations and removing all the debris left over from the other races' battles and failed projects.

Now despite their immense contributions to the galactic community, Demies aren't well-received by a good portion of the populace - primarily for their origin. You see, unlike the other feline races that inhabit the galaxy, Demies didn't "naturally" appear. How they came about was way at the start of the formation of the galactic community, the Zire, the oldest and (at the time) most advanced race, sought to fast-track the endeavor by endowing those they deemed capable their knowledge of "Zero-Point" technology. Using what they learned, the other races were able to quickly traverse between systems in a fraction of the time that it would have taken them before, allowing them to not only establish means of communication but also routes of commerce and trade that greatly propelled their technological advancement. But despite all the good that came with utilizing Zero-Point technology, an abrupt drawback would suddenly make an appearance.

About a decade or so after the Zire introduced the other races to this new means of travel, things were progressing smoothly - until out of nowhere, what would be known as the "FIRST" Demies started to appear. It started with a handful of spacefaring individuals having children that were stunted in growth and smaller in appearance. Now at first, these instances were dismissed as chance anomalies, but as time progressed, more and more people began experiencing the same thing. Upon investigating, it was quickly discovered that the Zero-Point engines everyone was using emitted a form of radiation that wasn't deadly but instead altered the genetic makeup that would be passed to their offspring. This process would later be called, "Demification", and as it would turn out, the Zire had no idea this technology of theirs had such an effect, as it was found that they had a natural immunity to the Zero-Point radiation.

Now once the culprit was identified, special shielding was quickly developed and implemented on all ships, preventing further Demification, but by that time the damage had already been done. A good portion of the spacefaring community had sired a vast number of Demi children who would forever be recognized for their small size. Now despite all this, life continued on and business proceeded as normal, but once these affected individuals reached adulthood and started having kids themselves, new issues suddenly emerged with two shocking discoveries.

The first was no matter the pairing, Demi adults would always bear Demi children. If a male Demi impregnated a female, regardless of that female being a Demi or not, the child they would bear would be a Demi. The same goes for female Demies. If a female Demi is impregnated by a male of any sort, their baby would be a Demi. Now this discovery would rub a lot of folks the wrong way as they viewed the Demi condition as an "affection", leading them to believe that allowing them to reproduce was only hampering future generations - but it was with the second revelation that REALLY got a bunch of them steaming.

What was found was not only could Demies reproduce with members of their own race, but they could create offspring with individuals of other races as well! What was once considered a genetic impossibility was now a reality for the Demi population. A Demi-Valorian could mate with a Demi-Arcanian and create a child that shared traits of both parents - with the same being possible with a Demi-Pumari and Demi-Karaku, and so on and so forth. But despite this being an amazing marvel of both life and science, many inhabitants of the galaxy weren't receptive to this news at all. Known as "Purists", these people would go around and spend anti-Demi rhetoric; deeming them as abominable affronts to nature and perverse threats to the sanctity of their races.

Now thankfully, a good portion of the galactic community doesn't share in such viewpoints, with them instead aiding in endeavors to make the Demi population feel more included - with the most recent being the galactic-wide declaration of the Demies being recognized as an official race, instead of simply a variation of others. But despite these immense strides of inclusion, there are still pockets of the galaxy that harbor disdain for them, primarily the more out-of-the-way and lawless areas such as Schrödinger Station.

Regardless of this though, there are several Demies like Thom that are deadset on proving to these people that they belong - and no matter what they try to throw his way, he'll always be ready to show them that the biggest of surprises often come from the smallest of packages. X3

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Artwork by NagaiNosfw.

*If you want to see more of NagaiNosfw's awesome work, check out his Twitter at https://twitter.com/NagaiNosfwart