Creature Suggestion: Ferribon 🎉🚩 Festival/anniversary inspired

lunarstarz • 3 April 2023 at 2:50 PM

#creaturesuggestion

Hi, obligatory "it's my first creature suggestion" and "I haven't been around for a while so if it's similar to any past creatures, whoops"

With that out of the way, I've had this idea simmering over the last few days and wanted to give it a try + post the current concept here even though it's still not fully fleshed out, partially because my idea keeps going on tangents

Image concept: https://ibb.co/5Wwhzk4
Extras (initial sketch, some variant poses etc): https://ibb.co/gSWN7pw

Theme/Concept: Festivals, Celebration
Creature: Ferribon (Ferret - Ribbon) - there's not actually much ribbons but I like the flow of the name
Evolution: Clicks/views at 1) 430 2) 1400 3) 2230

Egg: TBA (I'm still not sure what the egg design would be)

General description and notes (still a work in progress):
Ferribons are almost always seen carrying some sort of long weighted vine, string or thin fabric in their mouth which tend to wind around their body. This behaviour is actually to compensate evolutionary mutations resulting in their lack of tail, where purposeful tangling allows Ferribons to essentially create a makeshift tail and maintain their balance when they run.

- During the day, always on the move and energetic.
- Very friendly and playful, sometimes mischievous, fairly sociable, has eventually led to integration in society/urban environments. Fairly independent and nomadic, can't be easily kept as pets due to their nature
- Paws are in fact slightly warm and secrete micro oils that are solar sensitive, essentially causing temporary paw prints wherever they go
- Highly acrobatic. Also like Aerlo Ring Tosses (whether to catch them or even to nudge their head through and have the ring trapped around their body)
- Over time, they've tended to be associated with festivals - a tradition had formed where children would try to find Ferribons by their tracks and 'tag' them by attaching random trinkets, handkerchiefs, drawings, bells etc to the cord around them.
- Not all of the attached items endure the Ferribon's adventures. It is considered a good sign and a welcome sight seeing returning Ferribons with keepsakes from previous celebrations

Other notes:
- Initially written with Egg Cave's anniversary in mind - since it is close to the solstice as well, wanted to make a creature loosely tied with the long daylength of the summer solstice alongside some form of celebration. Wanted to have a happy lil creature which was 1) cute/fun/friendly 2) evokes the feeling of reliving good memories in the past. Also inspired the evolution numbers which can be read as times (eg daylength from 4:30 to 22:30, 14:00 in between can also represent 14th year)
- Fur coat for the hatched evolutions was intended to go from darker to brighter then darker again (sunrise - afternoon - sunset) but I'm a bit too attached to the 1st evolution colouring to change it 😸
- Even if it's not considered for that occasion, can also work for any other celebratory theme

wonder404exe • 3 April 2023 at 3:06 PM

@lunarstarz
THE COLORS?!!?!?
ITS TOO PRETTY T^T AAAAAAAAH

shirothekittehlover • 3 April 2023 at 3:09 PM

@lunarstarz
Oooh, I love this creature, what a good long boi :0
I really, really love how much thought you put into every aspect of it, even the evolutionary stats ❤️

Extra pings:
@Ian
@chaotictreat
@moonflower
@twinkle

snowywinter • 3 April 2023 at 9:03 PM

OMG, I loved the concept of it having the photosensitive oil secretions and the temporary pawprints sooooooo much that even though I'm really busy at the moment (I had a couple minutes and wanted to browse the forum from my tablet - which I only read from, ) I had to come reply to this thread! ❤️
(I swear I was discussing that concept with someone , but it was months ago and I don't know if it ever got posted, or from what type of creature.)
Would be so neat if that somehow ended up in the artwork of the creatures somehow. a little fading trail of paw prints. (oof, the detail for that artist. lol.)

I think I'd like one better/want one more if it had a big floofy(like silky swoosh) rainbow tail (and it still carried around ribbon or rope as they are creatures of hoarding, but could also like collecting items of celebration. Streamers, banners, tinsel, etc. And hey, if people are going to offer these things, and trinkets, who would they be to refuse ; ) So naturally it's drawn to festivals. Where those kind of things are dropped all the time.) (That brings up a question... not that this would have to make it into the written lore... but how likely are they to roll around in glitter given the chance? Imagining one finding some outside and getting newly acquired treasures wrapped around itself even more. *chuckle*)
Completely understandable if you want to stick with your original tail-less concept though.

For the egg, I'm picturing the dark and light brown swirls, a fuzzy egg, and a bit of rope trailing around it, with some trailing along the ground.

The name is ABSOLUTELY perfect! LOVE it! (No offense to other people posting creature suggestions, but this is one of the best names I've seen for a new creature in a while! Official releases included.)

Thank you for suggesting an Anniversary / Celebration creature! ❤️

lunarstarz • 4 April 2023 at 12:14 AM

@wonder404exe Glad to see you enjoy them!! ❤️ I'm pretty partial to warm colours or sunset gradients hahah so that might've been a bit of an influence.

@shirothekittehlover Yeah I find that I enjoy taking inspirations from real life first before going a bit more creative with designs and while that does end up taking a good portion of time, sometimes I like it when there's some significance between small or specific details 😊 Thank you for pinging others and bringing attention to this post ❤️

@snowywinter Ahahaha I had forgotten the word at the time for photosensitive but absolutely! The original image in mind was that the tracks would be likened to leaving 'trails of sunlight' wherever they go (also why I wanted the paws to be slightly warm) - personally I feel this concept would definitely work better with nocturnal creatures and bioluminescent oils instead (food for thought I suppose for any other upcoming creatures ideas) but I did really want to make a daytime creature.

Honestly, the lack of tail was my answer to considering a number of factors, because I initially wanted a rainbow tail of ribbons too or some sort of normal tail to balanced the Ferribon too, and definitely agree with your vision there. But I came across a couple of things that made me try something else:

1) When checking types of Weasel creatures on EggCavity to prevent me accidentally re-imagining an existing concept, I saw that there was the Stobow which had a rainbow tail, and while my idea wouldn't necessarily be the same and there are definitely a couple of thematic creatures with similar designs/concepts, I wanted to try make an alternative concept first to better distinguish the two.
2) Personally I liked the idea/image of like a small pack of them running across the rooftops or banners and people seeing them with a wave of colours flurrying behind them moreso from the collection of ribbons and items attached to them than from being their actual tail? So in this sense, I wanted the 'tail/s' to be the ribbons, tinsel and so forth, but I didn't want it to be their actual tail attached to their body? I can probably still add a tail along with it, but then that kinda led to the next point:
3) I was actually struggling with trying to draw and colour the design with the above restrictions - it was hard to get it to look right without the colours clashing or design looking too busy/unbalanced haha.

Overall I could probably take another go at adjusting the design later, but I'm thankful for the suggestions! (also I don't think that I'd put it in but they absolutely would find themselves rolling in glitter if they could and I'm thoroughly enjoying the mental image). Really happy to hear as well that the name is fitting! I really wanted to make sure I had a name that was simple and flowed nicely in conversation ("Hey look! There's a couple of Ferribon tracks over there!") and it's great to see that it worked 😃

snowywinter • 4 April 2023 at 1:18 AM

@lunarstarz

photosensitive is actually the wrong word >.< but my brain was fritzting out at the moment. (Sorry!) (Photosensitive usually refers to a variety of medical conditions, or substances that degrade easily in light.)
A quick Google search of 'bioluminescent synonym' has me thinking the word we're looking for is Chemiluminescence. (Thanks WordHippo & Wikipedia communities!)
(not meant as a lecture or anything, I have a curious mind and wanted to know too. As it is something I *know*, but heck if I could remember it. : p I LOVE glowy things!)
(Interesting factoid: With Chemiluminescence branch of luminescence specifically, some forms produce heat ^^ Science!
But you know.... happiness and sunshine can be perfectly logical explanations too ^^ < 3)

1) I started thinking about the Stobow after I posted too. And at first I was downtrodden remembering it has a rainbow tail too. But then I remember so many people rallying around me when I shared a dream I had about an anteater creature, them sharing examples of so many similar creatures on Eggcave. (There a few lions and fish that look like remakes. We just had another dogshark added last year. So, so many ghosts.) And them telling me it's fine. People love what they love. then I was like yeah... my tail idea was totally different, no reason to edit my post. Then I began to wonder at the possibility of the ferrets being cousin species.
But I totally understand wanting to make them distinguishable as original.

2) with them jumping along the rooftops with their treasures not only would the flannery be an interesting sight, but I'm sure the sound would catch attention too. (Heck knows how many times birds carrying human made things got my attention carrying them to their nests in spring as the things flutter in the wind. Strings, cellophane, tinsel, strips of bags, etc.)
*nodding* Adornments/treasure, not a modified body.
*snicker* Now you have me picturing Corgi butt-ed ferrets

3) understand all that. Aesthetic is important.

: )
Glad you know I wasn't being pushy, just spitballing. When i start having my own little off-shoot ideas it shows I really have taken a linking to someone else's idea. Creativity begets creativity.
( 😃 Glad I gave you a fun mental image of the glitter ferret. lol. Mission accomplished.)
Ferribon definitely summons up images of some sort of ferret creature... Given the penchant for sweets around here I didn't want to count out bon-bons, but give the title context, I was pretty certain it may have something to do with ribbons. (I've been deeply misled by some names in the past though and didn't want to get my hopes up... but you did NOT disappoint!) - but truth be told the name initially (before i opened the thread for details) conjured up images of a white (not albino) ferret with ribbons of rainbow surrounding it (sort of in the air, like with the water bunny) or like the swirls on a Tasma, and also carrying a celebration related pennant. (Owe that to one of my newest cards in a mobile battle game. It's so happy and joyful.) Not all cutesy like the Yazan, but more lanky.

(between looking up the name of the battle card and ferret art, I almost forgot to post. Going to do so before I get lost again. R.I.P. edits.)

mr-blue-bones • 4 April 2023 at 1:53 AM

This is really cute, I would definitely need a few! 😃

chihiro_sang • 4 April 2023 at 8:54 AM

Cute, a ribbon ferret, but it's name may be a little close to fourbon.

senpai • 4 April 2023 at 9:22 AM

this is so cute ❤️

noman15 • 4 April 2023 at 9:59 AM

It has a very colorful design.

xmar_27 • 4 April 2023 at 12:30 PM

Yaasss more ferret types! ❤️

pauloacacio • 15 May 2023 at 8:52 AM

Such a beauty!!!

noman15 • 16 May 2023 at 9:28 PM

How cute, it's certainly colorful enough for an anniversary creature.