TRIBE OF CATS

One of various ways to cope with anxiety; writing fantasy stories where I can play by my own rules! Especially when they're only a few chapters or so (each), not too long where I don't have to have a huge single-plot story arc.

I'm calling it TRIBE OF CATS (formerly The Mountain Leopard, until I decided to expand the world and characters). The way I like to approach it is "Zootopia meets LOST." Why? Because as I delve deeper into it, I'm getting to know my characters who all have their own issues, inner demons, things they struggle with, have to adapt to, and so forth. With so many types of wild cats, so many ideas... I just decided "why not use them all?"

- a snow leopard learning to a be a prophet
- a pair of tigers working as Feline guardsmen
- a panther wanting to put his past as a bandit behind
- a saber-tooth cat struggling with depression
- a leopard who dreams of being a great inventor
- a brawn-over-brain lion who has to learn to use his brain over brawn
- a lynx looking for adventure
(What I got so far anyway)

*** For example the panther Malorn (as depicted above with the bow and arrow) is adapted from an iconic character I created in high school; I decided to bring him here as a panther, since that particular story had hit a dead end, and I loved writing about him back then. Didn't wanna just leave him in the back of a box, know what I mean? ***

I love being able to pick out a single quality and then expand on it; a lot of them are things that I've struggled with and experienced myself, so it makes it more fun to write about them (and in some cases helps me to understand them, if that makes sense). It feels more like getting to know my characters rather than just inventing them. As I go along I'm learning their backstories and how they add up to future events.

Another reason I'm writing Tribe of Cats as a series of stories like this is because in the past, I've had this habit of making some of the secondary characters more interesting and/or cooler than the main character; not that this is abnormal, a lot of writers do that.
This time, however, I decided to use that to my advantage and, like I said, "use them all."

It does help to have  "furries" drawing books, among others, that gives me some new ideas and motivates me to try drawing these characters that I've formed in my head. So yeah that's what I've got so far keeping me occupied.