Firstly, yes, I am aware of the sudden influx of new species that resemble the Langurhali/Willora the past few months.
Yes, I am aware of the irony of them all making a huge point that they're not to be copied or even used as inspiration for other species.
No, I don't really care. And even if I did, there's nothing I could do about it? Or would, if I could?

I appreciate you guys watching out for me, but really, I'd much rather be getting notes from people contributing new characters or ideas for the group. Not telling me about this or that new species that resembles the Langurhali. I'll admit, there have been one or two that are pretty blatant. But most of them are pretty generic, seem designed to make money and will thus presumably die off after a few months, anyway. Such is the way of this fandom. Meanwhile, I've had the Langurhali for decades. Willora is literally older than some of the people making potential Langurhali copies. And that's not something that can be taken from me. So why should I care? It does hurt at first to see these things, despite knowing they can never really take them away from me. To see people try to claim them as their own, morph them into something more profitable or popular... it doesn't get to me as badly as the idea that someone would -try- to do those things. Often the very same people who follow my art and have shown support to me in the past. Beyond the hurt of knowing people can be that careless with someone else's passion, it doesn't actually take anything away from me. And it's because I made peace with that that I decided to share the Langurhali at all.

For what it's worth, I spent my life writing about Willora and the creatures within it, and have been absorbed in their world countless times throughout my life. It's where I went for safety. It's something I leaned on for my emotional health. I NEEDED it. It was mine, my secret, my safe place and no one else could touch it. Where other kids would cry, I would close my eyes and escape. When I made the decision to share them, I had to remind myself that if ever they were taken and claimed by another ego, I'd have to remember that the parts they stole were merely parts and not the whole. They'd steal an image, a piece, but never would they be able to take what this world means to _me_. My love for it. That's something no one else can have, or know, for these dumb cats. Even if no one had interest in it or the Langurhali, I would never stop drawing them, working on their story, or sharing them with people. They will always be an open species, as long as I can approve them, because I LOVE seeing what other people do with them and it's such an honor every time someone puts time and effort into a Langurhali design. I don't make them for money or fame or porn (obviously). I make them because they are a lifelong passion. And since sharing them, I've had no regrets, because it only made them more important to me.

I learned strength within Willora and I also learned how to give, and to trust. This world may be meaningless and unimpressive to everyone but me, but it's done so much for me, it's everything. I chose to share it because I got from it what I needed, and I wanted it to be to others what it was to me, and still IS to me. I've had people make fun of me for it, internet diagnose me as though there's something wrong with me for caring so much about a make-believe world, and even intentionally steal aspects of it because they knew how much it would hurt me. But in that hurt, I realized, it's not the act of stealing that hurt me, it's the idea that someone who once cared for me would have the conniving mind to think to do something so cruel that hurt me. To take something I love more than anything, and try - TRY - to use it against me. Thankfully, this world is mine no matter how hard anyone may try to take it.

And no amount of (potential) copying will change that! So it's no skin off my knee, really, because the above is what matters to me, and they are things no one can never hope to steal.

If anything out there IS somehow a direct "rip off" of Langurhali, all I have to say about it is this: It is sad that, in this vast world that is a virtually endless supply of inspiration, there are people who choose to derive inspiration from someone else's creations instead. People can do so much better, but there will always be those who choose laziness and competitiveness over true ingenuity. I was prepared for that from the day I decided to share their story on the internet.

You have to learn what truly matters when you create something. And if that thing can be taken from you so easily, then you probably shouldn't share it with anyone.