"Having a handicap in sports gives players an advantage right? Well, I'm feeling pretty good about mine."

Samaya's character has changed a lot since I first created her. She started off hard hearted and distant, her innocence gone along with her arm, though she kept within her a core of good-hearted purpose. She used to hate herself, thinking that it wasn't fair that she survived being shot down when so many of her comrades didn't. Her decision to hop back into the fighter after she recovered was equal parts suicidal and altruistic.

Through interactions with just one player in my old game, she began to turn into a person who was much more comfortable with herself and her place in the universe. They got her to open up, turning her into a kind of motherly figure and forcing her to come out of her box of self loathing. These two characters were ones that I really pushed. There were role reversals, hardships, and more. I'm not -entirely- satisfied with how I handled the game as a GM. In fact I flubbed some things pretty badly. But these two characters formed a bond that lasted through the whole thing.

Samaya is now a more confident otter. She doesn't hide behind facades or shut herself away any more. She's stopped seeing herself as cursed and started to step out more, expanding her horizons and getting to enjoying life again.

Considering that she in no small way represents my own disability, I have to marvel at how strangely in parallel things have occurred. And she isn't even a candidate for fursona.

Art by  AceTheBigBadWolf, who was offering free sketches in celebration of his birthday.