How are you feeling about Rei being a deer in the latest preview. 🎤
It's interesting! I'm excited for his WD scenes!
I anticipated the devs were going to make him a bird and have the story be something like Eiden finding an injured birdling and nursing him back to health. But that honestly wouldn't really track because
They already sort of did a storyline like that with Edmond
If you accept that Wild Desires are AU's representing the clan members ultimate fantasies then it wouldn't make sense to have Rei be in a poweless position. Rei has to experience enough helplessness in his regular life. An ideal scenario would have him be the one with the means to take care of others. He wants power and agency. He doesn't want to be the one hurting anymore. (That's not to say Rei wouldn't enjoy being pampered by Eiden though. He's a princess at heart.)
The whole bird thing is sort of a representation of a pretty shitty moment in Rei's life as well as a physical manifestation of his unspecified magic fantasy illness. It represents his bond with Father, yes, but the only reason why that bond came to be was because he sort of died (RE: Remnant Trace). An all around shitty memory, even if he's been able to move past it.
Being a predator animal (a cat, an owl) is something that represents the current Rei but he isn't someone who actually enjoys the idea that he has to kill to survive. He accepts it and has come to terms with the eat or be eaten nature of the world, but if he could, Rei would probably prefer a more pacifist lifestyle. Deep down he's is a sensitive guy like that.
A bird of prey is who Rei is now. A deer is something he wishes he could have stayed as.
Anyway, new prediction for Deer Rei is that his WD is going to be about a forest prince who's taken a liking to this random human. Fey type shit. It would be really cool if there were mentions of Rei's mother still being around in this AU... He's such a momma's boy that his ideal life would probably include her still being alive.
I appreciate the dev's not going the obvious route for him and instead considering what would actually make sense for what WD represents. Rei is turning into quite the chimera though... He's a bird, a cat and a deer now hahaha