Okay so before I follow The Schedule, it's time to yap about the child (OC) that I have with @boarloved-art!!! After some careful consideration (wheel spinning), Its name is Yiran! If this reads as kind of clunky, just know that this was jammed together from notes I wrote in Eli's DMs: Okay so basically the premise of Yiran is that Its demonic species is like the rubbish bin of the sea. They're a mixture between betta fish and arowana - very pretty but they'll just eat anything they find. Pretty and elegant until they open their mouths and there's just TEETH. They unhinge their jaws and just eat corpses n shit. I think the demons are wandering around on the ocean floor and are definitely like, travellers rather than having a proper habitat, but they're definitely adapted to go through high pressure, dark areas and should be glow in the dark as well as a good sense of smell - this would help them find corpses and things. Because of how I view the underwater demons have having more of a chill ecosystem where it's very much "yeah you can eat my uncle because you need food!" HOWEVER, the species is sort of viewed as binmen, with general demon posturing that's like "you're that species?? Gross!" There's a sort of isolated feeling to this ecosystem though, because people don't get very attached to their kids or family members so, while everyone's more generally casual and chill with one another, there's no real sense of family or community.
The species itself is not seen as very strong, definitely just seen as pretty, so they do get picked on often, and on one of these occasions, a few demons take it too far and just kill a few of Yiran's family members, which causes Yiran to be like "man what the fuck...that ain't cool to me!" Yiran has a skin condition where, instead of just one vibrant colour of skin, It has two patches of colours. Because of this, It got double flack for Its skin condition and for being Its species. There's quite a lot of this particular species because of the fact that they just eat everything and multiply to keep the oceans clean, meaning there's even less community to be found, which leads It to crave that environment even more than other demons of Its species would. Notice I'm using It/Its? Because the species is so loose and uncaring of one another, there's this sort of depersonalisation aspect of just "we're here to eat. To clean up other people's messes." They're just tools to wider society and even within their own species, so there isn't much communication or individualisation. Oh, right, Yiran is deaf and that's why! It's an evolutionary thing where there was just no need for hearing, especially because they can read through vibrations in the water for predators n shit.
Yiran goes up to the surface for the first time, wanting to prove to the other demons (even within Its species) that there's more to them than just eating corpses and shit 0 of course, Its parents are just like "lmfao okay" because of reasons previously mentioned. So, now Yiran is on the surface and, while clueless about everything, is very enthusiastic to start proving Itself, so starts trying to learn about humanity so that It can properly adapt and pretend that It is human for "cool spy reasons >:3" The issue is that It is very much still in the demon realm but just thinks humans are more like It than It thought at first, until they actually meet a human (that's being tormented by demons but that's irrelevant to the point). Its 'human disguise' is like the equivalent of glasses and a fake moustache, like It puts in xianxia eye contacts that dissolve instantly because acidic tears or something and tries to change the colour of Its skin but lets the scale patches stay, and then just calls it a day. Its trying Its BEST. It thinks It's been learning so much about humans even despite getting it from demons (we all know how they view humans lmfao) and is just so definitely not learning anything about them.
It does, however, learn about demonic fighting and definitely becomes a brawler/brute weapon kinda person (hammer? Axe? I like axes), and does learn how to talk. It's excited to be able to speak, learning everything with joy and enthusiasm because yay!! Yiran is a social little demon, all It ever wanted to do was have people to communicate and bond with, and was super upset when It got to the surface and couldn't understand people at first. Because It's an enthusiastic sweetheart that wants to prove Itself and learn/help with anything, some demons are charmed by It and help It learn to speak. It learns through vibrations, lip reading, and trial and error (like, touching someone's throat to hear them speak), which means that sometimes Its tone doesn't match the conversation (overly neutral? Too happy?). Yiran's almost addicted to the sense of community found in some of the more tight-knit clans of demons, having grown up without such community and being a social demon despite that.
Obviously, Yiran forgets to focus on the idea of 'proving Itself' because It's overwhelmed and excited by everything around It. I think It's probably brawling with another demon or something when the two stumble through a boundary between the human/demon realm, right into Huan Hua territory. Huan Hua are obviously notified of demons slipping through the cracks and go to investigate. They get there to find Silly beating the shit out of another demon and basically throwing them back through the demon rip, before turning to these obvious humans and going 'holy shit...this is my chance!' Then It's like "haha yes I am indeed a human. I am just...not from around these parts and would love to learn more about your customs." Huan Hua goes "what about your skin" and Yiran, thinking that they mean Its Actual Skin Condition, goes "It is a condition, I am sorry." Huan Hua Disciples are like "no, it's cool! It looks cool!!" and takes It back to Huan Hua Palace because they love showing off and now they can have diversity! Yiran doesn't know what gender is so It just goes based on the vibes on the conversation, so there's a bunch of Huan Hua disciples calling It many different pronouns and all thinking that they're right without questioning each other.
Yiran is obviously a very social demon, but one that hasn't grown up in a social environment and so doesn't how to socialise properly, talking about whatever strikes Its interest or whatever is actually important in any situation. It's very blunt because of language barriers/tone issues, but the kind of blunt where It definitely would be tactful if It had the means/knowledge to (if that makes sense). It's enthusiastic and easily excitable, but also very morbid - hey, you try living the first part of your life doing nothing but going around devouring corpses, and fighting viciously with other demons over those corpses without becoming morbid! It has eaten multiple kinds of corpses when above surface - instinctive need to clean up any messes, including after fighting (human, other demons, animals, Its eaten it all). Yiran is also an extremely clean individual (like Woshua from Undertale :3), always has multiple handkerchiefs and cleaning supplies on It. The moment It notices a mess, It dives over to sort it out (unhinges Its jaw and starts dropping all things into it - only organic things though, not like fabric (It learned that the hard way)).
Our baby is just constantly confused. In an utter state of confusion and never really knows what's goin' on but is like very good at thinking on the spot. Why is this? Because It both doesn't really understanding humans and because people don't actually know It's deaf, just assume that It is a little slow on the uptake sometimes. So! It's very very good at working in the spur of the moment and, due to Its struggles with tone, Yiran sounds more neutral and convincing (if It did understand tone, It would be SUCH a bad liar/spy) which is sort of why nobody assumes It to be a demon - "hey, where did the body go?" ten second pause "...I accidentally kicked it and it fell into the river." "...Yeah that makes sense! It's a shame we couldn't sell it!" It's only efficient when It needs to be, n will become very quickly distracted if there isn't any threat in Its opinion - however, because It is a demon and has faced off against leviathans n shit for food, It has a very skewed perception of danger. YES, this does mean that It's trying to climb up a tree to peer into a nest while other disciples are fighting for their lives against a huge monster or something.
Yiran finds the idea of life and death, and the importance both land demons and humans place upon it, fascinating. It's grown up in a society underwater where it's completely normal to die at any moment and there's no reason to place any importance on it. Demons just die sometimes/don't celebrate births or anything, so It gets super excited about these things when they happen (after getting super freaked out the first time it happens). Because It finds life and death so fascinating, It LOVES kids - there weren't many around down below because babies are either left to die or kind of buried beneath sand n shit so that they aren't immediately bodied by any other demons hanging around. More in general about how humans interact with my babbbyyy myy baaaabbbyyy yooouu're my baby say it to me but like Huan Hua is so oblivious to the fact that there's a demon amongst their ranks that they get super offended on Yiran's behalf whenever someone tries to point out the differences between It and everyone else. They still absolutely hate demons, too, they just believe everything It says because It's just a cute and sweet little guy that has done no wrong!
Luo Binghe joins Huan Hua Palace and immediately is like "dudes that's a fucking demon, you hypocrites!" and the Huan Hua disciples go "GASP! LUO-SHIDI YOU CAN'T SAY THAT! HE HAS A SKIN CONDITION!!" "Yeah, she's not from these parts, she's trying her best!" This, paired with many instances of Binghe trying to prove that Yiran is a demon so It doesn't interfere with his plans, leads the disciples to be like "ohhh noo..I think Luo-shidi is racist..." while Yiran is unhinging Its jaw in the background to devour a beast body they just killed while Binghe watches on in offense. He is completely gaslit by the disciples, who think they're teaching him how to be more tolerant after Cang Qiong 'fucked him up'. Nobody else really suspects Yiran aside from like three people (from different sects) who either don't care or don't want the racism claims thrown at them as well. It gets to the point where It literally ends up as a good source of income (selling Its scales, which are rare because usually Its species of demon is just devoured) and also screens disciples. This means that Huan Hua accidentally becomes more diverse because It has no idea what It's doing and therefore doesn't get The Rules.
