Lost Assets (Savage Love "Darkmane Debates")

I've had this sitting in my 'in progress' folder for a while. This still was initially slated to be in the backdrop of the page three of savage love. Essentially marking the end of the news broadcast, and the shift to a different show. However, in the end it proved to be too distracting even blurred, and so I chose to go with a simpler option. a mockup of a still of Dr. Stranglove's intro, but changed to Dr. Strangelamb.

Still, I thought this might be worth sharing as I do intend for this guy to show up eventually in my fics, specifically in the last Hunter-Bellwether fic surrounding Dawn's pregnancy. 

So who is Mr. Darkmane? Darkmane is a lion who runs a crossfire style debate program where he mediates between two opposing arguers. In the context of the plot, he invites Dawn on an episode of his show to debate a fervent anti-interspecies relationship advocate. Dawn is able to hold her own for the most part, but the creeping nausea she had been suffering from for the past several weeks forces her to run off set so she not be caught throwing up on live tv twice in her life. This is of course after her opponent argues how 'unnatural' interspecies relationships are, and if the gods had meant for them to happen, there would be hybrids running around everywhere. Shortly after being taken to the hospital, she finds out she's pregnant.

As for Darkmane's design, it's very clearly influenced by scar. Not just because i liked scar's design, but I wanted him to fit the role of this level headed outsider whose risen to a position of prominence despite how lion's feel about 'dark maned lions' and their automatic demonization due to looking vaguely like Scar from the lion religion. Darkmane's own scar covering his right eye is the result of an acid attack by other lions while he worked as an anchor in Great Kitten. Something he brings up while later apologizing to Dawn for the tone of his guest, and empathizing with her because he knows what it's like to be an outsider, and hated.

Anyway, just thought I'd share it...mostly so you could get an idea of my crazy thought process and characterization methods, and I didn't really want it to go to waste either.

-Wasty