pluffies

https://www.deviantart.com/pluffies

close specie

pluffies are stuffed plushes stitched with the rare thread of the stars.
their hearths are a little glass heart trinket sewn inside them, it gives them
their essence, which keeps them alive, as well as their outside appearance.
for example, a pluffie with a flower themed hearth will look nature-like on the outside.

most pluffies are found within a different universe from our own. they live peacefully
together. they spend their time sewing stuffed plushies for themselves and those
around them, however unless the plushie is stitched with thread collected from the stars and
given a hearth, it will stay as a normal plush.

pluffies are as small as a normal plush. they can live for as long as their essence remains inside them.
when they are injured, they bleed out their essence instead of blood, and must sew themselves
back together with a patch of fabric to stop the bleeding. patches are generally uncommon in the
pluffie community as many pluffies have become cautious towards anything they believe
may be dangerous. fatal injuries to where their hearth is stored, shown by a little heart patch
found in every pluffie, can lead to a huge loss in essence, causing
the pluffie to slowly fade away.

pluffies do not reproduce, instead when the stars align perfectly in their own universe, a day called
day of the stars, tiny spools collect the essence that falls from the stars. they use this,
along with hearths, to carefully sew together a new pluffie. pluffies can be "reincarnated"
if the hearth of a fading plushie is carefully removed and put into a new pluffie. the process of
sewing a pluffie can take up to a year because of the precise stitches required to prevent a
defective pluffie. normally, a defective pluffie will fade out on its own after a day,
but defects are very rare as they waste precious thread and time.

pluffies stitch small designs onto their ears for many reasons. it can help
tell twins apart, a common occurrence during years where the day of the stars brings
extra thread, and it can also be used for social status. in the pluffie world, social
status is determined by the rarity of their hearth but also their abilities to sew, a
skill needed to survive from injuries. from the day their hearth is placed inside them,
they begin to sew. many start their years off with a small design but gradually increase the complexity.
many pluffie elders have intricate designs that span across their entire ears, showing
that the age of a pluffie can affect the complexity of the design.

a pluffie's personality is determined by two factors: their hearth and the type of ears they have.
the type of animal their ears correspond to affect their personality greatly.
for example, a pluffie with cat ears can have more cat-like traits like
sneakiness, alert, etc. the amount of items and types of items
in a pluffie's hearth can change their personality too. for example,
 a pluffie with water in their hearth tend to be more easy-going and flexible,
while a pluffie with clouds in their hearth tend to be more distant and imaginative.