RFC: An official mascot for Luau (#37)

* mascot rfc

* typo

Co-authored-by: Alexander McCord <11488393+alexmccord@users.noreply.github.com>

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Co-authored-by: Alexander McCord <11488393+alexmccord@users.noreply.github.com>

docs/luau-mascot.md

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+# An official mascot for Luau
+
+## Summary
+
+Luau's branding is currently entirely based around a rotated square logo in a particular shade of blue.
+This works well for professional presentation on the website and so forth, but there is a gap for
+elements of the brand identity that are more personable and easier for people to identify with. Toward
+that end, this RFC proposes Luau adopt an official mascot for the language.
+
+## Motivation
+
+The primary motivation is that Luau's current branding consists entirely of a logo, which is relatively
+cold and harder for people to identify with. In the Rust community, there's been a lot of success with
+[Ferris the crab](https://www.rustacean.net/) as a language mascot, leading to a variety of merchandise
+and fanart from the language community. Ferris serves as an icon that Rust users are much happier to
+identify with and portray than just the language's logo on its own, especially in less formal settings.
+We'd like to be able to provide a mascot that can serve a similar role for Luau!
+
+## Design
+
+This RFC proposes that Luau adopt the Hawaiian monk seal as a mascot. There's a few reasons for this
+choice. First, we want to have a brand and identity that is more distinct from Lua itself, and 
+therefore we want to choose a mascot that is _not_ based on the "moon" theme that is central to
+Lua's brand identity. Second, Luau's name itself draws from Hawaiian culture since it is named after
+a traditional Hawaiaan feast. The Hawaiian monk seal is the state mammal of Hawaii, and one of only
+two mammals endemic to the islands. Third, the Hawaiian monk seal is an endangered species and we
+can, at a minimum, use the choice of mascot to direct energy towards conservation efforts for this
+adorable creature.
+
+For a concrete mascot design, I commissioned [Alex Mullins (@AlexMarieFina)](https://github.com/AlexMarieFina)
+to produce a cartoon-style drawing of a Hawaiian monk seal in Luau's brand blue color. 
+This mascot is Hina the Seal.
+
+![Hina the Seal](../mascot.png)
+
+We propose naming her Hina, after the Hawaiian goddess of the moon. The word moon itself in Hawaiian
+(_mahina_) is derived from this name, and it pays a small homage to Luau's "moon" roots in Lua
+while staying within the existing theme and not being too heavy-handed.
+
+## Drawbacks
+
+We may prefer to remain "neutral" and avoid expanding the scope of Luau's branding to leave room for
+more organic adoption of a mascot within the community. 
+
+## Alternatives
+
+In early discussions leading up to my commission, the two most serious suggestions for alternative
+animals were rabbits (owing to the eastern cultural tradition of "moon rabbits") and a beluga
+(thanks to the pun, "beluauga"). We could get some alternative art proposals for either mascot, but
+an obvious downside to the beluga, in particular, is that we would have a blue whale mascot which
+conflicts with a certain [already well-known blue whale mascot](https://docker.com).
+
+Additionally, there was some discussion about naming options. The main thrusts for name suggestions
+were broadly in three categories: names starting with L (referencing Lua), names starting with S
+(for alliteration with Seal), and names with alignment around the moon and Hawaiian and Polynesian
+culture. Notable suggestions from these groups included Luna and Lucy, Sera and Selene, 
+and Mahina and Hina. This proposal chose `Hina` on the basis of its thematic fit, brevity (single
+syllable), and distinctiveness (e.g. Luna is very close to Lune and Luau, Selene is already the name
+of a community tool, etc.).