#gotta ask about the details

[marlynnofmany]

"Important question: do I get to pick the someone?"

“I will grant you a wish. BUT… your gain will be someone else’s loss. If you want riches, someone will be stripped of theirs. If you want health, someone will fall ill. If you want love, someone will get their heart broken. And whatever you choose, that someone will know your name.”

[hanakou-often]

[thelostmoongazer]

I give only the most important updates to the Tumblr girlies: Scottie is no longer bald <3

[monstermoviedean]

if you have a good vibe/kind thought to spare and could send it my way. i'd really appreciate it.

[mothcpu]

hello i read DECT like. months ago but i think it subtly changed the way I think about life and all. i really love the way you structured each part i love how the formatting with black space adds weight and time for pauses in between dialogue. DECT never feels rushed despite the subject matter and the source material, it is calm and it is scared sometimes but the way it approaches heavier topics like death just feel so comforting. it's very clearly made with passion and care and it really stood out to me. still does, i have been wanting to make time to reread it tbh. right now ive been working on a writing piece that is semi-inspired by DECT so i felt like telling you thanks. for all the inspiration and creativity and love you have for this game and your art and the world in general. it's really cool. thanks a lot

really delighted to hear, appreciate the kind words <3 and godspeed with the writing!

[scoriarose]

Psst, other snake caretakers

I have an idea for April Fools-

who wants in? Private message me for deets.

[marclef]

okay like, i know other people have done it before but hear me out. how bad of an idea would it be for me to make a Fake Peppino Anatomy post

(pic unrelated (i think))

[moghedien]

Two random small things that the show could do to make Tuon more worthwhile as a character to me:

Force her to channel, preferably in a public manner

Have Min read her and tell her that any child she has is going to be born able to channel

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

I like how Watching and Dreaming trailer teased everyone with nightmares, and everyone thought it’s gonna be a big deal. Thousands of fan arts where Luz and Hunter replay Wittebane’s story. And then it’s just 2 minutes of nothing. They just once again show this thing where Luz thinks she’s as bad as Belos because she gave him the light glyph. What a disappointment.

I noticed that all of the fan art of Luz dressed up as Belos dropped drastically after the finale. Honestly, I sometimes forget the nightmare sequence was even in it, that's how little of an impact it had on both plot and character development.

Luz thinks her friends hate her but this was already resolved in Thanks to Them and her palisman hatched in the previous episode after she claims to wanting to be understood. Does Stringbean help at all with Luz's fears of her friends hating her? Does Luz have some kind of epiphany that she isn't really like Belos (which is a narratively stupid thing for her to agonize over for 3 episodes) thus breaking her free from the nightmare? No, it's an Azura reference.

So Luz can accept that her girlfriend secretly hates her but that same girlfriend would never in a million years misquote their favorite book series.

That's not as heartwarming as some people think it is.

It wasn't the words and actions of her friends that convinced her that her fears were unfounded. It wasn't her mom's heartfelt confession that made her realize that her mistakes do not make her like her greatest enemy. No, it was a pop culture reference and the Titan telling her she's a "good witch" that made her realize this.

This just makes her come off as self-centered.

[seawing-vibes]

15 for the ask game?

 15. Any design headcanons?

I'll just bullet-point my thoughts for this one!!

Mudwings: Nothing really <3 I imagine they'd wear the most accessories & items with them, usually local plant life or accessories gifted from siblings. Very alligator-based with crackly dried-mud-looking scale patterns.

Skywings: BIRDS <3 Feathered Skywings are my favorite. I sometimes draw them with just feathered wings, but overall feathery dragons for these guys. The ratio of scales to feathers varies, but mainly small feathers along the back, feathered wings, and scaled legs, and occasionally scaled face. Ancient skywings had fewer feathers, but modern Skywings have more and more feathers.

Icewings: The royal family & most nobles have antlered horns! They do shed, and artwork is often commissioned from the shed horns. They have false horn-headdresses they wear to official meetings when their horns are shed. Baby icewings have fibrous "fur" that goes away as they age, but many icewings still have a fluffy underbelly. Also, they're invertebrates. They are so far away from all the other tribes on the cladogram. Ancient Icewings don't look much different than modern Icewings. Hemocyanin in their copper-rich blood-looking ass. you can find more rambling about this in the tags of this post lmao

Seawing: You can see my notes on them here!

Rainwings: They have prehensile tails & can have multiple frills! There are two types of Rainwing, python-like ones with pit organs and no outer ear, and then the more bird-like guys with external ears & beaks who have advanced vocal cords to imitate sounds better! Other then that nothing really significant.

Sandwings: Hooded Sandwings my beloved! Give them hoods! If my fellow Wings of Fire Amino survivors remember the drama 'round this, I'm sorry. But I think there are some Sandwings with hoods & some with frills! But that's p much it

Nightwings: My favorite headcanons! Their wings reflect the night sky at their date of birth, and the longer they spend under the night sky, the more star-like scales appear on them! Old Nightwings often have near-white backs & shoulders due to exposure to the stars, like almost but not really sun bleaching.

sorry pantalans no headcanons for you :( gotta study bugs more before I feel confident enough to start developing designs for yall

[418uchuu]

limlife designs real

[dyketennant]

oh i can already tell i’m about to have some really unpopular opinions about the edge of sleep tv show

[0vergrowngraveyard]

i had a dream that would’ve been SUCH a good fic idea—it played out in my mind like a movie, almost every detail—but i don’t have the skill set to write ittttt

[dark-twist-fairytales]

The Legends of Avantris campaigns, but it's like an actor AU of sorts

[thesnivy123]

Heya! So what headcanons do you have about Masked Kids in general? (Feel free to tell me absolutely everything about them lol)

Okayokayokay i cant get into all the finest details just bc idt i have the energy to write every detail out in one go, so feel free to ask about specific things if u want to know more. But basically: human-mimicking semi-brood-parasitic carnivorous pack-hunting goats. which. Is a lot. gonna break this down a little

start with the simplest one. Goats! They're goats- Or at least, they're goats in the way an aminoguana is a lizard and a mothi is a moth- They're sapient creatures descended from a lineage of goats that developed a specific genetic mutation universal to all monster species- It's tied to heightened intelligence, purple-hued blood that creates a thick gas when exposed to open air, and a heightened proficiency for magic. Humans are actually the only sophont in the setting to NOT have the "monster gene"- They evolved into sapience the long, complicated way.

Masked Folk are unique among monsters, however, for their entire evolutionary history being inseparably intertwined with that of humans. See, the Masked Folk quickly established themselves as apex predators upon reaching sapience. Not many animals want to mess with humans, not many animals want to mess with large ungulates, and so, it stands to reason that VERY LITTLE would mess with large HUMANOID ungulates... That is, except for humans. Though they typically didn't compete for territory- humans preferring open fields, the Folk preferring dense forests- Masked Folk live off basically the exact diet humans do (plus a little extra meat, being obligate carnivores). They were in direct competition for resources. This led to conflict, which led to humanity now being one of the sole drivers of their evolution... Which, thanks to the wonders of the Monster Gene causing more mutations, happened to work faster than you'd expect.

In raids on Masked Folk villages, humans were far less likely to directly harm their young than the adults- Beyond the moral aspect of this, they shared a lot of traits with human children. And, over generations of conflict with humanity, these traits got amplified- When your one remaining predator is more willing to spare you when you look like their kids, you're gonna eventually start looking like their kids.

Eventually, we ended up with the Masked Kids we see today. Highly shortened muzzles, tiny horns, big eyes- all coming together to vaguely resemble a human child's face. This... Doesn't fool anyone on it's own, though, aside from looking cute.

That, of course, is where magic gets involved.

See, Masked Folk- as adults- have a natural knack for magic, compared to other monsters. This has nothing to do with it's usefulness to them in adulthood, and everything to do with its function in their youth. Young Masked Kids- from birth until around 16- ambiently radiate a powerful "illusionary" magic, making humans perceive them as being a human child.

"Illusionary" is in quotes, because it has no effect on their physical appearance. No, it's closer to a weak sort of mind control, if anything. The magic taps right into the facial recognition part of the brain, a few other places too, and just... Spins a few things around. Makes it so that, so long as you're within range of their aura, when you look at a Masked Kid, you consider them to be young of your own species. Even if you factually know they're not, you know how it works, it just... You can't really follow the train of thought that goes "that's something else". The thought might still be there, but it slips through your mind like butter, you can't hold on to the idea that this isn't A Child Of Your Species. "Your Species", because it isn't human specific- just... deeply ineffective on any other species. Really just counters humans. Either way, the masks they wear amplify this, giving the human mind a plausible excuse for why the features dont line up, and letting this mimicry go unquestioned.

This mental defense, combined with the odd growth rate of the masked folk, allows them to go relatively undetected in human civilization from any age up until their late teens. A masked kid will grow at around the same rate as a human infant until the age of ten- At which point, they very suddenly stop. They remain "ten years old" for years, not growing an inch- at most, gaining a little weight as their bodies stockpile energy, but even this is rarely noticeable, as this phase of growth is HIGHLY optimized to make as few stages as possible (there's actually a pocket of previously unused space within their chest cavity that fills up with a condensed fat deposit during these years- this goes away when their body structure changes in adulthood). Their mimckry aura works to ensure nobody questions this halt in growth, of course. Theyve got to remain cute and sympathetic for as long as possible.

Then, at around 16, they hit a growth spurt. A very, very big one. Within a couple years, they'll grow several feet in height, their torso and snout will elongate, and their tail thickens out as a counter-balance to their front-heavy posture- This is when the mimicry aura shuts down, because, as powerful as it is, there's only so much it can hide. That deep well of magic is now freed up for personal use, with some amount of knowledge on its use being instinctual, for at this age, they're bound to be shunned from human civilization.

That is, if they haven't left for the woods already. Though Masked Folk are just as sapient as humans, they've got some pretty strong instincts in their younger stages, to keep up the ruse- Don't stand out, avoid crowds, do what you're told, and, once the growth spurt hits, Leave. Even those who are still welcome in their home- more common than you'd think, for many reasons- often follow the call of the woods eventually. Those ones come back if they can't find other Masked Folk. They still go out, but still.

... All this, of course, is only relevant if they find themselves in a human settlement. Most Masked Folk never even see their mimicry come into play- If all goes well, they're raised peacefully by their parents and siblings in small communities in the woods- usually consisting of a few family groups and any stragglers from human civilization. See, they don't WANT to be brood parasites, it's not their plan A. No, that's all a last resort. A tactic to survive if the worst came to worst. Ideally, they raise their own kids safely within their own species- or, occasionally- a mixed-monster-species group.

The Hero Cycle and Stitched Castle have... complicated things, of course, in the regions surrounding the Chestnut Kingdom, but in other parts of the world, Masked Folk still live pretty traditionally. Often in better relations with humans, though- Agriculture makes the competition for resources a little less of an issue, and now, they've got a reputation far different than most monsters. Something a little surprising, actually. Something that's earned them a few different names, in different places.

The Forest Dwellers. The Fair Folk. The Other People. Changelings.

The Fae.

[veinsfullofstars]

Your childhood friends au is so cute! Can I ask how poor lil Meta already got himself that big ole scar on his head? If he already got himself hurt his friends would be sooo sad!

Aw, thank you so much, anon! I’m doing my best to channel as much wholesome energy into this project as I can (at least for now, hehe).

As for Meta’s scar, well… I can’t say too much at the moment (got some plans for a bigger piece to explain it in full in the future, and I need to establish a few more characters and scenes first... so many ideas, so little time, y'know), but I can give this little tidbit:

He got it on the day he first arrived on Popstar, not long before he met his new friends…

Sketch started 04/22/24, sketch finished 04/23/24. | Childhood Friends AU Masterpost