#velvet on deer antlers is sooo soft

[corrodedparadox]

Don't know if u have answered this before but

There is a lot of deer imagery in your art, is there reason for that? If so what is it? ((I like deer imagery myself so I'm curious))

No real reason other than they’re just an animal I grew up with!

When I lived in Texas there were thousands “wild” deer that were used to humans in the neighborhood I lived at and would come up to you for attention, which definitely helped form a connection/appreciation for them + I usually draw white deer because of the albino deer that lives on my parents property (there’s also an albino buck and two other albino does in the area, but I haven’t personally seen them)

++ My little pony is what made me start drawing and I never really grew out of the need to draw ungulates.

[relmint]

🧍🧍🧍OKAY SO 🧍🧍🧍

I like to think that dragons shed their horns/antlers annually, just like deer and moose. Once their antlers fall off, new ones begin growing immediately. Dragons must be very careful during the regrowing process because their growing antlers are not hardened yet, which means they can be easily deformed or infected. I've read in an article that when deers regrow their antlers, they are covered in a soft and hair like substance called "velvet". When the velvet sheds to make way for the brand new and fully formed antlers, it looks like this horror show:

Sooo I like to imagine Ao Lie going through this annually during the journey. He finds it very embarrassing when his velvet starts to shed, but luckily it's a quick process. Taking up to or less than 24 hours. During this time period he tries his best to hide from the gang so they don't see the mess his antlers will become.

I also like to think it's common practice for dragons, specifically the ones who are of royal rank, to hide away when their velvet starts to shed because it's seen as disgusting and off putting. It's not befitting of a dragon's image of power, dignity, and nobility soo Ao Lie is very ashamed to show this part of himself to the pilgrims kdndndnd

But yeah as you can see in the comic Wukong and Wujing are very chill with it, deciding to help their bro out uwu I like to think as the journey progresses, Ao Lie starts to become more comfortable around them and doesn't even try to hide when shedding season comes around again. Tripitaka and Bajie are gonna be soooo shocked at first but Wukong and Wujing already told them beforehand not to make a big deal out of it and to not show disgust uwu So yeah!

Dumb jttw headcanon idea that dragons shed their horns/antlers like deers and moose (more info in my reblog JEJSJSJ)