Seb and Proud Dustverse Design Talk

Proud-DustToday at 6:38 PM
I was going to consider comm-ing you for Ylgrin, actually.
sebastiowuToday at 6:38 PM
OOOOH great minds thinking alike
Proud-DustToday at 6:39 PM
Though, I will admit: given how sexual dimorphism isn't as notable a thing among dragons, I kind of wonder how you'd get across that she's trans.
sebastiowuToday at 6:40 PM
clearest subtle indication? pink and blue iridescent coloration over her pale scales. pride flag dragons.
otherwise, theres just a few subtle things i like to try implying with my wof character design! i go by the rule that they're like birds of prey, given how all the kingdoms have queens, so all female dragons are larger than males.
Proud-DustToday at 6:43 PM
(Yeah, no, I got that, but how would that come across in a headshot?)
sebastiowuToday at 6:44 PM
i also like to SAY i make male dragons more colorful but i just like making all my designs colorful.
for a case like a headshot with ylgrin, as an icewing? probably a smaller mane of spikes
Proud-DustToday at 6:45 PM
Oooooooh, that's an interesting note!
With Ylgrin, I mostly had two notes for her:
She's definitely below-average in height and size.
She's wolfish in features, big mane and pointed snout and ears.
sebastiowuToday at 6:49 PM
yessss, i wanted to try getting that across with a sharp and raaaised spike mane, like hackles? because shes a Leader and she will Establish her strength.
definitely defined spines, well manicured because she wont be getting any respect with dull claws and an unkept appearance, kind of idea!
Proud-DustToday at 6:50 PM
That's a good point, though I'd make a counterpoint that she's trying to establish herself as the opposite of what the IceWings represents down the road.
And that being an exile with no stable resources doesn't leave one with lots of time for personal upkeep.
But that is something Ylgrin would do, because she's very "fake it until you make it!"
sebastiowuToday at 6:51 PM
good point!! i was also considering that, that she would want to be respectable but she would still wanna be the peoples person
Proud-DustToday at 6:53 PM
Oh yeah, but I would show small signs of wear-and-tear on her.
Like, she made an effort, but there are little chips and cracks that she can't fix up.
Also, HACKLES, whoa, that's something I didn't consider!
sebastiowuToday at 6:54 PM
YESSSSsss
i love the mental image when icewings are described as clattering their spines together to be intimidating, i always assumed it'd come with a hackling look
Proud-DustToday at 6:55 PM
I also wonder if she should be pudgy by IceWing standards.
That's something I go back-and-forth with Senna and Ylgrin.
And I like the idea that a military prodigy isn't exactly one's typical image of a warrior.
sebastiowuToday at 6:58 PM
i always imagine icewings out of their element tend to look a tad awkward as their bodies try to adjust for the much warmer climates.
thats an interesting thing to keep in mind too! warriors coming from two totally different places
Proud-DustToday at 7:00 PM
Oh, Senna's not a warrior, healer actually, it's more I'm wondering more whether it's funnier and more character-defining that she looks like a sharp, twiggy, yet still small thing, kind of like a needle of a dragon and still has a sharp tongue, enough to make grown dragons bow down to her fury, or if she looks like someone's image of a small, plump, round, sweetheart of a child... and then she opens her mouth. :joy:
sebastiowuToday at 7:06 PM
OOOOOH. man good for her, absolute feral children looking like sweethearts on the outside? i appreciate them
Proud-DustToday at 7:07 PM
I'm more torn between which one to give her.
Needle-thin and sharp, but smol or plump and sweet-looking, but ruins it by talking. :joy:
I lean towards the former because her grandmother was small and deadly, and she was one of the Kingdom of Sand's recent most dangerous bandits, but I'd love a second opinion, because Sotol is pretty plump and sweet-looking!
So either genetics work out.
sebastiowuToday at 7:14 PM
hmmmmm, part of me wonders if you could manage the best of both worlds! im imagining a posture that appears laid back, so her curled neck gives her the round-est appearance. but when you get on her nerves, her blunt, arrowhead shaped head shoots out for her to hiss and criticize you. but if youre trying to settle on one, im thinking round friendly dragon and face, with a needle sharp tongue
Proud-DustToday at 7:15 PM
For me, if I go with round friendly dragon, I'd probably have to abandon the rounder Ylgrin design.
Otherwise, it'd homogenize the protagonists' appearance too much.
sebastiowuToday at 7:18 PM
thats entirely fair too!! hmmmm. personally, with the context of ylgrin's situation, i could imagine a sharper looking ylgrin, given density by spines and foldy scales, i dont know how to describe it, that puffy dragon comic you had shown me that one time. you know what im talking about

Proud-DustToday at 7:26 PM
Also, funnily enough, I do have a Icefyre description written up!
sebastiowuToday at 7:26 PM
:eyes:
Proud-DustToday at 7:27 PM
Anyone hoping for someone bulky and overtly muscular would've been disappointed. More muscular in a toned manner, his limbs looking sword-sharp. That of a broadsword. There was a rugged quality to his black scales, one complemented by the dark thickness of his cloak, the fabric pinned around his neck by his pin, an heather iron-wrought and dyed with petal whites and stem greens. His horns were long and pointed, stabbing at the skies. He had a thick maw, almost like a lesser wolf's jaws. He looked the conventional NightWing to most eyes... except for his eyes. They pierced wherever they went. Dark blue, cold and stern as a winter night. There was more than enough North in Captain Icefyre.
(The deep irony is, everyone expects Ylgrin to look like this in terms of physique and demeanor.)
sebastiowuToday at 7:28 PM
OOOOOOOOH
Proud-DustToday at 7:29 PM
Icefyre's more IceWing in appearance than even Ylgrin in some ways.
sebastiowuToday at 7:31 PM
i lost my train of thought BUT i kind of appreciate that contrast between an exiled icewing and a respectable nightwing among icewings
Proud-DustToday at 7:33 PM
That the IceWings would probably welcome back easily, despite being "off" and scorn the other, respectively.
Because Ylgrin's noble-blooded and still an IceWing.
And Icefyre... really isn't.
sebastiowuToday at 7:34 PM
of course! being the blood of the tribe there's been a 2000 year feud with PROBABLY doesnt help either
Proud-DustToday at 7:35 PM
Yeaaaaaaaah.
But yeah, maybe in hindsight, I kind of like Ylgrin being round and plump?
It makes for a delicious contrast to Icefyre.