Yummy little desert dragons, these overcomplicated SandWings are!
Like usual, Joy Ang and Tui are awesome, I've just added my own spice.
Details and explanation below.
Otherwise, next week are the RainWings - I think you'll really like them!
More overcomplicated dragons.
Where do I begin? I suppose with the elephant in the room: as a desert species, they need to be highly adapted to withstand the heat and control their body temperature, so I had tons of fun looking for references to use. Their sails would be used like elephant ears to cool off, by sending their blood into them to wave in the wind. Perhaps this would leave it tinted slightly red, perhaps not depending on the thickness of the structure. I chose backlighting for this piece to highlight the sail (the actual dragon isn't purple, it's just the contrasting colour of the shadows).
Speaking of the scales, perhaps you noticed the scales on the sail? I referenced basilisk lizards for this since their sails look pretty much exactly like SandWing sails, down to the folds and lines usually included in official artwork and fanart. In this piece the lines you see are actually the backlit tendons supporting the structure - based on frilled lizards, which you'll see again soon.
I also referenced pangolins (scale texture), thorny devils (the slight grooves on the sides of their temples that would direct rainwater into their mouths, and bearded dragons (for the little accessory spikes on the chin, mouth, eye ridge, and nose horn). The extra spikes on the mouth serve a double purpose to help rainwater pool and keep it from sliding past the mouth. Lastly, if you're curious about the extra dark points on its eyelid, those are slits in the scales to help it see in sandstorms. Camels have eyelashes but potoo birds have these slits which let them see even with closed eyes, which is important when the main weather you face daily is sand blowing in your face.
Again, imagine how creepy it would be to stumble upon what you think is a sleeping SandWing only for it to be wide awake and waiting for you to get closer... chomp!
whiteout you have to tell us now
whiteout to me is *highly specific experience* but also not really.
It's ok I'm a southerner and I also have a seething hatred for summer sometimes. The only positive I find is the everpresent greens.
So many southerners are gonna make fun of me but
The flowers? Love. Green trees? Love. The gentle heat of the sun? Hell yeah.
But noooo I'm here up NORTH in WASHINGTON. THE RAINY BlTCH STATE. The grass is dead and brown and all the flowers are already shriveled in the heat (except the exotic species those are thriving). The fruit trees are producing wonderfully all through town but I can't walk to any of them because I get lightheaded and nauseous when out for more than half an hour.
It's only 30°c out here, but the thermometer easily caps out in the sun. That same sun I was just walking under for an hour and a half and now I want to collapse.
I miss winter. The snow is beautiful, and that sharp sting of the cold burns but at the same time it feels so good. You can freeze your room by leaving the windows open and then bundle up under a cocoon of blankets without overheating and watch a movie while everything outside is icy. Walking in a snowy forest at night is ethereal, and you feel like a spirit. Walking in the forest at night in summer and you'll be tripping over trash while trying to avoid people and not get stabbed.
Lamenting rant over I needed to get this out of my system while I cooled down.
qibli & kinkajou are def the type to dress as obscure pop culture references (gay halloween core)
turtle never knows what to go as & always stresses out about it
burn doesn't participate in anything BUT decoration, which she goes all out for
blaze likes to give out candy but no one comes to the stronghold because the dragonets get too scared of burn's decor
scarlet throws really lavish parties each year (probably masquerades) burn's always forced to go & hates every second
a lot of nightwings & icewings dress up as darkstalker & he gets really mad over it
similarly a lot of seawings go as albatross; they're both urban legends (think bloody mary)
onyx is number 1 halloween enthusiast. shows up with a really detailed costume
(modern au) onyx also always has recommendations for what to watch; they're always really obscure horror movies that no one's heard of but they're all traumatized by
i guess the pyrrian equivalent of horror movies would be like. scary stories read aloud on scrolls? idk but onyx would bring a bunch
winter isn't that into halloween (didn't grow up celebrating it) but really enjoys pumpkin carving & usually wins in pumpkin carving contests
turtle gets scared everytime by those jumping spider animatronics without fail
clay is the undisputed champion at bobbing for apples
kinkajou eats like all of her candy in 1 night & always gets sick the next day
qibli will store his candy to "eat it for later" & then forgets about it for like a year
winter gets a little matching costume for bandit
moon dresses up but usually as something simple (like a witch maybe) & reuses it for following years
sunny loves to host halloween parties at jma, partially because she & the rest of the dod never got to celebrate it growing up
qibli & winter once got voted as "cutest couple costume" despite neither of their costumes having anything to do with the other's
glory the type to show up with a "this is my costume" t-shirt
figured i would share my anomalocaris fan tribe from like 2022 here . might revamp them bc the idea is there yk
Mine is the jungle temple from terraria
no YOUR body is a temple. mine is the needle pit from saw 2
I passed oyt and was blessed with a vision...