[Q+A] Mortis Ramble Thread [18+ edition]

[skinstealer]

Given Coraline and Dreamy's forms, how related are they to the Shroud species and each other? Feels like both characters are going to be intended for portraying different aspects of how people engage with Wilson.

omens probably are derived at least a little bit from shrouds, what with the whole eye lore! coraline has a lot of fears about death and suffering, so that's probably where it comes from with her...along with some internalized self loathing shit of "oh being around me causes people to Suffer (sometimes in ways related to spoilers!). dreamy id say is less connected to shrouds because he resembles more of a batisson deal than a shroud/corvice/obj bat-wing situation, though he's missing the buglike features they sport. he's also just, pink goop.

on a meta level, we wanted this group to feel very halloween-y/horror inspired and have some unifying factors with that. theyre also definitely meant to play off of wilson as a protagonist while also being able to stand up as distinct characters of their own- while their starting points in the story are "how do they relate to wilson?", over time the intent is for them to be just as important on a narrative level, and function as, potentially, alternate protagonists.

How much is spoilers with Freak? I know a little and can extrapolate from that but there's genuine issues with Xavier spoiling stuff to me.

such is the curse of us rambling to you... let me see
spoiler-free freak facts for you all

-they do not have an actual name known to the rest of the main cast, and due to their shapeshifting + inconsistent appearance, tendency to resemble dream monsters, and difficulty conveying what they want in a way that's safe/okay, they are simply known as "the freak"/"that freak". no it is not nice of anyone and they all need a fucking scolding for it but tbf they dont even realize that freak is also in this same weird shared dreaming situation or a real person at all, and freak is prone to attacking people, which leads me to-
-it is unknown why freak both reaches out for attention to others in the dreamscape while also attacking them. dreamy posits that they've got some seriously crossed wires and need help, but no one really wants to listen to him on this. coraline would rather not be involved with this shit at all and wilson + the rival are just "no fuck that monster thing" about it
-they are completely nonverbal as far as anyone knows, the most you can get out of them is terrifying monster noises and crying in-dreams
-no one is familiar with them IRL and would not be able to recognize them out of a lineup/behavior-wise
-they are fond of soft fabrics and quiet environments IRL, but have a hard time finding good places to exist comfortably in
-they know more about the rest of the cast than they know about freak. this causes problems
-on that note, freak sees a potential companion in wilson and at minimum would really like to be friends, if not more than that. unfortunately this does not get conveyed well at all and wilson is more just terrified and angry whenever they show up
-it is not freak's fault that they show up in the form that they do, and while they have some degree of control over their appearance, it's more "what horrible trauma-coded beast do i show up as today" and less "i would like to Not be a trauma-coded beast today thank you"