The Mask-Maker

This blog is for TMM fic and Demon Tribes AU content. Relevant tags are #lore #art and #tmm fanart. #blasphemousgaze is the lemony tag.

[themask-maker]

I'm a massive MM fan, and I'm curious what the Demon Tribes AU is about, like the sparknotes version, because from what I've seen on this blog it looks rad as hell

Hi there! Thank you for your ask.

The AU itself is a combination of Majora's Mask and Skyward Sword lore. It presents the idea that the ancient, war-prone Ikanan Kingdom is one in the same with the Demon Tribes of Skyward Sword's prologue which caused the Ancient War. The resulting world is an ancient version of Termina, back when the continent was ruled entirely by Ikana.

As for the story aspect underneath the AU's umbrella, that is called The Mask-Maker and will include subsequent future works. TMM is about Link struggling with his identity as a hero two years after the events of Skyward Sword. There, he suffers from recurring, seemingly-prophetic nightmares about his death at the hands of a demon from Ikana. During unrelated events, he eventually finds his way to the kingdom while in the company of Ghirahim, who turns out to also have ties to the region. Link's adventure in Ikana is to confront the demon which haunts him, but he ends up finding out way more about the history of the Ancient War, what demons are actually like, and what his role in all of this is. This story also includes eventual exploration of prior characters from both SkSw and MM such as Batreaux, Zelda, Groose, Majora, and the Fierce Deity. There are also many OCs involved in order to flesh out the world further.

Please note that there is a ship involved in the story - the ship is Ghirahim/Link with the two now being aged 22/20 respectively. The bulk of the story is focused on the adventure and worldbuilding within Ikana, and the romance content is secondary. It is not an explicit work but is rated M due to occasionally suggestive content. I say this so that you can make an informed decision on whether you want to engage with work that involves a ship.

Thank you again for your ask and I hope that answers your question.

[siletrea]

2nd Gift time! this ones for @unironicallycringe! your absolutely masterful work on The Mask Maker has made it one of the most impactful fics I've ever read! I won't lie when I say that reading your fic made me feel like I was truly uncovering a great mystery! like the thrill people got when Gravity Falls first dropped and people went mental to try and decode everything! or going to an escape room! (except this is a fanfic and I don't have to get out of my PJ's or go anywhere!) I have never once shied away from having to translate the ancient sumarian to understand some of the ~fabulously written~ undertones and decipher the secrets BECAUSE of your writing! and I have been OVERJOYED to recommend this to my friends even if they don't know the fandom! thank you for writing The Mask Maker! I will always be over the moon for your next update! ETC: 9.5 hours

[themask-maker]

Well, well, well, look who it is!

[unironicallycringe]

Sometimes i think about TMM and get all Hearts Emoji about it, but other times i just feel embarrassed or ashamed. It's weird! I feel like my ability to be joyfully cringe and creative has eroded over time. It's a muscle that needs working out. Sharing my work has become emotionally taxing. I started out posting TMM really regularly, then after a couple incidents, I got slower and slower. Now, in posting Dear Brother, I just sort of show up every other month or two and drop a chapter and bail lmao. I talk to a few mutuals and then skip town. I think about how I used to do weekly / biweekly TMM updates and I'm like "who tf was that guy with so much naive energy" LOL

I think maybe when I continue posting TMM, I will have to be way more distant and quiet in the fandom space, as I am lately with DB. Much much love to all of my readers and thank you for your patience and interaction! It's just been such an unexpectedly-long hiatus, and I've been paralyzed on posting TMM for many, many different reasons.

(I know I show up like every 5 months and make a post musing aloud like this, just consider it a proof-of-life if you're not tuned into my TES stuff /lh)

[unironicallycringe]

Right so in an attempt to root out old Dear Brother works from the yesteryear of 2015, I ended up finding a long-lost first draft of TMM ch01.

Going literally insane because I do not remember writing it at all. (The dates on the file correspond with Trauma™️ so this is understandable)

It's the exact same opening with some fun key differences! I'm currently in BrainSoup Mode but I would love to share about it tomorrow. Extremely exciting stuff that honestly made me giddy again.

I did also find Dear Brother material, thatll go on my TES sideblog teehee

[unironicallycringe]

Alright so the biggest difference is that the Skyloftians haven't settled the Surface yet - in fact, Link was asked to teach undergraduate and graduate knights about the Surface because their first party got insta-murked. In this version, Ghirahim is still attached to his sword and actively looking for Link using dowsing. Majora is not as distant and seems to be in Caladbolg's role (that's a name I haven't typed out in like a year dang). He was also the original one to make a deal with Link for mask purposes. The demons were not divided into tribes, so the differences between their magical capabilities went largely unexplained.

This was before the development of Ikana as an existing kingdom. I think I was having trouble stringing it together without making new locations and more developed conflicts, thus the eventual worldbuilding craze and addition of secondary antagonists.

[unironicallycringe]

Additional thought from this: don't be too worried about me being on hiatus for so long! Apparently, I've gone far longer 😅 Dear Brother and The Mask-Maker are two of my stories that have refused to die no matter how long I leave them like neglected neopets.

[themask-maker]

I have not been able to commit to the larger wips I have in my folders, so instead I worked on some color morphs of the Icespine Grassland Rhinos, an AU subspecies of BotW canon's Great Horned Rhinoceros. These are work animals found in Icespine, which is a steppe-type region located between Snowhead and Ikana Canyon.

[themask-maker]

Hurin, one of Shenbar's friends from ch20. Doing some practice to get back into the swing of drawing!

If you're unfamiliar with Orq'otish Gerudo, those are false horns, worn both as adornment and for political/class reasons.

[themask-maker]

little guys? more likely than you think

[themask-maker]

TMM In Times Before: Season's Shift

Art by Ezlo-x

Rating: G

Word Count: 5,612

Summary: Icespine perches on the cusp of transformation, as does the rest of the demon kingdom under King Demise's leadership. A young Igo from a clan of nomads is approached by an agent of such change.

No content warnings applicable.

This is a self-contained ficlet which expands upon certain events prior to the start of The Mask-Maker. Season's Shift pertains to the childhood of the original Fierce Deity Link, here known as Ursang.

This story is set within The Demon Tribes AU. This is an AU that explores the Demon Tribes of Skyward Sword's opening prologue legend. It depicts those tribes as the original Kingdom of Ikana from Majora's Mask.

Multiple short stories set before TMM will be shared in the future, because I use them as practice when the main story is too much for me to tackle. I am calling the overall series "In Times Before". It will include the previous short story called Practice Makes Perfect, which is about Ghirahim raising Demise's army before Skyward Sword.

[themask-maker]

TMM In Times Before: Season's Shift

Art by Ezlo-x

Rating: G

Word Count: 5,612

Summary: Icespine perches on the cusp of transformation, as does the rest of the demon kingdom under King Demise's leadership. A young Igo from a clan of nomads is approached by an agent of such change.

No content warnings applicable.

This is a self-contained ficlet which expands upon certain events prior to the start of The Mask-Maker. Season's Shift pertains to the childhood of the original Fierce Deity Link, here known as Ursang.

This story is set within The Demon Tribes AU. This is an AU that explores the Demon Tribes of Skyward Sword's opening prologue legend. It depicts those tribes as the original Kingdom of Ikana from Majora's Mask.

Multiple short stories set before TMM will be shared in the future, because I use them as practice when the main story is too much for me to tackle. I am calling the overall series "In Times Before". It will include the previous short story called Practice Makes Perfect, which is about Ghirahim raising Demise's army before Skyward Sword.

[themask-maker]

Young Ursang concept! This isn't a design that appears in the main fic and is for the sidestory ficlet about his childhood.

This was not the first mask Ursang made himself (that would be the Stone Mask), but this was his first mask as carved by his parents. It's typical practice for Igo families to carve an imp's first mask in preparation for their birth*. These would be fairly plain and non-magickal in comparison to masks worn later in life.

*[This idea stemmed from a comment by Yudja a long while ago speculating about Igo culture. "Parents making a mask for their unborn child like we irl might knit a blanket" was something I hadn't thought of at the time! So thank you for the idea!]

[themask-maker]

Here is yet another WIP! I thought it was WIP Wednesday when in actuality today is Thursday, so that's just how my day is going lol.

This is a rough excerpt from another Zelda-focused chapter in the main TMM fic. Hope you enjoy these little bits amidst my long update drought!

Over a week ago, by the time the sun set on the meeting at Zelda's Roostburrow home, she had already decided exactly what to do. Prior searches had failed, and though the stranger's help had given them a new heading, she wanted success ensured - so she would do what Link had done to find her two years ago. And when she gripped the hilt and pulled, its dormant spirit responded in her mind like a familiar dream, chiming once and expressing nothing more. An automatic greeting to its reborn creator with little conscious thought behind it; both a reassurance of presence and an empty reminder of absence. A reflection of the contrast she often still feels when thinking of Hylia, of herself. That impossible combination of both being and not being. Zelda had known the spirit would still sleep for a long time further. The Master Sword was not to be removed in situations except for an absolute emergency, but given the circumstances, Zelda had felt very strongly that this counted. Such a divine instrument in her hands would confidently pinpoint Link's whereabouts. Given a piece of a person’s aura, the sword spirit could track the owner from any corner of the earth. Before they left on the next day, she calibrated the sword in Link's old dorm, letting Fi attune itself to the missing hero. Then the sword led them across the Sand Sea for days. It parted the Goddess Wall's magical barrier with the ease one would have in drawing a curtain, then guided Her Grace to this very spot, to this very person. Zelda expects to feel relief upon finally seeing her best friend by the end of this long trail. 

In its place, confusion smothers Zelda's mind instead, for Fi points her to someone she doesn't recognize. 

The sword spirit pulses mutely, sending a subtle, confirmatory vibration to the hilt gripped in her hand, and yet, the tip of the Master Sword still points up towards a strange person - no, a demon? - on the second floor balcony of a building. Though they wear a mask and head scarf, the blue horns twisting from the top of their skull betray the disguise easily. Whoever it is, it’s not Link.

[themask-maker]

Here is yet another WIP! I thought it was WIP Wednesday when in actuality today is Thursday, so that's just how my day is going lol.

This is a rough excerpt from another Zelda-focused chapter in the main TMM fic. Hope you enjoy these little bits amidst my long update drought!

Over a week ago, by the time the sun set on the meeting at Zelda's Roostburrow home, she had already decided exactly what to do. Prior searches had failed, and though the stranger's help had given them a new heading, she wanted success ensured - so she would do what Link had done to find her two years ago. And when she gripped the hilt and pulled, its dormant spirit responded in her mind like a familiar dream, chiming once and expressing nothing more. An automatic greeting to its reborn creator with little conscious thought behind it; both a reassurance of presence and an empty reminder of absence. A reflection of the contrast she often still feels when thinking of Hylia, of herself. That impossible combination of both being and not being. Zelda had known the spirit would still sleep for a long time further. The Master Sword was not to be removed in situations except for an absolute emergency, but given the circumstances, Zelda had felt very strongly that this counted. Such a divine instrument in her hands would confidently pinpoint Link's whereabouts. Given a piece of a person’s aura, the sword spirit could track the owner from any corner of the earth. Before they left on the next day, she calibrated the sword in Link's old dorm, letting Fi attune itself to the missing hero. Then the sword led them across the Sand Sea for days. It parted the Goddess Wall's magical barrier with the ease one would have in drawing a curtain, then guided Her Grace to this very spot, to this very person. Zelda expects to feel relief upon finally seeing her best friend by the end of this long trail. 

In its place, confusion smothers Zelda's mind instead, for Fi points her to someone she doesn't recognize. 

The sword spirit pulses mutely, sending a subtle, confirmatory vibration to the hilt gripped in her hand, and yet, the tip of the Master Sword still points up towards a strange person - no, a demon? - on the second floor balcony of a building. Though they wear a mask and head scarf, the blue horns twisting from the top of their skull betray the disguise easily. Whoever it is, it’s not Link.

[themask-maker]

My wips are taking forever due to aforementioned irl woes. So I will share another screenshot that now has a height comparison of Batzorig and his son, depicted here as his 20yo self. Demons get very tall! Ive been wanting to kind of show that though Demise was terrifyingly huge to us playing as a Hylian, his size is actually close to the norm for fully grown demons in this AU.

(The Grizzlemaw is there as the mask reference. It's chillin.)

[themask-maker]

Have another wip/sketch! This is a design for Ursang's father's mask, which is a Grizzlemaw Bear. The cheek flower designs are inspired by traditional Mongolian patterns. This mask utilizes a Mirage spell called an Apathour - it is low-level mimicry which imitates the general shape of a creature without attaching to a particular host.

[themask-maker]

I've only been able to draw/write in fairly short sessions due to health and family obligations, but Ursang's father is coming along nicely! I didn't mention before but his name is Batzorig Nergüi. He and his mate led a clan of nomadic Igo back in the days before the Ancient War.

[themask-maker]

Have another wip/sketch! This is a design for Ursang's father's mask, which is a Grizzlemaw Bear. The cheek flower designs are inspired by traditional Mongolian patterns. This mask utilizes a Mirage spell called an Apathour - it is low-level mimicry which imitates the general shape of a creature without attaching to a particular host.

[themask-maker]

I've been chipping away at some more lore art while the chapters get worked on (at a crawling rate of a half-paragraph per week, basically), so have a preview of that. Icespine fauna includes the Great Horned Rhinos from Hebra and Tabantha, as well as an original rhino subspecies. Demons tame, breed, and ride them in this era. Links for scale!