Creating convincing, interacting faces demands concentration and skill. Tairan-descendants are closest to wizards in terms of facial anatomy, which had helped when creating Twig and Mushroombird. However, Yves’ two wizard illusions had been far from perfect back then. He had still been learning. This had made the mask-like faces of the shamans even more appealing, as they helped conceal his shortcomings in skill — which is why the illusionist curriculum moves right onto shamans as soon as you are able to create halfway passable copies of your wizard self. Both Twig and Mushroombird exhibited prominent features of the white, rigid, mask-like faces typical of shamans in the early years of their transformation. That said, Yves knew how Mushroombird looked before her transformation and had, by now, also settled on a pre-transformation version of Twig:
For those who have never interacted with shamans, it might feel strange to be stared at which such a lack of facial expressions. There is a fine line between feeling extensively judged by such a stoic, frozen expression, and feeling not judged at all, seeing the lack of reaction as an affirmation of neutrality or even disinterest. When talking to shamans, your own perception of which side of the line you are on may change from one moment to the next. Yves often felt that Mushroombird was more social and empathetic, while Twig was the more judgmental of the two. That said, Twig was also straightforwardly direct, no pun intended, which Yves greatly appreciated.
Over the years, as Yves designed enticing females of all races, he had never considered changing Twig. Her design had grown on him, and if anything, he had made her figure more athletic, and her strikingly large feet and hands more crafty and flexible, but never shorter. Along with her fitting name, her unusual appearance was her identity.
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