I was listening to some Broadway stuff and looking up some stuff in relation to that, and Donna Murphy sort of looks like my mental image of an older Maria.

Ooh, that's a good one! I don't have a mental image of Maria just yet. I did, however, have a mental image of Tomor and Mim which then google images realized for me.

Howard and Dejeni had a massive pool built into their house where Tomor can take swims. I liked the idea of Demira joining him in otter form when she was little and falling asleep on his stomach.