If something is stated in-text, or by greg with a “yes/no” kind of definitive, 100% answer, then it is canon. Anything canon, we should absolutely mandate, which can sometimes lead to niche edge cases (Pouks’ mask).
However, if something is implied, or can be infered indirectly, or greg says “maybe”, “probably”, “likely”, etc, then it is up to interpretation. Maybe your interpretation is “yes”. Maybe your interpretation is “no”. Maybe you prefer one or the other. But neither is canon, until we have a canon-confirmed tuyet/nidhiki/lariska moc.
I get that a lot of people prefer one interpretation over the other, but I think so much of the debate happening in this topic is kind of happening because people are conflating their preferences with canon.
Some of the requested mandates, be it specific color distribution, or specific build, or what lower torso piece to use, or whether or not a mask variant is allowed, feel like sidestepping the voting process alltogether. If you want a certain color distribution, vote for that. If you think no one will build it, then you should. But mandating that Nidhiki be completely monochromatically green or whatever is not stated anywhere in text. It’s just stating what you want to vote for.
As stated succinctly by KDNX:
If anyone finds a yes/no answer that greg gave that adds any specifics to that list, then by all means, we have to find it, and have to include it. But let’s not try to argue for more restrictions that aren’t actually mandated by existing canon.
Also, to be clear: this isn’t directed at any one person. I feel like the “people conflating their preference with canon” observation goes for a lot of people, and a lot of debate in this particular topic.