#That sprite is from 4 years ago

[crayoncat-works]

Eiris is getting a glow-up

[nboa13466]

I think people never say it out loud when ch 7 out but i will say it now

If you're a Lilia or Malleus fans i wouldn't suggest reading this because this rant is full on snide on both Lilia and Mal.

Lilia, this is the 2ND time you made overblot happen and this one is on purpose. If i were you i wouldn't to be so smug about it, you will jinx something and you did.

"B-but, Leona almost tried to hurt Malleus, Silver and Sebek-"

Okay i get it, you mad, but with Leona being show being a mess even before this i wouldn't be so upfront about it. Especially when i heard someone Overblot not to long ago too.

And look what happen when leona actually overblot.

Mf didn't look like he regret or atleast concerned, his face show the "see? I told you so" kind of face. Atleast the in game sprite make you look worried or concerned but this actually kinda like he is showing he is right and then ch 7 happen.

I know malleus fans will go after me but i will say it even if i have to shout it

You can't tell me Malleus deed isn't like him throwing tantrum cause he doesn't want lilia to leave.

Okay i get it he feel lonely, he doesn't want the person who keep him company all this years doesn't leave, but that's where the problem is.

Malleus never taught of what to do when someone dear to him or someone he know left.

That sh- supposed to be something that being taught especially since he is supposed to be the KING and and if we follow how old fashioned his kingdom and senate is, he will not allowed to show weakness like tears, sadness, etc. This ofc include loneliness, and since we know the draconia effect the weather from their emotions alone, wouldn't this actually something THEY need to learn and practice? Malleanor is one thing because we know she can't be held down, but Malleus, if you look at it, can be taught because we know that Lilia isn't with him all the time and the senate has power to make him lied to mal.

Also he forget there's literal silver over there who is Lilia's son and also the one cry in silent so lilia wouldn't see him sad when he is leaving and want to repay everything.

Even worse, what Malleus did literally can engulfed the entire world if left alone and because he can keep taking magic from nature, his overblot may stay for years, even worse than Leona.

He is lucky that only briar and S.T.Y.X know about what happen, if not this may instigated another fae vs human war again but this time more like Fae vs all other races, with how this can actually effect the entire world. Also Mal can't be forced to forget his throne cause he is the sole heir to the throne.

Is he still a king? Yes.

But is he a true king? I don't think so.

So him saying that Malleus is a true king kinda like jinxed that his would also done it.

"B-but Leona doing something bad and he mean it, while Malleus did it but he mean good"

Whether he mean good or not is it even matter? If anything Malleus is acting selfishly here and didn't even ask other opinion regarding of what he tried to do, much like when he teleport the dorm leaders in his dorm card Vignettes. If he only include the diasom 4 inside, he still safe, But he include everyone in sage's island to this and even may purposely expanding to the entire world. Which isn't what a "true" king do. A true king wouldn't involve their subject to something bad intentionally, only bad and greedy one do, so i wouldn't say he is a "true" king like Lilia describe him.

That's all from me, have a nice day.

[loz-furbies]

Zelda ages based on when their games came out. Welcome to the team EoW Zelda!

Characters and design thoughts under cut:

For starters, I did a similar Zelda piece a few years ago and ran into the problem that I can't really draw anything else than anime teen girls, which is kind of a problem in a drawing where half the characters are above 20 and their age differences are the whole point. And in addition almost everyone is supposed to be royalty with very similar clothes too. But in my defense, in general it can be pretty hard to tell the ages of 25 to 40 year old anime women anyway.

I needed a reference for the body proportions in order to even get started, so I quickly thought "who is an anime woman who doesn't look like a teenager", and used Yor's character sheet for assistance. The younger characters' proportions are a little inconsistent, since I couldn't choose if I would look at realistic growth chart or go with the anime look (where teens and children are often shorter than they would be in real life) so the result is this weird hybrid.

Four Swords (December 2, 2022) & Four Swords Adventures (March 18, 2004) - Chronologically they are different Zeldas even though they use the same promo art/character design, so I used the promo art design for the original FS Zelda and drew the FSA Zelda based on her sprite. There's not much to these designs, they have very little going on in terms of story or personality to use as inspiration and their character design doesn't offer much anything original when compared to the other more well known Zeldas either. Their only distinct element is the big red hair bow, but I thought it would look too childish when they're supposed to be in their twenties here.

Minish Cap (November 4, 2004) - There's not a lot MC Zelda that I could use for inspiration. But then I remembered that a while ago I wrote about how the pointy hat Queen Ambi wears should be used more often, so I thought I should put my money where my mouth is and draw it here, since Zelda does wear a red cap for a couple seconds in MC. In general the MC Zelda and both FS Zeldas are at a little awkward age for this picture, since they're too old for youthful child designs but not really old enough for more mature queenly designs either.

Skyward Sword (November 18, 2011) - Her design is based on her concept design, which I assume is meant to be her casual look and not the ceremonial costume she wears in the game.

Ocarina of Time (November 21, 1998) - I decided that age-wise she makes the cut of when I start using updos. Why do the Zeldas have such similar canon hairstyles anyway, it was surprisingly boring to work with them. Still not sure about the curls though, my fancy dress design artbook that I used for inspiration had so many cute curly hairstyles but I couldn't really use any here because I worried the characters would become unrecognisable. But since OoT Zelda had some curls in her "sideburns" she fell victim here.

Hyrule Warriors (August 14, 2014) - HW Zelda has a distinct enough design from the other Zeldas that it gives a lot of elements to work with, though her age here limits it a little since she's too young for bikini armour. Also because HW is a spin off, I also considered including the Cadence of Hyrule Zelda, but that led to the realisation that it would have opened the doors to CDI Zelda as well. Which I guess would have been fine, but this is already a pretty wide drawing full of adults, so while a Cadence of Hyrule Zelda would have been easy to fit on the front row, I couldn't justify adding even more adults just for the CDI games. So only HW is included because I've played it and actually like it.

Zelda 1 (February 21, 1986) - The original Zelda is at an age where it's a little awkward how there's little difference between her (38 years old) and OoT Zelda (25). But I couldn't think of any anime that would help me as reference here, and I don't think she's old enough to have that "this character is getting old" wrinkle under her eye (you know the one).

Echoes of Wisdom (September 26, 2024) - I think she looks a bit too old here to be a zero-days-old newborn but work with me here.

Breath of the Wild (March 3, 2017) - She's actually at the age where her mum died, poor girl. She's very refreshing to work with since her look is so different from the other Zeldas.

A Link to the Past (November 21, 1991) & A Link between Worlds (November 22, 2013) - Originally I also had the Oracles Zelda in this since she does have a unique design, but then again I consider the Oracles Link to be the same as in aLttP which ought to apply to Zelda as well, plus the design isn't unique in any interesting way and is just a combination of the OoT & aLttP designs, so in the end I just gave the Oracles Zelda sprite's hair buns to aLbW Zelda. Overall having to use the essentially same design for both aLttP and aLbW Zelda wasn't much fun, especially when neither really offers anything notable in terms of story or personality, but at least they're pretty far apart when it comes to age.

Twilight Princess (November 19, 2006) - I haven't played her game so I don't know a lot about her (other than reading the manga which didn't give me anything to work with either) and she's also close to her canon age (?) here so she ended up looking pretty similar to her canon design.

Spirit Tracks (December 7, 2009) - This was a tough one because technically ST Zelda does have a lot of elements to her story and character that could work for a redesign, but not really for the purposes of this picture. Anything train related is more of Link's thing, and anything ghost related doesn't really fit either since she's not supposed to be a ghost at this age. And as for the Phantom, I got the impression that while she learned to appreciate it, she didn't exactly like using it, and that personality-wise she would prefer not to go on another similar adventure. So In the end I just replaced the regular armour parts many Zeldas have in their designs with the Phantom armour and used the ghost palette for the rest of her look, and I kind of like the result. Her personality looks a little out of character though but I couldn't resist the opportunity to draw this with Grandma Tetra.

Wind Waker (December 13, 2002) - I haven't played WW so I'm not sure how accurate this is, but drawing her with the pirate design definitely added some much needed variety to this picture. I really like her twirly hairstyle in canon, but I also really wanted to draw her with short hair, so it had to go. Maybe ST Zelda can style her hair in a twirl when she gets older to compensate?

The Adventure of Link (January 14, 1987) - Really don't know what happened here, not particularly happy with the end result. I prefer to draw the Zelda 2 Zelda with her sprite design because just reusing the OG Zelda design is boring, but I really should have kept it closer to that since now she's practically unrecognisable.

[contacthigh520]

using the astral duo event and the rainy season event, we can approximate topper's age.

tl;dr, topper is an old man. ദ്ദി૮ • ﻌ • ა ---

to start: in astral duo, we learn that double eclipses occur "once every fifty-four years and one month." [1] later, eiden goes back in time to a period that quincy estimates is "[a]t least... two double eclipses ago". [2] so, that's at least a century ago from the present of the astral duo event. during that time, we see quincy's best friend zaro (love u zaro) and quincy during a past eclipse. then, in the rainy season event, eiden has to go fetch rei and quincy from a memory stream using father and topper's connection to them respectively. [3] it turns out this means eiden entering father and topper's memories of rei and quincy to find them. [4] [5] when eiden enters topper's memory of quincy, there's a funeral going on. after quincy gives a vague answer about who the funeral is for, eiden concludes, "(He must be talking about his friend from the tribe all those years ago...)". [5] the friend is, of course, zaro, because that's the only tribe friend eiden knows about.

topper isn't with young quincy in astral duo, which makes me think he didn't know quincy back then*, but he does seem familiar with quincy by the time of zaro's funeral in rainy season. so that gives us a rough timeline (from oldest event to most recent): >= 108~ years ago: young quincy and zaro do chores during the double eclipse. (they seem like they could be anywhere between their 20s and 30s with the conversation where quincy grouses about being old and preferring a younger tribe member calling him 'big brother' rather than 'uncle'. [2]) ??? years ago: quincy caught topper in a trap and decided to keep him. quincy has his sr sprite here instead of his r sprite (which is used to depict his younger self), so it seems some time has passed. [6] ??? years ago: zaro dies and quincy stands outside the funeral in the rain. topper brings him an umbrella. [5] 0~ years ago: the astral duo event given quincy's general angst and zaro's vibe, we can assume zaro is what you call 'a normal human guy' with a normal human lifespan. (well, actually, based on quincy's 4th astral duo room, he may have been relatively long lived for a human since he outlived everyone else in the tribe quincy was close to.) so, let's say zaro lived to be about 100 years old. that means the timeline looks like this: >= 108~ years ago: young quincy and zaro pal around during the double eclipse. (zaro: 20s or 30s) ??? years ago: quincy and topper meet >= 28-38~ years ago: zaro dies at 100~ years old and quincy attends his funeral. topper gives him an umbrella. 0~ years ago: the astral duo event

we also know topper met quincy after all of topper's siblings died? [7] that doesn't really mean anything because we don't know if all his siblings died when he was a baby, but it does give him the vibe of having 'outlived' his siblings? that seems to suggest that he'd been alive for a while. he definitely seems to be an adult by the time he gets captured by quincy. still, without knowing how his species ages, it's kind of impossible to know how old he was when he met quincy. 28-38 years old is already way longer than a irl stoat lives so.... the real world equivalent isn't very helpful when trying to gauge what age topper became an adult topper.... for the sake of adding some time for 'before he joined quincy' and accounting for toppers existing social life pre-quincy, i'll just say he was like. 5 years old when he met quincy. using all this information, we can (very roughly) gauge that topper is about ~35-45 years old, at least. did we need to know this? no, not really. ╭( ´꒳` )╯♫⋆｡♪ we do know that father is older than topper tho! [7.2] so, this gives us some kind of measuring stick there. this also lets us approximate that quincy is somewhere around ~130-140 years old, which is younger than i thought. (let me know if i'm forgetting some key lore;;;) from there we can determine minimum and maximum ages for the yokai and familiars using the program booklet, which states, "The age of the yokais, familiars are arranged in order: Kuya > Quincy > Rei > Aster > Morvay > Yakumo > Garu." [7.3] of course, this all depends on quincy's approximation during the astral duo event that he and eiden timetravelled back to "[a]t least... two double eclipses ago". [2] so all the ages given here are more like minimums.

sources: 1. astral duo - forest alterations 2. astral duo - time fossil 3. rainy season - without a trace 4. rainy season - to their memories 5. rainy season - parting words 6. rainy season quincy - room 3 7. neon carnival (2nd anniversary) program booklet: 1, 2, 3

also quincy's 4th astral duo room, which i didnt give a number lol *I know Topper isn't always with Quincy, like during the flashback (in Razor's Edge - Just What Is This Place?) when Huey was still alive and Zaro was dead. Topper and Quincy definitely knew each other by that point, but Quincy probably didn't bring Topper because like... it wasn't the vibe. So, there is the distinct possibility that Topper and Quincy did know each other during the period of the Astral Duo event flashback. However, I don't think that's super likely because, in Rainy Season Quincy's room 3, the Quincy who catches Topper uses the SR sprite instead of the R and he talks like our Quincy, i.e. depressed, instead of happy, shounen vibes flashback Quincy.

[crescencestudio]

๋࣭⭑ Devlog #49 | 6.24.25 ๋࣭⭑

bb i did fckn WORK THIS MONTH U LITERALLY DONT EVEN KNOWWWWWW (but now u will)

MONTHLY DEVLOG TIME!!!

And I have been EAGER FOR THIS ONE. When I say I locked THE FUCK in this month..... OUGGHHHHH.... LET ME SHOW YOU!!!

This month, we had the usual progress on Kuna'a's dev edits (slow but steady) and Etza's line edits. But ON TOP of those edits going on in the background w the editing team, I also had time to go through every single route in the EA build and do the final edits on them. Just to give context, this means I edited 200k words this month, AND BOY WAS IT WORTH IT.

This editing journey included A LOT of things, not just little tweaks to wording here and there. It included polishing the prose, really strengthening character voices, adding more personality branches/choices, and A LOT of reworking for different scenes that I was okay with, but not completely happy with, in the beta versions of the individual routes. On top of reworking scenes, a lot of the routes also got some extra tiny scenes to showcase more cast dynamics, AND because I implemented a shiny new communicator system (which I'll talk about later), there's a lot more messaging conversations going on that I think add a lot more fun and character to your interactions with different LIs.

sneak peek of a new chat convo as an example

I'm really, really, really happy with the writing of the routes now. The characters feel stronger, scenes feel more organic and natural, and the pacing feels much more intentional. And overall the routes just feel a lot more fun!! While I don't think the writing was bad, by any means, before, I do think it's a lot stronger and cohesive now!

I was also able to calculate word counts across routes within the game script, using a Lint feature by another dev. It was a lifesaver because Google Docs gave me just an estimate, but by calculating the word counts within Ren'Py, I have a more accurate word count across the routes. Using this, I adjusted different routes so that the word count is much more even and there's no one route that feels significantly longer than another!

If you think I was making cracked progress on writing, ehehehhee.......................... WAIT UNTIL I TELL YOU ABOUT THIS!!!!

First art accomplishment: I finished THREE sprites for the game!!! (so I only have TWO left now!!!!). I'll showcase one here since I've featured them before, actually. A long, long time ago for those who were here during the Kickstarter ages.

everyone, meet KILUM

Kilum was a stretch goal to have their own route. Unfortunately (for you, but fortunately for me LMAOOOO), we didn't meet that stretch goal. You might remember they look a bit different from the original concept art, and that's because I reworked their color palette after finishing the rest of the Dusk Court's characters so that side of the cast looked a little more cohesive. I'm in love with their design (thanks to bestie @/saffein-e as always), and I hope you're excited to meet them in game! They are certainly A Character!

The other two sprites I finished were actually our two queens HEEH. You will not be meeting them, sorry! Guess you'll have to wait for EA to drop \o/ Anyways, I was really nervous about finishing the sprites in time for the EA build since I had 5 sprites to make, and before this month I had only finished 2 sprites in the span of like 4 years aofsdjaiosjdfaiojsdfioajsdf. So I'm really proud of myself for the sprite progress this month (I always hate making sprites)!

sneak peek feat. eyes. my beautiful children....

We also made CG progress. A LOT of CG progress HEHEHE. Before this month, I had only finished about 26 CGs and that was over the course of like 2 years. That being said, that was while balancing coding beta routes, writing routes, editing, and whatever else I had going on. Now, because I'm locked in on art progress, we have.... *drumroll please*....... 38 CGS FINISHED!!! And that is actually ALL of the ones we need to have done for the EA build!!! So this month, on top of sprite and editing progress, I also finished 12 CGs YEEEAAAAAAAAAA.

Finally, I made some headway on other things this month: one of the biggest being a revamp of the communicator.

my children..... stop fighting....

Big thank you to (@/robobarbie and @/windchimesgames) for the messaging system asset HEHE. now in the game, you will be able to have separate chats for each character and group chats!! I'm still ironing out some kinks with the system and figuring out how to best implement it in the game, but for now, here's a sneak peek of what it's looking like!!!

We also have finally reached a point where we can move forward with voice acting in the game!!! I'll be preparing the lines to send out to the VAs over the next couple of days, but it's so exciting to reach this point since VA is usually what i associate with the Final Stages of production.

I've played a couple of games recently but honestly, so much of my time has been dedicated to Alaris that I haven't had time to do anything like fanart. It's been an ALARIS MONTH BABY!!!

CGs and sprites were the biggest things that I was worried about finishing on time, and given the amount of progress I made on them this month, I think we're in really good shape for EA release!!!

All that's really left for me to do with both editing and like 85% of the art assets out of the way are to finish up the last two character sprites, flesh out the sprite expressions and code those in, and VA! After that, it'll be cleaning for bugs and polishing, so I'm extremely ecstatic over EA progress this past month and hope you all are excited to have it in your hands Very Soon! ^^

Until next time, hopefully I'll bring more exciting news then. Stay cool, especially for those getting hit by the heat waves and general summer heat! <3

[killmeleatherface]

It Had To Be You Part 5

Dr Robby x F! Attending (OC)

This is part 5 to my ongoing series

Here’s the last part!

TW: fighting, light smut, pregnancy, kissing, mention of cheating, yelling

—

You thought things would be different after that, and they were, but not in the way you had hoped after the way your night ended. You let Robby spend the night, both of you falling asleep on top of your covers fully clothed. Nothing had happened. You barely even cuddled.

By the way Robby sprung up, you’d thought you’d hurt him. In reality, he was late for work. He mumbled something about needing to go, stumbled, kissed you on the forehead and left your place.

—

That was two weeks ago. You’d barely spoken a word to each other since then. Something was different about Robby. Something had changed. He almost seemed irritated with you, but for what? It got especially worse when Heather had come back from her extended leave. Robby was continuing to malfunction and you feared he would hit a breaking point soon. And you really didn’t want it to be at the hospital.

You looked for him across the party. He was sitting next to Jack holding a beer and chatting. It was one of your coworkers housewarming parties and you came with Samara. However, she still didn’t know about you being pregnant. You thankfully still weren’t showing, but with your halfway mark soon coming and going you knew your gigantic belly wouldn’t be able to be hidden for much longer. You just had to figure out how to tell everyone, ‘Hey, so, yeah, I’m pregnant with Robby’s baby, but I called off the wedding, and we’re not really together or are we together? We were together for a few years after secretly wanting to be together for even longer and then he cheated on me and I don’t know what to do from here.’ Yeah, that’s a mouth full.

Suddenly you realized how hot you were, despite only having on a bikini and thin skin cover up. Everyone was hanging by the pool and you and your best friend had their feet dipped into the pool. It wasn’t helping much.

“I’m gonna go inside and get something to drink. Do you want anything?” You had been nursing a sprite with lime in hopes it looked enough like a vodka and soda so no one would question why you weren’t drinking.

“No, I think I’m good. But thanks.” She replies.

Once you got into the kitchen thankfully no one was there. You could cool off and ice your neck before you inevitably were going to throw up because that’s all you did with anything.

As you were drinking a cold water, a familiar voice came up behind you.

“Hey, how are you?” Robby asks.

He comes up behind you and snakes his hands around your waist. Wow, that’s very forward, but you can’t deny the familiar touch feels good.

“I’m doing good, just got hot out there.” You reply. Robby nuzzles your neck, moving your hair out of the way and kissing gently on your neck.

“Michael, what are you doing?” He hits the special spot under your ear that he’s known about for years. “I missed you. Really missed you.” He responds, his hands going to spin you to face him.

You look at him. His eyes are bloodshot, he looks exhausted. He should be in bed asleep, not at a party. Even though that’s true, he still starts kissing up your jaw until he hits your lips.

You’re instantly putty in his hands. After all this time, after all you’d been through, Michael Robinavitch still had a magical touch that could find all your perfect buttons.

“Michael, we shouldn’t do this here.” You say through gasps and kisses.

“You’re right, Eddy wouldn’t mind if we used a bedroom. Come on.” He pulls you as he talks.

“Michael, wait. Wait.” You say as you’ve hit the hallway and he pushing open a door.

He’s pulled you in and closed the door in one swift motion. Before you know it, he has you against the door and is kissing you again.

You can’t help but respond in moans and groans, sounds you forget could come out of your mouth. He’s reaches his fingers under your cover up and pulled to tug it off you, as it slinks to the floor. You reach for his shirt and pull it over his shoulders as he still kisses you, reaching down your bottom, and attempting to untie your bottoms when something hits you.

Your heightened senses finally smell the alcohol on Robby’s breath. He’s drunk.

As he’s untied both sides of your bottoms he turns you around to push you on the bed. He’s reaching for your face as he leans down to kiss you on your lips. That’s when you really see him. He has bloodshot eyes, red rings and purple circles. His breath smells like whiskey. He’s wasted. He’s not tired from work or up thinking the two of you like you are. He’s just had a few too many whiskeys.

You push your elbows up, trying to sit up.

“Michael, we shouldn’t be doing this.” He’s not hearing you.

“Michael, stop. Come on, we can’t.” You say again. “We shouldn’t.”

He suddenly stops and pushes himself off of you. He turns around in frustration and says, “Why? Why can’t we? Aren’t we supposed to be dating? Or whatever I agreed to. Not like we’ve been together for years and we’re gonna get married. But yeah I can’t fuck you either, okay.”

“Michael stop, you’re drunk.” You say, sitting up and starting to search for your thrown clothes.

“I’m just trying to follow the rules you set forth.” He’s slurs, finding his shirt and putting it back on.

“Michael, we’re at a party. Our friends are 30 feet away. Not to mention we haven’t talked in two weeks.” You put your shall and shoes back on. “Get some coffee, sober up, and call me tomorrow.” You reach for the door.

“Yeah, whatever. Sure you’ll call. I’m supposed to trust you to call or even pick up your phone when the last time that happened you disappeared.” He says, annoyed.

You turn around. “Really? I thought we were over this?”

“Over this? Over this? You couldn’t trust me enough to know I wouldn’t cheat on you with Heather and I’m supposed to trust that you come back pregnant with my baby.” He says.

Now you’re seeing red. “What did you just say to me?” You ask, voice raising.

“I, uh, no, that’s not what I meant.” He tries. He instantly stands up full posture and his eyes go wide.

“I know you’re not questioning if this baby that’s been growing inside of my belly for the last twenty weeks has a questionable paternity.”

He doesn’t say anything, so you keep going.

“-because I have only loved one man for the last ten years of my life and I have only wanted to and succeeded with having sex with that one man in those ten years. What do you think, I went back home, called up an old flame, and fucked him? That’s really where we are. I know you’re hurt and drunk but fuck Michael.”

“No it’s not where I wanna be. I’m, I’m, sweetheart, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m saying.” He’s trying to force himself to sober up.

“You’re right, we shouldn’t be doing this right now.” He offers, but you can’t stop. Robby, the person who’s known you best for a decade, who’s the only person you’ve truly ever wanted to live, breathe, and be with, questioning if the baby you both had repeatedly talked about and hoped for, was yours. He really thought you’d cheat on him like he cheated on you. Yes, Heather kissed him, but he didn’t stop her. How dare he think you’d have sex with another man, a random man with no meaning, and then get pregnant by them. A different man hasn’t been a thought in your mind pertaining to your love life in longer than you could remember. Michael knew that. He knew you better.

Or so you thought.

Tears spring to the brim of your eyes, but you don’t want Robby to see you cry, drunk or not, on that man, it’s wasted emotions.

“Andi, I’m sorry. Fuck, I feel like that’s all I say to you lately. I hate that. I’m sorry. I guess I had more to drink than I thought. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

He’s walking towards you now, reaching his hands out to console you.

“I’m so stupid. Really. I’m a very dumb man and you’re a very good woman for staying with me all this time.” He rambles.

You don’t want to hear it. The father of your child wasn’t who you ever thought he was, was he?

“Ya know Michael, what do they say? A drunk man’s words are a sober man’s thoughts? Remember that when you’ve sobered up.”

You turn the handle on the door and leave the room and Robby behind.

Here’s the next part!

AN: I’ve gone back in and updated a few misspelled words and grammar mistakes, and added a few more dialogue point, but nothing major! Just a few more touches here and there. 5/20/25 :)

[cosmic-giraffe]

So I read that stupid fucking callout doc on Von and I'm gonna say my piece on it.

For those unaware, a doc was shared today that accused Von of using generative AI in her art. For the Tetro sprites, for her own personal art, and for paid commissions by fans.

As any self-respecting artist should agree, generative AI is a soulless, plagiarising waste of energy that is devoid of any artistic merit and should be shamed.

But I absolutely 100% believe that not only has Von not used AI in her art in any degree, but that the doc was made in bad faith.

I won't be refuting the doc point by point because it's 1 1 5 F U C K I N G P A G E S L O N G, but because it's also almost 1am for me and I'm too aggravated to sleep because of this whole mess.

The doc was pointing out "inconsistencies" in Von's art, claiming that she drew characters differently each time, the anatomy was fucked up, the finer details melted into each other and other stuff like that.

First of all, Tetro Pink's sprites were all drawn 2-3 years ago (iirc), and any anatomical mistakes can just be chalked up to a younger, inexperienced artist getting their anatomy wrong or not taking into consideration how hair falls and stuff like that. Given how 90% of the doc's grievances involved poorly drawn hands and impossible hair physics (in a FUCKING ANIME STYLE, WHICH IS NOTORIOUS FOR NOT BEING REALISTIC), it's pretty obvious that they're nitpicking.

Secondly, the accusation that Von's newer art is using a higher quality generative AI engine to pump out her art. This is especially heinous to me because it's literally JUST AN ARTIST IMPROVING HER SKILLS?????????

What really annoyed me too was them tearing apart Von's flowerbed thumbnails, claiming that they were "too different" from the current Pink sprites of each corresponding character.

Von has said repeatedly that the thumbnails were drawn concurrently with the series, yet again an example of her improved skills showing in her newer work.

Thirdly, Von has admonished use of AI repeatedly and threatened to kick people from the Discord server for doing such things, especially in regards to feeding her own art to an algorithm. During the lead-up to the Chapter 4 trial, somebody didn't want to access the official flowerbed thumbnail locked behind Von's ko-fi, and so fed a prompt involving her art into a generator and shared it gleefully in the server.

This is a huge slap in the face to her, as well as every other artist whose years of hard work and blood and sweat and tears have been reduced to a mess of pixels and algorithms spewing out something that vaguely resembles their art.

It's just so aggravating because this doc's author is claiming to "spread awareness" but it's fucking obvious they're jaded and wanting to tear down a small independent creator.

SOMETHING THAT DR FANS ARE FUCKING NOTORIOUS FOR.

They're so entitled, so selfish, so DESPERATE for attention that they'll mock and ridicule the creators that are making huge projects accessible to them FOR FREE, just because they feel like they can.

It's insulting, it's unnecessary, and I hope Von is looking after herself because the way things are looking, none of us deserve Tetro if this is how we allow our community to attack and dog pile the person kind enough to share her passion project with us when she's under no obligation to do so.

[victor-blog55]

Okay so. Story time. Tw: excessive blood/gore

This is an image of fate stay/night lancer with most of his chest gone. I saw this about 6 months to 1 year ago. Then, about 3-4 months ago I went looking for it. Eventually I couldn't find it and concluded "oh, it must've been a piece of fan art." I even went as far as to download all of his sprites from FS/N to check. *THEN* when I'm browsing his wiki, I see this image again, on top of a book page that seemed to be from an art book. I take that and reverse image search to find the full page from the art book, with Fate/complete material in the corner (which is one of the dead ends I ran into the first time I looked because I don't own the book.) however, what was also printed in the corner (which I didn't find last time because I never found the whole page.) was *hollow ataraxia* so I got download HA sprites and low and behold, here it is.

Anyway, battle continuation bitch.

[discotenny]

WAIT! You can't love me! - Day 1 Demo

I've spoken about it long ago in my tags- but here it finally is! For Otome Jam 2024- I bring you WAIT! You can't love me!

⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩ Synopsis⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩

For all of your academic career, you were always second best to Satoshi Fujihara. And while you seemed to care too much about it, he never seemed to care at all. In your final semester of community college together- he suddenly says he's going to confess to you in four days!

Do you choose to accept his feelings, or is this going to be the one time you can get the upper hand on him? 

⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩Demo Features⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩

A completed Day 1 of 7 days of events

13k+ words of playable script - roughly an hour to experience everything

A nameable MC with the ability to pick from she/he/they pronouns

1 cute romanceable sleepyhead 

A variable cast of eccentric side characters

4 "routes" for the Day 1 date

⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩Characters⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩

Obnoxiously smart, aloof, hopelessly in love, hella sleepy

Ever since high school he’s had a crush on you, but didn't want to deal with any awkwardness. With the horizon of your transfer looming, Satoshi decides to go out of his way for once and ask you out. Not wanting you to be nervous, he lets you know beforehand that he will be confessing.  

Unfortunately that’s not really how it should go but he doesn’t know that.

Incredibly stubborn, incredibly dense

Throughout high school, you were always labeled as “second best” compared to Satoshi. You have a lot of pent up resentment towards him because he never seemed to care about his successes despite you wanting him to so badly. 

You think his carefree attitude towards his studies is some level of spite towards you. 

Elias Bolkiah - 5'8" - Same age as MC - June 7th - 491/524

Your childhood best friend with an unreasonable amount of hatred towards Satoshi.

Lilit Alighieri - 5'10" - One year older than MC - November 27th - 10/210

Considers themselves in a best friend trio with you and Elias. Questionable whether you feel the same.

Paden Canmore - 5'5" - One year younger than MC - June 1st - 45/120

Couldn’t care less about your love life but feels dragged into it because he likes that Lilit includes him in their gossip.

Yamato Suzuki - 5'9" - 49 - January 17th

Your statistics professor and advisor for the art club. Cares for his students like they're his own children.

⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩Credits⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩

Iotenny - Director, programmer, lead writer

kezukaity - Sprite artist

Autumn - CG artist, co-writer

mellonaes - CG artist

itspsyklone - Main theme composer

⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩Final⋆｡°✩⋆｡°✩

Thanks for reading, and thank you so much more if you choose to play :3 ! I'll be posting some writings revolving around the characters to celebrate the release, thanks once again <3 !

[wayfayrr]

Hello! If I may, I’d like to make a request.

When I was little (between 4 and 8), my brother and I played Ocarina of Time constantly. It was our go-to game when hanging out. We replayed it and found all secrets and stuff. I was wondering if you could do a platonic self aware OOT!Link one shot? One where Link considers the player to be like a sibling to him since they grew up together in a way?

Thank you so much! I really enjoy your work ❤️

you're very welcome anon! this was such a sweet request to write!! I went with the post timeskip link for this seeing as I've already written one for Majora's mask link and I thought it would be more interesting to have that difference between the two pieces <3 I hope you'll enjoy this

[masterlist]

“Hey, I’ve been wanting to ask for a while… do you still have that old copy of Ocarina of time we used to play together? I’ve been kinda wanting to replay it. It’s a bit of a pain to get a new one or an emulator though so…”

“Uh? I think so, I can check in my attic later and drop it around your place tomorrow if I can?”

“That sounds perfect, thanks for the favour man.”

That was a fairly productive phone call, now I hopefully won’t have to mess about with an emulator or shell out for the subscription to play it again. Seeing as Nintendo doesn’t want to make their old catalogue accessible. All I need to do on my end is to wait and possibly google how to set up an N64 in the meantime.

Turns out that we did still have the old thing, and that it isn’t all that hard to set up either so it’s not like it takes too long for me to hear the calmingly melancholic tones of the game’s opening theme. Our old save file is still there too, although some of the stats on the file seem to have gotten a little bit corrupted because I’m convinced we completed it fully. Although it’s been what like 10 years or more since I would’ve last played, it makes sense that I might just be misremembering things. No harm in seeing where we left off though is there?

Well even though the file says otherwise, looking through Link’s inventory really wants to disprove that - there’s something with the same sprite as Zelda’s letter where it should just be an empty slot. It’s not got a name, if I hover over it it simply brings up a missing value error and the button prompt me to read it. It’s not like there’s any issue if I did open it, it’s an old save file so even if it does corrupt I won’t lose anything. 

Nothing happened, just a fade to blank before it glitched out and the inventory screen popped back up so that I could close it and have a look around…

How did Link turn around as I was paused in the inventory and how did his face get so close to the screen?

“[Name]? I knew you’d be back at some point! I knew you wouldn’t just leave your older brother for good… you wouldn’t would you?”

“...How do you know my name..?”

I know that Ai has gotten incredibly good recently but this is an N64, an unmodded one at that, so whatever the hell is happening right now can’t be due to that. This feels like it could be the start to a creepypasta though with everything going on right now - is this like a real life ben drowned - no it can’t be, he’d be crying blood if it were the case and he wouldn’t be as friendly either. 

“Because you told me it all those years ago when you first played through the game? You always spoke to me like I was a real person, like you saw me as your older brother, so it’s only natural that I started to see you like a little sibling right? Then when you disappeared I got so worried, It’s been so long but you’ve gotten so much older! Did you pull the mastersword yourself, because this much time can’t have really passed can it?... Can it?”

He looks almost like he’s about to cry, I should be caref- why am I so worried about hurting the feelings of a fictional character? Is it cause he sees me like a sibling, a younger one; because he knows me from when I was younger; or because he seems so attached to me already? Maybe I should just… turn it off so I don’t have to deal with it.

“I don’t remember how long it’s been, a good few years at least, Since I’ve played it. I wasn’t exactly planning to-”

“Is that what you used to control me!? I’ve never been able to get a good look at it before. Would you mind bringing it closer?”

“...Yeah I can bring it closer.”

The way he interrupted me was so so sad, he’s forcing himself to be cheery when he looks like he’s about to break down, like how an older brother would act. He really sees himself as my older brother doesn’t he? I have to admit that the way he’s leaning against the screen like an excited kid is also pretty cute I won’t lie to myself, if it weren’t for how insane the situation is I don’t think I’d mind him being my younger brother. He’s younger than me now anyway so that makes far more sense. 

Is the screen cracking beneath him? 

It’s definitely cracking under his weight, there are seconds left before it shatters.

“It’s so simple and yet it was the reason that you were able to-”

Glass can only last so long. And now he’s out, lying on my floor in a shocked heap with glass shards surrounding and covering him. After a couple of seconds of neither of us knowing what to do, we both snap into action at the same time, while I try to help him up and check for any serious wounds… he’s just laughing with the widest goofiest smile on his face, grabbing at my arms like I’m nothing but a wisp of a dream. 

“I - wow I - I could never have imagined that I could - that this - that this was even an option for me…”

“But I can be your brother in person now can’t I?”

[stellastra-scribbles]

Finally completed the outfit reference for Jayna Stiles, a half-elven NPC follower from Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura.

Outfit breakdown (or "outfit onions" as I like to call them lol~)

I really like Jayna Stiles and her backstory + goals of becoming a technological healer. I'm also a sucker for 19th-century fashion and I have an unhealthily large collection of reference books and a bunch of files saved from online museum collections (I've got about 22+ gigabytes of refs downloaded from the Library of Congress alone haha I need more hobbies).

More unrestrained detailed design ramblings below the cut~

Back on track, I really just wanted to design Jayna an outfit that suited her character more than her in-game sprites while also being practical for travel/adventuring.

Individual layers. I pulled most of her colors from her default outfit.

Since Arcanum's starting year is 1885, I usually picture the "modern" sense of fashion in big cities like Tarant and Caladon taking cues from real life 1885-1890s western fashions (to give myself some leeway with references). Smaller towns can be a bit more dated, but I try not to go back further than the 1870s in most cases.

However, for a character like Jayna, who hails from Dernholm, I gave her clothing from references dating back to the 1850-1860s. I did this because Jayna says in her recruitment dialogue that "[her] parents weren't wealthy people, and [she doesn't] make much money here in Dernholm," so I took this to mean that she likely wears clothing to last, wearing hand-me-downs, makes her own clothes, and mending it over the years rather than buying new clothes.

Given that Dernholm (+ the Kingdom of Cumbria in general) isn't in the best state when the game starts, they may be behind the times and the latest fashions take longer to reach Dernholm.

Gar: “Alas, poor Dernholm! Once home to the legendary Dragon Knights, it has fallen on hard times since Praetor became king some 60 odd years ago. He despises all technology, and I think he's recently become sour on magick as well.”

Herkemer Oggdoddler: “For two generations Cumbria languished as an economically abused and technologically impaired backwater in the shadow of Tarant. Its once fine capital, Dernholm, has become a ruin.”

Layer 1 - Chemise + Open Drawers. I deliberately drew the drawers as fairly loose so as to not expose her without having to redraw the pose or resort to "Barbie doll anatomy."

Various resources demonstrated the chemise being tucked into the drawers or worn fully untucked/loose, but I drew it as tucked-in for the sake of reference visibility, so perhaps either one works in practice.

Layer 2 - Corset + Socks/Stockings. I picked a more "contemporary" (1880s) design for the corset as I imagine it would be a more custom-fitted garment. Plus, anyone who has ever worn bras will attest that a bra that properly fits is comparable to a good pair of shoes: never cheap out on it because if you take care of it, it will take care of you. Perhaps that same logic can be applied to corsets in ye olden days and historically-inspired fantasy settings.

For Jayna, despite the simplistic design, it might be one of the few luxuries she can afford for herself given the necessity of the garment for bust support.

Layer 3 - Trousers + Shoes. I was inspired by vivandières and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, who typically wore trousers beneath their skirts. Dr. Walker was a "surgeon, women’s rights advocate, abolitionist, and spy, [and] the first female U.S. Army surgeon during the Civil War." Since Jayna is an aspiring technological healer, I feel like an allusion to Dr. Walker and her practicality was appropriate.

Layer 4 - Petticoat. It's just something to fill out the skirt volume a tad. I considered adding a corset cover in this layer but I did like having the upper outline of the corset somewhat visible in the shirtwaist layer to illustrate her living situation (aka she doesn't have one or just has a poor-quality one). As a modern-age woman, I think this this all already looks like a laundering nightmare to wash by hand.

Layer 5 - Shirtwaist + Outer Skirt. I really like the shape of the 1860s Garibaldi blouse's sleeves (I think these are bishop sleeves? correct me if I'm wrong...) and the stripes allude to some 19th century nurse uniforms. I initially went for a plaid pattern but that was a pain to draw and using a pre-existing plaid brush/pattern just didn't look as good as I wanted it to be.

Layer 6 - Sash + Pistol Holster + Bag. Given Jayna's goals of becoming a tech healer, I took design cues from vivandières, who were 19th-century women attached to military regiments, with a few known vivandières being nurses (like Anna Etheridge).

However, rather than lifting the vivandière look completely, I imagine Jayna would attempt to replicate the silhouette with her own clothes. The bag is a bit of an amalgamation of various 18th-19th century hunting/frontier bags, so I apologize that I don't have a direct reference image.

---------------

Of course, in the end, I did take some liberties with the outfit so it's not completely historically-accurate, but that's okay since Arcanum is a fictional universe.

I guess I should've prefaced that I'm no expert on historical fashion, just a casual enthusiast who thinks "ooh old dress is pretty!"

I just wanted to see how far I could go before I had to make some concessions, such as:

Jayna's hair is short and worn loose while irl Victorian women typically had long hair and wore them up (there were documented exceptions of course). Many portraits for both female player characters and female NPCs across all in-game races show short hair and loose long hair, so let's just assume that 19th-century Arcanum has more relaxed feminine hair standards compared to the real-life 19th century western world. Also, irl 19th-century rural women did sell their hair for money, so maybe there's something to apply to the world of Arcanum with that. Or maybe the short-hair craze just hit Arcanum a few decades early *shrug*.

I initially planned to give her gloves, but many resources show vivandières not really wearing them, preferring to go barehanded.

The clothing colors may be a bit too saturated for the era I took inspiration from, but I wanted to stay somewhat faithful to Jayna's original sprite colors.

I did simplify some garments down for the sake of me having to draw enough layers as it is lol. Sorry if the lace wasn't fancy enough or that she doesn't have headwear. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Sometimes you just wanna finish a project and be done with it.

hoo boy, that was a lot

Thank You For Coming to My TED Talk :)

Now go play Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura~

[symphonybracket]

Mahler 7

song of the night 💫🫶 i can’t even express how much i love this one… seriously cannot recommend that people listen to it enough. the end is so happy, the opening so iconic. as a kid literally one of my fav cds was the ashkenazy sso one. praying someone who’s more eloquent can write something to do this one justice. who doesn’t love a symphony with cowbells anyways 💝

Here's what Mahler 7 is all about. It's like if a symphony was a bug. It's the first piece that comes to mind when I think of the phrase "creepy crawly." But it's also like if an ice cream sundae was a symphony. It combines the whipped-smooth textures of cello and horn (and wagner tuba!) with sprinkles of mandolin and cowbell that you can crunch between your teeth. It's like sleep paralysis demon music if your sleep paralysis demon was also in love with you. It's the soundtrack of you getting pulled down to hell by little tiny sprites that are also laughing the whole time. It feels like a puzzle or a trick, something you have to work at with your tongue for a bit before it will crack open. And then bite you. I think that RECORDING MATTERS more than any other symphony! The texture of the percussion in particular is very fickle! My favorite is the one linked in the Spotify playlist (Haitink Bavarian Radio Symphony), but I put a YouTube recording I like below. If you only have time to listen to one movement, listen to 3 (the scherzo). It's the most quintessentially 7. It will make you feel like the below image (from the symphony's wiki page). However, my favorite part of the symphony is in the first movement (I made a little post about it here) and my personal favorite movement is the finale. :) CRUNCHY!

Brahms 4

Honestly it’s criminal it wasn’t featured in the first bracket

You’ve probably gotten a lot of these already

I saw it in concert not too long ago and it was amazing!

The 4th movement was one of the last pieces I got to play with my youth orchestra before graduating out, and once in the throes of rehearsals on top of senior year exams, my brain was so fried I thought that quietly singing the brass choir section near the end in the middle of a conversation would somehow be a joke? My sister still hums it sometimes to tease me

[bowletta]

my thoughts on mario and luigi brothership!

(spoiler-free edition!)

(click here for the Major spoilers version)

I will sort my thoughts into 3 categories: the good, the bad, and misc (not necesarily good or bad just in the middle)

The Good:

+ the animation. I didn't think theyd be able to recreate the charm the sprite animation had, but they nailed it.

+ great job translating the 2d sprites to 3d models. This was one of my biggest concerns when the game was revealed, but as much as I miss the sprites... they did a good job. Love how they added the blue accents from sato's early m&l artwork.

+ the cutscenes look so good. Very charming

+ probably the best boss battles in the series. Every one (except the 3rd lighthouse one >: [ ) was the perfect balance of fun and difficulty without dragging on too long.

+ extremely fun combat (jump attacks, hammers)

+ the characters. I really really enjoyed the characters.. I wish they cut a few of them to give others more screentime, but I was surprised how attached I got to them

+ the extension corps. Early on i thought they were just a rehash of the bffs from bowser jr.s journey... but I feel that they executed it 100 times better. I wont spoil, but they have a good arc : )

The Bad:

- I think the #1 problem plaguing brothership is the pacing. It is atrocious. The first 5 hours are so boring. It really drags its feet to get anything interesting happening. The villains arnt introduced until nearly halfway through the game. Why.

What sucks is I feel like if you can get past the first ocean, it starts to get really good! But looking back at all the leakers quitting a few hours in... I cant blame them.

- adding onto this, bros moves and battle plugs. It takes 5 hours to get your first bro move. You are stuck with standard jump and hammer for the entire first ocean. As much as i like performing those moves, it got old fast. You get bros moves so far apart, and several of them are introduced so late I didnt bother trying to learn them.

I wish the battle plugs were introduced sooner as well, I think it wouldve helped make the early combat more interesting.

- game feels way too long and bloated.

- why do you select luigi's actions with 'A' in battle. Why is there no option to change it. I struggled with this and fumbled my attacks literally until the 4th ocean. Why.

- frame rate issues. Upon booting the game I thought 'oh this is rough'. But then I got used to it. But as you progress, and more people join your ship, it gets bad. By the end, shipshape island is a choppy powerpoint presentation. I could hear my switch's fan struggling from my couch lol.

- weakest soundtrack in the series. Its not even close. Theres like 5 tracks I like, but that doesnt make up for the other 40+ being so unremarkable, esp when its one of the franchise's highlights.

- timing when counterattacking enemies is wildly inconsistent. With some, the timing feels too generous (the flying flower enemies) and other times it feels frame perfect (lakitu)

Misc:

> Theres so many instances where I cant tell if its supposed to be a homage to older games or just copy pasted from them. Theres a character introduced very late who is very similar to another late game m&l character. The extension corps and the bffs. Etc.

> the timeline is kind of confusing... Like how long ago did concordia break up? How long did it take connie to grow the tree on shipshape? Like did this take place months ago or decades ago??

>them reusing peach and bowser voice clips from 15 years ago (bis) was very funny

final thoughts:

id give brothership like... a 7.5-8/10. Is it the new best mario rpg? Absolutely not lol. It has some serious issues but... I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I think it couldve used a few more years in the oven, but overall, it was cute. Definently a contender for the new generation's super paper mario.

1. superstar saga

2. bowser's inside story

3. brothership

4. partners in time/dream team

5. paper jam

[charlituoso]

Pizzapants is relevant now, I must share this thought!!

4 hours ago, toby fox tweeted this!!

it drove me insane, however, it reminded me of a theory i had in mind for 2~3 years now, i dont remember if that theory is mine (probably not, i dont know how to think), and i just share them with oomf cuz i was....yk.....kind of delusional

HOWEVER

this single tweet made the theory stronger! I think it's pretty obvious now but at that time it was very very impossible to happen

1st point (very non-sense)

In chapter 1, Kris brought Susie to the dark world

In chapter 2, Kris "brought" Noelle and Berdly to the dark world

Now, in chapter 3, Kris might bring 3 characters in the dark world, and since deltarune is going to have 7 chapters, I believe that in some of that chapters pizzapants will appear! I hope!

2st point (theory is probably not mine, so it makes some sense)

This one don't need lots of logic, basically, if you notice, the only characters that have face sprites/talking sprites are lighters or darkners! Except for one character

That's right! You got it right! Pizzapants! SO the point here is, if he have a face sprite then he probably would join the party soon right?

But theres a but!

We all know who Toby Fox is, from what we've seen, he simply loves to draw pizzapants/burgerpants (can't blame him, i also love to draw this fucking cat!)

But theres more!

We do know who Toby Fox is, so he may or may not add pizzapants on the party, maybe for lore purposes, maybe just he feels like it, who knows!

Well thats pretty much of it, I know it sounds silly but i really like pizzapants/burgerpants and see him getting the attention today made me really happy!

[selfless-lovers]

This one is for my youngest, who has wanted a Zelda starring Zelda since age 4. Some amazing people made a mod of the original nintendo game that swapped the Link sprite with Zelda. They would sit in my lap while I played it. The fixation was so strong that they learned to read using my DS copy of Ocarina of Time.

Ten years ago, we decided to make our own. The Legend, starring Princess Endy (aka Little Zelda, aka Lil Z), can still be found on YouTube. And we've made a couple of books since then too.

The love for this series has never diminished. My youngest is a teenager now, and working on worldbuilding for their own Zelda comic/zine. If I'm very lucky, there will be more LoZ content coming from the Legend themself! (If they want to share, anyway. I'm got gonna push.)

Happy Zelda Day, everybody 💜

[littlejuicebox]

Midwinter Carol 3 / The Carriage

Pairing: Ascended Astarion x Female Elf Sorceress OC

Word Count: 2.9K

Story navigation: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]

Summary/Setting: Based on the prologue/premise from my OneShot "A Midwinter Carol."

Astarion and the OC broke up after his ascension. She left Baldur's Gate for fifteen years, only to return just recently. Following the events of "A Midwinter Carol," Ascended Astarion has been convinced to pursue a new beginning. Will he be able to change who he has become, with the help of his ex-lover? Or will he ultimately fall victim to his pride and desire for power?

Preview:

“Astarion… why did you reach out, after all this time?” She asks, dropping her gaze to her hands, which have been neatly folded in her lap. “What do you mean?” The Vampire Lord responds, feigning ignorance as he steals a moment to prepare himself for the conversation he knows they are about to have. He turns his head to stare out the window, hoping to give himself the illusion of further distance from Eirianwen. Her close proximity was unnerving.  “You know what I mean, Astarion. I tried to contact you via the sending stones. For years. You never responded.” Her tone is tight as she tries to contain the indignation and hurt. Fifteen years apart, and the fact that he hadn’t communicated with her once, despite her efforts, still stung. It had been a gaping wound in her heart that had never fully healed.  Eirianwen had asked to meet with the Ascendant at the Elfsong, a few weeks after their relationship ended. He had been under the impression it was to reconcile, and that she had changed her mind about his offer. Instead, she had given him the sending stone and expressed her desire to remain friends. The suggestion of being merely Eirianwen’s friend had nearly made Astarion retch on the spot. 

Warnings: This will be 18+ / in game spoilers / OOC Ascended Astarion because it follows my epilogue / Eventual Smut and maybe Gore / Angst, trauma, fluff

A/N: IDK guys I'm on a role with the fics this weekend and obsessed with this concept so... here's another one! If you want to be added to the taglist for this series, please leave a comment clearly stating that so I can keep track!

It had been a strange week. Returning to Baldur’s Gate proved more emotionally exhausting than Eirianwen had anticipated. 

Perhaps she should have said no to Astarion’s invitation; part of her worries accompanying him may be a mistake. She felt as if sprites were flying around in her stomach.

In retrospect, the sorceress should have been more hesitant and asked more questions, but his sudden, unexpected appearance had completely disarmed her. Did he consider this a date? Or was it simply an invitation between two old friends? She truly couldn’t be certain.

But, perhaps she was needlessly concerned, and everything would turn out fine. Anyway, the elven woman had to find a way to talk to Astarion about some delicate matters; it had been the main reason she’d returned to Baldur’s Gate after all this time. 

A single dance at the Midwinter Gala would not have been the appropriate setting for the conversation. At the time, Eirianwen feared Astarion would scorch everything and everyone around them in a rage if she’d done anything but allow him the dance. The barely concealed fury in his eyes as he cut in between her and Wyll on the ballroom floor had caused her stomach to churn with anxiety. 

Perhaps the sprites had made a home in her stomach after that interaction. The feeling returned every time she laid eyes on the Vampire Lord.

Since the gala, the sorceress had been fixated on speaking to Astarion again. She spent several hours a day desperately trying to form a plan; more than one letter had been drafted, ripped to shreds, and tossed. Eirianwen was embarrassed to admit that she, the elusive hero of Baldur’s Gate, had been too much of a coward to show up and face him at his own palace, where she had ended their relationship fifteen years ago.

But then the Vampire Lord did the hardest part and called upon her, to her astonishment.

Accepting the invitation seemed, at the very least, a good opportunity to extend an olive branch to the Ascendant. She hoped to mend their friendship before delivering any shocking news, mostly to avoid the worst of his rage. 

The way he spoke to her when they broke up still caused a pang in her heart. She shakes away the memory, instead choosing to reflect on the events of this week.

When Eirianwen met Wyll for lunch the same day as Astarion’s unplanned visit, she’d informed the Duke about the Vampire Ascendant’s invitation. The conversation had not gone well. Thinking about it now, as she waits beside the Duke for the Ascendant’s carriage to arrive, makes the woman’s palms sweat. There are those sprites again. 

“Wyll… why didn’t you tell me about the benefit auction this weekend?”

“I meant to bring it up at lunch today, Eirianwen. Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me?”

“Oh… I’m sorry, Wyll. Astarion came to call on me just earlier today and–” 

Wyll stiffened, and his face evolved from its typical relaxed, amiable manner into a hardened visage she hardly recognized. She had been quick to try and soothe the Duke, unwilling to cause a rift between them. He had been an exceedingly gracious host, and she was more thankful for his warm welcome than words could express.

“He didn’t access the grounds! Your guards are most excellent, they didn’t allow him entry!” She hastily explained, conveniently leaving out her attempts at convincing them otherwise, and Astarion’s attempt to sneak in through the rear of the property, “But I happened to be outside and, well, he invited me. And I’ve already said yes. It’s for a good cause, after all, and I didn’t know you were planning on attending since you hadn’t mentioned it.”

His face dropped into a look she did not quite understand. He sighed and shook his head before murmuring, “Are you sure that’s wise? Ani, I–”

She bristled at the nickname, which only one person had ever been allowed to call her. Her tone was clipped when she quickly interjected, “Please don’t call me that, Wyll.”

The Duke snapped his mouth shut and sighed again before returning his attention to his meal. His jaw stayed clenched between bites of food.

The rest of lunch passed in uncomfortable silence. 

Umber meows beside Eirianwen and she shoos away her thoughts, bending down to place a gentle pat on the cat’s head.

Wyll glances at his pocket watch and then turns to the elven woman, “Eirianwen, he’s late. Are you certain he’s coming? I would be more than happy to–”

Speak of the devil. The Duke and the sorceress simultaneously spot Astarion’s carriage coming around the corner. Wyll’s mouth seals into a thin line as the offer he was about to make dies upon his lips. 

Two obsidian draft horses come to a halt in front of Eirianwen; the footman quickly drops down and opens the chariot door. Astarion emerges from the confines of the vehicle with an arrogant eyebrow raised and a small, self-satisfied smirk on his lips. He’s wearing another one of his ostentatious, heavily embroidered jackets; this one is black velvet with golden dragons breathing fire along the lapel. 

He knows he looks good. 

As the Vampire Lord descends from the carriage, his eyes gloss over Wyll with apathy and then settle on Eirianwen. 

“You look wonderful, Ani.” Astarion murmurs as his scarlet eyes take in the deep navy blue of her trumpet-silhouette evening gown.

Wyll’s head snaps to the sorceress as he notices, with displeasure, that she does not admonish the Vampire Lord for calling her the very nickname he’d been forbidden to use. A muscle twitches in the Duke’s jaw as he observes this reunion.

“Good to see you again, Astarion.” Eirianwen greets with a nod as she brings an anxious hand up to play with her necklace. The tension between the two men was so overwhelmingly thick that it could have been cut with her old sussur dagger; her stomach is fluttering again.

The Vampire Lord is distracted by the action, and his eyes immediately flit to her neck, where he cannot help but to notice the small pin prick scars that remain from… before. He instinctively shifts his eyes away.

“That’s a beautiful necklace, it goes well with the dress.” The pale elf compliments mechanically, looking past the woman’s shoulder as he quickly tries to smooth over his brief moment of awkwardness. He’s certain both Eirianwen and Wyll noticed as he faltered, distracted by those little fang scars. Astarion is painfully aware that his carefully crafted, cool, and collected persona slips further and further from reach every time he interacts with the sorceress. 

It is at moments like this, when his mask fumbles and his charisma wanes, where he still feels like the tragic, weak spawn version of himself.

Astarion had immediately recognized Eirianwen’s necklace to be the work of her family, the Ar’Tel’Tavas jewelers based in Silverymoon. Over the years, the Ascendant commissioned more than one piece from the family, under a pseudonym. It had been the only piece of Ani with him all this time.

The Lord was quite aware the family’s funds supported their daughter on her little adventures. Eirianwen may not have been a noble, but she had been a child of privilege. She was allowed to do as she pleased and flit around all of Faerun because her parents ensured she would be provided for. He was not ignorant of that fact. 

Astarion had reasoned long ago that if he could not have her, then he would at least make sure she was provided for. His purchases ensured she had access to more than enough funds for her savior act. He’d owed her at least that… after everything.

The Vampire Lord, despite his pride, had always been aware it was Ani’s planning and command of their group that ultimately put him where he now was. In another lifetime, he would still be under Cazador or dead without her interference. He was loath to admit he certainly wouldn’t be the Ascendant without her help.

Some days he hated her for it; most days, he accepted the gift for the double-edged sword it was.

The Vampire Lord’s left hand fiddles restlessly with the gold ring on his right pinky; it was one of a few dozen commissions designed by Ani’s parents, and the only one he wore on a daily basis. The signet is a snowflake, backed by a cool blue enamel. 

The pad of Astarion’s index finger rubs against the lifted texture of the ring as he forces himself to acknowledge Wyll. The Ascendant nods tersely but does not perform the customary bow. He would never submit to Wyll, even as the best version of himself. 

The pale elf simply greets the human man with a cold, “Duke Ravengard.” 

Wyll nods back, but no other pleasantries are exchanged between the two men.

“We should head out; we are going to be late.” Wyll murmurs in general, though he has his eyes trained on the sorceress. 

Eirianwen glances at Wyll and nods before she makes her way toward Astarion’s carriage. Before the Vampire Lord can offer to help his ex-lover inside, Wyll extends his hand to Eirianwen and ushers her into the other man’s caravan. The pale elf bristles at the slight, fist clenching into a ball as he locks hardened eyes with the Duke. 

Umber hops in the carriage after the sorceress, and at first Astarion thinks to protest, but quickly censors himself, knowing better than to press Eirianwen about her pets. He briefly recalls she hadn’t allowed him to touch her for a week when he’d refused to let Scratch sleep in the bed with them. 

The familiar sprawls itself out on the seat opposite Eirianwen and then turns its head expectantly to Astarion, as if waiting for him to enter the carriage.

“We’ll see you there, Wyll.” The elf hisses cooly, his arrogant eyebrow raised in a silent challenge.

Wyll brushes past the Vampire Lord with no acknowledgement.

-----

Two ghosts sit side by side, both staring at the cat lounged on the other side of the vehicle. Several moments of silence pass. The ex-lovers shared a carriage for only one event prior to this, when they had attended Wyll’s coronation as a couple all those years ago. 

The sorceress had cast an arcane lock on the door to prevent the footman from opening it, and Astarion had barked an order at the driver to simply leave the carriage in the driveway. By the time the caravan had been parked in front of the palace, Eirianwen had already fallen apart twice under the Ascendant’s expert ministrations. 

It had been the first time he’d been able to be inside her without the usual feelings of disgust and the desire to pull back. They’d broken up not more than a few months after.

Once again, it is the elven woman that breaks the heavy silence.

“Astarion… why did you reach out, after all this time?” She asks, dropping her gaze to her hands, which have been neatly folded in her lap.

“What do you mean?” The Vampire Lord responds, feigning ignorance as he steals a moment to prepare himself for the conversation. He turns his head to stare out the window, hoping to give himself the illusion of further distance from Eirianwen. Her close proximity was unnerving. 

“You know what I mean, Astarion. I tried to contact you via the sending stones. For years. You never responded.” Her tone is tight as she tries to contain the indignation and hurt. Fifteen years apart, and the fact that he hadn’t communicated with her once, despite her efforts, still stung. It had been a gaping wound in her heart that had never fully healed. 

Eirianwen had asked to meet with the Ascendant at the Elfsong, a few weeks after their relationship ended. He had been under the impression it was to reconcile, and that she had changed her mind about his offer. Instead, she had given him the sending stone and expressed her desire to remain friends. The suggestion of being merely Eirianwen’s friend had nearly made Astarion retch on the spot. 

So it was true, the Vampire Lord never responded; in his pride and delusions of grandeur, he could never bring himself to reply to the woman that had abandoned him. She had broken his heart and destroyed his ego when she refused his offers and then ran from the city, far away from him. Could she really blame him? 

Every message reminded Astarion of the pain she’d inflicted on his heart, which he’d tried so desperately to forget. He’d refused to admit that a simple sorceress had caused the most powerful vampire in Faerun nearly two decades of hurt and anguish.

He never responded, but he had every message, and the sound of her voice, committed to memory. Astarion’s eyes glaze over as the recollections flood him.

The first message arrived a few weeks after she left the city.

“Hi Star. Made it to Halsin’s. The Shadowlands look different. It’s beautiful. Come see what we did, your imagination won’t do it justice.”

That had felt like a stake to the heart. At the time, he was certain Eirianwen had been intentionally trying to goad him, since the first person she ran to after their relationship ended had been her other lover. 

Then, three months later, another message.

“Hi Star. We are building a school for the kids. We could use your vampiric strength, if you’re willing to lend a hand.”

No. Absolutely not. He refused to show up and watch Halsin and Eirianwen as the picture of happiness and domesticity. If she wanted to move on, so be it; he did not have to witness it or pretend to be happy for her. 

Followed by another message, about six months later.

“Hi Star. Shadowheart and Lae’zel are getting married at the end of this month. They asked me to invite you.”

Again, absolutely not, he knew that Shadowheart was Eirianwen’s best friend, and suspected the cleric loathed him deeply. Better he spares them both from the charade.

Another message, approximately one year later.

“Hi Astarion. I’m off to explore the wilds again. Let me know if you’re interested in pursuing another adventure, for old times' sake.”

The offer had been tempting, but he’d been on the brink of gaining monopoly over the shipping industry. Stepping away would have been disastrous to all his efforts, and he had spent several years here building a life without her. The fact that she expected him to drop everything for her after all this time was ridiculous. 

Then, her final message, roughly one year after the last.

“Scratch died today. I know you loved him, even though you pretended you didn’t. This will be my last message, Astarion. Hope you’re well.”

Shortly after that, the magical glow from the sending stone disappeared. Ani had smashed her half of the set. That had been the only time the Vampire Ascendant had allowed himself to shed any tears over the broken bond between them. After that, his heart had callused over entirely, and he vowed to never let anyone else in again.

A rough bump in the road causes the wagon to jolt, knocking the sorceress into the Ascendant. Eirianwen instinctively grips onto his arm to steady herself, forcing Astarion from his daydream. He flinches in surprise at the sudden contact, and she whispers an apology before shifting away.

Umber is staring at Astarion. He’s convinced the cat is judging him.

“What do you want me to say?” The pale elf murmurs, his tone dejected. 

“The truth.” She responds quietly, reaching forward to pet Umber, in an effort to distract herself. The cat purrs in delight and closes its green eyes. 

“Ani, surely you must know that when you left…” The Vampire Lord starts, looking down at his hands where he’s fidgeting with the signet ring once more.

‘I was heartbroken.’

“It wasn’t easy for me.” He finishes, forcing the words out in another tight tone. The effort to spit out the truth hurt his jaw; that was the most vulnerability he could allow himself.

Eirianwen sighs. Umber’s purrs fill the silence, and both the elves sit in the fog of their thoughts and the uncomfortable air of unspoken conversations. The woman sits back up and turns to face the Vampire Lord, furrowing her brow slightly. 

Astarion forces himself to meet her eyes. He suddenly realizes how close the sorceress is in the confines of the carriage, and the proximity causes his heart to pound within his chest. He cannot bring himself to speak, so he simply focuses on her eyes. They are soft and round with something akin to concern, and the final flares of sunlight are captured in the iris. 

Her eyes look like home. 

The elves are staring at one another. The air inside the carriage has grown so thick with tension. Astarion can hardly bring himself to breathe, and Eirianwin feels the metaphorical sprites fluttering in her stomach. Neither of them realize the carriage has stopped.

“Astarion I–” The sorceress begins, but she startles and the words die on her lips as the door to the caravan rips open, revealing an irritated Wyll standing at the foot of the stairs with an exuberant Jaheira. 

The druid is beaming, muscular arms folded across her chest. Her eyebrow is raised in entertainment. When Jaheira speaks, her tone is warm and filled to the brim with delight, “I never thought I would live to see the day when you two chose to grace the Remembrance Society with your presence. Welcome, oh holy saviors of Baldur’s Gate!” 

Eirianwen practically flies out of the carriage, squealing ecstatically as she envelops the older woman in a crushing hug. Umber is quick to follow the sorceress. A flurried exchange of greetings ensues, and then the two women walk off without more than a glance back at the Duke and the Ascendant.

Jaheira guides the sorceress up the steps of the venue as they begin updating one another about their lives.

Wyll and Astarion are all but forgotten, left side by side. The two men barely glance at one another before following after the women without a word.

-----

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