#saturnine

[satur9-if]

Consequence Update

The largest chapter of Saturnine to date has just been uploaded. Dealing with the aftermath of the final battle against Crystal, it covers so many things that I won’t bother listing them all. Just know there are lots of choices, outcomes, conversations, lightning strikes and potential romance scenes. Stuff happens.

I’m tired. I’ll try to upload another chapter for the game’s first anniversary next month, but for now I’ll just take a break. Maybe hit the gym or something, it sure sounds less exhausting than dealing with choice blocks.

[eaux-fortes]

Robert E. Svoboda, Aghora: At the Left Hand of God.

[cosmic-pindrops]

Only the sun could ever phase me out

[malicedragoness]

Saturnine

Face/Body claim: Javier Botet

Name: Akuji (Dead and Awake)

Alias/Preferred name: Saturnine (sullen, gloomy)

Gender/Pronouns: Male, he/they

Sexual/Romantic Orientation: Demisexual

Occupation: former slave, currently rebel

Appearance:

Height/Build: 6’7” lanky

Skin Tone: dark tan

Hair: black

Eyes: brown, later orange

Identifying Marks: scars on back, missing right ear

Appearance: Tall, thin, a hunched shoulder, and arms longer than usual. Saturnine has a haunting figure that makes people cringe and give him a wide berth. Often referred to as having the body of a wraith.

Powers/Weapons:

Weapons: Thin dagger

Powers: After being experimented on by Adrienne and Quan Chi, Saturnine acquired the power of Miasma and Dream Eating.

-Miasma: Saturnine developed special glands in his throat that, when activated by jutting his jaw a certain way, can emit a vapor from his mouth that causes others to hallucinate. This effect can only work for a limited time, but it lasts long enough for Saturnine to attack with his dagger.

-Dream Eater: Saturnine can use his miasma power to cause others to fall asleep and manipulate their dreams, healing himself by cause his victim distressing nightmares.

Personality:

Personality: Morose, quiet, reticent. Saturnine tends to keep to himself, and speaks with as little words as possible, preferring solitude. His loyalty to Havik and Darrius is unmatched, and will follow them to whatever end.

Motivations: Revenge on a certain higher caste family. The destruction of Seido.

Fears: Being enslaved again. He would rather die before letting that happen.

Hobbies: Books, trying to read. Loves poetry, fairy tales, mythology. Especially the one his lover left behind.

Relationships:

Family: Doesn’t remember them. He was taken away as a young boy.

Significant Other: Hikaru

Relationship Status: Partner deceased

Allies: Havik, Darrius, other rebels.

Enemies: Seido guards and higher castes

Neutral: Adrienne and Quan Chi

Backstory:

Born into the lowest caste in Seido, Akuji has been a slave since day one. With his hunched shoulder and thin appearance, he was deemed undesirable by the higher castes. His parents were forced to leave him behind when they were sold to another family. He has had the same master since birth, being forced to sleep in the stables and slop around animal feces.

Solitude was his friend, as were the animals he tended to. When the master has guests over, he keeps his head down and drowns out the cruel words the nobles call him. Speaking up only gets you hurt, as he saw what happened to the others that came before him.

Everything changed when his master passed and he was sold to another family. There he met Hikaru, the master’s third son, whose charming demeanor shined brighter than the sun. Hikaru took interest in Akuji. Constantly asking him questions, bringing him fresh foods, and his favorite, reading to him. He loved to hear the noble man’s voice, quickly falling in love with the man’s beautiful personality, but would never let him know. His imagination run wild as he got lost in Hikaru’s stories.

Poems, at first, frustrated Akuji, preferring people to say what they mean instead of speaking in flowery words and metaphors. Fairy tales, myths and legends, tales of heroics, were more fascinating. Hikaru would smile and ask him what his favorite story was, and that’s when Akuji revealed that he couldn’t read, but he enjoyed every story Hikaru read to him. The noble son was determined to teach him. Day turned into weeks, as Hikaru took the painstaking task of teaching to read.

One time, Akuji was cleaning Hikaru’s study, and stopped for a moment to try to read a book that was left open on his desk, not knowing the importance of it. When Hikaru’s eldest brother, Takeo catches him and accuses him of trying to steal family secrets. Takeo brings him before the Master and Lady of the house, demanding his head for treason. Hikaru pleaded with his father, explains that he was teaching Akuji how to read and that he was only curious.

The Master was disgusted that his son would waste his time teaching him to read. “Might as well teach an ant politics, it’s a concept that would do no good, neither benefit them.” As punishment, the Master demands Takeo bring him Akuji’s ear, and to never set foot in the house again. “The saturnine mongrel will sleep outside where he belongs.”

Hikaru checked on him the next few days, while Akuji pleaded for him to not come near him. He couldn’t stand for someone so handsome, so bright, to see him disfigured. More importantly, he doesn’t want Hikaru to be punished if he was seen around him.

Hikaru admits to finding Akuji beautiful just as he is, he always has. And he would do anything to prove it to him. The noble man takes Akuji away from the stable in the middle of the night, to a secluded area. Away from the guards, away from society and anybody that could find them, and they make love.

Weeks later, Hikaru is betrothed to a young woman from another higher caste family. It breaks Akuji’s heart, but he regretfully accepts the reality.

Until Hikaru comes to him in the dead of night, telling him he broke off the engagement and her family is trying to take revenge. They need to get out of the city tonight, with the help of Havik and Darrius. Hikaru explains that these two men are leading a rebellion against Seido’s government, and are willing to help Akuji and him escape.

As they escape, they get ambushed by Seidan guards and Hikaru forces the two men to take Akuji away while he fights them off. Akuji screams as he watches the man he loves get cut down.

Havik and Darrius bring Akuji to the sorcerer, Quan Chi, and the witch, Adrienne. Providing them shelter and a means to eventually topple Seido’s government, given that they are allowed to experiment on the three of them to provide powers that will aide them.

Akuji agrees, not seeing what the downside would be. If he dies, he will rejoin his lover.

Adrienne makes a concoction infused with ectoplasm and her tarantula familiar’s venom, and painted sigils on his body with her shadow magic. It took days for him to recover, but eventually he gained the powers of Miasma and Dream Eating.

Looking through the bag Hikaru gave him before he died, he finds the book of poems and stories he would read to him. He guards it like his life depends on it.

He forgoes the name Akuji, that name belonged to his beloved and him alone. He chooses the name Saturnine, and Seido will pay for what they have done.

~*~*~*~*~*~

MK story tag list: @bihanspookies

[jammylubgs]

I hate the Saturn hate. Saturn is the planet of KARMA, don’t blame Saturn for your problems because you brought then upon yourself. Also, the benefits of Saturn are so overlooked. From pain and hardship comes strength and wisdom. Going through tough situations teaches us the skills we need in life. You put in the work or you don’t, life is hard either way, you’ve got to pick your hard. Saturn gives us problems when we don’t make the changes we need to makem What better motivator than pain? It sounds cruel but it’s necessary. Ultimately, it makes us stronger and puts us in a better position in the end. I love Saturn

[mournivaldisco]

Thinking about this excerpt in Saturnine which implies that Abaddon is familiar with furtive porn viewing

[zemi-noelle-art]

My part for the Red Vox Visions and Afterthoughts poster collab!   I was assigned the song Saturnine, and I had a lot of fun with this piece, especially playing with color, symbolism, and texture. This song is really beautiful, the album is fantastic, and I am extremely honored to have done this piece. <3 Everyone did an amazing job on their songs too so I’d recommend checking them out HERE! 

[mpreg-if-adventures]

Ewald Hammon from Saturnine reveals the real reason why he's hunting Hadaly

Done with permission of @satur9-if, author of Saturnine

[stelaernis]

❛ there is something foreign in the mirror. i used to bleed from my sleeves to others. maybe it was naivety or maybe because i was just a child. the person staring back is filled with star - like wonder, and i am filled with a cold, endless water. i push everything away but they pull everything in to heart. they take the form of my own replica, a vessel architected out of gentler memories. i cannot avert my gaze, all i can do is weep ❜

· ✦ saturnine, stelærnis.

[satur9-if]

Returnal Update

The androids return to Rhea, the very moon and the very city where their quest began. Crystal may have been taken care of, but other threats remain, and they must be handled one way or another. As always, the choice between victory and defeat lies in the Veteran's hands, and it's up to them to decide which one is which.

In other words, here's the tenth chapter of Saturnine. About 32k words long, has multiple distinct outcomes and brings us ever closer to the story's final conclusion. I'm not sure when I'll release the next update, but I'll try to post something interesting once I return from the fantasy convention this week. Take care.

[eaux-fortes]

Robert E. Svoboda, Aghora: At the Left Hand of God.

[templeofthev01d]

©️ ᐯ丨丂丨ㄥㄩ乂 - 2024

[malicedragoness]

OCs as Colors Quiz

Tagged by: @chaosrealm 🖤💜

Tagging: anyone who wants to join 😁💕

Cori:

Warm Green

Hey there, how's the whole "finding your reason in life" thing going? Listen, I know that it seems like you need to have some reason to be here, whether it's a goal to strive towards, a purpose, a direction, a passion, a use, anything, but you don't. You don't have to give what happened to you a reason, and your reactions don't always have to make sense. You don't have to keep putting the blame on yourself, and you don't have to try and unravel yourself like a puzzle, either. I know that people often see you as someone who's calmer, someone who seems to have it together, who, even though you struggle, you're always able to make it through it. And you are, and you're able to, and I'm proud of you for that. But, you should be proud of yourself, too, not just of what others are proud of you for, and not just what things you've deemed "worthy" of that praise. You've come far. If freedom is what you want, then you should let yourself have it.

Saturnine:

Burgundy Red

You're very passionate, maybe passionate in the way of people, maybe passionate in the way of a goal, of a love, of a desire- it doesn't matter that much. You're strong-minded, self-sufficient, and people admire you, perhaps for different reasons, depending on what parts of yourself are true or not. Are you done running from what you don't like? It's okay, to be afraid. Fear is normal, it's what makes someone human, what makes someone real, but that doesn't mean that you can avoid everything. Someday your grief of your old self will find you in the middle of a summer day and ask you if you've forgiven it yet, and you will have to find an answer.

Atten:

Sunflower Yellow

Hello :] I have a feeling that you might enjoy using little faces like that, so I will, too! You've likely had a bit of a rough life, even if you don't share that with others too often, or if you do, it's so other people know they're not alone. That's admirable, but it's also good to talk about the things that trouble you for your own sake, as well. I know that you're strong, and you should be proud of yourself for how far you've come, but don't forget that it's also okay to step back for a bit, that it's okay if you're not put together. Regardless, you're someone that people tend to find comfort in, and you're a good, cheerful person to be around. It's a bit hard to come across someone like you nowadays- be proud of yourself, and if anyone tries to tell you that you're wrong for enjoying the small joys in life, just be happy that it's obvious you're truly living life.

Adrienne:

Orange

You'll have to let go of it someday, you know that, don't you? Don't be afraid of that. It's something that has to happen, just as troubles will be forgiven, actions will be remembered, and just as the time will pass regardless of whether you are taking a step forward, or back. You've got a strong personality, and I admire you for that, along with your lack of hesitation when finding an answer for yourself and for what you want to do. Knowing what you want in life is very important, and although it's good that you know that, it's also important to consider what other people want in life, too. You're bright, and you're fiery, and emotions are something that you feel a bit too much of sometimes, but I understand. Don't lose yourself in the path of moving forward, or you'll end up right back at the start.

[1000-year-old-virgin]

Justice & Miguel - Saturnine

[icelogged]