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🗡 i have two (kinda three but one is presenting the work of another) more assignments to complete and ill be completing a cert. IV course and i will be free (until i begin another thing that will keep me busy) and im hoping to get it all done by this time next week..

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the curious witch asks: ' do you remember it all ? bein' as old as you are , 'm sure you have more memories than you can count . ' the girl muses quietly , legs swinging gently as she dangles them over the edge upon which she sits . ' ... you ever had to let any of those go ? 'cause maybe there was just too much to remember or ... ' her gaze settles within her lap . ' maybe it was for the best that you forgot . ' - rwell ... 🥺

Memories were for the conscience, the self aware. Those early days were only a smatterings of visions, and thrills of the hunt. But even now, they can recall that first breath, and the hunger to enact terror it brought. Beneath worn leather, Talon's vision is cast over the open expanse cut into segments by long, old fences from the barn roof holding up their weight, the young witch sitting at the edge by their side. If they gave it the time, they could recall when there hadn't been a fence feebly splitting this valley. Tthey had caught sight of when the farmstead had been a thing to behold a few times too, instead of the derelict that barely stood up in the abandoned field behind them. Even then, it had only ever been a location to gather their bearings, to know they were close enough to civilisation for their next hunt. Most of their memories are best kept sequestered.

"Depends what you reckon is worthy of bein' dubbed a memory." They begin. Talon shifts their resting elbow to sit up, scraping along the roof tiles and leaving a scorch mark. After checking there was no fear of a spark igniting, they begin to answer proper. "It comes fleetingly. As well as the dunes recall how quenching the rain can be. Dig deep and you'll find where each drop is kept. You'll also find as you age, remembering will involve far more searching, through hoarded events an' recollections." They hadn't considered when humans first began keeping a personal record of their existence until just now. Suppose they had a question for her, too. Wondered if it felt anything like theirs. "Give me the time to hem and hum, sure I can wrangle enough memories like dust-bunnies an' paint a scene."

Cooled eyes take a gander at her face then, revealed from beneath the cover of their hat to read her expression. Her own story, as short in comparison to their own as it is, is chock-full of enough loss for a whole lifetime. She speaks of it seldom, perhaps a habit she's picked up after both her mentor and them. Or maybe for her own sake. Their next words pull their chest down with a sinking knowing of what they had to do. Questioning when it became a 'must' to teach her could wait for another time. "The painful ones got a lesson tied to 'em. Trying to throw any away is more trouble than relief, they got a habit of stickin' back in you. Best to keep them in your sights than knock on wood hoping they never cut you again."

With a lifted heel, the point of a spur picks into the worn wood of the wall behind their dangling feet, focus flickering as they search for a way to not end their answer on such a dour note. Maybe even bring that playful smile of hers out, like the sun cutting through an overcast haze. "... I don't hold the stretches of walking too dear. Wager I've wandered longer than you've existed. Enough to encircle the whole West a few times."

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what did you see? what did you see out there?

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🗡 yap hour ive been quiet (not yapping about it here) but its about my ideas for talons story progression and demons and how everything eventually falls into place just for me (i twist everything to be good for me)

but my thought process for talons 'story progression' ever since the kat comic was that they either have to figure out their own life without marcus around (boo thats character growth), or sink even deeper into being 'the blade's shadow' as their purpose in life/being the true heir by following his teaching better than kat etc. and vowing to avenge marcus. as much as they would love to kill the grand general they are also sadly very fatalistic and might aim instead to 'expose' swain as being a monster/not human to incur change into happening or something. so learning about demons, what and how swain has been up to, etc.

and this has been what ive thought about for a while now, and with all of this atakhan lore, and the leblanc update dropping this year? i have been quietly feasting. plotting scheming etc.

le blanc's line for talon now IN GAME supports my thinking too.

"The Du Couteau name is worthless, - aim higher."

which is very fun and pointed for so many reasons and i think leblanc has many, many ways to try and convince talon to work with or for her because she has a lot of answer they seek but being missing-dad mode talon will point the blame at anyone and everyone for him dying - including the black rose for not having his deal with them be enough to kill swain.

i also want to explore talon Actually learning about demons and those crazy enough to actually hunt them because talon has only ever really 'hunted' humans before this is drastically different fields and i like imagining the different shenanigans this can create. learning more and more about demons and just Seeing atakhan is so fun as well.

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the lack of texture isnt helping but the hair looks so greasy.... when did you last shower.....

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Where once they would have jeered at a mortal tricked into servitude by devilish acts, Talon cannot help but let the strings of their chest tumour pull at their lips. Taught and pitying. Wandering eyes never steer far from the animated claw, inspecting it in turn with head canting from side to side. "Can't help the speculations that be gnawin' at my mind, over what inspired you to strive in this field." After pausing a moment, an outstretched, ignited hand reroutes to the collar of their overcoat, adjusting how it sat on their shoulder. They meet his eyes with his turn, but find the contents atop the workshop counter more curious as they continued their answer. "Clockwork Angels were once the things of myth, renewed now with one galavantin' over open plains. A husk to shelter the divine without a home."

Talon's searching pauses, watching Viktor instead for a reaction to their words. They do not wait long, for the anticipation would make them queasy. "Been wondering what angel blood would be worth to you, Doctor. Or if your work went no further than caging weary, mortal souls."

❛ it goes. ❜ it isn't his work anymore. viktor wanted to give the wretched a second chance at life. longevity. eternity, even. mordekaiser wants tin soldiers to reign over. nevertheless ... ❛ what i'm capable of mortal medicine can only dream of achieving. ❜ words of hubris, but delivered in such a bitter tone its clear the doctor's been well and truly punished for it.

there's no room to entertain in the workshop. there's a single stool, but viktor claims it for himself. he stretches out his leg, fiddling with a brace that wraps around his calf and thigh. whilst his attention is seemingly elsewhere, the metal claw at his back turns to the stranger, as though regarding them. there's a white glow, dimming then brightening, where the three talons meet.

❛ you've come this far, knowing what i do. ❜ it's not a question. viktor lifts his gaze back to the stranger, eyes narrowed in consideration. ❛ —why? ❜

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returning to my roots of posting a bunch of rough sketches & not elaborating before i fall unconscious

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Stardew Valley Dollmaker

tagged by: @dolls-runeterran-dollhouse ♡ tagging: you if you havent played around with this yet !

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imagining the most self indulgent writing ever...

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they are canceling me for the way i deal with grief. also, for the infinite number of destroyed universes

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"I should have found another way out of the reckoner barracks."

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🗡 graphic design update.......

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 “The eyes of Noxus are always watching.”

"Entertained by blood split for show and expansion. For results. For falterings."

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the stars upon ye : a great and terrible reckoning approacheth . aye , before the sun doth wane , thy belly shall know torment most foul — of a meal ill-advised and morsel cursed by hubris .

Hunger gnaws at their innards, without sustenance for untold hours now. It had been easily dismissed while attention flittered about scribed records, scattered documents, and their own, hastily scribbled notes to connect them all. An informational banquet for the mind, of interstellar patterns and the alignment of galaxies, but one that could ne'er quench those mortal pangs. A hand clutches at their torso, focus broken from their lack of findings to see that the bright light that once flooded through the tall library window had lowered into a amber glow. When had they begun pulling out old records, again..?

The desk is hastily organised - papers shoved between tombs more dust than calculations now - before the Stargazer stands. And finds balance from the table's edge as hands clutch at it, exhaustion pulling them down.

Gathering their senses and shaking the dread of an ill omen, Talon marches toward the observatory's catering hall with newfound motivation, no doubt there will be a few meals they could borrow from, or quickly search the pantry to take a few ingredients. Nothing that would be terribly missed.

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🗡 i miss my assassin so much...

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@essence-flux-primed explains: "Look, normally I only repurpose things from tombs, or people who steal from tombs, but it's been a long time since I last had a hot shower, and I'm willing to compromise my morals for a private moment with some conditioner and a bar of soap. So." He holds the map protectively in one hand, just out of grabbing distance from his new reticent friend. "Maybe we can come to a deal."

They had moved toward him in an attempt to snatch the map away while he was babbling on, only for it to slip past their reach, past the point without getting uncomfortably close to one another. Realising how frustratingly childish it all was they step back from the treasure hunter. The thought of threatening or even just slitting a throat passes fleetingly; but he is useful alive, and talkative, still. Talon can manage to be cordial for this exchange. ... They note his sometimes strange use of words.

The assassin is still as they thought, cloaking shadows cast about threatened to pull them back into the darkness. It was nowhere near the strangest barter they'd encountered - one of the more backhanded ones, though. Believing him to be nothing more than a plucky foreigner searching out the thrill of adventure would be a beginner's mistake. "There will be many things you can repurpose. From conquests before either of our time. Things better taken from those who keep them, if that helps your morals." There was so much kept hidden, forgotten, or locked away in these twisting caverns, Talon is certain there will be something to pique his interest. Confident in their offering, they step forward and hold out a gloved hand. For the map.

"I will share the directions to a fine bathhouse."

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having a 'guy whose only seen boss baby watching a second movie' moment