heyyyyyyyyy!!! how is it going??

there are many, many, MANY things i want to talk about this game. but for now, since it's a demo, i'll just focus on the most simple: the origins!!

THE ORIGINS.......

(yes, thats a tweet of mine...)

when i was a kid, i didn't really know much about 1001 arabian nights. i knew that there was a cartoon, a girl called Sherazade (i even used the name in one of my childhood OCs) and that she told stories to "deceive" a sultan each night. to little aroace me, it made incredible sense. "she's so smart!! telling stories to avoid those impure things!! heck yeah, go sherazade!!". but i didn't really went deeper into the og story or anything. i just kept the premise in my head somewhere.

many years later, i met some really cool people, and between them, a guy called chimeriquement who decided to create the Once Upon a Time VN Jam, a fairy tale themed jam. and then i was WOAH. WAIT. THERE IS THIS STORY I ALWAYS WANTED TO MAKE SOMETHING WITH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1001 NIGHTS!!!!!!!!! LETS DO IT!!!!!!!!!!

and let me tell you. the original source is INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!! it is NOT family friendly and when i read it (+ made a huge HUGE research about it on wikipedia kdjfnjkgd) i was so glad i didn't read it when i was a child lmao. but hey, all things have their own time. so, letting this aside, when i read about it, i was like "okay... there are these persian characters, but the 'never-ending' story technique is indian, and the tales inside the story have islamic influences?????????? HOLD UP" and yes, amigos. i was in front of one big, ENORMOUS soup of middle-eastern cultures. and it was delicious  to dive into everything, to read about so much stuff to make this. i hope i channelled that admiration i got from these cultures into the story, because woah... it keeps impressing me. really. i hope i did them justice.

well, since the original source wasn't culturally specific, i took the freedom to not make talisman of dawn culturally specific myself. the characters are persian, but the archtecture of the bgs is inspired by islamic patterns, and the music of the game so far is mostly indian-inspired. and honestly, you may even find some of brazilian culture here and there, in the character dynamics. (personally i based mudhik a LOT on my mother lol.)

THE CONCEPT!!!!!!!

as i said before, little aroace me REALLY thought the story was about avoiding sex lmao (i found out later that they actually have kids, but let's ignore this for now) so when i picked this story up, the idea came as clear as day. "i want to make a story about being assexual in a world that doesn't know what assexuality is" because goddamit, it's such a relatable concept.

the arromantism of the sultan came later, as an echo of the previous concept: shariar, in 1001 arabian nights, swears that he will not love any woman anymore since his wife cheated on him (and believe me, it was not as simple as that, but i'll refrain from saying everything lol). i thought "huh... hey he could be a good arromantic representation". i took away the whole complications of the original plot (he killing women and MAAAAAAAANY other things LOL) until the concept was watered down enough to become... family friendly, in a way lol.

the REAL complications of the plot became their internal struggles with their own aro/acephobia and societal expectations. but i won't dive too much into it or else this devlog will be INSANELY longer. 

THE CHARACTERS!!!!!!

i love designing characters. you could even say that character design is my passion.  and honestly, making them accurate AND unique was a journey.

i wanted to make shariar a strong figure, but not an intimidating one. he is a sultan, after all, so he had to give that authorital impression. but at the same time, he's also a big softie so i couldn't help myself making him a little cute skjgnsjngds

at first i was scared of giving him a beard, because i'm not used to drawing it and because i feared he would look too old, but i feel he ended up really good.

(the final test for his face... he looks so cute hihihihi <33)

now, for sher... the only thing i KNEW i wanted to make was her nose. yes. i got obsessed over isobel's nose (from poetry in purgatory) and i REALLY wanted to make a character with it (especially because i have a colleague irl that has the same nose, and i find it quite endearing). i wanted to make her look sweet, like a fairy, but also warm, like a magical presence living in a mundane world. she brings all this comfort with her, embracing you into a world of fantasy that soothes your soul.

(the final test for her face...... uhghghhgh i love her......... her eyes are especially entracing, to me...)

another detail was her little cheek beauty mark. i also saw someone with this irl and i was ooooooOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and i HAD to make her with it. it's a small detail but i love it on her.

CONCLUSION?????

i'll repeat myself: there are many, many, MANY things i want to talk about this game. but for now, i hope you feel satisfied with this <3

thank you very much for reading all of this, and hope you enjoy sher, shariar and khorasan!!!!!!! until next time!!!!!