#apprentice apollo

[beecreeper]

I was inspired to finally draw all of my Arcana apprentices together because I miss them. I'm sorry babbies I'm too BG3 pilled but I still love you 🥺

[krshush]

Artemis, the somber apprentice of few words.

Apollo, the talkative apprentice who loves music.

After a long while of deciding whether or not I’d finish this (esp after the grimoire template showed up and I could’ve drawn things for that) I went ahead and just colored these anyways.

Here’s the first lil profiles I made of my apprentice kids. They’re twins! Except only one is the Apprentice and the other is still in the city somewhere else, worried for what Exactly their sibling has gotten into...

[krshush]

It Feels Like Falling, It Feels like Rain 

Spoilers for the new Arcana chapter+Asra’s route

because my apprentice has a twin and I’m Emotional over the fact they don’t remember anything of their past since waking up, and that maybe their twin couldn’t see them for fear that trying to remember would hurt them (link to title’s song reference bc Pain)

Asra watches the confusion, the denial twist on Apollo’s face, his voice breathless and distressed, “Artemis can’t... can’t remember anything? What do you mean?” 

“I’ve tried to let them remember only some things, Apollo, even the smallest things, but it ends the same.” Asra explains on, resigned and worried. His tears have since stopped, only a tired sting in his eyes left. “If I even try to bring back their memories once more... I don’t know that they’ll survive it again.” 

“...And so everything they’ve known...? Our mother, the shop, you, me...” Apollo is bright-eyed, tears forming at the edges of his eyes, as his shoulders slump at the realization. He leans on a wall of the shop, this shop that the twins had all but grown up in. 

“Gone.” Asra swallows hard, his own memories with Artemis now only his own and it hurts, “I will find a way to fix this, but until then, we cannot risk them.” 

It hurts. To know they won’t remember, for a long time if ever. It hurts to see the light gone from their eyes when they do. It hurts to have to be a stranger. 

Apollo’s sighs with a shudder, shutting his eyes tight and turning his head down. Tears fall, his shoulders shake, his hand comes up to cover his sobs. Sorrow radiates from him, his empathy magic never fully wrangled in. Asra’s known Apollo just as long as Art, even if he’s not as close to him as the older twin. While the Spyra twins are not identical, they look too much alike as it is. 

It all compiles to break Asra’s heart that much more, what little pieces of it remain. 

Apollo wipes at his face and looks back up, “H-how... How does Art live then? They stay who they are and not... just nothing, but if they don’t remember their life before that, how--” 

“I think I can be there to help them along, slowly. Help them run the shop, remember how to control their magic, maybe it can bring them back. If I keep some... distance, they shouldn’t be in danger. But if they see you and try to remember you and your mother, Apollo...”

“...It could be too much.” Apollo finishes, and his still watery gaze falls to the floor. 

A long moment of silence passes before Asra breaks it, just a whisper into the air of the dim shop, “I’m sorry.” 

Apollo gives a humorless laugh, a sad smile, “So am I. You mean a lot to them too, y’know.” 

Apollo takes a deep, shaky breath, stands from the wall and hugs Asra tightly, “Take care of them. You and Faust both, keep them from doing too many dumb knife tricks or making dumb, deadly potions, just... Help them, As.” 

Asra hugs Apollo back, ignoring the faint wetness of more tears on his shoulder, “I will, Apollo.” 

When they let go long moments after, Apollo sighs again, pats his face to try and reign himself in. He begins roaming the shop --once their mother’s, now Artemis’s-- and starts picking up items here and there. Asra recognizes them each as childhood trinkets, journals and more. Things with memories that Apollo fears will be too much.

Asra watches him, and listens to him hum a lonesome lullaby, sobs interrupting the melody frequently as he shakes. The last thing Apollo takes is the telescope, hidden in the corner of the kitchen. Their mother’s most precious item as she taught her twins about the stories in the stars-- the constellations and gods of their old country hidden in the night sky. 

Only one of the two remember those stories now. 

[krshush]

[rambles Arcana kids bc this is all I have until D&D for real next week]

The twins might have something like a Greek accent, maybe... Maybe something else, I dunno. Either way, they do also know another language, their mother’s native one. Apollo however is good at mimicking other accents, even if it’s a little goofy sometimes.

They’re twins, but by no means identical: aside from their obvious eye color and hair style difference, Apollo is slightly taller and more willowy, and Artemis shorter but stronger-built where they do more physical work than their younger twin. If they tried to and/or someone didn’t know them at all, they could fool people into thinking they’re the same person, but it’s Easy to know the difference between them... physically, and emotionally too since they’re quite different in personality. 

Their birthdate on our real calendar is November 11th. Their birthday is Soon, aw.

I’ve already talked abt their piercings and tats, to a degree. What I don’t think I mentioned already was that they probably have matching tats, with a sun/moon theme (Apollo and Artemis still symbolize sun and moon, you can’t take that from me) ...This makes me sad though because if... the Apprentice doesn’t remember their past... the Apprentice twin doesn’t remember what it means... or gets a headache thinking abt it too long... I’M SAD, ABORT ABORT,

Artemis wears cooler colors, blues and purples and teals, and then light or dark neutrals depending on what they’re doing: Apprentice!Art wears off-white flowy pants, where hunter!Art sticks to more neutral ones and tighter-worn fabrics for the Stealth™ 

Apollo wears warm colors, akin to sunsets and sunrises-- pinks and peach and orange and light blues and yellows, and some brighter reds too. Apprentice!Apollo has some dull brown and beige thrown in, colors of practicality. Bard!Apollo is more dramatically dressed near-always, with light and bright colors and even more flowy fabrics. 

While they’re both okay w/makeup, Apollo is better at it and often would help Artemis w/putting it on for Special Occasions. Apollo just has more experience w/it.

...I would not be surprised if both of them knew Lucio during his mercenary days, to varying degrees. Art was rather freelance in what--or who-- they hunted, so they could’ve helped or even been a rival of Lucio’s, for at least a brief part of their life. And Apollo... yeah, okay, lemme be real, he could’ve flirted with him while at a tavern. At... At least flirted... COUGHS ANYWAYS.

Both of them love puns, but Art acts exasperated and Apollo just smiles with glee. But if you do tell a joke to get Art out of their shell and they laugh, it’s So Good. Like, an angel gets its wings from it. This isn’t to downplay Apollo either, but his voice is just always lovely and it’s easier to get him to laugh. 

In a modern AU, Artemis is definitely a hiking/survivalist expert, like y’know, those classes weekend warriors go on? Yeah, they’re the teacher in those. Apollo remains a musician on streets and in little hole-in-the-wall cafes and bars... and works at other cafes and coffee shops during the day when tips don’t pay enough. 

I also remember someone started talking abt a school teacher AU w/the Arcana cast, and said the MC might either be a librarian or arts teacher, and it cracked me up bc that would be Art and then Apollo respectively (Art a librarian because they like peace and quiet and books, but if not that then mb the P.E. teacher. and Apollo maybe more the music teacher, but just art works too.) 

[krshush]

catch me still thinking abt Julian’s route and how Apollo’s empathy magic more or less started syncing up with Julian, which in tandem to the paid options... Hoo. Hooooo. /cuts bc Specific spoilers don’t look @ me like that

The garden scene where the MC’s like “Does he like the pain?” Nope, Apollo would have noticed before even the garden something was different --a single spark, a flare-- but what it was was hidden by the adrenaline of running from guards, up until Julian’s “One might say I have... intimate knowledge of [pain]” line. And then Apollo realized. And then pressed physically and felt as keenly as Julian. I could almost go back to smut writing for a variation of that scene where the guards didn’t circle back and scare them off. ...I probably shouldn’t though. Probably. P-prob--

Then later, in the room at Mazelinka’s house, there was still feelings of want there. Apollo wasn’t about to be hot and heavy in an unfamiliar house... but Julian is rather plain to read even without inherent magic intuition, and Apollo had to test, to touch, emotions driving him, his feelings and Julian’s both. And it was all too good to push Julian around... before being reminded hey don’t be hot and heavy here in an unfamiliar house. Bless Mazelinka for dealing with their bullshit. She’s the real MVP. 

And the end of the chapter, sleeping w/Jules --actually sleeping, not with Other Intentions-- was a lot emotionally still. There wasn’t a strong desire like before since it was time to rest, no question abt it, but Julian’s rambling words (”I'd love to make something real with you. If we had more time...”) and a bittersweet feeling struck through Apollo from it. He wasn’t sure if it was his own response to seeing Julian make such an expression or from Julian himself, but it didn’t matter, it led to the same response of-- of affection, to be gentle, that, oh, by the stars, you’ve gotten too close already, Apollo. 

But Jules being so like... 0 to 100? So easily infatuated is great and terrible both for Apollo because of how he’s influenced by emotions, especially synchronized to those he stays around long enough. They’re gonna be so in love, but how the story continues will tell me at what price, I’d think... hoo boy.

[krshush]

Uhhh, was gonna make up whole art works for them and all, but I’m feeling more inclined to just writing, so?? take info abt my twin apprentices Artemis & Apollo (alongside me yet again linking their concept arts pfhfth)

Artemis 

The somber hunter turned apprentice, who has sleeping problems.

Pronouns: they/them Height: 5′4″ Zodiac sign: Scorpio (older of the two, by all of 4 minutes) Favorite food: Moussaka Favorite drink: Orange spice tea Favorite flower: Lunaria Magic proficiencies: Claircognizance (recognizes things just before they happen, gets bouts of deja vu often from this, and near-always knows when someone’s in the area w/them), aura manipulation (slightly, mostly used for healing or concealment of self?), potion-making Love Interest: Asra  Songs I relate to them: The Woods by Daughter, Midnight Moon by Oh Wonder, Dear Fellow Traveler by Sea Wolf (to Asra)  

Apollo 

The talkative apprentice who was once a bard.

Pronouns: he/him or they/them Height: 5′7″ Zodiac sign: Scorpio (younger of the two) Favorite food: Baklava    Favorite drink: Lemonade  Favorite flower: Phlox Magic proficiencies: Empathy (to a moderate degree; he’s still trying to control it, can’t handle negative emotions en masse, but gets a rush from positive ones), verbal invocations/incantations (in poems & songs), rune-weaving (mends clothes with thread in runic designs to embed enchantments... or try, anyways) does sleight of hand count  Love interest: Julian  Songs I relate to him: At Least I’m Not as Sad as I Used to Be by Fun., Overture by Patrick Wolf, C’mon by Panic! at the Disco & Fun. (to Julian)

[krshush]

Me: I should wait for the update to see what we learn abt the Apprentice before making anymore headcanons around my twins Also me: okay, but--

Artemis and Apollo's mother Maia Spyra came from a far off land of astronomers and mathematicians who worshiped the stars including, of course, the sun and moon. 

There was something that happened-- skirmishes between common folk and nobility maybe, or nobility against each other-- but either way Maia decided she would not see her children (who possibly were conceived out of wedlock, which might have also been a problem) grow up in the strife, so to Vesuvia she went, with but some money stolen from family and enemy alike, clothes on her back, and as much as she could carry to take care of her tiny twins in the trip to the city-state. She found work with an old widower in his herbal shop, a kind of grumpy man with little family of his own left, but had a secretly soft heart as Maia worked so hard to make the shop better. He died peacefully after some years, when the twins were about 10, and the shop was left with Maia.

Apollo and Artemis were named as such because those names might (still) be the names of the Sun and Moon as celestial beings respectively, or at least... Vesuvian translations/variations? Of the names for the sun and moon. If it’s a different language they speak there (and probably is), there is a definite accent Maia had that has passed to her two kids, though Artemis and Apollo both are much more fluent in Vesuvian, as they’ve lived most all their lives there.

The twins themselves aren't as receptive/religious? As their mother was abt all this, but they'll still curse "by the stars!" or similar in place of "oh my god(s)". They still observe some of the major holidays, to a degree, but don’t like... go to any form of church/mass? If there is one in the religion and one such place in Vesuvia... there probably is a small community of folks who also are from that far-off country and ran to now live in Vesuvia, within which Art and Apollo have friends and/or folks who remember them as cheery and stubborn children and saw them grow up... Mourned the loss of their mother, sent condolences and sorrows. 

The twins also have a telescope, a delicate and well-made thing Maia either brought with her, or saved up and bought once they got there, for the three of them to stargaze. It's... been some time since either twin has used the telescope because it brings on nostalgia and sadness, reminding them of their mother. It sits in a corner of their room in the shop (whichever becomes Asra’s apprentice) 

Aside from the community of refugees and runners worshiping the stars, both twins found their own places in the world, before taking the store on their mother’s contraction of the Red Plague. 

Apollo loved to see street performers, and also snuck into fine bars even when he was too young to be among the crowds of the drunk, to see well-known musicians and dancers. He so badly wanted to be a source of joy to the masses. He took to playing flute, and then lute, and looked to play more string instruments, practiced enough he thought he was good. But... when he was young, he was also very sensitive and naive, and when he first tried to perform publicly, he found they weren’t... very kind. Not that he was heckled by a crowd, some liked him fine, but other performers were found this young and starry-eyed newbie a novelty. 

Took some tears, time, and rough lessons from a little worse sides of town, but Apollo gradually fit in. Learned many groups of musicians were also thieves and liars, using charm as distraction to cut purses and the like. Apollo ended up picking up these skills of his own to make his own way when he was older. He’s become exceptionally good at smiling and charming and not telling what he actually thinks of anything despite how much he talks, unless he wants to tell you. A lethal combination to his natural inclination to empathy. 

If Apollo’s the one to take the shop, he misses the life, but gave most of it up to maintain his mother’s shop and its (and consequently, her) reputation. He does good to promote the shop sometimes though with his music and singing and poetry. 

Artemis never quite fit in with the city, the hustle and bustle overwhelming, even on good days. Instead, they found peace among books, learning of nature and plants and far off nature. When old enough, they wandered away through the city and found more comfort and peace in the outskirts, with farmers and forests and many of the things they read about. There were hunters, hunters of wild game and providers for the city beyond the farms, and Art took to all of this. To survival, to hunting, to battle. They took up bow and arrow and knife throwing and took work as a farmhand and learned more about herbology than their mother had already taught them, and then found a group to hunt with. 

It was a rough life, for a long while, and it wasn’t always a beast they hunted-- Artemis was a mercenary with a dangerously accurate intuition. They spoke little about this, even to their mother and brother, but gained enough of a reputation to those who noticed such things. Should they take the shop, it’s not an unwelcome change per se, it can be quiet enough most days and brewing potions and similar with their learned skills is fine, but the hum of the city is still... disorienting at times. But peaceful enough considering what mercenary ghosts could follow them. 

[krshush]

Extra details abt my apprentices bc I can’t sum up actual writings and I don’t rly wanna draw

Apollo has simple earlobe piercings in both his ears, a labret lip piercing (er, y’know, the center of his bottom lip) and I’m thinking he has a tongue piercing. ...I’ve considered he has a septum, but idk. He fiddles w/the lip ring when nervous, even though he perhaps shouldn’t. Not even touch it, he like sucks at it, an variation of biting his lip.

And Apollo has a tattoo of some kind on the right of his neck and sorta down his shoulder blade, maybe some others on his sides. I don’t have specific ideas, but golden inks and spirals are the general idea. Maybe flowers. Maybe flowers after talking to Artemis and they recommended flowers, pulled out their pressed flora journal and gave examples.

Artemis might also have earlobe piercings, but rather than the loops like Apollo wears, Art has like studs and a nostril piercing ring. They’re less fidgety than their brother and don’t often mess w/their piercings, except maybe to make sure they’re still in. They’ll touch their left earring if really bothered, or deep enough in thought at times.

Art has some of their own tattoos, forearm and up their elbows to bicep, or at least bicep on the left...? And one on their thigh maybe. Up their hip a bit. Definitely flowers and feathers, even if it’s stylistically simpler. 

thinking abt Julian and Asra respectively discovering these tats is fun. same with say Apollo’s tongue piercing.