#bolte oc

[abalonetea]

mirror bolte! mirror bolte! mirror bolte!

young bolte v older bolte

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It turns out thatI forgot to cross post some of the art I did for patreon last month!

This is a piece I did for @quilloftheclouds​ ! This was a foray into a younger Bolte, who’s only just started on with the Royal Guards. 

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The world looks at Bolte and tells him, you are too kind to exist, and Bolte responds by putting on air of anger, by using Menace as a cloak so thick sometimes even he thinks it’s real; but he slips ration bars to the children he passes in the Wastes, and extra oats to Red, and lies to the Queen herself to protect Captain; because you cannot be determined to live without hope, and you cannot have hope without knowing that you must persevere. 

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a quick and messy “hound dog bolte” from the fox and the hound au that @fine-not-fine​ introduced me too u.u

on the left is when the story starts, on the right is when it ends!

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The General of the Royal Guard in Fara Falls, this stalwart and angry knight has made a home and a relative Safe Zone out of Bastion. Bolte has devoted his life to becoming the most well known and feared knight in the royal guard, and has amassed a staggering Thirty Two Levels to do that. Presently lives with his childhood friend, Red.

Bolte is a master at fire magic and fairly proficient when it comes to bone magic, though he most often uses it to summon extra armor over a blade. Comfort is unobtainable in his world, and Bolte has long since settled for simply staying alive – and doing whatever it takes to keep Red alive, too. Running on nothing but Terrible Tea, watery oats, and pain-suppressing magic, Bolte is still one of the strongest players in the game.

He might be unaware of the existence of glitches, but that doesn’t mean he’s not one of the most valuable players when it comes to fixing the Code of the World. His priorities are set in stone: get Blue home, keep Red alive, and burn down the world if it tries to stop him.

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Cannot stress enough how they’re vastly different people, but at the same time, the fact remains that Bolte and Locke are foils of each other. They both share the same main traits, although it’s shown in different ways. After all, you cannot have hope without perseverance, and you cannot persevere without hope.

These are two characters that will take on the world for the people that they love, but they would handle it so vastly, greatly differently. After all, Bolte would rip out the HEART of anyone who dared to try and hurt his people, but Locke would rip out his own HEART if it means protecting his friends. 

They have the same magic, but wield it differently. Bolte, with his blunt bone clubs, meant to swing and shatter bone, and a preference for using bone as armor and fire as a weapon, letting it engulf his body to take out more enemies in a smaller amount of time. Locke with his bone sword, with his tendency to use flames to push people away and then pin them with down with ribs, to bring an enemy to their knees with as little bloodshed as possible.

The same ailments - dyslexic, scarred hands - but only one world has ever offered accommodation. Both with scars they’ve taken willingly; Bolte, nearly losing an eye in a battle to get his promotion to General, and Locke, with an invisible scar on his neck from taking on the same fight again and again, because maybe this time he’ll win.

Similar enough in appearance (heterochromia, albeit flipped between them, blond hair, a penchant for wearing gloves) but so vastly different from each other that they could never really be mistaken.

Knights and heroes in their own right. 

And we wonder, what might have happened if their worlds had shifted just slightly to the left?

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Phoenix belongs to @quilloftheclouds! She's showing my boy Bolte how to peel potatoes, because he's never seen one before.

this was an absolute treat to draw! it was a fun prompt, and Phoenix was a pure joy to draw!

want custom art? consider following me on patreon.com/abalonetea!

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a short little thing about what it’s like to know the Level is stripping away your very self and knowing you can’t stop it

(on how Anger is all consuming, even when you don’t want it to be)

Bolte has only made it as far in life because he thinks things through, because he pays attention. but sometimes the Anger sinks in so strong and potent that he can’t breathe. sometimes the Rage is so loud in his own head that he can’t hear his own thoughts, let alone try and think fifteen steps ahead.

his Level burns into his chest like it’s a brand, sugar turned to rot and blood turned to poison, his very body rebelling against him. it’s a double edged sword because he can’t keep Red safe without it, but the higher the number creeps, the more all consuming it is.

it’s so hot and heavy in his chest, so bitter, so strong; at some point the bleach on his hands stops clearing away the blood, and at some point no amount of sparring works, and at some point the pressure in his HEART feels like it’s about to s p l i t o p e n and spill out all of the ruined tattered pieces that are left of him.

so he slams his fist into the tree again and again and again and again until the bones shatter splinter snap break and again and again and again until the physical pain slices through the Too Loud Anger and the Too Heavy Level and the sins that sit bitter at the back of his throat.

and this time it lets go of him but he fears the day that it won’t.