tateljee - 20+ - she/her - art archival (this is a sideblog) - i draw things sometimes ------ do not repost or edit, absolutely no generative ai ------ formerly "kritseldaja" and "leheklg"
some characters for a mermaid-themed short story that's bouncing in my head 🌊
🌊 Echtel (she/her): a mermaid of the Bewitched Bay. in life* she was a jeweller and does what she can to continue those ambitions, which is why she communicates with humans who can give her access to tools and resources again. the circumstances of her death are hazy to her
⭐ Mona (she/her): a baker of the Astral Court (wizard court). she came to the court with a friend a year ago. a quiet woman who tries to keep to herself and often visits the seaside, as she feels it calling to her. maybe one day she could sail further than this coast...
*mermaids are effectively vengeful spirits and ghosts in this setting, drowned humans who hold grudges and/or hatred
also Mona is holding her apron. the wizard court takes it's aesthetics seriously
officially rebranding this blogs url as tarteljee!
i came to this decision as ive taken up "tateljee" for my VN project. as i was in need of a unified watermark, i decided i might as well combine with this blog, so i'm also renaming this blog in relation to that so i dont have multiple aliases i sign my art with, tarteljee is a convinient art variant lol (i debated whether its too close, but in the end they both refer to me so maybe its good even? might add hyphens in between the art if not though. dont think anyone really cares tho). its also a more distinct name than "kritseldaja" (which means "sketcher" in estonian btw, so its more undefined to me lol)
making this post in case someday someone wonders why my old art has some other names signed (tbh this has already happened once[and more actually before this blog existed] but it seemed less notable then)
project C is a relatively short visual novel with psychological horror themes about a coffee shop barista who has an encounter with a mysterious customer...
project C is my current visual novel project and my first try at one. "project C" is a placeholder codename name until I decide on a title (I do call it "coffee shop [vn]" amongst friends and brain too)
☕ a short story focusing mainly on two characters
☕ this visual novel leans towards psychological horror through atmosphere and themes
☕ this visual novel is less about a monster that may or may not eat you and more about how horrific this modern everyday life can be. there are also some queer themes as that informs the characters
I started concepting this project around mid-2024 and wrote two drafts and began "development" in 2025. I put development in quotes because it feels weird to call it that so officially when this is something that Im purely doing on my own time outside of work and other things, whenever I have both time and energy. Im trying to lock in more though! this is something I really want to make
in this visual novel we follow Em ("M", left in the art) and five assorted days from a period of time. so the game is split into five "days", which are chronologically spread out over a few months in-universe but do follow each other. not only does she meet the mysterious customer called Veil (right in the art), but she also seems to know something about some off-putting rumors about a previous worker who had disappeared...
the story is based on the prompt of what if the alluring mysterious visitor was a beautiful masc* lesbian... and also that "monster that may or may not eat you" part. that last bit turned out a bit different than even I thought though 🦀 by the way, there is no romance in this game lol. there's some ~bits~ but they are mostly just one-sided and not exactly love lol
*fyi, I do not call her a butch lesbian because I feel that I dont feel that I have a good enough understanding of butch-femme dynamics as of right now lol, and also Im referring to presentation so I realize its more accurate to stick to this probably (is this where I should mention that Im a lesbian too) tangent aside...
right now Im focused on creating a sort of beta version of day 1. this isnt a public demo (though I guess i should consider that later down the line), but I figured it was more productive to try and do this rather than copy all the script into code and then have the "whole" thing to start adding code things into. this would help me hone my skills with Renpy better as its my first time programming a visual novel (or much of anything). by focusing on completing a day 1, which is shorter and contained, I can practice sprite-work (in the code itself, how it appears between/with dialogue, not the graphics themselves), pacing, adding music, transitions, etc in a more manageable chunk
that's the gist of project C for now :-) aiming to make monthly updates of whatever Ive done and worked on in that month. might be much less interesting than I expect but thats how the process is i guess
figured i'd reblog this here too, I am trying to make a visual novel :-) if you're interested in my first-time attempt at a full Renpy VN project and are intrigued by the concept, feel free to check it out ^_^
A preview of my fic for @thriversidezine, a Palestine-themed Touhou charity zine with all proceeds going to Care for Gaza. The lovely spot art is by @kritseldaja! This has been one of the most pleasant Zine Experiences I've had so far, and I'm excited for everyone to see what we've worked on!
Preorders are open until March 21st! | THRiversideZine.carrd.co
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