To celebrate the occasion, I wrote The Sky Belong to Us, a little Ashtara fluffy short story—including a picnic and Nitara singing 🥰

If you'd like to read it, you can find it here!

“SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH!” “MAKE ME!” Nitara could’ve blamed her surprise at the absolute audacity of that ignorant demon for yelling at her; she could’ve blamed her mounting exhaustion and frustration as the Abyss leeched her soul. She could’ve blamed a lot of different things, but the fact was: she did it. She shut the demon up. She lunged so abruptly that Ashrah couldn’t react before Nitara’s lips crashed against hers. They stared at each other, wide-eyed, Nitara’s inner and wise voice yelling at her. But instead of pulling away as she should’ve done, she pressed harder, pinning Ashrah against the mountain, and captured her bottom lip between hers, sucked on it, dragged her teeth— Reason poured over her like a shower of frigid water, and Nitara broke away with an echoing cry of, “FUCK!”

Nensii (plural: nensy) are a species of tall, muscular, winged humanoids native to the Great Realm of Vaeternus whose biology developed to feed on blood through their elongated fangs. A prime example is Captain Nitara Coliary [nee-tsa-rah soh-lee-ah-roo]:

“Ah, so they’re vampires!” In a way, yes. But not the undead subrace of humans we’re used to seeing. Nensii (whose name, by the way, means “children of the night”) are their own species, and while they feed on blood, they’re not bloodthirsty monsters (they can become one, though, if they indulge too much in the drinking and become addicted) and basically have none of the traits of Earthrealm vampires—but, yes, they were responsible for giving rise to such myths. Count Dracula was a nensii :)

All of this is also why they can’t “make” more nensy by biting (and why the blood-drinking tourism is so popular). You’re either born a nensii or not.

Other than their fangs and bulk, nensy have retractable claws on their hands and feet, and yes, they can rest upside down, though many prefer a comfy bed instead.

Nensy have quite small pupils and bat-like ears, which gives them excellent hearing and fantastic night vision. Their vision in daylight is poor, however, and many are colourblind, Nitara included—luckily, she can see purple very well :)

Their wings, as you probably noticed, are huge. They’re pretty resistant, too, and often employed as offensive and defensive support in combat, but nensy are still careful with them because damage to the wings can be extremely painful and take long to heal even with the aid of healing spells.

(Just a little post based on another Bsky prompt. Feel free to ask more questions about them, their culture, biology, or whatever else, though!)

While their story is told throughout the Freedom Trilogy that begins with Eternal Flame and will only bloom into a romance in the third book, for those who want something spicier for the occasion, I've got two short stories out that can help with that:

Saga of the Kinktober's first story is all about Ashrah learning about self-pleasure.

Like a Prayer is an AU that follows the previous story as the captain knocks on the demon's door, and another discovery takes place...

Thank you to @therivercrow for tagging me in this super fun character creator! I originally thought about only making Sareena because... well, a Gothic creator, how could I not? But she looked so damn good, and the creator was so fun, that I went ahead and create three other members of the Coliary family!

So here are Sareena, Nitara, Askaly, and Ashrah in their Gothic AUs (I mean, Sareena is at home xD)!

Tried some new things here and didn't really like them, to be honest, but at least it (is not AI) doesn't completely suck, and I have a new drawing of me girls :3

On the surface, the answer is simple: Nitara is a tall, muscular vampire, who wouldn't fall in love with her?

But that's not how Ashrah's mind works. Not even close. She doesn't care about beauty or about "hotness," a concept her asexual brain doesn't process. You see, she's a warrior; someone who seeks challenges, who wants to overcome the odds, no matter how impossible they seem. Few times has she experienced defeat since she grew into her fighting style, more than ten thousand years ago, and even less since she wove her second skin.

But when she first fought Nitara, she lost. She lost despite having "the best weapon in the Universe" in her hands.

And that left a (literal) scar on her. As these two enemies were forced to become hesitant allies, Ashrah realised Nitara was not only a great fighter like her, but she also challenged Ashrah in a way no one else had until then or has after that. In a way that Ashrah herself wouldn't understand until after her training with Master Shujinko: Nitara confronted her lie. She looked Ashrah in the eye and said—no, shouted, "You are deluded. You are lying to yourself. And you know it!"

Because deep down, Ashrah did know it. She always knew the "purification" promised by Datusha was not real. It was death.

Nitara was darkness to Ashrah's dream of light, and as the nensii herself says,

"Darkness is not evil. It’s a mirror reflecting our fears and desires back to us. It’s only in the shadows that we find our true selves because, in them, we cannot hide. I won’t lie, it’s painful. Let it hurt. Let it flay you alive, and then you can finally step beyond the chains that hold you captive.”

And Ashrah, of course, represents the light to Nitara's darkness. For one isn't evil to the other's good. Existence requires both. Existence is beautiful because of both.

When Ashrah and Nitara finally understand that, they can not only contradict but also complement each other.

Thanks to @therivercrow for tagging me in this and reminding me to post the ones I had done xD

I made one for Ashrah and Nitara...

I love it so much. Holding hands is a VERY meaningful gesture between them—it is, in fact, the gesture that signifies the beginning of their romance in Book 3! 🥰 It's also why I have them holding hands in that artwork I have of them (which you can see in my header and intro post) 🥺

... And I made another one for Askaly and Xiuying :3