None Of This Is Safe Or Sane But It Is Consensual - Tumblr Posts
"– People are obsessed with love, looking for it and not getting what they really need. Fragile, stupid creatures. You consider love as a magical tool that can change the world and then you go around in circles. But your eyes are clouded with illusions. You think: if this love didn’t give me what I need, it is not "real". You are fascinated by the myth of true love. You think it would last for the rest of your life, understanding and healing everything. But love is just a myth.
Ilya looked up, his lips trembling.
– What am I looking for? I don’t really know, Quaestor Valdemar. But I know that you are... incapable of love. I know this and I have come to you willingly.
Quaestor is answered:
– You came to the sacrificial fire. Frankly, I’m impressed by your deep, desperate masochism. It’s attractive – how can predator be attracted to the easy prey. You came to me because you can no longer look for something in people – something they want too and can’t give you. A kind of the truth. However, perhaps you intuitively tried to give it to them.
You understand what I am. You’re not making any illusions about my personality. You’ve seen what I can do. Others have deceived you. But you still hope. Dum spiro, spero is your unfailing credo.
Valdemar went quiet for a while and then added, looking into Julian’s eyes:
– And like all men, you still worship love as a god. Funny. But… Nec deus intersit."
Text: Lunatic Sun
Art:
Sketch: chilledoutbeast
Colouring: wasteofplace
previous fragment:
Clearly, it's not easy to hide your relationship in Vesuvia. Especially when it looks questionable. Problematic. But only for the people around, of course. And none of these two cared about it. Valdemar despised the opinion of the crowd (and people in general) — and this is a huge understatement. And Doctor №069… Oh, he was too passionate and devoted to think about it. He couldn't hide his feelings.
Surely, one would notice, that Julian Devorak spends too much time in the Dungeons. That he blushes every time someone mentiones his mentor's name. That Valdemar walked with this young man down the streets of Vesuvia side by side — and usually they showed no love, interest or even mercy for the humankind.
- Are they lovers?
- No, they're worse.
/© Apostle Jay /
"The worst was this; my love was my decay"
© W. Shakespeare
Part 3/3 ⏬
/© Art; text – Lunatic Sun/
part 2/3
part 1/3
I got into WIPs, but there are finished drawings, so in this case my conscience is clear. :D
So, how it started:
How it's going:
(The "Sketch>Finished Art" team, I'm with you guys. Seriously, I really think that coloring is not my strong suit. However, I myself love the dark palette more than the bright one, but I just appreciate the contrasts that WasteOfPlace usually adds.
Like here.
Or here.
However, this is no reason to stop drawing on my own. I don't like to bother my team with my own petty whims. :D /L. S./)
And I hope Anon with the "Valdemar x Julian playlist" request is still here. Someday I will drop the whole playlist, I promise.🫀
(I am synaesthete and I love the dark-blue palette of early Apocalyptica so much. "Not strong enough" is not "the early Apocalyptica™ era", but indeed the Julian POV.)
(I was just waiting for the song that would fit perfectly with the whole atmosphere that I had in mind. So I found it.)
/art ©Lunatic Sun/
Quaestor Valdemar/Dr. Julian Devorak from The Arcana
What's a few more bleeding out a little early, in pursuit of a cure? Necessary sacrifices.
"I think I figured it out," grumbled Doctor №069 as he scrubbed another dissection table.
"This superstition that if you scatter poppy seeds in front of the undead, they will start counting them. Because of you, Quaestor!"
"You are extremely clever for your vapid head, Doctor №069," Valdemar grinned, carefully placed their polished scalpels.
(Based on a true story. Thanks to ApostleJay for such fun)
Here is some information to consider... ⏬
Note: this belief is more common in Eastern Europe, and no, I absolutely don't like headcanons about "Russian Ilya". Also, I remember the Devs' speech: Jeff Goldblum is a reference for Julian. Who is Jeff Goldblum? A Jew. But his family was from Eastern Europe and there were so many Jewish towns. Nevivon looks like one of those towns. For example, the kitchen in Nevivon (*"the Warm Welcome") is divided into two areas: meat and dairy. What is this? The basic principle of kashrut. "But Julian was born near Nevivon"? Yes. But Tasya said (to the Lishka; again, definitely not "a common Russian name", "Lishka" sounds much more like something Czech) about the treasure that is only passed on through the female line. An elegant homage to a specifically Jewish cultural thing, iykwim.
Also, the whole image of Julian is a stereotypical Jewish image in European culture: he's redheaded, a doctor, a violinist*, etc. Sorry not sorry.
(*Technically he is a vielle player, but the vielle is a precursor of the violin. And: no, there have never been any vielle players in Russia, except the modern times, represented by rare baroque ensembles.)
Definitely not Russian, diminutives like "Ilyushka" are not specific to Russian language, Portia is not a common Russian name (neither are Pasha and Ilona, her mother). And... have you ever heard of, say, Antonín Dvořák, the famous Czech composer of the 19th century?
BTW, ApostleJay and I have a theory about Portia Devorak. Nothing special, we're just guessing about the reference: Portia, the female protagonist in "The Merchant of Venice". Why not, since the game itself has enough references to classical literature.
At last: I once saw a Julian-kinny boy here. And he said he wanted to learn Russian to be more like a Julian. Poor boy, if you ever see my speech, here is my unsolicited advice.
Please don't learn Russian to be more like Julian. Learn Yiddish. It will be much more in character.
(Czechia? Maybe Bohemia? I need Julian singing "Bohemian rhapsody", IMMEDIATELY!)
– "I stole Valdemar's heart!"
– "What do you mean?!" – his cupmates in Rowdy Raven yelled in shock. Ilya takes a flask containing the anatomical specimen from his medical bag. He carefully places it on the table, unable to suppress a victorious grin.
A few seconds later, all the witnesses to his triumphant pose turn pale as a black latex hand falls on Ilya's shoulder and squeezes. Everyone has heard a well-known low cadence with a reptilian hiss in the overtones; soft, but for some reason more deafening than all the sounds of the tavern:
– "And then you will lose your head, Doctor №069".🫀
/© Lunatic Sun./
(P. S. Sorry not sorry. And yep, "Death as she/her" not as misgendering, but in a… kinda metaphysical way, ofc. :D here's the proof, and I can't unsee in first screenshots kinda brat and jealous inflections in his speech from the very first time. And you were warned about my "juldemar apologetic in a doctrinal way". Any objections here will be rejected, if this is not your cup of tea – deal with it, 'cause this is my cup of tea. However, I do not want to impose my thoughts and opinions on anyone.)