18+ only, minors please do not interact or follow | etienne, 23, any pronouns | nsfw posts will be tagged #l00d (with a lowercase L) | arcana sideblog, follows back from @prismatic-starstuff | soft for all the LIs but softer for the courtiers | Valdemar is my Eldritch Demon Spouse and I am their self-appointed nurse | will forgive Lucio for any and all oopsies | sometimes my header says 'I am Death' and sometimes it's just Pepi and honestly I accept both of these outcomes
I'm 23, nonbinary/genderfluid, any pronouns but usually they/them
This blog is an 18+ only space, so please only follow and/or interact if you're 18+!
This is my shrine to Valdemar and Lucio Arcana sideblog; my main is @prismatic-starstuff so if you see that name in your notes it's just me, and that's where I'll like and follow back from. I also run @ask-the-arcana (an askblog for all characters from The Arcana) for anyone here who likes roleplaying!
Posts and reblogs about specific characters are always tagged with their name for easy finding
My tag for personal posts is #shut up nurse
Anything NSFW is tagged #l00d. This is an 18+ only space, but for those who are old enough to be here but just don't want to see that kind of content, it'll be tagged properly so that you can block that tag and not have to see it!
Please feel free to send random asks! I love chatting to people!
I hope you're having a wonderful day/evening/night 🙏💕
I believe her to be a genuinely kindhearted person; sometimes even too much so, as the situation with Lishka shows. She doesn't love often, but when she does love, she loves wholly and completely; she will give up everything - and everyone - if she believes it is the right thing to do.
However... she does have a manipulative side to her. Years of being in business will do that to a person, no? She knows how to work people, how to get them to do what she wants, and how to tailor her behaviour to elicit the responses she wants. However, she would never do this with true friends or loved ones... just people that don't really matter to her.
For downtime, she enjoys games of strategy; she's a very intelligent woman, and it shows whenever she sits in front of a chessboard.
She enjoys the finer things in life, without a doubt; and she enjoys showering her friends and loved ones in said finer things as well. Money is no object to her, so she doesn't expect nor want to be paid back; she would rather they just enjoyed themselves, finding that to be payment enough.
If we got a continuation of Portia's upright ending, I think Tasya would stop by to visit her and Julian quite regularly. She would maybe feel some trepidation about doing so, considering all that she did... but when the younger Devoraks welcome her with good cheer and make it clear that they want her involved in their lives, she's very happy to do so.
I don't wanna just say wine aunt vibes, but, you know... Wine Aunt Vibes. This lady enjoys fine wines and nothing less, but once you get her started, she can drink the best of them under the table.
She has never had a lover since Lishka's father; her heart has been too consumed by grief and pain to even consider the notion. However... now that she's learning to heal and let go, she may pursue love again one day. (Business comes first, though!)
If she had a familiar, I imagine it would be something from the sea; eels, a manta ray, maybe even a shark.
Even after everything that happened, the concept of death does still alarm her. She often donates money to help the sick and poor, in hopes of preventing other families from going through the loss she went through herself.
Although she is a bit single-minded when she wants something and has no problems crushing rivals in business... she is, at heart, a good and kind person; and after being given a second chance after what she did, a repentant one, too.
the real tragedy is that Valdemar didn't get a hat from the concept art
While I do prefer the final sprite art, give them their fancy hat it's sunny in Vesuvia gdi
(these images also imply that their shoes are thigh-high so there's that)
A) you're so right, let Valdemar have a hat, it is Hot in Vesuvia D: I like to think all their concept art outfits are outfits that they wear on their downtime, though; they deserve pretty clothes and nice hats!
And B) yeeeeeeeeess, I believe in Thigh-High Valdemar Supremacy 😍🙏
the real tragedy is that Valdemar didn't get a hat from the concept art
While I do prefer the final sprite art, give them their fancy hat it's sunny in Vesuvia gdi
(these images also imply that their shoes are thigh-high so there's that)
A) you're so right, let Valdemar have a hat, it is Hot in Vesuvia D: I like to think all their concept art outfits are outfits that they wear on their downtime, though; they deserve pretty clothes and nice hats!
And B) yeeeeeeeeess, I believe in Thigh-High Valdemar Supremacy 😍🙏
On Valdemar, tragedy, and the simultaneous presence and lack thereof
I could meme all day because that's just the kind of person I am, but to get serious for a second; Valdemar is genuinely such an interesting character. These are thoughts I've had about them before but hadn't known how to articulate properly, but bear with me a moment while I talk about how very complex, utterly fascinating and beautifully tragic Valdemar really is... purely because they have all the trappings of a tragic character, even as they are definitely not one.
We're first introduced to Valdemar as a person with an innate sense of wrongness about them. Even amongst the courtiers, who are already acknowledged as a weird bunch on the whole, they stand out from our very first meeting. Abd this thread continues: we're told their very presence is a void, we're shown that they're an inconceivable creature of immense power wrapped up in a delicate appearance, we're met consistently with an individual who's eager to play with the lives of humans even in the early stages of the story where they're pretending they are one...
And this, in itself, is great stuff. A demon with a human appearance, one who cares so little for human life, one who's delightfully whimsical as they see the entire world around them and everything in it as a bloody science experiment waiting to happen? Perfect antagonist material.
But then... we look deeper. We learn this particular demon is different to the others, because they've been around longer; much longer, long enough to have had a hand - tentacle? - in the creation of Vesuvia itself, millennia ago.
Even better antagonist material. Who doesn't love a good ancient and unknowable eldritch horror?
But then... we look deeper.
And we see the tragedy.
And in that tragedy, we see the lack of tragedy.
If the journal in Lucio's route is theirs - I like to believe it is - then Valdemar, our unknowable eldritch horror, our whimsical killer doctor... used to be a human, like any other. They used to want to help people. They used to be scared, and desperate; undeniably, they used to care about people.
Valdemar cared about people so much that the Devil came to them on a moonless night.
Valdemar cared about people so much that they willingly heard the Devil's plans.
Valdemar cared about people so much that when the Devil made them a deal, they took it.
And what should make this doctor - alchemist, demon, whatever you want to call them - a tragic figure is the way their care left them over the years; the way this person who feared the death of others so very much went on to bring death, to lose any and every semblance of the compassion they'd felt once.
But what prevents them from being a tragic figure is how very... accepting of it all that they are, now, as we know them. By the time Vesuvia is founded, Valdemar is ancient; millennia later when we meet them, even more so. Whether the passage of so much time has simply normalised death to them, made them see it as an inevitability... whether they've grown to love it and revel in bringing it as a psychological defense in order to cope... whether it's a care of a massive power corrupting their mind... Whatever the reason or reasons is or are, this person who had once sought to prevent the deaths of others became death, and revelled in it.
And that, in itself... is tragic.
Valdemar is a fascinating character with so much to unpack. I can only imagine what would happen if there was ever an opportunity to probe into their past in-game; if they would laugh at their younger self's weakness, if they would resent the fact they'd once been so different and feel anger at having to face such a thing... or if perhaps, just perhaps, that unchanging and uncaring heart might have a shred of conflict left over from a past long buried; might feel a pang of sorrow now and then when they think back on that moonless night.
We may never know; but it's so good to think about. Honestly I'd be willing to pay so much money to have these things addressed in a tale...
If we don't count the journal as being theirs, then this still applies. Whatever existence as a human that Valdemar had was implied to not be a happy one; in Julian's route, they called humans weak and helpless in the same breath that they stated they themself aren't, 'not any more.' There's still a tragedy there, there's still an absence of tragedy since they're clearly much happier with their new existence as a death-bringing demon, and there's still a tragedy in that fact in itself.
On Valdemar, tragedy, and the simultaneous presence and lack thereof
I could meme all day because that's just the kind of person I am, but to get serious for a second; Valdemar is genuinely such an interesting character. These are thoughts I've had about them before but hadn't known how to articulate properly, but bear with me a moment while I talk about how very complex, utterly fascinating and beautifully tragic Valdemar really is... purely because they have all the trappings of a tragic character, even as they are definitely not one.
We're first introduced to Valdemar as a person with an innate sense of wrongness about them. Even amongst the courtiers, who are already acknowledged as a weird bunch on the whole, they stand out from our very first meeting. And this thread continues: we're told their very presence is a void, we're shown that they're an inconceivable creature of immense power wrapped up in a delicate appearance, we're met consistently with an individual who's eager to play with the lives of humans even in the early stages of the story where they're pretending they are one...
And this, in itself, is great stuff. A demon with a human appearance, one who cares so little for human life, one who's delightfully whimsical as they see the entire world around them and everything in it as a bloody science experiment waiting to happen? Perfect antagonist material.
But then... we look deeper. We learn this particular demon is different to the others, because they've been around longer; much longer, long enough to have had a hand - tentacle? - in the creation of Vesuvia itself, millennia ago.
Even better antagonist material. Who doesn't love a good ancient and unknowable eldritch horror?
But then... we look deeper.
And we see the tragedy.
And in that tragedy, we see the lack of tragedy.
If the journal in Lucio's route is theirs - I like to believe it is - then Valdemar, our unknowable eldritch horror, our whimsical killer doctor... used to be a human, like any other. They used to want to help people. They used to be scared, and desperate; undeniably, they used to care about people.
Valdemar cared about people so much that the Devil came to them on a moonless night.
Valdemar cared about people so much that they willingly heard the Devil's plans.
Valdemar cared about people so much that when the Devil made them a deal, they took it.
And what should make this doctor - alchemist, demon, whatever you want to call them - a tragic figure is the way their care left them over the years; the way this person who feared the death of others so very much went on to bring death, to lose any and every semblance of the compassion they'd felt once.
But what prevents them from being a tragic figure is how very... accepting of it all that they are, now, as we know them. By the time Vesuvia is founded, Valdemar is ancient; millennia later when we meet them, even more so. Whether the passage of so much time has simply normalised death to them, made them see it as an inevitability... whether they've grown to love it and revel in bringing it as a psychological defense in order to cope... whether it's a case of a massive power corrupting their mind... Whatever the reason or reasons is or are, this person who had once sought to prevent the deaths of others became death, and revelled in it.
And that, in itself... is tragic.
Valdemar is a fascinating character with so much to unpack. I can only imagine what would happen if there was ever an opportunity to probe into their past in-game; if they would laugh at their younger self's weakness, if they would resent the fact they'd once been so different and feel anger at having to face such a thing... or if perhaps, just perhaps, that unchanging and uncaring heart might have a shred of conflict left over from a past long buried; might feel a pang of sorrow now and then when they think back on that moonless night.
We may never know; but it's so good to think about. Honestly I'd be willing to pay so much money to have these things addressed in a tale...
can we talk about how the courtier fandom is really dying at this point... its sad, i just hope we get courtier tale or something,
in anyway, if some courtiers stans/artists have suggestions of doing artworks in groups dont be shy we can organize it all together !! that would be cool !!
For today's Daily(-ish) Valdemar Appreciation Post, I was thinking about how it must actually be really hard work to be an ancient alchemist(?) who cared for people so much and was so tormented by death and loss that they became an unfathomably powerful demon and founded a city and worked in the shadows to maintain said city for their own ends for well over a millennium whilst also losing all the care for people they once had and becoming the very death that they once feared
So I sent them to a nice flower field to relax for the day because they deserve it uwu
Welcome to Ask The Arcana, a roleplay/askblog for any and all characters from the visual novel The Arcana!
This blog is a place where anyone age 18+ can chat and interact with their favourite characters!
OCs are welcome!
This blog is multiship, meaning multiple characters can be paired with the same character, but it all happens in separate universes (unless polyamory is specifically requested!)
Further blog information can be found under the tag #about the blog
All asks to specific characters will be tagged appropriately for easy finding!
Also in my resurgence of Arcana-related love: I have been reminded how much I adore Lucio's dumb overdramatic sassy helpless thicc-thighed ass whether he's being adorable in his own route or an absolute bastard in basically everyone else's... absolute nightmare of a man, 10/10 best LI
I assume I was possessed by some manner of demon about two days ago because my brain very abruptly went 'hey remember that really gorgeous and sassy and creepy they/them mad scientist doctor you loved two years ago? Well Now You Do, and here is a free hyperfixation' and here I am, ready to resume nurse duties
