#macabre arts

[macabremayhem]

I thought it would be just a doodle in the Aubrey Beardsley's style… but a year later something has changed. Especially my style of drawing.

So, maybe I'll do this diptych again. As an actual diptych. Truly in the style of Aubrey Beardsley, as I had planned. Also, I think there was too much Alphonse Mucha in my references. My bad, my bad. :D

"I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valley".

© Song of songs 2:1

Details:

Let me remind you that I don't even have a headcanon – it's more like a strong conviction. The conviction is that Valdemar is of Egyptian origin, which, by the way, is quite reasonable given the history of Tarot, no matter how mythologized it is. At least it's clear that the original developers were building upon such a history of Tarot, and the fact that they did not have time to properly work out the world and its history is, of course, a significant omission. However, as a historian, I can perfectly well supplement everything myself. At least it’s fun. Although in my version it looks something like this:

/© Lunatic Sun/

P.S. Yes, I am a HUGE fan of dark and muted colors. I can't help it, and probably won't.✨

P.P.S. I planned this artwork as a diptych. But… obviously, this turned out much different than intended for a diptych.

Post by @macabremayhem · 1 audio track

💬 0  🔁 2  ❤️ 22 · "The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for the

[macabremayhem]

"– 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:

Let there be †Mayhem†

"Ilya lowered his eyes. He felt stupid and ridiculous, looking at the flowers in his hands. All determination seemed to dissipate, his heart

[macabremayhem]

Here's my birthday /L.S./, and here's... some kind of gift for me, because I love my artists and I love this picture.

Sketch/line: ChilleOutBeast

Coloring: WasteOfPlace

"Is that score for vielle? Such a good transcription."

"Did you..?"

"I can read music. Nothing more, if you want to ask."

[macabremayhem]

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.)

[macabremayhem]

How do you do, fellow humans?

Hello there.

"Tonight I could be with you

Or waiting in the Wings

Lift your heart with soaring song

Cut down the puppet strings."

– Bauhaus "Spirit"

We are the Arcana art-fanteam. We're make our own arts, texts, headcanons and so on. Main themes: the Courtiers; M6: Julian, Nadia, Portia are faves. With love to the Renaissance, classic arts, goth music, BDSM, medicine and just for fun.

Let us introduce ourselves:

Artists: ChilledoutBeast /she/, Wasteofplace /she/

Translator: Sabinasabapplebutt /she/ (all over 20 y.o.)

Editor: ApostleJay /them/he/ (34 y.o.)

and Master: LunaticSun /he/them/ (30 y.o.)

This blog is keeping by each member of team, but mainly by Lunatic Sun. You can ask us any question.

And let there be Mayhem!

art by: Lunatic Sun

Nota Bene: in this blog Valdemar and Vulgora are strictly non-binary and any attempt to make them /f/ or /m/ characters is not allowed.

Nota Bene 2: In every headcanon on this blog, every art and every story Quaestor Valdemar is still AroAce.

Nota Bene 3: As a neurodivergent person, who know all these things from insides I (Lunatic Sun) ask you to note this remarks carefully.

"We love our audience". ©

[macabremayhem]

"Ilya lowered his eyes. He felt stupid and ridiculous, looking at the flowers in his hands. All determination seemed to dissipate, his heart was beating somewhere in his throat.

– Death has looked at me and turned away so many times that I feel like I’m not even worthy of her.

– And that’s why you went up to the sacrifice, like a lamb to the slaughter? You are persistent. So, you smell of incense. Have you been to the temple?

– Yes, Quaestor.

– With your martyr eyes, this suits you well, Doctor №069."

© "Nec Deus intersit"

Art by: Wasteofplace/Chilledoutbeast

[macabremayhem]

This piece could be a cover for "Nec Deus intersit", but oh, so mature content. :D

Background: original the Arcana background for the Dungeons

Sketch/line: Chilledoutbeast

Colour: Lunatic Sun

[macabremayhem]

[A boy with the flowers]

So, let's introduce to the honorable public our artists.

All these arts were create in our local 'Draw This In Your Style' challenge. Any artist have their own advantages, and today our specimen to prove this, is... Julian Devorak.

art by: Lunatic Sun

2. art by: Wasteofplace

3. art by: ChilledOutBeast

This reference were included in our Dorian's story "Nec Deus Intersit" which you can find on... (unexpected move, lol) Dorian!

Nota Bene: the flowers in his hands is 'Aconitum napellus' or Wolfsbane, or Aconytes. Aconite is a poisonous flower which is canonically Julian's favourite. There's no mentions in the plot of the Arcana Game, but in the our story this plant plays a pretty big role.

Due to its properties (as known as "the Queen of Poisons" ), wolfsbane was associated with the darkest pages of human history and mythology.

Citation from vineyardgazette.com:

"Ancient mythology suggested that Hecate, goddess of magic and spells, invented wolfsbane for her witchcraft. An alternate story insists that the poison came from the slobbering of three-headed Cerberus, the dog protector of the underworld.

Wherever wolfsbane came from, it was much used. Athena reportedly employed it to transform Arachne into a spider, and it was Medea’s poison of choice to knock off Theseus.

Shakespeare called wolfsbane a “venom of suggestion” to break up relationships. More recently, in Game of Thrones, it was complicit in an assassination. Romans favored the herb as a method of execution and Greeks forced senile seniors to use it for involuntary euthanasia. Both Socrates and Alexander the Great might have been victims of this plant’s poison; forget what you heard about hemlock. A very dark history indeed.

The association of wolfsbane with the underworld goes deeper. It is believed to protect against Dracula and werewolves when worn around the neck or kept in the home. Usage can also lead to lycanthropy. the belief that one can turn into an animal and, more specifically, a wolf or werewolf. This shape-shifting theory is one accounting for the name wolfsbane, as is the thought that it can kill both of those creatures.

Biologically, wolfsbane works as a neuro- and cardiotoxin. Its effects resemble those of rabies and it doesn’t take much, or long, to prove fatal. For this reason, wolfsbane has been used not only on people but also for hunting, by treating arrow tips with the plant material such as its sap or powdered root."