In case anyone's wondering. I'm still here, just taking a temporary break from posting art due to some (positive) life changes.
I haven't abandoned my love for RusPol as it is my heart and soul and everything. Especially since I still have some WIPs unpublished…
In any way, I'm still a bit online on my Twitter/X.
TLDR:
All this mocking, and teasing, and complaints on each other in public, because they are brothers, and Poland is silly and anxious, and Russia is silly and cruel, but rather more warm and quiet relations, and a strong bond, and mutual understanding in private, also because they are brothers and silly, so although they may be at different levels as countries, they are equal in their relationships as persons.
Same ambitions and achievieng goals through mutual possession.
First of all, they are brothers, but not exactly in a warm way, but as two ambitious siblings locked in an eternal rivalry for influence in the region, in Europe and in the world. They both have this deep-seated need to be the dominant power, to be великой державой, to be mocarstwem. And the thing is that each want to achieve their own greatness through the other (not only, but including that way):
- While Feliks wants to conquer Russia, to make it a part of his own "lands", to bend Ivan to his will, significantly expand own area of influence and thus become great because of him,
- then Ivan also wants to possess Poland and to make it a part of his own and all the same, but he dreams of becoming great together with him.
Both scenarios imply their desire to live under the same roof (they might even yearn for it).
God bless the "Poland rule" and "Become one with Russia" things.
It's sweet that Feliks wants to make Warsaw his capital - it has already been a part of Russia.
I see them as having very similar mentalities, but they deliberately do things differently just to not be like the other, constantly trying to prove their own way is superior (I mean, different branches of Christianity, different alphabets - to look different, but not to be fundamentally different). This is also a reason of a certain coldness that can sometimes (all the times?) happen between them, like a wall built both by their own unwillingness to publicly accept any warmth towards each other, and by the outside influence of other nations.
By original canon Poland is Russia's ally.
Because of that known Himaruya's mistake (improvidence? intention? hehe), Poland's birthday is on 22nd of July, which officially makes him PRL. This, in turn, makes Feliks in a kind of agreement to the Soviet-era Ivan (I almost used the word "solidary", lol). And I personally really lean into this bit of canon and hold onto it tightly. Even though the historical timeline in the manga/anime doesn't really line up with it in any way (I don't remember such examples), so one cannot consider Feliks canonically being either Ivan's towarzyszem, or a victim of this evil commie…
The lack of their canon interaction not only putting the burden of their actual relationship on Liet's shoulders alone (ignoring their sisters tho), but in fact gives room to interpret it the way you want.
Anxiety over being alone.
Then, as their histories are completely inseparable (as all countries' are tho), they both have this underlying fear of the possibility of being left alone - without the "eternal rival", without that annoying-but-dear brother, the one they feel they need to take hold and "bridle" (subdue?).
This fits with their canon personalities perfectly I think: just as Poland clings to his friendship with Liet (a remnant of the time they were great and close to took over Russia), so too does Russia crave having friends and supporters. So handling being alone would be hard for them.
Mutual IRL references.
One way or another, years or centuries of joint life (or efforts to have one) had its positive outcomes. I don't ignore the negative ones, of course, and unfortunately always keep them in mind, but as I cherish and respect their historical cooperation, I choose to focus on the positive aspects. By that I mean the number of Russian-Polish historical figures who left a significant mark on them. So it is a proof that Ivan and Feliks have coexisted peacefully (am I calling my beloved revolutionary figures a "peacemakers" here?), and did some good (not only quietly while no one sees, but also for the world to see). That is what I have a weakness for.
I gradually (= really slowly) try to show this in my irl reference tag. I hope to eventually get to a movie reference tag or something similar, ugh.
Przyjaźń polsko-radziecka to pokój, niezawisłość, szczęśliwe jutro naszej Ojczyzny / Польско-советская дружба это мир, независимость, светлое будущее нашей Родины
Originally posted on Twitter/X on July 22nd – the day PRL was proclaimed in 1952 (or PKiN completed in 1955) – and the original day of Feliks birth lol
tami we beg you, what does the new ruspol art say (can't read it)
The captions on the last sketch are just comments simply reflecting facial expressions (not a dialogue or something).
For Ivan it's: "Hello darkness my old friend", but written in cyrillic characters (as a transliteration).
For Feliks it's: " - What are you going to do, when you are conquered again? - Keep shining" (referencing a russian meme).