Not to further pummel this already thoroughly dead horse, but it occurred to me today that part of the reason that there are some people who still peddle the "Asra abused Julian" shit is because they haven't actually played both of their routes in game. Which blows my mind, but here's why that's important.
First of all, Asra and Julian, in their respective routes, are both unreliable narrators when it comes to discussing their past relationship. And the way they approach this is very different. And if you haven't played both their routes, it's literally impossible to get the full picture of what their relationship was like.
To hear Julian tell it, they had a tumultuous love affair that ended with Asra coldly betraying the man who had fallen in love with him. To hear Asra tell it, they hooked up and went their separate ways—it wasn't a big deal. Somehow neither, and both, are true.
The catalyst for their mutual ghosting (which is what the devs have called the end of the relationship in an #askarcana) was that while Asra was away, the Apprentice worked under Julian trying to cure the plague; they then succumbed to it themselves. When Asra discovers that Julian knew MC and couldn't save them, he blames Julian and cuts ties. Asra is both dismissive and wary of Julian in both routes. He warns the apprentice that Julian is a washed up hack, dangerous, and self-destructive, because in his eyes, Julian let them die. Julian still has no memory of his death, his meeting with the Hanged Man, or the actual circumstances of Lucio's murder, so his memories of Asra are tainted in many ways. He believes his magic mark is a curse put upon him by Asra, so of course he hates him! In his typical self-defeating way, he clung to someone he knew wasn't emotionally available, and then blamed them anyways when things went sour. This is why he apologizes to Asra later on, because he knows his view of Asra post-breakup was melodramatic and unfairly harsh.
Asra and Julian place different levels of importance on their fling. To Asra, it was clearly just a hookup, one he doesn't bring up on his own because he doesn't seem to think about it. Julian, however, clearly felt much more hurt by the series of events that unfolded, and has held a grudge against Asra. The reason for this is that while they were both trying to distract themselves from the horror of the Red Plague, Asra actually got his catharsis. He brought the Apprentice back, he saved them, and saved himself in the process. Julian didn't get that salvation. He couldn't save anyone. He had to live with the knowledge of all those deaths, the memories of the lives he couldn't save, the countless bodies sent to burn at the Lazaret. His attempt to escape the hell surrounding him, through his tryst with Asra, didn't work. At the end of it, he wound up a fugitive, unsure whether or not he committed the very crime he's been accused of, a bit more heartbroken than he was before, and (because he doesn't remember his trip to the Hanged Man's realm at the edge of his death) he thinks that Asra is the one responsible for the glowing mark on his neck and the power that accompanies it. To Julian, Asra is just one event in a sea of tragedies, but... he's the only one still alive to blame for all his sorrows.
titsay
tangentwithtanner
yousharknotpass
dededos
2087
andulkaphoto
