gonna be real i think i could invent whole cloth a russian homosexual only child male from late imperial/early to mid-soviet era whose father has expectations of him [regardless of what these expectations entail] and he and these two could bond over this. the concept of Parent Has Expectation Of You (especially father has of son & mother has of daughter) is pretty universal as far as like Human Experience goes.

I think both Burakh and Dankovsky have this Classic flavor of relationship with their fathers which is There Is Love, but dad is not very expansive about it, not very vocal about it (until it is too late, cf. Burakh), and love mostly shows itself as expectations. papakovsky had a certain distance created between he and his son because he caught on early enough that son was gay and [i've talked about this numerous times to tldr] distance installed itself as dad saw the son's homosexuality as a reflection on him, but he evently Stopped Being That Way around dankovsky's adulthood. burakh didn't have this with isidor because Didn't Know He Was Gay until it clicked like day 9. so the distance was not about this. but his whole narrative is about dealing with inheritance and with distance and To Me a coming-of-age narrative at like 26. cf. ATA if i stay real.

Yessiree I do.

Dankovsky is better at it because he's had more practice — regardless of if the Capital is Moscow or St-Petersburg (depending on when one thinks Pathologic takes place [pre- or post-1917 revolution]), he grew up here and both of these cities from what I'm gathering have a history of popular ice skating spots. He'd go with his mama and kept going until her legs became too bad to ice skate. As a grown man he's sometimes slipped away from his lab to melancholically ice skate to clear his mind. This much is true.

Burakh also got to experience ice skating a bit, but less: the Gorkhon river, because it is full of animal blood and guts and lard and the machinery rust and oil from the Termitary, doesn't freeze over very well, and his dad had multiple times told him to not wander on the ice because it was unstable. At most, and he and his friends needed to wait until the tributaries of the gorkhon to the south froze over, and even then it was sloshy ice. When he was sent to the Capital to study, he did indulge in ice skating at the same rinks Dankovsky is familiar with.

oh my god you do well to come back i had forgor💀 to reply again. you get a two for one deal.

as far as artemy's mother: she's [here]. i need to redraw her one day but she's one of the three p2 mothers i've drawn (her, stamatina, and dankovskaya). clay type of woman. even if she was a capital/western transplant to the town (as most of the non-Kin people used to be before they started popping out kids. orphans mostly. who didn't start off as orphan due to the Being born thing) i think she really quickly adopted the whole mother earth customs even without fully believe in them because Makes More Sense than sky father being father of everything and woman being born of man's rib, due to the She Can See Kids Are Born From Her. her clay (pottery) work kinda existed in this continuun of Creating Stuff, so was gardening. i think she did a lot of the plates & bowls & cups & whatnot that can still be found in the burakh's lair, all these little cups for mixing tinctures... i think she might even have made a first alambic prototype with a clay body, something like this.

i think she was weakened quite a bit by ersher's birth, and the second birth killed her.

i will not lie to you i don't think much about ersher because i love this ambiguity of it. i love that we know nothing about him except his bonds (burakh's brother, likely burakh's parents' son due to the Family thing), we don't know what he died of, at what age, and if artemy ever knew him. "My older brother. He died young." (artemy's quote) does not even tell us if he even knew ersher. it is implied they must've have at the very least cohabitated for a while, but maybe artemy just knows him from being told about him, but holds him dear enough that he calls him "older brother".

considering kids around 15yo are ruling the town, forming gangs and discussion politically-motivated loveless alliance marriages, i take "young" to mean "under 14", even younger than that. to me, ersher died around 10. i like the number 10, because it is the one who keeps coming back in p1 (10 years since the last outbreak). equally for that numerology grind, i think he and artemy have 5 years difference, for 5 is the number that comes back in p2 (last outbreak). so ersher died at 10 when artemy was 5. i'm not sure what i want him to have died of (.......... very strange formulation but you know what i mean). on one hand, i could see the steppe swallowing him. just straight up doing that. the steppe refuses to eat the elder burakh (cannot be buried, beginning of P2) because he has unfinished business at the surface, swallows the eldest son, refuses to eat the youngest because he must stay on the surface, he is the tether at the surface. i need to check the geology of that part of the eurasian steppe but this ^ would be inspired by something that happens in a land i love, where basically it's a mountain of sometimes-hollow limestone, covered with soft ground, and sometimes a hiker can fall through that soft ground into a big hollow, and never be found, or be found at hunting season when the hunting dogs sniff out the corpse. scary stuff. my other thought is he died... of something "stupid". something that now is very preventable, even easy to help with, but wasn't for a long, long while. cold. flu. some kind of vitamin deficiency. poisoning. tetanus (not "stupid", very dramatic and scary, the vaccine is from 1939). actually i might go with the tetanus thing: it's a really nasty, scary disease (like the pest), but not transmissible. it can happen from getting a wound infected. i think he was handling his father's tool, maybe to learn to butcher; got a cut; got infected; died.

i think artemy was not shielded from seeing this, even if his mother really insisted he be. i think he doesn't remember much, if anything of it; seeing illness does not trigger memory of his brother, but he has this. apple seed of grief inside of him. lodged somewhere all bitter and dark. i think it made him be a little morose as a person, which he still is, but it has been so long it has become his "baseline". i think artemy has very, very little memories of his brother; basically his brain is blank from 5yo and back, most of his core memories come from 7 & up, where he truly bonded with the friends he still has (still tries to keep). i think ersher's death devastated his mom, who was already weakened from the birth, and grief + weakness during the second birth killed her. now i could get into how isidor has made plenty of selfish choices which are are not yes no if you see it that was if you don't see it that way Selfish and he tries to justify and he doesn't and he knows and he doesn't... and what it could have meant for him to try to have a second kid when his wife was like that... because she's not the virgin mary that thang did not pop up like that... there is stuff to say there isn't. she wanted artemy too she did. she just didn't make it to see him.

ersher in my mind didn't get to like. be much of a person due to the Dead At 10 thing, but he was more jolly that artemy has ever been (also i think bc the second son was raised in more morose of an atmosphere, with a dad having already lost a son & his wife). he was a brunette ☝ in my mind mom's blonde & isidor was brown-haired (even if Bald), artemy got mom's blonde & ersher had dad's brown. i think he had his hair longer, And i think stakh, who knew him just a bit longer because barely older than artemy, because he has his whole. gestures. cain and abel if they (tried to) slayed (each other)/wants to be isidor's son sooo bad started growing out his brown hair for that. his problems and issues notice how i keep making it about him. stakh always at the scene of the crime.

boy do i. throwing in other stuff that's not necessarily a mental health condition or neurodivergency but that i think affects them like brain-wise + for me to rember lol.

In general basically Most people in this town from an atmosphere of social misery have a little Something Something. most are grieving and some are Poorly Coping with a shit past, whether it is because of abandonment, loss, grief, so on and so forth. the plague adds More Grief and hands out PTSD like corn to the hens. some who have like. Syndromes that could be brought to a psychiatrist i can think of

Burakh: PTSD (war medic lore + The Plague Bro) + might lend him some Prolonged Grief Disorder if i feel like it

Dankovsky: i don't think how he is pre-Events comes from pathologies i think he's just a closeted gay male in academia, that plays a number with your mind (the self-aggrandizing and prideful behavior of being a know-it-all man in academia + the fear, restlessness and paranoia that comes with having to keep your homosexuality secret -> combo of evil). develops PTSD thorough the game, mostly becomes Twitchy, reckless behaviors, intrusive thoughts, and then it settles in post-events like nightmares flashbacks the usual

Rubin: PTSD (soldier/mercenary p1 lore) like shell-shock PTSD which in my mind's eye translates into obsessions/intrusive thoughts. he also has a lil Something Something from having had Not The Best parental figure and having to fight for recognition until he burned himself but i'm not sure what Diagnosis that is. it's just Shit's Fucked Diagnosis. self-esteem in the dumps.

Petr: i go back and forth between bipolar, bipolar schizophrenic, schizoaffective, like i haven't settled on something yet, but bipolar (or bipolar-like, like the "mood disorder" of schizoaffective) is a given (mixed episode in P1 and depressive episode in P2 if you care). obviously addiction. i go back and forth if i see the hallucinations/delusions he has as something from the bipolar disorder, from the addiction, from something else entirely... very hefty and powerful game so all if fair. + The Guilt. (might become paranoid from that)

Andrey: i don't know if i want him to Just Be Like This or for whatever his problem is to be pathological. someone infused in me an ADHD diagnosis for him and while i go back and forth he strikes me as the kind of guy who behaves better on Ritalin. but is it because of a neurodivergency or because he just loves drugs. much to think about. + The Guilt (might become paranoid from that too but ykno. "motor activity eliminates mental activity"...)

Anna: Girl's Scared Disorder. i'd say paranoia but is it paranoia if they're really after you... ykwim. Obdurate/insular paranoid, but is it truly pathological if walls having eyes is like not out of the reach of possibilities... etc

Katerina: canon addiction and what that brings. i think hers pushes her mostly to depressive episodes instead of aggressive/exteriorizing ones.

all of the orphans, by virtue of being orphans, have some kind of Issue, because not being socialized properly/cared for/living in social and psychological neglect like Does A Number on your brain regardless. most of them kids got that SLS (Shit Life Syndrome)

Mishka: her canon autism + methinks an attachment disorder because it fits with the timeline of her losing her parents around 3 of age. Prolonged Grief Disorder too perhaps? much to think about

Notkin: Tourette's, mostly motor tics. + a dys, i was shared the hc of dyslexia and i think i'll espouse it. i also think his family life was kinda shit + living in the streets is Actively Dangerous so like. (C)PTSD? i think it's The Least Of His Problems but it mostly makes him twitchy, doesn't dare get much sleep, needs to never have anyone or anything behind his back, stuff like that

Grace: some kind of FASD (fetal alcohol syndrome disorder) since her mother canonically drank while pregnant with her, i think hers mostly manifests as memory problems and learning/speech disabilities (also doesn't help that. orphan), poor reasoning and judgment skills & vision problems. all of those are also wrapped in the package of like. not having been properly socialized as a child

what else do you expect me to say except that i think It Slaps. like it's kitties what else. of course it slaps. sphynxes to me are a Rubin-exclusive (bald.). also devon rexes. the twins to me are like these cats with the very big ears the very big teeth the very long faces that honk. what the fuck is that breed. hold on. ORIENTAL SHORTHAIR! they're oriental shorthairs to me. catkovsky either dark tabby or black cat (evidently to me).

i'll tell you that I don't think they're like Very Good. burakh is 26 having to care for a teenager (Spichka) and a half-feral girl who's already very poorly coping with her own grief while he has to cope with a grief unbearable just the same (from losing his father and from losing thousands of neighbors and people he loved, if he plays his role not optimally). grief consumes you and i think it consumes him and all the love in the world someone might have for children in their care cannot stand as a dam to contain grief for long. he went in the span of 2 weeks from his father's son to an orphan having to prove himself to his entire community (and to himself again) and losing more than one can imagine so i don't think he's like. in an Optimal place to be the most stable father there's been. of course there's love (and grief is love) and of course he's caring and tries his best but like. it's good that the kids almost raised themselves because for months they will have to raise themselves still, with burakh alongside. they have a roof, beds and food, but i think it will take months for burakh to like. be a Father father.

+ in my mind's eye Burakh was never like. planning on kids (thought himself as loveless all his life -> PRANKT! just gay) so he's kinda. oh god. also depending on your choices during dialogues it can be made it so that Isidor was not like. the best father either. so his model for that can be not too-great, but i think... in that case, burakh will know to try to be better.

"what do you think artemy and daniil find that they need in each other" a friend. not going to lie to you A FRIEND!

i think, more than anything, they found each other at the right time and the right place. had they met any other time and in any other circumstances I think they'd have keyed each other's car for fun.

for dankovsky, i think burakh appeared at first like someone who could understand him. he truly believe he could (hence his... first line of p1 haruspex route. WHAT WAS THAT?). he still had his reserves because he does see himself as The Guy, but I think he knew from the start he only had two options: work with him, or against him; and I think at this point in his life dankovsky was Tired of fighting against People (didn't say anything about Non-Human Things). I think Burakh appeared to him as the only person who opposed him a resistance he found he couldn't break. Burakh is thick-skulled (taurus to me!) and dankovsky found himself against a stubbornness that makes sense, and is not just a dislike for progress, or modernism, or his work like Personally. Dankovsky found he didn't want to break that resistance, but rather... see if he could nudge down; see that he couldn't just have it crumble down by his poise and words; and when he saw Burakh was lowering his resistance down on his own, out of respect for him, admiration maybe, he found himself... kinda taken aback. for the worst and the best...

for burakh, i think dankovsky belongs to his wider Coming Of/Into Age narrative. burakh has to understand a Lot Of Things, Very Fast, and dankovsky appears as the... one thing (person) that (who) is not Utterly Unfathomable. When Burakh is completely fucking lost, he can turn to Dankovsky, because dankovsky, too, is Fucking Lost. dankovsky is removed enough from burakh's Roots in the town that he feels like he doesn't have to tread a certain way around him. Burakh HAS to understand many things, right now, and Dankovsky is part of those "many things"; because if he doesn't they will just tear each other to shreds.

burakh needs to understand A Lot in order to understand the Earth, and dankovsky is part of this A Lot. and vice-versa; in order to understand Dankovsky, he has to understand the Earth; as they're all woven together; they're all woven together. Burakh is coming into his age and into his name through Understanding, and Understanding includes understanding Dankovsky.

this stands for Dankovsky too; he needs to understand A Lot in order to understand the Earth, and burakh is part of this A Lot. vice-versa; in order to understand Burakh, he has to understand the Earth; as they're all woven together.

NOW LESS CONVOLUTED:

they associate each other with the first resistance they felt they could grow from leaning against; with both, ultimately, wanting a same thing (understanding); with both being lonely and finding their loneliness feel nice when they're lonely together; with both working to help the other when everything felt it was working against them; with both finding themselves having to fight the other with the deep, excruciating pain of understanding why the other does that, and feeling sorry for their action; with being offered, and offering food; with understanding the other and wishing they didn't because now everything is more precarious.

gonna answer that last part bc it's the fastest: I've drawn most of the (adult!!!) pathologic blorbos I care about like In The Full Nude with the one they love at some point so if you've seen those you have your answers or at least can deduct them. i love and cherish all of my friends' hcs especially when/if they're able to Elaborate on it like all the hcs and bits and pieces and Ways These Characters Relate To Themselves/Each Other with/within/thanks to their transness and the Web Of It i eat that up i drink that up i enter my excited dog era. in my witness to greatness era. that's part 1 of answer.

now part 2 (cracks my knuckles and it echoes for thousands of years)

🤭🤭🤭 teehee!

ok it's been a while since i last played and/or checked out clara's route so chances are a lot of these thoughts have Marinated since then but basically

towards dankovsky she does retain some sort of hostility, not outward hate but rather a... "you don't accept god and the mystical into your heart? ☦🛐📿🙏✨ ough ough?" and dislikes his constant and impermeable refusal of the whimsical and supernatural. she also has in her heart that she can, in some way, Open His Eyes to it [she can't, he was raised religious and found it kinda sucked. the art is nice though]. she's kind of like an evangelist if they didn't suck. when she realizes she won't change his mind, she's like. "🤷 ok. then die without knowing the utmost kind touch of a loving and destructing god." But she also has these... almost child-like tendencies of wanting him to reassure her when she gets so fucking scared of herself and her powers. his skepticism grounds her in the way a parent checking your closet for monsters as a child grounds you. but then when the Fear recedes she's Back On It.