In devilsburger, the usual entanglements of power, war, and territory between Richard and Philip are no longer there, and Philip also isn’t constrained by his status as an overlord in a way that would make it hard for him to accept Richard being “above” him. With all of that stripped away, is there really any major conflict left between them? To me, they actually seem pretty happy in devilsburger. The struggles they do have don’t feel like the kind of problems that would genuinely tear them apart, which makes the whole thing feel very light, comforting, and genuinely pleasant to read.
Devilsburger is indeed a very different situation than the medieval setting, and it’s true that it takes place in a much less stratified society. Still, even American teenagers have stresses, and Devilsburger RichPhil are no exception! I draw plenty of sweet moments for everyone, but they have plenty of baggage to deal with, in their relationship and in their conception of themselves.
I don’t mean to burst your cozy bubble (sorry to be contradictory, with the cute drawing I just put here) but is probably a good place to mention that, in case you haven’t been following the Lore(tm) for as long, the canonical Devilsburger as a story does contain some darker and serious topics, not in every single comic of course, but to me it’s ever-present in a very mundane way, as one would expect from some volatile repressed queer teenagers trying to figure out their shit out.
Richard, deals with externalized and internalized homophobia (from himself and from his family) Philip repeatedly insists he is “not gay” since he still thinks it’s a sin, Richard crosses the line partially due to some neglectful upbringing but also because he willfully made a shitty choice, and just because he is forgiven doesn’t mean that resentment and pain doesn’t cause a tension of power in their relationship overall. I have a LOT of context between all these random comics and doodles that flesh out and contextualize the storyline I have in mind, but they definitely have a lot going on that will, ultimately, tear them apart. Anyways, I’m posting comic pages on the devilsburger account now here, that will be slow going but hope people can enjoy!
Do I have a vision of a happy ending for them? I do, but it will be a looong way before they get there.
