Embrace the night

Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodhunt

hadal ‘love language' robe

I was possessed by the need to draw all Flight Rising deities today, but why stop there when i could also give them a small rework to fit my own concepts? So, meet the gladekeeper! Kinda inspired by foo dogs, jade temples, and those legends of the turtles so big that they became whole continents! (Still a wip sketch btw!!! Im gonna post the finished version later)

Some points im gonna keep in mind for the finished version:

Birds to give a sense of scale of how much of a behemoth i want her to be

Carved/painted wood details as if dragons that adore her carved beautiful inscriptions on her body over the years, sort of how lovers do that thing on trees

Flower bush beard

Maybe a little pond with lilypads somewhere but not sure where i would fit it

Then Tatiana came upon a storage room in an out of the way part of the castle, one that was seldom tread by the court or the staff. Sheets of cloth covered a number of old furnishings and boxes full of old garments and trinkets. The Queen pulled the sheets away to see the things hidden beneath, finding a particularly lovely music box stashed away in a forgotten, dusty corner. Another sheet revealed a dress form sized for someone she couldn’t put a finger on, given the somewhat unique body proportions. Yet another sheet revealed a number of paintings she had never seen before, and she pulled a few out to see what beauties had been hidden: A scene of a central town square, a forest grotto, an old portrait of Lucian in regal attire. Though there was a different name identifying the figure, she recognized her husband clearly. Another painting showed him with someone else.

Tatiana paused.

It was Serena. She was younger, but she could see it. Tatiana’s face fell, and she moved onto the next painting, only to find a portrait of Serena by herself, dressed in beautiful silks and bearing the Queen’s crown upon her head. The same crown that belonged to Tatiana.

Behind that was another portrait of Lucian and Serena together, and behind that was a portrait of a few different women she didn’t recognize in the same crown, then more again that she did recognize. Tatiana pulled out one painting after another, many of them hidden in different stacks, but each and every one had the exact same crown and each and every one of them had a portrait together with Lucian. Too many were of people she didn’t have a name to, but had to guess were the ones who did not choose Lucian’s offer of immortality. Tatiana knew that records of them still existed, but they were almost never spoken of by Lucian’s curated consorts.

Creeping up into her heart was the whispering demon eating at the hole there. She couldn’t help but chastise herself for knowing already that she was not Lucian’s first love, or even merely his first Queen. But there was something else to it. Something that wondered why these few were never discussed.

Is that why it pained her to see this?

Perhaps it was the quiet desolation of the storage room, far from where anyone would expect to find her, but she sat down on one of the old sofas and stared distantly at one of the nameless queens’ paintings until tears rolled down her cheeks.

Did any of the others wonder where she was? Why they might not find her? Was there really a point in her being Queen when every one of Lucian’s other unliving wives were just as capable? What purpose did Tatiana really serve beyond just a figure to stand and make things in the castle appear normal? What purpose did Tatiana truly serve at Lucian’s side?

There was no need for her. None at all. In fact, this only cemented a growing thought within her: She was going to be replaced.

Had she been so foolish? So truly in love with Lucian that she just ignored it? Pushed it all away until there was nothing but her and Lucian’s affections? And once his affections left her, what was she left with?

Sure, the others were not bad company, but they were not hers. They belonged to Lucian just as much as she did, and they craved Lucian’s attention far more than they did hers. Tatiana was the strange, lonely child, reading books, playing with dead insects, and admiring dead squirrels. Her favorite pet was a reanimated dog, and her closest friends were merely her parents.

The thoughts swirled and swirled around her in the darkness of the room, and Tatiana had no idea how much time had passed until her eyes flicked over to the diminishing candle, barely a couple inches tall now. The woman stood and wiped the drying tears off of her cheeks, put the paintings and furniture back where they had been, and crept over to the door, listening for the absence of people on the other side before slipping out and returning to the rest of the castle.

She slept in her bed that night, alone until Lucian surprised her by asking to sleep with her. She pulled the covers away to let him in and buried her face in his cool chest. The woman did not say anything, made no sign of her upset beyond her desire for comfort, and Lucian merely pet her hair as they fell asleep together.

In the morning, Tatiana rose before him, and laid in bed watching him for a while, wondering what she should do. She had truly fallen in love with him, and had been so happy to enter into this relationship with him. He was beautiful, kind, caring, and wise in ways she wasn’t. He wanted a large and flourishing kingdom, and knew well how to balance keeping the people happy and in line. When people came to him with problems, he was determined to solve them to the best outcome. He was cunning and charming, and while he knew just how to convince the few humans who knew his secret to not let it out, the people actually cared about him in return because he cared about them.

Lucian was magnificent. One of a kind, in Tatiana’s eyes.

But she would be pushed aside before she knew it, and whatever distance was growing between them already would pull them further and further apart.

And Lucian was perfectly willing to let it happen. Lucian knew this, expected it. It was all a part of his grand scheme to outlive every other ruler around him and slowly, but surely, expand his kingdom.

Lucian knew. Lucian knew he would push Tatiana aside one day for another. Take the crown from her and give it to someone else. Take what was left of her life and keep her as part of his collection forever.

Lucian knew.

So Tatiana had to, as well.

The Queen slipped out of her bed and started her morning with a bath, then a meal, and then when Lucian still wasn’t awake, she playfully teased him by tickling his face with his hair.

“Wake up, Lushenska…!”

After a moment, he awoke with a smile, and they exchanged a sweet kiss before Tatiana said she’d meet him in the Council Chambers. The Queen moved through the day with a new thought in her mind, one that she had to hold close. She played her part the same as always, and when Lucian, as expected, parted ways with her to visit one of his lovers for the evening, Tatiana took his hand, kissed the back of it, and told him to enjoy himself.

I was trying to look around and I dont think i ever posted these commissions on tumblr 

a lot of these are redesign/adopt comms tho the bottom one is just the regular fangems look if i remember right

i only realized i havent posted a lot on tumblr when looking at my patreon