kcd2samuel

[kcd2samuel]

In the basement, their own waltz...

Inspired by Mitski-My Love Mine All Mine

[kcd2samuel]

screenshot redraw warmup of sam giving me the eyebrow when i was just walking past in the morning

what is your deal man

[kcd2samuel]

A conversation at Raborsch

Whew this took a while- but here it is. My little comic about a conversation I wished for Sam and John to have during the feast at Raborsch. As I eluded to in my previous preview-post, this idea came to me after seeing this post (sorry for linking it again, but I feel this is important)- and seeing just how pissed John actually is after Jobst's initial proposal. (yadda yadda you've probably read all this in my previous post before) Also Samuel learns from Godwin about his fathers passing, and- man- on top of all the stress that he finds himself in already, that must be really rough. So I wanted both of these guys to talk it out a little bit. Oh also- this comic isn't particularly romantic in nature, but please feel free to read that into it if you like. (I sure do) Forgive me if you spot any spelling errors or other mistakes along the way- I have done nothing but breathe this comic for the last few weeks and have probably gone blind to some mistakes. :')

Okay so uhm, on a personal note- I really wanted to do this little project to prove to myself that I can actually finish something that I started (I'm sure some of you can relate) - and it worked so- yay! I also learned a lot about writing and drawing comics along the way. Though there are still things I'm not super happy with- like worrying that the scene is super boring actually (I mean they're just talking and that's hardly exciting :'D), the characters possibly being ooc, or that some panels don't look the way I wanted them to- and so on and so forth. I am even anxious about posting the comic while typing this out. ALSO ALSO I feel a bit disingenuous tagging this comic as "Jamuel" since this really is not super shippy- soooo I may or may not have already made a little sketchy bonus thingy that goes more in that direction. I'll probably post it tomorrow. Or this evening, if I'm impatient. UNTIL THEN- feast your eyes on this BEAUTIFUL, IMMACULATE edit by my friend:

(srsly though, without him and his support, I probably wouldn't have finished this little project- so thank youuu!!!) Also again thanks to @telafel and @lordgeneralsix (I hope it's ok that I tag you again) for the references on their blogs- they were sooo vital. <333

[kcd2samuel]

закончила разворот

[kcd2samuel]

*dry devil voice* LABUBU

[kcd2samuel]

Raborsch, 1403.

protective blueberry mode activated🫐🗡️

I love thinking of partially reversing roles, in their case, John protecting Sam. John who is terrified of pain but more terrified of losing Sam. John who sucks at combat, his deadliest weapon being his mind, tongue and a pen, but will brandish a blade and throw himself in front of Sam to protect him. And Sam is both irritated and awestruck by John’s commitment to get himself killed lol to making sure he’s unharmed even when it’s literally his job to guard and prevent John from getting killed.

John has always tried to protect his people, Sam included, the best he can. But to die for them wasn’t really something he'd do. He'd provide hiding, maybe pay ransoms, lend money, aid, etc. But physically protecting them never crossed his mind.

But with Sam it was different. It wasn't something he knew immediately upon their first meeting. Back then he protected Sam as much as he protected everyone else working for him. But then something changed overtime. When he saw Sam return, hurt, distressed, hiding his injuries, he'd feel a simmering white hot rage. How dare someone hurt him.

Still he didn't think of physically protecting him yet. Even as they grew ever closer, shared secrets, heat and bed, the thought did not cross his mind. Not until Rabrosch.

When the ambush came, men armed to the teeth, slaughtering anyone and everyone, John's first thought was Sam. Despite the wine in his system, one thing was clear to him. He must get to Sam.

When John found him on the ramparts, he did not see the enemy closing in behind him until Sam drew his sword and took him down, but not before getting a shallow slice to the arm. John realized then that Sam would die to save his life.

And that's when he knew that he would not allow that to happen. Not to Sam. He remembers he is a lord. So he gives Sam an order. He orders him to stay behind him. He orders Sam to never die for his sake.

[kcd2samuel]

BONUS TIME

Here, just as promised- a little more of a flirty scene that takes place after my comic. As a treat. (haha this is also completely self-indulgent) <.<

[kcd2samuel]

Next time, don't come back hurt. Tell me first.

A soft childhood AU where Sam always protects Henry—no matter what.

[kcd2samuel]

Drew some more Jamuel at work!

[kcd2samuel]

i like her

[kcd2samuel]

samjohn mimirs for the lovebutotters challenge 😚

EDIT: per @shmuel-ben-sarah-kcd2 :

"As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among the sons; in his shade I delighted and sat, and his fruit was sweet to my palate."

It's what Sam's reading, now.

(otter ref under the cut!)

this one!

[kcd2samuel]

time to skedaddle

[kcd2samuel]

Sam is a cuddle cat

[kcd2samuel]

"S-stop teasing, S-sam!"

"Well, well, cat got my Lord's tongue? You're usually a real chatterbox!"

[kcd2samuel]

kind of a wip - might fix the some stuff at a later time but for now I'm done with it

[kcd2samuel]

Day 5 of #lovebutotters with some samjohn or jam??

[kcd2samuel]

Like Mother, Like Son

The thought that lives rent free in my brain: what if Sam and John get to have the tavern basement honeymoon but their relationship cools down a bit before the Gambit (cause Sam's falls hard and deep in love and it scares John), then in the pogrom Sam loses not only his home and people (which is already horrible) but also his faith in something... very personal, quite childish and extremely important. He fails as the main character of this fairy tale that his mother spun about his father and so his dream of "normal childhood" could be no more.

And this loss makes Sam's final decision even more desperate.

(But boys are both wise enough to talk after the siege. And then kiss and re-steal Wenceslaus 🎉🎉🎉)

Some cringe jam agenda under the spoiler:

On the one hand, we have Sam, the best boy ever. It's obvious that he is a cp2077 streetkid (he is natural at lying when he sends Henry to "anti-semites" and when he asks about the sword) but he also is a goody-two-shoes (he quotes the Torah, doesn't get Devil's racist joke, worries about her mom). He takes the best of both worlds for survival.

At the same time, Sam takes a terrible risk when he wants to know about the dad whom Sam thought he let go a long time ago (re:dialogue with Godwin). And my boy gets drunk from stress in Ratbož, which is... understandable but VERY unreasonable. And Sam's post-pogrom thoughts about his dad are pure letters from Delululand. Okay, Martin gets to Prague, what next? The only option where they could all be together is the baptism of Sara and Sam, and this is... wow. Sam, I'm sorry.

And all of Sam's revenge is sooo naive. If he thought about it with something other than his heart (at least, with the Torah) he would have stayed in Kolin* to really help "his people" and not stupidly hoped that christians would let Sam, a jew, kill a nobleman??? (separately, we can twirl a lock of hair around our finger thinking about Sam choosing Zizka's order. Such fatherless behaviour...)

And this is understandable. Sam's position has always been shaky, ambivalent. He's a jewish princess a rabbi's grandson but kids-with-fathers know that Sam is also rabbi's dirty laundry (re:dialogue between Sam and Jehuda after the attack on Ratbož). And there's a whole world out there where he has to wear the yellow hat. He feels out of place. Restless. Incomplete.

With a past like that, Sam can be one of the most loyal and intelligent dogs in the game, if someone finds the right way to scratch behind his ear. But without this Sam will be stormed trying to find everything that could make him feel grounded. He will taste all sins of his mother or heroin

On the other hand, we have John aka everyone's OC. We know a few facts about him: he personally destroyed Sigismund's support in Hungary, while dodging assassins (i.e. he's terribly competent as a wily basement rat), he likes wine (and possibly sex re:he suggests a sullen Henry to have a drink and to visit the bathmaids), and he, firstly, cooperates with jews (open-minded as hell!!), and secondly, he helps them (which, by the way, to me doesn't seem to be so unprofessional? I feel this act is sincere but in the long run it goes into John's portfolio and turns him into the top 10 best employers in Bohemia). A crazy character in canon and in my fanfic where I give him injuries so he fits Sam perfectly...

Thinks about it, it's a Tasty Concept: Sam seduced by a character like John (christian daddy issue meets a real person who loves to listen, knows how to order people around and enjoys that, it's craaaazy) vs John who seduces Sam (a cute Other (I mean a concentrated philosophical Other) with a sharp mind and a sharp dagger turns out to be paradoxically close in spirit and... the perfect complement to everything in himself).

One of the best toys in the store!!

*on the thousandth playthrough of Exodus a sneaky worm of doubt crept into my unshakable confidence that Sam could have been sent by Jehuda. But even in that paradigm, a stealth mission with Sam is just... well, bro...