#♧Yulia | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

shmowder · 7 days

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I have some more dessert headcanons 🍰 I doubt I can explain but it's just a feeling I have. Daniil would like Turkish Delight. Lara and Artemy both like fruit pies, best is blueberry for Lara and rhubarb (it's a vegetable but whatever) for Artemy (oh god I'm stereotyping based on colors again). Candy corn for Clara. Candy corn is divisive but I actually like it. I think Grief would like candy in general, maybe those little chocolates with liquor inside, and cinnamon flavored things. Big Vlad - mincemeat pie. Rubin - bread. Just bread. Red velvet cake for Katerina, meringues for Eva. For Aspity, those dirt pies made out of oreo crumbs, pudding, and gummy worms lol. I think Grace, Notkin, Sticky, and Murky would like those too :o)

There's probably some obscure dialogue that contradicts something there but oh well~

What do you think of Victor's animal being a tiger? I keep thinking Basset Hound and yes that's almost entirely because they both have a high likelihood of being found sitting on the floor by the clock. He's some kind of scent hound to me - more calm and deliberate than sighthounds, and once they have their mind set on something, focusing on it to the extent that it's nearly impossible to pull them away. But at the same time, I can sort of see the cat thing.

🐿️ anon

Your brain is big and wrinkly all of those fit perfectly omfg. "Rubin = bread" I LOVE IT.

Here's what I think their preference in sweets would be in addition to yours.

Eva

Turkish delight, Honey soaked rose baklava, kanafeh with sweer syrups. The intensely sweet desserts are her favourite, think heavy caramel chocolate cakes. She'd sample a lot of desserts from different cultures but those would be her comfort ones.

Victor Kain

The dishes he eats are an acquired taste that wouldn't appeal to most people. Think blue cheese and something along those lines. think bitter chocolate, coffee, and pistachio flavours. Traditional creme burlee and dark chocolate mousse.

I like to think that Khan abhors these flavours and desserts out of rebellion and only demands the most sprinkle filled bubblegum bonbon cupcakes for his birthday.

Maria, however, goes for flavour-rich desserts that explode in the mouth, something with a heavy taste and an aftermath of wine.

Yulia

Cheesecake, lemon tarts. Subtle sweetness with the spin of something different sate her appetit the most. French Vanilla chiffon cake for special occasions, a blueberry muffin with her morning light cream cappuccino.

Rubin

He's absolutely not a dessert person, so when the craving strikes, he would rather go for a baked good. Almond bread, rosemary-walnut brow butter cookies and biscuits, English muffins too.

Taya

Fairy bread cookies, strawberry shortcake, and orange puddings. Fruit based desserts with cream are her favourite. Peach pie and cherry jello. Sadly, most of these would only be found in the Capital, and exporting them into the town wouldn't come easily. The kin might adjust their recipies to accommodate her sweet tooth and include more fresh fruits.

For Victor's animal, I was surprised to learn it's the same one as Rubin! They both have tiger in their descriptions. Especially when Khan's animal is an adorable hedgehog. Oh my god, so cute. But it fits. He really does go hide in that spiky polyhedron whenever life gets too troubling. He also has the Kains and Capella ready to protect him.

It's because of Victor's animal being a tiger that I add the "predatory" lines in the story. The sharp claws hidden in his clapsed hands.

He's a tiger in the aspect of the danger rather than the ferality. His mind is as sharp as a tiger's tooth and his focus and patience when hunting a prey or a goal is unmatched. You never expect him or hear him, how he'll as stealthy as a tiger when it comes to mind games.

For Rubin, however, I do see the symbolism centring on the ferality instead. He's like a caged tiger, one with filed down claws and broken teeth. He used to be so sharp and had so much potential. He's truly a force to be reckon with, but the cruelty of life stole away his prime. He's overcome with grief and appears as a docile, tired predetor because of it, like a circus tiger not caring anymore and just jumping through the fire hoops of whoever orders him to. Which is why he is so quick to join the army, he needs a purpose, a mentor, an end goal, a firey ring to make him feel useful because nothing is more terrifying to an imprisoned animal than absolute freedom.

#♧🐿 anon #♧Victor #♧Khan #♧Maria #♧Rubin #♧Eva #♧Taya #♧Yulia #♧character study

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shmowder · 24 days

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Hi, could I request anything Yulia Lyuricheva x reader fluff, please? I've only played P2 if that makes a difference ♡

Hell yeah! I'll base this off P2 Yulia mostly in this case. Honestly she deserves so much love.

Yulia x reader fluffy headcanons

[Fluff, Romance, hurt/Comfort, gn reader]

"A smart person crosses the stream where it's shallowest. But I'm not smart."

Yulia senses fate, or at least she attempts to. The strings of destiny aren't that different from chalked numbers on a board, find the common factors, and fill in the unknown variables.

The rules of probability are absurdly simple, an impossible event equates to zero, a certain event is one, therefore the sum of all probabilities for all possible events is equal to one.

That's why she foresaw your importance in her life upon the first time she's laid eyes on you.

She didn't know why yet, but as she inhaled the burning smoke deep into her lungs to smother the sound of turning gears in her brain, she felt all the possible factors shift in her world.

Not one to swim against the current, she picked her cane as she got up from the chair to walk across the room to you.

The introduction was brief, and her hand grasped yours loosely in a handshake before the grip grew more stable.

Oh.

She understands now why you were presented an anomaly.

Your hand fit perfectly into hers, your touch standing out amongst all of her other senses.

The outside world would quiet down as you spoke.

The fates have decided for her to fall in love that day. Apparently, her turn has finally arrived.

And who was she to resist the turning spindle of fate's thread?

The roads of the town, makings of her own design, seemed to lead her to cross paths with you throughout out the next couple weeks.

The conversations were politely short, but as days progresses, each word exchanged between you two started being weighted with implications of affectionate.

This slow dance was agonising to her.

Yulia wanted to progress things faster, to rush the flow of water so she may arrive at the foreseen destination sooner than later.

Her smoking increased during that period, her restlessness spiking as she spent various nights pacing around the bookshelves in the trammel.

Never one to think with her heart, she failed to grasp on anything but skeptical rationality to act as her aid in these trying times.

Did you not feel the same? Did you not sense the way her posture improved around you? The lingering of her eyes upon your own, lips and neck?

What about the tremble of her fingers? The way her lips pronounce your name with care and precision, not rushing a single letter nor skimming on any of the vowels.

It's easy to predict the future as a bystander when it came to other people, but it was much harder to see the forest for the trees when you were the rat running lost through these seemingly convoluted wooden mazes.

Without her usual deduction to relay on, Yulia felt at her wits end as she wrote you a letter, pouring out the contents of her brain on the off-white pages.

From rushed handwriting and smuged ink, to dents where the metalic tip of the fountain pen was pressed too hard against the fragile paper.

From incomprehensible paranoid theories on why you weren't receptive to outright helpless confessions of yearning for you, of sleepless nights under the cruel apathetic empty vacuum of space above.

She sends it before she changes her mind. If you were meant to leave, you would've done it eventually. Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong, Murphy's law.

So she might as well show you the inner workings of her cursed mind early on.

As she leaves the letter in the mailbox to be delivered, her chest feels stuffed with cotton, her arms ragdoll against her side, her heart aches.

The inevitable sunrise arrives to proclaim the start of a new day.

Yulia is leaning against the wall that faces the front door to the trammel. Her coat was thrown on the clothes hanger, and the ribbon on her grey cardigan is untied.

The ticking of the wooden clock nearby is getting on her nerves. She considers the logistics of getting away with throwing it in a dumpster bin outside before setting the whole thing ablaze.

...Too unlikely, the Saburovs live a mere bridge away, and Alexander might not let arson slide.

A faint sound of footsteps brings her out of drifting through the abyss of her mind, just behind the door.

Someone's rummaging through their bag, the sound of papers being flipped.

Envelopes to be precise, the mailman no doubt.

Yulia moves closer, catching the letter sliding through the opening in the door before it hits the ground.

Your name is at the top in the sender's box.

And at the bottom, hers is addressed.

Hesitation sinks in the bottom of her stomach before she closes her eyes and forces her hands to move. Opening the letter carefully, unfolding the paper inside.

She takes a deep breath, the fresh air stings her lungs.

The second she opens her eyes, she immediately scans the page whole. Searching through the polite sentences for any hint of rejection, skimming through the pleasantries part to get to the main topic.

Numbers are shifting again, the strings of fate are being stretched thin. Roads are deconstructed and new connections are built.

The letter falls from her hand.

All she can hear is the loud contrasting and release of her heart against her ribcage.

You return her feelings.

It was foretold. She reminds herself, it was written.

But that does nothing to quell the waves of relief washing over her, the adrenaline swimming through her blood fizzling out into ambrosia making her stumble forward as she picks up the letter, head light and filled with stars.

She immediately goes for her hanged coat, picking her cane and walking out the door with little care to the unkept hairstyle she woke up with this morning.

Going straight to your house.

For all the roads in the town will take her there.

That day marks the start of your flourshing relationship.

It's not perfect. It has its ups and downs. Through thick and thin, the two of you make it work.

Yulia picks up her old hobby of playing the cello more and more with you around, enjoying an audience of one as you sit nearby and indulge in a book or a craft.

Romantic words aren't her forte, but physical affectionate is what she can't get enough of.

Cuddling on a warm, lazy afternoon, laying her head on your lap, intertwining your fingers together outside while drinking in the pub or getting lunch.

Especially enjoys buring her face against your neck, the feathery press of her lips against your pulse point. The way her hand rests against your thigh.

Her ideas of dates are usually things she would've enjoyed doing alone and wants to share them with you.

Surprisingly, she prefers having you do the planning and making the chocies when it comes to date nights.

She is fascinated by your mind, why you do the things you do, why do you like the things you like.

You offer her a peak into your world each time you indulge her and prepare for the date or keep a conversation going yourself.

Yulia is very content in observing you being yourself. It's one of her highest forms of entertainment.

Another way she shows love is how she always repairs something in your house whenever you have her over.

Or well, whenever she invites herself over unannounced because she was feeling lonely but wants plausible deniability of having a heart.

Fixing that wobbling chair that's giving you trouble, installing the new faucet for the sink you've been putting off.

Even sewing the holes in your favourite clothes in her spare time.

Of course, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, which is why she lays on your lap afterwards, expecting compliments, praise, and for you to play with her hair.

Your hands are her favourite part of you. The way she can hold them, kiss your knuckles and press her cheek against the palm.

The way your fingers move through the strands of her hair eases the pain of her migraines. Yulia usually isolates herself in a room in those days, even something as simple as sunlight feels like razors rattling inside her skull. The slightest sound painful on her aching mind.

She is the most difficult to deal with on those days, where the abyss starts whispering back to her on how doom is inevitable.

All things will end, so what's the point of trying? Everything and everyone is finite.

Even the love you two share.

Be patient with her. That's all she asks of you.

Her nerves can't take much more cruelty.

And you are. Waiting for your beloved each time with open arms for her to fall into. Gently reassuring her that you do return her feelings, that the love will still be worth it even if it turns sour in the future.

That she is worth trying for. Fighting fate for. The world will have to rip her out of the safety of your arms for you to give her up.

And Yulia believes you. having blind faith in someone else's words for the first time in her life.

The two of you would go to bed afterwards, where her body slots perfectly behind yours. Cuddling you close to her chest, arms wrapping around you to keep you close.

Her breathing slows down, her world isn't going to end just yet.

Yulia finds her respite amidst the veins of your heart, curling on herself inside them and shutting the door. Proclaiming the delicate organ for her own, careful to mend, and repair every broken shattered part as you hold her whole in the safety of your chest.

"I'm not crying, my eyes are just watering."

#♧Yulia #yulia lyuricheva #Yulia lyuricheva x reader #pathologic #pathologic x reader #x reader #♧fluff #♧hurt/comfort #♧romance #gn reader

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shmowder · 18 days

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Is there a resource that says how old the characters are supposed to be? Or, how old do you headcanon them to be?

🐿️ anon, guilty of sending multiple messages so please, take as much time as you need to answer!

Yes! You can find the ages listed on the Pathologic Wiki here. They're sourced from VK posts the devs made.

It's not just the age, but also more abstract things like which animal the character represents, which body part and which colour.

Take Yulia, for example.

I adore the fact that she represents the ankle body part. It fits her extremely well since she was the one to design the roads to the town. Not to mention her limb and how walking can be painful to her and yet she is still the fragile ankle of the human body nonetheless.

The flamingo fits her too in a way. It's a bird that acquires the pink colour it's so famous for rather than being born with it. Did Yulia work hard for her genius rather than being naturally gifted? Does that affect her mental health?

She is a bird who can't fly and has to walk. She has a leg injury. She lives in a city where the river is poisonous.

As for the blue... I don't have much to say. I wish they gave us a hexcode instead of just slapping blue on it and calling it a day, yk? It would've been more specific since there are endless shades of blues out there.

Although, all of these notes and ages are about Pathologic classic characters. They might not all translate to P2, especially with how the timeline is changed there.

In P1, the polyhedron was built 10 years ago, and in P2, it was built 5 years ago. That drastically changes Artemy's age from 16 to 21 when he left the town.

Also. Do yourself a favour. Never calculate what age Nina was when she had Maria in P1. Ever.

And I absolutely love your asks! Never apologise for sending them or feel guilty. It made me so happy when I woke up the other day to them, and I'm writing up an answer to one, although it may take time to gather all the screenshots and my thoughts. You're amazing <333

Like fr. You're genuinely the only anon I have. It's dry af in this fandom. I only have two other asks rn which are requests for fics. Take as much space as you want lmao we're the only two people talking in this blog.

Sadly, Aglaya doesn't seem to have a VK post written about her. But in P1, she confirms that she is older than Artemy and of similar age to Maria in their reality. However, she mentions that she is older than him as a doll, but many parts of her body got replaced and newed, so it makes her fresher younger doll than his doll. If I had to give her a colour, it would be one from her image picked colour pallet here. Or maybe brown, like her eyes. Especially with how brown eyes are almost a symbol of humanity from how common they are and it giving it to the one character who is self-aware she is a doll and convinced she has no free will is funny.

For an animal, tho...hmmm. I'd imagine others to view her as a spider, but I think it's just a facade, even if it suits her.

An ant? A wasp?

a chameleon? Daniil says she changes her tactics with each person she encounters. How she used his anger against his to trick him while she used tenderness with Artemy who's guided by his heart.

A crane? They fit her colour pallete.

A crow or an owl? Any "Bad Omen" animal since inquisitors arriving is considered a bad omen in an itself

A mourning dove? They hold a lot of religious importance to rituals and she technically follows the church.

A dragonfly? They spend most of their lives in the baby stage, and when they finally look like what we consider an adult dragonfly, they only have 6 months to live. Aglaya spent all her life searching for an answer, and when she found it, her remaining days were cut short. They are a symbol of living life to the fullest.

Fox? I remember one of the characters describing her as one in P1. Or maybe it was a idom with "Foxy" that the translators added on their own to drive a message home. They are extremely cunning too. Can represent wisdom.

Which one is your favourite option? Or do you have another animal in mind?

For the body part, I'm thinking something that has to do with the heart or hands because I want her to match Artemy tehe. Maybe a ribcage since it protects the heart?

If we do go off of her personality alone and story importance, I feel like she represents the soul as much as Eva does but in her own contrasting way. Like in a left brain right brain type of way.

To even question your existence is a human trait. You can't prove the soul exists physically, and yet all of us at all times are aware of a soul. We are conscious and know something inside of us is doing this, but we can't find it anatomically.

Interesting detail, Aglaya's corpse in P2 doesn't have any organs. I checked it after the train death scene. She is the walking essence of a soul.

However, you find a gun in her body.

Is Aglaya a weapon? A tool for the hands to hold and use? Is that why she lacks organs? A dagger for Artemy's hand to cut open his enemies with?

So how could the steel dagger fall in love with the flesh and blood of the hands carrying it.

She might be the teeth, or the nails of the body in that case. Primitive weapons for the humankind before we invented spears. She might be the

I think she is the corpus callosum.

It's the part of the brain that connects the two halves together. You see, each brain half is fully functional on its own and controls one of each hands and looks through one of each eye.

The only reason they work in unison despite being two entities, is the thanks to the corpus callosum allowing them to communicate and act as one whole organ.

Cutting that connection, as in physically removing the corpus callosum, used to be a way to treat people who suffered from epilepsy. It's on the more extreme solutions when medication isn't working and the seizures are too frequent.

And it weirdly worked.

It fits her in a way, the anchor between two ships, the wires connecting the doll to the hand moving it.

I read from a different ask how she is your favourite alongside Yulia and Victor. You have amazing taste I tell you bc they are my favourites too! I am writing a long ass essay about it-

I'd love to hear your ideas about them and their symbolism animals/colours in the way. Also the look on your face when you find out that Victor Kain is 58 years old BECAUSE GODDAMN he looks so good for his age.

#♧🐿 anon #♧Yulia #♧character study #♧Aglaya

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shmowder · 17 days

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That's good info to know about your requests! I'm happy that general rqs won't be a problem because that's all my brain wants to come up with 😅

Thank you for the Stardew compliment :] I'm just about done with Spring year 1 and I blew all my money on the backpack upgrades (got lucky and grew a giant cauliflower!), and I'm constantly low on energy and running out of time to do things. Somehow this is reminding me of Pathologic 2 now, lol. I know that's typical of the early game. Still, it's comforting to know that other than a cutscene or two, there's nothing really missable as long as you have the patience to wait for the seasons to roll around again. Btw. The secret to getting to the lower floors in the mines quickly and without combat is to craft a bunch of staircases ;)

Anyway! I took a scroll through your whole blog and I must say the Daniil & Artemy treating the reader's "hysteria" concept? Inspired. Chefs kiss ✨

Who are your favorite adult characters in P2? Mine are Aglaya, Yulia, and Victor. Not that I can explain why but Yulia and Victor were the ones I was running around town like crazy trying to make sure they didn't die (along with most of the kids). Tmi time, I'm not often interested in men but I LOVE that sad old man.

I like Artemy and his little circle of old friends, too. Feel free to infodump, or not, if you want to ^^

🐿️ anon

Between all the Pathologic characters, I feel like only a handful would thrive as Stardew Valley farmers.

Daniil would want to replace Harvey's position since day one and never grow a single crop in his life.

Clara would depend on lucky drops, trash can dives and blackmailing Mayor Lewis about the gold statue money embezzlement fiasco to earn a living wage only for her twin to put his purple shorts in the soup pot during luau

Artemy would thrive there, I feel it in my bones. He would build a pretty good self-watering potato farm with a cow penhouse or two. Sticky and Murky would enjoy the Valley too, especially with all the supernatural things hidden around they can find.

And oh stairs in the mines! That explains why I progressed at the pace of a slug each day. I just raw dogged it each time and got my ass beaten only to grumbly go fish instead to unwind.

The thing with Stardew Valley is that there is no race against time so much but the limited Stamina and all the possible ways to upgrade and improve little by little each day makes it a game where the antagonist is your own ego. Or at least in my case, because I refused to use sprinklers that weren't iridum since what was the point!! But also, I finished an entire year without getting much iridium, so I was pretty desperate and burnt out from can watering every day by the time I did unlock them. Or how the npcs friendship depelates each day and it felt like such a personal insult to me to not have everyone like me so much at all times that I chased them every single day to talk and avoid friendship depletion.

I made Stardew Valley my own living hell by my own hands thanks to the stubborn human ego. Water by can everyday, chase down and talk to 30+ people everyday, only have enough time to progress 4 levels down in the mine before dying on the said 4th then rage quitting the game and reinstalling league like a normal person. If I'm going to get fucked by a game I rather it be my own teammates bending me over.

ANYWAY.

No I'm not finished.

Do you think Victor would do good in Stardew Valley? Not as a farmer but like as an npc. Oh god, can you even imagine what the kains would do to that town, I almost feel bad... almost. They'd perform all kinds of experiments to test the limit of that reality. They'd bother the wizard to work for them and lock the immortal farmer in some basement to find out just how they achieved the immortality.

He'd probably easily get people to follow him and rope the young adults into some utopian cult like he does in pathologic.

Yulia might chill there, becomes Gunther's roommate, visit the beach occasionally, and befriend Elliott and Leah. Yeah, I see Yulia getting happier in that town. Except for the occasional fits of saying ominous fate predictions she made about the villagers' future, to their face.

Aglaya would guillotine Mayor Lewis the second she steps a foot off of that train and into the town. And don't we love her for that!! My wife <33333

Okay now I am finished!

Hmm... My favourite adults. They're practically the same as yours, Aglaya, Victor, and Yulia. Oh, I really like Isidor too despite all the uh... non-fun things he has done.

I loved Aglaya even before the whole romance thing with Artemy which took me by complete surprise because I never expected to find romance in Pathologic of all things! Sure I knew about Daniil and Eva but thought they were a one off special case where it's mostly implied than obviously stated?

Then comes Aglaya, swinging and throwing you off your rhythm. You meet her and think, "Oh god, not another crazy person who talks sophisticated p throw-up nonsense and pretends its high-brow philosophy."

*Cough* The kains!!! *cough*

Like I absolutely did not care for her before meeting her. I didn't know her, and the cutscenes in the theatre about her the night prior felt like they were tying too hard to make me afraid of her. And I think they could've worked if approached differently. Only after meeting her and being faced with her brash brutal dialogue that I fell in love.

The biggest threat she resembled was death, and as a player, you know you have death immunity because who else would play the game, huh? So you never feel the need to tiptoe around despite her holding the power to immediately order your hanging outside.

I knew I was never going to die, so I never was careful with Aglaya. Although seeing that one cutscene of people lining up against the wall the day she arrives did make me feel a bit uneasy, especially with both Daniil and Clara there too looking almost intimidated.

The build-up to her reveal is so amazing. They show you the unmoveable power pillars of this town absolutely losing their marbles at her arrival. The same people who tried to manipulate you blatantly or never bothered to give you the time of the day were terrified to their core.

I don't think any other character gets as much reveal build up and theatrics about her like Aglaya. No other character in pathologic could cause the same stirr, could make the Kains, Saburovs and Olgimsky running around like headless chickens.

In P2, how worried everyone was when lining up outside the church to take turns and await their judgement. How it's the only time you ever see the stamatin twins out of their usual spots, the so proclaimed absolute freedom enthusiasts actually walking by their own feet to the inquisitor and follow direct orders! IT'S A CIRCUS SHOW!

Or the fact she literally puts up a hanging station right in front of the crucible, the kains' resident! The one family so obsessed with immortality and preservation are faced with the grim reality of not only death but being hanged to death by her, being killed, and put to display for everyone to see. Knowing she has the power to order their execution at any time.

What a power move of her.

AND IN FRONT OF THE POLYHEDRON TOO! Nine total nooses awaiting them. It's a direct threat she places in front of them with a clear message, behave or else.

You witness usually collected and rational Kains, the powerful leaders of this town, terrified to their core that day.

Georgiy isn't in his workshop like usual, he is standing outside to look at the symbol of death in the face.

Much like dads stand in the streets with their hands crossed to watch the aftermath of a car crash, except he is looking at the future with the implications it could be his very own car that ends up there.

He doesn't even talk to you, he's just staring. Dread sinking into his stomach as he watches the people walking in nervously before exiting the cathedral with their mind broken or tears streaming down their face.

The inquisition is absolutely terrifying. Especially when you consider how Nina on her own made the whole town walk on eggshells, how Aglaya's her sister.

Talking about Nina, guess who's portrait Victor sits on the floor in front of after seeing the hearing ropes outside.

Well...not her. I thought this painting was of Nina Kaina but apparently it's Maria's concept art which is kinda sweet.

BABY BOY IS HUGGING HIS KNEES

You talk to him and the first thing he talks about is the church and why they built it. How it distributes times to the clocks throughout the town.

How Aglaya's presence there is clearly affecting time and making it go faster, and yet Victor doesn't dare say a thing.

God, I love Aglaya. No one else could compare the aura of absolute power she is dripping with, the heavy presence she instils into the church. The walk up to her standing in front of a throne in P1.

There is also another scene where the executioners literally bow down to her as she arrives into town

While in P2, that imagery is replaced by her standing behind the gaint swinging pendulum of the church clock. It almost looks like a saw threatening to cut your neck off as you cautiously walk under it to reach her.

She arrives at the prime of conflict and plague, immediately gets down to business and stays awake for three whole days just to absorb as much information as she possibly can. She forcefully moves the plot along, opens the factories and pulls all the short strings of lies to expose them.

Not to mention how utterly massive the church is, it has three floors you can climb up to and even save your game in. Yet not a single soul is in there except Aglaya who easily fills up this empty structure with her own presence.

You make it past the hanging saw and reach her, only for her back to be kept turned towards you. You get the feeling that you're intruding on someone busy, the same churning of stomach you feel when you're just a kid nervously knocking on the school principle office and sitffly standing to the side, waiting for her to finish the paperwork before giving you permission to talk.

It's nerve-wracking how calm she is. If you cross her as the player, she immediately calls you out and reminds you who she is. Just who do you think you're talking to with that tone?

She is truly a mother's doll. The discipline, the respect she demands, the way you find yourself answering to her without question or second thought. She gives and orders, and it's carried immediately, no buts, no arguing and no talking back.

In a way, she does bring justice to Farkhad without being aware of it. He's been killed long ago by the Stamatin twins, or at least that's major theory, and he's the one who made the church. How fitting it is for the person who wants to destroy the polyhedron as revenge for her sister to seek shelter in the same church of his making.

As a final note, the inquisition symbol "the steel heart" greatly looks like her.

This is Aglaya Lilich. This symbol is absolutely how the entire world views her. A heart of steel and a frost dagger of a stare. You look at this and immediately understand you are in trouble. You made a mistake, and you must get punished for your sins. For your betrayal.

The top part reminds me of steppe symbols and sigils, it almost looks like Samn the circle of life.

She is always depicted as above people, as your greatest nightmare and investable demise.

I planned on talking about Victor and Yulia too but Aglaya stole the show and honestly I can't blame her.

Since they are your favourite characters however, and mine lmao, I'm very confident that you already get the basics and understand their core concepts.

So instead, I'll talk about the small easy-to-miss details I've noticed about them!

Starting with Victor, he is actually a very loving parent. He admits to missing Caspar, he has many pictures of Maria hanged around his wing of the crucible both in P1 and P2.

Which is so endearing with how he wants to appear rational and nothing else 90% of the time. How his way of speech is almost mechanical, unlike other characters, it doesn't matter what you say to Victor Kain because he rarely reacts to your words. He is straightforward and is only interested in saying what's on his mind, not in what you have to say about it.

And yet, he openly admits how much he wants his son back, Caspar.

He is one of the people who ordered the tower to be built, this is his life purpose and what's his entire family has been working towards since the beginning.

Yet he can't help but resent it for stealing his son.

Victor still does everything in his power to protect the power, that monster keeping his kid estranged to him, to be a good brother and keep true to his words, to fullfill his promises to his family, to truly build a utopia and change the world.

And it's chipping away at his sanity.

Imagine how he feels seeing Maria grow and lose her sense of being as she transforms into a mistress. As she desperately tries to fill the empty vacuum of space Nina left behind.

How did the father feel watching his little daughter stand in front of a mirror, same one he hanged in her room, trying on her late mother's crown and watching it slip off no matter how desperately she attempts to keep her head held high... But it's just too heavy.

He wanted to tell Caspar to come home, he wants to tell Maria to live her age and not let this town consume her like it did to her mother. But his two brothers keep his hands tied, they told him not to interfer with the kids in the polyhedron, Maria barely listens to him or acknowledges him has a dad, a father yes but not a dad.

In another twist of fate, both him and Aglaya share that habit of telling people to stay quiet for 40 something seconds while they think. They probably both learned it from Nina in the past.

In P1, the crucible design had more space and rooms. It looked like actual people lived there. You can even find Khan's room next to Maria's, you see his untouched furniture and the toys on his shelf, you see the two pairs of wooden practice swords on his desk and wonder if his dad made them for him. A picture is painted before your eyes of a younger Victor teaching a 7 year old Caspar how to hold a sword, how to swing, and how to block.

Did he let his son win? Did he surrendered after they sparred just to see a smile on Khan's face?

In P2, the door to his son's room is blocked.

You don't get to see many traces of Maria's childhood in her room, both in P2 and P1. Like she grew up too fast, or as if she threw out all the evidences of her past to make way for her future, slithering like a snake and wrapping itself around her to suffocate her and call it love, to restraint her and paint it as absolute freedom, to isolate her until all she could hear is the whispering of her mother's corpse from the grave.

It's like he knows he doomed his two kids by bringing them into this world. That they could never be kids once they were born Kains.

That they might not even survive.

For Yulia, i didn't talk to her much at the start of the game because I was performing an exploit. The game only acknowledge the existence of an npc once you actively talk to them. If you don't, then they aren't considered a possibility yet and can't get infected.

You have two chances to talk to Yulia at the start for flavour text, once at the Olgimskys' balcony and another at the makeshift theatre hospital. Afterwards she forces you to talk to her by sending you a letter to come to the trammel.

Listen- It was one less person to cure/protect from infection and I did what I needed to do. You can do this with Khan too actually, but it does mean failing a side quest and subsequently getting an entire area infected.

It is funny it a way how if you just don't talk to people and do only your main quests, they never get infected.

Wait is the game saying that the player is the actual plague in this situation wait hold on w-

Anyway Yulia! Lesbian Icon. She has a heavy implied relationship with Eva in P1 when Clara is trying to take advantage of Eva to manipulate Yulia into... yk a little trip the underworld. Tho it's only evident in Clara's route? Take my words with a grain of salt, I'm not sure how accurate their relationship was implied in p1.

You don't get any of that in P2, sadly. Or maybe it's just the Haruspex's route? In P1, as Artemy, you literally never have a single reason to talk to her once, not a single quest require her.

The only time I talked to her was like on day 10 or 11 because I was around the area and curious since we haven't even met yet. It was a nice talk, she's very polite and interesting with her words. Ik people like to compare her to Daniil Dankovsky and his obnoxious speeches.

But I think Yulia is a better conversationist than him. She explains herself more than him and doesn't necessarily come of as condcending but only passionate, Daniil talks over you while Yulia talks to you. It feels like she is coming to the conclusion just as she is explaining it to you while Daniil is revising a rehearsed speech he undoubtedly practiced before.

The interesting detial I noticed about her is how she is humble despite meeting all the required qouta to be a utopian. She is a genius through and through, and her ideas about fate and time overlap with the kains. At times, she is willing to put herself in danger just to see an experiment done. even just out of curiosity.

And yet, she is not one of them.

Instead, she is placed within the redemption-seeking sinners and helpless saints. She is in the same shoes as Lara who wants to do good but feels utterly powerless, in the same situation as Rubin who was the best student there ever was and yet none of his effort was ever enough.

Yulia is clearly keeping a secret, some side we aren't shown ingame. An effort to put some worth on a life she deems wasted.

She is gentle with the Haruspex in P2.

Yulia clocks you, Artemy, as someone who thinks with their heart since the start. She admits you will be able to see and understand things most people can't because of that, things she herself can never comprehend.

It's not even a backhanded compliment. Both Yulia and Daniil think with their brain, yet when met by someone driven by heart and emotions like Artemy, Daniil refuses to acknowledge your methods and clings to rationality while Yulia understands how both methods are of importance and to not underestimate you.

By the end, she offers you to be her assistant. You. Someone who doesn't like big words and doesn't know a lick of Latin. She sees great potential in you and is impressed by how you saved the town.

lmao what was very long. It took a couple of days to write but I enjoy it and it was fun! I wanted to include more pictures but alas the pictures limit in a single post is cruel.

I hope you enjoyed reading it! I'm unsure of how much to explore when it comes to each character in these posts because what if I'm just retelling something you already know?

On the other side, what if I go too niche and the reader can't relate or understand what I'm saying? Honestly it's headache inducing. I haven't been feeling well lately, life and all.

But there is beauty in creation and in talking about details in other's creations! So many games and stories have such thoughtfull details and subtle notes put into them, I adore digging for symbolism wherever I can find it. I feel like a detective hehe.

I hope your day is going well <3 I was thinking lately about how much I like the emoji you chose for your anon. Mostly because I saw a truly mind-boggling anon emoji choice in another blog- So bad I almost thought they were trolling- but they weren't.

Meanwhile a squirrel is literally amazing! What a great choice! Now I just imagine a tiny squirrel coming in my inbox leaving letters and eating the peanuts I leave Aaaa my heart <3333

#Aglaya Lilich #victor kain #♧Yulia #♧Aglaya #♧Victor #yulia lyuricheva #♧character study #pathologic #♧🐿 anon

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