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Commission for @kjetll she has some amazing characters for a comic project. I highly recommend you take a look!

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"Gentling" in the world of "The Wheel of Time" (spoilers!)

When I first read these books (and I will now talk about the books, because the series is a slide show with pretty pictures without proper filling and content) I was a teenager and did not particularly think about the depths of tragedy that could befall a man who could channel. Now that I'm much older, I listen to these books again and think about it more. Also, I have been thinking about one of my original role-playing game characters lately.

So, we know from the books that almost all men died very quickly after such a "procedure" because they lost the will to live. But is the problem only in the inability to channel saidin anymore?

Let's think. First, it's really a problem. Losing something that makes you feel so much more alive, something that allows you to do real miracles, hurts physically and emotionally. The way the effects are described is very similar to the symptoms of very severe clinical depression. It is difficult even with a supportive environment and rehabilitation.

The vast majority of men who faced this problem never asked for "help", because they knew what was waiting for them. If they did not run away or end their lives, they ended up in a situation where it became known about them far from voluntarily. This put them on the same level as criminals. How can you put others at risk? And who was the first to find and capture them? Red Ajah. Those who hate them the most.

Of course, not every one of these men is a Logain, so probably the vast majority of them did not end up in a cage that was triumphantly paraded around several cities and countries (still a special case, ordinary people should have known that the terrible False Dragon was no longer a threat), but I suspect that many received a certain humiliation during their capture, transportation, trial and the "gentling" itself, which I understand took place quite publicly in the White Tower. Even the term "gentling" is much more humiliating than that "severing".

Then such people were either kept in the Tower (among women who can channel, have power, and do absolutely nothing to solve the problem more globally), or were left to fend for themselves.

Can such a person return home? Hardly.

Tom Merrilin's nephew Owyn was exiled with his wife from the village by his fellow villagers, even though he could no longer channel. Even Tom narrowly escaped a beating when he admitted there that he was his relative. Usually everyone was afraid of such men even when they could no longer touch Saidin.

On the other hand, we know a situation where a man lived ten years after severing because he had a brother who took care of him.

The only possibility to survive severing is to find a reason to live, to find a new purpose in life, but what real options did such a person have? Sometimes it's hard to find purpose in life even when you're not depressed and you're generally healthy.

But these are all known facts. What really scares me: if such a man survived despite everything, it could mean one thing for everyone around him: it is possible to survive, and the Aes Sedai are doing everything right. This means that he is really guilty because he did not ask for "help" from the Aes Sedai. This means that losing the ability to channel saidin is not such a big deal. This means that he is just an asshole who wanted power that he did not deserve. It means that he is over-dramatizing. Every day he lives is another argument against him

The very fact of survival in such a case does not make a man stronger in the eyes of others and in his own eyes. It only gives more reason to devalue his loss. To live means to live with a constant sense of shame.

This is really a terrible situation

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Hello everyone!!!!! Today is my birthday and I'd be really happy if you shared some of my work.

Also, donations to Ukrainian charities are greatly appreciated:

Medical supplies: Razom For Ukraine Hospitallers

Veteran support: Veteranka

UA Defenders support: Come Back Alive Army SOS

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since I currently have no electricity at home from 4 to 8 hours a day depending on schedule changes, I'm still very open to commissions I can make using procreate so I don't waste this time

If you want to know what I can do with procreate, here are some examples

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tag the vtm oc who actually has a good relationship with their sire!

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Drawing of my half elf Sylnoa. She mourns the loss of her friend, who was killed by Strahd himself.

It seems there are no happy endings in Barovia.

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I want to say thank you to all the people who supported me all this time. I honestly can't imagine how I would have survived the last year without you

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Beautiful dancing couple, VtM commission for @bigswordenergy

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I'm moving again and will be looking for a new apartment to rent so it would be great to have a little more money ^-^

So, for anyone interested, I have an offer. Full body characters just now for $120, any tips only if you can and want to. WoD, DnD, CtD, whatever. I'll be using Procreate, so it won't be super polished, but it can still be cool. Here are some examples

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He was a Tremere and he didn't survive...

Wrong salubri…

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Wrong salubri…

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Not in a game, our storyteller joined the army

by the way, his games inspired me to all these arts

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I made the mistake of listening to "The Wheel of time" books one after another in a row. In the fifth book, there are too many retellings of facts and events from the previous books. I haven't had time to forget all this yet!

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I have another tremere on my back so yeah name's Valerian, my whiny detective spy from 40th.

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Damned forest 😈

This is my special illustration for the witchy project from Maloviyua and Malopus comics 💜

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They say that peace is something that must be achieved at any cost. Remember the alternate world where the Trollocs won? Very peaceful place

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Fan fact: I often suffered from nightmares when I was a child. The Wheel of Time books gave me some ideas and taught me how to control my dreams