umbranocturnes

[umbranocturnes]

< Before the Storm >

This is a landscape study I did last night! It is based on an aesthetic photo I came across and I am super happy with how it turned out.

It is not perfect but I am not going for realism, I am just trying to make it look like something lol. I am also delving into making my own custom brushes to use in Procreate for landscapes! I used several of my own grass and weeds brushes on this piece and I plan on later adapting them for use in Clipstudio Paint.

I don't usually draw backgrounds at all, they are the bane of my existence but I am trying to be better and improve my art skills. So here's to the attempt made!

[umbranocturnes]

Valerius Draculya

Character introduction for my OC Valerius the second main character of the novel series I have been developing for many years now behind the scene. I really enjoy doing these character portraits even though they are repetitive. I am posting some information below about him if you would like to read! There is also a second version of this portrait where you can see proper colors without the lighting effects.

TW/CW: World War I & II, Real history, mentions of nazis/fascism.

Valerius has an extensive history, perhaps some of the longest in my story.

Background

As a mortal man he was quite literally Dracula. Born in December 3rd of 1431 he had a long and strife filled life for a man of his time and possessed a long running list of enemies. He became one of the most notable rulers of his time and depending on who you ask he was a ruthless butcher or a just ruler. During this time Setheroth Noctus became his closest advisor and confidant. Having known each other since childhood, and having been raised to inherit the position as right hand to Valerius as ruler, Setheroth was the only man he trusted fully with his life. The two were inseparable forces, riding into battle together and covering about all manor of political issues freely, they also grew a rather infamous reputation amongst their peers. They both die in battle trying to defend Valerius' kingdom which falls under the rule of another. Terrified that the two would come back from the dead and seek revenge Ottoman soldiers decapitate and dismember both Setheroth and Valerius in death, Setheroth would go on to be buried in a deep grave under a tree in a field, what happened to Valerius' body remains unknown.

Something curious happens after Valerius dies. Undead beings are given a choice when they are reformed into dead beings, to change themselves in ways that wouldn't have been possible in life and to even forget the memories of who they were in life. Valerius makes the choice to completely change his image, adopting the new name Valerius and burying most of the memories of his former life starting over new.

Victorian Era

Valerius returns to life as a vampire during the early Victorian Era where he lives utterly isolated away from society for decades, keeping to the ruins of his old strongholds and forests of shat was then Wallachia and Transylvania. Over the course of decades Valerius spent time educating himself on world history and 'modern' advancements in science, medicine, and language changes. He amassed collections of reading material and repaired one of the old fortresses he used to inhabit, taking up residence there. Having lived in isolation for many decades attempting to teach himself how to speak a few very rudimentary languages he begins to travel to different countries namely Germany and Autria-Hungary meeting other undead beings. He sets his mind on visiting and moving to Great Britain but being out of touch with the new laws now governing undead beings in society and their interactions with humans, he finds himself in trouble with a real estate agent, his wife and their friends. They chase him out of the country all the way back to his fortress and kill him for his crimes, however Valerius would not stay dead.

WWI

He awakens again in 1916 shortly after the Kingdom of Romania declares war on Austria-Hungary during the Great War. He fights alongside Romanian units for a long time careful not to reveal his identity. However, after taking extreme casualties and being one of the last of the unit left alive he leaves behind fighting alongside Romania and with great hesitation joins up with the British army resuming the fight now part of a different unit headed by Captain Sheridan Levingston and his Lieutenant Francis Rothwell. He will remain fighting alongside the British army until the end of WWI, growing close to the unit he was a part of despite some language barriers.

Following WWI Valerius falls on hard times, living in poverty in Britain due to the demobilization crisis. Being severely injured in the Great War and suffering trauma he once again isolates himself away from society taking up residence in a farmhouse in the countryside that had belonged to a soldier who died in the war. There he struggles to live off the land, scraping by without a job being unhirable in British society. Being a vampire Valerius requires blood to sustain himself, during the war it had been easy enough to obtain but following the war he's forced into stealing it from unsuspecting families in the countryside. When people start experiencing fatigue and illness in large numbers a young freelance doctor is forced to get to the bottom of it, Brahm Faulkner. Brahm along with some friends who were members of undead hate groups / hunting organizations came to the conclusion the illnesses were due to vampire attacks and Brahm tracked down Valerius to the old farmhouse.

Interwar Years & WWII

Brahm discovering that Valerius living in poverty and having fought in the Great War and even had medals to show for it doesn't have the heart to kill him. Instead Brahm offers to help him and Valerius accepts his offer coming to live with Brahm in his small flat. Brahm and Valerius become quite close as Brahm's friends cut him out for 'sparing the life of a monster'. Brahm teaches Valerius many things including how to drive, speak modern English, and the laws governing the undead that Valerius had been unaware of and breaking. Valerius eventually starts to assist Brahm with his medical practice running errands for him.

However, as fascism begins to rise into prominence and starts threatening peace in Europe in 1929 Valerius gets a unexpected visit from one of the men he served with during the Great War, Alfred Hackett. Alfred now working in intelligence asks Valerius for his help wanting him to become a spy for the government and go to Germany to keep watch on the newly forming Nazi party. Valerius agrees to it understanding the importance of the assignment and rejoins the army now as a spy and leaves for Germany in 1931. From then on Valerius stays in Germany infiltrating the ranks of the Nazi party reporting his findings back to Alfred in Britain. As war threatens Europe Valerius goes through officer's schooling and climbs the ranks of the Nazis ending up as the head of the undead sector for the army. This puts him in both a unique and precarious situation, placed perfectly to foil nazi plans from the inside saving the lives of allied soldiers and partisans alike. Valerius devotes himself to interfering with nazi plans throughout the war and handing over information to the allies.

Throughout the war he rewrites and interferes with battle plans so that they favor the allies, burns and loses information critical to axis plans, plants misinformation to confuse axis command, assassinates axis commanders, and conducts sabotage operations all in a effort to help the allies from behind enemy lines. He is joined by Setheroth Noctus in 1941 after reuniting under strange circumstances, and following his induction into the SOE, the organization Valerius was grandfathered into Setheroth assists him in his operations.

Random Facts:

Valerius has a lot of random medical knowledge from reading Brahm's medical notes from university.

The scar over Valerius' eye is from WWI he was gashed by a bayonet. He was also caught out in a gas attack and gave his mask to a human soldier. As a result he suffers permanent lung damage and has issues with them.

Valerius' hobby is working on vehicles having taken a liking to them as the technology progressed. He compares it to surgery but without all the risks. He does not allow anyone to drive his cars.

Valerius' main ability is to manipulate iron, he can manipulate it in varying amounts including traces of it present in blood. He can manipulate how it moves and use it as weapons.

Valerius' first language is 'vulgar Latin' as this was the precursor language to Romanian. He can also speak with varying degrees of success and fluency, Romanian, English, German, Turkish, Hungarian and some smaller more regionalized languages.

Valerius is a good cook but almost exclusively over an open fire. It takes him years to get acclimated to using a stove and still prefers to cook over open flame. He likes spicy foods or foods with a lot of flavor and cannot stand overly sweet things.

//Thanks for reading if you made it this far! Valerius is one of my favorite OCs and I enjoyed combining both military history and classic literature into his lore. I have always been obsessed with Dracula as a story, it's one of my favorites and has a lot of influence on my own story along with the anime Hellsing. This is another version of the image above with the proper colors.

[umbranocturnes]

< Meet the Artist 2024 >

Finally got around to updating my meet the artist post! I have not done one in so long cause they take forever but here it is! Some stuff about me kinda- Umbra is not what I look like. Umbra is just my avatar wearing my clothes but close enough!

If you have never seen me before hi! I also go by Admin or Anon and more, I also use he/him pronouns (technically I use any but prefer they/them he/him, I don't get mad if people mess it up lol). I’m an artist and writer that does a lot of art set in/around WWI, WWII, the 20’s, Victorian, and Medieval periods! I also do fantasy stuff! I’m kinda all over the place as an artist- I haven’t posted a lot yet, so there will be more art in the future! Maybe even writing- I also show up in fandom spaces on here and Insta under separate accounts! 

General disclaimer, the time periods I work with contain very serious subject matter so if you don’t like that, maybe avoid my page. I don’t support bigoted or extremist values from these time periods, but sometimes have to touch on them since I have characters that run into some of those concepts in my stories.

I also have a carrd! It’s got all my social links and commission information! [X]

Some extra info:

1- The green shirt is army issued! Not mine but I thrifted it. I wear it all the time, along with those boots. They are Corcoran 10 Jump Boots, the original brown versions were worn by paratroopers during WWII. Mine are similar to reproductions, same boots just in black! The shirt is Sabaton band merch along with the ID tag necklace. I own so much Sabaton band merch- Sabaton is my favorite metal band.

2- I’ve been an artist for over a decade, I also write. I’m working on 2 original series [one set in WWII the other high-fantasy]. Other than that I’m a major history junky! I like military history but have interests in various history too, especially queer history! Generally speaking history is just FASCINATING to me, I love it all. 

3- I collect Uranium glass pieces, old WWI/WWII medals and other stuff from war time era! My favorite war time items are a WWI British Victory medal and a WWII trench lighter.

[umbranocturnes]

Abendroth Krausse

Another character portrait here! Abendroth is a character from my historical-fantasy war novel series I’m working on. He is one of my favorite side characters and very important to the overall plot. He’s one of only two “Axis characters” (the other is Veit I will talk about him later-) that are ‘decent’ person excluding Setheroth and Valerius who are actually British spies. He also fought in the Great War but, Abendroth is basically Setheroth’s second in command. He is another undead character, a being called a Wraith, which are similar to ghosts but a bit different in my lore. They are incredibly powerful and rare. They can basically harness abilities familiar to ghosts (in my story's case: walking through walls and such) and abilities unique to dead beings, without having to use the large quantities of power (mana) that is required of these abilities by other beings.

I have drawn him here in a WWI undershirt because it was really simple and I was primarily focusing on getting his design down. I have not drawn him in his other uniforms yet. I think my favorite detail about him has to be his eyes.

If you want to know more about his character I have included more below [as well as another version of the artwork!]

CW though for censored mentions of: WWI, WWII, nazis, blackmail, period typical bigotry (not from him but in general), past substance abuse.

Abendroth was born sometime around the 1530s in Austria, during the later part of the German Renaissance to a very religiously-oppressive wealthy aristocratic family who were patrons of the arts. Most of Abendroth’s life was spent rebelling against the expectations of his station. He had not wanted to marry in life and many other wealthy families wanted a stake in his wealth leading to many marriage proposals all of which he turned down in favor of secret relations with men and women alike. Having been largely atheistic his whole life and having ‘scandalous’ attracts led to the upper crust of society having quite a poor opinion of him, labeling him a ‘traitor to his class’ and a ‘deviant’, something his father tried desperately to cover up until his death. Abendroth’s death is a bit of a mystery, most believing he died in a fit of madness having burned his family estate to the ground after a life of many scandals catching up to him, but there’s more to the story than one would think. 

Abendroth came back to life as a undead being then left Austria going to England. There he spends a large chunk of the Victorian era learning English and becoming a Cellist. He becomes a musician to recoup financial losses he suffered upon his death, his family’s wealth now long gone forcing him to live off his own means, but genuinely has a passion for it and loves playing Cello. His vices follow him into this new life, and after burning through his money and over time getting dangerously addicted to various forms of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use especially laudanum. A friend of his (another undead musician) from Germany drags him back to Berlin helping turn his life around. While he recovers, he is set up with an apartment and plays for several orchestras until the start of the Great War.

Upon the outbreak of war, Abendroth is conscripted into the Imperial German Army becoming a notorious sniper. He gains great notoriety for his skill and intelligence and although he moves up in rank his skills are never forgotten. Following WWI, Abendroth decides to stay in the military as a reservist, rather enjoying the rigged lifestyle thinking it helpful in keeping a reign on his wild tendencies. During the era of the Weimar Republic Abendroth thrives in the queer underground spaces of Berlin as a bisexual man himself, feeling he finally has some semblance of control over his own life and can express in small parts portions of his identity that have largely remained a secret. He plays cello in several Cabaret bars in Berlin and sometimes travels between Austria and France jumping from Cabaret to Cabaret performing and making good money from it. 

When the Nazis begin rising to prominence Abendroth grows worried, moving back to Austria thinking he would be safer if he laid low. However when Austria is annexed at the start of WWII, he falls under the mandatory conscription law placed on undead beings and is forced to resume his duties in the army. He was intent on staying in the German army proper not joining the Wehrmacht or SS wanting no part of it, vehemently opposed to Nazi policies and actively engaging in resistance circles against it. He even tries to flee the country for neutral Switzerland but fails. He finds trouble when the SS came knocking on his door offering him to transfer into their ranks as they are ‘more fitting for someone of his acclaim’ wanting him for his abilities as a sniper and a commander. Abendroth refuses several times, but they eventually come back more persistent than before. They give him the option to take the offer to transfer, or face the prospect of the SD digging into his records as they ‘find it strange a man like him would refuse such a privilege’. Abendroth being bisexual with a long list of previous dalliances, friends, and contacts he did not want falling into the hands of the Gestapo chooses to take the offer to save their lives preventing the nazis from digging into his record. 

He joins the SS as a lieutenant colonel, and when the undead forces are separated from the regular human forces, he’s transferred to the undead army sector where he falls under Valerius and Setheroth’s command. He treats his position as a supervisor one, situating himself as more of a figurehead letting the men under him make their own command decisions so as to not ‘dirty his hands’ with it. He works at sabotaging the Nazi war effort in secret throughout the war despising the Nazis for branding both him and people he cares for as criminals. He’s also the first one to figure out Setheroth is a British agent and from then on he watches his back, protecting him from the scrutiny of other commanders. He later joins forces with Setheroth and Veit to carry out espionage and assassination operations together. Setheroth manages to get Abendroth transferred back to the now Wehrmacht at his request as well, which causes division among the other commanders but Abendroth could care less not wanting anything to do with the SS to begin with having been blackmailed into it. Abendroth and Setheroth become good friends over the course of the war relating to one another quite a bit and Abendroth helps Setheroth with many issues and is regarded by Setheroth to be one of his closest friends. 

[umbranocturnes]

Reblogging this here too- I can't believe this shit I am so mad about it.

ATTENTION ARTISTS OF TUMBLR

since tumblr is going to start scraping blogs to train ai be sure to glaze and nightshade your art!! Not only will both of these programs protect your art from being copied but nightshade also poisons any ai that tries to steal it

here is some more info on these tools and where you can download them:

Nightshade: Protecting Copyright (uchicago.edu)

Nightshade: Downloads (uchicago.edu)

Glaze - What is Glaze (uchicago.edu)

Glaze - Downloads (uchicago.edu)

[umbranocturnes]

Shelby Vickers

Character introduction below! Shelby is one of my side characters from my historical-fiction story set in World War Two. I absolutely love him, he has become one of my favorite characters recently and I want to draw him more. This is the first thing I have drawn since December of last year so I am rusty and my art style is a mess but of well I am trying to improve!

This is a long post below! It contains all his background I have so far, he's not a completed character yet though since I am still developing the story.

TW for some heavy content: abusive family, homophobia, Biphobia, and general bigoted time period views, not from Shelby but his parents! There's also a small amount of 'bury your gays' trope in Shelby's story or at least 'bury your bisexuals' but it's a war novel. I am a LGBTQIA+ creator and I have plenty of LGBT+ characters that live in my stories so take it for what you will.

Shelby Vickers was born 27th of January 1899, in a rural lakeside village near the coast of Ireland to an Irish father and a French-Scottish mother. He has two older brothers, Anthony and Sean Vickers.

He was raised in a predominantly Catholic household, his father being Catholic while his mother was protestant. They often ended up quarreling with each other while the children are off playing and can't hear. Their family lives off the land trading and buying from locals in their small town where almost everyone knows each other. Shelby was always an outdoorsy kid, he loves going hunting and fishing with his father and brothers. He also enjoys going into the town's center with his brothers often finding himself getting into mischief with them. He loves both his eldest brothers dearly especially Anthony who he learns a lot from and looks up to. His favorite activities are swimming and fishing at the lake their home being so close to the lakeside. He attended the local school and Catholic Church where he was a choir boy. His mother started teaching him French from a young age on top of the traditional Gaelic and English he was being taught in school so he could understand his French relatives. Even as a youngster Shelby could tell not everything was perfect in their family home and that there was tension between his eldest brother Anthony and their father despite their family being close. Whenever he would ask his older brother about why he would always kindly be told, "I'll tell you when you're older".

When Shelby was around 14 years old he began to realize he wasn't just attracted to the local girls his age and started taking an interest in some of his fellow choir boys a few years his senior. Around this time his tight knit family was also beginning to fall apart when it was discovered Shelby's eldest brother Anthony was gay. He started facing more abuse from their father despite his mother's pleading . Their relationships became strained but Shelby never lost his closeness with his brother in fact growing closer with him after Anthony discovered Shelby secretly kissing one of the local choir boys. Eventually despite his eldest brother's protection, their father found out about Shelby's bisexuality from a local busy body gossiping about how he always hangs out with the choir boys and had a "queer demeanor" about him. Shelby's father caught him and a young man hiding out together in an old fishing shack along one of the lake tributaries and grew enraged. He sent the boy away and shouted at Shelby leaving him to walk home crying and when his mother found out what happened she got into a screaming match with his father pissed at how her sons were being treated. From then on their family wasn't the same. Shelby's father became an alcoholic after his sons "destroyed their family's reputation" and grew more abusive and distant. Their mother began living in fear of his abuse, her sons having to step up to fight off their father an help take care of her and the home.

--WWI--

At the outbreak of WWI Anthony is drafted into the British army along with his boyfriend Hughes and is sent off to war. A year into the war their family receives a letter that Shelby's eldest brother was killed in action. This did little to phase their father but devastated their mother causing further conflict. Shelby is heartbroken by the news and retreats further into himself becoming closer to his brother Sean in their grief. Only a few months following the death of his older brother Sean is also called off to fight, leaving Shelby and his mother at the mercy of his father. His father continued to be abusive towards the both of them, berating Shelby telling him he and Anthony made their family a disgrace to the whole town due to how they turned out.

Things kept growing worse and Shelby finally had enough running away from home and enlisting in the British Army at age 16 to fight in the Great War. He lies about his age to join alongside some of his friends and the other boys from their small town. His mother flees to live with her sister back in Scotland, his father dying a few months later from alcohol poisoning. Shelby would eventually get word that his mother died from illness in 1917, weakened by stress. His remaining brother Sean would never make it home from the war. In WWI Shelby is placed in a unit alongside Arthur Steel, William Dinsmore, and Alfred Hackett who he would grow close to, along with some other men including an odd foreign vampire named Valerius. Shelby is thoroughly traumatized from the Great War being subjected to horrific conditions, terrifying weapons, and seeing many of his friends die including William.

-- The Interwar Years --

Following the end of the Great War Shelby becomes displaced not truly having a home to go back to in Ireland. He decides to leave traveling to visit his aunt in Scotland for a while then using the last of his money to get onboard a ship and head for France. There he goes to live with his grandparents for a change of scenery but falling in love with the French countryside he decides to stay permanently. He finds work at a local vineyard eventually saving up enough money to get a apartment. Quickly he developed quite a reputation for being a flirt hooking up with locals he meets late at night in bars he frequently hops between. The relationships never last long often fleeting one-night stands though gossip has it he tends to keep the company of men longer. He becomes a well known local heart breaker and womanizer it is also no secret he sleeps around with men. Shelby lives a relatively normal life albeit a reckless carefree one, until the growing rise of Fascism takes hold of Europe.

--WWII--

When France falls to the Nazis between May and June of 1940 Shelby takes up arms with the French resistance heading underground to fight the Nazis. Throughout WWII Shelby works with French resistance networks and would later on be reconnected with on of his old service buddies from the Great War now head of a splinter branch of the Special Operations Executive in Britain, Alfred Hackett. Alfred sends for the SOE to recruit Shelby into the French section, the Prosper Network. Being a polyglot, resourceful, and quick thinking his skills are very valuable. He works with the Prosper Network and helps to fight with and aid local French Resistance. Later on when potential turncoats in the Prosper Network lead to the Gestapo capturing most of its agents Shelby narrowly escapes with his life.

He tries to rally the scattered remains of the network and the French Resistance but to no avail. He ends up being captured by the Gestapo in a raid trying to assist other resistance leaders in escaping. While being transported in a truck it is attacked by seemingly two German commanders who kill the surrounding nazis and help assist in getting them to safety. When they make it to the underground the man tells Shelby his name is Setheroth and he's a SOE agent, he warns him to leave while he still can and quickly leaves the area himself. Shelby helps the others escape but does not follow them to safety instead he decides to join up with the Free French Forces under De Gaulle.

He fights alongside the Free French Army in the Sicily campaign and after a particularly brutal battle against the Germans when his whole unit is nearly wiped out he links up with he British troops bumping into another old war friend Arthur now ranked Captain. Arthur and his lieutenant Walter are called back to Britain as part of the preparations for Operation Overlord they bring Shelby along and once back in Britain Arthur helps to reinstate Shelby's position within the British army now Captain rank. Arthur and Shelby are given the task of helping to prepare for Operation Overlord by training troops and Arthur is promoted to Major, he tasks Shelby with helping to train and run a base full of recruits. There he meets a young charismatic troublesome private named Wesley Sharpe who is beloved by his fellow soldiers.

During his time helping Arthur train the recruits his reputation and history follows him back to Britain bringing him into trouble with fellow commissioned officers and facing more discrimination for being openly bisexual. Many officers refuse to work with Shelby some even refusing to shake hands not wanting to be seen with him. While on base training recruits, private Sharpe also takes an interest in him and keeps inserting himself into his daily tasks and routines. It's clear he is flirting with Shelby and is a lot like him when he first moved to France so he tries to keep a professional distance between them given their ranks. However, Wesley makes it difficult and eventually weasels his way into his life and he ends up falling in love with him and tries to keep the affair a secret not wanting to endanger Wesley's military career or his own despite Wesley's tendency towards not being very discrete. Arthur ends up finding out but covers for them despite thinking it a bad idea and breaking army laws on multiple levels.

During Operation Overlord Shelby is part of the invasion force with Wesley and Arthur. They fight their way up through France where they are pinned down in really heavy fighting and during one of the skirmishes Wesley is shot by a sniper dropping dead. This rattles Shelby to the core and makes him completely lose his focus having not felt such horrible loss since he lost his brothers. In an almost suicidal move he runs closer to enemy lines throwing grenades into the German positions allowing the allies to advance. During the fighting he's shot through the right lung completely and collapses. Arthur and the unit's medic Bram Faulkner barely save his life and he's taken to a medical tent where Arthur visits him later when he's conscious. He thanks him for his efforts but knows they were spurred on by a nothing left to lose mentality. This instability combined with his injuries and age leads Arthur to make the choice to send Shelby back to Britain where he will be suspended from active duty for the foreseeable future until he recovers. This sends Shelby flying into a grief driven rage demanding he be allowed to keep fighting and after shouting at each other Arthur leaves him no choice.

Shelby returns to Britain parting with Arthur on a slightly uneven note, and Shelby takes with him a couple of Wesley's old things he wanted to leave to him. Back in Britain Shelby spirals becoming a heavy smoker and a alcoholic just like his father who he tried hard not to become. At his lowest point he's found by Hugh his eldest brother Anthony's old boyfriend who promised he would look after him if Anthony were to ever be killed. He tries to support Shelby however he can offering him to stay in his flat with him for a while and they catch up reliving memories about Shelby's brother. Shelby goes on one last mission towards the end of the war along with some of his friends as part of a recovery unit to save the man who saved several of them as a SOE spy now trapped in Germany. With the help of his friends old and new Shelby slowly learns how to live with grief and all the trauma that comes with living through two wars and manages to turn his life around towards the better becoming more stable after the end of the war.

------

Trivia:

Shelby has been arrested several times over the years, 3 times on "indecency charges" where twice he was given a slap on the wrist and the 3rd time he spent 10 days in jail before Arthur could post his bail. He also spent a night in jail after the war for punching a constable for making a snide remark about him being Irish. He is let go the next morning having claimed to be 'drunk out of his mind'.

Shelby loves fancy confectioner chocolates especially different types of truffles.

Shelby is a great singer and can also dance pretty well. He occasionally tap dances getting a laugh out of his friends.

[umbranocturnes]

Setheroth Constantinescu Noctus

Photograph taken: 1945

[OC introduction + other artwork versions below the cut!]

[TW: mentions of nazis and WWII related material, nothing graphic. Goes without saying but I don't support fascism, however it comes with the time period and my book grapples with it.]

Setheroth is a undead agent codenamed "Hyde" who served in a splinter branch of the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) headed by Alfred Hackett from 1941 to 1945 during the Second World War. He served alongside his former lord and comrade Valerius codenamed "Jekyll" spying on nazis together from within SS high command. He spent the duration of the war torn between playing the role of a mad Axis commander and a loyal British spy/saboteur serving the Allies. He “fought” in many battles during the war mostly on the eastern front alongside Valerius and "their commanders". During the war Setheroth coordinates several assassinations of high ranking officers in the SS and Wehrmacht, sabotages nazi supply lines, supplies resistance groups in France and Poland, frees Allied prisoners of war and victims of Axis cruelty alike, and engages in other espionage operations. He is noted for rewriting Axis battle plans to better suit Allied strategy and rescuing captured British commanders. He has many friends who served with the Allies and a few notable ones from the Axis.

After the war he gains citizenship in Britain and lives together with Valerius staying in the army for a few more years serving as a Captain in the Intelligence Corps. He retires along with Valerius when word reaches them regarding the arrest of Alan Turing. Fearing for himself as a not-so-closeted homosexual and Valerius as a closeted bisexual. Alongside their friends (many of whom are also queer) they struggle to adapt back into civilian life, Setheroth battling mental illness and discrimination. Though regarded as a hero by those who know him, and his close friends, he struggles with his role in the war and reconciling what he did during his time as a spy.

Links to Info: [Special Operations Executive (SOE)], [British WWII Medals], [Alan Turing]

Additional Info:

This is my main character and OC from "The Violinist" a historical-fiction novel series I have been plotting /working on for 6+ years! Can't wait to share more content about Setheroth and my other OCs in the future! His character is very dear to me.

Setheroth was born November 23rd, 1432

His nickname is "Seth" outside military business

His ethnicity is German Saxon and Romanian

His proper name is Setheröt Constantinescu Noctus but answers to both. His name gradually changed over the centuries to be more removed from its Germanic origins.

Setheroth is a dead being in my book called a Hybrid. He has genetics of both a Vampire [Vampyre] and a Daemon [a dead being that uses magic considered inherently 'dark' but not with malicious intent.] This change occurs after a incident in the battle of Stalingrad.

The scar around Setheroth's neck is from where the nazis formerly commanded by him attempted to hang him after figuring out he was an Allied spy all along. He has several other scars including ones from his mortal death.

Setheroth has 3 piercings. A tongue piercing he did himself, a brass stud made of a bullet casing from Stalingrad. Then later after the war snake bites with the studs made from the same bullet casing.

Setheroth has several medals they are in order: The George Cross, Military Medal, 1939-1945 Star, France and Germany Star, War Medal 1939-1945. Setheroth is wearing the 1940 pattern No. 5 Battle Dress.

Alternate Artwork Versions:

[umbranocturnes]

Hello everyone! This is my first ever art post on Tumblr! I am a instagram artist but with the algorithmic changes (and with the bird app being both terrifying and on fire 24/7-) I decided to also jump onto Tumblr so I'm here now! Yay?

Also this isn't really my normal art style, my art is in a weird period rn where I don't know what I'm doing so this is more based on my constant obsession the Hellsing anime. It's something quick I threw together for a post.

Umbra is my avatar so you will be seeing them on occasion!

Umbra Is a hybrid entity based around my world's lore. They are sort of a time traveler that comes and goes throughout different eras of history not really belonging to a time of their own. They can change their appearance on command and the full limits of their power remains unknown. Umbra has a foul temper and a fouler mouth they are also equally headstrong and driven.

When I am not using Umbra as an avatar I refer to myself as Admin or Anon. (I prefer to go by they/them like Umbra but I will accept she/her, they/them, he/him) This is for when I need to be more serious about something.

I did not use Tumblr for the longest time due to a traumatic incident years ago where a blog on this platform almost made me quit art. However I am finally on here to take a look around and interact with other artists and my fandoms on my 2nd account. (@magnificentbastardanon) If you want to check out my Instagram, and other socials (granted most of them are new-) feel free to click around on my Carrd link on my pinned post!

[umbranocturnes]

_Introduction...

Greetings everyone, I am Umbra Nocturnes! Also just Umbra.

This will be my official Tumblr blog! I will be posting work relevant to my two book series tentatively titled "The Violinist" and "As Above so Below". I am a LGBTQIA+ writer / artist, I am Aro-Ace Non-Binary (They/them (you may also use he/him) ) If you want more stuff from me I also have a fandom blog!

I am neurodivergent and I suffer from some debilitating mental illnesses, so I'm not perfect, I try to do better when I make mistakes please be patient with me.

I take commissions and have Ko-fi for tips! You can find the info in my carrd as well as other socials [Here]!

You can find me and my original stuff active here:

Instagram: @/_umbranocturnes_ [HERE] [main platform]

Discord: [Ask]

Cara: @/umbranocturnes [HERE] [Hoping to be active here to support anti-ai art platforms!]

My Tags:

#reblog

#TW: [insert name]

#Mission Report Umbra Speaking - [Admin stuff]

_Disclaimer!...

My work revolves heavily around historical themes related to military history! One of my series takes place during the Second World War and contains both axis and allied characters. I also work with: The Great War (WWI), Victorian Era, Medieval Europe, and other timelines! If works that might contain explorations of: war, mental illness, death, trauma, Injuries, historical persecution, crimes, fictional axis and other characters or other affiliated stuff disturbs you best move past my blog. I do not support the ideologies of the time periods my works takes place in! My stories are historical-fiction, not everything is real! I might create fictional events, characters, and or organizations that don't exist, don't expect 100% accuracy.

_Censorship...

This blog will be heavily censored. I am not an expert, so do your own research and fact check! I give as much context as I can with the knowledge of history I have. I am nowhere near done with research, so stuff might be inaccurate. (It's not my intent to be misleading it happens, feel free to correct me if you know more about something than I do, but ALWAYS cite sources please!)

Context is very important in historical settings, I choose different censoring methods based on context of a work. Not everything on this blog will be censored.

I have a TW tag for post so you can blacklist specific tags!

(( #TW: [insert name] ))

If you run across something you feel should potentially be censored, please reach out through DMs and tell me! Sometimes I miss things, I am not a monolith, people make mistakes, it's not intentional, and I appreciate people letting me know so I can fix it.

_Book Summaries!...

Let's get into something fun shall we?

"The Violinist" -

Is a story set during WWII. Beginning in 1941, we follow a man named Setheroth Noctus who is brought back from the dead as a undead being and is once again thrown into a life of war. Caught in the events of the Second World War, he joins up with his old Lord Valerius as an allied spy, working with the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and other British intelligence organizations to spy on the Germans from within the ranks of high command itself and to commit various actions to sabotage their war effort. Setheroth struggles with leading a double life as a fraudulent high-ranking SS commander with men under his command, and being a saboteur serving the British crown and the Allies dismantling the nazi war machine. He faces constant internal struggle and along the way makes unexpected allies and discovers more about himself than he bargained for. This story also follows along with the misadventures of one Brahm Faulkner, a British physician and long time friend of Valerius, as he and his friends struggle to survive in war-torn Britain and across the Allied fronts. The events of the war change their lives irrevocably forever.

(This story has LGBTQIA+ pairings, LGBTQIA+ main and supporting characters as well as drama, tragedy, romance, suspense, historical-fiction, an supernatural elements. It is a fictional war story. An no I would like to clarify- it's not just "bury your gays" / nazi victims. They are proper characters who have influence on the plot.)

"As Above so Below" -

A collection of short stories (a document) containing the lore of my dead beings and their world. It builds upon concepts used in "The Violinist". Some short stories follow important characters throughout events in the dead realm's collective histories, and provide insight into how they live. There are two realms, that of the living and that of the dead. The dead realms are inaccessible to humans, but all manner of dead beings reside therein. The dead realm encircles our living one, ever expanding and invisible. There are three realms that make up the "dead realms" Ilyraeyl (Elysium), Tenebraeyl, and Oblivion. Elysium and Tenebraeyl are home to unique dead being races, and are ruled over by a council of Lords and a "King" that rules over all. Oblivion, a realm of ash and vast grey desert, lays barren. Nothing resides where the dead being's ashes return to. Only one man has ever resided therein regarded as a traitor, and an entity responsible for unfathomable destruction.

(This also has many LGBTQIA+ characters and relationships. It is lore with dark "gothic" overtones, high-fantasy, drama, historical anachronisms, ""comedy"" (gallows humor) etc... with supernatural beings and queers behaving both good and badly.))

_Final Warnings...

I do not tolerate bigotry!

Although some of my work is set in dark points of history, and may contain characters who act/think in bigoted ways, I the admin DO NOT support bigots! This blog is not a safe space for neo-nazis, extremists, reichblr, wehrbos, holocaust-denial, genocide-denial, or anyone who romanticizes fascism or seeks to suppress human rights. I am part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I will NOT tolerate discrimination even from within its own fucking ranks. (Looking at you LGB movement- fuck you, you are just quiet cowardly forms of bigots.) Despite the nature of the work I deal with, I am a LGBTQIA+ friendly admin and I endeavor to make my work as safe/avoidable as I can.

2. I do not support nor condone the use of AI generated work or NFTs, for profit or otherwise!

I do not consent to my work being used for generative AI work of ANY SORT. Even recreational, I do not consent to it. Also goes for NFTs. Do what you want with your own work but not mine.

3. I keep current politics off this blog.

I keep most of my political opinions to myself, away from my socials for the sake of my own sanity. (Though I'm not very good at it, I am politically active, especially on Insta-) Do not assume that the things I post are reflective of my views on current events, that is very wrong. If you must know I am consider myself to be quite progressive. Modern politics are a huge trigger for me and this blog is my safe space away from it. Anything post Cold War will most likely not be on here.

4. Sometimes I might share history meme nonsense but let's keep jokes sensible.

We can have jokes and memes, but I DO NOT appreciate certain jokes from certain assholes. No, your holocaust jokes are not funny they are shitty and offensive. You don't have "dark humor" you're just a asshole. History jokes can be funny- (yes I still laugh at the Caesar salad with knives joke and yes a good Sabaton meme will send me to my grave) but some things are just not for joking about imo.

[Updated: 30/08/24]