#fortune lover meta post

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Katarina Termina

As promised, the AU that was inspired by THIS thread, but I'm going more in-depth on this here.

This AU is going with the idea of the Monkey Girl being reincarnated into someone who isn't integral to the plot of Fortune Lover. As I said in the linked thread, the name Katarina Termina came from my fanonical name for a rough draft of Katarina Claes being Tatiana Terni, a romanceable character borrowing the surname from @azure-wolf-227's name for the Queen's family.

Since I like that concept, I decided to not attach Katarina to that name, in order to give the harem an officially fair chance, even though my endgame is always the same ship when given the option.

The Termina Family:

Duke Odin Termina of Termina:

Portrait of a northern barbarian with fire magic. Despite Sorcier having a rather nice climate in general, his island some how manages to be permanently covered in snow, which necessitated the development of greenhouses and a massive keep that the people of his Duchy occupy. Looks much, much older than he is, and comes off as only slightly less intimidating that Luigi. Adores his family and has a love of the macabre that comes off as threatening to some. He and Luigi Claes have shared maybe ten words in court and tend to sit in the same general vicinity. He would call the man his close friend, if asked. He's also related to Miridiana through their great grandparents and knows Viscount Coleman by reputation, so he quickly figured out the Keith situation, but has never actually seen the family together, so he doesn't know about the family issues.

Duchess Tatiana Termina nee Smith:

There was quite a stir at court when Odin married his personal blacksmith, an orphan apprenticed to the blacksmith of the previous Duchess Termina, Odin's mother Belladonna (from whom he inherited his title), but they'd grown up together and fallen in love, and the northerners don't rightly care who marries whom unless agreements are being abruptly broken. Tatiana is a cheerful woman who will happily go on about how which weapons she designed are capable of doing what amount of damage to people. She also has a fondness for creating new weapons and has been working on what Bakarina would recognize as a flamethrower for years. There's a rumor in court that she's the result of one of the previous King's affairs due to her having golden hair and bright blue eyes behind her goggles, but there's no proof of that one way or another.

Katarina Termina:

Prior to Catarina Claes's accident and the subsequent scar on her forehead, Katarina Termina was one of the frontrunners for Prince Geordo's fiancee. She actually didn't have an opinion about that one way or another, being more interested in improving the greenhouses and her weapons training, as well as her interest in her mother's designs. She does have quite a fondness for sweets born from sweets being uncommon in Termina, and she doesn't have the most courtly of manners, but she was actually considered rather refined in the mead hall in Termina's Keep. She also later manages to "invent" the ice cream maker after regaining her past life memories. By sheer coincidence, she and Catarina Claes were born on the same day and look similar, save for Katarina having slightly darker hair and lighter eyes, as well as darker clothes in general and a sword that's always present on her hip. She has fairly weak fire magic, and unknowingly has moderately strong Dark Magic.

Anne Shelley:

She was sent to Termina, instead of the Claes land because Baron Shelley thought it would be best to send her somewhere that most people didn't know and also because, from an in-universe meta perspective, Katarina Termina is the cut content for Katarina Claes, so she gets the positive relationship with Anne that I give FL Katarina. Her relationship with Katarina was a slightly more professional version of her relationship with Bakarina, up until the training accident, when Katarina becomes notably more friendly and Anne winds up adapting. Her time in Termina actually let her become more of a free thinker, and Baron Shelley didn't even make it to the door of the keep before he was chased off. Despite not being related by blood, they treat her like part of the family, and, though she doesn't know it, Odin, Tatiana, and Katarina agreed that, if Katarina winds up engaged to someone who has to maintain their family title, Anne will be made the heiress to the ducal title.

The Training Accident:

During Katarina's first year at the Academy, she was in a friendly duel with a wooden sword with her sparring partner and best friend, Lady Penelope Blancarosa, whose family is allied to her own, with Sienna Nelson and Astrid Grimnir as their witnesses, only for a momentary distraction to cause her to drop her guard at exactly the wrong time, getting a blow to the head that woke up her Monkey Girl memories.

The Harem:

Geordo:

I feel like Katarina was someone he found interesting early on, which was why she was one of, if not the frontrunner prior to Catarina's injury. Since she lives on an island in the north, she only really visits during social functions, so he didn't notice all of the changes, since she was basically just a slightly more disciplined version of herself as Bakarina. He's still trying to figure out how to broach the subject of potentially leaving his fiancee to be with her specifically due to the fact that, as a northerner, she might take offense to him trying to break his engagement like that.

Keith:

Keith wound up developing into something just shy of being an actual playboy, but it's very close. While his relationship with the Claes is... strained, to say the least, he actually managed to meet and befriend Katarina Termina during a ball, causing him to be infatuated because of how kind she was to him. Alas, she has noted on occasion that's she's somewhat disappointed in him for all his flirting with pretty much every girl he meets, which hits hard enough that he never goes further than flirting and the occasional cafe date with his target du jour.

Mary:

As something of a horticultural hobbyist, Katarina, upon a social visit to the Hunt manor, finds herself musing upon how the person who tended to the field has a green thumb, not knowing Mary was in earshot. By sheer chance, she and Mary don't get to properly meet until another social event, when Alan directly tells Mary that she has a wonderful green thumb. Cue Mary having a Crisis when she properly meets the mysterious garden lover at that same event. Now she's trying to figure out a good way to get both of them, by whatever means she can scheme up.

Nicol:

Nothing much changes, to be honest.

Sophia:

No one is quite sure how she keeps managing to get to Termina, given that it's on an island, but she inevitably appears there to hang out with the girl who saved her from those bullies when she was little, who she feels oddly comfortable with in a familiar sort of way.

Alan:

Not much actually changes. Timeline shifts a bit and, due to Mary not messing with him to try to neutralize him as a rival, he has a surprisingly healthy understanding of his feelings for everyone around him. Geordo breaking decorum by showing his interest in Katarina despite his engagement to Catarina also helped him see Geordo as fallible and human, helping him feel more comfortable with his brother.

Raphael:

Due to Marchioness Dieke not letting Sirius go many places and Raphael having no real basis for comparison, he spent an unfortunate amount of time thinking that Katarina Termina and Catarina Claes were the same person. He's actually a bit embarrassed about it when the trial starts and he sees the two of them in the same place.

Maria:

Since the Training Accident happens prior to the Academy days, then Maria's life actually isn't all that different from canon. The only real change for Maria is that her beloved Lady Katarina has an evil doppelganger named Catarina Claes, who Maria has seen her chase off.

Other Noble Ladies:

Sienna Nelson:

As with Anne, this relationship is being transferred from Catarina to Katarina because Katarina is all of the positive traits that the developers cut from Catarina Claes. Her family is subordinate to the Termina family, so she grew up in Termina's Keep with Katarina, giving her more confidence.

Penelope Blancarosa:

Her family's lands are the closest mainland territories to Termina, so she and Katarina are very close friends, and a fellow lover of the art of swordsmanship. Katarina has seen her with Astrid Grimnir enough times to know they have feelings for each other, but Katarina wonders how any girl can be as oblivious as Penelope when it comes to realizing one's friend is in love with them.

Astrid Grimnir:

Daughter of the Baron Grimnir of Seithr, the self-proclaimed Young Wolf is an avid hunter, like her father, and loves seeing innovations in any technology. She's also completely in love with Penelope and quickly befriended Katarina after having met her while she was tweaking the systems of one of the greenhouses.

Marsha Catley:

Funnily enough, she gets along rather well with Katarina, though she does assume that Katarina was devastated by the fact that she wasn't chosen to be Geordo's fiancee.

Noelia Flores:

She and Katarina hate one another. No one is entirely sure why, and most are too afraid to ask.

Catarina Claes:

Katarina and Catarina are natural enemies as a result of their opposing views on various topics. The only thing they can agree on is their disdain for Noelia's purposeless, boring malice. Like I said in the original thread, paraphrasing Terry Pratchett is the best way to describe how they feel about one another: Catarina and Katarina shared a look. It said: While I loathe you and every aspect of your personal philosophy to a depth unplumbable by any line, I’ll credit you at least with not being Noelia Flores.” Despite this, Katarina is still trying to figure out a way to stop Catarina from ruining her own life and that of those around her out of pity for what her foreknowledge showed her of her possible fates. This, funnily enough, got Catarina to stop bothering Maria after the first week because she was getting concerned by Katarina looking disappointedly at her with her hand on her sword.

*Edited because I forgot to include Penelope and Astrid.

[logo-comics]

In the endings where she dies, it does make sense that she dies, given that she was acting with lethal intent, but that is after the banishment and disownment, when she has nothing to lose, and that's without factoring in possible Dark Magic shenanigans by Raphael.

The banishment, I would say is rather disproportionate to her part in the crimes, where she often, based on what we see, is more a ringleader that doesn't generally act, herself.

From an in-universe Doylist approach to Fortune Lover*, it's entirely because the game devs decided this, but that's just a lazy approach for me to take.

From the Watsonian perspective**, the most reasonable assumption for one to make is that Keith and Geordo, who both hate Katarina***, decided to use this event as leverage in order to get rid of Katarina in a way that would keep her from being a political liability to either of them, seeing as how Katarina would have been considered a viable heir to the politically powerful Claes Duchy upon the annulment of the engagement.

*i.e. Monkey Girl and Acchan's world **Again, in-universe for Fortune Lover, in the in-game Sorcier ***Keith's dislike arguably being more reasonable than Geordo's given Keith's backstory vs Geordo just being bored of her and no longer needing a shield

Who out there think that the Catarina from Fortune lover was punished way too harshly for not much ?

I mean, if you think about it, she was, at worse just a stereotypical selfish and spoiled girl you can find anywhere. So being expelled from the Academy of Magic should have been enough for harrassing the heroine but she was expelled, stripped of her social status and even exiled.

[seekforwarmth]

hello and welcome to the february fic rec featuring my favourite works from what i’ve read during the past weeks. as always, please check tags before reading. if you liked the fics please reblog their posts, leave kudos and write a nice comment. happy reading! rec tag | more rec lists

— harry/louis —  

໑ Time Stamp: Valentine's Day from Heart Beat by @allwaswell16 (E, 1.7k, established relationship, romantic trip, valentine’s day) A romantic weekend away for Valentine's Day

໑ i want real love baby (don't leave me waiting) by loulovep (NR, 2k, established relationship (or not?), farmer harry, city boy louis, fluff, valentine’s day) Harry thought of the perfect date for (his boyfriend?) Louis. Nothing goes to plan.

໑ a little bit of you by @lvinlou (T, 2.3k, strangers to lovers, a/b/o, fairy louis) Louis is a cute omega who loves autumn and baking cupcakes. However, when he goes to the supermarket to get the last ingredient for his recipe, strawberry jam, he meets Harry, a grumpy alpha who is unwilling to hand over the last jar.

໑ your face is like a melody by @meloummy (NR, 2.4k, alternate universe, friends to lovers, singer louis, stage fright) Where Louis is a singer who needs his boy in the most critical moments.

Or where Harry helps his superstar and shows him how much he loves him.

໑ I'm gonna love you forever and ever by houisminou (M, 3k, established relationship, a/b/o au) louis is independent, he is a free omega, except when he is with his alpha, then he just wants to be holded and taken care of

໑ the prints of your hands are still on my canvas by puppyvirginloui (NR, 4.5k, exes to lovers, a/b/o au, nesting, jealous harry) Harry and Louis broke up not long ago. Everything was fine until then, problems started with Louis’ heat just around the corner, an important presentation that he could not miss, and a very visible (or more like invisible) alpha that could help him go through his heat.

And then Harry shows up. (Again.)

໑ no one's gonna take my soul away by puppyvirginloui (spanish, NR, 6.7k, strangers to lovers, a/b/o au, dark fic, shapeshifting, read tags and author’s note) Nunca te metas con un omega en celo.

໑ and then, i wait there for you by punk_pillow_princess / @punkpillowprincess (M, 9k, established relationship, marriage proposal, valentine’s day, miscommunication) Harry has always dreamed of having his “happily ever after”, but hasn't found the right one yet. Suddenly, he meets Louis.

໑ Fortune cookies by DaxitaIsDaydreaming (spanish, T, 10.6k, friends to lovers, valentine’s day) Louis y Harry han sido amigos desde que tienen memoria. Catorce años, para ser justos. Están enamorados el uno del otro pero ninguno cree conveniente confesarlo por temor a perder la amistad que han construido durante todos estos años. Sin embargo, San Valentín les tiene preparado una sorpresa. Un pequeño empujón en forma de galletas de la fortuna. Depende de ellos el futuro de su relación.

໑ The Unsuccessful Promise by @trysomecats (T, 15k, enemies to lovers, a/b/o au, high school) At the end of the previous school year, Louis swore to everyone that he would return in the fall as an alpha. He made this promise especially to his arch-nemesis Harry Styles, who has already presented as an alpha himself. Unfortunately over summer break, the worst thing possible happens: Louis presents as an omega. Now school is back in session and he has to return and face the consequences of pre-determining his status.

Featuring Liam and Zayn as Louis' doting and exasperated parents.

໑ Gemini Rising by Speechless (E, 23.4k, roommates au, quirky harry, frustrated louis, angst and humour) Louis might as well give it a shot.

Maybe - just maybe - if he starts crossing boundaries in the same reckless way Harry does, that lunatic will get the message.

So he starts invading Harry's space any way he can think of.

໑ You Bring Blue Lights To Dreams by @starryhazelou (E, 30k, strangers to lovers, soulmates au, cowboy harry, veterinarian louis, light angst) Finding your soulmate had been described to Harry as, “finding the answers to the universe.” As the years passed, he would become restless trying to find his. Everyone was born with identical birthmarks on their bodies tying them together. With the combination of living in a small town, along with having a mark that was constantly obstructed by clothing, he was beginning to lose hope.

໑ the road not taken by teenytinytomlinson / @hs3lt2 (E, 35k, friends with benefits, famous harry, non-famous louis, holidays) The one where Harry returns back home for the holidays after a successful debut album, leaving Louis to unwrap gifts as well as old complicated feelings. Cue: hometown holiday hookups, overbearing siblings, and a disastrous New Year’s Eve party. A 'Tis’ the Damn Season' inspired au.

໑ give my love a four letter name by @levelofcharm (E, 46.6k, enemies to lovers, angel/demon relationship, angel louis, demon harry, supernatural elements) Louis hates Harry because he's a demon. Harry hates Louis because Louis hates him. Things change.

໑ Paradise is getting closer by louislovesh28 (M, 52.6k, friends with benefits, supernatural au, hunter louis, journalist harry, read tags) Louis hated his life, which consisted only of death and destruction. Despite the lives he had saved and continued to save, a part of him couldn't feel satisfied.He had been the one who gave up a normal life and although he knew what was to come, the loneliness had never left him in all these years, not even for a second. He felt it in his heart every time he approached a target, he felt it in the few minutes before falling asleep in his dingy car or while he allowed himself a few hours of sleep before setting off again, and he felt it every time he closed that door behind him.

— extra —  

i don’t usually self promo here but i’d like to invite all of you to read the smau my friend and i are working on. it updates daily in the morning (central time). please check it out, it’s called Running with the Wolves.

[kronosveritas]

✨HELLO RVB FANDOM I AM ASKING FOR YOUR GUIDANCE✨

I don’t know if any of you know much about Tarot, but I am in the process of drawing an rvb tarot deck and these are my thoughts for which character should be assigned to each of the major arcana cards.

Included in parentheses after the character are some trailers generally associated with that arcana (to my understanding)

Please feel free to let me know in comments/tags if YOU think these fit/what fits better so I can potentially make the deck!

_____________ {arcana below fold} _____________

💙 Fool- Caboose (new beginning, fresh start, risk, a chance, new cycle, originality, fearlessness, travel, innocence, being green, trickster, acting foolish)

❤��� Magician- Tex (talent, skill, power, magic, control, manifest, tools, mastery, willpower, focus)

💙 High priestess- CT (intuition, feminine wisdom, hidden knowledge, secrecy, initiation, receptivity, spirituality, the inner world)

❤️ Empress- Allison (feminine power, abundance, fertility, pregnancy, marriage, creativity, receptivity, pleasure, mothering, nurturing, giving birth)

💙 Emperor- The Director (Order, structure, authority, power, boss, masculine, father, ownership, autonomy)

❤️ Heirophant- Sarge (tradition, structure, teacher, mentor, counselor, religion, dogma, advice, status quo, organization, conformity, rules, church, obedience)

💙 Lovers- Grif and Simmons (romance, partnership, love, choices, duality, opposites, union)

❤️ Chariot- Shiela (triumph, directed willpower, control, direction, movement, progress, vehicle)

💙 Strength- Carolina (strength, inner power, self control, calm, endure, willpower)

❤️ Hermit- Epsilon (inner wisdom, solitude, withdrawal, quiet, teacher or guru, research, seeker)

💙 Wheel of fortune- The Triplets, or the Chorus Rebels??? I can’t decide (luck, change, a turn of events, karma, movement, shift, improvement, fate)

❤️Justice- Doc & O’Malley (fairness, court, justice, balance, weighing options, seeing both sides, consequences, integrity, honesty, truth, law, middle path)

💙 Hanged man- Temple (sacrifice, letting go, faith, suspension, waiting, hang-ups, martyr, illusion, surrender)

❤️ Death- Felix (ending, transition, transformation, release, change, severance)

💙 Temperance- Lopez (moderation, balance, healing, alchemy, middle ground, patience, blending, harmony, guardian angel)

❤️ Devil- Meta/Sigma (bondage, materialism, negativity, slavery, addiction, stuck, jealousy, deviance, excess)

💙 Tower- Kimball (chaos, disruption, tearing down, rebuilding, uncertainty, blow, enlightenment, unexpected change, overthrow, revolution)

❤️ Star- Donut (hope, optimism, healing, balance, spirituality, health, well being, peace, wishes, vulnerability, success, balance)

💙 Moon- Wash (intuition, illusion, deception, darkness, reflection, fear, subconscious, dreams, difficulty, fear, imagination)

❤️ Sun- Tucker (optimism, success, joy, birth, happiness, health, inner child, energy, enthusiasm)

💙 World- Rooster Teeth Founders? Or Blood Gulch? Or RVB kill switch? (completion, ending, success, travel, closure, graduation, Universe, freedom, environment, rebirth)

https://www.thetarotlady.com/tarot-card-meanings/

^^possible link for meaning reference

<<I have individual assignments for nearly all the minor arcana too, but that would be far too long to post here>>

[justafriend-ql]

never let me go meta master post

well, it looks like i'll be writing an unreasonable amount of meta for never let me go. this is where i'll keep links to them all for easy access. i've put stars by my personal favorites. thanks for reading!!

"pengyou" - scene analysis (ep. 2) 🌟

palmnueng as body + mind (ep. 3)

couples + color matching (ep. 3)

"when you pull the trigger, who are you thinking of?" - scene analysis (ep. 3) 🌟

parallels by the pond - scene analysis (ep. 3)

"what is your relationship with him?" (ep. 3)

soulmates, the shock of recognition, and the pain of separation (ep. 3) 🌟

"are you talking about yourself?" (ep. 4)

"i can't breathe" - the privilege paradox (ep. 4) 🌟

"i don't have a right to be mad at you" - scene analysis (ep. 4)

foreshadowing: the four rules of firearm safety (ep. 4)

"the first kiss in your new memory" - scene analysis (ep. 5) 🌟

mothers, fathers, + setting children free (ep. 5)

"i'll be anything you want me to be" - scene analysis (ep. 5) 🌟

"are you a fortune teller?" - star-crossed lovers and the tragedy of separation (ep. 6)

parallels, power reversals, and patterns of intimacy (ep. 6)

love: lowering oneself + letting go (ep. 7) 🌟

giving + giving in - scene analyses (ep. 7)

debt, doubt, and deserving love (ep. 8)

body + mind, united (ep. 8)

dancing, dreams, and despair (ep. 9) 🌟

"why did you get a tattoo of my name?" (ep. 9) 🌟

fragility + false armor (ep. 10)

"but you thought about doing it" (ep. 11)

"i don't want to be your burden" (ep. 12) 🌟

written after the series finished airing:

power, protection, partnership: the progression of palmnueng's physical intimacy 🌟

"is it wrong that i love you more?" - scene analysis (our skyy 2)

how we fall apart - palm and nueng's relationship with rage, repression, and responding to trauma

"let's go swimming" - the significance of water imagery in never let me go 🌟

nuengdiao, loneliness, and fear of the dark 🌟

[theonsource]

THROBB FORTNIGHT

May 29, 2023 – June 11, 2023

The fun never stops for the Theon squad! We are excited to announce a two-week (fortnight!) event celebrating the relationship between Theon Greyjoy and Robb Stark (Throbb). This “ship week”-style event will run from May 29, 2023 through June 11, 2023.

Come and share your creations (fic, art, gifs, edits, metas, recs and anything else you would like to create) focused on Theon/Robb (either romantic or platonic)! Content based on either/both book or show canon is welcome ❤ We will be tracking and reblogging from the tag #throbbfortnight and if you post your works on AO3, we encourage you to add them to the Throbb Fortnight AO3 Collection.

There are two (2) prompt lists to inspire your creativity. The prompts are totally up to your personal interpretation! You can choose to do prompts off of either list, both, or ignore them entirely and just create whatever you are inspired to. The prompts are simply here for inspiration. (Please see below the cut for the prompt lists.)

🦑Pyke Prompts🦑 Day 1: Favorite quote/scene Day 2: Foils/contrasts and parallels/similarities Day 3: Friendship and brotherhood Day 4: Trust and loyalty Day 5: Rejection and betrayal Day 6: Power dynamics Day 7: Misunderstandings and miscommunications Day 8: Failure and Grief Day 9: Houses Greyjoy and Stark Day 10: Culture, Tradition and/or Religion (differences, exchange, etc) Day 11: Relationship with pets/animals (own or each other’s) Day 12: A squid may love a wolf, but where would they live? Day 13: Relationship Arch Day 14: Books vs Show

🐺Winterfell Wishlist🐺 Day 1: Canon Divergence Day 2: Modern AU Day 3: Childhood/Pre-Canon Day 4: (Wedding) Vows Day 5: Secret Relationship Day 6: Role/Fortune reversal Day 7: (Mutual) Pining Day 8: Execution/“Robb’s Choice” Day 9: War (Romance) Day 10: Resurrection or Reincarnation Day 11: First Kiss Day 12: Soulmates AU Day 13: Friends to Lovers (to Enemies (to Lovers)) Day 14: Reunions and/or Endings

[writing-for-life]

Sandman Meta-Analysis

Art

Sandman Comics: Original Artists Library

Miguelanxo Prado: Spirit Animals and White Streaks of Hair (links send you to different parts of the discussion)

Dream and Death by David Hitchcock: All Endless Are Buckling Under the Weight of Their Function

Death, Dream and Hob Gadling by Michael Zulli

Dream by Craig Hamilton: The Obelisk as a Symbol for Rebirth and Masculinity

A Sacred Garden: Death and Delight, by Michael Zulli

David Hitchcock’s Daniel: Orbs, Statues and Ivy on a Tree (Addendum to someone else’s post)

Michael Zulli’s Morpheus: Archetypal and Religious Connotations

Michael Zulli and the Blue Flowers Again…

Michael Zulli Uses Blue Roses as a Symbol for Death, Grief and Occasionally Good Fortune (Not “Unrequited Love”)

Michael Zulli: Destiny and Dream

Jill Thompson’s Concept Art for the Sandman Movie That Never Was (short brain dump)

#sandman march mania: A four week long event for comics art lovers set up like a bracket match with tons or artist info and art.

#sandman art analysis: Meta posts that specifically analyse the art of (usually official) Sandman artists.

Sandman Comics Reread & Netflix Sandman Rewatch: All my Sandman Book Club contributions, ordered by issue/episode (we are currently discussing on a weekly schedule, join us!)

#sandman meta: Even more metas of all kinds, like those of others I (sometimes quite extensively) participated in.

< Previous: Sandman Meta-Analysis Music

Link to full pinned post

[cookinguptales]

wwdits tarot meta masterpost

Hi! This is a masterpost of all my WWDITS tarot meta posts along with a little FAQ about the project!

All 22 Major Arcana (and a brief post about the Minor Arcana) are now complete and on tumblr. Each card has gotten a character or theme from the show, and I've used the themes of the tarot to delve into my thoughts about each one.

I also talk about the meaning and imagery of each card, and how I would change that imagery to reflect the character I've assigned to it.

Basically, I designed a WWDITS tarot deck! But I did it by rambling about the characters for several thousand words. I hope you enjoy!

The Posts

0. The Fool (Sean) I. The Magician (The Djinn) II. The High Priestess (Lilith) III. The Empress (The Sire) IV. The Emperor (The Baron) V. The Hierophant (The Guide) VI. The Lovers (Laszlo, Nadja, Guillermo, and Nandor) VII. The Chariot (Laszlo Cravensworth) VIII. Strength (Nadja of Antipaxos) IX. The Hermit (Nandor the Relentless) X. The Wheel of Fortune (........the BBT slot machine) XI. Justice (The Vampiric Council and/or Wellington Paranormal) XII. The Hanged Man (Jackie Daytona) XIII. Death (Colin Robinson) XIV. Temperance (Derek) XV. The Devil (The Hat) XVI. The Tower (Simon the Devious) XVII. The Star (Marwa) XVIII. The Moon (Jenna and Gail) XIX. The Sun (Jan) XX. Judgement (Guillermo de la Cruz) XXI. The World (ancestral soil and graveyard dirt)

The Minor Arcana

What is this project?

Well, I'm a giant nerd about both tarot and What We Do In The Shadows, so why not combine the two? I studied the history, ethnography, and popular interpretations of tarot when I was in college and still do readings for fun. So I'm going to be approaching this from more of an academic POV than a spiritual one, but that's still fun, right? (Right??)

Anyway, I love writing overly complicated meta posts about WWDITS, too, so that's how I've decided to go about this. Each post is about a different card from the Major Arcana, and will contain what I've chosen to represent it, my reasoning, some thoughts about the character/object in question, and ideas about card imagery.

Some questions I've been asked:

Are you making a deck?

No, I am primarily a writer, scholar, and overthinker. I'm not good at visual art. lmao

Can I make a deck based on these ideas?

Yes! I'd love to see what you come up with. Just please credit me and include a link if you intend to use my ideas.

Can I produce a deck based on these ideas and sell it?

Um. Contact me, okay? We'll talk about it.

Why did you choose [X]?

If you want to know about my reasoning for any of these decisions, please feel free to send me an ask. I am always happy to ramble about this stuff.

Do you do tarot card readings?

Once every month or two I open up my askbox to tarot readings. So if you keep an eye out, yes. They're just for fun, though.

You studied the history of witchcraft in college?

look okay it's fine

I think that's everything. I have already thought about this a ridiculous amount, so I already know how I wish to assign all the cards. I plan on posting one of these every few days until I'm through with the Major Arcana, then I'll probably just do a brief overview of the Minor Arcana. As long as y'all keep reading them, I'll keep posting them.

(and if you don't want to see them anymore, please block #wwdits tarot)

[mikastormborn]

To me, this comparison between Dany and Stannis simply means that Dany is the type of person who will stop and smell the roses so to speak/taste the peach, who enjoys the simple pleasures of life (and we do have other instances of her enjoying small things like taking a bath, hearing the birds sing while watching the sun rise, or simply being by her lover's side), while Stannis is the type of person who won't. And Dany abandoning the sweetnes that the peach symbolizes (while Stannis outright rejects it) shows that she is not complacent, that she won't forget the purpose she sets her mind to (beside the fact that Vaes Tolorro is in the middle of nowhere).

I also want to say that Jorah's quote to Dany, that antis use as “proof” that she will fail to conquer Westeros and that she will be assassinated because she ate the peach like Renly, is proof of the tendecy in this fandom to take one word as a confirmation of their bias. Like you said, beside the fact that the comparison is between her and Stannis, not her and Renly, that quote simply means that Westeros won't be simply handed to her on a silver platter/“[won't] fall into [her] hands like so many ripe peaches", that she has to fight for it. It's a figure of speech (and Jorah probably used that comparison because he earlier offerd her a peach and they were fortunate to taste such fruit in such dire circumstances). Just because it has the word “peach” does not mean it's related to Renly's fate and the decision of Dany to eat the peach. Dany is compared with Aegon the Conqueror (she is “Aegon the Conqueror with teats” and Drogon is “Balerion come again”), the person who successfully conquered and united Westeros and started the Targaryen dinasty. I'm sure that's a strong evidence that she will be successful in her conquest. But I remember antis also saying that she is doomed due to her comparison with Aegon I because apparently he was wrong to unite Westeros (despite Martin favoring unity and even alluded that Aegon did that to prepare for The Others) *rolls eyes*.

And I also want to add @aboveallarescuer's tags :

#great meta as always#also... stannis refusing the peach doesn't make him any less doomed#he's still going to burn shireen and die in another way in the books#so according to antis dany accepting the peach makes her doomed just like renly#but if she hadn't accepted the peach you can bet that they'd've argued that she's doomed just like stannis#(which is what a section of the fandom already argues)#dany antis' analyses and speculations are such an absurd example of confirmation bias

Sorry, I know this is an old post but I enjoyed it since the first time I read it and tumblr did not let me put all my thoughts about this in the tags. Apparently I had more to say than I thought (and after a day of posting it lol).

Edit : And I just realised that I more or less reiterated what you said in this post but I needed the vent.

There’s an interesting parallel between Dany and Stannis in A Clash of Kings, the peach symbolism:

“I’ve brought you a peach,” Ser Jorah said, kneeling. It was so small she could almost hide it in her palm, and overripe too, but when she took the first bite, the flesh was so sweet she almost cried. She ate it slowly, savoring every mouthful, while Ser Jorah told her of the tree it had been plucked from, in a garden near the western wall.

“Fruit and water and shade,” Dany said, her cheeks sticky with peach juice. “The gods were good to bring us to this place.” - Daenerys I ACOK

~

“All this of snakes and incest is droll, but it changes nothing. You may well have the better claim, Stannis, but I still have the larger army.” Renly’s hand slid inside his cloak. Stannis saw, and reached at once for the hilt of his sword, but before he could draw steel his brother produced … a peach. “Would you like one, brother?” Renly asked, smiling. “From Highgarden. You’ve never tasted anything so sweet, I promise you.” He took a bite. Juice ran from the corner of his mouth.

“I did not come here to eat fruit.” Stannis was fuming. - Catelyn III ACOK

The two moments are very similar, with Jorah and Renly offering a peach to Dany and Stannis, the mention of the peach’s sweetness, the juice smears the mouth and cheeks, and the peach comes from a western garden (a garden near the western wall of Vaes Tolorro, and Highgarden is in the west of Westeros).

According to the ASOIAF wiki, this is what GRRM said about Renly’s peach:

The peach represents… Well… It’s pleasure. It’s… tasting the juices of life. Stannis is a very marshal man concerned with his duty and with that peach Renly says: “Smell the roses”, because Stannis is always concerned with his duty and honor, in what he should be doing and he never really stops to taste the fruit. Renly wants him to taste the fruit but it’s lost. I wish that scene had been included in the TV series because for me that peach was important, but it wasn’t possible. (source - X, X)

For both Dany and Stannis, the peach represents the temptation of a simple life, a sweeter life, with simple pleasures. For Dany, it’s staying in Vaes Tolorro with her people and living simply there. For Stannis, it’s making peace with his brother.

Stannis rejects the peach. In his rigidity, he doesn’t even consider the possibilities or a way to make peace with his brother (when Renly reaches for the peach he instantly reaches for his sword), and chooses to continue fighting for the throne:

“Renly offered me a peach. At our parley. Mocked me, defied me, threatened me, and offered me a peach. I thought he was drawing a blade and went for mine own. Was that his purpose, to make me show fear? Or was it one of his pointless jests? When he spoke of how sweet the peach was, did his words have some hidden meaning?” The king gave a shake of his head, like a dog shaking a rabbit to snap its neck. “Only Renly could vex me so with a piece of fruit. He brought his doom on himself with his treason, but I did love him, Davos. I know that now. I swear, I will go to my grave thinking of my brother’s peach.” - Davos II ACOK

Dany accepts the peach. She savors it while she contemplates how fortunate they were to have found a place full of fruit like Vaes Tolorro, unlike Stannis, who doesn’t accept the peach, and doesn’t even contemplate the possibility of making peace with his brother. However, Dany also eventually decides to leave this place full of peaches, and later, when tempted to go back, also decides not to return to Vaes Tolorro in favor of continuing to fight for the throne:

Yet even crowned, I am a beggar still, Dany thought. I have become the most splendid beggar in the world, but a beggar all the same. She hated it, as her brother must have. All those years of running from city to city one step ahead of the Usurper’s knives, pleading for help from archons and princes and magisters, buying our food with flattery. He must have known how they mocked him. Small wonder he turned so angry and bitter. In the end it had driven him mad. It will do the same to me if I let it. Part of her would have liked nothing more than to lead her people back to Vaes Tolorro, and make the dead city bloom. No, that is defeat. I have something Viserys never had. I have the dragons. The dragons are all the difference. - Daenerys III ACOK

Both Dany and Stannis abandon the sweetness that the peach symbolizes, the simple pleasures of life and simple life that it symbolizes, in favor of doing what they think it’s their duty, and choosing a more difficult path. The peach is a reminder of what could have been. Though it’s important to also notice the contrast, how Dany and Stannis are also foils here, because while Dany does abandon the idea of staying in Vaes Tolorro, she still considers it, and she stops to appreciate its simple pleasures (like the peach) and how fortunate she was, unlike Stannis. Dany does what Renly tells Stannis to do but he doesn’t, appreciate the pleasures of life because one might not be able to do so again:

“A man should never refuse to taste a peach,” Renly said as he tossed the stone away. “He may never get the chance again. Life is short, Stannis. Remember what the Starks say. Winter is coming.” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. - Catelyn III ACOK

Finally, I want to add that I saw someone saying that the following quote could be foreshadowing of Dany failing to conquer Westeros and being assassinated, because Renly also ate a peach and was assassinated:

“The high lords have always fought. Tell me who’s won and I’ll tell you what it means. Khaleesi, the Seven Kingdoms are not going to fall into your hands like so many ripe peaches. You will need a fleet, gold, armies, alliances—”

“All this I know.” She took his hands in hers and looked up into his dark suspicious eyes. Sometimes he thinks of me as a child he must protect, and sometimes as a woman he would like to bed, but does he ever truly see me as his queen? “I am not the frightened girl you met in Pentos. I have counted only fifteen name days, true … but I am as old as the crones in the dosh khaleen and as young as my dragons, Jorah. I have borne a child, burned a khal, and crossed the red waste and the Dothraki sea. Mine is the blood of the dragon.” - Daenerys II ACOK

However, I don’t think that’s the case. Just because Renly ate a peach and because he was assassinated, doesn’t mean every person who eats a peach will die (and also, the main comparison here is between Dany and Stannis, who are both offered a peach, not between Dany and Renly - Renly being the one offering the peach, like Jorah). And to me, the peach as symbolic of a simple life and its simple pleasures seems very clearly established. The quote above is simply a continuation of the same symbolism: the Seven Kingdoms won’t simply fall into Dany’s hands like ripe peaches, she will have to fight for it. By choosing to continue pursuing the Iron Throne, she is choosing a more difficult path than simply staying in Vaes Tolorro and enjoying its peaches.

[logo-comics]

Fortune Lover Pirates Meta

Due to certain bots that the staff do nothing about infecting my post with likes in order to try to infect the site further, I decided to delete the original post and make this one as a replacement. I failed to save the question before deleting by mistake, so please accept the meta-styled opening presented below.

Fortune Lover, the most popular game from Ai Fortuna Software, has gained a bit of infamy among new fans as The Pirate Game With No Pirates. Indeed, a common question on the forums and various social media sits is "Why is there so much pirate content for Fortune Lover if its set in a magic school?"

We here at LOGO Media Publication have thus decided to do a little digging on the internet and have come back with all the fun data you need to get a better understanding of why it is that a pirate's life is often seen as Maria's lot!

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queenmaryhunt I've finally figured it out! Maria is Martin Campbell's daughter! It all makes sense! Her father disappeared when she was little, so she doesn't know he's technically the Pirate King, let alone any pirate at all! The timeline even matches up! captainnatalia I know you didn't insult the Gentleman Pirate by comparing him to that lowlife that abandoned Maria and her mom because of rumors! Martin Campbell would never be like that! bluejetpack yeah! martin was abandoned and alone until captain natalia took him in! he'd never do that to his own wife and daughter! queenmaryhunt No! Listen! In Martin Campbell: Pirate King's secret ending, he told Captain Natalia's grave that he was going to sail out for the last time so he could pull enough money together to get his unnamed wife and daughter a house in the capital so they wouldn't "be bothered by close-minded villagers anymore.' And what did Maria's voice actor say in her interview when asked about if Maria had any friends in her village? "Maria never really fit in with the villagers after her magic came in at the age of five and the people assumed she was the result of her mother having an affair with a noble. Her dad even disappeared a year later." geomaria-stan1123 That's her opinion, not official lore! The DLC they're going to release is on Golden Sands. In the first game, Old Baron Terni owns that land, and he let the Fortuna Amata make berth there as part of an unofficial agreement. You'll see when the DLC comes out that he's probably going to cameo as part of an old painting or something. Maria being Martin Campbell's daughter is as likely as them adding in a Katarina Route to a DLC!

queenmaryhunt You all owe me an apology! "The Gentleman Pirate disappeared nine years ago, which is why we took up his contract with the new Baron." That's what Marie said! Nine years! Back when Maria would've been 6, you know, when Maria's father suddenly disappeared! marikata9430 I'll take posts that keep getting funnier with each DLC for 500. fortune-lover-heritage-posts Fortune Lover Heritage Post (August 28, 2017).

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sophiasemeraldprincess So, I'm probably giving myself away as a newbie to the fandom, but what's the deal with the pirates in this fandom? Everywhere I look, there are pirate OCs, Pirate Captain Katarina, Pirate Maria, Maria on a pirate ship... I thought, from all of this, that Fortune Lover had pirates all over the place mc-gentlemanpirate As a lifelong fan of the Ai Fortuna Software Multiverse, I can answer this one, but it's a bit of a long story. See, back at the start, Ai Fortuna was a small company that released their first game, Martin Campbell: Gentleman Pirate. The game was very popular in its time, detailing the adventures of a young beggar child named Martin, who stowed away on a ship to get away from it all, only to be discovered and mentored by Captain Natalia Petra Campbell, sworn enemy of the undead Pirate King Black Boris Edmund Guy, who dies at his hand by the end of the tutorial. From there, it's Martin's revenge quest centered around him figuring out his place in the world of piracy, whether or not he'll be a gentleman of fortune or a cutthroat mercenary. The good end, which is the canon one, has him kill Black Boris and being proclaimed the Pirate King. Since Martin and Maria share initials, as well as having identically fluffy blond hair, a lot of fans gravitated towards the idea that Maria was his daughter with his wife, who were both mentioned in the sequel, Martin Campbell: Pirate King. (Fun fact: When Fortune Lover's first trailer came out in 2014, a lot of people even thought that Maria was Martin in disguise in a midquel game.) Eventually, when the DLC started rolling out, the first was Golden Sands, set in his usual place of berth, the eponymous island, and it was revealed he had only disappeared nine years prior, which was when Maria's father had left. This was all speculation for the longest time, until the databook revealed this was always the lead writer's plan, with the Pirate's Promise DLC having been planned to be the sequel until the studio came in and ordered Mysteries in the Magical Ministry, which did... Alright, but was not as well received as Pirate's Promise, which is currently being made into its own spinoff series. TL;DR - Ai Fortuna Software was originally a pirate game company and Fortune Lover was written by a pirate series writer, so the fans immediately latched onto the pirate game parts because of the fact that it was a loving continuation of a beloved series. marikata9430 Also because Romanceable Pirate Captain Katarina. marisofilove2020 Definitely because Pirate Captain Katarina. marydeservesbetter Lots of people thirsting for Katarina even in an old uniform and bandages and a legitimate development history lesson for the series. Fortune Lover fandom, never change.

Fortune Lover Databook

From Left to Right: Sophia Ascart, Katarina Claes, and Mary Hunt as they appeared in the first poster for Fortune Lover that portrayed the rivals.

Fortune Fact: While Sophia Ascart and Mary Hunt were officially named at the time of the first poster of the rivals being released, they and Katarina Claes, at the time named Tatiana Terni, did not, at the time, have any set personalities, leading to a lot of fans to start to speculate. Many had naturally guessed that Tatiana would be the primary antagonist, and there had actually been some suspicion that Sophia was actually a ghost, and that Mary was secretly in love with Maria and would be a capture target. There was also a lot of speculation that Tatiana would be revealed to be a pirate or at least affiliated with them due to her being a Terni.

Bonus Fortune Fact: Fans of the Martin Campbell series had quickly taken notice of Tatiana's surname, as well as Maria's own, which is believed to be the reason why studio heads told the creator to rename Tatiana, to avoid any further incorrect announcements on fansites that this was a Martin Campbell game.

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Pictured: Maria Campbell's main character reference for sprites.

Fortune Fact: Maria Campbell's signature attire was the result of a massive server crash at Ai Fortuna Software's main office, which included Keith's original design from when he was Noelia Flores's twin, grey-haired Geordo, and Sophia With Glasses. Initially, Maria's hair had sea shells, in place of flowers, and her dress was originally navy blue, with black boots with brass buckles, and a similarly colored belt and the bow around her neck was originally a black neckerchief, all of which were meant to call to mind Captain Natalia, who wore green and had an unbuttoned greatcoat, but otherwise wore similar attire. This was likely what contributed to the fan believe that she was secretly Martin.

Interviews

Excerpt from an interview with Maria Campbell's voice actress:

Interviewer: So, you said that you once met the English voice actress for Maria at a convention, and that the two of you are friends. Have the two of you ever noticed any similar issues that you have to deal with when playing Maria? Since the DLCs tend to get delayed elsewhere, I presume that she doesn't have to clear her schedule as often as you do for them...

MVA: *chuckles* No, she doesn't have to deal with that, but one thing we both learned is that we're both big fans of the first Martin Campbell game.

Interviewer: Really?

MVA: Yeah, so we both had the same issue, which was that this is an Ai Fortuna game, and the main character's last name is Campbell, so of course we both did the read with Maria using what the Director to this day calls "Martin Voices" whenever I do it.

Interviewer: Martin Voices?

MVA: Martin speaks differently to different people in the game, using Yamanote most of the time because that's what Natalia taught him. When he's really angry, though, he slips into his native Kyushu. In America, he usually uses RP British, but slips into some other British accent that I honestly don't remember the name of at the moment for the life of me. Martin voices are us copying that, even though Maria is supposed to talk more in a Shitamachi dialect in Japanese and a more "standardized" American accent that I also can't recall the entire time.

Interviewer: How did that work out?

MVA: If you go online and look up "Martin's Daughter Scary Flirts" or "British Maria Flirts With Katarina" online, you can see how the fans reacted to the released recordings of either of our slip-ups... I think someone actually animated the English one to include a kiss. But yeah, we both went in under the understanding that her missing dad was actually Martin, and now with all the DLCs out, we know we're right.

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Excerpt from an Interview with Katarina's Voice Actress:

Interviewer: What are your thoughts on all those pirate DLC sets?

KVA: I love them! Katarina is romanceable in all of them, I get to have her treat people in ways never seen before, and I get to play my favorite type of character: A pirate. She's good at it, too.

Interviewer: Any favorite additions to the cast?

KVA: Pretty much all of them to be honest.

Interviewr: All of them?

KVA: Yep, every foreign exchange student, every citizen, and especially every member of the crew.

Interviewer: If you had to choose, though?'

KVA: That's a tough one. *pauses in thought* I guess Anne takes the lead, with Martin Campbell, Maria's dad, taking a reasonably solid second place for nostalgia’s sake. Anne gives Katarina someone to bounce off when she's not talking to Maria. But yeah. Pirate Katarina remains my favorite setting, so I might be biased...

Memes

[parlerenfleurs]

I've been thinking lately about the incense burner extras, and I cannot sleep so I might as well type out my thoughts.

The first time I read them I wasn't enthused. While I can read fucked up smut for its own sake, here, it was a bit too hard-core for my taste in relation to a couple that love each other (AND I do Not like the blood. Boy I sure Don't like the blood. Why did there need to be blood?). BUT, while as smut goes it's not what I'll go read when I'm in the mood, I have since then read several posts and meta, and also other translations that put it in a different light for me.

And while I'm sure I'll probably just regurgitate what more perceptive people have said before me, I did have a fond revelation about them, which make them especially moving (yes, moving) to me.

I'm not gonna address Wei WuXian's farmer fantasy, as this is not what this is about (and besides, @ninjakk might make a post about it someday, so I'm eagerly waiting!) - here, right now, we are talking about the sex Õ3Õ.

There is a lot to be said about how erotica is a mirror of a culture and its current taboo/repressions, and about the fact that this is written in Chinese by a Chinese person in current Chinese culture, and that kinks and sexual fantasies do not reflect one's morals, but many people have talked about it and I have no authority nor personnal knowledge on the matter, so let's accept that there extras can be a bit jarring to some of our sensibilities and move on (just like I did the first time I read them and was put off but decided to go on enjoying the rest of the story regardless).

I'm rambling so damn much but my point is this. These extras are a gift from MXTX to her characters, a gift most of us can only dream about but never achieve: a gift of a second chance.

A gift of being able to go back in time and catch that missed opportunity, fix this messed up situation, come back with one's current skills and knowledge and do better. I'm especially talking about the second dream, here, where Wei WuXian, as an adult, meets the young teenage Lan WangJi and riles him up to Mengpo's hall and back, because, crucially, Wei WuXian never did make Lan WangJi lose his control when they were young, (at least not on purpose, and I'm coming back to the Kiss TM later), and it wasn't for a lack of trying, but since he wasn't aware of his own attraction, even less Lan WangJi's toward him, how could he have gone all out then? So he didn't, and Lan WangJi kept his control, and they didn't go at it like rabbits on the back mountains of the Cloud Recesses. Much to Wei WuXian's chagrin when they have sex for the second time, and he laments not having done this from the beginning, and having lost so much time.

So they get this chance, for Wei WuXian to undo Lan WangJi's restraint, for young Lan WangJi to finally let go like he so badly wanted to. For both to retroactively not miss the opportunity (yeah they do this in a freaky way because they are freaks /affectionate *cough* Bichen *cough*).

I think this has been said a lot so I won't expand too much on this next part, but. Lan WangJi is a freak. He's a jealous, possessive, dominant lover, who nevertheless never lets these traits impose on the object of his affections (and make no mistakes, his love is also pure, selfless, and beautiful - but he has kinks, don't we all, and he's human, as we all are). So, compounding with how his father treated his mother, these things that Lan WangJi feels, and thinks, and wants, and fantasizes about, bring him a lot of shame, and probably some self-loathing. Absolutely self-loathing when he gives into his worst impulses and forcefully kisses Wei WuXian on Phoenix mountain, but I'm pretty sure with time he comes to accept himself enough to not hate this part of him. He's still ashamed, though. And afraid of hurting Wei WuXian. BUT fortunately, Wei WuXian is exactly the freak for him. The man also has kinks and they match beautifully with Lan WangJi's, and when he sees Lan WangJi's darkest fantasies.... it turns him on, he cheers him on. Even before seeing them he's spot on with his dirty talk, telling Lan WangJi he should have just dragged him somewhere and have his way with him back then (they both would have enjoyed it, albeit with a lot of confusion on Wei WuXian's part).*

There goes Lan WangJi's shame. He cannot be more deeply and entirely accepted and celebrated and loved as he is now.

These are the incense burner's gifts.

*it occurs to me that the little freak must be quite happy to be reborn in a slimer/shorter build, so that Lan WangJi can manhandle him even more easily.

[thehomothings]

Analysis of Kite's conflicting moralities, relationship with death, and the toll reincarnation may take on one's psyche

So, today I decided to compile all the thoughts I have had about Kite's interesting worldview since the first time I saw him into one post, mostly for my own sake, really. If you're familiar with the few posts I've made, you know it's gonna be a mess, but hopefully a comprehensible mess.

A heads up, this is going to be spoiler-heavy, and very much deal with subjects of death and dying as a whole. Also, some of these conclusions are drawn from my own experiences and close brushes with death, I'm not going to go into much detail but it might get personal and definitely dark. I'm not even sure if I can call this a meta-analysis, and I'm obviously no expert, so mayhaps take all of this with a grain of salt.

Been getting into drawing lately, and during the more simple and mindless part of the painstaking process of dotting every single star in this, I let my thoughts wander through the latest part of the fic I'm writing, and I got a better grasp on what exactly made Kite such an elusive character to me.

I'm not quite sure why I got so attached to Kite. Perhaps it was the air of tragedy surrounding him, how despite his sordid past he remained still open and gentle even if outlined by a healthy dose of cynicism.

But sometimes, I think it's the fact that he is so paradoxical. He's brave, yet fears death to such a degree that creates a whole Nen ability around it, is a pacifist yet will not hesitate to spill blood for his own sake or someone else's. Despite the many ultimatums and warnings of 'I will not protect you', he gave his arm and then his life to save Gon and Killua. He approaches each hunt and battle with a clear plan of action in mind, but his Hatsu takes the form of a roulette that gives him random weapons which are never what he wants, but what he seems to need for that exact situation, which he cannot dispel without using. When he draws a weapon, the decision is locked in and his or his opponent's fate is sealed. That's why each time he dubbs his weapon a bad roll. Every time he has to gamble, he sees himself as having run out of luck. When it comes to having to choose between himself and somebody else...well, there had never been a choice. In fact his aversion to using it may feed into its sheer power that we, unfortunately, saw too little of.

Let's go over his very first appearance when he saves Gon from the mother Foxbear.

It's not hard to see the strain searching for Ging has put on him; he's rash, prone to anger and punching a child for daring to get into trouble. In his mind, he's failing at his most important task, has not yet earned the right to call himself a hunter despite being in possession of his very own hunter license.

After killing the mother Foxbear and raging about having done so, he says this interesting line:

So yes, he finds killing for any reason rather irksome as most would do, yet I think something deeper caused him to absolutely lose it in this scene:

He had not been aware of Gon's identity, and despite being an animal lover and a naturalist, he made a choice to save the human instead of allowing nature to run its course. In fact, he says: 'No beast that harms a human must be allowed to live.'

How does one weight one life against another? How is the worth of it determined? The value of life... an impossible choice he's faced with and a choice which he seems to regret to some degree.

The Foxbear cub.

Here, he's speaking from experience, a tangible loss he has felt himself, and a hard and bitter life he does not want to impose on the cub.

His backstory is exclusive to the 2011 anime adaptation but there are hints alluding to it in the manga, for example, the fact that he does not seem to know his birthplace, or:

The choice of words is chilling.

Reading between the lines, one could draw the conclusion that he is an orphan. Something supporting this hypothesis is how he visibly deflates after Gon tells him his parents have (presumably) died.

So we see he is willing to go against his own moral code of not killing as to not doom another living being to the life he led, a lonely, hopeless existence that could barely be called one. He saw it best to put down the cub rather than leave it to die a painful, slow death.

The reason Kite himself isn't as cynical and cold-hearted as one would be after witnessing cruelty in its rawest form is those small crumbs of human kindness which he may have found in Ging.

It was not only a chance at an honorable life being Ging's apprentice gave him, but it also 'saved' him from being broken and twisted into what he hated and worst of all, death.

If we take that one minute of backstory as canon to his character-which I find myself inclined to do- these quirks of his make much more sense. He lived on the run. He lived on the knife's edge between giving up or pushing forwards. He lived as so a wrong move could be the difference between survival and the end.

Between rock and a hard place creates a mentality of black and white, absolute good or extreme evil, this or that. Except in reality, it's much harder than that. Deciding who to save and who to strike down is a heavy burden to bear.

It's almost easy to see how struggling to keep surviving could lend itself to a crippling fear of death and subsequently developing a Nen ability which once more goes against his own moral code in order to give himself a second chance...yet something about it strikes me as unlikely when I look at it this way.

Living life knowing it could end at any moment has the opposite effect, at least for me it did. One comes to accept that it is fleeting and while not eager to let it go, when death eventually and inevitably does come, there is no fighting it.

Especially when there is no hope that tomorrow will be a better day than this one.

Frequent near-death experiences numb one's fear in a way, even if it drives them to take precautions that render it unlikely to happen again and results in c-PTSD, but still, it does. It sparks a certain nihilistic view of 'if it all can end so easily, then what's the point of it all?'

Unless there are things to live for, a sure promise of a better future, and Ging gave Kite that. When he faced the threat of losing his second chance at life:

Really, what else could lead someone to develop the ability of 'the hell I'm going to die like this'?

I think a separate event, an even more brutal near-death experience that almost cost him his life as the hunter he so strived to be set him off to develop the secret roll of Crazy Slots, what I call Roll No.0, Ars moriendi. Unlike other weapons, it cannot come up in random and is directly summoned by him, or better said, summon by his overwhelming will to keep going and hopelessness of fighting a losing battle. I don't believe roll No.3 was the weapon that allowed him to reincarnate. I've named that one Wand of Fortune, a sort of armor instead of an offensive weapon since I find it hard to believe Kite, a Conjurer, would not focus on defences as well, and I will go into both mechanisms of these weapons hopefully in his backstory.

Despite knowing this battle to be a pointless one and being acutely aware of his soon to be demise, he did not immediately draw Ars moriendi, no, he stayed back and fought for the sake of the boys, kept Neferpitou occupied until they could reach safety. We can see evidence of this in the aftermath of the battle that seemed to have gone on until dawn, a torn apart landscape only signaling a fraction of the devastation that was Kite's power unleashed. It still wasn't enough.

In the anime sub I watched, when Gon apologizes to Ging about Kite's death, Ging said a sentence that infuriated me, because it belittled the utter suffering of the NGL trio.

"He would not die in your place." (No screenshot, sorry)

And I remember practically shouting at the screen, screaming 'how could you possibly say that? Of course he did. He absolutely did die in their place. How could you not know your own apprentice? Why-'

It was only last night that it hit me why Ging would say that.

Once upon a time, maybe Kite would not have given his life for anybody under any circumstances, even if he had a way out of it all. He would still need to die to come back to life.

His Thanatophobia could be attributed to the (possibly untreated) PTSD of the near-death experience in his later life, being so certain of dying that finding himself alive afterwards drove him to never want to go through that again. He quieted his fear by creating a sort of a loophole, that even if he lost the battle he would remain. Ging remembered that, but as evidence shows, something changed. Maybe he healed a bit, perhaps growing up dulled his fear to a certain degree, but eventually when it came down to his life or another's, he didn't choose himself.

Now, I can hear you saying 'but he didn't die, so what are you going on about??' And so I reply: Yes, he is alive, but he did die. He experienced that painful, horrible moment of staring death in the eyes and thinking 'This is it, this is the end', went through the actual process of having his soul removed from his body. And that moment stretches into infinity, ten lifetimes condensed into the mere seconds before oblivion.

Dying isn't so hard if one stays dead.

It's not so easy to open one's eyes and find oneself alive again after that, no matter how much that is the heart's desire. It's difficult, nigh-impossible to reconcile with life and walk amongst the living when everything had been so final, when death had been accepted to its fullest.

So Kite awakens, the twin of Meruem and back from the dead, his mind and identity both intact and fractured. In that he is Kite is no mistaking, yet he is not the same gentle pacifist whose first reaction upon sensing a monster's aura was to shield two kids from it at the cost of his arm.

I don't think many of you are familiar with Zoroastrian ideology, but Togashi is known for loving his religious imagery, and it's not only Christianism he derives inspiration from (evidence of which can be seen all over Kite's character and resurrection).

In Zurvanism-a branch of Zoroastrianism- there is talk of the twin spirits: Ahura Mazda -epitome of all that is good- and Ahriman -epitome of all that is evil-, the parent god Zurvin decides that the firstborn may rule in order to bring "heaven, hell, and everything in between."

Upon becoming aware of this fact, Ahriman forcibly tears through the womb to emerge first. Sounding familiar yet?

Zurvan relents to this turn of events only on one condition: Ahriman is given kingship for 9000 years, and then Ahura Mazda may rule for eternity.

Meruem ruled for 40 days, his death leaving the throne vacant for ant Kite, wearing a dead girl's face and seeming to be brewing some nefarious plan. No more is there any sign of that unrelenting pacifism and the sanctity of life he held so high, losing his own may have only served to show him how meaningless the pain and suffering he went through had been, dying only to be reborn as a member of the species that killed him. It may be that he has no desire to rule over the remaining Chimera ants or create an army of his own-

Yet I dread to think what a broken mind possessing limitless power might do to the world.

And that's it. If you made it this far, thank you for reading! If you found it interesting, stay tuned, as I think a lot and I will make it your problem.

[escaflowneweek]

Escaflowne Week 2021, 25th Anniversary Edition

March 27 - April 2, 2021

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Vision of Escaflowne anime series! Escaflowne Week 2021 is the 2021 edition of a fanweek dedicated to the Escaflowne universe, including the Vision of Escaflowne anime series (1996), the Escaflowne movie (2000), and other supplementary/expanded universe material.

Guidelines:

Participants create any fan content related to Escaflowne, including but not limited to: fanart, fanfiction, edits, GIFs, fanmixes, AMVs, meta, headcanons, and so on.

There are 2 prompts to choose from each day. Prompts are included in the above graphic, and a plain text version is included at the bottom of the post.

Using prompts is not required, nor is participating every day of the event. You may fill as many prompts as you wish on whichever days you want.

For those who wish to create multiple entries, we are announcing the event far in advance to give you time to work on your entries.

NSFW submissions are allowed, but MUST BE POSTED ELSEWHERE in accordance with Tumblr regulations (i.e., AO3, Twitter).

Tag your creations with #escaflowneweek so that fellow participants, fans, and the blog moderator(s) can more easily see and interact with your work. You may also mention the blog @escaflowneweek to notify the moderator(s) of your work.

Participants who do not have a Tumblr account are encouraged to submit links to their creations using the blog’s Submit function. The moderator(s) will post submissions as they are received.

For any questions, please message @escaflowneweek.

Have fun!

📮 ask / 📥 submit

Plain text version of prompts:

Day 1: Fortunes / The Tower Day 2: Machines / The Moon Day 3: Bonds / Death Day 4: Royalty / The Lovers Day 5: Conflict / Justice Day 6: Journey / The Fool Day 7: Promise / Strength

[arcanacontained]

[Mapped out Directions] - Mobile Navigation 📱

[Shuffle the Deck] - Rules

About the Mun:

Charlie, 25+, she/her.

I am neurodivergent and have physical disabilities so my focus might be hit and miss at times.

I work full-time, I write role play in my free time so activity may be sporadic.

I have 11 years worth of role playing experience under my belt and have been writing for the best part of 20 years.

My squicks that are goats, needles (primarily IV and IO), wasps, bees, spiders.

The mun tag is: out of arcane; dealer (mun).

Tracking the tag: arcanacontained

Some of my OC muses I have had for a long time. I have been on Tumblr itself since 2013, across multiple fandoms. Some have been friendly and welcoming whilst, others have been toxic and a mess I no longer want to associate with. This is why I have altered my OCs to be more fitting of Arcane/LOL related muses. So far the Arcane/LOL role play community has been welcoming.

Rules:

Disabilities, trauma and mental illness will be discussed as themes during role play threads. If you have any triggers around these or other topics please let me know ahead of time. I will always reads others’ rules.

As above - I am over 25, therefore I feel uncomfortable with interacting with minors. If you are under 18, I this is not the blog for you.

TERFS, homophobias etc do not interact.

No god-modding or meta-gaming.

I haven’t roleplayed in a while, for about 2-3 years due the pandemic being a thing and Tumblr was put on the back burner until life stabilised. So I apologise if some of my role play knowledge or etiquette has gone out of the window.

I am primarily familiar with Arcane but am reading up on the relevant Champion backstories and other information on the League website. I have never played the game itself. Character canon will follow Arcane and may have some current League of Legends influences.

This blog is unlikely to be spoiler free, as the fate of the characters currently hangs in the balance at the end of episode 9.

As of writing - Jayce, Viktor and Warwick are tests muses, as this is the first time I have written them.

I have put some of my muses on low activity for the sake of my mental health. Which muses are on high or low activity might change without warning.

Please read a muse’s biography before interacting with them.

I would prefer to plot threads. Askbox prompts are accepted - but do not reblog asks as a thread starter. Please use text posts as thread starters.

I write in third person, past tense with normal formatting. As I don’t have the time I won’t be using icons in threads. A muse’s face claim (if relevant) will be stated in their biography.

Mutuals only please, this is for my own mental health so I know who is who.

Please may asks be kept for in-character interactions between muses. Likewise direct messaging is for discussion, plotting and general chatting between muns.

[Current Hand] - Muses

Number [Card] Name • Epithet.

Blue, OC muse. Red, Canon muse. Purple, Test muse. Active Muse, Low Activity Muse, Inactive Muse, Empty Slot

0 [THE FOOL] Rowan Jesse • The Fractured Shadow || Information Post || Interaction Call

I [THE MAGICIAN] Viktor • The Machine Herald || Information Post || Interaction Call

II [THE HIGH PRIESTESS] Patience Blyth • The Tactical Forger || Information Post || Interaction Call

III [THE EMPRESS] Unknown • Epithet

IV [THE EMPRORER] Unknown • Epithet

V [THE HIEROPHANT] Unknown • Epithet

VI [THE LOVERS] Unknown • Epithet

VII [THE CHARIOT] Audrey Hayward • The Caretaker of Piltover || Information Post || Interaction Call

VIII [STRENGTH] Unknown • Epithet

IX [THE HERMIT] Unknown • Epithet

X [WHEEL OF FORTUNE] Unknown • Epithet

XI [JUSTICE] Jayce Talis • The Defender of Tomorrow || Information Post || Interaction Call

XII [THE HANGED MAN] Unknown • Epithet

XIII [DEATH] Warwick • The Uncaged Wrath of Zaun || Information Post || Interaction Call

XIV [TEMPERANCE] Rosemary Clive • The Mage Telepath || Information Post || Interaction Call

XV [THE DEVIL] Sigfreda Maddox • The Puppeteer of the Dead || Information Post || Interaction Call

XVI [THE TOWER] Unknown • Epithet

XVII [THE STAR] Rio • The Shimmering Piximander of Zaun || Information Post || Interaction Call

XVIII [THE MOON] Unknown • Epithet

XIX [THE SUN] Unknown • Epithet

XX [JUDGEMENT] Unknown • Epithet

XXI [THE WORLD] Unknown • Epithet

W [MONARCH OF WANDS] Unknown • Epithet

C [MONARCH OF CUPS]  Unknown • Epithet

S [MONARCH OF SWORDS]  Unknown • Epithet

P [MONARCH OF PENTACLES]  Unknown • Epithet

[celiabowens]

25 books recs from my 2020 reads

I’ve been wanting to make this post for a while, but I wanted to wait and see how my last reads of the year would go. Also, narrowing them down to 20 was a nope, so I just made a bigger list instead lol. I’ve tried to include a vague description of each book and the main trigger warnings and rep. I apologise in advance if I forgot anything (for trigger warnings, I suggest double checking on the site booktriggerwarnings).

Adult SFF

A Memory Called Empire: it feels like I’ve raved about this one enough but just in case: A Memory Called Empire is a space opera following an ambassador who suddenly finds herself in the middle of a murder mystery and a political conspiracy. It’s got brilliant world building and a nuanced and intricate reflection about culture, language and colonialism. Subtle slow burn f/f romance on the side (+ a poly relationship shown in flashbacks). TW: suicide.

Black Sun: first book in an epic fantasy series inspired by pre-columbian Americas. Great cast of characters and very interesting use of mythology + the main plot is focused on political and religious conflict and the author handles both sides of it quite well. The book has bisexual and non-binary rep, one of the main characters is blind. TW: suicide, abuse, self harm. There’s some gore, although it’s not extremely graphic.

The Sword of Kaigen: a Japanese inspired stand alone epic fantasy. The book is not focused on battle or war, although they play an important role in the plot itself, but on family dynamics and personal growth. It’s a very character driven novel, with some rather conventional elements (elemental magic) and some more original reuses of traditional fantasy tropes. TW: abuse.

Empire of Sand: first book in a duology of companion novels inspired by Mughal India. Mostly focused on religious and political conflict, although romance is heavily featured in both books. Pretty good slow burn romance in both cases. TW: abuse, slavery, torture, sexual assault, self-harm.

The Light Brigade: a rather unconventional space opera with a complex non linear narration. This is not an easy read in every possible way, but the pay off is worth it. Also it’s one of those cases in which I think it’s best to go in knowing nothing or almost nothing. TW: torture, murder, ptsd, war, gore, infectious diseases (yeah you need a strong stomach for this........).

Gods of Jade and Shadow: a coming of age story set in Mexico during the Jazz age. A bit of a lighter read, a journey-adventure featuring a god slowly becoming human, tasks to complete etc. TW: bullying.

River of Stars: more of an alternate history than pure fantasy, as most of GGK’s novels are. This one in particular was inspired by Chinese history and it’s ideally a companion to Under Heaven. Both can be read as standalones but I find their parallels and differences very interesting. I’d also recommend The Lions of Al-Rassan and A Brightness Long Ago, by the same author. All of them revisit historical events from the point of view of rather ordinary people who find themselves in the middle of events they can’t control. 

Empire of Gold: the last book in a trilogy, starting with City of Brass. The first novel is more trope-y and naive in places, but I found both the second book and the conclusion of the trilogy more nuanced and satisfying. There’s a m/m relationship on the side. TW: mass murder, torture, enslavement, abuse.

Adult SFF novella edition

The Deep: novella set in an underwater society built by the descendants of African slave women that were tossed overboard. The novella deals with trauma, both personal and generational one.

This Is How You Lose The Time War: epistolary set during a time-travel war. Enemies to lovers f/f romance. Very character driven, don’t expect a lot of world building.

The Empress of Salt and Fortune: an Asian-inspired novella that gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life. 

YA SFF

Return of the Thief/The Queen’s Thief series in general: the last book in the queen’s thief series! Honestly just read this series it’s literally too good? It is carefully planned from start to finish and it has politics, adventures, characters with extremely questionable morals and good banter? TW: loss of a limb, torture (not extremely graphic), ptsd.

The Kingdom of Back: probably Marie Lu’s best book yet? think of the concept of “shakespeare’s sister” as explained by Woolf in A Room of One’s Own, but with the Mozart siblings. I actually had no idea Mozart had a sister prior to reading this. It’s a quite emotional read, as it shows how little opportunities women had to be recognised for their talent.

Adult Literary Fiction

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous: a beautiful exploration of language, family history, trauma, sexuality and gender. TW: war, ptsd, death.

Augustus: an epistolary historical fiction novel narrating some of the main events of Augustus’ reign through letters from/by his closest friends and enemies. Not even remotely historically accurate, but a lot of fun to read if you’re familiar with historical accounts of that period.

A Gentleman in Moscow: following Count Alexander Rostov, who, in 1922, is sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest in the Metropol, a luxurious hotel in the center of Moscow. A peculiar novel, funny and heartbreaking at once, following a vibrant cast of characters as they come and go from Rostov’s secluded life.

How Much of These Hills Is Gold: following two recently orphaned children through the gold rush era, the book is an adventurous historical fiction piece that focuses on themes like gender, identity and immigration. TW: abuse, sexual assault, racism.

The Memory Police: published in Japan in the mid 90s, but translated recently, it’s an orwellian dystopian novel set on an unnamed Island where memories of certain objects and feelings slowly disappear.

The Nickel Boys: the book follows the lives of two boys sentenced to a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. A bleak, but important book, with a shocking final twist. TW: abuse, racism, death.

Manga/Graphic Novels

The Girl from the Other Side

Opus: very meta, much like most of Satoshi Kon’s movies. Kon actually never finished this (the magazine he was publishing it on was cancelled) and a last chapter was published after his death after his family found the sketches for it.

Oriental Piano: based on the story of the author’s grandfather, who invented a musical instrument in Beirut in the 1960s, combining Arabic music and a western musical instrument. Sort of reminiscent of Satrapi’s style. 

Webtoons

Lore of Olympus (TW: sexual assault)

Clara and The Devil

Non Fiction

The Professor and the Madman: the peculiar and extraordinary tale behind the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary. TW: self-harm, ptsd, war.

Honourable mentions: The Binding (TW: abuse, sexual assault, suicide. Gay rep.), The Silence of the Girls (TW: sexual assault, death, war), To Be Taught, If Fortunate (bi, ace, poly rep), The Kyoshi Novels (bi rep, f/f relationship).

[logo-comics]

I’d like to toy with this one myself:

I would like to name this noblewoman Tatiana Terni, because I used that name as the original name the devs had for Katarina in the Fortune Lover Fandom meta about pirates in so much of the DLC, the surname being from @azure-wolf-227​‘s name for the Queen’s family, but for practicality’s sake, I will suggest an allied Ducal family on a cold island called Termina, which I will also name the family for convenience, so she’d be Tatiana Termina. Because I want to keep Katarina as her name, however, I’ll instead make her “Katarina Termina” and Fortune Lover Katarina be Catarina. Both were born on the same day as a bonus.

For added chaos, I’m going to suggest that she actually was one of the frontrunners for Geordo’s fiancee for a good while prior to Catarina’s meeting with him that led to the forehead scar and engagement.

Since I had the running theme of the rough draft Katarina Claes/Tatiana Terni be a slightly nicer version of the one from Fortune Lover since the Katarina Romance DLC meta post, I will continue this trend by having her family essentially be the Claes family, but with more of a Starks of Winterfell style, with Katarina also having darker hair and lighter eyes than her very distant cousin.

When Katarina awoke, having been stumbled upon by Maria Campbell after tripping and hitting her head while practicing with a sword in a secluded area, she completely missed that the girl she met was THAT Maria Campbell and quickly struck up a friendship.

This naturally leads to her defending Maria from Catarina and her lackeys, who are not expecting to be threatened with a sword, which reveals the setting to Katarina. Maria having met and started befriending Sophia provides the connection there, and Katarina was politely familiar with Mary because of the aforementioned almost-fiancee status, so they become friends, too. I’m also going to suggest that she’s the one Sienna is attached to in this timeline for my own amusement.

Eventually the capture targets are drawn into this whole thing, and some find themselves torn between Maria and Katarina, because Maria already laid the groundwork with some of them.

Also, I like to think that the best way to describe Katarina and Catarina’s stance on Noelia is best shown via paraphrasing Terry Pratchett:

Catarina and Katarina shared a look. It said: While I loathe you and every aspect of your personal philosophy to a depth unplumbable by any line, I'll credit you at least with not being Noelia Flores.”

Since I also went with Katarina Claes having a fairly positive relationship with Anne, I’m tempted to make it that, since Katarina Termina is all the cut content that would have made Katarina Claes, she’s the one with Anne for a servant, with Anne being the same as in canon as a result.

Sooooo, this is a little food for thought and I'm sort of just asking this out of sheer curiousity:

Instead of being reincarnated as Katarina Claes, what if Monkey Girl was reincarnated as a noble in Fortune Lover instead? Let's just say for the sake of somewhat canon and convince shakes, she's born as a high-ranking noble(exactly how high can be chosen by you) but also doesn't have much magic, like her Bakarina counterpart. Additionally, she doesn't get her memories back until she goes to the Academy, like her VOD counterpart?

What do you think she'd do? I can kind of see her befriending and defending Maria and Sophia while (maybe) seducing the male love interests? On the other hand, I can also see her choosing to lay low out of fear of y'know, FL!Katarina, to which I say, can you really blame her? OG Katarina is the villainess of Fortune Lover for a reason......(though I can see her befriending Sophia still either way)

Also, for some reason, I'm laughing to myself, trying to imagine how on Earth FL!Keith would be able to flirt with Monkey Girl if the former happened in this AU. It'd probably go something along the lines of:

FL!Keith: Your eyes are blue, like the ocean. And baby, I'm lost at sea.

Monkey Girl: ......Thanks, but you're standing right here in front of me?

.....Though then again Monkey Girl already knows he's a flirtatious playboy, but for some reason, the image of him attempting to flirt traditionally while the meanings go over Monkey Girl's head amuses me.

While the idea sounds interesting, I cannot imagine an AU where Monkey Girl is not Katarina Claes.

Though I agree that she'll befriend and defend Maria and Sophia and seduce everyone without realizing it.

Hehe, the idea of FL Keith's flirting going over Monkey Girl's head despite knowing that he's a playboy is hilarious!