#the arcana main cast

[mapofredemption]

@arsenicxarcana YES I LOVE THAT THEY'RE FOILS

I was gonna make a meta post about how the characters’ corresponding patron arcana are in the same sprite pose as them but then actually looked and realized that’s only true for Julian lmao so I guess just have these comparisons

+ Valerius & The Hierophant whose poses are kinda just inverted versions of each other

[havinganidentitycrisis]

☆ | SOUL EATER ◇ PROJECT ARCANA | ☆

1. Lord Death as Death

- Meaning: End of cycles, new beginnings, new life.

- Reversed: A reversal of the Death card suggests one is resisting change or a significant transformation. Holding on to old perspectives or beliefs from the past could hinder progress and leave you feeling stagnant.

• Interpretation: The effect Death has on the world and everything in it, his place as not only as a god but existing in nature as well, his legacy as the first guardian and passing it on to the next, the passing of the torch, and knowing that while his time is running short, he trusts those who will lead after him.

[girlinthetardis04]

I'M SORRY WAS ANYBODY GONNA TELL ME THAT VEGA AND POLLUX'S VAs DID A COVER OF "CAST A SPELL" OR WAS I GOING TO FIND OUT ON THE ARCANA TWILIGHT WIKI MYSELF?????

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Brainrot Housekeeping: An update

I don't know how many times I've tried to find the best way to say this, but I'll put the major updates upfront and go into detail under the cut :')

To get straight to the point, I'm going to be retiring from this blog in a few days.

No, I'm not leaving the fandom

Yes, I'm going to keep creating! Just not on this blog

No, I'm not going to delete this blog

Yes, I'm still going to be relatively active as far as regular fandom activity goes

To go a little more into detail, I've had an ongoing situation at my workplace that quickly spiraled in all the wrong ways over the last month. I ended up having to resign as a last-ditch effort to preserve my physical safety, which obviously means that now my life is going to look very different from what it has for nearly the last two years.

My job (which I did love doing) involved a setup that allowed me the kind of time and space to pump out the amount of content that I have since I started this blog. Now that that's changing, I won't have the consistent, scheduled blocks of idle time to keep up my past posting schedule. Creativity will happen irregularly in my free time, and I'll want to spend it differently.

Which brings me to the future of my creative endeavors and involvement with the fandom - I don't think I'll be able to truly understand the impact this has had on my life for years to come. Having a community with all of you, getting back into my passion for writing and storytelling and creating after six years of giving up on it, finding out what it's like to watch a shared love and enjoyment for characters unfold into something real and exciting ... it's meant the world to me, and I can't thank every person who's been here for it enough. There's no way I'll leave any of this behind if I can help it.

So, no, I won't be writing for the Arcana M6 anymore, but I'm not leaving. I will still be running the Vesuvia Weekly event blog (and, if I have the brain farts for it, occasionally contributing my own submissions) and I will still be active in the Arcana Renaissance server. Not only will I be keeping this blog up, I'll also continue moving all of my writing posts onto Ao3 as well for a more cohesive, effective archive for anybody who just wants to browse M6 content. I won't be taking writing prompts anymore, but I'll do my best to stay on top of answering asks!

As for what I'll be doing next, to be honest, I'm actually pretty excited. I've had an idea rattling around in my head for a while that's begging to be written and illustrated and composed for, and I've finally reached the mental space to do it. I'm already in love with my main cast of characters and the dystopian, fantasy-punk-ish world they live in. If I ever manage to get my ideas off the ground, I'll be more than happy to invite anyone interested to watch it develop and unfold. :D

(And no, this will not involve Dorian at any point lol. I'd rather learn to code and build my own website)

If you've read this far, I can't thank you enough. You've taught me life lessons and prompted me to grow as a person in creativity, kindness, community, and joy. I've learned what it means to hold love and space for others in new ways. You've enriched my life in important and tangible ways and you'll always have a piece of my gratitude. I never would've imagined an experience like this, but boy am I glad it's happened.

Until next time!

brainrot

[christine-ye]

Kamen Rider Blade character name meanings

I was watching an anime lyric video on YouTube last night and recognized one of the kanji in the lyrics also being used for one of the main characters' names in Blade and ended up falling down a rabbit hole (aka Jisho.org) so I made a guide breaking down the Blade cast's names because 1. when do I ever not think about this show and 2. language stuff is fun to look into (also included Shiori and Kotaro because why not, slight spoilers incoming)

♠ Kazuma Kenzaki (剣崎一真)/Kamen Rider Blade ♠

Kenzaki (剣崎): ken (剣) - sword (spade itself also derives from the Spanish and Italian spada meaning 'sword'); zaki (崎) - small peninsula, promontory

Kazuma (一真): kazu (一) - one; ma (真) - true/truth, reality, genuineness (could refer to Kenzaki's genuine love for humanity and eventually Hajime); both characters together could mean "one truth" (could refer to Kenzaki seeking the one true way to allow Hajime to keep living without having the world be destroyed during the finale) or "one reality" (could refer to the current nature of the Battle Fight preventing Kenzaki and Hajime from seeing each other again despite them defying their fates)

Blade: the main part of a sword whose name is derived from the Old English blæd meaning 'leaf' (also hence why the spade is replaced with the leaf in German playing cards), related to the Suit of Swords (Spades) in the Minor Arcana

♦ Sakuya Tachibana (橘朔也)/Kamen Rider Garren ♦

Tachibana (橘): mandarin orange (specifically the Citrus tachibana, also explains why one of his themed drinks from the Kamen Rider Diner was orange-flavored)

Sakuya (朔也): saku (朔) - new moon (symbolizes new beginnings in astrology, which ties into Tachibana's return to being Garren again after initially trying to quit and his character song literally being called Rebirth), the first day of the lunar calendar; ya (也) - to be (classical form), also a common suffix in Japanese male names

Garren: either a corruption of the English word 'currency' in Japanese or phonetically sounds similar to the French carreau meaning 'diamond' (might be a stretch though), related to the Suit of Coins (Diamonds) in the Minor Arcana

♥ Hajime Aikawa (相川始)/Kamen Rider Chalice ♥

Aikawa (相川): ai (相) - mutuality, togetherness (also phonetically sounds the same as the Japanese word for love, which ties into Hajime's character arc and Chalice's heart motif); kawa (川) - river, stream; both characters together could mean "river of mutuality" or "river of togetherness"

Hajime (始): beginning (ironically contrasts his true role as humanity's destroyer)

Chalice: holy cup or goblet whose name is derived from the Latin calix meaning 'cup', related to the Suit of Cups (Hearts) in the Minor Arcana (also symbolic of Hajime's growing love and humanness throughout the show)

♣ Mutsuki Kamijo (上条睦月)/Kamen Rider Leangle ♣

Kamijō (上条): kami (上) - above, up; jō (条) - article, clause

Mutsuki (睦月): mutsu (睦) - intimate, friendly, harmonious (could refer to Mutsuki learning to control the Spider Undead's power with Tachibana's help); tsuki (月) - moon, month; both characters together mean the ancient Japanese name for January

Leangle: an Aboriginal club/polearm-type weapon, related to the Suit of Wands (Clubs) in the Minor Arcana

💻 Shiori Hirose (広瀬栞) 💻

Hirose (広瀬): hiro (広) - vast, broad, spacious; se (瀬) - rapids

Shiori (栞): bookmark, guidebook (could refer to her role as the gang's resident Undead tracker and Kenzaki's closest ally at BOARD)

🥛 Kotaro Shirai (白井虎太郎) 🥛

Shirai (白井): shira (白) - white (callback to his love for milk mayhaps /j); i (井) - well, town, community (could refer to him befriending and providing hospitality for Kenzaki and Shiori after BOARD kicks the bucket, also farmhouse trio ftw)

Kotarō (虎太郎): ko (虎) - tiger, drunkard (for milk obviously /j); ta (太) - thick; rō (郎) - common suffix in Japanese male names

[car-sounds]

Hi! I would like to request a headcanon about how would arcana twilight characters express their love in daily life. Thank you:) I love your headcanons!

How They Show Their Love

FIRST HEADCANONS ON THIS ACCOUNT (Sorry this took a while(to the other person who sent a request I'm working on it don't worry))

Main Arcana Twilight cast (+Rigel) x reader

2nd person

1062 words

Arcturus 

I think Arcturus shows his love with homemade gifts and words of affirmation. 

He believes handmade gifts are the most meaningful and likes to give them as a way of showing his dedication to you.

The most common type of these gifts are things he's knitted for you, usually socks and sweaters.

He also gives you compliments and encouragement as much as possible throughout the day.

He doesn’t care how small an accomplishment seems; he's always ready to tell you he's proud or that you did a great job.

He also likes receiving encouragement from you and makes sure to thank you with a big smile and a little kiss.

He can be very busy at times but always tries to use guide committee duties to spend time with you by asking for your assistance.

Other than your lips his favorite place to kiss you is your cheek or the tip of your nose.

Alpheratz 

Alpheratz shows his affection mainly through physical touch.

Throughout the day whenever he gets close enough, he leans against you, draping his body against yours (if you’re shorter than him or when you’re sitting down then he likes resting his chin on your head).

If you aren’t the biggest fan of this physical affection he tones it down to something you’re comfortable with.

He’s shown you all his napping spots, and when you’re not busy he asks you to nap with him.

If you do agree to join him then he pulls you in as close as possible into his chest and makes sure you’re comfortable before dozing off.

He likes giving you little kisses favorite places other than your lips are your nose and the top of your head.

Other than physical touch another one of his love languages is gift-giving.

He insists on fully paying for every date, only letting you pay if you beg him to let you pay.

Anything you express interest in buying is purchased by him immediately, no matter the cost.

Spica

Taking time out of his busy days to spend time with you.

Even when he has mountains of paperwork to complete he makes sure to spend a portion of his day on giving you the attention you deserve.

On a less busy day, he takes you on full dates.

On the busier days, he makes sure to be by your side giving you bits of physical touch and praise.

He's not the best at directly expressing his affection for you.

He prefers showing you through acts of service and gift-giving the most.

Helping you complete your assignments for Contell and giving you thought-out solutions to your personal problems.

He also gives you occasional gifts for no specific reason. Sometimes small like a snack he remembered you talking about, and sometimes a bigger gift like beautiful pieces of Jewelry. 

His favorite place to kiss you other than the lips is the back of your hand or the top of your head.

Sirius

Sirius’s preferred love languages are physical touch and quality time.

He constantly sneaks up right behind you to wrap his arms around you.

If you don’t like this he switches his greeting to something you both enjoy

He enjoys messing with you a lot.

Teases you about being interested in him even when you have been dating for a while.

Spends most of his free time around you, he likes to drape his body against you while he’s talking to you.

His favorite places to kiss you other than the lips are the top of your head and the back of your hand.

He’s in your room more than you are, he hangs out there like he owns the place and rushes to greet you at the door when you come back to your dorm.

Sirius is hesitant to be fully vulnerable with you and his cocky attitude is the best way he is able to show his love.

Vega

Vega’s favorite love languages are quality time and acts of service.

He feels the need to spend as much time together due to the fears he developed because of your pasts together.

Even if you’re interacting he wants to keep you by his side to ensure you’re protected.

Other than protecting you, he wants to make up for the time you two were separated.

His affection is mostly subtle and uses acts of service to show you how much he cares and is willing to help you.

Mostly favors like doing your laundry or running an errand, he wants to take on some of your tasks to minimize your stress.

He enjoys listening to your voice and encourages you to rant about anything on your mind for hours on end.

Always blushes and has a slight smile when you give him any kisses.

His favorite places to kiss you other than the lips are the back of your hand and forehead.

Pollux

I think Pollux prefers to show his love for you through quality time and physical touch.

He tries to spend as much of his day as possible around you.

You’ve heard from the others on numerous occasions that they’ve seen Pollux rushing around Contell asking anyone if they’ve seen you.

At first, people thought it was an emergency but after a while and after talking to you they realized he’s just being clingy.

Once he’s by your side it takes a lot for him to agree to leave your side. 

He really enjoys holding your hand, it makes him feel closer to you.

His favorite places to give you kisses other than your lips are your cheek or the tip of your nose.

He always tells you about his day and asks about yours making sure to show you he’s listening the whole time.

Rigel

I think Rigel’s love language would be an act of service.

Just like Spica, he doesn’t outwardly express his affection to you too often. 

He prefers giving you help with classwork and any work the guide committee has assigned to you.

If you pay attention to how he acts around others compared to how he acts with the other sorcerers he’s more laid back around you.

When you two are alone he’s still serious but smiles more often and gets a little bit more physically affectionate.

His favorite place to kiss you other than your lips is on your cheek.

(I don’t know much about him so sorry if he got mischaracterized)

[writingwithcolor]

Conlanging Issues: A Compendium

NOTE: This question was submitted before the Nov 1, 2023 reopening and may not adhere to all rules and guidelines. The ask has been abridged for clarity. 

Most of my questions are about linguistics. […] One of the major locations in my story is a massive empire with cultural inspirations ranging from North Africa in the far south to Mongolia/Russia in the far north […] The middle region is where the capital is and is the main root of culture, from which Ive been taking inspiration from Southwest Asia […], but most notably southern regions of India. I've tried to stick to the way cities are named in Sanskrit-based languages but added the names of stars to the front (because the prevalent religion of this region worships the stars [...]). So Ive ended up with names like Pavoprayag, Alyanaga, Alkaiduru, Alcorpura, Cygnapete, etc. Is this a consistent naming system or should I alter it in some way? The empire itself is named the Arcana Empire since [...] each act of my story is named after a tarot card [...]. Another region in my story is based more on parts of South China and North Vietnam, so I've tried to stick to names with a Chinese origin for that. I understand the significance of family names in southwest [sic] Asia, so I wanted to double check [...]. They have only two short given names. Based on the birth order of the child, the first half of the name comes from the fathers family and the second half from the mothers family. It is seen as disrespectful not to use both names because using only one is seen as denouncing that side of your family. Thus I have names like Su Yin, Dai Jun, and Yi Wen for some of the characters from this region, and the city itself that they are from is named Bei Fen. On the other hand, Im having further trouble naming characters. […] Ive been trying to give my human characters names from real human cultures to distinguish them from the website-generated names of say, orcs, elves, dwarves, etc, but I think I should change many of the names Ive used to be more original and avoid fracturing real world cultures for the sake of my worldbuilding. […] Im still very weak in the linguistics area (even after four years of French, sigh) and am having trouble finding where to read about naming patterns so I can make new ones up. I read your naming guides but am still having trouble on where to start for specific languages. […] Im trying to look into Sanskrit, Turkish, and Persian specifically.

You're Going Too Broad

In my opinion, you’re casting too wide a net. You mentioned looking into Sanskrit, Turkish, and Persian to develop fantasy names. These languages are very different from one another, so unless you’re using them separately for very different parts of your world, it will be hard to draw inspiration from them in a way that makes sense. You’re taking on a huge amount of research in order to worldbuild cultures that span a massive geographical area (basically all of North Africa and Asia?) and have very little in common. Are you sure you want to take on that task?

I could see it being more manageable if most of your story is set in a small region of this world, which you will then research in depth to make sure you’re being as specific as possible.

Taking Persian as an example, you’ll have to decide whether you want to use Old Persian, Middle Persian, or Modern Persian. Each of these comes with a different alphabet and historical influences. They’re also associated with different periods of time and corresponding cultural and social markers. Once you’ve decided exactly when and where you want to start from, you can then expand the borders of your area of focus. For example, if you’ve decided to draw inspiration from Achaemenid Persia, you can then look at the languages that were spoken in the Achaemenid Empire. A quick Google search tells me that while Old Persian was the empire’s official language, they also used Aramaic, Akkadian, Median, Greek, and Elamite (among, I’m sure, many many others and many more regional variations). Further research into each of these will give you ethnic groups and bordering nations that you can draw more inspiration from to expand out your worldbuilding.

Don’t forget to make sure you’re staying within the same time period in order to keep things consistent. It’s a lot of work, and this is only for a small portion of the continent-spanning worldbuilding you’re trying to do.

You can get away with painting the rest of the continent in broad strokes without too much depth if the story doesn’t go there and you don’t have any main characters from those parts of the world. Otherwise, you’ll need to put this same level of detail into your worldbuilding for the area with Turkish-inspired names, and again for the area with Sanskrit-inspired names, and so on.

I know this isn’t what you were asking, but I honestly have a hard time helping you figure out where to start because your ask is so broad I don’t quite know where I would start myself. So, this is my advice: focus down on one region and time period and go from there. Feel free to write back once you’ve picked a narrower focus that we could help you with.

- Niki

So there’s logistical issues in regards to your naming system for southern China-coded regions. One issue is history: mainly on how there is not simply one language in China but multiple due to having a lot of ethnic groups and the size of China. South China in particular has different dialects and languages than the North as seen in this map of Chinese languages and dialects. There’s also how historically Mandarin was not the official language until 1913 in China and historical China saw vast changes in territory dependent on the dynasty. Before then, Mandarin was primarily a northern Chinese language based in Beijing while southern China had its own languages, dialects, and dynamics. Not to mention, historical China saw an evolution of language just like English has Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, and Modern English. For instance, Vietnam was once part of China during the Tang Dynasty and at another point, it was not part of China.

-Mod Sci

If You’re Borrowing Whole Words or Elements, Research More

The other issue is inconsistency with the cultures you’re deriving this conlang from. In regards to “two given names,” the Chinese name I was given was one syllable and then I would have a last name that was also one syllable. There’s also how not every family is perfect. Not every marriage is sanctioned and some children may come from single parents. Some families may not cooperate with marriage and sometimes children may be abandoned with unknown parents. There does not seem to be contingencies for these names under this conlang system.

The main problem with conlangs is that one needs to truly understand the languages one is drawing from. Tolkein managed to create conlangs due to training in linguistics. Mandarin is already a difficult language with multiple tones, and trying to use it for conlangs without knowledge of how Mandarin works or a good foundation in linguistics is just a Sisyphean endeavor.

-Mod Sci

Four years of French wouldn’t have taught you about linguistics as a science or anything about the language families you’ve listed - Indo-Iranian, Sino-Tibetan, and Turkic, nor any Asian naming conventions. I agree with Niki that you need to narrow down your research.

Pur/pura means city in Sanskrit (ex: Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur). Prayag is a place where pilgrimages are done. Naga isn’t a place name in Sanskrit (google says it means snake), nagar is and it means town. X Nagar is a very common name for places (Ex: Rajinder Nagar). Many cities in Karnataka have names ending in uru (Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, Tumakuru, etc) but the language of Karnataka is Kannada - a Dravidian language and completely different family from Sanskrit (Indo-Aryan). I’m not sure where “pete” came from. “Bad” and “vaal” are common suffixes for places too (Ex: Faisalabad, Allahabad). A disclaimer that I do not speak Sanskrit, I speak Punjabi, which is a descendant of Sanskrit and in the same linguistic family (Indo-Aryan languages).

- SK

Also, This Is Not…Really Conlanging.

Hi OP. Linguistics refers to the science of studying how languages work, not the discipline of learning languages. And nothing shows that gap more than how you have thus far approached constructing fictional languages and toponyms. 

The reason why Sci and SK have a lot to say about your place names is because they don't resonate—you have borrowed whole words into your toponyms (place names) from a variety of languages—without an accurate understanding of what these words mean, how they’re pronounced, where they’re derived from—and expected them to work together. I suggest you read the links below on why conlanging is not as simple as choosing some languages and mashing their IRL words together: 

Why Using Random Languages Wholesale in your Fantasy is a Bad Idea 

Pitfalls of Mashing Countries and Languages in Coding

In your city names, for example, you’re using star names from multiple languages that use different sets of sounds represented by different sets of historical spelling rules. “Cygn-” and “Arcana” stick out like a sore thumb—the fact that one “c” is /s/ and one is /k/ is an obvious flag that they are Latin-derived English borrowings. This is because spelling rules were created in Middle English to make sense of the mix of “c” pronunciations across words of Indo-European origin due to a historical split called the Centum-Satem division. This is a phenomenon that is very specific to our world history, and to the history of English at that. Ironically, in your attempt to avoid stock fantasy names (which also often fall into the Latin-derived English pit), you are taking the exact same approach to naming.

Like Niki said, your selections are far too broad to code under a single umbrella. Do you expect that whatever language that city name came from runs the full gamut of sound inventory & spelling variety that spans multiple continents and hundreds of languages? Because that’s not how languages work. (And yes, I mean hundreds. Indigenous languages and linguistic diversity are a thing. See Niki’s note about just the languages in Persia. And nation-states bulldozing over those languages and pretending it’s just one language is a thing. See Sci’s note about China.) I haven't even talked about the variation in morphology (how words are formed) or syntax (sentence structure).

Please just read or re-read my guide on “naming conlangs” in this post and start from there.

~ Rina

PSA ON CONLANGING AND FANTASY NAMES:

For fantasy language asks submitted after Nov 1, 2023, the asker must indicate that they have read Mod Rina’s conlanging posts linked in FAQ 2 (Guides and Posts by Topic) of the Masterpost under the question “How do I make a fictional language for my story?” While this is an older ask, we are posting it as an example to our followers.

Per our new rules, any questions that can be directly answered in or extrapolated from the FAQs, or questions that indicate that the relevant resources haven’t been read, will be deleted with a note in the Deletion Log explaining why.

As always, if this post was helpful or educational to you, please consider tipping the relevant mods: SK, Niki, Sci, and Rina.

Edited for terminology errors

[im-ovulating]

hi, you may have seen my username recently in your notifications, i have gotten reobsessed with the arcana and i love your work.

may i request; the main six with a gn!partner who forgets/puts off taking care of themselves (eating, hygiene, etc.) unless theyre practically dragged off to do it? thank you!!

(A/n: I have and I appreciate all the support!❤)

Word Count: 1,944

Summary: If you won't take care of yourself, your partner will

Warnings: Various forms of self-neglect, Mention of injury/blood in Portia's, Reader's hair is long enough to put into a bun in Julian's

Age Rating: None

The Main 6 x Self Negligent! Reader

--------------------

Lucio:

"Who's a good boy?~"

Melchior flops over for belly rubs as you continue to coo at him, his female counter part having gone to lay down in the shade a bit ago.

"You are, you're such a good, handsome boy, aren't cha? Yes, you are! Yes, you are~"

You're in the garden playing with Mercedes and Melchior as you had been most of the day. Opting to enjoy your rare day of relaxation.

After a few more scratches to his kick spot, Melchior abruptly sits up before bolting behind you. Turning, you're met with the one and only, Count Lucio. You knew he'd show up eventually. He always does. Whether it's to bother you, escape the courtiers, or to genuinely spend time with you, the count always has a bit of time with you each day.

"Y/n." Never learned to properly greet, huh?

He strides over to the tree sheltering Mercedes from the blistering sun, plopping down uncountly to lean against it as well.

"Hey, Luci," You're lucky you're his partner or you'd never get away with calling him as such. "What's it today? Come to pester me about distracting the dogs? Or has Valerius been getting on your case again?"

He places a hand dramatically against his chest as he feigns innocence.

"What? I can't just visit you out of the kindness of my heart? I'm wounded, truly, I am."

"Har har. It was Volta, then?-"

"OH! I just can't stand it! How does she put so much away?? And the chewing noises-" He cuts himself off with a shiver. "Ughack."

There it is.

You can't help but laugh. "She really can out eat the best of them, huh?"

"Speaking of- Have you eaten today, darling?"

Uh oh.

"Yeah, totally!" You lie.

"That's good. The chef really knows his way around a duck," Lucio's hand fall to scratch between Merchior's ear as he rests his head in his lap.

You nod in agreement. "He really does," you hum.

"You know what's funny?"

"What?"

He spares a glance your way before returning his attention to the dogs.

"Lunch was veal, not duck..."

There's a silence before you rush to explain yourself.

"To be fair, I-"

"Uh uh, no excuses." Lucio stands, brushing the dirt off his trousers before offering you a hand up. "Let's go get some food in you, sweet."

There's no arguing with him, so you let out a sigh and let him hoist you up.

"Let's go, then..."

-

Portia:

"Hey, Y/n? Have you seen- Oh my god!"

Portia drops the basket she's carrying as she catches sight of your arm.

She rushes to you as you stand frozen in shock. Her outburst and sprint towards you happening a bit fast to process.

You're snapped out of it when she grabs your arm, gently guiding you to a wicker chair.

"What happened?" Her fingers lightly graze over the cut on your arm.

"I, uh, had a slip up with one of the garden tools."

She looks up at you as she asks, "When did it happen? Some of the blood's dry..."

"I don't know..." You look at you lap, "Maybe 1 or 2 hours ago?"

Her grip tightens. "Why haven't you bandaged it up?? I swear, you remind me too much of Ilya sometimes."

"I had a lot to do, so I figured it could wait." The branches above cast Portia's face in a scary light as she glares at you.

"You put off fixing your sliced open arm because you had work to do!?" Well, when she puts it like that...

"I'm sorry," you whisper, gaze still on your lap.

Her look softens. "Sweetie... I'm sorry for yelling at you. I just-"

She lets out a breath, "I know you forget to take care of yourself and I worry that one day, you'll get seriously ill or hurt and I won't be there to-" She cuts herself off and you don't say anything.

"C'mon," Portia pulls you up with her. "Let's get you patch up, hmm?"

As if she can sense your oncoming argument, she says, "You can finish your work after."

-

Julian:

You wince as your hair is tugged once more.

"Sorry! Sorry, love. I can't seem to get this hair tie out; it's got some hair tangled around it..." Julian says as he tries to pry the band out.

"It's fine. You don't have to do this you know. I should have stayed on top of it and not just thrown it into a bun."

"I know I don't HAVE to but I WANT to. I like taking care of you, which helps since someone-" he reaches around to bop your nose, "-forgets to do it themself."

"Got it!" With one final tug, the hair tie comes free of your tangled strands. "Do you still have the brush?"

You pass it back to him and make yourself comfortable against his legs. You already know it's going to take a while to get all the knots out.

Julain takes the brush in one hand and the best version of a section that he could separate and gets to work. A calm silence settles over the both of you as he works. He starts from the bottom, lightly dragging the brush through the tangles, his movements rhythmic as he moves the brush up bit by bit.

Once the section is done, he runs the brush from root to tip to ensure it's done.

Section through section, Julian combs through your hair, successfully detangling the week's worth of knots. By the time he's finished, you're practically asleep against him.

Brushing through your whole head once more, he finally speaks.

"We're finished, dear," He gently sits you up, laughing when you groan in protest.

-

Nadia:

"What do you mean they haven't eaten in two days!?"

Oh no. Here it comes.

You know she's not going to accept your reasoning, but you really wanted to get this done. So what if you were a bit hungry, you were on a roll and would lose your creativity if you stopped now. You're almost done anyway.

The door to your room opens and Nadia comes storming in.

"Mind explaining to me why the kitchen staff just told me you haven't even touched the food they've been bringing you the last two days?" She stands with her hands on her hips as she waits for your response.

"Um..." You know she knows. she just wants you to say it out loud.

Yielding, you finally say it. "I was working on something... It's for your birthday so I wanted to get it done."

She pinches the bridge of her nose. "As much as that is incredibly endearing, you shouldn't put yourself in dangerous situations for a gift."

You balk. "It's not a dangerous situation though. If I keep working, I'll have it done by tonight!"

"That would make it three days with no food, and I'm guessing no water if we stay on theme." You don't like how she read you so well...

Before you can't respond, Nadia continues. "What if it didn't get done today, or tomorrow, or the next day? How far would you push yourself to get this done? I know how passionate you get about things and that's why I'm so stern about it. You're willing to go 36 hours without food or water for a present; what if it was something bigger? You could, in all honestly, die because of your passion."

She's right. You hate that she's right, but she is nonetheless.

"That's not happening on my watch, petal. Let's get some food in you and then you can go back to work."

Yes! You thought she was going to ban you for the rest of the day.

"Only until dinner, then you're done for the day."

Damn it.

-

Asra:

"I'm going to start a bath, would you like to join me, Y/n?" Asra calls from the other side of the door.

You had been working on perfecting a spell for the last few days. You locked yourself in your old room-turned-study just in case something went wrong; only opening the door to grab the tray of food the magician would set out for you or to use the bathroom.

Unintentionally, you'd put off cleaning yourself, which is probably why Asra was asking.

A bath honestly sounded like pure heaven, but you were so close to getting the spell right.

Another knock sounds out and you sigh. You really should take them up on their offer, but what if you forget how you did it last time?

'That's why you've been logging every attempt,' you remind yourself.

'But what if-' 'No, you need to bathe.' You quickly scan your notes to make sure everything's in order.

Once you've concluded that every thing is as it should be, you call out a 'Coming' to your partner. You know he's still outside the door so you quickly put your things back in place and head to the door.

.

"Fucking hell..." You sigh as you sink into the hot water, leaning back to rest against Asra. The heat doing wonders for your sore back.

"Spending days hunched over a desk doesn't do much good for you, huh?" They tease you.

You simply hum in response as he grabs your favorite soap, lathering it up before massaging it into your tense shoulders.

"Relax, I've got you..." They rub over a particular spot that causes you to go lax. "Would you like me to help with your spell? I think I have some ingredients that might make it easier for it to do what you need."

"At this point, that's all I want," you chuckle.

"Thank you." you turn your head to press a kiss to his jaw.

"Anything for you, love."

-

Muriel:

"Y/n?" Muriel asks as he enters your shared room.

"Yeah?" You respond.

Have you ate or drank anything today? I don't think I've you leave the room today..."

"I haven't, but I'm plan to in a bit, I just want to finish this book first."

"Oh, okay." He turns to leave but pauses, turning back to you. "How much is left?"

"Uh..." you flip to the last chapter to do the math.

"Like, 16? Maybe 18. Why?"

Muriel stares at you for a moment before striding towards you. Once by your side, he gently grabs your book, marking your page and setting it to the side.

"Hey- What are you doing?"

He takes your hands as he answers, hauling you to your feet. "It's getting late, you need to get something into your system."

You're slightly taken aback, you have to admit. Muriel is rarely assertive; always mumbling or trailing off his sentences and just generally lacking confidence in himself. So for him to take the initiative to pull you from your reading with out so much as a stutter is a bit shocking.

"I know, but I already said that I'll do it once I finish my book." You lightly protest as you follow him through the hut.

"...You're not- You're not going to be able to finish it today, though..." Just like that any assertiveness is gone.

It makes you break, allowing him to sit you down and place a bowl of soup and a roll in front of you.

"Eat with me?" you request, taking a bite of the roll.

God, this man can cook. You don't know where he learned it, but he makes some of the best bread you've ever had -it practically melts in your mouth.

He nods, moving to grab his own food, sitting down across from you as you both talk about anything that comes to mind.

[nyxshadowhawk]

TWST Boys as Tarot Cards.

So apparently there's a theory that the 22 main characters of Twisted Wonderland are based on the 22 cards of the Major Arcana. I doubt it. (Compare to another visual novel, The Arcana, in which the characters are very obviously based on the Major Arcana.) But I got curious, and decided to arrange the boys according to the Major Arcana, just for fun:

0. The Fool — Ace An incoming freshman who just wants to have fun, and usually ends up along for the ride. He’s sort of an audience surrogate alongside Yuu. (It should really be Yuu in this position; Ace is obviously the Page of Cups. But we’re not doing the minor arcana.)

The Magician — Deuce Hardly the most powerful mage in the main cast, but one with the most potential, just at the edge of achieving his dreams. Also, his signature spell is pretty OP.

The High Priestess — Jade This one doesn’t fit perfectly, but I think it suits Jade’s role as Azul’s second-in-command, a mysterious and composed person who always knows more than he lets on.

The Emperor — Malleus This one’s pretty self-explanatory.

The Empress — Vil Also pretty self-explanatory. He’s not what I would call nurturing, but he embodies feminine power more than anyone else in the main cast.

The Chariot — Azul Defined by his ambition and determination, Azul grabs onto success with all eight legs.

The Lovers — Rook Obsessed with beauty, and torn between Vil and Neige at one point..

The Hierophant — Lilia The oldest member of the main cast, always willing to share his wisdom and life advice, with a sense of humor. (It would be funny to put him at The Hanged Man, since he’s always hanging upside-down, but it doesn’t suit his character.)

Strength — Jack I almost put Leona here (it’s usually a lion on the card), but Jack is a better fit. He’s streadfast, dedicated, a dependable friend, and has the most self-mastery of the freshmen.

The Hermit — Idia Self-explanatory.

The Wheel of Fortune — Floyd An unpredictable wild card.

Justice — Riddle Severe and unyielding, his devotion to the rules is second to none, and he administers harsh punishments for transgression. He’s not actually as cruel and arbitrary as he initially comes across, though, and his sense of justice becomes fairer.

The Hanged Man — Sebek It’s a little early to tell (I haven’t gotten up to date with book 7 because I’m stuck on those battle maps), but Sebek seems to be undergoing one of the most dramatic transformations of any of the main characters. He’s not exactly passive, but that’s part of the point — he needs to slow down and gain some maturity before he can do anything.

Death — Ortho It makes sense to put one of the Hades boys in this position, and… if ya know, ya know. Ortho’s story is also about breaking a state of stagnancy, ensuring that things change and move forward.

Temperance — Trey The most level-headed of the main cast, he’s always trying to temper Riddle’s wrath and keep things in balance. Also, he likes mixing things together to create tasty treats!

The Devil — Jamil The character most defined by limitation. He’s always holding himself back because of the hopeless situation he’s trapped in. He’s also duplicitous and a liar, he harbors spite, and and he holds all of Scarabia in bondage.

The Tower — Epel I’m putting him here just because he’s a little force of mass destruction! He doesn’t actually cause any true disasters or act as the harbinger of one.

The Star — Cater He approaches every situation with optimism, and tries to get the most out of life, despite (or because of) his own feelings. (Also, diamonds!)

The Moon — Leona After a lot of debating, I finally put Leona here. He’s not as mysterious as Jamil or Jade, but he’s quietly dealing with a lot of insecurity and fear, which he focuses on to the detriment of his strengths. I’ll be interested to see what he dreams about.

The Sun — Kalim A little ray of sunshine, the most genuinely happy of all the characters, who sees the good in everyone and brings joy wherever he goes.

Judgement — Silver Again, it’s a little early to tell, but Silver seems to be bringing a reckoning. He may be his friend’s only chance at redemption. Silver tends to take things at face value and assume the best of people, regardless of who they are or what they’ve done.

The World — Ruggie Through process of elimination, Ruggie arrives here. If I were making this an actual tarot deck, Ruggie would definitely be the Knight of Pentacles, and NRC itself would be The World.

[ihaveforgortoomany]

Puppykeeper AU!

(Based on the ask by @little-bunny-with-purple-stinger initally answered by Comrade @the-blossica-fan )

Summary: Sonetto joins Vertin and the others in the Breakaway Incident but this time it's Sonetto the sole survivor - becoming the TimeKeeper!

Yes I thought about this AU, and Im bored waiting for 2.1 and 2.4 respectively so indulge in my suffering in grabbing the ball and chucking it into the next era.

Major Differences to Canon:

Her relationships to early game cast, espeically Regulus and Druvis is much rougher in canon - the story will have a focus on Sonetto attempting to build these connections over time. Team TK in this AU have alot of growing pains.

Sonetto even as TK is more sheltered, a "looking through the glass" perspective to the outside world in comparison to Vertin, she takes much longer to adapt to operating outside of direct orders of the Foundation.

Vertin being essentially dead in this AU, she gets to haunt the narrative this time :) (mostly)

Overhaul to Books 1/2 as seen in the previous post (look for the au tag idk to link in mobile):

Extended time in 1920s Chicago - from 33 hours to a week.

Schneider is more prominent in this AU, this is friends to enemies to reluctant partners to lover yuri! Yes Schnieder also survives the 1920s Storm in this AU. She will occupy Vertin's role as a spark of rebellion and insight for Sonetto into Italian culture!

Other differences:

As all ages are the same Matilda is not Sonetto's Chief Assistant: shes currently still in SPDM until 2.0 event story.

Main story differences in broad very broad ideas: @the-blossica-fan comrade feel free if u want to add anything:

Book 3/4

😅 Complete overhaul again, Schnieder barely survives the Storm and is rendered into a coma, immediately is taken by the Foundation and monitored (so again taking Vertin's place). Sonetto and the early TK Team is still separated and pressured into joining the Foundation. Sonetto does follow her canon arc in the story but with the added eventual goal to create a Bill that gives the people that she saves more freedom - cue Reformation Bill as part of the Chicago Branch trial. Over the course of the story Sonetto slowly learns why Vertin goes to such lengths to escape SPDM, the Bill as the first step.

(Btw Book 3 is not only flashbacks of the Breakaway but also more as well from Schneider as Mesmer is put in charge of her, as the request of Sonetto)

Book 5

💀 Aperion is my achilles heel in every sense, so heres the general idea of what I will alter:

Events more or more play out the same, differences being Schnieder's presence causing a strain in her and Sonetto's very rocky relationship so far, and greater emphasis and involvement of Sophia. Yes Sonetto will speak out in the Hall by attacking Arcana, yes she will be put on trial for her transgessions.

But how does she win the arguement? Well. She doesn't.

But someone does intervene to aid her, team TK wasn't the only visitors of the island at that point: a duo had appeared shortly before very did. One of them is claimed by 37 as a 0, their interference saves Sonetto's life.

Ok major divergence from Canon:

The presence of Urd and "Skuld":

(Very clunky naming system just playing with the Three Norns from Norse Mythology, Urd being fate and Skuld being present. Also because Verdandi is too much on the nose)

Turns out Vertin is very not dead! In the Breakaway Vertin does still have her immunity, Sonetto surviving may have been because of her (aka this is me telling you im leaving it ambiguous because i too dont know, im making it work in a narrative sense). Vertin unseen to Sonetto is miraculously picked up by Urd, so mother-daughter duo travelling the world and gaining insight and haunting the damn narrative as Urd already does but double the annoyance to people figuring out who is who.

So Vertin is a editor and photographer for UTTU alongside her mother, knowing the truth of the Storm and can only watch Sonetto from a distance, only interfering with necessary. Hence saving her in the trial. How does she not recognise Vertin? Through manipulation of the fog, we know on some level the Storm can infect memories so lets say the duo can similar to the immunity can obscure facts about themselves.

So anyways, Sonetto was tasked to find the pair (duo name TBA) similar to Vertin in canon on the Island. Tie it back to seeing the outside world promise Vertin gave her and boom, two motivations for Sonetto, fulfil the wish of an old friend and now seek the people that might have answers to the Storm especially the one that eerily reminds her of Vertin.

More or less everything plays out the same, Sonetto does get more involved with 37, again growing pains with Sonetto learning to be a more charismatic leader alongside Schneider giving tips.

In terms of events: more or less the same, where Vertin is replace with Sonetto (Uluru), for Greenlake sans Vertin replace with Schneider (general idea again I point to @schneiderenjoyer 's AU they did a Greenlake event with Schnieder, its more or less the idea here with ofc no Vertin).

Ok thats all for now folks! Feel free to change or add anything. Feel free to ask as well I like to feed the brainworms now and again

[maymeteorite]

i think a lot of people go the superficial route when comparing nge & p3 which is mostly fine because a fair amount of the comparison can be pretty surface level (shadows don't work the same as angels, really, & becoming lost isn't quite the same as instrumentality either) BUT. HOWEVER. BUT.

the main cast can draw a lot of parallels with the nge cast—aigis/rei, makoto/shinji, ryoji/kaworu—the search for humanity & identity, finding solace in others & opening yourself up to emotional relationships, & learning to love humanity so deeply despite not being human yourself.

the most common parallel i see people make for asuka is with yukari; both a bit irritable, themed around red/pink, issues with their mothers, etc.

hear me out though. asuka's archetype is not fulfilled by yukari.

it's junpei.

asuka's primary issue with shinji is that she feels he's taking her spotlight; something she believes she's worked hard for, & she doesn't feel she has anything else going for her other than being an eva pilot. so when her only solace is threatened, she lashes out. she's resolute in what she wants, & she never questions herself.

sounds familiar, doesn't it?

once junpei becomes a part of sees, he starts thinking his primary use & role is irreplaceably tied to his persona & his abilities. he's obsessed with attempting to shoehorn himself in as leader because he's put all his cards in this basket; he doesn't see himself as having worth outside of this one thing that he can do. he needs to feel powerful & strong, & he can't rationalize that someone else is fulfilling the role he wants.

they both can be highly reckless when it comes to proving themselves (asuka insisting on taking on angels solo, junpei running off during the first arcana shadow, etc), they both lash out at their respective mc & blame him for things in the heat of the moment that he couldn't possibly control. they both have this desperate need to be seen & recognized, & their "power source" (i.e. junpei's persona, asuka's eva) is everything to them.

yukari just has too much of a primary arc around finally choosing what she really wants & understanding her own motivations to fulfill the same archetype asuka does. i think people default to her because they see asuka & rei as "love interests" for shinji before they see their actual characters, hence the parallels with the two most commonly accepted female "love interests" for makoto.

but it's junpei. that role is filled by junpei. the bravado, the arrogance, the insecurity; it's all there. his personality just doesn't match with asuka's on a surface level, so i think the comparison tends to get lost.

yeah. anyways.

[odera]

Hi tumblr! I figured I would reintroduce myself here, since I have decided tumblr is simply my favorite place to share online *still* to this day.

My name is Odera and I am a painter and illustrator! The main places you can find me are here, my side blog @burritobowlofthepelvis, my website, and @ oderaigbokwe on IG. I'm physically located on the unceded ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh nations (aka known as Vancouver Canada).

Alot of my work centers the magic of the African diaspora and the Black Queer Imagination. The foundational years of my career were complimentary to Black speculative works, Afrofuturism, and Fantasy as a gateway to healing. This has since grown to explore the spirit based, ancestral work of the diaspora, and most recently I have been combining it all and trying to find that magic in the physical, daily, embodied things.

My side blog is @burritobowlofthepelvis which I am slowly but surely reorganizing. This blog is filled with reblogs for inspiration, potential reference images, more casual glimpses of my life, selfies, and outfits of the day. (Some of the reblogs are NSFW, so minors DNI there). Ultimately I am trying to use that blog as a combination journal/resource for my sketchbook.

Below are some of my favorite paintings and illustrations over the years that give an idea of the kinds of things I am exploring or have done throughout my career.

The Spirit Child. 2022. Oils on board. This painting is the centerpiece of my series of Tarot/Oracle/Afrodiasporic Divination paintings. The series is slowly but surely coming together, and once I get to the minor arcana I am excited to make some stylistic shifts that not only match the messaging but are also much faster to make.

Selections from my solo exhibition 'New Yam Festival'. These paintings are all big, juicy, vibrant, improvisational, and embody the playfulness, pleasure, and joy of the Black Queer imagination! Up until that point I was working mostly at a smaller scale (anywhere from 8x10 to 20x30 inches). So it was fun to size up to 6-8 feet for each of these!

Above are some of my favorite commercial illustrations for book covers and comics. Covers are their own particular fun design challenge, but of all the illustration assignments they can feel the most fulfilling to me.

And something classic from the archive: Odera Redesigns the cast of Sailor Moon.

I can't believe most of those were created almost 10 years ago. But that's where we are, and it feels good to still want to use this platform despite how much the world is changing.

Feel free to reblog, like, comment, or ask me any questions you have!

[owlhousetarot]

How do you keep it all running? You've inspired me to make my own deck based on a show I love, but how do you find these moments? Do you go in and analyze scenes from the show? Do they come to you in random thought? I just don't feel as organized or like it's coming together, so what's your process cause I get the feeling it would help me greatly.

OHHHHHH IVE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK ABOUT MY PROCESS ASSIGNING CARDS!!

First of all, that's so cool I've inspired you to make your own fandom deck! It's a really fun way to develop your artistic abilities and to analyze a piece of media, and I was definitely inspired by fandom decks that I've seen made by other people. Now for my ramble:

My process for assigning designs to all the cards took quite some time, and a great deal of thought. The first real "step" was to watch the show through like five times beforehand, which was easy because I had already done that by the time I decided to start this deck! It's important to have a good understanding of the characters, overall plot, and themes of the show to make sure your choices fit. It's also really helpful to take in analysis of these things from the fandom and not just yourself, because a lot of the time people will have identified themes or analyzed characters to a deeper extent or in ways you never would have thought to!

The next part of the process was learning the meanings of all the cards in a tarot deck. I was actually almost completely unfamiliar with tarot before starting this project, so this was a real from-the-ground-up scenario. The two websites I mainly refer to are Labyrinthos and Biddy Tarot, which both are based on the Rider-Waite-Smith tarot tradition--I didn't even know there were other types of decks before! Going through both of those websites, my first round of card assignments was based purely on my memory of the show, seeing what came to mind, if anything. There were a LOT of blank spots in my list at this point, especially in the minor arcana sections, and also a lot of initial choices that I would later change my mind about. Lots of ideas with question marks after them, and lots of cards that I listed multiple options for.

From there, it was a largely iterative process. I went back and forth watching the show and looking at the card definitions, building up my list over time, revising choices and adding ones where before I couldn't think of anything. Another resource that was really helpful at this stage was watching deck reviews/walkthroughs/deep dives on youtube. I'd especially like to shoutout Lisa Papez for her really thorough deep dives and for her Tarot for Beginners series--they gave me a much better understanding of the tarot, and a better sense of how and why to properly assign a character or scene to certain cards.

After a while, I had my list more or less complete, with at least one idea for each card. At this point I had already begun illustrating the major arcana, as those were the easiest to assign. Luckily for me, The Owl House really lends itself well to the tarot--The Fool, for example, was a no-brainer (as you might be able to tell from other TOH decks that exist out there). Now that I had a general game plan, I wanted to fine-tune my choices by taking into mind character balance and episode balance.

For character balance, I wanted to make sure that the amount of times a given character would be either the main focus or part of the focus of a given card would correlate to the size of their role in the show. Luz, of course, is the main character and features in every episode, so she is in nearly half the deck. Eda, King, Hunter, and the Hexsquad are also up there, with the rest of the cast trailing off from there. If I thought a certain character was either over- or under-represented, I would switch up certain cards or choose one option over another if I was considering multiple designs for a card. I was especially mindful that all the major characters would feature at least once in the major arcana, which led me to assigning the Chariot to Amity and Willow as a duo, and the Hanged Man to King. (The Chariot, if I may note, was one of the more difficult ones to assign in the majors. Not sure why, just not too many obvious choices came to me!)

Episode balance was a little trickier to nail down, as some episodes just have more significant moments than others do. Premiers and finales ended up with more cards than usual, as did the three season 3 specials. I tried to find at least one significant scene or character from each episode, but in the end there are four episodes that don't feature at all in this deck: Once Upon a Swap, Something Ventured Someone Framed, Really Small Problems, and Follies at the Coven Day Parade. Those are the decisions that come with the territory, though--I would rather have my card designs fit the definitions than potentially sacrificing a better choice for the sake of a less significant episode! In the end, I'm happy with the choices I've made, and I can't wait to get to all of them!

TLDR This is my general advice for designing your own fandom deck:

Familiarize yourself with the text. Analyze characters, plot points, and themes. Take inspiration from fandom analysis.

Familiarize yourself with the tarot. Consult multiple sources, and feel free to stretch the card definitions a bit if it makes sense to you (lookin' at you, two and three of wands).

Do a first pass-through from memory of the show, assigning designs as you go through the card definitions. Include multiple possibilities for those you're unsure about, or leave them blank for now.

Do a close-reading style watchthrough of the show, going through your unsure/blank cards after each episode to see if anything fits. If something better comes up for a card you were pretty sure about, add it as a possibility, or see if it could fit another card if you spin it a different way. Repeat this process until you've got a pretty full list.

Continue revising your list, keeping in mind character and episode balance. Are you under-representing your major characters? Over-representing more minor characters? Are you hitting most of the important scenes from the show/book/etc? Keeping these in mind will result in a well-rounded deck!

My final bit of advice: have fun with it! You can do whatever you want forever! There's a side character you're really fond of who appears more often than they should? Who cares! That one cool scene doesn't really fit any of the card definitions? Leave it out or make shit up! Maybe the design you choose really only fits the card's reversed definition and not the upright--that's perfectly fine! Assign that female character to one of the "male" court cards or vice versa! The tarot is not rigid; definitions are malleable and people's general understanding of the decks have shifted greatly over time. Every deck will have slightly different takes on what each of the cards mean, and yours will too. So go with what feels right!

[the-blossica-fan]

Greetings!

✨Actors Au✨- Everyone is alive and buddies with each other!

Fun behind the scenes of the main chapters (Sonetto having a completely different accent when talking as a callback to her va, same with Schneider)

(Vertin, Arcana and Constantine being actual buddies irl outside of filming etc etc)

Have fun with this au!

Greetings, comrade!

I love how you say "have fun with this AU" because you KNOW I will nerd this one out.

And I will, I'm about to rn

I should probably warn you I went a bit weird with this one

I accidentally published this earlier because of an accident so, yeah...

Thinking of this, so many things could happen backstage, though I love to think of this:

When it comes to scenes like Arcana torturing Schneider, there were moments where Vertin just laughed. Arcana could have stuttered a bit and Vertin would be holding her laughter, ruining the scene and making Arcana laugh along.

Thinning that Constantine, Vertin and Arcana are good friends, a picture of them side by side would just be two 30-40 women and a 16 y/o girl in the middle like 👍

They're making jokes of each other backstage and how they messed up so badly in some scenes

"Constantine, remember when you accidentally collapsed the card tower?" -Vertin

"Oh my God don't remind me of that!" -Constantine

"OH I remember that! Druvis was so professional, I would have laughed so bad!" -Arcana

Speaking of Druvis, in and out of the stage she is a professional, keeping a formal distance from everyone around her. It's not like she doesn't like them, she's pretty much like her character, someone who's very awkward and asocial. She's really sweet though.

Druvis III: My friend, Lilya, once took me to take a couple drinks... I, I am not proud of what happened there

Cuts to a horrible quality video narrated by Lilya while Druvis is T-posing on top of a table chanting incantations

Lilya: And here we have- (hic) a veeeery special specimen, Drruvis the thirrd, T-posing to assert her dominance over the- (hic) the masses!

Druvis III: I weave the gown with thorns. You shall repay with sacrifices of wounds.

Lilya: OH- OH NO SHE'S JUMPING! MATILDA OUT OF THE WAY

Very loud squeak of pain while the phone falls to the floor, the video cuts

Speaking of Matilda, girl is really friendly outside of her acts, but she was cast as, well, herself for a reason. She's still pretty much a girl failure

Many takes had to be retold because she had problems with remembering English words, especially after her french lines. Though her accent is quite funny both, in and out of the set. She and Sonetto actually have such a nice relationship, outside of acting, they're actually great friends

Though not dating or having a crush on one another, Sonetto addressed this in an interview but fans are still shipping them.

[tokyo-tower-symbolism]

I've been meaning to get into the re:live game story for a while now, but I don't know how necessary the event stories are in comparison to the main and school stories...

do you have a recommended reading order for main story and events if the timeline makes them interspersed?

Uhh, there was this one good google doc that had a bunch of stuff like what stories were important for each character, but I cannot find that right now so I'll do my best from memory but honestly I might miss a couple things so my bad.

Edit: thank you @pallastronomy for finding the doc in question, i really wanted to read that again too

To read it you can go to the wikia, read it on karth.top, or look up the parts on Youtube. That last one might be the best since you'll get the full visual novel experience.

So first off I would suggest reading the first part of the story, so Main Story chapters 1-6. Well, suggest is a strong word. I think those chapters kinda suck, but I guess they're necessary for the premise and to introduce the characters? But then again they abandon the original premise half way in favor of the performance festival so whatever. And if you want a better introduction to the characters you should read the School Stories (ignoring SJH) and also maybe watch Shoujo Cante All Starlight. So really I don't suggest you read those chapters but

I think at this point you are can read the event stories from "Hello to Halloween" to "Surprise! Rehearsal Friends!"

And you don't need to read them all, but they're fun! I couldn't really tell you which ones are super important to the plot, sorry about that. Honestly my personal opinion at this point is to just pick a couple characters you like to follow and read their stories. You can see who participates in each one on the Revue Starlight wikia

Plus, character card bond stories! Each event has a couple gacha cards they're trying to sell, and sometimes they're not super related to the story, but sometimes they are. If someone references something that happened off screen, it either happened in an earlier event or in the bond card, but I'd still only read the bond cards once you're done reading the event is over since otherwise they can be spoilers. Just think of those as prequels instead of preludes.

Then at this point you can read Main Story Chapters 7-11. And I really do think you should read these since they are juicy. There's a new plot and we really get to dive deep into the ReLive characters and see their individual pasts and why they now stand on stage. It's great.

Now for the Event Stories, feel free to read any story from "Starry Diamond Tragic Orion" up until "Royal Retainer"

Although now I gotta bring up some caveats. Anything with Seiran is not going to matter to the main plot of ReLive, and if you're curious about them, then that gets into Stage Play Territory which is much easier to follow but not in ReLive.

And honestly same with the Seisho only stories. They're fun, don't get me wrong, but they kinda don't affect the developments of the cast at all.

Starry Diamond is a live show that had some Revues, so some of the relive events are just rehashings of those. Except Venus & Cupid Story, which is a sequel to Zeus no Chuusai from the Starry Diamond Live, and that revue is actually super important to the Yumeoji Sisters's story but it is not in ReLive.

And once you've had your fill of those stories, you can start reading Main Story Chapters 12-18, Arcana Arcadia. And this one is really good. Iirc, the main revue starlight writer came in for these parts. There's some info that directly leads into the movie. And it's honestly great.

But the issue is that there are intermission bond stories that need to be read in the middle of the chapters. If you are reading it online that can be kind of pain, but in the game I think it's in the right order? I could not say for sure since I don't actually play it. Anyways, here's the vague order according to the wikia, but I'm not 100% on this

Chapter 12: 1-2

Chapter 13: Tower, Hermit, Empress, 1-3, High Priestess, 4-5, Magician, 6-9, Hanged Man, Strength, 10-15

Chapter 14: Wheel of Fortune, Chariot, 1-2, Lovers, 3-14, Faith, Hierophant, 15

Chapter 15: 1-2, Devil, Sun, Justice, 3-15

Chapter 16: Death, Charity, 1-15

Chapter 17: Temperance, 1, Fool, 2-4, World, Judgement, 5-15

Chapter 18: Hope, 1-9, Emperor, 10-14, 15/Moon

So yeah, after this you have basically free reign to read the remaining event stories. The next big ongoing plot seems to be about Siegfeld Junior High, but that one also isn't really connected to the previous stories at all.

Also some cards have connecting bond stories even without events, such as the Frontier Rangers, Orpheus, Camelot, Snow White, and Yin-Yang.

But for real, I think the best way to get into the story is to read the main story and then see what characters you like. Then you can read along all their bond stories and events that they star in, and maybe you'll find other characters that stand out. If you are missing any information, usually characters will reference whatever they are talking about, so you won't be completely lost.

So yeah, I hope you have fun with the relive story! It touches on a lot of the themes from the show and honestly I just really liked seeing the characters again. And also Arcana Arcadia is great, just so great.

[runner-owen]

WIP: Farewell Vesperos

One sentence synopsis: in a Victorian inspired world of eternal night, a pious transman is ordered by a vampire hunting prince to find a killer

Vibes: flickering candlelight, dusty furniture, mysterious noises in the dark, blood pooling on wooden floors, black feathers, wicked grins, leather gloves, old lockets, paintings hidden by shadows, disembodied footsteps, faded ballrooms, messages carved into walls

Comp Titles: Dracula meets Anastasia

Features: intelligent, compassionate, autistic protagonist - gay villainous love triangle - evil vampire hunters and vampires - lost heirs - class differences - goddess worship - diverse cast - queer accepting society -

Characters:

Owen Rosedown

Prince Aurum Von Domini

The Scarred Man

Lawrence Rhyne

Caroline Asphodel

Locke Hepatica

Nora Brassman

Father Gideon Valentine

Reds

The Goddess

[eventually you'll be able to click names to see information on them!]

Playlist:

Phantasmagoria - Ashbury Heights

Flashback - The Birthday Massacre

Once Upon a December - Invadable Harmony

Nothing's Impossible - Depeche Mode

Undying Love - Nox Arcana

BONUS: Feral's Keep, a serialized dark erotica au of the main timeline

More to come