#the difference is that Katarina has never considered even the thought of Geordo being her romntic partner

[vulturevanity]

I love that Selena is a parallel to Katarina in that they're both very dumb ladies engaged to princes they don't realize are severely head over heels for them, and the dramatic irony is that Katarina never even gets close to making this connection -- but the glaring difference is that Selena so desperately loves prince Ian that she can be manipulated into kidnapping someone for him, while Katarina is simply vibin' so hard no amount of dark magic can touch her pristine heart.

Edit: WAIT NO FUCK

The parallel works much better if we disregard romantic intentions!! Katarina loves her friends fiercely and intensely, and that includes Geordo! And she cannot let herself believe that her friends love her too, because she's too caught up on the thought that she's The Villainess, their nemesis, the one who ruins everyone's lives, the one forever doomed, to realize that she's more than a stupid girl who fails at everything! God. Okay I changed my mind, season 2 has rights

[sparklingmusicofstars]

hello,

After I recently read the Hamefura light novel and watched the anime, I started to think the author had naughty tastes, because this story is similar to a hentai/ecchi novel/anime, when a prince is engaged to a princess, then the prince has the right to do what he wants. he wants from the princess, including kissing her or doing lewd things to her, even though the princess doesn't love him and doesn't want to do those lewd things...

I see that a fiancé's self-esteem is non-existent, the prince doesn't understand the princess's feelings for not wanting to do things. the pervert was forced (kissing adults without the princess's permission first)..

thankfully we, with the help of the other harem, kept Katarina away from Geordo's perverted actions..

just imagine if Katarina and Geordo were alone for too long at a time without anyone near them, of course Geordo will act like a fiancé, including these perverted acts, maybe Geordo can restrain his lust for a few moments, but when the right time comes, Geordo will definitely commit even more perverted acts, of course assuming Katarina is his fiancé so he has the right to have her without needing her. Katarina's permission first (I'm sure of that).. not to mention here I see that Geordo is forcing his feelings on Katarina too much. It's true that Geordo allows Katarina to be free to make friends with anyone and to be free for anyone to approach her, because Geordo doesn't want to see Katarina sad by limiting her. friendship..

but the author seems to like hentai stories with wild love that ends in sexual passion.. it's a shame..

I don't see any pure romantic stories here, only forced love stories that end with a perverted adult kiss.. different from the reverse romance that I like I know all this time, I hope the author reads my disappointment here...

Katarina deserves better happiness than Geordo, with Katarina's own choice, Katarina seems to have no self-esteem since her memory came back and got engaged to Geordo, the author should have let Katarina decide for herself with whom she's engaged to other than geordo, not a love based on otome game route rules... thanks

Hello,

I honestly never thought of Hamefura as a story close to erotic. In fact it's even one of the less erotic I ever saw.

Because the most sexual scene we ever saw in the whole series was when Sora pushed Catarina down a bed.

Geordo is not as perverted as he looks because he gets really nervous when faced with a romantic gesture.

I think the author created Geordo like this because this kind of guy is generally popular with girls. He is the possesive, sexual and proactive one. Unfortunately the author never made up anything about engagements ; generally the prince in almost all stories has the right to do what he wants to his fiancée. For example : How did Raeliana survive in the duke's mansion, 7 times loops....ect

Geordo mainly acts like that because he is really desperate to be with Catarina and he never asked her for her feelings because he was afraid of her answer, like most of the harem. And he is worried all the time that someone could "take her" when he's not here because of Catarina's innocent demeanor so he wants to make her his as soon as possible, it's a bit of a child's personnality.

The author also introduces all the men in the harem (and not just the harem) as lewd in a way...even Alan ! So I guess that Geordo is the only one who acts openly because he has the right to do so.

We must also take in consideration Catarina's denseness, all the harem member agree to say that making active approaches is the only way to make Catarina noticing their feelings and so Geordo tries to make romantic gestures that could not be considered as simple friendship.

Though of course that doesn't mean I'm okay with Geordo's actions, I agree that he should let Catarina have more freedom and not try to force his feelings on her too much.

In fact I wanted Catarina to avoid being engaged to Geordo as children so they could have a real love story and ending where Catarina considers their engagement as a positive thing and not some kind of chain that keeps her from acting like she wants.

Oh, and I agree that the author has a bit of naughty tastes but to me she rather seems to love stolen love stories and love affairs.

[lady-griffin]

I love your posts and insights, thus, I was curious on your insight on "Do you think the harem thinks of each other as friends and not just rivals?" Like would they actually bond outside spending time with Katarina? like the boys having their own meetings and past times and such.

Thank you so much @ineedglassesalways that means a lot!

Sorry for the late reply. I’m not really sure. 

I personally like to think they’re all friends, but I can’t say we really have a ton evidence that supports that idea. At the same time, while some relationships are definitely more fraught than others – we’ve never been told or really seen that they all secretly hate each other or can’t stand one another.

I’d imagine like any large friend group there are definitely closer relationships among the different members. You can’t be best friends with everyone in your friend group.

I would say that (especially in the Light Novels) that Keith and Geordo, definitely have the most antagonist and least friend-like relationship within the group. In their POVs they basically can’t stand the other and hate the other’s close relationship with Katarina. And if I’m not mistaken the two have even thought about how much they hate the other (though it’s been a while since I read the books or at least Covid has made it seem like forever ago.

Geordo hates that Keith as family member gets a certain closeness to Katarina and is probably the one who spends most of the time with Katarina.

And Keith hates that Geordo as Katarina’s fiancé is socially allowed to have a more flirtatious or forward approach to her – Geordo is allowed to act on his feelings. Keith isn’t.

I would also say the second most fraught relationship within the group is between Geordo and Mary.

Geordo just gets the most antagonist-based relationships, because as Katarina’s official fiancé and because he’s a black hearted prince – he is a different kind of rival than the others and much more of a “threat” in regards to who will win over Katarina in the end. I don’t know if Keith or Geordo would like each other, even if you removed the Katarina factor. But I would say with Geordo and Mary, I can 100% see them being friends, if Katarina wasn’t in the picture.

Aside from those two relationships. I do genuinely believe they all like each other to some degree (at the very least). They are able to work well enough with each other and while their rivalry does define pretty much all of their relationships with one another, there are friendships based within that rivalry.

Kind of like how they all are willing to work with one another to protect Katarina or get in the way of Geordo – I also like to think they all work extremely well together with making sure no more rivals make an appearance and the reason Katarina doesn’t have a fanclub (like they all do – according to Katarina), isn’t because she doesn’t have one, but the fact that her Harem is honestly that terrifying.

Geordo is friends with Alan and Nicol. And so is Keith – so aside from maybe some more hostility between those two, I can see the guys hanging out. And in some of the extra comics in the Light Novels we do see that.

But I would say, in my opinion, the guys definitely think of one another as rivals rather than friends. Not saying they’re not, but that’s how it comes across to me. 

The girls are definitely friends with one another, as well as rivals. I would say that it comes across as while the girls always keep in mind that they are rivals, they do consider one another to be friends. 

I think you could make an argument that the reason we don’t really see the harem members hang out with each other (away from Katarina) is because that means someone else could be doing so – which is unacceptable to all of them.

Again, thank you so much for the ask. And I’m sorry for the late reply.

[mercuriallycooperative]

Regarding Mary Hunt

(this post got long... I was rambling in Discord earlier today...)

I always get the impression our-timeline Mary is actually really... energetic in the "if I slow down, I'll start thinking about the things that upset me" way? And also that she may actually be the least secure-feeling of the harem, despite appearances. In some ways, I think our Mary is actually less confident than Fortune Lover Mary, because in FL she's been engaged with Alan, the man she loves, her whole life, and has just been steadily working to (successfully!) become admirable for that position. Yes, FL Mary is lonely because she's become Admirable at the cost of being placed on an unapproachable pedestal as she can't let anyone know she's anything other than perfect (I think she'd understand either FL Geord or even our Geord, in that respect, what with their Perfect Prince routine, which is why I made brief mention of it when I was writing 'we make our own luck in this world'), but until Maria comes along, there's no indication that she might lose Alan; he's a good man who doesn't seem like he'd have an affair, and nobles probably marry for politics all the time, and she and him actually do get along even if his feelings aren't the same as her own. FL Mary has been able to hold onto all the things she's gotten, or rather, the person. (Unfortunately, she, like our Mary, doesn't have peace in her family.)

But our Mary has always had a load of people competing for the woman she loves, and Mary's not engaged to Kat; there's no security in any sort of permanent position by her side. Or, well, as a best friend and as sisters-in-law (is that how it is when you're married to a pair of brothers?) which isn't nothing, but it's... It's not the same. Not here. Moreover, Katarina's fiancé is literally a prince with a perfect rep; he's not even some fifth son known for running around making trouble for the family name, he's a well-regarded perfect golden boy. Katarina has never been someone Mary could have any guarantee of keeping, so to speak.

So while FL Mary is made more steady by her engagement to Alan, because he's someone she has some sense of security to stay beside and support, our Mary doesn't have that, and I think that's a strong contributor to quite how... high strung? seemingly-excessively-dramatic? possessive? she gets about things?

And to be clear, I’m not excusing some of the suss things about Mary’s behaviour- like, when reccing Hamefura, I’ve honestly felt a little compelled to cw for Mary before, specifically the active efforts to keep Alan from realizing his feelings (not just not telling him, it's not her job to tell him how he feels, but rather the "planting seeds of doubt" part), and, moreso than that, for how she prefaces her "let's run away" talks with Kat with "I'm not suitable to be a prince's fiance". If it's telling the truth, fine; I would honestly rather interpret her as having complex feelings about her engagement and her suitability for it, and not have her be straight-up lying; as I said, I think our Mary is less confident than FL Mary. If I write about her dealing with any of this, I’ll probably tell the interpretation where she’s being truthful here, just conflicted. But if she's straight-up lying, it’s to lead Kat in a direction without her knowledge, predicated on causing Kat to think she’s not good enough. (Actually, rereading this, minor edit, whether or not she's straight-up lying, this probably isn't a spontaneous moment of spilling thoughts, this is written as a calculated play.) And that's like, dude. Really not okay. (Regardless of whether or not Kat is actually suited for the role, or whether other people have just been telling her that plainly in other situations.)

At the same time, I think it's easier for me to see where Mary's coming from, because she comes across as someone running on "one bad day away from a panic attack, THIS IS A GOOD WAY TO HANDLE THINGS, RIGHT?" And also, she’s 15. I remember being 15 and sitting in my head and honestly, all things considered, I can see how she'd get to "this is how I hold onto someone" if she hasn't had a good object lesson or example of "why not to do that" or "this is what you do instead". Actually, she's probably the person with the least adult-role-model influences in her life, in Hamefura proper. Since the Ascart parents are great, the Claes parents may be full of obliviousness and [insert my Midkey Issues About Miridiana here but that’s a different post entirely] but they also genuinely care and seem like they try and show it in, if not perfect, at least less.... troubling ways. And the Stuart household... has its own issues which play into the Geordo half of this anaylsis [not shown here because Geordo has everyone and their cousin on his discourse, it’s fine without me adding to it], but at minimum their older brothers care, and were probably decent role models.

So like. I dunno, this went all around the place. Just, I think that Mary’s sometimes rather not great behaviour about the others comes less from a place of actual... ruthlessness? And more from a place of “this is all I can do, isn’t it?” And also, her family life is uh, not spectacular, and it’s no wonder she’s so willing to ditch, as noted in this post by virovac. Like, certainly, in light of all this, I’d consider Mary’s, hm, clinginess? to be completely understandable.

She just needs to maybe have an opportunity to learn that even if it helps for a short while, manipulating people is no way to keep them. I don’t think she’s really had that chance, nor any role models to teach it, and she’s not the sort who’d have taken it up from stories.

She deserves that chance.

[masterhandss]

Honestly the anime is seriously starting to get on my nerves with how it's handling Geordo, like it's seriously coming across like they got a vendetta against him. This episode seriously bugged me because I was excited to see Geordo's adorable blushy face and excitedness over spending time with Katerina animated (especially after last episode's creepy portrayal of him too) but instead we got this garbage. And all the anime only folks are gonna continue to get the wrong idea of Geordo's feelings.

I get that feeling! I’ve been hyping up this episode in my brain ever since someone leaked all the episode previews ;; w ;; I thought Geordo fans can finally win with the episode considering how cute his manga chapter was, and use that to heal for the atrocity of last week, but never mind huhu. 

I feel so bad when I see fans from several different platforms mention how creepier and creepier he seemed to them, when that’s not really the case at all. He seems a lot more confident in himself in the anime, and while that’s well deserved considering that he’s a capable man, its at the cost of his more sensible and soft sides. Idk I think if Jeord (LN) is 75% cocky and Geordo (anime) is like 90% cocky, If you compare the manga and the anime, it’s like the anime version’s smirk gives the impression that Katarina’s confession is the likely outcome to her letter, while the manga’s soft smile and blush gives the impression that he’s hoping for her confession to be a possibility. 

A small nitpick about the anime though, is that it just seems to refuse to go off model. Lots of animes make their characters chibis, add random background effects or give them exaggerated movements and expressions to make you feel the weight of the moment. It just makes me think, even if they did follow the manga per panel, because of their restrictions with the style, Geordo’s adorable faces as he tries to figure out the meaning of the letter probably wouldn’t be as eye-pleasing as the manga (like how the shot of the kids running was just 3 still images when I was at least expecting them to animate the running). Plus with it currently is, it just made his scenes a lot less humorous than it was supposed to be. Regardless of that nitpick, I still wanted it to be more similar huhu (Sorry for nitpicking the studio, but yknow save some of that budget for the animation and not just the backrgounds gjdfghgsdjsd)

I feel like if there ever was more future seasons, once some of the other events in the LN/manga gets adapted, instead of being happy for Geordo for finally being able to make some moves on Katarina, people might just use that an as argument to say that he’s too possessive or creepy like when he kisses her in Vol. 3, oof some people might not like that.

He’s literally one of the top contenders for Katarina’s heart and his fan reception is so low that he barely gets any content (and by that i’m just referring to fics in ao3 i’m so sorry for being so needy huhu it’s not like i’m indirectly calling out any writers out there to write for him or anything jgshf he already has a good ammount but you can never go wrong with m o r e). I get that it’s hard to love his character right now because of his anime treatment and with how the manga has barely left the plot of the first 2 novels but from spoilers i’ve seen, I can say that he’s a great character and a good love interest for our Bakarina! Don’t turn him down just yet!!

Thank you for sharing your feelings with me! :DD

[lady-griffin]

Who do you think will Katarina end up with?

Geordo

There are several reasons for why I think this. 

He is the male lead and is considered in the character introductions at the beginning of each Light Novel, to be One of the TWO leads, while the rest of the cast are divided up as secondary to minor characters.

This is how the characters are introduced in the Light Novels 1-5.

Katarina and Geordo’s character introductions are untouched for the most part from novel to novel. But the way the other characters are introduced with each novel changes bit by bit.

From Alan and Keith being marked as secondary characters in the 1st novel.

To Alan, Keith, and Nicol being marked as secondary characters in the 2nd novel.

To the entire Harem (minus Geordo) being marked as secondary characters in the 3rd novel and onwards.

Now I don’t know the characters introductions beyond the 5th novel, but I highly doubt that they have changed that much or if at all.

Katarina and Geordo are clearly marked as being equal in character importance – the Female Lead and the Male Lead.

Though, in the actual events of the story, Katarina is clearly the MAIN character while Geordo is just one of the many characters who is rotating around her.

--

Geordo is the first character who we truly meet in the story (excluding Katarina). Signifying his importance to the story as a whole. 

Not only that, but he is only the first character introduced as a romantic interest 

OG Katarina immediately falling for him

Geordo proposing to Katarina

Geordo and Katarina being engaged

As well as the first Doom Flag -

Katarina realizes she’s in the game of Fortune Lover because of Geordo’s name and the fact that their engagement story is the same as from the game. Because of that, we learn what that actually means for Katarina who is the villainess of the original story. Or at least, what she thinks it means. 

--

Being a romantic interest and a doom flag is a character position solely unique to Geordo and Keith.

While every now and again, Katarina will bring up that Maria, Alan and or Nicol are potentially “dangerous” to her and thus people she needs to keep an eye on for her safety… in all honestly, they’re really not. 

Honestly, it kind of feels like the author(s) forget that the other characters could hypothetically be a ‘threat’ to Katarina and remember it randomly at times, and thus just insert it into the story. 

Geordo and Keith are the true “doom flags” for Katarina. And even in that regard, Geordo and Keith are treated somewhat differently from one another. 

Geordo’s role as a doom flag, is given a lot more attention than Keith as a doom flag. Now Katarina will insure her “safety” by telling Keith that she will never stand in his way of him being in love with someone, but that’s about it, as the years go on. 

Katarina practicing her magic and getting stronger in that field to avoid being killed by Keith, is basically dropped as soon as it’s mentioned. As Katarina’s magic is quickly established as being weak, no matter what she does. So, that aspect of the story is a bit forgotten as the story moves forward.

But really, I think that even Katarina realizes that Keith as a doom flag is basically a neutralized threat, because of their close sibling relationship.

Geordo on the other hand, is still treated as a Doom Flag. Essentially all of her plans of escaping her doom, are basically plans that focus on Geordo turning on her and how to escape him specifically. Her snakes and even her sword-fighting (which is brought up less than the snakes).

So, one of the main premises of the story - the romantic and comedic tension of Katarina thinking her love-interests are potential doom-interests for her – is largely dominated by Geordo and Katarina’s relationship with him.

Though Keith is a close second in that regard. 

--

Rivalry 

While everyone is a rival, Geordo and Keith are the two main rivals (especially in the Manga).

We see this with their constant passive aggressive fighting and commentary towards one another, as well as being essential and core elements to the whole Harem and its dynamic.

Now, depending on which medium your engaging with, there are very strong arguments for Maria, Mary, or Alan being a third main rival character or if not that, at least being at a higher level than the others.

Maria

Maria is the original MC from Fortune Lover and is essential to Katarina’s fate…or at least in Katarina’s mind she is. That alone separates her from the others Harem Members. 

Maria is also marked a being different the the rest, by being the newcomer to the Harem, and her and Katarina’s relationship (friendship and more) is a factor to the overall story. 

All of that marks her as being if not a main rival, then certainly higher than others. 

Mary

Mary get in the thick of it as much as Geordo and Keith do (especially in the novels). She is a constant thorn and wrench to Geordo and everyone else, but mostly Geordo.

Alan

Alan, because of his character design and popularity among fans, he gets leveled up and is given more attention as the story continues to progress and the anime clearly cements him as a main rival.

As shown in Vol 5. Geordo is the main rival to everyone and they’re all separated into groups into what their roles are in regards to breaking Geordo and Katarina’s engagement up and keeping them apart.

While really for comedic sakes, Geordo being the biggest opponent to everyone does, to some degree, tell us about his chances with Katarina (or at least I think so).  

--

Kiss Scenes (LIGHT NOVEL SPOILERS BELOW)

In Novels 1-5, there are essentially 8 kisses that Katarina receives from the other characters (on her hand to her lips).

Out of these kisses, Geordo is the partner 6 times. Out of these kisses there are 3 pictures, that while not depicting the kisses themselves, do depict the moment just before. All of those pictures depict Geordo’s kisses.

Hand Kiss – Geordo (Vol.1)

There is a picture depicting the overall proposal scene, but not Geordo kissing Katarina’s hand or him about to.

Neck Kiss – Geordo (Vol.1)

There is a picture of Geordo hugging Katarina as they dance, right before he kisses her, but I didn’t really think it counted.

Water Kiss – Geordo (Vol.2)

This is absolutely a kiss scene. You can debate whether it’s CPR or something else, but the way it’s treated in the context of the story - it’s a kiss scene. Simple as that. 

Neck Kiss 2.0 – Sora (Vol.3)

No picture.

Retaliation Kiss – Geordo (Vol.3)

No picture.

Confession Kiss – Geordo (Vol.3)

Basically, Katarina realizes that Geordo has romantic feelings for her in this scene. While she initially thought his Retaliation Kiss was just a dream of hers, a dream she was very flustered by, she is now more than aware of what is happening.

Waking Up Kiss – Keith (Vol.4)

Keith wakes up from his own Dark Magic Coma (so to speak) and thinking Katarina is just a dream, he kisses her, much to the shock of Katarina. 

No Picture.

Retaliation Kiss 2.0 – Geordo (Vol.4)

Upset that Keith kissed Katarina in the “Waking Up Kiss”, Geordo also kisses her. 

This scene in particular, especiall with the picture, I think really cements Geordo as the one who Katarina will end up with. 

Simply because, Keith just kissed Katarina and there was no picture depicting it even though it happened a few moments/pages ago, but yet Geordo’s kiss (or about to kiss) is depicted. So, to me, this seems very telling.

 -

[Update] Originally I brought up how Nicol kissed Katarina in Vol.8 that also had a picture depicitng the scene...but that was inaccurate. There is no kiss scene between the two in that moment.

Any others, I have no idea about. 

I’m just going to stick to the novels I have read up to this point. 

So, let’s get to my main point. Out of the 8 Kisses Katarina receives, in Volumes 1-5. It’s very telling to me that Geordo is the one doing the kissing 6 out of the 8 times. Plus, in the the first 5 Volumes, the 3 kisses that are depicted are Geordo’s.

--

In Ch. 17.5 we have our first bonus chapter, which gives us a special look into Geordo’s feelings for Katarina. So far, Geordo is the only one who has received this treatment. 

Now that doesn’t mean others won’t, but I personally think that chapter is very sweet and romantic, so given that it’s Geordo’s chapter is another point for him.

In case, you somehow didn’t know, I love Ch. 17.5

--

Finally given how the story was supposed to end at Vol 2.

It’s very interesting to me that the last chapter, is from Geordo’s POV. We get to see his view on their relationship and his feelings for Katarina, as well as the water kiss scene.

Geordo gives a brief summary of each of the characters. More importantly he thinks about how is not pleased that everyone else is in love with Katarina and how he might lose her, but he does admit that he’s okay with things staying like this for awhile longer. 

Largely because Katarina is so happy.

--

I genuinely do think Geordo has the best shot of ending up with Katarina out of all the characters. 

Now whether I think that because I ship him and Katarina or whether I ship Geordo x Katarina because I think he has the best chance  is difficult to say. Probably both. 

Thanks for the question! :)