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mashup-writing · 8 months ago

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Across my Memories; Nadia Satrinava (The Arcana)

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Requested? ❌

"Time, curious time; Gave me no compasses, gave me no signs."

Summary: Nadia is Three when she first experienced walking through her dreams and a long time has passed from her memory of it to the present. There is a realization to be made but she's not there just yet.

Warnings: None

Genre: Fluff

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She doesn't remember leaving the palace, isn't even sure she's left her room at all after closing her eyes in her bed. But somehow she's here, and the sun in out and the winds are gentle.

Her eyes take in the endless grass plains, stunned and disbelieving all at once. She was sure it was nighttime, because it was bedtime.

"Hello!"

Nadia whips around, startled by the sound of a chirpy voice behind her. There stands a child infront of her, posture entirely too relaxed with a beaming smile on their face-

"Would you like a lemon-rind?"

In all her three years of experience with her sisters so far, all Nadia remembers is the frustration of when they'd take things from her- Under the impression she was weak. So when she sees the other child's carefree smile with scrunched eyes, outstreched hands holding a bag of candied lemon-rinds;

"They're my favourite! Maybe they can be yours too?"

Nadia accepts, and she feels happy when the bright smile manages to brighten even more. She sits down on the grass with the other child, happily thinking that she can make a friend now.

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Nadia sighs as she leans back into her chair, a hand coming up to rub at her temple as she scowls at the tax papers infront of her. She is glad that the city is doing well for itself and that the funds are being put to proper use- But that does not mean that she has to enjoy the numbers' penchant to make her feel cross-eyed and nauseated with their presence.

She does not know how long she sits there, zoning out. Only that her shoulders lift in relief when your voice floats from the study's entryway, calling her attention in that soft manner you've always reserved for her when she's at work.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything important."

The Countess smiles at you, a hand outstretched towards you; A beckon for you to come close. You move without needing to think of it, and Nadia smiles at the way your hand fits in hers so perfectly.

"I'm afraid that taxes are indeed important. But fortunately it is the headache they induce which you are currently interrupting, nuri aljamil."

The Prakan nickname softens your heart and you lean down to place a kiss to the top of her head. You let your lips linger as your beloved lets out a sigh of contentment at the gesture.

"Sometimes I find that a snack break is what's needed to get through rigorous work. These aren't very common now that the fruit is out of season, but luckily I've managed to find some out in the market today- Would you like a lemon-rind?"

Nadia's brow furrows as she leans away from you, eyes narrowed but lost as if she's trying to find something she doesn't quite know to look for.

You mistake her reaction for confusion, maybe she thinks you're offering her actual lemon rinds? You hasten to explain the misunderstanding.

"Candied lemon-rinds! Not the lemon rinds of freshly peeled lemons!"

Her expression does not change and her eyes only narrow further, and you're not quite sure it's a misunderstanding of contexts anymore but neither do you know what it is that your Countess is reaching for in that mind of hers- So you continue your explanation.

"They're my favourite, maybe... They can be yours too?"

You smile and bring out your other hand from behind your back, revealing a bag of candied lemon-rinds. Nadia stares at the candies for a moment before she looks back to you with a small smile.

"Thank you, hayati."

You beam at her and take a piece for yourself before earnestly placing it in your mouth.

Nadia doesn't know why it feels as though she's heard those words before. She can't remember when or where and that inability to grasp at a faded memory feels like an uncomfortable itch at her side.

An itch that she cannot reach.

The mystery can wait however, for the moment that she bites down on the lemon-rind you offered her, she finds that these can indeed become her favorites as well.

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A/N: I had an idea that Nadia and MC had met their dreams before The Tower, I wanted to play around with that "Imaginary Friend" trope but with my own spin on it to fit the Arcana storyline.

I'm thinking of making this idea into a multi-part but standalone work, would you guys be interested in seeing it happen? 🤔

#nadia satrinava x mc #nadia satrinava x reader #nadia satrinava #nadia the arcana #the arcane game #the arcana #The Arcana MC #gn reader #gn!reader #gn!mc

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boinin · 1 year ago

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I didn't want to give too much weight to Hiiragi's tarot reading schtick. Yet, it's an author insert moment, and Kaneshiro loves foreshadowing. I have a worrying feeling that these fortunes may hold true for Chigiri, Barou and Nagi.

Full disclosure: I know very little about tarot, but did some high level reading through Wikipedia and other sources.

Chigiri gets the 15th card of the Major Arcana, the Devil. In the official translation, Hiiragi notes this to represent seduction, betrayal and ruin. Oof.

The obvious connection is to Chigiri's leg—the fortune could be tied to how he was seduced by football, became addicted to it, but will subsequently be betrayed by his leg... leading to ruin.

The Devil tarot card doesn't normally show a bomb, so this is for dramatic effect. Thematically, it implies that Chigiri should find purpose (or know where to seek it) beyond football, ahead of the day his luck runs out. 🥺 Not the outcome I want for our princess, but a second ACL injury has long been speculated by fans. Chigiri himself is aware that it's a risk when playing at this level.

Barou chooses number 12, the Hanged Man. Hiiragi cherry-picks his interpretation; in addition, this card is associated with motifs of self-sacrifice, learning, and change in perspective. It can also be interpreted as a voluntary state, rather than something that befalls a person.

It's a good fit for Barou, who doesn't double down on his ego so much as grow to show why he's deserving of his nickname in the first place. Barou is a king on the pitch, and expects a level of servitude from his teammates, but not without constantly improving his own skills and talent. He's no lazy despot, though despot he may be.

The Hanged Man fortunes supports his emotional outburst during the Ubers match. Barou remarks that he needs the challenge of despair to grow. As such, the trials he puts on himself are deliberate, much like the tarot reading suggests.

Nagi gets #13, Death (because of course he does). This fortune seems to be the most thoughtful of the bunch, unsurprisingly. Hiiragi's interpretation, while intended to provoke Nagi above all, holds up well against what little I've read on tarot.

The Wikipedia page for the Death arcana had some additional nuggets of insight, or rather further ammunition for those of us manifesting a second NagiReo divorce:

Reo is frequently referred to as princely and compared to royalty in the series, with his superfluous wealth and the way he confidently takes on leadership roles among teams. His signature colour, purple, has monarchial associations due to how rare and expensive purple pigments are in nature (prior to the invention of synthetic dyes).

Of course Reo, this royal youth, opposes Nagi's desire to change... seemingly at every hurdle.

It's not deliberate sabotage though, more that they're hamstrung by their co-dependency. Unlike almost every other relationship in Blue Lock, which arose from rivalry or a shared desire to improve, Nagi and Reo's friendship is rooted in the naive promises they made before entering the programme. @thyandrawrites had a great post exploring this recently, which I recommend if you want to delve deeper into the reasons for their underperformance in the Neo Egoist league.

My take is, in essence, if these two could agree to remain friends while moving away from being inseperable on the pitch, they'd both flourish.

Back to tarot: Wikipedia also has a tidbit on reversed cards, which I understand aren't a hardwired aspect of reading tarot (it refers to physical cards that are revealed upside down after being shuffled and dealt). The interpretation Wikipedia gives of an inverted Death card is reminiscent of Nagi's status after he plays against Isagi and Bastard München.

In short: Nagireo bad for one another, and Nagi will undergo quite the metamorphosis in his journey through Blue Lock, if this fortune holds.

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Analysis aside, I wouldn't put too much faith into what these fortunes mean for the characters. Tarot itself isn't immutable, and for every motif listed above, the characters also have other tropes influencing the paths they take. For example, Chigiri shares the whole hero/princess trope with Kunigami, which has more plot significance than his leg injury at present. Nagi embodies the role of a natural prodigy who has neither the knowledge or experience to deploy his talents consistently. Barou embodies an villain or anti-hero archetype, when juxtaposed with Isagi. Each character has more to the eye than a simple playing card can reveal which is why I'm here yapping at length about them during my lunch break

#blue lock #blue lock manga #bllk #bllk manga #episode nagi #epinagi chp 19 #hiiragi reiji #chigiri hyoma #baro shoei #nagi seishiro #mikage reo #blue lock analysis #bllk analysis #boinin talks bllk

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fantasyinvader · 8 months ago

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You know, that thought would just not leave my mind today. Even from the beginning, since the game's launch and people began connecting the dots people have been saying that Edelgard's path is a path of ignorance. That in ignorance she's the hero but with knowledge she's the villain. But the idea that Edelgard's ignorance, or possibly delusions or foolishness, ultimately traps her in contrast to Byleth, who isn't supposed to let the Flames/Poisons cloud their judgement and walks an enlightened path as a result… it just fits so well.

Dimitri's line in the Japanese version, calling Edelgard's path the animal path. The animal path is one based on the flame of ignorance, that because of that they made choices that gave them negative karma.

Ferdinand's line in VW following Gronder, where he says Edelgard is acting the same as Dimitri was. Dimitri, the boar prince/king of delusion. Pigs symbolize the flame of, you guessed it, ignorance.

Edelgard is acting based on information passed down to her by her father, informing her views on the world. However, in a story scene before that Hubert contradicted the backstory Edelgard has already told you while stating Ionius was a puppet of the Agarthans and that Edelgard should have told you this meaning she knows. This would also correlate to how Verdant Wind states that TWSTID manipulated Edelgard into starting the war despite Edelgard herself making it sound like it was her decision.

Symbolically, the above point ties into Edelgard's Crests. It was TWSITD who gave Edelgard her understanding of the world through the Crest of Flames (World Arcana), but in the end it was corrupt knowledge which had a detrimental effect on Edelgard owing to Aymr having the Crest of Maurice (Devil Arcana). As such, Edelgard's understanding of the world, her own knowledge though her Crest of Serios (Priestess Arcana), is flawed. Hopes even went as far as to use Aymr as a symbol of TWSITD making Edelgard their puppet in Azure Moon while the player can unlock it by completing the secret chapter (the supposed "good" route) in Scarlet Blaze.

Edelgard has scenes in White Clouds where she finds out information that conflicts with her own view, such as her talking with Thales and Thales revealing Nemesis was a bandit. Edelgard points out TWSITD were behind the experiments in such a scene, and in SB mentions she ignored how much influence they had over the nobility while she also revives the local Church branch under her control.

The devs themselves confirmed that the worldbuilding was done to support Silver Snow's story, and as a result Edelgard's claims are meant to be undermined as the players pay attention to the world around them. This mirrors Claude in VW, whose views change over the course of his route, yet Edelgard says that she can't allow Claude to run Fodlan because he doesn't know it's history. Ironically, Claude finds out the most lore of Fodlan by the end and it does undermine what Edelgard believes.

Edelgard is that character who thinks they know it all, ignorant of their own ignorance. Her ideals are based on her flawed knowledge, ideals she serves even at the cost of her own humanity. We get her becoming the Hegemon Husk, framed as the end point of those ideals in Azure Moon after Edelgard has the remnants of TWSITD turn her into it. In AG, instead we have Thales turn her into it and putting her under his control.

Tying this into Eastern beliefs, there's the whole empty thing.Emptiness is not a bad thing as it allows one to be filled. An empty bowl is far more useful than one that is stuffed to the brink and overflowing, and that's what's going on with Edelgard. She believes she has all the knowledge, that her bowl is full, and as a result when she's presented with new knowledge, knowledge that conflicts with her own, it spills out. She believes she's the one with all the answers, the one who should be the teacher rather than the student, the hand of benevolence that people should react out to. As such, she can not see the world for what it really is just what she thinks it is. The Flame of ignorance/delusion/foolishness includes false beliefs that one may cling to rather than discard, and this is what ultimately dooms Edelgard.

It's not like Dimitri's delusions, as despite them Dimitri is the Lord who actually sees things for how they are and it's his core belief that he needs to live to avenge those who died for him that's the problem. Even when Edelgard seems to have character growth in Flower, when she seems to understand that people each other allows them to accomplish great things… this development doesn't stick in the Japanese version. She still goes back to instituting reforms to push people to rely only on themselves. It's this belief she believes she needs to force on people, resulting in her taking more power for herself rather than giving it to the people and supporting freedom. It's why her title in the ending is Flame Emperor, Edelgard either didn't change or she regressed into that position.

I think we can even see this in her death in SS/VW. She talks about how she needs to die in order to stop the fighting, how it's Byleth's duty as the victor, and that in doing so they'll walk holding hands down Byleth path in the Japanese text. And while she's saying this, she's activating Aymr. It makes it look like she's having a moment of clarity, that as she's beaten she realizes just what she's become but also the hold her beliefs have on her. She can't walk away from them, and will go back to fighting if she is spared. So she tells Byleth to put her down, before she goes back to being the Flame Emperor. In a way, those are the only paths where she dies as a human in the Buddhist sense, acting on rational thought and humanity rather than instinct and impulse. She's too far gone in Moon, and reverts in Flower. Edelgard can only die as Edelgard by Byleth's hand, and in doing so her Japanese counterpart walks with them.

It makes her feel like the Death Knight, with the Japanese text making it implying Jeritza doesn't know what happens when he takes over. Emile became consumed by bloodlust after he killed his hated father to protect his mother and sister. Likewise, Hubert became who he was in order to serve the girl he loved which included killing his father. And Byleth can go against their entire character arc in order to support Edelgard. Those two are meant to be foils to the player, reasons why they need to walk the path of liberation rather than become like them.

I guess in the end, Edelgard believed she was doing the right thing but her time at Garreg Mach made her question her path according to the Japanese theme song. She was being presented with information or experiences that made her waiver, but she still decided to follow through with the war and in doing so lost control of herself. She became a slave to her own beliefs, losing herself to them. Even in Flower she ultimately continues to serve them. But even then, those beliefs ultimately came from those who wanted to use her and Edelgard seemingly had knowledge of this. In the end, Edelgard's unwillingness to reconsider her beliefs, to discard what she views as knowledge in the face of evidence, is why she ends up a villain. Even if she dies as herself in SS/VW, so long as Dedue lives her corpse will be dismembered in retribution for the suffering she has caused. At the end of the day, while Edelgard was a villain she was also another victim of the Agarthans and the game seems to be placing the actual blame for the war at their feet. If it wasn't for them and their influence, Edelgard would have been a completely different person, they're the one's responsible for her even if Edelgard's own weakness prevented her from changing the path they put her on.

Edelgard failed herself.

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maplesamurai · 6 months ago

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More Wizard School Mysteries Fan Theories Now That Wicked Witchcraft is Out

So, that was an exciting third instalment, wasn't it? Anyway, literally the night before it released, I made a post compiling a few of my fan theories for @tyrantisterror's excellent Wizard School Mysteries series (if you're unfamiliar with this wonderful series, I gave a summary of the concept in said post linked above, so read that then go read the series if what I described sounds interesting, since everything under the cut is going to be complete nonsense to you otherwise), only to take so long typing it up I didn't finish till past midnight, meaning I had to go to bed and cut what I'd planned to write short. And of course, with Wicked Witchcraft having released over a month ago and me having time to read it twice over, once for myself (all in one day no less, because I'm kind of obsessed with this series) and once reading it to @shi-daisy over Discord as part of my evil plan to suck her into another awful fandom, I've had time to think over this newest instalment's plot points and what they might foreshadow about this series future. But first, in light of reading the very book I had theorized about, I have to ask...

So... Was I Right?

So let's start with the theory I made that's been definitively answered, where I proposed that Helseng was not a mortal wizard, but Azrael, the angel of death in Will's other novel No Sympathies... and I was kind of right? Because Helseng was revealed to be an angel of death, but not Azrael specifically, as when the Meddlesome Youths descended into the river to the underworld they'd discovered earlier in the book to save Gretchen from the clutches of Hell, Polybeus encountered the spirit of Gabriev Zelgad, his opponent in the titular tournament of the previous instalment who had died in his arms from the book's villains sabotaging the match. While the focus of the scene was the two sharing their tender goodbye, Gabriev also reveals that after he had died, it was Helseng that was there to greet him. It was this revelation that inspired James to call on Helseng as the defence in the trial for Gretchen's soul, where she shed her mortal guise and revealed herself as the grim reaper Helsengel (and just a side note... wow, great job coming up with that cover identity, Helseng, I'm sure no one would suspect a thing).

And speaking of said trial, that was another thing I was right about, since I'd guessed the book's climax would involve a Battle for Everyone's Souls trial for Gretchen's soul, thanks to the clips Will had posted for that chapter in his "out of context spoilers" post preceding the volume's release. Granted, I did also theorize some details about the trial that did not come to pass, thanks to me reading too much into the details of the Castlevania clip Will included in the same post when it really was just referring to a supporting character revealing themselves to be Death, but the whole premise of this segment was "I was mostly right but got some details wrong," so it's not that big a deal.

But Helseng's identity was not the only theory I made in my original post that this third instalment answered, because while we have yet to receive the future volumes and confirm which of the Youths they will centre around, I managed to come up with a more elaborate theory for what I believed to be Rodrigo's instalment, and I didn't even get one chapter in before I learned that I might be onto something.

Okay, so when I was speculating on future volumes based on the titles Will had revealed for them, I proposed that Volume Six: Amour of the Rings might involve an arranged marriage plot for Rodrigo, as not only would it tie into his Tarot Arcana and cause conflict with his relationship with Ivan, but as the only noble among the Meddlesome Youths, he would be far more likely to become embroiled in such a plot than any of the others. Cue Wicked Witchcraft's first chapter, where Rodrigo has invited the now homeless Ivan into his family estate to spend the summer, and we learn that Rodrigo's parents wish for him to marry a noblewoman so that Rodrigo, being a seventh son, might produce seven children of his own and thus a luck child, further increasing the family's fortune and influence. In learning this, we also learn that Rodrigo has not told his parents of his and Ivan's relationship, or even that he is gay at all, with Rodrigo's mother even taking Ivan aside to request that he stop Rodrigo from courting any maidens during their studies.

As much as I would like to pat myself on the back for how seemingly right on the money I was for this prediction, that also got me thinking on what the exact specifics for Rodrigo hiding his sexuality from his parents might be, since from what we've seen in both this series and Will's other work set in this world, homophobia doesn't seem to be much of a thing in Midgaheim. We certainly how that transphobia is unfortunately alive and well, both implicitly from what James and Gretchen have said about their previous living situations, and explicitly from the Letharg coven insistently misgendering Gretchen up until a literal god calls them cringe for it. On the other hand, other than a gag about a sanitized translation of the Iliad recasting Achilles and his lover Patroclus as cousins, overt homophobia has yet to rear its ugly head, with Rodrigo and Ivan able to kiss in the middle of a public tavern in Calampen with nary a comment from passersby, and the occasional NPC in Will's Midgaheim campaigns casually displaying same sex attraction and courtship with no more mention from their respective peers.

So with that in mind, what would Rodrigo's parents think if they found out their son was gay? The answer could simply be that an old money family might the Cervantes could simply be old fashioned in that regard, but I think the true answer is less that such sexual preferences would be frowned upon and more that any nobles are simply expected to produce heirs to the family regardless of said preferences. I even envisioned something similar in my own WIP fantasy novel The Witch's Apprentice, as with my protagonist in that story being an openly bisexual man in his own medieval fantasy setting, I decided that LGBT+ people are generally accepted, but if one is set to inherit a family trade or property, the expectation would be for someone otherwise interested in the same sex to marry for the sake of producing an heir. So in Rodrigo's case, I imagine even if his parents knew he was gay their reaction would be less one of disowning him and more "okay son, you've had your fun, but now it's time you grew up and found a wife so you can start putting babies in her already."

...Wow, that was a lot of theorizing for what was supposed to just be addressing what from my previous theory had been confirmed true or false. So you know what, let's get these new theories started, starting with the least consequential one.

We Will Get Updated Character Art for Book Four

Look, not all of these are going to be about important plot details, all right? But in any case, as I was reading through the latest book, it occurred to me that a few of the Youths have updated their wardrobes since Will made their initial character art prior to Book One's release. Rodrigo has incorporated a cock hat bycocket into his usual getup, Margot gained a thunderbolt iron helm at the finale of book two to match her gauntlet, Ivan has swapped out his tattered old clothes for his late master Odolpho's old duds (likely the getup seen in the art above) after the gang... shall we say "liberated" them from Ross Weber's storefront, Serena learned to sustain her Dazzling Diamond form and the even frillier battle costume that comes with it, and most significant of all, Gretchen finally mastered James's Highly Refined Transformation spell and transitioned into her ideal body, giving away her face concealing garb to her new undead little brother Buddy. With that in mind, some new art for out heroes is probably warranted and besides, isn't the halfway point of the series the perfectly place to get our Naruto Shippuden/One Piece 3D2Y/Insert Anime Timeskip Here outfit redesigns?

The Plot of Creative Spellcraft Will Focus Around a Hocus "Infestation"

With the topic of homunculi personhood being brought to stark attention in the chapter following Maxeral's shattering at the hands of Buddy in the most recent instalment, it's become abundantly clear that that ongoing thread will be coming to a head in Book 4, which Will has since explicitly confirmed on his blog. So because I trust Will to approach this topic in a far more engaging way than just two characters screaming at each other about whether slavery is bad for half the book, that leaves the question of how it will figure into the plot. This is Wizard School Mysteries after all, and while our heroes are correct in thinking homunculi like Maxeral and Childe get a raw deal in life, it's no mystery, and it'll take a plot with more meat on it than that to make a story. So I believe that the main plot will not focus on gargoyles or mudmen or any of the other kinds of homunculi we've seen employed at the AAAM, but a different kind of homunculus entirely: hocuses.

Okay, this might need some explaining even to people who have read this books, since this kind of Midgaheim beastie hasn't been mentioned by name in this series yet and not everyone scours the internet for every scrap of lore Will's ever posted about this setting. Sometimes in Midgaheim, a wizard's magic will seep into their personal effects, usually their hats and cauldrons, creating a form of accidental homunculus, called hocuses in the former case and pocuses in the latter because who doesn't like wordplay? Will has at least confirmed that Ivan at least will have a hocus and a pocus in his roster of homunculi (the former of which I presume to be Odolpho's old hat as seen in the image for the above theory), but apart from that Will has capitalized on his penchant for designing a lot of his wizards' hats to resemble faces by drawing hocuses based on certain characters' hats, such as James's as seen above.

However, unlike intentionally created homunculi, hocuses are not seen as useful by wizards, from what Will has revealed about the critters. Quite the opposite in fact, as it's been stated that hocuses can leech off of their wizard's magic and even puppeteer their wearers to some extent. So if they started appearing at the AAAM in high numbers, they would be regarded as a pest to be exterminated by the wizards of the school. So I believe that something will cause the hats of the AAAM's staff and student to gain life as hocuses, and the Meddlesome Youths will be both investigating the cause of this event, and trying to convince their peers and teachers alike that the sentient hats are living beings as deserving of life as the wizards whose heads they sit upon. I imagine James in particular will have great reason to argue the hocuses' case, since we have already seen his hat act of its own accord to warn him of the curse placed on him in Book 2 to rig his match in the Ultimate Wizard Battle tournament, so of course upon learning that same hat is truly alive he will want to return that favour. I doubt the argument that convinces the AAAM to spare the animate headgear will just be one saving James's life, because "we should keep them around because they can be useful to us" is the exact kind of human-centric thinking that Will's writing tends to push back against, but I severely doubt his hat's kindness shall go forgotten, either.

Lornwig Kayjay Will Be a Minor Antagonist in Book Four

Okay, I should probably preface this by clarifying that I don't think this joke character Will made to both slag off both JK Rowling and that one kid in every college class will be in any way responsible for the wrongdoings the Youths will be solving in Book 4. After all, even divorced for the real world context behind this character's conception, at the end of the day Lornwig Kayjay is in universe just a classmate of our heroes who's just really racist against Midgaheim's fantastical peoples like fairies, ogres and the French. Someone that would be satisfying to see our heroes punch to be sure, but still quite the significant downgrade from fairy nobles, murderous wizard martial artists, and a satanic witch coven. So when I say this character will be an antagonist in the next instalment, I do not mean she will be the Big Bad, or even working on their behalf. In fact, I'm not even suggesting she will necessarily be a villain, as strictly speaking, an antagonist can be anyone who opposes the protagonist.

But why am I so insistent that this joke character who only gets a handful of scenes per book to her name at most is going to have an even remotely significant role in the coming volume? Well, as I was rereading Tournament of Death in the month leading up to Wicked Witchcraft's release, I'd gotten to the scene where Lornwig hits on Richard Rainsford (brief aside, but good thing her advances were unrequited; dude might be an unrepentant murderer, but he can do so much better), and she mentions that she enrolled at the AAAM two years prior. That would mean she was a third year student at the time, and is therefore in her fourth and final year as of Wicked Witchcraft, and with Creative Spellcraft taking place during the final semester of that same year, this will be the last book of the series she will likely appear in. And Will has even said that he plans to have this series move away from being a Harry Potter critique as it moves on, so having the expy of HP's author leaving the story at its halfway point make sense. So if Will ever planned to utilize this character in any significant manner, this next instalment is the last chance to do it.

So what antagonistic role do I think she'll be playing, then? Well, Will has made it very clear that this next volume will be where the question of homunculi autonomy comes to a head, and with our heroes being very much against the common consensus among wizards by considering the AAAM's homunculi to be people, there will of course be characters who voice that aforementioned consensus for them to push back against. We've already seen the AAAM's homunculi crafting teacher Castux Frey call Maxeral nothing more than a tool in need of repair, scoffing at the very idea of students and faculty paying respects to the recovering head of security. So it's fair to say that Professor Frey will likely be the main voice of this sentiment among the school faculty, but the Youths are likely to receive pushback on their progressive views from their peers as well, and I believe Lornwig Kayjay will be the primary voice of that.

Aside from the obvious meta joke of "ha ha, the JK Rowling expy's the one vouching for this world's version of her most yikes creative decision," what makes Lornwig especially suited to play such a role is that the ultimate root of Lornwig's particular brand of assholery has always been a human supremacist worldview. She spent the bulk of her Book 1 appearances insisting that fairies are uniformly evil and citing the multiple Goblin Wars as proof (an especially ghoulish thing to say when we've since learned that the First Goblin War was actually waged against a human wizard who just used goblins as his foot soldiers, and that at least the last two had the human side as the explicit aggressors, as seen in Will's Currents of War TTRPG campaign), and openly voicing that AAAM should be a humans only institution and other peoples should just "go to their own schools." Will this mean we'll see this character receive some form of comeuppance for her behaviour? I can't say for certain, but if so, we can at least be sure it won't involve implied sexual assault by centaurs unlike in other wizard school series I could mention. Will's got far more class than that.

Well, that was a lot of theorizing, so that should mean I'm done with these until Creative Spellcraft comes along and shows whether I was on the money, right? Well no, actually. Because my dumb hyperfixating brain just won't stop, there are actually still some theories I've formulated from what I believe to be Wicked Witchcraft's biggest revelations for future plot developments, as well as one I was going to include in that first post before I ran out of time, that concerns how this entire series might end. So tell you what, I'll split those into a post of their own, and just leave it this one here, because I've been chipping away at this post on and off in my drafts for weeks now, so I might as well just post this already. But in any case, see you next time!

#wizard school mysteries #midgaheim #fantasy #fan theory

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sword-of-injustice · 1 year ago

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The child slowly awakens...or rather, he does not. Still within a dream, not that he realizes. The environment is unfamiliar to him. A dimly-lit room, seemingly made of stone and marble, covered in deep blue fabrics all around. Similarly blue stained-glass windows are on the walls, but they let only the smallest trickle of moonlight in. To the fore is an entry staircase leading up to his position, but it simply extends onwards into oblivion, with no door to be found. There are no exits on either side, but the room is lavishly decorated in blue, blue, and more blue.

And behind himself...he doesn't know. He cannot move. His wrists and ankles have been shackled to a chair...a very elaborate, ornate chair, like one a ruler would sit upon. A throne that he cannot escape.

Above his head, mere inches from the top of his skull, hangs a long iron blade, positioned as if to pierce through his entire body, suspended there by a single horse's hair.

Realizing his predicament, he squirms and struggles against the chains, but they prove too strong for even his strength to break. Eventually he tires himself out...just long enough for a voice to call to him.

"Hmm...You aren't supposed to be here."

Sword gasps, focusing on the person before him. A young man, with long white hair tied into a ponytail that contrasts his tan skin, dressed in a fancy suit in the same blue as everything around. His golden yellow eyes feel as if they're piercing through whatever semblance of a soul Sword has.

"That's okay. I'm not supposed to be here either."

The child's eyes narrow at the stranger. "...look familiar. ...identify."

He deeply bows, a white-gloved hand to his chest. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. And I shall be thy Adam."

"...don't understand." He struggles once more against his bindings. "...prisoner?"

"A prisoner, yes, but not to me. A prisoner to yourself, to your own psyche...to those that once oppressed you. You carry their burden still."

Sword sadly looks down at his lap, feeling powerless.

"The form of this place reflects the heart of its owner - in this case, you. What do you see, here?"

Sword looks around once more. "...throne room?"

"Indeed. Do you see yourself as a person of power?"

"...don't wanna be. not anymore."

"And yet here you are, bound to your throne, with the cruel hand of noblesse oblige hanging over your head. A pitiable fate."

"mmm..."

"...Do you seek freedom, child?"

He looks up once again, firmly nodding his head.

"Good. The path will open to you...but it falls to you to take it. I will guide you in this."

"...understood."

Adam reaches into his coat pocket, pulling out a deck of cards.

"Are you familiar with the tarot, young one?"

"...nuh-uh."

"The Arcana, as they say, are the means by which all is revealed. The cards represent your fate. Who you are, and who you will grow to be. ...Shall I draw, and give you some insight?"

"...okay."

"Excellent. We will draw from the 22 Major Arcana, then..."

Adam shuffles the deck of cards thoroughly, before taking the topmost card and holding it out to reveal.

"...Very interesting."

"...zero?"

"This card is known as The Fool. It represents one who is at the beginning of the hero's journey - one who knows little, but stands to gain everything. One with limitless potential. The wildcard. Fitting, for a veritable tabula rasa like yourself."

"mmm...just...like copying."

"Indeed. And in that same sense, the wildcard gains strength from its bonds. ...But you know that already, don't you?"

Sword looks down at his left hand. Between his fingers is another card. The Moon. He gives it a quizzical gaze.

"Forge more bonds. Strengthen them. From those bonds, you will gain strength, and understanding. You will free yourself from your bindings, and become whole."

"...understood."

A bell faintly echoes from the unseen outside of the building.

"The dawn comes. Our time grows short. More will be revealed in due time. Rest now, child."

As if against his will, Sword's eyes close again, and he drifts back to sleep...

#awakening arc #pokemon irl #pkmn rp #pokemon rp #rotomblr #persona rp

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sacred-awareness · 4 months ago

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Written in the Cards: Finding Healing Through The Art of Tarot & Poetry

There are some journeys that can only be told through poetry - where raw emotion meets sacred symbolism, where personal trauma transforms into universal truth. My upcoming collection, "Written in the Cards: A Poetic Journey Through the Tarot," isn't just another book about tarot; it's a memoir of healing written in verse, where each card becomes a mirror reflecting both wounds and wisdom.

When The Tower Falls

Sometimes healing begins with destruction. In my personal journey through trauma, The Tower card became more than just a tarot archetype - it became the story of my own awakening. Here's a glimpse into that experience:

Truth came, in the form of an earthquake,

Shattering the tower of illusions I'd believed.

Years of careful construction, now at stake,

As reality exposed the lies I'd weaved.

The ground beneath, once steady and known,

Ruptures, exposing layers of pain.

Fault lines of memory, violently shown,

Toppling this tower again and again.

Each aftershock revealed a little more

Of the false foundation I'd foolishly adored.

My tower of beliefs, once proud and tall,

All came tumbling in the fall.

The ground I thought was bedrock, sure and strong,

Now lies in rubble at my feet.

The life I knew, for which I'd yearned so long,

Reveals the scars beneath defeat.

Amidst the rubble of my former self,

I stand, exposed to harsh reality.

My cherished truths, now scattered like debris,

Show childhood bars that held me stealthily.

How do I rebuild when memories persist,

Leaving no solid ground to stand?

Freedom trembles in this shaken mist,

While truth reshapes the land.

Yet in this space, perhaps I'll grow

Into a self that's genuine and true.

From broken pieces, I'll forge anew,

A life that bends but doesn't break in two.

The aftershocks may come, and I may sway,

But this new structure stands its ground.

I'll face each dawn, each challenging day,

Stronger for the truth I've found.

This poem, like many others in the collection, emerged from the intersection of personal truth and spiritual awakening. The Tower card traditionally represents sudden change and revelation - but through my lens, it became a narrative about trauma breaking through carefully constructed defenses, about the painful but necessary collapse of false beliefs that were built into my childhood.

A Different Kind of Tarot Book

While traditional tarot books focus on divination and card meanings, "Written in the Cards" offers something different. Each poem weaves together:

- my personal experiences with trauma and recovery

- The archetypal wisdom of the tarot

- The raw, unfiltered process of my spiritual awakening

- The universal journey of finding oneself in the aftermath of destruction

The Faces of the Cards

Within these pages, the court cards and major arcana take on the faces of those who've shaped my journey - for better or worse. The Emperor embodies the rare and precious gift of finding a soul who can be everything at once: lover, best friend, and protective father like guide. In him, I found the steady strength that helped me rebuild my world, someone who could hold space for both my wounds and my wisdom. This unique bond defies conventional definitions, weaving together threads of romantic love, deep friendship, and paternal guidance into something entirely its own.

Queen of Cups transforms into the nurturing friend who held space for my tears when words failed. The Hierophant reflects the mentors who helped me reconstruct my faith after it shattered.

Some cards carry harder truths: Three of Swords speaks to a love that taught me that heartbreak can be both an ending and a beginning. Through their betrayals and departures, I learned that sometimes love leaves scars that become poems. The Ten of Swords captures those darkest nights when grief felt endless, yet somehow became the soil from which new strength grew. Each heartbreak brought its own wisdom, its own verses, its own understanding of how love and loss dance together in the grand cosmic ballet of life.

These aren't just poems about cards - they're portraits of the souls who've walked beside me, ahead of me, and sometimes away from me. Each relationship, whether it ended in warmth or wounds, contributed verses to this collection. Through the symbolism of tarot, I found a way to honor both the love and the loss, the joy and the grief, the staying and the leaving.

These poems don't shy away from darkness - they embrace it as part of the healing journey. From The Tower's collapse to The Star's renewal, each card becomes a chapter in my story of transformation.

More Than Just Poetry

This collection is for anyone who has ever:

- Faced the collapse of their carefully constructed world

- Sought meaning in their suffering

- Found spirituality as a path to healing

- Used creativity as a tool for recovery

- Connected with tarot as a mirror for self-reflection

Stay connected for updates on the book's completion and release. I hope you'll Follow along my journey where I'll be sharing more poems and insights from the collection.

A Note About Healing

Some of these poems may resonate deeply with those who have experienced trauma. Remember that healing isn't linear - it's a spiral path that sometimes leads us back to revisit old wounds with new wisdom. These poems are offered as companions on that journey, not as replacements for professional support.

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fig-blossom · 5 months ago

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The 3 of Wands - Momentum

For the longest time, the message of the 3 of Wands remained nebulous to me. Lately, i understand it as this: “Tend to your embers, but hold your fire.”

The Suit of Wands represents purpose, passion, intention, action, and is tied to the element of Fire. The number 3 symbolizes growth, development, creation, transition, and cooperation. It also represents unity, circling back to the number 1.

The first Major Arcana card is The Magician. Let’s take a quick look at him:

How similar are the characters on these two cards? The same hair, the same headband, the same red cloak... both holding onto their wand.

The Magician embodies Manifestation: a focused master of his tools, fully aware of his abilities, capable of creating reality through will and skill.

Yet not much seems to be happening on the 3 of Wands card. Why does the whole scene look so still? What is the figure looking at? What are we looking at?

In the 3 of Wands, the Magician (or a figure like him) wears more layers of clothing. Maybe he's gained wisdom from experience. His extended arm reveals armor: he’s ready for anything, prepared for all eventualities. Yet his posture remains collected—calm, but intentful.

Standing on the top of his hill, gazing upon a large body of water, there isn’t a single cloud in the sky (the element of Air, representing the mental): his mind is crystal clear. The horizon stretches far and wide, unveiled—distant, yet doesn’t it seem like he could touch it if only he reached out? At this moment, he has foresight, which he must hold onto as he descends back into the scenery and risks losing perspective on his path.

Some have already begun their journeys, each in their little sailboats. But they aren’t heading in his direction. His eyes are fixed on his own goal. The water is calm, a sea of oil, but it does separate him from his destination. Unlike the sailboats flowing along its current, he will have to go against it to reach the other side (emotional resistance?). The journey may not be eventful, but it will require stamina and resolve.

Isn’t it surprising that a card belonging to the Suit of Wands, associated with the passionate element of Fire, features such a large, calm body of water? This water, the element of emotions, offers another layer of meaning. As a child, I remember feeling like my sadness was like an impassive, bottomless sea filling my head to the brim. It is the golden hour: the last hour before sunset, or the first hour after sunrise. The figure in the 3 of Wands gazes only at that sea's surface for now, but the journey ahead may lead him through the depths of his inner world. Yet, there is no gloom in this perspective. The stillness of the water suggests no emotional turmoil. The sunlight reflecting on the water turns it golden, symbolizing optimism and a hopeful spirit, and bridges the gap between emotion (water) and action (fire) in an almost alchemical reaction. "Gather yourself before you act, and aim for what you truly desire."

In essence, the 3 of Wands is a card of long-term vision. It has already taken time and effort to climb to the top of this hill. Now is the moment to pause—a breath before the next step toward what you’ve set your mind on. Something has started, and something is about to begin. This card asks us to stay fixed on our vision, but also notice the steps along the way. The journey isn’t just a means to an end but a process of growth, insight, and self-mastery. The energy of the 3 suggests transition, but here it’s not rushed; it’s intentional. The figure isn’t motionless out of indecision but out of absorbtion and aim. He can allow himself to pause because he is certain of his destination, and trusts that it’s only a matter of time before he gets there. Patience is key, but so is unwavering determination.

There is no shortcut. Focus. Breathe. But do keep your eyes on the prize.

#tarot #3 of wands #three of wands #rider waite smith #rider waite tarot #rider waite #inky thumbs

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