#my first animu girl figure

[moorgate]

Yes, i too fell into the dungeon meshi pit a little while ago. It pleases me to see more people post about it. Carry on.

#i've been reading the manga - haven't watched the show #i acquired a little marcille figure #my first animu girl figure

[thatcrazycrowgirl]

WIP Wednesday Tag Game

Soooo, @nemo-of-house-hamartia​ had tagged me back in January, but I didn’t really have anything to share at the time. However, now I do and I felt like sharing it!

Earlier today, I kind of got caught up in some old game about being locked in an abandoned museum overnight, and inspiration ran away with me, as it was something I could easily see my Syndicate OC, Magnolia, being caught up in, thanks to taking on a dare from her rival - so these little tidbits (they take place at different parts of the story, but I wanted to share both for context) were born! (And yes, of course Jacob gets caught up in the shenanigans too. haha) So, this is more of a fun, little “side adventure”, rather than anything tied to the overall main plot of my AU. To whomever reads this, I hope you enjoy! ^_^

Tagging: @nemo-of-house-hamartia (yes, I’m tagging you back, haha), @susann-noir, @havatnah, @straight-into-the-animus, @kiatheinsomniac​

"Don't forget, Miss Magnolia - you agreed to this," one of Hortensia's friends reminded with a smirk as Hortensia clicked the key in the gate's padlock, securing it.

"Enjoy your time in there," the smaller, raven-haired girl sneered, jangling the old keys in the air. "We'll be back for you at dawn."

Magnolia gripped the thick, iron bars and leaned her face between them, coming nearly nose-to-nose with her taunter. "You better," she insisted, her voice resembling the low growl of a cat, "because if I die and my body is never found, you're the first one I'm coming to haunt."

Hortensia's dark eyes widened, and silently, she considered how grateful she was that there was a locked gate in-between her and the threatening blonde with the piercing gaze that echoed the flickering, deep blue center of a searing-hot flame.

(Much, much later…inside the museum)

A shadowy figure slipped out in front of Magnolia, near-silent, and she barely had time to react.

The stranger clapped a hand over her mouth, cutting short her shriek. "Shhshhshh! It's alright, luv! It's just me!" he tried to soothe, his low, gravelly voice tipping off the young woman to who exactly it was. His face now in view of the candlelight, Magnolia's body relaxed a bit as he removed his hand.

"Good God, Jacob!" she hissed loudly. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"On the contrary, I happened to be in this part of the city - and upon hearing about you being in here, I came to see if you were alright."

In any other situation, the young woman might've been touched by the thoughtful action, but at the moment, she was still too on edge. "How did you even get in here, anyway?" she instead insisted on knowing.

He smirked and leaned in somewhat. "I'm not sure we know each other well enough for me to share all of my secrets," he teased.

Magnolia’s expression flattened with annoyance.

Jacob, on the other hand, turned curious himself. "But what of you? How did you end up in this place? I thought it had been closed to the public."

The young woman looked away with an embarrassed blush. "Came on a dare," she mumbled. "And kind of…allowed myself to be locked in here…all night…"

Jacob's eyebrows sprung up. "Alone?"

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, still a bit sheepish. "Umm…yeah."

"Do your parents know you're here?"

"Umm…no."

His eyes opened wide. "You planned all this without telling them?!" He sounded unusually alarmed.

"Don't be a hypocrite, Jacob," she chided, now fully looking at him. "You would've done the same."

"Well, that's a different story; first off, my parents are dead–"

"Don't split hairs–"

"I'm not splitting hairs!"

#ngl it felt good to be writing for these two again; especially Jacob #I think I missed it more than I realized #Jacob Frye x OC #AC OC: Magnolia #my ac writings

[aspoonofsugar]

RWBY - Jungian Archetypes

Have you ever heard of the Persona, the Shadow, the Anima/Animus and the Self?

They are the so called Jungian Archetypes aka 4 theories psychologist Carl Jung came up with to describe how human mind works:

The persona is the mask one wears in social interactions. It is what is projected outside for others to see and it conforms to society’s expectations.

The shadow is what is buried deep inside. It is everything one denies, represses and refuses to associate to themselves. In a sense, it is the person’s dark side.

The anima/animus lies somewhere within the shadow. It is the feminine part of a man and the masculine part of a woman (I know, but I promise there is more to it).

The self incorporates all the other archetypes and it is the sum of everything a person is, was and has the potential to be.

The combination of these 4 parts makes the individual, just like Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang are team RWBY together.

Wouldn’t it be interesting then if each girl were linked to an archetype? Well, it turns out they all are :P

WEISS - THE PERSONA

Mirror, tell me something, Tell me who's the loneliest of all? Fear of what's inside of me; Tell me can a heart be turned to stone?

The persona is the mask people wear in society. It helps fulfilling social roles and following unspoken rules that are expected. It is a necessity to live together with others, but, if one identifies too much with it, they might lose sight of who they really are.

Weiss is initially a slave to her persona:

Mirror what's this thing I see? Who is staring back at me? A stranger to my heart has filled my mind Mirror Help me Who am I?

In her heart she wants to become a Huntress:

But in her mind she is stuck as the Schnee Heiress:

She is constantly performing to meet Jacques’s expectations to the point her family name has turned into a mask she can’t take off:

White Fang Lieutenant: Finally, I get to kill a Schnee...

Flynt: Hey! You Weiss Schnee, right? The heiress.

Vernal: Let's see what the Schnee name really means.

Marrow: I know you Schnees are used to getting what you want. But it's time to let this one go!

Cinder: It figures that a Schnee would be the last one standing, letting all her friends die first.

Her arc is about shattering this mask, so that who Weiss really is can come to the surface. This happens when she goes back home after the Fall of Beacon. There she is once again forced to play a part on the big stage that Atlesian society is:

However, she reaches a tipping point and everything she has been repressing emerges:

Weiss’s Boarbatusk is her wild side. It is the inner beast, that represents her pain for Beacon, her frustration at being a prisoner and her anger at Atlas. So, it is no surprise that it is so aggressive and savage. After all, this is how the shadow tends to be if it is pushed down and left untamed.

If one accepts it and channels it in the right direction, though, this part of the self has the potential to make the person whole:

Now this conversation's finally over, Mirror Mirror, now we're done I've pulled myself together now My mind and heart are one Finally one

Weiss’s story is that of a girl stuck in a persona, just a superficial reflection of who she really is. However, she faces her darkest parts and integrates them back into herself. In this way she finally becomes her own person.

BLAKE - THE SHADOW

From shadows, We'll descend upon the world, Take back what you stole. From shadows, We'll reclaim our destiny, Set our future free, And we'll rise. And we'll rise.

The shadow, also known as the inner beast, is everything a person refuses about themselves and pushes into the subconscious. It can be flaws, but also hidden potential and energy. Either way, it must be accepted and integrated back into the self because if repressed it will grow more violent and dangerous.

Blake is linked to the shadow in 2 different ways. On the one hand she is a part of society’s shadow because as a Faunus (symbolically a beast :P) she is discriminated. On the other hand Adam has forced her to repress who she is to the point Blake herself has turned into a shadow:

Both the Faunus and Blake must come out from the darkness and show their positive potential. At the same time, they must fight the most dangerous and violent part of the shadow (the White Feng, Adam), so that it does not stay in control (of the Faunus movement, of Blake’s life):

No way to avoid the warfare No way to escape this strife Hear now-listen to me This time retreat Spells our final defeat We must win our life

This time

This is what Blake’s speech to the people of Menagerie is about:

Blake: Humans didn't do this. We did this: Faunus. We did this to ourselves. We are just as capable of hate and violence as the humans, but I don't think any of us would jump at the chance to point that out. So why are we letting Adam do it for us?! By doing nothing and staying silent, we let others speak and act in our place. And if we're not proud of the choices they make, then we have no one to blame but ourselves.

It is on how even society’s shadow (the Faunus) has its own shadow (the White Feng) that has been festering because ignored.

In short, in her personal story arc, Blake is the positive part of the shadow, while Adam is the negative one.

She wants a constructive integration:

It's time The world sees what we're made of It's time We change the spite to love It's time To save our fate And walk beside The human race

He wants a destructive one:

I'm here I'm your savior I'll be lionized I am the path to reclamation This world will have no peace til our dream's realized No mercy no compassion our fate's justified Time to turn the table on who's tyrannized

Blake eventually wins, takes back control of the Faunus movement and brings Adam into the light:

At the same time, she frees herself by acquiring those traits she initially lacks. She starts as a scaredy cat that runs away, but learns to stand her ground:

She has always had this strength within herself, but it is initially buried deep down in that part of the shadow called animus.  Luckily, someone has been able to see that since the very beginning:

Yang: I'm sure you'd figure it out. You're not one to back down from a challenge, Blake.

 YANG -  ANIMA & ANIMUS

Call me "Sweetheart" And I'll tear you apart Just call me "Sir" Try to resist Once you meet my new fist Bye-bye!

The anima/animus is one’s feminine and/or masculine repressed traits. You don’t like it? Let’s try it this way. It is proactivity in a passive person and passivity in an active one. Or also it is the logical side of an emotionally driven individual and the emotion in a logical mind. Everyone has a little bit of their opposite within themselves. That is the anima/animus. People project it on a partner, so that they feel attracted and complemented by them. In truth, though, it is just a part of themselves being drawn out thanks to the relationship with the other.

Yang is introduced as a mix of traditionally feminine and masculine tropes She is a blonde eye candy, but she is also a super-sayan. She wears shiny bracelets, but they are actually gauntlets. She sings with a female voice, but I Burn also has a male rap part. The other girls are all associated to the feminine symbol of the moon, but she is linked to the masculine sun.

In short, everything about Yang plays with gender expectations and in I Burn she even screams not to be reduced to a walking stereotype:

Come at me And you'll see I'm more than meets the eye You think that You'll break me You're gonna find in time You're standing too close to a flame that's burning Hotter than the sun in the middle of July Sending out your army, but you still can't win Listen up, silly boy, 'cause I'm gonna tell you why

She is a hot girl, but she is also hot in the sense that she burns, both physically and emotionally:

So, Yang herself reconciles opposites. She is a beautiful girl, who is also aggressive and violent and does not hide it. She is both the feminine and the masculine. She is both the light (Goldilock) and the inner beast (the Junior Bear) and must accept these asymmetrical parts of herself. So, what starts with a play of gender stereotypes becomes deeper:

Scathing eyes (scathing eyes) That see things from only one side Yet every misshapen spark Suffers the judgment and pain But just as light conquers dark There's a beauty that's greater Than pure symmetry can contain So let's start the game!

It becomes the ability to see things from multiple perspectives:

Tai:  You both act as if the easiest way to tackle an obstacle is through it. That strength is all that matters in a fight. But if you just take a second look, then maybe you see there's a way around as well.

This is also why Yang’s arc is filled with so many illusions:

It is so that she can learn to aknowledge complexity, both in herself and in others. She must accept her own vulnerability (symbolically the loss of her arm) and forgive others’ (Blake running away). No-one is perfect, but everyone is faceted and has layers:

Weiss: You're right though. I don't know loneliness like you do. I have my own version. And, I'll bet Blake has her own version too.

Yang’s relationship with Blake helps in this process because Blake manages to draw out Yang’s most vulnerable side.

Yang shows vulnerability to help Blake:

Yang: That question... Why? I didn't know an answer, but I was determined to find out. It was all I thought about. I would ask anyone I could about what they knew about her.

And because she needs Blake’s help:

Yang: No one blamed her for anything! If she had just talked to us, she would've known that! How could I be there for her if she doesn't let me? What if I needed her here for me?

Blake accepts it and helps Yang accept it too:

Blake: She’s not protecting me, Adam. And I’m not protecting her. We’re protecting each other.

And in this way Yang can see her vulnerability for what it is >>> not a bad thing, but her anima that needs to come out and to find its own expression. Only if a person accepts their opposite they can be complete and find a path to the self.

RUBY - THE SELF (+ THE INNER CHILD)

Red like roses fills my dreams and brings me to the place you rest. White is cold and always yearning, burdened by a royal test. Black the beast descends from shadows. Yellow beauty burns gold.

The self is everything a person is. It is their past and all their potential futures coming together, so a synthesis of all the others parts. Not just the 3 major ones, but also some minor archetypes like the inner child, which represents vulnerability and is rooted into one’s childhood.

Ruby is her team’s leader. The 4 girls together make RWBY, so symbolically the other 3 girls are all a part of Ruby herself. This is why Weiss, Blake and Yang are all mentioned in Red Like Roses.

At the same time, Ruby too is a part of the other protagonists. To be more specific, she is team RWBY’s inner child.

She is Weiss’s negated fun childhood:

Weiss: Hey, Ruby? I always wanted bunk beds as a kid.

Blake’s lost innocence:

Blake: That's... very ambitious for a child. Unfortunately, the real world isn't the same as a fairy tale.

And Yang’s repressed vulnerability:

Yang:  It was tough. Ruby was really torn up, but... I think she was still too young to really get what was going on, y'know?

As the story progresses they all integrate these parts through Ruby and become more like her as a consequence.

Weiss shows her childishness more:

Blake goes back to her idealism:

Blake: I know you don’t always know what to do, but that’s never stopped you from doing something. I was like that as a girl, but time and… a lot of other things, took their toll on me. Then I wasn’t sure if that kind of girl could actually survive in the world… until I met you. It was a little strange at first because you were younger, but I’ve always looked up to you, Ruby. And I still do.

And Yang starts processing her complicated feelings over her moms: leaving her

They all learn from Ruby, who is presented as a role model:

Yang:  I'm not like Ruby, she's always wanted to be a Huntress. It's like she said, ever since she was a kid, she'd dreamt about being the heroes in the books. Helping people and saving the day, and never asking for anything else in return. Even when she couldn't fight, she knew that's what she wanted to do. That's why she trained so hard to get where she is today.

Weiss, Blake and Yang are initially all limited by their respective backgrounds and baggages, while Ruby seems superficially purer and more innocent. She is a child with her idealism still intact. This is why she initially receives the least focus and symbolically the least songs among the main 4.

That said, this is only partially true. Ruby is actually a person who tries to outrun her own negative feelings, but they are slowly catching up to her:

It is probable she will soon have to face her own inner child too:

She will have to conquer her feelings over Summer’s loss that have been haunting her since the very beginning.

In other words, Ruby will have to do what the other girls have already done aka face her inner child and take care of her in order to self-actualize. It is probable that in doing so she will be inspired by the others, just like she herself has inspired them in the past.

4 ARCHETYPES, 4 GIFTS & 4 KINGDOMS

A person is made of creative and destructive parts that must be known in order to reach self-actualization. What is more, these parts can lie in the light or hid in the darkness. This means Creation (Light), Destruction (Darkness), Knowledge and Choice together make the person and can be linked to the 4 archetypes too, together with their respective Kingdoms.

Creation - Atlas is the land of the light both in the sense they create new technologies and richness, but also in the sense they ignore their shadows and put up a perfect Persona. They like to think of themselves as better of the other Kingdoms, but actually disreguard those who live in Atlas’s shadow, like Mantle, the Faunus and Cinder. And all these shadows rise until it is too later for Atlas.

Destruction - Vacuo is the land of the darkness (Shade, Obscuro), where finding a Shadow that can get you a break from the sun is a luxury. It is also where everyone who is rejected goes. It is a destroyed kingdom, which is still the most welcoming country to Faunus and Shade even takes in the kids that lost their schools to Salem. Everyone is accepted as long as they can survive.

Knowledge - Mistral is the land of the Anima because it is well... in Anima :P. Maybe this is why all 3 climaxes of the Mistral volumes have a chemical wedding (Ren and Nora, Weiss and Jaune and Yang and Blake). At the same time, integrating the anima means truly knowing yourself and growing wise (Wisdom is the last stage of integration with the anima according to Jung).

Choice - Vale is the land of our protagonists’ happy childhood, so it represents the inner child. However, in a coming of age story, the characters start as children and finally grow through a choice that grants them self-actualization. This is why it is probable the story will end where it started with out heroes finding themselves at Beacon again, but as adults and not children anymore.

You’ll notice the 4 kingdoms are loosely linked to the 4 girls as well. Atlas is Weiss’s home and Ruby is from Vale. Yang’s mom operates in Mistral tying her to this kingdom. The only one off is Blake that comes from Menagerie, but Faunus being welcomed in Vacuo still links her to the Kingdom of the Shadow. Moreover, Menagerie itself is a land of the Shadow as it is literally not considered by the other Kingdoms, especially Atlas.

All in all, take this analysis with a grain of salt :P It is a mix of fun thoughts born from my love for archetypes and how they can be found and declined in many different ways in stories!

#rwby #team rwby #remnant #rwby meta #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long

[brazenautomaton]

Given that you are literally the perfect candidate for this, I request your assistance. In light of recent animu viewings, and upon stumbling across the TVTropes page for Princess the Hopeful, I was inspired to run a few sessions for my boys. However, digging back through your blog, I found a post indicating you had some fairly negative feelings on the system. As I trust your judgment, I would like your input on How To Make Princess Work, whether these suggestions are thematic and/or mechanical.

well I can't be as helpful as you would think because after a certain point the instinctive shame was too much and I can't even bear to read the current version of it so I don't know what to say "don't do this" other than "don't do anything that was Earthscorpion's idea". I asked someone to read it and summarize for me but then they just didn't do that.

and some of it was mechanical stuff you can't change, and probably the most important one was the post about nightmares as the primary environment, which I can't find now because of course I can't and now I am thinking maaaaaybe I never actually detailed it outside of PM?

the primary environment and source of low-level threat is a Nightmare, which is a little sub-reality bubble created by one person's fear and misery, operating under dream logic, where spirit creatures that are manifestations of that person's fears and flaws dwell, and the person is both the prisoner and monarch, exalted and tormented. the nightmare creatures go out into the world and hurt people and try to bring them back in, so that's the first source of monsters of the week. to put a stop to them you need to find the source, the Nightmare itself, and free whoever is trapped inside. the Nightmare reflects their fear and trauma and etc and you need to at least somewhat understand it to free the person, because you need to convince them they can and should leave. also because the nightmare creatures aren't self-aware it's a situation where starting a fight doesn't mean the end of social interaction; some challenges have to be talked through and some have to be fought and maybe you're doing both at once because the talky creatures don't notice or care you're fighting the gibbering monster creatures and you need to get past both to get to the core

yes, there's a lot of Madoka in that, but when Princess was first conceived Madoka didn't exist so it gets to catch up

higher level antagonists use and exploit these Nightmares. Princesses of Tears drive people to this point on purpose because like Kyubey harvests magical girl despair, the energy released by awakening a Nightmare is what keeps the lights on in Alhambra for a little while longer. evil warlocks use them as a source of disposable minions.

things are bad, it is a World of Darkness, because everything is tainted by Darkness. the taint of the Darkness is not Blizzard fel corruption or sinister black mind control oil -- the taint of the Darkness is fear. people do bad things because they are afraid. if an antagonist isn't cackling and unapologetically evil and clearly Okay To Kill, their actions are motivated at some basic level by fear. set them up so they can be redeemed and helped because a Princess is about fighting fear and balming misery. but also that redeeming them will take away most of their evil powers so that the group doesn't just accumulate a larger and larger posse of warlocks to stomp everything.

Dark Magical Girls should always be able to be redeemed. Ignore whatever stupid fucking subsystem EarthScorpion put into Princesses of Storms that kills them if they turn good, whether it's still the stupid organ implants or he changed it to something else. Basically anything that is a unique subsystem just for them was probably EarthScorpion's idea, he was obsessed with them for some reason

give players lots of opportunities to interact with higher-level antagonists before they are in a situation where one of them has to die, so they can get to know the antagonist better.

never imperil a character's civilian-life relationships unless they have fucked up super hard or you have given them ample, ample chances to prevent it from becoming a problem -- you cannot make it so the best idea is to cut yourself off from your friends so they won't be in danger, that's what lonely and isolated and terrified Dark Magical Girls do

the Queens are maternal figures who cannot give advice relevant to the situation on the ground (can't solve problems for you) but help you work them out yourself (they would love to do more but the dream-state they are in makes it hard to operate on anything but dream-logic)

Princesses are not evil, Queens are not evil, there is no "oh no you're so morally grey maybe you're the bad guys" because that is covered by every other WoD game. the darkness level of the game is keyed off of "how much does it matter that you're truly and righteously good guys? will that help you change things?"

this does not preclude them from getting into conflict with other forces who believe themselves to be or truly are motivated by goodness, but play up how that's a tragic thing that people who want to help the world have to fight

I also had a thing where Princesses basically gambled Belief the way Hunters gambled Willpower, to represent getting extremely emotionally invested in what you were doing and the possibility of being spiritually crushed if you try your hardest and fail. this was a way to get fucking super amped up EX modes on your Charms but not knowing how their system works I can't say how to adapt it

one other mechanical thing I wanted was "a Princess is basically invincible if she's devoting all her juice to keep herself safe, but has very little capacity to actually do anything else; the more effective you want to be at actively doing things to the world, the more you have to put yourself out there and risk being harmed" but again don't know how to integrate that into whatever mechanics they have

if I think of anything else I will let you know

#princess the hopeful

[redemptionofthefallen]

Bestow upon me your favourite oc dear mutual!

oooohhhhh lordy my "favorite"?

probably would be Draco. -but Sly and Kevin are close seconds-

Draco isn't on the bios yet but he will be soon, he was the first OC that i ever Created that i was truly proud of. he grew up in a military's family and had numerous traumatic instances in his life to lead him where he is now. he's known for being a highred gun for many situations. he's cunning, quick, and swift.

he has a bit of a toxic personality due to the way he was raised growing up, but because of everything after a near death experience and losing someone he loved very much to his behavior, he's vowed to change. however old habits die hard.

he also has taken in a young wolf pup girl named Lilly whos a fire cracker and even if he never says the words "i love her" he shows it in many ways only she understands. he takes care of her like a big brother like figure.

Draco Narssisa is a Snake Animus -which means he looks human but has snake like features: forked tongue, scale patches covering his body, golden slitted eyes, and fangs- but has pale skin

he can be very brash, sarcastic, and blunt. he has a hard time showing affection or that he cares for someone but he can do it...hes just hella stubborn XD

very skilled with a sword but any weapon really, and yeah....

i just love how complex he is as a character, honestly i get Katuski Bakugou vibes from him to be honest XD the funny thing is i made this Muse 12 years ago XD

this is what he looks like just imagine silver scale patches around his cheeks and all over his body ^^

so i hope you enjoyed that info! please tell me what you think of him and/or if you want to know more i would be glad to tell you ^_^ i could go one for days with him XD

@fatgumsupremacy

#fatgumsupremacy #pureofheartaudio #asks #answered #OC talk #Draco

[rumor-imbris]

Hello, Lady Connor! I want to ask out of unbearable, suffocating curiosity in my heart, even though in the previous post you already said to not mention "that certain comic". Could you please enlighten me about your view on that comic and what you despise about it? I would love to read your detailed thoughts about it even if just once. But if this is too triggering for you, I'm truly sorry for your discomfort and you don't need to answer it.

Hello, dear Anon and welcome ^-^ It's weird you naturally called me Lady Connor, as usually only my little fairy @giuliettaluce does. Well, I guess her magic put a spell on everybody here!!

If you really care to know, I'll answer, but brace yourself, it's going to be very long, almost an essay, because I can be very detailed about that comic being a failure in its every part. There's so much to say. You're right, as I mentioned before, it can trigger me, but I have attentively analized it and I know it makes not a single atom of sense. So nothing can actually bother me that much, don't worry ^_-

First of all, my general consideration of the AC Reflections comic issue #4, (yeah, that thing -.-) is that of a mere attempt to desperately make Bayek's remote vision through Senu's eyes a canon feature. It was created and published in 2017, the same year AC Origins was released and yes, they needed an excuse to make believe Connor's alleged daughter inherited a skill someone (who isn't even their direct ancestor!!) that lived 1700 years ago in ancient Egypt had! OMG, this should be funny enough, but I'll go on. Also, I think it was likely a carelessly arranged way to satisfy those AC3 fans demanding a "happy ending" for unlucky Connor (quite 5 years later, of course).

I'll better go step by step to figure out where to start from, seriously.

1) In the comic, when Otso Berg opens the file related to Connor, the scene is set in "1796: Upstate New York." Now this is chronologically and spacially incoherent and illogical. We see Connor still wears his assassin outfit in it, right? According to AC Initiates (2012) in 1804 Connor invites the Dominican assassin Eseosa at the Davenport homestead to provide him some advices and further training as he's involved in the leading of the Haitian Revolution. That's a really cool character, read about him, if you want!

So, until then Connor is still an assassin, probably the mentor (by now) of the Colonial Brotherhood. He still runs the homestead and he still commands the Aquila, I guess, he's the captain still. I calculated the distance between the homestead and the then upper NY frontier territories is approximately 260 miles (quite far nowadays with cars and planes as well). Then, why the hell should he have a family located in the forest upstate NY? It sounds very unconfortable to run back and forth to reach them and go back to take care of all the Brotherhood matters, doesn't it? Unless he knew about teleportation!!! Also, wow, he lives all alone in a nice massive villa with all the comforts of that time while his children and wife still live in a Native village constantly menaced by settlers wanting to steal their land? Beside the fact that Connor, at least in my point of view, seemed at last very familiar with european way of living by the end of the game, this leads us to the next point.

2) By the time the game and the comic are set (second half of 18th century), most of the East Coast Native tribes were facing the tragic and forced migration to western and northern territories (mostly towards Canada, protected by the British) because of all the consequences of the Revolutionary War (lost territories, failed alliances, settlers advancing and buying their lands and so on). So tells us history, unfortunately. It's a fact. And this is wisely showed to us in the AC3 main game when, after all the Kanien'kehá:ka tribes had left the territory around Connor's village (yes, even those near New York, to be clear) even Connor's own tribe at last migrates west, leaving an empty ghost village. They had remained all along to protect the secret temple, but in the end they as well were forced to leave. So, to me it's highly improbable that in upstate NY, one could still find a tribe and even if so, that Connor would let his family live there and risk their safety everyday.

3) The whole comic plot revolves around the fact that Io:nhiòte has a "special gift"... She inexplicably knows how to read the ground and find animal traces, she also can perform a perfect twisted acrobatic flip in the air and land unharmed to the ground. Do we know why? No, don't ask! xD She simply knows U.U, even if right after the next scene she slips and falls miserably down a cliff xD, but... ok!! Beside that, when Connor is far away to search for some water and is about to be attacked by a wolf hidden in the grass nearby, she sees the whole scene from the eyes of an eagle flying in the sky above her. As I said before, this reminds us of Bayek's (never clearly explained) ability to see through his eagle Senu's eyes and spot dangers and enemies. Now can you tell me why the hell this little girl has super powers and a skill Bayek had? As I said, they are not even directely related, as Bayek is not one of Desmond Miles' ancestor, we know him simply because Layla's new Animus is magical and can inexplicably read fragmented DNA from people who died a thousand years ago (it can also prepair coffee, I think!). So, where did she get that from? Magic? Mysteries of life? Convenient improbable connections for marketing's sake? We'll never know and you should simply accept that and ask no question!

4) From her height, way of speaking/moving/running, I assume Io:nhiòte is at least 8 years old, 8 - 9 minimum. She's the youngest of three siblings, who must be at least two years older than her and than each other (according to a human woman pregnancy timing!). If the comic events are set 12 years after the main game ending (1784, when Connor also starts to train the young ex-slave Patience Gibbs, arriving at the Davenport homestead with Aveline De Grandpré, according to AC IV Black Flag bonus mission with Aveline), so, this means that in that same year Connor must have found hastily the love of his life in a Native village (as if he was easy to open himself with other people after all he's been through), married her, impregnated her and seen her give birth to their first child, all in the same year when (let's not foget! xD) he still is the leader of the Colonial Assassin Brotherhood at the Davenport homestead training novices. Now, this may even be possible humanly speaking, (well, if you force the things a bit and hurry up!) but highly unlikely to happen!! xD

These are the main problems affecting the logic of the comic in my opinion, the points making its foundations crumble apart. Though I'm sure there are many little others to point out, such as Otso Berg "opening" Connor's files... like what? Where did those data come out from? I remember playing AC IV Black Flag and uncovering a file where Abstergo researchers themselves closed access to his memories as there was "nothing appealing to this character anymore"! So, if no more researches were conducted on him since 2013, where did Mr Berg magically or conveniently discovered such data in 2017?

Or... do we want to talk about the cover? It shows Connor in the spirit outfit from the Tyranny of King Washington DLC, which has apparently nothing to do with the comic, since it is set in his present day and he wears his assassin standard robe. Now, I think that can be either a simple marketing choice to make the comic more appealing, as... well, that cover is so cool, let's admit that, or maybe the subtle suggestion that the events told in it are just a parallel Disney-like reality and are not to be considered true at all! xD i don't know, maybe both explanations are right.

I'm sure that the deeper i dig, the more nothing rational I'll find!

If you played the old games, if you know well the franchise and its lore, the true, good, old AC lore, you definitely realize by yourself how that comic is useless and senseless.

This doesn't mean I do not wish an "happy ending" for Connor. But I'd rather accept something coherent with the main game events and AC chronology. Also, it doesn't necessarily needs to be a "happy" ending, as they conveniently created to please complaining fans. I wished for something real... coherent with his personality, acquired life-style and endless sense of duty and values.

Maybe that's what pushed me to write my FanFic novel in the first place, after all... To give him MY OWN cohesive ending, including my love, for love is always needed, I guess.

I'm so sorry if the answer took this long in time and words, but you were warned! ^w^

Though, thank you... Seriously, thank you so much for asking. You made me reflect once more about this matter.

Come visit me again, if you want. Take care

- Rumor Imbris 🦋

P.S. Oh, and if you're interested, this is my "jelousy song", for when things like this trigger my inner witch!! xD

#ask #ask me anything #I Am the Storm!!!! #AC3 Reflections #why it sucks #why it makes no sense #thanks for asking #anon ask

[starforgednegativespace]

Part One: Animus

I had been on Animus less than a stellar day and already felt like I'd been gargling with lava. Even within the relative shelter of Rampart, the planet-side mining complex where I'd come to meet my contact, the air was barely breathable. Decades of disrepair had left the air scrubbers barely functioning; apparently the locals were used to it, but even the recycled air on Rune Song tasted how I imagine a cool summer breeze would taste by comparison.

In the warm rain, Rampart's wide streets, asphalt peppered with sickly coloured dust, shone under flickering neon lights from overhanging signs for drug bars, pubs and brothels; everything a miner risking their lives and health could want. I walked through the darkening streets, hands jammed firmly in the pockets of my deep red flight suit, one hand gripping the barely functioning bolt pistol in my left pocket, concealed under the bulk of my belt pouches and rain-slicked overcoat. I was tired. Being a spacer, you have to deal with local times being different in settlements than the ship time your body gets used to, and right now I should've been wrapped up in my bunk aboard Rune Song letting the Six-Ten-Ten handle things, but instead I had planet under my feet and an early evening appointment I had no right to be keeping to keep. I stifled a yawn, pushed my rain-soaked mauve hair back from my face with my free hand, and pushed open the door of Kenji's saloon.

The saloon air was warm and smelled like stale liquor and just the faintest hint of the pervasive toxicity of Animus. Behind the bar, a bent-out-of-shape old timer with sharp, angular features and a bad prosthetic arm was pouring liquor for grim faced miners, while a couple of disinterested looking girls wearing revealing outfits which showed the toxic scarring on their thighs and collars pulled silver from eager locals for games of Traust. Some patrons gave me a quick look, and few looked long as I entered, turning back to their drinks and gambling, muttered conversations lost under the distorted electronic jazz sputtering from the jukebox in the corner. I opened my jacket, shook some rainwater from it, and scanned the room. Over in the opposite corner from the jukebox, sitting alone with a pair of drinks, was Shepherd. She nodded, full lips curling slightly into what you'd charitably call a smile, motioning for me to go over. I scanned the room again; none of the people here looked like Ikaro's goons, and none of them had the air of mercenaries about them. My grip on the bolt pistol relaxed, and I headed to her table, dropping into the worn synthetic-leather booth opposite her.

"Kiri Quint, in the flesh" she purred, raising a slightly grubby glass to me. "How long's it been?"

"Too long, Shepherd" I replied, courteous as I could muster, and reached for the second glass. Her hand slapped mine away. "Sorry, I assumed..."

"The good liquor doesn't come cheap round these parts," she shot back. "I'm sure Kenji has some forge-spawn piss the locals love so much with your name on it." She motioned to the bartender, then pointed to me. The bartender nodded and started pouring what I assumed was some cheap local faux-liquor into a plastic tumbler. Shepherd smiled that tight, half smile again. "It's on me."

"Still a saint, huh Shep?" I pulled the hip flask from my inner pocket, unscrewed it and took a pull of the burning liquor within. Shepherd's eyes narrowed. I offered her the flask. "This is the good stuff."

Shepherd declined the flask with a wave of an immaculately manicured hand.

"No offence, Cutter, but I don't know where you've been"

The bartender, Kenji I assume, brought the dirty plastic tumbler over, dropped it in front of me and grunted, eyes giving me the once over. He glanced at Shepherd like he was waiting to be dismissed, then slinked away when she continued to ignore him. I picked up the tumbler and sniffed it.

"Smells like hydraulic fluid. You trying to poison me, Shep?"

I forced a laugh, took a sip and grimaced.

"Always willing to try new things, huh?" Shep smirked and sipped her drink, long lashes fluttering slightly over the glass as her eyes stayed on me. I exhaled, stifled another yawn, and looked around the dingy tavern. I motioned with my finger.

"This yours?"

"Mostly. I have a controlling stake in operations on Rampart. With that comes, I guess you could call it a stewardship of the local entertainment. It's a symbiotic relationship."

"Oh, I get it, you pay the miners salaries then take it back through whatever means necessary?"

She smirked again.

"Pretty much, yes."

I took another sip from the dirty cup of cheap synthesized booze and fished around in one of the many pockets of my flight suit until I found the crumpled pack of nic-rods. I put it to my mouth and Shepherd, right on cue, was there with a light for me.

"Thanks." I blew stale smoke to the side. The nic-rods were old, and I barely smoked unless I was very, very tense; and right now I was just that. Shepherd had that way about her. Always had, even back when she was calling herself Hal and sporting a man's body.

"You're welcome. I know yours isn't working."

Rust-dammit

"You heard about that?"

Shit. Shit shit shit. If Shepherd knew, then that meant Ikaro probably knew, and if Ikaro knew...

"I like to keep tabs on my favourite Spacers. I have to admit, I was impressed when I heard our little Cutter was Ironsworn now." She put her drink down and lit a nic-rod of her own, blowing sweet-smelling smoke towards me. "Relax, Kiri. She doesn't know. Vlada Ikaro and I are no longer associates."

Associate was one way of putting it. Executive assistant to a blood-thirsty warlord was a more accurate description.

"Nobody leaves Ikaro" I said flatly. My hand slipped back into my pocket to make sure the gun was still there, my instinct to get up and run from this place was overwhelming. Cut and run at the first sign of trouble, like I always did. That's why they called me Cutter back then.

"You did. I never got the chance to tell you how much it amused me to learn that you took her cargo. Her ship too. The sheer audacity of it."

"I earned Rune Song."

"I'm sure you did. For what it's worth, Vlada and I parted company on rather better terms. We came to an amicable agreement."

"How much of your share in Rampart does she get?"

That was maybe too far. Shepherd sucked her teeth and put her glass down. Guess I hit a nerve. But my point still stood. Nobody leaves Ikaro. Not really. "Look, I was surprised to hear from you. I had no idea you were even in this sector, having a Herald track me down came as kind of a shock, not least of all because this whole set up seems a little unglamorous for your tastes."

She seemed to loosen up a little.

"You'd be surprised; far end of town there are some really rather lovely subterranean apartments. Clean air, access to all the best shipments, the works. And far less getting my hands dirty in the process than organising wet-work for Vlada Ikaro. No, I do well here."

"Here's to moving on." I raised my cup and drained it. "Now, why don't you tell me why you asked me here?"

Shepherd raised her glass, took a sip, and stubbed the half-smoked nic-rod out in a copper ashtray.

"I need a courier. Someone capable"

I narrowed my eyes

"You have silver to pay for Heralds who can track me down, why not use one of them?"

She smiled that slight, tight smile again.

"The Heralds share information. I need someone who can afford to be more discreet. Someone who would get the job done no matter what..." Wait for it...  "Someone Ironsworn."

There it was

"Why all the secrecy, Shep? What's the job?"

Shepherd's eyes lit up like she couldn't wait to tell me some wild secret. She leaned in close, so close I could smell the expensive booze on her breath.

"You want to know why I picked this world to settle on? Why someone like me would choose to cool their heels in a rusty mining colony on a toxic shithole like Animus?" I nodded. " Let me ask you this, Kiri, when you were landing here, did your nav-com take you on an unusual trajectory?"

"Yeah, I figured atmospheric disturbances or something. It's not uncommon for a world like this"

"No. Port control have orders to steer ships away from a particular region of near space. You see, up there..." she pointed upwards. "Orbiting right above our heads, just out of atmo... is a fucking precursor vault."

By Iron, I swore. I unscrewed the cap of my hip flask and took a long pull. Precursor vaults were scattered throughout The Forge; unimaginably ancient relics from a long-dead race of technologically advanced beings who once ruled this region of space. Rumours of tombs filled with relics of incredible power and technology were common among spacers. Some people thought they were myths, but those people had never flown the drift and seen the horrors of the forge up close.

"What's the job?"

"I need you to take some cargo to Paradox Station at Hera, I have a contact there who'll give you the co-ordinates to a deep-space research station where the cargo goes. A simple delivery job with a stop-over, but it's long distance and I need someone I can trust and someone with an Eidolon Drive. And if I recall, Rune Song is equipped with such a drive..."

I nodded again and stubbed the nic rod out.

"That kind of distance is gonna cost, Shep. At least -"

"Twenty thousand silver, ten up front, ten on completion."

Twenty thousand silver was a lot of money for a simple cargo run. More than double what I was going to ask, and what I was going to ask was double what the job was worth. There was a lot I didn't trust about this whole situation, but Rune Song needed repairs and I was down to my last few silver. Shit, it was worth it.

"What's the cargo?" I asked.

#ironsworn #starforged #ttrpg #solo rpg #actual play

[happymeishappylife]

Prep for the 60th: 2nd Season of Doctor Who

“One day, I shall come back. Yes, I shall come back. Until then, there must be no regrets, no tears, no anxieties. Just go forward in all your beliefs, and prove to me that I am not mistaken in mine.”

The second season of Doctor Who begins to introduce us to the fundamental concept of Doctor Who and that is change. This season we begin to see why change makes the show work and makes the show last. But of course there are tears, smiles, and memories that established with every departure and yet excitement over the possibilities that can now come with fresh faces and voices. So beginning with the TARDIS team, this is how the season started:

(From left: The Doctor, Ian Chesterton, Susan Foreman, and Barbara Wright)

And this is the TARDIS team jumping into season three:

(From left: Vicki, The Doctor, and Steven Taylor)

With the departures of Susan, Ian, and Barbara, we get a fresh new start to what it means to be a TARDIS team and travel with the Doctor. And one of things Classic Who does really well in my opinion is the blending of teams as people leave and join the team, plus there aren’t catastrophic moments when a companion departs even if you might not like it (like I did with Susan). Still with a fresh TARDIS team, let’s introduce the new companions.

Vicki Pallister is a sixteen year old girl from Earth from the 25th century. She is rescued by the Doctor, Ian, and Barbara after her spacecraft crash lands on the planet Dido and she is lied to by a convict who has killed the rest of the crew, including Vicki’s father, to avoid being locked up again. Thankfully, she gets picked up by the Doctor who fresh off the emotions of leaving his real granddaughter behind, takes Vicki lovingly into his world.

Steven Taylor, is also from the future though its unclear which era exactly he comes from. He is found on the planet Mechanus where after crash landing, he has been held prisoner by the Mechanoids for over two years on his own. Once he meets the Doctor, Barbara, Ian, and Vicki, he gets energized to escape, but its chaotic when the Daleks start battling the Mechanoids. So at first you don’t think he makes it into the TARDIS, but after one serial, I’m glad he stole away because he’s a fun guy to get to know.

The serials:

1. Planet of Giants

This serial introduces the first instance where something wrong can happen to the TARDIS and the team has to deal with it in whatever situation they find themselves in. In this case, something affects the TARDIS’ materialization that causes the TARDIS to not fully materialize at its full size, but instead at a miniature level. So while the Doctor and Susan are climbing sink drains and Ian and Barbara are dealing with giant insects and insecticide, what the team doesn’t realize is they inadvertently help prevent this extremely toxic chemical from going to the market by being present while full size humans are murdering each other over money. Overall Rating: 7/10

2. The Dalek Invasion of Earth

The Daleks have conquered Earth in the year 2164 and are in the process of extracting the core of the planet and replacing it with a machine to allow them to pilot the planet. It’s a crazy plan, but even though they’ve conquered Earth and enslaved humans to force slavery onto other humans, there entire plan falls apart when the TARDIS lands and the team finds ways to stop them and embolden the humans of Earth. But this is the first episode of goodbyes because the Doctor makes the decision to leave Susan behind so that she can explore her wish to belong somewhere and follow her dreams without him. Overall Rating: 8/10

3. The Rescue

The Doctor is surprised when they land on the planet Dido, a place he’s been before, that the inhabitants are gone and in there place is a few monsters and a crashed spaceship. He then helps discover the true reason for this, that Koquillion isn’t a true resident of Dido, but Bennet who has not only killed his crew and some of the Dido people in order to be rescued by Earth and not still be convicted of his previous crimes. Foiling his plan, the Doctor also takes Vicki Pallister into the TARDIS once she tells them she’s been orphaned due to Bennet’s actions. Plus missing his granddaughter, the Doctor immediately latches onto Vicki who is need of care. Overall Rating: 8/10

4. The Romans

After leaving Dido, the team takes a break in ancient Italy enjoying a month’s vacation in an empty house and living life of Romans. But eager for adventure the Doctor and Vicki set off for Rome and quickly get caught up in the affairs of Cesar Nero’s court when the Doctor is mistaken for a famed musician. But instead of continued life in luxury, Ian and Barbara get kidnapped for a slave trader, Ian going to hard labor in a boat and Barbara to the court of Cesar Nero as the Empress’ pretty handmaid. Ian of course breaks few and chases after her and there’s a great sequence of all four being in close proximity and never seeing each other. Plus we learn the Doctor is the reason behind Cesar Nero’s idea for burning down all of Rome. Overall Rating: 10/10

5. The Web Planet

I know this is one of the beloved serial from Classic Who, but I’m sorry, I can’t. Between the constant beeping of the Zarbi, the weird speaking and hand motions of the Menoptra, and the bizarre enemy of the Animus who makes webs but is some ethereal being, I just can’t get on board with it. Plus while the scattering of the companions in other episodes is okay, this one just feels unnecessary and ridiculous when the final scene is all four coming together in the Animus chamber to then defeat it. Plus, how do any of these creatures actually live and breathe on this planet? Overall Rating: 3/10

6. The Crusade

Having just recently read the book novelization of this serial, I was happy to rewatch it again, though it is disappointing that two of the episodes are missing. The show itself tells a good story of how the TARDIS team lands in the middle of the crusades, explores the two factions between Richard the Lionheart and Saladdin, but also was just a good watch this snippet of history and don’t get too involved with the major events. Sure Barbara is captured and the story revolves around Ian rescuing her, but for the most part the TARDIS team takes a backseat as we explore Richard’s weariness to go home and his trials to try and end these long wars. Overall Rating: 8/10

7. The Space Museum

This is the second serial that explores the problem of something weird happening to the TARDIS, when it materializes a few moments ahead of it actually physically materializing and gives the team a glance at a possible future in which the four are turned into exhibits for the space museum they stumble upon. Fearful of accidentally ending up this way, they instead find themselves running from the keepers of the museum and in Vicki’s case, starting a revolution against them to try and prevent the outcome. It’s one of the more suspenseful early stories, mainly because the Doctor almost does get turned into nothing but a model, but also when he does sneak inside an empty Dalek shell to escape his captors, we see that silly side of him come out. Overall Rating: 9/10

8. The Chase

In probably the most confusing Dalek story ever, we go on quite the journey to avoid the Dalek’s chase of the TARDIS team. It starts on the planet Aridius, ends on the planet Mechanus, and somehow manages to go to New York for the first time, the Mary Celeste ship, and a haunted horror house where Frankenstein destroys a Dalek. We do learn some interesting things about the Daleks and the TARDIS in this episode, but its also notable for two reasons. The first is we meet Steven Taylor and though its unclear, we learn in the next episode he steals away on the TARDIS to avoid being stuck on Mechanus. The second is it’s the serial where Barbara and Ian leave the TARDIS once they realize the Daleks’ time machine can get them back to London in their own time. Overall Rating: 6/10

9. The Time Meddler

We meet another Gallifreyan and the first besides the Doctor and Susan when the Doctor lands just before the Battle of Hastings. We also learn more about the Doctor’s people (though not their species or planet yet) and that there are principles to Time Travel which the Monk has no issue exploiting for his own amusement, but the Doctor is strict about. This leads to the Doctor finding ways to prevent the Monk’s plan of destroying the invading Viking fleet while also removing a key component in the Monk’s TARDIS so he can’t meddle through time anymore. Overall Rating: 9/10

Adding to our previous lists, items in bold are things we learned in Season 2:

Historical Figures:

Marco Polo

Kublai Khan

Maximillen Robespierre

Napoleon Bonaparte

Ceasar Nero

King Richard the Lionheart

Things we learn about the Doctor:

Pioneer among gallifreyans

Ian only refers to one heart being okay “his heart is okay”

Knows three dimensional graph geometry

Things I’ve learned about the TARDIS:

It has a computer that reads and feed data to compute information about where to go next

It has a food generator where you pick flavors to be added to a nutrient bar

The lock comes away from the door and has 27 different mechanisms, getting one wrong might melt the lock

Field dimensions can be damaged by breaking down doors

The TARDIS is made of material that is impervious to Dalek shots

The Doctor does not have a Mark 4

Things we learn about Gallifrey:

It’s quite like Earth, but at night the sky burns orange and the leaves on the trees are a bright silver

Timelords we meet:

The Monk

People the Doctor has supposedly met before:

Pyrrho

Henry VIII

James Watt

#prep for the 60th #doctor who #season 2

[violethowler]

The Elephant in the Room

In my previous essays, I have covered how the Kingdom Hearts narrative follows Maureen Murdock’s template of the Heroine’s Journey, as well as how various characters and story elements tie in with the overarching themes of the framework. Before I can continue to dig further into other themes and archetypes, there is something I need to address first. While I have avoided directly touching on the topic in my previous essays, I have now reached the point where it is no longer possible to talk about the Heroine’s Journey in full without acknowledging the elephant in the room: 

Romance.

In ongoing serialized stories such as TV shows and video games, conversations about potential relationships in canon are often treated as inconsequential to the overall story. Something that is separate from the main plot. At worst, I have seen fans who openly center a ship in their analysis and theories be dismissed and criticized as biased - or worse, delusional. They are treated as being so obsessed with their pairing that they try to make everything about their ship and jump on any excuse to declare that it’s viable in canon. 

Among the Kingdom Hearts fandom in particular, this has often taken the form of someone trying to dismiss other fans’ hope for a ship to be canon by saying that the series is about friendship, not romance.

While friendship is absolutely an important theme in the Kingdom Hearts series, to insist that this is mutually exclusive from depicting the development of romantic relationships ignores the continued presence of canon Disney romances in almost every game in the series. In each “main” game where Sora is playable, he has directly or indirectly been involved in getting those Disney couples together in the KH universe. So it’s not out of the realm of possibility for the series to turn the tables and give some attention to his romantic interests for a change. 

A story having other major themes is not mutually exclusive from showcasing the development of a romantic relationship. There are many popular movies, shows, books, comics, and video games in which a romantic relationship plays a central role in the narrative but there are still other plotlines going on that are equally as important as the romance. This is especially true for Disney and Square Enix.

The reason why it’s impossible to fully talk about the Heroine’s Journey without acknowledging romance elements is best encapsulated by this quote from She-Ra showrunner Noelle Stevenson about her show’s endgame pairing in an i09 interview after the release of the final season:

“The show’s not a romance show. It is about a lot of things. It’s about choice, destiny, fighting, tyrants, you know, all of these other things. I grew up with so many stories—like sci-fi and fantasy—that I was so passionate about. And it would be considered no big deal to have the hero get the girl and to have a kiss at the end, without it suddenly becoming a romance or ‘Oh, the shippers got what they wanted.’ It was just a part of the story. And to actually see it be a central part of the plot and to fulfill the arcs of the characters in a way that felt satisfying. I really want to take it beyond ‘Oh, the shippers got what they want.’ Like, it’s not just a ship for me. It is a plot point. It is the necessary conclusion of each character’s arc, separate and together.[1]”

While not every story known to follow the Heroine's Journey features a romance for the main protagonist, those that do make the romance an integral part of the narrative. It’s not something thrown in at the end to please shippers, but a central component of the story. Therefore, when analyzing a Heroine’s Journey story, it is vital to acknowledge and discuss textual support for potential romantic relationships in order to have a full understanding of the narrative.

Even if one is not aware of the Heroine’s Journey, Sora’s repeated interactions with Disney romances indicate that there is a high probability that he will be in a romantic relationship himself by the end of the series. Every story I know of that follows the Heroine’s Journey broadly adheres to a pattern in regards to how the romantic relationships of a main character are set up.

By examining the series through these patterns, we can narrow down who Sora’s endgame romantic partner will be. 

Because the themes and character dynamics emphasize resolving internal conflict through balance, the Heroine’s Journey lends itself extremely well to Beauty-and-the-Beast, rivals-to-lovers, and enemies-to-lovers relationship dynamics. A major component of the Heroine’s Journey is the main character learning to accept themselves, and since the Animus as a Shadow figure can represent the parts of themselves that they haven’t accepted yet, it is simpler to symbolize that self-acceptance via a romance with the Animus rather than attempting to build a separate relationship on top of the existing story framework.

For these reasons, the Animus is more often than not the main character’s endgame love interest, their feelings for each other made into critical aspects of their respective character arcs. The only Heroine’s Journey stories with romance that I know of where this wasn’t the case are ones where executive meddling resulted in the finale being rewritten to kill off the Animus despite established narrative set up for them to have a happy ending together[2], while the protagonist was either forced into a relationship with a different character or left single.

And like I said in previous essays, the one character in the series who fulfills all criteria for the Animus role within this storytelling framework…. 

Is Riku.

[Image Description: Sora supporting Riku as they walk toward the ocean on the Dark Margin at the end of Kingdom Hearts II. End Description.]

As mentioned in my earlier analysis, this narrative framework emphasizes the importance of balancing contrasting attributes, which fits in extremely well with Kingdom Hearts’ focus on balance between light and darkness. For stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey in a visual medium, that dichotomy is often incorporated into the characters’ look. Height differences are common, while their color schemes and outfits are designed to make them complement each other. Further adding to the focus on balance between light and darkness, the visuals of the story frame the romantic leads with imagery associating each one with light or darkness to create Yin-Yang symbolism when they are finally in balance. 

In Re: Chain of Memories, Vexen openly calls Riku the “Hero of Darkness[3]” as a counterpart to Sora’s role as the “Hero of Light”, and their combination attack in Kingdom Hearts II utilizes moves that reflect both elements. In the Ultimania for the original game, Tetsuya Nomura said that Riku’s look was intentionally designed to balance Sora’s[4], and the contrast between their respective color schemes is maintained in each of their new outfits. In Kingdom Hearts II and Dream Drop Distance, Riku wears white and blue, while Sora in those same games wears black and red. Two different pairs of contrasting colors. Kingdom Hearts III has them both in outfits that are primarily black and grey, but still emphasize the blue and red that have been part of their respective outfits since the first game. 

In a Heroine’s Journey, the love interest is typically an active character in the story and usually serves as the deuteragonist. This fits with Riku having been a mandatory playable character in multiple games since 2004. In addition, series producer Shinji Hashimoto said before the release of the HD 1.5 Remix collection[5] that the main focus of the series is how Sora and Riku develop both as individuals and as a pair, which fits with how the central conflict of the Heroine’s Journey revolves around the dynamic between the Protagonist and their Animus. 

A common viewpoint held by many fans of the series is that Kairi is Sora’s love interest, and it’s not hard to see why people get that impression. He has sacrificed himself to save her in two separate games now. He’s charged enemies head on in order to rescue her whenever she’s been captured. He even got down on his knees and begged for her freedom when Saix demanded he show how important she was to him. Multiple characters have talked about how special she is to him, and Roxas refers to her as “that girl he(Sora) likes.” 

However, there are multiple elements in the narrative that point to them not being the endgame romance. Kingdom Hearts III foreshadows the final shot of them sitting on the paopu together at the end of the game with Sora disappearing from the cover of the 100 Acre Wood storybook, textually framing Winnie the Pooh as a parallel to Kairi. While many fans regarded their sharing paopu fruits in the base game as the beginning of a relationship between them, he still only refers to her as a friend in Re:Mind, and even compares his bond with her to the bond between Ventus and Chirithy. 

Sora also does not treat his promises to her with the seriousness he would if they were going to end up together. The promises to return her lucky charm and to come back to her that he makes in the first game are never treated as anything urgent when he awakens in Kingdom Hearts II. Instead, he declines the opportunity to return to the islands and check in with her in favor of searching for Riku. When Kairi says in The World That Never Was that they’ll be together every day, Sora agrees, yet he was content to spend the rest of his life on the dark beach at the end of the game as long as he was with Riku. 

Meanwhile, the most consistent theme regarding Kairi in relation to the Destiny Islands trio is the idea of childhood friends drifting apart as they get older[6][7]. This is particularly highlighted in Kingdom Hearts III, with Kairi writing letters to Sora that she never sends, thereby keeping her thoughts to herself. Merlin also emphasizes this when he talks about forging new connections after Sora’s visit to 100 Acre Wood. This parallel frames the ending of Re:Mind as the two of them recognizing they’ve drifted apart and choosing to put in the effort to renew their friendship by spending time together.

On a structural level, her portrayal does not fit with how love interests are typically depicted in the Heroine’s Journey, both as an individual and in relation to the main protagonist. There is no contrast between her and Sora’s designs or roles the way there is between his and Riku’s. Her color scheme is predominantly pink, which does not have the same contrast with Sora’s red as Riku’s blue. Because she’s a Princess of Heart, there is no dark and light contrast, and the combination attack she shares with Sora in Re:Mind only utilizes light-based moves. It took 17 years after her first appearance in the series for her to be made a playable character, and even then, playing as her is not mandatory. They are never portrayed as equals, and she is not an active force in his emotional growth. 

The Heroine’s Journey was crafted for narratives revolving around identities that have been Othered by society for one reason or another. Murdock designed her template as a tool to help women deal with being shamed by society for expressing and pursuing their desires. In a similar way, LGBTQ+ people also face stigma from society for expressing and pursuing their desires. So it makes perfect sense that a framework for narratives of people overcoming internalized stigma against important parts of themselves would be ripe for stories featuring LGBTQ+ protagonists of any gender.

As mentioned in previous essays, stories that follow the Heroine’s Journey challenge the biases and blind spots of the audience. A relationship between Kairi and Sora does not challenge anything because she has largely been regarded as the endgame love interest by default since the beginning. Meanwhile, a romantic relationship between Sora and Riku challenges players to recognize heteronormativity within themselves and in the media around them. It challenges people to examine the lens through which they perceive the story and rethink how they look at what’s happening in the narrative.

In summary, the portrayal of Kairi and her bond with Sora is not consistent with how love interests are commonly depicted in the Heroine’s Journey, while the portrayal of Riku and his bond with Sora is. If Sora’s story is going to continue on this storytelling formula to the end, the structure of the Heroine’s Journey narrative leaves Riku as the only thematically viable candidate for the role of endgame love interest. 

Now, as some people bring up in conversations about Soriku, there is a potential obstacle in the form of corporate executives. It is entirely possible that Disney will drag their heels and try to force the development team to downplay or remove any open same-sex relationship the series may try to depict. They do not have a strong track record of LGBTQ+ representation that isn’t a minor character who only appears for one scene. Given that their last IP to follow the Heroine’s Journey - the Star Wars sequel trilogy - crashed and burned at the end, executive meddling is my greatest fear for this franchise.

But the thing to keep in mind is that Tetsuya Nomura is stubborn as hell. One of the reasons the long gap between Kingdom Hearts II and Kingdom Hearts III was because he was holding out for permission to include Pixar movies in the game, outright refusing to start work on KH3 until they were given that go ahead[8]. If you want further proof of how stubborn he can be, this is how he described the meeting where he first pitched the series to Disney in a 2012 interview with the late president of Nintendo[9]:

Iwata: Their ideas were different from yours, naturally…

Nomura: Yes. They appeared to believe that we would make whatever they wanted us to make and came up with rather specific requests such as, "We'd like the game to feature this character." They were really excited, explaining their ideas... To be honest, though, I wasn't really interested in any of them. (laughs) 

Both: (laughter)

Iwata: You wanted to borrow Disney's characters in order to make a new game that could compete with Mario 64, and you already had a vision of what this game would look like. I suppose their ideas didn't fit in with this vision.

Nomura: They didn't, no. In the end, I actually stopped a presentation halfway through. We didn't have that much time, and it looked like it was all going to get taken up by various Disney presentations. So, I interrupted them and told them the conclusion by saying, "I won't make such games."

Talk about nerves of steel. This man basically said “we do this my way, or we don’t do it at all” TO MOTHERFORKING DISNEY, AND. HE. WON. If there is any human being with enough force of will to make the Mouse House cave in and allow the depiction of an openly LGBTQ+ relationship in the Kingdom Hearts series, it is Tetsuya Nomura.

I cannot say with 100% certainty how things will go. But everything I know about storytelling patterns and narrative structure is telling me that Kingdom Hearts is a textbook Heroine’s Journey with a romance between Sora and Riku at its core. A relationship between the protagonist and the Animus does not truly begin until the “Integration” stage at the end of the Journey, and we are rapidly approaching the point in the narrative where the two leads traditionally become aware of and acknowledge their feelings in order to be on the same page for the finale.

Sources: 

[1] “She-Ra's Noelle Stevenson Tells Us How Difficult It Was to Bring Adora and Catra Home” May 18, 2020

https://io9.gizmodo.com/she-ras-noelle-stevenson-tells-us-how-difficult-it-was-1843419358

[2] “Death of a Dark Youth, Desecration of the Animus”; December 20, 2018. https://www.teampurplelion.com/death-of-a-dark-youth/

[3] Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories. Square Enix, 2007. 

[4] “A Look Back: Kingdom Hearts Ultimania Gallery Comments Part 1″; August 30, 2019;

https://www.khinsider.com/news/A-Look-Back-KINGDOM-HEARTS-Ultimania-Gallery-Comments-Part-1-15519

[5] “How Kingdom Hearts III Will Grow Up With Its Players;” September 24, 2013.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/25/how-kingdom-hearts-iii-will-grow-up-with-its-players.

[6] “E3 2018: Tetsuya Nomura on If Kingdom Hearts 3 Is the End of Sora's Story”; June 14, 2018.

https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/06/14/e3-2018-tetsuya-nomura-on-if-kingdom-hearts-3-is-the-end-of-soras-story

[7] “Character’s Report Vol. 1 Translations”; Jul 16, 2014

https://www.khinsider.com/forums/index.php?threads/characters-report-vol-1-translations.195560/

[8] “Edge Magazine Features Kingdom Hearts III Cover Story”; January 9, 2019. https://www.khinsider.com/news/Edge-Magazine-Features-Kingdom-Hearts-III-Cover-Story-14331

[9] “Iwata Asks: Nintendo 3DS: Third Party Game Developers, Volume 12: Kingdom Hearts 3D [Dream Drop Distance], Part 2: It’ll definitely be fun”; April 2012. 

https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/creators/11/1

#kingdom hearts meta #kingdom hearts theory #kh speculation #kingdom hearts analysis #kingdom hearts and the heroine's journey #soriku

[for-peace-war]

No, really. Lovecraft Country sucks.

These are spoilers, but I also don’t give a shit because it’s a bad show and I hope you skim enough to fucking skip it.  I took a few days to decide if I hated it enough to write this and well, I do. 

I will try my best not to say “X is a bad actor,” but instead stick with the characters as they’re intended save for one particular issue.

The Story

It isn’t very Lovecraftian.  And don’t take this as me saying Lovecraft was some kind of master of his craft.  I think he was an absurd racist that used xenophobia as his guise for what truly horrified the sane mind. That being said, the element of the unknown is definitely the hallmark of his world and that in no way is represented in this show.  It could easily be called “Goosebumps: The Black Version” and it’d be just as authentic--if not more so, really.

The story deals with the Bible (?) and magic that comes from uh, knowing the names of things.  You speak a made up language and then you do some kind of confusing magic that has no real purpose or point.  I sound dismissive of this because I am, to be clear.  They could have just as easily had this language be something whites stole from Africans and then perverted into their own means of power (it’d be a pretty easy parralel to any number of imperialist issues left behind in Africa, huh.)

But anyway, it has a tentacle monster. I think we see a big scary octopus at one point.  But the monsters are often in your face and it’s probably less scary than Stranger Things S1.

Honestly, the characters repeat “autumnal equinox” so much that I felt I was going to have a fucking breakdown.  Just the writing is very empty and no one seems to really care about anyone else on the screen except for in a rare moment between the only two characters that make it far and matter. 

Characters

They aren’t very good.  There are tropes present, which isn’t bad at all, but the way the characters interact, speak, and in general move us through the story feels stilted, often nonsensical, and entirely reliant on the viewer assuming that the latest sentence spoken is the only one that matters.

Atticus “Tic” Freeman

A war criminal that derives his power from the white blood inside of him. Again, dismissive but true.  We see this man struggle to connect pieces to a puzzle and eventually he pays the price for it, but not in the way Lovecraft would have someone pay for endeavoring beyond their realm.  Rather, something about fate and a book. Look, honestly? Who gives a shit.  Tic murders a woman in coldblood and it’s never really touched on.  There’s a lot that could be said about militaries, oppression, etc, but we often see these characters enact violence and then the story skips merrily beyond it.  So yeah, he summarily executes a Korean woman and then is later shown torturing another, but it’s okay because he feels a little bad and fucks the Korean sex demon woman.  More on that later.   I felt nothing for him.  He didn’t have some deep animus over being a torturing war criminal.  He was just kind of moving through scenes and having confusing fights with his girlfriend/baby mama.

Letitia “Leti” Lewis

This is what empowerment shouldn’t look like. It amuses me that the show claimed to subvert some kind of norms when the primary love interest (and ultimate heroine) remains the lightest skinned sister in the room.  She is able to maintain the appeal of the ingenue while at the same time having the understood attractiveness of her complexion. As far as Leti is concerned as a character, she too seems to be a pretty shitty person.  We hear that she has “transactional” friendships and she seems pretty much all about self-survival and rarely if ever puts up where others do.  She’s a heroine in the sense that the story makes her be heroic, but it never addresses how her flaws are ultimately all self-inflicted and unnecessary.  She could just not be a shitty person.

Hippolyta Freeman

Well. Hidden Figures was an excellent film, and I think that’s where Hippolyta came from.  In a more serious series, perhaps she and her daughter could have had a very touching arc that would deal with survival and exceptionalism in a world that maligns you for your very being.  Unfortunately, in reality she just comes off as a character that’s quirky in a world that’s also quirky and she doesn’t get to harness her power. There’s an entire episode dedicated to how she discovers who she is and the result is well, her hair turns blue and she makes robots?  I think the character TYPE is great, but they misused her here in all ways.

George Freeman

Well, well.  If the series had remained about George, Tic, and Leti adventuring through America and encountering sundown towns and monsters both human and otherwise, I think it’d have been okay.  The issue is, they wrote this series by the numbers so George is immediately thrown away.  He’s a wise and circumspect guy that has his own flaws (he has patrarchical notions built around protecting/babying his genius wife, clearly), but the flaws he has are understandable and well reasoned. George dies early on.  Then he sort of doesn’t, I guess? But the fact he did was really the nail in the coffin for this series.  The moment they did that, the rest just became empty strokes.  A story where George witnessed the others dying and going back to his wife and daughter would have had so much more heart to it, but well.  Uncle George is literally one of the few bright spots.

Ruby Baptise

Much like her sister, Leti, Ruby is a terrible attempt at showing empowerent on the one hand, and a masterwork on the other.  The bad first: she’s a rapist.  I’ve been called a nigger before and while it didn’t feel great, I don’t think I’d have been justified in just sodomizing the person that did it.  That entire sequence was weird and they tried to hype it as her reclaiming something, when really it spoke to a disgusting and gratuitous tendency toward Ruby: she’s always too much. Ruby, IMO, should have been Tic’s love interest.  In a sense.  First, because Wunmi Mosaku was a very attractive woman with impressive acting chops (she’s where I’ll break my moratirum, sorry), but also because it wouldn’t be what you’d see in every other show now: light-skinned pretty sister, dark-skinned sexual eikon.  And that’s the issue with Ruby there: she’s always too much.  She’s sexual by existing and that isn’t necessarily to her benefit since Leti, the good one, is an actual virgin before her sudden period sex. So the narrative has already spoken as to how it views sex. Yet, because they tried to give Ruby these strange strokes, she comes out as an interesting character.  She has feelings, aspirations, and dreams that she’s kept from and that’s very real. In a story about the absurd, a sense of realness is a familiar handhold to gather your wits.  She’s all that, really.  It’s why she has the best relationships in the show, which is AGAIN an issue, but well. I’ll say Ruby was never bad to have on screen though I was disgusted with how often her blackess (and Blackness in general!) became the source of grotesque horror.

Christina Braithewaite

This is where I get annoyed.  My issue with Christina is that she should have easily been the most hated character, but they overplayed their hand with not showing how nefarious she was.  In fact? Christina and Ruby’s relationship is the only meaningful, real, and understandable one in the entire series.  I felt no joy during her downfall, because I didn’t really get to see her doing anything bad? Just, consider what the show is.  It’s about Lovecraft’s lore, ostensibly, which treats all non (specific types of) white men like dogs.  So Christina comes at it from the “white” but “woman” perspective and you know, she has moments of duality that you can say is she more white or woman here.  But they don’t execute on how sinister she should be.  She’s a little rude at times? Yet she is the only person to treat Ruby like she should be treated and she’s the only person that seems to have a goal outside of “the quest.” It really bothered me that she came out so well done, because either they needed to have her for two seasons and make her far more nefarious after the first, or to just make her less a force for good.  She saves the characters more than a few times and pays for it by being killed when she’s at her lowest.  Yeah, it’s... a weird take.  

Ji-Ah

What can I say?  There are depictions of sex in the series, and they’re all negative: most of Ji-Ah’s scenes, Montrose’s angry self-loathing sex with his boyfriend, Ruby’s morphic horror scenes.  In the case of most of those, there’s something being said.  Ji-Ah is a monster, literally, that could be seen as Lovecraftian in the sense she’s an exotic Asian woman that kills men that sleep with her.  So, HBO was like “we’ll blow our tits and ass budget on her,” and she exists for a series of sex scenes and vague, inscrutable... shit, maybe SHE is the most Lovecraft of all the characters! Anyway at some point she joins the party after confusing drama with Leti because they both fucked Tic.  It’s okay though, because Ji-Ah isn’t here for any of that now.  She’s the one who had the best friend that had her teeth yanked out by Tic, and also who was there when he shot her other friend in cold blood, but they get over that and she’s now their friendly red panda pal or some shit.  It’s fucking trash.   Much like the Freemans (sans Tic), I think she’d have done great in another show. But they rushed her story and it felt less Ghost Nation (Westworld) and more Masturbation (Jordan Peele).

Diana Freeman

Confusing.  A stock character (quirky kid that does art, is impetuous, and won’t take no for an answer) that is given a lot of screen time.  When she sort of hijacks an episode when two ragamuffin girls chase her down and infest her or something because racist cops.  Well, the story veers to her direction.  What can I say?  If you like 11 from Stranger Things but wanted her to have Mike’s attitude, well.  Here you go.

Montrose Freeman

He could have been a good character, I guess. He seemed unnecessary and often was there purely for an x-factor of “uh?”  Like, his infamous scene where he slits a two-spirit Native American’s throat after we learn that this indigenous person had just been restored after being raped by bad guys.  So there’s that.  Also I guess he was self-loathing so he beat his son (that may not be his son???) and also liked fucking dudes, which was I think where we were supposed to care about him. It’s like someone saw Omar was a gun-wielding desperado of drug theft and decided, “Well what made him okay is he’s gay!”  But it didn’t add much.  I get he was angsty but other than Tic calling him a “faggot” (one of the few good scenes between them in terms of emotion), it all seemed empty and kind of meandering. At no point does Montrose seem a part of the team.  He just half-mumbles, gets angry, cries, and falls apart.

Captain Seamus Lancaster

He’s barely a character, but I need to include him for another point. He’s the “bad guy.”  I guess?  He uses the bodies of black men to stay alive, which is actually a really smart reference to black bodies fueling the American system, but it comes off as cheesy because it just never comes up.  He’s cartoonishly bad in a way that he’s less sinister than a meme.  Compare him to say,   Ridgeway from Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad. One’s a sinister representation of an oppressive system and the other’s well, a joke.

Racism

How could this not be a theme?  The issue, as was shown with Lancaster, is that it isn’t even remotely handled with seriousness.  The best scene of racism is in the first episode when Tic, George, and Leti are forced to leave a Sundown county before they’re lynched by the racist sheriff.  The anticipation and animosity lead to some serious anxiety and it was a nailbiter.

But after that?  White people say “nigger.”  Then they get, I don’t know, raped or spit on or who knows.  A lot of black people talk back to the cops anyway in the 50′s and that’s cool.

But the real monsters of the series are all black people.  Let’s go through it: 

Tic brutalized women in the Korean War.

Montrose killed the two-spirit person.

Ruby rapes the shop owner.

Diane crushes Christina’s throat.

Ruby literally sheds her flesh in repeatedly gratuitous acts of the grotesque.

Even Ji-Ah, who’s not black, is a monster in the literal sense.  We do see the doctor that experimented on black people, but that’s about 5 minutes at the end of an episode that has a baby’s head on a man’s body so I was too busy laughing at the absurdity to take any real meaning from it.

The truth is, in Lovecraft Country, white people always should do their best to kill or keep black people down.  It definitely doesn’t speak at all to any togetherness or what have you.  Just, well. Magical negroes doing bad stuff because nothing can stop them.

The show misses the chances to show real horror in race.  Hell, the Tulsa Riots are reduced to a backdrop for a confusing book scene.  But then again, Emmett Till becomes a kind of empty reference point that we then see a white woman act out... for some reason? 

Again, the only characters with any chemistry are Ruby and Christina, which is very unfortunate for any number of reasons. As far as a statement that racism is bad goes, I mean. I barely saw it.  If I was a racist I’d be like hell yeah, Lovecraft was right they are dangerous.

Even when people try to indicate the horrors of it like, “Oh, the Korean War scenes are bad because we see how men are forced into the military complex!”  We didn’t see a white officer say “Shoot her, boy,” it was just two black guys killing women with no care at all. And no compeuppance, so that’s cool.

The Music

Sucks.  Thanks Peaky Blinders for making modern music over gif sets a thing.

Conclusion

I sure as hell would never watch it again.  If I can get one other person not to, then maybe it’d be worth it. It’s not a good show.  It’s not “smart,” and there’s no secret subversion in it.  It’s just... bad.

I won’t post on it anymore.  Please, in true Lovecraft fashion, trust me when I say that this show is so bad it cannot be comprehended. 

#lovecraft country

[thenewnio]

A new story idea taking place in the modern-day world of Shadow of the Colossus, Ico and The Last Guardian.

For as long as anyone can remember, Ceratinus Cranium (Latin for “horned head”), a harmless birth condition that gives some people actual horns, has been shrouded in mystery. No one knows how CC, as it’s called for short, first came to be, but its earliest records originate from the country of Animae, a place steeped in mythology and superstition.

College student Eric Belson travels to Animae to make a film regarding CC. There, he meets Nico, a girl with CC who becomes his guide. Their search for the cause of the condition leads them to a nature preserve once known as the Forbidden Lands, where gigantic creatures called Colossi once roamed. Just as they arrive, a bizarre phenomenon occurs: Sixteen strangers, each one possessing similar beastly physical features, all emerge from sixteen structures said to be the bodies of the slain Colossi, claiming to be the resurrected giants themselves. It soon becomes apparent that a dangerous entity, born from the collected essences of a slain queen, a dark god and a deceased child-devouring demon, has come into the world, naming itself “Nox”. This prompts Eric, Nico and the now semi-human Colossi to search for the one being who can slay Nox and save the world: Solis, the seventeenth Colossus.

List of Colossi, their genders, their names as humans and their bios

My idea is that the Colossi used to be human, but forgot that fact (even their real names!), with the exception of Malus, their leader. Here, they resurrect in the present day as semi-mortal beings, resembling their human selves with black horns, and glowing eyes with black sclerae (much like how Wander looked at the end of SOTC).

Valus - Minotaurus Colossus 

Gender: Male

Real Name: Theseus

He tries his best. Really. He’s not a smart guy, though. He is, however, willing to fight for what he believes in.

Quadratus - Taurus Major

Gender: Male

Real Name: Asterius

He just loves children. (But not in a dirty kind of way.) He’s also willing to defend those he cares about.

Gaius - Terrestris Veritas

Gender: Female

Real Name: Miles

A show-off. Kinda selfish, but she has a heart of gold. She used to serve as a knight.

Phaedra - Equus Prime

Gender: Female

Real Name: Auriga

As a human, she was an undertaker. As a Colossus, she watched over tombs. She is dead serious (Pun unintentional!) when it comes to her former duty.

Avion - Avis Praeda

Gender: Female

Real Name: Pluma

A wise one. She used to be a priestess before her town flooded. As a Colossus, she watched over what remained of her former home.

Barba - Belua Maximus

Gender: Male

Real Name: Callidus

Also a smart one. He always plans his attacks beforehand, though they sometimes go astray due to his clumsiness.

Hydrus - Draco Marinus

Gender: Female

Real Name: Lympha

The youngest of three sisters. She is a curious girl. Although that curiosity sometimes leads to trouble, that doesn’t stop her. She does learn from her mistakes, though.

Kuromori - Perietinae Umbra

Gender: Female

Real Name: Coda

Short-tempered and free-spirited. Is very easy to annoy. Do NOT annoy her unless you're masochistic.

Basaran - Nimbus Recanto

Gender: Male

Real Name: Tempesto

Introverted. He’s still willing to welcome company, though, if he’s bored.

Dirge - Tigris Harenae

Gender: Female

Real Name: Dune

The middle child of three sisters. Is a lonely soul, and is eager to make friends. She is also protective of her other two sisters. Doesn’t like getting soaked.

Celosia - Ignis Excubitor

Gender: Female

Real Name: Vita

One half of a duo with her twin brother. She tries to be as tough as her brother, but she suffers from a traumatic memory involving fire. She also used to be a priestess.

Pelagia - Permagnus Pistrix

Gender: Male

Real Name: Vision

Born blind, but makes up for it with his other senses. He used to serve as an oracle as a human.

Phalanx - Aeris Velivolus

Gender: Female

Real Name: Aeria

The eldest of three sisters. She is a kind pacifist, but she is also a bit of a coward, despite being the oldest sister. She also serves as a motherly figure.

Cenobia - Clades Candor

Gender: Male

Real Name: Custos

The other half of a duo with his twin sister. He’s stubborn and prideful, but he genuinely cares for his sister. He used to be a soldier.

Argus - Presidium Vigilio

Gender: Male

Real Name: Vigil

Wary to the point of mild paranoia. He’s the kind of person to think before he acts.

Malus - Grandis Supernus

Gender: Male

Real Name: Malus Titanus

The leader of his group, and the only one to retain his memories of being human. Once a mortal sorcerer, he and fifteen others preformed the ritual that sealed Dormin away, at the cost of absorbing their essence, which mutated the group into the beings that came to be called Colossi.

Solis - Animus Vagus

Gender: Male

Real Name: Wander

You already know this guy’s story. Basically, he’s reincarnated as a Colossus. In my story, he might be the only hope of slaying Nox. His one wish is to be reunited with Mono somehow.

#original story #fantasy #shadow of the colossus #ICO #the last guardian #inspired by Giantology

[reflectionsofacreator]

Word count: 1693 | Also over on my [ao3] Set during AC2. Lizzie is not an OC. 

This one’s been eating at me, might as well post it -- it’s more of a dialogue piece than anything, similar to the intro conversations Desmond can have with Shaun or Rebecca. 

---

“Well aren’t you a handsome one? Yes you are, look at how sharp your teeth are! Here, here’s some food for you…”

Desmond followed the sound of the cooing down and around the corner, to the more isolated part of the warehouse. His Animus session was wrapped up for the day, and he still had a bunch of energy to try and burn through before their dinner got here. So… off to the warehouse jungle gym it was. 

He found Lizzie sitting on the ground against a support pillar, her laptop on her thigh, and cooing at a rat, scratching it as she fed it a bit of her food. 

“You know, that’ll just make him bring his friends,” Desmond pointed out, coming around to lean against the railing. “And then we’ll have an infestation.” 

Lizzie looked up at him, blinking owlishly for a moment, and then shrugged. “He’s not hurting anyone. Besides, he needs a bit of food, he’s skinny. And I told him not to bring his friends back here, so we should be fine.” 

“You told the rat not to bring his friends here?” Desmond asked, just to clarify. 

“Mmhm,” she said, and pet the little thing on the head. It squeaked and sniffed at her, before investigating curiously for more food. “He’s smart, he knows what I mean.” 

Desmond had no idea if she was pulling his leg or being completely serious. He’d already been through so much this last week that a supposedly sentient rat barely registered. 

“Uh. Sure.” He said, and crossed his arms. “Sorry, I’m a little bit of a disadvantage here. I got to know Shaun and Rebecca some, and I know Lucy from Abstergo, but you’re kind of a mystery for me.” 

“I mean, you’ve only been here a few days, right?” She asked, smiling at him. “And I’m usually down here, instead of in the Animus room.” 

“Yeah, why is that?” Desmond asked, gesturing to the warehouse. “You don’t even have a chair down here, let alone a desk or anything. Wouldn’t you be more comfortable upstairs? With the air conditioning?” 

Lizzie laughed slightly and pet the rat again, and got it to cuddle up into her lap. The image was cute, but as a long time New Yorker Desmond wanted to tell her that it would skin her alive. 

“I’m somewhat claustrophobic,” she admitted. “I’m better than I was as a kid, but sometimes it still gets to me. The warehouse feels bigger, compared to the tiny loft. And well, Shaun and Rebecca banter so much, it’s hard to think.” 

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Desmond chuckled, and slowly came over to sit down. “I’m usually wrapped up in the Animus so I don’t hear them often, but sometimes…”

“Speaking of,” she said, and started to tap at her laptop. “ I have the first few glyphs you’ve found decoded. The ones from Subject Sixteen. There’s more to them, but I got the base encryption out of the way.” 

“Oh hey, that’s awesome!” Desmond said, grinning as he leaned over to view the laptop. On one screen was a program that seemed to be partially animus tech, and the other was an email screen. The message she had open was just filled with lines, looking like slashes or Is. 

“You read cuneiform?” He asked, lifting a brow. 

“Huh? Oh, no,” she said, and closed out of the email. Her desktop had a picture of herself from a few years ago, a younger girl, and an older teenage boy, who was covered in scars. Their features were similar enough that Desmond would bet that they were related. “Well, I can read sometimes, I studied it in college, but that’s not cuneiform, it’s Claw.” 

“Claw?” He asked, keeping an eye on the rat. 

“An alphabet my siblings and I use to talk,” she smiled. “Don’t worry, it’s encoded even through the alphabet. I doubt anyone could read it, even if they were to hack into Hephaestus.” 

“Family, huh?” He mused, and leaned back. “Does that mean you’re not a born Assassin?” 

“Nope!” She said cheerily, and sat back against the support beam. “I’m actually sort of similar to Shaun, except I got caught hacking into Hephaestus, not Abstergo. I usually operate out of home base, but Rebecca and Shaun asked me to help with this job, considering how important the Animus is.” 

“What do you usually do, then?” 

“I’m a code breaker, and a hacker,” she said, a touch of pride in her voice. “I can break any encryption, any code, if given enough time, and even then it doesn’t take me long. Hacking’s more of a required skill in the Brotherhood nowadays, so I picked it up by proxy, but code is my specialty.” 

“And I suppose that also translates to genetic code?” He asked, a wry smile on his face. 

“Now you’re getting it!” Lizzie grinned. “Though not quite—Lucy’s better at genetics than I am, but I did help her get the initial programming for turning genetic code into computer code, and digitizing it into something readable.” 

Desmond frowned at that, tilting his head. Didn’t that mean Lizzie would’ve known Lucy in college, or…? Lizzie looked a little young for that. 

At his confused glance, she chuckled. “I went to college when I was fifteen. I graduated high school when I was fourteen, got my GED and everything. I didn’t get recruited until I was about eighteen though.” 

“Yeah?” Desmond asked, feeling vaguely sick. He was sixteen when he ran, and hearing that she was barely older than that was …. unsettling. But he didn’t let it show. “What about your family? You must be close, to keep exchanging emails even in the Brotherhood.” 

Lizzie grimaced, and scratched the rat in her lap. “Gregor isn’t happy with me, yeah. Thinks I’ve thrown away my life for some stupid reason. Boots thinks it’s great, but she doesn’t understand what I do. She thinks I just travel.”

“Boots?” He laughed, shaking his head. “That’s great. Gotta say, though, your brother might be onto something. Being an Assassin isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.” 

“That’s why you ran away?” She asked, lifting a brow at him. Shaun had made it judgemental, but she didn’t, strangely enough. “Most everyone’s heard about how you left the Farm when you were a teenager.” 

Desmond shrugged, crossing his arms over his chest. Normal civilians would’ve seen it as defensive, or hiding, but to Assassins it was a non-threatening gesture, a willingness to talk. “Thought I was being raised in a cult, and that everyone was a liar.” 

Lizzie quirked an eyebrow at him. “... Gregor thinks that too.” 

“Your brother’s probably right,” he said lightly. “I may be here because I want to get back at those Abstergo bastards, but… doesn’t change how the Assassins are run. He sounds like a smart kid.” 

Lizzie smiled at that, looking down at the rat in her lap and scratching his ears once again. She didn’t say anything for a moment, thinking so hard that Desmond could practically hear it. 

“I figured…” She started, her voice trailing off. 

“Figured what? Use your skills for something good, or something like that?” Desmond asked, and just barely managed to keep the laugh out of his voice. He still wasn’t sure if the Assassins were doing good, more just… Trying to stop things from getting worse. 

“Well, something like that,” Lizzie admitted, looking away to the warehouse. Her voice was quiet, melancholy, even. “I’ve done a lot of good with my skills before, so I thought I might as well throw my lot in with some to try and do even more good. I watched my brother and little sister get caught up in a lot of stuff, unable to get away, and I hated it. It had already claimed our father, and even our mom. I wanted to be the last one to stick it out, until I couldn’t, not anymore, and I was swept up into everything, trying to prevent a war, or at least prevent some more losses.” 

Desmond stared at her, feeling slightly out of his depth. But something about the way she talked called to him and the way he had seen Altair, and now Ezio, got thrown into situations out of their control. Grand and oppressive, leaving scars on both sides. 

“So I got involved,” she shrugged, still staring out over the warehouse. Her eyes skimmed over the boxes, clearly thinking about something else. Maybe even seeing something else. “I learned a lot, helped save a lot of lives by using my talents. Codebreakers like me were as rare as trees, or so the saying goes.” 

“That…. Doesn’t make any sense,” Desmond said, laughing a little to cover his nervousness. Reflexively, he looked, and Looked again. She was blue, just like Lucy, Shaun, and Rebecca, but he couldn’t shake the odd feeling. 

“Not here, no,” she said, smiling softly. “Don’t worry about it. Long, long story short… I want to help. I’m good at it. Gregor… He sort of got thrown into it, without meaning to, and he still has scars for it. Understandably, he doesn’t want me to get hurt.”

“Maybe you should listen to him,” Desmond said quietly, so not to let his words echo up to the loft above. 

“Yeah, maybe,” she said, and looked down at the rat in her lap. He yawned and rolled over to get more comfortable, little paws sticking up in the air. “But, Desmond, could you live with yourself if you had the ability to do something good, and then just… not do it?” 

Desmond looked down at his hand, lifting it up to stare at his left ring finger. It felt weird to have it, somehow. He flexed his fingers, and automatically tried to trigger his hidden blade. The fact that the last one he touched was a modern ceramic one in the Farm when he was fifteen didn’t even factor, really, he just missed the comforting weight of a bracer. 

“You know?” He murmured, looking at her over his fist. “I think I’m going to find out, one way or another.” 

#Assassin's Creed #underland chronicles #Desmond Miles #lizzie campbell #creator writes #fanfic #welcome to the crossover only i will find interesting #tuc fandom consists of 8 people and a broken sword so like #if you're out there #posts this in the dead of night and runs

[clownmoontoon]

The first girl in the female himbo post is not from dorohedoro

ok sO I COULDNT FIGURE OUT WHY U WERE TELLIN ME WHERE THIS CHARACTER IS NOT FROM so i googled dorohedoro aND APPARENTLY HER NAME IS NOI 

SO I ASSUME THAT WAS A TYPO AND NOT A VERY CRYPTIC MYSTERIOUS ASK SJKLLJKDJLKLJKD

THANK U!!! ima add this animu to my list she cute..

#songofhealing7 #I WAS LIKE...OK SO WHERES SHE FROM??? ASLKLKJDLJKDLKJ #clown honks

[thewinedarksea]

the asked-for coffee shop au. 

tw: for the ink mage, who is himself a warning; mild abuse??; overly complicated starbucks orders; the girl, who is little knife, who is also a warning in her own right. my point is they’re all kind of awful, even in the pastel-y iteration of a coffee shop.

“Cinnamon shortbread latte. Three shots of espresso, raspberry whipped cream. Add some chocolate syrup, too, I don’t care how much. Venti.”

The voice is cool and flatly annoyed, rattling off the order with the air of someone who has done it a hundred times before and will do it a hundred times again, but they’d better not have to within the next three seconds or someone’s getting fired. 

Not that they’ll have to. The girl writes down the order, accepts the handful of crumpled dollar bills passed wordlessly over the counter, and slides the cup down to the barista. She doesn’t look up, and the customer leaves without speaking again. In her peripheral she watches the long edge of their coat whip across the tiled floor, black and spotted with dust, until it vanishes from her sight, and then goes back to counting down in her head until the end of her shift. 

————————

“Caramel macchiato. Almond milk, three shots of espresso, a pump of vanilla syrup. Venti.”

Two days later; same voice, same level annoyance. Same unnecessarily complicated order. It’s interesting enough that the girl deigns to glance up, and comes face to face with one of the prettiest men she’s ever seen: sharp cheekbones and large, dark eyes, framed by sweeping lashes. His hair is gathered into a messy bun, and red ink marks the left side of his face, stretching from the corner of his eye to just above his jaw. There’s a University-issue lanyard dangling around his neck. 

He fishes a wad of dollar bills from one of the pockets of his coat; his fingers are long and slender, ink-smudged as the rest of him and cold where they brush against her skin. She takes them. Rings him up. Slides the cup down the counter with a flick of her wrist.

She spends the next few customers stealing glances in his direction as she writes down orders, watching the irritated way his fingers drum across the counter, the faint sneer of disdain as he plucks his drink from her coworker’s hand and stalks off to get a straw. 

He sits in one of their corner booths and upends his bag onto the table. Papers fly in a snowstorm across the laminated surface.

Interesting. That’s what he is. The girl likes interesting—it helps stave off the boredom.

————————

His title, as far as she can find after a few hours spent googling ‘ink-covered asshole with no manners,’ is the Ink Mage, and he works in the University’s Theoretical Spellwork department. Some kind of prodigy in his field, concentrating in spell creation and sustainment, with the occasional foray into void studies and runes. 

He has a .5 on ratemyprofessor—“for excessive hotness,” reads the sole non-zero rating. “at least you’ll be able to admire his cheekbones as he drives you down the path of suicide.” 

Their shop does a steady enough business in University students coming in for caffeinated courage and to have a quiet place to cry for finals; the girl hasn’t seen any in a while, and she supposes now she knows why. That’s one mystery she didn’t care about solved, then. 

Idly, she clicks through a few of his published articles, gets distracted by the flame wars he ignites in the comments, and then, bored, wanders off to stare at a wall and not do her chemistry homework. 

————————

“Iced caffè americano. One espresso shot. Venti.”

“Vanilla latte. Soy milk, iced, two pumps of chocolate syrup. Venti.”

————————

They fall into a routine. The Ink Mage comes in Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, rattles off a complicated order, and retreats to the corner booth and his piles upon piles of paper where he stays for several hours, scribbling and downing coffee and occasionally swearing violently.

After the fifth visit, she starts bringing his coffee to the booth after he orders it. After the tenth, she starts bringing refills every three hours, and a collection of napkins for him to write on because her manager complains when he starts writing on the walls and her manager’s voice is very, very irking. After the twentieth she settles into the booth across him during her break—she has to shift a stack of essays, all marked with red ink and scorched around the edges—and waits to see what he’ll do.

He ignores her for the entire thirty minutes, and then tells her to bring him a cake pop when she gets up to leave. 

————————

Half the time the store can only afford to have one staff member working the counter, which means the girl ends up making a lot of the Ink Mage’s drinks. It’s a lesson in multitasking, and also the ingredients they have stashed in the various drawers and cubby holes. 

The first time she fucks up his order he dumps the entire cup over her head. She has to make him a new one, free of charge, and then clean up the spill on the floor, iced mocha dripping down her neck all the while. When her manager yells at her later it’s all she can do to keep from rolling her eyes, or punching her, or setting the store on fire. She settles for staring blankly until she’s dismissed.

Patience. She’s learning it.

————————

“Java chip frappuccino. Five shots of espresso. Do you have a size larger than a venti? Forget it. Just double the order, both ventis. Extra whipped cream. I don’t care how much caramel syrup you add just add some.”

The Ink Mage looks harried: there’s five pens stuck in his bun, two with the caps off, and ink splatters his cheeks and trails down the curve of his neck in a ribbon of black. He’s thinner, too, the planes of his face even more pronounced than usual, and against the pallor of his skin the bruises around his eyes stand out like blood on snow. 

Silently, the girl reaches for the cups.

————————

“My students are a bunch of soft, blubbering idiots who couldn’t tell the difference between a summoning rune and a summoner rune if I carved it into their foreheads.”

The girl makes a noise in the back of her throat, less sympathy than acknowledgement, and edges the blueberry scone she’d brought him a bit closer. The Ink Mage ignores it. Honestly, he may not even see it; he’s calmed somewhat with his double order and the refills she’s brought since then, but his eyes are still dark-rimmed, and another pen has made its way into the nest of his hair. Finals, it seems, take their toll even on him.

“No,” the Ink Mage continues, “No, I refuse to handhold a bunch of children through the finer parts of basic runal spellwork and grade their subpar garbage as if it means something, as if they will amount to anything more in their worthless, pathetic lives than to be the absolute dregs of human innovation. Honestly. If these little brats want me to read their drivel the least they could do is type in an interesting font.”

With deliberate care he gathers the entire stack of essays before him and, getting up, tips them into the trash can. 

“There,” he says. “Problem solved.” Then he sits back down and picks up the scone. Her scone.

Warmth bubbles in the girl’s stomach and fizzes through her bloodstream. Not happiness, exactly, but maybe satisfaction. Contentment. Knowledge of a job well done. 

————————

The days tick past. The register dings, dings again. The girl’s never bored on shift, now; if she’s not seeing the Ink Mage, she’s counting down to his visits, measuring the time in the bland orders and blander customers that fill the time in between. 

On her breaks she comes to share the booth with him, bringing pastries and refills of whatever confection he’s ordered that day. Equations and theories and critiques of others’ works radiate out from him as he sits, a gangly black spider in the center of his web. He has no laptop (“useless technological drivel. It can be hacked”) and no pencils (“only idiots and Professor Miller need to erase their work”), and so his work is written on paper or dashed onto napkins in his tiny, cramped scrawl, ink weeping across it all. 

The first time she undresses to find ink staining her own arms, she stares at the shower for thirty minutes before she can bear to step beneath the cold spray of water and wash it away.

————————

“Chai tea latte. No foam, skim milk, three pumps of caramel sauce. Venti.”

“Iced coffee. Ten pumps vanilla, five pumps hazelnut, eight pumps caramel, a splash of soy, light ice, double-blended. Venti."

————————

“Latte. Nonfat, two percent foam, three espresso shots, five pumps mocha,” the Ink Mage says on his fiftieth visit, and then, “What do you know about theoretical spellwork?”

She blinks at him. The back of her mind is still scrambling to figure out what the fuck ‘two percent foam’ means and how to make it a reality. “It’s theoretical,” she says after a stretching pause.

“Mm.” 

He goes to sit at his usual booth. It feels like she’s failed, and her hands shake so badly she has to remake his drink three times over.

————————

“I read Zhang’s Animus Theory,” she tells him the following visit. The words rush out of her, too loud and too desperate in the hushed, coffee-fragrant air. She bites the inside of her cheek until she tastes blood to keep herself silent. 

At her words the Ink Mage pauses, examining her with the level of intensity he typically reserves for judging the artistry of the caramel drizzle on his drinks. The girl has never noticed how blue his eyes are before—not black but indigo, like wet ink, or the deep, velvety centers of the flowers blooming on her windowsill. 

“Animus is trash,” he says dismissively, and her heart does something strange and painful in her chest. “Chocolate chip frappuccino. Two pumps of every syrup you have, extra coffee whipped cream. Venti.”

————————

“Li. Whistler. Astre’s an idiot, but their theory is solid. Diaz is annoying, but accurate; Okada’s Synthesis is a good groundwork if you’re trying to break into incantational magics.” The Ink Mage frowns at her over the lip of his refill. “Are you writing this down, girl?”

“I’ll remember.”

She will. It’s his words, she thinks; his coffee order, his insults, the occasional tidbit of information he deigns to share with her, all of them creeping into the soft gray tissue of her brain and nesting there. Like maggots in the carcass of some strange animal, breeding new life.

————————

“Hazelnut macchiato. Four shots of espresso, extra whip, light ice. Venti.” 

“Pumpkin spice latte. One shot of espresso, seven pumps pumpkin, light foam, light whip, light caramel drizzle. Venti.”

————————

On his seventy-second visit to the shop the Ink Mage pauses after he orders, frowning across the counter at her.  

“Where do you go to school?” 

She tells him, and his mouth curls with disgust. 

“Transfer. Now.” When she doesn’t respond, merely cocking her head, birdlike, he rolls his eyes. “I need a new lab assistant—mine are useless.” 

“I’m failing all of my classes.” There’s no way she can get in—it’s the University, after all. People would kill for a place. People do kill for a place. 

The Ink Mage rolls his eyes again, harder. “Lab assistant. Mine.”

A good point, but:

“You don’t even know my name,” she feels compelled to point out. 

“And?”

And—

Well. And nothing. And being the Ink Mage’s assistant sounds mildly more interesting than being a barista, and she likes the sound of the word ‘mine’ in his voice: cool, level, lips shaping the ‘m’ and tongue flicking sharp around the ‘e.’

She shrugs, and slides his cup down the counter with the ease of familiarity. “Okay.”

During her break she brings him an orange scone, a day old and slightly stale, and a fresh cup of matcha green tea (iced, heavy on the whipped cream). The booth is awash in papers; she has to shove a few stacks aside so that she can sit, curled up and small, in the seat across from him. Then she breaks out her beaten-up laptop and begins filling out the transfer application. 

She skips over all the parts about personal information, statements. The only thing that matters is the name of the Ink Mage, bold and black, across the top of the form.

#this is The Nicest thing i've written for them which tells you something #little knife is: not drowned not broken not vocal chordless. see? Nicest #you asked for it anon! #my writing #misc #misc writing #*

[cards-and-stars]

✧ 11 ways to pick a Significator

Significators (or Signifiers) are quite common in Lenormand. They are used to symbolise an individual (the querent, their partner, their daughter, their cat, etc), or a theme (my sister’s wedding, the birth of my nephew, my workplace, your love life, my cat’s health) or to deepen a specific topic that appeared in a reading.

You will find 10 different ways to chose and to use Significators for your Tarot readings in this article.

In Lenormand, usually the querent is represented by either the Anima (woman) or Animus (man), but of course they can chose a different card if they are not comfortable with either of these two. The place where the Significator falls in a reading can inform us about the person we do the reading for and their situation. For instance, check out the following reading:

Considering that this was a reading for myself, I would first and foremost locate the Anima. I would then look at the cards aligned with it horizontally and vertically. On the left I would see the cards referring to the past, on the right to the future, beneath the Anima my assets and skills and above my aspirations. 

Now let’s say that those clouds worry me as I don’t really remember anything relating to this in my recent past and I think that maybe my perception is wrong, or maybe there’s a lesson to be learnt, so I’d like to look further into this. I just follow the same process and single out the cards aligned with the clouds horizontally and vertically. I can then replicate this process with any other card, representing any other theme, should I wish to do so.

As you can imagine, a Significator can be quite handy in a reading, especially if the person you are reading for would like more information about specific areas of their life while you mention them. 

We can use Significators in a similar ways in Tarot or by singling out a specific card and working our spread around it. Here are some ways to chose a Significator:

✧ Flip through the deck

This is by far the easiest way: simply flip through your deck and see if a card resonates with you or the question you are going to ask. For example, I chose the Page of Swords because she evokes very Athenian values which I try to work on within myself and I would like the reading to advise me on how to best awaken these qualities within me.

✧ The Major Arcana

The Major Arcana represent the archetypal energy of everyone’s journey and are therefore ideal to represent specific ideas or situations. For example: if a querent wants to know how their brand new partnership will work, I’d pull The Lovers as a signifier for this specific theme. Simply refer to your guidebook to select the most appropriate card.

✧ The Astrological correspondences of the Major Arcana

Each of the Major Arcana is associated with a Zodiac sign, a Planet or a Luminary. If you want to select the card that corresponds to your Sign, then you can refer to the following table:

You could even go as far as to select a specific placement based on your question: want to know how to get in touch with your emotions? Pick the card associated with your Moon Sign. A sentimental quarry? Pull your Venus Sign’s card! Want to know how to improve the first impression you give? Select the card of your Mercury Sign.

If you resonate better with your ruling planet, then you can refer to this list instead:

☉ The Sun ☽ The High Priestess  ☿ The Magician ♂︎ The Tower ♀︎ The Empress ♃ The Wheel of Fortune ♄ The World ♅ The Fool  ♆ The Hanged Man  ♇ Judgement

✧ The Court Cards

There is a consensus that each figure of the Court Cards represents individuals at a specific age of development. Combine this with the element of each suite and you can pick the Queen of Swords for a mature woman born under an Air  Sign or the Knight of Wands for a boy born under a Fire Sign.

The court cards could represent you or someone else in your life. First select a suite:

Wands represent Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius)

Pentacles represent Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn)

Swords represent Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)

Cups represent Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces)

Then, chose a Court Card:

Page: Young woman or girl

Knight: Young man or boy

Queen: Woman or mature woman

King: Man or mature man

This can seem a bit vague so I would generally pick a Page or Knight for an individual under 30 years old and would rather chose the Queen or King for someone older, but it is really more about a perceived sense of maturity and actual age in my opinion.

✧ The Court Cards astrological correspondences

If you would like to use a Court Card as a Significator but want it to reflect your Sun Sign more precisely, you’re in luck: each Court Card is assigned to three astrological decans as follows:

✧ The Court Cards as personality traits

The Court Cards can also figure a Persona you are using when faced with certain situations or a main trait in the personality of the person you are choosing a Significator for. Here are some aspects associated with the Court Cards:

Page of Wands  imaginative/adventurous/mischievous/exciting. Page of Cups soft/innocent/emotional/dramatic/hopeful/caring. Page of Swords resolved/nervous/bright/talkative/curious. Page of Pentacles diligent/initiative/quiet/physical.

Knight of Wands brash/reckless/impulsive/blunt/fearless. Knight of Cups moody/charming/romantic/idealist/artistic. Knight of Swords aggressive/ambitious/agile/direct/cunning. Knight of Pentacles responsible/steadfast/dedicated/workaholic.

Queen of Wands independent/confident/feisty/determined/passionate/sincere/optimistic. Queen of Cups tender/empathetic/intuitive/compassionate/sensitive/soothing. Queen of Swords sharp/mysterious/reserved/straightforward/just. Queen of Pentacles patient/nurturing/welcoming/practical/authentic/giving.

King of Wands passionate/brave/commanding/energetic/funny/inspiring. King of Cups caring/creative/spiritual/collected/warm/diplomatic. King of Swords logical/impartial/disciplined/distant/aloof/decisive. King of Pentacles provider/supportive/successful/stable/family-oriented.

✧ Aces for general readings

When doing a general reading, you can use Aces as Significators as each of them is associated with a season. So for example, if you were to do a reading to know how to make the best out of your Summer, you would use the Ace of Cups as a Significator. Here are the correspondences:

Summer - Ace of Cups Autumn - Ace of Swords Winter - Ace of Pentacles Spring - Ace of Wands

✧ The Minor Arcana’s astrological correspondences

Each of the numbered Minor Arcana in your deck is ruled by a specific sign:

Here is an example of a reading for a querent born on May 29th, who’s Significator according the the above table is the VIII of Swords:

✧ Numerology

Almost every card in the Tarot is numbered. Therefore, if you have more affinity with numerology than with astrology, you can chose a card that has the same number as your Life Path Number. For example, if it is 6, you can chose The Lovers, The Devil or any other card that bears the number 6 or a number that can be broken down to 6 (15 is 1 + 5 = 6).

To find out your Life Path Number, simply add up all the numbers of your birth date or you can use this little tool that will do it for you. 

Here is an example:

March 8th 1997

3 + 8 + 1 + 9 + 9 + 7 = 37 

3 + 7 = 10

1 + 0 = 1

I’m fairly certain one can expand on this, but as I am no expert in the matter of numerology, I leave that to your own research ;)

✧ Birth Cards

Another way to chose a Significator is to find your Soul Card and your Personality Card, also known as Birth Cards.

The Soul Card represents your higher self, your soul or spirit, the part of you that is immaterial and immortal. To identify the Soul Card, add up the day, month and year of your birth.

Example: May 21st 1997

30 + 12 + 1987 =  2029

Since 2029 is higher than 22 (number of Major Arcana if your Tarot deck), reduce it further

2 + 0 + 2 + 9 = 13 

Once you have a number smaller than 22, refer to the following:

In our example, the Soul Card is the card number 13: Death.

The Personality Card represents your ego, the way your soul is being expressed, experienced and perfected through your current existence. To find out which card is your Personality Card, just reduce the two numbers of your Soul Card to a single digit and refer back to the table above:

13

1 +  3 = 4

4 = The Emperor

If it so happens that your Soul Card is a single digit card, don’t worry as it is far from uncommon. It simply means that the same card is your Soul Card and Personality Card.

If you prefer, you can use this online calculator instead of doing the math yourself.

I will expend on the meaning of those in a later article. For now, you have found two potential Significators. One representing your spiritual side, one representing your physical reality. Here is a wheel spread reading for a querent who’s Soul Card is II The High Priestess and the Personal Card is I The Magician:

✧ Oracle Cards

Something I really like to do, especially when the Significator I am looking for is meant to represent a theme rather than a person, is to pick a card from an Oracle deck.

For example, my boyfriend pulled the “Obstacle” card in the Compendium of Constellations when doing a spread and wanted some insight about it. So we looked into it, using the card as a Significator.

If you have an astrological deck, you can make this very handy spread to check-in with yourself (it will also be covered in a later article) :

This is by far my favourite method of choosing Significators and the one I use most often for 2 reasons:

When I do a Tarot reading, I like having the entire deck at my disposal. If I’m short of one card because I selected it as a Significator, I am depriving myself of the possibility of that card popping up in the reading and telling me something potentially important in regards to my question.

The Oracle cards cover a wide range of both specific situations and vague concepts. There is a cards for everything!

So there you have it, many different ways of choosing a Significator. Hope this will be helpful to at least some of you out there :)

Thank you for reading and see you later, little MonStars!

#Tarot #Lenormand #Oracle #Tarot deck #Lenormand deck #Oracle deck #Tarot cards #Lenormand cards #Oracle cards #astrology #numerology #birth card #birth cards #soul card #personality card #court cards #major arcana #minor arcana #significator #signifier #tarot lesson #tarot 101 #tarot explained #tarot tips

[mahou-furbies]

After a postal strike delayed it for a month, my order is finally here!

(plus the dress book on the right that I already bought from my Tokyo trip but I might as well talk about that one too)

The first two are pose reference books and the contents is about what you’d expect. I figure it really is better to use real humans for anatomy reference, but I like drawing animu characters a lot more...

Then the other two... They’re like design ideas for fantasy outfits? And not of the knight/elf/wizard kind, but cutesy frilly ones perfect for magical girls? As in exactly what I like the best. Not sure if they’ll be of actual use, but they’re cute enough just to look at so it doesn’t really matter.

And then there’s the dress book, which has historic dresses.

And also some ideas how to use the dress motifs as a base for other designs (including some magical girls!)

After flipping through the pages a bit I love all the books and they were well worth the money. 

#ramble ramble #book stuff