love and deepspace is my current hyperfixation but i unfortunately contain multitudes. this is not a coherent blog. enthusiastic fish main 🎣
anti-censorship, pro-critical thinking and reading comprehension. deeply opposed to genAI. i try my best to be inclusive when it comes to the physical characteristics of my reader-inserts, but you can assume they're afab unless noted otherwise. i typically write smut so: minors do not interact.
all fics linked below. ao3-only with rare exceptions. i do not consent to them being fed to ai / translated / posted elsewhere. but if you'd like to boost them on tumblr you can reblog the posts here. 🫶🏽
love and deepspace
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ the honeydew series (praedator rafayel x mc)
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ (wip) this and that and everything between (sea god rafayel x mc)
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ (wip) due diligence with @the-cows-came-home (high marshal caleb x grand general zayne)
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ color theory (rafayel x reader) || tumblr
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ duskbright stroll (rafayel x reader) || tumblr
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ consecration (sanctarch rafayel x reader)
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ meow this! (rafayel x reader)
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ figure study (rafayel x reader)
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ command me (caleb x reader) || tumblr
reverse: 1999
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ where the river sings (sentinel x marsha)
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ (wip) a knocker-upper's guide to customer relations (flutterpage & willow)
fire emblem: three houses
┈┈˖ ࣪⊹ (wip) no grave could hold my body down (claude x f!byleth x shamir)
devastating when good characters are put into a stupid show. you were born to fly but that evil hag of a showrunner clipped your golden wings. be free on ao3, my little dove. be free
The Apothecary Diaries is such a breath of fresh air because this is a story that genuinely seems to love women. From the sex workers of the Verdigris House to the seemingly antagonistic women of the palace (like Suirei and Loulan), the Apothecary Diaries declares that every single one of them deserves grace and dignity even if (or especially if) they come into conflict with its protagonist or societal respectability
love describing classic lit in booktok terms. like omg there is slow burn enemies to lovers and found family, and so much neurodivergent rep :)) it’ll have you crying at 3am. yeah it’s called the brothers karamazov by fydoor dostoyevsky
the male cast of love and deepspace not interacting with each other in-game because it might give the fujos ideas is hilarious to me.
that is not going to stop the fujos. a male character looking directly at the camera and saying "i am only attracted to women" will not stop the fujos.
fujos are a force of nature and a necessary part of the fannish ecosystem lol
alright babes. this is going to be a looooong one. i mean it. i pulled new cards in light of the articles that were recently published by state media and in very, very quick summary, the cards say things are looking up.
in the process of doing this reading, i drew clarifying cards that led me down a bit of a rabbit hole. i don't want to add to the fandom's collective spiraling or end up in a situation where my readings get swept into a stream of misinformation. at the same time, i'm cursed with the need to show my work. so i might try to find a middle ground and reblog those broad predictions as an addendum to this post later today. cards/topics that would be addressed in that follow-up are marked with an *
General reading
so nine times out of ten, i've drawn the ten of wands (R) during my readings on infold's current work environment. it appeared in the last reading i shared publicly, in almost every private reading i've done, and again today. i do think it's indicative of company burnout and confronting harmful business practices, but the more it appears, the more confident i am that infold won't only be forced to consider new strategies with their existing team, but also undergo intensive restructuring.
layoffs, in other words.
i think this could refer to leadership in particular. this very well could be wishful thinking on my part, but it's also informed by the history of infold's business decisions over the previous year. i was unaware of the infinity nikki retcon when this first began. considering where we're at now—and the fact that it is stupidly difficult to get companies to axe bad leadership—i wouldn't be surprised if the managers that made the call to cut valko are the same who gutted IN. if so, it's very hard to turn a blind eye to people who've made gamebreaking business decisions that have triggered two boycotts and damaged the company's reputation on a global scale, within two years. i wouldn't be surprised if we receive news that at least one high-level employee is stepping down by the end of 2026.*
the atmosphere among the current staff is, unsurprisingly, tumultuous. two of cups (R) + five of wands (R) indicates that there's major conflict in response to the controversy, not only regarding outward-facing communication but also the creative direction of the game moving forward. in my exp, you can usually take "two of X" cards at face value to mean that you are literally weighing two options. cups specifically refers to creative directions, which means there are opposing factions to keep valko or rewrite the main story to excise him from the narrative. this shouldn't be news to us, but it does reaffirm that the effort to keep his character hasn't died out within the company.
four of wands (R) confirms that these divisions are preventing infold from moving onto the next milestone for the game (i.e. the main story update). but its presence (it's a celebratory card when upright) plus the fact that the five of wands appeared in the reversed position indicates that we're nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, and the result is likely to be in our favor.
ace of swords + the moon represents that light at the end of the tunnel. the ace indicates that we can expect communication from infold very soon now that these articles have been published. in the same way that moonlight illuminates the world at nighttime, this message should clarify the situation, but only partially. but it is coming. the moon has also appeared in my previous readings on when we can expect more clarity, which can be interpreted as 1 month or literally on/around the next full moon. conveniently, the next full moon is on july 29, aligning with the rumored communications embargo infold would be subjected to during its "rectification" period.
that said, swords are a fast-moving suit, so we could see this combo manifest as an announcement that comes out within the next few days, but illuminates little to nothing, followed by a more clarifying statement on or around july 29.
upon pulling for more clarity on the nature of this message, i drew knight of cups (R) which is... honestly kind of funny. in love readings, the knight of cups upright can represent a "prince charming." an ideal love interest, in other words. when reversed and in business readings, it refers to mixed signals, and more specifically a revoked proposal. it's a bit on the nose. point is, though, it's a confirmation that this new message will address valko directly.
i drew the knight alongside the fool,* which is very promising. the fool could be interpreted as emphasizing the impulsive, stupid behavior the knight of cups refers to. but more importantly, it's generally interpreted as a positive card that signals new beginnings. a reset. my guess: the next statements from infold are likely to be a bunch of corporate speak about "hearing us" and reassessing the direction of the game in light of our feedback, without confirming when whether valko's returning outright (continuing the trend of mixed signals). however, i'd interpret the fool's presence to mean they're not just paying us lip service, but earnestly considering our response.
finally, queen of swords appeared in this reading, which indicates that ppg is truly beginning to assess this situation logically, taking finances and market data into account. due to my private readings, i also have reason to suspect that this represents an actual person(s) advocating for this mindset within the company.* in other words, the boycott is working, and now that the media's weighed in, infold's going to start to respond accordingly and act more decisively. but as a reminder: non-employees won't have much insight into these internal developments, so be wary of rumors and don't be surprised or dismayed if we don't hear about every step as it occurs.
ace of swords + the moon represents that light at the end of the tunnel. the ace indicates that we can expect communication from infold very soon now that these articles have been published... swords are a fast-moving suit, so we could see this combo manifest as an announcement that comes out within the next few days, but illuminates little to nothing, followed by a more clarifying statement on or around july 29.
mmmmkay so covert pv drop from a brazilian burner account is a wild way for this prediction to come true, but i'll take it.
alright babes. this is going to be a looooong one. i mean it. i pulled new cards in light of the articles that were recently published by state media and in very, very quick summary, the cards say things are looking up.
in the process of doing this reading, i drew clarifying cards that led me down a bit of a rabbit hole. they're predictive in nature, and i don't want to add to the fandom's collective spiraling or end up in a situation where my readings get swept into a stream of misinformation. at the same time, i'm cursed with the need to show my work. so i might try to find a middle ground and reblog those broad predictions as an addendum to this post later today. cards/topics that would be addressed in that follow-up are marked with an *
General reading
so nine times out of ten, i've drawn the ten of wands (R) during my readings on infold's current work environment. it appeared in the last reading i shared publicly, in almost every private reading i've done, and again today. i do think it's indicative of company burnout and confronting harmful business practices, but the more it appears, the more confident i am that infold won't only be forced to consider new strategies with their existing team, but also undergo intensive restructuring.
layoffs, in other words.
i think this could refer to leadership in particular. this very well could be wishful thinking on my part, but it's also informed by the history of infold's business decisions over the previous year. i was unaware of the infinity nikki retcon when this first began. considering where we're at now—and the fact that it is stupidly difficult to get companies to axe bad leadership—i wouldn't be surprised if the managers that made the call to cut valko are the same who gutted IN. if so, it's very hard to turn a blind eye to people who've made gamebreaking business decisions that have triggered two boycotts and damaged the company's reputation on a global scale, within two years. i wouldn't be surprised if we receive news that at least one high-level employee is stepping down by the end of 2026.*
the atmosphere among the current staff is, unsurprisingly, tumultuous. two of cups (R) + five of wands (R) indicates that there's major conflict in response to the controversy, not only regarding outward-facing communication but also the creative direction of the game moving forward. in my exp, you can usually take "two of X" cards at face value to mean that you are literally weighing two options. cups specifically refers to creative directions, which means there are opposing factions to keep valko or rewrite the main story to excise him from the narrative. this shouldn't be news to us, but it does reaffirm that the effort to keep his character hasn't died out within the company.
four of wands (R) confirms that these divisions are preventing infold from moving onto the next milestone for the game (i.e. the main story update). but its presence (it's a celebratory card when upright) plus the fact that the five of wands appeared in the reversed position indicates that we're nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, and the result is likely to be in our favor.
ace of swords + the moon represents that light at the end of the tunnel. the ace indicates that we can expect communication from infold very soon now that these articles have been published. in the same way that moonlight illuminates the world at nighttime, this message should clarify the situation, but only partially. but it is coming. the moon has also appeared in my previous readings on when we can expect more clarity, which can be interpreted as 1 month or literally on/around the next full moon. conveniently, the next full moon is on july 29, aligning with the rumored communications embargo infold would be subjected to during its "rectification" period.
that said, swords are a fast-moving suit, so we could see this combo manifest as an announcement that comes out within the next few days, but illuminates little to nothing, followed by a more clarifying statement on or around july 29.
upon pulling for more clarity on the nature of this message, i drew knight of cups (R) which is... honestly kind of funny. in love readings, the knight of cups upright can represent a "prince charming." an ideal love interest, in other words. when reversed and in business readings, it refers to mixed signals, and more specifically a revoked proposal. it's a bit on the nose. point is, though, it's a confirmation that this new message will address valko directly.
i drew the knight alongside the fool,* which is very promising. the fool could be interpreted as emphasizing the impulsive, stupid behavior the knight of cups refers to. but more importantly, it's generally interpreted as a positive card that signals new beginnings. a reset. my guess: the next statements from infold are likely to be a bunch of corporate speak about "hearing us" and reassessing the direction of the game in light of our feedback, without confirming when whether valko's returning outright (continuing the trend of mixed signals). however, i'd interpret the fool's presence to mean they're not just paying us lip service, but earnestly considering our response.
finally, queen of swords appeared in this reading, which indicates that ppg is truly beginning to assess this situation logically, taking finances and market data into account. due to my private readings, i also have reason to suspect that this represents an actual person(s) advocating for this mindset within the company.* in other words, the boycott is working, and now that the media's weighed in, infold's going to start to respond accordingly and act more decisively. but as a reminder: non-employees won't have much insight into these internal developments, so be wary of rumors and don't be surprised or dismayed if we don't hear about every step as it occurs.
i feel the need to preface this by saying that tarot is best used to process one's thoughts and gain insight on a situation as it develops. which is to say, "predictions" gleaned from readings are inherently loose and subject to change. i felt that these cards lent themselves to bolder speculations, so these readings are a bit more woo-woo (awoo-woo?) than usual. if you do decide to take a look, i encourage you to be skeptical.
cool? cool.
Ten of Wands (The Collapse)
i wouldn't be surprised if we receive news that at least one high-level employee is stepping down by the end of 2026.
i drew cards to clarify which employees would be in the line of fire if ppg were intent on sacrificing a couple managers as scapegoats, and how they'd go about rehiring. unsurprisingly, i drew cards with ties to financial practices, specifically knight of coins (R) + queen of coins (R). we also have seven of wands (R), which indicates someone who's clinging to an argument despite overwhelming proof that they should admit defeat. dying on their hill, in other words. in my view, this probably refers to staff members who ran models on the consequences of valko's cancellation and reported that it would lead to a moderate but acceptable financial loss. there's no telling whether the purge has already begun, but there was a job posting for a finance specialist that went up a couple days ago.
this is actually the second time i've asked the cards if managers were at risk of being fired. yesterday, before the articles dropped, i drew the king of cups. the same card reappeared today.
as a suit, cups are known to represent human relationships, feeling, and creativity. this leader is deciding the creative direction of the game. what struck me this time around was that it was drawn with the page of wands (R). wands also represent creativity and passion, but specifically the sort that's used in service of ambition. in other words, if the cups represent creativity for art and expression's sake, the wands represent the creativity one would use to move forward in their career. the pages generally represent a learning phase, one where someone is studying a new skill or topic, or simply new to a particular role. if you've seen this article before, you can probably see where i'm going with this.
in summary, ppg's group president stepped down from their role in july 2025. co-founder and coo yao fei took over the company's operations and the management of love and deepspace's creative team. based on the hard switch in infold's messaging between june 28-30, we know the devs were determined to keep valko in the story. the manager/exec who overrided them would certainly be on the chopping block. while asking a co-founder to resign would be a very serious matter, the same could still be said about yao fei. more on that below.
so they're looking to find a new king of cups. page of swords also made an appearance, meaning they're looking for new leaders with the strategic know-how to navigate this storm. unfortunately, as indicated by ten of swords (R) + the star (R), the search is going to hurt the team before it helps them. they'll suffer from internal collapse, loss of funds, and inability to bring new projects to fruition. but the reversed position of the ten of swords as well as the positive connotations of the star means that the storm will pass.
The Fool (The Reset)
the fool could be interpreted as emphasizing the impulsive, stupid behavior the knight of cups refers to. but more importantly, it's generally interpreted as a positive card that signals new beginnings. a reset.
i drew three cards to clarify the significance of the fool and drew page of coins. this page indicates that infold's response to this controversy will involve a new business venture of some sort. i then drew five of coins + ten of coins (R) alongside the page, which essentially screams that this business venture will require infold to take on a significant financial loss that will bring their established, internal structures into total collapse.
but as i touched on in my original post, the fool is generally a hopeful card. it signifies a leap of faith. infold is taking this hit in hopes that they'll be better for it. this could manifest in the form of the relocation rumors coming true, new investment approaches to keep itself afloat (see: that time ppg mortgaged its shares to mihoyo), and/or it could be referring to the gravity of the potential staff changes outlined above.
but something that caught my eye is that the ten of coins is a card about building a legacy in one's career. another is that, despite being a "five" card, the five of coins depicts two people who are destitute and, at least in my deck, walking hand-in-hand. some speculated that the IN controversy played a role in yao runhao's decision to step down from the company's day-to-day operations last year. while unconfirmed, i can't imagine that it's out of the question that his co-founder could suffer a similar fate.
admittedly, i know little about business operations in general, and particularly infold's. i do know, however, that removing a company's owners from its management team can trigger drawn-out legal and business negotiations, the process of which would incur major financial losses and bring operations to a crawl.
Queen of Swords (New Leadership)
due to my private readings, i also have reason to suspect that this represents an actual person(s) advocating for this mindset within the company.
in this reading and others, i've consistently drawn queen cards in relation to infold's potential staff changes. when i drew the king of cups yesterday, i asked who would replace him and drew the queen of cups. then there's the queen of coins (R) that appeared when clarifying the ten of wands, and the queen of swords referenced in the original post. if infold goes through another shakeup, i wouldn't be surprised if they make a point hiring or promoting more women into upper management to reemphasize their commitment to making women-oriented products and rebuilding the playerbase's trust.
don't be fooled into thinking this is an automatic victory. infold's going to need to make up for its financial losses somehow, so i'm wary of what "improvements" we can realistically expect from them after the boycott passes. at the end of the day, a gacha game is a casino and the casino wants your money, regardless of the gender of who's leading it. and if you aren't familiar with the glass cliff, you can read about it here.
Final notes
a bit of a downer compared to the more hopeful readings for the boycott, but i thought it might be a helpful reminder that valko is just a symptom of the broader issues that we, the players, have been suffering from. his removal is one corporate misstep of many, and the deeper i dig into my readings, the more it becomes clear that infold has a lot to contend with as it goes into the next year of operations. but like i said, i was more daring and free with my interpretations this time, so be very, very skeptical of me. it's all just grains of salt and food for thought.
The fastest way to accomplish The Project is to cease being afraid of The Project. The Project cannot maim you. The Project cannot kill you. The Project is more afraid of you than you are of it. It is okay if The Project turns out differently from how it was in your head, and it is okay if it has flaws. You are capable of engaging with The Project.
alright babes. this is going to be a looooong one. i mean it. i pulled new cards in light of the articles that were recently published by state media and in very, very quick summary, the cards say things are looking up.
in the process of doing this reading, i drew clarifying cards that led me down a bit of a rabbit hole. i don't want to add to the fandom's collective spiraling or end up in a situation where my readings get swept into a stream of misinformation. at the same time, i'm cursed with the need to show my work. so i might try to find a middle ground and reblog those broad predictions as an addendum to this post later today. cards/topics that would be addressed in that follow-up are marked with an *
General reading
so nine times out of ten, i've drawn the ten of wands (R) during my readings on infold's current work environment. it appeared in the last reading i shared publicly, in almost every private reading i've done, and again today. i do think it's indicative of company burnout and confronting harmful business practices, but the more it appears, the more confident i am that infold won't only be forced to consider new strategies with their existing team, but also undergo intensive restructuring.
layoffs, in other words.
i think this could refer to leadership in particular. this very well could be wishful thinking on my part, but it's also informed by the history of infold's business decisions over the previous year. i was unaware of the infinity nikki retcon when this first began. considering where we're at now—and the fact that it is stupidly difficult to get companies to axe bad leadership—i wouldn't be surprised if the managers that made the call to cut valko are the same who gutted IN. if so, it's very hard to turn a blind eye to people who've made gamebreaking business decisions that have triggered two boycotts and damaged the company's reputation on a global scale, within two years. i wouldn't be surprised if we receive news that at least one high-level employee is stepping down by the end of 2026.*
the atmosphere among the current staff is, unsurprisingly, tumultuous. two of cups (R) + five of wands (R) indicates that there's major conflict in response to the controversy, not only regarding outward-facing communication but also the creative direction of the game moving forward. in my exp, you can usually take "two of X" cards at face value to mean that you are literally weighing two options. cups specifically refers to creative directions, which means there are opposing factions to keep valko or rewrite the main story to excise him from the narrative. this shouldn't be news to us, but it does reaffirm that the effort to keep his character hasn't died out within the company.
four of wands (R) confirms that these divisions are preventing infold from moving onto the next milestone for the game (i.e. the main story update). but its presence (it's a celebratory card when upright) plus the fact that the five of wands appeared in the reversed position indicates that we're nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, and the result is likely to be in our favor.
ace of swords + the moon represents that light at the end of the tunnel. the ace indicates that we can expect communication from infold very soon now that these articles have been published. in the same way that moonlight illuminates the world at nighttime, this message should clarify the situation, but only partially. but it is coming. the moon has also appeared in my previous readings on when we can expect more clarity, which can be interpreted as 1 month or literally on/around the next full moon. conveniently, the next full moon is on july 29, aligning with the rumored communications embargo infold would be subjected to during its "rectification" period.
that said, swords are a fast-moving suit, so we could see this combo manifest as an announcement that comes out within the next few days, but illuminates little to nothing, followed by a more clarifying statement on or around july 29.
upon pulling for more clarity on the nature of this message, i drew knight of cups (R) which is... honestly kind of funny. in love readings, the knight of cups upright can represent a "prince charming." an ideal love interest, in other words. when reversed and in business readings, it refers to mixed signals, and more specifically a revoked proposal. it's a bit on the nose. point is, though, it's a confirmation that this new message will address valko directly.
i drew the knight alongside the fool,* which is very promising. the fool could be interpreted as emphasizing the impulsive, stupid behavior the knight of cups refers to. but more importantly, it's generally interpreted as a positive card that signals new beginnings. a reset. my guess: the next statements from infold are likely to be a bunch of corporate speak about "hearing us" and reassessing the direction of the game in light of our feedback, without confirming when whether valko's returning outright (continuing the trend of mixed signals). however, i'd interpret the fool's presence to mean they're not just paying us lip service, but earnestly considering our response.
finally, queen of swords appeared in this reading, which indicates that ppg is truly beginning to assess this situation logically, taking finances and market data into account. due to my private readings, i also have reason to suspect that this represents an actual person(s) advocating for this mindset within the company.* in other words, the boycott is working, and now that the media's weighed in, infold's going to start to respond accordingly and act more decisively. but as a reminder: non-employees won't have much insight into these internal developments, so be wary of rumors and don't be surprised or dismayed if we don't hear about every step as it occurs.
