Despite my current level of Busy, I really wanted to meet @fuckyeahlabynight's Fang Fest challenge! Tarot is such a fun idea. 😁 Earlier this month, I ran a poll on what to draw, and "portraits of different canon characters" won by landslide. Here's the first half! As a further treat, I paired each character with a flower whose meaning brought out more elements of their character and card. All flower meanings are from A Victorian Flower Dictionary by Mandy Kirkby. Find it on Indiebound here.
If you'd like to squeak in entries for this challenge, check out the kick off post here! I babble more about my character & flower choices below the cut.
Day 1 - Ramona as the Fool - Daisies double down on the "Innocence" theme of The Fool. From the Clan Novels to her appearance in LA by Night, Ramona goes on a wild journey which attempts to break her. Against all odds, she survives and comes out stronger, choosing kindness, art, and whimsy in LA by Night instead of brooding over the shitstorm she was forced through. It's like, at first Ramona was innocent, then she chooses the innocent happiness of small joys. Yeah, she'll do what she needs to survive—but she doesn't let the experience overtake who she chooses to be.
Day 2 - Ambrosio Luis Moncado as The Magician - HEAR ME OUT. He's the Magician Upright and Reversed. Moncado has plans upon plans. They succeed much more often than not, but Moncado also gets in his own way sometimes. The flowers are geraniums. The pencil thin leaves convey ingenuity—yes, Embracing Lucita was a good, unexpected idea—but red geraniums indicate stupidity. Maybe if he drank more respect women juice, she would return his calls.
Day 3 - Ming Xiao as the High Priestess - In her mortal and immortal roles, Ming Xiao acts as an advisor and knowledge keeper for her communities. She also has a terrible habit of withdrawing and not sharing tidbits. Maidenhair fern seemed a perfect fit: it references the feminine and it conveys a sense of secrecy.
Day 4 - Emma Blake as the Empress - I think Emma Blake deserves nice things and barely got the chance to stand on her own. Her "flower" is actually wheat. Emma is essential to the The Victorian Trilogy, just like wheat is a building block of civilization. The narrative wants to grind her down and devour her, like the violence done to wheat to make bread. Wheat is a staple—but for the gluten intolerant it's a poison. There's also the association with Ceres, the mother who, in her rage and sorrow, created winter over her stolen child. I'm like, really happy with this pairing, can you tell
Day 5 - Baron Samedi as The Emperor - What a fun dude. Though he's not always a good father/sire, Baron Samedi takes care of his clan, even at the risk of his own life. The leaves in his pocket are sorrel, which stands for parental affection.
Day 6 - Hesha Ruhadze as The Hierophant - Hesha's story is all wrapped up with faith and spiritual institutions: either following their precepts or secretly defying them for a greater good. Why is he naked you ask? the monocle stays ON during sex Ignore that. Look at the passionflower. Look up a picture of a passionflower. It stands for faith and looks like an alien.
Day 7 - Ilias cel Frumos and Sascha Vykos as The Lovers - This choice was very obvious, haha. Without Ilias, Vykos' life is full of disharmony, arguments, and hatred. United, they blossom. The flowers above them are lilies of the valley for "return of happiness." The drawing is a redraw of this picrew
Day 8 - Karsh as The Chariot - Just like chamomile ("energy in adversity"), Karsh does not quit! Cut him down; he returns stronger! In v5 Modern Nights, I think Karsh would be conflicted over his position in the Camarilla, and the Chariot brings out that tension. B. Dave Walters performed a fantastic Karsh in LA by Night, and I used his outfit and picture from We're Alive: Frontier as an artistic reference.
Day 9 - Halim Bey as Strength - Halim is a gentleman, through and through. He gently persuades, deftly handles his British customers, practices compassion gracefully, and endures like one million billion microaggressions without snapping. That takes strength. The dahlias are for dignity, which he has in spades. The decolonization comment came from me wondering how he feels about the British monarchy these nights. Like how Hesha is wrapped up with faith, Halim is wrapped up in colonization.
Day 10 - Aristotle de Laurent as The Hermit - This one was easy. Since he finished The Book of Nod, Aristotle seems to be quite content puttering around his collection and directing Lucita, Anatole, and Beckett to dig sites. He was The Hermit Upright. With their associations in mythology, queerness, and loneliness, hyacinths seemed a good pick. The purple shades add in the message "please forgive me," which reference his and Beckett's falling out. When he betrayed Beckett, Aristotle's Hermit card Reversed.
Day 11 - Beckett as The Wheel of Fortune - This card fit the (un)lucky Cuthbert "Gehenna is a cycle" Beckett so well! Aristotle and Beckett's portraits mirror each other, because I wanted to tease out their potential for reconciliation. I've drawn Beckett before, but this one came out looking younger and softer to me, which calls back to Beckett's neonate days. The two chrysanthemums symbolize truth (i.e. his constant goal) in British culture. In China, chrysanthemums are, among other things, symbols of the queer male community. Cause, yanno, they kind of look like buttholes. 😅😂 I had to do it do 'em okay
