#this is from ln8

[the-lost-profile]

Four members of the La Clan in a pic.

Use this as a reference for the family.

[augustinamiaumiau]

LN8 SPOILERS

Maomao got “a very depressing idea” while thinking about the reason Jinshi would want a favour from Lakan, only for her to think (after solving a MURDER mystery) that the person she feels the most sorry for isn’t the victim, but Jinshi because he worked so hard to try and win the Go game agaist the Strategist…

[tangentiallly]

i tried to make a timeline for the apothecary diaries LN. up to LN13. contains spoilers. could also contain mistakes since i didn't proofread this very diligently.

LN1: year 1 (Maomao is 17)

in ch22 Maomao visited the pleasure district. Madam said: “Not a word for ten freakin’ months?”

Maomao is mentioned to be 17 years old

LN2~LN4: year 2 (Maomao is 18)

LN2 ch2 mentions it's about a month into the new year

Loulan arrives at beginning of LN2, and it's also mentioned later that she arrived at the start of the year

in the beginning of LN4, it's mentioned that it's about 9 months since Loulan arrived

the epilogue mentioned it's almost to another new year

LN5~LN8: year 3 (Maomao is 19)

character profiles from LN5-8 all introduced Maomao as 19. (in Li's age system, people increment their age by a year at the start of the new year) (Lunar Calendar system)

LN5 ch1: It had been a month since she’d left the rear palace, and the new year’s celebrations had subsided.

LN6 ch2: The desire to avoid that was written on Jinshi’s face. He’d already been away from the capital for close to a month.

LN6 ch9: Maomao returned home. "The past month and a half clearly hadn’t dulled the madam’s stinginess one bit."

LN6 ch15: "Almost two months had passed since their return from the western capital, during which they hadn’t seen each other."

LN8 ch10: The jade, that was to say, gyoku: as in Gyokuen, father of Empress Gyokuyou. It was now more than six months since he had been summoned to the capital from his usual abode in Li’s western reaches

LN9~LN12: year 4 (Maomao is 20)

character profiles from LN9-12 all introduced Maomao as 20

LN9 ch1: Yao and En'en asked Maomao for a place to stay, and it's mentioned it's around New Year time.

LN9 ch6: Jinshi talks about leaving for the Western Capital "2 months from now"

LN11 ch22: Maomao counted on her fingers. More than five months that they had spent in the western capital.

LN12 ch12: "After more than six months in the western capital"

epilogue: "I can’t believe it’s been almost a whole year since we got here."

this is from LN13, but, in early LN 13 we got to see Lahan's brother's diary about their year at Western Capital, so i'm putting this one here. just want to mention that there are one entry called "Year-end, clear skies" and a subsequent entry "New spring, clear skies". (New spring refers to 新春, so we know they're leaving the western capital around the time of the Chinese New Year). The New Spring entry was when Maomao was originally going to inform Lahan's brother that they were heading back to Central region, but she got distracted and forgot to do that.

LN13~? : year 5 (Maomao is 21)

character profile from LN13 introduced Maomao as 21

i'm like, 3 quarters into LN14 at the moment so i'll stop here

[maboroshi-no]

In your opinion, is there a significant difference regarding Geordo and Alan's relationship in FL and in Hamefura? and also what do you think about the Royal family?

Hello,

Of course... In FL, Alan couldn't stand Geordo and kept competing with him because he was desperate to beat him at something. We don't precisely know how Geordo considered Alan in FL but he most likely ignored him.

In the Hamefura timeline, Geordo and Alan have a proper siblings relationship. Geordo probably keeps an eye on Alan as he seems to feel concerned about him possibly being deceived in LN12. Alan is close enough to Geordo to casually talk to him, drag him to the boy's party in LN6, splash him to calm him down in LN8 and restrain him in LN13.

Regarding the royal family, I am not sure what to think since we don't know much about them. I am not even sure if the Stuart still lives far apart from each other, or if they have their meals together. I am not sure what keeps the King and Queen so busy that they can barely appear. The King may seem like a respectable person, but it is also true that he has no problem leaving all dark magic incidents to 2 girls. I hope Luigi's complaint in LN14 will change things on that side.

[kamalkafir-blog]

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[masterhandss]

Personally I don't see what you see in Geordo. He seems like such a scumbag to me and is the least likable charater in the whole series. He is always trying to get her alone to push her into things of a sexual/ more romantic nature without taking how she really feels into consideration. Like he "really wants her" and thats enough for him without caring what she really wants. Honestly he is the borderline non-con villian in my mind.

I mean, it's okay if you feel like that. To each their own.

Hmmm when I think about Geordo being sexually aggressive towards Katarina, I only really just think of the anime. The manga is a much more moe-fied and toned down version of the novels, and the novels does an okay job at balancing his desires for Katarina in all aspects. I'm not saying he doesn't have that trait in the other two mediums, I just think that they aren't as intense as the anime, so as someone who consumes all three versions I just tilt my head and go "huh." Of course I'm sure there are people who read the manga and novels that still feel uncomfortable about his behavior and that's valid too.

-> light novel spoilers ahead <-

tldr, there is a lot more going on to him than just someone who offers sweet words and questionable invitations to Katarina's ears, this may not be noticeable or acceptable to some people but we get to know more about how he thinks whenever the novels puts us in his point of view. You're free to dislike him as much as you want, but I like him & don't see him as a scumbag; and here's why:

I at least find it okay that Geordo is very serious about his pursuits for her because he is aware that she is dense and will not get it until you spell it in the sky. Everyone is just walking eggshells around Katarina hoping that the girl would just develop feelings for one of them to win the harem olympics. He knows that being dealt with a good card isn't enough, so he's actively taking action in order to win her heart. I mean I don't always agree with his methods either, like the "fait accompli" line or constantly inviting her to his room alone, but really, how much of that is something he really means to do vs how much of that is his excessive flirting + our minds assuming that he really means to claim her in that way?

Lines like that are really popular with japanese fans because it makes Geordo look "sexy" and "forward", which they enjoy in their fictional stories. He knows that his position gives him an advantage so he'll try to play his cards right and use it to increase his chances in victory.

It actually reminds me of a scene from the Hamefura StoryMe game, (don't really know how canon it is but I remember the JP ver. was advertised by @/hamhura) where Geordo indirectly asked Katarina how to woo a girl he really likes, and Katarina thinking he was referring to Maria, gives all the things he usually does in order to win her heart (visit her home, give her gift, dance with her in parties, be really forward about your feelings etc). I'm not saying Katarina approves of the ways Geordo attempts to win her heart, but there's some hilarity in knowing that Geordo already had and is constantly trying all the known ways to win over a girl in the world from a young age, and still has nothing to show for it. Like no awareness, much less any *feelings* lmao. So trying to make it obvious that he is interested in her romantically and sexually seems like the next logical step to him. I mean if you go by Geordo's logic and considering the time period this takes place in, he's pretty confident that he can get Katarina to love him back and they are engaged anyways so in his head he's in safe waters to attempt to make teases about such advancements if it gives him the smallest chance that Katarina would become at least aware of him through it.

Of course I know that stuff like that won't fly here in the real world, but maybe that's why I'm so lenient personally when it comes to his (debatably) sexual teases and advances, because it's a fictional story for a japanese audience. Doesn't mean I would approve any advances like that if it happens to me, it's just that it's hard to take his actions seriously when Katarina or the story doesn't take them seriously. Like, the girl would be pushed down to a bed by RufuSora and gives her a hickey and she still thinks the man is out for her blood.

He wouldn't even be entirely wrong, knowing the identities of the characters who Katarina knows has romantic interest in her in the novels, actions does speak louder than words when it comes to her. Like I said, whether or not Geordo really means what he says when the story teases the readers with sexual implications in his words and action depends on the reader in my opinion. They are there, I wont pretend they don't but I'd argue about the level of intent depending on what scene you're talking about.

The only scenes on the top of my head where he is very abrasive towards Katarina is the "fait accompli" scene, the Book scene form the anime (S1 EP8), saying he wants to lock her in his room (LN6) and the multiple times Geordo had invited her in his room at night alone (LN6 and LN8, i think).

I've already explained why I am okay with both Keith and Geordo's Book scenes from episode 8 of the first season because they are accurate representations of an exaggerated and unhinged versions of their desires towards Katarina so I won't bore you with those details again.

He mentioned in Volume 6 that he wants to lock Katarina in his room forever and keep her light to himself, which alarmed a few people when the book came out, but he said that in a moment where he feels super grateful and loving towards her because she knew how tired he was despite his fake face and without even saying anything. It was a moment where he felt so infatuated towards her that he wished the moment where he gets to rest in her arms would last forever, thus he made such a comment. I make it sound more dramatic than it was in Volume 6, it was just a quick comment honestly lmao.

For people who don't read the novels, that last part looks very sus and raises a few red flags I know, but to be fair we can't definitively say what his intentions are because Katarina never commits to those visits. Katarina has actually become wary of those invitations, because Keith and Mary have warned her that Geordo's intentions are sexual, but I'm not really trusting the word of the two people who are most distrustful and antagonistic to Geordo. They could be right, of course, but who can really say? We assume that they are correct because they care about Katarina and are wary of Geordo, but hamefura('s novels) is full of unreliable narrators anyways, it's not like Keith or Mary would consider the possibility of it being anything else because when it comes to the third prince they always fear the worst case scenario.

If you think about it, Geordo is probably aware that winning her over with a "fait accompli" won't work at all because it'll put him in a position that will make other people push him for the throne (which he doesn't want) or could ruin his reputation in high society if Katarina or her family react to it negatively. I'm not Geordo though, so I can't really say if he even have such fears and doubts in the first place, that's just my assessment based on the obstacles he has. On the outside he is really sure of himself and confident (which he arguably deserves) and on the inside he is very careful and insecure when it comes to Katarina.

Also like, spoilers but for someone who is very forward when it comes to his physical advances, Geordo is super weak when he is in the receiving end of those touches. He gets super embarrassed and easily flustered when its Katarina who is touching him, as if implying that to some extent that he's all just talk lmao.

I don't really agree that Geordo doesn't care about what Katarina feels at all, in fact his inner dilemma in the novels is that he doesn't know what to do because in every step he takes he might do something that could ruin his image in Katarina's eyes, be it pursuing or abandoning the throne or looking like a monster in front of her. He even halts his plans to make advances towards her during the Keith Kidnapping Arc, but threw it away because he knows how much finding Keith means to Katarina. He puts what Katarina want and doesn't want as his priority, so when what she feels is unclear that's when he acts on his own intuition. The only reason Geordo feels so confident to advance towards her sexually is because Katarina never rejected him before (because she doesn't know what they mean, and all of this is for the sake of simply making her aware in the first place)

I'm not trying to make anyone think that one has to read all the books in order to understand him, I think the manga does okay at conveying his feelings too. The anime really prioritizes on making him look "sexy" for the japanese female audience, so anything he does is sprinkled with spice whether we like it or not.

I'm sorry if it seems like I'm overanalyzing all his actions just to justify them, everyone has the right to be uncomfortable with his advances if it seems too much for you. It's just that his actions, while over the top and unnecessary, are done to please the type of audience that hamefura caters to, and it's hard to take him completely seriously when the story doesn't either in my opinion. Doesn't mean he's right or that any of it is okay, but it's his method of trying to put a dent on Katarina's bakashield. When you're in a race versus your friends who Katarina all loves equally, he's gonna use whatever card he can get in order to win.

I like Geordo; I like how much of his feelings for Katarina forces him to reexamine himself and realize that he isn't a perfect prince at all, that he has lots of problems and flaws that he needs to work out in order to be someone worthy of her. I like the way he falls more and more in love with her in every interaction they have because he finally gets to have a genuinely and caring interaction with someone. I like how Geordo wants to do better and be better for Katarina and the people around him, and he wants to be able to thank Katarina directly for that through being able to show his love. I like that despite how much of a chad he acts in front of her, he's a blushing mess at the thought of Katarina returning his feelings. I find it funny when his "sexual advances" fails and gets thwarted because he's trying them on the densest person and most protected lady to ever live. I like how Geordo is so head-over-heals in love with her and how much comfort and warmth she brings to him by simply being her caring and bubbly self.

I guess it's just a matter of different perspectives. If you find him unlikeable or a villain, then you do you. I try to explain why I personally excuse his actions, but I know it wont fly with everyone. We all see each character differently and absorb the material in different ways. In fact it's probably a bad idea for me to defend him with material that isn't the anime nor manga yet lmao. I mean I'm not that much of a fan of Mary anymore, and I'm kinda scared and wary of her, but I know people don't see her the way I do and I'm okay with that.

Maybe its just me, who is the kind of person who just goes with the flow and doesn't think too hard because it's all fiction anyways

It's hard to tell all this from simply watching the anime, so I laid all my feelings down in hopes that someone out there would understand why I like him so much.

Thank you for the ask, you can ask more questions or call me out if I said anything insensitive or wrong, I know a lot of this is me overanalyzing things which might look like I'm jus stretching. As someone who is aware of the things to come in Hamefura X, I can say that I am both excited and nervous as to how everyone will react for the direction of Geordo's character.

[ascendance-bookworm]

* * * As of the beginning of Part 4. Work In Progress. * * *

Well, this story has gotten complicated enough that I need to take notes, so I’m going though all the books again, I am going off the English translated books from j-novel club, so any info from the web novel or other sources I’m not including.

I’ve broken it up into parts because it gets long. This is mostly just for my reference as I’m tired of having to keep going back to remember things, and clarify the issues that are happening on the politics side which I can see are going to become more important to the series, and that I kinda gloss over when I read (lol) so I need a refresher, perhaps others will find it interesting / useful too.

As always, feel free to correct me if I make a mistake somewhere, I’m doing my best, but this is just for fun in my (limited) spare time, so...

Ehrenfest Map - Part 1

Purple - Florencia and Elvira’s faction

Yellow - Leisegang faction

Red - Veronica faction (Georgine)

Green - Neutral

None - undetermined

Ehrenfest (Central District) Noble Quarters

- - - Aub Ehrenfest, Lord Sylvester Family

Aub Ehrenfest, Lord Sylvester (30? years-old) dark blue hair, green-eyes

wife, Florencia (formerly from Frenbeltag, 2 years older) pale blond hair

eldest son, Wilfred (10 years-old, 1st year archduke) blond hair, green eyes

daughter, Charlotte (9 years-old archduke) pale blond hair, purple eyes

youngest son, Melchoir (not baptized yet) dark blue hair

mother, Veronica (Sylvester’s mother) (imprisoned) [LN 7]

uncle, Bezewanst (younger brother to Veronica, High Bishop) (executed) [LN8]

older sister, Georgine (married to Aub Ahrensbach)

sister, Constanze (married to Aub Frenbeltag)

half-brother, Ferdinand (24? years-old, High Priest) light blue hair and yellow eyes

- - - Lord Bonifatus Family

Lord Bonifatius (archduke)

first wife ( Leisegang’s daughter )

first son, Karstedt (archduke) (see below)

second wife ( ? )

- second son, ( ? ) (archnoble) jealous of Karstedt

- wife, Gudrun (daughter of Rihyarda, sister of Justus)

- son, Traugott (3rd year archnoble, ex-guard knight to Rozemyne)

- - - Lord Karstedt’s Family

Karstedt (archduke, Captain of the Knight’s Order) blue eyes and brown hair

first wife, Elvira (archnoble, sister to Giebe Haldenzel) brown eyes and green hair

eldest son, Eckhart (archnoble, widow, guard knight to Ferdinand) green hair and blue eyes

-first wife of Eckhart, Heidemarie (deceased)

-current engaged to Angelica

second son, Lamprecht (archnoble, guard knight to Wilfred) brown hair, blue eyes

-engaged to Aurelia, niece of Aub Ahrensbach

third son, Cornelius (5th year archnoble, guard knight to Rozemyne) green hair and eyes

daughter, Rozemyne (secretly adopted)

- - -

second wife, Trudeliede (from Veronica faction)

- fourth son, Nikolaus (recently baptized, 7 year old)

- - -

third wife, Rosemery (from Joisonak) (deceased)

- - - Angelica and Lieseleta’s Family (Florencia or neutral)

Father is a Castle attendant (mednobles)

Mother is Lady Florencia’s attendant (mednobles)

Angelica (6th year medknight, guard knight to Rozemyne) light blue eyes and hair 

Lieseleta (4th year medattendant, attendant to Rozemyne) green eyes and hair

I put Angelica and Lieseleta as more neutral as neither seems to play into the politics so far, I would assume Florencia association due to their mother and Rosemyne, but in general they seem more loyal to the person rather than a faction as an whole.

- - - Damuel’s Family

Henrik (layscholar) (neutral?)

wife, Juliane - two kids (boy and girl) (neutral?)

mistress, Frieda (Guild Masters granddaughter, has the devouring)

Damuel (19-20 years old, layknight, guard knight to Rosemyne) brown hair, grey eyes

I would put Damuel on Rosemyne (Elvira/Florencia) faction, his brother and sister-in-law so far we don’t have anything stated firmly, so I would put them neutral with a lean towards Florencia’s faction due to benefactor/association thru Rosemyne. Since Henrik is joining Rosemyne publishing industry, this seem more solid.  Also his association with the Guild Master and Frieda also firmly put them more on Rosemyne’s side.

- - - Philine’s Family

Kashick (laynoble)

first wife, Theresa (deceased)

daughter, Philine (1st year laynoble, layscholar to Rozemyne)

son, Konrad ( 5 years old ) ( disinherited and sent to the Temple)

second wife, Jonsara ( laynoble? )

son (infant)

I would put Philne in Rosemyne (Elvira/Florencia) faction, she is going independent from her father/family and putting her full support behind Rosemyne. Not sure what her father or step-mother are, but not sure it matters unless they make trouble for Philine later in the series.

Nobles entrusted with land by the archduke stayed in their mansions near the farming villages from Spring Prayer all the way to the Harvest Festival. They returned to the Noble’s Quarter during the winter to pay taxes and give a report on the last year while all the nobles in the city got to work gathering information on everything that happened over the past year. [LN6]

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[agallimaufryofoddments]

Some of you may remember that I imported a copy of 電撃文庫総合目録2006SPECIAL EDITION back in July, by which I mean a “Dengeki Bunko Paper Library Comprehensive Catalog 2006 Special Edition” that was published on Feb 10, 2007 despite the age. If you recall/check that link, you’ll know that I was interested in the catalog because it was said to contain a Baccano! short story by Narita in which the name “Theodore St. Germain” was mentioned.

So, @toushindai very kindly took a look at the two-page story when I sent her some photos at the time, but I’ve only recently realized I never consolidated what she told me/our discussion into a public post - my apologies! If anyone would like me to message them the photos, let me know.

Collected Info

The short story begins with the info broker Theodore St. Germain musing over where the story ‘really’ begins and ‘really’ ends. (He also muses that the main character could be anyone). He wonders if it started...

...back in the early 1700s when Huey met Elmer, or when the two of them met the "young alchemist brothers" (presumably Maiza and Gretto, though Gretto ends up not actually being an alchemist in canon);

That reference to 1705 is intriguing on a meta level, considering Vol 11 (1705) came out on July 10, 2007 - well after when Narita must have written this short story.

...back in 1930 [describes in a series of sentence fragments] or maybe 1931 [describes in a series of sentence fragments];

And then he says "1932--the present,” describing 1932 “very briefly” before moving on to 1933, 1934, 2001, and even 2002, which means the short story is presumably set in the 21st century.

Theodore also says he took his title from an ancestor, which...well, given his name is “Theodore St. Germain,” would naturally lead us to believe that ancestor is Gustav after all.

Another meta note: Gustav’s novel debut is in LN9, which was published December 10, 2006. He’s first mentioned by name in LN8, though (published two months before in October.)

Tou says that’s about all there is to the story; as she noted, it was likely more exciting as a teaser for upcoming plot lines (e.g. 1705 and 2002). 

That Theodore was musing over story beginnings and also touched upon the ‘anyone can be a main character’ idea... To me, that sounds reminiscent of Gustav’s musings to Carol in Episode 01 of the anime (aired Jul 26, 2007). Too much to be a coincidence, I mean. Narita was kept in the anime’s production loop to an extent, so one wonders if Narita was perhaps inspired by Takagi (scriptwriter) or the other way around).

(When I brought this up with Tou she leant toward the former, citing how Ronny and Rosetta’s 1935-A convo is a deliberate callback to the anime. And it’s certainly not the only time Narita’s been influenced by the anime: he retroactively worked Sugarcube into the novels as the character Rubik, he adopted Coraggioso as the name of the Gandors’ jazz hall - previously unnamed in the novels - and I’m pretty sure the Dolce owners were retroactively added from the anime as well.)

Theodore is speaking to a guest/customer by the way, but there’s no clues as to who that customer is in the story. I think we’ll have to wait and see if Narita references Theodore in 2003, which he very well may do since - to quote Tou - “He generally makes everything canon, as long as he remembers it exists.” (As seen with the anime, but also JRB and Rosetta, Donatello and 1927 arc, and potentially “Elita” and “Pietro’s Bar” from the second audio drama).  

[tangentiallly]

// LN spoilers up to vol 11

I’ve been thinking about this scene from LN8

“say …… Haku-u, is this something you heard from your father?” <- this line from Gyokuyou is odd to me because the sibling trio, as we know from the Yi-clan backstory, does not have a father. in the sense that they do have a biological father but they don’t know who he is per the clan’s custom and way of raising kids.

after the Yi clan was destroyed, the siblings and their mother and cousin Rikuson fled and Gyokuyou’s father Gyokuen brought them to his family (specifically his newest wife and child). Gyokoyou was there.

i don’t believe this is because the author hadn’t plotted that far along - in the very same chapter in LN8 Haku-u talking about Yi clan’s destruction and her emotions at it, that Maomao took notice, is evidently foreshadowing looking back. the backstory was planted way back.

i suppose there is a possibility that the trio’s mother married someone after they fled when Yi clan was being targeted. i do wonder, though - because she was brought up in that culture, would she particular want to remarry? (remarry isn’t even the right word, she had never been married, because the Yi clan women don’t get married). but maybe to blend in better, or for economic reasons, she decided to marry someone. (Also - the sisters look very very similar, so if they were actually from the same father - but also note that they’re not triplets - that meant there was possibly a guy that their mother was with (perhaps in an on-and-off or fwb manner) for three years. so what if the mother just married this guy after everything that happened?)

but also - what if there was no father, no marriage of their mother, and that it was an intentional lie on Empress Gyokuyou’s part, a diversion of some sort. perhaps she’s really asking if Haku-u heard it from her mother (Rikuson’s aunt), but maybe it’d seem less likely to draw attention if she said ‘father’. perhaps it’s the sort of complicated politics that would get one to ask, oh how come a housewife is this well-versed in such things? who is your mother? what’s her job? and considering women’s status in Li versus Yi clan’s matriarchal system, maybe it might draw attention. (speaking of which, i want to note that rikuson had, before his backstory reveal, mentioned that he learned some important lessons for life in general from his mother and sister - that said, he made it sound like they were merchants and those were life hacks in the field of business.)

so to divert attention away from them possibly from the Yi clan which shouldn’t exist anymore, not officially, Gyokuyou said father instead of mother.

another possibly that it’s not actually rikuson’s aunt, the siblings’ mother, that she was referring to - but rikuson himself. but it’s easier to say father in front of outsiders - they came from her hometown, in most people’s eyes. Their “father”, hypothetical he might be, probably knew Gyokuyou’s family, to outsiders listening.

Hongniang had been Gyokuyou’s minder since she was a little girl, so she possibly knew their backstory, but it’s not certain. she wasn’t on the scene that day when Rikuson and co arrived. But it’s not just bc of maomao that empress’s is careful here either. They do live in the court, and it’s not a secret that they want to come out here. I’ll bet the emperor doesn’t know. It’s not something Gyokuyou would share with him. It’s just a topic too dangerous to speak of here.

[maboroshi-no]

First, thank you so much for that wonderful list of how magic was used in the Hamefura Pirates game! I had another question about it, if that's ok.

Seeing as we had another country involved in the story - what was the worldbuilding like? Do we get to know more about the world outside of Sorcier? Anything that you found particularly interesting?

Hello serekan,

I love answering questions about Hamefura Pirates, so don't hesitate if you have any 🙂.

So now, let's see... In the game they mention 2 other countries: Queed and Silva's home country. I will also talk about the Blank Area.

Queed is a kingdom known as the Great Technological Country. Its king is Albert Queed, who is Rozy's cousin. Cet is the Prime Minister of Queed, and Rozy will replace him at the end of his route.

It seems like Queed is far from Sorcier and people travel between the 2 countries using boats. But I think it may be close to a country with a asian-like culture. Silva wears a Asian shirt when he dresses up as a pirate and he can cook Asian food.

I am not sure what kind of technology they have aside from ship building. When everyone traveled to Queed, the country didn't seem any different from Sorcier technology wise. They used horse carriage too.

Despite having no magic, Rozy seems to know how to use magic stones. Though, maybe it is normal since he is an engineer of the boat. Come to think, there should be no Sorcier people among the engineering staff since they are all pirates... Even so, they can still run a magic powered boat.

Swimming pools are part of Queed culture. Queed people are fine wearing "swimsuits" unlike Sorcier people. There also seems to be public baths on the boat, though I don't know if it is a Queed thing.

Queed may be a foreign country, but there does not seem to be a language barrier. Katarina and the others can talk normally with Queed people and they can read Queed books without issues. But I think it was mentioned in LN8 that there was a single language in the world. Similarly, I think there could also be a single currency since Mary could arrange for lodgings in Queed without issues. Unless she sold some jewelry? 🤔

Queed's high society has different rules compared to Sorcier. There doesn't seem to "escorts", and thus ladies don't need to give their first dance to their escort.

The age of majority is 18 in Queed while it is 15 in Sorcier. So everyone would be minors in Queed. Even so, Mary and Katarina could settle in Queed without issues.

Regarding the Queed's and Lindgrenn family. Albert is the King and he is also Rozy's cousin. Rozy's father is the previous queen's brother and the previous king's best friend. Rozy's granddad is the one Cet has always considered his doom. Rozy's grandmother is the one Cet loved.

And that's about all I can say about Queed... 🤔

Regarding Silva's home country, Silva said it is a northern country where it snows a lot and they don't see the sun much. As a result, Silva (and the people of his home town too?) can clearly see in darkness. When it happens, their eyes turn purple.

In his home town, they have a custom where men kiss women on their ears to express courtship, on their mouths to express love and on their foreheads to express gratitude. Silva's father explained to him that the origin of this custom is because there is not many women in their hometown, so they need to treasure them.

When he was a kid, Silva's hometown got attacked by slave traders who were interested in their eyes. So it may not exist anymore. At the end of Silva's route, Katarina and Silva travel the world to search for the hometown, since Silva doesn't know where it is precisely located.

Regarding "The Blank Area". It seems to be an area in the ocean covered in fog, that ships usually avoid. It has been covered in fog since 1,000 years ago.

Come to think of it, Nicol's route mentioned the existence of witches who can use magic. But I don't really know if their magic is the same as the one used in Sorcier.

And that's about it!

[maboroshi-no]

I wasn't contented in the anime, I am asking if what happened between Nicole and Catarina, was there any romantic progression between them? Aside from Gerald and Keith, had Catarina conquered other routes?

Hello anon,

Unfortunately, Nicol keeps holding back his feelings in the novel so there isn't much progression for him.

Nicol confessed while half-asleep in LN8, but then made sure Katarina wouldn't remember it, not to cause trouble. In LN11 he made a pseudo confession where he passionately told Katarina how much he loved her while taking advantage of Katarina thinking he might be talking of another person.

So, not much in canon. Though the moment in LN11 felt to me like Nicol was reaching his limit.

But there is at least Nicol Route in the Hamefura Pirates game. I am currently working on summaries of it.

Regarding other routes, Katarina only captured Geordo and Keith so far.

[masterhandss]

Forbidden fruit ask time: Keith x Katarina. I know people in western fandom are understandably wary of this ship, but apparently it's one of the favourites for the Japanese audience and based on what I heard it actually has some decent foundation in novels (not as much as GeoKata, but still). Since you read novels and are #1 hamefura blog on Tumblr and know so much I wanted to ask you to tell us how KeiKata is doing in novels if it's okay owo??

owo!! lmao, I don't know about being the "#1 hamefura blog on tumblr" (I-I... I thought I was an art blog... :')) I mean I just like to ramble about hamefura lmao but I'm always happy to answer questions!

Yeah... Keith x Katarina is a hard subject to talk about considering how violent reactions can be depending on who you're talking to. I remember when Season 1 was airing, people really doesn't like Keith as a romantic option for Katarina due to them being siblings, and I'm honestly waiting for those people to react to the S2 OP and S2 in general. I've talked to a few people who don't like KeiKata at all, and they have the absolute right to dislike any ship that they want, but it did make me sad to know how much Keith is hated by the EN Fandom considering how loved he is in the JP Fandom. He's pretty much the most favorite male character and the second most shipped with Katarina.

-> hamefura x(s2) & ln spoilers ahead <-

A lot of people's issues with Keith stems from the fact that he and Katarina are step-sibling and that it's really weird for Keith to be romantically interested in Katarina (a person who sees him as a little brother completely). People are accusing him of taking advantage of Katarina's trust in him to keep her to himself and that pursuing her romantically would destroy the familial bond that they've had for years. The thing is that Keith treasures Katarina as a person, not as a sibling. Yes, Keith sees her as family, but he also sees her as more than family. To him, being able to be together with Katarina doesn't mean that he'll have to love her differently, but that he will be able to love her even more deeply and honestly. You can even headcanon that the reason Keith calls Katarina "big sister" is because he's asked to do so, and because it's a symbol of his acceptance into the family, but maybe not necessarily how he sees her.

Some of the material that will be covered in Season 2 is about Keith, so I don't know how much I want to talk about that since most fans will be able to see it themselves. Keith has it the hardest because his position makes it so that he's the least likely to get his feelings across to Katarina due to their relationship. In one of the upcoming arcs in the anime, Keith will be able to break Katarina's baka shield in the same way Geordo does: by using actions instead of words, and by just literally finding the courage to take the risk and tell her.

That's where one of the interesting things about hamefura comes into play: one of the reasons why people dislike KeiKata so much is that they feel like the reveal of Keith's feelings would awaken disgust and betrayal in Katarina. Few fanfics of hamefura portray it that way, that Katarina would be weirded out by his feelings and reject them immediately. Maybe it's because Katarina is aware of Keith as not only a sibling, but also as a romance-able character in an otome game (also because of the nature of this series lmao), that in canon, she doesn't take his confession negatively and is flushed/embarrassed by it just like Geordo's confession. I know the "weirded out" reaction is the most realistic, but maybe Katarina also understands that their relationship doesn't have a clear label. They care for each other very much and whether that bond is romantic, familial or friendship isn't something they bothered to really name, maybe? Lmao I don't know, that last bit is just speculation on my part, I can't exactly get into Katarina's head and pinpoint what she thought of Keith's confession.

If I'm being honest, she forgets about Keith's confession more often than she does Geordo, mostly because nothing really changed after he made his feelings clear. I wouldn't say that she dismissed it, it's just that she's forgetting it because in her perspective being loved as a woman and as family by Keith both means that he'll take care of her and shower her with attention (aka no difference).

When I think about how "KeiKata is doing in the novels", for some reason the first thing that comes to my mind is the line "how they treated Geordo in the anime, from a JP perspective". I know that sounds confusing, but what I mean is that a lot of Arc 2 - FL2 scenes with KeiKata is kinda fanservice (aka the thing they tried to do for Geordo in the anime which worked for JP fans but made him hated by the EN fans) (not me trying to insert Geordo in a post about Keith hehe :V). Excluding all the Keith scenes that are coming in Season 2 of the anime and the current arc of the manga, the story really likes to test Keith's self-control when it comes to seeing Katarina as a woman.

Keith's scenes with Katarina aren't necessarily "hot and spicy" by any means, but people nowadays tend to be quite bothered and annoyed at typical japanese romance tropes being played out in modern anime series (such as bed-pining, surprised kisses and kabedons). I mean yeah I'd be bothered too if someone pulled those moves on me in real life, but for the japanese audience this is what their fanservice is like so that's the kind of stuff we'll see in hamefura. Just like Geordo, Keith is given a few scenes where he's put in a romantic spot with Katarina after he confessed, but it always just ends with him backing out and hoping that it at least could remind Katarina of how he sees her (like bed-pinning in LN6 & affectionate touches from Katarina in LN8). A lot of hate towards Keith stems from these scenes because people sees this as a disrespect towards Katarina and the familial relationship they have. These scenes helps reinforce how Keith sees Katarina as a woman and not as a sister, but depending on who you're siding with, you're either gonna be disgusted at Keith or extremely pissed off at Katarina's lack of propriety & density.

Like, people are getting angry at Keith for being a teenage boy who is being bothered by affectionate touches from the girl he likes who is also always approaching him with only a nightgown? I mean blame the author or Keith all you want but at least put some responsibility on Katarina as well :V People are really saying "well, he shouldn't be bot and bothered by it in the first place, they are siblings! that's disgusting!" well again, Keith sees her as a woman and Katarina needs to be aware that she shouldn't be so touchy with the opposite sex regardless if it's family. Keith kinda blames Katarina for the way he feels given how she acts around him despite being unaware of his feelings, which is also the cause of some hatred towards Keith.

People are saying that Keith is dumping *all* the responsibility onto Katarina because she acts in such an affectionate way towards him, but in reality Keith feels really bad & also hates himself for being so attracted to her when she doesn't even know about his feelings. He puts a lot of blame onto himself and thinks he's just as bad as Geordo sometimes (not saying Geordo is bad, more like Keith's "idea of Geordo" being bad lmao). Keith always walks on eggshells around Katarina because he doesn't want to disrespect how he feels about her and how she feels about him. It's just sad to see people hate him for the few moments where his self-control breaks so that he can act on his honest emotion, and accuse him of abusing Katarina's trust :((

Just like Geordo, Keith has made it clear how he feels and strongly desires to pursue her romantically, but his problem of being the step-sibling is still there. I haven't gotten my own copy of JP Volume 10 yet, I feel like I just wanna wait for the EN version instead of using GT, but multiple spoilers have noted that while Keith hasn't made progress in getting approval of his feelings from Katarina's side, he's at least able to get an approval from his family. Well, by that I mean Keith has already confessed his romantic feelings about Katarina to their father Luigi, and he replied by saying that he approves of whoever Katarina chooses for herself. Keith realizes that all he needs to do is get Katarina to return his feelings. When he does, his family wont hate him, but instead he'll be able to love them and be loved in the same, yet different way.

TLDR; a lot has happened to Keith throughout the light novels. He's progressing slowly and steadily just like Geordo, and is leagues ahead compared to the other characters. He has confessed his feelings and got reassurance of his relationship with his parents. Keith and Katarina's relationship itself hasn't really changed though, but it's nice to know that Keith is at least laying the foundations for his hypothetical future with her. Katarina doesn't really think about Keith enough to be able to tell how she feels about his confession or if her opinion on him has changed at all though, so take that as either an L or a W for Keith.

Thank you for the ask! I'm sorry if this isn't as elaborate as you wanted, anon. I like Keith and Katarina but I guess it's because they aren't my bias that I don't pay too much attention to the tiny details of how Keith is written in the books qwq

[ascendance-bookworm]

God of Fire, Leidenschaft

“May this meeting, ordained by the divine guidance of the gods, be blessed by the God of Fire Leidenschaft on this vibrant summer day. It is nice to meet you, High Priest. I am Benno of the Gilberta Company, visiting here at Sister Myne’s introduction. May the bonds formed here be strong and lasting.”

... It seemed I wouldn’t be able to properly greet nobles without memorizing the names of each season’s patron god...

“I bless this day from the bottom of my heart. May the God of Fire Leidenschaft’s guidance take the Gilberta Company to ever greater riches,” said the High Priest while pressing his left hand above his heart, angling his right hand down and extending his fingers just slightly above Benno’s hand. A faint blue light blossomed out of the High Priest’s palm and dyed Benno’s milky hair with blue. The light disappeared quickly, but anyone could tell that Benno had received a divine blessing.

Notable Facts and Quotes

God of Fire, Leidenschaft

God of Summer - One of the Eternal Five.

The symbol is a spear - The spear was the symbol of the God of Fire encouraging growth to ever greater height. [LN4]

The divine color of summer is blue. It is the color of the tall sky that life strives for.

A symbol of strength that helps in growth and battle.

The playing card mark is a diamond ♦.

The God of Fire is the patron deity of children born in the summer, and are characterized by being passionate and hot-blooded. It seemed that he also grants favor when it comes to teaching and guiding others. [LN3]

The Blue Priests and Shrine Maidens Robes

“Blue encourages growth. It is the divine color of the God of Fire, and it is the color of the wide sky, where the King and Queen rule. I give these robes to you, she who worships the King and Queen, she who swears to grow as the years go on.” [LN4]

Subordinate Gods (12 gods)

Angriff, God of War and subordinate to Leidenschaft

“O God of War Angriff, of the God of Fire Leidenschaft’s exalted twelve, we pray that you grant them your divine protection.”

Vulcanift, God of Smithing

smithies worshiped the God of Smithing and the God of Fire [LN8]

God of Blizzards

... my heart froze over as though the God of Blizzards had struck me himself... [LN11]

* These are some of my notes as I re-read, I’m going to update this as I find more interesting things that I want to remember. *

[masterhandss]

(I am sorry for adding another, but this one is a bit less specific) thanks to the Otome game’s artwork for the pirates and clear imagery of Silva’s flintlock pistol. Guns exist, gunpowder exists. That is chaos waiting to happen. What do you think could happen with that new bit of info for the crew, especially in terms of Geordo’s fire magic. Or just general h/c and potential drama.

It’s okay, thank you for all your asks! I have a lot of asks and questions to answer and I’m trying to get through all of them (really slowly), but i’m really happy to see yours and everyone’s ideas and headcanons!

thanks to the Otome game’s artwork for the pirates and clear imagery of Silva’s flintlock pistol. Guns exist, gunpowder exists. That is chaos waiting to happen 

I’ve seen a few people talk about the implications and world building that comes with the knowledge that guns exist. I’m pretty interested in it and its one of the reasons why i’m excited for the nintendo switch game!

My personal interpretation of this information is that, yeah guns and gunpowder do exist, but its only currently exclusive to one country. Quid, from what I translated, is the country of engineering. I’m not the smartest potato of the bunch but I know that probably doesn’t really say anything about the country’s weaponry, but i’m assuming that Quid is the most technologically advanced country.

I’m more of just accepting and assuming the fact that only Quid (and by extension, the Weiss Pirates who I assume are from Quid) have guns because yknow, each country is known for something. Sorcier has Magic, Lousabre has high crime rates, Etran has trading, Xiarmah has eastern culture and etc. In order to have Quid stand out as well, it’s gonna need something of its own so advanced technology and weaponry sounds good to me.

I know realistically it doesn’t make any sense, because that would mean Quid has the military prowess to take over any country they want, because they have guns and maybe even other forms of firearms, but there are lots of series where each country/region/island has different extreme levels of weaponry but can exist just fine (like Granblue Fantasy and Fire Emblem Heroes. For the latter example, FEH just introduced a new arc where a country with advanced tech and guns have just been introduced the other day, so Book V of feh may have influenced this interpretation). Some countries still use swords and magic, and some countries have guns and robots but can coexist just fine (don’t ask me how gsjdgf).

In addition to this, I’m gonna assume that guns have only recently been invented and is either still in its production/experimentation stage and the Weiss Pirates stole guns from a cargo, or they are just about to be shipped out and introduced to other countries before the Weiss Pirates stole guns from a cargo. I don’t like the idea that the Weiss Pirates themselves invented guns because that would make them too much for a powerful threat, and I don’t think the writers of the hamefura game would bother to write them as that much of a big threat. 

I guess unlike most, I’m not the type the analyze historical periods and world building implications of stuff like this, but I tried ahahaha. 

I guess I just know so much fantasy series where swords, magic and guns (and even robots) can coexist, that the idea that we have some in hamefura doesn’t even surprise me at all.

What do you think could happen with that new bit of info for the crew, especially in terms of Geordo’s fire magic   

If the otome game is gonna seriously address the implications of Quid having advanced form of weaponry, then damn we might get a short arc of them trying to stop a possible war ahahaha. Hamefura’s magic is very weak (I can make a long ass essay just complaining about the existing magic system based on what we know from the series so far) so I’m not really sure what to think of Geordo’s magic when compared to guns and other forms of firearms. There’s a lot of debates between “technology vs magic” and the winner of that usually depends on who is asking. 

On the scale of power, I think Geordo probably has no match against a gun or a make-shift bomb/bazooka. Magic activates really slowly in Hamefura so Geordo’s strength (or at least the levels I’m personally imagining) isn’t really much in battle even if it is. I mean we know he can burn a man alive as he implied in LN8 and that would give magic the advantage in terms of power (magic can possibly be equal when it comes to area damage than a bomb/bazooka but that only depending on the magical output), but again he really lacks in terms of speed. Unless Fire Magic has a spell where they can make fire balls rain from the sky? Fire magic seems like it only manifest through the hands so I’m just imaging Geordo with flamethrower hands.

I might not be giving Magic a fair fight here because I may or may not be exaggerating in my head how weak magic is in hamefura. I’d love to revisit this question again when we get more insight about how magic works in the series, like whenever Vol. 10 rolls around.

I’d love to see the crew’s reaction to seeing a gun for the first time. A “what the hell is that?” line from either Alan or Keith would make me a happy champ kshdfdsf. Plus points if Katarina immediately identifies it as a gun before anyone else in the ship are even told what the weapon is. 

I’d be really sad if the upcoming otome game doesn’t touch up on the guns though. Somehow I feel like the artists/writers didn’t think too much of it and just added guns to complete the full pirate aesthetic. 

Or just general h/c and potential drama.

Going back to where I said “I wouldn’t like it if the Weiss Pirates invented guns themselves”, there’s also the possibility that guns are treated in the same way as they are in “Dragalia Lost”. Since we know in hamefura there was a Golden Age of Magic in the past, where magic is so common that even Dark Magic is normal to see, then maybe there was also a point where technology was also advance before their ancestors decided to abandon it in order to maintain their roots with nature and magic. 

This is just a random idea of mine, but it would be cool if Katarina and Silva can bond over the existence of his guns. Silva seems like he might be a “robin hood” kind of character to me. Katarina will obviously freak about guns at first, but she would chill with it when she finds out that the Weiss Pirates aren’t bad people. Unlike others, she isn’t as afraid because she used to live in a world where guns are more common (though that doesn’t mean she isn’t afraid of guns). Maybe Silva’s pistol is a gift from a family member or from his ancestors, and when he realizes that Katarina isn’t freaking too much about the gun, he can give its backstory. I don’t know, something like “this gun only shoots down evil! This bullet kills so that the people/public can live another day!” or something like that. 

There’s most likely not gonna be a plot like this in the nintendo switch game but hey, it works if they want to treat the gun like an artifact rather than a new invention. 

I don’t know if I gave a satisfactory answer here, but I tried gasjhgsj I’m writing this late at night so I might rewrite this if I can think of anything better to say in the morning :DD I’m not a smart bean either so I’m so sorry if my answers sound so dumb gfsjhgf

Thank you for the ask!