the magician's charm

[luna_rainbow]

I thought I'd post some of my pictures (especially those related to character design and writing) here so that this place has more life and variety.

So this picture goes with the common representation of The Magician: wearing a cloak and with the four "elements" before him (some of them only visible in the full picture) - a wand, a cup, coins (they're on the chain that fastens his cloak) and a sword - "signifying the control over elements". Not that Vivrael has any control over these elements apart from his "conjuration" skill.

The other stuff are just common magician props - bunny out of top hat (impossibility), and dice and cards (probability). I know this is a trivial detail, but the only card he's holding face-up is the Joker, which is a derivate of "The Fool". In one version of Tarot interpretation I've read, the Major Arcana is presented as a chronicle of the Fool's journey - and he meets the other cards, the Magician, the Emperor, the Hanged Man and so on, and learns lessons of life from them.

But that's not really related here. Vivant never meets Vivrael except possibly in one very bizarre trouser of time when Vivrael walks through the Bermuda Triangle and gets thrown into Vivant's world, where he becomes a professional swindler by lack of choice.

But why Vivrael as "The Magician" and not Vivant? - When Vivant is the one who has the broadest (and most powerful) range of magic, when he's just as much of a coy trickster, and he probably projects more illusions about himself than Vivrael does?

I guess it was because he suited "The Fool" much more aptly. A nameless man with no ties to home or family, with all his worldly possessions slung over his back in one small bag, and welcoming the world's challenges - always with that faint smile of both optimism and mistrust. Unlike Vivrael, the world's perceptions no longer matter to Vivant, and for many years he is allowed to simply be "no one".

I might talk about "The Fool" card more when/if I ever get to draw Vivant.

But for "The Magician", the card describes Vivrael well - intelligent and articulate, self-confident and possesses many practical skills. On the reverse, there is lack of confidence, indecision and hesitation, and strengths being used for dishonesty. I think the lack of confidence and hesitation is something he only allows Solen to see. I never managed to get up to writing about that part, but Vivrael falters when he knows Solen isn't behind his back.

I think...though these qualities apply to Vivant as well, he doesn't quite have the same aggressive self-belief, nor the same irresponsibility that leads to using his skills for petty wants.

Just about Vivrael in the picture: maybe his face really isn't as pretty as Sigmund's, but I think his charisma matches Sigmund's. Perhaps the archetypal "bad boy" appeal - the tousled hair, the unfastened shirt, the askew cloak - and an expression that is both smile and a smirk, saying "Throw at me whatever you have, I'm ready."

Maybe that's where their difference lies. Vivant's smile would also be unswayable in his confidence, but it was not one that invited fights.