#fktk

Quentin Coldwater as the King of Cups

Aw, Quentin. 

A King of Cups lives (and commands) the world of emotion. Compassion, sensitivity, imagination, and tremendous empathy for others are all top tier traits and priorities. He seeks community, emotional support, and a family bond built on deep bonds of love, sensitivity, and mutual respect of feelings. 

At his most ideal, a King of Cups possesses a highly enviable trait: he is a master of his own emotional processes. He lets emotion in, feels it deeply, and releases it at the right time. If you think how often we avoid, skim over, or hang onto emotions of all kinds it’s pretty obvious how God Tier a King of Cups can be. 

Quentin started out the series in the trenches of this King’s negative traits--depression, escapism, isolation, numbness, and indecision. He has gotten steadily better in his emotional life, though, which is part of the reason most of us want to hug him and kind of never stop.

He and the King of Cups are exactly the types to put their emotions out there even if it’s risky or flies in the face of their insecurities. See also: Q kissing Eliot first one year into the mosaic puzzle, Q bringing up the kisses first the morning after, and Q eagerly suggesting they give a relationship a shot after remembering a fifty year long proof of concept. It’s also no surprise that he accepts Eliot’s ‘no’ and backs off--a King of Cups doesn’t shove their emotions (or opinions, usually) down people’s throats or pester people until they give in. Some people can see this as giving up too easily or being a doormat, mistaking their kindness and acceptance as weakness. But few people will go father for the people they love than a King of Cups, even if it destroys them in the process. 

As such, it’s a mistake to underestimate Quentin and other Kings of Cups. Emotional maturity and understanding are powerful tools in day to day life, and if they’re so inclined they can manipulate yours within an inch of your sanity. Or completely shut you out from their giving and compassionate nature. (Not unlike Q’s relationship with Alice at this point in season four.)

Eliot Waugh as the King of Pentacles

A King like this is a master of his surroundings. He doesn’t attend a party, he throws it. He doesn’t work at a company, he runs it. He has ambition, high standards, and luxuriates in his success...and in most things, actually. He’s gifted in people, politics, and pragmatism. 

The unhealthy version can take a few different forms: a ruthless perfectionist either paralyzed or isolated by his unrealistic expectations, a materialistic douchebag who has no time for anyone beneath him, a distant father who values what his kids can do over who they are, or perhaps a habitual reveler who escapes all pain via intoxication in one form (drugs, food) or another (sex).

Who does that last one sound like? It’s a mystery. We may never know.

Margo Hanson as the King of Wands

Wands are fire and so is Margo. She’s a mountain of power you don’t want to reckon with, a ride-or-die BFF, and will burn you right to the fucking ground if she needs or wants to. She prizes herself and her individuality. She loves both hard and fast. Her sexuality is just as powerful as her sheer force of will. 

If you want to stop thinking or feeling about something and just do it already, call her. Throwing a party, avenging the death of a loved one, and everything in between is solidly in her lane. Her glorious, incandescent lane. 

Of course, get on her bad side and she’ll destroy you. 

Any King of Wands rules with passion, charisma, and dedication to what’s best for their people. Granted, most of the time leadership of Fillory frustrates her more than anything else, but that usually stems from things taking time or getting in her way. She also seems to be exasperated for caring about Fillory despite her better, more selfish judgment. If she didn’t then she could just fuck off and not deal with any of this shit. But she’s the best option around, she gives a damn, and the last thing she’s gonna do is back away from a challenge when innocent lives are in the balance.

She carries her energy and charisma in a masculine sense--a steady, intense flame as opposed to something more lively, chatty, and changeable. She wears her power openly, like any good King of Wands, and isn’t one to shy from confrontation. 

It’s all textbook King of Wands, is what I’m saying. 

Alice Quinn as the King of Swords

Alice embodies the positive and negative characteristics of this King to a rather remarkable degree.* She is exacting, wise, and approaches almost everything from an intellectual angle. These are the spaces where she thrives--planning, research, precision, and organization filter through her entire life and outlook. 

Emotions play a role in her life like they do anyone else’s, but they don’t get to her the way they do most people and she’s far from being ruled by them. She generally doesn’t like to deal with emotions if she can help it because A. they’re obviously messy, and B. they create space for vulnerability and...well...she’d rather not, thanks. Half the reason you don’t want to break her heart, or any King of Sword’s heart, is she will deeply resent the upheaval of emotions it causes within her. After that she’ll cut you to ribbons with words whether she means them or not. Like, seriously. And while you’re getting sliced to ribbons you’ll be on the bad end of some next level judgment the likes of which will make you want to crawl in a hole and stay there like the trash you are.

In season two, she decides not get rid of her emotions before going into a situation. Not because she’s afraid of being without them, but because her real fear lies in the rush of emotion when they’re inevitably returned to her. She knows that would get particularly ugly for her. Because duh. So instead she trusts in her command and non-reliance on emotions rather than try to bypass them altogether.

You probably wouldn’t tag a King of Swords type of person with the term ‘idealist,’ but that is precisely what they are. Ideals are everything to them, only to be encroached upon under the most dire circumstances. And sometimes not even then. On the flip side, they will fight to the death for the truth and ideals they uphold whether or not it crosses purposes with those around them, so long as it’s what they have determined is ‘right.’ (::cough:: season three ::cough::).

The King of Swords is who you go to for balanced, rational opinions and a truly fair ruling, making their take on things immensely valuable. But that can easily tip into rigidity and a haughty, know-it-all, “I’m always fucking right” attitude. That’s to say nothing of their impatience for those who let emotions factor into things more than they do.

The key traits of a healthy King of Swords are open-mindedness, listening, and acknowledgment of emotions/imperfections as valid. All of those are needed to counteract the King’s darker impulses of tunnel-vision, stubbornness, and cold cruelty.