hi! here's some more nerding out ahem, i mean literary exploration from yours truly.

(ex voluntate) Ad Dominium (ao3 link), or EVAD (or evAD), is my TOH fanfic. it's an AU inspired by two very simple things: my love for hunter (and his dynamic with the group and his siblinghood with luz), and luz's emperor outfit in Watching and Dreaming and all the little nods that come with it.

it begins simple: luz enters the demon realm and encounters a clawrthorne who will become her mentor/mother figure in the future, but it's “the wrong” clawthorne (in relation to canon), but is meant to end very complicated: luz in the imperial coven, to say the least.

but whassit mean, yote?

let's begin by saying i love latin for how many meanings you can cramp into so very little words, even russian can't quite do that, at least i haven't found a way to do it in this instance.

let me also add that i am by no means an expert in latin or linguistics at all, i'm just a nerd and if i'm wrong, it's either an accidental mistake, or my very purposeful ignorance in attempt to reach a meaning i desire to see and/or put in the words.

now to the actual nerding out.

the very basic, or the most important of all for the purpose of this fanfic, meaning behind the phrase “ex voluntate ad dominium” is from good will to dominion. but there's way more layers to it, at least according to my little research (mainly allo latin & wiktionary, plus lots of googling and a shortlist of other sources).

ex and ad mean from and to, respectively. but with voluntate and dominium, there's more options and more possible layers to the phrase and how it relates to the fanfic that come with said options.

for example, voluntas (the phrase uses ablative singular of it: voluntate) can mean:

• will or wish;
• free will (literally, or willingness to do smth.) or last will;
• favor, disposition towards someone or something;
• goal;
• purpose;
• intention.

dominium comes from dominus. dominus itself can mean master/owner (or manager), ruler/sovereign (most often in referring to gods), or one who is in control of a situation. dominium is similar to adding -hood to a word in english, and therefore, it can mean:

• dominion or rule, obviously;
• ownership;
• power (over smb. or smth.);
• feast (banquet);
• and this very specific one from wiktionary: master of a play or of public games, employer of players or gladiators.

now to the sweet stuff

this is most fascinating to me because of how many ways you can combine these definitions to apply meaning to the phrase. mix and match! like, for example:

• from free will to dominion;
• from purpose to power;
• from favor to ownership;
• from last will to feasting;
• from willing to ruling,
• etc.!

from favor to ownership for who by who over who? from whose free will to their rule, or rule of somebody over them? and the option of “from last will to feasting” with it dark, villainous, cannibalistic undertone, with blood coloring the royal garments red, ringing to the tune of willie banks's “alice in zombieland”! oooh! isn't that COOL? hells, i LOVE language.

interested? check out its ao3 page! i only have one chapter uploaded (and i might just rewrite it, or do something weird about it), but there's more in the works. 7-3, and thank you for tuning in! end of broadcast.