#but I would like to make at least 1 or 2 more major arcana

[ladyhavilliard]

mo dao zu shi tarot

the tower: sudden change, upheaval, chaos, revelation, awakening

death | wei wuxian

[moonkissedvisions]

𝖄𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝕿𝖆𝖗𝖔𝖙 𝖇𝖎𝖗𝖙𝖍 𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖉𝖘 ☾

UNVEIL THE CORE ESSENCE OF YOUR BEING, PERSONALITY, AND PURPOSE WITH TAROT CARDS

Introduction:

We understand all Tarot cards as symbols. They essentially represent different aspects of our lives that reside in our souls and our subconscious minds. When we read Tarot cards, we are reading our energy, we are intuitively looking at our subconscious. We think of them as a mirror that reflects the multiple dimensions of our spirit to help us understand situations much better, and make our life more conscious and meaningful.

What are Tarot birth cards?

Tarot birth cards are symbols that shape our identity and lives from the moment we are born. They are our essence, an energy imprint, or even a map - like a birth chart but for Tarot cards- that can unlock a new understanding of ourselves, and all the potential of our life purpose.

Each of us has a pair of Major Arcana cards that represent our core self, so today I decided to explain all combinations. I explained the cards separately so you can combine them and see intuitively how they play out in your life.

Also, be noted that I only explain the "light" manifestation of each of them. So for example, if it says "selfless" the shadow aspect/backward expression of them is the opposite, "selfish". Or if it says "truth-seeker" its shadow would be "know-it-all". If you are curious about the shadow aspect of your birth cards or anything about them you can send me a question and I'll be happy to help.

Hey, don't forget to check out the awesome video link at the end of the post! It's worth watching if you want to dive deeper into the topic. Have a great time exploring!

Now let´s calculate yours!

and hope you enjoy it *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

How do I calculate mine?

The easiest way for me is to use the same method that we use to calculate our Life path number in numerology:

We add each digit of our birth date

m+m+d+d+y+y+y+y

Example: 11/22/1989

1+1+2+2+1+9+8+9= 33

2. We reduce it

3+3= 6

6 is The Lovers and The Devil (6 and 15).

As you can see, we got a pair of numbers that corresponds to a pair of Major Arcana cards.

important: IF YOU GET A 19, YOU HAVE TO REDUCE IT TWICE AND YOU´LL GET 3 MAJOR ARCANA: 19 (The Sun) -> 1+9=10 (The Wheel of Fortune) -> 1+0=1 (The Magician).

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

1 and 10: The Magician, The Wheel of Fortune

The Magician: This energy has the ability to manifest anything. Your essence is skilled, cunning, tricky, scheming. You posses autonomy and initiative. You are an independent thinker. You have a great potential, but you also put in the work and have a lot of fun in the process. You are diplomatic and you reject bias. Entrepreneur. Self-motivated. You are honest and direct.

The Wheel of Fortune: You are lucky or at least, you know how to feel lucky to attract blessings. You understand the cycles of life and therefore you have the ability to co-create with the Universe intelligently. You often get surprised by the events in your life. You know how to use opportunities in your favor. Manifesting is something that you probably did consciously since young.

19: The Sun (ALSO READ 1 AND 10)!

Adding to 1 and 10 cards, The Sun supplies your soul of creativity, popularity, happiness, honesty, harmony and serenity. You are a good friend. You are loyal and bring harmony, love and satisfaction to everyone´s lives. You are a leader, a celebrity, and people look up to you.

2 and 11: The High Priestess, Justice

The High Priestess: You are sensitive and wise. You are aware of the subtle, small details. You are able to find the point of unity, the basics of the Universe, and you understand how everything is connected. You are intuitive, compassionate, and loving. You excel at anything related to the occult, the mysteries of the Universe and human psyche, and anything related to relationships, unions, and secrets.

Justice: You are unbiased, rational, harmonious. You know what´s right and what´s wrong and trust in natural order and the balance of things. You value truth more than anyone else. You are good with law, philosophy, and karma.

2 and 20: The High Priestess, Judgment

Same qualities above for the High Priestess, combined with Judgment.

Judgment: The Judgment card adds in to the HP themes of awakening, spirituality, renovation. You may be someone who questions the status quo and the established norms and structures. You have the calling to awaken other people so you can rebuild and improve the system. You could connect to different dimensions and be a medium or have psychic abilities. You are otherworldly. You are also highly empathetic and sensitive.

3 and 12: The Empress, The Hanged Man

The Empress: You enjoy helping other people, creating, and giving birth to something. You embody kindness, intelligence, expressiveness, communication and abundance. You are dynamic and could be good at doing many things, you likely do all at the same time. You are good at communicating your ideas with others and you give others creative insights.

The Hanged Man: You are artistic, original, altruistic and idealistic. You see the world from a different perspective and you always contribute with clever ideas. You are witty and have the potential to become a genius. You are generous.

3 and 21: The Empress, The World

Here the qualities of the Empress are combined with those of The World card, so your creativity results in perfection, success, wholeness, finding your place in the world, feeling and being rewarded, self-realization. You are someone generous who help people with their creations and you make them realize their special place in the world as well. You are greatly admired. You are positive about people and life.

4 and 13 : The Emperor, Death

The Emperor: You are gifted with stability, strength, structure and practicality. You are powerful, hard-working and generous. You have integrity and good morals. You protect what needs protection and give structure and functionality to things. You are methodical and pragmatic.

Death: Death combined with the Emperor can reestructure and make radical changes to the world. You know when things need to die and be rebirthed in new forms. You can transform the world with authority, integrity and diligency.

In case you got 4 and 22, The 22 can be considered The Fool. You can either consider the Fool along with The Emperor and Death, or only read the explanation above and dismiss it. If you choose to consider the Fool, read below:

The Fool: I picture it as if you were the Emperor but with a good sense of humor, carefree, crazy, not making sense at times, chaotic, and extravagant. It makes me think of "dad jokes". You do not take anything too seriously. You restructured things spontaneously and the result may not make a lot of sense. Or it could be that you make more of a freedom-oriented restructure/change. You are an innocent and energetic leader. Maybe you don´t even understand why people may see you as a leader or follow you, because you don´t even take yourself seriously and are very disorganized, lol.

(edit): When I was writing about this combo, the new president of Argentina Javier Milei came to my mind. He talks about re-structuring the country, making economic transformations, solving the problems of the economy and poverty, and changing the country for the better. But he also has a silly personality, he's kinda funny and people make fun of him, they call him crazy, they even speculate about him having mental illnesses, and he doesn't make sense to A LOT of people. At that time I was lazy to search for his number but I just did and you know what? He is a 4 and a 22. 😳

5 and 14: The Hierophant, Temperance

The Hierophant: You are a teacher, someone wise who shares their knowledge and wisdom. You are patient, merciful, and modest. You guide others to goodness. You respect religion, tradition and family structures with open-mindedness and flexibility. You see everything as an experience and adventure and you like exploring different philosophies without getting attached.

Temperance: You can adapt to different people, ideas and environments, and you can bring different people together with peace, harmony and respect. You have the ability to solve conflicts. This combo makes a mentor, a guru, or a coach. You are balanced in logic and emotions and you are seen as mature.

6 and 15 (or 33): The Lovers, The Devil

The Lovers: Opposite forces, love, complements. You know how to love, not only other people but the whole Universe. You are a sensual person. You appreciate beauty, art and can excel at many different things. You are a gentle person who is good at making decisions that brings in the frequency of love to your environment. Everything you do is coded with love and passion.

The Devil: You are passionate, magnetic. You border limits. You are highly influential in whatever you do. You can control and manipulate others, which is not necessarily a bad thing, it´s just that you understand human psychology and can easily get the attention of others. With this combo you can captivate, tempt and induce lust and desire in others, so you may be working in art, music, writing, marketing, design, even animation and programming.

I also like to think of The Lovers as oxytocin and The Devil as adrenaline/dopamine. Dopamine and oxytocin together make love and bring new life into the world.

7 and 16: The Chariot, The Tower

The Chariot: You are someone intelligent, energetic, analytic, and introspective, who fights for radical changes and the evolution of society. You are a truth-seeker. You are fearless. You challenge the status quo and strive for spiritual and material progress. You are curious and love to learn new things that can change the world for the better.

The Tower: You mercilessly and strongly destruct what doesn´t serve the evolution of society and humanity. You break the equilibrum to build a better one. You are a rebel. You know that the truth always comes to light, and you also make it happen. You show the world what they couldn´t see and that's why you could be triggering. But it´s for the good. You challenge wrong convictions, judgments and beliefs, and you completely destruct them.

8 and 17: Strength, The Star

Strength: You are someone resilient. You know the importance of controlling your actions, impulses, thoughts, emotions and everything you do with mental strength and intelligence. You know that if you manage your own forces, you can achieve all of your goals and also help others do the same. You are very determined and optimistic. You like to work hard, not only for yourself but for others. You are an example of the word management and you like being in charge.

The Star: You give others hope and enlightment. You are inspiring. You can provide a lot of healing and regeneration. You are selfless and generous. You are strong in faith, and that way you can give others the reassurance that they need. You see the good in everything and that is what helps you get you good results and be succesful.

9 and 18: The Hermit, The Moon

The Hermit: You are interested in seeing what others can´t see. You look through things. You are deeply intuitive and contemplative. You search for answers in yourself by being in silence, in solitude, and looking inwards at your subconscious mind. You are wise, capable of offering advice and solving problems or mysteries. You are the healer who heals yourself first. You are personally uninterested in worldly matters and detached from the material.

The Moon: You can see through illusions and imagination because you connect to the dream realm. You are a good psychoanalyst. You are good with the occult. You are attracted to the unknown. You are a researcher, a detective, a healer of the most mysterious diseases. You are deeply spiritual and adventurous.

Carl Jung had this combo as his birth cards and I think this quote from him really represents it: Who looks outside dreams (The Moon), who looks inside awakes (The Hermit). The funny thing is, I didn´t know he had them when I read it and thought about the cards, but I was sure he had to be and I searched it, lol. I also have these as my cards so...

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

I hope you enjoyed this post and that it was helpful! Thank you for your support and please, keep supporting me if you like this one 🌷

video about birth cards

PAC: Messages from the Divine Feminine

PAC: Healing Messages

PAC: Your beauty

PAC: Your natural gifts

[lagoonalake]

Hi if you don't have too many requests again can you do the boyz ideal types pretty please? Thank you! <3

Hi! Here is part 1. Part 2 here

THE BOYZ IDEAL TYPE - PART 1

SANGYEON

Personality: the lovers, judgement, the world

This guy is not playing. He wants it all. Mainly he is attracted to very romantic, loyal, affectionate people, who would put the relationship first. Someone who can be calm on the surface but in the relationship is very passionate and intense, all or nothing, total devotion (that he would give in return as well). This would be a side of them that would only be shown to him. Or maybe if this person is an artist, and this passion could show up in their creations too. But their personality on the surface would be calm, gentle, stable, balanced, moderate. Someone who is logical, rational, good at making the best decisions. Who could help him manage his impulses or moments when he can be a bit more extreme. He only got major arcanas so relationships are very important for him and a partner would bring major changes in his life.  libra, pluto, scorpio, capricorn, taurus

Appearance: 9 of swords, queen of swords, the magician

Traditional beauty. Someone diplomatic and charming, always a nice smile on their face, who knows how to present. Very elegant, ladylike, true class. It’s not about having wealth or wearing luxury brands, it’s this person natural aura. Someone very proper, polite. Clear and pleasant voice. Lighter colors, light skin tone, blond hair or hair dyed a lighter color, but nothing too flashy or gaudy. Slender. Prominent chest. An almost cold and untouchable sort of beauty. Straight hair, structured appearance or outfits, beautiful hands, refined features, good bone structure.  virgo, gemini, libra, saturn

Turn offs: death, 3 of swords, king of pentacles

Someone who is too extreme, although he likes intensity intimately, he wants someone who is calmer than he is. Someone who breaks his trust, betrays him, spills his secrets, spies on him. Someone interested in his money. Someone who shows off their money.  negative taurus, scorpio, gemini

JACOB

Personality: 9 of swords, 4 of swords, the wheel of fortune

He’s not really picky, and he’s the kind of guy who can get along with pretty much anyone. However, when it comes to his partner, his only requirements is that this person helps him with his anxiety, or at least does not add to it. And that the relationship feels meaningful and fated. He has to feel like he can learn from his partner, that they enetered his life for a reason. I don’t think that he’s been in a long term relationship yet, or if he has it wasn't that true love he needs, it doesn’t feel like it to me, more like he’s been searching for a while and is still waiting. He’s very open minded and eager to know different types of people though. He’s adaptable and open to changes and differences.  pisces, sagittarius, jupiter, aquarius, gemini

Appearance: justice, queen of wands, king of swords

Harmonious, balanced, symmetrical. A bit intimidating. Confidence. Can be attracted to the fierce fiery sexy type just as much as the more conservative, controlled cold type. He has diverse tastes. So again not picky, he just wants someone who looks good to his eyes and has a certain charisma. Could be attracted to more dominant types. leo, aquarius, capricorn, libra, saturn, aries

Turn offs: page of cups, ace of swords, 10 of swords

Someone a bit too needy and childlike, immature, someone blunt and not very good at communication. Someone with too many issues, unstable, chaotic. I think in general he is more attracted to independence, because he does not want to have to carry the other person’s weight or to have to act like a parent. He just wants a companion and does not mind being more of a follower.  cancer, uranus, mars, scorpio

YOUNGHOON

Personality: the hermit, judgement, queen of swords

He is attracted to someone private, calm, quiet, a homebody. Dignified, inhibited, guarded. someone who possibly has been through a lot, and has managed to rise above their issues, he finds it inspiring and he also is a healing sort of guy, a giver so he’ll always gravitate towards more “wounded” souls. He also is a very balanced and reassuring, giving partner, so he tends to get along well with people who are looking for that stability after they went through very heavy chaotic periods in their lives. Someone who could be hard to get to know, a bit cold, does not let people in easily. Very strong boundaries, very cautious in relationships. But he is patient so he doesn’t mind. He actually likes the slow burn. And he wants very strong foundations so that it’ll last.  cancer, virgo, pisces, scorpio, capricorn

Appearance: 6 of swords, 9 of cups, 9 of pentacles

Someone who looks calm and relaxed. Even though they have been through a lot, they are very grounded now. Someone who looks mature, could be a bit older, but I’m feeling mostly that this person is very calm and mature, this is their vibe no matter their age. Nice smile, pleasant, sensual. He may like to watch people eat or whatever gives a person pleasure, he likes to watch that. Not in a sexual way (well not only, maybe lol) but more so he likes to see his person feel good. Balanced appearance, nothing too extreme or flashy. May like it when someone have their hair tied up in a bun. Likes to look at his partner interact with the elements lol, like under the light of the sun, eating fruits from a tree in a garden…etc. taurus, virgo, libra

Turn offs: page of swords, 8 of wands, 2 of cups

People who are too fidgety, nervous, always talking, always moving, a bit immature, too impulsive, who cannot sit still, exhausting energies. Who speaks loudly, always tries to entertain but it gets tiring… Also someone who is a bit needy, codependent. Overly emotional, who doesn’t have much control over their emotions. This may sound weird lol, but he prefers to be the one who makes the steps to connect, who makes the other person open up. He doesn’t really find it interesting when the person tries to get inside him or is already open emotionally. He likes someone who is a bit closed up at first.  gemini, sagittarius, mars, uranus, cancer 

HYUNJAE

Personality: ace of cups, knight of cups, queen of pentacles

Raw, deep emotional connection. He needs to feel the chemistry right away. A loving, affectionate, kind person who he can have true intimacy with. Someone romantic who would invest a lot in the relationship, kinda like Sangyeon’s type, who is all or nothing. He prefers a more reserved person, humble, minding their own business, trustworthy, loyal, reliable. Someone grounded and realistic, mature, responsible, authentic, real. Who can be cute and funny too, who he can have a good laugh with, a partner in crime. He wants to do everything with his partner, hold their hand all the time, he's a bit clingy in a cute way. Someone with specific habits that he’d picked upon. He likes to observe and notice the little details in a person’s life. He likes a certain routine in love, like benchmarks he can rely upon to stabilize him and cherishes the simple pleasures and moments of daily life.  scorpio, virgo, capricorn, taurus

Appearance: the moon, the lovers, knight of cups

Someone a bit mysterious and dreamy, with a romantic look. Soft features, kind face and smile, beautiful eyes holding a lot of emotions. He likes to stare in his partner's eyes. Effortlessly beautiful, who would look just as good in their pajamas (or naked lol). He prefers a natural beauty rather than someone too dolled up. Harmonious symmetrical features. A bit curvy, nice chest and booty. Sexy and sensual, someone who looks huggable, cozy, that he’d want to touch a lot. Long luscious hair.  libra, pisces, neptune, virgo, taurus

Turn offs: queen of wands, 6 of swords, 3 of pentacles

People who need an audience. Show offs who are always bragging. Attention seekers, loud, vulgar, crass, insensitive, overbearing, invasive people. This is very specific but people who don’t know themselves, who need other people's reassurance, approval, admiration, compliments for everything or else they feel like they don’t exist. People who are always fishing for compliments. People who still have a lot to learn about themselves, immature people, who change their mind all the time, who are easily influenced by others, who lack stability and a strong sense of self. Party people. negative gemini, leo, aries, cancer, neptune, pisces

JUYEON

Personality: ace of wands, the empress, 4 of pentacles

He is attracted to a ray of sunshine. Someone spontaneous, funny, simple. “What you see is what you get” type of person. Someone creative, artistic, playful, who laughs a lot. A bit hedonistic, someone who really wants to enjoy life at its fullest. Generous, very loving, friendly, kinda popular. Very easy going. Diplomatic, peaceful. Someone who always creates a soothing, light hearted, peaceful atmosphere wherever they go. Someone very magnetic that a lot of people are attracted to. This could be a specific person. Most likely an idol, who is kinda seen as a perfect woman. Very venusian energy. Very beautiful. He wants to possess this person but they have a lot of success.  libra, taurus, virgo, leo

Appearance: the high priestess, the hierophant, the devil

A femme fatale. Traditionally beautiful. Balanced features, healthy body…etc. A subtle intensity and sex appeal that he would pick up on very strongly. Voluptuous body even though they are slim, a very shapely figure, like very small waist and wide hips, sensual, hypnotic movements, dark eyes, very hypnotic gaze, long black hair, darker features. Eye make up. Someone who isn’t very revealing when it comes to their clothes, but that makes them even sexier.  capricorn, virgo, scorpio, taurus

Turn offs: page of wands, page of pentacles, 3 of swords

Considering we got two pages, it’s safe to say he clearly is put off by immaturity and may prefer an older or more mature partner. But he’s not really attracted to a beginner. Someone who is too loud and happy go lucky, and someone who isn’t very stable, who doesn’t take relationships seriously. Someone who would play with him and betray his trust, not really value or even understand or respect him by committing to him. Someone with a bad reputation who is not respected or well liked by others. aquarius, sagittarius, gemini, aries

KEVIN

Personality: the emperor, the sun, king of swords

Someone well-established. Someone famous, or very respected in their own sphere, regarded by all as “a catch”, or the best, the number 1. Someone who shines in their field and could be an inspiring leader. Similar to Juyeon someone with a good reputation, a perfect, immaculate image. A very charismatic artist (it has to be an artist for him) who knows what they want, has a vision. Someone clever, good at navigating the highest places, a smooth talker, excellent communicator, very charming and likable but a guarded strategist who can read between the lines and has strong boundaries, knows who to trust. Someone who despite their joyful charismatic appearance is actually quite private and doesn’t let many people in, you have to be special for that. Someone in the entertainment industry. Gifted, naturally talented and creative. Would probably prefer an older partner.  venus, capricorn, leo, libra, aries, scorpio

Appearance: 4 of wands, the sun, the hanged man

Again I’m hearing “a catch” XD, prestigious, who is beautiful and everyone thinks so, someone who stands out from the crowd effortlessly, is very confident in their beauty. Very classy and glamorous. Could prefer bright colors, blond hair, golden skin, yellow colors. Very bright, warm smile and voice. Big laugh. But also dreamy looking like a fairy or an ethereal being. A colorful and sophisticated style. Tall. Strong body full of vitality.   libra, taurus, leo, sagittarius, pisces

Turn offs : 2 of wands, 6 of wands, page of coins

When the confidence that he admires is fake or forced and it breaks the spell, someone who is trying too hard, the kind of person who talks about their achievements all the time, “me me me” types, who compliment themselves a lot. Someone immature and not very well established in the entertainment industry, like a newbie or someone who is just starting (I feel like his person must be a fellow artist in all cases).  negative leo, gemini

NEW

Personality: 2 of cups, 8 of swords, the devil

He wants that deep intimacy, so someone very romantic. Could tend to be involved in secret relationships. I feel like this describes his pattern in love. He tends to get involved with people who can’t give themselves fully to him, maybe who are already involved with someone else, or are married even, so the relationship has to be kept secret. It is very passionate and exciting, but a bit painful. His partners manage to convince him to stay together, and he accepts because he feels like he couldn’t find better anyway, he has those insecurities and blockages when it comes to love. He also tends to be a very healing presence, so he can attract energy vampires who suck him dry and when the relationship ends he is exhausted, and then prefers to remain isolated for a while. Deep down he wants something stable and serious, long lasting.  pisces, cancer, scorpio, pluto, taurus, neptune

Appearance: the sun, 6 of cups, the high priestess

Someone who stands out, who is charismatic and popular. The type who looks very warm and generous, giving, that everybody gravitates towards, who takes people under their wings without even realizing it. Magnetic people. Full of vitality and strength, healthy body, rays of sunshine. Earthy, warm, golden colors. People who laugh a lot, with a soft and kind face. Touchy. Reassuring presence. Beyond that, someone who would have a slightly more mysterious, darker, sexier side that they’d show only to him. Like a stare across the room only for him, the promise of something more.  libra, leo, earth signs, scorpio, pisces

Turn offs: 2 of swords, the devil, 2 of pentacles

It’s basically the negative side of what he is attracted to. Someone who has to balance out their double life. Not giving everything in the relationship. Being indecisive about the relationship. Someone who comes up with excuses, who tries to rationalize their shortcomings, to gaslight him and manipulate him. Someone who gives him gifts to make things better. Someone who manages to keep him addicted and acts possessive even though they are not ready to engage fully. negative scorpio, taurus, capricorn, aquarius, libra, gemini

[fatehbaz]

hello! While we're on the topic of Chicago, do you know about Leonard Dubkin? His writing can be hard to find because it is out of print, but he wrote nature columns about approaching the bugs and weeds accessible in city life the same way you would traditional naturalist landscapes and! It is sometimes neat! Especially for the time period before the turn toward huge public parks projects

Yes, actually, I've heard of Dubkin in two different settings: University course discussions of the history of environmental studies and geographic thought. And also in discussion of Great Lakes "bioregionalism".

Kinda some entangled stuff here that you've brought to mind for me, having to do with how Chicago relates to environmental thinking. Chicago as site of contemporary urban naturalism and community gardening. Chicago as site of "Midwestern gothic". Great Lakes and Great Plains as sites of Indigenous pedagogies. Chicago as site of Progressive era reformism. Chicago as site of influential (imperialist) geographic thinking.

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(1) You've reminded me of "Muskrat theories, tobacco in the streets, and living Chicago as Indigenous Land" (Bang, Curley, Kessel, Marin, Suzukovich, and Strack, Environmental Education Research, 2014). They discuss: "Chicago is a wetland that becomes part prairie and part oak savannah. It's hard to see with the layers of colonial fill, but actually it's hiding in plain sight [...]. [There is] recognition of how the filling of wetlands factored greatly into the [...] establishing of Chicago as a national transportation hub and why some forest reserves or parks [...] were [situated as they are now] [...]. As teachers [the authors are educators], we began to track and weave into our thinking [...] the waves of ecological restructuring that has occurred in Chicago; from the filling of wetlands, to the rengineering of the direction of the Chicago river, the mass destruction of prairie lands [...]."

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(2) It's been my impression that, in the past 15-ish or so years, a lot of writing about "urban/community gardening" and the reclamation of space has been coming out of Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chicago, etc. Reclaiming of apparently-decrepit urban space after abandonment by institutions, "making a home" even in the face of ruination, etc. Post-industrial decay and the (condescending?) stereotyping of the Rust Belt, and Detroit especially. Much of these efforts led with deliberate intent and passion foremost by Black gardeners. (Milwaukee has some of the most extreme Black-white residential segregation of any major US city. Treatment of Black communities and use of redlining is notorious in Minneapolis, Detroit/Flint, St. Louis, etc.)

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(3) I think this decay/abandonment theme might dovetail with what seems (anecdotally to me, at least) to be a sort of popular ascendancy of a regional gothic or Midwest gothic kinda thing among wider audiences even outside of the region. Corn fields at edge of town, chainlink fences and crooked oak branches, shuttered Rust Belt factory, Night in the Woods aesthetic-y stuff, Over the Garden Wall-adjacent stuff, etc. Like the celebration of a perpetual Halloween. Really plays on the landscapes, haunted history, attempted concealment of violence, and institutional abandonment of the Great Lakes region. And then there is the advent of more Great Lakes/Rust Belt bioregional identity stuff, which Belt Magazine has been writing about for years now. I'm thinking also of some recently published stuff like "Deep Map Country: Proposing a Dinnseanchas Cycle of the Northern Plains" and Grasslands Grown: Creating Place on the U.S. Northern Plains and Canadian Prairies. As wells as some non-academic general-audience titles (like Rust Belt Arcana: Tarot and Natural History in the Exurban Wilds, etc.).

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(4) I do also wonder if the apparent rise in popularity recently of Robin Wall Kimmerer's work has contributed to a rise in "ecological citizenship" dialogue and Great Lakes/Great Plains bioregional thinking. But I think it would behoove us to note that Kimmerer is not the only Indigenous thinker discussing ecological citizenship in this region.

I'm thinking of Grace Dillon's writing on Indigenous sciences, Indigenous futurisms, storytelling/narrative, dealing with ecological cataclysm, more-than-human agency, etc (big institutions are "still thinking about knowledge as mere accumulation"). Just as Kimmerer talks about "plant beings", Dillon also talks about "multispecies entanglements" and agency.

Also thinking of Kyle Whyte (Potawatomi, from this region), who's written for years about Indigenous science fiction and Indigenous pedagogies of knowledge, especially situated in the Great Lakes.

Also Leanne Betasamosake Simpson's writing (Mississauga Nishnaabeg, from this region) on Indigenous resurgence and creating constellations of co-resistance. Both Whyte and Simspon write about persistence in the aftermath of apocalypse, which I think works well when considered in relation to Black community gardens and the wider Great Lakes/Rust Belt discourses of building lives in the aftermath of post-industrial decay/abandonment.

Also scholar Zoe Todd as well (Red River Metis, from the northern Plains). Aside from famously criticizing academia's superficial and fashionable appropriation of these Indigenous pedagogies and concepts, Todd also has written a lot about more-than-human agency (especially fish!), ecological citizenship, and a sort of place-based identity (especially in the northern Great Plains).

Considering the appropriation of Indigenous knowledge also brings to mind Katherine McKittrick's writing on "Black methodologies" and pedagogies/knowledge production (universities undermine and appropriate Black knowledge; Black knowledge is "interdisciplinary"; prioritizing multiple ways of knowing; "wonder is study" and "curiosity is attentive") and Fred Moten's writing on the fugitive relationship to academia. Also brings to mind Glissant's writing on opacity.

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(5) Regarding Chicago as a center of (white) conceptions of environmental space and geographic thought: You mention Dubkin's writing on a sort of urban naturalism in Chicago. And I know that Madison (Wisconsin) and its university have a similar reputation as being an early center of environmental studies among white/national institutions. Meanwhile, seems Chicago might've acted at times as a focal point of this "progressive" modernity kinda thing that celebrates reforms and "innovations" in industrial livability or whatever (much of which still depended on and/or endorsed colonization, extraction, labor abuse, imposed standards of "productivity", etc.). Thinking of Progressive era through New Deal (1890s-1940s, as Chicago had achieved a pinnacle of wealth after establishment of railroads and then industrialization, electricity, monoculture crops, Rust Belt processing/manufacturing, etc.). For example, I recently posted about the work of Oenone Kubie, who studied "urban discipline" and the white anxiety and racial segregation driving children's reformatories in Chicago during the Progressive era. (Kubie argues that eformers were concerned with poverty, truancy, and "delinquency" in tandem with Black migration, which led to "interventions". Chicago hosted the "first municipal playground system" and by 1915 "the city of Chicago ran sixty-six recreation centres. [...] From Chicago, the idea spread around the country. By 1921, almost 200 cities employed a total of over eleven thousand men and women as year-round playground workers.") The case that Martinez was making in the essay we've been discussing (about Chicago's influential role 1880-1910 as a center of policing, surveillance, and the conceptualizing of US imperial frontiers in the Philippines, influenced by Chicago's fear of Black migration) relates to how Chicago has been considered a center of the refining of geographic thought in late nineteenth century, as white Americans crafted ideas of national space (westward expansion into the frontier radiating out from Chicago along railroads; Chicago being hub of industrial agriculture of the prairies/plains as an economic frontier). Kinda brings to mind how scholar Mashid Mayar has recently written about "the cartographic pedagogies of empire" and the teaching of geography to children in the United States in the 1890s ("home geography" school classes, "dissected map" puzzle games, children's magazines that attach "adventure" to ideas of botanical/ethnographic expeditions), giving white children an idea of the planet as an extension of their nation/home at the same time that the US was understanding itself as an empire with dominion in Cuba, Central America, Hawai'i/South Pacific, Philippines, etc.

---

For anyone interested in environmental crisis and multispecies ecologies in prairies, Great Plains, "Midwest", Great Lakes, you might like Grace Dillon, Zoe Todd, Kyle Whyte, and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.

Lots to consider. Sorry for excessive length here. Thank you for saying hi.

[crehador]

translation issues aside, the story of reverse 1999 is really surprisingly good for a gacha. i'm vibing with the characters and setting, and the STRUCTURE of the currently released chapters is just downright excellent

major spoilers for chapters 1 through 4 below the cut

introducing us to the world through regulus was such a good call for chapter one, it's all new to her just like it's all new to the player. we get a chance to learn through her eyes

another reason this works so well imo is it paints vertin, in regulus's eyes, as this hyper-competent character with her own agenda and agency (only to reveal bit by bit that she's in a much more difficult position than it may seem at first, and in so many ways is still just a hurt kid trying to right the wrongs she's seen in this world, desperate not to lose more people)

then we move on to chapter 2, where we see schneider's tragedy unfold and meet some major players like arcana. schneider's story even on its own is pretty damn good, but the way vertin acts and reacts in chapter 2 is full of perfect little hints to what kind of past trauma might have shaped her

THEN CHAPTER 3. THE TRAUMA. i loved schneider's story, but i think this is where we really dive into the meat of the overarching plot. and it is such a perfect dive

like after the events of chapter 2, it does more or less make sense that vertin is being treated for Something. right away chapter 3 gives off a bit of a foreboding feeling because vertin's in the hands of the foundation now, which we as a player knows she doesn't trust, and it's deliberately made ambiguous what she's being treated for and exactly when she'll be released

but at this point, to me at least, it still seemed... possible that she really was just being treated for damage from chapter 2

THEN THE HORRORS UNFOLD vertin's past is shown to us throughout this chapter, and bit by bit it dawns that the foundation is capable of much more heinous acts than we already expected. when we meet the ring and isabella, a feeling of dread sets in right away. because they're clearly important to vertin, but where are they in the present? it's not hard to figure out she lost them (which adds so much dimension to her reactions to everything with schneider)

when the escape plan is coming together, with those side looks at what constantine is scheming, the inevitable dread gets heavier and heavier. like even knowing exactly what would happen, that the kids would be deliberately funneled into the storm just so vertin would see them die and feel responsible because it was her plan that led them there... seeing it actually happen was still a major gut punch, very effective

vertin's naivete in this past is such a haunting thing to see as well, there are moments where the text even shines a light on "will they realize this is going TOO smoothly for them?" and no! no they do not!! because they are 12-year-old kids who haven't lost all hope in the world!!!

seeing these grand scenes unfold with chess (and later go) on the screen was visually very cool as well, imo. might feel a bit gimmicky but it's a gimmick i enjoyed

anyway so then we get to chapter 4, and by then the sense of dread surrounding the foundation has fully set in. so it's almost unsurprising (yet still HORRIFYING) when you realize holy shit the foundation is keeping vertin hostage in a medically induced coma!! treatment for trauma my ass!!!

i feel like chapter 4 was the perfect place to end this arc as well, it was like an extended prologue. a lot of the tension/excitement for me came from the realization that vertin doesn't yet have a place to belong, it's not like "manus bad, foundation good" and that's that

looking at it through the lense of arknights, it would be like if doctor didn't have rhodes island at the start. all these factions around vertin, with their own agendas, and she doesn't have her own "home" yet

we get there, at the end of chapter 4. but of course it's not perfect, the terms of her operating her own team are very conditional, and there are loads of unanswered questions for the future

but it's a nice little set-up for future events, for vertin building this team (family) of arcanists who have some measure of freedom. the tension is still there, the foundation is still scheming, and some new mysterious organization is getting ready to enter the chat...?

all in all just, imo, an excellently structured story so far. it's a shame the translation detracts so much from it, i do think some powerful moments suffered from that. but the actual story is really quite strong, and vertin and her circle are all quite captivating to me so far

[raayllum]

Been thinking about it partially as I come closer to it in fanon S6 / divergences where what I'm writing (in prose with zero constraints) vs what I think the show is actually more likely to do (such as in this case) with the Celestial elves because like

If we look at it just from a storytelling standpoint, there's a few things we want to take into consideration.

Why Skywing elves?

Despite being an aspiring and then full fledged Sky mage for most of the series (5 seasons) as his defining... career trait? with Ocean only added at the end, Callum's attachment to the Sky arcanum is incredibly important from a thematic standpoint. I talked about this in more detail in terms of how TDP writes from theme to begin with, but it would not surprise me if a lot of the series fell into place after decisions were made regarding "mage boy has Sky-Freedom powers" and "big endgame big bad is Stars and Destiny embodied," i.e. like what kind of dragon Zym would be in order for Callum to have a reason to sacrifice his primal stone, why have Callum learn Sky magic first, etc etc.

The Celestial Elves, presumably, could've been any group of elves. We know from Tales of Xadia that Sunfire elves had a chant about warding off dangerous Star dragons from the Great Orb, and that Karim-Pharos are poised to be future pawns, so there is a decent link there. It also could've been cool if the Celestial elves had had elves from all over, showing both intergroup workings and that the Stars were bringing them together in some manner.

If Sky and Skywing elves by thematic extension represent Freedom, then it makes sense for these to be Skywing elves who have perhaps forsaken notions of freedom for ideas of pre-determinism or destiny, i.e. our circumstances beset all of our choices, or that fate/destiny is real and unchangeable. To have the same arcanum and similar abilities as Callum, but to already be warped to Aaravos' will / thematic graces of destiny and fate - to amplify what he's scared of and to accentuate what he might become (at least in terms of what he's scared to become).

On that note, I think it makes sense for them

To be Antagonists

Partially this is because of precedent. Most elves, when in groups, have been more antagonistic with one or two rising to the forefront to be allies. We see this in arc 1 with Moonshadow and Sunfire elves, with the majority being antagonists especially at first (the assassins, the Sunfire soldiers) with Rayla, Lujanne, and eventually Janai being allies / exceptions - even if the Sunfire elves as a whole quickly switch to being allies as of 3x08/09. We see this again in S4 with the Drakewood Earthblood elves being mostly antagonists, Terry as more of a grey area, and only N'than (and possibly Mukho the Mushroom mage?) being downright allies. This would mean that Astrid and maybe another Startouch elf might be more sy

Plot / Misc Reasons

Of course, the biggest reason for the Celestial elves to exist is to, presumably, give exposition regarding Startouch elves to the main characters and to extradite subsequent views / philosophy about Star magic and the arcanum (arcana?). If they are loyal to Aaravos, they would likely provide a perspective on Startouch elves different than one Callum might be coming in with and give more credence / context to Claudia's assertions of Aaravos as well, given that she's the one character currently with a positive view of him. It also doesn't seem they can entirely be good guys given their 1) isolationist nature and 2) having not one but two super OP objects that the protagonists definitely need. While they may not end up being villains, I think we can somewhat safely assume they will initially be obstacles, if only in giving tests (of love) like another certain Startouch elf...

[houseoffourcats]

What Do You Need to Know Right Now? Pick a Pile & Find Out!

CW: Illustrations of nudity and bondage

I got a new deck yesterday, so I’m going to be using this for today’s reading. For those interested, this is the Fyodor Pavlov deck.

Like what you see here? Check out my Etsy page for a personalized reading!

Pile 1

VI of Wands - VIII of Swords - Knight of Wands

Here we have two powerful figures - both from the Suit of Wands - heading toward the figure in the VIII of Swords, who is utterly powerless, from either direction. The interesting thing, though, is that the figure in and Knight of Wands looks more like the captive than she does the figure in the VI of Wands.

Someone you admire has done some pretty cool things, and has been recognized for them pretty widely. You might be jealous; you might just admire and want to be like them. You’re struggling to be just as good as them, wondering why you’re not able to get anywhere close to that. But you can’t even see how much you’re dealing with that’s holding you back from that; you can feel some of your constraints, but there’s other aspects to this that make that sort of accomplishment more difficult for you than it may have been for the person you’re envisioning. The good news is that the qualities and accomplishments you admire can give you focus as to what you want to be and where you want to go. Still, you’re going to need to become your own version of what you admire through pulling and wriggling and fighting your way out of what’s holding you back, and learning what you’re good at in the process.

One other note here is that you shouldn’t forget what it was like to feel trapped and directionless, and instead go back for others. Like you, they won’t be able to just become someone else. But you can mentor them and help them become who they want to be.

Pile 2

The Devil - Death (Reversed) - Queen of Swords (Reversed)

Oof. This one is pretty heavy based on the Devil and the Death Major Arcana cards, and the Queen of Swords isn’t making it any easier.

This is a spread about being trapped, or at least feeling that way. Something, or someone, has got a hold on you. A bad habit, a bad relationship, or a cycle you keep repeating in trying to resolve a problem. You want out, even if it means trying to accomplish that in a self-destructive way, but you don’t see a way there, or the potential losses are too great to make that change at this point. Unfortunately, you’ve got someone in your life whose opinions you value greatly, or who might even be an authority figure, who is less than sympathetic in all this. From their skewed vantage point, it just looks like you’re acting self-destructively as an irresponsible form of escapism. They’re unnecessarily critical of you, tearing you down further rather than helping you in a kind and constructive way.

Remember that both Death and the Devil are more powerful than even the Queen of Swords, so this is above her paygrade. Here you are, meanwhile, having to grapple with all three of them on your own. That’s a lot! You might not be in a position to tell the Queen to go take her “help” and shove it, but remind yourself as often as possible that criticism coming from the outside is based on incomplete information, and that no one would be stuck in your position just for fun.

Pile 3

II of Wands - The High Priestess - The World

With two Major Arcana cards, this spread suggests you’re about to start something big, with big results - of a good kind!

You’re in the planning stages of your adventure here, perhaps working on them with someone who’s done this before. The plans aren’t the final word, though. The situation will almost certainly call upon you to use what you’ve learned and observed along the way to improvise. Don’t necessarily disregard the advice of someone who’s helped you in this - whether that’s a partner or advisor or experts you’ve read from - but recognize that things may have changed since their opinion was formed, and your intuition is an important piece to that.

If you take this approach of combining both careful planning and intuitive responses to unexpected situations, the outcome will be better than you even expected. You’ll feel accomplished as well as fulfilled, and the theme of completion in the World card suggests that you’ll have done well by the people who helped you along the way too.

If you liked this reading, I hope you’ll check out my Etsy page for further, personalized guidance. For now, though, I hope you’ll enjoy this picture of Queen Arya, First of Her Name, laying claim to the table and all that’s upon it (namely, my new deck):

[justaz]

Wip Game

thanks @ramblings-of-a-chaotic-neutral for tagging me for this (btw i really want to read that last idea bc ive been thinking about that stupid ball of light for the longest time and jealous merlin is severely under utilized in fics even if he's jealous of himself)

Rules: Make a new post with the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! And then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

uhhhh my wips are like either two paragraphs or ten pages, no in between. they just sit in my google docs bc i prefer to post once i have the entire story complete in case i abandon it bc id feel so guilty about it (also the ao3 curse scares me) LMAO anyway these are the ones that actually have at least some of it typed out

arranged marriage

ghost merlin and ygraine bond over arthur's self-destructive behavior

arthur fawns over merlin and his bravery

eldoria

sugar daddy arthur

druid merlin

my issue as of late has not been writers block but uhhhh the opposite??? i have wayyyyy too many ideas swirling around my head so i cant focus on one bc the minute i open the doc my brain goes "no i want to write this one" and no work gets done. but if anyone wants to know, the ones i really wanna finish are 1 and 4. and then 2. i honestly forgot about 2 until i was scrolling thru my drafts and saw it again and omg im probably gonna write more of that once i post this pray for me that i actually get some done otherwise i'll have to resort to blood sacrifices

OH just bc i want this out of my system and have no idea where else to put it bc i have no idea what it would entail but i really want to write like a series based off tarot cards, specifically the major arcana, but i really don't know what the stories would be but just know that thought has been rotating in my head for like a week

uhm also if anyone does send in asks about these, it'll probably just be like little bullet points or my insane ramblings about them. mayhaps a small tiny little snippet if i am feeling generous teehee

i always feel bad about tagging people so instead here's your reminder to do your daily clicks

[rainyraisin]

Rai help do you know the persona lore can you tell me help

OMG OMG OMG OMG ARE YOU THINKING OF GETTING INTO PERSONA OR DID YOU JUST GET INTO IT???

Either way you have caught me at the right time because my long running Persona hyperfixation is in full swing babyyyyy

The Persona games are pretty disconnected other than a few elements here and there so I can tell you a bit of general persona lore but you’d have to specify a specific game if you wanted more info!!! (That would also be pretty general though to avoid spoilers!)

1. Persona games tend to follow the Fools Journey of the major tarot arcana with the protagonist always being the Fool! This is utilised differently throughout each of the games. One of the main aspects of the Fool is that they have limitless potential, which leads to one of the other main things shared between all persona protags: the Wild Card! The Wild Card leads you to be able to take on multiple different personas when usually a person can only have one. The protagonist grows and changes a lot as a person throughout the story, shown partially through systems like social stats but through other means as well, and both the personas they undertake through regular gameplay and also story related reasons reflect this!

2. The Velvet Room is a place between time and space ran by a man called Igor and usually at least one Velvet assistant (Persona 5 has two whilst the Q spin-off games have all the Velvet assistants from 3 and 4 or 3-5 depending on if you’re playing Q or Q2). It’s a place only accessible to those who hold the Wild Card within them and its form changes to reflect their heart and the challenges they’re facing. Persona 3’s is an elevator, Persona 4’s is a limo, and Persona 5’s is a prison! (I’m unsure what Persona 1 and 2’s look like as I haven’t played those two yet, apologies!). It doesn’t really have much lore beyond that as far as I know? But it is one of the only things shared across all the games.

3. The central themes of each game tend to be about accepting yourself and growing as a person (aka strengthening your heart, therefore strengthening your persona). I haven’t completed Persona 3 yet so I can’t exactly say how that’s utilised in that game just yet but in Persona 4 and 5 accepting the bad parts of yourself and going against others in order to follow your heart are one of the main parts and themes of the game.

4. Persona lore follows the Jungian psychology and takes it incredibly literally. Jungian psychology describes a persona as: “a kind of mask, designed on the one hand to make a definite impression upon others, and on the other to conceal the true nature of the individual." This is taken most literally in Persona 5 as they have to rip off the mask imposed upon them by society in order to access their true nature, aka their Persona, but it’s also somewhat similar in the previous two mainline games as well.

There’s certainly more to it than that but that’s what I can think of off the top of my head!!! If you wanna know more about the lore of a specific Persona Game just ask! Although I don’t know much about 3 at the moment as I’m only halfway through July in Reload- if you ever wanna talk about Persona just ask hehe I’d love to talk about it!!! Especially Persona 5, if you haven’t played the series yet and you’re trying to decide which one to start with is definetly recommend 5, specifically Royal but the original version is good too, Royal just has way more content and is better overall HDKSVXKSHXJ- it’s the one I started off with personally and I think it’s definitely the best intro to the series if you’re attempting to get into it. With the release of Reload, P3 is also a good way to get into the series and if you want a darker story that’s definitely the way to go but both are amazing options! Persona 5’s story is by no means worse than Persona 3’s though, I absolutely adore that game’s story and themes (there’s a reason I’ve played it 6 times HCKSGDKWBCKH-). If you want I can tell you more about both! The only game I wouldn’t recommend starting with is Persona 4, it’s not bad by any means but honestly if I wasn’t already hooked on Persona by the time I played it I probably would’ve dropped it, the dungeon crawling and battle systems of the older versions of 3 and both versions of 4 have uh… a few issues bcksgcksbckhs

[palidoozy-art]

The more I thought about your latest write-up, the more curious I became about the mechanics behind the Prophet encounter. It sounds REALLY NEAT! Can you tell us more about its stats and/or how you ran it?

So I'm gonna be 100% honest, haha, and say that it was actually a reskin of a CR 26 monster (scaled down slightly) taken from a third party book I use called Tome of Titans. Honestly, I've had to lean a lot on 2CGaming's stuff because they're one of the few D&D publishing houses that 1) makes tier 3-4 content, 2) does incredibly fun stuff with encounter design and the design of 5e in general, and 3) goes extremely in-depth with their monsters, even giving you guidelines on how to run "easier" and "harder" variants of the same encounter (without changing the stats).

Would also strongly recommend their two bestiaries, Total Party Kill volumes 1 and 2. Just... dear god, read the warning at the front, you'll kill your party if you throw these monsters against them like you do vanilla baseline D&D monsters.

Anyway, the name of the original monster is Etteilla (pg 65). In the book, she's a supreme diviner -- a goddess of prophecy, which is why she's tarot-themed. I reskinned her in my game so that she was comprised of the seers of dusk elves past (Kjosev's mom is among them).

Mechanically, while you don't NEED a tarot deck, she operates off of the draws from the minor arcana (the book gives you a 'mythic' variant designed for level 20+ characters that also utilizes major). You can substitute this for a dice roll instead. Generally speaking, she has five types of actions she can do on her turn:

Attack with SWORDS

Create a barrier with PENTACLES

Heal with CUPS

Manipulate or copy a spell effect with WANDS.

throw cards lol

At the start of her turn, you draw a card from the tarot. That card is considered the trump card for her entire round. Whatever card drawn empowers the actions she can take.

For instance, if the card drawn at the start of her turn is, say, a three of swords, that means all of her damage from her swords attack is doubled. If the card drawn is a page of pentacles, then the barrier becomes essentially 150 temp hp for herself. When she does her card throw, you draw 5 cards, and refer to a chart that tells you how much damage each of them deal. If any of them are in the suite of the trump card, they deal double damage.

(And yes, the turn where she dealt 383 damage in one round was when her swords was empowered).

The reason I drew her with cards in front of her face was so that my players would have a visual indicator of what the trump card was that turn, and could prepare for it accordingly.

If you do pick up the book and decide to run this fight, I would actually recommend adjusting her multiattack to say "Etteilla makes two attacks or makes one attack and takes one other action." Her swords baseline deals 64 (10d10+9) slashing damage per hit. When empowered, it's 119 (20d10+9) damage, and while granted, she is a CR26 encounter... if your players are not super optimized or have resistance to slashing damage it will fuck them lol. Kelogul got crit at the start of the encounter and took 183 damage from her attacks that round. He's a paladin with the toughness feat with 224 hp. I should have readjusted her abilities a touch at first but I missed it. Still, they beat it, at least!

[solipsismbyproxy]

Ranking persona 5 royal confidants - II: Priestess

Part of my ongoing project to rank the Persona 5 confidants. To quickly recap, the three things I think are most important in a good confidant are a solid overarching story, a deeper exploration of the confidant's motives and personality traits, and a meaningful role for the protagonist to play and help change the confidant.

(As a quick note I'm skipping 0 and 1 (Igor and Morgana) since they're essentially just story checks and don't really fit into the social link structure in a normal sense.)

So, let's get into the Confidant for the Priestess Arcana, Makoto!

As a recap, Makoto's confidant revolves around a couple themes: links 1-2 are about her desire to learn more about normal activities to feel closer to other students her age - she invites you out to help teach her about new places so she doesn't feel awkward visiting them alone. 3-5 revolve around her talking to and eventually making a new friend, Eiko. Initially, you help her grill Eiko on why she is working at a shady cafe, then later, you talk with Makoto about her new friend and how their conflicting personalities change Makoto's goals (she becomes less sure that the standard honor-studenty path is right for her.) 6-10 are about her helping Eiko get away from a creep named Tsukasa. You are initially her double date to get a chance to meet him - in later links, you give advice on how to handle him and help Makoto confront him. The link begins and ends with conversations about Makoto's late father, who was a police chief investigating seedy gangs in Shinjuku. It's pretty heavily implied he was killed in a gang assassination by one of his targets, maybe even whatever group Tsukasa belongs to (his MO of luring in girls and pushing them to do sex work to pay off a fake debt is the same as the one Makoto's dad investigated, and this parallel is brought up by Makoto herself multiple times.) Makoto uses this incident to firm her belief that she wants to be a police chief in the footsteps of her father.

I love Makoto as a character, which is why it pains me to say I thought this confidant sucked. Maybe the most glaring reason why is that this is barely a story about Makoto herself. Throughout the story, we're told that it is pretty routine for Makoto to constantly check up on the students and making sure their actions are aboveboard. It feels like the main outcome of the social link is that you're saving Eiko from her life being ruined, not doing anything for Makoto. Maybe the main counterexample is her decision in rank 10 to become a police chief, but it's questionable that these events would have any major impact on that decision either way. It's basically already the path she is on given her honor student trajectory and her admiration for her dad from the start. To me, it just doesn't feel believable that she could take any other path even if the events with Eiko didn't happen. Further, the ending is incredibly anti-climactic. You essentially call it a day at running Tsukasa off from Eiko and getting her to commit to her studies. When the buildup of the confidant suggests that Tsukasa was, at least symbolically, the type of criminal responsible for her father's death, Makoto letting him off with a slap and a warning to stay away from one (1) of his victims is just...underwhelming? No change of hearts, no escalation, just a "stay away from Eiko!!" This feels like a complete letdown of any real tension - sure, you achieve a minor victory and saving your classmate/friends life from ruin is good, don't get me wrong, but letting Tsukasa get away and repeat his scam just does not give a sense of closure (and its basically all but confirmed he's grooming other victims simultaneously with Eiko!) This feels like a major loose end and one that directly contrasts with Makoto's desire to get justice.

Largely because the focus is shifted so far away from Makoto, we also really don't get to see any new aspects of her character in this confidant. The main things that are conveyed about her by this link are, IMO,

Makoto is sheltered and not very in touch with her peers

Makoto has a strong sense of justice and wants to protect her classmates at Shujin as part of her role as SC president

Makoto looks up to her father a lot

Makoto is hot tempered and quick to act when she sees injustice, even at risk to her own life

You know where we saw all these traits before? The entire Kanoshiro arc! That arc was set in motion by her feeling like a burden after her father died, feeling the need to do something about Shujin students getting scammed, and doing something rash that put her personally in a lot of danger. This arc basically feels like a diet version of that where, instead of neutralizing the threat and/or changing their heart, Makoto claims the smallest victory as enough and gives up. And since it functions as a diet version of that arc, at best this link feels like Makoto is wading completely in place from start to finish besides making a new friend. Her exposure to her peers' culture basically tops out at playing one (1) video game at an arcade, she gains the resolve to take...the most natural path forward for her anyways as an honor student in a family of cops, and she doesn't even make any significant progress towards neutering the gangs who very likely killed her father. It feels essentially like there's no character development at all.

On to the final piece of the puzzle - protagonist involvement. Unfortunately, the social link fails here too. At basically every turn, Joker is just an extra body there because Makoto doesn't want to balone. Half of the social link setups are: 1&2-I want someone to go with me to new places (excusable, I suppose) 3-I need you to help me grill this girl and act as a witness 6-I need you to act as my double date so I can meet Tsukasa 9-I need you to get evidence and help me confront Tsukasa. Does it matter who you are besides a second body? A little, obviously you do have some input and you help her pick the right path forward with Eiko. But overall, it really feels like your involvement is justified as a helper filling in so it isn't just Makoto. This confidant is maybe the one that most makes you feel like a spectator to the events, and it really diminishes the link to me. Here's an (admittedly silly) test of protagonist involvement - could Ryuji have filled in for Joker in this link? I think for basically every rank, the answer is an easy yes.

Overall, I was really disappointed with Makoto's Confidant. It trapped the player as a pure spectator in Makoto solving someone else's problem, in the same way we already saw her doing so in the main character. I learned nothing about Makoto, felt no bond to her, and didn't feel like my progressing the social link changed anything in any way. I would rate this confidant overall as a 2/10, with its only redeeming quality being that it is cute to see Makoto try out the arcade and make a new friend. This is easily a bottom 5 confidant for me, and possibly even a bottom 2, and it depresses me because I like Makoto as a character way more than any of the other confidants she's competing with on that list.

Here are two scattered ideas on ways to improve Makoto's social link:

Make the endgoal of the link the investigation/shutting down of the gang that employs Tsukasa. You can easily condense some of the earlier links to squish the current rank 9 to rank 8, and make a rank 9 that does this - either gated behind Mementos or through real world police work. This gives proper closure to the Tsukasa stuff, gives a more compelling arc for Makoto (she appreciates both the difficulty and the rewards of investigating criminals) and can even tie into some sense of avenging her father by taking down one of the gangs he was after. By shifting stuff around, you can give Joker a larger role by having him advise Makoto on how to handle the situation, and by participating in the Mementos quest or the actual investigation work. Queen gets a chance to show off her tactical brilliance and maybe her decisiveness can even pay off here instead of working against her all the time (imagine how cool it'd be if she caught the gang leader fleeing through a motorcycle pursuit!!)

Refocus the social link on working through and assuaging Makoto's guilt about Kamoshida. This is obviously a big plot point for her character in the main game that I feel isn't addressed particularly well in either the social link or the game, and it is something that upsets her. Working through this with her and helping her both change the system and deal with her own guilt would be a good way for Joker to make a serious, thoughtful, emotional impact. We also get to explore a pretty big part of Makoto's character, and get a sense of progress for her. One big downside to this idea is that this is complicated by the principal's death, and it feels really bad to have a main cast member's link be gated behind a date to complete or to have this sort of plot be completely independent of the principal (maybe it would only be unlocked after the principal dies? Could help) Either way, that's getting too much into the weeds but I think this is a much more obvious place for Makoto to progress as a character and heal from her past than the current plot.

Let me know if you have thoughts on either of these solutions, or anything I said above! I'll be back soon with a dive into The Empress, which will take a much different tone from this one :)

[evegoldenwoods]

My Tarot Card Collection

I've been wanting to write up some notes on all the decks I have for a while. I quite like collecting tarot card decks, and I wanted to make a little catalog of them. Also, I mostly use tarot cards for solo ttrpgs, not for readings, so I thought that would put a fun spin on how I think about them.

 I've also included an image of the guidebook used for each. In every case I've tried to use the easiest to access book, so where there's a pamphlet inset with the deck, I've used that as the reference. I'll make note of where this isn't the case.

 I’ve recommended a solo rpg to go with each game. Sometimes I’ve chosen ones that are explicitly designed to be played with the tarot, but sometimes I’ll recommend ones that just call for playing cards. You can adapt these to tarot decks by removing the major arcana, and playing cups as hearts, diamonds as wands, clubs as pentacles and spades as swords. If the game also calls for jokers, add a major arcana for every joker required.

 1. Thoth tarot deck

Created by Aleister Crowley and Lady Frieda Harris, art by Frieda Harris

This was my first ever tarot deck, inherited from my step-father when I was a teen. The actual deck is basically unusable these days, because one card got dog bitten, and a couple others have been warped and faded from exposure to sunlight. So they stand out in the deck when drawing. But I have a lot of affection for the cards anyway.

Notes:

- this deck is very easily accessible, but print quality probably varies a good bit. Worth reading reviews and finding a decent printing.

- the suit names for this deck are wands, cups, swords and pentacles.

-this is the biggest deck I own, which means that the art is clear and easy to read and can have lots of interesting details. Conversely, it's hard to lay out big spreads with them.

- the energy of this deck is horny af. It was partially designed by Aleister Crowley, and it shows. This sometimes feels exciting and rebellious, and sometimes feels like a slightly lecherous older man standing by your shoulder and leering.

- the art is absolutely gorgeous. It's always exciting to look at and the characters are full of personality, especially the court cards.

- the guidebook is tarot: mirror of the soul, which was written for this deck specifically, but doesn't necessarily come with it, you might have to buy it separately. It's good long explanations of the symbols as well as questions to prompt reflection.

- the cards have a lot of explicit symbolism in them, which can be a handy set of references for solo rpgs, and they're at like, a oblique angle to the regular raider-waite deck, so they can make for a fun shake up if you use that one a lot.

- I don't think you can really talk about this deck without talking about Crowley, since he was such a wanker, but at least half the deck is Frieda Harris's creation, and while I don't think I have much evidence to assert that she was a better person than him, I think she at least contributed enough to make the deck interesting

 In terms of using this deck for solo rpgs, I think it best suits ones that are either a bit darker and edgier, or very mystical. I'd think a game like Anamnesis (by Samantha Leigh/Blinking Birch Games, found here: https://blinkingbirchgames.itch.io/anamnesis) pairs really well with this deck, since the thoth tarot gives you both characters and symbols to help elaborate on your answers to the questions.

 2. Little Monsters Tarot

Book by Olivia Ephraim Pepper, art by Peony Coin Archer

I got this deck in a kickstarter, and it was the start of me planning to collect tarot cards more seriously.

Notes:

- these cards are very small and neat. Easy to shuffle and to lay out, and they have nice rounded edges. A good travel deck.

- The suit names for this deck are wands, cups, coins and arrows

- the art for this deck is subtle and elusive. Because it's black and white, and because it's in many ways quite simple, without a lot of additional symbolism, the meaning can feel a bit loose. It's also got a very gentle feel, like each card is a little woodland creature peeking out from under a bush at you.

- by contrast the guidebook is ferocious and cutting. It doesn't hold back at all, and gives very challenging paragraphs that really push you. It's probably the book that feels most like talking to a really good therapist, one who forces you to interrogate your perceptions and challenge your assumptions. (I mean all of this in a deeply complimentary way, to be clear. I think this book is by far the most incisive and insightful of any of the ones I own, although sometimes it can also feel very dictated, like it doesn’t leave quite as much room for your own interpretation)

- There's some slight smudging on my copy of these cards, and compared to some of the other decks I own I think the quality of the print is a little lower, but it's never affected my engagement with the cards.

 If I were ever inclined to do a reading, I think this is the deck I'd turn to, and I think it's similarly useful for solo rpgs with a more autobiographical bent, the ones that are also tools for self reflection rather than fiction writing. For this deck, I recommend trying something like Galatea by S. Kaiya J. (here: https://mirror-lock.itch.io/galatea)

 3. Star Spinner Tarot

Art, design and writing by Trungles

I've been a fan of Trungles artwork for ages, but it was when I read about the gimmick of this deck that I knew I had to add it to my collection. Gimmick is probably the wrong word, it sounds cheap, and I think the choice made here is the opposite of that, a beautiful enrichment of the tarot.

Notes:

- The box this comes in is sleek and neat, but sturdy. The cards are a little bigger than regular playing cards, and they shuffle easily and smoothly.

- the suit names for this deck are wands, chalices, coins and swords.

- The art for these cards is lovely, with soft lines, lots of curves, and a pleasing restricted palette. All of it fits with how gentle these cards are. There's lots of inspiration from classic folklore artists like Ivan Bilibin or Edmund Dulac, and also from classical paintings. The devil on the devil card is reminiscent of Michelangelo's interpretation in all the best ways.

- this is a very soft and gentle deck, and also a very queer deck, but without ever falling into cute simplicity. It has moments of yearning, and sorrow, and blatant desire, but it's always very tender.

- the guidebook gives simple and direct summaries of the cards' meanings, without delving too much into the art or other notes behind them. It's very straightforward advice.

- So, the special thing about this deck is that it has four copies of the lovers. A pair with a man and a woman, a pair with two women, a pair with two men, and a pair that stand apart, representing asexual or platonic love. you can shuffle all four in, or choose whichever one suits the querent best. All the poses are different, but all of them are gorgeous.

- I do think some of the suits in this deck were given more love than others. The chalices, in particular, use the cards to retell the little mermaid, which is such a brilliant choice, none of the others really live up it. Wands uses fairy imagery, coins has rabbits, and swords is based on the traditional raider waite imagery. I would have loved to see the other suits get the same treatment as chalices, but alas.

 I think this deck plays perfectly off solo rpgs that sit in that folklore/fairytale/romance space, especially ones that are cute and cosy. Though in general any game you play with these will be softened by their gentle character, so you can always use it to tone down a game that you're worried will get too dark. I'd recommend trying this deck with a game like The Tea Shelf, by K-Ramstack (found here: https://k-ramstack.itch.io/the-tea-shelf)

 4. Crow Tarot

Art, design and writing by MJ Cullinane

This deck was recommended to me by a coworker at an old job. Of all the decks I own, it's the one that's clicked with me the least, but it's hard to pin down why. I don't think it's a poorly designed deck by any means, it just doesn't quite resonate the way others do.

Notes:

- the print quality is very high. The cards come in a nice solid box, and they're beautifully slippy and easy to shuffle. They glide through your hands.

- the four suits are cups, wands, swords and pentacles

- The art has an odd quality. Looking at it in 2023, it has an effect that reminds me strangly of large model generated art artifacts, though this deck was handpainted long before "AI" became a thing. The colour palette is strong and consistent, and the cards have a nice aged effect on them. I think the composition of the cards is less strong than other decks I own, though

- I think I find the crows a bit visually impenetrable. They're posed doing all kinds of things, but they're always animals, and there's something kind of distancing about that. The deck is designed to reflect the playfulness and mystery of crows, but it ends up feeling kind of mushy to me, like I can't properly grasp what it's trying to say.

- the guidebook pictured is the inset one that comes with the box, and I do like the way it's written. It starts with keywords and an interpretation of the card visuals, then moves on to advice/direction. There's also a separate printed book that contains much more information, and honestly you could almost use that in place of the deck, because it's where the things I find interesting about the work are most obvious. You could play by flipping through it to random pages and get a pretty good result.

 As I said, this is a deck I don't really vibe with, but if you were going to use it for solo rpgs, I'd recommend it for fiction about quests or journeys, something high fantasy that's situated in nature and takes you on a trip through a world. Maybe it would work well for The Lonesome Cartographer, by Wren the Forrester (found here: https://wren-the-forrester.itch.io/the-lonesome-cartographer).

 5. Botanical Tarot

Art, Writing and Design by Kevin Jay Stanton

This is another kickstarter deck, which I felt immediately charmed by when I saw how different it was to anything else I owned. Physically, I only backed the simple version of the deck, with a small inset booklet, but I also got access to the digital version of the larger and longer compendium, which I think I would recommend picking up.

Notes:

- These cards are shorter than the crow or starspinner tarots, but wider, more square in shape. They feel very smooth and soft, and they’re a bit thicker than the previous two, which makes them slightly harder to shuffle. That said, they still slip through the fingers quickly and easily. They have gilt edging, which has started to fade slightly at the corners after a year or two of use, but is mostly still holding strong.

- the suits are cups, swords, coins and wands

- The art for these cards is so striking and interesting. Each card has a plant, a detailed and vivid drawing of which is the core image of the card, set against a black background. The suits have images of their namesakes from history, so coins have old coins on them, swords have old swords, etc. The court cards all have different historical crowns. It’s all extremely beautiful to look at.

- Kind of like the crow tarot, the art is such a wide swing that it can be hard to interpret when you’re looking at the card alone, but I mind it less here because the images are so beautiful. I feel like they draw you in with a mystery that’s answered by looking up the booklet. And then that pushes you on to think more deeply about the drawings.

- There’s almost no text on the cards, just a number and a tiny drawing of the suit, or a letter and a tiny drawing for the court cards. And then for the major arcana, each one has its own unique symbol. Some are guessable, like the inverted pentagram for the devil, but others you’ll have to flip through the booklet to find unless you use the deck super regularly.

- the guidebook is simple and straightforward, a useful reference when you’re in the middle of a reading, though it’s quite small and dense, so sometimes the text can be hard to read. And it’s printed on very thin, flimsy paper, so you have to be careful with it. Again, I do recommend getting at least a digital copy of the compendium, because that has a lot more info that really helps to clarify the cards.

 I think this is a great deck for games that have a deep historical touch, or that invoke a kind of ritual atmosphere, and obviously it’s great for anything that has plants in it, but I also think you can use it more generally to inflect games with a tone of solemnity and strangeness. I think this would play great against I shall not spare myself this journey, by Cave of Monsters Games (found here: https://cave-of-monsters-games.itch.io/i-shall-not) or NeoCrystal Elegy by A Yolland (found here: https://ayolland.itch.io/neocrystal-elegy)

 6. Corrupted Tarot

Created by Wyrmwood, this deck features art from over 70 people

This is… another crowdfunded deck. Damn Eve, you buy a lot of these… And this is another one where I thought the core concept was really strong and unique, so I went for it.

Notes:

- This deck is medium sized, about the same as the Starspinner Tarot, and the cards feel very soft to the touch. They shuffle relatively well, although they sometimes stick together slightly. They have nice silver gilt on the edges. For art reasons, I really wish this deck was bigger, but I’ll get to that in a sec. Of all my decks, I think this one makes the most pleasing sound when shuffled, a whooshing noise that’s very attractive.

- The suits are swords, cups, pentacles and wands

- Because this deck has so many artists, the art is relatively inconsistent. I think it does an okay job of using the dark backgrounds to pull it all together, but compared to the single author decks, it’s undeniably fragmented. Whether this is a negative or not will depend on your own preferences. There are a few cards I don’t love, but overall the energy of it really works for me.

- The concept of this deck is that the art depicts the reversed meanings rather than the upright ones. The cards are all meant to have dark, tragic, spooky and sinister energy. I think that it generally does a really good and fun job of this, without straying into depictions of evil/villainy that rely on tired tropes.

- In spite of that premise, this deck feels very empowering and energetic. It has a lot to say about facing down your own demons, picking yourself up and starting over. And also about embracing the dark and powerful sides of yourself.

- The inset guidebook is actually excellent, it tells you who every artist is, gives links to their socials (maybe not as useful if twitter fully goes down, lol, but I hugely appreciate the effort) and talks about how and why they chose the images they did, on top of what the card means. It’s so efficient in such a small amount of space.

- It’s honestly funny to compare this to the little monsters tarot, which has such lovely and delicate art but genuinely bites a lot harder when it describes some of the cards, versus this one which is so theoretically spooky but actually quite friendly and kind

 Like, obviously this deck works amazingly for any kind of rpg with soulslike energy, both because it has the dark exterior and because the actual message is about keeping going in the face of adversity. But in general I think you can use this deck wherever you want to ratchet up tension and add a spooky undercurrent to the story you’re telling. I’d recommend trying it with Where Crimson Flowers Bloom by Mitchell Daily (found here: https://mitchelldaily.itch.io/crimsonflowers)

 7. Literary Tarot

My most recent deck, at least for now. This was part of a big charity project run by a non profit called the Brink Literary Foundation, and I was curious enough about the concept and the images to back it.

Published by the Brink Literary Project

Notes:

- The concept of this deck is that each card has been paired with a novel. They got a lot of famous writers to contribute cards, which as a gimmick is a bit tiresome, but I don’t think it ends up taking too much away from the deck. And some of the choices are genuinely interesting.

- These cards are a bit bigger than the Corrupted Tarot, and a bit thicker, though not as thick as the Botanical Tarot. For some reason, they’re by far the hardest of my decks to shuffle, very sticky and heavy in the hand. That can be a bit annoying, and it means you have to shimmy back and forth to get them all in place, which is causing the gilt edges to wear off faster than it has on other decks.

- The suits for this are very gimmicky, they’re quills (swords), ink (wands), light (cups) and parchment (coins). My problem with this is the same as for the Botanical Tarot, which is that using shorthands or alternate names means you have to double check everything unless you use them super consistently.

- This is like the Corrupted Tarot, where the art is done by multiple people, but this one had a more assertive art director, and so all the cards have a consistent colour palette, and the artists styles are within a similar range, so the deck looks very unified.

- Some of the card choices are a little weird, and some I like better than others. The most striking one was the Cold Equations as the reference for Temperance. I think that really shifts the meaning of the card from being about healing and serene balance to being a kind of merciless rational calculation. Which is certainly a new take, so I’m not complaining.

- Like some of the other decks, this has two guidebooks, a little inset one and a bigger extra book that you can buy separately. In this case, I don’t think you need to rush out and buy the bigger book. It’s a nice treat, with stories about how the cards ended up being assigned to stories, and there are some cool extras that show the process of designing the art for the different cards, but you’ll do just fine with the simple guidebook imo.

Because this deck uses stories for each card, I think it’s great for games where you’re developing a story. If you’re using a solo rpg to design something for a bigger group game, or to explore characters that you want to write about in a novel/short story/whatever, then having this deck can give you a cool range of literary references to think about and try out. I’d recommend trying this deck with a solo rpg like The Last Noita by Yuri Runnel (found here: https://yurir.itch.io/the-last-noita) or Little Shepherd, Little Spy by PsychHound (found here: https://psychhound.itch.io/little-shepherd-little-spy )

 This ended up being so much longer than I expected! If you made it this far, thank you for reading the whole thing <3

[firsttarotreader]

Hi girl! new fan here 🤗 I LOVE your blog, definitely my favorite when it comes to Pedro news and your readings? chef's kiss 🤌🏻 speaking of which, I have a request 🤭 I'm currently watching Narcos (I'm in the middle of season 2) and, jeez, how GORGEOUS was Pedro during that time, right? so I was watching him and I couldnt help but think "who was the lucky person who was getting all that? 😭" so I went on google to see if he was dating anyone at that time and nothing came up...? so yeah, I will appeal to your cards my dear: did Pedro had a serious relationship between 2015/2016? I believe that was the time season 1 and 2 were filmed, right? PLEASE, help a curious bitch 🥺👉🏻👈🏻

Hello! Thank you so much for the love and the kind words! 🥰🥰💜 So, in an interview to Mr. Porter from 2017 Pedro said his last relationship had been three years before, which would make it 2014. From that, we can understand he wasn’t dating anyone in 2015/2016, at least not serious. That said, I was still curious to see what the cards would show us about this time of his life, so I asked your question. The Major Arcana were Strength, Death reversed and The Hanged Man.

Oh, well. Strength means he was possibly taming and subduing any feeling he could have. He wasn’t open, he wanted to master his emotions and not let them flow, even if they were strong. He was holding back a lot. Death reversed points to him still stuck on something from the past. He couldn’t let it go, he couldn’t move on, so he could definitely not start something new. The Hanged Man (oh, him again!) shows us he was, once more, holding back, suspended, unable to deep dive and hesitating.

The Minor Arcana were Page of Pentacles reversed, Ace of Cups and King of Cups. Page of Pentacles reversed with Strength points to him feeling stuck, or insecure, lacking motivation, unable to commit and avoiding making any effort for it. He tamed his emotions, so he was stagnant and lacking any will to pursue relationships. Ace of Cups with Death reversed is interesting because he could not let new love begin, he could not let it flow, because he was still stuck on something (or someone) from his past. If love knocked on his door, at that point he would not open. The Hanged Man with King of Cups means he needed to allow himself to deep dive and let go of his uncertainties, of whatever was holding him back, because only then he would be able to reach emotional maturity and be able to let love in.

So the cards do show this man wasn’t dating anyone because he wasn’t open (as usual). And the funny thing is he probably did have flings and hookups that could have become more (these Cups cards) but he runs from commitment like the plague.

I even asked again the same question and this time, the Major Arcana were The Hanged Man (yep, again!), The Hierophant and The Devil.

Okay, so you already know The Hanged Man is suspended and hesitant, holding back. The curious thing is The Hierophant is a card that can represent serious relationships and marriage depending on the context, but this time, given the other cards, it makes me think Pedro is VERY stubborn in his internal “laws”. He decided he would not let love in, he put himself in suspension, and he followed it like gospel. His beliefs, his ideas about the way he would live his life were very inflexible when it came to that, his “way” was his “law”. And what did he do? The Devil points to him being horny instead, having casual sex and flings while avoiding feelings. This card is not always about that, but in this context, yeah, the man did surrender to the carnal pleasures, lust and desires, or at least that’s what he was open to.

The Minor Arcana were 9 of Wands, 3 of Cups and Ace of Swords. 9 of Wands with The Hanged Man is almost redundant. It’s hesitation and holding back because you don’t think you can pull it off. 3 of Cups with The Hierophant means he was having a really good time, partying, going out with friends, maybe having different sex partners, but having fun above everything, and that was his “law”. Ace of Swords with The Devil shows us he had things very clear in his mind about what kind of “relationship” he wanted. He was rational and he started things with people knowing it was all about lust, probably letting them know that too.

So, from Pedro’s words and from the cards, he was not dating anyone, but he was most likely getting some action…

And since I know you’re going to ask for the 2017 interview, here’s the link:

https://www.mrporter.com/en-gb/journal/fashion/mr-pedro-pascals-big-moment-757564

And this reading also matched one I did last year:

[missizzy]

A Game Novice's Baldur's Gate Log, 57 1/2 Hours In: Gapfilling and Grinding for XP

Masterpost

(Note: this will definitely contain spoilers for all I've played through, and probably quite of a bit of the later stuff I've also seen.)

I am now nearing the end of Act I. I've even had the poetical idea of finishing it just before I board the plane for San Diego is a little over a week. I suspect I may not manage it, though. It'll depend on not only how much I can get through this week, but also how much I'll eventually decide I want to do.

By the end of last week, I had spotted the Grymforge elevator on the map, and it wasn't long at all into this one before my characters were staring it down. At that point I decided it was time to do a little research, especially into what needed to be done for each character's arc before Act II. Which was when I discovered I'd missed a huge part of Wyll's, back on the Risen Road. I also took a proper look at the XP for the first time, and determined I wanted to collect a bit more of that before leaving the Underdark.

Still, I couldn't figure out how to get to the Adamantine Forge, and I wasn't sure we were ready to deal with its protector. So I ended up consulting a map of the Underdark, and discovered there was a tower we'd missed back when we came in, so I waypointed back there. Looking further around that area, after finally properly looting the mini-Beholder and drow we'd fought, I quickly discovered that since being there, I'd actually gotten a lot better at spotting jump-through and climb-through spots, which was very encouraging.

The Arcane Tower, on the other hand, drove me completely up the wall. Even after I finally looked up how to disable the turrets, I still went a little crazy trying to get Astarion to the back garden without doing him major injury. When it was finally done, I found myself doubting the XP were worth the struggle. But I did enjoy sampling some of the literature we found there. Sara tried to be diplomatic with the constructs when we hit the roof, but she used the wrong quote and we ended up fighting them anyway. Story of her life, I suspect.

The next day I swapped Lae'zel out for Karlach, partly because I wanted to see her reaction to the Myconids, but mostly because I like having her around. We ended up going to the village twice, because the first time I failed to save even as I then went to find the Festering Cove I'd also read about-and accidentally toppled Sara into a chasm. But knowing where it was and reloading at the tower made it a bit easier to go to the Cove directly the second time around. Even after its denizens declared their intent to sacrifice us, I actually did go for the arcana check, just to make it more interesting, but when that failed I went ahead and attacked. This time I remembered to have Shadowheart cast Spirit Guardians immediately.

My goal got accomplished. By the time we'd gotten back to the village and handed Nere's head in for the second time, we were under 1500 XP to go for level six. When I went to Blurg to unload excess loot for the second time, I also decided to tell him about the tadpole and have him bring in Omeluum. I'd already seen one streamer talk with the latter, and had doubts about how Sara would react to meeting a mind-flayer, but I decided that in a strange, spore-hazy atmosphere of the village, she could refrain from attacking immediately. I suspect it is a very good thing, though, that we didn't have Lae'zel with us at that point, especially when Omeluum started talking about the Githyanki rebelling.

I went back and forth, however, about returning to the tower to complete his quest. We'd gotten most of the tower's XP already, and it didn't feel worth the effort. I ultimately had Sara decline to do it, at least for now, though the directions remain in the journal, and I may yet go back and do it after all. I even waypointed back to the Selunite Outpost, before changing my mind again and waypointing again back to the Blighted Village to forge the sussar weapon. There, too, I went reading about how to forge and the options, and took the advice I read to forge a dagger.

I also spotted the passage outside the basement's wall, which I hadn't spotted before, and was pleased to discover I could now easily figure out how to jump into it. Getting the false wall at the end down took slightly longer, but then I finally figured out piercing damage works on those. I reaped the rewards for my advancement by getting to explore the Whispering Depths. Fighting the spiders in them felt much like more grinding, but it was kind of worth it just to hear Karlach tell one of them "Bye bye," before killing it.

Nonetheless, I ended up swapping both her and Astarion out for Gale and Wyll before heading north and tracking down the inn the latter's father had just been kidnapped from. There I had Shadowheart create more water than strictly necessary as we stumbled through the burning building, and ultimately failed to rescue one guy before his half of the upper floor blew up, but at least we got Counselor Florrick out. Upon hearing about the Duke from her, and learning Wyll had been disowned, Sara quickly got very mixed feelings about rescuing him, though so long as Wyll wants to do it she'll try to.

I left off this week right after that, at the opening of the Mountain Pass, still unsure about how much of it I'll do, though I'll have to go to the monastary and creche, at least. Maybe also until we meet Elminster, though I'm currently a little confused on when exactly he's supposed to show up.

I have also since been brought to realize I completely forgot about the Zhentarim in the basement. But I'm pretty sure that Sara retains absolutely no interest in meeting with them anyway.

[thinkingmystic]

Doing a tarot reading for God

I recently finished one of the best books I’ve read on tarot in a long time, Rachel Pollack’s A Walk Through the Forest of Souls: A tarot journey to spiritual awakening. Something I’ve always appreciated about Pollack is her playful, speculative approach to the tarot. She’s less concerned with providing absolute or definitive answers, and more interested in asking questions alongside the reader, her student.

In A Walk Through the Forest of Souls, Pollack presents a kind of imagination experiment. Pollack, who had a Jewish background, writes about how God supposedly created the Torah before the world and then used it to order the creation of the world. What if, she asks, God had used the tarot to do the same?

“Imagine that God has taken the four suits of the Tarot, set them out at the four ‘corners’ of existence. The suits of the Tarot mark out the physical reality. And then God poured the spirit/life energy of the Major Arcana into the physical vessel, so that the universe came alive... If the creator consulted the Tarot to make the world, then [...] Creation cannot come arbitrarily but must follow the plan revealed in the cards. We can look at this in terms of the Tarot as a structural diagram of existence, a blueprint. Or—we can say that God did a reading.”

Pollack then decides to “test the courage of [her] imagination” and ask the tarot the following questions:

1. Did the Tarot exist before Creation?

2. How did God use the Tarot to create the world?

3. Is God bound by the Tarot?

4. What is our partnership with God?

5. What is our part in that partnership?

6. What is God’s part?

Doing this reading yielded unexpected answers for me. For instance, in answer to question number 2, I got the 9 of Pentacles. I wrote in my tarot journal about how it’s easy to see a connection between this card and the Garden of Eden, before Adam and Eve were split into two beings. I asked, “Is the tarot also ‘the apple’ in the Garden of Eden myth?” For the third question I drew The Pope/The Hierophant and noted: God is not “bound” as we understand the concept of “bound” (as being oppressively restricted); it’s more like an honour and responsibility. In answer to the fourth question, I drew the 5 of Water and came to the conclusion that we are a part of God’s nervous system (and God of ours).

I hope you’ll do this reading for yourself. I imagine it will look very different depending on your perception of God or if you believe in God or not. The best part is? Since we’re approaching this in a both/and way, neither of us will be more right or wrong than the other, and we’ll both have learned something from the exercise.

I want to riff on this idea of God and tarot readings. Like Pollack, I do this under the banner of “What if?” – as a kind of intentional mythologising, where we’re not so much concerned with what is absolutely true or absolutely false, but moreso with what wisdom we can extract from stories. (I think one of the biggest pitfalls of some religions are their insistence that everything must be literal for it to have substance and value). In my own imagination exercise, I want us to pretend that God has come to us for a tarot reading (no pressure!)

For the purposes of this reading, we assume that God – like other folks who visit tarot readers, astrologers, priests, life coaches, etc – has a problem that God has been unable to solve, and needs some additional insight into. What problem do we think that might be?

We can approach this reading in two ways. In the first method, we might look around us at the world/universe, place ourselves in God’s shoes, and imagine what we’d ask if we were God. At the very least this will tell us something about ourselves. The other approach would be to use the tarot itself to determine God’s concern. So we start our tarot reading by drawing a Significator for God.

The 6 of Swords shows three stooped figures crossing a lake in a boat. Much of the boat is taken up by six swords, two of them directly aligned with the two smaller figures sitting down. Who, then, do the remaining four swords represent? And who is the ferryman?

A common interpretation of this card is that it depicts a ferryman carrying two souls to the distant shore of death. Is God the ferryman in this scenario, or the dying souls? Perhaps it’s most interesting to think that God is represented by all of these figures. God both carries the dead to their rest, and they carry God to God’s. God is not separate from God’s creation, not even in death. This card also makes me think about refugees. As I’m writing this, Israel is telling Palestinians to evacuate Rafah, but most of them simply do not have anywhere else to go. And this is just one ongoing conflict of many. God, then, understands what it means to be a refugee; what it means to want to flee, and how it might feel when there are no safe harbours to receive you.

The card covering God is the Queen of Cups. Things would probably be easier for God if God were less sensitive; if God was an abstract concept rather than a living being of some kind. In Christian terms, the Queen of Cups would represent Jesus, and the cup she holds the font of the Holy Spirit. Or perhaps the Queen represents us, looking to the cup representative of our creation, searching for our Creator: where is God when the world is hurting?

The crossing card is The Hanged Man. This card is often associated with Jesus Christ and his crucifixion. It’s also associated with Odin’s time hanging from the world tree Yggdrasil. Thus The Hanged Man can represent a quest for enlightenment, the transmutation from one state of being to another through self-sacrifice. Personally I’ve always liked the interpretation of the Ancestral Path Tarot, which shows The Hanged Man as a baby in a womb. Only, this card represents the passage to Death/Rebirth, the next card, and in this reading that passage is obstructed: God feels stuck, powerless, like Creation is in the breach position.

The root of the situation/reading is The Lovers. This card shows Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden, the angel Raphael above them. This card represents relationships, including relationship with self, as well as choices. God’s relationship to Godself is intertwined – indistinguishable – from God’s relationship with God’s creation. God only knows Godself through being known by creation; so what happens when creation becomes indifferent to God? God becomes alienated from both Godself and creation. It’s such a human quandary: what do you do when you choose someone and they don’t choose you back? Or: what if you doubt your initial choice?

The recent past is represented by The Empress. Now, a fair question to ask is what might God consider “recent”? Just thinking about that is mindbending in its own right. Perhaps God considers the “recent past” to be the moment of creation, many billions of years ago: when the universe sprang forth (perhaps at the whisper of “Light!”, or of God giving birth to the cosmos). Or maybe God doesn’t think in the macro, as we’d expect, but in the minutest micro, and so the recent past is measured in nanoseconds. Or perhaps again, for God - presumably beyond time - everything is happening everywhere, all at once, an endless and eternal now; which leaves us with the rather daunting task of having to explain the passage of time to Something that cannot understand it.

I remember this story I read about a woman who had turned to ask her mother when she’d stop feeling so fussy about her newborn baby, only for her mother to say that she’d noticed her coughing during the night and did she feel okay? Perhaps God remembers us as children even though we think of ourselves as adults free of the skirt of God’s reach and God, like a human parent, has trouble letting God’s creation go.

At the top of the Celtic Cross we have the Ace of Cups showing God what is possible, something God can work towards. This Ace shows the outpouring of God’s love and God’s spirit, the emotional act of creating life: the moment of conception (let the reader understand!) God is invited to be the font, but God cannot force people to accept what is offered, no matter how much of an open hand or an open heart it is offered with. God, I think, is faced with the painful knowledge that every human being learns at some point: despite what we think of as our best intentions and our presumed compatibility, you cannot make someone care, and you cannot make someone love you.

The Star is the immediate future. Again, we might mull over the concept of time as it relates to God: what is immediate to God? Is it the macro, billions of years hence? Or is the nanoseconds that have already been lost as I type this out? God pours out unceasingly, relentlessly watering the ground from which Abel’s blood still cries out. Does God try to wash away our bloody histories, for which we might hold God responsible and hold God feeble, or does God try to nurture something better into existence, letting God’s blood mingle with ours? I feel like God has to pick one: God has created us and must face us, meet us as we are.

In the “Self” position, we have the Ace of Wands. Energy, creativity, will, and enthusiasm are all concepts we associate with this Ace. And between this Ace and the Ace of Cups, we have the basic ingredients for life: the yin and the yang, the masculine and the feminine, the giving and the taking. I wonder if God has trouble finding a balance between giving and receiving. If you’re going to create a world in your image, that world will contain the same seeds of creativity that you have, and creativity wants to be expressed. Not for nothing one of humanity’s first acts, according to the Bible, was building the tower of Babel. The same seeds that spurred the building of that tower spurred God to create the world. Can God make peace with that?

For the “Environment” position we have the Knight of Pentacles. The Pentacle suit represents the material realm; here it speaks to the physicality in which we live and create. God, presumably, is not fettered by the same literalness that we are. And yet, God is no stranger to the physical, having put it all together. I point God to the possible tension between this card and the one before it and that we feel it as God feels it. We feel it like it’s a choice we don’t have much choice in, because we don’t. God, to Pollack’s thinking, chose to order the world a particular way: does it surprise God that we have diverging opinions on that choice?

In the hopes/fears placement, the Page of Wands presides. Previously we saw God’s impulse to keep us close pitted against our own insistence to go where we want. I imagine this is the hope and fear of every parent: that their child will be like they are. Parents hope for it because what is similar is familiar and safe. Parents fear the same because they want better for their child than they had. God is stuck in the same quandary.

Finally, the outcome card is the 5 of Swords. The 5 of Swords obviously precedes the 6 of Swords, God’s Significator for this reading, thus bringing us full circle (and perhaps telling us something about how God experiences time). The 5 of Swords is a painful card, full of loss on the bitterest terms: the fight is over and lost. There is therefore no solution purely on God’s terms: according to the mechanics of the created universe, we want to set out on our own. One wonders, did God go through something similar? Is God the prodigal child of Someone, as we are of God? Could there be such a thing? And yet, why not? How ironic would it be if God, as creator, has created us to follow in God’s footsteps, even the parts where God went astray?

In conclusion I would say: God, it looks like you’re having a profoundly human experience. ~Oof~.

How’s that as a tarot reading for God? I hope you disagree vehemently with me and give God a tarot reading yourself! I’d be so curious to hear about your experience.

To conclude I quote Pollack again:

“The more traditional idea would be that God gave us the Tarot so that we might learn secrets. Through study of the images and through readings, we go beyond our limitations to a better partnership with the divine. We also can look at this gift of Tarot in another way, which is that divine energy needs us to use divination to reveal things that even God does not know. Divination creates new possibilities, it liberates the Creator from a universe where everything is planned and known ahead of time... If indeed a divine intelligence created a universe that holds together through natural laws, then maybe those laws need an escape clause. Tarot and other divinatory systems provide an opening for newness.”

Doesn’t reading that make you want to dig into the tarot with fresh eyes and renewed zeal?

[pressagie]

Hii, I'm MA cancer sun.

I wanted to please ask regarding my financial situation in the next 5-10 years? Do the cards see me managing to be financially stable and comfortable (not RICH rich but have enough money to be able to spend on what you desire without checking your bank account every 5 mins).

Thank you very much!

Hi, hello 🦀🌞

I just said, in my previous post (tags), that I'd be using that spread/format for every reading – but for this, I really felt (and checked) that I should try something different.

I used a “blank” card (my Tarot deck has one) to symbolize you. Then I shuffled and went looking for “you” and the following Discs (the suit correspondent to money), to read about 3 points in time.

I also included the card leading up to each timeframe, giving context to how you'd get there.

I know you asked about 5-10 years from now; I only started (basically) in the present because I like to first make sure that I'm picking up on the situation.

Note: I added some info to the bottom of my pinned post, and I recommend (to everyone who sent in questions) giving it a read :]

I really hope this helps 💛

#1

— immediate future

THE HANGED (inverted) + KING OF DISCS (inverted)

The King of Discs, in this scenario, paints a picture of someone greedy.

The Hanged, coming right before, represents being stuck with this person in a very significant situation, that is the root of the financial problems. (I'm not going deeper into it, since that was not your question.)

#2

— near future

ACE OF BLADES (inverted) + IX OF DISCS (upright)

There will come some kind of disruptive action that changes your course (probably from outside, even without your knowledge).

This results in much better circumstances (at least regarding finances) accompanied by a sense of stability and finality.

#3

— distant future

THE EMPEROR (upright) + VIII OF DISCS (upright)

The Emperor is a Major Arcana card; just as The Hanged, it signals more defining moments in life – but, unlike it, this one talks about being in control of your “domain”.

The VIII of Discs, while related to monetary defeat, in the upright position means that you can handle the consequences. Even if the upcoming troubles are also major, they're nothing that you won't have the skills/tools to deal with, by then.

Thank you for trusting me to read for you. I would love to know what you think: if this resonates with your circumstances, and what comes of it. Don't be afraid to give me honest feedback and suggestions, after all, it'll help me become a better reader :]

Do you want to expand on this or have another topic to explore? Leave me a (follow-up) question!

You can always include the numbered tag associated with your reading(s), and I'll add it to the future posts as well, so they are identified as belonging to the same querent, and easier to find – check below, next to #OMEN DEAL.

For Ko-fi tips (absolute zero pressure)

I honor the spirit who helps with my practice – for winding and guiding my path, learning how to sit with me, and being a light to read by.

Elioth Gruner's Milking Time / Araluen Valley