#intuition is the natural conclusion of interpreting our surroundings and circumstances

[hotmess-exe]

every now and then i'll have the strong, very loud, insistent thought/reminder that VIBES ARE REAL

[lacrimaomnis]

BRF Reading, 26/9/2021

Apologies for taking so long, but here is the second of the three spreads for my Politico questions.

The first spread can be found here.

As written, this is merely a speculation and therefore must be taken with a grain of salt. This speculation is not true until proven otherwise.

My question is, who is behind this so-called leak? Is it someone from outside or inside the BRF?

Cards drawn: The Hanged Man, Six of Swords, King of Swords, Seven of Pentacles, Two of Pentacles

Underlying energy: Nine of Cups

Remarks/Comment: The cards seem to answer this question in a roundabout way rather than giving me a more concise answer -- I had hoped that my card would give me a concise zodiac sign as an answer, but what I see here is the circumstances surrounding the source of the leak instead of my cards saying this or that person.

There is also one card left behind inside my deck's pouch (I put my cards inside their packaging when not used) when I was shuffling the cards which I did not realise until much later into the reading and that card is the Ace of Pentacles. Aces are about new beginnings, and Ace of Pentacles specifically talks about new beginnings for a potentially successful business venture or enterprise.

Ace of Pentacles is perhaps the most pronounced of all Aces when not treated as a child card, because it very specifically talks about the way material/financial upbringing may manifest in our current lives and the way we think or take decisions. Ace of Pentacles also speaks about the unsavoury side of greed or shady business deals, warning against a chance or an offer that seems to be quick money but will end up costing us in the long run, which is the energy here: this whole debacle will make whoever leaked the documents to Politico lose money instead of making them.

Summary: There is no definitive "oh it's this person" or "oh it's that person" answer from my card, but rather, they give me insight into the circumstances surrounding the source of the leak: how they act, what is their motivation, and what is coming for them.

First card: The Hanged Man. This is the only major arcana card in my spread, and thus, this is the major energy of this reading. In my deck, this card is ruled by the sign Pisces. This card often appears when we have come at a turning point in our lives, urging us to stop and assess our situation and our approach to life. In my deck, this card is illustrated as an upside-down tiger whose right leg was bound to a tree, his left leg free, having a relaxed expression on his face.

This card comes across to me in two ways: first, this card can be interpreted as that the "waiting period" is over, and it is now time to move forward once again and to move forward, something must happen -- this was the inner motivation for the source of the leak: they think that the waiting time is over and now they must act. Like how the tiger's left leg is free and bent, ready for action and breaking free of the tree at any moment, this seems to indicate that this leak is planned as opposed to a slip; this is meticulously planned and is executed when the time is right.

The second way this card comes across is that because of this leak, the source will enter a period of suspension: everything will be put on hold, and a period of indecision is upon them. They will be suspended by external forces, unable to move forward because of their action -- this brings to mind the Daily Mail's report: that there will be an inquiry into the nature of the leaked documents and who is responsible for it.

Second card: Six of Swords. This is the card of travel, escape, baggage, change, and movement. This card often appears at times of change; indicating that the decisions made will set us on a new path forward. Reversed, this card indicates that we are running away from a problem that still needs to be dealt with, or the desire to set sail for new things but are unable to because of some external constraints or force, which ties in with The Hanged Man: a period of suspension in which everything is put on hold and that there is a period of indecision upon them. This card also indicates that a partnership is falling apart, which seems to represent the relationship between Politico and its unnamed source.

Third card: King of Swords. He is the most severe of all Kings -- he believes in order, systems, and the value of following the rules; he can be cold, ruthless, and very, very judgmental. He is also often associated with legal issues and legal institutions. Astrology-wise, this is the card for an Aquarius.

In this spread, this card stands for the legal issues this leak has brought to the table. The leak raises the alarm for many people because the details for Operation London Bridge will particularly involve security details for both the family and the public, which can be disastrous if it falls into the wrong hands and this brings to mind the possibility of formal inquiry. I am not familiar with how a formal inquiry works, but provided I can comprehend things correctly, I assume it is another term for an official investigation, and depending on how the investigation goes there can be individuals who are implicated and can possibly stand for trial -- please, please correct me if I'm wrong as I am not familiar at all with how UK legal system works.

This card seems to suggest that a formal inquiry will perhaps be launched, which in turn seems to suggest that the documents leaked to Politico contain some sensitive details, and in turn, this answered the question of who is the source: the source is someone inside the BRF or someone involved enough in planning Operation London Bridge that they have the new documents on their hands.

Fourth card: Seven of Pentacles. This card represents hard work, effort, long-term success, and rewards. This card often represents the diligence and the long-term planning needed to achieve success -- I feel like this is one of the more conservative cards of the deck as it often speaks about the good, old-fashioned hard work. However, there is also a warning within this card: this card can warn that in our current venture, no matter how much diligence we put into it or how much we put our effort into it, the venture will not yield anything.

This ties in with the Ace of Pentacles: this leak will not yield anything worthwhile for the source in the long run. They have put the effort into this leak: obtaining the documents, contacting Politico, getting the business deal, and finally, the leak made it to the news, but the result from it will not be worthwhile in the long run: the result yielded paled in comparison to the effort they have put in this.

Fifth card: Two of Pentacles. Twos are often about choices and balance, and Two of Pentacles is particularly about flexibility, prioritisation, financial and time management, and adaptability. It is one of the more literal cards in the tarot deck, and in my deck, is illustrated as a juggler deftly juggling the pentacles which represents worldly concern. This card generally indicates that the querent is attempting to balance two or more major concerns while maintaining his head above the waves that lap at his feet.

This seems to suggest to me that the source is currently attempting to balance too many things at once, and this whole debacle will perhaps be the tipping point that makes them fall. They will seem to have everything under control, particularly financially and time-wise, but they are going to fall apart soon.

Underlying energy: Nine of Cups. This is the wish card of the deck, as it speaks of fulfillment, good luck, bonuses and promotion, and happiness. As the underlying energy of this spread, this seems to confirm that this leak is one way for the source to get something they desired.

What is funny is that this card, while referred to as the wish card, also often appears when someone is doing shady things, or more eloquently put: there is a victory or getting what you want, but your victory is paid with a steep cost to others. This is what this leak is all about: the desire to be "winning" against the BRF but the consequences of this leak may be steep; in my spread, there is a possibility of legal repercussions as one of the costs that must be paid.

Colour scheme: All the cards on this spread are thematically blue, so blue is the dominating colour of this spread. I did a quick google search and there is indeed a relation between the colour of the cards and tarot: blue is generally considered the colour which signifies calmness and intuition, and it is associated with the planet Jupiter, Mercury, and Neptune. Mercury is the planet of communication and logic, ruling over The Magician. Neptune rules The Hanged Man, the planet of confusion and the need for clarity, and Jupiter rules the Wheel of Fortune, the planet of fate and luck. This can signify that the source opened the first communication with Politico (Mercury) with the aim of sowing confusion (Neptune) and by luck (Jupiter), Politico agrees to the scoop.

Conclusion: The cards showed me the motivation of the source (which affirms what I have seen in my first spread), the circumstances surrounding the source which resulted in the leak and the consequences of said leak. There is no definitive energy or signs that point to a certain individual, so please, no finger-pointing at anyone even though I know it's tempting.

[starfighter10]

tlou2 opinion

So I really had to share my opinion(rant) on the last of us part 2 and boy I have a lot to say. I am gonna dwell deep into this one, so bear with me if you can and want to

 But before that I have to share the feelings I hold for tlou1.Back when I finished tlou1, I knew I experienced something truly magical. I was pleasantly surprised by the beautifully crafted story, the execution of the characters, the music, the gameplay , and the effort that went into shaping the journey of the game,the character arcs and bonds. You could see and experience the uniqueness and passion that went into the first project. This game immediately became a favourite of mine.

When tlou2 was announced, my expectations were skyhigh,was elated to continue Joel and Ellie's journey and how it unfolds. The bar set by the first one was exceptionally high and probably impossible to achieve, but I had trust and faith in naughty dog, thought they couldn't go wrong with this one. After experiencing tlou2 , I am speechless.... not in a good way. I have no words to express my disappointment,frustration and anger I feel right now. I don't even know where to begin.... the absolute mess of a plot, the original characters being blatantly ignored, retconned and disrespected in favour of new bland characters, the plotholes in the story, the false advertising and marketing, naughty dog's hubris, making a complete mockery of your fans who are paying money to play something but getting baited for something else. I am utterly heartbroken and angry.

The plot - the driving force of the game is over ambitious, lazy,sloppy and nihilistic. It felt forced. Naughty dog bit off more then they could chew with this one. Tlou2 could have gone several ways in terms of plot with the existing characters, yet we get the cliche revenge plotline with the character abandoning the quest altogether to realise revenge isn't the answer. This trope has been done several times before, with more finesse and better execution. The writers aim for the " Ellie breaks the cycle of the revenge" but it really fails to achieve this as she blatanly annihilates several characters,npcs along the way in quest of her revenge. The damage has been done practically speaking. According to naughty dog's logic , I should expect Nora's sister or a random npc's friend/relatives in tlou3 hunting down Ellie in their revenge quest. Also Abby's quest literally does nothing for me. This character was so poorly written, executed and shoved down our throats, I didn't have any sort of attachment or empathy for her. I simply don't care about this character.

The circumstances that lead to Joel's death was out of character as well. Since the trailer drop in 2016, I was prepared for his inevitable death. Thought he would probably go out like the badass he is, maybe sacrificing himself for Ellie/tommy. The Joel I know from tlou1, a hardened survivor who has fought tooth and nail to survive the past 20 years would NEVER end up in a situation like that. Joel was intensely alert, critical,clever and intuitive. The argument here may be that he has softened in Jackson, but I feel at this point this should be 2nd nature to him. Something that is automatic. Yet the writer's now want you to believe he is a dumbass who would trust a group of strangers, make small talk and introductions and end up in a situation like that. One of the bigger issues was the constant reinforcing that Joel wiped down the fireflies in cold blood and doomed humanity for death by robbing them of their cure for survival,Ellie believing the cure would have been a guaranteed sure shot success ..... WHY? This retcons the first one completely. The beauty of the tlou1 was it's moral ambiguity and uncertainty. We were constantly hinted that fireflies is a mess of a group whose agendas weren't clearly known, whose actions caused the sacrifice of many people for the sake of a slight possibility of a cure.They were power hungry and were cruel enough to send a 14 year old girl to her death with no remorse,consent or any proper investigation or medical research. Joel initially negotiates to find someone else, gets shut down immediately, gets his means of survival snatched and was practically marched to his death. He had no option but to wipe clean these people who planned on killing someone dear to him, for something that is uncertain or in vain. And yes this was a selfish decision on Joel's part, and that was the beauty of it. The moral ambiguity. He was right or wrong or both - open to your interpretation. BUT NOW NAUGHTY DOG WANTS TO TO ERASE ALL THAT DEVELOPMENT. The active reinforcement that Joel was a cold, ruthless murderer who killed fireflies and deprived humanity of its cure? Trying to erase the fact that he was surviving and trying to keep his dear ones safe in this cold, brutal and unforgiving postapocalyptic world. So that we sympathize with Abby and enjoy golfing the tf outa Joel?. Ellie seems like a different character in this one, but again this character is immediately pushed to a whirlwind of traumatic events right from the start of the game. I missed her spark of joy,humour and enthusiasm. The treatment of the main chatacter in her own game is utterly cruel and disappointing, and seemed unfair to me. By the end, Ellie is broken beyond repair. Though she thematically chooses to be the better person and gives up on her vengeance and hate, she still manages to be on the losing side as she ends up losing her father figure which was her closest bond, loses Dina and the kid , she doesn't have her community, her people, her fucking fingers as well. Why? So Ellie could suffer a little more and be unable to do most important thing that bonded her to Joel. Not to mention she loses her switchblade too, her mother's final memory. Surprised that ND spared her mother's letter . Feel her pain and despair. Why does Ellie get such a shitty,depressing, worthless, futile and a hopeless conclusion while Abby not only gets her revenge successfully, forms a close bond in Lev and gets to escape possibly to a fresh start. Ellie? Nah she gets to suffer alone. Her BIGGEST FEAR has become a reality by the end. The least they could do is let Ellie have some solace and calm, surrounded by her loved ones on that farm,her trying to recover from her trauma slowly but surely, it's what joel would have wished for. But no, she is left all alone, absolutely traumatized, all by herself with nothing to look forward to. Oh and tommy is whole new character in every scene. So keep your eyes peeled for various versions of tommy throughout. The character inconsistencies are ridiculous.

The gameplay, beautiful sceneries, and new characters like dina and jesse are few of the positives of game - leaning more towards Jesse. Dina felt perfect for Ellie and Jesse did manage to lighten up few of the moments. The space shuttle cutscene, the museum flashback sequence, ellie and joel's flashbacks were the only parts that remotely captures the magic and beauty of tlou1. I got emotional watching them. The space shuttle sequence hits you with the feels. Joel slaying a bloater with a machete was cinematic art. (Hot too)

Abby... the forced deuteragonist, is an utter failure of character execution. Her character was forced onto us, felt hasty and lacked real build up. She starts off on the wrong foot by killing one of the most popular characters. If ND really wanted this character to work, the only possible way would have been to play her point of view and backstory prior to her mercilessly killing and torturing a guy who just saved her life. What was ND thinking? That a few hours of her pov,forced out of the blue background story, her getting to play with dogs while ellie has no option but to attack the dogs, the abby-lev bond which is pretty much discount or the walmart version ellie and joel would be enough to side with her over ellie and joel???? The part where they force you to play as abby against ellie? It made me sick. I felt cheated and disgusted.

The false advertising to make us believe joel is alive and good? That this is an ellie and joel centric game?To tug at your heartstrings like this. A complete mockery of the fans who waited 7 years to see their favorite characters get horribly treated,retconned, disrespected and thrown under the bus in favour of new unlikable characters. Butchering the heart and soul of the last of us - Joel and Ellie's bond. The fact that these two don't even get a heart to heart before his death, that Joel dies uncertain of ellie's future, maybe thought he could not save Ellie in those final painful moments, that she had never forgiven him, Ellie never getting her closure with Joel, or really getting to tell him how much he meant to her.... all these thoughts legit made me shed tears. Broke my heart. This is how much ND wanted to honour and respect ellie and joel.

The game's conclusion is hollow, futile, worthless and depressing. And in my opinion, this is non canon. This is the only way I can cope with this unsastifying conclusion. It is immaturity I guess... but I will feel better about it.

Though I utterly despise tlou2, tlou1 will continue to remain one of my favorite pieces of work in fiction. JOEL FUCKING MILLER WILL ALWAYS BE THE BADDEST BITCH AND NOTHING WILL CHANGE THE LOVE I HAVE FOR HIM.

If someone actually read it all the way, thank you for your time and effort. Really needed to rant and let these negative emotions out.