#next up is probably pentacles! i still have one card in that suit left to plan but ill probably figure it out in time lol

[poorlittleyaoyao]

in which my tarot deck maps out Jin Guangyao's self-damning career choices

Tarot cards are a fun way to facilitate self-reflection. Human brains love patterns, and the images, symbolism, and meanings associated with each card provide rich narrative potential. Generally speaking, no matter what cards you pull, you'll be able to create a story with some application to your own life (or the life of the person for whom you're reading).

But sometimes, if you're me, your deck gives you something buckwild that makes ZERO sense for you. You pull an additional card for clarity and it only makes the meaning more obscure. You pull a second clarity card, and the cards are spelling out a very clear arc but it does not apply to you in any way--thankfully, because YIKES.

And then you realize that your tarot deck has spat out an in-depth reading for Jin Guangyao. Again.

COME WITH ME ON A JOURNEY~

If you read tarot at all, you will have noticed and been troubled by the THREE MAJOR ARCANA CARDS HAPPENING, one of which is THE GODDAMN TOWER. This is bananas. If you as a real-life regular human get something like this for yourself and it actually applies, you are really going through it.

So! This started as a regular three-card spread. Read left to right, this can be construed as "past, present, future" or "cause, outcome, consequence."

PAST/CAUSE: The Tower reversed

The Tower is infamously the "oh shit oh fuck" card. Remember the "2020 Tarot Deck: Oops, All Towers!" meme? Yeah. The Tower means a major upheaval, often a calamitous one. Reversed, it's still major, but a bit less dire: an upheaval is happening/has happened, and you need to accept it.

For Meng Yao, this could apply to both his exile from Qinghe and the fall of Wen Ruohan. I'm inclined to say the latter because of the reversal He's not being cast out of this Tower; he's upending it himself. Still, he's reached a point of no return. What comes next?

PRESENT/OUTCOME: Ace of Wands reversed

Wands are about ingenuity, change, and action, and aces are about new beginnings. Thus, the Ace of Wands is about taking chances and making some big moves... except it's reversed here, so those big moves might not turn out the way you anticipated.

Wow! Meng Yao--excuse me, Jin Guangyao--is a war hero and got officially acknowledged by his father! He's even got a shiny new name to show for it! Sure, the name implies that he doesn't belong to the generation of potential sect heirs, but that's probably just an oversight. His dad will definitely reward him if he works hard and does his very best! Right? Right???

FUTURE/CONSEQUENCE: Four of Cups upright

Cups are about emotions and interpersonal relationships. The Four of Cups means that something is off with those things: you're discouraged, you're depressed, and you're prioritizing the wrong things. The artist for this deck illustrates this with a woman who sits with her eyes closed and her hands tucked up against her, either unaware of the cups around her or unwilling to reach for him. "It may speak to disappointment in a specific person or situation," says the book.

WHAT'S THAT, A-YAO? DID SELLING YOUR SOUL TO YOUR DAD NOT WORK OUT THE WAY YOU THOUGHT IT WOULD? ARE YOU PERHAPS HAVING A BAD TIME IN A HELL OF YOUR OWN CREATION?

It's worth noting that Pentacles--the minor arcana suit about security, wealth, and material success--do NOT come up anywhere in this reading. Given how crucial these are to JGY's motivations, their absence is curious. Perhaps the lack of Pentacles is because wealth and success aren't the problems here; the issue is his increasingly fucked-up personal life. Or perhaps there are no Pentacles because poverty and that fundamental lack of security is what led him here in the first place and nothing can be done about it.

If you're left scratching your head after reading your initial spread, you can draw additional cards to clear things up! In the Doylist sense, this cleared things up for me because I realized oh, this is about a blorbo. In the Watsonian sense, let's imagine these cards getting pulled because JGY needs more info about what's wrong.

CLARITY CARD 1: The Moon upright

The Moon is basically "THERE ARE TWO WOLVES INSIDE YOU" as a card. It shows up when the querent is dealing with profound uncertainty, "grappling with doubt, deception, illusion, or a lack of focus" as the book puts it. It represents a choice between emotion+intuition or intellect+rationality, neither of which is an inherently "better" option; it depends on the situation.

So our boy JGY is torn between the rational choice and his gut feelings... and in JGY's case, I'd argue that he follows his gut impulses more than he thinks he does. It is not rational to commit unforgivable crimes at your father's behest, thus putting yourself fully at his mercy. It's not rational to knowingly marry and have a child with your sister and never tell her you're related. (In CQL, that is; in the novel, with the child coming before the knowledge, his choice has more merit.) It's also not rational to leave so many loose ends alive. He's not making chessmaster plays here; he's acting out of fear, sentimentality, and a deeply flawed schema. "Please stop," says this card.

Hmm! Not great! Maybe a new card will help?

CLARITY CARD 2: The Chariot reversed

The Chariot is about willpower, progress, and victory! Except it's reversed, which means your victory was a destructive one that completely ruined you.

Sorry, bud.

#niche textpost content #imagine JGY rolling up to a fortune teller and they're just going 'what the fuck what the fuckkkkk' #trying to think of how to tell the Chief Cultivator that his entire shit is wrecked on a cosmic scale

[illfoandillfie]

Anyone who has been following me for a while has probably seen me talk about a project I’ve been hoping to get started - creating a Queen themed tarot deck. Well, good news, I’ve finished basic planning stuff and I’m ready to start actually making the cards!

BUT I am definitely not up to creating 78 individual artworks, so that’s where this post comes in. 

I’m looking for artists who would like to create a piece or two which will be used in this tarot deck. I’ve organised general ideas of what each card will feature so that we get a good range of images and theres a connection to the meanings of each card.

For the moment I’m going to focus on the Major Arcana of which there are 22. So, if you are an artist in the Queen fandom and would be interested in participating please follow the link below to a short survey I’ve created where you’ll be asked to rank the cards in order of which you’d be most interested in creating art for. 

LINK

Below the cut I have included the list of cards and the prompts for each one, as well as some other info about the project. If you have any questions that weren’t covered below please send me a message (via ask box or dm)! 

If you see this and aren’t artistically inclined please give it a reblog. I’d love this post to reach as many artists as possible and I can’t rely on tumblr to show it in the tags or anything so I would love some extra help spreading the world. 

Why A Tarot Deck?

I’m honestly not even sure where exactly this idea came from. All I remember is that one day I thought it would be a fun idea and then I started thinking about it more and realised just how much work it would be. In an effort to learn about the meanings of the tarot cards I started learning to read tarot (something I’ve been curious about for many years now anyway) and it all sort of snowballed from there. 

Why Multiple Artists? 

Because I’m not confident or capable enough of pulling this off on my own lmao. I enjoy making art but I struggle big time with drawing people and faces and I know I would give up after a handful of cards if I was doing this on my own. But multi-artist decks are very much a thing in the tarot community and theres some really cool ones out there. 

What Sort of Art?

Anything. Whatever medium you enjoy using - digital, watercolour, acrylics, charcoal, etc - and whatever your style is! As long as you can send me a clean copy that can fit into the card template, then you can do what you like. The prompts I’ve chosen for each card are also fairly loose because I didn’t want to limit anyone’s creativity. Part of the joy of a collaborative deck is everyone’s individual interpretations of the cards and the imagery on them. 

The only times I may say you can’t depict a particular outfit or moment is if I’ve already planned it to be on one of the minor arcana cards but otherwise you’ll have free reign. 

 I Don’t Know Anything About Tarot, Does That Matter?

NOPE! After the survey responses have been collected I will deal out the cards to everyone (hopefully in a way where everyone gets to work on something they really want to 🤞) and part of that will include a PDF with some information about the card - keywords associated with it, examples of other decks, why that prompt was chosen for it, etc - to help you get started if you need it. I am also always available to ask questions or bounce ideas off of. 

Distribution?

This is the part I’m still looking into. I am wary of putting these up for sale anywhere because obviously there are copyright things and using people’s likenesses and all of that and the last thing I want is for my favourite band to take me to court lmao. Currently I am investigating a site called Make Playing Cards which basically lets you design your own card decks (one of the specific options being tarot cards) and print them off without having to bulk order anything. I’m just not entirely sure if they let you upload and share a design for free or if you have to put them up for sale. I’ll also create a PDF version that people can print themselves at home if they like. If anyone has any other suggestions for this I am all ears! 

Of course something like Kickstarter is also an option I guess but, again, I’m still looking into all of this. 

Time frame?

I definitely do not want to rush this. The loose timeline I’ve been working off of gives you three or four months to create your card after which time I can start finding people for the minor arcana cards. But, this can be adjusted depending on how many people sign up and y’know if everyone submits their pieces earlier than that then we can bump the next stage up. But I want to give everyone ample time to create something they are proud of. And I am very aware that the current global situation is affecting people’s creative energies and on top of that some of you may be participating in Inktober or similar things around this time of year, so I am also happy to extend the timeline.

What Happens If Not Enough People Sign Up?

Look, I guess it depends on how few artists are interested. Ideally I’d get enough people to do the major arcana but I’m not getting my hopes up. There is a question in the survey asking if you’d be willing to create multiple pieces so if there are left over cards I can hand them out to anyone who says they want them. I can also do a couple myself I just can’t do all 78 cards on my own. 

What Happens If Too Many People Sign Up?

I am surprisingly prepared for this scenario. Firstly there were a few ideas I was throwing around that didn’t end up being used in the final list so potentially we can create some alternate cards. 

Secondly, there is still the minor arcana to do as well. The minors will work a bit differently though. The minor arcana is similar to a deck of playing cards with four suits (wands, cups, pentacles, swords) and the numbers ace through ten plus four court cards (king, queen, knight, page). I was thinking the same artist could pick a number or court position and create the four cards for it so that they all match, if that makes sense. That way all of the Fours will look the similar and all of the kings will look similar etc. SO if anyone doesn’t get to do a major arcana I’ll check if they’d be interested in tacking a minor instead. 

You Said There Would Be A List Where’s The List?

The Fool/s - Smile

The Magician/s - Queen

The High Priestess - Freddie in The Great Pretender

The Empress - Roger in The Great Pretender

The Emperor - Miami

The Hierophant - The Prophets Song

The Lovers - Freddie and Jim

The Chariot - Tour Bus

Justice - Present Day Bri

The Hermit - Older John

Wheel of Fortune - A Night At The Opera/Bohemian Rhapsody record

Strength - Ben Hardy

The Hanged Man - Highlander (or any of the queen songs featured in it)

Death - Bri in the Hard Life video

Temperance - Naked bicycle race

The Devil - Death on Two Legs

The Tower - Frank from News of the World

The Star - Rami Malek

The Moon - Gwilym Lee

The Sun - Joe Mazzello

Judgement - Adam Lambert/Q+AL?

The World - Made In Heaven/Tribute Concert

As you can see there’s a mix of Queen themselves, other people associated with them, objects associated with the band, and songs. I know some of these are sightly out there or unusual but please have a think about them and see if any spark your interest or get the creative juices flowing. I am also open to discussing potential other images to use instead if you’ve got an idea. As long as they can be tied to the meaning of the cards. 

#queen #queen band #queen art #freddie mercury #freddie mercury art #brian may #brian may art #roger taylor #roger taylor art #john deacon #john deacon art #please god don't let this flop #also please ignore the rushed graphic #i just thought more people would stop and look if there was an image lmao

[twentytarot]

hi everyone! i’m here with something a little different from my usual pick a card readings to celebrate 100 followers on twentytarot! it’s been just 2 short months since i’ve embarked on this journey to learn about reading for others and i’m really grateful for the support that the community has shown me since day 1. so i thought i would write about the spread i usually use for pick-a-card readings and give everyone a few tips and tricks that will hopefully be useful for you when you read tarot. thanks again for all your support, and i’ll see you in my next PAC reading! 🥰 

the spread i use is a super simple 5-card spread with no fixed positions. i’ve seen people call this spread the intuitive spread or the storyboard spread, and reading it is pretty simple: you ask your question, determine the number of cards you will need (like i said, i use 5, but 2, 3 or 7 is also common), then pull your cards and line them up single file. then comes the hard part: actually understanding what the cards are saying, without having any real guides other than the question itself. i used to struggle with not knowing where to begin, how the cards linked or what each card meant when i was bombarded with so many different interpretations. these steps helped me become much more concise of a reader, and i hope they help you too! without further ado:

TIP ONE: COMMIT

and by commit, i mean: commit to your question and commit to your cards. you want your mind to be as uncluttered as possible when you ask your question so you can be sure when the cards show themselves they’re answering the question you had in mind. ask just one question per spread to avoid getting confused about which cards are answering which question. in this spread, your question is your guide, so you have to be extra clear and specific. if you intend to have 5 cards in your spread, then stick to 5 cards. especially in the beginning, don’t take extra cards just because they all fell out at the same time. if 7 cards dropped out of your hard at the same time, i encourage you to put them back and try again.

TIP TWO: COMMIT (again)

this tip is more on negative cards. don’t worry, i completely empathise with the panic that happens when the five of cups presents itself as the final card in the spread. i’ve seen people deal with this a few ways: some people pretend they didn’t see that and draw again. i really don’t recommend this. life is not always unicorns and butterflies, and redrawing a card is not going to change that. at best, your cards empathise and frame their answer more nicely, but at worst, you draw a meaningless card because of you’re panicking and not listening to your intuition, or your cards just straight up decide they’ve had enough. so commit to that negative card, and put it down on your spread.

the other way i’ve seen readers deal with this is to immediately draw clarifiers. i also don’t really advise this. for one, that’s not committing to the number of cards your spread was going to have, which is going to affect accuracy. for another, it’s going to clutter your mind. it’s going to cause you to want to zoom into the bad card and get to the bottom of it and you’re going to subconsciously neglect the other cards just because they didn’t worry you as much. a spread like this should be taken as a whole story, and you can’t just read one chapter and know everything about it, can you?

instead, i recommend that you leave that card alone first, and zoom out. there’s only one ten of swords card in the stack, buddy. i promise you, you’re not going to get fatally betrayed five times.

TIP THREE: ZOOM OUT

the best way to make sure you don’t leave any cards out while reading is to read them all at one go first. these are the things i pay attention to when i first look at a spread, in the order:

major arcana: are most cards major or minor arcana? are they generally positive or negative? what are the cards’ astrological equivalents, and do they link or hold any significance? for example, if your spread has temperance and the devil, then that suggests this prediction might come true towards the end of the year.

court cards: again, i’m looking for astrological significance here, and linking it to the major arcana if needed. i’m also looking for double counts (eg: queen of swords and justice) that would give hints about the people influencing the situation. there are also some cards that means certain people to me and my cards, so i’m also looking out for that.

dominant suit: i like to call this the “expectations vs reality” clue. for example, if i’m reading for romance and the spread is full of swords and pentacles, then unless i’m offset by some major arcana, i can be quite sure that romance isn’t really in my near future. of course, the cards can still be read for romance and i will, but it sets the scene. similarly, if i’m reading for work and i get cups all around, then the work itself is probably not going to be my main problem.

dominant number: this doesn’t give as much information as the previous steps, but it does help with setting the scene and vibe. for example, many 1s would suggest new, good beginnings, and 5s may hint towards tougher days in the future. for major arcana bigger than 10, add the digits together until you get a number 10 or less to get the representative number.

TIP FOUR: FIND THE “PARTITION”

this sometimes appears as a card, or an imaginary line. basically, it helps you zoom into sections of the spread and tie these sections together. “partition cards” are usually:

the only major arcana card in the spread

the one card with a completely different vibe / category than the cards surrounding it

the one court card in the spread

the one ace in the spread

and imaginary lines are usually:

between cards of two different suits

between patterns in cards (for example: page, minor arcana [break] page, minor arcana...)

between the last major arcana and first minor arcana card (or the other way around)

between sets of cards with different vibes

it’s not uncommon for more than one of these to show up in a spread, and sometimes they contradict themselves. sometimes there will be a tiebreaker. take this spread for example:

the king of swords is the only court card, but the ace of pentacles is also the only ace. where’s the partition? well, i’d personally place it at the ace of pentacles. notice how on the left of the ace if the four of cups: low in energy, lethargic. on the right are much more active cards. so the ace must be the game changer, making it the partition card!

the partition, depending on the question, means a lot of things. most commonly it points you to what causes a shift in energy for the querent. in the spread above, a new beginning will breathe new life into the querent and bring them out of their slump. other times, each side of the partition answers different parts of the question. either way, finding the partition will help you figure out where the querent is coming from, and where they’re headed. once you know this, then you can zoom into the individual cards and look for specific messages for your querent.

TIP FIVE: YOU AND YOUR CARDS KNOW EACH OTHER BEST

i try my best not to interpret others’ cards. sometimes i do, but usually it’s just for personal practice and i don’t tell them what i’m thinking, and other times i’m just trying to convince myself mark lee and i are meant to be. 😂 i kid, i kid. anyway, the point is that there are many ways to say the same thing in tarot, and the reason why your cards have chosen to say it the way they have is because they trust this is the way you will best understand. so don’t take that for granted! really take every card and stare at it until you know exactly what it’s trying to tell you. sometimes it’s instant, sometimes you only get it as you’re falling asleep, but you should trust that this message was written for you to understand, not for you to decipher. the more you trust your cards, the more they will trust you. 

and that’s all! have a good day and stay safe, everyone 💕

#tarot #tarot cards #tarot tricks #tarot tips #tarot spread #advice from ella

[adamarks]

What’s with the scarf: yet another snowbaz meta

aka the long-awaited and much-anticipated knight/dragon dichotomy meta. 

Wanna know that the fuck was up with that scene where simon caught baz’s scarf? Welcome, you’ve found your new home. Let’s go.

Guess who’s back. Back again.

It’s me, bitch. Now here with their 5th goddamn essay on these goddamn books. Somebody stop me I’m a fiend. 

For this one i really do suggest you read my simon is a dragon meta, but if you don’t have time just look at this tweet. 

Now that we have that out of the way. Let’s get started. 

Point One: The Knight

I know what you’re saying, “what? I thought this was about the goddamn scarf? What’s this shit about knights stop.” I tricked you, fucker. The scarf isn’t until the end. (You save the best for last.) 

Simon Snow is the knight in shining armor of the world of mages. He’s given a sword and pointed in a direction and off he marches. He’s the secret weapon. He’s the bomb. He’s the one that came to save us. He’s the one that came to end us all. The poetry of Carry On is that he was the dragon he was meant to slay, and he gave up his “knighthood” (powers) to defeat himself. 

It’s true that Simon gave up his powers, but did he give up his knighthood? In title and in practice, yes, but he still acts the part. Let’s investigate the defining feature of knights: The Code of Chivalry.

To quote this website that words it perfectly: 

“ A Code of Chivalry was documented in an epic poem called 'The Song of Roland'. [...]   Roland was a loyal defender of his liege Lord Charlemagne and his code of conduct became understood as a code of chivalry.”

From The Song of Roland came a listing of chivalrous traits that all knights should strive to have. They are as follows:

To fear God and maintain His Church

To serve the liege lord in valour and faith

To protect the weak and defenceless

To give succour to widows and orphans

To refrain from the wanton giving of offence

To live by honour and for glory

To despise pecuniary reward

To fight for the welfare of all

To obey those placed in authority

To guard the honour of fellow knights

To eschew unfairness, meanness and deceit

To keep faith

At all times to speak the truth

To persevere to the end in any enterprise begun

To respect the honour of women

Never to refuse a challenge from an equal

Never to turn the back upon a foe

This is Simon to such a T that it’s a little bit alarming. Wayward Son is Simon’s struggle to reintroduce himself into civilian life after being a “boy soldier” since he was eleven. He’s a knight whose sword has been taken, armor melted down, and purpose rescinded. 

A knight can’t be a knight when the king’s been killed. Who, then, does he serve? Who, then, does he protect?

Simon has lost his purpose, his meaning. He has these traits that he doesn’t know how to funnel into something else. He’s a chess piece that’s utterly worthless. 

Not only does he feel purposeless, but he also hates an entire side of himself. and that leads us to our next point:

Point Two: The Dragon

Simon Snow was the villain of his own story.

He was his own dragon to his own knight. His own worst enemy. The main conflict of this story is a man vs. himself type. Simon hates an entire part of himself. He doesn’t just hate it, he vehemently denies its existence. 

“I’m not a DRAGON!” (Wayward Son, Chapter 35)

Of course, if you’ve read my wings meta you’ll know that not only is this him denying part of himself, but also his sexuality. And his love for Baz. But Rainbow writes layers upon layers into this delicious parfait, and Simon’s dragon-ness isn’t limited to being his sexuality. This is literature, after all. 

The knight needs to accept the dragon. Simon needs to accept the person that his trauma has turned him into. If you’ve been through any major trauma, you’ll know that you’re different afterwards. You’re still you. All of the most important parts are there- you did make it out alive- but you’re a little bit different. 

You’re more careful. You’re more anxious. You guard your heart just a little more fiercely. You don’t want to let people in quite so easily anymore. 

What is a dragon’s purpose in a narrative? To protect. To guard. To keep out. To keep in. 

The dragon is those behaviors that we learned to protect ourselves in those times of hurt, and while, yes, we need to unlearn some of those behaviors, certain ones may never leave. Once you figure out how to read micro-expressions on an abuser, you can’t just unlearn how to read a face like a book. The issue is figuring out how to manage those habits. How to keep them from hurting others that aren’t going to hurt us. How to... train... our dragons... (I’m sorry it’s my favorite movie.)

So, the dragon is simon’s shadow self and the knight is his light self, yes? Yes. But! Let’s put a magnifying glass up to these two concepts. 

If a dragon’s narrative purpose is to guard, protect, keep out/in, and be defeated, then what’s a knight’s narrative purpose? A knight’s purpose is to guard, protect, save, and defeat. 

These two concepts aren’t wildly different, they’re two sides of the same coin. Simon needs to stop seeing these two sides of him as enemies and instead recognize that they’re good and bad in equal measures. The dragon questions potential dangers; the knight helps all out of the goodness of his heart. The knight obeys blindly; the dragon knows to obey himself first. The knight is selfless in all things; the dragon is selfish and greedy. There are pros and cons to both archetypes. 

But fire and steel? The monster and the hero? How do you reconcile these two concepts? How do they fit into one person?

Well, the answer surprised me too. 

Point Three: Tarot?

I know, I know. Stick with me. I’ll explain. 

In every tarot deck there are the major arcana (unimportant for this meta) and, just like in a regular playing card deck, four suits. Each suit has a king, queen, knight, and page (also like a regular card deck). Each suit relates to an element: pentacles = earth, swords = air, wands = fire, and cups = water. 

We’re going to be looking at the knight of wands. 

He is a knight of fire and passion and spark. He is headstrong, impulsive, and reckless. This card is Simon in his entirety. To drive home my point, let me quote from the guidebook to The Enchanted Tarot by Amy Zerner & Monte Farber:

“The dark [Knight] of Wands rides into view upon his great, plumed charger, carrying a fire-tipped wand. Behind him the gray, dusky clouds swirl like smoke, against which his figure glows like red embers. His journey is carrying him into the unknown but he is a pioneer and filled with energy and excitement. He likes to take risks. An active, unpredictable and competitive disposition drives him forward. He radiates a very masculine energy, full of creativity and passion. His youth, however, sometimes impels him to be quarrelsome or overbearing if he feels his authority and leadership are in question. Somewhat self-centered, he is likely to think he knows a good deal more than he does...”

The knight of wands embodies both that regal nature of a knight and fiery passion of a dragon. Simon needs to stop thinking that these two sides of him are incompatible or that one is lesser. Simon is Simon and he is worthy to be called a knight, even with all of his dragon parts. 

Point Four: Courtly Love 

or maybe not so courtly?

Courtly love was a concept in the knight’s code of chivalry where a knight would pick a fair maiden from a higher status and dedicate all of his great deeds to her honor. Because the catholic church had a tight grip on everyone’s balls, though, this love was not sexualized. Well... it wasn’t supposed to be but we all know how that shit works. 

Agatha was supposed to be the “endgame.” She was Simon’s courtly love. His fair maiden to which he dedicated all of his noble deeds. 

But Agatha didn’t want to be a fair maiden anymore. 

And Simon didn’t love her. 

And then there was Baz’s hankie. 

In most Courtly Love relationships, there was a token bestowed upon the knight by the lady as a symbol of gratitude and affection. This token was, most often, a kerchief. 

I think we alllll remember that goddamn handkerchief. I remember that handkerchief. That handkerchief haunts my dreams.

Simon keeps that goddamn handkerchief in his drawer after he takes it from Agatha. He doesn’t even give it back. He so desperately wants to have this token of Baz’s love. His approval. His friendship. He wants something of Baz’s because he feels like he can’t have Baz himself. Baz is his real unreachable maiden. Baz is the one Simon doesn’t feel like he’s good enough for.

But more importantly, this brings us to the most important point of this meta:

Point Five: The Scarf

“The Mustang sounds like a bat on its way out of hell. And Simon is its getaway driver. Fourth gear on a gravel road, his blue eyes narrowed to slits. My mother’s scarf catches the wind and slips off my head. Snow whips out his hand to rescue it. He glances over at me, for just a second, holding it like a banner.”  (Wayward Son, Chapter 25)

I know I literally screamed the first time i read that. Simon is a knight saving his lady’s favor. 

But it’s not just that the scarf is a favor. Simon always gives it back. You don’t return a lady’s favor. 

“‘Oh, hey,’ he says like he’s just remembered something. He leans back to reach in his pocket, and takes out a wad of blue silk. 

‘That’s my mother’s scarf!’ I reach for it.

He opens his hand. The scarf threads through his fingers as I pull it away. ‘Sorry,’ he says. ‘I forgot it was in my pocket.’

‘I thought I left it in the hotel room.’

‘You did.’

I fold the scarf, gently. Snow watches for a moment, then looks away.”

(Wayward Son, Prologue)

Now, @theflyingpeach (hi bri) pointed out to me that the scarf probably represents Baz’s humanity, what with it being his mother’s and him leaving it at the hotel. And yeah she’s right you can read it as that. (and it’s quite compelling) But that’s another meta for another day.

Today we’re on that good knight shit.

That scarf is Simon’s heart. 

Baz says he always travels with it. He gently uses it to protect himself against the wind. Simon thinks he’s gorgeous when he wears it. Baz keeps thinking he’s lost it...

but he hasn’t. 

He’ll never lose it, as long as Simon’s around.

Go back up and read those excerpts and tell me you don’t want to burst into tears. 

Simon keeps returning his heart to Baz. “I’m broken. I’m bruised,” Simon whispers. “I’m a knight with no sword. I’m a dragon with no hoard. I only have this one last thing to protect, but instead I give it to you. I’d give it to you again, and again, and again. It’s yours forever. Even though I think you don’t want it, it’s yours until you explicitly tell me to take it back. My love is yours for however long you want it, Baz.” 

The handkerchief in Carry On also translates into being Simon’s heart. 

“I go to the drawer where the handkerchief is shoved in with my wand and a few other things, then I wave it in his face. ‘This one.’

Baz pulls the fabric out of my hand, and I pull it back because I don’t want him to have it. I don’t want him to have anything right now.” (Carry On, Chapter 50)

Simon wasn’t ready to give Baz his heart yet in Carry On, but it was still Baz’s. It still had his family crest embroidered right into the material. Simon’s heart has always been Baz’s and Baz’s alone. It’s just that now, he freely gives it. He freely returns it. 

“I’m yours, Baz. I’m yours.”

A knight could not go against his code and cross that barrier to be with his lady. 

But a dragon is selfish. A dragon can ask for what it wants.

And all Simon wants is Baz.

And Baz is just waiting for him to ask.

Thank you for reading yet again! I dedicate this to bri because without her the scarf thing would’ve never dawned on me. Also she kept bitching at me to write this. 

 Check out the mirror meta and food meta while you’re at it.

time for the tagging peeps

@singerofsimplesongs @carryonsimoncarryonbaz @krisrix @pastel-pink-death @lowcalcalzones @godmcfuckindammit @fight-surrender @simonsnoww @rareandbeautifulthing @neck-mole @basic-banshee (i know you’re not super into these but you had an anon about it) @birdybabybird @whitefire17draws @teaandinanity @watfordwallflower @carrybits @slaying-fictional-dragons 

#sorry if i forgot anyone in those tags #i rise from the dead with two thousand words #as i do #carry on #wayward son #wayward son spoilers #rainbow rowell #meta #anyway the wind blows #awtwb #simon snow #simon snow series #snowbaz #baz #baz pitch #tyrannus basilton grimm pitch #Agatha Wellbelove

[prideandpen]

Sorry about the floral background, my bed is the best space I have for large spreads at the moment and I didn’t think about how loud it would look when I photographed it.

First row. The Light Seer’s Tarot: The Lovers (R), 8 of Wands (R), The Sun (R), King of Pentacles (R), Page of Pentacles, Queen of Pentacles R) Second row. Rider Waite Tarot: 8 of Pentacles, The Chariot, The World (R) Third row. Wisdom of the Oracle: Soulmates, Time to Go, Co-Create, Go the Distance (R) Fourth row. Oracle of the 7 Energies: Smoke and Mirrors, A Powerful Move, A Burst of Magic, Body and Soul, The Storyteller Fifth row. Foxfire, The Kitsune Oracle: Beauty of Age, Memories of The Forgotten Self, Transcendence, Growth

@songscloset​, this is your reading for the next 6 months of your professional life / career. It’s kinda long so the reading itself is under the cut.

With the Light Seer’s tarot we see that things appear to be starting off slow with the 8 of Wands in reverse and the Page of Pentacles upright. Over the next six months I think you’ll be working on grounding yourself and returning to your roots when it comes to work. With the Lovers reversed I feel like maybe you’ve lost your passion for your work, and that lack of passion (and maybe misplaced effort) has lead or is leading you to a difficult financial spot. With both the King and Queen of Pentacles reversed it’s a good time to think of yourself more and give less of yourself (your time, your money, etc) to others. Generosity is great but it comes with a price at the moment, and that price should never be your own well being. But don’t worry! Because the sun is here. It might be reversed but the sun always brightens a spread. This is the first reminder that the next six months are not so dark and dreary, you just need to look where you’re going and avoid linger in the shadows of stress longer than necessary.

At a glance this top row confused me, so I pulled three cards from my Rider-Waite mini tarot deck to clarify before continuing on with the spread. The 8 of Pentacles here tells me that you’ve got some hard work ahead of you, either in coming to a decision about something or after (probably both). While the Chariot is about choice and being pulled in two directions at once i always feel that the chariot leads to victory once you pick the right direction. You’ll pick the right choice for you and it will lead you to where you want to go so long as you walk towards the sun. And once you make that choice you’ll be working hard on something that is meaningful to you, because the man in the 8 of pentacles is someone who is working to master his craft - whatever that craft may be - not someone who is just working to work. This is a steady passion something long in the works, not a spark that’ll burn bright and fizzle out. With the World in reverse this, again, feels like going back to your roots This isn’t a time for going off on a brand new adventure but a time for building yourself up in whatever work you want to be doing.

From the Wisdom of the Oracle deck we start with the Soulmates card, since this is a professional reading I feel like this is about some sort of team project or collaboration. But not just any collaboration, this is the type of collaboration you’ve dreamt of. Either you’re working with someone you’ve always wanted to work with or you’re starting a project and finding the perfect match in someone to work on it with you. This is emphasized by the Co-create card, which also makes me think this is likely a creative project. The next card, Time to Go, gives me the sense that you might be the one reaching out to this person who you want to work with. However it could also be a nod to walking away from work that you no longer feel any drive towards. Especially when we look to the end of this row where we’ve got Go the Distance in reverse. I feel like this card is talking about how the work you’ve been doing and focusing on isn’t what you want to be doing, and so it isn’t doing you any good. You won’t reach the goals you’d most like to reach if you keep pushing yourself faster and further and harder down a path that isn’t yours or in a position that doesn’t suit you. Life isn’t a race and you might be running on the wrong track. However, since this card is in reverse it could also be a sign that while shifting gears to a project you have a passion for is undoubtedly the right choice, the success you want won’t happen overnight. It could take some time, especially when we look back to the King and Queen of Pentacles, and the 8 of Wands all in reverse. This isn’t a speedy route to success, just a better one.

With the Oracle of the 7 Energies we start with Smoke and Mirrors, followed by A Powerful Move. These two cards feel like they’re confirming what I’ve already talked about. You’ve tried to fool yourself into believing you can be something you’re not by doing something that’s maybe okay, but it’s not what you want. And maybe you’re fine where you are but your calling lies elsewhere, and making that decision to embark on an old forgotten path, back to your roots, is a powerful decision. It’s a power move.. And power moves are often unexpected. A burst of Magic tells me that you might not be expecting this. Maybe you’ve already got that tingling feeling in the back of your heart where you sort of know but maybe haven’t been ready to admit it yet, but soon enough it’ll bloom suddenly like the first flowers of spring and you’ll realize that it’s the right time to do this. With Body and Soul we’re talking about selfcare, but this isn’t the soft and sweet bubble bath and a cup of tea type of self care. No, we’re talking about recognizing the self. Not just your worth but your wants. Who you are as well as what you are and what you do. Often times we do things that aren’t true to who we are because of a variety of reasons; we have to make ends meet, we have people to take care of, a life that has to be survived before it can be lived. But your life is now calling you to live it. Nourish your body, nourish your soul. Recognize that while you aren’t necessarily what you do, what you do seeps into who you are. Who do you want to be? What do you want to do? The choice is yours. This is reiterated in The Storyteller. You tell your own story and you write your own story. You get to decide and that goes for any part of life, including work. Although, this card brings me back to thinking this is about a creative shift that’s happening over the next six months because a storyteller is a creative. Someone who, obviously, tells a story. This can be done through any creative medium no matter what this burst of magic is for you. I suspect it’s a writing project - though that might be my existing knowledge at play here - but it certainly doesn’t have to be. if there’s something else that’s calling to you don’t feel bound by or to the written word. There are a million ways to be creative and a million ways to tell a story. It’s not even limited to what we usually consider to be parts of the creative world. Remember. You, your life, and your work, are your story to tell.

With Beauty of Age, as our first card from the Foxfire Oracle, makes me wonder if you’ve hesitated on some version of this idea in the past. If you think you’ve missed your opportunity. It’s easy to feel like we’re supposed to make certain achievements at certain moments and that there’s a right time to make something happen. But the right time isn’t always in the timing we think it is. It’s more likely that you’re coming into your right timing now and over the next six months. The beauty of age (at any age!) is that we have more information, more experience, more (and maybe better!) ideas. This means we can take an old idea that maybe we’ve forgotten, or cast aside, or left in a drawer because we weren’t ready or the moment was missed nd when we’re ready we can pick it up again, dust it off and see not only what a great idea it still is but also how we can make it better. Memories of the Forgotten Self continues this thought and, once again, serves as a reminder that this is an opportunity to go back to your roots here. Is there an idea that you’ve left alone for so long? Is there a reason why you left it behind? Did you forget? Were you not ready? Are you now? Or. If it’s not a specific idea, is it a path you wanted to go down but never did? Follow the sun and see where it’s light leads you. It’s okay to do so now. You’re ready. With Transcendence I know that it might not be an easy decision to follow whatever this dream or idea might me. That’s why you feel torn between to paths like the chariot in the first row. You’ve got obligations! You’ve got life to deal with, you’ve got muck, and mud, and Stuff to wade through. The timing might not feel right even as you’re reading this. But if you’ve got that tingling feeling, those chills you’ve been ignoring are telling you that the time will be here soon. In a sudden burst you’ll know, and over the next six months you’ll have the opportunity to start down on that old path. it might not be an easy path but it’s a path that will serve you well and leave you better than it found you. Because that’s how Growth is. It’s tough, and sometimes it hurts. There might be growing pains on this journey but you’ll expand your skills and make connections and, eventually, you’ll reach your goals. Grow towards the sun, walk your own path. Retrace your steps and try again.

So. To sum up that gigantic block of text: The next 6 months for you in your professional life are a time to rediscover what you want to be doing. There are choices and connections to make and a lot of growth in both skill and for you on a personal level. And although it might not be right away, and maybe not in the next six months, these choices and connections, this growth, does lead to success. But remember when talking about success that the definition of the word is personal. How do you define the word? I would take some time when making these decisions to consider what the success you want looks like, because that’s the success this leads to.

#songscloset #deanna reads tarot

[cheemerthelizard]

Crusader of Life (Kakyoin x Reader) Chapter 3

Yup, these will be posted every day until I get done. If you’re wondering, I counted, and there’s 18 chapters. That means two and a half weeks of consistent content! You guys are gonna be disappointed when it goes back to my regular “schedule” all the time.

Dear Mom and Dad,

Hi! I know you're probably very worried about me, but I'm perfectly fine. You know how I've always been talking about making a difference in this world? Well, I got the chance! However, it was a bit of a last-minute thing, so I never got to tell you. I just want you to know that I love you very, very much, and I'll be home before you know it!

Love,

(Y/N).

You sighed, putting the envelope in your jacket pocket before leaning back on the soft, cushiony airplane seat. Your parents must be worried sick. You felt bad about leaving them behind, but what more could you do? "Hey, Mom, Dad, is it okay if I go to Egypt with two of my classmates, a fortune teller, and an old guy to fight an immortal vampire bent on world domination?" Heck, even if you just left it at, "Can I go to Egypt?" they would never let you go. They didn't know what Stands were, and telling them about it sure wouldn't confuse them any less. Well, one thing's for sure. When you get home, you'll be grounded until you leave the house, and a few years after that. But enough worrying about the future for now. If you wanted to be ready for anything tomorrow, you needed sleep, so you closed your eyes and wiped all thoughts away from your mind...

And then you heard a fly. A large fly, too. Groaning, you lifted your head up to see where it was, and how far away you had to walk to kill it. That's when you noticed that it was most definitely not a fly. It looked like a beetle of some sorts, but you couldn't figure it out.

"A stag beetle," Jotaro said, not specifically to you. In fact, when you actually turned your head to his voice, you noticed that rest of the group was standing up, in battle-ready positions.

"Jotaro, you don't think it's another Stand, do you?" Kakyoin asked.

"I think that's a bit of an overstatement," you answered. "It's just a beetle, it's not like-"

“Jotaro, it’s by your head!” Kakyoin shouted.

"Be careful," Avdol warned. "There is a Stand user who commits mass murders and makes them look like a horrible accident. This plane is the perfect place for his next round of victims. He's also very well-known for taking those victims' tongues, so don't let that beetle near your mouth."

“Guys, we just fought a Stand user a day ago,” you said. “There’s no possible way that-“

Before you could finish, Jotaro had already summoned Star Platinum, and the Stand had already swung its arm around to hit the beetle. However, before Star Platinum had even finished moving in its direction, the beetle darted away. Great. It had only been a day, and you had to deal with another Stand.

“Fool!” the beetle laughed. “My speed is far better than yours! You’ll never even get the chance to hit me!” It shot a strange, tooth-like appendage at Star Platinum, and it seemed to be going straight for the mouth. Star tried to block it with his hand, but it went straight through. Luckily, he was able to catch the appendage with his teeth.

“He went for the tongue!” Avdol gasped. “It must be the Stand which suggests the Tower card, Tower of Grey!”

Star Platinum, in his panicked rage, sent out a volley of punches against Tower of Grey, round after round, punch after punch, with seemingly no space in between them. It was a bit frightening, therefore, when the little bug was still completely intact, not a scratch on him.

“I already told you, Jotaro,” Tower of Grey spoke in its sinister voice, “my speed far exceeds yours! You don’t have a chance against me!”

Then, as if to show what it meant, it had darted out of sight within the blink of an eye, and before you knew what was happening, it had taken a whole row of tongues, and left the bodies lifeless as they dropped down, only being caught by the seat in front. Once he had the tongues, he used the blood dripping out to write a word on the wall of the plane: Massacre. The worst part? A poor old man, who had nothing to do with this, got up from his seat to go to the bathroom, and accidentally rubbed his hand on the blood. It took him a while, but after he read the word on the wall, he started shaking from fear. The only way to not wake everyone up from their seats was to make the man pass out. The whole thing made you really question if going to Egypt was a good idea.

“Magician’s Red!” Avdol summoned his Stand, but Kakyoin quickly interfered.

“Wait, Avdol! I think my Stand is best suitable for this job. I’ll take him on.” Kakyoin summoned Hierophant Green, and quickly let out a move you hadn't seen. Hundreds of emeralds suddenly emerged from Hierophant's hands and shot straight for Tower of Grey. You assumed the move was called Emerald Splash, since that's what he shouted when he used it. But when the move was finished, and the emeralds had vanished, the pesky little Stand was still perfectly fine.

“Noriaki Kakyoin, was it?” Tower of Grey laughed. “Lord Dio won’t be so pleased that you’ve joined the Joestars and their little group.”

Kakyoin tried his Emerald Splash again, and again, and again. Each and every time, Tower of Grey dodged it. You were starting to think that maybe you should duplicate Kakyoin before it was too late. Somehow, he didn’t seem to notice that his Emerald Splashes were ineffective against this Stand with seemingly no weaknesses. He’s trying again and again, but he’s doing the same thing, expecting a different result. It took you a while, but eventually, you noticed Hierophant’s appendages shooting out from beneath the seats. Of course! It’s a diversion! You dared not say a word, though; you didn’t want the enemy to hear.

“Don’t you get it, Kakyoin?” Tower of Grey laughed. “My Stand is invincible! Once it rips out your tongue, you’ll go mad from the pain!”

“Oh, Hierophant will go mad all right,” Kakyoin said. Suddenly, the appendages that you had seen before shot up towards the beetle, and pierced it from every angle. “Mad with joy!” All at once, each little string from Hierophant Green ripped through Tower of Grey, dissolving it into nothingness.

A bit further down the aisle, that old man who had witnessed the Stand attack sounded like he was in pain. You and the rest of the crew turned, and saw that his tongue had split apart, and he had fainted. Looks like he wasn’t such a poor old man after all.

After setting him down in a chair and covering him up, Joseph said, “Hey, does the plane seem to be flying crooked to any of you guys?”

You took in your surroundings, and it did seem to be that way a little bit. You saw a cup roll forward and stop when it reached the top of its arc.

“It is flying crooked!” Joseph exclaimed. “Don’t tell me...” He started running to where the cockpit was, and the rest of you followed suit.

“Sorry, but only the staff are allowed back here, sir,” one of the flight attendants said, but Joseph pushed her and the other one out of the way. Coming up next was Jotaro. “Excuse me, you’re not allowed-“ the girl started to say.

“Move,” Jotaro pushed both of them very forcefully, much more forcefully than Joseph. Each of them landed in Kakyoin’s arms.

“Sorry about him, girls,” he said, his smooth voice seemingly putting them in a trance. “That’s no way to treat a woman. But this is very important, so you’ll have to let us by.”

“Okay...” both of the girls looked at him with longing eyes, and you felt a twinge of jealousy. Why? What were these feelings?

“(Y/N),” Avdol said, breaking you away from your thoughts, “why do you have Ace of Pentacles summoned? We’re no longer in danger.”

“Hm?” You looked, and there she was, bright as day. “Strange. I don’t remember summoning her.”

“You know, if a user is exhibiting a lot more emotion than usual, then sometimes a Stand will appear without being summoned, and will show what the user is truly feeling. And it seems that Ace of Pentacles is looking pretty longingly at Kakyoin.”

You looked, and Avdol was completely right. Ace was staring right at him, with loving eyes. Oh, no. That’s what those feelings were. You were in love.

“You’ll keep this between us, right?” you asked Avdol.

“My lips are sealed,” he replied. “Although, you might want to work on controlling your Stand. It would be awkward for Kakyoin to be talking to you, and Ace suddenly show up.”

“Yeah,” you laughed, knowing full well it wasn’t a joke. “Perhaps you could help me?”

“It would be my pleasure.”

“Avdol! (Y/N)!” Kakyoin exclaimed. “Joseph is going to make an emergency landing! Prepare yourselves!”

“Got it!” you said, and looked back at Avdol. “Not a word?”

“Not a word,” he confirmed.

#kakyoin #noriaki kakyoin #kakyoin noriaki #kakyoin x reader #noriaki kakyoin x reader #kakyoin noriaki x reader #crusader of life #stardust crusaders #jjba #jjba x reader #jojo #jojo x reader #jojo's bizarre adventure #jojo's bizarre adventure x reader

[thegodskeeper]

Roll Initiative and Draw Your Cards

This post began life as a Patreon exclusive post! To see posts like this at least thirty days before the rest of the world, please consider supporting me on Patreon! 🎲🏹🤺💔🧩

Roll initiative! As some of you may know, when I’m not looking at my runes and figuring out my life, I like to play a couple of roleplay games. I have a weekly Pathfinder game, and in fact one of my main characters is also a diviner. And a storyteller. Perhaps they’re looking over my shoulder while I make this post… They say to write what you know, so I guess that applies to roleplaying too; which is where this little idea sprung up from! Ever have trouble thinking up what character you want to play for a new campaign? Then perhaps this six-card “spread” can help you learn a little more about your deck and build a character at the same time. Let the cards be your GM!

Since this is an entirely new idea (to me) I actually took this concept to a couple of people on the Diviner’s Anonymous server and asked them to help me test run it and give me their thoughts! Big thanks to beamagical​, centerpointwitch​ and the-odd-aardvadillo​, especially for unraveling some of the kinks in the first draft. In this tutorial, we will be creating three characters - one for each of my beta-diviners - and explaining how they built the characters that they did.

Fun bonus fact: some aspects of how you signify “you” in this method are a little sneak-peek at the Wandering Oracle system that I am hoping to debut on mu Patreon.

What you need:

A tarot deck - physical is best. If you happen to have to use an online deck or an app, then you’re going to need a piece of paper or some other way to keep track of all cards already drawn.

A character concept (optional) - we don’t want the key details, that’s what this system is for, but if you happen to have a real inkling to play a Chaotic Evil half-elf called Daisy Dukes, roll with it!

A roleplay system - I had Pathfinder in mind when writing this up, but it should be adaptable to Dungeons and Dragons, Dark Heresy, Changelings… it’s designed to be open-ended. If you’re going entirely from scratch, I would heavily recommend looking up the d20PFSRD.

Start by shuffling your deck and drawing cards until you find a face card (ie. any of the suit cards beginning with Page, Knight, Queen or King). That is your character’s class.

Analyze the key traits of the card, and decide what role would suit someone with that sort of personality, or those kinds of personal skills.

Keep drawing cards until you find a Major Arcana card (ie. the ones without suits, such as Temperance and The Lovers). This is what motivates your character in their chosen class.

Note: Whether or not you choose to use reversals in your character is entirely up to you. Some may have an obvious meaning, while others may seem irrelevant. Trust your gut, or honestly, go with whichever sounds more exciting for you to play!

Example 1: Cas drew ‘The Page of Cups’ and ‘The Heirophant’, and settled on “an idealistic Bard who aims to learn every heroic epic they can”.

Example 2: Bea drew ‘The King of Wands’ and ‘The Magician’, and decided that their “character is  a Paladin, and their motivation is personal power”.

Example 3: Alene (also) drew ‘The Daughter/Page of Cups’ and ‘The Emperor’, and thought of “a Rogue from a noble house who ran away from home to be in control of their own life”.

Next, draw another three cards; any cards. These are the cards that tell you about different parts of your character’s backstory. At this point, hold on to any jumpers - they may be extra information you might not otherwise have thought about, perhaps a plot hook to save until a special moment in the game.

Family and Childhood

Career and Evolution

Beliefs and Influences

You can analyze these cards the same way you did your class, as well as considering what they might mean in the context of what we learned in the first two cards. What are the key traits of the card? What might this mean for your character, knowing your class and goals? Think of it like a three-card tarot spread, and build your backstory based on how each card relates to the next.

Example 1: Cas drew ‘The Knight of Swords’, ‘Temperance’ and ‘The Two of Pentacles’. In their words, “basically [my bard] studied anything they could as a youth, and their studies of heroic songs showed them how few and far between heroes really are. So they became a paladin, a knight of goodness to help any they can.”

Example 2: Bea drew ‘The Eight of Pentacles’, ‘The Hermit’ and ‘The Five of Wands’. In their words, “my character came from a family of craftspeople. They made shoes, but my character really didn't like the social aspect of being a salesperson, so they wandered off. While they were out wandering, they realized that the world is not a safe place and that they needed to learn to protect themselves, so they learned how to fight and became a warrior.”

Example 3: Alene drew ‘The Father/King of Wands’, ‘The Two of Wands’ and ‘The Three of Wands’. In their words, “my rogue decided on their path after leaving their Noble background and their father behind. They were joined by two loyal companions and are boldly going in their new direction but probably still have some internal conflict to resolve due to their upbringing and relationship with their father.”

Finally, draw cards from your remaining deck until you find a Minor Arcana card (anything with Wands, Cups, Pentacles or Swords in the name). This final card helps determine your character’s reasons for joining up with an adventuring party.

Yet again, it’s time to analyze your card. What key traits do you have? Did your character have ties to members of the party beforehand, or are they a true newcomer? Are they simply traveling with people for security? Did they even want to be in a group? Do they have a score to settle?

If your GM has given you a little bit of story to work with already, then you can align your results from this step with the overall plot, as well. Who says the GM needs to know everything...

Example 1: Cas drew ‘The Six of Pentacles’, and is thinking their character met the party ‘on order of their god… to join a group’.

Example 2: Bea drew ‘The Nine of Swords’, and tragically their “character was about to jump off a bridge, and someone saved them”.

Example 3: Alene drew ‘The Son/Knight of Wands’, so their character ‘charmed their way in’.

Bonus Rounds!

Still want to add some spice to your mix? Keep on piling on those cards:

Does your character have a secret? Draw a Major Arcana card from the remaining cards, but keep it hidden from the rest of your party. Analyze the key traits of this card, and how they relate to the “main spread”. Perhaps you have a secret alignment (oooh) or you used to work for the bad guy (aaah).

Is there an important NPC(s) in your character’s life? Draw face cards from the remaining cards - as many as you want there to be characters - to learn a little about their personalities and roles. If you can’t find any left, then maybe your character has no ties (oh no!).

Not settled on an alignment, yet? Draw another card, any card, and see what it says. All together now… “time to analyze the key traits”.

So, what building blocks do you have to create your character? Has this method been helpful, or has it left you even more confused than before? If you don’t think you have enough to work on to build a detailed personality or backstory, why not do a reading for your new character! A good ol’ Past / Present / Future reading may give you some more hints.

If you think you have enough to work with without that, then now it’s time to go hogwild! Name your character, figure out their age, figure out their race (if you haven’t done all this already). And then take that character out into the wide world over yonder and throw some monsters at them. Happy adventuring.

#tarot #roleplay #lee talks

[ridleymocki]

But I Was Rapt, Without A Name

Written for Pynch Week 17, Day 6. Prompt:  Fireflies // Language // Elements

Summary: There are some things about Adam Parrish that are still mysterious, even to his boyfriend. The way he can look at a mass of cards and find some sort of deeper meaning is among those things. Ronan's happy to learn, though.A cute hang out fic featuring guest appearances from the Gangsey, and entirely too much coffee drinking.

Notes: Guuuuuys, I’m really starting to feel the strain of this challenge, this was so goddamn hard. But when I think of ‘Elements’ I think of tarot cards, and how reading TRC actually finally made me study them and how to read with them, after years of idle fascination. Add the need for some actual plot and you get patient tutor Adam with hopelessly in love and attentive Ronan. Title is from 'Sirensong' by The Cure, which is an awesome freaking song and an awesome band, honestly.Thank you a whole great big awful lot for reading! And I hope you enjoy it <3

also on ao3

“You bring those everywhere with you now, Parrish?” Ronan stepped onto the back porch and smiled down at Adam where he sat, legs crossed on the wooden decking. Around him were cards. Lots of them. It wasn’t quite the multi-deck spread that could take over a whole table at 300 Fox Way, but it was complex in a way Ronan couldn’t understand, arcing around where Adam sat.

 “Yeah, pretty much” Adam said. He returned Ronan’s smile, so at least he knew he wasn’t intruding. “They help. It’s like free therapy.”

 Ronan quirked a brow and dropped down to sit next to him, handing over a coffee cup, its steam catching the yellow light from inside. “Sounds weird.”

They heard Blue yell out from inside the house, “Hey losers! You watching with us or what?” Adam snorted and shook his head.

 “No,” Ronan called back. “Don’t do anything gross on my couch!” And quieter he grumbled, “they probably will now, damn it.”

 Adam chuckled lowly, “You gave them ideas. Rookie mistake.”

 After Ronan had updated the living room to include an obnoxiously large television and home cinema system, and after the threesome of ambiguous relationship that was Blue, Gansey, and Henry had returned from South America, movie night inexplicably became a regular occurrence. They’d been watching the same show for four hours – some quirky sci fi thing that made Gansey happy because it was set in Wales, and made Blue happy because it had a female lead – but Adam had ducked out twenty minutes ago, and with him went half of Ronan’s interest.

 “So how’s this supposed to therapise you?” Ronan nudged his chin at the cards spread before them. He could see Adam physically bite back the that’s not a word, and smirked.

 “Do you really want to know?” Adam said, and Ronan nodded, immediately giving him his full attention. Adam was sometimes reluctant to go on about things that genuinely interested him, worried that it gave other people too much power. He preferred deep conversations on topics from which he was personally detached, because then at least if someone disagreed, it didn’t feel like rejection. But Ronan had been sure to show him from day one of their relationship that he didn’t have to worry about that, here. Adam gave him a small smile. “Well, tarot cards don’t always show the future. They show you possibilities. You ask them a question and they give you one possible answer. It’s when you analyse the answers the cards give you, and how they fit with you and how you react to them, that you get insight. So like–“ he reached out and tapped a card at the top, at the far edge of the spread– “the Three of Cups. I asked what I needed to focus on and this is what they said.”

 Ronan leaned over and looked at the card. Three women in long dresses seemed to circle around each other, each had a goblet in her hand that was raised joyously above their heads as though making a toast. “They want you to focus on getting drunk?”

 Adam punched him lightly in the shoulder. “Asshole,” he said to Ronan’s grin. “Look, to me anyway, it’s referring to stuff like tonight, with everyone here.” He looked at Ronan uncertainly, but was encouraged by whatever he found in his face. “There are hundreds of interpretations of every card. For a lot of people they’re as subjective as Rorschach paintings. But for me the Three of Cups has always been about the three women being friends, you know? They’re together, they’re in harmony. And they’re happy. They’ve reached a point where things are good and they can celebrate. So I see it and I think of all of us here, of how good things are. So I should focus on that, on friends and hanging out together. I agree with that card being there because it feels true, for me. But maybe I wouldn’t have made that conscious choice unless I did the reading.”

 Ronan nodded, but honestly he was surprised. “That’s a hell of a lot more rational than the way the witches do it.”

 Adam grimaced. “Yeah well, they’ve got a better connection to time than I have. When they get an answer it’s definite. But with Cabeswater gone it’s harder for me to do it like that.”

 “So you’re just going to be a nerd about it instead?” He nudged Adam’s shoulder, going for levity to get that sad little frown off his face. Cabeswater’s absence was something they all felt. Ronan was working on it. Gratifyingly, Adam stuck his tongue out at him, and laughed into his coffee cup.

 “You wouldn’t think it, but yeah.” He said eventually. “You can actually nerd out about this stuff. Tarot is… complicated. Systematic.”

 “Yeah?”

 “Mhmm. I mean, look.” He pointed to a card labelled ‘The Fool’. “This is the first card in the deck, but it’s an outlier, that’s why it’s marked with a zero. From there you get the twenty-one majors. They show what the Fool has to go through and deal with in life, the kind of stuff everyone has to deal with; fear, imbalance, moral principles. Tarot is a universal narrative, that way. Then you have four suits, all with their own meanings and elements, all with ten pip cards and four court cards. The Aces are the pure energy of the element of that suit, the rest of the pips are different possibilities, and the courts are like characterisations for how those elements work.” Adam turned to check he was still listening, and caught Ronan looking at him heavily.

 Ronan listened alright, thought that if he were in a room crowded with raucous people and Adam began to talk, he’d still hear it. But he loved Adam like this, loved his brain and the way it worked to push him ever forward and above everyone else. When Adam let him have a glimpse inside his mind, it was only understandable that Ronan would take a long look. The way his eyes sparked with knowledge pulled at him more than Ronan could explain.

 Adam raised a judgemental brow at him, smirking, and Ronan cleared his throat. “Elements?”

 Adam frowned for a moment before recalling what he’d been saying. “Oh. Yeah. Wands are fire, and represent creativity–“ he pointed to a card, then another, each one featuring the symbol he explained– “Swords are air, and represent the intellect, rationality. Cups are water, they’re about emotions; how you contain them or how they overflow. And pentacles, or coins, they’re earth. That’s about resources, usually material ones.”

 “Right, okay. And that all makes sense? When you do a reading like this?” he gestured to the general sprawl of cards before them, probably half the deck laid out on the wood.

 “More or less.”

 Ronan hummed, and drank his coffee, aware that Adam was watching him, mouth turned up at the corners. He didn’t know why so many of their conversations felt like this; like resting something on the edge of a table and watching it teeter. They were always on the edge of something. “Am I anywhere down there?” He nodded to the spread.

 He’d meant it teasingly, but Adam suddenly looked a little nervous. He waved at a set of three cards at the lower right edge of the layout, set side by side. “Well, this is your bit.”

 “I get a whole bit? What about me don’t you know, Parrish?” He tore his gaze away from Adam’s face and actually inspected the cards. Ronan felt something unpleasant unfurl in his stomach when he saw what must have given Adam that look. The cards in the middle and on the right seemed unassuming enough. Blue skies in the background, just ordinary scenes. But on the far left–

 “The Devil?”

 Two nudes were chained to a post, demonic tails curling beside them. Above them sat a rotund, goat-horned demon, wings like a bat’s and an inverted pentagram upon his head. The background was black and the demon wielded a lit baton like a bludgeon.

 “Don’t freak out.” Adam rested his fingers against Ronan’s wrist, curling them against his vulnerable veins. “It’s not bad.”

 Ronan looked at him skeptically. “It fucking looks bad.”

 “No, okay. I laid out those three cards to mean past, present, and future. The Devil’s in the past–“

 “Great. So I only used to be Satan.” If he sounded childish he didn’t care. There were some nights he wondered about he and Adam, the intrusive whisper in his thoughts that Adam could do better, that Ronan was bad for him at best and downright corrosive at worst.

 “Fuck. No.” Adam scrubbed a hand through his hair. “The Devil isn’t literally the devil, or any devil. It’s just– It’s temptation... Pure freaking temptation.” He was avoiding Ronan’s eyes. On impulse, or maybe just intuition, Ronan reached out and passed the back of his finger down Adam’s cheek. Adam startled, turning to him in confusion, but not quick enough. His cheek was hot. “I wanted you for a long time,” Adam said lowly, after a moment. “Even when I didn’t realise. And then when I thought it was dangerous for me.”

 Ronan didn’t know what to do with that, the words ‘a long time’ rang again and again in his head and he wanted to throw something. “What changed?” Because something had to have changed.

 Adam shrugged. “Eventually I knew better.” He smiled when Ronan just raised a brow, uncomprehending. “You’re an asshole, but you’re good for me. I like being with you. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”

 When Ronan had stepped out the back door earlier and joined Adam out here, he hadn’t been counting on this. He would’ve been happy to lie down nearby and hear the buzz of summer’s insects, leaving Adam to do his thing. Now that he’d heard those words pass Adam’s lips, he couldn’t go back. The sense that he was on borrowed time evaporated, the future spreading out instead.

 As he stared, struck dumb, Adam’s smile grew wide and he leaned forward to press their foreheads together. Ronan let out a long breath. “Fucking hell.” Adam just hummed.

 “Do you want to know the rest?” Adam asked after a minute. Ronan nodded, and Adam kissed him softly for a moment before pulling away and downing the rest of his coffee, long since cold.

“Alright, so in the past I was lusting after you, or whatever.” He looked infinitely pleased at Ronan’s helpless laugh. “In the present, you’re the Two of Cups.” This card looked markedly more pleasant. Two people stood opposite one another beneath a lion’s head with wings, and clinked their goblets together. It looked like a bright day, blue sky and vivid colours. “This basically means that you’ve made a connection with someone complimentary to you. Me, I would assume. It’s the card of a good beginning, a good relationship.”

 “Are you sure that one bit cardboard is telling you that?” Ronan teased.

 “Hey, that’s just what it means. If I happen to agree that’s neither here nor there.” He reached and ran his hand up and down Ronan’s thigh, a touch just for the sake of touching. “And this one, in the future spot: Temperance. I don’t know if it’s about you or about us but Temperance is all about balance. It means that you’ll get what you need but it won’t be spoiled by being too little or too much. It’s a healthy card, peaceful. That’s what you have to look forward to.”

 “Huh,” Ronan was a little surprised. “That’s oddly optimistic.”

 “Like I said,” Adam leaned into him, “the cards just show you a possibility. If you decide you like it, it’s your sign to head towards it.”

 Ronan scoffed derisively, and shifted to loop his arm around Adam’s shoulder. Even in the still warm summer night, it was comfortable. “I could have told you I wanted this to go well even without the damn cards.”

 Adam smiled. “I know. Still, it’s nice to turn over a good card and realise for yourself how much you really want it.”

 Ronan didn’t say anything. It had only been a few months, but he’d bet good money on what they had. Or at least, on how far he was willing to go to keep it as good as it had been so far. There was something enduringly right in being with Adam, and every hint he got that Adam felt the same was a clarion call to keep going. It would get difficult, of course, when Adam went away for college or when their interests pulled them in different directions. And they still had to deal with the issue of Ronan’s dreaming and what to do about their burnt up magic forest. But in the middle of it they were good. The fact that Adam had even set out a card for the future, and indirectly shown he counted on having one that included Ronan, was big enough that as they lapsed into silence, Ronan felt uncommon contentment well in his chest and settle there.

 “Are you doing gross things on the porch!?” Henry suddenly yelled out, shattering the silence, and poked his head out the living room window. “We’re going to start a game of Twister, you want in?”

 “Fuck no,” Adam called back immediately, making Ronan laugh. Henry grinned wide at him, then seemed to take in their current position – Adam’s hand on his thigh, Ronan’s arm curled around him – and his smile grew softer before he ducked back into the house.

 Ronan turned his head and pressed a kiss to his hair, his hand finding Adam’s and linking their fingers.

 The back door burst open and Blue crooked her head cheerily around the frame. “Come on, assholes. You had all summer to be all over each other, come hang out.”

 “In a minute,” Adam said airily, and Blue made a disgusted noise at them, rolled her eyes and went back into the house.

 Faintly they could hear her say, “They’re too busy sucking face and sighing. Dammit Gansey! Left foot on red!”

 “I don’t even have to say anything now,” Ronan said quietly. “You’re sending everyone away before I can.”

 Adam sighed. “We should go in. They just got back. But I don’t want to, yet.”

 Ronan rubbed his hand up and down Adam’s arm. “Then what do you want?”

 Adam sat up and looked him, his gaze dark and sparking, and Ronan had to resist the urge to swallow down his want. In a second, his empty coffee cup was being gently taken out of his hand and set aside. Ronan barely had time to look up before Adam’s lips were on his.

 This wasn’t the kiss of familiarity he’d gotten just before. This was hungry. This was a you feel too good not to touch kiss. A stay close to me kiss. An I’m not going anywhere kind of kiss. Adam’s ridiculous hands came up to cradle his face, like he needed to feel him under his palms to know this was real. Ronan wrapped his arms around him and pulled Adam close, and they fell back to lie on the wood, Adam sprawled over him as their mouths worked.

 Time must have passed but Ronan couldn’t have said how. When they parted, lips red and breaths heavy, Adam’s thumb was still running over his cheek, passing back and forth.

 Ronan cleared his throat. “So how often do you do tarot readings?”

 Adam began to laugh uncontrollably, shaking over him, and Ronan caught his face to bring their mouths together again.

 (They went back inside twenty minutes later with their cheeks red and hands clasped. Ronan carried their cups while Adam grasped the cards they’d eventually piled back together. Gansey looked at them fondly, even where he was contorted with Henry on the Twister mat. Blue threw a pillow at them, just so they knew she was happy for them.)

#pynchweek #pynchweek17 #fic #the raven cycle #pynch #my fic

[dorightwoman-blog]

Tаrоt Cards - Right Or Wrong?

"What are those?" My grandmother pointed to my set of cards.

I looked at her, excited to tell her. "Tarot cards."

Her eyes widened and she glared at my mother and father. "Who let her have the Devil's playthings?"

My mother and father looked at each other. "I bought them for her." My father spoke.

"And you claim to be a religious man?"

"I don't see anything wrong with her satisfying her curiosity."

"It's a sin! You can lay no claim to this being a religious house if you allow instruments of the Devil within it!" My grandmother suddenly lost her temper.

"But Grandma, they're fun and pretty." I argued.

"Get rid of them." She seethed.

I was once told by my parish priest that the occult was a dark art. Sure, some of it can be, however, the tаrоt can be used for divination or entertainment. I came from a devoutly Catholic family. Every Sunday, my parents and I attended mass, prayed and went to breakfast afterward. There were prayers before every meal, bible study after school and restricted television watching on the weekends. For my family, Jesus was always someone we were trying to impress.

I took an interest in the tаrоt when I was fourteen. I saw a fortune teller using a deck when I was at a carnival with some friends the summer before. I was attracted to the designs on them and the way the fortune teller laid them on the table in what I would later learn was called a spread.

I asked my father about the cards a few months later to see if he had any information about them, and he offered to buy me a deck. I didn't understand how a deck of cards could cause so much turmoil in a family. Because it seemed to be a religious issue, the only person I could think to ask was my parish priest.

"The tirada de tarot amor solteros is a part of the occult, which is demonic. Why, being a good, Catholic girl, would you want to play with something as dangerous as this? Why are you letting Satan tempt you?" Father Burns told me.

Okay, so the tаrоt is part of the occult, and the occult is demonic, but how can Satan tempt me if I just look at them? I had no idea how to read them. I decided to educate myself.

The tаrоt originated in Italy in the 14th century. It was used by the Jews for purposes of divination, or telling the future. The deck consists of 22 major arcana cards, cards that resemble the king, queen and jack of a deck of playing cards, which represent life, and 56 minor arcana cards, cards that resemble the numbered cards in a playing card deck, which correspond to the major arcana in some way. Each card has its own meaning.

The deck my father bought for me was the Medieval Scapini Tarot, created by Luigi Scapini. The Scapini Tаrоt recreates the images of Middle Age Europe through costume, symbolism and setting. Many images on the cards were inspired by Italian Renaissance masterpieces. The cards are complete with gold backgrounds and symbolism that the reader has to interpret that ties this particular deck with the esoteric tradition of the tarot. Because each tаrоt deck is different, the Scapini deck includes the suits of swords, cups, wands and coins. These suits correspond to the traditional tаrоt suits of swords, cups, wands and pentacles. Playing cards can also be used as tаrоt cards. The suits of the tаrоt correspond to the four suits of a deck of playing cards: spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds.

Occultism has been a part of American culture since the mid-nineteenth century. In 1871, there were an estimated eight to 11 million psychics and occult followers. By 1979, according to Time magazine, and estimated 40,000 "witches" were active in the United States. Today, that figure has quadrupled. Over 300 educational institutions, including universities, offer programs and even degrees on New Age topics. Of these institutions, about 100 in America alone offer courses in witchcraft. According to The Stateman's Yearbook 2007, In 2000, Illinois had a total population of 12,419,293. Of those, 6,457,000 were Christians and 270,000 were Jewish. The other 5,692,293 were unknown. Those unknowns might be Occultists.

The reason for the high number of occultists in America is the abandonment of orthodox Christianity. It is a fact that wherever Christianity is biblically practiced, occultism is rejected.

People leave the Christian religion for many reasons, some of which include interests in other religions and wrong-doings by the church. However, most leave the religion hesitantly. For example, a man named Jason* left the Catholic Church mostly because of his homosexuality. He simply did not agree with the church's teachings on not only homosexuality, but women's ordination and papal infallibility. Jason still has a great respect and love for the Catholic Church, but won't go back unless he sees a change in the things that he didn't agree with.

The tаrоt is studied by occultists and Pagans. Paganism has had a tremendous influence on Christianity. For example, the Catholic baptism of infants was derived from a Pagan ritual. Many Pagan rites were incorporated into Catholicism: the use of incense, genuflections and the practices of facing east for prayer. Sadly, most Christians have either denied or forgotten this.

In biblical evaluations of the tarot, it is stated that the cards ignore man's sin, it contains a "secret doctrine" that only a few are privy to and that the cards are dangerous when used to control one's destiny because of the symbolism. The realization is that Tаrоt cards correctly say that man needs help spiritually. The four suits of the minor arcana have also been identified with the four symbols of the legend of the Holy Grail: lance (Wand), cup (cup), sword (sword), dish (pentacles). The major arcana also has Catholic symbolism. For example, the hanged man, card number 12, picturing a man hanging upside down from a cross by his ankle, signifies the death and resurrection of Jesus.

For me, Tаrоt readings were always steeped in the mysterious; carnival readers in dark tents, with black velvet draped over the table and chairs and small crystals hanging from the ceiling.

That's what I used to think. Now that I realize that carnival Tаrоt readers are probably only out for money, I searched for what a real Tаrоt reader looks and acts like. I didn't find it in any book, so, to find my answer, I visited a "real" Tаrоt reader.

I visited a website to try to get some information on where to get a good reading. The information told me to stay away from calling 900 numbers, such as Psychic Friends and Miss Cleo, because usually numbers like that employ people who have no reading abilities and they do what is called "cold reading". Cold Reading is where a reader names a number of people and ideas the person getting the reading may or may not be familiar with in a hope that the person will offer some valuable information to further the reading. Cold Reading has been compared to fishing; the reader just keeps throwing useless information out there until they get something useful. These numbers are usually scams.

When I arrived, I noticed the place I was at looked like a normal house. When I rang the doorbell, a woman in her 40s, clad in a tee-shirt, jeans and fuzzy bunny slippers, answered the door. "Hi." She greeted me.

"Uh, hi." She probably guessed that I was taken back by her attire.

She invited me in and instructed me to take a seat at the kitchen table (which, by the way, had a St. Patrick's Day tablecloth on it.) While she got me a cup of coffee, which was in a cup that said, "world's greatest mom" on the side, she carried the cards over to the table.

She sat opposite me, taking the cards out of the old sock she kept them in. "Why do you keep them in a sock?" I asked.

"So they can become personalized. It's believed that if you keep your cards in a personal place, you will bond with the cards, giving you a more accurate reading." She smiled. "What's your zodiac sign?"

"Libra." I replied.

She searched through the cards until she came to the Justice card. She set it aside, separate from the rest. "Why don't you include that one?"

"This card represents you." She held up the card she set aside.

"Why does it represent me?"

"Libra stands for law and justice. This card corresponds to that."

I nodded and she told me to shuffle the cards. I did and handed them back to her. She laid them out in what was described as the "celtic cross" spread. The spread had two cards in the center, one on top of the other, making a cross, four cards in a circle around those cards and four cards stacked running up the side of the circle. The cards that are in and make up the circle detail someone's issues, obstacles, and past and near futures. The cards that run up the side detail a person's inner thoughts and feelings and environment, ending with the final outcome prediction to that person's question.

She was correct in predicting some things in my reading, such as my past relationships and general obstacles. However, she didn't get many of the future predictions correct, the predictions that she told me would happen within the next month.

As we were sitting down to dinner, my grandmother asked me if I had gotten rid of the cards yet. My parents looked up from their plates and listened intently, wide-eyed, wondering what I would say.

"No." I said simply.

"Why?" Grandma asked calmly.

"Because Grandma..." and I proceeded to tell her what I had learned about the Tarot. This was something I wanted to pursue, and I didn't like for anyone to be angry with me, especially her. I always wanted my grandmother to be proud of me.

When I was finished explaining, I expected her to scream and holler, but it never came. "Hmm." Was all she said, and that was the end of it.

People either read or go for readings of the Tаrоt because either they're looking for some interesting fun or they're turning away from their religion and looking for different spiritual outlets.

I had talked to several different people that all told me that they read the Tаrоt because it's "fun," "interesting," or "because my family hates it," but only one person said to me, "I read the Tаrоt because I like to know what's going to happen tomorrow. I hate surprises."

This surprised me. "You really believe that you can see the future through the cards?"

"I don't believe it, I know it."

This sent up a red flag for me. This is some insane individual who bases their life off of the Tarot...get away! This is what I instantly thought. However, through my research I've learned that most individuals who read the Tаrоt do it for spiritual purposes and believe what they see in the cards. Because of what is portrayed in the media, I took this person to be absolutely crazy. Through the research I've done, I've learned several things about the Tаrоt and maybe have matured a little while I searched for answers.

"Your grandmother's leaving." My father called to me as I rushed down the stairs to say goodbye to her.

"I'll see you next next month." She said to me as she kissed me on the forehead.

As I turned to walk away, I heard her call after me, "What you said last night at dinner really made sense."

I turned to her and smiled. I just wanted her to understand. That was all I wanted.

[illfoandillfie]

oh my gosh an increasing chances reading?! can I get one with me and the guys name is Michael and a new deck of your choosing. Thanks babe ily 😘

went with the art nouveau deck because it was already out and i havent picked up any new tarot decks recently but we do got new oracles lmao

Tarot: queen of swords, 9 of pentacles, the lovers, the hermit, page of cups, 8 of pentacles, ace of wands

okay so you’ve probably noticed that there are 2 cards in there that don’t look like the rest lmao. that’s because in this spread the first two cards are meant to represent the querent (you) and their person (michael) and i got a new deck a little while ago which is perfect for describing people through archetypes. SO

you came out as the trickster which is associated with transcending convention stuffiness and predictable behaviour (shadow attribute is manipulating others through duplicity). and he came out as the student which is associated with humility and devotion to knowledge, openness to lifelong learning (shadow attribute is arrogance in the pursuit of destructive knowledge and an unwillingess to translate knowledge into action) 

now to the juicy stuff 

the top three cards represent how your person sees you, thinks about you and feels about you. 

he sees you as the queen of swords. A complex woman but very smart and very capable. The sort of person who doesn’t have the time or patience to mess around. Perhaps a little intimidating but great to have on your side. Strong, independent, perceptive. Basically a bit of a badass. 

with the 9 of pentacles representing how he thinks about you theres a couple of ways we could take it. the 9s as cards haven’t quite reached the completion of the 10s. They’re about maturing and gaining awareness. Recognising changed values and opinions and shifts in perception as you grow older. So we could take this as a message that the way he thinks about you has changed over time. He’s seeing you in a new light more recently. but the 9 of pents specifically is related  perseverance and abundance. So it’s also possible that this just means he thinks about you regularly. 

At this point I would like to make it clear that I don’t cherry pick cards, I shuffle until something falls out and I take it whatever it is. And I want you to know that because the card representing how he feels about you is The Lovers. Obviously this potentially means that there is some form of attraction there or that he feels there could be. And perhaps that’s what the 9 was referring to, he didn’t always see you as a potential partner but he has started to. But, as a slight caveat,  the lovers doesn’t inherently mean anything romantic. It is usually taken in that context but it can also mean other sorts of strong partnerships and bonds. But y’know whatever. 

The bottom row of cards has to do with your chances of anything happening. 

Representing you current chances, with everything how it is right now, we have The Hermit. Nothing is likely to happen between you. It’s a pretty definite card because it’s about solitude and withdrawal and contemplation. This indicates that now isn’t a good time for things to happen.

But the next card, Page of Cups, is how to increate your chances of something happening between you. Like the other pages as well he’s a symbol of messages, so this may be a sign to boost communication with michael, y’know send him a message over insta or whatever. It’s interesting that the page of cups came up because cups are the suit tied to emotions/feelings. and this specific page is seen as a bit of a dreamer, very imaginative. He represents unexpected inspiration so it’s about being open to new ideas, especially when they seem to come from nowhere. 

Finally as some added advice we have the 8 of pentacles and ace of wands. the 8 of pents is about hard work and ambition while the ace of wands is all about new opportunities, creation and inspiration. Funnily enough, both cards are related to passion. The ace of wands is passion like desire and the 8 of pents is like the sort of passion a master craftsman might have for their craft, but still...passion. However you choose to go about trying to strength the connection and increase your chances of something happening, it is going to take some time and probably dedication/commitment. 

Now for your oracles. 

Your moon card is full moon in leo - don’t let pride get in your way. I think that’s fairly self explanatory. 

Your heart card says Deep in your heart you already know the answer. Do what feels right. which is fascinating because...

the first of those two door cards on the left says Intuition - Simple, complex - Words of pain or words that heal. You come to know truth by the way that it feels. Which really just makes me think of that page of cups. So trust youself, whatever your gut tells you is the right thing to do. 

Your other door say Patience - Everything soon will come to light And then you will see things will be alright. And THAT makes me think of both the hermit with his light, seeking answers, as well as the 8 of pentacles. 

You also got the Princess card (You can be your own knight) from my new Believe In Your Own Magic deck which basically means that you have the power to change your situation, you don’t have to wait for someone else to change things for you or make the first move. 

And finally Pond - looking inward/inspiration/uncertainty. more of that page of cups energy I think. 

Lastly, because this isn’t long enough already lmao. I got this deck recently. It’s made by someone I follow on youtube and she calls it a channelled messages deck. The basic idea being that the messages on these cards are either things the deck wants you to know or things your person would say to you if they could. Take it with as many grains of salt as you like I just thought it’d be fun. Also this is like the second time i’ve used them so

So. The message from the deck is You Already Know. Which really fits in with some of those oracle cards. Perhaps you do know what needs to happen or how to move forward and you’ve not put any stock in it or you’ve not realised the truth of it. 

But on to the rest of the messages. 

You are so beautiful, why do you need me? there is doubt and uncertainty here. He sees you as the queen of swords, as independent, and he’s not sure you’d need him or want him. Echoed in Do you think about me too?

I think we should see other people in reverse. He wants you. He doesn’t like the idea of you being with someone else. 

I can’t even look at you right now in reverse. he might be unable to see you in person but he wants to, might indicate he’s been looking at photos. because I just dream and wish for everything... this poor boy lmao big 7 of cups, wishful energy. 

You make me want to do bad things in reverse you make him want to be good enough for you and he wants to prove that he would be. 

#card reading #this got long oop