shatterstripes

There's a subtext of being imprisoned by one's success. Man, this deck will be fun to do readings with.

The fours, as I look back on them, are generally about temporary solidity and stability. Some good, some bad. None of them are really a stability that you want to have hold; in some, it clearly will not, in others, it's more subtle...


Cups is stagnation, longing. She should be happy in the midst of this, one feels, surrounded by latex-clad masked servants, indoors croquet, and a huge mansion, but she wants out of it all. Or just can't be bothered to care any more.


Pentacles, on the other hand, is peace. A positive form of success. But how long will her tranquility last? Will that precarious house survive the night, much less whatever extreme conditions may come?


Swords is a moment of peace, stability, and treaty amidst the chaos of battle - surely this cannot last. They may be on opposing sides. Even if they're allies, the conflict will find them again.

And finally, the four of Wands - as you observed, she's high in some lonely tower with her money, behind iron bars. She has it all but she doesn't look to be enjoying it in the least. She's not enjoying what she sees much, either - and she's staring straight out of the card with a directness rare in this deck. She's trapped in something she built and not enjoying it in the least.

or maybe I'm just projecting who I was when I was becoming trapped into a kind of success - and had long black hair with a green streak, to boot.

I really hope that the whole of this deck ends up a bit brutal, in the proper way. Beautiful to look at, but occasionally as painful as a kidney stone.

Wow... it's me.

...and here I thought I was doing a baseless self-portrait.

The colours, the despondent glare, the prison of things - felt very evocative.

I seriously want to redraw my "johnni" self in exactly that pose or commission you to do it (in your spare time... heh). Many of the other Tarot cards are very cool, I love chariot for example, and many of the swords and cups, but this one said "mine!".

To find out that it's a card of temporary stability... just wow. That's been my life for years lately.

The butterfly (cutterfly?) Sosael would work fairly well for the 5 of swords, I think. If I remember right, that's 'defeat'? I just drew it recently in my daily card-drawing to learn my current deck better.

On a not-entirely-complete non-sequitur, have you read Perdido Street Station? I just finised it recently, excellent dark fantasy that for once is not set in the middle ages nor has any elves, orcs, or mages. What it has is genetic hybrids Remade through biothaumaturgy, mad scientists, large bird-men, cactus people, fickle cross-dimensional whimsical-horror spiders, female human bodies with scarab beetles for heads, and the main evil horrible monsters are giant moths with hypnotic wings, barbs and knives, and tongues that suck a sentient being's dreams out. Of course, you can probably guess who the moths reminded me of.

The five of swords is so strongly 'defeat' that even the fluffy-bunniest decks can't really sugarcoat it. I'm going to have to think about how to involve her, and how this resonates with the butterfly symbolism I used for the 0 of VOID, and if she's really appropriate. She might be too much about chaos and madness.

And yes, I've read that, as well as Meíville's other books in the same universe (The Scar and The Iron Council) and some of his other stuff. *grin* Thanks, though!

Pretty much, yeah. There's a bit of self-defeat in it too, but... yeah.

I feel like EPIC FAIL is more the 10 of Swords. I may be using these terms differently than you, of course!

I don't thing there's a CAN HAS CHZBRGR? anywhere in the deck, though.

Mmm, on the same day I got to the end of Perdido Street Station, I went and bought The Scar. It was just that good. Something about that type of writing actually sparks my own imagination further. There's very few authors that can give me that sort of reading rush...Ian McDonald and Jeff Noon being two off the top of my head.

Hmm....a thought occurs, too...Sosael is about chaos and madness, so if she showed up on the 5 of swords, would it be too symbolic to show her /own/ defeat? A kind of triumph and a sadness at the same time, the destroyer defeated, something like that. Rather than, say, someone being defeated by her.
The deck I have has that card with the five swords as bars of a cell, with someone on the inside gripping the blades and bleeding. Fairly potent stuff.

As the animus of Sosael's sister, I have to come in and say wanting to see Sosael defeated is counterproductive. She has to be transformed... and inevitably will. So it's really best to just pat her on the head and tolerate her antics as best you can. :)

(After all, she's not only fully equipped to snap back, wretched as ever, after a "defeat" -- though Alizarin came somewhat close once with psych warfare -- remember, that's exactly what gets her off! Having her bloodlust reciprocated validates the self-hate that fuels her...)

That made me laugh just a bit, remembering a scene between Sel and Sosael involving the world's lamest murder.

Yeah, that's sort of how I was thinking of doing it. Thing is, her horrible joy in self-immolation has already been covered in my version of the 3S. I don't like my existing sketch for the 5S, though, so I'll be doing SOMETHING with it, and Sosael's certainly going to be part of it my first tries.