#elemental oracle

[windvexer]

Thanks for answering my last ask, because well… I’ve been going by the book for literally EVERY CARD, pulling muddled readings 60% and then pulling more cards when cards don’t make sense to me, and I’ve been wondering where I went wrong. *obviously I know the whole “your personal method works best” but in this case it’s not working for me* But yeah, thank you chicken, it was really helpful bc I’ve been hitting a wall for a while and I think I needed to hear this.

Here is one way of reading tarot as a simple oracle which does not use spreads.

As far as I'm aware this is my original system. For me, it provides sterling omens that can be arrived at simply enough (once you are used to it) without using the book meanings.

The problem with book definitions is that sometimes they are very difficult to associate to any specific problem, and not everyone can read intuitively.

So perhaps you'd like to try elemental dignities. First, assign each card one of the four Western elements (earth/air/fire/water). This is easily done for the suits. The task is more difficult for major arcana. Lists of major arcana elements can be found.

Or, simply take all the major arcana out of the deck.

Next, assign a few qualities to each element. These qualities may be ones that also make sense for spellwork or other rituals, but remember that here our goal is divination, and it's fine to assign qualities that only make sense for divination.

Here is a starter list if you'd like to use my qualities:

Fire (wands): Very fast (the fastest). Passion and desire (carnal and otherwise). Intensity. Aligns with questions of want, creativity, and fulfillment. The spark of life and what makes us "glow." Force to get the job done quickly.

Air (swords): Fast. The mind and intellectual pursuits. Knowledge, rationality, objective truth. Matters of learning, education, and skills. Aligns with questions of knowledge, truth. Deceit and betrayal. Cleverness to get the job done precisely.

Water (cups): Slow. The heart, subconscious, and the current that runs underneath things. Feelings, poetry, and subjective truth. Matters of emotions, relationships, and bonds that tie. Aligns with questions of motivation, feeling, and wellbeing. Wisdom to get the job done best.

Earth (pentacles): Very slow. The physical bodies of things, and the institutions and structures that we use to care for and manage bodies, and create physical things. Labor, money, wealth, debt. Matters of physicality (a friend being present in body, versus in spirit). Discipline to get the job done completely.

Alright. Now, if you don't work with elements very much, you may actually need to spend some time getting on the same page with them. That's alright - it's part of the fun! (and good exercise if you want to expand your elemental sorcery)

Because next, what you've got to do is assign an element to your question.

I can't remember if you said or not what your original spell was about, that you were reading on.

But let's say that it was a job spell. To me, that would be an Earth question. If it was about a person discovering a career path that they're passionate about, maybe that would be a Fire question. If it was about discovering a career path that is best for their wellbeing, perhaps that would be a Water question.

There is a lot of ambiguity here (is a question about a friend who is a suspected backstabber in the workplace an earth, water, or air question?) but all you've got to do is pick the element you think works best for your question.

Alrighty. So we've cast a Fire spell, let's say, and we need to know how it will go. All the major arcana have been taken out of the deck. Now, find the Wheel of Fortune and shuffle it back into the deck.

Shuffle shuffle shuffle.

Hold the deck face-up, so the pictures are facing you. Pick up cards one at a time and set them aside until you find the wheel of fortune.

The card on top of the wheel of fortune is the best possible outcome for the spell.

The card beneath the wheel of fortune is the worst possible outcome for the spell.

Here is how you judge the omen:

A card that matches your question's element is a very good omen.

If my top and bottom cards are both Fire cards, that is great for my Fire question.

A card that opposes your question's element is a very bad omen.

Earth and air oppose each other

fire and water oppose each other

If my bottom card is Water, that means the worst possible outcome for my Fire question is very bad indeed.

A card that neither matches nor opposes your element is a decent omen.

Earth and water are good friends with each other

Earth and fire are just buddies

Air and fire are good friends with each other

Air and water are just buddies

Suppose my question is will this business deal go well? Which I have chosen to be an earth question.

I shuffle. The cards are as follows:

On top of the Wheel of Fortune (best possible outcome): Cups card

Beneath the Wheel of Fortune (worst possible outcome): Swords card

Now I can see that the watery cups card is good friends with my earthy question, and the best possible outcome is just fine - not perfect, but a good deal.

Unfortunately, the airy swords card opposes my earthy question - the worst possible outcome is very bad indeed.

Perhaps now I'd like to know how to prevent against this worst outcome - I may perform the operation over again, this time instead of the Wheel of Fortune using a card related to victory or protection (perhaps for a business deal I'd choose the Emperor or the Chariot), and choosing new meanings for my top and bottom cards. Perhaps this time the top card will be "best thing I can do to prevent a bad business deal" and the bottom card will be "worst thing I can do."

Because if you'd like a little more detail, you can start accounting for the elemental meanings and the card numbers.

Now, here is a note - if you are just asking for outcomes, it is easy to apply the "opposite element = bad outcome" rule. But if you are asking for guidance, opposing elements can begin to function more as warning signs than bad omens. Let's see this in action below:

Now I ask an airy question - what is the best way to stop this business deal going bad?

And instead of the WoF I choose to use the exact same swords card that was my bad omen the first time around.

I shuffle the deck and find that swords card.

On top of the swords card (best action to take to prevent a bad deal): Page of Pentacles

Underneath the swords card (worst thing I could do; would make the situation worse): Nine of Cups

Well heck! My most positive card is enemies with my question's element. How may this be resolved? To answer that, let's take a look at what to do with the card's position in the suit.

I guess you can use numerology if you want, but we're after something a lot more simple.

Aces may be high or low (that is, an ace card may be weaker than the 2 or stronger than the 10 -- choose for yourself)

Cards gain intensity as their numbers go up (the 6 card is twice as intense as the 3 card)

Furthermore, the court cards gain the following attributes (courts can be tricky, so feel free to remove them from your deck entirely):

Pages function as novices, learners, observers, students, and apprentices; lowest on the social ladder; outsiders looking in

Knights function as competent workers, people who get the job done, the person who goes out and does things; middling on the social ladder; involved in the situation

Queens function as leaders, middle managers, and delegators. The person to talk to in order to get the go-ahead. The person with many answers. Higher on the social ladder; managing the situation.

Kings function as bosses, executives, and rulers. The person who sets the game plan that the queens abide by. May be out of touch or even have fewer pragmatic answers than the queen. The person with the vision. Highest on the social ladder; controls the situation.

Let's mash a couple of things here together to try and understand why being a Page of Pentacles will help stop this Airy situation from going bad.

Because of the element traits of earth (discipline, jobs) and the significance of the page (novice, learner, low on the social ladder), I can determine that in this situation, the Page of Pentacles represents as behaving as a humble student of business is a great outcome for me.

Because of the element traits of water (feelings, connection, emotion) and the high intensity of the number nine card, I can determine that in this situation, the Nine of Cups represents me behaving in an intensely subjectively emotional way, perhaps to try and force a friendship with that business person.

I know that the Page of Pentacles card must reflect something positive and helpful (it is the best thing for me to do!) and that is how I derive the more helpful meaning.

I know that the Nine of Cups must be something unhelpful and perilous, which is how I derive the less helpful meaning.

How do I resolve the Page of Pentacles as being the opposite element of my airy question?

Here, I determine that my ideas of what it takes to succeed are backwards. The way I am seeing this situation is upside-down - by behaving as if I am so friendly to this business person, I would ruin the deal. What they want to see is that I am ready to learn the ropes and be easy to work with.

Well, anyway. I could go on and on as there are many nuances to this method.

If you've made it all the way to the end, now you can have an extra tip! If assigning an element to your own question is too difficult at this time, make the oracle even more simple. Fire is the best possible outcome, air is a good outcome, water is a fine outcome, and earth is the worst outcome.

Interpret only one card - either on top of, or beneath the Wheel of Fortune (as this variation is so simple that drawing 2 cards often doesn't make sense).

[slythereen]

May I ask why you say the orange car is illegal? I see that around a lot and cannot tell if it's a joke or there is genuine speculation.

i think it’s 50% joke/feverish hope and 50% genuine speculation for most tbh. mostly bc the meteoric rise in mclaren’s development came out of the blue and it’s now a better car than even the rb19 seemingly (don’t quote me on that idk the math), with no perceivable disadvantages (monza is supposed to be one of their worst tracks) + some of the upgrades have seemed sketchy (the dagger front wing; this weekend it’s apparently a bendy/flexible front wing design that’s actually against regulations, which merc might be doing too)

when you pair that with distaste for mclaren in general and mclaren’s actual noted history with corporate espionage (against ferrari no less) and f1 fans’ tendency to decide too-good cars are illegal… clearly that mclaren is actually illegal!!!

[vitaminseetarot]

July Elements Game - CLOSED 🔥💧🌫🌸

Messages From Nature

Saturday 7/13 @ 3pm EST

til

Monday 7/15 @ 3pm EST

So I have this huge oracle deck called Alchemy Elementals that I've been slowly learning. I'm reading its ridiculously massive (size wise) book, and writing down long notes about each card. And I decided, for this deck, I wanted to do something different and use it for this game. Each card, save for 8 special cards, belong to one of four classical elements (Fire, Sky, Water, and Land). I can separate them into 4 piles and draw them along with 1 of the special cards to get a reading, coupled with Tarot cards.

I've also got a die, a D4, that will help us determine what element each person will get. When you request a reading, I will roll the die then draw from one of the piles, along with a special card and a tarot card, to get your message. This game is similar to the Aura reading, except that your element will represent your most current energy, as well as its gifts and challenges. This isn't a natal reading, so the element you get may not necessarily be one that you prefer the most; it will be whatever is most relevant to your current life path.

:Key: 1 = Fire 🔥2 = Water 💧3 = Sky 🌫4 = Land 🌸

RULES to Play:

❣ 1 Follow this blog if you're not already a follower: VitaminSeeTarot

❣ 2 Reblog this post with the tag #vitaminseetarotgame

❣ 3 Send me an Ask (not DM) along w/ any two random signature emojis of your choice (some examples 💎🌙 🌈🧙‍♂️ 👽💌)

❣ 4 Asks will be accepted starting 7/13, deadline is 7/15 @ 3pm EST (NYC time). Be sure to check the open/closed status of this post and the masterlist before submitting. Asks submitted before 7/15 will receive their reading after the 7/15 deadline has passed, however Asks submitted after the deadline will not. Make sure to submit your Ask before the deadline if you want to participate.

❣ 5 Please be kind & patient while I finish your reading, as I don't know how many will play.

❣ 6 This game is for your specific energy/aura/life only. This free reading game is not meant for your friends, family, or other people in your life (unless the reading calls me to mention somebody important). I will not do readings for celebrities, events, or situations here.

❣ 7 Remember that this is mainly for entertainment, insight, and guidance only. Energy is always in flux, so please take what resonates and leave behind the rest. The element picked for you represents your current state and not a fixed placement for life.

❣ 8 I reserve the right to refuse a reading for any reason. (Admittedly, alliteration is always appealing and accurately applicable.)

❣ 9 You must fully read and agree to the above rules before playing.

❣ 10 If you would like to leave a tip, you can do so on my Kofi page. Check back after the game because I will be opening paid readings right after. My menu will be posted up along with instructions for booking. Thank you so so so much for your patience and patronage!

This reading has not been evaluated by the FDA to diagnose, prevent, treat, or cure any disease or infection. Please ask your physician before going online.

2024, @VitaminseeTarot ™

[loregoddess]

A continuation of my observations of the Octo2 traveler's weaknesses from here, now with fun visual diagrams! The above diagram shows each character's "base kit" (the weapons and elements they have access to w/out a secondary job) on the top row, and their weaknesses from the Dolcinaea fight on the bottom row.

Note that Agnea can't be charmed in this fight, so we don't actually know what her weaknesses are, but given that she has wind as her main element and how the elemental weaknesses tend to work (fire and ice are strong against each other, wind and lightning are strong against each other, and light and dark are strong against each other--based on the other Octo2 cast's weaknesses, and on how CotC usually handles elemental weaknesses, and using Tressa's weaknesses for reference), we can assume Agnea has at least a weakness to lightning. (CotC specifically seems to support this, since one of Agnea's passive skills gives her a buff to her lightning defense, and most characters in CotC who have access to only one element tend to get passive skills that buff their defense against their element's weakness, so I feel confident in saying Agnea should have a weakness to lightning).

As I observed in my first post, all the characters' weapon weaknesses tend to be the "opposite" of whatever their base kit weapon is (in type, i.e. long-range weapon users tend to be weak to close-range weapons and vice versa). The sort of exception to this is daggers, which get treated as both a long- and close-range weapon (the dagger attack animation has a character throwing a dagger--ranged--but it can also be used to stab someone, which we see multiple times in various cutscenes across Octo1, Octo2, and CotC). This means it's hard to figure out what sort of weapon weakness Agnea might have because she only uses a dagger as her base kit weapon.

Now I already discussed patterns in weaknesses and other observations in my first post, so I won't reiterate anything here (although I will quickly add some very astute people noted in their tags that Hikari being the only one we know for sure is weak to lightning is probably a reference to the thing with Rai Mei, which I missed initially but makes so much sense). But I wanted to take a look at who could break who in the party to see if the battle mechanics tied in with characterization, and set up the following diagrams for each character, so I could really dig into weird details.

(Under the cut bc this entire post is so very long, and there are more diagrams; ALSO SPOILERS, I do talk about a few endgame spoilers)

We'll start with Ochette who's actually capable of breaking the most other travelers at six. The only person she can't seem to hit (by herself) is Partitio, which is an interesting detail.

It makes a lot of sense that Ochette is the best at breaking other characters, given that she's a hunter (needs to be able to find critical weak points as part of her job). I've also written in the past how I think Ochette is actually one of the most emotionally intelligent characters in the group, and that she's probably way more aware of what's going on with the other travelers than she lets on--and way more in-tune with them than even they realize--but her ability to break most of them actually seems to support that as well.

I feel this gets reflected in her interactions with the other travelers, since Ochette is one of the few characters Throne and Osvald are pretty open with from the get-go, despite both being a bit closed off to the other travelers at first; the same goes for Temenos, although he tends to mask the fact that he's closed off, so it isn't as obvious at first glance.

Ochette is also the only traveler who ever comes close to finding out about Hikari's Shadow, since she can smell it "in" him. Likewise for Castti, in their second crossed paths the Shadow is able to capture and almost kill Castti, but not Ochette--Castii has a connection to the Shadow due to her exposure to Trousseau's rain (and a mental weak spot from the trauma of loosing patients in the past), and therefore is weak to the Shadow, so it seems fitting that Ochette is the one to "break" Castti free from the Shadow's trap.

As for Agnea, there is the sense that the two are opposites in their athletic abilities, given that Ochette is a very athletic and sure-footed hunter, whereas Agnea, while certainly athletic, still stumbles on occasion despite her years of work.

It also makes sense that Partitio is the only one Ochette can't break, since Partitio's name is also the only name Ochette struggles with, and she doesn't ever use his full name. Despite having a nickname for every traveler except Temenos, in battle Ochette uses their full names after they break an enemy, with the exception of Partitio. After Partitio breaks an enemy, Ochette uses the nickname she gives him ("Good hunting Pardy!") which is, if I recall correctly, unique to Paritio. His job and the entire concept of money is also baffling to Ochette, despite Partitio's best efforts to explain it to her.

It's interesting to note as well that even Ochette's two starting partners, Akala and Mahina, can each break 6 of the other travelers on their own (Akala can break everyone--assuming Agnea does have a weapon weakness we don't know about yet--but Akala can't break Hikari, who's a master of combat; Mahina can break everyone except Osvald, who's a master of magic). By the end of Ochette's story when she has the creatures of legend, she can actually break everyone (Akala + Tera and Glacis who each have elemental attacks that Hikari's weak to), and while Mahina + Tera and Glacis can't break Osvald still, if Ochette were fighting alongside them rather than just provoking with them, she herself would be able to break Osvald.

Given that Ochette is one of the best characters for breaking enemies just from a game mechanics standpoint, it's neat that this is reflected in her ability to apparently break nearly all the other travelers.

Castti can only break four of the other travelers, which is on the lower end (although not the lowest), but this seems to fit since story-wise she's a healer first, a fighter second (despite making an excellent damage-dealer).

The characters she can't break are people she treats like kids (Ochette and Agnea), and Osvald, who's one of the characters to tell Castti to take care of herself. Osvald's also arguably her peer, in that he's the oldest of the group and occasionally a parental figure to the others in some sense, the same way Castti takes on a pseudo-parental role on occasion, so she can't really "parent" him because Osvald is both literally a parent and, to some degree, figuratively the group's parent.

Likewise, all the characters she can break are characters who either get into lots of fights (Paritio and Hikari), or characters who would probably pretend they're not as hurt as they actually are when they do get hurt, or otherwise mask their pain a lot (Throne and Temenos). We see this in some of Castti's banters where she chides Partitio for getting into fights (she also tends to tease him relentlessly, and he's one of the only characters she teases), or how she worries after Throne, giving her check-ups out of the blue in one of their banters. Castti also has a banter with Temenos after the events of his Stormhail chapter where she checks in on his wellbeing, and while he sort of manages to redirect her attention away from him by complementing how well she looks after people, the fact remains that she did know he needed to be checked in on.

Castti really said none of you are getting away with not getting treated for your hurts or so help her.

Throne, surprisingly, only can only break four of the other travelers. Despite being raised and trained as a deadly assassin, the low number of travelers she can break might reflect her narrative "aversion to blood and killing". Throne is, after all, able to non-lethally knock people out as her nighttime path action, so her unwillingness, and inability, to hurt her allies does make sense for her characterization.

The people she can't break make a lot of sense--Throne's unable to sneak up on Ochette in their banters, and is always open and kind with Ochette. She and Hikari share shadowy ancestry, and he's a skilled warrior, so it might be harder for her to find and opening and get the drop on him (esp. considering how his Shadow might react to their shared blood ties to D'arqest).

Agnea's entire character arc is more or less centered around trying to inspire hope in everyone she meets, and Throne herself hopes to be free, so it'd make sense for Throne to follow after Agnea's hope rather than trying to fight against her.

The people Throne can break are interesting as well, especially since she is the most effective against Temenos, covering 3/4 of his weaknesses with her base kit. Temenos really isn't able to hide any of his weaknesses against Throne, which makes sense given their interactions and teamwork in their crossed path story arc.

She's also one of the only characters to throw Castti off a few times (i.e. the banter where Throne almost talks Castti into letter her steal stuff from Timberain's royal family bc Throne thinks Castti would look pretty in the jewelry).

Throne also has a banter with Partitio where she gets him to realize how over-trusting he can be by talking him into letting her take the check from Alrond--which she doesn't do, but she definitely exploited a few of his social weaknesses and could have stolen the check from him easily, in front of his face no less. (Although if I recall correctly, Partitio then has her hold onto the check for safekeeping anyhow, just because he trusts her that much).

Osvald is a bit of a surprise, given how few weaknesses he has and how vigilant he seems to be, but Throne is a professional and given that Osvald was unable to escape prison without Emerald's help (who also seems to be a thief, given that he uses a dagger when playable), it makes sense that Throne could potentially get the better of him. There's also the fact that she's the granddaughter of D'arqest, and Osvald has spent his life investigating the source of D'arqest's magic, the answer to which eludes him till the very end of his story.

Osvald can break five of the other travelers, which is the second-most after Ochette. This matches well with his ability to scrutinize people, and his general observant nature.

He can't break Throne, which as noted previously, may be due to how close her blood-ties are to D'arqest. Studying the Pit of D'arqest and trying to figure out what the source of his magic was is Osvald's life study, the answer to which eludes him most of the story, so it does make sense that Throne, the granddaughter of D'arqest, would also elude him (esp. considering that while Osvald does learn about the Shadow, the answer he finds to the One True Magic is entirely separate and opposite to the Shadow). Hikari has the same blood-ties, but it's strongly implied he is a much further descendant of D'arqest than Throne is, so even though Hikari literally has the Shadow living in him, he's not tied to D'arqest the same way Throne is (as she's the daughter of Vide's "perfect vessel" and was raised in hopes that she could succeed as a vessel instead, even if this ultimately fails).

Osvald also can't break Temenos, which actually does reflect their general relationship well. In one of their banters, Osvald makes a note of how much Temenos talks without ever saying what his point is, and generally seems to find Temenos's whimsical façade to be a hassle to deal with on occasion. It's funny, in a way, that Temenos is one of the few people Osvald can't seem to figure out, but also speaks to each of their personalities--Osvald is honest bordering on rudeness, and always straightforward with how he speaks, whereas Temenos keeps a great deal of his inner thoughts and feelings to himself while speaking in a roundabout way, hiding what he actually wants to say behind stories from the scriptures or lighthearted jabs.

That Osvald can break everyone else reflects his observant nature, for sure, but it's also interesting that he can break characters like Agnea and Ochette, both of whom he treats as surrogate daughters to some level or another...though perhaps the fact that he can break them reflects his parenting style, wherein he wouldn't want to hold back any important lessons, even if they were somewhat unpleasant.

As noted before, Osvald's one of the few characters who points out how reckless Castti can be with her own health, so it makes sense he'd be able to break her. Hikari makes sense, given that he's trained in martial arts rather than magical arts, so Osvald and Hikari are strong in what the other is weak in. And, Partitio is open and honest, almost to a fault, which, like how Throne can get a good read on Partitio, probably makes Partitio fairly easy for Osvald to get a read on as well.

Like Osvald, Partitio can break five of the other travelers. This, paired with his distinct lack of weaknesses, does seem to reflect the fact that, despite being sincere and a starting off untraveled, Partitio is wicked smart and very aware of what's going on around him, skills he needs to be a successful merchant.

Partitio can't break Agnea as far as we know, which seems to reflect their banter where Partitio nearly gives her his money after she explains how she raised enough money to start traveling (Angea notably has enough money for her travels, it's Paritio who needs to come up with more money, but here he is trying to give her more money anyhow).

Partitio being unable to break Temenos may have to do with Partitio truly not being able to get a good read on Temenos because of how Temenos is (re: puts up a façade, keeps his feelings to himself, etc.), but there's also the shared banter between Castti, Partitio, Temenos, and Agnea where, a bit drunk and therefore letting his guard slip a bit, we see that Temenos can be rather cynical, as he shoots down the idea of new paper plays about their travels rather quickly. This puts his personality at odds with both Partitio and Agnea, who are unfailingly optimistic (and optimistic enough they eventually convince Temenos their idea isn't that naïve).

The fact that Partitio can break the rest of the party is just testament to his astuteness and flexibility as a merchant, since he can break more stoic characters like Osvald and Throne (Partitio hits it off pretty quickly with both, not even giving Throne a hard time for her thieving habits and instead bonding over their shared love of fashion, as any merchant good at networking might do), while also finding a way past Hikari's defenses (although Hikari's usually pretty straightforward on matters not related to his Shadow, so Partitio's able to connect with him pretty easily as well). As noted earlier, Partitio is the only character Ochette cannot break without one of her partners, and his name is the only one that really trips her up.

Partitio being able to break Castti comes as a bit of a surprise, given that the majority of their banters have Castti teasing Partitio or chiding him for his reckless behavior. There is the sense that Partitio respects Castti a great deal and is still paying attention to what she does, as seen in their banter during her Timberain chapter, where Paritio reminds Castti that her ability to convince the soldiers to get the people indoors to safety was due to her hard work, and that while it's true there's more for her to do, she shouldn't undersell the worth of all that she has already managed to achieve. From this, we get the sense that teasing and chiding aside, Partitio is still keeping tabs on Castti and is clearly able to get a read on her, even if he doesn't intervene as often in her personal affairs.

Despite being the only one whose weaknesses we don't know for certain, Agnea can break five other travelers as well. This makes sense from a game mechanics standpoint, since Dolcinaea is Agnea's boss fight and Agnea can't be charmed during the fight, so she ideally has to have a chance to break whoever Dolcinaea does charm. But this also reflects well how Agnea is able to win over so many people throughout her travels, as her pursuit of hope and desire to bring joy to people never wavers and inspires others.

The only two she can't break are Partitio and Throne. Given the infamous peaches banter, it makes sense Agnea can't break Partitio, since she didn't realize he was talking about the basket of peaches she was literally holding until the very end of the banter, and by then was too flustered to stick around (Partitio is, notably, clueless to the fact that Agnea thought he was talking about some entirely different peaches).

Throne makes sense as well because she's a slightly older, and definitely more experienced, woman than Agnea. As a country girl coming to the city, Agnea is ignorant to all of the dark things a city could hold, while Throne is a city girl who grew up literally in the shadows of all the wicked things in a city. Agnea's general ignorance puts her at a slight disadvantage to Throne's knowledge, although it should be noted that Throne is also inspired by Agnea's kindness and hope, and supports Agnea rather than looking down on her ignorance and naivety.

While we can assume that Agnea can break most of the other travelers for battle mechanics purposes, and to make sure the player has a chance to retrieve the charmed character even if Agnea is the only character they have to do that, it is interesting that she can break most of the characters from a narrative standpoint.

Characters like Osvald and Castti treat Agnea like a kid (Agnea seems to be a surrogate daughter to Osvald specifically), so it could be she's able to get to both of them because they want to dote on her a bit like a parent might (although for Castti, the resident healer, the fact that Agnea can break her might be due to Agnea's habit of occassionally rushing into things that causes some vexation to Castti).

Temenos notably has a difficult time communicating with Agnea, so Agnea's ability to break him could have something to do with the fact that Temenos is never able to get his point across to Agnea in a few of their banters (i.e. when Agnea forgets that he's the inquisitor and thinks his job is that of a detective or a paper play artist, and all of Temenos's attempts to correct her fail; likewise his attempt to get Agnea to take care of herself--before helping Laila get new shoes--via a story of Aelfric goes right over Agnea's head). It's not so much that Agnea is that naïve, but rather Temenos's roundabout way of doing things seems to make it more difficult for him to communicate clearly with her.

Agnea being able to break Hikari could be explained as well by her unwavering optimism and journey for hope. Compared to Hikari's childhood, Agnea hasn't experienced the same hardships, so her belief in bringing joy and happiness to people may seem naïve at first. But Hikari's entire end-goal for Ku isn't that different, as he wishes for peace and prosperity and an end to the bloodshed and war that's plagued his country and torn asunder his family and the families of his people. So despite the fact that Agnea's coming from an entirely different set of life experiences, her desire to bring about a more hopeful, brighter future aligns with Hikari's own desire for a better future, so it makes sense then that Agnea could break through to Hikari because he believes deeply in her vision even before he meets her. (This is also somewhat reflected in Mikka and Pala's side story in the postgame, as it's Pala who's able to break through to Mikka).

Ochette's the most surprising, although Agnea is one of the first travelers to share cooked food with Ochette in one of their early banters, so in the realm of food at least Agnea knows ways to prepare it that Ochette loves (even though Castti also later cooks for Ochette but can't break her). There's also the banter in Agnea's final chapter where Ochette talks about how much she loves Gil's piano playing, and she mentions several times how much she enjoys Agnea's dances and singing, so it could be that Ochette is weak to the performing arts.

Temenos has the fewest number of travelers that he can break, making him the opposite of Ochette. Now, technically he could break every traveler with his latent ability, but without putting in the extra effort he's not able to break most of the others. This is interesting considering his entire thing is being able to get information by talking with people (the coerce nighttime path action, despite being a battle, is probably supposed to be a metaphor for the "mental battle" waged when trying to get information from someone). Despite his acuity with detective work and unravelling mysteries, he has quite the difficult time unravelling his traveling companions. It's possible that, like Castti, this actually reflects the fact that he is a healer technically (even if, in Temenos's shared banter with Castti and Partitio, Partitio suggests that Temenos's "healing" style focuses more on the spirit, rather than physical wounds the way Castti's healing does).

Who he can break are interesting choices. Throne is the least surprising, since the two are opposites while being quite alike, although Temenos notably can only hit one of Throne's weaknesses while she can hit most of his.

Meanwhile, Ochette is probably one of the least deceptive travelers, never hiding much of anything, so it could be Temenos has an easier time reading her because she's straightforward with her thoughts and feelings pretty much all the time. This might explain why Temenos can break Partitio as well, since while Partitio is capable of using his merchant's gift of rhetoric to inspire people to his cause, he is incredibly honest, straightforward, and open about himself as well, and very trusting of other people (the opposite of Temenos's innate doubt).

If we work off the idea that Temenos has an easier time reading Ochette and Partitio because of their openness, then most of the characters Temenos can't break make sense. Hikari, while not outright deceptive, never tells any of the other party members about his struggles with his Shadow (although he comes close and talks about it indirectly with Temenos and Castti in one of their banters), and therefore we can say that Hikari is somewhat secretive and very good at keeping his secrets.

Castti likewise, while she's not trying to keep secrets intentionally and also isn't deceptive, suffers amnesia and can't remember much of anything of her past at the start of her story (Temenos can't inquire about something someone doesn't know). Even after she regains her memories, it's hard to say how openly Castti would discuss her experiences or not, since we don't see them brought up in detail during her travel banters often.

Osvald doesn't keep anything secret, on purpose or accident, and is very straightforward when he speaks, but he's also taciturn and prefers not to chat, so it makes sense Temenos would have a hard time breaking him since Temenos can't learn something from someone who won't talk to him, and there's the general impression that even Osvald's body language is a bit withdrawn (I say "general impression" bc despite the limits of sprite art, Osvald doesn't move around as expressively or actively as other characters like Ochette or Angea, and even his unique Bewildering Grace dance is the most restrained of the eight).

As noted earlier Temenos also has a difficult time communicating his point to Agnea in several of their shared banters. It should be noted as well that Agnea is the youngest character in the group, and Temenos tends to be "weak" to children, with how he lets Ochette talk him into reading Acta a story because Acta is a baby, or with the children of his church teasing him for his mistakes in his paper plays (although I think his mistakes are intentional, as I explained in this post here, but Temenos does seem to have something of a soft spot for children, possibly because they tend to be more honest or possibly because he takes his duties teaching/guiding them more seriously than he lets on).

Surprisingly, despite his martial prowess, Hikari can only break four other travelers. Like we see with Throne, this could speak to his nature, as Hikari is very kindhearted and values his friends dearly, and his desire not to hurt anyone but especially the people he cares about is what allows Hikari to stave off, and eventually defeat, his Shadow. Indeed, like how Castti is a healer first, fighter second, there's the impression that Hikari--despite being a warrior--is a protector first, and a warrior second.

Hikari can't break Castti, which is interesting, because Castti was "infected" by Trousseau's poison rain and carried a bit of the Shadow around with her, it's possible Hikari couldn't break her even if he wanted due to his blood curse. Likewise Hikari can't break Throne, just as she can't break him, and with their shared blood ties to D'arqest and Vide, and I wonder how much of the Shadow being something of an offshoot, or "servant", to Vide, alongside Throne being the daughter of Vide's intended perfect vessel, potentially has to do with this.

Hikari's Shadow, and Castti and Throne's connections to it, don't explain why he can't break Agnea, but it could be that Agnea's earnest journey for hope and continual optimism even in the face of darkness is something he respects enough that he would never and could never bring himself to harm her, since he believes deeply in her vision of hope.

It's interesting then that he can break Ochette, who is canonically the character who seems to be closest to the Flame, but at the same time both are warriors of a sort, so it could be more of a friendly sparring thing. Osvald makes some sense, in that Hikari is a master of physical combat and Osvald is not, so naturally they're both weak to what the other is skilled in.

Partitio is a bit surprising, but if we take into considering that it's implied Partitio gets into fights on impulse due to being a bit hot-blooded, it does make sense that Hikari, who's always cool and calm under a fight (when he isn't staving off the Shadow) could get the upper hand on Paritio if they sparred.

Hikari being able to break Temenos makes sense in regards to his shared banter with Temenos and Throne, where the three play poker and try to needle each other into giving up, with Throne and Temenos failing to throw each other off, before Hikari ultimately gets them both to give up the game, potentially getting Temenos to cry in the process (which is an incredible feat on Hikari's part, given that Temenos is never shown or implied to cry during the events of his story despite two people he cared deeply about being murdered, and just how careful Temenos is in general with keeping up a certain façade around others).

One last thing I'd like to talk about is the number of other travelers each traveler is weak to, which I think has more to do with game mechanics than with characterization. Every character is weak to five other characters, with the exception of Throne and Partitio who are only weak to four. This is really excellent in terms of mechanics balancing, since the only reason these weaknesses exist is because characters can be charmed during the Dolcinaea fight, so it makes sense that the player should be given a fair shot to break the charmed character with whichever team setup they went into the battle with, especially so for players who go in blind.

Agnea obviously is the major exception to this, being unable to be charmed means we can at best guess at her weaknesses. Which is fitting because the player wouldn't have to worry about losing Agnea in the battle (and generally speaking, in my experience Agnea's usually able to output enough damage by this point in the game that she can retrieve the charmed character with a fully boosted attack without even needing to break them, meaning I, as the player, didn't even have to really worry about who Dolcinaea charmed in terms of strategy). In theory if she could have been charmed, I imagine she would have had 4-5 characters who could break her with their base kit, just for gameplay balancing purposes.

Aaand, that's...all I think I wanted to jot down for my continued observations. With the bonus battle updates to Octo2, I plan to put together a similar post (or two) for the Octo1 travelers, since we now have access to their weaknesses as well. I'm still not trying to make any point per se, just rambling on things I observed and how the game mechanics seem to tie in with story characterization, which I always think is a neat thing when it occurs in games. Thanks for reading if you made it this far, bc this got way longer than I was expecting!

[universe-of-peoples]

If you’re more of a CinemaSins person than a CinemaWins person then I don’t really want to talk to you

[geminiwaterwitch]

Oracle Card Readings: What's On Your Mind?

... for air signs:

flax reversed: feeling uneasy, off kilter, seperated from the rest of humanity. something small and seemingly unimportant has thrown you off course. it takes only an equally small adjustment to put you back on the right course again.

... for earth signs:

cuckoo pint reversed: disharmony, an inability to connect. toxic people and words have been affecting you. cut the poison out and harmony will return once again.

... for water signs:

agrimony: liberation - the sad times are over, and you are ready to let go of thoughts, feelings & connections that are no longer serving you. you are about to start afresh and begin a new journey.

... for fire signs:

lady's mantle reversed: you have an opportunity for growth in front of you. you have a gift for turning straw into gold, and are using your circumstances to better yourself.

[mydaysaresmall]

Monstertober Day 20: Troll & Elemental (patience/support/resting)

Another more positive one! This guy is based on an old pencil drawing I did a few years ago when I was having a rough time of it. Feels nice to revisit it now that things are better.

The secondary prompt on this one is poached from 2022's monstertober prompt list!

Prompt list by @ snejkha

[sehetep-shenwer]

Me talking shit about love readings and then I pull Setat from my oracle deck for insight

[pramanixx]

i have a disease called "need to make builds for my favs in whatever ttrpg i can". thankfully with prior favs this was extremely easy due to 5e being piss easy to build in and them having fairly basic skillsets. thank god i have found other ttrpgs to love (please for the love of christ talk to me about lancer its so fucking good) and now the buildcrafting process more fun but more challenging as well. as if this wasnt enough, uh. axl 1. can cast magic at will 2. but is primarily a melee* combatant 3. (not really) 4. has time travel magic.

due to my insanities i am still attempting to build this out. i have accepted i cant just take the fast and easy route via 5e because even WITHOUT the time magic this build is a fucking multiclass monstrosity + his weapon is two-handed and 5e doesnt like it when casters wield those.

but i HAVE discovered its very possible to build him in lancer ;)

[unintentionaloracle]

"What do you think Bayley would do if I ran up there and said "Hey, there's Shotzi"?" COLE!

[shiawasekai]

Upon more soul-searching (after realising that Shaman is a horrible idea for a Fetchling... A negative wisdom race...), and really not being sold on Summoner for this character (esp because the Eidolons available in the game seem to be 90% humanoid and y i k e s n o)

I think I'm resigning myself to the unavoidable and going Oracle with her. Probably Nature Mystery which may give me an animal companion back? I have to check the available curses too...

[ebonyseuphoriatarot]

Scorpio ♏️

Apply to your sun, moon, rising & Venus.

The person on your mind and their intentions…

✨Additional Messages✨

Give me another chance

I really regret my decision

I’m sorry

Let’s make it official

Initials: F W and M

Wrap it up!

My life is in shambles right now

Blocked

Ready to walk away

Undercover hater

I’m a playa

Taurus

October

The age difference

Absolutely not!

Travel

Please forgive me

Practice abstinence

The Blame Game

I’m not in love with you

Bottom of the deck: Patience is key right now

[ragnar0c]

The influence Claymore had on me...

Making an outcast main character who seems uber powerful but then shes actually not nearly as powerful as the masters...

[vitaminseetarot]

One hour left until my game closes!

Thank you so much for playing my 3rd game! I got quite a few responses that I'm currently working on. If you've already sent in your request I'll be finishing up your submissions throughout this week. Once I'm done, I'll be discussing paid services, so stay tuned.

There is still 1 hour until the game closes, as a heads up, so if you want to participate, then see the link below for game rules.

Edit: The game signup is now closed! Thank you!

🔥💧🌫🌸 What's Your Element? 🔥💧🌫🌸

[loregoddess]

so I might be having a blast playing Rebirth, but I'm still thinking Octo2 stuff, and just realized bc of the Dolcinaea fight I could see the weaknesses for every character (except Agnea) and since I can turn just about any random detail into a "hmm, does this mean anything" thought exercise, here's some observations (minor story spoilers):

Throne, Osvald, and Partitio have the fewest weaknesses at 3. This makes sense for Throne and Osvald (professional thief/assassin raised to be a thief/assassin, Throne can't have any openings if she hopes to survive; Osvald relied on his keen observation to Shawshank Redemption himself out of prison, so of course he'd have fewer openings bc he's always keeping an eye on things around him). But Partitio surprised me--although it does make some sense, he had to keep his wits about him to become the best merchant in Oresrush, and he's wicked smart (honestly, Ori's the only one who ever seems able to genuinely sneak up on him, and that makes sense given that she's, y'know, Ori).

Hikari has no weaknesses to weapons of any sort, and only has elemental weaknesses as a result. He is not weak to light or dark though (a reference to Shadow's Hold/Light's Radiance or else his bloodlines perhaps?). On the flipside Osvald has no weaknesses to elements and only weaknesses to weapons (all the weapons he's weak to--polearms, daggers, and bows--are "ranged" in some sense, suggesting his magic maybe makes it impossible to get close enough to attack him).

Throne and Temenos continue to act as foils to each other, with Throne having only one elemental weakness to light, and Temenos having only one elemental weakness to dark. Throne's only two weapon weaknesses are axes and bows, which sort of makes sense (either someone has to get close enough to strike her quickly or they have to attack from a very far distance to get the drop on her; there are also interestingly the hunter's base weapon set, so the only way to stop a thief is to hunt them; also there's a ranged bow counter to her close-range sword and a close-range axe counter to her ranged dagger). Temenos's weapon weaknesses include swords, daggers, and axes, which are interestingly all "close range" weapons to some degree (Temenos never lets anyone get too close to him emotionally, so it makes sense the only way to actually harm him would be to "get close" to him; swords and daggers are also the thief's base weapon set, and given how much assassination goes on in his story, it makes sense he too would be vulnerable to Throne's trade weapons).

Partitio's only elemental weakness is ice (makes sense given how arid his hometown is). He has a weakness to swords and staves, both close range weapons to contrast the longer-ranged polearm and bow weapons he uses.

Castti's only weapon weakness are bows (a long-range contrast to her shorter-ranged axe), but her elemental weaknesses are what's really interesting. She has a weakness to fire (this makes sense, given that she has an ice-based skill, and a lot of water symbolism in her story arc), but also wind and dark--the two key elements needed to create and spread the purple rain that nearly killed her.

Ochette's the only character with a balance of two weapon weaknesses and two elemental weaknesses: polearms and staves (a longer-ranged weapon to counter her short-ranged axe, and a close-ranged weapon to counter her long-ranged bow); and fire and wind (wind makes sense given that it's the usual weakness to thunder, which is the only elemental attack she has access to in her base skillset, but her weakness to fire is more interesting--is it because she lives in a forest, which are historically susceptible to fires? or because she lives surrounded by water, and fire is the natural opposite?)

Hikari is the only character weak the thunder, just as Throne and Temenos are the only characters weak to light and dark respectively. The other major elements all have two travelers weak to them: Ochette and Castti to fire, Partitio and Hikari to ice, and Castti and Hikari to wind.

Likewise, every weapon is strong against at least two characters, with the exception of bows which are strong against three characters. Swords: Partitio and Temenos, Polearms: Ochette and Osvald, Daggers: Osvald and Temenos, Axes: Throne and Temenos, Bows: Castti, Throne, and Osvald, Staves: Ochette and Partitio.

I dunno if there's any significance to the pattern of: every weapon is strong against two characters except one is strong against three, and every element is strong against two characters except for three elements that are only strong against one character each. But it is some fancy balancing for as far as numbers go.

Anyhow I wasn't going anywhere with this, these were just some interesting observations I wanted to jot down instead of going to bed like I should have half an hour ago.

[dry-pisces]

🌸💫Air Element💫🌸 {♒️♊️♎️}🌞/🌙/Venus}

Finding a new sense of self/being in control, not everyone can read your mind and know exactly how you are feeling/what you are thinking its important to be more vocal and more expressive it will help resolve any blockages/misalignment

🌿✨🦋Earth Element🦋✨🌿

{♍️♑️♉️}🌞/🌙/Venus}

Boundaries are important and if you want others to be respectful of your boundaries you need to also be respectful of theres + take time to heal in solidarity {endings are just new beginnings & change is necessary for growth}

🐚✨🌊Water Element🌊✨🐚

{♋️♏️♓️}🌞/🌙/Venus}

Not everyone is deserving of your time/energy and you should be mindful of who you confide into you cant trust everyone nor should you

set boundaries/pay attention to those around you that make you uncomfortable; letting them go

🌹✨🔥Fire Element🔥✨🌹

{♈️♌️♐️}🌞/🌙/Venus}

Self isolation doesnt mean locking yourself away and having no contact with others it just means you need to set boundaries and prioritize your needs/responsibilities; dont be impulsive or reckless with finances or hookups.