#fortune-teller

[joannaliangart]

Question time (2023) risograph fortune-teller, digital illustration

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first project for the democratic multiples class I took in the summer, between my 2nd n 3rd year! I loved this class so much; lil stressful because we were making so many projects in a condensed course load but augh I LOVED it...

this was our lil first intro assignment, and I think?? my first time using the risograph printer at school!!

I really like the idea I had for a fortune-teller as an 'about me' thing its so fun hehe

[dailycharacteroption]

Fortune-Teller (Bard Archetype)

(art by SandraBelrose on DeviantArt)

I do love Paizo and how they have handled a lot of things, they haven’t always been perfect, of course, but they’ve always been improving in different ways.

Sometimes, however, you see a subject and even when it’s handled as best they can, you definitely can feel when it’s a delicate subject.

Such was the case a few times throughout the Villain Codex book, and with this archetype in particular.

Fortune-telling has been a part of civilization for a very long time, both as a way to try and make sense of the universe, and, unfortunately, as a way to grift people who seek such understanding.

Regardless whether you believe in any form of prognostication yourself, you probably ought to learn the folklore and use of such tools yourself rather than paying anyone else to.

In any case, it’s not actually the association with cons that is the delicate part of fortune telling, but rather it’s association with classist (anti-carnie) and racist (anti-roma) sensibilities, and the fact that this archetype is associated with the villainous carnival chapter doesn’t help.

Does that mean that you can’t have evil or morally bankrupt carnivals in your games? No, but you probably should try to avoid pitfalls commonly associated with it. But that’s a subject for another time.

Interestingly, the fortune-teller archetype themselves has no abilities associated with grifting, and actually does have some power of future-sight, which isn’t surprising, given the power of divination in a fantasy setting.

As we will soon see, they can be quite potent in the game.

Starting off, these bards add an array of various divination spells to the arsenal of what they might potentially learn. These range from reading auras to providing guidance to glimpsing the future and past, and piercing the veil of illusion.

These fortune-tellers naturally use speech for their performances, and can consult a divinatory tool such as cards, a crystal ball, or something similar to potentially enhance the effects as they proclaim boons for their allies or doom for their foes. However, there is an element of real divination to these prognostication, meaning that allies might be bolstered more or less depending on the result, while foes might find it harder or easier to resist their harmful performances as a result.

They can also use their divinatory focus to empower their divination spells as well, making them a bit more potent, perhaps lasting longer or providing clearer answers.

More powerful individuals are able to lay the fates of their foes bare for all to see, making it easier for others to avoid their blows. What’s more, when near the end of their rope, such foes also see their demise coming, which might strike fear into their hearts, as well as potentially reveal the nature of their doom to them.

Divination utility and powerful, but somewhat volatile buffs and debuffs are the name of the game with this archetype. I’d personally recommend a buffing and healing support build with this archetype, providing consistent buffs from spellcasting to make up for the inconsistency of the performance buffs. That being said, there’s still other ways to build with them instead, should it appeal to you.

Now, you might have noticed that this archetype doesn’t actually have anything to do with grifting in it’s abilities. So, in theory, you could take this archetype and be an actual fortune-teller or soothsayer. Whether you do one or the other or somewhere in between, however, I hope you’ll avoid some of the nastier tropes and pitfalls associated with such a profession.

What started out as a thinly-veiled extortion racket has evolved into something stranger when Chief Ikbin, leader of the White Reef grindylows, demonstrated actual prophetic ability. Now, instead of trying to bilk sailors for their money in “preventing” disaster while travelling through the shortcut in the reef, she now charges much more for genuine prophecy on the success of a ship’s ventures. There is still the protection fee to prevent raids and guide them through the reef itself, but….

Right in the middle of a normal session, the fortune-teller Masha seizes up, babbling something about “rolling destruction”. Her client and onlookers don’t know what to make of the episode, but it was a true prophecy, for a deadly weapon, a juggernaut dedicated to the Prince of Ruin, will soon be set loose upon her home city.

Every day that the carnival is in town, Xamba tells petty fortunes to most patrons, reminding them where lost objects are, giving half-hearted projections about wealth and love. He was once a prophet to a king, and twice prophesized the rise of great figures. However, the second of those two brought his home to ruin. He knows in his heart that the third will avenge it, however.

[emperornorton47]

[hedgewitching]

Mt friends are faithful.

[dcxdpdabbles]

Tim: *points to a booth* You guys want to get your palms read?

Dick: Sure!

Jason: Why not

Damian: Tsk. It's a scam, but I shall allow you the entertainment.

Danny, the fortune teller, staring at Tim's hand: Hmm, you have a lot of anxiety.

Tim: Wow, you can tell that with just a glance?

Danny: No *wipes napkin on Tim's palm* Your hands really sweaty is all

Tim: *horrified*

Dick/Jason/Damian: *Dying of laughter*

[canciqer]

next up is revenge era

[p1xiemeat]

˖⁺‧₊˚☽◯☾˚₊‧⁺˖

[slliphylla]

"Fortune Teller Amy"

I loved her card glide in Sonic Frontiers and I love her using it in sonic forces speed battle with this beautiful outfit 💖✨ I already had preordered Amy's Tarot Cards and the other day I saw the last TailsTube (It was Adorable!) and I ended starting this out of hype and inspiration right before the event ended. I like that I'm improving with my speed 😁

[nelkcats]

The Medium and his assistant

Amity Park was a roller coaster, but after eliminating the GIW, talking to the Fentons, and getting some sort of alliance with the ghosts, Danny felt like he didn't have much else to do. He took Ellie's advice to travel a bit, but tried to make it a little more exciting.

Although the money he had been given could last forever (and longer with Vlad's card in his pocket), he wanted to earn his own money. So he made his trip a fun job, turning part of his vehicle into a trailer. Thus was born his career as a medium and fortune teller, traveling around the world, listening to the dead, advising people, etc.

Technically, thanks to Clockwork Danny could see the future, but he doesn't need it, or at least not always. And talking to the dead was practically his day-to-day, so he thought he had chosen well.

During one of his trips, when he passed through Gotham he found a zombie (which turned out to be a halfa!), the poor thing was lost, and wandering, so he helped him and did the most sensible thing possible: he offered him a job. Jason, who hadn't been back for a long time and his memories were scrambled, decided that he needed a vacation anyway, for his own sanity (not seeing the Joker's face was a bonus) and accepted the offer. Of course, he covered his face in case someone recognized him as the son of a millionaire, Danny approved.

Both traveled around the world, offering their services and bothering a certain Constantine who complained every time they had the same client (Danny replied that it really wasn't his fault, but the British man was still upset). A year later they returned to Gotham.

The Batfam assumed that Danny's business was a scam. But Bruce was desperate, he wanted to talk with Jason, to hear about him, even if it was a scam, so he visited them. When Danny asked who he wanted to contact, Bruce replied "Jason Todd."

Danny, who knew full well the identity of his employee, raised an eyebrow and glanced surreptitiously at his assistant, who was avoiding his gaze. He sighed before continuing his 'work', glancing at Jay from time to time.

A few days later, Dick Grayson showed up with the same request, and Danny made sure to kick Jason as soon as he left.

[chipper-smol]

WOOO THEY'RE DONE

i underestimated how long this would take, but honestly i'm glad i did it, cause it was indulgent and the results are satisfying as hell

if you wanna play with their sprites I'm gonna put a link to the google drive they're in along with the original file so you can make your own Loop expressions!

[gulava]

The in-between of black and white, silver is a refined and distinguished color, better known as a noble metal. Its use in jewelry, sculptures, and for monetary value has it associated with wealth and nobility. This color represents balance, grace, the passage of time, renewal, purity, honesty, redemption, and strength. In western cultures, its purity is considered dangerous to evil. There's also the concept of a "silver lining," which suggests that even in difficult or challenging situations, there is always hope for a better outcome.

[atomic-chronoscaph]

Ad illustration by Andrew Loomis (1930s)

[leidensygdom]

Okay, I will try to explain this topic as well as I can. I will preface this with the fact this comes from personal experiences, and that they may not apply for everyone who has ties to this culture, but let's get to it:

What's the issue with Fortune tellers / "Exotic" circus performers, sexualized belly dancers and other forms of orientalism/Romani depictions?

So, as someone in the TTRPG world (specifically, the DnD community), this sort of trope is seen quite a lot. From the portrayal of Vistani (which has been tried to be fixed, but not... too well), to player characters in home games, as well as popular canon characters and podcasts, it's got quite normalized. Most of these tropes are based on Romani, which is a widespread ethnicity present all across the globe. Now, it feels almost strange to call it orientalism, given how Romani have been in Europe since the Middle Ages, even though they do have roots outside of Europe.

Romani face one of the biggest diaspora in the world: You will find Roma people under many names in very different countries, with cultures and traditions that can clash heavily. Their numbers can range from few hundred in some countries, to over a million in those they have a biggest presence. My own experience is tied to Spanish Roma, known as Gitanos, which is where my mother's side family comes from.

Gitanos are a widespread group, although they're most numerous in the southern part of Spain, Andalusia, where their presence has shaped the culture. Flamenco is thought to have been born from Gitano culture, and it has been adopted as a staple of the Andalusian identity, and the whole of Spain. Gitanos are hard to understand as their own ethnicity in Spain: There's been centuries of Gitanos and Spanish people mixing, and the average Andalusian is quite tan to start with (given Muslim presence there has also been pretty firm). It means it can be hard to "clock" a Spanish Romani person from a non-Romani one. It means you can find Romani people most would consider white, at least by Spanish standards. Most of the discrimination Gitanos face is cultural (and the whole ordeal can be a bit harder to explain from a more US-centric view).

Now, even when Gitanos have influenced Spanish culture a lot, they still face plenty of discrimination. They are one of the most marginalized groups out there. Laws have discriminated against them for centuries, on and off, which have put them in poverty. And poverty often develops into criminality, which has only seeded the idea that Gitanos are criminals, "lowlies", the bottom of society, "uncivilized", etc. Now, here comes a bit of my own experience with this.

My entire family is Andalusian, but both sides moved from there (the south) to Catalonia (north-east) in order to find a job during the Francoist (fascist) dictatorship. I won't get much into the specifics of the Catalan vs Andalusian beef because that's a bit of a massive topic too, but the important thing here is: My mother's side is Romani. My grandma faced some horrifying forms of discrimination, including the theft of her first child during the fascist dictatorship, which was taken from her by nuns (who ran hospitals at the time) to be placed into a "proper" family. (This is something that happened repeatedly at some hospitals during these times).

Now, she had two other children: My mother and my aunt. My aunt remained closely knit to Romani culture, and took part in it, which included marrying a Romani guy. She always did her best efforts to be part of it. I know she was into some culturally-related dances, which included some forms of bellydancing (which is also partially tied to Roma culture). But my mother decided she'd rather cut ties with her culture and become "civilised", by abandoning said culture.

This isn't too uncommon for Gitanos, to be honest. I've met a few people who come from similar backgrounds through my life. One of them was in university, where a fellow classmate gave an oral exposition about how his family had done a great job at "becoming civilised" by cutting ties with their own Roma roots. My university was a fairly progressive space, but no one batted an eye at that: The sheer hatred of Roma culture runs so deep even people who normally abhor racism and xenophobia consider Gitanos to be worth the hate.

There's a social pressure to do that, too. Everyone "knows" Gitano are criminals. I can't really even begin to explain how deeply does this sort of discrimination run. Roma are amongst the most hated minority groups in all of Europe (as well as most of the world). You will find that even in very leftist circles. People will try to erase the fact Roma have their own culture, and just make the world equal to "criminal", call them gy***** (which is a slur, btw), and detach them from being an actual culturally (and often racially) distinct group.

Now, this is only empowered by how media has taken our culture (it is almost hard for me to call it "our", given how much my mother ensured to take that away) and made it into a bad trope. Growing up, I was told my aunt was a sexual deviant who partook in indecent dances. Bellydancing is often seen as something very sexual (Wasn't, in origin), very unfitting. In media, bellydancers veer on the side of being a f*tish, and the common trope is the "bellydancer who seduces people in power for their own benefit". There's also the whole idea of shady fortune tellers and other magical tropes, that sort of weird mysticism that falls rapidly into orientalism. The idea that Roma will hex you, curse you, place an "Evil Eye" on you. And also the idea of travelling circus, people who perform in them being again full of that alluring exoticism, but beware! For they will enchant you, steal from you and run some massive criminal schemes on the way.

Now, when every tie a culture has on media is portrayed in a negative light, it's much harder for that culture to recover any sort of respect from the general populace. And that includes even people who are part of said culture, or people who have been removed from it. It has taken me so many years to unlearn a lot of these biases and realize where it has come from, and now I'm far too distant and far away from my grandmother to actually ever significantly connect to my heritage.

I've had the opportunity to witness what Romani culture is actually about, as I used to live with my grandmother during summers. A lot of the "mysticism" she took part of was actually about wards and protection. A lot of them were actually medicinal in nature, even if others were more superstitious. Red thread in the forehead for sickness and protection to curses, parfums (which contained alcohol or other antiseptics) on wounds, that stuff. My aunt was never a "sexual" deviant, she was keen on recovering and partaking on traditions from a culture that is slowly disappearing. The entire "promiscuous" idea is bullshit, Gitanos place a massive amount of power to marriage and loyalty. I had the luck to witness my cousin's marriage, which was a festivity like none other I had seen in my life, a colorful spectacle full of the most delightful attires, and my mother was whining the entire time over about how it was all an "uncivilised circus".

Now, this is why representation in media is key. Roma culture is broken into a thousand pieces and lost with every passing day. When someone decides to write an ambulant circus performer/fortune teller clad in exotic clothes full of golden jewellery, writes them as a criminal and makes the entire thing extremely sexual, they are feeding into the negative stereotypes about Roma.

Now, there's a lot of people who aren't even aware what culture does that trope even actually come from. I've seen people draw characters clad in Romani attires (often in, uh, rather pin-up or sexual contexts) and claim they're inspired by "x piece of media", where the trope is portrayed in the first place. I literally saw someone make a drawing in that way and call it "inspired by x (non-Roma) artist" instead of acknowledging where does all that come from.

I'm not asking people to not portray Roma people in media. Far from that. I just wish representation was better. Good representation is key towards making a culture seen in a more positive light, and teaching other peoples about it, and making people from said culture resonate with it. The very few times I've seen positive representations of Roma I've felt a bit of that connection with something that was taken from me. I want people to do a bit of research before giving a try to a Roma-coded character. Make an effort to not make Roma always the morally dubious fortune teller, the exotic alluring circus traveller, the bellydancer seductress. It's hard for Romani to produce widespread mainstream media because of how impoverished most communities are (because of the systematic discrimination Roma face all around the world), so the least non-Roma people can do is to be kind when they use their voice to talk or represent us.

I know this is a massive post, and I'm tagging it as "long post" for that reason, but I hope it is helpful for people. Feel free to ask or add your own experience if this is something that resonates with you too. Ask away if you want. I've been wanting to tell a bit my own personal experience, as this has always been a hard spot for me, and even if just a handful of people read this and understand what is this all about, I think it will have been worth it.

[quillthrillswriting]

this is literally exactly what sokka sounds like in the fortune-teller ep when he's desperately trying to prove that fortune telling isn't real

use of this tweet inspired by this post :)

[zvaigzdelasas]

I love reading fine print

[canciqer]

Gerard is a mechanical fortune-teller

Actually, I'm thinking of doing that with every era.