#how mana works in BC is a bit confusing

[littlepikmins]

I'm thinking more about what kind of magic Lux has. Since Lux is a being completely made of mana, I'm thinking their magic attribute could be Mana Magic and they primarily use transformation magic. They have the ability to control and transform natural mana around them into different forms and use it as power.

This takes great control though which is why when they are young they mainly ended up causing mana explosions when they tried to create or transform it. Does that make sense lore wise or would that be way off?

[thurilostiel]

For the OC and their partner(s)!! 💗,❣️, and 💓~!!

A little word ahead as this wasn’t stated in OC post. I’m not sure what’s the time in BC manga as of today so while Nozel is 29yo Oracle is 23yo. They first met while she was 19. She doesn’t know her real name, Nozel called her Gulisa during first week of them knowing eachother, later he called her Libi. And now: 💗 Describe your OC’s partner(s) from their point of view! What do they really think about them? “Calm man with no chill.” and “A loveable idiot” She knows he’s smart and really disciplined, doesn’t care about the other traits that much. She liked him from the moment he forgave her the robbery. Mer likes him so for Oracle he can’t be a bad person, birbo even tried to betray his mistress to become Nozel’s pet, but Nozel isn’t best with animals so Mer came back with his head down, not that Oracle could see that anyway. She loves the fact that Nozel will make it known that he came somewhere near her, will walk to her slightly louder than usually, knock on something so she won’t get startled. For first time Lilith/Libi used a spell that made her regain sight for a short while she saw Nozel’s cold expression and just “oh... so you are an emotionless bastard :/ ” *Nozel is confusion* “YOU KNOW EMOTIONS?!?” *Nozel is angery confusion* She still calls him emotionless bastard, but she learned that he just doesn’t like showing off what he feels. Now she’s able to tell how he’s feeling just from the way he speaks and how much noise he makes. Oracle half-way gets it why SE members describe Nozel as the Cruel Captain, but to hear that from his sibs is weird. Especially after all that Nozel told her about them. “Brother Nozel sent me on that stupid mission in peasant village again :c He hates us all after that accident in the dungeon” *Blind Oracle.exe stopped working. Critical Error* “...wot?”   ❣️ When did your OC first realise they were in love? How did they react to the realisation? That would be about 2 years after their first meeting! She got up earlier than usually and cought a maid preparing clothes for her, and well, even is she had money now, [thanks to Silver Eagles helping her out with a little magic supplies bussines], she hasn’t yet get to search, let alone employ a house help, so she asked why was the woman doing this is she wasn’t getting paid for this, “But I am. Lord Nozel told me to do so. His family summer house is nearby, but they don’t use it too often. There is little to no work there, so I take care of your house as well.” *Is shooketh. Realises that’s why whenever she comes back from her adventures to borders her house is neat clean and not even a fly sits on the floor*  In a span of 2 minutes she got flashbacks to everything that was happening to her when she was near Nozel and the feeling just hit her. “Thsh! ... emotionless bastard” She made a mental note to always have his favourite tea in stock. She didn’t think of this as true love at first, but she wanted to be someone he can open to and speak freely in her presence. Lilith even started inviting Dorothy, as Nozel mentioned her as a good friend, and so the three of them once in Glamour world would talk out the entire night. But Nozel is still the bastard he was before the realisation, Lilith was just slightly more touchy with him from that point on. Would always want to at least grab his shoulder or hand if they met outside her house/SE HQ and give a tiny sqeeze for noone knows why but she’s made it an ordinary thing by now. Lil Bonus: Mer was extremly ‘touchy’ with Nozel from the start. Birb never in his life cuddled with Lilith out of his own will, outside cold winter nights but they don’t count- those were life or death situations, but he will not survive if he’s seeing Nozel around and won’t get a cuddle with said man’s neck. Will sit on his shoulder and comb his hair with his beak, or he’ll pat Nozel’s hair down with his wing, looking proud as never, like Noz’s hairstyle was his doing. Mer is probably one of very few animals that ever come to Nozel out of own will and not cuz he got food, according to Tabata’s rankings Nozel, Noelle and king Augustus were in the Most hated by animals so... Birb saw a man looking similar to himself. Birb loves the man. 💓 What is their favourite activity to do together (that isn’t time in the bedroom)? READING! Also tea parties to talk about everything and nothing. So Oracle can use a spell that’ll help her see more clearly than with her mana sensing skills, but they work for about 4 minutes max and depending on her current mana pool situation and health she’d be able to see quite a range of colours or just black, white and grey scale sketchy things that are worse than what she’s able to see[imaginairy] with mana sensing or mana layer- sending out a thin layer of own mana like a wave to cover your surroundings so to know where you can put down your feet, so it’s not really helpful after a day of working on a magic artefact or while catching a cold. Nozel visits her at least 3 times a week, always in the evening hours and they sit together on the fluffy couch and Nozel reads out loud whatever book she wants, mostly it’s just some old archives about findings from dungeons and ancient relics. They were doing this almost from the start! Back when she was living in SE HQs and working directly for the squad to redeem herself from trying to rob their Captain in the light of day, [with HER OWN BIRBO SELLING HER OUT!! Mer screatched at Nozel while Lilith tried to untie his pouch from the belt], with the first two days they’d sit a bit further apar, and she’d try to take notes of what he’s reading to her. Noticing her strugle he made sure to get another member into the room to read the informations from books while he sat down with her and helped with the notes. And before anyone will say “But she’s blind, she won’t be able to read the notes, she didn’t have the spell yet!” Yea, and there is no braille or anything like that as far as I know in the Clover Kingdom, but if you press the pen/pencil down really hard it will make such mark on the paper you’d be able to read it without looking, only rule is that you need to know how the letters look before trying this out, and Oracle was made blind at her 15th birthday so she knew how to write and read before. They also started enjoying the evenings, when the sun is about to go down. If they’re outside for this, Lilith will sing silently or hum something, and Nozel will try to describe the sky to her in most details so her hums/singing will fit the scenery. He calls it “troublesome evening walks” she calls it “entertainment of the day”. She’s innocent in her ways of thinking, innocently gloomy. Mer loves to interrupt any activity they do together without inviting him at first. Hope that’s what you wanted to know.

[icharchivist]

(I think,you explained your thoughts well) I can't believe it just hit me that the Pillar looks like a giant sword. I'm probably super late on this. It makes sense since the Pillar, like sword, came to cut down life and is seen as a fearsome weapon. Also it makes me wonder something. What if CC is part of the last Pillar. It might be why the Pillar showed up in Allen's dream and talked to him or why when CC cut Tykki it awoke Joyd's memory instead and caused him to go on a rampage. For some -

2 reason it’s intensely attached to Allen and wants to keep him alive. Even save him from Neah by allowing Apocryphos to merge w/him and not letting him fall. Come to think of it. Allen attacking Mana w/CC is what awoke his Earl side. Maybe CC is (or was) trying to urge Allen to become strong enough so Allen can fight the Earl and attack him until CC awakens him to his Pillar status. That could be one of Allen’s intended destinies. Destroy Time. Which is either the Earl or actual time itself.-

3 Allen somehow knew the original Pillar somehow. If it’s because he was once Bookman Jr then it’s possibly because canon hints the Bookman are aware of all secret history of all worlds. Bookman Sr most likely knows as much as Cross does. Allen has been called by the Campbell’s as the man who knows everything. Whatever Allen’s history is the Pillar knows him. Allen might actually even know how to stop the Pillar and Dark Matter. That’s why both sides want him. The Pillar wants to turn him into-

4 a Destroyer. Allen can defeat the Noah but possibly unleash another threat that’s just as bad. It’s all really confusing because has Adam always been the Pillar? Or was he a normal guy forcibly given the role of Earl after the previous one did it’s job. Is Mana the Pillar in Allen’s dreams talking to him from a repressed memory. Again either way Allen apparently is known by the Pillar. The question is if the Pillar and the Heart are different or the same and what that means for Allen?

(aah thanks fkdjhf i’m glad i make some sense after all)

And ohh good point about the pillar looking like a sword in a way. Really feels like the striking weapon to destroy it all huh. 

There is a good point there… why Tyki’s Noah self awoke upon contact with Allen’s innocence but Skinn died upon contact with Kanda’s? So far we always said it was a question of intend - Kanda wanted to destroy all of Skinn, but Allen was specifically trying to destroy only the Noah side.  But would Allen’s specifically work as a trigger reminding of the Pillar, huuuh….

the thing is that i think, if the Pillar is partially made of innocence, i could see it being from the Cube itself before it broke into pieces through the world - so it would be All Innocences at once. The Order believes the Cube broke into pieces after what happened 7000years ago, if we believe them and think the Pillar was the fusion of innocence and earl essence, then any innocence would count. But i suspect we still have the idea of at least powerful core to the innocence with the Heart and the likes of Apocryphos.

As for CC’s awakening i don’t know - perhaps? I think it as the first time CC was in contact with Dark Matter so had reasons to awake, i don’t know how much the Earl essence is to take into account there, but it could… it would give a very calculating image of CC at this point tho oof.

But yeah good point about the Destroyer of Time thing, i was thinking about that too. The prophecy is there, we know Bookman believes in it, and we know the Order interprets it as killing the Earl, but what if it implies merging with him, becoming the Pillar again? Man would you imagine tho, Allen’s destiny being to merge with Mana to “destroy it all”, especially considering how many pieces of him Allen already has in him? oof.

As for the Bookman to me the fact allen is caught into all of this and knows of those stuff and is called the man who knows everything does hint to Bookman!Past!Allen all over again and i really can’t see it otherwise.

It would make sense if Bookmen knew more than the Order, remember that the Order only had been around for a couple of centuries and that Bookman is the one who told the Order about the existance of the Noah after Rewinding Town, which even Lavi knew about at this point. They had been in the order for a couple of years at this point but they held onto that information until Road appeared and sent a message directly to the Order. So i’d be inclined to think the Bookmen know more about it that they let on and are probably closer to the truth than the Vatican ever was.

The Pillar seems to litterally be a double edged sword, since you brought up how it looks like a sword too. Who knows how it would work once it’s wielded… Hell it’s really hard to determinate since we legit just learnt about it. 

As for the question about Adam, that’s… the huge… huge question….

Mana and Nea are special because out of all Noah, they were those who weren’t born “human” per se, since they were made by the spliting of the Earl. I feel like this is not something say Tyki would be able to do. Hell, we can compare to the actual Noah Twins with the Jasdebi who seems to just be two people who awoke the memories of the Bound at some point, and yet… So, Mana and Nea’s nature itself is already super weird.What does it tell us about Adam? Humm…. I think it was told he was there for a few thousands year at least, before spliting at least. That this sadness of carrying all of this on his shoulders is why he split. 

So perhaps Adam is not like the others Noah, not awaken in human genes but an actual entity that keeps on living, like a heart of dark matter perhaps? But who the hell knows……

And here we really need to wait bc the chapter really put a spin away from the Noah mythos. We can’t really use the Bible as a starting point here. In it it was told that Noah was chosen by God for his family to survive. But according to Road and how it came out of nowhere, it doesn’t seem like Noah was chosen…. Or if it was, it was forcefully. The merging that is…. 

As for “if Mana is the Pillar” that would raise the question since in Allen’s dream the Pillar seems to talk to him: 

To me it doesn’t feel like the Pillar is having any respect or love for Allen and even less so for Nea. If that’s a memory that is. 

But we also have a Memory of Mana taking Allen away in this place…

Gaahh i really don’t knoooow anymore.

Personally i still feel like the Pillar may be a merging between the Earl and the Innocence in some way or another, and that it brought destruction : Hoshino likes to work in pairs with a secret third elements linking those pairs, so i wouldn’t personally look for One And Only thing to justify the existance of the Pillar. 

And how much would the “spliting of the Pillar” change what the innocence and the earl would want??

And indeed what would it mean for Allen?

I’m still so confused by all of this and at this point i feel like we’re really missing too big of pieces to look at the full picture yet… it’s complicateeeeed.

When we think we understand a bit of DGM we get proven wrong big time HUH.

[eldarya-no-lorraine]

but I'm confused: beemov s banning people who paid money to get maana? bc how would you buy things without real money? I'm so lost at this point -.- and so frustrated with the damn bug

It seems to be all over now - at least with the lag and bugs. I went to sleep since I couldn’t do much. Today I will explore yet again, but I have to use a big potion on one of my companions because I planned on draining their energy yesterday and hatching a new one. Wouldn’t have done it if dear Beemoov issued a warning in advance and waited for today to rampage. 

Anyway,

I don’t know about the whole mana and gold coins for real money exchange. Not sure how that works..But they changed the market rules so that you need to finish episode 6 and be level 7 to use the market. It’s a bit high tbh. Before the rule was lower and it helped new players with common animals to buy their food for cheap rather than the shop price. Guess multiple accounts are going to be deleted? I mean, it is against the rules so..

The biggest deal with the mana and the market were transactions for pet food for a price beyond that at the game shop. That was because people were either trying to trick others OR some were using that as a payment for an artists or writer who drew or wrote something for them, but for Beemoov it all looks suspicious so they took action. Because they looked at the price and not the possibility of what was behind that price. 

If anyone was affected by this then send a message to the support and prove you did nothing wrong. 

[mairzymarzipan]

Night of the Full Moon Character Reviews- Classes

It’s about time I finally get on this.  I’ve been wanting to start these reviews for a while, but personal stuff came up, and then worries about the future of my blog.  But things are finally sussing out so- why the fuck not now?

And naturally I’ll be talking about the characters.  Other folks are talking about gameplay itself and strategy, but I kind of love these characters.  Some of them have really fucked up stories.  There seems to be some translation weirdness(this is actually a Chinese game), but I feel like there was a love when crafting these stories.  I’ll just talk about mechanics when I feel it’s important for the plot.

And who better to start with the heroine herself?

Night of the Full Moon is sort of a cross between a TCG and a roguelike.  The cards you stumble on, the events that happen and the people you meet are randomized each time.  It takes place in a magical forest on the edge of a village.  Said forest is cursed and everybody knows it.  It always snows, and those affected by the curse in it can never leave.  On a full moon night, cursed people lose their minds, apparently, and attack you even if they might not usually.  The more times you play through, the more about the story is revealed.

You play as Little Red Riding Hood, an orphan(???) raised by her grandmother.  When your grandmother disappears, it’s your job to march into this forest on a full moon night to find her.  

There are currently six classes to choose for your little cloaked heroine: Lady Knight, Ranger, Nun, Little Witch, Magician and Apothecary.

“Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother relied on each other for a living, and was often bullied by boys.  As a result, she did not have many happy memories of her childhood. However, she had to learn to use her brain and her fists to survive.”

Spoilers, but the knight class is the only one you can play for free.  Yeah, sorry, this game has some DLC so, your mileage may vary.  The knight class is fun to play, though.  It involves using your weapons and armor and combining your armor with cards that hit for a lot of damage.  You may feel a little annoyed when the witch pharmacist keeps offering you useless mana potions, though.

I just don’t really have much to say on the story of this timeline itself.  I do like the idea of a person learning self defense specifically bc of bullies, but something about this wording bums me out.  Her being defined as being a victim is kind of a downer.

Knight Red does not(afaik, feel free to correct me) have any class-specific interactions with any of the enemies.  Yeah- some of these classes will get an extra choice when they defeat a certain enemy, if their dialog is triggered.  It’s by chance, though.

And yeah.  Most of the art depicts Red with anime white hair.  I like to imagine the art of her on the cards is her as a little kid and then she dyed her hair as a teen.

🛡️🛡️ Two shields.  Serves it’s purpose but kind of the most bare.  Considered this is the only non-dlc class, that seems a little lame.  Why not just make Knight, Ranger and Witch free and make the others dlc?

“Little Red Riding Hood has long been the only girl who dared to go into the forest with hunters.  Over time, she became more agile and earned more gold from her prey. Perhaps one day she will achieve her dream of building her grandmother a house, no longer cold and hungry.”

Now this appeals to me a bit more.  And- don’t worry.  It’s clearly in the intro that her and Grandma have a place to live- but it’s probably a shitty apartment with a shitty landlord or something.

But this is a Red who has more agency.  She’s defined by her hobbies instead of how other people treat her.  Not that her life is any piece of cake.  I do like that mention about trying to make money, bc this is one of the classes where you can attain the ‘steal’ card, where can get a little extra money when you fight people.  

Ranger Red gets a class-specific interaction with the a hunter who has a particularly harsh backstory.  I’ll get to him tomorrow.  I like to imagine this guy took Red under his wing a lot when she was younger, too.

The ranger class involves a lot of chain reactions, finagling things so your turn is longer and then potentially hitting for a lot at the end if made your turn long enough.  It’s in my top three favorites.

🏹🏹🏹 Three bow and arrows.  Some cool characterization and legit a fun class to play.

“The king Little Red Riding Hood does not like to use violence to solve problems.  “Injuries of the body are far easier to treat than those of the heart and spirit.” This is Little Red Riding Hood’s motto.  Perhaps this is the reason why she is more understanding than others.”

Nun Red was initially interesting to me because...well, spoilers, but it doesn’t take many playthroughs to realize that the people involved with the church are kind of like the biggest bad.  There are other big bads, but they’re kind of the shittiest people?  And a person kind of has to be involved with a church to be a nun.

But that might not be the case.  She really kind of plays more like a cleric.  Her moved involve healing herself and praying.  Her special interaction is also not with a member of the church but rather somebody who may be described as a pagan.  Also, your Grandmother fucking hates the church, so I really doubt she’d let her grandmother become an actual nun.  Nah, ‘Nun’ Red seems to represent an old faith that the villains have been trying to eradicate.

That being said, despite avoiding violence, I don’t have a lot to go on with this Red’s personality.  Ok so, she’s really nice?  I assume she’s poor like all the other Reds, but doesn’t seem to care about that.  Like the Knight, she just kind of comes off as too passive.

Gameplay wise, she’s my least favorite.  A healer makes sense if other people are in your party who can hit, but Red is alone.  It’s very difficult to get her to wield damage and fights go on for a long time.  It’s just, boring and frustrating.  For that reason, I’ve giving her just 🙏🏻 one set of pray hands.  Petty, I know, but that’s how I play.

“Even though the study of black magic is strictly prohibited in town, Little Red Riding Hood’s curiosity cannot be suppressed.  What’s more surprising is that the witch has great patience in her guidance of the girl.”

Oh, yes, here we go!  Probably the most interesting Red story wise.  Spoilers again, but remembers those multiple Big Bads I mentioned?  Well the Witch is one of the biggest of the bads...that is, unless you think that Pharmacy Witch and Apple Witch are different people.  Then who knows which one in her tutor.  My headcanon is that they’re the same person using a shapeshifting, so...

But yeah, to have a character who was trained by one of the main villains then go back and take on the evil in the forest makes for a pretty fun story.  Yes, yes, it’s every video game twist, but give me this.  Also this Red is driven, not by her shitty living situation, but simply by curiosity.  She thinks magic is weird and cool and wants to know everything about it, and she’ll break the town laws and go into the woods to just to learn.  That’s pretty neat!

This description, along with some facts about said Witch also lead to some pretty important headcanons about the ur-story but...I’m going to wait to talk about those when I talk about the Apple Witch.  

Witch Red is kind of just, a wizard.  You can be an elemental generalist, or you can focus one of the three elements, or you can stock up your mana up just to hammer people with it later.  The difficulty is often picking a strategy early enough and finding the cards you need to make it work.  The class specific encounter is with a mage who has a similar deck so- it fits.

She gets 🔥🔥🔥🔥 four fireballs.  Great for story and headcanons, but her class isn’t one of my favorites to play.  As I said: petty.

“As a descendant of the Hope family, Little Red Riding Hood discovered a strange bond between her body and cards when she was very young. She sought to cover up this supernatural phenomenon and magic became her best excuse.”

There is a lot of unpack here.

“A descendant of the Hope family” is another thing I’ll talk about when we get to the Witch.  This class is...kind of meta?  I had assumed up until seeing that that everyone wasn’t really carrying around physical cards but rather they represented attacks.  What does it mean if Magician Red has power over cards themselves?  Does she warp reality to mess with people’s attacks?  Spoilers but no, unless you have a card that wipes out mana/attack pts.

Also, it’s wild to me that Red was born with this super power, but it was soooo scary that she told everyone that it was magic.  Yanno, the thing that’s been established as illegal.  What exactly is it that Red is capable of doing, and why is it so frightening?  The description doesn’t reveal much.

You can either use a lot of traps with her or you can bank mana to make combos with your poker dart card.  Both are pretty fun.  Her special encounter is with a robotic stage magician who is actually pretty awesome.  Also he probably didn’t train her, because he’s kind of new to the area.

She gets 🃏🃏🃏 three playing cards.  Fun class to play, and he beginnings of an interesting character, but too confusing for me to latch onto.

“Little Red Riding Hood has been filled with curiosity for the natural world ever since childhood, and enjoys performing strange experiments. To care for her aging Grandma, she secretly learned how to concoct cheap potions from the crazy apothecary.”

Personality wise, Apothecary Red seems to have a lot in common with Witch Red, with the natural curiosity.  The nature of the ‘strange experiments’ is a little dubious, though.  Are you talking ‘let’s see what happens when I mix these two chemicals’ or ‘let’s see what happens to this frog if i stick it in a blender’ strange?  Apothecary Red may or may not be some kind of sadist.

The fact that she willingly hangs out with the other Apothecary does not help her case in that respect.  Dude is kind of a jerk but more on that later.  Worth noting, though, is that she only works for the guy for money, but does her ‘strange experiments’ on her own time.  She seems to be self taught and feels like she’s lowering herself working for this guy.

Her playstyle supports the notion of this Red being a jerk.  You can set people on fire and they’ll burn for a little while, or you can slowly drain their life force, or you can blow up your own stuff in their face, causing damage.  It’s...actually really fun!  Especially you have the right weapons to set up chain reactions.

The apothecary is who you have a special interaction with, and even then she seems to be unimpressed by him.

Anyhoo, I’m go ahead and give this girl 💥💥💥💥💥 five explosions.  She’s definitely a sadistic heroine, but that’s what makes her fun!

WEREWOLF RED WEREWOLF RED WEREWOLF RED???

So, this is the teaser image for the ‘coming soon’ class.  I’m hoping it’s indicative of what’s to come and not just a generic plate.  It looks like a girl with an axe with a werewolf growing out of her back which...is actually a concept that’s already canon, so yeah. Anyhoo I am so pumped about this.  You interact with so many monsters in the story, it’s about time you get to be one.

🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺 five potential werewolves!

Ok, so there you go.  This post is going to be a little different as we’re talking about one character in different timelines and also we didn’t touch on voice acting.  Hopefully that gives you an idea of the game without skipping ahead too much.  Next we’ll talk about some of the people mentioned here, as well as a few others.  

[spiritionary]

Divination Deck Spirit Experiences

The mods of Spiritionary as well as others we’ve spoken to have noticed spirits in many of our divination decks whether tarot or oracle. Each seems to be unique and in many cases completely sentient, and it not only varies from type of deck but deck to deck as well, each specific deck having its own spirit. It’s quite common for cartomancers (diviners who use card decks) to describe their deck’s personalities. Even doing an “interview spread” to communicate with a tarot or oracle deck itself is a standard practice for a lot of diviners when they get a new divination deck. 

Yet despite how normal it is in the world of divination to speak of deck interviews and personalities, divination is usually considered a totally separate and distinct practice from spirit work. So acknowledging that most or perhaps even all divination decks have their own spirits has important implications for the potential overlap between spirit work and cartomancy divination (if not other forms of divination as well). At the very least, divination can always be used as a tool for communicating with spirits and the relationship between cartomancy and spirit work is very strong in that sense!

Here we’ve gathered some personal stories from 14 diviners about individual tarot and oracle deck experiences collected by Mods Wind and Fire...

Idris’ Shadowscapes Tarot Deck

"My Shadowscapes Tarot deck is very sassy but not it a bad way. She tells it like it is and makes you face hard truths. With me she is always particularly harsh and throws out lots of major arcana. With others she isn't too bad, but she still is blunt in her messages. She cuts to the chase." - Idris, @crystalwitch-in-the-tardis

Periwinkle’s Hawaiian Mana Card Oracle Deck

"I have a Hawaiian Mana Card Oracle deck and every time I use it, it feels as if I'm consulting a wise grandmother ancestor figure because she's very perceptive to everything (especially BS), and will give it to you straight, but with the utmost love and respect. She only wants the best for the readee, so any hard-to-swallow words are immediately followed by words of compassion and love for your true, vulnerable self." - Periwinkle, @destinylightreadings

Siris’ Chrysalis Tarot and House of Night Oracle Deck

"I have two decks I mainly use: Chrysalis Tarot and House of Night Oracle. The Chrysalis Tarot is very happy self-help yet doesn’t exactly explore the downsides. It’s more good advice and what you can do to address a problem so very practical. Comes off like a school guidance counselor. House of Night has more a motherly tone. Where it looks out for you yet win tough love. Likes to tell you the good and bad of a problem and give their opinion of how to proceed yet it’s ultimately up to you." - Siris, @path-of-stars

Subterranean Roses’ Steampunk Tarot Deck

"My steampunk tarot appears as a young woman in steampunk garb. She's actually fairly nice, like a supportive friend who sometimes is blunt because you need to hear it but not really in a sassy way. I'm pretty sure the spirit looks like one of the characters on the cards, but I haven't figured out which." - @subterraneanroses

Kuro’s Tarot Deck

“Mine can be sarcastic, and is usually pretty straight forward. I do have to store it with a little salt, because I have had problems with it being possessed in the past.” - Kuro, @ladykuro

Lala’s Oracle Deck

“My oracle deck. I love it to pieces. I didn't pick out my self but I did buy it. It is very good telling when to stop shuffling. Like it would be very hard to shuffle if  I need to stop. It is very guiding and accurate. It tells advice in a practical and loving way. I didn't pick it. Someone else did. But it has this very distinct smell that no matters what doesn't go away. I am big on smells. It just feels like home. And comfortable. And just everything I need.” - Lala, @ursalala 

Titan’s Tarot Deck

“My deck is pretty call out and harsh, but always has this little gentle, motherly tone. Like "Face your problems and get your life together omg but it'll be okay bb." It's stern but kind. I also conceptualize my deck as female.” - Titan, @a-spoonful-of-magic

Ismerila’s Tarot Deck

"For some reason, my deck reacts differently for me when around other people, and I really, really believe that it's trying to help me. Like with my nana, we shared doing readings together and it really laid out what she's going through and what she needs to do to change her life for the better, and when it got to me, the cards kept saying, ''Hey. I know you feel miserable.'' And the more cards that I drew that said ''you feel down.'' the more nana was like, ''uh.... u good?'' When I'm alone it offers advice, but when I'm around my family it's like ''HEY PAY ATTENTION LOOK SHE FEELS BAD HELP HER GENIUS.'' - Ismerila, @natasatcha

Amy’s Tarot Deck

“I've had my deck for almost three years... I truly believe my deck and I have a strong connection. Actually the first time I really connected with my deck I was going through a really hard time and it's like she (for some reason my deck really feels like a female presence) laid it all out for me and that's when I really started to get close to my deck. When I'm feeling confused or just need clarity in a situation I always find reassurance and answers with her. Also, it's nice just to spend some time with my deck. I feel more protected and secure when I do this... in my opinion in feels like something has my back and will tell me what's up, even when I don't want to hear it sometimes haha" - Amy, @glass-of-her-boudoir  

Anonymous Divination Deck Owner

"My tarot decks def have "personalities" if that's what you mean one of them (Morgan-Greer) is very gentle and grandmotherly (maybe bc I received it from my grandmother and her energy rubbed off on it?), another (Aquarian) is pretty distant and abstract in its messages, and the third (Hermetic) is a bona fide troll or maybe the Hermetic deck just rubbed me the wrong way at first bc of its appropriation of Jewish symbols. (Nonetheless, it's very easy to read, esp. if you know astrology well.)"

Mod Fire’s Buddha Tarot Deck

“When I first finished printing and cutting out my deck, which has the card art from the Buddha Tarot but meanings from Buddhist sutra texts, I could feel a sort of presence within the stack of cards right away. I did a deck interview and got very clear answers about how the deck felt about me and wanted to work with me - it doesn’t care at ALL how other people think of it and will only deliver the honest truth from its point of view. I still haven’t really figured out what the spirit of my deck is, but I suspect that it’s derived in a way from the collective consciousness of all the cards within it - a sort of make-shift divinatory Buddhist messenger of wisdom drawing from all the Buddhist spirits and symbols represented by each card in the deck. I love my deck dearly, and for now, I’m so happy with it as the only one I own.” - Mod Fire

Lena’s Linestrider Tarot Deck

“I hadn't been doing much divination lately because my Linestrider deck is pretty serious and requires a lot of contemplation and reflection when I do a reading and I hadn't had an occasion when I needed that voice lately. Well today I did my Litha spread which was pretty encouraging but heavy, and then I did a deck interview spread even though I've had the deck for about three months. First of all: the "who are you/essence of the deck" card was the Queen of Pentacles. The book it came with described it as "If the Queen cards were embodied as friends that you went to for advice, the Queen of Pentacles would invite you to her beautiful plant-filled kitchen for homemade bread and soothing herbal tea." I couldn't have described the personality of this deck any better! The rest of the reading was super encouraging and reflective of the deck. I feel like we've really connected and I can read better from them now.” - Lena, @katialena

Lena’s Mini Tarot Deck

“I have this mini deck I got from Coles back in January and it's been good for learning the meanings and getting used to readings as a beginner because it was pretty straightforward. But ever since I got the Linestrider this deck (I call it my travel deck or my pocket deck) has had a bit of an attitude problem every time I tried to use it, like it was petulant and jealous. I was getting frustrated and contemplating resetting and cleansing the deck to give away since we clearly were not clicking anymore. But today I was on a tarot roll so I decided to do a simpler deck interview spread with it to kind of just "Why not?" WELL, let me tell you I was floored by the results. 

I started as a casual conversation like "listen, I'm open to this conversation, talk to me" and the cards were SO snarky! The "who are you" card was the 8 of Swords and was basically saying "I'm a stubborn, straightforward, tongue in cheek kinda guy, but reserve your ultimatums and keep an open mind even if it's not pretty.” And the rest of the cards followed that lead talking about the strength as being cutthroat honest and the limits being super carefree like "I don't give a fuck" and at the end when I asked if I would be able to use reversals with this deck (clarification card) it told me that further exploration and learning would be my strength, but also to tread with caution. I really appreciated the candor of the conversation so I shuffled the cards so they would be all mixed up and different directions and when I had them all mixed and in a pile I felt this huge surge of power unlike anything I've ever felt from the tarot before. It actually brought me to my knees and made my eyes sting. When I felt it had absorbed/passed I brought them together and they seemed to buzz with new energy and purpose. Since then I’ve kept my travel deck with me in case it calls me for a quick warning or piece of advice.” - Lena, @katialena

Lotus’ Tarot Deck

“I’ve noticed that all of my decks have very distinct personalities - and I feel like with that, a spirit that embodies this personality. The deck I most often use has a very strong,  brutally honest, alpha-male, warrior-like spirit. The deck and I work extremely well together, it delivers honest readings and never sugarcoats its answers. I get my strongest, clearest readings from it, in part due to the spirit's personality and due to our connection.” - Lotus, @lotusulfr   

Mod WInd’s Elemental Tarot Deck

“My deck, who I call N, definitely has a (what I perceive as feminine) spirit. She’s very straight with me but kind, and pleasant most of the time. I think she has a very calming presence, even when I’m not reading from her. I have another deck but N is my go to for true advice and when I need to really hear something, my trusted deck. She’s become a great friend to me even though I don’t talk to her often knowing she’s near brings me peace. She can be silly but usually is more calming and pleasant, while being straight. Like a soft light in darkness.”  -Mod Wind

—> Have questions? Send them to us at SpiritFAQ!

[jess-oh]

Reflection

HEY JOURNAL! 

IT HAS BEEN WAY TOO LONG!

I HAVE SO MUCH TO WRITE ABOUT!

MY PRIORITIES AND THOUGHTS ARE ALL OUT OF WHACK AND I DONT EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN!

I’ve been trying to process externally through other people instead of internally through my journal and lowkey it has been affecting my relationships with other people and I don’t want it to. 

Recently, I was hanging out with Mitchell and we witnessed a drive by shooting and overall, I’m pretty okay now. I was pretty freaked out at first but I think I’m okay now. Honestly, I was in denial a bit because I couldn’t tell if I was just putting on more of an act so people don’t think I’m a sociopath but whenever I talked about it and actually felt pain or a tightness in my chest or cried about it, I would be surprised and realized I was more affected than I initially thought about it. I was honestly afraid to go outside and I did get triggered whenever I heard loud, sudden sounds. But overall, I am better now. I think sharing it with people and asking for prayer did definitely help and going to God first. I listened to “Resurrecting” and “Even When It Hurts” a lot and really resonated with the words. Honestly, even on Sunday during service, I tried really hard to be real and honest with God but I couldn’t stop crying. I did feel super nervous being outside at all on Saturday and clutched my tote bag closely over my chest just in case one of the speeding cars suddenly started shooting. I was afraid and I admittedly still am to some extent but I am a lot better now. I am a little bit more edge than usual being outside but I’m getting back to normal. I am. I’m close. And I’m glad. Thank you, God! Thank you for wonderful people around me.

But I think it was good that this happened to me. It made me face the reality of how I felt. I feel as if I’ve been living with a layer over everything recently and haven’t been totally honest with anyone. Which is, admittedly a little tough. I want to have a best friend to whom I can just tell them everything. But I am surrounded by guys and I don’t want things to get awkward in sharing too much? I know I need to set boundaries! 

I’m just sad because for the girls, I really don’t have a lot in common with them so I can’t necessarily go super deep? I do get along well with Amanda but she’s a horrible texter and already has so much on her plate and I feel bad. I don’t want her to feel like she just has to take care of me all the time either? Because I know she has her own trust issues and I want to be accommodating to that! But it does kind of suck. I know other people feel alone too and I want to reach out to them and let them know I’m here for the but knowing the line between guys and girls is kind of hard. I want to reach out more Jason and P. Josh but they are guys. And that isn’t something I normally actively think about and I don’t see either of them in a romantic sense at all. I JUST WISH THERE WERE MORE SISTERS :’((( The community is lacking on our end! And I know I, along with Amanda and the other sisters can do a better job with community on our end bUT, it’s just unfortunate. And Movement isn’t super big either so it makes sense but it does kind of suck. I lowkey always questioned P. Josh whenever he wanted to intentionally do something or have something with a specific gender but I get it now :’( 

I really dislike gossip and I know that I do it sometimes but I actively try to go against it. It’s annoying, just leads to drama, and is extremely passive aggressive which also bothers me. And I’ve been the victim of it in the past and it freaking sucked and I hated it and it was such a terrible feeling. And I don’t want to feel like that again and I don’t think anyone should have to ever feel like that. Ever. Really.

But now I know about this thing that happened between Joyce Park and Jason and I don’t know what to do now? But typing this at all has actually been helping me process a lot. I know that I can have a big mouth at times and feel like I can’t keep secrets and I definitely want to get better at that but this...I don’t feel the need to share it with more people because I understand it isn’t my place. I’m not the most trustworthy person and I think my first love language has become acts of service. If my friends ever need anything, I would gladly drop everything I’m doing and go to help them as soon as I possibly can. And I don’t expect others to do the same for me because I understand that it’s a big time and energy commitment. I don’t want someone else to do what I am willing to do for others necessarily. I just want to have some that I can fully rely and depend on. Which used to be Jeanne but she never really shared back to me and I wanted to be there for her too. I didn’t just want to use her as a resource and toss her aside once I was done. I know what that feels like and it really really sucks. It does! And no one deserves to suffer through that kind of pain. 

I’m also kind of confused because Jason has been saying a lot recently that he shoudn’t talk or hangout with girls as often which has left me confused? Am I just a bro or does that include me? Orrrrrrrrr I don’t know. I think I’m a good friend for him and he’s definitely a good friend for me too but I need something or someone more than that. Not necessarily a significant other but someone to whom I can always rely on, yknow? Preferably of the same gender to avoid all of this potential unnecessary drama. Because I did lowkey crush on Andrew for a time and highkey with Anthony. I think I see Jason as an older mentor figure if anything. I realized this yesterday. I definitely see him as an Anthony in my life. But for Anthony, it was very much him helping me more than me ever helping him and looking back on it, I was really glad that he was there to support me but I wish I was a better friend to him :/ Maybe because I already liked Jason before I have nothing to worry about? LOL. But yeah. This drama...is so easily avoidable. I don’t want any part of it. At all. I’m happy that I’ve been able to be there for him but... I don’t know. He is there for me but I am still cautious with what I tell him. I don’t want to just be a bro but I want to be a good friend too. 

I’m also kind of salty towards P. Josh and Jason right now. I know I was really tired last night and lowkey dreaded going home. And I don’t always take great care of myself and them two plus Johnathan know that all too well. When I’m sick or overworking myself, they can definitely see. I have such a need to define myself by my productivity and what I can accomplish and it’s hard to remember to take care of myself and I get that! ...nor do I always think I deserve to rest but that’s a topic for another day.

BUT, I am S A L T Y towards P. Josh and Jason bc they keep discussing whos gonna take me back home amongst themselves without talking to me first and asking if I even want it to begin with. Which I usually say no and they refuse that as answer. Which sometimes is nice but other times just feels degrading like my opinion or voice doesn’t matter. And I’m reminded of when I first didn’t want to feel like a burden when I saw my mom, dad, and Olessia discussing who was supposed to pick me up from school and I just watched them argue. And I felt terrible in that moment and I felt like a heckin big burden. I don’t expect them be my chauffeur. I never do. I learned that from my parents to never assume. I learned from P. Joe to never make excuses and instead to make things work if I can. He had a low tolerance for excuses and I respect that about him but it has left me a bit scarred to some extent.  But yeah. I don’t know. I want to bring this up to them but I think I need to get better at taking care of myself and understanding my limitations first. Oh man, am I glad to be journaling again. It feels so good to just freely express everything again, ahhhhh. 

Anyway, okay! I’m going to make an honest attempt to figure everything out. I think being self deprecating and not taking care of myself has become a “fun” yet “toxic” and “normalized” part of my identity which is not very good... haha. I need to figure this out so that I can help other people who are in the same boat as me! And they are definitely out there. I know them. And I want to help them. I want to figure this out through God’s grace and lead others in the same direction. I pray that he can use me in such a way where He can bring others to Him through me. This is my hope and prayer to you, God! People desperately need you. They really do. And I want to help because it pains me to see them in pain as well.

I know I’m pretty bitter towards my parents and it’s easy to toss them under the bus but I really am grateful for them. My dad is supportive and my mom does worry for me.  Yes, they can say hurtful things at times but I think they do care for me at the end of the day. My upbringing was rough, theres no denying that. We really didn’t get along until after I left. But I am thankful for them. I am.

Jason and Joyce are off to have their conversation! Good luck little flapjacks! I hope all goes well. I care for the both you very deeply.

I am lonely, I think. I think Rhyarna, Eliza, and I made Emily feel bad for being so wholesome and now she feels the need to be “bad” to be on the same level as us and I feel as if we corrupted her and I feel bad now. And we used to be close but she would never really respond to me. Or at least not in the way that I wanted. And I don’t really trust Eliza and Rhyarna to be unbiased. I don’t just want support. I want someone to listen to me but to also tell me the truth. That’s what I need right and that’s what I lack right now. I used to have it with Jakob and Mana but they left. And even pretty limited with them. I used to have that with Marlena but she got busy and went to study abroad. I had that with Andrew but he started dating Sofia and they’re both so far away. And I don’t want blind support. And honestly, Andrew just gets mad at me sometimes when I don’t see my own potential but because he gets angry, I don’t want to talk to him at all. I don’t want to be another disappointment. I had that with Sharlene but she transferred schools to California. I had that with TyKira and Jordan but they both got busy and graduated. And I know none of them meant to leave because of any reason against me but I felt the most real and honest and happiest with them and now they’re gone and I’m alone again. I’m left to search for a new support system somewhere, somehow. But I just feel lost and confused and alone. It is lonely. I was close with the seniors at school but they’re all graduating soon and I’m sad and I’ll be left to search for support from somewhere else again. It’s been a very transitional, lonely time. I miss them. I need them. But I don’t want to just use them either. I did really care for all of them and wanted to be there for them just as much as they were so gracious in being there for me. I think I just need to pray more and be more honest with God instead of rely on such temporary humans. Maybe that’s why He keeps taking my friends away. Because I’m too independent when it comes to Him but too dependent when it comes to man. Or I’m just suffering from lack of community. Or both! Who knows!

Jason and Joyce just came back and they seem relatively calm so I think their conversation went well? I didn’t think they would talk so long. I’m actually pretty tired now. It’s 10:43pm now. Wow. 

[ashenchevalier]

Are we not gonna talk about how Class VII reacts to Crow like

*spoilers ahead* Dude literally assassinated the Chancellor and staged terrorist attacks multiple times and Rean’s going on about bringing him back to graduate with the other second years throughout sen2. Did they forget that even if they got Crow back, he’d have to face some sort of punishment for that? How the fuck did Rean survive a full month on just mana? Travelling the Nord Highlands without a horse was a pain. Adding horses and motorcycles to the rest of the overworld was a great idea. Divine Knight battles felt a bit slow, but controlling both Ordine and Valimar was fun. Wish they could’ve formed combat links too, but I don’t think ARCUS applies to ancient mechs, lol. I’m also pretty pissed that Class VII had to be saved by the op npcs throughout the infernal palace like. Game, pls. I had no issues beating those bosses. The only one i repeated was rufus and that was because I wanted the bonus AP. Kinda wanted more development on characters like elliot, gaius, and machias…basically Class VII members who aren’t rean. Elise crushing on Rean was kinda creepy. It worked in trails, but in sen? Nope. Not a big fan of Elise so that’s a factor. Forced romantic interest alisa was not appreciated. (I also didn’t like not having romantic scenes with the boys coughjusiscough but ehh…) The final dungeon in the epilogue. Haven’t played it myself but it should’ve been an optional dungeon instead of a requirement to get the clear save for ng+. I do like the fact that you can choose from all the playable characters and even buy mirrors to play even more characters. I’m still confused why everyone else decided to graduate early. Other than jusis bc no one else to manage the kreuzen province, was there a reason they couldn’t wait another year to graduate other than to leave rean all alone again? I hope they give him a happy ending for sen3, at least. Falcom pls.