#i see now that if my own lack of consistent building skills doesn't stop me then the game will take the matter into its own hands

[deepslate-redstone-ore]

from a friend's survival world that they shared with like 3 people including me using the Essential mod:

and a few minutes later

[oswald-privileges]

ALL RIGHT BUT YOU ASKED FOR IT

Power of Three as a series is just. full of weaknesses, most of which come down to poor continuity and structure. I'm not gonna try and fix ALL of those, bc that'd be laborious as hell, but I will pick out things that I feel are the most egregious as case studies.

What Po3 does have, tho, is an absolutely shining strength in the concept of its three main characters. After twelve books of Blandly Heroic Protagonist Syndrome, Jayfeather is an absolute godsend. He's angry! He's rude! He's unhappy! He's not nice. I Love Him And He's My Son. Lionblaze has his invincible pride (hah) and emergent bloodlust, and Hollyleaf has her moral absolutism and certainty. These are good starting points for characters. Sadly, the lack of continuity undermines what could have been three really good character arcs.

So! I present to you:

HOW TO MAKE "WARRIORS: THE POWER OF THREE" NOT COMPLETELY SUCK ACCORDING TO MY PERSONAL TASTE; A NON-EXHAUSTIVE, NON-CONSECUTIVE LIST BY ME

ONE

- Have there be a persistant, overarching series threat. Sol is a character with amazing villain potential who does literally nothing except hang around, and do exactly 2 Bad Things completely off-screen. This Is Not Good.

- Instead, have him be present from the second book onwards- initially introduced as a friendly but enigmatic outsider who is slowly revealed across the series to be a complete black hole of a personality, a social parasite quietly rearranging whatever community he's a part of to just-so-happen to benefit him as much as humanly possible. His "preach individualism not starclan" methods are not so much values as one strategy out of many. (to those who know me- yes i have a type. no i will not apologise.)

- Maybe his ultimate goal is to dissolve and centralise the clans or something so that he can live out his life as a political puppetmaster in all the cat-luxury he likes. idk it's hard to imagine overall stakes for this rewrite BECAUSE THE ORIGINAL DOESN'T HAVE ANY

TWO

- For gods sake you don't have a series based on the premise of "the main characters develop super powers" and then only have the second power confirmed by the end of the fourth book. I understand the first book mostly focusing on Jayfeather- his powers are obvious from the start, he's got the strongest personality of the three, he gets access to most of the prophecy plot stuff because of them. But you NEED to have the other two show an interest in something concrete happening to them beyond that, and you need to at least hint towards the other two having something unique to them even if nobody clocks it yet.

- Have Jayfeather tell his siblings about the prophecy by the end of book two at the latest. The amount of time he spends noodling around not sharing it with them is inexcusable. It's not that it's out of character for him to hang onto a secret for a bit, it's just that there's no point and it slows everything down. It would be equally in character for him to go to his siblings and be like "look, i'm SPECIAL. well you as well but ALSO ME". Boy starts off as desperate for recognition, what can I say

THREE

- Have Jayfeather discover that StarClan don't withhold signs or information on purpose for the sake of "building courage and faith" or whatever nonsense. Seeing and communicating the future is metaphysically very difficult, so interpreting signs and messages is a genuine skill, or even an art. The cats of StarClan, however, really are just ghosts, much more similar to living cats than the currently living believe. This is the impotus for Jayfeather's discarding of his reverence for StarClan, which remains consistent throughout the series.

- Have Hollyleaf and Jayfeather both still change their cat careers in the first book, but put place more attention on the fact that they basically switched jobs. Have a scene where they end up yelling at each other, because can't the other see how lucky they have it? The tension breaks when they realise they've both lost something important to them- Jayfeather his chance to prove he's as capable as a sighted cat, and Hollyleaf her path to helping her clan in the way she thinks is best. They commiserate together, and reluctantly promise to do the best they can with their lots, so they don't waste the path the other wishes they'd taken. This closeness is eroded over the series as they disagree more and more on the subject of StarClan and its role in their moral choices and obligations.

FOUR

- Speaking of Hollyleaf! I nearly threw my phone across the room when the first Omen of the Stars book claimed that Hollyleaf "worked so hard to discover her power to help her clan". Where, Ms Erins??? I would have LOVED to have seen that!! Hollyleaf expresses absolutely no concern over the details of what power she has/will develop, and only has a couple of scenes even touching on her ambitions to help her clan. She has some vague ideas about becoming leader and like one scene where she gets to do some leadery things, but that never gets followed up on. What does happen is that the whole "warrior code" thing becomes more and more a part of her personality (for no clear reason) until she snaps.

- Hollyleaf going off the deep end is something I wanted so badly to get into and be moved by, because I could see where it comes from! Her moral certainty is fascinating, especially since it's based in something as abstract as the warrior code- which, when you think about it, isn't really... anything. There's no concrete set of rules that make it up, no traditional wording or cat philosophers, not even any fables. It's a handful of agreed-upon, common sense rules- don't cross boundaries, don't take prey that isn't yours, respect your ancestors, and don't murder. That's it!

- So, combining the above points, I think Hollyleaf not being one of the Three should stay, but both the audience and the characters are given good reason to believe she is. By around the third volume, make it so that Hollyleaf has found that her power is to get cats to "Do The Right Thing"- i.e. what she wants them to do. She sneaks off often to see Sol, who teachs her how to use this power. Her siblings are concerned about this new power, having already gotten a glimpse at what Sol can do, but she's confident that she can only use this power for good. Volume-specific plot happens, Sol manipulates her into causing him to win, she is shocked and horrified, and vows to stick ridgedly to what she knows is right i.e. The Warrior Code

- However, the more fervently she tries to stick to this abstract idea, the less it gives her results, the more her power seems to be failing. Believing that StarClan is taking her power away from her, she becomes caught up in a faith-guilt spiral that puts her in the position to snap at the end of the series. By that point it's clear to her siblings that Hollyleaf has no power- she was just very, very good at persuading people to do what she wanted.

FIVE

- Lionblaze is a girl now because I Said So. This Cat Is Trans And There's Nothing You Can Do About It.

- Her relationship with Heathertail stays the same- childhood sweethearts who are torn apart as they begin to understand the nature of the societal divides that exist between them.

- This can be used to contextualise the whole "half clan/outsider blood" thing as a cultural contradiction. In reality, inter- and outer- clan relationships aren't at all rare. They can't be, otherwise the whole society would be inbred out of existence in like five generations. But if at least one society of humans can spend a good 200 years pretending Sex Is Bad And Sinful Actually then cats can have persistant cat-racism in the face of all logic. Heathertail clocks this contradiction, Lionblaze doesn't.

- Her relationship-to-power arc doesn't need changing all that much either, other than starting much sooner and being more consistent. At first, she's completely overjoyed by her power, since unlike her siblings, it lines up so well with her ambition- become the finest warrior any of the clans have to offer. As the berserker rage aspect becomes more prevelent, she becomes more and more disturbed by the fact that she isn't disturbed by what she can do, and that she doesn't want the escalation of her power to stop.

- Tigerstar still does his thing, but Brambleclaw knows about it. He recognises the signs from when his father used to visit him, and tries to train Lionblaze in his own way. She ends up caught between wanting to be a good warrior, and testing the limits of her power.

SIX

- Jayfeather can stay basically the same because he's my perfect little angy boy and nothing needs to change. His arcs can be strengthened by having a more robust relationship with Yellowfang where they try to out-bitch each other, and coming to terms with his internalised ablism. Maybe he has a chat with Mothwing about faith a couple of times. Him furiously lashing out at being offered help transitions into an acceptence and understanding of his abilities more naturally. He never stops being A Grumpy Old Man.

- All fucking past-lives unexplained time travel goes in the BIN. Doesn't fucking happen. You can have that lore dump sprinkled across the books, or come from going deep into the tunnels and having a surreal meeting. Make it properly eldritch-level scary, shake Jayfeather's confidence in the idea of them being just a bunch of ghosts.

SEVEN

- Have the way Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight present very clearly as parents to the Three be explicitly, textually unusual. One of the things I liked so much about the first series was an almost total lack of emphasis on who was mated with who, and who was related or not. It felt very real to how feral cat colonies form, where raising kittens is a communal job. This gets completely dropped the moment series 2 starts and now the cats have monogamy.

- This emphasis on the family unit and fostering close relationships between parents and kittens is deliberate on the part of both Leafpool and Squirrelflight. Their aim is to cover for Leafpool so she doesn't lose her role as medicine cat- something she already gave up Crowfeather for before she was pregnant.

- In that little bit of backstory, have a robust reason for both Leafpool and Squirrelflight to leave the camp while Leafpool is pregnant and giving birth, possibly one that ties into the present day story in some minor way. I don't know how, it would just make that element of the story a lot more ground than "we left, the kits were born, then we came back and everyone was cool with it"

- When it comes to the "I am Not your mother" reveal, Jayfeather and Lionblaze are confused and hurt that they were lied to, but come to the reasonable conclusion that well, since they were raised mostly by Squirrelflight, saw Leafpool often, and are loved by both, they don't hate her. Lionblaze has something of a crisis over being half-clan, possibly initiating an attempted reunion with Heathertail. Jayfeather is more concerned with how other cats will think it makes him lesser, something he's still sensitive too.

- Hollyleaf, meanwhile, completely fucking snaps at the way her mother Violated Part Of The Code. It's a completely irrational reaction, but expected because she's been growing more and more reliant on The Code for the whole series, and less and less stable in her attempts to aid her clan and train to be its new leader.

- Squirrelflight is the one to murder Ashfur. This is easy to work out while reading- she's literally the only one of the four with a motive who isn't a perspective character. The mystery is less around finding out who did it, and more about why she did it (it's very ambiguous as to whether it was an accident or not). The main tension comes from who finds out when.

- Lionblaze is shocked, awed by how far she'd go to protect the three of them, and reassures her she did the right thing (as a way to salve her own uncertainty over her own longing for violence). Jayfeather makes it all about himself because he's Jayfeather- upset that he didn't know immediately, instead of, you know, figuring it out in a few hours because he can basically read minds. They try their best to hide it from Hollyleaf, who is already rattling around the final volume as a full-on antagonist, but are unsuccessful. This almost costs them something incredibly important- possibly Squirrelflight's life.

EIGHT

- the whole plot with the Tribe Of Rushing Water is a MASSIVE can of worms that could be removed from the series without issue. As it is:

- Characterize the Tribe as uncertain of how to fight other cats, because yes, they haven't had to do this before. DON'T characterise them as pathetic, doing whatever their leader says without thinking, and with ancestors who have Given Up

- Have some of the Tribe be really good at the violence. Worryingly good. Have others be sickened by what they're being asked to do.

- Have some of the clan cats reflect on what they've done. Hollyleaf would be all for introducing this society to jesus The Code, but even she might be horrified at being thanked by a tribe cat who can't wait to get out there and win themselves glory, only to be killed a few hours later

- The Tribe begin a new tradition of marking the walls in the mud they use as camoflage in order to commemorate their battles, and memorialise the fallen. One of the characters reflects on the fact that in a generation or two, the Tribe will feel like it's always been this way. How many of their own traditions- those that feel almost like natural law- started out the same way?

- Have Sol as the leader of the invaders, or maybe having insinuated himself into the tribe as a "mediator" and doing his charismatic cult leader thing.

NINE

- Cinderheart isn't a reincarnation of Cinderpelt. She's just named after her bc Cinderpelt saved her mother from a badger. this is because I think the reincanation thing is stupid and I can't think of a way to make it good.

TEN

- No more using tails as hand gestures like covering people's mouths. Never. None of it. It's expunged from existence.

Disclaimer: I haven't read Omen of the Stars yet, so I can't account for anything that might happen in that series that's grounded in Po3. I'm like... two thirds of the way through the first volume. I'm Not Impressed.

[tarotmum13]

Tarot Lessons for Beginners - Part 4

My dear student - I feel like I should apologise for the title! You are a "Beginner" no longer!

By now, you have a grasp on the system that Tarot is built on, you have at least a basic idea of how each card may be interpreted, you can work with your deck in the manner you choose - without clinging to myths and superstitions. You have done some background reading, you (hopefully) have found a deck that suits your style, and you are beginning to use your cards in a spread rather than regard them individually.

I am so proud of you!

Now it is time to learn how we can get more information from the cards that are dealt.

We will do this by looking at a practise-spread, applying what we have learned so far and then looking beyond...

I have chosen a simple 3 card spread, looking at my Past, Present and Future - and you will be surprised how much information can be gleaned from it.

To start our Reading, we look at the story being told in each card and apply it to my particular situation. This will give us insight in to where I am coming from, how my life is progressing right now, and what I can expect from the future. We try to connect each card to the one before, so they form a coherent story rather than little separate puddles of information.

In the Past position we have The Fool. We see a young witch, excited about leaping off a cliff. She is fully trusting that her broomstick will carry her soaring in to the sky, off on an adventure to see the world. She pays no attention to the clouds on the horizon, they are far behind her and she doesn't think they will catch up. Her trusted cat can see the possible dangers here, yet does not leave her side. I like that in this particular card, we get a view of what lies beneath the cliff-edge. We see water (indicating emotion), and a boat. So even if this great leap of faith does not go as planned, there is a safety net there. The young witch will likely bruise her pride, and experience some emotional turmoil, but will land in the sea and be rescued by the sailors... to apply this story to my life, we can say that I used to be a happy-go-lucky individual, not afraid to take some risks and trusting in my abilities and skills to help me take off in life. I had friends, family, people I could trust by my side and I even relied on the kindness of strangers to help me out should I stumble and fall. And fall I did, on several occasions!

In the Present position, we find the 6 of Swords - the mood has changed... gone are the clear bright skies, there is some darkness now but I can still navigate by the light of the moon and stars. It is autumn and the wind is blowing... the fields below are still looking fertile and green, but the trees are shedding their withered leaves as I too must shed that which no longer serves me. I no longer try to go it alone, but have learned it is okay to rely on others and accept their help and guidance. I am leaving, looking back at what is no longer for me, but being pushed along by the brisk autumn breeze. I have bagage now, so carrying a heavier load I do not fly so high... My carefree and trusting younger self lead me in to a relationship that was unsafe. I had to flee, literally, relying on my family back home to support me as I find my feet again.

In the Future position, we see the 9 of Pentacles. We can see the witch, a little older and wiser. She looks relaxed and so does her trusted cat. She can afford to enjoy some rest and take time to expand her mind rather than worry about where the next meal will come from. The tree next to her is bearing it's fruit - she has tended it well and now she can rely on it to feed her, and bring in some money when she sells what she does not need for herself. She is enjoying the wine that was made from her past harvests, but it has grown better, richer, more balanced with age. She has put down her broomstick, it will be there should she choose to move on, but she seems settled, enjoying her life. What this means for me is that my hard work will pay off, I can build a nice, comfortable home and will have enough to get by - more self-sufficient now, I no longer have to rely on others to bail me out.

These are the bare bones of our reading - but what more information can we provide?
As we discussed before, we can turn over our deck and look at the card that lies at the bottom for some more information.

In this case, my Shadow Card was the 5 of Cups: This card shows the witch looking forlorne, filled with sadness and regret at the spilled wine in front of her - paying no attention to the lavishly set table behind her. The sea in front of her signifies how emotional she is feeling. There are trees behind her showing she is well rooted, she has stability and grounding, but right now she doesn't feel any of that... to me, this card warns me that I need to turn around. Stop mourning my past and that which I have lost, get up, dust myself off and look at all the riches my life has to offer that I can be grateful for. It is true that I suffer some melancholly, missing Scotland and the people, places, material things I had to walk away from to put myself out if harms way...


What else can we see?

We see that this reading consists of one Major Arcana card and 2 Minors. This indicates that in our youth, we were ruled by the Fates - we followed the Rites of Passage, being pushed out of the nest and learning to fly for ourselves - we accepted the opportunities Life offered to us and questioned little, going with the flow. Then, as we got older, we were more concerned with the day-to-day ups and downs of our life, we made more conscious choices and took control of our own destiny. A majority of Minor Arcana cards tells us that we hold the key to our future and there are not subject to those big, life changing events that are beyond our control.

Next, we take note of the Elements and Suits represented. The Fool card shows a body of Water, as well as clouds massing in the sky - so we can consider both Water and Air represented here. The 6 of Swords again brings Air, the Suit of Swords representing Thought, Clarity and a Sharp Mind. The 9 of Pentacles brings in the element of Earth, where we can put down Roots, grow fertile Crops, and find Gold to satisfy our Mayerial longing. The Shadow Card teaches us that it is Water, Emotions, that may keep us from enjoying all that we have. Wands are not represented, that is something to be mindful of too! Maybe we are lacking some Fire, some Inspiration?

Now - Lets look at how the characters in the cards are interacting with eachother.

The young Fool has her eyes closed, she is boldly turned towards her future, but is not really thinking ahead. She lives in the Now, the joy and exhilaration of the moment. If we look at the next card, we can see the figure glancing back, is she looking at her younger self with some sadness? Or is she reproachful? Does she mourn for how carefree she used to be? Or does she blame her young, naïve self for leading her here, to this point in her life where she has to leave everything behind except what she can carry in her bag... and even then, she chose to bring sharp swords, the pain of what happened to her. Or is she in fact looking straight at us? Now, here? Are the swords there to defend herself should she need to? Maybe she would do well to look ahead... There her future self is facing her way, but not in distress or anger. She can see where she is coming from, and she knows that her experiences made her who she is now - Maybe she still keeps her travelling-hat and broomstick close, because she has learned to be prepared in case life forces her to move on, but she can be content with her lot. What advice would she have given her younger selves if she could speak to them now? Something to think about...


As you can see, looking at the card interactions gives us more information than if we had just considered each card individually.

But we can see even more! We looked at the story within the cards, and at the people in them. But we haven't yet looked at the numbers!

In basic numerology, each number has it's own meaning attached. Numerology is a broad and complicated subject, and would be a study in itself should you wish to learn more. But knowing a few basics can already provide us with more insight.

So, going by the (brief) insights above, we can choose to consider each card individually:

In the Past, The Fool carries the number 0 - all opportunities are open to us, we have endless possibilities.
In the Present, the number 6 tells us that we are making changes based on our aknowledgement of the facts - we are emerging triumphant because we are not suffering our situation but rather taking the necessary steps to improve our wellbeing. We might feel some pain as we think of our memories, but we know we are heading for better things.
In the Future, the 9 speaks to us of satisfaction, knowing we have come a long way and are almost at the end of our cycle - where we have come to terms with the path our life has taken and can see, looking back, that our struggle was necessary to lead us here, to this point. Now, enjoy! Who knows what the next cycle brings?

We can also choose to give an overall number or value to the spread - we do this by adding up the individual numbers (note that I do not add the Shadow Card, as it was not technically part of the spread but rather an adendum, providing extra insight and information):

0 + 6 + 9 = 15

As the outcome is greater than a number between 0 and 10, we add the numbers again:

1 + 5 = 6

6 is the overall number for this particular reading, telling us that no matter what has happened or what is still to come, we can be proud of our accomplishments and we have triumphed over adversity!


As you can see, a simple 3 card spread has given us a lot to work with! I will recap for you the different ways we have used the cards to get insight in to the situation:

- Read the story depicted in the cards
- Apply it to the individual situation, making connections so the story flows
- Look at the Shadow Card at the bottom of the deck
- Note the amount of Major and Minor Arcana cards
- Look at which suits/elements are represented (and which are lacking)
- Inspect the way the cards interact with eachother
- check basic numerological values


If you do all of this when executing a reading, you will have a wealth of information at your disposal!


I sincerely hope that you have found at least some of my guidance useful, and that you take pride in how far you have come. You are now no longer a Novice, but a real Tarot Reader, ready to practise your craft!


My advice is: Keep practising and studying - there is always more to be learned! Don't be so vain as to think you know it all, but stop second-guessing yourself and thinking you don't know enough...

Find your balance, and most of all: have fun!


I will still put out the Adendum with card keywords, but this is it folks! The Beginners Lessons are over - keep your eye out for a more advanced class...


I thank you for your attention and send you out in to the big wide world of Tarot, my Love and Affection will always be with you.

Xxx


P.S: I add a link to the previous lesson, should you have missed it - each lesson contains this link to the one before, so you can go back to the beginning if you want to review your progress.

https://tarotmum13.wordpress.com/2019/01/13/tarot-lessons-for-beginners-part-3/