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lilianne-tarot · 1 day ago

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PICK A CARD: WHO ARE YOU GONNA DATE NEXT? ᯓ★

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I. II. III.

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How to Pick Your Pile: Take a deep breath, clear your mind, and look at the images below. Which one pulls you in the most? Trust your gut! Once you choose the image, The number below your chosen image is your pile. If more than one catches your eye, that just means there’s extra tea for you—go ahead and read both!

Get your own super detailed, in-depth personalized paid reading from me HERE! it would really help me out!😊🦋

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⋆✴︎˚⋆ Pile I

OH- OHHHHHHHHH (I HAD to do this🤓) The moment I flipped these cards, I had to take a deep breath because WOW this spread is screaming romance, romance, ROMANCEThe energy here? Soft, dreamy, emotionally available, and actually willing to communicate their feelings like a functioning adult. (Shocking, I know.) This is the kind of person who has main character energy, but not in an obnoxious "look at me" way—more like a "low-key mysterious but actually an absolute sweetheart who accidentally makes people fall in love with them" type. They are also giving ‘hopeless romantic with a heart of gold’ vibes, but also kinda shy and dorky at times.

They’re deeply in touch with their emotions, thanks to all this Cups energy, which means they feel things deeply. We’re talking someone who sends you “thinking of you” texts just because, who remembers tiny details about you that even you forgot, and who probably makes killer playlists based on your mood. (OML😭) They might even be the type to write poetry or play an instrument. (If this person owns a guitar and has ever strummed it while looking out of a window dramatically, I will scream.) They’re also super romantic. They believe in love. Like, BELIEVE believe. They’re not out here for some casual nonsense; they’re here for the feels. If they’ve been hurt before, they’re still hopeful and open to love instead of being bitter. (We love emotional maturity.) Physically i am seeing doe-eyed, soft-smiling, artistic cutie vibes. BABE. BABE. This relationship is so soft, so wholesome, so emotionally fulfilling. You know how in movies there’s always that one couple who makes everyone else sick with how adorable they are? Yeah, that’s y’all (i’m really NOT jealous) . They’re also a partner in every sense of the word meaning they work with you, not against you. This is the type of relationship where you two build something real—where there’s growth, teamwork, and a deep friendship underneath all the romance. If you’re struggling, they’re there to support you. If they’re struggling, you’ll actually know about it because they communicate. (A rare species, truly.) They’re most prolly a Water sign/ has strong water placements or just very emotionally intuitive. If you have someone with these placements around you, then this is your sign. 3 out of 4 cards are cups so i believe Y’all might bond over something artistic—music, painting, poetry, photography, film, something that requires emotions to create.They fall fast and hard—so if you’re used to people who are distant or confusing, this is gonna feel like a whole new world. This is the kind of love that feels like a warm hug after a long day—safe, sweet, and real.

this person is a walking green flag. Soft but passionate. Romantic but stable. Playful but serious about love. This is the kind of relationship that feels safe and exhilarating at the same time—like home, but with butterflies. If you’ve been manifesting someone emotionally available, thoughtful, and ready to go all in for you…well, here they come. Oh, and one last thing—the fact that three out of four cards are Cups? That’s no accident. This person is MEANT to stir up your emotions and bring you into a deeper love experience. It’s not just about dating; it’s about feeling something real again.

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⋆✴︎˚⋆Pile II

First off, this person? Chaotic. But like, in the best way possible. The Fool and Page of Cups together are giving ✨ golden retriever energy ✨ with just a sprinkle of emotionally confused poet vibes. They’re the type to send you ten unhinged TikToks at 2 AM with no explanation and then disappear for three hours because they had an existential crisis. They’re playful, optimistic, and have this lowkey naive, wide-eyed way of looking at life, but don’t be fooled—Strength is here, meaning they know how to handle their emotions. They just choose to exist in this dreamy, slightly reckless way. I’m getting someone with a youthful look, no matter their actual age. Soft features, expressive eyes that basically scream “I have deep thoughts but I get distracted by cute dogs”,

Okay, so, Page of Cups and 7 of Swords? Babe… this is giving situationship that could turn into a masterpiece or a disaster, depending on how you play it. There’s gonna be a lot of dreamy, flirty, almost cinematic moments where you’re both caught up in the fantasy of each other. But here’s the thing— with 7 of Swords meaning there’s a hidden element to this person. Not necessarily in a bad way, but you might feel like they’re holding something back. Strength is telling me you might end up being the one keeping this relationship stable—because this person? Yeah, they’re fun, romantic, and spontaneous, but they need someone who grounds them. Otherwise, they’ll float off into whatever alternate reality they live in. You might find yourself teaching them how to actually deal with their feelings instead of turning everything into an inside joke or a quirky monologue.

This connection? It’s got potential. I am getting ‘JUST KISS ALREADY’ vibes from this spread so many times. But also, This person might have commitment issues at first, or they just don’t realize when they’ve caught feelings. This relationship will be fun, unexpected, and maybe a little messy at times. You’ll never be bored, but you might have to decide if you’re willing to wait for them to fully step up and be emotionally present. If you do? This could turn into one of those soulmate-tier love stories that start off as chaotic best friends and then evolve into something real. This person is gonna make you laugh so hard your stomach hurts, and you’re gonna make them feel like home. Just make sure they don’t get lost in the clouds before they realize what they have with you.

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⋆✴︎˚⋆Pile III

Picture someone who walks into a room and the air literally shifts—not in a dramatic, "I’m better than you" way, but in that "damn, why does this person feel like a wish come true?" kind of way. The Star as the headliner of this spread? BABY, this person is ethereal.

They’ve been through their fair share of life lessons—some of them painful as hell—but instead of becoming bitter, they’ve transmuted all that pain into wisdom and grace. (Honestly, teach me your ways, mysterious heartthrob.) They’re a dreamer, but not the delusional kind. I have a strong feeling that pile 3 already know their person at the very least, they’re connected to your past in a really poetic way. The 6 of Cups is screaming, "This ain't no random fling—this is destiny, baby!" There’s a familiarity about them, like the feeling of revisiting your childhood home after years of being away. There’s also a chance that this person is deeply sentimental—they might keep old love letters, hoard little trinkets from meaningful moments, or be the type to remember the exact date you first texted them "lol" and took it as a sign from the universe. They’re a romantic, but in a quiet, "let me show you, not just tell you" kinda way.

Physically? ELEGANT. LUXURIOUS. GOURGEOUS. 10/10. I also have the feeling that for some of you, this person might be quite rich as well. They could be successful or at least super stable and independent, but there’s something soft and sentimental about them, like they love deeply but don’t fall easily. One thing i would say that they don't fall easily. 4 of Pentacles is telling me that they guard their heart like a bank vault. Not in a "toxic, emotionally unavailable" way, but in a "I don’t just give my energy to anyone—I need to be sure" kinda way. They might be financially stable or working towards major success, so they protect what they’ve built. At first, they might be reserved, taking their sweet time to open up, but once they do? BABY, THEY’RE ALL IN. Slow-burning but SO rewarding. This is the kind of love that feels like déjà vu, like you were meant to find each other. And the thing is, you’re worth the risk to them. Your connection makes them feel safe enough to let go of their tight grip on control. This isn’t a surface-level situationship—this is intentional, slow-burning, "I want to build something real with you" love.

(Also, be ready for someone who spoils you subtly—not in a flashy, Gucci gifts every day kinda way, but in "I remembered you liked that obscure indie artist, so I got us front-row tickets" kinda way. 🥹) BUT one more thing, also think They’re going to be verrryyy slow to say ‘I love you’—but when they do? Oh, it means something. This is the kind of person who will show you they love you 100 different ways before they ever say it out loud.

So to summarize, This person? They’re rare. And once they choose you, they’re choosing forever. So, uh, when’s the wedding?

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Thank you so much for reading all the way through! I hope my reading resonated with you and that you had a lovely time going through it. If you enjoyed it, please like and reblog—it really means a lot! Let me know which pile you chose; I absolutely love hearing your thoughts and feedback on my readings! If my reading resonated you, you may consider buying my paid reading as it would really help me out financially♡

Note: tarot cards provide guidance and possible insights into what could happen based on current energies, thoughts, and actions. the cards can highlight potential paths or outcomes, but they do not fixedly predict the future. this is a general reading so take what resonates!

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saras-almanac · 3 days ago

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I’ve been sitting here still thinking about Veilguard and how it’s sort of an amalgamation of previous games while not understanding why things worked in those games, which leads to those pieces not working for Veilguard. Namely talking about the Factions, the “loyalty missions,” and the world-ending “choice.” As a disclaimer, I understand the development hell that was this production and the issues faced going from single-player to multi-player and then back to single-player, but I still feel like the root of these issues stem from the writing, so take this how you will.

Slight spoilers for Veilguard as a whole, Veilguard companion quests (Taas and Davrin), and the endings of Veilguard, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3.

First up the Factions for Veilguard

To me, this feels like an attempt to be reminiscent of the Origins in Dragon Age: Origins but without understanding why those Origins worked and, more importantly, what they were intended to do. In Origins, the origin prologue was a way for you as the player to develop your character, see how they lived and their “everyday life,” and how/why they got recruited into the Grey Wardens by Duncan. In short, they are a way to show how your character gets involved in the main plot and shows how their worldview is (or could be) shaped by their lived experiences. In addition, it gives you the player the chance to determine and roleplay exactly how your character feels about the recruitment and the Grey Wardens entirely, not to mention how they react to the world at large.

In Veilguard, the Factions are sort of your origins, but ultimately, they’re just window dressing. You get some different armor and minor skills/bonuses, but that’s about it. Rook is not connected to the main plot in any way at all, except being recruited by Varric off screen. There’s no roleplaying element here because no matter your background, you are effectively kicked out of your faction before the start of the game for “going against orders” and you have absolutely zero chance to explore how Rook feels about this recruitment into Varric’s team because it’s not on screen. It’s all off screen or in the briefest of dialogues but you can’t actually roleplay because they’re all pre-determined dialogue scenes.

These factions feel more like the backstories from Inquisition (which I felt were lacking) but at least in Inquisition, I could create whatever backstory I wanted for my Inquisitor because it didn’t really come up in any way—which is both a positive and a negative. In Veilguard, your backstory doesn’t come up very often at all, has no bearing on the plot or even how people react to you or any recruitment mission, which is similar to Inquisition, but you also have a Rook that is pre-determined with a specific personality, which is a huge problem in a role playing game. Literally, no matter what dialogue option you choose, Rook basically says the exact same thing except maybe adds a little joke or an awkward silence. So there’s no real roleplaying opportunity for them at all, at any point. There’s absolutely nothing to be gained or learned about your character or the world at large within your faction. Which leads into the main questions of this game for me: Why is Rook leading this team? They don’t have more experience than Harding, they’re clearly not a senior member of the organization since we spend a good portion of the first act recruiting the “better” people from each faction, and there’s nothing really to explain why Varric recruited them and then passed the leadership on to them, which is their only connection the main plot. Yes, there’s a story he tells about when they met and how he assumed Rook was going to be someone Solas didn’t see coming, but telling me that doesn’t help me connect to this character and how/why they’re here right now. (We’re not going to touch on how it makes absolutely zero sense for Varric to be leading this team in the first place 10 years after Inquisition… because it doesn’t and it does just feel like a desperate grab for interest, but that’s another post).

Now to go one step further, your Origin actually changed how some of the quests in the main story played out based on your Warden’s connection to those places. If you played as a Mage Amell, going back to the circle tower or running into Jowan again is very different than if you were a Noble Human Cousland. A Dalish Elf Mahariel creates a very different interaction with the Dalish elves than City Elf Tabris, and vice versa as a Tabris in the Denerim Alienage. The world and the characters react to you differently based on your connection to the plot and setting. In Veilguard, there’s none of that. Yeah, there’s a few lines of dialogue, but there’s no connection at all. Why couldn’t my Rook be the person to suggest recruiting someone from my faction? Crow!Rook saying they should talk to the Dellamortes because while the Demon of Vyrantium is dead, they had to know his training methods to kill mages and that would come in handy for a crow!Rook. Warden!Rook being the one to reach out to Antione and Evka as the premier blight experts and they suggest talking to Davrin. Mournwatch!Rook being the one to suggest going to talk to Professor Emmrich Volkarin because he is the person who knows the most about the fade right after they wake up and realize they are in the fade itself. Or a Lord of Fortune Rook realizing that the lyrium dagger is missing and their Lords would either already have it or know where it’s at, therefore the ones brining the Lords into the fold. It’s just really weird that not only does your backstory not affect the plot or your character at all, but then you have Bellara, Harding, and Neve being the ones to suggest and reaching out to the faction you’re apart of and would actually know more than they do. It’s just one thing that they could have done to make it seem like Rook has at least some connection to the world here, but they didn’t do that.

The Loyalty Missions

The fact that the entire second act basically is loyalty missions is… not good. For anyone who hasn’t played the Mass Effect games, this set up is clearly taken from Mass Effect 2’s structure, which is still highly praised as the best Mass Effect game (even if I disagree but that’s not the point here). In Mass Effect 2, the entire premise of the game is Shepherd (your character) gathering a team to take along on a potential suicide mission to another galaxy where they don’t know what they’re going to encounter or find. And because of the reality of this potentially being the end for them, the companions all have loose ends they’d like to tie up—setting up their child for success, saving a father’s legacy, destroying a place where you were tortured, etc. They’re not world-shattering quests or stakes, but they’re all very personal and it’s really down to your play-through and how you want to play your Shepherd. You can be someone who genuinely cares about your companions and is happy to help them settle these final affairs or someone who is annoyed at the fact you are helping them but are doing it anyways. Or you can decide to skip some or all of them, without knowing how or if they will affect anything down the line. (Though it’s not hard to figure out that they are clearly going to have some effect.) Plus just completing the loyalty missions isn’t enough to guarantee your companion’s loyalty—you have to complete it a certain way and/or pass certain dialogue checks along the way. In Veilguard the entire game comes to halt to say “it’s time to care about these companions” while the quests are just triggered by certain quests in act 2 being completed and not through any connection or relationship increase between them and Rook. But for that you’d have needed the ability to actually talk to the companions which the devs behind this game didn’t want to do.

Now for the loyalty missions themselves, I actually don’t necessarily think they all needed to tie to the overarching plot and in theory, it’s fine that they’re personal problems. What’s not fine, is that you basically recruit the best-of-the-best (supposedly) and then they tell you that they can’t focus cause they’ve got stuff on their mind. That honestly makes me question why I recruited them in the first place. The only person I can really understand this idea from is Lucanis as he’s literally been tortured for a year and then continues to torture himself with no sleep, and perhaps whoever’s city was destroyed, but that’s not why anyone’s distracted. And it’s literally every single companion. They literally even have one of the companions tell you directly in case you missed it that “It’s time to stop focusing on the Blighted Elven Gods destroying the world because we have things on our mind and we can’t focus.” Um… the world’s literally being destroyed, the South has been nuked essentially, but sure, let’s stop everything so we can focus on your thing when the world itself might literally not be there when we finish. Again, it just makes me question why I recruited these people in the first place then if they can’t focus on the massive task at hand and the literal world-ending situation they’re in.

And the narration from Varric after every companion recruitment and some missions that basically tells you that something bad is going to happen to them later so you have to pay attention and do their quests is beyond annoying. This is the first Bioware game where I instantly liked all the companions upon meeting them—though Harding quickly started to grate on me as the walking information-dump from Inquisition that wasn’t utilized very well. The point is, I liked all the companions initially, so I was always going to do their loyalty missions. But it just feels like the game kept telling me that it’s important that I care about them, but I don’t actually get to learn about them. (Not being able to talk to the companions is actually the #1 biggest problem in this game for me) We have no conversations, no real discoveries, nothing to be gained. It’s just solving a problem for them and then we move on.

Apart from the set-up, the misstep Veilguard took with these loyalty missions is forgetting that the stakes are very very different in this game. In ME2, the big fight you’re building up to is at the end as well, but it is completely up to you when you decide to go to it because you are actually going to the Collector’s homeworld / galaxy and taking the fight to them so you have time to get yourself and your team and your ship prepared for it. There’s not really a ticking clock or massive devastation and destruction going on in the background, so majority of your quests are recruitment and then loyalty missions, but it works because ME2 is almost entirely focused on the companions and your connection to them.

In Veilguard, the world is literally being destroyed the entire time of the game. The Ancient Blighted Elven Gods escaped the veil prison and have been wreaking havoc on the world at large and deploying blight everywhere. People are literally dying the entire time, and yet the game comes to a screeching halt to tell you it’s time to do the companion missions all the while the world isn’t going to stop being destroyed while I do these missions. So it feels really strange to stop and focus on them—especially when they all sort of have the exact same layout/progression and they’re really not tied to the main story in any way and not really meant to give us more depth or insight into these characters really either. And the fact that every single mission ends with a binary choice that is up to Rook feels… off putting. For me as a player, I didn’t feel like my Rook was qualified at all to make any of these decisions because I was essentially making them for my companions, companions I didn’t feel like I knew very well and didn’t know why they were asking me.

For example, look at the difference between The Iron Bull and Taash. In Inquisition, you have a mission with the Iron Bull where his people have set up an alliance with the Qunari. But while you’re there fighting the venatori, The Iron Bull’s mercenary company is attacked and he’s left with the choice—let his company die to preserve the Qunari alliance or save his company and ruin the alliance between the Inquisition and the Qunari. He looks to the Inquisitor in this moment because they are the leader of the Inquisition, they have the most to lose here if this alliance doesn’t go through. Not to mention, by this point in the story you have spent time with the Iron Bull and have had enough conversations with him (and approval) to trigger this quest in the first place. So you should already know some of his issues surrounding his struggle with identity and his loyalty to the Qun and his company. So it makes sense that he looks to the Inquisitor and follows their lead because he knows it’s not really up to him because it’s bigger than him or his company. Taash, on the other hand, in a very early conversation basically asks Rook whether they should be more Qunari or Rivani… which is not really an appropriate thing to ask, especially for a Rook who is neither. Not to mention, this whole thing goes directly against Taash’s gender identity discovery of being nonbinary which happened right before this conversation! So to immediately follow that up with a binary choice when there isn’t a need to be either/or and they should feel free to discover and keep whatever parts of each culture they want, is poor writing. (And the fact there isn’t really a need to have this be a binary choice in the first place). In a better comparison, look at Davrin’s final choice of what to do with the Griffins. At least with him asking Rook, he basically makes it clear that he can’t really be objective here and so he’s asking Rook—someone he’s been ride or die with since recruitment—to make the decision for him. This is the only decision in the game where it’s placed on Rook because it’s made clear that Davrin doesn’t think he can be objective in this case and wants to try and make the best choice for the griffins and not be influenced by anything outside that. It’s still not great, but it is the only companion choice for Rook that makes sense and feels in character with what little we know of Davrin.

Not to mention, the loyalty missions don’t really give you any time to roleplay or really discover anything more about Rook because they are always a kind-hearted therapist to all of them. So there’s no tension between them and any of the companions, or even among the companions themselves. If they wanted things to come to a halt, have the animosity between some companions be the reason why things went sour at Weishaupt and it’s why we need to sort this stuff out now because they can’t afford to let their personal feelings get in the way of things. And most importantly, let Rook be the one to say that! Let Rook take charge because after playing the entire game, I’m still unclear why Rook was leading because they made next to no decisions, there’s nothing to indicate they were better skilled or more suited than any of the other companions, and obviously no real connection to the main plot apart from Solas I guess being in their head? But even that is the weakest reason.

World-Ending Choices

So for me, the end game is clearly from ME2 and ME3. You have the assigning companions to certain tasks they will be suited for and hopefully loyal so they can survive from Mass Effect 2—literally almost the exact same thing except the mechanics are slightly different. In ME2, you have to not only send a companion who is adept at this certain task, but is also the best option—of which you usually only have 1-2 and when you have up to 12 possible squadmates the choice can be incredibly tough to narrow down—they also have to be loyal to you and the cause, aka you must have completed their loyalty mission in a way that assures their loyalty. So it’s multi-layered because not only can the ill-equipped member die, but they can actually cause a different teammate to die if they’re in the wrong task. In Veilguard, it seems that so long as their loyal, they have a pretty good shot at surviving no matter the task. (Though I’m still researching this). But even if they fail, the only stakes are that that specific companion dies. It’s not like if we send someone ill-suited to help Morrigan she dies as well, therefore locking you out of the redemption ending with Mythal. Or the person who’s meant to take down the robot thing fails and the robot ends up taking out the entire group fighting it, causing that entire group to be slaughtered and the rest of their members to flee or something. In ME2, you could theoretically lose every single person with you not because you failed to do their loyalty missions, but because you also failed to upgrade the ship or assigned the wrong person. It’s just a much better implemented system than the half-baked piece in Veilguard, while Veilguard continually bragged about massive changes and consequences but… it’s really just which companions might die and that has no effect on anything later down the line.

And the final 3 choices are obviously from Mass Effect 3 and the final decision regarding the Reapers. Now that was not well-liked and I myself don’t love it, but that’s mostly because the game itself is trying to force me into the Synthetic Green ending which feels incredibly invasive and I hate that it’s the “good ending.” Which sort is what Veilguard is trying to do by saying that the “Resolution and Redemption” ending is the best but… the endings don’t hit the way they do in ME3 because they’re all the same. In the Mass Effect trilogy, you spend three games playing as Shepherd, so you know them pretty well and their personality (ignoring the Renegade character assassination in ME3 in some aspects of the story). When you finally get to the end, you know your Shepherd is likely going to their death to try and save the galaxy, so having the final choice boil down to sort of “how is my Shepherd going to die” is huge for the character, as well as the world they leave behind. The way you choose to destroy the Reapers does have massive implications and complications for the galaxy at large and how they might survive going forward.

In Veilguard, there’s only the illusion of choice, because it will always end up with Solas using his life essence to hold up the veil, which… is confusing but okay. (Not to mention a massive massive copout that the late game twist is “the veil is tied to the Ancient Elven Gods” instead of giving any real consequences or discussion to the Veil conundrum). Your “choices” are basically to trick Solas, fight him and force him into the Veil, or giving him redemption to choose to do it himself? But since those are always the same thing, it’s not a choice. (Which is the theme of the entire game honestly). So again, using the mechanics of a beloved game—though wild they chose to implement that ending idea in an arguably worse way—without understanding the reasons behind the use of those choices in ME3 and why they worked for that game (at least theoretically).

I could go no but I think I need to stop here because my brain is mush right now. But there’s just so much to talk about in this game and it’s not necessarily a good thing.

#i just have a lot of thoughts and like writing them out #feel free to talk to me about anything you think too because i love it #dragon age the veilguard #veilguard critical #the more i think about this game the more i feel like i can't not blame the writing #not understanding why things are included is a huge problem and it's just so clear that they didn't think things through

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