#i'm no expert in tarot but i know a thing or two so. yeah

[eclipsehotline]

the major arcana of toshima

this post reminded me i actually made a whole ass assignment lineup all the way back in september with explanations and all bc what's better than one obsession? two of them mashed together

the fool - akira protagonist syndrome overdrive! but it really is his journey after all. and despite his somewhat mature appearance he's oh so naive at the beginning of it, saying things like he's not afraid of death and wants to see it up close. and then he gets to toshima and understandably freaks out the moment he bears witness to true unadulterated violence. and grows in every way there is as a person along the way

the magician - motomi he's the miracle worker of the story! i'm still kinda in awe of his part in rin's route when he fuckin'. blew up arbitro's arena and led akira and rin away and forged papers for them in a span of a day. is there something this man cannot do? i don't think so

the high priestess - yukari her role in the story is a small yet important one, that of a passive yet powerful bearer of faith. she's the one who gave the rosary, symbol of purity and kindness, to takeru

the empress - motomi's wife am i really going to give a card to a character that has neither a name nor a design? absolutely. call that a motomi bias. but i feel like she used to be quite caring and nurturing, judging by what motomi's told akira of her

the emperor - shiki i mean, il re. the law of toshima. what else is there to say (sorry shiki fans but i am not too big on the guy. you've seen one edgy dark-haired swordsman, you've seen 'em all)

the hierophant - tomoyuki it's a bit of a stretch but one of the meanings of the hierophant card is community, and i feel like tomoyuki really strives towards that, with him being the leader a whole new gang of his own after pesikoshka fell apart

the lovers - keisuke (and akira) (duh) i mean. I MEAN. if there's anyone who's a hopeless loverboy in tnc it's keisuke but there's also so much more to the lovers card than what it says on the tin and everything about it fits keisuke like a glove. lovers are also about choice, a brave decision coming from the heart, and that's exactly what keisuke makes as he decides to follow akira into the dark

the chariot - rin i once read a very good point abt the dichotomy of hard control vs soft control in the chariot and strength and i feel like it really is a fun thing to point out in connection to tnc as well so, rin is hard control. he's energetic and brave and daring and, if anything, careless and rash. there's a storm inside of him, yet like hell he's gonna let anyone know of it. not until he is fully in charge, at any rate

strength - keisuke and keisuke, au contraire, is soft control. he may look (and be, most of the time) timid and clumsy, but he can and will put his foot down when it really matters. he's got a big and loving heart and and he's not afraid to show it

the hermit - nano ever the lonesome and elusive one, nano's had it up to here with society and is now the one to pick solitude over company (and run the society that's wronged him into the ground while we're at it but that's a story for another day)

the wheel of fortune - akira he's rolling with the punches, man. and he's at the wheel at the same time, making conscious choices to be with the people he decided he'd be staying with

justice - emma the judge, the jury and the executioner. she doesn't play fair by any means, but the rest of the meanings fits her well. she's stern and pragmatic and willing to set a course for the future

the hanged man - akira and the unlawfully sentenced. bound by circumstance, the only thing left to akira is holding on. he neither asked nor did anything to deserve this, and yet, he's there. and he accepts his fate because well, what else is there to do

death - gunji and kiriwar death in tarot is so much more than what it says on the tin (hell, i'd argue it's everything but) but these two sure fit the bill for the quote unquote grim reaper card

temperance - motomi another dichotomy time! with motomi being the angel to arbitro's devil and it fits him so well in more ways than one. he's been through a death arguably more painful than one's own - the death of his son and wife, and at his own hands (to some degree) at that, and yet he's found a way to make peace with that and live on and temperance is a card of wisdom and changing your way of thought, which is exactly what motomi comes to do whenever actually facing nano (and akira, who manages to lead him away from the path of revenge)

the devil - arbitro who's the lecherous, self-serving asshole of toshima? he is! there's actually so much more fun to the devil card (and i like it quite a lot), but not much more to arbitro, so let's just leave it at that

the tower - takeru poor takeru. he's climbed way too high up and is on his way to a painful downfall. he couldn't live with the things as they were a second longer and rushed towards change, yet ended up making a deal with the devil by taking rein and paying way too high of a price for that mistake and he may have died alone, but he's never going to be forgotten

the star - rin this card is such a perfect fit for rin at the end of his route. it stands for a distant, yet true promise of a better tomorrow, and that's how him overcoming shiki feels like. there's still such a long way to go, and yet he's starting to make peace with what he's lost. and whatever it takes, he's gonna fulfill his promise and find his way back to akira. not to mention his whole connection with the skies and the stars

the moon - keisuke here's to the one who's lost his way. who bought into the promise of strength out of insecurity and fear, who who strayed into the darkness of rein and needed a guiding light to find his way out and it was there. akira was there for him in the darkest night, holding his hand and leading him into the dawn

the sun - motomi remember that one illustration of motomi as a kid smiling from ear to ear in a field of sunflowers? yeah, that there's been everything in motomi's life, good and bad and terrible. and yet he's still here, wholeheartedly enjoying his new life with akira, full of thrill and free of revenge there's also such thing in tarot as reversed cards - when you get one, it means the original meaning of the card has been distorted in some way. some cards, however, are believed to retain their original meaning even in a reversed position, and the sun is one of them. and in my head it fits so well with motomi's role in the story and in akira's life. every other partner has hurt him in one way or another, but not motomi. even when they argued, motomi always showed him compassion and warmth. even with clouds of judgment on the horizon, he's never betrayed akira's trust. and i love him so much for that

judgment - shiki the penultimate card, the penultimate route. it's the last test of character in the major arcana, and fate tests shiki as well. will he succumb to his fear and drink nano's blood, or will he prove himself better than this? will it be a fresh start, or will he descend further into madness and drag the whole world along? (i'm no expert on shiki's character but i've heard that his drama cd implied he was supposed to bounce back eventually after the good end. maybe he'd be a half decent person after that whole experience)

the world - nano the true route of the story and the key to its questions, the one with whom everything's started and the one with whom everything ends. his life has been shit since god knows when, but now, with akira at his side, he's free to choose his own new color

[astudyinfreewill]

i don't know astrology or natal charts but I would like to know what that means ✨

alright i am released from capitalism prison so let's do this!!!!

i assume you're referencing this post about adam's natal chart, yeah?

now, i am by no means an ~expert, but broadly speaking, water signs are associated with emotion, the subconscious (similar to the cups suits in tarot) whereas earth signs are associated with the physical realm, the material and even the financial (think of the coins suits in tarot).

this to me is a very on the nose representation of the inherent conflict in adam's personality: "the unfathomable and the practical", as it's described in the books. on paper, adam is practical: he has clear goals for himself, handy life skills (he's street smart AND book smart!!) and he is constantly striving for some degree of certainty and security in life, whether it's thinking about his big-city career in the future or simply worrying how to make ends meet in the present. he's the science guy: he wants to see evidence before he commits to something. adam's moon sign (the sign most related to the instinctive side of him) is taurus, which is an earth sign often associated with loving material comforts and the finer things in life: good food, plants, expensive things, physical intimacy. adam very much craves all these things (and the status they bring), and is constantly working to reach them.

however, science guy though he may be, he's also very much the magic guy - quite literally the magician. a big part of himself - his core personality even, since his sun sign is cancer, a water sign - is deeply reliant on the subconscious, the emotional, the not-quite-so practical. adam is grounded and rooted in earth, but everything and everyone he loves is in some way entrenched in magic. adam initially befriends gansey because of his charms and status, but i think what he really loves is his unshakeable faith in a magic quest. adam crushes on blue, an improbable and quirky creature from a family of psychics. adam falls in love with ronan, the most impossible, irrational, contrarian, emotional, magical of them all. he may snark at ronan to do his homework, but ultimately he will follow his heart and go do some crazy forest magic instead of playing it safe.

so yeah, i just thought it was really interesting that this dichotomy is so present throughout his chart, with a perfect 50/50 split - because ultimately, both of these elements are adam - the practical, goal-oriented, physically grounded side and the emotional, impulse-driven, highly intuitive side. 💞

PS: if you care for the specific water and earth placements, adam is a cancer sun (obviously, have you seen his snark game?), with one pisces placement and a whopping three scorpio placements; conversely, he also has three taurus placements and two capricorn placements. the latter are important for two reasons: 1) get your bag babeyyy!! and 2) declan is a capricorn. this is not book canon, however i have eyes and declan is declan. if he's not at least a triple capricorn i'm gonna eat my proverbial hat.

PPS: it kills my completionist heart that adam collected all three water signs but only two of the earth signs, however there's a simple fix to this: he's gotta be a virgo rising. again this is not book canon because we don't know his exact time of birth but listen i have done the math i know it's possible and honestly??? just LOOK at him.

i hope you enjoyed this little astrology talk !! 💫 i can and WILL elaborate if needed.

[vermillioncrown]

do you know who else likes horoscopes and astrology? teenage girls. it’s my very strong held belief that the girls on shinchan’s class adore him. maybe in the first week the girls sat in front if him were gossiping with each other about boys, and one of them was complaining and the other scoffs “god, i bet he’s a libra” and shinchan snorts. thus quickly making it know to the entire freshman grade girls that shinchan is without a doubt the expert on the subject. they be making star charts and calculating couple odds, planning perfect days for outings etc etc. the girl next class who plays tarot and shinchan have a Reputation, they’re revered guides and advisers. one bad word out of shinchan’s mouth will tank any boy’s chance at getting dates (not only bc of the horoscope thing but bc actually shinchan is a very sweet weirdo who has a strong moral code). between shinchan’s army of devoted girls and his biceps, and later on takao, the boys of his class maintain a very health respect for him. and that’s wo even considering his basketball mythos.

i like the vibes of most of this, but i think there's more of a western, irreverent treatment of horoscopes + superstition going on in your depiction anon.

bc i'm diaspora chinese, i can't speak for japanese culture. but it's been kinda agreed amongst a lot of my asian friends (huge demographic where i grew up) that we're all culturally superstitious.

it wouldn't be a "ugh i bet he's a libra" type remark. the girls would be worried, full discussion "idk if B-kun is compatible... he's been blah blah blah..." and her friend might pull up the latest magazine and say "what was he, again? libra? we should consult. get his blood type, too?"

and our weirdo shin-chan wouldn't be able to help but "hmph. a libra with AB-blood type is highly untrustworthy. this will not end well for you" (it's also a thing to ascribe blood typing with personality typing, too)

first girl starts whimpering and is about to burst into tears, the other girls glare at shin-chan for being so tactless

=

but it plays out as he says. turns out, 'B-kun' was double-dipping girls from different schools.

=

the reputation evolves. if you can brave the cold tsun-tsun front that is shintaro midorima's everything (having takao around to shit on him helps), catch him on a good day, he will be willing to disseminate your horoscope concerns. but this is a guy who is not direct when it comes to helping people, believes in people needing to do their best to get the best payout (so if it feels like people are using him as lazy google rather than as a genuine in-depth resource he's not helping).

he shares an unspoken mutual respect with tarot-chan in the next class over.

=

eh he might see the type of things that the girls are devoted to (re: dating and love) as a bit frivolous, but he'll acknowledge the ones that are putting their full effort into success. there's understanding that develops.

he's like the class pet lmao.

after seeing him go through death without his lucky items and takao's very real fear that the shin-chan event horizon could also threaten his life, there is a very healthy respect for everything shintaro midorima. leave him to his own happenings. he's the class cryptid. the teachers might scold him but his classmates just deal with it. the boys start jokingly (but not really,, but what if...?) asking for shin-chan's blessings on things

"i am not a priest nanodayo" >:(

they have to rearrange the class display for the school festival because shin-chan got bad vibes lol

oh yeah, the boys are more secretive about it but they also ask for his consultations on dating compatibility - this one is even funnier bc takao basically sharks them for a consultations. and uses the money to buy the two of them snacks