been gone for a while here... i was on the grind for school, but i've used that to my advantage to make a YC edit for my classical reception writing seminar's final project hehe ^^
Making Eva Stratt East German in the film is really really meaningful. She grew up (in the 1980s I assume?) behind the Berlin Wall. She came of age in a world defined by scarcity, secrecy, checkpoints, state control. She knew, viscerally knew, from her own life experience, what the whole entire world was going to devolve into when things started getting bad. It wasn't just some abstract academic idea to her (though, as a historian, she also intellectually knew from countless examples of eras of conflict across history). But this she knew in her bones, and she knew that she would have to do whatever it took to prevent it. Having that personal history tacitly be part of her character's motivation is so, so good.
As with everything, I'm sure this has been done to death elsewhere by other people, but I haven't looked into it at all because I didn't want my interpretation influenced by someone else's. Understanding a Tarot reading is as unique to the reader as it is to the person being read, so it's important to go in with as few assumptions as possible.
DISCLAIMER: I do this for fun. I don't consider Tarot to be a form of magical divination, but rather a way to put one's thoughts in order. You already know what you want and what's best for you, even if only subconsciously, and the cards are just an instrument by which to pull that to the surface. In real life, Tarot is essentially a form of Rubber Duck Debugging for your brain, loosely guided by Barnum statements. In fiction, however, Tarot is absolutely a form of magical divination! Magic is real and you're gonna get fucked over if you don't listen to what that random psychic is telling you! I read Planet Ladder, I know how this works!
I'll preface with my usual setup for six-card readings, because while there are only five cards shown in X's reading, they seem to fit into my reading structure for six, just missing the final card for reasons that make perfect sense in-context.
In order, cards in my readings of six are meant to indicate the following:
Past
Present
Future
Self
Adversary
Conclusion
Based on this structure, the cards presented in order in the preview are a pretty solid implication of backstory, and it's…rough, honestly, but also pretty clear. I doubt they'll be arranged this way when we actually reach this point in the series, but they've been presented this way to start for a reason.
With all that out of the way, let's get into X's reading! It's extremely long, so it's going under a cut. Consider yourselves warned.
Past – The Fool (Null Major Arcana)
A very interesting option for a representation of the past, particularly in the context of the series. The simplest meta reading would be that this card, being #0, represents the character of the same name, Zero, whose actions in the past are responsible for the current state of the world—but I'm not going to focus on the meta here, so we're going to assume this card is meant to represent the past of X himself, not another character.
The Fool is representative of ambivalence, nihilism in its most neutral sense. The belief that there is no point in trying to take control of your own life because fate or society won't allow you to make a difference no matter how hard to try. Why waste your energy trying? Assuming this is meant to indicate the past, it seems a solid indication of X's mindset pre-manifestation of his powers, when he was just another cog in the machine, a faceless salaryman with no goals for promotion, content to do exactly what he's been doing and nothing else.
Note: The shot showing this card is followed immediately by X eating at a fast food joint, raising his head to look out the window while Wreck walks past on the street outside. This may be the incident where "they fought once" as mentioned in X's dossier, but the card would indicate that X probably let someone else deal with it. We'll have to wait and see.
Present – The Chariot (Seventh Major Arcana)
The present, and also really interesting from a meta perspective. The Chariot is #7 in the Major Arcana, which could be indicative of Lucky Cyan; given that she may have indirectly served as the catalyst for X's heroic journey and considering what this card means (see below), this is probably an intentional double-meaning.
The Chariot represents movement, impetus, an inciting event that leads the individual to wrest control of their life from the hands of fate, and the careful management of that control from then onward. The Chariot is a manifestation of self-discipline, drive and focus, a mastery of control over oneself. It also indicates the beginning of a journey that will require an expansion beyond current limitations without losing sight of oneself or one's goals in order to reach the end safely. As the present, this is indicative of X post-manifestation, a master of the very material nature of reality, the picture of control.
Note: The shot showing this card is followed by what appears to be the manifestation of X's powers, a second-long sequence wherein the world glitches out around him and his head explodes into a mass of shapes and color. Given the meaning of the card, this makes sense, because the only way to make it through something like that would be to do whatever it took to regain control.
Future – The Wheel of Fortune (Tenth Major Arcana)
Hoo-boy. Okay, from a meta perspective, while this is #10 in the Major Arcana, it absolutely does not represent LinLing or Nice—it represents X himself. With the exclusion of the Fool, Tarot generally uses Roman numerals, meaning this one is just marked as X, and the meaning makes the connection very clear.
The Wheel of Fortune, like the Chariot, can represent an expansion of one's understanding, broadening of horizons, implying this is the natural progression from the previous card, the present, into this one, the future. However, the meaning of this card is by no means a repetition of the previous—it also represents uncertainty, loss of control and the acceptance thereof, particularly an understanding that fate will always find you no matter how far you run or how hard you fight against it. X states outright that he originally thought it started with giving that coin to Cyan, but eventually realized that fate had been toying with him since well before that point. By the time we meet him, he understands exactly what this card represents.
Slightly more concerning, this card is also a warning, a reminder of the existence of karma clearer than any other card in the deck, a declaration that whatever happens next, it's probably your own doing. Your past is going to catch up to you eventually, whatever that means. The implications here, story-wise, are…not great.
Note: The shot revealing this card is followed immediately by what appears to be a gala of some kind, handshakes between important people in an opulent setting. I have no idea what this means in-context.
Self – The Hierophant (Fifth Major Arcana)
I know we can't read the title on this one, but trust me, that's the Hierophant. From a numerical meta perspective, there's absolutely nothing to this one—the Johnnies currently hold the #5 ranking, and they have no known link to X at the moment. There is a possible visual meta connection: while not the case in this deck, nor the classic Rider-Waite deck, the Hierophant is often represented as just a hand, which is a pretty solid imagery for X considering his powers are apparently activated through hand movements.
The Hierophant is a pretty odd card to see at all, much less in this position. While rarely treated as such, it's essentially the diametric opposite to the single most infamous card in all of Tarot, the Tower, and should really be treated with the same weight. The Hierophant is representative of tradition, conservatism, and conformity to societal values, which doesn't seem to suit the self with regard to X at all—but the thing is, the Hierophant can also represent interaction with these systems, confrontation of societal pressure to conform. It's a recognition of the need to evaluate one's own place within the standards of the world, to define what those things mean and how much they matter. The Hierophant, like the Tower, isn't a command or a warning or a declaration, but a question: Are you really going to let things play out like this?
I think we can all pretty much agree that X's response to that question is a firm and unequivocal "No." His theme song is literally called New Type of Hero, this is a man who looked societal expectations for people like him square in the eye and said "I'm not doing that."
Note: The shot where this card is show is followed by a shot of Nine in what appears to be an old abandoned building using his powers for some reason. It's interrupted by the next card, which is literally placed directly over him on the screen, so whether he's meant to be connected to this one or not is suspect. He is referred to as a "rogue hero," though, so he's not following the rules either, and we don't know his connection to X well enough yet to say what else this might imply.
Adversary – The Devil (Fifteenth Major Arcana)
Here is where the numerical meta completely breaks, honestly, because there have been several heroes shuffled through rank fifteen so who the hell knows. This could be assumed to indicate any old villain, considering the standard assumption of meaning, but I don't think that's the point at all, even in this position.
The Devil, contrary to Christian-influenced assumptions, isn't actually a representative of evil, or even inherently negative, particularly in this position. In fact, this card is honestly one of the best ones to get as the adversary, because it represents an impediment that can only be overcome by the one getting the reading in the first place: the struggle to truly accept oneself. The Devil represents the things everyone keeps hidden, either out of shame or fear of rejection, positive or negative. It's ignominy and self-loathing, but it's also consuming ambition and obsessive determination, it's a rejection of self-actualization.
In this position and reading, it's a declaration that X's worst enemy is and has always been himself, and that the only way to defeat it is to accept that every part of him deserves to exist—no matter how much trouble some of them might cause, no matter how frightening some of them might be. If he wants to control his own destiny, he needs to be comfortable being exactly who and what he is, regardless of what anyone has to say about it.
Note: The shot where this card is revealed overlaps with the in-between segment mentioned above, and is immediately followed by...well, this?
So. Uh. I'm assuming my interpretation is accurate there.
After this, the reading appears to be over, and we segue directly into a fight between Nine and one of those humanoid figures that appear to be spawned from the floating slabs that may or may not also be cards. I could get really meta here and talk about how Nine is obviously intended to indicate #9 in the Major Arcana (the Hermit), and thereby gives us a concept of the missing sixth card, but I am not to that level of conspiracy theory about all this so I'm gonna pass on that for now. Maybe in a year when we're still waiting for even a shadow of season two and are all starving for new discussion.
A sixth card, in this structure, would be the conclusion of the individual being read, the circumstances by which they will or will not achieve their goals. We, as the viewer, still don't actually know exactly what X's goals are (aside from subverting everyone's expectations in an attempt to shake off the chains of destiny) and showing this card would be way too much information to give out before the second season drops. Assuming this does follow a similar reading structure to my standard, this card absolutely should not be shown because it would be massive fucking spoilers for everyone, so it makes sense that the reading cuts off where it does.
ANYWAY thanks for coming to my TED Talk! Hit me up if you ever want your fortune read! (I kid, do not do that.)
Every day I handle more money than I will ever make. Every day.
At the start of my employment, my boss showed me videos of people stealing, and we both had a chuckle about it. How silly they were! There was a camera overhead, and it’s not to watch the shoppers. See, we can’t actually stop shoplifters. They get away with it maybe nine out of ten times. But we, who are watched and tallied and witnessed? We are always caught.
At first it was hard to hold one hundred dollars bills. An amount I had never seen before. An amount that didn’t exist in my household. It’s normal now. Here is something that is not for me.
“What the hell, I’ll take another,” says the man, pondering our 200 dollar watches. What the hell. Total comes to 580 and not even a flinch in his face. I have been working for 11 hours today and made only 110 dollars. It will go to my rent. Today I work for free, it feels. When I get my check, I will have 35 dollars left for food and saving.
The six hundreds he hands me go into the cash register. For a moment, I imagine having money. Then I put it away, counting out his change.
I know for a fact we sell our products for double what they are worth. That I could be making commission. That they could hand me those 580 dollars and change my life and not even mark the difference in their checkbooks. He’s not the only sale they make today, but I am the reason they made it. He’s not the only one spending 600 dollars, but if I hadn’t spent two hours with him telling me about his life, he wouldn’t have spent any. I go home. I don’t own a watch.
I have watched and rewatched a video on how to make salmon four ways. My shopping list is always the same. Pasta. Rice. Tuna. If I can afford butter it was a good week. I dream of the world I will never walk in, where I can throw the best fish fillet in the cart with a shrug. I hold hundreds in my hand and look up at the camera. I put them under the cash drawer.
I go to work. I scrap together my savings. I eat my bowl of rice slowly. My manager takes a paid week off from work just for his birthday. He owns a yacht.
i wrote this while i was working at orlando’s walt disney world parks.
i was part of their college program. i moved to the state for it. they legally owned the building i was living in and still charged me rent. i ostensibly was being charged to work for them. it was a 2 bedroom apartment and they placed 6 adult women in it in forced triples.
as many as one in ten disney employees have experienced homelessness while working for the company. despite huge efforts to unionize, strike, or otherwise demand fair treatment; disney has refused to increase employee quality of life.
disney admits publicly that a good portion of their success is because the employees (“cast members”) are dedicated, passionate, and selfless. this is never reflected in pay. even “face” characters (ie those that are princesses etc) make barely above a minimum wage.
at the time that i worked there, i made $8.50 an hour. at one point i was asked to create a human shield around a bag because a bomb dog had alerted to it. for eight fucking dollars an hour.
i now work a very cushy office job. i have bought the salmon and cooked it all four ways.
i go to the store. i am nice to the person behind the counter. she looks up at the camera while she counts out my change. there is nothing fundamentally different about her and i.
bf has announced it's 'kiss a dork day' and keeps kissing me in celebration but when i try to kiss HIM he holds me back and says 'no sorry I'M not a dork' and because he's bigger and stronger than me i am gaining no ground in this battle. i'm fuming
TERRIBLE NEWS woke up this morning and bf has announced it's kiss a dork day today again and showed me that he made it a reoccuring annual event on his calendar. march 13th is now my enemy
some people clearly scheduled this post to get reblogged on 13th march so the notifications helped me realise what day it was before my bf was awake so i was like hehehe this time i'll get him for sure. but no. he woke up and immediately blocked all of my attempts like fucking neo
why does this have 32k notes? it’s just a picture of a knife in a ranch bottle, is there some unspoken joke that 32 thousand people share? what is going on here, i dont get it. it’s just a fucking picture of a knife in a ranch bottle. is there some spiritual connection people have to this picture? is there some ominous and mystical reasoning that this has 32 thousand notes? do people reblog this because it makes them look like some indie blogger? or is there just something funny to this? someone please explain
There are other photos of the dress from the same event, in better lighting. It's blue and black. The original photo is blown out.
Also, as I recall, someone pointed out that the company only sold the dress in blue and black until this went viral. They started selling a white and gold version after this whole thing.
And I misremembered. The company didn't start producing white-and-gold copies after this went viral, they made one for charity after it went viral. They've otherwise only ever sold a black-and-blue dress.
The short of it is that, with a lot of bright yellow lighting, the photo is blown out (especially on lower-quality phone cameras), making the darker colors look lighter and yellower. AKA white and gold. But the dress was never actually white and gold. The animated gif actually shows the phenomenon pretty well, and the lighting effect on the darker dress is what was basically happening in the photo.
i used to buy into that online leftist black-and-white Glorious Revolution stuff and what i remember about my mindset at that time. stresses me out tbh. i couldn't see the viability of anything short of full-scale revolution so i constantly felt helpless. i viewed the revolution as necessary to address any and all societal problems, but i was also, privately, terrified of it. i didn't want to die for the cause, but i told myself that if that was what happened when the revolution came it would be worth it, that my blood could move us that much faster toward perfect socialist utopia.
in this mindset, the only useful thing i could do was die. i didn't want to. i wasn't generally suicidal (although i do consider this mindset a form of... abstract suicidal thought). but i believed my life was the only meaningful thing i had to offer.
now i'm a member of a community who values me and values my contributions even if i can't contribute as much as i'd like -- a community that emphasizes that every single good deed matters, every compassionate act changes the world. a community where just showing up is enough.
now i know that i can change so much more while i'm alive than i'd ever be able to as a corpse on a battlefield. i know that if i keep showing up, i will find or someone will show me a way to make a difference. i know that i am valued as more than a hypothetical martyr in some grand final battle. i know that i am missed when i'm gone. i know that the actual work is done by regular people with a goal in mind, and i know that that work is unglamorous. i know the unglamorous work is often the most meaningful and the most fulfilling.
the "revolution or nothing" mindset is rendering my generation hopeless. a very loud portion of gen z now believes the only contribution they have to offer is their life. this belief effectively nullifies a person's capacity to create meaningful change; any action they could take while alive is not worthwhile because it won't fix the world's myriad problems in one fell swoop -- better to burn it all down and yourself with it.
if they weren't actively fucking over the rest of us to feed their own suicidal hopelessness, i'd feel sorry for them.
there's a phenomenon i've observed wherein a person stews in their own misery, hopelessness, anger, fear, to the point that they can no longer fathom that something might exist outside of that, and so they reject any effort to improve their situation because they no longer believe it can be improved.
i am not blaming the people who are in this place. it's a terrifying, dark place to be in, and when you're there it really does feel like it's the only thing that exists. this is the place where people kill themselves.
i think, though, that this phenomenon, scaled up to apply to politics and activism, undergirds so much of what we see from the left now -- the world is dark and terrifying, and in the 24-hour news cycle, social media doomscrolling era we live in it's so so easy to only see the bad, and when you surround yourself with other scared, overwhelmed people, it can form a sort of 2014-tumblr-depression-tag echo chamber where that hopelessness is glorified and lauded and propped up as Correct And Enlightened.
and then they commit hate crimes about it and my sympathy shuts all the way off.
I will always remember something my state-appointed psychiatrist said to me when we first met and I was giving him the run-down of my life so far, and I said "and I'm homeless right now--" and he stopped me.
'I LOVE that you just said that. That you said "right now"!' he said. 'So many of my homeless patients say they're homeless like it's their job, and that means they never see a way out of it.'
'Well,' I said, knowing the statistics. 'Most people are on the street for a year on average. It's not forever, it can't be. nothing is.'
And because I had the audacity, the boldness, to assume I was only homeless right now, I actively kept living like it was a temporary state, like I deserved housing and deserved care and deserved better than i had right now. Because it was only for right now. It wasn't forever. It couldn't be. Nothing is.
I was homeless for about a year and a half. And then I got housed. And right now I live IN a house, with good friends.
But it's only for right now. It isn't forever. It can't be. Nothing is. And whatever's coming next is going to be better! Because I have the audacity, the boldness, to assume it will be and that I deserve it.
And you do too.
But you HAVE to start thinking of misfortune as only being temporary. It's just bad right now. Practise that. "It sucks--right now" "I'm miserable--right now". Just a small thing. But it makes a big difference. It makes all the difference.
Because if you always put "right now" at the end, no matter how miserable you get, you have left a little crack.
been gone for a while here... i was on the grind for school, but i've used that to my advantage to make a YC edit for my classical reception writing seminar's final project hehe ^^
leitmotifs never get old to me like holy shit dude there’s this melody that corresponds to this one guy and if you hear the melody it means the guy is there. holy shit. and sometimes it refers to ideas too not just guys. has anyone heard about this
Sometimes something fucked up happens to the guy and their melody gets fucked up too. Sometimes the thing that fucked them up also has its own melody and when the first melody gets fucked up the second melody gets mixed in
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