Nashi / V / Valentine
she/her, Asian-American, probably older than you
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Ngl, I laughed so hard after the episode ended cause that scene literally played out this way. The man barely stepped a few feet away from him before ordering another hit
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.)
I'm sure someone has talked about this already somewhere, but I noticed something in the "preview" at the end of episode 24 which I found super interesting.
So. Uh.
Who successfully landed a hit on X?
It's still visible at the end, too, indicating that this is part of the same sequence. His glasses have changed (the lenses are orange again and they're very square rather than the inverted trapezoidal shape from before), which kind of implies there was at least one snap in between these shots, since inconsistencies in X's design appear to be indications of him shifting reality around. The change in color grading may also be indicative of that; the art style between these two shots is pretty consistent so it's hard to say, but it's not like he doesn't regularly jump from one style to another and then back again.
The idea that there was a snap in between shots here is almost as interesting to me as the fact that someone landed a hit square on X's face (somehow) because the injury is still there, indicating that shifting himself around doesn't reset his physical state. He's not invulnerable—if you can catch him, you can hurt him, and he may not be able to fix himself.
That's some dangerous information to have out in public, sir.
