Jim gets kidnapped on some mission, beaten and wakes up on some distant planet with amnesia. He knows a lot of stuff but he has no idea how he knows that stuff. The people there are caring and it's not such a bad place so Jim gives up trying to remember who he is and settles down to lead his new life. Meanwhile back on the enterprise Bones is facing a lifetime without the one person who has never doubted or given up on him. The ring that he was going to propose to Jim with is burning a hole in his pocket as months go by. The bridge is muted as Spock's calm determination leads them to some of the darkest places in the quadrant until Starfleet puts its foot down and insists they return to their missions and declare their captain KIA. To Bones this is the end of all hope for happiness, he goes about his shifts like a robot, the ring never leaves his pocket as a sign that he will never give up on Jim like he never gave up on Bones. He moves out of their quarters as he can't bare to see the bed that is still unmade from the last day he saw Jim. It's all exactly the same, a memorial to the future that has been robbed from him.
spoilers for dragon age, also spoiler: i don't know shit about dragon age everything i know i've learned from fanfiction and the wikia, and i'm basically just talking about tarot because that is my real interest
k i'm going off of this list so hopefully it's reasonably accurate and complete
anyway: i'll start with solas i guess i'm most familiar with him
his beginning card is The Hermit, which to my understanding represents finding your own path, even if it means leaving everything else behind. it's a very solemn card, and implies a lot of isolation. this makes a lot of sense for solas: for one, he's not exactly a follower, he makes his own path and determines his own truth, and he does what he feels is right even if it means making sacrifices (both of himself and others). he's spent a lot of time alone, and that time and that retreat from worldly concerns and distractions has allowed him a lot of insight and a lot of ability to determine and understand his own truths. so. it's a good choice.
his romance card is The Heirophant, which, laugh. my tarot book mentions that it "has an element of teaching and instruction" which definitely implies to a romance with solas, if what i've gleaned from fic is at all true. it's also a lot about faith, and about learning to live in faith and accept it into your life. it's a strange card because some people have very negative associations with organized religion, but it's not entirely about that. it can also be about accepting the teachings of a wiser elder into yourself and into the way you conduct yourself in your daily life; not just talking the talk, but also walking the walk, as it were. anyway, also a good choice, though a little entertaining once you have all the facts.
his ending card is The Tower. it's one of the simplest cards to interpret, in my opinion, but it's also... sort of a strange choice? i almost would have picked The Hermit for his end card, rather than his beginning, or maybe The Hanged Man or The Devil. anyway, The Tower is sudden and often catastrophic change, usually in a sort of "act of god" sense, rather than anything with any apparent reason. it's the lightning strike, the earthquake, the heart attack. i suppose solas suddenly abandoning you and running the fuck off for no apparent reason does sort of fit this, but at the same time, from his point of view it's a fairly reasonable and even inevitable action, so The Tower only makes sense from one point of view. i'm just gonna add though that the imagery on this card, with the huge wolf-shadow hanging over him is incredibly vivid, and i really like it; it's very different from the looks of his other cards, and really gives that sense of everything having changed, which is what The Tower is about.
OKAY SO THATS SOLAS: now, let's talk about cullen.
i can only find one tarot card for cullen, and it's this one. there's not a ton of agreement about what this card is in the deck- there's a few suggestions though and i'll talk about all of them. the first one is cullen as The Emperor. this card is basically exactly what it sounds like- it's the force for order and stability, and the creation of those things. cullen is a fairly regimented guy, and he's the commander, so really the Emperor makes sense for him, and i'd accept that. i also found a suggestion that cullen's card might be Justice, though there seems to be some agreement that blackwall's beginning card is Justice. that being said, Justice is about consequences, and cullen is nothing is not a tale about consequences. Justice says that you're facing the consequences of your actions, you have to face up to who you are and what you've done, and cullen's done a lot of that- he's been forced to. so, Justice would work as well.
okay, so that's cullen. dorian next, i suppose.
dorian's beginning card is (haha) The Magician. The Magician is all about resourcefulness- it's about knowing how to use what you have to get what you want. it's about being able to make waves using your personal power and knowledge. i don't know a ton about dorian, but he's definitely charismatic, and even disregarding the fact that he can use, you know, actual magic, he has a lot of personal power and he definitely knows how to use it. so: a good choice, and not too complicated.
dorian's romance card is The Chariot, which, frankly i don't know shit about dorian's romance so................ i'm just gonna say that The Chariot is the willpower card- it's about prevailing in difficult times through will, etc. i don't have enough context to comment further so i'm giving up here.
okay goodbye dorian hello iron bull
iron bull's beginning card is The Devil, which, can i just say that i love this card? i love it. i have a crush on it. it's also a very interesting card: The Devil is about willing bondage, and not necessarily the fun kind. it's about making a choice that you know is bad for you, being willfully blind and helpless in bad circumstances, and generally giving up and giving in and letting yourself be overwhelmed. it's about being held back. so: the bull, when first introduced, is a bad circumstance, and maybe you should avoid him, and yet. he's definitely a dangerous figure- The Devil is one of the few overtly negative cards in the Major Arcana, and because so much of the danger in the card comes from within oneself, it's especially terrifying. i feel like this card does make sense, and in a way foreshadows what comes later in your relationship with him, though he becomes less dangerous (to you, anyway) over time.
the iron bull goes in two directions at this point depending on what you do. if you save the chargers, his card becomes The Wheel of Fortune. if they die, he becomes the Ten of Swords. i'll talk about them in order i guess? The Wheel of Fortune is the possibility card, and also a change card in a different way than The Tower is. it's more about the understanding that change is inevitable and should be embrace, or a warning that a period of random change is at hand. it's about spinning the wheel, and knowing that just about anything can come up. this is the case where bull has cast away the familiarity of his people and his past, everything has shifted below his feet, and he doesn't know what's coming- he's spun the wheel. in the other case, where the chargers are sacrificed and bull remains with the qun, you get the Ten of Swords. this card is terrifying, and very very sad in context. it's about surrender to unfortunate circumstances. this is bull having looked at his choices and given up what he cared about for duty, even though that wasn't what his heart may have wanted. he surrendered to the demands of his people and so sacrificed his friends. this is a pretty brutal thing he's had to do. anyway, both cards make sense, though both are sad in their own way. they also have an interesting contrast to each other: most all characters have Major Arcana cards, which are always symbolic of powerful forces in a person's life. the fact that bull's loss of the chargers results in his diminishment to the Minor Arcana may say something about a loss of power, even if it's just his own sense of power or control in his own life.
bull's romance card doesn't seem to have an associated meaning which SUCKS BECAUSE I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT IT. it's sort of all there in The Devil in a way though- that card is so much about control. anyway.
on to varric!
his beginning card is The Lovers, which, awwwwwwwww thATS SO CUTE. I MEAN. OKAY. THE CARD IS HIM AND BIANCA I AM DEAD. The Lovers is the card that says "follow your heart" it's about making the decision that feels good, that feels right, even if it's not strictly smart. varric is a smart guy, and i don't think you can romance him, but he know how people work and he knows how people love, and i bet he gives hella good advice. i can quite put my finger on why, but i do feel like this card makes sense for him. that being said, it makes sense for a few others and their various romances too- it's a versatile card. it's being applied in an unconventional way here, but it still works.
varric's card after his companions quest is The Sun. given that the card is super fucking grim and awful, i'm not ENTIRELY certain how someone came to that conclusion, and i'm not entirely sure if i agree with the interpretation. that being said, the card is about clarity, usually in the sense of bringing happiness, but it can be interpreted generally, which is suppose might fit. anyway.
last but not least, cole
cole's beginning card is The Moon. The Moon is the illusion card, it's about thing not being what they seem, and the truth being muddled and unclear. this can be a negative card, and is often tied to uncertainty, especially about reality or truth, but i think in this case it's a fairly neutral comment on who cole is and where he is in his life when you meet him. he's very uncertain about himself, and his nature isn't entirely clear; he's torn between two worlds and very strange and ethereal, which means this card makes a lot of good sense.
anyway, that's it that's all. i don't really know the other characters and i find tarot difficult to interpret with context, so i'm gonna leave it here. i may amend this post when i get a better grasp on what the fuck is up with the other characters, but also this was a lot of work and i'm a lazy asshole. tl;dr the da:i tarot is full of interesting meta to be had but also some of it is very difficult to interpret and/or kind of bullshit.
Christ, I just snorted really unattractively. That is gold.
omegabones reblogged your post and added:
You can make WYNNE learn blood magic and she won’t make a single peep. I think it’s just that Bioware didn’t think it through. At all.
Yeah, WYNNE, of all people, should say something. Anders does in Awakening, but that's kind of it? Morrigan wouldn't care, but Wynne absolutely should say something. I think you're right in that they just didn't think it all the way through.
