we interrupt your regularly scheduled Babish rip-off for this important announcement

[otomechapilot]

I'll do the cooking show after the Jaunt, I didn't have time to prepare it, but...

What's this I hear about Tower falling?

Comments

Psi protect II forever

[otomechapilot]

[Well. There's no way to mention what they were to each other briefly without awkwardness, is there. But there are politic ways. Tactful ones.

She telegraphs raising that veil of privacy with a little psychic crackle.]

He's missed you terribly. I'm glad you're back.

[canbebrave]

Thank you. Were it up to me, I wouldn’t have strayed from his side for so long, but— the Gods seldom do what I wish. I’m glad to have returned.

[otomechapilot]

It's a pleasure to meet you - though uh, you'll forgive me if I'm sorry that it's here.

(She steels herself with a deep breath. It registers through the link. Still, she dances round it.)

...and I think I understand what you mean. There's someone from home I need to get back to - came in the the chaos, left when it was over.

[canbebrave]

You needn’t apologize for that. This place is not a blessing to us all.

[She’s a little stiffer, having felt that through the link.]

I’m sorry to hear that. It’s difficult, the things we leave behind us- home amongst them.

I debated the IC wisdom of saying this, then I went "she's Fool's tho"

[otomechapilot]

...I think I should tell you, uh....

Like a year after you were gone, and a year after I started Travelling, I danced with Armin at the ball, we had fun, and we dated for a little bit. Then you came back, he immediately tried to let me down gently, and.

We broke up? Cause I really don't want to stand between you two.

But I figured you ought to know from one of us, privately, before someone else mentioned?

[canbebrave]

Oh. [Well, now she’s completely stiff, careful not to give away any emotion through the link]

Thank you for letting me know. Perhaps I should be the one apologizing?

[otomechapilot]

Oh, nonono, not at all! I don't think I'm really wired to be jealous, and we weren't that serious. There's uh, a reason I emphasized how long it was for both of us before we even thought about it.

He missed you, and I'd rather be your friend and his if I still can than ruin things.

[And she does mean it. She's not just saying that. Which she really hopes comes across.]

[canbebrave]

It’s alright. You said it wasn’t serious. And I was gone a very long time.

But now I’m back. I don’t intend to let anyone ruin things. [It’s said almost as a warning. But she’s not angry.]

[otomechapilot]

[oh no.]

I - I promise you don't have to worry about that.

[canbebrave]

I know I don’t.

[reallymean]

Allura startles slightly, not expecting the sudden hug, but doesn't pull away. Instead, she just hugs her friend tightly in return.

"If it will help you explain," she says. "It's probably long past time I learned anyway."

Tarot Knowledge is go

[otomechapilot]

She squeezes again - hard enough to mean it - and leans back, sitting down on the ground and laying out a blanket.

"So," she begins. "Tarot has two decks, major and minor. The minor," and she holds up the four aces - Cups, Pentacles, Swords and Wands - "which are like, progression on a theme; and the Major Arcana, which is mostly what we care about. Stop me if you've seen these guys before."

She deals out the majors, in a circle; starting with the Fool, and in numerical order. Each names an Arcana. The Empress card is not Mei; but then, none exactly match.

"Each represents... related ideas, which I'm gonna simplify into three or so. Fool is Beginnings and Questions and Wonder; Magician is Skill and Thought and Reason; and so on. I'll go through all of them, but there are a few I particularly care about when I mention this bolt from the blue."

These would be: the dead arcana; Lovers and Devil; Judgement; and The Tower.

[reallymean]

Allura leans forward, elbows resting on her knees, and watches Sara deal out the cards. This simplified explanation, at least, she's familiar with, but she doesn't interrupt - if nothing else, a refresher on the basics is never a bad idea.

"I'm with you so far."

[otomechapilot]

"Has anyone told you about the Fool's Journey idea, by the way?" Sara shakes her head. "Might matter. Might not."

She holds up the Lovers and the Devil. Visually, they copy a pose - man and woman in stylized nudity, a figure above, a symbol linking them; but for Lovers, it's an angel giving thier blessing above a pomegranate tree, and for the Devil, a classical ramheaded Baphomet chaining them to a treasure chest.

"Lovers and Devil touch where 'I love you' and 'I want you' do," Sara says. "Mirror images. Lovers is that in a healthy way; not only Romance, but Friendship and Relationships as a whole, while Devil is Corruption and Hunger and Instinct."

She pauses.

"Why is the Lovers so bad with people if what they are, is relationships?" she asks. "Why is Lovers so bad at not being the Devil?"

It's rhetorical, but she also wants to know what Allura has figured out.

[breakaleginhalf]

Magician seems like one of the closest to actually getting us, but also she just seems like a massive memelord in general, so I dunno how much stock to put in that. Definitely sees us in a more real light than Lovers, though.

[chalicejoker]

"I think we all do." Hajime's not sure Tower's death is going to be this level disaster, but it's too late now. Best they can do is hope things work out somehow.

And not having this blasted everywhere any more than Ryo already had is good, too. "I appreciate that. Ryo does, too." Because speaking for the mantis is just a smart move right now. "If anyone asks, I guess we were just in here swapping recipes."

[otomechapilot]

Sara laughs. “Poutine is next in line for the Snackin’ thoughtcast, but want to be next after for plausibility?”

Sara looks up, humming in false thoughtfulness. “That way we were swapping recipes.”

[modernliterature]

"So... I might just be being an idiot again, you never know, but... why don't we listen in on them?"

[otomechapilot]

She pauses.

"Fool would like you," she says. Ask dumb questions, Caleb, it's the only way you'll learn what you don't know. "I have no idea if it's been tried. Some of us can jump into thier spaces, but that's not the same thing as trying to pick their brains."

YEARS OF MODDING, THIS NEVER OCCURRED TO ME

[modernliterature]

"Jumping into their space - is that done the same way as people who jump back and forth between worlds when we get split up?"


Because if so, there's an obvious corollary.

[otomechapilot]

"No clue, wouldn't surprise me. I'll ask Gil - he's done both. ROSE - Magician - likes direct questions."

Sara coughs.

"...the reason I came here in the first place was to ask. How much do you know about Tarot, and the dead Arcana?"

[modernliterature]

"Only what's in these books," he gestures. "Which is not bad, but it's hard to verify any of it."

[otomechapilot]

Sara nods.

"Please. Tell me what you've figured out about the dead ones."

[chalicejoker]

"That'll work." Hajime nods. "My recipe for takoyaki's pretty kickass."

"Won contests with it!" Ryo adds. "Is very plausible swap!"

[modernliterature]

"Star was... a child? Who was weakened by something we did, and died by accident. All the others were murdered, but before Tower, none of them was murdered by us. The books only say a little about who it might have been, but..."

He shudders, and points a finger at a book labeled Harrogate Codex.

"Don't go reading that one before bedtime, you know? There's another one that hints about someone sneaking into Liminal Space, but it didn't mention who."