da-at-ass replied to your post “The Inverse Emperor is a lil shit. His influence over me showed itself…”
This is turning into something like a favorite web series to follow.
Three cards away from closing the season. I know I’ve skipped cards in my renditions, but it was either just that matter-of-fact (”I’m HBIC now. Problems?” “No, Boss!”) or there were details I did not want to place in the public eye, obfuscated or not.
I’m more surprised that Inverse Justice, Chariot, and Lovers went as fast as they did. I was prepared for a midnight stroll through Chapel Perilous and when I did not get the resistance I was expecting, I doubled down on precautions instead.
The Inverse Hierophant believed he possessed power because he was dressed for the part as mandated by the Inverse Emperor. The following cards accepted that claim because if the Emperor declared it, and if he looks the part, then he must wield a type of authority, right? “You have no power over me.” I may have heard it first in a movie, but damn if those six words don’t have a power in themselves.
So with the exception of the Inverse Chariot (who made a show of strength around me before yielding peacefully), it looks like the Inverse High Priestess was throwing a bluff when she said the last (first?) cards would be the most difficult to master. I will admit to being disappointed when I realized she was lying and to what depths she was lying for.
I expect the Inverse High Priestess to attempt to trick me into fighting myself. That black mirror her representation holds warps what I see the same way Inverse Death’s black teddy bear will drain who holds it.
I expect the Inverse Magician to be the deck’s creator’s self-insert. There is a lot of ego threaded through these cards, and with power and authority coming down from the first cards of the arcana, this would be the card to play the Empress and Emperor as puppets.
I dunno what to expect from the Inverse Fool. I take that back. I have an idea (or two), but it is one I do not want to discuss.
Maybe this is all in my head and I am using the deck as a tool to explore, identify, and correct harmful thinking patterns. Maybe this is a thing that is actually happening and the stakes are greater than what I have been led to perceive. Maybe the truth is in the middle.
The only way out is through.
Let’s go.