MAL 2025 Anime Watching Challenge

You quietly point at the deck of cards and the woman lets out a gentle chuckle. The candle flames flicker green for a moment, distracting you, and when you peer back at the table you're mildly shocked to realize the crystal ball has disappeared.

“Do not fear, my child, you are safe,” the fortune teller reassures you. Her hand reaches forth and you watch as her bony fingers curl around the deck to pick it up. She begins to slowly shuffle the deck while humming a soft, pleasant tune. You look around a little more and notice a thin layer of smoke drifting around the tent. The scent of lavender and sage gently fills the air, which you aren’t sure you’ve ever smelled outside of the funky shops that sell cool statues of dragons, various crystals, and anime sword replicas.

The woman places the deck in front of you, then asks you to take half of the cards and place them to the side. You do as she asks, and she places the other half back on top of the cards you moved before drawing three cards. She lays the three cards in front of you face down, and begins to explain.

“Now dearie, this is a simple reading known as a Past, Present, Future drawing. The first card here is a card that represents your past. The middle card represents your present, or you as you are now. The final card is one that will tell you what to expect in the future. Now, lets see what we have here….”

She reaches forward and pinches the card on her left, flipping it over with a satisfying flick sound. The card shows a young man holding a stick, alone in a barren plains. The fortune teller chortles softly to herself as she describes the card and its meaning.

“Ahhh, the Page of Wands, a card that shows adventure, excitement and curiosity. A young man stands defiant in a barren land, facing worlds that he has yet to explore, ready, willing and able to take the next steps on his journey. I suppose this card and the curiosity from it is what led you here, to meet me, as not just anyone would step foot in this tent. Eeeeh heh heh heh.”

The fortune teller cackles heartily as she reaches to flip the second card, the one representing the present. With another pleasant flick the card is flipped to show a jester juggling bright balls in equally colorful clothes. Does this mean she thinks you’re a clown? She looks at you and shakes her head gently as she speaks again.

“The Fool. Now this is always an interesting card, and I promise it isn’t an insult to you. The Fool is a card that represents limitless potential, a blank slate, someone who is poised and ready to begin a journey. This could be a journey of self-discovery, self-improvement, or even a physical one where you will travel to mysterious far-off lands. The Fool isn’t an unintelligent person, but someone who knows enough to know he knows nothing and is ready to learn further.”

You ponder the meaning of this for a moment as the fortune teller begins to reach for the third card. You begin to get a strange feeling about this third card, like maybe you should turn it upside down. You lunge forward to put your hand on the card, feeling the ornate pattern on the back of the card. The fortune teller pauses and looks at you, almost as if she knows what you were about to do.

You listen to your urge to take control of the reading and flip the card over. The fortune teller stares at you in puzzlement for a moment, and maybe a bit of shock. Then the flames flicker a deep crimson for just a moment as she then nods in quiet approval before a toothless grin spreads across her shadowed features. Or, you assume it's toothless because you hadn't seen the glimmer of teeth in the candlelight. She flips the card in the same orientation it was drawn with that sharp flick sound that you have grown to enjoy.

CHANGED FATE

You see an upside-down card that seems to depict some sort of religious figure sitting in a church. The fortune teller hums softly to herself as she clears the table of everything but the three cards to allow you to focus only on the cards that have been drawn. She nods slowly before beginning to explain.

“Now, The Hierophant is normally a card that is about tradition and conformity to an organization… but you… you took the step to reverse this card, and in doing so you truly proved that your future reflects what the inverse of this card represents. A reverse tarot card holds the opposite of its usual meaning, which means that for you this is a card of rebellion, a card of refusing to go with the grain. This is a card that shows your future will involve you needing to think unconventionally, and be willing to employ fresh new methods that perhaps others may not have thought of. But this is a future of your own making, one that you have taken control of. I hope it was a good choice… heh heh heh heh…”

The flames crackle and spark for a moment, the sudden bright light making you close your eyes as it sounds like the fortune teller is being pulled far away from you. Your eyes open and you’re back in the middle of the carnival grounds with the crowd bustling around you.

You look around for the tent but it’s nowhere to be found. Even the clearing where you swore it was resting just moments ago has been filled with yet another candy floss stand. As you look around in confusion, the girl behind the counter speaks to you.

“Hey, uh… I think someone left this for you. Here!” she says cheerfully as she hands you a tarot card. The Hierophant. Even as you hold it, for some reason it looks wrong to you until you turn it upside down. You put it in your pocket and smirk slightly, but as you do so you hear the candy floss girl cackle, almost in the fortune teller’s voice. Your gaze snaps back over to her but she’s already serving new customers. You decide it was just your imagination and fade back into the crowd, but this time walking the opposite way from everyone else.