This week's card from the Fortunus Games tarot deck is the Five of Cups featuring Zhuel from Tete.Depunk’s fantasy novel, “Scale, Blood, and Bone,” which you can read on Tapas. “Scale, Blood, and Bone” is an AU fantasy reinterpretation of some of the events of my graphic novel, “The Book of Joel.”
The Five of Cups shows Zhuel looking down at three cups that have been knocked over. These cups symbolize his failures and disappointments. There are two upright cups behind him, however, that represent new opportunities. Unfortunately, Zhuel's not paying attention to them because he's so fixated on his failures and his own tortured mental landscape.
In other words, this card is Zhuel in a nutshell. Joel, too, since Zhuel's basically an alternative version of Joel, who's the protagonist of my graphic novel on Tapas, "The Book of Joel." Both Zhuel and Joel are fixated on their internal feelings and subjectivity and have difficulty untangling their thoughts. This is one of the reasons why they overthink and stop themselves from bonding with others.
Behind Zhuel are a river and a castle, symbolizing the security and peacefulness he could obtain if he left his pessimism behind. If only he crossed the river, he wouldn’t have to dwell on the disappointments in his life!