Need ideas

[Arch9CivilReactor]

I’m not sure how to properly describe what I need ideas on because this is about a story that has very… peculiar mechanics. I based it off of a sequel I’d wrote drafts on beforehand and even used it to create the backbone for my story.

Anyway… I’d best start at the beginning.

I wrote a story that has a third person narrator that can shift perspectives freely. One important aspect of that story was the existence of really important characters that are connected to different Major Arcana cards (The Fool, The World, The Tower, etc).

These cards were more than just a way to present each character’s core traits. They were connected to a fantasy prince who had the power to see the future. Because of the way its structured, the most I can say is that me being able to shift gears to show ‘alternate futures’ pertaining those cards was important.

Right now my prequel is missing that aspect.

I’ve been thinking of ideas to remedy this.

The story being made that used the above as reference will be written in second person POV mainly and have shifts to other perspectives. One way to use the ‘futures’/prophesies of each character could be via memory. Having the main character be a regressor that remembers their original life.

The problem with this idea is that it stretches disbelief to think he’d have the chance to see the important parts of their futures. There are at least 22 Major Arcana. The reason a third person narrator could easily portray what I wanted was because it was omniscient.

I’m in a bind because I can’t think of a better way to portray these alternate futures in second person (it isn’t a popular way to tell a story).

 

[Plantorsomething]

Playing a game with multiple routes and endings, then isekai?

 

[CharlesEBrown]

As the Tarot is traditionally (in one novel, Tim Powers had it being a bit darker - playing poker with a tarot deck and the "right" opponents could re-order reality) a divination tool, it being tied to the future (and even the past) makes sense.
The only way I could see making a second person narrator work here would be if "you" are a cartomancer, a fortune teller, "reading" the destinies of the Major Arcana. Have "you" perform a reading and then slip into a third, or even first, person narrative to show what the reading really meant.
"You sit at the table and draw the Deck of Destiny to yourself, in preparation for your next visitor. You have barely began laying out the table when he comes in and lays your payment in the basket at your side, without saying a word.
You simply nod, as you had seen this coming. You tap the crystal at your side, shuffle the deck and hold it out to your visitor to cut the deck. He does, and you begin laying out the five cards of the reading.
The first card is the Six of Swords - a conflict lies in your visitor's recent past. The next card is [yada yada]....
[the reading continues and then "you" summarize the meaning of the cards].
Your visitor merely nods, as if he had expected most of this, pays you a small bonus, and departs.
As you are left alone, you lift up the crystal and speak his name, even though he never told it to you. The images in the glass begin to reveal a tale..."
[then the next chapter follows the "guest" and shows how the reading worked, or came close, or even missed the mark]

 

[Arch9CivilReactor]

Playing a game with multiple routes and endings, then isekai?

Oh, that one is good.