I'm in the process of brainstorming a paranormal short story for an upcoming anthology, and I've been stumped with the plot details for a good while. Time to turn to the ever-constant Tarot deck for some ideas. Plotting has always been  a challenge for me. I can dream up characters  pretty easily, but putting those characters into an engaging story is another thing entirely. Let's see what kind of insight the cards can shine on this new project!

I've fleshed out this protagonist already. Her character development notes are available below to clarify how I'm interpreting these cards. This spread can still be used when you have zero character information, but it's much more revealing when you have a few details worked out.

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At a glance/Overall: Several Wands appear in this reading, which suggests a focus on the character's willpower and a clash of wills. I found the appearance of The Devil amusing and obvious, as this character's father is literally the Devil.

Card 1: Theme: 7 of Pentacles: Fruits of labor, rewards for hard work, return on investments. Aza's power is growing, and others take notice. Perseverance. Material wealth through much effort. Finding a more efficient way to finish a job. Standing at a crossroads, feeling restless as a result. Choosing whether to continue on the current path or to advance to a new level. A theme of change in order to progress, even if faced with intimidating possibilities.

Card 2: Setting: King of Cups: A king sitting calmly over a stormy sea. Not emotionally excited or disturbed by surroundings or events. Can be so detached that negativity seeps into the situation. Nonchalance leading to vulnerability. The setting will seem calm and normal outwardly, but an atmosphere of brewing trouble lurks below the surface and will intensify as the story goes on. The ocean will play some kind of role.

Card 3: Protagonist: Death: A fitting card for this character. In the story, she will undergo a literal metamorphosis, like a caterpillar into a butterfly. Transformation to a new being. A change that can't be stopped, only surrendered to. Also reflects Aza's constant struggle with the shifting forces inside her, as well as her love of throwing things into upheaval.

Card 4: Major Character/s:  3 of Wands: Three characters are important to Aza in the story, aside from her eight sisters. Big Daddy Lucifer, Grand Vizier Retchwax, and her secret mortal friend, Ernest. Aza wants these characters to acknowledge her worth and potential, despite her reputation as a troublemaker. She wants to prove she isn't just a mischievous little girl anymore and that she's of value in her own right...through her creative work. Her fashion design career has earned her both money and growing fame in the Infernal realms and is starting to progress even further. Above all, she wants Daddy's approval. He's still nonchalant and distant to her much of the time.

Card 5: Motivation: The Devil: Aza's father, Lucifer, is her motivation and goal. She wants him to accept her for who she is and what she is...as she is, and not what HE wants her to be. He wants her to conform and obey as a proper citizen of Hell. But Aza is unique, and her true destiny is about to unfold. She isn't just a disobedient half-breed. Lucifer may even be more wary of Aza than of his other children, as he doesn't feel he can trust her yet. His coupling with D'endrrah wasn't entirely consensual...he was duped/tricked into laying with her. He still doesn't know why or how she seduced him, and even less about why the treacherous bitch then abandoned their child and left it for him to raise. 

Card 6: Challenge/Antagonist: 2 of Wands: D'endrrah and a restless, writhing cluster of Old Nameless Gods want to awaken Azathoth from his slumber and bring about the chaotic dissolution of the Universe. This would thrust everything back to the formless Abyss that once engulfed All. God, Lucifer, their minions, and all mortal and immortal realms will be consumed in the churning, senseless primordial ooze from whence all existence spawned. Aza's mother wants to lure her daughter into joining their cause. Aza must resist, or she'll lose herself to madness and destruction forever. D'endrrah conceived Aza with Lucifer as part of a plan to entice other Nameless Ones to join her cause of awakening Azathoth (Aza's maternal grandfather, whom she is named after...'Aza') Aza must find a road to genuine truth amidst all lies she faces, and she must seek balance between the two volatile sides of her heritage if she is to be free.

Card 7: Twist: 6 of Wands: Aza will erupt into overwhelming power and see victory before her in the destruction of everything that holds her back. It will be tempting not to turn against everyone and everything and give in to her mother's insanity. The key will be when she realizes how much Ernest means to her. She regards him as a rare treasure, someone to be preserved and admired like one of her beloved jewels. He's beautiful in his existence alone, in the way the forces of creation arranged him into a kind, honest, and harmonic order out of pure chance. Until she met Ernest, she'd never felt a true attachment to or concern for another soul, only to the objects she creates. In whatever sense a demon/chaos being can feel hope, faith, and love for another, Aza will find purpose and benefit in preserving the structure of the Universe for the sake of her best friend.

Card 8: Outcome: Ace of Cups: A gift of abundance from the Universe. New beginnings and ideas. Aza will find the balance and peace she desires, though it will come at a personal sacrifice and with new challenges to face. A brand new slate with much potential and promise ahead if she stays true to her course...though, knowing Aza, a little lie here and there will still be endlessly entertaining!

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Character Development Notes

Name: Azabaal Yog-D'endrrah (nickname: "Aza")

Father: Satan/Lucifer (Infernal, Hell, Devil/Demonic) Man in black when in human form, his true appearance is a massive fallen angel...big wings with charred black and ashen feathers. Immense horns veined with molten cracks of fire, which continue through his skin. Cloven feet, Flesh is charred and still smoking for eternity from where he plummeted through the Heavens and fell into Hell.

Mother: D'endrrah of the Abyss (Chaos, Cthulhu realms) Lives on the Martian moon Deimos where she is trapped for eternity in a temple of mirrors that distort her true tentacled/Lovecraftian appearance (an eternal, formless abyss with tentacles spewing from its maw). In reflected disguise, she appears as a vampiric succubus-like demon woman.

Age: 18 mortal years

Infernal power lineage/type: Belial--Lord of Deception, Vainglory, The Lawless One.

Appearance: Her true, demonic form (which is the form she prefers to wear most of the time) is about three meters tall. Lithe figure, with skin as black as an Abyss of Chaos. Large wings which glow with a strange green luminescence, and the tips fluctuate into a flame-like wisp of shadows, Lower body is classically demonic--cloven hooves, backward knees. She has nine 'tails' which are actually a writhing mass of tentacles trailing behind her. Her horns are thick and shiny black, arcing above her head, and between them her ethereal single eye hovers with a lurid glow. Her face is featureless except for her mouth, her lips black and surprisingly demure when she isn't grinning. When she smiles, she reveals a mouth filled with curved, pointed fangs and a forked black tongue--she can weave a lie and a truth at the same time with this dual tongue. She's graceful, quick, and elusive, often hard to see even when she's standing still and in direct view. Her fingers are actually long, thin tentacles which can slither in all directions like her tails. Mark on left palm from birth--forged into her skin as if branded with glowing green and black fluid. Chaos symbol, eight-pointed crossed arrows with the top two diagonals arced upward in a semblance of infernal horns.
Aza is a master of disguises and wears about any form she can dream up with the proper rites and craftsmanship. She does have a human form, though some of her demonic qualities still leer through. She appears as a delicate, pale young woman with sleek, straight black hair falling to the floor. Her eyes in human form are pure black, as are her lips. She also can't disguise the tentacled thrashing of her fingers unless she wears a special pair of gloves she's made for the purpose. In her human disguise, she can pass as a strange-looking but exquisite goth girl, an image she loves to exploit on the rare occasions she does venture openly into human society.

Dress for the Demonic Debut Ball: Forcing herself to obey Dad for her debut, Aza will enter with her sisters in human form...though this likely won't last long and she'll start shedding the disguise as the ball goes on. She's designed a special gown for herself for the big event. A gleaming tiara of silver and obsidian inlays, with the front bearing a single eye effigy at the forehead, and long curves resembling horns coming off it. The rest of the ensemble is akin to Jean Paul Gaultier on gothic overload. All black, long, sheer, ornate, and flowy.

Powers: Illusion, trickery, deception, disguises, and lies. She can weave lies and truth together into complex realities of her choosing, and to an extent she can even manipulate the balance of order and chaos--though this ability comes at a great cost to what fragile sanity she does possess. Each time she messes with the fabric of her reality, a piece of her stability and identity succumbs further to the formless madness of Chaos, the force which flows through her being from her mother's side. No common being (mortal or immortal) can lie to her, as she sees through all veils of deception and can even twist a lie back upon the liar, as truth or a deeper lie. She can also fly, teleport, use telekinesis, has the ability to see into human minds and hearts and tell if they're harboring deceit or truth, and can toy with them according to her whims. Can hurl bolts of greenish chaotic fire at anyone dumb enough to stand in her way.

Personality: Unpredictable, rebellious, restless, somewhat headstrong/stubborn, confident, mischievous, intelligent, curious, creative/artistic and is a skilled crafter of magickal fashion and accessories, easily distracted by beauty (especially jewelry), fascinated by the endless dance between opposing forces like lies and truth, good and evil, chaos and order--though she doesn't adhere to any single force, including her demonic side. Playful and has the reputation of being a prankster. Despite all her contradictions and shifting mindsets, Aza's outward behavior is quite reserved and dignified when she's in company she wants to impress. She doesn't speak much, appears shy even, but watch out when she does open her mouth. You never know what kind of mayhem will coil out of her multi-layered words and nuances. A strange dichotomy of balances has formed in Aza...her chaotic heritage might otherwise rend her psychotic and unable to focus on anything, but her demonic/infernal side gives the madness some form and purpose. Out of the two has emerged a sinuous balance, though she often struggles to hold it together.

Hobbies/talents: Aza loves fashion and beautiful trinkets, but she isn't as vain as some other demons. She's too distracted by the appearances of others to obsess over her own much. She loves to create lovely objects and imbue them with her powers. Her fashion line is quite a success with the legions of Hell and even denizens of other realms. She also loves jigsaw puzzles, putting random chaotic pieces together into patterns of order--only to shatter and destroy the finished project and admire the way it falls apart again.

Likes: Playing jokes on unsuspecting mortals and immortals, stirring up trouble and then solving it again, creating intricate fashion and jewelry which can alter the form and appearance of its wearer/magickal disguises, beautiful things--color, intricate patterns, shiny objects (lol), moonlit nights, the ocean when it's dark and calm, puzzles/tongue twisters/jokes and riddles, mint chocolate chip ice cream :)

Dislikes: Stagnation, feeling caged or imprisoned. Conformity. Empty promises--everything must have a resolution in some way for her, even if that resolution is a complete manifestation of disorder. Being overlooked or underestimated. Beings who cling to only one point of view and blind themselves with it. Being rushed or hassled...she does things in her own time, and in her own way regardless of what the authority figures in her life dictate.

Goal: She wants to learn/educate herself. She's endlessly curious about reality and all its realms and beings. Has a sharp mind, despite the fact she's constantly wrestling with her sanity and focus. Also wants to free herself from everything that tries to control her. Wants her father to accept her for who she is and what she wants to be, and in a roundabout way she wants to make him proud of her/prove her worth to him.

Strength: She's inherited a unique perspective on the nature of the balance between good, evil, and chaos. Determined, ambitious, strong will to succeed.

Weakness: A desire for mischief which sometimes causes her to overstep her bounds/get in trouble with Big Daddy Lucifer/even upset the balance of the universe and go insane if she isn't careful. Curiosity killed the cat is also true of this one. Using her greatest power--the ability to bend the very warp and weave of chaos/order/reality--drains her/weakens her for a while, and pushes her a little closer to psychosis, thus she rarely if ever uses it--only in a time of great need.

Profession: Fashion designer and retailer on Hellbay, the satanic/infernal version of Ebay on Lucifer's private demonic network. She's made quite a living for herself off of the sales of her creations.

Home life (before debut): She lives in a penthouse satanic shrine based in the mortal world, in the city of San Francisco, CA, USA. She doesn't know her mother--only her name--and her father has only visited her a few times, though she corresponds with him via text/phone/email/telepathy quite often. She's been cloistered away most of her life, only allowed to venture out when she reached age 13. She has no other family or siblings that she knows of (yet!)
Aza was raised and tutored in magickal/occult practices by a demon prince named Retchwax, a Goetic style demon with the face of an owl, body of a crow, and thirteen dog-like legs--the guardian Lucifer appointed for his daughter after she was found washed up on the shores of the Abyss, presumably where her mother D'endrrah abandoned her after giving birth.

Friends: A young man she met while skulking around the city at night. They meet regularly in secret, despite what Retchwax and Lucifer had told her--to avoid any intimate contact with mortals. She's fascinated with this fellow because he's the first being she's met who is full of truth/never lies, yet who is in complete harmony within his soul. Much like the God of goodness is supposed to be, though she's never encountered this God, she knows he exists somewhere as part of the balance of reality.

Rivals: Her mother and the dangerous Old God Azathoth...her maternal grandfather, whom she's also named after ('Aza'). On an inner level, she'll contend with her own conflicting mind and nature.

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