A few pics of my deck - based on horror games

You probably don't remember but I mentionned I wanted to make a tarot based on a serie of horror games. The serie in question is Silent Hill, there are three games so far, and a fourth in preparation.

I've found a template to make my cards. I've tried to arrange it today but I couldn't, I was close to break something so I stopped.

I've found the colors I'm going to use for the borders.

Majors: blue
Wands: rust
Cups: blood
Pentacles: green
Swords: mist

I wanted to show these cards in the template, but... read above. So, instead I'm just going to show the images, they're not arrange yet.


All the images today were taken from the game Silrnt Hill 2.

I have four images for the Fool. For the moment, I don't know which one I'm going to keep, but I'll be very pleased to hear about your opinion. The Fool is about the main character James (it's from him I got my username James) who enters into the town Silent Hill. All the roads are blocked (as usual in Silent Hill) and James is forced to use some small path and to walk there. It's very misty (as usual in Silent Hill) and he can't see ahead. The scene, to me, is very Fool like, especially that James is about to go through a terrible journey, even though he doesn't know it yet. He recently received a letter from his wife telling him she misses him and wants to see him in their special place, Silent Hill, where they spent their honeymoon. Problem is, his wife died from a terrible illness 3 years ago.

http://www.geocities.com/wolfyjames13/sh/silenthill2fool1.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/wolfyjames13/sh/silenthill2fool2.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/wolfyjames13/sh/silenthill2fool3.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/wolfyjames13/sh/silenthill2fool4.jpg

If the links don't work, get them here: http://www.geocities.com/wolfyjames13/sh/


The Eight Of Swords is about a creature who seems to emprisoned in plastic wrapped. Silent Hill has the power to manifest what is inside of the characters. This monster is one of the manifestations from Mary, James' wife, who was terribly ill and there was no hope for her. She was emprisonned in her body, and her mind as well, because she became psychologically troubled with the illness. She alienated her husband, driving him away from her, so she ended up lonely too. She kept judging herself harshingly, believed she looked like a monster.

http://www.geocities.com/wolfyjames13/sh/silenthill28swords.jpg

If the links doesn't work, get it here: http://www.geocities.com/wolfyjames13/sh/


The Devil now. I warn you right away, this image is shocking. Silent Hill games are for mature gamers. This is a monster James keeps encoutering, and this one, Pyramid Head, is James' manifestation, his shadow, his dark side. Pyramid Head is there to teach James aspects of himself he denies. As long as he keeps denying he can't progress in the game.

http://www.geocities.com/wolfyjames13/sh/silenthill2devil.jpg

If the links doesn't work, get it here: http://www.geocities.com/wolfyjames13/sh/


I forgot to put the Moon, maybe next time. What do you think?

Hi Wolfy!

The links don't work, and myself nearly gave up, till I found the right link...

I would love to see the images in the template... the composition is landscape now, and I have a hard time envisioning it ... Where will you crop the Devil?
It's a very intersting image there..intruiging, but I need to see how clear it will be...in a card.

Looking forward for more.
Sure a different style...so masculine...

Hi WolfyJames,

I'm not familiar with the series but I do like what I see. It has a very dark, masculine feel which makes it a great deck for men. I also think it will appeal to the ladies who enjoy the darker side of things as well as anyone who's in search of something different.

When do you think you will have these in more of a card template as I'd really like to see more? Have you thought about copyright issues?

Joy to you,
Maralee

I've noticed that many images are landscape while some others will be fine (like the Fool and Eight Of Swords), I don't know yet how I will work it out. I'm eager to see too what will be the result in the template. I have already found a font for the cards: Adler.

This is a deck I'm making for myself, so I don't have to worry about the copyright.

I had to restart playing the game because, for reasons I don't know, the resolution wasn't at 1024 anymore, it was around 500, the screenshots were so small. I also discovered I could get rid of the noise filter, it's a great effect when you play, a grainy effect, like an old movie, to give a dirty look to the game. Now the shots are clearer. I've decided to keep the "dirty" shot of Pyramid Head though, it makes him look even dirtier.

I said I was going to get you the Moon next time, here it is. The character on it is Angela, a character James meets on his journey. She is a troubled teenager, emotional, guilt ridden, and in this scene, we discover that she is suicidal as well. James persuades her of not harming herself and he takes her knife.

In the Silent Hill games, nothing is really clear, not all questions are given answers (and even there it's not clear), and most of them are left to the imagination of the gamers. There are many boards out there who discuss and work on theories about the games (I belong to one of them). It is possible that Angela is indeed a troubled teenager in Silent Hill, but it is also possible that she is nothing but one of the many manifestations of James (like Pyramid Head, but then again, nothing is clear on this question too and it's just a theory among others), the manifestation that expresses his suicidal tendencies since his wife's illness and death.

http://www.geocities.com/wolfyjames13/sh/

Hi again!

The Moon is very cool. Angela does look very troubled but the more I look at her, I have to wonder just how calculating she can be. She looks far from innocent, IMO. The more you explain the cards, the more enthralled I become by them. I love mysteries and where things are not quite what they appear to be.

I must admit I'm pretty bummed that you're going to keep this striking deck all to yourself. I would purchase it in a heartbeat (Actually, I'd buy three. One to use, one for the collection, and the other for my husband). I showed these images to him and he thought they were awesome! Please continue to post more.

Joy to you,
Maralee

In the Silent Hill games, nothing is what it appears to be. They are horror games, but also mostly psychologically. You have monsters to kill, but what is going on in the head of the characters is even more monstrous. And the monsters are the manifestation of what people have in mind. Actually, I think the games reach such a depth that they're perfect for a tarot deck.

I'm happy that you are pleased so far by the cards. I thought that because they're from horror games, people wouldn't be interested. They're not pieces of art neither but screenshots. They are gruesome too, and there's more to come.

As for the copyright, I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do about that, unless you beg to Konami to let me do my tarot with their stuff.

Hi WolfyJames!

Thank you for sharing your beautiful nightmares with us!
I love darker, horror-themed decks (of which there are very few) so I am glad to see that you are sharing your vision with those of us who appreciate the genre.

I have a couple of comments/questions:

First of all, you had asked for feedback on which image to use for The Fool. Personally, I really like #2....because it seems more "active" to me than the others. James is walking through the foggy darkness, toward/behind a big tree, and I noticed that he has one foot poised in the air...reminding me of the traditional RWS depiction of the Fool getting ready to step off the cliff!

Veeeery interesting....now my question about The Devil card: What exactly are we looking at here??? I kept looking and looking at the picture, trying to figure out what is going on....looks like some human legs (?). Maybe it is more abstract and we are not supposed to know exactly what it is??? Regardless, it was very strange and unsettling, which I suppose is the desired effect.

Please keep posting more of these strange, thought-provoking images....I love it!!!

Luna/Karen

Thanks for the peek.

Beautiful design, I wish for mysterious images...my only idea is if I am introduced to a fog-edged surrealness as if in a film noir style for majors, then I do not want to be presented with a edge-to-edge crisp 21st century clarity of image that my mind says "bag of discarded bones". If it appears as somewhat of a vignette where the sharp focus is somehow faded at the edges, then I think I'm more inclined to find it stylistically similar.

Beautiful, evolving and of course, dark.

There's dream that you posted in another thread and the scenario of being in a cave of shadowy images that speak of their lives and so one become engaged to the point of being the viewer and acting in context---perhaps the majors might be seen as outside characters, but in the minors, the view shifts as if one is living the suit cards. The shadowy figure emerging in one minor card is the view that the engaged
participant sees in an eight of swords scenario...just a suggestion.

Take care

Mari H.

lunakasha said:

First of all, you had asked for feedback on which image to use for The Fool. Personally, I really like #2....because it seems more "active" to me than the others. James is walking through the foggy darkness, toward/behind a big tree, and I noticed that he has one foot poised in the air...reminding me of the traditional RWS depiction of the Fool getting ready to step off the cliff!

Veeeery interesting....now my question about The Devil card: What exactly are we looking at here???

Click to expand...

I tried to take the screenshots while James was moving because, as you said, like the Fool, walking to... Maybe I should go back in the game and take other screenshots. I like the shot, but I don't like the tree, unless I leave it out.

As for the Devil, the other creatures are Mannequin (that's their names), and they look like mannequin. The Mannequins have a torso and legs of a mannequin, and at their torso is another mannequin with legs in the air; the creature has four legs, it was inspired by some art by a surrealist artist who made pictures (or paintings?) with such a creature. In the game, all monsters are female, and they're all Mary's manifestation (Mary was sewing her stuff herself, and she had a mannequin at their place). The only male monster, Pyramid Head, here the Devil, is male; he's James' manifestation. There are a lot of sexual contents in the game, and in this one it looks like they're having sex, Pyramid Head and the two Mannequins. But at the end of the scene, Pyramid Head tears their bodies apart and kills them.

My theory is that their nightmares collide (Mary's and James') and love and fight against each other, but personaly I call that "spiritual awakening" because the characters learn so much through that nightmare. As I said, Mary believed she was a monster. James made his best to persuade her otherwise but failed. The female monsters are the manifestations of her negative feelings and thought about herself. Pyramid Head, being James' manifestation, kills the creatures, the negative aspects of Mary, but he also loves Mary, so the killings are conflicting, showing his love and sexual attraction towards her, but at the same time he has to kill them. Which gives that very weird scene where sex in involved and Pyramid Head ultimately kills them.


As for you Mari, I'm afraid that my English is not good enough to understand what you've said: it's so atmospheric and poetic that I'm at loss here.

This is such a cool idea, WolfyJames!

A deck based on a horror game is cool enough...but then I saw it was THAT game...
I remember playing Silent Hill2, alone, one night...scared the bejeezus out of me!

This is going to me one amazing, dark, moody, creepy, visually stunning, and dreamily transformational tarot deck!

I too, am a little disappointed that this is going to be a personal deck (although I completely understand why...) It would be a great one to play with!

Please keep us posted on your progress!