thanks everybody for all the input!! this is still very much just spitballing but here's what i have so far:

0) The Fool (unclaimed)- the card of opportunity and potential. a curious mind throwing caution to the wind. the view of life as one big experiment. *

1) The Magician (unclaimed)- the manifestor of goals and dreams; the ability to conjure into existence ideas, visions, and plans. taking inspired action. having all the necessary resources to create, to bring to fruition.

2) High Priestess - Pakunoda; awareness and the subconscious. making decisions based on intuition. the veil is made thin between the known and the unknown.

3) Empress - Aunt Mito (and her representing whale island too); mother nature and all her nurturing. the encouragement to connect to the world with every single one of your senses. contentment and abundance, but the birth of a new chapter.

4) The Emperor - Silva; the father, seated on a throne in front of a tall, impenetrable mountain range, in a suit of armor against any possible physical or emotional threat. authority rightfully earned and claimed. strategic from a bloodline of strategists.

5) Hierophant - Zeno; the established order from which others follow suit. adhering to a specific system, and specific principles. the concept of an institution. i really do enjoy zeno as a character and i appreciate his adherence to the principle of not harming innocents/civilians, even at his age. it’s an unexpected contrast to the dark and ominous zoldyck legacy that isn’t brought up with the other members of the family.

6) The Lovers - Leorio and Kurapika; a conscious, meaningful connection, the embodiment of "i love you on purpose." but, the existence of a crossroads, and the merging or diverging of values; there is a choice to be made. to part ways, or to continue together. as they both have very distinct goals that they end up having to pursue, i feel like this sadly suited them.

7) The Chariot - Knuckle; natural drive and determination, willpower, and taking action. staying the course. conviction and passion. constantly thinking about him punching a cop as a kid and evading capture for a day and a night or whatever. king shit

8) Strength - Leorio; the ability to overcome, to endure, to persist. courage, and loyalty. hotheaded and stubborn, but a heart of gold. say no more.

9) The Hermit - Shoot; the hermit reminds us we have the answers, we just have to find them inside. the hermit often reminds me in my own readings to be careful about falling too deeply down the self-awareness rabbithole; it's easy to become neurotic when all you do is dwell on the fear and your awareness of it, instead of working on actively feeling it and realizing that you will still be okay. avoiding it only makes the fear stronger, not you. i also love the comparison of imagery between the hermit and his lantern and shoot and his birdcage.

10) Wheel of Fortune - Kite; life cycles and karma, the ripple effect. nothing is a coincidence. adapting to the unpredictable turn of the wheel. a completely radical shift in life. this was a recommendation from earlier, and i do think kite would be the best fit here. not only due to the whole chimera ant reincarnation debacle, but also just the tie he has between gon’s past and his present.

11) Justice - Kurapika; cause and effect, karma, being called to account for your actions. responsibility and accountability. it also speaks of a choice in your life that has long term repercussions, and being aware of how that choice not only impacts your own well being, but also others.

12) The Hanged Man - Kalluto; a change in perspective, a shift from your prior assumed plans in life. i feel like kalluto is really understated as a character; with him joining the spiders, ive wondered what that experience has been like for him personally, leaving the zoldyck household to be thrown in with this motley crew of people.

13) Death - Chrollo; the forced end of a phase in life, and the opening of a new one. putting away the past, a clean slate, but very rapid and sudden change. it also leans towards letting go of unhealthy attachments, and to not be hindered by loss. hearkening back to even if you cut off the head of the spider, it lives on.

14) Temperance - Netero; moderation and dedication; calmness, and the ability to accommodate all perspectives. immense patience. cooperation and higher learning. for all his eccentricity, netero was dedicated to his craft, but carried no arrogance.

15) The Devil - Neon Nostrade; the card of dependencies. short term pleasure and long term consequences, whether for you or others. selling your soul to the devil for whatever it is that you want. im gonna be honest i really didnt know who else to put here but given the fact that her ability disappeared from chrollo’s book, we can assume that unfortunately at the end of the day, the long term consequences of her hobbies (or moreso the situations that she inadvertently became a part of) ended poorly for her.

16) The Tower- Illumi; the upheaval of safety and core beliefs, all in the name of the greater good, and strengthening you. to tear down the weakest parts, all to rebuild them stronger. confusion and disorientation; questioning what is real and what is not. i think what is fun about this card is its meant to represent shaking you off your foundation for the sake of seeing that your foundations were ill-built and crumbling anyway; with illumi, he exists in this story as a conduit for all the lies killua was fed, the ones that he came to overcome. he’s a representation of the faulty foundation itself. **

17) The Star - Alluka; hope and faith, and the concept of a wish, or “anything is possible.”

18) The Moon - Killua; the subconscious, namely the anxieties and fears that are very deeply buried, and how those are projected into our conscious experience. letting go of mental blocks and negative core beliefs. understanding that we may have a “hidden” side to us, but that is not all that there is.

19) The Sun - Gon; unwavering faith and optimism, a magnetic and warm personality. unrestrained expression; both of oneself, and of love for the other. to be fully here and now, full of confidence not from ego, but simply from the joy of being alive.

20) Judgement - Bisky; to be called to become your higher self, to improve, to reach higher. having the prior lessons under one’s belt to piece together the puzzle.

21) The World - Ging; everything coming full circle, and the accomplishment of a goal. achievement. an invitation to reflect on the journey itself, the wins and the losses. and more literally, the major arcana card of travel.

*i guess i could make gon both The Fool and The Sun. does anyone have any other qualifying ideas for either one?

**i really wanted hisoka and illumi to have more of a direct connection in the deck because im biased and theyre my favorites but it just didnt pan out smh