Today’s daily horoscopes

A protective impulse may arrive before you know whether anyone needs defending. Ask what happened before choosing a side, Aries. The person you're defending may be perfectly capable of speaking. They might even have a version that doesn't require you to start another quarrel. Do hear it before you make the whole business about your courage.

The Moon squares Venus today, and what sounds enjoyable may sit badly with what you actually need. You can turn down a pleasant offer if you'd rather stay somewhere familiar, Taurus. Say so before accepting and becoming quietly resentful. It is difficult for company to live up to your expectations when your first expectation is that you shouldn't have had to come.

With Mercury retrograde and square Mars, an old subject may provoke a sharper answer than you intended. You could leave one remark unanswered, Gemini. The silence won't necessarily be taken as defeat. Someone might assume you've finally understood why having the last word kept extending a conversation nobody enjoyed.

Someone's plans may leave you feeling less important than you expected. A small disappointment could acquire quite a history, Cancer. Ask about today before bringing the whole history with you. Another person's evening is an unreasonable place to seek repayment for every occasion on which you've felt overlooked. They can hardly answer for the ones they weren't there for.

Venus still favours Jupiter in your sign, offering some pleasure without much persuasion. Enjoy it before you begin wondering whether you're making enough of the occasion. You can have a good time that produces very little worth reporting, Leo. Nobody need be impressed by how well you spent the day. I appreciate that this removes one of your preferred measures of enjoyment.

Make the adjustment, Virgo, and leave the familiar mistake alone. Reproaching yourself for another hour will not improve it. Even your own judgment ought to have something more useful to do than repeat what everyone has understood. You were hoping to learn from this. I assume that requires eventually moving on to something you don't already know.

Keeping someone pleased may conflict with how you actually feel. Take a moment before you answer, Libra. The Cancer Moon squares Venus in your sign, making an easy agreement less comfortable once you've given it. You may have to disappoint them a little. It will be easier to understand than your becoming inexplicably cold after assuring them that everything suited you perfectly.

A Cancer Moon may soften your view of someone you haven't quite forgiven. An old conversation could feel worth returning to. Consider what you want from it now, Scorpio. If reconciliation depends on hearing the exact admission you've rehearsed for them, you may be less ready to resume contact than your sudden tenderness suggests.

Your friends have continued having lives between your visits, Sagittarius. Ask something you don't already know about them. Familiar company may appeal under a Cancer Moon, while Jupiter in Leo still tempts you to deliver an impressive account of how you've been. Spare them the highlights for a little while. They may have something worth hearing that doesn't involve you.

The Moon's square to Venus can make duty and affection pull in different directions. You may resent being relied upon and still refuse the chance to step back. Choose what you're willing to do, Capricorn, and let the rest be discussed. People cannot reasonably adjust their expectations while you keep confirming them. Your displeasure has been expressed clearly to almost everyone except the person who needs to hear it.

You may need more reassurance than you're comfortable asking for. Ask the person whose answer counts, Aquarius. Making a general observation about human attachment will leave them no wiser about what you need. It may, however, give them something to think about while you remain disappointed.

A warm offer may tempt you to agree to more than you want. Venus favours Jupiter, but the Moon's square to Venus complicates the pleasure of pleasing everyone. Mention your own preference before it disappears from the arrangement, Pisces. Someone might be happy to accommodate it. You'll have considerably less cause for quiet suffering, which may require a small adjustment to your plans.