Writing provides a valuable distraction.
Mar. 24th, 2006 02:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chibi_trillianA temporary diversion from the Cashew sketchfic, mostly to preserve my own sanity and because ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mettathron poked me. For those idly curious, I do actually read the Tarot on rare occasion. I have the Aquarian deck and I picked them up in a used bookstore about five years ago. They currently live in my purse, which isn't good for them in a metaphysical sense or a physical sense, but I don't like being without them and I figure the experiences they get will be good for them in the long run. My poor battered cards have definitely seen better days, but I loves 'em anyway. XD
Title: Major Arcana
Series: One Piece.
One Piece: Not mine.
Rating: G.
Summary: Luffy finds something.
Notes: For the Tarot-deprived, the Three of Swords looks like three swords piercing a giant red heart--understandably freaky. The High Priestess means wisdom, objectivity, serene knowledge, all that happy jazz, while the Moon means false friends or things not being as they appear.
It all started when Luffy found the strange deck of cards squirreled away in a corner of the storeroom one boring afternoon. They weren’t the kind of cards he was familiar with and looked like they’d be horrible for playing poker or war with—they were too big and had the wrong suits on them. They were, however, very pretty, with pictures that looked like church windows and had interesting things going on in them.
Fortunately, Luffy knew what to do with mysterious pictures—he took them to Usopp.
Usopp hadn’t a clue what the mysterious pictures meant, but he said that the cards gave him the heebie-jeebies and that he didn’t want anything to do with them. That didn’t stop him from tagging along when Luffy went to go visit the font of all knowledge, better known as Robin.
“Taro cards” was what Robin had called them, though they certainly didn’t look like they had anything to do with root vegetables. She had spread out the deck in order and was looking at the pictures. She said that the cards meant things and could supposedly read the future according to some people. Luffy squinted at them, but they still looked like funny cards to him. Some of the pictures, now that he could see them all, didn’t look very nice. The Three of Swords, which should have been comforting considering that Luffy knew Zoro, looked weird and unpleasant instead. He said as much.
“The Three of Swords is not a pleasant card, but I do not think it represents Swordsman-san. He is better represented by this card, I think.” She touched a card that said “Strength” on the bottom of it.
From over Luffy’s shoulder, Usopp snorted. “Well, yeah. Of course Zoro’s strong.”
Robin turned her luminous blue eyes on the sharpshooter. “The Strength card does not mean only physical strength, Longnose-san. It also signifies mental and spiritual strength, determination, and confidence. Alternately, if this card is reversed, Swordsman-san must guard against the temptation to use his strength for petty reasons and the loss of his faith in himself and his dream.” She touched the card lightly again. “Somehow, I do not think Swordsman-san is likely to be reversed.”
Luffy was impressed by the amount of meaning in one pretty painted card, and now his curiosity had been piqued. He leaned over the neatly-spread cards. “What about the rest of us?”
Robin looked thoughtful for a moment. “For Navigator-san, the Magician, I think.” She pointed at the appropriate card.
“Nami knows MAGIC?!” Luffy was startled, as he’d never seen Nami do any magic other than the kind with numbers involved in making Zoro’s debt get bigger. Was she doing magic for Robin when no one else was looking?
“No, Captain-san. The Magician implies creativity, ingenuity, self-reliance, and the ability to use one’s skills to accomplish a task. It also connotes slight-of-hand skills and mastery over such things, which we have all seen Navigator-san demonstrate.” Robin smiled a little at that. “Reversed, it means insecurity and the use of one’s skills for destructive ends.”
Luffy had to hum thoughtfully at that, and Usopp scooted forward, apparently having gotten over his heebie-jeebies long enough to listen to Robin and look at the weird cards a little more closely.
“For Chef-san, the Lovers.” That earned another snort from Usopp, though he held his tongue this time. There was a pretty girl on this card, so Luffy thought that Sanji would probably like it. Unfortunately, it looked like she already had a boyfriend.
“The Lovers mean deep emotion, trust, honor, romance, confidence, and sometimes obliviousness to consequences. Reversed, Chef-san must be wary of failure to meet the expectations of others, frustration in close relationships, unwise plans, and a tendency to be fickle.” Luffy leaned his chin on his hand. On the one hand, he still didn’t see how Robin was getting all that out of a piece of stiff paper with art on it. On the other hand, Robin didn’t usually make stuff up like Usopp did.
“For Doctor-san, the Sun card.” Luffy grinned at that. If anybody deserved to be associated with a sunny day, it was Chopper. It was a pretty card too. “The Sun denotes joy, devotion, unselfish love, good friends, happiness from simple things, and achievement. Reversed, the Sun means loneliness, delayed triumphs, lack of friends, and a clouded future. Let us hope that Doctor-san’s card stays unreversed, shall we?”
“What about the three of us?” Usopp asked. His case of mysterious-card-death-itis seemed to have cleared up without a trace, and he’d just picked up the Sun card to examine the artwork.
Robin paused a moment, and then said, “For you, Longnose-san, the Chariot.”
Usopp gave Luffy a superior look down his long nose. “I bet your card is nowhere near as incredible as the mighty Chariot.” A pause. “Uh, what does the Chariot mean?”
Robin picked up the card. “The Chariot means hard-won success, turmoil, adversity to overcome, conflicting interests, a need to control one’s emotions, and escape.”
Luffy couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Usopp’s face. Robin’s face stayed sober. “Reversed, it signifies defeat, a sudden collapse of one’s plans, being overwhelmed, and a failure to face reality.” She gave the now-pale sharpshooter a pointed look on the last part.
Usopp gasped, dropped the Sun card, clutched his chest, and declared that his evil senses were telling him to toss the cards overboard before he staggered dramatically off. Robin watched him for a moment, and then focused all of her attention on Luffy.
“Captain-san, do you want to know what card I think represents you?”
“I’d rather hear what card you are, Robin.” Luffy looked over the cards. There were a lot of them. There had to be one for Robin in here somewhere.
Robin went quiet and still for a moment. “I think I have too subjective a standpoint on this to choose a card for myself.”
“Oh.” Luffy huffed at the cards. “Well, if you don’t know your card, I don’t want to know mine.”
Robin smiled her little tiny smile at him. “That is your choice, Captain-san.”
Luffy nodded determinedly. Then his nose detected the scent of meat. From the smell of it, Sanji, Mr. Lovers-card, was making the last of their beef. Luffy decided that calling dibs on dinner was more important than looking at the root-vegetable cards for right now. They’d still be here when he got back from meat supervision, after all.
When Luffy returned to the spread cards a few hours later, Robin was gone, and one card had moved.
The Moon card was lying sideways across the High Priestess, whatever that meant. Robin would tell him if he was meant to know, or he would find out.
Luffy slipped the High Priestess out from under the Moon. The lady on the card had a nice, serene face. She reminded him of Robin. Robin didn’t need to be covered up by another card.
He set the High Priestess back down on top of the Moon card. In Luffy’s humble opinion, it looked much better that way.
mettathron poked me. For those idly curious, I do actually read the Tarot on rare occasion. I have the Aquarian deck and I picked them up in a used bookstore about five years ago. They currently live in my purse, which isn't good for them in a metaphysical sense or a physical sense, but I don't like being without them and I figure the experiences they get will be good for them in the long run. My poor battered cards have definitely seen better days, but I loves 'em anyway. XDTitle: Major Arcana
Series: One Piece.
One Piece: Not mine.
Rating: G.
Summary: Luffy finds something.
Notes: For the Tarot-deprived, the Three of Swords looks like three swords piercing a giant red heart--understandably freaky. The High Priestess means wisdom, objectivity, serene knowledge, all that happy jazz, while the Moon means false friends or things not being as they appear.
It all started when Luffy found the strange deck of cards squirreled away in a corner of the storeroom one boring afternoon. They weren’t the kind of cards he was familiar with and looked like they’d be horrible for playing poker or war with—they were too big and had the wrong suits on them. They were, however, very pretty, with pictures that looked like church windows and had interesting things going on in them.
Fortunately, Luffy knew what to do with mysterious pictures—he took them to Usopp.
Usopp hadn’t a clue what the mysterious pictures meant, but he said that the cards gave him the heebie-jeebies and that he didn’t want anything to do with them. That didn’t stop him from tagging along when Luffy went to go visit the font of all knowledge, better known as Robin.
“Taro cards” was what Robin had called them, though they certainly didn’t look like they had anything to do with root vegetables. She had spread out the deck in order and was looking at the pictures. She said that the cards meant things and could supposedly read the future according to some people. Luffy squinted at them, but they still looked like funny cards to him. Some of the pictures, now that he could see them all, didn’t look very nice. The Three of Swords, which should have been comforting considering that Luffy knew Zoro, looked weird and unpleasant instead. He said as much.
“The Three of Swords is not a pleasant card, but I do not think it represents Swordsman-san. He is better represented by this card, I think.” She touched a card that said “Strength” on the bottom of it.
From over Luffy’s shoulder, Usopp snorted. “Well, yeah. Of course Zoro’s strong.”
Robin turned her luminous blue eyes on the sharpshooter. “The Strength card does not mean only physical strength, Longnose-san. It also signifies mental and spiritual strength, determination, and confidence. Alternately, if this card is reversed, Swordsman-san must guard against the temptation to use his strength for petty reasons and the loss of his faith in himself and his dream.” She touched the card lightly again. “Somehow, I do not think Swordsman-san is likely to be reversed.”
Luffy was impressed by the amount of meaning in one pretty painted card, and now his curiosity had been piqued. He leaned over the neatly-spread cards. “What about the rest of us?”
Robin looked thoughtful for a moment. “For Navigator-san, the Magician, I think.” She pointed at the appropriate card.
“Nami knows MAGIC?!” Luffy was startled, as he’d never seen Nami do any magic other than the kind with numbers involved in making Zoro’s debt get bigger. Was she doing magic for Robin when no one else was looking?
“No, Captain-san. The Magician implies creativity, ingenuity, self-reliance, and the ability to use one’s skills to accomplish a task. It also connotes slight-of-hand skills and mastery over such things, which we have all seen Navigator-san demonstrate.” Robin smiled a little at that. “Reversed, it means insecurity and the use of one’s skills for destructive ends.”
Luffy had to hum thoughtfully at that, and Usopp scooted forward, apparently having gotten over his heebie-jeebies long enough to listen to Robin and look at the weird cards a little more closely.
“For Chef-san, the Lovers.” That earned another snort from Usopp, though he held his tongue this time. There was a pretty girl on this card, so Luffy thought that Sanji would probably like it. Unfortunately, it looked like she already had a boyfriend.
“The Lovers mean deep emotion, trust, honor, romance, confidence, and sometimes obliviousness to consequences. Reversed, Chef-san must be wary of failure to meet the expectations of others, frustration in close relationships, unwise plans, and a tendency to be fickle.” Luffy leaned his chin on his hand. On the one hand, he still didn’t see how Robin was getting all that out of a piece of stiff paper with art on it. On the other hand, Robin didn’t usually make stuff up like Usopp did.
“For Doctor-san, the Sun card.” Luffy grinned at that. If anybody deserved to be associated with a sunny day, it was Chopper. It was a pretty card too. “The Sun denotes joy, devotion, unselfish love, good friends, happiness from simple things, and achievement. Reversed, the Sun means loneliness, delayed triumphs, lack of friends, and a clouded future. Let us hope that Doctor-san’s card stays unreversed, shall we?”
“What about the three of us?” Usopp asked. His case of mysterious-card-death-itis seemed to have cleared up without a trace, and he’d just picked up the Sun card to examine the artwork.
Robin paused a moment, and then said, “For you, Longnose-san, the Chariot.”
Usopp gave Luffy a superior look down his long nose. “I bet your card is nowhere near as incredible as the mighty Chariot.” A pause. “Uh, what does the Chariot mean?”
Robin picked up the card. “The Chariot means hard-won success, turmoil, adversity to overcome, conflicting interests, a need to control one’s emotions, and escape.”
Luffy couldn’t help but laugh at the look on Usopp’s face. Robin’s face stayed sober. “Reversed, it signifies defeat, a sudden collapse of one’s plans, being overwhelmed, and a failure to face reality.” She gave the now-pale sharpshooter a pointed look on the last part.
Usopp gasped, dropped the Sun card, clutched his chest, and declared that his evil senses were telling him to toss the cards overboard before he staggered dramatically off. Robin watched him for a moment, and then focused all of her attention on Luffy.
“Captain-san, do you want to know what card I think represents you?”
“I’d rather hear what card you are, Robin.” Luffy looked over the cards. There were a lot of them. There had to be one for Robin in here somewhere.
Robin went quiet and still for a moment. “I think I have too subjective a standpoint on this to choose a card for myself.”
“Oh.” Luffy huffed at the cards. “Well, if you don’t know your card, I don’t want to know mine.”
Robin smiled her little tiny smile at him. “That is your choice, Captain-san.”
Luffy nodded determinedly. Then his nose detected the scent of meat. From the smell of it, Sanji, Mr. Lovers-card, was making the last of their beef. Luffy decided that calling dibs on dinner was more important than looking at the root-vegetable cards for right now. They’d still be here when he got back from meat supervision, after all.
When Luffy returned to the spread cards a few hours later, Robin was gone, and one card had moved.
The Moon card was lying sideways across the High Priestess, whatever that meant. Robin would tell him if he was meant to know, or he would find out.
Luffy slipped the High Priestess out from under the Moon. The lady on the card had a nice, serene face. She reminded him of Robin. Robin didn’t need to be covered up by another card.
He set the High Priestess back down on top of the Moon card. In Luffy’s humble opinion, it looked much better that way.
