pick a card, any card

[anon_jigen]

THE TAROT MEME

This meme is pretty basic. You post in, put any specifics you'd like (or not like) in your header and entry, ???, and RP. For the prompts, however, you've got two methods for ideas.

1. LUCK OF THE DRAW! Click here to get a randomly chosen card and use it to prompt your scenario. Utilize the picture, the person in it, the colors: anything you like.

OR

2. CHOOSE YOUR PROMPT! from the list of Major Arcana:
00. The Fool - the beginning of a relationship; one character helping another to avoid a mistake they didn't notice; a character starting a new journey
01. The Magician - a character takes action; a character is putting on a performance for another
02. The High Priestess - characters met in a dream; a character is trusting their intuition and how does the other one feel about that? one character goes to another for guidance
03. The Empress - one character playing mom-friend to another; a character is pregnant
04. The Emperor - one character is playing dad-friend to another; a character is taking charge, one character is being overbearing, a character is trying to get a handle on their life
05. The Hierophant - one character is questioning the status quo; one character is questioning their values; one character is coming to another as someone who knows their business
06. The Lovers - two characters decide to get together, two characters make a choice together, two characters make choices to keep their relationship
07. The Chariot - a character is going on a trip; a character is triumphant; a character wants to GET GOING on something; a character is impatient or headstrong;
08. Strength - a character has to reach into a well of inner strength; a character has to find a work smarter instead of harder; a character has to find a way to deal with their inner conflicts
09. The Hermit - a character has been going off on their own a lot lately; a character has been feeling lonely; a character is doing something on their own and it may be a good idea but it may not
10. The Wheel of Fortune - fate has just thrown the character(s) for a loop; what goes around comes around
11. Justice - a character is facing legal trouble; a character has broken the law and has to deal with the consequences; a character is seeking justice for someone else
12. The Hanged Man - a character is going through a period of self-chosen change; a character is going through a period of reflection; a character knowingly sacrifices themselves for another character willingly
13. Death - character death; a character goes through a painful transition
14. Temperance - characters have to work together to get what they need to be done; character needs to learn moderation; a character needs to chill the hell out
15. The Devil - one character has a hold over the other; one character is bad for the other but they just can't let go; one character is hoarding something/someone even though they know they shouldn't
16. The Tower - a character has a catastrophic change in their life; a character makes a world-shattering decision; a character's whole world came tumbling down so what now?
17. The Star - a character gets their wish; a character gives another hope; a character leads another through the darkness
18. The Moon - a character is deceiving another character; a character is deceiving themselves; a character's mind is clouded; a character is going slowly mad
19. The Sun - a character is feeling GREAT; a character is here to brighten another character's day; a character is revitalized after a period of slump
20. Judgment - a reckoning is at hand for a character; a reckoning is at hand between characters; a character is transitioning from one thing into another
21. The World - a character finds that they've found their place; a character gets some peace and now wonders what's coming next

Comments

basch fon ronsenburg | ffxii | ota

[deracinated]

hermit

[bunana]

[ Golmore, he thinks, is one of the worst places. Archadia still sits at the top of his list purely because of history but Golmore—it's damp and hot, filled with awful creatures that want to sting or slap or pump out noxious fumes. Every time he comes through here he feels as though he needs three baths afterwards to get the general ozone off of him.

It's no different now, as they've been traipsing through for the past day, trying to find a mark.

His only solace is the rest of the group, aside from beautiful, ethereal Fran, looks to be in the same shape as him. Perhaps Vaan less so with his open vest and light pants. Truthfully, he could've prepared better clothing as he'd known they'd be passing through but a leading man must always look the part. Even if now he feels much like a wilted pillowcase, his shirt mirroring his mood.

He steps away from the small cook fire, resisting the urge to mop his brow with the end of a shirtsleeve. Not like it would do anything anyhow, aside from swiping the sweat all over. Here in the shadows he can make out the outline of Basch and he steps carefully over to him, avoiding tripping on a gnarled root. ]

Is it actually cooler over here? I can't tell.

[deracinated]

[The haft of Basch's spear is set between his ankles, wedged against the triangle of his sandal soles. The shaft itself rests across his shoulder, humid-tacky wood against his cheek as he works through re-lacing the weapon's leather grip. It's a quiet thing, an easy and repetitive preoccupation as the others fuss over the fire.]

I've endeavored to put the question out of mind.

[If he doesn't think about how sweaty he is, he won't start to itch. It seems like a fine enough theory to at least pretend to ascribe to.

Basch tugs a row of laces tight, then threads the next.]

There is no fire here at least, so it seems the odds must be in your favor.

[bunana]

And how goes that endeavour? If you've tips on how one might banish the humidity from being top of mind, I'm an eager listener.

[ The barely veiled complaint is, perhaps, a remnant of a spoilt Archadian upbringing. He would cringe more from it but it's simply too uncomfortable for him to give a damn. A leading man, he thinks, would bear it with a grin.

Or maybe much like Basch, with his solemnity and tireless nobility. A thought that would be more annoying if he weren't treated to the sheen of sweat across the man's arms, the flex of them distracting even in the dimmer lighting. ]

Never bet against the dealer; it's a sure way to lose any gains. [ Golmore will win no matter what odds he plays with. ]

[deracinated]

Well, [is said like a beat, in time to the wrap and pull and stitch of the lacing advancing up the shaft of the spear.] I will admit to being a poor gambler.

[Not that he isn't a betting man; only that he has won very little in the process. As for questions of discipline—]

Choosing something to keep record of - to count - has been kind to me. [(this is the fourteenth stitch)] An act of monotony, I grant, and perhaps more habit than help. Yet ever have I been poor with meditation and it made for a fine pastime in Nalbina.

[Mentioned off the cuff, as if there can be no reason why anyone - least of all himself - might wish avoid the subject.]

[bunana]

[ The noble captain being a poor gambler is as unsurprising as a viera possessing a pair of ears. A man like him is not constructed for lying or any forms of deceit. Which is all well and good for someone like Balthier, who finds it considerably easier to read Basch knowing this about him. ]

Ah, perhaps then I should make the switch from a firearm to something needing more counted care. [ As it is, he's cleaned the rifle already in their downtime, motions practiced and efficient. There is a peacefulness that comes with it, probably much the same that Basch is referring to in re-lacing his spear handle. Though he could do without the casual mention of his suffering in Nalbina; that is a peculiar forthrightness he has not gotten used to. Basch has no fear of speaking about his time there. Not in so much detail but the fact it's mentioned at all is enough.

What's more is he knows it isn't done to draw out pity. It simply is. He shudders to think about his past in Archadia, his time spent as a judge, let alone dare to give it voice.

Still, he isn't deterred, taking a seat on an upraised root with relative closeness to Basch. The ground might've provided more space between their bodies but he is loathe to think of what the wet moss might do to his trousers. ]

I know you don't claim to be a gambling man, but I am curious to know what you think our odds are.

[deracinated]

[Or he might count his strides, or make practice of numbering leaves on the ferns that crowd in around their camp, or how many times Penelo says Vaan in that particular chiding tone of hers within an hour (and not, it should be noted, without justification). Like stones in a wall stretching up and out of sight above a collared head, there are options to be found when one is forced to look for them.

But perhaps, all results being equal, conversation is the more pleasant alternative to numerology.]

With respect to our mark, I would give us sixty-forty against us. Were it up to Fran [with her keen eyes and sharp wit and her intimate knowledge of the jungle] we would have found the fiend already. But--

[As if timed from comedy, from near the cook fire there is a great clatter of metal as a dozen tent spikes clatter free of their bag. 'Vaan!' 'What? Don't blame me. I didn't tie the bag shut when we packed up last.'

Basch doesn't look at Balthier alongside him, but he does tip his head in the younger man's direction. Alas, Fran has to deal with the rest of them barreling through the undergrowth and generally making fools of themselves.]

For the rest, I would cast us in a more favorable light. There is little alternative otherwise.

[A new stitch is tugged tight, the spear shaft shifting small where it's set against his cheek and across his shoulder. Basch's hands pause then, laces still looped in his fingers and knuckles settled to either side of the grip, and here he does meet Balthier's eye.]

I gamble we are in agreement.

[If this was anything short of necessary, would the two sky pirates still be here?]