#13 Death final version, art by Rian Hughes TEMPLE artefact #16 XIII. DEATH KEY WORDS – MAJOR CHANGE. ENDINGS AND BEGININGS. DEATH. Death is unlucky Trump 13 of the Major Arcana. Death is some say, a card of Change, not to be feared... Colours are RED, PURPLE, BLACK and SILVER.
A Frog isn’t — because frogspawn and bees •seem• to appear from nowhere, Aristotlean Natural Science believed both the be examples of Spontaneous Generation —
A Bullfrog was hopping along the bank of a river, looking for something rich and tasty to eat.
Suddenly he saw A Scorpion, trying to find a way to cross The River with her brood of babies, all riding on her back
“If you climb up onto MY back, Ma’am,” said the greedy bullfrog, “I can swim swim you, AND your entire family to safety on the far shore.”
The Scorpion, who was a Queen amongst Scorpions, said, “No. If I do THAT you'll turn, and thrown me off your back and EAT me, midstream — then, not only will I day, but the whole of my race will go extinct amongst the Scorpion nations : You are too GREEDY, you will devour me, all of my children, and any hope of a Future for My People.”
The Bullfrog assured him, “Do You really think I would betray you, know that you would sting me to death, the moment it seemed like I might try….?
You are an aggressive, venomous beast, who protects Her Young with Deadly Force — known for it, in fact.”
So The Scorpion Queen thought about it, decided that no — the bullfrog would have have to be pretty fucking stupid to be THAT obviously Treacherous, and so finally agreed.
So The Scorpion climbed up on his back,
and The Bullfrog began to swim.
But halfway across The River,
The Bullfrog was seized by the grip of an insatiable hunger,
and threw the Scorpion Queen off his back midstream, whereupon
She instantly lashed out
and she stung him
and she stung him
and she stung him.
As The Poison filled his veins,
The Scorpion turned her face to the Bullfrog and said
“See You in HELL, You Greedy, Dissembling Traitor..!!
Now YOU’RE gonna die TOO…!!”
“I couldn't help it,” said The Bullfrog.
“I am immune to the lethal effects of Scorpion Venom, and I consume EVERY living creature I can fit inside my mouth, and swallow them all Whole —”
picking the poor, heartbroken Queens tiny children off her back by the dozen, which his lightning-flash long, sticky tongue, until he had eaten her entire Family, along with any future they WOULD
Janeway to Chakotay :
•SCORPION•
by far this one is our favorite of the cards you've presented to us thusfar- thank you for sharing!
A Fox is a Clever Animal;
A Frog isn’t — because frogspawn and bees •seem• to appear from nowhere, Aristotlean Natural Science believed both the be examples of Spontaneous Generation —
Life from Lifelessness; The Genesis Effect.
Toads too, but they’re poisonous;
thus, Frogs signify Life,
while Toads signify Death.
Baby Yoda loves to eat live frogs.
7 of 9, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix-01 :
There is only ONE course of Action :
DESTROY Them FIRST.
• My subspace link to The Collective has been weakened by the interdimensional rift.
• We CANNOT signal for Help.
• We ARE alone.
We must construct a compliment of biomolecular warheads and modify your weapons to launch them.
Cmdr. Chakotay :
I've got a better idea — Why don't you open that rift again and take Us back?
7 of 9, Tertiary Adjunct to Unimatrix-01.:
If I did THAT,
• You will NO-LONGER cooperate.
There's a story I heard as a child,
a parable, and I never forgot it.
A Bullfrog was hopping along the bank of a river, looking for something rich and tasty to eat.
Suddenly he saw A Scorpion, trying to find a way to cross The River with her brood of babies, all riding on her back
“If you climb up onto MY back, Ma’am,” said the greedy bullfrog, “I can swim swim you, AND your entire family to safety on the far shore.”
The Scorpion, who was a Queen amongst Scorpions, said, “No. If I do THAT you'll turn, and thrown me off your back and EAT me, midstream — then, not only will I day, but the whole of my race will go extinct amongst the Scorpion nations : You are too GREEDY, you will devour me, all of my children, and any hope of a Future for My People.”
The Bullfrog assured him, “Do You really think I would betray you, know that you would sting me to death, the moment it seemed like I might try….?
You are an aggressive, venomous beast, who protects Her Young with Deadly Force — known for it, in fact.”
So The Scorpion Queen thought about it, decided that no — the bullfrog would have have to be pretty fucking stupid to be THAT obviously Treacherous, and so finally agreed.
So The Scorpion climbed up on his back,
and The Bullfrog began to swim.
But halfway across The River,
The Bullfrog was seized by the grip of an insatiable hunger,
and threw the Scorpion Queen off his back midstream, whereupon
She instantly lashed out
and she stung him
and she stung him
and she stung him.
As The Poison filled his veins,
The Scorpion turned her face to the Bullfrog and said
“See You in HELL, You Greedy, Dissembling Traitor..!!
Now YOU’RE gonna die TOO…!!”
“I couldn't help it,” said The Bullfrog.
“I am immune to the lethal effects of Scorpion Venom, and I consume EVERY living creature I can fit inside my mouth, and swallow them all Whole —”
picking the poor, heartbroken Queens tiny children off her back by the dozen, which his lightning-flash long, sticky tongue, until he had eaten her entire Family, along with any future they WOULD
have had on the far bank of The River —
“It's My Nature.” he quipped to the desolated
Widow Queen by way of conclusion,
and then gobbled her up
and swallowed her whole.
I love the symbolic representation Rian, and you synthesize, Grant -- Another eye-popping Tarot!