#repeatable and therefore perpetual. they can race again and again. death is a one time thing.* before bringing up the mesa he mourns

[attack-on-neverland]

4. Ending the Cycle of Hatred

Eldians vs. Marleyans, Humans vs. Demons

Everything discussed so far has led back to the question “How do you stop the never ending cycle of hatred?” Both Attack on Titan and The Promised Neverland have explored the possibilities of negotiation, intimidation, violence, and full-on annihilation of those who get in the way. However, despite ending up in different paths, one hopeful message reigns clear.

The Alliance - a group made of Eldians, Marleyans, and those from other nations

In Attack on Titan, it was mentioned that conflict will always exist as long as a diverse set of people with different ideals exist in the world. Conflict is part of our world and it will never cease to exist. The only way around things to work through them, even if it is seemingly impossible. Even Eren knew that the Rumbling was an unnecessary act of violence, which was why he wanted to take the blame for himself. While it’s true that the attack on Paradis would have ensued immediately if Eren didn’t act quick enough, there were definitely other alternatives that didn’t involve purging the whole world. If the Survey Corps and the Marleyan captives were able to form some sort of truce with one another, why can’t it work with the whole world?

The conversation between Grisha Jaeger and Kruger

As Eren Kruger puts it “Love someone within the walls. Even someone on the street, it does not matter. Your wife Your child. If you can’t do it, we’re doomed to repeat it all again. The same history. The same mistakes.” This is one of the most beautiful quotes in the whole series because as cheesy as it sounds, it shows how unconditional love caan really change things around. Eren Kruger is a Marleyan (and is naturally discriminatory towards Eldians). However, he urges Grisha to love these ‘devils’ or else hate and history are bound to continue in a never-ending cycle. In the end, it does work out. He ends up loving his wife (Carla) and passes on the duty to his son (Eren). In fact, Grisha becomes one of the characters most loved by the others in the story as he took in Mikasa without hesitation, cured countless Eldians from their illnesses, and was a loyal ally to Keith Shadis. Going back to Kruger, what’s interesting is that it’s eventually revealed that Eren utilizes Paths in order to deliver that message to Grisha. Eren /did/ believe in the power of loving the other, but his desperation caused him to prioritize the lives of his friends instead.

Niccolo and Sasha

One example of the “Love someone within the walls” idea was the relationship of Niccolo and Sasha. As an avid food lover, Sasha immediately took a liking to Niccolo’s Marleyan cooking, and despite being deprived of seeing their relationship develop (in both the manga and anime), we do see glimpses of what had happened between the two. After Sasha’s death, Niccolo proclaims how Sasha had saved him from this “stupid, worthless war” and showed him that he could bring happiness through his food. Despite his prejudices towards the Eldians at first, it is evident that Niccolo changes over his time with the Scouts. Even after Sasha’s death, he keeps his ties with the other Scouts and even saves them from a potentially fatal event. He even invites Sasha’s family for a meal to honor their daughter. Here, it is evident that the cycle of hatred has been broken. However, we see the remnants of this cycle when we backtrack a little.

Gabi and Udo witnessing the death of Zofia who is crushed under the rubble

The one who killed Sasha was actually Gabi Braun, one of the younger Marleyan warrior candidates. After Eren’s destruction of the city and the Eldians coming to save him, Gabi is left in shock and distraught as she sees Edo and Zofia die before her very eyes. The young girl is suddenly exposed to the realities of war as innocent civilians are ruthlessly crushed, bombed, and murdered. If you think about it, this is actually Eldia’s counterattack for the hatred they’ve endured all these years and their seeming “banishment” from society. So this shows how the cycle continues. In the beginning, it was attacks towards other civilizations, then attacks towards Paradis, then counter attacks towards Marley, and now a little girl fighting back by killing one of Paradis’ elite soliders. The cycle was even supposed to continue right then and there if the senior Survey Corps members weren't there to stop them from killing Gabi. However, you do see how the cycle of hatred continues to manifest in Gabi as she continues to belittle Eldian civilians, calls them devils, and rejects any offer of kindness from them. This goes on and on until Gabi is saved by Sasha’s family. It was only when it dawned on her that she was saved despite killing their daughter that she realized that the Eldians are not devils, but people like her. From that moment forward, she began to cooperate with them and the vicious cycle stopped (for this group of people, at least). The selfless extension of generosity by the Braus family has touched Gabi’s heart as her hatefulness turned into understanding. AOT has shown that the cycle CAN be broken and that there was a possibility that Eren didn’t have to take those extreme measures to save the Eldians.

Sonju teaching the Gracefield kids the necessary skills they need for survival

In the Promised Neverland, the cycle of hatred for most of the Gracefield kids was broken early on due to the enthusiasm and empathy that Emma immediately extended to Sonju and Mujika. It was also relatively easier for them to break this hatred because it was the demons who rescued them out of their own volition. However, this cycle of hatred had continued to be perpetuated by the Lambda experiment kids for quite some time.

"Mass-produced" humans who never get to see the light of day

Those part of Lambda were subject to human experimentation and torture by the demons. However, it is interesting to note that while the demons are the ones acting out these abuses, they are really primarily working under the order of Peter Ratri, who is a human himself. Still, this caused Norman and the Lambda children to develop a deep-hatred for demons for treating them as mere cattle, and mercilessly torturing them to understand how to produce the best meat. Experiments of Lambda have experienced adverse side-effects which include uncontrollable headaches, coughing blood, development of disabilities, or bearing some strange human power. Apart from that, Norman saw how the “mass-produced” children were attached to tubes, had no names, and never even experienced consciousness. These cruelties caused him to hate the demons even more. While Emma was optimistic about using Mujika’s blood to stop demon regeneration (therefore ending the need to farm humans), Norman stays a realist and tells Emma that there is still no surefire way that demons will stop hunting humans until they are all exterminated. Norman reiterates demons have the utmost advantage physically as they are huge creatures that are agile and would beat humans in a race thousands of times over. Apart from that, they could also be outclassed intellectually because demons can keep eating and eating humans to boost their intelligence. As crossing to the human world was also deemed an impossible dream (at that time), Norman believed that the only way to end the cycle of hatred is to exterminate all the demons.

Eren distancing himself from his friends, Norman stylistically drawn as a child when he realizes that he was wrong to carry out the genocide attacks

Like Eren, Norman knew that this was not the right choice. This is why he also distanced himself from his friends and took up this heavy burden alone. However, he could not bear the thought of any human suffering again, and continued on with his attacks to regenerate the demon villages. In the midst of this chaos, Emma finds him and makes him realize that the demons are also capable of joy and sadness, have their own groups of children and elders, and like them were just thrown into a cruel world where the cycle of hate already exists. Emma also goes on and reassures Norman that they would be there every step of the way to help out with the reversal of the regeneration. Once again, it is Emma’s unconditional optimism and selflessness that gets to Norman and he agrees to stop the attacks in favor of finding an alternative. It can again be seen here how the cycle of hatred is broken with the one act of kindness enacted by Mujika and Sonju onto Emma, with Emma spreading this love to Norman. This is something they eventually pass down to all the humans and demons in the farms as well. This one act actually trickled down and became one of the reasons why they were able to overthrow the Ratri clan and forge a new promise that allowed both sides to live in peace.

[veliseraptor]

What're the top lines* in the MCU that you think form the core of Loki's character? It's something I was thinking about when I saw a "I never wanted the throne..." gifset. (*For arguments sake, you could go with top 3 or 5 or WHATEVER)

oh boy I like this question. what a good question thank you for asking

(couldn’t narrow it down to 3 or 5, though, so I’m going with 8.)

1. “I never wanted the throne, I only ever wanted to be your equal!”

You mentioned this one, but it is absolutely a central piece of Loki’s character - the idea of wanting to be Thor’s equal, of his feeling of being lacking, of being less, and how that has shaped him, beyond what we see on screen. The throne isn’t an end in and of itself - it is symbolic. Its meaning is of finally reaching the place that Thor has automatically. Of being equal, because the marker of that is Mjolnir and the kingship, and since Mjolnir is an impossibility at least he can be worthy in another way. 

It ties into Loki’s illusion in the deleted scene from The Dark World - he’s not imagining himself as king, there, so much as he’s imagining himself as Thor, down to the red cape and the hammer. Loki doesn’t want to be himself on the throne - he wants to be Thor. Because anything else means he will always be less.

2. “Trust my rage.”

There’s two reasons I chose this one. The first is Loki’s anger - Loki has a lot of anger, a lot of rage, through the first three movies in which he appears. Again and again it’s there, the seething fury just barely suppressed most of the time (more on that later) but still very much present. 

The second is the choice here that chooses “rage” over “grief.” Loki’s decision to go with Thor comes just as much from his grief over Frigga’s death (and guilt) as it comes from his anger and desire for vengeance - but that’s not the road he chooses to take. Because that would involve a vulnerability that Loki is never willing to show. It would involve giving Thor a genuine emotional piece of himself that Loki refuses to give. 

I’ve talked a lot before about how the Odinfamily in general (specifically Thor, Loki, and Odin) transforms their emotions into anger because it’s an acceptable feeling (as opposed to sorrow or depression). That’s part of what I think is going on here: the assumption that Thor will more readily accept Loki’s thirst for vengeance as a foundation of trust, however tentative, than he would accept their shared grief.

3. “I remember a shadow, living in the shade of your greatness.”

This kind of lines up with the first one above, but it shades a little differently - fitting to where it falls in canon, it’s more bitter, it’s darker, it’s less plaintive (”this isn’t what I want”) and more ferocious and angry. It encapsulates Loki’s perspective on their places, once again underlining that sense of being a shadow, being cast in Thor’s wake as the lesser. And it has weight, too, in the sense of…not just a shadow in that he’s obscured from view, but as in a shadow as the counter to Thor’s light. You only get a shadow with sunlight - as the sun shines on Thor, Loki gets cast as his dark counterpart. 

If I push this a little further: dark, distorted, blurry, and not a constant - Thor is always there, but Thor’s shadow isn’t.

And that’s the role Loki has cast himself in in The Avengers: the villain, Thor’s shadow, his dark counterpart. If Thor is the hero then Loki is the monster. Because that’s his role. Thor’s shadow, both in following him and in making him look brighter by comparison.

4. “Your ledger is dripping, it’s gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer… pathetic! You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code. Something that makes up for the horrors. But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!”

Okay, so, multiple people have talked about the ways in which Loki is talking as much about himself here as he is about Natasha, and I think that’s absolutely accurate, from “basest sentimentality” (Loki’s repeated references to ‘sentiment’ throughout this movie are very ‘doth protest too much’) to “they are a part of you, and they will never go away.” 

But almost more than the words themselves what’s telling to me about this monologue is the way that Loki absolutely loses it. Because the thing is that we don’t see Loki like this very often at all - really flipping out, losing his control, displaying the kind of violent anger that he does to Natasha here. Even in other places when he’s angry, he either doesn’t raise his voice this much or doesn’t get physical. The other place I can think of it happening is in Thor, at the end, with the fight on the Bifrost when Loki is dissolving and basically trying to goad Thor into a fight with him (for about six different reasons). 

And it is very, very interesting that it happens here, during a speech that’s seemingly just oriented toward scaring Natasha. Because, yeah, the other place it happens is when it’s Loki having a full mental breakdown and identity crisis. 

Something here snaps. And I think it has to do with the way that, when Loki starts in on Natasha, it starts a resonance with his own feelings of monstrosity. And that’s still a very, very sore point.

There’s almost a satisfaction when Natasha confirms that. When she calls him what he is.

5. “It hurts, doesn’t it? Being lied to. Being told you’re one thing and then learning it’s all a fiction.”

This line is…it fascinates me because of the way that it, like a lot of the things Loki says (and another later entry on this list) has two edges. On the one hand, Loki’s gloating: “now you get it, now you know what it’s like to be me, how about that, Thor, how does it feel.” There’s still an anger and a bitterness there, a vindication. 

But at the same time, and almost in the next breath, it is also, under that edge of spite, an extended hand. This is where Loki makes his offer to Thor to join him, to work with him and be allies on Sakaar. Loki has no interest in going back to Asgard or fighting Hela. But he’s willing to bring Thor with him as he tries to gain a foothold of power there. 

And there’s an element of being pleased that he can do that - in being in a position, finally, where he has the edge on Thor, the superiority to Thor, where he can be the one to offer a helping hand. That’s power, and Loki likes feeling powerful. (He’s spent a lot of time feeling powerless.) Simultaneously, though…I think it’s also what Loki wanted someone to do for him, when his life fell apart. Would have wanted Thor to do for him, though he’d never have asked. 

All this happening at the same time, and in a few brief moments - and that’s a big part of how I conceptualize Loki. There are a lot of things going on in his head at the same time, all the time. And sometimes he doesn’t even know which is foremost or most true.

6. Thor: “Why have you done this?” / Loki: “To prove to Father that I am a worthy son! When he wakes, I will have saved his life, I will have destroyed that race of monsters, and I will be true heir to the throne!”

I feel like…people who think Loki’s motive in Thor is just “usurp Thor and the throne” really are not…paying attention. Because this line really says, right out, what Loki wants. “To prove to Father that I am a worthy son.”

And on top of that…it’s that inward-pointing self-hatred, there, implicit in “that race of monsters” - Loki has already referred to himself as such once (”the monster parents tell their children about at night”) and here he’s distancing himself from that but at the same time…he knows he’s one of them. And yet it’s like if he kills all the rest that won’t matter. 

He’ll still be the true heir, he’ll be worthy (and what a weighted word that is, in the context of Mjolnir), and Odin will see him as more than a potentially useful trinket. 

And in some ways everything Loki does after this ties back to a reaction to this line, here, and his failure to prove that he is worthy. A reaction against that failure. A determination to, if he can’t be a worthy son, at least be a better monster.

7. “You’re my brother and my friend. Sometimes I’m envious, but never doubt that I love you.”

Like above, this is another line that’s double-edged - it’s both sincere and not. Loki means it - he’s envious, but he does love Thor, very much, terribly much, and that never changes even when he hates him. 

At the same time…Loki is planning, in this moment, to ruin Thor’s moment of supposed triumph. He’s already set things in motion for the Frost Giants to invade, and for Thor to retaliate and disobey Odin and therefore show that he’s not worthy of the crown. 

Definitely didn’t plan on them actually making it to Jotunheim, let alone starting a fight there. At that point Loki’s plans went thoroughly sideways. 

But basically…it’s the way that even as Loki’s telling the truth about loving Thor, he’s setting him up for failure. And that is very Loki - for both those things to exist side-by-side in the same moment. 

8. “Satisfaction’s not in my nature.”

This line!! I come back to this line so much as something that defines my understanding of Loki’s character, because it says so much in five words. Because Loki is someone who is perpetually unsatisfied, who is restless and can’t settle and doesn’t know what he wants and doesn’t know who he is, who is always chasing something and never happy when he gets what he’s chasing. 

Because what he keeps doing is chasing the wrong things.

Loki spends so much of canon twisting on a hook of his own making, looking for one thing after another - Odin’s approval, the throne of Asgard, mastery of Midgard, spiting Thor - and none of those things make him really happy. Because on the one hand, Loki doesn’t know what he wants, not really. And on the other hand there’s always a thirst for more.

Loki scrabbles and struggles and fights, and almost never stops. Complacency is anathema. On a good day, that’s drive and determination; on a bad day it sends him spiraling.

#led lite #conversating #long post for ts #loki trashblogging #loki's a goddamn mess #loki laufeyson #i'm proud of this ok

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

"😓A misunderstood character is ostracized, perhaps even threatened, for their peculiar habits, interests, or studies" - this is gonna be v specific but like.... Drabble where vetinari and downey giggle about people gossiping about vetinari being a vampire? Perhaps? Pls?

Thank you so much for the ask! i’m not sure if this is quite what you were hoping for, but I hope you enjoy. 

--

Midnight and Downey hears clicking so he’s half-awake, then fully awake and thinking there’s someone in the room with him. He can’t see them but knows a presence when it is felt, only: he can’t move. The clicking increases, an insect-noise, as something prowls near his head and he does not wish to look over but does, because he can’t help it, and there sits a monstrous creature poised with stinger above his face and the weight on his chest holding him down reminds him of that one poor man accused of witchcraft, or was it being vampire?, all those hundreds of years ago who was pressed to death in the main square. The rocks they put on his chest were later used to build the base of the Brass Bridge. When you walk over them you walk over his ghost. 

And now Downey is awake. Awake and sitting upright, which means he can move, but he’s still seeing the insect so there remains whispers of the dream. It is a dream, he reminds himself, because he has had such before and, more importantly, he knows all the insects on the Disc and the one he imagined next to him is not one of them. If he is going to go and discover a new species it won’t be whilst half-asleep in the middle of the city. 

He rubs eyes, looks to pillow beside him and finds it empty.

Sinking back into bed he pulls the eiderdown up around his head and burrows in an attempt to reclaim even a shred of disturbed sleep. 

But it’s gone. His mind is already going fast-fast-fast there are so many things he must do as Term moves into exam season and holiday festivities must be planned and budgeted for and rooms prepped for new students joining them for Winter term after Hogswatch. Then there’s City Council matters and Guild matters and three jobs lined up, hasn’t he already decided he’s too busy, tired and old for this?, and then there’s the never ending social calendar. Which he enjoys. But, it can be a bit much. 

Bedroom silence is as maddening as his racing mind. He’s staring at the thin pool of moonlight on the floor. It’s autumn, so skies are a perpetual grey with only a weak sun to splash watery gold and pink across horizon at morning and evening. The grey continues into the night obscuring stars. So everything is a shadow of its summertime self. 

He is restless. His nerves are up. He has spooked himself and remains half-convinced there’s someone in the room with him. The presence, he repeats to himself, was the dream and the dream was made of stress.

He rolls around for a bit. Then, out of a sense of paranoia, he retrieves a blade from between mattress and headboard, and prowls about his room but finds nothing and neither do Alsace nor Harold. He ought to be content if not pleased.

Fear is an anathema to him. One of the first rules of performing assassin is knowing that you are the most dangerous thing that walks the streets. And if you don’t know it in yourself, for certain, then at least exude it to others. Smoke and mirrors &tc. 

One autumn, as a boy of seven, he developed a deep fear of vampires. They can turn into mist, slide into bedrooms through keyholes and hide under the bed or in the closet. They drink your blood and make you one of them whether you wish it or not. 

The fear left him as he grew up. At first, because he learned how to kill them. Then, later, he met a few, became friends or an approximation of friends, with a few. Olivia Hunter, one example, said, it’s being damned for a sin you’ve no part in. People look and say ‘We know your kind’ when they know nothing of anything. What is my kind? Genuan? Black? Woman? Secretary? Vampire? Omnian? 

And that’s a sentiment he understands, was raised to understand, for his grandmother would talk about the bad old days in Brindisi when she was a girl and they had to leave, which happens sometimes, because people decide they know your kind and whatever it is, it’s unwanted. 

He dresses. Alsace and Harold become very excited at this sudden change in events. As always, he takes a circuitous route through the city to the palace. He weaves through alleys, up and down stairs and closes, trots this way and that across streets. For a time, he loiters on the Brass Bridge and peers at different stones. The foundation stone’s date has worn away with time so when you trace fingers over it there is only the merest indentation. Was this the stone that finally killed that man all those years ago? He’s never seen a witch stoning and has no desire to. There are some violences and brutalities that go too far. 

The palace is shades of moth-wing grey. Downey slips in between shadows and up to the patrician’s bedroom where, as expected, Vetinari is up. The man is seated at his desk half-dressed with robe wrapped around him and a blanket over shoulders. 

‘Have you considered a brazier?’ Downey asks upon entrance. Vetinari flicks a look at him. ‘It would help with your consistent lack of heating.’ 

‘I am quite content, Downey. If the temperature was comfortable people might wish to stay.’ 

Downey feigns offence. He drapes himself across the bed and stares up at canopy. Alsace and Harold make themselves at home by the meager fire next to Mr. Fusspot who remains unphased by the sudden presence of dogs easily three times his size. He snores on in peaceful slumber. 

‘May I be of assistance?’ Vetinari’s voice drifts over coupled with the ruffle of paper. 

‘Oh no, you’re fine.’ 

‘Is there a reason you’re here?’ 

‘Must there always be a motive for my coming? I had a desire to be mildly chilled and to stare up at your canopy.’ 

Vetinari makes a noise, a scoff or snort. Downey smiles at the fabric above him. 

‘We didn’t have plans,’ Vetinari says, quietly, to himself and his desk. Downey does not respond. Vetinari’s penchant for exact order crops up time to time. They are both men with strong affinity for order, but applied in very different areas of their lives. 

Downey orders butterflies and beetles and natural and manmade poisons. He also orders accounts, aligns the debit-credit column of the guild, his wardrobe, his drinks cabinet. He does not order his personal life. He doesn’t need to, Vetinari orders it for him. 

‘You know,’ Downey drawls as a thought occurs. ‘Your desire to have cold rooms and no creature comforts is probably why people think you’re a vampire.’ 

A cough from the direction of the window. 

Downey props himself up and looks over. ‘Tolerant of extreme temperatures? Lack of expected, human reactions to circumstances? Patience of a rock? Never seen sleeping?’ 

‘You have seen me sleep.’ A lofty, disinterested expression, ‘and you can attest to my ability to react appropriately in certain, ah, circumstances.’ 

It’s a lascivious grin on Downey’s face. Vetinari tells him that he is being lewd. Downey replies that he is not being lewd at all. Vetinari says, ‘very well, your face is making lewd insinuations.’ Downey begs his pardon with great animation, delighting in the other man’s long suffering sigh. He delights in most things Vetinari does, including his more obsessive ticks. It’s a pleasure to know there’s someone who won’t judge you for talking to your plants and will understand the extreme stress of holding one’s tongue when someone is wrong about biology in public. Which happens with great regularity. 

A huff, Vetinari decants from his desk to the bed where Downey, who has pried boots off and deposited cloak, scarf, hat, gloves, frock, and so on, on the floor, happily scoots beneath covers. 

‘And you have very cold hands,’ Downey continues. 

Vetinari snorts, ‘the people of this great city really have nothing better to do than speculate upon my supposed inhumanity?’ 

‘I think it’s an improvement over their wildly inaccurate speculations about your manhood.’ 

Vetinari’s face is a portrait. Downey kisses it. 

He continues, ‘I would correct them, of course. But that would cause more grief than it’s worth. Now, you as a vampire on the other hand, I can see their reasoning.’ 

‘I’ve eaten food in public. I drink…wine.’ 

Downey snorts, ‘Mr. Warrender at the Cloak and Dagger believes it all to be an elaborate ruse.’ 

‘I see,’

‘He was going on about this the other night,’ Downey begins plucking at Vetinari’s robe which he considers an affront as it is another layer of clothing to take off. ‘I think he managed to make a few converts to his cause. He says that he’s never seen you handle coin before therefore you’re avoiding silver. You don’t attend religious ceremonies because of holy ground. Your robe is annoying me deeply. And you rarely go out, uncovered, in daylight due to discomfort in the sun.’ 

‘I’m not sure Mr. Warrender would have any opinion on my robe. Downey, I’m quite busy tonight.’ 

‘Yes, I’m here now. Your metaphorical dance card is full for the remainder of the evening.’ 

Vetinari stares. Downey stares back. Vetinari opens his mouth to reply, apparently reconsiders it, and sighs. Downey kisses him again as it seems the right course of action. 

Downey rolls Vetinari over to his back, snaking a hand beneath robe, down, pulling up nightshift beneath. Vetinari liftst hips to allow the clothes to be hitched up, ‘why are you here, Downey?’ 

Downey raises an eyebrow. Looks down at their bodies then back up.

‘That’s not why you’re here. This is a symptom, not the cause.’ 

‘I dislike that. Being associated with disease isn’t something I enjoy, but I’ll save my annoyance for tomorrow. I was awake and restless.’ 

‘Right.’ A beat. ‘My apologies.’ 

‘Thank you,’ Downey hums. He cannot think how to explain: I had a dream and spooked myself. So he chooses not to. He continues with vague answers and determined exploration of Vetinari’s body, a boney, you’re-a-bit-of-a-shut-in sort of experience. Being opposites in most regards, Vetinari has nothing spare, all strung together with skin and only the amount of muscle needed to operate a body compared to Downey’s more, as he puts it to himself, comfortable, frame.  

As teenagers, therefore posturing with great energy and determination, Vetinari once said: I’m an aesthete. Downey hadn’t been entirely sure what an aesthete was so made some general scag-dog-botherer related insult and went off to ask Ludo what it meant. Ludo explained asceticism with a wry expression. Downey then spent the remainder of the day mocking Vetinari for being a nerdy prat. 

Downey thinks that to be fair to sixteen-year-old Vetinari the young man hadn’t been wrong. He was, and is, very much an aesthete. But, Downey adds on, he was also a nerdy prat. 

Not that he, himself, was a joy and pleasure to be around at that age. Eleven to five-and-twenty, he thinks, those are terrible years where no one is at their best.  

Vetinari scoops an arm around Downey’s neck and leans up, pressing their mouths together. ‘Would you still be here if I was a vampire?’ 

‘Yes. Though, there’d be very strict boundaries.’ 

‘Naturally.’ 

‘’I’ve no desire for immortality. The one thing I wonder is,’ Downey settles on his side. ‘Would you still be you if you were one? It’s a rude question so I haven’t asked anyone I know.’ 

Vetinari shrugs. How does never dying change a person? How does not tasting, not needing sleep, not bodily changing, shape an individual? Would that change be any different from the normal changes all people go through as life forms them forever into something new? 

Neither choose to answer the questions. Downey figures they were rhetorical more than anything. But even if they weren’t, he has no answer. He likes his humanity. He’s content with being merely mortal. There is a thrill to life that he thinks wouldn’t be there if you knew you weren’t going to die. Pleasures would lose their meaning. He likes luscious fox fur, richly patterned cambric, heavy brocades because he knows they are his but for a limited time. When he dies they’ll be of no use save to cover the body until it’s cremated. But doesn’t that limitation of enjoyment make it all the sweeter? There will be a finite end to champagne and oysters and music and dancing and gold and silver. 

But as a vampire, at least with regards to the clothing and objects, you would have it forever. One fades, buy another. 

Perhaps they find meaning in other things less worldly than clothes and beautiful things. 

What a terrible concept. 

‘You had a mistress who was one, didn’t you?’ Downey asks. 

‘Mistress,’ Vetinari’s bemused by the word. ‘I wouldn’t go that far.’ 

‘What was her view?’ 

‘On how she was before? She didn’t speak of it much, but I think she takes the long view of things. So time is both fast and slow. She said that because relations with humans are so fleeting she found them more precious.’ 

Downey pulls a face. See, finding meaning in less worldly things. Vetinari flashes a smile, returns to his usual impassive self. 

‘I don’t think it’s life that would suit you, Downey.’ 

‘I’d have to become philosophical, which is a horror. I would be required to place value in things other than material wealth. Absolutely terrible.’ 

Vetinari props himself up on an elbow and takes to considering Downey’s face with great intent. Downey looks away. He frets that Vetinari is going to say something about him being more than what he intends himself to be. Which Vetinari tends to do because he enjoys telling Downey home-truths. 

Life delivers. Vetinari says, ‘I think you hold things beyond material wealth as important. A limited amount,’ he amends. ‘Perhaps a very limited amount. But nonetheless, they exist.’ 

This is too much, Downey can feel a flush crawling up his chest and neck so leans up, gives a messy kiss, then rolls over in search of his clothes. He says he should go back to the Guild. It’s late, he has much to do in the morning. Vetinari sits up and watches him dress. Downey swans about, makes it a bit of a theatrical moment, then the final flourish, he places his hat on. 

‘I will see you tomorrow,’ Downey says. 

‘You will. Or today, as the case may be. We are well into the small hours.’ 

At the door Downey pauses. Behind him is the sound of Vetinari dressing. The shift of linens, bare feet on soft, wooden floors. 

‘I don’t think it would be a life that suits you either,’ Downey says to the doorframe. His palm rests flat against it, a profile to Vetinari’s line of sight. 

‘Immortality, or vampirism in particular?’ 

‘Both.’ Or maybe, Downey doesn’t think, he wishes to believe that for his own sake. He doesn’t like to think of Vetinari going on, existing as some lonesome, grey rock in the midst of human life for any longer than he already has. 

‘Possibly. Quite possibly you’re very right.’ 

Downey sucks in a breath through teeth then, because he enjoys hurdling head first off cliffs from time to time, ‘I’m glad things are working out, you know. Between us. Despite the fact that you’re a nerdy prat, Dog-botherer.’ 

He’s gone before Vetinari can reply though he imagines he heard a soft exhale of a laugh. One of those dry ones Vetinari gives when amused but feeling many things at the same time. It’s a ghost of a sound and follows Downey through streets homeward. He wishes to remember it forever.

#lord downey #vetinari #writing #ask #reply #gothic prompt

[scotianostra]

February 23rd 1310 saw the Declaration of the Clergy and People in favour of King Robert I issued from the Church of the Friary Minor in Dundee. 

This was a significant step in giving legitimacy to Bruce's campaign against the English and also his claim to the Scottish crown. Again the dates are all over the place with this, from what I can gather the declaration was on the 23rd, or 24th of February but the politics and the meetings beforehand to draw this up may have started two years previous, I have to chose a date for it so here it is today! 

The Declaration of the Clergy could be said to be a prelude to the far more famous Declaration of Arbroath, which contains the immortal lines: “…for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.” Like the Arbroath statement of 1320, the one made by the Clergy, ten years previously, contained rhetoric in support of Robert the Bruce, King Robert I as then was, King of Scots.  The declaration as seen in photo reads; 

“To all Christ’s faithful to whose notice the present writing shall come, the bishops, abbots, priors and others of the clergy located in the kingdom of Scotland give greeting in the [name of] the author of salvation. Be it know to all of you that when an occasion of dispute arose between the lord John de Balliol, formerly king of Scotland established de facto by the king of England, and the late lord Robert de Bruce [earl of Carrick] grandfather of the present King Robert, namely which of them was nearer by right of blood to governing over the Scottish people, the faithful people without doubt always held, as it had understood and believed to be true from their ancestors and forefathers, that the said Lord Robert, the grandfather, was the true heir after the death of King Alexander [III] and his granddaughter, [Margaret,] daughter of the king of Norway, and [was] to be given preference before all others for the government of the kingdom. Yet, as the enemy of the human race sowed tares, by the various tricks and stratagems of rivals which would be long to narrate individually, the matter was turned in the opposite direction, by reason of which reversal and deprivation of the royal dignity grave harm has since occurred to the kingdom of Scotland and the inhabitants of the same, as experience of events, the mistress of circumstances often repeated hitherto, has manifestly revealed. Therefore, the common folk and people of the aforesaid kingdom of Scotland, worn out as it is by the stings of many tribulations, seeing that the said John had been captured and incarcerated by the king of England for various reasons, and, because his sins demanded this,† had been deprived of people and kingdom, and the kingdom of Scotland had been betrayed and reduced to slavery by him,† laid waste by a vast plundering, imbued by the anguish of constant sorrow, made desolate for the default of right governance, exposed to every danger and given to the occupier; and the people despoiled of their goods, tortured by war, made captive, bound and incarcerated, oppressed, overthrown and enslaved by the slaughter of immeasurable innocents and by continual burnings, and near to perpetual ruin unless speedy repair should be brought by divine counsel concerning such a disfigured and desolated kingdom and its governance; by the providence of the King most high under whose authority kings rule and princes govern, unable to bear any longer such numerous, great [and] heavy injuries, more bitter than death, often befalling their affairs and bodies for default of a captain and faithful leader, they agreed on the said Lord Robert, the present king, in whom the rights of his father and grandfather to the aforesaid kingdom still reside and thrive incorrupted in the judgement of the people, by authority of the Lord. And by the knowledge and consent of the same people he was received as king so he might restore the defects of the kingdom and correct things needing to be corrected, and might steer those that lacked guidance. And by their authority the aforesaid king of Scots was solemnly endowed with the kingdom, with whom the faithful people of the kingdom wish to live and die as with he who, by the right of blood and the other cardinal virtues, is fit, [as] aforesaid, to govern, and is worthy of the name of king and the honour of the kingdom, because, by the grace of the Saviour, he has repaired such a damaged and forsaken kingdom by repelling injury with the sword, just as many previous princes and kings of Scots repaired, gained and held the kingdom, formerly often forsaken, by the sword in former times, as is more plainly contained in the magnificent ancient records of the deeds of the Scots, and as the warlike efforts of the Picts against the Britons and the Scots against the Picts, [who were] driven out of the kingdom, with many others [who were] long ago forced to flee, conquered and expelled by the sword, manifestly bear witness. And if anyone, to the contrary, should claim right in the aforesaid kingdom by letters sealed in the past containing the consent of the people and common folk, you should know that all this arose de facto by force and violence which it was not then possible to resist, and amid numerous fears, tortures of bodies [and] various terrors which could well have disturbed the senses and minds of perfect men and destroyed steadfast people.† Therefore we, the bishops, abbots, priors and other clergy, knowing the firm truth of the foregoing things from previous assessment, and heartily approving them, have made due fealties to the said lord Robert, our illustrious king of Scotland, and which we recognise and declare by the tenor of the present [letters] will be done to him and his heirs by our successors in the future. And in sign of the testimony and approval of all the aforesaid things, not compelled by force nor induced by deceit or by lapse of error, but by a pure, perpetual and spontaneous wish, we caused our seals to be appended to this writing. Given in the parliament held at St Andrews in Scotland on 17 March in the year of grace 1308″

#Scotland #History

[the-hunters-rebel-heart]

Those who do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. Those who do not preserve history are bound to repeat it. Those who do not examine history are bound to repeat it. We are heading toward a repeat. Neither side remembers what the Civil War was about. White Supremacists claim it was white Supremacy and Slavery. African Americans believe it was freedom for them. We need to remember. We need to study. For the North, it was about Reunification. For the South, it was states rights. People think the Civil War was based on race and freedom from the institutions of racism and slavery? We’re heading toward a Race War because we’ve all forgotten. This will be the mother of all Civil Wars. It’ll be white against black, husband against wife, brother against brother, father against son, mother against daughter, brother against sister, cousin against cousin, father against daughter, mother against son. Do some research. Educate yourselves, because it seems no one remembers what any of it was about. Yes slavery was made illegal. I am proud of this. Yes, the Civil Rights Movement was a wonderful thing that happened that we should all be proud of. Yes, White Supremacists are a bunch of animals that need their heads examined. Yes White Supremacy should be considered a psychiatric disorder in my opinion with mandatory psychotherapy. But please, do some research. Stop taking down the monuments. The problem is, people today have no understanding of the Civil War and it is ruining America, not making it great again.

To quote Abraham Lincoln (there are more quotes, many of them talking about ending slavery, but these ones go to the heart of his campaign and his frame of mind when he started his presidency and the war broke out - I’m not out to demonize a good man. I just want the record straight. I’m glad he did the emancipation proclamation... but that declaration was NOT what feed the slaves... it was an amendment to the constitution.. an amendment that he was paramount in getting created and passed and I thank him for that - we all should.)....

“My paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or to destroy slavery. If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that. What I do about slavery, and the colored race, I do because I believe it helps to save the Union; and what I forbear, I forbear because I do not believe it would help to save the Union. I shall do less whenever I shall believe what I am doing hurts the cause, and I shall do more whenever I shall believe doing more will help the cause." The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln edited by Roy P. Basler, Volume V, "Letter to Horace Greeley" (August 22, 1862), p. 388. 

http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln95.html

I am a little uneasy about the abolishment of slavery in this District, not but I would be glad to see it abolished, but as to the time and manner of doing it. --March 24, 1862 Letter to Horace Greeley  http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/slavery.htm

Lincoln may have been against slavery, but he had no intentions of freeing slaves at the start of the war! He decided to free them after all out war broke out, and that was in the weeks leading up to the emancipation proclamation. It weighed on his heart. I am glad he ended slavery, but please, look at history a little more closely.

I am glad slavery is over. I am glad for equal rights. I want to see tolerance and love and brotherhood... but we must also consider the other side, the generals who fought for the south....

these are quotes by Robert E Lee which shows his memory is getting unnecessary flack and hate, and people should be ashamed of themselves! on both sides. http://www.azquotes.com/author/8660-Robert_E_Lee

So far from engaging in a war to perpetuate slavery, I am rejoiced that Slavery is abolished. I believe it will be greatly for the interest of the South. So fully am I satisfied of this that I would have cheerfully lost all that I have lost by the war, and have suffered all that I have suffered to have this object attained. 

There is a terrible war coming, and these young men who have never seen war cannot wait for it to happen, but I tell you, I wish that I owned every slave in the South, for I would free them all to avoid this war. 

There are few, I believe, in this enlightened age, who will not acknowledge that slavery as an institution is a moral and political evil. 

With all my devotion to the Union, and the feeling of loyalty and duty of an American citizen, I have not been able to make up my mind to raise my hand against my relative, my children, my home. I have, therefore, resigned my commission in the Army... 

Do these seem like the words of a man who was evil? Do these sound like the words of a white supremacist? Lee did not care for slavery and wanted it ended. he fought for the south simply because that was where he was from!

This is what I mean by the war has been convoluted by both sides. Until we come together as a nation and learn from history, learn about brotherhood, learn about freedom... both sides of this racial fight can kiss my ass.

Robert E. Lee’s beliefs are why I like and fly the southern flag - because it did not start out as a symbol of hate. I fly it in memory of a man who rebelled and bucked convention at the time and stood up for his friends and family. I FLY IT IN MEMORY OF A MAN WHO WAS ANTISLAVERY.

Everyone forgets that most of the Southern Generals shared Lee’s views, and yet people are demonizing them, because they have forgotten.

Lincoln was a good president. Lincoln did a lot of good. Lincoln was amazing. He was antislavery, yes, during his entire life... but he understood the economics of the south.

Lee was happy to say good riddance to slavery.

These men were almost all against slavery... but we forget that simply because the south had slavery.

White supremacists have turned the flag into a symbol of hate, which is not what it is to me, and is not what it is to the majority of southerners and those who understand what the war was about.

Did slavery play a roll in the war? Yes. Was it mostly about slavery? No. it was a piece of a larger puzzle, and both sides have forgotten this, and that is what is going to bring us to blows, and is going to bring us to another Civil War. This time, it will be a free for all, and it will not matter which side you take, you will be targeted based on the color of your skin. This scares me and is not a future I want to see.

This is a warning. Remember the past, or you are doomed to repeat it on a larger, more horrible scale.

Educate yourselves. Knowledge is power. Quote Robert E. Lee to those white supremacists. You’ll piss them off royally, and it’ll embarrass the hell out of them.

Fight them by educating them about their so called white supremacist heroes... it’ll embarrass the hell out of them.

That flag was not born on hate, it is an original symbol of of standing up for your rights.

Dicks like white supremacists screwed it up. You want to get rid of the hatred associated with the flag? Then if you aren’t white, and even if you are, fly the damned thing with pride. and quote Robert E. Lee.. because several of the main men who flew that flag were glad to see slavery gone. Slavery was on its way out either way you looked at it. Slavery was ending, and would have ended if the succession was successful or not. it was a matter of time.

Show those white supremacists that their so called hero was on your side, not theirs.

Educate yourselves, and then educate those damned pale pigs... actually, they give a bad name to pigs and pigs don't even deserve that... they [white supremacists] are a flesh eating virus on the Human Race.

Sorry this is so long... but I didn’t know how to mince the words.

God Bless America, Death to Racism, Death to White Supremacy! Let equality be a child born between brothers and sisters of the human race... but we cannot do that until we remember the past.

#Confederate Flag #Robert E Lee #History #Civil War #The Truth #Stop convoluting history #Learn from history #don't forget our history #Abraham Lincoln #White Supremacy is Evil #Two sides of a coin #Learn from our mistakes #AntiSlavery #AntiRacism #Educate yourself