27 - Fleetmen shouldn't philosophize

[umgekehrt]

[Stildyne waited a while after his drink this evening to post this, because this is the kind of thing that gets people contrarian, and he prefers to deal with that sober.]

We're all out of different contexts. What's taboo for one of us isn't for the other, and vice versa. So the folk we were during the breach, their conduct might not have been uniformly to our satisfactions-- but consider their contexts, before you take it out on anyone.

Or yourself.

[Because he's trying not to, even though casual misuse of slaves is... a sore point for him.]

Not that I'm encouraging anyone to rhapsodize about being an unrepentant jackass, either. Moderation, either way.

Likely best to simply take it as interesting. Because it was that, at least, wasn't it?

[Private to Prefect]

All of the above said, I'd like to grab you for a talk. Entirely self-indulgent, because I have a bone to pick with myself about our interactions during the breach.

[OOC: TW for creepy sexual assault discussions in thread with Prefect]

Comments

Private

[buywithme]

You have a bone to pick with yourself? After I threatened to have you hung?

Private

[umgekehrt]

Do you recall asking what a Bond Involuntary was.

Private

[buywithme]

[Long, long pause.]

Ah... is that something I asked you, Comrade?

[Sorry Stildyne, he was pretty drunk]

Private

[umgekehrt]

Yes. We were both rather drunk at the time. The answer isn't a cheerful one but I'd rather you knew what it meant. And I could clarify some conversations we've had.

[nolongerhollow]

I still feel a bit...silly.

[umgekehrt]

[He musters his native jackassery for that and smirks.]

I'm still hurt that the daisies weren't really for me. But I'm trying not to hold it against you.

[Which means largely 'thank you for not bringing anything awful to the discussion.]

[nolongerhollow]

Yes, well. The lady who got them I probably owe a whole gardenful by this point just for being a good friend. But....

Hrmph.

[Nothing awful to bring, except his mildly bruised dignity...]

[umgekehrt]

Not such a bad thing to conduct yourself well.

And at least in my contexts, you weren't worse than 'charmingly sentimental,' if it helps.

[nakesnakecobracobra]

That's quite reasonable of you! I have to admire someone who doesn't let their emotions color their experience.

[umgekehrt]

Oh, I do. I just try not to be too unreasonable about it.

[nakesnakecobracobra]

People so often forget that their way of life isn't the only one.

[umgekehrt]

I've been in Fleet, I have to play nicely with quite a few different cultures. You learn indulgence.

[timesbureaucrat]

Interesting? It wasn't interesting, it was... [Embarrassing? Appalling? Narvin's at a loss for adjectives.]

I'd much rather simply forget it ever happened. [Repression. Narvin's solution to everything.]

[umgekehrt]

Fair enough, that. Some of us have a harder time, perhaps.

text

[buywithme]

[No verbal reply, but... a little tick sign appears below your comment, Narvin.

Confirmation that this will never, ever be spoken of again.]

[Private]

[timesbureaucrat]

[Now Narvin feels a little guilty. He did spend the greater part of that breach pressing himself on Prefect. Prefect has more cause to be appalled than he does.]

I...apologize for that man's behaviour.

And for the record, although you wear suits very well, I would never...that is, I don't...I'm not in the habit of spending my days conspiring ways to get you to kiss me.

[Private]

[buywithme]

Comrade, it clearly wasn't you, you have nothing at all to apologize for.

And, even if you did, I think in the context of the breach, it was quite a relief to have someone who only wanted to kiss me.

[Awkward cough. Lot of people in that port would have liked to see him hang.]

But, again Comrade, I know it wasn't you.

[maybebatman]

That's a refreshingly level-headed approach. Most people would sooner condemn a man than judge him by his context.

[umgekehrt]

There's a difference, between holding a man accountable for what he's done, and holding him accountable for what he thought was doing. It's hard to say, in differing contexts, what's a sign of a genuine malice. And what is simply laziness.

[maybebatman]

There's always that gap, isn't there? Between what a man does and what he thinks he's doing. I'd be hard-pressed to think of a human being whose actions are entirely objective and not colored by culture, upbringing, or personal beliefs.

[umgekehrt]

And it's not to excuse the actions taken. But there's not always an easy vector between what we did in breach and the folk we are now. Hanging or slaving.

[Shrug.]

Talking to myself, largely, senior veterans are aware.

[doctor_j_crane]

I think it's sometimes healthy to pretend that certain ports never happened.

[umgekehrt]

You'll never hear me argue that point.

[doctor_j_crane]

Quite. Although it's still disappointing when certain parties have no consequences for their actions.

[umgekehrt]

It's difficult to set a precedent for punishing folk for actions they didn't actually take. [He has mixed emotions about that. ]