eachdraidh | text;

Entry tags:

text;

[ so if we're pretending there's a list that's called Things Malia Shouldn't Do, but She'll Definitely Do it Anyway, this would be on it. probably up there pretty high, top three. but that list doesn't exist, it's not real, and even if it was, she wouldn't pay any attention to it. so she's just leaving this out on the open locket network- ]

i don't care about the war. i don't care about the courts. my shard says i'm unseelie, but i didn't ask to be. i won't fight someone just because somebody else tells me to. the only thing i care about is keeping my friends safe, and keeping my home safe, and right now that's Cothromach. why is that a bad thing now?

[ "now" because of how things are shifting, how the sides matter more than when she first got here, and when she first moved from caer scima, to the mountains. which no, she doesn't realize it's not the other shardbearers' faults ( not completely ), but it's noticeable in a way it wasn't before. she's mostly just curious what changed, and annoyed that her loyalties are being questioned over something she has/had no control over. so yeah! obviously confronting the lockets about it is the Best Idea Ever! malia tate, everybody. ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

are *you* safe?

( hi malia )

i'm fine.

[ technically. nobody's picking fights with her or anything, at least? ]

are you?

[GURL he feels for you but even he knows that declaring it over the lockets isn't a great idea]

[His voice is delicate, quiet, sympathetic. But not wavering.]

That seems to be the way of people, when the dividing line changes from a border to a knife's cut. It is the logic of survival, and it ensures that the war will come to you whether you will it or not.

Everyone is fighting to keep their homes safe.

Even if you don't fight. War still marches on and people will be forced to fight. To be able to avoid it is privilege.

[ ah she'll switch to voice to talk to people, sure. it'd be a lie if she tried to say there wasn't a reason for texting that first part, and that reason is definitely so she could read it over and over again and make sure it made sense ]

I'm okay with fighting. I'm good at fighting. [ ehh let's not focus on that. and she doesn't sound mad or anything, just frustrated. like she's stuck on a stupid math problem. she doesn't get it. ] What I don't like is someone trying to tell me who I should fight and why. And getting mad if I don't.

i haven't had any near-misses lately, so i'd say so.

what about stiles? is he staying out of trouble?

i want to fight. if it means protecting my home, i'll fight. but some people care more about my stupid court than what i actually think.

[He does voice mostly because he doesn't understand why they aren't using proper epistolary format in text, honestly . . .

A smile sneaks onto his lips and into his voice.] That must be why you're Unseelie.

[A pause, and he tries to work out how to say it, working over his words with caution just so he doesn't say anything treasonous himself.] It isn't so harsh in my day, but in older times, in times where the British Isles looked like this place, dissent was met with violence. They would speak of it in medical terms at times, I recall. The body of a kingdom has to be whole and united. Defiant or disagreeable subjects, like sick limbs and dead flesh, are cut away for the health of the whole.

With talks of war, I think everyone is on the defensive. It's a divide even if we don't want it to be. And it gets muddled into everyone wanting to protect what they care about.

[ she has to really focus on what he's saying ( like, actually listen, not just hear him. novel concept for her, but she's trying ) to understand him, but she thinks she does. maybe. ]

Does "dissent" mean I don't like something? Or don't agree with something?

[ sounds like an SAT word.......... ]

Maybe I don't care if I'm cut off. -- Not literally, I'm not looking for a fight.

[ she's not sure if she cares. she's only ever asked for one thing from her court - before she even realized that's what she was doing - and it was to gain he control over her shifting back. which she likes having, sure, being a coyote is way easier than being human here, sometimes. but. she hasn't thought of it in much detail before. ]

What happens to people who get cut off from their court?

[ cause clearly he knows. sure. that's not a big assumption at all! ]

Edited 2015-01-27 04:06 (UTC)

[ screw you and your texting, malia. ]

It's not. [ but. ] You can't avoid caring about the war forever.

[ uuuugh okay fine she'll talk ]

Yes I can. [ simple fact! as far as she's concerned ] I'll fight whoever I have to to keep Cothromach safe, but that's it. It doesn't matter what court they're a part of - if they threaten me or hurt my friends, they won't walk away from it.

[ wiTHOUT A LIMP OR A BLOODY LIP OH SHIIIIIIIT but no really she just doesn't care about the court situation so much as keeping certain people safe ]

Edited 2015-01-27 04:14 (UTC)

true. yeah, i get that. but that makes me wonder what it would take to prove i'm not on either side no matter what my shard says.

[Fear has cut down on his own recklessness and willingness to express dissent. He may not know what happens to those cut off from their court, but he has seen his monarchs enact a punishment, and he knows that what they did was a mere fraction of what kings and queens are capable of. So he answers her as patiently as he is cautious, not wanting this stranger to come to harm for her views.]

It means that you don't agree with the views of your court and monarch, and that you express it where others might here. I don't only mean in public, although that is the crime of spreading dissent as well as expressing it, but in older times in my country, it was a danger even to tell others dissenting thoughts privately. If the person you trusted told the authorities, a punishment would come as swiftly as if the words were said in a public square. And then they would be burned, or drawn and quartered, or tortured, as suited the leader of the time.

[Oh, the wars of religion. And a lot of other wars, honestly. The United Kingdom: not that great at unity.]

In truth, I do not know what happens to those cut off, only that their power over us is absolute, at least as far as I have seen. I don't think there is anything they can't do to us. [He thinks of his picture, and of his soul being lacerated at the wave of a hand, and he tries not to shudder with the fear of it. Nothing could be more terrifying.]

Will you leave us, Malia?

[ :( ]

he's been learning more magic. he's really good at it. the castle's been quiet. mostly.

[ aw oh no ]

i don't want to. but recently it feels like it doesn't matter what i want. it's not your fault.

[ look she's not about to end up misreading something because her dyslexia fucked her up, okay. ]

No, you can't. [ also simple fact as far as reyna's concerned. ] That's you getting involved in the war whether or like it or not. They're bringing it to your doorstep and you're defending an area. You can't ignore it when it's right there.

[ a pause, because here's a thought. ] You could be endangering them more by being around them.

You're not on either side, but you're still willing to defend what is yours. That's still being part of the war.

It's drawing us all in whether we want sides or not.

[ she's listening to everything he's saying, really she is. but. ]

Is it like this where you're from?

[ she wants to say something like "you sound like you know what you're talking about" but that's probably insulting. she really just means that he sounds like he has experience with this kind of situation, but she doesn't know how to.. word it. ]

There's people who think they can control other people, where I'm from, but we can always stand up for ourselves. I don't like not being able to do that here. That we're not even given the chance.

Because it does not matter to them what your intentions are. They want nothing more than that rock in you, for the sake of power.

That's different.

[ different from what she meant, at least, but she doesn't think to clarify ]

Stiles thinks I'm the one that's in danger.

[ since Cothromach is fulla big damn seelies ]

Which is what I don't get.

not everybody is like that. i don't like that people think i'm like that just because i'm unseelie.

oh. i guess i am part of it. but the war is seelie vs unseelie to me. last time someone attacked cothromach, i fought with whoever was defending the castle, it didn't matter what court they were in. didn't matter who was attacking, either.

It is more than just the Seelie and court matters. Even when there will be periods of calm, there are very, very powerful individuals out there who do think like that.

[ She knows, because she speaks from experience. When she first read this, her first thoughts went to Reynard. ]

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

Page 1 of 8

text;

text.

text.

voice;

text;

voice;

text.

text;

voice;

text;

voice;

voice.

voice.

text;

voice;

no subject

text.

no subject

voice.

text;

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

text;

no subject