You gotta be ■■■■■■■ kidding me.
2 Likes
Have I given you reason to think I am?
1 Like
Plenty.
I am starting to think you are actually not stupid, but insane.
1 Like
Did someone mention drinks? Where and when?
1 Like
I wish they were.
3 Likes
Really? … I guess you might not have watched us very closely, before, Else. LUMEN’s actually at its strongest when nobody’s shooting anybody.
3 Likes
Absolutely. If I end up doing drinks, consider yourself on the guest list. If it’s Garion, though, you may have to check with him.
To provide a modicum of context: I’ve had drinks with Aria and Garion (and others) before, and we generally found each other to be pleasant company.
You’re not wrong, though, as the general reaction to this on both sides is quite aplty summed up here:
2 Likes
Eh, a certain level of ‘ok, we’re done killing one another now, we can be social’ is pretty common in a lot of the cluster. I mean, there’s a point at which the bad blood gets too much, and I’d always be wary of letting them get to know you enough to be predictable…
… but at the same time, I’ve found that in general, most people are bad enough at that last bit that it’s advantageous to get to know them.
2 Likes
Isn’t everything at it’s strongest when not under stress?
2 Likes
Corn starch and water isn’t.
3 Likes
Well, most things then.
1 Like
As if I don’t know.
I am just eternally wondering what it takes before “ok that was a nice little rebellion we had there, now how about some Thukker whiskey” is out of the question.
EDIT: I mean, people call me a cold-blooded and hateful and whatnot, and then they simply put aside all the suffering and sacrifice and “find each other pleasant company”. Just like that. Poof. Gone. Sorry about that planet, hey. Oh well, mate, happens, what’s are a few death squads among friends.
3 Likes
I guess I should clarify that this is my view, and while I can’t specifically say it’s true of them, that’s generally my impression.
And trust me, I’m fully aware of the contrast. My hometown never fully recovered from the Amarr invasion. Not that even other Matari particularly care about our little piece of steppe.
The difference is that I pride myself on being able to understand individuals, and in meeting Garion and Aria, I determined that they are, at the end, good people. That’s my opinion and I don’t expect anyone else to abide by just my unsupported word.
That’s also not to say that I don’t find Garion and LUMEN’s actions with regard to EM patently dumb; I think I made myself painfully clear on that. And if I ever find them sitting between me and freeing my enslaved kin, I’m going to shoot the heck out of them (and probably die in the attempt, but it’s the thought that counts, right?).
And then, yes, we’ll probably have drinks after that, because that’s what feels right to me in this instance.
2 Likes
While you won’t find me disagreeing, I have much the same question about Blooders.
2 Likes
Ask me that when I am in the habit of having drinks with active Blooders.
1 Like
“Active”, huh? It’s a switch you flip on and off? What’s the cooldown period between the actions and when they stop being relevant anymore? Sounds to me like “war’s over, drinks time” is something you should be very much comfortable with, since they went… “inactive”, as it were.
1 Like
It’s a switch we can try to flip off. Sometimes it works. Often it does not. Hitting the switch repeatedly when nothing changes when you do is, obviously, stupid.
I’d be fine with having drinks with Garion Avarr if I could hire them for the Minmatar cause, too.
2 Likes
Many are good people. Intentions also can be warped by surroundings. The only thing we can do is illustrate what similarities as people we have and hope more of them realize we aren’t as different as their scriptures teach. We hear alot about how we are horrible in their god’s eyes for “turning our backs to it” or what not. Well, if we are truely damned to hell it’s by our choice, that doesn’t mean all of us wish to damn them with us. It seems like that idea gets lost in their arguments. Alot of us don’t wish their harm, we just wish to, in their eyes “harm ourselves,” in our eyes “simply live our lives.”
3 Likes
Enmity’s kind of bitter fare to dine on daily, after all. Also, as pseudo-immortals, we might want to get used to one another’s presence. Then also, there’s that whole political solution most of the Republic seems to think is impossible.
One … thing to clarify, Melisma: you said before that I don’t recognize some people as human, and that I draw criticism from them for this reason. That’s not really true, though. I absolutely recognize the Matari, including enemies, as human; I even recognize the ones I really truly don’t get along with as human.
I just don’t have to dehumanize people to kill them, or even to be happy to see them suffer. I’m not the kind of fighter who can only slay demons.
With every ship I destroy or lose, I kill human beings. It’s an understanding that can be a little hard on me, because I try not to close off my own awareness of what I’m doing. That awareness is the reason-- pretty much the only reason, as events sometimes remind me-- I stand here, instead of following the path of the sword wherever it leads.
For all the obvious problems with their approach to it, the Amarr are believers in caring for the soul. That’s something I needed. And … if this war has taught me one thing, it’s that I apparently need that care on an ongoing basis, because I really have started to enjoy it again. Even though I’m aware of what it’s doing to me.
I’d started to believe my future and proper path might lie elsewhere. But in the end, it seems, I really am a hawk after all. That’s just the way I am.
Knowing that, I won’t resent my hood or my jesses. After all, I’d like to remain human, too.
3 Likes
Fundamentally, yes, I believe you do recognize us as human. But there is a noticeable difference in how; though this may be something better discussed in private.
4 Likes