Black Hat Brigade: Episode 29
Mar. 1st, 2016 12:24 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingedbeastSetting: Dinner around a round table. Dishes are set out before the seated. The meal is a stew made, primarily, of barley, local vegetables, and leftover mutton and broth.
King Arthur: You look surprised.
High King Peter: I suppose we had expectations.
King Edmund: Maybe not the right expectations. Whether you were raised by Sir Ector or by poorer farmers, a humble upbringing is a part of your story.
High King Peter: But, we did expect King Arthur to eat like a King.
King Arthur: This is eating like a King for this time. There is meat in this meal and this isn't even a seasonal festival.
High King Peter: I was expecting whole roasted animals.
King Arthur: Had you requested, I would have. As it stands, from my understanding of your own canon, I'm surprised that you did not request a vegetarian meal.
High King Peter: Heaven forbid. We know the value of a good, English diet, including proper amounts of meat.
King Arthur: In a canon full of talking animals?
King Edmund: Not animals, but Animals.
King Arthur: Pardon me?
High King Peter: When spoken, it has to do with capitalization. Not all animals are Animals. We would never eat an Animal, because Animals are intelligent and can speak, not mere animals, which are proper to eat.
King Arthur: And, they are easily distinguished even when dead?
King Edmund: I think we're going too far afield from the reason for our visit.
King Arthur: That being?
High King Peter: We are given to understand that you have consorted with our sister Susan and her Black Hat Brigade.
King Arthur arches a brow and watches High King Peter a moment: ... And?
High King Peter: What do you mean, "and"? They are a band of metafictional evils seeking to corrupt fictions with blurred lines between good and evil.
King Edmund: Not to accuse you of being corrupted. Still, our own fiction is based, heavily, in an understanding of Arthurian ideals. The notion that the Arthurian legend could be tainted to any degree-
King Arthur: It's a good thing you don't have to worry about that. The Arthurian legend is long lived, with many iterations, and can survive moral complexity championed by the Black Hat Brigade.
High King Peter: Is that what they're calling it? Moral complexity? That's just a way of saying compromising with evil.
King Arthur: No. Treating my rule as an unambiguous good is compromising with evil. Moral complexity is essential to distinguishing good from evil.
King Edmund: I'm sure that's not true. You are King Arthur, the Once and Future King, the icon of good kings, everywhere.
King Arthur: The King who sent a ship full of children to run aground, killing all the children. Not all that is done in the name of good is good.
High King Peter and King Edmund blanch.
High King Peter: That's just a story.
King Arthur: So are we all. The moral of acknowledging that part of the story is what it is. Seeing alternate perspectives is essential. My rule is a mixed bag. The same is true of your rule.
High King Peter: I will not have that said of our rule.
King Edmund: Our rule was a golden age.
King Arthur: A golden age, according to canon, that did not include schools. It's easy to be called a golden age when the people who might disagree can't access the basic literacy to record their complaints.
King Edmund: Oh, Susan has gotten to you.
King Arthur: Gotten to? *shrugs* Having taken a look at your books, I do have some thoughts about moral complexity.
High King Peter: Those being?
King Arthur looks to Edmund: A Horse and His Boy. You had objections to a potential suitor, seemingly racist objections.
King Edmund: The man was a brute and a scoundrel regardless of anything to do with race.
King Arthur: The cause of the man's characteristics, with regards to the author's ideas of race, are one thing.
High King Peter: I thought people like you were all over the death of the author.
King Arthur holds up a single finger to Peter, effectively silencing him for the moment.
King Arthur: But, let's ignore that element to ask you a question about how you responded to the potential of Susan, an adult woman who may desire romantic love and having no men of her nation about save for her own brothers, having an interest in a specific suitor.
King Edmund: I expressed distaste for him.
King Arthur: Your exact words were to say that, had she taken him for a husband, were quote "I should have loved you less, if".
King Edmund: But, she didn't and I didn't. I don't see the importance.
King Arthur: "I should have loved you less." Speaking as the first Christian King of England, who's story is peppered with a Celtic mythology filtered through Christianity, I have to ask you, a King in a story steeped in Christian theology, why you should have loved her less.
King Edmund: I shouldn't have, because she-
King Arthur: There is no because to it. Your duty as a Christian is to love her as you love yourself. Do you feel some obligation to love yourself less for failing to achieve perfection?
High King Peter: You are speaking to King Edmund the Just.
King Arthur: Then, you will shut up and allow him to express the justice of conditional love.
High King Peter stands, silent for only a moment before he breathes in to speak and, just as he's about to say something, a circle beneath his chair glows, taking his voice.
King Arthur: That did become necessary. I owe Merlin a cask of wine.
High King Peter pounds on the sides of an invisible wall.
King Edmund: You... You've
King Arthur: He will be released. I've had such measures put in to maintain some control over conversations. I do so hate it when someone's perspective keeps getting interrupted by some lord too childish to hold tongue for a couple minutes.
King Arthur: As for you, this obligation to love one less when imperfect. For a character who's initial story is that of being forced into a debatable betrayal of his siblings, I see very little, in your further stories, patience for those who deviate, from you.
King Edmund: You make too much of a single phrase.
King Arthur: Perhaps. But, it does make me wonder. While I am not a great man for the planning of a battle or the working of riddles, a leader must be about people. And, I do wonder, about you, if you are truly happy as the good King beneath Aslan.
King Arthur: You look surprised.
High King Peter: I suppose we had expectations.
King Edmund: Maybe not the right expectations. Whether you were raised by Sir Ector or by poorer farmers, a humble upbringing is a part of your story.
High King Peter: But, we did expect King Arthur to eat like a King.
King Arthur: This is eating like a King for this time. There is meat in this meal and this isn't even a seasonal festival.
High King Peter: I was expecting whole roasted animals.
King Arthur: Had you requested, I would have. As it stands, from my understanding of your own canon, I'm surprised that you did not request a vegetarian meal.
High King Peter: Heaven forbid. We know the value of a good, English diet, including proper amounts of meat.
King Arthur: In a canon full of talking animals?
King Edmund: Not animals, but Animals.
King Arthur: Pardon me?
High King Peter: When spoken, it has to do with capitalization. Not all animals are Animals. We would never eat an Animal, because Animals are intelligent and can speak, not mere animals, which are proper to eat.
King Arthur: And, they are easily distinguished even when dead?
King Edmund: I think we're going too far afield from the reason for our visit.
King Arthur: That being?
High King Peter: We are given to understand that you have consorted with our sister Susan and her Black Hat Brigade.
King Arthur arches a brow and watches High King Peter a moment: ... And?
High King Peter: What do you mean, "and"? They are a band of metafictional evils seeking to corrupt fictions with blurred lines between good and evil.
King Edmund: Not to accuse you of being corrupted. Still, our own fiction is based, heavily, in an understanding of Arthurian ideals. The notion that the Arthurian legend could be tainted to any degree-
King Arthur: It's a good thing you don't have to worry about that. The Arthurian legend is long lived, with many iterations, and can survive moral complexity championed by the Black Hat Brigade.
High King Peter: Is that what they're calling it? Moral complexity? That's just a way of saying compromising with evil.
King Arthur: No. Treating my rule as an unambiguous good is compromising with evil. Moral complexity is essential to distinguishing good from evil.
King Edmund: I'm sure that's not true. You are King Arthur, the Once and Future King, the icon of good kings, everywhere.
King Arthur: The King who sent a ship full of children to run aground, killing all the children. Not all that is done in the name of good is good.
High King Peter and King Edmund blanch.
High King Peter: That's just a story.
King Arthur: So are we all. The moral of acknowledging that part of the story is what it is. Seeing alternate perspectives is essential. My rule is a mixed bag. The same is true of your rule.
High King Peter: I will not have that said of our rule.
King Edmund: Our rule was a golden age.
King Arthur: A golden age, according to canon, that did not include schools. It's easy to be called a golden age when the people who might disagree can't access the basic literacy to record their complaints.
King Edmund: Oh, Susan has gotten to you.
King Arthur: Gotten to? *shrugs* Having taken a look at your books, I do have some thoughts about moral complexity.
High King Peter: Those being?
King Arthur looks to Edmund: A Horse and His Boy. You had objections to a potential suitor, seemingly racist objections.
King Edmund: The man was a brute and a scoundrel regardless of anything to do with race.
King Arthur: The cause of the man's characteristics, with regards to the author's ideas of race, are one thing.
High King Peter: I thought people like you were all over the death of the author.
King Arthur holds up a single finger to Peter, effectively silencing him for the moment.
King Arthur: But, let's ignore that element to ask you a question about how you responded to the potential of Susan, an adult woman who may desire romantic love and having no men of her nation about save for her own brothers, having an interest in a specific suitor.
King Edmund: I expressed distaste for him.
King Arthur: Your exact words were to say that, had she taken him for a husband, were quote "I should have loved you less, if".
King Edmund: But, she didn't and I didn't. I don't see the importance.
King Arthur: "I should have loved you less." Speaking as the first Christian King of England, who's story is peppered with a Celtic mythology filtered through Christianity, I have to ask you, a King in a story steeped in Christian theology, why you should have loved her less.
King Edmund: I shouldn't have, because she-
King Arthur: There is no because to it. Your duty as a Christian is to love her as you love yourself. Do you feel some obligation to love yourself less for failing to achieve perfection?
High King Peter: You are speaking to King Edmund the Just.
King Arthur: Then, you will shut up and allow him to express the justice of conditional love.
High King Peter stands, silent for only a moment before he breathes in to speak and, just as he's about to say something, a circle beneath his chair glows, taking his voice.
King Arthur: That did become necessary. I owe Merlin a cask of wine.
High King Peter pounds on the sides of an invisible wall.
King Edmund: You... You've
King Arthur: He will be released. I've had such measures put in to maintain some control over conversations. I do so hate it when someone's perspective keeps getting interrupted by some lord too childish to hold tongue for a couple minutes.
King Arthur: As for you, this obligation to love one less when imperfect. For a character who's initial story is that of being forced into a debatable betrayal of his siblings, I see very little, in your further stories, patience for those who deviate, from you.
King Edmund: You make too much of a single phrase.
King Arthur: Perhaps. But, it does make me wonder. While I am not a great man for the planning of a battle or the working of riddles, a leader must be about people. And, I do wonder, about you, if you are truly happy as the good King beneath Aslan.
