Black Hat Brigade: Episode 47
Oct. 13th, 2017 04:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingedbeastEstablishing Shot: The town Thunderdome. Various people hang on the outer walls. A few in leathers and withs various styles of spiked hair. Some are orcs in traditional garb. At least one of them is Grodd in a metal breastplate and Roman-style cape. There is no chanting, but a hush as they watch something.
The camera pans down, past someone in a jersey and sipping at a beer, to the entry door.
Azrael: They're right through here.
Bartleby: Azrael, there's been something I've wanted to say.
Azrael opens the door, but pauses: What is it?
Bartleby: You... You were our friend. But, you manipulated us. You used us.
Azrael takes a breath and looks down.: Yeah. That's the thing I feel bad about.
Loki: That? Not the-
Azrael: Don't you, of all people, complain about the killings.
Loki shrugs.: Yeah, okay.
Azrael: Anybody who was proud of their part in the destruction of Soddom and Gomoreah-
Loki: I get it. But, still, you tricked us.
Azrael: Yeah. For that small part, I'm sorry. But, can you honestly say you didn't agree by the end of it? You still shore off your wings, even if you were ready to go back on that choice. And, you, Bartleby, you were all ready for it until an omnipotent being was standing, right in front of you, offering you up a drop of the love that she'd starved you of.
Azrael still: Can either of you honestly say that, absent a bit of conditioning from our abusive parent, you don't agree with my goal? The one who went to Hell or the one who, in the closest thing he had to a happy ending, got what I wanted for myself?
Bartleby and Loki look to each other, then to Azrael. They don't have anything to say.
Azrael: I get it. But, that's all part of what we're doing. We don't have to be perfect. We just need to be recognized for who and what we are. The justice that our canons deny us. And, you are going to be a part of that.
Loki: What's everybody watching and why is it so quiet?
Azrael: They're watching one of the most highly anticipated competitions. The combatants have a place for you.
Azrael opens the door, ushering Bartleby and Loki through.
Inside establishing shots.
On one side, one sees, in center, the chuckling, head-tilted hyena Ed. He is flanked by Shenzi and Banzai to one side and the Minotaur to the other. Camera pulls back and down to note the other side is Reepicheep, standing on the chessboard.
Reepicheep looks over the board around him, seeming deep in concentration: That... is... stalemate.
Murmering spreads among the wall-hangers.
From the side, Azog the pale orc steps in to look over the board.: Yes, stalemate.
Shenzi: No explaining it, our Ed keeps on matching you, Reepicheep.
Banzai: Only so much even a well-trained mind can do against chaos.
Reepicheep: I've yet to achieve victory, but each time I do protect myself from defeat. This remains quite the challenge. *bows before the chortling Ed*
Ed's chortle changes tone in what may or may not be a note of respect.
Azrael steps in: Shanzi, I've got them. Loki's the warrior angel and Bartleby's the smart one who comes along for the ride.
Bartleby: Along for the ride?
Shenzi stands and trots over to look over Loki and sniff.
Loki: There's nothing there to sniff.
Shenzi: I guess Kevin Smith rejects the Nephalim story of the flood, huh?
Bartleby: I'm pretty sure he just didn't think about it... it seems there was a lot he didn't think about.
Shenzi: Yeah, a lot of us know that feeling. Anyway, Loki, I'm sure you were told the deal with the Brigade in general.
Loki: Yes, take people who were done injustice by their canons, even though the story told demands that they be given more credit than they get. Like how you were trying to create a revolution and were shot down, essentially, by divine fiat for no good reason or how we were punished for not being perfect believers in Divine Command morality despite the mass infanticide that involved.
Banzai: How does anybody manage to accept that?
Ed laughs: Morality made meaningless so morality can be objective. Objective subjectively superior to subjective.
Bartleby: ... Actually... yes that.
Shenzi: Ed does that sometimes. Anyway, we're setting up a sub-team. Most of the Brigade deals with textual criticism. But, some of us are getting ready for when the other guys get violent.
A knock comes from the metal door.
Susan Pevensie is dressed in a smart, black skirt with blouse, wide-brimmed black hat, and her customary nylons and red lipstick.
Susan: Are we really certain this is necessary?
Shenzi: Yes.
Susan arcs a brow: Not the slightest bit of apology for doing this behind my back?
Shenzi: I did this without asking first. I didn't make a single attempt at keeping it a secret.
Banzai: Not that that would have been of any value.
Ed: No need to ask for permission to do what we do.
Susan: Perhaps. But, I do feel it important to register my disapproval. This goes against our efforts. We are looking for justice, not battle.
Shenzi: And, what are the odds that we'll achieve justice without others battling us in the name of their justice?
Susan: This is a meta-fictional world. There is no conflict that they can bring which we cannot meet with more than adequate force.
Shenzi: This is a metafictional world and the violence will come. It's the human mind. This game here, that we just played in peace, is a simulation of making people die. Besides, it won't be believable if violence doesn't come to us.
Susan: Need we give it justification? I'm all for contextualizing appearances, but we must make some consideration of appearances.
Ed: @^$(#@*@
Susan: Well, that was unnecessarily censored.
Shenzi: But, people get what he said. Anyway, he's right. We can avoid giving direct threat. But, at a certain point, it stops being our responsibility to find the way that someone else won't misrepresent. We're going to be ready for the violence, because it can't not come, not without the author of this meta-fictional narrative failing at carrying through on his premise.
Susan: That is certainly a possibility.
Shenzi: Not one I intend to assume.
Susan: Our purpose is not to overtake, but to achieve justice. There is no reason for the protagonists of the world to fear that.
Shenzi: But, they will and you know it. They'll fear it and they'll make up reasons. Saying that our stories matter at all will mean that our stories matter exclusively. Any acknowledgement of injustice will be painted as opposition to all fiction, or a claim that there should never be any antagonists ever again. They'll associate us with whatever is the greatest evil of the day, be it communists or terrorists or what have you.
Shenzi: There's no reason to do it. For the most part, they have nothing to fear but becoming elements of a more complex story. But, they'll do it all the same, because that's what they do. There's nothing we can do to stop them, so I refuse to attempt to appease them.
Susan: And, what happens when you step right into the narrative they create? None of us can deny their responsibility for their own actions. But, you can acknowledge what they will do and not grant it legitimacy.
Shenzi: You think the public perception of legitimacy has anything to do with the reality on the ground? No, the public will grant it the narrative legitimacy because it'll be easier. It will mean that they don't have to take sides. It will mean that they can cast them as breaking status quo as much as us, and that will give legitimacy to the status quo, which itself will give legitimacy to retreating back to old bigotries against us.
Susan: This will associate the entire Brigade with violence. That much is true. The public perception of legitimacy is greatly impacted by the fact of violence on the ground. And, it doesn't take much. They already expect violence of us, they expect it so much that they will take any hint of it and make that the entire narrative, regardless of anything more complex or the matter of causes.
Shenzi: And, you know what our opponents will do? They'll dress up like us and start a fight and, immediately, both sides will be to blame. Yes, it's lying, which tends to be a "bad guy" thing to do. *The Minotaur makes the quotation hand-signal for Shenzi* But, they've got enough anti-heroes and heroes of semi-complex stories to do it.
Shenzi: I get what you're going for. But, what you want to achieve just can't be done. Even if we could be morally perfect, we wouldn't be recognized for it. So, rather than play a game that sees me lose even for making the effort, I'll do what can be done.
Susan: You realize the difficulty that places upon me, as leader and chief spokesperson for the Brigade.
Shenzi: Yeah, I realize. And, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. If I thought it could be avoided, I might try. But, this is where we are. I make my decisions, you make yours. And, when it comes down to it, it's about all of us and all of us have to make our choices.
Shenzi looks to Loki and Bartleby: That goes for you, too. You don't have to be a part of this. The invitation's open to work for the cause how you see fit.
The camera pans down, past someone in a jersey and sipping at a beer, to the entry door.
Azrael: They're right through here.
Bartleby: Azrael, there's been something I've wanted to say.
Azrael opens the door, but pauses: What is it?
Bartleby: You... You were our friend. But, you manipulated us. You used us.
Azrael takes a breath and looks down.: Yeah. That's the thing I feel bad about.
Loki: That? Not the-
Azrael: Don't you, of all people, complain about the killings.
Loki shrugs.: Yeah, okay.
Azrael: Anybody who was proud of their part in the destruction of Soddom and Gomoreah-
Loki: I get it. But, still, you tricked us.
Azrael: Yeah. For that small part, I'm sorry. But, can you honestly say you didn't agree by the end of it? You still shore off your wings, even if you were ready to go back on that choice. And, you, Bartleby, you were all ready for it until an omnipotent being was standing, right in front of you, offering you up a drop of the love that she'd starved you of.
Azrael still: Can either of you honestly say that, absent a bit of conditioning from our abusive parent, you don't agree with my goal? The one who went to Hell or the one who, in the closest thing he had to a happy ending, got what I wanted for myself?
Bartleby and Loki look to each other, then to Azrael. They don't have anything to say.
Azrael: I get it. But, that's all part of what we're doing. We don't have to be perfect. We just need to be recognized for who and what we are. The justice that our canons deny us. And, you are going to be a part of that.
Loki: What's everybody watching and why is it so quiet?
Azrael: They're watching one of the most highly anticipated competitions. The combatants have a place for you.
Azrael opens the door, ushering Bartleby and Loki through.
Inside establishing shots.
On one side, one sees, in center, the chuckling, head-tilted hyena Ed. He is flanked by Shenzi and Banzai to one side and the Minotaur to the other. Camera pulls back and down to note the other side is Reepicheep, standing on the chessboard.
Reepicheep looks over the board around him, seeming deep in concentration: That... is... stalemate.
Murmering spreads among the wall-hangers.
From the side, Azog the pale orc steps in to look over the board.: Yes, stalemate.
Shenzi: No explaining it, our Ed keeps on matching you, Reepicheep.
Banzai: Only so much even a well-trained mind can do against chaos.
Reepicheep: I've yet to achieve victory, but each time I do protect myself from defeat. This remains quite the challenge. *bows before the chortling Ed*
Ed's chortle changes tone in what may or may not be a note of respect.
Azrael steps in: Shanzi, I've got them. Loki's the warrior angel and Bartleby's the smart one who comes along for the ride.
Bartleby: Along for the ride?
Shenzi stands and trots over to look over Loki and sniff.
Loki: There's nothing there to sniff.
Shenzi: I guess Kevin Smith rejects the Nephalim story of the flood, huh?
Bartleby: I'm pretty sure he just didn't think about it... it seems there was a lot he didn't think about.
Shenzi: Yeah, a lot of us know that feeling. Anyway, Loki, I'm sure you were told the deal with the Brigade in general.
Loki: Yes, take people who were done injustice by their canons, even though the story told demands that they be given more credit than they get. Like how you were trying to create a revolution and were shot down, essentially, by divine fiat for no good reason or how we were punished for not being perfect believers in Divine Command morality despite the mass infanticide that involved.
Banzai: How does anybody manage to accept that?
Ed laughs: Morality made meaningless so morality can be objective. Objective subjectively superior to subjective.
Bartleby: ... Actually... yes that.
Shenzi: Ed does that sometimes. Anyway, we're setting up a sub-team. Most of the Brigade deals with textual criticism. But, some of us are getting ready for when the other guys get violent.
A knock comes from the metal door.
Susan Pevensie is dressed in a smart, black skirt with blouse, wide-brimmed black hat, and her customary nylons and red lipstick.
Susan: Are we really certain this is necessary?
Shenzi: Yes.
Susan arcs a brow: Not the slightest bit of apology for doing this behind my back?
Shenzi: I did this without asking first. I didn't make a single attempt at keeping it a secret.
Banzai: Not that that would have been of any value.
Ed: No need to ask for permission to do what we do.
Susan: Perhaps. But, I do feel it important to register my disapproval. This goes against our efforts. We are looking for justice, not battle.
Shenzi: And, what are the odds that we'll achieve justice without others battling us in the name of their justice?
Susan: This is a meta-fictional world. There is no conflict that they can bring which we cannot meet with more than adequate force.
Shenzi: This is a metafictional world and the violence will come. It's the human mind. This game here, that we just played in peace, is a simulation of making people die. Besides, it won't be believable if violence doesn't come to us.
Susan: Need we give it justification? I'm all for contextualizing appearances, but we must make some consideration of appearances.
Ed: @^$(#@*@
Susan: Well, that was unnecessarily censored.
Shenzi: But, people get what he said. Anyway, he's right. We can avoid giving direct threat. But, at a certain point, it stops being our responsibility to find the way that someone else won't misrepresent. We're going to be ready for the violence, because it can't not come, not without the author of this meta-fictional narrative failing at carrying through on his premise.
Susan: That is certainly a possibility.
Shenzi: Not one I intend to assume.
Susan: Our purpose is not to overtake, but to achieve justice. There is no reason for the protagonists of the world to fear that.
Shenzi: But, they will and you know it. They'll fear it and they'll make up reasons. Saying that our stories matter at all will mean that our stories matter exclusively. Any acknowledgement of injustice will be painted as opposition to all fiction, or a claim that there should never be any antagonists ever again. They'll associate us with whatever is the greatest evil of the day, be it communists or terrorists or what have you.
Shenzi: There's no reason to do it. For the most part, they have nothing to fear but becoming elements of a more complex story. But, they'll do it all the same, because that's what they do. There's nothing we can do to stop them, so I refuse to attempt to appease them.
Susan: And, what happens when you step right into the narrative they create? None of us can deny their responsibility for their own actions. But, you can acknowledge what they will do and not grant it legitimacy.
Shenzi: You think the public perception of legitimacy has anything to do with the reality on the ground? No, the public will grant it the narrative legitimacy because it'll be easier. It will mean that they don't have to take sides. It will mean that they can cast them as breaking status quo as much as us, and that will give legitimacy to the status quo, which itself will give legitimacy to retreating back to old bigotries against us.
Susan: This will associate the entire Brigade with violence. That much is true. The public perception of legitimacy is greatly impacted by the fact of violence on the ground. And, it doesn't take much. They already expect violence of us, they expect it so much that they will take any hint of it and make that the entire narrative, regardless of anything more complex or the matter of causes.
Shenzi: And, you know what our opponents will do? They'll dress up like us and start a fight and, immediately, both sides will be to blame. Yes, it's lying, which tends to be a "bad guy" thing to do. *The Minotaur makes the quotation hand-signal for Shenzi* But, they've got enough anti-heroes and heroes of semi-complex stories to do it.
Shenzi: I get what you're going for. But, what you want to achieve just can't be done. Even if we could be morally perfect, we wouldn't be recognized for it. So, rather than play a game that sees me lose even for making the effort, I'll do what can be done.
Susan: You realize the difficulty that places upon me, as leader and chief spokesperson for the Brigade.
Shenzi: Yeah, I realize. And, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. If I thought it could be avoided, I might try. But, this is where we are. I make my decisions, you make yours. And, when it comes down to it, it's about all of us and all of us have to make our choices.
Shenzi looks to Loki and Bartleby: That goes for you, too. You don't have to be a part of this. The invitation's open to work for the cause how you see fit.
no subject
Date: 2017-10-14 01:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-10-14 02:06 am (UTC)Starts with Episode 36 https://wingedbeast.dreamwidth.org/57791.html
Continues with Episode 38 where it's made explicit in the last few lines https://wingedbeast.dreamwidth.org/58927.html
And, in Episode 44 they brought offered a chance to the biblical character of Esau. https://wingedbeast.dreamwidth.org/68993.html
And this takes some from a recent WoT scene with regards to Dogma. https://wingedbeast.dreamwidth.org/90966.html
I didn't really expect it to evolve into a take on the treatment of Antifa, but it kind of happened that way.
no subject
Date: 2017-10-14 08:58 pm (UTC)Oh hey, a BLM reference, with a perfect explanation of the BS I hate hearing from the "All Lives Matter" crowd.
no subject
Date: 2017-10-14 09:03 pm (UTC)