http://pfaugh.livejournal.com/ (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
pfaugh.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
asgardeventide2011-12-19 09:37 pm
pfaugh.livejournal.com) wrote in asgardeventide2011-12-19 09:37 pm
video; 001
[ the screen flashes on mid-motion, while someone—fenris—is making an angry gesture, quick and sharp. it’s that which probably switched the bracelet on—that and the fact that he isn’t very used to the technology yet. ]
...of all people, that I had to be stuck here with you.
[ the camera shifts as his fingers twitch to show that he’s addressing anders—who notices the device’s activity before its owner and adjusts his posture accordingly, in order to be seen better. ]
You know, Fenris, that reminds me—general questions seem to turn up some interesting responses in this place, don’t they? Why don’t I give one of my own a go. Dear citizens: Is there anyone that you would not, under any circumstances whatsoever, wish to find yourself kidnapped with? Someone whose very presence is an offense to all you hold dear? [ oh, is that sneer on his face too apparent? what a shame. ] Just curious! No reason in particular.
[ fenris yanks his wrist back, neatly ruining the frame of the shot. performance has never been his strong suit, despite his penchant for theatrical speech. ]
Perhaps when Hawke finds us a way out of here, you can remain behind. Kidnapped all alone, just as you prefer.
[ and the curtain falls. ]
...of all people, that I had to be stuck here with you.
[ the camera shifts as his fingers twitch to show that he’s addressing anders—who notices the device’s activity before its owner and adjusts his posture accordingly, in order to be seen better. ]
You know, Fenris, that reminds me—general questions seem to turn up some interesting responses in this place, don’t they? Why don’t I give one of my own a go. Dear citizens: Is there anyone that you would not, under any circumstances whatsoever, wish to find yourself kidnapped with? Someone whose very presence is an offense to all you hold dear? [ oh, is that sneer on his face too apparent? what a shame. ] Just curious! No reason in particular.
[ fenris yanks his wrist back, neatly ruining the frame of the shot. performance has never been his strong suit, despite his penchant for theatrical speech. ]
Perhaps when Hawke finds us a way out of here, you can remain behind. Kidnapped all alone, just as you prefer.
[ and the curtain falls. ]
no subject
but sometimes, a man has to stand by his convictions. sometimes, his convictions are all he has.
and sometimes an elf from tevinter does nothing better than snarl and tear those convictions down, inch by miserable inch. it's part self-defense and part necessity, at this point. he has that tension in his voice, not quite dissipated yet. ]
I never used to have enemies, if you can believe it. At least...not personal ones. It was all very circumstantial. What I was, more than who I was. You know how it is: big lugs with enormous shoulders and more swordplay than mental acuity always chasing things they don't understand...
But once I started having opinions--and, Maker forbid, bringing them up, standing behind them, doing something about them--that was when the real opposition came.
...Theoretically, of course.
no subject
Yet the situation is different here. He cannot operate in isolation as he does at home.]
I face opposition, but no more so than any other man in my position. I serve as a judge in a large urban area. I'm sure there are convicted criminals who do not hold me in high regard, and those who oppose my rulings, if one can can consider them enemies.
[Also, his two most devoted adversaries are here. Oh well. He can handle them. He smiles faintly.]
I believe I'm familiar with the type. One shouldn't be persecuted for what one is. That is unacceptable. [There's such prejudice against NEXTs in his world, and he won't tolerate it, any more than he'll tolerate NEXTs persecuting other people.] Based on the evidence at hand, I'd say you would have been quite right to stand up for your beliefs--although I don't know the details of this hypothetical situation.
no subject
[ but he's getting worked up, isn't he? ]
...But I'm getting worked up, aren't I?
[ the situation is different, all right. at times it seems obvious that it should be worse--but there are other times it almost seems better somehow. they aren't operating under the same sense of claustrophobia, and not everyone is bound by the same chains of unquestioning hatred.
that doesn't mean it's easier to forget old grievances. hence the little display from earlier. he's never been embarrassed by it before--so why is now so different? ]
You're...involved with the law? [ a pause. ] Well. That's a first. Getting along with someone like that, I mean. It isn't as though I'm always against it exactly, but for whatever reason, guardspeople of all kinds generally assume I am.
...Maybe it's the coat? [ another pause. ] Which you haven't seen. I assure you, I look like quite the renegade. And there are feathers.
no subject
There are things worth getting worked up over.
[He inclines his head.] I am, but our legal systems may not bear much resemblance to each other, as we come from different worlds. Even from nation to nation in my world, they vary. There have been times in my world's history when it was necessary for those who believed in justice to oppose unjust laws.
[It's all right, Anders, Yuri secretly doesn't get along with others involved with the law, but they don't realize he's a wanted criminal as well as a judge. After all, the law has little importance when compared to justice.]
Ah, that might be it. Whether true or not, it's commonly believed that clothes make the man, so they may be unfairly judging you based on appearances, especially if you've gone out of your way to garb yourself in feathers, which clearly only an outlaw would do.
[Yuri does have an interest in clothing. If only Anders could see the lovely costume he designed, and all the exquisitely detailed capes that he burns.]
no subject
I’m not sure if it was an intentional statement so much as ‘what I had to work with at the time.’ But then, those things can become statements, if you aren’t careful. Maybe that’s all statements are in the end.
[ he’s getting too theoretical now. it’s not even that fenris has that effect on him; fenris just makes him angry. and anger is the opposite of this kind of rational thought.
…which itself is the opposite of his usual passion.
he attempts a smile, just enough to color his voice, to replace that other heat. he’s been told he comes on a little too strong where these topics of conviction are concerned. but without them and without his magic, he’s just a sad collection of feathers and bandages and bad jokes. ]
If you uphold justice, then your world—your country, is it?—is lucky to have you.
Where I come from, few actually attempt it. Even fewer know what it is. The vast majority of people don’t care, and they’re often swayed by the people who actively work against it.
[ bitter? oh, just a little. but it’s an old hurt, one that never set properly to heal. ]
no subject
It is said that actions speak more clearly than any words, so I would say that counts as a statement. Perhaps the best kind of statement. [He values those actions he carries out as Lunatic more highly than his rulings from the bench: direct action, decisive, and with clear, final results. The criminals he wipes out will never harm anyone again.
With this mindset, Yuri would be unlikely to accuse anyone of coming on too strong, though he does exercise restraint in his own speech, careful not to give away too much. The line he walks in life is not without its dangers, and to continue in his work, he must exercise caution.]
I do whatever I can to uphold justice. I hope I do well by the people I serve. Where I'm from, I've seen that same uncaring you speak of, and the related indifference. It's sadly common. [Few people do enough to satisfy him, not even the so-called Heroes. Anders has a compatriot in bitterness.] That's why we must work all the harder.
no subject
[ and this, varric would say, is how anders doesn't win friends--how he influences people to stay away from him, or at least stay away from conversation with him.
he doesn't make it easy for anyone. he certainly doesn't make it easy for himself. but, he always replies, justice isn't supposed to be easy. it's supposed to be--and he's used this line before--righteous. hard.
and he can't see the things he sees done to mages every day and say nothing--or do nothing, even more important than that. ]
So many people say so much and do so little, it's true. And it's easier to speak out when you don't have to be held accountable to your actions. When there isn't anyone to hold you accountable. [ a pause. ] Someone like you, I suppose. Upholding the laws.
Now that's a joke, where I come from.
no subject
[Yuri himself doesn't win himself any friends, though he has many associates, and he's careful to cultivate his connections. He keeps all others at arm's length. Friendships aren't something he can afford, when allowing someone to grow close to him would involve such a large amount of risk.
He doesn't think he needs closeness, not anymore. The time for that passed long ago. That said, he does enjoy conversing with Anders, something he can say about few of the people here, thus far.]
Yes, I hold others accountable, though I don't silence their voices. The law is my duty, but in the end, it is justice that matters to me far more. Laws change over time. They are man-made and can be flawed. What is just and what is legal--they are not always the same. [It might seem like an odd thing for a judge to say, but just because his rulings are impartial, that doesn't mean he isn't entitled to his own opinions. Judges do love to discuss law and justice, and no one's ever thought to examine those opinions of his more closely, looking for something else behind them.] Sometimes, they are opposites.
My justice system is not perfect, but it functions well enough. I'm sorry to hear you're not as fortunate in your laws.
[If he saw people being oppressed, harmed, he would take action that had nothing to do with the law.]
no subject
But when people are oppressed--when might overwhelms any opportunity for right--then what else do you expect? [ most don't bother with questioning it. it works for them, or so they think, and a few scattered voices here and there--strangers looking to help themselves, not help anyone else--don't make much difference.
he pauses; there's a sigh. ] The trouble is, what do you do when no one listens? [ but now he's just thinking out loud, speaking to himself. he pinches the bridge of his nose; there's the sound of rustling feathers. always a side-effect of that coat. ]
You know, I think it was more cheerful when we were discussing biscuits. [ but cheerful isn't always better, and he knows that. the hardness in his jaw, in his voice, makes that obvious. ] You manage to stay so calm about it, don't you?
Not the biscuits, I mean. The...everything else.
Sometimes I can't really tell what's better. [ or--and this is better's opposite, what he has so much more experience with--what's worse. ]
no subject
When police officers or public officials accept bribes where I'm from, they are harshly penalized when found out. I make sure of it. [He shows no leniency with such criminals. The fact that they were hired to protect the people and that they betrayed that trust makes them all the more reprehensible.]
When no one listens?
[It is then that he would do Lunatic's work, his most important work, but Lunatic cannot act here, not yet, hobbled by the loss of his power--another thing to hold against these "gods".]
In that case, how I would act depends on the situation.
[He wonders how it is that he remains so calm outwardly when what he feels within is quite different, but perhaps it's a matter of necessity. He knows he cannot do what he needs to do if he breaks down, if he loses his control.]
Biscuits are a far less loaded topic of conversation. [A pause, and then a hint of wry humor creeps into his voice for a moment.] Usually. [But he doesn't joke about more important matters.] What good would losing my composure do? It would only impair me. In calmness, there is strength. A clear mind is a sharp mind, and that's what I need to deal with the task at hand.