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imeeji_frontstage2020-03-04 12:08 am
selfpreservationist) wrote in imeeji_frontstage2020-03-04 12:08 am
IT'S POETRY APPRECIATION HOUR
Who: This Kylo Ren-looking motherfucker
Where: The Library
When: Day 211, early evening
[the Live alert goes off and shows a new ☆Zrael sitting in one of the library pods with a large stack of books next to him. calmly he flips through the pages of one, seemingly in no hurry to get this show on the road. although he has never been here before, some of you may recognize him from griffin's memories.
eventually he stops flipping the pages and lifts the book to recite a passage from it:]
"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
[he closes the book with a soft thunk]
So wrote the author of this tale, yet I doubt he would have anticipated his metaphor to apply to our predicaments here. When one's mind is trapped in hell, one's inner hells might pale in comparison. Or one's inner heavens. Of course, this is also the same book in which the character of Satan so boldly claims it is "better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven." A fanciful thought, I'll admit, and not unappealing, but let's be honest: Satan, in his eternal anguish and despair, is hardly a role model, even for the truly desperate.
As I understand it, I'm to provide entertainment to the choruses of the damned as well as my fellow idols in this wretched place by playing the role of villain. So in order to understand my role, I have been studying tales of the most despicable and hated figures. One would think the stories of the Devil himself, Lucifer Morningstar, would be sufficient enough, but there is far too much authorial sympathy imbued in these pages to make for a truly monstrous character. The reader of this tome does not wish to despise Satan, far from it; nay, in reading of him, I feel a great empathy for him, doomed and despairing as he is. He is a reflection of man, of man's hubris and existential quandaries--he is a cursed hero, not a villain.
And so I think to myself, perhaps the villain one should aspire to embody is one that forsakes all elements of humanity. But thus far all the villains I read of have some spark of forgiveness in them, some bit of hope that keeps them from falling into darkness. Well, that's fine for now. Not everything can be solved in one afternoon.
But now, I have a curiosity, and I will pose it to you as a thought exercise. What is a villain? What makes someone villainous? Think on it. I shall be seeking the answer myself, and if, in the process, I bring you and your loved ones to the depths of despair...
[he chuckles, rises from his seat, and takes a sweeping bow before looking up]
Forgive me my hubris.
[the alert ends.]
Where: The Library
When: Day 211, early evening
[the Live alert goes off and shows a new ☆Zrael sitting in one of the library pods with a large stack of books next to him. calmly he flips through the pages of one, seemingly in no hurry to get this show on the road. although he has never been here before, some of you may recognize him from griffin's memories.
eventually he stops flipping the pages and lifts the book to recite a passage from it:]
"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
[he closes the book with a soft thunk]
So wrote the author of this tale, yet I doubt he would have anticipated his metaphor to apply to our predicaments here. When one's mind is trapped in hell, one's inner hells might pale in comparison. Or one's inner heavens. Of course, this is also the same book in which the character of Satan so boldly claims it is "better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven." A fanciful thought, I'll admit, and not unappealing, but let's be honest: Satan, in his eternal anguish and despair, is hardly a role model, even for the truly desperate.
As I understand it, I'm to provide entertainment to the choruses of the damned as well as my fellow idols in this wretched place by playing the role of villain. So in order to understand my role, I have been studying tales of the most despicable and hated figures. One would think the stories of the Devil himself, Lucifer Morningstar, would be sufficient enough, but there is far too much authorial sympathy imbued in these pages to make for a truly monstrous character. The reader of this tome does not wish to despise Satan, far from it; nay, in reading of him, I feel a great empathy for him, doomed and despairing as he is. He is a reflection of man, of man's hubris and existential quandaries--he is a cursed hero, not a villain.
And so I think to myself, perhaps the villain one should aspire to embody is one that forsakes all elements of humanity. But thus far all the villains I read of have some spark of forgiveness in them, some bit of hope that keeps them from falling into darkness. Well, that's fine for now. Not everything can be solved in one afternoon.
But now, I have a curiosity, and I will pose it to you as a thought exercise. What is a villain? What makes someone villainous? Think on it. I shall be seeking the answer myself, and if, in the process, I bring you and your loved ones to the depths of despair...
[he chuckles, rises from his seat, and takes a sweeping bow before looking up]
Forgive me my hubris.
[the alert ends.]
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It's not one on these phones.
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[disappointed :(]
You seem pretty familiar with this type of phone.
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I must seem like a caveman to you. Of all the things in hell that have surprised me, this might be the most surprising.