maskormenace

Portugal, up till the nineteen seventies, was an empire - and it was a nasty one. It sent its citizens to die on foreign shores for years, just to keep up its glorious expanse of territory. It kept order with its secret police that kept down any disagreement. Only the rich and powerful were educated past the bare minimum; everyone else had to leave school to get to work. And then the military began rebelling, and the people joined in, and with barely any violence at all the government was toppled and the empire ended. They call it the Carnation Revolution, because the people put flowers into the barrels of those guns that never got fired.

[ Kitty clearly takes great satisfaction in this story as she recounts it from notes that she's taken. Though it might sound like it, this isn't a lecture, no real attempt at demagoguery: she elaborates a moment later - ]

Back home, this was the sort of thing they wouldn't ever let us know about. All our history classes were how brilliant our Empire was, all the good they'd done the world. How dark times were before our armies toppled all the tyranny spread all across Europe. Never mind that we just replaced that tyranny with our own.

[ Which ought to be bitter, but she's having too much fun with learning things to be really sour. She's more energetic than anything, peppy and garrulous. ]

Anyway. I just thought that was nice to read. There are so many bloody, awful revolutions throughout history - hearing one where people didn't end up being slaughtered was nice. I just wanted to share something nice.

[ And then, before she forgets: ]

Oh, and by the way, I've got a car now, and driving is actually really brilliant, so if anyone needs a ride anywhere, let me know. I do work a lot, so I'll need a bit of advance notice, but I can definitely take people to the grocery and to the airport and all that. [ Oh, and - ] Also, does anyone have suggestions close to Heropa to visit? Nothing stupid - I want places that are interesting or strange or where I can learn things. So don't suggest Disney World, because I'll just get cross.

[ A quick grin. So how many of you miss the days when she was subtle and quiet and not all chatty and energetic all over all the network all the time? Blame Mandrake. ]

Thanks.

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[ ... ]

Do you think the revolution in your world will be that peaceful...?

[ Good question. She gives a little nod of greeting. ]

Honestly? I can't say that I think so, because the revolution in my world's going to be different. Our situation is just different. But I've got hope that it will be a lot like this one.

[ he hums softly ] I think that sort of hope is good.

It's be nice if there was no need for violence no matter what revolution we are talking about. [ but that's wishful thinking, he knows ]

Disneyland? [ OK SO he didn't really understand everything she said, but that stood out. ]

[ A half-smile. ]

Yeah. It would. It'd be brilliant if we got together the smartest and most patient people around, and just had them sit down and talk everything over. Not a drop of blood spilled.

It is a nice story.

[ Sadly, he doesn't have anything more to add than that. He's not a historian. ]

Sounds like you weren't too happy with how things were back home. What was the Empire like?

Edited (i keep using the wrong icons why) 2015-01-04 20:56 (UTC)

Oh, yeah. It's some place where you go and spend money to get into a place where you can spend more money on food and fun and all that. People are completely mad for it. For some reason.

People cling to their beliefs and it's hard to move them. It's hard for them to see if they are wrong or if they are ignoring something.

But I don't think it's something permanent. It changes, eventually.

[ heaaaad tilt ]

... well. People jump off buildings with parachutes for fun. I guess spending money on food isn't so bad. [ he likes food, he sees nothing wrong with this ]

[ Her voice is emphatic: ]

Rotten. Beyond rotten. All the power given over to magicians, and none to commoners. Constant surveillance. A long bloody war, and us dying in it by the dozens every day. People hauled off and never seen again if they speak up. Like a nightmare, only far realer.

What - their opinions, or the fact that we've got to use violence?

Imagine living through such things, yes? It's dire, and even the people close often...lose sight of such things that are happening.

Blindness doesn't often mean just for hindsight.

No, it's far stupider than that. They spend money so that they get the right to spend money. And so that they can spend an hour standing in a line for a three-minute ride. And it takes them hours to get there in the first place.

[ A little rueful smile, and a tilt of her head. ]

I'd sooner live through a revolution than live through what led up to it, though.

What we want to live through, and what we do are two different things, I'm afraid.

One person cannot spark an entire revolution on their own, and things like that, when the people in power are that powerful...it can be difficult to rise up.

[ She lifts her chin and looks at him directly. ]

Are you speaking from experience? It seems like you'd have seen a lot of things. Was revolution one of them?

So like the magical version of Big Brother, then. [ Only that reference might be lost on her. Uh. ]

You said 'Europe,' though, so ... how different was it from here? What year was it?

[Awwwwww come on it's his last day of winter break, don't try to shove history down his throat.]

that's a nice story
a car huh

[He's still taking the bus WHAT GIVES]

2005. So we're not all that far beyond this place in terms of time, but in terms of everything else...We haven't got half the technology they've got here, and everything else is perfectly backwards, too. Our education's rotten, we're all still slaving away in factories - The magicians have always been able to hold tight control, and they've always claimed that's made things better, but the fact that we're so far behind everyone else shows clearly enough that that's a bloody lie.

Yeah. I came across a book about it yesterday, and I've not been able to put it down since.

And yeah - a completely brilliant car. Do you need to go anywhere?

I don't know about 'better,' but there are things magic can do that science definitely can't. [ He pauses. ]

So not everyone has magic? Is it something you have to be born with?

Why yes, I have. Revolutions, wars, genocide, I've lived through a great many things.

Most of them were, I'll admit, deeply unpleasant.

[ The disapproval is clear in her voice. ]

It's something you get when you drag a poor suffering spirit out of its home and enslave it and force it to do whatever you want if it doesn't want to be tortured or killed.

[ But she's less than interested by the unpleasantness. ]

Successful revolutions?

[ Oh. Okay, that's definitely not the kind of magic he's used to hearing about. ]

Sounds harsh. But that means anyone could become a magician then, doesn't it?

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[Video] WAIT PRETEND THAT WAS DISNEY WORLD I am great at fact-checking

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[Video] HAHAHA i only know disneyland so it didn't sound weird to me!

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[Video] perfect :>

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