[He shrugs one shoulder, taking a small and pensive sip from his own mug.]
What's a dairy farmer without any cows?
[For once, he realizes in the moment that that is, perhaps, not the most appropriate comparison to make; he winces, waving one hand defensively in anticipation of... well. The usual.]
[ Bastien's mouth scrunches up in the opposite of a smile, because if he smiled the ale would leak out of his mouth, disgustingly. He has to swallow it first. But once he has, he smiles. ]
Metaphors. Always luring innocent feet into mouths.
[ He props his chin in his hand. ]
Maybe we say you are a shepherd. Fewer udders that way. Why not go after the sheep? Your fellows did, non?
Aye, out of their duty to... I don't know, Andraste.
[He sighs, pushing his hair back off his forehead.]
It's different though, innit, with sheep or cows. They don't mind, long as they have grass to eat and shelter from the rain. You can't just...
[He weighs his hands, struggling with the analogy, or perhaps with the concept itself. He spent so long trying not to think too hard about it, it almost resists being thought about.]
...well a shepherd's there to protect the sheep, not... you know, jail them. His whole job isn't built around making sure they don't start thinking they're people, and punishing them if they do.
[ Bastien hums. In this metaphor, of course, the sheep can set fire to fields and summon lightning, and perhaps they will be possessed in their sleep and ravage an entire village. If Barrow had built up less goodwill, over these—years, shit, it's been years now—Bastien might press on that distinction more gently. Try to tangle him up in it. Instead, he's direct: ]
I suppose a lot of them think they are protecting other people from the sheep, too, in this case. Baa.
[ With some unsheeply bared teeth, to make the baa vicious. ]
Did you always think of it that way? That you were jailing them?
Usually just when I actually was, [Barrow replies with a glint of bone-dry humor in his eyes, his resulting smirk an ironic one.]
Ask any Templar who operated in a Circle what their job was, not one of 'em will tell you it was all Wicked Grace and shooting the shit all the time. Anyone who does is lying. We all had Harrowings in our rotation, we locked up the troublemakers, we secured the soon-to-be-Tranquil for their branding. It's not something a person likes to do, unless they're the wrong kind of person for the job. And there's a lot of those.
[He sips from his ale, his brow set darkly.]
Maybe it's necessary work, who the fuck am I to say. I suppose pulling in kids from the region under the guise of joining Andraste's own army, while not entirely the truth, will filter out most of the sadists. Or they'll all go to Kinloch.
[He makes a lazy shooing motion, directing the sadists to Kinloch, no doubt.]
...to be fair, the shit that went down over there, maybe the Rite of Annulment was a good decision. [He sighs.] Fuck it, I'm rambling.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2022-02-18 01:12 am (UTC)[He shrugs one shoulder, taking a small and pensive sip from his own mug.]
What's a dairy farmer without any cows?
[For once, he realizes in the moment that that is, perhaps, not the most appropriate comparison to make; he winces, waving one hand defensively in anticipation of... well. The usual.]
No, not... I don't mean it like that--
no subject
Date: 2022-02-18 05:29 am (UTC)Metaphors. Always luring innocent feet into mouths.
[ He props his chin in his hand. ]
Maybe we say you are a shepherd. Fewer udders that way. Why not go after the sheep? Your fellows did, non?
no subject
Date: 2022-02-18 07:29 am (UTC)[He sighs, pushing his hair back off his forehead.]
It's different though, innit, with sheep or cows. They don't mind, long as they have grass to eat and shelter from the rain. You can't just...
[He weighs his hands, struggling with the analogy, or perhaps with the concept itself. He spent so long trying not to think too hard about it, it almost resists being thought about.]
...well a shepherd's there to protect the sheep, not... you know, jail them. His whole job isn't built around making sure they don't start thinking they're people, and punishing them if they do.
no subject
Date: 2022-02-22 04:22 am (UTC)I suppose a lot of them think they are protecting other people from the sheep, too, in this case. Baa.
[ With some unsheeply bared teeth, to make the baa vicious. ]
Did you always think of it that way? That you were jailing them?
no subject
Date: 2022-02-22 06:57 pm (UTC)Ask any Templar who operated in a Circle what their job was, not one of 'em will tell you it was all Wicked Grace and shooting the shit all the time. Anyone who does is lying. We all had Harrowings in our rotation, we locked up the troublemakers, we secured the soon-to-be-Tranquil for their branding. It's not something a person likes to do, unless they're the wrong kind of person for the job. And there's a lot of those.
[He sips from his ale, his brow set darkly.]
Maybe it's necessary work, who the fuck am I to say. I suppose pulling in kids from the region under the guise of joining Andraste's own army, while not entirely the truth, will filter out most of the sadists. Or they'll all go to Kinloch.
[He makes a lazy shooing motion, directing the sadists to Kinloch, no doubt.]
...to be fair, the shit that went down over there, maybe the Rite of Annulment was a good decision. [He sighs.] Fuck it, I'm rambling.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-29 02:15 am (UTC)[ He sits back in his chair. ]
What happened at Kinloch—during the Blight, you mean?
no subject
Date: 2022-03-29 06:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-04-11 12:36 am (UTC)[ Thoughtful. ]
Why would all the sadists go there?
no subject
Date: 2022-04-11 11:59 pm (UTC)