plotrevised | Court Inbox

The familiar acted the way she did because she was overcome with existential despair and deemed that it was better for all life to end than to endure the suffering of existence. Hermes accepted and supported her decision, and took action to make sure she could not be stopped in time.
I cannot tell you what Hermes was thinking, but it is possible he believed his troubles would not be taken seriously. This troubling possibility is something I have been considering quite often of late, as no citizen of Amaurot should have to feel they cannot speak up about their views.
As I told you, Hermes was not moved from his post as a solution to his problems. Had anyone been aware how much he was suffering, he would have been offered therapy at the very least. I understand that is not sufficient in your opinion, but altering systems based on the preferences of a single individual is not how government is typically run. Had Hermes been outspoken about his beliefs, or had others come forth to say they shared them, that would have been another thing.

I would ask you not to make further assumptions about what thoughts I have or have not entertained, but perhaps that would be too much of a challenge.

[well.

... when you have Thoughts about Why Hermes Might Have Gone Along With It and it involves knowing that his concerns about whether or not "the familiar" would be seen as an individual entity with her own conscious and pain due to lack of a soul, BUT... you, for once, do recognize there's no point in pointing that out.

there is a bunch of start and stop of typing though before a message is sent:]

Thank you for answering those questions. It does clarify some things.

And I will apologize for my assumptions. I know I am a difficult personality to deal with, so I don't blame you for being angry.

I am considering going to the theater to have our bond removed.

[gonna be a long moment of just staring at his phone...]

Is there anything that would convince you reconsider that? If you're already decided, I won't stop you. I won't keep anyone who doesn't want to be kept.

[this time there's a long pause on themis's side]

I did not expect you would ask me to reconsider.

Maybe I'm just poor at communicating, but my opinions of societal structures aside, I haven't actually had any issues with you personally? I'm well aware I may be reading things wrong, and you're well within your rights to be frustrated with a poor reader of your story.

But I am a reader with a habit of trying again to see if I can't get more from a second, third, fourth, or even more time through.

[... wait. this is the thing about not seeing people as people but as characters in a story again, isn't it?]

What I mean is, I won't FIGHT you if you've already got your mind set. But I will ask if there's anything I can do differently to get the right view of things.

Though, I will admit, I will probably still be very frustrating to deal with. Unfortunately, it is a feature and not a bug that I make people infuriated at times. Honestly, you should just follow their suit and hit me when that happens. It seems like people get some catharsis from that, at the very lest.

[another long pause]

You are indeed poor at communicating. I was under the impression that you do not particularly care about my story over the opinions you already hold.

I think I operate more like... the more opinions I have, the more I care about the story.

They may not be the best opinions and I could be wrong about what I'm saying... but I wouldn't be saying them if I didn't care? That's a lot of energy to use.

I should note that you do not need to be my Master to hear my story.

I don't, but I do want to be a decent Master, if I can.

If you've already decided I can't be a decent Master for you, then, again, I won't fight you on it.

I suppose I am just not entirely sure why you even want to be my Master.

I am, admittedly, not very good at understanding my own wants.

I see.

Perhaps that is something worth examining.

I don't disagree...

Then I will keep our contract on the condition that you make an effort to cultivate a greater understanding of yourself.

[................. w-wait.]

That's not really a measurable condition? Is there a specific limit or point? Or is it just your judgement? How am I supposed to quantify that?

[man used to work QA, he's immediately in a panic]

You do not need to quantify it. I will tell you if you are doing enough or not :)

[no. why.

he's going to fail...]

I see...

I'll try.

That is all I am asking.

[bit of a pause]

Thank you.

There is no need to thank me.

Not everyone in the worlds are willing to give chances and you had plenty of reasons to not want to.

So thank you.

You are welcome, I suppose.

And I'll try to rein in my commentary in the future.

[he just has a lot of feelings and opinions about Broken Societies, okok]

I would appreciate it. My people and our society are very important to me, so it is difficult to rein in my temper when I hear ignorant comments regarding them.

Re: day 48, some time after the argument

plotrevised - 2025-12-01 22:51 (UTC) - Expand

Re: day 48, some time after the argument

rainshaveceased - 2025-12-01 22:58 (UTC) - Expand