video; un: R

[winecasks]

[ Grantaire is where he usually is, huddled off with his wine in the corner of a tavern somewhere in Wyver. He doesn’t seem to be too far into this endeavor, considering he’s plenty eloquent when he decides to make a speech to the network.

It’s less than rousing. It's mostly complaints. ]

All this talk of politics has made me weary, friends. To be frank, I hardly understand it at all. I have listened. I drink, it’s true, but I listen. My ears are far better than my eyes or my memory, and no one ever tunes their conversation to exclude the fellow enjoying his drink in the corner.

[ This much seems to be true, given how he’s been rambling at length and no one has bothered to silence him. There’s chatter in the background as people enjoy their own conversations, separate from him as he drinks from the bottle. ]

I have heard things. Things about how the first to wake were welcomed gladly by Olympia, and others still were welcomed by Wyver later on. My ears are fine and well, I assure you, but my mind is perhaps foggy. It cannot comprehend what happened to create this change. Politics. Surely that is the only answer. It always is.

[ He rolls his eyes, taking another drink. ]

Well, I’ll not partake in any of it. I have no love for one city over another, no love for a king over an empress. I do not disdain monarchy, though I do not disdain those who do. I simply disdain politics. Tell me why I should choose one side or another, or why I should change my mind on the matter.

Comments

[idealisme]

Then they need not put themselves forward for that role. They need only help the nation choose who they think best to lead.

[triplerose]

Was it like this, in your home? Before you came here. Is this how people ruled their lands?

[idealisme]

[His frown eases, becomes more thoughtful, almost rapturous as he thinks of it.]

It has been done. Around half a century ago, there was an uprising in France, my country. Men and women decided they'd had enough of the oppressive king, Louis XVI. They overthrew him and sent him to the guillotine. They showed that it could be done, that a republique such as I've describe could successfully work.

[Except that's not the whole story, but this man didn't ask for the whole story.]

[triplerose]

But - Then surely it must have been flawed?

[ Loras isn't the brightest, but he can understand implications well enough. This man speaks in past tense. ]

If it has been done, then surely that's not longer the case?

[idealisme]

They did not protect themselves well enough. One man seized power and declared himself Emperor-- and when he at last was removed the Royalists put another king back on the throne.

[The angry scowl is back, incensed to remember it. He'd been only a child at the time.] Not two years ago another revolution almost succeeded in overthrowing him, but again the Royalists outsmarted us.

[He knows how this sounds, so he adds-] I've spoken to others from my country. They tell me that not fifty years after my death France becomes a republique again, and that finally it is a lasting one, where rule of the nation is subject to the will of its citizens, and only that will.

[triplerose]

It seems a bit of a folly.

[ Forgive Loras for laughing. He doesn't meant to be rude, but the whole idea of it all seems ... Well. Ridiculous. Westeros is full of people lurking in shadows, waiting to stick a knife through the first person who has a bad look on them. It is not the place where some utopia can be born. ]

Perhaps where you come from, men are more reasonable. But I'm afraid I can't imagine it happening in my home.

[idealisme]

[A sharp inhale of breath.] And why is that? Do men where you come from not care for reason or the well-being of their fellow citizens?

[triplerose]

That's rather an accurate way of saying it, yes.

[idealisme]

[]

Very well. If you won't be serious-

[triplerose]

I'm afraid I'm being quite serious.

[ Why would Loras lie? He looks a little confused as to why Enjolras seems to think he's being dishonest. ]

[idealisme]

Serious. Men are without reasons, incapable of working together for the common good.

[hashtag fake news]

[triplerose]

It's not common to meet a Westerosi without ulterior motives. There were men in the northern regions who slaughtered houses into nearly non-existence, all because they felt slighted. Though I've known families who've died out entirely for the sole reason of another not liking them. Reason has never been a strong motivator.

[idealisme]

[Some quick mental shuffling takes place. He'd assumed he was speaking with another man from a society similar to his own- now he assumes that can't be the case, for things like that to occur.]

And your king encourages this?

[triplerose]

My king? No. Nor does my queen, but I'm afraid I cannot say the same for others claiming those titles. The war we were to go to was a necessity, and my king tried for diplomacy. He was murdered by his enemies before we could even mount our armour. You see where kindness and reason led.