Practical Philosophy, Monday

[endsthegame]

"There are those of us who come here believing very strongly in duty," Ender said. "Others who come here to escape it - and some to who it's absolutely not a part of their lives."

He smiled a little.

"I had a mentor, once," he said. "I was told that people were free, unless humanity needed them, and that humanity never asked us to be happy, merely to act on its behalf - for its survival. Happiness, he felt, was a luxury that at times we could scarcely afford. To opt out of doing our duty at such a time was the worst crime imaginable: a crime of stupidity."

He took a sip of water. "I've met people who disagreed, since," he said. "I've also met people whose lives were so intricately bound to these rules they didn't even know where they stopped and the rules began. Some of you have already made your views fairly clear already, but I'm curious as to everyone else's input, too.

"How important is duty? Do we people all carry some grand responsibility to our species, or should we exist only for ourselves and the development of our self? And if we live for duty, then when does that end? Is there some point where all of us may be afforded personal freedom, or are we perpetually tied to our responsibilities, whether we flee from them or not?"

Comments

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Most of my life has been about duty and responsibility," Elsa noted. "Here has been a pleasant change of pace, but it can hardly last forever. So... I'll enjoy the freedom I have while I'm here, but I really can't afford to brush off the responsibilities that I've got to the people back home. Passing them off on my sister wouldn't be fair to anybody. She's not ready for that sort of weight on her shoulders. It should be a long time before she needs to be."

Truth be told, Elsa wasn't certain she was ready for it, either. But with her parents gone, she was going to have to be ready, either way.

"It's hardly a responsibility to the entire species," she added, "but to people whose well-being is directly tied to how well I do my job later, it still means quite a lot. I don't get the luxury of escaping that, once it's my turn to step up."

... She was clearly not picturing herself being run out of the kingdom on her coronation day, no.

Re: Talk.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

Cade was apparently feeling chatty today. "So it's more the responsibility you feel for not leaving your sister in the lurch than any 'yay, leadership' thing?"

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"I'm really not sold on the 'yay' part of 'yay, leadership,'" Elsa admitted. "But it's not even completely about my sister, either. I would feel terrible doing that to her, and to the rest of the-- to everyone that would become her responsibility. But back there, with that responsibility on my shoulders... that's the place where I'm meant to be."

Re: Talk.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Why?" Cade asked. "Just because your name came up in the genetic lottery as the sucker with the wrong last name?"

Cade, your issues are showing a lot, honey.

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Elsa agreed, her voice gentling a little. She knew issues when she saw them. She had more than a few of her own. "Because my name came up in the genetic lottery. Because while I'm not so vain as to think that I'm the only person who can possibly step into that position when it's my turn to do so, I do acknowledge that this responsibility is what I've been raised for. Because as far as I'm aware, there isn't anyone else in line to do this who is actually ready for that role, and I care too much about my people to leave them with anything less than somebody who knows what Arendelle needs."

Honestly, Elsa, if people hadn't guessed that you were a princess by now, they were almost certainly not listening to you.

Re: Talk.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Well, you've been trained," Cade said with a little shrug. "Some people aren't, or might not be great at it anyway."

Not about you, Cade.

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"There are still things that I won in the 'genetic lottery' that I struggle with," Elsa noted. "But I'm not going to run from this. That doesn't mean I expect everybody else who might be in line for something to step up and take a position they're not ready for, though."

There was a long pause, while she tried to figure out how to ask this without seeming, outright, like she was asking it. After a moment, she gave up and just said what was on her mind.

"What sort of legacy are you afraid you won't live up to?"

Re: Talk.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

"Nothing you need to worry about, pateesa," Cade said. "I'm not a secret prince or anything."

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Elsa frowned a little at the unfamiliar word, and a little more at the implied meaning of it.

"I never said you were," she replied, evenly. "But you're clearly afraid of something that comes from having the wrong last name."

Re: Talk.

[makemyownway.livejournal.com]

Cade shot a quick look at Ender, then shrugged again. "I've seen people get buried by the weight of family expectations, that's all. Pressure to go into the family business."

Re: Talk.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Shit. Damn, Elsa," Barry said shaking his head. "You so need to jump on your bed once."

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Elsa blinked up at that, and then she laughed a little, shaking her own head.

"I'm still nerving myself up to that," she replied. "I'm not in any hurry to break the bed or fall off of it, either."

It was almost a metaphor. Somehow.

Re: Talk.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry raised an eyebrow at that. "Nerving up to jump on a bed?" he asked incredulously. "Are you fucking kidding me? It's a bed!"

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"And beds are made for sleeping on," Elsa reasoned. "If they were meant to be jumped on, we'd all be sleeping on... what are they called? Trampolines?"

Re: Talk.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry rolled his eyes. "Beds are bouncy," he reasoned. "And much more comfortable to land on."

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Until the bed frame breaks?"

It was not made for small children jumping on it. Elsa was pretty sure it was also not made for teenagers using it.

Re: Talk.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Clearly Elsa had not been around for sex pollen week. If the beds hadn't broken then...

"It's an effing bed frame. It can be fixed or replaced. What's the big deal if it breaks?"

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

Elsa was going to spend sex pollen week wishing she had fire powers so she could burn the whole place down. Cold showers would do nothing for her.

"If it breaks while I'm jumping on it...?"

Re: Talk.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Sure. What's going to happen if you break the bed?"

Re: Talk.

[fly-so-serious.livejournal.com]

She was just talking about a large estate, with maybe a village or two on its grounds, right? Right. Probably.

"Just out of curiosity, who's got the responsibility right now?" Joker asked. "I mean, there's some sort of... I dunno, steward or something, taking care of things in your name until you come of age? So... what's wrong with handing things back to them when you need a break from everything? You've got responsibilities, sure, but you're still just a person, and you deserve a chance to let your hair down. Part of effective management is learning to delegate."

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"Most people doing my job before me had a few more people around them to lean on than two servants and a sister who knows nothing about them," Elsa replied, giving Joker a wry smile. "Things have been quiet since my parents left, and they can probably go on like that for a little while, but once I step up to actually do my job, I'll have to change that. It's not just that things have been quiet, it's that they've been stagnant. Closed doors and no solid leadership don't make for a thriving... place."

Place? Elsa frowned a little as she said that. It just stank to her of more skirting around the truth, and this wasn't even much of a secret, was it? Really, 'place' was almost so deliberately vague, she might as well have been announcing it from rooftops anyway.

Re: Talk.

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

Eleanor chewed her lower lip for a long moment.

"Just because it isn't fair to her," she said, finally, "doesn't obligate you. That's hardly fair to you, otherwise."

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"No, I suppose it isn't," Elsa agreed, offering Eleanor a small smile that was meant to be reassuring. "But I'm mostly resigned to it. Ready for it, in fact."

Okay, so there was a mild look of terror on her face that suggested otherwise, but it was complicated.

"It's probably not as bad as I'm making it out to be."

Re: Talk.

[nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com]

"It's probably worse than you're admitting," Eleanor said, gently. "If it weren't at least a little terrifying, you wouldn't have mentioned it at all."

Re: Talk.

[iceolatedqueen.livejournal.com]

"It is a bit overwhelming," Elsa sighed. She really couldn't deny that much. "I'm too young for this. I'm not ready for it. I always thought I would have more time."