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[crotchroses]

[Today's broadcast is a simple one. Apologies for the spam!]

If I had the materials to produce wine, I would do so immediately.

[private to ALL THE NATIONS (except Germany):]

I want no part in any conflicts here. There is too much at stake. I understand our histories and the differing timelines that add further complications, but as they say, there are bigger fish to fry.

We don't have to work together. In fact, the idea is a little appalling, though I would not be opposed to it. But let us at least try not to leap straight into war.

Let us build our respective areas and watch over our citizens, if we have any on this planet.

[/private]

[private to ROSEMARY:]

I am in the hospital. If you would like to speak with me in person, that is fine.

[private to ARTHUR:]

Shut up.

I have something to tell you. Will you visit me here in the hospital or are you still glued to Amerique? Either way I will discuss it, whether in person or on the phone, but in person is preferable. That way I can reintroduce your face to my glorious fist if need be.

What will it be, Rosbif?

[/private]

[OOC NOTE: TAKING A NAP. WILL BE BACK IN A FEW HOURS HOPEFULLY UNLESS I JUST PASS OUT ALTOGETHER.

OOC NOTEX2 COMBO: He's in the DISCEDO HOSPITAL just sulking so if you want to visit, you can!! Doesn't matter if you're a nation or not, he likes company! :) ]

Comments

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

Japon was so very isolated. It took much for the West to convince him to open his ports for trade to the rest of the world again. In those days I was expanding my colonial empire and getting into debt!



I wish I could be as certain as you. Even those who have given their lives for us, who changed the world, we sometimes forget them. Our bosses and martyrs will always fade into the depths history, with a few exceptions.

[fierybluebird]

Such is the nature of time. Besides isn't it a little more about how your people remember that person too? That's why your leaders probably stand out the most, eh. And people well beloved by your people.

Is there something specifically weighing on your mind Francis?

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

Are there nakama whose faces and names have disappeared from your mind? Who are vague images at best? It is like that.

If there wasn't a day that something didn't weigh on my mind, I think that would be the day to start worrying.

[fierybluebird]

Aye... there are. My family and anyone important before my Pops is a memory obscured to time. Try as I might... I don't remember. It might as well be another life entirely. [There's a sad glance away. It's nothing something he often, or even ever really admits to. And he clearly doesn't intend to keep thinking on it.]

Ah, just a sort of general melancholy then?

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

... Then I must admit you're right. It is very close--perhaps not a perfect match, as you said, but it's still very close.

... Not really! You can be aware of how shitty life is and still be happy. Spring always follows winter, when the world thaws and one can breathe the air without the lungs being seared by drifting snow.



We try not to think on the past, but then we forget. The humans forget because their lives are so short by comparison, and we are tied to them; so we change, and even if we remember again, history will always repeat itself.

[fierybluebird]

There are ways to break patterns in history.

And just because winters are rough doesn't always make them bad. Sometimes they're really quite enjoyable for what they are. [This is from a bird made of fire, so you know; take that into consideration.]

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

Said the fire bird.

There are ways to break patterns and they are called revolutions. But even those belong in the grand scheme of humanity's history. I have learned to bask in the glow of the good where I can get it in times of peace and war. Life should be lived! Even if it is just an ongoing cycle.

[fierybluebird]

Eh, people survive even in places it's always winter.

[Grins and nods.] Exactly. Granted, I'll leave the world's rebellions to Dragon and the like, but the world keeps turning, it's not always a bad thing.

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

Exactly! But those changes will leave scars. Revolutions are particularly unkind to the nations that contain them. Maybe I might request a history book that speaks of mine!

Ah, but the humans, they get half of it wrong and leave out so much detail.

[fierybluebird]

Well, it's impossible to get history all right. Even if you lived it, you'd be tainted by your own personal experiences, eh?

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

... Touche, mon ami.

What I mean, however, is that they are not aware that we exist as flesh and blood, for the most part. There is so much more.



My hair normally covered it so I will show this to you now, only because I consider you a friend and because it will spare us the awkward questions later.

[fierybluebird]

Ah... understood. [Sad nod. Denmark showed him his scars way back when too.]

How did you get that?

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

It was a revolution that left its mark on my neck. My citizens longed to have a voice, to have rights. They did not wish to continue suffering as they had for so long.

But, unfortunately, as great a cause as this was, to rid oneself of poison one must endure a great deal of pain as it drains away. Over sixty thousand were executed in the name of liberty.

Ah, I'm making it sound so depressing! We survived and I eventually became a better place for my citizens. I'm proud of them, for what they have endured. The cost was high, but the feat in Europe unprecedented. Amerique, he inspired much of the change. I helped him gain independence from Angleterre and in the end it was-- it was certainly worth it.

[fierybluebird]

[Another nod.]

I suppose so long as it was worth it, eh? Your own people remember it differently though?

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

Not really. They don't know about my involvement. They might see history differently if they did, but it's for the best this way.

[fierybluebird]

Understood. You have no regrets?

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

Are you kidding? I have tons of regrets! Mon dieu, most of the time I do not, you understand, but one does not take a revolution lightly.

I'm not a fan of mass executions if they are unjust.

But--it comes with so much pride too! It isn't every day that your citizens try to tear at a fortress with their bare hands and succeed.

[fierybluebird]

[Another sad look. His body posture is otherwise still though, for a change. More like a flighty bird with his head tilted to listen and stilled to keep quiet on the branch.]

That things got that way... [Shakes his head.] Francois, you shouldn't regret the unavoidable past. Just learn from it so you know better what to do for the future. Mass executions, rebellions, if those bother you so much, do what you can to prevent them from happening.

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

Eh, it isn't like that--though, you are very right, and I agree. Some of us are intelligent enough to learn our lesson. I regret the worst bits of it but I don't regret that it happened! I could never. It would be a dishonor to those who truly wanted liberty for themselves and for me.

[fierybluebird]

[Nods.]

Exactly.

Freedom really is a rather precious thing, eh?

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

Not to some... But it is to me. You would have liked the seventeenth century--the great age of piracy and colonial expansion for the world powers. Angleterre and Espagne, Prusse and I, Pays-Bas, Portugal and others--ah but the Spanish and English were so at odds over the New World, which eventually became Amerique and my Canada on the northern continent.

They were the first in Europe in centuries to really, eh what is the phrase... be democratic about how they ran things. Selected a captain by vote, ideally everyone would receive his share and so on.

[fierybluebird]

[Grins.]

I do have a certain affinity for pirates, eh? [You know... being one and all.] So pirates in your world all rushed for the New World too, eh? Aside from illnesses, did they usually die quickly?

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

... There was quite a lot of fighting. It was a very rough life unless one had enough money to retire and then did so. Ah, and even the medical practices were crude at best! A ship's carpenter would serve as the surgeon.

And of course the... ... the rats.

[fierybluebird]

I think England mentioned that.

[Arches an amused eyebrow.] Not a fan of keeping cats or dogs on deck?

[crotchroses.livejournal.com]

Euh... It is less the rats themselves and more of what they carry, which is the sickness on fleas.

More mouths to feed. Some ships had them, but not all could. A merchant does like to keep his ship as efficient as possible.