"I am NOT on a boat, motherfucker."

[deadliestviper]

As Budd and Elle noted, there are a lot of R's in my story. Revenge, for instance. Rampage. Regret, rage, relief, respect, resignation, rape, remorse, redemption. And you, sweetheart, you seem to have forgotten that last one.

Yeah, I'm a bad person. You know this, I know this, it's common knowledge. No one lives the life I have and comes out looking like a martyr, it just doesn't happen. But that doesn't mean everything I did was evil. Ugly, yes, destructive as well, but it was honorable. It was right, at least in my eyes. My actions – dare I say it – redeemed me. I had what I needed. I had more than I needed; I had my humanity.

So why throw that out and rearrange my story for the sake of redemption? Why bring in anyone else to help me down that path? Trust me, I've got this. And even if I don't, I can handle the consequences. You and I both know I'm never going to be a good girl. So why are you still pushing to apply me for a game where I'd have to answer to a morality auditor?

Seriously. What are you punishing me for?

Comments

^____^

[nolongerhollow]

Madame, I...

Certainly you are a good woman pushed into seeking extreme justice. Compared to the man I was you do not need redemption at all.

But what would happen if you died before you reached your goal? Would not a second chance be worth a year out of your life?

Well hello there!

[deadliestviper]

A good woman. [snorts] Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I don't know about that.

Dying before reaching my goal is always an option, and if I do, then I'm beaten. A second chance shouldn't be given.

[nolongerhollow]

You don't have to be a peaceful woman to be good.

No, no, it does not mean it shouldn't be given. If someone like me, who took so many lives, who hurt so many with so little reason, deserve a second chance, then you certainly do.

[deadliestviper]

No, but sympathy helps a great deal.

You say that as if there's a difference between us.

[buywithme]

It's not really about punishing you, Sister. It's about getting a second chance, for a life that maybe isn't directed by those things.

I mean, I'm sorry that she's sending you our way, because it's kind of a hard life, but in the end I think it's supposed to be worth it.

[deadliestviper]

Maybe not, but that's what it would become. At this point, there's no need to strip all those R's out of my life. They're all I've got left.

Everything worth doing is hard, but I've got other work to do.

[buywithme]

Then maybe it would be a way of finding something else to live for? Some of those R's don't seem like wonderful things to define your life by...

Everything else'll wait for you.

[deadliestviper]

That's a nice thought. [As all thoughts tend to be. They also tend not to translate well to reality, but she doesn't add this.]

I don't know how long I can wait.

[thestarspangledman]

Well -- a different set of eyes might be more helpful, I'm thinking.

[deadliestviper]

How do you mean?

[thestarspangledman]

Well, with the redemption thing. It might be easier with ...two people trying to work towards the same goal.

[dielikeasamurai]

I suppose I have to agree with you in spirit; this sounds awfully boring.

[deadliestviper]

No mention of how it's impossible, O-Ren? I'm surprised.

[dielikeasamurai]

Redemption is also a forest. But it's so much less tangible than revenge. How can you tell when it's been accomplished? When these hypocritical moral arbiters say so, or some mysterious, semi-mythical authority figure decides you've passed the grade? I can't see you doing it. What could it possibly mean to you, or anybody like us?

/ squeeing.

[worldsbestmarksman]

The notion that in the wrong hands people like us can be made weapons who have no distinction at all beyond the code we live by?

[Clint wants to understand this code. Natasha's code. Fury's code.]

That kind of thing unchecked can be dangerous? I don't pretend to understand it either.

right back at you!

[deadliestviper]

And whose exactly would these wrong hands be? The only hands we can trust our necks with are our own.

Leaving anyone unchecked is dangerous. People like us [she uses the phrase because he did] are dangerous whether Big Brother's watching or not.

[worldsbestmarksman]

There are wrong hands. Trust me. People who can get in your mind and unmake you. Even taking away the right to do your work and look for the things that people enjoy in it.

[Natasha in the red room. Loki. Jesus. he shakes his head]

There's such a thing as a choice in that. Chose to say no. Chose to do what's right for you.

Then again I dunno. I think I might've come in the wrong way so. [hapless shrug]

[akasnakecharmer]

You know, Kiddo, what you call a punishment, others may see as an opportunity.

[ He holds up a hand. ] Now, don't say anything. Just think about that for a minute. Put yourself in your mun's shoes.

[deadliestviper]

Baby. Just the man I wanted to see.

You always know just how to catch me, don't you. [Nonetheless, she doesn't move. There will be a time for it, and it isn't now.] She's not you, Bill.

[akasnakecharmer]

[ Her response earns a deep, hearty chuckle. ] No, I don't suppose she is much like either one of us. [ Pausing for a moment, his lips spread into a small, thoughtful smile. ]

[persuadeyou]

[Well hello blonde Natasha, this should be interesting.]

They have a light definition of evil, I've noticed.

[deadliestviper]

[Ohaithar redheaded B, I'll take that bet.]

Sounds perfect then.

[persuadeyou]

I've heard it depends on your warden. You might be in for a pain in the ass.

hoping you're still around.

[wakey_wakey]

Two bitches, fighting for control on unfair ground...How will our story's heroine adapt?
Looks like you can't catch a break, B.

eee, a budd! was just out of town a few days

[deadliestviper]

Ain't that the truth.