dear_mun | (no subject)

Entry tags:

(no subject)

I'm painfully aware that you think I'm making friends in the City, but I'm afraid I have no choice but to disabuse you of that notion. Yes, there are individuals there who are...

[A sigh.]

Useful. And diverting, at times. However, I hardly think that they qualify as friends simply because I'm capable of spending five minutes speaking with them. It's not as though I've been given any other choice. One must do what one can to mitigate negative situations, after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

At the very least, you seem to think highly of yourself.

That's a good trait in a person, I always thought.

You think very highly of yourself as well.

I do, with good reason.

Which is?

It would hardly be right to brag about my accomplishments, now would it?

[Not that that's... ever stopped him before.]

I wouldn't consider it bragging. I did ask after all.

I've become very successful in various industries, including coal, railroads, and steel. I've also branched out into scientific ventures.

A man of business and logic, yes?

Undeniably.

And never a real failure or setback, I imagine.

Untrue. I've faced my fair share of adversity, certainly.

But over come and came out on top?

That is an accurate way to put it, yes. It took a great deal of hard work, but I'm not afraid of working diligently.

Top in your industry and everything like that?

Then your fall will be spectacular.

It would be, wouldn't it, if I had any intention to or concern about falling.

[he laughs.]

Oh no, no one expects to fall. But it's outside forces that cause it.

[And there's a head with amber eyes glowing]

Or extreme hubris.

Blaming outside forces sounds dangerously close to blaming "the powers that be," and I think we all know that that's absurd. As for hubris, it can be cause for concern, unless one knows how to temper it well. And I do.

A badly spoken word is hardly an act of the powers that be. Or snubbed feelings. A lack of care. A bit of indifference and the some interest from the scorned party.

And the fact that you think you can temper it well.

[He laughs again.]

You clearly know nothing about me, nothing about my vision, nothing about my vision. I find it insulting that you pretend to have some idea of who I am, what I've made of myself.

I am the Fool. I have seen men like you before millions of times and I will see men like you after.

You think you can control the world and make it bend to your will.

I think that with enough determination and hard work, anything is possible. Men shape the world, not gods.

Exactly. And men shape the lives of others.

And I shape my own life.

And the lives of others, much like they shape yours.

Your parents shaped it. The people you interact with shape it. No man is perfectly alone.

Even by himself, he still casts a shadow.

Some cast darker shadows than others. Those of us who are bold enough to live our own lives hold more sway than those who act as parasites to others.