impure_tale: (try me)
impure_tale ([personal profile] impure_tale) wrote2010-03-25 12:39 pm

123

A recent matter appears to have spurred some discussion, and considering my involvement, I suppose that since one person has already apparently made his views quite public, it is only fair that I do the same, only conversely I will have the backbone to make it so that he can view and respond to my remarks.

To keep it brief I will spare you my usual style for something a little more stilted.

Some nights ago, my item warned me of my Inmate being in danger, and naturally I armed myself and went seeking him first in his cabin, which is where I found him, along with Captain Swing, who had bound and was presently torturing him, using a sharpened implement of some crude form to cut him open in multiple places. There was so much blood I could smell it upon entering the room. I spoke, alerting the culprit of my presence, and when I saw the whites of his eyes, I shot him.

I do not deny my doing so. I would also say that I do not apologize, but I do, quite humbly, to his Warden, because he is charged with Swing's protection and discipline, and by what laws the Wardens like to collectively hold one another to, I have therefore overstepped my bounds in defense of my own Inmate.

I did not find out about an incident between the two after the fact and seek Swing out to retaliate. I did not follow a lead built up on rumor and speculation and move to correct it. I did not attack an innocent. My Inmate was being flayed alive, and I acted. This is not a choice that I take lightly -- I have not killed a man since I was younger than all but a few of you on this ship, when I served my country in times of war. And as I intimated to Professor Snape in private conversation, if I were to have found an enemy combatant in the tent of a soldier for whom I was responsible, doing the same as Captain Swing was doing, I would have still done what I did a few nights ago.

I will conclude by re-iterating this: The well-being of my Inmate, and his continued progress, is of the utmost importance to me, and I intend to continue to protect him aggressively. That is fair warning to anyone who might intend to harm him, because for some of you it takes knowing that much to convince you to use common sense and forgo violence. That is not to say that every slight against him earns a pistol shot. If he has attacked you, then inform me, and I will punish him. If you defend yourself against his attack, he will be punished. No one here can claim I spoil my Inmate. I do not.

Torture, however, is not a defensive measure. If I had  caught anyone in Swing's position that night, they would be recovering from death toll right now.

All of this having been said, I submit myself to whatever measures the other Wardens see fit to level against me, though I maintain that the Doctor really is the only one with the right to state what those should be.

[Private to Iago]

...I do not know how you are recovering, but I shall come in to check on you soon. I am concerned, however, that the other Wardens may attempt to re-sort you over this. I will do my best to see to it this does not happen, but I apologize, Iago, if my rash decision comes to harm you further.

[identity profile] impure-tale.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)
I continue to disagree. When torture is involved there is not only the danger of physical damage but also mental. And if you had (or have) broken my Inmate, thereby setting back nearly a full year of progress with damage that could potentially be irreparable, I think that raises the stakes some, do you not?

And as I said before, if violence is all that will keep some of you from attacking him, then I will defend him as aggressively as I see fit.
Edited 2010-03-25 18:08 (UTC)

[identity profile] pleasesmirk.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 06:28 pm (UTC)(link)
And as I said, violence is not all that would have kept me from doing so. The fact of getting caught is enough to put me off. There is no point in torture when you do not have the chance to get answers. If, yes, I had been persistent, despite other efforts to keep me from doing it, then perhaps that would have worked.

As I said, it's the fact it was your first choice that bothers me.

[identity profile] impure-tale.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 08:31 pm (UTC)(link)
Leave my Inmate out of your dealings and it won't be.

[identity profile] pleasesmirk.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
So you're playing the fear-as-a-method-of-control game. Except by shooting people in the face instead of operating an efficient but ruthless police force.

And this, somehow, makes you a better figure of authority than me?

[identity profile] impure-tale.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 09:20 pm (UTC)(link)
My methods as an authority figure didn't land me here as an Inmate. Yours did.

[identity profile] pleasesmirk.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 09:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I fail to see, then, why they did. Because if methods of controlling people by fear are acceptable for you to use, then why am I an inmate? That is all I did.

[identity profile] impure-tale.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 09:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I wouldn't call it "controlling people by fear" -- largely because I'm not an idiot and I'm not out to incite people. More that I'm giving fair warning to deter reprehensible actions.

[identity profile] pleasesmirk.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Which is exactly how I'd phrase it. Word got around about what we did at Cable Street, and not many people broke the law after that, because they were afraid of what we might do to them.

They got fair warning, and their rephrensible actions were deterred. Same thing.

[identity profile] impure-tale.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 09:54 pm (UTC)(link)
And what exactly did you do?

[identity profile] pleasesmirk.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
What you saw me doing to Iago, but worse. We didn't kill people, though. The principle is exactly the same.

[identity profile] impure-tale.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 10:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I wouldn't call torture equally criminal to killing in any world.

[identity profile] pleasesmirk.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Neither would I. Murder is a criminal act. Torture, whilst unpleasant and morally questionable, is done in defence of the law, and is legitimised by the state authority behind it.

[identity profile] impure-tale.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Whereas I view it almost completely in reverse. It's a shame you wandered into my state when you decided to torture someone.

[identity profile] pleasesmirk.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
I think you'll find, Marquis, that the only person who has due authority over me is the Doctor. He judged it as wrong, punished me, and I accepted it. You had no authority to shoot me dead, only to do what was necessary to protect Iago. Killing me wasn't.

[identity profile] pleasesmirk.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Normally I would agree to leave it there, but I died, so it's a little more personal than that.

[identity profile] impure-tale.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
And yet here you are, still in perfect grip of your senses, emotions and logical faculties. Would you like to know how my Inmate is faring after your handiwork?

[identity profile] pleasesmirk.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
This isn't about comparing suffering, because I'm not claiming that what I did was alright. You are.

[identity profile] impure-tale.livejournal.com 2010-03-25 10:56 pm (UTC)(link)
Kindly reread my post. We're finished, here.