Journal of the Marquis de Sade

I preferred last Halloween, and I look forward to returning to the CES with Renate and not having to worry about cleaning ash out of my suits. I have the strong impression that more was going on than the garden variety holiday silliness, and I feel compelled to thank everyone involved in getting this ship back to normal -- not only the Admiral but everyone that made an effort to clear all of this putridness away, Wardens and Inmates alike.

I would also make an effort to more eloquently criticize those Inmates that accepted a 'deal' with the new Admiral if I had the knowledge and the will to do so. I have no idea what he offered you and have only secondhand information. The only course for me is to tell myself that you were all very desperate for whatever it was. Otherwise I would have to question the intelligence of any person that could look at the state of the Barge at that time and feel confident to seek any sort of reward from its engineer.

( On that subject, I suppose it is now time to address the behavior of my Inmate -- Cut for Length )

[Private to the Admiral]

From now on Lucius Malfoy's wand is to only have the capabilities of standard 'First Year' spellwork.

Honestly, this is why I so loathe these infirmary visits. You strap me to a bed (so much wasted potential, there) and I miss everything interesting.

And so few visitors! The lot of you wish me to die of ennui, is that so?

[Private to Infirmary Staff]

In all seriousness we really must discuss the matter of my release. Am I going to require surgery of any kind? It's been agony on my back to even try to walk; what is to be done?

Fellow denizens of the barge, I pose to you a question: 

What is your definition of blasphemy? 

I have a book here which defines it, rather simply, as irreverence toward the deities, artifacts, customs and tenets of a given religion. Which I suppose is a perfectly fair and universal explanation. But "irreverent" behavior -- don't you have to belong to that particular religion, or at least to the society that sanctions it, for it to count as blasphemy? 

For instance, most religions that use the Bible or some form of it hold to the notion that "taking God's name in vain" is a sin. Does this not apply merely to followers of that faith? If, say, I were to not be a member of the church (can you imagine?), I would therefore have no reason to hold the teachings of the Bible as sacred. Oui? By that logic, then, if someone were to, say, drop something particularly heavy on my foot, enough to induce extreme pain, then for me to exclaim "Jesus Christ!" should be perfectly acceptable. In turn -- because it's not just about teasing the Christians -- the same would be assumed if I were to say "Sweet fucking Tak!" instead, no? 

Is there a difference, aside from the fact that the religious whining is for once issuing the most loudly from a non-Christian?

This is not about respecting the differences of others -- I'm well aware that I could have made my point without such coarse language. I'm also well aware that if it were simply about respecting differing cultures, a Warden would not have been physically attacked today for "blaspheming" -- over Audio, where anyone could hear it, no less.

Has anything been done about this, by the way? Or were the lot of you simply having a laugh over it? 

And it appears that we have reached that time of the month again; every universe in the world hits its menstrual cycle, and we get whatever drips off. Not that I've been the most coherent for the last few weeks, but I do believe I missed welcoming many of the current denizens that arrived then. I'm to understand that the Master has graced us with his presence again, is that not so? 

Oh. And the silly whore that lost the Abbe. How quaint.

(ooc: Update on the Marquis -- still crazy, but only in the privacy of his own room, which is still trashed. When he emerges to bring Renate on walks or attend meals he is quiet and approaches no one. He does leer a lot, though. Fairly warned that his troll tendencies are in high season lately.)

Iago.

(ooc: The Marquis brought Iago back to the Barge -- and as soon as they were off the main deck he promptly started wailing on him and had to be bodily removed by Spock. This is hours later, after he's had time to calm down.)

You have no right to hold that boy's soul life ransom, you selfish cunt, no matter how deserving you or anyone else thinks he might have been. Especially not when I know for a fact that you've been backing every deed and scheme you've been slippery enough to get wind of -- each of them questionable by your peers, I'm sure.

Or have you never told any of the men or women here that you've bent over for that you were standing at his shoulder during the riot? 

Tell me, is keelhauling still in practice where you come from? 

(ooc: so the marquis is pissed that his friend is dead and that Morgan's been flippant about resurrecting him.)

It might serve to surprise some of you that I did not, in fact, write this most recent distribution, and those of you that have been keeping track ought to be ashamed; you should find my style distinctive by now. Know also that I have never written myself into a story, and that should have been your first indication. The second would be that despite my use of real people at times, I always change their names.

EDIT (after seeing Snape's entry): And honestly! I tell someone to grow thicker skin after a much tamer story, and everyone shakes their heads and scolds. It's because I'm French, isn't it?

Rehearsals are canceled tonight; I'm in need of some rest.

( Private messages to the Abbe, Angel, West, and Pavi )

( Private to the Admiral )

[Public]

Iago, if I am to teach you anything it is that so long as you are under my care, violence will not be tolerated. As of now and for the next month, I am assigning you to custodial duty. In particular I'm assigning you to cleaning the Inmate bathrooms. You will do this in the early hours of the morning; plan on being roused at 5 a.m. for the next thirty days, effective tomorrow.

There will also be no visitors to your chambers without prior permission from myself, until further notice.

You are also to write an apology, to be posted publicly, to the woman you attacked and for perpetuating more violence with the Sexbys. This is to be submitted to me for approval prior to posting it for them.

You are still expected at rehearsals, as is everyone else in the troupe.

And to everyone else, I must agree with recent posters and ask what it is the lot of you think would happen if you did what the nice voices told you to do. Most of you have been here long enough to know better.

And honestly, if you really wanted to be bombarded with images of gore and rampant sex, that's what my library is for. Much safer to read than to experience every night.

( Quick Private Note to West )

(ooc: He has no idea bad stuff will start happening today >.>)

It's a wonder some of you even made it through auditions. I could get a better performance out of Captain Adams' monkey than a few of you. I would hope that when the lot of you get to the point where you have actually memorized your lines that you speak them from memory better than you read them aloud. As a group you do not sound the least bit cohesive, so it's back to basics.

Cast and Crew should begin sitting with one another in the dining hall, as a step toward bonding. Even amateurs see better performances in themselves once they have a feel for the roles of their castmates.

[Private to Daisy Adair]

Mademoiselle, even if you had not told me I would still have the distinct impression that you've experience on the stage, and would like your cooperation in organizing some exercises for some of the less seasoned members of the cast.

I suppose I am to assume that along with the baths of all other Inmates that have complained, then my own being missing is part of the same phenomena. Public baths? Honestly. Not that I can argue it's as common as the occupations you are forcing upon us. After all, where I come from commoners do not bathe that much.

[Private to Major West (because LOL he doesn't know yet)]

Sparrow, humor me with a drink?