remember

memories are the closest thing to immortality the impermanent will ever have.indie rp blog for mnemosyne, greek titaness of memory

[insidioux-blog]

"I will act like a petulant child if I want to, lay off." He pointed his chin. "What’s there to make worth while? What is my ‘following’. Nothing! It’s nothing compared to what it used to be. Useless, useless useless! I used to fill the place of all the gods! I could do what ten of them could do on my own!"

[eideticdivine]

"No. You are prideful enough to realize your own power - any one of us is worth more than any ten of the gods, if not in power then in maturity, and at the moment, you are proving that you are very much one of the former, Hecate. Your following is nothing because you, like all of us, surrendered to monotheism and agnosticism and atheism. If you are so determined to be bitter and childish about it, so be it - but remember that it is your own inaction that allows the situation to continue. You have pride enough to think yourself superior to the gods, but it fails you when it comes to proving that," Mnemosyne announced, arms folded. "And I fail to see how any of it pertains to your anger at your family."

[hartofglass]

          Tiresias paused for a brief moment, then he tilted his head and observed his guest with slightly narrowed eyes; eventually, the smile on his lips widened. He was almost amused. « Yes, I think I know. » He did not investigate why he hadn’t managed to sense it at first glance — it was a pointless question.

          « You said that… », he continued, with a thoughtful, small wrinkle between his eyebrows, « that, should I ask for an acute and ever-sharp memory, I would be granted that wish. And do I wish to not lose what I gained, be it wisdom or experiences — even though they remain in the choices I make. I would be ready to pay a lot for that, even with suffering, and yet I would not trade my sanity. Certainly I could still speak the truth of the Gods, even insane, but I pride myself with my ability of shedding light where there is confusion. I could not do that with clouded thoughts. »

          Raising a hand, palm up, he sighed. « I think I will ask nothing, for now. I am not old yet. »

[eideticdivine]

"Then you are indeed wiser than most men, though your refusal is not stemmed in the wisest reasoning. For though I, or any other, would gift a mortal something, such a gift would never be as pure as would be the same, but earned through one's own efforts," Mnemosyne pointed out. "Should you instead strive to remember that which deserves to be remembered, and only learn from the rest even as you discard those memories, I would think you might find it easier than you expected, and far less painful."

"I would make it known to you that I am pleased by your decision - I think, perhaps, others might find it impertinent, but we Titans wished that our brother's creations might become great: both wise and powerful. Though many have not, you certainly possess a far greater share of brains than most, and no small amount of humility to refuse what I would present you with," Mnemosyne declared. "And let it be known to all that should you ever have need of it, then my blessing as well as Apollo's be on you - may you always remember that which you have great need of when you have forgotten."

[satethecurious-deactivated20151]

"I was thinking something more along the likes of an ark. They don’t have motors do they?" He was teasing her just a bit,  though if the family was going to have something a spat between themselves he wanted to keep way out of it. 

[eideticdivine]

"What are you going to do, bring two of every animal with you?" Mnemosyne asks wryly. "Really though - you don't need a boat. Just... Do what you usually do, but keep in mind what I said about unity when the time comes."

[satethecurious-deactivated20151]

"I should invest in a boat."

[eideticdivine]

"No, that's a terrible idea. You shouldn't invest in anything that involves you and a motor. You're probably going to kill at least ten people on your first outing."

[satethecurious-deactivated20151]

"Transexuals. All of Cybele’s priests were expected to undergo castration, so a great many joined her cult. Those that didn’t want to take vows or get cut on usually ended up following Ba. It helped he’d been raised as girl, made him seem more like them."

He shook his head. “Metaphors tend to exagerate. Besides Vesuvius … ” He ran a hand through his hair and shivered. “Not something that needs repeating, you know?”

[eideticdivine]

There's a very long pause while Methe tries to figure out what that has to do with any of what she said, and when she finally realizes what happened, she lets out an exasperated sigh.

"Comus. I wasn't saying the women were men, I was saying the crowd of 'teenagers' was men - oh, never mind."

[satethecurious-deactivated20151]

He sighed, dislike but seemingly accepting as way of compromise. “You can … Though I reserve the right to ignore it when it would prove most useful.”

[eideticdivine]

"With voice and fist they raise the call, But no one answers, none at all. The ghosts lie silent in the grave, But yet the children could be saved If they should fight for once as one Instead of taking done as done And quarrel not with flesh and blood But rise together as a flood."

"Take from that what you will."

[thisthingallthingsdevours]

"If  I knew how my children would turn out, I’d eat them too."

[eideticdivine]

"In retrospect, I can't really be too angry. They were brats and the world might have turned out far better if they'd never been born - although if he was so concerned about his children, he probably shouldn't have had any. Men," Mnemosyne sighed.

[insidioux-blog]

Hecate scoffed; turning his head.

"Don’t tell me to let it go," He hissed loudly. "I’m not ‘letting it go’. I’ve wasted my potential; my power, on what? On this nothingness! I might as well have been cut into pieces and thrown into tartarus or- or live in a black hole!"

[eideticdivine]

"The gods have failed this world," Mnemosyne said, "and it was foretold that we were to let them, that they would overtake us. But when the mortals gave up on them, they gave up in return. It is unclaimed by any power of note - if the nothingness of this world is such a waste to you, change it. Make it worthwhile. Reclaim your following, or be silent. You are acting like a petulant child - like the gods, and I will not stand for it. You are of better stock than that."

[satethecurious-deactivated20151]

He smiled slyly. “Is there something I remember that you don’t?” He asked, his smile faultering a bit at the mention of Vesuvius. “Well metaphors are easier to handle than the real thing, aren’t they?”

[eideticdivine]

"Ha, I doubt that. It's not that I don't remember something - if it happened and I was there or heard about it, I remember it. I'm literally incapable of forgetting, unless Lethe has a hand in it, and even then only if I consent. I just don't understand what you're talking about right now."

Mnemosyne shrugged. "Sometimes. Depends on the metaphor. Sometimes the metaphor is worse."

[satethecurious-deactivated20151]

He gave a firm nod. “Blind and in the thick of it is just how I like it. Though you are sneaky aren’t you? Practically telling me what’s going to happen even though I said no.” 

His voice had becoming a needling tease and just to emphasize his point he stuck his tongue out at her and smiled.

[eideticdivine]

"Can you blame me? I so rarely see what's coming - when I do, I can't help but want to let people know. Can I at least give you one vague piece of advice?" she asked.

[satethecurious-deactivated20151]

Comus was silent, considering this. A little certainty was sometimes good medicine for those he wanted to inspire. But traps came with prophecy too, made you aware of cages you were better off not knowing you were in because you could never escape those bars.

Finally he shook his head and looked up at the goddess. “Nope. Don’t want to hear it.”

[eideticdivine]

"Are you certain? It's already begun to come to pass, and it's right up your alley, Comus - but if you're dead set on going into this blind, because you will end up in the middle of it, knowing you - go ahead. It'll go nicely with all the other times you almost had it but didn't quite make it." Mnemosyne shrugged.

[eideticdivine]

"I have news you will find pleasant, if you will consent to hear it. It is not tradition for gods to be the ones to receive oracular foretellings, but there are few mortal prophets these days, and you are closer to mortal than most."

[hera-teleia-deactivated20221211]

Hera was prepared to continue arguing, until something Mnemosyne said caught her attention, and she fixed a steady, unrelenting gaze on the titaness, her eyes filled with all the fire and bile of many millenia. Her back straightened, her every muscle tensing as she held herself with the grace that only a true queen could manage. Her voice was cold and authoritative, every syllable announced with perfect clarity, lest she be misunderstood. “I have indulged your disrespect towards me, Mnemosyne, but you will not speak against your king.  Compare Zeus to Cronus again and I will reduce you to a smear on the wall.” 

[eideticdivine]

"I do not and will not lie about history, Hera, no matter what threats are levied against me. It was foretold that Uranus' son would overthrow him, and Kronos did. It was foretold that Kronos' son would overthrow him, and he tried to destroy them to avoid that - and yet Rhea spirited Zeus away. And it has been foretold that Zeus' son would overthrow him, and he conspired to do as Kronos did. It is well that it was Athena, or else I suspect that prophecy would have become far more dangerous for your king." She did not emphasize the word 'your', but it had been chosen for a reason. "The legends of the past are mine to tell, and I will tell them. I do not speak against Zeus. There are far worse things I would say if I wished to do such a thing. I do not. I say only what was foretold, and what has come to pass, as is my right, and if you think to test your strength against mine for this, then I say first let us ask your husband whether that is your right." Mnemosyne had not lowered her gaze even after Hera's tone had gone icy and hard. She was no queen, but she was a Titanide, and she would not surrender her domain. "I have no further business with you," she said succinctly. "You have been apprised of the situation, and I grow tired of my words falling upon deaf ears. I shall send one of my daughters next time." Mnemosyne knew she probably shouldn't have brought up the Muses, considering how touchy Hera was about Zeus' multitudes of children, but it was too late now. She turned on her heel, stalking away.

[hera-teleia-deactivated20221211]

"And why, pray tell, would you wish to revive the worship of such leeches?" Hera blinked, her argument was mind-boggling. She laughed outright when Mnemosyne spoke of her and her siblings supposed dissonance. "As I recall, Mnemosyne, it was only dissonance between you and your siblings that necessitated our rise to power. There is a reason Grandmother chose to stand behind Zeus instead of one of you, even if you choose to ignore it." She lifted a brow at her critically. "And my siblings and I have always stood as one when it counted most, hence why we have remained in power longer than any who came before us." Trying to drive a wedge between the six children of Cronus and Rhea had never proven a wise course; they might have their petty disagreements, but their bond ran deeper than any argument.

[eideticdivine]

"Because I am not yet ready to give up on them. They were misguided, and still are - first by others, and now by themselves. They number in the billions, and agree on nothing, and thus make no progress. A firmer hand might do them good, and if it doesn't, then we will have done nothing other than waste years we have to spare. Which, I might add, is better than doing nothing at all." She met Hera's stare with one of her own. "Then you recall incorrectly. My brother's decision to attempt to destroy his children was unwise; he became what he hated, and was destroyed in turn - but still, we stood by him, and we fought for him. And we would do so again. My sister wished to protect her children out of love and in the hopes they would do better, and her son only continued what her father began. We do not fault her for that, and she does not fault us for fighting for what we saw as ours."

[ofviolentdeath]

"There has been war going on for over a decade and I have more than enough sisters to cover that mess. I handle violent deaths here and do so without being over run with the bloodlust of my sisters. I want no higher part in any of it."

[eideticdivine]

"We will see, I suppose. I have my doubts, but I am not infallible." Mnemosyne paused. "Why do you seek to change your nature, if I'm not intruding too much?"

[hera-teleia-deactivated20221211]

"Funny, I thought you were supposed to be the goddess of memory, Mnemosyne, but you seem to have forgotten the days before the pestilence of humanity overtook the beautiful world my grandmother created. I’m sure Gaia would love to hear you refer to her domain as ‘rocks and dirt.’" Hera spoke venomously, her eyes narrowing slightly. She remembered quite well the unspoiled beauty of her grandmother’s garden on Crete, one of the first places Zeus had shown her after freeing her and her siblings from their confinement, she remembered the days when one could walk the earth and marvel at its beauty, before the creation of humanity spoiled it all. "It’s little concern to me if they choose to worship Jehovah, or any other god. Let them forget, let them keep their glory, whatever. Mortals were amusing for a time, but I’ve grown bored of their destructive ways. They’ll never create more than they destroy, they will never be worth the time it would take us to make them worthwhile."

[eideticdivine]

"I think you'll find my mother as disdainful of the dust the humans have made of her world as I am. There is no life left in the earth; they have drained it like leeches."

Mnemosyne shrugged. "Well, then, O Queen of the Gods, I suppose you are well-equipped to speak for your kin, and if you tire of the humans, then my brothers and sisters will be glad to take back our creations. Perhaps with better tutors, they will learn unity instead of petty dissonance - say what you will about your forebears, but we at least knew how to stand beside our siblings instead of warring against them at every turn."

[hera-teleia-deactivated20221211]

"Considering your own behavior, I would think you should be the last to throw judgment about." She pointed out, and then scoffed outright when Mnemosyne made her self-important declaration. "It’s ‘coming’? Sweetheart, I hate to break it to you, but it’s never stopped. It’s gotten bigger, and smaller, but it’s never gone away. The mortals are always displeased. With any luck, this time they’ll succeed in wiping one another out."

[eideticdivine]

"You never disappoint me, Hera. Mostly because my expectations are so low to begin with. You've managed to let the point sail entirely over your head. First, if the mortals wipe each other out, what would you rule over? Some rocks and dirt? Second, I'm completely aware it's always been there, but they haven't. They've denied their reality but they are starting to realize just how many mistakes they've made. Let me put this in simpler terms. Some of them blame whatever silly gods they've made up for themselves, and ask why they've been forsaken. They've forgotten it was they who gave up on us first, and this is a prime opportunity to remind them - and perhaps reclaim our former glory," Mnemosyne explained, sounding mildly exasperated.