black velvet

Thierry Astor. immortal witch.

[thierryastor]

vesperlinwood​:

What happens if the answers you find are not satisfactory? Find another source of power and repeat the cycle all over again? How do you determine who is worthy of immortality? And what happens in several hundred years, when one of these people you’ve given immortality to has lost touch with their humanity? Or when they split with what you deem the interest of your people? I just urge you to stop and think about this. Really look at what immortality has wrought for the people who were burned in the front yard. Is it worth it?

Then we’ll keep plugging. I’ve come up against plenty of unsatisfactory answers in the past. They don’t stop me. I choose people or they come to me, I feel them out, and decide. Plenty of people can lose touch with who they are. Humans tortured our people, lock them in cages, lock their own people up, turns into serial killers. Power isn’t the cause, neither is immortality. What good will stopping do us, Vesper? If I can find a way to make people stronger, to make witches stronger, when we’re stuck in hiding, being hunted-- why not do it? Why not provide our kind with better ways to protect themselves, why not get smarter? Why not break the ceiling?

[thierryastor]

vesperlinwood​:

You are not the first to want this, Thierry. You’re the one who’s gotten the closest. How do you intend to continue forward, with the power source you’ve tapped into being all but drained? I think what you want is noble and the right thing. You know that things like names and bloodlines have never meant anything to me, but they mean something to others. Do you really think that the best way to advance anything in our weakened state is to fall back to infighting? I don’t believe that what you’ve done destroyed magic. I think we are long overdue for a change. But perhaps I’m still stuck in the past.

We don’t know the power’s drained. It seems it drained for them but for me ... we’re just multiplying it. Haven, Riva, Ericka -- their existences never made me weaker. So it seems perhaps my battery is stronger. Made differently. But those are all answers I intend to find. And no, I don’t think infighting is the answer. But I don’t see much infighting so far. Aemilia and Victoria disagreeing about everything is simply what they do. I’ll always pursue the interest of my people regardless. 

[thierryastor]

idleteeth​:

[ PRIVATE ]

I guess that fits well enough. 

It is. It’s why I came here.

[ PRIVATE ]

Good. I’m not much of a songs by the campfire girl myself. But I do think it’s important to find our people. Even for the people like us who no how to get on on our own. 

[thierryastor]

vesperlinwood​:

Yes, it is, but because it’s a rare privilege, shouldn’t we do what we can to preserve it? Getting to the finish line means nothing if we are exhausted and jaded by the time we reach it. And your analogy rings hollow. The only finish line that life has is death. Otherwise, it just keeps moving, so when does it become enough? That is my fear. Right now, your intentions are noble enough. You seek power to protect others. But we’ve seen how time warps those intentions, and I don’t want to see you one day become the very thing you despise. Change and challenge are all well and good, but there is a way to do it without destroying the foundations that hold you up.

It may ring hollow to you. But it doesn’t to me. The world is full of finish lines. There are thousands. Right now, this war and waiting for the hunting to end. I sought out power to get stronger, to build a people that could no longer be overlooked by the council, that would have to be given a voice. Each of my girls was rescued out of a situation where power was what they needed. And we’ll use this time to get stronger, to get a leg up with the politics of our world, as we already have. The vampire experience reminded me that I still have a lot to do and that I can do more to make our power and expansion stronger. Nicholaus made it very clear that I’m the strongest magical creature left -- an anomaly. I want to know how far that goes. I have nothing to preserve, Vesper. I didn’t grow up with magic. Sometimes one must tear the house down to build it new again. But even so, I’ve been on my best behavior. The belief that what we’re doing here destroyed magic can die along with the matriarchs that upheld it. 

[thierryastor]

idleteeth​:

Yeah, well, I could have been a chickenshit that just liked to lift before all of this. You call me a warrior, someone else might call me an idiot. How the fuck did we wind up here?

[ PRIVATE ] 

In my experience, warrior and idiot got hand in hand. I haven’t the slightest clue, love. And I’m usually fairly good at seeing the whole board. Pesky humanity, camaraderie -- family. Or something like that. Is it what you want? 

[thierryastor]

idleteeth​:

I get thrown across a room one time in front of people and suddenly I’m a warrior type?

How many times do you need me to tell you you have great biceps, Ana? It’s not only about getting tossed. Warriors tend to run into the danger. Which is a place I’ve found you many times now. It’s okay. I too am learning to come to terms with the more noble parts of my heart. They’re small but there. Yours are a good deal larger. 

[thierryastor]

idleteeth​:

…a test subject? Is there another witch in your coven that’s willing to bond with one of the wolves here?

Maybe. Patience, darling. I know doing things without running doesn’t come natural to you warrior types but this is going to take some delicate handling. 

[thierryastor]

idleteeth​:

…What do you think it could do to me? I mean, I’m guessing kill me is pretty high up on that list of possibilities.

I can’t be sure. That’s the part I’ll talk through with Lucio. It could be no different than any other bond. Could be much more different. We may want to find a test subject first.

[maycanady]

Abigael Caine + 🔥

[thierryastor]

aemiliablack​:

[ PRIVATE ]

Why is it always at this exact point that I start getting frustrated far too early? Remember I’m a classy woman in power, Thierry. There will always be pomp and circumstance. 

[ PRIVATE ]

You must know by now that I like frustrating you, no matter how classy you claim yourself to be. 

[thierryastor]

aemiliablack​:

[ PRIVATE ]

Maybe. You can let me thank you… for saving my life. Perhaps only a girl who’s explored one too many nightmarish mindscapes might find being handed the heart of her greatest enemy in an act of some of the greatest power she’s ever seen an attractive gesture, and perhaps that girl is standing before you feeling particularly grateful she’s made it this far, even amongst the pain and chaos. And if you want, perhaps we can give each other a night of simplicity, forgoing politics, forgoing everything. We spent two months in cells, your coven’s still here, and I’m alive. I think a singular night of simplicity’s owed to us if we only we wish to take it.

[ PRIVATE ]

Aemilia, darling for the love of god, say what you want without all the pomp and circumstance for once. I can always give you a night. And I would certainly never say no to a thank you. You know how much I love gratitude. 

[thierryastor]

vesperlinwood​:

No, I disagree with that. I believe that nonviolence has its place in a world that has a tendency to be violent, if only to minimize the level of violence that is in the world. Just because the world is violent doesn’t necessarily mean we must add to it. Neither approach is viable on its own.

The ability to not fight to survive is a privilege afforded to few. If we want magic to survive, if we want to succeed, if we want to bring our people across the finish line with enough strength to defend themselves, we must add to it. I prefer to add to the fight through inventions and pursuit of alliance as opposed to outright fighting. But it’s still necessary. Just as you used dark magic and formed alliances to help Aurora get rid of the vampires. Complacency is not safety. Change in the magical community and what is allowed is necessary. We get no where without challenge. 

[thierryastor]

vesperlinwood​:

You’re not the only one who has felt that helplessness, and I doubt you will be the last. However, this is an argument that I don’t believe we’ll ever see eye to eye on. The only inevitability of the path you’re on is violence, and that’s not something I excel at.

I’m well aware. It was your point that we had never been helpless that I was disputing, Vesper. It’s the thing we’ve never agreed on, isn’t it? Nonviolence is only a useful approach in a nonviolent world. I’m aware that fighting fire with fire may only feed the flames, but if the house is going to burn, I’ll learn to harness the rain. 

[thierryastor]

aemiliablack​:

[ PRIVATE ]

As long as that one who’s hurt our people gets the message with my singular vote, then I suppose the overall outcome will be acceptable either way. I’m on edge. Angry. Tired. Admittedly not loving the feeling of standing on the soapbox alone without the insane family standing behind me. Alas, the Black spine of steel still doesn’t allow for any faltering. Living in a big empty room, carrying the weight of a royal coven on my shoulders… but drowning in luxury for the armor. It could be worse. We could be doing all of this on a farm somewhere. 

[ PRIVATE ]

I’m sorry darling. That doesn’t sound easy. Ruling with your head never is. Is there anything I can do?

[thierryastor]

idleteeth​:

And if it’s negative? Not that there was much to really think about, but yes. What I said still stands, delirium aside.

No such thing as negative attention. Good. I’ll to talk to Lucio about what our next steps are. I imagine the whole process isn’t quite the same given my magic isn’t the same. But I promise you there will be no surprises. No tricks. No games. I won’t risk screwing you up in the process. 

[thierryastor]

vesperlinwood​:

My word means something to me, so no, I would not do so lightly, nor do I have any intentions of doing so. However, my point still stands in that our last mess was predicated upon the notion that power is a finite source, and history has shown us that finite resources like that tend to be at the center of most conflict. We have never been helpless, Thierry. There will always be someone more powerful than us, no matter how much you amass. I simply wonder whether a discussion is warranted.

I’ve been helpless many times, love. It’s why I chose this path in the first place. Why I give it to my girls, to ensure that none of us are helpless again.  Power, however finite, is necessary. And if we must fight wars for it, then I’ll continue to do exactly that. Finding the ways to get what I need is what I’m good at. 

[thierryastor]

vesperlinwood​:

Haven’t we just lived through the aftermath of blindly accepting power where we find it? I think 

Do you truly think it’s wise to break your word with people that powerful who may be able to help us defend ourselves? No matter the consequences, Vesper, we must continue to build strength. I understand desire for power is often frowned upon but power is also necessary for survival. If we do not amass it, use it, and learn to build upon what we have, we only ever always be helpless.