Forced honesty meme

[granddevil]

1. Post a comment with your character(s)! Put their name/canon in the subject line to make it easier for others.
2. Other characters will reply asking the character a question.
3. Your character must answer the question honestly and ic-ly. No buts!
4. Remember to ask other people questions!
5. ???
6. Profit

Comments

Evelyn Carnahan | The Mummy

[proudofwhatiam]

[tumbler]

Would you employ an elven servant?

[proudofwhatiam]

I doubt I'd have the money. But yes, I suppose I would, if we assume that I needed a servant and an elven woman was the most capable option.

[tumbler]

A woman then, hmm? I will keep this in mind, that you would prefer a woman to fall to your feet and praise your beauty.

[proudofwhatiam]

That is hardly how I would employ a servant.

Do I really look like someone who would want a woman to mem sahib me wherever I went?

[tumbler]

I, too, was surprised, but I will not doubt your own words!

...No, no, to be honest, you do not seem so.

[proudofwhatiam]

I'd be more likely to hire an assistant than a maidservant; we're well past Victoria's time where I'm from, and I've no need for someone to dress me and brush my hair like a doll.

[tumbler]

Who is this Victoria, then?

[proudofwhatiam]

Victoria was the reigning queen of England for most of the last century--but the world has changed significantly since her death. Where my parents would never have dreamt of dressing themselves for a night on the town, I find the entire idea rather silly.

[palebee]

What lengths would you go to, in order to secure knowledge?

[proudofwhatiam]

Any, provided it was valuable enough.

I'd like to believe that I wouldn't kill a person purposely for knowledge, but I am already responsible for the deaths of at least five men. Were the situation dire enough, I suspect I could.

[palebee]

And what sort of value does that knowledge have? Is it intrinsic -- would rare knowledge suffice -- or must it be turned towards purpose?

[proudofwhatiam]

By existing, knowledge has already served purpose enough for me; I'm afraid I was born with an academic's soul. The real difference is my level of interest. I doubt I'd murder anyone in cold blood for heretofore unheard details of the French Revolution, but should the topic be ancient Egypt...well, as the Americans say, all bets are off.

Re: Evelyn Carnahan | The Mummy

[ka_sera_sera]

What exactly does being a 'librarian' mean to you, Evelyn?

[proudofwhatiam]

I suppose that depends on what you mean. Speaking purely of the day-to-day grind, it's a number of small, occasionally menial tasks; being perpetually under-appreciated and occasionally over-educated; and, perhaps worst of all, frisking less-than-honourable scholars for texts before they leave the reading room.

But when one thinks more broadly...I hold knowledge, preserve it, mete it out to others as they require it. My work makes others' possible. To be able to say that about one's work is no small privilege.

[ka_sera_sera]

The preservation of knowledge, is that something to which you chose to dedicate yourself?

[proudofwhatiam]

Yes--and the active uncovering of knowledge. My life's work was to be finding a book thought lost to the sands of time.

[ka_sera_sera]

Was?

[proudofwhatiam]

For a very brief moment, I had it--or nearly. My dear brother ensured that we couldn't take it with us, though.

[ka_sera_sera]

And you let it go? How does one live with themselves after such a choice?

[proudofwhatiam]

That is the question, isn't it? But...by the end of things, I hardly deserved to escape with my life, let alone one of the most sought-after books in history. And of course, had I rescued the book, I would have died with it.

Haven't you ever lost something you oughtn't have?

[ka_sera_sera]

Many times.

...I've had chances to let go of my life's ambition. That's why I won't deserve it either, once I reach it. Perhaps you're a stronger person than I, sai Carnahan.

[proudofwhatiam]

What is your life's ambition?

[bonnypiperlad]

If ye could travel to any one particular time, where would ye want to do?

[proudofwhatiam]

I know the answer is "sometime before the Ptolemaic dynasty," but narrowing it down further than that would take me ages; there are so many parts of Egyptian history I'd love to see for myself.