psa [video]

[whichend]

[ Arya sits in a grassy patch outside one of the spires. She keeps one hand on the sword in her lap, and every so often, looks fretfully up at the sky. ]

The dragons have come. I am guessing most of you have never seen a dragon, so you might be afraid of them. And want to kill them.

[ Arya frowns. A loud, powerful roar sounds from off-camera. Arya sighs. The roar doesn't help her make the point she's trying for. ]

And I understand your fear.

[ She leans into the camera. This is serious. ]

But you must not kill them. They could very well be the last of their kind. Dragons are dangerous creatures, but impressive ones. Killing these dragons could not only mean their deaths, but the death of all dragons. So keep yourself safe. But let them be safe, too.

[ Suddenly, the lighting becomes brighter. In the distance is a red-hot flame. ]

Shit.

[ Arya mutters, and cuts the video there. ]

Comments

[whichend]

1) I would not say that choosing not to be a killer is a meaningless choice.

2) Because they look like the ones from my world. And even if they weren't, they're now dragons of this world. I don't want to watch another massacre.

I care about survival, and not just my own. I care about what is right. That has nothing to do with what is appropriate. Appropriate is a thing people invent to make them seem right.

[verinumeri]

1) That was not what I intended. What I meant was, the dragons may actively attack any who venture the streets. They may destroy both buildings and supplies. They may make it difficult, if not impossible, to live alongside them. It is a small cave and they are very large, very destructive, and may be disinclined to stop. Technically, there would still be the choice. It would not be much of one.

2) You saw the dragons in your world?

Right was no less invented by people. Appropriate and right are not always mutually exclusive.

[whichend]

1) The cave is less small than you think. The tunnels are endless.

2) I saw pictures. The dragons of my world were slaughtered until there were none left. It was terrible. Countless human lives were lost along with the entire family of creatures. That doesn't have to happen here.

It wasn't. There's a twist in your belly you feel when you see something terrible. [ Death. Torture. The loss of a home, a family. Arya doesn't want to go into specifics. ] That's wrong. Right is the opposite. It's something felt, not made up.

[verinumeri]

1) The dragons will not fit. Shall we begin living in the tunnels to avoid inconveniencing them with their incompatible desire to eat us?

2) My world's dragon mythology featured similar pictures and designs. I am not convinced that they are your dragons. It is not impossible, of course.

Yet, it twists for different things in different people. It is often cultural. Not always, I'll grant you that. Certain things hold true across borders. I still suggest that there are notions of propriety and approriateness that, while crafted by man, were done so to tie into or as a result of that gut feeling of right.

[whichend]

1) They might not fit. They might starve or suffocate. I don't care. That's the way of things. I care about not being the one to plunge the sword through their flesh.

2) They are still the only ones of this world. Their origin matters less.

Even if that happened, it would have happened a long time ago. Appropriate means something different now. Things change.

[verinumeri]

1) As to the last, at least, you needn't worry. Unless you speak for everyone as a whole.

2) We are all the only ones of this world. You hunt the monsters in the caves. They are the only ones of this world.

For some applications of appropriate, yes. Not for others.