driftfleet | 003 winter wonderland

Entry tags:

003 winter wonderland

Who: Sansa Stark
Broadcast: Fleet-wide
Action: down on the planet
When: 20 December - end of the month

> > > carol singing

( Sansa enjoys the systems that are cold and this one is no exception. This planet is full of ice and snow and the people are warm and kind the way she remembers the North being when she was a child. They do love music, impossibly so, and so she decides to sing a few of the songs she knows down in a cafe when some others are singing their own. It's nice to learn new things to sing and she has one of the new songs on the tip of her tongue as she goes to get a cup of warm tea, needing to stave off the chill. When she sees someone she recognizes from the Fleet, she steps back a bit and allows them to step to the counter first. )

Oh, did you want anything? Far be it from me to be in your way - how rude of me.

> > > stitching time

( Lord Akeldama's waistcoat was coming along nicely and rather than sew up in the Fleet, Sansa has chosen to do it down in a cozy corner near a fire in a bookstore down on the planet. She has a little basket of sewing things she's bought from her small supply of credits and she's hoping a few others will take her up on the offer to make things for them. She sends a message out to the Fleet indicating the same, that anyone can come and put in a commission. She sews fast and accurate; Sansa doesn't think it will take her long to turn out a few pieces and earn a bit of money. For now, though, it's Lord Akeldama's waistcoat and she's just pricked her finger. She makes a soft sound and brings the wounded finger to her lips to suck it. )

Ouch! You'd think I would be better at this.

> > > wildcard

( Have another idea? Leave me a start below! )

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Oh no, I don’t think I would be any good at piloting. I settled disputes and negotiated as Lady of Winterfell, so I think that communications is a better fit for me.

( Sansa looks at Leia, curious. )

And what of you? Is communications a strength of yours?

It is, by requirement rather than choice.

[Whether it would've been something she ended up being good at had her life been different, Leia doesn't know. But it's something she has to do as a rebel leader, as a senator, and as a princess.]

I represented my planet in the galactic senate for a time. Communication skills were necessary for that.

A senate? How does that work, then? Each planet has their own person to speak for them? You don’t have a king or queen?

( A world without a king or queen seems a strange one to Sansa; it’s all she knows of ruling. )

Most planets still have their own king or queen, or some form of governance. A planet's local government concerns itself with matters that affect life on the planet directly, or negotiations with other systems on a more personal level. For my mother, the well-being of our citizens while on planet was the priority.

[Something that would've been her priority more than it was before had things been different. Something that's her responsibility now in an entirely different way, because she owes it to anyone left. But that's not where she wants her thoughts to head at the moment, so she shakes her head before continuing.]

The Senate is affecting multiple planets on a wider level. Trade regulations, intervening in humanitarian crises, or reprimanding acts of aggression are the sort of things it was intended for.

I see. We have no such thing in Westeros. Sometimes a king or queen might ask their vassals to come pay fealty to the Iron Throne but each great house rules their lands.

( Sansa remembers when her lord father was the dispenser of justice in the North. She wants that again. )

After the war, the North declared independence. My brother is King in the North and I’m his heir. I rule in his stead while he’s in the South negotiating a treaty.

I don't envy his job. Negotiations can be frustrating even in the best of situations.

[Being as hot-headed as she is, dealing with people whose views she sees as actively wrong and offensive (or, anything that supported the Empire and its oppression) back when she was in the Senate was always an extreme test of patience.]

Do you like governing?

I hate it, truth be told, but duty dictates I must do it. It's not in me to shirk my responsibilities and I owe it to my people to guide them and govern them to the best of my ability. Do you like it?

( Sansa has found that those who love being king are the worst kings but Leia doesn't seem the sort to be a bad queen. She seems rational and level-headed and, above all, kind. )

Not governing, exactly.

[The prospect of sitting in the sort of meetings her mother sat through, of the required manners and protocol for dealing with others, that's never appealed to Leia, even though she understands the necessity of it.]

What I enjoy is making a difference, for both my own people and for the others throughout the galaxy. It would be wasting the resources I've been given if I didn't use them to help those who can't, for whatever reason, stand up on their own.

( Sansa smiles a bit; Leia is a kindred spirit, as she hoped, and not someone ambitious or hungry for power solely for power's sake. It comforts her. )

Then you and I are of similar mind and one accord. I do it because it needs to be done, not out of ambition. I have a duty to my people to represent their interests as best I can and make decisions to benefit them.

[An answer Leia is similarly glad to hear. She knows others can see her as idealistic or anything along those lines back home--not on Alderaan, but elsewhere in the galaxy--she's heard it before. But, meeting someone with a similar mindset is refreshing.]

I've known far too many royals or senators who care far more about their own self interests or preserving the status quo. I can't understand that sort of thinking at all.

Neither can I. Those who are born with a crown on their head tend to be the ones least suited to wear it. Some of the most awful kings and queens I've known were those born into royalty. Those who fight for their people are better, I think.

( Perhaps there should be a representative government in Westeros but Sansa doesn't know if that's her decision to make. )

They lack perspective or empathy, in my experience. It makes me wonder exactly what sort of upbringing they had to warp their mindset in such a way.

[She knows how she was raised, with the mindset that she must think of others always, even when she'd rather do something else. But she knows that's not the most common way to rule.]

They’re given everything at a command or the snap of a finger. Everything seems a game to them. At least it has been that way in my experience.

( Sansa hasn’t thought of Joffrey in a long while but she cannot help but think of him now. Such a stupid, spoiled boy. )

I'm sorry to hear you've had to deal with so many like that. I assume there's little hope they can be reasoned with?

[She knows better than to assume they will change, but she can still hope.]

No, no hope at all for reason. Not with people like that. I think the houses in Westeros have rot in them, bad leaders, and there must be better ones from other houses.

( It's just a fleeting thought, though, and harder to put into effect than just a few words. )

The great houses became great through wars and conquest, not election.

It used to be that way for us, ages ago.

[Well there's still war now, naturally, but that's not the war she's talking about here.]

Alderaan didn't stumble upon a peaceful government just overnight, it took ages--long before I was born--for families to settle down. They got tired of fighting each other, I think, and we're the better for it.

That is what I hope happens in Westeros. If we could find a way to work together instead of squabbling amongst ourselves, we would be happier overall.

( Still, though, Sansa thinks they're a long way from peace. At the moment, the North is trying to be independent of everywhere else; she doesn't know how long that will be sustainable with winter on their heels. )

I'd hope there are enough from your home with a similar mindset that such a thing would be possible.

[At least in that Leia is idealistic, and she knows it, because despite fighting because she has to, it's not something she enjoys doing, and she assumes nearly everyone else is of the same mind.]

You could always find a way to lead the charge, so to speak.

I think I have enough to do putting the North back together - I don't know if I could or should be entrusted with putting the entire Seven Kingdoms back together. I do think I will suggest the idea of some sort of representative government, though. It might work better than one king over it all.

( Or Queen, if Daenerys Targaryen gets her way. )

Well, one person can't do it alone. Uniting two kingdoms, let alone seven, would require several people working together, I'd imagine.

[Recruiting for a rebellion isn't quite the same, she knows. Uniting people to work together, even briefly, in the senate was difficult; uniting a group permanently is something different altogether.]

Are there many different groups that live together with you in your North?

Well, we're all the same, I suppose. We used to want to keep the Wildlings out and it was part of the reason why the Wall was built but now they're our allies. My brother saw to that.

( That had been no small victory, really, and Sansa is grateful for it. )

They used to raid our lands and steal our women. Not any longer.

[She'd ask what Wildlings were, but she has some idea of what they must have been from the rest of Sansa's explanation.]

It sounds like your brother is talented when it comes to people as well.

He's good with a sword. He has an honest face and a plain way of speaking, which people tend to respect. He doesn't seem the sort of person to try and trick you, if that makes sense?

( Sansa, meanwhile, is too clever with words by half. )

It does make sense, yes.

[Sounds a lot like Luke, in a way. While she isn't sure she'd say he's good with a sword, he's certainly someone with an honest face and a plain way of speaking.]

I've met a few people like that in my time. That sort of honesty inspires confidence and brings out the best in others.

I just fear that he needs to become a little less idealistic if he intends to survive. Politicians are everywhere and men seek to take down those above them.

( Sansa has learned this the hard way over and over. )

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oratorical - 2019-04-03 03:29 (UTC) - Expand

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theladyofwinterfell - 2019-04-03 16:47 (UTC) - Expand

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