To: everyone (a few days after all arrivals)

[northerndragon]

[Jon writes in a very fine hand, but to many, it will seem archaic.]

I would like to speak on duty, if you will.

What does duty mean to you, if it means anything at all?
How do you know what your duty is?
How do you know when you have done it, or failed to do it?

If it doesn't matter to you, why doesn't it matter?
If it does, why then?

I seek to learn from my fellows.

— Jon Snow, of Thorne

Comments

[chainedqueen]

[She knows that style of penmanship well and feels at home reading it.]

Duty is all. I have known my duty since I was very young, as all women know their purpose. I was meant to marry where my father deemed I should and bring a strong alliance for my family. My duty was to become a mother, to expand my husband's House and to serve the Gods and the realm.

There are moments where we might all stumble or mistake our path, but duty is something that is difficult to ever truly mistake. It is a rigid arm to guide.

[So rigid and so suffocating. This is fine.]

Are you questioning your duty, Jon Snow?

[satanicpanics]

[ Eddie is trying so, so hard to restrain himself, but eventually, he cracks.

His handwriting is somewhat less graceful than Jon's. In fact, it has just been carefully crafted to look like the Slayer logo. Not that Jon would know. ]

I really don't think you wanna be saying duty that much.

[ziryla]

( snow is a bastard’s name. it is not a thought that passes in particular judgement, as much as simple note alone.

but she can’t assume such a thing, not without knowing what realm he may be from. after all, such worlds of possibilities is now open to them.

the questions strike a sour note, however. )

I’ve had the disadvantage of being told my duty all my life. There were times I wished to be free of it, before I came to understand that I had come into my right of earning it.

If I were within my own world, I would answer you so: my duty is to my realm, as it has been for all those before me. Failure is not an option I care to consider.

What exactly is it that you seek to learn, Jon Snow?

— Rhaenyra Targaryen

( perhaps it’s overbold, name revealed. but she is just like everyone else here, and she tests the waters now, throwing out an anchor to see if it catches on something familiar. )

[theidlemaiden]

[ It's her first time experiencing something like this and it comes as a confusing surprise. Eventually Hilda recalls Sylvain explaining that words might appear out of the blue with a broad stroke of, "It's just magic," and that's enough for her. She fumbles with her reply but manages to send something back in even, neat script. ]

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮! 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩?

[tobeclosetohim]

[ Jo stares at that collection a long second, and then writes a single line back. ]

𝕋𝕙𝕒𝕥'𝕤 𝕒 𝕨𝕙𝕠𝕝𝕖 𝕝𝕠𝕥 𝕠𝕗 𝕢𝕦𝕖𝕤𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦𝕣 𝕠𝕨𝕟 𝕒𝕟𝕤𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕤, 𝕥𝕠𝕠.

[earthborn]

You're asking a lot of philosophical questions for somebody not providing any answers of your own.

[Shepard's own reply is square and flat, more consistent than any calligrapher could manage. She's not used to writing by hand, and even in this mental space it still comes out in the blocky standard-use font installed in every Alliance Datapad.]

I'm a soldier; back home, I'd say I am a marine. An officer: I'm Commander Shepard.

At the end of the day, my duty, my responsibility, is to do my best to follow orders, and to protect my people where I can, and to spend their lives well where I can't, rather than wasting them in either case. I like to think I've done a pretty good job, overall. But only time will tell if it was enough. Sometimes you just don't get to know.

Why do you ask, Mister Snow? It's not like we're not all due for a crisis of faith, but...

[politicians]

[ his is a hand quite steady and beautiful. like the words themselves hail from a land where the art of the word is regarded highly. ]

Quite a heavy set of questions to be spread so far and wide. Is it your duty you so struggle with?

[enactors]

( marc's handwriting is legible — probably the kindest thing anyone can say about it — and untidy in a way that says he doesn't write by hand often. )

I'm a priest. My duty was given to me by god.
It was explained in no uncertain terms. There's little room for error in terms of understanding whether I am fulfilling the mission given to me.

What are you hoping to learn?

— Mr. Knight

[ordinar]

Duty is something that's imposed on you.

You follow it because you feel like you owe it to someone. You can choose to ignore your duty, yeah, but it comes at the cost of disappointing people who are counting on you.

[notoftheblood]

[ It took Jack a few minutes to realize how to respond, but after thinking on it awhile he did.]

Duty is doing what is right. Even when it hurts and feels wrong. And finishing what you start.

I don't really know how to know what my duty is, it always felt like protecting those that need help. Failure just means someone's died, and it's my fault. That's how I see it.

At least that's what I feel.

I don't know if that's the right answer.

[cryptsleeper]

Overrated.

Better to find what makes you happy (so long as harm is not done to others) and pursue it than bow to duty and expectations of family name, rank, or other societal ties.

If you must be bound, then do it and then step away so you can pursue your own true needs.

[wewillwewill]

[ Elidibus knows a little something about duty. ]

Duty is the charge I have accepted to fulfill, whether it is one of my own making or that of happenstance. While there may be failures and successes in pursuit of one's duty, these are experiences that can be learned from. So long as one has stayed true to their duty until the end, they have fulfilled it.

Still, what is it you seek from your questions? I doubt you will find one definition for what duty is or means. Do you seek to learn from other Summoned or of them I wonder.

-Elidibus, Solvunn.

[aquilus]

[He absolutely has some Thoughts on this, but it's not his habit to immediately reveal his most sincere feelings.]

Why? Are you struggling with yours?

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Duty is... a burden. A weight, chosen freely and of one's own will; borne of the demands it places. And yet, for all that it is a burden, there are those who thrive under it. Who learn to bear that weight, be it of their own desires or to further a cause they deem just.