♻ 016 | audio

[tucky]

You know, I been wondering. If a girl gets pregnant and kills the baby, how many of y'all consider that murder? It's a real... hot-button issue where I come from, I guess; it's a big deal. There's people who feel so strongly about it that they believe the ones who actually do it - the doctors and stuff, and the people who work for 'em - deserve to die too. And it happens. People will go in and kill somebody like that, and other people will celebrate.

But then there's other people who say it ain't bad at all, 'cause we got rights to our own bodies and nobody should try and take that away. That's sexual liberation, and it's the same thing that says girls should be able to have a lot of sex and not get called sluts and whores. I always liked that part, at least, 'cause I been called those things before and it makes you feel dirty and small. But I knew guys who had way more sex than I did, and they never got called shit. Ever notice that? It's weird, how that happens.

And then there's the whole issue with condoms - which I use now, mostly, when I remember, so I don't need another lecture about that; don't worry. If you're gonna have sex, you're supposed to use 'em, or you end up with that problem I already talked about. But condoms are a real pain - they ain’t sexy or romantic or anything like that. You got to stop and put 'em on, and then you can feel 'em, and… I don’t know, I just like it better without. And I bet I ain't the only one.

It's confusing to think about; all of this is. But it's all tied together.

[warden filter]

I'm sorry for flipping the bird on the warden filter last week. I was mad and I'm still a little mad, but I think I do trust y'all, and I would like my actions not to be held against me. Please. Thank you.

Comments

[private]

[tucky]

They pretended they had problems and asked me to fix 'em. Then when I did, they pretended the problems had gone away.

I know God loves the people who go through hard times. He's still with them, even though He don't come in and solve all their problems.

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

Sure. He doesn't, that's why free will is a thing.

[private]

[tucky]

Yeah. I get that now.

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

Anyway. He'll judge them, just like He judges everyone.

[private]

[tucky]

They don't care about that. They don't believe in Him.

What's a berk?

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

They will.

Cockney rhyming slang, isn't it? Berk's short for Berkshire hunt, rhyming synonym for "cunt".

[private]

[tucky]

[SNORT.]

They are cunts. Every last one of 'em.

I never heard of Cockney rhyming slang, though.

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

Sounds like.

's how they sometimes talk in the East End. -- London.

[private]

[tucky]

Never heard Mason talk like that.

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

Not everyone does. Where's he from? Has he ever said his hometown?

[private]

[tucky]

Nope. Somewhere in England.

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

There are lots of different people and places in England.

[private]

[tucky]

Well, I've never been there, so I don't know much about it.

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

It's not a big country but a lot goes on there.

[Britain's interesting, it's busy, and it's not America, which is fun to visit but he wouldn't want to live there. Besides, he has a certain friend living in London's Soho neighborhood.]

[private]

[tucky]

I ain't surprised, 'cause there's a lot of people from there here on the Barge.

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

A decent amount, yeah. D'you talk to them all? How many of them live in London, besides me?

[private]

[tucky]

I talk to a lot of 'em. Even my warden's from England, but he's from way in the past and they don't even call it England, so it might not count.

I don't know who's from London, though. I never asked.

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

Do they call it Albion? [Britain-as-Albion meant a particularly odd era of religious and mythological events.]

[private]

[tucky]

Yeah, they do. How'd you know?

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

It's an old-fashioned name for England. I figured it may be the right one.

[private]

[tucky]

Yeah. I don't know when he's from, exactly, but it's a real long time ago. Probably the 1700s or something.

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

Mmn, try about a thousand years earlier. He's Merlin, right? The Merlin?

[private]

[tucky]

I don't know what you mean by that.

[private]

[sauntervaguelydownwards]

Didn't you ever read about King Arthur when you were a kid?

[private]

[tucky]

Nope. I'm not a big reader.