meme reply: Three Things About Carl
Here is my first reply to the Character meme. I wrote Carl for arubyslipper. You know, even when I tried to do this solely about Carl the other two just kept popping in. I think it's because Carl will inevitably end up playing second fiddle to those two. Hope you like it anyway, hon.
kat_lair: yes, yes Allan is coming
One.
Carl grew up in the Vatican. He does not know any other kind of life. He thinks that this is the reason that Van Helsing is his friend. Carl has no family to mention, no fond childhood memories of running free and unburdened in the countryside. No, he did not have an unhappy childhood, and of this he is quick to remind the people who mark on the hardships of growing up in the care of the church. He was free to explore his scientific interests and pursue his studies even though being piss-poor. So he had a lucky childhood. But the memories of that time past are nothing that the monster hunter does not know. He knows the church and he sees the children that are growing up in their care right now. So, Carl cannot remind of him of things that he has lost, of things that he might have never had. That makes their friendship simple and enduring.
Two.
Carl is not in love with Anna Valerious. It is not just because she is his best friend’s woman, even if that is a part of it. He could never really match up with his friend in anything that would have meaning to Anna, even if he wanted to, but that is not really the reason. He sees the lustful glances and outright looks of his fellow clergymen, and he understands the physical attraction. Anna, after all, is a very striking woman and there is nothing wrong with appreciating her beauty. This Carl does on all the occasion she wears he neckline too low for propriety or tightens her corset for a waiflike waist. He can appreciate her beauty in the same way he admires the buxom French ladies in the dog eared publications hidden in his room. The real reason why he is not in love with her is because he knows her. She is his friend now, much in the same way Van Helsing is.
But with that knowledge, that familiarity the veil of her beauty is removed and Carl can see what kind of woman she really is. The thing is that Carl likes his women with easy smiles and coy winks and morals just slightly looser than his own. Anna is none of these things. She is difficult and headstrong, and cut of the same cloth as Van Helsing. Sometimes he just stands in their house, silent and still, listening them yell upstairs. They are both his friends and only a fool would place themselves on that firing range.
Three.
Carl knows that his cardinal sin is pride. And unlike his brethren he does not want it exorcised. He loves the envious looks in the smithy and laboratories that burn into his back as he yet again creates a new weapon or breaks the unbreakable chemical formula. Every time he steps into the confessional to bare his soul to a fellow priest he knows to confess his pride, but he also knows to not take heed of the priest’s encouragement to let his sin go. For Carl thinks that the Order needs his pride, needs his skill, and Carl know that those two are intimately entwined. If the others can keep their sin of envy, Carl can have his pride. It is for the good of humanity, after all.
kat_lair: yes, yes Allan is coming
One.
Carl grew up in the Vatican. He does not know any other kind of life. He thinks that this is the reason that Van Helsing is his friend. Carl has no family to mention, no fond childhood memories of running free and unburdened in the countryside. No, he did not have an unhappy childhood, and of this he is quick to remind the people who mark on the hardships of growing up in the care of the church. He was free to explore his scientific interests and pursue his studies even though being piss-poor. So he had a lucky childhood. But the memories of that time past are nothing that the monster hunter does not know. He knows the church and he sees the children that are growing up in their care right now. So, Carl cannot remind of him of things that he has lost, of things that he might have never had. That makes their friendship simple and enduring.
Two.
Carl is not in love with Anna Valerious. It is not just because she is his best friend’s woman, even if that is a part of it. He could never really match up with his friend in anything that would have meaning to Anna, even if he wanted to, but that is not really the reason. He sees the lustful glances and outright looks of his fellow clergymen, and he understands the physical attraction. Anna, after all, is a very striking woman and there is nothing wrong with appreciating her beauty. This Carl does on all the occasion she wears he neckline too low for propriety or tightens her corset for a waiflike waist. He can appreciate her beauty in the same way he admires the buxom French ladies in the dog eared publications hidden in his room. The real reason why he is not in love with her is because he knows her. She is his friend now, much in the same way Van Helsing is.
But with that knowledge, that familiarity the veil of her beauty is removed and Carl can see what kind of woman she really is. The thing is that Carl likes his women with easy smiles and coy winks and morals just slightly looser than his own. Anna is none of these things. She is difficult and headstrong, and cut of the same cloth as Van Helsing. Sometimes he just stands in their house, silent and still, listening them yell upstairs. They are both his friends and only a fool would place themselves on that firing range.
Three.
Carl knows that his cardinal sin is pride. And unlike his brethren he does not want it exorcised. He loves the envious looks in the smithy and laboratories that burn into his back as he yet again creates a new weapon or breaks the unbreakable chemical formula. Every time he steps into the confessional to bare his soul to a fellow priest he knows to confess his pride, but he also knows to not take heed of the priest’s encouragement to let his sin go. For Carl thinks that the Order needs his pride, needs his skill, and Carl know that those two are intimately entwined. If the others can keep their sin of envy, Carl can have his pride. It is for the good of humanity, after all.