Feeling fucked up is what makes us human… though marine biologists are increasingly convinced that dolphins and whales have complex emotional lives [mammals, babies, mating, yeah yeah—but more than that. The emotional and societal intelligence of elephants, for example, has been well documented]. Side note: I think EVERY life form possess complex emotional lives: dogs, cats, bugs, whatever. Yeah. Even bugs. Even if it’s mere sensory input: “Food! GOOD! Time to burrow, GOOD! GIANT HUMAN THUMB DESCENDING TO SQUASH ME, BAD! BAD! BA—”
The image above is THE SEER from VIKINGS.
He can’t face the mirror every morning and say “Hello, beautiful,” yet, he can tell the future. [Yeah, I know, the Blind Seer is a horrid cliché. But his presence in the story of VIKINGS is vital.]
Because we are looking back through the lens of history.
The Seer is an easy, fun character. Maybe too fun, too easy. Just look at the toy they made out of him, FFS!
This post is a bonus to the forthcoming edition of HEXES, wherein I really babble uncontrollably about VIKINGS. Sneak peek:
The past will always catch us. The future, too. Because we’re fucked-up humans. Tragically aware of the inescapable web of time.
Ω