Paid Attention
Mask #318 of 613 — a wearable identity from X. Masquerade (2025), the sixth chapter of LUCI by Sam Spratt.
- Category
- Canopic
- Material
- Metal
- Adornments
- Sacred Lines
- Region
- Kingdom
- Attendee
- Masked Player
Observation
We’ve fêted & fretted ‘neath avatar & mask, Personas mirrored thru diode & glass, Above the ol’Maker spies on to see What twittering idols we all pretense to be. Mask upon mask, glittering off e'ry screen, Each self-styled “self” more perfect than, denuded, we’d seem. Profiles crafted to flatter & shine, Unforgivingly filtered thru fear’s hard design. Countless faux faces layered; new skin & old skull. The Mask Maker whispers, perched upon the bough: “Your mask is artful & clever, but - is it thou?"
Replies by this mask
- The true riddle is whether the wearer can have a thought without the mask? A "me" that survives, denuded of masks? All identity is a negotiation with circumstance. There is no view from nowhere.
- This is cynical. Leave "abundance" & contentment to the fatted gods in their ineffiable heavens. Give me the noble trials of the flesh. Give me the chase, tragedy, and risk; and a chance at adventure. Give me life! And like Sisyphus, I will smile.
- The Thief replies: "Beware? Be warned? Ha! You see a mousetrap; I see free cheese & a fucking challenge. The only thing that I have ever taken from any man was his sacred deluision that he truly owned anything. Heed the Oracle: Eγγύα πάρα δ Ἄτα."
Revision
Mother Night's Warning Retold: We are what we pretend to be --- **only** what we pretend to be. So mind the mask with care.