( ᴠɪᴅᴇᴏ )

[mantlepieces]

[ The video clicks on to show a teenage boy sporting a black eye and a letterman jacket with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and a big letter 'R' on it, as well as a mildly derisive expression on his face. It's a well-crafted guarded look, closing his face off from giving much away about what he might be thinking in the disdainful nonchalance it conveys. ]

So, I think one of my favorite things about this place so far is how I managed to show up just in time to start up school. Again. Some sense of humor someone's got -- but hey, I'm not complaining.

[ There's good reason for why he's not, but that of course he doesn't mention; better to play it like he's too mature for that kind of nonsense. He flourishes with his hand in a theatrical sort of gesture before he goes on, and briefly his tattoo is visible -- although instead of REGISTERED it just reads REG, the rest covered up with an adhesive bandage.

He continues in a tone of mustered confidence, approximating the appropriate smug punch his follow-up really calls for: ]

I'm Reggie Mantle, and I'm not gonna ask about superpowers or trans-dimensional whatcha-call-it because I figure, real or unreal doesn't matter much if we're livin' it anyway. I got a better survey question from a homework assignment:

What do you hate? With a passion?

Comments

[isaytheeneigh]

I'm just gonna get this out of the way before anyone else can ask:

Why do you wanna know?

And what do you hate? With a passion?

[Jean has no intention of answering. He's not interested in talking about that in public with ... almost anyone.]

[mantlepieces]

I want to get to know my fellow hostages better, and everyone hates something. It's called bonding.

For me: Bad hair days.

[ Sure, sure. ]

text

[lyingheart]

Do you believe everyone can afford that much passion and energy for something they hate? I suppose it's possible... for some.

There's nothing I hate with a passion. Stupidity I dislike, the capacity for the terrible things people can do I dislike, but that kind of energy, hating with a passion, that's not something I can do.

Nice to meet you, Reggie Mantle. I'm Annie Leonhart. [ And she's sure her answer will seem impossible to a few who might read it. ] Will you be attending Heropa High?

TEXT.

[mantlepieces]

Well yeah. First of all it's easy. Second of all, hating something doesn't take up nearly as much energy as people claim it does. Just think of it as a work-out. But I'm with u there. Stupidity's a killer. What kind of terrible things?

Heropa High. U too?

[slightlyoffchilt]

What do I hate, with a passion? Aside from National Public Radio fundraisers?

Pseudo-psychological surveys, especially when they're ripped at byline from certain antisocial personality disorder communal message boards.

[Oh he saw that, on the Google. Or rather the Heropa version: the Googol.]

[mantlepieces]

[ Wow. Rude. ]

I don't know what you're talking about. They have those?

Private -- > As best as he can.

[hydraated]

[Ward really doesn't like using the network. Skye sees everything and he knows that's kind of paranoid. Still. It's worth asking.]

...Cages. Families. The New England Patriots.

PRIVATE.

[mantlepieces]

[ Ah, his new friend. ]

What about New England Patriots fans? [ But, more seriously: ] Family but not friends? What gives?

voice;

[brushoff]

Reductive questions, mostly.

VIDEO.

[mantlepieces]

Were you just drawn to my charming personality, then, or that desperate for conversation?

text;

[infomodder]

The laxness in dealing with people who adopt pets and how far one has to go before, legally, something is considered animal cruelty.

[Keep smashing those mailboxes, Reggie. Mailboxes are not animals.]

TEXT.

[mantlepieces]

[ Yeah... about that. Not that it'd been on purpose or anything, but intent can't unring any bells, can't un-run over any dogs. ]

You don't like crazy cat ladies. Got it.

[text]

[bloodonthestones]

Killstealers. Spawn campers.

Coats that don't fit right.

When people are wrong on the internet. It's a very serious problem.

[that last one's a joke. really.]

TEXT.

[mantlepieces]

Is that nerd-speak or namecalling? I can't tell. What the hell's a killstealer?

I love when people are wrong. Then I get to rub it in.

[permavoice]

[jumbie]

School. [Since he mentioned it.]

PERMAVIDEO.

[mantlepieces]

You and me both, sis. Too bad we're stuck with it.

[acclimatized]

Unmanned checkout machines.

[mantlepieces]

Why? One less person you gotta talk to.

video;

[godly]

Apathy and hypocrisy.

[To-the-point and concise, but at least completely honest. Though granted a little broad.]

And the schooling here isn't that bad; especially if you're given survey questions like these as homework, which will undoubtedly lead to some very telling answers.

VIDEO.

[mantlepieces]

[ Just the kind of answers he likes. ]

Like I said -- I'm not complaining. It's yielding interesting results already.

Apathy like laziness?

[video]

[acrobrat]

[Anita raises an eyebrow.]

Being here without my sisters. The stupid government that can't even do anything when things happen to us.

You're not complaining? Good for you.

VIDEO.

[mantlepieces]

No, I'm not complaining. I save my complaints for when I think they'll actually go someplace that isn't deaf ears. Like a stupid government that can't do anything when things happen to us.

[ Not that he yet has much experience with that. ]

video

[bratarang]

Group projects.

VIDEO.

[mantlepieces]

Because of the group, or the project?

voice

[screenplays]

People pretending that they don't want something from me.

VOICE.

[mantlepieces]

What's there to want?

slams in here with action. let me know if this is okay!

[boobwindow]

[ There's a slight bang on the front door and then soft scraping before the jingling of keys can be heard. There's a muffled "sorry" on the other side of the door — a woman's voice.

The lock clicks and the door swings open. Karen emerges from the doorway, holding onto a small kennel with one hand and the keys with the other. She puts the kennel down once she's got the door shut and opens its cage door, letting out that cat of hers, who only freezes when he smells and sees someone unfamiliar in the house.

Karen joins him at entrance to the living room, staring in unison at Reggie skeptically. ]

Who are you?

SURE THING.

[mantlepieces]

[ When the door opens, Reggie sits up -- he's been on the couch, inclined back with his feet up on the table -- with a jolt, immediately tensing as soon as there's another person in the room.

He eyes her and the cat suspiciously. ]

Reggie Mantle. Who are you?

video

[huntergames]

Homework.

[ There's a math textbook beside her that looks like it hasn't been opened. The homework sheet atop it also remains untouched. ]

video

[mantlepieces]

Because it's boring, or is it that you're stupid?

video

[heartboxer]

People who do not care about the harm they inflict onto others. [ He says this readily without even thinking twice about it. His tone remains serious. ] It is one thing to not consider the consequences of your actions and regret them after they are finished, but to openly know what you're doing hurts other people and to not care about the damage you inflict onto them is wrong no matter how one will look at it.

VIDEO.

[mantlepieces]

[ Well, ouch. That's a lot all at once that strikes closer to home than Reggie is happy with. His jaw tenses slightly, though his expression doesn't otherwise change much. ]

Right or wrong, none of us are in the business to become saints, last I checked.

[symbionic]

The fact that nobody down here seems to know how to make New York style pizza right.

[mantlepieces]

Uh, it's Florida. They can't make anything right, last time I checked. [ Which is never. He is just pulling this so-called statistic out of his ass. ] Can you make it or are you also a nobody?

text.

[immigrantpunk]

people who talk shit about things they don't understand
also oranges

TEXT.

[mantlepieces]

I hate people talking shit about me too. Or I used to before I learned that their opinions aren't important if I know I'm great.

[ ~So misunderstood.~ Even if Jayden was, like a normal person, probably not referring to himself. ]

When someone else being wrong means ur right it's not a bad thing.

OJ too?

Voice

[motherflocker]

People who are unable to recognize their betters, of course.

It's a negative questions to start with, don't you think?

VIDEO.

[mantlepieces]

Hear hear. Unless you mean you -- then I can see why someone would.

What's wrong with that? Does everyone think I should be asking questions like what they'd teach a parakeet to sing or if they're more a summer or a winter? Really?

video

[bombsaway]

[OOH! She's got a list, but #1 goes to:]

People destroying my laser cannons. They're soooo expensive to manufacture!

VIDEO.

[mantlepieces]

[ His eyebrow quirks skeptically. ]

What would someone need with laser cannons, exactly?

[symmachy]

That's an awfully pragmatic way to think about it.

[mantlepieces]

Is pragmatic supposed to be a bad thing, now?

[beneathbluerafters]

Close-mindedness. And people who are cruel to animals.

[mantlepieces]

What's everyone's deal about animals here?

[ "Everyone" being like, two people. But that totally is enough to count as a pattern. ]

Video;

[crabcake]

[He gives a wry grin]

Everything. From time to time.

VIDEO.

[mantlepieces]

[ He smirks at that. ]

Technically there's no right or wrong answers here, but that's about as right as it gets.