10 ⚜ Audio

[restingstitchface]

[Anyone who's familiar with Crane will recognize his compulsive need to study fear. But what's the curious thing, here? His approach. His voice is as soft and calm as it had been upon his arrival. It gives an impression of frailty that's deliberately misleading. There was nothing about him that sounded like the Scarecrow. And that's the frightening thing.]

Machiavelli once said, "And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved."

I put his question to you all; is it better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved?

[He likes the idea of letting the piddling powers in this place believe he's behaving himself; listening to that silly therapist he'd encountered recently. Maybe his audience all be dishonest in their answers. Frightened. Scared. He indulges in a smile. He will have to confirm all of their opinions with an experiment, of course.]

Comments

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[thelimitdoesnotexist]

only two emotions?

this Machiavelli has limited choices.

Permatext

[restingstitchface]

A limited choice. Are you certain of that? There is beauty in simplicity, after all.

Permatext

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

why would I care what's beautiful?

it's a choice that's made on arbitrary rules.

[restingstitchface]

Arbitrary? Nothing about the question is whimsical, I assure you. Perhaps you ought to read everybody's responses? Many of them have detailed their own beliefs have informed them on this matter.

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

this Machiavelli seems to have picked two odd extremes based on emotions.

[But he digresses, his semantic prying only served as prying into the asker and a general alien ignorance of the subject.]

but if I had to choose between them I want the one that offer the most consistent response. love doesn't seem predictable.

[restingstitchface]

Oddity is attractive to some. Who are you to claim your opinion is unlimited whilst theirs is?

Regardless, you are correct. Love is just a response. Fear is within us from the moment we are born.

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

I'm saying they should try expanding their options a little further than two.

you can say the same about hunger. what makes fear so special?

[restingstitchface]

Fear is at the root of every emotion. It strikes terror into the hearts of devils. It's brilliant to watch, too. What about that isn't special?

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

I wouldn't go so far to say it's the root of everything. it informs half our decisions but it's not everything.

[restingstitchface]

Ah, that's a common view. It doesn't surprise me that you subscribe to such regimented thinking, though it's a disappointment. I had possessed some expectations you were capable of critical thought.

[He's not the one thinking narrowly here, ok? Nope.]

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

[Oh no he's not going to be yanked down this fallacy drain.]

you can't narrow down all behavior to one instinct. if all life operated that way it would be easy for them to destroy one another.

[restingstitchface]

Yes, well, people commit such violence every day. Your lives are ruled by fear yet you indulge in the illusions of love, sadness and disgust. Funny, tough, that you say fear tears people apart. My experiment proved how willing you are to do such horrifying things once you have those barriers removed. It was quite fascinating to watch.

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

you speak only for people you know. you know little about me.

you say fear is natural but you needed some artificial trick to spread this fear. it's not natural at all. your fear is another artifice seeking to be the natural order when you don't even know how it works.

[restingstitchface]

[Wow. Wow. RUDE.]

Well, who are you to claim what is natural and what is fake? How can you begin to judge the emotions and understanding of others when you barely understand yourself? If anything, my toxin gave people that understanding. It only brought their fears to the surface - they had to have existed to begin with.

[Look! He can be just as rude when aggravated - and he can be so calm about it, too. Let's poke at that existential crisis, shall we?]

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

[He can take that rude and top it with more rude. Because he really shouldn't be surprised at this guy cutting at his more sensitive parts.]

I know more than you'd think.

so what would happen if that toxin didn't get released? would everyone's fears lie asleep and they would go on with their lives?

[restingstitchface]

Not at all. They would go on being ignorant of their lives. I gave them clarity and enlightenment in thier purest forms.

[And lots and lots of pain, which had been fun to watch.]

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

they don't look enlightened. did you not spray enough gas to make them enlightened?

[What a ridiculous concept. Of all the reasons to spray fear gas.]

[restingstitchface]

Yes I did. Whether or not you chose to accept enlightenment is up to you.

[You. Yes, you. Bring it.]

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

it sounds like you're trying to sell it to me.

it's no different than what the government here is doing.

[It is brought.]

[restingstitchface]

To you it seems so. Yet, I'm the one in prison and most of you curtail to the government. Fancy that.

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

is your grand plan to get into prison?

[That's not particularly a smart plan.]

[restingstitchface]

Of course not. How you can be so obtuse?

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

I only followed the same kind of line of thought.

it's not like your plan would be more gassing.

[restingstitchface]

Well, it involves something, but not that. Or perhaps I'm just playing tricks on you and there's nothing. How can you know? You can't, can you?

[thelimitdoesnotexist]

I don't think you're that clever. I'll find something soon enough.