maskormenace | 10 ⚜ Audio

10 ⚜ Audio

[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.]

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That's an interesting opinion. You're wrong, mind.

People live happy lives. Create happy families. Believe the world is full of sugar and sunshine. Then in one day their happy lives are shattered and nothing remains the same. It only takes one moment in existance to drive a man to madness, you know.

And that moment's when everybody realizes all safety is an illusion; that their lives are hollow and pointless.

Safety is never a real, solid thing. You only delude yourselves into thinking otherwise because the alternative is too terrifying to contemplate.

Nah, I'm not wrong. I mean, you were just askin' for opinions, so you don't get to sit there and force feed me your beliefs like they're the only way of thinking.

Besides, I've seen people overcome their fears. The state of being afraid of something? That can be just as fragile as feeling safe. But that's just how life is. You take the good with the bad.

[There's a long pause for theatrics.

Can this boy know what he'll say? Can he tell what he's thinking? Finally he speaks.]

Funny. You say I don't get to force my beliefs upon you. Yet isn't that what you're doing right now? Goodness, you're sounding like a hypocrite.

[There's a pause from Josuke's end, too. Not quite as long as Crane's, but long enough for him to bite back any irritation he might be feeling.]

Yeah, no. Once more, in case you're hard of hearing, you asked for opinions and I'm giving mine. I'm not the one pointing fingers at you and saying you don't get to feel like your life's hollow and pointless, you go right ahead, it's your prerogative! I'm just saying your theories don't necessarily apply to everyone else, and they sure don't apply to me.

[Crane doesn't pause again. It's lovely, though. It would be nice to hear him this mad more often.]

Yes they do. Recall your decisions here. Recall your behavior. Are they the signs of a well-adjusted man? Frankly, you're beginning to sound like a child.

[Actual adult, Jonathan Crane.]

The hell's that supposed to mean...?

[How is he not well-adjusted? He's perfectly well-adjusted! What does Crane know about well-adjusted, anyway!]

I'm seventeen, so I'll take it as a compliment that I don't sound seventy and off my rocker, thanks.

[Crane knows plenty. He's a psychiatrist.]

Now, that's a specific denial coming from a person like you. Are you certain there's nothing troubling you? Nothing you wish to discuss?

You wanna discuss what's troubling me?

[...shit teenager attitude levels rising. And yet somehow he maintains a sliver of actual curiosity? Concern? Well, it's not outright awful, at any rate.]

Yeah, sure. We can start with what's troubling me right now, an' that's you. The hell kinda shit did you have to put up with to get so hardhearted, huh?

[That concern? It's met by a watery wall. It's not solid as one made by bricks, but it absorbs damage and the currents run deep under the surface. His tone is calm and level.]

Nothing as terrible as you might believe.

[Really... it was nothing. It had made him stronger. Indomitable. Unafraid of anything and anyone.]

You're doing that thing again, that presumptuous thing. And kinda avoiding the question a bit, too.

[Come on, Crane. You wanted to play the discussion game. Don't back out now.]

Something happened, I didn't ask how bad it was, I just asked what it was.

[But the fact Crane went for a deflection rather than a straight answer? Makes Josuke think that whatever it was that fucked him up, it's probably a lot worse than Crane himself wants to believe.

What's that called again? Oh, right. Coping mechanisms.]

[He knows what coping mechanisms are. He's moved past them. He's no longer that child who had been locked in the aviary and made to scream for mercy. He had learned back then never to beg or show his fear. And now? Now he does what he does for the thrill of watching them scream. To have them all pinned under his thumb. It makes him feel so good. His past has nothing to do with it.]

I fail to see how my past is relevant to my initial question. [He knows exactly why it's relevant.] Your hair-brained approach is taking matters off course, you know. You might want to fix that.

Edited 2015-11-09 17:41 (UTC)

Harebrained?

[No, that's not right. Crane had definitely hyphenated the word. Josuke's not imagining the emphasis, he knows he's not!

This fucking asshole.]

Why am I not surprised that's your answer? Oh, right...maybe 'cause people who use fear to manipulate others don't like it so much when the tables are turned around on them!

[Is he getting pissy? You bet. But he hasn't quite reached teeth-grinding or table-flipping levels, yet...and that means barreling ahead with even more determination. Not that he's ever really known when to quit, or ever been good at it besides.]

How 'bout this! You answer my question straight, and I'll answer one of yours?

[Don't split hairs over it, man.]

Fascinating. Your persistance highlights your fear of accepting that some people are just the way they are. You're combing over the issue, too. That is to say I don't care to share my history with you. You'll answer my question regardless. Everyone shall. So tell me why I should share it my past with you before I cut this conversation short.

[Do you see all those hair puns? DO YOU?]

I'm not afraid of accepting people for who they are, buddy. I just make it a point to know who they are before I feel one way or another about 'em. It's called being informed—also commonly referred to as not being a son-of-a-bitch for no goddamn reason!

[...yes, he saw those puns.

But he also saw something in those last few lines that gets him thinking. And he doesn't like what he's thinking at all.]

What're you gonna do, force everyone to tell you shit?

No. I don't need to force anything out of you. You're all willing to simply sit down and talk. It's quite pleasant, really. It saves plenty of time, you know.

Plenty of time for you to do what?

Use your imagination.

Since you're clearly adept at that.

[The funny thing is, Crane's right. Josuke's imagination is quite good! Enough to have saved his life on several occasions, in fact.

But right now? It just serves to make him worry.]

You're a real piece of work. I feel sorry for you.

Yes, well, that would be more convincing if you said it with conviction.

[Right now, he doesn't really feel mocked and ridiculed by this young man's pity, such as it is. He sounds comfortable, actually.]

So what if my conviction doesn't look the way you want it to?

[In case Crane forgot, Josuke wears a little nonconformity everyday.]

I meant what I said.

There's nothin' more to feel for someone who thinks the world and everything in it is so broken.

Well, you carry on believing that. You obviously cannot listen to reason and I don't see a reason to waste my time.

[He has been completely reasonable, here!]

I've explained that I'm happy with who I am. Perhaps you should listen to that before it bites you later on.

Please tell me you're not dumb enough to be threatening me? I mean, I wanna give you more credit than that.

No I'm not threatening you. I'm teaching you about a superstitious concept. It's called karma.

[Can you hear his sarcasm?]

Oooooh, karma. Yeah, me and karma get along great. Because, y'know, I'm actually a decent human being unlike some people!

So you are. Unfortunately, life has a nasty habit of making bad things happen to good people.

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unbreaker - 2015-11-09 23:00 (UTC) - Expand

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restingstitchface - 2015-11-09 23:06 (UTC) - Expand

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