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

[restingstitchface]

[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.

[unbreaker]

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?

[restingstitchface]

[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?]

[unbreaker]

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?

[restingstitchface]

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.

[unbreaker]

Plenty of time for you to do what?

[restingstitchface]

Use your imagination.

Since you're clearly adept at that.

[unbreaker]

[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.

[restingstitchface]

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.]

[unbreaker]

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.

[restingstitchface]

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.

[unbreaker]

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

[restingstitchface]

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

[Can you hear his sarcasm?]

[unbreaker]

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

[restingstitchface]

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

[unbreaker]

I'm not worried, I know how to bounce right back.

[Imagination, baby. And love.]

[restingstitchface]

It seems you do.