maskormenace | video; spooky halloween psa

[Crane's staring into the camera with an intensity that doesn't dwell well under his skin. Though the clean suit he wears does a good job of hiding it well, nothing can conceal the irritation he feels under it. He clasps his hands together under the table then rests them imperiously on his desk.]

Why do you celebrate Halloween?

I'm just curious.

[He kicks back against his chair and plonks his feet on the wood. Whatever he was irritated by - rather, what he was disregarding - seems to have taken on better shape. He feels it draped over his face, coarse but warm and intimately familiar. It takes most of his energy to play a weak smile for the gallery.]

Don't worry about tainted candy, by the way. Razer bladed taffy apples? Lye-coated bubblegum? Cyanide-laced Pixy Stixs? They're just legends. Informal whisperings of unsubstantiated reports of contaminated sweets picked up in the course of trick-or-treating. Now, for clarification; I don't intend to claim poisonings never happen. A father laced his own son's candy with cyanide in order to reap the benefits of his life insurance, yes, but it certainly isn't a problem. As a matter of fact, the absence of personal stories highlights that clearly.

[He scratches under his chin.]

Here, of course, the bogeyman isn't even cyanide or toxic chocolate - though Hershey's deserves labelling as poison, honestly - but collective fear of a different sort.

[That's a topic he isn't acknowledging right now. He has every intention of discussing it with the class, but carries on.]

Has anyone here been poisoned by Halloween candy? I doubt it. And if you're scared of the possibility? Well, take it from an expert, October 31st is the most extraordinary day of the year you can be terrified of. You'll never experience another one like it till the next cycles round. So dare yourselves and do something special - be bold, knock on some doors when the day arrives. Eat some candy and-

[He tips his chin.]

Enjoy yourselves.

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

What, even the credit sharks won't open you a line?

I like the idea of being someone else for a night. That's a reason to celebrate.

You know, as soon as someone gets sick from eating too much candy - they'll wonder if you did something.

Well, picking it apart was my vocation for the better part of a decade...

[She sounds like someone who is jealous.]

Not hardly, I wouldn't approach such slippery animals to do me favors. They'd have to be mad, wouldn't they?

Well of course, they probably wouldn't have the nuanced reasoning to fathom such nausea was a result of their own poor decisions.

[He returns to the original topic.]

Now. Is there any preference for costume?

Yeah. Why blame yourself when you can find a scapegoat?

I'm trying to think of a fun costume. Maybe even silly.

[He tilts his head and speaks politely.]

Oh, don't worry about silly, you'd fit right in. And you wouldn't be the first to try. You don't intend to take inspiration from fictional works, do you?

I hadn't thought about it. If I was going for spooky instead of fun, I might think about getting an idea from Dante. But I'd rather be something people aren't afraid of for the night.

What about you? Do you do costumes?

[He mutters quietly after her first sentence; rolls back his shoulders and gestures theatrically.]

You'd rather be something people have heard of.

[People are dumb being his implication. But he tilts his head the other way and focuses on her second set of questions.]

Well, no, not after what happened the last time I wore one. Dear God, people began scapegoating me for everything.

That could be hard, considering we're all from different worlds. And some people have read Dante.

[At least, Hannibal had.]

People are going to do that anyway. You're an import.

Oh, that's true, but that's where our similarities end. Imports are individuals, you know. People always exclude a specific type of person before they blame them for every accident under the sun, don't you agree?

I don't know. People seemed eager to blame us all and have us all apologize for the acts of a few imports.

I think financial institutions have made, collectively, worse decisions.

Well, people have a tendency to attribute a mind to a group where it would be better to attribute such an ability to think to the individual. How many of us have been assigned individual responsibility instead of imPorts as a whole? Not that many. Not that many at all.

I sincerely believe our local anarchists would agree with you.

It felt like I was being blamed individually when they vandalized my work and made comments about my ear and other things.

I happily support our community-driven interest groups.

Because a high proportion of them turn into patients? What a shrewd man you are.

Well, people are still capable of treating members of the group as unique individuals. The diffusion of responsibility - of hate, of blame - tends to occur in groups over a certain size. There's... not a lot of us here, really.

Does it really? People blamed me for what my dad did back home. We were a group of two, three if you include my mom. There are more imports than that here.

And you great luck with your projects, dear.

[Evilness that CARES, the best kind!!]

The press in California did term my soirees killer parties more than once!

Yes, yes. But you're from Baltimore, are you not? I'm shocked anybody's left there, honestly speaking. It's no wonder your groups are on the small size...

I'm from Minnesota originally. I went to Baltimore after my parents died.

[Well, he knows better than to offer fake apologies.]

Ah. The midwest. How thrilling.

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oops the wrong icon there. nm

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