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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Here he is, trying to mend fences, and along comes Chilton's idea of friendship.]

Oh.

[He clucks his tongue inside his cheek.]

Well, I know you're hocking me to take her off your hands but forget it. You're stuck with her. I'm not. [Housemates don't count.] I'd rather not share my days with the woman as well as my nights.

As -- as well as your nights?

[He asked, incredulous, halfway believing that this was some obvious bait Crane had lined for him -- which, naturally, he took. Because you don't leave a line like that without tugging it.]

[Sometimes there's nothing like a good laugh at someone's confusion.]

She makes them too exciting. Being a psychiatrist, surely you know how difficult nighttimes can be for repressed tendencies?

[By which he means putting on his mask and hitting the town, but you do you, Chilton.]

Would you care to go into detail?

I'd rather not.

That cringe-worthy, is it?

It is. Thanks for pointing it out, by the way.

I felt it necessary to draw extra attention to the matter.

Of course you did. And for altriuistic motivations, I'm sure.

Mm, always thinking about others. That's me.

Mm, you think? I could justly explain my motivations as being focused on others because the human mind is there to be explored. You try finding an honest word in any such explanation, though!

Oh, I am sure you could.

Evasive. I do hope you haven't tripped, backing up like that.

[Cluck, cluck, cluck.]

Your concern is always appreciated, Jonathan, especially when verbalized with the exact right amount of patronizing tone.

Yes. Well, you love it when people rub it in. You're clearly drawn to men of a certain type.

Oh? And what type of men am I drawn to, explicitly?

Ones who abduct you, for one.

That has only happened... Just a handful of times.

Oh, yes. And you're going to wear that as a badge of honor, aren't you?

I think it isn't remarkable enough to bring up. No doubt you yourself have been kidnapped, perhaps by someone in leather and pointed ears?

Just once.

And yet, that is once more than most people in our community, I believe.

Oh, right. Our community. Well, dear as the comparison is to you, Frederick, I hardly see how it applies in this instance. You see, Gotham has its own community, and as I'm sure you're aware, its citizens don't tend to, ah, assimilate easily.

Harley has done decent enough assimilating. So that leaves you...?

Apparently so. [Shrug.] Assimilation forces everybody into their own alienation, Frederick. I consider the entire notion repugnant - and those who insist on it possessed of dubious and sinister ambitions. Our current batch of imPorts hardly prove me wrong.

(no subject)

slightlyoffchilt - 2017-11-09 05:51 (UTC) - Expand

restingstitchface - 2017-11-09 20:02 (UTC) - Expand

slightlyoffchilt - 2017-11-10 02:33 (UTC) - Expand

restingstitchface - 2017-11-10 02:38 (UTC) - Expand

slightlyoffchilt - 2017-11-10 07:00 (UTC) - Expand

restingstitchface - 2017-11-10 12:43 (UTC) - Expand

slightlyoffchilt - 2017-11-12 00:46 (UTC) - Expand