NIETZSCHE; DEAD PHILOSOPHERS' INBOX

[explosivecombat]

[TEXT; LOCKED TO doitrockapella]

The offer for conversation is always open, should you desire to take me up on it; I can't guarantee that I'll respond immediately, nor will it necessarily be the response you want, but I'll always respond in some way.

In the name of enlightened discourse.

Comments

[explosivecombat]

You really have learned well in that regard.

[doitrockapella]

Something's bothering you, though, isn't it?

Long pauses are usually my specialty, not yours.

[explosivecombat]

What would you consider our relationship to one another, Locke?

[doitrockapella]

I think it's largely dictated by what you want.

[explosivecombat]

How so?

[doitrockapella]

Bear with me while I try to find a good way of putting it into words.

It's...in a way, as though you've set the ground rules and I play within them. You're generally willing to sit back and let me push things one way or another, within reason and within the implicit bounds that have been set. But sometimes I wander outside those bounds, and when I do, you crack down on me for it.

I think the best example of it is when I do something that you read as trying to change you. You'll give me free rein to tease you or poke at you to a point, but as soon as I toe over wherever you've perceived the line, you don't hesitate to put me right back in my place.

So I'm hesitant to say what we are, because whatever it is, I'm fairly sure it's one of those foundational rules that you generally tend to dictate. That's part of it, at least; there are other things that tie into that, but if I tried to explain those at this point as well, I'd end up wandering around on the topic for awhile, and we usually do better when I try to keep things neat and focused until we both have a good sense of what we're trying to say to each other on each individual piece of it.

[explosivecombat]

Allow me to rephrase, then.

Ideally speaking, what would this become eventually, were it up to you?

[doitrockapella]

Ideally speaking you'd become my partner in crime, embrace my guiding principles, discover an alternative and generally more benign means of feeling alive, and live happily ever after.

But since "wouldn't it be nice if..." tends to be reserved for alchemy and not for relationships...something that leaves us both happy would probably do.

[explosivecombat]

Understood, then.

It's still a bit idealistic for my liking, but I can live with it.

[doitrockapella]

"Understood"?

What are you doing?

[explosivecombat]

Nothing, Locke.

They're just questions.

[doitrockapella]

What's suddenly gotten you onto this line of questioning, then?

[explosivecombat]

I'm assuming you won't find "morbid curiosity" to be an acceptable answer.

[doitrockapella]

Since when are you ever morbidly curious about how I—

Scratch that. Does this have something to do with the other me you saw?

[explosivecombat]

No, why would it?

[doitrockapella]

You're going to kill Mason Dixon.

Whether you intend it to or not, this is reading as though you had some kind of great revelation that gave you sudden insight into how you feel about me, and now you're beating around the bush in traditional form trying to get me to admit that I like you too.

And I'm fairly certain that's not the case, which is why I'm getting a little perplexed by it all, and the dodginess isn't helping appearances any.

[explosivecombat]

Does it help any if I verify that I'm assessing my own responses here, not yours? This is why I'm saying they're just questions; they have nothing to do with trying to get you to respond a certain way.

I have my own reasons for wanting to kill Mason Dixon.

[doitrockapella]

It helps, but I'm still not sure what you're doing with it. If you want to talk through something, I'm not averse to it; it just helps to know what we're doing first.

I'm being arrogant again, aren't I. You wouldn't kill him for my sake; it'd have to be something he did to you, albeit indirectly.

[explosivecombat]

I'm sure you remember me telling you that I prefer having you as you are, as opposed to having any of your weaknesses exploited; surely you didn't think that was some sort of over-the-top evil monologue. I'm not the only one I wouldn't want doing that sort of thing.

And besides, I could tell what he was trying to do, and he was doing it entirely wrong.

[doitrockapella]

What he was trying to do?

[explosivecombat]

I'm sure you've worked out how things are between my superior officer and myself.

[doitrockapella]

And if he was the superior, then she was the...

[...]

Weapon.

[explosivecombat]

That's what I think, anyway.

[doitrockapella]

And you're offended that he did such a poor job at it?

[explosivecombat]

I'm offended because being a weapon is a choice, not something to be forced on someone. That's not something that can be forced on someone.