hadriel | second. text. (hella backdated)

Yeah I took Psych 101 in college too.

Josh probably didn't feel a whole lot of need to act on it since he wasn't all that serious to begin with. But yeah, Delight's definitely the god who'd benefit most; did she even ask for anything in return?

I didn't go to college at all.

[Technically, he didn't even finish high school, though the curriculum at the House was so far advanced that what Mello and the other children like him studied by age 14 went well past university levels.]

No, Delight didn't ask for anything in return. I explained to her up front how she would benefit from granting the request.

[God he doesn't believe in, grant him strength and patience.]

So not the point but whatever.

[And okay, that's interesting, though not super surprising. It's not like making condoms is on the level of making and then continuing to supply enough coffee for the people here, so no surprise that one needs payment and the other doesn't.]

Good to know. Probably kind of worth it to figure out what sort of things each god does or doesn't want something in return for.

That's true of anyone, not just these so-called gods. Analyzing people and uncovering what they want is incredibly useful in deciding how best to deal with them.

[Most often, in Mello's case, how to exploit that knowledge to his benefit.]

Edited 2016-06-12 04:08 (UTC)

[There's something in the wording of that he doesn't like, but it takes a moment to place what.]

Pretty sure that crosses over from 'how to deal with them' into 'how to manipulate them.'

'How to deal with' people is pretty much just don't be an asshole. No in-depth analyzation necessary.

Your naiveté would be charming if it weren't so incredibly sad.

I'd be more insulted if you weren't proving me right.

I mean unless you're purposefully 'dealing' with everyone the worst way possible.

The adage that "you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar" has one very profound logical flaw - namely, why would you want to catch flies in the first place?

Being nice doesn't get you anywhere in the world. The meek have never inherited the Earth, and they never will. You have to take what you want. Nobody is going to hand it to you just because you asked nicely.

You know you're talking about--and to--people, not flies, right?

Yeah, not surprised being nice has never gotten you anything, but you kind of have to be nice first. And not just to get something.

And manipulating people into doing or giving you what you want might work in the short term, but are you seriously going to act like it doesn't just screw you over in the end?

I can't say that it has ever, in my experience, been an issue.

I'm going to present a hypothesis, based on what I've observed so far, and you don't necessarily have to tell me if I'm right, but you can if you want. And that hypothesis is that being here is the most difficult thing you've ever experienced in your life.

I'm also going to tell you that for me, being here is not the most difficult thing I've experienced, by a fairly wide margin. I'd say this doesn't even crack my top five.

[You know nothing, Chris Snow.]

[There's a lot he could say to that, but fortunately it's text and that gives him a chance to think more clearly how he wants to reply. And, ultimately, he's not interested in having a 'whose life is worse' contest with Mello, because that's not going to get either of them anywhere.

So although there's a brief delay before he replies, it's not a long one and his response is simple.]

Here's what I can tell you: Your observation skills, just like your people skills, need some work.

[It's not so much that Mello cares about proving that his life has been harder - he is, for the most part, proud of the things he's overcome and has very few regrets about the path he chose. It's more about being right.]

I highly doubt you're in a position to make such an assessment.

Hasn't been stopping you.

[He's rarely confrontational, but it's easier to argue through text than in person for him. And he finds Mello really irritating.]

[He is in a better position to make those kinds of judgments, or so he believes.]

Chris, you seem reasonably intelligent. [Which is pretty high praise, coming from him.] Have you read Niccolò Machiavelli's "The Prince"?

I'd say thanks but you kind of act like I'm an idiot so I'm not sure how serious to take the compliment.

No. Read part of Art of War but Machiavelli's not exactly my choice reading material.

[And he'd only read that part because it was assigned in high school, and never finished it since he spent a lot of high school drunk. Hurray for bullshitting papers.]

"The Art of War" is also an important text. "Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win." That part has always stuck with me. But I'd say "The Prince" is an even more important text - I don't think the library here carries it, but if you ever find yourself in a place again where a copy is available, I'd recommend reading it at least once. It's dry, but the ideas are sound. "Since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved."

It's not actually my intention to insult you, Chris. The reason I said I had a hypothesis that being here is the most difficult thing you've had to deal with is because you honestly believe that being nice to people is a winning strategy. It isn't. There are always going to be people who will take advantage of someone like you.

[Mello is one of them. If there was any benefit in it for him, he'd absolutely work Chris over in whatever ways necessary to get what he wanted.]

When I said that you seem reasonably intelligent, I meant that sincerely. And I find it baffling that you insist on remaining blind to reality.

[The first thing that Chris really gets out of this, besides condescension, is an uncomfortable sense of deja vu; he's been hearing this sort of thing, specifically directly at him--that he's too nice, too trusting, that it's going to get him into trouble--far too often lately, from different people. If it had just been one, he could've brushed it off, but Chris is self-aware enough to realize that if it's multiple people then maybe it's really a thing to think about.

But at the same time, some part of it thinks that maybe it's not a bad thing. After everything that happened at home, especially everything that Josh had done, it would've been easy to just close off and be bitter and distrustful and angry. And part of him is; it's the same part that wishes he didn't know that he's capable of choosing who lives and who dies, or killing someone in self-defense. It's the part that can step back and stay calm and logic through whatever horrific scenario he keeps finding himself in.

But he doesn't want that to be all he is. It's difficult enough to accept that he can--and will, if necessary--do those things, and that in the back of his mind he's constantly afraid that someone he loves and trusts will just turn on him, but he doesn't want to let that side of him consume him. So he chooses, instead, to be kind and trusting and to try talking before fighting.

So Chris doesn't really think calling him naive is all that fair. He's not unaware, or in denial; he knows the risks, and he's taking them anyway.]

I'm not blind to reality. I'm just not dealing with it the way you think is best.

There's no 'safe', whether you do the fear thing or the love thing or whatever; yeah, maybe you might make it a little longer if you're constantly screwing people over, but who cares? Kind of makes it not worth it to me. Maybe it is to you but that doesn't mean it's the only right choice, if there's a right choice at all anyway.

[He's been finding there's rarely a right choice. But there had been one choice he'd made that night on the mountain that he's never regretted, despite how horrific it was; choosing Ashley over himself was a decision he would--and will--make every time. So sure, fear might be safer, but he's already accepted the consequences of picking love and deemed it worth it.]

You're right. "Safe" is only ever a matter of degrees. There is no absolute value.

[They can agree on that, at least. Mello stopped believing in safe as a small child, newly orphaned. The world has been nothing but uncaring and unsafe for him since.]

I just hope you never find yourself in a situation where you discover you've made a grave mistake, the kind of mistake from which you can't walk away.

[He means that sincerely, too. Mello doesn't care much about other people, for the most part, but someone with the kind of intelligence he's observed in Chris seems to have potential. And squandered potential is something he never likes to see.]

[It's that bitter, hurt part of Chris that wants to respond with a simple too late, but he doesn't. As difficult as it can be to read tone through text, he feels like Mello probably is being sincere, even if that's still coming across with a heavy dose of condescension.

So there's a short pause again, as he decides exactly what he wants to say.]

I think a lot of the problem you're having here, with everyone, is that you're acting like no one here but you has any experience to speak from.

[And, by extension, assuming that he's right about everything and dismissing any arguments because no one else could possibly be speaking from a position of experience if that contradicts with his own. And that's a lot of the reason Chris has bothered arguing with him at all; he's a little worried Mello is going to alienate anyone and everyone here, and then get into a situation he can't deal with alone. Or, just as bad, try to handle a situation here as he might've at home and find it's completely the wrong strategy.]

My experiences have been [harsh. extreme. unpleasant.] unusual.

[Plus there's the fact that he is basically living on borrowed time. He was ready to enact a plan that would result in his certain death the day after he was brought here. He's never seen much of a point to approaching things with a soft touch, and he has even less reason to now that his future is a measure of hours and eventualities. Still ... maybe Chris has a point. Mello's stuck here for an indeterminate period of time. He's going to need to build resources. This isn't a world under the thumb of Kira. Different circumstances may call for a different approach.]

I'll take what you've said under consideration.

[Well that's... Not exactly the response he's expecting, but it's a nice surprise.]

Maybe that'll help you out here.

[The 'unusual' experiences. He knows his own right before getting here have helped a lot, but so have skills he's picked up in his utterly normal life before that.]

Okay, cool.

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