You too. [Is it, though? What fresh Hell is this?]
I know that these questions are meant to provoke philosophical debate, but honestly...my answer would depend on a few important factors.
I can't honestly tell you that I'd sell out a friend regardless of the circumstances. As to whether or not I'd help the innocent in question, the consequences of that action or the opposite would matter a lot.
[Oh, so he’s a “let’s pry apart the unwritten context of the question and then maybe I’ll give a straightforward answer” type.]
Alright. Remind me not to get on any of your friends’ bad sides. [More flat than judgmental.] So you’d help the innocent if, and only if, your friend could keep getting away with it.
[This guy has a way with words. It's as bad as it sounds, really.]
If I'm completely honest with you, I'm not sure I'd help the innocent at all.
It's not a pretty answer, but the world I come from isn't a pretty place. Your definition of a crime might be a necessary evil in the context of war, and one of my friends being locked up might mean the difference between winning or losing that war.
It just isn't that simple, I'm afraid.
[And damage to innocent collateral is something Armin's had to resign himself to. This guy doesn't realize who he's talking to.]
Oh, so you’re talking, like… war crimes. [Is Kade making a morbid pun (a crime for war) or using the term in a straightforward manner? Yes. It’s followed with a shrug.] I mean, yeah, I’d personally prefer to help the innocent like a wide-eyed goody-two-shoes. But the highest stakes I’m used to are like… whether my brother gets a crunch bar or not.
[Flat lie, that. Occasionally the stakes are lethal, albeit for however much mortality is worth when death can be reset-retconned. It’s its own brand of mess.]
[Another glance at the question list.] You’ve probably got strategies for all these filed away, right?
[Another skim-over.] “Shallow friends.” This one’s talking about school and other shallow crap. But it’s about whether you’d keep someone in your life even if they’re a pain in the ass.
And if that person’s a subordinate…
[The implication, to be clearer than Kade: these questions will not challenge Armin. There are always caveats, and they’re all situations he’s had to think about, whether he’s faced them personally or not. Hence, “strategy.”]
[Slight and ever-dry grin, at that.] Fuckin’… universal constant.
[Kade would rather do a backflip off a ledge than put up with Valerie for the sake of war. Then again, Val would probably get herself killed in a situation that dire. Eh. Hypotheticals.]
You want another one? [Gesturing with the question card.]
[At the risk of sounding like a Miss America contestant:]
One thing? [It's an easy answer. It's the only answer.]
Peace. [But there's weight to it - terrible weight.] What are hypotheticals for if not idealism? That's all I'd want. [It would solve everything else, surely...]
[It’s a surprising answer, when he started with (to Kade) such a cutthroat impression. You know, let the innocent rot in jail to save a friend’s ass, kinda sounded like a victory-at-all-costs deal. But he answers too quickly, and heavily, for it to be a facade.]
Yeah.
You know, you don’t strike me as the type to think winning the war will make that possible.
[Bold of him to assume that anyone has their heads wrapped around it except Valeries Georg, who had no life prior adn should not have been counted. Her head’s wrapped around it too much, actually.]
None taken. You kinda have to live it to believe it, and even then…
Anyway, I’d figure the world can feel small even with actual millions of people. Depends on who you’re stuck with.
Who, where, same difference. [Maybe more literal in Kade’s case than Armin’s. The influence of time and place on community just seems like one big clusterfuck, real or not.]
[Anyway, right, proper intro.] Kade; same to you. [In lieu of a handshake, Kade offers a small wave.] Considering the questions, this could’ve gone a lot worse.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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You too. [Is it, though? What fresh Hell is this?]
I know that these questions are meant to provoke philosophical debate, but honestly...my answer would depend on a few important factors.
I can't honestly tell you that I'd sell out a friend regardless of the circumstances. As to whether or not I'd help the innocent in question, the consequences of that action or the opposite would matter a lot.
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[Oh, so he’s a “let’s pry apart the unwritten context of the question and then maybe I’ll give a straightforward answer” type.]
Alright. Remind me not to get on any of your friends’ bad sides. [More flat than judgmental.] So you’d help the innocent if, and only if, your friend could keep getting away with it.
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If I'm completely honest with you, I'm not sure I'd help the innocent at all.
It's not a pretty answer, but the world I come from isn't a pretty place. Your definition of a crime might be a necessary evil in the context of war, and one of my friends being locked up might mean the difference between winning or losing that war.
It just isn't that simple, I'm afraid.
[And damage to innocent collateral is something Armin's had to resign himself to. This guy doesn't realize who he's talking to.]
no subject
Oh, so you’re talking, like… war crimes. [Is Kade making a morbid pun (a crime for war) or using the term in a straightforward manner? Yes. It’s followed with a shrug.] I mean, yeah, I’d personally prefer to help the innocent like a wide-eyed goody-two-shoes. But the highest stakes I’m used to are like… whether my brother gets a crunch bar or not.
[Flat lie, that. Occasionally the stakes are lethal, albeit for however much mortality is worth when death can be reset-retconned. It’s its own brand of mess.]
[Another glance at the question list.] You’ve probably got strategies for all these filed away, right?
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No, like…
[Another skim-over.] “Shallow friends.” This one’s talking about school and other shallow crap. But it’s about whether you’d keep someone in your life even if they’re a pain in the ass.
And if that person’s a subordinate…
[The implication, to be clearer than Kade: these questions will not challenge Armin. There are always caveats, and they’re all situations he’s had to think about, whether he’s faced them personally or not. Hence, “strategy.”]
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For what it’s worth, I would. Have, in fact.
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[Just a guess, but…] Same friend?
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[Slight and ever-dry grin, at that.] Fuckin’… universal constant.
[Kade would rather do a backflip off a ledge than put up with Valerie for the sake of war. Then again, Val would probably get herself killed in a situation that dire. Eh. Hypotheticals.]
You want another one? [Gesturing with the question card.]
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[Couple moments’ thought.]
Alright, this one’s not on the list. If you could change one thing about your world, what would you do?
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One thing? [It's an easy answer. It's the only answer.]
Peace. [But there's weight to it - terrible weight.] What are hypotheticals for if not idealism? That's all I'd want. [It would solve everything else, surely...]
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[It’s a surprising answer, when he started with (to Kade) such a cutthroat impression. You know, let the innocent rot in jail to save a friend’s ass, kinda sounded like a victory-at-all-costs deal. But he answers too quickly, and heavily, for it to be a facade.]
Yeah.
You know, you don’t strike me as the type to think winning the war will make that possible.
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Human hatred, greed...war will always exist, and it only begets more.
Winning is a matter of survival. That's all...
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[There’s a faintly bemused smile here. The waxing about humanity Kade of someone.] Better pragmatic than righteous, yeah.
Just gotta hang in there for the next shitstorm.
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What would your answer be?
*waxing REMINDS Kade of someone. i can write gud
One thing?
My world’s kinda fucked in the opposite direction. Four crazy people stuck in the emptiest city you can imagine, forever, basically.
We’d probably be a lot less insane if it was real.
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[Not "real". How bizarre...]
Were you somewhere real before? [Surely it can't have always been that way...]
pictured above: me pulling an armin on the icon keywords 😔
[Yep, only four. Armin gets a long-suffering nod for that.]
Eh… yes and no. Me and two others, we sure felt like we had real lives before… [Uh, how deep in the trenches does Kade want to to here…] …before.
But the details are all fucked. Like some… dream or shit, where all the specifics are just. Not there.
[Shrug.] You get used to it.
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I come from a sheltered community, but even then, there were hundreds of thousands of people. And that felt small to me...
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[Bold of him to assume that anyone has their heads wrapped around it except Valeries Georg, who had no life prior adn should not have been counted. Her head’s wrapped around it too much, actually.]
None taken. You kinda have to live it to believe it, and even then…
Anyway, I’d figure the world can feel small even with actual millions of people. Depends on who you’re stuck with.
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You're right about that.
[Pause.]
I'm Armin, by the way. It's nice to meet you, all things considered.
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Who, where, same difference. [Maybe more literal in Kade’s case than Armin’s. The influence of time and place on community just seems like one big clusterfuck, real or not.]
[Anyway, right, proper intro.] Kade; same to you. [In lieu of a handshake, Kade offers a small wave.] Considering the questions, this could’ve gone a lot worse.
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Well, there's still time.
I try not to be unpleasant if I can help it, though.
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