[CALL | Video | un: monokuma ]

[disjunct]

[ A stuffed animal sits center of the screen.

The room he's in harbors just a chair, and looks isolated enough to be an interrogation room, if not for the dusty slats above him pouring in some light. It's a basement somewhere remote, but nonetheless, he seems to wave at the camera. However, his motor functions seem limited. ]

Hello! Good evening! Good morning! Whichever one you're feeling right now.

[ A slight, curious cock of the head. Once again, the mechanics seem off... and the voice doesn't seem to be coming from the stuffed animal. Someone is speaking for him behind the camera. ]

I think the best way to get to know everybody is to toss out a fun little icebreaker! Lesser-known facts! No one likes being the shut-in at a party. So...

[ "He" clears his throat. ]

Do you know what they did in Paris in the 19th century?
Oh, they definitely painted a lot of paintings and baked a lot of bread. But I mean... for fun?
Back in those days, 'fun' would count a lot on how much money you had. But resourceful Parisians could find it in other ways. For free. There was a once-of-a-lifetime opportunity that anyone in the city could get a ticket punched into! To be the star, or the audience. That's right! I'm talking about...

[ A brief pause. ]


... The morgue!

You see, life was so boring back then that people would line up to walk through the morgue just to see who croaked last night! The more grisly the victim, the more people came to visit!
People were excited to try and recognize the victims! Of course, this was originally just so people had access to claim the deceased, but it was a theater attraction of its own!
Upupupu...! Can you imagine if you didn't have the things you had today, what you'd resort to for fun?
The gawking joy that it brought people... but still, we slow down for car crashes today, don't we?

Hmm...


Do you think humans are really different from back then? From the public executions, to the public display of bodies, to the now?

I wonder about it a lot. I can't say I know for sure, because I am a bear. Would anyone like to try and guess?

Comments

[disjunct]

But I believe that despair is more formidable than hope could ever be!

[ He looks as threatening as can be, in his poor condition-- he used to look state of the line, after all. ]

Humans can choose, you know? So someone with enough hope could definitely inspire the hopeless, but someone filled with despair could do damage past the point of all hope. In the game of tug-of-war, I think despair has an edge.

[digiorno]

No, despair has to do more damage to make a difference than hope has to inspire one to change. I'm not saying it's impossible for someone to break past the point of repair, because that's obviously a naive outlook. But if people were more inclined to allow themselves to be brought low than elevated, then . . .

[He waves his hand vaguely, a gesture intended to illustrate his point.]

We'd never have come down from the trees at all. Which might be preferable to you, who knows.

1/2

[disjunct]

Hmmm! I see, I see... another 2 points for an impressive comparison, and 4 for adding thoughtful insight to the class discussion...

[disjunct]

BUT EIGHT POINTS AIN'T ENOUGH TO PASS MY CLASS, KID! YOU'RE GONNA NEED THE WHOLE HUNDRED!

[ Suddenly, this ridiculous bear toy is fuming, steam literally popping out of its ears-- probably not intentionally! He jumps up in down in his little chair, looking more comical than threatening. ]

Despair has to do more damage, you're right! It's like your HP bar in a video game-- easily replenished before it gets too low! Little pick-ups bring it back up to speed! But what if the boss shows up with a mega-ton mallet and knocks you down to zero?!

[digiorno]

[Goddamnit, you shitty bear — he can't help but giggle. It's a little like being menaced by a very old, very grumpy turtle. Actually less intimidating than that. He has personal experience. No, this is just silly.]

Well, in that case . . .

[give him a minute]

If there's someone that overpowered in either direction, I suppose it's a moot point, isn't it? If there's someone with a "mega-ton mallet" of either variety, if it can knock you down to zero hope or zero despair no matter how powerful you are, the question is answered before it's even asked.

But. [He holds up a finger.] The despair mallet would still have to be bigger.

[disjunct]

Upupupu! That's right! At the end of the day, it's people who control hope or despair, how it comes and goes, how it impacts us. Celebrities petting kittens can give us hope, and crazed politicians can plunge us into the depths of despair!

But even then... it'd have to be more than a mega-ton mallet. To bring every person on the planet that far down, it'd have to be a giga-ton. Or a tera-ton. Or a peta-ton! Pe-ta-ton! It even sounds like the whack of a mallet!

[ Inquisitively, he puts his paw to his chin. ]

Do you think someone like that exists?

[digiorno]

[This, he takes into consideration. Serious consideration, because as ridiculously as it's being presented, it's important. If someone like that existed, he would have to know. It would be his duty to know, to provide a counterbalance to them — or to destroy them.]

[But really, it's a foregone conclusion. In a way, as much as he tries to search for an alternate answer, he knows the true answer before Monokuma is done asking the question. He isn't even ashamed of it. No; in a convoluted way, he thinks he might be proud.]

[When he shakes his head in the end, it's with the slightest, tiniest hint of a smile.]

Not anymore.

[disjunct]

Why do you know?

[digiorno]

Why? Or how?

Or are they the same? Why . . . that's almost philosophical. How is procedural. Are you philosophizing?

[disjunct]

Surprise me, cap'n! Give me a little bit of both. They're ballsy words given the state of the world right now!

[digiorno]

Why: coincidence. The same as a lot of whys, really.

How: he's dead.

[disjunct]

Upupupu! That's a more straightforward answer than I expected! But still, you think a dead man is the pinnacle, huh? What if you met someone new?