Voicemail (IC Contact Post) OLD - at capcha

[abrightboy]

 This is Bright. Leave a message.

Comments

audio

[citizendetective]

Malcolm, hi! How are you doing?

[abrightboy]

Still alive. You?

[citizendetective]

I'm fine! We should hang out.

[abrightboy]

Sure. Where do you want to meet up?

[citizendetective]

The deck?

I could show you that empathy thing I've been working on.

[abrightboy]

[She's been working on it? He's very pleased.]

I'll see you there in five.

[citizendetective]

[She'll be there in three, and when he arrives, she'll wordlessly hand him a neatly handwritten list, written out on a piece of notebook paper.]

Sephiroth
- Protective of his friends, and/or people from his world. I can empathize with this!
- Didn't like that I came into a place where I "didn't belong", but he was there too, and it wasn't his cabin. He could have felt proud of the fact that he was allowed when I wasn't, and wanted to maintain that distinction (boundary).
- Likes to threaten people. He probably wanted to intimidate me.

Edward
- Didn't like that I blew his cover, because he was using the secrecy as a security measure. Figured the bombs were better off with him here than at home in the hands of anyone else. Has a really high opinion of his own ability to handle things all by himself. He might have good reason to!
- Doesn't like relying on others. More people knowing about the bombs means he has to rely on them to not be weird about it.
- Very strategic. This is probably why he's being really nice and complimentary towards me now, because he considers me a possible threat and he wants to make sure I'm on his side.

Malcolm (you!)
- Lonely and not used to having friends. Wants to feel important to people. Worried that he isn't important to me because I prioritized Natalie's interests over his (in one situation with very special circumstances).
- Tried to guilt me about it because that's often a really effective strategy. (It sort of worked.)

Zack
- He thought I was deflecting (even though I wasn't). If I had actually been deflecting his anger would have been completely understandable.

Fitz (I'm not actually sure that he was mad. He kind of gave off "I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed" vibes!)
- Felt my methods were beneath me.

Jon
- Wanted an excuse to lecture and be condescending.

Tim
- Thought I was trying to pin the blame on Jacobi, who he's really protective of. His anger about that was something I could empathize with, even though it was totally wrong and misdirected.
- He also wanted an excuse to yell at me.

Yunlan
- Upset about me being a bad friend to Natalie.

[After this particular bullet point, there are a few more words that have been fully scribbled out.]

There are a few more I couldn't write down, for various reasons.

[She says, watching Malcolm carefully.]

You'll just have to take me at my word that I tried to put myself in their shoes, and I gained something from the experience.

[abrightboy]

You studied them; you didn't empathize with them. There's judgement and defensiveness in these descriptions. You didn't feel what they felt. You analyzed what you thought they felt based on what you feel. [He hands it back to her.] But it's a good first attempt. [He considers her a moment.] I wasn't worried that I'm not important to you. I was disappointed that I was wrong about our connection.

[citizendetective]

But I did empathize with them. Here, and here.

[She points at a few lines in particular: I can empathize with this! and His anger about that was something I could empathize with.]

And you weren't wrong about our connection. I feel a very strong connection with you.

[abrightboy]

Can you understand why I would think otherwise after that?

[Saying 'i empathize with an emotion' doesn't mean you empathize with someone's position, Misty.]

[citizendetective]

Yes, because-- under most circumstances, breaking and entering and theft are awful things to do to someone you're friends with.

[Misty pauses, running a thumb over in one situation with very special circumstances.]

... And you were right. This wasn't one of those circumstances where exceptions should have been made.

[She looks back up at him.]

I was a bad friend to you.

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm nods.]

Has anyone ever been a bad friend to you?

[citizendetective]

Of course. Why?

[abrightboy]

What happened?

[citizendetective]

[She lets out a mildly exasperated sigh.]

It's happened more than once, Malcolm; do you want to hear about every time?

[abrightboy]

[Patiently.] Tell me about the worst time.

[citizendetective]

Well, it's-- hard to pick out just one.

But I forgave them.

[abrightboy]

You know exactly which one was the worst one.

[citizendetective]

Are you calling me a liar, Malcolm?

[She says, tucking the paper under her arm specifically so that she can cross her arms and frown at him.]

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm just looks at her.]

Do you want to learn this or not?

[citizendetective]

Sure, but you have to assume I'm not lying to you.

[abrightboy]

Then tell me the truth.

[citizendetective]

The truth is that I can't think of the worst time, and if I could, I-- it would probably be a time that I couldn't tell you about.

[HUFF!!!]

But the worst time, well, recently - I also forgave them. Because they were under a lot of stress, and they apologized.

[abrightboy]

Is that an answer to the question I asked?

[citizendetective]

Um, yes? You asked me to tell you about it. I told you the most important thing about it.