asgardeventide | Seven ★ Video

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[It's assumed that Draco is around somewhere despite not being on camera immediately, judging by the fact that when the feed starts travelers are greeted with a nice view of a bedroom wall absolutely covered in diagrams, charts, graphs, drawings and notes. Literally every square inch of the wall above the bed is covered in paper marked with random colored pens. It's assumed the rest of the room is set the same way. In the background, anyone listening can hear a coffee maker brewing a new pot.

War's never been one of Draco's favorite things, but the battles in Asgard have made him think of his home world and the situation he's in. He hates thinking about it, but he's started dissecting everything he knows…hence some of the charts that are overlaying some older charts. When Draco begins to speak, he's still out of the line of vision, if only because he can't exactly face the city just yet.]

…I know this man at home who's trying to, more or less, recreate the entire world. A perfect world where everyone's exactly the same and everyone who's considered less than worthy is punished severely if they're not outright killed immediately. [This is bad. This is a bad idea to be bringing this up, but Draco's full of bad ideas and bad decisions lately.] Actually, his favorite method is to torture them severely before sparing them and then murdering them with a flick of the wrist.

But the thing is, despite the fact he's more or less a slit-nosed homicidal freak, he has a large following. Many follow him out of fear, but there are just as many who follow out of loyalty. There are many people who actually, genuinely believe our world will be better if we follow his plan for destruction and reconstruction. It's messy and violent, and yet they go along with it anyway. Funny how that works, isn't it? One has to wonder why. [It's probably for the best that Voldemort's not around to hear that one of his servants is basically disregarding everything he's been taught. But after his last conversation with Jade? Maybe he really doesn't have to be constantly fearing for his life...maybe just every other day.

Let's get to the point, shall we? His hand appears in the frame of video and he's pinning a fresh piece of paper to the wall above the bed. He soon takes out a pen and in a neat, elegant scrawl writes something on the top of the page.

The art of persuasion and manipulation

His hand hovers in midair for a moment before he withdraws it.]

What is the fine line between persuading people and manipulating them? And, as a bonus question, what is the fine line between safety and fear? Sometimes I have to wonder if the rulers of this world aren't any different, what with having to do their bidding without even asking us. And yet we do it anyway because we're told it's better this way. [He knows it's a stretch, but it's still a valid point in his opinion.] As you can see, I've plenty of room on the paper so give me something worth writing.

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[And that hand comes back to jot down some notes per Castiel's words.]

The fact that there are, apparently, more worlds out there with similar situations is a bit mind boggling, isn't it?

You really think that persuasion means presenting individuals with everything there is to know? Does it tip toward manipulation if details are left out? That's a question to consider, I think.

Which is the smartest route to take then?

It indicates that selfishness and cruelty are not unique to any one world, unfortunately.

[So he's not really surprised, in other words, though it's not nice to hear either.]

I believe so. If one leaves out information on purpose, they are controlling the situation rather than allowing the other person to come to a decision. Persuasion has some element of respect for the other, manipulation does not.

About fear? I don't know.

[He's always afraid, except for when he becomes self-destructive, and he knows that kind of fearlessness isn't a better option.]

It's the levels of selfishness and cruelty that I'm interested in. I'm curious what the most cruel rulers will do to achieve their goals.

But what about if it's manipulation for something beneficial? Is there such thing as manipulation for the greater good?

More like is it better to be safe and afraid, or fearless and in danger?

It is more a question of what they won't do.

[He shakes his head slightly.]

I have seen 'for the greater good' used as an excuse for that cruelty you mentioned far too many times to believe it is ever justified. But that does not mean there aren't instances in which it's the only choice.

[Just that it's wrong to do. He's not naive enough to say though that good people don't do wrong things for the best of intentions when they think it's their only option. He's done that far too many times himself.]

There's little point to living when one is always in fear.

Sounds like you've got quite a bit of experience with the subject. Anything you'd be interested in elaborating on? [And even if you're not interested, can you anyway? He'd really like to know.]

...and what if there isn't another option though?

[He pauses, considering what to say.]

In my world, there was a group of powerful beings who were supposed to be stopping the coming of the Apocalypse. The rulers of it kept everyone in line with lies about the greater good, about serving a higher purpose; questions, doubts, even display of too much emotion were considered doorways to disobedience, and disobedience was punished with imprisonment, torture, or death.

[He's speaking softly, tone detached, because this is all too personal not to keep himself carefully neutral about.]

It turned out, in the end, that these beings were lying all along, and were purposefully attempting to bring about the end of the world. Still, those they had lied to followed them, because they had such ingrained blind faith that it was the right thing to do even then.

[And another pause.]

Then you make the choice that seems best, and deal with the consequences as they come.

Edited 2012-11-22 07:18 (UTC)

[Well, sounds about right. Still, that's completely disconcerting and Draco's not liking it.] How long did it take people to realize they were being spoonfed lies? And why were they trying to end the world in the first place?

I've come to find that some people aren't very good when it comes to making choices.

[His experiences at home have majorly affected his view of the situation here, and Ragnarok having come and gone and not actually being the end hasn't convinced him any more that the gods don't have some ulterior motive for all of this.]

The Apocalypse was begun. Even then, some refused to believe it was on purpose, and clung to the idea of failure instead.

[Most had figured it out; it had become obvious. But not all of them had then decided that the ends were worth the means, and some had rather pretend that they had just failed to protect the Seals. It had been an uphill battle even without the internal sabotage.]

So have I.

The Apocalypse. [His tone's incredulous, almost like he's not sure what Castiel's saying is valid.] What the hell does that even entail?

The prophesied end of the world, similar to the stories of Ragnarok, only with different contenders. The archangels Michael and Lucifer will do battle, and when Michael wins, the world will become Paradise.

[He says it like he's reciting a story he's been told over and over and doesn't believe a word of.]

[...well. Replace "archangels" with "wizards" and "Michael and Lucifer" with "Harry and Voldemort" and that sounds just like home. Charming.]

...why when? It can't possibly be that guaranteed.

I have no idea. Asking questions wasn't allowed.

[He'd just believed, like he'd been told, until things stopped fitting together and making sense, and he'd dared to be suspicious.]

...but what happened if they were asked?

Usually, one was ignored the first question, or even a few. If more were asked, demotion or punishment were risked.

Demotion?

Of rank. The group had a military structure.

I can't see how demotion would really be that bad.

It isn't, ultimately. It was more of a warning.

[Lower ranked angels get worse jobs and are more likely to end up killed but it's not generally a huge deal. It's more knowing that you're a step away from much more dire consequences that's the stressful part of it.]

A threat, then. [All right, that's understandable.]

Yes, essentially. Such threats are how individuals were kept under control; rarely did it progress to anything more severe, but the threat was enough.

I don't suppose there was a way to turn the threats back on the people making them, was there?

Not at all.

[The archangels were ultimately in charge, and they were far too powerful to challenge even one on one, and a dissenter was all alone against the rest of the Host.]

The only way out was to rebel and leave, and that was a death sentence if you were ever caught afterward.

Sounds like they covered all of their bases...I'm sort of impressed.

Don't be. Everything about it was cowardly.

[He doesn't quite manage to keep his neutral tone for that, instead sounding just a bit scathing.]

Exactly, that's what makes it impressive. The fact that it is so low and cowardly, and yet it was clearly effective.

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