video;

[bakegarasu]

[Otoha hasn't really noticed what's going on around the city. It's not like he's not usually honest about most things anyway. But tonight has him sitting on a rooftop, staring out at the city. He's asked this question before, in a different place, but he still wants answers. He's never found an answer that's satisfied him.]

Why do people think that killing people is wrong? Sometimes it's the fastest solution for a problem. Yeah, people will be sad, but they'll get over it. It's kind of a pain when people get so upset whenever it's brought up.

... Johnny, you're not allowed to answer. I know your answer.

Comments

[bakegarasu]

"I'm no hero. I've never claimed to be, even if I've been moved to more of a defensive role than an aggressive one. But even people like that... I'd be upset if someone close to me was killed, and I'd retaliate, but that's just how things happen. People are killed all the time. It goes back and forth. I grew up in the yakuza - people ended up dead and we just replaced them. As long as the job gets done it doesn't matter."

There's a pause, and then -

"I know that makes me fucked up but I don't have any other way of looking at things. I just don't get it."

[resipiscent]

You know them well enough to hate them?

[angryyoungvamp]

It's this weird instinctual inner predator thing, almost like a split personality. Having some sort of moral or ethical code helps resist it. Some of us devote themselves to cosmic balance, some have a specific code of honorable behavior, some just base it on maintaining their own supremacy. But most of us try to hang on to some of our humanity, and part of that is not killing just because it's the most convenient solution. It makes it too easy to see everyone else as prey.

And if I've gone this far I may as well admit that "us" is "vampires".

[not_heavens_adam]

So then, by your logic, there's no problem if someone were to kill me for that exact reason, yes?

[bakegarasu]

I'd understand it - I wouldn't be happy about it. I'd kill them for it, but it's not like it'd be totally incomprehensible like it seems to be for most people.

[bakegarasu]

I don't have a problem with vampires. It's not like my boyfriend isn't one.

[... Why did he use that word.]

I'm not exactly human either. Not anymore, at least. Though I had less of a moral code to follow as a human.

[bakegarasu]

I could. I have before. It's one of the reasons I killed my father. Brother. Whichever.

[resipiscent]

Still. I think there are solutions that cause less problems.

[pretty_pink_ribbon]

What kind of question is that?!? Of course it's wrong to kill people!

[This is a bit of a touchy subject with her after hearing how differently things went for her friends in other timelines.]

And it doesn't matter if that's the fastest solution, there's probably a better solution if you just stop to think about it.

[not_heavens_adam]

Aaah...therein lies our problem.

You're measuring this by understanding because you don't understand it. What bothers people isn't whether they understand the motives, but that 'not happy about it' that you referenced. That's why it's really a problem for people.

[bakegarasu]

Why?

... Not always. Diplomacy is usually just a token effort and ends with dead messengers. The world isn't as nice as people like to think it is.

[bakegarasu]

Like what?

[bakegarasu]

... It's just emotions, though. It's not like people don't get over emotions.

Usually.

[angryyoungvamp]

Oh? You must be the guy Johnny mentioned, then. Guess I should also mention I'm not from his world and I have no idea what his kind of vampire is like.

And you might not, but not everyone's quite as... open-minded about such things. Not that I blame them. A lot of vampires are assholes at best. I think it's being apex predator over a species that doesn't usually even know you exist that does it.

I think humans have it easier. It's too easy for a vampire to lose control completely. The Sabbat say it's Caine's curse, I think, but the Sabbat turn being a vampire into a religious experience.

[Maugris slips from philosophical to self pity mode kind of easily.]

[greatseal]

[um. what.]

Because the person who dies can't "get over it." They died. Death isn't the solution to anything - in fact, it's that feeling that's the cause of a lot of other problems.

[...for some reason she said a little more than she meant to there, but, it's all true, so...]

[not_heavens_adam]

But some don't. And it's that 'eye for an eye' mentality that causes the real trouble. There's always more than one person hurt when someone's killed.

Can you really not comprehend why the pain of loss would make that loss inexcusable?


[There's a moment of pause and his smirk becomes less genuine.]

I can fully comprehend the man, Ben Linus', reasoning for murdering Jacob, as he had explained it to me. But I still feel the pain of that loss and even though I understand it from Ben's perspective, I still cannot forgive it nor condone it.

...I know you've lost someone close to you, did that really seem like an acceptable outcome?

[bakegarasu]

I only know because we've spent basically... what is it, two years around each other now?

[He shrugs a little bit at that comment.]

There's things kind of like vampires at home - or there were. I ended up killing them all since they were under Eko's control.

... Have you been feeding?

[bakegarasu]

I mean the people who care about them. Obviously dead people can't care about things.

... Well okay. I might be an exception, but I'm not totally sure.

[bakegarasu]

... Reiji joined up knowing he could be killed at any time for any reason. It's not that it doesn't hurt - but I understand it. If I were in my father's position, I'd have done the same thing.

It makes sense - it doesn't mean it didn't hurt. But people just don't seem to understand how it can ever make sense.

[angryyoungvamp]

And what exactly was Eko?

[At least that's sounding like the sort of situation where Maugris would agree killing is necessary, if only because vampires are hard to just incapacitate until you take out what's controlling them.]

Only on animals. Doesn't taste great, but as long as I'm careful it's enough. I had this discussion with Johnny already, actually.

[greatseal]

The point is, who gets to decide who lives and who dies? Why would you have that right above any other person? If you kill someone because it's a quick solution to your problems, what would keep one of their loved ones from killing you in retaliation? All you've done is create a cycle of revenge, and that doesn't help anyone at all.

[bakegarasu]

A Karas. A guardian of the city. Except he'd stopped caring about the balance between humans and demons, and just wanted to wipe out humans. That's why I was made the new Karas.

[... He just sighs.]

I don't care if you feed from me too.

[bakegarasu]

I don't claim to. If someone wanted to kill me - and they managed it - that wouldn't be unthinkable like most people try to say killing is.

And that's why you have to be strong enough to protect people, or take what you want or have been ordered to. People get over emotions.

[greatseal]

But if you weren't strong enough, wouldn't it be better to have other people looking out for you? Little children, people who are sick or old... We create governments and laws to protect everyone's lives. That's why we can't just take justice in our own hands. It may seem like the easiest path sometimes, but we don't have that individual right.

[bakegarasu]

Children are different. I wouldn't hurt a kid. I might be a monster, but I've got standards. And most people who are sick or old don't end up crossing me. As for governments and laws, though... they don't protect people. I'm not exactly saying that yakuza protect people, but the law doesn't do much in the face of the life I grew up in. Jail's almost seen as a joke.