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Manipulation.
People have told me I have good people skills.
Other people phrase this differently. They say I'm manipulative. Perhaps they believe that I'm corralling them into terrible little destiny-destroying social boxes of doom. Perhaps they believe that my political games are so complex, thorough, and generally arcane that they are willing to attribute any misfortune to my meddling.
Sure, I misunderstand you terribly. Sure, the only reason everybody else happens to misunderstand you in exactly the same way is that I have poisoned them against you.
Some people feel that I've used my mistaken understanding of them to twist the whole universe against them. What people don't seem to want to think about is this: I can't manipulate you if I don't understand you.
Maybe it's possible to manipulate a person without grokking them on some kind of meaningful level, but that's not how I operate.
Accuse me of using my understanding of you to tear your life apart. Accuse me of misunderstanding you, and acting mistakenly. Please, though, don't accuse me of these things simultaneously. Your awed and horrified faith in my ability to corrupt and assimilate the people around me is touching, truly, but it's not really realistic.
Maybe you're just an asshole, and maybe I'm just the one who finally made a convincing argument to that end.
I guess it's a painful thing to think about, that someone can understand you and not like you. We cling as long as we can to the desperate hope that if "they" only understood where we were coming from, if "they" only understood what we were really thinking, that "they" would love us as much as we love ourselves.
Not always gonna happen, people. Sometimes people will understand you pretty well, and sometimes... you'll wish they didn't. Who knows, perhaps they'll be wishing it, too.
Other people phrase this differently. They say I'm manipulative. Perhaps they believe that I'm corralling them into terrible little destiny-destroying social boxes of doom. Perhaps they believe that my political games are so complex, thorough, and generally arcane that they are willing to attribute any misfortune to my meddling.
Sure, I misunderstand you terribly. Sure, the only reason everybody else happens to misunderstand you in exactly the same way is that I have poisoned them against you.
Some people feel that I've used my mistaken understanding of them to twist the whole universe against them. What people don't seem to want to think about is this: I can't manipulate you if I don't understand you.
Maybe it's possible to manipulate a person without grokking them on some kind of meaningful level, but that's not how I operate.
Accuse me of using my understanding of you to tear your life apart. Accuse me of misunderstanding you, and acting mistakenly. Please, though, don't accuse me of these things simultaneously. Your awed and horrified faith in my ability to corrupt and assimilate the people around me is touching, truly, but it's not really realistic.
Maybe you're just an asshole, and maybe I'm just the one who finally made a convincing argument to that end.
I guess it's a painful thing to think about, that someone can understand you and not like you. We cling as long as we can to the desperate hope that if "they" only understood where we were coming from, if "they" only understood what we were really thinking, that "they" would love us as much as we love ourselves.
Not always gonna happen, people. Sometimes people will understand you pretty well, and sometimes... you'll wish they didn't. Who knows, perhaps they'll be wishing it, too.
no subject
I attract pompous know-it-alls who feel the need to argue with me about shit I have degrees in and they don't. And then when I have no patience with that nonsense, whine about how mean and rude I am to them. At least, that's what I had a run-in with today. Dude quoted Wikipedia at me. Yes, he did.
I'll trade my pompous trifler for your Nice Guy. Or not. Maybe we could just lead them both into the swamp and leave them there for the alligators.
no subject
So the gators are looking pretty fucking good, tell you what. Let's take 'em both. I'm sure if we take our tops off they'll follow us anywhere! :D
no subject
I wrote a poem about alligators recently. They are on my mind.
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Or, failing that, you evidently have OMGWhoa powers of persuasion. You should be able to just talk them over to the gators' tender mercy.
no subject
And DOUBLE if it turns out they contributed that part of the wiki entry themselves.