Have you ever met a Trickster? I'm not talking about a mortal asshole putting on airs. I mean a real Trickster, like Loki and Coyote, creatures whose sole purpose in existence is to force those around them to really take a look at themselves and the world around them. Personifications of mindfuckery. I have.
He's a thin, pale, metro-sexual guy, the kind of person who doesn't last long in Redneck Land, in the heart of the Machinetm. But this fellow doesn't just survive, he thrives. He's liked by everyone except the more bitter and banal teachers. Every kid in the school confides in him or confides in someone who confides in him. He knows every dirty secret at this school, which is saying something. He uses these secrets, parceling them out whenever they'll cause the most mayhem. My buddy the Trickster plays the student body like a violin, and what's more, they know he does, and yet they fall for it anyway. And just like any good Trickster, when everything is said and done, the trap has been sprung and you're wiping cream pie off your face, he shows you that it was your own nature that betrayed you. He's the smartest guy I know, and he's destroying himself.
The Trickster parties constantly, drinking himself into a stupor a couple times every week. He's not even eighteen and he's an inch away from being an alcoholic. He's let himself be taken advantage of sexually while drunk, in a town which boasts one of the highest rate of STD's in the state. He's apathetic in the extreme and amoral to an extent that is sometimes frightening. He doesn't trick anyone so as to teach them, he tricks them so that he can demean the. In the face of the Machine, of this place, the Trickster has become another cog, turning its way to self destruction.
If the Trickster can't handle it, where does that leave the rest of us?
Feeling kind of depressed. Going to bed now.
I'll try and write something a bit more cheerful or poetic tomorrow.
Dr. James Semaj
I liked it, in a sad way. I have to process my thoughts on this first. Also bear in mind it's Friday going into Saturday in the US.
Quote from: Dr. James Semaj on December 11, 2010, 06:56:48 AM
The Trickster parties constantly, drinking himself into a stupor a couple times every week. He's not even eighteen and he's an inch away from being an alcoholic. He's apathetic in the extreme and amoral to an extent that is sometimes frightening.
He sounds like a brilliant, supremely bored high school student. We had a few of those at my high school, although most tended to just consume drugs till they barely had three brain cells firing in the conjunction. A lot of people like that seem to see the world as it really is: decidedly bleak, unexciting, full of bland people going about their bland lives, and decide that it's easier to fuck with the normal people or ignore them, and instead find their own entertainment.
That pretty much described me at that age (except for the pale metrosexual part), and hey, I turned out just fine.
Eh, he might grow up and snap out of it, or else he won't and his own amoral smugness and apathy will kill him. He sounds like he's probably depressed and masking it with partying and mistreating people.
Quote from: Dr. James Semaj on December 11, 2010, 06:56:48 AM
Have you ever met a Trickster? I'm not talking about a mortal asshole putting on airs. I mean a real Trickster, like Loki and Coyote, creatures whose sole purpose in existence is to force those around them to really take a look at themselves and the world around them. Personifications of mindfuckery. I have.
He's a thin, pale, metro-sexual guy, the kind of person who doesn't last long in Redneck Land, in the heart of the Machinetm. But this fellow doesn't just survive, he thrives. He's liked by everyone except the more bitter and banal teachers. Every kid in the school confides in him or confides in someone who confides in him. He knows every dirty secret at this school, which is saying something. He uses these secrets, parceling them out whenever they'll cause the most mayhem. My buddy the Trickster plays the student body like a violin, and what's more, they know he does, and yet they fall for it anyway. And just like any good Trickster, when everything is said and done, the trap has been sprung and you're wiping cream pie off your face, he shows you that it was your own nature that betrayed you. He's the smartest guy I know, and he's destroying himself.
The Trickster parties constantly, drinking himself into a stupor a couple times every week. He's not even eighteen and he's an inch away from being an alcoholic. He's let himself be taken advantage of sexually while drunk, in a town which boasts one of the highest rate of STD's in the state. He's apathetic in the extreme and amoral to an extent that is sometimes frightening. He doesn't trick anyone so as to teach them, he tricks them so that he can demean the. In the face of the Machine, of this place, the Trickster has become another cog, turning its way to self destruction.
If the Trickster can't handle it, where does that leave the rest of us?
I like it very much.
Quote from: Nigel on December 11, 2010, 05:30:36 PM
Eh, he might grow up and snap out of it, or else he won't and his own amoral smugness and apathy will kill him. He sounds like he's probably depressed and masking it with partying and mistreating people.
Been there, done that. Mostly grew out of it, but it will probably stick with me for the rest of my life, when things get to be too much.
QuoteEh, he might grow up and snap out of it, or else he won't and his own amoral smugness and apathy will kill him. He sounds like he's probably depressed and masking it with partying and mistreating people.
Right on the money, sadly.
On a serious note, when someone is stuck in that mindset it's important for them to have good friends who, while they won't sugarcoat things or enable the self-destructive behavior, also won't write them off as a lost cause. I went through a few years of that sort of thing which started with your basic drinking and partying and degenerated into some seriously criminal and degenerate behavior but my really close friends never let me forget who I really was and were there for me when I decided I needed to get my shit straight and cut the more destructive elements out of my life. If they had given up on me I'd likely still be dealing speed and collecting debts for scumbags, or in prison, or laying in an alley with a cut throat.
What I'm saying is, if he's someone you genuinely care about, stick by him no matter how badly he treats himself.
QuoteWhat I'm saying is, if he's someone you genuinely care about, stick by him no matter how badly he treats himself.
I wouldn't be able to do any different.
been there-ish, if he's as good as you'll say he'll heal.
After he destroys himself he will recover and learn to direct his ability more constructively and safely.