Posted on 2023-10-14 10:36:46
Score: 2 (vote Up)

If you squint, it reads like a metaphor for mental illness.

Posted on 2023-10-14 14:30:23
Score: 0 (vote Up)

(excuse me if that was a buzzkill, just a passing thought, I guess)

Posted on 2023-10-14 23:34:16
Score: 1 (vote Up)

@Flesh How so? Any subtext about mental health wouldn't be intentional on my part, but I'm interested to know how you interpret it.

Posted on 2023-10-15 14:33:30
Score: 3 (vote Up)

Like, the whole idea of doing something that might be harmful or irrational, being aware of it, but mentally being unable to fully commit to stop. For most people it's not gonna be cheating, but a vaguely similar pattern applies to panic attacks or nervous outbursts. (should be noted mentally ill people tend to be more likely to be victims of violence than be perpetrators, for the record)
As well as the aspect of "if I just say what I'm doing, they'll think less of me, but if I admit I can't do otherwise, they'd be concerned about my sanity or honesty", which could apply to some things as well. For one potential example, executive dysfunction causing you to fail a task and either apologising for being lazy or trying to explain to people your brain is bad at the thing.
Again, bit of a stretch and projection on my part.

Posted on 2023-10-15 22:55:02
Score: 3 (vote Up)

@Flesh Very interesting way of looking at it. Mind control does have potential as a storytelling spotlight to examine all kinds of human quirks, even putting aside our obvious bias as hypnofetishists towards finding it interesting.