[oh, learning of belle being weak to such simplest of briberies might be a more dangerous tool than not, to just sort of hand over to hugo...so maybe it's for the best that isn't brought up for the moment. not that he'd do anything nefarious with it! ...without reason! just, you know how these things go!
but it does grow more apparent that wise must be the more practical head behind the store's operations--the followup to belle's charming outreach, the measured counterweight keeping things grounded. a very important trait to have for any business...and not just a video store, surely. hugo probably is getting a pretty good deal right now, all things considered.]
How delightful to hear! Being familiar with plays and musicals in the first place already puts you head and shoulders beyond most people these days, in the world of media consumed. I suppose my own interest in stage plays started when I was very young...there was once a little anthology book of scripts of just couldn't get enough of re-reading, and playing out, in my mind's eye...
[sometimes it wasn't always weeping in the closet. sometimes it was tucking away, in a spot where you couldn't be found awhile, huddling with your little light and your little book, letting the fantasy paint over the sadness,]
At that time, of course, I enjoyed just about any tale and flavor. Nowadays, though...there's just something about a good tragedy. The sort wrapped in a drama heavy and suffocating, you know? Conspiracy, betrayal. Heady highs and terribly crushing lows. Then, most importantly of all: vengeance being obtained at any cost.
Any adaptations or performances along those lines would be just splendid!
[ there are systems that can do what wise does, in theory. it'd be a simple search. input keywords, receive outputs β hugo could have a list of movies to watch in seconds, if that was all he wanted. but they wouldn't necessarily be good movies, and what wise does that a system cannot β what is beyond even an advanced AI like fairy β is bring his own human touch, his own sense of empathy.
what does he know of the little boy who huddled in the darkness over a book to distract himself from crying? maybe he's been that boy before. he can look at hugo and guess, on the basis of his human heart more so than an analytical mind, at what a man like him probably wants to see, and might be moved by. ]
"The Duke of Cavalcante"? The title's dimly familiar...but no, I don't believe I've viewed this one. Yet what a summary! False accusations, something of a murder mystery, and high potential for cathartic retribution? Ah, to appear before one's enemies as an enigmatic duke, so wealthy and charismatic as to be barely recognized until far too late...that's a sort of role plenty would take joy in imagining for themselves.
[and can he pick out something of a subtle implication there, in the way wise just so happens to lay out this description. ...perhaps. it's not unappreciated.]
Really, far be it from me to neglect any classics. All the more so if critics have forgotten it. I should quite like to pick up that tape, if a reservation might be available.
[...]
I imagine you learn a lot of things about your customers based on their movie preferences, don't you?
Fair enough, fair enough! It's true that any good manager keeps an eye out for common customer inclinations in the name of maintaining business at minimum, after all.
Does it seem like something's on my mind? Oh, then again, that probably was a pretty odd question for me to ask so very abruptly...
Perhaps I just realized these preferences of mine might have read a little oddly specific, just now. Perhaps I'm somewhat concerned, that I might be coming off as a person maybe a little too fixated on those sorts of things! What do you think?
Many thanks for the reservation. So you enjoy such stories as well! Then that does soothe the self-consciousness quite a bit, how reassuring! [as if he's got a self-conscious bone in his body, really...]
Although, then again...I suppose you wouldn't very well tell a customer that you think they have bad taste either, whether you truly think so or not...
[ha. not that the phrasing wise ended up choosing isn't rather charming anyway. i think you're fine the way you are...hardly anyone ever tells him that. for various reasons,]
Do you ever feel a particular urge to give those with poor taste a little gentle nudge in a new direction? Or maybe you just let them 'chase their bliss', as it were?
[ on his own end, wise is being... fairly cautious. he knows enough about hugo to know that this line of questioning could potentially be idle curiosity, but is more likely driving to some bizarre end; what that end is, though, wise currently can't see. he doubts very much that hugo actually feels insecure about his own tastes.
it's an unusual feeling, being questioned about one's own personal habits... wise in particular isn't used to it, given how skillfully β and purposefully β he tends to hide himself behind his much more outgoing and outwardly interesting little sister.
he meant it, though. when he said that hugo was fine the way he is. wise has never been someone who expects others to give way to the world around them. ]
Ahaha... admittedly, I prefer to let Belle handle customers like that whenever I can...
On an objective basis, though, I think people are entitled to enjoy whatever forms of art that move them. Even if that might be... less intellectually stimulating than what I might personally enjoy.
I try not to enforce my own viewpoints on our patrons. Every now and then, though, the customer that's usually only into action films with big blockbuster budgets might come to me and say "I want a movie I can cry over!" or something. And in such cases... I'll be very happy to have the perfect recommendation for them.
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@ zenless
[oh, learning of belle being weak to such simplest of briberies might be a more dangerous tool than not, to just sort of hand over to hugo...so maybe it's for the best that isn't brought up for the moment. not that he'd do anything nefarious with it! ...without reason! just, you know how these things go!
but it does grow more apparent that wise must be the more practical head behind the store's operations--the followup to belle's charming outreach, the measured counterweight keeping things grounded. a very important trait to have for any business...and not just a video store, surely. hugo probably is getting a pretty good deal right now, all things considered.]
How delightful to hear! Being familiar with plays and musicals in the first place already puts you head and shoulders beyond most people these days, in the world of media consumed. I suppose my own interest in stage plays started when I was very young...there was once a little anthology book of scripts of just couldn't get enough of re-reading, and playing out, in my mind's eye...
[sometimes it wasn't always weeping in the closet. sometimes it was tucking away, in a spot where you couldn't be found awhile, huddling with your little light and your little book, letting the fantasy paint over the sadness,]
At that time, of course, I enjoyed just about any tale and flavor. Nowadays, though...there's just something about a good tragedy. The sort wrapped in a drama heavy and suffocating, you know? Conspiracy, betrayal. Heady highs and terribly crushing lows. Then, most importantly of all: vengeance being obtained at any cost.
Any adaptations or performances along those lines would be just splendid!
no subject
what does he know of the little boy who huddled in the darkness over a book to distract himself from crying? maybe he's been that boy before. he can look at hugo and guess, on the basis of his human heart more so than an analytical mind, at what a man like him probably wants to see, and might be moved by. ]
Have you ever seen "The Duke of Cavalcante"?
It used to be more commonly considered a classic, but most modern film critics seem to have forgotten about it. It's about a man who, in his youth, is framed by his own friends for a series of murders he did not commit β one of his alleged victims being his own fiancΓ©e. When he returns from a long sojourn serving out his exile, it is under the identity of the mysterious Duke of Cavalcante: wealthy, charismatic, and hellbent upon revenge...
...I think it has everything you're asking for and then some.
no subject
[and can he pick out something of a subtle implication there, in the way wise just so happens to lay out this description. ...perhaps. it's not unappreciated.]
Really, far be it from me to neglect any classics. All the more so if critics have forgotten it. I should quite like to pick up that tape, if a reservation might be available.
[...]
I imagine you learn a lot of things about your customers based on their movie preferences, don't you?
no subject
Something on your mind?
no subject
Does it seem like something's on my mind? Oh, then again, that probably was a pretty odd question for me to ask so very abruptly...
Perhaps I just realized these preferences of mine might have read a little oddly specific, just now. Perhaps I'm somewhat concerned, that I might be coming off as a person maybe a little too fixated on those sorts of things! What do you think?
no subject
I'll set the tape aside for you. You can pick it up whenever you like.
no subject
Although, then again...I suppose you wouldn't very well tell a customer that you think they have bad taste either, whether you truly think so or not...
[ha. not that the phrasing wise ended up choosing isn't rather charming anyway. i think you're fine the way you are...hardly anyone ever tells him that. for various reasons,]
Do you ever feel a particular urge to give those with poor taste a little gentle nudge in a new direction? Or maybe you just let them 'chase their bliss', as it were?
no subject
it's an unusual feeling, being questioned about one's own personal habits... wise in particular isn't used to it, given how skillfully β and purposefully β he tends to hide himself behind his much more outgoing and outwardly interesting little sister.
he meant it, though. when he said that hugo was fine the way he is. wise has never been someone who expects others to give way to the world around them. ]
Ahaha... admittedly, I prefer to let Belle handle customers like that whenever I can...
On an objective basis, though, I think people are entitled to enjoy whatever forms of art that move them. Even if that might be... less intellectually stimulating than what I might personally enjoy.
I try not to enforce my own viewpoints on our patrons. Every now and then, though, the customer that's usually only into action films with big blockbuster budgets might come to me and say "I want a movie I can cry over!" or something. And in such cases... I'll be very happy to have the perfect recommendation for them.