If I understand this correctly, the polite request is meant to be passive aggressive flattery and the outright demand is the honest tone that gets to the point. I think in written form I prefer the polite request to avoid panicking immediately. In person, I’d panic anyway. So I prefer the outright demand, because I can’t handle passive aggressive attacks at all. Usually I’ll reflect their politeness before I understand the matter and then when they assume that I’m not taking it seriously, they get more intense which scares me long-term.

EDIT: No, actually, forget it. I’d prefer the outright demand even in written form. I get chills when I think about encounters with passive aggressive demands…