Vriska: Talk about death and stuff.

[wagers]

[She's not quite sure what to think about his death, really. There was a very distinct drop her her stomach, the weird feeling that someone got when they didn't hear "good news" exactly. It was... unsettling.

So they hadn't talked in a while. So the last time they actually did talk he was on what was likely a loss or something and he was a complete asshole, but... well, they did go through a lot together.

Well, maybe not a lot a lot, but-- if you're scared shitless together in the midst of fucking rainbow drinkers ready to rip you apart for your fucking blood then there just has to be that unspoken bond, if anything. And he did give her advice on cake. And joked around with her. And... stuff.

Maybe he was something she could consider a friend around these parts. After all, they were pretty much similar in the sense that not a lot of people from their respective homes seemed to want anything to do with them, for whatever reason.

And yes, in spite of her conflicting feelings, that small nagging sensation just couldn't leave her.

Damn it.

So she'd write to him. Maybe. Maybe that would make her feel better. Somehow.]

_{[FILTER: ADACHI]}

Y8U'RE SO F8CKING STUPID!!!!!!!!

[Well, it was coping, in any case. She'd shut the journal and find herself flying off into the city.]


Ugh.

[That done, Vriska find herself in a certain place in the city, lingering atop a nearby building. Maybe she'd luck out and find an essential clue in the big bullshit mystery!

Or something. What was luck here, anyway? Better open that journal and dictate.]

[Filtered away from any of the trolls, as well as the humans who have played "the game"-- and those who would discuss this entry with said people (just to 8e on the safe side)! Also filtered away from people who would make a 8IG DEAL a8out all this and not actually get the point, like that rude culturally insensitive girl or whatever. >::::(]

You know, I've been thinking about this long and hard. I really have! But I have to ask, I just have to! So, here it goes.

Why is it so many of you care so much about death and dying, anyway?

[Yes, she knows what's coming next. Better talk fast, Serket!]

Okay, okay! I know what most of you are going to say! I know the whole "you never get to see that person again", or the whole "they don't deserve that pain", and maybe even the "no one should feel that shitty afterward" reasoning and everything in between, but...

Try to understand where I'm coming from here. Literally. I'm not actually trying to be an asshole, I promise! I'm just trying to get a hold of this seemingly universal thing most of you have going on around here.

See, I'm from this planet-- this culture-- that doesn't even blink an eye at killing others. We're a violent race. Everything on our planet thrives on violence, even the creatures-- especially the creatures! It's either killed or be killed! And if you don't develop the stomach or the strength to do it, then... Ugh! I'm going off on a tangent here.

It's... just this eventuality that I've come to accept, personally. I know that a lot of you know that it is, too, but... how is it that the act of a person dying isn't something you just accept over time? Why the attachment and the sentiment over something that's so, I don't know, finite?

[There's a huff. She wants it to sound like she's just tired from even boggling about it, but. Well, she's starting to understand. After all, John! Fucking Aradia. And that Tavros... and her own potentially probable death.]

I mean, I don't expect anything from anyone if I were to ever die. That's just how it is! I definitely plan on going out in a blaze of glory, but--

[No, better not talk about that any more.]

I don't know, I was just curious! [Here's a forced laugh.] I bet you all think I'm some kind of crazy monster! Guess that's the downside of being a weird alien from some other planet, huh?

El-oh-el!

[Whatever. Who cares what people think about her. It's not like she has very many friend here to begin with. Except for maybe Adachi, and...

Oh. Right.]

_{[FILTER: JOHN EGBERT]}

Joooooooohn!
You 8usy? ::::)

_{(ooc. OPEN TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE, YEYEYE! Mainly through the journal, but! If you want to see her in person, she's just sitting around on a building by where Adachi was killed or whatever. Poke the troll; she needs some fresh CR, please. Or something. It's cool either way.)}

Comments

[molotov]

Humans only care when it is one of their own. On Earth, there is nothing more violent than man.

[wagers]

[It's that lady who teaches her about humans and stuff! The sex thing was interesting, but... whoa, what's this?]

Really? I was under the impression that most humans didn't think that killing was exactly a good thing.

Filter

[selfless]

[because of Adachi's death, well... she's been thinking about death too. when she responds, it's quiet]

No, I don't think you sound like a crazy monster. But your world does sound very different.

Forevs!

[wagers]

[OH MY GOD, COLETTE... Though she secretly feels a little better about not being considered a freak. ::::,)]

Really? What was your first clue?

[amiable]

[ RUDE TROLL. ]

[wagers]

[CAUGHT THAT, DID YOU? MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T BE SUCH A JERK NEXT TIME!]

[deterrence]

I think it is possible to be opposed to the act of killing, yet accept that death can and will come [a tiny pause where she was going to say "to us all," and changed her mind when she realized that might not necessarily be the case, especially when death isn't permanent here] at some point. The two are certainly closely associated, though there are various ways to view them with.

[or view death as more important than killing, but she is not going there]

[wagers]

That makes the most sense! I feel that people need to understand that it's going to happen, no matter what you do or how you feel!

There are a lot of people where I come from [Mainly all the assholes here, she thinks.] that think killing is wrong, but it's like... it's just something we all have to face one day, as a society! There's not really a way around it.

filter :V

[20thcentury]

No-one wants to die. And so, no-one wants to be reminded of their own mortality by the death of others.

Plus the other things you've mentioned; shock, loss, pain, and depending on the manner of the death, indignity.

forever ever :Y

[wagers]

I can see that. The whole "wow, that could have been me" or that "that'll be me some day" mentality. I'd like to think that people who are still alive to even think these things are string enough to have not shared that fate, though!

[onlyanapple]

Mortals in general tend to take their mortality very seriously. Especially when they're raised in a culture which tells them 'dying is bad'. They fear it, because they don't know what comes after. So they try to honour their dead, as if it'll make the transition any easier, when ultimately, they're doing it to ease their own fears of what will happen to them when their time comes.

[wagers]

See, that's something else we don't have in common with all these other cultures. We don't do anything for those who have died, really, we just leave the corpses where they lay. It's weird that people would go through so much for someone who can't even appreciate what you're doing.

filter

[lord_wizard]

The answer to that will probably vary. Even cultures that are war-like or people that grow up during a time of war will likely not embrace the death of their loved ones. At the same time, you'll find they'll mourn far less for the death of enemies. In that sense it's something of a selfish impulse. We don't want people taking away what we see as ours.

Still, it boils down to a fear of the unknown. There are plenty of faiths that tell us where we go when we die, if at all, but in the end nobody really knows.

forevs!

[wagers]

So, pretty much all humans are taught both sentimentality and hatred from day one! It's equal rather than valuing one as a strength and one as a weakness! I can't see how it doesn't conflict with one another when there are two extremes you're supposed to value.

filter;

[whitecovered]

[Ah, hitting a tiny bit close home this one.]

True...no living thing can escape its ultimate fate. I suppose it depends on human culture itself. People tend to fear the unknown, and death is perhaps the greatest unknown of all.

forevs!

[wagers]

It's not the type of fear you can combat, in any case. I know that for a fact. [Oh, wait. Accidentally personal for her all of a sudden!]

Vriska, to end

[ectobabble]

[oh boy. he can just guess what this is about. he didn't know the man who died, but ... well ... it's still a terrible mess. he has to read what she wrote a few times to distance his initial reaction - ie, "that's terrible" - and think of it strictly from a culturally dissonant place, like an actual scientist. like Egon would. or an anthropologist, or something. and once he's got that snapshot of her cultural mindset, he'll set it next to his own. once he's had a few minutes to think that over, he'll speak up, quietly]

I think it's because whether it was for good or bad, the people we knew before they died influenced our lives in some way or another. And the more influence they had on us, the more afraid we are that we'll lose that part of ourselves, once we forget them. Humans, we ... we grieve and we hold on until we're sure that part of them they left with us can survive. Does that make any sense?

Ray, forever more!

[wagers]

I guess that makes some sense. Like, if someone were to teach me about something that really helped me out, I wouldn't be able to show them my gratitude or something?

[That's probably why she was starting to feel SOMETHING for the guy, if anything, because he was the only other person besides John and Nancy that was up front with her about human ways.]

filter!

[not_mafia]

[Tsuna mulls over this question for awhile. It's not that he doesn't know the answer-- he can feel that answer in his gut-- but it's how to word it.]

Well.. death is the end. And if it's not of age, then in all cases, I think that's a premature death. Dying is so terrible because you are taken from everyone you know... and everything you still may want to do. Experiences you haven't had. The kind of experiences that... well, for a lack of a better phrase, make life worth living. I think everybody-- no matter what they've done-- are entitled to the promise of future experiences and choices.

[There's a pause, then, as he mulls over the second question and its implications.]

Death is hard to accept because of the pain and disorder it brings with it. If a person who you look up to and who gives advice to you suddenly dies, there'll be a void in your life that person once filled. The emotions that come with that... fear, sadness, regret, loneliness... that's what makes death so terrible.

But, the experiences you share with a person, and the bond that connects the two of you is always worth it. It's kind of like the saying, "It's better to have loved and then lost that love, than to have never known it at all". Those experiences, that bond-- they are so invaluable, not even death could devalue them.

forever!

[wagers]

That's pretty idealistic though, isn't it? What if you're from a place where it's only the strong survive and the weak are going to get killed if they stay helpless and complacent? You should be able to be fight for that future! How else are you going to have those sappy life experiences if you don't even take the initiative?

filter

[prettyknives]

I honestly don't get it, either. Where I come from, there's no big emotion for the dead. Only the living get any recognition. But I guess different cultures see death differently.

forever!

[wagers]

Oh, finally! You know what I'm talking about! It's such a weird thing, having to watch yourself around all these people who think the complete opposite of you, isn't it? It's like, "Oh wow, look at that girl! Hope she doesn't push me off a cliff or anything", right?

[Vriska]

[dupable]

not really!
actually if anything i was kind of bored just now.

John

[wagers]

Oh. Really?
Well, if you're 8ored........
Wanna hang out? Or something?
Whatever!

I'm doing this now, I do what I want, also filtered forever

[foolreversed]

[when Adachi quietly flips through the journal to see what exactly he's missed and how much of a stir his death caused this is one of the first things he finds.]

...What.

[wagers]

[Oh, look! a response, just for her! How...]