022. [Text]

[explosivecombat]

With matters of one's heart and soul so close in mind, due to the recent holiday and all the romantic connotations therein, I ask that you forgive the possibly morbid nature of the question I have for you tonight:

The state or condition of one's soul is often brought into question when their deeds are brought to light or held up for scrutiny; the concept of the damned and those destined for salvation aren't new concepts by far. However, I have to ask what that means for all of you - do you accept your soul as existing only as a metaphysical concept, a matter of faith, something unproven and intangible? Or is it something undeniable where you come from, not a matter of faith but rather proven to exist? Does it fail to exist for you at all?

Or, perhaps, is it something else entirely - something that was rendered from one of the above options into another?

I suppose I should apologize for such heavy subject matter; I imagine some will find it rude to attempt to quantify such a thing. However, it's been something I've had reason to consider lately, so no apology is forthcoming.

Comments

[lieutenantantichrist]

Who the fuck cares?

[explosivecombat]

[...watch out, we got a badass over here.]

Your response is doing a spectacular job of showing how little you care. Does that make you feel a bit more validated, or shall I act shocked and offended for a little while?

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[itsjustdust]

[Well, you have his curiosity now.]

Are you asking this in the context of weighing deeds only or do you mean as a tangible object? I know where I'm from souls are a thing that can be touched and understood, and there is even a clan known for ah... flinging their souls at other people.

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[explosivecombat]

Both, I suppose. As far as my world goes, the soul isn't something used to weigh one's deeds - that's more along the lines of a conscience, I think. They're separate principles. The soul itself contains everything you are; your life-force, so to speak.

Dealing with them directly involves something...similar to what you're describing, I think; souls are tangible things to be understood and, in some instances, touched and physically manipulated - though I wouldn't say flinging them at people would get you very far.

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[begetsvengeance]

Any particular reason why you're so curious?

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[explosivecombat]

For the most part, it's simple curiosity; people's beliefs on things like this often allow some interesting insight to their world, as well as the way they think. I suppose you could say it's relevant to my interests and situation otherwise, but that's secondary; consider it a matter of psychological interest, primarily.

If that seems too sterile for you, it's also late and I'm without something to do; I enjoy striking up conversation and I never really get bored with the idea of talking to people from different dimensions.

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[darkenedgales]

guess it's just faith for most

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[explosivecombat]

So it would seem.

Am I to assume it's the same for you, however? You aren't exactly specifying.

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[exeggutorhead]

Well, you probably know why I say they exist as something tangible.

[After all, even aside from Alphonse Elric, there's the red stones.]

I even got a rock made from them last christmas.

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[explosivecombat]

I had two of them back in Amestris; one was received in Ishval, the other was given to me by the version of you that I knew. Unfortunately, both of them were separated from me before I was brought here; this place returned them last Christmas. I still have them on my person, despite their being utterly useless here.

[usedshooshpap]

HONESTLY I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO EVEN GO ABOUT ANSWERING THAT SORT OF QUESTION.

[explosivecombat]

I suppose it should be alarming, in some ways, that several people seem able to answer it easily, as it usually implies that they've seen or experienced some horrific things. Although from what I've heard you're no stranger to horrific things yourself.

Do trolls not believe in such things as the soul, then?

[yoctogram]

Undeniable back home. Some people gamble in Reaper's Game, prize can be life if you win. Reapers Erase Players in order to live themselves.

[explosivecombat]

So the soul isn't just an element of a human being, but it's a commodity. I'm not sure if that's horrifying or unbelievably clever; I'll consider it both, for now.

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[timelymaid]

i accept it as something proven and tangible!
i say that as someone who has been a spirit
which i believe is what the soul is
that is to say what is left behind when your body is burned away :)
so its not a matter of faith so much as fact!

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[explosivecombat]

...As much as I'm inclined to agree with you in accepting it as fact and not faith, I'll have to ask for your forgiveness with regards to my curiosity - you're saying that you were killed, in your world, and yet you continued to live on afterwards? Just your soul, no container?

[islandshore]

Well, let me put it this way. Where I'm from, people can get their hearts torn out of them and split into creatures of darkness called Heartless and empty shells called Nobodies, which I'm pretty sure still have their souls.

Souls being what keep you alive, hearts being... I guess what holds all your feelings.

[explosivecombat]

That's an interesting way of defining it; I'll agree that the soul and matters of emotion are separate things, as that's how it is where I'm from, though in our case the heart isn't given nearly as much emphasis. The center of emotion and morality is agreed to be the mind, back in Amestris; the heart has little to do with it besides being what keeps you alive on a purely physical level. Remove or destroy the heart, kill the individual. However, removing the soul would be just as fatal as removing one's heart; the soul is just as much a life-force as any physical component of the body, if not more so.

I take it those without their hearts are entirely emotionless beings, then? Or are they varying degrees of mad?

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[grapecape]

[Parts of that are a little questionable, but...whatever. Brain food.]

I suppose that depends on what exactly you mean by a soul. I don't know how this world handles it, but I've always understood there to be parts of me - and of all people, man or monsterkind - which doesn't exist in a strictly physical sense. A person's identity, which remains if their body is altered...memories are a piece of that. Essential nature is another. So the soul of an entity would be the aspect of it which is aware and willful, the part that desires and resolves to act.

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[explosivecombat]

I won't disagree with that assessment, actually; a soul, as far as I understand it, is tantamount to one's life force - that which one cannot live without, because there would be no "one" to continue to live in the first place. I wouldn't say it's not physical at all, because I believe it to be; it's just not always immediately perceivable. It's a bit complicated to explain.

And don't worry about not knowing how this world handles such matters, as that wasn't what I was asking about in the first place; what matters is how you define it. I appreciate the straightforward answer, at least.

[cobraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa]

I've seen undeniable proof that they exist in my world. However, some still choose to believe otherwise.

[explosivecombat]

Ah, this..."Phantom Brigade" thing you were telling me about before? Or something else entirely?

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[enjoymyatelier]

There is empirical proof that the soul exists in my world, due to the fact that it's the very thing that allows us to do magic at all. They can't exist indefinitely in this world without a body, of course, so the death of the body causes the soul to dissipate and leave the world. There are some souls that can be retrieved after death, but the circumstances that allow for it are extremely rare and limited, so counting on being able to bring people back from the dead after their souls are no longer linked to their bodies is quite useless.

Of course, that's a very limited description, so I will most certainly go into detail about anything you ask about.

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[explosivecombat]

First of all, I appreciate the straightforward answer, Lord El-Melloi - and really, I would be surprised if anything that could possibly be given on this matter weren't a limited description in some way or another. Even those I've spoken to that are deceased or otherwise have experience with the souls of the dead themselves don't seem able to describe it in its entirety, much less right away.

That said, our worlds seem rather similar in regards to the general properties of one's soul - we likewise have entirely undeniable proof of the existence of the soul, though our souls can't remain in this world for long after death, save for by a few means that aren't practiced by many.

Although I do have to ask exactly what happens, to your knowledge, once one's soul is no longer of this world - is it a matter of personal belief, or do you also have empirical fact in that regard?

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[licentious]

You already know my feelings upon this matter, don't you, Mr. Kimblee?

How about we just have a late dinner instead. I'm on my way to Goldenrod as we speak. It's mostly for business

[ translation: She wants to scope dem hotties at the breeder's convention and see just what types of pokémon are popular. ]

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[explosivecombat]

I believe I do, yes.

And that sounds rather lovely, I must admit. Shall I allow the lady to select the location?