029. [Text]

[explosivecombat]

Memory seems to be something of an elusive thing for some people, from what I've heard; I've never really considered it to be much of a problem myself, for various reasons both personal and not. But since we're all in this more or less together, and we have no obvious indication of if - or when, depending on your level of optimism - we'll be returned to our worlds of origin, I have to admit curiosity regarding the experiences of others.

Memories being the finicky things that they are, I'm sure we all have things we remember vividly about home - people, places, various other whatnot that I'm sure mattered to you at the time. I'm mostly curious about the people; you don't have to give me specifics if you choose not to, but I want to know -

What sort of things do you remember most vividly about the people that were important to you, and what sort of things do you not remember but wish you could? I'm sure we've all had that jarring moment when we realize that we don't remember what someone's voice sounded like, for example; I want to hear about things like that, if you don't mind. As always, do it anonymously, if you wish; I have less interest in your name than I do your answer.

Perhaps someday I'll learn to ask questions that are more seasonally-appropriate for any oncoming holidays; unfortunately, I've never really been one to adhere to the spirit of a season that I have no real understanding of in the first place.

Comments

[explosivecombat]

I'm not sure how to describe them, really, but they're definitely not human; they were created using alchemy, and arguably they don't have souls of their own - they're more or less what you get when you take a humanoid shell and infuse them with fragments of the souls of others, if I'm understanding correctly.

[angerpoints]

[... wow, that's pretty grim. Even more so when Yusuke finds himself thinking back to what Koenma told him about souls; he doesn't know how souls work in what's-his-face's world, but in Yusuke's, you pretty much cease to exist once your soul's gone, even if your physical body is still intact. So to think that something would be created using parts of multiple souls, which, he assumes, must have been taken by force if they weren't ferried to the afterlife immediately after leaving their physical body...

Well. Let's just say Yusuke has a pretty strong reaction to that idea.]

That's fucked up. Who the hell would create something like that?

[explosivecombat]

Well, it's not exactly smiled upon in my society - it's considered highly taboo to do any sort of transmutation involving humans, especially the human soul. It's considered playing God; we're highly discouraged from doing it, and even if you aren't taking all the ethical problems with it into consideration, it's dangerous besides.

But some will do all sorts of things with human souls, either through desperation (such as attempts to revive the dead) or through a desire for power because souls are considered priceless and can be used to bargain with beings beyond our understanding. It's dark business, really.

[angerpoints]

[Bargaining with souls... Yusuke pulls a face. Geez, and here he thought some of the crap going on in his world was seedy as hell. He's not sure whether he's more sympathetic towards the idea of meddling in transmutation out of desperation or not; he can certainly understand wanting to bring somebody who's dead back to life - good lord, can he understand that feeling - but to do so more or less at the expense of others? That still seems pretty damn low to him. He doesn't mention any of this to the guy on the other line, though; instead, he simply types back:]

Yeah. Sounds like it.

[Aaand we're moving on! Watch and be amazed as Yusuke oh-so-smoothly changes the topic.]

So... alchemy. What is that, like magic or something?

[Oh yeah. So smooth.]