Accept that you are killing people. Don't forget them.

03 March 2014 @ 03:21 pm

031. [Text]

You know, I've realized that whenever I address the network nowadays, I always include some sort of apology for the morbidity of the subject matter; the subject matter is never any better the next time around, which I think just draws the validity of the apology into question by now. Ah, but that's neither here nor there - the subject today is still, however, not any better, so consider the apology this afternoon as genuine as it always is.

[In other words, sorry-not-sorry. Kimblee...]

I would like to discuss morality today, actually - perhaps befittingly, since there are so many morally dubious individuals around as of late.

Assume for a moment that you come across someone in peril; you're in a secluded area, and no one else is around to help this individual but you. The specific sort of peril they're in doesn't matter, but for the sake of argument, assume that it's something that you can handle easily - assume that assisting them won't kill you, and even if the situation you envision is dangerous you can call the authorities for help and that would be considered "assisting" for the sake of this experiment. For whatever reason, the person in peril cannot save themselves; if you don't do anything, the situation will prove fatal for the person you've come across.

No one will know if you help the person or not. You won't be punished or penalized in any way for not helping them - in other words, you have no legal obligation to do so - but if you don't, the person in peril is going to die. You've never met the person before this moment; there's nothing about their appearance or situation that implies that you should consider them an enemy, but they aren't explicitly a friend or an ally either. Just a random stranger that you are given the option of rescuing.

Most would probably agree that rescuing a person in peril like that is the "right" thing to do; I'm sure some would disagree, either because their beliefs are a bit unorthodox or because they want to feel edgy. So my question isn't necessarily what you believe - my question is why. Can you justify it, or are you just operating under "what feels right"?

Answer me anonymously if you'd like; as usual, your identity doesn't necessarily interest me, but your answer does.

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15 February 2013 @ 11:51 pm

022. [Text]

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.

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19 April 2012 @ 01:07 pm

011. [Video/Action for outside of Goldenrod City]

[VIDEO/ACTION]

[Today's episode of Oh God, What: Solf J Kimblee Edition is brought to you by a Pokégear that seems to have been knocked to the ground; the shot is incredibly lopsided and at least some of the action is out of view of the camera, but more than enough is visible to convey that there is what appears to be a raging battle going on between a rather high-leveled Ninetales and an unbelievably annoyed Steelix over there. The battle doesn't look like the uncontrolled flailfest that it would be if either Pokémon were rampaging or beyond a trainer's guidance, but if it's a training battle, it's a hideously uneven one - the Steelix is obviously far weaker and at a type disadvantage - and there doesn't appear to be a trainer anywhere immediately nearby.

Of course, if you still don't see said trainer after a moment of looking, it's possible that you're just not looking high enough.

Clearly, today Kimblee has decided that he isn't content to just watch battles from the sidelines, as he's currently commanding this half of the battle from on top of the Steelix. He's trained Dorian well enough to attack unprompted if necessary; right now, he's crouched down on one knee atop Nagara's head, keeping a one-handed grip on the steelsnake and holding his fedora on with the other hand.

He doesn't seem to mind that Dorian is slinging full-out fire attacks at him now, nor does he even seem aware of the heat flowing through the metal of Nagara's body on any level other than purely physical; if you can get a good look at him when Nagara is holding reasonably still, he's flinching a good amount physically and shifting his grip quite a bit, indicating that he's definitely feeling the burn through his clothes, but he doesn't seem inclined to jump down - if anything, he's laughing as the battle rages on, that long ponytail and the length of his white trenchcoat flowing out behind him, and for all intents and purposes he seems to be having a grand old time.

Granted, those who know him reasonably well probably know that the reckless behavior and manic laughter are signs that he's neither pleased nor feeling particularly sane; he's taking the failed attack against Goldenrod City as a personal insult, and he's got a lot of steam that needs to be let out as a result. As such, today's training session is horrendously harsh; as soon as he gets any sort of indication that Nagara is being weakened too badly by the flames - and he seems fairly used to the way battle feels from up here, so he can tell - he's immediately throwing down healing items so she can keep going.

At the same time, Kimblee can't keep it up forever, and really neither can his Steelix. He'll stop eventually, much to the poor thing's relief; she lowers her head to let him down, though he doesn't seem too inclined to move yet - rather, he has his eyes closed and seems to be focusing on catching his breath, and ignoring the fact that he's likely burned himself in several locations. Eventually, however, he does seem to notice that the 'Gear took a hell of a fall somewhere along the lines; he picks it up and snaps it off without checking it, promptly ending and sending the feed the thing had been been broadcasting without being too aware of what he's doing.

However tired he may be - and he does seem incredibly tired, in those brief moments he's visible up-close on the 'Gear; he's been doing damn near suicidal training all day - there's still a tight sense of energy to him, and his gaze is alive; he doesn't seem able to calm himself very well, and it's incredibly likely he'll move on to something else completely idiotic by the end of the day if he's not distracted by anything.]

Tags: !ic, *action, *video, @crow hogan, @dr kato (hopefully not in a dress), @envy, @esteemed brigadier general roy mustang, @frank archer's utter lack of subtlety, @gorthan and his biology, @isaac mcdougal: non-fail junior, @ivan braginsky (soviet union), @john egbert, @luke triton (clive dove), @lust, @ryuunosuke uryuu's sense of cool, admittedly kind of asking for it, also dorian, also nagara, because awesome that's why, fuckin' technology how does it work, good ideas are clearly relative concepts, hell are you even, itp: we discuss god, kimblee is overstimulated, my logic is flawless, no sense of self-preservation, not slacking off for once, one-man army, pokespe tactics (don't work well here), sanity is so passé, stupidly dangerous battling tactics, this is really stupid, this skill is never going to be useful, tonight we're going hard, why we can't have nice things

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