Video: Open: (CW: possible discussion of a mass death event and/or domestic violence)

[nothinglikea]

[much of Rose can be seen from the nose down where she's wrapped in a deep burgundy robe, a canary perched on her shoulder and singing sweetly to the audience]

This may sound terribly stupid, but let me preface that with the fact that I'm new. Still terribly new, despite all I have seen in the past several days.

What is the difference between an Arcane Scholar and simply a scholar? If I'm interested in the one, does it dictate that I be interested in the other? [a frustrated sigh] I realize this may all be rudimentary to those who have been here a while, but I'm still at less than a month, so please show me some measure of mercy?

Thank you.

Comments

[nothinglikea]

Wonderful. I suppose there was always a chance of organized crime getting themselves involved in something anyway, but that likely opened the door to it.

[in Philadelphia, Rose's mother did her best to keep Rose ignorant of goings on, but that changed when they went to Europe. it was a lot easier to slip out from Mother's nose there. and Cal? he often didn't bother to pay attention to the books she wanted to buy and read, likely his one redeeming factor]

[eudaimonikos]

Yeeeeah.

[Michael doesn't have strong personal opinions on a lot of human crime. Is it bad? Yeah, sure, but he only ever has to deal with the aftermath.]

Can't lie, though, they had some pretty nice aesthetics back then. Sharp suits!

[nothinglikea]

[and Rose was protected by her status and station, the idea of her being involved in anything criminal was laughable even to Cal and Lovejoy]

As did my ex-fiance. It was likely his only redeeming quality.

[eudaimonikos]

Ohhh, juicy.

[Buuuuut he's just met you so maybe he can chill just slightly on the "messy bitch who loves drama". Speaking of which, actually - ]

I'm Michael, by the way.

[nothinglikea]

[she can glean from context what juicy means in this case, but she found Cal to be as juicy as an overcooked steak]

Rose Dawson. It's a pleasure to meet you, Michael.

[eudaimonikos]

You too! Always interesting to meet folks from the relative past.

[Granted, it's just because Michael does that a lot more, at home. Weird having to explain his in-jokes about Twitter to like, Aristotle or whoever.]

[nothinglikea]

And I don't think I'll ever stop being curious about the future. So many things seemed to have changed!

[yes, trying to explain social media to her will be a herculean feat. and she'll be horrified to hear about the wars]

[eudaimonikos]

Oh! Well, that's humans, isn't it? Always something new around the corner!

[nothinglikea]

It does seem that way. [even though what had been heralded as the ship not even God Himself could sink did in fact sink. she wonders what impact that will have on history] It does seem as though you've seen a great many changes. This may sound rude, but how old are you?

[eudaimonikos]

...oh, well, age is just a number...

[Michael's never made a habit of lying about these things - not here, anyway. He's just sort of anxious after having upset Rose so badly from minute one. Mentally, he plays out the likelihood of him maintaining a lie for any length of time after he's just invited her to his music lessons: not that high. Not without a lot of work he doesn't care to put in. Well, okay then.]

Thirteen billion and change? After a while, you really don't keep track. Plus - you know, the sun... [Solar years in general are not that old! Anyway yes that is definitely why he thought ninety years was "not that bad".]

[nothinglikea]

[her eyes widen and she gasps, though she doesn't look put off] Thirteen...billion? Dear God, no wonder why, well. Certain things were said?

[eudaimonikos]

[Michael cringes a little.]

I work in the human afterlife, it's important to keep on top of...you know, things.

[Unlike some past incompetents, he actually reads the reports that come across his desk! You can't just assume things are going well!]

[nothinglikea]

The human afterlife? Are you an angel?

[it seems to this early twentieth century Episcopalian-raised daughter of society the simplest answer]

[eudaimonikos]

......well, no. But I am running Heaven now!

[nothinglikea]

[a little furrow forms between her brows] So, you're God?

[eudaimonikos]

Pfff! No. If I ever start calling myself a god, please call my roommate, Amara. She'll come punch me in the face.

[They've worked it out ahead of time, it's fine.]

I'm a demon. We actually don't really have a god. Closest you get is the Judge, but she didn't create anything.

[nothinglikea]

I must say, that certainly wasn't what I was expecting to hear. When I'm from, the idea of an almighty God is ever present, even on my tour through Europe.

[to say nothing of the Titanic, she remembers passing a pastor with a large crowd praying just before the ship broke in half]

Does the Judge determine where one goes?

[eudaimonikos]

Nah, too much work. She was responsible for setting up the initial system, and she resolves disputes between the Good and Bad Places, but most of the actual judging is just done through the automation in Accounting.

[Though - well, since she does seem to feel something for the concept of religion...]

This is all in my universe, of course. I can't guarantee that any of this was true in yours. I've met other people like me around here that came from entirely different setups.

[nothinglikea]

Is the Bad Place like Hell with its fires and brimstone? Or is it simply like being caught up in Customs for hours on end?

[she does, Philadelphia Episcopalian her. not only that, she needs to believe in a Heaven so that Jack could be waiting for her there]

I'm almost afraid to ask what those may be. I try to do good, but back home I often faltered.

[eudaimonikos]

Used to depend on the department. But we've been pushing through a lot of reforms lately - got the fire and brimstone part banned. The Customs part too, sort of, unless Customs is somehow related to their self-improvement journey.

[Which, you know, he guesses it could be!

Michael may not think much of human religion himself, and he probably wouldn't hesitate nearly as much to disabuse her of the idea if they were in his world...but it just seems cruel to insist it's fake when he doesn't even know that for sure. If it makes someone feel better, and they aren't being assholes about it, what's the harm?]

Everyone falters. That's just being a person. We weren't very compassionate about that before, but we're going to do better now.

[nothinglikea]

Customs are what I'd describe as the opposite of self-improvement. Unless one counted the patience it took from getting from place to place without losing one's temper on the poor customs agent assigned to you. It probably sounded like a good job once they took it?

[she has to believe in some kind of Heaven at the very least. for Jack to go to and wait for her until it's her time. whenever that may be. it may be five years or a hundred, she has every faith that Jack would wait]

I--I'm glad to hear that. [dabbing away very carefully at a tear] Death is hard enough. Best that one not inflict too much on them.

[eudaimonikos]

Hm. Yeah.

[They erase memories of very traumatic deaths, sometimes. Michael's wondered if it's good practice, but...]

There was never any good reason for any of it. But things are getting better, and they'll keep improving. I left my best friend in charge, she's honestly more competent than I am.

[nothinglikea]

[if she knew that, she'd hope they'd erase Jack's. him in the frigid waters of the North Atlantic, convinced to the end that the lifeboats would come back only to die before the single boat did arrive]

Then I hope that things continue to improve. If anything has to improve, I'd think that the afterlife would be one of them.

[eudaimonikos]

You know, that's a very human mindset. You're right, though, of course.

[nothinglikea]

Is that a bad thing? [a pause] Ye--yes. Of course I'm right.