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]

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.

[eudaimonikos]

No, no, it's good! Immortals get...well, we get stagnant, I guess. Humans shake things up.

[nothinglikea]

Goodness knows I liked to shake things up back home, much to my mother's annoyance.

[eudaimonikos]

Ha! Oh, see, that's why humans actually move forward. New blood and new ideas all the time! We don't have children or anything like that, it's just been the same old farts since the dawn of time.

[nothinglikea]

Being with the same beings since the dawn of time? Dear Lord. That sounds exhausting as well as deeply annoying.

[eudaimonikos]

Ugh, man, it's the worst. There's a lot of us, at least, but you just keep running into the same old guys forever.

[nothinglikea]

Ugh! You have my sympathies. [a pause] For a while, I was afraid I'd be in the same situation, seeing the same people over and over and over again, but now I'm here and I'm free.

[eudaimonikos]

Because you're rich? I don't know what that's like, obviously, but it sounded like it involved running in very specific circles.

[nothinglikea]

Yes, precisely that. I knew everyone who was anyone in Philadelphia and most of New York. And every one of them was more boring than the one before.

[eudaimonikos]

Yeah, Tahani was the same. Just had bigger circles - it was a lot easier to travel by her time, even internationally. She ran off and spent a year living as a monk in Taiwan once, just to get away from that kind of life. Didn't stick, but it was a valiant effort!