002. this heart's a stranger and you love it 'cause it's dangerous like yours

[diamant]

there's a certain beauty to the world now that it's like this
it's inconvenient but overall not something to complain about
though it's a little ironic maybe
given what we were talking about earlier this month

it's really striking though, all of this
is this the sort of experience you all get to have here so often?
because if it is then i'm certainly going to stay

but as pleased as i am with this world
i wonder what you're all remembering about the worlds we all came from
how important were you there?
would the world just keep on turning without you?
would it have been better off?
or did you actually do something worthwhile?

Comments

[blondferret]

In answer to your questions:
1. No, we do not experience things like this normally. It's usually worse and life threatening. Though this does fall under extremely inconvenient.
2. I remember some of the other world, but I still don't fully understand it's structure. And my other self, was a student. Not that particularly important I think.
3. Probably. His dad didn't seem to think he could amount to much if he wasn't the best.
4. I doubt the world would be better off but he didn't do anything worth while as far as I could tell.

Are you always this philosophical?

[diamant]

maybe
i like thinking about this sort of thing
and hearing other people's thoughts
there's a sense of beauty to be found in truth i think
whether it's actual truth or just personal truth
since they're not always the same thing

[blondferret]

OK, the answer isn't "maybe." The answer is "yes."
You're wanting to discuss personal and actual truth. Both can be very grey.

[erythristic]

you should offer answers for answers. otherwise one might think you were taking advantage of the poor souls on this network and what they'll offer up while being terribly selfish.

[diamant]

i never said i wouldn't answer if asked
really one could argue that some people might want to vent
and don't care much for what i have to say
but if you want to think the worst of me you can
it doesn't offend me

sorry for the delay!

[erythristic]

you're assuming quite a lot about me from one statement. could it be that you're the one thinking the worst of me, instead of vice versa? why, it'd break my heart entire.

unless, of course, you're addressing our whole populace, in which case, by all means. proclaim what's in your heart from the rooftops.

[explodosafe]

I'm going to not say anything on how 'fun' this reoccurring weirdnesses are.

But your last question is good food for thought, so I'll bite. I guess I was on my way of becoming somebody important, at least that's what I hope. The thing I was going to do was definitely worthwhile, although I don't think there'd be things like a state funeral if I'd die.

[diamant]

state funeral or not
was whatever you were doing enough?
for you at least
i'm guessing so if it was definitely worthwhile
but whatever it was
it's good enough?

[explodosafe]

I don't know if it was enough but it was the best I could do
I always gave it my all
so I won't regret
at least I don't think that's the person I wanted to be
somebody who won't regret trying and doing his best, no matter the results
even now I think

[there is a pause that suggests that Kirishima has stopped writing and is really considering his feelings on the matter right now]

I think even if things went wrong I wouldn't regret having tried doing what I thought was right
I'll regret not having been strong or smart enough
but I won't regret trying
somebody needs to take action

[liberal_arts]

Irony tends to be how this world operates, to be sure.

As for your question, My other self was a warrior conscripted in defending Japanese history, in addition to being a sword, so. That's a thing.

[diamant]

an actual sword
not just metaphorical?
i have to ask given everything
you understand

[liberal_arts]

Yes, a literal, actual sword. Born of steel, shaped into art.

[meowchanics]

I agree, it looks striking. Like the whole world got a clean slate, and we suddenly had the chance to build it back up better than it was.
But if there's beauty in that, it's a false beauty. Everything unpleasant in the world is still here. It's just hidden a little better for a while.
Dwelling on our memories of those past worlds for too long runs the risk of something similar, I'd say.

[diamant]

serious question then
do you find there to be no value in unpleasant things
is beauty only in the absence of unpleasantness
or is there anything worthwhile in the things that don't benefit us as well

[meowchanics]

Okay, let me clarify.
I study biology. Pretty much everything in the natural world that seems distasteful to most people - disease, parasites, you name it - has its own kind of elegance. Even the photogenic parts of nature don't do it for our sake. In the context of an ecosystem, all of them are important.
Perceiving the world as fundamentally changed just because you can't see all of those things any more, that's what rings false.

[angealwings]

Not something to complain about unless nobody can find your life-saving medicine, of course.
But I guess people who remember more than I do think those things more important than here and now.

[diamant]

i don't know if i'd say they're more important
just important in a different way
i haven't remembered much in the scheme of things myself

[angealwings]

And yet that's what you choose to ask about at a time like this.

[beneathmoonlight]

I don’t really like the lack of color. It seems bleak somehow.

I was a detective of some kind, but I’m not sure if I was that important or not.

[diamant]

have you been spreading color with others then
it makes it a little less depressing, if you find it sad or bleak somehow

[feistytrader]

I don't know if I could call this beautiful, but I guess I have a preference for the presence of things instead of their absence.
Even Magatus is better than this.

I guess I was sort of important in my world, but
I want to see it whole again.
If I can help that happen, I think that's more important than anything I'm going to remember.

[diamant]

i'm not trying to say this life isn't important
i think we can all agree that it is
at least so long as we prefer being alive to being dead anyway

in what way were you important?

[floret]

Jamie Doh I'm glad you like it, because I don't think we have much of a choice about whether or not to stay! lol

I'm honestly not sure, about my past self. I know I was personally very unimportant, but... I guess I knew some important people? And I remember at least a couple of things I ended up doing that might have had... an impact. I still don't know enough to say for sure.

[diamant]

if what you did had an impact
i don't know if i'd say you were unimportant
plenty of people live their lives not having any impact at all

[theveilisin]

Well, that is certainly a sunny way of looking at things. I would have preferred an exciting new change which didn't make it quite so hard to tend to certain medical needs, but there's no accounting for taste.

I can't say I remember much about my role in the other world, other than that I seem to have been living in some sort of accommodation with men I thought of as my comrades, so presumably I was involved in the military there too.