二夜 (Audio; Public)

[shikiller]

[Nanaya's gotten into a few fights since getting here. Obviously. However, though he very much appreciates getting do-overs if he finds a battle unsatisfying, he has to admit it also takes some of the fun out of it. It reminds him all too much of the time he left the world of the living. No fun in killing those who have passed away. No will to live in them. Though he still very much prefers going out and having his own kind of fun than genuinely interacting with the tower's other residents, even Nanaya can have a taste for variety now and then.]

Death's a funny thing. Every moment of fear and anxiety anyone has ever gone through is rooted, if not directly caused, by it. Every time you turn on the lights at night, and every time you decide to close your eyes and ignore something to live just another day, that's your thanatophobia at work.

[Subtle. Not like it's the first thing any blatant psychopath says in the comm. Then again, Nanaya doesn't much care about what people know or don't know about him here.]

If that really forms such a large part of us, then couldn't you say we're effectively half of our own selves just by being unable to be truly killed? How you round it up is your own business, but that's almost like not living at all.

Aa... Although, if you're going to consider yourself dead already, then you might as well consider this some sort of hell while you're at it.

[That made all kinds of nonsense, but as always, Nanaya's much more interested in the poetic beauty of the situation, rather than the actual facts. Worth noting, though, that this isn't some attempt at standing out or intimidating others. Nanaya's genuinely intrigued, and very much interested in what others have to say.]

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[yumizuka]

[ Bwuh? ] Tohno-kun?

[ Why is he suddenly talking about such a morbid topic? Satsuki's reluctant to respond mostly because she's come to accept who she is and what she must do to survive, but what happens when she runs out of critters here? She'll have to move on to larger and more sentient things. ]

There's plenty to be afraid of other than death. For example, being late to class or forgetting to study for a very important exam!

[shikiller]

[Nanaya does not correct her. After all, the truth should become apparent soon enough, and though he takes at least a little pride in his real name, he doesn't look forward to making a habit out of correcting people. Shiki is Shiki, and Shiki is Shiki.]

[Well, yes, it could get a little confusing.]

And still the same instincts kick in. Our pupils still dilate and our blood pressure picks things up. Our history as humans has taught us a lot more about surviving than school, Yumizuka-san.

[The significance of having this conversation with her is not lost on him, no. He finds it amusingly ironic.]

[yumizuka]

But it also teaches us so much more than just survival!

[ This is something she's passionate about, so he's going to see the rare side of her standing up for what she believes in. ]

Love, harmony, and friendship. That's what we learn as humans and that's what helps us overcome the fears of the world. Even the fear of death.

[crouching_sin]

Death is boring anyway.

[People make a big deal of it but after the first hundred times...]

[shikiller]

[Nanaya actually gives an emphatic nod, even if it can't be seen.]

It's the transition into it that everyone's most worried about.

[Or excited, in his case.]

[crouching_sin]

Pretty much. It's not all that big of a deal, though.

Audio

[true_noir]

I wonder... is this hell... or is this purgatory to oblivion? I expect you are correct, regarding most you will meet.

I do not, however, fear death. I would not summon it prematurely, but there is no fear in what you have lived with for all of your life.

[shikiller]

Can that really be said if you haven't experienced death itself?

It seems to me like that's the kind of thing that can only be credited with a blood pool or two.

[true_noir]

Ah... but I have. In several different ways. There is a sense in which I am dead right now.

Voice

[ceasetoexist]

Believe it or not you don't get used to death just because you get killed a lot. There's still a lot to fear about it.

[But he won't deny that there's less to fear about it than there was before.]

[shikiller]

I wonder. Pain is simply another measure to avoid it. Apart from that, what is there to fear if you come back?

[ceasetoexist]

Yeah, so I'm curious.

Have you died before?

[Because he can't put it in words. In part because his fear isn't like it was anymore, and in part because the sensation of it...it's beyond description. It isn't just pain, but the disorientation that happens a while after dying and coming back.]

[calculatedfire]

If this place is an illusion, perhaps we do not really die, so much as we believe that we have died.

[shikiller]

If we're going to go down that route, couldn't you extend that to real life as well?

[A brief chuckle] Man. That's one rabbit hole that could keep us here for hours.

[calculatedfire]

I'm not sure. No to the last nine months at least, but I don't remember more than that.

[text]

[xanthous]

What'2 thanatophobiia?

[That's really all he wants to know right now. Death is inevitable and noisy, and it's not like he doesn't think about it enough already.]

[shikiller]

The aversion to dying. Man's prime directive.

video

[terreifying]

I have no fear of death.

[Here's Rei, looking unnaturally serious.]

It's never-ending life that is to be truly feared. To remain tied to life far after it loses its meaning.

[shikiller]

And when would you say that is?

[Nanaya himself considers his time to have run out already, and wouldn't mind fading away that much, but so long as there's so much fun to be had in here, he'd prefer it if he didn't.]

[yamaxanadu]

Humans have more to be afraid of than death, though being afraid of death powers the instinct to survive. If this basic self preservation instinct did not exist, people would die the minute they were born and life would cease to be.

As for not being able to be killed, that is not the same as not wanting to be killed. Which is also not the same as accepting inevitable death. And saying that not embracing death is the same as not living is a little odd, isn't it? The two concepts can not coexist. Though, I suppose if one was so paralyzed by fear of death that they couldn't function that would indeed cause them to not truly live. There is a balance of life and death that must be accepted, which is why the young will feel fearless while the old, in general, will accept their inevitable time.

[shikiller]

Life has no regard for young or old. Not even death discriminates there. It's each individual person's choice to accept their time has come. If your consciousness says something different than your nature, isn't that just fooling yourself?

[hegantha]

[ Wow sure is HERESY in here. ]

It seems like you're thinking a bit too much about death to be healthy. I highly doubt half of our being is formed around the fact that we'll die someday.

[shikiller]

Does half seem like too much? I'm willing to bet that you'll eventually spend way more time dead than alive.

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[concept_killer]

For someone who talks so much about death, you never got around to explaining who you actually are.

[shikiller]

Does it matter? Names are just another sound in a place where no one's forced to keep up appearances. Rather than that, shouldn't you just enjoy yourself while you can?