video; un: haagentus

[godofdust]

[On the screen is an impish-looking woman with ash blonde hair and blue eyes, and though she is smiling the expression looks just a little strained at the corners.]

Hello, everyone! I'm Guizhong, and I have a... question. Possibly a slightly upsetting one but one I feel compelled to ask due to my own circumstances...

[Pause. Deep breath.]

Did anyone else... die? Before they came here?

[Guizhong blurts out a short laugh.]

Because, ahm... I did? And I thought I was handling that quite well, but it turns out that I may... not be, after all.

Comments

video; un: rider

[kaientai]

It was a long time ago, if that counts. I mean—... [ an awkward laugh. ] —it gets easier with time if that's any consolation.

[ he's not good at this. ]

[godofdust]

Many things do... [But she's not sure if this is going to be one of them. It's rather rattling, and not so much the death part itself so much as... not continuing to be dead.]

Perhaps I shall have the time to get used to it while I'm here.

un: bordeaux

[syckophant]

I have met a few who have, myself included. Everyone reacts to it differently.

What about it is bothering you, if I may ask?

[godofdust]

I have always considered death would be the end. I didn't fear my passing - I quite expected it in fact... and it isn't the dying part that bothers me.

Rather the fact I'm now alive.

audio | un: vainglory

[erschlagen]

[After some fussing and probably a few colorful curses, Rosenkrantz manages to get this stupid phone to work. The audio is a bit choppy since he's roaming around town but it's clear enough. Just prepare yourself, Guizhong.

He's quite animated---]

BWAHAHA!

[He lets out a boisterous laugh that definitely earned him a few glances from onlookers nearby but never mind that. This man doesn’t have the faintest idea of how to talk normally sometimes.]

Who hasn't died at least once by now?! Life is fleeting within itself! People die all the bloody time.

[godofdust]

[Well this is a lively one. Just as well Guizhong knows the type and isn't quite as put off by the immediate loud laugh as the people close by to him might be.]

Where I come from, people usually die and then stay dead. One hardly expects to be around to recall one's own death.

[She taps her lower lip thoughtfully.]

I certainly don't need to be told that life is fleeting. I have seen that human life is all too brief, though my own was far longer in comparison.

video; un: kantera

[happydreamed]

In a manner of speaking. -I certainly have the memories of dying, at least.

Talking about it helps a little, in my experience.

[godofdust]

You have the memories of dying... but you aren't still dead?

[Help her out with this one. Are you a ghost sir.]

private video; un: afairguy

[fairlyheroic]

[he still owes a conversation or two about that . . . but he wants to respond, so a private message it is]

This is the second time I've ended up in a different world, but the first time was right after I died.

I can't say whether or not talking about it would help, but I'd be willing to listen.

[godofdust]

[Ooh, a one on one conversation? She didn't know this thing could do that, though she hadn't yet attempted the function. Perhaps she shouldn't be surprised - this is something of a sensitive matter, after all.]

You're not the first to say that talking about it could help... though talking about it certainly won't change the fact of the matter. [Though she doesn't seem to be outright dismissing the potential, she's a little skeptical.]

Where might I even begin?

text; un: nenonen

[essenceborn]

[ Waaait...waitwaitwait. This person died--she she knows it happened? Guizhong's aware? That's never happened as far as Nenonen knows. Never!

Their surprise is so great that they don't hesitate in responding, quick to type a response. ]

You REMEMBER dying? For real?

[godofdust]

Well yes...

Is that so strange?

un; user_143

[lionsharing]

i honestly don't remember much of anything but i think i would certainly remember dying!

well, maybe.

[godofdust]

It is a rather memorable experience.

Though I suppose if you were not conscious for it, you wouldn't remember it.

un: music2myears

[afoolshope]

Yes, I did. I had already accepted it would happen though, so it doesn't bother me. But if it wasn't expected, then that would be hard to accept.

You can call me if you would like to talk more about it, though.

[godofdust]

It was expected, at the time.

The fact of being dead is not the problem... it was an anticipated eventuality.

text; un:sanctuary

[peacewithouttyranny]

I did. Although I was in a different realm right after I died, before arriving here.

I cannot say it bothers me since it was an expected outcome, but talking about it might helps a bit.

[It doesn't bother him as much as being lonely, anyhow.]

[godofdust]

It was an expected outcome for me as well, given my circumstances at the time.

I simply did not anticipate anything coming after it.

video; un: zeldaofhyrule

[princessofhyrule]

( Zelda had been fascinated with her device as soon as she'd received it. It's different from her Sheikah slate but no less useful and there's so many different functions that she thinks hours pass before she ever gets to the proper network. When she does, she clicks on someone's video post and she wants to respond so she does, choosing the video option. )

I was not dead before I came here but I had put myself into stasis while I was holding a magical seal. I presume my seals are holding while I'm gone but I don't know. I think there's a magic to this place that goes beyond things like death, clearly.

[godofdust]

Clearly there is... I know little of such power and can't claim to hold it myself.

[It is slightly concerning that somewhere like this can have the power to snatch someone from the jaws of death itself, even after they have been closed. She remembers her life being snuffed out, and then... Here.]

Hmm... how vexing. Though I suppose I ought to make the most of the opportunity.

PRIVATE; video; un: cecilias

[outofoffice]

Guizhong . . .

God of Dust?

[godofdust]

[She peers at this person, the corners of her eyes pinching softly as if she's grasping for some kind of recognition on her own end.]

That is what some call me, yes.

[Then she smiles.]

And how do you know me, little one?

un: architect

[noarchitact]

[ g- g- ghosts? ]

[ the name guizhong does ring a small bell, but kaveh's too busy wrestling with the fact that not even death can stop a person from being dragged here. ]

How about a drink? It might take the edge off...

[godofdust]

[Spooky ghosts!]

A drink? Is that an invitation?

video | un: kenta

[fiorello]

[ ... oh. His (very much not human) heart aches for her. ]

Are you okay, miss Guizhong? [ Because that's more important than her question, right? ]

[godofdust]

[It is a very sweet question and she appreciates that he asked it.]

Oh, I think I'm all right. It's just... not something that I expected to have to think about after the fact.

text; anonymous

[kingside]

[If only because this person managed to beat him to the punch and it is a valuable data point—]

Yes. I unfortunately have no coping strategies to offer, however.

[godofdust]

Was it recent for you too?

audio; un: philosophy

[egomitochdavar]

Death is an inextricable part of life, no matter how you may hide. There is no shame in admitting to it, and there is no shame in understanding how it has changed you.

[ the woman's voice is low and calm - gentle, though perhaps not kind. impassive, in some ways. like a distant onlooker. ]

My first life was ripped away in an eternity long past; my second ended some scant few years ago. You are not the first to have died, nor are you the first to have remained aware of your own mortality.

[godofdust]

[Oh, she knows the type. It doesn't faze her.]

If I was the first then it would be a rather lonely experience.

[Had she thought herself the first and only one here, she would not have made this message to reach out. It had only made sense that she couldn't be the only one with that kind of experience and she has been glad to find that she was correct.]

Luckily enough, I have found some kindred spirits in the matter.

private, un: skylark

[inspiteful]

[ Skylark decides that, for all intents and purposes, almost dying doesn't count for this question. It's not something he particularly wants to talk about, anyway.

A part of him wants to ask what sort of afterlife she was expecting. That kind of seems a little insensitive though, at least as an opener.

So after typing, deleting and re-typing several times (convenient but also not, in his opinion), and fiddling with the message settings, he eventually settles on this. ]

Would you like some company? Or even just going out somewhere for a bit?

[godofdust]

[Ah, it's that young man she met...]

I would like that. I hear that there is something like a beach somewhere, do you know where it is?

video | un: furuderika

[badend_replay]

[Rika is hesitant to respond. She doesn't want to alarm anyone or be coddled by strangers, so she isn't eager to share her own experiences. However, she can't very well leave someone to suffer on their own either.

Her expression is calm as she answers the call.]

I can't imagine that 'death' is something that anyone handles well. It's expected to be the end, so few of us even imagine how to live after it.

[godofdust]

[Guizhong nods in thoughtful agreement. The initial message was a little... terse. The need to reach out and find someone - anyone - who had had similar experienced had felt very urgent at the time, but she has managed to level herself out more by this point.]

It certainly wasn't something that I had in mind at the time... not that I'm upset about the opportunity.

[She hadn't exactly wanted to be dead, even if she knew it was coming.]

Video; un: fenrirfang (tw murder/danganronpa spoilers)

[corpsewarblade]

Mukuro Ikusaba.

...Yes, I did. I was killed in my homeworld, and the first world like this I got pulled into.

[She could feel despair creeping into her, as well. The vulnerability Guizhong was showing stirred up her own emotions, the wounds that she'd still not really dealt with.]

I...haven't dealt with it, either.

[godofdust]

Ah... I'm sorry to hear that.

[Somehow it's easier to turn her mind to helping someone else deal with the problematic emotions that come with knowing that you're dead than it is for her to examine her own.]

Would you like to talk about it with me?