Rome, Italy Thursday Evening Fandom Time

[glacial_queen]

Even in Kaeleer, Karla made sure to keep a Fandom-based calendar handy, so she could keep track of things like friends' birthdays and things like that. A few days ago, she'd noted another anniversary was coming up, but not one as fun or exciting as a birthday.

Thursday, May 10th, was the day that Triela had died, last year. Funny how it felt like both more and less than that long. Funny how much it still hurt, an ache in her heart she doubted would ever go away.

After seeing that, Karla had made a few handwavy calls to people, friends of hers and Triela's that she thought might want to join her sojourn back to Italy. Unsurprisingly, several people had already made separate plans to do just that, but didn't mind combining those plans with hers. Karla couldn't speak for everyone, of course, but she was sure that very few people wanted to go back and remember their friend alone.

For once, Portalocity was willing to work with her, and she was able to set up several portals to meet in Rome for Thursday afternoon and a return set for late Thursday evening. Hopefully that would give everyone time to...do whatever they needed to do today.

[For any friends of Triela's who want to meet up. If you think you'd've gotten a phone call, you absolutely did. Give a sec for OCD. NFB, NFI]

Comments

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

"Not a ghost! At least I hope not! If you die with unfinished business or something, you get stuck... like if people aren't willing to let you go or if you're too worried about someone?" She totally didn't look over at Hilshire. Nope. "And ghosts can get trapped, yes, but usually they're just stuck. But just being a spirit doesn't make you a ghost! It's just what happens when you die."

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

"I don't understand," Karla said. "What's the difference between a spirit and a ghost?"

They didn't have these fine distinctions in Kaeleer. Hell's fire, it had taken Macfinlay for Karla to learn about ghosts.

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

Well, technically they didn't have that sharp a distinction in Japan. A spirit could become a ghost, in the right circumstances, but not all ghosts were once spirits!

"Uhm..." Which is why Momoko was faltering. "Ghosts are, like, uhm... Okay when you die, if you don't..." Huh. "Technically, there's a bunch of things totally..." No...

"Ghosts are scary." Because really, when you came down to it, that was the difference for her.

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

"Annnnd...?" This was Karla's expectant face, Momoko.

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

"...And spirits aren't?" Momoko tried.

LOOK, NINETEEN YEARS OF MERELY ABSORBING SHINTO BELIEFS MAKES THEM HARD TO EXPLAIN OKAY!

Hmmmm. That was Karla's Expectant Face. "Haaaaaaaaaa," Momoko sighed in resignation. "Okay. Like I said, everyone who dies becomes a spirit. Or becomes the spirit that they always were, really. And there's things that can happen to make you a ghost, but things you can do to stop that, too. Only not everything is what you do. Sometimes it's what people do when you're gone. Or don't do, too! That can make you into a ghost too. Especially since a spirit can watch you and take care of you and stuff. So what you do for them is important, too."

...

"And sometimes a ghost is just a ghost and never was a spirit at all. Or at least not a person."

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

And now this was Karla's 'DOES NOT COMPUTE' face.

"So everyone is a spirit waiting to die and everyone can become a ghost for, like, any reason, but sometimes ghosts aren't people at all, they're just scary spirits that have become ghosts but not people ghosts because you did or didn't do something and Mother Night I think my head hurts."

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

Yes.

"No! Uhm. Okay. There's this place you can go after you're dead, where all the ancestors are. Or your spirit can, I mean. And you can come back to visit at certain times or to help someone who needs it. But if you die leaving something undone, or owing something, or if you're worried about someone, you can totally get stuck here as a ghost." Momoko did finally glance over at Hilshire.

"But you're not automatically evil or scary when you die! And you can totally go as soon everything is fixed or paid or whatever. And there's a lot of rituals and stuff you're supposed to do to help the spirit, even if it's not a ghost, and if that's not done, they can get stuck, too. Or if you're disrespectful to them. And sometimes they get mad, which can make them mean or vengeful."

"... Does that help?"

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

"Sooo...spirits are kind of like demon-dead, then?" Karla asked. "They live in Hell, but can wander around if they want. Well, sorta. Uncle Saetan pretty much keeps them separate, because the living and the dead aren't supposed to live near one another, because it's hard for both sides to move on when they do. But after awhile, it's kind of okay, because they don't have anymore ties, or something."

So, maybe?

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

"But my demons aren't humans... Even if they look like it." Momoko thought about that for a moment. "And it takes a priest to move and control ghosts... Although some of the rituals anyone can do, like keeping the grave clean and honouring those who are dead. Or, like if there's a person who died from a murder, arresting that murderer could make the ghost move on!"

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

"Your demons are more like Raven's demons then?" Karla asked. "Because our demons are nothing like that."

And Guardians weren't vampires, no matter how much blood they drank or how badly sunlight drained them. Nyah.

"I can see why catching a murderer would make someone move on, but why should the dead care about what state their grave is in? They're dead."

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

"From what Dinah says about them, they're totally alike, yes." Momoko nodded. "And cleaning the grave, visiting, making offerings... It's all showing respect! If you care about someone, you want their home to be clean, right?"

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

"I...guess?" Karla looked away. "I've only ever been to their graves once. My parents', I mean. I had to, after the funeral and to see them buried, but I couldn't--it isn't their home. It's just where their bones lay."

Of course, if she did go another time and saw it looking all disheveled, she'd probably get upset. But that was more for her benefit, not theirs. She doubted that they cared.

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

"I've been grave-visiting since I was little. We even have festivals about it. Every year, back home." Momoko reached for Karla's hand. "It helps, it totally does. It's like a chance to reconnect? To refresh your memories. Especially the way we do it - where everyone comes."

So it wasn't just for the chance to keep the dead happy, really.

She hesitated a moment. "Why haven't you been back?"

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

Another uncomfortable shrug. "I told you, I'm not real good at this stuff," she said. "It seemed morbid, going to a place because it's where they were buried. It's not like they ever went anywhere near it when they were alive or anything."

She sighed and added, "Going there made it all the more real. That they were dead, I was alone except for Morton, and they'd left me in custody with Hobart. Didn't seem like a great reason to visit, either."

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

"I don't understand that," Momoko had to confess. "It's not a question of want, for me."

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

"Because they'll turn into ghosts if you don't?" Damn demandy spirits/

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

She snickered. "Well, that. But also it helps me. I can talk to them here. There... at their grave. I feel closer than when I'm just in my normal life and think about them. And, maybe, it means," her voice got a little softer, "that someday... people will visit me when I'm gone."

Because it made her sad to think that some people went forgotten and ignored just because they weren't alive.

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

Oh, Karla's parents were hardly forgotten or ignored. She just didn't find them in their graves the same way Momoko did.

"I used to sneak into my mother's chambers before I was sent to live with the Hourglass," Karla said. "I'd curl up in her closet and smell her perfume. I could almost pretend that she was just off being a Queen somewhere else and that she'd be coming home soon. But then I was sent away and Hobart's little pet moved into my mother's rooms and all of her things got boxed and put into storage."

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

All the more reason to have someplace else to go, Momoko thought. "Life goes on," she nodded. "But the person who has no respect for the dead tends to have no respect for anyone. They should have offered you something of hers."

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

Karla snorted. "Yeah, somehow I think that giving me something for comfort was the last thing on Hobart's mind. He's the reason I'm here, Momo, instead of Glacia where I should be."

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

"I know. But he should have." She hesitated a moment. "Next time I visit, we can go? Or... would that be bad for you?"

Politically, emotionally, safety-wise...

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

"They're buried in Glacia," Karla said with a shake of her head. "Right in Sidra, the capital city, near the estate. I couldn't even visit them if I wanted to."

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

She took a moment to absorb that, feeling again the rising desire to offer her totally unhelpful services for Karla's cause.

Finally: "Memorial tablets: ihai. I'll get you one. For your parents and for Triela." And, if she could find a nice enough one, a cabinet.

... "Or would that be offensive?"

Re: Arrive

[glacial_queen]

"Why would that be offensive?" Karla asked. And then realized a slightly more useful question. "...What's a memorial tablet?"

Re: Arrive

[heromaniac]

Momoko shrugged. "I don't really know when it comes to religions and stuff. Ihai are small little statues," she loosed Karla's hand to make a shape about ... so big. "More like small square columns. They have inscriptions on them and they're dedicated to the people who are dead? And you can keep them in your home, usually in a special cabinet, and it's like a substitute... a mini spirit house. You can tend it and talk to the spirit and have something there." Which totally helped.

There was more you could do, but Momoko wasn't that devout.