[Video | Both Courts] Rule 1

[prissykid]

[Sup, Fairy Land, there's a 15-year-old newbie on the network today. He's regarding the Locket with a cool, vaguely curious expression.]

It's a little too abrupt for my taste, but it has relevance in light of certain events. What sort of afterlife do you think there is? Or, if you don't personally believe in one, then what's one that's common in your world or that you might agree with? On the other hand, which one would you disagree with wholeheartedly as an afterlife?

[Joshua shrugs slightly.]

It's a morbid topic, I grant you, but...well, I can't say that I'm not interested in learning about different beliefs and how other cultures view different things.

[The teenager shifts into a more comfortable position.]

Not to mention, with various worlds comes even more cultures I've never come across. I wouldn't like to squander such a chance.

Comments

[prissykid]

I, personally, would take it at face-value, until evidence piles up to one thing or another. On the other hand, would another person still believe that it's true if they were told this? Or another? Maybe some will accept what he says as fact, but others might sneer at him or call him a liar, if not both.

It's much like if I told someone that the afterlife for some people is nothing but a game to survive and earn a second chance at life, what are the odds that they wouldn't write me off as someone who shouldn't be out on the streets?

[uneulogized]

[While he doesn't want to end the conversation on belief, that statement strikes him as ... funny. Life is a game. It's not an idea (or believe) that he buys into strongly, but he knows that there are takes, rolls of dice, and so forth that will always be at play. Learning how to play the game is just one aspect of it, so why wouldn't coming back be the same? For some, anyway.

He has more thoughts on that, but he doesn't go on, not yet.]

They might, but I'd buy it. Life itself is a game. Why wouldn't some version of death be the same?

[prissykid]

The stakes are high, but that just adds a layer of excitement and an incentive to give it your best shot. Of course, in my world, you can't play that game for free. The entrance fee is giving up whatever's most precious to you, be it physical or something not as concrete, such as dreams or memories.

[There's no such thing as a free lunch, as they say.]

[uneulogized]

So you were serious. [That's new information.] Do you get that back? Or is it gone for good? Does it test whether you can live without that one precious thing?

[prissykid]

[Oho, Joshua likes this one. He asks good questions.]

You get it back if you survive to the last day. My Partner had to play a second time with a different entry fee, since what he most valued changed. I'd say it was a test, and I think perhaps your ability to adapt without it plays an important part in it. But it's hard to say for sure. The only one who can say for sure is the one who made the rules.

[uneulogized]

Life shouldn't only be about just one thing, either. [If what had been valued had changed, that seems to address that, too.] Though it seems your partner knows that better than anyone.

I'm gonna guess Mr. Rulemaker isn't here to clarify for the sake of my curiosity, huh? Too bad. I'd like to introduce him to someone. [That last bit is more absently stated than anything, but Bruce definitely didn't take well to Jason's take on life after living on the streets. The aside is more for Jason than Joshua.]

[prissykid]

I don't think life ever truly is about one thing. It just likes to seem that way a good deal of the time.

If the rule maker's here, I doubt he or she would make their presence known for a long time. From the information I've gathered, their position as rule maker, or Composer, is passed on to whomever kills them. As such, they hide themselves to make it difficult for would-be usurpers to make that a reality. I would imagine that if they're here, they wouldn't want to "come out," in case that still holds true here. [There's a soft little breath of chuckling from him.] Wouldn't that be awkward?

[uneulogized]

Most likely. [His tone is agreeable.] But wouldn't their status not matter in a world like this? I take the game of shards as something that got decided by someone with a much broader scope.