eastbound | [ voice; un: yuheng of the evening sky

[There's silence at first. One that stretches long enough to make people think maybe whoever this is posted by mistake (but no, he's just bad at this whole asking for help thing). If this were just for himself he wouldn't be doing this but this is for the sake of a spirit who had passed on after being betrayed. He could lower his head to ask for help for that.]

I don't need help.

[Which is a lie but he wants to get that out of the way first.]

But I can't seem to grind this ink stone without it rotting away.

[The paper and brush he had brought with him from Taravast but the ink stone he'd managed to get here so they're, sadly, affected by the curse.

He said this all rather curtly and stiffly, because he really....really didn't know how to ask for help. There's another short pause before he adds.]

I also keep bleeding from my hands. I need a way to keep the blood off the talismans I'm trying to write. [Why is his first question not to stop the bleeding? Because his priorities are weird.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm busy.

[Hello did you think the lack of care for himself last time was only because of the poison? Because it wasn't. This is his way of living.]

By choice.

Of course.

[Few are the people who have ever successfully forced him to do something he didn't want to.]

These talismans aren't going to write themselves.

To what aim?

To write talismans.

[That's his aim and, yes, that was the sassy answer. But then he also adds.]

The sin I am to atone for is that of a woman who betrayed her lover and caused his death. Since they are both dead she cannot make things right. I am writing talismans that will help calm spirits and help them pass on.

[In other words, he seeks to atone this sin not by revenge or getting even but by helping the spirit move on. There are other things as well, he wanted to fold paper money but getting the correct colour of paper is a challenge. So he wanted to make some paper things to burn. Things the person would have liked and would enjoy to have...if such things even worked here. The fact that the ink stone is crumbling in his hands is a worrying sign that this idea may not pan out.]

An unfaithful soul.

Mostly for the one who was betrayed. From what I understood, the woman who was unfaithful didn't suffer from much guilt. A person with no resentments, guilt or attachments, do they need any help to pass on?

[Bit it was so long ago...could anyone even say if that was true or not? If she really did feel guilt, then he would want to give her the chance to repent. If not...then he wanted to help the lover she had betrayed at least.]

Do they deserve to?

[What a question.]

If every soul who has ever committed a sin were not allowed to pass on then there would soon be no more spirits left to reincarnate.

What they did was wrong. It was heinous. Motivated by greed they had not only betrayed but broken the heart of one who likely treasured them. Were they alive to do it I would have made them apologize. But the person in question is dead. It is only through reincarnation that they have the chance to pay back the debts and make up for the wrongs they committed in this life.

And, even if there is no reincarnation in this place, does anyone deserve to be tied down like that? What purpose will their suffering serve now?

Some would question learning without punishment.

People question things all the time.

[He has doled out his fair share of punishment as well...but it's because of that that he knew...]

It's easy to punish others but it's also easy to go overboard, and even if punishment is necessary it's possible for the punishment to exceed the wrong committed.

[And he thinks...not being able to pass on would count as too much of a punishment.]

I cannot say at this point what they do or do not deserve, but if given the chance, I would prefer to let their spirit pass on properly if they had not already. Only if there is no other choice will I choose to forcefully exorcise them.

A kindness.

[He is shocked because.....what kindness??? He was saying this because he can think of at least two times where he had over-reacted in anger though no one died either times! He was saying this because....because it was the decent thing to do. It wasn't kindness it was...just basic decency!]

Nonsense.

I'm not kind.

An act of lone kindness does not make men kind.

[Finally! Someone who isn't making fun of him by telling him he's kind or something along those lines!]

Exactly.

And I would hardly call even this an act of kindness. It is simply the decent thing to do.

The enforced. A curse.

Perhaps. Still, enforced or not, there is a choice to not participate.

[For example, if this were a curse where to break it he had to hurt someone he probably would have chosen to live with it...though no one is asking him so he's hardly going to volunteer the answer.]

Though I have to admit, it's disquieting that they choose to curse people in order to atone for these sins.

To share the transgression.

Why share it? The burden of atonement falls on those who committed them. If they have the means to reveal such truths then why do it after death when nothing can be done about it?

Unless the revelation is not their own.

[ voice; un: yuheng of the evening sky

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

I somehow lost this notif.

all good!

no subject

no subject