Open | The Epicurians Present: The 1st of September Beach Bash!

[bleatingedge]

Who ► Leo & Anyone that wishes to join!
What ► BEACH PARTY!!
When ► September 1st
Where ► Δ Haggard Traveler's Reprieve
Content Warnings ► People will be drunk. Will add to if needed

[The time has come... for fun! Δ Haggard Traveler's Reprieve has been decorated with all the niceties that a beach party requires - docks for fishing, large umbrellas to hide from the sun, several tables with sets of chairs for sitting and conversing, and the most obvious addition: a massive roaring bonfire with a big cooking mesh over the top of it for barbecue cookin'!

Leo's wearing a fishing hat and aviators alongside his trademark loincloth-and-nothing-else getup for maximum dissonance. From his position on the other side of the bonfire, he waves a hand at those arriving.]

Welcome to the Beach Bash! Snacks and drinks are on the tables, bottles of sunscreen and crafting tables are under the umbrellas, and complementary fishing gear are at the docks for your convenience. Have fun, friends~

[Emperor Grunty is also here, should you wish to annoy him! He's currently laying in the sand with a reflector. What? Grunties need their sun too!]

Comments

[tablescraps]

You saved the fish. But you're still upset.

[trashtier]

[It’s weird for him to have to stop and actually think about this, but he does.]

W-Well yeah. I’m mad that they even had to go through that, and I’m mad at you for not caring.

[tablescraps]

Do you want me to say I'll kill them first next time?

[trashtier]

...Yeah.

Like, I get it. They're just fish. But they deserve some dignity, too.

[tablescraps]

More dignity than human beings?

[trashtier]

[His frown deepens.]

What, is this a competition now? But if you want my honest answer, I think they deserve the same amount.

[tablescraps]

I see. I can't promise anything, then. I'm neutral on people, as well.

[trashtier]

...Man, you operate on some weird logic. Maybe just, IDK, have people prepare the fish for you, then?

[tablescraps]

( what's "eye dee kei"... )

... Would you?

( Choose wisely Levi. A yes means he will pester you about cooking fish forever, )

[trashtier]

Me? I don't...usually do the killing when I cook stuff...

[He's not gonna kill a fish.]

[tablescraps]

( there there )

It doesn't bother you that someone else did the killing when you cook?

[trashtier]

Not really... I can handle raw meat just fine, but I'm kind of squeamish with the whole killing and preparing thing.

[tablescraps]

So it's not about the ethics of killing fish, but about your own comfort.

1/2

[trashtier]

[mathlady.gif]

[trashtier]

[He blankly stares at the bucket full of fish. This conversation has gotten way too deep.]

I... I guess?? I just hated seeing them being tortured and felt bad for them, that's all...

[tablescraps]

Is their pain real, even though they're simulated entities comprised of lines of code?

[trashtier]

Wh-- Are we seriously gonna go there?!

[Grumbling under his breath:] I can't do this again after Henrietta...

[tablescraps]

... Who's Henrietta?

[trashtier]

Uggghhhhh...

My pet goldfish who I won at the carnival. I took good care of her- as much as I would for my IRL goldfish! But she still died not long after I got her settled into the guild home.

[He glumly crosses his arms.]

I was beside myself for a while. But everyone kept saying "it's just a digital fish it's not real" as if that was supposed to make me feel better.

[tablescraps]

( what type of goldfish is a ayearrell goldfish.........

He seems to think about this. )

... It's true the goldfish, and these placeholder fish, aren't real, and neither is their pain, nor their experience of death.

But it's also true that your perception of their pain is real, and your sense of loss.

( He's not saying this to comfort, or inform, or anything. He seems to just be thinking aloud - learning in real time, as it were. )

... Even if none of these things exist when we log off. They still feel real.

[trashtier]

[While Mithrun might not be speaking with the intent to comfort Levi, he at least feels understood for the first time in this conversation.]

That's exactly it. Like, I get it...none of this is real. But that doesn't mean our experiences aren't real, you know? I'm not gonna turn off my love for animals just because they're lines of code at the end of the day.

[He returns to idly running his fingers across the heads of the placeholder fish in the bucket.]

Not when I can touch them like any other living animal while I'm wearing this headset.

[tablescraps]

( Watching Levi pet the strings of code... )

Having that much empathy seems difficult.

( u good dude? )

[trashtier]

[Aaaaand back to the status quo.]

Wha- So you agree with the others in the end?! I guess I shouldn't be that surprised.

[tablescraps]

( Hmmm... )

I don't really know. Fragment is made of code. But I've experienced more things in Fragment than I have in real life. Quantitatively and qualitatively, Fragment is probably the more "real" experience for me right now.

But you're the one who worries about the animals here. ( Empathy, etc. ) So even though Fragment is closer than reality for me, your experience here is probably more real than mine.

( And that must be difficult. )