there is no place in the world we do not belong

[tenthousandmiles]

who: Ginko & open!
what: you get a memory and you get a memory and YOU get a memory
when: during the memory event
where: around the city + in yo brainz
warnings: Mild body horror in the third memory

[Wherever you are, wherever you're going, you're probably generally minding your own business. But sometimes walking through a town means brushing against people, and when that inevitably happens as you pass by Ginko, maybe you'll see a flash of a memory that's not yours....]

Who are you?

The god-eating mushi

A Sea of Writings

[ooc: memories in individual comments! if you'd like something specific, please feel free to PM me or hit me up on plurk @ goodluckmodes

Comments

[tenthousandmiles]

"Ah, right."

He's usually better at remembering to explain things as he goes, given the line of work he's in, but things have been strange at the quarantine, lately, and he hadn't realized he'd forgotten.

"Tokoyami is a species of mushi." Of course, that in itself is its own complicated explanation. He thinks it may be best to start from the beginning, here.

"It might be easier to explain with an analogy." He holds up his arm, and points to the fingers and thumb individually.

"Imagine that the thumb of your hand represents plant life, and the four fingers represent animal life." He points to the middle finger, then. "Humans would be here, at the farthest point."

Then, the thumb traces back down his palm, all the way to the wrist.

"Fungi and microorganisms would be here, where the various forms of life begin to meld together. But there is an even more fundamental form of life--"

And then, the thumb traces back even further, up past the arm and the shoulder...all the way to the heart.

"--Mushi. Close to life itself, in its purest form."

[sweetlies]

He listened, thoughtful, trying to understand. Ciel was smart, he always had been, a genius at chess as a child, and an Earl at ten. So he was fairly sure he had the basic idea of it as he let his eye follow the trail Ginko made across his hand and down his arm.

"So... If I'm understanding correctly, they're spirits? Souls?"

That was the closest he could relate them to, and partly because of Undertaker's explanation about souls, life and death, when they'd been on the Campania. Before that, he might have scoffed a bit at the idea.

lmfao mushishi is so complicated im sorry

[tenthousandmiles]

Ginko shakes his head, at that.

"No, mushi don't have souls." Aside from the lack of a physical body, it's the main thing that sets them apart from creatures of flesh and blood, such as themselves.

"They are of an existence separate from our own, part of our reality and yet removed from it at the same time. Few of them are capable of individual thought, and fewer still of anything we might call 'emotion.' "

They possess will, and some can become capable of learning, even speech, such as that one Watahaki he'd encountered...but for the most part, they simply existed.

"They are 'living', like animals, yet inanimate, like objects."

It's a confusing explanation, he realizes. As he'd told that boy, Shinra...it was difficult to explain a sensory experience like the presence of mushi, much as someone born blind would have no frame of reference for the colors red or blue. But Ginko is patient with it; he's had many years of experience answering these questions, and he's patient enough to continue with the conversation until Ciel is either satisfied with the answers he offers or is prepared to move on.

lol it's okay

[sweetlies]

Ciel was no expert but he thought every living thing had a soul. Except plants. So every sentient creature, and it did sound like they were sentient. At least someone of them. Suddenly, the teen was struck with an almost overwhelming sense of gratitude that he'd been born in England. It didn't seem like this would be easy to understand even if he'd been from this mans world.

"So the closer comparison would be the plants and fungus?" The question came out then he sighed, frustration directed at himself more than anything. "I apologize, this is a bit beyond anything I have experience with."

[tenthousandmiles]

"It's alright. Most in my world don't have experience with them, either. Because they're so close to life itself, their existences can be rather ambiguous--many are unable to perceive them at all."

Even those who could see mushi didn't always understand them. Ginko himself has had many, many years to learn all he has.

"At any rate, it depends on the kind of mushi. Some have a greater sense of will than others."