(post-mingle) text; un: UEHARA

[metafictions]

Good morning, everyone. I hope you're well.

[read: he hopes that you're not too hungover and that none of you died out there last night.]

Despite the different clans to which we've been assigned, we all find ourselves in strange territory in Jigoku-cho. It may look close to what several of us recognize as Japan, but as you might've already discovered, familiarity does not guarantee similarity. The other day, I met a man who could have easily been from my world, perhaps even my continent or country-- only to discover he hailed from a completely different planet.

So, I'd like to begin gathering information. [He's no Sutoku, but this is important to all of them, and-- as he's been taught-- there are no shortcuts when it comes to investigation.] The more that we know about our fellow lost souls, the more we will have to work from as we learn more about this place and why we're here. We can start with something simple. If you would like, please share where, and when, you are from.

I'll start. I am from Tokyo's 25th Ward, in Japan, on Earth, in the year 2005.

(ooc: feel free to threadjack around! ✌️)

Comments

[metafictions]

It does raise many, many more questions, yes. But it does lend some weight to the idea that Jigoku-cho-- whether or not it's truly a hell-- might not be linear to any of the worlds that any of us originated from.

I know I couldn't tell you how I got here, because I definitely don't remember dying.

[fuben]

( Another one for his relatively unbalanced list. )

I can't say I remember dying precisely, but I remember accepting death, which feels close enough.

I'm not sure then whether this place being linear to or some sort of funnel for an untold multiverse is comforting or not.

( More souls means more faces to sift through to find familiar ones, but it also seems like it implies that Hell truly is a waiting room more than a destination. And he isn't sure if that's something to be grateful for either. )

Have you met anyone familiar yet? Do you expect to?

[metafictions]

[Kamui smiles down at his phone a little.] The opposite, for me. I realized I was going to live when I'd expected otherwise.

As for the multiverse-- [well, it's already his reality, isn't it? He doesn't have many words for the thought, however, because it is, after all, only a thought. In spite of his insistence, this could be a real hell at the end of the day.] It's just an idea, at any rate. We'll just have to wait to learn more.

And no, I haven't met anyone I know here. But... I wouldn't be surprised if someone did appear. I have a pair of colleagues who are always getting into strange situations. [A beat. He adds, maybe hoping to speak it into existence:] And a friend who's always getting in trouble, too.

[fuben]

I've run into someone who likewise finds more trouble than he should. It's a little difficult to refrain from trying to guide him here, too, since he doesn't seem to want it.

For his sake, at least, I hope that this place proves to be more of a landing pad than a destination. I could accept this for myself, but he isn't the only one who I think wouldn't deserve a fate like this.

I'm inclined to hope for now, I think, particularly if you're meant to live.

[metafictions]

You sound like a good friend. I hope, for their sake and for your own, that we're all able to leave here with our lives.

I promised that troublemaking friend I'd try my best to live, anyway. I can't let him down so easily, can I?