automailed: (what to do... what to do...)
Edward Elric ([personal profile] automailed) wrote2011-10-03 01:20 am

[Voice (morning) / Action (evening)]

[Voice - Locked from Al, Winry, Gracia, and Elicia]

This might seem like a weird question, but I need to ask.

A lot of people - kids, even - act like they're fine with death and killing. The draft taught me that much. And around here dying doesn't even seem to matter because you just come back anyway. Is that what makes it- [Not okay, he can't say okay, it's not okay] ...more acceptable? Or is it something you're used to? And if it was someone else's life at risk, more than just your own, would that-

[...Dammit, this is probably coming out all wrong. But talking to Al back in the hospital had really gotten him thinking, probably too much, and... maybe he can't really understand something he's never experienced himself. Much like human transmutation- it sounds like a perfectly acceptable theory until the truth opens your eyes.]

...Nevermind. But if death is just temporary, is it really still death? And if it is, then... what's it like to die?

[He couldn't even kill the remnants of a Philosopher's Stone to save Ling. Using the souls of Xerxes for his own gain still haunts him to this day. Could he ever kill to save himself if his own death meant Al would die as well...?]

How can anyone be fine with taking the life of another person?


[So... it's the 3rd. Of October. And certain people from Amestris know the significance of that date. It's not exactly an anniversary that Edward or Alphonse celebrate, per se, but it's become an unspoken annual event to have a bonfire on that particular evening, and more often than not staying up all night. An unspoken promise of which neither will remind the other.

One more year gone. One more year of failure. But they're not about to give up, either.

They hadn't been able to have a fire the past year in Amestris, what with the Philosopher's Stone plot going on in the background and their lengthy separation after leaving Briggs, but here they find themselves in October once again, and the pair made a silent agreement to do it now. Thus, after dinner in the backyard of House #23, a fair-sized campfire will be burning all night, carefully watched and maintained by either one or both of the Elric brothers. They're mostly just doing your average campfire stuff- Edward is roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, Al watching the flames and tending to the loose sparks, the pair occasionally tossing out nostalgic stories. It's not an exclusive fire by any means, so bother at will.

And then, sometime around dawn, Edward will wander off to take a leak in the woods, and he won't be coming back. There'll be signs of a quiet scuffle and a flash of alchemic energy - and a collection of metal chips from a robot's arm being deconstructed - but nothing more to be found.]


[ooc: action tags (if any) can get Ed, Al, or both. If you have a preference just say so, otherwise we'll decide between the two of us or toss a coin |D)]
fabrecation: (The world turned in me)

[Voice]

[personal profile] fabrecation 2011-10-03 05:32 am (UTC)(link)
It's not - !

[Dammit. Luke quiets down by gritting his teeth and clenching his fist. It's not like Ed's saying it is okay, he's just... asking.]

It's... never been acceptable to me. Not even here... Just because you're brought back doesn't make it any less - [Horrifying. Disgusting. Scary. Necessary.] ... acceptable.
ignitethesky: (Get up off your knees)

[voice]

[personal profile] ignitethesky 2011-10-03 05:39 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh geeze. It's not a weird question so much as a loaded one.]

It's never acceptable, whether you're used to it or not... and even those soldiers in times of war are little more than murderers in times of peace.

The day you no longer feel that guilt is the day you cease to be human.

[Voice]

[identity profile] sea-king-bait.livejournal.com 2011-10-03 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
[She's not even going to touch that question. Still, that tone in his voice sparks her to respond.]

...Ed-chin? Are you okay?
fabrecation: (Never forget; always regret)

[Voice]

[personal profile] fabrecation 2011-10-03 05:51 am (UTC)(link)
[Maybe Luke shouldn't have said anything. The question, the question that feels like an accusation, burns into him and makes him curl up in his chair, his legs pulled up and his arms around them, though he still looks at the journal.]

In my world, it's... kill or be killed. For a while I didn't even feel like fighting anymore, but... but I nearly got killed for it.

[And Tear was injured instead. It's now that he looks away, glancing down below the journal and at the floor.]

And I can't die yet.

[Voice]

[identity profile] sea-king-bait.livejournal.com 2011-10-03 05:59 am (UTC)(link)
Okay. [She pauses for a moment. She wants to say I don't believe you, but for some reason, she can't bring herself to say it.]

Maybe... you shouldn't stress yourself out thinking about... stuff like that.

[Spoken from experience. Keimi does her best not to think about all that's happened in her past, and the potential chaos waiting for her when she returns home.]

[Voice] - /spams all your characters

[identity profile] chiisaichou.livejournal.com 2011-10-03 06:12 am (UTC)(link)
[Oh, she wanted to avoid this entirely. Miyabi wanted absolutely nothing to do with this. She's already angry enough with her death, and the penalty, and so far has had nightmares, reliving her death. The moment before, when cold steel pierced her chest, then the choking, crushing blackness...and the time after, spent in a dead world with no color.

She wanted to not even touch on this at all.

Funny how things just don't turn out the way you want.]


You're still dying. You feel it. If people think that just by coming back to life, dying is something that can be accepted, then they're idiots. And they disgrace the spirits of those that have died! [No, she's not going to clip her words. Why? because she just doesn't care. Fuck Luceti, and fuck the people in it.]

They have no idea...n-no idea what it's like. ...To die. A-And jut...just come back. ...With something precious taken from you. They don't know...what it's like to live that way. [Miyabi voice cracks at the end, and she holds her breath, to keep her tears at bay. She's so angry, so upset. She hates Luceti so much.]
tsuntrader: (Whatever.)

[Text]

[personal profile] tsuntrader 2011-10-03 06:23 am (UTC)(link)
[...] Survival. Killing isn't something to be taken lightly, but it's not always avoidable.
ignitethesky: (This is war ; Walk through the fire)

[voice]

[personal profile] ignitethesky 2011-10-03 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
Death is death, whether it lasts or not. You want a reason for why people do it? That's simple: you don't want to die, so you kill them before they can kill you. The reasons are always simple.

There isn't any good to it, and those who can't bring themselves to do it are replaced by those who will. In the end, it comes down to whether or not you can live with doing it yourself or pushing it off on another.

voice

[identity profile] skater-brain.livejournal.com 2011-10-03 06:43 am (UTC)(link)
It ain't ever okay ta' kill. No matta' the reason, that hangs wit' you. Even by accident, yo. That...sorta stuff don't just get ta' be okay.

And dyin' hurts like hell, Fullmetal. Temp or not, it hurts like hell.
falenandawn: (stare5)

[personal profile] falenandawn 2011-10-03 07:27 am (UTC)(link)
Killing someone is always killing, whether in defense of another or in war. They'll leave behind people who knew them, family, friends. It affects more then just the life you take, but those that cared for them as well.

You cannot excuse it, it is too heavy for that. But sometimes there are things that have to be fought for.

[identity profile] honorthecode.livejournal.com 2011-10-03 07:39 am (UTC)(link)
I'm fine with death, because that's how I was trained growing up. [Killing is a part of being a ninja.]

But if we come back or not, there is times when it's not acceptable. Them coming back to life doesn't get rid of the guilt that you or someone else might have been able to prevent it.

voice

[identity profile] skater-brain.livejournal.com 2011-10-03 07:59 am (UTC)(link)
I ain't gonna hurt no one ever again. Not if I can help it.

But...the dyin' part, yeah. Even here, I ain't alive.
falenandawn: (looking down)

[personal profile] falenandawn 2011-10-03 08:20 am (UTC)(link)
So you suggest that in war we should only take prisoners of war? [Frey only wished that was possible.]
screwthegods: (is that so?)

[voice]

[personal profile] screwthegods 2011-10-03 08:24 am (UTC)(link)
To kill, or to die yourself--which would you choose?

[Homura grins from his end of the journal.] It's a horrible choice, isn't it? But a choice that many have had to make, over and over. Moreover, the consequence can kill someone as readily as any blade. But then the question becomes how long do you intend to live? For what purpose?

If the reasons and resolve of a person are strong enough, then they will accept the responsibility of ending one life, and countless more.

As for how it feels to die--I cannot believe anyone capable of describing it adequately.

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