(no subject)

[skulltasm]

[ crystal, action, correspondence somehow?? ]

Comments

[justashotaway]

I was confirming that you were.

[skulltasm]

... AND AM I?

[justashotaway]

You sound like the skull.

[skulltasm]

WELL, IF IT LOOKS LIKE A DUCK AND SOUNDS LIKE A DUCK.

[justashotaway]

We are not talking about ducks.

[skulltasm]

WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT?

[justashotaway]

You.

whoops

[skulltasm]

MY FAVOURITE SUBJECT! WELL, GO ON, THEN. LET'S TALK ABOUT ME

[justashotaway]

What does it feel like? To be a skull.

[skulltasm]

FEEL LIKE?

[ There's a pause, the sound of a fleshless skull thinking on the signals sent and received by nerve endings. ]

I IMAGINE IT FEELS A BIT LIKE BEING AN APPLE, BOBBING AROUND IN A BARREL OF WATER.

[justashotaway]

Not what you imagine. I wish to know what it is actually like.

[skulltasm]

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EXPLAIN SANS-METAPHOR, CHILD.

IT'S LIKE BEING ALIVE, BUT NOT. LIKE HAVING A BODY, BUT NOT.

IT'S A DREAM WHERE YOU WATCH YOURSELF FROM AFAR AND CONTROL ONLY YOUR WORDS.

AND IT'S NONE OF THOSE THINGS. MOSTLY, IT'S ANNOYING!

[justashotaway]

You do not feel anything. Do you remember feeling things?

[--and, after a pause]

And I am not a child.

[skulltasm]

I AM OLDER THAN YOU TIMES TEN, AND YOU ARE NOT YET EIGHTEEN. YOU ARE A CHILD.

AND YES, OF COURSE, I REMEMBER FEELING THINGS. THEY'RE JUST A BIT FUZZY AND DUSTY AND I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR TO FIND THEM IN MY CAVERNOUS NOGGIN.

[justashotaway]

That means that you are older than me. It does not make me a child.

[But, you know. Hmmm.]

What do you think about?

[skulltasm]

OH, I THINK ABOUT LOTS OF THINGS. DEATH, DESTRUCTION, RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM IN CONTEMPORARY ART, PHILOSOPHY, HOW TO CONVINCE THE NEXT FLESHY BEING WHO WALKS BY TO CARRY ME SOMEWHERE ELSE.

YOU KNOW, NORMAL STUFF.

[justashotaway]

[There's a pause.]

I am sorry you have to live in the jar.

[skulltasm]

[ And a pause in return. ]

THANK YOU.

BUT I’M NOT REALLY LIVING SO IT’S A BIT OF A MOOT POINT.

[justashotaway]

You exist.

[skulltasm]

THAT IS SOMETHING ELSE I THINK ABOUT. THE CONCEPT OF EXISTENCE. DO YOU SUPPOSE I EXIST OUTSIDE OF YOUR PERCEPTION, OR YOU EXIST OUTSIDE OF MINE?

DOES COLOR EXIST? PERHAPS THE COLOR YOU SEE IS DIFFERENT FROM THE COLOR OTHERS SEE.

[justashotaway]

You exist because others see you, too. Color exists because I can see it.

...Does it matter if it looks different to others?

[skulltasm]

ONLY CONCEPTUALLY. WE CAN NEVER REALLY KNOW IF WHAT YOU SEE AS RED IS ACTUALLY PURPLE TO SOMEONE ELSE, WHO KNOWS PURPLE BY THE NAME OF "RED."

[justashotaway]

Then why do you think about it?

[skulltasm]

BECAUSE IT IS BETTER TO THINK ABOUT THINGS THAT DON'T MATTER THAN TO THINK ABOUT NOTHING AT ALL.

[justashotaway]

...That is true.

Are you lonely?

[skulltasm]

RIGHT NOW, OR IN GENERAL?

[justashotaway]

Both.

[skulltasm]

NO, AND YES.

[justashotaway]

...Because we are talking.

I am lonely, too, at times.

[skulltasm]

HOW SAD.

[justashotaway]

I can talk to you. You will be less lonely.

[skulltasm]

OH GOLLY GEE, WOULD YOU REALLY?! EVER SO KIND OF YOU. TELL ME, WHAT WOULD WE TALK ABOUT? THE LATEST GOSSIP? CUTE BOYS?! CUTE GIRLS??

WE CAN STAY UP LATE AND BRAID EACH OTHER'S HAIR AND GUSH ABOUT CRUSHES.

[justashotaway]

...I will not talk to you if that is what you are going to say.

[ Making fun of her!!! Rude. ]

[skulltasm]

THEN DO NOT BURDEN ME WITH YOUR PITY, CHILD.

[ He just doesn't know how to deal with kindness or genuine feeling. ]

[justashotaway]

I am not pitying you.

[If there's anything there in her voice besides the usual flat sound of it, it's slightly defensive--possibly even hurt.]

[skulltasm]

GOOD.