001 ☼ video; un: ginko

[tenthousandmiles]

[So he's been given to understand this "network" is something like a bulletin board, except people can contact each other in real time, a bit like sending letters through the uro passageways but even faster. Honestly, he's kind of fascinated by the whole thing, but it's still a bit overwhelming, even if the notion of different worlds and planes of existence isn't entirely foreign to him. Hence ... why the video feed is a bit overly zoomed in, and starts out upside down before he realizes his mistake and rights it.]

Ah, it seems some of the creatures from my world followed me through the portal. If you're capable of seeing them, you might have noticed what seem to be ghosts or phantasms floating around--they're called mushi.

They're not sapient, and most are harmless, but some can cause trouble, so if you feel suddenly unwell or notice anyone exhibiting unusual behavior, don't hesitate to contact me. My name is Ginko. I am a mushi-shi, which means handling such incidents was my livelihood before now.

[There's a brief pause. He's not really great at this whole "meet and greet" thing, considering he never really stays in one place long enough for that to be necessary, but...now that he's gotten the business part of this out of the way there are a few things he's curious about.]

Has anyone seen the portal that brings us here? I've heard myths and legends about portals to alternate worlds, but I've never actually seen one.

I'd also like to learn more about these devices, and how they work. Where I’m from, we still communicate through letters, so this is truly astonishing to me. I could tell you some stories about my home, in exchange.

[ooc: Canon never really specifies what makes some people able to see mushi and others not. Believing in or being aware of spirits etc or having a connection to nature in some way probably helps, but honestly feel free to assume your character is able to see them, if that's something you're interested in! They look vaguely like this]

Comments

[tenthousandmiles]

["put one to rest", huh. That's interesting.]

Mm, that's because they're alive.

[He takes a drag from his cigarette, exhaling a puff of smoke that doesn't move quite with the wind; the smoke itself contains a mushi, though it'll dissipate in a few moments.]

The easiest way to explain it is that they don't fully exist in our reality, though they are capable of influencing it. And because they're so close to the source of life itself...their forms are ambiguous, incorporeal.

[A pause.]

Are you some manner of shinigami, then?

[deathkid]

I don't know what a shinigami is, so I couldn't tell you.

[ a pause as he watches the smoke, brows furrowing. ]

So they're actual creatures then, alive and can be killed? I'm a little confused. I didn't sense real... life from them. Then again, they're completely weird to me.

[tenthousandmiles]

It's a term for the idea of a god or spirit of death, where I'm from.

[The cigarette is replaced in his mouth, and he rests his chin against his palm.]

Mushi do live and die. Not in the same way as humans, though.

[His word choice is very deliberate, there. This kid has already implied he isn't one, so he's careful not to put himself in the same category as him by saying "us"]

They don't have souls, for one thing.

[deathkid]

I'm only a demigod, but my father is god of the Underworld where I'm from. That gives me power over the dead and ability to put spirits to rest

But I guess my powers wouldn't work on something like those things. I can only affect souls.

[tenthousandmiles]

[A demi-god. How fascinating....a being that came of the union of a human and a god? Or perhaps, a human and a human-turned-god, like that man he had met on that mountain...]

I see.

[He dips his head respectfully, then, before regarding the boy's image in the phone again.]

Do you take on a humanlike form by choice, then?

[Or are you constrained by the fully human side of your parentage. Ginko already has so many questions.]

[deathkid]

[ that seems like such a strange question at first until nico realizes that maybe for an outsider, it's a legitimate question. after all, not all unions of a god and a human end up as human demigods. ]

Um, no. I'm like this because that's how I was born. I can't take any other, er, form.

[tenthousandmiles]

I see.

[So maybe it is the human side of him that restricts his form. Or something else altogether. At any rate, after a moment, he adds:]

If you have any further questions on mushi, please let me know. I'll do my best to answer them.

[He doesn't take an audience with a god lightly, after all, demi or not.]