.11 [Video]

[what_ho_jeeves]

[Bertie's been reading bad pulp fiction. The title on the spine of one of the books near him is "The Haunting of the Queen Mary." Another is "Ghosts of the Titanic."]

What ho, my fellow passengers!

Do you ever think there's something a bit...odd about this ship? Now, I'm a man possessing of a keen and rational mind, but there were times I would swear I was being watched. There's a distinct creeping up my spine as if the ghosts of those who have died on the ship are nearby.

[There's...something wrong with that thought. It takes him a while to place it.]

I say, if someone dies, and becomes a ghost, does their ghost-self die when the Admiral brings them back to life? Just as if I'm inside, I have to pass through my door to go outside, and if I'm outside, I have to pass through my door again to get back in again. And if that's the case, do ghosts have ghosts?

Comments

[iam-aghost.livejournal.com]

I don't think so. I think... once you're a ghost, you are stuck as one. Death is just like starting the loop all over again.

[what_ho_jeeves]

But does that mean that everyone who has died on the ship is a ghost now? Even though they came back? Did they just come back as highly corporeal ghosts?

Or, even having died, did they never become ghosts in the first place?

[iam-aghost.livejournal.com]

I think that rather depends on how you define a ghost.

What do you think makes someone a ghost?

[what_ho_jeeves]

Well, being dead is, I think, a large part of it. Although that definition alone would also include all number of non-ghost states, including being simply dead and buried.

I suppose traditionally they are the disembodied souls of the deceased. Except for the Holy Ghost, of course, who was never rightly alive, I think. So the Holy Ghost is disembodied without being deceased. Which means being dead isn't necessarily part of the criteria at all.

[Bertie frowns. This is getting quite confusing.]

[iam-aghost.livejournal.com]

It may prove easier if you consider the Holy Ghost as the Holy Spirit and saved yourself confusing the two. It's quite easy. [Right. Yes. If you're Bertie.]

I think being dead, and disembodied are part of the criteria. But a ghost... perhaps it's nothing more than a snapshot of a moment, repeating itself. Or a soul trapped between the earth and Heaven, because it had business to finish. Perhaps it is a moment of tragedy so powerful it lasts beyond it's instant.

I don't think anyone here are ghosts. They're not disembodied. They are certainly in a form of afterlife, but not in the same way as a ghost.

[what_ho_jeeves]

Oh, excellent idea, old chap.

So the people who die here don't become ghosts? That's comforting to know.

[iam-aghost.livejournal.com]

I'm fairly sure not. I imagine becoming a ghost is quite exceptional.

[what_ho_jeeves]

Well that would explain why I didn't become one when I died that one time. I have my strengths--iron will, keen mind--but I'm not the kind of fellow who does truly exceptional things.

[iam-aghost.livejournal.com]

Now, I'm not entirely sure that's true.

[you decide which bit.]

LOL. Best reply!

[what_ho_jeeves]

Well...I did win the Scripture Knowledge prize at school, and published a few trifling novels and an article about men's fashion. Nothing the literature dons are going to get excited about, though.

:D

[iam-aghost.livejournal.com]

What, may I ask, were your pertinent opinions on men's fashion?

[what_ho_jeeves]

I've got a copy of the article around if you're interested. "What the Well-Dressed Man is Wearing." Mind you, it's a few years old now, so it's no longer current, more like "What the Well-Dressed Man Ought to Have Been Wearing Four Years Ago."

[iam-aghost.livejournal.com]

Four years ago for you being, exactly? It might be current for me.

[what_ho_jeeves]

I wrote it in...I believe it was '24. I shouldn't think it's current for you, though. You've always struck me as very fashion-forward, especially for an elderly chap. [Bertie. Still hasn't noticed that there are mass murderers on this ship, but can date someone's clothes style at a single glace so long as he has a frame of reference.]

[iam-aghost.livejournal.com]

It isn't current for me, I just wondered.

I didn't realise being old meant I was excluded from dressing well.

[what_ho_jeeves]

Not excluded, certainly not. But I've observed that many elderly gentlemen tend towards fashions resembling those of their youth, which, being elderly, was quite a long time ago. My Uncle Henry, for example, always used to wear a black morning coat.

[iam-aghost.livejournal.com]

I admit, I've hardly bought clothes since the twenties. But I like to at least be well presented.

[what_ho_jeeves]

Well, I can assure you that you cut a very dignified and respectable figure and do not look at all old fashioned. [To Bertie.]

[iam-aghost.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Mister Wooster.