Nebula 16

[zombiemessiah]

VIDEO|CW: ZOMBIE RELATED STUFF

Alright. Alright. One of those opinion posts.

[For those that don't know Murphy, the man on the screen outright just looks likes Voltaire wet dream, complete with red skin, Satan aesthetic, black suit with a red shirt and he's got the voice of a story-telling podcaster.]

Moral Quandary Time! Where do you draw the line in killing people? Are you a 'no, never' person? A 'only in self-defense person'? A 'the world'd be better without this person' person? Maybe even a 'You killed my father, prepare to die!' type. Or, maybe? All it would take is something that'll line your pockets.

Maybe the setting counts. Somewhere like my world, where billions of undead roam hungry and the living trample each other to survive. Definitely one where even the softest heart would be hard-pressed to stay their hand. Or you go to one of those colorful, magical places where the grass looks like astroturf and there are rainbows with no clouds. But you found out all the cute, adorable fuzzy things there were slowly going to cause the extinction of five other species.

This isn't just a question about murder philosophy. Missions are tough and some just want to help and some of us are desensitized. You might need someone who can easily do what you'd struggle with. Then again, you might need someone with a little more patience so you don't snap someone's neck.

[Murphy withholds the question about whether someone would rather him get information one way or the other if it came down to a choice. He'll wait on that one 'cause he's sure the initial answer would be, 'I would rather you do neither.]

Also hello to the new people! Hiiii. Yeah. You might get mindfucked. There's a lot of that recently. I'm sure someone else with a healthy dose of PTSD can fill you in on how that went.

Comments

[hitokiri]

[ of course he has to chime in on the murder chat. ]

Heh. Where I'm from they called me Manslayer. So what d'you think?

[zombiemessiah]

Sounds like you have a pretty good reputation for it, if you managed a whole title for it.

But how easy is it on you?

No judgment here. But if you had the option to have someone talk it out for you or trick someone, would you prefer that or just, you know, the permanent solution?

[jan_ken_hacking]

...self defense is understandable. But beyond self-defense, I consider it cowardice. Killing is easy for anyone to do.

[Well. That's a take to hear from a kid!]

[zombiemessiah]

So even in a situation where you'd have to stop a terrorist you'd consider them a coward?

[He had a grade school age child rob his group at gunpoint along with their family, he's used to it at this point.]

[its_dad_sanzo]

[ Here's our one and only priest on the train, and-- ]

I protect something a lot of people would want to use for themselves... two somethings, back on my world. Those in my position typically don't know how many we've killed, and I'm no exception.

[ He's a very special priest. ]

I don't like to give someone the chance to limp off and figure out a smarter angle of attack, you know? I consider it pragmatic to just take care of it the first time someone tries.

[zombiemessiah]

Okay, question one, what if there's an illusion or mind-control involved and slash or it's a kid. Would you downgrade from death to a thorough ass-beating?

[schrodingersghost]

Well for one thing, most of the people I fight at home are already dead. Except for the ghost hunters who think I'm dead, and I mostly just try to avoid them.

[He shrugs.]

I really don't like killing anything. But if there's one thing I learned here on the train, its that sometimes you can't avoid it.

[zombiemessiah]

Okay, so... I'm technically dead. I've told people before that you can't kill what's already dead but uh... I was about to put the beat down on someone at the time [and then he got distracted and he got shot and that sucks].

So, call it a personal interest. If someone's died before and not inherently 'evil', would you see them as 'living'?

[deductiongeek]

There is no reason that justifies murder.

[Over the hundreds of murder cases he had solved, he'd been given every possible excuse for why a death needed to happen. He could accept that people had reasons. That didn't make it right.]

[zombiemessiah]

Okay, so, do you consider every type of killing 'murder', or do you have levels of consideration. Like, say, two soldiers in a battle, or someone stopping a bombing, or someone that literally asked for it to save someone else?

[Mostly he's doing a thought exercise because he knows a lot of people here have been killers at some point in their life. And that'll probably be needed.]

[monkeyinthewrench]

Oh hey! I'm NYPD, and murders are kinda one of those big things I go after perps for. I deal with domestic disputes, road rage...and the occasional creepy serial killer. Have you ever seen a crime scene perfectly laid out with their calling card?

[ Wistful sigh. ]

It's always a last resort, but I am trained to kill in an emergency. I just...hope we don't end up in the apocalypse, because that's a little much even for me. Props to you, though!

[zombiemessiah]

Nah, but we still have drug cartels. I ended up having a run-in with one. They didn't like me very much after that.

Sometimes I get pissed off that the train didn't show up to stop my world from going bad. But to do that, one guy would have to die. And I'm one-hundred percent sure 'talking' him out of it wouldn't have worked. I met him, the guy that made the virus? High-tier science sociopath.

[miseris_socios]

... If you have to, you have to. I've seen people killed for money, people that no one would bring to justice otherwise. I was going to kill someone... though I didn't know that him killing my mom was an accident, not murder.

I'd... I guess I'd prefer not to. And when it came down to it, I lost my nerve. It's complicated... but there are definitely some people the world would be a lot better without.

[zombiemessiah]

I feel you there, kid.

Don't worry, there are other people that'd happily do the killing for us. [Murder children are a thing in Murphy's world so Ken's age doesn't throw him at all.]

Have you actually had to or have you been spared in general? Besides the revenge that went nowhere...

[theverymodel]

Sometimes best way to do good healing patients. Sometimes need to kill dangerous people. Both can make difference.

[zombiemessiah]

Okay, maybe here's one more relevant to me.

Say, there's a fast-spreading plague that you have to cure by making vaccines. Would you wait for consenting test subjects, or if there were prisoners or detainees of some kind would you use those just for convenience and speed knowing the vaccine could kill them?

[Because he was deemed a necessary death and while he might have been the one to help, that doctor ended up not leaving the world in a comfortable way.]

[Video]

[myninjainfocard]

[Kabuto's still not feeling too keen on skin hiding so at least Murphy gets a nice view of snake nonsense. Though he does seem rather neutral on the expression side of things, head tilted somewhat to the side as he mulls it over.

Or, more accurately, how much he wants to give away.]

Situationally. Where I'm from, murdering someone isn't an uncommon thing. There's fights between different clans and villages, to points where it's a fight to the death on sight.

Personally, I don't tend to get involved in that nonsense unless I have good reason to. Usually when someone tries to go for my throat first, or it's someone that I know has some opinions about me and the company I've kept in the past. [A slow bit of a shrug, though he's biting back a grin.] It's rather dog-eat-dog, if the expression is one you're familiar with.

[zombiemessiah]

[Oh hey, someone else who has some crazy skin issues. Maybe even someone that sheds- Which he only did once but god was that a pain in the ass.]

So you're kind of like me in that you don't enjoy it, but you can if you have to and it's not gonna linger on your conscience.

I've heard the saying. You must have had some shitty break-ups. How often does it usually happen to you?

[wewillwewill]

Is there a reason you've asked this question beyond finding those who would refrain from murder and those who would be able to show restraint?

[Question with a question. Yes, good job Elidibus.]

[zombiemessiah]

[Sir, he sees you there. Because mostly he's the only one who's asked anything otherwise he might have not paid attention.]

Just a question. I don't like to fight but I don't feel particularly guilty to have to kill. What about you, big guy? What's a handsome guy like yourself prefer.

[controlsthedie]

I'm Death Incarnate. I exist to make people die.

[ Except right now because he's tethered to this bigger moving box and not at home. ]

[zombiemessiah]

Oh, we all know that at this point. But do you want to. Because we have other people here and some of them might actually manage to be compassionate about a mercy killing.

Not me, but it doesn't have to be you.

And remember, there are guys like me who didn't exactly die for everyone's sins? But I died for everyone else's diseases. So that's a little less work for you because I can cure a lot of things. [He can fix a lot of stuff.]

Voice

[fivemilesdeep]

[He probably shouldn't be on this post. He's tired and he's spent and that tends to deactivate his filter and that's dangerous in a conversation like this.]

[But he also doesn't want to think about today, and this is a distraction.]

Only in self-defense.

But if someone wants to kill me or someone I care about, I'm not about to make it easy for them.

[zombiemessiah]

Alright, so. Say someone is in a situation where they might need to kill someone. It's a 'do it or they will kill some big group of people' situation.

It's going to happen. You know someone is going to kill that asshole. But the person with you really doesn't want to do it either.

Do you take over? Or do you help them cope after they do it?

[amnesiadragon]

Killing people isn't acceptable. The only time it might be is in self-defense, but even then I think it's better to try other things first.

I... I won't say I've never killed, but I literally lost control of myself.

What does 'mindfucked' and 'PTSD' mean?

[zombiemessiah]

So, what about soldiers or bodyguards? Technically that might be construed as 'self-defense' in a way, but it is a job they chose and trained for because they believed in someone or something.

Hey, I've absolutely killed. I've also absolutely given people the slip instead of provoking a fight.

[He's also made other people kill for him. Gonna... leave that one out, even if he'd absolutely argue that they deserved it.]

'Mindfucked'. Verb. Past tense. Means having your mind invaded and your reality twisted around to suit a particular need. Can be done therapeutically or as a hostile action or for entertainment. Therapeutic use commonly called 'hypnosis'.

PTSD. Abbreviation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. A condition where people end up being driven into panic over reminders of past incidents, often reacting with fear and violence in safer situations because of survival instinct. And then you go and either worry or piss off everyone around you in the process. But I come from a place where it's all stress all the time, so...

Sometimes you don't get away from that one.

[acapriciousthing]

I'm not the one who kills people. I just make sure it happens properly.

I have no idea why they thought I should be on the fighting team.

[zombiemessiah]

So you're another death bureaucrat. We gotta have some of them.

Hey, I'm on the team too and I don't even like to fight. I think it has to do with being stubborn, to be honest. If we don't fight with fists, we'll fight with words.

[Though he'll absolutely hit the fuck out of someone if he has to.]

[katzenpfote]

I've... I have killed sentient creatures for many reasons. Because of orders. To keep people safe. For revenge on behalf of someone else.

I would not say I enjoy it. Certainly not now, when I'm older and... not wiser, but more experienced and broad-minded.

There's no joy in killing someone. In most cases, anyway.

[zombiemessiah]

Yeeeeah, seems like it's not a joyful experience for like, maybe 95% of people I've talked to? But something some of them about 40% could do and just be like, "Well I guess I had to do that, it wasn't fun but I had to do it."

At least you're in a place where you're probably more normal than you'd expect?

Would you be willing to kill someone to defend someone that couldn't or wouldn't defend themselves, even if it might piss them off a little bit?

I am late I apologize. I do not however apologize for Tannis

[sirentologist]

How is this at all a moral quandary?

[Really?]

It's not late dw

[zombiemessiah]

Not everyone comes from murder worlds. Surprisingly, they're in the fucked up corner. That normal life? Someone else's nightmare fuel.

[Sucks knowing there are worlds where you don't have to worry about raiders all the time, doesn't it?]

video

[pleple]

[ What a delightful appearance. The gangly ginger kid will respond with her own less intimidating video. ]

I was raised to kill as a soldier. If I fall back on that training... I can bring myself to kill any enemy who interferes with a mission.

That said, I've come to dislike it strongly. I'll try to find another solution, especially if I'm working alongside others who can help with that answer, but I wouldn't let that reluctance get in the way of protecting people.

Re: video

[zombiemessiah]

[Guess who graciously accepts some children are murder children? One who has gotten used to Apocalypse children.]

So you're in the 'would if you had to, but if you could get around it that'd be great' department? Makes sense.

What's the roughest mission you've been on?

[nutkrusher]

Sometimes you've gotta. Sometimes it's worse to keep someone alive than it is to kill 'em. Sometimes the mission just requires it.

It's a dangerous thought, and it sucks, and it's easy to go too far unless you're got a good soldier's discipline. But it also means you're a lot less full of shit than the people who talk a big game about nonviolence and then start making exceptions when it's convenient.

[zombiemessiah]

Yeah, isn't that a weird sticking point? The best way to not kill someone in self-defense is to know how to kill them in self-defense.

Alright, got a hypothetical for you. If you were in a tight situation and, say, could turn the enemy against each other. Would you? Or would you consider it more noble to do it yourself?

Ssoooo backdated.

[mustknow]

I'm not sure I can answer all of this publicly! Killing in general, for your fuzzy things causing extinction, I... suppose it would depend on what those five other things are and why the fuzzies can completely eradicate them.

[zombiemessiah]

I don't mind talking about it in private. But it is normally a kinda place where saying anything but "all lives matter" will get you into trouble. And then you gotta go, "Nah, sometimes you gotta prioritize lives." Sad, but true.

Anyway I'm just bored and in my cabin. Where are you?