#which is kind of annoying actually. they'd be easier to deal with if they came in groups

[eggmixercortex]

6 7 and 8 for jackass and shiloh !! very excited about the last one genuinely . i want to know the leeches thoughts on god .

hi hi hi!!!

6. How well do they cope with the reality of their mortality

right so. i think being as shiloh has straight up for real died and been dead before we are going to say it has ah. skewed? ideas about such things? before their death i think it was very unreal to them, in the way it is for someone who hasn't experienced a lot of death. but, well, shit man can't have a death much closer than literally You Died. it likes to talk big game about being tough and having seen it all before but somewhere in there it wants to live. this is the only second chance they're going to get, they know that. mostly i imagine they deal with it the way they deal with most problematic truths, which is to ignore and deny them at any cost. it even works, mostly

Jackass is not quite the same situation - even materially if she does not die, a colony will shift mentally to an extent comparable to death of the consciousness over time anyway as i've mentioned, and although she could survive 'fatal' incidents her life was balanced entirely on the ignorance or goodwill of the humans around her. which is to say i think she is n was more consciously aware of her fragility, or at least less able to kick the thoughts out of the way, so its harder for her. also knowing* the colony she is will probably die with shiloh when it happens is a little harrowing. spend your whole life thinking theoretically ship of theseus fragments of yourself will continue forward in absence of tragedy but now even if she n shiloh do get to live a 'full' life, once they kick it that's that. yeesh. please consider jackass listening to radiohead or some shit and having a little crisis about dying one day. it's like that

7. How easily and frequently do they ask for help

they don't

anyway shiloh yeah no. worlds most stubborn cunt if they feel like they're actually in need (instead of like, convenience ykwim) you could lop a fuckin leg off n they'd still refuse to call a taxi. you know? shiloh hates hates hates feeling like they're depending on anything or anyone for any reason even a little, and will actively and cheerfully sabotage their own efforts to avoid having to ask for help. its very annoying to nearly everyone

jackass is marginally better about it, partially because she loves not having to do shit and partially because getting to be the benevolent helper to a poor incompetent traveler makes a lot of people pretty happy and thereby easier to handle. it still rankles her, especially 'simple' or common sense things, cause shes a little full of herself and doesn't like feeling stupid lol.

i think for the both of them it is a nice fantasy to believe they're 'tough loner types living rough in the dangerous wilds' but stop to think on it it really does take a lot of support for them to have they life they do, which they both KNOW, cerebrally, but it's a lot easier to pretend to be big strong cowboys rather than what they are, which is an ultimately disposable piece of the system of work and commerce within the ring. so it's kind of inconvenient to that fantasy when, say, they have to go stop by a gunsmith to beg for spare parts or repair, or (god forbid!) actually admit 'yeah, okay, I can't actually do this part of the job, sorry' etc.

8. What is their perspective on religion and the concept of God

ok this one i'm afraid i must disappoint because its not that interesting

the foreword is that the gods in this world are just straight up real, and there are a lot. their believers in different places all have different ideas on who's the top dog or isn't, and who made the world or didn't, and who's followers should be shot on sight or shouldn't etc. within the ring specifically, not counting 'small gods' and localized superstition, the initial workers who came to live in the ring brought with them the two major groups of belief at the time, and those have remained dominant since, both inside the ring and out.

Shiloh was raised within the church of the first group, and in its teens began to sneak out to attend the second out of initially a very 'ex catholic getting really into wicca' way, kind of rebellion more than any solid faith, although i'd imagine given shiloh's general situation at the time it would have pretty quickly grown into something more genuine. whether that was because of the grace of god or the showered acceptance of the congregation is up to you. it was of course immediately banished from the church post fuse, and although it can't really remember the circumstances, the instability at the time and rejection from something it had become so attached to has given it some. weird. feelings. their adherence to ritual practices and such is a lot higher than the average person, but they also can't and won't enter any holy spaces, etc. (must be said this is entirely self-imposed, they've had an out for a long ass time and just refuse to take the offer. idiot)

for jackass, the main thing informing her opinion i would bet is the fact that nearly all organized worship in the ring is human based, by assumption if not explicitly. certainly known monsters aren't exactly welcome in temples, you know? there are general hand waves about 'all things under creation loved equally by their creators' or favored animals etc, but putting aside the fact that colonies are somewhat of an outside force to believers as they only exist within the ring, you don't really hear about, like, dogs having their prayers answered. (obviously there are exceptions, as with everything, and there are very different gods and believers outside the ring, but most people inside never heard of em, and jackass herself probably only vaguely from readings) as a former researcher of the absurd magical environment within the ring also, she has encountered a lot of people who believe that its fuckedness is due to some special intervention or favor from one god or another, or maybe even the effect of some remnant of their holy body! etc. her opinion on that is mostly 'sure, it COULD be true, but it seems about as likely as the rest of the ideas we have, so whatever.' certainly living in a body actively touched by divine power (banishment seal) is probably weird and a little frightening. believing the gods have subzero attention for you and then being told actually yeah they do! its bad though. sorry.