And the greatest of these is love. [CW religion]

[otomechapilot]

So...

That world wasn't my Purgatory or my Hell, which is probably why I'm not freaking out about being a fallen angel at the end. They certainly aren't my angels or my God. First rule of Travelling, right?

But that also means I... don't know enough about what everyone here has faith in. Or not. Or why.

And it's uh, private, I know, for a lot of people. It is for me. So these can be... locked down or in person discussions, if you want. But I feel like it's worth knowing.




This definitely means I need to talk to you too. About... things I didn't want to talk about before. In person.

Comments

[desperate_times_right]

What the hell happened over there?

[otomechapilot]

Heaven, hell, and souls in Limbo having a big argument over the next prince of a market town in Purgatory.

I was an angel, until I fell halfway, to a half-and-half kind of spirit called a Sithen. Cause Heaven in that world isn’t nice to its own angels.

private (protected)

[youandyoualone]

I am not quite fit company at the moment [since he's stuck telling the truth until the vino veritas wears off] but if you wish to see me, I will be in Helena's parlor and we can adjourn from there.

Into action, probably CW child abuse/neglect later

[otomechapilot]

She comes later into Helena's parlor, after she thinks the edge of the vino is off, bringing with her a bottle of elderflower and lemon.

"I thought," she says, "you might want something sweet that wasn't boozy. Or truthy," she adds. "Also got my hangover cure decanted, cause a lot of people will need it."

[noonesblessing]

I know two gods exists in our world, but I don't really like them.

[otomechapilot]

That seems unfortunately common. Having gods not worth worshipping, I mean.

[crouching_sin]

[There's just hysterical laughter for a minute.]

I'm literally Cain. God exists, and He's a tyrant and an incredibly cruel being who will destroy someone's life over anything. The older gods that one thinks of are now demons, having been cast down by Him.

Psi protect II forever

[otomechapilot]

[She almost doesn't reply, before catching herself, calming herself. Thinking about this, in light of Rule One.]

...in your world. And Justice apparently agrees, at least enough to think you're Just enough for her.

I'm sorry.

[leftbehindagain]

I mean, 'defeated a god in combat' is probably not what you're after, but on the off chance it is, you know where to find me.

[otomechapilot]

I've been getting a lot of that, yeah. See you there?

[wholeheaded]

My culture's pretty...irreligious, I guess. Or maybe we're not far enough removed from our would-be mythological figures for them to be like. All-powerful skypeople or whatever is supposed to happen? It makes sense I was a Sithen, basically.

You can come over and we can play Scrabble and talk about Oz history, basically, if you want. General "you" for folks listening in, by the by.

[otomechapilot]

...I suppose when you can chat with, uh, every Thor Sif and Loki at the dinner table it takes the edge off of being pious.

Oz, huh? Let me know if I should bring anything to the Scrabble session.

[acapriciousthing]

There are a lot of gods in my universe. I'm older than all of them, but belief is a powerful force.

Somehow that Jaunt was less of a headache than when Hell came up for grabs back home.

[otomechapilot]

I'm sorry when what went up for grabs?

[tookashirototheknee]

To be honest, I don't know.

My world at home, especially my particular portion of the world tends to... well, I guess you could call it 'worship science'. I've never put much thought to it other than 'uh, dudes, unless Heaven is WAY UP THERE, you're making reality out of metaphors.'

But then I met some other cultures of people whose faith in deities make my faith in science look like doubt. So I don't know. I don't know if different planets have different gods, if some of it is myth, and some of it is truth, or what. Sometimes I wish I could have the kind of faith others do.

[A bit too much truth wine there, Matt.]

[otomechapilot]

I always thought of God as working through the best of humanity. Or Alteans, I guess. But if there's real history behind the Gods in your wo-universe...

[awondrousplace]

That is an interesting question, and one that my world has a... dubious answer to, darling.

I work with objects of great emotional power. I have been swayed by a shawl claiming to be Demeter's, I have seen a comb that supposedly belonged to Izanami, a Japanese goddess, and two statues of Greek deities that created great havoc when in the same building, not to mention about a hundred crosses' worth of shards claiming to be from Jesus' True Cross. And don't get me started on the nails.

However, there's a wrinkle. The only people who know for certain whether or not these are actual objects belonging to actual deities... aren't talking. It is just as likely that the power of believe surrounding these objects created their power.

So, what I'm meaning to say is that I have faith in people. Much much less than I used to, but I believe people can create their own realities of life.

[otomechapilot]

Faith in people... it's hard not for me to have faith in people. To see the hand of God as people wanting to be good to each other - not in it, as it. Ever heard the one about the drowning man?

I'd say you're from a world with much more magic than mine, but what about the ANIMa?

[duelingbanjou]

Gods don't exist. Shit with a lot of power? Yeah. But gods don't. If they did, they would've shown up when their people needed them. Grew up going to a temple or two around New Year's, but it was all bullshit.

[otomechapilot]

So sort of the Achaean experience of Godhood.

[Nike and Athena aside, she was not impressed with the pantheon of Achaea. Or the Titans.]

oh hey there girl betcha didnt expect this one

[canbebrave]

Sometimes, faith is all we can have. It's important. I've found we have as many different faiths held here as we have different worlds, and some people... [some don't believe in anything. Which continues to break her heart, but she doesn't need to speak on that.]

My mother and father both held different faiths, the main faiths of our lands. Are you truly that curious?

NO BUT I'M GLAD SHE CHIMED IN, permaprotected II

[otomechapilot]

...I uh. Think it's important.

Having faith, and knowing what people have faith in, both, I mean.

If you want to share, I'd like to know, please.

(The last thing she expected was for Sansa to reach out to her. And frankly, though all the above is true, she could also die of embarrassment.)

[how_they_shine]

Religion is a strange thing, and definitely a personal one. I can't say that I believe in gods, but given some of the things I've seen, I understand why people think that there are some. Or one. My mother was pretty religious, and I've adopted some of her rituals without much actual belief in them. But what we just saw? Definitely not my universe, as far as I know. Doesn't stop it from being an alternate one, or a different pocket of the universe, though.

Private

[awitchdidit]

In honor of Saraiel being one of the most reasonable angels I met, I feel like confessing that I was raised in the Catholic tradition, and am now a demon-summoning witch. So, she's not the only defector, let's say.

I've wondered for a bit whether I'm technically a Satanist, but I don't actually worship demons, just make contracts with them, and occasionally have them over to my place for a party...

Naturally

[otomechapilot]

You're a wicked witch. Of the West, even. And there's precedent for bossing angels and demons around without worshipping them, you're allowed.

Mind, Solomon wasn't the best at being Jewish, but what did they expect from making him a king anyhow.

(When a bible is some of your only entertainment, heading across a blasted city, you get familiar with it real fast.)

[protect_and_serve]

In Terre D'Ange, faith is... secondary, for many. We have fallen angels among our ancestors, and the stamp of godhood is visible on our flesh.

The Cassiline Brotherhood, of whom I was once a member, holds faith with the One God and the angel Cassiel despite our heritage. That is a kind of faith, I suppose - that the will of the One God matters more than the heritage we were promised a share in.

[modernliterature]

Gods are usually big assholes. Anybody with that much power is going to be.

[private]// psychic protection II

[neverfeltthatway]

You have a religion you believe in?

[It's not that it's so strange to him, anymore, that he has friends who are religious. But his background is so similar to Sara's, in a lot of ways, that somehow he just assumed...]

psychic protection II forever

[otomechapilot]

Yes. It was...

It's one of the last things we had from our parents. We didn't have priests or churches, but we had the Bible, and the stories, and a little faith.