snowblindrpg | [log] Noisy Black, Part One [closed]

Yeah.

[He swallows.]

Whoever interrupted Winter had some kind of control over things. Not sure it's someone in the Admin's faction, though, since we lost communication with her after that. Winter said there was someone with some kind of business type network connection?

[He shrugs. He doesn't know the ins and outs of it.]

The cloaked figures were also able to disengage the locks on the doors to come and go as they pleased, and were taking advantage of the paralysis effect that I've been assuming is the Admin's work. At this point I doubt they're allied, but...

[ He frowns, rattling the bars again, this time closer to the hinges in order to search for any points of weakness. ]

I don't like the idea of having two groups to work against rather than just the one.

[Davesprite shifts his stance carefully.]

I don't like it either. I can't expect this place not to be complicated after everything else we've been up against, though.

True. Nothing can ever be simple.

[ It's a lesson one would think he'd have learned by now, but somehow these things surprise him every time. ]

How are you, though? Your crow half is gone. Or is it just dormant?

[He looks aside entirely now.]

I died last night. An anomaly got Karkat, knocked out me and Meow Mix in the process, and we didn't wake up until after lockdown.

[His arms stiffen, caught in an impulse to shrug broadly, but he'd probably lose his balance if he tried.]

I'm not sure... where the crow is right now. It was a living thing, you know? Maybe it's locked away so deep I can't feel it. I mean, I really don't at all right now, but I don't know if they could have just removed that from me. If it's going to come back, it has to be somewhere.

Condolences. That can't have been pleasant. At least the three of you are all here, however small a blessing that may prove to be.

[ It means they're all alive, at least. ]

Nothing can disappear entirely. Especially not a soul. I'd guess that it's been hidden away somewhere within you.

[He doesn't want to think about his death, but the assurances about the crow are more comforting than he expects. He hopes he's right. He doesn't know how else it would work.]

It's weird not to feel it there. It's been so long that it's like part of me has gone missing.

I think I can imagine, at least sort of. Losing something you used to define yourself, even temporarily.

[ His experience is fairly different, of course, but it's close enough that he can sympathize. ]

If nothing else, it was one more thing that set you apart from Dave. It must be jarring not to have that.

[There's the nail hit on the head. It's not only the Dave thing, not after this long, but there's no denying the issue once it's been called out. His eyes widen for it until he looks away, which is probably even more of a tell, but what can he do without his sunglasses? He's stuck looking human, and whether it's a real change or just a bunch of nanomachine fuckery in all observers, it's impossible not to think of how he used to be. He just has age and scars added.]

Can we talk about anything else?

Oh. Sorry.

[ He's good at backing off when he runs into these things, at least. It takes him a moment to come up with another subject to talk about, though. ]

I think I can keep Jimmy more aware of things now than I was doing before. I have a better sense of what does and does not get through to him. It isn't perfect, but it's more than it was.

[He looks back up again. Jimmy seemed nice, and definitely well-intentioned.]

Then spare him until this is over.

[Whatever is coming won't be good.]

But I told him I'd say hi after things went back like this, so I'm definitely up to test it out with you after. This place is boring enough without playing backseat passenger the whole time.

[ Castiel nods. ]

If he asks I won't keep this from him, but... I don't think he needs to see this. Not if what's coming is as bad as we suspect it will be.

[His feet shift their positions, careful not to set him off balance.]

If this really is the cult... We've seen enough of their buildings that it can't be anything good. You were with Ecks, right? You've seen the worst of it.

[Wallpaper made from human skin. Even the ones he's passed through have been bad, funeral pyre and blood on metal and manacles and ghostly screams. He doesn't want to think on it more heavily. He can't really bear to.]

I really, really hope I'm wrong.

They are a particularly brutal kind. It isn't often that I see this sort of thing, even in the name of gods that openly demand human sacrifice.

I hope you're wrong as well. But it seems likely.

... So what's it like, the whole being an angel while people come up with other religions thing?

[It's easier to ask that than follow the other line of thought.]

It used to be harder than it is now. I don't know how familiar you are with history, or how much of what is and is not true has been lost to time, or how the worlds may vary, but back when humanity's ancestors were only just learning to walk on their hind legs, there were only a few people who followed my Father, and they were always surrounded by those who had taken other paths. Their power and influence grew, of course, and they built for themselves a powerful civilization, but... it didn't last. For all the gifts we were able to give, at times it was all we could do to preserve them and their traditions. Other pantheons were... usually hostile, when bands of heretics took up residence in what they considered to be 'their' cities.

[ He's sure Davesprite can imagine the details, if he doesn't know them already. ]

In those days we - the angels, specifically - intervened more often, but on a smaller scale. Influencing things in ways that would be impossible to notice if you didn't know to look. Occasionally, when things seemed truly dire, God would send greater miracles, but shows of force like that were best kept as last resorts. They tended to escalate.

It's easier now, though, at least in terms of dealing with other gods. Enough of humanity has come to follow us in one form or another that no other deities could possibly pose more than a passing threat.

[History is not Davesprite's strong point, let alone religious history. What he knows here is most largely a product of cultural osmosis. He listens attentively either way, but there by the end a squint has set up in his eyes.]

Hold up, Cas. You keep talking about these other gods like... You focus on them instead of the religions. Are you saying those gods are actually around? That they exist for real, I mean?

Yes? [ He sounds genuinely confused that this is even a question. ] Some of them we were occasionally able to count as allies, but for the most part the lesser gods were cowardly and self-serving. I hate to speak ill of the fallen, but it is something of a relief not to have to concern ourselves with them anymore.

Dude, you're still going to need to back up. All the way, back to the basic premise of what we're even saying and away from any my-god-is-better-than-your-god posturing. How did your whole religion present itself in your world? We're talking God like the whole Jewish, Christian, Islamic, whatever God, right? Because on my Earth the big argument they liked to tout was that their god was the one and only, accept no substitutes because they're fake in the first place. But you're still telling me they exist in your world, enough that you made fucking political alliances with them like some weird cosmic election to President of Reality?

[ Castiel seems visibly uncomfortable with this line of conversation. Karkat asked him similar things before and he couldn't satisfy him with his answers. It's unlikely he'll be able to do any better with Davesprite. ]

My Father created the universe and all things in it, including the lesser gods. They were not Gods in the same sense as Him, only that they were powerful beings that gathered worshipers to their sides, often claiming themselves to be the true creators.

[ He hesitates, then decides to preempt the obvious question. The one he's been asked before time and time again. ]

It was important to give humanity options. Their choice to come with us meant nothing if it was no choice to begin with.

[Religion was already weird to him to begin with, and while it was easy to write off once he learned about the trolls and the way the universe came to be, the introduction to people like Enoch and Castiel has complicated the whole thing tremendously. First a friend to an angel, now an outright angel of the lord: Castiel particularly has left him with a bad impression of his heavenly father.]

So, you're telling me... that your god purposely created beings to lead humanity astray? Because it's sure sounding a lot like that. Does your god do the whole, you know, sentencing people to hell if they get it wrong deal?

[The questioning judgment on his face is impossible to hide without his shades.]

[ Castiel hesitates again, unsure of what to say about Davesprite's first question. Ultimately he decides on 'nothing' and simply moves on to what he can answer. ]

Followers of other gods have their afterlives dictated by their patrons. Their souls do not fall under our jurisdiction. [ Davesprite may recognize this by now as his 'reciting the company script to difficult customers' voice. ]

[Davesprite lifts his eyebrows.]

So first off you're dodging the questions, and second off, doesn't that prove your god isn't as all-powerful as you're trying to claim? If he can't even control where everyone goes postmortem, who's to say he's not lying about being the sole creator just like some of the others are?

It's not a question of can't. [ Castiel bristles slightly, places a hand firmly on the bars of his cell and looks Davesprite in the eyes. ] Who would we be if we stole souls away from the end they had chosen for themselves?

[Davesprite turns his head aside. He doesn't like being looked at like that without his shades; it feels incredibly vulnerable, and the rest of their situation doesn't help. The fact that he even has to turn his head like that pings frustration in him.]

I'm just saying, if anyone can pick and choose who they want, then it doesn't really matter if you think yours is the best.

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godsspeed - 2017-07-30 04:19 (UTC) - Expand

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mrcreamsicles - 2017-07-31 06:40 (UTC) - Expand

[log] Noisy Black, Part One [closed]

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cw: being rude about non-Abrahamic religions

cw: just assume possibly irreverent religious discussion from here in general

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