Sermon #1 - text

[raptura]

[Just a simple little post from username 'Bluemarine', but it's posted for everyone to see and the option to reply in any format you like is there, should you feel like it. Somebody sure has the burning desire to ask everyone a question (or piss off as many people as they can, depending).]

How many of you believe in an afterlife? Or...What I should ask is; how many of you understand that you're slaves to fate and destiny, no matter how unhappy yours might be?

You're welcome to try and change my mind on that front, if you think you have the intellect.

Comments

text; un. nightshade

[assyrian]

Yes, for I know exactly where I shall go upon my death. A dark and dreary underworld, ruled by a decrepit goddess.

I will not attempt to dissuade you from your beliefs in fate and destiny, as they are naught more but a passing interest. However, do you not believe that you possess the ability to change the course of your life?

[raptura]

Another whose path lead them into the underworld and back out again! I wish I had questions prepared in order to better pick your brains on the matter, since I have obvious interest in the topic. I suppose I'll have to settle for simply asking for any information on what you saw, for I assume you have indeed seen it, if you'll let me.

My own beliefs, however, are simply that my choices lead me down a certain path. I don't know where it ends, for sure, and I can absolutely choose to change my state if I wish, as humans are wont to do. But the me of this moment, and this lifetime, was destined to meet the people I meet and do the things that I do. Or are you going to tell me that out of everyone who could possibly be here, everyone who could be looking at these posts, that you saw mine and responded on a whim is pure coincidence?

[assyrian]

Thankfully, I haven’t been afforded the chance of experiencing the underworld for myself. Rather, I hail from a time where the gods roam the earth and where mythology and mystery reign supreme. And as I am the daughter of a goddess myself, it only stands to reason that my final resting place shall be in Irkalla, our underworld.

Does speaking to you right now over this network make me believe in the awe-inspiring power of destiny? I cannot say that with any degree of certainty. We could just be caught in a maelstrom of chaos, and in a vain attempt to divine some higher meaning, we console ourselves with the idea that whatever happens couldn’t have been helped.

[raptura]

Forgive my assumptions; once you hear one thing that sounds extraordinary, you start to think that everyone else is capable of it bar yourself. It's only natural that our perspectives on the more philosophical parts of life would differ drastically, when gods are tangible to you in a way that I'll never understand.

[A lie in some small way, but giving away his love life just isn't Pucci's style online. But then, he's also not going to give away just how hard that last part about 'whatever happens couldn't have been helped' hits him. The joys of anonymity.]

And you're definitely correct about the reasoning behind humanity's philosophical and religious inclinations in the first place. Scientifically, I know that it's all justification for that which we can't fully explain or don't want to, a way that we can make everything fall into place without having to look at the wider, emptier maw of chaos. But it's the spice of human existence. Or demigod existence, I suppose?

[assyrian]

It is very human to dwell on philosophical matters and conjure all kinds of inventive notions as to the reason of being. Part of me admires that creativity. I can see that from your writings that you are one such imaginative man yourself.

Alas, I am a more practical woman, who prefers the concrete over the abstract. Call me simple-minded, if you wish.

[raptura]

You flatter me! I'm merely ingrained into the system that such imagination formed, though it gives me purpose all the same.

At any rate, your practical is my abstract; I can't call that simple-minded, nor am I in the mood to insult you as such. You provide intriguing conversation, so that alone proves you no simpleton, I think. I just wish that I could offer more in the way of interesting topics myself, but asking things such as 'what is a tangible pantheon like to live with' would probably be boring for you.

[assyrian]

Though I don’t hold great affection for the gods, discussing them is never dull. Besides, I’m in a generous mood tonight.

[ Translation: she’s bored. ]

So, what is a tangible pantheon like to live with? Awe-inspiring. Terrifying. A divine being never does anything half-heartedly. My first point of advice when dealing with a god is to avoid their attention altogether. And if that’s not possible, do your best to avoid provoking their ire. It could be my bias speaking, [ It is ] but I’d say that they have more in common with the monsters they create than humans.

[raptura]

Your generosity's much appreciated, of course; I do love learning new things!

The way you describe it sounds like a more realistic take on the stories of the Greek pantheon, in truth; theatrical, ridiculous at times, but also definitely worthy of reverence for the sheer scale of everything they do. Mind you, avoiding their ire is something that even people in my world try to do, as a general rule; it's the attention thing that seems to be the difference, though that much makes sense.

Monsters, however! That's a new one to me. Can I ask about the nature of these monsters?