I'm sort of a passive spoiler-consumer; if they come along on my flist with exclamation points and flail, I usually click, but I don't actively seek them out. Plus, I've found that the writers like fucking with us, so it pays to take everything they say with a grain of salt. Why, did you hear something awesome upcoming?
I'm always a little wary of this show's ability to tread carefully in areas that are socially volatile--like, say, killing off every woman/PoC ever--so I'd almost rather have them fight home-grown critters than appropriate religious structures without tact. However, because this show basically owns my soul at the moment, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and see where it goes.
And maybe they are not questions about god after all, but questions about love and devotion. It's interesting you say that, because honestly, those are synonymous for me. My parents--I'm still unsure whether this was intentional--brought us up as agnostics, believing in the abstract idea of God as a force or a system rather than a being. In a lot of ways, the idea of "God" for me has always been "love" and "right" and "good intention." (Not always "truth," though, since we were taught also to measure the value of truth against the value of kindness and act accordingly.) And there are so many degrees of love! I love my best friend, my cat, my siblings, and my cast-iron skillet, even if sometimes I'd really like to smack the first three with the last. I love running (a physiological response), and reading (a psychological response), and the way the earth rumbles under your feet when you stand on an active volcano (a response motivated by something so huge and terrifying that it's humbling.) They're good questions to ask, I think, and I'm always glad when smart people ask them. Because then I get to read about it! I am not selfish at all.
Oh, American Gods was great. If you haven't, you should read Good Omens as well. It has an angel and a demon in it! And thought it is unrelated, if you haven't yet read it I think you would enjoy Norman Maclean: A River Runs Through It and/or Young Men and Fire. Both of them are just stunning, but the first is religion and philosophy and what it is to be human all tied up together in a great story. There's this one part where the narrator's brother says, "All there is to thinking is seeing something noticeable which makes you see something you weren't noticing which makes you see something that isn't even visible." It reminds me of some of the topics we've been dancing around here: how to talk about things that aren't physically there, but nevertheless have a very real effect on people's perceptions and actions.
though there is a part of me that wishes he loves colorful fruity drinks and he makes a wibbly face when they forget the paper umbrella. I love that! God: I will have a blueberry pomegranate margarita please. Cas: *frowns* God: What? Cas: ...Dean Winchester informs me that margaritas are for. Well. Please excuse the crudeness and understand I'm only quoting, but he claims they're for "pansy-ass tools who couldn't get laid at a whorehouse." Or women. Though in retrospect, the only time I had occasion to test this assertion, there was beer involved--not that, you know, I mean, I was there simply at Dean's request; I had planned to spend the evening in quiet prayer-- God: All is forgiven. As long as they don't forget the umbrella.
Deadwood is great. It was weirdly cancelled, so the last episode is sort of "huh" and unsatisfying, but honestly that's no reason to avoid it. It's one of those incredible shows where every single character is compelling and well-written, and everything that happens feels realistic and logical.
lol, I am hardcore looking forward to your post-apocalyptic collaboration as well, since you guys are both great to read and, y'know, it's post-apocalyptic. SPN fandom will suck you into a whirling vortex of awesome. Just so you know. You may abandon all ambitions of carrying on a real life. :)
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I'm always a little wary of this show's ability to tread carefully in areas that are socially volatile--like, say, killing off every woman/PoC ever--so I'd almost rather have them fight home-grown critters than appropriate religious structures without tact. However, because this show basically owns my soul at the moment, I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and see where it goes.
And maybe they are not questions about god after all, but questions about love and devotion.
It's interesting you say that, because honestly, those are synonymous for me. My parents--I'm still unsure whether this was intentional--brought us up as agnostics, believing in the abstract idea of God as a force or a system rather than a being. In a lot of ways, the idea of "God" for me has always been "love" and "right" and "good intention." (Not always "truth," though, since we were taught also to measure the value of truth against the value of kindness and act accordingly.) And there are so many degrees of love! I love my best friend, my cat, my siblings, and my cast-iron skillet, even if sometimes I'd really like to smack the first three with the last. I love running (a physiological response), and reading (a psychological response), and the way the earth rumbles under your feet when you stand on an active volcano (a response motivated by something so huge and terrifying that it's humbling.) They're good questions to ask, I think, and I'm always glad when smart people ask them. Because then I get to read about it! I am not selfish at all.
Oh, American Gods was great. If you haven't, you should read Good Omens as well. It has an angel and a demon in it! And thought it is unrelated, if you haven't yet read it I think you would enjoy Norman Maclean: A River Runs Through It and/or Young Men and Fire. Both of them are just stunning, but the first is religion and philosophy and what it is to be human all tied up together in a great story. There's this one part where the narrator's brother says, "All there is to thinking is seeing something noticeable which makes you see something you weren't noticing which makes you see something that isn't even visible." It reminds me of some of the topics we've been dancing around here: how to talk about things that aren't physically there, but nevertheless have a very real effect on people's perceptions and actions.
though there is a part of me that wishes he loves colorful fruity drinks and he makes a wibbly face when they forget the paper umbrella.
I love that! God: I will have a blueberry pomegranate margarita please.
Cas: *frowns*
God: What?
Cas: ...Dean Winchester informs me that margaritas are for. Well. Please excuse the crudeness and understand I'm only quoting, but he claims they're for "pansy-ass tools who couldn't get laid at a whorehouse." Or women. Though in retrospect, the only time I had occasion to test this assertion, there was beer involved--not that, you know, I mean, I was there simply at Dean's request; I had planned to spend the evening in quiet prayer--
God: All is forgiven. As long as they don't forget the umbrella.
Deadwood is great. It was weirdly cancelled, so the last episode is sort of "huh" and unsatisfying, but honestly that's no reason to avoid it. It's one of those incredible shows where every single character is compelling and well-written, and everything that happens feels realistic and logical.
lol, I am hardcore looking forward to your post-apocalyptic collaboration as well, since you guys are both great to read and, y'know, it's post-apocalyptic. SPN fandom will suck you into a whirling vortex of awesome. Just so you know. You may abandon all ambitions of carrying on a real life. :)