ѕнadow LET ME LIVE мoon. (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shadohdamn) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
maskormenace2017-10-01 08:02 pm
shadohdamn) wrote in maskormenace2017-10-01 08:02 pm
001. voice.
( potential spoilers for season one of American Gods, if you'd like me to avoid any spoilers please just lmk in the subject line. )
What do you believe in? Really believe? What do you devote your time to?
( A pause; he's having a sip of cocoa. )
Now I've been here a few weeks, I've gotten to wondering about that. There's a lot here that's the same as back home, with a few obvious differences thrown in. Advertising, TV, that kind of thing. Back where I come from, what you spend your time on and what consumes your thoughts matters. There's a lot of shit you might not realise how much it matters to you. Mattering matters, if you want to make it sound like some bullshit affirmation.
So here's the thing: what if the reason we come through those porters with the powers we got is because people believe we will? What if we only start fighting crime or committing them because people believe we will?
( A long exhale, almost a verbal shrug. ) Or maybe it's bullshit. I dunno.
What do you believe in? Really believe? What do you devote your time to?
( A pause; he's having a sip of cocoa. )
Now I've been here a few weeks, I've gotten to wondering about that. There's a lot here that's the same as back home, with a few obvious differences thrown in. Advertising, TV, that kind of thing. Back where I come from, what you spend your time on and what consumes your thoughts matters. There's a lot of shit you might not realise how much it matters to you. Mattering matters, if you want to make it sound like some bullshit affirmation.
So here's the thing: what if the reason we come through those porters with the powers we got is because people believe we will? What if we only start fighting crime or committing them because people believe we will?
( A long exhale, almost a verbal shrug. ) Or maybe it's bullshit. I dunno.
[voice]
[Rent has been nonexistent since he got here, essentially.]
permavoice.
( Yet. ) That's not to say they aren't out there. They might have catchier names.
no subject
Anyway, people fight crimes or commit them without needing somebody believing that they'll do one or the other all the time. So, yeah, it does kinda sound like bullshit to me.
no subject
( And a thoughtful hum. )
People make their own decisions, no argument, but I think expectation and manipulation can play its part.
no subject
Because of some kind of sci-fi bullshit that only makes sense in crappy old TV shows from the sixties. [A pause, Foggy's taking a bite out of his donut.] Also, I'd argue that first there'd need to be a bunch of people getting unexpectedly dragged here for people to start believing it'd happen all the time.
[He swallows.]
What if someone decides to go against expectations, though?
no subject
( Anyway, this is a good talk, chatting with someone who sounds like a normal guy about how weird weird shit can be. They could probably toss in a pool table and a couple beers and it'd be a easy going night out.
Shadow's not 100% sure those actually exist, but in theory it sounds plausible. )
That's something Wednesday said. People believe because gods can shape things, and gods shape things because people give them power by believing, but which part came first? That's what I was thinking about. Which part came first, where did it begin - would expectation mean more people come? That kinda thing.
( It's all very conversational. ) I guess that could throw a spanner in someone's plans, might make things go bad for someone, somewhere along the line.
no subject
I want to say you're shitting me, I really do, but we're in a completely different world, so. Fine, they definitely count. [Shit is super weird now anyway.] Which gods?
[Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or: which came first, the believers or the gods?] I don't know about gods, but I did do some research into imPort history. What I could find in a library, anyway. Technically speaking the imPorts came first, around—I had it in here somewhere. [A pause, then a little thud like someone's put their bag on the table and is now shuffling through the contents.] Oh, hey! 1980s, thereabouts.
Right? Like—my mom wanted free ham, but I went into law instead of cured meats, so that screwed up her plans something fierce. Something like that?
no subject
You might be the first guy I've heard of whose mom had reason to be disappointed having a lawyer for a son. And I guess that's as good an example as any.
( Anyway. )
As for the gods, I don't know all their names, but I think they call themselves the new gods, something like that. One of them, she takes different shapes. Saw her be I Love Lucy, Marilyn, Judy Garland. She's not them, but she takes their form. Talked about how devoting our time to watching television was a sacrifice that made her stronger. There's this other guy, Mr. World. He's like— like the god of all those entities that keep tabs on everything you do, that record and watch. Both freaky as hell.
no subject
What, seriously? I'm never watching TV again. [He totally will be.] These "new gods", quote-unquote, in your world—they don't sound like they need to be believed in to work.
no subject
( The not watching, that is, which is probably a hard thing to prove. Whatever, he's not a lawyer. )
Maybe not believed in, not the way we talk about believing in Jesus, or something. But praying and going to church and making offerings, that's energy and attention, it's time devoted to them. So we spend money on televisions, we eat our dinners in front of them, fight over the damn channel. It's a part of our lives. What's not devoted about that?
no subject
[But now he can't help but wonder if it works the same way, in his New York. Most likely not, but he can imagine it, somehow, and some part of him can't help but think, suddenly, of Matt, and his steadfast faith. He huffs out a breath.]
Kinda wish my friend Matt were here. You guys'd have a hell of a debate about this. [It would be hilarious and Foggy would sell so many tickets.] But you got me instead, so—you said new gods. Are there any "old gods" hanging around?
no subject
( Foggy's friend. Shadow's not sure if he wants that many people he knows to turn up. )
I've met a few. They aren't as powerful, anymore - I know a guy who's pretty pissed at all the Jesuses. Says they screwed over all the other gods. Makes all that "one true god" stuff kind of a dick move.