001. voice.

[shadohdamn]

( 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.

Comments

[burlyboy]

Oh, we have Gods. More than a lot of places, apparently. I've even talked to one of 'em before - not for long but, I mean, I heard the guy. They're strong, I'll give 'em that.

I'm just not really the praying type. I'd rather not depend on something else like that for the real important shit. They keep things going where they are, and I'll keep it going here.

[shadohdamn]

Yeah. ( Shadow sighs a long sigh - pensive, rather than anything remotely negative. )

In my world, there's some gods that exist that people don't even know they're sacrificing to or worshipping. Like these devices, for example. People use 'em every day, make contact with them, rely on them - they have a lot of our focus and our energy, and that focus can be what feeds a god. Someone might never set foot near an altar or pray, but they could still be worshipping a god and not know.

[burlyboy]

Huh. Can't say I ever thought about it in quite that way, but it stands to reason. [ It's not so dissimilar to how things work back home, after all. ]

What about you, then? You put any stock in any particular God?

[shadohdamn]

Well, I believe they're all real. Don't know if I play favourites.

( That's a lie, he definitely plays favourites. )

Ostara's pretty nice. ( (◡‿◡✿) Ostara #bless #eggsforostara #easterforeaster )

[burlyboy]

Aw, c'mon. Everyone's got favourites. I mean, if you pay any attention to 'em.

Who's Ostara?

[shadohdamn]

Easter. She's the goddess of spring, who Easter was dedicated to before Christians co-opted it. Really nice lady. Not that the Jesuses are bad guys, it's just that it was her festival and they're taking credit for what she made happen.

[burlyboy]

[ Oh, boy. That's a whole lot of stuff that he doesn't know anything about. ]

Uhhh... okay. So, what's a Christian and a Jesus? They different races who banded together to take over Easter, or what?