video;

[holidaygirl1225]

[It's a rare time when Noelle is in her room alone. The faint sound of chiptune music and various beeps or boops can be heard nearby, though. It seems she's distracted her roommates or other Oran Berries with her gaming console.

The sleigh bed takes up most of her section, but a lumpy gingerbread man plushie and a white cloth angel doll are prominently displayed. Noelle herself is wearing her snowflake patterned shawl.]

Um, so... does anyone else here believe in the Angel?

[Maybe she should clarify. Most people here come from worlds that don't have monsters at all... only Kris probably knows what she means, and they probably don't want to talk about it.]

Or, like, a higher power of some kind. Any kind of spirituality, really. [Faint memories leak through- singing in a church choir, praying with clasped hands, dreaming about flying on feathered wings.] I was just thinking, like... how do you reconcile that with everything that's happened here?

I mean, this place has 'legendary Pokemon' and stuff, but... if you believe in a higher power who made everything, for example, did they make this world, too? Or do they not exist here? Do they all exist together?

Comments

video; cw for this thread: religious discussion, mormonism [threadjacking okay]

[shotinhead]

[ He knows he hasn't spoken to her much, but...

Huh. He's thought about it a bit, to be honest. For once, Courier Six seems a little vulnerable. ] I don't believe in any form of Angel - not somethin' I've heard where I'm from. But.

[ Well. Might as well admit it. He's even using video, he's on his usual wandering around patrol. ]

Do you recall the voice that we heard, when we were torn into this place? I still believe, maybe, that was th'voice of God. Perhaps God has brought us here for some purpose yet to be revealed.

[holidaygirl1225]

Oh! [... she completely forgot. The last thing she remembers was making a wish, and then it came true. In a sense, at least. That must be divine intervention, right?] ... you're right. I've heard people say there must be a reason we're all here! Maybe it's to help save this world, even. [That would align with the prophecy she was taught at home, kind of.]

video; (threadjacking ok! likely outer worlds typical cws to follow)

[edgewater]

We worship the Architect. [ well. "we" is a strong word, parvati's not actually sure how much she describes to it considering how much her worldview clashes with the scripture. ] The idea that the universe is logically created by a divine being, to His Grand Plan.

I was never much for it, the Plan's a machine that ain't never been run. It can't be perfect and well-oiled, y'know? [ plus the whole predeterminism angle. yeesh. ]

[holidaygirl1225]

That sounds kind of like the Angel. ['Architect'... 'Angel'... they're kind of similar, right?] There was a grand prophecy and everything. You don't think that there's a higher power guiding our actions?

video; (threadjacking ok! cw for discussions of cults)

[notyourbloodymessiah]

[ eleanor comes through, her voice still sounding as though she's speaking underwater. she's sort of staring off past the pearl. ]

Angel has a very different connotation for me than it does for you, then? [ she's. not sure how to explain that one. or anything in relation to this question really. how do you explain that you. kind of were? the god? awkward. ] My mother led a cult.

[holidaygirl1225]

... Oh. [She mentally kicks herself. This is a sensitive topic for a lot of people!] Um, I'm really sorry. I'm here if you want to... talk about it? [She would never say out loud she has a bad mother- she was just under a lot of pressure- but like. Maybe she can relate?]

Where I came from, the Angel was our guardian. Like, a great being we could pray to for guidance. And there was a prophecy about heroes saving the world.

Video;

[quirkynote]

[Talking about Heaven? Or Hell??? Let's rock????? Either way, A.B.A sees it only as another opportunity to flex.]

As a homunculus, the whims of higher powers held absolutely no relevance when it came to my creation. The very laws of nature were bent and reshaped to their limits simply to accommodate me into being, how many can say the same, I wonder...? The truth is, whether or not I believe in a higher power hardly matters when they already don't believe in me.

[holidaygirl1225]

[She's finding it much easier to take these things in stride after their mission together.] You think so? Maybe. But if the universe is following a prophecy, then who's to say it wasn't part of an Angel's plan to have those scientists create you? [A.B.A was still created by a divine being, but with extra steps, in other words.]

video

[pyrodulia]

The only deities in my world were the Fears.

[Agnes is curled up around her pearl, snout bopping at it gently, so this might be an odd view of her.]

Thirteen or fourteen or more or fewer. All gods of dismal things like death and pain and terror. Or horror. You didn't need to believe in them, to know their influence.

[holidaygirl1225]

[This view of Agnes is actually rather familiar-- warm and comforting, even. That's good, because what she says next chills her.

Noelle knew about all this to an extent. The people who raised Agnes were religious. She had a purpose she was raised for. She burned a boy by kissing his cheek. She was murdered.

With all that in mind...]

... were you one of them?

Ps this is super threadjackable

[seacub]

[There is a distinct sense that Emporio is trying very. VERY hard. To keep feelings out of his grumpearl. Hmmmm.]

I..I...don't really like the idea of gods, and fate, honestly.

It's kind of a part of why I won't be going back....

[holidaygirl1225]

[Oh? She gets the feeling that he's trying very hard to keep his feelings in check. This must be a very sensitive subject for him.

And she gets that. Some people have much more complicated feelings about this subject than others.]

I'm sorry if I brought up bad memories or anything like that.

[She feels like she should add something else.]

... this might be like, over-extending, but... you're safe here. Whatever happened, it's in the past. Nothing from back there will hurt you here. [Does that mean she doesn't believe her 'Angel' can't reach her here, either? Maybe. Are these words she wishes someone would tell her? Maybe.]

Audio;

[selfie_centered]

There's all kinds of different beliefs around my world, buuut I'm not exactly an expert in any of them...

So like, you think there'd really be one specific thing with strong enough power to make multiple worlds? Is that Angel you believe in something like that?

[holidaygirl1225]

[The Deerling blinks at the unfamiliar Pokemon. She must have not greeted them yet-- how rude of her!] I mean, I didn't know multiple worlds existed before I came here. But it could be the case, right? It might be one being who created every world, and different faiths are describing the same type of creator. Or maybe there's more than one of them and everyone's faith is right in a different way?

... I dunno, haha. It was just on my mind. I was part of a church before I came here, so... [Why is she rambling so much?]

video-ish

[loopsiedaisy]

[...]

[Shoka said something about Angels once, too, capital A... is this the same thing? Something different?]

I don't know about gods, but... [With an unconscious mental impression to the words that feels like... this is someone who does, at least, believe that they exist? "Don't know," here, seems to mean that they don't know if those gods reach as far as this world too.]

This place is still part of the Universe. So if we're here, the Universe wanted it that way.

[Does that count as reconciling...? They never thought there was an alternative.]

[Siffrin isn't thinking about projecting themself, so they're not in their own mental image. Instead what's coming across the grumpearls is literally what they're looking at right now: the night sky.]

[holidaygirl1225]

[The stars... the 'Universe'. That must be a belief system all in its own. Even people where she came from looked to the stars for guidance. Noelle spends a moment gazing at the stars with them through their eyes.

She always did like the night sky. Wishing on the first star that would come out at night... her sister pointing out the north star... And yet, it could make her feel incredibly small.]

Hmm... horoscopes must be a big thing where you come from, huh?

Video;

[timeexistseverywhere]

[Does he believe in a higher power? How can he not? It's a pretty loaded question for the tiny goat, so instead of answering it directly, he decides to focus on something else.]

There's actually a whole bunch of angels back in the Digital World! They're pretty cool, y'know, as long as you don't make them mad. Heh...

[Images begin to flash of one very impressive looking temple, because it's the only thing he knows of that he can compare to a church. This is close, right? This is the same thing??? It's filled with various angelic-looking creatures. Many of them are pretty humanoid in appearance, but some are actually quite animalistic.

And yet, he would not consider any of them the higher power.]

[holidaygirl1225]

[Oookay. Well, she doesn't know what a Digital World is, but she knows how to go with the flow. But the images of the temple knocks her off her hooves, so to speak. It's... wow. It's like a vision of heaven! Or at least something straight out of a really gorgeous video game!]

Holy moley!

[... that's the first thing that came out of her mouth. Okay.] Is there a boss angel though?

[paperceptive]

We have...Expressions for everything, I suppose. But I don't think it relates in quite that way. An Expression is like...I'm not entirely sure how to translate it, but like the essential nature of a thing? They didn't create the world, they're only...well, the expression of it. So of course, any such thing here would necessarily be different.

[ They're different, inherently. How could they be the same? ]

Expressions don't tend to intervene in peoples' lives directly anyway. Not outside of stories.

[holidaygirl1225]

... kind of like spirits, maybe? Everything has a spirit or a soul, even inanimate objects? [She remembers learning about animism in school.]

[offtracks]

Being from a world similar to this one, legendary Pokemon are the gods we worship. But I do not think that they had anything to do with this world! They are in back in our world! There are only one or two who are known to travel beyond space and time in unusual ways.

[ Maybe they could theoretically travel to another world like this of their own accord? He doesn't know! ]

[holidaygirl1225]

[She ponders this.] So if legendary Pokemon are in this world, do you think they could be the same ones that are in your world? [If only the ones who travel through time and space show up, that would explain how they got here. But if legendary Pokemon who can't travel through time and space appear here, are those 'alternate universe' versions of them? Noelle wonders.]

Video (Please feel free to threadjack!!)

[autumnrainrunaway]

[ How does one even discuss Mac Lir? That one was a very weird topic for Dolly to attempt to cover as a mental image of this massive ten story tall being encased in crystal with massive moth wings comes into view, slouched over in a throne as though he fell asleep on there. He might actually be taller given the slouching... ]

We had Mac Lir, he's been slumbering for as far as I can remember. Back where I was born on, Mac Lir was sort've both the deity and I suppose would be called 'the father' of all the Queens born on there in one shape or another. I'm still getting use to parental terminology, my apologies there...

[holidaygirl1225]

Oh, you mentioned that name during our quest! ['Sweet Mac Lir!'] That's so cool! It's like a scene straight out of an RPG or a fantasy novel or something! ... Is he ever going to wake up? [Or get out of the crystal?]

video

[telewarped]

Only ever heard of the Angel from you. I've met a couple of Higher powers before though, actually... Including an Angel. [Not that she really remembers the guy anymore.] Not sure if I'd say I believe in 'em though, hah.

[She knows they exist (at least in the world she's from). She just doesn't respect them.]

As for the rest... Don't know. Don't really care either.

[holidaygirl1225]

... You met them but don't believe in them? Wait, multiple higher powers?

[... ah. There's still so much she doesn't know about Shoka, especially since she's always going on about herself... she feels selfish.]

What was it like to meet them? And how did you meet them to begin with?

voice;

[consequerer]

[ carefully, clipped and toneless, because while it's certainly a familiar term and concept, the bits they've gleaned from her mentioning it elsewhere in this discussion... ]

What exactly does this Angel mean to you?

[holidaygirl1225]

Elf!! You're okay! [She has just broadcast that awful nickname across the entire network. Sorry.

... More importantly, though, that's an interesting question. She thinks about it.]

Sorry, but do you mean more like... 'what is the Angel' or what does the Angel mean to me personally? [Or both? She doesn't want to presume and ramble on, though...] Those are two different questions.

video;

[wolfcut]

I don't really believe in all that stuff. [ Guy who's the literal son of a wind deity. ] Fate and prophecies too. [ Guy who literally had a prophecy thrown at him. ]

But I can see why it's important to people.

[holidaygirl1225]

[Noelle, sadly, does not know any of that.] That's fine! It's not for everyone, I guess. Actually, that reminds me, though...

[Hmm. She doesn't want to out him as having been a monster on a public network. She thinks of another way to put it.]

... they didn't have any mention of the Angel back where you came from, right?