Black Hat Brigade: Episode 35
Apr. 28th, 2016 12:31 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wingedbeastSetting: A dark cliffside, lit only in a dim, orange and red light. Boulders hover in the air, attached by chains to the cliff. Jutting out from the metalic cliff is a giant, steel-and-girder construction made to look like a dragon's head. Ontop of the dragon's head stands a red humanoid, baring horns, elongated ears, bone spurs jutting out from knees, elboes, and shoulders. Long red wings hang behind the person.
One boulder is very large indeed. Ontop of this boulder stands Alanis Morissette god, who rolls her eyes and motions to the Metatron.
Metatron: Our offer remains. We can arrange a very comfortable meeting within our canonical realm.
Scar paces around the edge: New Jersey has an unfortunate dearth of lion-friendly locals.
Reepicheep: And, with all due respect, you cannot expect us to trust you in a realm where you have nigh-infinite power.
A.M.God throws up her hands in exasperation
Metatron: My lord... or lady, whichever depending on desire at the moment, is the very force of goodness in that realm. What could you possibly have to fear?
Azrael sits down at the center of the rock and looks out at the infinite expanse of cliff side.: Goodness? That's the debate we're here to have.
Metatron nods to A.M.God and says: Goodness only has any binding power outside of the will and nature of God.
Scar: So, goodness is nothing but a technicality. We've had that conversation, before. I see no need to rehash the old ground of the failures of divine command morality to have any meaning.
A.M.God gives Scar a look, then looks at Reepicheep with a perked brow.
Metatron: Sir Knight, why are you with them? Why are you with them, here, of all places, when your own canon puts you quite otherwise.
Reepicheep: You might think so. After all, I worked so hard to live up to the knightly standards beloved by Aslan. And, I still do, just not all of them anymore. Some of those standards, no matter how hard you work to meet them, can only lead you into one Hell or another.
A.M.God's face softens.
Metatron: That is something we can understand. Aslan's way is not our way.
Reepicheep: Begging your pardon, but I must disagree.
A.M.God looks politely curious.
Reepicheep: I understand you to not have the same views on, say, the place of women as Aslan, certainly not his views on race or class. But, still... well... you banished two angels, eternally, for disagreeing with you on the morality of mass infanticide.
Azrael: And, one muse, a being created to inspire and feel, deeply, the emotions of others, for not taking part in a war. Only, you didn't just make me walk around on earth for millennia. One of the beings made to, most, feel what others feel, and you put me in with the human souls you made sure would only feel absolute suffering.
Scar: Can you feel it? Can you feel the heat, uncomfortably all around, rising up, reminding you, at all times, of what happens if you doubt the justice of it?
Metatron: That's what this meeting is about? The Problem of Hell. You know, Scar, more than anybody, that God does not send people to Hell, they choose, of their own free-
Scar slashes at A.M.God's ankle, causing her to jump back in fear, only bringing her closer to that heat.
Scar: Yes, I've heard that one, time and again. They choose Hell the same way that the victim of a robbery chooses to die when told 'your money or your life'. *gives a low, smooth growl*
Metatron steps in front of A.M.God: You are treading on the very definition of hubris, mortal lion.
Scar: And, you are treading on the very definition of duplicity. Speaking as a duplicitous liar, there are some levels that are so simplistic and basic that I find them an INSULT TO THE CRAFT! *the last words come out as a roar*
Reepicheep: You did create the conditions. It is disingenuous in the extreme to pretend that you have no responsibility for the result.
A.G.God puts her hands on her hips.
Metatron: Take a look at the cut scene in which Azrael describes Hell in detail. Human souls punishing themselves because they don't think they can be reconciled to their creator.
Azrael stands: Every single one, dedicated to punishing themselves, needing to be punished, unable to not punish themselves, unable to do what it would take to escape.
A.G.God points to Azrael.
Metatron: He said it, himself. Every single one of them is making the wrong choice, themselves, despite an avanue of escape.
Azrael: Every single one. If they had free will to do otherwise, there would have been some exceptions. This "locked from the inside" idea requires that they not have the option to turn that lock. Because, if they had any ability, whatsoever, some of them would.
Azrael: It's fucking statistics.
Reepicheep: You see, Metatron and... er... whichever name you like, this isn't just about the Problem of Hell. This is, just as much, about the problems with the attempts to answer the Problem of Hell.
Azrael: My motivation in our movie is clear and basic and easy to understand. I want to stop suffering. There's only one way to do that. I stop suffering. Every single soul in Hell stops suffering. And, Serendipity, who sing-song mocks my being thrown into that pit of absolute suffering, calls me selfish.
Azrael: Tell me, Metatron, how many souls in Hell is one in Heaven worth? How much of other people's suffering is acceptable just so long as you have your place in Heaven?
Scar: You see, every piece of suffering in your movie, from Azrael languishing in Hell to Bartleby and Loki being unable to go home (and Loki winding up in Hell after turning human then dying, by the way), to Bethany's infertility, to Bartleby's understandable anger at being so fully rejected for simply having a moment of compassion that you didn't share.
Reepicheep: A presumption of the framing of that movie is that you are good, just, and clean.
Scar: But, you are the monster holding all of reality hostage against being proven wrong.
Azrael: And, you can't stay clean of all that just by holding your blood-stained-hands at arm's length.
One boulder is very large indeed. Ontop of this boulder stands Alanis Morissette god, who rolls her eyes and motions to the Metatron.
Metatron: Our offer remains. We can arrange a very comfortable meeting within our canonical realm.
Scar paces around the edge: New Jersey has an unfortunate dearth of lion-friendly locals.
Reepicheep: And, with all due respect, you cannot expect us to trust you in a realm where you have nigh-infinite power.
A.M.God throws up her hands in exasperation
Metatron: My lord... or lady, whichever depending on desire at the moment, is the very force of goodness in that realm. What could you possibly have to fear?
Azrael sits down at the center of the rock and looks out at the infinite expanse of cliff side.: Goodness? That's the debate we're here to have.
Metatron nods to A.M.God and says: Goodness only has any binding power outside of the will and nature of God.
Scar: So, goodness is nothing but a technicality. We've had that conversation, before. I see no need to rehash the old ground of the failures of divine command morality to have any meaning.
A.M.God gives Scar a look, then looks at Reepicheep with a perked brow.
Metatron: Sir Knight, why are you with them? Why are you with them, here, of all places, when your own canon puts you quite otherwise.
Reepicheep: You might think so. After all, I worked so hard to live up to the knightly standards beloved by Aslan. And, I still do, just not all of them anymore. Some of those standards, no matter how hard you work to meet them, can only lead you into one Hell or another.
A.M.God's face softens.
Metatron: That is something we can understand. Aslan's way is not our way.
Reepicheep: Begging your pardon, but I must disagree.
A.M.God looks politely curious.
Reepicheep: I understand you to not have the same views on, say, the place of women as Aslan, certainly not his views on race or class. But, still... well... you banished two angels, eternally, for disagreeing with you on the morality of mass infanticide.
Azrael: And, one muse, a being created to inspire and feel, deeply, the emotions of others, for not taking part in a war. Only, you didn't just make me walk around on earth for millennia. One of the beings made to, most, feel what others feel, and you put me in with the human souls you made sure would only feel absolute suffering.
Scar: Can you feel it? Can you feel the heat, uncomfortably all around, rising up, reminding you, at all times, of what happens if you doubt the justice of it?
Metatron: That's what this meeting is about? The Problem of Hell. You know, Scar, more than anybody, that God does not send people to Hell, they choose, of their own free-
Scar slashes at A.M.God's ankle, causing her to jump back in fear, only bringing her closer to that heat.
Scar: Yes, I've heard that one, time and again. They choose Hell the same way that the victim of a robbery chooses to die when told 'your money or your life'. *gives a low, smooth growl*
Metatron steps in front of A.M.God: You are treading on the very definition of hubris, mortal lion.
Scar: And, you are treading on the very definition of duplicity. Speaking as a duplicitous liar, there are some levels that are so simplistic and basic that I find them an INSULT TO THE CRAFT! *the last words come out as a roar*
Reepicheep: You did create the conditions. It is disingenuous in the extreme to pretend that you have no responsibility for the result.
A.G.God puts her hands on her hips.
Metatron: Take a look at the cut scene in which Azrael describes Hell in detail. Human souls punishing themselves because they don't think they can be reconciled to their creator.
Azrael stands: Every single one, dedicated to punishing themselves, needing to be punished, unable to not punish themselves, unable to do what it would take to escape.
A.G.God points to Azrael.
Metatron: He said it, himself. Every single one of them is making the wrong choice, themselves, despite an avanue of escape.
Azrael: Every single one. If they had free will to do otherwise, there would have been some exceptions. This "locked from the inside" idea requires that they not have the option to turn that lock. Because, if they had any ability, whatsoever, some of them would.
Azrael: It's fucking statistics.
Reepicheep: You see, Metatron and... er... whichever name you like, this isn't just about the Problem of Hell. This is, just as much, about the problems with the attempts to answer the Problem of Hell.
Azrael: My motivation in our movie is clear and basic and easy to understand. I want to stop suffering. There's only one way to do that. I stop suffering. Every single soul in Hell stops suffering. And, Serendipity, who sing-song mocks my being thrown into that pit of absolute suffering, calls me selfish.
Azrael: Tell me, Metatron, how many souls in Hell is one in Heaven worth? How much of other people's suffering is acceptable just so long as you have your place in Heaven?
Scar: You see, every piece of suffering in your movie, from Azrael languishing in Hell to Bartleby and Loki being unable to go home (and Loki winding up in Hell after turning human then dying, by the way), to Bethany's infertility, to Bartleby's understandable anger at being so fully rejected for simply having a moment of compassion that you didn't share.
Reepicheep: A presumption of the framing of that movie is that you are good, just, and clean.
Scar: But, you are the monster holding all of reality hostage against being proven wrong.
Azrael: And, you can't stay clean of all that just by holding your blood-stained-hands at arm's length.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-28 03:13 pm (UTC)*lol* And Scar wins the Best Line Award.
Quite liking Azrael's goals here.
no subject
Date: 2016-04-28 07:37 pm (UTC)