heaven's BBS | text

[slantedcross]

Posted: 22 May
From: Anonymous

1. Has anyone heard a prayer asking for someone else's death?

2. Has anyone considered answering such a prayer?

Names not required.

[All responses by Youji will be anon unless specified otherwise.]

Comments

[slantedcross]

Call it morbid curiosity, if only for the pun's sake. It'd be a damn sick prayer if it ended up under my jurisdiction.

[heatupnever]

That's not the sort of thing you'd normally think about, right? What brought it on?

[slantedcross]

Some people's minds are wired differently, believe it or not. Imaginations are very vivid.

I also read a lot of true crime books.

[heatupnever]

No point worrying about it until it comes up, though, right? You'll just drive yourself crazy fighting things that don't exist.

Besides, why ask the internet?

[slantedcross]

Well, why not ask the internet? The benefit of not attaching my name is a big one.

I wouldn't say I'm worried. Idly wondering, with a decided emphasis on "idle."

[heatupnever]

["Why ask anyone at all," she nearly posts, but she's aware that that isn't likely to get an answer. Besides, phones can be tracked.]

Then, if we're going to talk about it, that depends.

[Mostly on whether or not the god in question would get caught.]

Which is more important, the prayer or the life?

[slantedcross]

Impossible to quantify, without knowing what prompted the prayer. If the prayer is by someone who would be killed if someone else wasn't killed first... well, whose life is more important? The person praying, or the one they're praying about?

[heatupnever]

We're still talking in hypotheticals here, right? Because in a situation like that, seems like you could do it without killing anybody.

['Course, there'd have to be a reason to go through such trouble. If it's going to be a pain in the ass, why bother with the prayer at all?]

Your books don't cover that kind of thing?

[slantedcross]

No, my preorder of "How To Answer Prayers Without Actually Trying" hasn't shipped yet.

What books?

[heatupnever]

The crime books you said you were reading.

[Silly question anyway, she supposes. Not like books are real life.]

Never mind.

Anyway, how would you handle that hypothetical of yours? If one of them really had to die or whatever

[slantedcross]

Oh, those books. They tend to be more about what happens and how to prove it, I'm afraid. They assume it's already happened.

I don't know, to be honest. Probably wouldn't unless it did happen, and I doubt it will given what I'm god of. "Had to" is very, very subjective.

[The truth is that he's an assassin, and if the killing was justifiable, he'd be able to do it easily. Hell, now that he's a god, he might have even escaped his one way ticket there.]

[heatupnever]

[Despite what he'd said about the books, she'd still been under the impression that he really had gotten a prayer like that and was just being secretive, so that comment throws her for a loop.]

Yeah, but looking at it that way is a pain in the ass. You just have to be able to respect yourself in the morning.

[slantedcross]

Oh, I haven't worried about that in a long time...

Being able to sleep at night, on the other hand. That might be a concern, if this was really happening.

[heatupnever]

Sleep is overrated.

There are plenty of people who want other people dead. Doesn't mean you have to listen.

[If that contradicts other things she's posted... Well. It's complicated.]

[slantedcross]

That's true, too. Most prayers probably don't get answered in general. There's only so many of us.

[heatupnever]

Not every prayer is serious too. Or sane.

[... Not that she would know anything or anyone like that.]

So are you satisfied with the answers you got?

[slantedcross]

I'm satisfied no serial killers answered.

[heatupnever]

How would you know? Not like it's attached to the phone or name or anything.

[slantedcross]

Ah. You're right. Serial killers are usually pretty adept at appearing normal, even charming.

Then I don't have any reliable conclusions. I can't ignore the possibility everyone was lying all along.

[heatupnever]

Probably. Even if they were normal, it's not the sort of thing they'd admit, right? Plus people do weird things when they're scared and think they're right.

[slantedcross]

And if they are scared, they're probably more likely to think they're right.