glacial_queen | Room 204, Sunday Afternoon

It was sad being stuck in sweaters and sweatshirts again--and right now Karla was wearing both because it was cold, dammit--but it wasn't like there was nothing to do in Fandom. Just because they were no longer in Hawaii didn't mean they couldn't keep themselves entertained.

...It just all had to be inside. And not on the beach. And probably wouldn't involve brightly colored drinks decorated with cute plastic animals and tiny umbrellas.

Instead, Karla had decided that the boyos were going to host another movie night. Rather than let Ender choose the film, she'd grabbed one about a snake and a magical cup or something. She hadn't really been paying attention. Actually, she was planning to use it for background noise while she and Ben bitched about Ender's tan and she laughed at Ben for getting his face stuck to the table that one time.

"Kiss kiss!" she called, poking her head through the door. "I'm bored, so guess what! We're hanging out today!"

Weren't they so lucky?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

momslilassassin

"And possibly drunk," Ben added with a grin.

From:

endsthegame

"Absurdist comedy does tend to leave that impression," Ender agreed, "Which makes it all the more impressive that I'm sure most of these scenes were actually composed sober."

From:

glacial_queen

"You said these guys have made more movies like this?" Karla asked.

From:

momslilassassin

"Are they all about Arthur?" Ben added, polishing off his beef and broccoli.

From:

endsthegame

"I think they did one mocking the life of Christ called the Life of Liam," Ender said, "And a TV series...? Or it could be theater. I'm not sure." He hadn't looked into them as much, barring the Brian one.

From:

glacial_queen

"Liam?" Karla asked, confused. "Was he an apostle?"

From:

momslilassassin

"Probably an ex of Judas," Ben commented helpfully.

From:

endsthegame

"I've never seen the movie," Ender said, with a sigh, "But no, Ben."

From:

glacial_queen

Karla was just going to be sitting over here, snickering into her lo mein. "Won't people be upset for them mocking?" she asked a moment later, trying to sound composed and mature.

Unlike some people, Ben.

From:

momslilassassin

"Probably," Ben said. "People get very invested in their version of religion."

From:

endsthegame

"Some of the Christian groups probably were, but I think I'd remember if anyone got violent," Ender said, meditatively.

From:

glacial_queen

"I still don't understand how there are so many groups that believe the same thing but are different," Karla said. "It just doesn't make sense to me."

Ahh, the joys of monolithic culture.

From:

momslilassassin

"I have books if you want to borrow some," Ben offered. "But they're mostly about Islam."

From:

endsthegame

"It's really a lot like politics," Ender explained, and didn't comment on Ben's choice in reading. "Everyone believes in using the one system of rule, but how we fill it in, there things get murkier. Except that people tend to feel the stakes are even higher, so the problems are more explosive."

From:

glacial_queen

"And even that idea is somewhat--well, not new, exactly, not to me, but..." Karla worried at her lower lip. "Nothing like what Hobart's done in Glacia has been heard of in Kaeleer for fifty thousand years. We might not all agree who should be Queen or whatnot, but the political structure itself was agreed upon."

From:

momslilassassin

Ben nodded. "Same at home, sort of. Most people don't have access to the Force the way the Jedi do, but they don't doubt it exists."

From:

endsthegame

"But there are different ways of looking at the Force, aren't there?" Ender said. "With struggles within the same religion, or say, the Abrahamic religions, you all agree on the political structure. But you can fight about how you use it and where."

From:

glacial_queen

"But surely the Force or the god of all these religions has an opinion, right?" Karla asked. "Why don't they just say, 'This is right' and...dammit, that wouldn't work either." Her brow furrowed in thought. "Because no one has ever misinterpreted what someone says or means before in the history of ever."

From:

momslilassassin

Ben snorted. "Not once," he said wryly. "I've run into dozens of different ways species view the Force. The Weequays rely on a Ball of Wisdom to tell them what to do."

From:

endsthegame

"A thousand different people in one room means a thousand different interpretations of what anything means," Ender added. "That's the whole problem. And the genius of many a sentient species."